This week in the Lost Rewatch, fans are taken back to the beginning of the series with the Pilot (Parts 1 & 2), Tabula Rasa and Walkabout. I'm not going to recap these episodes, there's plenty of recaps around the web (click on the episode title for the Lostpedia synopsis). I'm going to try to point out things that stood out for me, stuff I may have missed the first time around or things that I still question/raised new questions based on what we now know.Without further a due, here's a look at the episodes:
Pilot, Part 1:- After showing the awesome Lost logo for the first time, the camera focuses on an eye (a shot that becomes a staple of the series). Jack wakes up in the jungle. So with everyone else from the fuselage scattered on the beach, why is Jack alone in the jungle?
- Jack runs out of the jungle and onto the beach, and we get about 10 minutes of the best television ever broadcast.
- No sign of Nikki, Paulo, Arzt or Frogurt on the beach. :)
- Seven minutes into Lost, and we get Hurley's first "Dude."
- When Jack asks Kate to sew him up, he chooses the black thread. From everything we've learned on this show and all the black/white themes, it's interesting that he picks black.
- Kate points out that Jack isn't scared, and this leads to Jack's surgery story and only letting fear in for 5 seconds, before finishing the surgery (and then sharing an Apollo bar with Jacob). But why was Jack so calm after the crash? Was this really his first time experiencing all of this?
- Hurley hands out food, foreshadowing his job overseeing the food in the hatch, and his future (or is it past?) vocation with DHARMA
- Kate said that she saw smoke, so she knew where the cockpit might be. Did she see smoke or Smokey?
- Speaking of Smokey, he puts on a show for the 815 survivors on their first night there. Rose later mentions that there was something really familiar about the sound. Why was it familiar to her?
- This episode features only one flashback scene, to Jack on the flight.
- In one of the best scenes of the Pilot, it starts to rain and everyone is scrambling for shelter ... except John Locke, who is sitting with his arms spread out embracing the island.
- There was something up with Vincent when he was peering through the bushes at Jack, Kate and Charlie. Could he be Smokey?
- The pilot, who had on his wedding ring from what I could tell, tells Kate and Jack that the radio went out six hours into the flight, so they turned around and headed for Fiji before hitting turbulence. Why did the radio go out? If Desmond caused the crash, how soon after they turned around did they crash? Or as we can now speculate, did Jacob bring them there?
- Why does the rain start and stop so suddenly?
- At the end, Jack pops out suddenly when Kate and Charlie discover the pilot's body in the tree. Jack claims the monster was right behind him but he didn't see it before diving into a bush. Is there something fishy with Jack? Probably not, but five years of this series has me analyzing every little move a character makes.
Pilot, Part 2:- Sawyer's nicknames start in this episode, including calling Hurley Lardo.
- One thing of interest is the altered dialogue from on the plane. Check this out from Lostpedia: In one flashback, Cindy says the pilot has switched on the fasten seatbelt signs. In another, she says the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt signs, and in the last one, she says the captain has switched on the fasten seatbelt signs. It's probably just different takes spliced together, but still weird that the dialogue changes.
- Sawyer is seen reading his letter to Mr. Sawyer for the first time.
- Locke explains Lost, I mean, the game of backgammon, to Walt, saying there are two players, two sides, one light, one dark. Talk about loaded dialogue there.
- Locke fills Walt in on his secret. Why did he choose to tell Walt and no one else? Did he sense that Walt was special?
- Sawyer shoots a polar bear and the audience begins to take notice that this isn't your typical plane crashes on an island drama.
- They hear Rousseau's message for the first time and learn that it has been on a loop for 16 years (first reference to the numbers?).
- Charlie delivers the line of the series (a question that fans are still trying to answer 5 years later), "Guys, where are we?"
Tabula Rasa:- This episode features the first traditional pre-crash flashback (Centered around Kate's time in Australia).
- There are a couple of appearances of the now famous numbers: Ray Mullen's wife died 8 months ago and Kate's reward was $23,000.
- Walt wants Michael to go find Vincent, but it's raining. Michael says he'll go when the rain stops, then boom, it stops. Did Walt stop the rain?
- We get the first character death when the marshall dies. This is the first of many post crash deaths.
- Sawyer was a chain smoker in these early episodes. They never showed him have nicotine withdrawals, but with Charlie's storyline, it probably wouldn't have compaired.
- Man, I miss the old Locke, but that last shot of him watching Michael and Walt, whoa ... getting ready to set up our first Locke-centric episode.
Walkabout:- This episode features flashbacks of Locke's time at the box company and getting ready for his walkabout in Australia.
- Charlie has an interesting line, now that we know what happens later in the series: "We are positively made of time."
- Kate says that she's a vegetarian, but in Tabula Rasa she eats bacon and eggs.
- The scenes with Michael asking Sun to watch Walt is funny to see now, knowing that Sun understood everything.
- Jack tells Rose that he was in seat 23A. (the numbers)
- Locke establishes a couple of the themes he's known for, talking about destiny a couple of times in his flashback and then saying "Don't tell me what I can't do!" (to Randy at the box company, to Kate and to the walkabout attendant).
- Charlie and Hurley's friendship blossoms on their "fishing trip."
- What exactly did Locke see when he came face-to-face with Smokey?
- What happens between the time Locke saw the monster and the time he showed up with the boar?
- Jack sees his dad for the first time on the island.
- Michael gives Smokey the nickname "the monster."
- Locke says that he's dealt with his condition for the past 4 years. (another one of the numbers)
I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up each week with the Rewatch, but if I'm unable to watch and post about a week's episodes, I'll at least try to provide some info about what to look for that week.
