I didn't get to post my thoughts on "Dead is Dead" on Wednesday because of my very busy work week and the fact that our DVR didn't tape the last three minutes of Lost. We about died until we got to watch it the next day.
Overall, I thought it was a good episode. Almost great, but just a tad shy. I thought the story was slightly weak, especially for a Ben-centric episode. And, I am getting frustrated with the ham-fisted delivery on "important" lines, such as when Ben told young Ethan to be quiet. I understand that we as the audience need to know that the kid was Ethan, but the delivery was so obvious and unnatural. Michael Emerson has done better in delivering these type of lines in the past, and I thought he could have done better this time.
This type of thing has been a problem all season. I have felt like either the acting or the directing has lost some quality. I wonder if, now that there is an end date, the story is actually being rushed to reach that finish line. Even if that is not the case, I do feel like the acting has become sub-par this year.
Getting back to the story, I do appreciate that the writers are very able to answer a question/solve a mystery with very few lines. For example, when Ben took Alex from Danielle, he told her to run away should she ever hear whispers in the jungle, or else Alex would die. That explains so much of Rousseau's desire to stay away from the Others, for her lack of interaction with them and her experience with the whispers. I am very satisfied with how the writers are explaining these type of things.
I was also very pleased with the info we got on Smokey, the smoke monster. Nathan pointed out the similarities between Ben's confrontation/judgement versus Mr. Eko's and the resulting death of Mr. Eko for not repenting. I have been upset with Smokey's judgement on Mr. Eko since it happened just because I understand and sympathize with Mr. Eko. I can understand his lack of repentance because he essentially sacrificed his entire life for his brother, Yemi, so that Yemi wouldn't have to become what Mr. Eko did. Still, I was glad and saddened to see the pain Ben felt when reviewing his life with Alex.
When I finally got to watch the confrontation between Ben and "Alex," wow, that was just out of nowhere. Yay! Someone/something finally called Ben out, threw his selfish acts in his face and told him to straighten up, fly right, or die. End of story. That was definitely one of the best endings I have seen in a while.
Here are my other bullet points from "Dead is Dead."
- The door/passageway to summon Smokey was part of Ben's house. DHARMA built those houses, so what, if anything, did DHARMA know about that passageway or about Smokey?
- Why does Ben not remember Jack, Kate, Hurley, et. al. from the DHARMA Imitative? Or is he lying?
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1 comments:
Lucinda said...
Mmm. I loved this episode. I love all opportunities for Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn to spar acting chops. Always good stuff.
Curious, in retrospect, that Locke/Esau was unaware of what transpired between Ben and "Alex" in the temple. If Smokey is on Esau's side - and it certainly seems to be - then wouldn't he have an idea of this somehow? Or maybe it fuels Nathan's theory that Jacob is actually the bad one and Smokey is actually allied with him? As I say, curious.