"Lost" - Cabin Fever

What Aaron Liked: So sue me…I'm really digging Kevin Durand's "Martin Keamy" character. He hasn't been written with much depth, admittedly, but for now I'm appreciating the rare presence of someone who appears to be without the shades of gray that color the motives of every…freaking…body else on the show. A taciturn mercenary with an itchy trigger finger? Welcome! Locke's ascension towards the mantle of Ben (Linus 2.0?) has me intrigued, even though Locke remains one of the most frustratingly inconsistent characters on the show – hard-boiled leader/cold-blooded killer one minute, soft-hearted and insecure the next. Lance Reddick's "Matthew Abbadon" is much creepier than any of the contrived island apparitions. And, maybe I'm in the minority here, but I'm intrigued by the goings-on aboard the freighter. Desmond's refusal to go back to the island, the "sickness" that's overwhelming the sheltered crew, hell, even Michael's sniveling cowardice are all more watchable storylines than "As Jack's Appendix Turns".

What Aaron Didn't Like: Further cementing my minority status, I really think the reduction of episodes from 16 to 13 has hurt the first two post-writers' strike shows. Seeing Claire pop up so soon after her disappearance was a little jarring, considering how this show has historically used its episodic format to create the illusion of time (think back to how long it felt like Jack, Sawyer and Kate were held captive at the start of season three). I still don't have a reason to care about Claire and her dad – especially, now that their characters appear to have been elevated in the storyline. I'm officially counting down the days until Hurley is off my screen, forever. Did he really say "malomars" in his sleep? Did Locke mock his love of Dharma ranch dressing? Fat jokes? In season four? But, he did share his candy bar with Ben. The lack of dialogue in that scene was meant to convey…I dunno…maybe the same thing that the ham-baking and towel-toting did for Ben a few weeks ago?

Verdict: I keep coming back to "uneven" to describe these last few episodes. During last season, critics like me were shouted down in the blog-eteria when we b*tched about the glacial pacing and told to "trust the writers" and that "every episode is another piece of the puzzle". Now, that three of those pieces have been removed in the middle of season four, it's like some of the storylines are being crammed into an ill-fit to get to the finale.