TBG TV: Lost -- "The Last Recruit"

Three Things I Dug:

Stratego!: The energy was popping off the screen during the frenetically-paced sequence after Dark Locke's camp was bombed. Watching Locke move his human chess pieces and plan his offensive gave some much-needed momentum down the path towards the end game. Of course, watching Sawyer almost immediately sabotage Locke's plan with one of his own was an even bigger kick. Sawyer's short-lived stint as the leader of the castaways was one of my favorite things about the show's solid fifth season. Even though Sawyer's once again leading his team towards catastrophe, dude makes for a convincing commander-in-chief.

Darker Locke!: I mentioned it earlier this season, but I'm really loving the slow, deliberate progression from polite evil Locke to evil evil Locke. His smarmy, disingenuous opening line ("It's so good to have everyone back together!") was a fine way to start things off and it was nice to see him squirm a little while waiting for Sayid to kill off Desmond. His annoyed interrogation of Sayid exposed a few more cracks in Dark Locke's increasingly tenuous grip on civility.

I...Got...Hose!: The sideways-reality Sawyer/Miles team-up has played out like a pastiche of bad buddy cop clichés, but their capture of Sayid somehow managed to be brilliant in its absurdity. Miles loudly announces himself at the front door before inviting himself inside the house that's harboring Sayid. This forces Sayid to slip out the back door where he's tripped up by Sawyer (hiding in the bushes) and a common garden hose. All that was missing was the Law & Order "duhn-duhn!" scene-change music.


Three Things I Didn't Dig:

He Ain't THAT Charming: I'm not sure I'm buying Desmond in his sideways-reality role as "Oceanic reunion coordinator". His attempts to get in good with Claire were pretty creepy. I mean, who offers free services on behalf of a lawyer? And, who shoehorns himself into someone else's adoption process? What part of the man who follows the pregnant women up to the 15th floor screams "trust me"?

D.T.C.: Y'know what, Kate? Fine. Go ahead and trust Claire. She tried to kill you earlier this season and is obviously not all there, but sure, invite her on to the boat. Hey, while you're at it, why not promise to reunite this entry-level lunatic with her child? True, it's not all your fault. Jack's grand plan to separate the castaways from Claire's paranoid eye was to walk away...right in front of her. Promise me this, though: you and the rest of the castaways have to act all shocked and sh*t when she tries to kill you again, Kate. Deal?

Putting the 'Yawn' in 'Reunion': Am I the only one who thought the Sun/Jin reunion fell flat? I wasn't expecting it to touch the Desmond/Penny stuff from a few seasons back, but with the Sawyer vs. Dark Locke vs. Widmore triple threat match in full effect, the Sun and Jin scene felt more than a little tacked on. But, it cured Sun of that ridiculous language storyline she was forced to carry around for a few weeks. And, Lapidus' "Look who got their voice back!" groaner is on the short list for worst Lost lines ever.


The Verdict: This had the look and feel of the last "set up" episode before the four-week sprint to the finish. Let's call it "watchable" and agree to take next week off.