Lost: Season 4 Premiere, "The Beginning of the End" Review

 "If you want to live, you need to come with me."

-John Locke

Season 4 of Lost starts with a flashforward.  After seeing a vision of Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) in a convenience store, Hurley (Jorge Garcia) freaks out and leads police on a high-speed chase before being arrested.  He is interrogated by Ana Lucia's (Michelle Rodriguez) old partner, Mike (Michael Cudlitz), but Hurley denies ever meeting Ana Lucia.  Hurley asks to be placed in his old mental facility.  While there, he is visited by Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick), who claims to be a lawyer for Oceanic, who offers him an upgrade to a better facility.  Hurley quickly realizes Abaddon is lying and gets him to leave when he asks Hurley "Are they still alive?"

Later, he is visited by another vision of Charlie who tells him he has something he needs to do, but is avoiding it.  Finally, he is visited by Jack (Matthew Fox), who wants to make sure Hurley isn't going to reveal their secret.  Hurley apologizes for going with Locke (Terry O'Quinn) and says they need to go back to the island, which angers Jack.

On the island, Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) returns to the beach and tells them about Charlie's message.  They head off into the jungle to warn Jack, but Hurley is separated from the others.  He finds Jacob's cabin multiple time and sees two people inside, one of whom is Christian Shephard (John Terry), before he finally runs into Locke.  They both agree that Jack should not have called the boat.

When the freighter calls to talk to Naomi (Marsha Thomason), Jack realizes she is gone.  He tries to tack her down, but is led down a dummy trail.  Kate (Evangeline Lilly) finds the correct trail and is attacked by Naomi, but Kate seems to convince her that they weren't the ones who stabbed her and they still need her help.  Naomi contacts the boat and helps them get the satellite phone's signal before dying.

All of the survivors meet up at the cockpit, where Jack steals Locke's gun and tries to shoot him, only to discover it isn't loaded.  Locke says he is going to the Barracks to hide from the people on the boat.  Hurley, Claire (Emilie de Ravin), Rousseau (Mira Furlan), Ben (Michael Emerson), Karl (Blake Bashoff), Alex (Tania Raymonde), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) all decide to go with.  The rest of the group heads back to the beach, except for Jack and Kate.  They spot a helicopter fly over and a parachutist (Jeremy Davies) jump out and they meet him in the jungle.

What Works:

The flashforward storyline is my favorite of the episode.  This is still such a fresh storytelling technique for the show and it's really exciting.  It sets up some really interesting points.  Hurley mentions the Oceanic 6.  So that's Hurley, Jack, and Kate, but who are the other 3?  Why is Hurley having visions of Charlie?  Who is Matthew Abaddon?  Why are they lying?  It's some really intriguing questions that got me really excited for this season.

The first act of the episode is also really strong.  We get a bunch of hopeful happy moments with Jack, Claire, Sun (Yunjin Kim), and Rose (L. Scott Caldwell), not to mention Hurley's cannonball.  This show is not going to have many happy moments left and it's tough to watch these because we know the other shoe is going to drop and soon.

One moment I love that I don't think gets talked about enough is Jack trying to shoot Locke.  It's a solid character moment and I can't say I blame Jack for trying to take the shot.  It gets brushed over for the most part, which is too bad.

Finally, Jorge Garcia gives a great performance in the episode.  He gets to showcase a massively wide range of emotion, a lot more than he usually does.  It's impressive work.  Him telling Claire about Charlie's death is absolutely heartbreaking.

What Sucks:

This is my least-favorite season premiere of the show and there are a few things that just don't work for me.  First off, I simply don't buy that Naomi managed to crawl off into the jungle without anyone besides Ben seeing her.  There's no way she wasn't seen.  Also, I don't like how Jack and Kate just panic and hang up the phone, especially Kate, who has been shown to be a skilled liar.  They definitely could have come up with a better excuse.

Hurley and the cabin never really goes anyone in the run of the show and the cabin itself has never jived with me.  This was a setup that was never fully paid off.

Finally, there are a few characters I can understand going with Locke, but all they know is that the boat people are not working for Penny.  That doesn't mean they can't help the survivors get rescued.  What is their plan?  To hide in the barracks forever?  I know Locke doesn't care about being rescued, but most of the other characters going with him do.  Why would they go with?  Making contact with the people on the boat is still the best avenue for getting rescue.  I think they just jump ship on the boat plan too early and the writing feels a little sloppy.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear is given to the most competent character of the episode.  For "The Beginning of the End," this award goes to Kate for figuring out that Naomi had created a dummy trail, tracking her down, and convincing her to give the boat a location signal.  This is Kate's 3rd time winning this award, which ties her for 8th place with Sun and Charlie.

Verdict:

"The Beginning of the End" is my least favorite season premiere of Lost due to some sloppy wiring, unbelievable character decisions, and the weird cabin subplot.  However, it does have some excellent flashforwards, powerful emotional moments, and a great performance from Jorge Garcia.  Overall, this episode has still got it going on.  

 7/10: Good