Lost: Season 4, Episode 8 "Meet Kevin Johnson" Review

 "How was your trip?  I figure flying can't be too much fun for you."

-Tom Friendly

"Meet Kevin Johnson" picks up at the Barracks, where Locke (Terry O'Quinn) explains to his people that the freighter team is here to capture Ben (Michael Emerson) and kill everyone else on the island.  Miles (Ken Leung) does not refute that.  Ben also tells them his spy on the boat is Michael (Harold Perrineau).  Ben secretly tells Alex (Tania Raymonde), Karl (Blake Bashoff), and Danielle (Mira Furlan) to go to the Temple, the last safe place on the island.  They leave, but on the way, Karl and Danielle are killed by unseen attackers, while Alex is captured when she declares herself to be Ben's daughter.

On the freighter, Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) confront Michael who tells them his story.  

In an extended flashback, we learn that Michael and Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) made it back to New York City, but Michael told Walt about the murders he committed to save him and Walt doesn't want to see him.  Walt now lives with his grandmother.  Michael is haunted by the ghost of Libby (Cynthia Watros) and repeatedly attempts suicide, but is unsuccessful.  Michael is approached by Tom (M.C. Gainey), who tells him he can't kill himself because the island isn't done with him yet.  

Tom convinces Michael to join the crew of the freighter after proving that Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) is behind the fake Oceanic 815 and plans to kill everyone Michael left behind.  Michael gets cold feel after meeting several others members of the crew, but once he meets Martin Keamy (Kevin Durand) and sees all of his guns, Michael activates the bomb.  It turns out to be a fake and he later receives a call from Ben telling him he is unwilling to kill innocent people to achieve his goal, which is the difference between him and Widmore.  Ben then asks Michael to disable to radio room and engines and stop the freighter from ever making it to the island.

Once Michael finishes his story, Sayid drags him to Captain Gault (Grant Bowler) and exposes him as the saboteur.

What Works:

The best part of this episode is Harold Perrineau's performance.  Michael is a polarizing character to be sure, but the problem has never been with Perrineau's performance.  He does a great job showcasing Michael's guilt and desperation.  He's especially good in the scenes where he attempts suicide and when he breaks down after his call with Ben.

It's also really interesting to see what Michael's life has become after returning home.  Since the world thinks he's dead, he has to keep a low profile and has lost everything he cared about.  It's an interesting direction for the character and something we haven't seen before.

It's also really nice to see what life on the freighter was like before they got close to the island.  Seeing Michael interact with various crewmembers before everything got crazy adds in some needed background and shows that not everyone onboard is a bad person.

Finally, the other part of this episode I enjoy is the reveal that Tom is gay.  It makes sense, considering back in the season 3 premiere he said Kate (Evangeline Lilly) wasn't his type.  I like that they acknowledge it here, even if it's just for a quick moment.  

What Sucks:

I'm glad Michael returned to the show, but I think his story is one of the most mishandled in all of Lost.  Starting on a technical level, the timeframe doesn't really make sense.  Michael leaves the island on day 67.  Naomi (Marsha Thomason) arrives on Day 84.  You're telling me that Michael took a boat back to New York, dealt with the fallout of losing his son, got to Fiji, and sailed back towards the island in just over two weeks?  I don't believe it for one second.  It doesn't make any sense and is more than a little sloppy.

On a character level, I don't buy how easily Michael is convinced to go on the ship and blow it up by Tom.  He was really willing to blow up everyone on the boat?  Again, I just don't buy it.  In short, I think Michael was brought back too soon.  An idea I had was to wait for the time jump in season 5 and have both Michael and Walt return to the island on the Ajira plane.  Their return could focus on repairing their relationship.  It would also make Malcom David Kelley's growth spurt more palatable and it would give more time for Michael's arc.

Finally, it's a bummer to lose Danielle Rousseau this way.  She's such an important character and she's been around longer than a lot of the main cast.  Having her get shot once is a pretty lackluster way to go out.  If these deaths had occurred at the beginning of the next episode and given Danielle a more noble ending, it would have been much easier to swallow.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Meet Kevin Johnson", this award goes to Tom Friendly for convincing Michael to get on the freighter and actually try to blow it up.  This is Tom's 1st time winning this award, which ties him for 16th place with Boone, Michael, Libby, Bernard, Alex, The Man in Black, Richard, and Lapidus.

Verdict:

"Meet Kevin Johnson" was an episode I loved when it first aired, but on rewatches I realized it's pretty much all sizzle and no steak.  It's an exciting, interesting, and entertaining episode to be sure.  Perrineau does a great job and there are aspects to Michael's story that I really like, but it doesn't hold up to scrutiny at all.  The timeline doesn't make sense and neither do a lot of Michael's actions.  I can think of plenty of ways Michael's story and Danielle's death could have been much better handled.  I still enjoy the episode, but it has plenty of problems.

 7/10: Good