Lost Episode 3.15, "Left Behind"
Original Airdate: April 4th, 2007

This is my assigned task: To watch this show, this show called Lost, and each week to write about that show.

Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s bad. Even when it’s actually pretty good.

You see the things I do for you people? Notice a throbbing vein anywhere about my person? No, not THAT one, you skank; the one atop my forehead.

I call that my Lost Vein. It’s the one that bulges and throbs rhythmically when Lost is driving me crazy. Combine that with my chronic case of Internet Bitching Elbow, and I figure I’m due some serious Workers’ Comp money from The Mac Observer, Inc.

All of that is preface to the fact that I find myself yet again underwhelmed by a flashback sequence on Lost. It wasn’t quite aggravating enough to trigger my Lost Vein, but my Internet Bitching Elbow is acting up something fierce.

This week, Kate and Juliet find themselves stranded alone after all the Others just...disappear. Of course we don’t find out why they disappear! At this rate, I’m figuring we’ll get that answer sometime in 2025, in issue #114 of the Lost comic book series, written by Stan Lee’s head floating in a jar of formaldehyde.

Meanwhile, in flashback land, we learn of a surprising and absolutely random connection between Kate and Cassidy, the con artist who Sawyer hooked up with many flashbacks ago. Apparently, Kate and Cassidy met out of the blue in Iowa, and Cassidy helped Kate track down her mother.

What this has to do with anything--the island, Kate’s character, Sawyer’s character--is a bit of a mystery to me. Also revealed: Cassidy was/is pregnant with a baby Sawyer. Again, not sure what to take from that, except that Sawyer will probably be one heck of a son of a bitch as a dad.

Earlier this week, I filed my review of Monday’s 24, in which I suggested that the episode felt pointless because the writers seemed to be vamping for a week to kill time between where the season is now and where it will eventually end up. In other words, they knew where the story was going and how long it would take to resolve it, then they did the math and realized they couldn’t really kick the season’s final act into gear quite yet, so they invented a couple of minor plot twists to keep the season on boil until it’s time to add the noodles, or whatever.

I feel the same vibe from "Left Behind." It doesn’t quite stand well on its own as a one-off episode, it has none of the strange Twilight Zone twists and wrinkles that previous episodes this season have displayed, and there are no major revelations about plot or character. Instead, all the pieces on the big TV game board skip around and rattle a little bit, the Smoke Monster makes a return appearance to provide an illusion of connection to the overall story, and then everything’s over.

To be fair, the Kate plot and flashbacks aren’t the only storyline in the episode. Back at the camp, Hurley convinces Sawyer that he needs to start being nicer to his fellow castaways, or they will vote him out of the "tribe." This relatively tiny character riff is an organic development that honestly should have come seasons ago. It fits the bill well as a supporting storyline that serves a rarely-seen function on Lost: It provides some laughs.

Remember when Lost was regularly funny? Loopy one-liners, Sawyer’s quips, Hurley’s "dude" reactions? I miss that side of Lost. We get a glimmer of it again this week, and it definitely has popped up from time to time in some of this season’s more stand-alone episodes. But man, if there ever was a show on television that could use a better sense of humor, it’s Lost.

The Hurley/Sawyer subplot illustrates another Lost reality, one that does set my Lost Vein a-tremblin’ just a bit: Even the most pointless of storylines and character developments are worth doing, if they’re done WELL. I’ve said it before, and I think it bears saying again--the worst sin Lost has committed on a regular basis this season is to be just BORING.

That’s really what’s most at fault with this week’s Kate flashback; it’s a snoozer. That’s especially disappointing since the writers spend so much time on it and thus take time away from both the amusing Hurley/Sawyer subplot and the far more insightful Kate/Juliet interaction to give us Kate dealing uninterestingly with her mommy issues.

Argh. Damn Internet Bitching Elbow acting up again. And I think I feel...yep, there it is. The Lost Vein is going strong. I better cut this short before I buy a handgun, wait seven days, hop on a plane to California, and fire random bullets into the air because I hate violence.

iTunes Links:

Lost Series
Lost Season 3
"Left Behind"

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.