Lost: Let's Talk About Six

Well, I'm actually kinda glad I forced myself to plow through the season 3 DVD set in six days over the course of the last week.

As I've mentioned before, when writing about this show, I'm not going to get too much into complicated theories, or symbolism, etc. I'll let people who are much smarter than me get into that. Consider this the common man's "Lost" recaps.

Anyway, binging on the show got me geared up and, more importantly, caught up for the Season 4 premiere, which (as the show is prone to do) began with a nice little fakeout. "The Beginning of the End" opened with a shot of fruits and a clear, blue sky in the background. Hell, they even threw in some seagulls to make us think we were still on the island.

Of course that idyllic image was broken up in a hurry as a car busted through, leading the police on a chase. Now here's where my binging on "Lost" paid off immediately. As soon as I saw from the helicopter shots that the police were following a Camaro, I remembered that Hurley had a Camaro that he'd been working on with his dad (Cheech Marin) ever since he was a kid. So, the reveal that the driver was Hurley (pictured, right) wasn't a shock.

What WAS interesting about this sequence — other than Jack somehow seeming to recognize it was Hurley (on Action 8 — numbers alert! — News) from his Camaro (I guess he finds out about Hurley's car at some point in the future) — is, of course, Hurley screaming that he was one of the Oceanic Six. When the show shocked us in last year's finale and revealed that our beloved castaways got off the island, our minds (or mine at least) logically went to "who else is off the island?" (other than Jack and Kate). Now we find out there are apparently six (assuming that's what "Oceanic Six" refers to).

Since this seems poised to be one of the show's major mysteries moving forward, I'll get into it more in depth at a later time. Also, there was so a ton of terrific stuff in this premiere I want to get to, and I've already spent three grafs on the opening sequence!

My favorite thing about the premiere was probably that, unlike the Season 2 and 3 openers, it featured pretty much every character. In the past, the castaways have been fractured and the show's taken its time (sometimes two or three episodes) catching everyone up.

While not everyone got a chance to shine, this episode skillfully incorporated major characters — captive Ben is manipulative as ever, and hilarious, while Sawyer sincerely tried to console Hurley, and still seems shaken from the killing he's done lately: I only counted one nickname (calling Desmond "Scotty") — and smaller players — Rose IS a saucy old broad. (Quick side note: am I the only one who thought that she was inferring that Claire should give Charlie, not only sex for his heroics, but a bj? It's probably just me.)

My second favorite thing about this episode was Jorge Garcia's fantastic performance (probably his best work on this show). On the island, his sense of glee from being rescued (cannonball!) quickly and convincingly turned to sorrow when he found out about Charlie's death. He also became more forceful and assertive, insisting they heed Charlie's warning and stepping up to be the one to tell Claire about his death. In fact, he was so good that he made me believe Charlie's death hit him harder than it did Claire (then again, I always got the vibe that Charlie was much more into Claire than vice versa).

At first, I thought it was kind of weird that they'd build the season premiere around a character who's mostly comic relief, but Garcia's Emmy-worthy performance blasted any doubt I may have had away.

During his flashforward, he met up with Ana Lucia's old partner (random — even for this show) and was happy to be put in a mental institution. Of course, he received a visit from the last person I expected to see Deputy Cedric Daniels from "The Wire" (actor Lance Reddick). Of course, he introduced himself as Matthew Abaddon an attorney for Oceanic, but quickly revealed his mysterious colors when he pushed Hurley by asking "Are they alive?" Reddick is a terrific actor and he really worked this part. Can't wait to see more of him.

Of course, he turned out to be the second-to-last person I expected to see in a Hurley flash forward as Charlie himself (looking great! Death agrees with him) stopped by to tell Hurley that "they need you, Hugo". Of course, after my mind ceased being blown from Charlie's presence, I realized Charlie's most intriguing line was actually "I AM dead, and I'm here." Not quite sure if he's simply a ghost or a vision of Hurley's since his fellow patient also appeared to able to see Charlie.

That was only the second most chilling moment (I'm telling you, this episode was loaded!) as Hurley's visit to Jacob's cabin takes the top prize. We appeared to see the old man sitting in his rocking chair, only he appeared to look more than a bit like Jack's dad. Hurley's visit was interrupted by an eyeball peeking through the window leading Hurley (and me) to give out a frightened little squeal. It turned out to be Locke's eye (I think) who'd been in the cabin with Jacob (cool way to reintroduce the character, who is now totally recovered from being gut-shot).

Toward the end of the episode, we got some more Jack vs. Locke drama as Locke re-emerged to warn the castaways of their apparent rescuers and we found out that Jack really meant it when he said he was going to kill Locke. Sure, it seemed a bit over-the-top (and harsh) that Jack would want to kill Locke, but, from the good doctor's perspective, seeing as how Locke has repeatedly sabotaged his attempts at escape, I can see how stuff has built up — we KNOW Jack is an intense guy. The fact Locke's gun wasn't loaded (the same one he pointed at Jack last year) also makes sense — it explains why he threw a knife at Naomi to stop her from making the call even though he had a gun in his hand.

In fact, the only thing I wasn't into at all was Naomi surviving her injuries (and dying in the same episode anyway) for no other purpose than to have her fix the phone when the signal wasn't working (or something). Still, that's a minor complaint for a fantastic episode that also featured some solid humor — "I'm thinking of growing a beard" — and that has me excited about the upcoming season, and sad that only eight episodes are completed.

So what did you think of the premiere? What mystery did I neglect to mention? Finally who are the Oceanic 6? I was both pleased and a little frustrated that, when the castaways split up in the final scene, Hurley and five other people weren't left in one corner. Would've made things a lot easier, but I'll really enjoy guessing. Right now I'm guessing Jack, Kate, Hurley and three more people left everybody else behind and need to go back to rescue(?) them.