SPOILER ALERT!
Number of episodes / Days it took me: 14 / 13 (Pathetic! In the good old days I would've been done with it in a day.)
What goes on on season 4: A group of scientists from the freighter parachute into the island and for a while they pretend they're gonna save our friends, but of course they aren't. There're some differences and they split up to Team Jack and Team John. Then some real E V I L guys with bad-ass super guns come to capture Ben and kill everyone else. There's some shooting and other shady business, but luckily Ben turns a wheel and the island disappears and everyone's happy! Also, Desmond travels to 1996, but only temporarily, Jin's English is improving FAST, and Michael makes a comeback, which might have been an OMG moment, if the actor's name hadn't been in the opening credit for the whole season. (I never thought Mike as a particularly cool character, but this season he kind of is.) Then we say goodbye to Claire and never again see her without a wig.
Coolest new characters: Despite the harsh title of the post, there are a few characters that prove themselves quite worthy, though most of them only later on. Of course there's Miles "Awesome, the ship sent us another Sawyer" Straume, Frank "Yahoo" Lapidus and Martin "What does it look like we're doing? We're shooting things" Keamy. And then there's Daniel "Half the stuff he says goes way over my head. The other half goes way, way over" Faraday. Charlotte is okay, too, I guess, but I can't come up with a good quote to describe her.
Coolest story lines: The most interesting thing this season is to follow the forming of the Oceanic 6. You know, who got rescued and what happened to them. It's also a joy to watch Ben work his magic - manipulating, talking his way out of tough spots and getting what he wants... most of the time.
Coolest foreshadowing: Dan and the cards, implying that there's something wrong with his memory. Hmm. + Time-travelling 101. "You can't change the future" and so on. + The name of Dan's rat is Eloise. + Charles Widmore's connection to the island. Him buying the logbook of the Black Rock and saying to Ben that the Island is his, it always was. + "Nice day for a swim" and Juliet and Sawyer getting drunk after the freighter explodes. So the bonding begins... Me likes.
Coolest character developments: Ben, probably. He goes through a lot - he's a captive, he talks himself free, he watches his daughter get killed and finally he does an unusually selfless thing and leaves the island to rescue it (sure, just before that he caused the death of a boatful of people, but anyway...). We also find out he has/had a serious crush on Juliet, which is weird and also creepy. It's also cool that in the flash-forwards we meet Hugo crazier and darker than ever. Good old fun-time Hurley is only a distant memory...
The "...meh" moments of the season: Something Nice Back Home and Jack's appendix. That was a totally boring plot for an episode, especially at this point. OMG I wonder if Jack's going to die of a ruptured appendix!! + The beginning of the season wasn't very good. I'm especially disappointed at the opening shot - no eye! Just mangoes, or papayas, or whatever that fruit was. A funny opening, yeah, but I wanted the tradition to keep on going... (Anyway, it's cool that Hurley got the opening episode.)
The "OMGSFRgtrh"#¤#T%TY!!!11" moments of the season: Sayid's hair in the flashforwards. OMG man, who's your hairdresser? Also, he's working for Ben. How did that happen? + Kate is Aaron's fake mum in the future! So where's Claire? + The end of Ji Yeon as we learn they tricked us with mixed flashbacks and forwards and Jin never got off the island. + Karl and Danielle are shot. That was a fast and brutal ending for those characters... + And the person in the coffin is... OH MY GOD, HOW DID _HE_ END UP IN THERE??
The "WHAT-THE-F..." moments of the season: The polar bear skeleton in the desert. + Ben waking up in the middle of the same desert, wearing a lovely, warm parka. + Ben somehow 'summoning' the monster. (It was weird then, but after seeing the last season it's pretty cool.) + Christian and Claire in 'Jacob's' cabin. The brainwash has already begun! + "He wants us to move the island." Um, okay? + Hurley playing chess with dead people. "Checkmate, Mr. Eko." That was creepy. + Ben turns the 'Frozen Donkey Wheel' (after saying: "I hope you're happy now, Jacob." Gee, that Jacob must be quite a character...) and the island vanishes. Alrighty then...
The "snifsnif" moments of the season: People grieving over Charlie's death. Especially Hurley's sorrow is always hard to swallow. + The phone call in The Constant. Oh dear god what a scene. Des&Pen is true love, y'all. + Sun on Jin's grave in the end of Ji Yeon. + The death of Alex. That's just the most brutal death in the whole series. For once, talking didn't get Ben out of a tricky situation. And the last words she heard were his father saying that she means nothing to him. That Keamy is an E V I L dude... + Oceanic 6 reuniting with their families. I was supposed to place this under the "...meh" category, because I always thought that was a bit anticlimactic, considering how long we'd been waiting for that moment. But this time it made me teary, so I guess it's a "snifsnif" moment, then. + Jin (and the freighter) go BOOM. Sun's reaction makes it sad, despite the events of next season.
The "HAHAHAHAHA" moments of the season: Miles when pointed out he doesn't seem too affected by Naomi's death: "Sure I'm affected. She was hot and I dug her accent." + "Can you fix it?" Sayid: "I need a minute." Just classic, haha. The gadget is literally slaughtered to death but Sayid needs only a minute. + As the freighter people attack the Barracks, Sawyer tells a man to go back inside and right after he gets shot. Alright, not funny, but it happens three times in a row - "Get back inside, now!" Bang. "Get back inside!" Bang. "Go back!" Bang bang. Haha. + John gives Hurley a box of crackers from Ben's stash and Ben tells Hurley they are 15 years old AFTER he's stuffed his mouth full of them. Aw, Ben. + "Jesus Christ is not a weapon!" Aw, Carmen Reyes. + Sawyer, Hugo and John in a seemingly tense strategic conversation, and then Sawyer says he's attacking Siperia. Haha. + Rose: "Who told you you can eat those peanuts?" Miles: "May I eat these peanuts?" And Miles to Dan as he's trying to signal he wants to talk to him: "Something wrong with your neck?" Ah, Miles The Awesome is emerging! + Frank as the helicopter's fuel tank is leaking: "I'd feel a hell of a lot better if we were a few hundred pounds lighter." And cut to Hurley looking awkward. Haha, ouch.
The "awwwwww" moments of the season: Hurley doing a canonball. + Charlie visiting Hugo. Some wouldn't consider it particularly aww, but I just love seeing those two together again. Charlie slapping Hugo and all that. Aww, I miss him. (And Dom looks pretty good in the scene.) + The Lost Christmas Special, meaning The Constant and the Christmas tree in Penny's house as the make the phone call. So damn sweet. + Jin & Bernard and the marriage talk. + Sawyer worrying about Hurley: "You harm as much as one hair on his curly head, I'll kill you." Aww. LaFleur is on the way. + And of course, Ben and Hurley sharing the Apollo bar. (Or granola bar or whatever.) That was totally random, but aww I love that little moment. They would make a good team. Woudn't they...? + Ben saying goodbye to John: "I'm sorry I made your life so miserable." He actually sounds completely sincere for the first time ever. Don't know if he was. + The reunion of Pen and Des. Aww, damn, the joy is killing me!
The "WHOO! Kick ass!" moment of the season: Sawyer going Rambo - fighting a group of professional soldiers with supermega guns, by hiding behind garden furniture and shooting with his little handgun. I call that kick-ass.
The moments I can't fit under any other category but want to mention anyway because they are simply awesome: Jack lying for Kate in court. + In The Shape of Things to Come there's a wonderful little moment as Ben learns the Freighter people are attacking the Barracks: he pulls a gun out of some secret hiding place, Sawyer goes like WHOA and reaches for his own gun, but Ben just hands it to him without paying any attention to his reaction or breaking off the hasty instructions he's giving. I just like that moment. + The Oceanic 6 press conference. + Claire's mum telling Jack his father had a daughter and that daughter was on the plane, too. And then she goes and tells Kate she has a lovely baby. Ouch. + Jack and John meet after a whole season and have another cool chat about destiny. Then John tells Jack that he will regret leaving the island and that they are gonna have to lie. John always knows best! + Sawyer being a hero - jumping off the chopper to save the others.
This post is becoming ridiculously long considering the season has only 14 episodes, but I have to add a paragraph of its own for the scenes with John and Ben in the Orchid station. Because there're a million great moments in those scenes! Or at least... five. 1) Going down in the elevator. Silence. John: "How deep is this station?" Silence. Ben: "Deep." Silence. 2) John: "Is THIS the magic box?" Ben, annoyed: "No, John, it isn't." Forget the damn magic box, I was just messing with your head! Haha. 3) John, after watching the Orchid orientation video: "Was he talking about what I think he was talking about?" Ben, with a amazingly straight face: "If you mean time-travelling bunnies, then yes." A line like that proves that Lost is kind of a unique TV show, doesn't it? Haha, awesome... 4) John, as Ben keeps carrying metal objects in the time-travel device: "You know he said specifically not to put anything metal in there?" Ben nods, slowly, in a how-dumb-do-you-think-I-am kind of way. And finally, 5) after Ben lethally stabs Keamy, and thus triggers the bomb in the freighter, John says, horrified: "You just killed everyone on that boat!" And Ben just goes: "So?" Oh Ben, the lovely Ben.
A few more random but ever so awesome quotes: John about surviving Ben's attempt to shoot him: "I'd probably be dead if I still had a kidney there." + Dan's diary: "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant." + Juliet: "It's very stressful being an Other." + Ben about a rabbit John's cooked him: "This didn't have a number on in, did it?" + Ben to Michael on the phone after he's agreed to work for him: "Then consider yourself one of the good guys." + Ben: "Because destiny, John, is a fickle bitch." + Jack when returning to the 'real world': "It's okay. They think that we are in shock." Sun: "We are in shock, Jack."
Dumbest Jack moment of the season: He's shaved his chest. Why, man?
Funniest Sawyer nickname of the season: Yoda, meaning Ben, of course. And Yahoo. Because that fits Frank so well. No offence, of course.
Best openings: Cabin Fever - we see a young girl preparing to go out, dressed in 60s clothes and listening to 60s music. She's hit by a car and in the hospital she gives birth to a boy she wants to name John. + There's No Place Like Home pt 2, continuing the 'Jack and Kate meet at the airport' scene from season 3 finale.
Best endings: The Other Woman (I like that clever title, by the way!) - the previously captive Ben strides cheerfully to his house, smiling at Hugo and Sawyer (who look quite puzzled) and singing out: "See you guys at dinner!" + TNPLH pt 1 - the O6 scattered all around and Ben surrendering to Keamy, ever so cooly. And then there's that quote that just defines Ben quite perfectly: "How many times do I have to tell you, John? I always have a plan."
Best special features: The There's No Place Like Home pt 2-3 commentary by Darlton. It's funny! + The Island Backlot : Lost in Hawaii, describing how they turn Hawaii into Tunisia, Iraq, Korea, Berlin... Those people are quite handy!
Best of the Blooper Reel: "...I'm not making much sense, am I?" When do you, Daniel, when do you? + "This is Kate, this is Sun, this is Naveen... Oh fuck." + Des and Jin running. And screaming. In a girly way. + That sound Josh Holloway makes as Kate says: "I'm not moving in with you." Hilarious! + The same guy posing with the backgammon board. + "If I was a dictator, I would just shoot you and go about my day." That's an awesome line anyway. Oh, these guys... This could be the funniest blooper reel of them all.
Best episode: The Constant, of course. I haven't said much about it, except for the phone call, but it should be praised, a lot! However, I'm only going to praise it a little, this time. Desmond is awesome and Henry Ian Cusick is awesome and whoever edited the episode is awesome. I love how the transitions have been made! It's simply an awesome episode. One of the best, if not the one. Also, The Shape of Things to Come, Cabin Fever (cool things like Richard in John's flashbacks, the teenage John - who was already familiar with the character's catch phrase - and all the talk between John and Ben...) and There's No Place Like Home.
The question I wanted aswered but they never were: What are the rules between Ben and Widmore...?
The quote to summarize season 4: "Rescuing you and your people... I can't really say it's our primary objective."
Overall how it felt like to watch season 4 again: Season 4 is a mini season (because of the damn writers' strike), which I think has a negative effect on the overall coherence of it. They obviously had to change some plans, and it seems like the season is missing something. It might sound a bit mental, but I''ve always felt a bit distanced from season 4 - by 'distanced' I mean distanced in the same way you might feel distanced from a person. It just never felt as close to me as the other seasons. (Ah, the joys of blogging! Nowhere else could I have claimed I feel distanced from a season of a TV series, without getting funny looks. Thanks for understanding. If you do. Haha.) Anyway, despite the weak early episodes and the fact that my marathon was stuck for days because I didn't feel like watching Meet Kevin Johnson, season four is good, and interesting, mixing flashbacks, flash-forwards and some time-travel. And it has The Constant and The Constant has the best scene (emotionally, at least. One of the best, at least) ever, I dare say.
What's next: My Season 6 box set arrived today, and suddenly I'm in a hurry to get season 5 over and done with! Season 5 is very enjoyable, too, but I just can't wait for the never-seen-before extras and commentaries! That's the last Lost-related thing ever I can wait for and then that's that. Boohoo, I have to say goodbye one more time! (At the same time, as I paid the bill today, I was glad it was the last time ever I have to spend money for this purpose. Gee, good shows make you poor.) But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Next, some crazy time-travel, yippee!
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