I call this one "Monster Ate the Pilot"
Alright, so I felt it was time to sit down and rewatch "Lost" from start to finish. I don't believe I have ever done it through all six years, though I have seen most of the episodes, especially the first few seasons, multiple times. I'm not sure if it's because of nostalgia or what but I felt like going through it again. Possibly to see the big picture--or to find that there never was a big picture.
Anyway...
Episode 1x1: Pilot pt. 1
Directed by: JJ Abrams
Written by: JJ Abrams, Damon Lindeloff, and Jeffrey Lieber
Airdate: 9-22-04
Summary: Plane crashes on a weird island.
Centric: Jack
Review:
I remember first coming to Lost. It was the end of my undergrad and I hadn't really been paying much attention to television at that time. For whatever reason, the early 2000s were nothing but a bursting of new reality shows (which, as a side note, I'm sad to say never really left). But what I was into at the time, and admit still loving, is/was Lord of the Rings. Yup, that's right, I started watching Lost because of Lord of the Rings. Or Dominic Monaghan to be more specific. LotR had just wrapped up and I was, at the time, not so much now, was following just about every actor in the trilogy. So, one of the little hobbits was on a new show. A new show that apparently was getting a lot of buzz.
So, not that I remember much about it, on Sept. 22nd, 2004, I sat down and watched the pilot of Lost. There aren't very many shows that I can claim that I watched from the beginning to end. I do remember my reaction afterwards. It was simply..."okay, I guess I'll watch." Lol. I never expected to actually become addicted to the show.
The opening shot/sequence is absolutely brilliantly done and one of the most fantastic things that I have ever seen on a TV show. (can't say Ive watched everything...but still...) The first 8 minutes, depicting the immediate aftermath of the crash, is just engaging. Every time I watch it, I my eyes are glued to the screen. I think it carries more weight, now that I know all the characters. But watching and not knowing anything, I think it's an intriguing and horrific thing to show right off the bat. It's intense and raw and is probably the best sequence in the history of the show. I suppose that means the show can never live up to it and, in a way, I suppose the spectacle is never topped, but I believe the epicness is always present.
It's amusing to me that with the 14 person character cast that only Jack, Kate and (to and extent) Charlie are developed. Some of them don't talk (Sawyer, Locke). Others seem to stem from cliches (the pregnant girl-Claire, the bitchy youths-Boone, Shannon, the obligatory cut off foreigners-Jin, Sun) At least Hurley and Sayid seem to stand out a little bit. I do realize that one of the beauties of Lost is the slow reveal of who these characters are via flashback, so I can forgive the lack of more in-depth introduction. Besides, the cast is huge and it would be almost impossible to introduce everyone all at once. The small snapshots of everyone seem adequate enough to form a first impression.
So, Jack a doctor and apparently a super-hero, as he's the only one with a clear/level head when helping to save everyone from the wreck. Everyone is standing around freaking out--as I assume would be the natural reaction to such a thing. Or maybe just the hero of this story. We haven't heard about his never ending daddy issues yet but he does cry when telling the tale of how he saved the girl on his first real surgery. Jack is likable enough at the beginning but seems somewhat generic. It isn't until the character is taken to crazy limits that I find him more enjoyable.
Kate is our female hero, who right off the bat, is already smitten with Jack. I'm not entirely sure why--Matthew Fox isn't going to look that decent until he grows his hair out in season five. But by that time, Kate's going to know he's crazy. Ah whatever, if there's one thing to know about Lost, it's that Kate never appears to do anything out of logic or reason. Anyway, my point is, the writers were attempting the start of an all epic romance here. Or course that ended up being 'big epic fail' but I thought I'd note that from the beginning it was obvious as to where it was going. Anyway, while I do like Evangeline Lilly, and find it unfortunate that she never gets anything to do, I find out of the main cast, Kate is the most irrelevant. I mean, does she actually do anything in this episode? I suppose she stitches up Jack--but other than that, not much.
Anyway, the basis of first half of the pilot is the forging friendship of these two characters and their adventures to find the cockpit. Charlie comes along for the ride as well, but there's no real reason for him to be there--I mean, true, its a plot point later on in the series, but I honestly think they wanted Dom Monaghan on screen as much as they could to market the show.
The ending sequence is shot almost like a horror film. I suppose after seeing it a few hundred times, it has since lost the creepiness factor, but the dead people in the cockpit, the rain, the spooky sound effects, and the realization that no one knows where they are since they were of course--all adds up to one hell of an eerie scene. I'd say this show succeeded in reeling in their audience.
I could talk about the smoke monster, but I'm not sure if I'm up to it. Right now, we don't even know it's a smoke monster, it's just strange noises on the island. I realize it's blasphemous to say, but I find the smoke monster one of the least intriguing aspects of the show and never really cared if it's identity was solved or not. Oh, and the monster "ate" the pilot.
Flashbacks:
There's only one FB in this episode and it belongs to Jack. Takes place right before the plane crashes. Not much to note, except the entrance of Rose, of the awesome Rose and Bernard couple. But it starts off the tradition of jumping around in time--slowly revealing the true lives of the characters--which to me, is an awesome storytelling device.
The Little Things:
*For a show based on a major disaster, I appreciate the small bits of humor we got throughout the episode. In fact, Lost will be known for having a humorous side.
*Locke, while not having any lines at all, is the only one to accept the rain fall--hence taking his place as the first believer of the island.
*I think Kate taking off the dead person's shoes is one of the creepiest moments in the show's history.
*One of my favorite scenes is when they all first hear the monster and stand up. It's like a nicely choreographed cast shot.
Favorite Quotes:
JACK: Stop! Her head's not tilted far back enough. You're blowing air into her stomach.
BOONE: You sure?
[Jack starts giving her mouth-to-mouth. ]
BOONE: That's exactly what I was doing. I'm a lifeguard. I'm licensed.
JACK: Yeah, well, you need to seriously think about giving that license back.
BOONE: Maybe we should do one of those hole things. You know, stick the pen in the throat?
JACK: Yeah, good idea. You go get me a pen.
JACK: Did you ever … patch a pair of jeans?
KATE: I, uhm, I made the drapes in my apartment.
What I actually find amusing about this exchange is the fact that Kate made her own drapes. When did she have time to do that between blowing up her dad and being on the run for years...
HURLEY: So, I was just looking inside the fuselage … It's pretty grim in there. You think we should do something about the, uh … [stopping and looking at Walt] b-o-d-y-s?
MICHAEL: What are you spelling, man? "Bodies"?
WALT: B-o-d-i-e-s.
Unanswered Questions:
You know, I thought it'd be interesting to list the questions that should have probably been answered on the show but as I was going through the pilot, I didn't find any that stuck out to me. I suppose on could ask what Rose thought the monster sounded like but I'm not sure that's all that relevant. And I believe the answer is the subway--because it sounds just like the New York trains.
Grade: A Holds up well even seven years later. The massive, movie like sequences are still quite fantastic and there's just something fun about going back to the beginning.
Trivia:
*Most expensive pilot shot at the time
*Jack was originally going to be killed off and Michael Keaton was going to play him. I know it can be endlessly debated whether or not this would be a good choice or not but I'm glad they kept him.
*Kate was originally going to be the main character and her husband would have been one of the tailies. They made this Rose and Bernard's storyline. While I find the idea incredibly romantic, I'm glad they didn't go that route knowing how poorly Kate's character ended up being.
I'm under the belief that each episode can be nitpicked apart and because these reviews are mainly for my own opinions on how I felt about watching the episode, I'm adding the lostpedia page for a reference to everything and anything more in-depth.
Lostpedia page: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Pilot,_Part_1
Anyway...
Episode 1x1: Pilot pt. 1
Directed by: JJ Abrams
Written by: JJ Abrams, Damon Lindeloff, and Jeffrey Lieber
Airdate: 9-22-04
Summary: Plane crashes on a weird island.
Centric: Jack
Review:
I remember first coming to Lost. It was the end of my undergrad and I hadn't really been paying much attention to television at that time. For whatever reason, the early 2000s were nothing but a bursting of new reality shows (which, as a side note, I'm sad to say never really left). But what I was into at the time, and admit still loving, is/was Lord of the Rings. Yup, that's right, I started watching Lost because of Lord of the Rings. Or Dominic Monaghan to be more specific. LotR had just wrapped up and I was, at the time, not so much now, was following just about every actor in the trilogy. So, one of the little hobbits was on a new show. A new show that apparently was getting a lot of buzz.
So, not that I remember much about it, on Sept. 22nd, 2004, I sat down and watched the pilot of Lost. There aren't very many shows that I can claim that I watched from the beginning to end. I do remember my reaction afterwards. It was simply..."okay, I guess I'll watch." Lol. I never expected to actually become addicted to the show.
The opening shot/sequence is absolutely brilliantly done and one of the most fantastic things that I have ever seen on a TV show. (can't say Ive watched everything...but still...) The first 8 minutes, depicting the immediate aftermath of the crash, is just engaging. Every time I watch it, I my eyes are glued to the screen. I think it carries more weight, now that I know all the characters. But watching and not knowing anything, I think it's an intriguing and horrific thing to show right off the bat. It's intense and raw and is probably the best sequence in the history of the show. I suppose that means the show can never live up to it and, in a way, I suppose the spectacle is never topped, but I believe the epicness is always present.
It's amusing to me that with the 14 person character cast that only Jack, Kate and (to and extent) Charlie are developed. Some of them don't talk (Sawyer, Locke). Others seem to stem from cliches (the pregnant girl-Claire, the bitchy youths-Boone, Shannon, the obligatory cut off foreigners-Jin, Sun) At least Hurley and Sayid seem to stand out a little bit. I do realize that one of the beauties of Lost is the slow reveal of who these characters are via flashback, so I can forgive the lack of more in-depth introduction. Besides, the cast is huge and it would be almost impossible to introduce everyone all at once. The small snapshots of everyone seem adequate enough to form a first impression.
So, Jack a doctor and apparently a super-hero, as he's the only one with a clear/level head when helping to save everyone from the wreck. Everyone is standing around freaking out--as I assume would be the natural reaction to such a thing. Or maybe just the hero of this story. We haven't heard about his never ending daddy issues yet but he does cry when telling the tale of how he saved the girl on his first real surgery. Jack is likable enough at the beginning but seems somewhat generic. It isn't until the character is taken to crazy limits that I find him more enjoyable.
Kate is our female hero, who right off the bat, is already smitten with Jack. I'm not entirely sure why--Matthew Fox isn't going to look that decent until he grows his hair out in season five. But by that time, Kate's going to know he's crazy. Ah whatever, if there's one thing to know about Lost, it's that Kate never appears to do anything out of logic or reason. Anyway, my point is, the writers were attempting the start of an all epic romance here. Or course that ended up being 'big epic fail' but I thought I'd note that from the beginning it was obvious as to where it was going. Anyway, while I do like Evangeline Lilly, and find it unfortunate that she never gets anything to do, I find out of the main cast, Kate is the most irrelevant. I mean, does she actually do anything in this episode? I suppose she stitches up Jack--but other than that, not much.
Anyway, the basis of first half of the pilot is the forging friendship of these two characters and their adventures to find the cockpit. Charlie comes along for the ride as well, but there's no real reason for him to be there--I mean, true, its a plot point later on in the series, but I honestly think they wanted Dom Monaghan on screen as much as they could to market the show.
The ending sequence is shot almost like a horror film. I suppose after seeing it a few hundred times, it has since lost the creepiness factor, but the dead people in the cockpit, the rain, the spooky sound effects, and the realization that no one knows where they are since they were of course--all adds up to one hell of an eerie scene. I'd say this show succeeded in reeling in their audience.
I could talk about the smoke monster, but I'm not sure if I'm up to it. Right now, we don't even know it's a smoke monster, it's just strange noises on the island. I realize it's blasphemous to say, but I find the smoke monster one of the least intriguing aspects of the show and never really cared if it's identity was solved or not. Oh, and the monster "ate" the pilot.
Flashbacks:
There's only one FB in this episode and it belongs to Jack. Takes place right before the plane crashes. Not much to note, except the entrance of Rose, of the awesome Rose and Bernard couple. But it starts off the tradition of jumping around in time--slowly revealing the true lives of the characters--which to me, is an awesome storytelling device.
The Little Things:
*For a show based on a major disaster, I appreciate the small bits of humor we got throughout the episode. In fact, Lost will be known for having a humorous side.
*Locke, while not having any lines at all, is the only one to accept the rain fall--hence taking his place as the first believer of the island.
*I think Kate taking off the dead person's shoes is one of the creepiest moments in the show's history.
*One of my favorite scenes is when they all first hear the monster and stand up. It's like a nicely choreographed cast shot.
Favorite Quotes:
JACK: Stop! Her head's not tilted far back enough. You're blowing air into her stomach.
BOONE: You sure?
[Jack starts giving her mouth-to-mouth. ]
BOONE: That's exactly what I was doing. I'm a lifeguard. I'm licensed.
JACK: Yeah, well, you need to seriously think about giving that license back.
BOONE: Maybe we should do one of those hole things. You know, stick the pen in the throat?
JACK: Yeah, good idea. You go get me a pen.
JACK: Did you ever … patch a pair of jeans?
KATE: I, uhm, I made the drapes in my apartment.
What I actually find amusing about this exchange is the fact that Kate made her own drapes. When did she have time to do that between blowing up her dad and being on the run for years...
HURLEY: So, I was just looking inside the fuselage … It's pretty grim in there. You think we should do something about the, uh … [stopping and looking at Walt] b-o-d-y-s?
MICHAEL: What are you spelling, man? "Bodies"?
WALT: B-o-d-i-e-s.
Unanswered Questions:
You know, I thought it'd be interesting to list the questions that should have probably been answered on the show but as I was going through the pilot, I didn't find any that stuck out to me. I suppose on could ask what Rose thought the monster sounded like but I'm not sure that's all that relevant. And I believe the answer is the subway--because it sounds just like the New York trains.
Grade: A Holds up well even seven years later. The massive, movie like sequences are still quite fantastic and there's just something fun about going back to the beginning.
Trivia:
*Most expensive pilot shot at the time
*Jack was originally going to be killed off and Michael Keaton was going to play him. I know it can be endlessly debated whether or not this would be a good choice or not but I'm glad they kept him.
*Kate was originally going to be the main character and her husband would have been one of the tailies. They made this Rose and Bernard's storyline. While I find the idea incredibly romantic, I'm glad they didn't go that route knowing how poorly Kate's character ended up being.
I'm under the belief that each episode can be nitpicked apart and because these reviews are mainly for my own opinions on how I felt about watching the episode, I'm adding the lostpedia page for a reference to everything and anything more in-depth.
Lostpedia page: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Pilot,_Part_1
Labels: lost
posted by spaceorphan @ 10:56 PM
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