Thoughts on “Trisha Tanaka” episode

In most cases, I agree with the consensus on The Fuselage fan site about each episode, but this time, I don’t seem to. Most people strongly felt last night’s Lost episode was good to great. I think this has more to do with returning to the beach and focusing on Hurley, a character most everyone likes, than the overall importance or quality of the show.

I too am glad they returned to the beach. A too enjoyed learning more about Hurley, and listening to him “dude” and “awesome” his way through an hour. However, what did we learn of any importance? Kate’s partnership with Rousseau was so telegraphed in last week’s preview, it might as well have been sponsored by Western Union. We now know Hurley doesn’t believe there’s a curse, and thankfully Charley didn’t die, but seriously, we can’t be washed of the significance of the numbers that simply, can we?

It definitely was better than last week, but nothing close to the Desmond-centric “flashes” episode. Is it too much to expect that level of quality, intensity and significance every week? Maybe so. However, I feel like if HBO can do it week-in and week-out with Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Rome, etc., network TV can do it with one show. For those poised to argue the difference is HBO’s liberty with F-bombs and boobage, please see the entire catalog of crappy horror films in the past couple of decades. Profanity and nudity don’t make a good show. Consistently high-quality writing, combined with a strong overarching storyline make good TV.

Back to Lost: We’re now deep into season three, and we seem no closer to any answers about:
The smoke monster
The numbers (I think Hurley’s “revelation” is a red herring)
Dharma/Hanso/Widmore/Mittelwerk
What are the Others doing there?
Where’s the “other” group of others, ie, the hut-dwellers?
What about Adam and Eve?
What about the plane? The hot air balloon? Black Rock ship? how did they get there?
What about Penelope Widmore’s search crew, who supposedly saw the magnetic disturbance at the end of season two?
Where did Walt and Michael go? If that isn’t resolved or revisited, I’m going to hurt someone.
Now we have the Clockwork Orange station where Karl was held. What’s going on there?
Who the heck is Jacob?
How baout the four-toed statue?

And so on, and so on. The writers have a responsibility to tie up some of the existing loose ends before introducing new ones. I think they risk the lingering sense of a wild goose chase if they don’t offer some resolution, and I really hope they focus on some of the greater mythology in the near future.

Next week’s looks promising, though I say that every week.

All that having been said, I did enjoy the show last night. I just didn’t feel like it got me any closer to understanding some things I have wanted to know for upwards of a year now. There’s a fine line between being mysterious and being dull and disjointed. I can only hope we’re not heading toward the latter with Lost. If so, my hope is they’ll end it after three years and count their losses. However, if they can bring some of the big-picture storyline stuff back in and make us feel like we’re going somewhere, there’s plenty of opportunity to continue for seasons four, five or more.