LOST Season 4: Episode 2

Warning: this post contains contents about LOST Season 4: Episode 2 (if you didn't guess that by the title, then now you know). This article may contain spoilers. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

Let me start out by saying that this show is crazy. Crazy amazing and crazy confusing! I'm pretty sure that every episode introduces several new questions, and I am looking forward to the day that those questions are finally answered. (Seriously though, what is that crazy black smoke monster? I've been wondering this since Season 1, and I thought they were going to answer that question last night, but I was greatly disappointed).

Last night's episode of LOST was intriguing, to say the least, as we are introduced to new characters and forced to question the motives of these "rescuers".

Let's take a closer look at these new characters...


Daniel is the first "rescuer" that we are introduced to. He is the first to parachute down and find Jack and Kate. In a flashback, we see him crying in front of the TV when the news reporter announces that they found Oceanic Flight 815 on the bottom of the ocean floor, and all passengers have been proclaimed dead. When his wife asks him why he's crying, he responds "I don't know."

I can't help but like this guy a little. When other members of his team show some violence toward the islanders, Daniel shows some compassion, and you can see that he really doesn't want to harm anyone (at least that's my impression).

Miles, on the other hand, I don't really care for so much. In a flashback, we see that he is some sort of paranormal investigator. He goes to an older woman's house, and she pays him $200 to go up into her grandson's (who was murdered) bedroom to investigate. He goes up, turns on a strange device that makes some sort of white noise, and then talks to the empty room as though he were talking to the spirit of the dead grandson. He tells the "spirit" that he is hurting his grandmother by staying there, and he wants him to leave...but first the spirit must tell him where "it" is. There is some sound over by the bookcase, and Miles pushes it aside to find a paper bag with a bunch of cash and a little bag of powder (probably drugs) in it. He then tells the grandson's spirit that he can leave now. Miles keeps the cash and leaves (after giving the grandmother $100 back, and telling her that her grandson is at peace now).

Sketchy.

On the island, we see that he is the hot head of the new group, and can be somewhat violent. Based on first impressions, I don't really like the dude.

Charlotte appears to be an archaeologist (or maybe an anthropologist?), as we first meet her (during a flashback) in Tunisia at an archaeological dig. There, she sees the bones of what, at first, appears to be a dinosaur. Under closer examination, they see that it is a polar bear. Charlotte digs around in the dust surrounding the remains, and finds what appears to be a collar...with a DHARMA Initiative logo on it. (Whaaaaaaat???) Let me point out that Charlotte smiled when she saw that logo. She did not look upon it with a puzzled face...she smiled, as though it was not unfamiliar to her. Hmmm...

Back on the island, Charlotte seems rather sweet and innocent. After parachuting, she is "captured" by Locke's gang of followers, because they don't trust her or her team.

Frank (in a flashback) is watching TV, when the news report of the discovery of Flight 815 comes on. It shows a graphic view of the plane underwater, and shows what they claim to be the pilot. Frank quickly picks up the phone and dials the number for the Oceanic hotline and demands to talk with a supervisor. He then tells them that the person who was pictured on the news was not the pilot. When asked why, he said that he knew the pilot, and the pilot always wore his wedding ring...and the dead body pictured did not have a wedding band on its hand. When questioned further, he said that he knew this because he knew the pilot well and he was supposed to be piloting Flight 815 the day that it crashed. (dun dun DUN!)

In the final flashback we see Naomi talking with the so-called Oceanic lawyer who met with Hurley in the nut house during last week's episode. The "Oceanic lawyer", who is named Matthew Abbadon (yes, I had to look that name up), is giving Naomi a team...and sets down the pictures of Daniel, Miles, Charlotte, and Frank. She doesn't think that this team is a good choice, because none of them have military experience, and that they will be unprotected. Abbadon tells her that she is their protection and that each of the team members were chosen for a specific reason.

At the end of the episode, we find out that the "rescue" team is not there for the survivors of Flight 815. They are there for Ben.

And the plot thickens, my friends...

What do they want with Ben?

What are the specific reasons that each of those team members were chosen?

Can we trust them at all?

If you have any speculations concerning any of the questions or points that I have mentioned, then please do share! I would love to hear what you all think about all of this.