WRITERS: Alison Shapker & Monica Breen DIRECTOR: Jack Bender
CAST: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr Eko), Matthew Fox (Jack), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Michael Emerson (Ben), Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliette), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Rodrigo Santoro (Paulo), Kiele Sanchez (Nikki), Adetokumboh M'Cormack (Yemi), Muna Otaru (Amina), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Emeka), Jermaine "Scooter" Smith (Daniel) & Andrew Divoff (Eyepatch Man)
A delirious Mr Eko wanders off to be with the body of his dead brother Yemi, while Locke leads a party to the Pearl Hatch in order to contact Jack, Sawyer and Kate...The penultimate episode of this special 6-episode "mini-series", before the show goes on extended hiatus till February, focuses on last year's most successful new addition to the show, Mr Eko.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's Mr Eko is a spiritual man with a violent past, and this juxtaposition has resulted in some great tension in his interaction with people, not to mention some of the more emotionally satisfying flashback stories.
The Cost Of Living continues Mr Eko's flashback immediately after his brother Yemi is gunned down during a drug-trafficing operation, leaving Eko to assume his priesthood and return to his brother's village. As Mr Eko wrestles with his involvement in his beloved brother's death, he soon has to face his darker side when local gangsters arrive to take away the village's Red Cross drugs.
As the show's flashbacks wane in quality, it's always a delight when an episode genuinely entertains in this respect. Mr Eko's troubled history was a highlight last year, and while this episode doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know about him, it's nonetheless an entertaining story beautifully performed by Akinnuoye-Agbaje.
Elsewhere, Locke leads a team to the Pearl Hatch, hoping to use its technology to get a message to their missing friends. This plan of action isn't particularly logical (do they really think Jack and company will be logged on to a DHARMA terminal as captives?) I know Walt somehow managed to contact his dad last year (was it Walt, anyway?), but nobody else knows this communication even took place! Anyway, it's one of those frivolous ideas that requires suspension of disbelief.
The writing by Alison Shapker & Monica Breen (ex-writers of Alias and Charmed) is pretty good. It's nice to see the sense of adventure and exploration back to Lost, even if we don't go anywhere new, and the story moves at a good pace. However, bizarre lapses in storytelling are noticeable, particularly with Sayid's arrival back at the beach camp (where are Jin and Sun?), and characters yet again failing to talk to each other about their movements and findings.
For example, I'm very frustrated that Hurley hasn't properly related the seriousness of Jack, Kate and Sawyer's situation, or told anyone of Walt and Michael's departure! Also, does anyone else thing that when Walt was kidnapped last year, it caused more upset than losing three people has (even when one is the camp's only doctor and self-appointed leader!)
Lost has often annoyed me with how its characters fail to talk to one another properly, or perceive situations with less importance than viewers of the show. The finale of last year contained several massive events, but the fallout has almost been brushed under the carpet in season 3, and not explained particularly well.
But, back The Cost Of Living, which is most notable for its entertaining flashbacks to Africa, and a smattering of island mythology. The "smoke monster" makes a spectacular return, and its long-rumoured "shape-shifting" ability is practically confirmed, while the Pearl Station reveals another piece of the puzzle that ties in with last year's discovery of a glass eye...
One aspect of the episode worthy of discussion is how new characters Nikki and Paulo finally get involved in the action. Now, I'm of the opinion that introducing new characters in season 3 isn't particularly necessary. It will be even more tiresome if said characters have flashbacks (but, if they do, please let them be as a neutral as Rose and Bernard's were last year, and not central to the overall mystery).
In The Cost Of Living, Nikki and Paulo are briefly used as avatars for new audiences, with Nikki commenting on things in a manner designed to explain things to newbies. Indeed, complication is a problem with a show like Lost, which its story now impenetrable to new viewers. If Nikki and Paulo are here to guide people through the tangleweed of plots, then it's an interesting move by the producers, but one that's doomed to failure.
Sometimes the strength of Lost episodes isn't gauged by the quality of its writing and performances, but by how much of the overall mystery is revealed (or, usually, expanded upon). Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje does his usual good work and both his stories are well-written and involving, whereas the Pearl plot is a bit slapdash. However, the episode pushes a number of subplots along (including Jack's discover of the spinal x-ray last week), and should be commended for making some headway.
This has certainly been the most revelatory episodes of season 3 so far, and one that also contains an incredibly brave (or unfortunate?) moment of fate for one of the survivors...
