WRITERS: Elizabeth Sarnoff & Damon Lindelof DIRECTOR: Karen Gaviola
CAST: Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Matthew Fox (Jack), Shawn Lathrop (Federal Agent), Bill Ogilvie (Andrew Meader), Fredric Lane (The Marshall) Beth Broderick (Diane) & Kim Dickens (Cassidy)
Kate awakens in the jungle, handcuffed to Juliet, after being gassed by the Others. At the beach, Hurley persuades Sawyer to make amends for his past behaviour...Girl power is the how to best describe Left Behind (co-written and directed by women and focusing on two of the best female characters -– Kate and Juliet). This is a solid character-building episode with some excellent interplay between Kate and Juliet (handcuffed together in the jungle), a look at the fractured relationship between Kate and her mother (via flashbacks) and some light-hearted comedy with Sawyer and Hurley.
Elizabeth Mitchell continues to impress as Juliet, easily the best new character since Michael Emerson was captured in the hatch last year. She has a sparkle and mystique that's fun to watch and the fact she's been "left behind" by her colleagues is interesting. Is it all an elaborate ploy by the Others? Is she a mole being sent to gather intelligence on the losties? Or has she genuinely been cast into the wilderness by her people?
Likewise, Evangeline Lilly is always good value; despite the fact her character's flashbacks are becoming more listless as time passes. Here, it's modestly interesting to see how her relationship with her mother soured after she murdered her stepfather, but fans will be more intrigued by yet another "coincidence" -- in the shape of Sawyer's ex-girlfriend Cassidy (Kim Dickens) teaming up with Kate.
The island adventure is nicely divided this episode, with Kate and Juliet getting some enjoyable scenes together. Fans will particularly revel in another appearance of the show's "smoke monster", which reveals some interesting new elements to mull over. Mitchell and Lilly make for a spiky partnership (both women clearly infatuated with Jack) and the frosty atmosphere is good fun.
On the beach, comedy alleviates tension from the main storylines, with Hurley informing Sawyer that he faces banishment unless he starts making amends for his past behaviour. Josh Holloway can always be relied on to give good performances and the sight of Sawyer turning over a new leaf (no matter how temporary it's likely to be) is amusing to watch. It may irritate some how the writers seem keen to "neuter" Sawyer's character increasingly, with him losing bets and generally acting more friendly this season, but I'm sure he'll revert back to form soon enough...
Overall, Left Behind is a fine piece of entertainment that adds to the recent upswing in quality. There seems to be direction and momentum to the show at last, with recent episodes all nudging along the important plots whilst leaving space for character-based developments.
Left Behind is a good example of how to please most people; with good character interplay, nuggets of mythology and some enjoyable comedy interludes. As is increasingly common, the flashbacks are the weak link in the chain, offering very little in the way of fresh information -– but that's a minor complaint.
