Writers: Elizabeth Sarnoff & Brian K. Vaughan
Director: Stephen Williams
Cast: Harold Perrineau (Michael), Ken Leung (Miles), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Michael Emerson (Ben), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Tania Raymonde (Alex Rousseau), Mira Furlan (Danielle Rousseau), Cynthia Watros (Libby), M.C. Gainey (Tom Friendly), Blake Bashoff (Karl), Marsha Thomason (Naomi), Kevin Durand (Keamy), Anthony Azizi (Omar), Fisher Stevens (George Minkowski), Grant Bowler (Captain Gault), Galyn Gorg (Nurse), Jill Kuramoto (Female Anchor) & Starletta DuPois (Mrs. Dawson)
Sayid forces Michael to explain why he's working undercover aboard the freighter...
It's the last episode before a quick break, until the last episodes of this strike-shortened fourth season, and Meet Kevin Johnson promises big revelations regarding the fate of Michael (Harold Perrineau), who earned freedom from the island way back in season 2's finale. Sadly, while interesting and pleasantly perplexing at times, there's very little here you couldn't have guessed...
The problem facing Lost's writers is trying to constantly sidestep audience expectations, particularly a fan-base who predict events with increasing accuracy. As such, a few of season 4's big revelations have been painfully obvious from the start (Charles Widmore owns the freighter, Michael was Ben's spy), and characters have been discovering things the audience already know.
We open with Locke (Terry O'Quinn) hosting a group meeting designed to be open and honest about recent events. Miles (Ken Leung) is brought along (minus that grenade Locked shoved in his gob) to admit the "rescuers" are only here to find Ben. Everyone has already guessed that, and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) thinks they should hand him over, until Ben (Michael Emerson) makes it clear they'll kill everyone on the island once he's caught. And Ben knows all this because his spy on their boat told him: Michael.
The question of what happened to the rest of the Others is revealed, as Ben tells his daughter Alex (Tania Raymonde) and her boyfriend Karl (Blake Bashoff) to head for the sanctuary of "the Temple" – with her birth mother Rousseau (Mira Furlan) to protect them. This Temple is apparently the only safe place on the island, and a nice moment follows when Rousseau finds herself strangely touched by Ben's gesture to keep Alex safe.
The real guts of the story is on the freighter, with Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) being woken by an alarm. Some men are attempting to leave the freighter on a tender, but have been stopped by Captain Gault (Grant Bowler). Deckhand Kevin Johnson is called to clean up, and Sayid uses the opportunity to confront "Kevin"/Michael – who explains he's here to die.
Later, Sayid and Desmond find Michael in the Engine Room and pressure him to explain exactly what happened after he left the island. Flashbacks reveal Michael got off the island safely with Walt, but had to assume a false identity and has never explained to his mother (Starletta DuPois) what happened during the 2 months they were both missing. Consequently, Mrs Dawson has taken custody of Walt – who it's revealed has been having nightmares since the ordeal.
Michael's life has deteriorated so badly that he attempts suicide by driving a car straight into a shipment container near a pier. In hospital -- after a false awakening where murdered Libby (Cynthia Watros) appears to him in a dream as a nurse (I have that same dream!) -- Michael wakes up to find he miraculously survived the car crash...
After pawning his watch (inscribed with Korean writing on the reverse) for a gun, Michael tries to kill himself again in a back alley – but is interrupted by Tom (M.C Gainey), the stocky Other from the island. After a brief scuffle, Tom reveals the Others have been keeping tabs on him – and guesses correctly that Michael told Walt he killed Ana-Lucia and Libby to secure their freedom, causing a painful split in their once-close relationship. Tom also reveals the reason Michael survived the car crash: the island won't let him die. Before leaving, Tom invites Michael to visit him at the Hotel Earl.
At home, a despondent Michael tries to blow his brains out with his gun again, but the bullets won't fire – despite every chamber being full. Just at that moment he catches sight of a new report about the discovery of Flight 815, with all 324 passengers found dead inside.
At Tom's hotel room, Michael demands answers. Tom confirms that Flight 815's discovery has been faked by a man called Charles Widmore (showing him receipts to prove Widmore's elaborate hoax), and explains that Widmore has discovered the location of the island is has sent a freighter there. Tom wants Michael to join the freighter's crew under the alias "Kevin Johnson" and kill everyone onboard, before they reach the island and kill the inhabitants.
At the port of Suva in Fiji, Michael joins the crew of the Kahana and meets Minkowski (Fisher Stevens) and Naomi (Marsha Thomason), before taking receipt of his possessions in a mysterious crate. Once they're on their journey, Michael opens the crate and finds it contains a bomb. Realizing what he has to do, Michael primes the bomb and detonates it – but it only produces a note with "NOT YET" attached.
Later, Michael is told by Minkowski he has a call from someone called Walt in the radio room. Excited, Michael takes the call, but is disappointed to find it's actually Ben – who was amazed Michael actually used the bomb, as there are innocent people aboard the freighter, and he doesn't kill innocents. Ben asks Michael to compile a list of everyone on the freighter, disable the radio room, and then sabotage the engines.
His story told to Sayid and Desmond, they drag him to Captain Gault's quarters and reveal that "Kevin Johnson" is actually "Michael Dawson", the ship saboteur and a traitor.
On the island, Alex and Karl are walking through the jungle with Rousseau, before stopping to take a break. Suddenly, silenced bullets begin whizzing through the air, hitting trees around them, until Karl is hit and killed. Rousseau rushes to Alex's aide, and calms her down enough to make a run for safety – but is killed herself mid-stride. Alex has no option but to surrender to the unseen attackers, screaming that she's Ben's daughter.
Meet Kevin Johnson is one of the simpler episodes in terms of narrative, and there's not much here to get excited about. Michael's fate after leaving the island wasn't very interesting, or even plausible at times (why would Michael tell Walt he's a murderer?), while the continuity problems with rapidly-aging Malcolm David Kelley meant Walt's appearance was reduced to a brief, silhouetted appearance in a window. I also fail to understand why Michael didn't go to the authorities, have his identity as a Flight 815 passenger confirmed, and try to coordinate a genuine rescue of his friends on the island.
The most interesting aspect of Michael's story, stripping away the nudge-nudge moments when he interacts with dead cast members (Libby, Naomi, Minkowski) and that silliness of the "fake-bomb", was the revelation that he can't die. Just when you thought Lost couldn't get any stranger, we now have to swallow the idea that the island "won't let him die"? All I can say is; the writers better have a good reason for that piece of mythology – as it's quite a leap to believe the "island" (or Jacob?) has that level of supernatural influence on the island, let alone off it! The idea seems to be muddying already dirty waters very unnecessarily. I hope I'm proved wrong.
The on-island story essentially consisted of a few very brief scenes, and the only one of note was the ending. Who was firing at Alex, Karl and Rousseau? Was is "the hostiles" – the assumed indigenous people of the island? I don’t think anyone's interested in Alex's character, and it was inevitable that limp Karl would be killed-off sooner or later -- but Rousseau's death was a big surprise (if, indeed, the shot was fatal.) But I was mostly angry we won't ever get the looong-awaited Rousseau flashback. Well, probably not from her perspective, anyway. Maybe we'll get the flashback via Ben, showing the circumstances surrounding his stealing of Rousseau's baby daughter 15 years ago?
Overall, Meet Kevin Johnson was a disappointment – mostly because of the huge expectation that built up around Michael and Walt when they left the show. Lost usually does a great job of avoiding expectations, by taking a twist into something more amazing than you could imagine – but not here. The answers presented weren't that inspired, and any genuine surprises demanded heavy suspension of disbelief. I mean, seriously; the island can stop people killing themselves from thousands of miles away now? And for its next trick...
As a make-shift "mid-season finale", this was pretty poor. But, viewed as a regular mid-season episode, it was enjoyable and contained a few important pieces of mythology. The Alex/Rousseau relationship has been badly handled since Alex learned who her real mother was, but it seems the writers had no intention of doing anything interesting with Rousseau once she found her daughter.
Hopefully the irritations of this episode will be smoothed over during the last 5 episodes, which start airing in about a month...
-- How was the island able to prevent Michael killing himself?
-- Why is the Temple only for the Others, and who built it?
-- Who was shooting at Alex, Karl and Rousseau, and why? Did Ben expect that attack, perhaps as a way of getting rid of Karl and Rousseau?
-- Are Karl and Rousseau definitely dead?
-- Who are the "innocent" people aboard the freighter Ben intends to spare?
23 March 2008
Sky One, 9.00 pm
Director: Stephen Williams
Cast: Harold Perrineau (Michael), Ken Leung (Miles), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Michael Emerson (Ben), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Tania Raymonde (Alex Rousseau), Mira Furlan (Danielle Rousseau), Cynthia Watros (Libby), M.C. Gainey (Tom Friendly), Blake Bashoff (Karl), Marsha Thomason (Naomi), Kevin Durand (Keamy), Anthony Azizi (Omar), Fisher Stevens (George Minkowski), Grant Bowler (Captain Gault), Galyn Gorg (Nurse), Jill Kuramoto (Female Anchor) & Starletta DuPois (Mrs. Dawson)
Sayid forces Michael to explain why he's working undercover aboard the freighter..."I want you to compile a list of names: every person
on your boat. When I call again, you'll give me that list."
on your boat. When I call again, you'll give me that list."
-- Ben (Michael Emerson)
It's the last episode before a quick break, until the last episodes of this strike-shortened fourth season, and Meet Kevin Johnson promises big revelations regarding the fate of Michael (Harold Perrineau), who earned freedom from the island way back in season 2's finale. Sadly, while interesting and pleasantly perplexing at times, there's very little here you couldn't have guessed...
The problem facing Lost's writers is trying to constantly sidestep audience expectations, particularly a fan-base who predict events with increasing accuracy. As such, a few of season 4's big revelations have been painfully obvious from the start (Charles Widmore owns the freighter, Michael was Ben's spy), and characters have been discovering things the audience already know.
We open with Locke (Terry O'Quinn) hosting a group meeting designed to be open and honest about recent events. Miles (Ken Leung) is brought along (minus that grenade Locked shoved in his gob) to admit the "rescuers" are only here to find Ben. Everyone has already guessed that, and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) thinks they should hand him over, until Ben (Michael Emerson) makes it clear they'll kill everyone on the island once he's caught. And Ben knows all this because his spy on their boat told him: Michael.
The question of what happened to the rest of the Others is revealed, as Ben tells his daughter Alex (Tania Raymonde) and her boyfriend Karl (Blake Bashoff) to head for the sanctuary of "the Temple" – with her birth mother Rousseau (Mira Furlan) to protect them. This Temple is apparently the only safe place on the island, and a nice moment follows when Rousseau finds herself strangely touched by Ben's gesture to keep Alex safe.
The real guts of the story is on the freighter, with Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) being woken by an alarm. Some men are attempting to leave the freighter on a tender, but have been stopped by Captain Gault (Grant Bowler). Deckhand Kevin Johnson is called to clean up, and Sayid uses the opportunity to confront "Kevin"/Michael – who explains he's here to die.
Later, Sayid and Desmond find Michael in the Engine Room and pressure him to explain exactly what happened after he left the island. Flashbacks reveal Michael got off the island safely with Walt, but had to assume a false identity and has never explained to his mother (Starletta DuPois) what happened during the 2 months they were both missing. Consequently, Mrs Dawson has taken custody of Walt – who it's revealed has been having nightmares since the ordeal.
Michael's life has deteriorated so badly that he attempts suicide by driving a car straight into a shipment container near a pier. In hospital -- after a false awakening where murdered Libby (Cynthia Watros) appears to him in a dream as a nurse (I have that same dream!) -- Michael wakes up to find he miraculously survived the car crash...
After pawning his watch (inscribed with Korean writing on the reverse) for a gun, Michael tries to kill himself again in a back alley – but is interrupted by Tom (M.C Gainey), the stocky Other from the island. After a brief scuffle, Tom reveals the Others have been keeping tabs on him – and guesses correctly that Michael told Walt he killed Ana-Lucia and Libby to secure their freedom, causing a painful split in their once-close relationship. Tom also reveals the reason Michael survived the car crash: the island won't let him die. Before leaving, Tom invites Michael to visit him at the Hotel Earl.
At home, a despondent Michael tries to blow his brains out with his gun again, but the bullets won't fire – despite every chamber being full. Just at that moment he catches sight of a new report about the discovery of Flight 815, with all 324 passengers found dead inside.
At Tom's hotel room, Michael demands answers. Tom confirms that Flight 815's discovery has been faked by a man called Charles Widmore (showing him receipts to prove Widmore's elaborate hoax), and explains that Widmore has discovered the location of the island is has sent a freighter there. Tom wants Michael to join the freighter's crew under the alias "Kevin Johnson" and kill everyone onboard, before they reach the island and kill the inhabitants.
At the port of Suva in Fiji, Michael joins the crew of the Kahana and meets Minkowski (Fisher Stevens) and Naomi (Marsha Thomason), before taking receipt of his possessions in a mysterious crate. Once they're on their journey, Michael opens the crate and finds it contains a bomb. Realizing what he has to do, Michael primes the bomb and detonates it – but it only produces a note with "NOT YET" attached.
Later, Michael is told by Minkowski he has a call from someone called Walt in the radio room. Excited, Michael takes the call, but is disappointed to find it's actually Ben – who was amazed Michael actually used the bomb, as there are innocent people aboard the freighter, and he doesn't kill innocents. Ben asks Michael to compile a list of everyone on the freighter, disable the radio room, and then sabotage the engines.
His story told to Sayid and Desmond, they drag him to Captain Gault's quarters and reveal that "Kevin Johnson" is actually "Michael Dawson", the ship saboteur and a traitor.
On the island, Alex and Karl are walking through the jungle with Rousseau, before stopping to take a break. Suddenly, silenced bullets begin whizzing through the air, hitting trees around them, until Karl is hit and killed. Rousseau rushes to Alex's aide, and calms her down enough to make a run for safety – but is killed herself mid-stride. Alex has no option but to surrender to the unseen attackers, screaming that she's Ben's daughter.
Meet Kevin Johnson is one of the simpler episodes in terms of narrative, and there's not much here to get excited about. Michael's fate after leaving the island wasn't very interesting, or even plausible at times (why would Michael tell Walt he's a murderer?), while the continuity problems with rapidly-aging Malcolm David Kelley meant Walt's appearance was reduced to a brief, silhouetted appearance in a window. I also fail to understand why Michael didn't go to the authorities, have his identity as a Flight 815 passenger confirmed, and try to coordinate a genuine rescue of his friends on the island.
The most interesting aspect of Michael's story, stripping away the nudge-nudge moments when he interacts with dead cast members (Libby, Naomi, Minkowski) and that silliness of the "fake-bomb", was the revelation that he can't die. Just when you thought Lost couldn't get any stranger, we now have to swallow the idea that the island "won't let him die"? All I can say is; the writers better have a good reason for that piece of mythology – as it's quite a leap to believe the "island" (or Jacob?) has that level of supernatural influence on the island, let alone off it! The idea seems to be muddying already dirty waters very unnecessarily. I hope I'm proved wrong.
The on-island story essentially consisted of a few very brief scenes, and the only one of note was the ending. Who was firing at Alex, Karl and Rousseau? Was is "the hostiles" – the assumed indigenous people of the island? I don’t think anyone's interested in Alex's character, and it was inevitable that limp Karl would be killed-off sooner or later -- but Rousseau's death was a big surprise (if, indeed, the shot was fatal.) But I was mostly angry we won't ever get the looong-awaited Rousseau flashback. Well, probably not from her perspective, anyway. Maybe we'll get the flashback via Ben, showing the circumstances surrounding his stealing of Rousseau's baby daughter 15 years ago?
Overall, Meet Kevin Johnson was a disappointment – mostly because of the huge expectation that built up around Michael and Walt when they left the show. Lost usually does a great job of avoiding expectations, by taking a twist into something more amazing than you could imagine – but not here. The answers presented weren't that inspired, and any genuine surprises demanded heavy suspension of disbelief. I mean, seriously; the island can stop people killing themselves from thousands of miles away now? And for its next trick...
As a make-shift "mid-season finale", this was pretty poor. But, viewed as a regular mid-season episode, it was enjoyable and contained a few important pieces of mythology. The Alex/Rousseau relationship has been badly handled since Alex learned who her real mother was, but it seems the writers had no intention of doing anything interesting with Rousseau once she found her daughter.
Hopefully the irritations of this episode will be smoothed over during the last 5 episodes, which start airing in about a month...
Burning Questions
-- How was the island able to prevent Michael killing himself?
-- Why is the Temple only for the Others, and who built it?
-- Who was shooting at Alex, Karl and Rousseau, and why? Did Ben expect that attack, perhaps as a way of getting rid of Karl and Rousseau?
-- Are Karl and Rousseau definitely dead?
-- Who are the "innocent" people aboard the freighter Ben intends to spare?
23 March 2008
Sky One, 9.00 pm
