Lost 4×01: The Beginning of the End
Not the strongest season opener Lost has had. While the opening scene was cool, it did not have the cool reveal like Desmond in the hatch or OMG! it’s Othersville. The entire episode felt like a direct continuation of the last episode, which makes sense, but due to the intervening 200+ days feels a little lackluster.
I like the new twist of the island-scenes being the flashbacks and the rest taking place in the future/present. The stuff with Hurley was pretty interesting and actually elevated the season 2 episode “Dave” from amusing-filler episode to setting-up-an-important-plot-point status.
The hallucinations and the fake lawyer-guy were of the mindfuck-quality that we have come to expect from Lost.
As for the on-island stuff, it seemed to drag a little, but I mainly feel this because I know there’s only 7 episodes left, while there were originally going to be 15. Going back to Jacob’s cabin and seeing Christian Shepherd was definitely the highlight of the episode.
Overall, this was a solid episode and I hope that the rest of the season is of this quality.