TNMC

Hey look, a new Lost! And hey look, I actually reviewed it! That's right, your life is now back in balance. Sorry if I messed with your ch'i. 

Episode #2.20, "Two for the Road"
Written by Christina M. Kim & Elizabeth Sarnoff 
Directed by Paul Edwards
Guest Stars: Michael Emerson (Henry Gale), Gabrielle Fitzpatrick (Lindsey), John Terry (Christian Shepard), Rachel Ticotin (Teresa Cortez).
Air Date: May 3, 2006

Past interconnections continue in flashbacks of Ana Lucia. Before meeting Jack in an airport bar in Sydney, she met his father (Terry) in an airport bar in the States. Having quit the police force (in the only way television cops can quit, by handing over her badge) after her mother/captain lets on that she knows Ana killed the man who shot her and killed her unborn child (still with me?), she takes on a highly trained and overpaid position as an airport security guard. Jack's father, rather giddy for once with a drink in hand, hires her on as his bodyguard for a trip to Sydney. So now we know her reasoning for being in Oz, if that reason is a bit weird and constrained. Jack's dad eventually goes to some suburban house in the middle of a stormy night, asking to see his daughter. That's pretty much it for the flashbacks; not much going on there. Considering what comes later, you'd think there'd be more.

On the island, Gale (Emerson) attacks Ana, saying she killed two of his companions—one of whom thought that Ana was "misunderstood," that she belonged on Santa's list of good little children. So let's see, the Others don't let anyone into their core group, someone other than the figurehead we recognize is in charge, they like to maintain the status quo and their notions of "good" and "evil" people imply a faith-based agenda. My god. It's worse than I thought.

Locke, Henry says, is one of those "good" people. Much of what Gale has said before was absolute horseshit, but Locke seems to be enlightened by this statement. Their conversation on the inherent goodness of people is cut short, however, as Kate and Jack bring Michael back from the jungle. To be honest, I'd sort of forgotten about Michael and Walt until he turned up at the end of the last episode, but welcome back all the same. Michael tells those in the hatch that he followed an Other to their camp, where he counted twenty-two ragged, creaky Others with only two guns. They have a hatch, but he didn't see Walt. "We can take them," he claims. But as Eko once said, the Others won't be found unless they want to be. So either Michael is an excellent tracker, or they knew he was watching and played down their strengths to trap the survivors.

Of course, given how the episode ends, a completely different scenario is possible. When Ana can't gather the cojones to shoot Gale, Michael takes the gun and says he'll do it. Instead, he shoots Ana in the chest. Libby walks in and he puts two more in her abdomen. Michael then turns the gun on himself, apparently to give himself a flesh wound. While Libby's shooting seemed accidental, Ana's was clearly done with intent. Was Michael captured and brainwashed? Or more likely, coerced into going back and killing Ana, perhaps with a knife to Walt's neck as persuasion? Gale seemed to have a particular hatred for her, perhaps he's not alone.

I guess when they took on more characters to the already swollen cast, the intent was to kill off a few along the way. Since the tailies joined the show, Shannon, Ana Lucia and/or Libby (it's always possible those blankets were Kevlar) have gone the way of drive-ins and American journalistic integrity. By the way, I'm sensing a misogynistic streak here. If this trend is to continue, I nominate Kate to go next. She's quickly becoming useless.

Matt Baker wants to make your dreams come true. Except for that one with Condoleeza Rice and the frozen hot dogs. You sick fuck.