What I'm Watching: Lost

Lost: Season 4, Episode 2 “Confirmed Dead” (B+)

The flash-forwards take a break as not one but four new characters are introduced through a series of extremely brief but informative flashbacks. This is where “Lost” becomes very frustrating and more questions are raised than answered. Yet a lot of important information is revealed in this episode – the team of four was led by Naomi and organized by Lance Reddick’s character who threatened Hurley at the asylum last week (in “Lost” time: in the future). Two things were bothersome during this episode – Miles, the feistiest and angriest of the team, is a ghost whisperer of some sort, which feels a bit too overtly supernatural and not explicable by any realistic excuse. Also, there is a lot of “Naomi doesn’t have a sister” chatter which could easily be left at “we had a code”. This is made up for by the cooler elements of this hour: Locke would have died if he had not given his father his kidney and Jack seems to know that Sayid and Juliet are in the woods and seems to making it up at first (and of course explaining it a bit too much later on, as with the Naomi-code situation). Ben knowing all the information about the parachuter is beyond intriguing, especially when he reveals he has a man on the boat, but we need some more answers! I am getting a little worried that everyone seems to be running off in every direction – I think a little “living together” might keep them from “dying alone”.