Television Review: A Tale of Two Cities (Lost, S3X01, 2006)
A Tale of Two Cities (S03E01)
Airdate: 4 October 2006
Written by: J. J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof
Directed by: Jack Bender
Running Time: 43 minutes
The creators of Lost have consistently treated new seasons as distinct opportunities to reinvent the show’s trajectory. With each new chapter, they have sought to introduce fresh characters, establish novel perspectives, and reinterpret past events, all while attempting to balance the provision of long-awaited answers with the introduction of even more tantalising questions. This approach keeps the audience perpetually off-balance, unsure of whether they are watching a character drama, a mystery thriller, or a science-fiction experiment. One of the finest examples of this audacious strategy is the Season 3 premiere, A Tale of Two Cities, an episode that radically shifts the show’s focus and expands the scope of the Island’s mythology in a single stroke.
For this pivotal return, the show’s celebrated creator J.J. Abrams returned to the writing role for the first and last time since the pilot, co-authoring the script with Damon Lindelof. This reunion of the show’s primary architects signaled to the audience that this was not merely a reset button, but a calculated expansion of the universe they had built. The script maintains the high-stakes tension the series is known for while expertly weaving in the new textures that would define the third season.
While the previous season finale concluded with a serious twist and the capture of our lead characters, this new episode begins with a similar, yet structurally distinct, kind of twist. We are introduced to the character of Juliet, played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Initially, she appears to be a frustrated, possibly lonely housewife in what seems to be a picture-perfect example of American middle-class suburbia. We follow her through a mundane morning, culminating in a book club meeting dedicated to Stephen King's Carrie. This domestic tranquillity is violently shattered by tremors and a huge roar. When everyone rushes outside, they witness a huge passenger jet breaking apart mid-air. Among the onlookers is "Henry Gale," the man the survivors knew as their captive. Realising there might be survivors, he calmly dispatches Ethan and Goodwin to different parts of the Island to observe, infiltrate the survivor camps, and, more importantly, make lists. In a great example of visual storytelling, this "suburbia" is revealed to be the Others' settlement, a meticulously constructed community shielded from the outside gaze by being built inside a caldera on the other side of the Island.
The episode deftly employs a narrative device that repeats the formula of the Season 2 premiere. It begins with what appears to be a regular person in the outside world enjoying a 1960s pop standard—in this case, Petula Clark's "Downtown"—only to be revealed to be on the present-day Island and part of a specific mission. This mirrors the Desmond-centric opening of the previous year, establishing a tradition of juxtaposing the mundane with the surreal.
The present-day plot highlights the plight of the three prisoners—Jack, Kate, and Sawyer—who have been brought to the Others' facility. Their plight is handled very differently, illustrating the Others' psychological acumen. Kate is considered to be the most dangerous of the three. Tom insists that she takes a shower only to later have her clothes removed and replaced with a dress. She is then escorted to a what seems like an idyllic beachside meeting with "Henry," whose real name is revealed to be "Ben." She is handcuffed, and Ben explains that this meeting, being "civilised," is necessary for her, because the next two weeks will be difficult.
Sawyer’s experience is markedly more brutal. He is actually kept in a cage, which uses a complicated mechanism for prisoners to receive food and water. He also sees a young man (Blake Baschoff) in the neighbouring cage, who unsuccessfully tries to escape. This Skinnerian conditioning is a terrifying glimpse into the Others' methodology. Kate is in the end brought to the cage next to his, and Sawyer tosses her fish biscuits he had obtained via the mechanism, a small act of kindness in their captivity.
Jack, however, is kept in a dark cell and initially refuses food and water that Juliet attempts to bring him. He nevertheless manages to set himself free and take Juliet hostage. However, his escape is short-lived; his opening of one of the doors brings water that almost drowns the two of them. Juliet manages to close the hatch and subdue Jack again. It is revealed that Jack is held in the so-called Hydra Station—a facility that included large aquariums for sharks and dolphins.
This brings an interesting twist by showing the Others not as a Khmer Rouge-like anarcho-primitivist collective as depicted in the previous season, but as people who, for one reason or another, built a piece of "normie" America in the middle of nowhere and try to enjoy that very lifestyle. There are strong hints that the Hydra Station used to be a zoological research facility, with Sawyer, Kate, and the unfortunate young man being incarcerated in cages originally used for bears, while Jack is in what used to be an aquarium.
Elizabeth Mitchell appears to be a welcome addition to the regular cast, playing a character that is forced to live through deception and hiding some inner trouble and turmoil. The producers' hand was, in a way, forced by the departure of Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros in the previous season, so someone had to take their place, but Mitchell quickly makes the role her own. She is supported by a cameo from Julie Adams, the heroine of the 1954 sci-fi horror classic Creature from the Black Lagoon, in the small role of Juliet's elderly neighbour, Amelia. This is a nice homage from the creators to their genre inspirations.
However, it is Ben, played by Michael Emerson now promoted to regular cast member, who truly steals the show. He is shown to be a truly formidable villain, mainly through his intelligence and power of perception—qualities that had allowed him to manipulate his captors in the Swan Station. Here, he notices that Kate, when inquiring about her fellow captives, mentioned Sawyer before Jack. This gives hints that the love triangle will be an important piece, or at least an addition, to the plot of the season and the rest of the series.
Unfortunately, not every element of the episode lands with such precision. The past life of Jack is partially explored in another uninspired, perfunctory flashback that doesn't add much to the character and backstory. Jack is shown feeling humiliated and frustrated by his impending divorce with Sarah. He becomes obsessed with the man she has been seeing, and in the end develops a paranoid idea of Sarah having an affair with his alcoholic father. This leads to a series of embarrassing situations and a brief incarceration. While it attempts to show Jack's trust issues, it feels like narrative clutter compared to the thrilling events on the Island.
Ultimately, while solid and successful in setting the stage for great things to come in Season 3, A Tale of Two Cities isn't the banger episode it was supposed to be. The expansion of the world is thrilling, and the introduction of the Hydra Station is fantastic, but the episode is dragged down by the uninspired "filler" nature of Jack's flashback. Nevertheless, it stands as a testament to the show's ambition, proving that even in its third year, Lost was still willing to take risks.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
==
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo
LeoDex: https://leodex.io/?ref=drax
InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9