Lost: LA X

I'm not going to write a full review of each Lost episode, otherwise this place will be consumed by all things Lost. So I'll just bullet-point some reactionary thoughts to what I made of it all.

MANY SPOILERS SO READER BEWARE:

- Flash-sideways seems to be the name of the game, and we've got two realities progressing simultaneously. On island (where they didnt change anything) and off island (where the plane never crashed)

- A pretty awesome season opener. Plenty of twisty shit and a lot happened, but they kept the focus mostly on the long-term characters. Jack, Locke, Sawyer and Kate are who its been about since the beginning and each had a major part in this episode.

- Still think the black smoke is crappy CGI, but liked the scene anyway. Kind of guessed it, but New Locke being smoke monster is quite cool.

- Speaking of which, am loving evil Locke and Terry O Quinn brought his game to this episode. The scene he shared with Jack at the airport and even more his Evil-Locke giving dead Locke a eulogy to the humbled Ben were some of the best pieces of acting this show has ever seen. Plus the dropping of Richard via ethereal kung-fu. I mean come on.

- I liked Jack in these episodes a bit more then I used to, particularly in the off island time line. I haven't been Matthew Fox's biggest fan through the years but he's maturing in the role.

- The 'You got it blondie' line totally ruined Juliet's death. What a shocking clunker. And as much as I like Josh Holloway, that was fucking awful man.

- Speaking of which, notable deaths in this episode:
Juliet
Sayid (for about ten minutes)
Bram ( That dude got fucked up. Impaled by bad CGI is a hell of a way to go)

- Loved the scenes on the plane. Nostalgic heaven. Boone! Arzt! Charlie etc.

- The new others are quite cool too, although a little one dimensional. But that's necessary with so little time left. Hiroyuki Sanada and John Hawkes are both actors I enjoy and are good additions to the show.

- I like that this season is setting up to be a straight up good vs evil thing. I think the final year should and has to be simpler then previous in order to cram everything in.

- Glad Sayid got resurrected. Dude is awesome.

- Very good set-up episode, well written, set out the structure of this new year clearly and promises to take this show to some interesting places.