Much like season two’s “The Other 48 Days,” tonight’s episode wasn’t exactly devoted to answering any of the ongoing mysteries, but it did introduce several new characters that will play a major role this season. First off, let me just say that Carlton Cuse and Co. has done an exceptional of casting this year. Fans of “The Wire” were no doubt excited to see Lance Reddick pop up in last week’s episode, but the addition of guys like Jeremy Davies, Ken Leung and Jeff Fahey will definitely force the series regulars to up their game. Oh yeah, and there’s a new female character as well (played by Rebecca Mader), but I can’t really speak on her acting ability since, well, I’ve never heard of her.
Before I get ahead of myself, though, it’s probably best to discuss these new characters – all introduced in their own flashback sequences:
– Daniel Faraday (Davies) is a physicist who, upon watching television footage of the underwater discovery of the Oceanic Flight 815 wreckage, breaks down and cries. We really don’t know why he’s upset (and it doesn’t look like he does, either), but I’m sure we’ll find out soon.
– Miles (Leung) is paranormal detective of some sort who tricks an old woman into believing that he can contact her dead son and assist him in crossing over. As it turns out, Miles really can contact the dead, but he uses his abilities for different reasons – namely in locating some (drug?) money hidden in the kid’s room.
– Charlotte (Mader) is the lone female of the group, but she’s got a far cooler back story than the first two. While interrupting an archeological dig in Tunisia, Charlotte comes across the fossilized remains of a polar bear and discovers – wait for it – a Dharma-branded collar beside its skeleton. Pretty neat stuff if you ask me, and it might finally lead to an answer about the three-toed statue that’s since been forgotten.
– While watching the very same news broadcast as Dan, the final member, Frank Lapidus (Fahey), notices that the reportedly dead pilot isn’t who they say it is. A call to the Oceanic hotline reveals that not only did Frank know Seth Gordon (Greg Grunberg, AKA the pilot who was eaten in the series premiere), but that he was originally supposed to pilot Flight 815 until he showed up drunk.
– The foursome was led by Naomi (the only “trained” member of the group), who in turn answered to Abaddon. As we see in the final flashback of the night, Naomi can’t help but wonder if there will be any survivors when they arrive, but Abaddon is more than certain that everyone is dead. As we already know, he couldn’t have been any more wrong, and for that, Naomi probably lost her life.
So, now that we’re all caught up, let’s jump back to the end of last week when Jack and Kate were introduced to Dan. As the first rescue team member on the island, it’s evident from the get-go that Dan isn’t a very confident dude. In fact, he’s downright scared to see Jack and Kate waiting for him, but he pulls it together and begins the hunt for the other three with the help of the SAT phone’s GPS tracker. On the way, the trio comes across a silver crate filled with nuclear protective gear, prompting Jack to answer the obvious question, “What the fuck is going on?” According to Dan, rescuing the survivors isn’t exactly their “primary objective,” but the dude seems nice enough, so Jack and Kate continue to follow him through the woods. That is, until they come across Miles, who’s a little more aggressive than Dan. Accusing Kate of Naomi’s murder, he demands to be taken to the site of her body so that he made figure out exactly what happened. Kate seems perplexed by the idea that he would just know, but I’m more perplexed by the idea that this guy is able to talk with the dead. I don’t know. It seems a little cheesy to me, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s Ken Leung.
When another GPS signal suddenly appears on the SAT screen, Jack and Co. go racing towards it, but when they discover Vincent the Dog with a tracker wrapped around his neck, Jack knows exactly what has happened: Locke’s taken Charlotte hostage. For the time being, though, it seems like the bald-headed leader of B Troop is perfectly content with keeping her alive. Unfortunately, Ben has other plans, and when he steals Carl’s gun and shoots Charlotte in the chest, it’s revealed that she’s clearly prepared for such an attack. Charlotte’s wearing a bulletproof vest, and after grilling Ben for information, Locke learns why she and her team have come to the island: they want Ben. For what, exactly, we still don’t know, but methinks it has something to do with his leading the island revolt a couple years back.
A Troop has just learned the same information, but that’s the least of their worries. They’ve just tracked down Frank, the pilot of the mission, and they now have a mostly functional helicopter at their disposal. So what happens now? Do Jack, Kate, Sayid and the three newbies make a run for it, or will their conscience lead them back into the jungle to warn their friends? Well, we pretty much know that escape isn’t going to happen any time, but it’s nice to know that they have a means of transportation to leave the island. The question now is: when?
