Lost: Pilot: Part 1 (2004)
Season 1, Episode 1
10/10
An intense and thrilling opening chapter that makes you look forward to the rest of the story
31 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
(This review was written after already watching and re-watching the entire TV show)

When it comes to such complex stories, the first chapter is very important in order to make you invested and I think "Pilot part 1" very much succeeded in this task. While more straightforward and story-focused compared to later episodes, the episode itself is a thrilling ride that very much made me look forward to the rest of the story.

The episode is intense from the get-go as it starts with the Oceanic plane crashing on an unknown island and soon introduces us to the show's protagonist Jack (Matthew Fox) who does everything in his power to help fellow survivors. Eventually we get acknowledged with other characters such as young woman named Kate (Evangeline Lilly), with whom Jack immediately formed some sort of connection, Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) who turns out to be a former rock star, a friendly guy named Hurley and Claire, the pregnant lady.

The first part of this episode focuses on this basic survival stuff as the characters start to operate as a group and set up camp. While most of the characters remain in the background in this episode and don't play an active part, I feel the episode very well establishes the growing bond between Jack and Kate, a combination of attraction and mutual trust. Those scenes truly made me want to see more of them together on screen in future episodes as I sensed they have a beautiful connection.

The episode grows much darker in second half when Jack, Kate and Charlie venture into the jungle to find the transceiver in the cockpit of the crashed plane. After finding the pilot Seth Norris who turned out to have survived the crash as well, and realizing the plane was off-course for the span of multiple hours, the group gets attacked by an unseen creature which snatches and brutally kills the pilot. The scene becomes very claustrophobic and horror-like as the survivors find themselves on the run from this creature (dubbed "monster" in later episodes). My personal highlight of this scene would be Kate screaming for Jack as she finds herself alone in the forest, and later counting down from 5 in order to calm down, having heard the story from him later. I believe this scene indicates their connection. Eventually, the three remaining survivors managed to reunite and head back to camp, the story that will continue into next episode.

The yet-unseen appearance of this "monster" marks the introduction of the show's mythology elements which are one of the major reasons for me getting hyped for future episodes. I feel this sequence was very well done and truly captured the dread and thrill while making us care about the characters at same time.

To wrap this up,"Pilot part 1" is an intense, thrilling and very effective opening chapter, working very well to make me want see more. While the story is not heavy on characters yet, this episode enabled me to get attached to two major characters, captured a very thrilling tone and introduced the mythology that increased my wish to delve deeper into the show. All in all, successful recipe for hype. On my own list, this episode gets 10/10 and is my 17th favorite out of 114 LOST episodes and my 5th favorite from first season.
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