Yes, the previous episode was just an intermission after all: Abandoned has all the energy and eeriness of a great Lost episode, with some additional romance and tragedy thrown in to spice up the drama. It is also the first episode of the series written by Elizabeth Sarnoff, a former collaborator of David Milch (NYPD Blue, Deadwood).
Unsurprisingly, Sarnoff's first offering focuses on a female character, Shannon Rutherford, here depicted at the height of her relationship with Sayid. Their first night together starts promisingly but takes an ugly turn when she has another vision of Walt and decides to look for him, despite Sayid's theory that she was just hallucinating. As for the tail section survivors, they are getting closer to the camp, but are slowed down when Sawyer collapses from an infection and needs to be carried on a stretcher. Additionally, team member Cindy vanishes under creepy circumstances.
Shannon is also at the center of the flashbacks, which reveal her difficulties within the family: while teaching ballet, she is informed of the injuries sustained by her father due to a car crash (the same that nearly paralyzed Jack's future wife Sarah, as shown in the season premiere). At the hospital, she finds out that he has, in fact, died, and deals with the consequences when her stepmother refuses to let her use the old man's money for a dance internship in New York. Her stepbrother Boone tries to offer some consolation, but to no avail.
This very bleak episode succeeds in advancing the mythology arc (the mystery surrounding Walt's disappearance) and providing great character moments: Maggie Grace had already shown she could do more than just a stereotypical "L.A. girl" kind of performance near the end of Season One, and her scenes, especially with Naveen Andrews and Kimberley Joseph (the stepmother), prove she has really come into her own as part of the main cast. The flashbacks serve the additional treat of bringing back Ian Somerhalder, still comfortable in Boone's skin. And last but not least, the closing scene - a genuine shocker in the Lost tradition - is a perfect, oddly heartbreaking moment that beautifully sets up further dramatic plot lines. Quite some achievement.
Unsurprisingly, Sarnoff's first offering focuses on a female character, Shannon Rutherford, here depicted at the height of her relationship with Sayid. Their first night together starts promisingly but takes an ugly turn when she has another vision of Walt and decides to look for him, despite Sayid's theory that she was just hallucinating. As for the tail section survivors, they are getting closer to the camp, but are slowed down when Sawyer collapses from an infection and needs to be carried on a stretcher. Additionally, team member Cindy vanishes under creepy circumstances.
Shannon is also at the center of the flashbacks, which reveal her difficulties within the family: while teaching ballet, she is informed of the injuries sustained by her father due to a car crash (the same that nearly paralyzed Jack's future wife Sarah, as shown in the season premiere). At the hospital, she finds out that he has, in fact, died, and deals with the consequences when her stepmother refuses to let her use the old man's money for a dance internship in New York. Her stepbrother Boone tries to offer some consolation, but to no avail.
This very bleak episode succeeds in advancing the mythology arc (the mystery surrounding Walt's disappearance) and providing great character moments: Maggie Grace had already shown she could do more than just a stereotypical "L.A. girl" kind of performance near the end of Season One, and her scenes, especially with Naveen Andrews and Kimberley Joseph (the stepmother), prove she has really come into her own as part of the main cast. The flashbacks serve the additional treat of bringing back Ian Somerhalder, still comfortable in Boone's skin. And last but not least, the closing scene - a genuine shocker in the Lost tradition - is a perfect, oddly heartbreaking moment that beautifully sets up further dramatic plot lines. Quite some achievement.
