"Lost" Man of Science, Man of Faith (2005)

Director:

Jack Bender

Writers:

Jeffrey Lieber (creator) and
J.J. Abrams (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Lost" (2004)

Original Air Date:

21 September 2005 (Season 2, Episode 1)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

One of the castaways is chosen to descend into the mysterious hatch, and Shannon stumbles upon a shockingly familiar face in the jungle.

Plot Keywords:

Plane Crash | Flashback | South Pacific | Survival | Doctor

Cast

Naveen Andrews	...	Sayid Jarrah
Emilie de Ravin	...	Claire Littleton
Matthew Fox	...	Jack Shephard
Jorge Garcia	...	Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes
Maggie Grace	...	Shannon Rutherford
Josh Holloway	...	James 'Sawyer' Ford (credit only)
Malcolm David Kelley	...	Walt Lloyd
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Jin Kwon (credit only)
Yunjin Kim	...	Sun Kwon
Evangeline Lilly	...	Kate Austen
Dominic Monaghan	...	Charlie Pace
Terry O'Quinn	...	John Locke
Harold Perrineau	...	Michael Dawson (credit only)
Michelle Rodriguez	...	Ana Lucia Cortez (credit only)
John Terry	...	Christian Shephard

Runtime:

43 min

Language:

English

Certification:

UK:15 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:TV-14 | Venezuela:PG-13 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Bad Robot

Trivia:

The world premiere of season two took place at Waikiki beach on the island of Oahu one week before ABC aired the episode. The first episode was projected on a screen 30 feet tall and the cast walked a red carpet to greet fans before the episode played. The producers requested that the viewers not disclose the events of the episode before it aired.

Goofs:

Continuity: Desmond is seen taking a Beretta and a Kalashnikov from the armory. When he aims at Locke in the end of the episode, he holds a completely different pistol and the Kalashnikov is gone.

Quotes:

Hurley: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, 4, 8, we're dead, 15, doomed and dead, 16, 23...
Kate: Hurley are you ok?
Hurley: Huh? Yeah, awesome. I just... have to pee.

Soundtrack:

Make Your Own Kind of Music

Outstanding season opener

The first thing that must be said about "Man of Science, Man of Faith" is that the opening scene is brilliant. No, it's more than just brilliant- it's one of the best-executed scenes in television history. After a few months with no "Lost" you sit down with the cliffhanger from "Exodus" still very much in mind, and you get this almost surreal scene instead of what most season openers on other shows go for. Everything about the scene, especially Jack Bender's direction and the use of music, is absolutely outstanding, and when the camera goes up and reveals that we were inside the hatch... It's still a great moment even if you know what happens and the initial 'WOW' isn't there anymore.

Everything that follows the opening scene is also pretty much perfect. As good as season one certainly was, it was nothing more than an introduction and a tease. In many ways this episode was where the actual narrative story of "Lost" really got going, and it doesn't hurt that this is a definitive "Lost" script by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. It's got literally everything you could want out of "Lost"- great character moments, great handling of the show's massive thematic mythology (a mythology less-discussed than the narrative mythology, but one that certainly exists in its own right), and some really surprising moments. The flashback is possibly my favorite Jack flashback, a beautiful examination of his character unfortunately marred slightly by one of the worst wigs seen on modern television.

"Man of Science, Man of Faith" also features some great visuals. Outstanding direction by Jack Bender and photography by Michael Bonivillain, and Giacchino's score here is especially good. The performances by the entire cast are simply flawless, as well.

This is great drama if there ever was such a thing. Still one of the best episodes to date and one of the best scripts Lindelof and Cuse have written.

10/10