Lighthouse

The Substitute was about John Locke, this one was about Jack Shephard. As expected Matthew Fox gave a convincing performance and learning more about who Jack is in the city was quite interesting. I never really pictured him as a father as in the past only the relationship with his own father was covered. So it was refreshing to see him interact with his family members, his son and mother. I specially liked the intergeneration links between the three men of the Shephard family. How can you avoid to do the same mistakes as your father ? How can you befriend a son you rarely see ? In fact it reminded me of The Variable featuring Daniel Faraday. However I think it was better because Jack and his son are characters we can easily relate with.

As for the island arc of course it also involved Jack but Hurley joined him for a little adventure. As often he served as the comic relief and now Jacob's spooky appearances are really delightful. But his role was important because he helped Jack to comprehend his destiny. However don't expect to get answers because in fact the episode arose many intriguing questions. It's an issue for some people but I don't mind the slow progression because it makes the story far much more interesting when it gets intense. Otherwise I found the Lighthouse metaphora a bit too literal and was expecting something more subtle.

Last but not least the episode also featured Jin and Claire. It was definitely the weirdest arc and ended with a cliffhanger. I suppose some viewers saw it coming but I didn't. As for Emilie de Ravin's performance I didn't find it convincing. Behind the dirty make-up I saw she was just acting and it made her strange character less believable. But she's young so comparing her to Matthew Fox or Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume) is inappropriate. At least she succeeded in bringing craziness to her scenes so let's just say she did a decent job.

To sum things up it was an other decent installment but nothing to amaze the demanding viewer. However it really intrigued me so I can't wait to watch the upcoming episode. In fact I already anticipate the mesmerizing collision between all the dual stories. Jack stumbled upon Kate in the jungle but only for a few seconds. Will it ever happen in the city ? And what about Desmond ? Who Smokie will recruit next since Sawyer decided to join it in The Substitute ? It's hard to resist to many puzzling questions.