2.11 - The Hunting Party

Title’s significance: Jack organizes a hunting party to find Michael.

Recap: Jack’s flashbacks explore a semi-relationship with a patient’s daughter, the professional and personal burden of his reputation as a “miracle doctor,” and his wife leaving him after having an affair with someone. On island, Michael busts out of The Swan to go look for Walt, leaving Locke and Jack in the gun closet, but Kate and Sawyer show up in time to free them. Jack forms a hunting party with Locke and Sawyer to find Michael; they track him, but they hear mysterious gunshots and run across a band of scruffy Others, including the “Mr. Friendly” who abducted Walt; Mr. Friendly claims Michael will never find the Others and revoices thoughts about Walt being special. He warns the survivors about the dangers of being curious and says it’s “our island,” but when Jack calls his bluff, Mr. Friendly demonstrates that there are numerous Others and that they’ve abducted Kate; Jack exchanges his guns for Kate’s safety. Hurley clues Charlie in that he has a thing for Libby, while Charlie voices his interest in Claire. Upon returning to camp, Jack asks Ana Lucia about training an army.

Thoughts: This episode is essentially Season Two in a nutshell: interesting things are on the verge of happening, but the writers pull back on the reins and don’t advance too far into uncharted territory. Consequently, this episode is interesting but ultimately frustrating since it doesn’t do anything beyond putting new spins on old questions, particularly about The Others.

Favorite moment: I’d like to say it’s Charlie’s line about Michael – “Yeah, he’s run after Walt again” – but the fireside chat with Mr. Friendly takes the cake for this episode.

Characters introduced (in order):

• ANGELO & GABRIELA BUSONI, a father and daughter looking for a miracle surgery from Jack

What we learned:

• Sarah is a teacher.
• Michael has scampered off after Walt – again.
• Locke knows that “Sawyer” is a fake name.
• Hurley has a fancy for Libby.
• There are a whole heck of a lot of Others on the island.
• One of The Others is named Alex.
• Sarah was cheating on Jack.

Questions:

• Who was Sarah’s lover?
• Why is Locke so interested in Sawyer’s name?
• Who’s Geronimo Jackson?
• How do The Others know the names of all the 815ers? Was it simply Ethan reporting back?
• Is the Alex with The Others the same Alex that Rousseau’s looking for?
• Where’s Michael gotten to?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• As of Season Five, we’ve got the survivors, the Tailies, the Others, Richard’s Others, Dharma, the Hostiles, the army, Jacob, Jacob’s nemesis, and apparently the Egyptians, too. Whose island is it, anyway?