“Hello, Hugo.”
”AGH!” *hot pocket*

There’s a weird motif in the episode. The first full minute or so is dedicated to Frank Lapidus retrieving a few beers from the fridge on Penny’s ship. Later on, a not inconsiderable amount of screentime is spent on Mr. Reyes making a sandwich in preparation for Expose. Finally, we get a P.O.V. shot of Hurley microwaving a hot pocket, with memorable results. Did Jack Bender forget to pack a lunch?

Events are less convoluted this time around, owing to the heavier focus on the Oceanic 6, but the plot continues to speed along. Hurley is in focus here, although like many Season 5 episodes with this structure, the character focus is diluted compared to seasons of yore. We see that the effect of lying for the past three years has taken some toll on him. And there are a few laughs to be had, particularly when he summarizes the show in about 50 seconds. Of course, Mrs. Reyes fulfils her one hilarious line per season quota.

“Why is there a dead Pakistani on my couch?!”

Jack goes off to pack for the island… that would make a good episode… but winds up having to treat Sayid. It transpires that Ben has some allies on the outside, one of which is Ms. Hawking (I was stunned… after I went to Lostpedia to remember just who the hell she was). Kate and Aaron meet with Sun. I forgot to mention it before, but it’s so strange how Sun seems to assign blame for Jin’s death to Ben but not Widmore. “Ben, how dare you be target of Widmore who sent a deranged mercenary team after you that also killed my husbant. I’m siding with Widmore!” (Not that she shouldn’t want Ben for a multitude of other reasons though.)

Meanwhile, our island centric stuff is relatively brief, but high impact. Although the leftover survivors are rubbing two sticks together on the beach for the first half of the episode, and Neil Frogurt is loudly complaining that there’s no fire, the audience doesn’t figure out that he’s going to get a flaming arrow to the chest until about one second before it happens. From there, we’re off into what I honestly think is one of the most harrowing sequences of the series. It really does feel like a character we know is going down, and although no one does, it continues to make the island feel extremely hostile and dangerous.

Sawyer and Juliet get separated from the group, and are accosted by arm chopping psychos. The person who saves them is none other than Locke, who steps out of the darkness and WOAH! Unflattering angle alert!

Loose Ends:
What causes Juliet to time travel, aside from Elizabeth Mitchell being the only Other with a series regular credit?

I can’t deny that early in Season 5, I’m more interested in what’s happening on the island. With Hurley getting arrested, followed by Ms. Hawking’s dire warnings and 70 hour deadline, the Oceanic 6 situation gains some urgency to match its sister plotline. But it’s a little hard to get invested given how this arc turns out (Dang you 316!), and none of that happens until the end of the episode. So although I still really like it, as the episode that focuses more on the O6 than the island, “The Lie” is very likely going to be my least favourite of Season 5′s opening.

Rating: 8.5/10
Ranked 2nd out of 2 episodes.
Average: 9/10