Last week I began talking about some of my favorite moments of Lost with a piece on the first big reveal of the show: Locke being in a wheelchair. This week, I turn my attention to the second season of the show, specifically the Eko-centric episode “The 23rd Psalm.”
Since the pilot episode, viewers knew that there was something living in the forest on the island. We had seen it knock down trees, eat the pilot, and try to drag Locke into a big hole, but we had never really seen the monster. In this episode, though, everything changed….
Yes, we did get a glimpse of the monster in the season one finale, but that was fleeting and ambiguous at best. In “The 23rd Psalm” we got to see the monster up close and personal as Eko stared it down in the middle of the forest. It was an outstanding moment and a great reveal for the smoke monster. It was a real step change in terms of what the audience knew of smokey. Not only did we get a great view of it, we got to see that it was showing Eko images from his past, seemingly judging him.
Even now questions remain about the nature of the monster, but we know that it does indeed judge people, as it judged Ben last season. Clearly, it was doing the same here with Eko. As we later found out, Eko was not shown the same mercy that Ben was shown, as the monster killed him early in season three.
There have been other great monster moments throughout Lost. When Ben summoned it to take out the invading freighter crew, the aforementioned judging of Ben in the temple, and when it was repelled by the sonic fence stand out as some memorable appearances. The first good look that we got at the sentient smokey cloud, however, still stands out as one of the best moments of the show for me. It was definitely a water cooler moment and I can remember heading into work the next day, eager to discuss it with some of my fellow Lost lovers. I’m not sure if we will ever know the exact nature of the monster, but hopefully we can get at least one more great smokey moment like this in the final season.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Sep 28, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
Since he began with the show, Mr. Eko has been my favorite character. I still find his story the most interesting, and it was unfortunate for the show when Eko was killed off.