David Fury gives us our first Walt/Michael-centric and it's a decent one. Up to this point we only know Michael as the overprotective father who's perpetually scowling at his son Walt, but through flashbacks we discover that hmm, maybe Michael isn't all that terrible a guy after all.
If there was ever a case of villifying one character to elevate another, this is it. Michael is slammed with one heartbreaking announcement after another, most of them coming from his girlfriend (and Walt's mother) Susan. Just as he hits hard times at his job, Susan decides she's whisking herself away to Amsterdam for a job opportunity. Oh, and she's taking Walt. Oh, and she's gonna shack up with her boss Brian Porter too.
That last one filled Michael with just enough rage to blind him from the car that punted him down the street. This brings Susan all the way back to the hospital for one more kick in the pants: Brian's adopting Walt. What a gal!
Fury's mission was accomplished. I was now firmly in Michael's camp, so by the time Brian announced that Susan had died and he needed to unload the responsibility that was Walt, I was rooting for Michael to go berserk on his sorry arse. That confrontation, by the way, was probably the best-written scene of the episode.
The stage was also set for Walt's "special" abilities. As Locke was teaching him how to throw a knife, he envisioned the blade sinking into a tree. And it happened. When Brian and Susan wouldn't pay attention to the bird he was reading about, a bird smashed into a nearby window. He came across a polar bear in his comic book, then encountered one shortly thereafter.
Unfortunately this is a storyline that would grow very weak over the course of the series, but I can't pin the blame on Fury for this one. He set it up nicely, which is all the counts in the scope of this review.
This was the shining moment for Harold Perrineau, who finally got the chance to show a broader acting range than simply scowling at Walt and issuing threats toward other Losties. Granted, things weren't all warm and fuzzy in his flashbacks either, but at least we got to see a happier version of him at the baby supply store and a broken version (literally and figuratively) as his son slipped away from him.
Malcom David Kelley really doesn't get enough credit for his acting ability. It's always a risk when you ask a youngster to endure lengthy scenes let alone a full episode, for it's almost inevitable that you'll get some wooden or hammy acting along the way. But Kelley is solid all the way through and never wavers, showing a nice range including frustration ("Man... I suck!") to defiance ("I'm not goin' anywhere with you.") to despair in the polar bear scene.
Most importantly, Harold and Malcolm have credible father-son chemistry, not just in Special but the series as a whole.
Tamara Taylor (Susan) and David Starzyk (Brian) were about average, so no bonuses or deductions.
I liked the use of some wide shots in this episode, particularly the scenes where Susan visits Michael in the hospital and when Michael opens the box of letters at the house in Australia. For whatever reason, wide shots can really drive home the emotional depth of a scene and Greg Yaitanes clearly recognizes that.
Bonus points for the scene where Michael gets hit by a car. On first watch you don't really notice the pedestrians passing by the camera, allowing for the cut and swapping out Perrineau for his stunt double. Nicely executed.
The most challenging scene by far is the one that received the most intense scrutiny — yes, the polar bear scene. While many hardcore fans lament the blurry CGI-ness of it, I'm considerably more forgiving because I realize this is network television. They don't have the same time- and budget-related luxuries of a feature film, so I think the finished scene was acceptable given the restraints. I'm just happy it was a plausible polar bear and not a gigantic Muppet being tossed around (see: Making of the Pilot).
This episode takes a considerable hit in the Longevity department, mostly due to the frustrating missed opportunities that came from it.
It was established that Walt was special in some way. He was able to go a step beyond the "mind's eye" (Locke's phrase) and apparently will something into existence. At least I THINK that was the gift. This was the perfect setup for what could've been a compelling wild-card character in the series, but instead his abilities were never fully explored or leveraged.
The polar bear scene didn't do any favors for longevity either, since it made the same mistake as The Moth in presenting a crisis that was clearly going to be resolved quickly and happily.
Bonus points for this being the episode in which Michael first proposes building a raft, a component that would be critical in late Season 1 and early Season 2.
The high point of Special's emotional impact was soon after Michael took his emotional and physical beatings. When Susan dropped the final bombshell of Walt's impending adoption, all I had to do was put myself in Michael's shoes. It wasn't a pleasant feeling at all.
I didn't really get much from the polar bear scene, either fear while it was unfolding or catharsis when it was resolved. It was just... there.
However, it was a bit of a heartwarming moment to see Michael give Walt the box of letters, followed by them sharing a chuckle at a corny joke. Nice touch.
Bonus points for the cliffhanger with Locke stumbling across Claire in the jungle. All cliffhangers should be so effective!
