At the end of Deus Ex Machina, John Locke pounds on the Hatch door and screams, "Why did you do this to me!" A light shines up through the glass and Locke's faith is momentarily saved.
Locke didn't know it at the time, but he was the one doing the saving.
The source of that light happened to be Desmond, a man brought to the island by a violent storm on the open sea. Flashbacks reveal his involuntary assignment to the Swan station, where he served as the new assistant to Kelvin Inman (yep, THAT Kelvin Inman from "One of Them"). Inman's unfortunate demise is what triggers Desmond's steady descent toward despair. At one point he cracks open his copy of Our Mutual Friend with a gun resting on the table nearby. Just goes to show you that when it comes to the Swan you really do live together and die alone.
... except Desmond didn't get around to dying because Penny, the love of his life, wisely slipped an uplifting note between the pages of his book. It distracted him just long enough to hear Locke pounding on the Hatch door. Ladies and gentlemen, this kind of storyline convergence is an example of phenomenal writing.
Speaking of Locke meltdowns, the now-faithless Locke has had it with the Swan and wants the clock to reach zero. He convinces Desmond to trigger a lockdown so Eko can't spoil his plan. As the final countdown gets underway, Jack's team is captured by the Others and Sayid's team maneuvers Desmond's boat along the shoreline (passing the remnants of a four-toed statue by the way).
From there it all comes together very smoothly. Desmond turns a failsafe key to make the Swan implode, Michael's rewarded with the return of Walt (oh, and a boat), Charlie gets a kiss from Claire, and... um, we're in the middle of a blizzard, what the hell? Looks like Ms. Penny Widmore does indeed have a lot of money and can find whomever she wants. Her arctic team has just detected the Swan implosion and might have the location of the island. Bam!
Okay, so LTDA is a very nicely woven finale but it falls short of Exodus. I loved certain aspects of it, such as the newly introduced characters and bookending the stadium scene to remind us of the opener.
I did have a few complaints, none of them major:
1. When Jack's team kicks off their journey they inexplicably head south along the shoreline. It was already well-established that their destination was north.
2. There really wasn't much doubt about the fate of Jack's team, that their capture would be the primary cliffhanger. The only mild surprise was that Ben was calling the shots.
3. I suppose the failsafe key/implosion was the best way to kill the Swan storyline, but it just felt too deus ex machina for my tastes (not to be confused with the episode). It would've been great to illustrate how the implosion was a more ideal result than what would've happened had they simply abandoned the station.
4. When Penny asks Desmond why he didn't write, I don't know why he'd refuse to answer. He DID write, so why not say so? It's not like he was jeopardizing an arrangement with Charles Widmore if he'd spoken up, so what gives?
I think it's fun to compare Henry Ian Cusick's performance in the opener (Man of Science, Man of Faith) to the finale (Live Together, Die Alone). The differences are subtle but I think it's obvious he grew much more comfortable in his role as Desmond. It's a good thing too, for he's consistently a favorite amongst the LOST fan base.
Hard to pick a best scene for Cusick in LTDA but I'll vote for the scene in the dining nook where he reads Penny's letter. When any actor cries in a convincing manner he/she is going to get some praise from yours truly.
Terry O'Quinn is runner-up for best acting this time around, sharing some seriously intense moments with his new buddy Desmond. One of his more famous lines came as the Swan was falling to pieces and Eko was scowling at him: "I was wrong."
Sonya Walger (Penny) is yet another perfect casting selection. Out of all the couples (or potential couples) featured in the series, I'd rank Penny and Desmond right up there with Rose and Bernard in terms of on-screen chemistry. They were a very natural fit from their first scene onward, which is a serious nod to their talent level.
Everyone else gave standard/quality performances or had roles so limited I couldn't fairly assess them.
This one's a no-brainer. After the Swan clock reaches zero we're treated to a feast of visual effects. Metallic items zipped across the rooms and onto the infamous magnetic wall. Eko walked into the computer room just in time to see the countdown clock get crushed like an aluminum can.
The chaotic self-destruction seemed to last an eternity, then Desmond turned the failsafe key to trigger ANOTHER round of effects. This time it was a blazing white light that blinded everyone on the island, from the Others' dock to the beach camp and everywhere in between.
My only real complaint was the scene where Desmond followed Kelvin and discovered his boat. There was a shot over Desmond's shoulder showing the boat floating in the water. It looked very odd and noticeably blurry, like it was a case of very bad CGI or the camera was completely out of focus.
Considering I'm a huge fan of the Swan and this is the station's last hurrah, it's a given that I'd never get tired of this episode. I also happen to be a softie when it comes to Desmond and Penny's relationship, so any opportunity to revisit their first on-screen moment is a treat unto itself.
Significance is a no-brainer with any finale, LTDA being no exception. We're introduced to Penny and Charles Widmore, the Swan is blown to Kingdom Come, the four-toed statue makes a cameo appearance, and Charlie and Claire appear to make amends. Three of our heroes are now in the custody of the Others, setting up the first one-third of Season 3. It doesn't get much more significant than that.
When I say that LTDA falls short of Exodus I'm not suggesting it's a disappointing episode. It's not, not at all. The difference is that Exodus had so many simultaneous storylines in progress (all of them intense and unpredictable) while at least one of LTDA's major storylines was very predictable — the capture of Jack's team. It made perfect sense that Season 3 would start us off in the midst of the Others, it was just a question of where that would be and how it would look.
There were certainly a few moments with emotional impact, most notably Desmond reading Penny's letter in the Swan. I'd like to say that Michael's reunion with Walt and subsequent escape pulled at my heart strings, but considering what he did to achieve it I just couldn't muster any joy in my heart.
I'll give half-credit to the scene between Desmond and Libby. It was written well but Cynthia Watros was acting a little... spaced-out for lack of a better phrase. It was somewhat distracting when I knew it could've been a very emotional scene.
