After receiving the last new episode before a 5 week hiatus, I was left wanting more. This episode filled in many blanks, and setup for the season climax ahead.

The “previously on Lost” at the beginning of the episode reminded me how much this show has changed. In season one it was nothing but mystery. We had absolutely no idea what was going on, and every new thing was intriguing. “Lost” was very much a character driven story in those days. In contrast, we’re now inundated with nothing but answers, and character development has taken a huge back seat. Yes, we may not have the “answers” people think they want, but each episode seems to do nothing but fill in the blanks.

“Meet Kevin Johnson” did just that, filled in the blanks between Micheal and Walt leaving, and the current “Lost” timeline. In fact, the show was almost entirely a flash-back, but that was necessary. Harrold Perrineau is a terrific actor, and I was glad to see him back…even though it looks to be for a short time. I really did think that they’d use the time-shift, and Michael would have been off the island for years, not months (thereby explaining Walt’s growth spurt), but he was only gone a few months…so real time had passed.

Who do we trust in this case, Ben or the captain? Did Ben fake the crash, or Widmore? Either way it appears that “Lost” is morphing into a corporate drama, with Widmore vs. Mittelos Bioscience. I’m enjoying Ben Linus, and whenever he is on screen he steals the show (”Then consider yourself one of the good guys”).

Also, ABC again goes against producers wishes (“not going public with any further clarifications right now“) and during the promo confirms Aaron as a member of the Oceanic Six. For some reason it felt anti-climactic, but I’m sure the circumstances of Aaron’s “rescue” will more than make up for it. We have 5 weeks to speculate about the coming “war”. Who will live? Who will die?

What are your thoughts on Kevin Johnson?