Lost Watch: Polar Bears, Visions, and Naked Psychics

Episode 3 of Season 3 of "Lost" sees the show regaining it's status as one of the most out there shows on television. I mean, this episode was loopy...and I loved it for that reason.

We finally find out what happened to Locke- he's relatively unscathed after the Hatch meltdown at the end of season 2- except he can't speak...not until he talks to The Island. Yes, we're back to Locke's first season obsession with the idea that the island is trying to talk to him...and who should show up in his vision but Boone, the first major character to die on "Lost" (and I'm sure the actor who played him was glad to get a bit of work after being fired from one of the hottest shows on TV, which films in Hawaii...basically the best job in the world) who shows him a crazy vision set in a dream world airport. After having his bizarre vision, Locke realizes he must save the missing Mr. Ecco and "clean up his own mess." Charley, everyone's favorite burn out from an Oasis wanna be band, joins him on his quest...basically because the writers needed to give Locke someone to talk to.

And they end up tracking a polar bear.

As we learned early in season one, there are frigging polar bears on mystery island. Apparently one of them has got himself a cave, and he's a mean as fuck CG monster. Locke has to crawl into the creepy bear cave out in the jungle, (and I expected him to fight Darth Vader- only to reveal that he is fighting himself) to save the bruised and injured Ecco. Using a clever hair spray flame thrower, Locke sends the big ol' bear running.

On their way back to the main camp, Charlie runs off to fetch water just in time for Ecco to speak to Locke, telling him he can go after their captured friends at the Others' resort- because he's a hunter. By the time Charlie gets back, Ecco is passed out again. So the island is definitely on speaking terms with Locke again. After his long, drawn out love affair with the hatch last season, the island has taken him back. It was inevitable- the island and Locke are like Ross and Rachel. They may not always get along, but those two crazy kids are meant for each other.

The flashbacks for Locke were semi-interesting as well. Locke picks up a hitchhiker on his way to a hippie commune, played by Justin Chatwin- Tom Cruise's son from "War of the Worlds," who turns out to be an undercover cop who will probably end up busting his friend's for growing pot- lots and lots of it. Chatwin was fine, but it woulda been kinda sweet had it been the other Cruise kid from that creepy Spielberg alien epic- Dakota Fanning, undercover agent. Anyway, Locke tells his pissed off friends that he can deal with it, taking the cop on a hunting trip. Locke points his gun at him, telling him he's ready to kill him- but is unable to pull the trigger. That Locke, a good man even in the worst of situations.

The whole idea for the flashback is that Locke wanted to "clean up his mess" since he brought the cop to the commune in the first place. But really, when you are hippies growing that much weed, can you blame Locke for getting caught? Letting the numbers run down, after Desmond and Ecco tell you that it will doom you all is kinda a lot more "his bad" then accidentally busting a bunch of hippies who encourage you to murder cops. But anyway, Locke comes through, kicking a bear's ass and reminding us why he was a badass in the first place. It's nice to see hunter Locke back, and this episode confirmed that he was back with a vengeance.

Oh yeah...and Hurley returned. Poor Hurley looks a bit worse for the wear after his terrible trip to bring back the message that Jack, Kate, and Sayid have been kidnapped. On his way back to camp, he runs into Desmond, who is naked and confused after pulling the fail safe in the hatch, which caused it to implode. But somehow he's fine- though naked and unsure of what happened to his clothes. When Hurley tells him his message that the Others have got their friends, Desmond tells him it's okay- because Locke made a speech vowing to go after them. A speech that Locke did not make.

Until the end of the episode. Hurley, listening to Locke talk about going after their friends and finding the Others, rallies the demoralized troops after they've been told their friends have been kidnapped. Charlie, Claire, and a couple random islanders (there are so many things going on with the main characters that they needed to grab a couple randoms to make Locke's speech seem a little more dramatic- though where are Rose and Bernard?) Hurley is stunned as he hears the speech, looking over at a still dazed Desmond. So now Desmond can see the future- even though he can't remember what happened to him in the last few days?

More mysteries and weirdness than you can shake a stick at were thrown our way in this hour of "Lost." It's good to see the mystical weirdness returning to the show- I dig the Others and Dharma initiative stuff, but season 2 focused on that way too much, sorta forgetting all the weird magic voodoo that season one did so well. I mean, this is a show with a weird cloud monster that can see your fears. I'm glad that we're getting back to that- and will hopefully see how it connects with the Dharma stuff. It's also nice to see that Locke and the Island are speaking again- the Hatch was never gonna love him the way he loved it, anyway. And it’s just good to see Locke as his old self again- knife wielding, tracking through the jungle, being more badass than bears- you know, just getting out more.

So far, the season has felt oddly disjointed, focusing on the main group this week, Sayid's crew last week, and the captive love triangle the first week and a bit last week. There is so much going on, the show can't hope to cut between everyone this season. But it's clear that all these stories are going to connect somehow, and very soon. Hopefully we'll see some resolution to this whole thing before the long hiatus- though don't be surprised, "Losties," if we're left with a cliffhanger so gripping that we'll all end up regretting ABC's decision to split the season in two.