I've been re-watching the entire show to get ready for the final season, and I'll be giving a mini-review of each:
Notable new characters (on-screen appearances only): Desmond (2x1); Ana-Lucia, Eko, Libby, Bernard (2x3); Ben (2x14); Alex Rousseau (2x15); Pickett, Ms. Klugh (2x22); Charles Widmore, Penny (2x23)
Notable births: None
Notable deaths: Shannon (2x6), Goodwin (2x7), Ana-Lucia (2x20), Libby (2x21)
First centric episode: Shannon (2x6), Ana-Lucia (2x8), Eko (2x10), Bernard/Rose (2x19), Desmond (2x23)
Multiple centric episodes: Ana-Lucia (2), Eko (2), Hurley (2), Jack (2), Locke (2), Michael (2), Sun (2)
DHARMA station interiors first seen: Swan (2x1), Arrow (2x4), Staff (2x15), Pearl (2x21)
Name-dropped titles (not necessarily comprehensive, but obviously memorable): Orientation; The 23rd Psalm; The Long Con; One of Them; The Whole Truth; Lockdown; Dave; S.O.S.; ?; Three Minutes; Live Together, Die Alone
Monster Appearances: 2x10
Best episode: 2x23 "Live Together, Die Alone".
Second-best episode: 2x3 "Orientation". This episode is as large of a mythological download as the show has ever offered--Dr. Candle, the orientation film, the purpose of the button...it's tough to beat and the episode story itself was compelling.
Third-best episode: 2x15 "Maternity Leave" I realize I did some episode ranking posts a while back and had this one ranked #9 in Season Two, but re-watching the whole season I've really come to a greater appreciation of this episode. It really is the first time we get a glimpse of the Others going about their business, through Claire's flashbacks, and watching it again with what we'd known before that fresh in my mind, it was shocking. It was the first time it was confirmed that the Others were not just some savage island dwellers, but rather had modern technology at their disposal and something of a military chain of command. Answering a question posed nearly one season ago exactly ("What happened to Claire when she was taken?") was also a great answer in a season that raised more questions.
Overlooked episode: This category is for an episode that I think is better than the consensus opinion would say. Of course, determining what the consensus ranking of an episode is impossible, so it's mostly just my impression.
2x13 "The Long Con" is my choice. It doesn't do much to advance mythology, but it is an interesting study of Sawyer and Charlie as well as group dynamics, which are shaken up a little with the addition of the Tailies (particularly Ana Lucia). It also is notable for being the first real drop of the idea of time travel on the show--Sayid and Hurley pick up an station playing Glen Miller on shortwave and after Sayid tells Hurley the signal could be coming from anywhere, Hurley says: "Or any time."
Best episode ending: 2x20, "Two For the Road"--If someone had told you when the show started that one Lostaway would murder two people, who would you have guessed would be the culprit? I'm going to guess that Michael would have been fairly far down the list of suspects (not at the bottom, but close).
Second-place goes to 2x22 "Three Minutes", which features Desmond's sailboat crashing the funeral of Ana-Lucia and Libby.
LOST is a great show, but it's just a TV show. It usually doesn't have any strong emotional effect on me. But I just sat in my chair processing what I'd seen for about five minutes after watching "Two For the Road" for the first time. It was a shocking moment, and it took the endgame of the season, already in motion, into hyperdrive. And the end game of season two was a lot better than people give it credit for.
Creepiest episode: 2x6 "Abandoned", but Season Two takes the cake for creepy episodes. Anytime "wet Walt" shows up, as in 2x1 "Man of Science, Man of Faith", it's a little jolt. Of course, it is in "Abandoned" that Cindy is taken by the Others and Walt lures Shannon into getting shot by Ana Lucia. 2x7 "The Other 48 Days" features lots of unsettling Others, and the scene in which their bare feet surround the fire is as startling as anything ever on LOST.
The Hatch is good for a lot of unsettling moments as well, like when the hieroglyphics appear when the clock runs out, or the lockdown. Then there's the pile of never-read composition notebooks in "Live Together, Die Alone", not to mention the four-toed statue. And of course any time "Henry Gale" is around, you have to watch your proverbial back (see best line). Season Five may be the trippiest, but Season Two is the creepiest season of the show.
Best flashback: The best off-Island flashback is Eko in 2x10 "The 23rd Psalm". The story is compelling and it ties into the on-Island story as well as any flashback ever, as well as answers a mystery about the Nigerian plane.
However, Season Two has two other terrific flashback episodes, both of which are on-Island: Claire in 2x15 "Maternity Leave" and Michael in 2x22 "Three Minutes". Both of these fill in the gaps about past stories and give a great deal of insight into the society of the Others. 2x7 "The Other 48 Days" was not a flashback, per se, so it doesn't count, but if it did it would win this category.
Most important mythological development: Learning about the DHARMA Initiative (and assorted things like the Swan station). The further development of the Others and Henry Gale is crucial as well, but they fit better as the mythological development for Season Three.
The mysterious "Him" is first mentioned in 2x15, but that is by Tom and is likely referring to Ben. It is not until Ben is interrogated by Sayid in 2x18 that "Him" is mentioned in the sense that it *could* refer to Jacob. This is further developed in 2x20 when Ben talks about a "great man" leading his people (although, again, it's not entirely clear whether Ben is referring to himself or Jacob). Widmore Labs shows up in 2x16, although I believe there is a brief Widmore billboard in 2x12. Charles himself is first mentioned and seen in 2x23, of course. That episode also contains the first references to the Hostiles and the first sighting of the four-toed statue.
Most important scene of the season: "We're the good guys, Michael". For the first time, we get a glimpse of the Others hierarchy (Henry Gale at the top, at least among the normal men!) and the sense that they are fulfilling some larger mission (or at least that they believe they are fulfilling a larger mission). Ben's final explanation is both chilling, unbelievable, and possibly true.
Best scene of the season: I'm drawing a distinction between most important (the one that tells us the most about the larger story) and best, which is one that is great to watch. The winner is the opening scene of the season--Desmond in the Hatch, ending with a pan up the shaft to Locke and Jack peering down, a mirror image of the closing scene of Season 1.
Feel-good moment of the season: Reunion of Jin/Sun and Bernard/Rose (2x8)
TIVO moment: The blast door map (2x17)
Line of the season: It has to go to Ben, and his taunting of Jack and Locke over breakfast--the highlight is the concluding "You guys got any milk?", delivered perfectly matter-of-factly. (2x16)
Secret scene: The challah, the listening station and the call to Penny, is probably the weakest of any of the secret scenes. It was a neat fakeout, as I first thought that the windy tundra was where the Others resided, but it wasn't surprising that Penny was still searching for Desmond. The most important thing about this scene is that it confirmed that the outside world still existed, as it is the first off-Island present/future moment in the history of the show.
Character of the season (each character can only be picked once): Eko. The complicated warlord turned fake priest turned genuine man of faith drives a fair deal of the Island story, and plays a great mirror to Locke. It is a shame that the actor would choose to leave the show after just one full season, as the only other characters who have ever dominated every scene they appear in to such a degree are Ben and Jacob.
Other observations on the season:
* If a poll was taken to determine the most hated character among LOST fans, I assume the winner would be either a character given a lot of screen time that was obnoxious as hell (I'm looking at you Paulo), or an evil character that didn't get a lot of attention (and thus didn't get the humanization that everyone gets on the show; Ben may be evil, but at least we have some understanding of where he's coming from. I'm thinking of someone in the mold of Keamy here). But as for me, my choice is easy and it's a completely unimportant character, a forgettable one who appeared in two episodes and hasn't been since episode 2x2: Walt's mother, Susan.
* In an ongoing attempt to classify Island phenomenon between those created by Jacob and those created by Black Robe:
1. "wet Walt", which appears to Shannon in 2x1 and 2x6 and to Sayid in the latter: I tend to believe that this apparition was the work of Black Robe. Walt lures Shannon to her death, essentially, and creates hostility between the lostaways and the tailies, which would only serve to retard progress. I don't see how it fits Jacob's agenda.
The best alternative explanation is that Walt projected himself using his special abilities, which have been hinted at several times but never fully explored by the show. This is a very feasible explanation, but if it was an Island-created incident, I'm going with Black Robe as the culprit.
2. Kate's horse--I believe that Jacob was behind Kate's horse, which enables her to move on a bit from murdering her step-dad and pursue her relationship with Sawyer.
3. Walt's IMing to Michael over the Swan computer--I think supernatural explanation is unnecessary in this case, as I think the real choice is between Walt using his mind to do it and the Others setting a trap for Michael. They would have known from Pearl station surveillance when he was alone in the computer room and could have set the trap for him. The fact that they were waiting for Michael when he went after Walt makes me believe that it was in fact a trap.
4. Charlie's vivid dreams about Aaron being in peril--I guess it partially depends on whether you believe religious faith is conducive to the agenda of Jacob or the agenda of Black Robe. I tend to think that the view of the show is the former. Of course, the fact that there is a positive outcome from a religious perspective (Aaron's baptism) does not preclude the entire ordeal from playing into Black Robe's hands. After all, Charlie is tempted to return to drug abuse and he helps to drive Locke to a darker place. It's a tough call, but I learn towards Black Robe.
5. Dave--While it is possible that Dave was once again a manifestation of Hurley's brain, I believe that in this case he was the product of Black Robe, attempting to get Hurley to kill himself. While we did not see Jacob visit Hurley before the crash, Jacob did convince Hurley to get on Ajira 316 and it seemed as if he was very much a chosen one. It would be a good play for Black Robe to look to eliminate him.
6. Eko and Locke's dreams in 2x21 "?"--These are tough, as it is hard to figure out whether the events they triggered played into Jacob's agenda or Black Robe's. Finding the Pearl shook Locke's faith, which led to him destroying the computer, which allowed the Island to be found. Jacob likes people coming to the Island, but he also lost some of his chosen people as an end result (those that left the Island).
On the other hand, Black Robe may have thought that Desmond would not use the fail-safe key, and that the Island would be destroyed--presumably a positive for him. But shaking Locke's faith was not necessarily a good thing, as it's Locke's ritualistic faith in the Island that makes him such a dupe.
In his dream, Eko hears Yemi call him "brother". But in 3x5, when the Monster is taking the form of Yemi, it chides Eko for calling him "brother" (and oh yeah, in addition to the chiding, it brutally kills him). I'm going with Jacob, but I'm less confident in this call than any other, and I'm not exactly confident most of the time to begin with.
* A trivial but intriguing mystery: to whom did the glass eye in the Arrow belong? Along the same lines, who was the real Henry Gale? Did he work for Widmore or some other entity trying to find the Island? Why was Eko going to Los Angeles? Who salted the earth around the plane, and why?
I realize that most (all) of these questions will never be answered, and I'm fine with that. But it's worth pointing them out all the same.
