Lost First Half Report Card

Next Wednesday will be a hard night to get adjusted to, with no new Lost to go over. But the break comes at a fitting time for Lost. We are already at the halfway point of the season - time seems to go by almost as fast as it does on the island. The first half is now officially over, with the Lost action set back on the island, albeit likely in two different time frames. Where is the second half going to go? As usual, there's no way to know on Lost.

But to pass time until the second half begins on March 18, Lost fans have more time to look back on the good and bad of the first eight episodes. In this most wacky Lost season yet, the good and bad have a lot of candidates for the top spots.

First half MVP:(tie) Daniel Faraday and Sawyer

We needed all the help we could get during the massive time flashes on the island, and so did the Lost left-behinders. In both counts, Daniel Faraday was our guide. The mad time traveler was put square in the center of the entire Lost mythology, despite only being introduced last season. Only Ben Linus has had such a quick rise in importance to the Lost puzzle - and like Ben, Daniel likely isn't completely honest about everything. Is Daniel a liar, a madman, both, or none? When we find that out, Lost may be closer than ever to getting solved.

While Daniel has powered the mythology and time travel sections of the season, an unlikely source has put the emotional side of Lost on his shoulders. Sawyer and "Skate" fans have wondered if he would remain the same wise-cracking, cock-sure anti-hero if he became a good guy. We may be about to find out soon, as Sawyer takes command at the DHARMA Initiative with a new squeeze by his side - at least until the old one returns.

Runners up: Locke, Jin

First half LVP: The Oceanic 6

Many Lost fans and critics were none too happy to leave the island this season. The Oceanic 6 and friends reunited in Los Angeles, but not to happy returns. Jack shaved the beard and started to get some faith, but everyone else seemed to really regress. Hurley had some inconsistencies in his showcase episode, Sayid was largely on the sidelines, Sun's turn to the dark side didn't pan out, and Kate was all over the place, as usual. Things were even more puzzling when the Oceanic 6, minus one, finally reunited - and we had no idea why most of them did it. The second half needs to clear things up about the recent pasts of Kate, Hurley, Sayid and Sun, while hopefully giving them their mojo back on the island.

Runner up: Charlotte

Best first half episode: "Jughead"

The island stayed in one place long enough to take us to a big, unknown piece of its history. The Lost left-behinders discovered the 1954 Others, who already had a habit of purging intruders from their island. The U.S. Army was put into the island's long history, along with a little hydrogen bomb. Not only that, there were big new details put into the pasts of Daniel Faraday, Charles Widmore, Richard Alpert's relationship with Locke, and perhaps even Eloise Hawking. Oh, and Desmond named his new baby after Charlie Pace.

Runners up: "This Place is Death", "Because You Left"

Worst first half episode: "The Little Prince"

Kate-centered episodes are not usually remembered first and foremost in Lost lore. This one was not too different, as Kate tried to protect Aaron from an unknown force, who naturally turned out to be Ben. The episode was a prime example of how Oceanic 6 action didn't hold up by comparison to island action. To further prove it, island subplot action, and some surprise returns of old friends were far more memorable than the main plot.

Runner up: "The Lie"

Most emotional moment: Sawyer sees Kate deliver Aaron, "The Little Prince"

One of those more memorable moments in "The Little Prince" came when Sawyer stumbled onto a piece of Lost history. Kate delivering Claire's baby in the jungle has become a more ironicand fitting Lost moment in the last two season. But Sawyer got to see it for the first time, and see Kate for the first time since leaving the helicopter - and last for three years. Josh Holloway's face said it all, enough so that even "Jate" fans had to get choked up.

Runners up: Sawyer talks about getting over Kate, "LaFleur"; Desmond's baby is named Charlie, "Jughead"

Best plot twist: Ben works for Ms. Hawking, "The Lie"

Two years ago, in Desmond's first time-traveling episode, he came across a woman who seemed to know a lot about her future. The woman hadn't appeared since, and was labeled as "Ms. Hawking" in the episode credits. But Lost devotees sensed that she was important in the big picture. Season Five has shown just how right that is, as the woman returned again at the end of the two-hour premiere, ordering Ben Linus himself to get the Oceanic 6 back. Eloise Hawking's grand importance has only increased ever since.

Runners up: Young Rousseau appears "The Little Prince"; a hydrogen bomb is on the island, "Jughead."

Worst plot twist: Sun wants Ben dead

A primary new mystery from last year's season finale was why Sun wanted to join forces with Charles Widmore. Lost quickly answered that by saying Sun wanted Ben dead for killing Jin. Ben really did cause the freighter to blow up and nearly kill Jin - but how in the world did Sun figure it out? Locke didn't tell her that Ben killed Keamy and let the freighter explode, and its hard to figure out who else could have told her. So how did her mind leap to blaming Ben? That continuity error has dragged down much of Sun's mission this season, at least so far.

Runners up: Kate's custody battle, Jack and Kate have sex, "316"

Best scene: Ben murders Locke, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

Ben said he last saw Locke at the Orchid in the season premiere, then admitted he came to see Locke before he died in "This Place is Death." So if Lost fans were to be told before seeing this episode that Ben killed Locke, it probably wouldn't be a surprise. Even during their ultimate showdown, fans probably figured Ben would kill Locke, even as he talked Locke out of killing himself. After all, Ben is a liar, and no one knows this better than Locke. Yet Locke, and the rest of us, fall for Ben's tricks time and again.

But if Locke actually wised up, we wouldn't have the most valuable rivalry of this series, and the magic of Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson's chemistry. So we'll take Locke and the rest of us being gullible, if we get moments like this for our trouble.

Runners up: The Orchid's construction, "Because You Left"; the smoke monster attack in 1988, "This Place is Death"