Why "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" is My Favorite Episode of LOST
Look, I love "The Constant" as much as the next guy, because I'm not a monster. And I could name a dozen other absolutely superb episodes that are right up there ("LaFleur," "Man of Science, Man of Faith," "Through the Looking Glass," "Not in Portland," "Pilot," okay, I'll stop). But if forced at an Others' gunpoint to choose among so many darlings, I will reliably answer that “Tricia Tanaka is Dead” is my favorite episode of Lost . Why? Several reasons. First, as most people agree, and as I felt on first viewing, it works beautifully as comic relief in the middle of a lot of darkness and confusion in the overall story. The first half of Season 3 is somewhat uneven at times, as the writers acknowledge they were starting to spin their wheels. It seemed Kate and Sawyer were in those polar bear cages forever. Juliet and Ben playing mind games with the Oceanic 815 people can get tiresome. The question of whether or not...