User Reviews

Wondering if there is a Locke episode which is not well rated.

His episodes are always good even more than Jack's.

Locke comes to the survivor's camp and lures Sawyer, telling him that he had kidnapped Ben and wants Sawyer to kill him. He brings Sawyer to an old vessel and locks him in the brig with his father. After an ironic conversation, Sawyer realizes that Anthony Cooper is the man that deceived his mother and responsible for the destruction of his family. Meanwhile, Desmond, Hurley, Charlie and Jin bring and hide Naomi in Hurley's tent, and Hurley tells the secret to Sayid. He tries to fix her radio to contact her vessel, but Kate sees the device and reveals the secret to Jake and Juliet. Locke releases Sawyer and gives a tape-recorder to him proving that Juliet is a traitor and The Others will make a raid on their camp to get the pregnant Sun.

"The Brig" is another great episode of this excellent Third Season, with new intriguing mysteries and resolution of some open plots, such as how Anthony Cooper came to the island or who destroyed Sawyer's family. Unfortunately the writer has not given sequence to the great climax of the revelation of Naomi in the end of the previous episode (D.O.C.), and the information that the plane was found in the sea with the crew and passenger dead was not explored as it should. The performance of Kevin Tighe is fantastic in the role of a despicable mean man, and his character really deserved his fate after so many malevolencies. Kate is very naive disclosing the secret of the group to Jack, and incoherent since the reason is jealousy but she is "sleeping" with Sawyer and Jack is no longer interested on her. The manipulation of Locke is very evil, and the objective of his inner journey with The Others is mysterious and full of betrayals. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Note: On 11 April 2013, I saw this episode again on DVD.

"The Brig" is absolutely brilliant and really one of the most satisfying and memorable pieces of television I've ever seen. While the beach camp story wallops forward leading into the now inevitable confrontation with the Others Locke gets Sawyer and Anthony Cooper in the same room for one of the most emotionally explosive and fascinating scenes in the entire series. The on-island flashbacks are the best of their kind, revealing the bare essentials of Locke's character and developing his controversial (among fans) relationship with Ben.

All the drama is nicely balanced by a healthy dose of humor in the episode. The beach camp story is generally far lighter in tone than the pitch-black brig scenes (bar the hilarious cameo by Rousseau) and the flashbacks, but there's some especially good comedy in this episode. You simply have to love Hurley and Jin's late night interaction with Sawyer while they were guarding the tent Naomi was in. As expected from a Damon Lindelof/Carlton Cuse script even the potentially bad sections are written very well. The closest thing to a flaw in this episode is Kate's snitching, but it really hasn't bothered me at all on repeat viewings, and the emotional impact of the episode is strong enough to overcome it anyhow.

Director Eric Laneuville is up there with Jack Bender as far as directors on this show, and on TV in general, actually, go, and there's some especially beautiful shots in the flashbacks, and a real maturity to his approach in shooting the brig scenes. The performances are absolutely phenomenal as well, this might be Josh Holloway's best episode and the rest of the cast don't disappoint either, especially Terry O'Quinn's beautifully understated performance. There is such a haunting sadness to his behavior here which works far better than an exaggerated display of anger or tears would have.

When 'Lost' was in its prime, it was must-watch television. Remember first watching it, found it remarkably easy to get into, was hooked from the start and was on Season 3 by the end of one week. The general consensus is that the final season is a disappointment and cannot disagree.

Alongside "Not in Portland", "Flashes Before Your Eyes", "Enter 77", "The Man from Tallahassee" and "One of Us", "The Brig" for me is one of the best Season 3 episodes up to this point of the season. Also feel that it is one of the best of Season 3 in general, one of the best episodes of 'Lost' up to this point and among the best of the show in general. Every aspect of "The Brig" is brilliant and with all the trademarks for a 'Lost' classic.

The episode has pretty much everything that 'Lost' is all about. It's taut and thought-provoking, also providing some answers and surprises, with an edge-of-your-seat tense subplot with the brig and the wonderfully light-hearted beach camp one.

On top of all that, it advances characters, shows plot progression rather than repeating itself or being filler and there is some nice foreshadowing and a few shocking revelations. The on-island events are indeed enthralling, with a superb mix of mystery and characterisation and how it all relates to one another, as well as beautifully balanced and hilarious comedy that doesn't jar at all, and the character interaction keeps one on the edge of their seat.

Can't fault the performances, particularly from Terry O'Quinn understating things to deeply felt effect.

Nor the stylishness and atmosphere of the visuals, nor the effective use of music, taut writing and the tightly controlled direction (one of the best of the season and perhaps of the show).

In summary, brilliant and classic 'Lost'. 10/10 Bethany Cox