When we last left our survivors, they had finally gotten through to a mysterious boat off the coast of the island. But the ability to make that call cost Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) his life. But at least he was able to get out a word of warning to the rest of the survivors that the people on the boat aren't who they claim to be. Exactly who these people are and who they work for is one of the season's big mysteries (one that is actually resolved, which is rare for the show). Also occurring towards the end of last season was a rift. While a majority of the survivors want to get off the island, there are a few that feel they would be better staying. Well, that rift grows into an all out split as the group divides themselves into two camps. The ones wanting to leave follow Jack (Matthew Fox), while the rest stick with Locke (Terry O'Quinn).
So now, four people arrive on the island, supposedly to help facilitate the rescue. But it is determined early on that saving the survivors is not their first priority. It seems that they have much more aggressive plans in store. Oddly enough, it seems this first wave of "rescuers" isn't the strong-arming type. Actually, they consist of a pilot (Frank, played by Jeff Fahey), a physicist (Faraday, played by Jeremy Davies), an anthropologist named Charlotte (Rebecca Mader) and a paranormal expert by the name of Miles (Ken Leung). But the off-shore boat also features a somewhat deranged mercenary called Keamy (Kevin Durand) who will definitely leave an impression on the island before the season is done.
Of course, the major changes that this season brings to the series is the use of flash forwards (as opposed to the series-standard flash backs). We saw the first of these in Season Three's finale where we realized that Jack and Kate (Evangeline Lilly) would be getting off the island. Well, that trend continues as we slowly learn who the other four "Oceanic Six" are. These flash forwards also give us insight into the four years that follow the Six's rescue and what about their lives cause them to determine they need to return.
Like any season of Lost, it is really hard to talk about really anything without giving away any of the big twists the show constantly throws at you. Suffice it to say that the writers have quite a bit of fun this season, since not every episode has a flash forward, and even some of the flashbacks aren't of the standard fare. This is especially true for the Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) centric episode "The Constant" where Desmond's consciousness actually starts getting pulled from the past (a time when he was in the military) to the present. While this episode does reveal bits of his past, they aren't the normal flashbacks, per se.
Lost: The Complete Fourth Season: The Expanded Experience comes with enough extra material to make any hardcore fan stay glued to their TV long after the episodes are done. Not only are there short featurettes sprinkled about the first four discs in Easter Egg form, but the fifth disc is nothing but extras. One series of featurettes focuses on interesting aspects of eight different episodes. This section is called Lost on Location and it covers "The Beginning of the End", "Confirmed Dead", "The Constant", "The Other Woman", "Meet Kevin Johnson", "The Shape of Things to Come", "Cabin Fever" and the season finale, "There's No Place Like Home Part 2". And there is a lot of good stuff in there.
Another favorite was the featurette "Lost in Hawaii" that shows how the production designers are able to convert the many parts of Hawaii to look like different areas around the world. This Blu-ray set also included a bit about how much trouble it was to keep track of the very finite number of guns that were on the island (well, early on anyway). I never thought about the amount of trouble the creators had to go through in order to make sure each gun was where it would need to be when a character decided to pull one out. Of course, this has become less of an issue since we don't really know how many guns The Others or the guys on the boat had. The Expanded Experience also features a series of shorts called "Missing Pieces" that are essentially conversations between characters that we never saw in the show, but must have happened off camera (like one between Juliet and Michael before he left the island in Season Two).
But the special feature that really makes this boxed set shine is "The Definitive Interactive Flash Forwards." Basically, this menu option lets you watch the season's flash forwards in chronological order (a sequence that takes almost an hour). This feature alone really helps to put the whole season in perspective and really gets you ready for the upcoming new episodes. The DVD version of this season has the same feature, but the Blu-ray release comes with a bonus game that has each of the scenes out of order and you get to see how well you can figure out what goes where by placing them in order yourself. Of course, like Season Three's Blu-ray release, The Complete Season Four comes with the spectacular SeasonPlay feature. This allows you to watch the season with as little interruption as possible. If you have the luxury to sit down and watch the season from beginning to end, this just means you can skip the disc menus and when you change discs, it goes straight into the next episode. If on the other hand, you don't have that kind of time, SeasonPlay simply knows exactly where you left off, no matter how long it's been since you've put a disc in, or what else you've watched in the mean time. Then, of course, there is the great visual and audio benefits to getting the Blu-ray version. Since Lost is filmed in 1080p to begin with, the visual quality alone is enough to make you stand in awe.
This latest season is a great addition to the series, and while some questions are answered, there are still many left to go. Followers of the series will definitely want to grab this one before the new season starts in order to get glean any new information, and if you have the chance to watch it on Blu-ray instead of standard definition, it is definitely worth the extra money.
