"Lost" is back...

And any semblance of a social life on Wednesday nights ends...

I was on the phone doing an interview with someone for an article I'm writing, and the closer we got to 8pm, the more hurried the conversation started to get, she really tried to wrap up that conversation quickly by the end. I was thinking "I bet you this chick wants to get off the phone and watch "Lost," just like me!" I was tempted to ask, but you know, that's unprofessional.

Anyhoo ... man, that was a good episode. (read Amanda's recap!) I wouldn't go so far as to say Mr. Eko is my new TV boyfriend, because he scares the piss out of me, but he's definitely one of the best back stories on the show. I was worried that he'd be turned into the island's resident Magical Black Man with words of sage wisdom for everybody, and I'm sure he'll be doing more of that, in addition to some random throat-slashing and scaring off black smoke monsters with the power of his stare, perhaps. So I guess he is still like a Magical Black Man, only the most bad-ass interpretation of that pop-culture stereotype possible.

At first, when Eko was introduced I thought maybe the show would end up going into some Survivor-esque "shaman vs. shaman" split with Locke and Eko, and perhaps they will go into that predictable route, but man, I hope Locke knows better than to fuck with him. if Ana Lucia knew what kind of dude she was barking orders at I think she would have shut the fuck up real early.

Even so, I think Eko's transformation from warlord to priest is sincere, considering he's gone so far down the path of evil actions, I guess coming all the way back 'round is understandable, especially after what happened with his brother. Though I always wonder why TV show brothers always have to have be polar opposites when it comes to choosing career paths, it's never "Drug Lord/Coffee Shop Owner" or "Priest/Shoe Salesman," It's always "Drug Lord/Priest." Why is that?

Here's an excellent character analysis of Eko and recap of ysterday's show from MSNBC.