The episodes are written by different writers, right?

Because this one seemed to have much better dialogue. Wittier...and there weren't really any wasted scenes in this episode.

Thats the combined genius of Drew Goddard and Jeff Pinkner. Whoo-hoo!

Drew Goddard -- ya gotta love him --- written many good episodes for several shows including angel and buffy -- i think he wrote for alias also --- not sure

Drew Goddard wrote Outlaws, one of my favourite Lost eps of all time.

Benry is a great actor, too. He could read the phone book and make it sound like Shakespeare. It was good to see him back in action!
All around the acting in the ep was great!!

The back and forth between Ben and Locke tonight was wonderful. Very tense at times and so comical at others. Terry and Michael work so well together.

The back and forth between Ben and Locke tonight was wonderful. Very tense at times and so comical at others. Terry and Michael work so well together.

I agree! It was great that they both had rich material to sink their teeth into. I really missed Michael Emerson's particular form of creepiness and I was happy he was such a big part of tonight's episode.

The back and forth between Ben and Locke tonight was wonderful. Very tense at times and so comical at others. Terry and Michael work so well together.

You got that right. Those two were great together. Michael Emerson is one of the best actors ever. Their dialogue was perfect, and their scenes were intense. I was on the edge of my seat. Great job Drew and Jeff!

I'm happy this is pointed out :)

Tonight's episode is like not from the same show as some other episodes this season, awesome work here, both writing and acting ! Loved the Ben-John duo here !!!:cool: :clapping:

Yeah, wasn't it Drew who wrote Flashes with Damon? Another awesome episode.

I've enjoyed the past couple of episodes, but the writing for tonight's episode was perhaps a cut above. A really nice job. Lost takes a few hits now and then. Those involved with tonight's episode can take a bow.

This was the funniest episode of Season 3 and I absolutely loved every word spoken..lol

Definetly one of the most well written of the series, and great acting all around. This was one of those episodes that reminded of why I started watching Lost in the first place.

Yep. This episode was tight. It had it all. Humor, action, suspense, pathos, a big kaboom and then an even bigger psychological kaboom right after it. Regardless of how one feels about the overall direction that the story has taken, this was one incredibly well-written hour of television.

The look on Danielle's face as she saw Alex for the first time in 16 years was just heartbreaking. Jack's defiance about leaving and yet, at the same time, his desperate need for Kate's understanding... Wow. And Ben and Locke going mano a mano yet again. Huzzah!

Yes, definitely some wonderful writing this episode. Hats off to the writers!

tonight locke was really ballsy in words and deeds.

for a moment ben looked like he believed
locke was going to shoot him.

i think locke is a fan of "firefly" because he is following
mal's advice...

"if someone tries to kill you, you kill 'em right back."

****************************************
once you go mac, you never go back.

p.s. when do i get off the tarmac?

That's a good question... Anyway I thank you writers, actors, everyone involved; I was hoping for an episode equal to FBYE but what I got was something even better:kiss:

I do wonder why they can't have the same writers writing every script....You'd figure that they would then have a better idea of what the characters should do and say...

It was all really good wit hone big exception--that silly box story. The Story of Magic Box was not written well at all in my opinion. As I said in another thread, I thought that is sounded like the kind of tall tale that you would use to bribe a preschooler. Even as a methaphor, that part was not written well.

But the rest of the dialog was great!

i believe this was the first episode Brian K. Vaughan contributed too, also. He is one of the top 3 writers in comics today and has some really fantastic books.

as for why the same writers don't write every episode, there is something like 18-22 staff writers on most TV shows. each episode is broken down by "the room" (ie contributions from everybody) and then assigned to a particular writer or pair of writers to actually do the script. sometimes particular writers will be assigned to particular segments of the show. for example, Brian Fuller who created Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls (two shows with strong, young female leads) writes the majority of Claire storylines on Heroes.

There's just way too much work to be done by the same 2 or 3 guys. so you assign it as best you can. but that's why you will see inconsistencies in quality/tone/etc. from episode to episode on most every TV shows. There is no real getting around it. The show runner is ultimately responsible for making sure that it all works together.

When they revealed an "answer" it wasn't like in past episodes where it almost sounded like "da da da da -answer- da da d da" If you get what i mean. In this episode it flowed more as a normal part of the dialogue

Exactly! I especially appreciated that the scene were Locke got paralyzed wasn't the last flashback, which I figured it would be. I didn't realize until watching, but we really needed to see that next scene, of Locke sitting in the chair for the first time.

More generally, I think the writing, while always strong, has definitely improved these past few episodes. While I do still wish the Losties were asking more obvious questions, I appreciate we are seeing them process stuff around them and talking to each other about it.