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A few hours ago Jeremiah published his weekly LOST recap, and we know that you are dying to read Chris Kirkman and Gitsie Girl’s thoughts and theories on last night’s episode. But meanwhile, here are 16 links to several reviews from TV critics, journalists, media bloggers, etc.

1. Jeff Jensen for EW.com (read full review here):

It was certainly an episode explicit and implicit with deep thoughts and wild possibilities, but they were all in service of an ironic mission: Bringing Lost back down to terra firma after five episodes of challenging, far-out time-travel storytelling. ”316” — that was the title, and for many more reasons than one — was a proverbial pilot episode for a whole new chapter of the show. It effectively returned the series to a place where all fans — the in-too-deep geeks like me who want meaty mythological disclosures, as well as the normal people who just want powerful, character-driven stories — can find some common-ground appreciation. By reuniting the castaways in the setting we all know and love, and by conspicuously omitting key details from various character arcs (Why did Hurley change his mind? Who was that woman with Sayid? How did Ben get roughed up?) that will surely require some traditional flashback storytelling in order to fully reveal, Lost‘s time-traveling, time-looping, Back to the Future fifth season has now gone all Season 1 on us.

[More reviews after the jump]

2. Mickey O’Connor on TVGuide.com writes:

Well, we now know how the Oceanic 6 got back to the island, but because this is Lost and not Two and a Half Men, what appears to be the burning question is instantly supplanted by a more complicated one: Why did they go back? While Jack and Sun were already on board with Ben’s plan to return, all of a sudden Kate, Sayid and Hurley were all queuing up at the Ajira Airways gate, and we have no idea why. It opens up possibilities in the already-twisty narrative that give us much to anticipate about future episodes.

I won’t dwell on my futile Googling for a deeper knowledge of the title of this episode: “316.” Suffice it to say that not only is it the area code of Wichita, Kansas, and the year that Constantine attempted to end the schism between the Roman Catholic and Donatist churches (whatever that means), it is also the Ajira flight number… and the number of a very telling Biblical passage, that being John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We’ll get to see who Lost‘s resident Jesus figure is in good time, but in the meantime, Mrs. Hawking has something to tell the Oceanic 6 — and the audience.

3. Paul Levinson:

All in all, it was good to see some of our people back on the island – but it may have happened a little too fast. This was one of those episodes that made me wish I had the self-control to DVR this one, and the next few, and watch them all at once, in a more satisfying story arc.

4.Maureen Ryan for the Chicago Tribune:

For all the questions this episode raised, it built up the suspense nicely — by the time the Ajira Airways flight left the tarmac in L.A., I was quite excited to see what would happen next. And there was the deep weirdness of Jack changing Locke’s shoes, the pathos of Jack reading Locke’s suicide note and the slightly eerie yet sad visit that Jack paid to his grandfather, Ray.

5. Nikki Stafford:

Everything has happened before, and will happen again.
How much did I love that opening, with Jack waking up in the bamboo, the same eerie music, the same wind, the same calls for help. I had no idea it was going to turn out to be anything other than a re-creation of the pilot episode, until he got to the cliff. I thought, “Huh. The pilot episode always made it look like he came out of the trees and right onto the beach. And hey… wasn’t Hurley on the beach?” AWESOME. I know some people don’t like to be manipulated by their TV, but I LOVE it.

6. Jonathan Toomey for TV Squad:

Whether you’ve been prepared for it or not, Lost is becoming a very different show. I’m not bringing that up as a negative. I’m not bringing it up as a positive either. This is just the natural progression of what has become the most densely written sci-fi drama ever. Eventually, we were going to reach a point that just seemed utterly ridiculous even by Lost‘s standards.

Let me put it this way – for as far-fetched a show as Lost is (that isn’t a bad thing), I’ve never really felt like I had to suspend my disbelief to buy into it. With this episode, I did.

7. Alan Sepinwall:

While I’ve had some reservations about previous outings this year, “316″ is the first episode of season five to leave me feeling wholly unsatisfied. After that great in media res opening — which had Jack in a suit, waking up on the jungle floor again, in a way that briefly suggested we were seeing a flashback to the series pilot (though his haircut’s different and I think his shirt and tie were as well), before finding Hurley and Kate in the lagoon by the waterfall — it was an awful lot of narrative throat-clearing, punctuated with lots of teases for what I hope will be more interesting episodes down the road. Given that opening, and the fact that “Lost” showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were the credited screenwriters, I was expecting a whole lot more than what I got here.

The problem was the decision to tell the episode from Jack’s point of view. The issue isn’t Jack’s relative worth as a character. Lord knows I’ve complained about Jack-centric episodes in the past, but I think they’ve done some very interesting things with him in these Oceanic Six episodes. The issue is that Jack was the only character among those who wound up on Ajira Airways Flight 316 who had neither reservations about returning to the island, nor any logistical obstacles towards getting there, and so there was no story to tell here.

8. Patrick Kevin Day in the LA Times writes:

We’ve been building to this moment since the last scene of Season 3 — in the episode titled “316,” Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Ben and Frank returned to the island. So why did it feel so anti-climactic?

I think it was because so much crucial action was left off-screen, presumably to be revealed in a future episode. How did Hurley get out of jail and become so willing to fly back to the island? How did Sayid end up in the custody of law enforcement? Who beat up Ben?

It’s a shame we have to wait for those answers, because now that we know the Oceanic Six (three of them at least) made it back to the island, the questions of how they came to be there seem much less important. Somehow Hurley got out of jail, yes, but wouldn’t you rather see the series spend more time dealing with Smokey the Smoke Monster instead of expanding on scenes we don’t really need to see?

9. Thomas Anderson:

Lost has yet to produce a bad episode this season, and this one is no exception – aside from the premiere, it’s easily the best – and a delightful surprise is Eloise Hawking’s character – now that there’s been more revealed about her involvement with the island, she’s much more able to be mysterious with a hint of batshit craziness.  Kate and Jack screwing around again didn’t seem to do much for the plot – they probably both figure there’s not a huge chance they’re going to survive, so they were banking on the whole “last day on earth” scenario. However, it is intriguing what it sets up for when Jack and Sawyer make contact – Sawyer’s probably missin’ Freckles pretty bad by now, and he won’t be none too happy about Jack and Kate playing doctor.  An especially nice part of this episode was its focus on one central storyline – sometimes jumping through three or four different ones like the last few have was a little confusing, as it felt like we didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on how this was affecting each of the characters, but now this episode fixed that.

Why we needed to have that little intro at the beginning that gave away that they got to the island safe and sound is beyond me.  It could have easily been moved without any effect on the story whatsoever (losing that little “I wish” reference wouldn’t have been a big deal), and then there would have been slightly more tension, which could have made it an excellent episode instead of a very very good one.

10. Tim Goodman for SFGate.com:

I liked: Desmond sticking to his guns. Hurley protecting as many innocent passengers as possible. And, conversely, Ben saying “Who cares” when Jack asks what’s going to happen to all the other people. Locke being succinct. The arrival of Gaia from “Rome” (Zuleikha Robinson) to arrest Sayid. The Ajira Air women. And, I guess, Jin driving the Dharma bus. But honestly, aren’t there a LOT of those kinds of twists? Jack’s grandfather trying to leave the drudgery of the retirement community. The opening shot mimicking Jack’s original arrival on the island. The initial burst of excitement realizing – hey! – they’re back. And…that’s about it.

I didn’t like: Mrs. Hawking making it all too simple. Or glossy. Why not have her just say, “You know what? Just go with it.” The thing with Jack’s dad’s shoes. Alright already. Why not his watch? The aforementioned too-easy nature of making it all happen (we’re here, we’re boarding, we’re crashing, we’re back). Why that’s troublesome to me: Because it means how they got there will be told in traditional flashbacks. I prefer crazy time-shifting now. So, what – Sun leaves her kid in Korea? Kate dumps Aaron (probably with Aaron’s grandmother)? Hurley just shows up? Sayid is arrested and forced aboard Ajira (it’s only interesting in that in some way he’s a proxy for Kate and her original trip)? Having “that other guy” on the plane with them. Oh, great, more back story. Kate conveniently plopped on a rock instead of face down and drowned. Oh, I don’t know…

11. Ryan McGee on Zap2it.com:

Finally, off-Island action that comes close to approaching that on the Island. For the entire season, everything in Los Angeles has largely either bogged down the story or fit awkwardly into it. Glad to see the show is no longer putting a square piece into a circular hole. Now we can get down to Island-centric business. We will no doubt down the line learn what happened to Hurley, Kate, and Sayid that fateful night before boarding Ajira Airways, but it will be done so in the context of good ol’ fashioned Island living.

12. Stephen Lackey for mania.com:

The true magic of Lost happens when the show answers the right questions at the right time while sneaking in new intriguing questions at the same time. Some of the failed episodes of previous seasons answered nothing and pounded you over the head with more questions that just made the series even more convoluted. This week was an “edge of your seater” with some of the show’s most exciting questions getting answered. The creators of Lost are a clever bunch. They’ve wiggled in some hardcore science fiction elements and horror elements into a series that actually has a large mainstream fan base along with the rest of us geeks. Hopefully the character moments of the series will keep those fans hooked to the series and help them through the heavy sci-fi moments. The solution to how the island was originally discovered is fairly typical to any fan of sci-fi and the way back to the island makes perfect sense within this world. Jack knew it all along; he just didn’t know exactly which plane to ride and when to ride it.

13. Chris Carabott for IGN.com:

One of the more troubling moments from “316″ has to be Kate showing up at Jack’s home traumatized. This scene played out awkwardly and with little explanation as to what was really going on. Yes, she explicitly told Jack not to ask about Aaron but that mixed with what apparently was a night of sex doesn’t sit well. One thing we’ve learned about Jack over the years is that he’s about as stubborn as they come and I can’t imagine that he’d simply allow the subject to sit. It’s obvious however that Kate is highly traumatized in this scene and without knowing what happened to Aaron we don’t have a clear understanding of her motives. Lost is all about building mystery but the truth behind what happened to Aaron (Did she give him to someone?) is something that needs to be revealed quickly, otherwise it just looks like an awkward loose end.

14. Drew McWeeny:

Who’s got two thumbs and loves “Lost” more than caramel corn right now?

This guy.

This week’s episode was written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, chief architects of my weekly addiction, and it’s got about a jazillion giant things going on it it.  Confirmations of theories.  Final moves of some major chess pieces.  New questions.  And an ending moment shocker that immediately suggest some big answers to the show’s big questions.

So, yeah… it was a good one.

I was taking notes in the dark on my little reporter’s notebook… something, I’ll point out, I never do during a movie in a screening room or a theater.  I find it too distracting.  With me doing this recap each week, though, I want to have a few things written down, things that jumped out at me as I was watching.

15. Rachel Dovey:

Lost has a long, complicated relationship with religion. While the show is not overtly religious, it is decidedly metaphysical, and not just as a sci-fi nodding to whatever else is “out there.” Smoke monsters, ghosts, baptisms, churches and priests with rosaries and biblical walking sticks have all populated the island’s lush environs since Season One.

It’s highly personal, but this has always made me slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps it’s our rigorous separation of church and state that disallowed me from saying the Pledge of Allegiance in middle school, or the music industry’s black-and-white genres, marketing Switchfoot to a completely different audience than Iron and Wine. With a divider like the island’s electric-fence security system, I want my religion over here and my entertaining sci-fi over there, never the twain to meet.

But in a world where polar bears roam the tropics, this doesn’t seem a realistic option. And it probably shouldn’t be. Last night’s Lost pulled religious (primarily Catholic) themes into the mix again, and I started to settle into it, realizing that this show is all about that twilight zone between the real and imaginary, the sacred and the secular, the bizarre and highly mundane. It pushes us into those uncomfortable places, and perhaps therein lies its brilliance.

16. Jay Glatfelter for the Huffington Post:

Last night’s episode concluded where we started off: the Oceanic 6′s return to the island. Hurley, Jack and Kate seem to be together. We don’t know about the rest, their locations or the time period they are in, and to close out the episode we had a double take of Jin dressed in 70′s Dharma fatigues. This places the left behind Losties and at least Jack, Hurley and Kate stuck in Dharma time. How are they going to get back?

My question last week has been answered. I believe this episode gave us the foundation for the rest of the series. Enough new mystery and story for our Losties to get through. God, I love this show!

Related posts:

1. EW Reviews the Season 5 Premiere
2. Episode 5.06 “316″ – New Promos
3. Episode 5.06 “316″ – Promo #1