We could consider all the episodes of "Lost" prior to "Raised by Another" to be either character episodes or setup episodes. "Pilot, Part 2" gave us teasers of the season one mythology, "Walkabout" and "Confidence Man" are perhaps the ultimate character episodes in "Lost", but "Raised by Another" is a truly intense and exciting introduction to the season one mythology as we learn that Ethan isn't on the manifest and begin to put two and two together and realize there are others (or should I say: Others) on the island. Furthermore, there's the whole 'raised by another' plot thread that was only visited again in season two's "Maternity Leave" and in the late stages of season four, and is still to me one of the more interesting mysteries in the show. In many ways "Raised by Another" is the first episode of full-blown island weirdness and spookiness. Claire's dream at the beginning of the episode is very effective.
This was sadly Lynne E. Litt's only script for "Lost", back in the days before there appeared to be a core writing crew on the show. One of season one's strengths was the variety of the scripts, whereas by season four although the writers may have better harmony and a better grasp on the story you can watch ten minutes of an episode and guess (probably accurately) which writer(s) wrote the episode. It's a shame Litt didn't write more for the show because this is a quality script in many ways, only faltering near the start with the overbearingly clichéd kitchen-sink drama between Claire and her boyfriend, a scene not helped by the typically erratic and equally clichéd direction the show suffered with in season one, this time courtesy of Marita Grabiak, who again seems to think shaking the camera a lot helps create tension. Still, the script opens memorably, builds suspensefully with admirable use of humor in the dialogue and entertaining scenes featuring Hurley as an investigator. The thrilling climax works wonderfully as a payoff and leads into the exciting next episode very well.
Although there is some wild overacting from the usually solid Emilie de Ravin the acting here is generally of a high standard, helping the episode become as absorbing as it is. William Mapother and Nick Jameson make excellent guest stars.
I tend to notice a lot of fellow fans seem to think that the psychic was actually a fraud, which leads me to believe they haven't seen this episode in a while because it is spelled out and made perhaps even too clear near the end of the episode in a conversation between Charlie and Claire that the psychic probably put Claire on the plane knowing full well she would crash. I see no reason to question this.
"Raised by Another" still works admirably despite some of its obvious flaws, and is still as enjoyable as it was in 2004.
8.5/10
This was sadly Lynne E. Litt's only script for "Lost", back in the days before there appeared to be a core writing crew on the show. One of season one's strengths was the variety of the scripts, whereas by season four although the writers may have better harmony and a better grasp on the story you can watch ten minutes of an episode and guess (probably accurately) which writer(s) wrote the episode. It's a shame Litt didn't write more for the show because this is a quality script in many ways, only faltering near the start with the overbearingly clichéd kitchen-sink drama between Claire and her boyfriend, a scene not helped by the typically erratic and equally clichéd direction the show suffered with in season one, this time courtesy of Marita Grabiak, who again seems to think shaking the camera a lot helps create tension. Still, the script opens memorably, builds suspensefully with admirable use of humor in the dialogue and entertaining scenes featuring Hurley as an investigator. The thrilling climax works wonderfully as a payoff and leads into the exciting next episode very well.
Although there is some wild overacting from the usually solid Emilie de Ravin the acting here is generally of a high standard, helping the episode become as absorbing as it is. William Mapother and Nick Jameson make excellent guest stars.
I tend to notice a lot of fellow fans seem to think that the psychic was actually a fraud, which leads me to believe they haven't seen this episode in a while because it is spelled out and made perhaps even too clear near the end of the episode in a conversation between Charlie and Claire that the psychic probably put Claire on the plane knowing full well she would crash. I see no reason to question this.
"Raised by Another" still works admirably despite some of its obvious flaws, and is still as enjoyable as it was in 2004.
8.5/10