Lost has very few bad episodes. The other two considered bad are kind of lame and boring at worst. To me, Fire + Water is by far the worst episode of Lost.
Up until that point, none of the visions and dreams have involved anything so obviously religious. All of the sudden we have an episode that has a very heavy handed christian message about baptizing children?? It didn't feel like the story fit Lost at all.
I'm not at all religious, but I don't mind religious themes in media. This whole episode however read like one of those awful christian propaganda movies where in the end they find salvation in God while cheesy music plays. Mr. Eko episodes are a great example of good use of religious themes, but this is the worst example there could be.
The episode makes Charlie very unlikable and downright creepy. That itself wouldn't be a problem if in the end he wasn't implied to be in the right, just with bad methods. The whole sequence of Claire asking Mr. Eko to baptize both Aaron (and her) followed with it alongside happy music in the background was cringe. Combine that scene with Charlie's visions and it makes it seem like in Lost universe you have to be baptized to get into heaven. In a character driven drama with a large cast of characters of varying religious beliefs/non-beliefs, the implications are bad.
Like how do they justify it with characters who clearly aren't baptized. Sorry Sayid, guess you never had a chance?
The episode tries to make a point that Charlie kidnapping the baby twice is not as bad as the characters think because he's not actually on drugs. But if anything him being on drugs would have made the whole thing more forgivable.
There's also the weird Claire/Locke thing. I'm not sure if they ever planned to go anywhere with that or if it was just Locke being helpful and Charlie being paranoid. Glad they dropped it.
Not to mention the diaper ad thing and Hurley in the biblical robe but those were at least so so dumb they were kind of funny.
Thankfully they seemed to learn from this episode. Either way this was very embarrassing and uncomfortable watch with my partner (who was watching for the first time.)
If you just saw this episode and you're considering dropping Lost, don't. Use the next episode The Long Con as a palette cleanser and forget the implications of this episode. The writers thankfully did.
Up until that point, none of the visions and dreams have involved anything so obviously religious. All of the sudden we have an episode that has a very heavy handed christian message about baptizing children?? It didn't feel like the story fit Lost at all.
I'm not at all religious, but I don't mind religious themes in media. This whole episode however read like one of those awful christian propaganda movies where in the end they find salvation in God while cheesy music plays. Mr. Eko episodes are a great example of good use of religious themes, but this is the worst example there could be.
The episode makes Charlie very unlikable and downright creepy. That itself wouldn't be a problem if in the end he wasn't implied to be in the right, just with bad methods. The whole sequence of Claire asking Mr. Eko to baptize both Aaron (and her) followed with it alongside happy music in the background was cringe. Combine that scene with Charlie's visions and it makes it seem like in Lost universe you have to be baptized to get into heaven. In a character driven drama with a large cast of characters of varying religious beliefs/non-beliefs, the implications are bad.
Like how do they justify it with characters who clearly aren't baptized. Sorry Sayid, guess you never had a chance?
The episode tries to make a point that Charlie kidnapping the baby twice is not as bad as the characters think because he's not actually on drugs. But if anything him being on drugs would have made the whole thing more forgivable.
There's also the weird Claire/Locke thing. I'm not sure if they ever planned to go anywhere with that or if it was just Locke being helpful and Charlie being paranoid. Glad they dropped it.
Not to mention the diaper ad thing and Hurley in the biblical robe but those were at least so so dumb they were kind of funny.
Thankfully they seemed to learn from this episode. Either way this was very embarrassing and uncomfortable watch with my partner (who was watching for the first time.)
If you just saw this episode and you're considering dropping Lost, don't. Use the next episode The Long Con as a palette cleanser and forget the implications of this episode. The writers thankfully did.