EW’S TV WATCH: HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK ENDING 1/23

Lost recap: True Lies

In season 5′s second episode, the burden of the Oceanic 6′s deception weighed heavily on Hurley, while Sawyer and crew found a new danger on the Island

Hurley didn’t kill those cats, of course, but he let the cops think he did. In other words, Mr. ”I don’t believe in lying” found reason to do just that to save his hide. The ”Checkmate, Mr. Linus” smirk that crawled across Hurley’s grizzled cheeks was kinda creepy, and I couldn’t tell if the dude had just executed a brilliant maneuver or made a horrible mistake. At the very least, he’s set up another episode’s worth of story. I’m boning up on Prison Break so I can spot the coy homages. —Jeff Jensen

Lost Recap: Past, Present, and Future Tense

Ben talked Jack into joining his cause, while Sayid and Hurley went on the lam, and Sawyer and the rest of those left behind dealt with a time-jumping island

For all its risky choices, the premiere did what all Lost premieres aspire to do: activate a wide swath of story in deft, dynamic fashion and remind us just who these characters are. Jack the reluctant hero. Kate the lonely fugitive. Hurley the cursed clown. Shirtless Sawyer, the abandonment-forged rogue, distraught over departed and dead friends, best expressed the episode’s tenor of heartbreak and disorientation. He also best embodied its nervous subtext. The producers have joked that leaving Sawyer half naked for the whole episode was meant to pleasure those for whom the genre stuff might be displeasing. Yet he also stands for a show that took the risk of exposing a big part of itself to the audience — a part that it has often had to keep hidden for fear of being rejected. —Jeff Jensen

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