In the fourth episode of the first season of the television series Lost, the attention is directly centered around character John Locke. The episode features multiple flashbacks in which secrets about John Locke are revealed to the audience. Locke is shown to have been conversing with a woman named Helen on the phone for eight months as he asks her to join him on a walkabout. It is then revealed that she charges him by the hour to talk to her so she declines the offer as she considers him her costumer.

When Locke is conversing with a man at the walkabout, he is told that he is unable to at­ tend the walkabout due to his condition and then it is revealed to the audience that he is in a wheelchair. He was paralyzed from the waist down. Due to the aftermath of the plane crash, Locke somehow is no longer paralyzed. Since the audience only knows this information and the other members of the show do not, it allows the viewer to feel suspense. It is ironic that Locke used to be paralyzed since all of the other people on the island look at him as if he is a hero, always being the one to fight for food and scavenge around the island.

Knowing this information makes me feel almost nervous for Locke. In every scene where there is danger involved, suspense is built up as it is very likely that Locke could go paralyzed again. This information was revealed to the audience and not the rest of the islanders so that the audience could watch Locke the way we view him while watching the islanders' perspective of Locke as well, making the episode not the suspenseful and ironic.

24 Essay:

The show, 24, depicts an hour of each day within each episode. In the pilot, events that occurred between midnight and one A.M. are depicted during the California Presidential Primary. It is unique to see a show that plays events in real time as opposed to one episode spanning over the course of a few days, weeks, months, or even years. During the hour, federal agent Jack Bauer's daughter, Kim, sneaks out of her window, a presidential candidate is shot, and a conspiracy is on the horizon.

The element of surprise is important in this episode and the music and the dramatic time stamps help build suspense for the surprises. There are three types of surprises: pleasant surprises, unpleasant surprises, and surprises that do not fit into either category. In 24, there are more unpleasant surprises than pleasant ones. For instance, when Jack finds out that his daughter snuck out, that she has joints of mariuana, the candidate was shot, and that a plan was blown up purposefully, these all fall under the category of unpleasant surprises. These heighten the story­ line drastically as these surprises are essentially what the premise is based on.

All of these surprises add drama to the show and heighten the storyline. With multiple is­ sues going on at once, the viewer's attention is captured. All of the surprises that occur during the show add to the plot and potentially reveal secrets about the characters. The surprises allow the viewer to get a glimpse of what is going on with each character and how they choose to deal with it.

Without the element of surprise, a show would be considered predictable and boring and would not be able to build up a plot. By adding surprise after surprise, the show retains the audience's attention and keeps them on the edge of the seat. This is important within a good television show as it allows the show to be both successful and entertaining while at the same time un­ predictable.