Michael Giacchino Brings His Brilliance to LOST's Shortened Season Four

Only eight hours to go until season six of LOST begins. I’ve run out of soundtracks to listen to and wish that season five were out already. But since it’s not, I’ll stop here with season four, an excellent collection featuring music from all but three of the fourteen episodes. Considering how short the season was, I’m a little surprised that all of the episodes weren’t represented, but what’s here is wonderful. While my previous soundtrack reviews have grouped tracks by theme or character, I’m discussing the tracks in order this time; this was a tighter season than any of the others, and I think the soundtrack therefore has a more straightforward narrative quality to it. As before, I’ll be discussing plot elements as I proceed, so be warned...

One of the things in the forefront of my mind between the third and fourth seasons of LOST was how those closest to Charlie would react to his death. I guessed that we would get some kind of powerful response from Desmond, Claire and Hurley. The latter delivered especially well, and in Giving Up the Ghost, spooky chimes give way to violins and harp as the Hurley of the future receives a ghostly visit from Charlie. One of the sweetest scenes in the season, and a wonderful way to start off the album. This leads directly into Locke-ing Horns, another variation on Life and Death, in which the mournful cello and the plaintive violins play beautifully against the piano as Hurley speaks back on the Island. Poor Hurley has a difficult time of it in the fourth season; the gloom of this loss hangs over him throughout the season, and we never get one of the playful tunes for him that so delighted me in the first three soundtracks. Nonetheless, these two tracks are gorgeous.

Sayid and Desmond are up next with Lost Away - Or Is It?, which, with its swooping strings, wonderfully captures the sensation of flight and the exhilaration that both must be feeling as they leave the Island for the first time in ages. In short, tense bursts, Backgammon Gambit emphasizes the anxiety in the moment when Kate’s liberation of Miles is discovered. I’m a little disappointed that there’s nothing from Confirmed Dead, since that introduces four important characters; surely there must have been some accompanying theme music for them. Then again, I can’t recall any at the moment.

At least Daniel gets some recognition Time and Time Again, which starts off suspenseful before turning more action-oriented and then majestic, with impressive drums and cellos. Many different emotions are captured in this track, which is fitting considering how many different directions Desmond is pulled in. From the same episode, The Constant accompanies one of my all-time favorite LOST scenes, and the score is one reason why it affected me so deeply. Hesitant harp and strings come together for a most tender recurrence of the love theme that gradually increases in intensity before petering out again as the telephone connecting Desmond and Penny cuts out. An absolutely gorgeous piece of music, even with the creepy-sounding ending accompanying the revelation that Daniel has selected Desmond as his Constant.

Maternity H*** mostly has a playful, albeit slightly panicky, tone to it. As a swift beat plays on what sound like bongos and the piano repeats a mysterious quick progression of single notes, it’s easy to envision Jin’s strangely comical ordeal with the giant stuffed panda in Ji Yeon. Karma Jin-itiative begins with the harp before moving on to the piano, eventually joined by strings in a lovely riff on Rose and Bernard’s theme as, in another of my favorite season four scenes, Bernard talks love and karma with Jin in the quiet of a tranquil fishing trip. Life and Death returns for Ji Yeon, which finds Sun and Hurley visiting Jin’s grave. Very slow piano with cellos occasionally chiming in for emphasis and eventually taking on a melody of their own.

Michael’s Right to Remain Wrong, from Meet Kevin Johnson, starts out quite lovely before becoming alarming. Harps are prominent throughout the track, first giving it a peaceful feel, then adding to the swirling chaos as Michael, in the midst of a suicide attempt, is confronted by Tom Friendly. From there, it’s on to The Shape of Things to Come, my least favorite episode of the season but certainly one of the most memorable.

In Bodies and Bungalows, percussion builds, growing faster and louder as the mercenaries open fire on the Barracks. Benundrum also has a very threatening feel to it, but the string basses and trombones are the instruments increasing in speed and intensity here. A few short piano runs seem to represent Ben’s scattered thought process, while the percussive bursts toward the end seem to foreshadow the emergence of the Smoke Monster. Hostile Negotiations begins just as tense as the others. Midway through, creeping trombones build up to what feels like an explosion of grief; one can almost hear the violins at the end methodically screaming, “Alex, Alex!” A shattering moment.

Locke-about begins gently, but harps soon give way to the ominous beat and the ethereal squeal indicative of the Smoke Monster. Locke’s enigmatic connection to the Island is emphasized here through a variety of mysterious motifs and the patter of percussion. One of the most instrumentally varied tracks, it is the only representative of Cabin Fever, my second-favorite episode of the season.

Nearly half of the tracks on this album are drawn from the two-part (really, three-part, but aired on two nights) finale, There’s No Place Like Home. The track that shares the episode’s name is a lovely, soaring melody on which violins predominate as the Oceanic Six are reunited with their families after being rescued. Nadia on Your Life is also pretty, though tinged with sadness as we already know, even as Sayid joyfully reunites with long-lost love Nadia, that she will soon be killed. Wistful piano gives way to urgent strings as the scene shifts to Sayid returning to the Island from the freighter with a grim warning.

C4-titude is tense as well, with strangely discordant notes here and there to remind us of the Island’s mysterious properties. Strings again serve as sirens of warning. In Of Mice and Ben, the tone is threatening, but underneath the danger is a stirring melody capturing the importance of what is to follow and the sense of respect between Ben and John despite their often adversarial relationship.

Keamy Away From Him maintains a mysterious tone, with strings and drums creating the illusion of swift footsteps as the Others, in a reversal of the season three finale, attack the mercenaries. Some really neat percussion in this first track from the second part of the finale. Timecrunch is tense, with its increasing tempo a reminder that time is running out. The epic strings-driven walking music makes its only appearance on the album as the track ends.

Can’t Kill Keamy is strangely pretty amidst the panic, with a stirring melody that kicks in halfway through, reprising the main theme from There’s No Place Like Home as Frank pilots the helicopter away from the Island with the Oceanic Six plus Desmond in tow. Low, ominous beats and hints of cacophony abound in Bobbing for Freighters, with swift cello progressions signaling that the time for the helicopter to leave the freighter is five minutes ago. Multiple forms of percussion come in toward the end as Jin races toward the deck.

Locke of the Island is the longest track on this or any other LOST soundtrack to date. Various mysterious themes resurface as Locke finds himself in a leadership position he expects to lead him to the answers he craves. Spooky but also largely pretty, especially during the majestic rendition of one of the show’s most iconic themes. Lying for the Island starts off ominous as Jack instructs the others to cover up the truth about their stay on the Island. The tone shifts about two minutes in when Desmond realizes that Penny is their rescuer. The tender melody from The Constant returns as they finally reunite.

Landing Party is one of the loveliest tracks as it accompanies the Oceanic Six’s journey to the small island where they will be officially rescued. Strings mostly have this track to themselves as the There’s No Place Like Home theme is reprised once again. Mostly uplifting, though the slow, trickling piano melody at the end is an elegiac hint of all that these survivors are leaving behind. That sort of melodious track seems more fitting for the end of the album, but the soundtrack concludes the same way the season does, with the creepy Hoffs-Drawlar. Mysterious sounds abound as we draw near the final revelation of just who is in that coffin, which is punctuated with the resounding end-of-the-show boom. Startling but impressive.

As with the other soundtracks, this comes with a booklet containing several high-quality photographs, along with a track listing and a list of episodes, with corresponding track numbers in parentheses. There’s also a lengthy note from Robert Townson praising Michael Giacchino as well as discussing the concert of LOST music performed by the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra in September of 2007. (My dad was actually in town for the event, which was hosted by Terry O’Quinn, but he didn’t find out about it until afterward. He did, however, bring me home a newspaper featuring extensive coverage of the concert.) The season four soundtrack is a thrilling musical experience, and listening to it simply increases my anticipation for the way the score will enhance the final season of this epic drama.