Man of Science, Man of Faith
Encyclopedia
"Man of Science, Man of Faith" is the first episode of the second season of Lost
and the 26th episode overall. The episode was directed by Jack Bender
and written by Damon Lindelof
. It first aired on September 21, 2005 on ABC
. The flashbacks focus on Jack Shephard
's struggle to heal Sarah, who would later become his wife. In real time, John Locke
and Kate Austen
decide to enter the, now open, hatch shaft.
While writing the season premiere, the producers decided to pick up the hatch storyline which was left hanging after season one's finale "Exodus
", leaving the raft events to be explained in the following episode, "Adrift
". "Man of Science, Man of Faith" received positive reviews, and stands as the most watched episode of the series in North America, with 23.47 million viewers.
(Henry Ian Cusick
) wakes up from his bunk bed
and immediately presses a few keys on what appears to be a late 1970s-era computer
. He then gets dressed, and begins his day as the camera moves about the surrounding rooms, which contain an assortment of objects from the 1960s to the present. He puts on some music, begins an exercise routine, has a shower, makes himself some breakfast, and injects himself with a vaccine. He is interrupted by an explosion, spurring the man to arm himself before using a telescope-and-mirror system. His gaze reveals the faces of Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
) and John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
) standing around the, now open, Hatch shaft.
), who has arrived in his emergency room
after a car crash. Jack saves Sarah's life, but goes on to tell her that due to spinal cord injury
, it is unlikely that Sarah will regain the ability to walk.
After being chastised by his father
(John Terry
) about his pessimistic bedside manner, Jack operates on Sarah, and goes running a Tour de stade
. While running he falls, and meets another runner named Desmond
, who tells him that he is training for a race around the world. Jack shares with Desmond how he failed Sarah, and Desmond advises him about his need to feel and provide more hope. When Jack returns to Sarah's room, he discovers that she has experienced a miraculous recovery.
(Maggie Grace
) and Sayid Jarrah
(Naveen Andrews
) search the jungle for Walt
's (Malcolm David Kelley
) dog, Vincent. During the search, Shannon has a vision of Walt, dripping wet and speaking incoherently. She talks about this with the rest of the survivors, but no one believes her.
Upon reaching the caves, Jack explains the situation to the survivors, promising them they will be all right along with Kate, as long as they stay together. Locke then appears, carrying cable and saying he is going into the hatch. Soon after, Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
) follows behind him. While Locke is easing her down the shaft, Kate realizes and mysteriously disappears during a sudden burst of light from within the Hatch.
Back at the caves, after informing the survivors why they went into the jungle and that Dr. Arzt (Daniel Roebuck
) is dead, Jack decides that he is going after Kate and Locke. Upon reaching the Hatch, he finds no one there and rappels
down the shaft on his own. While exploring, he comes across a painted mural, and a wall where the key hanging around his neck is pulled by a strong magnetic force
. Finally, after being surprised by a bright light and loud music, he enters what appears to be an underground geodesic dome
with computer equipment, including an Apple II
computer with its prompt glowing. As Jack is about to use it, Locke appears and tells Jack not to touch it. After Jack raises the gun and asks where Kate is, Locke is revealed to be at gunpoint. The gunman threatens that he will shoot Locke if Jack does not surrender. Jack refuses, instead taunting Locke about his destiny. Finally, the gunman steps out and Jack recognizes him as Desmond.
While "Man of Science, Man of Faith" alludes to a quote in the previous episode
where Locke describes himself as a man of faith and Jack as a man of science, writer Damon Lindelof
stated that the episode has the title to imply that Jack is both, with the flashback making the empiricist
"man of science" facing a miracle while treating a patient. The episode was written to focus on the opening of the hatch, so the other cliffhanger
left in "Exodus", the destruction of Michael's
boat and the kidnapping of his son Walt
by the Others, would be explained in the second episode, "Adrift
". The cliffhanger also influenced the tone: the protagonists are expecting an attack by the Others, but the audience knows the Others are not coming since they were going for the boat instead. To make the episode accessible to new viewers, many instances of dialogue recap events of the first season.
The producers decided to start the episode inside The Swan because they considered the audience would expect to pick up from Locke and Jack looking into the hatch shaft, so the opening instead is filmed in a place that does not reveal its location or period - Jack Bender stated it made him remember a San Francisco apartment - until the explosion of the hatch. For the flashbacks, director Jack Bender
decided to avoid making the hospital scenes similar to ER
, filming mostly with handheld cameras to give a "spontaneous feel" to the scene. Sarah's operation was filmed in an actual surgery room in Oahu
, while Aloha Stadium
in Honolulu is used for Jack and Desmond's tour de stade.
Starting in this episode, the castaways start abandoning the caves, which the producers considered a location hard to film and "not aesthetically good". The Swan would become a centerpiece location because of its mysteries and the commodities given to the protagonists, such as electricity and food. The station was designed to invoke modernism of the 1970s
, similar to how Disneyland's Tomorrowland
evokes what was modern in the 1960s, but with an appearance that decayed after decades without maintenance. Foreshadowing the fact that the station is used for dangerous means, the design added the concrete wall with a magnetic force. The hatch shaft was completely computer generated with shots filmed using a greenscreen.
This is the first episode to feature the song "Make Your Own Kind of Music" by Mama Cass
, which is heard in many later episodes. Lindelof picked the song as it reminded him of his childhood, as his mother "used to listen to on Sunday mornings, when she’d put on music, vacuum and cry." Lindelof also declared that the song "lyrically felt right", and had a haunting feeling due to Mama Cass' personal history.
and Desperate Housewives
, and stands as the most watched episode of Lost.
Critical reviews were positive. Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly
was frustrated at the episode not revealing what happened to the raft characters and unveiling of so many new mysteries, but liked the writing and symbolism considering that "the whole enigmatic enterprise seemed grounded in rich layers of meaning". TV Squad's Keith McDuffee said he was "held in suspense" throughout the episode. Chris Carabott of IGN
rated "Man of Science, Man of Faith" 9.3 out of 10, praising the flashbacks for being "edited incredibly well with the on island content" and Julie Bowen's performance as Sarah. The Chicago Tribunes Maureen Ryan described the episode as "a wonderfully paced, terrific return to form". Ryan Mcgee of Zap2it
considered the introduction in the hatch and Desmond's scene with Jack at the stadium to be the highlights of the season premiere.
Director of photography Michael Bonvillain was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series
for this episode. IGN
ranked "Man of Science, Man of Faith" the 18th best episode of Lost, while a similar list by Los Angeles Times
ranked the episode 11th, saying it had the best Jack flashback and demonstrated "a show confident in itself and at the height of its powers".
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
and the 26th episode overall. The episode was directed by Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
and written by Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
. It first aired on September 21, 2005 on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The flashbacks focus on Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
's struggle to heal Sarah, who would later become his wife. In real time, John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
and Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
decide to enter the, now open, hatch shaft.
While writing the season premiere, the producers decided to pick up the hatch storyline which was left hanging after season one's finale "Exodus
Exodus (Lost)
"Exodus" is the first season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 23rd through 25th episodes of the first season and the show overall. The episodes were directed by Jack Bender, and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. "Part 1" first aired on May 18, 2005 and "Part 2"...
", leaving the raft events to be explained in the following episode, "Adrift
Adrift (Lost)
"Adrift" is the second episode of the second season of Lost and the 27th episode overall. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams and written by Steven Maeda and Leonard Dick. It first aired on September 28, 2005 on the American Broadcasting Company. In the episode, flashbacks depict Michael...
". "Man of Science, Man of Faith" received positive reviews, and stands as the most watched episode of the series in North America, with 23.47 million viewers.
Introduction
A manDesmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
(Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
) wakes up from his bunk bed
Bunk bed
A bunk bed is a type of bed in which one bed frame is stacked on top of another. The nature of bunk beds allows two people to sleep in the same room while maximizing available floor space...
and immediately presses a few keys on what appears to be a late 1970s-era computer
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
. He then gets dressed, and begins his day as the camera moves about the surrounding rooms, which contain an assortment of objects from the 1960s to the present. He puts on some music, begins an exercise routine, has a shower, makes himself some breakfast, and injects himself with a vaccine. He is interrupted by an explosion, spurring the man to arm himself before using a telescope-and-mirror system. His gaze reveals the faces of Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
) and John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) standing around the, now open, Hatch shaft.
Flashbacks
Jack encounters his future wife, Sarah (Julie BowenJulie Bowen
Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...
), who has arrived in his emergency room
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
after a car crash. Jack saves Sarah's life, but goes on to tell her that due to spinal cord injury
Spinal cord injury
A spinal cord injury refers to any injury to the spinal cord that is caused by trauma instead of disease. Depending on where the spinal cord and nerve roots are damaged, the symptoms can vary widely, from pain to paralysis to incontinence...
, it is unlikely that Sarah will regain the ability to walk.
After being chastised by his father
Christian Shephard
Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard , who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after it crashes on an island, and Claire Littleton , another of the survivors...
(John Terry
John Terry (actor)
John Terry is an American film, television, and stage actor.-Early life:Terry was born in Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Connecticut, and began a career building original custom log homes in North...
) about his pessimistic bedside manner, Jack operates on Sarah, and goes running a Tour de stade
Tour de stade
A tour de stade is a physical exercise in which a person runs up and down all the stairs in every section of a stadium. The practice is associated in particular with Harvard Stadium at Harvard University, where it has been practiced for at least twenty years...
. While running he falls, and meets another runner named Desmond
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
, who tells him that he is training for a race around the world. Jack shares with Desmond how he failed Sarah, and Desmond advises him about his need to feel and provide more hope. When Jack returns to Sarah's room, he discovers that she has experienced a miraculous recovery.
On the Island
At the Hatch entry, Locke says that they should not wait for the sun to come up to enter the Hatch. Jack, on the other hand, feels that their entry should be delayed. At the same time, at the caves, Shannon RutherfordShannon Rutherford
Shannon Rutherford is a fictional character played by Maggie Grace on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Shannon is introduced in the pilot episode as the stepsister of fellow crash survivor Boone Carlyle . She is...
(Maggie Grace
Maggie Grace
Margaret Grace Denig , best known as Maggie Grace, is an American actress. Originally from Worthington, Ohio, she dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles with her mother after her parents' divorce. While struggling financially, she landed her first role as the title character in the...
) and Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
) search the jungle for Walt
Walt Lloyd
Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series Lost. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pilot episode as one of the survivors aboard the plane, which...
's (Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley is an American teen actor. He starred in the 2004 film You Got Served as "Li'l Saint". He also appears in the television series Lost as the character Walt Lloyd. A regular cast member in the show's first season , he has appeared only occasionally since due to a dramatic...
) dog, Vincent. During the search, Shannon has a vision of Walt, dripping wet and speaking incoherently. She talks about this with the rest of the survivors, but no one believes her.
Upon reaching the caves, Jack explains the situation to the survivors, promising them they will be all right along with Kate, as long as they stay together. Locke then appears, carrying cable and saying he is going into the hatch. Soon after, Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
) follows behind him. While Locke is easing her down the shaft, Kate realizes and mysteriously disappears during a sudden burst of light from within the Hatch.
Back at the caves, after informing the survivors why they went into the jungle and that Dr. Arzt (Daniel Roebuck
Daniel Roebuck
Daniel James Roebuck is an American television film actor, writer and producer, primarily in films, soap operas and television.-Life and career:...
) is dead, Jack decides that he is going after Kate and Locke. Upon reaching the Hatch, he finds no one there and rappels
Abseiling
Abseiling , rappelling in American English, is the controlled descent down a rock face using a rope; climbers use this technique when a cliff or slope is too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection.- Slang terms :...
down the shaft on his own. While exploring, he comes across a painted mural, and a wall where the key hanging around his neck is pulled by a strong magnetic force
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
. Finally, after being surprised by a bright light and loud music, he enters what appears to be an underground geodesic dome
Geodesic dome
A geodesic dome is a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles on the surface of a sphere. The geodesics intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the structure. When...
with computer equipment, including an Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
computer with its prompt glowing. As Jack is about to use it, Locke appears and tells Jack not to touch it. After Jack raises the gun and asks where Kate is, Locke is revealed to be at gunpoint. The gunman threatens that he will shoot Locke if Jack does not surrender. Jack refuses, instead taunting Locke about his destiny. Finally, the gunman steps out and Jack recognizes him as Desmond.
Production
Exodus (Lost)
"Exodus" is the first season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 23rd through 25th episodes of the first season and the show overall. The episodes were directed by Jack Bender, and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. "Part 1" first aired on May 18, 2005 and "Part 2"...
where Locke describes himself as a man of faith and Jack as a man of science, writer Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
stated that the episode has the title to imply that Jack is both, with the flashback making the empiricist
Empiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...
"man of science" facing a miracle while treating a patient. The episode was written to focus on the opening of the hatch, so the other cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
left in "Exodus", the destruction of Michael's
Michael Dawson (Lost)
Michael Dawson is a fictional character played by Harold Perrineau on the ABC television series Lost. After losing a custody battle with Susan Lloyd , Michael does not see his son Walt for almost ten years. They reunite when she dies, but on their journey home, their plane crashes on a mysterious...
boat and the kidnapping of his son Walt
Walt Lloyd
Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series Lost. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pilot episode as one of the survivors aboard the plane, which...
by the Others, would be explained in the second episode, "Adrift
Adrift (Lost)
"Adrift" is the second episode of the second season of Lost and the 27th episode overall. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams and written by Steven Maeda and Leonard Dick. It first aired on September 28, 2005 on the American Broadcasting Company. In the episode, flashbacks depict Michael...
". The cliffhanger also influenced the tone: the protagonists are expecting an attack by the Others, but the audience knows the Others are not coming since they were going for the boat instead. To make the episode accessible to new viewers, many instances of dialogue recap events of the first season.
The producers decided to start the episode inside The Swan because they considered the audience would expect to pick up from Locke and Jack looking into the hatch shaft, so the opening instead is filmed in a place that does not reveal its location or period - Jack Bender stated it made him remember a San Francisco apartment - until the explosion of the hatch. For the flashbacks, director Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
decided to avoid making the hospital scenes similar to ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, filming mostly with handheld cameras to give a "spontaneous feel" to the scene. Sarah's operation was filmed in an actual surgery room in Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
, while Aloha Stadium
Aloha Stadium
Aloha Stadium is a stadium located in the Halawa CDP, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Currently Aloha Stadium is home to the University of Hawaii Warriors football team...
in Honolulu is used for Jack and Desmond's tour de stade.
Starting in this episode, the castaways start abandoning the caves, which the producers considered a location hard to film and "not aesthetically good". The Swan would become a centerpiece location because of its mysteries and the commodities given to the protagonists, such as electricity and food. The station was designed to invoke modernism of the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, similar to how Disneyland's Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland
- Tomorrowland 1955–1967 :The first Tomorrowland opened at Disneyland on July 18, 1955, with only several of its planned attractions open, due to budget cuts. The construction of the park was rushed, so Tomorrowland was the last land to be finished. It became something of a corporate showcase,...
evokes what was modern in the 1960s, but with an appearance that decayed after decades without maintenance. Foreshadowing the fact that the station is used for dangerous means, the design added the concrete wall with a magnetic force. The hatch shaft was completely computer generated with shots filmed using a greenscreen.
This is the first episode to feature the song "Make Your Own Kind of Music" by Mama Cass
Cass Elliot
Cass Elliot , born Ellen Naomi Cohen and also known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and member of The Mamas & the Papas. After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. Elliot was found dead in her room in London, England, from an apparent heart attack after two weeks of sold-out...
, which is heard in many later episodes. Lindelof picked the song as it reminded him of his childhood, as his mother "used to listen to on Sunday mornings, when she’d put on music, vacuum and cry." Lindelof also declared that the song "lyrically felt right", and had a haunting feeling due to Mama Cass' personal history.
Reception
The season premiere hit a ratings high for the series, with 23.47 million American viewers. The episode was third in the weekly audience ranking, behind CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
and Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
, and stands as the most watched episode of Lost.
Critical reviews were positive. Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
was frustrated at the episode not revealing what happened to the raft characters and unveiling of so many new mysteries, but liked the writing and symbolism considering that "the whole enigmatic enterprise seemed grounded in rich layers of meaning". TV Squad's Keith McDuffee said he was "held in suspense" throughout the episode. Chris Carabott of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
rated "Man of Science, Man of Faith" 9.3 out of 10, praising the flashbacks for being "edited incredibly well with the on island content" and Julie Bowen's performance as Sarah. The Chicago Tribunes Maureen Ryan described the episode as "a wonderfully paced, terrific return to form". Ryan Mcgee of Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
considered the introduction in the hatch and Desmond's scene with Jack at the stadium to be the highlights of the season premiere.
Director of photography Michael Bonvillain was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series
Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series. It was created in 2000 alongside the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series. They replaced the Outstanding Cinematography for a Series...
for this episode. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
ranked "Man of Science, Man of Faith" the 18th best episode of Lost, while a similar list by Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
ranked the episode 11th, saying it had the best Jack flashback and demonstrated "a show confident in itself and at the height of its powers".