LOST: The End

"Remember. Let go. Move on."
~Damon Lindelof, Twitter, May 23, 2010, midnight

My God, where do I even begin? There is no way I can do a thorough recap so soon, so I will give you my immediate, knee-jerk reaction (which often times is the most reliable): I thought that it was, by far, the best series finale I have ever seen. It was about as close to perfect as it could have been, at least for me and what I was wanting out of a finale. Would it have been nice to have had the mythology of the show addressed a little more directly? Perhaps, but certainly not at the expense of anything we saw last night.

I have dissected (or tried to dissect) the mysteries of this show right along with the geekiest of LOST geeks, and the tantalizing weirdness of LOST was a big part of the appeal for me. A great television show, however, does not survive on mythology alone. How far would The X-Files have gone if it weren't for the iconic Mulder and Scully? And look at how much the series finale of that show suffered for its emphasis on tieing up an already messy mythology. No, for me, the plot should always serve the characters, and not the other way around, and I would have lost interest in LOST very early on if I hadn't gotten so invested, so quickly in these characters.

There was so much about the finale that I loved, but let's get a couple of questions out of the way, first:

• So what exactly happened when Juliet detonated the bomb? Nothing? I was assuming it had because of her saying "It worked" to Sawyer right before she died; but we now know that "it worked" was really just what she said to Sawyer about the candy machine trick. Was it the detonation of the bomb that created the sideways place?
• Why was the Island at the bottom of the ocean in the sideways world? Perhaps this one is connected to the first question.

I know I have more questions than that, but these will be a good start.

I'm going to take the easy way out and bombard you with bullets. No! not the kind that are always flying around on this show, this kind:

My favorite parts on the Island:

• Rose and Bernard are alive! Vincent is alive! Richard Alpert is alive! Frank Lapidus is alive!! Man, that was a great way to start things off.
• I admit to laughing out loud when poor Ben got hit in the face one last time by Sawyer
• Jack and Locke's epic fight on the cliff was the best fight scene on LOST, ever. As well it should be.
• I'm not a huge Kate fan, but I was pleased that it was she who shot Locke and then got to carry out one last badass move and jump off of that cliff before Sawyer did.
• The scene where Jack hands the baton to Hurley was note perfect.
• and, of course, the final scene. By the time Vincent came and laid down next to Jack, I was a blubbering idiot.

My favorite Sideways parts:

• Hurley's face when he saw Charlie. So much love and affection.
• Sun, Jin and Juliet - that's where the crying began.
• Then Claire, Kate and Charlie had me nearly sobbing.
• But it was Sawyer and Juliet who put me over the edge, especially when he whispered, "I got you, baby" in her ear.

From that point to the end I was crying like a baby. I was wrecked.

I think the thing I took away from the finale - and the show as a whole - is that it is our relationships with others that sustain us through our life and beyond, and that what was important was the they all found each other again. Live together, or die alone.

OK, that's about all I can write for now. What did you all think?

This is my final review of LOST. I can't believe it. I want to thank everyone - however few you may be! - who took the time to come here, to listen to my ravings, and to share in the discussion. I will miss watching LOST, miss it terribly, and I will miss talking about it with you.

Namaste.

LOST: Episode 6.15

What They Died For

"We're very close to the end, Hugo."
~Jacob

What makes a LOST episode great, amazing, unlike anything else on TV? I'd say it was a combination of things: emotionally resonant character interaction, heart-stopping action, moments of humor, and just plain freaky shit. (Richard! No!) And that pretty much describes last night's fantastic episode.

What did I love about it? I think just about everything, but mostly the great character moments. Let me count the ways...

Alt-Desmond - well, the night was an embarrassment of riches for him, wouldn't you say? Particularly the scenes in the jail and the prisoner van.

Ben - I think the same can be said for Ben, in both timelines. The selflessness of alt-Ben, juxtaposed with the self-preservation skills of Island Ben. I love that the rumored romance for Ben (which frankly I had forgotten about) turned out to be with Rousseau. When his breath caught after learning he was like a father to Alex, I almost lost it. Loved the kidnapping line, too.

Alt-Locke - He was amazing in the scene in Jack's office. What an expressive face TOQ has.

Jack - His acceptance of Jacob's job has long been predicted, yet it didn't feel anti-climactic to me. I think it's because his character as come so far to get here. I loved the breakfast scene in the alt world. I hope that happiness doesn't get shattered by the real world.

Sawyer - Poor, poor Sawyer. What a shitty week or so he's had, huh? I am so glad he acknowledged his part in the sinking of the sub, but my heart broke for him.

Even Alt-Sayid and Alt-Hurley had their moments - Sayid's snarky "Oh of course, sure, I promise!" and Hurley's effusive "Hey, Ana Lucia!" - in the middle of all the madness. And Miles, of course, rocked the smartass stuff. I guess when you spend 6 years building strong characters it only takes a line or two.

OK, the random stuff and the questions:

• When Desmond started the car I actually said out loud to an empty room, "He's not going to try again, is he?!"
• Who let our Desmond out of the well? Sayid told Jack he was in there, so it wasn't him. Claire, perhaps?
• What's going on with alt-Jack's neck? And what purpose does telling him that the airline found his father's coffin serve?
• Has Ben regressed to his old ways? I don't think so. I think the memory of Alex's death was fresh (because of Miles), that when he saw Widmore all he wanted to do was to get revenge. Then when he saw what MIBLocke did to Richard (Richard! No!), he knew he had no chance of defeating him, at least not on his own. He's got something up his sleeve. He always does.
• So all of the events of the sideways world are leading up to the concert - I'm assuming David's concert is the same as the museum one. Attending so far: Jack, David, David's mother (Juliet?), Miles (with Sawyer?), Desmond, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid. I wonder how (or if) Jin, Sun, Ben and Locke will get there?

So what do you think? Will MIBLocke succeed in destroying the Island (remember, the Island is at the bottom of the sea in the alt world)? And will that be the point at which "none of this will exist anymore", leaving the sideways world as the "real" one? I can totally see that happening. And I can imagine the final scene - or at least one of the final scenes - being Juliet, after meeting Sawyer at the concert, asking him out for a cup of coffee. I will bawl my eyes out, but I think I could deal with that ending.

Oh, and one more thing: Kate? the next time a sexy Scotsman gives you a little black dress and tells you he's taking you to a concert in a smokin' red Camaro, just say "OK".

LOST: Episode 6.14

Across the Sea

WARNING: Heavy Exposition Work Ahead!

This one? Eh. I'll take it for what it was: Backstory and exposition. We need it, they have to give it, so here it is. I had very little emotional connection with any of the characters, but I did love the last 10 or 15 minutes.

This is what I think went down:

Mother is one in a long line of Island protectors. I think her years (decades? centuries?) of isolation on the Island have made her a little crackers, as well as a bit homicidal. She sees the opportunity for recruiting candidates for the replacement position when a pregnant woman washes ashore. So, after the babies are born, she kills her and raises the twins herself, Jacob and the one with no name, who I will continue to call MIB. She shows them a stream leading into a cave filled with a golden light, telling them that is what they need to protect, but they can never enter it. Whoever did would suffer a fate worse than death. "Mother" favors MIB, possibly because he seems to be the brighter of the two, but his intelligence/inquisitiveness/thirst for knowledge will eventually lead him away from her and Jacob.

30 years later, and MIB is thisclose to getting off the Island for good when Mother ruins everything - destroys his donkey wheel contraption and murders all of his "people". Afterward, Mother annoints Jacob as her successor, letting him drink from the cup of everlasting life. When MIB discovers what Mother has done, stabs her with his special dagger and kills her. Then Jacob in a fit of rage beats MIB and tosses him into the golden cave where I believe his soul is ripped from his body and released in the form of the Smoke Monster (pure rage?). Right? Sounds downright Shakepearean, doesn't it? Or maybe Biblical is a better description.

And if I'm looking at this screencap correctly, the light has gone out of the cave. So Jacob had the job for what? A few hours before he destroyed the source of all life or whatever that light is supposed to be? The Island seems to be the source of all life, right? Or maybe just the soul?

Anyhoo, Jacob finds MIB's dead body, which he brings back to the cave and places next to Mother's body, placing with them the small pouch with the black and white stones. Adam and Eve explained. The origin of the Others, where the statue came from? Not explained.

Does all of that sound about right?

Some random thoughts:

• I did think it was interesting that MIB was the one who was supposed to have the job, and that he was 'special' like Hurley, with the ability to see dead people. Jacob, on the other hand, seemed more than just naive - he actually seemed a bit dim. Jacob also seemed to be the one with the violent tendencies, almost beating his brother to death those two times. MIB not only seemed more on the ball, he possessed a cynicism and world-weariness even as a boy.
• Here are a few things that I did not like about the episode (and they were kind of big things): 1) I thought that Allison Janney, who I usually love, was miscast. Her affect was too flat; 2) I thought the dialogue was very clunky, and suffered from the fact that MIB had no name; and 3) You're telling me that these ancient people understood the electromagnetic powers of the Island/its light and figured out that if you build some kind of contraption, hook it up to the light and install a donkey wheel, that you can turn that donkey wheel and get off the Island? Maybe end up in Tunisia somewhere? Come on. I would rather have not had that answer!
• The writers have said that they knew all along who Adam and Eve were - thus implying that they pretty much had the story mapped out in their heads from the beginning - and we would have proof of that when we found out who they were. Just the identity of the man and woman, though, wouldn't have been enough to convince me that they knew from the beginning - they could make any scenario work at this point, e.g. Rose and Bernard, or Jack and Kate - and pretend that they knew it was going to be them all along. It's the black and white stones in the pouch that Jacob places with his Mother and MIB and that Jack and Kate found with Adam and Eve way back in season 1 that leave me convinced that they really did know how things would end when they started.

Well, now that we've gotten the Jacob/MIB origin story out of the way - and I do think we needed this episode - let's get back to the people we really want to see!

LOST: Episodes 6.13 and 6.14

THERE BE MAJOR SPOILERS HERE!

I am still reeling. It is no lie when I say that my heart was still racing when I went to bed a full hour an a half after I finished watching. Was "The Candidate" a good episode? Um, I think so. The massacre at the end has kind of obliterated, for now, the forty minutes that came before it. Oy!

Before I get to last night's episode, a few brief words about the one I neglected,

The Last Recruit

Two weeks I've had, and I still didn't manage to get a post up for this episode, and I am really sorry about that. It was a solid episode that spent a lot of time moving people around like pieces on a chessboard, and blowing up a lot of stuff. While it felt a bit too brief and/or understated at the time, after last night Sun and Jin's reunion at the end of "The Last Recruit" will probably play a little better upon rewatch. They barely had time to say hello when the guns got whipped out again.

I loved how we got to see all of the players finally come together. This show always works well when everyone plays a part, imo.

I don't really have too much else to say about this one. If you'd like to delve more deeply, please check out Alan's review and its comment section.

Now, on to last night's soul-crusher...

The Candidate

Sayid: "Because it's going to be you, Jack."

Me, after it was over: "I wish Sawyer had believed him."

My God, where do I start? Honestly, I have no idea where this thing is going anymore. Well, I never actually KNEW, but I felt I could give an educated guess. Not anymore. And I'm sort of afraid. That's not necessarily a bad thing - it probably means that the writers are doing a good job - but it's scary to be afraid!

(Warning: If you couldn't tell already, this thing is going to be all over the place because that's what the inside of my brain is like now)

With the end so near, I was preparing myself for the inevitable shocking deaths but Jiminy Cricket! FOUR people in ten minutes?! That's more shock than my heart can take, thank you very much.

Frank Lapidus - My favorite wise-crackin', honorary LOSTie. There's no way he survived getting hit by that bulkhead and drowning. Is there?

Sayid - The one thing that MIBLocke did not count on, and that was a human being's capacity for good, for choosing to do the right thing, even if he is a zombie with an infected soul. Like Hurley said, you can always come back from the Dark Side. I was pretty confident that there would be no other ending for Sayid but death, and I am glad that it was a redemptive one.

Sun and Jin - I don't know what to say. I think I'm still processing it. This is not the ending I wanted for them, not by a long shot. Their story, however, was done being told, and I suppose there is comfort in the knowledge that they died together, at last. *sniff* Doc Jensen at EW posted a short interview with Lindelof and Cuse in which they talk about some of the stuff that went down in "The Candidate". This is what they said about the Kwons' death:

“Because now you know this show is willing and capable of killing anyone,” says Damon Lindelof...Why was it so important for Lost to prove that it can be downright homicidal during its last season? To establish once and for all that the Locke-ness Monster is the true villain of season 6 and quite possibly all of Lost. “There is no ambiguity,” says Cuse. “He is evil and he has to be stopped.”

Point well-made.

I'm just going to put everything else into a bullet point list because I just can't be prosy right now.

• I don't think Widmore put the C4 on the plane. I think it was Richard, Ben and Miles - isn't that what they went to do? Get explosives from Dharmaville and rig the plane to blow? No? Whoever put it there, MIBLocke already knew it was on board - why else would he have taken the dead guy's watch before he climbed into the plane?
• Jack was 100% correct about MIBLocke's intention with regard to the bomb. If they let the clock run out, the bomb would not have gone off (just like the dynamite in the Black Rock). MIBLocke was counting on Sawyer doing exactly what he did, including his betrayal.
• I enjoyed all of the alt-timeline, watching the veil between the sideways world and the real world slip away a bit more as Jack starts making connections between Oceanic 815 people (Bernard!) and more of the real world begins to seep into their subconscious minds ("I wish you'd believed me", "Push the button", "What happened, happened", Catch a Falling Star playing on the music box). Great shot of Jack and Claire in the music box mirror, btw. Terry O'Quinn was amazing in the final scene between him and Jack in the hospital hallway.
• That final scene on the beach killed me. Killed me! To see them all so devastated, to hear Hurley sobbing and to see the pain in Jack's face...Jesus, show!

I need to wrap this up because, in my real world, I'm supposed to be working. Like I can concentrate now.

What did you think?

LOST: Episode 6.12

Everybody Loves Hugo

"What's that, girl? Desmond's in the well?"

You can really feel it now, can't you? The push to the end, the sensation that the story has built some serious momentum and is now hurtling toward the finish line. So much happened in this episode. Here are some of my erratic thoughts on it.

Island

"Dude. You've got some Ilana on you." Holy crap! Before you could say, "I wouldn't toss that bag of unstable dynamite around so casually" -- BOOM! Ilana blew herself up. I guess the Island was finished with her, huh? It was a great WTF moment, mostly because I really thought she still had a part to play in the story. Huh.

Speaking of things blowing up, bye-bye Black Rock. I guess you won't be on the LOST Location Tour, huh?

I liked Hurley in his leadership role, and Jack as a follower. I'm thinking that Hurley, contrary to appearances, does have a plan of some kind for dealing with MIBLocke: He has Ilana's bag of Jacob's ashes, which he knows can be used to contain the smoke monster. I think Hurley will try to do just that. Unfortunately, I don't think he's planned things out any further than that.

It was surprisingly nice to see Michael again, especially since he wasn't screaming about WAAAAALLLT! And because he was doling out the info: According to him, the Whispers are actually the souls of people who in life have done wrong (to the Island? on the Island?) and so are unable to move on in death.

It's very sad what's happened to Sayid but you know what? ZombieSayid is kind of cracking me up. He embodies the term "dead pan", don't you think? I'm still holding out hope that there's some small bit of the good part of him deep down inside and that he will ultimately come down on the side of the good guys in the end (although it will most likely be at the expense of his own life, and that makes me sad).

OK, here's a question: Was that the same kid as the one we saw in The Substitute? Because I'm not so sure. His face is sort of the same, but the hair color is totally different. Check out these screencaps (click on the image for larger size):





Could he be getting older? Is the dark-haired boy just an older version of the blonde? Or are they two different boys? Perhaps the blond boy is Jacob and the dark-haired boy is Esau (MIB)? Jacob and Esau were brothers in the bible, after all.

As soon as I saw that well, I KNEW MIBLocke was going to toss Desmond in there. GAH! Here's the thing, though: Isn't this well one of the EM pockets on the Island? Has MIBLocke inadvertently deposited Desmond exactly where Widmore wants him to be? By the way, I think Desmond was totally telling a lie when MIBLocke asked him if he knew who he was and Desmond said, "Yeah, John Locke." I think Desmond knows very well that Locke is not Locke anymore. And that brings us to...

Alt-Timeline

...the whopper of a final scene in the alt-timeline. First, though, a few words about the alt-story.

I was so happy to see the Hurley/Libby relationship, for all intents and purposes, "consummated". I got all teary when they showed him spreading out the blanket on the beach, the way he would have on their original picnic date if Michael hadn't murdered Libby the way he did. It wasn't a near-death experience that awoke Hurley's memories of the real timeline, like it was for Charlie and Desmond, but a kiss from someone he was in love with, much like Daniel seeing Charlotte brought on his visions of the the real timeline. So it would seem that there are two triggers that "wake" people up: 1) almost dying and 2) re-connecting with the person you were in love with in the original timeline.

If that's the case, then I suppose the most obvious reason for Desmond RUNNING OVER A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND MAN, was that Locke was already with his true love and only a near-death experience would do the trick. I couldn't believe it when I saw it! Here's the thing, though: How could Desmond know he wouldn't kill Locke? My first thought was that he was trying to do just that because Alt-Locke's death would somehow affect MIBLocke...but I'm not sure how that would work. I do know one thing: Alt-Locke is totally headed to Jack's hospital, where Sun and Jin probably are, too.

Bits:

I chose this photo for my Desmond screencap this week because, well, let's just say he's right where I want him.



And finally, the fabulously AWESOME, Wonka-fied preview for next week's episode (turn it up loud!):



I can't WAIT.

LOST: Episode 6.11

Happily Ever After

There's always a choice, brutha.

~Desmond

And now we have a show, people! This was the first episode this season that directly (somewhat) addressed the nature of the "flash-sideways" (an expression widely used around the internets, but one I don't really care for), giving us some clues as to what it could all mean. As with just about all Desmond episodes, this one was one of their best, right up there with my all time favorite, The Constant. And so far, I think it's the best of the season.

Yes, I am biased, but that doesn't mean I'm not also right.

Here's what happened:

Widmore brought Desmond back to the Island against his will because somehow, Desmond's ability to survive exposure to massive amounts of elecrtomagnetism (EM for short) make him the key player in setting things to rights. But first, Widmore needs to verify Desmond's EM-immunity, so he tosses him in a big box and turns up the juice. In a familiar flash of white - remember the same flash when Desmond turned the failsafe key and when Juliette set off the bomb? - we cut to the alt-timeline, where Desmond has just gotten off Oceanic Flight 815.

As it turns out, in the alt-timeline Desmond is not with Penny - doesn't even know her, in fact - but he does work for Widmore. He's his right hand man, who in Widmore's eyes can do no wrong. Just what Desmond always wanted, apparently. Widmore sends Desmond on errand that involves someone named Cholly, who is walking around in a weirdly serene, fairly smug state since nearly choking to death on that bag of heroin. Des has been charged with delivering Charlie to Widmore's harpy-of-a-wife's charity benefit. Widmore's wife is Eloise Hawking.

Charlie tells Desmond that none of "this" is real, that he got a glimpse of the true reality when he nearly died and was in a different state of consciousness and saw a blonde woman he realized was his soulmate (Claire). To prove his theory to Desmond, he forces their car off the road and into the waters of the harbor. With the car submerged, Desmond tries to save Charlie; as Des tries to open the door, Charlie puts his hand up on the car window - that's when the two timelines smash together, I gasp out loud, and Desmond has a vision of the scene from "Through the Looking Glass", where Charlie wrote the message "Not Penny's Boat" on his hand and then drowned in front of Desmond's eyes.

At the hospital, Desmond is ordered to undergo an MRI to make sure his brains aren't scrambled (too late!), but being doused with all of that magnetic energy opens the flood gates of Desmond's unconscious mind and images of his true timeline, his life with Penny, come rushing in. Desmond tries to get answers from Charlie, but he totally bags on him.

Desmond warily tells Eloise that he was unable to get Charlie to the benefit and is surprised when she does not castrate him there on the spot, as he fully expected her to; instead she smiles and says "no problem" and sends him on his way. For now. When Desmond overhears Penny's name as he's walking away and starts asking questions, the claws come out. Eloise tells him to "stop talking" and stop looking for whatever it is he's looking for; she tells him that someone has obviously changed the way he sees things, and that is a "violation". Hmm. Before sending him away, she tells Desmond, "You're not ready yet."

As he's about to leave, someone knocks on Desmond's limo window. It's alt-Daniel (Faraday) Widmore, who in the alt-timeline is still Eloise and Widmore's son, but is not a theoretical physicist. He's a musician who, after seeing alt-Charlotte and falling in love instantly, begins writing complex notes/equations in his journal. He tells Desmond that he thinks that he may have done something that created an alternate life (the alt-timeline) that they are not supposed to be leading. He tells Desmond that Penny is his half-sister and he knows where she is. (How sad is it that in his "true" life, Daniel dies so tragically?)

Desmond finds Penny running at the same stadium where he first met Jack. They meet and have crazy instant chemistry together and when Penny's hand touches his, Desmond's consciousness zooms back to the present Island time, where he's lying on the floor of the EM box. A calm has come over him and he tells Widmore that he is ready to help. As Des walks through the jungle with Zoe and a couple of red shirts, Sayid attacks, kills the red shirts and sends Zoe away. Aw, even as a zombie Sayid is a gentleman. Sayid tells Desmond that Widmore's guys are bad news and he must leave with him, and Desmond's so zen that he's like, "yeah, cool, let's go." But there's something else behind his eyes.

Then we're back in the alt-timeline, post-Penny meeting, and I don't think I've ever seen Desmond so happy, and at peace. He asks his driver (Minkowski!) if he can get him the manifest of Flight 815. Minkowski says yeah, but why? Desmond says he needs to "show them something." (Them being the passengers who are still alive and still on the Island - the candidates - I presume)

I found it very interesting that we weren't shown some sort of catalyst for the final scene in the alt-timeline. His consciousness was sent there when he got blasted by the EM energy, and then his consciousness returned after he made contact with Penny, who is his constant. But what propelled him back to the the alt-timeline? There was no white flash shown before that final scene. What I'm thinking, is that Desmond's consciousness, after exposure to the high EM levels, is now existing in both timelines.

We still don't know exactly what the alt-timeline IS, but we do know what it ISN'T: According to Charlie, "none of it matters" and isn't real, and according to Daniel, he "isn't supposed to live this life". I think whatever it is, the alt-timeline is not a naturally occurring event but something that was created by someone. Eloise knows who and is playing the same part she did in "Flashes Before Your Eyes": steering Desmond in a certain direction, and away from Penny, his constant.

I am really looking forward to seeing how Desmond is going to open the others' eyes and show them that the life they are living isn't the one they were supposed to live. I think that there is a part of all of their consciousnesses that understands that there's something "off" (mirror scenes). And I think that in the end, they will all be presented with a choice between the two realities. And I think I'm going to be doing a lot of crying.

LOST: Episodes 6.9 and 6.10

Real life constraints force me to combine the last two episodes into one brief post, before tonight's new episode airs and I find myself even further behind. I'm such a bad LOST blogger that if I were on the Island, MIBLocke would have no trouble stealing my soul.

Ab Aeterno

From Wikipedia: Literally, "from the everlasting" or "from eternity". Thus, "from time immemorial", "since the beginning of time" or "from an infinitely remote time in the past". In theology, often indicates something, such as the universe, that was created outside of time.

While it didn't feel like a LOST episode in the classic sense, I still enjoyed this immensely. A wonderful character piece that filled in the backstory, at last, of the mysterious Richard Alpert, "Ab Aeterno" revealed not only how Richard got to the Island and why he is immortal, but it also offered more information/hints about the roles Jacob and MIB are playing and what purpose the Island serves and why it must be protected (it's a cork in hellmouth bottle!).

Definitely a solid episode, very entertaining and Nestor Carbonell acted his little pants off. You can read more about it in Alan's review.

The Package

I was right about two things in my "Recon" recap:

1. MIBLocke does apparently have a reason for "collecting" followers. Specifically: He needs to gather all of the candidates together. I suspect he doesn't want to play some pickup basketball with them; and

2. Desmond (DESMOND!) is The Package behind the padlocked door.

I've said this many times before and I'll say it again: Sun and Jin episodes are among my favorites. This one was no exception.

A few things:

• Again, the alt-timeline shows a similar version of the characters, who have made slightly different choices and seem happier, although Sun and Jin's timeline seems to be heading in a tragic direction. I hope the Island timeline doesn't go in a similarly sad direction. Keamy's remark that Sun and Jin weren't meant to be together, however, makes me very worried.
• Hey! It's Alt-Mikhail! And he has both ey--Wait, I take that back!
• And again, the mirror theme continues in the alt-timeline, with Sun pausing an extra moment while looking at herself in the hotel mirror.
• If Sun wasn't already a favorite of mine, the fact that she ran as fast as she could away from MIBLocke would have made her one. Atta girl! It happens so rarely that when a LOST character actually show some sense, it automatically elevates the quality of the episode.
• I loved the Sun/Jack scene on the beach. At the risk of sounding like a broken record...Jack rocks this season. He looks pretty good, too.
• (Paraphrasing) Ben to Ilana: "Why won't you believe me when I say that Sun was already unconscious when I found her?" Ilana: "Because you are speaking." Hee. Speaking of Ilana, her expression when she saw Richard enter the beach camp was so well done.
• I was totally verklempt when Jin was looking at the pictures of Jeon. I hope that's not the only way he's going to see her.

That is so not the best picture of him - in fact, he looks like Russell Crowe - but I don't care. He's back! My joy, however, is mixed with anxiety about what his ultimate purpose is with regard to the Island, and what his ultimate fate will be. I don't like the fact that Widmore had to drug him and keep him under lock and key in order to get him to come back to the Island. He was brought against his will, apparently, and Widmore's plan must involve Desmond's special "connection" with the electromagnetism of the Island. I just hope his role isn't a sacrificial one.

And so I head into tonight's episode filled with anxiety. It's about Desmond, and as Damon Lindelof tweeted last week, "In one week, the conversation is going to change."

What does that MEAN??

LOST: Episode 6.8

Recon

March 23...I don't have my recap ready - I realized this morning that I never finished it! - so this post will act as a place holder for now. I hope to post more when I get home tonight, before I watch the new ep. In the meantime, consider this:

Am I the only one distracted by Josh Holloway's physical appearance this season? He seems changed. There's something about his face that's different. New teeth? Perhaps. He looks puffy, too. And if he didn't have on a wig or at least some sort of hairpiece or extensions in last night's episode, I'll eat my tin foil hat. It's really bothering me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later...Well, I wasn't really successful in putting together a coherent recap/analysis of this episode. I'm not sure why. I do know that I felt a little detached while watching it, and I think that's because it aired following one of LOST's best episodes - "Dr. Linus" - and wasn't as emotionally resonant for me as that one was. It was also really plot heavy, which I don't always mind, but when there's so much going on it can be tough to connect with the characters on screen on a meaningful level.

So what I've got here are a whole bunch of notes and questions that I am going to pretty much just transcribe here. Sort of willy-nilly.

• I loved that Alt-Sawyer is a cop, but still obsessed with avenging his parents. He's clearly made better choices in this timeline of his life, and the portrayal of his alternate character fits with the others we have seen so far: They still have their central conflict, or characteristic, but they don't let it define them. Except perhaps for Kate. And Sayid.
• There were tons of callbacks to prior episodes/characters/episode details in the Alt scenes: Miles and Charlotte were the obvious ones (Charlotte looked beautiful but I really would have preferred she turned out to be Juliette); Charlie's brother Liam looking for him at the police station; the code word "LaFleur"; Little House on the Prairie, which Sawyer admitted to watching in a previous ep; "Watership Down"; and Sawyer bringing Charlotte the sunflower, like he did for Juliette.
• So, if Sawyer is a cop, why did he let Kate go at the airport? Now that we know he's a cop, though, it makes his admonishment to Hurley about people taking advantage of him sincere and credible.
• Do you think Sawyer was planning a con against MIBLocke from the very beginning, or at least since the cave, or do you think it wasn't until he found out that MIBLocke is the smoke monster and killed all of the people at the Temple?
• Sayid and Claire really are off their respective nuts. I think they are lost for good.
• What the heck was MIBLocke talking about when he was telling Kate about his crazy mother? For a second there I thought he was implying that, through some time loop thingy, that he was in fact Aaron and Claire was his mother, but I've since abandoned that one (this show makes you think crazy things). Could he have been manipulating Kate into killing Claire? I'm actually starting to feel bad for Kate.
• OK, so MIBLocke's big plan is to leave the Island on the Ajira plane. Who is going to fly it? Or is he just telling a tale to get people to follow him and help him escape? I doubt he can just get on a plane and fly off the Island. I don't know, it just seems too easy. There must be some reason he is gathering followers, something that he needs them for, like maybe he needs to pay a "ferry man" to get off the Island and the toll is like, 20 souls or something. I'm just not seeing a logical plan yet.
• Speaking of a plan, who's going to pilot the submarine, Sawyer?

And speaking of the submarine, what in the world is behind that padlocked door?? I'd like to think it was Desmond (please please please), but I'm not sure that Widmore would have to keep him locked up like that. Next week's episode is called "The Package", so I think it's a good bet we're going to find out.

I will try to get something posted about this week's fantastic Richard Alpert episode tonight, but I am going to NYC in the morning for the weekend, so I may not get to it. But I will try!

LOST: Episode 6.7

Dr. Linus

I went into this episode convinced, based on the "next week on LOST" preview, that Benjamin Linus was going to die. As much as I didn't want that to happen, it made sense: Ben's story seemed to have run its course and his character has been marginalized so far this season. It made sense that he would have to pay for killing Jacob - among other nefarious deeds - by being killed himself. And so I watched with dread as Ilana discovered the truth about Ben's part in Jacob's death and set him to work digging his own grave.

Then MIBLocke appeared and offered Ben a way out of his death sentence. I didn't want him to die, but I also didn't want Ben to accept MIBLocke's offer since doing so would be choosing to go down a path - one in pursuit of power and his own personal interests - that was much like the one that got him into his current messy predicament. Much to my great delight, instead of being his final episode, "Dr. Linus" turned out to be a very emotionally satisfying redemption story for Ben. And it proved once and for all that Michael Emerson is one of the best actors on TV.

I loved this episode, and would rank it as one of my top 5 favorite LOST episodes.

OK, some stuff:

Alt-Ben

I'm still grabbing at straws when it comes to figuring out what these alternate realities actually are, besides being great character pieces. Alan Sepinwall has formulated the theory that they are in fact an epilogue for each character, they we are being shown what reality each person will be "gifted" with as a result of the outcome of whatever war is currently brewing:

"For now, I'm sticking with my theory that the flash-sideways are an epilogue in advance - that this is where and when the characters all wound up in the aftermath of the war between Smokey and Jacob's forces. (I have no idea if I'm right, nor will I be upset either way when the reveal comes, but right now it's important for me to have some idea of what the alt-timeline scenes mean, even if it turns out I'm completely wrong. Otherwise, there's no weight to them this late in the "real world" timeline.)"

I do agree that there is a need at this point to know what they are, but I can't say I buy the epilogue theory. I'm still leaning towards the idea that the time stream split in 1977 when Juliet detonated the bomb, and the universe will course-correct and eventually the two timelines will converge, probably in the finale. Why does everyone so far in the alternate timelines seem to be happier, and make better choices? I don't know. My brain can only process so much.

Alt-Ben is still a little Machiavellian, but it appears that a healthier relationship with his father has stemmed some of his more evil tendencies. In the end, he makes the choice that our Ben, until now, would never have been able to make: the happiness of someone he loves over his own lust for power. He is able to save Alt-Alex this time, choosing her, elevating her needs above his own.

So, we learned a few things in the scene with his father, one being that Alt-Ben has the same microwave as I do! I mean, he could totally be standing in my kitchen in that picture. Ha! We also learned that even in the alternate timeline, the Linuses joined the Dharma Initiative and went to the Island. I suppose that means that they left shortly after they got there (before the 1977 explosion), when Roger was unhappy about being hired as a "Workman". Also, great touch having Ben "gas" his father in the alternate reality, only this time it's just oxygen.

Jack, Hurley and Richard

So we got sort of a confirmation that Richard was on the Black Rock, perhaps in chains as a slave (or a prisoner?). He's been so controlled all along that I love watching him freak out now. The dynamite scene with him and Jack was, well, dynamite. It seems that perhaps Jack is finally beginning to believe. I think he's also going a little crazy, but I suppose that's to be expected since it was only about 11 days ago in LOST time that Jack was going to kill himself by jumping off the bridge. Can you believe that? (check the LOSTpedia Timeline) Check it out:

Jack finds out about Locke's death in 2007 L.A. and tries to jump off the bridge;
5 days later, he's on the Ajira Flight 316 and it crashes and he flashes to 1977;
He spends only 4 DAYS in 1977,until Juliet detonates the bomb;
they get sent back to 2007 at the beginning of this season, and only 2 days have passed since then. That's why this show works SO well on DVD.

Island Ben

There's really nothing more to say about the scene with Ilana except that it was amazing and heartbreaking. Only Michael Emerson could make you love such a weaselly character.

Like I said last week, LOST really knows how to end an episode, and the slo-mo beach reunion this week was awesome. As was the arrival of Charles Widmore! I don't think I speculated here about who the man was that Jacob said was coming to the Island, but I thought it was Widmore right from the start. What his intentions are, I dare not speculate - look how Ben's character has turned around! - but I think there is one big question that must be answered: Is Desmond on that sub?

LOST: Episode 6.6

Sundown

Shit just got real, people! For fans looking for some forward plot momentum, this episode was a goldmine. I loved it, but boy was it a dark one.

The scales that balanced the good and evil inside of Sayid were always tipped toward evil - he showed himself skilled at killing even as a boy - and his life as we've seen it has always been about the struggle to overcome those baser impulses and be a good man. This week's episode saw him, under the influence of MIBLocke, finally give in and embrace those impulses. His story has always been one of the most moving on the show, and it was very sad to see what appeared to be the loss of his soul.

Now, with that said, I have to wonder: How much of the real Sayid were we watching this week, or for that matter, have we seen since this season began? He is not the same man: First off, he was dead for 2 hours - remember "dead is dead"? Second, I swear his accent is altered (if only slightly); and finally, I'm sorry, but the Sayid we know would never, ever say he was a good man. Who exactly is this new, infected Sayid? And was his "infected" soul already damned before he spoke to Locke?

There are a lot of comparisons being made to Stephen King's "The Stand", and I believe I read that the show's creators were greatly influenced by King and that story. You can see the parallels beginning to take shape now, with the players taking sides; I'm thinking it will come down to a "war" between MIBLocke and Jack, who will ultimately be Jacob's replacement, harkening back to the "Man of Science vs. Man of Faith" theme the show has been using throughout.

This was not the Sun/Jin episode I had supposed it would be, but it was so good that I didn't mind. I loved all of the action and the kung-fu fights, and I couldn't believe it when I saw Keamey! My God, he makes Christopher Walken look like as harmless as Bing Freaking Crosby. And how about Jin! In the freezer!

LOST has always known how to close out an episode and this one was no exception, from the surprise appearance of Ilana, Frank, Sun and Ben, to Smokey's terrifying rampage through the Temple to the slo-mo final scene of MIBLocke and his army forming ranks and heading into the jungle, I was riveted. The cherry on top? Ben's "Oh shit" face when he realized that Sayid had gone over to the Dark Side. Priceless.

LOST: Episode 6.5

Lighthouse

Let's get the shallow stuff out of the way, shall we? Jack is looking hot this season. I think he lost some weight, and I love the longer hair on him. Maybe that's where all of his chest hair went!

On to the episode itself...I thought this was just a mediocre outing. I liked the story they were telling, and I was interested in seeing where things were heading, but I just wasn't pulled into it the way I was last week. Not a particularly bad episode, just not one of the better ones.

Hurley and Jack's Trek:

A question about the route Jacob sent them on: Why would he send them to the caves? What was Jack meant to see there? Most likely, it was his father's coffin, but why? To remind him of what he saw way back when they first crashed? You know, when you think about it, Jack lost his father's body in both realities, didn't he? Well, perhaps "misplaced" is a better word for it.

I loved Jack's reason for coming back to Island: To fix himself. Always looking to fix things is our Jack, even if that means crashing a plane full of passengers so he could get back to an Island that he couldn't wait to leave in the first place, just so he could blow up a hydrogen bomb. He really doesn't know what he wants, does he?

I am enjoying him much more this season, but all of my Jack-hate came rushing back when he smashed the mirrors in the lighthouse. I thought he was pretty chill now, but I see I was mistaken. All it took was one phrase - "You've got what it takes" - to make him freak out and not think before acting, just like the old days. If someone asks him to do something he won't do it blindly, but he always takes the bait, doesn't he?

Clousseau

This is how I've got the Claire story in my head so far: Claire actually died when Keamy and his mercenaries blew up the house she was in. Because her body wasn't buried, Smokey infected her with the "darkness" and when she came back to consciousness she was like Sayid (however that is!), and perhaps like the other dead people that have been wandering around the Island these past few years.

That's the only explanation I have for why she would just get up and walk away from Aaron and join her "father" in the woods. Christian said that Aaron was where he needed to be, and she just left it at that. So why is she now convinced that the Temple people took him? Just because she's crazy and can't remember what really happened? Is she dead AND crazy? She's certainly crazy. One need only look at the crazybabydoll she made and put in that cradle. Yipe.

Alt-Jack

So one of the big differences in alternate Jack's life is a teenage son. (Who, btw, played the same Chopin piece in his audition that Daniel Faraday was playing when his mother told him he had to give up playing to become a physicist, or something like that) Little David Shepard looked distractingly to me like McLovin' from Super Bad.

Anyway...Who is David's mother? Is it important? Perhaps, and we may find out in a future episode, but it really had no bearing on the story they were telling last night. Some people on the interwebs are putting forward the theory that Jack's ex in the alt timeline is Juliet. That could be cool - mostly because I just want to see Juliet alive again, but if I had my way I would prefer that she somehow connected with Sawyer in the alternate timeline. I really like those 2 kids together.


Finally, some thoughts on an emerging theme - one that's made appearances here and there but is just this season really becoming prominent, and which really stood out for me last night: That of mirrors and what may lay beyond them. Check it out:

The Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass theme:
The season 3 finale was titled "Through the Looking Glass"; the underwater Dharma station was the Looking Glass station and its symbol was a white rabbit; white rabbits have made appearances in the show ever since the Dharma Initiative was introduced; Jack was reading Alice in Wonderland to Aaron in "Something Nice Back Home", which he says his father used to read to him; and last night David was reading "The Annotated Alice".

And now mirrors seem to be playing an important role:
Alt-Jack looks at himself in the bathroom mirror on the plane in "LA X 1", and seems to see something different/unusual about himself; In "What Kate Does", alt-Kate has a similar experience when she looks at herself in the mirror at the auto garage; and last night again alt-Jack looks at himself sort of funny in his bathroom mirror, notices his appendix scar (his appendix was removed on the Island) but doesn't remember having it removed as a child.

Call me crazy, but I'd even go so far as to say the alt-Jack is a mirror image of Island Jack - I noticed last night that his hair was parted on opposite sides in the two realities.

Then they cap the whole thing off with the Lighthouse mirrors that Jacob uses to watch his candidates as they live out their lives.

I think this is all more of a thematic device than a literal explanation of the plot, but they have me wondering: Is the Island what we would find if we went down the rabbit hole?

LOST: Episode 6.4

The Substitute

"This is the weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to."
~ Frank Lapidus

You know, I'm torn between wanting them to do more with Frank's character, because I love him so much, or them just leaving things as they are and giving him the best lines. Because he really does have the best lines. (well, him and Ben)

This episode was SO good, and I've got tons to say about it, and I am MUCHO busy today. This will have to be brief, but I will try to hit on the major stuff. And I will be referring to Island Locke as MIBLocke (man in black).

The directing and cinematography choices, particularly in the alt-timeline, were very well done. A lot of the camera angles were from John's POV - in the wheel chair, the bathtub, on the front lawn - which I think added to the story. And on the flip side, we got MIBLocke/Smokey's POV as he flew (? how do you describe how a smoke monster gets around?) across the Island, scanning the jungle and the old Dharma Village, which I thought was very cool.

The first thought that came to mind when MIBLocke saw the blonde kid was that it was Aaron. Now I'm not so sure. Was it Jacob? And if it was Jacob, who made these rules he's talking about? I always thought that Aaron was important in some way to the larger story, though, so I'm going to stick with that theory for now. I wonder why he had blood on his hands the first time MIBLocke saw him (pictured), but not the second? Why could Sawyer see him, when Richard couldn't? Poor Richard. If he's that frightened, there's got to be some bad shit about to go down!

It was nice to see a relatively happy John Locke in the alternate timeline, even if that happiness came at the cost of losing his most dominant character trait (or flaw?): His willingness to believe, no matter what. Giving up hope for a miracle is what allows him to accept his lot in life and to truly be happy. I was so glad to see him still with Helen. Locke's relationship with his father is clearly different in this 2004: Not only does he not have an obsession with his father that would drive Helen away, but she actually mentions inviting him to their wedding! If that's the case, how did Locke become paralyzed in this 2004? And why these particular differences? Are they randomly chosen, or are they important? Gah!

Loved seeing Hurley and Rose, but I was downright delighted to see Ben Linus as the European History teacher in Locke's alternate timeline. His bitchy fussing over the coffee pot and his geeky politeness in welcoming John was perfection. His eulogy for John in 2007 was also perfection, so I will let it stand on its own:

”John Locke was a… believer. He was a man of faith. He was a much better man than I will ever be, and I’m very sorry I murdered him.”


The crazy thing is, I really do think he's sorry. The little bugger couldn't help himself, though, and lied to Ilana about killing Jacob. I've got a feeling he's going to regret that, and soon.

I got a very strong "eat from the tree of knowledge" vibe during the conversation between Sawyer and MIBLocke, when MIBLocke told him to come with him and he would give him answers. Did you?

Boy, Sawyer sure did get REALLY dirty, REALLY fast, huh? It looked he hadn't even bothered to get up off the floor to go to the bathroom. Ew. Thank God he cleaned up and changed into the next generation of The Blue Shirt of Hotness. Desmond would approve.

Sawyer's anger and grief have made him vulnerable and when he chose to leave the Island with MIBLocke, even though he KNEW Locke was not who he was really talking to, all I could imagine in my head is the old knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade saying, "He chose...poorly."

Oh, and speaking of Sawyer, does anyone else think he looks slightly different this season, like maybe he got his teeth done or something?

The cave, the cave, the cave. Black and white stones, like the black and white stones in the hands of the Adam and Eve couple found in the caves way back in season 1, and like the black and white game pieces in backgammon, the game that Walt and John Locke used to play together. And, of course, Jacob's main list, the names and numbers of the "candidates" that he scrawled on the walls of the cave:

4 - Locke
8 - Reyes
15 - Ford
16 - Jarrah
23 - Shepard
42 - Kwon

It was a great scene, seeing the numbers associated with the names like that. But where is Kate's name? Was she never a candidate?

I guess I found the time to say a lot, didn't I? Fantastic episode.

LOST: Episode 6.3

What Kate Does

(a play on the previous episode title "What Kate Did")

So, a Kate episode. Never among my favorites, they are almost always interchangeable and usually boring. This one was made better by placing the same old story within the deepening mystery, and I think once we know more this episode will stand up better; but for right now, I think it was just OK.

At first I found it difficult to believe that Claire would not only accept a ride from the woman who highjacked her taxi and put a gun in her face, but also give that same woman her credit card; but then it occurred to me that those things become more likely if we assume that everyone in the new 2004 timeline is being affected by some sort of "memory" of the Island timeline, and because of that Claire and Kate trust each other even though they shouldn't.

Speaking of the 2004 timeline, Claire's ultrasound gives us the first confirmation that it takes place in 2004. However, it's a month later, on October 22. What does that mean?!

I was very happy to see the return of the "infection", especially in reference, somewhat obliquely, to Rousseau. Someone on another site pointed out that Claire disappeared the day after Rousseau died. Perhaps Claire died and was "occupied" by Rousseau? She did make those traps and apparently she is now a crack shot. Sounds like Rousseau to me. There's also a nice parallel between their two stories: Both pregnant women who crash on the Island, give birth and are separated from their child in some way. Interesting.

I'm not sure what the heck is up with Sayid, but he is definitely not the same. Did anyone else notice the slight difference in his accent? It's much more like Naveen Andrews' British accent now. Wait a minute. Who else died just before Sayid, besides Jacob? Juliet! Oh man, that's just too weird, even for this show!

I wonder what Sayid would have had to do to pass Dogen's "test"? He screams in horror and pain when being tortured, so he is infected? How would an uninfected person react?

Jack is so much less annoying this season. Perhaps the annoying Jack got split off into the 2004 timeline! Yeah, that's it! He's not as obstinate, or thick-headed or asshole-ish - he's more laid back, focused, asking the right questions, and he's looking really good, too. I really liked the scenes between him and Dogen.

Another good thing from this episode: Jin has begun his search for Sun. I cannot wait for the reunion!

The best part of the episode, though, was Sawyer and his heartbreaking grief for the loss of Juliet, who he truly loved. The scene on the dock should be submitted at Emmy time. He's reverting back to his solitary, self-loathing ways. While he has good reason for it, I hope it doesn't last.

I feel more confident after this episode that they are not going to try to put Sawyer and Kate together, at least not right away. I think Kate was crying on the dock for few reasons: 1) Sawyer's heart belonged to another; 2) He wouldn't be helping her to find Claire and 3) I think mostly she was feeling bad about coming back to the Island, and how everything got shot to hell when they did.

So what did you think about the episode?

Fringe Winter Finale: When Universes Collide

Last night's "winter finale" episode, Jacksonville, was one of the best episodes so far, I think. From the freaky and gruesome opener to the heart-breaking end, I was totally riveted. The look on Olivia's face when she saw the glimmer around Peter was so sad. I knew what was coming, but that didn't lessen the impact of the scene, especially the look she gave Walter when he said, "Please don't tell him."

Now, while it was a good episode, I did have one problem with it: The kiss scene. I am not ashamed to say that I absolutely 'ship Peter and Olivia, and I've been hoping that the writers would eventually take them in that direction. However, the aborted kiss seemed to come out of nowhere. I have been a fan of some ridiculously long and angsty build-ups and UST-filled relationships on TV, and this one was nowhere near the kissing point, imo. The scene really wasn't earned. Peter and Olivia seemed more like brother and sister than possible romantic partners up to this point. They should have done a better job of building up to it.

Anyway, I can overlook that, especially since it looks like they probably won't be consummating that kiss any time soon.

LOST: Episodes 6.1 and 6.2

LA X 1 and LA X 2

"Nothing is irreversible."

Wow, what a return! I was on the edge of my seat, sometimes with my jaw hanging down, for almost the entire 2 hours (except for the Kate stuff - everyone but her seemed different in the reset timeline/reality *yawn*).

The story picked up immediately where it left off last season, showing us what seem to be 2 timelines that resulted from the detonation of the bomb:

1. Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Miles and Sawyer are still on the island, but now appear to be in the same 2007 timeline as the Locke/Ben/Sun/Jacob drama; and

2. A 2004 timeline where Oceanic 815 does not crash and makes it successfully to LAX, albeit with some notable differences.

There are a number of theories floating around the internet as to what the 2004 timeline is - an alternate timeline? and alternate reality? a parallel universe?- and while I've never been big on theorizing in my recaps, there is one that I favor: In the comments of Alan Sepinwall's fantastic review, someone recalled Daniel Faraday's description of the "movement" of time: It's like a stream. If you throw a rock in the stream that's big enough, it will alter the direction, or course, of the water. If the rock is not large enough, the water will divide to go around it, creating two streams that will eventually meet up on the other side of the rock. This season, we have a new storytelling structure. Instead of flashbacks, flash forwards or time-jumping, it appears the story will move laterally between the two timelines, and I bet they will somehow converge by the end of the season.

But that's all speculation, and while it can be fun, it can also hurt my brain, so that's enough of that.

Watching the 2004 parts of the story, I felt like I was playing one of those picture games where I had to pick out all of the things that were wrong, or out of place. Not that I'm complaining, but what was Desmond doing on the plane, and only for a short while at that? Where did he go? Was he time flashing again? Why wasn't Shannon on the plane in this timeline? What was the blood on Jack's neck? He knew there was something "off" when he looked at himself in the mirror, don't you think? Having seen the pilot episode recently, it was very noticeable to me that that they didn't make any attempt to mimic everyone's hair from the pilot. Jack and Sawyer both had much shorter hair in the pilot, Charlie's was much shorter in the LA X version of the flight, and I think even Rose's hair was different. Hurley was happy and lucky, and Sawyer didn't seem troubled by having just murdered the wrong man. Something's off. It's almost like bits and pieces of the original, 2007 island timeline are seeping into the 2004 timeline, e.g. the abrasion on Jack's neck, or when Charlie tells Jack that he was supposed to die.

Everyone makes it to Los Angeles, although not without confronting some obstacles after getting off the plane:

Jack: His father's body has been misplaced
Locke: His suitcase with knives is missing
Charlie: In police custody after getting caught with heroin on the plane
Jin and Sun: Jin is taken by security and Sun does nothing to help him
Kate: Escapes and jumps into a cab with Claire, who I can only assume is pregnant

I'm interested in seeing what's going to happen, including how much this timeline might be affected by the events of the original island timeline.

On the Island, we get to see poor Juliet die. Again. Like it wasn't sad enough the first time. Before she dies, however, she does something odd: She asks Sawyer out for coffee. Could that be a bit of the new 2004 timeline seeping into this one? Through Miles we learn that the important thing she wanted to tell Sawyer was that "it worked". Not very well, from what I can tell. Sawyer is so heart-broken over Juliet's death that I will find it very hard to accept if they try to put him and Kate together at this point.

Seeing the Temple felt a little underwhelming to me. Not sure what I expected, maybe something that felt a little more "magical" or mystical. Do you think the water in the healing pool was not clear because Jacob was dead? Oh, and who else was wicked psyched when Sayid rose from the dead?! My first thought, however, was that Jacob was taking Sayid's form now, just as Esau, or the man in black, did with John Locke.

And speaking of John Locke, whoa! After rewatching The Incident, I was convinced that the Smoke Monster, Esau and the risen John Locke were one and the same, and I was very pleased last night to see that I was on the right track. While I'm very happy that we're going to have lots of Terry O'Quinn acting his heart out this season, I would still like to see some kind of redemption/vindication for the real John Locke before the show ends. And for Ben, too. He was ill-used by the Island powers-that-be and I kind of feel sorry for him now.

I'm going to have to wrap this up now. I know there's a lot more to talk about, but I'm not feeling all that well with this head cold, so I'm turning it over to you guys to continue the discussion. What did you think??

Oh, wait a minute, I almost forgot. Look who's back!

LOST: Episodes 5.16 and 5.17

The Incident

Dude, that statue has, like, a dinosaur face! WTF?!

I know that should be the least of my concerns after last night's fantastic finale, but I did some reading around and found out that the statue is probably the Egyptian god Sobek. From Wikipedia: Sobek's ambiguous nature led some Egyptians to believe that he was a repairer of evil that had been done, rather than a force for good in itself, for example, going to Duat to restore damage done to the dead as a result of their form of death.

Sound familiar? Fixing dead people?

Anyway, despite a little impatience that I felt with the whole love quadrangle - and the unforgivable absence of Desmond and Penny - I was very satisfied with the episode. They piled on the mythology, ramped up the violence (like they really needed to!) and really delivered on the quieter character moments. And then they ended on a patented LOST WTF moment. Actually, more than one.

There is a lot to process, but here are some quick thoughts.

• I am reminded of BSG's "All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again."  I think Jacob and the man in the dark shirt (let's call him Titus, which is the actor's name) have been locked in some kind of struggle for a very long time - good v. evil, dark v. light - but I'm still not clear about who the good guy is.  Jacob "brings" people to the Island as part of a test, or something, to see how they will interact when faced with the properties of the Island.  Perhaps?  First he brought the Black Rock there, and then Flight 815.  Titus wants him to stop (why? Is he the Island?) but can't kill Jacob himself for some reason.  So titus does everything he can to position the Losties where he can use them to kill Jacob.
• Locke is really dead.  Dead is dead, as Ben said.  Oo, a rhyme!  How tragic and touching it will be if this is the last that we will see of our Locke.  Maybe he's in there somehow - he does have Locke's memories...
• Ben Linus as the "manipulatee" is fascinating to watch.  Michael Emerson is the king of acting!
• So raise your hand if you think "Ricardus" came to the Island on the Black Rock?  I found a translation to how he answered the question, "What lies in the shadow of the statue":  It's a latin phrase - "Ille qui nos omnes servabit" - which means "He who will protect (or save) us all."
• I'm feeling now like maybe the excessive violence - does anyone on this Island NOT have a gun or knife? - was intentional, there to prove Titus' point that people always bring"destruction and corruption" when they come to the Island, and that it always ends the same.  I wonder what he means about the way it ends?
• Vincent!  Rose and Bernard!  I would be very happy if that's the last we see of them.  Their decision to "retire" makes perfect sense and I think they've been able to lead a peaceful existence on the Island because they're not caught up in the "destruction and corruption" that surrounds the rest of the Losties and the Island chooses to leave them be.
• I started to get a lump in my throat as soon as Juliet got pulled into the well.  The tears came when she and Sawyer were ripped apart.  I can only hope that Juliet somehow survives.  If the detonation of the bomb killed her, then it would have also killed everyone else. If, on the other hand, the detonation caused an "incident" that "white-flashed" them all to 2007 ( which is what I think happened), then she could still be alive. Hurtin' real bad, but still alive. Same goes for Sayid.

I honestly don't think the bomb undid anything as far as the 2004 plane crash goes. I think it just caused the incident because it was meant to cause it - whatever happened, happened. And I think that the "they" that Jacob said were coming are Jack, Sawyer, et al, coming back to 2007 from the past.  I am really uneasy about the idea of this being a giant reset and when we pick the story up in January they will all be landing at LAX.  This story needs to be finished on the Island, in my opinion, and 16 or 17 episodes just isn't enough to get them all back there.

LOST: Episode 5.15

Follow the Leader

Ah, but which one do you follow? John Locke? Jack Shepard? Ben Linus? Richard Alpert? Jacob? Charles Widmore? Eloise Hawking? Who's good? Who's evil? Who's right? Who's wrong? It boggles the mind that this show is still so good despite having not answered any of those questions in any satisfactory way. Yet.

You know, looking at that list of leaders, it really highlights the fact that the writers for this show don't know how to write strong women (and some would argue that they don't know how to write for women at all). That's a shame because if they did, this show would have been as close to perfect as any TV show can get.

Anyhoo, some thoughts.

• I think Daniel was right when he said "whatever happened, happened", and his change of heart when he came back from Ann Arbor was really just wishful thinking on his part (although I suppose something, or someone, in Ann Arbor could have changed his mind).  I think he wanted his theory of The Variable to be true because that would mean he could save Charlotte.  I think Jack's plan (nee Daniel's) will not work and that whatever he does will actually cause the incident that leads to the pushing of the button in the Swan, which when not pushed will cause their plane to crash.  Whatever happened, happened, and you if you try to change it, the universe will course correct.  That's my position and I'm sticking to it.
• Speaking of 'The Incident' (which is the title of the finale, BTW), I was mistakenly assuming all this time that this was the same incident referred to on Radzinsky's blast door map;  but he calls it "The Incident of 1985", and this is all happening in 1977.  He also writes about an "accident" on the map.  Is it the same thing?  I think it might be time to re-visit the map (click image for larger version).

• I was irritated with both Jack and Kate last night.  I guess I was hoping for some character development from them, but they seem to be up to their old tricks again.  Granted, Jack is more of a Locke-style believer now, but he's still retained his most defining (and boring) characteristic: The need to fix everything - even if he has no idea WTF he is doing and it involves a bloody hydrogen bomb.  I give props to Kate for walking away from all that, but she just HAD to go and ruin the Sawyer/Juliet happy ending, didn't she?  Juliet's face when Kate was brought down into the sub was just crushing:

• I almost yelled "SAYID!" out loud when they revealed him as the shooter.  I had forgotten all about him!  Yay, Sayid! I wonder what he's been doing since he shot Ben?  It's only been a couple of days, right?  I also like how he had to fix his ponytail when he got out of the water.
• So, Locke wants to kill Jacob??  To what end?  And who knew Jacob could even BE killed?  Is the Island instructing Locke to kill him?  Or is John now a manifestation of the Island (or smoke monster) ? This makes me wonder just exactly who - or what - John Locke is, or has become.
• I loved the compass scene and how gobsmacked Richard and Ben were while watching the whole thing go down.
• Who or what is Richard Alpert? (He's a wee man, isn't he?)  Was the ship-in-a-bottle scene a hint as to his origins?  The Black Rock, anyone?
• I am so glad that Miles told his father who he really was, and he got to see why his father sent them away.
• One minor nitpick: It would have been nice to see Jack - or Sayid - refer somehow to the weirdness of those ancient tunnels with Egyptian carvings.  It was like the Mines of Moria down there and they don't ask?
• Lastly, I am still amazed at how paranoid and violent these Dharma people - and the Others - are.  The only thing the prevents me from shooting the TV when Radzinsky is on it is the knowledge that he will one day blow his own brains out.
• Actually, one more thing: Sawyer is totally going to kill Phil next week!

So, what did you think?