S2Ep20 - Two for the Road (Ana Lucia's second flashback) - 5/03/06

Hello my dear friends -

Thank you for your patience with my tardiness in posting this write-up. As you know, I was in Vegas when the show aired, and I did not actually watch it until early the following Monday morning. Hence, I've had to scramble a wee bit to crank out this write-up in a fraction of the time that I normally devote to this labor of love.

Let me tell you, of all episodes to watch without my peeps, this was not a good one to choose, especially when I was delirious from lack of sleep and alone in my dark basement. But then again, there was no one to be embarrassed in front of when I was yelling and screaming my head off at the end...

I've had to speed-read through the boards this time, but the general consensus seems to be that the last few minutes saved the episode from another bout of overall blah-ness. I actually thought it was pretty even throughout, especially when compared with the last few episodes, but was definitely in full-blown "Say Whaaaaaaa?" mode at the end. These are the times when it's good to be spoiler-free, the shock twist endings!


"HEY, I'M A FREAKY DRUNK GUY. WANT TO COME TO ANOTHER COUNTRY/CONTINENT WITH ME?"
"GREAT IDEA! THAT GOES AGAINST NONE OF MY INSTINCTS AND MAKES TOTAL SENSE!"

So while I knew this episode was going to be another Ana Lucia flashback, I did not know she was going to get killed off. More on that whole subject later. Regarding her backstory, here are what I consider to be the important points:

- Her fairly significant involvement with Jack's dad was a major surprise to me. It felt a little forced... I mean, some random older man blabbering on about losing his medical license because he was drinking on the job asks you to come to Australia to "protect" him, and you're a former cop and you think this is a GOOD idea? Especially when he wants to make up names for each other? Hmmmm, I don't think even Ana Lucia was that desperate to get outta Dodge. By the way, many people noted that the names they picked were interesting: Tom (happened to be Kate's true love's name) and Sarah (which HE picked for Ana Lucia, and that was Jack's wife's name... hmmmm...???). This led people to wonder if he had a thing for Jack's wife. But back to my original point - I just feel like the writers suddenly thought up this unrealistic connection with Jack's dad just for the sake of having another intertwining story, and it was kind of annoying.

- Jack's dad went to pay a midnight visit to a woman in the Sydney suburbs, demanding to see "his daughter," and yelling about how he pays the mortgage on the house. A blond, slim forty-somethingish woman emerged, and immediately everyone on the boards came to the conclusion that Claire is also Christian's (Jack's dad) child, which would make Jack and Claire half-siblings and would also make Jack the uncle of Aaron. A lot of people are convinced that Aaron is going to be "the savior" of the Lostaways, so they think it would be appropriate for the designated leader of the group to be related to him. I'm not so sure what real significance there would be to Jack being related to Claire and Aaron, and I also don't know how they (the characters) could/would even figure that out at this point. But regardless, here are two interesting posts on the topic:

1. "In Jack's last flashback ep (with the hot Italian girl) there was a scene
where Christian warned Jack not to "cross the line," because some people can,
but he (Jack) can't. That implies to me that ol' Christian has had at least one
affair. Hmm..."
2. In Claire's first flashback, when she found out she was
pregnant: "Claire says that her mom will disown her and Thomas replies that she
basically already has. Then, when Thomas leaves Claire, he makes a comment about
her 'daddy issues,' which fits in with Christian Shepherd being her father--
obviously he was absent during her childhood."

- We now know that Ana Lucia dropped Christian off at the bar where he proceeded to get plastered with Sawyer (who bumped into the car not-so-subtly, you better have caught that one or I am ashamed of you!) and then subsequently die. What I couldn't tell is whether Ana Lucia put two and two together and realized that Jack was Christian's son while she was standing in line at the gate. At the bar scene they showed in the Season One Finale, Jack and Ana Lucia had this exchange:
ANA: Why were you yelling -- the girl, the check-in counter? You were yelling at her.
JACK: I'm sorry, do I know you?
ANA: I'm on your flight. LA? So your dad died, huh?
JACK: I thought you didn't hear what I was yelling about.
ANA: I was being polite.
JACK: Yeah. My dad died.
ANA: How?
JACK: Heart attack.
ANA: Not a drinker, huh?
JACK: No, not really.

Right now, I do not think she realized that Jack was Christian's son (as Sawyer eventually did), because I do think she would've said something to him about it. One thing's for sure - Jack's dad is definitely popping up all over the place. I really liked his crazy disheveledness this time around, though.

- Ana Lucia's mother wrote down the flight information and said "I'll be there when you arrive." To me, that seemed significant because it was the first time they actually ever outright acknowledged that any of the Lostaways had someone waiting for them in L.A. who knew what flight they were on. And I just don't think this show does little things like that for no good reason. There was once a rumor that they were going to do a show from the Lostaways' families' points-of-view, as in, how/what they heard about the crash, what they did afterward, etc., etc., but I haven't heard anything about that for a long time. I think the point of doing that would be to convince viewers that the whole show is not actually 1) a virtual reality game or 2) someone's dream. But now that Ana Lucia is dead, I'm not sure if they will go anywhere with her mother's ominous line.



SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG CRUTCH

HOW AWESOME WAS IT when Locke whacked Henry over the head with his crutch?!?!?
BOO-YA!
I was squealing with glee and had to rewind it to make sure it was the crutch and not his arm, which would've been less cool. Then Henry reassured me with his "I'm glad my head didn't break your crutch" comment later in the episode.

I have to do something I don't normally do and paste in a few lines from another site's write-up. Television Without Pity, which I have as a permanent Lost link on the right-hand column of this blog, has a guy named Daniel who gives a blow-by-blow of each episode along with his own special brand of humor. So if you were in a country like, say... Kazakhstan, and you didn't have high-speed access to download episodes, you could read Daniel's write-ups and feel like you watched the entire show. Anyway, he had this to say about the opening armory scene, which I thought was hilarious:

"Ana opens the door to the armory. She sees Henry hasn't eaten the bowl of fruit in front of him. She asks how long he's going to keep up with the hunger strike. I believe Eddie Vedder said it best: "I'm going hun-graaayÂ…" Or maybe it was Chris Cornell: "Goin' hungreeee-EEEEE-eeee."

Hee, hee, isn't he clever. Anyway, back to MY write-up now...
So the armory scenes squashed any doubts remaining - Henry (or "Fenry" (= Fake Henry), my new favorite nickname) is definitely an Other. And while there is still doubt about whether he's bluffing about "the man in charge" and HE actually is the leader (some people said in this episode he spoke with too muchreverencee about "the brilliant man in charge" for it to be himself), it's clear that he is one of them overall:
- While strangling Ana Lucia, he said "You killed two of us, good people, who were leaving you alone!"
- He mentioned Goodwin to her as well as the fact that Goodwin said he thought she still showed promise, and added that Goodwin was in fact NOT going to kill her (uh, it definitely seemed like he was...)
- And then of course the most disturbing scene of the episode (besides the end) was Henry telling Locke that he was on a mission to come get Locke in the first place when he got caught in the trap... because Locke is "one of the good ones."


"I WAS COMING FOR YOU."

Ugh, it still gives me shivers.

OBVIOUSLY Locke is one of "the good people," duh. So I wasn't surprised to hear that. But guess what, Henry? I want Locke to come chill with me, too, but that ain't gonna happen, either. You will not take my Locke away! Locke will resist the Dark Side of the Force!!! [He better...]

Many had assumed that all of the original Lostaways except Walt and Aaron were "bad" because The Others had never tried to kidnap any of them. Now people think that perhaps they just hadn't gotten around to making The List yet because Ethan screwed up and got himself killed while trying to figure it out. Another theory is that there is still another mole amongst the Lostaways or else Henry wouldn't have known that Locke is "good." People had long thought that it was Libby, but since we saw her in a flashback of Hurley's, I think it makes it less likely, but not impossible. Regardless... who else from the original Lostaways might be "good?" I think the only definite other one could be Hurley. Claire is a "maybe" and Sun is a "maybe" depending on what really happened with Bald Dude.



CUE NELLY 'CAUSE: IT'S GETTIN' HOT IN HERRRRE...

First we had Jack and Kate's Net 'o Lust, now we have the Jungle Floor Freak Nas-tay courtesy of Sawyer and Ana Lucia -- what's up with this? Did I flip over to Cinemax?

I was annoyed because, helllooooooooooo, Sawyer should've known what she was pulling from a mile away. I was surprised they didn't complete the obviousness and flash to the gun being gone from the pile of clothes (as they so clearly showed it THERE earlier).

How can a show with such religious undertones and themes turn around and start spicing it up? Well, let's just remember what happened to both women who got down with their island boyfriends, shall we? Shannon, R.I.P. Ana Lucia, R.I.P. Talk about a double standard!




HOW MAD IS JACK GOING TO BE?
BECAUSE USUALLY HE'S A PRETTY CALM GUY.

JACK: Take us to the guns. Now.
[Sawyer reaches for the gun in the back of his pants and realizes it's missing]
SAWYER: Ah, that bitch. She stole my damn gun. Ana-Lucia.
JACK: Why would she need a gun?
SAWYER: Son of a bitch.
LOCKE: [looks distressed] Jack? I need to tell you something.


Even *I* am mad at Locke about that one. It does make me worry that he covered for Henry because he is curious to find out more about being one of "the good ones." DAH!

DID YOU TIVO PAST THIS, FOOLS???

I seriously hope you did not miss The Hanso Foundation Ad that aired during the show, giving out this toll-free number for more information: 1-877-HANS-ORG

What, you missed it?!?! OK, I have something to admit. I Tivo'd past it too. But after beating myself up over having been so careless, I have since watched it here, and have also called the toll-free number.

I'm not going to tell you what happens - ha ha! But my fellow Lost fanatic humpy has a whole section of his site devoted to it if you are THAT LAZY.

This is an article about the ad, a most clever marketing technique if I do say so myself. TPTB never fail to amaze me.

PRAYERS DO GET ANSWERED

Yeah, that's harsh, but it is no secret that I was no fan of Ana Lucia, so I can't lie and say that I am sad that she's gone. However, I was still shocked by the turn of events at the end - I guess I just thought if they were going to kill anyone off, it would be in the finale. But that's not what happened last year (Boone died a few episodes before the end), either.

So let's discuss a few things:

1) Ana Lucia is definitely dead. You can read where Michelle Rodriguez talks about it here and here. Some wonder if her character was killed because she was finally "redeemed" after saying that she couldn't find it in herself to kill Henry. I'm not so sure it goes that deep this time...

2) Libby's fate seems to be up in the air. As one post put it best: "What was that Libby was holding in front of her? A pillow? Or a big ol' Get out of Dead Free card?" If you remember, Libby had what I think was a pile of blankets for the picnic in front of her stomach (you can see it above). Were they bulletproof? Uh, probably not, but people think it may have been enough to buy her some time before the good doctor arrives. Additionally, people said that the backstory with Hurley would not be tied up if she were to die now. I guess we shall soon see... I have been avoiding articles about this topic because I am sure there is a definite answer one way or the other out there.

3) So if you read any sort of news, even if you try to avoid Lost-related articles like I do, you probably know that the actresses who play both Ana Lucia and Libby got DUIs a few months back in Hawaii. Michelle Rodriguez did jail time and Cynthia Watros did community service. Now both of their characters were shot and one is definitely off the show (and possibly both are gone). Coincidence? I personally think not. But the writers tell a different story. Shout-out to CM for pondering aloud, "Do you think that perhaps they found out they were getting killed off and then that's when they went out drinking, and not the other way around?" I think that is possible, too!

BIG MIKE THE ASSASSIN

That's his new nickname on the boards. So what to make of Big Mike the Assassin? I'm personally just glad he's not yelling "Waaaaaaalltt!" anymore, seriously. Anything is better than that. Though he did still have to say "my boy" in this episode, dammit. I sense a drinking game in the making...

It is WAAAAAY past my bedtime and I really want to get this posted for you all by Wednesday, so here is a stream of consciousness download of what I've gathered about "theories on Michael."

- He asked Ana Lucia for her gun, even though he HAD a gun when he took off in the jungle. Why did no one ask him where that one was?
- When he woke up in the hatch, he said his head hurt. Some people think that means he was drugged or had been beaten previously (which would go against him saying he just observed The Others' camp --- why did he collapse in the jungle then? I think Jack was right, The Others had just let him go).
- His description of The Others' camp made it sound like it was a senior center. He also mentioned the dirty clothes, which Kate and Jack now know were costumes. So why didn't they question that? Or were they on to him? Or do The Others actually stay in costume and live out of tents for the heck of it?
- What exactly is going on with Michael? During the final minutes, when he was asking Ana Lucia about Henry and asking her for the gun, I thought FOR SURE that he was going to open the door and Henry was going to bum-rush him and kill him. Then when he said, "I'm sorry," I was like, "Wait, is he going to shoot himself because he's sick of yelling "Waaaalllt?"" Then in an instant I realized, "Oh, crap - he's going to shoot HER!" And then he did. The unexpected Libby walk-in and subsequent shooting was a shocker, too. I definitely have to say that even though I was by myself so I'm not sure if it really counts, I was speechless. Then he busts into the armory and Henry stands up. People were debating if that was because a) Henry heard the gunshots and was like, "OK, this dude's going to kill me, too" or if b) Henry heard the gunshots and thought, "OK, this dude's going to SAVE me now" or if c) he previously knew Michael, and he was standing as a sign of recognition. And then Michael says, "Hey hold up, I'm going to shoot myself in the arm now." END OF SHOW. Damn!

OK, but I digress... back to "What exactly is going on with Michael?" Here are the theories, summed up by other posts on the boards:
- "The other option, however, is that Kate and Locke were right -the Others did send Michael back. They heard Jack's screams. Obviously Big Mike's description of The Others' camp is going to be correct from the outside, but not entirely right. Theatrics. He's not brainwashed or else he wouldn't have apologized. Also looked surprised with Libby. Is she dead? Blankets."
- "Holy...Kneejerk assumption: the Others captured Michael, and made him a deal that if he sets Henry free, he gets his son back. The only way for him to do it was to make it look like Henry got a hold of a gun and shot his way out (why Michael shot himself in the arm). Or, the others told him unless he did this they would kill Walt, not give him back. Though there is clearly something more to it than that, since he wants to lead them ALL to the Others by saying they could take them.
- I imagine that was the deal that was made: free Henry at any cost, and bring the rest of the crash survivors to us.. or Walt dies.
- If he was brainwashed to think like an other why would he apologize before he did what he did? He probably cut a deal with the Others.


STUFF THAT HAS NO CLEAR CATEGORY

- I think it was significant that Sayid said that the radio only worked that one time when they heard the big band tunes, and never since. But I don't know why it's significant.
- J.J. Abrams has a thing with his characters saying "Hey." If you watched Felicity, you should've noticed it, and it happens all the time on Lost, too.
- A few people pointed out that after Michael shot Libby, there was a bizarre dripping of water from the ceiling. I noticed it too. No one knows if it matters or not. Just mentioning it so that I can say "I MENTIONED THAT!" if it DOES turn out to be something.
- Jin's thumbs-up to Hurley was a classic light moment in an otherwise intense episode.
- Sawyer was reading the "Bad Twin" manuscript which they will be selling shortly, if they aren't already.


RANDOM POSTS FROM THE BOARDS

- And that's what you get when you drink and drive.
- Two for the Road – refers to two more dead people?? Wow – the death pool must be getting close to capacity. Where did Michael learn to shoot like that?
- Fabulous episode, major jaw-hitting-knees damage. As for Michael, here's my (purely speculative) theory: he IMed Walt (or pseudo-Walt) & sets up a meeting. The Others take him and convince him that he & Walt are "good" & can live large on Hanso's dime, a much better option than on the beach with the collection of fugitives, conmen, mob enforcers, murderers, and other degenerates that we call "our heroes." Walt confirms this, and Michael buys into Otherdom. They send him back to free NotHenry (and Vincent?), and lead the "bad people" into a trap, which will be the season-ending cliffhanger. Season 3 is the story of Hanso, Dharma, etc., with the Losties as intruders wrecking the island paradise. (And for my money, Hanso seems like a much better leader than Jack.) One question - was NotHenry continuing to play poor gullible Locke with the "I was coming here to save you" line, or is Locke actually "good"? Can't wait to be proven wrong next episode...
- Augh, now we'll never now why she was in the insane asylum, I guess they didn't have a reason so they killed her off.
- Ah Michael, you batshit crazy bastard. Glorious.
- Finish this popular Michael phrase. “I’m gonna git my ______ back!” Dude. Alright, already… Sheesh! WE KNOW!! You’re gonna git your boy back. Nice of Jack and ‘em to remember Cindy and the other kids…
- Finally some action on this island! Love = death.
- So drinking and driving does kill.
- Lost, I wish I could quit you.
- I am on the Hanso Foundation website (thehansofoundation.org), so creepy. When I saw the ad I was like, WTF, are they like Scientology or something?
- At least Michael's dialogue will now be expanded beyond, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLT!!!!!!"
- But here's a little speculation... what if Libby's observation about seeing the same plant three times, and Flintstones animations re-using the same background over and over is more than an idle remark? What if they're all in some kind of holoenvironmentenviroment, and after a while, the environment really does start repeating? (e: very Matrix-ish)
- RIP Ana & Libby. Next time, call a cab.
- One more for the "Claire and Jack are siblings" club. The woman who Christian was fighting with definitely looked like she could be Claire's mother.
- And Henry saying he was coming to get Locke because he's one of the "good people" wsuspicious suspicous. Surely he's read Locke well enough to know Locke wants to be special/in a chosen relationship with the Island - I see Locke doing something to pursue that and instead giving the Others something (or someone) they wanted.
- After the Sawyer/AL tussling, I thought "Out of wedlock sex! She's totally dead!" And then when she told Michael she couldn't be the way she used to be, I thought "A moment of redemption! She's really totally dead!"
- Oh, and one thing about Ana's death...it REALLY sucks that she and Jack will never get to figure out that she was in Sydney with his don'ter. I dont' think she ever made the connection that her employer was Jack's father, but if she'd lived they might have been able to put two and two together.
- I'm still unsure about the whole Michael thing. He had that crazy look in his eyes. Though I can't understand why he just didn't shoot himself in the foot. He'll probably need his arm more than his foot, but what do I know?



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


[Ana-Lucia starts to pass out when Locke whacks Henry with his crutch knocking him out]
LOCKE: I guess he decided to start talking, huh?



[Shot of Sayid digging a hole on the beach and Hurley walks up to him]
HURLEY: Dude, nice hole.



HURLEY: Here's the thing. Even that would be good because Libby would be like, it's the thought that counts and I'll score major points. Especially when she sees me holding it over my head.
SAYID: And why would you hold a static generating radio over your head?
HURLEY: They didn't have Say Anything in Baghdad? It's awesome. This dude like gets his boom box and he holds it over his head outside this chicks window and he plays some Peter Gabriel song for her and bam the girl's like his. I mean after her dad goes to jail, but then he gets her. (e: those eagle-eyed readers may have noticed from my last post that I have a poster of Say Anything in my basement, so I thoroughly enjoyed this latest pop culture reference)

[Shot of Ana Lucia getting dressed and Sawyer watching her]
ANA LUCIA: What?
SAWYER: Don't you want my phone number?
ANA LUCIA: You tell anyone about this... and I'll kill you.
SAWYER: I guess that takes cuddlin' off the table.



THE BIG THREE

I've cut myself off from reading about upcoming episodes anymore, because even things as "innocent" as the episode descriptions in TV Guides and/or Tivo have now given away aspects of what will happen. I encourage you to not look at anything remotely related to the show if you want to be surprised. And for the love of Pete, do not tell ME about anything you've heard or read!

"?" - 5/10/06 - The previews haunted me, because of the totally scared and shocked looks on both Sawyer's and Jack's faces, as well as the slo-mo scene of Kate crying as well as the freaky Michael zoom-in. And if my man Eko gets mortally wounded by falling from that cliff, there will be consequences! I believe I know whose flashback this is, and while I was skeptical before, now I believe it should be incredible. That may give you a teeny clue.


"Three Minutes" - 5/17/06 - I've totally avoided reading anything about this episode, yay for me.


"Live Together, Die Alone" - 5/24/06 - Two-hour season finale. Unfortunately for me, I think I now know the gist of the plot of the finale because of this damn article I read that did NOT mention there would be spoilers. Grrrrrr.... Without giving anything away, J.J. Abrams (co-creator), who has not been working on the show for a while because he directed Mission: Impossible III with Freaktastic Tom Cruise (Ethan's cousin, remember), said he was impressed with the end of this season. I will share with you a non-spoilery part of the article to get you hyped for the finale if you aren't already:

""The ending of this year in 'Lost' blows the ending of last season out of
the water. It's an incredible finale. You'll see what happens, but I can
tell you that a lot of it has been there and been building from the
beginning of this season. It's not out of the blue, but what happens at the
very end of this year, for me, it's the greatest finale I have ever heard."
Abrams took himself off the show earlier this year to direct "Mission
Impossible III" with Tom Cruise, but says the people who have been running
the series in his absence came up with a year-ender that surprised even
him."

By the way, AFTER writing the blurb above where I doled out advice about avoiding Lost-related articles, what did I do but go to the gym, pick up a TV Guide with Kate and Sawyer on the cover and totally piss myself off by reading snippets about what is coming up and then slamming it shut before I read the entire thing. Willpower. I have little.

I now have a "no traveling" edict at work until the finale is over, so expect the next write-up to be on the normal schedule, posting late Monday night, May 15th.

Until then,
- e