S3Ep6 - I Do (Kate's fifth flashback)

Hello my dear friends -

First and foremost, happy holidays and Happy New Year. Perhaps, like me, you received all of the Lost action figures as gifts and are extremely happy because mini-Locke can now be with you, always.

If you did not get the Lost toys, fear not... as we are just weeks away from the return of the show on February 7th, so you can get your fix again soon.

Since "I Do" aired months ago, you may need to refresh your memory of what actually happened in the episode before reading my take on things. If so, choose between: a comprehensive yet succinct summary or a longer, but funnier recap.

Once you remember what in the heck happened back in early November, read on.


I will start out by saying that I thought the fall finale was awesome, and I watched it not once, not twice, but three times for both my viewing pleasure and to ensure I would cover absolutely everything for you, my loyal readers. I would put the last five minutes of the episode up there with some of the most intense television moments of all time (others include some of the early, scary X-Files episodes as well as when Lucy and Carter got stabbed on ER.)

They definitely set us up well for the February premiere.


KA-, OOPS, I MEAN MONICA

Let's just get Kate's flashbacks out of the way right up front, shall we? Don't get me wrong, I did actually enjoy the flashback scenes, but once again they didn't really give us anything new. We had already known that Kate had been married, as she told this information to Sawyer back in Season 1 when they played "I Never." But now we find out that - gasp! - it was to a Miami-based COP, of all people.

They really chose to play up the contrast between Kate's real life and her alter-ego Monica's faux one... from the priest's exaggerated speech at the wedding ("With Monica, what you see is what you get"), to her 60's-housewife hair-do, to her drawing smiley faces on French Toast and picking up food for that most revered of stable suburbian married life, Taco Night. She was well on her way to becoming a Stepford Wife, I dare say. Alas, the good life could not last for Kate, as her aww-shucks hubby wanted to take her to Costa Rica, which meant she would have to get a passport, which meant she would either have to manufacture a fake one or run the risk of blowing her cover. No, it was not meant to be - no leisurely vacations at all-inclusive resorts with fruity umbrella drinks and cabana boys running around were in the cards for our dear Kate.

After a lame, foolish, last-minute attempt to gain sympathy from The Marshal, on top of a pregnancy scare, Kate realized she had no other choice but to... drug her husband and bust outta Wisteria Lane.

If the flashbacks proved anything to me, it was that Kate was meant to end up in a cage on a deserted island with a fellow con artist. Like so many other of our beloved Lostaways, she really has nothing to go back to in the real world, and the island is the only place where she can be "free."


FAKE-OUT EXTRAORDINAIRE - OR -

CRAZY!JACK RISING, PART 1

Now, back to island happenings.

The tone of the episode was set early on - that tone being "Jack has gone absolutely crazy and just doesn't care anymore!"

I loved the initial scenes with Jack, Juliet and Benry... Jack very much led the two Others to believe that he would be performing the surgery on Benry, only to pull the proverbial rug out from under them at the last minute, and then add on a snotty zinger just for good measure:

JACK: You took these blood tests, made all the notations? [Juliet nods.] How old are the x-rays? JULIET: A week.
JACK: [To Ben] The tumor on your spine is borderline inoperable. And at the rate it's growing, that borderline goes away in one week.
BEN: [Unemotional] Oh.
[Jack and Juliet exchange a look.]
JACK: The OR in the other room, is that fully equipped?
JULIET: Yes.
JACK: Anesthesia? Sterile?
JULIET: Yes.
JACK: You needed to be in surgery yesterday.
BEN: Alright, then. Whatever you need, it's yours. I'm ready.
JACK: [Laughing] No, I think you misunderstood me. I didn't say I was gonna do it. I just wanted you to understand how you're gonna die. [Sardonic laugh] You think I believe you people? You think I trust you? That I'm just going to do the surgery, and then I'm just going to HOPE that you let me go?!
JULIET: Jack!
JACK: [Throws notebook at her face, behind partition] No, don't!
[The three exchange tense looks.]
BEN: Well, Jack. I'm very disappointed in your decision.
JACK: Well, Ben. At least you won't have to be disappointed for very long.

BOO-YA!

WORST. PLAN. EVER.

Good God, Alex! If you're going to attempt to take down the Others and free their hostages, don't use a freaking SLINGSHOT??!! Come ON!

Yes, back on the chain gang, Kate and Sawyer share a brief moment of hope when speakers start blaring that there has been a "compound breach" and Pickett fears aloud that "the doctor" has escaped. But then it's only young Alex who busts onto the scene, lamely flinging stones at various Others and shouting at Kate and Sawyer to run. Shortly thereafter she is easily captured by an Other who simply lifts her off the ground and carries her away. However, before Alex is shuffled off, she does say a few things that should be noted:

- She was apparently attempting to free Sawyer and Kate: "Come on, get up, GO!"
- She asks to talk to Ben. Which is important because until this point, we were not sure if she even knew who Ben was or had any direct contact with him.
- She is extremely worried that The Others have done something to her boyfriend. I think it is safe to assume that the younger guy who was originally in what is now Kate's cage is the boyfriend in question, as Alex also questioned Kate about his whereabouts in a previous episode.
- She believes that they are going to kill Kate's "boyfriend." We can assume this means Sawyer.
- She does not trust The Others overall: "Whatever they say, don't believe them!"

After seeing this scene, I couldn't help but wonder if the whole thing was staged. I mean, did Alex REALLY think she could free those two and then escape herself, when surrounded by a ton of Others who all have guns?? I had to think that perhaps it was a set-up to get Kate and Sawyer to think that Alex is on their side, so that they can just fall into a trap later on. Or it could've been a set-up to scare Kate even more into believing that they really would kill Sawyer (right after Alex is taken away, Kate is approached by Juliet to "help save Sawyer's life").

But there is of course also the possibility that Alex is just young and stupid and acting irrationally because she thought they had killed whats-his-face.

THE REUNION - OR -

CRAZY!JACK RISING, PART 2

So Kate gets dragged into Jack's holding cell (still separated from him by the glass partition, mind you - I'm sure just so they could have that over-played, cheesy 'hands attempting to touch through the glass' scene) and they are reunited for the first time since being kidnapped.

Despite its cheesiness, I thought this scene was powerful and it's fair to say that the scowling doctor's face did light up when he saw Kate. Even better was the totally awkward Juliet watching them in envy and then muttering, "Uh, I'll give you two some privacy."

The next few minutes re-convinced me that Lost has some of the best damn actors on television. We have already previously bowed down to Jack's man-crying abilities, and I have also mentioned before that Kate has concocted her fair share of priceless expressions over the three seasons. As they were brought together in the Hydra hatch, it was impressive to watch the tone turn from a happy reunion to an emotional (but unspoken) fearing of what had happened to the both of them, to a realization of what was really going on by Jack, and the resulting shock at Jack's lack of compassion by Kate.

JACK: [Both hands against clear partition] Hey. You Ok?
KATE: Yeah. You?
JACK: Yeah, I'm great. [Both holding back emotion] Where are they keeping you?
KATE: Outside. In a cage.
JACK: Sawyer?
KATE: He's in a cage, too. They're making us work.
[JACK: Work? On what?
KATE: I dunno what it is, but it's big. We're hauling rocks, and...
JACK: Hey. Did they hurt you?
Kate starts to cry.]
JACK: Kate, hey. Hey. It's gonna be alright.
KATE: Jack. You have to do it. This thing that they told you, this operation.
[Jack looks up at the video camera, where a red light is blinking.]
KATE: She said that if you do it that...
JACK: What did they do to you?
KATE: Jack...
JACK: What did they do to you?
KATE: Nothing!
JACK: How did they get you to ask me?! What did they offer you?!
KATE: [Crying] Nothing!
JACK: Then what are you doing here?!
KATE: They're gonna kill Sawyer! [Breaks down into tears] I'm sorry!
[Jack turns away from partition.]
KATE: I'm so sorry! But she said that if you do it, and you do it soon, they'll let us go!
JACK: And you believe them?
KATE: I have to. [Jack is silent] Jack? Please...
JACK: We're done here.
KATE: Jack!
JACK: [Shouting out at camera] Hey! We're done in here!

Then we see eeeeevil Benry at his wall o' monitors staring grimly at what is unfolding in the cell. "Get her out of there," he orders Juliet. Benry realizes that Jack indeed is only looking out for #1, and Kate and Sawyer were not luring enough bait for the Mad Doctor, as Benry had obviously counted on.

Or were they?

GIRL, I'D LOVE TA SHOW YA, SHOW YA.... MY JUNGLE LOVE!

Once back safely in her cage, Kate realizes that the Mad Doctor is most certainly never going to get with her now, so she thinks, "Ahhh, what the hell, I will go have some fun with Mr. Tortured Soul of the Great One-Liners." So she climbs out of her cage and tries to coax Sawyer to run away with her, only for him to finally break the news to her that they are in fact stranded on another island. After a brief spat used only to build the tension before their climactic love scene, Kate finally succumbs to Sawyer's advances.

OH EE OH EE OH!

Not to ruin that moment for all of you Kate/Sawyer 'shippers, but let me just say this: Two months on the island... no toothbrushes or toothpaste... much eating of fish biscuits... intense love scene. Ponder.

As a side note, many think that the title of this episode was meant not as a reference to Kate's marriage flashbacks, but as Kate's answer to Sawyer's question about whether or not she meant it when she said to Pickett that she loved him. Kate remained silent and Sawyer was the one to say, "I love you, too."

A MAN HAS THE RIGHT TO CHANGE HIS MIND - OR -
CRAZY!JACK RISING, PART 3

Back in the Hydra hatch, Jack is sulking about how no one can appreciate what it is like to be the Mad Doctor. He crashes on a freaky island shortly after his wife left him and his father died, sees his Zombie Dad running around, saves half of the people who survive, finds himself in the middle of a love triangle, gets kidnapped, and now is a pawn in some twisted mind game - with Benry promising him freedom if he saves him, and Juliet hinting to him that he should botch the surgery, and Kate telling him that he can save Sawyer by performing the surgery, and the truth of what is really going on lying nowhere in sight.

Then comes a garbled voice from the intercom, sounding suspiciously like Alex. The voice tells Jack to "try the door," so Jack finds that the door is unlocked, and proceeds to sneak out of his cell and in to Benry's lair, where there just so happens to be tons of guns, and, oh, HOW CONVENIENT, a video camera shot pointed right at Kate and Sawyer and their sinful snuggling.

Once again, Jack gives us some of the most priceless expressions, as he stares befuddled at the screen, looks down, and then arrogantly laughs at what is before his eyes. All while missing Benry sneaking up behind him.

BEN: If it helps, I was surprised, too.
[Jack swings around and points the gun in his face.]
BEN: If I were a betting man, I would have picked her and you.
JACK: Shut up.
BEN: Well. I suppose this would be the proverbial nail in my coffin, wouldn't it?

And then, for no reason other than the fact that he is Crazy!Jack, Jack does a complete 180 and tells Benry that he will indeed perform the surgery, and not only that, he'll do it in a matter of hours, the following morning. Then he snarls, just to make sure Benry understands: "I need to get the hell off this island."



Benry replies with, "Done." And of course I had to wonder, "Hmmm, did Benry mean that LITERALLY, because technically they are on Alcatraz, so Benry could get Jack off of THAT island and put him back on Craphole Island and not be breaking his word." I guess we will see. That is, if Benry survives the operation...

But regardless of the outcome of the surgery, I think that in the end, Benry's plan to use Kate and Sawyer for leverage against Jack worked. Not in the way that it was originally intended to, but it still worked nonetheless.

And don't think for a second that Jack's "accidental release" from his cell wasn't intentional. Benry and/or the rest of The Others KNEW what was being shown on that screen, and they probably figured they should try a last-ditch effort to push Jack over the edge. And for whatever reason - be it because Jack realized that Kate loved Sawyer, or because Jack realized that perhaps he could at least save the happy couple if not himself, or because Jack didn't really didn't care about anything anymore after seeing that video - it worked.


THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

The time finally came for Benry's surgery. I have to admit that I kept waiting for Jack to find nothing there... I honestly thought it was all an elaborate scheme to see what Jack would end up doing - and that the x-rays were not actually Benry's and therefore there was no tumor. It shows how much I'm expecting twists in the show, I guess. I also found it hilarious to see Jack dressed up in scrubs with the Hydra logo all over them.



Before Benry goes under, he makes two interesting comments:

1) BEN: Whatever happens, everything will be very different, won't it?
JACK: No doubt about it.

What exactly did they mean in this exchange, I wonder? There is the most obvious course of thought which is that it is probably going to take a long time for Benry to physically recover from the surgery, so he will be in no position to be bossing everyone around. It could also mean that if Jack is successful, there will be a change in the dynamic between those two. But now, knowing what Jack ended up doing, there's a whole nother layer of complexity to their comments. I will cover that shortly.

2) BEN: Juliet. Did Alex ask about me?
JULIET: No. We took her home last night. I don't know where she is now.

Hmmm, very strange. So not only did Alex demand to speak to Ben the day before, Ben is now asking if Alex asked about him before his surgery. This leads me to believe that he played a role in raising her on the island, like a father figure or something. The "we took her home" comment by Juliet confirms my statement from a prior write-up that the Others actually live on the main island and only come to Alcatraz for their various experiments and side projects.


THE JESUS STICK LIVES!

Let us not forget about all of our other poor Lostaways! We didn't see hardly any of the other main characters for the majority of the first six episodes, and the finale was no different. However, you can rest assured that that will change shortly after the show resumes in February. In the meantime, we did get to see a few minutes of the small group left to deal with Eko's death, led by my man Locke.

After the hatch implosion and Mr. Eko's death, it is safe to guess that Locke is going back full-steam-ahead to his shaman-like ways on the island, as he has now been given many justifications to "believe in the island" again. He seems intent on understanding why the island wanted Eko to die. When tramping through the jungle with Sayid to find Eko's beloved stick for inclusion at the grave site, Locke hints at his next vision quest:

SAYID: So, what killed Eko?
LOCKE: Folks back at the beach call it "the Monster." I don't really have a name for it. You don't believe in monsters?
SAYID: I believe in what I can see. But obviously you have. So, why don't you tell me what you think it is?
LOCKE: Might be what brought us here.
SAYID: So, you think that this Monster decided that Eko was meant to die?
LOCKE: I believe that Eko died for a reason. I just don't know what it is yet.


I believe that Locke will find his purpose again - and that he will think that purpose is to understand Eko's death and subsequently to find Jack, Sawyer and Kate. When making the speech at Eko's make-shift funeral, Locke seems to have found his first clue:

LOCKE: Rest in peace, Mr. Eko. Thank you for helping me find my...
[Suddenly, Locke stops, and focuses on the stick.]

Not only is Locke zeroing in on this new carving on the stick, but he also probably noticed that "John" is right beneath it, in reference to a different Bible passage (John 3:05). But it could read as, "Lift up your eyes and look north, John."

My call is that the Alcatraz island is to the north, and that Locke will be the one to figure this out and to organize a group of Lostaways to save the kidnapped three. Other people on the boards, however, feel that it's another hatch that is to the north ("The Flame"), and that is where they will find Patch-Man.

WHO THE HELL IS JACOB?

JACK: Scalpel.
[Juliet hands him the scalpel and he starts cutting. Pickett is up a tier in observation, watching.]
PICKETT: Let's go. [Walks off with a man]
OTHER MAN: Ben's just gone into surgery.
PICKETT: Ben just put his life in the hands of one of them! Shephard wasn't even on Jacob's list.


Whoa, whoa, whoa. BACK up. Who is Jacob??? That was definitely a "stop and rewind multiple times tivo moment" for me. So three very important things came out of that brief scene:

1) Literally the second Benry's surgery began, Pickett took off to go kill Sawyer, with absolutely no fear of reprisal. To me, this confirmed that they really had no other use for Sawyer than as leverage for Kate (who was leverage for Jack). If Benry had other plans for Sawyer, Pickett wouldn't have felt confident enough to risk carrying out his revenge... he only went to kill Sawyer after he was sure the surgery was under way.

2) You can infer that Jack is NOT a "good person." If we are assuming that this unknown character Jacob is the one behind the "good people" lists, then you can assume that all the Others know who was on those lists because they were sent to kidnap those people early on. What we as viewers do not know is why Jack would NOT be considered a good person. To this point in his flashbacks, he hasn't done anything horrible like killing anyone on purpose. In my view, this opens up ALL characters who we previously thought were "good" (except Locke, because Benry told him he was "one of the good people" and Locke also saw the white light from the Monster) as possibly being "bad." Something tells me another Jack!Back is in the not too distant future...

3) There is some dude named Jacob who may be the one controlling everything, not Benry, as previously assumed. So Jacob is most likely the "him" that Benry spoke of while captive and that Pickett and Ethan referenced in one of Claire's flashbacks. Could Jacob be the crazy pirate patch guy? I don't think so. I think it is someone we haven't seen at all yet. And the name "Jacob" carries all sorts of religious connotations...



THE FIVE MOST INTENSE MINUTES OF LOST - EVER (so far)

From the point when Pickett left the surgery watch-room until the episode's end credits are what I am counting as some of the most intense television I have ever seen. I was seriously disturbed at the dark turn the show took near the end when Pickett came for Sawyer. The rain is pouring down, and Pickett and his no-name henchman just bust into the cage and there is no doubt about what they plan to do.

PICKETT: Step away!
[Sawyer punches out the man with him and grabs Pickett's hand with the gun. There's a scuffle, and Sawyer ends up with Pickett's gun pointed at Pickett, but Kate has been overtaken by the Other man.]
PICKETT: You let go, or I do her too!
[Sawyer looks over at Kate, who is helpless, pinned at gunpoint up against the cage bars by the second Other man.]
PICKETT: Let go!
KATE: Don't you let go! Don't you think about it, Sawyer, you fight! No! Sawyer, NO!!
[Sawyer lets go and lets Pickett have the upper hand. He is pushed face-first into the cage bars, and Pickett holds the gun to his head.]
KATE: No, NO!! Sawyer, PLEASE! You get your hands off of him!
PICKETT: Get on your knees! [Pushes Sawyer to his knees]
KATE: Please!! I'll do ANYTHING YOU WANT!!!!
PICKETT: I want you to watch.
SAWYER: Close your eyes, Freckles.
KATE: Stand up!
SAWYER: CLOSE YOUR EYES.
[Sawyer closes his eyes, as Pickett prepares to shoot him execution style.]
KATE: NO! NO! NO!
PICKETT: This is for Colleen. You son-of-a-bitch!

I thought the dialogue between Sawyer and Kate was heart-wrenching and I think it was some Evangeline Lilly's best acting of the entire series. Her screaming "I'Ll do ANYTHING YOU WANT!" still moves me to tears, just to think about it. And then Pickett's sickening "I want you to watch" just left me nauseous. I'm seriously all stressed out again now just re-reading the dialogue! Shudder.

When watching it live, I knew that there were only a few minutes left of the show at that point, and I honestly thought for a brief, painful moment that they were actually going to kill Sawyer. Because they started playing the sad "this person is dead" music! Those damn score-writers and their trickery!



CRAZY!JACK HAS ARRIVED! (still part of the intense 5 minutes)

Wooo... wooo.....!!!!! The Crazy Train is pulling out of the station and I'm totally on board because the Mad Doctor is the conductor!!! The outpouring of love for Crazy!Jack was at all-time high levels across every single Lost site and message board I visited. EVERYONE LOVES THEM SOME CRAZY!JACK! He just doesn't care anymore and he is doing it HIS WAY.

He didn't keep his "do no harm" oath and just perform the surgery on the up-and-up. Nor did he accidentally botch the surgery on the sneak-tip per Juliet's video instructions. He just made a big ol' cut in a place he wasn't supposed to, punched out the other surgery attendees, demanded the walkie talkie, and then assumed his rightful Position of Power on the island. The best was how Zeke was just left staring with his mouth hanging open.


After Zeke composed himself, he was able to catch Pickett via walkie talkie right before Sawyer met an untimely fate. And then, the final heart-pounding moments of the episode were spent between Jack and Kate.

KATE: Jack? Jack!
JACK: Kate? You have about an hour headstart before they come after you.
KATE: Where are you? Where are you?
JACK: You remember what I told you on the beach? The day of the crash. You remember what story I told you when you were stitching me up? [Kate is silent on other end] DO YOU REMEMBER IT?!
KATE: [Crying] YES! Yes, I remember!
JACK: When you get safe, you radio me, and you tell that story.
KATE: Jack, please.
JACK: If I don't get a call from you in the next hour, I'm going to know something went wrong, and [turning to Tom] HE DIES!
KATE: I can't leave without you!
JACK: Yes, you are. Go!
KATE: Jack! I can't!
JACK: Go, now!
KATE: I CAN'T!
JACK: KATE, DAMMIT, RUN!!!!

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I'm totally stressed out again?!?!?!

So a few things about the final moments:

1) What exactly is Jack's plan now?
I don't see a good outcome for Jack overall in this. Even if he sews up Ben (which, I don't think he has actually REMOVED THE TUMOR yet, so he still has to do that, which isn't a walk in the park), all of the Others are going to hate him. Why would they keep him alive past Ben's recovery now? And if Ben ever was going to keep his promise to take Jack "home," why would he do it now? If Jack doesn't finish what he started with the surgery and lets Ben die, then he's got even bigger problems. Juliet probably won't be on his side anymore, either, as he didn't screw up in a subtle way as she wanted him to. All I can figure is that Jack had already realized he was never going to get off the island and that the Others were liars (hence his speech to Kate in the cell), but after seeing Kate and Sawyer together in the cage, his God Complex kicked back in and he thought, "Well, perhaps I can do something so that those two can at least live happily ever after." He is essentially sacrificing himself, in my mind. Also, I recently read an interview with the show's creators and they reiterated that the characters' names often have specific meanings... so when you think about Jack Shephard, you could infer that perhaps he is trying to look out for his remaining "flock."

2) What is Juliet going to do now?
As I stated above, Jack didn't exactly go along with her plan, and she is at risk of being exposed by Jack as a traitor, since he definitely has nothing to lose now by telling someone about her plan to defer attention away from himself.

3) Why didn't Kate TELL HIM THEY HAD NOWHERE TO GO???
This was annoying to me... she just kept going "I can't!" "I can't leave without you!" instead of "We are on another island and there is no way off that I know of!" I KNOW that they were just wanting the totally intense effect so they didn't want Jack and Kate to get into that conversation, and I hope that no one gets mad because this is kind of spoilerish, but just know that they DO cover the fact that they are on another island and need a boat to get off in the next episode (hey, I fell off the spoiler wagon just a little bit, what can I say?). So I am less annoyed now that she didn't bring that up right away, and I hope you are, too.

4) What exactly is Ben's role?
So we know that someone named Jacob is most likely running the show behind the scenes. And we know that Juliet has some sort of conflicted history with Ben. Yet it is very clear at the end that Ben definitely has some power over Pickett and Zeke - even if that it's just that they care about him enough to not want him to die. Pickett was very ready to shoot Sawyer and the fact that he didn't says to me that his fear of or respect for Ben overpowers his extreme anger and need for revenge.

5) What is the story Jack was referring to that he wants Kate to repeat to him?
The story is (I looked it up in the Pilot transcript to be sure) about his first solo surgery as a resident, and how he totally screwed up and made a bad incision on a 16-year-old girl, but he only let the fear take over for 5 seconds, and then he continued on with the surgery and it ended up OK. Kate has used this "being afraid for 5 seconds" strategy two other times in the series. It has been debated on the boards if there is any deeper meaning to why Jack chose this story, but I think it was simply because Kate is the only one who would know it.

The last comment I will make about this episode is that I think it would have been much more appropriate as a Jack!Back. Had we found out in this episode why he is considered a "bad" person, it would've perfectly complemented his "I don't give a crap about anything" actions on the island. That is what makes a strong episode overall - a seamless melding between one of the character's past and present actions. This was clearly Jack at his most awesome. I guess we will just have to wait for his next flashback - which will undoubtedly come this season.

WISE WORDS FROM THE BOARDS

- So, Alex = the Island's Bart Simpson? I never laughed so hard - girl is scrappy.
- Love Jack as a badass, if he'd have whipped this action out earlier I wouldn't hate him so much. - The sad music they were playing at the end almost had me convinced that they were going to kill Sawyer. (e - SEE! I wasn't the only one!)
- At this point, there is no way I can believe the Others are at all good. The manipulation and abuse they have exhibited towards the survivors are just beyond anything that could be reasonably reconciled with me through a well-written subplot. Even if it does turn out that there is a believable rationale behind the mind games Benry and Juliet have played with Jack and Kate or the physical beatings Sawyer's endured from Pickett, I will still be hard-pressedto believe that there wasn't some alternative to their actions.
- Dammit, I was ready to let this show go. Not only can I not let it go but Jack has surpassed Sawyer as my favorite character.
- I have never thought much of EL as an actress, and yet, here I was, blubbering like a baby in two of her scenes. She did awesome.
- If that asshole Danny Pickett doesn't die in the next 16 episodes I'll be mad.
- I think it's fairly clear that "Eko the White" will be returning in the future. (e - had to include that one for the LOTR fans out there)
- Holy....Wow. What a great final scene. Jack sacrifices himself for Kate and Sawyer. Talk about a hero.
- Not much for Jack-haters to chew on for this ep.
- I actually thought Danny was going to kill Sawyer anyways, after receiving the "call" (probably because he was one of Juliet's followers). That was a tense moment, I was literally on the edge of my seat. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, praying that we wouldn't end the episode with that scene. Instead we got the depressing ending where Jack will think that Kate and Sawyer are safe by giving them 1 hour head start, without knowing that there is nowhere to go.
- I don't know. The situation is dire, but I'm not convinced it's completely hopeless... Yet. Still, a lot can happen in an hour. If Jack Bauer can take out a cadre of terrorists and save his girlfriend and her father, then I'd like to think Sawyer and Kate can run a mile or so and at least find a decent hiding spot until they can figure out how to get back to Craphole Island.
- 6 episodes, no Vincent. Very sad. I think he must be hanging with Rose and Bernard since we didn't see them either.


BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

[Back on the island, Kate awakens as the cage door clanks. The siren is blaring "Warning", and Sawyer is throwing rocks at the feeding apparatus in his cage.]
KATE: Hey.
SAWYER: Hey yourself.
KATE: What are you doing?
SAWYER: Throwin' rocks.
KATE: Thought you had to pull the lever.
SAWYER: I know how to get a damn fish biscuit.

KATE: I saw Jack. They brought me in to see him. They want him to do surgery on Ben.
SAWYER: Who the hell is Ben?



[Back on main island, Locke is talking over Eko's grave, with Desmond, Sayid, Nikki and Paulo standing in a circle, with heads bowed.]
LOCKE: When the hatch exploded, your prayer stick fell out of a tree right on top of me.



KATE: What if I told you I was a fugitive? [Kevin is speechless] What if I told you I was on the run for blowing up my father, and it was only a matter of time before you found out?
KEVIN: This isn't funny.
KATE: [Crying] It's not a joke. I almost had a baby, Kevin. Me, a baby! I can't do this! Taco night?! I don't do taco night!
KEVIN: Ok, calm down, Monica...
KATE: My name's not Monica!


JACK: Hand me another hemostat. [Jack clamps a vessel] Swab again. [Juliet assists]
[When the Other man with them turns, Jack takes the scalpel and makes a deliberate incision in Ben's back. Immediately, the heart monitor beeps faster as Ben's pulse increases.]
JULIET: What happened? Is he Ok?
OTHER MAN: His blood pressure's dropping. He shouldn't be bleeding like that!
JACK: Nope, no, he shouldn't.
[Jack punches the Other man in the OR out, and he goes crashing into a small table. Tom watches from the above observation deck, speechless.]

UPCOMING EPISODES

I laughed so hard when the previews for the rest of the season had not only the voiceover man, but also the graphical text reading, "No Repeats... NOT... EVEN.... ONE!"

I highly suggest you watch the preview again to get yourself hyped up for February.

The February 7th episode is entitled "Not in Portland."

From the preview, we can see that Jack is still as crazy as ever, Kate and Sawyer appear to be running through the woods but have someone chasing and shooting at them, Locke looks happy, and Desmond hints that something horrible happened to him when he turned the key.

For those of you who have either been watching the now-canceled "Day Break," or who have seen the sneak-peek "Lost Moments" posted on the Internet (they originally aired during "Day Break"), you know some more of the details of what will happen when the show returns. I'm not going to provide those links as I consider them major spoilers and if you really want to see them, you can find them yourselves. But I will say that I watched all of them and they were fairly interesting, and Jack is definitely still off his rocker, so if nothing else, that is something to look forward to!

LIFE UNFORTUNATELY IMITATES ART
In a eerily similar scene to when Kate blew up her dad's house, Evangeline Lilly's real-life home in Hawaii burst into flames recently. Luckily, no one was home, and it was deemed to have been an electrical malfunction.

I GUESS ALL THAT FACE-MAKING PAID OFF

For the 2007 Golden Globe Awards - Lost was nominated for Best Series - Drama, and Evangeline Lilly (Kate) was nominated for Best Actress - Drama!

The show airs January 15th. It is, in my humble opinion, the BEST awards show because it combines both movie and TV awards. But Terry O'Quinn/Locke was robbed again??!?!

Here are all the nominees.

IF YOU'VE GOT 7 MINUTES...

This silly (in a good way) video set to a Weird Al cover tune compilation is a good way to pass the time. Shout-out to Uncle Grambo for passing along the link!

DAMMIT, I'M TIRED ENOUGH AS IT IS

Lost will now be on two hours later than its original air-time in Season 1, one hour later from Seasons 2 and the beginning of Season 3.

10 PM ET now, still on Wednesdays, at least!

So there you have it, my dear friends. Now we just have to wait until February 7th. Going forward, I have no idea how I'm going to be able to keep up with 16 episodes straight (that has never happened before, and I've actually really needed the time when they used to show reruns to pull everything together) so I will forewarn you that you are going to have to be patient with me when the show returns. It is going to be tough to balance my commitment to The Man, my attempt to have some semblance of a life, and writing this blog, which usually takes a full 1.5 days on the weekends. But I will do my best!

Until then, once again, Happy New Year,
- e