S3Ep19 - The Brig (Locke's seventh flashback)

Hello my dear friends -

When I sat down to begin this write-up, I realized that while watching the episode itself, I was completely wrong when I marveled that this was the first time outside of the pilot that they didn't do a character flashback. It wasn't until I had to entitle this post that I realized it was actually Locke's flashback (of all people!), and that it was just an on-island flashback of events from only a few days prior. Very similar to Claire's episode in which we saw what happened when she had been abducted by Ethan. How could I have NOT realized that the show was centering around my main man? Probably because of the series of unfortunate events leading up to my viewing of the episode. If you read this blog frequently, then you know how crazy I am about the show, and therefore ONLY for you, my dear friends, I will re-live the horrible pain now and tell you what happened to make me come thisclose to missing "The Brig" (which obviously affected my mental stability). If you would rather not hear about my personal dramas, then skip ahead to the first bold heading. And shame on you for not caring!

As mentioned in the previous two write-ups, I had been traveling in between "D.O.C." and "The Brig," and returned to Chicago in the late afternoon of Monday, April 30th. While I was gone, the plumbing went awry in my condo, and nasty brown water had backed up into my dishwasher, my kitchen sink wouldn't drain on either side, and my master bathroom sink had lost water pressure. It wasn't until the day of "The Brig," Wednesday, May 2nd, that I got someone to come look at the problem. I will sum up my Wednesday afternoon and evening as follows:
I came home from work in the afternoon, only to have the plumber who was scheduled to come at 2 pm not show up until 4:30 pm. After 1.5 hours of half-hearted attempts, the approximately 97-year-old plumber said that he was going to have to come back the next day with someone else from his company. I then spent an hour sopping up the smelly standing water in my dishwasher with sponges, wringing them out into a bucket and then repeating the process over and over again. I didn't even attempt to turn on the TV until 9:30 (a half-hour past when Lost comes on in Chicago) since I wanted to be able to forward through commercials via Tivo.

I was looking forward to the show probably more than I actually ever have, just because I had had a few crappy days in a row and was therefore even more excited about my blessed hour of escapism. I headed into the bedroom, opened up the TV hutch, and my eyes came very close to popping out of their sockets. The Sacred Red Light on the Tivo box was NOT on, meaning that the show was NOT being recorded. I turned on the TV to see if perhaps the show had a different schedule that week, but there was Sayid looking at the parachutist's phone! I yelped and shielded my eyes with my hand and quickly flipped the TV off. Then, cursing, I ran downstairs to our other TV, and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the Sacred Red Light was on for that Tivo box. While I hadn't really wanted to watch the show downstairs, I had no choice. So I flipped the TV on, and... it was just a snowy screen with the words "No Signal" across the bottom. I'm sure about 5 years came off of my life at that very moment. I tried to remain calm and pushed all of the usual setting buttons on our various remotes, but to no avail. Nothing was working.

I frantically called my husband, who was conveniently golfing in Arizona the entire week. He was at a cocktail party and could barely hear me.

"WHAT DO I DO?!?! WHAT DO I DO?!!?!" I shouted.
"I don't know. I'm not going to be able to figure it out unless I see it. This hasn't happened before."
"Please, PLEASE!!! Just think. Think! Are you SURE you didn't do anything that could be causing this? I have had the sh-ttiest day ever, this is all I've been looking forward to," I pleaded.
"We haven't watched TV down there in a while, I don't know what to say."

I hung up in frustration and then looked up and my eyes met with a gargantuan centipede on the wall in front of me. I HATE bugs, and every time I have to kill one, especially one that is the size of my outstretched palm and all scary-looking, I cannot help but let out a huge shriek. So THAT happened, and when I was throwing away the remains of the Mighty Centipede, I was struck with a glimmer of hope: "Hey, this is the year 2007, I can go watch the episode online!"

So I ran back upstairs, and went to abc.com. But guess what, they don't post an episode online until the day after it airs.

GAAAAHHHHH!

"Wait, wait - I can buy it on iTunes. Long live Apple!" I yelled happily to my dog, who by this time could definitely sense that something was wrong.

But alas, it was the same situation on iTunes - the episodes were not posted right away.

I had no choice but to try to figure out the TV downstairs again. So I went back down, had another fruitless phone conversation with my husband, hung up and then just crumpled down onto the rug, head buried in my hands, and sobbed. I sobbed for a good 5 minutes.

I emerged from the cry even more determined to find a way to watch the episode while it was still technically May 2nd. I took another look at the TV, this time going behind it to inspect all of the ten million wires. Another spark of hope - one colored wire looked suspiciously UNplugged. I plugged it back in. I turned on the TV, and there was Locke!

Bald had never been more beautiful than at that moment.

It was 10 PM, and the "live" show was just about over. I flipped to the beginning of the show and paused it, went up and got a huge bowl of ice cream and called my husband to tell him that he HAD been responsible for my nervous breakdown (the cord that was unplugged is where he plugged in the digital camera to show pictures on the TV), and then went back downstairs to settle into my recliner and watch the show.

So that is why my mind was in such a whirl that I didn't really even realize what was going on in the episode half the time, and ended up re-watching it later.

Funnily enough, that same afternoon I had received a voicemail from my past boss and good friend, JW. He is actually the person responsible for my nickname of "e," which is a shortened version of the moniker "egrrrl" which he donned for me back in the Web day. He and his wife read the blog, and he was calling to let me know that they enjoyed it, but to also ensure that I knew that "these characters aren't real people."

WHAT!?!

OK, I'm kidding. I know they're not real people. But, having said that, I also know that all of my Lost action figures come to life at night and help kill stray centipedes. So there!




Now that all remaining specks of my sanity have been destroyed, let us move on to the actual episode. Once again, there wasn't a lot of "hidden" stuff, and if I had to sum the episode up in one word, it would be: weird. Having said that, there were still major steps taken toward what is sure to be a pivotal season finale.

And now, on to the freak-show that was "The Brig."


BAD DOGGY!

I'm just going to put it out there: I still don't believe that was really Locke's dad. Don't you think he was acting really bizarre? He was provoking everyone around him after they did him the favor of removing the gag from his mouth. When he BIT Locke after they were first reunited, many people thought this was a hint that Papa Locke really was Smokey (because remember that we think that the real name of Smokey is Cerberus, a three-headed DOG...). And for Papa Locke to be acting like such an ass despite the fact that he was tied to a column awaiting execution, or facing an obviously stark-raving-mad Sawyer, just seemed to be too forced... like he was specifically trying to incur wrath. Remember that when Eko saw his brother Yemi on the Island, Yemi also seemed to be acting strangely. Sure, perhaps if Papa Locke really, truly thought he was in Hell (which I don't blame him for thinking since it does seem that both he and Locke "should" be dead), he would just be acting like a madman because he wouldn't think that there could be any consequences he could face that were any more dire.

And no, he didn't explode in a poof of black smoke like I was expecting him to after he took his last breath. And Locke did seem to be having a tough time carrying him over his back at the end. Hmmm, I'm almost convincing myself that it was really him.

If it WAS really him, then isn't it quite sick that Benry wanted Locke to kill him in front of everyone (including the kids, mind you)? It seemed to be so opposite of what The Others keep claiming ("We're not the bad guys," etc., etc.).

Some people thought that Benry actually wanted to ensure that Locke wouldn't kill his father, thereby proving that Locke was truly "good." These people think that all of Benry's harsh words for Locke were an act. But since Bushy-Eyebrows-Long-Eyelashes-Guy ALSO seemed to think that Locke needed to rejoin The Others only after Papa Locke had been killed, I'm not so sure that Benry was bluffing. The whole thing just seems SO bizarre to me. If Locke's father had never been brought to the Island (and everyone knows that it's extremely hard if not impossible to get to or from the Island at this point), and if Papa Locke would never have any reason to come seek Locke out again (which he wouldn't, as he thought he was dead from the plane crash), then wasn't Locke technically already "free" from his dad? To force someone to commit murder as part of a bizarre initiation ritual seems extremely dark and strange to me. Perhaps we will learn more in the next episode about why they felt it was so important for Locke to get rid of his father.


IT'LL BE A COLD DAY IN...

They are NOT DEAD. Get it out of your minds!!!!

I truly, honestly feel that the creators were intentionally messing with hard-core fans in this episode, because they KNEW that by introducing the one-two punch (Naomi claiming that all passengers on Flight 815 were found dead and Papa Locke stating that they were obviously in Hell because of his car wreck and Locke's doomed flight), it would rile up all of the less-sophisticated fans who are still convinced, despite repeated assurances otherwise, that the Lostaways are in Purgatory.

For approximately one milli-millisecond (which is barely measurable) right after Papa Locke said he had been in a car wreck and repeated that Flight 815 had been found with no survivors, I caught myself wondering if maybe they ARE all dead and just in Hell rather than Purgatory. Because the creators only ruled out Purgatory, not Hell, technically. But then I caught myself, because that's exactly what the writers were trying to get people to think.

Unfortunately, the boards are now ablaze again with this "Are they or aren't they really dead?" debate, and I will take no part in it. They are NOT DEAD. If they were dead, then how could Bushy-Eyebrows-Long-Eyelashes-Guy come on and off of the island? How could Juliet's arrival on the Island be explained? Why would they specifically show Penny's guys in the arctic at the end of Season Two? Why would women still be getting pregnant, and why would they care if the babies couldn't be carried to term? Why would Ben get cancer and be desperate to have it removed? And most importantly, why would they give the audience the answer to one of the biggest questions about the show (ie: "What in the heck is going on?") at only the half-way point of the entire series? They wouldn't. Which is why the Lostaways are not dead, and if any of you mention this to me, I will come find you and beat you down Pickett-beating-Sawyer-down-style!

So we're through with that subject. But there is still something curious about Papa Locke's claims...


I'M NOT A BETTING WOMAN, BUT I BET I KNOW WHO'S LYING...

LOCKE: Dad? What is this?
BENRY: You tell me. You brought him here.
LOCKE: I didn't bring him here.
BENRY: I'd be careful about getting too close to him, John.
[Tom holds a taser as John steps nearer]
LOCKE: (Mumbles) Where did you find him? Why did you bring him here?
BENRY: I already said. We didn't.

... a few days later...

BENRY: ...You're still crippled by the memories of the man you used to be before you came to this Island. And you'll never be free, until you release the hold that your father has over you. Why do you think you brought him here?


... and later still...

LOCKE: Moving, where are we going?
BENRY: *We* are not going anywhere, John. *You* are going to stay behind. You both are going to stay behind.
LOCKE: What? You're not taking him?
BENRY: [As he leaves] He's your mess, John. Why would we clean it up?

It is very obvious that Benry is trying to convince Locke that it was Locke's 'will' that brought Papa Locke to the Island, via the metaphorical magic box (notice how they had to actually have Benry say that the "magic box was just a metaphor" to shut down the debate about it). But Papa Locke didn't exactly claim to have whisked through time and space to end up on the Island, now did he?

SAWYER: How did you get here, to the Island?
COOPER: Island? OK. I'm driving down I-10 through Tallahassee when bam, somebody slams into the back of my car. I go right into the divider at seventy miles an hour, the next thing I know, the paramedics are strapping me to a gurney, stuffing me into the back of an ambulance and one of them actually smiles at me as he pops the IV in my arm. And then, nothing. Just, black. And the next thing I know I wake up in a dark room tied up, gag in my mouth, and when the door opens, I'm looking up at the same man I threw out a window, John Locke.

So who do you think is lying? Papa Locke's explanation seems much more plausible than Benry's insistence that Locke had anything and everything to do with his father's appearance on the Island. Granted, it does seem hard to believe that Papa Locke could survive a head-on collision at 70 mph, but then again, all of the Lostaways survived the plane crash somehow (that is, if they really were in a crash... more on that later).

My bet is that once The Others gathered intelligence on all of the Lostaways and found that Papa Locke was also The Original Sawyer, they figured that he could definitely come in handy on the Island no matter what - he was like a two-for-one special! And since Locke seems to be an especially important person to The Others, they wanted to have Papa Locke around before they let Locke hang out with them for too much longer, so that they could see if Locke passed their initiation.

What I can't figure out is why Benry wouldn't realize that Papa Locke would just tell Locke about how he thinks he got to the Island. Even though Papa Locke kept claiming he was in Hell, if he actually told the story about the car crash to Locke, Locke would know enough by now to know that The Others were capable of finding someone in the "real world" and whisking them off to The Island. So he would probably be able to piece the truth together. But Benry didn't seem too concerned about that:

LOCKE: You want me to ask him how he got here?
BENRY: Be my guest.
[Locke pulls of the gag and Cooper bites his hand violently]

KICKIN' IT OLD SCHOOL


BENRY: ... We're leaving first thing in the morning, all of us.
LOCKE: Where are you going?
BENRY: We're going to a new place. Well, an old place, actually.


The majority of people on the boards believe that the ancient column that Papa Locke was tied to is somehow connected to the four-toed foot statue that Sayid, Sun and Jin saw from the sailboat previously.

I still have no idea on what all the ruins seem to be about, but since next week's episode appears to be dealing with the history of the Island, perhaps we will get more information. Although, I actually think they'll be covering this mystery next season rather than in the remaining three episodes of this season. We shall see...



BENIPULATION

A witty post from the boards explains the focus of this section:
"Since Ben and manipulation are so often paired in statements, can we save some effort and combine them into "Benipulation"? For example, "Locke was a real bastard last night with how he benipulated Sawyer.""

LOVE it!

There are other instances of Benipulation in this episode that are covered elsewhere in this write-up, so the one I want to analyze here is Benry's flagrant use of the audio recorder right in front of Locke, and his subsequent explanation of Juliet's role:

[Benry turns off the tape and Locke enters]
BENRY: Hello, John. Thanks for coming.
LOCKE: [Looks at the tape] What's that?
BENRY: Juliet is gathering information for us at your former camp. She's determining if any of the women are pregnant. Then we're gonna go in, and... take them.
LOCKE: Take them?
BENRY: This is not the first time we've done this, John. Trust me, no one will get hurt.

Now, come on! Benry doesn't do or say ANYTHING without a reason. He very blatantly tossed the recorder into a drawer in front of Locke. There are two main theories about this scene:

1) Benry was trying to make Locke feel like he was "one of them" by telling him some of The Others' secret plans. He may have thought that this would make Locke even more desperate to fully join their group - the equivalent of dangling a carrot in front of Locke. Kind of like, "I just told you what we're going to do... but you still have no idea WHY we are doing it." Remember that right after this scene, Benry told Locke that he was not yet ready to learn the secrets of the Island. However, since Locke did end up stealing the recorder, Benry's plan may have actually backfired on him for once.

2) Or... Benry wanted Locke to do exactly what he did. Now, this theory gets tricky because you have to assume a lot of other things to make it work. First, remember that this scene was before Benry asked Locke to kill his father in front of everyone. Perhaps Benry knew that it would play out with Locke not being able to go through with it, but I don't see how he could've been sure. Then, you need to believe that Locke took the recorder BEFORE Benry packed up to leave with the rest of the group, which actually caught Locke off-guard. Locke would've had to have stolen the recorder pretty closely after he saw Benry with it in the tent. But at that point in time, he would've had no reason to think he would be going back to get Sawyer, because Bushy-Eyebrows-Long-Eyelashes Guy didn't give Locke Sawyer's file until shortly before The Others took off. So Benry would've had to assume that for some reason, Locke was eventually going to go back to the beach and encounter one of the other Lostaways and spill Juliet's secret. I also can't figure out why Benry would want to do that, since he's so gung-ho about figuring out the pregnancy problem. So to believe this theory, you would have to think that Benry wants Juliet ratted out, or wants the Lostaways to be prepared for the invasion.

What I'm trying to say is, I actually think Benry screwed up this time around. I think he's grown overconfident in his abilities and is overestimating how connected Locke feels to The Others, and therefore did not figure that Locke would've ever forewarned the Lostaways about Juliet's plan.


HEAL THYSELF!

Benry stated that it was only after Locke showed up that his healing process accelerated, thus implying that it was something about Locke himself that helped people to heal. Later in the episode, we saw Locke marvel at how the bite from his father from a few days earlier had completely disappeared (by the way, you may remember in my "Left Behind" write-up, I mentioned that many people were curious as to why Locke had a bandage on his right hand when he approached Kate in the game room before telling her 'Buh-bye.' Well, now we know why!).

However, Patchy was revived from his near-death-experience, Rose thinks her cancer is gone, and Naomi's punctured lung is apparently going to heal in 1.5 days, and Locke wasn't around for any of those things. I believe that this is another Benipulation. I think the Island itself, and specifically certain areas of the Island, have extraordinary healing properties. As Benry started moving away from the barracks, his healing process sped up. Yet he is trying to once again stroke Locke's ego and ignite his curiosity by telling Locke that his mere presence is the reason for the rapid recovery.


CAN YOU DIG IT?

Back on the beach, drama of soap opera proportions was starting to unfold. Jack made a point of asking Darth Hoodie to invite him along for the next male bonding trip. Darth Hoodie mumbled something like "Sure..." and then headed into a tent containing none other than the fallen parachutist. The fearless foursome had decided that they couldn't trust Jack, but they could trust Sayid. FINALLY the light bulb goes off?!?!

However, before Sayid was brought into the fold, he was shown digging on the beach as Hurley approached him. A lot of people either totally missed this, or didn't think anything of it. But no one digs on that island for no reason! What was he up to?


RING RING...

HURLEY: So is that like a radio?
SAYID: It's like a radio, yes. But I've never seen equipment this sophisticated.
HURLEY: You can still make it work, right?
SAYID: I hope so.

What? Sayid suddenly lacks confidence in his ability to fix something? He specifically mentions that he's never seen anything that sophisticated? Hmmm... sounds like another notch in the ol' "time warp theory" belt to me! I'm not going to keep explaining this theory over and over again because I covered it in detail in the "Flashes Before Your Eyes" write-up and the "One of Us" write-up, but if time on the Island is perhaps moving at a different pace than it is back in the "real world," the Lostaways could still be stuck in, say, the year 2004, and the rest of the world could be years ahead. Which would explain why Naomi is carrying technology that Sayid has never seen.

That, or, maybe she just has really cool gadgets. It does sound like she works for some sort of spy-like agency that was hired by Penny.


THE KATE HATE TRAIN HAS BEGUN ANOTHER JOURNEY

Those of you who have been reading these write-ups since the beginning know that I really used to despite Kate with the power of one thousand burning suns. Then Ana Lucia usurped Kate's status as Most Hated, and now Juliet has. But Kate nearly won back her title when she so stupidly spilled to Jack and Juliet that Naomi was in Hurley's tent. It seemed like she was doing it just to prove the point to Jack that the other Lostaways have lost faith in him, when she herself should have started thinking that something was off when he absolutely refused to talk to her unless Juliet was present. Hellloooooo, idiot! He doesn't like you, he chose her, get over it! Don't put everyone else in danger because you need to have the last word?!?! I was tearing my hair out when she blabbed everything.

But then I stopped mid-tear when Jack and Juliet started their "We should tell her..."/"Not yet..." banter. Say whaaaa? The Kate Hate is brought forth once again because she did not resort to physical violence to get them to spill what they are hiding from her. I mean, how insulting was that, it was like they viewed Kate as a little child:

KATE: Yeah you know what you should stay. Seems only fair considering she's the reason that no one wants to tell you that there's a woman in Hurley's tent who parachuted onto the Island yesterday.
JACK: What?
KATE: A woman. She jumped from her chopper before it crashed, she says that the boat that she took off from is about eighty miles off the coast and that if she can find a way to contact it, we'll all be rescued.
JACK: Why didn't anyone tell me this?
KATE: Well they didn't tell you, because they don't trust you.
[Jack looks to Juliet]
JACK: [To Kate] How?
KATE: How what?
JACK: How is she supposed to contact her boat?
KATE: Did you hear what I just said? Hurley, Charlie, Sayid... your friends - are afraid to...
JACK: Kate! How?
KATE: She had a phone radio thing, Sayid's trying to get it to work.
JULIET: We should tell her.
JACK: No.
KATE: Tell me what?
JULIET: We should tell her.
JACK: [Whispers] Not yet.

So we are left to wonder what exactly they are keeping from everyone. Some people think that Juliet has told Jack about her plan to take the pregnant women in a planned raid in three days. While I do think Jack has turned fairly selfish, I still do not think there is any way that he would go along with that scheme. And I don't think that Juliet would've told Jack about the planned raid anyway, because it seems to be her exclusive deal with Ben and she wouldn't want to put her possible escape from the Island at risk (even though we never saw him promise her that).

I personally think that Juliet has told Jack something about the Island itself, about how communications with the outside world no longer work, or perhaps even more than that... like perhaps the Island is invisible to the outside world. Notice that Jack seemed to focus on the communications aspect of things when he reacted to what Kate said. He wasn't like, "Oh crap, I gotta go see this chick!"... he was more, "Now, tell me more about this part about her communicating with her boat. I don't really buy that."

Once again - weird!!!


LA BOOM!

First off, this section's title is a shout-out to anyone who was ever unfortunate enough to go to "La Boom!" in Cancun on Spring Break. Apparently the place shut down a few years ago, and I can't say I'm surprised.

But seriously, the section title is actually referring to Rousseau and her quest to get dynamite from the Black Rock. I loved the scene in which she encountered Locke, who was obviously up to something très shady. She was like, "Hey, whassup?" and he was like, "Nothin' much, just holding two hostages in the back room there, wassup wit' you?" and she was all, "Just gonna blow up some stuff..." and he was all, "Word!"

Why was Danielle getting dynamite? Did it have anything to do with Sayid's digging on the beach? Is she planning her own attack against The Others? Is she working with The Others?
We are not meant to know just yet.


UN GARÇON TRÈS MAUVAIS

Speaking of the French, a lot of people jumped all over the fact that the paper that Locke was reading from Sawyer's file was in French. Possible explanations are:

- Sawyer pulled a con at one point in France, and the police report write-up on it was therefore in French [this is what I think as well]. This has led people to wonder if perhaps he crossed paths with Sayid in the past (as we know Sayid was living in Paris).

- The official language of many international intelligence agencies is apparently French (once again, always learning with this show!). If The Others were using one of these agencies to gather their information, it would explain why things were in French:

French is one of the two official working languages (English is the other; 6 total official languages) of the United Nations, and is the traditional European language of diplomacy. Wiki states that every U.N. Secretary-General has spoken French until the current S-G, Ban-Ki Moon. French is also the official language of Interpol.

- Rousseau was one of The Others (or still is) and she wrote the report on Sawyer.

Speaking of Sawyer's folder... one can only assume that it was the same folder Locke burned at the beginning of the episode. When I first watched it, I thought that The Others must have given Locke his own file, and he was burning it ceremoniously to represent the "new Locke" or something. But upon my second viewing, the only folder he was ever given was Sawyer's. And we never saw him coming upon everyone else's files. So I would assume it's Sawyer's file, but then I can't figure out why he would destroy it. Perhaps he didn't want proof around that Bushy-Eyebrows-Long-Eyelashes Guy gave it to him? Or perhaps he also felt that Sawyer needed to start afresh? I'm not sure on this one.

And finally, while we're still on the subject of the folder... why exactly was Bushy-Eyebrows-Long-Eyelashes Guy buddying up to Locke? Was he trying to genuinely help Locke? Was he trying to undermine Benry? There definitely seemed to be more than just a hint of frustration toward Benry... it seems that many of The Others want to move on from trying to solve the pregnancy issues and focus on other mysteries of the Island. It also seems like there's reason to believe that Benry could be feeling threatened by Locke.


IT'S NEVER A GOOD THING...

... when your death is compared to Jabba the Hutt's. Yet, that is exactly what all the geekity geeks on the message boards where comparing Sawyer's strangulation of Papa Locke to. Admit it - they were both on "ships," they were both strangled by chains, they were both pretty evil. The only small difference is that Sawyer was not in a skimpy bikini à la Princess Leia.

OK, I'm going to slip back into reality for a second and say that Josh Holloway (Sawyer) deserves major props for his scenes with Papa Locke. Now back to Escapism Land. I was so tense watching their interactions after it became obvious that Sawyer knew he had finally found his namesake. And while we had all suspected for a very long time that Papa Locke and the Original Sawyer were one in the same, I don't think the confrontation scene was any less powerful for me. In fact, I would say that the entire episode was much better for people watching who had figured out the connection, because they knew what Locke was most likely leading Sawyer to do (I never thought it was really Ben that he had kidnapped). Which, admittedly, did make Locke seem that much more dastardly when he kept asking Sawyer questions about his past during their jungle hike.

So what does it mean now that Sawyer has killed his and Locke's nemesis? For Locke, we know that he is carrying out Benry's orders, and the completion of the task should lead to more answers about the Island. Locke can also probably fool himself into not feeling guilty about what happened, even though in my book he is just as responsible as Sawyer is for the murder. Regarding Sawyer... I don't know what it means for him. There has been a lot of speculation that "redemption = death" on the Island, so if you buy that, then Sawyer should be around for a long time because I don't think his killing another person is going to get him on to Jacob's infamous list of "good people" any time soon.

I just still can't get over the fact that he forgot his shoes yet had the letter on him??? That's dedication! "I better keep this crumply old letter in my back pocket everywhere I go, even on this island in the middle of nowhere without any sign of rescue, because I *just may* run into the Real Sawyer one day!" It paid off.

And here's a question for everyone... we know from the previews that Sawyer is going to share the audio tape with everyone. But does anyone think he will tell any of the other Lostaways about what else transpired out in the jungle? I think it is *possible* that he may tell Kate, if anyone, but I have a feeling he may stay mum.



UNDER THE SEA

I've left the two biggest issues for the end of the write-up. Number One is: So what really happened to Flight 815?

As I covered in the last write-up, the leading theory is that The Others, DHARMA or whomever is really controlling the Island had enough money, power and influence to fake the crash. Meaning that the plane they found deep under the ocean off the coast of Bali was an elaborate set-up. The Lostaways really were on Flight 815, and after they crashed on the Island, this powerful group staged another crash so that no one would come looking for the Lostaways. This could be because they don't want the Island to be found, or because they wanted to use the Lostaways for experiments (or both). A slightly different twist on the same general theory is that the Lostaways were never on the real Flight 815, they were brought together on to a different flight (that they thought was 815) on purpose... they were specifically chosen unbeknownst to them... and that flight was manipulated to crash on the Island. I think the first version of this theory is more likely.

Another theory is that there never even was a crash. They could be in a group-based virtual reality game that they forgot signing up for (because part of the game IS that they forget their real lives). They could have had memories of the flight and subsequent crash implanted into their memories, but really were brought to the Island some other way which they don't remember. Their plane could have slipped into a wormhole of time and disappeared from the real universe. And on and on and on. Once again folks, I don't think we're going to learn THIS big answer until, oh... 2010 (more on that later, but for now, cue the weird 2010 movie music).

One last thing - where Naomi claims that the wreckage was found... off the coast of Bali, is in the completely wrong direction that a flight going from Sydney to L.A. would have traveled. It is also way north-west of where the pilot said (in the, um, pilot episode) they were trying to make an emergency landing:

PILOT: 6 hours in. Our radio went out, no one could see us. We turned back to land in Fiji, by the time we hit turbulence we were 1000 miles off course. They're looking for us in the wrong place.

No one thinks that the writers would be that messy with the details, so everyone's expecting an explanation for all of this. But not for a while. If *I* figure out how to time travel like Desmond does, I will go to the year 2010, watch the series finale, and then come back and share it with you all, how's that?


TEAM LOCKE

Big Issue Number Two: "So what are we to make of Locke?"

On one hand, he helped out the Lostaways by telling Sawyer that Juliet was a mole, and by stealing the audio tape and giving it to Sawyer for proof. Some also may argue that he did Sawyer a favor by setting him up to kill his ultimate nemesis. Let's face it, they wrapped up two major characters' story lines in one fell swoop. Now both Locke and Sawyer can move on with their lives (although some would argue that they should've found a way to do so without killing anyone, even if the person they are jointly responsible for killing was really eeeevil).

But on the other hand, Locke is rejoining The Others. Some don't think he did Sawyer any favor, but rather just manipulated him (using Benipulation techniques) to do his dirty work for him. It is very clear that Locke needs constant reassurance from Benry that he is "special." And he has returned to being Season One Locke, who is desperate to uncover "the secrets of the Island." As he himself stated to Sawyer, "I'm on my own journey now."

So, much like both Jack and Juliet, I feel that Locke is only on Team Locke. I don't think he would be above trying to overthrow or undermine Benry if it furthered his position on the Island. And while he hasn't ever done anything (that we can prove - since we still don't know what happened to the submarine for sure) that has HURT the Lostaways, he hasn't necessarily gone out of his way to protect or fight for them, either. But I personally still feel that he is, at his very base, a good person. He may be a very deeply confused person, but who isn't, really? Right? You all know I'm always going to stick up for him!


PODCAST DEBRIEF

As before, in transcript-style... the podcast with executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof.

Anthony Cooper (Papa Locke) is indeed the Original Sawyer.
We knew for a very long time that Locke's father was in fact the same con man who was responsible for Sawyer's parents' death. We thought it fairly obvious... the fact that Anthony Cooper was using the word "con" for so long, and when Locke asked Sawyer a long time ago why he called himself Sawyer, and on and on. We are glad we waited to officially reveal it, because it's really going to propel the narrative for the rest of the season.

The scene where Richard Alpert talks with Locke, he's kind of subverting Ben a little bit. He actually gives Locke the file. He tells Locke that he's special. Why do you think he would do that? He seems to be trying to manipulate the power structure of The Others. Either that, or he really believes Locke is special. We're going to see Alpert again next week in "The Man Behind the Curtain."

"The Man Behind the Curtain" is a reference to The Wizard of Oz where everyone thought the Wizard was this majestic thing, but in reality it was just a small man literally behind a curtain, who says, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

Fan Questions & Answers

Q. Can you confirm if Zeke was quoting Alvar Hanso back in "The Hunting Party" (Season Two, scene when The Others had kidnapped Kate and Zeke told the Lostaways not to cross "the line" again) when he said, "Somebody much smarter than anybody here once said, "Since the dawn of our species, man has been blessed with curiosity."" Does that mean that The Others do indeed have a connection to DHARMA?
A. Yes indeed, that was very similar to the quote posted on Hanso's web site, wasn't it?


Q. I was just thinking that this island lacks monkeys! Most islands have monkeys. Where are all the monkeys?
A. There actually is a monkey, Joop. He has been referred to in the podcasts before, and was in The Lost Experience. He's really old, like 150 years old. He may eventually show up.


Q. Will Lost run January through May next year?
A. It is our hope that the show next season will run much like it did in the second part of this year. [e: this podcast aired before the official press release (covered below) came out]



Q. I was just wondering if the bird that called out Hurley's name is Smokey? How does it relate to Hurley, has he seen it before in his lifetime? [e: that bird has not been shown on the show for a looong time]
A. We don't know if the bird is actually saying "Hurley" or not... or if its call just so happens to sound like Hurley's name. The bird has shown up in previous finales, maybe it will show up again in this one, maybe not. I will say that the bird has never shown up in Hurley's life before he landed on the island.



WISE WORDS FROM THE BOARDS

Thanks again to my brother for pulling most of these for me...

- So Locke is on "Team Island", and apparently, the Others want to be on this team as well, but Ben is doing his best to show them that 'he is not who they think he is.' Locke appears to be the Others' chosen one, we may find that there is some prophecy in the culture of the ancients about him. He may be destined to take over the Others and put them back on their path. Ben wants to discredit him so that he can keep his position, but he's delaying the inevitable. I'm starting to believe that the Others are good, but Ben is corrupt. I think Alpert had a strong case in that all the fertility research is going the wrong way. Science isn't going to solve these problems or cure Ben, the Island is. The Island could trump any science that you throw at it, the way to solve the infertility issue is to make amends with the Island.
- I think the Jack/Juliet secret isn’t anything big – just related to the communications problem and/or that the Others can hear any and all communications to/from the island. Jack focuses on the “how” too much for it to be anything else. There’s a chance that he and Juliet don’t want any contact to occur...
- You know what I thought in this episode when Naomi said she was given a "set of coordinates"? Did you all think the same thing I did? I thought: 4 8 15 16 23 42!
- First Ben went by the alias "Henry Gale." And now, did anyone pick up on the Oz parallel/reference when he told Locke, don't come back until you bring me your father's dead body? It reminded me of when the Wizard of Oz told Dorothy not to come back until she brought him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West. In many ways, Cooper (Papa Locke) is like the Wicked Witch of the West (!), but more interestingly, I think in many ways, Ben is like the Wizard of Oz. He is all smoke and mirrors, and pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
- I don't think Ben wants to get rid of Locke, or wanted him to kill Cooper. I think this was Locke's initiation to Otherdom. He has now manipulated another person into committing murder to serve his own purposes. The same kind of thing Ben has been doing since we met him. It seemed to me like Ben would rather Locke get Sawyer to kill Cooper than have Locke do it himself.
- The Others don't like flawed, bad people. People like Kate (murderer), Sawyer (murderer), Sayid (torturer) were not on Jacob's list. I think Ben put Locke's dad out there to make sure Locke wasn't a bad guy. Ben wanted to make sure Locke isn't a murderer. Maybe Jacob told Ben to give Locke that test.
- Cooper was awesomely creepy. He really acted like a man who thought he was already in Hell. Being tied up and tortured, and meeting all the people you wronged in your life wanting revenge. No wonder he thought he was in Hell.
- Is there anything cooler than the fact that Sawyer, who didn't even remember to bring his SHOES with him on the trip, brought the letter? There is a man obsessed.
- What/where/when-ever the island is, I am starting to truly think that once upon a time it played nice with DHARMA and then rejected them (most likely a science vs. faith issue, an early theme of the show). It embraced Ben and his 'Others' for whatever reason. Now THEY are being rejected (the whole good vs. bad that they seem obsessed with?) in favor of the survivors of 815 in general and Locke in specific (I suspect Sun is NOT in any danger, the island likes her now, perhaps). I bet there is a pattern of keepers/inhabitants getting side tracked with petty/personal/small-picture issues only to be replaced with new folk in the search for those most worthy? It seems to have happened at least twice.



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

KATE: I can't sleep if I'm not in my own tent.
SAWYER: Fine, let's go to your tent.
KATE: [Pauses] Erm... its nothing personal, it's just... old habits, you know?
SAWYER: Fine, scram.
[He pushes her off his bed and she laughs]
SAWYER: You want me to walk you home?
KATE: It's five tents, I think I'll make it.
SAWYER: Sure? I gotta pee anyway.
KATE: That is so romantic.

SAWYER: The hell are you doing here?
LOCKE: Looking for you actually.
SAWYER: OK Tarzan, so now that you're back from your blow-up-everything-that-could-get-us-off-the-Island tour, how 'bout you tell me why you joined up with the damn enemy?

WHAT LIES AHEAD

While it is still unclear if Lost will be staying in its later time slot next season (10 pm EST), the rumors about when the series is slated to end have finally been laid to rest. Lost will run three more seasons, but each season will be shortened (16 episodes instead of the normal 24), and they will run back-to-back starting in January. I was thinking that they would only go two more full seasons, so I guess this means that you have to deal with the ramblings of a crazy chick until 2010! Can you imagine how insane I will be by that time? I shudder. Even worse, I'm totally going to have the worst case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome EVER by then. Near the end of the series, my write-ups will dwindle to: "That was crap." or "It was OK." or "Find the hidden stuff yourselves, my fingers hurt!" You have been forewarned.

Here is the official press release about it.

And to those of you wondering if they will end with a total of 108 episodes... they won't (which I think is crap!). I believe it will be around 119 or so. Which seems kind of like a lost opportunity, no pun intended.



THREE... TWO... ONE!

5/9 - The Man Behind the Curtain
5/16 - Greatest Hits (previously called 'The Truth About Lying')
5/23 - Through the Looking Glass - TWO-HOUR SEASON FINALE and special episode afterward

Sometimes, when I get in bed at night, I have these weird giddy moments like I had when I was really little, when I was excited about going to Cedar Point or Disney World or somewhere like that. And I will kind of squeal and wiggle around on the bed violently for a few seconds until I suddenly realize I'm not 8 anymore and doing that kind of thing really tires me out on top of killing my back. But that's how the promise of the remaining three episodes makes me feel - they are going to ROCK!

- e