S3Ep21 - Greatest Hits (Charlie's fourth flashback)

Hello my dear friends -

So here we are, at the second-to-last write-up of the season. It seems like only yesterday the hatch was imploding. How time flies.

I knew that "Greatest Hits" was going to be a Charlie flashback, and therefore I had extremely low expectations for the episode as I feel that Charlie's previous three flashbacks have been the weakest of all other characters'. I also mistakenly thought that he had already had a flashback episode this season, but I was wrong - the last time we had a Charlie-dedicated hour was in the middle of Season Two - so I guess we were about due, especially since Desmond's visions of his death have become such an integral component in the show.

While this episode was exactly what I thought it was going to be - a set-up for the season finale - I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I actually teared up many times and was amazed at how they were able to make me root for the same character that as recently as two weeks ago I'd been hoping would get killed off. This sentiment was echoed across every message board I visited (people admitting to crying and being confused because they usually think that Charlie sucks). Very nicely done, writers, very nicely done.

Having said all that, there actually wasn't a whole lot that happened in "Greatest Hits." I liken the episode to a chess game where all the pieces were being moved into position for the final play. Perhaps TPTB were trying to give all of us bloggers a rest before hitting us with the WHAMMY that is sure to be the season finale. I didn't even have any centipede scares, so I feel like last week was the proverbial calm before the storm. Just as the finale is about to air, swarms of angry centipedes will start dropping from the ceiling and invading my place, I'm sure of it.

On to the episode discussion... Let's start with Charlie's Greatest Hits list. If you are tempted to skip through a re-hash of these five, I will forewarn you that some of them actually did have small clues hidden in the scenes. You know that they like to drive the nerds nuts!


A LOOK BACK

Since there has been SO MUCH HYPE about the possibility of Charlie dying, as soon as I saw him start to make his list I knew that it was going to be a record of his life's best moments. What I did not figure out until the end (when he wrote "The night I met you") was that he meant for the list to be given to Claire. That realization choked a few more tears out of me. I was pretty much a sniffling mess during the whole show - but I think a lot of that stemmed from this sinking feeling about what's going to happen in the finale. I just sense I'm not going to like it and it's starting to freak me out to the extremest (not a word, I know) of extremes. But I digress.


# 5 - NAME THAT TUNE

Yeah, yeah, Charlie... you are a self-absorbed rock star who loves to hear himself on the radio. WE GET IT and WE ALREADY KNEW THIS.

Bor-ing.



# 4 - HE'S NOT THAT STRONG A SWIMMER

Seriously, how pitiful is it that this one made the list? Your dad doesn't let you drown and that's one of the highlights of your existence? A sad commentary on Charlie's life.

A few tangential things to note on this one:
- People noted that this is probably the only time we've seen someone's father NOT be an ass on this show.
- VERY interesting... a child off-camera in the scene can be heard yelling, "Desmond, come on!!!" I heard it upon my first viewing, it is in the transcripts I referenced, and I watched it again to be sure. What does it mean, if anything? I have no idea.
- Many people remembered that in Season One when someone drowned off of the beach, Charlie remarked that he couldn't swim. So everyone thought they made some huge goof considering the fact that Charlie swam to the Looking Glass...
- ... But what those people are forgetting is that he basically SANK - he had that bunch of stones Desmond gave him to help him drop down. And even Desmond called him out at the end:

DESMOND: So how long can you really hold your breath for?
CHARLIE: Does it matter?

His previous statement to Sayid about being a champion swimmer was obviously just a lie to ensure he would be able to go on the mission.



# 3 - ONE RING TO RULE THEM ALL

Wait a second, that ring was totally supposed to go to Frodo! Oh, wrong role.

A few people with MUCH better memories than mine recalled this scene back in the PILOT that they nicely tied in with this most recent episode:
KATE: May I ask you something?
CHARLIE: Me? I'd be thrilled. I've been waiting.
KATE: Have we ever met, anywhere?
CHARLIE: No, that would be unlikely.
KATE: Hum.
CHARLIE: I look familiar, though, right?
KATE: Yeah.
CHARLIE: Can't quite place it?
KATE: No, I can't.
CHARLIE: Yeah. I think I know.
KATE: You do?
CHARLIE [singing]: You all everybody... You all everybody! You've never heard that song?
KATE: I've heard it. I just don't know what the hell it has--
CHARLIE: That's us. Driveshaft. Look, the ring -- second tour of Finland. You've never heard of Driveshaft?
KATE [incredulous]: The band?
CHARLIE: Yeah, the band.
KATE: You were in Driveshaft?
CHARLIE: I am in Driveshaft. I play bass.

And in this latest episode we got to see the band on their second tour of Finland.

But still... talk about retro-fitting something... that ring is very obviously a rock star-looking ring which Charlie has been wearing since Season One (and which I have a replica of in my TV room - it came with the Charlie action figure). And now all of a sudden we're supposed to believe that it was some family heirloom belonging to "Dexter Stratham" and they named the band Driveshaft so it would fit with his initials??? I felt this one was very forced, but not quite as forced as the next one. Before moving on to that, however, I did tear up at this scene even though the ring part was goofy. Because ironically, Liam was the one to clean up his act and get married and have kids whereas Charlie ended up becoming a drug-addicted loser.

CHARLIE: Liam, no. Mum gave you that. You're the first born. It was her father's and his father before that...
LIAM: And it's a family heirloom, and that's why we named the band after Dexter bloody Stratham. I know. But Charlie, let's be honest, we both know I'm a sodding mess. But you, you're different. You're gonna get married, have a family, a baby. I'll be lucky if I hit thirty.
CHARLIE: Don't say that, Li.
LIAM: The ring has to stay in the family, Charlie. So please, take it. Mum would have wanted it this way. Pass it on to your little one someday. I need to know it's safe.

The ring needs to be safe? Oh, oops! Too bad Charlie left it in the baby's crib without telling anyone! SO many people on the boards were unnaturally concerned about baby Aaron's safety (try telling them that these characters aren't real!) - apparently a lot of people think he's going to end up choking on the ring. Many others think that when they set off the explosives in the tents during the big show-down, the ring is going to get blown sky-high. These people could obviously never write a TV show. Those of us who could (or think we could) know that what is going to happen is that Charlie will end up dying, and then some time later when word of his death reaches the beach, Claire will poignantly find the ring and begin sobbing. "He knew! He knew what was going to happen to him! Who will help look after my bay-beeeeee!??" And she will henceforth wear the ring as a sign of her love for Charlie until Aaron is old enough to be the ring-bearer. DUH! You heard it here first!


# 2 - NADIA IS BACK, AND I DON'T MEAN PATCHY'S CAT

Now THIS one was forced. Charlie saves Sayid's true love, who is now randomly in London, and she deems him a hero? Nadia is starting to pop up all over the place just like Jack's dad! Remember when Locke was fixing her home in California in one of his flashbacks?

There are two reasons why I feel this scene was included, besides the fact that they needed to make Charlie have had five good things happen to him in his life:

1) Many people think the mugger was someone we've seen before - ideas include Liam (Charlie's brother), one of the other guys in the band, or other random no-names that have popped up in the background in other flashbacks. This scene is believed to have occurred before Driveshaft became famous, so even if it was one of Charlie's band members, he may not have known them at that point in time. I personally don't think it's anyone we know, and if it is, it's just one of those "connections" that are interesting but don't mean anything overall in the show.

2) One thing I think WAS meant to mean something major in the show is that this scene was obviously meant to be compared to the scene from Desmond's trippy flashback where he confronted Charlie whilst he was singing "Wonderwall" and then it started to pour. I was POSITIVE that they were the same scene and that therefore the biggest revelation of this episode was that Desmond did indeed go back in time and slightly alter things. Because Charlie's memory would be the way that that day originally happened for him, but Desmond going back in time could have changed things later so that the Charlie who is on the Island would've never remembered the other version (you have to believe that there are multiple simultaneous parallel universes to "get" this).

However, an inspection of the two episodes shows that Charlie was wearing different outfits and the background buildings were also different. He also had a cardboard sign with his name propped up against his guitar case in Desmond's flashback, whereas in this one he didn't have the sign, but instead had an EXTREMELY curious sticker on the guitar itself.

What did the sticker say?




"I was here moments ago." (Shout out to Dark UFO for the screencap and inset)

SAAAAAAYY WHHHAAAAAA?

So here are my thoughts. I think this scene was intentionally put in to be a clue that there are multiple parallel threads of time going on and that Desmond went back to one of them and most likely changed a few things by buying the engagement ring (even though he still broke up with Penny), confronting Charlie, telling his professor friend about his time-travel suspicions and then getting hit by the mad patron (instead of the guy that was supposed to). I strongly believe that during one of his time-jumps that we never saw or may never see, Desmond found a way to get a message to Penny about the fact that he would eventually come to be stuck on a remote island as a result of a storm during his sailing race. That is why Penny knows to look for him now. Once again, just my theory, but that's how I think this all fits in. They would not have put this scene in Charlie's flashback unless they wanted us to realize it was similar... yet... different. Unless the actress who plays Nadia just really, really needed some work.


#1 - BAY-BEEE MOMMA

If you didn't guess that Charlie's favorite life moment was going to have to do with Claire, then, well... I don't know how else to say it:
you are dumb.

What was cool was that we actually saw how they met (I went back through the first few Season One episode transcripts and confirmed that we never saw this scene, believe it or not). While I felt that Charlie's "good-bye" to Claire was anti-climactic (which it may have had to have been since she technically didn't know he was going on the Mission o' Doom), most people felt that his parting scene with baby Aaron (even calling him "Turniphead" one last time for good measure) made up for it.

I sure hope Desmond water-proofed the Greatest Hits list...

Now on to on-Island events.


YEP. HE HAS SNAPPED.


[Alex is skinning a rabbit in the Others camp as Ben arrives back]
ALEX: Hey! When'd you get back?
BEN: Just now.
ALEX: Where's Locke?
[Ben pulls out a gun]
BEN: [Coldly] Here's your gun back.
RICHARD: Ben, what's going on?
BEN: Where's Ryan?
RICHARD: He's at his tent, are you....
BEN: It's time to get them.
RICHARD: [Mumbles] But you said tomorrow.
BEN: Jacob wants it to happen now.
RICHARD: Look what happened out there, did John see...
BEN: John had an accident. Ryan!
RYAN: Yes sir.
BEN: If you leave right now, how long will it take you to reach their camp.
RYAN: Well, if I take my ten best, we could set up to hit 'em by nightfall.
BEN: Then you'd better get going.
RICHARD: No no, Ben, wait, moving at this schedule, Juliet may not be ready, what if she hasn't had time to...
BEN: Then we'll take all their women. And we'll sort out the ones we need later.
RYAN: And the men?
BEN: If any of them are stupid enough to get in your way, kill 'em.
RYAN: Alright.

Our time with the Others was brief but important nonetheless. Check out everything we can gather from those fleeting moments:

- Benry DID steal Locke's gun and shot him with it, as he now returned it to Alex (who in turn gave it to Karl). This corroborates with the observation on the boards that when Locke falls into the Skeleton Pit, you can see that he had reached for his KNIFE, but it had fallen out of his hands and landed a little ways away from him. He didn't appear to have the gun anymore.

- Ryan's only bringing TEN people?!?! If the Lostaways don't take them down, that's going to be embarrassing.

- Alex was skinning a white rabbit. This is at least the fourth time that a white rabbit has been referenced in this series:
1) Jack's first flashback in Season One was entitled "White Rabbit" (when he saw his Zombie Dad). At first he thought he was just having hallucinations from being too tired, but then Locke clued him in as to how special the Island was. From Lostpedia comes this take on that episode and the significance of its title:
"In this episode, Jack's father was said by Locke to reflect the "white rabbit" that Jack was chasing. Since Locke also mentioned Alice in Wonderland this is a clear reference to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. In this story, Alice was led into a cave-like opening by the White Rabbit. If this parallel is kept in mind, it is interesting to note that Jack followed his father to find fresh water, while Alice followed the ever-elusive White Rabbit to find Wonderland."
I would think that the fact that young Benry's Zombie Mom was dressed suspiciously like Alice in Wonderland and led him into the jungle where he came upon Ageless Richard could be another allusion to the same story.

2) Benry seems to have had white rabbits around him his entire life... he ensured that the sonic fence was off by coaxing a white bunny across its boundaries when he was younger, and was shown again with a white rabbit (with the number 8 on its back) when he tried to fake Sawyer out about the Pacemaker of Doom.

3) As mentioned above, Alex was shown skinning a white rabbit that she intended to take to Karl for food.

4) The logo of the Looking Glass underwater hatch is a white rabbit (more on that later).

- Richard's immediate concern when Benry returned was whether or not Locke was able to see Jacob, confirming to me that the fact that Locke was at least able to HEAR Jacob means something major and gives me hope that he will make a triumphant return. Since Benry completely blew off the question, Richard is probably starting to become suspicious about Benry's renewed motivation to attack the Lostaways. He did not seem comfortable with the plan to move up the raid by a day - citing Juliet's unpreparedness as well as the complications if Lostaway men should get in their way. However, another contingent, led by "Ryan," seemed to be gung-ho to follow Benry's orders. I smell a mutiny brewing...

- Not only had Alex tried to help Locke, but she is now trying to help all of the Lostaways by sending Karl to forewarn them. In addition, Sayid's words to her from a few episodes ago ("You look just like your mother") seem to have been percolating in her mind:

KARL: If I get caught, your father's gonna kill me this time.
ALEX: Is he my father?

Here's to hoping for a Rousseau/Alex reunion in the finale! And to hoping that Rousseau doesn't accidentally blow Alex up with all the dynamite!



THE WARNING

In the preview for this episode (meaning the previews that were shown at the end of "The Man Behind the Curtain"), you could hear someone shouting "My people, they're coming... they're coming RIGHT NOW!"
I figured it was either Alex or Karl that would be giving the Lostaways a heads up about the impending raid. However, in that opening scene with a guy with dark hair jumping into the boat frantically, for a split-second I thought Boone had come back to life, and I was MAD. Luckily, that was not the case.

While the Lostaways were forewarned that the Others were making their way over to start the raid a day early, they were not going to have enough time to set up their traps properly. Which leaves a sinking feeling in my stomach. I am NOT happy about Sayid, Jin and Bernard being "the three shooters."


DY-NO-MIIIITE!

While the mystery of why Danielle was taking dynamite from the Black Rock has been solved, another major question has been raised.

WHY IN THE HELL DID THEY USE SOME OF THE PRECIOUS DYNAMITE TO BLOW UP A TREE?!?!?

That was one of the most ridiculous things I've seen on this show, and as we all know, there have been some pretty ridiculous things on this show. However, none of us should have been surprised that the Mad Doctor (totally back in top form - meaning completely insane) had to ENSURE that everyone knew he was in charge by demonstrating the power of explosives. Like they wouldn't have thought that using loads of dynamite would blow up the Others unless they had proof.

Despite how silly that scene was, I liked it just because I would take Crazy!Jack over Annoying!Jack any day. He was back to the spastic, unpredictable mode he was in during the fall cliff-hanger when he botched Benry's surgery, grabbed the walkie-talkie and yelled, "Kate, dammit, RUN!" So even the Jack-haters have to admit that it was fun to watch him deliver this line last week:

"So tomorrow night, we stop hiding, we stop running, we stop living in fear of them. Because when they show up... We're gonna blow 'em all to hell."

AWWWWWWwwwwwww, yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

Regardless of Jack's tough talk and current "plan" to defeat the Others, I still think the Lostaways let him and Juliet off WAY too easy. I'm still uneasy about trusting either of them.



SUSPICIOUS MINDS

NAOMI: You having a laugh?
CHARLIE: No, of course not. I'd never disrespect a fellow Mancunian.
NAOMI: You're from Manchester then?!
CHARLIE: I am. My band got its start at the Night and Day bar on Oldham Street.
NAOMI: [Laughs] What band?
CHARLIE: Oh ,we're called Driveshaft.
NAOMI: Yeah yeah, I know you.
CHARLIE: We had our moment in the sun...
NAOMI: No not that, the crash. You're the dead rock star. They made a big deal out of you when they found the plane. Huge memorial service, new album.
CHARLIE: There's a new album?
NAOMI: Yeah, God it was everywhere... a greatest hits thing.
[Charlie smiles but then sees Desmond in the distance]
NAOMI: Hey, look on the bright side. You're not really dead, right?
CHARLIE: Yeah, right.

We learned two things from this exchange:
1) Naomi is from Manchester, and
2) The Flight 815 that was supposedly found in the ocean near Bali did indeed have the same passenger list as the "real" 815 that crashed on the Island. I still say the whole thing is an elaborate set-up. Many people think that when Benry asked Patchy to work on profiles for the survivors, it was both for the Others' own information AND for the cover-up.

And no, they're STILL not dead. The producers confirmed this ONE MORE TIME in the recap episode that aired last Thursday (and that will air again before the finale).


BERNARD? ROSE? WHO ARE THEY?

How classic is it that Bernard and Rose show up in the second-to-last episode of the season?!!?
That's one reason why I'm really nervous that Bernard is one of the shooters.



SPEAKING FOR MILLIONS OF FANS

JACK: No. And there's no reason to do this now, we're going to focus on the Others, and then we'll deal with this.
SAYID: Wait a minute, we have the chance to signal for a rescue.
JACK: Look, for ninety days I've been asked to make decisions for this entire camp. There you go, I just made one.

Viewers around the country simultaneously groan, "You @#()*#$*#(@@#$!!!"

Then, later...

JACK: You better get going. Rousseau says its about a day's walk up to the radio tower.
SAYID: I'm not taking them to the tower. You are.
JACK: Excuse me?
SAYID: You're not staying behind.
JACK: This was my idea.
SAYID: And I'm perfectly capable of executing it.
JACK: I owe them!
SAYID: What are you more concerned about, killing the Others, or getting our people off this Island? This afternoon you said you were our leader. It's time for you to act like one.

BOO-YA!

However, even though I am glad Sayid finally put Jack in his place, I actually wish it was him leading the group to the tower and not Jack. Let me state it again: I AM NOT HAPPY THAT SAYID IS ONE OF THE SHOOTERS!!!! He is always doing all of the hard work! Plus, who else is going to know how to get Naomi's phone working again? I am bitter.



WHAT TO BELIEVE?

A post I found on the message boards sums up what I fear may be the case regarding Desmond's latest visions: "Anyone else have the very strong suspicion that Desmond was lying his ass off? I don't think he had a vision of Claire and Turniphead getting rescued, I think he saw himself getting killed trying to get in contact with Penny again and so he made up the story about it being Charlie so that Charlie would take his place. And that's why he performed the fake-out about taking Charlie's place there at the end so it could be false nobility on his part, offering to do what he was tricking Charlie into doing. He clearly knew that it wasn't as simple as flicking a switch underwater."

I had a slightly different thought... I thought that Desmond DID see Charlie flipping the switch and drowning, but did NOT see Claire and baby Aaron getting rescued, but rather saw himself together with Penny again (like in other recent visions). Since Desmond would know that the only way to ensure Charlie would sacrifice himself would be to say that it would result in the rescue of Claire and Aaron, he used that tactic this time around instead of telling Charlie the truth.

However, since it does appear from the previews that Desmond ends up in the Looking Glass (can't tell for sure), perhaps he isn't really eeeevil. Maybe he senses that something went wrong, or maybe he has a flash of Charlie being held prisoner, and goes down there to save him and/or finish the job with the switch. There's also the possibility that Desmond DID see Charlie turning the switch and dying as well as Claire and Aaron getting rescued, but did NOT see the part about Charlie being held captive by bizarre Amazon women.

Even if Desmond turns out to not be completely on the up-and-up, I will say that I would still prefer Charlie dying over Desmond, despite the fact that I was really feeling it for the hobbit again last week. But not enough to not yell out, "OH, #($)*#%(_@)#!!!!" when I honestly thought for a few seconds that Desmond might jump in the water instead of Charlie. Desmond remains my #2 most favorite character and unless he does something totally awful, I don't see my sentiments changing.

To cap off this part of the episode... A lot of people seemed surprised that Charlie didn't end up dying. I guess they thought that if he was going to die, he would drown while trying to make it to the hatch. However, I expected that he would at least make it to the hatch, because Desmond made it clear that he would die AFTER flipping the switch. As in, he wouldn't be able to swim back out. After seeing what it took for Charlie to get in the Looking Glass in the first place, I think Desmond's vision is very much still in play. While I called that I didn't think Charlie was actually going to die in the last episode, I do now think (and rest assured that I remain spoiler-free on this issue) that he will die in the finale. They've just done WAAAAY too much set-up at this point with his good-bye scenes with Claire, Aaron and Hurley as well as his Greatest Hits list. He can also die knowing that the "real world" truly mourned him per his conversation with Naomi. Plus, if he does flip the switch and if any of the Lostaways really do get rescued because of it, he can die a hero (much moreso than for just helping Nadia out in the alley!). Let me put it another way - if Charlie does NOT die in the finale, then he can never die during the rest of this series, because the build-up to his death was just too much to throw out and keep stringing us along.

NOT SO FAST

After Charlie emerged from the water, gasping for air, he immediately started rejoicing that he was still alive. As soon as he started laughing at his good fortune (quite loudly), I cringed and thought, "Oh Lord, he's not going to be alone down there..."

Sure enough, two pissed-off looking women were shortly upon him, guns drawn. Who are they? Theories include:

- They are left-over Dharma members and think Charlie is a Hostile
- They are Others that Juliet didn't know about
- They are Others that Juliet DID know about (see below)
- They are part of Danielle's research team (people noted that they dressed very similarly to Danielle)
- They are some other group that we are not familiar with yet


Juliet claimed to not know much about this hatch:

[Further down the beach, Sayid, Jack and Juliet examine files obtained from the Flame station]
SAYID: Now this is The Looking Glass. It's an underwater DHARMA station. Please, can you tell me anything you might know about this place?
JULIET: I've never been down there. I don't know anyone who has.
JACK: Why not?
JULIET: There was some accident. Ben told us that the station was completely flooded.
JACK: Well if it's flooded then how does it still work?
SAYID: How it still works is irrelevant. The question is, how do we get it to stop working, so we can use the satellite phone. The diagram shows that The Looking Glass is connected to the Island by a cable. I feel sure that this is the very same cable down the beach which runs into the ocean. So if we follow the cable, it should lead us to the station.
JACK: So how are we gonna get in?
SAYID: We swim in. There's a moon pool. A room with an open floor at the base if the station, big enough for a submarine to dock. Even if the station's flooded, I think I'll be able to find the relay switch and disable it.

The question of the day is, "Was Juliet lying?" Does she truly know nothing about the Looking Glass, or was she setting Desmond and Charlie up to be captured? My hunch is that she actually knew nothing. She DOES want to get off of the Island and as far as we can tell, she is completely on the Lostaway's side right now, having told them what Benry's plan for her was. I don't think she would have any reason to want to prevent the disabling of the signal that's jamming all communication with the Island.


DON'T GET EXCITED, IT'S NOT THE BUNNY YOU THINK IT IS

Naughty, naughty! Get your mind out of the gutter - Hugh Hefner isn't paying off the producers of Lost to get a little more advertising!

However, a white rabbit looking curiously like the Playboy Bunny IS the logo of the Looking Glass hatch - it could be seen briefly on the outer part of the hatch when Charlie was swimming, as well as on the files Sayid saved from The Flame. Note that there is something very bizarre about the logo, though. The rabbit appears to have a black hole in its neck.

Or does it?

I will spare you a recap of the EXTREMELY LAME debate over whether or not that was just a hole-punch hole in the rabbit's neck from the binder Sayid had. IT IS NOT. Because upon closer inspection, you may see that little lines appear to be in the black circle. Here's a hint: They look like the hands of a watch or clock or... timepiece (like the White Rabbit would always carry so he would know he was late).

Look here to see the important details on the rabbit logo.

Here's another hint: The timepiece hands appear to be at the time 8:15.

D'AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! What does THAT mean?!?!?! Does it mean ANYTHING?!?!?! Probably not, but it's still cool.

In case we're totally off track with this whole Alice in Wonderland thing, here are other pop culture nods to white rabbits:

- In "The Matrix," Neo (Keanu "Whoa!" Reeves) is told to follow the white rabbit, and he does so by trailing a woman with a white rabbit tattoo to a club where he meets Trinity for the first time. This movie included other allusions to Alice in Wonderland, such as when Morpheus told Neo that he could take one of two pills if he wanted to "stay in Wonderland" and see "just how deep this rabbit-hole goes." Man, I loved that movie. Too bad the sequels were poop!
- In "Jurassic Park" (another great movie whose sequels were mostly poop!), Newman used the command "white.rabbit.obj" to override the park's security system.
- It's the name of a Jefferson Airplane song that was popular with hippies and is all about drugs. Blue Man Group has used this song in performances I have seen.
- It's a character in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" that bites the heads off of people.


A LITTLE FINALE PREP

What would Lost be if it didn't have all its literary and pop culture references?

We've covered the significance of the multiple times that white rabbits (both literal and figurative) have popped up in the series. But the finale itself gets its name from a lesser-known Lewis Carroll book, "Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There." I highly encourage you to skim this Wikipedia entry on the book and observe all of the themes that are completely relevant to Lost.

If I were a betting woman, which I'm not, but IF I WAS, I would bet that the finale's name is a hint that we will learn that the Island is indeed caught in between parallel universes, and that the Looking Glass is the "port" of sorts between moments along the space-time continuum. If I were to list out all of the hints that we've seen in the past three seasons about something funky going on with the space-time continuum, I would have a bulleted list that ran the length of one of my typical posts. If something is NOT revealed about time-travel or multiple universes in the finale, I'm going to be extremely mad, because what in the heck were all the subtle references since 2004 for, exactly, then? To make all us nerds go insane?

One last reason to defend my theory - on the beloved hatch map, there is an area that references a subterranean conduit (the cable, I'm assuming). Near that is a phrase that has been translated to mean, "A mouse does not rely on just one hole."

WORMHOLES!!!!

I LOVE IT. MAKE IT SO, MAKE IT SO!!!

THE OFFICIAL PODCAST DEBRIEF

I should note that I write this entire post BEFORE listening to the podcast so as to not be influenced by what is covered, so you may notice that they rehash a few of the same issues I've addressed above and give answers that kind of negate some of my thoughts. So be it!

As it has been and forever shall be, in transcript form (CC is Carlton Cuse and DL is Damon Lindelof):

CC: So Damon, what is the Looking Glass station, who are the women in it, and why did Juliet think it was flooded?

DL: Well, the Looking Glass station, or, the Looking Glass hatch, as it is called in the blueprints - our people [the Lostaways] aren't the only ones thinking of things as hatches - we really don't know much about it. I hope we learn more about it in the finale, because there are a lot of questions... who are those women? Are they Others? Are they stationed there? If this station is jamming communications, did Juliet really think it was flooded, or is it just another lie in her web of lies? Why do you think it is called the Looking Glass, Carlton?

CC: I think it is an allusion to Alice in Wonderland.

DL: Is the Looking Glass the underwater station that was referred to in Kelvin's hatch map?

CC: I believe it is. But the first time we had a hint about this hatch was in Season One, when Sayid found the cable on the beach. And everyone was wondering, what's up with that cable, where does it go? So now we have an answer, the show gave us an answer, thank God!

DL: So can I ask a fairly obvious question, then? Why don't they just get some hedge trimmers and clip that cable, if that hatch is what is causing all the problems? Would that do the trick?

CC: Well, it's possible. But that cable may not be the sole source of power to the hatch.

DL: But more importantly, though - Charlie's alive! Phew, I thought *for sure*... since it was his flashback episode, and since the flashbacks were so sentimental... that he was gonna die.

CC: But he didn't, because, you know... that's kinda how we roll in Lost. So what do you think, is Jack's plan going to work with the Others, even though they've pushed it up a day?

DL: Well, in the previews we did see an explosion, so I think *somebody's* going to get blown up... but we've seen how well all of Jack's plans have worked in the past, uh, they tend to not always work out.

CC: What do you think is worse, Jack's plans, or Jack operating on you?

DL: Hmmm, well, let's see. So far the only person that Jack has managed to save on the Island is BEN. So I guess if you're a bad guy, he'd be enormously successful in saving your life. But if you're a good guy, you're a goner. However, I will say, off the record, because no one's listening to this, that if Jack's plan WERE to work, it would probably have horrible repercussions for him personally. And I'll leave it at that. If anyone can snatch failure from the jaws of success, it's Jack Shephard.

CC: Yeah, I'm kind of... I don't know. All I know is that we promised the audience that they will get a definitive answer about Desmond's precognitions before the end of the season.

DL: As in, if Charlie is going to live or die?

CC: Yes.

DL: So... if he lives, he's going to LIVE and Desmond's going to start having flashes about Vincent or something, right? You won't keep yanking my chain about Charlie?

CC: That is correct.

About the finale...

CC: We're really going to let the finale speak for itself. We're going into radio silence about it now and will let you think what you will about it.


Fan Questions & Answers

Q. I was in a cab in Manhattan and heard the Monster sound!!! CONFESS that this is where you got the sound that accompanies Smokey/Cerberus?
A. You are correct! The sound for Smokey is indeed the sound of the receipt printing machine in New York City cabs. However, this has nothing to do with the mythology of the show.



WISE WORDS FROM THE BOARDS

- The biggest surprise? CHARLIE MADE ME GODDAMN CRY! Of all people! For so long I was focused on “Kill Charlie, kill Charlie please” and when we finally seem on the threshold of it (though I of course remain very very skeptical such a blessed event could ever happen), he reveals that his list of favourite moments is not for his own catharsis, but in fact a letter to Claire (which, HOW did I not see that coming? I’m normally kinda smart) and what do I do? BWUH HUH HUH BLUBBER BAWL! Damn you Monaghan! Was it just me, or did Dominic act roughly 400% better than he did in all the rest of Season 3?
- I'd like to give some credit to Dom's acting chops for making us viewers loath Charlie for almost this entire past season, and yet he can BRING.IT. it in these last few episodes to make us all misty-eyed and liking Charlie again.
- Well Sayid said what the entire fandom has been thinking for the whole season ("You claim to be our leader, start acting like one"), so that was enough to please me, but even besides that, I teared up a little. The Vans, the ring, the list, Nadia! Aww, Charlie, you almost make me sad about your impending death.
- I saw two minutes of the show tonight: Jack standing in the middle of a circle of Losties, yelling at them. "I'm the decider!" What an ass.
- Even though this was supposed to be a touching Charlie episode, the thing that got me the most was the idea of Jin staying behind.
- The whole episode, I'm tearing up, saying (aloud, sadly) "No, I don't want Charlie to die." Then, Des starts talking about taking his place, and I'm all "Hey, wait. I really don't want Des to die!"
- Still a bit teary-eyed after Charlie and Hurley's Sam and Frodo moment (although granted, Frodo never told Sam that he couldn't come with him because he was too fat. Yeah, I know, it was just to drive Hurley away - I'm just glad they shared a good-bye hug at the end) and the letter to Claire.
- I'm surprised nobody's pointed out the big reveal tonight - Charlie is the only known Lostie with a non-evil dad. He was actually pretty cool.
- Loved Charlie! Hated Jack. Missed Locke!
- The person who said the last few scenes reminded them of Super Mario Brothers levels is spot on, only Charlie didn't have any 1-UPs in sight. Maybe Desmond does though......Hey new theory, what if this is merely a video game? No chance, you say? Well, Charlie's ring reads DS, as in Nintendo DS. OK, I've lost it.
- Sayid better not die, Desmond better not die, and Locke better not be dead! [e: my thoughts exactly!]



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


CHARLIE: Anyone want to venture a guess as to what Jack's going to be showing us out here in the middle of nowhere?
HURLEY: I dunno. Stuff. Probably secret stuff.



SAYID: We need to talk about Naomi's phone.
JACK: Not now.
SAYID: If you're angry, I doubt that you'll be happy to make a sincere apology later, but now we have a means of...
JACK: Look I'm a little bit busy right now, Sayid...
SAYID: And I am trying to get us off this Island, Jack!



[In realtime, the entire group have surrounded Karl, with Jack pacing around him]
JACK: Is that everything?
KARL: Yeah.
JACK: [To Kate] You trust him?
[Kate shrugs]
KARL: You don't trust me, what about her!
[He points at Juliet]
KARL: She's a spy. She's supposed to mark the tents of the pregnant women with white rocks so they can take them.
JULIET: They know, Karl, but thanks.



JACK: Everyone's gathering down at the South end of the beach. No one's staying behind but the shooters.
ROSE: Says who? You wanna give me your word that nothing's going to happen to my husband, then I go.
JACK: I'll give you my word that if we don't kill everyone that shows up here in about an hour, it's not gonna matter where Bernard is.
ROSE: I like you better since you got back, Jack. You're almost an optimist.




HURLEY: Dudes, wait! I heard. I heard what you're doing. I wanna come with. Everyone, they're all going to the radio tower and, I'm sick of trekking and, you know, explosions. I think I can help you guys out. I'm a really good paddler.
CHARLIE: You can't go, Hurley.
HURLEY: Why not?
CHARLIE: Because, you're too big! You won't fit in the boat.
HURLEY: That's uncool, man.



ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER

5/23 - Through The Looking Glass US preview, and the different Canadian preview

***Note that "The Answers" recap show will air the hour before the finale, and that the finale itself is 2 hours and starts at 8 PM Central time.

SOME IMPORTANT HOUSEKEEPING NOTES


The finale post
Since not only is the finale two hours (thus it will take me twice as long to write it, I figure) but we also have a holiday weekend immediately following it (Memorial Day, for those not in the U.S.), I'm going to need two weeks to get the post up. Meaning that you can check back the night of Tuesday, June 5th and rest assured that the finale write-up will be there.

RSS feeds
If you use RSS feeds, you could also incorporate the link below into your feeder so that you will know if I post it earlier than the 5th. This will also help you to know when I start up posts again for Season 3 (assuming Locke lives) next winter, because it's going to be a loooong 8 or so months until we next see our beloved Lostaways.

http://longlivelocke.blogspot.com/atom.xml

According to e rises from the dead!
Now that I don't have to spend 12 hours a week working on the Lost write-up, I can finally pay more attention to my other blog, According to e. I am slowly but surely starting to get back into the groove of posting to it again, so you should get yourself into the habit of checking it out! 'Cause you really can't wait until 2008 to hear from me again, now can you?

Final words before the finale
Enjoy the finale - it's sure to be a doozy. I have seen one short scene from it (don't ask me how) and I was already in tears. I am going to be an absolute MESS for those two hours, I guarantee it. One entire gallon of ice cream may end up being consumed by me in one sitting on Wednesday night. However, if they are able to top the Season One finale when I was bawling my head off because Vincent tried to swim out to Walt leaving on the raft, I will be impressed. That's in my Top 5 Sad-But-Yet-Still-Awesome TV Show Moments of All Time. As I stated before, I am just extremely nervous about this season's finale as I have heard too much about it being a "game changer." I like the game they're playing, so I don't want them to change it, dammit! And I don't even expect that we will learn Locke's fate this season, so my anxiety doesn't have to do with him anymore (for now). I just hope that the producers didn't decide to do something extremely stupid with the series. We will find out soon enough.

Until then,
- e