Monday, February 23, 2009

S5Ep6 - 316

Hello my dear friends -

Some of you may remember this article I linked to last fall in which Lost writer Brian K. Vaughan (one of the creative team members who signed my Season Four DVDs, yay for me!) proclaimed that Season Five was "definitely going to be the strangest thing that’s ever been on network television. Ever.”

I think we can confidently say at this point that he wasn't exaggerating.

"316" brought it. And that means there's a lot to discuss. Let's take things in order this time around, shall we? Or, almost in order. As the opening moments of the episode were replayed at the end of the hour, I'll address them later and instead begin with the meeting in Ms. Hawking's lair... or what we now know is/was actually Dharma's Lamp Post station.


THIS COULD BE THE END OF EVERYTHING
SO WHY DON'T WE GO
SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW

Anyone who took part in this past summer's "Dharma Initiative Recruiting Project" (an online game that gave hints for the upcoming season) had already gotten a glimpse of the logo for the first off-Island Dharma station we've ever seen: The Lamp Post. There have been shout-outs to C.S. Lewis before (most notably in the form of Charlotte Staples Lewis), and now we've witnessed another -- in The Chronic(what?)cles of Narnia (written by Lewis), a lamp post serves as a gateway of sorts between two worlds.

Hawking explains that The Lamp Post was built by the Dharma Initiative over an area of intense electromagnetic activity in order to find the Island. They had apparently gathered "proof" that the Island existed, but didn't know how to reach it. At some point after the station had been completed, "a very clever fellow" realized that by way of a series of exceedingly nerdy equations and a Foucault pendulum, they could figure out where the Island could be found at certain points in time in the future. As we've long suspected, the Island is also on an electromagnetic hot-spot and is continually moving.

The obvious question is: who's the "clever fellow"? (I'm calling him "CF" from here on out.) While my knee-jerk reaction was "Daniel Faraday," after thinking about it for a while I'm not entirely positive that theory could work. Here's why: the CF must be someone who would've been around in the outside world before Dharma landed on the Island in the 1970s.

When we saw Faraday in "Jughead," the year was 1954 and the Island had obviously already been found by the U.S. military. Someone on the Island at that point in time took this picture and then ended up bringing it to Dharma as proof that the Island existed. It was hanging behind Hawking on one of the chalkboards in The Lamp Post (and its date is almost exactly fifty years before the Oceanic 815 crash on 9/22/04):


When we saw Daniel in a Dharma uniform at the beginning of the season, we know that the time period was the late '70s (and there's reason to believe that's where the group is stuck now). In order to be the CF, Faraday would have to pass off his equations to someone in the outside world who was alive before Dharma ever came to the Island or go back in time himself while off of the Island. That doesn't seem likely, as we've never seen anyone time travel to a point decades in the past and off of the Island simultaneously. I guess I should add "yet" to that last sentence, huh? (Maybe, just maybe Daniel could turn the FDW and get thrown back in time to the outside world, but it doesn't seem like anyone would want to mess with the FDW ever again on purpose.)

I'm not totally ruling out the possibility of Faraday being the one who helped Dharma find the Island, mind you... obviously we've seen him writing down notes and equations before and he's certainly the character who seems to know the most about what's going on with the space-time phenomenon. However, right now I can't see how the timing could work out. If I'm missing something here, I'm sure you'll let me know...

So who could be the CF if it's not Faraday?


YOU DON'T KNOW ME
YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL

Let me begin this section by saying that a lot of the information I'm going to reference comes from "The Lost Experience" online game, which filled out the backgrounds of a few characters that were otherwise only briefly mentioned in the show itself. So don't be worried if you don't recall some of the things I'm about to bring up... you're not suffering from the effects of watching too much time travel on TV, you probably just aren't as big of a Lost nerd as some of the rest of us. And that's certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

So back to the possible identity of the CF. We know that Widmore was on the Island in 1954 and was part of the group of Others who wiped out the American military's presence there. We also know that Widmore ended up leaving/getting kicked off of the Island and has been trying to find it again ever since. He was most likely back in the real world by 1970, and therefore the picture that's in The Lamp Post could've come from him.

As he was hellbent on finding his old home again, he could've hooked up with Alvar Hanso (who, as reader DML reminded me, was a munitions dealer during WW2... hello, Jughead bomb) and persuaded him to get some scientists working on the effort. Let's not forget that: 1) Widmore may have witnessed Locke disappearing in the middle of his talk with Richard, and/or 2) Ellie could've told him that Faraday said his group was from the future... which she'd probably be very inclined to believe once they all disappeared in front of her eyes. Armed with that information, Widmore could've realized that the reason the Island was so hard to find was because something funky was going on with its location on the space-time continuum. He could've told Hanso that an "out-of-the-box" approach must been taken to finding the Island because it might be moving through time.

Enter the DeGroots... scientists from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) who founded the Dharma Initiative in 1970 thanks to financial backing from Alvar Hanso. We've seen them briefly before in some of the hatch orientation films. On a related note, Dr. Chang/Halliwax/Wickmund/Candle is probably also connected to U of M, as he stated in the video aired at last year's Comic-Con that he was an astrophysicist from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The shakiest part of this whole theory is why Widmore would specifically go to Alvar for help once he left the Island. That I can't really explain. We do know that Alvar was the great-grandson of Magnus Hanso, who the Hatch Map tells us was buried on the Island and was possibly a crew member (if not a commanding officer) of the Black Rock. Perhaps Widmore knew this and that's the reason he connected with Alvar back in the outside world.

Regardless, I'm going with either Alvar Hanso, Gerald DeGroot or Pierre Chang as being the clever fellow who built the pendulum in The Lamp Post. I get the sense that a lot of this season is going to revolve around the history of Dharma, so it fits that any of these three characters might appear on the show again soon.


I CAN'T GO FOR THAT
NO CAN DO

Yikes... after all that, we're still only a few minutes into the episode.

So Ms. Hawking is blathering on about the Island and Desmond is having none of it. He starts stomping around the room and saying that Jack and Sun are crazy for wanting to go back, and that Hawking's already caused him to lose four years of his life. His take was that he and the O6 are just pawns in a game that Ben, Hawking and others are playing. He's probably not too far off, is he? But quite frankly, I couldn't really concentrate on his rant because I was so nervous that the swinging pendulum was going to knock him over, American Gladiators-style.

Thankfully, that didn't happen (though it would've been hilarious). After delivering Faraday's message (to which, oddly, Hawking had pretty much no reaction), he stormed away, despite being warned that the Island "wasn't done with him."

Eloise remained unruffled after Desmond's departure and handed Jack a binder containing information on various flights that would be on the right course to catch "the window" back to the Island. I'm not really sure the binder was necessary, however, as she told him that they really only had one option: Ajira 316 (so much for my 316 bearing theory). Maybe we were just supposed to notice that the binder's colors were maize and blue and it had a very University of Michigan-looking seal on its front? Maybe binder design is one way the DeGroots chose to show their love for the Wolverines? Hail to the Victors, baby!

Next, Hawking takes Jack into another room -- alone -- and gives him Locke's suicide note. Since he's so freakin' stubborn, he of course does not rip it open and read it immediately like any other normal human being would do. Consequently, we're left to wonder what the note said... and, perhaps more importantly, why Hawking was the one who had it.

The last bit of advice the mysterious Eloise doles out before Jack takes leave of The Lamp Post is that he must do his best to recreate the original conditions of Flight 815, and that he could start by getting something of his father's to put in the casket with Dead Locke.


DON'T BELIEVE IN FEAR
DON'T BELIEVE IN FAITH
DON'T BELIEVE IN ANYTHING
THAT YOU CAN'T BREAK

Still reeling from the ridiculousness of the conversation he just had, Jack busts out of the station and finds Ben in the attached church. Ben avoids Jack's questions about Hawking by instead explaining the meaning behind "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas" painting that's displayed prominently on the wall. Kudos to reader SKID, who left a detailed comment last week about this piece of art after it had been briefly shown in "This Place is Death." Clearly, there are parallels to be drawn between Jack and ol' Doubting Thomas, enriching and complementing the comparisons that have already been made between Locke and Jesus. I'm really wishing I could remember more of went down in Sunday School right about now...

I was also cursing my memory in the next scene when Jack went to visit what turned out to be his grandpa. Before Jack ever addressed the older man as "granddad," I was going crazy thinking that I had somehow blanked on who this character was. Turns out we've never seen him before (though he was briefly mentioned in the mobisode "The Watch").

The bunnies in the retirement home's "magic show" and the comment that Grandpa Ray made about going somewhere that "they won't ever find me" definitely made me think of the Island... and of course it was pretty darn weird that Ray just so happened to have a pair of Christian's shoes in his suitcase. Is this yet another Shephard who's been to the Island before? Will he come into play again in the future? Will he ever find out that he has a great-grandson (Aaron)? Will all four generations of Shephards ever be on the Island at the same time? I have no deep thoughts on this subject, but I can't shake the feeling that Ray wasn't inserted into the storyline simply so Jack could get a pair of his dad's shoes.


I DID IT ALL FOR THE NOOKIE

We've now arrived at my least favorite scene of the episode. Jack's back at his apartment for what could very well be his final night in a real bed. He's like, "Ah, what the hell... Ben took all my pills -- one last little drinky-drink couldn't hurt, right?" But his Party of One gets busted up when he hears strange noises coming from elsewhere on the floor. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who braced for another Zombie Dad appearance -- or something even freakier. Instead, it was Kate, who not only refused to tell Jack where Aaron was, but also made him swear he'd never ask her about the boy previously known as her son ever again. The Mad Doctor's all, "Aaron who? Let's get it on!"

Now, I could easily go off on a long, long rant right now. But there's still too much more of the show left to cover, so I'll keep my disgust with this scene to a few short comments:

1) Less than 24 hours earlier, Kate accused Jack of only pretending to care about Aaron in order to get her to the marina to reunite with the rest of the O6 and Ben. Quite frankly, I think she was on to something. If he's willing to forget all about the existence of his nephew in order to score one more notch in his off-Island bedpost, he probably never cared about poor Turniphead in the first place.

2) As for Kate... well, I don't even know where to begin. She should know that just because Jack shaved off his hillbilly beard does not mean the reasons she broke off her engagement to him are no longer valid. The Oxycodone bottle's not even cold yet, for God's sake. And you can't tell me that part of the reason she's going back to the Island isn't to help save Sawyer... so, um... what did she need from Jack? A last-minute romp in order to "compare" the two again after she has her inevitable reunion sex with Mr. Ford? Somebody has issues!

And where does all of this leave poor Aaron? The prevailing theory right now is that Kate saw another vision of Ghost Claire, who warned her yet again not to bring Aaron back to the Island and/or gave her some other instructions. Kate realized -- especially after Ben's harsh reminder at the marina -- that she'd never be able to keep up the charade with Aaron over the long-run, so she took him to Claire's mother. I'm on board with this theory simply because I would hate to think that Claire's mom showed up in the series again solely to throw Jack and Kate off the trail of the lawyer's mystery client for less than half an episode.

Kate's weird behavior does (kind of) support this theory, too... if someone had forcibly taken Aaron from Kate against her will, I think she would've been frantically begging Jack for help. Instead, she seems resigned and distant -- like she's given up after an exhausting fight and did something that broke her heart because she knew she had no other choice.


I GET KNOCKED DOWN
BUT I GET UP AGAIN
YOU'RE NEVER GONNA KEEP ME DOWN

The next morning, Jack and Kate share an awkward breakfast -- he's clearly not having any regrets about their tryst, but she seems less than thrilled to be there. They have a stilted conversation about Christian's shoes and we finally learn why Zombie Dad had been wearing those godawful white Keds around the Island. Why/how he later changed out of a suit and into the more comfortable duds we saw him sport in both Jacob's shack and the FDW cave, however, remains a mystery.

Kate sees her chance to leave when Jack's phone starts ringing, so she does just that as The Mad Doctor becomes preoccupied with his call. It's Ben, who says there's been a change of plans and that Jack must go retrieve Dead Locke. What Jack doesn't know -- but we do -- is that Ben looks to be back at the marina and has been delivered a severe beat-down. I gotta tell you, I wasn't expecting to see the little guy so bloody and swollen. It made me realize that -- even if Ben turns out to be playing all of the Lostaways and is truly, truly evil -- I'll be thoroughly depressed if he ever dies. Because I was certainly distraught over seeing him in such a bad state.

The most obvious theory about why he's so messed up is that the "loose end" he had to take care of was the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: he found Penny and took her life in order to both fulfill his vow of revenge on Widmore for murdering Alex and give Desmond a reason to chase him back to the Island, since apparently Des was supposed to return, too. Ben could be battered because Penny put up a fight or because Desmond and/or some of Widmore's goons intervened.

One other possible explanation that has nothing to do with Desmond and Penny is that Ben and Sayid had it out -- there was obviously some sort of bad blood between them for reasons we don't yet understand. This may be why Sayid now has a police escort. It doesn't really explain why Ben would be calling from the boat docks, however. Besides, let's face it, if Sayid and Ben ever got into a physical fight -- even for a few seconds -- I don't think Locke would be the only one returning to the Island in a casket.


HERE I AM
JUST LIKE I SAID I WOULD BE
I'M YOUR FRIEND
JUST LIKE YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE

Jack follows Ben's instructions and goes to get Dead Locke, and we see Jill again for a few moments. I forgot to mention this little tidbit in earlier posts this year, but Jill's place of employment is "Simon's Butcher Shop." We had learned in the episode "Fire + Water" in Season Two that Charlie's dad -- Simon -- was a butcher. Is there a connection? Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm certainly always looking for reasons to keep hope alive that the illustrious Darth Hoodie will grace the show with his presence once again.

When Jack was alone with Dead Locke in the freezer room, I had to cover my head with my blanket because I was so scared that Locke's eyes were going to fly open and he was going to jump up and attempt to eat Jack's brain or something. I mean, that's what zombies do. So that may have been the only time that I was actually glad Locke stayed dead.

Even though I thought the whole "recreate the 815 flight" mandate from Hawking was kind of lame (more on that shortly), I did enjoy watching Jack put his father's shoes on Locke. It was weird on so many levels -- and I'm glad that they had Jack acknowledge it out loud. Can you imagine what filming that scene must have been like for Terry O'Quinn and Matthew Fox? I hope the Season Five DVDs have a few outtakes for us -- I can't imagine that both of them didn't burst out laughing at least a few times.

Next, we see Jack in line for Ajira 316, and much like what happened when he was at the counter for Oceanic 815, he is questioned about the coffin he's escorting. What I found oddly touching was that when Jack was asked his relationship to the deceased, he said, "a friend." Just a few days earlier when the Hoffs-Drawler funeral home manager had asked Jack if he was "friend or family" of Locke/Bentham, Jack had replied, "Neither."

Finally, Jack's done with check-in and turns all aww-shucks when he sees that both Kate and Sun showed up. So much so that he kind of disses his co-star in Vantage Point, who was trying to "offer his condolences" about Jack's friend in the coffin.

But those aren't the only four who will be getting on the plane...


THERE'S BEEN A CHANGE
THERE'S BEEN A CHANGE OF HEART


When the gate agent announces that there are a ton of open seats on the flight, it's revealed that Hurley is also in the waiting area. He'd been reading the comic Y: The Last Man (created by Brian K. Vaughan, who I mentioned at the beginning of this post), but jumped up to ensure that his purchase of the seventy-eight remaining seats on the flight had gone through. As Hurley looked around at those hoping that they'd get to ride standby -- whose lives he was probably saving --that's when it really hit me: "Holy crap, they are going back!" It also hit me that Hurley's pretty much the only 100% decent (meaning in no way selfish or evil) character left on the show. OK, so maybe Aaron and Ji Yeon are still fairly innocent, but seriously, that's about it. I think even Vincent has a devious master plan to outlast everyone else at this point.

As we know that Ben's lawyer was already planning to spring Hurley from the slammer that morning, the biggest question around Hurley's presence at the airport now becomes: who/what convinced him to show up, since he was previously so opposed to going back?

Most people believe that Dead Charlie paid Hurley a visit (again) and that's why he's not only on the flight but also lugging around a guitar. It may even be one of Charlie's old guitars, thus serving as a proxy for the Drive Shaft bassist. Hurley didn't listen to Dead Charlie's past pleas to help those left on the Island, however, so I hope we get to eventually see exactly why the multimillionaire changed his mind and decided to take the fateful flight.

On a related note, do you think that Dead Charlie and Ghost Claire got together to develop a strategy for scaring Hurley and Kate into returning to the Island? I do. To reward themselves for a job well done they're now eating off Invisible Peanut Butter at the Spirit Café -- ah, just like old times... kind of.


WISH YOU WERE HERE

Just before the plane pulls away from the gate, Ben huffs and puffs his way on board, much to Hurley's alarm and Sayid's surprise. Oh, that's right... I almost forgot -- though he didn't utter one line in this episode, He of the Black Tank Top and Overflowing Chest Hair was also along for the ride. We don't know what kind of crime he would've had to commit that would warrant a police escort to, uh, Guam... but hey, let's just roll with it.

So here's how the circumstances of Flight 815 were recreated for Ajira 316:

- Five of the Oceanic Six were accounted for. But some of them may have also represented other people besides themselves...
- Kate, who had just lost Aaron, was much like Claire, who was preparing to give In Utero Turniphead up for adoption. Further, shout-out to reader AS who told me about the theory that Kate may be pregnant from the previous night's hook-up with Jack... which I pray is not the case but would indeed make her even more similar to Claire's situation in September of 2004.
- Jack now represents Locke, as he's clearly made a leap of faith about the need to go back to the Island.
- Hurley had been reading a comic book -- as he also did in '04 -- and now has a guitar with him, presumably in honor of Charlie.
- Sayid's in handcuffs and has a police escort just like Kate did.
- Ben showed up in the nick of time, just as Hurley had, and didn't have full use of all of his limbs, like previously wheelchair-bound Locke.
- Dead Locke's wearing Christian Shephard's shoes.
- Sun is separated from her husband, as Rose was separated (on the plane) from Bernard (that one's a stretch, but hey, I'm just reporting the ideas out there...)

And then of course we learn that good ol' Frank Lapidus is in the cockpit. If that's not a course-correction, I don't know what is. He was supposed to be the pilot of Oceanic 815, after all. If we find out that something went drastically haywire in the Lostaway's return, I'm blaming it on the fact that Frank shaved his beard. Certainly the universe prefers him a little scruffy, just like we do.

To me, the biggest missing piece is Aaron. If he wasn't supposed to be "raised by another," what's going to happen now that he's not making the trip back to his birthplace?

As I alluded to before, I think this whole "recreate the circumstances of 815" thing was kind of forced... there were a ton of other people on 815 (Michael, Waaaalt, Boone, Shannon, Ana Lucia, Eko, Libby, Frogurt, Scott, Steve, Artz, Nikki, Paulo, the kids, etc., etc.) that are not represented (on that note, why shouldn't Waaalt have to return, too?). I would've probably been even more blown away by the Ajira scenes had we been left to come to the conclusion ourselves that the conditions of 9/22/04 were eerily similar to what we were seeing in "316" rather than having the idea so explicitly forced into our minds by Hawking.

All I can figure is that we needed to understand that since not exactly everything on Ajira 316 is as it was on Oceanic 815, the end result of the aircraft flying over the window to the Island is going to be "unpredictable."


GET BACK
GET BACK
GET BACK TO WHERE YOU ONCE BELONGED

Just because I wasn't all that interested in the 815/316 comparisons doesn't mean that I didn't get a big thrill out of watching the Ajira flight scenes. I loved them. What I appreciated in particular was how tense it was when the flight took off... then things seemed normal for a bit there and everyone relaxed -- Ben's reading, Kate and Jack are having a nice chat -- and then, BOOM. The turbulence hit and it was on.

Before all hell broke loose, here are a few things I took note of while our Lostaways were cruising the friendly skies:

- Jack was supposed to read Locke's note, dammit! It was going to keep finding its way to him one way or the other. While I was expecting it to be a very long letter chock-full of critical information, it was quite the opposite. "I wish you had believed me." Wow. What a stab to the heart! Absolutely perfect. It gave me chills.

- We saw a shot of Ben's choice of in-flight entertainment: Ulysses (a novel with several obvious parallels to Homer's Odyssey). I won't repeat what I said back in my write-up for the Season Two finale, but if you haven't been with me for that long, you may be interested to review this theory about the entire series being an Odyssey-type adventure revolving around Desmond. (Since the publish date of that post we have even been delivered a cyclops... in the form of Patchy.)

- Staying with Ben for a moment... did you notice how nervous he seemed, not only about the suicide note but also about what Hawking had told Jack during their alone time? He was like a little boy feeling left out of the Cool Kids' Club: "What did she say to you -- huh, huh, huh? What's that letter -- huh, huh, huh? Can I play with you guys at recess -- please?" Here comes the most obvious statement you'll read all week: Something is definitely up with Ben. I'm sure he knew about The Lamp Post. I'm sure he knows the circumstances of Locke's death. I'm sure he knows exactly what happened on the Island once he turned the FDW. As I've said before, I'm confident he's inserted himself into this whole process of getting the O6 back to the Island because he wants to go back. So I'm dying to understand more about his relationship with Hawking, and her possible relationship with Widmore, and how all of these off-Island Others interact... and how The Economist and Abaddon fit into everything.

- That dude (SaĂŻd Taghmaoui) who was Matthew Fox's co-star in Vantage Point (and who was also in Three Kings and more recently Traitor, among other things) is obviously going to be seen again. I have absolutely no idea what his story could be except that perhaps he was sent by Abaddon. The good news is that he's a great actor, so I'm excited he's on the show and very pleased I hadn't read that casting spoiler beforehand.

- Sun was a little too happy for my liking. She was sitting there, playing with her wedding ring and smiling as if she was on her way to a romantic weekend with Jin at Club Med in Turks & Caicos. Um, helloooooo.... did you not leave your daughter behind? Do you not realize that you probably won't ever see her again? How exactly are you going to explain all of this to your husband if/when you see him?

It's too late for Sun to reconsider her actions now... because the turbulence that the O5 and Ben were expecting did come to pass. But this time, we didn't see a plane get ripped in two. We didn't see anyone get sucked out of their seat and into the ether. We didn't see passengers bloodied and bruised by falling objects and runaway drink carts. Instead, we were delivered the scene that many of us thought we wouldn't see again until the final episode of the series: Jack, splayed out on the jungle floor in a suit and tie, opening his eyes in dazed confusion.



I'VE WILLED, I'VE WALKED
I'VE READ, I'VE TALKED
I KNOW
I KNOW
I'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE

But this was no crash-landing all over again. Jack knew where he was and still clung to part of Locke's haunting last words to him: "I wish." I liked that quick shot of those two words, because one of my favorite aspects of the show over the years has been when things have gone right for some of the characters only after they really, really, really believe/wish/hope/pray for them to happen. Like how Jack seemingly willed Charlie back to life after Ethan hung him from a tree... or how Walt wished it would stop raining so that they could look for Vincent and then the downpour ceased... et cetera, et cetera.

Jack sprung into action just like he did when directing the troops in the midst of burning 815 wreckage, only this time he was saving someone he already knew -- Hurley. Not too far away was Kate. All of them had the same question: what just happened?

KATE: The plane... where's the plane?
JACK: I don't know. After that light, I... I woke up in the jungle.
KATE: So this is it? It's just us?
JACK: I'm not sure. Do either of you remember crashing?
HURLEY: Crashing? No. One second, I'm being tossed around. The next thing I know, I'm in the lagoon.

For about two milliseconds after this scene I reconsidered the Role-Playing/Virtual Reality Game Theory that first cropped up in Season One, but then batted it out of my head. That's because there is a critical difference between what happened to Flight 815 and Flight 316. Flight 815 was brought down by Desmond, who failed to enter in the numbers for the Countdown Clock o' Doom in time. This caused an electromagnetic build-up that was enough to pull 815 off-course. The producers confirmed this in the Season Three DVD extras.

Ajira 316, however, was directly in the path of a space-time window that was open above the Island. It might still be on its way to Guam, for all we know. I believe it's possible that the Island could've just -- for lack of a better term -- plucked certain people it wanted out of the plane while they were within the bounds of the window. OR... there could be a crashed Ajira aircraft on the Island... in a different year. Remember that the Ajira water bottles we saw in "The Little Prince" were at a point in time clearly after 2004 because the Lostaways camp was still there. So someone who was on an Ajira flight landed in that timeframe. Whereas, judging from the final moments of the episode, Hurley, Jack and Kate clearly didn't.


BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
'CAUSE YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT

I don't know who I was expecting to get out of that Dharma van, but it wasn't Jin. While his split-second half-smile of recognition -- the very last thing we saw before the credits rolled -- was awesome, I'd argue that the looks on Hurley, Jack and Kate's faces were even more priceless.

Maybe I'm just getting way too used to writing and thinking about time travel, but to me what's going on is pretty clear: when Locke turned the FDW, the remaining group took one last jump through time and landed in Dharma's heyday on the Island in the 1970s. They've infiltrated the Initiative and are just trying to blend in and learn as much as they can while they wait to find out if Locke had any success back in the outside world. This explains why we saw Daniel in a Dharma jumpsuit at the beginning of "Because You Left," and why Jin's in the same get-up now.

Jack, Kate and Hurley landed back in the '70s, too, or else they couldn't be face-to-face with Jin. As for the other passengers of 316... well, I'm assuming we'll find out soon enough where/when they are. I definitely don't have enough brain-power left to imagine how the slew of characters could ever reunite if they're currently all on the Island but spread out across several points on the space-time continuum. So I'll leave that for Faraday to figure out.

I stated in my first post of this season that I wasn't going to nitpick any of the time travel stuff because I simply don't care if it doesn't all make sense. That's still how I feel. For me, there's really only one huge mystery that I hope gets resolved: was there a single action or a single decision by one character that set off the course of events that Richard, Ben and Hawking all deemed to be catastrophic for the Island? And if so, what in the hell was it, and why do they think they can change it? Are we watching the "first" iteration the Lostaways' actions, or is what we're seeing in the show the ten millionth time Ajira 316 took off with the O5 and Ben on it -- possibly all for nothing? If Ms. Hawking was right and the universe always finds a way to course-correct, then why is she one of the people so freaked out about everything that's transpired?

I could go on and on listing out questions... but there's not much point in that. Every episode this season has been great and so I'm content to just enjoy the ride. While I won't mention any specifics since I know several of you out there avoid the "Next on Lost" previews, I dare say this coming Wednesday's installment will blow the lid off of everything Season Five has dished out to date. As Hurley would advise, "Dudes... You might wanna fasten your seatbelts."



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

JACK: [To Ben] Did you know about this place?
BEN: No. No, I didn't.
JACK: [To Eloise] Is he telling the truth?
ELOISE: [Chuckling] Probably not.




JACK: [Putting shoes on Dead Locke] Wherever you are, John... you must be laughing your ass off that I'm actually doing this.




JACK: And the other people on this plane--what's gonna happen to them?
BEN: Who cares?




JACK: How can you read?
BEN: My mother taught me.




LAPIDUS: ... Wait a second. We're not going to Guam, are we?



Until next time,
- e

71 comments:

Erika (aka "e") said...

Here are the songs I pulled the lyric headings from this time around:

“Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane

“You Don’t Know Me” by Ben Folds featuring Regina Spektor

“I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” by Hall & Oates

“Stupid Girl” by Garbage

“Nookie” by Limp Bizkit

“Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba

“Change of Heart” by Cyndi Lauper

“Change of Heart” by Tom Petty

“Wish You Were Here” by Pink
Floyd

“Get Back” by The Beatles

“Selling the Drama” by Live

“When I Grow Up” by The Pussycat Dolls

- e

Jason McIntyre said...

Excellent, e, just excellent. How are you digging the new-episode-every-single-week-no-repeats deal of season five? I know it must be murder on your in keeping up with your blog duties here and at your Redbox jawb...Cheers! j. //

whimsymoon said...

....another thing similar to flight 815 was the "letter".
Sawyer was carrying a letter around with him...and this time it's Jack with John's letter.
Great blog post a usual!

Burgertime said...

On Hawking speaking about course correction. I think she was saying that bad things happen when it needs to correct course. So it could be that in order to correct everything a meteor would hit the earth. Now that they have 5 of 6 perhaps just a few people on a plane die.

Unknown said...

Great write up, E! I always enjoy your recaps--you seem to be watching from my point of view, and asking a lot of the questions I would ask (and answering many in the process...) Yours is definitely the one I look forward to every week!

One thing that's been bugging me, though, is if the "06" ["05?"] knew they were going to the island, or at least planning on doing so, why the heck were they wearing suits and dress shoes (as Kate pointed out, wouldn't hiking boots been more appropriate??) I mean, seriously, you don't have to go all "Crocodile Hunter" in your gear, but at least some khakis and boots! And please tell me at least SOMEBODY packed a suitcase full of survival gear, in the off chance they DO crash and can recover some luggage! No one really seemed to be worried about it, though... Maybe they know something I don't.

Again, great recap, and yay for Wednesdays!

Anonymous said...

next weeks episode looks amazing

... got goosebumps at the preview.

Anonymous said...

e - The appearance of some of the O6ers on the island with no memory of a plane crash reminds me of those bumper stickers that say something like, "In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned." TPTB have been heavy on the religious symbolism throughout the series. Might this be yet another example? If so, what happens when/if the passengers and possibly Frank Lapidus are raptured from the plane? Does the flight crew freak out and land the plane before reaching Guam in order to determine what's happened? I would imagine it would be rather difficult to keep the island's existence quiet after that!

Rebecca

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't it be possible that the O5 got "time travelled" out of the plane while over the island? Ok they'd fall quite deep, but hey, it's Lost.

Craig said...

Great recap. I don't have nearly enough time to discuss everything of note, here, but I did want to point out one interesting character note. When Ben says, "My mother taught me", it's a great line and I chuckled when I first heard it, but then it hit me that he really cannot stop lying for any reason. Not only is he clearly avoiding the question that was asked, we know his mother died when he was born, so even that was a lie. Now, it's possible that it was just an off-hand comment, but with Ben it seems at least as likely that he is lying simply because it's what he does.

Ernie said...

Great recap e,

I've seen some theories that Grandad was actually future Jack. I dont' know if I buy that one, but I'm like you, I don't think he was on the show just to give Jack the shoes.

My biggest question after "316" was what happened to the rest of the Oceanic 5 + Ben. I wonder if they end up in the same time as Kate, Hurley and Jack or if they get to the island in present day. Can't wait to see that play out, and to see if Frank goes too.

My biggest gripe was the fact that Desmond just glossed over his history with Ms. Hawking.

Gustavo Fernández Walker said...

I'm still laughing at Ben's "Who cares?" response to Jack. I think it was the best line so far on the entire fifth season. Oh, and a special acknowledgement to the folks in charge of casting... The resemblance between Jack and his grampa gave me the creeps!

Anonymous said...

If Flight 316 crash landed on the island, and Oceanic6(5?) jumped to 1970's just before the crash, should entertain the idea that there were people in 815 that also jumped right before it crashed???

Roland said...

I haven't seen this guy mentioned as a candidate for CF - but how about Horace (Mathematician)? He was with very early DHARMA - and his profession involves equations.

Note that Dr Chang knew a lot about Time Travel before the Orchid was even built. maybe he and Horace had worked some stuff out in the late 60's

Anonymous said...

I couldn't understand why the O5 weren't spending their last night in LA eating at In n Out or somehow enjoying the perks of the civilized world for the last time...

Anonymous said...

Here's a thought on the Kate/Jack interlude. If Kate was indeed visited again by Claire (or someone else, for that matter), she may have had another motive for bedding the good doctor. Don't forget there was a pregnant woman on the plane last time, carry a relative of Jack's no less....

Anonymous said...

Hey, Ben's mom died when he was born, so how did she teach him how to read? It was a funny line when I watched the show, but I just realized it at the end of your post.

Julie said...

Great recap e!

I agree that Claire more than likely visited Kate as well as Charlie visited Hurley. I read somewhere that people think it was Widmore or his people that made them go but I don't agree with that. It would have to be someone they knew and trusted, especially considering what a hard time Jack had convincing anyone. I mentioned to my husband as well that she possibly gave Aaron to Claires mom because it would be stupid to bring her back just for that one scene.

I also didn't like the Jake/Kate scene either. The first thing I thought of was that maybe she was trying to become pregnant to take the place of Claire, but I really hope that is not the case.

I am also hoping that there is more to the Ray story. It seems unlikely that they would introduce him like that just so Jack could retrieve the shoes. Also the fact that he keeps running away and he also stated that he's going to get away and they will never find him leads me to believe there is more to his story.

I can't wait until Wednesday. It looks so good! I can't wait for your thoughts on it either!

Cheers,
Julie

Erika (aka "e") said...

Hi everyone -

Thanks for your thoughts. A few quick responses:

j. - Yes, I am dying. Especially since I'll probably be on vacation in a few weeks and have no idea how I'll find time to write two recaps over that time.

whimsymoon - Totally forgot about Sawyer's letter - good catch!

Burgertime - In "Flashes Before Your Eyes" Hawking was pretty specific about the universe course-correcting for specific people -- she gave the example of the guy with the red shoes. So I didn't get the impression that anything that was off about flight 316 could be easily made up in other ways. But I don't think we'll ever get a clear answer to exactly how course-correction works...

Jeremy & Jess - Totally agree... especially since they even had Kate call out the fact that Jack should be bringing hiking boots... and in an earlier episode Ben told Jack to "bring with him whatever was most important to him in this world" because he wouldn't be coming back. Yet none of them dressed appropriately in the slightest.

Rebecca - Hmm, never thought of the rapture idea, but since the Island is a real place and not purgatory/heaven/hell, AND since I think that would be a little TOO religious for them to swing, I doubt that could be the official explanation. Since the characters specifically called out the fact that they didn't experience a crash this time, though, I'm confident we'll get an answer on why that is.

Anon - Yes, I definitely think they could've time traveled out of the plane... I guess that's what I meant by saying that the island plucked them.

Craig - Very good observation about Ben's mom not being around to teach him to read. I did see a CRAZY theory that Ben is somehow Aaron All Growed Up, and so that we saw Kate teaching Ben/Aaron to read. If that is the case I think I might have to destroy my TV. Hopefully it was just meant to be a funny line and nothing more.

Ernie - I would also destroy my TV if Grandpa IS Jack. And I agree that the Des/Hawking showdown could've been so much better than it was.

LostRightNow - I don't think any of the 815ers ever time traveled when the original crash happened because the only reason the others had been doing that was because the FDW was off its access. I think Desmond simply brought the entire plane down. I also believe everyone was accounted for (both dead and alive) one way or the other through Hurley's manifest list and the Tailies.

Roland - Very, very good idea about Horace -- I think he's a very strong possibility for the CF, can't believe I forgot about him!

Jana - True dat!

Anon - Yes, I mentioned the fact that Kate may be pregnant like Claire was, though I hope she's not.

Other Anon - See my note to Craig.

Julie said...

Hey! I had a thought as well. Do you think this next episode was the episode they were filming when you met Terry O'Quinn? It looks there are a few city scenes that Locke is in...

Just a thought! :)

Erika (aka "e") said...

Julie - Yes, I do think it may be the episode I saw filming, though I didn't see him in the exact same outfit in any of the preview shots. It's got to be getting close, though...

- e

Anonymous said...

To reinforce the Biblical references: In Revelation 9:11 it says "They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon,...." I don't think Abaddon is working for anyone as he's the Devil himself.

Thanks for all your hard work! You make Wednesdays a lot easier!
C. Douglas

Rob Klotz said...

The reason Malcolm David Kelly didn't reappear as Waaaaalt is that he's 6 foot 8 and playing power forward for Seton Hall now.

Roland said...

While Ben was educating Jack about St Thomas’ bravery in the face of anticipated murder, it occurred to me that Ben’s subsequent North Beach Marina injuries might have resulted from a murder attempt (possibly instigated by Widmore - OR The Economist) on HIS life.

Tanyar said...

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Ms. Hawking said that the lamp post can only tell, not where the island is, but where the island is going to be? Which hints to me that, one, Light Post station has been built prior to Dharma being on the island(obvious), and two, it has been useless since the "incident", because Dharma wasn't able to locate the island after the purge. The reason for not being able to locate is because the island hasn't been moving. When it doesn't move, you can not tell where it is GOING TO be (Null value!:)) And can it be that the reason it wasn't moving was because Desmond and his button clicking every 118 minutes?

b said...

Hold on a minute: "Because I was certainly distraught over seeing him in such a bad state.": he went after Desmond to kill Penny! He probably killed Penny. That blood could be Penny's. The bastard is either a retard or the devil himself.

Nicole said...

As a fellow U-M connected person. I just want to know your thoughts as to why the creators chose to Go Blue.

I know from the show "House" that Dr. House and Dr. Cuddy are grads of U-M Med School(They even have official Medical Diplomas). The connection is the writer/creator attended the U-M.

Abby said...

Hi e,

Good recap, as always. Now, I hate to stick up for Jack, but a few people on the Darkufo site have all made it sound like Jack pounced and took advantage of Kate. I think though, that Kate clearly instigated the whole kiss sequence. Yes, Jack eagerly responded, but I don't think he would have laid one on her had she not been the "aggressor," so to speak!

Robert Klotz said...

Great point about the Wish Fulfillment aspect of the island, which was strongly drawn in the first season. If you submit to the island and really project your desires earnestly, then you will be rewarded. The point was made repeatedly as one of the central beneficial magical aspects of the island (as opposed to the harmful aspect of Smokey).

Anonymous said...

Hi e,

I have a theory about "the list". Ben is certainly following a plan when 815 crashes. I think he wrote this plan to himself years before. He knew who of the losties needs to be locked after very carefully. The reason for this behaviour may be good, may be bad. It could be that Ben wants to prevent bad things to happen by influencing the actions of certain characters in one way or the other.
That is in my opinion the reason for sending out two of his men to see who is "on the list".
The one who maintains the list is named Jacob. Jacob is (as often discussed since S03) the biblical father of Benjamin. Could it be that Jacob is Ben? A second (and thus older) instance of him? One who knows much about the future because he came from it?

I will stop this thinking now because it's causing my brain two grow loops...

Regards
Siggi

LostFan said...

Every single recap I read does not ask one simple question:

Why is Sayid being taken to Guam in FIRST CLASS?

WendyWatson said...

he found Penny and took her life in order to both fulfill his vow of revenge on Widmore for murdering Alex and give Desmond a reason to chase him back to the Island, since apparently Des was supposed to return, too.

There's still the kid, though. I doubt Des would take him to the island, and he surely wouldn't deposit him with Grandpa.

As for Ben, I don't think he particularly cares if Des gets back to the island or not - he made no attempts to find him before, and he was surprised to see him, so whatever the island wants with Desmond, it didn't tell Ben about it.

As for whether he succeeded - he really didn't look incredibly triumphant slouched against that pay phone, so I guess something went wrong (for him, anyway).

Anonymous said...

Again great recap. I will have to rewatch the show to see if I missed anything. My one thought and I am not sure if it has been mentioned anywhere was Claires spooky message from the guy in Australia....Her son must not be raised by another....When I first heard that I heard raised by an...
other. That said, it appears Arron is safe now with Grandma.

Anonymous said...

Glad to see the DeGroots back in the fabric of your wonderful theory-making process.

Also, I'm loving all of the love that the "My Mom taught me" line is getting. I've been praying since Wednesday that sometime in my life someone will ask me how I can read so I can tell them, straightfaced, that my mom taught me.

I see that you're still not swallowing my "Vanilla Sky" theory (probably due to your Tom Cruise aversion). Time to buck up Little Trooper and watch this lightly regarded movie anyway. Like Vanilla Sky the LOST environment is a digitally created device and has no time travel (even the re-run annotated episodes add a qualifier to time travel saying they "appear" to move in time). I'm convinced that there is no Island, there is no 21st century Los Angeles, there is no shark with a Dharma logo on its tail. There is only a digital simulation of these things. The DeGroots, followers of B.F. Skinner (read "Walden II") programmed this testing/training module in the 70's for participants to improve their ability to "live together or die alone". Vanilla Sky had a similar narative device along with a character that explains everything in the last 5 minutes of the movie. He is introduced as "Tech Support". LOST also has a "Tech Support" and his name is Richard Alpert. How else would he be able to move through the timeline without aging?

Finally, we see a supporting clue for this theory in every single episode. The rotating white LOST image on a black background that appears imediately preceding the first commercial break has sharp and clearly defined edges. The static LOST image that appears at the end of each episode has rounded edges and the letters are rough and irregular. This suggests to me that the show's creators are telling us that the second image is a slightly less perfect simulation of the first. Isn't that what we are watching? Isn't this story about an imperfect simulation of our world with individuals learning through a continuing cycle of trial and error how to live in harmony with their unpredictable environment and fellow castaways?

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Hawking had Locke's note because Cabin Christian specifically TOLD Locke to find her. She probably told Locke that somebody on the return trip had to be a dead body and, oh, guess what? YOU’RE IT.

Lula! said...

And this is why I've been faithfully reading you for over 3 years now...

...because you refused to waste too much good breath on the whole Kate-Booty-Call issue. Seriously...I dig you even more for this. She makes me TIRED. Play on, playa...that's all I have for her.

Brilliant recap, as always. I say this every week, and I mean it every week!

Anonymous said...

Another connection between Rose and Sun...they both are fingering their husband's wedding rings. Rose has Bernard's on a chain.

Jack had to finally read the note to trigger the jump. It happened right after he finally gave in.

Didn't someone express a similar sentiment to Jack as "his vantage point co-star" (Lostpedia calls him Ceasar) did when he was arguing to board 815. I have read the overview of that episode, but can't find a reference to it. But my kids and I swear it happened. Possibly by Sayid???
In which case, this man could represent Sayid. OR, some have theorized that Libby was a Widmore (or Abaddon) plant on 815, probably because he knows the crash is going to happen (???) and that this guy is also a plant (because he knows all about it.)

I thought Hurley was sparing innocent people, but the back of the plane is FULL, so what's the point of buying out the section they are in???

So glad to see Jin!

Sarah M. in MI

Allison said...

Chroni(what)cles of Narnia! LOL Thank you for reminding me of that hilarity!

Unknown said...

Hey e-

Just thought it was interesting (with no relation to theories or anything in the show) that Ben's mom didn't teach him to read cause she died at his birth... Yup.

-E-CMU

Mandy said...

I SO thought Desmond was going to get hit with the pendulum too! A little disappointing.
When Ben leaves Jack alone to read Locke's suicide note I wondered if he'd go the plane's bathroom a la Charlie in the 815 crash. It might be a stretch to wonder if he would break out his stash as well. who knows.

SKID said...

Quick note on SIMON's BUTCHER SHOP:

SIMON (another Apostle later named Peter or "ROCK" by Jesus) means "Wavering One".

Jesus calls Peter by his old name "Simon" ("Wavering One") AFTER his betrayal by Peter.

NO idea if this is any continuation of the Apostle/Disciple theme on LOST or not, but just something to chew on. My guess is that it MIGHT be another veiled shout out to the theme of faith vs. doubt on the show.

If we ever see a flashback where they ever swing by the Thaddeus MiniMart for snacks, then we will know something is up.

Beerage said...

Great stuff e :)

The issue with Ben being all battered up, I cant help but keep thinking about the first time the losties met Ben, in the hatch.

I remember him being beaten senseless then and I think his arm was hurt too (just like in this episode).

What I'm starting to think, is people on the 316 flight are either recreating the circumstances, just like Sayid being under arrest, like Kate.

Or the character has to end up just like the first day they met everyone else, hence Ben being all battered up.

Just cant get the picture of Ben being locked on the army room out of my head :)

Looking forward to next episode.

Anonymous said...

Waaaaaaalt wasn't on the plane because 'Dude he's starving!'.

Surely I'm not the only person to have seen that commercial

Maren Hansen said...

Did anyone else note that part where Ben says he mom taught him how to read, and remember that his (Ben's) mom died at his birth? And as far as we can tell, he was what, 10-11 years old (?) when he first saw his mom on the Island/met Richard, so probably already knew how to read. Probably not significant, but you never know w/this show. Love to hear more about this!

Christy G said...

oh my gosh! awesome recap. there was so much covered, and the fact that there is so much to cover just confirms again to me what a GREAT episode this was!!!

i do have to agree with you about the picture of jack, kate, and hurley...one of your favorite stills of the series! all their faces are absolutely priceless.

one thing just came back to me...if widmore was in on the dharma initiative from the get go, why couldn't he find it? and also, if hawking knows how to get back, and he knows where hawking is, why does he just find out where the island is/will be from her??

and another outstanding question from this episode...if the island is moving through time, and there are only windows, but they are not 100% correct or predictable, how the heck was the sub able to come and go so easily, and how were they able to make all those airdrops of dharma food and supplies???

one final thought. you talked about the economist maybe being the enemy not widmore....i am beginning to strongly agree with you on that. i think that the man and the woman on the plane were sent by the economist and/or abaddon. another possibility is that man and woman may be "jeffery and gabriel." these were the names ben used when he first met with jill and asked if jeffery and gabriel had checked in.

sorry if i've repeated what someone has already stated in the comments...i didn't have time to read through them...unfortunately, midterms are calling my name!!

Anonymous said...

Great comments fellow lost fanatics, and as always kudos to you Erika! For those of you who haven't watched the "Lost Untangled" clips from ABC.com, they do put a comical spin on things and in my opinion are worth the 5 minutes of my life to watch and chuckle. This weeks tapped into the desire of seeing Desmond get whacked by the pendulum. Thought I'd share. We could all use a small break from the hardcore analysis right?

frgrsdhn said...

I am glad you included Frank's line on the best lines of the show recap. I almost peed my pants laughing when he said "We're not going to Guam, are we?"

Anonymous said...

Loved you recap. Awsum as always.

I am one of those few lost fans out there who still tolerate kate and I DON'T WANT KATE TO BE PREGNANT, but i can't help but think she is. granted they may have just incorporated that sex scene for ratings sake but with only a season and a half left i can't help but think there was more to having them sleep together than just that. after all one of the main themes in LOST is that "everything happens for a reason" so what other reason could there be to have them sleep together?? her getting pregnant under the circumstances isn't ideal but it sure would be poetic if she happens to gain a kid the same nite she loses one.

Hannah

unchurchyourself said...

Long-time reader, first time poster :-)

Something occured to me when you were talking about Hawking and time "course-correcting" and what event triggered this, etc. Wasn't the whole first arg for lost about the equation that predicted the end of the world? So maybe this whole thing is about them still trying to figure out how to avoid that...even tho they believe that the universe course corrects there is still some hope that they can stop it?

Just a thought. Keep writing!

Tim

Allyr71 said...

I love your write ups, I am in Australia and have been having to download from US as we are about 5 eps behind - as a lostaholic and addicted to your write-ups I can't wait that long!

I agree with Jeremy/Jess, I was thinking about what I would pack if I was returning to the island, some must haves include: alcohol!, hairbrush, medication, socks/undies, blow up mattress, sleeping bag, cutlery, chocolate! Hiking boots, etc., etc., but no Jack wears a suit and tie.

I also picked up about Rose/Sun with the wedding ring. Can't wait for the next ep, and your write up E.

Anonymous said...

If they're in DI time (which seems extremely likely at this point) they're NOT in the late 70s, they're in the early to mid 80s. Charlotte was born in 79 and she has to be old enough to understand and remember Daniel's message. Also, the date on the orientation films for the Swan and Pearl was 1980.

Magnus Hanso was the First Mate on the Black Rock, as told in the Constant when they're auctioning off his journal.

Anonymous said...

One of the theories regarding Sayid being transported as a prisoner to Guam, is related to the fact that in an earlier episode (where we first learn in S4 that he works for Ben as an assassin) he killed someone on a golf course, which was supposedly in Guam. Ben might have kept evidence of this murder and as such reported him to the police in order to get him on the plane.

Haven't checked this theory myself though, just wanted to share :)

Anonymous said...

Just a curiosity: "that dude (SaĂŻd Taghmaoui) who was Matthew Fox's co-star in Vantage Point" is going to be the main and only character of the videos included in the dvd coming out with the new U2 album next week. What a period for him.

Cecilia said...

I just started reading your blog this season, and I love it! But I wanted to say that I think Jack's Grandpa, Ray or whatever his name, might have to do with the bracelets Naomi and Elsa wore, with the initials "RG". As soon as Jack said his name, I thought of it. I also think that the guy who offered Jack his condolences is going to be on the island with him. They don't introduce people randomly. Anyway, I love your blog! You're hilarious, and I'm convinced you are a genius.

Nick said...

Good stuff, as always.

The ep was very strong, but I was annoyed that they ran some footage twice (the Jack/Hurley/Kate "we made it to the Island" stuff). Opening with Jack in the jungle and looking at the torn Locke note was cool, but they should have cut it THERE... after about 15 seconds. No need to show us Hurley and Kate at that point, then show the whole thing again at the end of the ep.

Considering how few episodes are left, I hope they keep this stuff to a minimum. It wasn't necessary here.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to mention that there was just something REALLY wrong with Kate. Not just the "where is Aaron, I think I'll mess around with Jack" stuff.
I've wanted to chalk it up to either:
1) the actress was having an off acting day (not likely) or
2) she is just shutting down due to losing Aaron (could be)...
BUT, she was totally vibing like Undead Claire or something on autopilot (again, that could be denial/dejection).
Not quite right.
We all just looked at each other and said "What's up with Kate???"
Something about this episode just felt...rushed?
Like...it shouldn't be this easy?
A lot of build up for a very fast...resolution? (and I use that term VERY losely.)

I kept half expecting it to be a dream that leads up to their actual return, but there were too many details.

It just seemed weird (and I use THAT term very losely also, considering the subject.)

Anyone else think something fishy-er than usual is going on?
That, this episode was less straigh-forward than other episodes have been? (and that's saying something!)

Anonymous said...

E,

When Ben manned the FDW there was ice everywhere.
When Locke was down there w Christian, there was no ice. It looked pretty cozy actually.

What gives? I can't find anyone else talking about this. You heard anything?

A very far out possibility is that the hydrogen bomb was actually a cryogenic bomb. Do a wiki on "Jughead" - there were cryo experiments with the Jughead bombs back in the 50's. Bug out.

Great recap.

Nugs

Tori said...

i haven't rewatched the ep but am wondering ..... were the two versions of the initial return to the island at beginning and end of the ep slightly DIFFERENT, or was it just shorter the second time? i thought some dialogue had changed slightly or at least some was missing.

anyway, awesome as always, e. and Change of Heart by Cindy Lauper - OMG. I LOVEd that song when it came out. I think I still do. Must buy.

Anonymous said...

Matt- haha, I saw that commercial and spent the entire time wondering if that really was Waaalt or not. I think he should look into getting a new agent.

Anonymous said...

-e

Another great post!! I always look forward to what you're going to write after each episode!!

Namaste!

Anonymous said...

Wow! when I saw the "my condolences" character I thought, "Sayid? - no. Hurley's dad? No.....Lando Calrisian???"

Anonymous said...

Could granddad have been in the military on the island in the 50s? Seems as though he could be in the age range.

sweetpeas said...

I know E is hoping Kate is not pregnant from her night with Jack, I kind of hope that too - however my sister and I got to thinking if she does get pregnant what would that mean? Depending on what time they are dropped into the Dharma days…the van looked pretty shiny and new, so say early to mid ‘70’s we thought would be about right. For arguments sake say she is pregnant by Jack, is able to give birth because she got pregnant off island or it’s before the island started having pregnancy issues. 8 to 10 years go by and jump to late 70’s early ‘80’s when they showed Ben arriving at the island as a young boy. What child is there that has dark hair, freckles and shares Kate’s name? Annie…Kates middle name is Anne. Could Annie be Kate & Jack’s daughter? It always bothered me that people speculated Annie to be Juliet, or Charlotte or Jacks wife…none of those girls look anything like the Annie that’s a child. Annie & Kate look alike, no mistaking it. Did Kate have a baby (Annie) then time flash out of that era to another time and the baby stayed behind? Do time travelling issues allow you to have a child before you were technically born though? Is this where the pregnancy issues began? Hmmm…thoughts?

Unknown said...

Oh, it is almost Wednesday again...I took your advice and started reading "The Time Traveler's Wife". I love it. And I totally picture our lovely Mr. Faraday as Henry! Please don't ever stop writing about Lost. Seriously.

Steve H. said...

Just got turned on to your blog. It's fantastic. Thanks!

Just want to echo some of the religious theories suggested. Hawking mentions how Locke's death is a "substitute" a "Proxy" that will help the Islander's get back.

They were 'separated' from the Island and could not return there by natural means. The John 3:16 verse (hence 316) is very appropriate as mankind was separated from God because of their disobedience. The O815s were separated from the Island because of their disobedience. Now their trying to "get back" and only the sacrifice of a friend can do it. Locke being the "true believer" is the natural sacrificial lamb.

Just a thought...:)

Anonymous said...

How can Ben's mother have taught him to read, when she died giving birth to him?

Anonymous said...

E,

What do you think about the theory on this site?

http://www.timelooptheory.com/the_timeline.html

Michelle said...

Oh I'm so glad it's Wednesday again and another episode is coming. I was SO upset when I realized this last episode was over because there was so much more I was still waiting for.

And you mention that no one in this flight got banged by the suitcases and knocked around, but ummmm the stewardess? She was checking everyone's seatbelts, and I was trying to figure out why the O6 crew weren't telling her to sit DOWN and buckle up, but she was tossed about quite a bit and had some sickening crunches. Can't wait to see how they got to the island and what happened to the rest of the plane.

And I know this is way way late, but I only recently discovered this blog.... Did you go over the whole Jeremy Bentham the 18th century philosopher when Locke took that as his off-island name? So appropriate!

cathy said...

hi e! this'll be my first post, altho i've been reading ur blog for awhile. :-)

i had a theory about sun being so happy on the plane. could SHE be the reason that everyone is on flight 316? she knew that the conditions of the flight had to be as close as possible to flight 815, and she has vast resources at her fingertips to force her fellow O6/5-ers on the plane. not to mention that she apparently will stop at nothing (including leaving her daughter behind) to see jin again. she also didn't seem very surprised that everyone was there, unlike jack.

anyway, just a thought. i always look forward to reading ur recaps!

Anonymous said...

What I noticed first about Locke's ripped piece of suicide note that Jack had on the island was that the part missing said "...you had believed me."

Also, I love Lazy Sunday

Kathy said...

Just wanted to mention to all the folks asking since the O6 were knowingly returning to the island, why didn't they dress in hiking boots, etc. Ms. Hawking said they needed to recreate as much of Flt 815 as possible. Well, they originally were dressed just as they were on this flight!

Love your insights e!!

Julie said...

Hi E - great post, as usual. This is probably a nitpicky thing, but did you notice that when Jack's phone rang at his apt., it had a "european" ring (beep-beep, pause, beep-beep). Probably nothing but I know how careful the attention to detail is.

Also, I don't think the girl with Sayid is a police officer--we saw a badge, but that doesn't mean it's real. I think Sayid, the girl with Sayid, and Caesar are aligned with Widmore. Probably Sun, too. Not sure about Hurley, though.

Keep up the great work!