Sunday, May 02, 2010

S6Ep13 - The Last Recruit

Hello my dear friends -

Ever work at a restaurant? Back in the day I used to waitress at The Olive Garden -- or, as I preferred to call it, "The O.G." Mmm, breadsticks. Anyway, whenever anyone was running behind on their orders we would say they were "in the weeds." That expression came back to me this morning as I wrestled with how to explain that I will not be writing recaps for the next three Lost episodes. My excuse is that I'm very, very much in the weeds right now with my book project. I'll be going into total lockdown (pun intended) mode until it's done -- no daylight, no fresh air, no phone calls, etc. I'm even having to scale back my work for redbox and am taking a week off for the first time in twenty months -- that's how serious this situation is. Dah! After my manuscript is in, I will emerge from the depths of my condo looking like some sort of Gollum-ish creature. No, I will not post pictures.

What I plan to do instead of writing recaps for the May 4th, 11th and 18th episodes is post about a paragraph's worth of my thoughts either immediately following the show or the next morning. That way it'll give anyone who wants to leave an opinion or theory about that specific episode a place to do so... and if I ever get a moment to breathe, I will try to add a few additional thoughts in the comments section -- but no promises. I do, however, promise to write The Mother of All Recaps for the series finale.

In the meantime, here is my take on "The Last Recruit." I had this 90% written the day after the show aired, but then things got away from me.

"The Last Recruit" was one of those episodes where the time just flew by because the hour was focused on getting characters in certain places rather than the overall mythology of the show. It seriously seemed like only 20 minutes had passed by the time the end credits rolled. So there's not a heck of a lot to say theory-wise. I still really enjoyed the episode, though it didn't live up to the crazy-high expectations I had based on that kick-ass Willy Wonka preview.

I'll tackle the alternate timeline first.

- If, as I speculated last week, Des had mowed Locke down in the hopes of inducing his Island memories through a traumatic experience, then his plan worked. Did you catch how Locke said Helen was the woman he "was going" to marry... rather than the woman he is going to marry? That's a sign he's seen the other side, in my book. Same goes for Sun... she'd been shot and thought she might have lost her baby, which was certainly enough to trigger visions of the original timeline. That's why she was freaking out and yelling, "Oh no, it's him!" when being wheeled into the hospital next to Locke (which was a totally cool scene). She thought it was the MIB. When she was out of surgery later, however, she seemed to be back to normal after she found out the baby was OK. But if she runs into any of the 815ers again, will that trigger another memory?

- Over at the police station, Sawyer was flirting it up with Fugitive Kate and musing over how many times they'd run into each other. I'm sure tons of Skaters cheered when Sawyer said, "It's like something wants us together" (or whatever the line was -- close enough). And did you notice how he was eating an apple and offered it to Kate as well? Is that a hint they're going to turn out to be the Adam and Eve skeletons? Then he learned about how Sayid escaped from what would go down in the record books as the Good Eggs Massacre, and he and Miles set out to find their prime suspect. I'm wondering if Kate will be gone by the time they return. I'm thinking she will be.

- Alt Sayid is totally weak and I was not digging him in this episode. His hair is a disgrace, he doesn't wear tank tops, and he was basically brought down by a freakin' garden hose. I mean, come on. What happened to Badass Sayid? He doesn't exist in the Sideways Timeline. I actually prefer Dead Eye Sayid. And now it's clear that NO version of Sayid is meant to live happily ever after with Nadia, dammit.

- Elsewhere in the sideways world, Des is stalking 815ers once again. This time he's found Claire, and he convinces her to talk with his attorney friend before she goes in to sign her adoption papers. If I were Claire I would've kicked his creepy butt down the escalator. He was coming on pretty strong, no? But whatever... she agreed, and since I was spoiled by the beginning credits I knew the lawyer would most likely be Ilana. And wouldn't you know it, she'd been looking for Claire in an attempt to settle Christian Shephard's affairs. I don't really know if that's why Des brought her to Ilana, or if he was just trying to get her to reconsider giving Aaron away, but regardless, the detour served to get her face-to-face with another 815er. That never seems to be enough to trigger a vision, though. Maybe she'll randomly go into labor the next time she and Jack reconvene with Ilana and then she'll be like, "I remember you! And I remember ME... with some sort of dead rodent on my head... what tha... ?"

- Jack has to make a quick exit from the will reading in order to attend to Locke. Whom he recognizes after looking in yet another mirror... this one underneath the operating table, very similar to how Ben was laid out for his spinal tumor surgery back in the infamous "KATE! DAMMIT! RUN!" episode (shout-out to Josh G). So call it -- will Jack make Locke able to walk again or not? I'm guessing he will, because then Locke will be one more 815er who is getting everything he ever hoped for in the alternate timeline. If he can walk Helen down the aisle in this life, is that really worth giving up in order to be called "a sucker" by the Smoke Monster? No. Unless something (or someone) convinces him that he will save the world by doing so. I should also mention that when Locke wakes up from the surgery, I believe he will have all of his Island memories still intact. The question is whether or not he'll "remember" anything AFTER the point he's killed by Ben. As in, will he be able to access the thoughts of the MIB since he's parading around in his form?

On to the Island.

- Things kicked off on a very awesome note with the much-anticipated Jack/Fake Locke discussion. We got confirmation that the MIB had been masquerading as Christian the whole time. He also told Jack that all he'd ever been trying to do was help Jack leave the Island, but that had been impossible while Jacob was still alive. Now that Jacob was gone, they could all bust outta there... but it had to be all of them leaving together. Jack was like "OK..." but inside his head he wasn't buyin' it. Especially after the MIB called Locke a sucker for believing that the Island brought them there for a reason. Since Jack is now a Man of Faith, the MIB had essentially just called him a pitiful punk, too.

- On his way back to the main camp, Jack ran into Claire, who attempted to bond with her long-lost half-bro. But he told her politely that he wasn't exactly on her and Fake Locke's side just yet. And she was like, "Ha, ha, joke's on you." She believed that the second the MIB spoke with Jack, Jack was a goner.

- Then Zoe strolled into the clearing and showed off Widmore's Explosion Skillz by decimating part of the jungle right behind them. It reminded me of that scene in The Princess Bride when Fezzik (Andre the Giant) threw a boulder near the Man in Black's head (AAHHHH, I just realized yet another Lost/Princess Bride similarity... and not even the one I was originally pointing out!) and said, "I did that on purpose. I didn't have to miss." Fake Locke was not fazed and destroyed her walkie-talkie the second she left. "Here we go," he sighed.

- That's when everyone started cutting deals left and right, and my husband pointed out that the music sounded very Imperial March-like. Maybe because of Hurley's awesome dark side/Anakin lines. Anyway, Fake Locke announced the plan, and then Sawyer filled Jack in on the Plan B while Fake Locke was telling Sayid to go finish off Des.

- Am I nuts, or did the preview show Sayid's gun firing down into the well? 'Cause that didn't happen. Instead, I'm pretty sure Des guilted Sayid into NOT shooting him. Or else, you know, we probably would've seen Desmond's death scene, don't you think? So between Sayid NOT killing Zoe over on Hydra and now not killing Des, I'm wondering if there's perhaps a glimmer of He of the Black Tank Top left in those dead eyes? I hope there is!

- Same goes for Claire... everyone had counted her out, but then she ended up choosing to sail away with her original peeps instead of run to the MIB and tattle on them. Though I did like her "he's gonna be really mad" warning. And kudos to Kate for sticking to the original reason she came back to the Island. I was happy to see that.

- So everyone's on the boat, but then something doesn't sit right with Jack. "If that thing wants us to leave... maybe it's afraid of what will happen if we stay." I did NOT see him jumping off the boat and swimming back coming at all. The Mad Doctor is BACK, folks!

- The other group makes it to Hydra and out of nowhere comes Jin in a blindingly white t-shirt for his three-years-in-the-making reunion with Sun. I KNOW I was not the only one who feared they were going to get zapped by the sonic fence. I could barely watch that scene I was so worried.



But the hubby and wife duo didn't get to celebrate for very long, because then Widmore's team threatened everyone at gunpoint while also beginning to bomb the bejeezus out of the main Island.

- Speaking of... Jack makes it back to shore and then immediately gets blown sky high (though he miraculously remained in one piece). Fake Locke carries him into the jungle a ways where they appear to be out of imminent danger for the moment. He assures Jack that he'll be safe because "you're with me now." This brings me to my last point -- are we supposed to gather from this episode's title that JACK is "the last recruit"? Cause, um, I didn't really count Hurley, Sawyer, Kate or anyone else outside Claire and Sayid as technically being "recruited" by the MIB. Usually the episode titles make sense to me, but this one didn't.

Clearly, Jack is NOT on the MIB's side. If anything, he's just going to pretend to go along with him in order to stall... hoping that the Island will reveal whatever it was that he was brought there to do in the first place. The Island better hurry up! And while I'm on the topic of the Island -- I really pray this series doesn't end over on Hydra. That just wouldn't be right.

I'll leave you with what I thought was the best of the fan-made Lost finale commercials in a recent contest ABC held. This one didn't win, though, which is a damn shame. The winning clip will be aired during the finale, so stay tuned for that.




OK, that's it... I'll be back within 24 hours of the May 4th episode to post a quick summary of my thoughts.

Until then,
- e

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been reading your site a long time and I don't think you can stay away. Prove me wrong ;)

Anonymous said...

Erika- I don't know which moment will be sadder... The End of Lost or the End of your LOST recaps. Your insight and theories have made LOST a much richer experience. (Not to mention your incredible writing abilities!) Without your Long Live Locke blog i would have been.... well, just LOST! : ) Good Luck.

Nathan said...

You think you can leave this blog?

The blog ISN'T done with you yet!

It won't feel right, you will have to go back, e!


Anyway, I only fairly recently found out about your blog, near the beginning of this season, but I have really enjoyed your recaps.

So thank you.

Good luck with whatever you are doing. Don't put yourself in overdrive too much for this book though, make sure you still make time for exercise, seriously, otherwise you will struggle to keep yourself going. I am extremely intelligent, so you should listen to me.

Goodbye.

See you in anotha' life brotha'.


* God, I am sad for referencing Lost phrases. Luckily no'one I know knows I do. And If I had to do it anywhere, it would be on the comments section of a Lost episode recap blog writer nearing retirement. :D

Anonymous said...

E... you know we all support you and want the best for you. As much as we'll miss the recaps, we understand. Sniff.

A couple of comments:

1. I thought Hurley's Dark Side comments were very revealing. Perhaps Said can come back... or if it is indeed too late for him now (ala Vader) perhaps he can eliminate the emperor to save his friends right before he dies.

2. I too thought Sun and Jin were going to be fried by the fence but when I watched it again, you can hear the fence power down. I think Zoe also tells them to turn it off.

I hope you didn't read any of this because you are hard at work!!

--S

Vanja said...

Thanks for the recap!

I was getting very worried about Jack possibly being "the last recruit", with Sayid confirming that "Locke" brought him back from the dead (although that somehow happend in the "darkened" spring in the temple) and the idea that Widmore's bombs might as well have killed Jack.
This didn't look very surviveable...

Then again the zombification doesn't necessarily mean being totally under the control of you-know-who.

We also still don't know what the "infection" really is. Whatever happened to the french team?! What does "recruiting/recruit" really mean?

All the best,
Vanja (from Germany)

Meredith said...

Don't tell us what you can't do! Seriously, good luck with finishing your book and, remember, we need you here.

C. Hays said...

Great Re-cap, e, and we'll be looking forward to even your scaled down versions! As an amateur writer, I am so jealous of your book deal, but so proud too! Good luck! And, yes, I agree with the Promo Contest Commercial you picked. I swear I get a lump in my throat every time I watch it!

cjh

Unknown said...

Just one thing that doesn't sit quite right with me, after the reveal that Jacks dad was Floke and led them to water I was left thinking that Jacks dad appeared off the island late at night in the hospital lobby interestingly when a smoke alarm wa going off, coincidence? I don't fink so!!!

Superthomo@hotmail.com

Janet said...

Yeah, I saw the gun shot in the preview too. Maybe it will be in a future episode when we see how Sayid really helps Desmond get out of the well so he can continue his save-the-world mission.

GeoffUK. said...

e, in light of your recap statement I will leave you with this thought........It's been six days,we're all still waiting, waiting for someone to come.What if they don't? We have to stop waiting, we need to start figuring things out, we can't do this, every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organising we need to figure out how we are going to survive here. Last week most of us were strangers, but we are all here now. God knows how long we are going to be here...But if we can't Blog together........we're going to write alone!!

GeoffUK said...

By the way e, that was cruel mentioning the Olive Garden Breadsticks. It's a quarter to midnight here in England, what I would give for six breadsticks (yes I scrolled over the picture, naughty!) Just have to wait for my Florida trip this August! Cheers

Feo said...

The OG! Long time reader, long time server at the OG out here in San Diego and let me remind you lucky you are to never have to wait tables again! Soup and Salad uggg!! bane of my existence.. Anyways,

Am i the only one whose kinda really dissapointed in the fact that MIB was always Christian? I was really hoping for him being an island vision or entity and that we would get to see a Christian and Jack reunion of some sort. I mean its been building that up for 6 seasons. Least they could have done is reveal that info to Jack posing as Christian. Can someone remind me why MIB is "stuck" as Locke again? because remember last season when he was Christian talking to Sun and Lapidus one minute and than he walks out of the trees with Ben in Dharmaville the next.

Erika (aka "e") said...

Thanks for all the nice comments and words of encouragement, everyone.


Feo - Holla to another OG server! And I think that MIB is frozen because they buried Locke. Once Locke's true body was buried, MIB couldn't shapeshift out of his form any longer, or that's what Ilana made it seem like, anyway.

- e

drallabg said...

Healing fine and going to make it to the end of LOST! I am told 2-3 decades is probable. Thanks...Gary

Erika (aka "e") said...

drallabg -- SO glad to hear it! I'd been wondering how you were doing...

- e

IndianaJosh said...

You are awesome. I've been reading these for about a year now. A friend of mine told me about you. Amazing stuff. Good luck with your book project.

Sherylm said...

"Alt Sayid is totally weak and I was not digging him in this episode. His hair is a disgrace, he doesn't wear tank tops, and he was basically brought down by a freakin' garden hose. I mean, come on. What happened to Badass Sayid? " This is exactly why your a lot of your LLL readers have been acting like junkie Charlie without your recaps these past few weeks, e! I mean, I only have to read lines like that to start laughing like an idiot and making everyone at the office wonder if I'm losing it :-) And personally, I vote for at least one "e as a Gollum look-alike" photo in your final recap.
Take care and good luck with your project.

Miss Fashion-Plus said...

First, I was SO scared that Jin and Sun would really get zapped. I was on my feet like no, hen it was a little anti-climatic when nothing happened.
Second, I'm REALLY going to miss your posts. I wish I would have been reading them from the beginning of the series. I just discovered your post in the beginning of last season and you don't know how lonely I was being addicted to Lost and no one else I knew watched it! Thanks so much for the laughs and the ideas that I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

Anonymous said...

I've been writing it everywhere else, so I might as well write it here: Just because MIB said he took the form of Christian to lead the 815'ers to water doesn't mean he was Christian every single time. I say the jury is still out...

p_s_xpress said...

Thanks for posting the great "Obsession" ad! I agree it should've won, though I haven't seen the others, but it was clever and well made. We don't need a huge epic recap, but do post something! We appreciate it!

Anonymous said...

I agree briguyx - I don't believe MIB was always Christian - he says he can't travel over water, what about when Christian appeared to Michael on the freighter just before it blew up??

My big question is - how did smokey get into Lockes body on the Hydra Island in the first place if he can't travel over water????

And then during the same time he appeared to Sun and Frank over at the barracks showing them the photo of the Losties stuck in Dharma in 1977????

Am I wrong somewhere???
PS: Thank E for your great re-caps will really miss you after the end (sniff, sniff...)

Kelly, UK said...

Thanks for this recap, e. It was such a full-on episode I really wanted someone (you) to tie it all together for me. Totally get your need to retreat for the next three. Do what you need to do. I will wait for your huge finale write-up with pleasure and cope with the bits and pieces in the meantime.
I too think there's hope for Sayid and Jack.
Loving your work :)

Julian said...

Nathan and Meredith...hilarious!

e, we will wait.

I, too, thought Sun and Jin were about to start spewing foam from their mouths.

Anonymous said...

e - You are uniquely and miraculously special. So if you seriously go into blogging lockdown, God help us all.

If you need to do two things at once, just get one of those time turners that Hermione Granger uses!

Nick said...

Great stuff, as always! Good luck with the next few weeks. We'll be thinking of you...

It's OK to go into Lockdown, as long as the steel door doesn't slam down on your legs. Ouch.

Asphodel said...

In de midst of all this; I wonder if the 'oceanic six' aren`t completely world news by now. I mean they fanished on a plane, AGAIN! ..

Bearister said...

The Last Recruit: Maybe it is really "the last recruit left on the island." As in, Jack is the last potential candidate recruit to remain on the island to keep the MIB in the bottle, so to speak.

How ironic would it be if Widmore's bomb left Jack paralyzed from the waste down? After all, we only see MIB carry Jack into the jungle. I just can't convince myself it will work with so little time left.

Best of luck with the book! When will you be able to tell us the name? Pub date?

Unknown said...

e - I thought that MIB couldn't change forms once Jacob was killed by Ben? That was my understanding at least!

Unknown said...

Erika, damnit, WRITE (your book)!!!!!


And then pretty please come back and make our post lost experience a little easier to get through...

Good luck!!!!

Nicole said...

I've been reading your Lost blog for years and your witty recaps and insights have really made my experience with this show so much better! I don't think I would have enjoyed the show nearly as much without your blog to follow up with every week. Thanks for the time you've put in and best of luck with the book!

Katie Kat said...

I was wondering where you were! I applaud you even TRYING to keep up here with a book in the works. Anything you can post will be GREATLY appreciated and loved, but the badass mother of all recaps is what I can't wait for!

Side note - I've also been miffed at ABC for showing Sayid's gun going off when he "shoots" Des in the well. I re-ran the promo to see for sure, and it DID! :)

FaradayRocks said...

To Anonymous: You know, I posted exactly the same observation on another board (hey, I know it's cheating, but I gotta have LOST talk between e's posts!!1, and no one responded. I think it's a problem... Locke's body flew in on Ajira 316 to HYDRA island. If he was on the MAIN island & can't fly over water as smoke, did he go there in a boat as as MIB (Titus Welliver)offscreen to claim Lockes' body?

As others have said, good luck, e!

Anonymous said...

we all kinda know that there's still hope for sayid and clair to come back from the dark side,the same goes for u E! noone wants 2 believe that u r goin for good,neither do i.proof:if i were keepin a blog and its readers alive for almost 6 years,there would b no way in hell 2 leave them in the most critical time.i dare u !!
tanx for ur lovely recaps and good luck with ur book.must v been one hell of a book to b left for! i'm jealous of the book!
D from I

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Fake Locke can't cross water and keep all his nasty smoke monster skillz intact. He has for example already been over to the Hydra island to talk to Widmore, so perhaps the business of him not being able to cross water is that in this case he's just like another human being, which won't do him a lot of good in his plans for taking over the world or whatever it is.

Anonymous said...

When Jack went to Ilana the lawyer, she twice called him "Mr." Shephard, not "Dr." Shephard. Once when meeting him at the reception desk and the other when introducing him to Claire. Maybe this was just a mistake in the writing, but I picked up on it.

Anonymous said...

e, firstly thanks for ur amazing blog!

did anyone notice that at the end of this episode Jack as a cut on his neck? it was similar to the one that appeared in the begining of the season (off the island)?? Coincidence?

What do you think??

Pikachao said...

I would like to point out on the preview, that wehn I first saw it, I called foul. After inspecting the preview, you can tell the shot was added in for the preview alone. I could point out the moment that Sayid should have fired his gun, but didn't

Garry UK said...

Just an observation - the way MIB calls John a sucker it sounds more like Succour or in American succor!

Succour is a person who is here to help!

Miss Fashion-Plus said...

Man...I can't believe that they took out four people. I think I'm so much in shock that I couldn't even cry, I just don't believe it. I think I'm in denial about this being the last season, but NO, I'm so in shock that first Syiad blew up...NO! Then Lapidus, then Sun and Jin. But I should have known after last week something was up with those two. I'm just...Gosh! I was a good episode.