S6Ep3 - What Kate Does

Hello my dear friends -

As I did last week, I'm going to kick off this post by tying up a few loose ends from the premiere:

1) A huge "Thanks!" to the approximately 1,457 people who reminded me that the gaping hole in the Temple's perimeter was caused by Ben's fall when he was on his way to be judged by Smokey last season...
2)... and that the chick who drowned in Season One was named Joanna...
3) ... and that in Korea, married women often keep their last name, so it might not have been any sort of clue when the security guard called Sun "Mrs. Paik."

Some people also wrote in to say that perhaps Fake Locke's reference to Richard's chains wasn't because Richard was on the Black Rock, but rather because he was originally a slave in ancient Egypt who was brought to the Island by Jacob (hence tying in the multitude of nods to that culture on the show over the years). Others thought the chains were just the metaphorical kind -- like now that Jacob's dead, Richard's no longer at his beck and call.

Since I am positive we'll get more background on the Ageless One before the final credits roll on the series, let's move on to "What Kate Does." I've heard some grumblings about this episode having "too much filler," "moving too slowly," and "not giving enough answers." I felt quite differently. Perhaps it's because I rewatched all of Season One this past summer (that's as far as my own personal re-watch got, though, unfortunately) and have a new appreciation for what makes an hour of Lost enjoyable enough that it stands the test of time. I'd forgotten how much simpler the show used to be -- hell, Jack spent half of "Deux Ex Machina" trying to figure out why Sawyer was having bad headaches (remember his classic line of questioning about STDs?) and melding together Harry Potter glasses for his rival.

And guess what folks? Whether you realize it or not, those were the kind of scenes that made you fall in love with the show and stick with it for the past five years. "What Kate Does" brought back that type of intimate vibe that is hard to achieve in a more action-packed episode. I'd take meaningful, heartfelt exchanges between characters over Smokey sequences and rumbles in the jungle any day. So what I'm trying to say is, I liked this episode. And for the record, I don't care if they dole out ONE more answer on this show. I mean it. I can explain everything we've seen so far courtesy of my over-active imagination. And that way I can still get some elves into the picture.

Now that I've made my plea to you all to just ENJOY the remaining hours of the show, let's get into the meat of this Kate-centric installment. Casual viewers (aka: "normal people") might have forgotten that in Season Two there was an episode entitled "What Kate Did," which clued us in to her (successful) attempt to blow up her mom's house... which contained her abusive stepfather. In "What Kate Does" she's still on the run for murder in the alternate timeline, but aside from the video played at Comic-Con, we have no other details about exactly what landed her in handcuffs.

So let's take the do-over/reset/reboot/bizarro world/if-there's-a-common-name-the-alternate-timeline-is-being-referred-to-across-the-messageboards-please-tell-me scenes first.


I KNOW YOU
I WALKED WITH YOU ONCE UPON A DREAM
I KNOW YOU
THAT GLEAM IN YOUR EYES IS SO FAMILIAR A GLEAM

After Kate jumped in the cab with Claire, good ol' Arzt blocked their way with all of his dropped luggage. You can bet that I thought he was going to be run over since we all know he didn't meet a very happy ending on the Island, either. But he stepped aside, and only his luggage was worse for the wear.

What was more important about this part, however, is the weird look that flashed across Kate's face when she locked eyes with Jack as he stood outside the terminal and was making calls to try and straighten out his dad's non-funeral. Yes, Jack and Kate bumped into each other on the plane and he'd made googly eyes at her, but she was pretty busy stealing his pen and I don't think their quick encounter was anything that would've caused her to make such an expression of recognition when she saw him again a half-hour or so later. Jack also had a "Hey, huh, wha...?" air about him when he saw Kate from afar. Some people think that if this timeline was running concurrently with the timeline in which Flight 815 crashed, that by this point Kate and Jack would've met each other on the Island and that's why they're now seeming to recognize one another in this instance of events. That doesn't really explain why Jack would've already felt like he'd met Desmond before, though... and I'm honestly not sure that Jack and Kate met THAT quickly after the crash, but it's still something to consider.

I'm going with a more general theory that all of the 815ers are going to start experiencing some sort of nagging feelings... like they're meant to be somewhere else. Or they'll feel oddly drawn to certain people, much like we've already seen starting to happen between Jack and Locke, and now Kate and Claire.


GOT A WHALE OF A TALE TO TELL YA, LADS
A WHALE OF A TALE OR TWO

After Kate left Claire stranded on the side of the road, she sweet-talked a mechanic into breaking open her handcuffs and then went into the body shop's bathroom to change into Claire's stuff. Except that there were no clothes in Claire's bag, there was just a bunch of baby stuff. Including the very same stuffed animal that Kate would end up buying Aaron in the original timeline in "Something Nice Back Home." I totally freaked out when I saw that thing.

So Kate then felt all guilty and decided to go back to get Claire, who was still in the exact same spot, waiting for the bus. Now, did the woman who stole Jack's pen, bashed the marshal's head into a counter, held a cab driver and pregnant chick at gunpoint and then manipulated her way into getting out of her 'cuffs strike you as the type of considerate lady who would have a change of heart about someone she screwed over that she didn't even know? No. Up until Kate looked in the bag, she had no intention of going back for Claire. I personally don't think she would've gone back even if she'd seen Claire's Polaroid or the pack of onesies. It was that orca stuffed animal, I tell ya, calling to Kate from a different dimension -- luring her back to be reunited with someone she was connected to in another life.


HE'S THE ONE THEY CALL DR. FEELGOOD
HE'S THE ONE THAT MAKES YA FEEL ALL RIGHT

That otherworldly connection Kate and Claire share is probably the same thing that swayed Claire into hitching a ride with the very same woman who had hijacked her cab earlier in the day. How else can you explain that decision?

Since I had seen William Mapother's name on the Guest Starring list at the beginning of the episode, I expected that Ethan would be the adoptive father who would open the door when Claire showed up in Brentwood. When he wasn't -- and when Claire started going into labor after being delivered the news that there was in fact no happy couple waiting to adopt her baby -- then I knew Ethan would have to turn up in the hospital. Damn spoilery beginning credits!

And yep, there he was, Dr. Ethan Goodspeed. I've been asked to address how he could be alive in this instance of events, so I'll remind you all that when Miles had forewarned Daddy Chang that the Island might blow up, the Dharma peeps started shipping out all of the women and children. So baby Ethan would've been safe, as would've baby Miles, and toddler Charlotte, etc., etc. So see -- Faraday DID save Charlotte, the death of the skinny tie was not in vain!

But back to the hospital room -- Ethan's all nicety-nice and makes a point of saying that he doesn't want to stick Claire with needles if he doesn't have to. Uh-huh. She chooses to delay the delivery, and then Unnamed, Unborn Turniphead throws a hissy fit and the machine beeps out some sort of flatline. The second Claire shouts, "Is Aaron OK?", however, normalcy returns and the ultrasound shows that everything's just dandy. This was clearly not a coincidence. Later, Claire claimed that it was like she just "knew it or something" when Kate inquired about the fact that Claire'd given her child a name. Kate also threw in that she felt Claire "should keep him."

Now, let's think back a bit about what originally put Claire on Oceanic 815. The psychic -- who I truly believe WAS a psychic -- who felt so strongly that Claire must be the one to raise Aaron that he put her on a flight he knew would either strand her with her son on a crazy island or -- gulp -- kill them both. What if in this new timeline she visited the same guy and he put her on the Oceanic flight because he knew that even though the adoption would fall through and the plane would land safely in LA, Claire would meet Kate and the labor scare they went through together -- as well as Kate's words -- would ultimately lead Claire to raise Aaron herself?

Finally, before we move on to the present-day events, I want to address something I mentioned at the end of my "LA X (Part 1)" post. I'd speculated that the new Oceanic flight we were watching might have been taking place three years after the original, in order for the on-Island and off-Island events to be moving in parallel and things to some how sync up in the series' finale. But, besides Jack's old-school cell phone, I think we now have other proof that the rebooted flight took place exactly when it did before: 9/22/04. Why? Because on Claire's ultrasound there was a date: 10/22/04. Some peeps wrote in to Gregg Nations, who keeps track of each and every little crazy detail about the show, and asked if the 10/22/04 was a mistake or a clue. He said it was a bit of both, and in this thread on Lost's creative team's official site, you can all but discern that the date should've been 9/22/04 (the mistake being the "10," and the clue being the "04"). The crew's just human folks -- they can goof up every once in a while just like the rest of us. So moving forward I will be working from the all-but-confirmed assumption that the alternate timeline is taking place in the fall of 2004.

Let's head to the Island!

HEY, I AIN'T NEVER COMING HOME
HEY, I'LL JUST WANDER MY OWN ROAD
HEY, HEY, I CAN'T MEET YOU HERE TOMORROW
NO, NO
SAY GOODBYE
DON'T FOLLOW
MISERY SO HOLLOW

At the Temple, Sawyer glares at the rest of the group from the sidelines and informs Kate that he intends to escape. The Others return and demand some alone time with Sayid and Jack attempts to fight them off, but Sawyer starts firing shots in the air and lets everyone know that he'll be leaving now. Dogen the Japanese Other Leader decides that this would be an appropriate time to start speaking English and pleads, quite seriously,
"Please, you have to stay." Shuh, right! "James Ford" has totally reverted back to being Season One Sawyer -- hating on Sayid, out for himself, and just wanting to be alone. "Don't follow me," he warns Kate.
But OF COURSE Kate is going to go after him, and Jin -- sensing his chance to get closer to finding Sun -- offers to join her and two Others on the search mission. After a near-smooch with Jack (I really thought it was gonna happen), Kate takes off with Jin and Sayid is dragged away to a very Princess Bride-like Pit of Despair, minus the freaky albino wheelbarrow-toting guy.


BAD MEDICINE IS WHAT I NEED
SHAKE IT UP
JUST LIKE BAD MEDICINE
THERE AIN'T NO DOCTOR WHO CAN CURE MY DISEASE

When Lennon first informed Dogen that Sayid had awoken, did you notice how Dogen kept fingering that weird silver scroll pendant thingy around his neck? That's gotta mean something. I just don't know what yet. I also liked how he was corresponding with god knows who using a TYPEWRITER -- I think he was even pounding away at the keys one-finger style. I don't get these Others, they so crazy.

Anyway, once they get Sayid to the torture chamber, they do a bunch of stuff that 1) really reminded me of when Rousseau first captured Sayid back in Season One, and 2) is clearly related to the Man in Black/Smokey because Dogen was blowing ash all over the place. He shocks Sayid, brands him with a hot poker and then proclaims, "Nope, you don't have H1N1 -- that vaccine you got at Walgreens actually worked, whaddaya know!"

Sayid stumbles back out into the main chamber and Jack has just about had it when he learns that has friend has been hurt. My FAVORITE part of the episode was when Jack's all, "Step aside," to those two burly guards... and then they do it! He had a classic look on his face like "That worked?" before brushing by them. It reminded me of that little smile he had in "The Incident" when Hurley pulled up in the Dharma Van to rescue him and Bleeding Out Sayid.

Jack confronts Lennon and Dogen, who deliver the bad news that Sayid is "infected," and that if he doesn't take the green pill Dogen's whipped up, the "infection will spread." They stress that it's critical Sayid take the pill willingly and that Jack be the one who gives it to him. Dogen also mentions that since it's Jack's fault Sayid got shot in the first place (and reminds him of how so many others had been hurt or killed following him, their leader), this would be a good way to redeem himself.


WHAT'S IN YOUR HEAD
IN YOUR HEAD
ZOMBIE
ZOMBIE
ZOMBIE

Back in the spring room, Sayid is like "WTF just happened to me, for real," and Hurley's all, "Don't you remember? You signed on for the top-secret Zombie Season -- it's really gonna happen, just like Damon and Carlton promised! And you get to be the first zombie!"
Jack returns to have a quick private chat about the mystery pill with Sayid, whose attitude is, "I'll do whatever you want, bro. I apparently already died, what else could happen to me?"

Jack goes back to Dogen's lair once more and this time Dogen's messing around with a baseball. WHAT?!?! I was trying to remember if we've seen a baseball on the show before, but I've got nothing. We do know that Jack is a big BoSox fan, and one of the items that Ageless Richard had Young Locke choose from when he was "testing" him in "Cabin Fever" was a baseball glove, but that's all I could come up with. The mystery of the baseball gets added below the mysteries of the silver necklace thingy and the typewriter. But if the next time we see Dogen he's in a Snuggie, I will stop watching this show.

Anywho, Jack asks Dogen why he uses a translator when he doesn't need one, and Dogen gave a very diplomatic answer: "I have to remain separate from the people I'm in charge of. It makes it easier when they don't like the decisions I make for them." This immediately brought to mind the dreaded Episode About Jack's Tattoos, where we learn that one of the Mad Doctor's markings reads, "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us." Ah, the life of a leader is often a lonely one. Dogen and Jack have a bit in common, it seems.

But they're not yet at the same level of acceptance about the power of the Island, though. When Jack asked Dogen if he's "from" the Island, Dogen looked very confused and replied, "I was brought here like everyone else," and then Jack was the one feigning ignorance.

Not for long, however, because when Dogen continued to refuse to tell Jack the secret recipe for not only Mrs. Field's Cookies, but also Coca-Cola, KFC chicken and the mysterious green pill, Jack straight-up popped the little bugger down his throat. I did NOT see that one coming. I think I actually yelled out, "D'OH!!!!"


SWALLOW IT DOWN
SUCH A JAGGED LITTLE PILL

Bad move, Jack. It was poison. Double-d'oh!

Thankfully, Dogen was up to date with his Heimlich training and was able to retrieve the "medicine." Then he had no choice but to explain, with Lennon's help, that Sayid had been "claimed." They said a darkness was growing in Jack's Iraqi friend and once it reached his heart, everything that we all love about He of the Black Tank Tops will be gone forever. Nooooooo! Jack asks, "How do you know this?" and they clued him in to the fact that the same thing had happened to his half-sis, and she'd officially gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. (More on that later.)

Elsewhere on the Island...

SHE'S GONE
OH I, OH I'D
BETTER LEARN HOW TO FACE IT
SHE'S GONE
OH I, OH I'D
PAY THE DEVIL TO REPLACE HER
SHE'S GONE
WHAT WENT WRONG?

Kate, Jin and Others Aldo and Justin are tracking Sawyer, and Aldo confirms that all the hullabaloo at the Temple was in order to prepare the grounds against a Smoke Monster attack. Before too long, however, Kate finds a way to knock both of her captors out, and after a tense exchange with Jin ("Who do YOU care about, Kate?") she makes a beeline for New Otherton.

And dammit if Sawyer isn't there pulling up the floorboards to retrieve the engagement ring he'd planned to give Juliet. He allows Kate to come with him to the pier and she tries to convince him to help her find Claire. Their ensuing "some of us are meant to be alone" conversation was almost too hard for me to watch, as they each took turns blaming themselves for Juliet's death. But -- my dog as my witness -- I totally, totally lost it when Sawyer threw the ring into the water and then broke down once again... and then after he left KATE broke down. This show has championship-level criers, it always has. Matthew Fox still reigns supreme as the Most Outstanding Man-Crier, but Josh Holloway came close to swiping the title with this scene. It was beautiful and awful all at the same time. I'm glad they're not just having Sawyer "get over" everything. And it doesn't look like he'll be trotting after Kate back to the Temple any time soon, either.


YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?
YOU'RE IN THE JUNGLE, BABY!
YOU'RE GONNA DIE...

Meanwhile, poor Jin's wandering around by himself trying to figure out how he can make it to wherever the Ajira flight might have landed when Aldo and Justin find him again. Aldo threatens to kill Jin, but before he gets a chance, he's shot down and then so is his fellow Other. By a very unkempt Claire. I've got to give props to Tom T for writing me milliseconds after the show ended and coining the nickname "Clousseau" for the Rousseau-ish Claire. I've since seen it elsewhere, but in my mind Tom T gets the kudos for that one.

So what's going on with Claire, and why are Dogen and Lennon convinced that whatever happened to her will also happen to Sayid?

When we last saw Completely Normal Claire, she was at her home in New Otherton before Keamy's team attacked. Her house was blown up, but Sawyer found her in the rubble and she appeared to be alive... though Miles was giving her funny looks from that point on, which made many of us think that she might actually be in some sort of undead state. That theory was strengthened once she up and left Aaron in the jungle and ran off with Zombie Dad to Jacob's cabin. Locke later saw her there and she was acting like she'd had one too many shots of MacCutcheon's since she claimed to be "fine" and that Aaron was "where he needed to be."

What can we make of all this?


THE DEVIL INSIDE
THE DEVIL INSIDE
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US
THE DEVIL INSIDE

Sticking with the "the easiest explanation is probably the right one" approach, I'm going with the theory that supports Locke and Walt's chat about backgammon waaaay back in the series' pilot. "There are two players: one side is light, one side is dark." On the Island, these sides are represented by Team Jacob and Team Edw--oops, I mean Team Man in Black. Jacob and his adversary have been lining up players for their various "armies" -- Jacob's got the Others and the 815ers that he visited and physically touched in the past. The Man in Black is able to pick off anyone's who's died and hasn't been properly disposed of (which is why, as we guessed before, the Others have always been so concerned with how to handle their dearly departed members).

This would lead us to believe that Claire did in fact die in that explosion at the barracks, and that the Man in Black got to her immediately. Same goes for Sayid. It doesn't matter that the Man in Black is also taking Locke's form right now -- he can be many places at once thanks to his ability to control the Black Smoke. At least this is how I'm explaining everything to myself in my own mind. Anyone else have any other relatively simple (key phrase) explanations?

Let me leave you with this thought so that you don't lose all hope for our favorite torturer: Dogen and Lennon generally seem to be telling the truth to Jack, it's just that -- like Ben -- what they say may often have a double or hidden meaning. So consider the fact that Dogen said the pill was made of poison. OK, we've got that, but at no point did he say that the pill would KILL Sayid. Now, think about how many medications are often actually poisons, but they double as antidotes if the person they're given to already has a disease or has been afflicted by something... that's essentially what ANY vaccine is. That's what chemotherapy is. So what if the pill contains poison that would've killed Jack because he's not been infected by Smokey, but it will actually help Sayid? I think there's some hope yet for him. There has to be.


BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

Hurley: You’re not a zombie, right?
Sayid: No, I am NOT a zombie.


Miles: We’ll be in the food court if you need us.


Kate: ... I’m sorry, I never should’ve followed you.
Sawyer: Which time?


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Back in August when the Season Six premiere title ("LA X") had just been announced, I joined other members of the DarkUFO team -- Karen from Karen's Lost Notebook, The ODI from TheODI.com and Vozzek from Things I Noticed -- for a fun chat about the show and our predictions about Season Six. At the start of our talk I give a little background about how Long Live Locke came to be -- I think this might be the only time I've ever shared the full story!

You can listen to it on ODI's site here, or download it from iTunes here. Our discussion starts at the four-minute mark. Enjoy!

Until next time,
- e

S5Ep11 - Whatever Happened, Happened

Hello my dear friends -

My reaction to "Whatever Happened, Happened" was comparable to how I felt about "Namaste" and "He's Our You"; I enjoyed the episode and was thankful that a few mysteries were resolved, but it's not like my jaw had hit the floor by the time the hour came to a close or anything. However, there's still a lot to be said for this Kate-centric installment: the instantly infamous Miles/Hurley time travel debate, Evangeline Lilly's heart-wrenching performance, the possible end of the Love Quadrangle...

Flashbacks first!


MISS MISERY

The Kate and Cassidy reunion might have come as a surprise to "normal" viewers of the show (if you're reading this, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're probably not normal), but most hardcore fans (including myself) had found enhanced audio clips of what Sawyer whispered before he jumped out of the helicopter at the end of Season Four, and therefore knew that Kate would most likely try to find his old flame and his daughter back on the mainland. What I didn't expect to see, however, was Kate telling Cassidy the truth about the Oceanic crash almost immediately after she returned. My knee-jerk reaction was to then be suspicious of Cassidy... I kept waiting for the scene where she ratted Kate out, which would inevitably lead to Aaron being taken away by force. Especially since she still seemed so bitter about Sawyer even after learning what happened to him. But I was wrong... we now know that she didn't blab the O6's secret.

Instead, Cassidy served as a pseudo-shrink for Kate... helping her to realize not only why Sawyer leapt into the ocean, but also why she made up the lie about being Aaron's birth mother in the first place. I thought the latter explanation was total crap, though, and was annoyed by the insinuation that Kate kept Aaron because "she needed him." I'm not trying to say that Kate didn't have some issues... but, um, hello... it IS a fact that Claire left her son in the jungle, and it IS a fact that the O6's cover could've been blown and therefore those back on the Island could've been in danger if Kate revealed Aaron's true identity once she returned to Los Angeles. I mean, what else was she supposed to do?

I personally think that Kate made the right choice by keeping Aaron during the three years before the group decided they needed to go back. It definitely sucks that poor Turniphead had to be abruptly separated from the only mother he's known and given to a complete stranger (even though she's a blood relative), but I feel like if that had been done at any earlier point, the group would've been constantly worried about Widmore tracking Aaron down and using him as leverage. Let's not forget that the O6 spent a chunk of time on Penny's boat and were told firsthand -- by Widmore's own daughter -- that there would be no calling him off in his search for the Island.



SOMEBODY'S CRYING

Between the freaky Ghost Claire visions, the middle-of-the-night haunting phone calls and her conversations with Cassidy, Kate was probably starting to realize that her time with Aaron was drawing to a close. But it wasn't until Ben's Threatening Lawyer Guy started hounded her and she then thought she'd lost Aaron at the grocery store and saw Meth Face Chick Who Sort of Resembled the Littleton Women (I'm sorry, but she was scary!) that Kate truly came to grips with what had to be done. (Was I the only one who thought Aaron had been taken? I was actually surprised when Kate found him.)

At this point in the episode, I still had no idea how the Kate-Aaron separation would go down. I thought that perhaps they had reintroduced Cassidy because Kate would choose to leave Aaron with her... and then he'd have little Clementine as a playmate. Instead, Kate decided to keep it in the family, so to speak, and sought out Claire's mother. She gave Mrs. Littleton a CliffsNotes version of what transpired on the Island, and then vowed to go back in order to find Claire.

I already commented above on how sad it is to think of Aaron being left with a woman he's never met before, so now let's talk about how sad it was to watch Kate say goodbye to him as he slept. Yeah, I cried! Evangeline Lilly was marvelous in this entire episode, but nothing topped her work in that scene. The whole situation is so depressing... I mean, even if Claire is found and is somehow able to leave the Island... Aaron's not going to know her, either. That kid will be in therapy his whole life. And since he's already been "raised by another" for three years, is bad stuff going to happen no matter what? Or is there still time to prevent the horrendous events that Claire's psychic predicted would happen if his birth mother wasn't the one to parent him?

If Claire's even alive, that is. Last we saw her (in Season Four's "Cabin Fever"), she was hangin' with Zombie Dad in Jacob's Shack. (On that note, Jorge Garcia (Hurley) pretty much confirmed that a production error had been made in "Namaste" -- the woman behind Sun was most likely a crew member in the frame by accident, and not Claire.)


TOMORROW... GO BACK TO BEING FRIENDS
OH... GO BACK TO BEING FRIENDS
BUT TONIGHT, LET'S BE LOVERS

I want to take a moment to revisit Kate and Jack's last-night-in-the-normal-world tryst simply because we now know the context of Kate's strange behavior. As many of us had guessed, she had voluntarily given Aaron to someone else, and then came to Jack to, uh, get her mind off of things. In my "316" write-up, I was really annoyed with both of the characters during that scene -- Jack for so easily agreeing to stop asking questions about Aaron, and Kate for not telling him exactly what had happened.

You may also remember that I was dreading the possibility that Kate would become pregnant as a result of this one-night stand. I'm still holding out hope that that's not what happens, but in case it does, here are two theories worth considering:

- Reader SG proposed that Kate's three years with Aaron made her realize that she really did love having a child. But since she'd made the decision to try to find Claire in order to reunite Aaron with his birth mother, and since she knew any woman who conceived on the Island would die, her fling with Jack was a last-ditch effort to get pregnant so that she could have a child of her own. Meaning, it wasn't some in-the-heat-of-the-moment display of passion or the result of any lingering feelings for The Mad Doctor, but rather a deliberate attempt to become a mother in her own right. I wanted to mention this idea because even though there's been a lot of speculation that Kate may be pregnant, I hadn't heard anyone say that maybe that was her plan all along.

- Before we knew exactly when the 815ers were going to end up once they'd returned to the Island, reader sweetpeas wondered -- assuming that Kate is pregnant -- if her child with Jack could possibly end up being Little Ben's crush, Annie. We've since learned that the timing doesn't work out for that theory, but I wanted to mention it anyway because if Kate is pregnant and she's still back in the '70s when she gives birth, there's a chance the kid (boy or girl) could be someone we've already met in earlier seasons. Hey, if Horace and Amy can spawn Ethan, anything's possible, right? Sweetpeas also questioned whether or not this strange phenomenon of Kate getting pregnant in 2008 but giving birth decades earlier could be what causes the future pregnancy issues for women on the Island. I guess we'll find out soon enough!

And with that weak segue, let's move on to the Island events...


AND I SCREAM AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS,
"WHAT'S GOING ON?"

The episode began with Jin coming to and realizing that Little Ben had been shot by Sayid. The first thing I noticed was that Ben's wound was in a different location than it was at the end of the previous episode, and I started hollering at the TV in disgust. Then I was like, "OK, well, if he wasn't shot in his heart then he's definitely not going to die." So that was more than a little frustrating... not that I wanted the kid to kick the bucket or anything, but come on, that was a pretty blatant switcheroo. I mean, here's what we saw in "He's Our You":



And then here's what Ben looked like moments later when Jin rolled him over in "Whatever Happened, Happened":



What to make of this? I can only think of three possibilities:

1) It was a very bad screw-up on the part of the wardrobe and/or make-up peeps...

2) The Powers That Be wanted a big cliffhanger, and hoped viewers would think -- without a doubt -- that Ben was going to die, so they made the shot closer to his heart in "He's Our You" on purpose. They probably figured that the vast, vast majority of fans weren't going to compare frames after the following episode. (I know this seems hard to believe, but those of us who read Lost blogs, inspect screencaps and over-analyze dialogue are in the minority of the show's multimillion-person fan base.)

or

3) There's some other reason why the hole was in one place but the blood was in another... like "the Island moved the bullet" or "we saw things from Sayid's perspective, and he thought he hit Ben's heart" or "the bullet went in at an angle" or whatnot.

Quite frankly, I don't think the explanation matters (but if I had to choose, I'd go with #2). All that matters is that Little Ben's not going to die, but a lot of us truly believed there was a chance he might and a Great Debate raged for a week as to whether or not this was even possible. It was fun while it lasted, right?


RICO...
SUAVE

While Jin was making his way back to the Barracks with Sayid's victim in tow, the rest of us were getting totally skeeved out by Roger Linus and Kate flirting with each other. I know that we were supposed to see "a different side" of Ben's dad in this episode and all that, but seriously, I just could not deal with those scenes and actually kept hoping against hope that it was some other dude named Roger that just looked a hell of a lot like the guy who slammed his son's face against Sayid's cell bars not too long ago. This might have been the only time when I would've actually been OK with an "evil twin" scenario. Alas, when Jin rolled up we got confirmation that it was indeed Ben's dad who'd been macking on Ms. Austen. Blech!

(The title of this section is in reference to the fact that Jon Gries, who plays Ben's dad, also starred as Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite. Further, and I probably shouldn't admit this, but I saw Gerardo -- the cheesy dude who sang the 1991 hit "Rico Suave" -- in concert. Granted, it was a free concert that my high school won (and Mr. Judge, if you're reading this, I hold you partially responsible for this awful memory!), but that doesn't make me any less ashamed.)


NOBODY SAID IT WAS EASY
NO ONE EVER SAID IT WOULD BE SO HARD

"Hey, this is what you said in your last post... you even had the picture of Marty McFly and everything!" shouted my husband at the start of the Hurley/Miles time travel debate. We actually had to pause the show because we were laughing so hard in disbelief.

But it really shouldn't have been a surprise. By this late point in the series, we all know that Hurley often serves as the voice of the viewers at home. He's the one who's not afraid to ask the questions that are on our minds or make the blunt statements that we've been stewing over for months. And so it was only fitting that he got into it with Miles and attempted to clarify what in the hell is going on, and what can and cannot happen because of the characters' time-traveling escapades.

Maybe I've just thought about all of this waaaay too much, but everything they said was already crystal-clear to me. Miles subscribed to Faraday's "whatever happened, happened... we can't change the past" school of thought, while Hurley felt there was a possibility that they all might vanish at any moment because it looked like Ben might die. What I liked is that their argument did not end on a definitive note... if anything, Hurley stumped Mr. Ghostbuster:

HURLEY: But when we first captured Ben, Sayid like tortured him... then why wouldn't he remember getting shot by that same guy when he was a kid?
MILES: Huh? I hadn't thought of that.
HURLEY: Huh.


Now, yes... later in this same episode we learned why Ben's memory of Sayid might have gone out the window... and yes, there's also an argument to be made that maybe Ben DID recognize Sayid in 2004 but had the presence of mind to not appear shocked. I'm going to talk a little more about this issue later, but in regard to the Miles/Hurley discussion, there's really only one thing that I think we MUST take from it. There is one thing that is certain, no matter what you believe about whether or not the 815ers can change the past. And that one thing is that any of 815ers, or the Freighter Team, or Juliet can die in 1977, because it is their present. Forget about what year it is to the outside world, all that matters is that those characters have lived out thirty-ish years on this planet, and while their personal pasts are set in stone, their futures are still very much up in the air.

Sadly, I believe that they wouldn't have had Miles try to make this point so clearly if one of the gang's numbers isn't up soon. Because if one of the stuck-in-the-past characters bites the dust, The Powers That Be don't want us thinking, "but wait, it's 1977 and since we saw them alive in 2004, they must not really be dead!" They want us to know what the stakes are, and that's got to be why they had Miles say what he said.

And it doesn't make me happy at all. I don't want to lose anyone else, dammit!



NEW JACK CITY

While Miles and Hurley were entertaining themselves with their time travel dispute, Juliet was furiously trying to save Ben. However, she quickly realized that it was really Jack who needed to be at the operating table. But The Mad Doctor was having none of it.

SAWYER: Doc, I need you to come with me.
JACK: Come with you where?
SAWYER: Juliet says the kid is losing blood, and we ain't got none to put back in him, so we need you to show us where he sprung a leak.
JACK: [pauses and shakes head] No.
SAWYER: What?
JACK: No. I'm not coming with you.
SAWYER: If you don't come with me, Jack, that kid is gonna die.
JACK: [pauses] Then he dies.

What I found interesting about Jack in this episode is that in the above exchange with Sawyer, it seemed like he was "old Jack" ... the Man of Science who vehemently believed in free will. My reaction to Jack's stance was, "He's tempting fate, he wants to show he still has a choice and that everything's not predetermined."

At other points in the hour, though, "new Jack" (as Kate called him) seemed to be channeling his past nemesis, Locke:

KATE: This is our fault. We brought Sayid back. We caused this.
JACK: Yeah? When we were here before, I spent all my time trying to fix things... but did you ever think that maybe the Island just wants to fix things itself?

and

JACK: I came back because I was supposed to.
JULIET: Supposed to what?
JACK: I don't know yet.


What's ironic about Jack's refusal to operate on Little Ben is that it directly resulted in Little Ben's transformation into the conniving, manipulative, remorseless man that brought the O5 back to the Island in 2008 -- the man that Jack didn't feel compelled to save again. If Jack had operated on him in 1977, though, things might have ended up a lot differently for everyone. But, as Miles tried to explain to Hurley (and us), all of this already happened, and therefore Jack never agreed to help Little Ben.

The same irony applies to Sayid, too. Sayid thought "his purpose" was to kill Ben so that all of the evil things Ben goes on to do in the future wouldn't happen. Instead, Sayid's actions ultimately led to Ben getting Other-ized at age twelve.



IT'S OVER, IT'S OVER, IT'S OVER...
IT'S OOOOOVER!

I would've never guessed that of all people, it would be Kate who went above and beyond to ensure Ben's survival. Motherhood truly changed her -- she simply didn't think of the young boy bleeding out on the hospital table as "Ben"... all she saw was a twelve-year-old in desperate need of help and a father beside himself with regret and worry. So when her blood donation wasn't enough, she brainstormed with Juliet to find another way to handle the situation.

Juliet then suggested that they take Ben to the Others. I can't decide whether or not we should interpret her suggestion to mean that: 1) she knew the Others had some supernatural way of saving people, or 2) she simply could think of no other options and figured that it was worth a try. Earlier this season we were given proof that she knows more about her old group then she'd previously let on... remember her statement about Richard being really old? This isn't to say that I think anything sinister is going on with Juliet, I'm simply wondering how much information she's still keeping to herself.

Regardless, Juliet and Kate eventually agreed that it was better if Kate took Ben into the jungle on her own... and they both knew that Sawyer would most likely be hot on her heels. Once the Dharma van was on its way, Juliet stormed over to the neighboring house to give Jack a piece of her mind. Words cannot describe how happy I was that this turned into neither a "Juliet couldn't resist dripping-wet-just-stepped-out-of-the-shower Jack, and so she jumped him" scene, nor a "Juliet cried to Jack because she thought Sawyer was going to fall for Kate again because they were going to be alone in the jungle together" scene. Juliet asked Jack why he came back, Jack said he didn't know, and that was it.

While we're on the subject of the Love Rhombus, or whatever the hell it's turned into, there are three other hopeful signs that it's kaput and that we'll be spared longing glances and tortured looks and all that crap from here on out:
1) Kate chose to come back to the Island to find Claire... not for Sawyer, and not just to follow Jack.

2) Kate confirmed that she didn't like the "new Jack," and he reminded her that she didn't really seem to like the "old Jack," either.

3) Sawyer declared that he was helping Ben because that's what Juliet wanted. "I'm doin' it for her." BOOM!



WON'T YOU SAVE ME?
SAVING'S WHAT I NEED

Did anyone else grow impatient with how leisurely all of the characters were acting as poor Little Ben was fading away? Juliet and Kate were having a chat by the van... Kate and Sawyer were catching up by the river... all while Little Ben was bleeding his guts out and most likely thinking, "I'm so gonna get you all you guys back for your dawdling!"

Finally some Others appeared in their usual out-of-thin-air manner, weapons drawn. I loved how Sawyer was just totally over their whole act. He's like, "Yeah, whatever... just get me the only guy with any fashion sense in your group -- you know who I'm talkin' 'bout!"

On cue, Richard materialized, looking like he'd just stepped out of a Ferragamo ad. (And seriously... at this point, for all we know, he did.) He goes, "Is that the same little brat who saw me on my worst bad hair day ever? I must erase that from his memory! Oh yeah, and he won't remember anything else once I'm done with him, either. 'Bye!"



OFFER UP YOUR BEST DEFENSE
BUT THIS IS THE END
THIS IS THE END
OF THE INNOCENCE

OK, so here's what Ageless Richard really said:

RICHARD: And why are you here?
KATE: Cause we need you to save his life. Can you?
[Richard pauses and thinks for a moment.]
RICHARD: If I take him, he's not ever gonna be the same again.
KATE: What do you mean by that?
RICHARD: What I mean is that he'll forget this ever happened and that his innocence will be gone. He will always be one of us.
RICHARD: You still want me to take him?
KATE: Yes.

Then, after some other Other warned Richard that perhaps he should check with Ellie or Charles before he did whatever he was about to do, ol' Bushy Eyebrows was like, "They're not the boss of me!" and stomped off to The Temple with Little Ben.

So, a few things about this final scene:
1) We now have confirmation that Ellie (who is most likely Ms. Eloise Hawking) and Angry Young Charles Widmore are still on the Island in 1977. As Widmore indicated to Locke in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," his people had protected the Island for three decades before he was exiled. So, depending on when Charles first arrived on the Island (it's now pretty clear that he was NOT born there... the math doesn't add up), his time's probably close to running out, as twenty-three years have passed since we saw him in "Jughead," which was set in 1954.

2) We've also learned that Richard does not consider himself subservient to Charles' group. So I remain confused about whether or not Charles and Ellie should actually be considered Hostiles, or if they're in some other group that the Hostiles agreed to work with. Or is it perhaps Ageless Richard who's the odd man out? Maybe he's the only one of his kind... but what "kind" is he, exactly? Who's leading this motley crew?

3) What is going to happen to Little Ben? The general consensus seems to be that Richard is going to sic Smokey on him and that it's essentially like selling one's soul to the devil -- Ben will now be controlled 100% by the Island. Remember that the Temple is the same place we saw Danielle's science team go into after Montand was dragged underground by Smokey. And look at what happened to them once they came out. They were all eeevil, and Danielle had no choice but to kill them. Will something similar happen to Ben, or will his transformation be a tad more controlled as Richard is there to oversee things?

4) Regardless of what Little Ben's about to go through, when Richard said "he'll forget this ever happened," was he just talking about the whole "being shot by Sayid and saved by a group of the 815ers" situation? Or was he talking about everything in Ben's life up to that point? Because the latter would explain: a) Why Ben claimed to have been born on the Island even though we knew he wasn't, b) why Ben said his mother taught him to read (which most of us had assumed was a joke) when we knew she died in childbirth, c) why he didn't seem to have any memory of Sayid when they met in 2004... etc., etc., etc.

I'm willing to buy that explanation. However, I understand why a lot of people are crying foul and "cop out!" in regard to this situation. By erasing Little Ben's memory, the writers have covered their tracks. Crazy fans can't go back through the past three seasons and complain about how The Powers That Be screwed up because Ben should've remembered certain things about the various 815ers. (This is assuming that the time traveling group will have somehow returned to their rightful year by the time Richard returns Ben to the Barracks, and so he'll have no memory of ever seeing any of them when he was young. If Ben comes backs and the Losties are still there, however, then nitpick away, folks!)

The reason why I personally think that Little Ben will not have any more interaction with the 815ers (meaning that it's going to be a while before he's returned to his father) is because Michael Emerson (Ben) was only originally signed on for three episodes of the series in Season Two. I know that seems hard to believe at this point as his character is now such a pivotal one, but it's true. After fans had such a strong reaction to Ben, Emerson was asked to stay on. So I think everyone just needs to cut the writers some slack here and 1) be happy that Ben evolved into such a huge presence on the show, but at the same time 2) remember that those first episodes in which he appeared as a captive in the hatch most likely didn't have any tie-ins whatsoever to what has since transpired on the show. Hence the need to erase Young Ben's memory.

Having said all that, there's still no reason we can't choose to believe that Ben did recognize the 815ers at the Swan, and that he was simply able to control his reactions... especially since we've seen him do just that so many times going forward. Therefore, if Little Ben does end up seeing any of the time travelers again while they're all still in 1977, that's how we can explain why he seemingly had no memory of them in 2004. Deal?




BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


JACK: You're telling us we're under house arrest.

MILES: No. You're all free to leave whenever you want, but I'll shoot you in the leg.





MILES: What the hell are you doing, Tubby?

HURLEY: Checking to see if I'm disappearing.

MILES: What?

HURLEY: Back to the Future, man. We came back in time to the island, we can change stuff, so if little Ben dies he'll never grow up to be big Ben who's the one who made us come back here in the first place, which means we can't be here and therefore, dude, we don't exist.

MILES: You're an idiot.

HURLEY: Am I?






SAWYER: If you don't come with me, Jack... that kid is gonna die.

JACK: [pauses] Then he dies.






KATE: You know, I don't like the new you. I liked the old you who wouldn't just sit around waiting for things to happen.

JACK: [chuckles] You didn't like the old me, Kate.





HURLEY: But when we first captured Ben, Sayid like tortured him... then why wouldn't he remember getting shot by that same guy when he was a kid?

MILES: Huh? I hadn't thought of that.

HURLEY: Huh.





LOCKE: Hello, Ben.

[Ben looks up at John, stunned.]

LOCKE: Welcome back to the land of the living.





MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

On April 22nd I'll be joining the hilarious Ryan from Zap2It's Guide to Lost for a live chat on his site. We've been trying to schedule this for a while, and have finally settled on a night when there's another break in the schedule (a clip show entitled "The Story of the Oceanic Six" will run instead of a new episode... this is the only break left this season).

I'll definitely post all of the details as the date gets closer, but for now I'd venture to guess that the chat will start a half-hour before the clip show begins at 9 PM EST. I've felt awful about how I haven't had time to respond to many of your emails and Facebook messages this season, so perhaps I can make up for it by discussing theories and answering questions in real-time on the 22nd.


Until next week,
- e

S4Ep4 - Well We're Living Here in an Eggtown...

... and it's hard to choke a grenade down. (Just ask Miles.)

Hello my dear friends -

There have been two times since Lost premiered when I have gotten chills at the end of an episode. The first was in "Deus Ex Machina," when Locke ran back to the hatch (as Boone was dying) and started banging and crying "WHYYYYY?!?!!?" on the little window, and then all of a sudden the light came on. The second was at the end of "Eggtown," when Kate's "son" was revealed to be Aaron. I did not see that one coming! I'm enjoying my spoiler-free status more and more with each episode (although some of my other spoiler-free friends did call the ending--they're way more clever than I am).

From what I can tell on the message boards, this was a love-it-or-hate-it episode, and I am happy to report that I am on the "loved it" side. Which is amazing when you consider that it was mostly about Kate. The Kate Hate Train has therefore not pulled out of its station this season--yet.

I'm going to get the Island events out of the way first this time around, as the majority of things to theorize over happened in the flashbacks.


I BREAK THE YOLKS, MAKE A SMILEY FACE

The episode kicked off with Locke making what looked like a damn good breakfast for Benry. In my opinion, all that was missing was a nicely brewed cup of Earl Grey. But alas, Ben was ungrateful and not only refused to eat, but also scoffed at the book Locke had chosen to bring him to help pass the time. Further, he then got under Locke's skin by saying just the right things to drive The Bald One crazy--picking at his insecurities about being the group's new leader. Talk about déjà vu (which Ben noted as well)... when Locke left Ben and then smashed the tray against the wall in frustration, it was just like when he threw silverware and plates in anger back in the hatch (in "Maternity Leave") when Ben was initially being held prisoner. Don't let him get to you, Locke!

And what should we make of the book that Locke picked to give his prisoner? It was VALIS by Philip K. Dick. You can click the link in the previous sentence if you want more details about its plot, but here's Amazon.com's description: "a fool's search for God, who turns out to be a virus, a joke, and a mental hologram transmitted from an orbiting satellite." I immediately wondered if there were parallels we were supposed to draw with Locke's search for Jacob. The other thing of interest about the book is that there is a child, Sophia, in the story who is supposed to be "the messiah incarnate." Considering that baby Aaron has been thrust back into the spotlight in this episode, I thought that perhaps that was a hint as well. More on Aaron later, though. If nothing else, after reading about Philip K. Dick, I think I would like his books. Score another point for Lost encouraging people to read...

One last comment on this scene... didn't you love Locke's shout-out to all of us rewind/slo mo/freeze-frame-crazy fans: "You might catch something you missed the second time around." Ain't that the truth.


NOW THAT I'M HERE, NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE

Wasn't it hilarious to see all the Losties settling into their new digs in the Barracks? I need one of those Dharma mugs that Kate had on the porch ASAP. When Kate came over to visit Sawyer, I seriously almost peed my pants when Hurley popped in Xanadu, as it is one of my all-time favorite movies. Yes, it is awful, but it is so awful that it is also AWESOME. It just so happens, God's honest truth, that I am going to see Xanadu on Broadway in a few weeks. You can bet that I will write up the experience on According to e afterward. But for now, what you need to know is that Xanadu is about Greek muses who get transported from another time and dimension to southern California, circa 1980, via a "portal" of sorts that exists on a nearby mural (don't ask). One of the muses, Kira (Olivia Newton-John), falls in love with this studly artist dude, Sonny, but their love is not meant to be, as Zeus (her father) wants her back where she belongs. There is also a lot of rollerskating and singing, a random cartoon scene, and Gene Kelly. Yeah, I said it! GENE KELLY.

Just as Cuse and Lindelof drew comparisons between the Island and Narnia, Oz and Wonderland in their 2/18 podcast, I believe Xanadu was meant to be an additional hint about what's going on overall with the Island. Shout-out to one of my readers who speculated that perhaps Ben's secret room contains a portal off the Island, just like the wardrobe transports the children to Narnia in the C.S. Lewis series. Maybe Hurley's choice of Xanadu, with its focus on a portal between worlds, was meant to be similar clue to the real purpose of Ben's secret room. Overall, Xanadu is yet another story specifically mentioned during the show that is connected to the real world, but that also has a supernatural element. Not to mention a rockin' soundtrack--ELO forever, baby! There's even a song called... are you ready? "Suspended in Time." BAM!

Xanadu is also the subject of a famous poem (Kubla Khan) about a tropical paradise. But that's not quite as interesting as the movie.

But let's not let my enthusiasm for Xanadu overshadow what was by far the funniest moment of the night, which took place while the theme song from the movie was playing in the background... Sawyer pulling out the Wine In A Box for his lady love. I was dying.


CAUGHT IN THE ACT

Despite Locke's warnings, Kate follows through with her plan to visit Miles. (One quick side note--I'm not so sure that Locke was all bloody because he just killed a chicken. But I don't even want to think about what else the blood could be from.) Kate succeeds in getting precious time alone with Miles... and all she cares about is whether or not the freighter peeps know what she had done back in the real world? That seemed kind of lame to me, but I guess if she was really struggling with the decision to either stay on the Island or leave, she would want to know if Sawyer's prediction (that she would be hauled off to jail upon her return) had any merit.

There were tons of other strange things that went on during the scenes with Miles. For example, why did he say that he was "exactly where he wanted to be"? Some assume that Miles is Ben's mole, and is fine with being held prisoner because he's getting to learn more about Locke, Ben's new nemesis. Others believe that Miles is happy with his situation because he is still in fact trying to capture Ben, and now he's at least closer in proximity to The Sneaky One than he was before. I'm not sure what to make of his comment, personally.

Next was the bizarre Miles/Ben confrontation, during which Miles said he would tell his employer that Ben was dead if Ben gave him $3.2 million. What?

So, do we believe that Miles is just purely in it for the money, and will convince his employer that Benry is six feet under in exchange for the millions? Right now, this is the way I'm leaning, for two reasons: 1) We saw in Miles' flashback how he just wanted to find the drug money during his ghostbusting of the grandson. Money is a major motivator for him, and he's not necessarily the most ethical of people. So I don't think it's a stretch to believe that he will do what's best for himself. If he can convince his employer that Ben is dead, he'll probably still get paid for the Island mission, in addition to getting $3.2 million from Ben. 2) We know that Ben is still around in the future and is still fighting the good fight against "the bad guys," with Sayid's help. So perhaps Miles succeeds in convincing everyone that Ben is dead. That would explain why Elsa's group couldn't figure out who Sayid was working for--they truly believed that Ben had been killed.

Others fans think, as I mentioned earlier, that Miles is Ben's mole, and that the conversation they had was in code. I agree that this is at least a possibility. "$3.2 million" is a pretty weird number, and it could have meant something specific to Ben, who then covered by saying "Why not $3.3 or $3.4?" Never underestimate the trickery of Ben! Miles also then told Kate everything that he knew about her, and that he got the information from files his team pulled together on everyone on the Flight 815 manifest. Who else is known for gathering information on people? Ben. So there is a chance that Miles has been working with Ben all along and that only he knows the information about all the Lostaways, whereas the rest of the freighter crew does not.

Also remember that Ben claimed to know who Miles' employer was, which could either be interpreted to mean that Ben knows Abaddon, or knows the overall organization for which Abaddon works. Or it could've been a complete lie.

The question that still remains, however, is why Miles was chosen for the mission in the first place. Whoever his employer is must know something about the properties of the Island and figured that Miles' special abilities would be needed. But they must not have realized what a sketchball Miles is and how he would throw the mission for his own benefit if he got the chance.

One last thing we can glean from this scene is that Ben is indeed an international man of mystery---yeah, baby! Miles made it clear that, unlike the Lostaways, he knew all about Ben's background, and what Ben "can do." There's no way Miles would be asking for that much money if he didn't think Ben could get his hands on it. And at the end, sure enough, Ben caved and said he would need a week to get the funds in order. I guess that means Ben's pretty sure he can bust out of his cell in the near future...


THERE'S ANOTHER NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN. Y'ALL BEST GET USED TO IT.

I pledged last week that I would stop doubting my man Locke. So I'm not going to... but I can't lie and say it's been easy after this latest installment of madness. While Locke claimed to Kate that he was running something in between a democracy and dictatorship, it sure seems like he's leaning more toward the latter. As always, however, a deep insecurity belies Locke's tough-guy exterior. He let Ben's mocking words get to him at the beginning of the episode, he appeared to be overly concerned with what Sawyer and others thought about his leadership abilities, and he was completely duped by Sawyer shortly thereafter because at his core, Locke's still pretty naive (it's clear that Locke never caught on to the fact that Sawyer was helping Kate the whole time).

While I don't agree with Locke's "iron fist" mentality and don't like that he banished Kate from Othersville, you can bet good money that I was thrilled when he gave the smack-down to Miles. Even though it was a little too over-the-top for my taste (a live grenade in someone's mouth!?!), at least it happened to Miles, right? He looked pretty freaked out--maybe it will scare the ghostbusting abilities right out of him!

I am not doubting Locke anymore, though. It's pretty clear from all of the flash-forwards to date that everyone who left the Island is either miserable, or is involved in a huge cover-up that is wearing on them. So even if Locke does end up causing something unfortunate to happen in the near future, as I keep dreading, it's only because the others didn't listen to his warnings in the first place.


SUSPICIOUS MINDS

Sun is starting to realize that Locke may be right, too. After a strange scene with Jin where she talks about where to raise her baby (rather than their baby, as Jin points out), she begins to question the intentions of the freighter team. Did you catch that guilty look down at the ground that Daniel had when Jack said, "They can make arrangements to get all of us off this Island." D'oh! Sun follows up with asking why Kate would stay with Locke, if Locke were in fact as crazy as Jack claims him to be.

The fact that the group is getting restless helps motivate Jack and Juliet to push Charlotte to call the emergency number they have for the freighter. It's extremely strange that no one's been answering on the main line, isn't it? (Charlotte specifically said, "Minkowski's not answering.") Charlotte agrees to put the call on speakerphone, and we learn that the helicopter has not arrived at the freighter, even though it left the previous night. Frank said they didn't have much fuel left... so what in the heck is going on? Some think that the helicopter's delay has to do with the time differential that Daniel noticed... and so what should normally be a twenty-minute flight to the freighter may end up being a significantly longer trip.

Others swear that Regina must be lying and that the team has in fact made it back to the freighter. If the crew on the ship is up to no good, they would know that Daniel and Charlotte would understand what is going on, whereas Jack and the others would freak out that they'd either been stranded, or that the helicopter went down and killed Sayid and Desmond. Others think that Frank might be Ben's mole, and has taken Sayid and Desmond to another location where they'll be safe. I would love if that turned out to be the case--Frank is the last person I would've suspected.


SO IF YOU DON'T MIND ME SAYIN', I CAN SEE YOU'RE OUT OF ACES

Speaking of the mysterious helicopter team, what was up with that weird scene between Daniel and Charlotte where he was trying to either guess or remember three playing cards she had turned face down? At first I thought that we had received some insight into Daniel's head case-ness... that he had some sort of bizarre memory issue and that Charlotte was trying to do exercises with him to help him. I figured that he had originally seen the three cards, and then she turned them over and then he had to repeat back what he had just seen. After all, his namesake, the scientist Michael Faraday, had memory issues brought on by a battle with mental illness. And Charlotte looked sympathetic and sad for Daniel when he couldn't get all three right. She tried to cheer him up by saying that he had "made progress."

But upon watching the scene again, Charlotte also clearly says "time," like they were supposed to wait a certain amount of time before Daniel made his guess. Now, that could still fit with my original theory. Maybe he has some sort of memory problem where after a specific period of time elapses, he has recall issues. Or similarly, maybe Charlotte didn't want him to take several minutes to try to remember what he saw.

Other ideas are that he never saw the cards in the first place, and was trying to use some sort of psychic power to guess what the correct cards were. Yet another possibility is that the original cards she turned over actually switched to new cards because of some weird property on the Island. Or maybe the cards switched because Daniel willed them to switch? Remember back in Season One where Hurley commented that Walt ALWAYS rolled sixes when they played backgammon? Perhaps Daniel is also "special" like Walt and can somehow cause the cards to change?

All I know is that even though that scene was a short one, it was important. Finally, did you catch that one of the cards was the Queen of Diamonds? Or, a Red Queen. Like in Alice in Wonderland...


WHY GO HOME? WHY GO HOME?

Back in Othersville, Kate walks in on Sawyer reading The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, which is about (ironically enough) a fugitive hiding out on a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific. Kate tells Sawyer that she is definitely not pregnant, and that Locke has banished her from the Barracks. Sawyer's like, "Um, do you honestly think that I can't take Baldy? I'm insulted!" For reasons unknown, Kate still chooses to leave. How many of you fear that we witnessed the last time Kate and Sawyer ever see each other? I do. And I, for the record, never even cared about who Kate "chose," because both Jack and Sawyer are way too good for her, in my opinion. But I still think she's crazy to leave the Island of her own will, now that she knows she won't die from a pregnancy, and that she is still deemed a fugitive to the outside world. I hope and pray that they give us a better reason for her leaving the Island than, "Locke told her to go away."

Some think that there is a possibility that Kate is lying to Sawyer about not being pregnant, and after testing him to see what his reaction would be, she realized that she did need to leave the Island because he didn't want a child. But since she never mentioned having more than one child in the flash-forwards, and since we know that the child she did have in the future was not hers biologically, I don't think she was lying to Sawyer.

OK, that wraps up everything that came to pass on the Island in this episode. Oops, I thought of one last thing...if you were thinking that "Eggtown" referred to the fact that Locke cooked Ben the last two eggs for breakfast (as I did), you may be interested in another interpretation of the episode's title. You can read the full story behind the term here, but in short, it is used to describe "a deal with undesirable outcomes in either case." Fitting, no?


OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE

Right away in Kate's first flash-forward, we got confirmation that she is indeed one of the Oceanic Six. Many had wondered if, since her meeting with Jack was on the down-low in the Season Three finale, she had escaped the Island but wanted to avoid being captured for her past crimes, so therefore it was not made known that she was one of the famous survivors. Now we know that what actually happened is that she was indeed put on trial, in spite of her new notoriety. The fact that she was charged, however, wasn't what was interesting. The details we learned through seeing her trial were.

The first shocker was that Clean-Shaven Jack was called as a character witness. The second shocker was what he said:
- There were originally eight survivors of the crash (implying that two died)
- Kate took care of everyone while they struggled to survive on an island in the South Pacific.
- He no longer is in love with her.

All of these statements are worth analyzing a bit...

Eight Original Survivors: There is definitely a reason that the Oceanic Six have been told to say that two people who initially had survived the crash ended up dying. Those two people must have been responsible for doing or knowing something that the other six couldn't have done or known on their own--either in order to survive or in order to be rescued. I personally have no idea who the two survivors in question might be.

One theory is that since we now know that Aaron made it off the Island and that Claire seemingly didn't, and that there may be too many witnesses who knew that Kate was not eight months pregnant when she got on Flight 815, maybe they said that Claire died after giving birth to Aaron, and so therefore the rest of the world knows that Aaron is not Kate's biological son. But if that were the case, would Kate's mom still want to see the baby so badly? I would hope that she still would, but others think that it is clear that everyone thinks that Kate is Aaron's birth mother.


An Island in the South Pacific: I think this may just be a writing goof, but since it's my job to report what's been said out there on the message boards, I should point out that some people have noted the inconsistency between the news report about the Flight 815 wreckage that we saw in the season premiere (which said that the plane was found in the Indian Ocean), and Jack's statement (which said that they were in the South Pacific). The theory is that Jack screwed up what he was supposed to say and that someone's going to latch onto it and start unraveling the mystery, leading to the situation that causes Jack to become so distraught in the future. I didn't think twice about this discrepancy, but if you have any other theories, let me know.

Jack No Longer Loves Kate: While he later told her that he didn't mean it when he said "Not anymore," what really is confusing is why the lawyer would ask Jack about his feelings for Kate in the first place. To me, this means that the story that was concocted for the O6 specifically mentioned something about Jack and Kate being romantically involved. Otherwise, why would a lawyer bring that up if she wasn't positive that it had already been substantiated that Jack was at one point in love with Kate? Granted, all of the trial scenes were absolute crap in the sense that they would never happen in real life (ask a lawyer to explain this to you, all of the lawyers on the message boards are upset!), but I'm positive that this line of questioning was there for a purpose.

Some people think that the world at large believes that Aaron is Jack's baby. Seeing as how the kid has blond hair and both Jack and Kate have dark hair, that seems like a stretch. Also, why would Jack be brought as a character witness if he doesn't even display the good character to want to see his own kid? All I know is that the lawyer asked him about his love for Kate for a reason, and it has something to do with the made-up story that the O6 told to the media when they returned home. (But this theory does make me wonder who Kate is claiming the father to be...)

One last comment on this particular trial scene... why did Kate cut Jack off? He was doing a good job making her out to be the hero, and she's never had major issues with bending the truth in the past. Can she perhaps not bear it when it's Jack who's lying for her?


I'M A BITCH, I'M A LOVER, I'M A CHILD, I'M A MOTHER

In another unexpected scene, Kate's sickly mother comes to talk with her, and says that she does not want to testify against her. It is the first time they've spoken or seen each other since Kate visited her mother in the hospital, only to have the policed summoned. But, ah, the power of grandchildren. Kate's mom is desperate to see this latest member of Austin clan, but Kate will not hear of it.

The big question is: WHY? Is Kate still that angry at her mother, especially when her mom was the key to Kate avoiding a jail sentence, or is there a specific reason she doesn't want Mrs. Austin to lay eyes on Aaron?

On another note, many fans are assuming that this sentence from Kate's mom is a clue about the overall timeline: "I've had six months to live for the past four years." I didn't read too much into that statement... I think it was just meant to help us understand her mother's motivations for wanting to finally make peace and move forward. But once again, if you have reason to think otherwise, by all means, clue the rest of us in!


LOVE ME, LOVE MY BAY-BEE

Kate going on and on about her son in this episode reminded me of Claire going on and on about her "bay-bee" all the time in Seasons One, Two and Three. At least the two women have that in common. So much so that Kate will not hang out with Jack in the future unless he comes to visit Aaron. Jack doesn't seem up for that just yet. Chalk up another "Say What?" moment...

Why would Jack want to avoid visiting Aaron? The possible answers hint at why Kate even has Aaron in the first place.

Theories include:
- Claire was killed in the escape from the Island and Jack feels so guilty about it that he can't bring himself to see Aaron.
- Aaron was forcefully taken from Claire and Jack can't bear to reminded of it.
- Claire is either dead or still on the Island, but either way, Aaron reminds Jack of his own time on the Island, which he wants to forget. Kind of like how he was so adamant to Hurley that they would never go back and stormed off once Hurley mentioned it.
- Jack found out that Aaron is his nephew (remember, Christian Shephard was a mack daddy and fathered Claire, too) and seeing him would bring back bad memories of Zombie Dad, and/or intensify any feelings of guilt over whatever happened to Claire.
- Aaron has special powers that freak the hell out of Jack. (On that note, how many of you thought the baby was going to be either an alien or a little wizard or have a strange appearance? I did.)

I also was bracing myself to see a 15-year-old, or something weird like that, because of the possible time differential on the Island. This was when I had been thinking that the baby was obviously Sawyer's. This show makes me love being wrong.


ABSENCE DOES NOT MAKE THE HEART GROW FONDER

There was a lot that drove me crazy (in a good way) in this episode, but one of the things I'm now wondering about the most is what happened to make Jack and Kate go from friendly, out-in-the-open meetings and talks of rendezvousing for coffee to the strained state their relationship was in during the final scene of "Through the Looking Glass?" At that point in time (which many believe to be April 2007, based on the newspaper clip Jack had), Kate had told Jack not to call her anymore, and when he finally did reach her, they had to meet late at night in the middle of nowhere outside the airport. Something must have caused a rift between the time of Kate's trial (which I'll speculate on in a second) and Jack's "WE HAVE TO GO BACK!" plea.

Perhaps shortly after Kate's trial, Jack started being haunted by visions, as Hurley had been? Perhaps others of The Six had been killed after slipping from the agreed-upon story? All that is clear is that Kate didn't want to go back to the Island at either point in time in the future. She agreed, without hesitation, to a 10-year probation where she needed to remain in-state. In her airport scene with Jack last season, she mentioned that "he" was going to wonder where she was. There seems to be some level of agreement among viewers that the "he" is indeed Aaron. Off-Island Kate is the exact opposite of On-Island Kate: she wants to stay put.


GUYS, WHEN ARE WE?

Not only do we now know that Kate's son is none other than Aaron, but we also know that Aaron's old enough to talk and sleep in a bed rather than in a crib. Lostpedia reports that according to the script, Aaron is two years old. I have consulted my baby expert, DY, and she concurs with this assessment. Aaron is believed to have been born on November 1, 2004. We know that right now on the Island, it is around Christmas Day 2004. If Aaron is now 2 years old, that would put the current time of Kate's flash-forward to be around November of 2006. That leaves less than six months for her relationship with Jack to fall apart (not to mention for Jack to descend into drug-addicted madness and grow a huge-ass beard).

Someone commented to me that they had heard that the producers said that the April 2007 date on the newspaper Jack had in "Through the Looking Glass" was a mistake... but I have not seen that anywhere. If someone actually has PROOF that the April 2007 date on the newspaper clipping in the Season Three finale was a production error, please post it. Otherwise, I'm going to continue to assume that that date is correct.

Back to when Kate's trial is... I know that the judicial system is slow and everything, but doesn't it seem strange that her trial wouldn't get underway until nearly two years had past since she returned from the Island? And that she would still be that famous at that point in time? We all know celebrity is fleeting! It makes me think that the Oceanic Six returned home much later than we may have previously assumed. Meaning, if it's near the end of 2004 on the Island right now, they're probably not being taken directly home from the freighter. It's possible that another whole year may pass where the chosen six are re-programmed or something--where they're offered a financial deal and given a story to memorize and whatnot. At the time of Kate's trial, Jack seems to have no problem reciting the lie, whereas Kate says (paraphrasing): "I've heard you tell that story so many times, I'm beginning to think you believe it." She doesn't appear to be comfortable with the front they're putting up.

Another possibility is that, because time on the Island may be passing more slowly than it does elsewhere, the three months the Lostaways have been gone may in fact be much longer. I don't really know how that would affect Aaron's age and growth, and I don't even want to think about it because it's so confusing!



NOW LET ME BLOW YA MIND

So... many... questions... left! But for whatever reason, the multitude of questions raised in "Eggtown" didn't depress me like they did with "The Economist." Yes, it was freaky as hell when Kate said "Aaron," and it's depressing to think that Claire might have kicked the bucket. I was never a big fan of Claire (because of the whole "bay-bee" thing I mentioned earlier), but it's a little too dark for my taste to have the mother of a newborn baby killed on this show. I hope that's not what happened. So until we know for sure what went down, I will try to think positively and will focus my attention on everything else I've already discussed, as well as these remaining issues:

The Aaron Cover-Up Story
If the rest of the world thinks Aaron is Kate's biological son, then one of three things must have happened:
1) Assuming that there's no time difference on the Island and that the age Kate claims Aaron to be (which they haven't officially told us yet) is actually the age he is, there were either no witnesses to the fact that Kate was not eight months pregnant on the flight, or "they" got rid of all the witnesses who would've known this. There were also people who knew that Claire was pregnant on the flight who may have been able to put two and two together, and therefore those witnesses would've had to have been silenced. Because someone should've been able to figure out that if Kate wasn't eight months pregnant on September 22, 2004, there's no way she could have come back from the Island with a newborn.
2) As mentioned above, perhaps time moved more slowly on the Island. The Six would've been clued in that it's much later in time than they thought it was, and therefore Kate could easily pretend that Aaron was hers, as she didn't have to be pregnant (or at least not showing that she was pregnant) during the flight in order to come back home with a baby, if she was gone for significantly longer than nine months.
3) Kate could just be lying about Aaron's age. Like I said above, even though Lostpedia listed the boy as two years old, on the show Kate never mentioned his actual age (and even if she did, we couldn't trust that that is his real age until we are able to more confidently piece together the overall timeline).


Desmond's Vision
The whole reason Charlie accepted his suicide mission was because Desmond said he had a vision of Claire and Aaron getting into a helicopter and leaving the Island. Since Des hasn't given us reason to distrust him, I believe that we will see this scene unfold. Which may mean that whatever causes Kate to end up with Aaron happens after they're off the Island but before they return home. Or Des was lying and we're going to find out that he's a total prick.


Devil Baby Possibilities
One of the trippiest Lost episodes to date was "Raised by Another," in which Claire finds out that some bad stuff would go down if she was not the one to raise her child:

MALKIN (psychic): It is crucial that you, yourself, raise this child.
CLAIRE: You mean with Thomas? Is he..
MALKIN: The father of this child will play no part in it's life, nor yours.
CLAIRE: So what exactly are you saying?
MALKIN: This child parented by anyone else, anyone other than you -- danger surrounds this baby. . .
CLAIRE: Danger?
MALKIN: Your nature, your spirit, your goodness, must be an influence in the development of this child.
CLAIRE: If Thomas and I don't get back together I'm putting this baby up for adoption. I just wanted to find out what would give the baby the happiest life.
MALKIN: There is no happy life -- not for this child, not without you.
CLAIRE: I don't. . .
MALKIN: It can't be another. You mustn't allow another to raise your baby.
CLAIRE: Okay, great. Thanks for taking my 200.
MALKIN: Oh, no look, take it. Ms. Littleton; I am begging you just to consider...
CLAIRE: I can't raise this child by myself.
MALKIN: You have to listen to me.
CLAIRE: Thanks for your time, and my money back.
MALKIN: Ms. Littleton, please. The baby needs your protection. Ms. Littleton, please.

Now we know that, at least for some period of time, if not for the rest of his life, Kate is raising Aaron. I am really scared that this kid is going to unleash some demonic powers on the world at any moment!


Does Aaron count as a member of the Oceanic Six?
They didn't exactly spell it out for us. If there is something weird going on with time and if "the story" is that Kate got pregnant with Aaron and delivered him all while on the Island, then he wouldn't count as a Flight 815 passenger. And even if it was known that he was adopted by Kate after his birth mother died, Aaron still wasn't on the flight manifest and wasn't born at the time of the crash. We ALL KNOW how cheap the airlines are... do you really think they're going to pay a settlement out to someone who hadn't even purchased a full-fare ticket?

Hee hee, I kid, I kid. There are arguments for both sides of this issue. Many people think it's extremely obvious that Aaron should be counted as one of The Six because, although he wasn't born yet, he was alive in the womb during the crash... and then suffered the hardship of spending his first few months of life on a deserted island. I can see The Powers That Be over at CBS getting all sorts of bad ideas now. Survivor: Newborns vs. Toddlers!


The Rest of The Six
Depending on how Aaron is counted, there are either one or two remaining members of The Six to be revealed. I had always assumed that Sun would get off because of her pregnancy. Now I'm not so sure. There has been absolutely no rhyme nor reason for the first four confirmed members of the group, so I have stuck to my oath made a few weeks ago to not try to figure it out.


I Need a Bushy Eyebrow Fix!
Why the hell haven't they shown Ageless Richard, Cindy, all of the kids and all of the other Others over at the Temple yet? I think we're supposed to forget about them so that when they do show up it will be a big surprise. But who can forget about those ridiculously long eyelashes?


No More Food?
Locke mentioned that he had used up the last two eggs. Then he claimed to have killed a chicken (which would seem foolhardy if there were no more eggs). All of this made me think about the food drop we saw in the past. I believe those food drops were linked to the Countdown Clock O' Doom in the original hatch, which was one of many things Locke blew up. So are they now running out of food? But even more importantly, wouldn't the group who was performing the food drops have realized that something had gone wrong on the Island? Could the organization behind the freighter team have been involved in the food drops before? Or were the drops something that Ben had arranged through some of his contacts off of the Island?

Whew, that's it. See what happens when I like an episode? The length of the write-up increases exponentially.



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

Kate: You got blood.
Locke: I just... killed a chicken.




Hurley: No, I moved him to the boat house--[pause]--You just totally Scooby-Dooed me, didn't you?
Kate: Sorry.




[Jack grimaces at another busy signal]
Juliet: Maybe we should try a number other than the boat... like 911?




Sawyer: I know it's in a box, but... pretty damn good wine! I tested it.



Sawyer: She talked to that guy... Bruce Lee from the freighter.



PARTY ALL THE TIME

I hosted a party at my place ("The Hatch") for "Eggtown." If you'd like to see just how crazy I am, click here for the pictures.

Until next week,
- e