S5Ep4 - The Little Prince

Hello my dear friends -

Like most Lost fans, I enjoyed "The Little Prince" because it provided a welcome break from the intensity of the first three hours of the season. Even though the writers did throw us some curve balls and answer a few questions, not a heck of a lot actually happened in this episode to spawn a slew of new theories. At first I thought that meant that I'd have a very easy time cranking out a short post... but of course I was completely wrong. It doesn't even matter anymore whether or not a new episode is chock-full of information... the name of the game in Season Five is thinking back to how clues from past episodes may be able to be reinterpreted now that we know what's transpired since the Oceanic Six left the Island. Hence, no rest for weary Lost bloggers.


'CAUSE THIS IS WHAT YOU'VE WAITED FOR
YOUR CHANCE TO EVEN UP THE SCORE

From the short flashback at the beginning of the episode, we learned that it was Kate's idea to pass off Aaron as her own son once they returned to L.A., despite Jack thinking that there was probably a better way to handle the situation. Now -- three years later --Kate's worst nightmare has come true: someone's on to her.

In "The Lie," Kate told Sun about the lawyers who paid her a visit. The next time we see the two women, it's clear that Sun has advised Kate to try a little harder to find out the identity of the mystery client. Since Sun has been acting so shady, I definitely thought she was leading Kate into a trap by encouraging her to visit the law firm. I feared that Kate would be nabbed the second she stepped foot in their offices, and then Sun would run off with Aaron.

Before we saw the contents of the package Sun received at the hotel and before we saw her show up at the pier where the rest of the O6 (minus Hurley) met Ben, I thought there was still a chance that Sun was working for Mr. Linus. But as soon as we learned that she had hired someone to tail Ben (and/or Jack) as well as supply her with a gun... well, then I was pretty sure that she either really is in cahoots with Widmore, or is at least using him for the time being to bring Ben to justice.

There's still the question of how Sun would ever connect Ben to Jin's death, though. Even if Desmond -- who had been on the freighter long enough to have possibly learned that the explosives in its depths would be triggered by the heart monitor device attached to Keamy -- put everything together and told the O6 the whole story while they were resting on Penny's boat for a week, Sun would still have no way of knowing that it was Ben who killed Keamy. After all, Richard was the one who shot Keamy after his tussle with Sayid. The O6 should've thought Keamy was already dead by the time they left the Island and that Jin and Michael were just delaying an inevitable explosion. Therefore, all I can figure is that Locke/Jeremy Bentham visited Sun off-Island and explained what really happened...

...But that scenario doesn't really make sense, either, because we obviously have enough information at this point to assume that Locke was/will be doing everything he could to convince the O6 to return to the Island. It doesn't seem like he would purposefully say something to upset Sun, much less motivate her to knock off Ben. Consequently, the mystery of Sun's motivations remains.


THERE'S A MAN WHO LIVES A LIFE OF DANGER
TO EVERYONE HE MEETS HE STAYS A STRANGER
WITH EVERY MOVE HE MAKES, ANOTHER CHANCE HE TAKES
ODDS ARE HE WON'T LIVE TO SEE TOMORROW

Elsewhere in L.A., Sayid finally awakens after what Jack said had been forty-two hours of unconsciousness. Forty-two hours?!? I was surprised to hear that much time had passed since we saw He of the Flowing Locks get darted in "Because You Left"... but whatever. Probably all we were supposed to take away from Jack's comment is that if Ms. Hawking told Ben that he had seventy hours to get the crew back to the Island, then only slightly more than a day remains now to get the job done.

As Jack is pulled out in the hall and scolded by a hospital administrator, yet another dude tries to dart Sayid. Obviously whoever is behind these attacks wants Sayid captured alive -- and I think we can narrow the mastermind down to either Widmore or The Economist. I'm leaning toward the latter. Widmore has given us no reason to believe that he's wanting to mess with any of the people who have returned from the Island. Sun approached him first, and when Desmond stormed into his office, Widmore didn't try to stop him from leaving. In fact, all he seemed to care about was keeping Penny and Desmond out of the whole drama. I'm not saying that Widmore is a good guy or that he doesn't have an evil plan to find and control the Island, but there's really nothing that would lead us to believe that he's the one trying to get Sayid.

However, the same thing can't be said about The Economist. And here's why...


I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE
SOMEBODY'S WATCHIN' ME

As you may remember from Sayid's first flash-forward episode -- entitled, um, "The Economist" -- Sayid and Ben had been working together to try and kill this as-of-yet unnamed man. Here are a few key points of dialogue from that episode that I think will be important to keep in mind going forward (I've cut out unessential lines in the interest of time and post length):

Scene: When Sayid first meets Elsa in Berlin

SAYID: I’m a headhunter. A corporate recruiter. What do you do?

ELSA: My employer is an economist. He works in emerging markets. Actually, I don’t really understand what he does; which doesn’t matter, since all I do is shop for him. [Holds up pager] If this goes off, I’m at his side instantly. Which is wonderful, since he’s only in Berlin once or twice a year.

Scene: Sayid and Elsa's fifth date

(Elsa looks as if she's going to leave her pager behind when she and Sayid head out to the opera)

SAYID: I’ll carry it. If he does call, I don’t want you fired over me. You should tell your employer that there is newer technology.

ELSA: Well, I’ve tried. He’s very old-fashioned.


Scene: Elsa, who has just declared her love for Sayid, realizes that he's a spy

SAYID: You have to leave Berlin. People will be asking questions soon. About what happened to your employer. And you can’t be around to answer them.

ELSA: My employer? This… this is about my boss? Who are you? You’re gonna kill him? Do you even know him?

SAYID: His name is on a list.

ELSA: A list? What list? You have a list?

SAYID: It’s my employer's.

ELSA: And who is that?

SAYID: It doesn’t matter who he is! The man you are working for is not an economist.

From the exchanges above, we can infer that The Economist (I'm sticking with the nickname the Lost fan base at large uses, despite Sayid's last line) is male and that Ben and Sayid actually do know his name since it's on "the list." As we also know that Sayid had been killing off anyone Ben told him to at that point in time, it's fair to assume that The Economist would've been a goner had Sayid come face to face with him. The fact that Elsa mentioned that he was "old-fashioned," especially when it came to technology, leads me to believe that this guy may be doing a little time traveling. However, since we have yet to see anyone (except if you count Ben when he turned the FDW in one year and landed in the desert in another) -- actually time travel off of the Island, I'm not really sure how The Economist could be manipulating time. But more on that a bit later.

First, here are a few more points to consider...

Scene: Elsa shoots Sayid and then calls The Economist

ELSA: (on phone, in German) You were supposed to page me at ten-thirty, not ten. No, I didn’t kill him. He’s not going to give up the name now. Why should I keep him alive? No, he had no idea. All right, all right. I’ll bring him to you.

Scene: It is revealed that Sayid has been working for Ben.

BEN: I have another name for you.

SAYID: But they know I’m after them now.

BEN: Good.

These two scenes lead me to believe that whoever The Economist is, he does not know who Ben Linus is... or... he does know who Ben is but either 1) doesn't realize that Ben has left the Island (which definitely rules out Widmore, as Ben visited him off-Island and already had a chance to kill him) and/or 2) doesn't realize that it's Ben who's directing Sayid's actions. All this guy probably does know is that someone's been picking off his colleagues and he needs to get to the bottom of it. Otherwise he and Elsa wouldn't be so concerned with Sayid giving up the name of his employer. Further, now that The Economist knows that Sayid is after him, it would make sense that Sayid would be pursued by his henchman from that point forward -- leading to the ambushes at both the safe house and at the hospital. The Economist still wants to question Sayid, hence the tranquilizers rather than bullets.

Elsa's given us a few more clues about her boss, but before I delve into them I'm going to apologize for how confusing some of my analysis is going to be. There's just no easy way to write about the time travel/warp stuff.

Once you're sure your mind is up to it, read on...

LET'S DO THE TIME WARP, AGAIN

If you're under the weather or have consumed even the tiniest bit of alcohol, turn back now. You've been forewarned!

Let's revisit a strange comment Elsa made when she spoke to The Economist on the phone, shall we?

"You were supposed to page me at ten-thirty, not ten."

Hmm, her boss didn't call at the right time.

In fact, he was a half-hour off.

Now, perhaps the poor man was simply (and understandably) anxious about getting Elsa away from Love Machine Sayid, but something else happened on the Island in that same episode that makes me think the mix-up in the page time might have more meaning: Daniel ran his rocket experiment and found there to be a 31-minute difference between the time it was on the Island and the time it was on the freighter. Why should you care? Because I think there's a remote possibility that The Economist was calling Elsa from the Island. And even though I am saying upfront that this idea probably has no merit and it's totally ridiculous that I'm creating a theory based on ONE SENTENCE in the entire series, I will still attempt to explain it -- just in case.

So let's say that The Economist is on the Island. Let's also say that he's an Other working secretly against Richard and Ben for whatever reason (maybe he's a Dharma member-turned-Other who survived the Purge and is finally exacting revenge?). He may even be working for someone else (perhaps Abaddon?). Elsa said this guy had been in Berlin a few times each year... and we know that the Others seem to have always had the ability to leave and return to the Island, so that could still work (if it was even The Economist she actually met with). We also know that the Others like to roll old-school (or perhaps they've had no choice) -- so that may factor into why The Economist is still using a pager.

Here's where it starts getting messy. Forget the fact that Sawyer, Locke and crew have been traveling through time on the Island, because that doesn't apply to this theory, and the reason why is because the Others have not been affected by the turning of the FDW. I repeat, Richard and his people have not been skipping through the years. We know this from "Because You Left," when Daniel noted that it was most likely only the Lostie, Freighter + Juliet group moving around, and when Richard confirmed that by telling Locke that he (Richard) "didn't go anywhere" and that only John would be "moving on soon."

If The Economist is a rogue Other on the Island, then as the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 passed in the outside world, they passed for him on the Island at the same rate, too. We first received proof of this from the fact that the date on the Island and the date on the Freighter and the date in the outside world were all the same -- December 24, 2004 -- when Desmond called Penny in "The Constant." (They even had a calendar up in the communications room for our benefit.) And then of course when the Oceanic Six left the Island, it was clear that 108 days had passed both on the Island and elsewhere. All that ever appeared to be different (time-wise) between the Island and areas outside a certain radius was the thirty-minute time difference Daniel discovered in his rocket experiment (which was also evidenced by Dead Doc Ray washing up on the Island when Alive Doc Ray was still on the freighter).

So that's why, as I started think about who could be behind using Sayid as a dartboard in L.A., I zeroed in on the comment Elsa had made last season about The Economist calling a half-hour early. I think it's also a possibility that while Elsa assumes she's been meeting with her boss every once in a while over the years in Berlin, that The Economist never even left the Island and she'd been meeting with one of his cronies instead.

I'll stop with this now because I honestly think it was probably just a throwaway line, but since I'd be mad at myself for not mentioning it if it does in fact turn out to be a valid theory, I had to say something.

WHO ARE YOU?
WHO, WHO, WHO, WHO?

So back in L.A. in the hospital room where Sayid is able to fight off his latest aggressor, he discovers Kate's address in the guy's pocket. Ben (who's arrived after losing Hurley to the LAPD) doesn't seem the least bit surprised that Sayid has been targeted again, whereas Jack is immediately concerned for Kate.

I was a little confused by this scene because when Sayid asked the Faux Male Nurse who he worked for, the response was "Address -- it's in my pocket." We all know that Kate didn't send someone to capture Sayid, so I'm not sure if we're meant to think that this guy was going to go get her next, or if her address was supposed to throw Sayid off of the trail if the Faux Male Nurse was caught.

Before I wrap up talking about Sayid and whoever is out to get him, let me encourage you to review the first few sections of last season's "The Economist" write-up, because we need to be on the lookout for the "R.G." who gave similar metallic bracelets to both Elsa and Naomi from the freighter. Since we don't know a character with those initials yet, my bizarre Rogue Other theory could still work. Though at this point, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being the late Robert Goulet. Regardless of who The Economist is, I'd bet that he's got to be referenced again (or shown) sooner rather than later. Ben and Sayid both made subtle references to their falling out (Ben: "Let's... save the dirty linen for later"), so perhaps we'll get a flashback about why Sayid is confident that "the only side Ben's on is his own."

I'M A DESPERATE MAN
SEND LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY
THE SHIT HAS HIT THE FAN

While Ben and Sayid spend some quality time driving around together (in a van that had an anagram of "Reincarnation" on its side...), Jack goes to ensure that Kate is safe. He ends up tailing the lawyer with her and they are both stunned to find that Claire's mom is the one he's visiting. Too bad that I wasn't stunned; the "Previously on Lost" clips always ruin those types of surprises. As soon as they aired the scene where Ms. Littleton visited Jack at his dad's funeral, I knew she'd be in the episode. Grrr.

Anyway, I can't decide if her inclusion in "The Little Prince" was simply to fill time and save the big reveal of The Mystery Client until the end of the episode, or if there's really more to her L.A. visit than attempting to get settlement money from Oceanic (which does seem strange since it's three years after the crash).

Regardless, Jack and Kate are convinced that they no longer need to worry about her, and they head out to meet Sun and Aaron at the marina. At the same time, Sayid and Ben were chatting with Ben's lawyer to get the details about springing Hurley from the slammer. The lawyer is of course the same one working for Claire's mom (that seems like a BIG stretch... of all the lawyers in the world she hires the guy Ben has on his payroll?) and the same one that's been harassing Kate (not to mention the heroic chemical plant manager on last week's 24, the dad from My So-Called Life (Jordan Catalano 4EVA), and one of the founders of the Steppenwolf theater here in my hometown -- Chicago represent!).

I can't say I was too surprised by this reveal; it seemed pretty likely that Ben was going to exploit each of the O6 in whatever way he could in order to convince them of the need to return to the Island. So far he's played on Jack's guilt and savior complexes as well as his need to "fix" things, Hurley's reluctance to continue lying, and Kate's fear of someone taking Aaron away. Sayid's already lost everything he cares about in the world, so if the others go, he shouldn't be too hard to convince. Which of course leaves Sun and Her Gun. I can only assume we'll see how Ben intends to manipulate her next week -- unless she shoots him first.

While the episode ends before Sun gets out of her car, we are treated to Kate's reaction when she sees both Sayid and Ben. It was something like, "WTF!??! OMG?!?!! Are you kidding me?!?! Seriously?!?! WTF!!?!?!!" -- and not in a good way.

And now, let's hop over to the Island.

BABY, BABY, BABY,
LIGHT MY WAY

Locke convinces Sawyer of the need to return to the Orchid Station so that he can attempt to leave the Island and bring back those who left. The rest of the group sets off with them, and on the way they see the infamous hatch light shoot up to the heavens. The first thing that went through my mind was, "HolycrapholycrapholycrapholyCRAP -- we might get another glimpse of the Amputron 2000!!!" I was so looking forward to watching Jack almost hack off Boone's leg with the plane's cargo hold door once again. Alas, it was not meant to be.

But I still absolutely loved revisiting that fateful night on the Island, because the scene at the end of "Deus Ex Machina" where Locke was crying and banging on the hatch is one of my all-time favorite memories of watching the show. I had a group of people over for that episode and everyone totally flipped out and got chills when that freakin' light came on. My heart broke a million times over for Locke when he was all, "WHYYYY did you do this to me?!?! Whhyyyy!!!!!???", and so I was thankful that we got to hear how he's put that experience in perspective: "I needed that pain to get to where I am now."

Next, Sawyer stumbles upon Kate helping Claire give birth to Aaron in the jungle. I gotta tell ya, I definitely choked up watching him stand there, transfixed. I thought I would hate it if the characters ever came across each other or saw situations from their own time on the Island, but I was really moved by both Locke and Sawyer's reactions.

IF YOU WANT BLOOD
YOU GOT IT

In a not so pleasant turn of events, both Miles and Juliet joined Charlotte's Bloody Nose Gang. I can no longer deny the "Miles is Pierre Chang's son" theory discussed at the beginning of my write-up for "Because You Left" -- I think it's pretty obvious from Daniel's "Are you sure?" comment that Miles has indeed been on the Island before. The interesting thing is that he doesn't seem aware of this fact (thereby squashing speculation that he was out to kill Ben to avenge his father's death in the Purge). And apparently Juliet is affected because she'd been on the Island so much longer than the others. On that note, I should probably address a question I've gotten a few times: If Juliet is an Other, why isn't she staying put in time with Richard and the rest of her people... and why would she get a nosebleed? My guess is that when she received that weird branding mark after her trial for killing a member of her own group (in order to help Kate and Sawyer escape Alcatraz Island), that exempted her from the benefits of being an Other. She avoided the Others' usual "eye for an eye" death sentence, but lost immunity from potentially fatal bouts of time travel.

I'm pretty sure that Sawyer, Rose and Bernard (if we ever see them again) will also start experiencing this side effect before too long -- I mean, we've heard more than a few times that "everyone's going to die" if the Oceanic Six don't return...

A SHOT IN THE DARK
NOT A THING THAT YOU CAN DO
A SHOT IN THE DARK
ALWAYS CREEPING UP ON YOU

Did we perhaps see evidence of that return already? After the next flash, the group finds their old camp -- minus the Zodiac and plus two outriggers which contained evidence that their prior occupants had been on Ajira Airlines. We've seen the Ajira logo before -- hidden in promos for Season Five -- and most people assumed that it would be the airline that brought the O6 back.

That's the way I'm leaning, too... although it's of course also possible that Ajira carried an enemy group to the Island and the O6 return by other means, especially considering the fact that Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Charlotte and Daniel became the target of gunfire as they paddled around the Island. I find it hard to believe that any of the O6 would randomly start shooting from afar at a canoe full of what could be their friends. And I of course hope it's not the O6 in the other boat, because one of them might have been hit by Juliet before the next flash swept the time travelers to (relative) safety...

HEY, I...
OH, I'M STILL ALIVE

The final scene of the episode delivered the big shocker of the night. Not so much because Jin was found alive (I'm totally spoiler-free and knew he'd be back - come on, it's Jin, people!), but rather because of who found him. The year is 1988 and Danielle Rousseau and her science team have just crashed on the Island -- we even finally got a glimpse of Montand (with both arms).

Now of course the question becomes, will Jin stay with them long enough so that we get an understanding of what actually happened to the entire crew and how Danielle went from a sweet-faced, gentle young woman to a hardened Crazy French Chick? And will Jin find a way to reunite with his fellow Lostaways left on the Island? And does anyone remember a time when Danielle and Jin directly interact in "the future" after the 815 crash? Off the top of my head, I can't... but Jin obviously recognizes Danielle's name and/or face when he awakens on the beach. He was like, "Oh #$(* -- don't shoot me, freak!"

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

KATE (to Aaron): Aaron, honey, mommy's gonna run out and do an errand. I'll be right back. OK? And then we can go home.
SUN: Don't worry about us, Kate. There's candy in the minibar and a hundred channels on TV. We're going to be just fine here.

(e thinks: Worst. Babysitter. Ever.)

JACK: Hurley, where are you?
HURLEY: Dude, I'm totally cool. I'm in L.A. County lockup.

KATE (to Jack): You shaved your beard.

JULIET: The camp's back.
SAWYER: Finally. Anybody for a DHARMA beer?

JULIET: Ajira. It's an airline. It's based out of India, but they fly everywhere.
SAWYER: Great. Maybe they got a flight out of here to Vegas tonight.

SAWYER: I saw Kate.
JULIET: What?
SAWYER: Last night, in the jungle. Before the last flash. She was delivering Claire's baby.
JULIET: But that was two months ago.
SAWYER: Time travel's a bitch.

SAYID: Who was that?
BEN: That's my lawyer.

KATE: It's him.
JACK: What?
KATE: It's him. He's the one who's trying to take Aaron.
JACK: No. No. You--you don't understand.
BEN: No, Jack. She's right. It was me. Sorry.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

Thanks to everyone on Facebook who sent along their well wishes for my dog. He was very ill last week but is doing better now, as you can see below. He was actually quite annoyed that I disturbed his Lost-watching experience to take this picture.



As always, thanks for reading -- Ben has less than a day to get the 06 and Dead Locke back to the Island, and so I can only imagine that the next episode is going to be a wild one...

- e

S5Ep3 - Jughead

Hello my dear friends -

First things first: Is that me in front of the Jughead tower?

Maybe it is... and maybe it IS!

As you can see, the Others clearly followed Faraday's advice and buried the bomb (hello, mysterious concrete area under the Swan hatch) because it's no longer precariously suspended from the structure... phew.

There once was a point in time, however, when the Island was very much in danger of nuclear annihilation. So let's kick things off with a trip back to 1954...

(And in case you missed the posts about my Lost tour of Oahu this past October, they are spoiler-free MUST-READS and can be found here.)


SPEAKING IN TONGUES

I was wrong; the angry British-sounding dudes were in fact Others. Others dressed in U.S. military garb... but Others nonetheless.

Juliet figures out what their deal is after "Jones" and "Cunningham" start whispering in Latin. Apparently, all Others must learn the dead language in order to be able to communicate when the going gets tough (even though Patchy and Ms. Klugh yelled to each other in Russian during their standoff with the Lostaways in "Enter 77"... but I digress). While it was obviously surprising to find out that these guys were Others/Hostiles, I felt the even bigger shocker was that Juliet knows a lot more about her old group than we might have previously assumed. Namely, she told Locke and Sawyer that "Richard's always been here" and that he's "old."

While we're sure that Juliet used to reside in Miami, we still can't tell if these, um, other Others also once lived elsewhere, or if they were born on the Island. (Since many have British accents, I can only assume Richard brought at least some of them from the outside world.)

That's going to be a pretty important thing to figure out, because...


SAY MY NAME, SAY MY NAME

Once Locke hears that Richard should be at the camp site, he charges down there like the badass he is and demands to speak with him. It's at this point we find out that "Jones" is not Jones, but rather Angry Young Charles Widmore. (While I was wrong about Jones and crew being soldiers, you must give me points for mentioning that their accents reminded me of Widmore's in my last post!)

For me, the highlight of the episode was Locke's huge "You've got to be kidding" grin when he learned Jones' true identity. Now it makes even more sense why Locke didn't shoot Jones when he escaped in the jungle -- he literally couldn't. The gods of time travel wouldn't let him.

Which is too bad, because Widmore was quite the little punk, wasn't he? At the very least he deserved a little nick in the bum, don't you think? From the looks of his tense interaction with Richard, it seems as though he didn't like being ordered around. My guess is that Widmore eventually got too big for his britches and was banished from the Island. Maybe he even tried to overthrow Richard or whomever Richard reports to.

On that note, who DOES Richard report to? Obviously the name "Jacob" meant something to him, because that was all he needed to hear in order to agree to a conversation with Locke. But Ben had told Locke that nobody -- including Richard -- had ever seen or spoken to Jacob except for him (until Locke also did). Granted, Ben could have been lying, but that doesn't make me any less confused about the mysterious Jacob. He was evidently a presence on the Island twenty years before Ben arrived, or Richard wouldn't have treated Locke so civilly.


FOREVER YOUNG
I WANT TO BE
FOREVER YOUNG

Just as Future Richard had forewarned, 1954 Richard didn't recognize Locke. I think we can say that this camp encounter is the first time Richard has ever met our bald hero. He's nowhere near ready to accept that Locke is his new leader (much less tell him how to leave the Island), and he informs Locke that the process of finding a Head Other takes a long time. In response, Locke -- right before the next flash occurs -- urges Richard to go visit him when he's born. We know from "Cabin Fever" that Richard did just that, and continued to find Locke at other points throughout his life.

I would have never guessed that Richard had been tracking Locke throughout the decades because Future Locke told him to, so I really got a kick out of that revelation. In addition, I think this scene may have proven two additional things:

1) No one had time traveled on the Island before the '50s

1954 Richard was like, "Oh, reeeally?" and came very close to making the "cuckoo" gesture when Locke tried to tell him about the instructions from Future Richard (I loved the "I certainly don't want to contradict... myself" line). Since Juliet said that Richard has "always" been there, you would think that he would not be fazed by Locke's comments if he'd ever encountered time travelers before (or had experienced time travel himself). But both Richard and Ellie (in a later scene with Daniel) don't appear to be buying into the "we're from the future" explanation. This leads me to believe that 1954 is the first year in which the Others become aware of this specific power of the Island (notice that I said "become aware of," not "use").

Now I have even more questions about the Frozen Donkey Wheel. If Richard has always been on the Island and the FDW moves the Island through space-time, shouldn't he have been well-versed in time travel by 1954?

Maybe... but maybe not. You may recall that the chamber in which the wheel is housed had hieroglyphics all over the place (like the ones on Ben's secret door). Perhaps the FDW was built before Richard was born? I mean, the guy had to have been born at some point, right? If this were the case, then Richard might not have been aware of the FDW's existence -- or what it did when turned -- if it had never been used during his time on the Island to date.

There's another explanation for why Richard isn't quick to believe Locke's time-traveling tale. Let's say Richard really has always been on the Island since the dawn of time and does know about the FDW. But since the turning of the wheel has no effect his people (as proven in this episode and "Because You Left"), he has no reason to ever suspect it would cause anyone else to start skipping through time. To Richard, the FDW is solely a means of protecting the Island from invaders. Whenever it had been turned in the past, the only people on the island were Others or natives (because they'd probably killed everyone else), so there had been no weird side effects, so to speak.


2) Richard really is ageless.

Previously, many wondered if time travel was behind Richard's unchanging appearance. While I think this is still a remote possibility, it seems less likely now that we've witnessed his talk with Locke and heard what Juliet had to say about him. We've seen Richard in at least four decades now -- decades that he definitely appeared to be living in and not just popping through -- and he's always looked the same. We actually have no reason to believe that any of the Others have ever time traveled, especially since they are staying put when the Lostaways and Freighties are skipping around and since they used to be able to come and go from the Island in the submarine. Therefore, I'm still calling him Ageless Richard until somebody gives me an extremely compelling reason not to.


WHAT'S YOUR NAME
LITTLE GIRL
WHAT'S YOUR NAME

Elsewhere on the Island, Charlotte, Miles and Faraday had been captured by a different group of Others. As they're being marched to the camp site, we see that Daniel fully understands Miles' ability to communicate with the dead -- something we may have suspected but didn't have proof of before.

We're also introduced to Ellie.

This is where I need to take a moment to throw a tantrum.

See, something was revealed in the "enhanced" airing of "The Lie" that gave us a major clue about Ellie. I can't really treat it as a spoiler, but since it wasn't included in a new episode I know most Lost fans didn't catch it. I think it's just awful that The Powers That Be handled doling out this information in such a way. The bad thing is, there's no telling when -- if ever -- this same clue will be given in an upcoming episode. So I've decided to talk about it, and if you don't want to know what it was, then skip ahead TWO sections to "It Ain't Me."

For those of you still reading, what we learned in the enhanced version of "The Lie" is that Ms. Hawking's first name is Eloise. By the way, we have never heard her last name spoken on the show, either -- we've just figured it out from transcripts. Grrrrr. Anyway, it would be really stupid at this point if the Ellie we met on the Island in 1954 doesn't grow up to be Eloise Hawking. There's nothing overtly spectacular about that idea except that it was most likely Daniel's talk of being "from the future" that led her to become interested in time travel at some point after 1954.

What's infinitely more intriguing, however, is the theory (which I briefly mentioned last week) that Ms. Hawking is Faraday's mother. Now that we've been introduced to Ellie, I'm leaning toward believing this one. Here's how I think it could all work...


MAMMA MIA
HERE I GO AGAIN

Ellie -- who always had a soft spot for that strange dude with the skinny tie she captured in the jungle when she was a young woman -- gets pregnant several years later and decides to name her son after him. As in, she names her son after... her son (hello, Back to the Future). Some think that Widmore may have been the father, making Penny and Daniel siblings (or at least half-siblings). Ellie and Charles had a falling out (there could've been several reasons behind their split -- let's not pretend that Widmore's a nice guy), and they either left the Island together or separately. I think that while Charlies may have been banished, Ellie was probably dispatched to the outside world in order to become one of the off-Island Others that Richard -- and eventually Ben -- call upon for help. If she disapproved of how Widmore acted on the Island or perhaps knew of his plans to try and run the show, it would explain why she's now working with Ben.

But back to Baby Faraday...

For reasons unknown, Daniel is given up for adoption almost immediately after he's born. This would explain his different last name and lack of an accent. However, if Widmore was really his father, why would he choose to raise Penny and not Daniel? I don't have the energy to speculate about that right now, but suffice it to say that Widmore was aware of Daniel's research, regardless of whether or not he was his father. We learned in this episode that Widmore had been financially backing Daniel's experiments at Oxford and continued to care for his ill-fated test subject, Theresa. Widmore was also likely behind the selection of Faraday for the freighter's science team.

Although Daniel may not have had any contact with his father or even know who he was, at some point later in his life he was either reunited or had contact with his mother. The nerdy scientist genes were in his blood and once Ms. Hawking learned of Daniel's research, she realized that it was in fact her own son who had visited her on the Island all those years ago. She became even more determined to keep the Island safe, and intercepted Desmond at the antique store in order to try to convince him to fulfill his button-pushing destiny.

Daniel goes on to name the mouse that he uses for time-travel experiments after his long-lost mother (it's the thought that counts). The last time he'd seen or heard from her, she was in Oxford (once again -- all of this is just a theory, we actually have no proof that Hawking's ever been at Oxford), so that's where he instructs Desmond to go once the time-skipping starts on the Island. When Daniel meets the young version of his mother in 1954, he doesn't appear to recognize her, but does say that she looks like someone he "used to know." Daniel may have no clue that his mother's ever been on the Island herself... the only thing he's definitely sure of in the future is that she rocks a mean hooded cloak, has mad science skillz and knows a thing or two about the space-time continuum.

Back in the outside world in 2007, Widmore knows where Eloise Hawking can be found when Desmond comes to visit him. This could be because she's his ex-girlfriend/wife/baby mama or simply because Others have the tendency to keep track of one another. If we are to assume that Daniel's mother is indeed Hawking, then we know that Widmore's pointed Desmond in the right direction; the mysterious lady is now in Los Angeles... assisting Widmore's nemesis, Ben.

It kind of all makes sense, doesn't it? It does if you don't think about it too much! But if you have more questions, read on... I'm not totally done with the Widmore stuff.

But I am done with the on-Island events. Time for the outside world. I don't know about the rest of you, but I welcomed the return of the familiar one-character-focused format for the off-Island scenes. And since that character was Desmond, all the better.


IT AIN'T ME
IT AIN'T ME
I AIN'T NO FORTUNATE SON

About a year after he left the Island, Des became the proud poppa of one Charlie Hume. No, I don't think there is any way that this Charlie will somehow grow up to be either Charlie Pace or Charles Widmore, so banish those confusing thoughts from your head right now and never (do you hear me? never!) try to convince me that either scenario could transpire. I'll have none of it.

What I do think will happen, however, is that Penny's dad will eventually come to meet his grandson and this scene will go down:

WIDMORE: Why, you named him after me! I'm honored.

DESMOND: Are you CRAZY, brotha? He's named after a GOOD man, not after you, you evil bastard. He's named after a man who sacrificed himself so that his friends could live! Now can I get a round of 'You All Everybody' out of respect?


Is anyone else out there more than a tad worried for Lil' Charlie? I thought Penny was acting very weird in this episode -- like she understands a lot of what's going on but is hiding that knowledge from her husband. Then of course we had Desmond's totally obvious, foreshadowing response to her plea that he never return to the Island: "Why in God's name would I ever go back there?" (In TV Show Land, that means he's definitely going back.) By the end of the episode she's telling Desmond "we'll go with you" to L.A. in order to find Daniel's mother... but I got the sneaking suspicion that she and Lil' Charlie will also end up going back to the Island with Des. Which would drastically increase the odds of Des and Penny being the Adam and Eve skeletons, don't you think?

Finally, I feel like now is the time to mention a theory my brother's had for a long time. It's one I've never wanted to seriously consider, but this episode made me feel like things may be headed in this direction: Sun and Not Really Dead Jin will be the "happy reunion" of the series, but Desmond and Penny's relationship will end in tragedy. Think about it -- we already got our happy reunion of Des and Penny (two of them, in a way, if you count the tearjerking phone call in "The Constant"). How can it not be all downhill for them now? I seriously hope they live happily ever after, but I'm growing more concerned that Desmond's going to have to sacrifice himself to make things right in the universe. And let's not forget about Ben's threat to kill Penny in revenge for Widmore's men killing Alex. I weep for Lil' Charlie's future!

Presently, however, Penny and Lil' Charlie are safe on their boat while Desmond sets foot on that other island... Great Britain.


TURN OFF YOUR MIND
RELAX, AND FLOAT DOWNSTREAM
IT IS NOT DYING
IT IS NOT DYING

The year is 2007, and Des is hell-bent on finding Daniel's mother at Oxford. But the school has no record of a Daniel Faraday ever having worked at the esteemed university. Desmond doesn't give up, though, and instead busts into Faraday's old lab. Some beret-wearing dude who's keeping the lab under lockdown shoos Desmond away, but not before mentioning that others have come looking for the quirky scientist. He also gives Desmond the name of "that poor girl" Daniel had worked with.

Looking oh-so-smooth in his aviator shades, scarf and feathered hair, Desmond next pays a visit to Theresa Spencer. From what her sister says, it's pretty obvious that Theresa's consciousness has been doing some time traveling -- the same kind that Desmond experienced in "The Constant." It's unclear from the picture Desmond found whether or not Daniel and Theresa were simply colleagues or also romantically involved. (What was clear from that picture is that Daniel was once the Mullet King.)


Regardless, we can assume that she'd been working with Daniel on his experiments, something went awry, and now she's permanently jumping through time in her mind. Which can only mean that she's never found a constant... but shouldn't that also give her a brain aneurysm and kill her? How exactly is she able to be kept alive? And did Daniel abandon Theresa and leave for the U.S. because he thought he'd be able to find a cure for her condition there? Or did he simply flee out of guilt... remember that the only time we saw him in the U.S., he was looking pretty depressed and scruffy.

The most important information we got out of Desmond's time with Theresa and her sister was that Charles Widmore had been financially backing Faraday's research at Oxford and continued to pay for Theresa's care. Des came very close to having a Sawyer-like "Son of a..." moment when he heard Penny's dad's name once again. And then off to Daddy Widmore's office he stormed.

Before we turn away from Theresa, though, I feel like I should mention two other theories about her, even though I don't subscribe to either:

- Theresa used to be Boone's nanny, of "Theresa falls up the stairs, Theresa falls down the stairs" fame.
All we know about this nanny (besides her name) is that her accident happened in 1988 (when Boone was six) and she broke her neck... we don't know if she died. The two Theresas could be one in the same if she was fairly young in her nannying days: an 18-year-old in 1988 would be 37 in 2007, when Desmond's visit takes place. But even if they were the same person -- what does that mean? It might be another one of Lost's infamous character crossovers, but I don't think it holds much significance.

- Theresa is the same woman in the painting we've seen in two of Ben's homes in the Barracks.
Yes, both women are blond, but the timing doesn't work out -- Daniel's Theresa wouldn't have been born when Roger and Ben first came to the Island, and there's no reason to think that she ever physically time traveled in order to meet those two. I'm still going with the theory that the woman in the painting is Ben's mother.

Back to Desmond's quest...


AND I, GET SICK WHEN I'M AROUND
I, CAN'T STAND TO BE AROUND
I, HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU

I know I wasn't the only one who lost it when Desmond came face to face with Widmore. I was definitely expecting that two goons would pop out, put a bag over Desmond's head and carry him off to some dark chamber where he would be forced to spill everything he knew about the Island. But the exact opposite happened: Widmore gave him the address of Daniel's mother and pretty much didn't do or say anything else, except ask if Penny was OK and warn Desmond to stay out of the whole mess.

So what in the Holy Polar Bear Painting is going on?

Before I get into my theories on this one, I think it's worth reviewing the highlights of past Desmond, Penny and Widmore encounters:

- Penny meets Desmond at a monastery (right after he'd turned in his robes) -- she was there picking up wine for her father's company. (Let's not forget that at this same monastery, there was a picture of Ms. Hawking with Desmond's mentor, Brother Campbell).
- Desmond eventually informs Charles Widmore that he intends to propose to Penny. Widmore doesn't approve and tells Desmond that he's worthless.
- Desmond still buys an engagement ring, meeting Ms. Hawking in the process. She, like Widmore, tries to talk him out of proposing.
- Des and Penny break up. But while Desmond's consciousness is time traveling, he visits Widmore again (during an auction of the diary from the Black Rock's first mate) and asks for Penny's new address. Widmore gives it to him, but Penny and Des do not get back together.
- Desmond ends up in military prison and Desmond writes Penny letters during this time. Widmore intercepts all of them, and meets Desmond after he's released. Widmore attempts to bribe Desmond to stay away from Penny now that he's a free man.
- Desmond decides to "regain his honor" by entering the round-the-world sailing competition sponsored by Widmore Corporation. Penny knows that he's entering the race.
- Libby has a chance encounter (or was it?) with Desmond in a coffee shop and randomly offers him her recently deceased husband's boat.
- During the race, Desmond crashes on the Island.
- When Naomi lands on the Island, she's carrying a picture of Des and Penny. The freighter Naomi was on was sent by Widmore (even though Naomi herself was recruited by Abaddon, whose overall role we have yet to figure out).

When Desmond strides into Widmore's office in "Jughead," seven years had passed since the last time the two had seen each other (in Widmore's car after Desmond was released from prison).

Some people have always assumed that Libby was working for Widmore, who somehow "sent" Desmond to the Island via the sailboat in order to permanently keep him away from Penny. But now that we know so much more about Widmore and his decades-long search for the place he used to call home, I don't think that theory is viable. If Widmore knew how to get back to the Island in 2001, he would've either gone himself or sent the freighter team at that point, right? It seems more likely that, in keeping with an overarching theme in the show, it was simply Desmond's destiny to land on the Island.


YEAH, WE'RE PLAYING THOSE MIND GAMES TOGETHER
PROJECTING OUR IMAGES
IN SPACE AND IN TIME


As you may remember from my last post, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Desmond's "free will" actions -- specifically his role in delaying Charlie's death -- are to blame for setting off the disastrous sequence of events that have transpired on the Island since December 2004. Both Hawking and Widmore have come to realize that Desmond is the key to making things go one way or the other, and so they've each tried to influence what he does.

When Ms. Hawking first met Desmond, she told him that he absolutely must abandon his relationship with Penny because his purpose in life was to go to the Island, push the button in the Swan hatch and save the world from destruction. She tried to convince him that he pretty much had no choice, because the universe would always course-correct.

Widmore, on the other hand, is using a much more subtle approach. In 1996, Desmond got Penny's new address from Widmore.
Without it, he would've never been able to learn her phone number and tell her to expect a call from him on Christmas Eve, 2004. And as we all know, if Des didn't talk to Penny that day, he was a goner.

Now Widmore's given Desmond even more help by providing him with Faraday's mother's address. I'm sure many people thought, "Wait a second, if he knows where this woman is -- especially if it ends up being Hawking who's working with his arch-rival, Ben -- why doesn't he bust over there himself and try to thwart their plans to bring the Oceanic Six back to the Island?" I think the reason why Widmore isn't taking any action on this one is because: 1) he's in (or thinks he's in) cahoots with Sun to kill Ben already, and 2) he knows that whatever Desmond will do will actually work to his advantage.

Widmore landed himself the #1 Most Mysterious Character title (and that's saying something) for me this episode. How did he come to be on the Island in his Other days? How, why and when did he leave? Was he ever there at the same time as Ben? Why exactly does he hate Ben so much? How did he go on to become such a powerful businessman? Who else is helping him in his quest to return to the Island?

Needless to say, I think we'll be learning much more about Daddy Widmore over the rest of the series. Who would've thought when he made his first brief appearance back at the end of Season Two that he would be at the center of so many mysteries on the show 2.5 years later? Not me!



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

LOCKE: Who are these people?
SAWYER: Well, gee, I didn't have time to ask that, with Frogurt on fire and all.

(After the group is captured and thrown into the Others' tent)
MILES: We are so dead.
FARADAY: Hey. No, no, no. We are not so dead. We're gonna be fine. We just need to keep it together until there's another flash. All right? Then all this disappears.
CHARLOTTE: And when's that gonna happen?
FARADAY: Could be five minutes. Could also be 5,000 years.
MILES: That's--that's just awesome.

SAWYER: So who taught you Latin?
JULIET: Others 101. Gotta learn Latin--language of the enlightened.
SAWYER: Enlightened, my ass.

CUNNINGHAM: The rest of your people are either captured or dead.
SAWYER: What? What makes you say that?
JONES: That idiot shouted out, "Meet at the creek." We knew exactly where they were going. We sent a group after them.
SAWYER: Well, maybe I should've said it in my secret language.

RICHARD: H--how did you escape?
JONES/WIDMORE: I ran.
RICHARD: And it never occurred to you that they might follow you?
JONES/WIDMORE: Follow me? Their leader is some sodding old man. What, you think he can track me? You think he knows this island better than I do?

SAWYER: I hate to bust up the "I'm an Other, you're an Other" reunion, but Faraday--the guy that's actually gonna save us--is being death-marched into the jungle right now.
LOCKE: Good luck with that.

SAWYER (to Juliet, after Locke leaves): What about you? You wanna stay here in Crazytown or help me rescue the geek?

(Richard approaches from one of the tents.)
LOCKE: (Sighs) My name is John Locke.
RICHARD: Is that supposed to mean something to me?
LOCKE: Jacob sent me.
(The two stare at each other for several moments.)
RICHARD (to jones):Put the gun down.
JONES: What? Richard, you can't seriously trust him.
(Richard walks over to Jones and slaps the rifle down.)
RICHARD: I said... put the gun down, Widmore.
LOCKE (to Jones): Your name is Widmore? Charles Widmore?
WIDMORE: What's it to you?
LOCKE (smiling): Nothing. Nice to meet you.

I'll wrap up this post with a comparison of how the Jughead area looked on the show...


...and what it looked like when I visited Oahu this past October (my picture was taken from the opposite direction -- notice the two small white trees).


At least the Others clean up after themselves.

Until next time,
- e