S1Eps23and24 - Exodus Parts 2 and 3 (Season One finale - part two)

My dearest, most patient friends -

You may be glancing at your calendar and thinking, "Hmmm... didn't Lost end months ago?"

Uh.... yes. What can I say? What have I been doing? Why has this finale wrap-up been so ridiculously late in coming?

Have I been:
a) in denial that the season ended and therefore couldn't bring myself to write the final recap?
b) working for The Man way too much?
c) busy reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and then subsequently being depressed that book 7 won't come out for another 2 years?
d) slathering on Jergens Natural Glow to make it seem like I've even seenthe light of day this summer?
e) trying to stalk Vince Vaughn and/or Jennifer Aniston who were in Chicago all summer, yet failing miserably and remaining quite possibly the only person in the city who didn't see either of them?
f) all of the above

Answer: f

Since it's been so long, I'm going to provide an extremely quick recap so you remember what I'm even talking about in the Issues section:

RECAP of entire finale (all three hours)

Flashbacks that had new information worth mentioning:

Walt/Michael - Walt was a brat, Michael was frustrated and vented to his mother over the phone in Sydney that him raising Walt was "never part of the plan," which Walt overheard.

Sun/Jin - Sun's father had found out about Jin's plan for them to escape once in America and sent one of his men on the same flight as them to forewarn Jin that he was not going to be able to get away and that he would "lose her" if he tried, and that he would "never be free."

Jack - Was definitely married at one point in the past, but no longer is, and also flirted with Ana Lucia in the bar before the flight.

Kate - The stupid toy plane was planted in the bank she robbed by the Marshal in order to catch her.

Sawyer - He was being deported back to the US after getting into a bar fight with an Australian diplomat.

Hurley - Fate seemed to really not want him to make his flight, but despite several setbacks, he obviously made it on. The comic book Walt read on the island with the polar bear in it was originally Hurley's.


Island Happenings

Danielle (Frenchie) enters camp. She says The Others are coming and everyone needs to either bust outta there, hide like there's no tomorrow, or die. She said that everything that happened before when they stole her baby, Alex, is happening again, and sure enough, the column of black smoke appeared shortly thereafter like she predicted . This spurred the Lostaways into action on two fronts: 1) getting the damn raft afloat and 2) opening the hatch in an attempt (albeit lame) to hide everyone in it.

The raft sets sail after a tearful good-bye scene between Sun/Jin and Vincent/Walt. A subset of the group goes with Frenchie to the Black Rock to find dynamite, where they discover that the Black Rock is actually an old slave-ship, and that the "monster"/Lostzilla is some sort of security system for the island. Frenchie leaves the group after they make it to the dynamite and goes back to steal Claire's baby. Claire has a short flashback of Danielle being involved in her abduction. Charlie totally flips out about the baby being kidnapped, and then flips out some more later when Sayid melds together his skin with lighted gunpowder as they go searching for the baby, and then freaks out even more when confronted with the Plane O' Heroin, and then totally loses it on Frenchie after retrieving the baby from her. Frenchie can't understand why The Others didn't want to trade Claire's baby (now named Aaron) for her daughter, because she heard them whisper that they were coming for "the child." Unfortunately, we viewers were treated to Hillbillies On Boats R Us (aka: The Others, apparently) who proved that "the child" they wanted was actually Walt. The Others took Walt and then shot Sawyer, Jin dove into the water after Sawyer, and Michael leapt off the raft
after it was fire-bombed by the woman driving the Hillbilly Boat. Walt was taken away screaming on the Hillbilly Boat.

On the island, poor Dr. Arzt blew up handling dynamite. Locke was caught by the monster and dragged along the jungle floor but saved by Jack and Kate who dropped dynamite down a hole
thus causing the monster to release Locke. Weird floaty black smoke stuff was seen all around. Locke and Jack locked horns several times. Hurley FINALLY saw the numbers on the hatch and went berzerker, but Locke quickly blew the lid off of it anyway. The hatch led down a deep deep hole with a broken-off ladder. The end.

WHEW. Am I good? Or AM I GOOD?

So with all that said, I will now say this: I actually was disappointed in the last two hours. As you may or may not remember, I LOVED the first part of the finale and thought it was incredible, as did nearly everyone on the boards. However, I felt like the next two hours did not take me on the emotional rollercoaster that the first hour did. I also felt like not a heck of a lot even happened. Therefore, there aren't as many new issues listed below as there usually would be. But I have heard that there will be some major answers early on in Season 2, so I guess we shall soon see...


Issues

1) The Others

Everyone seems convinced that the crazy Gorton's Fisherman and Posse who took Walt actually WERE The Others, but I'm still not so sure. If you remember when Charlie and Sayid confronted Danielle to get back the baby, they were on the tip of the island at the origin of the column of Black Smoke, and one of them made a point of saying that there were no footprints
surrounding the fire. Now, that may have been the case because The Others were on a boat and didn't track inland after setting the fire, but I took it more literally to mean there were NO footprints at all anywhere and it was therefore a mystery as to how the fire was started in the first place, which led me to think perhaps The Others were spirit-like things. Other evidence
to support that those people were NOT The Others is that Danielle, who's been on the island for 16 years, has NEVER seen them, and has only heard them 'whisper.' We also know that both Sayid and Sawyer have heard those whispers. So if the Deliverance extras on the boat were actually The Others, we still need an explanation for the whispers.

However, the one reason that those freaky people could've actually been The Others is that of the 4 people on the boat, two of the them were supposedly twins. Now, after I read about this possibility, I went back and paused and slo-mo'd tons of times and still can't say that it was obvious to me, but apparently on the boat there was 1) Old fisherman guy who spoke, 2) Straggly blond hair woman driving the boat and throwing the grenade thingy and then 3) and 4) two strong-looking twin men who shot Sawyer and physically took Walt. If those guys really were twins, that would lead me to wonder if "The Others" are some sort of "super-soldier cloning experiment" type of thing going on as we saw that Ethan was also extraordinarily strong. My other theory was that The Others could shape-shift into human form but were actually not human themselves. One last thought is that perhaps the Boat Peeps are just working for The Others?

Unfortunately I am at a loss to explain why the main guy had on a knit cap and overalls in the tropical climate, nor why he was so cheery when they initially drove up to the raft, no why he seemed to speak with a slight twang...

My final comment about The Others is that if The Others had ALWAYS been after Walt, then why did Ethan try to kidnap Claire and get her baby? Perhaps Ethan was NOT one of The Others, but rather he was working with Danielle for some reason, as we now know that Danielle was definitely part of Claire's original kidnapping. So if that is the case, who in the heck was Ethan and where did HE come from?!?!

2) Strange Bird and Weird Black Smoke Stuff

Here's another thing I COMPLETELY missed, but upon re-watching do agree is definitely there...

There was a scene when the group who had gone to get the dynamite was walking back to the hatch with it. There was an eagle or hawk-type of bird that cawed and then flew off, kind of in slow motion. I remember the first time I watched thinking, "Hmmm, that was random, so therefore there MUST be a reason why they had that scene ...". Then I read that when the bird
cawed, he actually said "Hurley." So I was all, "No WAY" and went to watch it again, and sure enough, the bird definitely said "Hurley."

?!?!!??!?!?!?!!? NO IDEA WHY. However, I will say that the transcripts of the show just say that the bird made a "loud screeching noise." If you still have it on Tivo or get the Season 1 DVD, you should check that out for yourself, as it is weird.

I lumped the bird in with the Weird Black Smoke Stuff because I also have no idea what is up with that. As you may remember, a few different times during the finale, the group in the jungle saw strange black smoke that looked digitized or like a bunch of small black clouds making up a larger mass that all moved together. The transcripts described it as a "wisp" of
black smoke. Jack and Kate both actually saw it - not only just out of nowhere in the middle of the jungle, but also when they threw the dynamite into the hole that the monster was trying to pull Locke into. Some people on the boards had the theory that they were "nanorobots" like in the book Prey by Michael Crichton, which I never read. But the cover of that book has a picture of something looking awfully similar to the Weird Black Smoke Stuff.


3) Science vs. Faith

The tension between Locke and Jack grew significantly in the finale. Not enough for Jack to not try to save Locke when he was caught by Lostzilla, but still. From the beginning scenes with both of them stressfully trying to lift the dynamite out of the boxes, to the final scenes... they were definitely setting it up for a showdown next season. A few particular scenes stand out:

- When lifting the dynamite out, Locke suddenly said 'BZZZZZT!' to freak out not only Jack but also the viewing audience. Jack's response: "Do you like to play games, John?" Locke: "Absolutely." This could be a hint that this is all some sort of a) virtual reality game or b) experiment with human subjects that Locke is in on, or it could just be more subtle in referring
to mind games...

- When tracking back to the hatch with the dynamite, Locke and Hurley had this conversation... which makes me wonder if Locke even saw anything at all when the light came on in the hatch before:
HURLEY: Come on, really, what do you think's inside?
LOCKE: Hope. I think hope is inside.

- When Lostzilla had Locke, Locke begged Jack to let him drop down the hole, pleading that he knew it would be OK. Jack thought he'd gone off the deep end and ordered Kate to throw in the dynamite. Later, Jack confronted Locke about it and they got into the "you're a man of science, and I'm a man of faith" heated discussion, during which Locke said that each one of had a purpose for being there, and admitted that he thought Boone was a "sacrifice to the island." He also stated that he thought that it was the island itself that brought them all together. Here is the exact conversation:

JACK: What the hell was all that about back there, John?
LOCKE: What was what about?
JACK: You asked me to let you go.
LOCKE: That's right.
JACK: No, that thing was taking you down the hole, and you asked me to let you go.
LOCKE: (interrupts) It wasn't gonna hurt me.
JACK: No, John, it was gonna kill you.
LOCKE: I seriously doubt that.
(Locke turns and continues down the path. Jack follows him.)
JACK: Look, I need for you to -- I need for you to explain to me what the hell's going on inside your head, John. I need to know why you believe that that thing wasn't gonna --
LOCKE: (interrupts) I believe that I was tested.
JACK: Tested.
LOCKE: Yeah. Tested. I think that's why you and I don't see eye to eye sometimes, Jack. Because you're a man of science.
JACK: Yeah. And what does that make you?
LOCKE: Me? Well, I'm a man of faith. Do you really think all this is an accident? That we, a group of strangers, survived, many of us with just superficial injuries? You think we crashed on this place by coincidence? Especially this place? We were brought here for a purpose, for a reason -- all of us. Each one of us was brought here for a reason.
JACK: Brought here. And who brought us here, John?
LOCKE: The island. The island brought us here. (Jack is having a difficult time listening to this.) This is no ordinary place. You've seen that. I know you have. The island chose you, too, Jack. It's destiny.
JACK: Did you talk with Boone about destiny, John?
LOCKE: Boone was a sacrifice that the island demanded. What happened to him at that plane was a part of a chain of events that led us here. That led us down a path. That led you and me to this day, to right now.
JACK: (nods) Where's that path end, John?
LOCKE: The path ends at the hatch.
(Jack shakes his head.)
LOCKE: The hatch, Jack. All of it happened so that we could open the hatch.
JACK: No, no, we're opening the hatch so that we can survive.
LOCKE: Survival is all relative, Jack.
(Jack shakes his head and sighs.)
JACK: I don't believe in destiny.
(Jack walks around Locke.)
LOCKE: Yes, you do. You just don't know it yet.

At this point even I am not sure if my beloved Locke has gone bonkers, but I will say that I will remain his number one fan until he does something that is just really, really bad. : ) For now, I still think one of two things is going on: a) he truly does have more information than the others and therefore knows what is going on and is helping the others realize it on their own, or b) he THINKS he knows what is going on, and is so convinced of it (because of things like suddenly not being paralyzed anymore), that everything he does has good intentions.

By the way, I am flying back from NYC again right now and last night my friend and I (shout out to MK) were walking to dinner and she thought she saw Locke in this restaurant, and
I was like "WAS IT HIM?!?!?! WAS IT HIM OR WAS IT NOT HIM BECAUSE IF IT WAS
HIM - WE NEED TO GO BACK?!!?!?" She then told me it just looked like him and didn't really think it was him... but I think perhaps she just didn't want me to create a scene...

- Right before the hatch top was blown off, Jack pulled Kate aside and said,
JACK: Everybody wants me to be a leader until I make a decision that they don't like. You want to keep second-guessing me, Kate? That's your call. There's something that you need to know. If we survive this, we survive tonight ... we're gonna have a Locke problem.
(They both turn and look at Locke.)
JACK: Now, I have to know that you got my back.
KATE: I got your back.

- A conversation similar to Jack and Locke's was had amongst the women... though not clearly science vs. faith, it was revolving around whether things happen for a reason:

SUN: Do you think all this ... all we've been through ... do you think we're being punished?
SHANNON: Punished for what?
SUN: Things we did before. The secrets we kept. The lies we told.
SHANNON: Who do you think is punishing us?
SUN: Fate.
CLAIRE:No one's punishing us.
(They both turn to look at Claire, who stares off in front of her.)
CLAIRE: There's no such thing as fate.


4) The Monster

We are still not sure exactly what Lostzilla is. We know Danielle said it was a type of security system for the island, and we know that it has the ability to kill people (the pilot) and take people (as it tried with Locke). What remains to be understood is exactly WHAT Locke saw the first time he encountered it, why he was no longer afraid of it... UNTIL it came after him in the finale. If you remember that scene, his eyes went from calm to totally frightened (Emmy-winning scene, IMHO) and then it dragged him off, and later on he was really confused about it, but still seemed convinced that it would not have hurt him. There appeared to be a rope-type-of-thing around his leg dragging him across the jungle floor, and there were
mechanical gear-cranking type sounds. And it was going to drag him into a hole in the ground... and when they threw explosives into it, the crazy floaty black stuff puffed out the other end. So is the black stuff connected to the monster? Is someone/something controlling the monster? etc., etc. No answers there.

5) Raft peeps

The raft scenes were my favorites... I have hope that Sawyer will survive his gunshot wound because on the raft they made a point of proving that he was still not "redeemed" as he talked about the need to still kill the real Sawyer. Now that the raft is destroyed and Sawyer is hurt, my prediction is that they will somehow float to another part of the island and have to get
back to the main group. I have a feeling we may not be seeing Walt for a while... but I'm not sure.


Recap of outstanding questions, in stream of consciousness order

Why did Jack get a divorce?
Why was Hurley in the mental institution where he learned the numbers?
How did Locke become paralyzed?
What exactly did Kate do that is so bad that she was always on the run and that her own mom was scared to see her?
What exactly IS the connection between the numbers, the hatch, and the island overall?
Why did Locke hurry to blow the lid off the hatch even after Hurley started screaming not to?
Is Sayid's Nadia still alive somewhere?
Who was Ethan and where did he come from?
Where is Alex, Danielle's daughter?
What is "the sickness" that killed Danielle's crew?
What exactly is Lostzilla?
What is the crazy black smoke floaty stuff?
Who were the hillbillies on the boat, and what did they want with Walt?
Will Sawyer survive his gunshot wound?
What will any of the raft peeps do now that the raft, the raft, the raft is on fire?!?!?!?
If something happens to Claire in Season Two, what is going to happen to her kid if he's "raised by another?" Is he a Devil Baby?
What is up with the Nigerian drug smugglers and the Plane o' Heroin?
Did Charlie actually take any of the heroin with him?
Does Walt really have some sort of 'powers'?
What are the whispers?
Where exactly are they and what IS the island and why hasn't anyone found them since it does appear to be a fairly large island...
Whose was the voice Boone heard over the transmission before his fateful fall?
Are the Lostaways there for a specific reason, or was it just a random plane crash and they survived it?
Are "bad people" or "people in need of "redemption" the only ones on the island... as we now have a group of people who all have issues, a Nigerian drug smuggling fake priest team, a slave ship, and a team of scientists that were doing who knows what...
Did anyone else survive the flight 815 plane crash? Rose's husband? Ana Lucia?
WHAT IS IN THE HATCH? What was the light Locke saw in it before?
Is Kate going to continue to suck next season? Or will I perhaps be even more annoyed by some new character?


Emmy Nominations

The Emmys air on Sunday, September 18th on CBS... Lost was nominated for 12 Emmys, including Best Drama, and the actors playing Sayid and Locke (YAY!) have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. LOCKE BETTER WIN.


Best Line:

Hurley to Jack, "You got some... Arzt on you."
Sawyer to Walt, after reading the messages in the bottle: "Who the hell is Hugo, and how's he got $160 million to leave his mom?"

And finally, here are some messages from the boards.


POSTS FROM THE MESSAGE BOARDS

- Amazing how so many people heading to or from Africa ended up on the island.
- Wow, Maggie Grace, bringing her A Game with the “It’s too much” speech! I was no Shannon fan, but I’m completely impressed.
- Sun: “The secret’s we kept, the lies we told.” That was a great commentary on the human psyche. Maybe there is no reason why they’re on the island, but it’s so human to turn inward and try to find a reason. 1. Blame others. 2. Blame myself. 3. Resign self to Fate? Great writing.
- I was howling when Sayid took a stop at the plane and then showed Charlie the heroin. Even if he didn’t know about Charlie’s addiction, is it really smart for the sheriff to show the townfolk where the stash is? I don’t know what the stats are for drug addiction in the general populace, but given the situation on the island and readily available heroin, the odds are against Sayid’s policy of honesty. Although wound cauterization by bullet, also not so pleasant. Charlie’s going to have a wicked scar now. Maybe the turn of his personality?
- Terry O’Quinn deserves an Emmy for his scene with Lostzilla. The intensity of his changing emotions… his eyes. Just wow. And huge, MAJOR kudos to the writers for not making Lostzilla some stupid Jurassic Park denizen. So is it dead?
- OK, the fact that Kate didn't blow up? Totally proof that there's no God. But the fact that Jack switched packs? Hilarious. I suddenly like him again.
- Re: the Arztsplosion: If he comes back to life next season, be he mystical guide or zombie or servant of the Others, and Boone stays in his blue plastic shroud, I will be p!ssed. That is all.
- So, the Others are....a redneck motorcycle gang?
- Did anybody else start thinking of Ashlee Simpson's "Pieces of Me" when he got blown up?
- So the security system is mechanical and possibly hydraulic, is it? I wonder if it requires any maintenance after sixteen years?
- And after hearing Arse spout off about how Hurley and Co. don't realize that there are 40 other castaways, and that the extras--I mean, the other castaways--count as well, and then seeing him blow up. . . well, that's got to be a message to other extras who demand speaking roles.
- Does anyone else think that maybe the Others are evil smurfs? I stand corrected--they are evil Ashley MacIsaacs. The hell--so it's a bunch of guys in fishing outfits? Where do they get the gas? Where did they get the funky knit hats? I was actually expecting they would be Spaniards, or something, left over from the Black Rock ship wreck.
- Wait, what did they hit that they lost the rudder? A log? And where did all this rope come from? I've seen Cast Away, making rope, much like pimpin', ain't easy.
- Good God I hope Kate gets blown up good.
- Oh man, the heroin plane finally meets Charlie! AWESOME. Bring the junky to the junk that's what I always say. HA!
- Alright, Lostzilla, bring it the fuck on!! And of course we see nothing! Maybe it's actually invisible? Was it just me or did it sound kind of like a dot matrix printer at first?
- I am so impressed. They actually cleaned up storylines. The hatch is opened. Hurley saw the numbers. We saw the others. We most precisely didn't see Invisible!Lostzilla. Charlie finds the heroin (and most likely gets a l'il action as soon as Claire is feeling more healed). Sayid and Shannon reunite. Jack & Locke head for a show-down. Turniphead gets a name. Roussaeu completely loses her shit. Walt is taken. Sawyer gets shot. The raft is exploded (along with Arzt, serving as the voice of the audience in this episode). The raftaways are stranded in the deep, deep sea. AND we get more nods from the continuity fairy during the plane boarding that we've gotten in the rest of the season. Kate is still alive, but there's only so much you can ask for in one season finale.
- At least Vincent still lives!
- Terry Quinn kicks acting ass. The scenes of him being carried into the plane; a reminder of how devastated he was at being turned away from the walkabout...his face was amazing.
- Dude, does this mean Walt will be tortured to death by rockabilly celtic fiddlers? No wonder Rousseau was so “run, hide or die,” because my personal experience has been that the length of time the human body can withstand gaelic punk is directly proportional to the amount of Guinness one has digested…and Walt is too young to drink.
- Great finale, perfect set up for next season. They want the show to go at least five years, I doubt we'll get any real answers until the series finale way in the future, just sit back and enjoy the mystery and excellent writing and mostly really good acting. If you want the questions answered immediately, then yeah, you should probably just switch over to a Matlock rerun, I guarantee, everything will be answered within 60 minutes.


Until next season,
- e

S1Ep23 - Exodus Part 1 (Season One finale, part one)

[This message was initially sent as an email to friends, it was loaded into this blog 2.5 years later]

Hello my dear, dear friends -

Lost is BACK in full effect, and so is The Love! All Ye Bow to the Throne of King JJ Abrams!

Exodus Part 1 was definitely the best episode in a long time, if not of the whole season. People are flipping out on the boards, and there was pretty much not one negative comment about anything. I've edited very little in the message board section so you can experience The Love yourself, even though it's extremely repetitive. Needless to say, my faith has been renewed in the show, and in humanity as a whole. Yes, I'm being dramatic.

So I begin writing this on a teeny tiny plane going from Houston to Chicago late Tuesday night. My laptop screen appears to be on the verge of becoming unhinged, and is vibrating endlessly so I hope I can make it through this write-up without experiencing some sort of motion sickness.
I'm already feeling quite ill after a day of watching usability tests from behind a one-way mirror and eating M&Ms and pizza all day. So the next 2.25 hours of this flight are probably going to be a little precarious.

Before I get into this write-up, I just need to make sure everyone understands the importance of last week and this week in terms of the World of Nerds. You've got an awesome Lost episode last week, you've got Revenge of the Sith opening the day after, you've got the two-hour finale of 24 on Monday, you've got the Lost finale tonight, it's just crazy. I really, really hope the rest of the finale is just as good as the first part was, and that they go out on a high note for the summer. I guess we shall soon see.

Exodus - Part 1

The brilliance of the writers of this show was truly displayed in this episode. Everyone loved the episode and felt like they finally got some "answers," but in reality not a whole heck of a lot was revealed. But there was enough to renew the faith, and that's all that was needed.

I will preface all of this with the fact that I have amazingly REMAINED spoiler-free for the past month, so I have truly no clue as to what's going to happen during the finale. So I will finally offer up some of my own theories, and you can rest assured that they are just my own hunches and I'm not going to ruin anything. I've already put some of them past a few of you and have been shot down, so take them for what they're worth - the ramblings of an overly-tired Lost-obsessed fan on a turbulent flight back to the Midwest.

1) Assorted Flashbacks

This is what I was hoping and praying for with the finale. I either wanted flashbacks of all of the major characters, or I wanted it to just focus on Hurley. I am guessing that Exodus Parts 2 and 3 will continue to show assorted flashbacks, as technically they are part of the same overall
episode. Thus, the best is yet to come... Locke and Hurley! I can
barely contain myself. The ones we did see yielded relatively little new
information:
- Walt was still a brat before the plane crash
- The time was 5:23 on the clock in Michael/Walt's hotel room
- No new information on Jin and Sun. However maybe that rude couple in their flashback will turn up on the show eventually
- Kate was still lame, but good news! We got one small answer and now know how the toy plane got in the safety deposit box, thus saving us another full-fledged flashback episode on this topic. However, we still need to know What in the Heck She Did That Was SOOoooo Bad, so that's annoying. But seriously, unless that toy plane is MAGICAL, it is ridiculous that it is apparently the only thing she cares about in the world. I'm sure everyone reading this has had someone they cared about and lost, but have you risked life and limb and gotten people killed over some little trinket of theirs? If you have, don't tell me, for I would surely turn you in.
- Shannon was still annoying. Though many liked Boone's ominous "One day you'll appreciate everything I do for you" comment.
- Michelle Rodriguez (from the movie Girlfight... I'm not a big fan of hers, she's kind of a loser in real life) played Ana Lucia, who was hitting on Jack in the bar, and I was bitter. Because now surely next season she will somehow reappear and then we will have not one, but count 'em, TWO annoying women vying for Jack's attention. Since they made sure they had Ana Lucia mention that she was in the doomed Back Of The Plane, I am nearly positive she will show up with Rose's Husband (African American woman from the beginning of the season who insisted to Jack that her husband, who was in the back of the plane, isn't dead...). In Jack's flashback we got another small answer - he is no longer married. And Jack was in row 23 (which we already knew), but Ana Lucia was in 42 (another one of the numbers).

2) The Action Begins

Here I was thinking that the "You have three options: Run, hide, or die" scene was going to be the last scene of this episode, and it was pretty much the first! And the action didn't slow down from there. Truly a LOT happened in this episode and most people preferred the format of maximum island action and minimal flashbacks. Although I do agree with the general comment that it seems like once Danielle comes out of nowhere and starts warning everyone about The Others and all this other crap, that someone should've been like, "Hold up, wait a minute, who are "the others?" What are you TALKING about?", etc., etc. But then all of a sudden they're flashing to the next scene of finishing up the raft?!?!?! And if I was Claire and just heard this rant about Danielle getting her baby stolen and pretty much being in the EXACT SAME SITUATION as Claire is now... I would've been planning my hideout with Turniphead before Danielle was even done talking.

And Jack is quickly losing credibility as he just simply thinks EVERYONE is crazy and blows off important information left and right. Hello Jack, but didn't some dude try to hang and kill Charlie, kidnap Claire, break all the bones in the body of poor Scott/Steve and kill him, and then beat your ass down in the jungle just a mere few weeks ago? Did you not then travel into the jungle and witness Danielle blowing up her own camp? Did she not have maps of the island and give Hurley a battery and predict the coming of the Black Smoke? Why are you not believing this woman, or at least appearing a tad concerned?

3) The Others Have Not Elected a Pope

The Black Smoke... chilling, no? And I must give a shout out to MB for his "black/white Pope smoke" observation during the viewing at my place. It was much needed comic relief in an hour that was otherwise very tense for me. : )

But back to the issue - where is this smoke coming from? How did Danielle know that it was going to happen right before it happened? What exactly is its significance? I mean, why can't The Others just bust in to the camp without blowing black smoke up in the air? Is it some sort of sacrifice, are they burning something in order to make something else out of it?

4) Danielle

Many theories abound: Is she good and trying to help them? Were maybe BOTH she and Ethan good and actually trying to save/protect Claire's baby from The Others (this is my guess, 'cause there's GOT to be an "unexpected twist" about those two somehow). Is she bad and trying to help The Others and leading Jack, Locke et al into a trap? Is she bad and working alone to try to steal Claire's baby to make up for her losing her own (Alex - who we now know was/is a girl)? What was up with the scratches on her arm, eerily similar to those that Ethan had in the episode in which Charlie took him out? Does Locke know what's up with Danielle like he knows the deal about everyone else? Clearly he's on to her in some sense as he asked about her scratches and replied, "Mighty mean bush," with that crazy Locke half-smile and glint in his eye...

Also, I was actually surprised that Danielle had no idea what the hatch was.

5) The Others

OK, we need to make some bets right here and right now. I want you to write down on a piece of paper if you think The Others are a) human b) aliens c) not a physical lifeform d) machines/robots/computers/artificial intelligence e) alternate reality versions of the Lostaways themselves or f) something else. And then you can let me know after the finale if you were right (that is, if we even learn what/who The Others are). Scout's Honor for all of you! If you have other ideas and want to email me today before the end of the day, then I will give you credit in front of this whole forum if you turn out to be right. I think that they are some combination of C and D.

Danielle said in Sayid's first flashback that she's NEVER seen them, but she's heard them, and that "they whisper." I have always thought that the whispers were either some sort of radio transmission interference, or something from each Lostaway's psyche (evidence: Sawyer heard the whispers and they were saying things from his past). So I'm not so sure there are actual humans out there. It is confusing that she said she's never seen them, yet she also said that "they're coming," and that this whole black smoke thing is exactly what happened before they came the last time. Maybe they're some sort of crazy whirlwind that sweeps through the camp and everyone hears a bunch of whispers from their past and then some of them get the sickness and when it's all over Claire's baby is gone? Now you can really tell I'm spoiler-free because as you can see, I got nuthin' and am going nowhere with this theory.

6) The Black Rock

Big answer: the black rock is not a stupid rock but is apparently either a set prop from The Goonies or Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. I think the conclusion we were supposed to draw is that The Island has been collecting people for quite a long time, arrrrrgh matey! Some were wondering why it is in the middle of the island, but others said we're not sure of that, because it could be on the other end of the island near the opposite shore... it could've gotten washed in during a typhoon, who knows. But I'm sure we'll see more of it. Still not sure what Danielle's "here is where it all began" means (unless she is literally saying that this is where the first victims of the island landed), not sure what the sickness is still, and not sure how that one guy in her group lost his arm... that was the first we'd heard of that.

7) The "Monster"

So how many of you have seen 28 Days Later and thought that Artz/Arzt/Arnzt/whateverhisnameis was an infected zombie when he was all huffing and puffing and running crazy through the woods? Because I did, and many other people did, too. But alas, it was just the monster...

Another pseudo-answer... the Monster is a "security system that protects the island" according to Danielle. However, why did she run from it then?
Apparently it can still do some damage (ask the pilot, rest his soul). Was there meaning behind the fact that Hurley was the only one who didn't run and stayed with Locke? Locke has supposedly seen it before... so is it that he a) figured out you just need to stand still and then it goes away or b) did he actually see it and does he now have some "relationship" with it in that it will leave him alone? My guess here is that it is some sort of machine and that Locke did actually see it, and then he realized everything that is going on with the island somehow. Like it all clicked when he saw the monster. If any of you have seen The Village, this all kind of reminds me of that. Having a security system to prevent people from either leaving, or from finding things that someone/something wants
left alone. If you haven't seen The Village, don't believe the naysayers
- go rent it, it was really good, I saw it twice in the theater. And I didn't just ruin it, trust me.

7) Jin and Sun Make Up, The Raft Sets Sail, Vincent Swims Out... otherwise known as “e Bawls Her Eyes Out Repeatedly”

I want to make a statement here: If you did not get even a tad choked up, teary-eyed, verklempt, somber, or any related reaction to any of the three above-mentioned scenes, then I feel really sorry for you because you are either a) an actor from Episodes I-III of Star Wars and have no range of emotions, b) a robot or c) are just a heartless person who doesn't care about or believe in love, hope, or the utter awesomeness and unselfishness of dogs.

But for real, I was a mess during these scenes, at least I was when I re-watched them with no one around me and blubbered like a baby. You will see from the message board posts that nearly ALL posters admit to shedding a tear or two. For me it was the Vincent scene. I thought the launch of the raft was an awesome scene, and everyone was cheering and the rafters were acting all victorious and the musical score is soaring and then the damn dog starts swimming out because labs are ever-faithful (and because Shannon is so lame that she dropped the leash the second Walt left) and I was just like, "Oh good lord, Vincent is a goner... I am going to stop watching this show if they hurt the dog!" But alas, Walt used his Power Over Animals to make Vincent turn back. Phew. Even if you didn't cry, you must admit that scene, how it was shot, the music, everything about it was perfect. Bravo, I say, BRAVO!

While we're on Vincent... there has been growing speculation on the boards that Vincent himself will at some point have a flashback. Now before you have the knee-jerk reaction that I had, which was "LAME!" ... just think about it... Vincent was in the cargo hold of the plane, was missing after the landing, and has come and gone amongst the Lostaways throughout the season. Think about how much he has witnessed and heard and seen that NO ONE ELSE knows. Therefore, I am rooting for a Vincent flashback next season.

8) Possible Goners

I know several of you agree with me that someone's going to be a goner because there's no more use for them. I am especially worried now about Jin and Sawyer, as they both seem to have "redeemed themselves" and have no more major "issues." Jin and Sun made up, he even admitted that he thought they were on the island as a punishment for his actions, and that he was leaving in order to be able to save her. If that doesn't sound like the Death Knell, I don't know what does. They better be prepared for some major protesters as there is an established Cult of Jin Worshippers out there who are loud and proud and will unleash their fury should he die.

Then Sawyer goes on and tells Jack about his meeting with his father (another tear-jerking scene - Matthew Fox (Jack) has officially been voted Best Male Crier on the boards), and so I'm not so sure what's left to say about him now. Except that he didn't get to say good-bye to Kate, so perhaps there's some hope for him? Michael could also be in danger... he's now completed his mission in launching the raft, doesn't really have any other issues, and you know that all is not going to go well out at sea....

Some people think Walt will die, which I agree with, eventually... 'cause he's going to age too much. But not for now - we still don't know exactly what the deal is with his powers.

9) Theories

So what in the heck is going on overall? I will assume you all watched the previews so I won't recap them here but rather just speculate on what I think may happen tonight:

The rafters are going to find SOMETHING, and it's going to be related to the island, it's not going to be anything from the outside/normal world.
My guesses are: a) they bump up against a barrier and realize they are in some sort of bubble/ecosphere and can't go any further, b) they run into another island or get blown to another side of the current island, and they find the Back Of The Plane crew, or c) they find something in the water that is controlling events on the island (remember that the cord ran into the ocean?). And once again, I would be shocked if everyone on the raft survives.

On the island, I think they will blow open the hatch, but I honestly have no idea what to expect in there. I am confused because Locke saw the light come on in it, but did he SEE anything? Does he know what's in it? If it's bad, why wouldn't he tell everyone? And what is UP with the preview clip of him getting dragged through the jungle - they better not hurt my Locke!?!?!

Someone's going to take Claire's baby, but I'm not sure it's going to be for evil purposes like everyone's assuming. The clip in which Charlie hits Sayid I think happens because the abduction will either take place during Sayid's "watch," or maybe it's Danielle who took the baby and Charlie blames Sayid as he was the first one to meet Danielle and let her know they were all out there. Claire did scream "SHE took my baby!"

I believe Sayid will leave the beach and go try to find the other crew in the jungle. I was wondering why he didn't go with them originally and why Hurley of all people did. Or he goes in search of whoever took the baby.
Either way, he's leaving the beach.

Not sure what to make of the skeleton in chains, I'm assuming that was in the Black Rock.

The voice-over of Locke said, "We were all brought to the island for a reason, each of us has a purpose" or something like that. And then at the very end Jack goes, "Locke, WHO brought us here" and Locke replies, "The Island." So, I still think it could be some sort of virtual reality game.

Not sure how the numbers play into any of this. Hurley nor Danielle has seen them on the hatch, which I find odd.


10) Best Lines

Sawyer at the beginning: "That's GOTTA be the French chick."
Charlie explaining what to write in the Messages in a Bottle to Locke:
"...all's great here, unless the Black Smoke people show up. Love, your name here."
Locke back to Charlie: "That's sweet." Walks away.
Hurley to Locke when monster is coming: "Dude, we gotta book."
Hurley to Arzt: "Dude, I thought you were dead."
Michael to Jin: "No, no... this one goes here, that one goes there!" (that was a shout-out to Star Wars... same thing said by Han Solo to Chewie in Empire Strikes Back)


My battery is running low and my eyes are growing weary, so I'm wrapping this up. Enjoy the message board posts below, and ENJOY THE FINALE. While I'm really excited for it, I'm also sad for it to come to an end for the year. If you never hear from me again, you can assume that I freaked out so much while watching it that I just flipped and they had to put me away for a while...

POSTS FROM THE MESSAGE BOARDS

- Now THIS is why I've been watching this show!
- Dude! *speechless*
- Ahh, Walt giving Shannon Vincent was the sweetest thing ever. And he just kept saying goodbye to his dog. All tears. That was just awesome; I can't wait for next week.
- Oh, my gah. I cried so hard watching Jin and Sun, and then Jin looking at Sun from the raft. It's official; they are my favorite couple EVER. But since they are, something bad's bound to happen to one of them. I also cried my eyes out when Vincent swam towards the raft, so maybe I'm just a big softie. This has been the best episode in ages, in my opinion. Sawyer telling Jack about his dad? Good, but also had me screaming "Don't tell him, keep at least one secret!!!!" because you know what happens to characters who tell all...
- Jack: Please stop assuming that everyone is crazy but you. I’d hate to walk into your ER with a broken arm. “Oh, you think you have a broken arm, but you’re probably just crazy. Here’s a sedative.” Also, put down the Sharpie, and stop coloring in your tattoo in between eps.Locke and Danielle, sittin’ in a tree….
- Wow. I was a mess at the end. The dog running into the ocean there and the gorgeous music didn't help matters either.
- Ok, I was holding it together. The bottle, the hugs, Jin and Sun, and Sawyer being part of the team. The music. I was a little choked up, a little misty maybe, but that was it.
And then the dog started swimming.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
- That's the Lost that I love. Sawyer, shirtless. Sun and Jin making up. Walt letting Shannon take care of Vincent. Then Vincent swimming after the raft. The moment between Sawyer and Jack was great and started my weeping for the rest of the episode.
- Was that some sort of pirate ship? Is this thing gonna turn into Goonies? Will Sean Astin appear for a hobbit reunion? Security system? I'm confused.
- Shannon, you're gonna have to take better care of that dog. I thought something was gonna ruin that touching ending like a shark eating Vincent or the boat falling apart five feet from the shore.
- So all this time it was a pirate ship. Goonies shout out? Will Jack save everybody by putting explosives in his marble sack before they're forced to walk the plank?
- I also want to say that I really don't trust Danielle. Not at all. I definitely felt like something was up with her. I think she's trouble.
- Liked the reveal of the Black Rock as a ship. Has the island been "collecting" people for centuries?
- I was disappointed that Kate still didn't die.
- Shouldn't that ship be called The Black Pearl? And where is Jack Sparrow?
- The three choices are run, hide, or die? What about stand there, cry for my Mommy, and wet myself? When Vincent was swimming for the raft I told my husband, "If the Lost Ness monster eats the dog, I am boycotting."
- And Jack's a bit of an idiot. The whole "we can't believe Danielle about the others because she is crazy" thing would be a lot more convincing if other people had not already kidnapped and killed members of your party. Between this and the "worst case scenario" he devised for the hatch...Jesus. This is Crazy Ass Island, Jack. You have, like, met before, haven't you?

- e

S1Ep22 - Born to Run (Kate's third flashback)

[This message was initially sent as an email to friends, it was loaded into this blog 2.5 years later]

Hello everyone -

I bet a few of you were wondering if I would protest doing this write-up because it is once again about Kate, my least favorite character. Well, the only reason why I am still doing it is because the Kate Hate on the boards is SO OVERWHELMING, so powerful, that I was anxious to paste in some of the posts because they are so vicious. I'm now going to make a bold statement: There are some people out there who hate Kate even more than I do. And this write-up is dedicated to those people across the country who, like me, are continually befuddled each week when the show doesn't end with Kate being eaten alive by the Monster.


Issues/topics in "Born to Run":


1) Who wrote Kate the letter she read at the beginning?

Obviously whoever it was has been in contact with her enough to know 1) Where she was, 2) What her fake name was and 3) That she would need money. Some suspect it was the ex-boyfriend guy, but I don't because he seemed shocked to see her. Some suspect it was her father, a sibling, a stepfather, or another childhood friend.

And by the way, that opening scene where she "washed out" the platinum blond dye was ridiculous. Most people were just mad that that scene didn't end with her being stabbed in the shower a la Psycho.

2) Dr. Artz aka The Science Teacher - or - Where Did THIS Guy Come From??!?!!?!?!!?

There are many problems people have with the sudden appearance of The Science Teacher:
a) He's a bad science teacher, as trade winds go east/west and not north/south as he said (I plead ignorance on this one... just reporting what people on the boards claim to know… although I DID know that Antarctica was the only piece of land south of them - are you impressed?)
b) If they're going to introduce a new character, they should've done it more subtly over the course of the season. For instance, Rose, Steve, the guy with the rash, etc... these people have had bit parts the whole time... it would be more believable if one of them spoke up rather than some totally new guy who everyone else is talking to on a first name basis all of a sudden.
c) It seems contrived because it's like they NEEDED a reason to speed up the raft's launch, so all of a sudden they create this science teacher. Why didn't he say anything the past few weeks they've been building it?!?!?!

3) More Lord of the Rings connections!

Kate's True Love was played by MacKenzie Astin, who also played the young Andy Moffatt from Facts of Life (You take the good, you take the bad, you ... I'll stop). In real life, he is the younger brother of Sam the Hobbit, and was also once the roommate of Merry Brandybuck (Charlie). If you really want to be weirded out, consider this: Charlie and Kate are dating in real life (strange but true), yet in this episode Kate was kissing Charlie's real life ex-roommate.

3) The Hatch

The one part of this episode that everyone DID like was the Craphole Island Holy Trinity of Locke, Jack and Sayid discussing the hatch. Everyone was annoyed by Jack thinking they should open it because he doesn't see what's so bad that could be in there. I will let you read the posts for peoples' reactions to THAT idiotic reasoning.

The "discretion" argument between Jack and Locke was also awesome, but even better was Sayid's face the whole time, he was very amused. I just like how finally these two had to admit that they both have hid information from the group at large because they thought it was the right thing to do.

4) Sawyer

People really need to stop blaming him for EVERYTHING. I mean, come on.
He didn't take the water early on in the season, he didn't have the inhalers, he gave Kate the alcohol for Boone when they needed it, and he didn't poison Jin. He has actually done a lot of good things on the island in addition to being eye candy for all the women, so really they must stop accusing him every time something goes wrong because it is getting old and tired.

5) Hurley

Once again proving that the producers/writers did intend for him to be "the voice of the audience" when he shouted, exasperated, "How am I supposed to keep straight who knows what around here?"

6) VH1's Behind the Music: Driveshaft

I TOTALLY missed this, but I guess the song Charlie was writing while Claire was cutting his hair was entitled, "The Monster Ate the Pilot." I will watch this again tonight to catch that, but everyone on the boards got a kick out of it. The more sentimental board posters liked the idea of Charlie, Claire and Turniphead shacking up in LA, but most people just felt it was lame.

7) Kate is the WORST

OK, so Jack knows that Kate's a fugitive, she's proven she knows how to use a gun, she wanted the Halliburton case with 4 guns in it, and she drugged Jack last episode. But yet she has the gall to get all offended when Jack asks her if she poisoned Michael? Sista, please!

8) The Time Capsule

So Kate and her True Love dig up some time capsule they made back in the day (8/15 1989, to be exact. Yes, 815 AGAIN), which was housed in a New Kids lunchbox. Hey, I went to see them in concert (shout out to DY, who I believe was with me?), so I can't make any rude remarks. But then again, I also saw Milli Vanilli three times in concert (shout out to DY and Nerdy P, both of whom I KNOW were with me at those... you've been OUTED). In this lunchbox is ... dum dum dum... the toy plane. And also a cassette tape, which reveals that even back then Kate wanted to run away, and her True Love should supposedly "know why." This has led to much speculation about Kate being abused or whatnot, and that perhaps she killed whoever was hurting her. I have no idea what to think anymore. I really don't.

9) Walt stars in The Dead Zone

First, Walt wants to make sure Locke knows he didn't poison his dad, which I actually thought was a good scene and smart of the writers to do... If I was Walt I would've done the same thing.

But then Locke touches him and Walt supposedly gets some sort of vision about what will happen when the hatch is opened, and pleads with Locke not to open it. Definitely freaky... awwwwwwwwwwwww.... FREAK OUT! Le Freak, c'est chic!


10) So What Did Kate DO, for the love of God!??!?!

For those of you thinking the mystery of Kate's past was solved this episode, you are dead wrong. And the reason why I am especially mad is that it means there's no way we're getting around having to wince our way through MORE Kate flashbacks in Season 2. There is significant evidence now to suggest that whatever Kate did was a horrendous crime. Or else, it better be since they've established the following evidence:

a) Episode opens with Kate changing her looks, having a stash of license plates, and sneaking into a hotel room like she's no stranger to doing that. She also is using an alias, as we have seen her do in her other flashbacks.
b) There is an ARMED GUARD sitting outside her mom's hospital room. There IS a slight chance that her MOM was a criminal, or possibly her dad/other relative was and they needed to protect the mom from someone, but most likely it was for Kate, since...
c) She covered her face with the flower bouquet when passing the guard
d) She was able to break into the back of her True Love's alarmed car
e) She said "I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through" to her mom (by the way, Hurley made nearly the exact same apology to his family at the press conference after he won the Lotto)
f) Her mom, who quite possibly could've been possessed by a demon, starting freaking out when she saw Kate... not out of joy, but out of horror and fear. She obviously thought Kate was going to kill her as she was trying to scream "Help me!!!!"
g) The mom causes enough ruckus for the guard to come over, giving Kate no choice but to uppercut him and bust out...
h) Using her True Love's car to escape, she attempts her getaway but he jumps in beside her. She asks him to leave but he's like, "No... you know what? Forget that wife who stuck with me through med school and my new beautiful baby and the fact that you're a criminal and I haven't even seen you in years... I think I want to ride with you to my death in the most lame escape attempt EVER." Watch it again, I swear he said that.
i) She drives straight into the police, and then finally crashes, only to then notice that True Love has been shot to death. But tramps like Kate, baby they were born to ruuunnnnn*..... so she hops out of the car, LEAVING THE TOY PLANE BEHIND and THUS ENSURING much to my dismay that we must endure another Kate flashback to see how the toy plane ended up in the safety deposit box. Although it still is strange that when Sawyer outed her as the fugitive to everyone else, she said, "what I SUPPOSEDLY did."

Once again, ensuring another flashback.

*(I also saw Bruce Springsteen in concert (damn, DY, we've seen a lot of concerts together!), and I apologize for using his song lyrics in the same sentence I mentioned Kate. However, it's the writers' fault as they named this episode and I feel that was totally disrespectful to The Boss)


11) Sun Resorts to Poison

I can't believe Sun fell victim to Kate's evilness and not only took her suggestion to poison Jin, but also didn't see through Kate's completely selfish reason for suggesting that route. Many people feel that Jack saying, "Say goodbye," to Sun is foreshadowing Jin's demise.

12) Freaky Walt Part Deux

Before, Walt wanted to stay on the island so badly that he burned the first raft. So tonight he cops to torching it to his dad, and then Michael responds, "We don't have to go if you really don't want to leave that badly." And Walt's like, "Oh no, we GOTS TA GO!" because he KNOWS that something wicked that way will soon come. I thought that besides the demon-possessed mother, Walt's "Yes, we do." response to "We don't need to go!" was the scariest part of this episode. Why doesn't he tell OTHER people besides Locke to not open the hatch?!?!?!



Best Line:

Dr. Artz to Sawyer: "Because I'm a Doctor...And you're a hillbilly!"


POSTS FROM THE MESSAGE BOARDS

- All right, that wasn't supposed to make me feel bad for Kate, right? Cause... no. My hate has only intensified. Greatly. I want her to go on the raft... alone... and I want it to sink. Slowly.
- So...Everytime Kate gets into a motor vehicle, someone is screwed. I'll never buy her as a farm girl after seeing her foam that beer terribly. I know it was thrown, but girl, you gotta tap that! The Mortal Kombat Uppercut of Doom in the hospital did a lot to regain the (dirt) street cred.
- At least The Hatch is back. The Hatch is creepy. It's a much better character than Kate.
- Oh good, now I have a thoroughly legitimate reason for hating Kate. Excellent. Way to kill your childhood sweetheart, coward. Oh, yes, everyone else hates her too! Woo-hoo!- I love this show but after nearly every episode, I feel so stupid. This was Kate's third episode and I'm still confused. Newsflash, writers! Kate is not all that interesting of a character. She's annoying and always up in someone's grill. One rule for next season: Less Kate, more Sun. Learn it, live it, love it.
- I loathe Kate and her stupid toy plane, but I admit, that part where her mother started crying for help was downright creepy. - So Jack's gonna let everyone assume Kate poisoned Michael, even though he himself thinks Sun did it? And he's gonna try to lecture Locke about keeping secrets? Smug jackass. I vote Hurley mayor of Craphole Island.
- Why do I suspect Kate killed her father somehow as well?
- Now, besides the monster, the Others, the Black Rock, the black and white stones, the empty coffin, Adam and Eve and the numbers, we have Why is Kate running to begin with? Why is Kate's mom so freaked? and the all important, "How did she get the toy plane she left in the back seat of the Doc's Beemer?
- And Jack? I can think of a billion things that could be in that hatch. Most of which I don't want to find. And sure, I agree the best-case scenario would be a lifetime supply of food and medicine. But, gee, I don't know, I think monsters, a virulent disease, dead bodies, lostzilla, polar bears, nuclear weapons or a stash of serial killers are way worse than your worst case scenario of NOTHING???
- I think the reason for Charlie's haircut was to emphasize his metamorphosis into Boone II: the new biggest tool on the island. Did anyone else notice that he got the exact same mullet that Boone was sporting towards the end?
- I don't think Walt wants to go necessarily. He said -- we have to go. Even creepier in my opinion. It's like he knows it's his and his dad's destiny to be on that raft -- Either to get away from whatever is going to happen on the island, or because something has to happen on the raft. Kid knows.- I can't wait for the hatch to be opened. Only two more years and 1,000 more flashbacks and we'll see that the hatch leads to the hottest nightclub on the island or something equally as disappointing.
- I may be the only one, but I'm intrigued by all the inconsistencies to Kate. What's the original reason she's on the run? Why did her mom act like that? If she grew up in Iowa, how does being from Canada and hunting with her US military dad come into play? How long was she involved in Tom's life and who knows how to find her? Someone had to know where and who to send that letter. What's up with all the names? How'd the airplane end up in New Mexico and why wasn't it important enough to grab tonight, but is important enough to rob a bank for in the future? I honestly don't think she's lying about the stuff she's said on the island. She didn't lie tonight.

- e

S1Ep21 - The Greater Good (Sayid's second flashback)

[This message was initially sent as an email to friends, it was loaded into this blog 2.5 years later]

Hello my faithful Lost friends,

Sorry I was not able to get this message out before last week's episode...
all work and no play makes e very bitter...

Now I'm on the plane back from LaGuardia and going through and editing some message board posts (shout out to "Fritz" who is sitting directly behind me right now). Despite the fact that I am really excited to have stumbled upon a new board with hilarious posters, at the same time I'm annoyed that I didn't check this board before because I'm sure I missed out on some funny stuff. I guess that's what I'll do this summer because I'm a loser.

As my flight was delayed the typical hour on the tarmac and now we are circling around above Chicago unable to land for some reason, I've pasted in an extra long thread of posts from two different sites. Also you should know that I am still writing this recap without having seen "Born to Run" (the next episode) as our group at work went bowling that night, so I am not "tainted" in knowing what happens after this episode.

(Complete side note: While we were bowling (next to Brian Williams and the crew from NBC Nightly News, I may add...), my co-worker Fritz (mentioned above) comes up to me and goes, "Do not look at the TV..." (they had tons of TVs mounted all over the bowling alley). So of course I look up and what is on but Lost. So I'm freaking out because I know I do not have the self-restraint to not peek at it throughout the night. I run up to an employee and say "You MUST change the TV channel now!!!!" and I explained my dire situation. He actually was sympathetic to my plight and asked what he should change it to, to which I replied, "Just anything but ABC!!!!!"

Shortly thereafter, the light went off in someone's head at the bowling alley and they changed it to NBC, which you would've thought they'd have done in the first place since NBC Nightly News had 12 lanes reserved the whole night! Duh. Crisis averted.)

While I didn't hate "The Greater Good," I didn't love it either. There were many people "on the hate train" (their term) on the boards though, so be prepared for lots o' negativity in the message board section. And the good news is that the majority of people are joining me in my Hate of Kate.

Very, very little was new in this episode, so there are really only a few things to ponder and recap:

1) Boone's Funeral.... or, "The Booneral"

Yep, you read that right... and if you're like me, you laughed out loud.
The people on the boards used this phrase and I was dying laughing. Most people felt it was in poor taste that Jack went all loco on Locke while Boone was being hoisted down six feet under. Many people attributed Jack's behavior to his extreme loss of blood during the transfusion in the previous episode. And they think that blood loss/fatigue is also the same reason why in the last episode he invented... drumroll please: "Amputron 2000." That's what people on this new board were calling Jack's ridiculous luggage-compartment-door-as-guillotine method of trying to chop Boone's leg off. I love it.

I do think Jack is going crazy and I think we all need to pay attention to his behavior in the remaining episodes. His face seems to be all twitchy and in general he's just acting wacked out. Why are you running around in circles in the jungle again, Jack? Sit your ass down and sleep or you are worthless. He is annoying me. I am glad that Kate "drugged" him, it made me hate her a little less.

2) Locke, Wash your D@mn Shirt!

Seriously.

Etiquette Rule #1: Don't go loco at funerals.

Etiquette Rule #2: Do not wear a shirt soaked with the blood of the person who died to that same person's funeral, nor should you attempt to go have a heart-to-heart with said dead person's sister in aforementioned shirt.

Etiquette Rule #3: Do not then attempt to CLEAN blood-soaked shirt in the pool of everyone's drinking water because the stains are never going to come out, it's nasty, and you have at least one other shirt that everyone knows about. Plus, you can surely make another shirt of boar skin if really desperate.


3) "Hotty McGorgeous Eyes"

The girls on the boards were quite enamored with Sayid's friend. As was I. But I can't claim credit for making up that nickname.

4) Locke's Favorite Pastime: Whacking People on Their Heads

I don't know if the writers screwed up (doubtful) or there's something we don't know (likely)... but if you remember way back (to quote NWA: "How far we goin' back? WAaaaaaY back!") to the beginning of the season, in the pilot episode, Locke was NOT with the group of people who heard the French transmission. And they all swore that they would not tell the others about the transmission so as to not freak them out. The knockout of Sayid happened very early in the series, too ("The Moth" - Charlie's first flashback). So Locke is claiming to Sayid to have knocked him out because it wasn't a good idea to be led to the source of a transmission stating over and over again that "it killed them all"... but how did Locke even KNOW about the transmission at that early point? So the only explanations for Locke knowing all of that stuff so early on are: 1) Someone from the original group who heard the transmission told him (and before you say it was Boone... remember that they didn't start hangin' together until way AFTER Sayid was knocked out) or 2) Locke has other means of finding information (if they are in a time loop or a virtual reality game then that could be why he knows a lot of information, or if his encounter with Lostzilla (new board's term for "the monster") revealed things to him).

5) Sayid CHOSE his fate

I thought the coolest thing about this episode, besides the awesome Sayid/Locke scenes, was that we learned at the end that Sayid wasn't supposed to be on the flight, but in essence sealed his doom by doing "the right thing" and staying to bury his friend. Some people wondered if his friend's body was also on the flight a la Jack's zombie dad. Possibly...

Also perhaps there is meaning in WHY people were on the plane. Sayid was supposed to be on another flight but requested the switch himself. Compare that to Claire being handed her ticket by the psychic, who knew the flight was going down. Most other people had seemingly innocent reasons for being on that particular flight (except Sun, who was going to escape Jin but then had a last-minute change of heart)... so this may not be a big deal, but you never know.

6) The theme of "the greater good"

Although this episode may not have revealed much in terms of the story line, I think the theme of the episode is a major theme of the show overall. Many people assume that the camp will divide into two groups... those who follow Locke and those who follow Jack. You could argue that both Jack and Locke THINK they are doing things for "the greater good" of everyone... Jack has (for the most part) unselfish reasons for helping everyone and running around trying to be the savior ... whereas Locke also thinks his actions are justified and are in everyone's best interests, but there still may be some less than noble motivations involved. Locke has withheld information, lied, manipulated people and been fairly shady in general, all to get "the Island" to reward him. Maybe he is doing it in hopes of finding a way for them to all get off the island, but he's said enough in the past to make me believe he doesn’t want to leave. But do NOT GET ME WRONG: I still love me some Locke! The most!

7) Sayid / Locke interaction

The scenes with the two of them were great... they are, IMHO, two of the best characters television has seen in a very long time. The end scene:
Sayid: "And now, you will take me to the hatch." Locke: *Dumbfounded look*
Sayid: "John, no more lies." AWESOME.


8) Best Lines:

Charlie naming the Demon Baby Turniphead.
Sayid's previously mentioned "John, no more lies."
Jin's attempt at English: "Good."


POSTS FROM THE MESSAGE BOARDS

- Hurley, Sawyer, and Charlie will get a spinoff where they share an apartment and raise an orphan when this show is over. Just wait.
- The one thing that I have learned from Lost this season: never trust someone with a file folder containing information you want. Things will never turn out well. This is especially true if the person with the information wants a morally compromising favor from you.
- The Booneral was really sad...until Jack went crazy and then anemic.And I was just thinking..."What could Kate do to make everyone hate her more?" Then she drugs the only doctor on the island, which didn't help at all. I'm sure that was healthy since he recently gave up a load of blood.
- I really hope they take Kate on the raft. Please get rid of Kate.
- The only parts that interested me were Sawyer and Hurley's baby hijinks and Jack finally shutting up and taking a nap. I mean, I hate Kate and all, but even I was ready to slip Jack some 'ludes or something just to shut him down for a minute or ten.
- Anyone else get the feeling she's drugged a man like that before?
- And someone please get the keys to the gun briefcase and for the love of all that is good in this world, KILL KATE NOW. Could she be any more annoying? Drugging the island's only doctor after he's given several pints of blood to Boone. Brilliant. If nobody shoots her, could she please be eaten by the Lostzilla?
- Too many questions: Why didn't Sayid push more about why Locke conked him on the head? How did Shannon find the gun case (as has been asked)? Why doesn't Jack know proper etiquette for a funeral? Why was Kate the voice of reason? How did the CIA know Sayid was in love with Nadia? Why wasn't Charlie and Hurley's singing able to cheer me up from this terrible episode?
- If I were one of the extras I'd be pretty freaked out by now. They're marooned with a trigger-happy brat, a knife-throwing sensei, an arsonist, a heroin addict, a torturer, an escaped fugitive, a hothead doctor, a hothead architect, a hothead thug who doesn't speak English, and Lostzilla. Not to mention the dead baby-snatcher and the psycho who electrocutes people. Get a place on that raft, people!
- I guess the Sayid/Shannon ship has gone the way of the Titanic, which, by the way, would be a great name for the Raft O' Doom they're building.
- So now that everybody hates Locke, I guess there's no chance that they will all chip in and get him a new shirt.
- I love love love me some Sayid and I LOVED his scenes with Locke. Their mutual distrust was a thing of beauty. Sayid's power of knowing when people are lying to him approaches superhero proportions. And it did give us that last great line - "no more lies". So GOOD.
- What a waste of a good tarp.
- While all the wack jobs want to blame Locke for Boone's death, it WAS an accident. Boone was an adult, and willingly went up in the plane, and STAYED in the plane after Locke told him to get out. Locke didn’t rig the plane to fall, and didn’t fake his weakness to get Boone into the plane. He freaked out (like 99% of the population would) and left when he got to camp. What difference would knowing that Boone fell in a plane have made? Probably very little. Bad luck and gravity killed Boone.
- Also how sad was it that duty to his friend landed Sayid stranded. I think was a deliberate poke at everyone who says that it was fate that brought all of these people. I don’t think so. I think it was conscious choice that ended in an unfortunate way.
- Loved the fact that only Sawyer could calm the demon baby down, resorting to reading specs from an auto mag, no less. I also join others in questioning how Shannon knew where both the gun case AND the key were. I'm sure it's no secret on the island that Jack has the key, though the fact that he keeps it around his neck was not public knowledge. But, as far as I remember, only two people knew the location of the case: Jack and Kate. I hate to think badly of my honey, but could Kate have had anything to do with Shannon's finding of the case?


- e