S2Finale - Live Together, Die Alone (Desmond's first flashback) - 5/24/06

Hello my dear friends,

Thank you for your patience in waiting for this write-up to be posted. As a reward, this will be the Longest. Post. Ever. I may actually get a Guinness Book entry or something. But since you have already waited this long, and as you have all summer to read this novel-length entry, I highly suggest that if you can no longer remember the intricate details of the finale, you should refresh your memory either here (hilarious but long) or here (just the facts and short) before proceeding. Or you will be, no pun intended, lost.

I will start off by saying that yes, I really liked the finale. I was nervous heading into it because I thought "Three Minutes" was so blah, so I congratulate the writers for pulling off a great season-ender once again. While I did not have the strong emotions I had during last year's finale (weeping when Vincent swam out to the raft and during the Sun/Jin good-bye, eerie chills when the column of black smoke appeared after Danielle's warning, etc.), I still enjoyed it. And three cheers for the return of Desmond!



HOPE YOU'RE STILL AROUND NEXT SEASON, BROTHA...

Ah, Desmond. While you CLAIM to have spent 2.5 weeks trying to sail away from the island and slipped in a classic pop culture reference about being 'trapped in a snow globe' (google it if you don't know what that's from - hint - St. Elsewhere...), '24' fans know that you did briefly make it back to the mainland to assist Jack Bauer, albeit unwillingly, before deciding to return. But regardless, we were glad to see your fantastically drunken mug once again. Now here's hoping that you didn't sacrifice yourself by turning the "Dharma key"... but something tells me you'll be back in all your Scottish accent glory next season.

So what more do we know about Desmond now? He was dishonorably discharged from the Scottish Regiment of the UK Army after serving some sort of jail time for "not following orders." When leaving the jail, he collects his few belongings, and amongst them is the Charles Dickens' book, "Our Mutual Friend," which he claims will be the last thing he reads before he dies. Here are some posts/article excerpts on what point this particular book serves in the show (or for the writers of the show):
- From the New York Times 5/25/06 (shout-out to JC for sending):
"During a visit to New York City last week, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the executive producers who run "Lost," said they got the idea of the deathbed reading of "Our Mutual Friend" from an interview with the writer John Irving in which he said he was saving it for last. But besides paying tribute to Mr. Irving, they were eager to refer to Dickens for their own
narrative purposes. "He was writing chapter by chapter for newspapers," Mr. Cuse said. "We
often think: 'How much did Dickens know when he was writing his stories? How much of it was planned out, and how much was flying by the seat of his pants because he had to get another chapter in?' " He paused, then said with a laugh, "We can respect what he went through." "
- Regarding the book itself, it supposedly centers around "money, money, money, and what money can make of life." This seemingly connects to Penelope's comment to Desmond at the stadium regarding how she tracked him down: "I have a lot of money, Desmond. With enough money and determination you can find anyone."

We also learned that Desmond's full name is Desmond David Hume... yet another philosopher's name (Locke and Rousseau are the other two). And while I had a fun time reading all about Hume's contributions to history and modern philosophy, I still maintain that the deepest philosophical musings I've ever come across are in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, when Bill and Ted first encounter "So-crates":
1) All we are is dust in the wind, dude.
2) The only true wisdom consists in knowing... that you know NOTHING.
3) Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

While not quite as entertaining, the most important things I could gather about David Hume are: 1) He was heavily influenced by none other than John Locke, 2) he thought that humans often jumped to conclusions about "cause and effect" relationships... (like say... oh, I don't know - letting a timer run down and then observing all hell breaking loose in the hatch), 3) he didn't seem to be a big believer in free will, per this statement describing his take on this issue: "Hume's view is that human behavior, like everything else, is caused, and therefore holding people responsible for their actions should focus on rewarding them or punishing them in such a way that they will try to do what is morally desirable and will try to avoid doing what is morally reprehensible," and finally 4) he vehemently denied the existence of miracles... opting for the Occam's Razor approach to such "unexplainable events" - the simplest answer is probably the correct one. As in, "Which is more likely... that a miracle really occurred (say, a girl miraculously coming to life during an autopsy) or that the testimony was mistaken in some way?" Hmmmmm...... much to think about.

Upon Desmond's release, he is met by none other than Caleb Nichol from 'The O.C.' (aka Charles Widmore - on this show, at least), who tries to bribe him into never seeing his daughter Penelope again. Not only that, but we learn that this man never let any of Desmond's letters during his prison stay be delivered to Penelope. We also learn that this man is head of the Widmore business empire - which we've seen several times in the series already (Sun's pregnancy test was made by Widmore Labs, etc.).


It was a little unclear to me what exactly happened next... although Desmond didn't take the money and was not the "coward" Widmore claimed him to be, he was still somehow kept away from Penny. For some unknown reason, he later decides to enter a Widmore-sponsored sailboat race around the world, thinking that that would win him Penny back should he emerge the champion. He randomly (or not so randomly?) bumps into Libby (holy horrible wig!) in a coffee shop, and upon hearing his tale of woe, she just GIVES Desmond her dead husband's BOAT.

This definitely calls for a, say it with me now, "Saaaaayyyyyy Whhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa????"

Even if none of that made sense, it's OK - because all we need to care about is: a) Whether Widmore had something to do with Desmond crashing into/ending up on the island and b) Whether Libby was working with/for Widmore and/or Dharma. The scene where Libby and Desmond met just seemed too weird, so most people on the boards assumed that she was planted at the coffee shop, just like they thought she was a mole for The Others while on the island. Hell, she could've been observing Hurley at the mental institution on behalf of Dharma as well, who knows (although she did look truly kooky in that flashback). Also, regarding the timing of her meeting with Desmond versus being in the institution, according to this timeline, it appears that she met Desmond most likely one to two years before being in the mental institution. Desmond left for his race a little over three years before the plane crash, whereas Hurley was RELEASED from the mental institution and subsequently won the Lotto about one year before the plane crash (we don't know when he was originally admitted).

Before we continue pondering the Desmond/Libby connection, I must refresh your memory with this:

[We see Libby and Desmond sitting with each other. Libby is looking at a brochure for a sailing race. There's a picture of Widmore on the brochure.]

DESMOND: It's a wee bit complicated. As of yet, I don't actually have a boat. [Libby looks sad] Sorry, did I say something wrong?
LIBBY: I have a boat. It was my husband's but he got sick. He wanted to sail the Mediterranean -- he never -- he passed away about a month ago.
DESMOND: I'm sorry.
LIBBY: I want you to have it.
DESMOND: I can't take your boat, miss.
LIBBY: But you have to. He'd want you to.
DESMOND: What was your husband's name?
LIBBY: David.
DESMOND: And what did he name his boat?
LIBBY: Elizabeth. He named it after me.
DESMOND: Then I thank you, Elizabeth. And I shall win this race for love.

The three additional thoughts I have after that little snippet are:
1) Her husband was "sick" ... hmmm? With what?
2) We better remember the name David, her husband's name, for future episodes!
3) Total shout-out to The O.C. (most likely because of Caleb being Penny's father) with the "Elizabeth" boat's port of call being none other than Newport Beach. Californiaaaaaa, Californiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, here we cooooommmmmmmeeeeee!!!!!


KELVIN? NO, NO - I NEED DEGREES CELSIUS!!

So we finally see Desmond's infamous hatch partner, Kelvin... and he's none other than... the dude that was with Sayid in Iraq? Huh? If you don't remember that episode, click here.

In "One of Them," the Sayid flashback episode where the American army taught him how to torture people, we met a character listed as "Joe Inman" in the script. In the finale episode, the same actor is listed as "Kelvin Inman." However, the writers have now clarified that they ARE indeed the same person, and they just called him "Joe" in the "One of Them" script so that it wouldn't ruin the surprise for everyone in the finale (Desmond had mentioned his partner's name in the premiere of this season, so people would've been on the look-out for "Kelvin" characters). I am quite frankly shocked to have learned that the writers actually do plan THAT far ahead, but also very relieved.

Anyway, since Desmond accidentally killed Kelvin, Sayid will never get to see him on the island (which would've been tres cool), just like Jack will never find out about the connection with Ana Lucia and his dad, nor will Hurley learn that Libby was also in the psych ward. Woe is me!

However, before dear Kelvin's time was up, we learned many things from him. He referred to The Others as "the hostiles" - leading me to believe that they are definitely NOT part of the Dharma Initiative. Additionally, since he was in the CIA and he signed up for the Dharma Initiative, I assume that perhaps the government is either involved in or backing/supporting Dharma. However, obviously, Kelvin could've also just left the CIA and signed up for Dharma on his own.

He mentioned that it was his partner, Radzinski, who made the edits to the Orientation video, but never explained why. He did say what happened to Radzinski, though - he killed himself, and there was a blood stain on the ceiling to prove it. It was also that previous hatch duo of Kelvin and Radzinski who painted the hatch map, and who figured out how to trip the blast doors.

After Desmond realized that Kelvin was dead, he rushed back to the hatch, only to find things in utter disarray, with the alarm going off, the hieoroglyphics appearing on the counter and objects flying all around. Desmond did finally succeed in entering the code, but not before seeing "System Failure" fill up the computer monitor. We then learned that that day was September 22, 2004 - and that Desmond had essentially caused Flight 815 to crash because the electromagnetic pull was not kept in check. In addition to us finally learning why the plane crashed (one major question answered, although whether all those people were on it for a reason remains to be seen), we also learned WHEN the plane crashed - it was theorized to be the date of the U.S. pilot of the show, but now it has been confirmed. Additionally, Locke states that they have been on the island 60 days, so we now know that on the island, it is nearing the end of November, 2004. One other clue to how the writers DO plan ahead is that when Locke first encounters Desmond in the hatch in the season premiere, you see Desmond look very worried when Locke says their plane crashed 44 days ago, and he repeats "44 days ago?" I must give myself credit for thinking this was fishy way back in my 'Adrift' write-up.


We will discuss the final scenes of Desmond's flashback a bit later. But first, there is much to cover with what was happening in real-time on the island. Michael had convinced the four on his "list" to go rescue Walt with him. On the way, they encountered...

FREE BIRD

You might remember that in the last season finale, when the gang was marching through the jungle to find the Black Rock, they came upon a hawk that fans insisted had squawked "Huuurrrrley!" before flying off (I agreed, it definitely said Hurley last year). It appears that same bird has returned, this time, the writers tipped their hat to the fans by having Hurley inquire, "Did that bird just say my name?" If you would like to see this clip again, humpy has it here. In both this season and last season's appearances, the bird appeared almost mechanic as it flew away, similar to the infamous Shark with the Dharma tattoo that swam by Sawyer and Michael while they were adrift on the raft early this season. It leads me to wonder if Dharma is somehow creating robotic animals. One theory is that the bird and the shark were types of "look-outs" for Dharma.


LIAR, LIAR

While I didn't think this season's finale was quite as emotional as was last season's, I did think it was much darker and way more intense. The "discovery of Michael's plan" was the first scene where I caught myself clenching up all the muscles in my body, thinking, "Oh no, what is going to happen???" I just felt a pit in my stomach as Hurley realized what had really happened to Libby, and the horror on Kate and Sawyer's faces when they realized that they had been specifically chosen by The Others...

JACK: Stop lying! Tell them.
MICHAEL: Tell them what?
JACK [pushing Michael up against a tree]: I know what you're doing, Michael! Now tell them the truth. Tell them!
MICHAEL: It was the only way. They gave me a list.
JACK: What list?
MICHAEL: It had your names on it. I had to bring all 4 of you back, or they said I'd never see my son again!
JACK: Who are they?
MICHAEL: It's like I said -- they live in a camp with huts. I swear, that's it.
KATE: You let Henry go?
[Michael nods.]
HURLEY: Did you kill them? Ana-Lucia and Libby? Did you?
MICHAEL: I had to, man. I, God, I couldn't find any other way. And Libby was a mistake. I, I didn't have time to think.
HURLEY: But if you did have time -- you still would have killed her, right?
MICHAEL: I'm sorry. You understand -- I am sorry. I'm sorry. I -- my son!
HURLEY: I'm going back.
JACK: No, Hurley. Hurley, you can't!
HURLEY: We're all going to get killed and you knew it! You let us come anyway.
JACK: It's too late to go back now, Hurley. We already caught them following us once. If they don't believe that we trust Michael, they'll kill us all. I'm sorry that I didn't say anything. But you have to know that I would never bring you out here if I didn't have a plan.
SAWYER: What plan?


EXACTLY!!!!

WHAT PLAN!!!!!???

Which leads us to...


I THOUGHT *I* HAD A BAD SENSE OF DIRECTION...

SAWYER [spotting something in the distance]: Hey, Doc, what did you say Sayid's signal's going to be when the coast is clear to hit that beach party?
[We see a column of black smoke.]
KATE: That means he found them, right?
JACK: That's miles from here. [to Michael] Where were you taking us?
MICHAEL: What?
JACK: Sayid said that he'd light the signal so that we could meet him at the shore. Why aren't we going to the beach?
MICHAEL: We are headed to the beach.
JACK: We're nowhere near the beach!
MICHAEL: Look, I had to.
JACK: What?!
[They hear whispers, then Sawyer gets hit in the neck with a dart and falls to the ground convulsing.]


Although I can't read a map to save my life and get still get turned around in my hometown, I could probably sense if I was moving closer to or further away from the ocean if I was trekking across an island. Whenever I don't know where I am in Chicago, I just look around for a clearing in the buildings and then I think, "A ha, that way is the lake, therefore: east." So how Jack, the supposed leader, could've let Michael walk them into the Others' trap in the middle of nowhere is beyond me. Clearly they were supposed to be meeting up with Sayid near the coast; that was the brilliant "plan." But it was seriously like Jack looked up and saw Sayid's smoke signal way across the island on the shore, and THAT'S when it dawned on him that they weren't near the water.

???

Hello, it's called "listening for waves."



The only thing that gives me any sort of hope whatsoever was the weird look exchange that Jack and Kate had before the sacks were put over their heads. It didn't seem to be a look of fear, but rather of understanding (but I could be totally misinterpreting it, too, I admit).

Perhaps they were still holding out hope that Sayid would finally come save their sorry asses?


SPEAKING OF SAYID...

Now that the season is over, I can officially say that I was very disappointed with how little our favorite Iraqi was on screen. I had been holding out hope that he would have a major role in the finale, but alas, that didn't happen. So what DID happen with Sayid? As we know, he was the only one who realized that Michael "had been compromised," and despite telling Jack that Michael could NOT KNOW they were on to him, Jack blows their cover AND STILL ends up getting everyone captured. Then Sayid sets off on Desmond's boat with Jin and Sun, who's throwing up over the side, in order to meet Jack and crew at The Others camp and help with the Walt rescue. But the camp Michael originally visited appeared to be an elaborate front - Sayid found it completely deserted.

Perhaps the only interesting thing that happened with Sayid was his comment on the weird statue remains they passed in the ocean:

SAYID: I don't know what is more disquieting -- the fact that the rest of the statue is missing, or that it has 4 toes?


Of course, there are tons of theories about what the statue could be and why it is there. They range from "They're on the Planet of the Apes" to "It's the Colossus of Rhodes" to "the island is the Lost Land of Lemuria (also known as Mu)" to "the people who used to live on the island only had four toes" to "there is a time warp going on and eventually humans will evolve to only have four toes, so this is a statue from the future" to "I bet Fenry Gale only has four toes and it's a statue of him as he is the leader" to "dragons only have four toes, it's a statue of a dragon because there were once dragons on the island as part of the experiment, hence the "here be dragons" note on the hatch map." No, that last one was NOT my theory, though it would be cool if it were true.

The producers have commented that "The foot statue represents the history and archeology of the island." I guess that's all we have to go on for a bit.


YEP, SHE'S *THAT* STUPID

[We see Claire getting ready to give Aaron an injection.]
DESMOND: You're wasting your time, sister. I shot myself with that stuff every 9 days for 3 years.

I cannot believe Claire is actually shooting that crap into her "bay-bee." Perhaps Aaron would've been better off with The Others! After getting over the shock of seeing Claire pull that idiotic stunt, I remembered that the more important thing was that Desmond said he used the "vaccine" for 3 years and nothing happened. So what IS in the injector and what is its purpose?


On to the hatch...

If you remember, Eko had taken up button duty at the beginning of the episode, and Locke was determined to get the timer to run out because he was convinced it was all a sham. Which leads us to...


ALRIGHT, WE GET IT, NOBODY ON THE ISLAND LIKES TO BE BOSSED AROUND!!!

LOCKE: You're a slave to that [pointing to the timer clock], just like I was. So I'm going to tell you again -- don't push it.
EKO: Do not tell me what I can do.


Eko's line, or some version of it (usually "Don't tell me what I CAN'T do!"), has been stated by several characters on the show over the past two years. It is obviously one of the main themes of the series - free will vs. determinism, the right and freedom to make your own choices and suffer the consequences, etc., etc.

But Eko won't back down, driving Locke to more desperate measures...


'CAUSE YOU HAD A BAD DAY...

Locke definitely wins the "most bad days in a lifetime" award. How sad was it when Charlie (of all people) came upon Locke sobbing in the jungle? He tried to break the computer by way of bashing it with the Jesus Stick, but to no avail. Then he has the horrifying realization that everything he thought he had believed for the last two months was a sham:

DESMOND: Is the reason you're letting that clock there run all the way down to the very last tick -- is it because you need to look down the barrel of a gun to find out what you really believe, John?
LOCKE: I looked down the barrel of the gun and I believed. I thought it was my destiny to get into this place. And someone died -- a kid. Because he was stupid enough to believe that I knew what I was talking about. And the night that he died for nothing, I was sitting right up there, all alone, beating my hand bloody against that stupid door -- screaming to the heavens asking what I should do. And then a light went on. I thought it was a sign. But it wasn't a sign. Probably just you going to the bathroom.
[Desmond has a look of recognition on his face, and turns away.]


So now it is time to revisit a few of the Desmond flashback scenes.


ARE YOU TELLING ME THEY COULD'VE JUST TURNED IT OFF THIS WHOLE TIME?

[Desmond makes his way over to Kelvin who is lying next to a small alcove. We see a lid has been opened to reveal a place to insert the key and a sign that says Caution: System Termination.]
DESMOND: What is this?
INMAN: This is the only other way out, partner.
DESMOND: What are you talking about?
INMAN: Failsafe. Turn this key and this all goes away.
DESMOND: What's behind that wall, Kelvin? Huh? What was the incident?
INMAN: Electromagnetism, geologically unique. The incident -- there was a leak. So now the charge builds up and every time we push the button it discharges it before it gets too big.
DESMOND: Why makes us do it -- push the button? If we, if we can just...
INMAN [laughing and closing the lid]: Here's the real question, Desmundo -- do you have the courage to take your finger out of the dam and blow the whole thing up, instead?


There, now it's totally clear, right? We know why the button had to be pushed, what would happen if it wasn't pushed, and what the failsafe key would do. Uh, maybe not.

I can't lie to you and claim to totally understand exactly what went on with the whole button and countdown timer thing. Apparently, an electromagnetic pulse builds up on the island and the numbers need to be entered and the button needs to be pushed in order to somehow release the build-up and prevent catastrophe. This only became necessary after "the incident." However, apparently a key could've made the whole thing end a long time ago, too??? I definitely do not understand that aspect of it. Some on the boards feel that the button needed to be pushed not only to prevent the build-up, but to also keep the island undetectable from the likes of crazy dudes out in the Arctic playing chess and monitoring for electromagnetic anomalies. The good news is... we don't need to spend the summer being bitter, stewing over what currently appears to be a lame explanation of the button, the key and the timer. Because believe me, I was about to start stewing. But luckily, the writers have already said that next season, "the turning of the failsafe key, what exactly it did and what the ramifications are" will be a major topic addressed. Some people on the boards wondered if Locke and Rose would now be adversely affected by the island if turning the key somehow lessened its electromagnetic healing powers...

So while we can rest assured that we will learn more about the key itself and the freaky ultraviolet light explosion that occurred after it was turned, in the meantime we are left to wonder what happened to Desmond, Locke and Eko, who were all in the hatch when the key was turned.

Before Desmond turned the key, Eko and Locke had a face-off in the hatch, as metallic objects went whizzing through the air nearly decapitating each of them, and as they watched in horror as the countdown timer imploded.


SINGLE BEST LINE OF THE EPISODE

LOCKE: I was wrong.

Do you blame Locke for wanting to let the timer run out? I don't. And not because I'm his Super Fan, either. As I have stated before on this blog, I do not think the writers did a good job of providing a reason for Eko to so strongly believe that the button still did something, after he and Locke watched the Pearl Station video which basically stated that everything was an experiment. Should Locke have been so hell-bent on letting the clock tick down? Probably not - I mean, why should he care if Eko wants to keep pushing the button? And especially after Desmond had pretty convincing evidence that letting the counter tick down caused Flight 815 to crash. But I think that from what we know of Locke's sad history before the crash, and from his speech to Desmond about how Boone died because he believed in Locke, I at least feel like we understood Locke's motivation much more than we did Eko's - Locke just wanted to stop the madness.

We also got some very cool insight as to why Desmond finally turned the key. In Desmond's last flashback scene, he was near the end of his rope, signified by the fact that he finally opened the Dickens book (remember, this was what he was saving to read until right before he DIED). Kelvin was dead, Desmond was left to go insane alone in the hatch, he had a gun, and then realized that Penny HAD written to him and put it in the book, and now he would never see her again.

This all culminated in my most favorite scene, probably of the year:


[We see Desmond in the hatch, holding a gun. He's finishes off a bottle of booze, and opens the Dickens book. A letter slips out. We hear a voiceover of Penelope reading the letter.]
PENELOPE: Dearest Des, I am writing this letter to you as you leave for prison. And I've hidden in the one place you would turn to in a moment of great desperation. I know you go away with the weight of what happened on your shoulders. And I know the only person who can ever take it off is you. Please don't give up, Des. Because all we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us. And you have her. I will wait for you. Always. I love you, Pen.
[Desmond sobs and throws the bottle.]
DESMOND: It's all gone. It's all gone!!
[He starts pulling all the books out of the bookshelf and throwing them. Suddenly, he hears banging and hears something which turns out to be Locke from the night Boone died.]

LOCKE [from outside]: I've done everything you wanted me to do? Why did you do this? Whhhhyyyyyyyy?
[Desmond turns the light on in the hatch. He laughs.]

I loved that scene so much because I loved it the FIRST time around. I remember my peeps and I chillin' in my basement, lights out, watching "Deus Ex Machina," which was the episode where we learned that poor Locke had been duped by his father into giving him a kidney. We saw Locke in a flashback, in a car, pulling over to the side of the road, bawling, and hitting the steering wheel repeatedly in anger and disbelief. Then it cuts to Locke, real-time on the island, banging his fists and sobbing on top of the hatch screaming "Whhyyy???" I myself, was of course also crying. And then when that light shone up out of the hatch, every hair just stood on end and I got chills. When the episode closed with the boom sound and then "LOST" on the screen, my friends and I just started freaking out. So for it to come full circle now and for us to see it again, but to know what was going on inside the hatch - I just thought was awesome. Bravo, writers, bravo.

THE TURNING OF THE KEY

DESMOND: 3 days before you came down here, before we met, I heard a banging on the hatch door, shouting. But it was you, John, wasn't it? You said there isn't any purpose -- there's no such thing as fate. But you saved my life, brother, so that I could save yours.
LOCKE: No, no, no, none of this is real! Nothing is going to happen. We're going to be okay.
[We see 5 seconds left on the timer.]
DESMOND: I've got to go. And you've got to get as far away from here as possible. LOCKE: Go where? Stop!
DESMOND: I'm going to blow the dam, John.
[The timer starts flipping to the hieroglyphs] I'm sorry for whatever happened that made you stop believing. But it's all real. Now I've got to go and make it all go away.
LOCKE: Wait, Desmond.
DESMOND: I'll see you in another life, brother.

So Desmond was NOT the coward Widmore claimed him to be. He went to turn the key, assuming that he would be killed in the process. This is why some people on the boards think he IS dead, because he fully "redeemed" himself.

Also from the exchange above we know that if Locke survived the hatch implosion (and, um, I'm sure TPTB would have consulted me were he not to survive...), then he does NOT KNOW what, if anything, Desmond did to stop the chaos. All he knew was that Desmond was going to try to do *something* - but Locke did not know specifically about the failsafe key. And as I mentioned early, next season we will understand more about the key and what it did.


THE FINAL ISLAND SCENES

So we see crazy UV light flashes, and assume there's some deafening noise, watch as all of the Lostaways (and The Others, for that matter) cover their ears and eyes and freak out, and see Bernard, Claire and Aaron almost get taken out by the Quarantine hatch door.

After Desmond turns the key, it all stops.


We switch back to The Others, and watch as Fenry Gale (who definitely seems to be the "him," or the leader, although that is still not confirmed) lets Michael and Walt go, as the four captured Lostaways watch helplessly from the pier, bound and gagged. I say, GOOD RIDDANCE MICHAEL AND WALT! We'll see if they make it that far, seeing as how Desmond couldn't sail away...

Shout-out to BG for pointing out to me that the dock they were all on was none other than the Pala Ferry (there was actually a sign shown for a brief second), mentioned in the Pearl Station's orientation video by Dr. Wickman.

Then The Others (and we learned Zeke's real name is Tom and Mrs. Klugh's is either Bee or Dee) let Hurley go... so that he can spread the word to the other Lostaways to not mess with The Others. The big question in my mind is, will Hurley really just walk away?

If so, will he go back to camp, or go try and find Sayid, Sun and Jin? But by letting Hurley go, we are now left with three "not so good" people who The Others are "taking home" with them. I really did not like any of those scenes on the pier (nor the poison dart scenes, for that matter) - it just really freaked me out to see everyone flopping around on the ground and then bound, gagged and eventually bagged.

Back on the island, Charlie stumbles above ground and doesn't really even bat an eyelash when he learns that Eko and Locke have NOT yet emerged from the hatch. No, all Charlie has on his mind is mackin' Claire, who then kisses him. She has jumped to my Most Hated Character now.

Then, like apparently MANY other viewers (so now I don't feel so bad), I hit "Forward" on my controller, only to realize that the show was STILL ON.

D'OH?!?!

No, the finale did not have a "happy ending" of Claire and Charlie reuniting - it abruptly switched scenes to...

WE'RE JUST CHILLIN'... LITERALLY

We see two guys playing chess in what appears to be an arctic setting, but they are speaking Portuguese. And no, although one of the guys DID look like Jack, it was NOT JACK, the creators have stated this. Anyway, an alarm goes off on their computer that an electromagnetic anomaly has been detected, and they end up calling to notify none other than... Penny Widmore.

BOOM! LOST logo, show over.

Definitely another "Saaaay Whhhaaaaaaaaa?" moment.

So before getting into the theories, I must mention that these final moments of the show were extremely important because they showed the outside world - the real world - the not-on-the-island world, in real time (as opposed to a flashback). This is the first time this was ever done in the series. Therefore, the "they're all in purgatory" and the "it's all someone's dream" and the "it's all a virtual reality game" theories should finally stop making the rounds. They have been offically disproven.

Regarding the chess-playing guys calling Penny - the theories are:
1) She put a tracking device on Desmond's ship and is looking for it
2) She knows about the island and is looking for it because she figures Desmond crashed there
3) She works for Dharma, but is still "good" and is basically doing her own thing, trying to find Desmond
4) She works for Widmore, but is still "good" and this is a discreet side project of hers in the company in order to figure out where he is, knowing her dad is evil and would have tried to get rid of Desmond.

Questions that remain are:
1) Now what happens, now that they've detected the anomaly? Sounds like they have before because they said, "Did we miss it again?"
2) Why are those guys somewhere cold when the island is in the South Pacific?


Needless to say, it was a clever yet unexpected way to end the season. I cannot believe Desmond is going to end up dead if Penny is still looking for him! On that note...

I REALLY, REALLY HOPE THIS MEANS THERE COULD BE A CYCLOPS

As you have gathered by now, I am a fan of all things supernatural, mythical, mystical, imaginary, what have you.
So I REALLY love a theory that's circulating right now that the entire series is actually about Desmond, and is meant to parallel Homer's "The Odyssey." Reach back... waaaay back into your memory, most likely to college (for me it was "Great Books" class, 1992, which has already come in handy before in with this show!) and remember the tale of Odysseus, who was trying to return from his victory in Troy to his beloved... you guessed it... Penelope. And by the way, while he was gone, others were competing for her hand in marriage (in Lost, Penny was supposedly engaged when Desmond left). Odysseus had to overcome some crazy obstacles to return to Penelope, and a lot of his journey took place on ... wait for it... a boat or on various islands. Anyway, he had to face sirens, nymphs, Lotus Eaters, Poseidon and a cyclops, among other cool things. It took him ten years to get back, and "The Odyssey" itself is almost told entirely in "flashback" mode - taking the reader up to where Odysseus is in the present day. I dare say, it does sound fairly convincing. Obviously it doesn't explain a lot of other things, but I am pretty sure that there's never going to be one, overriding explanation for EVERYTHING, but rather several different "theories" that exist together. Anyway, I thought it was interesting, and needless to say, I will be very happy if a cyclops shows up.

IS THE CUP HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY? WAS MY THEORY HALF RIGHT OR HALF WRONG?

As promised, I will now tell you what my theory was, going into the finale. It was entirely based on this still from the previews. I had thought that Locke was going to stop Eko from pushing the button, and that the button was somehow connected to the electromagnetic force on the island, and that when the button wasn't pushed, it was going to cause another plane to crash... OR... it was going to cause THEIR plane to crash AGAIN (invoking some sort of time rewind).
So when I saw that frame of Jack looking up into the sky in disbelief, I thought he was going to see Oceanic Flight 815 crashing AGAIN. Wouldn't that have been cool? Yes, it would have been. But then, I have no idea how they would've taken the story or explanation from there. So, needless to say, that didn't happen - Jack was looking up at Sayid's smoke signal and realizing they were nowhere near it. But I was right in the fact that not pressing the button is connected to the magnetic force and did cause the original plane to crash.

By the way, this scene raises another question - did all those pneumatic tubes ALWAYS just end up in a big pile in the middle of the jungle - was anyone EVER looking at them?


A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Since we're talking about questions that remain to be answered, it's time to appreciate what HAS been answered. Last year, before I had set up this blog, I used to email out the episode write-ups. I dug out the season one finale write-up (which I didn't send until MONTHS after the finale, so I hope you appreciate my cramming this year!!!) because I remembered I had summarized a list of outstanding questions at the end of it. I have pasted that list in below, along with the status of each item. Of course the show has raised TEN MILLION more questions since this point, which I am NOT going to make a list of this time around. But just for fun, let's see how far we've come in one season:


a) Why did Jack get a divorce? - Answered. His wife left him because he worked too much and she began seeing someone else.
b) Why was Hurley in the mental institution where he learned the numbers? - Answered. He was there because he stepped onto a deck which collapsed and killed an unknown number of people, after which he went catatonic and his mother checked him into the institution.
c) How did Locke become paralyzed? - Still unknown.
d) 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? - Answered. Kate blew up her mother's house with her birth father in it and then skipped town.
e) What exactly IS the connection between the numbers, the hatch, and the island overall? - Partially answered. At the end of season one, we just knew the numbers were printed on the outside of the hatch. Now we know that they had to be entered into the computer every 108 (sum of numbers) minutes to stop some crazy magnetic eruption from happening. Why it had to be those specific numbers and why they keep appearing in so many other places is still unknown, and may never be known.
f) Why did Locke hurry to blow the lid off the hatch even after Hurley started screaming not to? - Answered. He was just obsessed with the hatch.
g) Is Sayid's Nadia still alive somewhere? - Answered. We saw her in Locke's flashback, she is living in California, as also alluded to in Season 1 by the FBI who got Sayid to cooperate with them.
h) Who was Ethan and where did he come from? - Partially answered. Ethan was definitely an Other, and he was sent by them to infiltrate the Lostaways' camp and bring Claire to the medical hatch. We don't know who he was beyond that, however.
i) Where is Alex, Danielle's daughter? - Answered. She appears safe and still sane, though living with The Others.
j) What is "the sickness" that killed Danielle's crew? - Still not answered.
k) What exactly is Lostzilla? - Not sure. If Lostzilla (which rips up trees, kills pilots and moves trees) is different from the Back Smoke Thing, then we still have no idea...
l) What is the crazy black smoke floaty stuff? - Still unanswered, though we got to see it more clearly and saw that it was scanning memories from Eko. We also know that both Locke and Eko survived stare-downs with it.
m) Who were the hillbillies on the boat, and what did they want with Walt? - Partially answered... we know they are The Others and that they supposedly ran tests on Walt and that they deem themselves "the good guys" and that the hillbilly get-up was all a facade, but we don't know much else. This will be the focus of Season Three, apparently.
n) Will Sawyer survive his gunshot wound? - Answered. Duh, yes.
o) What will any of the raft peeps do now that the raft, the raft, the raft is on fire?!?!?!? - Answered. They all survived after floating at sea for a few days and washing back up on the island.
p) 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? - Not answered, because this didn't happen.
q) What is up with the Nigerian drug smugglers and the Plane o' Heroin? - Partially answered. We now know that the plane had a direct connection to Eko (carrying his brother when Eko was actually supposed to be on it). But we have no idea how it got from Nigeria to the island.
r) Did Charlie actually take any of the heroin with him? - Answered. Yes, but he never used any, and by the end of the season, he had thrown it all into the ocean.
s) Does Walt really have some sort of 'powers'? - Not answered, but it still appears that way.
t) What are the whispers? - Not answered, though we are fairly sure from the magic of sound editing that they are somehow coming from The Others.
u) 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... - Not answered, though we now sense that the island "disappears from radar" because of its magnetic anomaly, as evidenced by the very last scene.
v) Whose was the voice Boone heard over the transmission before his fateful fall? - Answered, it was Bernard, from the other side of the island.
w) 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...? - Not answered.
x) Did anyone else survive the flight 815 plane crash? Rose's husband? Ana Lucia? - Answered - most of the tail section survived, although few are actually still remaining at this point.
y) WHAT IS IN THE HATCH? What was the light Locke saw in it before? - Answered. Desmond was in the hatch, and he turned on the light. And we know all about what else is in the hatch(es) now.
z) Is Kate going to continue to suck next season? Or will I perhaps be even more annoyed by some new character? - Answered. Kate sucked considerably less, and Ana Lucia definitely usurped Kate's previous title of Most Hated Character. Now it is up for grabs again - Michael is the front-runner if he finds his way back to the island, if he doesn't, then for now it is Claire.

So there you have it - we actually got a lot of answers to questions that we thought were very important (but now may seem more trivial) at this time last year. While I will not spoil anything for you of course, I must admit that I did read a little bit about what is planned for next year, and I think we are in for a wild ride. I will mention some of it in a section below for those who are interested. But for those who want to go in knowing NOTHING, just know that I think they really have planned this thing out and we need not be worried.


OTHER GOOD LINES IN THE EPISODE IN ADDITION TO 'I WAS WRONG.'

SAYID: This camp Michael is leading you to across the island -- that is where they will set their trap. While Michael leads you by land, I can approach far more quickly by sea. And I can go ashore undetected.
JACK: Go ashore and do what?
SAYID: Scout them -- their numbers and positions, their weapons. Then I'll go to the nearest beach and start a signal fire with these [he holds up some leaves]. They burn with a dark, black smoke. You and your team will come to meet me at the signal and we will go in together.
JACK: Black smoke, huh?
SAYID: This time they will know that WE are coming.


KATE: All that stuff we found in the medical station -- costumes, make-up, fake beards -- what if these people just want us to think they're hillbillies?
MICHAEL: Listen, I was there. I saw them. They ARE hillbillies.
(e: I would like to think that I am personally responsible for somehow influencing the writers to use the word 'hillbillies' in this show, but alas, I'll never know. Nonetheless, I cheered when it was said.)



KATE: Don't even think about it. It's a trap -- a net. Rousseau's got them all over the island.
SAWYER: How the hell would you know that?
KATE: I tripped one with Jack. We ended up -- never mind. [Sawyer chuckles] What?
SAWYER: When the Doc told me you all got caught in a net I thought he meant, uh -- something else.



[Back on the island, Locke approaches the still-drinking Desmond on the beach.]
LOCKE: So what did one snowman say to the other snowman?
DESMOND: Smells like carrots.
LOCKE: Hello, Desmond.
DESMOND: Hello yourself, box man.
(e: the best part is that the transcript guy wrote "the still-drinking Desmond")



[We see Eko climb up out of the hatch door entrance. He sees the quarantine sign and runs toward the beach. We see Charlie playing guitar. Eko approaches.]
EKO: Charlie, do you know how they got the hatch door open?
CHARLIE: No, but if you hum it, I could probably play it.



SAWYER: So, these Others, you think they're left over from the Dharma folk?
MICHAEL: I don't know, man.
SAWYER: My theory, they're aliens. That's why they use the fake beards -- their heads are made of pathetic.
HURLEY: Prosthetic, dude.


DESMOND: Yeah, right, Radzinski. Radzinski figured out how to fake a lockdown. Radzinski created this great invisible map. More and more tales about your former partner. Yet for some reason, you never want to tell me what bloody well happened to him.
[Inman walks over to Desmond and points to a spot on the ceiling.]
INMAN: See that brown stain, there? That's Radzinski. He put a shotgun in his mouth when I was asleep. The bitch of it was, I only had a 108 minutes to bury the poor bastard.
(e: I realize that was probably not meant to be funny...)


WISE WORDS FROM THE BOARDS

- Loved Desmond so very much. "You saved my life so that I could save yours." I haven't connected with a character on this show for a very long time, and even then it wasn't as powerful as Desmond and his girlfriend. Damn you, Lost! I didn't think you had it in you. Still, still, I can't help but feel right with Locke. I hate that damn button and I would do the same exact thing, consequences be damned. And that ending! It's a love story.
- Just checked out http://hansocareers.com/ and found that some of the locations to participate in the "Careers" include South Korea, Ice Land, Denmark...
- I rarely give the writers any credit, but I did like all the parallels between Desmond's journey and 'The Odyssey.' Very, very clever having Kelvin originally call himself Inman, the main character in Charles Fraser's 'Cold Mountain,' which was based on 'The Odyssey.' It was a bit of a stretch to care so much about the hotness that is Desmond after not seeing him for twenty-some episodes, but the actor hit the right emotional notes. Of course the backstory bordered on too expositional, per usual, but at least it told us something.
- Can anyone tell me why, oh why, does ANYONE listen to Jack or have faith in his "plans"? Wasn't his last plan to go out in the woods and yell a lot? And apparently in addition to his planning skills he also has a finely tuned sense of direction. Good Grief.
- OK. Here is my idea. Desmond reversed the polarity when he turned the key. This caused the hatch door (Quarantine) to fly away and almost land on Claire. It would also explain the light/noise. EMP burst. No one died. Pressing The Button was a scam. and by switching a field that big it registered on the antartic sensors... Just an idea.
- That is a very interesting theory. On that note, maybe the "incident" is what reversed the polarity in the first place (thus creating an environment in which paraplegics and cancer patients can be healed) and Desmond brought it back to normal. This would explain how Desmond couldn't leave the island (there's no bubble or anything; his compass would just lead him all the way back around.) It would also explain Sayid's compass being all wrong in Season 1.
- Anyway, since Season 2 ends with Locke finding out he was WRONG to give up his faith, I imagine he won't be any Man of Science next season, but something else entirely.. Man of Faith again? Or just really, really confused....
- I'm hoping next season's Locke will be Man Of Unholy Kick-Ass In The Jungle Looking For The Truth Using The Blast Door Map, but maybe that's just me.
- Maybe the argument is that - as Locke was saying to Jack at the end of season one - everything was meant to happen. They were meant to be on that plane. It was meant to veer off course and come into the vicinity of the island. And it was meant to crash there, and Desmond was meant to be late pushing the button at that specific time. Not the design of the "Others" or the Dharma Group or whatever, but something like Fate. I dunno, it's as good a theory as any. (e: I kind of agree with this, I'm not sure that they will ever explain certain things - like why they are in each others' flashbacks, besides just "coincidence" and "fate")


THE LABRADOR HATCH

See pictures from my Lost finale party here, and then truly realize how obsessed I am.


MORE DETAILS ON THE SEASON THREE SCHEDULE

The latest on TPTB's attempt to not enrage fans by showing tons of reruns over the course of the TV season is: Season three will start at the end of September or beginning of October and run for 6 weeks back-to-back and end with a mini cliff-hanger. I have seen some sites say that October 6th will be the premiere, but I think it's really too early to know for sure. After the 6 week run, it will then be off for about 12 weeks, (no reruns, an entirely different show will be on in that time slot) and then it will come back on with 18 new episodes in February and run continuously through May. Still not perfect (what they do with '24' is perfect, but that's a different network), but much better than what happened the past two seasons.

SUMMER SUMMER SUMMERTIIIIIME

I have bought the "Bad Twin" book, which is the "marketing tie-in product" for Lost - both Hurley and Sawyer were shown reading the manuscript. While it is not on the top of my to-do list right now, I will eventually read it this summer and post my thoughts about it on this blog. Over the summer I will also be adding in all my previous Season One write-ups that were originally sent via email. I intend to make a few aethestic changes to this site as well. But other than that, you can expect that this blog will kick back into high gear in mid-September, a few weeks before Season Three begins, so set a little reminder for yourself on Outlook, Notes, or however you keep things organized!

Until Lost begins again, I will attempt to write daily on my new blog, according to e. Nothing on that blog will be Lost-related, but rather just random musings about life or comments on pop culture. I will also give opinions on movies I've seen, books I've read, concerts I've attended (starting with Madonna, which is tonight... and Radiohead, which is tomorrow!). So, if you want something to read quickly (UNLIKE this site, entries on according to e will just be a few paragraphs) while you have your morning tea/coffee, eat lunch at your desk, are bored on a call for work, etc., etc., please check it out.

Other blogs of note:

- Stadium and Main - This is my brother's blog that mostly covers University of Michigan football news, but also has hilarious "off-topic Tuesday" posts covering a wide range of rant-worthy subjects.

- Pack My Bags - This is my brother's girlfriend's blog - and if you read it, you will realize that yes, YOUR job truly does suck, and hers is cool. You can live vicariously through her adventures in foreign lands as she makes sure that the money our country gives to third-world countries for health education is actually being used for that purpose.

- Humpys.net - My "virtual friend," whose site I've referenced often in my posts, will continue to update his site with clues from The Lost Experience, as well as spoilers on Season Three, over the summer.

And don't forget to pre-order Lost Season Two! You can do so here on Amazon.com.

This serves as the "official end" of this post... Below I'm going to cover a few things that I've learned will be included in Season Three. Mostly just high-level direction of what the focus will be, but still, it could be considered spoilerish. So if you want to stop reading now... have a great summer, thanks for reading this year, and don't forget to come back in the fall!

- e

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SEASON THREE - THE EARLY WORD

The creators of Lost have indicated that "what happened to Kate, Jack and Sawyer" will be wrapped up in the first six episodes. The focus will be on The Others, where they live and why they took those three specific people.

The rest of the season will also cover - get this - I LOVE it - what was going on on the island BEFORE Dharma arrived - as in, the late 1970s!! What if it was just a huge disco party on the island. Awwwww, freak out!

The relationships of the original Lostaways will also continue to be explored - they have made it clear that they intend to have season three be more about the characters than about the 'mythology.' We will learn why Locke is in the wheelchair (gasp!) and why Jack has those tattoos and what happened with Kate's marriage (and who she was married to, obviously).

Finally, we will see much more of the smoke monster, and realize that we actually saw him (unbeknownst to us) this season (outside of the obvious scenes, like the Eko stare-down). That really intrigues me - it makes me think the smoke monster can shape-shift or something.

There will be a few new additions to the cast, but I'm going to steer clear of specifics - I just assume that more of the original Lostaways may turn into minor characters - a la Dr. Arntz last year.

There you have it! Sounds awesome, no?