Enjoy the finale!

Just a quick note to say "Enjoy the finale!"

Remember that tomorrow night ABC will be re-airing the first hour of "There's No Place Like Home" (with extended press conference footage!) at 8 PM EST, before the two new hours start rolling. THREE HOURS STRAIGHT of Lost... can you handle it?

As I will be traveling Thursday - Sunday, I expect it may take me another week to get up my next post, so your patience is appreciated.

Have a great time watching the end of what I feel has been an incredible season...
- e

S4Ep12 - There's No Place Like Home, Part One

Hello my dear friends -

Imagine this scene: I'm at the Cancun airport... gate C24, down at the far end of the terminal, to be exact. The sounds of revelry from Jimmy Buffett's Air Margaritaville restaurant are in the background... smells of tourists who've had one too many shots of tequila are in the foreground. It's 11:15 AM on Sunday, May 18th, and my husband and I are crouched over my laptop, each with one iPod earbud in our ears, as we prepared to watch "There's No Place Like Home." (For those of you who read my last post, I was able to download the latest episode off of iTunes (though it took 3 hours because of my slow connection) before I headed back to Chicago.)

Little did I know that just a mere few minutes later, tears would be rolling down my cheeks with such abandon that I would be scrambling to pull out ratty Starbucks napkins from my bag in order to dry off my face, as other travelers waiting at our gate stared at me with a combination of concern and amusement. Then I heard a woman nearby whisper to a friend, "They're watching Lost."

And all was understood.

From the little bit of board-surfing I've done in preparation for this post, I was astonished by how many people thought this episode was just "mediocre." Saaaaay whhhaaaaattt?!?!! I couldn't disagree more... The first hour of "There's No Place Like Home" is firmly in my "Top Five Favorite Episodes of All Time," and it made me fall in love with Lost all over again.

I'm going to switch up how I normally attack these posts and cover the flash-forwards first.


'CAUSE I'M LEAVING
ON A JET PLANE
DON'T KNOW
WHEN I'LL BE BACK AGAIN

How freaky was the opening scene when the Oceanic Six were waiting for the plane to land in Hawaii? I know that Sun said that they were all in shock, but I think they looked straight-up drugged or brainwashed or something. There were just so... despondent. It was eerie. Except for Jack, of course, who was suspiciously hyper and rah-rah about the group talking to reporters like they had "agreed" to do. (And for the record, I don't think there's anything to the "mystery man" also shown behind the O6.)

When the gangway was lowered and the slo-mo kicked in and that sad-as-hell music started playing and Hurley ran out to hug his mom... well... I totally lost it. I was seriously sobbing my head off and my already-crumpled-to-begin-with napkins were soon in tatters as I tried to wipe away the flow of tears. It was reminiscent of when Vincent began swimming out to the raft in the first hour of "Exodus" at the end of Season One... that's how hard I was crying.

While I've read that many people thought it was tragic that Kate had no one to greet her, I could've sworn that after she glanced around to see if anyone was going to come up to her and then saw no one, that a very quick and very faint smile flashed across her face. This is not a woman who wants to be found, remember. I personally don't think she was sad at all. Though I did find it really weird that the man who raised her, Sam Austen, didn't show up.

I was also dying that Nadia wasn't there for Sayid. I actually think I said something out loud, like "WHERE IS NADIA?!?!" -- which I'm sure made the people by me think I was even crazier than they already did. But to see Hurley introduce Sayid to his parents warmed my heart.



WE GOT THE BUBBLE-HEADED BLEACH-BLONDE
WHO COMES ON AT FIVE
SHE CAN TELL YOU 'BOUT THE PLANE CRASH
WITH A GLEAM IN HER EYE

Ah, the much-awaited press conference with the Oceanic Six. A little hostile, don't you think? Asking Sun about her dead husband, questioning Hurley's ability to still be huge, bringing up Kate's murder rap -- geez! Yeah, WE know their story is a sham, but you would think everyone else would've been a bit nicer. Damn media.

There were a few things I got out of the press conference besides a reconfirmation that reporters have no shame when it comes to getting their story. First and foremost, I sensed that Oceanic, as a company, was not "in" on whatever went down with the O6's rescue. The Oceanic representative wasn't acting shady... if anything she was like "you guys don't need to talk if you don't want to." Something happened to the group before they got in that jet--they must have been instructed or threatened by someone else about what to say before Oceanic and the Coast Guard came to get them. That's not surprising, since we've known for a while that The Six have been lying about what happened during the crash and their subsequent months on the Island. But what was surprising was that they arrived back in the United States not too long after the present time on the Island.

If Wikipedia's timeline estimate is fairly accurate, then the actions on the Island during "There's No Place Like Home" took place on Day 100, or December 30, 2004. During the press conference, it was stated that a raft washed up on the shore of "Membata," where the O6 were said to be hanging, on Day 103. Then on Day 108 they used said raft to reach the real-life Indonesian island of Sumba.

Assuming that the press conference was held not too long after Day 108 (or else a comment about Hurley's weight wouldn't have made sense), there wasn't a heck of a lot of time for the O6 to be "briefed" by whomever/whatever it was that made them devise their cover story (knowing that, one way or the other, they did get off the Island shortly after Day 100, even if it wasn't by a monsoon-delivered raft). And yes, I'm figuring that someone else pushed for the fake story, as I don't see why any of the O6 would have the personal motivation to build a web of lies once they were back home.

I had always thought that there would be a longer period of "missing time" between when the O6 got off the Island and their return home. As in, months. Whoever got to them did so quickly and thoroughly before releasing them back to their pre-crash existences.

Other questions that arose from the press conference include:
1) Why didn't anyone ask about the location of the plane crash? It wasn't in the path that a plane would take from Sydney to L.A.

2) Weren't there witnesses in Australia who would've known that Kate wasn't six months pregnant when she left? Like that old farmer dude she was working for? I guess whomever is behind the cover-up could've made sure he was "silenced." And I think TPTB don't want us thinking too much about it, either, as the reporter's question about this same issue was shot down quickly by the Oceanic representative as "off the table." (I just have to mention one other bizarre side-note here... in re-reading the script for "Tabula Rasa," where we met Ray, the guy Kate worked for in Australia, I was reminded of the fact that he had a fake arm. There are a lot of people with missing limbs in this show... Farmer Ray... Montand... the guy from the Dharma videos...hmmm.)

3) Why are they saying that Aaron is only 5 weeks old, when he is really over two months old? If they were already going to lie about Kate being his mother, why also lie about Aaron's age? One possibility is that the O6 (and/or the people who forced them to lie) have learned that Aaron is "special," and that he will be in danger if his true identity is revealed.

4) Who were the other two people who, in the cover story, supposedly survived the plane crash but then died on the island? (The producers have claimed that this wasn't important in the past, but it's still weird that it was brought up again.)

5) Others have thought it was strange that Sayid answered "Absolutely not" when asked if there could possibly be other survivors, but I thought it fit perfectly. Remember, they're lying! On purpose! They don't want anyone to know about the rest of the survivors, or the Island. The question is... why?

6) What's up with that picture they showed of when the O6 supposedly arrived on the shore of Sumba? It's either completely doctored, or whomever is forcing the O6 to lie actually did set them off on the raft and ensured they washed up on that populated island. (Note that the zodiac in the picture is black, whereas the one from the freighter is bluish-white.)



WE BOTH ARE SO EXCITED
'CAUSE WE'RE
REUNITED
HEY, HEY

Charlotte and Daniel? Don't see it.
Charlie and Claire? It was sweet, but now he's dead and she's... zoned out in Jacob's shack.
Kate and Jack or Kate and Sawyer or Juliet and Jack? Couldn't care less.
Sun and Jin? I still hope he's not really dead.
Penny and Desmond? Love them, but at least we've gotten to see one awesome pseudo-reunion scene of theirs already.
Karl and Alex? We know how that one turned out.
Rose and Bernard? Cool, but they're together and in the background for now.

But Sayid and Nadia? Now that's a couple I adore, and I was therefore ecstatic when she showed up at the end of the press conference. (I personally felt that I had somehow willed her presence, since I was shouting about it minutes earlier.) I wish their reunion scene had lasted longer, but it's probably a good thing that it didn't, because I once again started bawling my eyes out when Sayid just stood there, stunned, looking at her.

D'ah! My eyes are welling up again even now just thinking about it!




WITH MY MIND ON MY MONEY
AND MY MONEY ON MY MIND

In the next flash sequence, we see a very pregnant Sun walking in on the end of a tense exchange between her father and some of his employees. After her dad asks how her pregnancy is going, Sun cold busts out with a tirade about how he hated Jin, and how she holds him (and one other person) responsible for Jin's death. She then revealed that she purchased a controlling interest in Paik Heavy Industries, and her father fell back in his chair, shocked.

At the end of their argument there was one word, and one word only, that I could think of:
BOO-YA!

I knew there was a reason why I've always liked Sun. She rocked in that scene.

From what I've heard and read, most people think that Sun pooled her Oceanic settlement money with the rest of the O6's in order to buy enough shares to pull off the take-over deal--hence the businessmen talking about "five different bank accounts" when Sun walked in (the O6 minus Aaron). Once again, the question here is, "why?"

Here are a few different theories:
1) She simply wanted revenge and knew that this would hurt her father, nothing more. In this case, I doubt the rest of the O6 would be involved, and don't think it's worth trying to theorize how Sun would've gotten enough money to pull the move off.

2) Paik Heavy Industries may be key to getting back to the Island. Sun would only care about doing so, however, if she knew or thought Jin was still alive. So she would want to be in control of the company... but that doesn't completely explain why any of the O6 would help her out in such a large way. Right after they returned, none of them seemed like they wanted to get back to the Island, much less even talk about it.

3) Paik Heavy Industries may be key to getting back to the Island, Sun knows/thinks Jin is still alive, and somehow Ben helped her out with the money. We know he has access to a lot of cash, but I'm not sure why he would want to help Sun return.

I don't think any of the theories above have nailed it 100%, but I do think there's something more to Sun's business move than simply making Daddy Dearest extremely mad. And I think the mention of "five different banks" was too prominent to have that piece of information NOT figure heavily into the equation.

But what I care more about is whether or not Jin is really dead!?! If he is, then I think we will see it go down in the remaining hours of the finale. I'm starting to get a little more worried about his fate, however, since he IS in the room with all of the C-4 right now, and we did see Sun and Hurley looking sad at his grave site, and Sun did blame her father for his death. BUT... if we don't get complete proof in the finale that Jin is gone, then hope springs eternal for our favorite Korean badass.

(And if he is dead, who is the other person responsible for his death? Does Sun hold herself accountable? There are simply too many other people to speculate on until we know if/how Jin dies.)


MY MIND IS PLAYING TRICKS ON ME


Next up, we have Hurley's birthday party. I was covering my eyes as he crept through his mansion... that lone coconut on the floor when he first entered scared the crap out of me. I was positive that we would see the first of his off-Island visions of Dead Charlie.

Alas, it was just a surprise party, complete with a DJ spinning Geronimo Jackson tunes. (I was disappointed that DJ Qualls, who plays Hurley's friend Johnny from his pre-crash flashbacks, wasn't at the turntables flexing his Hustle & Flow skillz.) Kate and Aaron were there, as were a glowing Sayid and Nadia, now betrothed (Sayid was sporting a wedding ring).

Hurley's father took him to see his refurbished Camaro, but once "the numbers" were spotted on the odometer, Hurley was outta there faster than you can say "Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack."

The odometer was by no means as freakish as, say, Dead Charlie reappearing in the flesh, but I do believe that it was the first of many signs that would come to haunt Hurley enough to drive him back to the mental institution.



GONE DADDY GONE

Jack's turn at the flash-forwards...

Ten months after his death (?!?), Christian Shephard finally got a funeral. The first thing I thought was, "What took them so long?" Am I missing something? Let's say the O6 were gone a full four months. Why would the Shephard family wait another half-year before holding the ceremony? I really don't understand. To add to the confusion, why would Jack's mom say, "I'm so glad you're home" to him when she left the church? Hadn't he been home for a full six months by that point? Odd, very odd.

At least Jack's utterance of "ten months ago" allowed us to place this scene at July 2005.

But the timeline stuff wasn't really the point of this scene, now was it? I think the point was to show us how Jack found out about his blood relation to Aaron. Claire's mom (not dead after all...) showed up at the wake to tell Jack about his connection to Claire, his half-sister who was also on Flight 815. After getting a look on his face like his non-existent appendix was rupturing again, Jack teared up and just stared after Claire's mom as she came face-to-face (unbeknownst to her) with her grandchild.

Many people wondered if Kate overheard their conversation. I feel like she did, because she had a "Oh, crap!" look on her face after Mrs. Littleton walked away. Either way, I do think Kate eventually finds out the truth, because she and Jack seem to have an understanding about it in "Something Nice Back Home." I'm also assuming that Jack's shock and anger at his father's affair is what leads him to avoid Aaron from that point on (which is kind of lame--it's not Turniphead's fault!).



And now, to the Island and freighter...


GIVE IT AWAY, GIVE IT AWAY, GIVE IT AWAY NOW

Was it or was it not like a game of Hot Potato with Aaron in this episode? Poor kid... Claire walks off with Zombie Dad and leaves Aaron under a tree, then Sawyer has him for a little while before handing him off to Kate, who hands him off to Sun... who we know at some point gives him back to Kate. Since it is just a show (I need to keep repeating that in my head), I'll allow myself to chuckle at all of the over-the-top Aaron-passing.

Kate sure didn't seem too concerned about his welfare since she almost threw him at Sun before trotting off after Jack again, now did she? Future Kate, the doting mom, has really done a 180...


HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO

... as has Future Jack. When we first see Jack on the Island in this episode, he is explaining to Juliet (once again) about "the promise he made to those people" to get all of them off the Island. But as we know from the first moments of "There's No Place Like Home," he's the one coaching the rest of the O6 about sticking to their story. And from other flash-forwards, we know he doesn't want to go back to the Island until he is driven insane by drugs and Zombie Dad visions and the pain of maintaining that ghastly hillbilly beard. I am very, very, very intrigued by Jack's about-face. All I can figure at this point is that either 1) he truly thinks everyone on the Island is dead, and so he doesn't have any reason to want to return to "save" them, or 2) he's trying extra hard to convince himself that he did the right thing by leaving and lying about the situation.

But in the present time on the Island, he's hell-bent on finding the chopper, and so, despite Juliet's pleas for him to stay put, he runs off into the jungle with Kate. I couldn't help but wonder if Juliet's "Don't bleed to death, Jack!" would be the last words she would say to him. And I still maintain that something's got to go wrong with his surgery stitches.

Once in the depths of the jungle, Kate and Jack encounter Miles (who I really hope has a bigger role to play in the duration of the finale), followed by Sawyer and Aaron. I have to admit to getting choked up a THIRD time when poor Sawyer emerged from the trees... Man, did he look spooked! The look on his face was just heartbreaking. Luckily, a few moments later, he was vowing sarcastically not to let Jack "die alone."

I was happy to see the two frenemies working together again. They quickly freed Lapidus and then set off to save Hurley from certain doom. One of my favorite scenes of the night was Sawyer remarking, "Hugo's with Ben..." and then Jack, looking utterly defeated, sighing, "Son of a bitch."


NOW I DON'T KNOW...
I DON'T KNOW...
I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY'RE A-GONNA GO
WHEN THE C-4 BLOWS!

Sayid makes it back to the beach and learns that Jack and Sawyer have run after the evil freighties. Cue another "son of a bitch" moment, although Sayid is not one to voice his frustrations with such euphemisms. I was really hoping that Sayid would get a glimpse of Dead Doc Ray, but it was not to be (I really hope he sees him at some point in the rest of the finale, though). Instead, he and Kate take off in hot pursuit of the two Alpha Males, leaving Daniel in charge of ferrying people to the freighter.

Daniel, after having heard the freighties talking about the Orchid Station (courtesy of Frank's dropped phone), is desperate to get off of the Island, so he gladly takes on his new responsibility. I was really surprised by the fact that he was aware of the "secondary protocol"... I guess the helicopter team knew a little bit more about the mission than we originally thought. (Though the Plan B still revolved around finding Ben. I don't think they knew about "torching the Island.")

In Daniel's notebook, he had a page dedicated to the Orchid station, and there were a bunch of scribblings about "space like factors" on it. As we're all assuming (after learning about the "Casimir effect" in the Orchid station video), the Orchid is the location from which some sort of time-shifting, either of the Island, or of people on the Island (or both), can be enabled. How does Daniel know about it, though? Even if he had read the secondary protocol, his notebook seemed a little more in-depth... with pictures of light cones and equations and whatnot. Many are speculating that Daniel has actually been to the Island before.

Either way, Daniel has reason to believe that the Orchid Station can only mean bad news for everyone on the Island. Perhaps he knows that the Island is going to "move," so that's why he's so desperate to get away before being trapped there indefinitely.

The only problem is... after Daniel dropped the first load of people off on the freighter, he turned back before 1) refilling the gas tank and 2) learning that the ship was packed with enough C-4 to blow them all to smithereens. Seems like the freighter isn't the safest place to be, either. The C-4 is blocking transmissions, so Captain #2 can't move it. And I would bet that the device we saw strapped to Keamy will detonate the explosives on the ship if he should die. And now Michael (who tried in vain to explain himself to a suspicious Sun and Jin), Desmond and Jin are faced with the problem of disarming the C-4 (if that's even possible... I'm not MacGyver, so I have no idea. I doubt they do, either. Where is Sayid when you need him? Oh yeah...)


I KEEP REMEMBERING ME
I KEEP REMEMBERING YOU
DÉJÀ VÛ

Kate and Sayid don't make it very far into the jungle when Kate realizes that the set of tracks she's following are NOT Jack and Sawyer's. (Is it just me, or has the "doubling-back set of tracks" thing tricked Kate at least 3 other times?) Before they can say "bushy eyebrows," Ageless Richard appeared and was like, "Yo, drop the guns." It was totally hilarious when Sayid and Kate were trying to threaten him, and then lo and behold, about ten bazillion triggers are cocked from behind the surrounding trees. All hail the return of the Circle Of Others! It made me miss poor Zeke. And Sayid's look when he let his gun dangle off of his finger? Priceless. I knew that when the Others finally chose to reappear it would be cool, and it was. They're still rockin' the pirate hillbilly frocks and I would bet good money that they're all barefoot again.

But I think that this time, they have no ill will for their captives. In fact, I think it's going to be a big ol' Lostaways/Others Loveapalooza as they all team up together to save the Island from the freighties.



I'M STARTING WITH THE MAN IN THE MIRROR
I'M ASKING HIM TO CHANGE HIS WAYS

Truth be told, by the time we finally saw Ben, Hurley and Locke trudging along in the jungle, I had completely forgotten about them. But my man's gots ta move the Island! As usual, Ben was being completely unforthcoming about how they would go about doing so. All he would reveal was that moving the Island was dangerous and a "measure of last resort." Hurley also brought up the point that I had been thinking... wouldn't the bad guys still move with them? But Ben assured his fellow questmates that he had everything under control.

After walking past a group of rocks, Ben back-tracked and moved them to reveal a hidden box containing some various items... most importantly, a mirror that was used to signal up to the top of a mountain (did anyone find it suspicious that Ben passed the spot at first? I did.) I initially thought Ben was communicating with Jacob, but then when Richard & Co. appeared in another scene, I realized that Ben must have been signaling them. The most likely scenario is that the Others were on their way to help Ben out at the Orchid when they came upon Kate and Sayid, who were in turn trying to catch up with Jack and Sawyer, who were in turn trying to find Hurley.

What struck me about Ben's mirror-flashing, however, is that he was really snotty to Locke when asked about what exactly he was communicating. "That's none of your business, John," he snapped. If I were Locke, I would've plopped down in the grass right then and there and refused to move until Ben expounded (though whatever he said would've probably been a lie, anyway).

Instead, the group reached the Orchid and found Keamy's crew already there. Ben told Locke how to get inside the station, and then literally "passed the baton" to him. You know, that strange black baton that everyone had been assuming was an ASP baton. I still think that's what it is, but it was kind of weird that Ben gave it to Locke before marching off to certain capture. Will Locke need to use it somehow? And why did they specifically show Ben with it in both Tunisia and London? And... most importantly, is this the same device, lying near Jack in the PILOT episode? (Some people think it is, some people think it's too big, some people think it's dark bamboo. I agree that the producers probably weren't thinking that far ahead when they filmed the pilot, but it does look awfully suspicious...)


HOW'S IT GONNA BE?

The episode came to an end with another slo-mo montage that didn't bring me tears, but did bring me chills. How in the world are the O6 going to be brought together again? I'm starting a new theory: A disembodied hand comes out of the sky and plucks them from their current positions and deposits them all in some as-of-yet-unknown location, where they will be briefed on their cover story before being turned over to the Coast Guard. There you have it: The Disembodied Hand Theory.

I kid, I kid... but seriously, wouldn't that be awesome? Just a big huge fist appearing out of nowhere and grabbing Sayid? I love it.

Somehow, some way, Kate and Sayid are going to leave the Others (and Kate will talk to Sawyer once more in order to get instructions for the "future favor"), Jack is going to leave Sawyer, Hurley is going to leave Ben and Locke (has the thing Hurley regrets about going with Locke happened already or not?), and Sun and Aaron are going to leave the freighter. And Ben is going to escape from Keamy... for now.



While we knew (and still know) a lot of what will happen to our beloved Lostaways from the myriad of flash-forwards this season and from last season's finale, I think that knowledge surprisingly served to heighten the tension for me in this first hour of "There's No Place Like Home." While I agree that much of what we saw was a set-up for the real drama in the remaining two hours, this episode really felt like "old-school Lost" to me, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I hope that the rest of "There's No Place Like Home" keeps the same pace and the same mix of action and emotion that was served up in its first hour. And you can bet I'll be crying at the end of it all... if for no other reason than the fact that we'll have EIGHT MONTHS to wait before the show returns.



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

(Jack and Kate draw their guns and spread out)
(Miles emerges from the forest)
MILES: Hey, long time no see.
(Aaron crying)
(Sawyer & Aaron emerge from the forest)
SAWYER: Hey, who are you talkin' to up there, Genghis?



(Jack storms off into the jungle.)
SAWYER: Hold up! You don't get to die alone.

HURLEY: Well, if you could move the island whenever you wanted, why didn't you just move it before the psychos with guns got here?
BEN: Because doing it is both dangerous and unpredictable. It's a measure of last resort.
HURLEY: Awesome.

(Locke opens the box and tosses a package to Hurley. Hurley opens it up and and proceeds to begin eating the saltine crackers inside.)
BEN: May I have that mirror, please?
(Locke hands him the mirror.)
BEN: (To Hurley) You know, those are 15 years old.

HURLEY (raises statue as if to strike): Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? (opens door)
ALL: Surprise! Happy birthday!
HURLEY'S MOM: Hugo, what are you doing with that?
HURLEY: I don't know. I thought there might be a prowler or something.
HURLEY'S MOM: Jesus Christ is not a weapon.




SAWYER: Cut yourself shavin'?
JACK: Juliet took out my appendix a couple of days ago.
SAWYER: You kiddin' me?
JACK: Nope.



LAPIDUS: --and I could fly you outta here. So why don't you do me a favor and get that back compartment? There's a toolbox. See if you can find something to get me outta these things.
JACK: You heard the man.
SAWYER: Well, alright. Can I get you boys a nice, cold glass of lemonade while I'm back there?



LOCKE: OK, I'm sorry, Ben, but maybe I missed the part where you explained what I'm supposed to do about the armed men inside.
BEN: I'm gonna take care of them.
LOCKE: And how the hell are you gonna do that?
BEN: How many times do I have to tell you, John? I always have a plan.





A FEW NOTES FROM e

- Unbelievably, I will be traveling again on May 29th. Luckily, this time I will remain in the U.S. and have arranged my flight so that I should have plenty of time to watch the rest of the season finale from the comfort of my hotel room. That being said, however, I will not be able to start my write-up until the following week, so my next post will not be up until a few days afterward... I would hope by Friday, June 6, at the latest.

- I will mention this again in my final post of the season, but for those of you on Facebook who would like to keep in touch over the eight-month hiatus, you can add me as a friend here. Please write a few words with the add request so that I know you read the blog and don't think you're a random stalker...

- Below is my recap of the last Season Four podcast with Lost producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. I took out their silly banter and anything that I thought might be spoilerish, but the very last question they cover is quite significant. I don't think it's a spoiler because the idea they discuss has been covered in my recaps before, but they basically confirm one theory. So if you don't even want to know that, then don't keep reading... but do know that they are going to re-air the first hour of "There's Not Place Like Home" at 8 PM EST (with added footage) so that we can watch all three hours back-to-back.


(Have you read my disclaimer in the paragraph above?)

FINAL OFFICIAL PODCAST DEBRIEF

This podcast aired on the 19th, and they were still working on parts 2 and 3 of the finale and said they would finish it this weekend.

The first few questions they asked each other:

Q. Why did the Oceanic Six decide to lie?
A. Well, that's really the big question going into the finale, isn't it? Oh, and if you watch all three hours on May 29th, you will see an expanded press conference. We had so many questions for them... like "who were the other two survivors from the plane" that will be shown in the extended footage that we couldn't cram into it the first time around. At the end of the first hour of the finale, everyone is in such disparate locations across the Island and the freighter, it's hard to see how they will all come together again. It was really meant to be a three-hour viewing experience.


Q. It would appear that a huge bomb is in the freighter...
A. By the end of the finale we will know what it is for and who put it there.


Q. Then we have the Orchid... this place Ben is taking Locke to "move the Island"...
A. I'm curious to see what the Orchid looks like... there have been glimpses of it in the Orchid Station video that we showed at Comic-Con last year... so we may even see that Orientation video. That's like the longest-running set-up ever for a show... we knew the Orchid was going to feature prominently in the finale, so we played that video at Comic-Con all those months before the season began.

Then they moved on the fan questions:

- There was a LONG discussion about Star Wars and whether or not "bad guys" (like Stormtroopers) know they're bad or not. They said that Keamy IS bad.

Q. My question is about antipodes... points on the Earth that are directly opposite each other. Like Tunisia's antipode is in the South Pacific. Is transportation off of the Island therefore happening through antipodal means through the center of the Earth? If so, would this explain how Yemi's drug plane from Nigeria ended up on the Island... through the antipode in Tunisia?
A. I would say that the antipode theory is very intriguing, but conclusions drawn from it might not be entirely correct.


Q. What's up with Walt? Will we ever learn more about why he is so "special?"
A. We will probably be seeing Walt again. And he is special.


Q. Is it safe to say now that Abaddon is working for Dharma, or an umbrella corporation that's part of Dharma, and that he's perhaps AGAINST Widmore?
A. You are meant to ponder who Abaddon really works for. But we can't say more about that right now.


Q. I've noticed that you guys tend to write more of the major episodes. Are there certain episodes that get more praise than others? Are there characters that you each identify with most?
A. As far as the writing goes, except for the premieres and the finales, which we usually write, we don't usually know who is going to write what. The Season 1 and 3 finales, and "The Constant," are our favorite writing experiences. Carlton also liked this year's finale (Damon, apparently, didn't as much. He just said, "Yeah, it's cool.") Carlton's favorite character is Sawyer. "He's all the things I'm not in real life." Damon's is Jack. "At the end of the day, Jack is driving everything that is happening on the Island. He is the one responsible for getting them off the Island. His approval rating is low right now, but being a leader is tough."

(This is the question where they confirm a theory)
Q. We saw in Michael's flashback that Tom told him that the Island won't let him die because he "still has work to do." Is the Island doing the same thing with Jack--is that why he didn't jump off the bridge? And is that also what's happening with Ben and Widmore--the Island won't let them die?
A. Well, well, well, well. You saved the best for last. That's exactly right. This is one of those things that we started setting up in the show a while ago. When Jack tried to jump off of the bridge, there was a cosmic intervention of fate that wouldn't allow him to, in the form of the car crash. With Ben and Widmore's scene, we know that there are obviously some sort of rules, but what those rules are and how they were explained to them is yet to be revealed. But they know that until the Island is done with them, they cannot be killed.



At the end, the producers had these final comments: We will be back at Comic-Con in July... and we will do a few more podcasts before the show comes back in January. But we'll be in radio silence for quite a while now... thank you for all of your support this season and for being crazy enough to watch this show. We also appreciate your patience and perseverance during the strike and the hiatus. And we hope you enjoy the finale... we are very proud of it.


Until next time,
- e

Hola! Debrief of the Latest Official Audio Podcast

Hello my dear friends -

Greetings from Mexico! I am very bummed right now because I just tried to watch "There's No Place Like Home" on ABC.com, and got the error message: "Only viewers in the United States can watch these full-length episodes." D'oh! Oh well, I tried. Looks like I'll be watching it on Sunday upon my return. I won't be moderating any comments left for me until then, just in case they are referencing something from the first hour of the finale.

I did get a chance to listen to the latest podcast, and then was annoyed when they announced that the producers were swamped cutting the final version of the finale, so instead of talking with them, the host was going to talk with the actress who plays Charlotte, Rebecca Mader.

The podcast was only seven minutes long, and truth be told, kind of lame, but I transcribed it below nonetheless. There are no spoilers in what they talked about.


Q. When you first auditioned for this role, Charlotte was supposed to be an American. How did that end up changing?
A. I think my accent knocked their socks off completely. I was the only English person auditioning for it, so I thought that even though the role was supposed to be for an American, I asked them if I could read for it both ways, I thought that would be how I could differentiate myself. I guess they liked it!


Q. How difficult is it to do an American accent?
A. It's very easy for me... I've been mimicking different accents ever since I was a young child, and can slip in and out of it instantly.


Q. How much of a fan of Lost were you before you got the part?
A. I hate to admit it, but I wasn't. I saw the pilot, but then I had been traveling and figured I would be able to catch up on DVDs eventually.


Q. How big of a fan did you become once you watched the DVDs?
I felt really silly because I got Seasons One and Two on DVD, before I even got the role, and Season Three wasn't out on DVD yet. Then I was calling all my friends who watch it and they said, "WE TOLD YOU!" I became a huge fan.

Q. How much do you know about Charlotte?
A. Not a lot.


Q. Can you tell us if we'll learn more over the season finale?
A. A little bit, but not a lot. Enough to be intriguing. I have a few good moments in the season finale.


Q. What has been the best part about being on the show so far?
A. I have a list! The writing is the best there is. I like not really knowing about my character, kind of winging it. The cast, the crew... I love not having to wear a lot of makeup and getting to roll around in the mud and not do my hair.


Q. How would you describe your character's relationship with Faraday?
A. I think it's quite sweet. As time goes on I think we'll see more, but right now it's the only time the audience gets to see a softer side of her. I have not been told about the exact nature of their relationship, though.


Q. You don't think she's manipulating him?
A. I don't know!


Q. What hidden talents do you have?
A. I'm very flexible... I can do the splits... I did it on set once and everyone was like "Who are you and why are you here?"



That's it! See what I mean... kind of lame. But anyway, the good news is that there WILL be one more podcast with the producers before the rest of the finale airs on May 29th. I am not sure exactly when they will air it, but I'll keep checking.

I hope those of you who watched the first hour of "There's No Place Like Home" enjoyed it... I can't wait to see it! Wish me luck on remaining unspoiled until then.

Remember that I will be posting my next write-up a little bit later than usual because of my trip. But since there is no episode this coming week on May 22nd, that helps!

Hasta la vista,
- e

S4Ep11 - This Isn't Just Any Fever, It's Cabin Fever

Hello my dear friends -

So was "Cabin Fever" really bizarre, or was it just the combination of Robitussin, Nasonex, Tylenol Cold & Cough, Hall's throat drops and Vicks VapoRub that affected my perception? Yes, I've been sick for the past week, but luckily my head is clear enough now to attempt to analyze all that happened in the latest Locke-centric Lost episode. Man, his flashbacks are always so depressing, aren't they?

Anyway, I'll take the Island events first, then the freighter action, and then the flashbacks. And I'm just warning you now, this post is extra-long. If you can't hang, don't even start reading!


'CAUSE IT'S ALL IN MY HEAD
I THINK ABOUT IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN
I REPLAY IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN
AND I CAN'T TAKE IT... I CAN'T SHAKE IT

From the previews last week, I thought that in Locke's search for Jacob, he was going to happen upon a village of undead Dharmites. But alas, his meeting with Horace was just a whacked-out dream. And a scary one at that, considering that I think Horace looks a lot like Carrot Top (it's all in the eyes and freaky eyebrows).

We learn that Horace was the one who originally built Jacob's cabin--only it wasn't for Jacob, it was a get-away of sorts for Horace and his wife, Olivia, to escape "the D.I." Locke realizes that he's seeing a moment in time played over and over again, with Horace continually chopping down the same tree. While some say that this was a play on the Greek myth about Sisyphus (who had to keep rolling a boulder up a hill as punishment from the gods), it immediately reminded me of that scene in The Matrix where Neo saw "a glitch in the code," evidenced by a cat repeating its actions.

The replay of Horace's tree-chopping could be a hint that the Lostaways are indeed caught in a time loop... and Lord knows there's already been a ton of evidence for that theory, so I won't go through it all again. Or, it could just mean nothing. Some things actually mean nothing in this show every once in a while!

Two other questions that have been asked about this scene are:

1) Was Horace's nose bleeding because he had experienced the conscience-traveling phenomenon as Desmond and Minkowski did? Or was it because he, too, was gassed in the Purge and was bleeding when he died? I think it's definitely the latter--when we saw Ben gas his own father in "The Man Behind the Curtain," Mr. Linus started bleeding from the nose. We also saw Horace's body on the ground in Othersville in that same episode, and obviously now his corpse was found in the skeleton pit with all the other Purge victims. I think this one is pretty clear cut.

2) Why did we even need this scene? I gotta tell you, it reeked of "filler" to me, and I hope one day I'm proven wrong. But right now it's just not making any sense... Ben, Locke and Hurley have all seen the cabin before and it seems like they could've just had the Three Musketeers walking around in the jungle and eventually running into Jacob's shack again without the dream sequence. Especially if this time Jacob wanted them to find the cabin so that Locke could get instructions for saving the Island. Therefore, I can only assume that it must be important for us to have learned that Horace built the cabin, and that he did so for his wife, Olivia (who was Ben's teacher in Dharma school). We did also learn that the Purge took place twelve years ago--but was knowing its exact date that important?

The ONLY other thing I can think of is that, since this episode was clearly meant to draw comparisons between Ben and Locke's lives, perhaps the dream with Horace (which lead Locke to Jacob's cabin) was meant to parallel Horace bringing Ben and his dad to the Island. I think that's a pretty weak reason for this scene, though. Any other ideas?

Wait! I just thought of one: maybe we needed to hear what Ben had to say at the skeleton pit, so they put in the Horace scene to get Ben, Hurley and Locke back over there. Which leads us to...


YOU MAY BE RIGHT
I MAY BE CRAZY
BUT IT JUST MAY BE A LUNATIC YOU'RE LOOKING FOR


HURLEY: Why am I here, man?
LOCKE: You're here because you can see the cabin, and that makes you special.
HURLEY: Well, I have a theory as to why we're the only ones who can see it.
LOCKE: I'd love to hear it.
HURLEY: I think we can see it 'cause we're the craziest.


LOVE IT! I think Hurley's onto something. It inspired ME to make a theory about everyone who writes and reads Lost sites and blogs: we're the craziest people on earth! How do you like them apples?

OK, knowing that we're all insane, let's get to the part of the Cabin Expedition that is more important:

HURLEY: Is that why you killed all these people, too?
BEN: I didn't kill them.
HURLEY: Well, if the Others didn't wipe out the DHARMA Initiative--
BEN: They did wipe them out, Hugo, but it wasn't my decision.
HURLEY: Then whose was it?
BEN: Their leader's.
HURLEY:But I thought you were their leader.
BEN: Not always.

So I re-read the transcript for "The Man Behind the Curtain," and recalled that Ben was only shown gassing his father in the Dharma van. When he returned to Othersville, everyone else from Dharma was dead--scattered across the lawn--including Horace. Ageless Richard and a few other people then emerged with gas masks. So Ben was obviously in on the attack, but didn't carry it out completely. And as he said to Hurley in this latest episode, it wasn't his decision to kill everyone... someone else made the call.

With the reappearance of Ageless Richard in "Cabin Fever," I can only assume that Richard was the leader of the Others... something that most of us had already figured, since clearly Ben grew up on the Island and wasn't leading "the hostiles" as a young boy. Richard wouldn't have liked the Dharma peeps invading his turf, so he wanted to get rid of them--all of that makes sense. But what doesn't make sense is why Richard would not only spare Ben, but also eventually turn over leadership of the group to him. Is it because he thought Ben was the next "chosen one" because he had observed Ben's special connection to the Island?

But then again, if Richard was the original leader of the Others and he doesn't age, why would they ever need a new leader? And let's not forget the even bigger question of "Who in the heck ARE Richard and his group and where did they come from? And why doesn't he age?" But more on Richard when we get to the flashbacks.


I LIKE TO MOVE IT, MOVE IT

The weary trio finally makes it to Jacob's cabin, but Locke is the only one who dares to enter. While Hurley and Benry share an Apollo bar in silence (classic scene), Locke finds not only Zombie Dad Christian Shephard (looking kind of schleppy instead of sharp in his usual suit), but also Claire (?!?) inside the creepy hut. Alas, Jacob is nowhere to be found, although Zombie Dad claims that he can speak on his behalf.

You gotta at least give Locke credit for trying to figure out what in the hell was going on. He was alarmed to see Claire and even more concerned about the whereabouts of Aaron (who is, apparently, "where he's supposed to be"). He tried to ask questions, but Zombie Dad cut him off and told him that the freighter baddies were already on their way back, so he better listen up. And then, apparently, he ordered Locke to move the Island. After warning him to not tell anyone that he saw Claire.

Since we didn't see all that transpired in the cabin, I can only assume that Locke was told HOW to move the Island. We'll find that out soon enough... but I would guess that if Locke doesn't know how to do it, Ben will.

My take is that Locke does not have to physically move the Island (although that would be kind of hilarious... could you see all the Lostaways with oars, rowing like crazy on the outer edges of the beach?), but rather move it somewhere else along the space-time continuum. Let's face it, folks, we've arrived at the Season Four finale and there are only 34 episodes left in the series. We've gotten way too many hints about time manipulation--most recently illustrated by Doc Ray's dueling alive/dead existences--to have them not lead to some major revelation. I think the revelation is right around the corner, and it has to do with one of the Island's many "powers": it can be moved to different points in time, thus making it nearly impossible to find, and very difficult to leave.

I've read one theory that states that the bodies of the inhabitants on the Island revert to whatever year the Island is currently in. So assuming that the Island is in the past, that's why Locke can walk again and Rose doesn't have cancer... because those things haven't happened by that particular year in their life yet. It would also partially explain why Doc Ray washes up with fresh stitching on his cheek when we already saw it healing on the freighter (but wouldn't explain why his throat was still cut). I personally think that this concept (while admittedly fascinating) would be way too hard to carry out across the rest of the characters and the series.

If people on the Island went back to the state they were in at an earlier point in time, why would Claire still be pregnant after the crash? Why wouldn't the Lostaways look significantly younger? And how could the constantly changing pace of time on the Island (remember that sometimes it moves slower than the freighter and other times moves faster (Daniel's experiment vs. the helicopter trip) work into this theory?

I think that when they end up explaining the time-warp that's clearly going on, it will be at a very high level... they'll find a way of making sense out of all of the obvious hints they've dropped, but they won't go much further than that. Because if they do, they're going to have millions of viewers simultaneously yelling, "Say WHAT?" at the screen. (OK, people will probably be doing that regardless, but what I'm saying is that they're not going to go down a path that is really, really, REALLY confusing. Only semi-confusing.)

Back to Zombie Dad and Claire... some people think that it's obvious Claire is dead. I'm not sure I would say that it's obvious--but something weird is definitely going on... especially because she was totally calm about being away from her bay-bee, and also seemed kind of evil.

And why oh why haven't we seen Jacob yet? IS there a Jacob? Let's not forget Locke's fight with Ben last season:

LOCKE: Hell Ben, if you don't wanna take me maybe someone else will. I'll just go and ask Richard...
BEN: Why would Richard take you? He doesn't know where Jacob is, he doesn't talk to Jacob...
LOCKE: Well who talks to him?
BEN: I do.
LOCKE: So you're the only one who talks to him!
BEN: That's right.
LOCKE: And no-one else knows where he is?
BEN: I was born here on this Island, I'm one of the last that was. Most of these people you see, I brought them here, so Jacob talks to me, John. He tells me what to do, trusts me.
LOCKE: And, no-one else has ever seen him?
BEN: That's right.
LOCKE: How convenient. You know what I think, Ben? I think there is no Jacob. I think your people are idiots if they believe you take orders from someone else. You are the man behind the curtain, the Wizard of Oz. And you're a liar.

Clearly there is some freaky spirit in that cabin because we saw it have a tantrum before. Does it just inhabit other bodies, like Christian's? Has Ageless Richard really never seen Jacob, as Ben claims? It's more than just a little strange.

Enough of this crazy Island! Let's review what happened on the even crazier freighter....


IF I STAY THERE WILL BE TROUBLE
AND IF I GO IT WILL BE DOUBLE

Keamy and crew arrive back from the Island (did anyone catch the split-second shot of that one guy's guts hanging out? It was disgusting!), mad as hell. Keamy done lost his mind, seriously. Captain Gault suggests that Keamy may even be suffering from the "heightened case of cabin fever" that he told Sayid and Desmond about back in "Ji Yeon."

But Keamy could care less... he's a man on a mission, and he's going to capture Ben at all costs. So he busts into the safe and takes a look at the "secondary protocol," which apparently details out where Ben will head in an emergency.

Most people noticed right away that this binder had a Dharma logo on it--thus definitively linking Widmore (the backer of the freighter mission) to Dharma for the first time. The logo also was the same one that was on the parka Ben wore in "The Shape of Things to Come" (click here to see for yourself). Some people don't think that the Dharma logo is proof that Widmore is involved in Dharma, but once again I point to the fact that they're trying to provide more answers now... I just don't think we need to be suspicious of every single clue any longer.

My guess is that Widmore thinks that Ben will run to the Orchid Station in order to teleport away from the Island as a means of escape. (As I've mentioned before, we only know about the Orchid Station from the film shown last year at Comic-Con.) However, Ben told Alex that "the Temple" was the only safe place. So where will Ben go, if he does indeed run off and leave everyone else to die?

Because of Ben's still-beat-up appearance in the present time on the Island, and the fact that we know he visits Sayid in Iraq about ten months into the future (and looks much healthier at that point), I don't think he's going to the Orchid any time soon. I still don't think that the Orchid enables people to time travel, either. We'll see if I'm wrong. But when war comes to the Island in the finale, I'm guessing that Ben will seek refuge among the rest of his people at the Temple. The question is, will they even try to protect him anymore?

In other freighter news... once Keamy took a read through Plan B, he got fitted with some strange device that one can only assume will trigger an explosion if his heart stops beating. The question is, will it trigger an on-Island explosion, or will it perhaps cause the freighter to go up in flames so no one can ever leave?

Now that Desmond stayed behind, we've got to keep worrying about the freighter, too (at least Michael can't be killed, so he'll be fine). Sayid, however, busted out on a zodiac, convinced that he needed to bring all of the other Lostaways back to the freighter. At least we know that he gets reunited with the rest of the O6... but what does that mean for Desmond's fate? And how did Doc Ray's dead body wash up on the shore before Sayid arrived? D'AH!!! My brain hurts.

In the final freighter scene, we witnessed the receiving end of the Morse code transmission, and then watch how Doc Ray meets his untimely end. Poor Frank thinks he has no choice but to head back to the Island once again, but this time, he has a plan to help out the 815ers. He frees Michael (will Michael and Des now work together?), and then grabs another phone to... drop down to the beach camp.

I didn't say it was a very good plan, I just said he had a plan.

Oh, that's right, I almost forgot that we did see The Mad Doctor oh-so-briefly this episode. How many of you think that he is going to burst open his stitches and that's why he'll be one of the O6? I do... they totally foreshadowed it when Juliet warned Jack about not walking around so soon after his surgery. Now he plans to go chase down the helicopter peeps? Not wise.

I seriously cannot wait to see how the O6 come to be the ones that leave. It is driving me nuts!

And now, on to the meat of the episode--Locke's flashbacks.


WENT THE DISTANCE, NOW I'M BACK ON MY FEET
JUST A MAN AND HIS WILL TO SURVIVE

Locke would totally win Survivor (even against Ozzy). The man cannot be killed! OK, so the Island's most likely been protecting him his whole life, so I guess that would be an unfair advantage.

As if what we already knew about Locke's pre-crash existence wasn't sad enough, we learn in "Cabin Fever" that he was born three months premature and was deemed a "miracle baby" after fighting off pneumonia and various infections--in the 1950s, no less!

That was apparently enough to arouse the interest of Ageless Richard, who was on the scene at the hospital, peering in at little incubated Locke. Didn't expect that one! But how could he have possibly heard about Locke? I'm beginning to think there was some sort of Island Prophecy that deemed the next leader to be born prematurely of a woman named Emily. So Richard went around seeking out anyone who fit the bill, and came across both Locke and Ben (remember, Ben's mother, also named Emily, went into labor unexpectedly in the Oregon forest).

Or was Richard behind Lil' Locke arriving early? After all, his mother was suspiciously hit by a car... and A LOT of people have been hit by moving vehicles on this show!?! Michael, Locke, Kate (while driving), Juliet's ex-husband, and now Locke's birth mother. Look both ways, people!

I've seen much speculation on the boards about Ben and Locke being brothers. I don't think that's the case. We saw Ben's mother, Emily, die... and we saw Locke's birth mother in "Deus Ex Machina" (they casted well--compare young and old Emily Locke here)... years after Emily Linus' death. Locke tracked down his birth father, Anthony Cooper, after meeting with his mother in DEM. And we know Cooper was Locke's father because that's why he sought Locke out for his kidney. (I mention all of this because there's another theory that Richard is Locke's dad). Therefore, I think the fact that both Ben and Locke's mothers were named Emily was just to get our minds cranking on the similarities between the two... as was Locke's line to Ben: "I'm not you."


EVERYTHING ZEN
EVERYTHING ZEN...
I DON'T THINK SO.

The next time we see Lil' Locke, he's about five or six years old and in foster care. Ageless Richard stops by, under the guise of testing Locke for a "special school." He takes note of Locke's Smokey drawing on the wall (which was awesome) and then begins the test. By the way, a lot of people wonder if Locke is time-traveling in his mind (he was, after all, in the Hatch when the key was turned, so he definitely was radiated) and drew the picture of Smokey because he knows he gets wrangled by the monster in the future. They point to his bloody nose in his high school locker as proof (although upon close inspection of that screencap you can see that his lip was bruised and bleeding, too).

I don't think Locke is time-traveling--who would his constant be? Although I will admit to this theory being plausible... Locke has said several suspicious things like "You're not supposed to do this" (to Jack) and always knew when it was going to rain on the Island and whatnot. But that could also be because of a time loop OR just his "oneness" with the Island.

Back to Richard visiting him in foster care... Locke was instructed to pick what object belongs to him "already" out of a baseball mitt, The Book of Laws, a vial of a sand-like substance, a comic book, a compass and a knife. I totally knew that he was going to pick the knife--duh, it's Locke! What I was surprised at, however, was that Richard got all mad about Locke's selection and stormed off, deeming the youngster "not ready."

What was he supposed to have picked? I mean, we all know that Locke does come to be a Knife-Wielder Extraordinaire. So it's not like he guessed incorrectly. Unless, that is, Richard was hoping for another outcome... an outcome where Lil' Locke picked another item--say, the vial of sand--that would signal that he was the true leader of the Island and would end up fighting on its behalf until the bitter end. By choosing the knife, Locke showed that he wanted to be something no one ever thought he could be--a warrior--and that he might end up acting selfishly when the chips were down.

If that's the case, though, then why did Richard try to get a hold of Locke once again about ten years later? I'll get to that in a second, but I did want to mention that the process Richard went through with Locke is not unlike what happens when a new Dalai Lama is chosen. The current Dalai Lama was three years old when he claimed a rosary and a bell that belonged to the previous Dalai as his own.

Can we infer from this that Richard was looking for a successor? Or perhaps a reincarnation of... Jacob (assuming Jacob even exists)?

Since this post is already mega-long, I'm not going to go through all of the other six items one by one, but some good information on the comic book is here, and a very interesting discussion thread on The Book of Laws (which is NOT the same thing as The Book of Law, which Eko referenced in Season Two), can be found here.


TELL EVERYBODY
WAITIN' FOR SUPERMAN
THAT THEY SHOULD TRY TO
HOLD ON BEST THEY CAN

Next we see Teenage Locke, who had transformed into quite a nerd (you know he and Daniel would've been friends had they been the same age), even getting stuffed in his locker (a locker, by the way, that had a Geronimo Jackson poster and a picture of Sir Richard Burton in it).

One of his teachers tries to convince him to go to the Mittelos Science Camp that "Dr. Alpert" invited him to:

JOHN: I'm not a scientist! I like boxing and fishing and cars. I like sports!
TEACHER: I'm gonna tell you something--something I wish someone had told me at your age. You might not want to be that guy in the labs surrounded by test tubes and beakers, but that's who you are, John. You can't be the prom king. You can't be the quarterback. You can't be a superhero.
JOHN: Don't tell me what I can't do.

And to think we thought he got that line from the sympathetic orderly in "The Man from Tallahassee." Wrong! He's probably been saying it ever since he could speak! And with good reason, I guess.

While I was definitely intrigued by the fact that Ageless Richard had been tracking Locke since birth, I have to admit that I was even more interested to learn that Locke was once--gasp!--a Man of Science. And though, as I said earlier, I certainly don't deny that this episode was meant to make us consider the very similar paths that Locke and Ben's lives have taken, I also drew the conclusion that, at their core, Locke and Jack aren't that dissimilar, either. Let's not forget what Zombie Dad told his son when he was just a young boy: "You don't want to be a hero, you don't try and save everyone because when you fail. . . you just don't have what it takes." Although they're going about it in drastically different ways, it seems that Jack and Locke are still desperate to prove that they are indeed heroes. Jack wants to save the other Lostaways, while Locke wants to save the Island. Is it possible that at some point they'll learn to work together and get both things accomplished? Play nice, boys!


NO FIGHT LEFT
OR SO IT SEEMS
I AM A MAN WHOSE DREAMS
HAVE ALL DESERTED

In the final flashback of the night, we see Locke in physical therapy, post-eight-story-fall-out-of-a-window. I can't describe how sad those scenes make me, when Locke is all hopeless and helpless--they kill me.

This time, there's a new orderly with "Mr. Locke," and it's none other than Abaddon--the guy who sent Naomi and crew on their mission (and who visited Hurley in the institution post-crash to ask if "they" were still alive). Some people think that because Abaddon called Locke "Mr. Locke" (which is what Walt used to say), that Abaddon is actually Future Walt. Umm... but that would have to mean that Future Walt traveled WAY back in time to be an orderly after Locke's fall. And that Future Walt, as Abaddon, recruited Naomi and the other Freighter Four, at the same time that Taller Ghost Walt was motivating Locke to get out of the skeleton pit, and Current Day Walt was shunning his father back in the real world. Sorry, I know I'm on a lot of meds right now and all, but it's still too complicated--I don't buy it.

I think Abaddon is... Abaddon. We don't know much else about him just yet, but unlike other people who think Abaddon is a "bad guy"... I'm starting to think that he's a good guy. Maybe I just want him to be a good guy because his deep voice rocks and he has a cool way about him. But think about it... let's just assume for a moment that Widmore is "bad." And that the Island, Jacob and Richard are "good" (notice that I didn't mention Ben). We know that Abaddon was in charge of getting Naomi, Charlotte, Faraday, Miles and Frank on the freighter. But everything we've seen of those guys so far points to the fact that they're at least neutral, if not completely innocent in the whole Lostaways vs. Freighties battle. They're just pawns. And just because Daniel admitted that they were never going to rescue the 815ers doesn't mean they're bad. In light of everything else we know that happens in the future, it kind of seems like the 815ers should've stayed put, right?

Further, we have no proof that Abaddon has any connection to the people we know are evil: Keamy and his lot. Abaddon may have been trying to help the Lostaways in the sense of getting the poisonous gas disarmed (and we still don't know all that Miles may have been sent to do). Abaddon may be making Widmore think he works for him, when in reality he doesn't. Abaddon may instead be working on behalf of the Island. He tells Locke about his own walkabout (I demand to see that flashback!), and encourages Locke to go on one, too... and we all know how that turned out.

I think that Abaddon took over from Richard in trying to get Locke to the Island. They gave up on the more straight-forward attempts and are now trying to influence Locke in more subtle ways. All I know is this: even moreso than learning how the O6 got off the Island, I WANT TO SEE THE NEXT LOCKE/ABADDON MEETING!

One last comment about all of this... it's bugging me that Richard left in a huff when Lil' Locke picked the knife, but then tried to get him to science camp later... and then helped him out when on the Island. (Remember that it was Richard who gave Locke Sawyer's file to help him out with the "Kill Your Dad" mission from Ben.) Why the change of heart?

When Locke and Richard spoke on the Island, Richard came off as being frustrated with Ben. I can't help but wonder if Ben was once "the chosen one," but was rejected after becoming obsessed with the pregnancy issue. Now Locke is being put in the driver's seat, but as we all know, Ben's still around in the future and it definitely looks like he's still got a lot of power.

So is Locke being set up? Or is there room for both Ben and Locke in the Island's good graces? Or, has the experience of being rejected by the Others and the Island turned Ben to the dark side, and Sayid is unknowingly working for the bad guys? Meaning that BOTH Widmore and Ben are up to no good? I'm starting to lean this way. I just hope Locke really IS different from Benry... I think if they make Locke responsible for some Purge-like mass murder, even Locke-haters are going to be up in arms.



REVISITING "SOMETHING NICE BACK HOME"


For those of you who don't keep up with the comments for each post, I wanted to draw your attention to an especially interesting idea that came out of last week's write-up. I had pasted in the dialogue between the psychic and Claire, and after Claire questioned his insistence that she now give her baby to a "couple of strangers in L.A." instead of raise it herself, the psychic replied, "They're not strangers, Claire. They're good people."

What if the psychic not only foresaw the crash (he did insist she go on Flight 815 specifically, remember), but also knew that Aaron would/should end up living with Kate and Jack (or someone else) afterward? The whole "they're not strangers" thing is kind of suspicious in hindsight... because the people who have Aaron in the future ARE in L.A. and are NOT strangers to Claire.

I swear to you, I know that they've had the series planned out for a long time and all, but if they planted that line back in Season One for all of us to freak out over once everything is said and done, well... that is just incredible. I don't know what else to say.

One last thing on the topic of that poor little boy, Aaron... when Christian and Claire told Locke that he's "where he's supposed to be"... he was with Sawyer in the jungle. Their words could be interpreted many ways:
1) He's supposed to remain with Sawyer on the Island.
2) He's supposed to remain with Sawyer OFF of the Island, and Sawyer was supposed to leave and end up raising him with Kate, but for some reason didn't.
3) He's supposed to be with Sawyer in order for Sawyer to go back to the beach and hand him over to Kate.

Since we know that Future Hurley and Dead Charlie told Jack that he was "not supposed to raise him," and since we know that Future Hurley and Future Jack will both try to get back to the Island, what are we to make of Aaron remaining with Kate? From what we've seen, Kate isn't feeling any guilt whatsoever for having Aaron, nor is she being haunted by visions urging her to return. I guess that's why "What's Up With Aaron?" is one of the biggest mysteries on the show.



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


HURLEY: We've been walking all day. Are we gonna get there soon?
LOCKE: How long?
BEN: I don't know. I've been following him.
LOCKE: What? What do you mean, you've been following him?
HURLEY: I'm not even in front.
BEN: I have no idea where the cabin is. Hugo's the last one who saw it.
HURLEY: Oh, this is just awesome.



LOCKE: And what are you doing out here?
HORACE: Oh, building a place--a little getaway for me and the missus. No, I mean, sometimes you need a break from the D.I.




LOCKE (trying to wake Hurley): Hugo.
HURLEY: (Still asleep...muttering) Mallomars...




HURLEY (handing Locke a water bottle): Here you go. Drink up, dude. Digging through dead bodies takes it out of you.




LOCKE: I'm sorry those things happened to you, Ben.
BEN: Those things had to happen to me. That was my destiny. But you'll understand soon enough that there are consequences to being chosen... because, destiny, John, is a fickle bitch.




OFFICIAL AUDIO PODCAST DEBRIEF

There will be only more audio podcast with Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof before the season is over, and it will air some time this week. I will do a separate post on it, so check back here in a few days if you're interested in learning what they covered.

The one I am summarizing below is from May 7th, and there were also two new video podcasts uploaded on ABC.com from that week--one with a set designer/sculptor and one with Benry and Widmore (or rather, the actors who play them) behind the scenes of their pivotal London exchange.

In the latest audio podcast, the producers had their mothers on in honor of Mother's Day. The moms talked about the fact that Jack no longer had chest hair in the future (Darlton themselves didn't comment on that topic)... but the vast majority of the podcast was utterly ridiculous--kind of funny, but ridiculous. Remember, stop reading now if you don't want to know what will be covered in the next few episodes. They don't dole out spoilers per se, but they do broadly address a few things that will will not happen in the finale.

After nearly thirteen minutes of goofing around--each mom got to ask one question to the producer who wasn't her own son.

Q. Who is in the casket?
A. We will answer that question in the season finale.


Q. Is Locke the next chosen disciple for the Island?
A. That question will be strongly addressed in "Cabin Fever." [e: I think we can now say that their answer means "Yes."] In that episode, we delve into Buddhism, and researched how the next Dalai Lama is found.

Then the moms left and they answered a few fan-submitted questions.

Q. Now that Cane has been canceled, will we see Richard (actor Nestor Carbonell) again?
A. Yes, you will see him.

Q. In "The Shape of Things to Come," Widmore claims that the Island was once his and that Ben stole it from him. Does that mean that Widmore has been on the Island before?
A. If he says "it's my Island," that's a pretty bold claim to make if he's never been there before...


Q. Does Aaron only have four toes?
A. No.


Q. Will we ever learn who was behind the air-drops and why they had Dharma logos on them?
A. Next year we will be dealing more significantly with Dharma-related things. But not over the rest of Season Four.


Q. Is there still hope for "Jacket" (Jack + Juliet)?
A. There is a romantic quadrangle of which Juliet is a member, and we like to mix and match on the show. I would like to see Juliet and Miles together just so we have a "Jiles."


Q. Was the first person who got shot when Keamy's group attacked the barracks Steve?
A. No, it wasn't Steve. The first guy was Doug. The guy who ran out behind him with firewood was Steve.

Q. Claire better not ever die.
A. This seems more like a threat, than a question. Claire is a wonderful character, and I don't think you should worry too much about her. [e: Hmmm, does that mean she's not Zombie Claire?]

Good God, I think I recovered from "the sickness" and then got ill again, all in the span of writing this post.

I WILL BE OUT OF THE COUNTRY for this week's episode, the first hour of the finale entitled "There's No Place Like Home," so my next post will be a few days later than it usually is. But it shouldn't matter since the rest of the finale is not airing until May 29th.

Until next time (and remember to check back in a few days for the next podcast debrief--if they post it before Wednesday night, I will cover it in a quick post and upload it before I leave),
- e