S2Ep18 - Dave (Hurley's third flashback) - 04/05/06

Hello my dear friends,

Unlike most people on the boards, I was not a huge fan of 'Dave,'... mostly because I saw the A Beautiful Mind/The Sixth Sense-like "twist" coming from a mile away after watching the previews. Additionally, so much of what this episode was about (Is the entire show all in Hurley's head? Was Libby also in the psych ward with Hurley?) had been theorized before on the boards... I honestly felt like the writers decided to just take the ideas on the boards and make an episode out of them and then go have a beer and toast the fact that they just saved themselves a ton of effort.

However, I by no means thought it was a bad show - it just didn't really do anything for me. There were still a lot of little things I caught, though, so here we go:


R.I.P. RANCH DRESSING (yet again)

Seriously, what does this show have against Ranch? It is good on nearly EVERYTHING, and I'm a fairly picky eater! Earlier this season, Michael blew a container of Ranch up during shooting practice, and now Hurley wastes all of his for no apparent reason. I'm pissed! End of rant.

Back to the bigger issue... So after Libby convinces Hurley TO DESTROY his jungle pantry o' goodies (complete with shelves(!?!?) as my friend AW noted, see pic to the left), they find that a huge pallet of food has been dropped - a cruel test of willpower for poor Hurley. Before talking more about the food drop, I first have to say that I was tres annoyed by Libby telling Hurley to just pour Ranch dressing all over the place and scatter all sorts of other perfectly good stuff all over the ground. I mean, how selfish is that? Last I checked there was a new mom on the island as well as countless other pour souls still living off of boar, mangoes and whatever other scraps the Power Duo in the hatch decides to dole out. But noooooo, Libby felt that it was more important to get Hurley over his food addiction than to feed much-deserving plane crash survivors, so to hell with the other peeps!

Moving on... TPTB had Charlie say out loud what the overriding theory on the boards is regarding the food drop (mentioned in last week's write-up):

CHARLIE: Locke said some kind of blast doors trapped him in the hatch. Maybe it was because of this -- so no one would see who dropped it. Any of you guys see a plane last night?

And then of course I have to include Sawyer's follow-up response - not only because it includes another great nickname (especially since I had "De Plane, De Plane!" as a section title last week), but also because it mocks that fact that the Lostaways don't tell each other important information:

SAWYER: Yeah, I saw it, Tattoo. I just decided not to tell.


Back to the food drop... if it happens on some pre-determined schedule, then perhaps it is around every 60 or so days. The Lostaways have been on the island about that long at this point, and I think had it been dropped at any other point in time during their stay, they would've found it. So I think the last food supply restocking happened on Desmond's watch, and this was the next one since that point in time. But once again, I really have no clue, so if anyone has any other theories, let me know.


SPEAKING OF DESMOND...

This was the third episode in a row that repeated a previous Desmond one-liner:

"You're running like the devil is chasing you" - Locke to Ana Lucia
"Are you him?" - Helen to Locke's dad
"See you in another life!" - Dave to Hurley (although he didn't attempt to swing the signature Desmond "brotha!" at the end)

I don't know if they are doing this to just drive us all crazy (they're succeeding), or if it's leading somewhere. I certainly hope we get to welcome the Return of Desmond before the season is over.



I SEE CRAZY PEOPLE

So one long-standing question has been answered:

Q: "What put Hurley in the mental institution in the first place?"
A: "He stepped onto an already overloaded deck (the 23rd person on a deck that was only supposed to hold 8 - the numbers again, of course), and it collapsed and killed some people. He went catatonic afterward and his mother had him checked in.

Speculative questions have arisen now that we know the details of the accident:
1) Was Locke perhaps on that same deck and was paralyzed during its collapse?
2) Were one or both of the people that were killed in the accident related to anyone else on the island?

But by far, the biggest questions of the night were: Is Dave real? Is the entire show all in Hurley's head? In my mind, I think it's safe to answer an unequivocal "no" on both counts. Of course the writers wanted to make everyone doubt what is going on, and they did a good job tricking fans into second-guessing the reality of the island. And people are NOT all on the same page on this topic on the boards. The two biggest reasons why people thing Dave IS real are:

#1: How did Hurley get hit with the ball, have the slipper, get slapped, etc., if Dave isn't real?

#2: How can you explain the difference between the real-life pose and the photo Dr. Brooks took? - The producers know how people examine things... this definitely leaves a lot to be explained (although many have said that the difference in both the film quality and the angle of the real-life pose vs. that of the polaroid is enough to explain the subtle discrepancies).

However, I think those two points pale in comparison to the hard fact that if the show WAS all in Hurley's head, then they just explained the whole thing and need to start wrapping up production right quick. And since 1) they have planned the series to span 5-7 seasons and 2) the writers have SAID it is "not a dream, because WE would be disappointed if we were fans and that was the explanation," ... I'm pretty sure we haven't been watching the manifestations of Hurley's comatose mind this entire time.

But boy, did the writers include a ton of shout-outs to the boards and the fan base at large... having Dave bring up well-known questions such as:
1) Why do the numbers keep appearing everywhere?
2) Why isn't Hurley losing any weight?
3) Would Libby really be interested in Hurley?

On that last topic - so Hurley finally gets some lovin'. But then the "big reveal" at the end made sure we weren't too excited for Hurley for very long. More on that shortly.

Two other things to note from the Hurley scenes:
1) How awesome was it that Jin just stood there laughing when Hurley was pounding the crap out of Sawyer? That was one of my favorite parts.

2) Much-debated on the boards: What does Dave say when the Polaroid is snapped? Hurley clearly says "Cheese," the transcripts (which, remember, are just some random guy transcribing what he hears) say that Dave said "Awesome," but when I rewound it several times, I couldn't make it out, though it did sound oddly like "Hansoooooooooo." Though of course I already had that in my head from the boards. We'll probably never know.




EKO... IS... STILL... BUILDING... WHAT, EXACTLY?

Your guess is as good as mine.





TO BE HENRY, OR NOT TO BE HENRY

LOCKE: What's your name -- your real name?
GALE: Why don't you just keep calling me Henry? I've gotten used to it.

OK, then, I will keep calling him Henry.

So when we first see Henry in this episode, he's in a crucifixion-like pose, being interrogated once again by Sayid. This scene was the best part of the episode for me, and it was filled with the most clues, so here is the transcript [after Sayid reads from the RealHenry's dollar bill, which proves that he was not dead upon impact, as Henry previously said]:

GALE [panicky]: It wasn't me. I didn't kill him. You don't understand.
SAYID: How did you know his wife's name? Did you interrogate him?
GALE: Please, just listen. I'm just a --
SAYID: How many of you are there?
GALE: If I told you about them -- you have no idea what he'll do.
SAYID: He?
ANA: You mean their leader -- the guy with the beard.
GALE: Him? He's no one. Nothing.
SAYID: Where are your people?
GALE: I can't...
SAYID: How many of you are there?!
GALE: You don't understand.
SAYID [pulling a gun]: Understand this --
ANA: Hey.
SAYID: You have 3 seconds to answer my question. How many of you are there? 1 --
GALE: He'll kill me!
SAYID: I'll kill you. [he pushes the slide back on the gun] 2...
ANA: Sayid!
GALE: You can't do this! I am not a bad person!


Here are the three important things from that scene:

1) The mention of He/Him again.
In 'Maternity Leave,' we heard Zeke and Ethan worrying about what "He" would do after finding out that Ethan brought Claire to the Medical Hatch without first making the list. Now Henry is talking about the same person/being - so scared that he was not even going to give up any information when Sayid started to pull the trigger.
Theories remain:
a) Henry is Him, the leader of the Others, and is just a damn good liar and actor with a lot of confidence that he won't end up getting killed by the Lostaways
b) Alvar Hanso (financier of the Dharma Initiative) or Gerald DeGroot (U of M hippie scientist guy from the video) is Him
c) Cerberus/Smoke Monster is Him
d) Someone we haven't seen yet is Him

Right now, I'm leaning toward A. Especially after the previews (more on that below). But when he said above, "If I tell you about 'them'"... that casts a little doubt on choice A to me. He's not necessarily speaking as if he's "one of them." But then again, he's a smart, tricky little bastard, now, isn't he?

2) Henry stated that Zeke was "no one, nothing." Which leads me to think:
a) Either there's a little Jack/Locke-ish competition going on between Henry and Zeke, or
b) Zeke literally is just the resident Island Hillbilly, who has a penchant for making threatening speeches but is otherwise harmless and useless, or
c) Zeke is on par with Henry in the pecking order of The Others and Henry was insulted that the Lostaways could mistake Zeke for Him., whoever He is

I also wonder, was Desmond an Other? I really don't think so, but since he did ask Locke, "Are you him?" when Locke first entered the Hatch, I have to consider this a possibility. I still think he was hoping Locke was his replacement for button duty.

3) "You can't do this! I am not a bad person!!!"
Perhaps Henry is not Him, then. Why would someone shout this in disbelief when they think they're about to get shot? If Henry was just an Others minion, he probably had been brainwashed into thinking, similar to Ethan and Goodwin, that what they were doing on the island was "the right thing to do" and that they were saving "the good people." For a "bad person" like Sayid to triumph by killing Henry would turn that world on its head, hence the reaction from Henry. I don't know what else to make of it.


HDTV TO THE RESCUE

Shout-out to my boy Humpy for bringing us yet another key clue... check out this screen capture of RealHenry's balloon from Lockdown.

Coincidence? I think not. Widmore Labs strikes again [they were also the maker of Sun's pregnancy test... for those of you who can't keep up anymore].


THEY DO TALK TO EACH OTHER!

A fairly small point... but Ana Lucia never had any encounters with Hillbilly Zeke, yet she mentioned "the guy with the beard" to Henry, insinuating that she thought Zeke was the Others' leader. Therefore, I'm assuming she only would know about him if someone else actually - gasp! - shared information with her.



BITTER, PARTY OF ONE, YOUR TABLE IS READY

Although I don't think it was meant to be funny, my friends and I couldn't help but laugh at poor Locke going nuts, stuck in the bunk bed while the gun went off in the ammo room:

[Ana pushes Sayid just as he pulls the trigger so that he misses Gale.]
ANA: What the hell's wrong with you?
LOCKE [from the bunk bed]: What's going on? I heard a gun shot.
JACK [entering the armory]: What happened?
SAYID: He's a liar!
ANA [to Jack]: It's fine, just get him out of here.
[Sayid and Jack exit the armory.]
LOCKE: Jack! Jack!
JACK [looking in at Locke] I've got it covered, John.
[Locke hits the top bunk in frustration.]


Jack also had to break the bad news to Locke that he wasn't going to be able to walk normally for weeks. And then finally, our favorite Hatch Prisoner drops the bomb on Locke that he never even entered in the numbers or pressed the button - and went as far as calling the Hatch "a joke."

The most interesting part of the episode to me was this exchange:

LOCKE: Did you get caught on purpose? You and your people have been here for God knows how long, and you got caught in a net...
GALE: God doesn't know.
LOCKE: Excuse me?
GALE: God doesn't know how long we've been here, John. He can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can. May I ask you a question? What possible reason could I have for putting myself through all this?

What exactly was THAT supposed to have meant: God can't see the island any better than anyone else can? Hmmmmm.




I SEE MORE CRAZY PEOPLE

It had been theorized early on that Libby was most likely not telling the whole truth about her background, because she told Hurley mid-season that he stepped on her foot when he boarded the plane, and that could not have been possible as he was in the middle section and she was in the back. But what about her claims that she was a psychiatrist? Not necessarily untrue... she did do a few things previously that indicate some sort of medical background... setting that one guy's leg (though he did end up dying of an infection), hypnotizing Claire, and most recently, succeeding in literally talking Hurley off of the ledge. However, we now have PROOF that all was not always well with Libby, as the episode ended with her staring blankly into space, peering out from darker hair in a corner of the same psych ward Hurley called home for a bit. Theories range from: she was in there after Hurley killed someone in her family in the deck accident, to: she was never a psychiatrist but studied them enough as a patient that she's convinced herself she was one, to: she has been stalking Hurley ever since the psych ward and actually followed him to Australia and booked the same Oceanic flight back that he did [we still have not seen her official flashback yet, so this is possible].

Regardless, the chick is hiding something.
What's up with all the women on this show looking dismayed and fretful and guilty every time the men turn away?








BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


SAWYER: Hold on, take it easy. You guys are like locusts. How about a little order here?
CHARLIE: Shouldn't we let someone a little more trustworthy take care of this?
SAWYER: Like you, babynapper?
CHARLIE: No, like Hurley. Why not Hurley? He's done it before, he can do it again.
HURLEY: No. No way! Not me, no. Not again, no.
LIBBY: Okay, hey, hey, how about no one's in charge, okay? I'm sure everyone can manage to just take what they need.
SAWYER: Great plan, Moonbeam. And after that we can sing Kumbaya and do 'trust falls.'



SAWYER: Well, that's what I get for not going to the expert in the first place. What can I do you for, Deep-dish?
HURLEY: I'm kind of looking for something.
SAWYER: Forget it; I'm done trading. I got enough food now to open a chain of mini-marts. Hey, you think Sayid needs a job? [SO bad, even for Sawyer]



CHARLIE: Hey, I noticed you were building something. I thought maybe you could use this -- for whatever it is.
EKO: That's very thoughtful of you, Charlie. Why don't you help me?
CHARLIE: What are you making?
EKO: Hold that end. [referring to a log]
CHARLIE: Is it a Starbucks? [another shout-out to the boards]


KATE: Seriously though, why would Hurley of all people...?
SAWYER: I've got no idea. I didn't do nothing. He just Hulked-out on me.



HURLEY: Did either of you see a guy run through here -- in a bathrobe, with a coconut?
CHARLIE: No, I saw a polar bear on roller blades with a mango.
EKO: I did not see anything, Hurley.




UPCOMING EPISODES

04/12/06 - 'S.O.S.' - A "trade" strategy - seemingly Henry in exchange for Waaaaaaaaaaaaaalt! and/or Michael - is concocted by Jack, who appears to be in full Ballistic Mode in the previews. I actually loved the previews. If you don't remember them, here's a play by play recap:

Ominous-Sounding Deep Voice Guy (OSDVG): "Next Wednesday...."
Flash to Jack in pouring rain in the jungle, shouting out to no one: "HEY, I'M BACK!"
Flash to Kate and Jack by a fire. Kate says, "I'm sorry I kissed you."
OSDVG: "On an all-new Lost..."
Counter clicks down from 2:16 to 2:15
Flash to Jack and Kate walking in jungle, then a flash of Jack saying: "I'm going out to the line that we're not supposed to cross." (many arching eyebrows while he says that)
Flash to Jack again in the middle of the jungle in the rain: "Hey, do you HEAR ME?"
Flash to Jack talking to Henry: "We're going to force a trade, us for you." [that makes no sense, but that's what I heard]
Flash to Sawyer on the beach: "The ol' prisoner exchange..."
Flash to Locke, drawing a "?" and then scribbling it out, frustrated and hitting the desk.
Flash to Jack again in the jungle: "We've got your man!"
Flash to Henry: "They'll never give you Walt." [hey, who told him about Waaaallllllt?]
Flash to Ana Lucia standing in the doorway of the Hatch.
Flash to Kate looking concerned.
Flash to several short clips of Jack freaking out in the jungle:
"You want him back? You're going to have to come out here!!!"
"COME ON OUT!"
"I KNOW you can HEAR ME!!!!!"
Flash to Kate yelling, "Jaaaack?!?!"
Flash to Jack running
Flash to Jack going, "Wait, wait..."
Flash to a creepy baby doll being picked up from the grass in the jungle
Flash to a net/trap yanking up people (it's Jack and Kate, from what I can tell on Pause)
Flash to perhaps THE CREEPIEST Henry Gale look ever: he's slightly smiling and just being very still, staring off to the side. I literally squealed all ten times (yes, ten) I re-watched the previews - even on different days!

Dammit, why should I be the only one to suffer for this blog? Here you go: a face only an Other could love (sorry, that's horrible, but I'm tired and loopy).

And here's a hint: the flashbacks are about a Lostaway (or Lostaways), who was/were not even in the preview.


Three weeks later... the final four:

5/03/06 - "Two for the Road" - I am not happy after finding out whose flashback this is.

5/10/06 - "?"

5/17/06 - "Three Minutes"

5/24/06 - Still untitled two-hour season finale.

HERE'S HOPE FOR BETTER SCHEDULING NEXT SEASON

From Executive Producer, Damon Lindelof: "There's 36 weeks in a TV season and we have 24 episodes. But we're lobbying ABC for when the show is on, it's on, and when it's off, it's off. So, we want to air it in three acts next year. You know, blocks of seven, seven and eight. But in order to do that, we have to roll the show out in October instead of September, and hopefully that will work out."

Best site ever to find out if Lost is a repeat or not (updated each week of the season - wish I could've told you guys about this one sooner!):

http://www.islostarepeat.com/

ASHTON KUTCHER AIN'T GOT NUTHIN' ON NAVEEN ANDREWS (SAYID)

When it comes to dating older women, that is. Here's a recent interview with the man who plays our favorite torturer.

As we have three weeks until the next new episode, I will probably not post the 'S.O.S.' write-up next Monday, especially since I'm traveling this week for The Man. However, I will do my best to get something up sooner rather than later.

Until then,

- e

S2Ep17, Lockdown - (Locke's fourth flashback) - 3/28/06

Hello my dear friends,

Yes, it is safe to assume that I was flipping out during this episode. But enough about me... there is much to review, so we best get going.

YOU KNOW THE SAYING, "THERE'S ALWAYS SOMEBODY WORSE OFF THAN YOU"?

Well, that person would be John Locke. We already knew that he had been paralyzed, worked for "The Man" at a dreary box company late in his career after having been conned out of his kidney by his long-lost father and mother years before. And we suspected all didn't end up well with Helen, since before Locke went to Australia he was talking to a "love-line operator" (I'm trying to be tactful, out of respect) he was calling Helen, shortly before being denied his chance to go on a walkabout in Australia. But now we know that it was even worse for poor Locke... having finally forgiven his father at what he thought was his father's funeral, only to find out that daddy faked his own death to escape some unsavory characters to whom he owed a lot of money. Hmmm... Locke's dad was a Con Man? Remind you of anyone else?

So what does Locke do but HELP his father yet again by giving him all of his con-job cash that was hidden away in a safety deposit box, not even keeping any for himself. The desperation to receive some sort of affection or gratitude from his father cost him his relationship with Helen, who heart-breakingly turned down his proposal for marriage, leaving him sad and alone in a motel parking lot as a Very Ominous Oceanic plane flew overhead. *Sigh.* Poor Locke. Now I'm all depressed again. But all of these things happened to Locke PRE-island. Has he learned anything from his past?

The biggest question remains: How did he end up in a wheelchair? Considering the fact that I could barely watch the screen during the Lockebacks in fear of seeing him get a beat-down by the thugs, I dread the episode when we actually do see what happened.


LOCKE AND HENRY, SITTIN' IN A TREE

You had probably already figured from the previews, as I had, that Locke was going to get stuck within the blast doors and that Henry was going to have to help him out. However, I was truly surprised (not to mention horrified) that Locke attempted to slide UNDER the door once it was propped open, only to have it come slamming down upon his legs. I was quite confident that he was going to end up paralyzed again, and for a brief moment I was in complete turmoil thinking they were actually going to kill him off (he would lose too much blood or something). Trust me, I had my pen poised to write the first of many hate letters, should that have happened.

What I had thought was going to happen was that Henry would help Locke, Locke would put him back in the cell and all would appear normal once Jack returned to the hatch. I thought that since Locke's wound only appeared to be affecting one leg, he would explain it away somehow and that no one but Locke and Henry would ever know what had really transpired - and I foresaw this "secret bond" between them coming into play down the line.

Except that that's not what happened. So here are the theories on what DID happen and what the repercussions will be:


LESSON LEARNED: DON'T TRY TO SLIDE UNDER AN EXTREMELY HEAVY DOOR WHICH IS ONLY PROPPED OPEN BY A FLIMSY TOOL BOX

Now the question is: WHY did the doors go down in the first place? They made it a point of showing us that the countdown clock was working fine and was at 47 minutes. All of a sudden static comes over the speakers and a woman's voice is heard counting down - then the doors drop.

The prevailing theory on the boards is that the blast doors are timed with the "supply drops." But just so no one is confused, here is what I mean when I say "supply drops"... because there was some confusion about this on the boards:

1) The balloon Sayid and company found was the smiley face balloon Henry drew the map to... it was about a day's journey away from camp.

2) The parachute-looking thing that Jack and Kate found in the jungle was very near to the camp, and had recently been dropped/put there, as the flare/strobe light was blinking, and they would've seen it in the past 60 or so days otherwise. This parachute appeared to be an unmanned "supply drop" containing tons of Dharma-branded food.

So the theory is that perhaps when the Dharma Initiative was originally set up (and they thought there would only ever be two people in the Hatch), the way to ensure that the two people in the Hatch STAYED in the Hatch was to shut down the blast doors any time there was a supply drop. That would prevent them from seeing whoever was leaving the supplies, but perhaps also alert them to the fact that the supplies were there in the first place. We have no idea if we've seen all of the Dharma videos - perhaps there were instructions somewhere regarding what happens during the "re-stocking" procedures. The woman on the speaker did say something about "protocol."

There are really no other theories besides that one for why the doors dropped. Any other ideas?


DE PLANE! DE PLANE?

... But if it WAS a food drop - where was the plane that the supplies were dropped from?

Theories are:
1) The plane was completely silent somehow
2) There was no plane - the Others just put the parachute there and came and went in their usual Ninja Way
3) The parachute appeared to be dropped from the sky but really was brought up from underground
4) They are in some sort of Bermuda Triangle-ish area so no one would ever see or hear the plane
5) They're all too self-absorbed and busy NOT sharing information with each other, so no one noticed the plane



MAP QUEST

I counted to 5 after the "hatch map" was shown on the blast doors... and then figured, "Yep, it should be up on the boards by now." Not only is it up on the boards, but ALL of the random scribblings have been transcribed, translated and discussed to death.

So first, refresh your memory with the original shot of the map here.

Then, take a look at the transcribed map here to read the details fairly clearly. How did someone do that, you ask? The producers gave Entertainment Weekly a better version of the shot and then people went from there.

Since I would be writing for literally months if I was to attempt to analyze all that is on the map, I won't. I will paste in below some of the translations, and then cover some of the main points as well. But if any of you take a look at it and some other light bulb goes off to you, by all means, please add a Comment at the end of this post.

Map Issues and Questions:
- What is at the very top of the map? Since Locke's legs prevented the doors from going down to the floor, there may be other important information at the tippy-top. Which leads to another question - does Locke realize this? And either way, is he going to try to get a look at the map again? And on top of that... is he going to TELL ANYONE ELSE ABOUT IT!?!?!?!
- Who made the map? There is a big "I am here" near The Swan (original hatch). My guess is that it was Desmond or his previously-mentioned partner, Kelvin. Whoever made it had explored and/or knew about the other hatches, as well as some of the specifics of the Dharma Initiative, and had a thing for Latin and French phrases. Or, it could've been pieced together by more than one person over the course of time.
- If Henry is an Other, does he know the map is there? If so, he may not have wanted Locke to have seen it. If that is the case, what will he do to prevent Locke from telling anyone else about it?
- What is the big "?" in the middle? My take is that that is where some sort of radioactive waste is... as Sayid alluded to in an episode earlier this season - whatever is bordering the hatch is completely enclosed in concrete, and the only other place Sayid had heard of something like that before was Chernobyl.
- The "Cerberus system" and "Cerberus activity" are mentioned on the left-hand side. What is Cerberus? - and no, I'm not talking the hedge fund (dorks! you know who you are!). I'm talking the three-headed dog of legend who guards the gates of Hell. Most people on the boards consider "Cerberus" to mean Smokey, especially since it noted a "catastrophic malfunction" of Cerberus as well. And since I really hated the nickname Smokey all along, I'm going to call the black cloud thing Cerberus from now on until I have reason not to.
- No one knows what the various C.V.s stand for.
- The Flame hatch has not been discovered by the Lostaways yet. There may also be a reference to "The Pearl" as another hatch on the right.
- "Dharmatel" is mentioned frequently, along with IP-type addresses containing "the numbers" and words like relay, intranet and servers.
- "Activity minimal during lockdown and restocking procedures" in the bottom right led many to believe those two things are related.
- "Final resting place of Magnus Hanso" near the Black Rock on the lower right - Alvar's dad, perhaps?
- Throughout the map, there are many scribblings that allude to nearly every single weird "inexplicable" thing that has happened on the island. A sampling: listening station, gene therapy, extreme climate change, weather project, magnetic interference...
- There are a lot of years mentioned, specifically in the 80s. People still wonder if the actual Dharma Initiative was abandoned at that point and if "the lunatics are now running the asylum," so to speak.

Additionally, the map is in this week's edition of Entertainment Weekly, along with their take on a few of the key scribblings. However, I have the magazine and cannot make out ANY of the scribblings on it at all, so a huge shout-out needs to be given to my Brother in Usability, RS, who forwarded me the clearly transcribed map.


NEUTIQUAM ERRO ... OK, MAYBE I AM

Some translations from the map for yo' lazy asses:

Aegrescit medendo - The disease worsens with the treatment. The remedy is worse than the disease
Sursum corda - Lift up your hearts (to God)
Credo nos in fluctu eodem esse - I think we're on the same wavelength
Malum consilium quod mutari non potest - It's a bad plan that can't be changed.
Cogito ergo doleo - I think therefore I am depressed
Ut sit magna, tamen certe lenta ira deorum est - The wrath of the gods may be great, but it certainly is slow
Hic sunt dracones - Here be dragons (e: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Dragons!!!!!! Prayers = Answered.)
Nil actum credens dum quid superesset agendum - Don't consider that anything has been done if anything is left to be done
Liberate te ex inferis - Save yourself from hell
Mus uni non fidit antro - A mouse does not rely on just one hole


LONG TIME, NO SEE

Yes, that was Nadia (Sayid's old flame that he mysteriously forgot about after meeting Shannon) whose house was being inspected by Locke. People acted like it was big, new information that she was still alive, but we KNEW she was still alive from Sayid's second flashback when the FBI/CIA or whatever agency it was showed him a picture of her, TOLD him she was in California, and said that they only way they would tell him exactly where she was is if he cooperated with them. However, in this new episode it was very lame how she specifically mentioned to Locke that she "didn't have a husband." OK, writers, you made your point - Nadia is still alive, in California and does not have a husband - so if Sayid ever gets off the damn island he has a chance at a happy life. Unless Locke was lying and her place IS infested with mold!


REGARDING HENRY

Before we discuss the captivating Final Scene, let us remember some things that made Henry suspect long before Sayid busted him:

- As mentioned in a past write-up, "Henry" is mentioned in the backward audio track/whispers. Even if he is not the REAL Henry Gale, he may have been going by the name Henry. If he wasn't an Other, and we assume the Others are the ones in the whispers, then how else would they know his name?
- He was way too smug from the beginning
- He didn't die after the original Sayid beat-down
- He gave Sayid the Obvious Other Evil Glare
- He was asking tons of questions about the Hatch... but asking them in a way that almost implied he knew the answers
- He was pitting the Lostaways against each other
- He acted like he knew the numbers when Locke recited them. He repeated them quickly, then got knocked out and never asked for them again and STILL was able to enter them

And now, here is the transcript of the end of the episode. My brother has decided that he is going to start talking like Sayid because Sayid has such a way with words. I agree... it's almost like he's got his own Yoda-ish style goin' on (though I can never do justice to his crazy inflections via the written word):

JACK [entering]: Get away from him.
GALE: Wait, you don't...
SAYID [aiming his gun]: Step back, right now.
LOCKE: Sayid, it's okay.
[Jack grabs Gale and shoves him up against a wall.]
JACK: I said, "get away"!
LOCKE: I let him out -- some kind of lockdown or something -- he, he was helping me.
GALE: Couldn't you find my balloon?
ANA: Yeah, we found it.
SAYID: We did find your balloon, Henry Gale, exactly how you described it. We also found the grave you described -- your wife's grave. The grave you said you dug with your own bare hands. It was all there. Your whole story -- your alibi -- it was true. But still I did not believe it to be true. So I dug up that grave and found that there was not a woman inside. There was a man.
[Sayid shows him an African-American male's driver's license]
A man named Henry Gale.


AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhh!
That was awesome.

OK, so now what? It appears at this point that NotHenry either killed RealHenry, took his "back-story/identity" and then buried him, or that RealHenry was already dead (crashed on island and died in the process) and then NotHenry proceeded to bury him and steal his name. Was there really a "wife" of RealHenry? Probably not. However, there has been mention that perhaps RealHenry is Rose's brother. Hey, Eko's brother ended up on the island too - and Desmond and Jack had met previously... I mean, come on - stranger things HAVE happened! Here's a post on that topic:

- "We know of just about everyone and why they were traveling to/from Australia. With the exception of: Eko; Libby; and Rose and her husband. Maybe she and her husband went to Australia either to (a) see her brother off on his balloon trip around the world; or (b) went to Australia to meet her brother after his balloon trip around the world. Either way, he never made it. "

Back to NotHenry... Three things come to mind, all assuming that NotHenry IS an Other:
1) He may be the "him" that Ethan and Zeke referred to in Maternity Leave - as in, the Head Other. If he is crafty enough to plan getting captured, learn a lot about the Lostaways and still avoid getting killed, he could definitely qualify as Head Other in my book.
2) He may try to use Locke's gullible nature against him and "recruit" him over to the Others' side. Especially after seeing Locke's dedication to the numbers. Shout-out to my brother for that theory.
3) What are the Lostaways going to do with him now? MajorlyPissedSayid is back again next week...

THE FIVE EVENTS...

... mentioned in the previews for this episode - what were they? Here's my take on things that could qualify, not that it really even matters:

1) The blast doors went down, giving us insight into the "protocol" mentioned over the loudspeaker

2) Locke's leg was seriously injured again and/or Henry helped him by entering in the numbers

3) The Hatch Map was revealed

4) They found the Food Drop

5) They found the Smiley Face balloon... but Henry Gale is NotHenry Gale

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

[We see Locke and Helen drive up to the cemetery where Cooper's being buried.]
HELEN: You sure you want to do this? [Locke nods] We could just go on that picnic, you know.
LOCKE: Soon, I promise.
HELEN: Hey, maybe he left you his kidney?



JACK [exiting]: Don't call him, Hurley.
SAWYER [to Jack]: Hey, Amarillo Slim -- you think because you watch poker on TV you can tussle with the big boys?
JACK: I've got to head back to the hatch.
SAWYER: Hatch ain't going nowhere, Doc. How about you put your mangos where your mouth is?



COOPER: Hello, son.
[Scene switches to Locke and Cooper in a bar.]
LOCKE: What do you want?
COOPER: Look, John, I know what I did to you was wrong.
LOCKE: You stole my kidney.
COOPER: I was dying.
LOCKE: You could've asked me. You could have just asked me. What do you want from me?
COOPER: I killed myself off because there are 2 men out there who were going to beat me to it.
LOCKE: What'd you do, steal their livers?



JACK: But at least I'm not in your head. Well, I guess that's it.
SAWYER: What do you mean, "it"?
JACK: Sawyer, you're busted. I got it all. It wouldn't really be fair for you to go pick more mangos.
SAWYER: Oh, I've got a hell of lot more than mangos. You want to play real stakes, name 'em?
JACK [laughing]: It's a pile of fruit, man.
SAWYER: And I want it back.
KATE: Should I go and get a ruler?



SAWYER: So, where'd you learn to play cards, Doc?
JACK: Phuket.
SAWYER: What the hell were you doing in Thailand?
[Jack doesn't respond] What, you don't think I know where Phuket is? Just because I dropped out in 9th grade don't make me an idiot.



SAWYER: Okay, I'll call you with the aspirin and raise you with a bottle of Amoxicillin.
JACK: Do you even know what Amoxicillin is?
SAWYER: You may have been to Phuket, Doc, but I've been to Tallahassee. [Jack looks like he doesn't understand] Let's just say something was burning and it wasn't from the sunshine.


SAWYER: Hey, when I asked you what you wanted for stakes -- why didn't you ask for the guns?
JACK: When I need the guns, I'll get the guns.


UPCOMING EPISODES

This week: 'Dave' - As you may have figured out from the previews, this will be a flashback to Hurley's time in the mental institution. Also looks like the Lostaways go berzerker over the new food supply. Guest-starring Charlotte's husband from Sex & the City.

4/12/06 - 'S.O.S' - Rumor is it's a flashback that everyone's been curiously awaiting, and that the writers previously didn't think they'd be able to squeeze in this season.

3-week Hiatus

5/03/06 - 'Two for the Road' - No info on this one yet.

5/10/06 - "?" Named that because of the middle area of the hatch map, it has been said.

5/17/06 - "Three Minutes' - No info on this on yet, but the title creeps me out for some reason!

5/24/06 - Two hour finale - still untitled.


POSTS FROM THE BOARDS

- "The voice over the speaker was a woman's voice, counting down to 1; when she got to 1, the blast doors came down. I think this must have happened many times (maybe each time there was a food delivery?), because someone had lots of time with the doors down to draw that map on it, either Desmond or his other roommate. Some people have written about either of them going out to get the food that was left for them, but did they ever go out? As far as they knew, they were quarantined in a safe environment which they never left. So how did the food from the parachute drop get to Desmond et al.? Did somebody bring it to them while the blast doors were down?"
- "I know the tide is turning against Locke on this board, but I feel so badly for him that I just want to give him an hour-long hug. No wonder he loves the island so much. It's a 200% improvement on the life he left behind."
- "A tiger doesn't change its stripes. Kate runs, Jack fixes, Sayid tortures, Sawyer cons, AL shoots... and Locke trusts unwisely, and even when the person he trusts for once doesn't let him down (daddy, in this ep, or Henry), things turn out badly for him." - "The Locke backstory always makes me incredibly depressed. When Helen said no it was just heartwrenching. And the whole time I was waiting for be-bop and rock-steady to come and beat the crap out of John thus causing the paralysis."- "I was kind of hoping that when Locke opened the deposit box he'd find only a toy DC-3 and be all "The hell? What would anyone want with this?""- "WhoÂ’s taken a screencap of the image of the wall? Because I want that shit analyzed. Now!" - "One interesting thing I did notice was that two of the hatches are drawn in dotted lines and the other 4 are solid lines - that actually does make me think maybe the person who drew the diagram has explored the ones drawn in solid lines. Either way, the drawing is too cool."
- "Here's my guess: Desmond drew those. He probably didn't venture out much, but perhaps at the beginning? Or the person before him. There clearly is an "I am here" written on the picture, so obviously this was someone who didn't know the inner workings of Dharma. And the scratched out hatch...one that's been explored, perhaps? It's probably a guess that there is something connecting all of them. The question is, why was all that drawn in invisible (well not really) ink to be seen by a blacklight? And has Desmond forgotten about the button at all? Have the doors closed in on him? I'm very interested now."
- "More importantlyÂ…does Henry know what Locke saw? Anyone? Bueller."
- "I knew they weren't going to reveal how Locke ended up in the chair. That'll be pretty much the last Lockeback."
- "The wait for Locke's accident or shooting or whatever it is that causes his paralysis is killing me....it's almost like the death watch on Handsome Black Agent Curtis or Aaron the Wonder Agent in 24. "
- "Obviously he is not the "real" Henry Gale. But if he IS one of the Others, it suggests that the Others do not know all the secrets of the Swan Station and the Island, as NotHenry looked seriously freaked out when the doors came down - now, I can understand him acting for Locke's benefit, but why would he LOOK scared if Locke can't see him in the Armory? Perhaps he knows enough (i.e. there is something bad associated with Swan Station) to be very afraid when something weird happens. "
- "Did anyone think that maybe Henry didn't actually push the button? We didn't see him do it, and he looked kind of shifty as he was telling Locke that he had."
- "So evidently the hatch is a total hippie paradise...a pantry full of food, a library full of books, a stereo system with a big rack of LPs, and even blacklight paintings! Whoa, cool man! I guess we can all meditate on the ?-centered mandala."
- "I love how Sayid's all "yeah you thought I wasn't crazy enough to dig up a grave, well you thought wrong, bitch." Can't wait for the smack down."
- "I knew that Sayid was gonna dig this grave up. Like this is SAYID we're talking about."
- "Am I the only one who thinks that "fake" Henry Gale isn't an Other? I'm not sure why, but I just get the feeling he's not a Dharma Other, but some other type of Other? I was pretty sure as soon as Sayid started to look at the grave he was about to dig it up, but that was when I started to think he was from yet another group of people on the island. I'm probably just crazy."
- "I've never been a Jack fan, but I loved it when he was all, when I need the guns, I'll get the guns. Playa!"
- "When I want the guns, I'll get the guns." Don't hate the playa, Sawyer, hate the game."
- "You stole my kidney!" There is just no way to deliver that without it sounding completely hilarious."


BORAT, HERE SHE COMES

A moment of silence in "respeck" to the fact that this was the last Lost episode that my dear friend, and brother's girlfriend, JB, will have viewed in the U.S. this season. She is off to the land of Kazakhstan to make the world a better place. Let's hope she is met with a fast Internet connection upon arrival in order to download the final 5 episodes from iTunes!

Until next week,
- e

*To leave Comments, click on the Comments link below. You don't have to have a username or log in or anything. I post Comments after I review them, typically each night.*

S2Ep16 - The Whole Truth (Sun's second flashback) - 03/22/06

Hello my dear friends,

I took a short vacation and have not had a heck of a lot of time to do my typical "research" on last week's show, "The Whole Truth." So instead, I pasted in more posts than usual, as they do a good job of summarizing the main issues.

Before I get into the specific topics, here's a post that captured the overall feeling on the boards about Sun's second flashback episode (and I apologize because a lot of the posts this time around were profanity-laced, as well as crude in parts because of some of the subject matter (you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough)):

- "Basically, despite not doing that much, this episode was FUN. The writers remembered that. Charlie redeemed himself in my eyes by being such a bastard to AnaL...the whole gun thing was just priceless. I was laughing my -ss off. Henry Gale is one scary motherf-cker, no matter whether or not he is evil. That entire scene at the end was just...the guy's sly, and he's smart. I hope he's an other just because he's gonna kill them all. The best part? Him channelling the audience. Trust. Questions. My annoyance with that is that they are clearly mocking us, but at least it's with a decent, mysterious character."

When I was watching this episode, I said to my friends at the end, "Hmmmm, I enjoyed that, but I don't think I'm going to have a lot to say about in on the blog." But after going through a few boards, there actually was more to discuss than I originally thought. Yay for us...


"HEY! YOU! GET OUTTA MY HATCH!" (SET TO ROLLING STONES)

The posts about the Jack/Locke shower scene (Jack gets out of shower, neglects to cover himself with the towel (dries his hair instead), and Locke is there, shaving) were SO vulgar that I couldn't even bring myself to paste any of them in. Suffice it to say that people are sick of the Jack and Locke competition for Alpha Male status, as called out in the episode by Ana Lucia: "Jack and Locke are a little too busy worrying about Locke and Jack."

Even though you know that I love me some Locke, I really can't stand the constant bickering and one-upping, either, because it's just leading them to do stupid things. The biggest thing that worried me, however, was Locke's ownership-mentality about the Hatch ("... Right now there's a man sitting in a room in my hatch and I want him out.").

Here are a few choice posts on the topic:

- "Locke's "My hatch" is very telling about his thought process. More towards his "chosen" mentality. Very subtle but effective."
- "Hooray for More Assertive Locke's return! He doesn't need to ask Jack if Ana-Lucia should interrogate the prisoner. He doesn't have to ask Jack if he can shave while Jack showers. He doesn't have to ask Jack for permission to look at Jack's penis. And in retaliation, Jack gets assertive, too: he decides he doesn't have to ask permission to take Henry out for a bowl of Dharma-Os (love it!)."
- "This episode hit me early on with something strange: when Locke saw Ana Lucia coming his way, he made a remark to her about "running like the devil is chasing her..." When Desmond and Jack first met on the stadium steps in "Man of Science, Man of Faith," Desmond asked Jack why he was "running like the devil is chasing him". HMMM - has Locke been spending so much time down in the hatch that he's starting to channel Desmond?" (e: That is correct, that is the exact same line Desmond used with Jack in the stadium, I noticed it too)


KATE LOOKED GOOD... SUN LOOKED GOOD...

I just wanted you all to know that I'm not ALWAYS negative about Kate. Although I am a tad worried that her mention of having taken a pregnancy test before somehow means we will have to ensure another Kate Flashback. But in the meantime... her tan and her wind-blown hair looked cute and there were many comments regarding this topic on the boards. However, there were even more comments about Sun's lingerie scene at the beginning...


... BUT THE BOYS LOOKED BETTER.

... But the greatest number of comments were about the Lost Boys. If I were to even start pasting in all of the references to Shirtless Jin, Sawyer and Jack, I would never finish this write-up. I was in disbelief at the attention this topic received. Though I agree that they were all lookin' fine.

Here is an article on DDK's hotness.


DEAR GOD

I think TPTB having Sawyer reading "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret" (of all books) was a blatant shout-out to the board peeps to say: "You guys, CHILL. This is definitely a book that means nothing and gives away NO CLUES about the show!"

But guess what, people still tried to find clues - no lie. I spared you those posts. But in case you don't believe me, here's just one: "I believe in the book Margaret was investigating several different religions - do you think that means anything?"


CHARLIE WILL ALWAYS BE A HOBBIT TO ME

Charlie finally won back some fans this episode with his return to snottiness. I must admit, I laughed out loud at his "fake-out" move when giving the gun back to Ana Lucia - oh... no.... wait... Sayid.

On the Hobbit tip:
- "And did anyone else have a "what about second breakfast?" LOTR moment when Charlie came hopping in with papayas for breakfast?" (e: Uh, OF COURSE I did!)
- "I liked surly Charlie more than I would have expected--and the papaya breakfast was such a hobbit moment."
- "Charlie pulling a "Merry" with an armful of natural food."

Not on the Hobbit tip:
- "Charlie gets major points for his little “Ok, I’ll give you the gun…nope, kidding, I’m giving it to Sayid” maneuver. That was such an “oh SNAP” moment. Hilarious."
- "As for Charlie knowing about Henry and not blabbing it all around, I really think he's turned into Darth Hoodie. I think that Claire's rejection has changed him, and that there will be many more surprising and uncharacteristic behaviors from him. Having a gun and not making a fuss about it (my impression was that it was a secret even from Sayid) is not very pre-Claire-dump Charlie. So, maybe this post-Claire-dump Charlie - the Charlie who is willing to faux-abduct Sun - can keep secrets. Secrets are knowledge, and knowledge is power. And I think right now he has a hunger for power that's even more compelling than his hunger for what Virgin Mary keeps where the sun doesn't shine."


DID SHE OR DIDN'T SHE?

I have to say that I ended the episode leaning toward the "Sun cheated" side... but after reading the boards, I am leaning the other way. I challenge you all to read the posts below and let me know if you think she cheated (or if you never even did)... Definitely leave me comments on this one - I can be swayed either way still. I think. So wishy-washy. One thing was definitely agreed upon by everyone: her English tutor's nickname is "bald dude."

But BEFORE getting into the many posts I pasted in on this topic, I will bring up three major points. The first one I didn't see covered anywhere on the boards, so at some point I will probably have to post about it to get reactions (typically I'm actually just a lurker, believe it or not):

1) Near the end of Season One, there was a scene with Sun, Shannon and Claire, when they were having a conversation about fate. And it was Sun who said, "Do you think we're being punished? For the secrets we kept, the lies we told..." I remember thinking at that point: "Hmmm, I know that Sun was going to leave Jin and had secretly learned English, but it seems like she's alluding to more than that in her own life, because all in all she doesn't seem right now like a bad person." Now when I think about those lines, I wonder if she was alluding to her possible affair.

2) Each season is about 40 or so days on the island (currently they are around day 58 or so)... so if she was to carry a baby full-term... that seems like a risky move on the writers' parts... not so sure the series would still be around. Horrible thought, I know.

3) This is a point mentioned below as well, but the question in my mind right now is WHY would she tell Jin that he is infertile if she hadn't decided to tell him "the whole truth"? What point would that serve? If she was going to lie about the father of the baby, why tell the truth about Jin's infertility? This is one of the things that swayed me to the "she didn't cheat" camp.

With those points in mind, here are additional thoughts from the boards to ponder:

- "So, did Sun cheat on Jin with her just-short-of-gay-friend or not? I think we're supposed to think she did, but I don't think she did. I think it's the island craziness that makes Locke walk that makes Jin's boys swim!"
- "I predict that Sun and Jin will be having a Sun Jr, rather then a Jin Jr.; who else is Aaron going to marry?"
- "Even though Jin is unbelievably studly, I was waiting for one last flashback to Sun and that bald dude post coital. I believe Dharma is responsible for Jin's new super sperm."
- "Jack said... "I'm the last one to give advice about that" to Sun on the baby - there is way more to that statement than that. He played it like a throwaway, but I bet it isn't, not with what we've seen in his back story."
- "I think Sun is lying. But I don't want to believe it."
- "As for the A story (Sun/Jin), it was good, I think, because it was a story about two characters who we have truly seen grow, and it GOOD ways, during this show, and I think that this is just good payoff. It's just nice to see that Jin and Sun are working out, and that DDK and YK are knocking it out of the park each week. And I'm glad they didn't go (apparently) the cheating route."
- "I want to know if Sun was lying. I agree I think we were supposed to think she had the affair, but she probably didn't. She was telling the truth, that was the point of this episode."
- "It was nice to see Jin still has some anger issues. Scary, but good continuity."
- "--So, I wonder if Sun is telling the truth? What I love about Lost is that while it’s possible she’s lying and did cheat on Jin, it’s also very possible that the island has decided that they should have a baby. If it can make Locke walk, it can make Jin fertile."
- "I don't and won't believe the baby is the bald dude's. Could Sun survive a pregnancy after a plane crash?"
- "Hasn't it been about 55 or 60 days since they crashed? (e: YES, 58) If Sun had been planning on ditching Jin at the Sydney airport, completely possible it's Bald Dude's Baby. She coulda survived the crash pregnant, because in the news a few months back was a skydiver that crashed on her HEAD, broke ribs and learned she was pregnant..."
- "...although it was left way too ambiguous whether or not Sun was lying. Mouth says no but facial expressions say...maybe?"
- "I couldn't figure out why Sun was so reluctant towards the idea of having a baby, in general. I think there is a lot more to this story."
- "Clearly the father of Sun's baby is Alvar Hanso. Or even worse ... Donald Trump!"
- "If she was going to lie to him about the paternity, why tell him he was sterile? If she's lying, she might as well lie completely. There's no reason to tell him he's sterile unless she wants to tell him the whole truth."
- "Put me in the camp of believing it's Baldy's baby. I think Sun was on the verge of telling Jin "the whole truth" and then realized she does love the guy, he loves her, and they're stuck on this island for maybe forever. Why take the advice of a hypocritical asshat like Jack when everyone can be happy with a lie? Could an embryo survive the crash? How did any of them survive?"
- "If Sun was just now feeling lightheaded and nauseous, she was only a few days pregnant. No way would those symptoms suddenly appear after 60ish days. I don't believe she would have cheated either. She was completely focused on escaping and besides, wouldn't she have been terrified what Jin or her father would do to a lover? No, they were just friends. She told Jin the "whole truth" because she nearly lost him once before because of a secret. She layed everything out on the table. No more secrets, no more guilt."
- "I don't think Sun's lying. When Jack was checking out the test result and said she was indeed pregnant, she said it was impossible. As in, it's impossible because Jin is sterile."
- "Someone may have already said this, but Sun probably looked guilty at the end because she never told Jin she was planning on leaving him, not because she had an affair. Her lies have been more ommissions of information, rather than misinformation. If she said she has never slept with anyone else I believe her."


FOR MY NERDY PEEPS

This group of postings, representing what can only be described as an utter outcry on the boards about the grammatical mistake in the Korean subtitles, sums up WHY I love reading the boards. Before you tell me that closed-captioning always has mistakes (which it does), remember that this was NOT closed-captioning, but rather the subtitles on the show itself.

If you could care less about this (though there ARE some hilarious posts below), skip to the next section.

If you do care, my nerdy brethren, know that you are in good company:

- "The subtitles said "You're husband" instead of "Your husband" during the conversation twixt Sun and the doctor."
- "The sloppy captioning of when they were speaking Korean is bugging the shit out of me ("you're husband"?). GAH."
- "Are you f-ing kidding me? "You're husband." That is disgraceful."
- "I must give props to other grammar nerds on this talkback that spotted the HORRENDOUS your-you're error. Shameful for a show that is one of its network's tentpegs."
- "I think they're (or is it "their"? or "there"?) messing with our heads again... ; )(Sorry to be so picky about the grammar thing... I'm still reeling from the subtitle mistake...)"
- "Do they not have proofreaders in their budget??"
- "Also, as a professional copyeditor, I seethed at that typo in the subtitles. They had better correct that for the DVD!!!"
- "The "you're husband" was bugging the crap out of me too. Try harder, Closed Captioning Monkeys."
- "HOLY HELL Damon/J.J. - fire the subtitlers immediately. Kwan? You're father? Horrifying. HORRIFYING."
- "So much going on and everyone's worried about the captioning? It's a good thing y'all aren't watching "24", where the Prez declared "Marshall Law" last week."
- "Is it possible the you're/your captioning problem was done just to upset the anal retentive people on this board?"
- "If so, that's a terrible thing for the people who do the captions (whoever they may be) to do. The last thing the English language needs is a super-popular television show that many high-schoolers watch to be perpetuating such breaches of basic grammar. "
- "I don't even watch Lost, but I am a writer by trade and therefore a huge grammar dork. When the "you're husband" came on, my fiance called me in from the other room to see it. It bothered me so much that I went to ABC.com this morning and sent them an email complaint. I have enough to do editing people's terrible grammar without help from Lost. My email said: Dear ABC: I was horrified to see "You're husband. . . he works for your father" in the show's captioning (not closed captioning) of last night's episode. As one of the biggest shows on TV, Lost should be able to prevent such blatant errors from making it on air. The show has a massive audience, and kids (as well as many adults) have enough problems with proper English without seeing errors like that reinforced. ABC should issue a statement acknowledging and correcting the error. Thank you. I encourage fellow grammar geeks to do the same! http://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html"

HENRY GALE, YOU ARE ONE SCARY MOFO

As I mentioned above, while I liked this episode (I would've liked ANYTHING they aired that was new because it hadn't been on in so long)... I definitely thought it was kind of blah... that is, until the utterly bone-chilling speech by Mr. Gale at the end. I was literally squirming in my seat.

The "is he or isn't he an Other?" debate was the biggest issue on the boards, so I've pasted in many comments on the topic below. One thing that bothered me, however, was that a few episodes ago Henry made a POINT of mentioning how thin the walls/doors were... so much so that he actually shouted out to Jack and Locke at one point because he was following their conversation. However, in the two episodes since, characters on the outside of the cell have not been able to hear what's going on inside. Some chalk this up to Henry's Otherness and the fact that he must have superhuman hearing just like Ethan had superhuman strength. I'm not sure yet...

My take on Henry overall is that I think they're now making it TOO OBVIOUS for him to actually end up being an Other. I don't think he crashed on the island after going on a balloon trip with his wife, either, though. All I know for sure is that he gives me nightmares.

One small thing he said, however, that made me pause and reconsider his Otherness was: "Of course, if I was one of them -- these people that you seem to think are your enemies -- what would I do?" The whole "that you SEEM to think are your enemies" part was suspect to me because The Others also tend to act like they are really the good guys doing everyone a favor by "letting" them live on the island. It just was an odd thing to say if he knew nothing of The Others other than what he had learned while being held captive.
- "Henry Gale reminds me, eerily, of Kevin Spacey's character in Seven - very disturbing, evil, sadistic... and genius. A scary combination."
- "Total shout out to us for asking why people weren't more curious about things!"
- "Holy....is the prisoner an Other or a bad seed or...I don't know what to think."
- "The actor playing Henry really nailed that final speech, although, at this point, it's hard to see how anyone would doubt he's an Other."
- "If Damon Lindelof and J.J. Abrams had any sense in their brain, they would add Henry Gale to the main cast. I never thought a man who seemed so insignificant could be such a scheming catalyst. He is EXCELLENT, and he has made this episode for me."
- "I find it mind numbingly bizarre that NO one calls him on his obvious mind games. They just all sit around looking constipated whenever he says his little spiels. Well, except for Sayid. He just beat the daylights out of him."
- "That last scene. Was. Brilliant. So smart to keep the camera on Henry and not cut away to the three (trapped?) searchers. Keeping it in our imagination made it so much creepier."
- "I still don't see what finding the balloon would really prove. For all we know, Henry Gale and the other Others simply killed the real ballooners and now he's conveniently trying to pass himself off as his own victim." (e: AGREED!!!!)
- "I felt that Henry's conversation with Jack about the difference between a prophet and a martyr was significant. One definition for prophet is an effective spokesman or leader for a cause, doctrine or group. A definition for martyr is a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to denounce a religion. A hint about why he is there perhaps. Of course Jack didn't bite, saying they both end up dead. However, he did let Henry out for breakfast after that conversation."



OTHER RANDOM POSTS


- "And what were Sayid and Charlie building?"
- "Sayid and Charlie could sure use someone keen in construction, but unfortunately Michael has gone batshit. Are they maybe building a church? Raft 2.0? A Starbucks? Could be anything."
- "Michael Who?"
- "A building with a "Widmore Construction" sign showed up in "Fire + Water". Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track down that one legible screenshot that was floating around a few weeks ago. (e: Widmore was the maker of the pregnancy test Sun took as well)
- "Lots of seemingly obvious shout-outs in this ep: "People don't like me.""
- "I want to bitch-slap the writers for the needless Hurley candy-bar scene. He has the potential to be a REALLY fascinating character on this show (remember folks, he's both rich and "crazy"), but instead they're pulling this stereotypical food-hoarding comic-relief fat-dude bullshit. STOP IT. Give us some really good Hurley material (remember him outing Ethan with his census?), or else send him where Boone and Shannon went." (e: I'm pretty sure we will get better Hurley material soon, fear not)
- "Loved Jin listening to Sawyer and Bernard talk in Korean. Just cracked me up for some reason."
- "Jin hears Sawyer and Bernard talking backwards, so what would Jin hear if he had a vision of Walt?"
- "Oh, and just as everyone predicted, absolutely no mention of ANYTHING that happened last episode."
- "If I were Jack or Locke, I'd be digging into the bottom of that Dharma Cereal Box to find the secret Lost Decoder Ring."
- "Perfect... Dharma-Os, each little piece in the shape of an octagon with a little hole in the center. Maybe it comes with snake, shark, and swan-shaped marshmallows?"
- "Any name suggestions for the Kwon baby? I'm going to go with Moonshine. It'd fit with the celestial nature of Sun's name and the Jin/gin homonym that brings alcohol to mind."




BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

[Sawyer is reading "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret."]
Sun: How's your book?
Sawyer: ...Not nearly enough sex.


ANA: So let me get this straight -- you and your wife travel around the world and crash here in a smiley-face balloon? Then she dies. You get captured by a French chick who brings you here, and then they lock you up.
GALE: It sounds kind of silly when you say it like that.


SAYID [pointing]: That cliff there appears to be this [showing the spot on the map].
ANA: Score one for Henry.
SAYID: Pointing out a geographical touchstone does not mean he's leading us to a balloon.
ANA: Maybe not, but at least we're on the right island.
[Sayid walks off.]
CHARLIE: Humor's not his strong suit. [Ana doesn't respond] And I'm saying this to you.
[They continue walking. Charlie looks around and sees Ana staring at him.]
CHARLIE: You looking at my bum?



SAWYER [entering]: Yo, Daddy-o.
JIN: Sawyer.
SAWYER: Way to go, Papa-san. You didn't waste much time. I'd give you a cigar, Bernie, but I'm fresh out.



[after creepy, threatening tirade]
Henry: You guys got any milk?



UPCOMING EPISODES

OK my friends... I have what should be the Lost episode calendar for the rest of the season... but of course I'm sure things could possibly change. Really, though, there's not much wiggle room in the schedule anymore and most sources say this is final. Here's what it currently looks like... we have 3 weeks of new episodes in a row:

03/29/06 - 'Lockdown' - My man gets caught within the blast doors?!?!?! Looks like this will be a great one. Per the preview: "5 events will happen..." My prediction: the boarders will be fighting over exactly WHAT the 5 Events were...

04/05/06 - 'Dave'

04/12/06 - 'S.O.S.'

A short break... then the drive to the finale:

05/03/06 - 'Two for the Road'

05/10/06 - Untitled... ep 21

5/17/06 - Untitled... ep 22

And then...


MARK YOUR CALENDARS! THE FINALE DATE HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

Thanks to my brother for the heads up - it will be two hours on May 24th - the finale will be episodes 23 and 24.


REALLY SHORT VERSION OF THE 'MEMORY IMPLANT' THEORY

Since I don't have a lot of time this week... just know that there is what I consider to be a HIGHLY plausible theory floating around lately about the possibility that all of the flashbacks are fake - as in, they are "memories" implanted in the minds of the Lostaways by whatever sinister force is controlling the island. The proponents of this theory claim that this would explain why characters are showing up in each others' flashbacks, as well. Further, they state that there wasn't even a plane crash - which would explain why no one was really too hurt. That's where I think it begins to fall apart... remember that dude who got chopped up by the propeller? Tell this theory to him!!!! So in short, while I think the memories possibly could be implanted, I don't think the crash was staged.



BEFORE THEY WERE LOST

Thanks to MD as well as an anonymous Comment poster for this site that shows pre-Lost video clips of Sawyer (my favorite - I REMEMBER that horrible commercial), Kate and Sayid.

Before There Were Lost

And at a separate site, here is pre-Lost Hurley (along with Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite - SWEET!)

Before Hurley was Lost, Dude.


Enjoy this week's episode, it should be a doozy.
- e


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