S3Ep5 - The Cost of Living (Eko's third flashback)

Hello my dear friends -

The boards were filled with nothing less than HATE this past week after the demise of our favorite bad-ass priest. I was actually quite overwhelmed... I would say at least 80% of the messages I read were some form of cursing the writers/producers at ABC, swearing off the show, or incoherent rambling and swearing. That was very annoying to me as I was simply trying to search for ideas/theories that actually mattered. How many different ways can fans say "Damn you for killing off Eko!?!?!" I will tell you - very, very many.

Anyway... while I didn't think the episode was that great, I certainly didn't think it was horrible, but I admit that I wasn't all that moved by Eko's death - call me cold. If anything I was more interested in the fact that he DIDN'T apologize or repent and then got the smack-down from Smokey, over whom he had previously emerged triumphant.


THE CORPSE (AND EVERYONE ELSE) WORE WHITE

Remember that crazy Heaven's Gate Internet cult back in the 90s where everyone wore black Nikes and purple armbands and then drank poison on purpose? I got *that* kind of vibe when Benry showed up in his white linen shirt thingy and made Jack put one on. But alas, it was only for Colleen's funeral.

And on top of the "P. Diddy's White Party" dress code, what was up with that strange song they played over the loudspeaker? It was "I Wonder" by Brenda Lee (never heard of it before), and I was assuming it was "Colleen's favorite song" or something like that, but then they never addressed why it was playing, so I thought that made it even more strange.


THE PLIGHT OF BENRY

After Jack called Benry out by mentioning that he had seen his spinal x-rays which revealed a deadly tumor, Benry decides to do a 180 and all of a sudden become all nicey-nicey and teary-eyed while trying to convince Jack to save him. On top of that, he mentions that he found out about his tumor two days before the Flight 815 crash, and had been praying for a miracle and thinks that is why Jack subsequently fell from the sky. I smell a phony.

First off, WHO told Benry he had a fatal tumor? In the past few episodes it hasn't really looked like there were any other good doctors around, much less another spinal surgeon, unless it was the now-deceased Ethan.

Secondly, if you had been praying for a miracle and then think your prayers have been answered by a doctor landing on your island, why would you then kidnap and mentally torture said Miracle Man and try to coerce him into saving you? Why wouldn't you just be nice from the get-go, offer him a house in the fairly modernized Other Village (a step up from the Hatch or the Caves or the Beach Camp) and hope he upholds his hippocratic oath? It just doesn't make any sense. If Benry hadn't started getting all pleading and weepy at the end, perhaps I would've bought it, but it was just not in line with his character, who has always, always, always been in control up until this point. Let's also not forget that he not-so-subtly mentioned that they chose Juliet to be the one to interface with Jack ON PURPOSE because she looked like his ex-wife Sarah. Once again, this all seems more like a mindgame than a real situation.

Therefore, I think that either: 1) the x-rays are NOT Benry's, but now that they know Jack thinks they are, they're playing a mindgame with him, or 2) they are Benry's and Benry is a really, really bad planner and leader and realizes he royally screwed up.

One last thing - how do they know what Sarah looks like? Was that included in Jack's dossier that they somehow got ahold of?



MEDIATE, ALLEVIATE, TRY NOT TO HATE!

Lest you thought the mindgames were over with, Juliet comes back into the picture a la INXS to mess with our heads and Jack's head even further. The video scene was the only universally applauded segment of the entire episode on the boards.

So besides proving that Juliet is either a Bob Dylan fan or had seen "Love, Actually," what did this scene do for us?

This scene made us question whether Juliet is sincere in her scheme to overthrow Benry by enlisting Jack to botch his surgery, or if she is just carrying out an evil plan hatched by Benry himself. Because let's face it, from what we know of Benry, he would just LOVE to run a little experiment to see if Jack would honor his duty as a doctor over his desire to see Benry be punished for making the Lostaways' lives hell.

We also must remember that when Benry showed Jack the BoSox video, he had these ominous words for him: "...And if you listen to me -- if you trust me -- if you do what I tell you when the time comes -- I'll take you there. I will take you home."

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE A MAN'S DESIRE TO SEE IF HIS TEAM REALLY WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!! On the previews, we see Jack growl, "I want the hell off this island," so perhaps he is going to side with Benry no matter what, because quite honestly, what is Juliet going to do for him? He will have killed a man deliberately, broken his oath as a doctor and possibly ruined his chances of ever getting off the island... for what? To carry out an Others Mutiny? What would be his motivation to help Juliet?

Click here to see Juliet's entire poster sequence, courtesy of my boy humpy.

ARRRRR, STOP LOOKIN' AT ME!

Back on the main island, Locke proves once again that he's "not Jack" by inviting everyone and their brother to come along with him to find Eko. Perhaps he was longing for his hippie camp family again and was trying to spread the love amongst the Lostaways. Unfortunately, pretty much nobody cool took him up on his offer. We needed to suffer through more scenes with The Two New People, who were also stirring up much Hate on the boards. I have to jump on to the Bitterness Bandwagon for this issue, because it is pretty amateur how the writers just tried to force Nikki and Paulo into the forefront of Island happenings. Paulo is completely and utterly annoying, and Nikki just looks ridiculous in her skimpy tank top.

But perhaps worse than anything else was that they USED NIKKI to make my man Locke LOOK DUMB?!?! How DARE they?!?! She had to be all, "Well, there are six TVs and there are six stations so duh I mean there like must be one TV for each hatch - like DUH!" I wanted to reach through the TV and smack her. And to pour salt in the wound, they had to have Locke reply, "Well now I feel really stupid." No, Locke... nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! It's not your fault!!! It is TPTB's fault!!!!

A few other comments about the Pearl Hatch scenes...

1) So Desmond obviously can't foresee EVERYTHING... because he didn't know Patch Man was going to appear, nor did he seem to know that Eko was going to kick the bucket and then warn that they would be next. So he is only getting selective visions from the future.

2) Patch Man rocks! He was much scarier and cooler the first time around when I probably caught three feet of air off of my recliner after seeing him in the preview the week prior. It still had a little "when-Joaquin-Phoenix-saw-the-alien-on-TV-in-'Signs'" vibe to it, though. The main theories on the boards about who Patch Man is include:
a) He is Radzinsky, Kelvin's hatchmate prior to Desmond. Even though Kelvin CLAIMED that Radzinsky went crazy and shot himself through the head, we do not know that for a fact. We do know that Radzinsky painted the hatch map so he therefore had knowledge of the other locations outside of the Swan. We were also told that it was Radzinsky who edited out certain sections of the Orientation video tape, for reasons unknown. In the same crate where Eko found the fake Bible which hid the missing videotape, he also found a glass eye. All these things make this the most prominent and logical theory.
b) He is related to Alvar Hanso.
c) He is part of a third group of Others, and that group controls Smokey.
d) He is a member of Danielle's original group.

For whatever reason, everyone seems to think that Patch Man is in The Flame station, which was "left of the Swan" in the hatch map. I'm not sure why this seems to be the conclusion... but probably because the Swan is blown up, the Arrow (Ghetto hatch) had no computers in it, they were already in The Pearl, and the girls had seen the Caduceus hatch emptied out. That doesn't leave many choices.



BAD TO THE BONE

Eko's flashbacks served to confirm that he WAS, IS and ALWAYS WILL BE one bad-ass mofo and he is not going to apologize for it. After Yemi was shot and taken into the plane o' heroin instead of Eko, Eko started his life as a faux priest, all the while scamming a way to get outta dodge as quickly as possible.

But before doing so, he had to make absolutely sure that we all knew what a "bad man" he was by killing three drug lords who were terrorizing his village (justified, in my mind) and then planning to sell desperately needed vaccines to his old drug buddies (ok... that one's bad). His plan was foiled by a village woman who told him hat they didn't want his kind around there, and proceeded to board up Yemi's church that Eko had made unholy with his killings. Hence, Eko "owed Yemi one church," which explains why he was building one on the island.

AN ANSWER, PEOPLE!!!! AN ANSWER.

Nevermind the fact that we still have no idea how the plane o' heroin with Yemi in it ALSO ended up on the Island...


While running deliriously through the jungle reminiscing about his big pimpin' lifestyle, Eko realizes that he doesn't really regret anything he's done... in fact, he would do it all over again if he had the chance. Because he is GLAD he saved his brother and if that meant that he had to turn into a drug-running murderer for the rest of his life, so be it. In his final face-off with Fake Yemi, Eko defiantly refuses to repent, and that doesn't make Fake Yemi very happy.

SMOKEY STRIKES AGAIN!


Extremely bad CGI effects aside, I thought the Smokey Attacks! scene was very cool. Because I LIKE the supernatural aspects of the show and the less something can be explained, the better, as far as I'm concerned.

Previously, Eko had a stare-down of sorts with Smokey, in which we saw images from his life flash within the black cloud. That scene, combined with the fact that in this episode Fake Yemi confirmed that he was not actually Eko's brother reincarnated ("You speak to me as if I am your brother...") , has led most people to the conclusion that Smokey can shape-shift into various things. People think that everything from Jack's Zombie Dad to Kate's black horse to Hurley's friend Dave was probably actually Smokey in hindsight. Some people thought that since Jack's dad's body had disappeared from the coffin and since Yemi's body had also disappeared from the plane, that Smokey could only take the form of a body it had "found." I don't buy that theory because Eko also saw the three dudes he killed in the church, yet their bodies were never on the island.

A second theory is that in their initial encounter, Smokey was downloading images from Eko's life to use against him later. We found out that when Locke saw Smokey in Season One, it only showed him a "white light," which most people took to mean that Locke is truly a "good person." So perhaps there is nothing that The Island/Smokey can use against Locke in the future.

We received another answer in Eko's death scene. "The monster" and Smokey ARE one in the same. Before, we were not sure if "the monster" (who killed the pilot of Flight 815 and was known to roar and shake trees) was the same thing as Smokey, since we could not figure out how Smokey could actually kill anyone. It has been confirmed by the producers that they are the same thing. Check that one off the list!

It is not yet understood, however, why Smokey sounds like it is making mechanical noises (to me it sounds like being cranked up a hill on a rollercoaster). We also don't understand why Danielle had previously referred to it as a "security system for the island." One theory is that Smokey was originally meant to be some sort of security system for the Dharma Initiative, keeping any random island dwellers away from the project hatches, but then something went wrong. It is widely believed that the real name for Smokey is "Cerberus," as noted on the Hatch Map, where it is also noted that there was a "Cerberus malfunction." Perhaps what we are dealing with with Smokey is the much-dreaded "the invention has taken a life of its own!" scenario. It's alllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

Another thing that was confirmed by the producers is that Smokey is NOT (they repeat NOT) made up of nanobots. Thus destroying another fantasy of mine. Oh, well.




"BUT EKO, YOU COMPLETE ME!"

R.I.P. Mr. Eko... you of the very few words, you of the slobbery crying, you of the chin pigtails. Who will stare soulfully at your cross necklace? Who will be chosen to wield your mighty Jesus Stick? Who will play ying to Locke's yang?

No one will. For Mr. Eko cannot be replaced.

But let it be known that Eko died on his own terms, with a smile on his face. And he didn't pass on to the Big Island in the Sky without imparting one last disturbing warning to Locke:

"You're next."

The producers say that we as viewers need to decide if Locke interpreted Eko's words correctly. As in, did Eko mean that LOCKE was next, or did he mean that the collective group standing there (Desmond, Sayid, Paulo, Nikki AND Locke) was going to face the wrath of Smokey? Locke chose to pass on the message as "WE'RE next," but obviously Eko probably actually said, "You're next."

There is another way to interpret Eko's words... it doesn't have to mean "you're next... to DIE" - it could mean "You're next - to be judged."

Finally, some people think that Bernard must now be marked for death because all of the other Tailies have bit the dust. But that is not so... Cindy, the two kids and the other people the Others originally took from the Tailies' camp are still out there somewhere, and the producers promise that their whereabouts will be addressed this season. Although it IS weird that we haven't seen Bernard or Rose all season... And to that complaint, the producers promise once again that they WLIL get "back to the main characters" when the show returns in the winter. Let's just pray that means that Sayid will actually get some air time once again!



TRAFFIC VIOLATION OR DIVA BEHAVIOR?

Escaping the island for a few minutes... of course it was a huge joke that AAA, the actor who plays Eko, got kicked off the show shortly after receiving a traffic violation in Hawaii (it was NOT for drunk driving a la Libby and Ana Lucia, and he actually was cleared of the charges). However, it actually had nothing to do with that... the producers insist that AAA, similarly to Michelle Rodriguez (Ana Lucia), had only wanted a year-long contract. They thought it would be too much to kill Eko off at the same time as Ana and Libby, so they strung it out to the third season.

More gossipy sources have a different take... from TV Guide: "It's no secret that Adewale wasn’t the most beloved cast member. Per multiple sources, the 39-year-old actor had become an increasingly difficult presence on set, refusing to film scenes as scripted, insisting on rewrites and even "demanding" several times to be released from his contract."

I think there may be something to the rumor above. From this article, you can tell that AAA is A-OK with leaving the show.

LOST ARTICLE

Here is an article covering a few interesting fan theories.

FROM THE BOARDS
- Finally someone (albeit Benry) commented on Juliet’s resemblance to ex-wife Sarah. Now I am just wondering whether Juliet is testing Jack to see whether he is a “good person”. She is a great addition.
- Eyepatch Guy gave me the biggest case of the heebie jeebies since BOB on Twin Peaks. I'll have nightmares for weeks.
- And what was the point of tail section? A season later and all the characters are dead (or MIA in Bernard’s case). I know that the producers keep killing characters so that we don’t get complacent and to instill a real sense of danger. But all its done is shown me not to get too invested in the characters because there is a good chance that they won’t last. I have an inkling that’s not what was intended.
- ABC really hates those who get arrested.
- Are we supposed to believe that, in this case, Lostzilla is really the Hand of God executing its judgment?
- Who was the brother, if it wasn't the brother? What happened to his body?
- R.I.P. Eko. Badass to the end.
- Why do I watch this crap? No really, why?All I want is Charlie dead and I think he will be the last fool standing.
- Two important facts about the Monster -- it appeared to Locke as bright light, and it can apparently shapeshift into human form (Yemi, the guys Eko cut up in the church, etc.). Does this mean that the other apparitions on the island, like Kate's horse, Jack's dad, various flashback characters, have all been the Monster jerking people around?
- Yemi -- the real one -- they were doing an obvious Christ allusion with him (rolling a stone away from an empty tomb) but it's not really obvious why Yemi has to be a 'type of Christ', yet. I think we can guess that the smoky monstery thing can take the form of corpses it finds -- Jack's dad, Yemi -- and then turns into a vengeful Old Testament Jehovah thing.
- Anyway...I thought that was a damned good episode. It seems the writers finally figured out that all of the "OOH THE ISLAND IS ALL ABOUT SCIENCE!" stuff was absolutely worthless bollocks and have started moving back to the Big Island of Terrifying Shit. Amen. I'm surprised they killed off Eko. He was a great character. That smoke monster owned the f-ck out of that guy. "RAWWWRR SMOKE FIST SMASH. SMOKE FIST DESTROY!" Speaking of Smokey the Murderous Puff...are we all in agreement that it takes on human form now too? Yemi was really YemiWithSmokeFlavoring, right? It actually explains a lot in my eyes.The Clorox Blacklight map says that "Cerberus"(Smokey) has been malfunctioning for some time. So my theory is that while it used to be a security system, it went wacko somehow and now thinks that it's The Punisher/Judge Dredd. It scans people to see if they have done bad things (dunno how) and if they are "guilty"...well...it punishes their ass. Harshly.
- Locke=awesome, Desmond=hot and awesome, flashback=awesome. I'm glad Eko stood up for himself and his decisions. He was totally right. His death was dignified and suitable for his character. Not to mention his last words, which were kind of chilling. I was pleasantly suprised because I was expecting something forced and sentimental.
- This occurred to me as well. Could it even be that Ol' Smokey is masquerading as one of the main characters (Bernard, for example)?
- When Yemi and Eko walked off together in the "afterlife" it reminded me forcibly of the end of Gladiator when Russell Crowe is finally reunited with his son and wife in the Elysian Fields. Yeah, I admit I got a bit choked up, both times.
- I would have loved it if Juliet had included a few shots of herself holding signs reading, "Jack's in the basement/ mixing up the medicine..."
- What? No! You can't kill Eko! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PRESIDE OVER SAWYER AND KATE'S WEDDING! Or maybe I'm just imagining things. Rest in peace, Eko. You were the most badass priest out there.
- The Others sure know how to throw a classy funeral. That's how I wanna go.
- Re: Smoke Monster as Elephant - I actually thought it looked a bit more like a wooly mammoth, but that's just being nitpicky. If you go back and watch, it is clearly taking the form of some kind of pachyderm, so the "fist" that slams Eko would actually be a trunk. Fine distinction, but maybe one worth discussing - remember that the Smoke Monster also functioned as a snake when it grabbed Locke.
- I can't believe that after 2.5 seasons we're still having this discussion. I thought it was obvious that the Smoke Monster was a hologram with physical energy and substance, designed on the concept of Room 101 of 1984 (George Orwell) where it's different for each individual based in this case on what haunts them the most. So to me that means it is probably the horse from "What Kate Did" [I think]. I don't think that the monster is necessarily the "worst thing in the world" but more accurately is sort of like in the movie "Solaris" in that it reads your mind and "feeds" off your thoughts to create the embodiment of something that may be real, may be imagined, may be from your past, or may be allegorical, but that generally represents something that haunts you, even if subconsciously.
- A Cheeseburger in Paradise?
- I don't think Eko said, "You're next," to Locke. I think he told him, "Whatever you do, don't get arrested..."
- Does anyone think that Eko's death would have been about ten times better if we hadn't seen the ridiculous smoke monster CGI? Imagine, Eko runs into the forest after his refusal to repent scene, we then cut back to Locke and company, who hear the smoke monster, and then come up to a dying Eko. The stupid CGI ruined what should have been an incredibly meaningful moment. - Quite the opposite, I loved the scene. As someone mentioned way-back, I'm not sure how people can slate the CGI on the smoke-monster because, having never seen one, for all I know that's exactly how a shape-changing, mechanical-sounding, judgement-giving smoke-monster would kill its prey! I also like that we're seeing more and more of the monster - in the pilot, we saw little, just heard it. Then when Locke was taken, we saw the smoke. Then with Eko first time round, we saw the smoke AND the imagery. Now, we see the smoke AND its physical qualities, and get implications that it can either 'morph' into other shapes, or at least convince others that another shape is present. Maybe next time we see the smoke monster, we'll actually see it morphing into the hallucination (in fact, this time, with all the close-ups on Yemi after the "you speak to me as if..." speech, I was expecting him to 'poof!' into the black smoke. But hey!).
- On a shallow note, Jack's workout scene was a thing of beauty, as was the shirtlessness that followed. Both proved that Matthew Fox isn't nicknamed "Foxy" for nothing.
- I wonder if Charlie gets custody of the Jesus stick. Heroin + Jesus stick = one badass hobbit. Desmond better watch out.
- I missed Sawyer but at least he didn't get the crap beat out of him this episode. No Kate. YAY! My hatred of her burns like the fire of a thousand suns.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...

See all the dolls!

NO BEST LINES THIS TIME...

I depend on two different sites that typically post episode transcripts each week on Sunday... and neither posted the transcript for "The Cost of Living" this week for some reason. Hence, I cannot provide the "Best Lines of the Episode" as I normally do because I do not have time to rewatch the episode and take funny lines down. However, I remember when I was watching it live that I thought it was absolutely hilarious when Benry started telling Jack his tale of woe and all Jack could do was respond, "Uh, do you mind if I eat this cheeseburger??"

ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER

So we are down to the "fall finale." I saw two full minutes of it (don't ask, I fell off the Spoiler Wagon) and if nothing else, those two minutes were awesome, so I have high expectations...

11/8/06 - I Do - U.S. preview, and Canadian preview (they show different scenes)

2/07/06 - Not in Portland

That's right, February 7th is when our beloved show will return to us. I have been surprised by how many people I've been talking to who did NOT know about the hiatus. Hello!?!?! Have you not been paying attention to this blog?

So, next week's will be the last write-up for a while. Although I realize that every week so far we've been saying "Next episode looks GOOD" and it hasn't necessarily been, I really do think the "mini-finale" will leave us with a lot to talk about.

Until then,
- e

S3Ep4 - Every Man for Himself (Sawyer's fourth flashback)

Hello my dear friends -

We are now 2/3rds done with the mini-season!!! While I am depressed about that, I'm still fine with The Powers That Be breaking up the season into two parts rather than giving us a smattering of re-runs for months on end. Plus, Jack Bauer will be back in January to tide us over.

On to 'Every Man for Himself' - another Sawyer flashback. I thought the show was back on track with this episode, recovering nicely from the blahness that was Locke's flashback. Although it was a little dark for my taste... I'm totally over Sawyer getting a beat-down every other minute, and was not a fan of the bunny-shaking scene, despite the fact that said bunny ended up OK. Here is what I gather we should be thinking about as a result of this episode...


EVENFLOW, BROTHA!


I saw Pearl Jam in concert a few months ago, and was really surprised that Eddie Vedder didn't take the opportunity to tell all of his fans in the audience that he was going to be launching an acting career on Lost. He's so humble! Who knew that Eddie has been the guy playing Desmond all along? Shout-out to DW for pointing out that they are one in the same.


In other Desmond news - it seems very obvious now that he can see into the future. Whether he actually realizes that that's what he's doing remains to be seen. But he definitely foresaw the lightning strike near Claire's tent. The question I have is - did he see a vision of the lightning striking the tent and bursting it into flames and/or hurting someone, because if so, then that means he has the power to CHANGE what he sees in a vision to prevent it from happening. I figure that has to be what is going on, because why else would he try to get Claire to move if he didn't think something bad was going to befall her? Regardless of how exactly he is getting his information about the future, I still don't think he fully realizes what is going on with his new ability. He acted confused last episode when talking about Locke's speech... he obviously thought that it already happened when referencing it to Hurley, when in reality the speech had not yet been made.

And I guess more than just Hurley can see him. Damn. And now more people than just Hurley are suspicious of him, too.

One theory on the boards worth mentioning is that Desmond is somehow living his life (or some period of time in his life) over and over until he "gets it right." So, it's not like he necessarily is seeing into the future, it's just that he is remembering things that he needs to do from each time he makes a new try. Some of you who have been with me since Season 1 may remember that this "time loop" theory was one that I was (and still am) a strong believer in...


WILL WORK FOR J.J.


JAVIER!!!! Oh, how I've missed you.

Let it be known that if you work for J.J. Abrams once, chances are you will work for him again. Let's not forget that the pilot of doomed Flight 815 was yet another Felicity alum...




SPEAKING OF SHE OF THE CURLY LOCKS...


Lost needs to take a lesson from the Felicity playbook, because THAT show knew its way around a love triangle. Felicity, Noel and Ben could take Kate, Sawyer and Jack any day when it comes to dramatic moments, longing glances, mixed emotions and flip-flopping. Hell, Jack isn't even around - so how can Kate "choose?"

Although many people think that's exactly what she did when she repeated Jack's "Live together, die alone" mantra to Sawyer after telling him she only said she loved him to get Pickett to stop his rampage.

Let's face it, Kate has continually been asking about Jack, and went totally berzerker when he was marched out with the sack over his head. Yes, she stayed with Sawyer in the cages, but I don't think that really signifies anything. She's smart enough to know that she'd get caught if she tried to run on her own. Plus she just saw Jack, so she may want to stick around to see if he gets marched by the cages again. And really, what's left for her back in the Lostaway camp? Nothing. My bet is that she will end up with Jack, since supposedly she WILL "make a choice" this season. However, if she wants to screw things up with both of them, then she can chop her hair off a la Felicity.



NO REST FOR THE WICKED



So Colleen dies, and Pickett unleashes his fists of fury on Sawyer for revenge...

Raise your hand if you are sick of Sawyer getting the crap kicked out of him every episode.

Seriously, ENOUGH already.





THE CON MAN GETS CONNED

I am really glad that the whole "Faux Pacemaker o' Doom" thing got wrapped up in one episode, because I really didn't need to be having nightmares about exploding hearts. Between the Sawyer-chained-to-the-table/huge-ass-needle/Pulp-Fiction scene, the bunny-rattling scene, the Stopwatch o' Fear and the beat-down by Pickett, Lost got a little too violent and dark for my taste. I hope the worst is over.













What we did learn from all of those scenes is that the only thing Sawyer really cared about was protecting Kate. He was going to save her from the Pacemaker o' Doom, even if that meant forgoing a chance to watch her change her clothes - I mean, is that love or what? So I think he is left utterly confused now. She said she loved him, then claimed it was only to save him from Pickett, then she tried to break him free, only to climb back into her cage when he refused to escape with her. She must be staying for the fish biscuits. But now Benry definitely knows how to get to Sawyer...

The Sawyer flashbacks themselves, while entertaining because they featured a few good character actors, only served to further the "con man with a heart of gold" impression we already had of Sawyer. If nothing else, it was interesting to learn he has a daughter out there (named Clementine, how perfect is that?), and that when all was said and done, he did care about making sure she was provided for.


HE'S NOT THE BOSS OF YOU!

Over in Hydra Hatch land...

Jack: Am I gonna keep watching cartoons or...are you gonna tell me why I'm here?
Juliet: I hope you like blueberry. If not, I can...
Jack: Should I talk to Benjamin?
Juliet: Sorry?
Jack: Should I talk to Benjamin? Because, I'm starting to think that you're just the person who brings me my food.
Juliet: You can talk to him all you want, but he won't tell you anything.
Jack: You work for him.
Juliet: No, I don't work for him.
Jack: He's in charge?
Juliet: Well it doesn't work that way over here Jack. We make decisions together.
Jack: Really? Because, when I was holding that broken plate at your neck he seemed happy to just let you die. I mean it felt like he made that decision on his own.
Juliet: You don't know what you're talking about. I don't answer to him.
[Ben opens the door and rushes through]
Ben: Juliet! I need you!
Juliet: Can it wait?
Ben: The sub is back. We have a situation. So come with me now.


Jack: 1, Juliet: 0.

However, what was interesting to me about that scene was that this exact same tactic was used by Benry to try to influence Locke back when Benry was being held prisoner:

LOCKE: Well, Dostoyevsky had his virtues, too. He was a genius, for one. Bullfighting isn't everything.
GALE: So, which one are you?
LOCKE: I'm sorry.
GALE: Are you the genius, or are you the guy who always feels like he's living in the shadow of a genius?
LOCKE: I was never very much into literary analysis.
GALE: I just don't understand why you let the doctor call the shots.
LOCKE: No one calls the shots. Jack and I make decisions together.
GALE: Right, okay. My mistake.
[Locke leaves the armory, starts to do the dishes, and then loses his temper, swiping all the dishes on the counter to the ground.]


These parallel scenes tell me that we shouldn't underestimate Jack - he may just outsmart The Others yet.


WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW...






As you might have caught in the scene I pasted in above, Benry mentioned that "the sub is back." If The Others have a submarine, then that would explain how they came out of nowhere when jumping onto the sailboat with Sun.

Some people think that "sub" could also have meant subway or substitute.








I'M NOT A DOCTOR... BUT I PLAY ONE ON THE ISLAND


Sawyer: [Muffled, over the intercom in Jack's cell] Wait! Wait! What are you doing!? No!
[Shot of Sawyer lying on the table]
Sawyer: [Muffled] What the hell are you doing!? Let me out of here!
[Shot of needle near Sawyer's chest]
Jason (An Other): No! You have to go through the sternum. The sternum! Like in the movie...
Other Man: I know! I know.
Sawyer: [Muffled] Wait! No! No!
Other Man: 1!
Sawyer: [Muffled] What are you doing?
Other Man: 2!
Sawyer: [Muffled] Wait!


Uh....
"Like in the movie???"

Something leads me to believe that The Others don't have a staff of real doctors on hand. First, you have the scary statement made above. Second, Juliet told Jack that she was a fertility doctor and didn't seem to know how to perform certain parts of surgeries that people on the boards claim a "real" fertility doctor would've learned in med school. Third, we had seen in Claire's flashback that Ethan knew how to handle needles and injections, but he's now dead. And fourth, they had to bring Jack in to help out. So who was the team of doctors huddling around the operating table that Claire spied in her flashback last season? Not sure. Either way, that hatch (Medical/Caduceus) is on the other island, whereas we now know that the Hydra is definitely more remote and probably couldn't call up that team of people in an emergency.


And then we had this exchange between Jack and Juliet near the end of the episode:

Juliet: I'm going to take you back now. Um, I'm...I'm sorry for bringing you here.
[Juliet bends down to unlock the handcuffs and Jack grabs her wrist]
Jack: Whose x-rays are those? Outside? Those are spinal x-rays and they belong to a man about 40 years old. And whoever he is, he has a very large tumor on his L-4 vertebrae. And I just happen to be a spinal surgeon. So, you tell me, Juliet, who am I here to save?


And I would ask... WHY does Jack need to save whomever it is that has the tumor? Why are The Island's magical powers not working on this tumor - too fried from curing Rose's cancer and Locke's legs and even possibly Jin's infertility?


What makes me nervous about all of this is not so much that they may have kidnapped Jack in order to save Benry... but rather, why did they take Sawyer and Kate? I still have a very bad feeling about what is going to happen to them - especially Sawyer.



OTHER RANDOM THINGS TO NOTE

- When Jack was watching cartoons in his cell, one of them was of a Swan swimming around - which some people figure was a nod to the Swan Hatch.
- The intercom in Jack's cell does seem to work intermittently, even though Juliet cliamed it had been out of commission for years. Before, Jack thought he heard his father's voice through it. This time he definitely heard Sawyer's scuffle. So what is going on with that thing? Some people think it is being controlled by the "good" Others, like Alex and perhaps some of the other kids who were raised on the island.
- Sun is now officially a killer as Colleen has died. She joins the ranks of Charlie and I'm sure a few others who became killers once they were on the island.
- Yet another book was mentioned - "Of Mice and Men." Three points to you if you have any idea how this relates to Lost, except for the speech Benry recited from it at the end of the episode.
- A lot of people are rooting for a Claire/Desmond hook-up now...




DUALING ISLANDS



The big reveal at the end of the episode was that they are not actually on the same island as is the original Lostaway camp. Or are they?

Many people on the boards think that this is yet another hoax by Benry, because pretty much everything he has said to the Lostaways has been a lie so far. To this point, others have brought up the fact that neither Kate, Jack nor Sawyer has recalled taking a boat from the ferry where they were first kidnapped. But perhaps they were drugged and don't remember it?

I personally think it's pretty hard to fake another island... So...

If there are two islands, then the general consensus is that the creepy utopia village we saw in the premiere is on the original island, and only the Hydra hatch is on Falcatraz (board nickname for the mini-island). Remember that Benry said that Ethan and Goodwin could make it to the crash sites in an hour, and those sites did appear to be on the same island as was The Others' village. It is also true that the Hydra does not appear, or is at least not clearly marked, on the hatch map that Locke saw last season - which would make sense it if wasn't on the same island as the Swan. So the belief is that The Others live on the main island and take a sub from the Pala Ferry to Falcatraz for "work."

And in case you are thinking that the operating room where Jack attemped to save Colleen was the same one where Ethan took Claire... just stop thinking that, because you are wrong. The Ethan/Claire operating room was clearly in the Medical/Caduceus hatch, which was definitely on the original island because Claire escaped from it and was able to find her way back to the beach.

MR. EKO... FROM JESUS STICK CARRIER TO... NASDAQ BELL RINGER??

Hey CG - get Locke to open for us one day and I'll build a shrine to you...



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


Pickett: Time for work!
Sawyer: Sounded a little stuffy there, Chinatown. Need to blow your nose?
Pickett: Give me an excuse.
Sawyer: I thought I just did. What I gotta do, talk about your mother?




[Ben, Juliet, and the others carrying Colleen run through the cage area on their way to the Hydra. Pickett joins them.]
TOM: She's hurt bad, Juliet.
JULIET: Keep her steady.
PICKETT: She's going to be fine, right? She's going to be okay?
KATE [to Sawyer]: What happened?
SAWYER: WE happened.



Sawyer: Watch and learn, little lady.
[Sawyer activates the shock mechanism in his cage]
Sawyer: There's juice pumping into this box from somewhere. Next time someone comes to pull me out... I'm going to wait until they step into my little swimming hole. Then I grab them. Zap! They fall back from the shock, I snag the keys. Bet the bears never thought of that.




SAWYER: You get little mints on your pillow at night, too?
MUNSON: Sorry?
SAWYER: You're here, what, a week? And you're on tote bag duty? I've been here 9 months; I'm still pushing trash.
MUNSON: What does that mean?
SAWYER: You think the warden's breaking up those fights because you're cute, Costanza?




[Kate opens the bag of clothes and prepares to change]
Kate: Turn around.
[Sawyer watches Kate's bare back as she puts on her shirt adn his pulse rate goes up and the watch starts beeping]
Kate: What's that?
Sawyer: It's just my watch. It's busted.
Kate: When did you get a watch?
Sawyer: Look! I don't tell you everything! Just leave me alone, dammit!
[The beeping gets faster]
Sawyer: Put some clothes on!



Juliet: Col. It was short for Colleen. I shouldn't have...uh, I should have come to get you sooner.
Jack: It wouldn't have mattered. There wasn't any more that you could have done. She was... she was dead before you put her on the table.
Juliet: Are you... are you just saying that to make me feel better?
Jack: [Sort of laughs] I don't...I don't care about making you feel better.
[e: I was cheering at that one.]



BEN: You ever been to Alcatraz -- take the tour? Right now you're standing on a small island roughly twice the size of Alcatraz. And that over there -- that's your island -- the one you've come to know and love. I just wanted you to know there's nowhere to run.
SAWYER: You did all this just to -- just to keep me in a damn cage?
BEN: We did all this because the only way to gain a con man's respect is to con him. And you're pretty good, Sawyer. We're a lot better.



FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY

- I loved Sawyer in the very beginning, where he saw the shot Colleen, guessed "we" did it, and was thrilled- I was with him all the way on that. I so wanted to tell him that it was Sun- he'd be so proud of her.
- Too bad Sayid got waylaid by Rousseau and never completed his circle-all-the-way-around-the-shoreline-and-make-sure-this-really-is-an-island plan. Then the Lostaways would already know about the Little Isle of Horrors.
- And loved Jack's little smile, with "I don't care about making you feel better." Juliet looked a little stung by that. WTF, girl. You're keeping him in a cage.
- I thought it was funny that Sawyer seemed so disgusted with Benry for killing the bunny. It was like, dude, you've killed a PERSON. Uh... not that that stops me from finding him terribly attractive. Though I was disturbed by the return of the half-ponytail in the flashbacks.
- I don't know why Benry pulling the bunny out of his stylish American Eagle messenger bag was so funny, but it just really was to me.
- When Benry started quoting OM&M with the music in the background, did anyone else think he was going to burst into song? I was totally hoping he would.
- I thought Benry's 'Of Mice and Men' quote was telling today... "when a man is lonely too long he gets sick." These people have been cut off from reality for too long.
- I thought the quote was telling, particularly because in making it Benry revealed that he is a freaking genius, if we didn't already know that. With no advance warning he is able to quote at length from Sawyer's (allegedly) favorite book, an appropriate passage that Sawyer himself doesn't recognize. Okay, that is a little scary.
- Wish Desmond had managed to ground that lightning strike on Paolo's useless ass.
- 'Live Together Die Alone' is Jack's motto. 'Every Man for Himself' is Sawyer's. Thus the significance of Kate's words: She has chosen to side with Jack. (Of course.)
- And what was the deal with the defibrillator being broken? The Others can manage to maintain the surveillance system, the submarine (probably), and the friggin' fish biscuit dispenser system, but they can't be bothered with a fairly simple life-saving device?
- I loved the episode for the same reason I've loved all the episodes so far this season - they reinforce the idea that for as much as the Lostaways are trying to reinvent themselves on the island, they are all still very much the same people they were before the crash. For better or worse.
- What's interesting is Kate's admission she loved Sawyer got the mad captor to stop, rather than pushing him to finish Sawyer. Why would that be? If the mad captor were looking for real payback, wouldn't he prefer to kill a Lostie that was loved, because he lost someone he loved? Instead, Kate's admission stopped him. Interesting, no?
- Good episode. We finally get some answers (as little as they may be) after three episodes. Juliet is a fertility doctor - interesting connection since the Others kidnapped Alex, Walt, Claire and those other children from Flight 815. I'm guessing Benry is the one with the spinal tumor, which helps explain why they took Jack. But why Sawyer and Kate? Do they want Sawyer to impregnate Kate so they can do experiments on her baby? I'm hoping they don't go there though.
- Anyway, I'll continue to watch, but I'm getting tired of the Others. I gave a little cheer when the Other flatlined. At least that's one less Other to deal with. Cold, but true.
- ... and one less blond woman to keep straight. Even the Other woman are not faring well in the death count. No wonder they need a fertility doctor.
- I'm fully vested in the party of disbelief now. Castaways, including ones we haven't seen or heard from, have been on an island for 2 damn months and they never walked around the outside and *looked*? There could be a damn Holiday Inn on the other side for all they know! WTF?
- There's the series finale right there: they go on a walkabout and find a tropical resorts on the other side of the island, and they're saved! Hah.
- Alls I'm gonna say is, if I ever was dumb (or mean) enough to toss my bunny into a messenger bag and haul her up the side of a mountain, Foo Foo would chew right through the bottom of the bag in about 2.5 minutes and hop her little ass somewhere where no one was going to paint numbers on it. Poor bunny. I hope it bites the hell outta Benry when they get back. I wanted to stuff him into a messenger bag, see how he likes it.
- Please, Jack, use your skills as a bargaining chip and ask a frickin' question!! How about "Where are the kids?" or "What are you people doing here??"
- I like how Ben's appearance is deceiving me time and again. He appears to be upper management, wears nerdy glasses, neat clothes, knows entire Steinbeck passages by heart, yet is not afraid to get his hands dirty and beat Sawyer. Never saw that one coming. And I loved it! Ben continues to amaze. For me the greatest character addition to a show since Alan Shore and "The Practice."
- Interesting that toward the end of the episode, Benry refers to the other island as "your island" to Sawyer - ie. "that's your island, the one you've come to know and love." Probably nothing, but an interesting contrast to Zeke's "this is our island, and the only reason you're living on this island..." speech.
- I have never understood the Jack-hate, and in writing this I will probably be cut down... but I like Jack. I have not seen him as condescending and arrogant, but rather a stressed person in the reluctant position of trying to lead in this crisis. He totally takes his surgeon persona into how he responds to things. I work with surgeons. They take charge in a crisis. That seems very in character to me. So why do people hate Jack so much, when all is easily forgiven about Sawyer and the guns? Sawyer is not a team player for the most part, but Jack usually is. Why does Sawyer get such a break?



PREVIEWS

I linked to the preview for 'The Cost of Living' below... and when I watched it "live" I literally squealed with fright when eye-patch-dude showed up on the monitor. Who is THAT guy?!?!

Then some people on the boards pointed out that in the Swan Hatch mural, there is a drawing of a guy with one of his eyes crossed out (upper right, the eye on the right has an X through it). And let us not forget the GLASS EYE that the Tailies found in the chest in their Ghetto Hatch in "Another 48 Days"...


I say: "Bring on the pirates!!!"

I also say: "They drew that mural at the beginning of Season 2, so STOP SAYING that the writers haven't thought things through!!!!" Seriously, if you look really hard, you can see a bunny with an 8 on his back, too.



[Um, I'm lying. Stop looking for the bunny in the mural. I pasted the real one in below if it makes you feel better.]


TWO MORE TO GO...

11/1 - The Cost of Living

11/8 - I Do

Then we are DONE 'TIL FEBRUARY!!!! I can't take it.

- e

S3Ep3 - Further Instructions (Locke's fifth flashback)

Hello my dear friends -

SEE! I TOLD YOU there was a time warp!

Lost went back to the 60s, psychedelic-style, this episode... from Locke's trippy Boone and airport hallucinations to his peace and pot-lovin' "family" featured in his flashbacks. And of course Desmond is jumping into the FUTURE...

But before getting into the details, let me first state that overall, I did NOT like this episode. As Triumph the Comic Insult Dog would say best, this episode was great... for me to POOP ON! Yes, I know that this must come as a shocker as the focus was on my man Locke. I WAS and AM happy that he is back to his island-worshipping ways, that he's checked his bitterness at the sweat lodge door and that he has regained his confidence. However, this episode was what they call "a filler," and there is no way to deny it. Basically, nothing happened. Therefore, there's not a heck of a lot to comment on this time around, although I've still managed to spend hours on this post and am cursing the living daylights out of Bill Gates because Explorer keeps crashing and I keep losing everything.

But back to Lost... The scary part is that we are now officially half-way through the first part of the mini-season, with only 3 episodes left before the break until February! These last three better be really awesome to make up for the crap that was 'Further Instructions.'

Since it is not my job to only tell you what I think, I do have to report that the vast, vast majority of people on the boards absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED this episode. Perhaps everyone was influenced by the hippies in Locke's flashbacks, but love is in the air for the series again. I was totally shocked. I thought I was going to be reading a sea of raving mad posts, cries for "answers," threats to boycott, and declarations of abandoning the show. Yet it was completely the opposite, with some people going so far as to say this was the "best episode in a year." To that I say... (you should know what I'm going to say by now): "Saaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?????"

Enough with my complaining - there were a few things of note to talk about, so here we go:


WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN

Remember in Season 1 when Locke slapped a bunch of goop all over Boone's head and it caused him to have crazy hallucinations about the monster killing Shannon? Well, that goop (most likely some form of peyote that Locke has MacGyverishly whipped up) worked its wonders once again, this time on Locke himself. And lo and behold, who did the sweat lodge spirits summon but He Of the Well-Groomed Eyebrows, Subtly-Placed-Eyeliner and Ever-So-Lovingly-Coiffed Hair. That's right, my friends... BOONE was back in all of his glory, to the delight of shrieking 14-year-old-female fans everywhere. I just checked back in my email archives to when I used to send these write-ups out the old-fashioned way, and sure enough, there it was in writing - I cheered and high-fived my friends when Boone so unceremoniously died in "Do No Harm." Therefore, I was not pleased to see him again. It would've been cooler to have had Peg Bundy appear. But whatever, we are stuck with Boone.

So Boone ends up serving no purpose, much like the episode at large. He wheels Locke around in a dream that takes place in the fateful Sydney airport, for no other reason than to get Locke to figure out that he needs to "clean up his mess" and help save Eko. Duh! I could've told Locke that just from watching the "previously on Lost" clips! As Boone fades back into the ether, the teepee fire goes out with a polar bear roar. Somehow from all of this, Locke not only gets his voice and his cojones back, but also figures out that Eko has been dragged off by a polar bear yet is still alive somewhere and must be rescued. Um, did the ABC interns take over writing this episode or what? Weak.

Before we completely leave the sweat lodge, however, let me just mention one small bit of possible foreshadowing. As Locke is seeing all of the characters in the airport, when he points to Charlie, Claire and Turniphead, Boone says, "Not them, they'll be fine -- for a while." Perhaps that was meant to signal that the budding romance between Charlie and Claire will not remain happy for much longer... or that Turniphead will finally be kidnapped, or morph into the Anti-Christ. I mean, it's gotta mean SOMETHING bad will happen to them, right?

And let us not forget that this was not the first freaktastic premonition of Locke's. Who can forget his crazy "Theresa falls up the stairs, Theresa falls down the stairs" vision, complete with a bloody Boone? That hallucination actually foretold Boone's death.



FUTURE LOCKE SIDE-KICKS, BEWARE!

LOCKE: I'm going to go on alone, Charlie. You go back to Claire.
CHARLIE: Well, I'll take my chances.
LOCKE: You don't want to go with me, Charlie. Bad things happen to people who hang around with me.

You know, every time there's a Locke flashback, I get depressed. This guy has really had a crappy life, has he not? This flashback showed us what ended up happening to Locke after his daddy skipped town post-fake-funeral and his fiance dumped him. What else could Locke have done but... join a hippie pot-growing cult? I must admit I was a tad surprised by that turn of events, but it actually all makes sense now since Locke has been meditating, waxing poetic and dropping bizarro references ever since the pilot episode. This man will go to great lengths to feel like he is part of a family.

So much so that he was psychologically profiled by the police as being easily influencable, which has definitely been confirmed over the past few seasons. Along comes undercover agent Eddie, whom Locke immediately tries to take under his wing... and he falls right into the trap that was planned for him.

While we saw that at the very end, after confronting Eddie about the truth and threatening him with a rifle, Locke didn't turn out to be a killer and lowered the gun to let Eddie escape, we know that all must not have turned out well for Eddie from Locke's line at the top of this section. My guess is that the other "family" members killed Eddie, and perhaps Locke even got caught in the cross-fire and that's how he ended up paralyzed. Either way, I'm sure the story with Eddie didn't end where the flashback in this episode ended.

How many people thought Locke was going to shoot Eddie? I must admit that I did. Even though there was a little voice saying to me, "He can't shoot him because otherwise he wouldn't be "one of the good ones" as Benry told him he was last season..." there was another voice saying that maybe this would prove that The Others DON'T know everything about everyone on the island. It would've also added yet another person to the ever-growing "murderer" roll call on Flight 815.


But I should've had more faith in Locke, for God's sake. He did the right thing.



GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


THE SETTING: Hippie cult luncheon
MIKE [referring to Eddie's shirt]: So, you like Geronimo Jackson, huh?
EDDIE: Uh, yeah, yeah, they're alright. It's one of my dad's old shirts.
MIKE: Your dad has excellent taste.

Geronimo Jackson is alive again! The first time we heard reference to this band was when Hurley and Charlie came across their album in the hatch. This led some people to theorize that Eddie's dad must be in the Dharma Initiative. Or that Mike (lead hippie cult guy) is...

Someone on the boards also pointed out: "The advertising really goes full circle for this show - the Jeep Compass commercial played "New York Streets" by Geronimo Jackson." I missed that one!!! Lost writers: constantly finding new ways for people to stop using Tivo to forward through commercials. Ingenious!


SWAN HATCH, MAY YOU REST IN PEACE

This post from the boards sums it up best: "Philosophical question: if a hatch implodes in the jungle and no one dies...was it ever really there? Does anybody care?"

It's safe to say that the writers have officially, literally and figuratively written off the hatch. Swan Hatch, you served us well. We only knew you from the outside for half of Season 1, but all through Season 2 you were there for us. You will be remembered fondly. You will also be forever memorialized in my condo (see below)... may you rest in peace.

BROWN IS THE NEW BLACK, LOCKE IS THE NEW JACK

Not only has Locke usurped Jack's position as "leader of the Lostaways," he's also stolen his opening scene of the entire series - nearly frame for frame. It is actually pretty strange... see for yourself!

Some people thought that 'Further Instructions,' the title of this episode, was a reference to Locke receiving direction from "the island" once again. Others, however, pointed out that it could be a reference to the fact that Eko's Jesus Stick has a new inscription on it: "Lift up your eyes and look north - John 3:05." This may give Locke a clue as to where to head to go save Kate, Jack and Sawyer.

THE BEAR NECESSITIES

If you know anything about polar bears, then you know that they all keep toy Tonka trucks in their caves.

Yeah, toy trucks, human skeletons, and Dharma Pearl Hatch logos...

That's right, if you were watching closely, then you saw all of those things strewn around ol' Whitey's cave. Some suspect that perhaps the Dharma Initiative lived in those caves and the polar bear eventually moved in after they moved out. Remember that in Season 1 we saw a cave behind the waterfall that also housed skeletons and black and white stones...



UM... DID SOMEONE TELL HIM IT'S NO LONGER A GOOD THING TO BE COMPARED TO TOM CRUISE?

If you blinked then you missed it... two new characters were lamely introduced this episode - Paulo and Nikki. Need to see it again?

Anyway, supposely the actor who plays Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) is known in his homeland as "The Brazilian Tom Cruise." I know him as "That guy who Laura Linney obsessed over in 'Love, Actually.'" Either way, it was a cop-out way to enter the show - with Locke just acting like we've known these two for the past two seasons - very similar to what they did with poor Arnzt. And we all know what happened to HIM!

LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN...

WHEN WILL YOU PEOPLE LISTEN TO ME!?!

THERE *IS* A TIME WARP GOING ON, or my name isn't, e, dammit!

How many of you have read The Time Traveler's Wife? Raise your hands. OK. For those of you who have not read it, stop reading THIS and go out and get it, because it is one of my top 3 favorite books of all time. Shout-out to T.V. for giving it to me! And dammit if Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt didn't buy the movie rights BEFORE they got divorced, so now the movie will never get made. It's probably better that way. For those of you who HAVE read it (and fear not, I am giving away nothing by saying this for those of you who are going to follow my orders and read it), then you may recall that whenever Henry time-traveled, he wound up naked. Hello!?!?!?! HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Desmond has been time traveling! The Hatch didn't blow off his clothes, please. I'm betting anyone who will take me up on it, right now, five bucks says that eventually we will find out Desmond has traveled into the future whether he knew it or not. I am saying this completely spoiler free, and I actually have no money, so I'm banking that none of you can find where I live if I'm wrong.

But whether he time-traveled, or got Walt-like psychic powers as a result of the hatch implosion, or if he's "like the Hulk" per Hurley's assessment, it is clear that something is going on with our favorite Scottish brotha.

Another reason to suspect a time warp is the fact that Charlie stated that Locke had been gone a full day... and all of a sudden, a DAY AFTER the hatch implosion, Mr. Eko's Jesus Stick comes falling out of the sky? Hmmmmmmmmmm?

The final strange incident was Mr. Eko briefly regaining consciousness and reminding Locke that he "is a hunter"... which is exactly what Locke had just been remembering himself saying to Eddie in his flashback. That might not have been the result of Eko time-traveling, but it's definitely strange.

SHOULD I BET AGAINST MYSELF?

OK, so although it is very clear that I am desperately hoping that there will be time travel in this series, I just read a post that makes me reconsider what I said above.

Judge for yourself: "Tonight I was watching this episode with my husband, who doesn't normally watch the show, and he asked a question that I didn't have an answer to - "Is Hurley the only one who can see Desmond?" Interesting, because there's no evidence that anyone besides Hurley has acknowledged Desmond's presence. Thoughts?"

D'OH! This person is RIGHT! I just re-read all of the parts with Hurley and Desmond and sure enough, they are alone. Even at the end when Desmond is shown throwing rocks into the sea, and it appears that Charlie is looking at him, all that is certain is that Charlie is looking out to follow where Hurley's eyes were. Hurley does not actually reference Desmond:

CHARLIE [to Hurley]: Not a bad speech.
HURLEY: Whoa.
CHARLIE: Whoa, what?
HURLEY: I just got hit with, you know, deja vu. [Hurley looks at Desmond again]
CHARLIE [looking in the direction of Desmond and then back at Hurley]: Okay. Well, when that wears off can you get bandages from the kitchen?
[Hurley continues staring as Desmond. The last shot we see is of Desmond looking out to sea -- worried and slightly crazed.]

After all that, I've decided that I'm sticking with the Time Travel theory because technically Locke did see Naked Desmond run by in the opening scene. Didn't he... ?

OTHER RANDOM THINGS OF NOTE

- The epiosode started with an eye opening yet again...
- Charlie was ultra, ultra annoying. I kept praying that Locke would use him as polar bear bait.
- To all of you who thought that that head hippie guy in Locke's camp was Zeke The Other, you are wrong.
- The best part of Lost this week wasn't even on the show, or on the right network for that matter. It was on 'The Office' (around 1 minute 25 seconds).

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

[Locke continues gesturing while Charlie guesses what he's saying]
CHARLIE: You need to speak? To me? What do you want to--?
[Locke grabs a handful of sand]
CHARLIE: Sand? You need to speak to the sand?
[Locke gestures toward the tree line]
CHARLIE: Trees? Yeah, I've heard they're wonderful conversationalists. (e: if that wasn't a shout-out to LOTR fans, I don't know what is...)



CHARLIE: I need your help? Since when do you need my help?
[Locke writes something else on the paper.]
CHARLIE: I need you to stand guard? Oh yeah, so you can talk to the island. Dangerous. Well, amusing as the mute game invariably is, you are aware, John, that I detest you, aren't you? You do remember repeatedly punching me in the face and accusing me of using heroin when I was not?




[We see that Locke has built a sweat lodge inside the frame of the church. He's mixing something in a coconut bowl, as Charlie looks on.]
CHARLIE: What's that? You're not taking drugs are you, John? I only ask because of the strict zero tolerance policy you've enacted, and I wouldn't want you to have to start punching yourself in the face.
[Locke shows Charlie a note that says: I need u 2 stand guard].
CHARLIE: Yeah, I know, I get it. You're going to go in your little magic hut and I'm going to stand out here in case you devolve into a monkey.




CHARLIE: What's that? More fur?
LOCKE: This way.
CHARLIE: You know, when I used to get high, I'd watch nature programs on the Beeb. Polar bears are meant to be quite clever. Very clever. They're like the Einsteins of the bear community.

WISE WORDS FROM THE BOARDS

- What's not to love here? Charlie with excellent snark. Naked Desmond. The return of Hunter!Locke. Eko - alive! Polar bears. Paulo. Hot!Dead!Boone. Again, Paulo. No people in cages. Only thing missing for me was Sayid. As for not finding out about the wheelchair? I'm patient. In fact, I don't want that answered for a bit longer. Anticipation is nearly always better than the real thing.
- So Locke is a 'hunter' but he did not shoot the sheriff? (sorry, now I have that song running in my head).
- Definitely the best episode in a while - probably because it was missing the annoying love triangle. I love Desmond as the t-shirt prophet. It seems like he may be joining Locke and Eko as the 3rd spiritual leader. I can't wait to find out if his seeming super power sticks. Also, I like that the island is communicating to these gurus through their dreams -showing them the future. Eko apparently had his own bit of prognostication while unconscious.
- Aaaaaaaaahhhh...this episode felt more like the show I know. Poor John, everybody he trusts craps all over him. I may have to rewatch the tape to see if I can catch any Desmond hiney when he was skipping rocks.
- Did anyone think for a moment or two that Eko died when they were trying to give him water? I had an "oh shit" moment there, remembering the latest DUI infraction, but then when they were dragging him back to camp I figured it was just me being nervous.
- Locke's vision - I loved it. I thought it was very interesting. I liked the forshadowing that Claire and Charlie might be soon facing some trouble. It is odd that Locke's vision seemed to know all the random shit everyone was going through, even though Locke may not consciously know all these things. I also like that deadBoone seemed so bored by all of it, but also mildly contemptuous of Locke and his bullshit. I also loved the return of bloody dead Boone at the end of the vision. Locke ran away from it the first time around.
- Locke is BAAAACKKK and I am off the bitterness for this episode at least. This is the best episode I have seen in about a year. I've said it before and I will say it again, Locke OWNS this show. I guess the Hunter has been re-reset. Even the flashback was relevant and, I thought, very well executed. I was angry while watching, thinking "if Locke shoots that cop, I am so not watching anymore", but he did the appropriate thing for his character.
- Is Eko's leg gone, or am I seeing things? If so, is he going to use the Jesus stick as a peg-leg?
- Clearly, Desmond's knowing about Locke's "speech" before Hurley did is a major bit of info. But I'm not willing to assume the Desmond is a "precog"...What if he's been time-shifted? Or like Billy Pilgrim, for just a little while, unstuck in time?There's been much speculation that time on the Island passes at a rate different than in the outside world... what if the Island's running slow, and Desmond's proximity to the tremendous forces unleashed in the hatch "implosion" had him running on external time for a while, and while he's now back on Island time, he's still running ahead? I know, it sounds half-baked, but remember Locke almost being hit by Eko's Jesus stick falling from the sky? I don't know how long it's been since the blast, but it's certainly been far longer than it should have taken the stick to fall. Could "Island Slo-Time" explain the delay?
- It was good to get the ol' Lost back. I didn't miss the Others one bit.
- I thought this episode was the best so far, and that’s saying a lot considering last week’s fantastic episode. In my mind, the writer’s seem to save their best stuff for Locke-centric episodes — and Terry O’Quinn absolutely owns that character. I was literally tensing up during the will-he-won’t-he scene pointing the rifle at the kid cop. That’s the first time in a long time I wasn’t sure of what a tv character would do. Bravo to the writers and Mr. O’Quinn for that scene. I thought the dream sequence was fantastic. I really liked the symbolism of Ben (Henry) as the security guard, w/ Jack at the metal detector — it really did bring to mind the Others as “gatekeepers” off the island and Jack getting ready to (presumably) depart.
- Next week looks intense. Perhaps the reason they abducted the three was for the love triangle. But it also brought to mind the fact that Jack and Kate both woke up with bandages for what was presumably an IV while Sawyer didn’t…perhaps that has something to do with what happens to him next week?
- Good thing that the polar bear was more like a Wampa Ice Creature and brought Mr. Eko back to the cave alive.
- The moral of this episode was: HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS SAVE LIVES. I wish Locke had gotten the stones to shoot Donnie Brasco. I was begging him to do it. CLEAN UP THE MESS, DUDE! I can't believe he wimped out on that. SUN has more balls than he does! She backs up those threats. But Locke? Unbelievable. But yeah...good episode. It brought back CreepyShamanLocke and I've missed him so. Yes...we must bring together THE FAMILY. Bring our friends HOME. *oOoOoOoOooo* You nutty drugtrip chasing bastard I love you.
- I liked the Locke flashback a lot because it echoed (pun not intended) Locke's entire time on the island. When we see him on the farm, he is someone who has found his faith again and received some sort of atonement for whatever he did prior to arriving at the farm. The same thing can be said of Locke after he arrived on the island (he could walk and he found his faith in the island) until he found the hatch... which is similar to when he picked up the hitchhiker because both the hitchhiker and the hatch made him lose his faith as soon as they both showed themselves to be not what Locke believed them to be. Because of this, Locke got desperate; desperate enough to do something crazy to fix things so he can go back to his happy ignorant place. In both cases, when at the moment of do or die (not entering the code in the hatch and pulling the trigger) he repents and regrets letting things get to this point. The episode is a great character study on Locke himself and why he is the way he is.
- As for the airport scene, it's the Jack, Kate, and Sawyer images I'm the most interested in. First off they're behind a security wall so Locke can see them but can't do anything, which works because it ties to the episode how he can't continue until he saves Eko. The big one for me is Ben being airport security and blocking Kate, Sawyer, and Jack from moving on. Is this symbolic because he's keeping them and only them from going home/becoming an "Other" or is it symbolic because he's only checking on Jack to allow Jack the chance to go home/become an "Other?"
- This is actually very interesting, the idea that Locke, who is certainly more of a badass hunter than some of the other more passive characters on this show, would not choose to kill when given the opportunity, even if it meant that killing a guy would help keep his family together. Contrast that with Michael.
- In all the flashbacks, Locke has only wanted love and acceptance from whatever family he could find, always to be denied. Michael, even up until the plane left Sydney, was trying to pawn Walt off on someone else (remember the phone call to his mother?). Michael killed two innocent people to retain a family he didn't care about until he lost it, Locke wouldn't kill even to save the thing he wanted most in the world. Very interesting characters in this show when you look beyond the surface.

3... 2... 1

10/25 - Every Man for Himself - I am FRIGHTENED by this preview??!

11/1 - The Cost of Living

11/8 - I Do (Mini-Finale)

Until next week,

- e