Lost: Don't Hold Your Breath

The Man in Black is willing to say or do anything to convince someone to kill Jacob. And he was desperate to leave the Island in 1867, when he'd already been there for a long time! What if the meddling in the universe is not from Jacob, but from the Smoke Monster's long attempt to find the loophole? That could place the divergence between the sideways and the original timeline way back in 19th century, and possibly explain some of the sideways differences we've seen. Anyway, we finally got our long awaited flashback for Richard Alpert!


Who is Richard Alpert? We've been waiting for years to learn the answer to that question. Did this episode really give us many answers? He was living on a Canary Island off Spain in 1867, and he worked in the fields. His wife fell ill, and he accidentally killed a doctor. Then he spent the next 140 years working for Jacob, doing...well we never get to that. In fact, this episode was much like the rest of season six - it gave Nestor Carbonell a chance to act his heart out, but gave viewers little in the way of plot development. It seems really strange to me that after five years of stories, rather than present us with a natural climax, the producers of Lost feel that they have so much character building left to do. We saw how Richard got his "job" but not what his job was really like.

What was it like for Richard, trying to bring people together from multiple countries and time periods to work on the Island? And the whole time, Richard would be trying to counteract the lies and manipulation of the Man in Black. What did Jacob have them doing for all that time? In theory, there were waves and waves of people arriving between 1867 and 2007, and Richard welcomed them in (if they didn't get killed by Smokey first). Who were those people? What did they all do? Oh, that's right, they were suddenly written off in batches, first in the massacre at the end of season three, and then during the Monster's attack on the Temple. None of those people matter at all to the writers.

What the hell was Richard doing on the Island for 140 years that he never learned a single thing from Jacob? He believes they're dead and in hell? It made no sense to say that to Jack, and was just another silly writer's trick. Alpert clearly said to Jacob in the flashback "Absolve me for my sins, so I don't go to hell." I guess that was meant to be a nod to fans, but the result is that they put a bunch of nonsense into a main character's mouth. Meanwhile, the producers are telling us they're making "character driven" stories. I'd rather have seen what the Others have been up to this whole damn time, than spend the whole season treading water with these "might-have-been" stories.

And what on earth is going on with the narrative structure? Is Richard flashing sideways? Is this his real past or the sideways past? After a season of stories about alterna-characters, are we supposed to suddenly read Richard's episode as a traditional flashback? Well, yes obviously. But you see why this presents a narrative problem, and in my opinion, one more reason why the flash sideways just doesn't work.


The writers also got caught with some major time discontinuity. We learned in "The Constant" that the Black Rock was lost following its departure in 1845, which has always presented a problem - how did they get dynamite, which was patented in 1867? The ship's ledger naming Magnus Hanso as captain was found in 1852, and subsequently purchased by Charles Widmore at auction. And now we have Richard boarding the ship and traveling to the Island...in the year 1867!

Plus, when we first saw Jacob and the Man in Black in the season five finale, we were shown a ship on the horizon and the statue remained intact. (Many fans theorized that ship was in fact the Black Rock.) Sitting on the beach, MiB says one day he's going to find the loophole to kill Jacob. In "Ab Aeterno", after the Black Rock destroys the Statue, Jacob is surprised to learn that MiB sent Ricardo to kill him. MiB later tells Jacob, as though for the first time, that he plans to kill him. Whoops! Are we to assume that the bizarre time currents surrounding the Island (the ones that made Daniel's test rocket arrive 31 minutes late) somehow changed night to day, and calm seas to a tsunami?

Finally, in this episode we see the Black Rock destroy the statue and land far inland - I call bullshit! Isn't this supposed to be a scifi show? They've got a long way to go. I would have preferred to see that the Island suddenly appeared underneath the Black Rock at some point due to being moved by the Frozen Wheel or something.


Well, our conflict continues to vaguely take shape. Jacob has been keeping the Man in Black on the Island for some time (To make a point? To win a bet?) and in the second half of the 19th century, MiB could take no more. He took advantage of Jacob's latest recruit, and sent him off in search of "the devil". Richard didn't go empty handed though, he had the same knife and instructions that were presented to Sayid by Dogen. So, why was the leader of the Temple giving someone the same knife and instructions that belong to the Man in Black? It didn't seem like Dogen really expected that to work on the Smoke Monster, so maybe he was just hoping Sayid would end up dead. With Dogen floating face down in the broken Spring of Life, I guess it will be hard to answer that question.

But it is certainly the same knife. It's a roman pugio - the same weapon used by the conspirators who stabbed Julius Caesar to death. This model was the type used by Roman soldiers in the early 1st century AD. When the Monster says he's been on the Island "a long time" is that what he means? Did the Man in Black once serve the Roman legions?


This episode didn't bring us much closer to an understanding of the Man in Black. We still have no explanation as to why he turns into a Smoke Monster and kills arrivals on the Island. Was he brought here like Jacob's other recruits, and if so, what makes him different? To hear him talk about it, the Man in Black is Jacob's prisoner, begging to be let go. But Jacob's side of the story is that, "An old friend grew tired of my company". Anyway, I did catch one detail that brought me some good old fashioned Lost joy. I think we saw the Man in Black take on another of his forms when he appears as a boar.

Richard has been trapped inside the Black Rock for sometime when he wakes and finds a boar is rooting in the corpses. He startles it, and as the boar runs out of the ship Richard drops the nail he is using to free himself. Then, the Smoke Monster appears first as Richard's wife Isabella, then as his Man in Black form. He says he will free Richard, as long as Richard will help him in return. That Smoke Monster is quite a con artist - and he once took on the "best liar" the Man in Black has ever seen.

In season one, a huge bit of Lost mythology was introduced - the whispers. In "Outlaws" Sawyer wakes to find a boar in his tent, ravaging his belongings much like the boar in the Black Rock. When he gives chase, he hears the whispers for the first time, and the voice of a dead man saying, "It'll come back around." See, Sawyer was in Australia looking for the Real Sawyer who conned his parents. He gets a tip that it's a guy named Frank Duckett, so James tracks him down and shoots him. However, when James starts reading his "Dear Mr. Sawyer" letter, Duckett looks up confused and says, "Who?" The dying words of the innocent man were, "It'll come back around."

Now Sawyer is hearing things, and dwelling on his past, but he's determined to get that damn boar. He and Kate track it through the jungle, and make camp for the night. Sawyer dreams of the night his parents died, a scared boy hiding under the bed. But instead of his father, the boar enters the room and you can hear the whisper "It'll come back around". When Sawyer wakes, they discover "the boar" came in the night and destroyed Sawyer's stuff - but left Kate's untouched. When he finally catches the boar, James' memory of killing Frank Duckett in Australia makes him pause. Did this decision save his life? Was that boar one second away from transforming into a giant cloud of smoke and turning Sawyer to a pulp? I think so. (Though I must note that in reviewing for this article, I noticed that Richard and MiB are just as likely eating that boar in a later scene, as though it left the ship and ran right into an angry Smoke Monster. But hey! Like I said, it brings me joy.)


I did like Jacob's conversation with Richard in this episode. I thought it was cool, informative, and metaphorical. Jacob is playing a grand game of good vs. evil, favoring free will as the path. But, "he can be very...convincing" as the Man in Black tells Richard. The Island is a cork holding in "darkness" otherwise known as "malevolence", "evil" or "hell" and if it gets out, it will "spread." I thought it was cool how this calls back to the Swan Hatch, which was another metaphorical cork holding back great power. Are those things directly related, or only thematically? Interesting too, that the same words were used to describe what has taken over Sayid and Claire.

It does seem now like the Man in Black is not just any old villain, but may be ready to unleash the very evils of hell on the world, just out of selfishness. He'll do anything to escape this sentence on the Island. But I don't think he dreams of a world overrun by demons, with him as some mad emperor. He's just a poor Roman centurion who wants to get off this damn crazy Island, come hell or high water. Is he really a "bad guy" or just an innocent pawn driven to his wit's end? And what was meant by that last shot of Flocke at the end? Were we supposed to think that he was watching Hurley and Richard this whole time? And if so, does that mean it wasn't Isabella speaking to Hurley at all, but rather another trick by the Mib?

As things turn into a sloppy mess here at the end, it's very frustrating. Time spent theorizing or pondering the meanings of Lost feels wasted. In the end, it seems no deeper than it was at the beginning: Love/Death, Fate/Free Will, Faith, and Redemption. What about those things? Oh, you know, they exist.

As Lost draws to an end, I'm not feeling "climax". It's like the show hasn't grown up, or figured out what it wants to say about all these weighty themes. All we can say for sure it that it will end Sunday, May 23. Don't hold your breath!

Next week is "The Package" and Jin was detained with a package in LA X. I'd guess we finally find out what Jin & Sun have been up to in the sideways. Are they married? Sun was using her maiden name in LA X. And Jin's package originally contained a gold watch - the same one Keamy was wearing in Sundown. What's their place in this whole crazy scheme?

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Lost: Reflections

This episode was all about trust - Sawyer had trust issues with his partner Miles in the sideways, and played with the trust of the Monster on the Island. Widmore trusts that Sawyer will double cross the Monster in exchange for passage off the Island. Claire suddenly trusted that Kate took good care of Aaron - hey, where the hell did that come from? Anyway...

Another week, another story about a character we almost know. I'm feeling a major lack of dramatic tension in these flash sideways stories. Wow, this week we learn that Charlotte dated Sawyer one time in an alternate dimension! That adds so much to the characters we've come to know over the years.

Oh, and Charlie's brother had to travel to LA to try and find him, and the LAPD can't offer a single bit of assistance. That certainly filled in some gaps for me regarding the Pace family, thanks.

In Sawyer's sideways story, he is tense. His partner Miles has a plan to help him blow off some steam - a blind date with a hot redhead! Conveniently, this also gives him a chance to snoop on James and possibly find out what he was doing in Australia. Charlotte was acting crazy focused as she pawed through Sawyer's drawers - it seemed like she was looking for evidence. Seriously, either that or Rebecca Mader is a terrible actress - that was some frantic riffling! Check it:



The next day Miles comes blowing into the locker room and gives Sawyer a lecture about trust. James gets pissed and he punches a mirror. I thought this was all a bit overwrought.

Season six of Lost is giving us something of a "mirror universe" and it's preoccupied with mirrors and reflections. The producers intended to reflect the series, and particularly season one. For one thing, Damon Lindelof said, "Season six will feel a lot like season one. The focus comes back to the characters with whom we began." And the order of the flashbacks is similar. The flash sideways stories are all full of references to previous events on Lost. And every week we are treated to shot after shot of reflections.

MIRRORS TO THE EXTREEM~!
Kate realizes she's a hideous bitch goddess

Jack notices his appendix scar for the first time

Locke's reflection finds its calling, pretending to be Charles Xavier

Sayid ponders his beauty, moments before Nadia opens the door

Sawyer hates who he sees in the mirror

...and then pulls out the ever popular mirror punch. See how fractured he feels inside!!

It's becoming so repetitive, I want to scream "We're through the looking glass here people!!" It is interesting that the next line of that quote is, "White is black and black is white!" Hmmm...

Anyway, back to the good stuff. On the Island, Terry O'Quinn was nailing it. His scene talking about his mother was great. And as for trust, the Smoke Monster proved to be every bit as manipulative as Jacob. Though he told Richard that he would never leave his followers in the dark, he had only vague answers for some and misdirection for others.

First, he tells the Others he'll be available for questions soon, but you know, later. Let's just keep walking through the jungle in silence for now. And yes, that evil Smoke Monster killed the people at the Temple, but he's gone now - no need to worry!

Then, he tells Sawyer to go find the passengers of Ajira 316, but really he wants Sawyer to talk to Widmore. Widmore already knows who James Ford is - a con man. So, that can only mean one thing - while Sawyer is planning his double-double cross, to screw the Smoke Monster and take Widmore's submarine, Widmore is planning a triple cross! Maybe he's got Desmond behind that locked door? Notice how the guard went right for his gun when Sawyer touched the lock.

At this point, it seems foolish to try and guess what's coming next. I mean, who could have predicted the Lighthouse? Not to mention, after all these stories about daddy issues, the Monster turns out to be just a guy who's messed up about his mom. That said, I have an idea about the flash sideways.

We're eight hours into the season, and we've still only seen series regular Henry Ian Cusick for about two minutes. Desmond will turn out to be a key player. Remember back in season three, the Desmond episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes"? There were a couple times it seemed as though Desmond "woke up" in his flashback, and realized he was in another time.

(On a side note - I literally watched "Flashes" on my feet in my living room, pacing about and occasionally exclaiming. It was that exciting. We could use a little more of that now, in the last season!)

Then, in season four's "The Constant" Desmond was able to remain conscious during his flash back to 1996, retaining some memories from 2004. Well, it would be silly if that never came back - as Daniel told Des, "You're uniquely special." I think Desmond will be the one to start the collapse of the sideways universe.

At some point later in the season, we'll see Desmond go wild. I think he remembers the "way things were meant to be" because his other life in the original time line "flashes before his eyes". He'll spend time visiting all the characters, and he'll finally turn out to be Daniel Faraday's constant. Faraday may even be a big help in reconciling the two universes, because his math was responsible for creating the sideways in the first place.

It may be as simple as reminding a few people that they had another life - we've seen several characters act as though they vaguely remember that something is up. Like in LA X, it seemed as though Kate remembered Jack - maybe in another life...

Anyway, that's all I got. As we get closer to the end, Lost seems less and less like the series that started back in 2004. All I can do is hold on to the end and trust that it will make some sense.

Next week, the one you've all been waiting for...Richard Alpert's flashback! We will learn some, but not all of the Island's history. I can't wait!

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Drawing Sides

Lost's teams of light and dark are continuing to draw sides. Last week featured the dark forces gathering, and this week we saw Jacob's light team take up residence at the old beach camp. There was some really good stuff with Jack and Richard Alpert facing off in the Black Rock. And while I still side with viewers who are questioning the decision to focus on flash sideways stories during the final season, this week's flash did a good job reflecting on the character of Benjamin Linus.


The episode felt a little slow, but it was good character stuff from Ben and Michael Emerson. We learned that Napoleon existed in this universe, but did he still escape Elba? How long did his reign extend? We didn't get any alternate history lessons in the sideways - instead we got Principal Dickless and Leslie Arzt, computer hacker. Overall I found Ben the history teacher a bit weak. I guess I liked Emerson's performance, and Ben's little ploy for the principal's job was ok, but the retaliation from Princpal Reynolds was toothless. Why wouldn't Ben just take the principal job and send his own recommendation letter? In many ways, it was a silly story just showing how much Ben would give for his "daughter" Alex. And the fact that I watched the Coen brother's brilliant "A Serious Man" the next day probably didn't help my impressions.

But Ben's Napoleon lecture revealed a lot about the man who gave his life to defend the Island. "And it was on this island that everything changed - that everything finally became clear." Ben really thought he was special - a born defender of the island. He staged a coup to take power from Widmore - and it still isn't clear if that was Ben's idea or Jacob's. Ben has said he never saw Jacob, but I would guess that Jacob affected Ben's life just like he did with the survivors of 815. But there is also a darker power at work on Ben.


It was very interesting that Ben's idea to stage a power play against the principal started with a comment from "the substitute" John Locke. I think on the Island, the Smoke Monster has been manipulating Ben since he was just a boy. Shortly after he arrived on the Island, young Ben saw his mother in a clearing near the edge of the DHARMA fence. I think it was actually the Smoke Monster. Ben later returned and heard the whispers, before finding Richard Alpert (with long hair!) instead of his mother. Richard was very interested to hear that Ben had seen his dead mother appear on the Island. He told Ben one day maybe he could join the Others, if he's patient. But things moved a little more quickly when Sayid turned up in 1977 and shot young Ben, and then Kate and Sawyer turned to the Others to save him. I think that kicked off a big part of the Monster's plan to kill Jacob - it was all about getting Ben into the right position.


By December 2004, Ben was seriously messed up. He had killed for Jacob, but apparently never seen or talked to him. Now he felt Jacob was favoring Locke, by helping John walk while Ben was confined to a wheelchair. When Jacob seemed to speak to Locke, Ben lost it entirely. I think when Christian appeared to John it was actually the Smoke Monster. After all his work supporting Jacob and the Island, it seemed to Ben that he was unworthy and out of favor. He decided he would turn the wheel and leave the Island forever. It seemed like it was the hardest decision Ben had ever made, and he looked up with tears in his eyes saying, "I hope you're happy Jacob."

But now, Dr. Linus says in his lecture that, "Exile wasn't the worst of his fate. What was truly devastating to him was the loss of his power." Without that, "he might just as well have been dead." It seems that power may really be what Ben is all about. And this episode featured some great interplay between the flash story and the Island action, as both Bens struggled with feelings of powerlessness.

Ben X felt controlled by a principal who didn't view education with the same importance. He tried to make a power play, but in the end he was outmaneuvered. Meanwhile Island Ben was literally dragged along and chained to a tree. The Smoke Monster presented Ben with an opportunity to join his side, but Ben preferred to stay at the beach camp. Was this the redemption of Benjamin Linus? He seemed to have learned a lesson about living without power - or did he? Ben's power has always been lies, and no matter what he always has a plan. Did he choose to stay with the Losties with the hope he can one day regain the upper hand? We'll see.


Jack was relegated to a rare B story appearance this week, along with Hurley providing some great comic relief, and Richard Alpert. Even though viewers have seen that Richard doesn't know very much after all, it seemed like an opportunity for Jack to ask some big questions. But Jack was reminding me of the mainstream media - demanding answers and then letting Richard get away with vague slippery responses. I loved the bit with the dynamite though. It was like Jack was testing Jacob, as Jacob has been testing them. Great exchange between Richard and Jack over the rapidly shortening dynamite fuse - "That's quite a risk you're taking Jack." "Yes." "What if you're wrong?" "I'm not." *fizzle*


Richard was just begging for someone to follow (what's with these Other sheep?) so he hooks up with Jack and Hurley to head back to the old beach camp from season one. This made for an odd reunion scene. Last time Sun was with Jack she hated him - convinced he and Kate were responsible for Jin's death. The only people who know Alpert are Ben and Ilana and they both sort of ignore him, and of course they have their own weird things going on. Anyway, it made for one of those happy slo-mo beach montages from season one that I talked about last week. And wasn't the final framing interesting? A group, with two men standing alone at either side - one in white and one in black.


Then it was revealed that the "someone" Jacob said was coming is likely Charles Widmore. This will be very interesting to see, because it seems the Widmore/Ben feud had taken a back burner, after seeming so important in season four. Is Widmore going to turn out to be on Jacob's side in the end? Or when he told Locke that if he didn't return to the Island the "wrong side will win" was he showing his support for the Man in Black?

Next week "Recon" should give us our first glimpse of Sawyer's sideways life. What will Sawyer do in a world where Locke's father never conned his parents? Will he even be...a good guy? On the Island, we should see him with Locke's camp, which could make for some interesting tension between the Island story and the flash sideways. Plus, ABC promises that the time for questions is over! Read more!

Lost: Darkness Falls

Welcome to Lost's version of The Empire Strikes Back. The dark forces ran rampant through Jacob's Temple. Dogen and his translator are face down in the former healing spring. And our heroes Claire, Sayid and Kate have fallen in with the Man in Black, who we are told is "evil incarnate".


Fans on the internet went crazy for this episode. In particular, a lot of people on message boards were saying "finally things are happening!!!" And what most people were responding to was the fighting, gun play, and murder. All too often, I find Lost uses a big blow up as a convenient way to dispose of plot threads. (The perfect example of this is Isabel, the Other's "sherrif" who was introduced in the epically messy Stranger in a Strange Land, only to be killed offscreen, apparently during the season three finale.) Now we've seen dozens of faceless Others mercilessly whacked yet again. Remember when it seemed like they might be important? It seems like most of the Others are nobodies, and they're a lot of sheep to boot.

I wasn't wowed by this episode, but it was full of fitting details. With time, I may warm up to the story - especially depending on how this whole crazy series resolves.

At this point in the season, I'm still not sold on the sideways stories. I'd rather see more about the dozens of characters and concepts that have already been introduced, from the DeGroots, Alvar Hanso and DHARMA, to the Other's "sherrif", their discipline and branding of criminals, funeral pyre ceremonies and "magic box". Not to mention Ms. Hawking, Charles Widmore, Daniel Faraday, and most of all Desmond and Penny! And what was the Incident really? Remember that Blast Door Map, and Radzinski in the Swan Hatch? Geez...


Anyway, back to Sundown - there were definitely things I liked. Kevin Durand was perfectly creepy returning as Keamy, even if it was another bit-too-cute cameo. And I absolutely loved Ben slowing backing away from demonic Sayid at the end. Ben has manipulated Sayid for years, using him as a killer for hire, but he wasn't spending even one more minute with whatever is controlling him now.

Also, it seems clear that this is really Sayid somehow returned to life, as he's retained his memories and his motivations. Sundown was a fitting sideways story for Sayid. In true season one fashion, the "flash" was informing the Island story, and vice versa, in a really good way. While Sayid X felt tortured by his past and sure he was a "bad man", Island Sayid killed indiscriminately and proclaimed "I am a good man."


Season six is all about referencing season one. They had already touched on Sayid's first flashback episode with Dogen's "tests" clearly mirroring Danielle Rousseau's treatment of Sayid in "Solitary". That episode also introduced the character of Nadia, who returns here as Sayid's one true motivation.

"Solitary" was also the beginning of Sayid's journey seeking redemption for his years of violence. Sayid has been battling with the feeling that violence is his nature - that he can never escape being a torturer and killer. And even though the Island seemed to offer redemption, Sayid has not been able to escape that nature.

As Sayid was dying, he told Hurley "I've tortured more people than I can remember...I've murdered...Wherever I'm going won't be very pleasant. I deserve it." But in the sideways universe, Sayid says he's "not that man anymore." Did anyone really believe Sayid "translates contracts" for a living though? Unless that's some kind of euphemism...


But I do sort of fear that these sideways stories may be "a better place" that all the Losties get to by learning their lessons from the Island. I think it's possible they are showing us the epilogue now, as the final events are playing out. I don't know if I like the idea of a reset happening at the end, and somehow this sideways season was like a really long version of the montage you might see at the end of a movie. Weird.

It would make sense of Dogen's comments though. He said Jacob would save his son, but Dogen would never see him again. But if his son were saved in the sideways, at least Dogen X gets to see the boy. We'll see. It was interesting to see Sayid and Dogen comparing notes - both seem to have made shady deals with shady characters. Making a deal with the devil - it seems like that's what you're doing no matter which side you choose. Dogen can save his son, but never see him again. Sayid can have Nadia back, but he must give in to the dark past that makes him feel like he doesn't deserve her anyway.

It's interesting how Lost seems to be about a group of flawed people who are struggling to find redemption, but most of them fail. In fact, in many ways the show is telling us that we can't escape our fate - even in the sideways Kate is on the run, Jack has daddy issues, and Sayid is a killer.


I was glad Miles had a little something to do this week. He confirmed that Sayid was truly dead for two hours, and "Whatever brought you back...it wasn't them." We now have a clear case of the dead brought back to life, probably by the Smoke Monster. It's confusing how Sayid and Claire are different from what happened to John Locke - unless these are the three heads of Cerberus? We'll see if the Monster recruits any more "dead" characters like Christian, Charlie, even Libby or Shannon. Will he raise an army of the dead?

It seemed like Miles might be set to join the ranks of the dead himself. It was a relief to see him rescued from the Monster by Ilana, but really - what is her deal? How much does she know? It's seemingly more than Ben, ex-Leader who's been with the Others for thirty years. She just seems a little too much like a deus ex machina device for lazy writers. In a few episodes, we're promised a confrontation between her and Richard, so she can probably drop some huge details then. Can't wait to see a Richard-centric episode!

The finale was a dark twist on the happy Island montage sequences Lost used so much in season one. Pleasant music would play as the castaways settled down after a hard day of adventure: Sawyer brooding, Sayid building something, Charlie flirting with Claire, all in slo-mo. This time, set to a creepy version of Aaron's favorite song, Sayid and Claire survey the dead after the Smoke Monster's rampage.


I'm not quite sure what to make of the look Flocke gives Kate at the end. Many say it's quizzical, and indicates surprise at Kate's presence or an indication the Monster hadn't thought of Kate. I don't really see a question in his face, so I feel it's more a look of "Yeah, come on Kate. You can tag along with the Other sheep." I wouldn't be surprised though, if MiB is underestimating Kate.

Next week features one of my favorites on Lost, Ben Linus, which means more of the incredible Emmy-winning actor Michael Emerson. It sounded like ABC was spoiling the episode in their promo this week. I really hope the best for "Mr. Linus".

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