Here We Go

What an episode of Lost! The story was moving, the acting was great, things were happening, and bombs were literally dropped! As Flocke said, "Well, here we go."


Hurley pointed out that it was back to business as usual on Lost: "What's going on?" asked Claire. "Oh, people trying to kill us again" replied Hugo.

For years we've been hearing about what one blog called "the Great Almost-War of Lost Island". The two sides have been circling for dozens of episodes, and only recently started to really solidify. Then, this week it seemed that Flocke got Jack for his "Last Recruit" - as Claire tells Jack, "the moment" Flocke spoke Jack was, "just like all of us. You're with him."

And by the end Jack was again the last recruit, as just about everyone else had abandoned or escaped the Man in Black. "It's gonna be OK", Flocke tells a woozy Jack. "You're with me now." (Did anyone else get a little creepy-date-rape feeling just then? But who wouldn't trust that face?)


Meanwhile, the timing of events in the sideways ramped up to "Ludicrous Speed"! Somehow, Locke X was able to land in LA, get fired, find a new job, and then get run down by Desmond, in the same two days that we saw pass for Sun & Jin. I mean, how did they both show up in the hospital at the same time?!?


Not to mention, SuperCop Sawyer X was able to pull a surveillance video of Sayid, identify him, track him down to his brother's house, and then drive across LA in the time it takes to deliver Sun to the nearest hospital in an ambulance.


Considering how slowly the season started, I stand by my feelings that the pacing for this season has been very poor. They teased us along, and now they're just flinging out "answers" and plot developments left and right.

In a funny way (but not really "Ha Ha" funny if you know what I mean) it seems like the producers of Lost heard fans saying, "We want answers" and decided to retort, "Answers huh? We got your answers!"

Like, they made a check list and they're going down it: How did the Black Rock arrive on the Island? BAM! How was the Statue destroyed? BAM! What are the whispers? BAM! Was that really Christian, or was it the Smoke Monster? BAM! "Check, check, check. Now can we get back to the characters?"

It's like the producers are just throwing out "answers" without even trying to work them into the narrative (see Hurley's out-of-left-field "Oh, so the whispers are voices of the dead" revelation last week.)


At the end of the day, I just have to accept things, and say that dramatically speaking I was pretty satisfied with this episode. I was particularly drawn in by Claire's story, and Emilie de Ravin's acting as well. Crazy Claire took a big step up in my estimation (even though it would save everyone a lot of trouble if they would just say, "Hey! Cool it! You're the one who left Aaron alone in the jungle and disappeared!")

Claire was awesomely creepy as the "crazy mother" the Island requires. Yes, we saw some other perspectives in the flashes, but thematically this was a Claire episode all the way. The twin meetings of siblings Claire and Jack, and the repeated instances of Claire being abandoned really got to me. In particular, I was amazed at charming Claire letting down her guard to Desmond, contrasted with her hardened look (please forgive that hair!) at the dock demanding to know, "Why aren't you waiting for John?"


But that's not John anymore.

Now, we've been told that the Smoke Monster was appearing on the Island as Christian Shephard. In particular, Flocke admitted that was him back in White Rabbit, who lead Jack to water and shelter in the caves. We can pretty safely assume it was also MiB disguised as Christian who lured Claire away to the Cabin back in season four. So, somehow the Monster appears as the dead.


However, Smokey's limitations don't jibe with the appearances of Christian off-Island - to Jack in season four's Something Nice Back Home, and to Michael on the Kahana in the season four finale. Yet the Monster doesn't seem to be able to cross water, and he's supposed to be trapped on the Island.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that Christian appeared to Sun and Lapidus at the Barracks, but at the same time it seemed Flocke was with Ben on Hydra Island. Not to mention, in the mobisode So It Begins and when he appeared to Locke under the Orchid, Christian referred to Jack as "my son". It *almost* seems like we've seen two different Christian Shephards.

Taking this line of reasoning in a slightly different direction - several times we thought we saw "dead Christian Shephard" we were actually seeing the Man in Black taking his form. We can also be fairly certain ol' Smokey was using the form of Eko's brother Yemi back in season two. Knowing this, we have to be extremely suspicious of the appearance of "Michael" last week, especially because his advice delivered the remaining candidates right into Flocke's waiting hands. (Isn't it weird how I referred to the same character by at least four different names in that paragraph? Ah, Lost!)


But back to Claire - she was left behind in just about every way this week. She was already feeling bitter about her three year stint on the Island without the rest of the Losties, before they ditched her with Flocke and the Others yet again. I loved all the shots of Claire in the grass, around a corner, watching the Losties make their way to the docks and the Elizabeth without her.


And I loved how Ilana X asked Jack "Do you believe in fate?" before introducing him to Claire X, who had only just walked in. It was a miracle of synchronicity, but just as Claire revealed they were siblings Jack was suddenly called off to a medical emergency, leaving Claire abandoned in both realities. Somehow, the melancholy of her situation and the performance of the actress really won me over. I found myself loving her parts of the show.

Supposedly, Claire and Sayid are suffering from the same sickness. In the sideways, Sawyer looks at Sayid and says, "there's our bad guy." On the island Kate says, "He's different" and Sawyer is ready to abandon them both, but good old Hurley argues, "You can always bring people back from the dark side. I mean, Anakin!"


I thought the Sayid we saw in this episode was awesome. For the first time in a while, I felt like we were seeing a real character. His performance at the well was riveting. Desmond asked how Sayid could know that Flocke could bring back his dead love - "I was dead, and he brought me back." It was so simple, so raw. Even if he can't feel pain or fear or happiness, Sayid still remembers his love.


"But what will you tell her...when she asks what you did to be with her again?" It beautifully echoed Ben's words to Michael in season two - how could Michael ever tell anyone what he had to do to escape the island?

As they cut to sideways Sayid, he's trying to explain to Nadia. He's "hurt someone" again, and it's possible he's losing her forever here.


Now, more than ever, it appears that the sideways cannot be what some fans suggested - a universe the Man in Black has offered as a bargain to several characters including Sayid and Dogen. Also, I have a hard time believing Sayid killed Desmond at the end of this scene, so it was pretty interesting that he took the initiative to lie about it later when talking to the Man in Black.


Meanwhile, Flocke had a lot to say about John Locke in this episode, and I was really intrigued to see that it's a lot of what I've been saying all along. Here "John Locke - he's a pawn...John got scammed all those times." and here"who is John Locke? John is a patsy. In every situation we've ever seen John, he was being played for a fool by someone with something to gain. John's a loser. He always makes the wrong choice."

In this episode, Flocke says John was "stupid enough to believe he was brought here for a reason." "John Locke was not a believer...he was a sucker."

We flash sideways to John X in an ambulance where he says, "Helen...I was going to marry her..."

Was.


Who is in the body of Locke X? It seems like it might just be...John Locke. When I initially suggested that Flocke might be the Smoke Monster, one of my main reservations was that John Locke is just too cool to end up that way.

In the pilot episode, way back on the very second day on the Island, John Locke set up the entire series.

Playing backgammon with Walt, he holds up two pieces to illustrate his point:


"Two players. Two sides. One is light, one is dark."

Locke is important, and I can't shake the feeling that he's not gone. Maybe he can cross over from the sideways?

As the sideways converges with the Island reality, I'm more certain than ever that Jack X will fix Locke X's spine, allowing him to walk and triggering memories of the Island for both of them. How cool was that scene on the operating table, mirroring Jack having to operate on his enemy Ben Linus? Jack X really started to remember, "I think I know this guy?"


Back on the Island, the Sawyer/Jack conflict was awesome! The scene they had on the boat was top-notch Lost, and was an example of why this is the best series on television. "You want to take a leap of faith Jack? Take it. Get off my damn boat."

They've been at odds the entire series, but never more so than in season five when Jack returned to the Island to "save" everyone, only to discover that Sawyer was well in control as the law and order of the DHARMA Initiative.

Now, Sawyer is the one who stepped up with the master plan - to escape from Flocke and the Island, and it almost seemed like Jack was gonna go along with it. After he'd submitted to Hurley's leadership last week, Hugo expected it was back to "Takin' Charge!" when Jack clumsily called a few of them to split off from Flocke's group. As they ran into the jungle, Hurley said Sawyer would be pissed - "This is Sawyer's plan!" was Jack's retort.


But in the end, Jack wasn't ready to go. "The Island isn't done with us!" Jack plans to stick around, because whatever that Smoke Monster is, it seems evil. If it wants the candidates to leave, then maybe the most important thing is to stay on the Island.

We actually know more about this than Jack does - the Man in Black said he would kill Jacob and escape the Island. "Someone else will take my place", said Jacob. "Well, then I'll kill them too", said the Man in Black.


"It has to be all of us" who leave, says the Man in Black - and at first it seemed "leave" might be a euphemism for dying. It seemed like the Smoke Monster planned to kill all of the candidates - or even more specifically like he couldn't kill them himself, but he needed them to die.

Then at the end of this episode, we have a sudden twist when Flocke braves falling bomb shells to grab Jack and carry him safety. What's going on here? I really don't know.

My guess is that the Island needs to have a Jacob, but it has other roles that are required too. Whatever pattern is playing out on the Island contains a crazy mother archetype, and we've learned that she is the mother of the Man in Black. That's what happened to Rousseau, and why Claire seems so much like her now - there's a crazy mother "spirit" inhabiting them.


It remains to be seen if "she" is also the mother of Jacob, the mother of the mysterious boy, or if all those are faces of the same man. Who knows what other archetypes the Island requires. Flocke said it was "nice to have everyone together again" and he could mean the candidates, or he could mean his "family". His mother represented by Claire, Flocke, and the new Jacob is probably with them right now. Maybe all of these personalities are required by the Island, whomever is playing the part.

I don't expect to find the answers to those questions next episode. We'll be focused instead on more Jack, and we have to wait two weeks for "The Candidate". Then, in three weeks we get episode 6x15 which may finally fill in some of the back story for Jacob and his Nemesis.

Then, the epic two-hour finale, which will blow our minds for sure. All the past finales have been incredible, and this will be the ultimate. I'm excited, can't wait, but I don't want it all to end! "Well, here we go." Read more!

All You Need Is Love

In the sideways, the name Hugo Reyes is synonymous with giving. And apparently, George Costanza is alive and well, or at least his made up "Human Fund" is. And how about Hurley's award? Remember when it seemed like the Smoke Monster could have been a dinosaur in the jungle?


I thought this episode was great. It was full of excitement, romance, humor, explosions, and more great acting. But answers? Well...

This week, Flocke showed Desmond that there's more than one well on the Island. This well was dug by hand, by people who were looking for answers. At this point, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and start digging my own well! Answers, huh?

I have a question I'd like to have answered. Why do the producers keep returning to the purgatory theme? They assured viewers early on that the Island is not purgatory. But now Michael appears, to tell Hurley that the whispers are spirits trapped on the Island "The ones who can't move on." Sounds like a textbook definition to me!

And how about that "answer" we got about the whispers? If they're those on the Island who "can't move on" what then of Frank Duckett, who was killed in Australia? Did Sawyer landing on the Island "trap" Duckett there? And if so, by implication, also Kate's father Wayne, Ben's mother, or even Christian Shephard? (Not to mention Christian appeared off the Island to Jack, and to Michael on the Kahana!) Has every person that ever came to the Island brought some ghosts with them as spiritual baggage?


This still doesn't address the disappearance of Cindy the flight attendant in season two. We heard whispers, and she was just gone, only to turn up with the Others in seasons three and six. What gives? Add to this the appearance of Harper Stanhope in season four's "The Other Woman". Plus, before Shannon was killed, when Walt appeared speaking backwards. It's all still fairly bewildering.

For some time now, Hurley's been taking orders from ghosts. But I'm with Miles - "And...you just listen to whatever they say?!?" Actually, I'm not even sure if that was Michael! The Whispers have previously seemed to signal the appearance of the Monster as well as the presence of the dead. And while Hurley did come up with his plan on his own, Michael gave him a little nudge in the "right" direction - directly into the Smoke Monster's hands!


How incredibly sweet was Hugo's scene at Libby's grave side? The producers told us we would not be learning "Libby's incredibly tangential backstory" and that was true. But they managed to give us more of Hurley and Libby anyway, and I loved it.

Hugo finally found his true love, in the sideways. He's not going to want to lose that now, and why should he have to? This season has been suggesting that love is very important - especially in the sideways.


Hurley marching into Mr. Cluck's and ordering, "Gimme a bucket" hilariously reminded me of the notorious restaurant scene in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Then, we have Desmond suddenly arriving to tell Hurley he should get in touch with Libby, "find out where she thinks she knew you from before you give up on her." Then his order is called - number 42. The answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. All you need is love, indeed.

It wasn't enough just to meet, or even to touch, but when they kissed Libby triggered Hugo's memory of the original timeline. Just like Charlotte did for Daniel, and Penny for Desmond. But if all you need is love, then why didn't Nadia "wake" Sayid? Or Helen for John X? Why didn't love for his son trigger Jack? (OK, Jack didn't have a kid in the OG so that could explain why no flash in the sideways.) And whatever became of the constants?


Meanwhile, the producers are clearly drawing a parallel between Desmond and Jacob. They both have the power to travel off the Island (in a fashion) and both visit the Losties, giving them a little nudge (or in the case of poor John Locke, a full on Ker-Splat!) in the right direction. They know a lot more than they let on, and possibly have visions of the past and future. Plus, Wikipedia tells me in the Qu'ran, Joseph son of Jacob was once thrown into a well.

Widmore says he'll ask Desmond to make a "sacrifice" and it would be an easy bet that he means Des will become the new Jacob, have to stay on the Island forever, and never see Penny and Charlie again.

But I think it's just a red herring, to take the focus off Jack for a while. It's just too obvious that Jack will be the "winning" candidate, so they're trying to throw us off the case. I think there are also implications that Hurley might end up being the new Jacob, and his personality is more in line with an "Island protector" than our dear Dr. Shephard. (And boy, did Jack look intimidated when staring down Smokey this week!)


But Desmond's name isn't on Jacob's or MiB's list. And Jack's candidate number is 23. The network moved the finale episode to Sunday, May 23. And Psalm 23 (also referenced in the title of episode 210) says, "the lord will be my shepherd." Sure, Lost is going to end with some kind of amazing twist, but I don't think this will be it.

The show has set up a major theme of two sides - white and black. And they've also set up a dichotomy of Man of Faith vs. Man of Science. Jack and Locke have embodied the theme of duality through the whole series - continually at odds even when they swapped who was the one with Faith.

In the last scene on the Island this week, Flocke addressed only Jack, and the shots of each character reaffirmed their positions. I think these are the leaders of the two "sides" that will ultimately face off. The Smoke Monster was looking smug, as he realized that all the remaining candidates (except Jin) have walked into his camp on their own. But he's already made a critical mistake.


Flocke actually dumped Desmond in just the place he was supposed to be heading. Desmond was ready to go along with Widmore, and Widmore was searching for mega-pockets of EM on the Island. Flocke implied that this well is just such a place, before pitching Desmond in head first. This actually turns out to be exactly what Desmond wanted, and why he's been so calm about this.

Desmond can now see the future, and I think maybe the Monster knows it. It was hinted when Des looks down that well, and Smokey says, "Why aren't you afraid?" The Monster is the one who's afraid now - Desmond is something he can't deal with. The Man in Black uses fear to manipulate, and now he's faced with a man who says, "What's the point in being afraid?"


Once he falls into the well, Desmond wakes up in the sideways universe, fully aware. The question remains, why did he run down Locke X with his car? Is this revenge for throwing Desmond in a well on the Island? Is Des stopping the "vessel" for the Man in Black before he can make his escape from the Island? If he's there to "show him something" what is it? I can't say for certain, but I can say that events are definitely swirling around Jack's hospital.

Injured John X will probably end up at St. Sebastian Hospital. Sayid's brother is already there, as is Charlie. Sun will probably be headed that way with a deadly gunshot wound. Will Kate be injured, and will she trigger Sawyer? We saw them meet, and touch. Will it be a kiss? We'll see.

But the shots at the end of the episode - that moment between Locke and Jack - leads me to guess that when they meet in the sideways, that will be the event that "wakes" the two. It's even possible in a far-out theory that Jack will heal Locke's spine, so he can walk again in the sideways like he does on the Island (much like Island Sun could only speak Korean, like Sun X. Convergence of timelines.) Who knows.

Back to the Island - I thought Ilana's death was awesome! Boom goes the dynamite. Richard looked heartbroken, and he should. It was basically his fault!


Too bad Ilana wasn't simply standing closer to Jack or Richard, since they "can't die" or whatever. Even better if, you know, one of them carried the deadly dynamite! Or, best of all - after the Black Rock was finally destroyed Richard was like, "Oh yeah, hey Ben what about the guns and grenades at the Barracks? Yeah, let's use those instead." Too little, too late for Ilana.

I thought it was a hilarious bit with Ben snarking about it later. "Kinda makes you think doesn't it? Ilana. Hand picked by Jacob. Trained to come and protect you candidates. No sooner does she tell you who you are, than she blows up. The Island was done with her. Makes me wonder what's going to happen when it's done with us." It reminded me of when Richard asked Jacob what happened to all the other people he'd brought to the Island? "They're all dead."

The Island was done with Ilana. And it seems like it really is the Island - not Jacob or MiB. They're both players in this game too, and I think we still have yet to see the power behind the Island. Unless, it's embodied by the young boy who appears in the jungle. But what's up with the boy's hair turning dark? And MiB was not alarmed that Desmond could see him, as he was with Sawyer. I'm still wondering if perhaps this is Jacob reborn and struggling te re-exert himself on the Island proper. Or, since originally the boy was blonde, is it some representation of MiB this time?


Who knows. I could go on for hours and hours, and at the end of the day I'd probably have put more thought into some things than the writers did in the first place.

Next week, "The Last Recruit" followed by a week off (Oh noes!!) Then we have three regular episodes and a two-hour finale. Whew, we're getting close the end!

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See You In Another Life

Oh boy, just what I've been hoping for - a whole episode spent in the sideways. And to top it off it was an episode all about how the sideways isn't real! They've all got to wake up from this, and only Desmond can save them (geez, I totally didn't see that coming.) Sarcasm aside, I really did like this episode - but I'm a major sucker for Desmond and Penny. Also, we got a big dose of Charlie, and the return of Fisher Stevens! But, Desmond took a good look at the sideways and he did not like what he saw in his reflection.


This is the sort of TV that gave me chills as a kid. I always loved stories about an alternate universe, where things are just "off" and sort of creepy. I especially like the bit with this week with Charlie underwater, looking crazy and lifting his hand to the glass. Freaky!

The next morning I happened to watch one of my favorite stories of this type - Yesterday's Enterprise from season three of Star Trek: The Next Generation. An unexpected meeting with a celestial anomaly results in the Enterprise "jumping" into an alternate universe. The Enterprise is now a ship of war, not peace. And only one character can remember that things are not as they are supposed to be!


Guinan tries to convince Picard that this is not the "real" universe. She admits, "It's the same bridge, nothing has changed, yet it's...wrong. I can't explain it to myself, how am I supposed to explain it to you? I just know I'm right!" Picard counters that even if she is right, "How is this universe any less valid than the other? How can we ask all these people to just die?" If they follow Guinan's suggestions, thousands may be sent to their deaths, and an entire universe may wink out of existence. I expect we'll see something similar coming up on Lost.

And this reminds me of Widmore's comments to Desmond, "Penny, your son, and everyone else, will be gone. Forever." Will one of these universes win out, while the other one vanishes as though none of those people ever existed? Big stakes.


I've said before I'm not sold on the season six theme of, "Oh remember, this is like in that one episode, only this time it's a little different!" Case in point is the scene with Widmore offering Desmond a drink of his MacCutcheons saying, "You deserve it." That whole scene had me groaning. They went way overboard - The painting! The sailboat! The whiskey!

But like I said, I'm a sucker for Des and Penny. I loved the scene with the two on the stairs at the stadium. The first time this played out (in 2001 in the original timeline) Desmond was the one running, and he met Jack for the first time. Then, Penny came to tell Des that she was getting married, and she gave him the copy of Our Mutual Friend. That was "last book he'd ever read" and also where Desmond hid the key for the Swan Hatch self-destruct. Turning that key and getting blasted by electromagnetism originally unlocked Desmond's unique "talent".


Meanwhile in the sideways, Desmond seemed to be so overwhelmed by meeting Penny that he fainted. What a great cut, the moment their hands touched! But what actually happened to Desmond may be a little different - and a lot more dangerous. Last time Fisher Stevens appeared as George Minkowski, he was the communications officer on board the Kahana freighter that carried Keamy and his men, as well as Daniel, Charlotte and Miles. Minkowski was bored, and took a small boat around in the waters near the Island. Soon, he began having episodes - falling unconscious and seeming to wake up in his own past. The "sickness" got worse, and Minkowski had longer and more frequent spells.

When Desmond first met him, George was tied to a bed having trouble telling which reality he was in. Shortly after, Minkowski died of the same nose-bleed-brain-hemorrhage that killed Charlotte. Desmond was having the same kind of "flashes" as Minkowski. The only thing that saved Desmond was finding his constant, Penny. If Desmond X is having "flashes" it may only be a matter of time before he starts having nose bleeds. And then it will be a race against time to find the other passengers of Oceanic 815 and "show them something."


Eloise Hawking showed up in the sideways, but she was not much help to Desmond. In the original timeline, she foretold Desmond's fate and explained that he could never escape it. Even if he tried, the universe has a way of "course correcting".

This time, she was actively discouraging. She said whatever Desmond is looking for, "he's not ready" and that his actions constitute a "violation". Again, we're getting language from big players that seems to portray Lost as all some kind of twisted game. In the original timeline, Ms. Hawking knew a lot about the Losties, and seemed to actually know the future. I have always believed that is because Daniel traveled to 1977 and left his journal, so Eloise had knowledge of events up to 2004. It's at that point that she admits, "for the first time in a very long time" she has no idea how things are going to turn out.

So, what are Ellie's stakes in the sideways? Here, she claims to know things, just because she bloody does! There wouldn't be any journal, and the Widmores are now has a big happy family. Still, I believe that somehow Eloise has an idea (maybe full knowledge) that this is not her "real" universe. But she prefers this one to the universe where she murders her own son with a rifle. Daniel got to grow up and be a musician like he wanted, with no pressure to develop his mathematics skills, and never has to worry about the Island. Eloise doesn't like the idea that Desmond may come along and wreck it all. When she ordered the employees away and spoke with Desmond in private, I was hoping she was ready to drop some major bombs like she did for Des in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" but in true Lost fashion, she left us all hanging. I guess we're just not ready yet. Anyone else think that Ellie's guest list has the names of the candidates on it?


As Desmond is about to leave empty handed, fate intervenes in the form of Daniel Widmore. Sideways Daniel doesn't have the math skills, but somehow he was able to tap into "real" Daniel's memories and come up with a graph of space-time. I expected Daniel's note from season four to finally come into play here, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant." But Daniel tells Desmond that the catalyst was love. As it was for Charlie and later for Desmond, the sight of his true love from the original timeline gave Daniel a "flash" of how things were meant to be. It's interesting, because fans have theorized that the sideways universe is "how things were meant to be" without meddling - whether meddling from Jacob, the Man In Black, the Island, or whomever. But now we have Daniel and Charlie telling us that it's the sideways that's wrong, and only love can set us free. Ought to right a song about it.

Anyone else feel like it was a wild leap of logic for Daniel to come up with the idea that he had detonated a hydrogen bomb in another universe, and that this life is not how it's "supposed" to be? It was the same sort of thing that bothered me in season five, when he suddenly introduced the concept of humans as variables in the "what happens, happens" equation. Where does Daniel get these insights? Has he been hanging around with the writing team?

I'm particularly bothered by these wild leaps here at the end of the series, when the writers were supposed to have planned out the last three seasons to an end. Why did we spend ten episodes establishing a whole new sideways continuity (minus the Richard episode, which I still feel was short on development, long on drama) only to have Daniel suddenly blurt out "Oh, the other day I realized that none of this is real." Now Desmond will get his hands on the manifest and go about tearing up this universe.


I'm hoping for some twist, or something more from this final season. I really don't feel that season six has presented me very much that we couldn't foresee after the premiere, LA X. In my blog for Recon, I wrote that Desmond's ability to shift between timelines would come in handy. What if he wants to have his cake and eat it too? He could try to affect the sideways in such a way that he can make a "perfect" universe. A perfect job working for his former hated rival, and he gets coffee with Penny! But, I doubt it.

At the very end of the episode, Desmond returned to the Island timeline. He showed a calm and understanding that was practically supernatural. I think it's quite likely that Desmond is getting flashes of the future. He may have better control than ever.


Next week, "Everybody Loves Hugo"! Yes they do, they do indeed. Will we finally see the outrigger? Every time someone gets in one of those boats, I'm convinced we're finally going to see the other side of that scene from season five. I think the producers are toying with us. Remember when the Losties were skipping through time, they took a boat and Juliet turned and fired at some pursuers. It seemed like she hit someone. I have this sick feeling it might be Sawyer...

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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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