Now that we've all of There's No Place Like Home, the mini-movie to end season three (read: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), here's some questions, thoughts and observations from the finale.
- How did Locke get to the mainland? And how did he die?
- Who is "everybody" that needs to go back to the island? Does this include Frank, Desmond, and Walt?
THEORY THAT WILL PROBABLY NEVER BE CONFIRMED: Michael wasn't allowed to die, after he killed two people and betrayed everyone. He even drove a wedge between Sun and Jin. He was brought back to the island, where he not only helped everyone to survive, he finally resisted Sun. Because of his heroic selflessness, the island (in the form of Christian Shephard) told Michael that his debt was paid and that he could finally die. And, he did.
- Just how magical is the island? After turning the frozen wheel, the island banished Ben to the Sahara desert.
- Did Widmore move the island before Ben did?
- How does the magic wheel room operate?
- What goes wrong on the island?
- Will Season Five's default time on the mainland be with getting back to America, or will the default time be three years in the future, with Jack & Ben trying to gather the gang up for one more adventure in the Mystery Machine?
- Why does Miles stay on the island?
- Was Charlotte born on the island?
- Are Charlotte's parents dead on the island? Because Miles can talk to dead people. So that would be the "easy" way for him to know that Charlotte was born on the island. ("If" she was...)
ADDENDUM: Are Charlotte's parents Adam & Eve?
- What happened to Farraday?
- Sun before said that she blamed two people for Jin's death. One of them is her father. Is the other Jack? Kate? Michael? Frank?
- Why was Locke going by the name "Jeremy Bentham," and why did he visit Walt?
- What all did Locke say during these visits?
- Where is Sayid taking Hurley?
- When Locke died, did the island reach out to Ben to reclaim his title as island leader? Does he have to act as an "interim" to get the gang back?
- If Desmond has to return to the island, he'll probably be the most angry. He is (presumably) living happily with Penny for years. To get him to go back to the island will tear him apart. And unless they can bring Penny with, he will not be easy to convince.
- Do the DHARMA transmitters still work in the island's new location? Will they still get food drops?
- Will Sawyer and Juliet hook up?
- How will Hurley fare outside of Santa Rosa?
- Was that one of Widmore's men watching Hurley?
- So it seems pretty clear now that Sun bought a share of Paik Industries to get closer to Charles Widmore. But what is her motivation? Is she working with Ben? Sayid? On her own?
- What are Penny and Desmond doing? Are they helping to hide the island? To find it again?
- Was the missing week just planning the cover story? Or did more happen on that boat?
- QUESTION THAT WON'T BE ANSWERED: Um, CLAIRE? Is she alive? Dead?
- We never really got to explore the Orchid, above or below ground. How big is it? And what all can it do?
- This episode seemed to indicate, more than others, that Ben's team of Others cause the whispering. BUT, whispers have also been associated with the smoke monster before. Was that association just a coincidence? Or do more Others know more about the monster than they let on?
- What is Frank doing?
- How come we have to wait until 2009 for more answers? (Knowing full well those answers will just replace these questions...)
What worked:
- Desmond and Penny. That reunion scene was short but emotionally satisfying.
- Acting. Every single brought his or her "A" game for this three-part "movie."
- Moving the island. That scene was weird, in a "magical" sort of a way. It was confusing, it was inspiring, it reset so many aspects of the show where now having two seasons left almost seems too short to deal with all of the ramifications.
- While I figured out that it was Locke in the casket as soon as Ben and Jack talked about Bentham saying the island was going bad - and especially "he didn't blame us for leaving" - it was still a very confusing twist. And almost a mirror image of Walkabout. Instead of seeing Locke in a dark place, then finding out he's going to be fine, we see Locke's rise and ascension to power and finally becoming the person he's wanted to be all along, to seeing him dead in a casket. Which raises some of the very basic questions of the show: Is island life what these people were meant for? Does the "real world" not represent who they are? Or is the island just escaping from reality?
What didn't work:
- The most surprising scene - moving the island - was maybe surprising because it was predictable. Or, because it happened yet this season. Talked about in one episode and done within five episodes after? That is lightning speed for this show.
- We knew that the Losties would get rescued. We knew the island would be moved. While we maybe didn't know about Locke being Bentham, we normally get one more twist that wasn't foreseen. I'm not quite so certain we had that this season. BUT, I'm also not sure that such a twist would have been necessary to carry out the stories that we now have laid out ahead of us. Look at all the questions I have above... there are many more raised from the finale tonight. They certainly have enough to work with for the remaining 34 hours the show has left.
Showing posts with label Lost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lost. Show all posts
Friday, May 30, 2008
Lost: There's No Place Like Home, Part 3
This is part 3 of "There's No Place Like Home." (Or, the 10 p.m. hour of the finale. Or, if you prefer, the hour where all the crazy stuff happened.)
The Copter/Freighter:
The chopper has 4-5 minutes of fuel left. Hurley sees the boat, and they fly towards it. As the chopper approaches, Desmond runs out and warns for them not to land. Frank, flying on empty, doesn't see any other choice. Frank quickly uses duct tape to patch up the bullet hole (It's handy, sure, but... really?) Frank does his best to fuel the chopper again, he says. But, they don't exactly have any time to do so, because Michael has run out of frozen air. Kate has run in to get Jin, but, I don't know exactly what happened, but Jin takes forever to get out of the engine room. Michael has to tell Jin that he is a father and a husband, that he cannot be reckless. He has responsibilities. Jin then runs like he's going to blow up and tries to get to the chopper. Sun, Aaron, Desmond and all the others are in and taking off. After they are at least twenty feet into the air, Jin runs out. Sun screams. But it's too late for Frank to go back. Jin runs for the edge of the ship... And in the engine room, Michael is waiting to die (or perhaps wondering if he can die) when he suddenly sees Christian Shephard appear. "You can go now, Michael," he informs. "Who are you?" Michael asks, before the boat blows up. With Michael dead (being released from the island's powers), and Jin... maybe being dead. He wasn't in the center of the explosion. But as far as Sun knows, he is dead. And she screams and cries and this is a terrific piece of acting. But unsettling television.
Sun is screaming, saying that they have to go back. Jack uses his known bedside manner to sayL "Sun, he's gone. He's gone." Hearing that come from someone else silences Sun into shock. "Frank, fly us to the island," commands Jack, like Frank is some kind of taxi driver. Sun, realizing that Jin is gone, begins to cry again. (As well she should!)
The beach:
Apparently the ocean ate Sawyer's shirt, because he comes ashore without anything to cover his upper body. He sees Juliet with a bottle of DHARMA rum (Jack Sparrow would be proud). He asks her if she's celebrating. She's not. She points to the smoke from the freighter. Sawyer: "That our boat?" "It was," replied Juliet.
The Orchid:
Locke is panicking about the freighter. "It's not my problem, John," says Ben. Keamy, with his dying breath, warns Ben that "wherever you go, Widmore will find you." "Not if I find him first," dares Ben. And with that, Keamy gives up the ghost.
Locke becomes mad. Ben apologizes for stabbing Keamy, saying that he was overcome by "bad emotional responses." Ben, having previously loaded the time traveling chamber with metal objects, closes the doors and turns the room on. The room explodes, like metal inside a microwave. When that's done, Ben goes to change his clothes. Because that is a natural thing to do after killing maybe dozens of people and blowing up a room.
Ben changes into a DHARMA fur jacket - the same one he woke up in the Sahara desert with in the future. Ben says that he's going somewhere, and that Locke is not going with. "Whoever moves the island can never come back," Ben reveals. So Locke will be taking over Ben's command as leader of the Others. Just like he was maybe meant to do, years before. "Goodbye, John. Sorry I made your life so miserable," Ben says. And Ben and Locke shake hands, like Ben just didn't kill Locke's comrades. Locke leaves the station and walks to camp to find Alpert and company waiting for him. He stares the ragtag group over and smirks.
Ben goes inside the exploded room, where a hidden tunnel has been revealed. He climbs in with a crowbar, then falls down into an icy room. (Where he cuts his arm, like it was cut in the Sahara.) The room appears to be ancient, with hieroglyphics's on the wall. The room is icy cold. And as a result, icy. There's a big wheel, which is funny, because the producers were teasing this scene as being the Frozen Donkey Wheel. I didn't think they'd kind of, sort of mean, it's be a actual frozen wheel. Anyways, using the crowbar to loosen it up, Ben musters up all of his strength to turn the wheel. He curses Jacob in the process. But as he turns the wheel, a light appears. The more he turns, the more light comes out. Ben smiles. And then...
The light engulfs him. It engulfs everyone on the beach. (Juliet has never been more radiant!) It engulfs the whole island. (And it made the same noise as when the hatch imploded, too.) And then, the island is gone. There are a few ripples from where the island once stood. Other than that, there is no trace that the island ever once existed.
The chopper crew: (again)
After witnessing the island being moved, the chopper runs out of fuel. Sayid throws out a life boat before the chopper goes down. And underwater, there are the most pretty bubbles ever. The ocean is full of perfectly clean, pristine bubbles! Everyone is alive, incredibly. And they all get inside the life boat.
Hurley makes a comment about Locke actually moving the island. Jack says "No, he didn't." Hurley's all, dude, the island was just there, now it's NOT. But then it's nighttime, or maybe it's nighttime now in this paragraph, I don't recall. (My notes aren't THAT great, apparently.) But it's nighttime now, when they see a light. There is another boat out there. Everyone is excited, except for Jack, who looks terrified. He tells everyone that they have to lie, to protect those that they left behind. Everyone is ticked, but Jack tells them to just follow his lead.
The boat (Searcher) pulls aside and they start tying the boat up. Henrik recognizes someone and starts franticly yelling, "Ms. Widmore!" (Meanwhile, I was probably one of 100 people nationwide who recognized Henrik.) That Ms. Widmore is none other than Penny. Desmond is overcome with joy. Penny just beams. They stop to look at each other in momentary disbelief before giving us a kiss so great that it could stop time itself. This scene was so great, so emotional that it gave me goosebumps. Des asks "how did you find me?" "Your phone call," Penny explains. "I have a tracking station." They kiss again, and it is so completely happy and joyous, I will not lie. It is as happy as their Christmastime phone call. So, of course, Jack comes in, all ready to lie, and tells Penny that "we need to talk." Way to kill the party, sport.
ONE WEEK LATER (This show can do that?)
Penny & co. have evidentially worked out a convincing cover story. The Rescuer is bringing them to an island 3,000 miles away. Jack, Sayid, Kate, Aaron, Sun and Hurley all board the boat, saying goodbye to Frank, Desmond and Penny. Desmond remarks that "as long as I've got Penny, I'll be fine." So Jack brings their relationship full circle by stealing Des' famous line, "I'll see you in another lifetime, brother." "Aye," Des replies. Aw! Jack then tells everyone "let's go home." They paddle forever, for 8-9 hours, and wash up on shore in the village that they said they washed ashore at during the Oceanic Airlines press conference. INTERESTING...
Flash Forwards:
Sayid assassinates a man at 8:15 p.m. at Santa Rosa. He sneaks inside to Hurley's room, where Hurley is busy playing chess. "This isn't a visit," Sayid warns. He tells Hurley that circumstances have changed, that Bentham has died. Sayid tells Hurley that reports said that Bentham died of "suicide," but Sayid clearly doesn't believe it. Hurley asks why they keep calling him Bentham when his real name is---Sayid interrupts, saying that they are being watched. Sayid wants to take Hurley to someplace "safe," which is NOT the island. Hurley eventually agrees, after Sayid makes a comment about how his paranoia keeps him alive. Before he leaves, Hurley checkmate's his invisible chess partner with the black piece. But this invisible chess partner isn't Dave, it's Mr. Eko. Cheapest. Guest Star. EVER.
In London, Sun talks to her kid on the phone, until she can steal a minute of Charles Widmore's time. Sun introduces herself as co-owner of Paik. Widmore acknowledges that, but doesn't seen to acknowledge that she's one of the Oceanic Six. She calls him out on that, saying that he knows that they have all been lying. She gives him a business card, saying that they have "common interests" and that when he's ready, he can talk to her. Sun mentions that "they" weren't the only ones to leave the island. As Sun walks away, he asks her why she would want to cooperate with him. She doesn't answer.
Kate is sleeping in her bedroom when she wakes up, frightened. She then gets a phone call, full of backwards-speaking whispers. She freaks and gets her gun. Inside Aaron's nursery is... Claire. CLAIRE. CCLLAAAIIIRREEE. On the mainland! As in, off the island! Holding her son. She looks very sad, and... bloated? Emile de Ravine, uh, what...?? "Don't bring him back, Kate," Claire warns. And then Kate wakes up. It was a dream. I hate this show sometimes. HATE. Anyways, that dream/apparition/island's spirit/whatever was enough to move Kate to go to Aaron's room and apologize repeatedly to the sleeping child.
Jack, on his way home from the airport, goes back to Hoffs Dawler Funeral Parlor. It's late at night, and not open. So he breaks in. He goes to open the coffin, but he is suddenly overcome with conflicting emotions. He hesitates. He opens the coffin up. Who is it?
We don't get to see, because standing in the same room as Jack is Benjamin Linus. "Did he tell you I was off the island?" Ben asks. Jack clearly had no clue he was on the same soil as Ben. Jack last spoke to Bentham one month ago. (Kate, too.) He told him that after they left the island, some very bad things happened. And that he didn't blame them for leaving. And that Jack had to come back.
Ben comments on how dark Jack has gotten, like riding in planes, hoping they'll crash into the island. Ben informs Jack that he can't go to the island alone. All of them have to return. Jack laughs. Ben offers to help get the crew back together. (Or, at the least, Kate.) "It's the only way," Ben says. Ben has a few ideas of how to get the crew back to go to the island. But, Ben points out that all of them have to return. Including Jeremy Bentham, the man in the casket. Jeremy Bentham's real identity? John Locke.
Locke is dead. #@%*.
The Copter/Freighter:
The chopper has 4-5 minutes of fuel left. Hurley sees the boat, and they fly towards it. As the chopper approaches, Desmond runs out and warns for them not to land. Frank, flying on empty, doesn't see any other choice. Frank quickly uses duct tape to patch up the bullet hole (It's handy, sure, but... really?) Frank does his best to fuel the chopper again, he says. But, they don't exactly have any time to do so, because Michael has run out of frozen air. Kate has run in to get Jin, but, I don't know exactly what happened, but Jin takes forever to get out of the engine room. Michael has to tell Jin that he is a father and a husband, that he cannot be reckless. He has responsibilities. Jin then runs like he's going to blow up and tries to get to the chopper. Sun, Aaron, Desmond and all the others are in and taking off. After they are at least twenty feet into the air, Jin runs out. Sun screams. But it's too late for Frank to go back. Jin runs for the edge of the ship... And in the engine room, Michael is waiting to die (or perhaps wondering if he can die) when he suddenly sees Christian Shephard appear. "You can go now, Michael," he informs. "Who are you?" Michael asks, before the boat blows up. With Michael dead (being released from the island's powers), and Jin... maybe being dead. He wasn't in the center of the explosion. But as far as Sun knows, he is dead. And she screams and cries and this is a terrific piece of acting. But unsettling television.
Sun is screaming, saying that they have to go back. Jack uses his known bedside manner to sayL "Sun, he's gone. He's gone." Hearing that come from someone else silences Sun into shock. "Frank, fly us to the island," commands Jack, like Frank is some kind of taxi driver. Sun, realizing that Jin is gone, begins to cry again. (As well she should!)
The beach:
Apparently the ocean ate Sawyer's shirt, because he comes ashore without anything to cover his upper body. He sees Juliet with a bottle of DHARMA rum (Jack Sparrow would be proud). He asks her if she's celebrating. She's not. She points to the smoke from the freighter. Sawyer: "That our boat?" "It was," replied Juliet.
The Orchid:
Locke is panicking about the freighter. "It's not my problem, John," says Ben. Keamy, with his dying breath, warns Ben that "wherever you go, Widmore will find you." "Not if I find him first," dares Ben. And with that, Keamy gives up the ghost.
Locke becomes mad. Ben apologizes for stabbing Keamy, saying that he was overcome by "bad emotional responses." Ben, having previously loaded the time traveling chamber with metal objects, closes the doors and turns the room on. The room explodes, like metal inside a microwave. When that's done, Ben goes to change his clothes. Because that is a natural thing to do after killing maybe dozens of people and blowing up a room.
Ben changes into a DHARMA fur jacket - the same one he woke up in the Sahara desert with in the future. Ben says that he's going somewhere, and that Locke is not going with. "Whoever moves the island can never come back," Ben reveals. So Locke will be taking over Ben's command as leader of the Others. Just like he was maybe meant to do, years before. "Goodbye, John. Sorry I made your life so miserable," Ben says. And Ben and Locke shake hands, like Ben just didn't kill Locke's comrades. Locke leaves the station and walks to camp to find Alpert and company waiting for him. He stares the ragtag group over and smirks.
Ben goes inside the exploded room, where a hidden tunnel has been revealed. He climbs in with a crowbar, then falls down into an icy room. (Where he cuts his arm, like it was cut in the Sahara.) The room appears to be ancient, with hieroglyphics's on the wall. The room is icy cold. And as a result, icy. There's a big wheel, which is funny, because the producers were teasing this scene as being the Frozen Donkey Wheel. I didn't think they'd kind of, sort of mean, it's be a actual frozen wheel. Anyways, using the crowbar to loosen it up, Ben musters up all of his strength to turn the wheel. He curses Jacob in the process. But as he turns the wheel, a light appears. The more he turns, the more light comes out. Ben smiles. And then...
The light engulfs him. It engulfs everyone on the beach. (Juliet has never been more radiant!) It engulfs the whole island. (And it made the same noise as when the hatch imploded, too.) And then, the island is gone. There are a few ripples from where the island once stood. Other than that, there is no trace that the island ever once existed.
The chopper crew: (again)
After witnessing the island being moved, the chopper runs out of fuel. Sayid throws out a life boat before the chopper goes down. And underwater, there are the most pretty bubbles ever. The ocean is full of perfectly clean, pristine bubbles! Everyone is alive, incredibly. And they all get inside the life boat.
Hurley makes a comment about Locke actually moving the island. Jack says "No, he didn't." Hurley's all, dude, the island was just there, now it's NOT. But then it's nighttime, or maybe it's nighttime now in this paragraph, I don't recall. (My notes aren't THAT great, apparently.) But it's nighttime now, when they see a light. There is another boat out there. Everyone is excited, except for Jack, who looks terrified. He tells everyone that they have to lie, to protect those that they left behind. Everyone is ticked, but Jack tells them to just follow his lead.
The boat (Searcher) pulls aside and they start tying the boat up. Henrik recognizes someone and starts franticly yelling, "Ms. Widmore!" (Meanwhile, I was probably one of 100 people nationwide who recognized Henrik.) That Ms. Widmore is none other than Penny. Desmond is overcome with joy. Penny just beams. They stop to look at each other in momentary disbelief before giving us a kiss so great that it could stop time itself. This scene was so great, so emotional that it gave me goosebumps. Des asks "how did you find me?" "Your phone call," Penny explains. "I have a tracking station." They kiss again, and it is so completely happy and joyous, I will not lie. It is as happy as their Christmastime phone call. So, of course, Jack comes in, all ready to lie, and tells Penny that "we need to talk." Way to kill the party, sport.
ONE WEEK LATER (This show can do that?)
Penny & co. have evidentially worked out a convincing cover story. The Rescuer is bringing them to an island 3,000 miles away. Jack, Sayid, Kate, Aaron, Sun and Hurley all board the boat, saying goodbye to Frank, Desmond and Penny. Desmond remarks that "as long as I've got Penny, I'll be fine." So Jack brings their relationship full circle by stealing Des' famous line, "I'll see you in another lifetime, brother." "Aye," Des replies. Aw! Jack then tells everyone "let's go home." They paddle forever, for 8-9 hours, and wash up on shore in the village that they said they washed ashore at during the Oceanic Airlines press conference. INTERESTING...
Flash Forwards:
Sayid assassinates a man at 8:15 p.m. at Santa Rosa. He sneaks inside to Hurley's room, where Hurley is busy playing chess. "This isn't a visit," Sayid warns. He tells Hurley that circumstances have changed, that Bentham has died. Sayid tells Hurley that reports said that Bentham died of "suicide," but Sayid clearly doesn't believe it. Hurley asks why they keep calling him Bentham when his real name is---Sayid interrupts, saying that they are being watched. Sayid wants to take Hurley to someplace "safe," which is NOT the island. Hurley eventually agrees, after Sayid makes a comment about how his paranoia keeps him alive. Before he leaves, Hurley checkmate's his invisible chess partner with the black piece. But this invisible chess partner isn't Dave, it's Mr. Eko. Cheapest. Guest Star. EVER.
In London, Sun talks to her kid on the phone, until she can steal a minute of Charles Widmore's time. Sun introduces herself as co-owner of Paik. Widmore acknowledges that, but doesn't seen to acknowledge that she's one of the Oceanic Six. She calls him out on that, saying that he knows that they have all been lying. She gives him a business card, saying that they have "common interests" and that when he's ready, he can talk to her. Sun mentions that "they" weren't the only ones to leave the island. As Sun walks away, he asks her why she would want to cooperate with him. She doesn't answer.
Kate is sleeping in her bedroom when she wakes up, frightened. She then gets a phone call, full of backwards-speaking whispers. She freaks and gets her gun. Inside Aaron's nursery is... Claire. CLAIRE. CCLLAAAIIIRREEE. On the mainland! As in, off the island! Holding her son. She looks very sad, and... bloated? Emile de Ravine, uh, what...?? "Don't bring him back, Kate," Claire warns. And then Kate wakes up. It was a dream. I hate this show sometimes. HATE. Anyways, that dream/apparition/island's spirit/whatever was enough to move Kate to go to Aaron's room and apologize repeatedly to the sleeping child.
Jack, on his way home from the airport, goes back to Hoffs Dawler Funeral Parlor. It's late at night, and not open. So he breaks in. He goes to open the coffin, but he is suddenly overcome with conflicting emotions. He hesitates. He opens the coffin up. Who is it?
We don't get to see, because standing in the same room as Jack is Benjamin Linus. "Did he tell you I was off the island?" Ben asks. Jack clearly had no clue he was on the same soil as Ben. Jack last spoke to Bentham one month ago. (Kate, too.) He told him that after they left the island, some very bad things happened. And that he didn't blame them for leaving. And that Jack had to come back.
Ben comments on how dark Jack has gotten, like riding in planes, hoping they'll crash into the island. Ben informs Jack that he can't go to the island alone. All of them have to return. Jack laughs. Ben offers to help get the crew back together. (Or, at the least, Kate.) "It's the only way," Ben says. Ben has a few ideas of how to get the crew back to go to the island. But, Ben points out that all of them have to return. Including Jeremy Bentham, the man in the casket. Jeremy Bentham's real identity? John Locke.
Locke is dead. #@%*.
Lost: There's No Place Like Home, Part 2
This recap is part 2 of 3 of the Lost season finale.
In the future:
The editors pulled an Alias on us by having the "previously on" segment merge into the start of the episode. Right after Jack told Kate that they "need to go back," Kate drove away. But then she came back to yell him out but good. Kate's all "we have to go back?" Until Jack tells here that Jeremy Bentham died, and now it's all... different? Basically, they fight - again - and Kate slaps Jack. She also drops the bombshell that they have been off the island for three years.
At Santa Rosa Mental Hospital, Hurley gets a visitor in the way of a kindly old grandma who is not too kind after taking her son from New York to California to visit a man in the psych ward. After finding out that Hurley isn't "dangerous," she allows her grandson to talk to Hurley: It's Walt. Walt is looking older by the minute. It's awkward small talk, made even more uncomfortable by the fact that none of the Oceanic Six have visited Walt since they returned home. But a Jeremy Bentham has. And Walt wants to know by the O6 are lying. Hurley tells him that it is to protect the ones who didn't come back. "Like my Dad," said Walt. "Yeah," answered Hurley.
The beach:
Faraday comes back to take another "load" of people to the freighter, just as soon as he gets more water. (I hope he's not going to the caves... that's a day's walk!) "Dan, thanks for helping us," beams Juliet, who looks absolutely hopeful, radiant and beautiful. If the Emmy's had a category for Most Radiant Actress, Elizabeth Mitchell would win for these scenes.
Miles is eating some of the peanuts from the beach pantry, prompting a severe scolding from Rose. After she leaves, Miles, Daniel and Charlotte have a chat. Daniel wants them all to be on the next boat, thinking that something "dire" is about to happen. (And he would know... how?) Miles wants to stay. Charlotte at first says that she'll leave, prompting Miles say say: "I'm surprise you want to leave," after she was so eager to get back to the island. Charlotte is the audience voice and asks: HUH? Miles coyly goes, "yeah, what do I mean?" Oh, writers. They know that the scene would confuse us, and they pretty much told us that, too. It's so meta, it's unbelievable.
Charlotte later changes her mind. "I'm going to stay, Daniel. At least for now." Daniel warns there may not be a later. "Nothings forever," she corrects. Charlotte is still looking for where she was born, and I guess she minus well look on the island. (Good! At least one character will explore this island...) Charlotte and Daniel say goodbye, with the romantic tension thick enough to cut. The raft gets loaded up. Juliet is not on, saying that she is going after everyone else gets off the island. Aw! Dan's not so sure there will be another boat load, but, he and the extras get on off to the boat, which is now clearly visible from the shoreline.
The jungle/chopper story:
Keamy, while taunting Ben, wonders upon Frank, who is still trying to get his handcuffs off. Keamy hears a noise, readies his gun when Kate wanders out. (Kate was last seen with Sayid, hostages of Halpert) Kate says she is being chased by "Ben's people," and then we hear the whispers. And then the electric darts appear again. And it's the original Others, attacking Keamy's crew. Kate and Ben run off. There's a chase, and then Sayid appears to engage Keamy in a fight. They punch, kick, and then Sayid gets a big plank and spanks Keamy, no joke. Keamy gets more angry and almost kills Sayid, but then Keamy gets two bullet holes and is killed. And who killed Keamy? Richard Alpert. Ben is shocked. Alpert cut a deal where if Kate and Sayid helped Ben get free, they would let those two leave the island without incident.
Kate, Sayid and Frank meet up with Sawyer, Jack and Hurley. Saywer looks at Dead Keamy and snarks, "He do something to tick you off, Freckles?" Heh. Sawyer helps Frank ("Kenny Rogers") saw off his handcuffs and they all go inside the helicopter and take off. Jack is happy, Kate's relieved, and everyone else is... happy, I'm sure. We don't dwell on their emotions.
We don't dwell for long because a stay bullet pierced the copter and they are losing fuel fast. And Frank can't find the boat. They need to throw off excess weight to help alleviate the chopper's woes. After throwing off all the cargo, Frank says that he still wishes the chopper was 200 lbs. lighter, prompting a very sad expression from Hurley. Sawyer leans over to whisper stuff to Kate. Kate is confused and asks him why he said all that. (We don't know what "that" was that he said.) "Just do it, Freckles," he commands. He goes over to the edge of the helicopter... and Sawyer jumps. He's fine, and starts swimming to shore. SAWYER JUMPED. To save Kate, and the others. ...Aw!
The Freighter:
There is enough C-4 present to blow up an airplane. Desmond has had six months of explosives training when he was in the service, and he knows enough to know that there is no way to dismantle the explosives. (Sydney Bristow would have, sir.) Because of the remote trigger, all the wires become trip wires, involving a hilarious scene where Des (and Jin) say "boom."
Michael and Sun briefly talk. Sun is very scared and lonely. But Michael, unlike the Michael on the island who would have loved to have hugged and comforted a scared Sun, resists the urge. He can say no to Sun. AND he has an idea to save the boat. There is one can of nitrogen. They can use that to temporarily freeze the battery, stalling the explosion. Later that hour, while keeping the battery frozen - and with the tank almost empty - a red light comes on, indicating that as soon as the battery is warm enough, they all die. Find out next episode if they live together or, well, in this case, die together!
The Orchid:
Jack and Sawyer find Hurley, then the Orchid station, then Locke. Maybe if they have such good luck they should try to find a way back home, huh? Sawyer and Hurley eat old crackers, and Hurley asks about Claire. Awkward. Jack and Locke have a battle of wills, the most engaged, philosophy-filled Science vs. Faith discussion on the show ever. Jack tells Locke to let them leave the island. Locke says that it is "destiny" that they stay on the island, and that such knowledge will eat Jack alive for the rest of his life. (Well, yeah, Locke. Now that you said it... Power of suggestion and all!) Locke tells Jack that they will have to lie about everything on the island. "It's the only way to protect it," Locke claims. "It's not an island. It's a place where miracles happen." "There's no such thing as miracles," Jack asserts, not knowing that Locke himself is a walking miracle. (Subtext!) Suddenly, Ben enters the scene. Ben helps Locke find the hidden passage inside to the Orchid and he and Locke go down the secret elevator, leaving Jack "forever." As it were.
The elevator goes really deep, deep down. The Orchid station, being DHARMA and all, has a very "hatch" feel to it. Locke is very impressed by the dump. But, Ben has to assure him that this room is "not the magic box." Ben has Locke watch a "informative video" on the station: another DHARMA orientation film. The Orchid is all about space and time. And it has time traveling bunnies. No joke. DHARMA was able to use this room to manipulate time and space.
Suddenly, the elevator goes back down, and this time is brought in Keamy. Who was not killed, because he was wearing body armor - which makes total sense and I kind of beat myself up for not even considering that possibility before. Keamy taunts Ben forever, saying that he can't kill him, because his magical arm device is a remote trigger for the C-4 on the Freighter. And if his heart rate goes to 0, the bombs go off. This is when Locke steps out and tries to be all diplomatic with the mad man. Keamy does not appreciate this, and especially does not appreciate it when Ben comes out of the shadows and stabs him repeatedly. Locke looks like he's just seen the hatch implode again. "You just killed everyone on that boat." Ben: "So?" Michael Emerson's delivery was pitch-perfect, I hope he wins an Emmy, if just for that scene.
In the future:
The editors pulled an Alias on us by having the "previously on" segment merge into the start of the episode. Right after Jack told Kate that they "need to go back," Kate drove away. But then she came back to yell him out but good. Kate's all "we have to go back?" Until Jack tells here that Jeremy Bentham died, and now it's all... different? Basically, they fight - again - and Kate slaps Jack. She also drops the bombshell that they have been off the island for three years.
At Santa Rosa Mental Hospital, Hurley gets a visitor in the way of a kindly old grandma who is not too kind after taking her son from New York to California to visit a man in the psych ward. After finding out that Hurley isn't "dangerous," she allows her grandson to talk to Hurley: It's Walt. Walt is looking older by the minute. It's awkward small talk, made even more uncomfortable by the fact that none of the Oceanic Six have visited Walt since they returned home. But a Jeremy Bentham has. And Walt wants to know by the O6 are lying. Hurley tells him that it is to protect the ones who didn't come back. "Like my Dad," said Walt. "Yeah," answered Hurley.
The beach:
Faraday comes back to take another "load" of people to the freighter, just as soon as he gets more water. (I hope he's not going to the caves... that's a day's walk!) "Dan, thanks for helping us," beams Juliet, who looks absolutely hopeful, radiant and beautiful. If the Emmy's had a category for Most Radiant Actress, Elizabeth Mitchell would win for these scenes.
Miles is eating some of the peanuts from the beach pantry, prompting a severe scolding from Rose. After she leaves, Miles, Daniel and Charlotte have a chat. Daniel wants them all to be on the next boat, thinking that something "dire" is about to happen. (And he would know... how?) Miles wants to stay. Charlotte at first says that she'll leave, prompting Miles say say: "I'm surprise you want to leave," after she was so eager to get back to the island. Charlotte is the audience voice and asks: HUH? Miles coyly goes, "yeah, what do I mean?" Oh, writers. They know that the scene would confuse us, and they pretty much told us that, too. It's so meta, it's unbelievable.
Charlotte later changes her mind. "I'm going to stay, Daniel. At least for now." Daniel warns there may not be a later. "Nothings forever," she corrects. Charlotte is still looking for where she was born, and I guess she minus well look on the island. (Good! At least one character will explore this island...) Charlotte and Daniel say goodbye, with the romantic tension thick enough to cut. The raft gets loaded up. Juliet is not on, saying that she is going after everyone else gets off the island. Aw! Dan's not so sure there will be another boat load, but, he and the extras get on off to the boat, which is now clearly visible from the shoreline.
The jungle/chopper story:
Keamy, while taunting Ben, wonders upon Frank, who is still trying to get his handcuffs off. Keamy hears a noise, readies his gun when Kate wanders out. (Kate was last seen with Sayid, hostages of Halpert) Kate says she is being chased by "Ben's people," and then we hear the whispers. And then the electric darts appear again. And it's the original Others, attacking Keamy's crew. Kate and Ben run off. There's a chase, and then Sayid appears to engage Keamy in a fight. They punch, kick, and then Sayid gets a big plank and spanks Keamy, no joke. Keamy gets more angry and almost kills Sayid, but then Keamy gets two bullet holes and is killed. And who killed Keamy? Richard Alpert. Ben is shocked. Alpert cut a deal where if Kate and Sayid helped Ben get free, they would let those two leave the island without incident.
Kate, Sayid and Frank meet up with Sawyer, Jack and Hurley. Saywer looks at Dead Keamy and snarks, "He do something to tick you off, Freckles?" Heh. Sawyer helps Frank ("Kenny Rogers") saw off his handcuffs and they all go inside the helicopter and take off. Jack is happy, Kate's relieved, and everyone else is... happy, I'm sure. We don't dwell on their emotions.
We don't dwell for long because a stay bullet pierced the copter and they are losing fuel fast. And Frank can't find the boat. They need to throw off excess weight to help alleviate the chopper's woes. After throwing off all the cargo, Frank says that he still wishes the chopper was 200 lbs. lighter, prompting a very sad expression from Hurley. Sawyer leans over to whisper stuff to Kate. Kate is confused and asks him why he said all that. (We don't know what "that" was that he said.) "Just do it, Freckles," he commands. He goes over to the edge of the helicopter... and Sawyer jumps. He's fine, and starts swimming to shore. SAWYER JUMPED. To save Kate, and the others. ...Aw!
The Freighter:
There is enough C-4 present to blow up an airplane. Desmond has had six months of explosives training when he was in the service, and he knows enough to know that there is no way to dismantle the explosives. (Sydney Bristow would have, sir.) Because of the remote trigger, all the wires become trip wires, involving a hilarious scene where Des (and Jin) say "boom."
Michael and Sun briefly talk. Sun is very scared and lonely. But Michael, unlike the Michael on the island who would have loved to have hugged and comforted a scared Sun, resists the urge. He can say no to Sun. AND he has an idea to save the boat. There is one can of nitrogen. They can use that to temporarily freeze the battery, stalling the explosion. Later that hour, while keeping the battery frozen - and with the tank almost empty - a red light comes on, indicating that as soon as the battery is warm enough, they all die. Find out next episode if they live together or, well, in this case, die together!
The Orchid:
Jack and Sawyer find Hurley, then the Orchid station, then Locke. Maybe if they have such good luck they should try to find a way back home, huh? Sawyer and Hurley eat old crackers, and Hurley asks about Claire. Awkward. Jack and Locke have a battle of wills, the most engaged, philosophy-filled Science vs. Faith discussion on the show ever. Jack tells Locke to let them leave the island. Locke says that it is "destiny" that they stay on the island, and that such knowledge will eat Jack alive for the rest of his life. (Well, yeah, Locke. Now that you said it... Power of suggestion and all!) Locke tells Jack that they will have to lie about everything on the island. "It's the only way to protect it," Locke claims. "It's not an island. It's a place where miracles happen." "There's no such thing as miracles," Jack asserts, not knowing that Locke himself is a walking miracle. (Subtext!) Suddenly, Ben enters the scene. Ben helps Locke find the hidden passage inside to the Orchid and he and Locke go down the secret elevator, leaving Jack "forever." As it were.
The elevator goes really deep, deep down. The Orchid station, being DHARMA and all, has a very "hatch" feel to it. Locke is very impressed by the dump. But, Ben has to assure him that this room is "not the magic box." Ben has Locke watch a "informative video" on the station: another DHARMA orientation film. The Orchid is all about space and time. And it has time traveling bunnies. No joke. DHARMA was able to use this room to manipulate time and space.
Suddenly, the elevator goes back down, and this time is brought in Keamy. Who was not killed, because he was wearing body armor - which makes total sense and I kind of beat myself up for not even considering that possibility before. Keamy taunts Ben forever, saying that he can't kill him, because his magical arm device is a remote trigger for the C-4 on the Freighter. And if his heart rate goes to 0, the bombs go off. This is when Locke steps out and tries to be all diplomatic with the mad man. Keamy does not appreciate this, and especially does not appreciate it when Ben comes out of the shadows and stabs him repeatedly. Locke looks like he's just seen the hatch implode again. "You just killed everyone on that boat." Ben: "So?" Michael Emerson's delivery was pitch-perfect, I hope he wins an Emmy, if just for that scene.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Lost: There's No Place Like Home, Part 1 (of 3)
The penultimate episode of sorts before the last week of Season 4, There's No Place Like Home is shaping up to be an amazing mini-movie. It didn't give much to speculate on at all, not much to talk about for two weeks, really. But it definitely made me interested in seeing the last two hours of the episode/season. To refresh your memory on what happened, here's Collegiate on TV's recap:
The beach
Rose makes a cameo and rambles on about whether or not the satellite phone was dropped so they would follow the boaties, or hide from them. Jack figures that any move they make is a terrible one, so he gives the phone to Faraday. Faraday is able to hear the audio on the helicopter for just a few minutes - like it's a fancy baby monitor - and no one can hear Sayid or Desmond. Jack asks for Kate and the two of them walk off, but not before Juliet continues to scold Jack like there's no tomorrow. He just had surgery! Man, I absolutely love Juliet. And I love how after a couple years of becoming a hardened woman on the island, Juliet is still a mother hen after all. Take a look:
I. Heart. Juliet.
Meanwhile, Faraday caught a reference over the phone to "The Orchid." As Charlotte wonders if the Arvin Sloane impostor got to it first, Faraday goes through his trusty, time-travel-y notebook and realizes that Keamy is following the second protocol (!) and that they are all going to die. "We HAVE to get off this island. Right now," he said, scaring us all. Or he would, if they haven't been saying that since the first episode of this series.
Sayid & boat wash ashore. Sayid tells everyone that Keamy & Ko. are going to kill them all. Juliet and Faraday look tense as they gently explain that Jack is running towards them. Sayid all but bangs his head in frustration. Sayid says that he wants to ferry people to and from the boat. Faraday offers to do that so Sayid can warn Jack. Sayid agrees. Juliet makes sure that Sun gets on the first ferry, because she's pregnant. Kate wanders back to the beach - (check "The Jungle") and takes Sayid on a tracking expedition. Jin also gets on the boat with a couple very unenthusiastic extras. Jin gloats as the rescue boat ferries off to the freighter. And thus ends the beach story, for now.
The boat
Desmond helps unload the first ferry of people on to the freighter. When Sun and Jin get off, they hear a very familiar voice - Michael. They are so ticked off. Faraday leaves for the next group as Desmond gets word that Michael fixed the engines again, so they can start moving towards the island. Des makes sure that they are on a heading of 305. Problem is, there's some radio interference on that channel.
Sun catches up with Michael, where he tells his whole sad story. Sun asks if he's still working for Ben. Michael insists that he is not, and never was, and cries and whatever. Desmond freaks out and tells Michael to get inside the boat. He goes to the radio room, along with Jin and some other extra. Guys, there was probably two hundred blocks of C-4 explosive in there. They have the decency to make sure Sun isn't anywhere near the radio room, because when the entire boat blows up and kills everyone, the pregnant woman should die in the surrounding area, not in the immediate blast. We are left to wait two weeks to see if anything happens with that or not.
The jungle
Jack and Kate are catching up to the helicopter folk, so they decide to take a break. (?!) Jack's shirt is wet; Kate says that he is bleeding. Jack calls it a "discharge" and that his body is fighting off an infection. Kate: "Liar!" Just in time for the finale, Miles, Sawyer and Aaron stumble into the scene. They ask where Claire is and Sawyer replies with - I kid you not- "We lost her." As if she died! Sawyer also explains that Keamy blew up the barracks - just like Locke said he would. This has Jack and Sawyer fighting over how every single strategy on the show has been completely stupid, and how I wish Sayid could have been there to agree with both of them!
Jack goes off to find the helicopter folk by himself. He charges Kate to take care of the baby - which she does, for about 20 minutes - and leaves. Sawyer charges after him. And Miles? I don't know where he went.
Sawyer and Jack begrudgingly catch up on "old times" (a week, maybe?), when they come upon the helicopter. Frank says that he dropped the phone out of the helo so they could come find him and release him - he's pinned down! - and then he can fly them all home. They release Frank, but then Sawyer mentions that Hurley is with Ben and Locke. Jack gets mad, and they go and find him.
Kate and Sayid come upon a new set of tracks, when they run into the ageless Richard Alpert. He keeps telling them to put down their guns, and they don't, so then about two dozen Others show up, and then they put down their guns.
Ben, Hurley & Locke
The lovable trio wanders off to go to the Orchid, DHARMA's own greenhouse. When Ben is asked how they can move the island, Ben repliesL "very carefully." Heh. Apparently moving the island is very dangerous and unpredictable, and as such is a measure of last resort. (Hurley points out that moving the island will still move the people with guns with them, so... nothing changes? Ben doesn't know how to explain that, nor does Locke.)
Ben finds a secret compartment, with a mirror that he uses to communicate with "you know who." (No, we don't, Ben. Jacob?) The sun's reflection sets off a similar reflection on the top of a hill, and with that secret password all clear, the team can move forward.
Locke tells Hurley that it is "too late" to get off the island, but we've seen the flash forwards, Mr. Locke. You are wrong.
They arrive at the Orchid, where Keamy's men are already inside / outside, guarding the place. Ben gives weird instructions to Locke, involving finding an elevator to go to the real Orchid station. Ben surrenders to Keamy, who gladly pistol-whips him.
Flash Forwards
The Oceanic Airlines representative, played by Michelle Forbes, preps the Oceanic Six for their return home. They are landing at a military base in Honolulu, and everyone's family is waiting for them there. Forbes also explains that they have been nicknames the "Oceanic Six," which she says is not the best name in the world for her company, but it is catchy. The survivors get off the plane and Hurley meets his parents, Jack his mom - who hasn't been in since season one, I believe?, Sayid gets to meet Hurley's family, Sun's parents are so happy even Mr. Paik is about to cry. Everyone is happy. Except for Kate, who stands there, alone, holding Aaron. :(
The Oceanic Six hold a press conference of lies. It's so full of lies, subtext, hints and clues to the entire mythology, it's easier if you just watch the press conference itself instead of recapping:
Sayid then meets up with Nadia, his own constant. They kiss, they hug, we all cry. A lot. Especially since we know Nadia dies not too long into the future. That makes this happy reunion all the more emotional.
Sun returns home to Paik Industries. She talks to her dad, who asks about her pregnancy. She tells him not to pretend to care, because she knows he hated Jin. She also says that she thinks that he is one of two people he blames his death on. He chastises her for being a woman or whatever his hillariously backwards ways are. She tells him not to be so smug, because Oceanic Airlines gave her a very generous payout. So she took that money and bought a controlling interest in Paik Industries. She tells her dad that she's going to have the baby, then she and him are going to have a talk about the future of "our" company. You go, girl!
Hurley comes home from Mr. Cluck's, only to find no one is in his house, mysteriously enough. He then finds a coconut on the floor and freaks out. Then he hears whispers. He picks up a statue to fight off any monster with. He opens the door to the patio to find a surprise party! But Hurley's mom is upset that Hugo is holding the statue. "Jesus Christ is not a weapon." Hee! That may be the best line of the whole entire series.
The birthday party is inappropriately island-themed. Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sayid and Nadia are all there. Hurley's dad pulls his son away from the party to show him their car. Cheech had fixed the car as sort of a "memorial" for his son. They get in to go for a test drive when Hurley notices the numbers on the dashboard are "481516" and "2342." He flips out. And runs away, down the road, like a Simpsons character!
We then meet up with Jack, giving a eulogy at his father's funeral. "Goodbye, Dad. I loved you. I miss you," he says to himself. Afterwards, everyone leaves, including Jack's mom who, I'm sorry, I can't believe the producers remembered she exists! And it's not like Joyce Davenport has been busy or anything. I was beginning to think I misremembered that he had a mom! So why hasn't she been in more? A. mazing.
A woman walks up to Jack and apologizes. She believes she is the reason Christian was in Australia when he died. Jack is confused. She was in the hospital when he came down. But the real reason he went to the country was to see his daughter. Her daughter. The funny thing is, her daughter was on Oceanic 815, too. Jack's half-sister was sitting near him all along! "Her name was Claire," Carol Littleton explains. Jack's brain practically explodes trying to comprehend this. (Good job, Matthew Fox!) As Carol leaves, she notices Kate and Aaron. "You're son is beautiful," she says, unaware that she is referring to her grandchild. Oh, the rich subtext!
Questions/Comments
- Keamy's device is probably a trigger for the explosives, dontcha think?
- How did Mrs. Littleton get out of the coma?
- Does the freighter blow up? And does anybody die? (We know Michael can't, though he'd be burned pretty good if it did explode!)
- Who was Ben communicating with? Was it really Jacob?
- What does Alpert plan to do with Sayid and Kate?
- How does the famed Oceanic Six get together? Sun and Aaron are on the boat, Hurley's with Locke, Jack is wherever, and Kate and Sayid are in their own pocket of the island.
- Was the Oceanic Airlines story about the six washing ashore on a small Indonesian coast true?
- To what extent is Oceanic willingly lying? What does the Michelle Forbes character know?
- Can Michelle Forbes team up with Abbadon? Please? They would make an excellent pairing.
- What is Sun's end game in becoming a major player in Paik Industries? Paik is a global company, one that's rumored to have ties to Widmore. Is this Sun's way of trying to start to figure out where the island is? Is Sun working with Ben?
- Is the C-4 causing the interference? I think it might...
- Sun said she blamed her father for Jin's death, saying he was one of two people she held responsible. Who is the other person?
In two weeks: The two-hour finale begins at 9 p.m. ET. It involves a helicopter, the main cast, and... I couldn't decipher the ABC promo for anything in the world. Also, there's supposed to be a spectacular kiss and a cliffhanger that the producers have code-worded "Frozen Donkey Wheel." Huh.
The beach
Rose makes a cameo and rambles on about whether or not the satellite phone was dropped so they would follow the boaties, or hide from them. Jack figures that any move they make is a terrible one, so he gives the phone to Faraday. Faraday is able to hear the audio on the helicopter for just a few minutes - like it's a fancy baby monitor - and no one can hear Sayid or Desmond. Jack asks for Kate and the two of them walk off, but not before Juliet continues to scold Jack like there's no tomorrow. He just had surgery! Man, I absolutely love Juliet. And I love how after a couple years of becoming a hardened woman on the island, Juliet is still a mother hen after all. Take a look:
I. Heart. Juliet.
Meanwhile, Faraday caught a reference over the phone to "The Orchid." As Charlotte wonders if the Arvin Sloane impostor got to it first, Faraday goes through his trusty, time-travel-y notebook and realizes that Keamy is following the second protocol (!) and that they are all going to die. "We HAVE to get off this island. Right now," he said, scaring us all. Or he would, if they haven't been saying that since the first episode of this series.
Sayid & boat wash ashore. Sayid tells everyone that Keamy & Ko. are going to kill them all. Juliet and Faraday look tense as they gently explain that Jack is running towards them. Sayid all but bangs his head in frustration. Sayid says that he wants to ferry people to and from the boat. Faraday offers to do that so Sayid can warn Jack. Sayid agrees. Juliet makes sure that Sun gets on the first ferry, because she's pregnant. Kate wanders back to the beach - (check "The Jungle") and takes Sayid on a tracking expedition. Jin also gets on the boat with a couple very unenthusiastic extras. Jin gloats as the rescue boat ferries off to the freighter. And thus ends the beach story, for now.
The boat
Desmond helps unload the first ferry of people on to the freighter. When Sun and Jin get off, they hear a very familiar voice - Michael. They are so ticked off. Faraday leaves for the next group as Desmond gets word that Michael fixed the engines again, so they can start moving towards the island. Des makes sure that they are on a heading of 305. Problem is, there's some radio interference on that channel.
Sun catches up with Michael, where he tells his whole sad story. Sun asks if he's still working for Ben. Michael insists that he is not, and never was, and cries and whatever. Desmond freaks out and tells Michael to get inside the boat. He goes to the radio room, along with Jin and some other extra. Guys, there was probably two hundred blocks of C-4 explosive in there. They have the decency to make sure Sun isn't anywhere near the radio room, because when the entire boat blows up and kills everyone, the pregnant woman should die in the surrounding area, not in the immediate blast. We are left to wait two weeks to see if anything happens with that or not.
The jungle
Jack and Kate are catching up to the helicopter folk, so they decide to take a break. (?!) Jack's shirt is wet; Kate says that he is bleeding. Jack calls it a "discharge" and that his body is fighting off an infection. Kate: "Liar!" Just in time for the finale, Miles, Sawyer and Aaron stumble into the scene. They ask where Claire is and Sawyer replies with - I kid you not- "We lost her." As if she died! Sawyer also explains that Keamy blew up the barracks - just like Locke said he would. This has Jack and Sawyer fighting over how every single strategy on the show has been completely stupid, and how I wish Sayid could have been there to agree with both of them!
Jack goes off to find the helicopter folk by himself. He charges Kate to take care of the baby - which she does, for about 20 minutes - and leaves. Sawyer charges after him. And Miles? I don't know where he went.
Sawyer and Jack begrudgingly catch up on "old times" (a week, maybe?), when they come upon the helicopter. Frank says that he dropped the phone out of the helo so they could come find him and release him - he's pinned down! - and then he can fly them all home. They release Frank, but then Sawyer mentions that Hurley is with Ben and Locke. Jack gets mad, and they go and find him.
Kate and Sayid come upon a new set of tracks, when they run into the ageless Richard Alpert. He keeps telling them to put down their guns, and they don't, so then about two dozen Others show up, and then they put down their guns.
Ben, Hurley & Locke
The lovable trio wanders off to go to the Orchid, DHARMA's own greenhouse. When Ben is asked how they can move the island, Ben repliesL "very carefully." Heh. Apparently moving the island is very dangerous and unpredictable, and as such is a measure of last resort. (Hurley points out that moving the island will still move the people with guns with them, so... nothing changes? Ben doesn't know how to explain that, nor does Locke.)
Ben finds a secret compartment, with a mirror that he uses to communicate with "you know who." (No, we don't, Ben. Jacob?) The sun's reflection sets off a similar reflection on the top of a hill, and with that secret password all clear, the team can move forward.
Locke tells Hurley that it is "too late" to get off the island, but we've seen the flash forwards, Mr. Locke. You are wrong.
They arrive at the Orchid, where Keamy's men are already inside / outside, guarding the place. Ben gives weird instructions to Locke, involving finding an elevator to go to the real Orchid station. Ben surrenders to Keamy, who gladly pistol-whips him.
Flash Forwards
The Oceanic Airlines representative, played by Michelle Forbes, preps the Oceanic Six for their return home. They are landing at a military base in Honolulu, and everyone's family is waiting for them there. Forbes also explains that they have been nicknames the "Oceanic Six," which she says is not the best name in the world for her company, but it is catchy. The survivors get off the plane and Hurley meets his parents, Jack his mom - who hasn't been in since season one, I believe?, Sayid gets to meet Hurley's family, Sun's parents are so happy even Mr. Paik is about to cry. Everyone is happy. Except for Kate, who stands there, alone, holding Aaron. :(
The Oceanic Six hold a press conference of lies. It's so full of lies, subtext, hints and clues to the entire mythology, it's easier if you just watch the press conference itself instead of recapping:
Sayid then meets up with Nadia, his own constant. They kiss, they hug, we all cry. A lot. Especially since we know Nadia dies not too long into the future. That makes this happy reunion all the more emotional.
Sun returns home to Paik Industries. She talks to her dad, who asks about her pregnancy. She tells him not to pretend to care, because she knows he hated Jin. She also says that she thinks that he is one of two people he blames his death on. He chastises her for being a woman or whatever his hillariously backwards ways are. She tells him not to be so smug, because Oceanic Airlines gave her a very generous payout. So she took that money and bought a controlling interest in Paik Industries. She tells her dad that she's going to have the baby, then she and him are going to have a talk about the future of "our" company. You go, girl!
Hurley comes home from Mr. Cluck's, only to find no one is in his house, mysteriously enough. He then finds a coconut on the floor and freaks out. Then he hears whispers. He picks up a statue to fight off any monster with. He opens the door to the patio to find a surprise party! But Hurley's mom is upset that Hugo is holding the statue. "Jesus Christ is not a weapon." Hee! That may be the best line of the whole entire series.
The birthday party is inappropriately island-themed. Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sayid and Nadia are all there. Hurley's dad pulls his son away from the party to show him their car. Cheech had fixed the car as sort of a "memorial" for his son. They get in to go for a test drive when Hurley notices the numbers on the dashboard are "481516" and "2342." He flips out. And runs away, down the road, like a Simpsons character!
We then meet up with Jack, giving a eulogy at his father's funeral. "Goodbye, Dad. I loved you. I miss you," he says to himself. Afterwards, everyone leaves, including Jack's mom who, I'm sorry, I can't believe the producers remembered she exists! And it's not like Joyce Davenport has been busy or anything. I was beginning to think I misremembered that he had a mom! So why hasn't she been in more? A. mazing.
A woman walks up to Jack and apologizes. She believes she is the reason Christian was in Australia when he died. Jack is confused. She was in the hospital when he came down. But the real reason he went to the country was to see his daughter. Her daughter. The funny thing is, her daughter was on Oceanic 815, too. Jack's half-sister was sitting near him all along! "Her name was Claire," Carol Littleton explains. Jack's brain practically explodes trying to comprehend this. (Good job, Matthew Fox!) As Carol leaves, she notices Kate and Aaron. "You're son is beautiful," she says, unaware that she is referring to her grandchild. Oh, the rich subtext!
Questions/Comments
- Keamy's device is probably a trigger for the explosives, dontcha think?
- How did Mrs. Littleton get out of the coma?
- Does the freighter blow up? And does anybody die? (We know Michael can't, though he'd be burned pretty good if it did explode!)
- Who was Ben communicating with? Was it really Jacob?
- What does Alpert plan to do with Sayid and Kate?
- How does the famed Oceanic Six get together? Sun and Aaron are on the boat, Hurley's with Locke, Jack is wherever, and Kate and Sayid are in their own pocket of the island.
- Was the Oceanic Airlines story about the six washing ashore on a small Indonesian coast true?
- To what extent is Oceanic willingly lying? What does the Michelle Forbes character know?
- Can Michelle Forbes team up with Abbadon? Please? They would make an excellent pairing.
- What is Sun's end game in becoming a major player in Paik Industries? Paik is a global company, one that's rumored to have ties to Widmore. Is this Sun's way of trying to start to figure out where the island is? Is Sun working with Ben?
- Is the C-4 causing the interference? I think it might...
- Sun said she blamed her father for Jin's death, saying he was one of two people she held responsible. Who is the other person?
In two weeks: The two-hour finale begins at 9 p.m. ET. It involves a helicopter, the main cast, and... I couldn't decipher the ABC promo for anything in the world. Also, there's supposed to be a spectacular kiss and a cliffhanger that the producers have code-worded "Frozen Donkey Wheel." Huh.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Lost: Addendum
I forgot to mention one of the most obvious subtexts in this week's Lost episode, "Cabin Fever." Locke, who was told in the past he was not meant to be a superhero, must now move an island, which is a task no ordinary person could do. It would take a - wait for it - superhero to move.
However, Locke's emotions have always been easy to manipulate. Especially after you start to show interest in whatever he does. That's how the cop was able to infiltrate the commune, that's how his dad was able to steal a kidney, that's how Ben has been able to manipulate him all these weeks. So when Christian and Claire informed Locke that he needs to move the island, are they really telling him that because they think he's a chosen one? Do they really think he's a chosen one?
Another question that I've been ruminating over is... Who is Abbadon working for? Most of Locke's flashbacks concerned Alpert and his mysterious Mittelos Science outfit. And Alpert is in Ben's camp. (Although maybe not too entirely happy about it.) But Abbadon organized the freighter's team of Frank, Charlotte, Miles and Faraday. And those four are bankrolled by Charles Widmore, who in the future is an enemy of Ben. So it might stand to reason that Abbadon is somehow connected to Widmore.
However, after four flashbacks relating to Ben, can we really believe that there's this clean transition over to a Widmore employee? We can believe Alpert going all about, trying to recruit people for the island. But Abbadon? Why would Widmore try to get Locke to the island? Was Abbadon working for Ben at the time? Is he still working for him now? Was Ben working with Widmore?
With a character steeped in mythology as Abbadon, I find it hard to believe that they showed him in Locke's crippled condition just because they could. There is something more that meets the eye, besides the fact that Locke was constantly being recruited to go to the island all his life. It's the fact that after Alpert, we had ABBADON recruiting Locke that's the real mystery.
However, Locke's emotions have always been easy to manipulate. Especially after you start to show interest in whatever he does. That's how the cop was able to infiltrate the commune, that's how his dad was able to steal a kidney, that's how Ben has been able to manipulate him all these weeks. So when Christian and Claire informed Locke that he needs to move the island, are they really telling him that because they think he's a chosen one? Do they really think he's a chosen one?
Another question that I've been ruminating over is... Who is Abbadon working for? Most of Locke's flashbacks concerned Alpert and his mysterious Mittelos Science outfit. And Alpert is in Ben's camp. (Although maybe not too entirely happy about it.) But Abbadon organized the freighter's team of Frank, Charlotte, Miles and Faraday. And those four are bankrolled by Charles Widmore, who in the future is an enemy of Ben. So it might stand to reason that Abbadon is somehow connected to Widmore.
However, after four flashbacks relating to Ben, can we really believe that there's this clean transition over to a Widmore employee? We can believe Alpert going all about, trying to recruit people for the island. But Abbadon? Why would Widmore try to get Locke to the island? Was Abbadon working for Ben at the time? Is he still working for him now? Was Ben working with Widmore?
With a character steeped in mythology as Abbadon, I find it hard to believe that they showed him in Locke's crippled condition just because they could. There is something more that meets the eye, besides the fact that Locke was constantly being recruited to go to the island all his life. It's the fact that after Alpert, we had ABBADON recruiting Locke that's the real mystery.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Lost: Cabin Fever
This is one of those strange episodes of Lost in which you don't realize until after the episode is done that it was actually a really, really good episode. During the episode, I just kind of watched with glazed anticipation. But now that I'm pouring through my notes, the episode was amazing! Oh, how weird. Let's get to the necessarily-long recap.
FlashBACK 1: A teenage Emily - a Buddy Holly fan - is going out with a man twice her age who "loves her," despite her mother's objections. She runs outside in the rain and is hit by a car. (We don't know who hit her. Presumably irrelevant, although, that's assuming a lot on a show like Lost.) Switch to hospital, where Emily tells staff that she is six months pregnant - the first time she's admitted it to anyone, apparently. There's a short delivery scene, but Emily can't hold her premee child, he's whisked away to N.I.C.U. But before he goes away, Emily yells "Name him John!" John Locke.
FlashBACK 2: Hospital again. Baby John, although being a premee, has survived just about every type of infection and disease there is at a hospital. He is called a "miracle baby." Emily is given the opportunity to hold baby John for the first time. Emily freaks out and runs away. Emily's mom asks if they can give John up for adoption, as she tries to light a cigarette inside a hospital. Grandma Locke is cold, folks. Cold. As Grandma tries to outdo Dina Lohan as Mom of the Year, she sees a very creepy looking Richard Alpert looking through the window. And no, Alpert doesn't look younger. He looks the same.
FlashBACK 3: John is five, maybe? He's in another foster home and a girl his age hates backgammon. HATES. Foster mom lets ALPERT in to talk to John, about admitting him to a school for "special" and "gifted" children. (Chilton?) The test involves setting out a bunch of subtext-rich items - like a "Book of Laws" and a container of sand - and asking John which of those items already belonged to him. John chose the knife. Alpert, MAD, storms off, saying that John doesn't belong there. Alpert actually kind of freaks out. Also scarring John emotionally for life. Jerk.
FlashBACK 4: In high school, John is the kid who gets stuck in lockers. A counselor/adviser/plot device encourages John to attend a summer camp at Mittelos Bioscience. John freaks, saying that acting like a science nerd is what would continue to get him pushed into lockers. Mr. PlotDevice said that he got the brochure from a "Dr. Alpert." "I'm not a scientist!" John yelled. "That's who you are," said the mysterious high school man. "You can't be... a superhero." "Don't tell me what I can't do!" declared John.
FlashBACK 5: Locke, post-accident. After a tough day of physical therapy, he is being wheeled around the hospital to who knows where, as an orderly talks about how anything is possible and yadayada, we don't care until we realize the person talking is Matthew Abbadon. He and Alpert, together in one show? Makes for the creepiest hour EVER. Abbadon asks Locke if he believes in miracles. Locke doesn't. Abbadon says he does, and then fakes out the audience by making us think he'll push Locke down the steps and my heart pounded fast CRAP THAT WAS SCARY. Instead, Abbadon talks to Locke about going on a "Walkabout" and how it "changed his life." Locke scoffs at first, but then starts to seem convinced later on about it. Abbadon says that it will completely turn his life around. And then leaves by saying "when you and me run into each other again, you'll owe me one." CREEPY McCREEPSTER! Ew.
The Freighter: Keamy & company arrive back on the boat, post-Smokey damaged. The dead doctor is there, ALIVE. Keamy wants to know how many people are on the island, but Sayid, wisely, does not volunteer that information. Keamy ask Captain Gault who "gave me up." Gault: "MICHAEL!" Michael confirms that he knows who Keamy is, and that he's Ben's mole. Keamy tries to kill Michael, but, of course, the island won't let him, so his gun doesn't work on him. So he just pistolwhips him. Welcome back, Harold Pennireau?
Later that night/day, Mahey dies. Keamy tells Frank to gas up the chopper. Gault thinks Keamy might have "I'm crazy!" island sickness. Keamy doesn't think so. He just has "second protocol," which involves a DHARMA folder. Since when does Widmore supply his men with DHARMA folders? Keamy mutters that Ben only has "one place to go," and then mentions "torching the island." Gault is mortified. Gault tells Sayid and Desmond to hide. Sayid instead wants a small boat to help save islanders. Gault agrees!
Frank talks to Michael, where we realize that Frank is a conspiracy buff, and that he doesn't think that the 815 wreckage is real, but laughs that Widmore planted it? I... it was a throwaway scene, honestly. Michael warns that Keamy will kill EVERYONE! Keamy struts his abs in front of everyone (shameless, producers. Shameless.) while attaching a metronome to his arm. (Okay, so maybe it's a bomb?) Gault gives Sayid the boat, and a working compass. Desmond won't leave the boat, saying that she spent three years on the island, so he doesn't exactly want to step foot on it again. (That's fair.) Sayid leaves. Say, that boat looks kind of small. Like it only has room for... six?
Night. Omar tells the doctor that he's dead. Doctor: "Uh... okay?" Frank asks why the mercs are loading up napalm or whatever we would see if the scene wasn't set at nighttime. Frank then boldly declares that he won't fly them. So Keamy, ticked, slices the doctor's throat. Thereby killing him, in... the island's past? Future? Gault then appears, shooting a gun. ("I fixed your gun!" he quipped.) Keamy warns that Gault does NOT want to shoot him. So Keamy kills Gault! The cool guy with the accent! Sad face. Frank, freaked, agrees to fly them out now. But he carefully wraps up a satellite phone into a container, then drops it onto the Losties beach as they fly overhead. Now Jack & company can now track where Keamy and his men are going. Convenient! If only Frank could drop something onto Jack, so he doesn't keep moving around and almost tearing out his stitches. Man, was Juliet mad! Good for her.
Team Locke: First segment: pure exposition. No lie. Then Locke wakes up to see Horace Goodspeed chopping wood. He's building a place for him and his wife, as a break away from the "D.I." (DHARMA Initiative.) He then says "You gotta find me, John. And when you do, you'll find him. Jacob. He's been waiting for you a long time." Horace repeats, literally, and the trees he chopped down reappear for him to chop down again. Then LOCKE WAKES UP. So he's not actually alive after 12 years? Sad face. Ben also has a sad face, saying that he "used to have dreams."
Hurley questions why he is with Locke and Ben. Locke tells Hurley that he is "special," because he can see the cabin. Hurley thinks all three of them can see it because "we're the craziest." Locke then talks about how DHARMA suddenly just disappeared off the island, and Ben stops in his tracks and looks mad. They are suddenly in front of the mass grave, where Locke finds Goodspeed's body. But not before outing Ben as a mass murderer to Hurley. Inside Goodspeed's pocket is a map to a cabin. Forgetting the map is now at least twelve years out of date, and the cabin can MOVE, Locke assumes this will lead him to the cabin correctly.
Ben then corrects Locke, telling John that he didn't order the purge. Locke snaps back that Ben is the leader of the others. Ben says "not all of the time." Locke offers Hurley a chance to leave now, since he can get to the cabin without Hurley's help. Hurley quickly surmises that his chances of death are equal, if not lessened, if he stays with Ben and Locke. So he stays. Ben comments to Locke how John made it sound like it was Hurley's decision, when it wasn't. Locke pretends that he's not becoming the new Ben.
Locke later tells Ben that he's sorry Alex died and everything. Ben says that it's destiny. And that "destiny is a fickle bitch." He says although he is a "chosen one," there are still consequences that must be paid. But he is no longer a chosen one. Locke is. Or so Ben the manipulator says.
They arrive at the cabin. Ben and Hurley stay outside and share a candy bar. (It was hilarious.) Locke lights a torch and goes inside the cabin, completely ignoring the fact that Jacob hates light. Idiot. Inside Locke meets Christian Shephard, of all people. Jack's dad is now speaking on Jacob's behalf. He asks Locke why he is there. "I'm here because I was chosen to be," said Locke. "That's absolutely right," comments Christian. (They're both Calvinist!)
Suddenly, a female voice says "Hi, John." It's Claire, looking really relaxed. Like she's drunk, high, dead, or D) all of the above. Christian asks Locke to not tell people that Claire is there. He says that people "aren't ready yet." He then realizes the episode is almost done and asks Locke for one question to be answered. Locke asks "how do I save the island?" Both Christian and Claire smirk like a couple of drunk idiots.
Locke exits the cabin later, saying he knows what to do. "He wants us to move the island." END.
Questions & Comments
- Was Cooper really conning a 16-year-old Emily? That's just cold.
- Bad parents seem to run in the Locke family. Bad dad, bad mom, bad grandma... I think we should be grateful John isn't a dad himself! (...that we know of.)
- As a baby, John Locke survived through impossible odds. He survives falling 16 stories later on in life. Damaged, but, survived. He and Michael now have increasingly similar backstories, and both are not "allowed" to die. But why? And how?
- This episode seemed to reinforce that Locke needs to believe in miracles. Will faith be the key to his moving the island?
- I just noticed... we've never met Sawyer's parents, have we? Did Sawyer like his parents before they died? What a weird Lost character!
- Early in the episode, Hurley asked "who builds a cabin in the middle of the jungle?" The answer: Horace Goodspeed.
- Does the map change when the cabin moves?
- Is the magically moving cabin a small-scale island? Can it's moving properties be applied to the island as a whole? (And does moving the island involve Alcatraz?)
- Who was the "other leader" that Ben was referring to?
- Is Christian Shepard actually Jacob? He claimed to be speaking on his behalf, then said he would grant one request. This sounds an awful lot like the Wizard of Oz...
- OBVIOUS QUESTION OF THE WEEK: How do you move an island?
- Is Sayid's Zodiac boat how the Oceanic Six escape the island?
- Will the island be torched?
- What is up with Claire? Is she dead? Is she alive? Is that Claire, or a Smokey interpretation, a la Yemi?
- Is Sawyer dead? (Oh, he just didn't have a scene this week? Okay, thanks!) But seriously, is he dead?
- What has Jacob wanted Locke to do, to become, all his life?
- Does Alpert ever age?
- Can Abbadon be any more creepy? He and Alpert need their own show where they stare at people. It would be the scariest thing since that in-bred house episode of The X-Files.
Next week: Guys, did you pause the preview? There's a standoff in the jungle with ALPERT! ALPERT! Next week is part 1 of a 3-part finale. Lost airs Thursday nights at 10 p.m. on ABC.
FlashBACK 1: A teenage Emily - a Buddy Holly fan - is going out with a man twice her age who "loves her," despite her mother's objections. She runs outside in the rain and is hit by a car. (We don't know who hit her. Presumably irrelevant, although, that's assuming a lot on a show like Lost.) Switch to hospital, where Emily tells staff that she is six months pregnant - the first time she's admitted it to anyone, apparently. There's a short delivery scene, but Emily can't hold her premee child, he's whisked away to N.I.C.U. But before he goes away, Emily yells "Name him John!" John Locke.
FlashBACK 2: Hospital again. Baby John, although being a premee, has survived just about every type of infection and disease there is at a hospital. He is called a "miracle baby." Emily is given the opportunity to hold baby John for the first time. Emily freaks out and runs away. Emily's mom asks if they can give John up for adoption, as she tries to light a cigarette inside a hospital. Grandma Locke is cold, folks. Cold. As Grandma tries to outdo Dina Lohan as Mom of the Year, she sees a very creepy looking Richard Alpert looking through the window. And no, Alpert doesn't look younger. He looks the same.
FlashBACK 3: John is five, maybe? He's in another foster home and a girl his age hates backgammon. HATES. Foster mom lets ALPERT in to talk to John, about admitting him to a school for "special" and "gifted" children. (Chilton?) The test involves setting out a bunch of subtext-rich items - like a "Book of Laws" and a container of sand - and asking John which of those items already belonged to him. John chose the knife. Alpert, MAD, storms off, saying that John doesn't belong there. Alpert actually kind of freaks out. Also scarring John emotionally for life. Jerk.
FlashBACK 4: In high school, John is the kid who gets stuck in lockers. A counselor/adviser/plot device encourages John to attend a summer camp at Mittelos Bioscience. John freaks, saying that acting like a science nerd is what would continue to get him pushed into lockers. Mr. PlotDevice said that he got the brochure from a "Dr. Alpert." "I'm not a scientist!" John yelled. "That's who you are," said the mysterious high school man. "You can't be... a superhero." "Don't tell me what I can't do!" declared John.
FlashBACK 5: Locke, post-accident. After a tough day of physical therapy, he is being wheeled around the hospital to who knows where, as an orderly talks about how anything is possible and yadayada, we don't care until we realize the person talking is Matthew Abbadon. He and Alpert, together in one show? Makes for the creepiest hour EVER. Abbadon asks Locke if he believes in miracles. Locke doesn't. Abbadon says he does, and then fakes out the audience by making us think he'll push Locke down the steps and my heart pounded fast CRAP THAT WAS SCARY. Instead, Abbadon talks to Locke about going on a "Walkabout" and how it "changed his life." Locke scoffs at first, but then starts to seem convinced later on about it. Abbadon says that it will completely turn his life around. And then leaves by saying "when you and me run into each other again, you'll owe me one." CREEPY McCREEPSTER! Ew.
The Freighter: Keamy & company arrive back on the boat, post-Smokey damaged. The dead doctor is there, ALIVE. Keamy wants to know how many people are on the island, but Sayid, wisely, does not volunteer that information. Keamy ask Captain Gault who "gave me up." Gault: "MICHAEL!" Michael confirms that he knows who Keamy is, and that he's Ben's mole. Keamy tries to kill Michael, but, of course, the island won't let him, so his gun doesn't work on him. So he just pistolwhips him. Welcome back, Harold Pennireau?
Later that night/day, Mahey dies. Keamy tells Frank to gas up the chopper. Gault thinks Keamy might have "I'm crazy!" island sickness. Keamy doesn't think so. He just has "second protocol," which involves a DHARMA folder. Since when does Widmore supply his men with DHARMA folders? Keamy mutters that Ben only has "one place to go," and then mentions "torching the island." Gault is mortified. Gault tells Sayid and Desmond to hide. Sayid instead wants a small boat to help save islanders. Gault agrees!
Frank talks to Michael, where we realize that Frank is a conspiracy buff, and that he doesn't think that the 815 wreckage is real, but laughs that Widmore planted it? I... it was a throwaway scene, honestly. Michael warns that Keamy will kill EVERYONE! Keamy struts his abs in front of everyone (shameless, producers. Shameless.) while attaching a metronome to his arm. (Okay, so maybe it's a bomb?) Gault gives Sayid the boat, and a working compass. Desmond won't leave the boat, saying that she spent three years on the island, so he doesn't exactly want to step foot on it again. (That's fair.) Sayid leaves. Say, that boat looks kind of small. Like it only has room for... six?
Night. Omar tells the doctor that he's dead. Doctor: "Uh... okay?" Frank asks why the mercs are loading up napalm or whatever we would see if the scene wasn't set at nighttime. Frank then boldly declares that he won't fly them. So Keamy, ticked, slices the doctor's throat. Thereby killing him, in... the island's past? Future? Gault then appears, shooting a gun. ("I fixed your gun!" he quipped.) Keamy warns that Gault does NOT want to shoot him. So Keamy kills Gault! The cool guy with the accent! Sad face. Frank, freaked, agrees to fly them out now. But he carefully wraps up a satellite phone into a container, then drops it onto the Losties beach as they fly overhead. Now Jack & company can now track where Keamy and his men are going. Convenient! If only Frank could drop something onto Jack, so he doesn't keep moving around and almost tearing out his stitches. Man, was Juliet mad! Good for her.
Team Locke: First segment: pure exposition. No lie. Then Locke wakes up to see Horace Goodspeed chopping wood. He's building a place for him and his wife, as a break away from the "D.I." (DHARMA Initiative.) He then says "You gotta find me, John. And when you do, you'll find him. Jacob. He's been waiting for you a long time." Horace repeats, literally, and the trees he chopped down reappear for him to chop down again. Then LOCKE WAKES UP. So he's not actually alive after 12 years? Sad face. Ben also has a sad face, saying that he "used to have dreams."
Hurley questions why he is with Locke and Ben. Locke tells Hurley that he is "special," because he can see the cabin. Hurley thinks all three of them can see it because "we're the craziest." Locke then talks about how DHARMA suddenly just disappeared off the island, and Ben stops in his tracks and looks mad. They are suddenly in front of the mass grave, where Locke finds Goodspeed's body. But not before outing Ben as a mass murderer to Hurley. Inside Goodspeed's pocket is a map to a cabin. Forgetting the map is now at least twelve years out of date, and the cabin can MOVE, Locke assumes this will lead him to the cabin correctly.
Ben then corrects Locke, telling John that he didn't order the purge. Locke snaps back that Ben is the leader of the others. Ben says "not all of the time." Locke offers Hurley a chance to leave now, since he can get to the cabin without Hurley's help. Hurley quickly surmises that his chances of death are equal, if not lessened, if he stays with Ben and Locke. So he stays. Ben comments to Locke how John made it sound like it was Hurley's decision, when it wasn't. Locke pretends that he's not becoming the new Ben.
Locke later tells Ben that he's sorry Alex died and everything. Ben says that it's destiny. And that "destiny is a fickle bitch." He says although he is a "chosen one," there are still consequences that must be paid. But he is no longer a chosen one. Locke is. Or so Ben the manipulator says.
They arrive at the cabin. Ben and Hurley stay outside and share a candy bar. (It was hilarious.) Locke lights a torch and goes inside the cabin, completely ignoring the fact that Jacob hates light. Idiot. Inside Locke meets Christian Shephard, of all people. Jack's dad is now speaking on Jacob's behalf. He asks Locke why he is there. "I'm here because I was chosen to be," said Locke. "That's absolutely right," comments Christian. (They're both Calvinist!)
Suddenly, a female voice says "Hi, John." It's Claire, looking really relaxed. Like she's drunk, high, dead, or D) all of the above. Christian asks Locke to not tell people that Claire is there. He says that people "aren't ready yet." He then realizes the episode is almost done and asks Locke for one question to be answered. Locke asks "how do I save the island?" Both Christian and Claire smirk like a couple of drunk idiots.
Locke exits the cabin later, saying he knows what to do. "He wants us to move the island." END.
Questions & Comments
- Was Cooper really conning a 16-year-old Emily? That's just cold.
- Bad parents seem to run in the Locke family. Bad dad, bad mom, bad grandma... I think we should be grateful John isn't a dad himself! (...that we know of.)
- As a baby, John Locke survived through impossible odds. He survives falling 16 stories later on in life. Damaged, but, survived. He and Michael now have increasingly similar backstories, and both are not "allowed" to die. But why? And how?
- This episode seemed to reinforce that Locke needs to believe in miracles. Will faith be the key to his moving the island?
- I just noticed... we've never met Sawyer's parents, have we? Did Sawyer like his parents before they died? What a weird Lost character!
- Early in the episode, Hurley asked "who builds a cabin in the middle of the jungle?" The answer: Horace Goodspeed.
- Does the map change when the cabin moves?
- Is the magically moving cabin a small-scale island? Can it's moving properties be applied to the island as a whole? (And does moving the island involve Alcatraz?)
- Who was the "other leader" that Ben was referring to?
- Is Christian Shepard actually Jacob? He claimed to be speaking on his behalf, then said he would grant one request. This sounds an awful lot like the Wizard of Oz...
- OBVIOUS QUESTION OF THE WEEK: How do you move an island?
- Is Sayid's Zodiac boat how the Oceanic Six escape the island?
- Will the island be torched?
- What is up with Claire? Is she dead? Is she alive? Is that Claire, or a Smokey interpretation, a la Yemi?
- Is Sawyer dead? (Oh, he just didn't have a scene this week? Okay, thanks!) But seriously, is he dead?
- What has Jacob wanted Locke to do, to become, all his life?
- Does Alpert ever age?
- Can Abbadon be any more creepy? He and Alpert need their own show where they stare at people. It would be the scariest thing since that in-bred house episode of The X-Files.
Next week: Guys, did you pause the preview? There's a standoff in the jungle with ALPERT! ALPERT! Next week is part 1 of a 3-part finale. Lost airs Thursday nights at 10 p.m. on ABC.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Lost: Something Nice Back Home
I think I might start off a lot of Lost recaps saying "wow, what a great episode," and maybe this episode doesn't quite deserve a lot of praise, but still, wow, what a great episode! And we actually learned some answers, some hints, clues, and a character who we thought was dead may actually be very, very alive? My mind hurts.
The recap: The beach folk are mad that Faraday and Charlotte's people on the boat aren't answering. Rose appears, almost for no other reason than to give Charlotte a quick insult. ("Just watch your tongue, red.") Jacks' appendix burst, which is normally hilarious on sitcoms, and normally just a cheap sweeps stunt in an hourly drama. Oh look, we're in the sweeps period! Good to know. Jack, being a control freak, demands that Kate hold a mirror so he can see Juliet perform the very routine surgery that she has done repeatedly. Kate does, until Jack freaks out and Juliet puts him under. She then later tells Kate that Jack kissed her, but that was just to prove to himself that he loves Kate. Aw...
Meanwhile, Faraday has a crush on Charlotte, and it's cuuute. Jin knows Charlotte can speak Korean after he caught her eavesdropping on him and Sun trash talking her. Awkward. He threatens Faraday's fingers (!) if Sun doesn't leave the island on the helicopter. What about you, Char asks. Jin doesn't even care. He just wants Sun to get back home. Aw! Does this mean you're still alive, Jin? Please?
Elsewhere, Sawyer's journey back to the beach with Claire, Aaron and Miles gets interrupted when Miles starts hearing voices, then magically knows that they are standing on Danielle and Alex's dead buried bodies, so they show us their dead buried bodies and, GROSS? Later, Frank comes out of nowhere, running away from someone?, and tells the Losties to hide. Keamy (killed Alex) and his men (!) are nearby. They are injured, but, alive. Even after the smoke/sand/soot/whatever monster attacked them. They escape, barely unnoticed (thanks, Aaron).
Then later at night, Claire wakes up to find Christian Shephard standing there. Her dad. Jack's dad. Alive. (?) She walks off with him, and that's the last we see of her. Sawyer finds Aaron in the morning, but no Claire-bear.
Jack's future: (Post-Kate's trial) In the future, Jack and Kate get naked together. A lot. And Kate never, ever wears pants. The sex is great, Jack gets along well with Aaron, and they are all happy. Until Jack visits Hurley. Hurley tells Jack that Charlie visited him, and that Charlie had a message for Jack: "You're not supposed to raise him." Also, Jack will be getting a visitor as well. Hurley said that he was happy until he got a visitor, then it all went downhill. Hurley, crazy, thinks they are all A) on the island still, B) dead. Whether any of this is true or not, it plants the seed of a self-fulfilling prophecy into Jack's gullible head. Jack tries to ignore it, by proposing to Kate. She accepts. Aw!
Slowly, Jack begins to think Kate is cheating on him. She says that she is meeting with one of the Mom's from the park, named Noreen. This may or may not be a lie. Because whoever she is meeting with, it's a favor, for Sawyer. Who we learn chose to stay on the island. (He's alive!) Jack, spiraling back into alcoholism, starts getting all mad and defensive, then Kate kicks him out of the house. But not before Jack unwittingly tells Aaron that Kate isn't his real mom. That kid's going to have issues.
Questions:
- Who is "Noreen"? Is she one of the mom's in the park? Is she Cassy? What favor does Sawyer need taken care of?
- Is Christian Shephard alive?
- Where did Christian and Claire go?
- Rose mentioned that people on the island generally get better, not worse. (Like in Jack's case.) Is that true? Or has she forgotten about all the dead "sacrifices" that the island has demanded?
- Was any part of Hurley's speech true?
- Where does the power for the medical station come from? (Nice shout out to fans, BTW... "Add it to the list." Nice.)
- What's Keamy's objective? And does it even match the captains? Or Naomi's?
Next week: Horace Goodspeed returns? After being dead 12 years? Anyways, we spend time around Jacob's cabin. And if press releases don't lie (they do), there should be some guest stars that Lost fans will really appreciate... (Thur., May 8, 10 p.m.)
The recap: The beach folk are mad that Faraday and Charlotte's people on the boat aren't answering. Rose appears, almost for no other reason than to give Charlotte a quick insult. ("Just watch your tongue, red.") Jacks' appendix burst, which is normally hilarious on sitcoms, and normally just a cheap sweeps stunt in an hourly drama. Oh look, we're in the sweeps period! Good to know. Jack, being a control freak, demands that Kate hold a mirror so he can see Juliet perform the very routine surgery that she has done repeatedly. Kate does, until Jack freaks out and Juliet puts him under. She then later tells Kate that Jack kissed her, but that was just to prove to himself that he loves Kate. Aw...
Meanwhile, Faraday has a crush on Charlotte, and it's cuuute. Jin knows Charlotte can speak Korean after he caught her eavesdropping on him and Sun trash talking her. Awkward. He threatens Faraday's fingers (!) if Sun doesn't leave the island on the helicopter. What about you, Char asks. Jin doesn't even care. He just wants Sun to get back home. Aw! Does this mean you're still alive, Jin? Please?
Elsewhere, Sawyer's journey back to the beach with Claire, Aaron and Miles gets interrupted when Miles starts hearing voices, then magically knows that they are standing on Danielle and Alex's dead buried bodies, so they show us their dead buried bodies and, GROSS? Later, Frank comes out of nowhere, running away from someone?, and tells the Losties to hide. Keamy (killed Alex) and his men (!) are nearby. They are injured, but, alive. Even after the smoke/sand/soot/whatever monster attacked them. They escape, barely unnoticed (thanks, Aaron).
Then later at night, Claire wakes up to find Christian Shephard standing there. Her dad. Jack's dad. Alive. (?) She walks off with him, and that's the last we see of her. Sawyer finds Aaron in the morning, but no Claire-bear.
Jack's future: (Post-Kate's trial) In the future, Jack and Kate get naked together. A lot. And Kate never, ever wears pants. The sex is great, Jack gets along well with Aaron, and they are all happy. Until Jack visits Hurley. Hurley tells Jack that Charlie visited him, and that Charlie had a message for Jack: "You're not supposed to raise him." Also, Jack will be getting a visitor as well. Hurley said that he was happy until he got a visitor, then it all went downhill. Hurley, crazy, thinks they are all A) on the island still, B) dead. Whether any of this is true or not, it plants the seed of a self-fulfilling prophecy into Jack's gullible head. Jack tries to ignore it, by proposing to Kate. She accepts. Aw!
Slowly, Jack begins to think Kate is cheating on him. She says that she is meeting with one of the Mom's from the park, named Noreen. This may or may not be a lie. Because whoever she is meeting with, it's a favor, for Sawyer. Who we learn chose to stay on the island. (He's alive!) Jack, spiraling back into alcoholism, starts getting all mad and defensive, then Kate kicks him out of the house. But not before Jack unwittingly tells Aaron that Kate isn't his real mom. That kid's going to have issues.
Questions:
- Who is "Noreen"? Is she one of the mom's in the park? Is she Cassy? What favor does Sawyer need taken care of?
- Is Christian Shephard alive?
- Where did Christian and Claire go?
- Rose mentioned that people on the island generally get better, not worse. (Like in Jack's case.) Is that true? Or has she forgotten about all the dead "sacrifices" that the island has demanded?
- Was any part of Hurley's speech true?
- Where does the power for the medical station come from? (Nice shout out to fans, BTW... "Add it to the list." Nice.)
- What's Keamy's objective? And does it even match the captains? Or Naomi's?
Next week: Horace Goodspeed returns? After being dead 12 years? Anyways, we spend time around Jacob's cabin. And if press releases don't lie (they do), there should be some guest stars that Lost fans will really appreciate... (Thur., May 8, 10 p.m.)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Lost: The Shape of Things to Come
Welcome back to the Lost recaps! After a multi-week hiatus, the popular island drama/mystery has returned to airwaves to confuse us once again. But this time, we have video from the show! I know. We are very cool.
What happened
At the beach, Kate flirted with Jack by going strapless. Jack likes it, but, he would like to not have stomach pains even more. The doctor from the boat washes onshore, dead, with his throat slashed. Faraday makes a morse code radio (?) and asks the boat what's up with the doctor being dead. Faraday tells people that the boat said that the helicopter would rescue them in the morning. Bernard, knowing morse code, said that Faraday lies, that the boat people say the doctor is fine. (I think his corpse would beg to differ.) Jack, upset at Faraday's lies, asks him again if they were intended on taking them off the island. Faraday finally answers: "No." This makes Jack so angry you can practically see his ulcer growing. And Charlotte stares on.
At the barracks, Locke receives a phone: "Code 14-J." This is Alex's signal for telling the others that she is captured and they are all in danger. (She sent it using the fence deactivation code.) A bunch of extras who I never knew were ever at the barracks die, while Sawyer gets to play Jack Bauer and dodge about three hundred incoming bullets. The boaties have a grenade launcher, which they use ONCE and only once, to blow up Claire's house. Claire is fine, BTW. Like, extremely fine. After some psychological warfare, the boaties kill Alex. Ben is visibly upset.
So Ben goes to his secret room, where there is another door to ANOTHER secret room. (!) Except the Secret Room2 seems to be older, a cave perhaps. It seemed to have markings, maybe? Does Ben have his own DHARMA station? Anyways, Ben emerges looking dirtier, and more confident. (Dirtier = more dirt and soot.) Ben stays calm as Smokey the Island Monster comes roaring into the village and kills the boaties - and only the boaties. Team Locke guesses that Ben can summon the monster. Sawyer, Claire and Aaron leave for the beach, while Ben and Locke take Hurley to go find Jacob's cabin and get some answers.
In the future, Ben is a international spy. We seem him travel to the Sahara, Tunisia, Iraq and London. Isn't chromakey a wonderful thing? Ben wakes up in the Sahara, with a wound on his arm, wearing a winter DHARMA parka. He seems very confused as to what he is doing there. Later, in Iraq, he spies on Sayid, who is mourning the death of Nadia. It seems Sayid had recently met up with her again, married her, and then she died. That... sucks.
Future Ben has Sayid kill a man who Ben says killed Nadia. Said man works for Charles Widmore, the man Ben says is the show's ultimate villain. It works. Sayid wants to partner up with Ben, unaware that he's becoming one of Ben's pawns. Ben then pays Charles Widmore himself a visit. But we've got a video of that for you.
The questions
- Ben seemed confused as to why he was waking up in the Saraha like he did, and he also asked what the date was at the hotel. Even the year. Is Ben... a time jumper?
- Is the doctor really dead? Are the boaties lying when they say he's fine? Or... are their duplicates of the doctor?
- Did Bakir really kill Nadia?
- When Sayid tackled Ben, he yelled something about "why do you spy on me," but then was very surprised to find out it was Ben. Who was Sayid referring to?
- Did Ben get off the island the way he said he did?
- What is the Secret Room2?
- How did Claire survive a house explosion with little to no visible injuries, and is walking straight? What kind of magical contract did Emile de Ravin sign to defy our expectations for TV explosions?
- What relationship does Ben have with Smokey?
- Where is Penny?
- Are Ben and Widmore looking for the island?
- Why can't Ben kill Widmore?
- What were these "rules" that were changed?
Video: Ben and Widmore face off for the first time:
Next week
"Something Nice Back Home," 10 p.m. ET. Jack's appendix bursts, leaving Kate and Juliet to take care of him. Who will he thank first? Also, team Sawyer encounters something wrong while making their way back to the beach.
What happened
At the beach, Kate flirted with Jack by going strapless. Jack likes it, but, he would like to not have stomach pains even more. The doctor from the boat washes onshore, dead, with his throat slashed. Faraday makes a morse code radio (?) and asks the boat what's up with the doctor being dead. Faraday tells people that the boat said that the helicopter would rescue them in the morning. Bernard, knowing morse code, said that Faraday lies, that the boat people say the doctor is fine. (I think his corpse would beg to differ.) Jack, upset at Faraday's lies, asks him again if they were intended on taking them off the island. Faraday finally answers: "No." This makes Jack so angry you can practically see his ulcer growing. And Charlotte stares on.
At the barracks, Locke receives a phone: "Code 14-J." This is Alex's signal for telling the others that she is captured and they are all in danger. (She sent it using the fence deactivation code.) A bunch of extras who I never knew were ever at the barracks die, while Sawyer gets to play Jack Bauer and dodge about three hundred incoming bullets. The boaties have a grenade launcher, which they use ONCE and only once, to blow up Claire's house. Claire is fine, BTW. Like, extremely fine. After some psychological warfare, the boaties kill Alex. Ben is visibly upset.
So Ben goes to his secret room, where there is another door to ANOTHER secret room. (!) Except the Secret Room2 seems to be older, a cave perhaps. It seemed to have markings, maybe? Does Ben have his own DHARMA station? Anyways, Ben emerges looking dirtier, and more confident. (Dirtier = more dirt and soot.) Ben stays calm as Smokey the Island Monster comes roaring into the village and kills the boaties - and only the boaties. Team Locke guesses that Ben can summon the monster. Sawyer, Claire and Aaron leave for the beach, while Ben and Locke take Hurley to go find Jacob's cabin and get some answers.
In the future, Ben is a international spy. We seem him travel to the Sahara, Tunisia, Iraq and London. Isn't chromakey a wonderful thing? Ben wakes up in the Sahara, with a wound on his arm, wearing a winter DHARMA parka. He seems very confused as to what he is doing there. Later, in Iraq, he spies on Sayid, who is mourning the death of Nadia. It seems Sayid had recently met up with her again, married her, and then she died. That... sucks.
Future Ben has Sayid kill a man who Ben says killed Nadia. Said man works for Charles Widmore, the man Ben says is the show's ultimate villain. It works. Sayid wants to partner up with Ben, unaware that he's becoming one of Ben's pawns. Ben then pays Charles Widmore himself a visit. But we've got a video of that for you.
The questions
- Ben seemed confused as to why he was waking up in the Saraha like he did, and he also asked what the date was at the hotel. Even the year. Is Ben... a time jumper?
- Is the doctor really dead? Are the boaties lying when they say he's fine? Or... are their duplicates of the doctor?
- Did Bakir really kill Nadia?
- When Sayid tackled Ben, he yelled something about "why do you spy on me," but then was very surprised to find out it was Ben. Who was Sayid referring to?
- Did Ben get off the island the way he said he did?
- What is the Secret Room2?
- How did Claire survive a house explosion with little to no visible injuries, and is walking straight? What kind of magical contract did Emile de Ravin sign to defy our expectations for TV explosions?
- What relationship does Ben have with Smokey?
- Where is Penny?
- Are Ben and Widmore looking for the island?
- Why can't Ben kill Widmore?
- What were these "rules" that were changed?
Video: Ben and Widmore face off for the first time:
Next week
"Something Nice Back Home," 10 p.m. ET. Jack's appendix bursts, leaving Kate and Juliet to take care of him. Who will he thank first? Also, team Sawyer encounters something wrong while making their way back to the beach.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Lost: Meet Kevin Johnson
Tonight was the last episode of Lost to air before the show moves to 10 p.m. on Thursday nights on April 24. The shows lead-in will then be Grey's Anatomy, which should help boost the program's dwindling Nielsen numbers. But enough about that stuff! On to the show.The recap
Freighter-land: Sayid and Desmond hear an alarm and go out to deck to find Captain Gault slugging someone else, keeping them from leaving the boat. He says it is to save their lives. Sayid gets a minute in with Michael Dawson/Kevin Johnson and asks Michael why he is there on the boat. Michael replies: "I'm here to die." So, he's still a bundle of sunshine. Later, Sayid and Desmond confront Michael, who is working in the engine room, and tell him that they need to know why he is on the boat. Michael tells all in form of flashbacks. After the story, Sayid is more than a little mad to know that Michael - the traitor and murderer - is working with Benjamin Linus. So Sayid strong-arms Michael into Gault's cabin and tells the captain that Johnson is "not who you think he is" and that he survived Oceanic 815. And that his name is not, in fact, Kevin Johnson. "It's Michael Dawson. And he's a traitor."
Flashback-land: Some unknown amount of time after getting off the island (!), Michael got a place in New York City. He apparently didn't like it, because he pinned a suicide note to his jacket, revved his car up by the dock of a bay, and slammed the car into a wall. Instead of the water. Because Michael is a moron. Michael survives, much to his dismay. He hallucinates Libby is his nurse, which is kind of creepy. (His real nurse was kind of like Carla, on Scrubs. I kind of expected her to call Michael "Bambi.")
Michael then visits his mom, because he wants to see Walt. (!) Ma won't let him. Apparently, Walt does not want to see Michael. He has nightmares during the middle of the night, panic attacks, something. It's terrible. Awful. And apparently, Ma has to keep the fact that Walt and Michael are alive a secret. They have fake names, apparently. Ma tells Michael that until he can explain what he was doing during the two months he was missing, he gave up his parental rights. Michael walks away, and briefly sees Walt in the window.
Michael then continues to be a jerk by selling Jin's watch, for a gun. With bullets. To kill himself with. Again, jerk. Michael is about to pull the trigger on himself in an alley when Mr. Friendly walks on by. They fight, briefly, and Michael makes it known that he really wants to die. Mr. Friendly acknowledges that his people have been keeping tabs on Michael, and now they want him to do something for him. Michael backs away, prompting Friendly to mention that Michael can't kill himself, because the "island" won't let him. (Is the "island" code word for network censors?)
Michael later tests that theory, and sure enough, even a fully-loaded gun doesn't do anything. He sees the news report that Oceanic 815 was found, all are dead, wreckage can't be recovered. He drops on by Friendly's place, where he finally finds out which was Mr. Friendly swings. (Gay and fierce! But dead.) Friendly feeds Michael the line that Charles Widemore bought a plane to bury in the ocean, that he paid to have an Asian grave dug up and bodies planted, everything is a Widemore production. Because he wants full credit for finding Mystery Island...? Michael believes it and gets his mission: Infiltrate the boat as a crewhand and then "kill everyone on board."
The parade of dead people continues with Minkowski, Naomi, and I think maybe Regina. Naomi and Michael bond over accents, while Miles knows that Michael's real name isn't "Kevin Johnson." Well, thanks for confusing us with that, Miles! Ben has a package delivered to Michael on the boat. Friendly calls. And then there's dialogging from Frank about how awesome it would be if they found some Oceanic 815'ers alive and how he (Frank) believes that there are survivors out there, somewhere.
Michael sees a bunch of the crew doing disc shooting, which is suspiciously killer-like, which Michael should know, so he rushes to open the package. It contains a suitcase. Inside the suitcase is a bomb. Michael places it in the engine room. He sees Libby again, who says "Not Yet," and that is just creepy. The timer goes off, and a tiny little flag pops up. A piece of paper reads "Not Yet," and I laugh so hard. It's like Michael is Wiley Coyote and Ben works for ACME! Hee.
Ben also calls Michael up (under the fake name "Walt") and tells him to be careful, or kill everyone, or something. Ben reminds Michael that the boaties will KILL EVERYONE. So he wants lists on and about every single person on the boat. Then Michael should sabotage the radio room and the engine room. Michael agrees, then Ben calls Michael "one of the good guys."
Barracks-land: Locke assembles a town hall meeting of sorts with Claire, Aaron, Sawyer, Hurley, Karl, Alex, Danielle, Ben and Miles. Locke tells everyone that there will be "no more secrets," which is a lie, but, whatever. Locke and Miles reveal that the boat people are there on the island to... look for Ben! "We kind of knew that, like, forever ago," snipes Hurley. But what they didn't know is that once they have Ben, the boat people have orders to kill everyone else on the island. (If true, why?) Miles switched sides, apparently, and will now help protect Ben from everyone. Ben also lets loose the bomb that Michael is his man on the boat, ticking Sawyer off to no end. Miles later tells Locke in private that Ben will manipulate his way into getting that money that he's supposed to pay, and that he is very good at getting what he wants.
Ben tells Alex that she needs to go to The Temple, a DHARMA station (?) that is a safe sanctuary. Karl is upset; he didn't know about it. Ben doesn't tell everyone, because then it wouldn't be a sanctuary, dolthead. You deserve to die for that kind of stupidity! (Heh.) Ben gives Alex a map to the Temple and says that she can't take Claire, Locke or anyone else, because it is "only for us." Danielle agrees to protect Alex, because if the boaties ever found out that Alex was Ben's daughter, they could kidnap her and use her as leverage.
Cut to.. hours later. Karl, Alex and Danielle are walking. They stop to drink some water and they drink for an eternity, my word, editors, that felt like FOREVER. Longest 40 seconds of my life! Karl channels Han Solo, saying that he "has a bad feeling about this." Then, a sniper attacks them, killing Karl on the spot. I rejoice, because I am cold, heartless and not a Karl fan. Danielle consoles Alex and promises to protect her. She even tells Alex "I love you," which is huge considering Danielle has only known Alex for about a week. So, of course, Danielle gets shot. They SHOT the French Chick. So, I guess she doesn't get a flashback episode, then. Alex surrenders to the unknown gunmen, declaring "I'm Ben's daughter! I'm Ben's daughter!"
What worked: The fact that we had one flashback take up most of the episode. That was rare and done really well. The actor playing Michael did a good job with his role.
What didn't work: The Rousseau deaths felt rushed and done more for shock value than for anything substantive.
Questions: How does the island chose who lives and who doesn't? How can that power apply off the island? How many times did Friendly try to kill himself? Is Walt still on the mainland? What will Gault do with Michael now that he knows he's a habitual traitor? Did Widmore really plant those bodies? Are the boaties going to kill everyone? Who killed Karl, and how can I thank them?
Next time: April 24, 10 p.m., ABC. I'm not even positive I know whose episode it is, actually. The promos make it look like a war is going to break out next episode, but, editing is deceiving, me thinks.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Lost: Ji Yeon
This is the second to the last episode before the break. And a very head-splitting episode of Lost. I'm pouring over my notes and will try to separate fact from theory. And then I'll cry a little, because this episode deserved it. Here's what happened in the different storyline:The boat: Frank took the helicopter to run an "errand" on the island, but not before giving Desmond and Sayid some lima beans for a mean. (The kitchen had problems) Along the way he sees a woman, Regina, who was reading a book upside-down. Later, in Des & Sayid's room, a note gets slid underneath the door: "Don't trust the captain."
Later, Des & Sayid are brought to the deck to meet the captain. On the way, they see Regina - covered in chains - jump over the side of the boat. No one reacts, save for Des & Sayid. The captain, Gault, comes out and said that he doesn't want to lose any more people going in and trying to retrieve Regina. He said that his crew has been suffering from a "heightened case of cabin fever," and that the boat belongs to Charles Widmore. (Perking Desmond's ears.)
Gault takes Des & Sayid into his cabin, where he pulls out the Black Box from Flight 815. He explains that it was retrieved with the wreckage, along with the 324 bodies. Gault theorizes that, since there are actual real survivors, that the wreckage she found was staged. And it would take a lot of money and resources to stage the crash. And that is, in part, why the boat crew want Benjamin Linus for answers.
The boat's doctor then escorts Sayid and Desmond to their new room, which has a terrible post-suicide (?) blood stain left. The doctor gets mad and yells at the far-away janitor "Kevin Johnson" to come clean it up. But this Kevin Johnson, you see, is someone that Sayid knows well and that Desmond has a good idea about who he is: MICHAEL. Walt's dad. MICHAEL. It might be more shocking if the actor wasn't credited for the past several episodes, but, still. He's back - and with a haircut.
Jin & Sun: Jin & Sun discuss baby names (Ji Yeon for a girl) and are absolutely adorable in the process. Sun starts to believe that they won't be rescued, so she and Jin start to pack up to go to Locke's camp. Juliet thinks this is a terrible idea and tries to get them to stop. They won't, so Juliet pulls out the "there are only three weeks left to live" card, and fails. She then pulls out her trump card: "Jin, your wife had an affair." Jin leaves angrily. Jin and Sun have a little tift (understandably), when Bernard comes and winds up fishing with Jin. (On Karl's boat?) Bernard then talks about how marriage is, how karma comes back around, yadayada... Sun and Jin are a happy couple. Jin knows he was a jerk, and forgives Sun. And now Jin knows that the baby is his.
Kate vs. World: Kate is a jerk. Kate, the con artists/murderer, is mad because Charlotte knocked her unconscious. For similar reasons that Kate would have knocked Charlotte out for, if the missions were reversed. Kate is very upset, very angry and probably not going to become good friends with the fiery redhead anytime soon.
Flashback: Jin: It's the Year of the Dragon, which is in the year 2000 mainly. Oceanic Flight 815 crashed onto Lost Island on Sept. 22, 2004. Jin is busy trying to buy a panda and make it to the hospital on time. We were supposed to think he was on his way to see Sun, in 2005, but, it's 2000! And he is on his way to give the panda to an associate of Sun's dad, whose daughter just gave birth.
Flashforward: Sun: Sun is finishing brushing her teeth, with the TV on in the background. Suddenly, she thinks that something is wrong with her baby. That's called LABOR, Sun. Or, something technical for distress or something that causes labor to happen anyways and it's a GIRL, Ji Yeon. Later, Hurley comes into town to visit Sun & Baby. It's cute. They then go to visit Jin, in a cemetery. Jin's tombstone reads that he died on Sept. 22, 2004. And I cry on the inside, and am very much confused.
Questions & Comments:
- What happened to Jin? Is he really dead? Or is Sun covering up for him? (Which, at Kate's trial, it seems like the Oceanic Six are.)
- WILD THEORIES: Sun's dad is faking Jin's death. Jin is alive and in the rest of the world - working for Ben.
- Who is the last member of the Oceanic Six? (Or does Aaron count after all?)
- Does Ben have the resources to fake the wreckage of Flight 815?
- Did the boat people originally know about the wreckage when they set sail to go to the island? Did they ever suspect the wreckage was faked - and that is why they were not surprised that the 815'ers are alive?
- Did your brain hurt when you saw Jin's grave? (Mine did. Just wondering.)
- Remember Nikki? Her show, Expose, was playing on the TV before Sun went into labor.
One of the biggest questions is: What happened with Michael? Next week, we find out. Plus, Karl and Alex! Ben! And some previously dead people make an appearance on the show. And someone dies. I've narrowed down my list of candidates to: Jin, Jin, and maybe someone else.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Lost: The Other Woman
Creepy. If you had to chose one word to describe Ben's actions in this episode (not just the series itself), that would be it. The Other Woman was an episode that outlined Juliet's romantic past with Goodwin, the Other who died, thanks to Ana-Lucia. We already knew the two were romantic with each other. What we didn't know was that Goodwin was married when they first shacked up, and that Ben is very jealous of Juliet. And she may look a lot like Annie, Ben's girlfriend back in his DHARMA days. The episode itself moved kind of slow, and was somewhat boring, but there were still some things to talk about. Including the fact that we might know who the ultimate villain of the whole series, and it's someone we've met before.The recap: Juliet: Charlotte and Dan sneak out in the middle of the night. Jack, Juliet, Sun and Jin break up to look for them, I think, since we don't see Sun and Jin at all for the rest of the episode. (Thanks for the cameos!) While looking, Juliet hears the whispers, then Harper, a psychiatrist for the Others, appears. She says that Ben wants Juliet to kill Dan and Charlotte, because they are heading for The Tempest (power station) and will kill everyone on the island. After some whispers, Harper disappears. Jack is confused and creeped out, Juliet's kind of sad.
Kate runs into Charlotte and Dan, who look at a Middle Earth-type map and lie about what they are doing. When Kate discovers their gas masks, Charlotte knocks her unconscious. (Which, ironically, is a very Kate thing to do.) Jack meets up with Kate, which leaves Juliet an opportunity to ditch them, for no clear reason. (Well, maybe because she didn't want to risk them being exposed to [radiation?] in the power station...)
Juliet goes to The Tempest and finds Daniel furiously at work on the computer. He overrides the system, and the plant overloads and everyone almost dies, or so they wanted you to think. But, we've already seen the future, and it doesn't include zombies. Thanks anyways, show. Anyways, Charlotte and Daniel wanted to override and change controls at the station, so Ben couldn't use it in the future to kill everyone with gas. "He's done it before," they warned. (So that's how they killed the DHARMA initiative!) In the end, Charlotte and Daniel are semi-trusted again and Jack and Juliet kiss. Aw!
The barracks: Locke continues to make Ben food. When he brings Ben a rabbit, Ben asks if it had a number on it's side. Ben continues to manipulate Locke, who is too busy looking smug to fully notice. Ben cuts a deal that, if he's allowed out of his cell, that he'll tell John who's freighter it is offshore. Locke agrees. Ben has Locke open a safe (36.15.28), and inside is a video called "Red Sox." "I taped over the game," deadpans Ben.
The video shows Charles Widmore, father of Penny and enemy to Desmond, involved in some shady activity that may include kidnapping? Killing? I don't know for certain. Ben tells Locke that the freighter belongs to Widmore, that he has been looking for the island for a long time and wants to use it for his own gain. (It's Ben telling the story, so maybe only 75% truth?) Ben also gives Locke his files on Widmore. Ben also promises to tell Locke who his man on the boat is, but of course we have to wait a week (two at the longest) to find out who it is.
Flashbacks: After arriving on the island, Juliet is required to talk to Harper, a psychiatrist, whom Juliet hates. Juliet feels like she's isolated, because she is treated like a celebrity. Harper, who might be jealous of that, says that she was brought to the island probably because she "looks like her." Juliet confides her hatred of Harper to Goodwin, who turns out to be Harper's husband. (Awkward!) But since Goodwin is the only person Juliet feels comfortable confiding in, they become friends. With benefits. This does not sit well with Ben, who sends Goodwin off to the tail section and leaves him there, knowing that he'd be killed. Why would he do that? Because, Juliet is his. So... he's a creepy psychotic stalker boyfriend-from-afar who is also the puppetmaster for everything on the island. Good situation you're in there, Juliet.
What worked: I like how, even when it's kind of a boring, slow episode, it still takes at least five paragraphs to recap everything that happened. The acting was consistently good throughout, same with production.
What didn't work: The writing felt a little... flat. The dialogue wasn't creative, worse yet, it felt a little childish. The reason why Juliet ran off on her own to go to the power station was vague, at best. It felt maybe... rushed? (WGA strike side-effect?) And the power station scene was just silly. Juliet couldn't even get a kick in against Charlotte? And what about Charlotte? Is she sent from The Matrix? That fight would have fit right in on Alias, but felt contrived on Lost. And for me, there was nothing captivating about the plotline. Elizabeth Mitchell did a great job with what she had, which was not a whole lot.
Questions: Juliet gets a flashback, not a flash forward, so, will she live or die? Was Harper an apparition of the smoke monster? How did Ben get that information to Juliet? Did he? Is Charles Widmore as bad as Ben says? How did he learn of the island? What does he want with it? Who were those people on the Red Sox video? Was the power station used to wipe out the DHARMA initiative? Is Harper dead or alive?
Next week: We find out the last of the Oceanic Six (does Aaron count?), Sun has a question, we meet the captain of the boat, Bernard makes an appearance and supposedly enough stuff happens, because this was going to be the finale for this half, until ABC decided to air one more episode before the break. Here's hoping!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Lost: The Constant
Welcome to Lost! I hope that years from now, Collegiate on TV will still exist. I need that constant force in my life!The recap: If you are exposed to large amounts of radiation or electromagnetism and then deviate and hit some of the island's magical power spots, side-effects occur, such as: time jumping. We already know Desmond could do this briefly after the hatch imploded, but his powers subsided to just flashes from the future. But after traveling in the helicopter briefly - but yet for a day and a half?! - the powers kick in at full force, with him jumping back in time frequently. But, as we learned, it's just the consciousness that jumps, not the physical body itself. Whenever Des jumps, he inhibits his body at whatever time he jumps back to, and his future body stands still.
It would probably take me three hours to recap these 45 minutes, so I'll just skim over details: 1996 Desmond's consciousness travels to the future, where he knows nobody. But Daniel Faraday convinces Desmond to go back to Harvard and find him. '96 Des does, and discovers more about time traveling. But, if you do not have a constant force - a person, for example - who is there in the past and in the future, your brain will hemorrhages and die. Des decides that Penny will be his constant. (Constant=Valentine?) Once finding their constant, the consciousness won't be "stuck" in time, and everything will be "fine" again. So '96 Des pesters Penny's dad - who is buying Black Rock memorabilia - to give him Penny's address. He does.
'96 Des then visits Penny, who wants nothing to do with him. '96 Des wants a phone number, so he can call her in eight years, to be a constant force. Penny finally gives up the number in desperation, then kicks Des out. Jumping to the future, Des calls '04 Penny, who answers and I cried inside because it was beautiful and when they said "I love you" at the same time? Yeah. I melted inside. I can't even make fun of it because it was raw, honest, real and great. Finding his "constant" saves Desmond's life, and also brings '04 Desmond back to reality.
Meanwhile, back on the island, Dan keeps looking through his notes, until he finally finds a page that mentions that "if anything goes wrong, Desmond will be my constant."
What worked: First off: The return of the sudden opening. No "previously on Lost" led straight to the action, which for this episode worked great. Henry Ian Cusick deserves an Emmy for his acting in this episode, which was beyond great.
What didn't work: The whole rat test seemed kind of... weak? Like, it made sense, but at the same time seemed kind of rushed just the same.
Questions: Now that Dan was able to save Desmond's life and introduce Des to himself, maybe Dan will be able to concentrate better? Does Charles Widmore know the significance of the Black Rock?
Was time-jumping Daniel's side-effect? What other side-effects are there? (Healing?)
Are these side-effects the "sicknesses" that affected Rousseau's crew?
How did DHARMA get to the island without time-jumping? (Or did they jump?)
What will happen to the crew of the Kahana (the boat) when it gets closer to the island?
Did Michael gain any powers? Did Walt get any extra powers?
How can I get a Christmas tree like Penny's?
Does Locke have a power - and does it fade? Can the smoke monster sense powers? This might explain in part why the monster spared Locke's life one episode, but tried to take him in another.
Who wrecked the communications equipment and opened the door? (Hint/spoiler?: You'll know before the 8-episode pod is done.)
Next week: Juliet gets an unexpected visitor who tells her to stop Charlotte and Daniel's mission by any means necessary. And Ben and Locke play psychological chess, again. And there is a kiss with Jack and one other character... ! And a guest star surfaces who has already been seen in one of these five episodes, who is not who you'd expect, considering whose episode it is.
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