Kid Miles starts us off, getting a vision of a dead body at an apartment complex his mother is trying to move into. Presumably this is when he discovers his gift for talking to (or at least hearing) dead people. Then it's back to the island, where Sawyer tells Miles to erase some security tapes so no one knows that he and Kate took Ben to the Others. Miles is about to do that, but then Horace comes in and tells Miles to take a package to Radzinsky, who pops out of the forest with a gun as Miles drives up. The "exchange" is for a dead Dharmite, who "accidentally" got shot. Miles isn't supposed to ask any questions, but hey, would anyone mind if he... asked the dead guy?
Teenage punk Miles! Hilarious. He visits his dying mother, looking for answers about his "gift." He also wants to know who his father is. His mother tells him that his father kicked them out when he was a baby, and has been dead for a long time. Miles asks where the body is, and his mother tells him it's "somewhere you can never go." Back on the island, Miles isn't enthused that he has to take the body to Dr. Chang at the Orchid. (I wonder why not.) Hurley gets in on the ride over. Then it's over to Juliet and Kate, who discuss handing young Ben over - then Roger bursts in with the medical supplies. Did they think it was going to take him like, a week to get them? Juliet acts like she walked away for ten minutes and Ben was gone, so Roger runs off to security. "Here we go," Juliet says.
Miles and Hurley drive through the jungle, with Hurley writing something "personal." He asks how to spell "bounty hunter," and the title of the episode is "Some Like It Hoth." Is he trying to write Star Wars before George Lucas can? Since it's already 1977, I think that ship has sailed. I guess maybe he's just trying to write Empire. Hurley asks Miles if he cut one and won't let the smell issue drop, so he makes Miles pull over to check on the food he brought. But, uh, it's the dead body. Miles explains that the guy had a filling pulled out of his tooth and yanked through his brain, killing him (so it wasn't actually a bullet hole). Hurley notes that Miles couldn't possibly know all this unless he could talk to dead people, then tells Miles that it's okay, because he can also do that.
Back to the past, where Miles is now working his talking-to-dead-people business. It's a high school kid killed in a car accident, but unfortunately he was cremated, so Miles says it will cost extra. Then he does a little séance thing. Fake? Maybe, but the dad got he wanted, so he doesn't follow up. Out front of the house, Miles is met by Naomi, who mentions a job offer. Miles checks her out none too subtly as she walks away - good character continuity, since he called her hot in one of his first episodes. And then back to the island, where Roger is getting drunk on Dharma beer. Kate approaches and says she thinks everything will work out, but apparently is a little too convincing about it because Roger starts asking if she knows what happened. She insists that she doesn't, so Roger flips back into full-on douchebag mode and tells her to mind her own business.
Miles and Hurley debate the intricacies of the "power" that each has regarding talking to dead people. Miles describes his gift as just a "sense" of who the person was and what they knew before they died, not a conversation with a ghost as Hurley describes. Then they arrive at the Orchid, which is still being built. Hurley intelligently reveals that he knows about the body, and Dr. Chang threatens him with polar bear poop duty if he can't keep his yap shut. "Dude, that guy's a total douche," Hurley says. "That douche is my dad," Miles says, confirming what everyone suspected for like, a year now.
Naomi takes Miles to a restaurant, but it's not for food - there's a dead body there that will serve as his "audition." Miles says this isn't really his thing, but Naomi flips him a wad of cash that says otherwise. Miles senses that the guy's name is Felix, and that he was assigned to deliver a bunch of photos of empty graves to a guy named Widmore. He also senses that there was a purchase order for an old airplane. Naomi asks Miles to join her expedition to an island, where there is a man who killed a lot of people, and those people will hopefully be able to provide his whereabouts. Miles says that sounds really safe, but he'll pass. Naomi offers $1.6 million. "When do we leave?" Miles asks. Presumably this explains why Miles demanded exactly $3.2 million from Ben. Also, Widmore faked the plane crash, apparently.
Back to the island. Miles doesn't want to talk about Dr. Chang being his dad. Hurley asks how long he knew. Miles says it was on the third day, when his mother got in line behind him in the cafeteria. Dr. Chang comes out and asks to be taken to Radzinsky. "What happened to the body?" Miles asks. "What body?" Dr. Chang says. Over to Jack cleaning a classroom; Roger huffs in and notes that it's on his rounds. (No, I want to clean the dirty schoolroom!) Jack says he figured Roger would want time off. Roger says he has nothing better to do, then kicks Jack's water bucket to the door. Very protective. Roger tells Jack that Kate has a "weird thing" for Ben, and that he thinks she was involved in his disappearance. Jack says that Roger is drunk and not thinking straight, and that Kate would never do anything to hurt Ben. "Sure," Roger says, and leaves.
Hurley, stupidly, starts a conversation with Dr. Chang in the car. When Dr. Chang reveals that his son's name is Miles, Hurley says, "Small world!" Then he keeps doing a cat's-in-the-cradle thing which gets really annoying after the second iteration. Fortunately, we arrive at the Swan. Hurley happens to see them building the hatch and putting the serial number - 4 8 15 16 23 42 - on. When the last number is smudged and the guy can't read it for a second, Hurley mumbles it to himself. Miles asks how he knew that. "They're building our hatch," Hurley says. "What hatch?" Miles asks. "The one that crashed our plane," Hurley replies.
Miles is walking down the street when he's pulled into a van. A guy in it - who I recognize after a second as the guy with Ilana when she hit Frank with the butt of her rifle last week - tells Miles he wants to talk him out of working for Widmore. Miles doesn't know who that is, and the guy (Bram?) tells him that he's the one who chartered the boat Miles will be on. "Do you know what lies in the shadow of the statue?" Bram asks. Miles doesn't. "Then you're not ready to go to that island," Bram says. But if Miles goes with them, he'll learn the answers to the questions he's had all his life. Miles says he's more interested in money at this point, and that he'll want double (there you go) not to go. The van pulls over and tosses him out. "You're playing for the wrong team," Bram says. When Miles asks what team Bram is on, he replies, "The one that's gonna win."
Back on the island, Hurley tells Miles what the Swan is going to look like when it grows up. Then he keeps going on about Miles' dad, and suggests that maybe Miles could change his own diapers. Miles stops the van short and yells at Hurley that he doesn't want to know his dad better, because his dad never cared about him and nothing he can do will change that, and for that matter, his dad is dead. Hurley notes that he's not dead; they just dropped him off. Miles grabs Hurley's notebook to get into his business. He reads from Hurley's book and yes, Hurley is trying to write The Empire Strikes Back. He plans to send it to George Lucas with "a couple improvements." Miles says that's the stupidest thing he's ever heard. "At least I'm not scared to talk to my own dad," Hurley says.
Sawyer comes back to find Jack and Juliet talking. Jack tells Sawyer that Roger thinks Kate was involved in Ben's disappearance. It doesn't matter, because right after Jack leaves, Phil steams up with the tape that Miles didn't get a chance to erase. Phil hasn't even finished saying that he hasn't yet talked to Horace because he wanted to give Sawyer the benefit of the doubt when Sawyer knocks him out. Might have been a better way to handle that.
Miles returns to the dad of the dead high schooler and gives him back his money, telling him that he lied about being able to reach his son. The guy asks why Miles exposed the lie, and Miles says it wouldn't have been fair to his son - if the guy wanted his son to know that he loved him, he should have told him when he was still alive. (Sounds familiar.) Back on the island, Hurley tells Miles that he had cut his dad out of his life after he left, but that he was glad he reconnected. Miles says it's different since he was a baby, not ten like Hurley, and that he doesn't want to know his dad. Hurley says, "That was Luke's attitude too," and describes how Return of the Jedi would never have had to happen if Luke and Vader had worked out their relationship at the end of Empire. Miles oddly seems to take this to heart, and wanders by Dr. Chang's house, where he can see Dr. Chang reading to baby Miles. This chokes him up, understandably. Then Dr. Chang gets a phone call and comes outside. He sees Miles and tells him to drive to the dock, where scientists from Ann Arbor have arrived on the sub. Miles resists the urge to ask if Dr. Chang wants to have a catch.
At the dock, who should climb out of the sub... but Faraday! "Long time no see," he says with a smile. Logo. Next time? Fighting and stuff! And Faraday says that any of them can die. Does that mean someone will, by season's end? Apparently this is two weeks off. Kind of annoying.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
s5e12: Dead is Dead
Previously on Lost: Ben is a bad dude.
Widmore (I bet) rolls into Others camp to confront Richard for saving young Ben. Richard tells him that Jacob wanted it done. Sure enough, it's Widmore, and he tells Ben that he's among friends. Then it's 2007. Ben is indeed stunned that Locke is alive... except he claims that he knew it would happen. "It's one thing to believe it," Ben says. He tells Locke he was going back to the main island to be judged for breaking the rules. Locke asks who's going to judge him. "We don't even have a word for it," Ben says, but it's Smokey the Monster.
Hey, did you know The Unusuals is premiering next?
Still 2007. Ben plants the seed in Cesar's mind that Locke is Ethan-like and also "dangerously deranged." Cesar tells Ben he has his back. Even on his way to be judged, Ben is a scheming asshole? Christ. Back to... well, we don't know exactly, but based on Ethan's age I bet this involves Alex. Nice to see they went for goofy 90s haircuts even on the island. And, in fact, it's Rousseau and Alex. Ben takes Alex and tells Rousseau not to follow him, and to run if she ever hears whispers if she wants Alex to live. So, we finally got that flashback. A little underwhelming, right?
2007. Ben digs up a picture of himself with Alex (clearly Photoshopped) in the Hydra. Locke wants to talk about why Ben killed him. Ben tells him it was the only way to get everyone back. Locke asks the obvious question that everyone was asking a few episodes ago - why stop him hanging himself only to strangle him seconds later? - and Ben gives the obvious answer, that Locke had information Ben needed. After that he just didn't feel like talking Locke back into hanging himself. Ben also notes that it worked - everyone's back (somewhere or other) and Locke is alive. "I was just hoping for an apology," Locke says. He also wants to accompany Ben to the main island. They go for a boat but bossy ol' Cesar, having been egged on by Ben earlier, shows up and tells Locke he's not going anywhere until he tells them how he knows so much about the island. When Locke declines to do so, Cesar attempts to produce a gun, only to find that Ben has it, and uses it to blow the hell out of Cesar. (Really? That's all we did with that character? Okay.) "Consider that my apology," Ben says.
When they arrive, Locke notices Sun and Frank's boat. When Ben mentions that Sun clocked him with the oar, Locke asks if she hurt his arm, too. Ben says that someone else did that. Locke tells Ben that he doesn't believe Ben wants to be judged for breaking the rules, but rather for being responsible for Alex's death. Ben again looks fairly shocked. Back to - when was this, do we think? 1987 or 1988? Lostpedia says '88 was when the distress call started, so it would be around then, I guess. Widmore tells Ben he was supposed to kill Rousseau; Ben protests that Rousseau poses no threat, since she's crazy, and doesn't want to kill the baby. Ben asks if Jacob wants that. "Then here she is," Ben says, "you do it." Widmore walks away.
Back at the dark, deserted New Otherton. Locke asks if moving into the village was what the island would have wanted. Ben tells Locke that he doesn't have the first clue about what the island wants. Then a light creepily goes on in Alex's old room and a female figures moves in shadow. Creepy! Ben enters the house as Michael Giacchino attempts to scare the shit out of us. It turns out just to be Sun (and Frank) inside the house. Frank shows Ben the 1977 photo. Ben professes ignorance of it. Sun says Christian told them to wait there for Locke if they wanted to find their friends again, and Ben reveals that Locke is alive. Sun looks outside to see Locke giving a little wave.
Frank tells Sun they should go back to the plane, but Locke says he "has some ideas" on finding the others. Sun insists on staying, while Frank leaves. Sun asks Locke how they find Jin, but Locke says Ben has something to do first. Ben heads for his secret closet, where he pushes aside a runic stone, heads down some stairs, crawls through a passageway, and comes to... a puddle. Reaching into it, he unclogs something (or something?), the water drains into a hole, and Ben says - one assumes to the Monster - "I'll be outside."
Back to... 1993 or so. Ben heads to the sub to "say goodbye" to Charles, who's being escorted away. "You left the island regularly, you had a daughter with an outsider - you broke the rules, Charles," Ben says. Widmore asks why Ben will be a better leader, and Ben says he'll sacrifice anything for the island. Widmore notes that he wouldn't sacrifice Alex. "You're the one that wanted her dead," Ben says. Widmore asks what will happen if Ben's wrong about that.
Back to 2007. Sun says Jack must have lied about Locke being dead. Ben insists that Locke was dead. Sun asks if Ben knew that Locke would come back to life, and Ben says he had no idea - "Dead is dead," and while the island has done miraculous things, it's never resurrected anyone before. "So the fact that John Locke is walking around this island scares the living hell out of me." Then Ben tells Sun to go inside when he hears trampling in the brush. It turns out to be Locke, who says that they should go to the Monster. "I only know how to summon it," Ben says, "I don't know where it actually is." "I do," Locke replies.
And now it's 2007. Ben calls Widmore from the marina, taunting him that he'll succeed in getting back to the island where Widmore has spent 20 years failing. (Bit of an overstatement, right? More like 15 years. Whatever.) But first, he's going to kill Penny. "Don't you dare," Widmore hisses. Ben hangs up. Well, we all saw this coming. I've paused it - does he really do it? I say no, but stranger things have happened.
Well, back to the island before we see anything. Ben asks Locke how he knows where he's going. Locke says that Ben doesn't like having to follow someone blindly in the hopes that they'll lead him to the right place. Ben admits that he doesn't. Locke says that now Ben knows what Locke's life used to be like. Turns out they're headed for the Temple (gee.), although according to Ben, what we know as the Temple is just the wall around it, with the real Temple being a half-mile distant so that outsiders wouldn't see it by accident. Locke says they're not going in, however; instead, they're going under it. Before heading into the "vent," Ben tells Sun that if she ever gets off the island, she should find Desmond and say Ben was sorry. "For what?" Sun asks. "He'll know," Ben says, and heads down.
And back to the marina. Desmond spots Ben before he can get to Penny and asks what he's doing there; Ben shoots him, although through a grocery bag, so I'm assuming he's fine. Then he approaches Penny, who's running over. Penny insists that she and her father have no relationship (true!) but Ben doesn't really seem interested, telling Penny that her father is responsible for the death of his daughter. Charlie pops his head up just then and Penny tells him to go back inside. Ben lowers the gun, and the just-fine Desmond gets him from behind, beats the crap out of him, and throws him into the water.
Island, 2007. As Frank arrives at the Hydra, one of the survivors yells at him that Ilana (sp?) and a few of the others have guns and are saying they're in charge. When Frank asks about this, Ilana asks him, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Frank has no idea what she's on about, and gets a face full of rifle butt for this. She tells another guy to tie Frank up and bring him with the others. Say what, now?
Locke lights two torches and he and Ben proceed into the Temple's guts. Ben tells Locke that Locke is right; he could have saved Alex by leaving the island with Widmore's men. "I appreciate you showing me the way but I think I can take it from here," Ben says. "I'll meet you outside - if I live," and then he falls through the floor. Locke goes to look for something to help with, but Ben gets up and examines the columns, then finds his way to some sort of altar, where a carving of what looks a lot like Anubis is on the wall. Ben's torch extinguishes and Smokey starts coming out through a grate of sorts. (Anubis, you may recall, is associated with the judgment of the dead prior to their passage to the Underworld in Egyptian myth. Fitting, no?) Smokey surrounds Ben and starts playing back moments from his life (similarly to what it did with Eko), fixating pretty much entirely on Alex, from when he didn't kill her at the camp to the moment he watched her die. And then Smokey recedes into the grate and Ben's torch comes back...
...just in time for Alex to appear behind him. Ben admits it was all his fault. "I know," Alex says. Then she grabs him and throws him up against a column and tells him she knows he's already planning to kill Locke again. She (Smokey?) tells him that if he harms Locke in any way, she will hunt him down and destroy him, and that he is to follow Locke's every order. Ben swears he will, and then Alex vanishes and Locke shows up at the hole with a vine. "What happened?" Locke asks. "It let me live," Ben says.
Next time: back to 1977! Remember how Miles can talk to dead people? Well, that's gonna get real-ass important. And! Does Pierre Chang know that Miles is from the future? Maybe? Remember that secret video.
Not a bad episode all told. Good to get some mythology in there again, and it's good to see that Ben actually has some humanity and vulnerability, although since he was planning to kill Locke again, clearly not that much. But will he really follow that order?
Widmore (I bet) rolls into Others camp to confront Richard for saving young Ben. Richard tells him that Jacob wanted it done. Sure enough, it's Widmore, and he tells Ben that he's among friends. Then it's 2007. Ben is indeed stunned that Locke is alive... except he claims that he knew it would happen. "It's one thing to believe it," Ben says. He tells Locke he was going back to the main island to be judged for breaking the rules. Locke asks who's going to judge him. "We don't even have a word for it," Ben says, but it's Smokey the Monster.
Hey, did you know The Unusuals is premiering next?
Still 2007. Ben plants the seed in Cesar's mind that Locke is Ethan-like and also "dangerously deranged." Cesar tells Ben he has his back. Even on his way to be judged, Ben is a scheming asshole? Christ. Back to... well, we don't know exactly, but based on Ethan's age I bet this involves Alex. Nice to see they went for goofy 90s haircuts even on the island. And, in fact, it's Rousseau and Alex. Ben takes Alex and tells Rousseau not to follow him, and to run if she ever hears whispers if she wants Alex to live. So, we finally got that flashback. A little underwhelming, right?
2007. Ben digs up a picture of himself with Alex (clearly Photoshopped) in the Hydra. Locke wants to talk about why Ben killed him. Ben tells him it was the only way to get everyone back. Locke asks the obvious question that everyone was asking a few episodes ago - why stop him hanging himself only to strangle him seconds later? - and Ben gives the obvious answer, that Locke had information Ben needed. After that he just didn't feel like talking Locke back into hanging himself. Ben also notes that it worked - everyone's back (somewhere or other) and Locke is alive. "I was just hoping for an apology," Locke says. He also wants to accompany Ben to the main island. They go for a boat but bossy ol' Cesar, having been egged on by Ben earlier, shows up and tells Locke he's not going anywhere until he tells them how he knows so much about the island. When Locke declines to do so, Cesar attempts to produce a gun, only to find that Ben has it, and uses it to blow the hell out of Cesar. (Really? That's all we did with that character? Okay.) "Consider that my apology," Ben says.
When they arrive, Locke notices Sun and Frank's boat. When Ben mentions that Sun clocked him with the oar, Locke asks if she hurt his arm, too. Ben says that someone else did that. Locke tells Ben that he doesn't believe Ben wants to be judged for breaking the rules, but rather for being responsible for Alex's death. Ben again looks fairly shocked. Back to - when was this, do we think? 1987 or 1988? Lostpedia says '88 was when the distress call started, so it would be around then, I guess. Widmore tells Ben he was supposed to kill Rousseau; Ben protests that Rousseau poses no threat, since she's crazy, and doesn't want to kill the baby. Ben asks if Jacob wants that. "Then here she is," Ben says, "you do it." Widmore walks away.
Back at the dark, deserted New Otherton. Locke asks if moving into the village was what the island would have wanted. Ben tells Locke that he doesn't have the first clue about what the island wants. Then a light creepily goes on in Alex's old room and a female figures moves in shadow. Creepy! Ben enters the house as Michael Giacchino attempts to scare the shit out of us. It turns out just to be Sun (and Frank) inside the house. Frank shows Ben the 1977 photo. Ben professes ignorance of it. Sun says Christian told them to wait there for Locke if they wanted to find their friends again, and Ben reveals that Locke is alive. Sun looks outside to see Locke giving a little wave.
Frank tells Sun they should go back to the plane, but Locke says he "has some ideas" on finding the others. Sun insists on staying, while Frank leaves. Sun asks Locke how they find Jin, but Locke says Ben has something to do first. Ben heads for his secret closet, where he pushes aside a runic stone, heads down some stairs, crawls through a passageway, and comes to... a puddle. Reaching into it, he unclogs something (or something?), the water drains into a hole, and Ben says - one assumes to the Monster - "I'll be outside."
Back to... 1993 or so. Ben heads to the sub to "say goodbye" to Charles, who's being escorted away. "You left the island regularly, you had a daughter with an outsider - you broke the rules, Charles," Ben says. Widmore asks why Ben will be a better leader, and Ben says he'll sacrifice anything for the island. Widmore notes that he wouldn't sacrifice Alex. "You're the one that wanted her dead," Ben says. Widmore asks what will happen if Ben's wrong about that.
Back to 2007. Sun says Jack must have lied about Locke being dead. Ben insists that Locke was dead. Sun asks if Ben knew that Locke would come back to life, and Ben says he had no idea - "Dead is dead," and while the island has done miraculous things, it's never resurrected anyone before. "So the fact that John Locke is walking around this island scares the living hell out of me." Then Ben tells Sun to go inside when he hears trampling in the brush. It turns out to be Locke, who says that they should go to the Monster. "I only know how to summon it," Ben says, "I don't know where it actually is." "I do," Locke replies.
And now it's 2007. Ben calls Widmore from the marina, taunting him that he'll succeed in getting back to the island where Widmore has spent 20 years failing. (Bit of an overstatement, right? More like 15 years. Whatever.) But first, he's going to kill Penny. "Don't you dare," Widmore hisses. Ben hangs up. Well, we all saw this coming. I've paused it - does he really do it? I say no, but stranger things have happened.
Well, back to the island before we see anything. Ben asks Locke how he knows where he's going. Locke says that Ben doesn't like having to follow someone blindly in the hopes that they'll lead him to the right place. Ben admits that he doesn't. Locke says that now Ben knows what Locke's life used to be like. Turns out they're headed for the Temple (gee.), although according to Ben, what we know as the Temple is just the wall around it, with the real Temple being a half-mile distant so that outsiders wouldn't see it by accident. Locke says they're not going in, however; instead, they're going under it. Before heading into the "vent," Ben tells Sun that if she ever gets off the island, she should find Desmond and say Ben was sorry. "For what?" Sun asks. "He'll know," Ben says, and heads down.
And back to the marina. Desmond spots Ben before he can get to Penny and asks what he's doing there; Ben shoots him, although through a grocery bag, so I'm assuming he's fine. Then he approaches Penny, who's running over. Penny insists that she and her father have no relationship (true!) but Ben doesn't really seem interested, telling Penny that her father is responsible for the death of his daughter. Charlie pops his head up just then and Penny tells him to go back inside. Ben lowers the gun, and the just-fine Desmond gets him from behind, beats the crap out of him, and throws him into the water.
Island, 2007. As Frank arrives at the Hydra, one of the survivors yells at him that Ilana (sp?) and a few of the others have guns and are saying they're in charge. When Frank asks about this, Ilana asks him, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Frank has no idea what she's on about, and gets a face full of rifle butt for this. She tells another guy to tie Frank up and bring him with the others. Say what, now?
Locke lights two torches and he and Ben proceed into the Temple's guts. Ben tells Locke that Locke is right; he could have saved Alex by leaving the island with Widmore's men. "I appreciate you showing me the way but I think I can take it from here," Ben says. "I'll meet you outside - if I live," and then he falls through the floor. Locke goes to look for something to help with, but Ben gets up and examines the columns, then finds his way to some sort of altar, where a carving of what looks a lot like Anubis is on the wall. Ben's torch extinguishes and Smokey starts coming out through a grate of sorts. (Anubis, you may recall, is associated with the judgment of the dead prior to their passage to the Underworld in Egyptian myth. Fitting, no?) Smokey surrounds Ben and starts playing back moments from his life (similarly to what it did with Eko), fixating pretty much entirely on Alex, from when he didn't kill her at the camp to the moment he watched her die. And then Smokey recedes into the grate and Ben's torch comes back...
...just in time for Alex to appear behind him. Ben admits it was all his fault. "I know," Alex says. Then she grabs him and throws him up against a column and tells him she knows he's already planning to kill Locke again. She (Smokey?) tells him that if he harms Locke in any way, she will hunt him down and destroy him, and that he is to follow Locke's every order. Ben swears he will, and then Alex vanishes and Locke shows up at the hole with a vine. "What happened?" Locke asks. "It let me live," Ben says.
Next time: back to 1977! Remember how Miles can talk to dead people? Well, that's gonna get real-ass important. And! Does Pierre Chang know that Miles is from the future? Maybe? Remember that secret video.
Not a bad episode all told. Good to get some mythology in there again, and it's good to see that Ben actually has some humanity and vulnerability, although since he was planning to kill Locke again, clearly not that much. But will he really follow that order?
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
s5e11: Whatever Happened, Happened
Jin brings shot-but-alive Ben back to Dharmaville, where Kate has just met Roger Workman. Then we flash back to early 2005; Kate drops in on Cassidy (Sawyer's baby mama), who's surprised and happy to see her until Kate says that Sawyer sent her. (Has to be one of the longest waits for a reveal of something that everyone guessed the second it happened in show history, right? Though I would like to know how Sawyer imparted that much information in about four seconds of whispering.) The meeting doesn't go all that hot; turns out it's not even Sawyer's money (so he didn't whisper a bank account number and PIN to her!), but Kate's. Cassidy says Kate got left by Sawyer, just like she did. Then she correctly divines that Aaron is not Kate's son. B'oh.
Back to Life on Mars: Island Edition. Ben very cleverly left the keys in the lock of Sayid's cell, so it's even clearer it was an inside job; only three people have that kind of keys, including Roger and Jack. (Every Dharma Initiative member has keys to the jail cell? Or every janitor has a skeleton key to everything, including the jail cell? To quote Dennis Nedry, no wonder you're extinct.) Sawyer tells Miles to "sit on" Kate, Jack and Hurley so they won't talk to anyone, as things are going a bit haywire. Roger is waiting outside the infirmary, where Sawyer finds he's the one missing his keys (no kidding). Juliet is operating on Ben and tells Sawyer Ben needs a real surgeon. Guess who.
Hurley brings up the Back to the Future corollary (if young Ben doesn't turn into old Ben, the A3 never come back to the island [or presumably never even get there in the first place, since if Ben doesn't purge the DI then the Swan probably isn't manned by Desmond and Inman like it is and 815 never crashes at all]), which proves that the writers are thinking about this stuff. "You can't change anything," Miles says. It always happened, but they just haven't experienced how it turned out yet. Sawyer asks for Jack's help, but Jack won't do it - he's cool with Ben dying, figuring, perhaps, that it could somehow be his ticket out of his current situation. (You do get the feeling that Jack was hoping to be greeted as a hero upon his return to the island, and being a peon in the DI isn't exactly his idea of a good time. But why should it be, really.)
Kate isn't sure this is such a good idea. Jack notes the connections to when he had to operate on Ben the first time, then asks Kate if maybe all the work he did trying to fix things on the island the first time was getting in the way of the island trying to fix things itself. Kate says she doesn't like the new Jack. Jack says she didn't like the old Jack. Kate huffs off and decides to donate blood because she's type O negative. Roger comes in and realizes Ben stole the keys, then actually looks human as he says that it's because of him. Then Ben goes into "hypoxic shock." Kate looks at him like she's trying to figure out a way to donate oxygen too.
The writers Miles have a scene where they try to explain time to the viewers Hurley. Hurley asks what I've seen many people ask - why didn't older Ben remember Sayid shooting him when he was a kid? "I hadn't thought of that," Miles says. (Correct answer: who says he didn't?) Hurley gives him a checkmate look. Meanwhile, Roger paces; finally, Juliet comes out and says Ben is stable. But after Roger runs off, Juliet tells Kate that Ben is going to die. When Kate insists that he can't, Juliet offers that maybe there's something they can do. You know, the Others? (This reminds me of a creepy story I read as a kid from a book called The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural. My recollection of the plot is that a kid wanders away from his family and falls off a cliff, but later returns unharmed, except that he keeps referring to a figure called "Boo Mama." In the end of the story, it turns out that the kid was saved only via a blood transfusion from these talking bear-like creatures, and he's turning into one of them and ends up leaving with them. If the Others really do save Ben, it's a pretty straight parallel, no? By the way, I didn't look up any of that and I haven't read that book since about 1993. It was pretty creepy.)
Somehow no one sees Juliet and Kate put Ben in a van. Kate won't let Juliet go with her (but what is Juliet going to tell Sawyer, that she wasn't involved?). Then it's back to 2007, where Kate huffs off from the pier (the fifth time we've seen this scene this year, I think). Kate takes Aaron into the grocery store and as she checks her cell phone, he vanishes into thin air. Then she finds him at the front of the store with some woman who says she was about to make an announcement. Whatever. Back to 1977. "Tell my dad I'm sorry I stole his keys," Ben says as Kate stops in front of the sonic fence. (It kind of sounded like he said "Tell my dad he's a total skeeze," which was funny.) Sawyer gets there really fast, but he's not there to stop Kate, but rather to help her.
Back to 2007. Kate drops in on Cassidy again, then confesses to losing Aaron at the store. "As scared as I was, I wasn't surprised," Kate says. Cassidy tells her that she expects him to be taken because she took him. No, Kate says, Claire was gone - he needed me. "You needed him," Cassidy says. And really it's true - if not for Aaron, isn't it entirely likely that Kate's in jail right now? Back in 1977, Sawyer disables the fence. Kate asks why he's helping her. Sawyer says he asked himself the same question - why was Kate helping Ben? Juliet said it was wrong to let a kid die. "I'm doing it for her," Sawyer says. Kate looks like a dagger went through her heart.
Juliet confronts Jack about not helping Ben, then tells Jack that he didn't need to come back, and asks why he did. "Because I was supposed to," Jack says. "Supposed to what?" Juliet asks. Jack doesn't know. Juliet tells him to figure it out. Meanwhile, Kate tells Sawyer that she helped Clementine, and passes on Cassidy's theory regarding why he jumped from the chopper. Sawyer says he wasn't fit to be Kate's boyfriend, much less Clementine's father. Kate notes that he and Juliet are doing fine. Sawyer says he's grown up a lot over three years. The Others pop out of the woods and Sawyer tells them that Ben being shot is everyone's problem, and that they need to take him to Richard.
Back in 2007, Kate knocks on Claire's mother's door and tells her basically everything. Then she gives her Aaron and tells her she's going back to find Claire. (So she didn't go back for Sawyer. Assuming this was true.) 1977 again. Richard shows up. "Is that Benjamin Linus?" he asks. Kate asks if Richard can save Ben. Yes, says Richard, but he will always be an Other if this happens. (There you go!) He also says that Ben will forget that any of this ever happened. (Convenient much?) Richard descends into the Temple with Ben.
And then we're back to old Ben, and we finally see Locke again. Ben wakes up to find Locke staring him down. "Welcome back to the land of the living," Locke says. Ben looks more than a little surprised to see him.
Next week! Ben faces judgment from the island, apparently? How can this episode not rule?
Back to Life on Mars: Island Edition. Ben very cleverly left the keys in the lock of Sayid's cell, so it's even clearer it was an inside job; only three people have that kind of keys, including Roger and Jack. (Every Dharma Initiative member has keys to the jail cell? Or every janitor has a skeleton key to everything, including the jail cell? To quote Dennis Nedry, no wonder you're extinct.) Sawyer tells Miles to "sit on" Kate, Jack and Hurley so they won't talk to anyone, as things are going a bit haywire. Roger is waiting outside the infirmary, where Sawyer finds he's the one missing his keys (no kidding). Juliet is operating on Ben and tells Sawyer Ben needs a real surgeon. Guess who.
Hurley brings up the Back to the Future corollary (if young Ben doesn't turn into old Ben, the A3 never come back to the island [or presumably never even get there in the first place, since if Ben doesn't purge the DI then the Swan probably isn't manned by Desmond and Inman like it is and 815 never crashes at all]), which proves that the writers are thinking about this stuff. "You can't change anything," Miles says. It always happened, but they just haven't experienced how it turned out yet. Sawyer asks for Jack's help, but Jack won't do it - he's cool with Ben dying, figuring, perhaps, that it could somehow be his ticket out of his current situation. (You do get the feeling that Jack was hoping to be greeted as a hero upon his return to the island, and being a peon in the DI isn't exactly his idea of a good time. But why should it be, really.)
Kate isn't sure this is such a good idea. Jack notes the connections to when he had to operate on Ben the first time, then asks Kate if maybe all the work he did trying to fix things on the island the first time was getting in the way of the island trying to fix things itself. Kate says she doesn't like the new Jack. Jack says she didn't like the old Jack. Kate huffs off and decides to donate blood because she's type O negative. Roger comes in and realizes Ben stole the keys, then actually looks human as he says that it's because of him. Then Ben goes into "hypoxic shock." Kate looks at him like she's trying to figure out a way to donate oxygen too.
Somehow no one sees Juliet and Kate put Ben in a van. Kate won't let Juliet go with her (but what is Juliet going to tell Sawyer, that she wasn't involved?). Then it's back to 2007, where Kate huffs off from the pier (the fifth time we've seen this scene this year, I think). Kate takes Aaron into the grocery store and as she checks her cell phone, he vanishes into thin air. Then she finds him at the front of the store with some woman who says she was about to make an announcement. Whatever. Back to 1977. "Tell my dad I'm sorry I stole his keys," Ben says as Kate stops in front of the sonic fence. (It kind of sounded like he said "Tell my dad he's a total skeeze," which was funny.) Sawyer gets there really fast, but he's not there to stop Kate, but rather to help her.
Back to 2007. Kate drops in on Cassidy again, then confesses to losing Aaron at the store. "As scared as I was, I wasn't surprised," Kate says. Cassidy tells her that she expects him to be taken because she took him. No, Kate says, Claire was gone - he needed me. "You needed him," Cassidy says. And really it's true - if not for Aaron, isn't it entirely likely that Kate's in jail right now? Back in 1977, Sawyer disables the fence. Kate asks why he's helping her. Sawyer says he asked himself the same question - why was Kate helping Ben? Juliet said it was wrong to let a kid die. "I'm doing it for her," Sawyer says. Kate looks like a dagger went through her heart.
Juliet confronts Jack about not helping Ben, then tells Jack that he didn't need to come back, and asks why he did. "Because I was supposed to," Jack says. "Supposed to what?" Juliet asks. Jack doesn't know. Juliet tells him to figure it out. Meanwhile, Kate tells Sawyer that she helped Clementine, and passes on Cassidy's theory regarding why he jumped from the chopper. Sawyer says he wasn't fit to be Kate's boyfriend, much less Clementine's father. Kate notes that he and Juliet are doing fine. Sawyer says he's grown up a lot over three years. The Others pop out of the woods and Sawyer tells them that Ben being shot is everyone's problem, and that they need to take him to Richard.
Back in 2007, Kate knocks on Claire's mother's door and tells her basically everything. Then she gives her Aaron and tells her she's going back to find Claire. (So she didn't go back for Sawyer. Assuming this was true.) 1977 again. Richard shows up. "Is that Benjamin Linus?" he asks. Kate asks if Richard can save Ben. Yes, says Richard, but he will always be an Other if this happens. (There you go!) He also says that Ben will forget that any of this ever happened. (Convenient much?) Richard descends into the Temple with Ben.
And then we're back to old Ben, and we finally see Locke again. Ben wakes up to find Locke staring him down. "Welcome back to the land of the living," Locke says. Ben looks more than a little surprised to see him.
Next week! Ben faces judgment from the island, apparently? How can this episode not rule?
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