I'm not even sure how to recap this one, since it involves a lot of time-jumping of Desmond's consciousness between 1996 and 2004 - or really, it involves Desmond's consciousness being knocked back to 1996, and then that 1996 consciousness jumping back and forth between 1996 and 2004. God, I'm already confused.
The episode starts without a "Previously on Lost" bit, which I found curious. Frank is flying the helicopter directly towards a large storm cloud, following the bearing that Daniel insisted he stay on. They make it through the storm okay, but Desmond appears to get jolted and no longer knows who Sayid is or where he is. He bounces back to 1996, where he is in the Scottish army, and gets in trouble for the lapses he experiences when he comes back to 2004. The freighter people are upset that Desmond and Sayid have been brought to the ship; Desmond is taken to sick bay and told to wait for the doctor. There, he runs across Minkowski, who has been having the same problem - which, he reveals later, was caused by going too close to the island. Meanwhile, Sayid calls Jack to discuss the situation; despite Daniel's suggestion that Jack and Juliet's perception of how long the helicopter has been gone may not match the reality, it certainly seems that traveling through the cloud has also propelled the helicopter in time, as Sayid comments that they took off at dusk but they land on the freighter around midday.
Daniel gets Desmond on the phone and tells him to seek out Daniel at Oxford back in 1996, giving him some information so that '96 Daniel will be convinced. '96 Daniel is working with radiation, which is hinted to have given rise to his later memory problems. He shows Desmond how he can transport the consciousness of a rat forward one hour so that it can learn how to run a maze in the future, then come back and apply it in the present. However, a short time later the rat dies. '96 Daniel explains to Desmond that he needs a constant in his life in both 1996 and 2004; otherwise, he will keep jumping back and forth until his brain overloads and he dies. Not long after this, Minkowski does just that in 2004. Desmond realizes that Penny is his constant; not knowing how to reach her, he manages to find Total Bastard Mr. Widmore, who is all smug assholishness as usual. But, confident that Desmond can now do nothing to win back Penny, he gives Desmond her new address. Desmond goes there and convinces her that if she gives him her new phone number, he will not call it for eight years, until December 24, 2004. She does so, then asks him to leave.
In 2004, Sayid manages to get the radio up and working again, and Desmond calls Penelope, fortunately reaching her. This grounds him back in 2004, as they profess their love and Penny tells him she'll do everything she can to find him. Back on the island, Daniel looks at a note in his journal - presumably from his 1996 self to his 2004 self - saying that if anything happens, Desmond will be his constant.
All in all, a pretty crazy episode, even more so than "Flashes Before Your Eyes." It doesn't tell us a ton about the problem, though. It seems that the storm is some sort of island barrier, and that people exposed to high levels of radiation or electromagnetism - hence, Desmond, and presumably Daniel later - have "side effects" when passing through it. This doesn't do anything to suggest what the deal is with time, however; as I mentioned earlier, it seemed like we were getting the answer when Daniel started talking about perception being different than reality - except it didn't seem like perception was different from reality, or at least, while the trip only did take 20 minutes, it covered a day's span of time both for the people on the island and the people in the helicopter. It's just that the people in the helicopter didn't really have to sit through it. This then returns to the issue of the missile from a couple episodes ago, which should have made it to the island in about 30 seconds but instead took 31 minutes, or ~60 times as long. Thus, a flight that should have taken maybe 20 minutes took 1200 minutes - or 20 hours - instead? Ultimately, though, I'm not sure how much effect this is going to have on the ability of anyone to get off the island; indeed, given what we know about the future, it seems like the answer is "Not a whole heckuva lot." Given that Ben seems to come and go from the island all the time, it can't be that big a deal, can it? Still, if the writers introduced it, there has to be something to it, I think, so I'll withhold judgment for now. Reading back in this blog reveals that nearly all of my guesses have turned out to be wrong, so I'd hate to make an assumption like that.
With that in mind, I'm more convinced than ever that Michael is Ben's man on the boat; someone had to open the door for Sayid and Desmond, and Minkowski comments that they have a "friend" on the ship. Since it's unlikely to have been Frank, doesn't that leave someone who knows Sayid and Desmond? Michael could also have been the one to sabotage the radio, preventing contact with the mainland, although that's not really uniquely identifying. Still, we know he's coming back - can you think of a more plausible way?
Oh, and how about Ecklie as the doctor? I wonder if Marc Vann gets tired of being cast as snotty authority figures all the time.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
s4e04: Eggtown
I'm not a big fan of Kate episodes. In fact, aside from "Exposé," this episode was probably the worst overall since s3e06, "I Do," which was - surprise! - a Kate episode. Frankly, the writing just wasn't very good - the "surprises" were all forced in by a clunky writing style that required the characters to talk unnaturally around names just so we could hold for the big reveal at the end of the episode which a lot of people, including me, had already guessed anyway.
Locke's group is living in the Barracks and Locke has actually assumed a sort of Ben-like role, which I assume isn't an accident. But he doesn't know what to do next, a fact that Ben - held captive in Locke's basement - taunts him over. Meanwhile, Kate wants to know what Miles knows about her. Locke won't let her see him, so she tricks Hurley into revealing the location. Miles agrees to tell her what he knows if she gives him a minute with Ben. Kate finds out that Ben is under Locke's watch, so she uses Sawyer to lead Locke down to the boathouse where Miles is kept; Miles is gone, moving with Kate back to Locke's, where they break in and find Ben. Miles asks Ben if he knows who Miles is and who he works for; Ben confirms this. Then Miles asks for 3.2 million dollars to lie to his boss and tell him Ben is already dead. He gives Ben a week to come up with the money. When Ben asks why Miles thinks Ben has access to that kind of money, Miles barks, "Do not treat me like I'm one of them!" and gestures to Kate. Miles then confirms for Kate that the freighter people know she's a fugitive. Locke returns and banishes Kate from the compound, then sticks a grenade in Miles' mouth so he can't talk. Sawyer offers to keep Kate under his protection, but she acts weird and ends up leaving for the beach.
At the beach, no one on the freighter is answering, so Jack and Juliet have Charlotte call the secret line only to be used in emergencies. Regina says that the helicopter - which left the previous day - has not arrived. Worried, puzzled looks are exchanged.
In the future, a rather annoying Kate is on trial for her various crimes. Jack is called as a character witness and tells the story of 815 as it was apparently agreed upon - he does say that the plane crashed on a deserted island, but that only 8 people survived the crash, with only 6 making it back to civilization. When asked by the DA if he loves Kate, he says, "Not anymore," though he later claims to her that that was a lie. (Dammit, Jack!) Kate's mom, still alive, is wheeled in to be the star witness, but even though Kate treats her pretty bad, she ends up refusing to testify. Kate gets off with time served and ten years' probation. At the end of the episode, she invites Jack back to her house to see her son, but he won't go - and it becomes pretty clear why, as Kate greets her son with a "Hi, Aaron."
(Astonishingly, there were a huge number of dipshits on the Lost message board insisting that Kate said "Eric," even though the fact that there was a big reveal at the end of the episode should have made it clear that the baby was Claire's even if Kate's pronunciation of the name was a little muddled. This also explains Jack's reluctance to see the baby - whether he knows by then that Aaron is his nephew or not, surely being reminded of whatever happened to Claire is something he wants to avoid.)
By far the most interesting parts of the episode were the fact that the copter hadn't reached the boat (or was claimed not to have), which will be addressed in next week's episode, and the Miles/Ben conversation. The fact that Kate has Aaron in the future is interesting, but Kate's behavior in both the present and future was so generally annoying that I just checked out on her parts of the episode, which was most of it. To say nothing of the fact that I would consider myself a Jack/Juliet shipper and the future seems to make clear that that isn't happening. Bah.
Locke's group is living in the Barracks and Locke has actually assumed a sort of Ben-like role, which I assume isn't an accident. But he doesn't know what to do next, a fact that Ben - held captive in Locke's basement - taunts him over. Meanwhile, Kate wants to know what Miles knows about her. Locke won't let her see him, so she tricks Hurley into revealing the location. Miles agrees to tell her what he knows if she gives him a minute with Ben. Kate finds out that Ben is under Locke's watch, so she uses Sawyer to lead Locke down to the boathouse where Miles is kept; Miles is gone, moving with Kate back to Locke's, where they break in and find Ben. Miles asks Ben if he knows who Miles is and who he works for; Ben confirms this. Then Miles asks for 3.2 million dollars to lie to his boss and tell him Ben is already dead. He gives Ben a week to come up with the money. When Ben asks why Miles thinks Ben has access to that kind of money, Miles barks, "Do not treat me like I'm one of them!" and gestures to Kate. Miles then confirms for Kate that the freighter people know she's a fugitive. Locke returns and banishes Kate from the compound, then sticks a grenade in Miles' mouth so he can't talk. Sawyer offers to keep Kate under his protection, but she acts weird and ends up leaving for the beach.
At the beach, no one on the freighter is answering, so Jack and Juliet have Charlotte call the secret line only to be used in emergencies. Regina says that the helicopter - which left the previous day - has not arrived. Worried, puzzled looks are exchanged.
In the future, a rather annoying Kate is on trial for her various crimes. Jack is called as a character witness and tells the story of 815 as it was apparently agreed upon - he does say that the plane crashed on a deserted island, but that only 8 people survived the crash, with only 6 making it back to civilization. When asked by the DA if he loves Kate, he says, "Not anymore," though he later claims to her that that was a lie. (Dammit, Jack!) Kate's mom, still alive, is wheeled in to be the star witness, but even though Kate treats her pretty bad, she ends up refusing to testify. Kate gets off with time served and ten years' probation. At the end of the episode, she invites Jack back to her house to see her son, but he won't go - and it becomes pretty clear why, as Kate greets her son with a "Hi, Aaron."
(Astonishingly, there were a huge number of dipshits on the Lost message board insisting that Kate said "Eric," even though the fact that there was a big reveal at the end of the episode should have made it clear that the baby was Claire's even if Kate's pronunciation of the name was a little muddled. This also explains Jack's reluctance to see the baby - whether he knows by then that Aaron is his nephew or not, surely being reminded of whatever happened to Claire is something he wants to avoid.)
By far the most interesting parts of the episode were the fact that the copter hadn't reached the boat (or was claimed not to have), which will be addressed in next week's episode, and the Miles/Ben conversation. The fact that Kate has Aaron in the future is interesting, but Kate's behavior in both the present and future was so generally annoying that I just checked out on her parts of the episode, which was most of it. To say nothing of the fact that I would consider myself a Jack/Juliet shipper and the future seems to make clear that that isn't happening. Bah.
Friday, February 15, 2008
s4e03: The Economist
It wouldn't be a Lost episode if we didn't have one question answered - usually the one that most people had already guessed the answer to anyway - and five or six more pop up.
On the island, Sayid makes a deal with Frank that if he returns Charlotte safely, Frank will take him off the island on the helicopter. Sayid and Kate, armed, and Miles head off to find Locke. Meanwhile, there seems to be some dissent in Locke's camp, as Hurley isn't sure that keeping Charlotte as a hostage is such a good idea. Locke attempts to travel to Jacob's cabin, but when he finds the ring of powder, the cabin is nowhere to be seen. Hurley, perhaps remembering when he saw it move, looks nervous and suggests that maybe they just took a wrong turn. Locke continues to lead the group to the Others' barracks.
When Sayid and Kate find the barracks, Hurley is tied up in a closet, saying he was left behind by Locke. It turns out to be a ruse, however; Sawyer guards Kate (although she is armed and he appears not to be) and Miles is taken somewhere that we don't see. Kate asks Sawyer why he doesn't want to leave the island and he points out that there's nothing for him in the US, then asks why Kate wants to get off given that a prison term is likely all that awaits her. Sayid is captured by Locke shortly after discovering a hidden room in Ben's house full of clothing, international passports, and various currencies. It's pretty obvious now that not only can Ben get off the island, he likely does so all the time. Sayid and Ben are held in the game room; Ben won't disclose his man on the boat, and Sayid admits to Locke that he doesn't trust the "rescuers" any more than Locke does. He still wants to get to the boat, and trades Miles for Charlotte to fulfill his deal with Frank.
Meanwhile, Daniel has been doing an experiment in the clearing where the helicopter is. He has Regina (from the boat) send a rocket with a clock inside of it. When the rocket finally arrives, the clock is found to be roughly 31 minutes behind island time, which Daniel describes as "not good." He cautions Frank to fly out on the helicopter on the exact same bearing on which they flew in, no matter what. Sayid and Charlotte return, with Kate apparently electing to stay behind and Miles having been traded. Juliet comes back from the beach with Desmond, who demands to know if Daniel and Frank know Penelope Widmore, given that Naomi was carrying her picture. They claim not to, but both look uncomfortable before doing so. Desmond decides to go on the helicopter. Sayid goes as well, and when Charlotte, Daniel and Jack all decide not to go, Sayid suggests that Naomi's body be the third person they carry. The helicopter flies off over the ocean.
In flash-forward, we see Sayid on a deserted golf course in the Seychelles. A man pulls up to him and offers to bet that he can hit the ball closer to the pin with his choice of club. When Sayid discloses that he is one of the Oceanic Six, the man gets nervous and, though he wins the bet, attempts to leave without collecting. Sayid reveals that he knows the man's name (Mr. Avellino) and shoots him dead. Later, Sayid is in Berlin, where he fakes a casual meeting with a German woman, Elsa. Sayid falls for her although his job is to mark her so that he can use her to track her employer, who she claims is an economist. When her employer contacts her, Sayid tells her to stay away, but she shoots him in the shoulder and seems like she was actually spying on him the entire time; he manages to kill her, though he is upset about doing so. In the final scene, Sayid goes to what appears to be an animal hospital to meet his boss... who turns out to be Ben. Ben reminds Sayid that the last time he thought with his heart instead of his gun, something bad happened, and states that Sayid must continue working for him if he wants to protect his friends. Sayid says that now the people on Ben's list will know he is coming after them. Ben stares at him and says, "Good." Logo.
This shakes things up rather a lot, doesn't it? When we saw Jack and Kate meet, or Jack and Hurley, I think we all assumed that the people whose secrets they were keeping were the people on the boat. And maybe they still are? But at least one of the people who gets off the island is in direct contact with Ben, and what's more it becomes apparent that Ben has some travel secrets that we don't know about. There has been speculation among the fans that Locke didn't actually blow up the submarine, but I'm not sure I buy that - given Locke's mental state at the time, it doesn't make sense that he would have a desire to fake blowing it up. So Ben likely has still another way off the island. The time issue, of course, is also a big one, although 31 minutes isn't exactly the difference that many have been positing.
The WGA strike is over and we're getting five more episodes this year. Supposedly, it will run seven, then a six-week break, then six more. So we've got four more to go before the break. The three episodes missing from this season will go into future seasons. Damon Lindelof has said that the storytelling is going to get very compressed in the five new episodes so as to end Season 4 at the same point as it would have; this might not be that bad a thing, frankly. Five new jam-packed episodes? Works for me. Better than nothing, which is what we might have gotten had the strike lasted another month.
On the island, Sayid makes a deal with Frank that if he returns Charlotte safely, Frank will take him off the island on the helicopter. Sayid and Kate, armed, and Miles head off to find Locke. Meanwhile, there seems to be some dissent in Locke's camp, as Hurley isn't sure that keeping Charlotte as a hostage is such a good idea. Locke attempts to travel to Jacob's cabin, but when he finds the ring of powder, the cabin is nowhere to be seen. Hurley, perhaps remembering when he saw it move, looks nervous and suggests that maybe they just took a wrong turn. Locke continues to lead the group to the Others' barracks.
When Sayid and Kate find the barracks, Hurley is tied up in a closet, saying he was left behind by Locke. It turns out to be a ruse, however; Sawyer guards Kate (although she is armed and he appears not to be) and Miles is taken somewhere that we don't see. Kate asks Sawyer why he doesn't want to leave the island and he points out that there's nothing for him in the US, then asks why Kate wants to get off given that a prison term is likely all that awaits her. Sayid is captured by Locke shortly after discovering a hidden room in Ben's house full of clothing, international passports, and various currencies. It's pretty obvious now that not only can Ben get off the island, he likely does so all the time. Sayid and Ben are held in the game room; Ben won't disclose his man on the boat, and Sayid admits to Locke that he doesn't trust the "rescuers" any more than Locke does. He still wants to get to the boat, and trades Miles for Charlotte to fulfill his deal with Frank.
Meanwhile, Daniel has been doing an experiment in the clearing where the helicopter is. He has Regina (from the boat) send a rocket with a clock inside of it. When the rocket finally arrives, the clock is found to be roughly 31 minutes behind island time, which Daniel describes as "not good." He cautions Frank to fly out on the helicopter on the exact same bearing on which they flew in, no matter what. Sayid and Charlotte return, with Kate apparently electing to stay behind and Miles having been traded. Juliet comes back from the beach with Desmond, who demands to know if Daniel and Frank know Penelope Widmore, given that Naomi was carrying her picture. They claim not to, but both look uncomfortable before doing so. Desmond decides to go on the helicopter. Sayid goes as well, and when Charlotte, Daniel and Jack all decide not to go, Sayid suggests that Naomi's body be the third person they carry. The helicopter flies off over the ocean.
In flash-forward, we see Sayid on a deserted golf course in the Seychelles. A man pulls up to him and offers to bet that he can hit the ball closer to the pin with his choice of club. When Sayid discloses that he is one of the Oceanic Six, the man gets nervous and, though he wins the bet, attempts to leave without collecting. Sayid reveals that he knows the man's name (Mr. Avellino) and shoots him dead. Later, Sayid is in Berlin, where he fakes a casual meeting with a German woman, Elsa. Sayid falls for her although his job is to mark her so that he can use her to track her employer, who she claims is an economist. When her employer contacts her, Sayid tells her to stay away, but she shoots him in the shoulder and seems like she was actually spying on him the entire time; he manages to kill her, though he is upset about doing so. In the final scene, Sayid goes to what appears to be an animal hospital to meet his boss... who turns out to be Ben. Ben reminds Sayid that the last time he thought with his heart instead of his gun, something bad happened, and states that Sayid must continue working for him if he wants to protect his friends. Sayid says that now the people on Ben's list will know he is coming after them. Ben stares at him and says, "Good." Logo.
This shakes things up rather a lot, doesn't it? When we saw Jack and Kate meet, or Jack and Hurley, I think we all assumed that the people whose secrets they were keeping were the people on the boat. And maybe they still are? But at least one of the people who gets off the island is in direct contact with Ben, and what's more it becomes apparent that Ben has some travel secrets that we don't know about. There has been speculation among the fans that Locke didn't actually blow up the submarine, but I'm not sure I buy that - given Locke's mental state at the time, it doesn't make sense that he would have a desire to fake blowing it up. So Ben likely has still another way off the island. The time issue, of course, is also a big one, although 31 minutes isn't exactly the difference that many have been positing.
The WGA strike is over and we're getting five more episodes this year. Supposedly, it will run seven, then a six-week break, then six more. So we've got four more to go before the break. The three episodes missing from this season will go into future seasons. Damon Lindelof has said that the storytelling is going to get very compressed in the five new episodes so as to end Season 4 at the same point as it would have; this might not be that bad a thing, frankly. Five new jam-packed episodes? Works for me. Better than nothing, which is what we might have gotten had the strike lasted another month.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
s4e02: Confirmed Dead
We get our first-ever four-way flashback - five-way, even - as we see what Daniel, Miles, Charlotte and Frank, the four people on the helicopter that Daniel dropped from at the end of the previous episode, were doing before they got to the island. The episode starts by revealing the plane in a trench off Bali, as Naomi mentioned at the end of last season. Daniel, watching footage on television, is upset, though he's not sure why. Miles, we find out, is a kind of exorcist or ghostbuster - oddly, he manages to be both legitimate and a bit of a con artist at the same time. Charlotte is an anthropologist who finds a polar bear with a Dharma collar in the Tunisian desert. Frank is a pilot who was, apparently, supposed to be piloting Flight 815 when it crashed, and recognizes that something is off about the wreckage. The four are gathered together to bring in Ben; the team is headed by Naomi, who describes it as "covert ops," and headed by Matthew Abaddon, the sinister guy claiming to be from Oceanic who talked to Hurley last episode. Why exactly they want Ben is not revealed (shock!), although it appears that most or all of them don't even know. Their professions are somewhat telling - anthropologist, physicist, psychic/exorcist; presumably, as Abaddon says, each is intended for a specific purpose in terms of what they might come into contact with on the island.
Speaking of on the island: so Jack and Kate meet Daniel, who is kind of fidgety. He admits that rescue is not concern #1, but they go after Miles' transponder signal before he can say what concern #1 actually is. Miles is the exact opposite - on edge and aggressive, pointing a gun in Jack's face right away. That's because he thinks they killed Naomi, though, due to her final message which was apparently a code. He makes Kate take him to Naomi's body so that he can confirm her story, which he does, doing his ghosty thing, I guess. Then Juliet and Sayid pop out of the jungle and disarm Daniel and Miles, putting the survivors back in control of the situation. They go to look for Charlotte, but Locke has put her transponder onto Vincent and turned him loose to throw the pursuers off (I successfully called this as soon as I saw how fast the transponder signal was moving); instead, they find Frank after he shoots off a signal flare. Frank reveals that he was able to put the helicopter down safely. Miles attempts to call the boat, but George is suspiciously unavailable. Juliet tends to Frank's head wound, but when she tells him her name, he knows - from having read the manifest many times - that she wasn't on the plane. Miles freaks out and demands to know where Ben is, admitting that the freighter is there to look for him.
In the other group, Sawyer has taken to pummeling Ben as a way of withstanding Ben's mind games. Locke says it's important to keep Ben alive, but after they find Charlotte, Ben attempts to kill her; luckily (?), she's wearing a bulletproof vest. Ben explains that he knows the people are here for him, rattling off Charlotte's bio to prove it. As we go to Lost logo, Ben states that he has an insider on the boat.
Clearly, other people are aware of the Dharma projects. But how is that possible? Is this Dharma, or a related offshoot of the Hanso Foundation, coming to exact its revenge on Ben and the natives? And how did a fully-preserved and buried polar bear skeleton wind up in the Tunisian desert? The hint we got last summer about time travel definitely seems to be creeping more into the plot.
What's up with the plane off Bali? Part of a cover-up? (Assumedly, yes.) Who's masterminding this cover-up? Based on the little we've gotten from him, I don't think it's Abaddon, so that probably leaves someone we haven't met yet - another possibility being Dharma/Hanso, trying to distract so no one finds the actual island. But Abaddon can't be both Hanso and not Hanso.
And who, pray tell, is the insider on the boat? I'll give you my guess: Michael. We know he's coming back this season, and given that his name has already reappeared in the opening credits, it's probably going to be soon. There's clearly been more contact between the island and the outside world than previously revealed - where else would that photograph of Ben have come from, since it's clearly pretty recent? So perhaps Ben made contact with Michael somehow (sometime during Season Three in island time), knowing that people out there were looking for him?
Rumor has it the writer's strike will be ending in the next few days. I wonder if there's any chance of more episodes getting produced for this season - could they possibly write and film the remaining eight in a three-month period? Wishful thinking, I suppose. But would they really go 8-24? Any chance of 12-20, even? We'll see.
Speaking of on the island: so Jack and Kate meet Daniel, who is kind of fidgety. He admits that rescue is not concern #1, but they go after Miles' transponder signal before he can say what concern #1 actually is. Miles is the exact opposite - on edge and aggressive, pointing a gun in Jack's face right away. That's because he thinks they killed Naomi, though, due to her final message which was apparently a code. He makes Kate take him to Naomi's body so that he can confirm her story, which he does, doing his ghosty thing, I guess. Then Juliet and Sayid pop out of the jungle and disarm Daniel and Miles, putting the survivors back in control of the situation. They go to look for Charlotte, but Locke has put her transponder onto Vincent and turned him loose to throw the pursuers off (I successfully called this as soon as I saw how fast the transponder signal was moving); instead, they find Frank after he shoots off a signal flare. Frank reveals that he was able to put the helicopter down safely. Miles attempts to call the boat, but George is suspiciously unavailable. Juliet tends to Frank's head wound, but when she tells him her name, he knows - from having read the manifest many times - that she wasn't on the plane. Miles freaks out and demands to know where Ben is, admitting that the freighter is there to look for him.
In the other group, Sawyer has taken to pummeling Ben as a way of withstanding Ben's mind games. Locke says it's important to keep Ben alive, but after they find Charlotte, Ben attempts to kill her; luckily (?), she's wearing a bulletproof vest. Ben explains that he knows the people are here for him, rattling off Charlotte's bio to prove it. As we go to Lost logo, Ben states that he has an insider on the boat.
Clearly, other people are aware of the Dharma projects. But how is that possible? Is this Dharma, or a related offshoot of the Hanso Foundation, coming to exact its revenge on Ben and the natives? And how did a fully-preserved and buried polar bear skeleton wind up in the Tunisian desert? The hint we got last summer about time travel definitely seems to be creeping more into the plot.
What's up with the plane off Bali? Part of a cover-up? (Assumedly, yes.) Who's masterminding this cover-up? Based on the little we've gotten from him, I don't think it's Abaddon, so that probably leaves someone we haven't met yet - another possibility being Dharma/Hanso, trying to distract so no one finds the actual island. But Abaddon can't be both Hanso and not Hanso.
And who, pray tell, is the insider on the boat? I'll give you my guess: Michael. We know he's coming back this season, and given that his name has already reappeared in the opening credits, it's probably going to be soon. There's clearly been more contact between the island and the outside world than previously revealed - where else would that photograph of Ben have come from, since it's clearly pretty recent? So perhaps Ben made contact with Michael somehow (sometime during Season Three in island time), knowing that people out there were looking for him?
Rumor has it the writer's strike will be ending in the next few days. I wonder if there's any chance of more episodes getting produced for this season - could they possibly write and film the remaining eight in a three-month period? Wishful thinking, I suppose. But would they really go 8-24? Any chance of 12-20, even? We'll see.
Friday, February 01, 2008
s4e01: The Beginning of the End
We're in full-on flash-forward mode, as the show opens with Hurley in a drawn-out car chase; as he's dragged away by the cops, he screams if they know who he is. "I'm one of the Oceanic Six!" So right away we know that only six people got off the island, and we already know who three of them are (Jack, Kate, and now Hurley). Suspicious, to say the least. Anyway. Hurley ends up getting grilled by Ana Lucia's old partner; he claims not to have known her or even met her. (To be fair, the cop's description was a little vague had Hurley only met her in passing. "Dark hair, gorgeous?" Well, there isn't anyone else like that on the island!) Hurley was running because he saw something in a convenience store and fled from it, but he won't say what. The cop ends up offering to commit him, which Hurley gladly accepts. Then he receives a visit from a sinister dude who claims to be a representative of Oceanic; he offers to put Hurley up in a swankier mental hospital. Hurley sniffs out the dude as not really from Oceanic; the guy asks what happened to everyone else. Hurley freaks out and the guy takes off. Later, Hurley is sitting outside when a fellow patient tells him he's being stared at. The starer turns out to be - bum bum bum!!! - Charlie. Charlie tells Hurley he has to go back to the island, but Hurley doesn't want to listen. He closes his eyes and counts to five, and Charlie vanishes. In the final bit of flash-forward, Hurley gets a visit from Jack, clearly not yet the bearded freako of last season's finale. Jack is mostly there to make sure that Hurley isn't going to tell people about... well, it's a secret for now, clearly, but it's obviously the same sort of deal alluded to in the finale (when Jack tells Kate he's sick of lying). The fact that only six people made it back when we know there are dozens alive is, after all, suspect. Hurley says to Jack that he doesn't think they did the right thing. Jack tells Hurley they're never going back to the island; "Never say never, dude," Hurley calls after him.
Back on the island in "present" times, Naomi crawls into the jungle as she thinks Locke hit her with the knife on behalf of the whole group. Kate convinces her otherwise and Naomi conceals the true nature of her injury from the guy on the boat before dying of it, but she manages to fix the signal first and another guy (Jeremy Davies with an oddly island-looking beard) parachutes in at the end of the episode. Before that, the news is broken to everyone that Charlie died and that he revealed that Penny was not connected to the boat before doing so. While walking through the jungle, Hurley stumbles across Jacob's house, where it appears Locke may have been having a conversation; it looks like Hurley was able to see Jacob. When everyone finally meets up, Jack jumps Locke and tries to kill him, but Locke's gun isn't loaded. Sayid and Sawyer still have to pull Jack off Locke. Locke repeats Ben's talking points that the people on the boat are not there for anyone's benefit, but of course people aren't exactly queueing up behind him. Then Hurley gives an impassioned speech about trusting Charlie's final message, and he decides to go with Locke (although when talking to Jack in the flash-forward, Hurley apologizes for going with Locke); subsequently, so do a lot of people, including Claire and Sawyer. Jack also relinquishes Ben to Locke's charge. And then, again, Jack and Kate are hanging out at the fuselage piece in the jungle when Jeremy Davies parachutes in. Jack seems wary; I don't know if it's supposed to be that he's having second thoughts about the whole boat thing, or because Jeremy Davies is kind of creepy-looking (Upham, you bastard!) and has a weird beard going.
I was watching online (sadly, I have class Thursday nights now and my TV isn't working with TiVo at the moment, so I have to watch it Friday online and hope no one ruins anything in the interim) so I didn't get to see the "Next time on Lost," so let's start a new feature wherein I pose the most interesting questions this episode left us with:
1. Charlie admits to being dead and he seems to vanish awfully quick when Hurley closes his eyes, but if he's a hallucination, how did the other patient know that he was there?
2. What kind of deal (or something?) was struck, and why did only six people make it back? If only six were allowed back - we can assume that everyone else is not dead as Charlie states that they need Hurley's help - what happened to the rest of them?
3. Who the fuck is on that boat?
4. Why does Hurley apologize for going with Locke, especially when he seems at that point to fall into the camp of "shouldn't have left"?
There's plenty more, of course, but there always is. I'm really looking forward to this season, although I wish that goddamn writer's strike would just end already so we aren't held to eight episodes. I don't think there's been a bad Lost episode since that stupid Nikki and Paolo one, and if you don't count that since it barely had anything to do with anything, there hasn't been a bad one - bad is maybe kind of strong, but certainly "lesser" - since that "teaser" six-episode block at the start of last season. 16 episodes a year is going to suit this show just fine, methinks.
Back on the island in "present" times, Naomi crawls into the jungle as she thinks Locke hit her with the knife on behalf of the whole group. Kate convinces her otherwise and Naomi conceals the true nature of her injury from the guy on the boat before dying of it, but she manages to fix the signal first and another guy (Jeremy Davies with an oddly island-looking beard) parachutes in at the end of the episode. Before that, the news is broken to everyone that Charlie died and that he revealed that Penny was not connected to the boat before doing so. While walking through the jungle, Hurley stumbles across Jacob's house, where it appears Locke may have been having a conversation; it looks like Hurley was able to see Jacob. When everyone finally meets up, Jack jumps Locke and tries to kill him, but Locke's gun isn't loaded. Sayid and Sawyer still have to pull Jack off Locke. Locke repeats Ben's talking points that the people on the boat are not there for anyone's benefit, but of course people aren't exactly queueing up behind him. Then Hurley gives an impassioned speech about trusting Charlie's final message, and he decides to go with Locke (although when talking to Jack in the flash-forward, Hurley apologizes for going with Locke); subsequently, so do a lot of people, including Claire and Sawyer. Jack also relinquishes Ben to Locke's charge. And then, again, Jack and Kate are hanging out at the fuselage piece in the jungle when Jeremy Davies parachutes in. Jack seems wary; I don't know if it's supposed to be that he's having second thoughts about the whole boat thing, or because Jeremy Davies is kind of creepy-looking (Upham, you bastard!) and has a weird beard going.
I was watching online (sadly, I have class Thursday nights now and my TV isn't working with TiVo at the moment, so I have to watch it Friday online and hope no one ruins anything in the interim) so I didn't get to see the "Next time on Lost," so let's start a new feature wherein I pose the most interesting questions this episode left us with:
1. Charlie admits to being dead and he seems to vanish awfully quick when Hurley closes his eyes, but if he's a hallucination, how did the other patient know that he was there?
2. What kind of deal (or something?) was struck, and why did only six people make it back? If only six were allowed back - we can assume that everyone else is not dead as Charlie states that they need Hurley's help - what happened to the rest of them?
3. Who the fuck is on that boat?
4. Why does Hurley apologize for going with Locke, especially when he seems at that point to fall into the camp of "shouldn't have left"?
There's plenty more, of course, but there always is. I'm really looking forward to this season, although I wish that goddamn writer's strike would just end already so we aren't held to eight episodes. I don't think there's been a bad Lost episode since that stupid Nikki and Paolo one, and if you don't count that since it barely had anything to do with anything, there hasn't been a bad one - bad is maybe kind of strong, but certainly "lesser" - since that "teaser" six-episode block at the start of last season. 16 episodes a year is going to suit this show just fine, methinks.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Dissection/predictions
I've been turning over the show in my head, especially the last five minutes - really, three seasons have been building to that, haven't they? There's still a ton left to find out about the island itself, but now the question becomes: where is next season going to pick up? It's hardly obvious - the next episode could as easily pick up right where it left off as it could with a Jack eyeball shot on a boat or plane, or for that matter with another flashback or flash-forward - but we can perhaps make a few guesses about the next move based on the events of "Through the Looking Glass."
Jack, Kate, and at least one other person (probably two) get off the island.
I feel safe in assuming that the flash-forwards are somewhat malleable - i.e. they're set at the end of a timeline that the plot is currently following, but Jack may or may not trace his path to that exact point. I would be exceedingly surprised, for example, if the show were to suddenly leap forward and pick up where it left off at the very end of the episode, as opposed to at the end of the "present" time period. Kate's "he" is probably supposed to be Sawyer, since if it's not him it could really be anyone, while the dead guy is most likely either Locke or Ben. (Ben seems unlikely to leave the island voluntarily, but he was tied up.)
Some sort of deal was involved.
Drew first proposed this in a discussion we were having, and it makes sense. Just look at the dialogue - Kate states that "this isn't going to change," while Jack says he is "sick of lying." Well, lying about what?
Remember: there's a plane with bodies in the ocean off Bali, where the real plane would never have ended up. Assuming that the Widmore Corporation is connected with Hanso, has a hugely powerful global reach, and wants to find the island and perhaps has some sense of its history, it makes sense to think that when Widmore heard about the plane crash - tying it in with the electromagnetic anomaly they were apparently looking for - they moved to plant the fake plane to throw rescuers off the scent. Because Widmore/Hanso wanted to find the island again, something they had probably been unable to do since the Purge of the Dharma Initiative, and they didn't want anyone else to stumble across it in the process. Hence why they were so mad about the S1 anomaly being missed, leading to the scramble in the listening station over the S2 anomaly. Penelope probably had gleaned some knowledge of the island from her father's dealings and suspected that Desmond could be found there, hence why she requested that the men in the listening station contact her as well.
This doesn't totally explain why Naomi had Desmond's picture or stated that she was looking for him, of course. Perhaps Widmore knew what his daughter was up to and supplied Naomi with a copy of the photo to throw anyone suspicious of her off the scent.
But okay: fake plane intended to thwart rescuers from getting anywhere near the island so that a Widmore/Hanso team could find it first and perhaps attempt to resume Dharma-like operations (or even something more sinister). Ben does seem truly terrified of the consequences of Jack's phone call; despite many of his actions, it doesn't seem impossible to think that, in many ways, he is going to turn out to be the "good guy" of the story, at least where the island itself is concerned.
So Widmore/Hanso allow people off the island, but perhaps they force them to lie about where they'd been? Ben doesn't want the outside world knowing about the island, so other people aware of its properties could surely feel the same way. Perhaps the freighter could steam over to Bali and pretend to have rescued the Losties there. This would explain Jack's desire to "stop lying," certainly, and Widmore/Hanso holding something over the Losties' heads would explain Kate's vehemence that "this isn't going to change." And of course, it would explain Jack's behavior - perhaps knowing what he allowed Widmore/Hanso to do on or to the island, or to some of the people there, is eating Jack up inside, and certainly his reaction to the death is telling. Could Locke have ended up back in a wheelchair as a result of leaving the island and offed himself, leaving Jack to feel responsible for his death? Could Ben have killed himself (or been killed) after being forcibly removed from the island? The latter seems to fit in a little better with Kate's "Why would I go [to the funeral]?" but it's hardly a given. (There are quite a few people on the island who would be unlikely to have anyone turn up at a viewing for them in LA, after all.)
The biggest question for next year, of course - which means it probably won't be answered until 2009 - is this: What exactly does Jack learn between "Through the Looking Glass"'s present and its future that causes him to feel that leaving the island was a mistake? Why does he want to get back so badly? For that matter, why does Kate "have" to go with him?
Well, there's the thought that, prior to crashing on the island, Jack's life peaked when he saved Sarah and was all downhill from there. On the island, Jack is a hero and a leader; off the island he was a wandering drunk with a failed marriage. That said, his desire to get back seems rooted in a lot more than his own desire to be a hero. They weren't meant to leave? It would be one thing if everyone were suffering off the island, but Kate seems to be doing okay, right? (And, if she's with Sawyer, Sawyer, although I give that a 50/50 shot, really.)
Maybe the bulk of the survivors aren't allowed to leave? (It would create a lot of questions for Widmore/Hanso if they faked the plane crash, claiming everyone was dead, and then more than a handful of people turned up alive, no?) Jack wants to return to what has really become his family - more so than what is left in the real world - while Kate is more willing to cut ties if it means a more normal life? Whoever the other person is who offed himself (assuming that's what happened, but it does seem like the implication) could be having the same remorse/guilt as Jack. This might also explain why it seems like either Kate doesn't want to talk to Jack at all, or why they have been discouraged from contacting each other (which would explain their meeting spot; I kind of got this vibe more so than that Kate herself just didn't want to see Jack).
I may be guilty of overanalysis at this point. But is such a thing really possible with this show? I say no. There's really tons more I could theoretically go over, but I'll hold myself to this for now. It alone may very well keep me occupied for the next eight months. It's funny looking back, because I started this blog having loved the first season on DVD and then feeling pretty disappointed for much of the second season and into the first part of the third season. But the second half of Season 3 is probably as good as television has ever been for me personally. I will be there in 2010, come hell or high water.
Jack, Kate, and at least one other person (probably two) get off the island.
I feel safe in assuming that the flash-forwards are somewhat malleable - i.e. they're set at the end of a timeline that the plot is currently following, but Jack may or may not trace his path to that exact point. I would be exceedingly surprised, for example, if the show were to suddenly leap forward and pick up where it left off at the very end of the episode, as opposed to at the end of the "present" time period. Kate's "he" is probably supposed to be Sawyer, since if it's not him it could really be anyone, while the dead guy is most likely either Locke or Ben. (Ben seems unlikely to leave the island voluntarily, but he was tied up.)
Some sort of deal was involved.
Drew first proposed this in a discussion we were having, and it makes sense. Just look at the dialogue - Kate states that "this isn't going to change," while Jack says he is "sick of lying." Well, lying about what?
Remember: there's a plane with bodies in the ocean off Bali, where the real plane would never have ended up. Assuming that the Widmore Corporation is connected with Hanso, has a hugely powerful global reach, and wants to find the island and perhaps has some sense of its history, it makes sense to think that when Widmore heard about the plane crash - tying it in with the electromagnetic anomaly they were apparently looking for - they moved to plant the fake plane to throw rescuers off the scent. Because Widmore/Hanso wanted to find the island again, something they had probably been unable to do since the Purge of the Dharma Initiative, and they didn't want anyone else to stumble across it in the process. Hence why they were so mad about the S1 anomaly being missed, leading to the scramble in the listening station over the S2 anomaly. Penelope probably had gleaned some knowledge of the island from her father's dealings and suspected that Desmond could be found there, hence why she requested that the men in the listening station contact her as well.
This doesn't totally explain why Naomi had Desmond's picture or stated that she was looking for him, of course. Perhaps Widmore knew what his daughter was up to and supplied Naomi with a copy of the photo to throw anyone suspicious of her off the scent.
But okay: fake plane intended to thwart rescuers from getting anywhere near the island so that a Widmore/Hanso team could find it first and perhaps attempt to resume Dharma-like operations (or even something more sinister). Ben does seem truly terrified of the consequences of Jack's phone call; despite many of his actions, it doesn't seem impossible to think that, in many ways, he is going to turn out to be the "good guy" of the story, at least where the island itself is concerned.
So Widmore/Hanso allow people off the island, but perhaps they force them to lie about where they'd been? Ben doesn't want the outside world knowing about the island, so other people aware of its properties could surely feel the same way. Perhaps the freighter could steam over to Bali and pretend to have rescued the Losties there. This would explain Jack's desire to "stop lying," certainly, and Widmore/Hanso holding something over the Losties' heads would explain Kate's vehemence that "this isn't going to change." And of course, it would explain Jack's behavior - perhaps knowing what he allowed Widmore/Hanso to do on or to the island, or to some of the people there, is eating Jack up inside, and certainly his reaction to the death is telling. Could Locke have ended up back in a wheelchair as a result of leaving the island and offed himself, leaving Jack to feel responsible for his death? Could Ben have killed himself (or been killed) after being forcibly removed from the island? The latter seems to fit in a little better with Kate's "Why would I go [to the funeral]?" but it's hardly a given. (There are quite a few people on the island who would be unlikely to have anyone turn up at a viewing for them in LA, after all.)
The biggest question for next year, of course - which means it probably won't be answered until 2009 - is this: What exactly does Jack learn between "Through the Looking Glass"'s present and its future that causes him to feel that leaving the island was a mistake? Why does he want to get back so badly? For that matter, why does Kate "have" to go with him?
Well, there's the thought that, prior to crashing on the island, Jack's life peaked when he saved Sarah and was all downhill from there. On the island, Jack is a hero and a leader; off the island he was a wandering drunk with a failed marriage. That said, his desire to get back seems rooted in a lot more than his own desire to be a hero. They weren't meant to leave? It would be one thing if everyone were suffering off the island, but Kate seems to be doing okay, right? (And, if she's with Sawyer, Sawyer, although I give that a 50/50 shot, really.)
Maybe the bulk of the survivors aren't allowed to leave? (It would create a lot of questions for Widmore/Hanso if they faked the plane crash, claiming everyone was dead, and then more than a handful of people turned up alive, no?) Jack wants to return to what has really become his family - more so than what is left in the real world - while Kate is more willing to cut ties if it means a more normal life? Whoever the other person is who offed himself (assuming that's what happened, but it does seem like the implication) could be having the same remorse/guilt as Jack. This might also explain why it seems like either Kate doesn't want to talk to Jack at all, or why they have been discouraged from contacting each other (which would explain their meeting spot; I kind of got this vibe more so than that Kate herself just didn't want to see Jack).
I may be guilty of overanalysis at this point. But is such a thing really possible with this show? I say no. There's really tons more I could theoretically go over, but I'll hold myself to this for now. It alone may very well keep me occupied for the next eight months. It's funny looking back, because I started this blog having loved the first season on DVD and then feeling pretty disappointed for much of the second season and into the first part of the third season. But the second half of Season 3 is probably as good as television has ever been for me personally. I will be there in 2010, come hell or high water.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
s3e22: Through the Looking Glass
The plan doesn't work quite so dynamite (ha!), and Bernard, Jin and Sayid are taken prisoner by the three Others who aren't killed (Tom, that guy, and then that other guy). Ben catches up with Jack and the rest of the gang and informs him that unless Jack stops trying to make contact with the boat, Ben will have his guys shoot Jack's guys. Jack refuses to give in, so Ben does, except that he really doesn't, which Tom lets us know in the clumsiest bit of dialogue that's ever appeared on this show. Either Ben is not as cold-blooded as he seems or something else odd is going on, not that we're going to find out what anytime soon, if so.
Ben allows Alex to tag along, revealing that he knows she betrayed her. (This is due to Bernard the big fat blabbermouth giving up the details of the plan with Jin held at gunpoint.) After Jack thinks his friends are dead, he beats the hell out of Ben, then drags him back, at which point Ben reveals to Alex that Rousseau is her mother.
Sawyer and Juliet head back to the beach, although not before Juliet gives Jack a big ol' smooch that has only been set up for 22 damn episodes. They're not sure what to do when they get there (good bit of banter: Sawyer: "There's only three of them and four guns!" Juliet: "And there's two of us, and no guns."), until Hurley - previous recipient of the double brush-off for being too fat to help anyone - comes flying in with Roger Linus' van. He runs over one Other, a tied-up Sayid breaks another's neck with his feet - Jesus! - and then Sawyer, in the last we see of him, shoots Tom in virtual cold blood after the latter has surrendered, saying, "That's for taking the kid off the boat." Uh, damn, Sawyer! Weren't you all messed up about killing Locke's dad ten minutes ago?
Hurley radios back to let the Others know what happened, but Jack has the walkie, and everyone hears that our heroes are all alive.
Oh, but then there's Charlie. He's been in the Looking Glass getting his ass kicked. The women there radio Ben, who sends Mikhail over. Mikhail seems kind of perturbed since Ben has been doing a lot of lying. Ben swears that he is not lying now, not to Mikhail, and tells him to kill everyone. Mikhail kills the women, but then Desmond pops out of the back - where he'd been hiding after being forced to swim down when Mikhail first arrived at the beach - and shoots Mikhail with a spear gun. Bonnie, the blonde one, stays alive just long enough to inform Charlie that the code to turn off the jamming device is the tune to "Good Vibrations." Um, okay. Kind of corny there, show, but I guess I'll allow it. Charlie taps out the tune and the light goes off. And then... a transmission comes in! And it's Penelope! And she apparently reveals that she didn't send any boat and that she doesn't know anyone named Naomi. (Although the latter part doesn't necessarily seem odd, since didn't Naomi just say that her company was hired?) And then Mikhail shows up outside the porthole with a grenade. Man, that guy is like Michael Myers! Penny catches that Desmond is there, but then Mikhail blows the window, and Charlie shuts the door to conform to Desmond's flashes, even though he probably could have survived easily. Frankly, I'm a little annoyed with the writers on this one - Charlie was kind of an annoying, crap character for most of three seasons, and then he was suddenly made into a great, noble guy, naturally just long enough to kill him off. I actually liked the Charlie of the last two episodes. Oh well, it probably would have been more annoying if they hadn't done it, and it was a poetic ending to that chapter.
Locke is about to kill himself in the pit when Walt appears to him and tells him that his work isn't done. So motivated, Locke climbs out of the pit, and just as Naomi is about to contact her boat, *spluh*, she takes his hunting knife to the back of the head. Locke threatens to shoot Jack, but Jack uses the phone anyway, and Locke - surprise! - can't pull the trigger, despite Ben's exhortations. Ben continues to claim that Jack is making a mistake and everyone will die if the boat is contacted, but Jack does it anyway. The voice on the other end of the phone tells Jack that the boat is on its way.
And then we cut to the final flashback, where we find out that the episode's flashbacks have actually been flash-forwards. (Drew correctly guessed this fairly early on.) Jack, with a big beard, has read about a death in the LA paper. (Freeze-framing tells us it's a man, found downtown, but no more is given.) Jack is about to jump off a bridge when a car crashes behind him. He saves the woman inside and is lauded as a hero, but Jack has gotten hooked on oxycodone and is all kinds of messed up. He keeps calling someone, though we never hear a voice on the other end. He attends the viewing of the person who died, but no one else has shown up. Finally Jack convinces the person on the phone to meet him at the airport. The low harp string of ominous occurrences informs us of their arrival and... it's Kate. Jack has apparently been bothering her quite a bit, and she doesn't like it. She leaves, saying "he'll wonder" where she went, but not before Jack says that they have to go back. They shouldn't have left the island.
Season.
I mean, great episode. First of all, loved the flash-forward. Second of all, loved they ended it in such a way that there are clearly lots of unanswered questions, but not on a ridiculous cliffhanger that would make me spend the next eight months going "Hurry uuuuuup!" I have no idea where they're going next, and that's not a bad thing.
Things we need to know now:
* If Penny didn't send Naomi, who did? And why were they looking for Desmond? The guys in the listening station last year seemed to suggest that they were working for more than one person ("They're gonna kill us!"), even if we only saw them calling Penelope. The Widmore Corporation, maybe?
* Who is this grave threat to the island? Again, Widmore? The Lost Experience, which I believe is considered canon, drew a connection between Widmore and the Hanso Foundation, which is connected with Dharma... Ben describes the threat as greater than any the island has faced in years, and given Ben's history, Dharma was probably that last threat.
* If Locke really believes, as Ben does, that the island needs to be saved from exterior incursions, why does he just walk away? He was "man enough" to kill Naomi.
* Who died off the island? Could it have been Sawyer, or is Kate supposed to be still with him? Locke? (Jack seems to almost feel responsible for the death, and if he was responsible for getting Locke rescued, and Locke ended up back in a wheelchair and killed himself, I can see why Jack would be so messed up.) Are we likely to see more flash-forwards in Season Four?
* Richard doesn't age and Mikhail doesn't die. Reasons? Also, Jacob is still hanging out there.
* Jack keeps talking like his dad is alive, and certainly no one corrects him when he makes the claim at the hospital, where assumedly they would know. Is this a different timeline? Is Jack just delusional?
* What conclusion does future Jack come to that make him realize they shouldn't have left the island?
Okay, I lied: I can't wait for Season 4. Or 5 or 6. But at least we have a lot to chew on between now and then.
Ben allows Alex to tag along, revealing that he knows she betrayed her. (This is due to Bernard the big fat blabbermouth giving up the details of the plan with Jin held at gunpoint.) After Jack thinks his friends are dead, he beats the hell out of Ben, then drags him back, at which point Ben reveals to Alex that Rousseau is her mother.
Sawyer and Juliet head back to the beach, although not before Juliet gives Jack a big ol' smooch that has only been set up for 22 damn episodes. They're not sure what to do when they get there (good bit of banter: Sawyer: "There's only three of them and four guns!" Juliet: "And there's two of us, and no guns."), until Hurley - previous recipient of the double brush-off for being too fat to help anyone - comes flying in with Roger Linus' van. He runs over one Other, a tied-up Sayid breaks another's neck with his feet - Jesus! - and then Sawyer, in the last we see of him, shoots Tom in virtual cold blood after the latter has surrendered, saying, "That's for taking the kid off the boat." Uh, damn, Sawyer! Weren't you all messed up about killing Locke's dad ten minutes ago?
Hurley radios back to let the Others know what happened, but Jack has the walkie, and everyone hears that our heroes are all alive.
Oh, but then there's Charlie. He's been in the Looking Glass getting his ass kicked. The women there radio Ben, who sends Mikhail over. Mikhail seems kind of perturbed since Ben has been doing a lot of lying. Ben swears that he is not lying now, not to Mikhail, and tells him to kill everyone. Mikhail kills the women, but then Desmond pops out of the back - where he'd been hiding after being forced to swim down when Mikhail first arrived at the beach - and shoots Mikhail with a spear gun. Bonnie, the blonde one, stays alive just long enough to inform Charlie that the code to turn off the jamming device is the tune to "Good Vibrations." Um, okay. Kind of corny there, show, but I guess I'll allow it. Charlie taps out the tune and the light goes off. And then... a transmission comes in! And it's Penelope! And she apparently reveals that she didn't send any boat and that she doesn't know anyone named Naomi. (Although the latter part doesn't necessarily seem odd, since didn't Naomi just say that her company was hired?) And then Mikhail shows up outside the porthole with a grenade. Man, that guy is like Michael Myers! Penny catches that Desmond is there, but then Mikhail blows the window, and Charlie shuts the door to conform to Desmond's flashes, even though he probably could have survived easily. Frankly, I'm a little annoyed with the writers on this one - Charlie was kind of an annoying, crap character for most of three seasons, and then he was suddenly made into a great, noble guy, naturally just long enough to kill him off. I actually liked the Charlie of the last two episodes. Oh well, it probably would have been more annoying if they hadn't done it, and it was a poetic ending to that chapter.
Locke is about to kill himself in the pit when Walt appears to him and tells him that his work isn't done. So motivated, Locke climbs out of the pit, and just as Naomi is about to contact her boat, *spluh*, she takes his hunting knife to the back of the head. Locke threatens to shoot Jack, but Jack uses the phone anyway, and Locke - surprise! - can't pull the trigger, despite Ben's exhortations. Ben continues to claim that Jack is making a mistake and everyone will die if the boat is contacted, but Jack does it anyway. The voice on the other end of the phone tells Jack that the boat is on its way.
And then we cut to the final flashback, where we find out that the episode's flashbacks have actually been flash-forwards. (Drew correctly guessed this fairly early on.) Jack, with a big beard, has read about a death in the LA paper. (Freeze-framing tells us it's a man, found downtown, but no more is given.) Jack is about to jump off a bridge when a car crashes behind him. He saves the woman inside and is lauded as a hero, but Jack has gotten hooked on oxycodone and is all kinds of messed up. He keeps calling someone, though we never hear a voice on the other end. He attends the viewing of the person who died, but no one else has shown up. Finally Jack convinces the person on the phone to meet him at the airport. The low harp string of ominous occurrences informs us of their arrival and... it's Kate. Jack has apparently been bothering her quite a bit, and she doesn't like it. She leaves, saying "he'll wonder" where she went, but not before Jack says that they have to go back. They shouldn't have left the island.
Season.
I mean, great episode. First of all, loved the flash-forward. Second of all, loved they ended it in such a way that there are clearly lots of unanswered questions, but not on a ridiculous cliffhanger that would make me spend the next eight months going "Hurry uuuuuup!" I have no idea where they're going next, and that's not a bad thing.
Things we need to know now:
* If Penny didn't send Naomi, who did? And why were they looking for Desmond? The guys in the listening station last year seemed to suggest that they were working for more than one person ("They're gonna kill us!"), even if we only saw them calling Penelope. The Widmore Corporation, maybe?
* Who is this grave threat to the island? Again, Widmore? The Lost Experience, which I believe is considered canon, drew a connection between Widmore and the Hanso Foundation, which is connected with Dharma... Ben describes the threat as greater than any the island has faced in years, and given Ben's history, Dharma was probably that last threat.
* If Locke really believes, as Ben does, that the island needs to be saved from exterior incursions, why does he just walk away? He was "man enough" to kill Naomi.
* Who died off the island? Could it have been Sawyer, or is Kate supposed to be still with him? Locke? (Jack seems to almost feel responsible for the death, and if he was responsible for getting Locke rescued, and Locke ended up back in a wheelchair and killed himself, I can see why Jack would be so messed up.) Are we likely to see more flash-forwards in Season Four?
* Richard doesn't age and Mikhail doesn't die. Reasons? Also, Jacob is still hanging out there.
* Jack keeps talking like his dad is alive, and certainly no one corrects him when he makes the claim at the hospital, where assumedly they would know. Is this a different timeline? Is Jack just delusional?
* What conclusion does future Jack come to that make him realize they shouldn't have left the island?
Okay, I lied: I can't wait for Season 4. Or 5 or 6. But at least we have a lot to chew on between now and then.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
s3e21: Greatest Hits
I'll be honest: for the penultimate episode of Season Three, I was really hoping for more. This was mostly an hour of setup for the finale, and while I can't totally complain - in some ways it's just a three-hour finale split over two nights - I thought we might get a little more. Instead, we got:
* "Here are the exact specifications of Jack's plan!"
* "Here are the exact specifications of Ben's plan!"
* "Here is a Charlie backstory that serves no purpose other than to convince you he's going to die, even though any reasonable person could have realized that they would never kill him off in so obvious a fashion!"
* "Here are ten seconds of significant interest, just to wet your beaks for next week!"
Really, the last ten seconds weren't even that interesting, by this show's standards. They showed us that the Looking Glass is still staffed. Presumably it's staffed by Others; so what does this tell us? Obviously it's likely to be explained in the finale, but I would assume that there's some kind of "Ben has way the crap more contact with the outside world than he's telling anyone" thing coming. The whole show seems to be trending towards a fall for Ben; there's clearly a faction within the Others that is upset with his leadership and it's not just Juliet, regardless of what was implied by her trial early this season. Whether that's what the "everything will change" tagline means, obviously I don't know, but if I had a couple bucks to put down in Vegas I'd lean that way, especially with Jacob looking to Locke for help. (However, Lindelof and Cuse said on last week's official podcast that Jacob was more of a fourth-season story, so my question becomes: are we even likely to see Locke next week? Maybe near the end of the show? I had read something saying that the season finale would involve a clash between Jack and Locke - which makes sense since Locke doesn't want to leave the island - but that seems less likely now, doesn't it? Unless maybe they run into him on the trek to the radio tower...)
I will say that Charlie's Sydney Carton moment was one of the better single moments for the show in the last two years, so at least there was that. Otherwise, though, this was mostly "an hour that's not the finale." I'm looking forward to those two hours, myself. Let's hope it's better than last year's.
* "Here are the exact specifications of Jack's plan!"
* "Here are the exact specifications of Ben's plan!"
* "Here is a Charlie backstory that serves no purpose other than to convince you he's going to die, even though any reasonable person could have realized that they would never kill him off in so obvious a fashion!"
* "Here are ten seconds of significant interest, just to wet your beaks for next week!"
Really, the last ten seconds weren't even that interesting, by this show's standards. They showed us that the Looking Glass is still staffed. Presumably it's staffed by Others; so what does this tell us? Obviously it's likely to be explained in the finale, but I would assume that there's some kind of "Ben has way the crap more contact with the outside world than he's telling anyone" thing coming. The whole show seems to be trending towards a fall for Ben; there's clearly a faction within the Others that is upset with his leadership and it's not just Juliet, regardless of what was implied by her trial early this season. Whether that's what the "everything will change" tagline means, obviously I don't know, but if I had a couple bucks to put down in Vegas I'd lean that way, especially with Jacob looking to Locke for help. (However, Lindelof and Cuse said on last week's official podcast that Jacob was more of a fourth-season story, so my question becomes: are we even likely to see Locke next week? Maybe near the end of the show? I had read something saying that the season finale would involve a clash between Jack and Locke - which makes sense since Locke doesn't want to leave the island - but that seems less likely now, doesn't it? Unless maybe they run into him on the trek to the radio tower...)
I will say that Charlie's Sydney Carton moment was one of the better single moments for the show in the last two years, so at least there was that. Otherwise, though, this was mostly "an hour that's not the finale." I'm looking forward to those two hours, myself. Let's hope it's better than last year's.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
s3e20: The Man Behind the Curtain
Ben flashback! Ben flashback! Ben has not, in fact, lived on the island all his life. He was born right outside of Portland (hmm hmm hmm hmm), killed his mother in childbirth (the writers do love those fakeout openings, where you assume she's on the island, but then no), and then he and his father - Roger, Work Man of Hurley's van fame - went to the island when he was, I don't know, middle-school-aged, because Roger had gotten a job with the Dharma Initiative, which seems pretty darn cultlike. Roger hates the job and takes it out on his son... who runs off into the jungle after seeing his mother. He ends up running into Richard - buh-wha? - who sure doesn't look any worse for thirty years of wear at this point! Later - at an undisclosed time between 12-year-old Ben and 40-something Ben; he's probably supposed to be in his 30s at this point, though - Ben kills his father just as the "hostiles" kill the other Dharma members. And there's Richard again, looking exactly the same 20+ years later.
In current time, Ben is forced to take Locke to see Jacob - sure he is. Ben never does anything he doesn't want to do, so clearly some larger plan is in the offing. Ben takes Locke to a dark cabin in the jungle and presents... an empty chair. And talks to it! Just when Locke has decided that he's seen enough of the Anthony Perkins impression, he hears a strangled "Help me" from behind him. Locke turns on his flashlight, but Jacob the Unfriendly Ghost doesn't take too kindly to "technology" and tears the room apart. Locke later accuses Ben of putting on a show, so Ben fesses up to being dishonest about at least one thing - he wasn't born on the island like he's been saying. To prove it, he shows Locke the mass grave of the Dharma people, and then shoots Locke in the gut. Locke falls into the pit and tells Ben what Jacob said. Ben says he hopes Jacob will help Locke, and leaves.
In the B plot, Sawyer and Sayid reveal Juliet's deception to everyone, just in time for Jack and Juliet to return and explain that, in fact, Juliet has been working with Jack on a way to thwart the Others, not help them. Okay, Jack, you're forgiven for being annoying. For now.
Next week: the Others are coming, and the castaways are ready. I guess. And Desmond tells Charlie he needs to die this time. Which I'm sure means it won't happen, although according to the producers we're still at least 2-3 deaths short of the promised May total.
Because Lost never opens a window without building three more doors in the house and then shutting all of them, this episode left far more questions than it answered. Below, a small stab at some of them:
1. Um, Richard doesn't age?
We've already established that the island seems to have super freaky healing powers, so presumably it can also greatly extend the lifetimes of its inhabitants? Or at least the lifers? But if that's true, who knows how long they've been on the island - remember, there are also weird old ruins all over the place. But if they have these insane long lives, why would they seem so excited just because Locke's legs started working again?
2. Ben's plan for Locke...
What's the deal here? Does he really want Locke out of the way so badly? If so, why go to all the trouble he did? Because he knew his people were interested in Locke and he needed to get him alone? But if he really wants Locke out of the way, presumably he would have finished the job. He didn't.
3. OMG WTF Jacob
Yeah, I don't even know what to tell you here.
In current time, Ben is forced to take Locke to see Jacob - sure he is. Ben never does anything he doesn't want to do, so clearly some larger plan is in the offing. Ben takes Locke to a dark cabin in the jungle and presents... an empty chair. And talks to it! Just when Locke has decided that he's seen enough of the Anthony Perkins impression, he hears a strangled "Help me" from behind him. Locke turns on his flashlight, but Jacob the Unfriendly Ghost doesn't take too kindly to "technology" and tears the room apart. Locke later accuses Ben of putting on a show, so Ben fesses up to being dishonest about at least one thing - he wasn't born on the island like he's been saying. To prove it, he shows Locke the mass grave of the Dharma people, and then shoots Locke in the gut. Locke falls into the pit and tells Ben what Jacob said. Ben says he hopes Jacob will help Locke, and leaves.
In the B plot, Sawyer and Sayid reveal Juliet's deception to everyone, just in time for Jack and Juliet to return and explain that, in fact, Juliet has been working with Jack on a way to thwart the Others, not help them. Okay, Jack, you're forgiven for being annoying. For now.
Next week: the Others are coming, and the castaways are ready. I guess. And Desmond tells Charlie he needs to die this time. Which I'm sure means it won't happen, although according to the producers we're still at least 2-3 deaths short of the promised May total.
Because Lost never opens a window without building three more doors in the house and then shutting all of them, this episode left far more questions than it answered. Below, a small stab at some of them:
1. Um, Richard doesn't age?
We've already established that the island seems to have super freaky healing powers, so presumably it can also greatly extend the lifetimes of its inhabitants? Or at least the lifers? But if that's true, who knows how long they've been on the island - remember, there are also weird old ruins all over the place. But if they have these insane long lives, why would they seem so excited just because Locke's legs started working again?
2. Ben's plan for Locke...
What's the deal here? Does he really want Locke out of the way so badly? If so, why go to all the trouble he did? Because he knew his people were interested in Locke and he needed to get him alone? But if he really wants Locke out of the way, presumably he would have finished the job. He didn't.
3. OMG WTF Jacob
Yeah, I don't even know what to tell you here.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
s3e19: The Brig
Everyone who could not tell from last week's teaser that Locke had his father tied up and not Ben, raise your hands. No one? That's what I thought. Even when this show is being clever, it's sometimes too good (bad?) about telegraphing its next twist. If you can call that a twist.
The twist I did like - Locke's dad is also Sawyer's con-man namesake. I called it before they laid it all out in painstaking detail - "Why yes, I have been to your childhood hometown and used a literary character's name as my pseudonym, why do you ask?" - right when they went to commercial with Sawyer's "Who the hell are you?" Locke's dad is a con-man, he would have something to say that would make Sawyer want to kill him - it worked. I actually liked this twist; it's a nice departure from the characters having inane, tiny background connections that only serve to make people go "Heeeeeyyy..." Not as moving as the Sawyer/Jack's dad bit from the end of Season One, but fitting.
Locke's dad seems to think they're in hell, although as Drew suggested to me, it seems pretty obvious that this is just typical Others-style "go get 'em" activity. Hit by a car from behind and the paramedic smiles at him? Probably Ethan. The B-plot teases otherwise, what with the whole "They found the plane near Bali" thing, but then that doesn't even make sense, since Bali is in the opposite direction from Sydney that LA is. We really don't learn anything new, except that there's some interference preventing the phone from working, apparently. Also, people on this island are not good at keeping secrets, and Jack continues to be kind of an oblivious dick.
Locke's dad is typical Locke's dad asshole guy and Sawyer ends up killing him. Interesting moment for Sawyer there, since the show had spent the better part of a month trying to make him a really great guy. I suppose having him kill a total asshole (and still being sick about it) doesn't necessarily change that, and he already had killed one guy he merely thought was the con man responsible for his parents' murder-suicide anyway, but it's still interesting. I wonder how this might relate to him being a bigger leadership voice in the camp in the last three episodes (see: teaser).
Locke gives Sawyer some anti-Juliet ammo and then takes off, claiming he's not back to join Ben, but then he slings the body of his father on his back, so yeah, he is. (Side note: Rousseau getting dynamite, throwaway moment or daughter-rescuing payoff later on?)
Next time: Jack's still pretty annoying, as he apparently can't believe why no one would trust him for waltzing around with an Other. Everyone remembers how trustworthy Michael was after he came back, Jack! Of course, Sayid and Kate were held captive by the Others too, but they don't want to fuck one like Jack does. Sawyer plays the tape and Jack gets all huffy and Sawyer calls him on his shit. Locke goes back to Ben and sees some stuff, maybe. And there are only three episodes left and I think they're going to be three real motherfuckers. In other news, swearing is fun!
The twist I did like - Locke's dad is also Sawyer's con-man namesake. I called it before they laid it all out in painstaking detail - "Why yes, I have been to your childhood hometown and used a literary character's name as my pseudonym, why do you ask?" - right when they went to commercial with Sawyer's "Who the hell are you?" Locke's dad is a con-man, he would have something to say that would make Sawyer want to kill him - it worked. I actually liked this twist; it's a nice departure from the characters having inane, tiny background connections that only serve to make people go "Heeeeeyyy..." Not as moving as the Sawyer/Jack's dad bit from the end of Season One, but fitting.
Locke's dad seems to think they're in hell, although as Drew suggested to me, it seems pretty obvious that this is just typical Others-style "go get 'em" activity. Hit by a car from behind and the paramedic smiles at him? Probably Ethan. The B-plot teases otherwise, what with the whole "They found the plane near Bali" thing, but then that doesn't even make sense, since Bali is in the opposite direction from Sydney that LA is. We really don't learn anything new, except that there's some interference preventing the phone from working, apparently. Also, people on this island are not good at keeping secrets, and Jack continues to be kind of an oblivious dick.
Locke's dad is typical Locke's dad asshole guy and Sawyer ends up killing him. Interesting moment for Sawyer there, since the show had spent the better part of a month trying to make him a really great guy. I suppose having him kill a total asshole (and still being sick about it) doesn't necessarily change that, and he already had killed one guy he merely thought was the con man responsible for his parents' murder-suicide anyway, but it's still interesting. I wonder how this might relate to him being a bigger leadership voice in the camp in the last three episodes (see: teaser).
Locke gives Sawyer some anti-Juliet ammo and then takes off, claiming he's not back to join Ben, but then he slings the body of his father on his back, so yeah, he is. (Side note: Rousseau getting dynamite, throwaway moment or daughter-rescuing payoff later on?)
Next time: Jack's still pretty annoying, as he apparently can't believe why no one would trust him for waltzing around with an Other. Everyone remembers how trustworthy Michael was after he came back, Jack! Of course, Sayid and Kate were held captive by the Others too, but they don't want to fuck one like Jack does. Sawyer plays the tape and Jack gets all huffy and Sawyer calls him on his shit. Locke goes back to Ben and sees some stuff, maybe. And there are only three episodes left and I think they're going to be three real motherfuckers. In other news, swearing is fun!
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