Greatest Hits SE3 EP21

"You said you were our leader. So lead."

Nice show of toughness and leadership from Jack last night. Nice show of loyalty to the Lostaways from Juliet

Too bad I'm not buying a bit of it.

Good set up episode for next week's two hour finale, so let's get into it.

Sorry Charlie
Every time I start to think Charlie is actually going to die, I start liking the character and hoping he makes it. Dana and I were watching last night and as soon as we saw the first Charlie backstory, we were both like, "Oh well, I guess Charlie's going to really die tonight." And, as usual, the writers faked us out. I actually started to get a little misty about Charlie, who actually was a good person until the drugs changed him. I think that good person comes out more and more the longer he's "clean" and on the island (again, the Charlie character is based on the conflicted Larry in The Stand--with each passing week the resemblance gets stronger--especially if he sacrifices himself for the other Lostaways). Charlie's backstory wasn't the traditional backstory we've come to expect. Instead, we see Charlie remembering his favorite moments of his life--as he tells Des, his "greatest hits". The first time he hears a Drive Shaft song on the radio. When his dad taught him to swim. When Liam gave him the signet ring (the "DS" standing for not only the initials of their dad, but that they named the band "Drive Shaft" after him). Saving the woman from the mugger. Meeting Claire was number 1.

Of all the scenes from Charlie's Greatest Hits, the most significant was the disruption of the mugging in the alley. First of all, you may remember the scene of Charlie on the street corner singing "Wonderwall" ("Maybe...you're gonna be the one that saves me....") from Desmond's earlier flash back/flash forward/time traveling episode. We pick up the scene immediately after the Des - Charlie encounter. Of course, the cool thing here is that the song still has significance: Charlie saves the woman from the mugging. The woman, of course, turns out to be none other than Sayid's Nadia (whom last we saw getting her home inspected by John Locke in flashback). Nadia hails Charlie as a hero: "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

All of the "Greatest Hits" scenes were quite bittersweet: Charlie either overcoming a great fear or obstacle (the flat tire, jumping in the pool, stopping the mugging) Or taking the ring from Liam because Liam feels like he's so messed up on drugs he'll never have anyone to hand the ring down to, much less live until he's 30 (as an aside, Liam does clean up his act after Charlie is completely hooked on heroin--Liam goes on to become a father and husband--yet Charlie still has the ring even though he clearly said he was only going to "hold on to it" not "take it" from Liam). And of course, there was the meeting with Claire. All this goes to tug on your heartstrings and get all sentimental for a character that is usually quite annoying. Just like Shannon. But of course they weren't going to kill him last night--the writers need to keep us on our toes. When they finally do kill Charlie, we won't even see it coming.

The Looking Glass Mission
Another Des flash and another premonition of Charlie's death, this time Charlie drowns after he flips the flashing yellow switch in the Looking Glass Hatch. Except, this time we, the audience, are not privvy to Des's flash and therefore, when Des seems a little more enigmatic than usual when telling Charlie his fate, I'm getting the strong feeling that he's holding something back. Please note--and note well--that Des NEVER says the Looking Glass is flooded or deserted (it's Juliet who claims that, but more on that lying lint-licker below) He just says that Charlie needs to drown so that Claire and the BayBay can get on the helicopter. Which doesn't necessarily mean they are getting rescued, either. Charlie really loves Claire and Aaron, so he will sacrifice himself to save them.

When Sayid tells Rousseau he wants to shut off her message so they can use the sat phone to communicate with Naomi's boat, Juliet tells the gang that they will never be able to transmit because the signal is being jammed in the Looking Glass (which, she adds, Ben has told her is deserted and flooded--nice way to lie and blame somebody everybody already hates, don't you think?). Sayid, equipped with the schematics he took from the Flame, works out the strategy for Charlie to infiltrate the Looking Glass. Des offers to come with him. Charlie then says a heartfelt good-bye to Aaron and Claire, and then Hurley, on the beach. He tells Aaron & Hurley that he loves them, but was unable to tell Claire. He leaves the ring in Aaron's bassinet.

By the way, another bittersweet moment for Charlie as Naomi tells him she recognizes him as the "dead rock star" from the recovered flight 815 and fills him in on the career comeback and fame he's enjoying post mortem. Remember that poor, strung out, drug addicted Charlie went to his brother Liam desperate to start the Band back up because he had nothing left, only to be denied flat out since Liam was now a family man with a decent job. What a slap in the face to Charlie that his brother would bring the band back to exploit Charlie's death but not to save his life.

Once Charlie and Des take to outrigger to the Looking Glass, Des is having second thoughts about letting Charlie die. "Maybe," he says to Charlie, "I keep seeing you die because I'm the one that's really meant to die." He gives Charlie back the Greatest Hits, turns his back and just when you think Charlie's going to be all cowardly and let Des do the job he was meant for, Charlie whacks Des over the head, knocking him out. He leaves the list with Des and dives in, and we see his Vans floating to the surface.

Charlie makes it into the Looking Glass, which is enormous and looks like where they doc the sub (before it's unfortunate demise). Clearly there is power on and Charlie is so happy that he made it there alive he starts whooping it up and then--surprise, surprise--we find out that the Looking Glass hatch isn't deserted at all and a host of power-chicks come out and train their guns on Charlie. Hmmmm...just can't get over the fact that Juliet gave them faulty information.....

Preparing for Battle on the Beach
Ok, so they are going to blow up the three tents that Juliet marked with white rocks (BTW is there any significance to the fact that they are using white rocks to mark the tents that they are going to blow up with dynamite confiscated from the Black Rock?) This strategy, while it will be cool to watch, won't really work in real life unless the Others all enter the tents at the same time. But whatever. General Jack is in charge here and I'm still not buying into his loyalty to the Lostaways. He's all "I'm the leader here an I've been making the decisions here for the last 90 days and you wanted a decision, so I'm making it." Once again, I'm not too fond of this don't-you-dare-question-my-motives-or-methods Jack. And, to further my suspicion of Jack's loyalty, please witness Jack's reaction to Sayid's insistence that Jack "lead" the Lostaways to the radio tower and not stay on the beach to kill the Others. "You said you were our leader, so lead." Sayid is the master of keeping people off balance--especially those he does not trust. He specifically told Jack to go to the radio tower, not because the Lostaways needed him to "lead" them, but because Sayid wanted to gauge Jack's reaction to a logical suggestion in a change of plans. I think Jack failed that test. Sadly, I think Sayid is going to die next week, and either Jack or Juliet is going to kill him, if only because he does not blindly and unquestioningly follow Jack's directives. Plus, Sayid is the one they all turn to when Jack is not around. Sayid would be the natural leader in Jack's absence (given the loss of Locke to his "own journey" now...), except when Sayid is gone, too, which is when Sawyer is in charge. The only other Lostaways to question Jack are Locke and Sawyer. We all know what happened to Locke last week (but he's NOT dead!) and Sawyer better watch his back. I mentioned earlier this season that we may see a division of loyalties within the Lostaways with some following Sawyer and some following Jack. Perhaps that lame off-the-top-of-my-head theory I dashed off earlier in the year will come to pass after all...

And speaking of the battle, Rousseau is all about blowing the Others up, but what if they bring Alex on the raid with them? Will Rousseau be able to blow up her own daughter? And why does she feel more loyalty to the Lostaways than her own "father" (whom, we find out, she doesn't really believe is her "father").

And I don't believe for a moment that Juliet has been on this island for three years and didn't know there were people down in the Looking Glass. She completely set up Charlie and Desmond. How do I know this? Because of the prime directive:

JULIET IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED

Also, has anyone else picked up on the fact that more and more often, Jack seems to be sporting those weird little ambiguously inappropriate half-Mona-Lisa smiles that Juliet has heretofore been famous for? Ok, maybe I AM reading WAY too much into it, but it does seem to me that Jack has picked up some of Juliet's mannerisms. Also, Carl/Chiachi was completely incredulous when he saw Juliet in the camp. Even though she played it off like she was completely blowing Carl's accusation off, I think that was a strategy to make the Lostaways doubt Carl instead of her.

Also, I'd like to go on record as saying that I believe we brought Rose and Bernard back just so we can kill them off in the season finale.

Kate = Annie Rumors
OK, I heard this rumor floated on WMMR this morning and they said the internet is all a buzz with it. The theory is that Annie from Ben's back story last week (she of the wooden doll and birthday remembering fame) has grown up to become Kate. This is easily one of the more intriguing theories floating around out there and there is quite a bit of info to back it up. I'm winging it here on memory since the Internet Gestapo at work has all the good websites blocked, but some of the facts I heard on MMR and that I remember are as follows:

1. Kate's step father was in the army with Kelvin (Mr. Krabbs) who was a Dharma Initiative member working the original hatch when Desmond arrived on the island.
2. In many of Kate's backstories, we see her using the alias "Annie" to avoid capture. In particular when she was working the farm in Australia (season 1) when she got married to Kevin (season 3), and when she met up with Cassie on the road (season 3)
3. At the beginning of this season, immediately following Kate, Jack and Sawyer's capture by the Others, Ben takes Kate up to a cliff overlooking the ocean for a quaint seaside breakfast because he wants her to have "something good to remember" before they do whatever it is that they do to her that makes her wrists all bloody when she comes back to the cages. (By the way, we STILL don't know what happened to Kate during that time.)
4. Kate was desperate at the beginning of Season 1 to get the case--not because of the guns inside, but because of the little airplane inside it. Did Ben (or some other Dharma Initiative member or an Other) give that airplane to Kate when she was on the island (and before she presumably had her memories wiped of the island) to remind her of of her fate...?
5. ....Or is Kate perhaps the biggest underground Other Mole of all time? Could THIS be the reason Locke was so disgusted with her after reading her file a few episodes back? And could the tenacity of the federal bounty hunters tracking her be tied to the intentions of one of our nefarious big corporations?

Another interesting rumor that's floating around out there is that it will be Walt who finds Locke and saves him.

Tonight:
Lost Special after Gray's Anatomy. I sincerely doubt I will be able to remain awake to watch this tonight (one 11:00 night is already one too many for me) but I will tape it and recap it, probably over the weekend. These are good if only to see what the writers have decided are important plot points to cover. Check the Blog (fishbiscuits.blogspot.com) for updates over the weekend, but I will probably send an email on Monday or Tuesday if you don't get around to it.

Season Finale:
Everything will change. And who is Jack saying I love you to? The way they had it edited, it looked like it was Kate, but I doubt they'd be that obvious in a preview with such a major plot point.

Then no Lost until 2008. Withdrawal is already setting in.