“Couldn’t find the anthuriums, could you?”
Let’s get this out the way right up front: I was wrong about the coffin. I freely admit it. Let’s pretend that I never pushed that theory as vigorously as I did. Can we move on please? Thank you.
Furthermore, there was a huge amount of information to disseminate for this double episode, so due to some people’s impatience (I wouldn’t want to mention anyone by name—BOBBIE) I rushed this out. Check the blog in a few days to see if there are any updates.
Jeremy Bentham comes calling
Well, here we are again, at the airport. The same place we left Jack at the end of last season. We find out right way that “Jeremy Bentham” is the person who died. We know it’s not his real name, but he’s apparently been making the rounds visiting the Oceanic Six, telling them they have to go back. He’s seen Jack and has convinced him. Jack is now desperately trying to convince Kate to go back. “You believed him?” Kate is incredulous. “You knew he was crazy!” “It’s the only way to keep you and Aaron safe.” Jack explains. Kate is livid. “You don’t get to say his name! When I’m the one that has to explain to him why you don’t read to him anymore!” She’s had it with Jack, “For three years I’ve tried forgetting all the horrible things that happened on the day we left! How dare you ask me to go back!”
An older black woman shows up at the looney bin. “Are you Hurley? Are you crazy? Are you going to do anything crazy?” Hurley doesn’t think so. Who is this woman, by the way? “You don’t know me, you know my grandson.” WALT. Walt tells Hurley, “I kept waiting for one of you to come back and see me.” Jeremy Bentham came to see him, too. “I don’t understand why you’re all lying.” Walt wonders. “We’re lying because it’s the only way to protect everyone who didn’t come back,” Hurley explains. “Like my dad?” Yeah, like your dad, Walt.
Sayid kills a man who has been staking out Hurley’s looney bin. Sayid enters Hurley’s room. “Sayid. I think visiting hours are over dude.” “I want you to go somewhere with me. Someplace safe.” Sayid suggests. “Dude, I’ve been talking to dead people for weeks now. I don’t need paranoia, too.” Bentham has been to see Hurley, too. “Bentham is dead. Let’s go.” Sayid says. “Hold on,” Hurley has one more move to make on his chess game. “Checkmate, Mr. Eko.”
Sun approaches Charles Widmore and introduces herself as the managing director of Paik Industries. Widmore pretends he doesn’t know who she is and Sun call him on it. “We have common interests, Mr. Widmore. Call me when you want to talk. We’re not the only ones who made it off that island.” I believe Sun is implying their mutual knowledge of Desmond at this point. “Why would you want to help me?” Widmore asks. Sun simply walks away. Is she going to cooperate with Widmore? Or has “Jeremy Bentham” paid her a convincing visit as well?
Kate suddenly awakens from a sound sleep. THEN the phone rings. There’s a guy mumbling in reverse on the other line. The audio of this was available on WMMR this morning it was: “The island needs you. You have to go back. Before it’s too late.” She hears someone in the house, grabs her gun and runs to Aaron’s room. Someone is in there with him. “Get away from my son!” Kate warns. The stranger looks up: It’s Claire with a warning to Kate: “Don’t you dare bring him back!” Kate wakes up in a cold sweat. She goes into Aaron’s room, kneels by his bedside and apologizes for what she is apparently about to do: bring Aaron back to the island.
I think we can discount the significance of Claire’s appearance and her stated wishes in this dream since Claire’s appearance was in a DREAM, and not a creepy Libby-like way of appearing to the wide-awake. Clearly, Aaron was not meant to be “raised by another” and needs to be reunited with Claire. Also, the Oceanic Six were never MEANT to leave the island.
Fat druggie Jack goes back to the funeral home. He breaks in to open the coffin. As he is standing over the coffin, a familiar voice says “Hello Jack.” Of course, it’s Ben. Ben asks if he came to see him. “Jeremy” has been visiting everyone. Ben tells Jack what he already knows. They have to go back. All of them. Except Jack is alienated from all of them. They won’t listen to them. Lucky for Jack, Ben has a few ideas; he always has a plan.
The camera finally pans out to reveal Jeremy Bentham, the occupant of the coffin: Locke. NOT HURLEY.
The Orchid
Keamy is frog-marching Ben to the chopper and he wants to know, “Why are you so important, Ben?” But Ben has questions of his own, “Did Charles Widmore tell you to kill my daughter?” Before Keamy can answer, Kate stumbles out of the jungle. She says she is being chased by Ben’s people but she shoots a meaningful look at Ben so we know she’s part of an Other plan to rescue Ben. The Mercs spread out and the Others take them out, in their creepy Other way, one by one. Kate sees her opening, tells Ben to stay close to her. They run through the jungle, Ben stumbles, and Kate comes back for him. Keamy catches up, but it’s Sayid to the rescue.
I have no words to adequately describe the badass fight that ensues, as Sayid is evenly matched with Keamy. But Keamy eventually gets the upper hand, and begins to strangle Sayid. Suddenly, shots are fired into Keamy’s back and he collapses. Sayid looks visibly shaken after the encounter. He looks up to see who has saved Kate, Ben and himself, and it’s our timely friend, Richard Eyeliner. Ben welcomes him to the dinner party, “Thank you for coming Richard.” “Don’t mention it.” Richard replies, equally polite. “Please pass the Grey Poupon.”
Sawyer and Jack eventually find Hugo hanging out in the jungle waiting for Ben and Locke to do their thing. Hugo is happy to see Sawyer. “Dude you came back! How’d you know where I was?” But he’s not so happy to see Jack—he actually seems uncomfortable around Jack.
Hurley and Sawyer are great together-they way their characters play off each other is a great source of comic relief that seems very natural and not forced. Hurley generously offers Sawyer some of the 15 year old crackers “They’re good, Dude!” Sawyer has a few and agrees. “Thanks for coming back for me.” Hurley tells him.
Meanwhile, Jack and Locke are having a confrontation. Locke tells Jack,” I’d like you to stay, Jack.” Jack wants to know why he should listen to Locke and offers much in the way of evidence, such as this relevant gem: “You knifed an unarmed woman in the back.” Locke counters, “You put a gun to my head and pulled trigger. I thought we could just let bygones be bygones. You’re not supposed to go home, Jack. Crashing here was our destiny. If you leave, that knowledge is going to eat you from the inside out.” Realizing he’s not going to sway the stubborn Jack off his course, Locke then tries damage control. “You’re gonna hafta lie. About everything that happened since we got to the island. It’s the only way to protect it.” Jack is incredulous. After everything he’s seen, everything that happens, he is still the skeptical man of science. “It’s just an island! It doesn’t need protecting!” “Its not an island—it’s a place where miracles happen.” Locke insists. “Just wait until you see what I’m about to do.” Jack, the skeptic responds angrily to Locke, “There’s no such thing as miracles!” Who are you trying to convince Jack, Locke or yourself? Ben comes upon the scene and Jack promptly draws down on him. “Nice to see you, too, Jack.” Ben remarks, then to Locke, ”Did you tell him?” Locke shakes his head. “I tried.” Ben is resigned, then gives up. Very well, then. “Kate and Sayid are waiting for you back at the chopper. Better hurry up. If I were you, I’d want to get off this island within the hour.” Ben looks at Locke and tells him they must get started. Locke lingers a moment, then delivers his parting shot to Jack: “Lie to them Jack. If you do it half as good as you do it to yourself, you should be fine.” Oooooh—SNAP!
Locke and Ben get in the elevator, effectively dismissing Jack as no longer important to their plans or the island.
Elsewhere in the vicinity of the Island
On the boat, Des, Jin and Michael are in the Room of C4. The explosives are hooked into a radio receiver that triggers remotely. Des, who knows “just enough to be dangerous around explosives” from his army days, starts evaluating the bomb and how they can dismantle it. His conclusions: no matter what they do: Boom. Boom. Boom. Michael comes up with the idea to freeze the battery while they try to disarm the bomb, knowing that when they run out of liquid nitrogen, they’ll have just enough time to fuel up the chopper…err, I mean, ten minutes to abandon ship.
Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Kate and Sayid arrive back at the chopper to find a handcuffed Frank. “Hey Kenny Rogers,” Sawyer calls, in a nod to Steve Morrison, “Why aren’t you using the hacksaw to cut off the cuffs?” Sawyer obliges and makes short work of the cuffs. They all load on the chopper and it lifts off. Frank notices a fuel leak. At his suggestion, they begin tossing extra weight off the chopper. “Is that enough?” someone asks. Jack is adamant about only one thing: “Do not go back to the island!” Frank would feel a lot better if they were a couple hundred pounds lighter. Hurley looks guilty, but Sawyer looks like he has an idea. He leans over and whispers to Kate. She pulls back, shocked. “Why are you telling me this?” “Just do it, Freckles.” Then Sawyer jumps off the chopper, thereby ridding them of the chopper of the extra weight per Frank’s request.
Back on the beach, Daniel takes Charlotte and Miles aside to tell them that the Mercs are using the Secondary Protocol. Then he tells them to make sure that they are on the next boat. Miles looks at Charlotte after Daniel leaves. “You’re going to leave? That’s just weird, after all that time you spent trying to get back here.” Get back?” Charlotte, the poor liar exclaims, “What do you mean ‘get back’?” “Hmmm. What DO I mean?” Miles counters. Charlotte tells Daniel that she has decided to stay, “Would it make any sense if I told you I was still looking for where I was born?”
Meanwhile, back on the boat, the light turns red as Keamy dies on the island. Desmond goes on deck and tells everyone to get off the ship. But the chopper is trying to land. Desmond tries to warn them off landing, but they have no fuel. They refuel as quickly as possible. Kate tells Sun to get on the chopper but Sun wants to get Jin. Kate says to get Aaron on the chopper and she will get Jin. Then Jack comes back for Kate: I’m not leaving without you. And drags her on the chopper. Michael tells Jin that he’s going to be a father and needs to get off the ship. “I’ve got this” Michael tells him. Jin thanks Michael and finally gets topside, starts waving to the chopper—Sun calls frantically, ”We have to go back!”
Christian Sheppard appears to Michael, gives him permission to leave and the boat erupts into a huge ball of flames and promptly sinks. Sun, watching from above, goes into hysterics, calling for Jin. It appears that we may have definitely lost Michael and Jin in this explosion. I think Rose, Bernard and Daniel are on the zodiac with Daniel when the explosion happens. Their fate has not yet been revealed since they are at sea when the island is moved.
The skies part and the angels sing as the Shirtless Sawyer emerges out of the ocean, having swum in from his jump from the chopper. Juliet is sitting dejectedly alone on the beach, swigging from a scotch bottle: “What are you doing here?” she slurs. “Whatcha celebrating?” Sawyer counters. “I’m not celebrating.” Sawyer looks back over his shoulder and sees the smoke of the boat wreckage. “Is that our boat?” he asks. “It was,” Juliet answers.
The chopper is out of fuel and goes into the drink. The chopper occupants get on the life raft. Hurley asks after Aaron. Is he ok? “He’s fine,” Kate says. “It’s a miracle.” Cue Jack looking uncomfortable. Suddenly, Frank spots a light. It’s a boat. As it sinks in that rescue is imminent, Jack tells everybody they have to lie. Shortly after we see the name of the boat, The Searcher, we hear her voice and we KNOW:
This, FINALLY, is Penny’s boat.
Penny and Des are reunited. Lisa and Dana get a little misty. But Jack insists on ruining everything with his annoying unsentimentality and says to Penny, ”We need to talk.” The Oceanic Six devise a plan to use the life raft to be found on Membata and Penny’s boat takes them there. Jack asks Des to join them, since he knows “They’ll be looking for you.” Des says all he needs is Penny. Then Jack shakes Des’s hand and says; “See you in another life, brother.” And Lisa gets all misty again.
Back at the Orchid
When they arrive at the Orchid Station, deep, deep within the core of the island, Locke is more annoying than a three-year-old with his questions: “Is this the magic box? What’s all this stuff for?” “Silly Dharma experiments.” Ben dismisses as he hurriedly prepares to do whatever it is he’s going to do. So, like an impatient parent, Ben sits Locke in front of the TV to watch a video, except it’s not “The Little Mermaid.” “Why don’t you watch this very informative video and I’ll take care of some business,” Ben suggests. On the screen is our old white-coated Dharma doctor friend with yet another name: Dr. Halifax He starts babbling on about the “Casmir effect” time and space experiments while placing a white rabbit in the “vault” and moving it into the future (ala Daniel Faraday and his mouse experiment) “Metallic objects must never be placed inside the box,” he warns. In fact, he’s very adamant on this point.
Meanwhile Ben is busily filling the vault with every metal object he can find.
Just when it starts getting good, the tape stops and begins rewinding. Locke asks Ben, “Does this mean what I think it means?” “If you mean time traveling bunnies, then yes.” The elevator begins moving and Ben asks for his weapon back. Who is coming down?
Like Glen Close in Fatal Attraction rising from the bathtub, Keamy steps out of the elevator. Keamy is still alive, thanks to the miracle of his Kevlar vest. “ Are you down here, Ben?” He taunts. “Crouching in the dark?” He lifts his arm up and finally explains what that device is strapped to his (nicely developed) arm: Its a heart rate monitor with what’s known in the Merc business as a “Dead man’s trigger” “If my heart stops beating, this will send a signal to the radio device that I have hooked up to a roomful of C4 on the boat.” Ooooh! So that’s what it’s for! “Think I’m bluffing? Think about how your daughter looked as she bled out after I shot her in the head.”
Locke walks out to confront Keamy. “My name is John Locke and I have no conflict with you and neither do the people on that boat. Let’s talk.” Keamy, no fan of diplomacy, has no intention of sitting down and negotiating with Locke. Suddenly, also like Glen Close rising out of the bathtub in Fatal Attraction, a wild Ben runs out with a knife and stabs the crap out of Keamy, screaming, “You killed my daughter! You boiled my rabbit!” As Keamy buys it, the trigger on his (nicely developed) arm starts beeping. Locke: “What did you do? You just killed everybody on that boat!” Ben looks non-plussed. “So?”
Still full of questions, Locke needs to know why Ben killed Keamy when he knew that killing Keamy would set off the C4. “Sometimes good command decisions get compromised by irrational emotions. I’m sure you’ll be much better at command than I am.” Meanwhile, Ben has finished filling up the recycling bin. “If I were you I’d duck.” The vault is apparently some sort of a microwave oven, since it reacts he same way as tinfoil when cooked: it starts smoking, then explodes, creating the big hole that leads to the heart of the island.
Ben then gets a parka and Curious George wants to know why. “Because I’m going someplace cold.” Locke wants to go too, but Ben says no: “Jacob wants me to suffer the consequences. Whoever moves the island can never come back.” As Ben gets ready to leave, he pauses to shake hands with Locke, “I’m sorry I made your life so miserable.” His farewell/apology seems touchingly sincere. Locke is bewildered. “But what will I do?” “They will tell you things and then they will follow your every word. You’ll find your way, John. You always do.” Ben tells him, then disappears into vault.
Locke, meanwhile goes off to join up with the Others. Richard Eyeliner is there to welcome him, “Welcome home.”
Ben crawls through cave and down a hatch. He come to some glass, labeled, “Do not break unless there’s an emergency.” He breaks the glass, descends into another very cold cave. The ladder breaks and we find out how he cut his arm when he shivers awake in the desert wearing a parka. There is a big wheel, looks like the spokes of a compass. There is apparently ancient writing on the pillars around it prompting speculation that the island may be either Atlantis or an alien spaceship. Ben tells Jacob “I hope you’re happy.” Then struggles to turn the wheel. As it begins to move, the mysterious humming, which we haven’t heard since Locke failed to press the button in the Swan hatch, begins.
Everybody looks to the sky, the people on the chopper are getting ready to land on the island, when there is a bright flash of light; then nothing.
Dude. The island is gone.
So where do we go from here?
Our last two seasons will most likely revolve around the Oceanic Six working with Ben’s ideas on how to get back to where they once belonged while Locke discovers the secrets of the island. Somehow, something terrible has happened because the Oceanic Six left and Jack is responsible. They must put it right.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
There’s No Place Like Home SE4 EP12
“Those are 15 years old, you know.”
It was like old folks home on Lost last night. All of our old friends returned for the homecoming of the Oceanic Six and back on the island, the camps reshuffled to mix up the dynamics that have been in place for most of the season. It was comforting to see some things (the numbers and the Others) we haven’t seen in a while, if only to let us know that the writers haven’t forgotten about them.
Back in Kansas
The Oceanic Six are on a cargo plane. Miss Decker, a rep from the airline, comes back to brief the Six on what they can expect. “There will be press there,” she warns. “But you don’t have to talk to them.” “We’ll talk to them,” Jack says, speaking for the group. Accusatory looks are shot at Jack. No one answers. Miss Decker, satisfied that Jack is the group’s representative, returns to the cockpit. Jack then goes over the drill with the remaining Six: “We all know the story, if they ask us something we don’t want to answer, we just won’t answer. It’ll be ok. They’ll think we’re in shock.” “We are in shock, Jack.” Sun answers. The Six land and are greeted by their families; all but Kate and Sayid, who have no one to greet them.
Miss Decker is at the podium, laying out the false story of the Oceanic Six’s survival. They crashed near Membata Island then a typhoon took them to Sumba Island (This story jibes with the general location of the submerged wreckage recovered sometime earlier). We open the floor for questions, but the reporters are suspicious, grilling the survivors. After all this time on the island, how come you look so well? They ask about Hurley’s money, to which he replies he doesn’t want any of it. Then a reporter asks about Kate’s “pregnancy”: So Kate was six months pregnant when the federal marshalls caught up to her? Miss Decker to the rescue, “Miss Austin’s criminal record is off limits.”
They survive the briefing and Miss Decker tells Sayid that he has a visitor outside. It is Nadia and they have a long awaited, emotional reunion.
It is several months later and Sun now visibly pregnant, goes to see her father. He is in the midst of an argument with lackeys, “How could this happen? I told you to use 5 banks!” When he sees Sun, he dismisses the lackeys and inquires after Sun’s pregnancy. “Don’t pretend you care about my pregnancy. You hated my husband.” He father is shocked at Sun’s disrespect. She says that there are 2 people who are responsible for Jin’s death, and he is one of them (Is Sun the other?) Then she tells her father why she is no longer afraid of him: “I got my settlement from Oceanic. It was very generous. Enough to buy a controlling interest in your company.” SNAP!
Hurley arrives home to a deserted house. There is a coconut on the floor and whispering all around. Hurley, creeped out and having “Other” flashbacks, tells himself he can’t believe he’s going to do this and grabs a statue and yanks open the closed curtains to reveal…his surprise party. Hurley’s mother, seeing him ready to brain someone with the statue scolds him, “Hugo. Jesus Christ is not a weapon.” A little reunion ensues, Kate with Aaron and Sayid and Nadia. Hugo’s father walks up as they are talking, “So what are you guys talking about? Building a fire, hunting boars?” Uncomfortable looks are exchanged: Hurley is talking too much. Hurley’s dad takes him out front to show him the present he got him. Hurley is adamant: he does not want anything that was gotten with the money. “No, no no—I got it before the money.” Hurley’s dad lifts the garage door to reveal the muscle car beautifully restored (and ready to crash into skids full of fruit). “I restored it after the crash. It was a way to be close to you.” His dad tells him. They get in to take it for a spin and Hurley looks down at the odometer and promptly freaks out: 4 8 15 16 23 42 THE NUMBERS!!!!. “Is this a joke?” He asks his dad, who has no clue what Hurley’s talking about. Hurley gets out and runs for his life.
Jack’s is speaking at his father’s wake. “I wrote down what I was going to say on a cocktail napkin and he would have hated it. Dad always said that the only good thing about a wake is the free booze. So what I’m going to say is not for him, it’s for me. Goodbye dad. I loved you. I miss you.” At the end of the service, a blond Australian woman with an enormously distracting mole on her chin approaches Jack. “I am the reason you father is dead—he was in Australia to see my daughter.” As she struggles to get this story out, we are all sitting at home on the edge of our seats: Is she going to tell him her name? Is Jack going to make the connection? “She was on the plane with you for six hours, a few rows away. You never knew she was your sister. Her name was Claire.” As she leaves, she pauses to admire “Kate’s” baby. “He’s beautiful.” She says as she walks out, leaving a stunned Jack and Kate in her wake.
The Moving Men
Locke, Hurley and Ben are trekking through the jungle to the Orchid Station. Hurley has questions about moving the island, like “Why didn’t we move it BEFORE those guys with guns go here?” Good question, Ben answers, “Because, Hugo, moving the island is dangerous and unpredictable and is a measure of last resort.” They find a Dharma chest with a cracker tin and mirror. Locke tosses the tin to Hurley who immediately begins chowing down on saltines. “May I have that mirror, please?” Ben asks. He takes the mirror and flashes codes towards the mountain. “What are you saying?” Locke asks him. “None of your business, John.” Hurley still can’t get over this whole moving the island thing. “So if we move the island, won’t the Dudes with guns move with it?” “Probably. I’m working on that.” Ben replies. Charles Widmore knows about the Orchid and knows that they need what is there. They arrive at the Orchid, but it’s too late. They see Merc movement in the trees. “They’re already here.” Ben growls.
But Ben always has a plan. Ben gives himself up to the Mercs to give Locke time to get into the Orchid greenhouse and gives him instructions on how to take the elevator down to the real Orchid station. “What they want is inside the Orchid Station.” Ben says. “I thought you said they only wanted you,” Locke retorts. “I wasn’t being entirely truthful.” Ben admits. “When have you ever?” Locke complains, and not surprisingly, Ben does not answer.
Ben then gets up and gives himself up to the Mercs. Ben has been a little depressed lately due to his loss of “Island Chosen One” status and if I didn’t already know that he lives to fight another day, I’d swear that he is ready to sacrifice himself for the island. He introduces himself to the delightfully evil Keamy: “I’m Benjamin Linus. I believe you are looking for me.” Keamy pulls a gun and holds it point blank to Ben’s forehead, which causes Ben to blink (You can almost hear him thinking: “Hey, wait a minute—I thought they wanted me alive!”). Then Keamy pistol whips Ben and knocks him out.
Misguided Attempts at Heroism
Jack and Kate trek off into the jungle to track the copter. Jack begins to bleed around the stitches. He lies to Kate, telling her he is fine and Kate knows he is lying. Suddenly, Miles, Sawyer and the Baybay stumble out of the jungle right into Jack and Kate. Sawyer tells Jack that the people from the freighter have just blown up New Otherton. Jack claims responsibility for sending Sayid and Des on the helicopter, hands the Baybay to Kate tells her to get back to the beach and treks off once again. “Hold up, Doc. You don’t get to die alone.” Sawyer grumbles, following close behind.
They soon find the helicopter with Frank handcuffed in the back. Frank explains how the Mercs are going to blow up the island, and tells Jack and Sawyer they need to get off ASAP. When Sawyer hears that the Mercs are headed for Ben and the Orchid, he hangs his head. He looks at Jack, “Hugo is with Ben.” Jack sighs in frustration. They both know they can’t leave Hurley behind to the Mercs.
Sayid lands on the beach and decides to go after Jack and Kate. Daniel tries to talk him out of it, but Kate arrives back at the beach with Aaron and tells Sayid that he’ll never find Jack without her. She hands the baby off to Sun and follows Sayid back into the jungle. Daniel begins ferry survivors to the freighter on the zodiac.
Meanwhile, the freighter has been repaired, but they can’t take it to the island because something is jamming the radar. Des, Jin and Sun search the ship and come across and entire room of C4 explosive, wired to blow. Jin tells Sun to take the Baybay back up top.
Kate and Sayid are tracking Jack and Sawyer, when Kate discovers another set of tracks that have doubled back behind them. They see movement up ahead, pull their guns and call the bogey out: It’s our friend Richard Eyeliner! Kate and Sayid are surrounded; apparently they have stumbled into a whole nest of Others. Who’d have ever thought we’d feel relief that Kate & Sayid have been captured by the OTHERS?
As the music comes up, we see a montage of where we are leaving our Lostaways for two weeks until the two hour finale: Sayid & Kate being marched off, presumably to the Temple where the Others are holed up, Jack & Sawyer looking for Hurley, Sun, holding Aaron, looking over her shoulder at the hatch in the freighter where Jin, Desmond and Michael are contemplating what to do about the room full of C4, and Locke, moving off to take advantage of the opening Ben has given him.
In Two Weeks
There continues to be no place like home (for parts 2 and 3) as we have been exquisitely set up for the season finale. FYI, my daughter scored a sweet three-week externship with the Preston and Steve Morning Show which includes the Lost party at the Trocadero on May 29. She is hoping to be able to attend. I will keep you all posted through the Blog on any developments that may benefit me (or you!) on this front.
It was like old folks home on Lost last night. All of our old friends returned for the homecoming of the Oceanic Six and back on the island, the camps reshuffled to mix up the dynamics that have been in place for most of the season. It was comforting to see some things (the numbers and the Others) we haven’t seen in a while, if only to let us know that the writers haven’t forgotten about them.
Back in Kansas
The Oceanic Six are on a cargo plane. Miss Decker, a rep from the airline, comes back to brief the Six on what they can expect. “There will be press there,” she warns. “But you don’t have to talk to them.” “We’ll talk to them,” Jack says, speaking for the group. Accusatory looks are shot at Jack. No one answers. Miss Decker, satisfied that Jack is the group’s representative, returns to the cockpit. Jack then goes over the drill with the remaining Six: “We all know the story, if they ask us something we don’t want to answer, we just won’t answer. It’ll be ok. They’ll think we’re in shock.” “We are in shock, Jack.” Sun answers. The Six land and are greeted by their families; all but Kate and Sayid, who have no one to greet them.
Miss Decker is at the podium, laying out the false story of the Oceanic Six’s survival. They crashed near Membata Island then a typhoon took them to Sumba Island (This story jibes with the general location of the submerged wreckage recovered sometime earlier). We open the floor for questions, but the reporters are suspicious, grilling the survivors. After all this time on the island, how come you look so well? They ask about Hurley’s money, to which he replies he doesn’t want any of it. Then a reporter asks about Kate’s “pregnancy”: So Kate was six months pregnant when the federal marshalls caught up to her? Miss Decker to the rescue, “Miss Austin’s criminal record is off limits.”
They survive the briefing and Miss Decker tells Sayid that he has a visitor outside. It is Nadia and they have a long awaited, emotional reunion.
It is several months later and Sun now visibly pregnant, goes to see her father. He is in the midst of an argument with lackeys, “How could this happen? I told you to use 5 banks!” When he sees Sun, he dismisses the lackeys and inquires after Sun’s pregnancy. “Don’t pretend you care about my pregnancy. You hated my husband.” He father is shocked at Sun’s disrespect. She says that there are 2 people who are responsible for Jin’s death, and he is one of them (Is Sun the other?) Then she tells her father why she is no longer afraid of him: “I got my settlement from Oceanic. It was very generous. Enough to buy a controlling interest in your company.” SNAP!
Hurley arrives home to a deserted house. There is a coconut on the floor and whispering all around. Hurley, creeped out and having “Other” flashbacks, tells himself he can’t believe he’s going to do this and grabs a statue and yanks open the closed curtains to reveal…his surprise party. Hurley’s mother, seeing him ready to brain someone with the statue scolds him, “Hugo. Jesus Christ is not a weapon.” A little reunion ensues, Kate with Aaron and Sayid and Nadia. Hugo’s father walks up as they are talking, “So what are you guys talking about? Building a fire, hunting boars?” Uncomfortable looks are exchanged: Hurley is talking too much. Hurley’s dad takes him out front to show him the present he got him. Hurley is adamant: he does not want anything that was gotten with the money. “No, no no—I got it before the money.” Hurley’s dad lifts the garage door to reveal the muscle car beautifully restored (and ready to crash into skids full of fruit). “I restored it after the crash. It was a way to be close to you.” His dad tells him. They get in to take it for a spin and Hurley looks down at the odometer and promptly freaks out: 4 8 15 16 23 42 THE NUMBERS!!!!. “Is this a joke?” He asks his dad, who has no clue what Hurley’s talking about. Hurley gets out and runs for his life.
Jack’s is speaking at his father’s wake. “I wrote down what I was going to say on a cocktail napkin and he would have hated it. Dad always said that the only good thing about a wake is the free booze. So what I’m going to say is not for him, it’s for me. Goodbye dad. I loved you. I miss you.” At the end of the service, a blond Australian woman with an enormously distracting mole on her chin approaches Jack. “I am the reason you father is dead—he was in Australia to see my daughter.” As she struggles to get this story out, we are all sitting at home on the edge of our seats: Is she going to tell him her name? Is Jack going to make the connection? “She was on the plane with you for six hours, a few rows away. You never knew she was your sister. Her name was Claire.” As she leaves, she pauses to admire “Kate’s” baby. “He’s beautiful.” She says as she walks out, leaving a stunned Jack and Kate in her wake.
The Moving Men
Locke, Hurley and Ben are trekking through the jungle to the Orchid Station. Hurley has questions about moving the island, like “Why didn’t we move it BEFORE those guys with guns go here?” Good question, Ben answers, “Because, Hugo, moving the island is dangerous and unpredictable and is a measure of last resort.” They find a Dharma chest with a cracker tin and mirror. Locke tosses the tin to Hurley who immediately begins chowing down on saltines. “May I have that mirror, please?” Ben asks. He takes the mirror and flashes codes towards the mountain. “What are you saying?” Locke asks him. “None of your business, John.” Hurley still can’t get over this whole moving the island thing. “So if we move the island, won’t the Dudes with guns move with it?” “Probably. I’m working on that.” Ben replies. Charles Widmore knows about the Orchid and knows that they need what is there. They arrive at the Orchid, but it’s too late. They see Merc movement in the trees. “They’re already here.” Ben growls.
But Ben always has a plan. Ben gives himself up to the Mercs to give Locke time to get into the Orchid greenhouse and gives him instructions on how to take the elevator down to the real Orchid station. “What they want is inside the Orchid Station.” Ben says. “I thought you said they only wanted you,” Locke retorts. “I wasn’t being entirely truthful.” Ben admits. “When have you ever?” Locke complains, and not surprisingly, Ben does not answer.
Ben then gets up and gives himself up to the Mercs. Ben has been a little depressed lately due to his loss of “Island Chosen One” status and if I didn’t already know that he lives to fight another day, I’d swear that he is ready to sacrifice himself for the island. He introduces himself to the delightfully evil Keamy: “I’m Benjamin Linus. I believe you are looking for me.” Keamy pulls a gun and holds it point blank to Ben’s forehead, which causes Ben to blink (You can almost hear him thinking: “Hey, wait a minute—I thought they wanted me alive!”). Then Keamy pistol whips Ben and knocks him out.
Misguided Attempts at Heroism
Jack and Kate trek off into the jungle to track the copter. Jack begins to bleed around the stitches. He lies to Kate, telling her he is fine and Kate knows he is lying. Suddenly, Miles, Sawyer and the Baybay stumble out of the jungle right into Jack and Kate. Sawyer tells Jack that the people from the freighter have just blown up New Otherton. Jack claims responsibility for sending Sayid and Des on the helicopter, hands the Baybay to Kate tells her to get back to the beach and treks off once again. “Hold up, Doc. You don’t get to die alone.” Sawyer grumbles, following close behind.
They soon find the helicopter with Frank handcuffed in the back. Frank explains how the Mercs are going to blow up the island, and tells Jack and Sawyer they need to get off ASAP. When Sawyer hears that the Mercs are headed for Ben and the Orchid, he hangs his head. He looks at Jack, “Hugo is with Ben.” Jack sighs in frustration. They both know they can’t leave Hurley behind to the Mercs.
Sayid lands on the beach and decides to go after Jack and Kate. Daniel tries to talk him out of it, but Kate arrives back at the beach with Aaron and tells Sayid that he’ll never find Jack without her. She hands the baby off to Sun and follows Sayid back into the jungle. Daniel begins ferry survivors to the freighter on the zodiac.
Meanwhile, the freighter has been repaired, but they can’t take it to the island because something is jamming the radar. Des, Jin and Sun search the ship and come across and entire room of C4 explosive, wired to blow. Jin tells Sun to take the Baybay back up top.
Kate and Sayid are tracking Jack and Sawyer, when Kate discovers another set of tracks that have doubled back behind them. They see movement up ahead, pull their guns and call the bogey out: It’s our friend Richard Eyeliner! Kate and Sayid are surrounded; apparently they have stumbled into a whole nest of Others. Who’d have ever thought we’d feel relief that Kate & Sayid have been captured by the OTHERS?
As the music comes up, we see a montage of where we are leaving our Lostaways for two weeks until the two hour finale: Sayid & Kate being marched off, presumably to the Temple where the Others are holed up, Jack & Sawyer looking for Hurley, Sun, holding Aaron, looking over her shoulder at the hatch in the freighter where Jin, Desmond and Michael are contemplating what to do about the room full of C4, and Locke, moving off to take advantage of the opening Ben has given him.
In Two Weeks
There continues to be no place like home (for parts 2 and 3) as we have been exquisitely set up for the season finale. FYI, my daughter scored a sweet three-week externship with the Preston and Steve Morning Show which includes the Lost party at the Trocadero on May 29. She is hoping to be able to attend. I will keep you all posted through the Blog on any developments that may benefit me (or you!) on this front.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Cabin Fever SE4 EP11
“Destiny is a fickle bitch."
Oh. My. GAWD!!!! What an awesome episode with four great “Oh My Gawd” Moments! Let’s get into it:
Mutiny by the Bounty Hunters
The helicopter comes back from the island. The Mercs are piling out, carrying the injured. “What happened to him?” the Captian asks. “A black pillar of smoke threw him 50 feet in the air and ripped his guts out.” Keamy explains. Keamy gets all up in Sayid’s face and demands that Sayid tell him how many people are on the island and where they all are. Sayid responds with his patented: “Now why would I want to do that?” answer.
Keamy wants to know who dimed him out to Ben. He pulls a gun on the Captain. “It wasn’t me, man. It was Michael.” Keamy storms into Michael’s bunk and begins beating him. He pulls his gun on Michael and pulls the trigger as the Captain begs him not to—except that the gun jams and Michael can’t be killed--again. The Captain then explains to Keamy that Michael is the only one who can fix the boat since he was the one who broke it.
Keamy and takes the Captain’s key to the safe and goes to open it. Inside is the Secondary Protocall—bound with a nice Dharma cover. Could it be that the Dharma initiative is/was Widmore’s project? Ben (or according to Ben “Dharma’s leader”) wiped them out. This is why two weeks ago, Widmore told Ben that everything Ben has he stole from Widmore. Keamy is clearly in charge and the Captain in helpless to stop him. Keamy knows it, and hands his jammed gun over to him. “Fix my gun,” he barks.
Frank goes into Michael’s bunk and confronts him “Why didn’t you tell me, you were a survivor of 815? I’m the only one in the world who would have believed you!” Michael tells him that it was Frank’s boss who put that fake plane on the bottom of the ocean. Frank chuckles at Michael. “You’re as bad with your conspiracy theories as I am.” Michael is desperate that Frank listen to him. “Don’t fly that guy back.” Meaning Keamy. “He’s gonna kill everyone on the island. Believe me, you don’t want that on your conscience.” Frank and Michael leave the bunk and see Omar fitting Keamy with some sort of device on his (nicely developed) arms.
In the meantime, the Captain has decided to help Des and Sayid. He tells them to hide, but Sayid says he needs to get his friends off the island. So the Captain gives them the zodiac. Des won’t go back on Zodiac. “I’ve been on that island for three years, brutha. I won’t step foot on it again, not when my Penny’s coming for me.” Sayid takes off alone.
So the Mercs are suiting up for another run at the island when Omar says to the doctor, “Hey doc, want to hear something weird? That morse code signal I got before said that the Doc washed up on shore with his throat slit!” Meanwhile, Frank is refusing to fly Keamy back to the island. Keamy attempts to rationally negotiate by grabbing the doctor, slitting his throat and throwing him overboard. Then we hear gunshots. “Hey Keamy!” the Captain calls. “I fixed your gun.” But the Captain is no match for the evil Keamy, who shoots him in cold blood. Due to Keamy’s excellent debating skills, Frank is now convinced that it is in his best interests to fly the Mercs back to the island.
Frank, knowing that bringing the animals back to the island is pretty much a death sentence for the island dwellers, steals a sat phone and stuffs it in a bag. The Jackies are sitting around the camp at the beach, when they hear the approaching chopper, coming in low. A package drops out of it and Jack finds Frank’s sat phone dialed in to the tracking screen. “I guess they want us to follow them.” Jack concludes.
The Mythology of Locke
Emily, is a young teenage girl getting ready to go out on a date. Her mother comes in to tell her that she’s not going out and that her “boyfriend is almost twice her age.” “Jealous, mom?” Emily retorts as she flits out the door into a rainstorm and right in front of a moving vehicle.
Flash to Emily being wheeled into emergency. She groggily comes to, telling the nurse, “I’m pregnant.” She delivers a son. “His name is John!” she calls as they wheel the premature infant out. Emily is Locke’s mom.
Emily is recovered from her accident and they are about to take John out of the incubator. “He’s the youngest preemie to ever survive!” The nurse says. “He’s a fighter.” Emily is distraught, she can’t bring herself to hold him and runs out of the room. The gracious and classy lady who is Locke’s grandmother starts to light a cigarette. ”Who can I talk to about adoption?” The nurse stops her from lighting the cigarette, which draws both their attention to the man standing in the window. “Is that the father?” the nurse asks. “I don’t know who that is.” Grandma says. But we do: it’s RICHARD EYELINER!!!! (OMG #1)
There are some parallels with the desperate and unexpected nature of the births of both Locke and Ben. Both were born unexpectedly and under less than ideal conditions. Both were, for all intents and purposes, abandoned by their mothers and both had unhappy childhoods. Both were approached by Richard Eyeliner as young children.
A few years later, young Locke is playing backgammon. Richard Eyeliner comes to see Locke to see if he would be right for his school. “I run a school for kids who are extremely special.” Richard looks at the picture on the wall that Locke drew, which looks like a man being attacked by the smoke monster. Richard then lays a bunch of objects on the table: A baseball glove. A Book of Laws. A jar of …grains? …Pebbles? …Inert smoke monster? A compass. A comic book (is it the same one Walt was reading?) A knife. “Tell me which ones are yours.” Richard says. “To keep?” John asks. “No, tell me which ones are yours already.” Locke picks the jar first. Very good. Then the compass. Excellent. Then the knife. Not so good. “Are you sure that’s yours? Richard Eyeliner asks. Locke nods yes, and Richard grabs the knife from him. “Well it’s not.” Richard abruptly packs up and tells Locke’s foster mom that he doesn’t think Locke is ready.
Yet a few more years later, a teenaged Locke has been shoved in a locker and the “in” crowd is laughing at him. His science teacher comes and gets him out. He takes John into a classroom and tells him of a terrific opportunity: a company in Portland called Mittelos Labratories (you may remember their logo in the background during the airport scene in Juliet’s initial recruitment by Richard Eyeliner) wants them to come to their summer camp. “Dr. Alpert (Richard Eyeliner’s other name) is very interested in you.” But John is not ready to commit to his inner geek. “I like boxing and fishing and sports and cars. I’m not a scientist!” But his teacher knows better, “You may not want to be the guy in the lab, but that’s who you are. You can’t be the prom king, you can’t be the quarter back. You can’t be the superhero, John.” And John replies, perhaps for the first time in his life, but certainly not he last, “Don’t tell me what can’t do.”
Flash to a time shortly after Locke’s crippling accident. He is trying to learn to walk again, but is having a tough time. His session is finished and the orderly is wheeling him back to the room. “Don’t give up, Mr. Locke. Anything is possible.” Locke bitterly dismisses this man’s blind optimism. His spine is crushed. He will never walk again. The camera pans out to reveal the creepy Mr Abbadan wheeling him (OMG #2), who tells him, “You need to go on a walkabout. With nothing but a knife and your wits.” It’s interesting that Abbandan tells Locke that he needs to bring a knife, especially in light of Richard Eyeliner’s obvious aversion to it and Abbadan’s and Eyeliner’s opposing sides to the ongoing conflict. “You need to go find your self. I thought I was one thing when I left. I found out I was something totally different. And when our paths cross again, You will owe me one.”
I think that Abbadan and Eyeliner were shipmates on the Black Rock.
The Mythology of Jacob
Locke, Ben and Hurley are trekking through the jungle, looking for the cabin. Locke asks Ben how much further and Ben says, “I don’t know, I’m following Hurley.” To which Hurley complains, “I’m not even in the front.”
Locke is dreaming. He walks through the jungle to find Horace cutting down trees “to build a shelter for him and his wife to get away from the DI.” (that’s hippy slang for “Dharma Initiative”). We last saw Horace coming to the rescue of Ben’s father in his MG Midget shortly after Ben’s mother has died in the woods giving birth to him. Twelve years later, Horace secured a sweet position for Ben’s dad as a “Workman” at the groovy Dharma Initiative. “I’m not making any sense am I? That’s because I’ve been dead for 12 years. Find me, John. Find me and you’ll find Him. Jacob has been waiting for you for a long time.”
So a newly directed Locke wakes up the others and tells them he knows where to go. Ben looks wistfully at Locke. “I used to dream, too.” Hurley has a theory about why he, Locke and Ben can see the cabin: “We can see the cabin because we are the craziest.” Locke explains that they need to find the Dharma initiative so that they can find the cabin. M”You remember the Dharma initiative, don’t you Hurley? There were about a hundred of them living here on the island, building those houses and making that Ranch Dressing that you like.” “What happened to them?” Hurley wants to know. Locke looks over his shoulder at Ben. “He did.”
Locke is down the pit of death, trying to find Horace. “So this is where you shot Locke?” Hurley asks, just makin’ conversation. “Yes Hugo, I was standing right where you are when I pulled the trigger.” Ok, time out here. Is it just me, or is every line delivered by Michael Emerson an exercise in sheer perfection? Whe you read this line, it doesn’t translate nearly as well as it is spoken by Emerson. By contrast, Hurley’s and Sawyer’s lines translate pretty well on the written page.
So anyway, Locke finds Horace (“Mathematician” or as we like to call them here on the mainland, “Mathlete”) and locates a map in Horace’s pocket. It is a map to the cabin, which Locke realizes Horace was building in his dream
Locke then tells Hurley he can leave now, since now he’s got a map, he doesn’t need him anymore. Hurley is upset that Locke is letting him go, But Locke explains he doesn’t want anything to happen to Hurley and he’s not sure how safe it will be. Plus he forced him with them at gunpoint. He wants to give Hurley a chance to go back to the beach. Hurley says no, I think I’ll stay with you guys. As Hurley walks off, Ben smirks at John, “He actually thinks staying was his idea. Not bad, John. Hot bad at all.” Did Locke manipulate Hurley into doing what he wanted or was he sincere when he said he could go? “I’m not you.” Locke says. “No. You’re not.”
Ben is lamenting the shift in power. “I got sick and you got well. I got a Tumor on my spine and my daughter’s blood all over my hands. Things had to happen to me, that was my destiny. You’ll see there a consequences to being chosen, John.” Hurley interrupts Ben’s pity party. “Guys? Cabin.”
Of course it’s dark when they finally get to the Cabin (what good would finding the cabin in full daylight be? It wouldn’t be nearly as creepy.) Ben is resigned that Locke is the chosen one. “I’m not going in there with you. My time is over.” “Yeah,” Hurley agrees. “I’m cool with you going in alone, too.”
Locke goes in to see someone sitting in the chair. “Are you Jacob?” “No,” croons a familiar voice, “But I can speak for him. Locke moves closer and reveals Christian Sheppard (OMG #3). Then Locke realizes someone is sitting behind him. It’s Claire (OMG #4) She seems quite at home. “Don’t worry about me John, I’m with him.” John starts sputtering asking why she is there. “What about the Baybay?” Locke wonders. “The baybay is right where he’s supposed to be,” Christian assures him. Christian asks if Locke knows why he is there. Locke ponders for a moment then says, “Because I was chosen to be here.” Christian and Claire smile knowingly at each other. That’s the right answer. But Locke has more questions. Christian cuts him off. “We don’t have time for this. They are coming. Why don’t you ask me the one question that is most important?” Locke knows what to ask, “How do I save the island?”
Meanwhile, Hugo and Ben are sharing a candy bar, waiting for Locke’s Jacob appointment to be over. When Locke emerges, Ben asks him if he was told what to do. “Yes. He told me we need to move the island.”
Next Week
Umm...sorry. I watched the previews, but nothing stood out. I don’t even know who the featured character is.
Oh. My. GAWD!!!! What an awesome episode with four great “Oh My Gawd” Moments! Let’s get into it:
Mutiny by the Bounty Hunters
The helicopter comes back from the island. The Mercs are piling out, carrying the injured. “What happened to him?” the Captian asks. “A black pillar of smoke threw him 50 feet in the air and ripped his guts out.” Keamy explains. Keamy gets all up in Sayid’s face and demands that Sayid tell him how many people are on the island and where they all are. Sayid responds with his patented: “Now why would I want to do that?” answer.
Keamy wants to know who dimed him out to Ben. He pulls a gun on the Captain. “It wasn’t me, man. It was Michael.” Keamy storms into Michael’s bunk and begins beating him. He pulls his gun on Michael and pulls the trigger as the Captain begs him not to—except that the gun jams and Michael can’t be killed--again. The Captain then explains to Keamy that Michael is the only one who can fix the boat since he was the one who broke it.
Keamy and takes the Captain’s key to the safe and goes to open it. Inside is the Secondary Protocall—bound with a nice Dharma cover. Could it be that the Dharma initiative is/was Widmore’s project? Ben (or according to Ben “Dharma’s leader”) wiped them out. This is why two weeks ago, Widmore told Ben that everything Ben has he stole from Widmore. Keamy is clearly in charge and the Captain in helpless to stop him. Keamy knows it, and hands his jammed gun over to him. “Fix my gun,” he barks.
Frank goes into Michael’s bunk and confronts him “Why didn’t you tell me, you were a survivor of 815? I’m the only one in the world who would have believed you!” Michael tells him that it was Frank’s boss who put that fake plane on the bottom of the ocean. Frank chuckles at Michael. “You’re as bad with your conspiracy theories as I am.” Michael is desperate that Frank listen to him. “Don’t fly that guy back.” Meaning Keamy. “He’s gonna kill everyone on the island. Believe me, you don’t want that on your conscience.” Frank and Michael leave the bunk and see Omar fitting Keamy with some sort of device on his (nicely developed) arms.
In the meantime, the Captain has decided to help Des and Sayid. He tells them to hide, but Sayid says he needs to get his friends off the island. So the Captain gives them the zodiac. Des won’t go back on Zodiac. “I’ve been on that island for three years, brutha. I won’t step foot on it again, not when my Penny’s coming for me.” Sayid takes off alone.
So the Mercs are suiting up for another run at the island when Omar says to the doctor, “Hey doc, want to hear something weird? That morse code signal I got before said that the Doc washed up on shore with his throat slit!” Meanwhile, Frank is refusing to fly Keamy back to the island. Keamy attempts to rationally negotiate by grabbing the doctor, slitting his throat and throwing him overboard. Then we hear gunshots. “Hey Keamy!” the Captain calls. “I fixed your gun.” But the Captain is no match for the evil Keamy, who shoots him in cold blood. Due to Keamy’s excellent debating skills, Frank is now convinced that it is in his best interests to fly the Mercs back to the island.
Frank, knowing that bringing the animals back to the island is pretty much a death sentence for the island dwellers, steals a sat phone and stuffs it in a bag. The Jackies are sitting around the camp at the beach, when they hear the approaching chopper, coming in low. A package drops out of it and Jack finds Frank’s sat phone dialed in to the tracking screen. “I guess they want us to follow them.” Jack concludes.
The Mythology of Locke
Emily, is a young teenage girl getting ready to go out on a date. Her mother comes in to tell her that she’s not going out and that her “boyfriend is almost twice her age.” “Jealous, mom?” Emily retorts as she flits out the door into a rainstorm and right in front of a moving vehicle.
Flash to Emily being wheeled into emergency. She groggily comes to, telling the nurse, “I’m pregnant.” She delivers a son. “His name is John!” she calls as they wheel the premature infant out. Emily is Locke’s mom.
Emily is recovered from her accident and they are about to take John out of the incubator. “He’s the youngest preemie to ever survive!” The nurse says. “He’s a fighter.” Emily is distraught, she can’t bring herself to hold him and runs out of the room. The gracious and classy lady who is Locke’s grandmother starts to light a cigarette. ”Who can I talk to about adoption?” The nurse stops her from lighting the cigarette, which draws both their attention to the man standing in the window. “Is that the father?” the nurse asks. “I don’t know who that is.” Grandma says. But we do: it’s RICHARD EYELINER!!!! (OMG #1)
There are some parallels with the desperate and unexpected nature of the births of both Locke and Ben. Both were born unexpectedly and under less than ideal conditions. Both were, for all intents and purposes, abandoned by their mothers and both had unhappy childhoods. Both were approached by Richard Eyeliner as young children.
A few years later, young Locke is playing backgammon. Richard Eyeliner comes to see Locke to see if he would be right for his school. “I run a school for kids who are extremely special.” Richard looks at the picture on the wall that Locke drew, which looks like a man being attacked by the smoke monster. Richard then lays a bunch of objects on the table: A baseball glove. A Book of Laws. A jar of …grains? …Pebbles? …Inert smoke monster? A compass. A comic book (is it the same one Walt was reading?) A knife. “Tell me which ones are yours.” Richard says. “To keep?” John asks. “No, tell me which ones are yours already.” Locke picks the jar first. Very good. Then the compass. Excellent. Then the knife. Not so good. “Are you sure that’s yours? Richard Eyeliner asks. Locke nods yes, and Richard grabs the knife from him. “Well it’s not.” Richard abruptly packs up and tells Locke’s foster mom that he doesn’t think Locke is ready.
Yet a few more years later, a teenaged Locke has been shoved in a locker and the “in” crowd is laughing at him. His science teacher comes and gets him out. He takes John into a classroom and tells him of a terrific opportunity: a company in Portland called Mittelos Labratories (you may remember their logo in the background during the airport scene in Juliet’s initial recruitment by Richard Eyeliner) wants them to come to their summer camp. “Dr. Alpert (Richard Eyeliner’s other name) is very interested in you.” But John is not ready to commit to his inner geek. “I like boxing and fishing and sports and cars. I’m not a scientist!” But his teacher knows better, “You may not want to be the guy in the lab, but that’s who you are. You can’t be the prom king, you can’t be the quarter back. You can’t be the superhero, John.” And John replies, perhaps for the first time in his life, but certainly not he last, “Don’t tell me what can’t do.”
Flash to a time shortly after Locke’s crippling accident. He is trying to learn to walk again, but is having a tough time. His session is finished and the orderly is wheeling him back to the room. “Don’t give up, Mr. Locke. Anything is possible.” Locke bitterly dismisses this man’s blind optimism. His spine is crushed. He will never walk again. The camera pans out to reveal the creepy Mr Abbadan wheeling him (OMG #2), who tells him, “You need to go on a walkabout. With nothing but a knife and your wits.” It’s interesting that Abbandan tells Locke that he needs to bring a knife, especially in light of Richard Eyeliner’s obvious aversion to it and Abbadan’s and Eyeliner’s opposing sides to the ongoing conflict. “You need to go find your self. I thought I was one thing when I left. I found out I was something totally different. And when our paths cross again, You will owe me one.”
I think that Abbadan and Eyeliner were shipmates on the Black Rock.
The Mythology of Jacob
Locke, Ben and Hurley are trekking through the jungle, looking for the cabin. Locke asks Ben how much further and Ben says, “I don’t know, I’m following Hurley.” To which Hurley complains, “I’m not even in the front.”
Locke is dreaming. He walks through the jungle to find Horace cutting down trees “to build a shelter for him and his wife to get away from the DI.” (that’s hippy slang for “Dharma Initiative”). We last saw Horace coming to the rescue of Ben’s father in his MG Midget shortly after Ben’s mother has died in the woods giving birth to him. Twelve years later, Horace secured a sweet position for Ben’s dad as a “Workman” at the groovy Dharma Initiative. “I’m not making any sense am I? That’s because I’ve been dead for 12 years. Find me, John. Find me and you’ll find Him. Jacob has been waiting for you for a long time.”
So a newly directed Locke wakes up the others and tells them he knows where to go. Ben looks wistfully at Locke. “I used to dream, too.” Hurley has a theory about why he, Locke and Ben can see the cabin: “We can see the cabin because we are the craziest.” Locke explains that they need to find the Dharma initiative so that they can find the cabin. M”You remember the Dharma initiative, don’t you Hurley? There were about a hundred of them living here on the island, building those houses and making that Ranch Dressing that you like.” “What happened to them?” Hurley wants to know. Locke looks over his shoulder at Ben. “He did.”
Locke is down the pit of death, trying to find Horace. “So this is where you shot Locke?” Hurley asks, just makin’ conversation. “Yes Hugo, I was standing right where you are when I pulled the trigger.” Ok, time out here. Is it just me, or is every line delivered by Michael Emerson an exercise in sheer perfection? Whe you read this line, it doesn’t translate nearly as well as it is spoken by Emerson. By contrast, Hurley’s and Sawyer’s lines translate pretty well on the written page.
So anyway, Locke finds Horace (“Mathematician” or as we like to call them here on the mainland, “Mathlete”) and locates a map in Horace’s pocket. It is a map to the cabin, which Locke realizes Horace was building in his dream
Locke then tells Hurley he can leave now, since now he’s got a map, he doesn’t need him anymore. Hurley is upset that Locke is letting him go, But Locke explains he doesn’t want anything to happen to Hurley and he’s not sure how safe it will be. Plus he forced him with them at gunpoint. He wants to give Hurley a chance to go back to the beach. Hurley says no, I think I’ll stay with you guys. As Hurley walks off, Ben smirks at John, “He actually thinks staying was his idea. Not bad, John. Hot bad at all.” Did Locke manipulate Hurley into doing what he wanted or was he sincere when he said he could go? “I’m not you.” Locke says. “No. You’re not.”
Ben is lamenting the shift in power. “I got sick and you got well. I got a Tumor on my spine and my daughter’s blood all over my hands. Things had to happen to me, that was my destiny. You’ll see there a consequences to being chosen, John.” Hurley interrupts Ben’s pity party. “Guys? Cabin.”
Of course it’s dark when they finally get to the Cabin (what good would finding the cabin in full daylight be? It wouldn’t be nearly as creepy.) Ben is resigned that Locke is the chosen one. “I’m not going in there with you. My time is over.” “Yeah,” Hurley agrees. “I’m cool with you going in alone, too.”
Locke goes in to see someone sitting in the chair. “Are you Jacob?” “No,” croons a familiar voice, “But I can speak for him. Locke moves closer and reveals Christian Sheppard (OMG #3). Then Locke realizes someone is sitting behind him. It’s Claire (OMG #4) She seems quite at home. “Don’t worry about me John, I’m with him.” John starts sputtering asking why she is there. “What about the Baybay?” Locke wonders. “The baybay is right where he’s supposed to be,” Christian assures him. Christian asks if Locke knows why he is there. Locke ponders for a moment then says, “Because I was chosen to be here.” Christian and Claire smile knowingly at each other. That’s the right answer. But Locke has more questions. Christian cuts him off. “We don’t have time for this. They are coming. Why don’t you ask me the one question that is most important?” Locke knows what to ask, “How do I save the island?”
Meanwhile, Hugo and Ben are sharing a candy bar, waiting for Locke’s Jacob appointment to be over. When Locke emerges, Ben asks him if he was told what to do. “Yes. He told me we need to move the island.”
Next Week
Umm...sorry. I watched the previews, but nothing stood out. I don’t even know who the featured character is.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Scar, Jaters and Skaters
Ok folks, I stand corrected. Apparently there IS a scar and this picture proves it. I still think it's a little hard to see, but whatever. Chalk up one question answered.
Also in the site where I got this picture, there is a discussion of "Jaters" and "Skaters". Jaters are the people who are rooting for the horribly wrong and doomed relationship of Jack and Kate. Skaters are those wise folks who know that Kate and Sawyer are soul mates. I guess y'all know which camp I'm in. Weigh in on the poll I posted on the right.
Anyway, I've added the link to Lost...Stuff under links to the left.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Something Nice Back Home SE4 EP10
Shut up Donger.
Ok folks, just so you know, my daughter had a play last night that had me arriving home at about 10 after 10, so I missed the first 10 minutes, which may have affected my observation skills. I found myself a little disoriented when the first scene I saw was Kate jumping Jack in the hallway. Never fear, I quickly watched the first ten minutes this morning, so I have the full episode under my belt. That being said, this 10pm time slot is killing me. It’s all I can do to jot down some notes before I hit the wall at 11:30. At least when we were at the 9pm slot, I could get just about the whole recap done.
But enough about me! Let’s talk about Jack
Jack is Sick
We open with Juliet trying to rouse an obviously ill Jack. The Jackies have a little conflict going with Daniel and Charlotte (Charlotte just seems to rub EVERYONE to wrong way—including the normally serene Rose: “Watch your tone, Red.”). Jack comes out to settle everyone down and also re-iterate his promise: I am going to get you off the island.” The rest of the gang insists that Charlotte and Daniel are lying to them, to which Jack replies, “I know they are lying.” What struck me about this particular episode was the overarching theme of Jack’s narcissism, which is revisited several times throughout he show. Here it is his emphasis on “I”: “I” am going to get you off the island, “I” made you a promise. “I” am the leader. Even though it’s not Jack who has access to the helicopter or their means of rescue, Jack still thinks it’s all about him—and so does everyone else.
Anyway, in the midst of Jack reminding everyone how great he is, he finally succumbs to his illness and passes out on the beach. While Kate and Juliet scramble to revive him, Bernard & Rose have an interesting little exchange: Rose: “Isn’t it odd that Jack gets a life threatening illness right before we’re about to get rescued?” Bernard brushes it off, chalking it up to bad luck. “People get sick,” he says, as if it’s no big deal. But Rose knows better. “Not here they don’t. Here they get better.” This little exchange may offer our clue as to why Rose and Bernard are not part of the Oceanic Six. Rose is starting to believe in the island again.
Juliet diagnoses Jack with appendicitis and tells everyone they need to operate or Jack will die. They cannot move him to the Medical hatch because that also can cause his appendix to rupture and in turn die. Jack wants to be awake to guide her through it. He insists Kate hold the mirror so he can see what Juliet is doing. Is this just Jack being his normal, control freak self, or does he not trust Juliet to get the job done right? I think a case can be made for either scenario, but whatever the reason, Juliet is not happy about a.) Jack being awake, and b.) Kate being in the “operating room”. It’s hard to say what she’s more pissed off about, but one thing is for certain: Juliet can no longer kid herself about Jack’s feelings for Kate.
So because she can’t move Jack, Juliet sends Sun and Jin to get medical instruments. Sun is worried that she will get the wrong things on the shopping list, so Daniel volunteers himself and Charlotte on the premise that Daniel would know what they were looking at. The rest of the Jackies protest—they don’t trust Daniel & Charlotte. Daniel pleads with Juliet to let them help and insists that they are scientists and not part of the malicious doings of the other occupants of the boat. Juliet relents, handing Jin a gun. “If they try to run, shoot them in the leg.”
When they get to the medical hatch, Sun and Jin engage in one of my pet peeves from way back: obviously conversing about the people you are with right in front of them in another language. But while they are speaking about how they don’t trust Charlotte and Daniel, and how Daniel and Charlotte have a little thing for each other, Jin is watching Charlotte closely: Charlotte understands Korean. One of the best scenes last night was Jin’s confrontation of Charlotte’s understanding of Korean, which she continues to play dumb until Jin says, “Stop lying or I will break all of Daniel’s fingers one by one.” “What do you want?” Charlotte asks in Korean. “When the helicopter comes back for you, I want you to get my wife off of this island,” Jin replies “What about your friends?” Charlotte asks. “Just get my wife off,” says Jin. And because Charlotte is herself a coldly calculating non-empathetic person who totally gets Jin’s mindset, she quietly agrees.
Meanwhile, we are ready to operate. Jack is staying awake but he’s in obvious pain after Juliet begins operating. As Jack’s resolve collapses and the pain takes over, chaos reigns in the tent: Juliet insists he be put under, Jack is fighting, Bernard is going for the chloroform, Jack is calling for Kate, Kate is crying, Juliet is yelling for Kate to get out. Finally, they put Jack under using chloroform.
I’d like to point out here another parallel with Stephen King’s The Stand, in which the plague survivor band of Stu, Frannie, Glen and Harold are confronted with newcomer Mark’s appendicitis. There is not a trained doctor among them, so faced with the choice of letting Mark die from a burst appendix or operating, Stu steps up and begins operating in crude conditions using a book for reference and with no anesthetic. Mark eventually dies and his girl Perion kills herself in anguish.
After the operation is complete, Bernard comes out to tell Kate it’s all over and she can go in to see Jack. Kate goes back in while Juliet is stitching Jack up. Jack is (apparently) still under the anesthesia. “He kissed me,” Juliet says to Kate. “Right after you came back. It was nice. But he did it for himself, not for me. He needed to prove to himself that he wasn’t in love with someone else.” Kate is emotional. She thanks Juliet. Then she thanks her again, this time for saving his life. The first time she thanked Juliet was presumably for telling Kate, in her cryptic, singsong-y Juliet way, that Jack loves her Kate then leaves the tent while Juliet finishes up washing off the wound. “I know you’re awake, Jack.”
On the way to the Beach
Sawyer, Miles, Claire and the Baybay and trekking through the jungle on the way back to the beach. Sawyer catches Miles staring at Claire and issues a restraining order to Miles against Claire—and don’t ogle her either. Miles asks, “Who are you, her big brother?” No, that would be Jack, but an interesting choice of analogies, Miles. So they are trekking along, Sawyer all protective-like of Claire, asking how she is, if she’s still woozy, to which Claire cryptically responds, “Well at least I’m not seeing things anymore.” Before Sawyer can get her to elaborate on what exactly she means by that, Miles starts doing his ghost whisperer thing and hearing voices, asks about Danielle and Carl. In short order, he discovers Carl and Rousseau buried in shallow graves. Claire is creeped out and they leave the scene quickly.
As they progress through the jungle, they suddenly cross paths with Lapidus who tells them to hide and hide quick, since the Mercs are right behind them. Aaron almost gives them away, but it is Lapidus’s insistence to Keevey that they MUST get to the helicopter NOW before dark that keeps the Mercs from investigating Aaron’s little outburst.
They make camp and Claire wakes up in the middle of the night to find Christian Sheppard holding Aaron. “Dad?” she asks. Brrrr!!!!
Sawyer wakes up in the morning to find Miles calmly tending the fire and Claire and Aaron gone. “Where’d they go?” Sawyer asks Miles: “She just walked off into jungle.” “Alone? And you didn’t follow her?” “No, I didn’t follow her. I’m under a restraining order, remember? Anyway, she wasn’t alone.” “Who’s she go with?” Sawyer wants to know. Miles shrugs, “She called him ‘Dad’.” Sawyer begins frantically looking for Claire, only to find Aaron abandoned a little ways away.
Future Perfect
Jack is awoken in his perfect home by his perfect practice calling with a question. He gets out of bed, stumbles over a perfect pair of lace panties then a perfect Millenium Falcon toy. He makes coffee, goes to the bathroom when he says good morning to the perfect panty owner, who is showering. She steps out to reveal it’s perfect Kate. It’s actually Kate’s perfect house where he’s living.
Now since I watched this scene after I watched the rest of the entire episode (see above), I was actively looking for Jack’s appendectomy scar. It is absent, and believe me, the camera lingered on Jack’s (nicely toned) abdomen for quite some time. It could be a simple continuity error, but I think it was intentionally omitted. For what reason, I do not know.
We later see Jack reading an “Alice in Wonderland” to Aaron:
Isn’t it just? And don’t you get the feeling that Jack could just as easily be talking about the Oceanic Six as Alice? Kate compliments Jack on his parenting skills and Jack tells her that his Old Man used to read him that story. Kate is pleasantly surprised, “I’ve never heard you say anything nice about your father.” “Haven’t I?” Jack counters. “Well, he was a helluva storyteller.”
Jack is working in his perfect busy practice at his perfect upscale medical office, when he catches a glimpse of his father. As he goes to pursue him, a call comes in at the front desk; there’s doctor that wants to talk to Jack about his friend. It turns out, Hurley is not taking his meds, can Jack come down and talk with him?
So Jack shows up at the looney bin where a dejected Hurley is sitting in his room. He doesn’t even look up when Jack enters. Hurley: “We’re all dead.” Jack: “We’re not dead. You need to get back on your meds.” Hurley disagrees, “All of the Oceanic Six. We’re all dead. Jack, you’re living with Kate after the trial. Raising Aaron. It’s too perfect. It’s kinda like Heaven, isn’t it?” “You think we’re dead because I’m happy?” Jack asks. Hurley ignores this and tells him about his visits from Charlie. “He gave me a message for you. I wrote it down so I wouldn’t screw it up.” He unfolds a piece of paper. “Charlie said you’re not supposed to be raising him. Ya think he means Aaron? Charlie says you’re going to get a visitor, too. Soon.” Meanwhile, Jack is totally freaking out.
A shaken Jack lingers outside the mental health institute, perhaps looking for Charlie. Later that night, Jack asks Kate: “You said I was a natural. Do you really think I’m good at this?” Kate says yes. Jack asks Kate to marry him and Kate says yes again.
Later Jack is alone in his office and the smoke detector starts beeping. He goes to take battery out and Christian Sheppard sitting there, saying his name in a creepy way. Then his partner Erica comes out to find Jack again visibly shaken, but Christian Sheppard has disappeared. He then asks for the script from Erica for sleeping pills and thus it begins. He returns home to find Kate on the phone, engaged in a somewhat private and suspicious conversation, which she ends immediately upon seeing Jack.
He comes home early the next day and when Kate gets there he is suspicious of her and drunk. Jack tells Kate he went to see Hurley and that Hurley is crazy and he didn’t tell Kate because he didn’t want to upset her. Turnabout is NOT fairplay, where Jack is concerned. Jack can keep his secrets, but Kate is not allowed to keep hers. “Where were you?” He demands. “Who were you talking to on the phone?” Kate asks him to trust her. “Don’t do this,” she pleads. And of course Jack doesn’t listen—he is just like he was when his first wife left him, and he insists Kate tell him where she was. “I was doing something for HIM. For Sawyer. I made a promise.” “Well he’s not here.” Jack sputters “He made his choice. He stayed behind. I’m the one that saved you.” Kate is distraught, “I won’t have you upsetting my son.” “Your son?” Jack counters. “You’re not even related!”
Two intriguing thoughts about this exchange: First, is Kate doing something for Cassie or Clementine as a promise to Sawyer? Probably. Remember, Kate knows Cassie. Second: Can we assume from Jack’s retort about Aaaron not being related to Kate that he knows that he is in fact related to Aaron? Is this what made him “change his mind” about having contact with Aaron, or is it why he wanted to stay away in the first place?
Bonus observations/questions from Sig:
Why didn't the smoke monster kill Kearney and the other men?
What did Claire mean by "not seeing things anymore" after Sawyer asked her if she was feeling any better?
Anyone catch the reference to Sixteen Candles? Star Wars? Alice in Wonderland?
Remember the psychic that told Claire to give her baybee up to a couple in Los Angeles? Are Jack and Kate the couple?
Hurley and Jack are on the same meds and the same paper cut-outs from the mental hospital are on the fridge in Kate's house. Is Jack in the nut house also, living in his own little world?
Smoke detector....smoke monster? Are the apparitions of these dead people really just the smoke monster? Or are these visions of dead people really the 'constants' that everyone needs in order to move back and forth from the island?
Next Week:
Locke! Locke! Locke! What more needs to be said?
Ok folks, just so you know, my daughter had a play last night that had me arriving home at about 10 after 10, so I missed the first 10 minutes, which may have affected my observation skills. I found myself a little disoriented when the first scene I saw was Kate jumping Jack in the hallway. Never fear, I quickly watched the first ten minutes this morning, so I have the full episode under my belt. That being said, this 10pm time slot is killing me. It’s all I can do to jot down some notes before I hit the wall at 11:30. At least when we were at the 9pm slot, I could get just about the whole recap done.
But enough about me! Let’s talk about Jack
Jack is Sick
We open with Juliet trying to rouse an obviously ill Jack. The Jackies have a little conflict going with Daniel and Charlotte (Charlotte just seems to rub EVERYONE to wrong way—including the normally serene Rose: “Watch your tone, Red.”). Jack comes out to settle everyone down and also re-iterate his promise: I am going to get you off the island.” The rest of the gang insists that Charlotte and Daniel are lying to them, to which Jack replies, “I know they are lying.” What struck me about this particular episode was the overarching theme of Jack’s narcissism, which is revisited several times throughout he show. Here it is his emphasis on “I”: “I” am going to get you off the island, “I” made you a promise. “I” am the leader. Even though it’s not Jack who has access to the helicopter or their means of rescue, Jack still thinks it’s all about him—and so does everyone else.
Anyway, in the midst of Jack reminding everyone how great he is, he finally succumbs to his illness and passes out on the beach. While Kate and Juliet scramble to revive him, Bernard & Rose have an interesting little exchange: Rose: “Isn’t it odd that Jack gets a life threatening illness right before we’re about to get rescued?” Bernard brushes it off, chalking it up to bad luck. “People get sick,” he says, as if it’s no big deal. But Rose knows better. “Not here they don’t. Here they get better.” This little exchange may offer our clue as to why Rose and Bernard are not part of the Oceanic Six. Rose is starting to believe in the island again.
Juliet diagnoses Jack with appendicitis and tells everyone they need to operate or Jack will die. They cannot move him to the Medical hatch because that also can cause his appendix to rupture and in turn die. Jack wants to be awake to guide her through it. He insists Kate hold the mirror so he can see what Juliet is doing. Is this just Jack being his normal, control freak self, or does he not trust Juliet to get the job done right? I think a case can be made for either scenario, but whatever the reason, Juliet is not happy about a.) Jack being awake, and b.) Kate being in the “operating room”. It’s hard to say what she’s more pissed off about, but one thing is for certain: Juliet can no longer kid herself about Jack’s feelings for Kate.
So because she can’t move Jack, Juliet sends Sun and Jin to get medical instruments. Sun is worried that she will get the wrong things on the shopping list, so Daniel volunteers himself and Charlotte on the premise that Daniel would know what they were looking at. The rest of the Jackies protest—they don’t trust Daniel & Charlotte. Daniel pleads with Juliet to let them help and insists that they are scientists and not part of the malicious doings of the other occupants of the boat. Juliet relents, handing Jin a gun. “If they try to run, shoot them in the leg.”
When they get to the medical hatch, Sun and Jin engage in one of my pet peeves from way back: obviously conversing about the people you are with right in front of them in another language. But while they are speaking about how they don’t trust Charlotte and Daniel, and how Daniel and Charlotte have a little thing for each other, Jin is watching Charlotte closely: Charlotte understands Korean. One of the best scenes last night was Jin’s confrontation of Charlotte’s understanding of Korean, which she continues to play dumb until Jin says, “Stop lying or I will break all of Daniel’s fingers one by one.” “What do you want?” Charlotte asks in Korean. “When the helicopter comes back for you, I want you to get my wife off of this island,” Jin replies “What about your friends?” Charlotte asks. “Just get my wife off,” says Jin. And because Charlotte is herself a coldly calculating non-empathetic person who totally gets Jin’s mindset, she quietly agrees.
Meanwhile, we are ready to operate. Jack is staying awake but he’s in obvious pain after Juliet begins operating. As Jack’s resolve collapses and the pain takes over, chaos reigns in the tent: Juliet insists he be put under, Jack is fighting, Bernard is going for the chloroform, Jack is calling for Kate, Kate is crying, Juliet is yelling for Kate to get out. Finally, they put Jack under using chloroform.
I’d like to point out here another parallel with Stephen King’s The Stand, in which the plague survivor band of Stu, Frannie, Glen and Harold are confronted with newcomer Mark’s appendicitis. There is not a trained doctor among them, so faced with the choice of letting Mark die from a burst appendix or operating, Stu steps up and begins operating in crude conditions using a book for reference and with no anesthetic. Mark eventually dies and his girl Perion kills herself in anguish.
After the operation is complete, Bernard comes out to tell Kate it’s all over and she can go in to see Jack. Kate goes back in while Juliet is stitching Jack up. Jack is (apparently) still under the anesthesia. “He kissed me,” Juliet says to Kate. “Right after you came back. It was nice. But he did it for himself, not for me. He needed to prove to himself that he wasn’t in love with someone else.” Kate is emotional. She thanks Juliet. Then she thanks her again, this time for saving his life. The first time she thanked Juliet was presumably for telling Kate, in her cryptic, singsong-y Juliet way, that Jack loves her Kate then leaves the tent while Juliet finishes up washing off the wound. “I know you’re awake, Jack.”
On the way to the Beach
Sawyer, Miles, Claire and the Baybay and trekking through the jungle on the way back to the beach. Sawyer catches Miles staring at Claire and issues a restraining order to Miles against Claire—and don’t ogle her either. Miles asks, “Who are you, her big brother?” No, that would be Jack, but an interesting choice of analogies, Miles. So they are trekking along, Sawyer all protective-like of Claire, asking how she is, if she’s still woozy, to which Claire cryptically responds, “Well at least I’m not seeing things anymore.” Before Sawyer can get her to elaborate on what exactly she means by that, Miles starts doing his ghost whisperer thing and hearing voices, asks about Danielle and Carl. In short order, he discovers Carl and Rousseau buried in shallow graves. Claire is creeped out and they leave the scene quickly.
As they progress through the jungle, they suddenly cross paths with Lapidus who tells them to hide and hide quick, since the Mercs are right behind them. Aaron almost gives them away, but it is Lapidus’s insistence to Keevey that they MUST get to the helicopter NOW before dark that keeps the Mercs from investigating Aaron’s little outburst.
They make camp and Claire wakes up in the middle of the night to find Christian Sheppard holding Aaron. “Dad?” she asks. Brrrr!!!!
Sawyer wakes up in the morning to find Miles calmly tending the fire and Claire and Aaron gone. “Where’d they go?” Sawyer asks Miles: “She just walked off into jungle.” “Alone? And you didn’t follow her?” “No, I didn’t follow her. I’m under a restraining order, remember? Anyway, she wasn’t alone.” “Who’s she go with?” Sawyer wants to know. Miles shrugs, “She called him ‘Dad’.” Sawyer begins frantically looking for Claire, only to find Aaron abandoned a little ways away.
Future Perfect
Jack is awoken in his perfect home by his perfect practice calling with a question. He gets out of bed, stumbles over a perfect pair of lace panties then a perfect Millenium Falcon toy. He makes coffee, goes to the bathroom when he says good morning to the perfect panty owner, who is showering. She steps out to reveal it’s perfect Kate. It’s actually Kate’s perfect house where he’s living.
Now since I watched this scene after I watched the rest of the entire episode (see above), I was actively looking for Jack’s appendectomy scar. It is absent, and believe me, the camera lingered on Jack’s (nicely toned) abdomen for quite some time. It could be a simple continuity error, but I think it was intentionally omitted. For what reason, I do not know.
We later see Jack reading an “Alice in Wonderland” to Aaron:
"Dear, dear! How queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!" (H/T: Sig)
Isn’t it just? And don’t you get the feeling that Jack could just as easily be talking about the Oceanic Six as Alice? Kate compliments Jack on his parenting skills and Jack tells her that his Old Man used to read him that story. Kate is pleasantly surprised, “I’ve never heard you say anything nice about your father.” “Haven’t I?” Jack counters. “Well, he was a helluva storyteller.”
Jack is working in his perfect busy practice at his perfect upscale medical office, when he catches a glimpse of his father. As he goes to pursue him, a call comes in at the front desk; there’s doctor that wants to talk to Jack about his friend. It turns out, Hurley is not taking his meds, can Jack come down and talk with him?
So Jack shows up at the looney bin where a dejected Hurley is sitting in his room. He doesn’t even look up when Jack enters. Hurley: “We’re all dead.” Jack: “We’re not dead. You need to get back on your meds.” Hurley disagrees, “All of the Oceanic Six. We’re all dead. Jack, you’re living with Kate after the trial. Raising Aaron. It’s too perfect. It’s kinda like Heaven, isn’t it?” “You think we’re dead because I’m happy?” Jack asks. Hurley ignores this and tells him about his visits from Charlie. “He gave me a message for you. I wrote it down so I wouldn’t screw it up.” He unfolds a piece of paper. “Charlie said you’re not supposed to be raising him. Ya think he means Aaron? Charlie says you’re going to get a visitor, too. Soon.” Meanwhile, Jack is totally freaking out.
A shaken Jack lingers outside the mental health institute, perhaps looking for Charlie. Later that night, Jack asks Kate: “You said I was a natural. Do you really think I’m good at this?” Kate says yes. Jack asks Kate to marry him and Kate says yes again.
Later Jack is alone in his office and the smoke detector starts beeping. He goes to take battery out and Christian Sheppard sitting there, saying his name in a creepy way. Then his partner Erica comes out to find Jack again visibly shaken, but Christian Sheppard has disappeared. He then asks for the script from Erica for sleeping pills and thus it begins. He returns home to find Kate on the phone, engaged in a somewhat private and suspicious conversation, which she ends immediately upon seeing Jack.
He comes home early the next day and when Kate gets there he is suspicious of her and drunk. Jack tells Kate he went to see Hurley and that Hurley is crazy and he didn’t tell Kate because he didn’t want to upset her. Turnabout is NOT fairplay, where Jack is concerned. Jack can keep his secrets, but Kate is not allowed to keep hers. “Where were you?” He demands. “Who were you talking to on the phone?” Kate asks him to trust her. “Don’t do this,” she pleads. And of course Jack doesn’t listen—he is just like he was when his first wife left him, and he insists Kate tell him where she was. “I was doing something for HIM. For Sawyer. I made a promise.” “Well he’s not here.” Jack sputters “He made his choice. He stayed behind. I’m the one that saved you.” Kate is distraught, “I won’t have you upsetting my son.” “Your son?” Jack counters. “You’re not even related!”
Two intriguing thoughts about this exchange: First, is Kate doing something for Cassie or Clementine as a promise to Sawyer? Probably. Remember, Kate knows Cassie. Second: Can we assume from Jack’s retort about Aaaron not being related to Kate that he knows that he is in fact related to Aaron? Is this what made him “change his mind” about having contact with Aaron, or is it why he wanted to stay away in the first place?
Bonus observations/questions from Sig:
Why didn't the smoke monster kill Kearney and the other men?
What did Claire mean by "not seeing things anymore" after Sawyer asked her if she was feeling any better?
Anyone catch the reference to Sixteen Candles? Star Wars? Alice in Wonderland?
Remember the psychic that told Claire to give her baybee up to a couple in Los Angeles? Are Jack and Kate the couple?
Hurley and Jack are on the same meds and the same paper cut-outs from the mental hospital are on the fridge in Kate's house. Is Jack in the nut house also, living in his own little world?
Smoke detector....smoke monster? Are the apparitions of these dead people really just the smoke monster? Or are these visions of dead people really the 'constants' that everyone needs in order to move back and forth from the island?
Next Week:
Locke! Locke! Locke! What more needs to be said?
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