Locke Dead? WTF!!!!11!!!

So, Locke is in the coffin. The question to which we've been waiting a year to learn the answer. The question that, at ComiCon last year, Damon and Carlton cited in direct response to the question, "What question should we be asking?" And now we know. And it's not who I thought it would be.

But now that we know, what does it mean? Apparently, Locke came to see at least some of the O6, and Walt. Probably he had contact with Ben as well. We know the main reason he came to see them: to convince them to return. Is there more to it? Did Locke wind up having to move the island again? Is he, too, banished? Why the alias?

Here's my theory: What if the Locke in the coffin is future Locke? What if in 2007-8 there's still a Locke on the island, but years in the future, he tries to go back and change the course of events?

Even though they've opened up the reality that time travel is going to play a role, this idea (of changing the past/future) conflicts with Ms Hawkings' insistence that the universe self-corrects. Nevertheless, Desmond did alter future events significantly in his "consciousness travel". Does Locke wind up using this tool, maybe with the help of Daniel (whose fate is as yet unknown)?

The bottom line is, I've always believed Locke to central yo LOST, and I felt that was finally vindicated the last few episodes, especially "Cabin Fever". So I'm having a hard time believing he's dead. As in, not mostly-dead, but all-the-way-dead.

Of course, what if it's an Orchid-time anomaly-copy-bunny thing? AAARRGGHH!! My head!

The other question I have is, what bad things happened? I originally assumed that the worst things to happen to the island and its inhabitants would occur during the siege of the island by Keamy and his men. But that seems to be over, with relatively few casualties. So there must be something more.

Keamy's dead, most, if not all, of his men are dead. What could have happened, especially as a result of the O6 leaving? I am down with the idea that the Losties were drawn there, and therefore not supposed to leave, but what could have happened that depended on their presence to prevent?

As you can see I'm at a loss on that one.

I'm getting ferklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic: WTF!! Discuss.

There's No Place Like Home, Part 2 (Alliances)

OK, I'm a little confused as to just who's flying whose flag here. There seem to be many overlapping interests, but does it just boil down to two? Is it an epic battle of good and evil? Or is it really more complicated?

Let's start with the island. I'm assuming it has its own identity and goals and motivations, etc. It would also seem that it sometimes acts through various agents. The question is, who are these agents, and to what degree are they motivated by their own needs?

Jacob seems like the most obvious candidate for direct representative of the island, but how do we know? We don't even know where he came from (although we do know he lives in a cabin that's not more than 30 years old). We do know that Jacob is the ultimate leader of the Others, whose direct subordinate was a "Chosen" human representative. (I'm differentiating here between "human" and whatever Jacob is, even though he may in fact be human. Sue me.) This chosen one apparently was Ben, now it's Locke. That could be a post in and of itself, but I'm going to try to stay on topic.

But what about Christian? I have to believe there's something significant about the fact that it's him. That is, I don't think it's just a convenient way of the island manifesting itself, mostly due to the fact that he's been the "all-purpose" manifestation as of late.

Now, it could just be the reality of TV; maybe Libby would have been more appropriate to tell Michael he was done than Christian, but Cynthia Watros wasn't available. But even if that were true, I think TPTB are brilliant enough to adapt.

In other words, whether by plan or not, I believe Christian has a major role, and why not? He's been a part of the show from the beginning, he's the father of one marquee character, as well as being the father of another major character, who just happens to be the mother of a baby who we have every reason to believe is central to the overall story.

But to get back to the matter at hand, why does Jacob have a spirit deputy, as well as a human one? Does "Christian" answer to Jacob absolutely? Does Ben? Will Locke?

It's obvious to me that Ben has acted in his own interests, or at least out of emotion, in the past. He admitted as much in the finale. But I do believe he has the interests of the island at heart. Jacob essentially banishes him from the island, but he still works on behalf of it (see his visit to Jack in Hoffs-Drawlar). His crusade against Widmore's people may or may not be solely selfish, but I do think he believes in the island, and will go to great lengths to protect it.

Locke as well; he may still be a little naive, and he may still have something to prove, but I believe he wants what's best for the island.

So, what is Widmore? Is he simply the enemy of the island? If so, what are the "rules", and who created them? Why can't Ben kill Widmore?

I can't help but wonder if Widmore might not be a tool of the island as well. There have been layer upon layer of religious references in LOST; is it too much to believe that Widmore is some kind of a Satan? Satan, after all, means "adversary" in Hebrew. Is it possible he is the necessary "evil" agent in a "game" where the agents of "good" must rely on their virtues and/or redemption to succeed?

There are theories floating around out there that Widmore is Magnus Hanso, who has the same immortality as Alpert. I don't know what I think of that, but I suspect that Widmore's history with the island predates his involvement with the DI via Hanso.

But what about Widmore's supposed lieutenants? Keamy is clearly one; he states explicitly that Widmore paid him to capture Ben. I think it's clear his men had allegiance only to him. But what about Naomi, Abaddon, and the team? And who is the economist?

We know Naomi takes her orders from Abaddon, but we don't know for a fact he works for Widmore. Naomi and the team Abaddon outlined were on Widmore's freighter, true, but that doesn't mean they didn't get on by subversive means, like Michael.

My problem is with the fact that Keamy's team was clearly well equipped to perform the extraction mission. So if Abaddon reports to Widmore, what was Naomi for? In her flashback with Abaddon, she clearly believes she is in charge of the extraction, and wonders why she's being saddled with a bunch of scientists/nutbags. She's also the first one to touch down on the island, followed by the science team. Why are they there? Who is hoping to gain from their presence on the island? Are they simply Widmore's advance team for after the island has been recaptured? Was Naomi being used? Or does Abaddon work for someone else?

As noted previously in this space, the name Abaddon has biblical roots as well. Go here and scroll to the second-to-last paragragh for the full explanation of the name, but suffice it to say he's an agent of the devil (Widmore).

But there's just some nagging feeling that Abaddon has other alliances. I don't know what or whom they could be, but his role just seems too bizarre and up in the air. For instance, he was also intrumental in bringing Locke to the island.

I'd like to mention the phone-call/visitation dream that Kate had at the end of the episode again, because it seems to tie into this idea of sides/allegiances. The voice on the phone told Kate to come back; Claire's apparition told her not to take Aaron back.

One possibility is that they're not contradictory; Kate could go back without Aaron. But who would take care of him? Jack has to go back. Claire is (dead?). Sawyer is on the island. Sun is in Korea. Charlie's dead. Seems kind of unlikely to me.

Is Claire selfishly trying to protect her son from the dangerous job she knows he has to do? I don't think so. I suspect that her appearance to Kate is the same "Claire" we saw in the cabin. That Claire was at ease, and tacitly agreed with "Christian" that Aaron was where he needed to be (presumably, in position to get off the island).

So does Christian also not want Aaron on the island? And if so, does he speak for Jacob in this case? How much hinges on Aaron? How important can he be if he's not supposed to go back? I assume Ben wants him to return; why?

Whew! Now you know why it took me so long to get another post up. Even when I try to limit the topic, it still goes off in all directions.

Alright, have at it.

There's No Place Like Home, Part 1 (Whispers/Apparitions)

Wow, what a great finale to cap off a great season! I have to admit, it's daunting trying to organize my thoughts into something coherent, so I'm just going to start the discussion, and see where it leads us.

We got so much in the last three hours of the season: a transfer of power, from Ben to Locke; apparitions galore, especially Christian; Sun buying out Paik Industries and confronting Widmore (the latter also confirming a long suspected Paik/Widmore connection); Charlotte born on the island?; Ben banished; Locke dead!

I think I'm going to start with the apparitions and whispers, and try to hash out their motives, who they represent, etc.

As readers of this blog know, I have never subscribed to the idea that the whispers were directly connected to the Others. This idea was first put forth by Danielle in Season 1, and Lost fans have held to it ever since.

It made sense at first, when we thought the Others were mysterious and magic. Now that we've become more intimately acquainted with them, it doesn't seem like they do a bunch of backward whispering themselves.

Also, the frequent indications that the voices include those of dead people, and not limited to the Others, has further led me to believe they are separate. I imagined them in the service of the island, like the Smoke Monster.

But of course, that group includes Jacob, and the Others clearly are in the service of Jacob. And the Others have displayed uncanny knowledge and skills in tracking and fighting. So what if they are aided by the whispers?

The scene with Keamy's team being taken out by the Others so clearly tied in the whispers with what was happening, that it became impossible for me not to see a connection. Then I thought of the whispers preceding Harper's appearance in the jungle in "The Other Woman".

Initially, I took that to mean she was an apparition. I figured this explained the somewhat unlikely locating of Juliet.

But Damon and Carlton have said she was really Harper. So maybe the whispers helped her find Juliet? And maybe the whispers helped the Others keep the advantage over Keamy's men?

The most recent transcriptions at Lostpedia are in fact from "The Other Woman", and while vague (as usual), they would seem to support this idea. Check them out here.

But the whispers also accompanied apparitions, namely Christian, when he came to the freighter to "release" Michael, and in Kate's dream, on the phone, before discovering Claire in Aaron's room.

Christian is worth a post in and of himself, so let's stick for now with apparitions who have appeared off island. Up until now, it had seemed like the goal was getting the O6 back to the island. But Kate's vision/dream was a departure, and a contradiction.

For the first time, we have an apparition (Claire) explicitly telling someone (Kate) not to go back, or actually, not to take Aaron back. Why?

In "Cabin Fever", Christian tells Locke that Aaron is where he needs to be (with Kate, ready to be rescued?), and "Claire" seems to be OK with that. Does this mean Aaron needed to be rescued? Then why does Ben want them all to go back? How many factions are there?

Also, on the phone call that woke Kate up before she encountered Claire said that she needed to go back, before it was too late. Listen to unscrambled versions here.

What's up with a dream/vision arguing both sides? Are they supposed to go back or aren't they? Who wants what outcome? Is Claire dead? Will my head explode? It makes me really wonder what Christian would have told Jack if they hadn't been interrupted in "Something Nice Back Home".

Which is another good point. Jack has apparently been listening to "Jeremy Bentham", and now Ben again. Did Christian (or the island) never make another attempt to communicate with Jack? Why is he flying so blind?

OK, that should kick this puppy off. I expect to really hash this out over the next few weeks, but I can't make it work without help, so let's get busy!

Cabin Fever

Cabin fever? I've got LOST fever! This episode was so jam-packed, I have to warn, this may be lengthy.

Locke-centric, the flashback showed Locke from several stages of his pre island life: birth, age 5, age 16, and during rehab after Cooper pushed him out the window. The dominant themes in the FB (as well as in Locke's island scenes) were being chosen, and what kind of man he is.

Born prematurely, under the duress of his sixteen year old mother being hit by a car, in 1956, John's chances were not good. Indeed, the nurse later reports he had all sorts of infections and complications, and he fought through them. He is a fighter.

After Emily Locke makes it clear she can't fulfill the duties of a mother and runs screaming from the room, Mrs. Locke sees someone gazing in through the glass. It is revealed to be none other than Richard Alpert (yay)! She seems both to know him (although she claims not to) and to be surprised to see him. As fascinating as Alpert following Locke from birth is, the idea that he goes back even futher with his family is quite intriguing, to say the least.

Alpert shows up again in Locke's life when he is five, claiming to be interested in John for the school for "extremely special" people that he runs. He notices a picture John drew, which looks very much like Smokey attacking someone. He then administers a test of sorts, showing John several items: a baseball mitt, a vial with some sort of grayish material, a compass, a "Mystery Tales" comic book, a knife, and an old book entitled "Book of Laws". He asks young John which of the objects belongs to him...already.

It's not clear to me if the first two objects he picks up (vial and compass) are choices or whether he's considering them and then rejecting them. Either way, he then appears to consider the Book of Laws, which appears to make Richard happy, but then goes instead for the knife, which makes Richard look disappointed and angry. He tells John the knife isn't his, grabs the objects, and storms out.

He tries to contact John again when he's sixteen through Mittelos Laboratories, with his teacher giving him a brochure and telling John Mittelos is interested in him. John complains that science camp is why he gets stuffed into lockers. His teacher tells him he needs to be true to who he is.

This idea of who he's supposed to be is reinforced by injured Locke's encounter with Abaddon (?!?), who tells him to go on a walkabout to find out who he is.

Who is he? The scene with his teacher shows a new element of Locke. We've always thought of him as the man of faith, not science. Did he turn his back on his true talent? What of the scene with Richard's objects? Is he not supposed to be a hunter? And what would the Book of Laws have made him? Has Alpert or who he represents been waiting a long time for Locke to realize his true destiny?

Who does Richard represent? I assume the island, but then who does Abaddon represent? I have until now assumed he worked for Widmore. Why would Widmore want to influence Locke? Is it possible both factions knew he was key to the island, and both wanted to get him there, hoping they could then manipulate him to their own ends? What will Locke "owe" Abaddon?

I guess Alpert and Abaddon succeeded, although the latter seems to have the most direct role in getting him to the island: Locke's pursuit of the walkabout led to him being on Flight 815. Alpert also gave John help at a key moment on the island, when he gave him Sawyer's file in "The Brig". But John has not held true to his lab boy self, and he has obviously gone for knives in a big way. So why is he still the chosen one?

It would be easy to say the teacher was just wrong. Certainly, in the past, John's familiar outburst, "Don't tell me what I can't do!", has been vindicated. Richard's reaction to the test, however, reinforced the idea that he wasn't being true to himself. And yet, on the island, he has now apparently arrived as the knife-wielding, meat-bringing chosen one.

Which leads us to the scenes with Locke, Hurley and Ben on the way to Jacob's cabin.

These scenes seem to cement the idea that power is transitioning from Ben to Locke. Ben says, "I used to have dreams," after Locke reveals how he knows how to locate the cabin. More interesting is when Ben congratulates Locke on manipulating Hurley, and Locke denies doing so, saying, "I'm not you." Ben replies, intriguingly, "You're certainly not." What does that mean?

Of course the visit to the cabin is the culmination of all these events, where Locke is definitively told he is "chosen". By Christian. With Claire. In Jacob's cabin. I don't think I'm alone in saying, "WTF!?!"

Let's start with Christian.

First off, what is he wearing? No suit with gym shoes? Evene when Hurley saw him in the cabin he was wearing his usual garb. When did he switch to Others-chic? More importantly, what does it mean? And why was he shimmery, Jacob-style, when Hurley saw him, but not now?

But it's what he said that's more important than his outfit. He claims to speak on Jacob's behalf, and he apparently knows a lot about what's going on. He knows where Aaron "should" be, he knows Locke has been chosen, and he knows what they have to do.

I have long wondered whether Christian had a previous connection to the island, or whether his image is just being used by the island, since his corpse crashed there. The appearance to Hurley was one thing, but this was not equivocal. He appeared to be corporeal, he spoke, identified himself as Christian, all to someone who had no way of knowing who he was. This wasn't Dave appearing to Hurley, the horse appearing to Kate, or even Christian appearing to Jack and Claire. Now that he's clearly appearing to people who did not know him before, I can't help but think the real, living Christian had some connection to the island.

So why does he need to speak for Jacob? Where is Jacob? Was Jacob trapped and now he's not? And what's Claire doing? Why doesn't she seem to care about Aaron? Is she dead? (BTW, hats off to Emilie de Ravin, who did an incredible job seeming spooky while looking radiantly beautiful.)

Well, I'm going to leave it for now, so as not to explode my head (and I haven't even gotten to Horace or the Kahana, or really delved into the cabin). But I'll leave you with my favorite line of the night: Hurley with a serious look on his face, saying, "Yeah, I'm pretty much OK with you going in alone too." HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Anyway, let's try to figure this out before Thursday, shall we?

Namaste

Something Nice Back Home

I love the ride that is LOST. This week's episode has been labelled filler by some, but I disagree. I think "SNBH" has many key points of interest, underlying the fact that it was just a damn good hour of TV.

Of course, it answered the question, "Is Danielle really dead," in the affirmative. Contrary to the reasoning that we were promised a Rouseau backstory, therefore she can't be dead, she seems quite indisputably to be so. Of course we know death on this show doesn't prevent characters from reappearing, but a Danielle-centric episode does seem out of the question now. I'm going to reserve judgment on this development for the time being.

As far as the flash forward goes, it was a good episode for Jaters, at least until the end. Beyond that we filled in some gaps.

We know that between the trial and the events of "Through the Looking Glass", Jack and Kate did try to make a go of it. One can only assume Jack's jealous outburst at the end is the reason for Kate's reluctance to see him in "TTLG".

We also saw Jack's daddy issues front and center, in his desperate plea, "Am I really good at this?" This sub-plot also provided an Alice in Wonderland reference, when Jack was reading to Aaron.

But more interesting about the FF was the conversation with Hurley and the appearance of Christian Shephard. Obviously, Charlie has appeared to Hurley several times since the events of "The Beginning of the End". And he seems to be working in concert with Christian. But more on that in a minute.

There was a "No Smoking" sign in the cell where Hurley saw the vision of Charley in "TBOTE". After Jack saw Christian, he explained his actions by saying the smoke detector was malfunctioning. These would seem to be references to the smoke monster, and would seem to lend credence to the theory that Smokey is behind the "manifestations", a theory to which I have always been lukewarm.

But I'm not sure that it matters. Smokey and the manifestations/apparitions are both acting on behalf of the island, or may even be "limbs" of the island, and that connection is probably the important thing. But it does remind me that Locke saw something different once. Maybe it's only the Smoke Monster when it's in revenge mode (or recon mode). Questions about parallels to Christian and/or Hindu trinities also reemerge.

But back to Christian. He's becoming more and more significant. To recap recent appearances, we saw him sitting in Jacob's cabin during Hurley's encounter in "TBOTE", and for those of us who watched the mobisodes, we saw him instruct Vincent to wake up Jack, saying, "He's got work to do." This would have taken place immediately before the first scene in the pilot episode.

So the question is, are ghost-Christian and ghost-Charlie at all themselves? Or are they just Smokey appearing to individuals in the most persuasive form? Christian refers to Jack as "my son" in the mobisode; what does Vincent care? Is this a clue?

But the biggest OMG moment for me was when Claire woke up to see Christian holding Aaron. This was a spooky scene, but it also I think provides an alternative to Claire dying. I for one never expected anything like that, so her death was the only way I could reconcile Aaron being with Kate. Now I can see another possibility, obviously.

Not that I have any idea why Christian took Claire and not Aaron, or why Claire let him. I would guess he's taking her to Jacob, but I don't know why.

More importantly, what does this have to do with the "raised by another" thread? Charlie's message to Jack is, "You're not supposed to raise him, Jack." But Kate is? The island seems responsible for separating Aaron and Claire. Why?

I suspect we'll learn more about this next week, and I can't wait. Before then I'll try to get a part two out, but until then let's hash!

The Shape of Things to Come, Part 2

OK, first off, I'm aware the last post was a little spacy. It was late at night, and I was tiredly trying to get something up. That's my excuse. I know, I had the whole weekend. What can I say?

Anyway, on to the rest of the discussion.

Let's take a minute to grieve for Alex. She was a sweet kid who helped out the Losties numerous times, and she had a horrible final hour.

This scene was high drama in the best LOST fashion, and Michael Emerson, as always, was sublime. If you didn't have sympathy for Ben before then (see last post), you must have felt something for him there. Even if he appeared to be acting recklessly and selfishly, he still obviously did not expect Keamy to actually shoot Alex. It clearly wounded and shocked him, and he apparently did have reason to believe she was safe, due to...

The Rules!! What are the rules? Why are there rules? Games have been a big theme in LOST, and chess lingo and Risk both make an appearance in this episode. Are Ben and Widmore playing a real life chess and/or Risk game? Is it Mob rules (no family members)? In this case, family seems to be the relevant rule, but are there more? Why can't Ben kill Widmore?

There are many rational reasons for their struggle over the island, especially Widmore's greed and desire to exploit the island, and Ben's desire to protect it (at least, that's how I'm leaning). I'm not sure how an actual "game" with agreed upon rules fits in with those motives. Is it Trading Places? Did they bet a dollar on whether or not a bunch of people "lost" in their lives could find redemption if brought to the island? Are they simply doing everything possible to win, short of (at least, previously) harming family members? I can't believe that the stakes are not more real than that. Besides, Ben doesn't appear to be trying to get people to redeem themselves; he's already made up his mind (or allowed Jacob to tell him) who's good or bad.

In Widmore's bedroom, Widmore says to Ben, "All you have, you took from me." Obviously, he means the island, its resources, the Dharma facilities, and whatever Ben has been able to gain with them. Of course, we've known of a Widmore/Hanso connection, but I believe this is the first relatively direct evidence we have that Widmore was ultimately the one against whom Ben rebelled in the Purge.

It's hard to reconcile the Widmore we know with the hippie/Dharmic do-goodism of the DeGroots, but what if Widmore somehow learned about the island from a history of the Black Rock, figured out the DeGroots knew how to find it, tracked down a descendant of Magnus Hanso (Alvar), had him set up a front company through which Widmore channeled the funds for the Dharma Initiative, with the ultimate goal of acquiring the island for himself? But he didn't count on immortal Black Rock survivors who would find a kinship in a young Dharma boy, who would steal the island out from under his nose? Crazy? Or is it so sane you just BLEW your mind?

But back to the rules. Ben's first action after his daughter is killed, preceded by the statement "he changed the rules" was to, apparently, release Smokey. It seems like it might have been prudent to do that earlier, and the fact that it took a deep, personal tragedy coupled with a feeling of betrayal to instigate this action leads me think that may have been against the rules also. But why? (Have you noticed how many of my sentences end in question marks?)

Of course, the very fact that he apparently at least had the means to summon the monster was a big reveal. Did he lie when Locke asked him what it was and he said he didn't know? Or does he really have no idea what it is, he just knows how to call it? The secret door has hieroglyphs (highlighted here) for which DocArzt has provided a translation. Here's the whole description on DarkUFO.

Well, even though there is so much more to talk about, I think I'm going to have to leave it there for now. Maybe I'll squeeze one more in before this week's episode.

Again, thanks for reading!

Namaste

The Shape of Things to Come

Wow. That was a jam-packed episode. It's taken a few days for me to assimilate it all, but I think I'm finally ready to unpack "The Shape of Things to Come". Let's give it a shot.

Of course, this episode was Ben-centric, and I think it gave us a lot more information about him more than the average episode reveals about its "flasher" (as in -forward, -back, etc...)

Much in the same way Darth Vader is the clear villain of the original Star Wars trilogy, but becomes the protagonist when viewed over all six films, so I think Ben will become more sympathetic and less villainous from here on out. (The comparison ends there, because (I believe) Ben actually has a cause which will likely turn out not just to be good, but essential. Anakin succumbed to evil, without a significant mitigator.)

Many LOST fans still regard him as evil, but I myself have never believed he was a pure villain. From the moment he first uttered the words, "We're the good guys", I figured there was something to that. He's obviously human (his possessiveness of Juliet, eg), but I believe he's on the right side, and Widmore is on the wrong side. TPTB will probably make a fool out of me, but that's my reading as of now.

Of Ben's many actions, interactions, and settings this epi, we may as well start with something that wasn't that big of a surprise. Namely that Ben is multi-lingual, and that he can kick ass! Seriously, did he not exhibit pwnage in the desert with the two Bedouins?

That was fun, but more important is how he got there. I don't think it's any stretch to say time-travel was involved, since he had to ask what year it was. The Dharma parka he was wearing had two notable aspects (other than the fact it didn't belong in the desert): it bore a specific logo as yet unseen, as well as the name Halliwax. Check it out. And here's a close up of the logo.

Now, for those of you who still haven't seen the Orchid film, now would be a good time to do so. I'll wait.

OK, so now we all know that (Edgar) Halliwax is the "name" of our favorite atmospheric lighting scientist (Marvin Candle, Mark Wickman, Edgar Halliwax...lolz) for the purposes of the Orchid Station's orientation film. And we also all now know that the Orchid has something to do with time travel. So.

What does this mean? When is he leaving for these trips? Is it close to current island time? My guess is, yes. Maybe this is part of what Jacob's instructions are to be? Too soon to tell, but we know he goes to 2005, a year and a month from the time of the plane crash. He's either going into the future from close to "CIT", or he's going into the past from a reasonably distant future point.

My money's on the former, because we've been told by Ms Hawkings as well as Faraday that you can't change the past. Of course TPTB's rules have been shown to be somewhat flexible. Nevertheless, I suspect we'll see the beginning of his journey before the season's out.

Questions like, "Why is he wearing Halliwax's jacket?", and, "Why did he wear a a parka at all for a trip to the Sahara?" are not readily answerable at this time, but it's worth remembering both the polar bear skeleton in Tunisia, and the Arctic station (or was it Antarctic?) from the end of season two. Did he detour through polar bear habitat? And what happened to his arm?

I think this portion of Ben's activities poses the most new questions; let's go nuts in the comment section! As for the rest, I had originally planned on a comprehensive single post, given my tardiness. But it's late and I have to work in the morning! So Alex, Sayid, Smokie and Widmore will have to wait until tomorrow. I promise I'll come through!

Thanks for wading through my ramble! Until tomorrow,

Namaste

Meet Kevin Johnson

Well, Michael as the mole might not have been a surprise to the hardcore fans, but "Meet Kevin Johnson" was a fantastic "missing pieces" type of flashback that answered the much harder question, "what happened to Michael between leaving the island and meeting Sayid and Desmond on the freighter?" Of course we still don't know how they were rescued, but that may just not be significant. Clearly, what happened to Michael after he got back is.

Distraught over what he's done, he confides in Walt, who subsequently wants nothing to do with him. This drives him into a deeper depression, leading to his suicide attempts. These suicide attempts lead to two reunions of sorts: Libby and Tom.

Libby is an interesting case, especially the first time, in the hospital, because it could easily be explained as a guilt induced dream. The fact that he sees and hears her again when he's wide awake on the freighter leads me to believe that even if he was asleep or unconscious in the hospital, the vision was still "sent" by whatever force was at work during the freighter appearance.

But what is that force? Now, I have generally assumed that the apparitions are working for the good of the island, or maybe even manifestations of the island itself, but for the time being, I'm going to assume that not all "apparitions" are on the same side nor from the same source. Libby says, "Don't do it, Michael," when she appears on the freighter. If she is speaking on behalf of the island, that means that the freighties are the good guys, and Ben the bad guy, right?

Ben might be selfish and possessive, but I don't believe he wants any harm to come to the island. It's also very difficult to believe that Widmore wants anything other than to exploit the island. So for whom is "Libby" speaking, and why does that entity not want Michael to set off the bomb?

The question of who is the good guy, Ben or Widmore, has been hotly debated for a while now, and of course TPTB are deliberately keeping us guessing. We now have the two sides explicitly blaming the other for the freckage. Who to believe?

In "Ji Yeon", Captain Gault tells Sayid and Desmond that Ben is responsible for the freckage, and the fact of the 324 dead bodies that were necessary is part of why they want to talk to him.

This doesn't ring true to me, for a couple of reasons. One, Widmore definitely does not strike me as a humanitarian. I doubt he cares about people being killed or dug up. And even if he does, why is it his business to track down the perpetrator?

On the other hand, can Tom be believed? He at least has documents to back up his claim that Widmore is behind the freckage, but a picture of excavated graves proves nothing, and the purchase order for the plane could easily have been faked by people with the Others' resources.

The bottom line is they both have the same motivation: keeping other people from finding the island. However, I am still more likely to believe Ben over Widmore. Ben has demonstrated some sense of morality, whereas Widmore hasn't.

Miles also didn't deny that the orders were to capture Ben and kill everyone else. Even Daniel, the most trustworthy of the freighties, has indicated that rescue of the Losties is not part of the plan. If the 815 survivors are not worthy of saving, or even keeping alive, then why would Widmore care where the bodies on the freckage come from?

I think at this point, Ben is more trustworthy than the freighter folk, excepting Ben's "innocent people", which I'm guessing includes Daniel and Frank. Therefore, for the time being, I'm going with the freckage being planted by Widmore, although the "trustworthiness" of Ben doesn't really disprove that he was behind it. However, we are supposed to know for sure by the end of the season!

This leads me back to Libby. Why does she say, "Don't do it"? Is it possible that her appearance on the freighter is just a guilt induced hallucination? Some people have reported hearing the whispers right before her appearance. I've watched it twice, and I don't think you can really hear whispers, which as far as I'm concerned would prove a relationship to the other apparitions. You do however hear the Mama Cass song that was playing on Michael's car radio when he crashed.

I think it makes more sense that she is an apparition, but I have no idea why she tries to dissuade Michael.

In other news, we finally get confirmation that Tom "Kate, you're not my type" Friendly is the gay character TPTB told us about. Not that important, but definitive answers are hard to come by on this show. ;-)

Also, the Temple is apparently another Dharma station? I guess (and I know I'm not alone) I originally thought the Temple was really a temple, not necessarily used as such by the Others, but maybe by the creators of the four-toed statue. But on the map, the spot is clearly marked with a Dharma logo, although the picture isn't clear enough to make out the station-specific picture, and I haven't seen any enhanced screencaps or anyhting to shed light on that particular detail. Nevertheless, it now seems like the Temple might be a sealed environment, safe from the gas that might have been released from the Tempest.

In the OMG department: They shot Danielle! Is she really dead? Carl, we don't care about so much. He seems nice enough, and we're sorry for Alex, and we'd like to know why he was in room 23 and what happened to him in there, but ultimately, not a central character.

Danielle, on the other hand, has always been kind of mysterious and definitely interesting, and we've always wanted to see her backstory. So far, dead characters have shown up as apparitions, in dreams, or in flashbacks, but none have ever been fleshed out any more than they already were when they died.

And yet, TPTB promised us a Danielle flashback. Were they lying? I suspect she's not really dead. We saw Carl's wound; we didn't see Rousseau's. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I have one word for you: Mikhail. How many times did he "die"? And what about Locke and his gunshot? We know the island heals, we also now know that it prevents the death of anyone with "work to do". (Locke, Jack, Michael, and maybe... Danielle?) And plus, we were promised a flashback! She can't be dead!

So anyway, we now enter the five week hiatus, during which we will have a lot to discuss and disseminate. So I'm going to leave it there for now, but as always,

Namaste!

Ji Yeon

Well, another great episode, some more twists, a dose of OMG moments, and of course, more questions.

New to this week's entry in the LOST canon was the mix of one character's (Sun's) flashforward with another's (Jin's) flashback. This seems to be in the pattern of new uses for this device this season (see Confirmed Dead). Observant viewers will have been tipped off first by Jin's ancient looking cell phone (much like Jack's Razr was a clue in "Through the Looking Glass") His behavior on the street certainly pointed to the old Jin, but the proof positive came when he told the nurse, "I've only been married for two months". Even the mention of Mr Paik had me wondering at first if he was off the island, back to working for his father-in-law, and therefore "unredeemed", as Sayid seems to be.

But the point, now that it's established, is what does it mean? There has to be a point, other than just to trick us (although that was cool). My first thought was to reintroduce Mr Paik (I still believe he is significant on roughly the Widmore level). But even that doesn't seem enough. Does it have something to do with why Jin is not among the O6? One would have to believe it does, but I confess, I don't what.

So let's talk about Jin apparently being dead. I say apparently, because, as many of you will have noticed, the date of death on the gravestone is 9/22/2004. (Here's a better close-up.) The date of the crash. In other words, a lie. So why say he died in the crash, when we know he didn't, and does this mean he's alive?

I think the date on the stone certainly is part of the lie that says 8 people survived the crash, 6 of those survived long enough to be rescued. Jin is obviously not among the six, and apparently not among the eight. I am one who assumes at least some who didn't make it off the island are still alive (the "they" in Charlie's "they need you" warning to Hurley). Presumably some or all of them have gravestones with the same date. So do we have any evidence Jin is alive or dead?

Unfortunately, there is some indirect evidence that he is really dead. On LOST, redemption is a strong theme, and it seems that when characters complete their redemption process, they die, like Charlie. While he's the best example of this, the same could be argued for Shannon, and maybe Boone. This could have been the point of the flashback, showing us the old Jin, threatening to rip someones head off for taking his cab, and the new Jin, who forgives his wife's affair, and even takes some responsibility.

It's depressing to think that characters who manage to find redemption are paid in death, and I'm not really sure that that is what's happening. It's just all I have to go on. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happened to all the non O6ers.

On island we had the Jin/Sun/Juliet drama. It probably wouldn't have occurred to me to take the step Juliet did, no matter how much I thought they needed to stay, but I can't argue that it didn't work. Since apparently it didn't ruin Sun and Jin's marriage, I guess it worked out for the best. It was still cold.

Sun's flashforward was notable mostly at the end (save for Expose being on the TV at the beginning). Of course, there was the OMG graveside moment. But most mysterious to me was the almost throw-away line by Hurley when he comes to visit Sun. When informed no one else is coming, he says, "good!" Not in relief, I don't think (some have suggested he is feeling guilty and doesn't want to see Jack). At first I couldn't help feeling he had designs on Sun. That really didn't seem to be it, either, so what was it?

I guess the main other thing to address is the identities of the O6. According TPTB, we were supposed to know by the end of this episode. Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, and now Sun can be counted for sure. But who is the sixth? The only real possibilities, by any stretch, are Aaron, Ben, or Michael. It's obviously not Jin, Juliet, or Desmond.

I assume the O6 are comprised (at least nominally) of people from the manifest. Most of the above don't really fit this, but as I've pointed out before, either Michael or Ben could be using a false name. In fact, we know they both are. Kevin Johnson, however, is almost certainly not taken from an 815 passenger; it wouldn't be a good move for a spy in Michael's particular position. Ben obviously has plenty of identities at hand; why would he risk pretending to be from 815?

Even though Aaron wasn't on the manifest, it would be realistic to expect him to be born prior to rescue (always depending on what the stated timeline turns out to be, and who his mother is supposed to be), and it seems like he would naturally be included in the survivor count.

Of course, there are just too many holes right now to draw good conclusions about a lot of this stuff, and as far as the O6 goes, I'm basing my belief that Aaron is counted on Cuseloff's statement that we would know by now. If they're messing with us, all bets are off. But for the time being, that's my list and I'm sticking to it!

OK, I think that's all I have for now. Contrary to previous statements, they will be showing Episode 4x08 next week. Then a long wait till Apr 24. But hey, at least we're getting a (mostly) complete season! Yay!

Namaste!

Blog Changes

As you may have noticed, I added a LOST widget from ABC.com. It consists of short video clips of various kinds, including previews, recaps, and vidcasts. Navigation is easy: simply roll over the widget to show skip and play/pause controls. The first clip is the main promo for the upcoming show, the next two clips show important scenes/excerpts from the most recent episode, one the flashback/forward, the other the real time events. A couple more previews, and the most recent Official LOST Vidcast round it out (at least that's the case this week, it's new to me too).

Anyway, the preview is there if you want to see it (if you don't, just be ready to hit the skip forward button), but the recap clips are great for reviewing scenes. If you don't already subscribe to the Official LOST podcast, you might enjoy the vidcasts as well. It also has a nifty little countdown to next episode.

I added a poll, so please vote to tell me whether it's worthwhile or not (feel free to leave comments as well)! Of course, I know there's only about four people who read this, and only half of them watch the show the night it's broadcast, so it will take a while to be meaningful, but humor me! I'm trying to spice this thing up!

Thank you for your time,

Namaste!

The Other Woman, Part 2 (Ben <3's Juliet)

OK, so Ben is obsessed with Juliet. He will go so far as to kill one of his own people. He believes quite emphatically that she's "his". Crazy much?

You know, I always wondered what happened to that little boy we met in "The Man Behind the Curtain". Well I think we saw him in TOW. The way he pursed his lips after growling, "you're mine" was a very childlike end to a lunatic rant. His giddiness when Juliet showed up for dinner was also, um... weird. On the one hand he's this brilliant mastermind, and on the other he's a lonely little boy who never knew his mommy.

Which brings me to my next point (already touched on in the comments for Part 1). When Harper tells Juliet "you look just like her", the "her" has to be his mother. Annie is a possibility, if only because she's the only other person we know Ben has cared about. But Juliet doesn't look just like Annie. In that respect, Mom is a much better candidate.

Plus, we don't know much about Annie, or what happened to her in the Purge, or any lingering feeling he may have had for her. We do know that his dad made him feel guilty about his mom's death (adding on to whatever guilt he would have had anyway), he has a painting of her in his house, an apparition of his dead mother started a chain of events that would lead to the murder of all DI personnel... this is a woman who has influenced his life without ever knowing him.

But it can't just be that Juliet looks like her. Is the fertility thing part of it? Maybe she's not just well suited to deal with the island fertility issue, but maybe on a personal level as a way for Ben to atone for the death of his mother? Or is it more complicated than that?

Maybe the details don't matter so much as what it means for the future. We've already seen Ben kill one man that was standing in his way with regard to Juliet, and Juliet has warned that same fate could befall Jack. (As a side note, she seems very sure Ben will win the coming war. What makes her so sure?)

But I guess the question is, how much will his obsession with Juliet sway his decisions and actions in his plan to save the island? Will an error in judgment have dire consequences? Will he try to kill Jack? I guess we'll find out!

On another note, I have indicated in the past that I believe Ben might be the good guy he claims. The killing of Goodwin would seem to be contradictory to that. No "save the island" justification works for that; that's just cold.

But I think there was a deliberate Biblical parallel here with David and Bathsheba. David was in love with Uriah's wife Bathsheba, so he sent Uriah off to the front lines, where he was killed. David proceeded to marry Bathsheba.

This was a bad thing to do, and David paid with the life of his son, but it was the only bad thing David ever did in the eyes of the Lord. Otherwise he was a great king. I hope this doesn't mean that Alex is on the chopping block, but I do think it means that Ben might still be the good guy, just all too human as well. (And creepy!)

Well that about sums up my thinking right now on the Ben and Juliet situation. I guess remaining questions from this episode include:

What's up with Ben and Locke's new relationship? I know I wondered why they weren't working together, but now that they are, is Ben playing Locke? Does he still believe in him? Is he still threatened by him?

Was Ben really seconds away from killing everyone on the island if Dan and Charlotte hadn't intervened?

Where are Jacob and Smokey while all this is going on?

And many others that make my brain hurt.

Namaste

The Other Woman, Part 1

Another week, another incredible episode. While it may not have been quite the mind%$#@ that "The Constant" was, it was still jam-packed. As such, I have to give you fair warning: this may be a long one.

The episode was Juliet-centric, but it seemed like it had less to do with her specifically than it did with other more general aspects that her back story helps to explain.

The first big moment came when Harper confronted Juliet in the jungle. This was a very interesting scene for many reasons. First, of course, more whispers! I'm sure the whispers (in general) are a big clue, but there aren't transcripts available yet for last night's epi. I'll post a link as soon as I find some (or anyone else who finds one, feel free to post it here). There are, however, transcripts for past episodes. If you've never checked them out, you can read them here.

Of course, Harper's appearance at all begs many questions, the first being, was she an "apparition"? I immediately assumed she was, due to her appearance being preceded by whispers. Today, however, there were questions online about whether she was really there or not. I'm sticking to my initial feeling that she was, in fact, an apparition.

It is true that apparitions are normally of people who have died, and we know Harper was alive as recently as three months ago. Juliet also didn't seem surprised to see her (as in, "what are you doing here, you're dead"). But we don't have any real evidence that apparitions are always of dead people, and Harper really being there just doesn't ring true for me.

It is true that Jack saw her too, and this is the other reason people have given for her being real. But, as has been pointed out, Sayid saw Walt when he appeared to Shannon, and Sawyer saw Kate's horse, so that would appear to not be an issue.

Rather, it seems to me to be totally unlikely that the real Harper could possibly have known where Juliet would be at that exact moment. I know the Others sometimes seem omniscient and omnipresent, but I'm assuming Harper is with Richard and the (other) Others at the temple. It just doesn't make sense that she would travel all that way to get there just in time to tell Juliet something that she couldn't know.

Which brings me to my next point. The idea that Ben sent her strains credulity as well. Ben, might very well know that the Freighties would be heading to the Tempest, and it's even possible he might have had some contact with the rest of his people, but seriously, he's giving orders from his "cell" about events that he could at best have general knowledge of?

I don't know what to think about the fact that Juliet apparently believes that Ben did send Harper, despite asking how that was possible. Is she lying? Admittedly, her motives and allegiances have not always been clear, and I did wonder again this week when she took off after finding Kate, but I'm still inclined to think she really is with Jack and his faction.

Of course, if Harper is an apparition (which is, after all, what I'm arguing), that changes things. It seems much more likely that Ben could have been told about the trip to the Tempest by the island "forces", and he could have subsequently instructed said forces to tell Juliet, etc.

It's also possible that the "forces" took it upon themselves to manipulate events, or were directed to do so by Jacob. Either way, it seems more plausible to me than if Harper and her explanation of who sent her were real.

In either event, why send someone who would likely harbor ill will toward Juliet? Other than ignorance, I can't think of a reason for the Others to do it. If the island or Jacob sent the message, why appear as Harper? Presumably it could have been anyone. I have to think there's a reason, but I'm sorry to say I don't know what it is.

I guess the biggest thing for me is the whispers. I know many people have associated the whispers directly with the Others, but I never have, and I think Juliet's reaction when she hears them confirms this. She may not have seemed surprised to see Harper, but she sure looked confused and concerned when the whispers started.

For me, this was another confirmation that the whispers and the apparitions are connected. Once again, going to the transcripts, we see in the sonic fence scene from "The Man Behind the Curtain" that the whispers appear to instructing and cuing Ben's "mother".

What exactly are the whispers and apparitions? I still don't know. There is some evidence that people who have died on the island make up some of the chorus of whispers. I don't think that's the whole story, though. Many seem to think it's gospel that the apparitions are manifestations of Smokey. I have never believed this. I think it's much more likely that they're manifestations of whomever is whispering.

We could really get into a discussion of the deeper island mythology here, but I want to rein in and get back to "The Other Woman". Or rather, I think I'll touch on a few general observations, and save the other big topic (Ben and Juliet) for a separate post.

One thing I liked was the use of the word "hostile" by Jack and Claire. Kind of a nice self-reference for the show, as well as a nod to the way the Losties are becoming like the Others.

Also, we got confirmation (as if it were needed) that Widmore sent the freighter (unless Ben is lying, which I don't think he is). The video shows Wid beating/killing one of Ben's men, then he looks directly at the camera, reinforcing the idea that Ben has been meddling in Wid's plans off-island, and this is why Wid wants to capture him. Apparently, he also knows how the Purge was conducted.

One of the most odd things was Ben telling Locke that his people don't want him. Of course, we know Ben. He is a manipulator, and as such, when it suits those purposes, a liar. So do we believe him?

It is, of course, at odds with the idea that he sent the real Harper to Juliet, but I've already said I don't believe it was the real Harper.

I don't trust it, at this point, but I really don't know. It's a very interesting statement, nonetheless.

We get another station! Namely, the Tempest, which is apparently the power source for the island, as well as a mass murdering machine, and presumably the instrument used in the Purge. The Tempest, of course, is a play by Shakespeare about a sorcerer stranded on an island.

And finally, it is becoming increasingly clear that Michael is Ben's man on the boat. "A face you thought you'd never see again"? Come on! I didn't watch next week's preview, but I have a feeling if I had I would be even more sure.

Whew, that was, as I said, a jam-packed episode. But the Ben and Juliet situation has to be explored, and I will do so soon.

Till then, thanks for sticking around to the end, and

Namaste!

The Constant, Part 2: Desmond and LOST

I mentioned at the end of the last post that "The Constant" put to rest any lingering questions about the dominance of Penny/Desmond among LOST romances. But this leads to the question of Desmond's role in the grand scheme of things. Is he more important than any old Lostie?

I wouldn't want to suggest that characters like Jack, Kate, Sayid, Locke, Hurley and, yes, Aaron are not fundamentally important to the story. One thing we've been beaten over the head with is the idea of connections: Connections between characters, between characters and the island, and between past and present. Also, the idea of destiny has definitely had a presence ("We're (not) supposed to do this!") I think the characters mentioned above, as well as others possibly, are integral to LOST, but I think the possibility of a special role for Desmond needs to be explored.

First off, the aforementioned love story between Penny and Desmond. I don't think LOST is the type of show that would have a romantic angle just for the sake of having it; I think the relationship between Penny and Desmond, as well as the JKS love triangle, are important elements of the overall story. As I said, the phone call scene at the end of "The Constant" left no doubt as to the importance of Pen-Des love, not only the way it was shot, edited, and scored, but because it enabled Des to escape the fate of Minkowski. I think a reunion between the two of them will be of great importance, not only to each other, but to the... well, whatever it is that needs to happen for our Losties to find their redemption.

Thinking of Penny leads to thinking about daddy Widmore. We've all long assumed that Charles Widmore had more of a role to play than thwarting his daughter's love life, and we got definite confirmation of that this week. But the exchange between Des and Charles seemed decidedly different than the one in "Flashes Before Your Eyes". In that episode, Charles was incredibly insulting to Desmond. ("One drop of my precious MacCutcheon's Scotch is worth more than your whole, miserable life." I'm paraphrasing, but...)

But it seemed to me that Charles was much warmer to Des in "The Constant". Not only was he willing to talk to Des (although he did make him watch him pee), but he gave him Penny's address. One could conclude that he assumed Des would be humiliated, and acted with no benevolence in the matter, but it still strikes me as odd how willing he was to give that information to Desmond.

Then there was the water. Who leaves the water running after washing, and walks out of the room? Again, one could guess that he simply wanted to degrade Desmond, treating him like a bathroom attendant, but that seems unlikely, since this is LOST. The fact is, Des had another "unstuck" moment directly after this. Did the running water precipitate his mental travel to 2004? And if it did, was Charles Widmore aware that would be the result?

What I'm getting at is, we know Charles is involved with/has interests in the island. How much else does he know? Does he know Desmond's role in pushing the button in the Swan and whatever else his destiny holds? And does he have any interest in "nudging" Desmond in the right direction?

It could be argued that his treatment of Des in FBYE was intended not to keep Des away from Penny, but to keep him away from her now, so that he would feel compelled to enter Charles' boat race, and wind up on the island. His different treatment in "The Constant" could have been motivated by a knowledge of what was happening to Desmond and the belief that he needed to talk to Penny at this particular time.

In other words, is Widmore like Mrs Hawking, helping Desmond stay on his fated path? Mrs Hawking tells Des that the most important thing he will ever do is push that button, which furthers the case for Desmond being of central importance. Who else has had this kind of cosmic influence on their life prior to the island? (I guess "prior" needs to be qualified; it's not clear whether these interractions only happened in the "flashes", or what... more time travel headaches.)

The only problem with this, for me, is that I have been operating under the assumption that Ben really is a "good guy", like he says, and that the freighter really does represent a threat. If Charles is acting in Desmond's interest, if he is involved with, or at least would agree with Mrs Hawking, than can he really be the bad guy? I guess it wouldn't be LOST if it were easy to figure out.

But on to my final point, which is that Desmond-centric episodes have always been very revealing. In "Live Together, Die Alone" we learn a lot about the hatch, in Catch-22 we learn about the Bali "freckage", and of course, FYBE and "The Constant". Full of WTFs, all.

All in all, I'd say the evidence is compelling that Desmond is going to be enormously important in resolving the central conflict of LOST (whatever that may be).

The Constant, Part 1

Seriously, are they trying to kill our brains?

This episode was fantastic, one of the best of the series and definitely the best of the season. There was so much to absorb, it's hard to know where to begin, but I guess the time travel element is as good as any.

Time, time/space relationships, and time travel have all been hinted at throughout the series. More concrete occurrences include Desmond's experience in "Flashes Before Your Eyes". None of it has made a lot of sense until now, but I told you Daniel would deliver the science goods!

We know Damon and Carlton are averse to paradox; now we know how they avoid it. No bodily time travel, just consciousness. D & C confirmed this week that Desmond's mind was travelling forward from 1996 to 2004. Apparently, your mind can only be in one "time" at a time. Desmond's body collapsed in both years when he shifted. The question is, how did he become "unstuck" in time?

Daniel asks if Des has been exposed to high levels of radiation or electromagnetism. (In typical LOST fashion, nobody is there to say, "Why yes, he was at the center of the implosion of this thing we called the hatch, which apparently controlled the electromagnetic anomaly on this island. Would you happen to know anything about that, sir?" But I digress.) Does this exposure explain why it only happened to Desmond on the heli? Did Frank deviate from his proscribed course at all, and if so, what effect did that have?

I'd say the hatch implosion clearly had something to do with it, especially given the events of FBYE. Daniel does refer to "side effects" from not staying on the bearing, but it's not clear to me if that had an effect.

Another clue is Minkowski and Brandon's experience. Were they exposed to high levels of radiation? We don't know. All we know is they tried to see the island, and things didn't work out. What does leaving and coming to the island do? Will this happen to Locke if he leaves, since he was close to the hatch when it blew?

Daniel, though, provides some deep thought when we see his journal entry, apparently a reminder to himself that Desmond is his constant, the familiar thing or person from both times that stabilizes you. We know Daniel has some problems; he has a caretaker, Naomi calls him a head case, he worked with radiation with no head protection, he can't remember three cards... is he travelling time as well? If he isn't, why would he need a constant? Does this explain the crying without knowing why?

I don't believe he's been time traveling long, because he wouldn't have his constant until he got to the island, and he would be dead. Has he been TTing since his arrival? We haven't seen any evidence of that (blackouts, eg), but that doesn't mean it hasn't been happening.

The question is, when did he know Desmond would become his constant? He clearly had no reason to believe he would be going to the island in 1996. After his memory problems started, he presumably didn't remember Desmond. When did he make that journal entry, and why?

One final point on this subject, before I try and let it sink in some more, there is still the possibility of bodily time travel, resulting in paradox. The evidence for this of course comes from the Orchid video, which if you haven't seen it (I'm talking to you non-hardcore fans out there), you simply must. The Casimir effect is involved in that video, and has been strongly hinted by TPTB to be the reason behind the Dharma bear in North Africa.

There is much more to say, which I will do in comments and future posts, but I want to close with this. The Desmond and Penny love story proved to be the LOST love story (as I think we all knew it would). The phone call at the end of the episode was so powerfully directed, wonderfully acted, and beautifully scored, it has to be one of my favorite scenes. Jaters and Skaters seem kind of silly now.

Well, I hope I didn't ramble too much. Now it's time to hash this out!

Eggtown, Part 2

OK, we talked about Kate's FF and the Aaron reveal last time, this time I want to talk about Ben and Locke and Miles.

But first, let's get a couple o' LOST fun facts out of the way! First, if you haven't already, check out this reverse audio of the bearded man who yells at Kate on her way into the courtroom. What do you think? Second, the book Sawyer is reading, The Invention of Morel, is about a fugitive who hides on a desert island, which is then visited by tourists. And the book Locke brings Ben is Valis, by Phillip K. Dick. If you really want to dive into that one, you might start here.

Alright, on to the meat.

I guess my first question is, why aren't Ben and Locke working together? Going back to "The Man Behind the Curtain", it could be concluded that Ben is a jealous guardian of his own power. Almost whining, "Richard doesn't talk to Jacob! Richard doesn't know where he is!". And of course, the scene at the end where he shoots Locke because Jacob said something to Locke that Ben couldn't hear. This is supported in "Eggtown", with Ben taunting Locke that he can't find the cabin, doesn't know what to do.

And Locke certainly has no reason to trust Ben, given the aforementioned shooting and leaving for dead. But if the safety of the island is as important to both of them as they say it is (and I believe it is), why aren't they working together for the greater good, instead of engaging in a power struggle? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Do they get this?

And what is up with Locke? I mean Ben is doing what he always does: being cryptic and manipulative. And if Locke knew what he was doing, if he was still following Jacob, or even Walt, his behavior would be understandable.

But he is, as Ben so wonderfully put it, "more LOST than ever". So why is he being so adamant? Why is he not more open to help? And seriously, the grenade in the mouth (BTW, that grenade is known as an egg)? I mean, has Locke flipped his lid?

Yes, I have, in recent posts, defended Locke. But this episode has me stumped. I still believe the freighter people are bad news, but I no longer have the same confidence in Locke to fix it as I once did. Ben, on the other hand...

Ben seems in control, even in the scene with Miles: "Yes, I know who you are, yes, I know who you work for." And he doesn't seem fazed by Miles request: "My present situation is a little restrictive". This is understatement. How is a week better than 2 days, in his present condition? But he seems to think it is.

Plus, Ben is obviously still manipulating and controlling in the off-island future, and he clearly knows what's going on in a way Locke doesn't. So I guess Ben, for all the beatings to the face he's taken as of late, and for all the rope around his limbs, is still confident and in control. Locke is desparate.

Unfortunately, none of this explains why their common goal isn't more important than their differences. When are we gonna see a Locke flashforward (drool)?

Finally, what is up with Miles and his $3.2 million? Even Ben asks, "why not 3.3 or 3.4?" Did Miles "ghost whisper" with some entity that told him that's how much money Ben had? Or is it simply that he "knows who Ben is and what he can do"? If the latter, then why $3.2 million exactly?

Of course this episode further proves that the freighter is not just about Ben, and that they all had reason to know details about the passengers of 815, which means they had reason to believe 815 had crashed there and they would find survivors.

Well, I apologize for that ramble, but my head is spinning! I'm sure everything will be cleared up next week, right? Right?

Eggtown, Part 1

Whew! Another intense episode with a mindblower ending. Kate-centric, it gives us information about how Kate was living free in the flashforward that ended Season 3, as well as who the "he" is in "he'll be wondering where I am".

Revealed early in this week's FF was the fact that Kate had a son. At the end we learn this "son" is Aaron. I'll admit my first reaction was that she had simply named her son "Aaron", but then I quickly realized that he probably was Aaron, as in Claire's Aaron. Obviously, we now have a bunch of new questions to ask.

Such as, what happened to Claire? Did she die? It's hard to imagine any scenario where she would have willingly given up her baby. Is Locke so crazy now he would force them apart? (I know I just said I still believe in Locke, but that's a subject for a different post.) We still don't know how or why only six 815ers got off the island; maybe it was somebody's decision, and they said "we'll take the baby but not Claire". I don't know.

Another question is what does this do to Malkin's warning to Claire not to let Aaron be raised by another? I guess if she's dead, then there's no choice. But how on earth did it wind up being Kate's responsibility?

Of course, we have to talk about Jack. During the parking garage scene I assumed the reason Jack didn't want to see the baby was because it was Sawyer's, and Kate was either lying or wrong when she said she wasn't pregnant on the island. But why wouldn't he want to see Aaron? Was he somehow responsible for whatever happened to Claire, and he feels too guilty? What is going on behind the scenes of this lie?

Also, what of Desmond's vision of Claire and Aaron leaving in a helicopter? We know his visions aren't always accurate, but it still makes you wonder. What if she got off, but then the freighter people wanted to keep her to find out why she could give birth on the island and survive? That's out there, but I can't believe she's one of the O6 and she doesn't have her baby.

Speaking of the O6, is Aaron our fifth member? I know in the speculations about who else comprised the group there was some question about whether or not babies should be counted. A lot of this was due to an attempt to get 6 adult characters off the island, and have one of them be Claire/Aaron. I don't actually see any reason not to include children. Damon and Carlton in this week's podcast said they were going to be "tricky" when it came to the final two members. Does this count as "tricky"?

Of course, as I said at the beginning, we also see how Kate gets free of her legal entanglements. My question is, is her Mom's testimony really so central that they can't convict her without it? Does the hero/jury sympathy thing really ring true? If not, is it just dramatic license, or is there a conspiracy? Does the Widmore cabal have its fingers in the justice system? Is it important to them to keep her out of jail?

Well, that's all for now, I'm going to listen to Jay and Jack, but I'll be responding to comments, and back soon with a post about Locke and Ben and Miles.

Namaste!

In Defense of Hugo

Hugo "Hurley" Reyes has taken a lot of flak the last couple of weeks. From the Others? The Freighties? Other Losties? No, I'm referring to the fans. Perrenial fan fave Hurley has become a punching bag. Why? Because of his decision to follow Locke, and his role in trapping Sayid and Kate. Well, I don't share other fans disappointment in the island's resident teddy bear, and I'll tell you why.

First of all, this is Hurley we're talking about. He's a good guy who cares about other people and values his friends. He is not making selfish decisions, he is exercising his judgement as best he can, like all of us.

Second, there is evidence that he isn't just a good guy, but a "good person" (as defined by the island/Jacob), namely, the appearance of Jacob's cabin to Hurley. It seems you have to have a special connection to the island to see the cabin/Jacob (like Ben and Locke), and I doubt strongly that Hurley's sighting was coincidental.

Also, let's remember Hurley's stated reason for going with Locke: he was heeding his best friend's dying warning. Seems pretty honorable to me.

And let's face it, there were compelling reasons for making either decision. Hey, they want to get rescued, right? So it's easy to see people taking their chances, rather than following a vague warning. But it's also easy to see that seeds of doubt would be planted by Charlie's warning, and some people are inevitably going to be swayed by this.

Hurley isn't against Jack or Kate or Sayid; he is simply doing what he thinks is best under the circumstances. Granted, in the TBOTE FF, he does apologize to Jack for going with Locke. Presumably, something we have yet to see happen convinced him he made the wrong decision. But given the information at the time, I think he did the only thing he could do, and regardless of how things turn out, I don't see how he can be criticized.

Plus, I still believe in Locke. :-)

The Economist

OK, is it just me, or is everybody else's head spinning? One of the more mind blowing episodes, what with the science of time discrepancies, via Dan, and the reveal of Sayid working as an assassin for Ben. It's actually starting to be even more difficult to wrap one's head around all the intricacies exposed so far this season. So let's start with what we know (or at least what we believe we know).

First off, I think we now know the freighter is connected with Widmore. If not Penny, then it must be Charles. We know from The Lost Experience ARG that the Hanso Foundation (funders of the Dharma Initiative) had their offices in the Widmore building. We knew of many connections, but I feel the look exchanged between Daniel Faraday and Frank Lapidus when Desmond asked them about Penny said it all: they were sent by Charles Widmore.

So what of the picture of Des and Penny? Tied into this is the old (dating back to the season 2 "challah") question of how Penny knew to be looking for Desmond in the manner in which she was. It's one thing to track someone down to a stadium in the middle of the night (see Live Together Die Alone), but quite another to hire Portugese scientists in an Antarctic station to look for electromagnetic anomalies (see end of same).

I think Widmore, possibly in alliance with Paik, has had an interest in the island for a long time. I figure Charles either learned something from Penny, or she learned something from him, but I don't believe they both know about the other one. I suspect Charles stole the picture from Penny, in order to win Desmond's, and therefore the Losties', trust. I'm guessing Penny may have secretly acquired knowledge from her father, but doesn't know about the freighter.

What else do we know after this awesome epi? We know Sayid is one of the O6. We also know Ben gets off the island, but since he is not an Oceanic passenger, he cannot be one of the O6. Furthermore, we learn that he has likely been travelling off the isalnd for quite some time, with aliases, passports, and foreign currency to help him. Was this globetrotting curtailed after the Purpling? Why didn't he get surgery in the real world? Most importantly, who is the enemy he is fighting, the representatives of which he has coerced Sayid into assassinating?

I will admit, I did not call Ben as Sayid's boss, but neither was I surprised. I thought, "who else?" But the question is who was at the other end of Elsa's phone? Was it Abaddon? Was it Widmore? If it was the former, is Abaddon working for Widmore? As of now, I'm prepared to say that Widmore is behind the anti-Ben faction, probably because of the Purge, and that Abaddon works for him.

I think it's fairly certain that the F4 have more than Ben on their minds. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is not a commando team, it's a scientific team. Charlotte's comment regarding all the work she has to do further illuminates this idea. I'm going to posit that Widmore wants to reestablish a Dharma type organization, and that is really the ultimate goal of the team. Ben has to be held accountable for the Purge, but I also suspect they are aware of his off-island activities (they have a picture), and I'm guessing that whatever those activities have been, they probably centered on keeping the island safe. That seems like it has always been Ben's number one motivator (although I'm not sure how the fertility thing fits in, other than simple population sustainability).

We also learned something important about time and the island, although the non-physicists among us are getting headaches thinking about it. Apparently, there is a time discrepancy. The clues have indicated this for a long time; a character reading Hawking's A Brief History of Time, the phrase "Lost Time" derived anagrammatically from Mittelos Bioscience, etc. But now we have hard evidence, courtesy of Daniel Faraday: a thirty-one minute discrepancy with the rocket fired from the freighter. Of course, Dan knows more about what this means than we do, but we do know he thinks it is "not good". We also know it has something to do with the bearing by which you get to and leave the island. I'll admit I don't understand this, but at least now we have a character who does.

Questions include: does this explain Walt's growth spurt? Does it explain Richard Alpert's apparent immortality? And does it affect the island's obscurity from the rest of the world, and if so, how? Hopefully, TPTB will throw us some more bones in coming weeks, although we can be certain more questions will be raised at the same time, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Confirmed Dead, Part 2

Alright, let's try to take a more serious, less recap-based stab at this thing called "Confirmed Dead".

What is the connection between Abaddon, Naomi, and the freighter four? What is their connection to other entities (Dhama, Hanso, Widmore, etc.)? Who is Minkowski? Why couldn't he come to the phone? And, who is Ben's man on the boat?

We know that Naomi answers to Abaddon, and that she was to be in charge of the team. We also know she was the only member qualified to engage military skills. So whence came the F4?

As was previously mentioned, all but Miles have a (revealed) connection to Oceanic or Dharma. Do they all have a connection to the island itself? One possibility is that they've been there before. Or that their fathers were somehow involved (like the Shepards, Widmores and Paiks).

I do think parentage may play a role, but I suspect it's not the same for each character. For instance, Widmore and Paik seem to be likely to be allied with the freighter, and Christian Shepard (or, at least, Ghost Christian) seems to be allied with the island/Jacob. A previous visit to the island then? Once agian, I suspect it's not that simple. Some level of connection to island related entities is obvious; if there's more of a connection, it probably won't be clear until we know more about the connections between the aforementioned big players.

I think a case can be made (and has been, elsewhere) for the makeup of the F4 having to do with their various skills. Dan is a physicist, and he has already noticed that "the light doesn't scatter quite right." He also probably knows about electromagnetism. Charlotte is an anthropologist. Can you say three-toed statue? Miles can communicate with the dead; can he communicate with Jacob? And Frank, well, it's not as clear what he brings to the party as far as an island-relevant skill. He may be simply the only pilot who can land on such a difficult to reach location. That seems unlikely, so we may have to let it unfold, although I'd say there's a chance it has to do with Capt. Seth Norris. Greg Grunberg guest spot?

So, Ben's man on the boat. Popular opinion seems to be centered on Michael. I have to admit, unless he shows up in a Flash Forward, I don't see how else he can make a return (OK, I guess there could be a Desmond style "I couldn't get away from the island!" return, but c'mon, it's not gonna go down like that). Flash forward only makes sense if he has reason to be in everyone's FFs. If he were only going to be in a couple epis, Harold Perrineau's name wouldn't be appearing in the regular-cast credits at the beginning.

So I guess my vote for now is Michael, although this opens up the questions "Huh?!?", "Wha...?", and "What happened between the time Michael and Walt left on a boat from the Pala Ferry in sesaon 2, and by the way what's up with Walt anyway, is he a ghost or is it astral projection and why is he taller?" (Heheh, "Taller Ghost Walt." lolz)

Anyway, that's it for now. See you (in spirit) on Thursday, until then, Namaste!

Confirmed Dead, Part 1

Wow, it is so great to be LOST again! After a stunning season opener, LOST stays on the offensive with Episode 402, "Confirmed Dead".

We return to the flashback, after two episodes of flash forwards, but it's flashback with a twist. For one thing, there are five flashbacks, five people. Furthermore, four of them are brand new characters. In addition, the fifth person is dead. All in all, it seemed like a very different use of the device, but in keeping with LOST tradition, it raised more questions than gave answers.

Prior to these flashbacks, however, we see the discovery of the "wreckage" (or "freckage", for fake wreckage) of 815 (mentioned by Naomi last season) in the Sunda Trench. News reports mention the Christiane I. These elements reference the Alternate Reality Game "Find815". For those of you unfamiliar with the game, you can read a synopsis here.

But on to the new characters. The first flashback is for Daniel Faraday, who we actually met briefly at the end of TBOTE. He is watching news reports of the 815 recovery, and he is crying. When his wife asks him why he's so upset, he says he doesn't know. There are, of course theories out there, including that he's Ana Lucia's Danny, or that he was going to adopt Claire's baby. Neither of these ideas, however, address why he doesn't know what's upsetting him.

Then on to Miles Straume, who apparently can talk to the dead, but he uses his power to steal money.

Then Charlotte, an anthroplogist in Tunisia. She seems to have a hard time believing the 815 recovery story; seeing a front page article in a Tunisian newpaper, her companion asks, "How many languages do you need to read that in before you'll believe it?" The reply, "How many languages are there?" Why so hard to believe? Well, we soon learn that Ms Lewis may have knowledge about the Dharma Initiative when she bribes her way into a dig and finds... a polar bear skeleton... wearing a Hydra Station collar!!!1!ONE!@! It seems clear from her excited rather than surprised or baffled reaction that she knows something, indeed, expected to find something of the sort.

Then we meet Frank Lapidus, who doesn't believe the footage on TV is showing what they say they are regarding Flight 815 and its pilot. When asked how he knows, he says, "I was supposed to be piloting that flight."

The fifth flashback gives us a reveal, namely that Naomi works for Abaddon. They are talking about the mission, and Naomi expresses unease about the other four members of the team. Abaddon brushes aside her concerns, including the question of 815 survivors, and tells her to get in and out.

So! What can we surmise from all of this? Well, the first thing that hits me, everyone (except, as far as we know, Miles) has some connection to/knowledge of Flight 815 and/or the Dharma Initiative, as well as the island. Naomi and Abaddon clearly know about the island, since they are sending a team there. And since 815 comes up, we can assume they know something about it as well, otherwise they would have no reason to connect it to the island. Charlotte clearly knows of the DI, and seems too happy to have touched down on the island not to have some prior knowledge. Lapidus' connection to Oceanic and 815 is explicit. That leaves Dan, who cries for no reason at the news of the recovery. This is the most mysterious connection, apparently even to Dan. It would be reasonable to expect Miles to have a connection also, although we haven't been given any clues about that.

The second observation has to do with why this particular team was chosen, but I'm going to leave that for part 2. See you in a day or two!

P.S. I can't help but notice that the comments have amounted to exactly Jack Squat so far. This would be a good oppurtunity to give me feedback, if you're not comfortable theorizing. Maybe you're thinking, "Enough with the recap already, I just watched the dang thing." Or maybe you're thinking, "Wow, thanks for summarizing what we know." In the name of all that is holy, let me know!

Thank you for your support.