LOST The New Man in Charge, first thoughts

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



No, seriously... SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Okay, if you are still here, then I will assume that you have watched the entirity of LOST and perhaps watched this special as well.

On the LOST Season 6 Blu Ray, there is a special feature from after Dr. Jack's death (What? I told you there were spoilers!) entitled The New Man in Charge. It looks at the time on the Island with Ben working for Hurley.

If you are one of the people who complained about the number of answers neglected in the finale, this less than fifteen minutes will probably be exactly what you wanted. Tons of "questions" are answered in the special, and there are also a lot of good little LOST in jokes.

While most people will focus on the answers provided, I want to talk a little bit about the jokes, because the sense of humor in LOST is a part of the show that I loved, but never really spent much time talking about.

First, the special makes fun of its own purpose, the fact that there are questions that people want answers to that the show itself didn't have enough time to divulge. When the DHARMA workers ask who Ben is and what he is doing there, Ben replies, "I'm tying up a few loose ends."

While watching the Hydra Orientation video, Dr. Chang actually uses his real name, but he asks that those watching not give it out as he would hate to have to use an alias in the future, which, of course, we know that he does. The reveal is handled in a very amusing aside, which I really liked. If you really had to know why Chang always uses a different name in the videos, now you know, otherwise, it was an amusing joke.

The next reveal also made me laugh, as we got the reappearance of the Hurley Bird, which is called a Hy-Bird by the DHARMA folk.

And by the way, how awesome was the Polar Bear worker who apparently got a little too close to the Bears referenced by the loss of his arm. A nice little foreshadowing for Chang himself.

Just after the video ends, Hector references one of my all time favorite LOST moments, saying, "I think we're gonna need to see that again." That was of course the first thing that Locke said after watching the first orientation video we saw way back in season 2.

Finally, Ben goes to our favorite mental institution and we find our favorite kidnappee, which leads to the great moment of Walt asking Ben if he is there to kidnap him again.

Tons of questions were answered, and it was great to have some new LOST if only for 12 minutes, the only problem is that it raised another huge question that apparently we will never get an answer to...

Until Next Time, how in the world did they get a DHARMA Van to present day Los Angeles?

Josh Man

LOST Dr. Linus, first thoughts

Move over Man Behind the Curtain, Dr. Linus is my new second favorite episode of the series. (Behind The Constant, of course. Pretty sure that episode will never be topped.)

So, last week I was talking with my friend Justin about the fact that I felt that the characters in the LA X timeline were basically the same personality wise as they were in the original timeline. Sure, things were different in their lives, but who they were was basically unchanged. They could find changes in themselves in those timelines, but who they are is who they are. Kate runs, but will risk herself to help others in need. Jack has issues with his father and worries about how his childhood has molded who he is now, basically believing that he is unworthy. Speaking of unworthy, and what brought this whole conversation up in the first place, is the fact that Sayid believes that he is basically a flawed person. That while he wants to be good, due to his past he is unable to be good. So, I felt, that when he told Nadia in the LA X timeline that they couldn't be together because he wasn't worthy of her, that was what he truly believed. Justin thought something else was going on at first, but then when I made my argument, he bought it as well.

Then this week happens.

Momentarily I was shaken, because Ben would have made that power play on the Island, Alex's chances at Yale be damned.

In fact, in far more dire circumstances we have seen him make just such a call.

But this time, he didn't. He traded his own power play. and what was probably better for the school over all, in for Alex's future.

So as I thought about the episode

(And let me step back for a moment and tell you how I nearly didn't get to see this episode because I have been so busy these past couple of weeks that my DVR has not gotten the attention it deserves and it happened to fill up last night, meaning while I was in class until 9, whereas LOST comes on at 8, when I got home my DVR informed me that it had not recorded anything that it was supposed to today, LOST included. Luckily, my friend Emily, who was supposed to watch it at my place, had it on her DVR and the night was saved, so major props to Emily for impromptu hosting a LOST night. Thanks!)

and had preliminary discussions with my friends after watching it, I realized that what was happening wasn't a failure of my theory from last week, but was instead more of a vindication of a theory I've had since the season premiere.

We are getting to a point where the bleed through of the timelines is affecting our characters in more ways than just deja vu.

It should have been clear from the point that a cut that Island Jack had was bothering LA X Jack.

It could explain why Sayid shot Krazy Keamy in what appeared to be cold blood. Sure, it could be argued that there was some justification but it could also be argued that he knew what Keamy was capable of, and that the darkness of his Island self was bleeding through to his LA X self.

And it certainly explains Ben, who like Napoleon has lost the one thing that ever really meant anything to him (power) and is being forced to truly deal with his sacrifice of Alex for the Island that never really believed in him in the first place (Miles tells Ben that Jacob hoped until the very end that he was wrong about Ben which means that he never trusted Ben and explains why he never appeared to him, and while that might have been the correct feeling to have in regards to Ben it still means that the Island that Ben sacrificed so much for and truly believed in despite his selfish and power hungry actions didn't really ever believe in him).

Ben has hit rock bottom, and I truly believed him when he made his confession to Ilana. Sure he is the biggest liar on the show (perhaps in the history of television) and as big a con man as Sawyer ever was, but I think for the first time we saw the truth of Ben Linus. He had nothing left to hide behind. His soul was bared. And he is redeemed.

And because his Island self has taken this redemptive step, the bleed through to the other reality allowed him to take it as well, and make a different choice in regards to Alex and the "Island" being played in this reality by the school.

The moment that I believe this connection between the realities was made was in the moment that Artz said to Ben, "You're a real killer." The truth of that statement (a reality away) allowed Ben's subconscious to connect to Island Ben and feel the anguish and pain that resulted from his constant power struggle to the detriment of one of the few people that he ever loved, his "daughter" Alex. It made it literally impossible for him to choose power over Alex in the LA X timeline.

A few other things from this episode, we are gearing up for a Team-Jack vs Team-Locke set up again on Island just like in the past, and once again Team-Jack is gearing up at the Beach while Team-Locke is taking over an old Dharma/Others stronghold.

Speaking of the Beach, something tells me that it is the only safe place left on the Island. When the Locke-less Monster went to invite Ben, it stayed in the grass, off of the Beach. (I'm capitalizing Beach as it pertains strictly to the original LOSTies beach camp, I don't think that it is true of any other beach area on the Island). We've never seen Smokey (in full black smoke regalia) on the Beach throughout the history of the show, I believe that Smokey has no power at the Beach camp. Not sure why, and not sure if this theory is true at all.

We see a new book for the LOST library as Ben goes through Sawyer's tent. It is The Chosen by Chaim Potok. Interestingly, the book is about two young boys and their friendship, one is the son of a Rabbi, expected to one day take his father's place except that he desires to study philosophy, and another who wants to be a Rabbi. With the one boy's desire (against his father's will, very LOSTian) to move into secular studies, and the other boy's desire to study religion, I am reminded of the idea of a Man of Science and a Man of Faith, Jack and Locke originally and perhaps still in the LA X timeline. I still think that these two seemingly opposing ideas must work together in order to accomplish whatever it is that the LOSTies are supposed to accomplish, and the book seems to hint at that as well.

Also, of course, there is the fact that the book is called The Chosen, and we get confirmation this week that what Esau/Locke said in regards to the candidates is true. So some of our LOSTies are literally eligible to be Chosen for this new role. We are also told that there are six possibilities. This is after Ben tells Ilana that Sayid is lost (no pun intended) to them, so I will go ahead and take him off of my list for the moment (as we know that he is actually off the list). Ilana says that there are six possible candidates.

Hurley, Shephard (presumably Jack), Kwan (possibly Sun, possibly Jin), Ford (aka Sawyer), we know for sure, Locke and Sayid can be crossed out. We know from the wheel in the lighthouse that Kate is still a possibility (her name was not crossed off) even though she isn't one of "the numbers". So who is the sixth? (weekly question topic!)

So, Richard doesn't age because he was touched by Jacob. Hmm... so were Jack, Kate, Sun, Jin, Sawyer, Hurley, Locke, and Sayid (although it didn't work out as well for the two of them.) Similarly to when Michael tried repeatedly to kill himself, they are all presumably unable to do so, and we've actually seen Jack fail at it a couple of times on the show, although he was kind of counting on failing at it this time. They can still be killed by others (little o-others), but not by themselves, and apparently won't age either. Interesting.

Also, confirmation of something that I think most of us picked up on from the season premiere, that Richard came to the Island originally in chains on the Black Rock.

I loved some of the little jokes in this episode, the callback to Artz blowing up in the Black Rock scene, but also in the fact that he had a stain on his shirt in the exact spot that in the other timeline he was a stain on Hurley's shirt, and also Miles knowing what happened to Nikki and Paulo, and his digging up the diamonds.

Another possible weekly question from this episode is whether or not Widmore's arrival to the Island is a good thing. After all, Jacob presumably sent Hurley and Jack to help him get to the Island (as well as to get them away from Smokey's attack on the temple). We've seen the redemption of Ben, is the redemption of Widmore to follow?

Until Next Time, thanks for waiting patiently for the post! Should be early next week as it is Spring Break and I can watch LOST at its regularly scheduled time!

LOST Whatever Happened, Happened, first thoughts

Last week we went over the various Time Travel rules that could be in place for the LOST universe based on the rules used in each of the three Terminator movies (since each one used a different rule set, which makes me wonder if T4 will use a different rule set as well, perhaps Multiple Reality? anyway, back to the LOST post).

Well, this weeks title (taken from a quote by Faraday, the character) leads us to believe that mainly we are dealing with a closed loop system, aka the time travel rules used in the original Terminator.  Whatever happened, happened and they can't change anything.

Hurley and Miles discuss the rules of Time Travel with Miles arguing from the closed loop, we can't change anything, original Terminator school of thought and Hurley arguing from the dangerous, we can really screw ourselves up here, Terminator 2 and Back to the Future (which, like me in last week's post, Hurley actually referenced in the episode) school of thought.  Hurley appeared to win the argument with his statement pointing out that Benry didn't remember Sayid when they met in 2004, but you would think that he would remember the dude that shot him in 1977.  Miles capitulates at that point, saying he hadn't thought about that.  The episode itself gave us the answer to that question at the end, however.  More on that in a bit.

So, other things that were interesting in this episode before we get to the big stuff...

In some ways I love it when my theories are proven right and in some ways it feels a little anticlimactic.  Way back in the Series Finale last year I knew immediately that Sawyer told Kate about Clementine and that Kate would go to Cassidy with that.  I was right, although, I'm sure that quite a few people figured it out at some point even if not right away.

As for Aaron going to his grandmother, though, I was a little surprised there (although not when it happened, when they should Claire's mother in the Previously On section, then I knew that's where it would be going).  I had thought these last few weeks that Aaron was with Cassidy and Clementine.  Interesting stuff, but like Eggtown, I'm not sure I always buy Kate's reasons for things.  I'm still not sure I see her leaving Aaron with his grandmother, but I like the idea that she has decided if she can't have Aaron she will make sure that Claire can, so she went back in order to save Claire.  That I can buy.

Dr. Jack was given the opportunity to once again (for the first time) save Benry Gale and this time he declined it.  Jack is currently a little unsure of what he's doing, I don't think he's fully over his time as raving, drug addicted, bearded man.  He had a brief bit of being back in control when he tried to get the band back together (as it were), but to be honest he really didn't do any better of a job at that then Locke did.  Everyone came back for their own reasons and not because Dr. Jack told them to.  I really think the scene between Jack and Juliet was interesting.  She asks him why he was supposed to come back, and he says because he was supposed to.  When she then asks why that is he doesn't know.  "Well, you'd better find out," she says.

Of course, I think part of why he was supposed to come back is already in play.  (Yep, now onto the good stuff, Benry!)  By his refusing to save Young Ben's life, he set Kate and Sawyer on a course that would completely alter Young Ben's future.

In other words, it is by the action (or inaction in Dr. Jack's case) of our three main characters that Young Ben, the innocent lad that he is, is turned into Benry Gale, the Moriarty to our heroes Sherlock Holmes.  This is an interesting new twist on the Author of Their Own Situation theory.  A lot of the things that they've gone through are the direct results of the way they "saved" Young Ben.  If Dr. Jack had saved Young Ben, there would have been a kinship their that probably would have come in handy when Oceanic Flight 815 crashed, and Young Ben wouldn't have been so tied to the Others.  But he didn't (as he couldn't, because after all whatever happened, happened) and so Kate was forced to do the only other thing she could to save him, go to Richard Alpert.

When Richard takes Young Ben to "save" him, he tells Kate and Sawyer, "If I take him, he's not ever going to be the same again.  He'll forget this ever happened," (there's your answer Hurley) "and his innocence will be gone.  He will always be one of us."  In other words, he'll become Benry Gale and soon will purge the Island of Dharmaites in the, well, Purge.

But Richard, one Other argues, what about what Elle (aka Ms. Hawking, aka Faraday's Mum) and Charlie (aka Charles Widmore, aka Penny's Dad) think about this??

Richard angrily proclaims that he doesn't answer to them.  Which I find interesting, because as we know, neither of them are currently on the Island (as in 2007 LOST present day sense).  But both seem to have some affinity for the Island still.  Ms. Hawking is in charge of the Dharma station capable of finding the Island (and it was Richard Alpert who told Locke, who then told Benry, that she could get them back, so she, at least, still seems connected to Richard and the Others).  And Widmore claims that the Island is his and always was supposed to be until Benry stole it from him.

So, Richard takes Benry into the Temple.  The same Temple that Benry would one day send all of the Others to in order to protect them from the Freighter Folk.  Which apparently then made it possible for the Others (even those who joined the Others after the plane crash such as the stewardess and the kids from the Tail Section) not to be affected by the Time Shifts.  The same Temple that Rousseau's crew went into and came out "sick", as she put it, but certainly changed to the point where her lover was willing to shoot her and her unborn baby.

A few weeks ago I posited the theory that the Others were dead in the same way that Christian Shephard (and possibly Claire) were dead.  In that "we're dead, but we can totally walk around and interact with you (while not needing brains to survive)" way.  This would explain why the time shifts didn't affect them (remember it didn't take Charlotte's dead body along for the last ride either) and why Richard doesn't age.  I still really like the basics of this theory.  In some ways even more now then when I came up with it.  The only problem that I currently see with it is why does Benry continue to age if this was done to him when he was just a wee little lad.  So, there does need to be a little refining done.  Maybe next week's episode, "Dead is Dead" will help clear this theory up a little bit.

Until Next Time, I really like the idea that what Benry becomes is directly related to actions (and inaction) by our main characters.  That is an awesome revelation.

LOST Season Finale theories and predictions

"He told me to move the Island" -John Locke So, what exactly does that mean? There's a couple of theories on this. One, it could mean move the Island in time.  This seems to be a popular theory online and amongst some of my friends, and being a sucker for all things time travel, I like it myself, but that can't be all of it. Krazy Keamy has threatened to torch the Island.  Even if John moves all of the Others to another time on the Island, the Island itself will still be there to torch and Krazy Keamy wants more then Benry Gale now, he's pissed at the Island because of our old friend Smokey. I've always thought that the Island isn't really in our reality. I've always believed that it is actually in a separate dimension from ours. As I pointed out last week, the time differential isn't stable or predictable.  Sometimes it's earlier on the Island then it is off of the Island, sometimes its vice versa. I think that is because the Island is in a completely different universe. However, it is accessible through certain wormholes, including one in the ocean that the freighter is currently in supposedly offshore.  If, however, the Island were moved... meaning, in my opinion, that the Island would be closed off from those particular wormholes, then the freighter would just be sitting in the ocean away from any land base whatsoever. Here's what we know. Dr. Jack was thrown a sat phone from the helicopter.  It was from Frank, but he probably thinks it was from Sayid or Desmond.  He knows that the freighter folk are dangerous so he'll be tracking them secretly, hoping to take down anyone dangerous. The helicopter is heading towards wherever it is that Benry Gale will be next, thanks to intel from Widmore given to Krazy Keamy. That means that Benry Gale, Locke, and Hurley will be met by the helicopter and Dr. Jack. Meanwhile back at the beach, Sayid will arrive in the boat to start ferrying survivors back there. Now to the theories. Sawyer will arrive with Miles and Aaron to the beach and will have Kate and Aaron head for the freighter while he goes back to look for Claire (despite the fact that she's dead).  Jin will make sure that Sun is on the transport as well.  It's a small boat, so Sayid's first load will be himself, Kate, Sun, and Aaron. Meanwhile, Locke, Benry, Hurley, and Dr. Jack with the help of Frank (and we can only hope, Smokey) will overpower Krazy Keamy.  Frank will take Dr. Jack and Hurley back with him to the freighter, leaving John able to move the Island. When Frank and Sayid head back to the Island in their two transports, Locke will already have closed the wormhole and they will be unable to locate it, meaning the only people to get off will be Dr. Jack, Sayid, Kate, Sun, Hurley, and Aaron, aka the Oceanic 6. Everyone else will still be alive (except Claire, because I'm fairly certain that she's been dead for a few episodes already), but still on the Island. Now, I want to leave you with some more thoughts on last weeks episode. Benry Gale's mother's name, Emily Linus. John Locke's mother's name, Emily Locke. Both were born 3 months premature. Their mother's first words after their births was "Name him...." Both have a strong connection to the Island and people connected to the Island were at each of their sides shortly after their birth. Benry appears to have been born in the early 60's whereas Locke was born in the late 50's. Let's call it about 5 years difference. So, about the time that Richard Alpert tested Locke and failed him for choosing the "Walkabout John" method of reaching the Island, Benry Gale was born. The Island tried at least one more time to recruit John to the Island through Alpert (using Mittelos Labs), but again John refused, perhaps subconsciously sticking with the "Walkabout John" plan.  About that time, Horace Goodspeed got his friend Roger "Workman" Linus a job with the Dharma Institute on the Island, causing him to bring little Benry. So, what does this all mean? Clearly, the Island wanted John Locke as its Leader and Liaison all along, but settled for its backup plan (Benry Gale, substitute leader of the Others) until Locke arrived. The second that Locke arrived, the Island didn't need Benry Gale anymore.  (Thank you very much for your service, we'll mail you your last check).  Immediately he lost his ability to speak to (or in fact even see) Jacob, he stopped having the dreams ("I used to have the dreams, John", said Benry Gale), and worst of all, the Island made him sick, giving him cancer in a place where, as Rose pointed out, you don't get sick, you get better. Seems like the Island has no need for Benry Gale to me.  Looks more like it was tossing him out like old garbage. I don't know about you, but I doubt that Benry's going to take this lying down.  If Locke is out of the way, Benry, the substitute, is necessary once again. I'd watch my back, Locke, if I were you. Until Next Time, part one of the three hour finale will air tonight.  Unfortunately next week will be a LOSTless Thursday, but then we'll be treated to a two hour finale on the Thursday after that.  See you after the show with my first thoughts.

LOST The Shape of Things to Come, first thoughts

Well, LOST is back with a (literal) bang.

Some of the things that jumped out at me, the fact that the doctor is alive still on the ship, yet dead on the Island, and that Benry Gale asked for the date in Tunisia (and made sure to clarify that he was in the correct year).

Obviously time travel is going to play a huge role in (the shape of) things (to come).

Speaking of the title, it is taken from an H.G. Wells novel.  The book is written as a history book from the future, which just seems appropriate to LOST.

Onto the other things worth mentioning in the episode, it seems to me from the end scene that Widmore ran Dharma.  He says it was his Island and would be again.  We know that Benry killed off the Dhamra people and that could be what Widmore is referring to when he says that Benry stole the Island from him.

Apparently that is what caused the war between Benry and Widmore to begin, but it has definitely been notched up after Alex was killed.

I don't think that either Benry Gale or Charles Widmore are good guys, and personally I don't trust either of them.

Benry Gale, however, says that he's going to kill Penny in retribution for Charles killing Alex, and I just can't have that.  It made me wish I could call Desmond and warn him what Benry is up to.

At the same time, Charles says that Benry stole the Island from him (which I assume to mean from Dharma) but what Benry actually did was get the Island back for it's earlier (don't want to say original, there could have been even earlier ones) inhabitants, then called the Hostiles, now known as the Others.  Not to say that the way Benry went about it was right, but I have to disagree with Widmore saying that it's his Island (is anyone else reminded of Braveheart right now?)

Benry claimed that Alex was just a pawn while trying to keep her for getting shot, but it's becoming more clear to me that the Oceanic 6 (and probably everyone left on the Island) are the real pawns, being used in a battle between two sides, neither of which deserve to win.

Benry used Sayid's grief to play him quite easily, and at least now we know Sayid wasn't lying when he said he would lose his soul before he worked for Benry, quite clearly he lost everything when Nadia was killed.

Finally, how unbelievable was it that Benry can control the Smoke Monster?  Wow, that's impressive.

Until Next Time, I'm a little disappointed that it was the Freighter folk who killed Rousseau and Karl, but I guess it makes sense, they're blood thirsty maniacs, but did they just get lucky and not kill Alex or did they know that she was Benry's daughter all along?  If they did know, how in the world could they have found that out?