LOST The Incident, first thoughts

As always *SPOILERS* and in season finale fashion, these are mind blowing!

The episode opens on the mysterious Jacob and he is making a tapestry.  As he goes outside to eat his breakfast, a ship is on the horizon, perhaps the Black Rock.

Another man comes up to Jacob and they begin to speak, this man (currently nameless, so we'll call him Esau in honor of the biblical Jacob's brother, and because that's what Alec called him at the finale watching party) argues with Jacob, ostensibly about the purpose of the Island.  He asks why the people on the ship are coming, Jacob says you'll have to ask them, then Esau says that they're coming because Jacob brought them hoping to prove Esau wrong.

(In the bible, Esau, besides being Jacob's brother, was his twin, he came out minutes earlier, however, and was therefore considered the elder.  Jacob, with the help of his mother Rebecca, confused Issac, his father, into giving him the birthright that legally belonged to Esau, so there was some tension there.  Okay, enough of the Bible lessons, for now anyway). 

Esau tells Jacob that the people who always come just fight amongst themselves and destroy everything in the end, to which Jacob replies that the end only comes once, everything until then is called progress.  Esau tells Jacob that he wants to kill him and one day will find the loophole allowing him to do so.  Jacob says, when you do, I'll be here.  We then see where he is sitting, next to the still, at this time, complete statue.

Cut to the end of the episode where we find out that our Shadow of the Statue people are carting around Locke's dead body.  He wasn't as resurrected as we all assumed.  Instead, Pseudo-Locke, is in actuality our friend Esau from the beginning of the episode believing he has found his loophole.

And that which lies in the Shadow of the Statue is none other then Jacob himself, "He Who Will Save Us All" as Richard answers in Latin.  "Ille qui nos omnes servabit."

Personally, I don't think that Jacob is that surprised to be finding himself facing death at the hands of Benjamin and Esau/Pseudo-Locke, after all, he is right where he said he'd be when the time came.  Not only that, but he tells Pseudo-Locke that "They're coming" which just pisses Pseudo-Locke off.  I think that perhaps Jacob knew what he was doing all along.  And his cavalry is on it's way consisting of our LOSTies.

After all, Jacob has been in contact with each and every one of them at key moments of their past, moments that have shaped who they become.  Kate and her toy plane carrying boyfriend, Sawyer as he writes the note that will put him on that plane, Dr. Jack at the moment of his (incomplete) story to Kate in the Pilot, Sayid as his beloved Nadia is killed, and Hurley as he actually makes the decision to get on the plane and head back to the Island.  In fact, the only flashback in which Jacob does not appear is Juliet's.  That doesn't bode well for her future after she gets the bomb to blow up.

As for that, I have been arguing that the LOSTies themselves are the ones that cause the Incident with Jughead, and I still believe that to be so.  Miles asks in the epsiode if any of them consider that it might in fact be their actions that bring about the Incident in the first place and the more prudent action would be to do nothing.  I think that he was right.

Sure the site got a little crazy, but that doesn't mean that the Incident had actually occured.  In fact before Juliet actually set off the bomb, it seemed to have settled down.  I believe that so far, everything that happened, had happened.  After all, we saw the cause of Chang not having his arm in the orientation video for the Swan.

Therefore the setting off of the bomb is what ultimately caused the Incident.  The area will be covered in concrete causing Sayid to compare it to Chernobyl, another place that had a nuclear incident.  I don't believe that the LOSTies have changed anything, however I do believe that the Incident will bring them back to their proper place in time in which they can work for Jacob's purpose against his enemy.

Although if they do disappear from the effects of the Incident, why did Richard tell Sun that they disappeared?  Simply because he assumed he had sent them to their death when they went off with the bomb and then that bomb exploded?  I suppose that that is possible.

I did love the inverted title sequence at the end, spooky.  And did you know that this is the first season finale of the show not to feature Walt?  Very interesting.

Lastly, the book that Jacob is reading before Locke falls (and is brought back to life by Jacob, apparently the only time that this has actually occurred) is Everything That Rises Must Converge a collection of nine short stories written by Flannery O'Connor.  It was written as she was on her death bed and published posthumously.

Until Next Time, we get settled in for a long wait before the final season begins in 2010.  I for one will be taking the real John Locke's advice and will be watching everything that we've gotten so far again.

LOST Follow the Leader, first thoughts

As always, *SPOILERS* if you aren't caught up.  And also, shame on you for that.

I guess let's start in 1977 and then we'll hit 2007.

1977-

So, immediately after killing Faraday, Eloise confirms that it is her son that she shot by seeing her own handwriting in his journal.  Dr. Jack tells her that it can be changed.

At this point, does anyone feel like anything has been done differently then it would have always happened?  As for now, I don't.  It seems like each event that has taken place is exactly the same as it would have always occurred.  Eloise Hawking knew that she was sending her son to be killed at her own hands as soon as she told him that he should listen to Charles Widmore and go to the Island.  And according to what Richard told Sun 30 years later, she knew that she was sending Dr. Jack and the others to their deaths as well.  Now, I believe that she's doing this holding out hope that her son was right and everything can be changed and they would all have to be there in the past in order to change it, but they were all also there when they failed to change anything, as evidenced by the fact that the Incident occurred and Richard remembers them all dying.

Desmond is, of course, the wild card (the Variable, if you will) who can (and has) changed things.  Faraday knew this, so if it is in his journal, then perhaps Eloise does too, and maybe she was just hoping when she told him, "The Island isn't through with you yet."

As for Richard saying that he saw the '77 LOSTies die, I have a theory about that.  Still working from Faraday's "Whatever Happened, Happened" theory, what if it wasn't the drilling that caused the Incident, but the LOSTies themselves using Jughead?  After all, it was the actions of Sayid, then Kate, Juliet, and Sawyer that turned Benry into the monster that he becomes, and the current actions of our dubious heroes are stirring up the animosity of Dharma and the Hostiles towards each other in what will no doubt ultimately lead to the Purge, so if they are directly responsible for those two things, it certainly stands to reason that they would have been responsible for the Incident at the Swan as well.  (And then indirectly, responsible for the crashing of their own plane 27 years later.)

Sayid shot Young Ben (innocent at the time of the shooting in more ways then one) hoping to change the future, but all that he really did was put that future into motion.  If Sayid had never shot Ben, then he never would have been taken to Richard and changed in the Temple into the same sort of person that Rousseau's crew was transformed into, someone with no innocence left, able to do monsterous things.  In attempting to change that future, Sayid actually helped make that future.

I'm afraid that Dr. Jack is doing the same thing.  He had that same wild hope that he had towards the end of Season 3, that hope that he could finally save everyone, that he could finally become the leader that everyone kept telling him that he was (although he had his doubts).  As I surmised in the Facebook comments section of the post last week, Dr. Jack would see this as a way to save everyone, including those who had passed away, Charlie, Ana Lucia, Libby, Boone, Shannon, Eko, even (sadly) Paulo and Nikki.  And that is too much for him to pass up.

Way back in the first consistent LOST post that I did, the post that turned this into a regular thing, I talked about Dr. Jack wanting that opportunity to save everyone who had died, and how he didn't realize how much better things were (especially for many of those who died).  (Sure I was wrong about a lot in that post, but I did bring up this wish of Dr. Jack's, now realized, and the idea that they would have to recreate the 815 flight, which would occur in a different manner then I envisioned, but still, in 316.)  I've talked in the past (in a post that actually occurred before I started writing about LOST after every episode) about my belief that for Eko, that death was a release, even a reward.  He had come to terms with his life, and having nothing left to learn was content with it ending.  The same case could certainly be made for Boone and Charlie as well.  So, like Sayid before him, I believe that Dr. Jack in trying to change the future is in fact taking the same steps that helped create that very future.

If they do in fact create the very Incident that they are trying to keep from happening, then they will go through the same purple skied flash that sent Desmond time travelling the first time (as well as giving Locke and Eko quite a ride).  It could also be the thing that sends our LOSTies back to the time that they belong (having completed their duty in making sure that Whatever Happened, Happened).  If Richard sees them attempting to set off a Hydrogen bomb and dissappear in a huge Purple (go Frogs, by the way) explosion, why wouldn't he assume that he saw them die, vaporized by the bomb?  That is exactly what he would assume, in my opinion.

So, I think that they are still doing the same things that they have ever done, and in order to change history, they'll need the help of Desmond.  Until they get it, I just don't believe that they'll succeed.

I could, of course, be completely wrong.

To finish up '77, even while the poorly CGIed sub (although, as poor as it was, those effects are better then the ones in Wolverine, *shudder*) was heading away from the Island, I had no doubt that somehow Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate wouldn't get far.  Looks like the previews confirm that.

And I'm glad that Miles knows his dad loved him, now.  Glad at least one father-son relationship can be healthy on this show (actually, Hurley and his dad are on much better terms now too, so, that's nice.)

2007-

Well, everything we thought we knew about Jacob might just be a lie.

I always assumed that Jacob was working in the best interest of the Island, as either the personification of the Island or as its representative.  I'm no longer sure about that.

When John takes Benry and Richard to the Beechcraft in order to save himself, Benry asks how John knew when he would arrive.  John answers (in that infuriating way that he has), "The Island told me.  Doesn't the Island ever tell you things, Ben?"

So, he is still receiving intel from the Island, and good, hard to predict intel at that.

Yet he wants to kill Jacob.

Would the Island be helping Locke in the way that it is (hell, it even brought him back to life!) if it didn't approve of this plan?  I don't think so.  That means that Jacob is not working in the interest of the Island and is therefore perhaps an enemy to the Island.

When Christian landed (in his casket) on the Island, the Island finally had someone with whom it could combat Jacob's manipulations, causing Jacob to be in trouble (and beg John to, "Help me!").  Now, it has brought John back to life giving it an even more powerful person to act on its behalf.  I would say this means that Christian is actually in opposition to Jacob and not his steward (in answer to my post on Christian and Jacob a couple of months back).

This is a huge revelation, and to be honest, one that I really didn't see coming.  I can't wait to see how it plays out.

As for Benry, man is it strange to see him unsure, because he clearly has no clue what to make of John right now and this is very different then any Benry we've ever seen on the show.  I'm enjoying it, but still expecting at some point the in control and sure of himself evil Benry to resurface.

Until Next Time, the two hour season finale is next week, and I, for one, am not ready for this season to be over, as I believe it has been the best season the show has ever had.

LOST The Variable, first thoughts

As always *SPOILERS* if you aren't caught up, so continue reading at your own risk, because, this is our present, so we have to be careful.

Tonight was the 100th episode of LOST, which usually entails something major happening, and this episode is no different.  It also used the occasion to hearken back to the greatest episode the series has offered thus far, The Constant.

The title of this episode was The Variable, which is a major part of an equation,  In mathematics and science, a variable is a symbol that stands for a value that can change.  It occurs in opposition to constants, symbols that can not change.  Variables and constants are fundamental to all modern mathematics and in science.

This episode featured Daniel Faraday, but was interspersed with Desmond Hume.  The Constant was a Desmond-centric episode that was interspersed with Daniel Faraday.  In the Constant, Desmond searches for a way to connect to his constant, Penny.  In this episode, Faraday believes that he is a Variable.  In the Constant, Desmond is correct in believing Penny is his Constant and lives because of it.  In this episode, Faraday is incorrect and dies because of it.  In both episodes, the terms constant and variable are both used by Faraday.  In The Constant, Daniel tries to explain to Desmond why he needs a constant.  He shows his equation on his blackboard to Desmond and says, all of these are variables, what we need is a constant.  In The Variable he says to Dr. Jack, "I've spent so much time on the constants... I'd forgotten about the variables."  He goes on to tell Dr. Jack and Kate that they are the variables, they have free will, they can change the future.

Shortly, the Incident that requires the pushing of the button every 108 minutes will occur.  The Incident that will force Desmond into pushing that very button for years before he decides enough is enough.  And by deciding not to push that infernal yet necessary button, Desmond causes Oceanic Flight 815 to crash.  Then when Locke takes over the button and decides, like Desmond before him, not to hit that damnable button, the Island becomes visible allowing Widmore to send his freighter folk to the Island.  But if that original event never occurs, neither will any of the rest of it.  If Faraday is right and they are variables, then they can keep that Incident from ever occurring.

The thing is, Faraday is still stuck acting as a constant.  He hasn't done anything differently then he always did.  Widmore (and all who surmised that Widmore was Faraday's father, you can have your cookie now, congratulations) sent him to that Island, and his mother backed Widmore's play, knowing that they were sending Faraday to his death.  To his death at his mother's own hands.

Which, the second that he told Sawyer's brain trust that he needed to find the Hostiles I knew was his fate.  I hadn't put together how much of a parallel there was between this episode and The Constant yet, but I knew that Faraday was destined to die at his mother's hands.  It seemed inevitable.  I hoped that the episode would surprise me and end differently, but it didn't.  And honestly, it couldn't.

Desmond found his Constant and lived.  Faraday had to fail in finding his variable and die.  Constants and Variables are opposites.  They exist in opposition to each other.  And yet you need them both in order to find the answer.  The Constant helps you find the Variable.

Faraday tells Dr. Jack that they are the Variables, but if you watch the Constant you realize that he is incorrect.  Desmond is the Variable.  Desmond is the one that can change things.  He's done it twice before.  Possibly a few more then that, but two very important times.

Earlier this season, Faraday uses Desmond to seek out his mother.  Desmond has a memory that he didn't have until Faraday talked to him in the past.  Faraday even acknowledges at that point that only Desmond could do this, that Desmond is special.

In The Constant, when Faraday has Desmond seek out the Faraday of 1996, Faraday has created a new past for himself, one in which he had met Desmond, despite the fact that when he told Desmond to seek out his past self he had no memory of any such meeting ever having occurred.  That is because at that point, the meeting hadn't ever occurred.  Unlike with everyone else, Desmond is not subject to "Whatever Happened, Happened".  After Desmond went back and met with Faraday, there was a new note in Faraday's journal.  One that would not have been there before Desmond's trip.  It said, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond will be MY constant."

The problem is, Desmond isn't a constant, never was.  Desmond is the Variable.

So, if the question is, can our LOSTies keep the Incident from occurring and changing the entire history of the Island causing their plane to never crash in the first place?  Then the answer is Yes, but only with Desmond's help.

And as it stands right now, I have no idea how they're going to get it.

Okay, that's not exactly true.  I do have an idea.  Eloise Hawking.  She's in 1977 and she's with Desmond in present day.  Plus she knows how to get people to the Island.  The problem is, from her own words, "For the first time in a long time, I don't know what's going to happen next."  Which is a little problematic for our heroes.  Great time for her to run out of Future Knowing Ability.

Well, I suppose we know now where our last three hours of LOST this season are taking us, attempting to keep the Incident from occurring.  Looks like we're headed to an epic finish these next two weeks and then we'll be thrust into that awful time known as LOST-hiatus as we wait for the final season to begin next January.

A couple of other things I wanted to hit on from this episode...

I loved how Young Faraday was playing the piano to a metronome, a constant mode of keeping musical time, and yet was speeding up and slowing down his tempo despite it.  And when his mother told him that he had other things to focus on he told her, "I can make time."

And also, I thought it was interesting that we finally got the answer to the question of who faked the plane crash, a mystery we were reminded of in the last episode, and it turns out that it was Charles and not Benry.  So, at least Michael was told the truth about that.

Until Next Time, let us remember Faraday, one of the show's greatest characters.  Although he wasn't even with us for a full two seasons, he will be sorely missed.  To Daniel Faraday.

LOST Some Like it Hoth, first thoughts

Alternate title for this post could be "All the Good Jedi Have Daddy Issues"

As always *SPOILERS* if you aren't caught up.

Really just a few things to get into this week as the episode was for the most part self explanatory.  More answers then questions this week, although the questions we got were doozies.

It was confirmed the popular theory that Miles was the baby we saw in the opening moments of this season, no surprise there, and we saw the building of the Swan aka the Hatch.  Both nice things, but nothing to get too excited about.  LaFleur, meanwhile, is trying to cover up his actions concerning Young Ben, and I'm going to go out on a sturdy and firm limb and say that ultimately this will cause our LOSTies to lose their comfortable Dharma post.  There will probably be a lot more on that two weeks from now.

Let's get to the interesting stuff...

Let's start with the title of the episode, the second I saw it, I thought of Empire Strikes Back, and I wasn't disappointed.  There was a lot of Star Wars stuff in the episode.  Hurley is writing the script to Empire, with "a few improvements".  Of course, there is no way to improve Empire Strikes Back, as it is without question one of the best movies ever made.  Hurley's improvements, we come to learn, are that he would have Luke actually talk with Vader after it is revealed that Vader is (spoiler alert) his father.  Hurley claims that this would have saved a lot of trouble in the end.  While that may be, it sure as hell would have lessened the impact that the end of the movie had, and probably would have turned one of the greatest films of all time into utter crap.

The creators of LOST have long credited Star Wars as one of the main influences on the show.  I think in large part because of the epic tale based on mythic archetypes, but also, they seem to be telling us in this episode, because of the daddy issues.  One of the season one episodes was, of course, titled "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues", and that has long been a main theme of the show.  Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Locke, Ben, Hurley, and now Miles have all had serious issues with their fathers.  And the one time that we've seen Sayid's father it didn't seem like he was all that pleasant of a person either.  However, what is interesting about Star Wars, especially if you take all six movies and not just the original trilogy, the series isn't really about Luke and his daddy issues, it is about the father.  Everything is actually about Anakin.  (Who we found out in Episode One didn't even have a father, but that's another post).  For the most part, that doesn't seem to be the case in LOST.  The children ARE more important then the fathers.  Although, Christian does seem to be gaining in importance as the show goes on.  (And obviously his name brings to mind someone else who was born without an earthly father... hmm).

Speaking of Christian, I think that the name Bram is an interesting choice for one of our newest characters.  Proof that at least some of the other 316ers (and did you notice that the time on the microwave at Miles's new apartment was 3:16?) do know about the Island and have some ulterior motives, Bram picks up Miles off of the street and tells him not to go along on Widmore's wild boat ride.  Bram is usually short for Abraham, who was the father of the three biggest organized religions in the world, including Christianity (as well as Judaism and Islam) and it is also the first name of the author of Dracula.  Dracula of course being probably the most famous member of the Undead that there is.  Undead as in Dead, but Not Dead, as in Christian Shephard.  Pretty interesting.

Despite the interest that I had in his name, I am more interested in the fact that he tried to keep Miles from joining Widmore's crew.  And that later he boarded Ajira Flight 316 along with Ilana in order to get to the Island himself.  (We have seem him on the Island, he listened while Frank and Caesar argued about what the survivors should do in Namaste, and he is the one Ilana told to tie Frank up last week.)

I think that many of us, myself included, imagined that the coming war everyone had been talking about would be between Benry and Widmore, but we were wrong.  Sure the Others find themselves in a bit of a civil war between two leaders who are both, in my opinion, false, but there is a common enemy coming, one concerned with What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue.  You see, I don't think that they are at all connected with Widmore or Benry or the Others at all, but that they are a completely different group.  Despite their differences, which are many, both Widmore and Benry believe that they are acting in the best interest of the Island.  And the Island (or Jacob) has chosen the Others as it's chosen people.  (A very Abraham-ish idea, chosen people).  So, it is safe to think (at the moment with the limited information that we have) that this group is the actual enemy of the Island, and that probably the Others need to quit their bickering and get their stuff straight behind one leader (John Locke).

The other exciting bit of the episode happened at the very end when we discovered where Faraday had been all this time.  He was at Dharma headquarters in Ann Arbor.  Which means, he probably knows exactly what Dharma is hoping to accomplish.  He probably knows everything about the Island that Dharma knows, plus a little more thanks to his own experiences on the Island, Time Skipping and whatnot.  In other words, Daniel Faraday knows more about the Island then probably anyone else alive (or not Not Dead).  That will probably come in handy.

Finally, did you notice that Dr. Jack was erasing Egyptian Hieroglyph off of the black board in the classroom when he was attempting to cover for Roger?  Last week, in Smokey's lair we saw what certainly appeared to be Egyptian Hieroglyph, and the statue from behind certainly appears Egyptian.  Looking at names is always important in searching for LOST clues, and one that I had overlooked until hanging in the Royal Ontario Museum last week was the fact that Horus is an Egyptian god and the leader of Dharma on the Island is named Horace Goodspeed.

Horus was the son of Osiris (the god of the dead and underworld) and Isis (the goddess of fertility).  He reclaimed the Egyptian throne from Seth (the god of desert and chaos) after it was stolen from his father.  Ever after, the Pharaohs were considered the embodiment of Horus.  Other traditions say that Horus reclaimed the throne for his father and the Pharaohs were the embodiment of Osiris and the heir was the embodiment of Horus.

Until Next Time, some interesting stuff, and the Island certainly has its connections with death and fertility.

LOST Dead is Dead, first thoughts

Sorry for the lateness of this post, but in my defense, I am on vacation and out of the country to boot.  Also, this is my third attempt at this post.  I actually wrote my first attempt right after watching the episode despite operating on less then 4 hours of sleep in over 40 hours.  Somehow I lost the post instead of posting it.  I put it down to operator error.  I was wrong.  The Interwebs screwed me again after my second attempt at writing it this morning.  By the time I lost the post this time, it was time for me to head to the baseball game.  I made the executive decision to push the post back to tonight after Jersey Boys (which was fan-freakin-tastic by the way).  This time I am writing it as a Microsoft Word document and will use the magic of cut and paste, so every time that the interwebs screw up, I’ll be able to just cut and paste it again.  I’ll win in the end, I guarantee you that.

So, let’s get onto the episode.

I like that there were things in this episode that hinted at some of the big mysteries we are still waiting for full answers on.  While full and complete answers might not have occurred, there were definitely some clues.

LISTS

“Jacob wanted it done.  The Island chooses who the Island chooses.  You know that.”

-Richard Alpert

We’ve seen through the episodes (at least since season 2) that the Others have certain requirements for people that they want to join them.  Often those people have been identified by being on Lists.  So, who makes those lists?  The people sent to spy on intruders (such as Goodwin and Ethan did to our LOSTies), the leader of the Others (be it Benry, Widmore, or the Ageless Wonder, aka Richard Alpert), or is it Jacob?  For instance, who decided that young Ethan was supposed to join the Others and be spared the Purge?  Richard hints to Widmore that it is because of Jacob that he saved Young Ben.  Of course we saw the fact that Sawyer and Kate brought Young Ben to him and there wasn’t really time for Jacob to tell Alpert to save him.  Now, it is of course possible that Alpert and Jacob had talked of Young Ben after Richard first met him in the jungle a few years earlier, and it was understood that he was to become one of them, but what if Young Ben was never supposed to become Benry and was never meant to be the leader of the Others?  What if it was supposed to be Locke all along?

THE WHISPERS

When Benry and Young Ethan go to kill Rousseau and fail (I haven’t had a chance to read what anyone else has said about this episode yet, but I have to assume that many people have pointed out that Rousseau should have known Benry upon capturing him, she should have recognized him as the person who stole Alex from her) Benry tells her to avoid them and, “Every time you hear whispers, you run the other way.”  We’ve recognized that many times the Whispers occur, the Others aren’t far behind, but it is nice to hear one of the Others themselves (and Benry no less) admit that there is a connection between the Whispers and the Others.

SMOKEY

We’ve been told by the creators of the show that every time Smokey appears in the show, we’ll learn something new about him.  This time we actually saw from whence it comes.  Much was made of its home being full of those Egyptian-like hieroglyphics and a very interesting drawing right over the holes that Smokey emerged from featuring an Egyptian-like god treating with Smokey himself.  How long has this thing been around?  I also found interesting that despite the fact that Smokey came so promptly when Benry called last season, it showed no inclination of coming this time.  “Not a train, John, it doesn’t run on a schedule.” Benry tells Locke.  Speaking of Benry summoning Smokey, I have to wonder whether that connection was built by Dharma or added by the Others once they moved in.

THE STATUE

Speaking of the Egyptian-like connection to Smokey, we got a reminder that there is another Egyptian-ish mystery to be solved, the Statue.  The other flight 316 survivors appear to know a little something of the Statue because they ask their cult-like creepy question, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?”  How do they know to ask that, especially since currently, the statue isn’t throwing much of a shadow as it is only four toes?

 

There were also a few things in this episode that hearkened back to moments in past episodes.

First, when Benry tells John he must be judged because he “Broke the rules” it is very reminiscent of what Benry accused Widmore of when Keamy killed Alex.  And that moment was very important to this episode as it was.  What the episode did through this rule breaking connection was tie Benry and Widmore together.  Ultimately neither of them was meant to be the leader of the Others.  Both of them made decisions that were for personal reasons rather then for what the Island deserved.

The other person that this episode tied Benry to, however, surprised me at first.  Having written this post multiple times however (making the “first thoughts” part of the title a bit of a misnomer) I’ve discovered that the connection could be seen as an opposite side of the same coin type of connection.  When Smokey Alex physically confronts Benry it is very reminiscent of when Smokey Yemi attacks Eko.  Both Eko and Benry are attacked by loved ones.  Loved ones that they feel guilt for the deaths of.  Loved ones who lost their lives because of the actions of Eko and Benry.  But why would the show make a connection of Benry and Eko?   

Benry is evil and often for selfish reasons.  Eko did evil things, but he did them trying to make the right decisions.  Benry started as an innocent who became evil as he grew.  Eko was introduced to us as a child who made a decision to kill, but adult Eko was a priest of moral certitude when he arrived on the Island.  But then I realized that Eko and Benry weren’t being connected in this way because they are the same, but because they are like two sides of the same coin (see, I told you), because there are subtle differences as well in this connection, opposites in fact.  While Yemi attacked Eko before the Smoke Monster judged him, Alex attacked Benry after.  And Smokey ultimately killed Eko, but it let Benry live.  If you cared enough to go back a few years on the blog and find the post I wrote after the third season episode when Eko died, I said that I felt like the Smoke Monster killing Eko was not a punishment, but was a reward.  Eko had learned everything that the Island had to teach him and therefore the Island released him from his responsibility, perhaps to find some happiness with the real Yemi in some afterlife.  If this is the case, then the Smoke Monster not killing Benry is not a case of having found Benry innocent, but instead condemning him to work harder for the Island by doing whatever Locke wanted for a change.

There were a few other things I found interesting about this episode as well…

1. Our LOSTies won’t be staying with Dharma much longer.

The fact that Benry was legitimately surprised (it seemed to me) to find out from Sun that they were stuck in 1977 means that they won’t be there any longer when he gets back.  His treatment in the Temple took care of him remembering before being shot, but there is nothing to stop him from remembering them after he got back so logically they can’t be there anymore.

2. We’re setting up for another one of the other 316ers to get shot.

(And I never expected Caesar to go like that, I’m not gonna lie).  I really hope it isn’t Frank.  As they load their boat with guns, we can fairly safely assume that it is these survivors who get into the firefight with Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Faraday, and CS Lewis before they time skip into the storm that would bring Rousseau to the Island.  And if you remember, before they skip away, one of the members of that other boat (holding the 316ers) gets shot by our heroes.

3.  Charlie saves the day

I loved that Charlie Pace’s namesake (You All Everybody! Sorry, just had to throw that in there) saved his mom from certain destruction at the hands of Benry.  But it begs the question, especially since it happened twice in this episode, why kids keep Benry from doing any killing.  He normally shows no fear in killing elsewhere, but didn’t kill Rousseau when he saw Alex and didn’t kill Penny when he saw little Charlie.  Why the hell are kids Benry Gale’s Kryptonite?

4.  “It’s one thing to believe it, John.  It’s another thing to see it.”

I really like this quote.  It brings to mind one of the main themes of the show, the dichotomy between the Man of Science and the Man of Faith.  Of course, there is no guarantee that Benry means this when he says it, since he later tells Sun that he had no idea whatsoever that Locke could come back to life on the Island, telling her, “Dead is dead” (providing us the name of the episode) “even here.”  But even if he lied when he told John that he believed the Island would bring him back to life, there is truth in his statement.  It’s one thing to say or even act as you believe something, but it is completely different when your faith is rewarded.

5.  Dead Locke seems different then Dead Christian

If you watched the mobisodes a couple of years ago, you have seen the first appearance of Dead Christian and it is before Dr. Jack has even opened his eyes.  He sends Vincent to wake up his son as his son “has a lot of work to do”.  Christian acts from the moment that he is out of that coffin in season one very different from how he acted before he died.  There doesn’t seem to be much difference in Locke.  The only possible difference being that he is finally as connected to the Island as he always professed that he was.  I’m not sure what this means, but it is definitely something that I will be keeping an eye on these next few episodes.

Until Next Time, thank you for your patience in waiting for this post.  I probably won’t get to make too many replies to any of your comments for the next couple of days as I plan to make the most of the rest of the time I have here in Beautiful Toronto, but I will as soon as I get back to Texas.  Namaste!

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 He's Our You, first thoughts

A lot to get into after last night's episode.  I think that it is time we took a good long look at time travel and how it works.  Up until this point, I wasn't sure that such a discussion would really become necessary.  After all, Faraday told us in LaFleur, "It doesn't matter what we do.  Whatever happened, happened."

Faraday believes (and mostly works from this premise) that the Dharma age LOSTies are stuck in a cycle.  Whatever happened to them in the past, whatever events they precipitated are events that have already occurred.  They don't really have the ability to change them.  It is this fact that Faraday is struggling to accept at the beginning of LaFleur.  The female CS Lewis told him just before she died that she thinks he was a strange man who scared her when she was a child, telling her to leave the Island and never return.  Faraday swears to himself that he won't tell her that, he won't be that scary man to the child version of his love, but by the end of the episode when he sees Charlotte as a little girl, do any of us doubt that he will do what he has already done?  And the even more sad thing is that he will do it knowing that it is hopeless.  She won't listen, he knows this because she has already died in his arms.  Faraday believes that anything that they do is what they have already done.  They can't change anything.

This belief is given some credence somewhat by events in LaFleur (clarified in Namaste) when Juliet is able to save baby Ethan's life.  Sawyer tells Juliet, "You've got to help her, you're the only one who can."  If he is to be believed, would Ethan have survived his birth if Juliet hadn't been there?  If not, then Faraday was at least partially right when he said that "whatever happened, happened."

This time travel argument is a rare one in television and film, far more often you get the view that traveling to the past can somehow change your present (aka the future).  Two movies I can think of that take this same view are Timeline (based on the book by Michael Crichton which does an even better job of showing this point) and the first Terminator.  Since it is much more likely that more people have seen the first Terminator, we'll stick with that one.  In Terminator, John Connor sends his good friend Kyle Reese back in time to protect his mother because SkyNet has sent a Terminator to kill her so that John Connor will never be born.  In the process, Kyle and Sarah have sex and John Connor is ultimately the product of that union.  If the Terminator had not been sent back to kill Sarah and John had not sent Kyle back to protect her, then John would never have been born in the first place.  Not only that, but the Terminator that is sent to kill Sarah Connor is found and the pieces of the futuristic technology are also what sets in motion the creating of SkyNet.  Since these events had happened in the past, SkyNet had no choice but to send a Terminator back, ultimately creating itself, and John had to send Kyle back knowing that Kyle was his father and therefore creating himself.

It is a big cycle that cannot be changed.  "Whatever happened, happened."

With the end of He's Our You, however, it appears that maybe that isn't the case here.  Sayid shot Young Ben.  Now there is the chance that Young Ben is somehow not killed by this wound (after all, I hear one of the workmen is actually a doctor) and maybe Sayid always had shot Young Ben, making it just another step in turning poor, tormented Young Ben into evil, manipulative Benry who wipes out all of Dharma.  If, however, Young Ben does die, then it turns out our LOSTies can in fact change things.  At least to a point (but we'll get there later).

So, working from the assumption that the LOSTies can change the future (and therefore their own past) we move away from Timeline and the first Terminator and into Back to the Future and the second Terminator.  Films that I figure most of you are familiar with.  In the Back to the Future trilogy, events changed by Doc Brown and Marty McFly change the way everything happens.  When Marty gets his parents together by having his father face up to Biff, his father is no longer the weak, uncertain person Marty remembers and is instead a successful author.  The entirety of the timeline that Marty knew has changed.

In Terminator 2, John and Sarah are once again hunted by a Terminator from the future, and this time John sends back a reprogrammed Terminator to aid them.  In the course of the film they recover the parts of the first Terminator and destroy the lab as well as the man who had helped create SkyNet, thereby making sure that Judgement Day never happened.  By their actions they believed that they forestalled the future that originally had taken place.

If this is true for LOST, the future of the Island will look vastly different with no Benry Gale.  For one thing, the purge will not occur, meaning that Dharma might still be on the Island and doing their thing when Flight 815 crashes.  Everything we've seen could change.

There is however a third possibility even if Sayid did somehow succeed in killing Young Ben.

Way back in season 3 when we saw the episode Flashes Before Your Eyes, LOST told us of another possibility of time travel.  Things could be changed somewhat, but the universe had a way of Course Correcting.  Ms. Hawking tells Desmond that the man with the red shoes is going to die.  When it happens Desmond asks why she didn't warn him.  She answers that if she had warned him he wouldn't have died in that way, but he would have still been killed because that is what was supposed to happen.

This idea is just as rare (if not more rare) in television and film then Faraday's theory.  In fact I can only think of one other film that has used it, and since we've already talked about the first two Terminator films, it is fitting that this idea comes from Terminator 3.  At the end of Terminator 2, John and Sarah believe that the future is safe, Judgement Day has been averted.  In T3 they discover that it hasn't been averted, just delayed.  They changed the how, but the event still happens.  The machines rise, SkyNet goes crazy with the killing, and John Connor is once again humanities only hope.  Only the how changed.  The universe course corrected.

So, Sayid kills Benry, it doesn't really matter, it doesn't really change anything.  Someone else will facilitate the Purge.  Someone else will take over leadership of the Others.  Someone else will make sure that the LOSTies will suffer.  Because that's the way it was supposed to happen.  The universe will course correct as it always does.

Of course, there is always the possibility that Benry was never supposed to do all that he did and that Charles was right.  It was his Island and Benry took it from him.  Maybe this is the Island's way of course correcting, putting the LOSTies in a position to change the future, make it where Benry Gale doesn't get to do all of the awful things that he has done.  Maybe the LOSTies are here to create the future in the way that it was actually supposed to happen.

Until Next Time, I guess we'll have to watch and find out.

LOST Namaste, first thoughts

As always *SPOILERS* if you aren't caught up!!!!

I am getting the feeling that after this season of LOST, rewatching the previous seasons will be more rewarding then ever.  Now that Benry as a little boy has met Sayid the prisoner, don’t you think that will affect how you see the scenes where Sayid meets Benry the prisoner?  Not to mention that he has lived with Sawyer, Jin, and Juliet for a little while.  It definitely makes his later interest in Juliet even more interesting.  It now becomes possible that the “she” Juliet reminds Benry of, is in fact herself (from the episode The Other Woman).  I still think that the therapist was talking about Annie (the little girl from the episode The Man Behind the Curtain), but now that Benry knew Juliet when he was younger, it certainly bears thinking about.  Like I said, rewatching the new episodes after this season is going to be very, very rewarding.  I can’t wait to do it.  (Plus it will help make the months in between this season and the next more bearable.)

Speaking of past seasons, remember back in the beginning of Season 3 when Sawyer, Kate, and Dr. Jack were being held prisoner by the Others.  Dr. Jack was supposed to treat Benry Gale’s cancer, but in the mean time, Benry had Sawyer and Kate working on a runway.  A runway that would only have one plane land on it so far, and that plane would have as a passenger Benry Gale himself.  There is no way that that is a coincidence.  Somehow Benry knew that he would need that runway to save his life some 3 years after he had it built.  How much does this man know about what is going on?  Might I suggest everything?

I remind long time readers of my “Author of Their Own Situation Theory” which I will go over again since we have some new readers as well.  Last season LOST went out of it’s way to have us notice two books, VALIS by Phillip K Dick and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.  In each of those books, there is a character that represents the author (in VALIS it is Horselover Fat which with Latin loosely translates as Phillip Dick and in Slaughterhouse Five it is Kilgore Trout which is Vonnegut’s alternate reality version of himself who appears in many of his books).  LOST also claims to take as inspiration the fantastic series by Stephen King, The Dark Tower.  In The Dark Tower series, King is not only the author, but also an important character.  Interestingly enough, CS Lewis also was working on a book called The Dark Tower (although he never finished it) and in it he put himself as a character.  CS Lewis is, of course, an important author in the series as Charlotte Staples Lewis (may she rest in peace) is clearly named after author Clive Staples Lewis.  So, all of these instances of an author playing a critical role in the books and or series that they write makes me believe that a character (and possibly more then one, I’m looking at you Widmore) is the author of our LOSTies situation as well, primarily Benry Gale.  If he is the author of the situation it would help explain how he always seems to be right where he needs to be, or as it was said of him in the episode The Other Woman, he is always right where he wants to be.

So, Ethan Rom (one of the first LOST anagrams, Other Man) is the baby that Juliet delivered, who would one day grow up to be a doctor working on solving why babies can no longer be born on the Island.  I’m not sure if it is anything more then just interesting, but it certainly is that.

Dr. Jack has always resented being a leader, but every time that some one else has stepped up to take the role (primarily John Locke, but a couple of times prior to this one Sawyer as well) Dr. Jack has not handled it gracefully.  While he seems to be handing the leadership role to Sawyer right now with minimum fuss, my feeling is that despite his whole “I’m not a leader attitude, why do you want me to lead?” Dr. Jack will be mounting a power play to resume his old role from Sawyer.  I don’t think that Sawyer will be too willing to give it up though.

Speaking of Sawyer and Dr. Jack, what do you think about the newly woven relationship tangle?  We’ve always had the Sawyer-Kate-Dr. Jack triangle, although at times it has changed focus slightly to be a Kate-Dr. Jack-Ana Lucia triangle or most recently a Kate-Dr. Jack-Juliet triangle.  We almost had a Sawyer-Kate-Dr. Jack-Ana Lucia triangle (rectangle, ooh, how about Rhombus?) once, but Michael effectively stopped that before it happened.  So the four person relationship tangle is new (Sawyer-Kate-Dr. Jack-Juliet) and I’m okay with it as long as it doesn’t take away too much attention from the overall plot.  

We also found out that Faraday is gone from 1977.  Where did he go?  When did he leave the rest of them?  How did he leave?  And most importantly, why is he no longer with Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, and Miles?  (I couldn’t think of a what one or I would have added it to.)

Meanwhile in the “present”  Frank and Sun are told by Christian that their friends are in the past and that they have “quite a journey ahead” of them.  Does this mean that there is someway on Island for Sun and Frank to travel backwards to the seventies?  One would have thought the Orchid, but remember Benry blew that puppy up in last season’s season finale.  OOH!  What if Faraday found out how to travel on Island and is somehow back in the present!  (Not only is it an interesting idea, but it also gave me my “what” Faraday question, victory is mine.)

On a lighter note, I love that Sawyer made Dr. Jack a “Workman”, cracked me up.  I also wonder what Kate and Hurley’s jobs are.  Also, at the beginning when Sawyer hugged Kate, I am so glad that he didn’t call her Freckles, because if he had I seriously would have cried.  I was already tearing up.  And I want to save my big LOST cry for when Sun and Jin finally reunite.

Until Next Time, here’s another interesting thought/theory I came up with while watching this episode, what if the Whispers are echoes through time of themselves and those that they are close to?  What if the connections that the LOSTies have to each other is causing their voices to almost be audible to themselves and their friends 30 years after they spoke?  Something to think about anyway.

LOST LaFleur, first thoughts

As always *SPOILERS* if you aren't caught up!

Wow, I loved this episode!  I think in part because Sawyer is my favorite good guy character.  (Overall I think that Benry is probably my favorite character, but that guy is EVIL.  Like Evil League of Evil evil.  He makes Bad Horse look like a saint.)  (That's a Dr. Horrible reference people, keep up.)  I also love episodes that have emotional cores, and this one really did.  We open with the pain and anguish that Faraday feels for losing CS Lewis.  In the middle of the episode we get the sensational scene involving Juliet's return to her dream job, the one that the Island stole all her passion for.  Remember how excited Juliet was about delivering babies back in the episode Not In Portland?  And how happy she was to get to once more bring joy to someone when she told Sun that the baby was Jin's in the episode D.O.C?  But mostly for the last 6 years, Juliet has hated the idea of babies being born.  Apparently she believed that the inability of anyone to give birth on the Island was somehow her fault.  The scene in which she helps Michelle Dessler give birth and tells Sawyer and Jin that she's okay was Emmy worthy stuff.  (Speaking of Michelle Dessler, I wonder if Tony knows that somehow she's on the Island.  I say he leave Jack to saving the world and he comes and gets his wife back.)  (That was a 24 reference, seriously you guys, keep up.)  And finally the episode finishes with Sawyer's lies thrust back in his face as he sees Kate across the grass and knows that while he may in fact love Juliet, he is by no means over Kate.  All three of these emotional touchstones grabbed me.  Great stuff.

I also loved this episode because it really got my mind racing again in the theory department.  There was some good stuff in this episode for that.

Real quick, we'll start with the statue, since that is where the episode started.  It definitely had an Egyptian feel to me, perhaps an Egyptian god.  (Mainly cause of the ears.)  I wonder, however, if the Island might in fact be Atlantis?  (Not my cat, but what she was named after, the ancient LOST civilization.  (Do you see what I did there?)  Just a thought.

My real theorizing came about do to a couple of events in this episode.  One, dead bodies don't time shift, as evidenced by CS Lewis staying put while Faraday left (or vis versa if you go by how Faraday put it, and I think that was interesting), and two, the fence doesn't stop Alpert or those like him.  What does this add up to?  The Others are dead.

Just like Locke, just like Christian, just like Claire, Alpert and the Others are dead but are walking and talking and interacting like they aren't.

Oh, and by the way, I'm going to fit the Smoke Monster into this theory also.  So be ready for that shortly!
Dead bodies don't jump.  The Others don't jump.  I've really been wondering (since the time shifting began) why none of the Others jumped with Locke but Juliet jumped.  Alpert says his people weren't affected, why not?  When Juliet sided with the LOSTies did she give up her not affected by time shifts card?  And if Juliet wasn't immune to the time shifts like the Others because the Island knew she was no longer an Other, why didn't Locke get to be immune?  After all he had fully changed allegiance to the Others at that point.  Nope that theory just didn't hold water.  Juliet wasn't immune because she was different then the other Others.  At least those that Alpert had with him.  Perhaps they were all truly native to the Island, as in they had been born there.  I think that this is partly true.  And for a time I believed it fully.

Okay, Alpert only brought those that were native to the Island with him from the Temple to save Benry.  Therefore people like the stewardess (who was a survivor of 815) and anyone who has come to the Others but wasn't born on the Island are skipping through time like our LOSTies now.

The problem is, they were all at the Temple, and our time skipping took us to the Temple, and there was no one there except Smokey.  (Don't worry, I'll get to him).

So, none of those Others were time skipping even though we know that they weren't born on the Island.  And not only that, but both Miles and CS Lewis were born on the Island and they were skipping like children hopped up on too much sugar.

So, why is that?  Well, it is because dead bodies don't jump, and the Others (the real Others, a group into which Juliet had not yet been initiated) are dead.  I don't think that it's an honor you get automatically, because while being dead might not sound awesome on the cover of it, on the Island it has its privileges.  Even besides avoiding annoying time skips.  You can appear and disappear in random places throughout the Island (as evidenced by Harper showing up and disappearing a little too convincingly) which is cool, but more importantly, YOU DON'T AGE!  That's right, Alpert doesn't age because he doesn't live.  Aging is for living people.  He looks exactly the same in 1954 as he does in 2008 because he's dead.

Eko in the episode The 23rd Psalm).  I think that Smokey is also like a computer, it holds the essence of a person so that when they die the Island can reanimate them to "live forever" and to serve the Island's needs if they are worthy.  (Perhaps the lists that Jacob is so fond of making are people that the Island might find worthy of receiving this "gift".)  And while it can be done elsewhere if it is an emergency (read: Claire) I think that the place this happens is usually the Temple.

And, of course, being dead, there wouldn't be any need to fear some wacky Dharma sonic fence.
So, what do you think about my "The Others Are Dead" theory?  Work for you?  Why or why not?
Just to bring it up because if I don't someone will ask me about it, if the LOSTies are in 1974 as Lostpedia says they are, then how could that be little CS Lewis because Locke said she was born in 1979 after he had gotten all of the Boat Folk info from Benry (who got it from Michael)?  Well, it is probably a continuity error on the part of LOST, but after her mom lied about her time on the Island, why wouldn't she have lied about when she was born also?  It happens in Little League all the time.  In other words, I'm not that worried about it.

Until Next Time, I also loved this episode because not only was Locke cured of his paralysis by coming to the Island, apparently Herc was also!  (Dude, I really hope that he told Street about this magical Island where they could walk again!) (Friday Night Lights people.  You really need to start recognizing these references on your own.)

LOST The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham, first thoughts

Okay, big question to lead of the post today after last night's show and as always *SPOILERS*...

Where is Sayid?

Seriously.  Dr. Jack, Kate, and Hurley are all back in Dharma time.  Frank and Sun have taken a boat to head back to the beach and LOSTies base camp.  Locke is enjoying his resurrection and bothering the new castaways.  And Benry is beat up in a hospital bed.

But where the frak is Sayid?  That's the question I have.  I guess the most logical explanation is that he disappeared in the time shift also and is somewhere on the Island in Dharma time.  That would be my guess.

Watching last night's episode was the first time I've seen Abbadon since seeing every episode of The Wire.  So all I can really say to his death is...  CEDRIC!!! NO!!!!  But seriously, Abbadon is still a very interesting character and I hope we get a little more about him in flashback.  Clearly he works for Widmore, which I think we'd all pretty much surmised anyway, but his job is to, as he puts it, get people to where they are supposed to be.  We saw him direct Locke to the Island by suggesting the Walkabout.  I wonder if he had a hand in any of our other LOSTies routes to the Island?  Either way, it seems like he is being as hands on as he always yelled at McNulty for being.  (I know, I know, in LOST he isn't Cedric Daniels.  Or the guy from Fringe.  Or the dude in the Cadillac commercial.  Seriously, you're a main character in The Wire and Fringe and one of the most intriguing characters on LOST.  Do you really have to do a Cadillac commercial?)  He at least approached Hurley, although we haven't seen him with anyone else that I recall.  But he was directly responsible for Faraday, CS Lewis, Miles, and Frank being on the Island.  It isn't like I could complain if that's the last we see of him, because there is enough of an answer there as to who he is and why he was around, but he intrigues me enough to want some more as well.

So, mister "you have my condolences" is named Caesar.  And has obviously become the leader of this new set of castaways.  Perhaps inevitable considering his name.  He seemed to be looking for something a little specific while digging around in that Dharma station if you ask me.  I don't think that it was coincidence that he was on that flight.  If I had to guess, he works for Widmore.  We already know that Widmore was watching all of the O6.  If they were all getting on the same plane, it wouldn't surprise me that Widmore got one of his own people on that plane as well.

But, how much does Widmore know about Benry's activities?  Does he realize that it is he who gave Benry access to return to the Island?  Widmore told Locke to look for Ms. Hawking.  Locke told it to Benry, who then killed him and then went to hang with Faraday's mother.  I find it interesting that it is through his mortal enemy Widmore that Benry found his way back to the Island.  If you asked me which side I was rooting for in the eternal struggle between Benry and Widmore I wouldn't hesitate to tell you neither.  I seriously think that they are both evil and out for themselves, neither is really on the side of our LOSTies or even the Island.

So, everyone is back on the Island now except for Desmond, Walt, and Aaron.  A few times in this episode it was mentioned that Locke was supposed to bring EVERYBODY back.  Obviously, things can't get back on track (the record won't stop skipping as it were) until these three are back as well.  I, like a lot of you, think that the person Benry went to confront before boarding the plane late (Hurley style) last week was Desmond, in part to try and convince him (or kidnap him, either way) to get on that plane, but also in large part to keep his promise to Widmore by killing Penny.  Obviously I don't think that he succeeded, and I hope that Desmond kicked his ass, but if he did succeed, then Desmond will no doubt be hell bent on revenge, even returning to the Island to get it.

Walt is obviously still connected to the Island by having dreams of events that haven't occurred yet.  We've now seen Locke on the Island with strangers while wearing a suit, but they don't want to kill him yet.  Since Walt saw that though, I figure it will happen soon enough.  Especially with him being all creepy about having been dead.  I don't know that I would tell that to complete strangers, John.  No doubt his dreams about current events will somehow bring him back to the Island as well.

As for Aaron, the question is, of course, who Kate left him with.  My money is on Cassidy and Clementine, Sawyer's ex and his daughter (also, clearly the people he told Kate to go check on when he jumped off of the helicopter to save them all.)  As soon as either Widmore or Benry figures this out, I have no doubt that Aaron will be on the way to join them all.

Benry the Island would have to be finished with him, right?

Until Next Time, where do you think Sayid is?  Because that is the big question after last night's episode.

LOST 316, first thoughts

Quite a few things to discuss after this episode.

First, there are at least three instances where Benry flat out lies in this episode, and I think that the episode makes a point about this, leading me to believe the show is saying that we can't really trust anything that Benry has said up to this point.  (The lies if you didn't catch them yourself are 1. that he didn't know about the Lamp Post Station, we saw him there in the episode The Lie, hmmmm 2. that his mother had taught him to read, remember she died when he was born and 3. that he didn't know Locke committed suicide, in the preview for next weeks episode we see Benry there when Locke is about to hang himself.)  Just something that I noticed in the episode, I think it is important to remember that the show has continually told us we can't trust Benry.

Second, let's talk about the title 316.  Clearly this is a nod to the bible verse that you see at sporting events all of the time John 3:16, considering that a main player in the events of this episode despite being dead was none other then John Locke.  The verse, as I'm sure most of you already know, is "For God so loved the world that God gave his only Son, so that all who believe in him will not perish (some translations say "may not be lost") but will have eternal life."  Meanwhile, the note that Locke left for Dr. Jack says "I wish you had believed me".  Also, there is the tie in to last weeks episode when Christian tells Locke that he is a sacrifice. 

The Island gave it's chosen one Locke so that the others could return.  Meanwhile, Locke is using himself as a proxy for Christian, so there shouldn't be any doubt that Locke like Dr. Jack's father before him will be up and moving around again on the Island.  Often referred to as resurrected.  Also, I loved the direct Christian symbolism in this episode as we heard the story of the Apostle Thomas, most commonly referred to as Doubting Thomas.  Benry relates the story that Thomas is most famous for, but he also relates the story found in John 11:16.  The disciples are resisting Jesus' decision to return to Judea because of the danger to Jesus there, but Jesus will not be swayed.  While most of the disciples are scared to go there and resist because of that fear, Thomas bravely says, "Let us also go, that we might die with him."  After Jesus' death and resurrection, Thomas is believed to be the apostle that took the gospel the furthest, preaching well outside the Roman Empire, going to Persia, India, and China to spread the gospel.  In a way, Dr. Jack has come to believe in the Island and has preached "We Have To Go Back" to the others after doubting John for so long.

Third, yet another Narnia reference from LOST, tonight, we see a Dharma station (ostensibly the first) called The Lamp Post.  It is the station that led Dharma and our LOSTies to the Island.  In Narnia, the Lamp Post is among the first things Lucy encounters when she first travels into Narnia in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  It is also the way that the Pensieves find their way back into the real world after being in Narnia, it leads them back to the Wardrobe.  In the books, I think of the Lamp Post as a way back to the world you are supposed to be in as opposed to the fantasy world (Narnia) you were just visiting.  If you take it the same way here, then the Island is the real world now for our characters (despite the Island being Narnia in relation to Charlotte's story in the last episode).  I suppose it differs based on who the character is and where they are supposed to be.  Clearly since she died, maybe Charlotte Staples Lewis never should have returned to the Island.

Fourth, while we are unsure at this point whether Benry, Sun, and Sayid have returned to the Island, it is clear that Aaron and Desmond (and Walt, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALT!!!!!!!!!!!!, for that matter) have not yet.  I have no doubt that at some point they will be returned as well.  Desmond was told by Ms. Hawking that (yet again) the Island is not finished with him.  I'm sure that he'll find his way back there and most likely against his will.  Aaron's importance is even more clear to me now that we've met yet another member of the Shephard clan.  I'm not sure why, but I have no doubt that the Shephard family is very closely entwined with the Island and would not be at all surprised if Dr. Jack's granddad will be showing up on the Island as a young man in Dharma time.

Fifth, speaking of people who are new but had some prominence in the episode, the man that gave Dr. Jack his condolences on the loss of his friend and the guy that Hurley told "Seriously, buckle up, dude" too is going to be important.  That was too much screen time for someone we don't know for him not to have a role of some importance.  At first I thought he was the terrorist that Sayid was with when he was undercover for the FBI, but after pulling out that episode I realized that it was not (and that guy died).  There is going to be more of him, though, I don't doubt that at all.

Sixth, did the others on the plane not get to the Island, mainly Sayid, Sun, and Benry (as well as random dude, agent that appeared to have Sayid in custody, and Frank)?  As for how Dr. Jack, Hugo, and Kate got on the Island, it didn't appear to be a plane crash, but much more like the time shifts that those left behind have been experiencing and that apparently have left them in Dharma time period long enough for Faraday to be helping build the Orchid and Jin to be tooling around in Hurley's VW van.  As for the others on the flight I think that somehow, they got sent to another time.  I think the plane did in fact crash, but while a time shift caught Dr. Jack, Hugo, and Kate, the others crashed in present day, 2008.  Remember, the ones left behind (Sawyer, Faraday, Juliet, et al) saw an Ajira water bottle when they discovered the camp site and stole the boat.  It's even possible that our friends were the ones shooting at them, after all, there was a marshal on board.  Everyone else on that flight is on the Island, but in 2008, while the remaining LOSTies plus Dr. Jack, Hurley, and Kate are in the eighties with Dharma.  And this way, the show can wait to give us our Sun and Jin reunion, building it up to Desmond/Penny proportions.

Finally, seventh, there were again a lot of visual references to earlier episodes in this one.  The opening of course was a direct visual quote to the opening of the series with Dr. Jack's eye opening while laying on his back in the jungle.  Benry rushed on the plane late just like Hurley did back in season one.  Sayid came onto the plane handcuffed and accompanied by a marshall ala Kate in season one.  Just to name a few.

Until Next Time, my love for this show is growing with each episode this season, I truly believe that this season is the best the show has had so far.  Can't wait to hear your thoughts on what happened to the others on that plane.

LOST Some Thoughts on Jacob and Christian

So, is Christian actually working on behalf of Jacob or is he somehow taking the Island over?

Is the person we see walking around saying he is Christian even actually the man who was Christian Shephard since Christian Shephard died in Sydney?

Why when we first saw Christian walking around the Island was he always in a blue suit, but since we've seen him in the Cabin he's wearing something else?  Are these actually two distinct characters using the same face?
Christian's body is missing.  This was established in the Season 1 episode White Rabbit in which Dr. Jack found Christian's coffin amongst flight 815 wreckage in the Caves.  The coffin was intact, but it was empty.  In fact, Dr. Jack was led to the Caves by the vision of his dead father.  More and more, this early episode appears to be important as many characters have since seen dead characters around.

If you'll recall last season, when the O6 were telling their story to the press in No Place Like Home Part 1, Dr. Jack mentioned three other survivors who didn't live to get rescued and claimed everyone else had died.  The three that he cited were Charlie, Libby, and Boone.  What is interesting about that, is those are three characters who have been seen since their death.  Charlie has been conversing regularly with Hurley, Libby guided Michael back to the Island, and Boone has helped out Locke a time or two since biting it.  At that point in the series, those were the only confirmed dead (also a title of an episode last season) characters from flight 815 who had been seen since their death.  (I still maintain that Claire is also dead and had at that point been seen afterwards, but we haven't yet gotten confirmation that she died in that bungalow explosion).  In a way, this points out the importance of seeing characters who have died interacting with our LOSTies.  It also makes me more certain that Locke will be able to walk and talk again as soon as they get him back to the Island.

But, are the appearances of Charlie, Boone, and Libby (and appearances by Benry's mom in Man Behind the Curtain, Horace in Cabin Fever, and Ana Lucia in The Lie to mention some others) the same as the appearances of Christian Shephard?  Most of those characters appear only to one person specifically, no one else has seen them, but Christian has appeared to not only Dr. Jack, but to Miles, Michael, and Locke as well, and has been shown holding Aaron (Something Nice Back Home), petting Vincent (the mobisode So It Begins), and in last week's episode holding and hanging a lantern (very similarly to how Benry did last season when he turned the Donkey Wheel) none of those other characters have been shown able to actually manipulate real world items.  No, it seems to me that Christian is a different animal then the other dead characters that we've seen (and perhaps only Clair is similar).

But why have we seen him in different garb?  Did he get redressed somehow when he began to speak for Jacob?  That is after all when the change in clothes took place.  I do think that the Christian we've seen in the blue suit and the Christian we've seen recently is the same person, and his new job has necessitated this change in clothing.

But I'm still not sure that I trust that he is actually working in Jacob's interest.  Remember the one time that we saw Jacob prior to Christian inhabiting his cabin, he asked John to help him.  Benry asked John what he heard and it seemed to me then (and still does) that Benry wasn't able to see or hear Jacob himself.  This leads me to believe that either for some reason Benry lost his ability to see or hear Jacob (possible as it would indicate he had fallen out of favor, helping to explain how he could get cancer on an Island where people don't get sick, they get better) or somehow Jacob was fading away and losing his ability to control and manipulate the Island (hence his asking Locke to "Help me").  The second seems to me more likely to be the truth because if Jacob were somehow losing his connection to and control of the Island, that could also explain the fact that Benry got cancer.

I also believe this to be the case setting up either Jacob needing a surrogate (Christian) or someone being able to attempt to replace him (again Christian).

Let's take a moment to think about the religious aspects of this part of the show.  Jacob is clearly a religiously significant name.  In the Judeo/Christian (and Muslim for that matter) histories, Jacob was the son of Issac, grandson of Abraham, and the twin brother of Esau.  Jacob tricked his father into giving him the birthright that was legally his brothers (a con worthy of Sawyer or Locke's dad).  He also famously wrestled God (or in some translations an Angel of God) and won (or at least didn't lose).  His twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel.  One of his son's was named Benjamin and he had a great great grandson named Aaron (the brother of Moses).  It seems pretty clear to me that this person is where the show got the name of Jacob.  Also the bible talks about how "God loved Jacob" and that was also a direct quote shown in Room 23 when Karl was being held there by the Others.

Christian Shephard is also pretty clear in it's religious significance.  Christian is self explanatory and Jesus is often referred to as a Shepherd and uses shepherd and sheep metaphors in many of his parables.



Again, I'm not sure what this might mean.  I'll be honest, as I'm watching I feel like Christian is not working on behalf of Jacob, but looking at it from a purely analytical bent, I'm inclined to think that he is.  Either way, this is definitely one of the most intriguing mysteries on the show right now and one I will be keeping a close eye on.

Until Next Time, let me know your thoughts on the Christian/Jacob situation and what it all might mean.

*EDIT* Check out my post following the episode Follow the Leader for some more thoughts on Jacob and Christian.

LOST This Place Is Death, first thoughts

As Always *SPOILERS* if you aren't caught up....

So, the first casualty of the time shifting has occurred and it is Charlotte Staples Lewis.  She tells Faraday (and us) that she lived on the Island as a child with the Dharma Initiative and was forced to leave with her mother (although her father stayed, significant? perhaps).  Whenever she would subsequently speak of the Island her mother told her that it was all in her head, that she had made it up.

That's a nice little shout of to Narnia right there, if you ask me.  With Charlotte being named after CS Lewis, I like that they did this.  If you'll remember from the books, in The Last Battle it is revealed that whenever Lucy would speak to Susan about Narnia, Susan would act as if Narnia never existed and it was just a game that they played as children.  Seems quite similar.

Then Charlotte told Faraday that there was a strange man around when she was a child who told her she needed to leave the Island and never come back or she would die (at which point I knew that our red head CS Lewis was about to be no more).  Faraday tries to comfort her with news about his contact with Desmond, but is shocked when she says that she thinks that man was him.

Now, we know from the video released from this offseason's ARG that Faraday was around during Dharma and we know from the opening scene in this season, so the question becomes did Locke actually stop them from time shifting when he steadied the Donkey Wheel and they are stuck in Dharma time period or did he just steady the time shifts so they aren't occurring with the frequency at which they had begun to occur?  After all, Locke believes that it won't stop until the people who left the Island (the O6 et al) are returned.
I figure that the time shifts will keep occurring, but not with the same frequency as the last couple of episodes.

Every time that we meet Smokey, the producers promise us, we'll learn something new.  In the episode Exodus Part 1, Rousseau told us that the Smoke Monster was a security system that protects the Island.  In this episode we learn that in actuality it protects the Temple.  (And yes, I believe that the temple that Jin and Rousseau's party find is the same one that Benry directs Richard and the Others to go to in the Season 3 finale.)

Remember in the episode Exodus Part 2 when Smokey grabbed Locke?  It tried to take him underground similarly to what it did to the unfortunate and now armless member of Rousseau's team.  Apparently when they came back they were different.  And it wasn't just because Rousseau had already gone crazy (where we know she end's up eventually) and assumed they were different and "sick" as she puts it.  When she decides to listen to Robert (Alex's real father) he tries to shoot her, but the gun misfires and she instead shoots him. 

So, Smokey was the source of the sickness that Rousseau spoke about when she had to kill off her team.  So then, what would have happened to Locke if he had been taken down that hole?

Well, Locke does go down another hole in this episode down a well on a rope in a scene very visually similar to a scene from the early season 2 episode Adrift when Locke goes down into the Hatch on a rope.  In the season premiere the opening scene was a visual quote from the season premiere of season 2's opening and in this episode we got a visual quote from the second season 2 episode.  Very interesting.

Anyway, time shifts again and Locke finds himself underground while those above are holding a rope but the well is gone and they no longer have access to Locke.  Christian Shephard, however, is there to assist Locke.  He tells John that it had been his job to move the Island, not Benry's.

I'm no longer a proponent of my theory that the Island wanted John to lead the Others all along and Benry was just a substitute.  I'm now under the impression that Locke was never suited to this work and was never meant to it.  Of course, that still doesn't answer where Jacob is now, why Christian is the one telling people what to do, and why Benry got sick in a place where you're supposed to get better.  Despite the many, many answers we've been getting so far this season, there are still a lot of questions.

One that I believe is pretty clear now is that Eloise Hawking (who at one time in the episode Flashes Before Your Eyes told Desmond that he was destined to push that button when she didn't want to sell him that engagement ring) is in fact Faraday's mother, so kudos to all of us who had that figured out immediately.  I loved the shock on his face when he realized that Eloise Hawking, Faraday's mother was in fact the woman from his past, however, that was awesome.

Until Next Time, I'm very interested to see when the LOSTies are after Locke resets the Donkey Wheel and I'm interested to see when and where Locke appears off Island.

LOST The Little Prince, first thoughts

As always SPOILERS if you aren't caught up....

First of all I wanted to say...

I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!

To all who doubted my guarantee that Jin was not in fact dead but alive and out in the ocean near the Island somewhere, I gladly accept your shock and awe at my prediction being proven true.

I also knew that tonight's episode would feature Danielle Rousseau, although I was expecting it to be a much larger role rather then just a reintroduction.  The reason I was not at all shocked to see Rousseau was because of tonight's title, The Little Prince.

For those of you who don't know, The Little Prince is a hugely popular children's book written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery who is French (shocker, I know, you never would have guessed that from his name.)  Because of that, I anticipated that we would finally get the back story on everyone's favorite crazy lady.

Now, if you want some in depth analysis on the book and why it might relate to LOST, well Doc Jensen has you covered on that, so feel free to read his thoughts from prior to last night's episode airing.

On to the episode, going with The Little Prince motif, the wreckage from Rousseau's ship shows that the name of her ship was Besixdouze, which in French translates to B 6 12, which is the asteroid that the titular character from The Little Prince is from.

Also of interest in the episode, the side of Benry's van says Rainier-Canton.  Ah a LOST anagram moment, let's see if we can figure out what it may mean.  Ah hah, Reincarnation.  Interesting.  Remember that this same van held the dead body of John Locke just a couple of episodes back.  Something to think about.

So, C.S. Lewis is suffering from what Faraday is calling extreme jet-lag and he says that it is worse for those with longer connections to the Island.  We've seen Charlotte have it the worst, leading much credence to the "She was born on The Island" theory.  Next we saw the nose bleed strike Miles.  All the proponents of the "Marvin Candle/et al is Miles's daddy" theory probably gave a huzzah.  (And incidentally gained me to their side.  I definitely now believe that not only was Miles also born on the Island, but the baby we saw in the premiere with Marvin Candle/et al is going to grow up to be Miles.)  Then we saw the nose bleed strike Juliet who has been on The Island for a few years due to her status as an Other.  But it is important that both Charlotte Staples Lewis and Miles the Ghostbuster got the symptoms first showing that they both have a closer connection to The Island (i.e. they were born there).  The fact that Juliet also got a nose bleed bodes poorly for our castaways however.   It is now only a matter of time until they are also affected by the extreme jet lag caused by time shifting.  As Sawyer so eloquently points out, "Time Travel's a bitch."

Moving on to off-Island.  I have to say I'm shocked at the extreme pace that the O6 storyline is moving along at.  We've already got practically everyone together and those that aren't easily could be by the next episode.  We were given an answer on how easy it might be to get Hurley out of jail, Sun is right there with Aaron (she'll just have to be convinced that Jin is still alive), Walt lives in LA, and Desmond is headed there as we speak.  I thought that it would be a season long endeavor to get the O6 et al together to travel back, now I'm not so sure that it won't happen much sooner.  Of course, then figuring out how to get back to the Island might still present a problem.

Overall it was an interesting episode in that it answered a crap load of questions.  How are we getting Hurley out of jail (Benry's got a lawyer already on it).  Who was trying to get Aaron from Kate (Benry and that same lawyer, who by the way was the dad on My So Called Life, I loved that show, he also appeared on this week's 24, glad to see him on good tv shows again).  What happened to Jin (exactly what I said happened to him, which I predicted only moments after last season's finale by the way, go ahead, look it up.  The only part I didn't nail was who would pick him up from floating in the Ocean).  Why is Charlotte Staples Lewis getting these nose bleeds and headaches (well, this was answered in a way, it's still hard to understand Faraday sometimes).

For everyone who claimed that the show never answers anything and just always causes more questions, that might have been the case in the beginning of the show, but now as we are moving towards the end of this fantastic television show, that is no longer the case.  The answers are starting to outnumber the mysteries in each episode and that will most likely continue to be the case the rest of the way.  Better get started on those DVDs and then catch up on ABC.com people, we'll be here when you're caught up.

Of course, there were some questions presented in this episode.  Who is working with/for Sun?  (My guess is Widmore and his people, meaning the real question is whether it is "with" or "for" or if Sun is the one who is actually working for Widmore

Until Next Time, I will have some new thoughts based on my "Author of Your Own Situation" thing from last season before the next episode, so look forward to that.  I appreciate your thoughts and comments!