LOST
Season 6 / Episode 16 “What They Died For”
written by Kitsis, Horowitz, & Sarnoff
directed by Paul Edwards
I have to keep reminding myself that this is not my story. It’s the bane of being a writer I suppose, but I have caught myself in these last few weeks being over-critical of LOST. The producers have been quite clear that they are “telling the story they want to tell”. My job, at this point, is to allow them to do so.
I was prepared to give a scathing review of last night’s penultimate episode. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, because I most certainly did. But — and there’s always a but — there were some things that just felt wrong to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve invested six years in the story. Maybe it’s because of preconceived expectations. The story seems smaller on many levels than it did a mere season ago. To be honest, it’s a practical mirror of Supernatural, boiling down to a feud between two brothers with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Hell, Jacob was even there for both…
You know what? I’m going to let it go. I’m going to enjoy it for what it is, and what it is is the best show on television, maybe even of all time. Yes, it’s flawed, but then isn’t that the whole point of the series? Despite it’s flaws it can rise above them, find redemption, and <gulp> save the world?
So I’m not going to dissect “What They Died For”. Instead I’m going to hold off until Monday and view the endgame in its entirety, but before I go…
My favorite bit from last night?
Surprisingly enough it came from the flashsideways. Desmond’s epic jailbreak, springing Kate and Sayid with a little help from Anna Lucia and Hugo, had me grinning from ear to ear. Sure it was preposterous, but then I think it’s supposed to be.
A close second would be, and yes I know this is evil of me, seeing Zoe get iced like she did, and Widmore being sniped by Ben as well… that was especially satisfying and seeing Ben’s redemption song hit a sour note kind of fits in nicely with my finale endgame scenario…
My final theory?
We’ll discover that Jack’s Jacobing will have been merely to hold it until the true Island Protector shows up…
Flashsideways John Locke will cross over from the mirrorverse and throw down with FLocke. The Island will sink, killing everyone but Desmond who will reunite with Penny and Charlie and live happily everafter in an Islandless world.
In the elseworld, all our castaways will awaken, remembering their Island life and the sacrifices they made. Jack and Kate will be together, as will Sawyer and Juliet (who we’ll learn is Jack’s ex-wife and father to David).
The show will end in the sideways, with the Island rising up from the ocean and John Locke sitting on the beach. Ben will sit down next to him and say, “Do you know how badly I want to kill you?”
Sunday Night
The LOST Finale Event
It’s hard to believe it’s all almost over. Two and a half hours remain (minus the 50 minutes of commercial time that has been sold). Of course we have the two hour prequel recap show to look forward to and the Jimmy Kimmel: Aloha to LOST special immediately following the finale…
It’s been a marvelous ride and regardless of how it ends, it been quite an experience.
LOST
Season 6 / Episode 15 “Across the Sea”
written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse
directed by Tucker Gates
My initial gut reaction to last night’s mythos driven episode can be summed up in a single word: underwhelmed. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy “Across the Sea”, only that there were several factors that saw it fall somewhat short of my expectations. Granted, there were contributing factors, not the least of which was a house full of boys reenacting their own version of Lord of the Flies in my house. And speaking of boys, perhaps there was the problem. Child actors are asked to do a lot in Hollyweird, and the diminutive thespians in last night’s teleplay were asked more than most, and they totally didn’t work for me. No depth. No passion. They looked the part but could not bear the weight of the mythology they were tasked to shoulder.
Beauty Has Her Way
“Every question I answer will simply lead to another question.“
~Island Mother
We discover that Jacob and the Man in Black came to the Island in much the same manner as so many, presumably before and after. Their mother, heavy with child, was shipwrecked as both Rousseau and Claire would be in the far off future. She was discovered by a mysterious woman, obviously batshit from the onset, who nursed her to health and midwifed these Island Gods into the world. Doomed momma was shocked to learn she was carrying twins, having only chosen a single name for her baby to be — Jacob. No need to fret about naming number two, however, because crazy lady invokes the wrath of the rock and offers the boys’ mother up as a sacrifice to her own desired motherhood.
Island Mother instructs these foundlings in the ways of paranoia and a loathing of humanity. With a heavy hand she makes it quite clear that men “come to fight, destroy, corrupt, and it always end the same”. We’ve heard that line before.
It becomes clear that MIB is clearly more influenced by his Island Mother than is Jacob, who is a mousy mama’s boy, while MIB is a free-spirited rebel without a cause, at least until his ghost mother shows up and entices him to leave his faux mother in exchange for life with a community of castaways on the other side of the island…
Laying Down the Law
“…and that’s why they want it, because a little bit of this
very same light is inside of every man, but they always want more.”
~Island Mother
Before MIB’s exodus, Island Mother instructs the boys in the ways of the force, sharing with them the secret cave from which the heart of the island beats. She explains that it is the wellspring from which divinity shines and that a piece of it is in every living thing. Her job, and theirs, is to protect it from mankind because they are evil and corrupting.
Of course once MIB breaks ranks he becomes obsessed with discovering this wellspring and utilizing it to leave the island and return to the land of his mother, across the sea. He manipulates his newfound brethren into digging a well and gaining access to the mystical energy where he begins the construction of the frozen donkey wheel so he can harness the island’s power.
Crazy Island Mother can’t have this so she knocks MIB unconscious. When he wakes, the villagers are all dead and the well and his donkey wheel apparatus has been filled in with earth and stone.
How in the hell did she manage that one? I have a theory, which I’ll get to in a moment, but first…
Lost in the Shadows
“Don’t worry, brother, I’m not going to kill you.”
~Jacob
Enraged, the prodigal son returns to the caves and sneaks up behind Island Mother and stabs her through the heart. As she dies, she thanks him for releasing her. Jacob comes upon them and lies a beating on his brother, dragging him through the jungle to the mystical cave of eerie, golden light.
Their Island Mother warned them to never enter the cave, and for good reason it seems.
Jacob casts MIB into the Tunnel of Love and from hence the Smoke Monster is born. Jacob then takes his brother’s body and inters it in the cave beside their Mother… and thus the identities of “Adam and Eve” are revealed.
I Still Believe
What the — ??? Okay, not exactly what I envisioned, but it works on some level, I suppose. More answers were raised than were answered and I was left feeling like much of this story could have been interspersed with some Jack and Company action, but I guess the writers needed to get this out there, unfettered by the constraints of the current timeline. Unfortunately for me, it missed more than it hit, partly due to the vagueness of the script, but more so from acting that felt uninspired.
I can’t help but wonder if Island Mother was more Smoke Monster than Island Protector, that MIB and she were more alike than she and Jacob. MIB was the Chosen One, that much is clear. He was special and the Island spoke to him through his dead mother and through the inspired designs of the wheel.
Island Mother’s utter destruction of the survivor’s camp and the wheel well screams Smoke Monster to me. Surely she warned the boys away from entering the cave because she had made that mistake in the past and had become the very thing that MIB was destined to become as well.
Overall an underwhelming episode but one that will most likely play into events to come. My hope is that this episode will be strengthened by the final hours we have left and that in the overall context of the show its importance will be elevated.
Perhaps as I process this episode more my opinion will change.
Next Week on LOST:
“What They Died For” will see a return to the Island narrative that we are most invested in, with sideways jaunts that include guest spots by Rousseau and Alex, as well as a glimpse of Anna Lucia. This will be the final episode before the massive five and a half hour finale event on May 23. Three and a half hours remain and I am ready to see an end to the story. I have hope that everything will come together and this sneak peek from next week inspires confidence.
Interesting in that the director has carefully concealed the identity of the hunters. It begs the question… Why? Could these burly men, decked out in leather and tusk jewelry, be people we know? The LOST fan community is abuzz, resurrecting the ghost of Canton-Rainier and proclaiming that at least two of the boar hunters are previous incarnations of Jack and James. Hm, perhaps… one certainly never knows with LOST. Have our castaways been caught up in a cycle of death and rebirth, destined to return again and again to this island?
I hear tell that next week there will be a scene revisited that will lead us to realize that the creators knew all along where their story was headed. Maybe. Though it’s also possible that it’s a simple matter of reverse engineering. I guess we’ll have to wait and see the scene in question to judge for ourselves.
LOST
Season 6 / Episode 14 The Candidate
written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Jim Galasso
directed by Jack Bender
Damn. One of the best things about LOST is that it can be all things to all people. It’s got action, suspense, romance, horror… pretty much every genre under the moon and stars. And it’s racing toward the end. Last night’s brilliant episode, The Candidate, was what… 10 minutes long? It sure felt like it. Jack Bender was relentless in moving the story along, never letting you catch your breath… that is until the end, when pain and loss was visited to the story in such a masterful way that even now, nearly twelve hours later, I can still feel it like a kick to the stomach by some steel toed Doc Marten’s.
Astronomy
“No. I won’t leave you.”
~ Jin to Sun
We’ve lost characters before. Actually, the body count has been pretty high on this show, but last night brought it all home as we said goodbye to four near and dear to us. First to go was Sayid, sacrificing himself to try and save his fellow castaways, and, perhaps to save himself by seeking redemption through one final selfless act. Before he left us, our favorite Iraqi torturer imparted to Jack that Desmond was very much alive and trapped in a hole somewhere on the island… and that FLocke wanted him very dead. Like Ilana before him, we saw Sayid evaporate in a cloud of bombastic finality. But unlike the Russian beauty, Sayid Jarrah died a noble and heroic death. A fitting end to a terrific character.
Next on the chopping block was Frank Lapidus, whose dry wit and cool demeanor were always welcome. I would have preferred to see Frank go out guns blazing, but it was not meant to be.
And that brings us to Jin and Sun. You saw it coming. These two star-crossed lovers, separated for so long, were given mere hours together before death came calling. With his beloved trapped on the sinking sub, Jin could not… would not… leave Sun’s side. Jack Bender’s beautifully framed shot of their hands together underwater, slowly drifting apart was poignant and heartbreaking.
But what about Ji Yeon? My wife turned to me and made me promise that if we were ever in a similar situation that I would choose to live for the sake of our son, and I have to agree. While their tragic end was beautiful and moving, it also smacks of a selfishness reminiscent of Sun leaving their child in the first place to return to the Island to search for her time traveling husband.
My wife and I love each other very much, but our child trumps our devotion to one another. We would both die for him, and ultimately we would live for him as well.
Burning for You
“I’m going to finish what I started.”
~ FLocke to Claire
So I guessthat puts an end to the debate as to whether or not the Smoke Monster is evil. Not that there was ever any real reason to debate the issue. It was a hard sell, Smokey’s benevolence. Oh, the writers gave it their best shot. He said all the right things. He was full of smooth talking justifications, but his actions spoke far louder than his words.
That doesn’t let Jacob off the hook. I’m not sure I’d paint either of them with a single brush, but let’s be clear. The Man in Black is a bad “man” capable of bad things. He can transform into a column of ass kicking black smoke for gods’ sake. He’s a master of lies and manipulation. And he wants the candidates dead so that he can be free.
Season Six has been one long con perpetuated by the Monster.
So long as a single candidate lives and breathes Smokey is trapped on the Island. Unfortunately for him, there are rules and those rules state that he can’t kill them. But he sure as hell can get others to do it for him.
Now, only three remain: Jack, Sawyer, and Hurley. Or, is someone else pulling a long con of their own?
Veteran of the Psychic Wars
“You saved John’s life. Why can’t that be enough?”
~ Helen to Jack
Over in the elseworld Jack is putting the pieces together. The “coincidences” are piling up as he’s been led from one passenger on Flight 815 to another. He and John Locke are linked by their fear of letting go. John can’t allow himself to be healed because of the weight of his guilt over the plane crash that left him a cripple and his father a vegetable. Jack’s tethered by his incessant need to fix things. Together, these two men will have to come together to form a whole and complete persona… this man of faith and man of science, hearkening back to their Island conflict.
Jack said to John that he believed he was a “candidate”. Weighted words. Is this Jacob’s long con? Can John Locke somehow still be the Island candidate, ready to assume the role that Jacob meant for him? No, I don’t think so. There was a time when I did, but I now think that John is a weapon to use against the Man in Black. Elseworld John’s healing will allow him to connect with FLocke at a crucial moment in the very near future, at a time when Jack and Smokey are battling for Island Supremacy. The internal conflict between Locke and FLocke will give Jack the moment he needs to end Smokey’s bid for exodus.
As you can see, I’m already thinking of Jack as the Candidate, Jacob’s successor, but Jacob might have another ace or two in the hole. For one, there’s Kate. Crossed out on the cave wall but not at the Lighthouse, was Smokey tricked into believing she was unimportant to pull the wool over the Locke Ness Monster’s eyes? And what about Ben? Could he have been poked and prodded down redemption’s road so that he would be a worthy candidate in the end?
No, I think they’re both red herrings, left for us to ponder before Jack’s ascension. And with only three episodes left, we’ve not long to wait to get our final answer… Oddly enough, last night I had a dream. In it, I was with Jack and we were walking through the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis. It was the Tutankhamen Exhibit. Kate was there, hovering in the shadows of an obelisk covered in hieroglyphics, watching as Jack and I approached a group of young children. My son was there and Jack stepped toward him. Sheppard turned to me and smiled as he raised his hand to pat Connor on the head, but he stopped and instead reached out to a young Korean girl, slowly caressing her cheek. Ji Yeon?
The cycle continues…
Next Week on LOST:
We’ve so much to look forward to in the coming weeks. First, let’s take a brief look into next week’s episode, “Across the Sea”. Here are the trailer and a sneak peek into what appears to be a teleplay sans our favorite castaways, instead focusing on Jacob and the Man in Black. At long last… their backstory. This is going to be truly epic —
In other news, there is some exciting news concerning the LOST Finale Event on May 23rd. The Final episode has been extended thirty minutes. So, here’s what we’re looking at:
A Sneak Peek from next week’s episode The Candidate
Hell. Four letters that form one of the most formidable words in Man’s vast lexicon. It is a place of suffering… of damnation. In Islamic and Christian mythos, Hell is a destination for those who have sinned against God. There is no redemption, only an eternity of punishment at the hands of demons and fallen angels in a fiery underworld.
But LOST’s mythology is influenced not by Judeo-Christian theology as such, but instead looks to Ancient Egypt. Upon death, a person faces judgement before a tribunal of 42 divine judges. Their soul is measured and Ma’at determines whether they pass on to their eternal reward or are cast into the maw of Ammut the Devourer. But there is a glimmer of hope, for some may find themselves transported to a place called The Island of Flames, where the dead reside and are given the chance to justify their sins, to become purified and thus admitted into the realm of Osiris.
LOST
Season 6 / Episode 13 The Last Recruit
written by Paul Zbyszewski & Graham Roland
directed by Steve Semel
Let me preface the following statements by establishing for those who might think otherwise that “The Last Recruit” was one helluva episode. Talk about “fast-paced”… this one barely left you room to breathe. It felt like the final two minutes of a football game and you’re down by4. A field goal’s not going to cut it. It was a maddening frenzy of deep outs, misdirection, and Hail Mary’s. But even the best teams under these situations have false start and holding penalties that put the game in jeopardy.
The Last Recruit’s false starts came by way of dialogue. The plotting was spot on, presumably due to the fine work done in the writers’ room carefully stitching this intricate web together. Unfortunately there were times when the actual episode scribes, Zbyszewski and Roland, used hammer-fisted narrative and cliche to somewhat muddy an otherwise near perfect night of television.
I am the forgiving sort, however, and I understand the immense pressure to deliver in these final hours. In the end, The Last Recruit scored its last second touchdown keeping LOST’s Super Bowl dream alive.
Close To Home
“Well, here we go.” ~FLocke
Over in the flashsideways, Desmond is playing the role of Jacob, collecting the candidates and leading them to their wake-up call.
Locke and Sun enter the hospital side by side, much to the chagrin of Ms. Paik who alarmingly calls out “It’s him!” in Korean.
Claire gets introduced to the sunny side up version of Ilana by Desmond, who once again comes across as an uber-creepy stalker dude. Ilana just so happens to be an attorney who’s been looking for Ms. Littleton on behalf of Dr. Jack Sheppard. There’s this little matter of her being in Dead Daddy Christian’s Will and Other Jack learns that he’s got a Secret Sister. Unfortunately this unexpected family reunion is cut short because the Doc has to attend to Other Locke. Nothing is irreversible, Johnny. Here comes Super Jack to fix you right up and get you back on your feet.
Meanwhile Detective Ford has a chat with Fugitive Kate where we learn that he can’t con anyone. Kate rightly surmises that Jimbo let this little bird fly back at LA X because he didn’t want to draw attention to his Outback Adventure. But just as things are getting interesting, Straume and Ford get tossed the Restaurant Homicide and they play Batman and Robin to Sayid’s Two-Face, snagging the Mirrorverse Iraqi with a clever use of a water hose.
Looks like all our birds are gathering in a single nest. The big question is, what then? Will they all come together and form the Justice League and hop on a submarine… Destination: The Island at the Bottom of the Sea? Will they mind slide into the Otherverse and complete their mission of putting the ol’ kabosh to Smokey’s plans for escaping his own private Idaho?
With so few episodes left at least we’ve not long to wait for an answer.
The Sky is a Poisonous Garden
“John Locke was not a believer, Jack, he was a sucker.”
~Smokey
This episode was just crazy. We finally get our FLocke and Jack confrontation and learn that yes, Smokey dressed up in Daddy Sheppard’s meat suit. Now Smokey John tries to assure the good Doctor that this was all done with the purest of intentions. He did after all lead Jack to water, never mind that he also ate the pilot in the process. Jack’s not smellin’ what the Smoke’s got cookin’, but he plays along… for now.
I’m sure this has sparked quite the debate. If MIB was Christian, then how did he appear to Jack back in Los Angeles? I say it’s because Jack was hallucinating due to his alcohol and prescription pill abuse. Why did MIB appear as Christian to Locke at the Frozen Donkey Wheel? Because he knew that Jack was the key to getting everyone back and this would be the catalyst to make that happen. What about when Christian appeared to Michael on the Freighter? Chalk that one up to the Freighter being within the sphere of the Island… After all, Jin was doing the timewarp with the rest of the Island Sliders…
So, it works, even though I’m sure the writers were scrambling to force this square peg into their round hole.
Anyway, after a Claire and Jack reunion, Team FLocke gets a visit from Zoey who is constantly annoying me with her horrendous line delivery. She has been the one major misstep this season, in my opinion, but hopefully she’ll not be long for this world.
So Zoey offers up an ultimatum: return Desmond or Widmore starts raining down missiles on their heads. Fine. Whatever. Smokey sends Sayid off to kill Des and institutes his attack plan. Of course what Smokey doesn’t know is that Sawyer’s got plans of his own. He and Kate sail off in the Elizabeth and, rather than meet up with FLocke and Company as planned, instead heads to a dock where Jack and the rest of the so-called candidates (and Frank!) were told to vamoose to when opportunity reared its pretty little head.
But Jack and Sawyer both made a tactical mistake — they didn’t invite Crazy Claire to their little escape party. Luckily they had sweet talking Kate on their side, who smoothed over the Absentee Mama and brought her over to Team Get the Hell Off This Island Sans Smokey.
But there were rough waters ahead. Jack, doing what Jack does best… brooding… didn’t like the idea of exiting stage left. See, he’s got that sinking feeling that they were brought to the Island for a reason, and that if FLocke wants off so bad, then they should be doing the opposite. Sawyer says “Get off my damn boat!” And Jack does, pulling the ol’ Sawyer sacrifice and plunging into the water, which gave Kate the opportunity to pull a Jack and decry “We have to go back!” But nope, Sawyer’s not having it. They have a rendevous with Team Widmore and our con man with a heart of tarnished gold is meaning to stick a gun in some poor submariner’s grill and get them the hell out of Dodge.
Well James, how’d that work out for you?
Your Haunted Head
“You’re with me now.” ~ The Locke Ness Monster
Poor Sun and Jin, our star-crossed lovers separated by time and space for two seasons (our time) and three years (theirs), finally are reunited and it feels so good. Too bad it ended on a sour note as Charles Widmore pulls a double cross on Team Sawyer. They’ve got the drop on ‘em and, as the spoiler pic below suggests, these cats are headed for the Polar Bear cages.
I don’t think there’ll be any sweaty prison sex this time around, but then again, if they’re locked up long enough human nature will be forced to take over.
But back to the real (as opposed to imagined) action. Not only did Widmore get the drop on Sawyer’s Merry Band of Get Out of Towners, but he’s got coordinates on Smokey’s position and is primed to unleash a little shock and awe campaign of righteous explosioning.
Jack makes it back to the Island, rising up from the sea in a scene reminiscent of Jacob’s season five fishery, and has a short powwow with a perturbed FLocke. I say short because this is the point in the episode where I get to yell “INCOMING!!!” The beach gets lit up by a George Bush cocktail and Jack gets to assume the role of Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan. Jack gets bomb-blasted into next week (and somewhere I hear Bill Murray saying “Blowed up, sir”), but Smokey sweeps in for the rescue and carries the Doc to safety.
Or does he?
The episode ends with FLocke’s cryptic words, “You’re with me now.”
Has Jack been claimed? Did the bomb kill him, leaving him to be, like Sayid and Claire before him, resurrected in FLocke’s image? Tune in two weeks from now to find out…
Favorite Line of the Night?
There were a lot of good ones, but my favorite goes to the con artist formerly known as LaFleur. The line? “We’re gonna ditch Locke. You, Me, Jack, Hurley, Sun, and that pilot who looks like he stepped off the set of a Burt Reynolds movie.” Couple that with Sawyer calling Frank “Chesty” and, well, Lil’ Jimmy Ford remains the king of one liners and nicknames.
Next Week on LOST
Sorry to break it to you kids but next week LOST is a repeat of the mind-bending Richard-centric Smokefest “Ab Aeterno”. I know, I know… How could they do this to us? Be strong, my little Dharma-ites. May 4th we’ll get a little episode called “The Candidate”. May 11th will bring us “By the Sea”, which is, according to legend, the be all – end all of Smokey and Jacob goodness. That’s right, “By the Sea” is all about our star-crossed Island Gods with ne’er a Lostie to be found. Then we’ll dive into “What They Died For” on May 18th before we submerge ourselves into “The End” and the epic five hour farewell poised to air Sunday, May 23.
So to tide you over… how about a sneak peek two weeks into the future?
Next week will be a tough one for me, not only because there’s no new LOST for me to take in, but because my little man, Connor, is having a tonsillectomy. And no, we didn’t schedule his surgery to coincide with LOST’s hiatus. It just magically worked out that way. Call it kismet, fate, synchronicity, or just dumb luck, but I’ll be helping the tiny terror recover from his adventure under the knife. I’d appreciate your prayers and thoughts for my boy…
LOST
Season 6 / Episode 12 Everybody Loves Hugo
written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
directed by Daniel Attias
I didn’t think that LOST would be able to top last week’s “Happily Ever After”, but the more I think about it, “Everybody Loves Hugo” just might have done it. Was it letter perfect? No, but I’ll be damned if it didn’t punch you in the gut time and time again. “ELH” was whiplash inducing craziness… and I loved every gobsmacking bit of it.
WE DIE YOUNG
“The Island was done with her. Makes me wonder what’s
gonna happen when it’s done with us.” ~Ben
Please join me in a moment of silence as we bid farewell to Ilana, who we barely got to know at all aside from being led to believe she was some kind of Wonder Woman – Island Protector Goddess… tapped by Jacob to gather his candidates and mother hen them. In the end she was Doc Artz and Ilana went BOOM!
In fact, I turned to my wife, jaw hanging open in mirror of her own, and I said, “Oh my gods, they Artz-ed her!”
Do I think we’re done with Ilana? I hope not. I kind of have a soft spot for her (and the actress, who I thoroughly enjoyed in the short lived “Lone Gunmen” series). Luckily for us, being dead on LOST does not mean we’ve seen the last of you. Maybe Hugo and our Russian beauty will get a chance to chat somewhere down the road…
And while we’re on the subject of explosions, might we also bow our heads and wish godspeed to the Black Rock, which Hugo decided to send into the great hereafter.
<sniff> I’ll miss that ol’ statue-smashing, dynamite-holding, uber-island-icon of all things piratey and cool. <sniff>
Anyway, speaking of Hugo…
HEAVEN BESIDE YOU
“You don’t remember me, do you?” ~Libby
You know, it’s true… everybody does love Hugo. And why not, there’s a lot to love about the big ol’ lug. Soft spoken, sweet, and desperately in need of a hug, Hurley is more often than not played for comic relief, but you know what… Jorge Garcia’s got some acting chops and he put them on display in last night’s episode.
“ELH” brought us the return of Michael, albeit as one of the whispering dead. Michael came along for the ride to prod Hugo into action, to check off one of the “pressing” island mysteries (the whispers are the voices of folk who have kicked it and are unable to move on), and to give this troubled soul a chance to apologize for deep sixing Libby.
As fans, we’ve waited a long time to get some more Libby action. Of course what we really wanted was some resolution to the mystery surrounding her stay in Santa Clara, and while Santa Clara indeed reared its ugly head, it was in the flashsideways where she’s had herself committed because of her glimpse into an island life with the world’s richest fried chicken mogul.
Hm, Charlie sees Claire… Desmond sees Penny… Libby sees Hugo… I’m detecting a theme here. Soulmates? It’s all about coupling for our Lost writers. Locke and Helen, Charles and Eloise… even Daniel and Charlotte are sniffing around each other. It’s just a matter of time before Sawyer and Juliet are reunited. Does that leave Jack and Kate as a potential hook-up? Skaters are squirming in their seats.
But back to Hugo… It’s nice to see Hurley stepping up and taking a leadership role, and even nicer to see Jack and the other candidates deferring to his lead. Granted, Hurley tried the old “Jacob told me so” con, but Jack saw through his bluff but went along anyway.
I think Hurley will be playing an even bigger role in episodes to come which is welcome news. More Jorge is always good. And now that his elseworlds version has been awakened by a kiss from his dead island girlfriend, it will be interesting to see what shakes out on that side of the multi-verse.
Speaking of, Desmond’s getting his freak on… playing creepy stalker dude and setting something up on both sides of the mirror.
DOWN IN A HOLE
“What’s the point in being afraid?” ~Desmond
Let’s see. “Everybody Loves Hugo” had three really huge whiplash moments. The first was Ilana doing her rendition of Boom goes the Dynamite. What was the second one? Oh yeah — SMOKEY TOSSED DESMOND INTO A WELL.
Sorry about your luck, brotha.
Seeing Des and FLocke together was more than cool, with each affecting a zen-like swagger as they played a game of mental chess. There was some great dialogue there as the Flockeness Monster pumped Des for intel and spilled the proverbial magic beans about the crazy island properties and those telluric hot spots of compass-confusing EMF anomalies that are all over the freaking place.
Flocke was confused by Des’ utter lack of fear considering he was in the presence of his almighty Smokiness, but our favorite Scotsman’s seen the best — and worst — of both worlds and he’s not scared of anything… except maybe a one way ticket to Flocke’s version of a wellness center.
Have a nice trip, mate. Hope you enjoy your stay.
Oh but wait, I failed to mention the boy in the jungle. You know, the dark haired lad, grinning like a hyena… that, like Sawyer spying the earlier blonde version, Des saw with his own two eyes. Flocke said ignore him, but you know we can’t.
Dark hair. Old school threads. Young MIB? And that would make the blonde version young Jacob? Or maybe not. FLocke has stated that Jacob stole his body and his humanity. Is it possible that the blonde boy is, in fact, MIB and that the dark boy, a young Jacob, switched bodies leaving MIB’s spirit to assume smokey-form?
I guess we’ll find out in a couple of weeks, but for now…
CONFUSION
“Ever since Juliet died…ever since I got her killed…
all I’ve wanted was to fix it. But I can’t. I can’t ever fix it.
You have no idea how hard it is for me to sit back and listen
to other people tell me what I should do. But I think maybe
that’s the point. Maybe I’m supposed to let go.” ~Jack
Everyone’s got a mission. Hurley and the Candidates are hooking up with Flocke and Company. Richard, Ben, and Miles became the Three Amigos and said no thanks, opting instead to make for Hydra Island to disable the Ajira plane (and, I’d bet money that they’ll have a little run-in with our time-flashing dugout crew and one of them will get capped by Juliet).
And Desmond… well he’s all about bringing folks together. He nudged Hurley and Libby together over in the mirrorverse, then took a trip back to school where he was confronted by OtherBen. Sideways Linus knows a creepy stalker dude when he sees one, but he was leaning toward the sexual predator-type, not the RUN DOWN FREAKING JOHN LOCKE IN A WHEELCHAIR-type.
And we have our hat trick, ladies and gentlemen. What, were they having a three for one sale at the shocking developments for writers workshop?
It’s all good though. We get it. It’s just Des’ way of bringing everyone together, man. See, Locke’s going to get carted off to the hospital where he’ll be saved by Dr. Jack Shephard. I’m sure Juliet will be there too, saving Sun and her unborn child. Hell, I’ll bet Sawyer shows up to investigate the shooting or the hit and run, and while we’re at it, maybe Kate’ll be there for a pre-prison physical. Claire could be getting her own prenatal check-up and Sayid could be visiting his brother. Thank gods there’s only one hospital in all of Los Angeles.
See, it’s all coming together, folks… and it’s a wonderful thing, chock full of that maddening goodness that makes LOST what it is: a crazy-ass roller coaster thrill ride of mindbending, soul-twisting proportions.
NEXT WEEK ON LOST:
The Last Recruit promises more of the same. They’re teasing us with the promotional tagline “The Time is Now” and I couldn’t agree more. Each episode has furthered the story and we’re now getting down to the nitty gritty. Hell, just look at this freaking trailer:
I’ve got goosebumps. With only 6 hours left, the endgame is taking shape and I’m thrilled thus far. This epic journey has been worth every last moment (Stranger in a Strange Land notwithstanding)…
