Where have our beloved characters gone?

Time to recap another episode of LOST…

Season 5—Episode 4: "The Little Prince"


This episode wasn’t as good as "Jughead," or even as good as "The Lie." I wouldn’t say the episode was devoid of intrigue, but with no Desmond, no Hurley, no Richard Alpert, and no Mrs. Hawking…well, the writers had the odds stacked against them.

I’ll divide this post into two sections. First, we’ll look at our flashing islanders: Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, Miles, and Charlotte. (And let’s not forget that Rose and Bernard and a few others are still sloughing around somewhere on the island—but the writers were wise to lose them after the flaming arrows rained down on Frogurt. There’s enough to keep track of without Rose and Bernard’s constant bickering slowing things down.)

The most notable development in this episode was the revelation that the flashing islanders (Yes, I am trying to coin that phrase) might soon be reunited with Jin. I don’t think this shocked anybody. It was nice to see him alive and somewhat well, but it certainly wasn’t a jaw-dropper. Even having him meet up with a younger, very pregnant Danielle Rousseau and her crew…that wasn’t all that shocking, either. Although I’m curious if anything notable will come out of that before he flashes away from them.

I don’t need something to shock me in order to like it. But if something is revealed in a way that is intended to shock, and it doesn’t, then it becomes something of a letdown.

(Speaking of Rousseau’s crew, remember when Rousseau told Sayid that she killed her whole team because they got sick? Radiation poisoning, anyone?)

Other than Jin’s reappearance, the most notable event was the flash back to a familiar moment in island history: that infamous night when Boone died, Locke’s hatch lit up, and Claire had her baby. Flashing Locke was leading his fellow flashers through the jungle when he realized he was about to cross paths with former Locke, and he carefully redirected their paths.

Shortly after Locke avoided seeing his former self gazing down into the hatch, Sawyer, in what was probably supposed to be a touching moment, found Kate helping Claire give birth to Aaron. I’m sure this scene was included for a couple reasons. One, seeing Aaron’s birth again was probably supposed to heighten the off-island drama where Kate is worried about losing Aaron. Two, we hear Kate encouraging Claire, saying that Aaron is family to all of them, or something like that—which nicely mirrors Jack’s comment later that Aaron is his family, too. (Although, Jack, as the half-uncle, or whatever he is, has DNA to back up his statement.)

Meanwhile, in another notable development…Charlotte survived her massive nosebleed and she was up walking around again—seemingly back to normal, for now. But before the episode ended, Miles and Juliet both had a nosebleed of their own.

Further evidence to suggest that Miles might be Pierre Chang’s son:

Daniel (hypothesizing about the reason for the nosebleeds in some of the flashers, but not all of them): "…something to do with duration of exposure."
Miles: "I've never been here before 2 weeks ago."
Daniel: "Are you sure about that?"

Interesting stuff. Now, for the other half of this post…

The Oceanic 6 is disappointingly predictable right now. The one exception is Sun.

What in the world is she up to? First of all, someone delivers a package to her that contains surveillance photos of Jack and Ben. Also in the package, a box of chocolates…with a handgun hidden beneath the layer of chocolates. Is anyone else having trouble seeing Sun as James Bond?

But anyway, it seems Sun came to L.A. to kill Ben, right? And maybe she did (maybe), but why did she call Kate? Why did she want Kate to come visit her in her hotel? Why is she watching Aaron? She left her own child in Korea, presumably so she would be free to do what she needs to do. So then, if her goal is just to take care of business, to kill Ben (maybe), why encumber herself by bringing Kate and Aaron into it?

It makes me wonder if Sun is involved in something more insidious. But what, I don’t know. Didn’t she encourage Kate to go to the lawyer in the first place? It’s almost like Sun is working with Ben…(but more on that in a bit)

Sayid’s actions are predictable. He’s turned into LOST’s version of Jack Bauer (which, strangely, is somewhat boring to me). Predictable as his actions are, his motives are not as obvious. I was really intrigued when Ben asked Sayid why he took it upon himself to take care of Hurley. And I realized, that’s a great question. In the beginning of this season, Sayid told Hurley they had to get him out of the Institution because "they" were coming for him.

I assumed the "they" meant Ben and his friends. And I still think it was Ben's henchmen who attacked Sayid at the "safe house" and again at the hospital, where we just saw a dart-blowing operative disguised as a doctor. I think these men are attacking Sayid with darts because Ben wants to capture Sayid and take him back to the island against his will because he knows a conscious Sayid won't be convinced to tag along.

But if that’s true, then I think Sayid would know that. It would also explain why he told Hurley to do the opposite of whatever Ben asks him to do. But that makes me wonder why Sayid—super assassin that he is—doesn’t try to stop Ben. Why does he just ride along as Ben goes about his business? There’s something here that doesn’t add up.

Further evidence to suggest the dart-blowers work for Ben: Sayid’s most recent attacker had Kate’s address in his pocket (and he was pretty willing to show it to Sayid). So what happens? Jack calls Kate, determined to help Kate and Aaron get away from these would-be attackers. Isn’t that exactly what Ben wants? To help all of them get away?

But we didn’t have to wait long for confirmation on this score:

Ben: Hello, Kate
Jack: It’s okay, he’s with me.
Kate: He’s with you?
Jack: He’s here to help us, to help everyone we left behind.
Kate: It’s him! He’s the one that’s trying to take Aaron…
Jack: No, no. He’s…
Ben (cuts off Jack): She’s right. It is me.
Ben (looks at Jack) Sorry.

That little exchange made me laugh.

I love LOST, so I’m not going to use this blog to rip the show if I don’t think every episode is phenomenal. Even when an episode is disappointing on some level, there are still plenty of intriguing and entertaining elements to relish. But consider that my disclaimer for this:

I really don’t like the Oceanic 6 when they’re not on the island. Jack isn’t much of a leader anymore. Kate is only concerned about Aaron, and even though that’s important, it’s boring. She’s not the same spunky, feisty Kate who was so independent yet dependable on the island. Sayid’s storyline is no longer complex. His long-lost love is dead. And instead of being a former torturer who is reluctant to use violence but will to protect his friends, he just kills everybody. Like I said, I don’t know what to make of Sun. But Hurley, well, he’s still cool.

If there’s an ongoing love connection between Jack and Kate, I no longer care about that, either. They’re not the same characters I know and love from past seasons, and until they are, I don’t care what happens in that relationship.

As for Ben, he’s so shifty, and has been for so long, that any twists involving him are now almost anticlimactic (i.e. when we learned that the lawyer is working for him). I’m confident he’ll be back in his element on the island. They all will. Or at least that’s my hope. And I hope they get back there soon.

5 Notable Quotes:

1)Sawyer: I was close enough to touch her. If I wanted to, I could have stood right up and talked to her.
Juliet: Why didn’t you?
Sawyer: What’s done is done.

(Note: I included this quote because I think there’s some foreshadowing here. This isn’t just lovesick, sappy Sawyer putting his trust in Juliet…I think it’s going to be significant when Sawyer (or maybe others) decide that what’s done isn’t done, and they start trying to change things…OR maybe he couldn't have "stood right up and talked to her," even if he tried.)

2) Daniel: “John, do you know when we are?

3) Claire’s mum: “Who’s Aaron?”

(Note: At first I thought this was a mistake. Because Claire’s mum met Aaron at Jack’s father’s funeral, and she told Kate that he was a beautiful boy—who looked just like her, or something like that…but then I remembered that she probably never learned his name. And apparently she didn’t think that cute boy looked like her missing daughter after all…)

4) Sayid, talking about Hurley: “Sorry Ben, I’m not letting you get anywhere near him.”

5) Locke: “I have to make them come back, even if it kills me.”


Prevailing Questions:

1) Back when the island first flashed…how did it disappear? Because now the island seems to be jumping in a way that carries the characters to different times—including the past where the island already was. So if the island itself (the large mass of land we've watched for four seasons) is moving—how can it revisit an exact time and place where it already was? Wouldn't there be two islands there? How's that work? But if it is just the characters being carried back in time…why does the island disappear in the present (when the freighter blew up)…if the characters are the only ones jumping? The only thing that makes sense to me (and it's still confusing) is if the island’s current state is suspended (it’s absent from the present) until its past is played out or reconciled. Perhaps the island blows up in the past if they don't do something to prevent it. So when they flashed back, the present island was gone because it was blown up in the past. And then maybe if the islanders prevent it from blowing up in the past, it will reappear in the present?

2) Assuming that the island's history can be re-written, allowing it to reappear in the present...is it possible that the same thing could happen with any of our dead characters, rewriting their history in a way that doesn't involve their death?

3) Can the original characters see the Season 5 Flashers? For example, if Kate and Claire had looked up, would they have seen Sawyer’s mug peering googly-eyed out of the woods? Can the flashers change anything, or just observe? Do the flashers account for the whispers the characters heard on the island in previous seasons?

4) Now that we know the flashing islanders can see the original islanders, who is going to be the first one to see their old self? Maybe we’ll see Sawyer face-off with Old Sawyer?

5) Will Juliet become Sawyer’s replacement for Kate, much like she was for Jack when Kate was off in “New Otherton” with Sawyer?

6) Why didn’t Locke go to the cabin to talk to Jacob? Instead of relying on Richard Alpert (who didn’t recognize him) for instructions, why doesn’t he go to Jacob?

7) So why did we see Vincent’s collar sans Vincent? Does anyone else think this means something?

8) Ben and Jack plan to “bring them all back”…but does that include Desmond? (My guess is yes.)

9) What’s the deal with the new airline (that flies out of India), and who are the people drinking a water bottle from that airline—and where did they, and their canoes, come from?

10) Is it possible Sun is working with Ben? I know this seems contrary to what we’ve seen, with her meeting with Widmore and all. But her activities—coming to L.A., calling Kate (coincidentally) just after Kate runs away from home to avoid the lawyers, watching Aaron, somehow showing up at the wharf…with a gun—they seem to coincide too nicely with Ben’s plans to get them all together to go back to the island. I think she’s either playing Ben, with the intention of killing him…or else she’s working with him with another objective (see question #11).

11) Could Sun be planning to kill Jack? I know that sounds far-fetched, but I think the preview for the next episode wanted us to think that she’s about to threaten Ben’s life. But the surveillance photos showed Ben and Jack. Maybe she told Widmore she wanted to kill Ben because she knew Widmore would provide a gun for her (would Widmore help kill Ben?). But maybe she really blames Jack for Jin's death, since he made the helicopter pilot (when are we going to see old Frank Lapidus again, anyway?) take off, leaving Jin on the freighter. If she's planning to kill Jack, I think Ben will be the one to prevent her from doing it by saying what he said in the trailer for the next episode, “Jin’s still alive…and I can prove it.”

12) Another baffling question that goes back to "Jughead." Locke tells Richard to go and see him being born in 1956. We know from past seasons that Richard was there when Locke was born. But how does that work on a timeline? At first I thought it explained things, but now I'm confused. Because Locke apparently isn't changing anything by telling Richard to go and see him being born. Because Richard already did that. The only way Richard could have been there for Locke's birth was if Locke had visited him before and told him to do that. I'm wondering if this will be explained, or if we're supposed to accept that this is how time travel works.

Final Thoughts:

I missed seeing Desmond and Hurley in this episode, but I suspect we'll see both of them next week; Hurley should be released from jail (according to Ben's lawyer) and I suspect Desmond and Penny will be arriving in Los Angeles just in time to join the hi-jinx before Ben gets the chance to whisk Jack, Kate, dead Locke, and the rest to them off to the time-jumping island…

Speaking of going back to the island, that needs to happen soon. I’m enjoying Season 5, but I think the writers are having a little trouble maintaining their characters’ identities now that everything (literally, everything) is off-kilter. Take Sawyer for example. In the past, Sawyer was the renegade who didn’t like authority figures. Sawyer was the guy who defied everyone else, often with hilarious nicknames, whenever they were mired in a serious situation—and that worked because there were other characters there to make the tough decisions and lead in spite of Sawyer. Now he doesn’t have a leader to rail against, and he seems too unsettled to make any smart remarks. He’s too busy pointing the gun at Ellie, smacking Daniel, threatening Charlotte, and silently bemoaning Kate’s absence.

You could call this character development, but I think it’s a deviation from the beloved Sawyer. Sawyer has been reduced to a lovesick sap. The writers managed to give him one funny line amidst all the drama—when they were paddling furiously in their canoes, while being fired upon by strangers, he realized they were about to flash in time again, so he raised his arms and yelled, “Thank you, Lord.” But they flashed into a torrential storm, still at sea in their little canoe, so he added, “I take that back!”

Lovesick Sawyer needs Kate to come back. But the smart-mouthed Sawyer we all miss (surely I’m not alone, right?) needs Jack or Ben to butt heads with, and maybe Hurley, too, so he can call him Jabba again.

And Sawyer isn't the only character who's lost (no pun intended) some of his appeal. As I wrote earlier, the Oceanic 6 are not appealing off the island. The LOST writers are in a tough spot, in my opinion, because they need to keep this plot advancing, but viewers don't want a fast-moving plot if it doesn't include the characters we love.

Before the Oceanic 6 left, all the characters were united by the same dilemma—stranded on the island and opposed by the baby-snatching Others. But in the midst of their shared struggles, they were all living their lives in ways that outlined their personalities.

Sawyer reading...Hurley hiding food...Jin fishing...Kate climbing trees for fruit...Sun gardening...golfing...Locke hunting boar...Claire taking care of her baby...Jack sewing people up...Sawyer guarding his stash...Michael screaming "WALT!"...The Others' book club...

The drama has always been there, but it was always interfering with the structured lives they were trying to lead on their beach camp. Now, it just feels like everything is askew, everything is out of control, and in some ways, it's not quite the same show we've been watching. The mysteries are just as compelling, but in this time-jumping madness, there seems to be fewer opportunities for the characters to be themselves.

So I'm hoping we can fix that up soon. After all, Ben, Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun, and Aaron are all on a wharf right now. Maybe there's a submarine waiting for them?

Will Desmond and Penny arrive by boat? (I assumed they wouldn't have been able to make it in time unless they flew...)

The only one missing is Hurley, and he's supposed to be released the following morning (so that's well within the 70-hour window outlined by Mrs. Hawking). So they're all primed for an island-homecoming. And I'm looking forward to it.

By the way, the next two episodes:

—"This Place is Death"
—"The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"


—Thanks for Reading