We'll Miss You, Red...

Wow, this was a good episode...


Season 5—Episode 5: "This Place is Death"

Tonight's episode was the most flash-tastic yet. By far. The island had our characters flashing and jumping through time even faster than before.

Yet in spite of the constant flashing, we learned a lot. Too much for me to go into all of it, so I'm going to do my own flashing, through the highlights:

FLASH—Smoky appeared again, snaring one of Rousseau's research buddies and dragging him down a hole outside some ancient temple (whatever it was, I wish we had seen more it). His friends and Jin tried to hold on to him, but his arm got ripped clean off. And down in the hole he went. Then flash! Jin's gone.

FLASH—Jin reappears and sees the standoff between Rousseau and her husband, when she's telling him he's sick. She decides not to shoot him, and he tries to shoot her. But alas, just as she later told Sayid, she had removed his firing pin. And then, bye-bye hubby.

FLASH—I was amused by Jin's choppy English responses when he was with Rousseau:

“Boat.”
“My wife.”
“Monster.”

It's good to have Jin back...

FLASH—Right about now, I took advantage of a commercial break to see that North Carolina had jumped out to an early 7 point lead at Duke. Go Tar Heels!

FLASH—Jin and Sawyer reunite when Sawyer aims his gun at the back of Jin's head. Sawyer tells him to turn around, and ta-da: We have our most touching moment of the night. Jin's eyes lit up like Hurley in an Apollo Candy shop, and Sawyer rushed over to give his ancient raft-mate a Texas-sized hug. (I liked that moment.)

FLASH—Add Sawyer to the list of nosebleeders.

FLASH—Kate (with Aaron in tow) and Sayid both abandon Ben and Jack. Only Sun stays with them, and she stays only because Ben says he can take her to someone who will prove Jin is still alive.

FLASH—The only non-nosebleeders: Daniel, Jin, Locke.

We learned a lot during these flashes, but a few of the developments necessitate a more thorough review.

Most notable, and most unfortunate, we learned for sure that the nosebleeds lead to death. With Daniel by her side, Charlotte Staples Lewis breathed her last. I really liked her character (and if you watch the special features on the Season 4 DVD, you'll learn that the actor's true personality is even more appealing than her character's—she just seems like she's always having fun), so it was a sad moment.

I thought it was interesting, however, that the writers allowed her to die happy, even if her consciousness was off in another time and place. Her face lit up, baffling Daniel, and she said, "But I'm not allowed to have chocolate before dinner." And then she was gone.

But she revealed a lot before she left. Such as:

1) She admits she grew up on this island, as part of the Dharma Initiative, but her mother left the island and raised her in England (her father stayed behind), and when she was growing up, Charlotte would ask her mother about this island, but her mother would claim it doesn't exist. (Note: See the end of this post to see how this news corresponds with a theory I've held since Season 4.)

2) The second revelation comes after Charlotte tells Daniel about how she's been searching for this island her whole life. Here's what follows:

Daniel: Why are you telling me this?
Charlotte: Because I remember something now. When I was growing up here, when I was little, there was a scary man who told me I had to leave the island and never come back. He told me if I came back, I would die.
Daniel: Charlotte, I don’t understand.
Charlotte: Daniel, I think that man is you…

(Note: I think it's interesting that Charlotte refers to him as a "scary man." Scary, huh? Scary and right, apparently.)

And the almost-revelation, after Daniel reveals to Charlotte that he sent Desmond to find his mother because she can help save them:

Charlotte to Daniel: How can your mother help us…
Daniel: She can… (Charlotte starts coughing before we can hear more.)

Anyone else feel teased by that?

FLASH—As if Charlotte's death wasn't depressing enough, another commercial break reveals that Duke is building a pre-halftime lead...when it rains, it pours...

There are four other developments I'll note, but I'll try not to get too long-winded. After all, I'm more interested in getting to my theories at the end of this post...

Un:
John, Sawyer, Jin, Juliet, and Miles head for the Orchid Station. They were relieved to find that it was there, and Juliet said something about this, then FLASH! No Orchid. But thankfully, a near-delirious Charlotte had told them, if the Orchid wasn't there, to look for the well. She said they'd find it there...and sure enough. they did.

(Note: Just before John descended this rope, I said to Barbie, "I wonder what happens if he's underground when the island flashes again...if it goes to a time before the tunnel is built"...and we almost got our answer.)

So John's halfway down the rope when the island flashes, and he falls the rest of the way. Meanwhile, in a cool I-didn't-expect-that moment, we see Sawyer holding the rope (he had been steadying it for John) and Miles tells him he can let go now...and the camera pans down and shows the rope sticking out of the dirt. (Note: So if the rope is stuck in the dirt now, because they traveled in time while Sawyer was holding it, I wonder if there's anything else on the island that seems out of place that is the result of a similar circumstance...)

deux:
At the bottom of the well that is no longer a well, Locke hears footsteps. Lo and behold, Christian Shephard, Mr. Mystery of Mysteries, appears again. And the dialogue between Locke and Christian is, um, uncomfortable. First, he scolds Locke for letting Ben turn the wheel. Then he confirms what Richard Alpert told John, that he would have to die.

Christian also tells John about Eloise Hawking, and he says that he needs to get "all of his friends back together," which is becoming a pretty common refrain. We see the big wooden wheel, which Christian says has "fallen off it's axle" (Is that what's causing the flashes), so John just needs to give it a little push. And so he does...

trois:
Jin was very adamant about Locke not bringing Sun back. And let's just say this is a monkey-wrench that I didn't see coming. He made Locke swear that he wouldn't go to Sun. Locke said, basically, "and what if she finds me?" Jin didn't waver for a second. "Tell her I'm dead. Tell her I washed ashore. Tell her you buried me." Then he took his wedding ring off and told Locke to show it to her. And he gave another one of his one-word sentences: "Proof."

quatre:
At the end of the episode, when they arrive at the place where Eloise Hawking is waiting, Ben produces Jin's ring and shows it to Sun. He uses this as proof that Jin is still alive, telling her that Jin gave it to John. Isn't it just like Ben to use Jin's ring for the exact opposite purpose for which it was intended...

...but was this part of a plan concocted by John and Ben? Or was it Ben's idea? I have a feeling we'll learn next week, in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham."

Let me also say this, in typical LOST fashion, the show ignored the storylines I expected, showing no traces of Desmond or Hurley in this episode…until the very tail end, when Desmond strolled in. No Richard Alpert either.

But next week, according to the preview at the end of this week's episode, we'll definitely see both Hurley and Desmond. As for Richard, I don't know...


Most Notable Quotes:

1)
As I heard it in my living room...

Barbie: She has been there before.
Scene cuts to Charlotte telling Daniel: I’ve been here before.

2)
Juliet to Locke: If whatever you’re hoping to do actually works, thank you.

3)
Ben: Hello, Eloise.
El: Hello, Benjamin. I thought I said ‘all of them’
Ben: This is all I could get on short notice.
El: I suppose it will have to do for now. Alright, let’s get started.

(Note: Doesn't it sound like Eloise is calling the shots here? She's not helping Ben as much as he's following her orders. Interesting. And—and this is a huge one—didn't Mrs. Hawking tell Ben just a couple episodes ago that he needed to get all of them together, or else it would mean the death of them all? So why would less than half of the Oceanic 6 be good enough for now? Unless they have a backup plan that will bring the rest along before that 70-hour window closes.)

4)
Desmond: What are you doing here?
Ben: I assume the same thing you are.
Desmond: You’re looking for Faraday’s mother, too?

5)
Christian Shephard: I said that you had to move it, John.

6)
Christian Shephard: All you have to do is give it a little push.
Locke: Can you help me up?
Christian Shephard: No, sorry I can’t.

(John is asking for help because a shard of something is sticking out of his leg, but Christian's response is fascinating because when Locke first saw him, Christian told John he was there to "help him the rest of the way." So he's there to help, but when John asks for help, he says he can't...which makes very little sense, unless Christian can't physically touch him...because he's not completely there...

7)
Christian Shephard: Say hello to my son.
Locke (as he’s flashing away): Who’s your son?

8)
Robert (just before Rousseau shoots him): It’s not a monster, it's a security system guarding that temple.

(Note: I want to explore that temple.)

9)
Sawyer: You speak Korean, Red?

(Note: Is that a nickname? Maybe the writers read my last post...)

10)
Daniel: Do you speak any other languages?
Charlotte: Just Klingon.

(Note: I'm going to miss Red.)

11)
Charlotte to Jin: Don’t let them bring her back. No matter what. This place is death.

12)
Ben (to Jack and Sun) If you had any idea what I’ve done to keep you safe, to keep all your friends safe, then you’d never stop thanking me…

(Note: Do we believe this?)

13)
Sayid (to Jack): I don’t want any part of this. And if I see you, or him, again, it will be extremely unpleasant for all of us.

(Note: I have a feeling Sayid is off to protect Hurley again. Where else would he go?)

Some questions:

1) Why haven't Jin, Locke, or Daniel had nosebleeds?

2) Is it possible that Daniel doesn't age, like Richard? (I must attribute this idea to my beautiful wife, even though I wish I had thought of it first.)

3) What in the world is Christian Shephard doing underground by the wheel. How does he know so much? Does anyone else think his presence is the most baffling thing in the world? (No, I don't think that's an exaggeration.)

4) So what's going to change Kate's mind? And Sayid? Hurley?


Three Theories:

1) Charlotte's Web...

I've been holding onto this theory for the past six months or so, and this week reinforced my suspicions. Charlotte says she was born on this island, but her mom left and her dad stayed.

What if Charlotte's mother is Annie, the little girl who was friends with Benjamin Linus. I've always thought Annie must have left, because I don't know that Ben would have gassed her with the rest of Dharma. If he had, I think we would have seen that subplot. Her disappearance from the story has always been suspicious, as if they've been waiting to spring her storyline on us when we least expect it.

So maybe Ben gets Annie pregnant, and they have a daughter, Charlotte. And maybe that's why Ben eventually takes Rousseau's daugther, Alex, because he knows he has a daughter somewhere but he can't be with her.

Problems with this theory:

When I first adopted this theory, I thought maybe Annie left the island because she was pregnant. Because women couldn't give birth on the island. And that's what really sold me on the theory. It would explain why Ben is so preoccupied with fertility research, even though Richard tells Locke that some of the Others are ready for a new leader because they feel like there are more important things to pursue.

But if Charlotte was born on the island, and she remembers seeing Daniel, then it seems she'd be old enough to remember her father. It also eliminates a possibility that Ben didn't know his daugther's name or what she looked like (which would have been the case if Annie had left while pregnant).

But if Ben isn't Charlotte's father, then one of the Others probably is. hmmm...


2) The "Old" Others

This theory isn't much of a theory, but bear with me.

I was developing this theory before Season 5, before we learned for sure that Widmore had been an Other. That revelation validated this theory in a big way.

I feel like there's a group of old people—former Others, most likely—who are working together off the island. And if they're not working together, they're important.

Here's a list of older people, belonging to roughly the same generation, who have proven to be important:

Mr. Widmore
Mr. Paik (Sun's father)
Mrs. Hawking
Brother Campbell
Matthew Abaddon (the black man who posed as an Oceanic representative when he visited Hurley, and the one who originally posed as an orderly and suggested Locke should go on a walkabout...I suspect that he was also an Other, but I think he's a Widmore operative now)
Christian Shephard (he seems to get more important all the time)
Richard Malkin (he's the psychic that Mr. Eko once visited after his daughter came back to live...and he's the psychic who gave Claire her plane ticket, insisting that she go to California to give her baby up)

Or maybe these people are just important because most of them are parents of our characters...but I think many of these characters are connected. Some of them in obvious ways, and others, perhaps, in ways we haven't seen yet.


3) The importance of Desmond, why Widmore might not be the enemy, and some thoughts on Mrs. Hawking...

Yes, these thoughts are all connected to one basic theory, and I'll post it soon.

FLASH—Don't worry, basketball fans, North Carolina ran away with the game in the last few minutes.


—Thanks for Reading