Tyler's Thoughts

This Blog is Officially Retired

2010-02-05T14:26:00.001-05:00

That's right, I'm done with this blog.

I've found that Wordpress blogs are much nicer; they provide nicer features and they block spam...Plus, it's easier for me to manage two Wordpress blogs rather than one Wordpress and one Blogger.

Two Wordpress blogs, you say? Why yes, Lost fans, I'm still blogging about our beloved show, but I'm doing it on a new blog:

http://tylerslostblog.wordpress.com/

I've already posted a few things there. And when my friend Mary creates the customized Lost header for it, it's going to look pretty sweet, if I do say so myself.

So if you're looking for a Lost discussion, pop on over there. I'd love to hear what you think about how season 6 kicked off.

If you want to follow my primary blog (even though it's been on my back-burner during the last two months), you can find that at:

http://tylercharles.wordpress.com/

Hope to hear from you over there...

Adieu!

Season 5 in Review

2010-02-02T15:28:00.000-05:00

Okay, now that Season 6 kicks off tonight...true to my typical procrastinating ways, I'm finally publishing my review of Season 5.

I had hoped to launch a new Lost blog for season 6. I even came up with a title and a theme, but alas, I ran out of time. Maybe it'll still happen...although, at the rate I'm going, it won't be until season 6 ends.

Anyway, let's review the highlights of a crazy fifth season, and revisit the lingering questions (there are so many to choose from...)

Starting with...

So Locke really was dead...

Okay, let me just toot my own horn for a moment. After "Dead is Dead," I wrote this:

Why didn't the Smoke Monster come when Ben summoned it? Or did it...

Is it possible that Locke might still be dead...but reanimated by the Smoke Monster? I know that sounds far out, but there were subtle hints...

Okay, so maybe I didn't stick with that theory for long. But I at least suspected it!

I was wrong about so many things this season (like Jack befriending little Ben back in the Dharma days and my whole Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet "love rhombus" idea), I was glad I at least was on the right track once or twice.

Why, Why, Why?
Season 5 included a few characters that, in retrospect, seem out of place. But with so few episodes remaining, I have to think they're clues.

First of all, there was Jack's Grandpa Ray. I don't think they introduced him just so Jack could discover that Grandpa Ray has a pair of shoes that belonged to Jack's dad (Jack could have easily gotten some of his father's possessions from his mother). I think Jack's Grandpa Ray—and his eagerness to get away to some place where "they'll never find him"—might suggest that this attachment to the island is something in Jack's history, something in his lineage.

What about Oldham and his LSD? What was the point of that? This is one character that might be completely insignificant. It's almost like the writers used him as a tool to show how Sayid's story had come full circle, from torturer/killer to the torturee who is willing to let the Dharma-ites kill him...until little Ben tries to save him and he decides he really is a killer...

And then there's Annie, the character we didn't see in season 5. The writers said early on that Annie was an important figure in Ben's life...and in season 5, we saw a lot of little Ben...but no Annie. I still believe there's something more to her story (why else would they show Ben still carrying around the statue she made for him?). But will that be included in season 6? I'm betting that it doesn't make the final cut.

Eloise and Widmore
Okay, so they were once lovers. And Daniel is their kiddo. That's interesting, sure. But not nearly as interesting as the fact that they both showed up at the hospital in LA after Desmond got shot. These two former others, and former lovers, seem to care as much about Desmond as they do about anyone else.

Widmore's first question for Eloise wasn't whether or not Penny was okay. Instead, he asked, "How is he?" First of all, that means someone told him Desmond was shot. Second of all, it means he cared enough to fly across the pond to check on him.

I can draw only one conclusion from this: Desmond is extraordinarily special.

And I suppose I can draw one conjecture as well: I think Widmore plans to use Desmond to help him get back to the island.

Eloise and Widmore, Part Deux
At the end of Season 5, Eloise and Widmore were together in LA. Remember, Eloise had just been calculating "windows in time" for the island. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see the two of them trying to land in one of those windows themselves (after all, hasn't Widmore devoted his whole life to finding that island? And now Eloise, his former lover/baby's mother, has access to a Dharma station that can pinpoint the island's location?) C'mon...of course they're going to try to go back. Right?

Widmore and the Man in Black
After the Season 5 finale when we learned that Locke wasn't Locke, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" contains some particularly interesting nuggets. The most interesting, in my opinion, is a quote from Widmore..."because there's a war coming, John. And if you're not on the island, the wrong side is going to win."

Think about that. I've tried to come up with any other explanation for that comment, but I can only conclude this: Without Locke's body, the Man in Black can't pretend to be Locke, and without pretending to be the man who is supposedly the new leader of the Others, he never gets escorted to Jacob by Richard. So if Locke's body doesn't return to the island, then the Man in Black's side can't win.

So, from this I can only conclude that Widmore has been knowingly or unknowingly serving the Man in Black's purposes.

Ben and Dead Locke?
Remember when Ben told Jill the butcher (another character who was a strange inclusion) to keep Locke's body safe? He said, without him, everything they've worked for would have been a waste...

Sure, at the time we thought that everyone who left needed to go back, and they needed to "recreate" the original flight as closely as possible. And Locke's body was going to be a "proxy" for Christian Shephard...but what if all that was gibberish? What if Locke's dead body needed to go back so the Man in Black could use it? What if that was Ben's intention all along?

I realize this almost sounds like Ben and Widmore are on the same side. But I don't think so. I think they could have similar objectives, and still be opposing each other at the same time.

A Widmore Contradiction?

From "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham":

LOCKE: The camera in the desert—that was yours?
WIDMORE: Yeah.
LOCKE: How did you know I'd be there?
WIDMORE: Well, that's the exit. I was afraid Benjamin might fool you into leaving the Island, as he did with me. I was their leader.
LOCKE: The Others?
WIDMORE: They're not the "Others" to me. They're my people. We protected the Island peacefully for more than three decades. But then I was exiled... by him... just as you were.

Hold on, when Widmore was "exiled," he left on the sub. Doesn't Widmore offer contradictory ideas here? He says "I was afraid Ben might fool you into leaving the island, as he did with me." Does that mean, Ben fooled him into turning the wheel at some point? He then says "I was exiled...just as you were." But Locke left via the wheel, and showed up at "the exit." So would that be "the exit" for someone who is exiled? Or would they exit on the sub, like Widmore did? Is there more than one way to end up at "the exit"?

Or is Widmore just a liar? (Ding Ding Ding, I think we have a winner.)

Ben's Hit List for Sayid
Who were the people Sayid was killing? Were they really Widmore's people? (I don't think so, or else Abaddon would have been on that list originally.) Were they people who had left the island at some point? I don't know. I have no answers for this.

The Temple
I have no answers for this either. I just hope we see a lot of it in season 6.

The Mysterious Richard Alpert
So we learned that Jacob made him the way that he is...whatever that means.

I also did a little wikipedia research on the real-life Richard Alpert:

Richard Alpert in real life was an associate of Timothy Leary who later changed his name to Ram Dass. He wrote a bestselling book, Be Here Now, the core message of which, according to wikipedia, involves "the relationship between temporal consciousness and spiritual identity."

Also from wikipedia, when Ram Dass was asked to sum up his life's message, he said, "I help people as a way to work on myself, and I work on myself to help people..."

After learning more about Lost's Richard Alpert in season 5, it's a little more clear why the writers gave him that name. Don't you think?

Kate...and Jack
Those who've talked to me about Lost know that I believe Jack and Kate are both special. I think we've seen way too many flashbacks involving them, and I think that means there's more to their stories.

That being said, I'm eager to see how that plays out. I have theories, but they're way too complicated and long to include in this review of season 5.

Is Juliet dead?
I think so. Sad, but true.

Is Sayid dead?
I don't think so. Not yet.

Daniel and Charlotte?
Yep, dead and gone. For good.

Claire?
Yes...I think so...maybe...

Free Will and the Man in Black's Long Con...
We know the Man in Black found his loophole in order to kill Jacob. To find that loophole he used a lot of deception, and free will.

First of all, when Locke fell down the well. Christian Shephard told him how to get off the island and what to do when he got off the island...but when John asked for help (he had a compound fracture in his unlucky legs, after all), Christian said, "Sorry, I can't do that, John." In other words, for his long con to work, he couldn't take any direct actions...instead, he had to convince others to act.

Similarly, he needed Ben to actually stab Jacob. It had to be Ben's decision. And ultimately, it was.

Ben's Long Con...?
Any chance Ben knew what the Man in Black was up to? After all, he's the one who insisted on bringing Locke's body back...so the plan wouldn't have worked without him...

And he was the one who killed Locke (after he got the information he needed). And perhaps the most telling element of all, after killing Locke, Ben says to his dead, suspended body "I'm going to miss you, John. I really am." What a curious thing to say to someone you just killed...unless, of course, he felt he had no choice but to kill Locke. And why would he need to kill Locke? So his body could be used by the Man in Black...

But if this is true, what's in it for Ben? I don't know, and that's why I'm not sold on this theory.

"They're Coming..."
These were Jacob's last words...assuming he really died.

And Fake Locke didn't seem thrilled to hear them, either.

Having finally killed Jacob, you'd think Fake Locke would have been pretty pleased, but upon hearing these words, his face showed fury. And Jacob obviously wasn't referring to Ilana and the others from Ajira 316, because John already knew they were coming (Heck, he'd even talked to them and told Richard that they'd need to "take care of them" after he was done talking to Jacob). So Jacob must have been referring to someone else...and obviously, we can assume he meant our Losties who had been trapped in the 70's...but perhaps he could be referring to someone else entirely. Desmond? Widmore? Eloise?

Personally, I think he means Jack, Kate, and the others Jacob appeared to in the past.

Sun?
Why didn't Sun flash back to the 70's with the rest of them? Was this just an unpredictable element (the result of not recreating the original event perfectly?), or was this part of Jacob's plan?

The Whispers...
When Ben was supposed to kill Rousseau and baby Alex, he didn't. And there were two potentially revealing pieces of dialogue in that scene. First, Rousseau accuses Ben of being the one who infected them (interesting). Later, Ben tells her that if she hears the whispers, to run the other way. Why?

I think we still have a lot to learn about the whispers... Maybe it has something to do with the dead people residing on the island...which is what Naomi told Miles when she was recruiting him in his flashback.

But I hope that gets sorted out in Season 6.

Little Ben and the Temple?
I have nothing to reveal here (no theories, either). Just a lot of curiosity.

Ethan
Why was a young Ethan running around with the hostiles? Just because Ben was a bad influence on him? Or was there more to this?

For example, did Horace and Amy (or one of them) have ties to the Hostiles?

I still suspect that maybe Horace died willingly during the purge. (Remember how peaceful he looked sitting on the bench? And remember the effect the same gas had on Ben's father? Also remember that Ben went over to close Horace's eyes.) I wonder if Horace didn't decide that the Dharma Initiative was getting out of control, and maybe he arranged for Ethan's safety in exchange for allowing the purge...

We also know that Horace built the cabin. Why he really built it...well, that's still a little foggy.

"I remember your friends well...because I watched them all die..."
These were Richard's words to Sun. I don't think he's lying. But I don't think he's right, either.

My suspicion is that Richard wandered out to the Swan construction site during the gunfight at the end of season 5. And when Juliet detonated the core of the Jughead bomb, I'm betting that the Losties vanished in the explosion. Richard obviously believed they were killed, but we know better. (I hope.)

In fact, I'll be surprised if we don't see this play out in tonight's episodes.

Jacob's Fate?
Could Jacob really be dead? If he's mortal, then is the Man in Black also mortal?

Things I want to see in Season 6:

—More of Jack's history (especially details about whether his ancestors have been on the island before).
—More of Kate's history (especially details about whether or not she was on the island as a young girl).
—More of Hurley throwing hot pockets
—The Temple
—More Richard Alpert
—More banter between Miles and Hurley
—More skullduggery from Ben Linus
—Desmond Hume
—Sarcastic smart-mouthed Sawyer (as opposed to Jim "I'm content leading a normal life" LaFleur)

Feel free to share what you hope to see in Season 6. Or to mention things I left out of my review.

Here's to hoping Season 6 is the best season yet...

Benjamin Linus reads "Little Boy Blue"

2009-07-23T19:03:00.003-04:00

This video is 3 months old, so I apologize if everyone has already seen it.

But I just saw it today and I thought it was amazing! (Would have been a little better without Jimmy Fallon, but still.) Michael Emerson is so talented...and, well, creepy.

The picture is jacked up in the beginning, but it clears up.

Enjoy!

Surprises from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-18T17:11:00.007-04:00

Warning: Spoilers abound!

I'm writing this as a lover of J.K. Rowling's series, so my response to the new movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will intentionally take for granted some of the most intriguing/entertaining elements of the film. Instead, as one familiar with the book, I'm looking at the aspects of the movie that surprised me—pleasantly in some cases and not-so-pleasantly in others.

Overall, I thought the movie was entertaining and I think they did as good of a job concluding it as they could given that the sixth book doesn't really resolve; instead it mostly attempts to set the stage for the final book.

So, in no particular order, here are my thoughts:

The Death Eaters are flying now? In the book, and I could be wrong, I thought they apparated. But in the movie, they flew in streaks of ominous black smoke (destroying bridges, buildings, and the Weasley's house in mid-flight). This was visually impressive, but if wizards and witches are capable of flying, then doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of the broomsticks?

Dumbledore's fire-waving spell in Voldemort's cave was pretty freakin' sweet.But did anyone else wonder why the hundreds of inferi climbing out of the pond all looked exactly like Gollum? Wonder how the Lord of the Rings people felt about that...

In the book, Harry hides the potions book in the Room of Requirement because Snape is asking about it and he doesn't want to hand it over. In the movie, Hermione and Ginny (with Ron present) encourage Harry to get rid of it. Why make this change? I don't believe changes should be made just for the sake of changing something. Rowling's work is quite good, and the movie folks should only make changes that improve the plot. This one, in my opinion, did not.

Also, Ginny makes the moves in the movie. In the book, Harry kisses Ginny after Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Finals. Again, I don't understand the logic behind this decision. In this instance, the revision didn't detract from the moment, but it's still curious.

It was nice seeing a lot of Quidditch in this movie. I'm not a special effects aficionado, but I thought it looked pretty realistic. Odd, though, that they never showed Harry even attempting to go after the snitch. The focus, instead, was almost solely on Ron Weasley. And that's fine, I suppose, but in the books the game is almost always decided by one team securing the snitch. So again, it's a strange omission.

Paging Neville Longbottom... Has anyone seen Neville Longbottom? Oh that's right, he got that very brief cameo serving hors d'oeuvres at Slughorn's party. Still, it seems like they could have given him a bit more to do in this one. Now I wonder if he'll play any role at all in the conclusion of the series. In the book, he has a fairly important task before him. In the movies, who knows?

I was not expecting to laugh half as much as I did while watching this movie. At times, the exchanges between the characters were downright hilarious. Slughorn was a riot. And I especially loved the dialogue between Harry and Ron concerning the niceness of Ginny's and then Hermione's skin.

I loved all the instances when Dumbledore apparated with Harry on his arm. My favorite was the one when they were leaving Hogwarts:

Harry: Wait, I didn't think it was possible to apparate within Hogwarts.
Dumbledore: I guess you could say there are a few advantages to being me.

That was classic.

Helena Bonham Carter is fantastic as Bellatrix Lestrange. Absolutely perfect. (Even if I did keep thinking she was Marla Singer with special powers.)

No Dumbledore funeral? C'mon. Why not show that? That would have been the perfect backdrop for Harry's statement to Hermione and Ron that he needs to finish what Dumbledore started, that he won't be returning to Hogwarts. If I remember correctly, that's exactly how Rowling wrote it. Again, why make the change? I think a Dumbledore funeral would have been a fitting way for the viewers to say goodbye to the beloved headmaster.

When I first read this book, I was so angry with Snape. Furious. And yet, I was baffled. I knew something didn't add up. Dumbledore trusted him. Why? I just couldn't understand it. The movie didn't do nearly as good of a job of establishing this tension. There were a couple passing attempts (Remus saying, "If Dumbledore trusts him then we need to trust him..." yada, yada, yada), but for the most part, the shady side of Snape was dominant. And without the "Is he really that despicable?" tension, Snape just becomes a run-of-the-mill bad guy. And that's unfortunate.

Of course, they could have (and absolutely should have) done one thing to help maintain that tension. They could have done something to make us wonder if perhaps—just maybe—Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him. And that brings me to the one major frustration I have with the cinematic portrayal of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:

The Dumbledore death scene. In the book, Harry is hidden under his invisibility cloak, and he is prepared to intervene on Dumbledore's behalf. And just before he can, Dumbledore casts a silent spell (unbeknownst to Draco Malfoy) that immobilizes Harry. And so Harry is forced to watch—held prisoner by Dumbledore's spell—as Snape kills his beloved mentor.

Not only does this add to the tragedy, but it should make the reader (and Harry) question why Dumbledore did this. Harry could have disarmed Malfoy. Harry could have stood with Dumbledore as the Death Eaters climbed the stairs. Or...Dumbledore could have just apparated again. But no, he didn't. Why? It's almost as if Dumbledore was accepting his death... Hmmm.

In the movie, Harry hides and does nothing. (Disclaimer: I know Snape found Harry hiding there just before he climbed the rest of the steps and killed Dumbledore, but if he immobilized Harry, I missed it. Instead, I thought he just told Harry to be quiet...and then he went up the stairs and killed Dumbledore.)

This is the one change I view as a major miscalculation. Now Harry will have to wonder, "Could I have done something?" instead of wondering, "Why wouldn't Dumbledore let me help him?" To me, that's not nearly as unique or intriguing.

But even that poor decision doesn't change the fact that this movie was well-done and very entertaining.

It definitely built some momentum for the finale (although, apparently, the seventh book is being divided into 2 movies...so we'll see how that goes).

If you haven't seen the movie, then I don't know why you read this. (Didn't you see my spoiler warning?) But if you saw it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything you found surprising (pleasantly or otherwise) or just plain entertaining.

My Lost article for Books & Culture

2009-05-18T13:16:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, I finished writing a review of Lost for Books & Culture, and it ended up being one of the most difficult pieces I've ever written.

Originally, it was over 3,000 words, and I cut it down to less than 1,200 by the time I was done. My goal was to review the five seasons of Lost in a way that would make it appealing to those who don't watch the show (including BC's sophisticated demographic) and interesting for those of us who do watch it religiously. At the same time, I tried not to spoil anything significant for those potential newcomers—which is what made the writing process so difficult. I let the time travel cat out of the bag (a little bit) and I mentioned a few names, but other than that, the piece is pretty much spoiler-free.

If you'd like to read it, here's the link:

Not Too Late to Find Lost

And you can check back later this week (maybe tomorrow) for a brief recap of the finale and then even later this week, I'll be recapping the highlights of the entire fifth season, and including the questions that we'll be pondering for the next nine months.

More soon!

"The Incident": Finale Time!

2009-05-13T20:38:00.003-04:00

If you're coming here for my thoughts/summary, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.

I know, I know. I write recaps for the last 13 episodes, and then slough off for the finale?

I'm sorry. But I'm writing an article on Lost for Books and Culture. It should be posted next Monday (I'll link to it), so that is taking precedence right now.

But next week, I'll write a summary to the episode, and if I'm feeling really ambitious, maybe a recap of the entire season. (I don't think I'll feel that ambitious.)

In the meantime, my predictions for the finale, which starts in less than 5 minutes:

1) Miles dies.

2) Ellie betrays Jack.

3) Hurley attempts something heroic.

4) We see Ellie leave the island.

5) We learn Kate's real reason for returning to the island, and it has something to do with Widmore and/or Ben—and nothing to do with Claire.

*Bonus: We learn why Hurley's been hauling around a guitar case.

"Follow the Leader": Misery Loves Company

2009-05-06T20:58:00.010-04:00

What a perfect title for tonight's episode. As we watched three different groups of people (1) Richard and Ellie with Kate, Jack, and Sayid 2)Present day Richard with Locke, Ben, Sun, and Others and 3) Those still in Dharma-ville), the same question applied in all situations: Who exactly is in charge?

In group 1, the potential leaders are: Widmore, Ellie, Richard...or Jack? Or is it Kate, since she is the one who refuses to follow the rest?

In group 2, Locke seems to be in charge. But he still has so much to learn. And don't think Ben doesn't want to be the leader. And don't forget about Jacob.

In group 3, Horace is in charge. But Radzinsky decides he shouldn't be. Pierre Chang gives an order, but again, Radzinsky opposes him. So who is the leader in Dharma Land?

And the other theme: misery. Jack mentioned it. Sayid mentioned it. Sawyer's "good riddance" goodbye to the island hinted at the same idea.

Kate was the oddball on both counts. She refused to "follow the leader," and she was quick to refute Jack's reference to the misery they've endured, saying "It was not all misery!"

Jack's response: "Enough of it was."

Let's recap.

Season 5: Episode 15—"Follow the Leader":

First of all, it looks like Daniel really did bite the big one. Except Jack is convinced that it can still be fixed. All they have to do is carry out the things written in Daniel's little black book.

Ellie is on board. And Widmore surprisingly lets her set off with Jack and Kate on a trek to the hydrogen bomb. If Widmore wanted to stop her, he didn't. Could it be because of the things she was saying to him when we couldn't hear their conversation? Maybe she said, "That guy I just shot is the son we're going to have together..."

Sayid's Back and You're Gonna Be in Trouble...

I don't know who that Hostile guy was, the one beating up Jack and Kate. The one who was prepared to shoot Kate when she tried to leave. But hey, it doesn't matter, because Sayid comes out of the woods with his gun blazing. And whoever he was, he's a dead other now.

Sayid stuck with Jack, swimming under the falls to the tunnels following Richard, Jack, and Ellie. Jack looked so happy to see him, since he obviously didn't expect Sayid to follow.

And Sayid said, "If this works, it might just save us all. If it doesn't, it'll put us out of our misery." (There's that word again!)

Widmore Rides Again:

At the beginning of the episode, we saw Widmore riding into the Hostiles camp on a horse again. That's twice now. Probably meaningless, but I wonder...

And did he ask Richard why the girl (Kate?) looked familiar to him? Sort of like when Ellie looked familiar to Daniel in the 50's?

Now, I know this is going to sound outrageous, but I'm just putting it out there. Ignore it, if you want. But when it comes true, remember you saw it here first: What if Widmore is Kate's real dad? Just saying...

John Locke is Back...and so is John Locke

The present-day return of John Locke begins with a woman notifying Richard Alpert, who is so calmly putting together a model ship. (Note: Interesting that the Hostiles are now living on a beachfront camp. Not in Dharma-town. And not in the woods. On the beach, like our castaways had...) This woman says, "He's here." No name. Just "He." Clearly, they had all been waiting.

But even though they'd been waiting for him, it wasn't long before Richard was unnerved by the new John Locke:

Richard: "Where have you been?"
Locke: "That's a long story. I'll explain on the way."
Richard: "On the way where?"
Locke: "It's going to be dark soon, and we have an errand we need to run together."

Richard: "There's something different about you." (it was like Richard was trying to look through him...)
Locke: "I have a purpose now."

Hmmm, didn't he have a purpose before? Hasn't he always been doing the island's will? So what's different now? A more specific purpose? One revealed at the end of the episode when Locke said he was going to...

Kill Jacob?

I don't even know what to make of this comment. I love how baffled (frightened) Ben was. But... I don't even know where to begin. I'm not convinced Jacob is a real, living person, so I'm not sure how Locke plans to kill him. It could be a planned illusion, something to make the Others stop relying on "Jacob," so they can trust him (John Locke) and not a Jacob they don't know (more importantly, a Jacob whose wishes can be distorted by Ben or Richard, or whoever else is passing along the messages).

But I really doubt we'll see John Locke killing Jacob, or even attempting to.

That Guy Over There? Well, that's me, of course!

It was very fun to see Locke tell Richard that time-flashing Locke had been shot, and then he told him the very things that we saw Richard tell him in whatever episode originally contained that scene. This was vintage LOST writing: show us a scene, make us think that Richard had all the answers...and then show us that scene again, two months later (in our time), and now we see that he got those answers from Locke, who is probably getting them from "the island." And now we know that Richard didn't know as much as we thought he did. Not at all.

But before I get to that, enjoy this Ben/Locke exchange again:

Ben: This must be quite the out-of-body experience.
Locke: Something like that.
Ben: What impeccable timing, John. How did you know?
Locke: The island told me. Didn't the island use to tell you things?
Ben: No, it didn't. And the island must not be telling you where Jacob is, or you wouldn't have to ask.
Locke: You've never seen him.
Ben: Excuse me?
Locke: Jacob. You've never seen him, have you?

(I don't think I got it down verbatim, but I'm looking forward to watching that scene again.)

And then Richard returns (after time-flashing Locke flashed away) and he asked Locke if he wanted the bullet. Locke declines.

Locke: How'd it go?
Richard: You seemed pretty convinced; especially when I told you you had to die. Glad that didn't have to happen.
Locke: Actually, Richard, it did.

Oh, and then we had some priceless expressions from Ben and Richard. Speaking of Mr. Alpert, whom Ben described to Sun as "an advisor...and he's had that position for a long time"...

Richard is so confused

We got to see a lot of Richard, which was great. And we also got to see a lot of Richard being confused, which was kind of fun.

For example, when he first saw Ben, he asked Locke, "What's he doing here?"

I know he was surprised to learn that two Lockes would be on the island together for a short period of time...but I couldn't figure out just how surprising this was to him. Was he surprised it happened? Or surprised it could happen?

There was this exchange, which Locke seemed to enjoy:

Richard: John, you want to tell me where you've been the last three years?
John: You really don't know?

And then near the end of the episode, after Locke repeatedly insists on seeing Jacob (and eventually, taking everyone with him) in spite of Richard's suggestions to at least wait for a bit, we have this priceless exchange between Richard and Ben:

Richard: I'm starting to think John Locke is going to be trouble.
Ben: Why do you think I tried to kill him?

The Boy Who Didn't Die and the Friends Who Did (or Will):

There were so many good lines in this episode. Including:

Sayid: I already changed something. I killed Benjamin Linus, and yet we're still here.

Of course, Sayid then learns that Kate saved Ben, and when Sayid asks her why, Kate says, "Since when did killing kids and blowing up hydrogen bombs become okay?"

My question for Kate: "Since when do you have such a strong objection to, well, everything? What is your motivation for all this? (Okay, that was two questions...but still. The writers are setting something up here. Okay, maybe they just had her object so that Sayid could have a cool reappearance, shooting down her would-be killer, and maybe they wanted to add some tension to Jack's plans to discharge a hydrogen bomb, or maybe they just wanted to get her on that sub with Sawyer and Juliet. But I think there's something more going on. Even if she isn't Widmore's daughter. :) )

Getting back on point now: Sayid learned that little Ben didn't die. But Sun learned that Jin and the rest of her friends did. When Sun asked Richard if he remembered them, he said:

"I remember them well. I remember them, because I watched them all die."

Shortly after that, Sun makes the mistake of turning to Locke for consolation: "Do you think that's true? That they're all dead?"

Locke, like the new Governor of Other Island, sidesteps this question with, "I don't think we came all this way for nothing." Even though we learn later that he doesn't give a rip about reuniting with the others.

The Episode's Weirdest Quote (aka "Stating the Obvious")

Richard: I'll have a tent prepared for you, and we'll leave first thing in the morning.
John: I thought we could leave right now.
Richard: Now?
Locke: I'm eager.

(Eager? You don't say.)

Thankfully, some things—like Ben being Ben—will never change:

Obviously, Ben doesn't like following Locke the leader, even though he'll tell Locke to his face that he's okay with it. But even as he claims to be okay with it, while also notifying Locke that Richard was questioning Locke's ability to lead (Ben will betray anyone's confidence if he thinks it will help him...), he clearly isn't. And so we get gems like this:

Locke: Why don't you join us?
Ben: Why? You afraid to leave me here alone with my former people? Afraid I'll stage a coup?
Locke: I'm not afraid of anything you can do now.
Ben: Oh, well in that case, I'd love to come.

(Why did he really have Ben come along? To rub it in Ben's face that the island is telling him things?)

Young Ellie is a better actress than Old Eloise:

Yeah, I said it. I thought her delivery here was outstanding:

Eloise: The man I shot. What did he need the bomb for?
Jack: I don't think you'd believe me.
Eloise: When I was 17 years old, I took a young man to the bomb. He proceeded to tell me that if we buried it underground, things would work out splendidly...and when I asked him how he could be so sure, he said he was from the future. And then he disappeared, right before my eyes. Ten minutes ago, I shot that man. In the back. But before he died, he said he was my son. Explain to me, and I swear I will believe you. [holds up Daniel's notebook] How is this my handwriting if I don't remember writing it?
Jack: Because you haven't written it yet. I know this is hard to understand, but what you just did was an accident, and I think there's a way to take that back.

Jack: He doesn't have to be dead. If we do what's written in that journal, none of this happened.
Eloise to Kate: Does he know what he's talking about?
Kate: He thinks he does.
Eloise: Alright, I'll take you to the bomb. There's just one small issue, however. We secured it over 20 years ago and buried it underground. Since that time, it appears someone built a whole village over it.

Wait, what did she just say?

When Ellie said that line, I was thinking they would be wandering into Dharma-town to get to the bomb. And that's what Ellie suggested by commenting on how they shouldn't have any problems since they've been impersonating Dharma Personnel. BUT we see them get to the bomb, and it's by swimming under a waterfall into a long tunnel, which eventually opened into ancient tunnels reminiscent of Smokey's lair. And when I was watching that, I forgot about Ellie's words. Until now. So those tunnels, where Jughead is...that's all located underneath the Dharma village?

Interesting...

Kate Runs:

I've said enough (and alleged enough) about Kate for now. So just some quotes:

Kate: I can't go any farther with you; not this time.

Jack: You can't go back there. They'll kill you.
Kate: And what are you trying to do?

Jack: I'm not wrong. This is why we're here. This is our destiny.
Kate: Do you know who you sound like? And he was crazy, too; you said so yourself.
Jack: And maybe I was wrong.

Kate says she's going back to the rest of their people, because "if I can't stop you, maybe they can." (This isn't like Kate. Since when does she ask for help? And does she really think Miles, Jin, Hurley, Sawyer, and Juliet are going to dissuade Jack? If anyone can, it's her. And yet she walks away. I don't get it.)

I Wish I Didn't Know Radzinsky Would Eventually Commit Suicide...Because I'd Kind of Like to See Him Get Killed:

Wow, Radzinsky!

Somebody got too big for his britches. And fast!

That's all I want to say about Mr. I'm-Going-to-Keep-Claiming-to-Be-in-Charge-Until-Someone-Stops-Me.

Sawyer Will Get Even with Phil:

Hitting Juliet. Not smart, Phil. Not smart.

Oh yeah, and he called Hurley "the fat guy."

I hope Hugo runs over Phil with a Dharma van. (That's Hurley's other superhero power, other than the obvious one: playing chess with dead people.)

Horace Sides with Hostiles...or Will:
I've said it before, and I'm more convinced now. Mark my words: when Horace dies during the Purge (looking so at peace on that bench), he will die willingly—only after helping the Hostiles purge an increasingly corrupt and dangerous Dharma Initiative. Maybe he'll decide Dharma needs to be purged, or maybe he'll do it to protect Ethan (and Amy?). But he's going to do it; watch for it.

I'm No Sap, but Sawyer and Juliet Are Cute

First, Juliet pleads with Radzinsky to stop beating Sawyer. And Sawyer stops her:

Sawyer: "Juliet, don't. Whatever we tell 'em, they're not going to believe us. It's only going to get more people hurt."

And then when Pierre Chang comes to announce that they're evacuating, and when Radzinsky pulls another Radzinsky (which means he threw a temper tantrum and said, "You can't tell me what to do!"), Sawyer speaks up again:

Sawyer: Put us on the sub. He's right; it ain't safe. Put the women and children on the sub, and get 'em the hell out of here. And if you put me and Juliet on the sub with them, we'll tell you anything you want to know. You okay with that, sweetheart?
Juliet: Absolutely.

So instead of dying together—like Romeo and Juliet—Sawyer and Juliet have decided to save themselves and then, once they're safe, give up information that could jeopardize everyone else. Not exactly your script for a classic romance, but somehow it sort of worked here.

Or it would have, if Kate hadn't climbed into their sub. Juliet and Sawyer were busy making plans for starting a new life. Maybe buying Microsoft. Betting on the Cowboys in the '78 Super Bowl. And then Kate climbed down that ladder, and Sawyer and Juliet were not the least bit happy about it. (Did you get the sense that maybe "the island isn't done with them yet"?)

Oh right, and there was this exchange before Kate barged in:

Juliet: I love you.
Sawyer: I love you back.

Hurley Makes Me Laugh:

I love that Hurley, of all people, tried to stand his ground in a veritable battle of wits with the brilliant physicist, Dr. Pierre Chang. And as we would assume, Hurley doesn't fare well.

When Pierre Chang finds Miles, Jin, and Hurley in the woods...

Miles: Dr. Chang, what are you doing here?
Dr. Chang: I could ask you the same question.
Hurley: But we asked you first. (Round 1 to Hurley)

Dr. Chang: What year were you born? What year?
Hurley: Uh... 1931?
Dr. Chang: You're 46?
Hurley: Yeah. Yes, I am. (Round 2 to Pierre)

Dr. Chang: So you fought in the Korean War?
Hurley: There's no such thing. (I think this round goes to Pierre, but I'm confused. The Korean War was in the 50's, so is Hurley just unaware of it?)

Dr. Chang: Who's the President of the United States?
Hurley: All right, dude, we're from the future. Sorry. (And Pierre wins.)

A Little Piece of Mind for Miles:

First this:

Dr. Chang: It's true then? You are my son?
Miles: Yeah, it's true.

And then Hurley and Miles saw Pierre Chang yelling at Miles' mom, and Miles realized he had no choice. It was the only way he could save her life (and Miles' life).

Well, at least one character gets to resolve some of their daddy issues.

Jack Might Want to Listen to Sayid:

Sayid's always been the guy that everyone should listen to, and yet they don't. Here's the latest example:

Sayid: Jack, I'm sure it's occurred to you that this woman's motivation in helping us detonate a hydrogen bomb is only to annihilate the DHARMA Initiative.
Jack: Yes, but I still trust her.
Sayid: Why?
Jack: Because 30 years from now, she's the one who helps us get back to the island.
Sayid: And that makes you trust her?
Jack nods.

(We'll see if Jack will ever remember that conversation and wish he hadn't been so trusting. If he's alive to reconsider, that is.)

Summary (also known as: Where We Stand for Next Week's Finale):

This was a great episode. Near the end of it, I almost felt like it was gearing up for the series finale. Not just a season finale. I know there are still a lot of questions, but it almost felt like it's about to end. But there's still plenty of time for new problems to arise. Speaking of new problems, just look at where our characters finished last episode:

—Kate is on the sub with Sawyer and Juliet. It sure doesn't seem like they're just going to ride peacefully back to the ol' U.S. of A, now does it? Maybe before Kate got on board. But not now.

—Radzinsky and his friends are set to break ground on the Swan. Leading to the Incident, maybe?

—Locke and friends are marching over to see Jacob. Oh yeah, and then Locke is going to kill him. I can't see that playing out without any complications.

—Jack is prepared to detonate a hydrogen bomb. 'Nuff said.

—And who knows what kind of shenanigans we might see from Ellie, Widmore, Ben, Richard, Hurley, Miles, Sun, or Jin.

It should be interesting.

Live-Blogging of "The Variable"

2009-04-29T20:29:00.017-04:00

Tonight I'm attempting to live-blog LOST for a few reasons:

1) It'll be a challenge.
2) So this week's post won't be so gi-normous.
3) Because I have other writing projects to work on, and I can't afford to spend 5 hours putting this blog together after the episode ends tonight.

So I'll jot thoughts as we go, post during the commercials, and then I'll add a list of questions after the episode ends.

Now I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping Obama's live press conference doesn't cut into LOST time. Because after last week's stinker of a recap ("new
perspective," my butt), I think we can expect big things this week. I guess you could say I have the audacity to hope for that.

More to come...as soon as Obama's done...

So Desmond did get shot! And he's where? In a hospital?

Uh-oh, Penny...be wary of that mysterious Hawking woman!

"I'm Eloise Hawking, and I believe it's my son's fault that your son has been shot."
"Your son is Benjamin Linus?"
"Heavens, no! My son is Daniel Faraday..." (Was that supposed to be surprising to us? To Penny?)

Scene change back to Daniel climbing out of the sub.

Miles: "What are you doing back here? Once you left for Ann Arbor, I figured you'd invent the DVD and get rich or something." Ha!

Daniel goes to Jack and demands that Jack tell him how they got there.

Jack: We were on a plane.
Dan: Who told you to get on a plane?
Jack: As a matter of fact, it was your mother.
Dan: How'd she get you to come back? Did she tell you it was your destiny?
Jack: Yeah, that's exactly what she said.
Dan: I've got some bad news for you Jack. You don't belong here at all. She was wrong.

Oh, Dan...it's good to have you back. You and your mysterious knowledge.

[Commercial break]

And now we have a kid playing the piano...Jack? Daniel? Desmond?

Ah, it is Daniel! And his mom is talking to him about destiny.

"Your gift, Daniel, is your mind. A mind that is meant for science, mathematics. And it's my job to keep you on your path. So unfortunately, there's no more time for distractions."

Boy: I can do both; I can make time.
Mom: If only you could.

(Oh, the double meaning!)

Back to 1977, where Jack tells Sawyer that Faraday is back.

Juliet tells Sawyer to tell Jack about Phil...who is tied up in the closet.

Sawyer: "Phil, Jack. Jack, Phil."

Meanwhile, Daniel and Miles are at the Orchid station. And Daniel seems to know exactly what he's doing. Although he's busy flipping through his journal...and suddenly, Pierre Chang is saying the same lines, from the same scene we saw earlier this season (the first episode?). Only this time, we see Daniel approach Pierre and tell him to evacuate "every man, woman, and child" on the island.

Pierre says the electromagnetic energy is contained, but Daniel says it's going to be unleashed elsewhere on the island, including the site for the Swan station where it's 30,000 times as strong (or something like that).

Daniel: "The accident is going to be catastrophic!"
Pierre: "That's absurd. What could possibly qualify you to make that kind of prediction?"
Daniel: "I'm from the future."

(I wonder how many times one of our LOST-ies will say that before someone believes them...)

[Commercial]

We come back to

Pierre: Yes, you're from the future. You heard me talking about time travel, and now you've had your fun.
Daniel tries to get Pierre Chang to look at his equations in his notebook.
Miles comes over and tries to break them up. And then...

Daniel: "Miles is your son."

Pierre to Miles: "Is that true?"
Miles: "No."

Miles: "Are you out of your mind? What are you trying to do?"
Daniel: "I'm just trying to make sure your father does what he's supposed to do."
Miles: "And what's that?"
Daniel: "You'll see."

Scene change...

Daniel with his girl, Theresa, and Mrs. Hawking.

Mrs. Hawking: The women in your life will only be terribly hurt.

Daniel got a 1.5 million dollar research grant from "some industrialist." Mrs. Hawking was very surprised when Daniel said Charles Widmore's name.

Mommy Hawking gives Dan a congratulations gift (I'm guessing a journal?) and she says, "Good luck, Daniel. And I hope you know I mean that."

Aha! It is a journal, with a nice little message from mommy.

Scene Change back to an impromptu house meeting: Sawyer, Juliet, Hurley, Jack, Jin, Kate.

They're talking about what to do. Sawyer says they have 2 options:

1) Commandeer the sub...
2) Go into the jungle and "start from square 1"

They seem to be leaning toward option 2 when there's a knock at the door...and it's Daniel and Miles.

Sawyer to Dan: "Welcome to the meeting, Twitchy."

Sawyer to Miles: "Is he still crazy?"
Miles: "It's on a whole new level."

Daniel: What I have to do is of critical importance. Does anyone know where I can find the "hostiles"?
Juliet: Why do you want to know that, Daniel?
Daniel: Because one of them is my mother, and she's the only one who can get us back to where we're supposed to be (or something like that).

(I guess I get why they think Dan's crazy, but hasn't he been right about, well, almost everything? His people skills aren't great, and he comes across as a little crazy...but I'm surprised they're so inclined to distrust him.)

[Commercial]

Okay, they just showed a preview for Wipeout, and I just thought about how great it would be to see Hurley doing that obstacle course...

Okay, and we're back to Daniel crying (even though he doesn't know why) when the fake Oceanic 815 wreckage was discovered.

And then Widmore shows up to visit him.

Daniel: I'm sorry, sir. Did Caroline tell you that the condition affects my memory?
Charles: Don't be embarrassed. We've never met. My name is Charles Widmore. (How many times have we seen him introduce himself to various people?)

Widmore: "I came to offer you a new opportunity."
Daniel: "It's this plane crash; I don't know why it's bothering me so much. It's so sad. They're dead."
Widmore: Daniel, what if I told you, they're not dead. What if I told you the plane was an elaborate, and expensive, fake.
Daniel: How would you know that?
Widmore: Because I put it there! (Aha!)
Daniel: Why would you tell me that?
Widmore: Because come tomorrow, you won't remember I did.

Widmore tells Dan about the island with "unique properties," and he says the island will heal him, heal his mind and his memory.

Daniel: Why are you doing all this for me?
Widmore: Because you're a man of tremendous gifts and it would be a shame to see them go to waste.
Daniel: You sound like my mother.
Widmore: That's because we're old friends. (Daniel looked confused.)

Scene change back to 1977...

Sawyer: You're telling me your mother is an other?

Hurley: Whoa, you guys were in 1954? You mean, Fonzi times?

Jack wants Kate to help take Daniel to the Others. Sawyer is opposed. Sawyer says to Kate, "Come with us, Freckles."

Juliet's face...registered something. Jealousy? Anger? Shock? What?

Juliet: The code for the fence is 1411417...You should take Daniel; it's over for us here, anyway.

Wow, she totally emasculated Sawyer. And made the decision Sawyer couldn't.

Sawyer: When you realize you made a terrible mistake, meet us at the beach, where we started.

And then Daniel sees Charlotte on the swing set. (What's up with that swing set?)

Daniel to Charlotte: Hopefully, really soon, Dr. Chang is going to ask a lot of people to get on the submarine and get on the island. When he does, you and your mommy are going to have to get on that submarine. If what I came to do doesn't work, you can't be here...I tried to avoid telling you this, I didn't think I could change things. But maybe I can.

Jack and Kate are loading up their guns...and Dan says, "Do you have something for a beginner?"

Radzinsky and friends confront them, with guns.

Daniel: Listen to me, you really do not understand what's happening here. We're just going to leave, okay?

Gunfire erupts.

Dan gets hit. Jack covers Kate and Dan as they run to the Jeep. Jack's a bad dude. (Have we seen him firing a gun before?)

They drive away amid the gunfire...

Radzinsky: "Sound the alarm!"

[Commercial]

We see an older Daniel playing the piano, and Mrs. Hawking comes in. (Has Daniel forgotten how to play?...he stopped so abruptly.)

Mrs. Hawking: I hear you've been offered a job.
Daniel: How do you know that?
Mrs. Hawking: It's my business to know...I came here to tell you it's very important that you say yes to Mr. Widmore, that you accept this job.

Mrs. Hawking: This place he mentioned, this island. Did he tell you that it could make you better?

Daniel: You really want me to go?
Mrs. Hawking: Yes.
Daniel: Will it make you proud of me?
Mrs. Hawking: Yes, Daniel. It will. (this was kind of corny, I'm sorry...)
Daniel: Then I'll do it.

Scene change back to Jack, Kate, and Daniel riding out to the sonic fence... (the windshield either got blown completely out, or this is a continuity error)

Daniel: You've got to understand, Jack, this is our present. We can't be so naive as to think that nothing can happen to us. Any one of us can die, Jack.

Kate turns the fence off.

Kate: You think he knows what he's doing?
Jack: I sure hope so. There's no turning back now.

Scene change back to Sawyer and Juliet.

Sawyer: You can say I told you so.
Juliet: Maybe after we get to the beach?
Sawyer: Hey, you still got my back?
Juliet: You still got mine? (Think she's thinking of Kate?)

The siren sounds.
Hurley: That's not good, right?

Radzinsky: I just got shot by a physicist!
Sawyer: Calm down so we can talk about this...

Radzinsky finds Phil in the closet. Radzinsky makes Sawyer get down on the ground, at gunpoint.

And back in the woods... Jack says, "You need a gun to go talk to your mother?"
and Dan says, "You don't know my mother, Jack."

Dan tells them about the event at the Swan work site, in 4 hours, that's about to set in motion the chain of events leading up to now.

Dan says they can change it.

Dan: I'd been spending so much time focusing on the constant, that I forgot about the variables. You know what those variables are?
Jack: What?
Dan: Us. We think, we reason, we have free will. We can change our destiny.

Dan is going to try to destroy the Swan?

Kate: And how do you plan to destroy all this energy?
Dan: I'm going to detonate a hydrogen bomb.

(Ah, well, I guess that explains why they think he's crazy...and it explains why he's looking for Ellie, since she's the one he told to bury the bomb...but can they really be variables? Can they change things?)

[commercial]

Special shout-out to the anonymous person who just posted! I'm sorry you can't watch it right now, and I'm glad I was able to help out.

And we're back, in the hospital with Penny and Mrs. Hawking.

Eloise: Your son has become a casualty in a struggle that's bigger than us...
Penny: What do you mean? Is he going to be okay?
Eloise: For the first time, I don't know. I honestly don't know what's going to happen. (Or something like that.)

But it looks like Desmond is going to be okay...but what is Hawking up to?

WIdmore approaches her outside the hospital and asks, "Is he going to be alright?"
Eloise, "Yes, he's fine."
Charles: "Good." (Is he saying "good" because it's his son-in-law...or because Desmond is important?)

Eloise: "Your daughter is in there. You could go in and say hi."
Charles: "My daughter is one of the sacrifices I had to make..."
Eloise: "Don't talk to me about sacrifices. I had to send my son back to that island..."
Charles: "He's my son too, Eloise."
Eloise slaps him...and walks away.

So Faraday really is the "love child" (you were right, Todd) of Ellie and Charles.

Back in the jungle, Daniel approaches the Others' camp, gun drawn. A Hostile/Other went for his gun, and Daniel fired into the ground to deter him.

Daniel says, "I only want to speak to Eloise."
Richard Alpert comes out, mug in hand, "She's not here right now..."

Daniel: "Where's the bomb, Richard? I'm going to give you three seconds..."
Daniel gets shot.
Richard: "Why did you do that?"
Eloise: He had a gun on you.
Richard: He wasn't going to shoot, Eloise.

Daniel: You knew. You knew all along. And you sent me here anyway.
Eloise: Who are you?
Daniel: I'm your son.

Is Daniel dying? It doesn't look good...

(Whoa, whoa...so Eloise and Charles are Daniel's parents...AND they sent him back to the island knowing Eloise was going to shoot (and kill?) him! Crazy!)

[End of Episode]

I'll add the summary and the prevailing questions shortly...

Summary:

If this marks the end of Daniel Faraday, it was a great way to go out. Daniel, taking charge and carrying out his plan. And shot by his mother! What a great twist that was. I like Daniel, but if this is his end, I can live with that. This episode went a long way toward wrapping up his story (maybe all the way).

And this episode adds a whole new layer to Mrs. Hawking's story. So she and Widmore were once lovers—Daniel's parents—but then Widmore must have moved on (maybe the off-island child Ben referred to?) because he's Penny's father. But Mrs. Hawking is so committed to making sure things turn out correctly...but why? Why send Daniel back to the island? Why does she care so much?

And what about her telling Penny that, for the first time in a long time, she didn't know what would happen next? What's that all about?

But hey, it's good to see Jack doing something again. Good to see him being good ol' Jack.

Questions:

1) Why did Mrs. Hawking go to visit Desmond (and Penny) in the hospital? She doesn't strike me as the kind of woman who does anything unless it's part of a plan. So what's her goal here? To get Desmond back to the island? And why would she say that it's her son's fault Desmond got shot? Why is it Daniel's fault that Ben shot Desmond?

2) Is this the beginning of the end for Juliet and Sawyer? Or is that just what the writers want us to think? (Or am I the only one who thought we were supposed to think that?

3) How closely are Eloise and Charles working together? Now that we know that they were once lovers, what does that say about Eloise allowing Benjamin Linus to board Ajira 316 with the rest of the group heading back to the island? From Widmore's perspective, that's quite a betrayal, isn't it?

...and that's all the questions I can come up with right now. I'm a little disappointed in myself. But maybe I'll add more later.

Looking forward to next week...

—Thanks for Reading

"I Hear Dead People"

2009-04-15T22:08:00.023-04:00

Obviously this episode's title, "Some Like it Hoth," refers to the planet Hoth, the snow and ice covered world that hosts the opening fight sequence in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

Um, duh!

Okay, maybe I only know that because I consulted wikipedia; I'm not a Star Wars fan. At all. But apparently, I'm a little more Star Wars-savvy than one Miles Straume.

In fact, that might have been the most unrealistic element of this episode—when Miles is reading Hurley's version of The Empire Strikes Back, and he has to ask, "What is this?" You mean to tell me that he didn't even recognize Chewbacca's name? I mean, how could Miles be so completely oblivious? What, was he born on some isolated island in the south pacific, or something?

Well, as a matter of fact...

...but we'll get to that in a bit.

Season 5: Episode 13—“Some Like it Hoth”:

LOST always makes me wish I had a DVR or Tivo. Usually because I'm transcribing as much dialogue as I can and the ability to rewind or pause would make my life considerably easier. But this week, my dilemma was even more significant. I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I missed a couple minutes of the opening sequence. (*hangs head*) Barbie tells me I missed just a little bit of cute-kid Miles, but I did get to the living room in time to see little Miles making his dual discovery: a dead body and his ability to "hear" the dead man talking to him.

Later in life, when Miles' mother is dying, Miles asks her to tell him about his abilities and his father. She says nothing about his abilities, but says Miles' daddy has been dead a long time.

Miles: Where’s his body?
Mother: Somewhere you could never go.

Hmmm, could it be "the island"? Or some place even harder to reach? (If that's possible.)

Confirming the suspicions of many, this episode goes on to reveal that Miles' papa is Pierre Chang. And near the end of the episode, we see him reading a children's book to 3-month-old Miles, but then his phone rang and he had to go pick up the team of scientists from the dock (more on that later). I think this scene was included to show us that Pierre did care about his young'un, but Dharma work kept getting in the way. A workaholic father? Maybe. Or maybe just one who is part of something so vitally important that the best way he can care for his wife and son is by continuing the Dharma mission, including his classified activities in the Orchid Station. As a result of that, maybe Mama Chang (Lara is her name) thinks Pierre didn't care about her and Miles.

Maybe. Or maybe Pierre told her to leave the island for her own safety and the safety of their boy. (Her exact words were: "Your father...kicked us out when you were just a baby." Hmmm, "kicked us out"? I'd think a father who didn't care about his family would just leave. But kicking them out? Interesting word choice. Almost as if he were sending them away...wait for it...for their own good.)

Maybe Pierre couldn't tell his wife the real reason (he does seem to take that "classified" stuff pretty seriously), and maybe she's bitter/resentful, completely unaware that he was protecting her and Miles. Or, maybe she's lying to Miles. Trying to protect him.

After all, remember how Daniel Faraday told a young Charlotte she would die if she ever returned to the island? Maybe Pierre believed the same thing would happen to Miles. So Miles' mama concocted the whole "Your dad never cared about us...he's somewhere you can't go...he never cared...yada yada" story so Miles wouldn't go looking for his dad.

Who knows, Pierre Chang might still be alive somewhere (or alive in some time). Unlike Roger Linus and Horace, we don't see a dead Pierre Chang following the Purge.

But back to pre-island Miles...

As we'd already seen in at least one past episode, Miles uses his special ability and his entrepreneurial instincts (otherwise known, in this case, as "greed") to launch a lucrative ghost-whispering business. Apparently he's taken out an ad that says he can talk to dead people any time or any place or anyhow, way, what, where, when, why, or something like that...(unless they've been cremated, but that detail was probably buried in the fine print.)

After he meets with a new client, Mr. Gray, Naomi approaches him and takes him to a restaurant, but not to the dinner for which Miles was hoping. Instead, she presents him with a dead body and says it will be Miles' "audition."

Miles is prepared to walk out, but then Naomi tosses him a wad of cash. Then, not surprisingly, Miles decides it's game on.

Miles passes Naomi's test by revealing that the dead guy was a man named Felix who was trying to deliver "a bunch of papers, photos, pictures...of empty graves, a purchase order for an old airplane..." to a "guy named Wid...More."

That information helped him pass her test, but I want to know whether or not Naomi already knew that information. I also want to know if he learned anything from Felix that he didn't share. Like, maybe, how the guy died?

Oh, by the way, Naomi also said something to the effect of:

"I’m leading an expedition to an island, and on that island is a man who’s going to be very difficult to find. This island has a number of deceased individuals residing on it, and since this man is responsible for their being deceased…they might have some things to say that will help us find him."

I didn't get that quote down verbatim, but I know Naomi said that there are "deceased individuals residing on that island." Aside from the irony of "dead people residing..." this comment also piqued my interest because it begs this question: How does Naomi know these things? Maybe it's common knowledge that Ben has killed "a number of" people. But if Naomi is working for Widmore (we can assume this, right? After all, she was hired by Matthew Abaddon), I'm wondering if Widmore might have (or might have previously had) an on-island spy. Unless Ben killed people prior to Widmore's departure. Like, for instance, the Dharma Initiative. I just confused myself. Moving on...

Sometime after his rendezvous with Naomi, Miles buys a fish taco...and promptly gets jumped by some guys in a van. The guy who does all the talking introduces himself as Bram. I didn't realize it until after the episode ended, but this is the same Bram we saw working with Ilana on Sidekick (Hydra) Island in the last episode. So this Bram guy eventually gets to the island via Ajira 316. Worth remembering, methinks.

Bram tells Miles they had to do it this way because Miles' place is being watched, and then he tells Miles they're trying to convince him not to work for Widmore. Miles wants money, but Bram drives a hard bargain—offering our ghost-buster zilch. Bram does say, however, that if Miles will come with them, he'll learn why he has that gift and get details about his father. Oh yeah, and then he asks Miles if he knows "what lies in the shadow of the statue." Miles, of course, does not. Which, according to Bram, means he's "not ready to go to the island."

(Timeout: We know Bram and Ilana are working together. And they're both privy to knowledge about what lies in the statue's shadow. But who are they working for? Ben? That's my main thought, but I know others are suggesting a third party. Maybe Mrs. Hawking. Maybe a reconstituted Dharma Initiative. And now, after typing that, I think I'm leaning toward a new DI. Widmore and Ben are rivals warring for the same thing—kids playing King of the Hill. Dharma is the group trying to build laboratories and polar bear cages on that hill. So while Widmore and Ben will be enemies, I'm beginning to think we're seeing a mutual enemy of theirs creeping back into the picture...but we'll see. Want evidence that Bram might have Dharma ties: well, he just told Miles he can reveal how Miles has his special abilities, plus details about his father. His daddy was a Dharma man—a higher-up, too. Maybe Dharma is somehow responsible for Miles' gifts. Seems plausible to me, anyway. Need more evidence to support the idea of a reconstituted Dharma Initiative? If you haven't seen it already, watch the Comic-Con video from last summer. I included it at the end of this post.)

As we know, Miles does go to the island with Widmore's team. And then he ends up in 1977, working for the Dharma Initiative.

In this episode, the first thing we see Miles doing in 1977 is talking to Sawyer LaFleur via walkie-talkie. Sawyer asks him to delete the tapes that show him and Kate ushering baby Ben out of the Dharma compound. Miles complies, but not without a few questions and a bit of attitude. (And as we learn later, Miles might not have done a good enough job of clearing those tapes.)

Miles then lies to Horace to cover for Sawyer's absence, so Horace is forced to bring Miles into his "circle of trust." (Didn't this guy have any confidants prior to the arrival of Sawyer and Miles?) So Miles goes on a mission into Hostile territory—where Dharma is building the Swan. He takes something (which turns out to be a bodybag) and is given something (a dead body for the bag) to take back with him.

In a delightful turn of events, Miles has to carpool with Hurley out to the Orchid Station (which is where Horace had instructed him to take the body). I loved the dialogue on the ride there. First, Hurley is writing in his journal and he asks Miles how to spell "bounty hunter." My first thought was that Hurley had obtained some sort of knowledge of Ilana, which I'm sure is what the writers wanted me to think. But no, Hurley is just writing an improved version of The Empire Strikes Back to save George Lucas the trouble. Ha.

Meanwhile, Roger discovers that Ben is missing. And Juliet does a superb job of lying to him. And then she turns to Kate and, so matter-of-factly, says, "Well...here we go." Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed like Kate was just a little bit disgusted by how easy it was for Juliet to lie to Roger. Or maybe it's because Juliet didn't seem the least bit bothered by Roger's concern for his missing son.

Roger said he went to call security, but we never really saw much of a response to Ben's absence. You'd think the abduction of a dying kid would be the kind of thing that would bring everyone out of their little Dharma house...but I guess not. (If they don't care when one of their kids gets shot and then abducted, well, maybe they deserve to get purged. Yeah, I said it.)

We don't see anyone concerned with Ben's absence until the very end when Phil brings a tape to Sawyer, one that reveals that Sawyer was the one responsible:

Sawyer: I got a perfectly good explanation for what you saw on that tape.
Phil: I sure as hell hope so.
Sawyer: You talk to Horace yet?
Phil: No. I thought that after three years of working together, I'd give you the benefit of the doubt—
[Sawyer shuts the door to his house, then spins and knocks Phil out with one punch. Phil lands on the floor, unconscious.]
Sawyer to Juliet: Get some rope. [Sighs]

So Sawyer and Juliet are both jeopardizing their Dharma lifestyle to cover up their actions. I suppose they had no choice, but I am wondering what's to become of Phil. If he lives, I think he will have learned a valuable lesson: Sawyer really doesn't deserve the "benefit of the doubt."

Kate finds Roger sitting on the swingset drinking Dharma Lite, and she sits down to have a brewski with him. But when she tries to tell him that she's sure Ben will be alright, Roger gets suspicious and accuses her of being involved—or at least guilty of being too interested in his boy. The scene culminates with Kate walking away and Roger yelling after her: "You want to help, Kate? Why don’t you just mind your own business?"

And then, believe it or not, we finally see Jack fixing something! Then again, maybe he was just protecting Kate. Whatever his motive, Jack does his best to convince a concerned Roger that Kate "would never do anything to hurt Ben." Not only that, but Jack also goes to Sawyer's house so he can let the Head of Security know that Roger is suspicious of Kate. And then we got this very civil, respectful exchange:

Jack: I had a talk with Roger. I don't think he's gonna say anything to anyone for now. I just wanted you to know.
Sawyer: Yeah? Well... [sighs] thanks for filling me in, Doc.
Jack: No problem.

Wow, no sarcasm, no tension. That's nearly a first for Sawyer/Jack. It was nice. I think that scene, short as it was, says a lot about the new Jack. What it means for the coming episodes, I don't know. But I liked it.

I'm wondering what prompted Jack to go talk to Roger in the first place. As Roger said, the room wasn't part of Jack's rounds. Maybe Kate let Jack know she blew it, tipped him off? Of course, Kate would know that Jack is always there to help her (unless, of course, she's asking him to save Ben's life again. That's where the "Good Doc" draws the line).

Over at the Orchid station, Miles and Hurley show up bearing their dead guy and sandwiches, and Pierre Chang greets them by saying, "We're ready for him." (ready for the dead body?) This is especially interesting considering Pierre's words just a little while later when they're leaving the Orchid:

Miles: What happened to the body?
Dr. Chang: What body?

Methinks we have some mysterious happenings at the Orchid. Which could also be why Pierre Chang was so quick to threaten Hurley with a job hauling polar bear poo. Interesting that Dr. Chang didn't threaten Miles with any consequences...I guess the inclusion into the "circle of trust" is both complete and instantaneous.

After this scene, we see Hurley playing two new roles. First, he was the not-so-subtle family therapist. It's a tough job, though, considering the distant father doesn't know he is the father and the son is resistant, snarky, and in denial. So what we end up with is Hurley asking ridiculously pointed questions like, "That's your name, too. Right, Miles?" Followed by, "We should all... get together for a beer sometime. How awesome would that be?"

Those lines are so great because Miles is hating every moment of it. But then the family therapy session comes to an abrupt halt when they arrive at the secret worksite for the Swan. Hurley sees them adding those oh-so-familiar serial numbers to the hatch door, and then he brings Miles up to speed on what happened/will happen in that hatch after their plane crash.

And then it's time for Hurley to play new role number 2: specialist in Star Wars-style psychotherapy. I thought it was funny. And I suspect actual Star Wars fans probably enjoyed it even more than I:

Miles: I never knew him. And I don't want to. It's not happening.
Hurley: That was Luke's attitude, too.
Miles: What?
Hurley: In Empire, Luke found out Vader was his father, but instead of putting away his lightsaber and talking about it, he overreacted and got his hand cut off.
Hurley: I mean, they worked it out eventually, but at what cost? Another Death Star was destroyed, Boba Fett got eaten by the Sarlacc, and we got the Ewoks. It all could've been avoided if they'd just, you know, communicated. And let's face it. The Ewoks sucked, dude.

Other odds and ends:

—Miles says his mother lined up behind him in the cafeteria on his third day there. That was his "first clue" that Pierre Chang is his father.

—Pierre Chang refers to the Polar Bears and the Hydra Station, calling those activities "ridiculous experiments." Hmmmm. Not a fan of zoology, Dr. Chang?

—Miles is able to see baby Miles, so they're co-existing on the island at the same time: 3-month-old Miles and roughly 31-year-old Miles.

—The episode concludes with the arrival of scientists from Ann Arbor, which is where the DI headquarters are located. Oh yeah, and Daniel Faraday is part of that team...and he recognizes Miles.

Summary:

I enjoyed learning more about Miles Straume. And I liked seeing Jack doing something admirable; it's been too long. I also enjoyed seeing Sawyer hit Phil. I'm not sure that was admirable, but I enjoyed it. It was also good to get confirmation about Pierre Chang being Miles' father.

But the most intriguing developments were these three:

3) Daniel Faraday is back!

2) Our time-travelers can co-exist in the same place with a younger version of themselves (which destroys the theories that Ben couldn't flash back to 1977 because a younger version of himself was already there...and subsequently destroys the theories that younger versions of Sun, Frank, and Locke might be on the island circa 1977...or maybe it doesn't debunk those theories, since Miles came to the island in 1974, but baby Miles wasn't born for another 2-3 years. So maybe we don't know for sure...but hey, we at least know that Miles' birth didn't make baby Miles or older Miles blink out of existence. Miles, as far as we know, hasn't had even as much as a nosebleed.)

1) Bram, the Ajira 316 passenger, was working for someone (and against Widmore) prior to his island arrival, and he asks Miles that same question: "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Whatever this means, I think it definitely sets the stage for what is to come (war, anyone?).

New Characters (introduced or referenced):

Lara Chang—Miles’ mother and Pierre’s wife.

Trevor—the landlord who rents an apartment to Miles' mother, Lara.

Mr. Vonner—dead guy in the beginning (Miles heard him calling for his wife, Kimberly, even though Kimberly died the year before).

Alvarez—the Dharma worker who had a filling pulled through his brain while daydreaming about a woman named Andrea.

Bram–not new, but suddenly his role is more pronounced. And he had a van full of lackeys in Miles' flashback.

Mr. Gray—man who paid Miles to find out if his son, Russell, knew that he loved him.

Glenn—the Dharma worker who read the serial number that needed to be printed on the hatch.

Felix—dead guy who had been delivering something to Widmore.

Evelyn—Lara Chang’s caretaker.

Scientists from Ann Arbor—they arrive by sub, and Daniel Faraday is one of them. And considering their point of origin (from a city that houses such a vile university), I immediately knew these people could not be trusted.

Character Development (in 10 words or less):

Roger Linus: suspicious of Kate

Jack Shephard: Protecting Kate, respectful to Sawyer—I like

Sawyer and Juliet: Covering their tracks and watching their backs.

Pierre Chang: Miles' daddy.

Radzinsky: Still a jerk—annoying

Naomi: Bringing her team together. Knowledgeable. Professional. Skilled. Scary.

Top 10 Quotes:

10) Miles (to Radzinsky): Horace sent me instead. [pause] I'm in the circle of trust.

9) Pierre Chang: You say a word, Hurley…
Hurley: Polar bear poop, got it!

8) Bram: Do you know what lies in the shadow of the statue?
Miles: No, I can’t say I do.
Bram: Then you’re not ready to go to that island.

7) Bram: You’re playing for the wrong team.
Miles: Oh yeah, what team are you on?
Bram: The one that’s going to win.

6) Hurley: Maybe he’ll let you hold baby you, or you can change your own diaper.

5) Hurley: That's how it works for me.
Miles: Great. I'm happy for you.
Hurley: You're just jealous my powers are better than yours.

4) Horace on phone: Pierre, if it was caused by the electromagnetism, we need to know. (Note: I assume this is a reference to Alvarez, the Dharma worker who had a filling pulled out of his mouth and through his brain, killing him. It also implies that Horace might not be privy to all of Pierre Chang's "classified" info.)

3) Hurley: That guy is a real douche.
Miles: That douche is my dad.

2) Daniel Faraday: Hey, Miles. Long time no see.

1) Hurley: We can carpool. It will help with global warming, which hasn’t happened yet. So maybe we can prevent it.

Questions:

1)How does Naomi know that the island has dead people "residing" on it? Even if Widmore hired her (which it seems he did), how would he know? Is this a reference to the Purged DIs? When I heard this, I assumed "residing" meant walking around, interacting with living people (like Christian Shepherd, Yemi, Ben's mom...), but maybe "residing" just meant their bodies are still on the island. If it's the latter, this question is much less intriguing.

2)So if Miles is the son of Pierre Chang, why is his last name "Straume"? His mom's maiden name? Or did he change it? Maybe it's irrelevant, but given the seemingly endless connections between characters and the significance of names on this show, I always prefer to assume there's an underlying reason. Your thoughts?

3)Daniel Faraday? So many questions...

4)Did Ilana come to the island knowing the question, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Or is her partnership with Bram a new development? Maybe Bram told her to ask people that question so he can tell who's on his side? I'm asking this only because my first reaction was that Bram and Ilana must have been in cahoots prior to the Ajira 316 crash. But it would be just like LOST to mislead us by showing Ilana asking the question first when in fact, chronologically, it's Bram who firsts asks that question. And Ilana could be more of a lackey than "Dead is Dead" may have suggested. I don't know, but I'm going to keep it in mind.

5)Was Miles born on the island? We see him there as a three-month-old, but on a show that has focused so much on the infertility issues on that island, this omission could be quite relevant. In 1977, Ethan was born on the island. Alex was born on the island in 1988. In 2004, Aaron was born on the island. Those are the only on-island births we've seen. I suppose we can assume Miles was born on the island (or taken to the mainland for the operation), but are there any other possibilities here?

6)Pierre Chang: Dead? Living in another time period? Working in Ann Arbor? If dead, was it due to the Purge? Something else?

7)Maybe I'm looking too deeply, but why did they need to add serial numbers to the Hatch? That seems like something that would be added on a production line, not during the installation process. Once you're building it, what's the point of adding serial numbers to a part...unless they're planning to build more than one of these hatches...? Is that a stretch? Trying too hard? Yeah, maybe.

Video from Comic-Con 2008:

According to Lostpedia, this video was filmed in 1978 (Feel free to skip the first 50 seconds or so...and the end):

If the right side is a little cropped off on your screen (as it is on mine) I apologize, but I don't know how to fix it.

What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue?

2009-04-09T00:09:00.016-04:00

It’s amazing that an episode could be so good without any appearances by Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Juliet, Miles, Jin, or Daniel. But it was good. So good.

In fact, my expectations for this week’s episode might have been at an all-time high. The previews were so titillating, first of all, and can a Ben-centric episode possibly be bad? But not only was it Ben-centric, it also focused on a lot of weighty Ben-Locke exchanges.

I certainly wasn’t disappointed. This week answered quite a few questions, and it showed us new regions of the island. And Michael Emerson (Ben) and Terry O’Quinn (Locke) delivered outstanding performances—as they always do.

So let’s recap…

Season 5: Episode 12—“Dead is Dead”:

I’ve decided that Ben might be the best villain ever. Why?

Well, he’s diabolical—capable of conspiring with "I call everybody 'my friend'" Caesar one moment and shotgun-blasting him pointblank moments later (with such an expressionless face, too!)—and yet I just can’t help but like the guy. Most days, I’d say he’s my favorite character on the show. Completely unreliable, untrustworthy, and, well, evil. But likable. And that tension makes his character so perfect.

In this episode, our diabolical conniver is off to summon Smokey so he can "be judged." One problem for Ben, Locke’s coming with him. Even worse, Locke suddenly knows things about the island Ben doesn’t…which is baffling for us (isn’t it?) and disturbing for Benjamin Linus.

But let’s recap this episode in chronological order, which means we have some scenes to review long before Locke makes his first appearance.

Leading off, Widmore was ticked. He confronted Richard about the decision to take Ben to the temple. Widmore says Richard should have let him die, but Richard says, "Jacob chooses who he chooses."

About 6-8 years later (I’m guessing), we saw more of Widmore as the leader of the Others. Including the scene when Ben snatched Alex from Rousseau. Turns out he was supposed to "exterminate" Rousseau, but he didn't. And suddenly we’re seeing a new side of Benjamin Linus:

Our evil villain is...(wait for it)...a sucker for babies!

More accurately, Ben can’t kill the mother of a young child. He knows what it’s like to live his entire life without a mother, and diabolical as he might be, he just can’t do that to little kids (like Alex…and later, Charlie Hume).

So instead of killing Rousseau, he only threatened to kill her—saying he would do it if she tried to follow. Oh, and he added this puzzling tidbit: “If you want your daughter to live, every time you hear whispers, you run the other way.”

I feel like some of the dialogue in Season 5 has been what I’m calling “hole-filler.” (I'm okay with that. I desperately want these hole filled.) And I think this comment is a prime example. We know that Rousseau told Sayid that she’s heard the whispers, but she says she has never seen anyone… so maybe this dialogue is supposed to explain why.

Also worth noting: Ethan accompanied Ben on this mission, and he seemed eager to help. He even offered to do it for him when Ben was hesitating just outside Rousseau’s camp. This confirmed that Ethan (assuming it’s the same one) was an Other at a young age. Though we still don’t know why or how he survived the Purge. Actually, this scene would have happened before the Purge...so Ethan was an Other before the Purge? Wow, we'll come back to that...

When Ben and Ethan showed up in camp carrying baby Alex, Widmore was not pleased (is he ever?). Ben was openly defiant, challenging Widmore in front of the camp. He gave Widmore a chance to kill the baby himself, but Widmore just huffed and puffed as he walked away.

In the next scene (chronologically) we see Papa Ben pushing Alex on the swingset (how endearing) when Richard comes to tell him that the submarine is leaving. Richard says Ben doesn't need to see "him" off, but Ben believes he does (at this moment, has Ben assumed control of the Others? I think so...). The "him" in question just so happens to be a handcuffed Charles Widmore, and I think this scene provides the framework for the entire episode:

Ben: Charles! I came to say good-bye.
Widmore: [Chuckles] No, you didn't. You came to gloat.
Ben: No, don't act as if I wanted this. You brought this on yourself.
Widmore: Are you quite certain you want to do this, Benjamin?
Ben: You left the Island regularly. You had a daughter with an outsider. You broke the rules, Charles.
Widmore: And what makes you think you deserve to take what's mine?
Ben: Because I won't be selfish. Because I'll sacrifice anything to protect this Island.
Widmore: You wouldn't sacrifice Alex.
Ben: You're the one who wanted her dead, Charles, not the Island.
Widmore: I hope you're right, Benjamin, because if you aren't, and it is the Island that wants her dead, she'll be dead. And one day, you'll be standing where I'm standing now. You'll be the one being banished, and then you'll finally realize that you cannot fight the inevitable. I'll be seeing you, boy.

So, chronologically, the next scene involves Ben and Widmore again, with Ben standing on a different dock. In this scene, Ben calls Widmore to tell him he's about to kill his daughter...

And he tries. Well, kinda. Summarizing:

Desmond (in strong Scottish accent): What are you doing here?
Ben shoots Desmond's bag of groceries...and Desmond falls? (I didn't see any blood on Des)
Ben to Penny: I don't like your daddy, so I'm going to kill you.
Penny: But I don't even like him?
Ben: He's a terrible man!
Penny: I'm not arguing with you. Just don't hurt my baby?
Ben: Baby?
Charlie Hume: Mommy!
Ben (gulps)
Penny cries.
Desmond tackles Ben and beats him good and bloody before tossing him into the water like a hunk of chum.
(And scene!)

And with that, we're caught up to the moment when Ben wakes up and finds a resurrected John Locke welcoming him back to "the land of the living."

Ben claims he knew Locke would be alive (Locke doubts this), and Ben says he's off to the main island "to be judged." Locke seems to like the sound of that. And so he's coming too.

Before they leave, there's the scene where Ben kills Caesar (my favorite scene this week). And there was that interesting exchange between Ben and the people moving a crate. I thought it was suspicious from the beginning (its inclusion was suspicious, anyway), and by the time the episode was over, I think that was confirmed.

BEN: What's in the crate?
Guy: Just some stuff we need to get moved.
BEN: Need a hand?
Guy: Oh, thanks. We got it.
BEN: Okay. Have a great day.

Okay, "have a great day"? Hmmm, do we think Ben knew what was in that crate?

Anyway, Locke and Ben paddle over to Ben's "home, sweet home" and they find Frank and Sun in Ben's old house (which is quite disheveled, for some reason...?) Frank and Sun say they met a "crazy old man" named Christian, and he told them to wait for John Locke:

Frank: But considering he's dead, we ain't holding our breath...
Ben: Well, you might want to look outside.
They look outside, and sure enough, there's Locke standing there nonchalantly, hands in pockets. Then he offers them a smile and a little wave. Ha. Priceless.)

So Ben learns (or did he already know?) about their friends showing up in Dharmaville circa 1977. Frank decides to head back to Sidekick island. Sun stays with Locke and Ben.

And then Ben goes to summon Smokey. He says this can only be done from his house. And when he goes into his secret passageway, this time we get to see more of it. He descends underground, sticks his hand in a puddle, turns something, the water drains, and then he leans down and says, "I'll be outside."

When Ben goes outside, Sun is sitting on the porch and Locke is gone. Apparently he told Sun he had "something to do," but she didn't ask what. (This seems to really bother Ben.) While they're waiting for Smokey's arrival, Ben tells Sun he had no idea John would be resurrected by the island. (Do we believe Ben now?) And he says, "the fact that John Locke is walking around...scares the living hell out of me." (I believe this.)

And then this great moment:

Ben: You may want to go inside.
Sun: Why?
Ben: Because what's about to come out of that jungle is something I can't control.
[Footsteps approach]
Locke: Any luck?
Ben: It hasn't shown up yet.
Locke: Last time we didn't have to wait this long.
Ben: It's not a train, John. It doesn't run on a schedule.
Locke: Well, if it's not gonna come to us, then... I suppose we'll have to go to it.
Ben: I only know how to summon it. I don’t know where it is.
Locke: I do.

(I have more to say about this in this week's Questions)

So Ben is stuck following Locke through the jungle (and Ben admits he hates it). Locke takes him to the Temple's outer wall, but Locke tells him that they aren't going to the Temple...they're going underneath it. Sun, understandably, stays outside.

Meanwhile, Frank made it back to sidekick island only to be greeted by a guy running over to him shouting something about "Ilana and three of the others" finding guns and saying "they're in charge now."

Then Ilana confronts Frank—does the obligatory gun cock—and asks him, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?"

Frank is understandably confused. And when his "I don't know what you're talking about—" is deemed unsatisfactory by Ilana, she knocks him out with her rifle butt. The scene ends with Ilana adding this: "Get everyone else. Tell them it's time. And tie him up. He's coming with us."

Poor Frank.

Underneath the Temple, Ben falls through the floor of the tunnel and lands in a larger opening below. Locke leaves to find something to get Ben out, and Ben wanders around looking at the hieroglyphs adorning every column (I saw Anubis...anyone else?).

Then the smoke monster rises from holes in the floor and envelops Ben. Like Mr. Eko did (only much more pronounced this time, and with sound we can here), Ben sees scenes from his past—all relating to his relationship with Alex.

(I admit, I got goosebumps as I watched this. Especially when Keamy killed Alex and Ben had to lower his head, unable to look anymore.)

And then, a moment when LOST did the impossible (again): transforming Ben into a sympathetic character...

Alex appears and calls Ben "Daddy." Ben is so genuinely moved, and "so, so sorry." And suddenly, Alex isn't his sweet, little girl anymore.

She slams him into the wall, calls him a bastard, and says, "I know that you're already planning to kill John again, and I want you to know that if you so much as touch him, I will hunt you down and destroy you. You will listen to every word John Locke says, and you will follow his every order. Do you understand?"

She makes him swear, and he does, that he will follow John Locke. (What choice does he have, really?)

And then the episode ends with Ben wandering back to the opening where John Locke has a rope (where'd that come from?). And Ben, seeming dazed (nearly traumatized) but not necessarily relieved, tells John, "It let me live."

And in that moment, I wondered if Ben might have been at least a little disappointed. Maybe.

Now, instead of just questions, this episode answered at least two pressing questions:

Answers:

Q: Does Ben remember Sayid shooting him?
A: No. After being taken to the temple, Ben asked Widmore “What happened?” And Charles tell him, “You were injured…”

Q: How/Why did Charles Widmore leave the island?
A: He was exiled. According to Ben, Charles “left the island regularly” and “had a daughter with an outsider.” And apparently, also in Ben’s words, Widmore “broke the rules.”
(Note: I think there’s more to this still. Based on Widmore’s comments to Locke earlier this season about Ben tricking him, I suspect Ben played a role in his exile.)

Character Developments:

Widmore suddenly got a lot more evil (and, unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have any of Ben’s manipulative charm). First Widmore thought Richard should have killed Ben. Next he wanted Rousseau and Alex murdered. What a ruthless baby-killer. Maybe we can actually believe Ben when he says Widmore is a terrible man. (Although I’m wondering if maybe, just maybe, Widmore might be a coward. Ben gave him a chance to kill baby Alex, and he didn’t do it. If he really thought that’s what needed to be done, he should have done it. And he would have done it if that's what needed to be done...unless he's a coward. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t call someone who can’t kill a baby a “coward.” Maybe that just means, regardless of how evil and ruthless he is, he might still have an ounce of humanity in him.)

Locke is seeping with smugness. He's Mr. I-Know-More-Than-You-Do to Ben's seething Mr. I-Wish-You-Had-Stayed-Dead. I don't love the smug Locke, but I admit, if I'd just been killed by a guy who held all the island secrets I desperately wanted, and I found myself resurrected with a new innate knowledge about island stuff—more knowledge, in fact, than the island guru who killed me, and my killer had to follow me to places on the island that he knew nothing about...I suppose, if there's ever a time and place for smugness, that would be it.

This episode somehow showed us a Ben who was just as (if not more) evil, and yet also made him a more sympathetic character. Amazing.

Notable Quotes:

1) Widmore: What have you done, Richard?
Richard: He was a boy, he was dying…
Widmore: Then you should have let him die…
Richard: Jacob wanted it done. The island chooses who the island chooses…you know that.

2) Ben: Where am I?
Widmore: You’re among friends…
Ben: I don’t want to go back. I want to stay. I want to be one of you.
Widmore: Just because you’re living with them, doesn’t mean you can’t be one of us.

(Note: Wonder if any other Hostiles are living undercover with the DI.)

3) Widmore: Every decision I’ve made has been about protecting this island.
Ben: Is that what Jacob wants? …Then here she is (holds out baby), you do it.

4) Rousseau: You’re the one who infected us, aren’t you? (Hmmm...)

5)Locke: I assure you, Sun, I’m the same man I’ve always been. (I'm not sure I believe him)

6) *My favorite scene/exchange this week:
Caesar: I'm sorry, but I'm calling the shots here, and I say you are not taking anything. What you are going to do is to sit down and tell us how you know so much about this Island, my friend.
Locke: You're in the habit of calling people "friend", but I don't think you mean it.
Caesar: Step away from the boat.
Locke: No. I'm not gonna step away from the boat. I'm gonna take it, and you're gonna let me, my friend.
Caesar: You're not taking anything.
[Caesar reaches into his bag for the sawed-off shotgun, but Ben points it at Caesar.]
Ben: You looking for this?
BOOM! (Caesar flies backward, and the other guys take a slight step back...)
Ben: This gentleman and I are taking a boat. Does anyone else have a problem with that?
Ben (tosses the shotgun to Locke): Consider that my apology.

7) Locke: If all I had to do was die, Ben, they why did you stop me?
Ben: You had critical information that would've died with you. And once you'd given it to me... well, I just didn't have time to talk you back into hanging yourself. So I took a shortcut. (Ha)

8)Caesar: When you were out cold, he was watching over you. And he said you killed him.
Ben: I killed him? Really? 'Cause he looks fine to me. [Chuckles] You know, I don't really remember him from the plane. Do you?
Caesar: No, I don't.
Ben: What if... he was already here, before we crashed? If he thinks I killed him, then he's insane. We may be dealing with a man who's dangerously deranged. Then the question is, what are we gonna do about it?
Caesar: Don't worry, my friend. (shows the sawed off shotgun) I have your back.

9) Locke: Was she [Sun] the one who hurt your arm? I noticed you were favoring it on the way over.
Ben: No, someone else hurt my arm.
Locke: You just make friends everywhere.

10)Ben: The man was unarmed because I'd stolen his gun—the gun he was going to use to kill you. I couldn't let that happen.
Locke: No sense in me dying twice, right?
Ben: You're welcome.

11)Lapidus: As long as the dead guy says there's a reason, well, then I guess everything's gonna be just peachy.

12) Locke: If you go with him, you’ll never see your husband again. I’m all the help you need…
Sun: Are you saying you know how to find Jin?
Locke: I have some ideas. (smug, smug, smug)

13)Ben: It's the wall around our Temple.
Sun: What Temple?
Ben: About a half mile from here. We built this wall to keep people like the two of you from ever seeing it.
Locke: We're not going into your Temple, Ben. We're going under it.
(Note the adjectives: for Ben it's "our" and for Locke it's "your" temple. And when Ben says "we" built it...I wonder who the "we" is. Looks a little too old for Ben, doesn't it?)

14)Widmore: Your orders were to exterminate that woman.
Ben: Why, she’s no threat to us? She’s insane. Besides, you didn’t tell me she had a child. What was I supposed to do?
Widmore: Kill it.
Ben: It’s not an “it,” it’s a child.

15) Widmore: Every decision I’ve made has been about protecting this island.
Ben: Is that what Jacob wants? Then here she is (holds out baby), you do it.

16) Locke: I never pictured you leading your people from behind a desk. Just seems a little…corporate.

17) Locke: I was thinking you and I could talk about the elephant in the room.
Ben: I assume you’re referring to the fact that I killed you.

18)
Widmore: How did you get this number?
Ben: Doesn't matter. What matters is I'm going back to the Island today.
Widmore: The Island won't let you come back, trust me. I've spent almost 20 years trying to return.
Ben: Well, Charles, where you failed, I'm going to succeed...

19)Locke: Whose idea was it to move into these houses? It just doesn’t seem like something the island would want.
Ben: You don’t have the first idea about what the island wants.

20) Ben: Hello, Penelope. My name is Benjamin Linus. I'm sorry that you're caught up in the middle of this thing, but your father—
Penny: My father and I have absolutely no relationship whatsoever, so whatever—
Ben: Your father is a really terrible human being. He's responsible for the killing of my daughter. That's why I'm here.

21)*Ben: Sun, I need you to do me a favor. If you ever get off this island, find Desmond Hume for me and tell him I was sorry.
Sun: Sorry for what?
Ben: He’ll know.

*Three things about this quote:
1) he addressed Sun, not Locke, probably because he knows Locke would never leave the island and Sun might. (?)
2) Ben said, “tell him I was sorry.” He would have said “am” unless he believes he’ll be dead before Sun has a chance to tell Desmond.
3) Ben didn’t apologize for killing Locke…but he wanted to apologize for planning to kill Penny? That's interesting.

Questions:

1) Ben mentioned the whispers to Rousseau, telling her to run the other way if she hears them? Why? Do they proceed the arrival of the Others? Or, I'm wondering, are the whispers people from another realm/dimension/time, and he fears what she might learn from them? So even though he let her live, he couldn't let her learn secrets of the island, too?

2) How in the world did Ethan become an Other before the Purge? We know his daddy, Horace, died in Dharmatown during the Purge. So Horace remained with the DI. But did Amy abandon ship? Was Ethan kidnapped?

3) Ilana and her three friends seem to be gearing up for "the war." But for which side? They seem to have brought a case full of guns...so they knew what they were getting into. My first guess: Widmore. But I wouldn't put it past Ben. After all, he made a point to note the crate they were moving. And then he took a drink of Ajira water and watched, almost as if he were supervising. And as Ben says, he always has a plan...

4) Why didn't the Smoke Monster come when Ben summoned it? Or did it...

5) Is it possible that Locke might still be dead...but reanimated by the Smoke Monster? I know that sounds far out, but there were subtle hints:
i. When Ben summoned Smokey, Locke came out of the jungle.
ii. Locke made a point to tell Sun he's the same man he always was...
iii. Locke suddenly knows a lot more about the island, and he was conveniently absent when Smokey was playing the role of Alex. (Can Smokey only animate one body at a time?)
iv. We have also seen the Smoke Monster do this with other people. When Yemi appeared to Eko, it's believed that it was the Smoke Monster speaking through him. (Maybe this is what's happening with Christian Shephard too?)
v. Remember the title, "Dead is Dead." Ben says the island has done a lot of things, but he hasn't seen it bring people back from the dead. So is John the exception (as I think we were led to believe) or is he dead?

6) When Lapidus refers to the man named Christian, did anyone else think Ben seemed to recognize that name? Or was I just hoping he would recognize the name? Maybe it was just a look of curiosity?

7) Ben claims he didn't know about that some of the 815 survivors joined the Dharma Initiative in the 70's...but do we believe this?

8) What does lie in the shadow of the statue? Is there a real answer? Is this a code so those "in on the mission" can identify one another? Can anyone think of a plausible (or creative) answer?

The Past is the Past is the Past (except with those for whom it's the present...but it's still the past, too)

2009-04-01T22:16:00.016-04:00

I feel like this entire episode—from the title to Miles' time travel lessons for Hurley—was an emphatic message from the LOST creative team. And this is how I interpreted that message:

"We've been telling you for two seasons now that the universe (or fate, or the island) won't allow anyone to change the past, and this is the last time we're going to tell you. It's time to accept that the past can't be changed. So quit thinking that this fact somehow ruins something and start enjoying what actually happens in this immutable past, an immutable past which is still new to you, by the way. Just because it's already happened doesn't mean there's a lack of suspense or drama. Sure, Ben can't die. Horace and Radzinsky can't die (yet) and neither can Richard Alpert and a few others. (Neither could any of our characters during their flashbacks in previous seasons, but you still seemed to enjoy those without questioning everything.) And as Miles pointed out, the rest of them can die because they're living out their present. And that present, just so you know, is a pretty sweet story, if we do say so ourselves. I mean, c'mon, we just showed you a glimpse of how Ben became an Other/Hostile, we hinted at the Hostile hierarchy with the reference to Ellie and Charles, and Richard, I mean, you've got to be at least a little bit intrigued by Richard hauling Ben's dying body into the temple, right? You want to know what's going on there, don't you? Of course you do! And the ending...with Ben waking up to see Locke (alive!) and staring at him...what a teaser that was, right? We just know you're itching to see more of that! But if you're still asking, 'But what if they can change things?' this ship is gonna sail without you. And after this episode, you can't say we didn't try our darndest to bring you on board. But seriously, we have a story to tell. And we've spent enough time laying the groundwork for you. Accept it and climb on board, or just sit on that dock and shut up. Who knows, maybe you can get on the sub that's returning in a month. But we're not going to lose sleep over it."

Okay, so that was an angsty paraphrase of what I think the writers were saying. But yeah, I do think this episode was intended to cement the idea that "whatever happened, happened." That doesn't mean they won't break that rule later—somehow. But I'm pretty sure it means we're supposed to accept it until they suggest otherwise.

And I'm down with that. After all, this episode gave us plenty of other elements to consider. So let's recap.

Season 5—Episode 11: “Whatever Happened, Happened"

First of all, let me say that I was thrilled to see a snarky Miles snagging a bit of the spotlight. I've been waiting all season for more of his smart mouth, and having him fill in as the resident physics professor (in lieu of the still absent Dr. Faraday) while Hurley barraged him with questions...absolutely perfect!

I hope Miles and Hurley become the Sawyer and Hurley of last season—playing horseshoes and RISK—and making me laugh. A lot. (And the duo was playing dominoes, and Miles did call Hurley "Tubby.")

Miles wasn't the only character who emerged in "Whatever Happened, Happened." We also saw more of Cassidy (Kate's friend/fellow con-woman and Sawyer's baby's momma). But sadly, I didn't buy her role. Not completely. It was like the writers were trying to use her to help us understand all of Kate's decisions. But her telling Kate what Kate needed, and her telling Kate how Kate felt when Sawyer did this or that...bah! Phooey! If I never see her again, I won't be upset. But I guess she filled in some holes. So that was good.

More importantly, we learned more about Ben's history with the Hostiles. In fact, let's talk about that right now. Kate and Sawyer took dying boy Ben to the Hostiles because Juliet thought they could save him (Hmmm, did her belief have anything to do with Ben curing her sister's cancer?). This mission resulted in Ben being carried off by Richard Alpert. But before this, we witnessed the most intriguing (no, intriguing isn't sufficient; let's try "spell-binding." Too much? Okay, we'll stick with intriguing...) exchange of the night, if not of the whole season:

Richard: Is that Benjamin Linus?
Sawyer: You two know each other?
Richard to Kate: And who might you be?
Sawyer: She’s with me.
Richard: Why are you here?
Kate: Because we need you to save his life. Can you?
Richard: If I take him, he’ll never be the same again.
Kate: What does that mean?
Richard: It means he’ll forget this ever happened, and his innocence will be gone. [Pause] It means he will always be one of us.
Richard: Do you still want us to take him?
Kate: Yes.

Wow! So Richard saved Ben's life? But whatever he did, and wherever he took him...Ben will never remember it? But his innocence will be gone? He'll always be one of them? Fascinating.

Only slightly less fascinating to me was what this scene revealed about Richard's character. It sure is hard to see him as diabolical when he's telling them clearly: "If you really want this, these will be the consequences. But it's up to you."

He sure wasn't trying to deceive them. Once again, I'm wondering if Richard isn't a decent guy...but I'm still prepared to have that notion shattered in the near or distant future.

Oh, and then there was the conversation immediately after that, when one of the Hostiles (Erik) tried to discourage Richard:

Erik: You shouldn’t do this without checking with Ellie…If Charles finds out…
Richard: I don’t answer to either of them…

That's great stuff! Ellie is obviously the Ellie we saw earlier this year (and most likely, Eloise Hawking) and "Charles" is Mr. Widmore. So if the two of them are mentioned together like that, could it be that they're romantically involved (about to give birth to their "love child," right Todd?). Or maybe they're just co-leaders? Either way, Richard says plainly that he doesn't answer to them. (And did you detect a tone of contempt when he said it? I think it was definitely there. But why? Because Charles or Ellie act like he answers to them? Or because this Hostile Guy made the mistake of thinking Richard answers to them?)

Now, I have to at least mention Kate's backstory. Although I admit I sort of want to skip over it because it wasn't nearly as interesting as I expected. So let's see how I can sum this up quickly:

She and Cassidy are friends. Grocery store. Milk. No. Juice boxes. Aisle 5. Thank you. Aaron gone. Kate runs. Desperate. Aaron found. Scene only included to make Kate doubt her mothering skills, or trick us into thinking Aaron was kidnapped...either way, in retrospect, it's a weak scene. Then, leaves Aaron with Grandma Littleton. Says it will be until she returns. Told him "Bye, my baby." Cried. Claimed to be coming back to find Claire. I don't believe her. Not sure she plans to come back either.

There, that wasn't so bad. Now, let's do Jack the same way:

He refused to save Ben, which was baffling and awesome. He's just chilling out, accepting "whatever happened, happened." But he's still a leader and a man with integrity—one who will always have his friend's back. We caught a glimpse of that when he overheard Horace talking about Sayid setting the van on fire to escape. Jack was quick to speak up and question Horace, asking "How was he supposed to do that when he was locked up?" So our Jack is still there, he's just trying to figure out why the island wanted him to come back...oh yeah, and he does seem to buy into the idea that the island wants things now. He's just not sure yet what the island wants with him.

More interesting than Kate's flashbacks: Her determination to save Ben. Juliet was also trying, but Juliet has a history of trying to save the lives of children. But Kate...why? Because she was thinking of Aaron? According to Cassidy, Kate needed Aaron to help her deal with the loss of Sawyer. So who will she need to help her deal with the loss of Aaron? Doesn't seem to be Jack...or Sawyer...or Sayid...or Hurley...but she and Roger Linus were getting along quite well. Now, I'm not suggesting anything romantic there, but you know, Kate does have a history with a lot of guys. In the flashbacks we've seen, she's kissed Tom (he was married), Jason (she was robbing a bank with him, and she shot him moments later), and Kevin (the man she married and then left 6 months later) Not to mention Jack and Sawyer (and a little bit of flirting with Sayid in Season 1)...so, I'm just saying. Kate might be likable and all, but she uses men. Yeah, I said it. Oh yeah, and we've seen her kiss Aaron too. So chalk up another one for her.

Well, this recap is deviating, and after writing and thinking about Ben and Richard hiking to the Temple, I'm a little bored with the rest of the details. But there's a million notable quotes. So they pretty much tell the rest of the story anyway. So, this recap is officially complete. And that means it can't be changed. Ever. By anyone. What I wrote, I wrote. We might not like what I wrote; we might think it's terrible, anti-climactic, or just plain boring. But hey, you know, whatever happened...

P.S. I'm just really glad LOST chose "Whatever happened, happened" instead of "It is what it is," because I hate that phrase. There, I just had to get that off my chest.

New Character Developments:

—Jack won’t help Ben, but Kate does.

—Jack refers to what “the island wants,” which I think is probably the first time he’s verbally acknowledged that the island might have an agenda of its own (and the ability to act on it)

—Jack’s conversion to “believer” is complete—apparently

—Roger and Kate bond a little bit. Interesting.

—Last episode we saw a child-beating Roger, and this episode he was a concerned and self-loathing father who blamed his son's difficulties on his own failures—and I'm willing to buy it so far (for the most part) but this guy needs to become a little more consistent, methinks.

—Miles fills in as the new Physicist Faraday—explaining time travel realities to Hurley.

—Cassidy and Kate establish a friendship. Cassidy is like a sage, imparting wisdom about who Kate is and what she needs and blah blah...I found this a little unbelievable. Only slightly more unbelievable than:

—Kate can't always keep a secret. She shared the truth about the other survivors with not one but two people: Cassidy and Mrs. Littleton.

—Sawyer and Juliet seem really committed to one another—even if Sawyer went traipsing through the woods with Kate while Juliet barged in on Jack in the shower.

Summary:

So is Ben not evil? Or if he is evil, does this mean it’s not his fault? Richard and the Temple stripped him of his innocence, made him forever “one of them.” But no, it wasn’t Richard and the Temple, was it? It was Sawyer. And even more than him, it was Kate who spoke up.

So they made Ben into the man he becomes. Interesting…

And I think we got a hint of that when we heard Ben tell Kate to tell his dad that he’s sorry he took his dad’s keys. Future Ben, stripped of innocence, never seemed to show remorse. So maybe it’s whatever happened (, happened) to him in the Temple that prompted him to participate in the Purge, not his hatred for his father. I think we still have a lot to learn about what it means to "always be one of them."

Notable Quotes:

1) Roger: That’s my kid. That’s my KID!

2) Horace: We’re pretty sure he used this fire as a diversion to escape…
Jack: He was locked up. How could he start the fire?
Horace: Um, who are you?

3) Kate: He jumped out of the helicopter…
Cassidy: What a coward.
Kate: He was trying to do the right thing.
Cassidy: No, he was trying to get away from you.

4) Jack: You’re telling us we’re all under house arrest?
Miles: No, you’re all free to leave whenever you want. I’ll just shoot you in the leg.
(Note: This made me laugh really hard. Probably harder than appropriate, actually.)

5) Jack: Whose idea was that?
Miles: Who do you think?
Kate: He’s just doing his job, Jack. (Note: Kate defending Sawyer.)

6) Hurley cites Back to the Future as he holds his hand up to see if it starts disappearing.
Miles: You’re an idiot.
Hurley: Am I?
Miles: It doesn’t work like that. You can’t change anything…things are happening as they always happened…we just haven’t experienced that yet.
Hurley: Uh, that’s really confusing.

7) Sawyer: If you don’t come with me, then that kid’s going to die.
Jack: Then he dies.

8) Kate: What are you doing?
Jack: Making some sandwiches…
Kate: He’s just a boy, Jack. You can’t let him die.
Jack: You heard Miles…he’ll be fine.

9) Jack: I’ve already saved Benjamin Linus once, and I did it for you, Kate. I don’t need to do it again.

10) Jack: When we were here before, I spent all my time trying to fix things. But did you ever think that maybe the island wants to fix things by itself? And maybe I was just getting in the way.
Kate: You know, I don’t like the new you. I liked the old you who wouldn’t just sit around and wait for things to happen.
Jack: You didn’t like the old me, Kate. (This was a great line.)

12) Juliet: I needed you.
Jack: Excuse me?
Juliet: That kid was bleeding out, and you’re a surgeon. I needed you.
Jack: That kid’s Ben.
Juliet: Not yet. (Note: At first, did anyone else think that her "I needed you" referred to Jack leaving her on the island? I did...)

13) Jack: I came back here because I was trying to save you guys.
Juliet: We didn’t need saving…you came back here for you…at least do me the courtesy of telling me why.
Jack: I came back because I was supposed to.
Juliet: Supposed to do what?
Jack: I don’t know yet.
Juliet: You better figure it out.

14) Kate: She had an interesting theory about why you jumped off the chopper…she said you were worried about what would happen if you didn’t.
Sawyer: You and me wouldn’t have ever worked out, Kate. I wasn’t any more fit to be your boyfriend than I was to be that kid’s father. (Note: Is this an admission that Kate is right?)

15) Erik: You’re in violation of the truce. You’re over the line.
Sawyer: We know. This kid’s been shot, and that’s both our problem. So if you want to avoid a war, you’re going to take us to Richard Alpert. And you’re going to do it now.

16) Kate: He’s your grandson. And your daughter, Claire, is alive.

17)Kate: I know you got to stop me, but I can’t just let that kid die.
Sawyer: Damn it, Freckles, I’m not here to stop you. I’m here to help you.

18) Sawyer, quoting Juliet: She said no matter what he’s going to grow up to be, it’s wrong to let a kid die. That’s why I’m doing this. I’m doing it for her.

19) Juliet: James told me that Jack wouldn’t help, but he didn’t tell me why.
Kate: If I understood why Jack does the stuff he does, I wouldn’t be sitting here. (Note: huh?)

20) Roger: You got kids?
Kate [pauses]: No.

21) Roger talking about Ben’s mother: I tried to do what I thought she’d want me to do… (Note: Hmmm, like...come to the island?)…but I guess the boy just needs his mother.

22) Hurley: Let me get this straight…all this already happened?
Miles: Yes.
Hurley: This conversation we’re having right now, already happened?
Miles: Yeah.
Hurley: Then what am I going to say next?

23) Hurley: If all this already happened to me, then why don’t I remember any of it?
Miles: Once Ben turned that wheel, time isn’t a straight line for us anymore.

24) Miles: We can die. We all can.
Hurley: But you said Ben can’t die.
Miles: Ben can’t die, because this is his past. But this is our present!
Hurley: Well, then how ‘bout this. When we first came to the island, when we captured Ben and Sayid tortured him, why wouldn’t he remember getting shot by that same guy when he was a kid?
Miles [pause]: Huh, I haven’t thought of that.
Hurley [looks all proud]: Huh.

25) Kate: He can’t die, right?
Juliet: He is going to die. He’s in a medical situation that’s not resolvable.
Juliet…Maybe there’s something they can do.
Kate: They?
Juliet: The others.

26) Mrs. Littleton: Where are you going?
Kate: I’m going back to find your daughter.

27) Locke: Hello, Ben. Welcome back to the land of the living.

Questions:

1) The ongoing question: Where is Desmond? Penny? Little Charlie Hume?

2) The newer ongoing question: Where is Daniel Faraday?

3) The newest question I expect to be an ongoing one: Where is Sayid?

4) Juliet mentioned that the doctor was over in The Looking Glass until Friday…why would the doctor be in the underwater station (where Charlie died)? What does a doctor do down there? And is there any chance we might know this doctor?

5) This question doesn’t really necessitate a response, but did you notice when Kate was singing “Catch a Falling Star” to Aaron? I thought that was a special moment because I remembered this sequence from “Raised by Another,” when Claire was about to give Aaron up for adoption:

LAWYER: Now, I'll need you to sign and date here, where indicated.
[Shot of Claire starting to sign.]
CLAIRE: Do you know "Catch a Falling Star"? It's a song, like a lullaby.
EILEEN: "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket."
CLAIRE: My dad used to sing that to me when I was little. Do you think you could sing it to the baby once in a while?
EILEEN: Of course.

So I guess the question is, did you catch that? Or, um, did you think it was special?

Okay, next question:

6) Any thoughts on the Temple? If that is, in fact, where Richard was taking him…

7) Did Kate really come back to find Claire? Or did she just say this because she was talking to Claire's mum?

8) Does Kate really think Claire's alive? (If not, it was pretty cold to tell Mrs. Littleton that Claire is still alive.) If she thinks this...why? Why would a living Claire abandon Aaron? How does that make any sense in Kate's head? Unless she knows something we don't...unless someone we didn't see approached her and said Claire is still living...Ben, maybe?

9)How does Miles know so much about time travel? Any chance Daniel, wherever he went, let him peek at that notebook of his?

10) Whatever Richard did to save Ben's life (and make him irrevocably "one of them")...any chance something similar happened to Christian? Maybe even Claire?

11) Did anyone else want to see them test the "Whatever Happened" theory by doing nothing for little, dying Ben? If they truly believe that they needn't do anything because they can't change the past, then why try?

12) Was anyone else confused by Miles begging Hurley to shoot him? If the point he was making was that they could all die because this is their present in a past time period, then getting shot could have killed him...and I think Miles' self-preservation would be more important to him than proving his point. Don't you? Did I miss something there?

13) When Hurley asks Miles why Ben (when he was Henry Gale) didn't recognize Sayid as the man who shot him 30 years ago, Miles says, "I don't know...I hadn't thought about that." My initial reaction was, "I bet Ben did remember..." But now I'm not so sure. Because, after all, Richard says that if he took the kid, Ben would "forget this ever happened." So what does that mean? Forget what saved him? Forget who carried him there? Forget who shot him? Do you think Ben recognized Sayid after the Oceanic 815 crash? Or do you think he lost that portion of his memory?

—Thanks for reading

Happy April Fools' Day to me...

2009-04-01T16:12:00.004-04:00

Ah, April Fool's Day...

Even when I'm the victim, I can still appreciate a well-executed prank (sometimes). But that doesn't mean I won't get even (always).

Today my co-workers decided to sell my car on craigslist—using the pictures they took of it sitting in the parking lot. And in the 40 minutes after they posted it, I got four calls.

Here's what their post looked like:

And this is what it says...

My name is Charlie Tyler, and I just found out that my job is transferring me to London, so I need to sell my car by mid-April. It's a Mitsubishi Eclipse with only 25,000 miles on it, and I hate to give it up, but I can't legally drive it in the UK.

It's a manual transmission, 2-door coupe, bright blue, with tinted windows and a CD player. Exterior is in great condition. Interior is in great condition too, with some small scuff marks on some of the door handles. Also, it's got a few decals on it--I love Smurfs and Clay Aiken, so I've got some stickers and magnets of both. If you want them, they're yours to keep, or I can take them off for you (and I'll use goo-gone, so the stickers won't be a problem). I've also gotten a leopard-print seat cover and matching steering wheel cover (not pictured)--I can throw those in too for an extra $20 if you're interested.

Anyway, price is $3500 OBO. See pictures for details. Call me at 513-255-2159 for more information and so we can talk more about it. Call today!

And now I just got my fifth call...

And one of my co-workers even went so far as to set up an email account as Charlie Tyler so they could send me a taunting email.

Well done, my fellow co-workers...but I hope you're prepared to sleep with one eye open.

On my list:
Sarah
Ryan
Mary
Rachel J
Cory

Maybes:
Tim
Drew

I'll be patient, but I won't forget.

Natural Born Killer

2009-03-25T22:24:00.009-04:00

Well let's just blow off the first 55 minutes of this episode (counting commercials), and get right to the ending.

Sayid. Killed. Ben.

What? How's this possible? What's this mean for our islanders? All of their lives have just been changed...no purge, no exiled Widmore, maybe no crash of Flight 815...which means no Losties, no Oceanic 6...which means, everything we've seen over the last four and half seasons (discounting the flashbacks prior to the 815 crash) never happened!

How is this possible? How, I ask you?

Easy: it's not possible. And that's why Ben isn't dead. He can't be.

And no, I'm not saying that just because it would change this history of our beloved show. I'm saying Ben can't be dead because it would violate the laws of time travel. Or at least, the laws of time travel to which LOST has thus far subscribed. Namely, the self-consistency principle—known in LOST lingo as "course-correction."

The self-consistency principle says that the past can't be changed, and if you try to change it, you'll be unsuccessful. According to this principle, if one could travel back in time, the time-traveler could affect the past, but they couldn't change it. For example, when Sawyer and Juliet gunned down two Hostiles. The self-consistency principle suggests that, if Sawyer and Juliet hadn't done the deed, then those two Hostiles were going to die some other way. Paul would have still died and Amy would have still lived (and given birth to Ethan). And since the self-consistency priniple suggests there's one unalterable time-line, it means that we're just seeing our characters doing the things they originally did on this timeline.

Which means that the Ben Linus we've come to know must have lived his entire life knowing that Sayid Jarrah tried to kill him when he was twelve years old. Which leads to him being nursed back to health in the DI (being "patient"—and, perhaps, being a patient), because he's still part of the DI when The Purge takes place 15 years later.

But wait, you're saying. How do we know the self-consistency principle applies? How do we know they can't change things? Or maybe you're thinking, "if they can't change things, then won't that make for a lame ending to this series?" Doesn't that mean there's no point? Who wants to watch a show where the characters are all powerless, living out a script without any power to change things?

Well, we don't know that the self-consistency principle applies. But they've given us a lot of hints to suggest this, such as Mrs. Hawking's "course-correcting" speech and Charlie Pace's inevitable death, to name a couple. Also, I think the writers need this self-consistency principle. Otherwise, things get too messy. For example, if Ben dies...we're left with too many questions for them to ever answer. And they don't want to give their audience the impression that everything we've watched for the last few seasons is now moot.

That being said, even if the self-consistency principle applies, I think there will be a wild card or two. I think they'll figure out a way to change the past; But letting all the characters alter the past...that's not going to happen. I think it's more likely that Desmond will be the wild card. Or maybe Christian Shephard, Sun, Lapidus, Locke, or even Ben (middle-aged Ben, that is).

Now, could this have been the moment when the past was changed? Could Sayid have somehow changed the past, and by doing so, removed Benjamin Linus from the future? I suppose. But I really doubt it.

Sayid should have checked that kid's pulse before running off into the jungle, because I'd put a lot of money down saying that Sayid Jarrah, our natural born killer, failed in his assassination attempt.

But if you want a more thorough explanation of the self-consistency principle as seen on LOST, check out this blog post.

Now let's get on with the recap, finally:

Season 5—Episode 10: “He's Our You”

First of all, kudos to Karen (yes, "Karen," because I don't want to get accused of nepotism) for her attempts to answer my question from last week regarding who the "he," "our," and "you" would be in this week's episode. I didn't know it when I asked, but apparently it was an unfair question since we hadn't met Oldham, Dharma's version of Sayid yet.

So, how do we feel about Sayid now? How do we feel about Ben? I'll come back to that later, I think.

Here's some off-island information about Sayid:

—When he was a kid in Iraq, his father asked his brother (presumably an older brother) to kill a chicken. Sayid's father gave the boy a knife, but when it was clear that the older brother couldn't do it, Sayid did it for him. But he didn't use the knife. No, he used chicken feed to get close to the bird, and then he snapped its neck (which was brutal and ominous, if you ask me).

After leaving the island as a member of the Oceanic 6:

—In Moscow, Sayid kills the final man on Ben's list. Ben is outside waiting on Sayid to come out. Then Ben tells Sayid that he's finished—he's killed all the men who were a threat to his friends. And he encourages Sayid to get on with his life.

—Then when he was building houses in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Ben shows up to talk to him. Ben tells him Locke is dead and suggests that someone killed him. Ben then implies that it was done as an act of retribution since Ben and Sayid had killed all the people from the list. Ben goes on to suggest that one of those men is spying on Hurley, and thinks Sayid might just want to go take that guy out, too.

—After storming out on Ben and the others on the wharf (earlier this season) we see Sayid drinking (MacCutcheon, what else?) alone at a bar. And who saddles up to the bar next to him? Ilana. After some flirting, they end up back in his or her room, and just when Sayid thought he was about to unzip her boot...Whap!...he gets straight kicked in the face. And then she's pointing a gun at him.(I'm thinking Sayid might need to stop hooking up with women. Didn't this same thing happen to him in "The Economist"? Only that time, he got shot. This time, not.) And Ilana tells him she's working for the family of Peter Avellino, the man Sayid killed on a golf course. And she's been hired to bring him back to Guam, where he'll "pay for what he's done."

—At the airport boarding Ajira Flight 316, Sayid realizes, as Frank Lapidus would later say, they aren't going to Guam. And he asks if they can take the next flight, but Ilana says no.

And that brings us to the 1977, on-island, and imprisoned Sayid:

Everything on island was pretty predictable: Horace and Sawyer both try to get Sayid to talk, but he won't. Sawyer throws in an arbitrary headbutt (which I think might have been included solely for the trailers leading up to this week, to give us the impression Sawyer was going to completely abandon Sayid).

Then, an unexpected element: taking Sayid to Dharma's version of him: Oldham—a man Sawyer refers to as a "psychopath."

We don't know Oldham's first name yet, and until we learn it (and maybe even after) I'm going to call him Hippie Oldham. After all, he lives in a tent, he's blaring music, and he's creating his own LSD-like substance. Now if only he had Sawyer's hair...

So Oldham drips some of his LSD-looking substance on a sugar cube, and they force Sayid to swallow it.

(Note: In the 60's, the U.S. government experimented with the use of LSD for interrogations, believing it would function as a truth-telling serum. It didn't really work, but maybe Oldham perfected the recipe.)

He says Sayid will tell him the truth, and he's right. Only, they don't believe it, because the truth includes this exchange:

Sayid: You’re all going to die, you know.
Sayid: You’re going to be killed.
Horace: How exactly would you know this, Sayid?
Sayid: Because I’m from the future.

So, the Dharma-folk have a meeting to discuss Sayid. They decide (thanks to some concerns from Horace, whining from Radzinsky, and pleading from new-mommy Amy) to kill Sayid. And when Horace says he would like to be able to say the vote was unamimous, Sawyer raises his hand. (Which, to be honest, prompted me to call Sawyer a pansy as the show cut to commercial break.)

After the break, though, Sawyer gives Sayid a chance to punch him, take his keys, disarm the dimwitted Phil, and escape, adding, "just promise me you won't shoot anybody."

But Sayid turns down the offer saying he now knows why he's here. And with that, let's segue to just about the only non-Sayid element of the episode: the Kate/Juliet/Sawyer love triangle (for those of you who, like me, expected a Season 5 love rhombus, I guess we'll have to keep waiting for Jack to get his groove back).

Sawyer goes to Kate to ask her why they came back. She says she's can't speak for the others, but she knows why she came back. (Um, could it be...for Sawyer? I think that's what that moment was supposed to suggest. And I guess I'm gullible enough to believe it...for now.) But before Kate can elaborate, a flaming Dharma van comes speeding into New Otherton.

But before I wrap this thing up, there are two other short Kate scenes worth sharing.

Scene 1: Hurley is serving waffles to Jack and Kate, and Hurley spills the beans about Juliet and Sawyer being together. I couldn't keep up with his rambling about how he saw it coming and he figured everyone did...but Hurley was going on about it long enough that Jack needed to cut him short, for Kate's sake.

Scene 2: Juliet and Kate are talking when Juliet asks if Jack told Kate about Juliet and Sawyer being bunkmates. Kate says no, but Hurley told her. And then Juliet said this:

"That’s quite a relief. I wasn’t sure how to do it without it sounding like I was telling you to stay away."

Which basically means, I want to tell you to stay away, but I didn't want it to sound too confrontational...but just so you know now, I do want you to stay away.

New Character Developments:

Ilana goes from being a typical passenger on Ajira 316 to a professional bounty-hunter/assassin passenger.

Roger Linus goes from being a deadbeat dad to a child-beating dad.

Hippie Oldham is introduced as a psycopath.

Radzinsky got more annoying.

Phil, in Sawyer's words, is now a dimwit.

Summary:

I wasn't as interested in these Sayid flashbacks. The point, obviously, was to show that Sayid has always been able to kill. That's the way in which he is "special." But it was good to see more of his off-island interactions with Ben.

But overall, I was a little disappointed. I guess the flashbacks were necessary for setting up the end of the episode attempted murder. Without the flashbacks, could we have believed Sayid would have had the stones to kill the kid whose dad just beat him up because the kid made a sandwich for Sayid? Oh, not to mention the fact that the kid just sprung him from his cell and saved him from a Dharma execution. So yeah, only a natural born killer could follow through with that plan.

But as I've said above, I don't think he was successful. And I'm really curious about what Sayid will do now. Especially if he realizes he can't kill Benjmin Linus, thereby stripping him of his newfound purpose. Yet, then again, even if he is successful, his purpose will still be gone. So what's next for Sayid?

Quotes:

1) Young Ben: I’ve been patient. And if you’re patient too…I think I can help you.

2) Sayid: I killed all those people for you, and now you’re just walking away.
Ben: You didn’t kill them for me. You’re the one who asked for their names.

3) Ben: John Locke is dead. I think he was murdered.

4)Sayid: You came all this way because you want me to kill that man?
Ben: Don’t you want to?…

5) Ben: You’re capable of things that most men aren’t…it’s in your nature. It’s what you are. You’re a killer, Sayid.

6) Sayid: I’m not what you think I am. I don’t like killing.
Ben: Well, then I apologize. I was mistaken about you.

7) Ben: I hate it here. If I let you out, will you take me with you? To your people?
Sayid: Yes, Ben, I will. That’s why I’m here.

8) Sawyer: I just can’t let you go.
Sayid: Why not?
Sawyer: Because these people trust me. I’ve built a life here—a pretty good one. And I’m not gonna give that up.

9) Sawyer: Either you join the party in Dharmaville, or you’re on your own.
Sayid: Then I guess I’m on my own.

10) Jack: What happened?
Sawyer: Three years, no burning buses. Y’all back for one day! Grab that hose.

11) Kate: What did Sawyer tell you?
Jack: He told me to leave him alone and let him do his job.
Hurley: And you’re going to? (Note: I can't remember who told me that Hurley often seems to speak for the audience...Karen, did you say that? But that's definitely happening here. Hurley is asking the question we were all wondering after watching "Namaste": will Jack submit to Sawyer's leadership?)

12) Sayid: Who is that man?
Sawyer: He’s our you.

13) Hippie Oldham: There are side effects to what I’m giving you.
(Note: Significant side-effects? Side-effects we'll see? I hope not. Unless it turns Sayid into the Hulk. Or a Polar Bear. Kidding.)

13) Sawyer: How you doing?
Sayid: A twelve-year-old Ben Linus brought me a chicken-salad sandwich, how do you think I’m doing?

14) Sayid: You were right about me.
Young Ben: What?
Sayid: I am a killer.

Prevailing Questions:

1) What book did Ben give to Sayid? I couldn't tell. But I'm curious since Ben said, "I read it twice. It's good."

2) Sayid has some really, really harsh things to say about Ben being a liar, a murderer, etc., etc., on the plane to Ilana. But I still don't understand where this anger is stemming from. When Ben showed up in the Dominican Republic, Sayid ended up doing what Ben asked...he came to California to kill the man watching Hurley. And yet, right after that, he was adamant about not trusting Benjamin Linus. Why? What did he learn (and when did he learn it?) that made him realize how conniving and untrustworthy Ben is? Did Widmore or one of Widmore's men get to him? Sayid did mention something about Ben letting his daughter die, and how did he know about that? Hurley could have told them, I guess, but the others present during that encounter (Miles, Sawyer, Locke, Ben, Claire, baby Aaron) couldn't have told him. But Widmore could have... Thoughts?

3) If Widmore (or Abaddon working for Widmore) told Sayid about Benjamin Linus' deceit—which is my current suspicion—why didn't they include that in this episode? It seems like it would have fit in nicely, so if they left it out, then it makes me think it will be revealed later—and it might be important...

4) Was Ilana really hired by the family of murdered Peter Avellino? Or was someone else responsible for getting Sayid on that flight? Maybe the "family of Peter Avellino" is no family at all. But let's see, who knew this Peter guy's name? And who knew Sayid offed him? Well, there's Ben. And Ben. Even though Ilana claimed she didn't know him, it doesn't mean he wasn't behind it. Maybe he convinced Mrs. Hawking to set it up? Or Butcher Shop Jill? Or his lawyer friend who was hounding Kate? Regardless, I think Ben was behind it. Do you?

5) Where is Sayid going to go? Join the Others? Where else could he go?

6) Who were the men on Ben's hit list? Were they really men who posed a threat to Sayid's friends? I don't think so. But I don't know who they are. Maybe men who once lived on the island? But I have no support for that. Any ideas?

7) In the introductory "Previously on LOST" section, we once again saw the scene when the even younger Benjamin Linus first met Richard in the jungle. And once again, I wondered why Richard was dressed so differently. If that was 4 years ago, as Ben said, then it was one year before Richard strolled into Dharmaville to find out what happened to his two missing guys. Back in 1954, when Locke met Richard during the time flash, Richard was dressed nicely, the way he is when we've seen him every other time (except for this scene with Ben). So why did Richard dress differently this one time? If it was part of a ruse, or a disguise, for whose benefit was it? Ben's?

8) I also read a fan post on a LOST forum this week suggesting that Ben is obsessed with Juliet because she was nice to him when he was a kid on the island. I think this is possible, but I think it's more probable now that he's been shot—now that he might need a nurse/doctor to keep an eye on him. If Juliet was the one to nurse him back to health, then maybe that's why he has a soft spot for her later. Thoughts?

9) How long before Radzinsky realizes that Sayid might have really come on a plane? If not Radzinsky, then someone at one of the stations Radzinsky radioed (in "Namaste") when Jin burst in demanding to know about the plane crash? Since Sayid claimed to arrive via plane crash, and since he was found just minutes after Jin was talking about a plane crash, shouldn't that be raising any flags?

10) Any idea where the name Oldham comes from? I did a little searching, especially relating to LSD and other psychedelic drugs, but no dice. Thoughts?

—Thanks for Reading

Claire, is that you?

2009-03-24T09:58:00.006-04:00

The web is abuzz with debate about a four-second clip from the most recent episode of LOST ("Namaste").

Is the woman in the background Claire? Could it be Charlotte? What about Penny? Libby?

You decide:

Coming Soon: Ford Super Duty Trucks with Tailgate Escalators

2009-03-23T16:45:00.000-04:00

(Note: I enjoy good satire—see TheOnion.com—yet I've never tried to write it. Until now. For those not hip to satire's script, dictionary.com defines it as "Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity." And, I figure, the world is full of enough stupidity to keep a good satirist employed forever. So here's my first go...)

Last Friday, Ford announced its plan to roll out a line of Ford Super Duty trucks boasting a drop-down tailgate escalator. In the press release, Ford claimed this innovation will bring financial stability to the struggling auto industry.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally says, "Everybody is afraid to buy new cars right now, and that's why we needed to jazz things up a bit. Our Market Research Department is convinced that a tailgate escalator is exactly what consumers have been waiting for."

Critics suggest that Ford is attempting to erase the memory of their trucks (still available on the lots of Ford dealers everywhere) equipped with a "man-step." The ill-conceived "man-step" is currently being maligned in Chevy commercials and snickered at by real men everywhere.

Real man Tommy Barton says, "I bought a new Ford without realizing they had added some kind of step to the tailgate. And now, I can't drive anywhere without kids pointing at me and laughing."

"I don't even use the step," Barton insists. But no one believes him.

Barton's wife, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says she is no longer attracted to her husband. "When we got married, I thought he was a man. But when he brought that truck home, well, now I'm not so sure."

Bill Burton says his "man-step" cost him his best friend. "Ol' Gus been riding in the back of my truck for years. But when I brought my new Ford home, he come a-running up to the tailgate with his tongue just a-wagging. But when I lowered the tailgate, he saw that there step...and he just sorta lowered his head and walked away. He done crawled up under that porch over yonder, and he ain't come out yet."

Initially Ford thought their "man-step" would help them corner the truck-buyers market.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally says, "We thought the step would be perfect for all the lazy men out there. Our R&D people talked to thousands of truck owners who said they never use their truckbeds because it's too much work to climb up there.'"

But apparently Ford underestimated the extent of such laziness.

One hillbilly whose name sounds like an odd combination of Bilberry and Tomburt—all five times we asked him— says, "It useta take one bigol' giant step to climb onto them tailgates, and now it takes two steps, and I ain't no stupid, so I knows that's at least, er, um...well I'll be darned if it ain't more work!"

But Ford has seen the light. Not only have they learned that real men (and lazy men) want an escalator and not a step, they've also determined that, by marketing exclusively to men, they had been unnecessarily restricting their demographic.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally says, "Trucks aren't just for men. And our escalator-tailgates are going to shatter that gender stereotype once and for all."

One middle-aged woman has already pre-ordered a Ford Super Duty Tailgate-Escalator Truck, and Ford expects that number to double or triple by the time trucks start coming off the line in 2011.

"We're not going to market this truck to men at all," says Hamilton Bradley, an unpaid intern and peon in Ford's marketing department who has had zero involvement in discussions about the tailgate-escalators but who has listened, in his words, "very attentively" to those he's passed in the hallways and bathrooms at Ford's home offices. "Instead, we're going to connect with the soccer moms and cougars out there."

Alicia Deaton, a self-proclaimed "soccer mom, cougar, and superfreak—the kind you don't bring home to motha," says, "I'd never even thought about climbing into the bed of a truck before."

"But with the escalator-tailgate," Deaton says, "Ford makes climbing into a truckbed feel like going to the mall."

Ford is determined to reduce its carbon footprint (mostly because not saying this would get the company crucified by every major media outlet), so they're proud to announce that all their tailgate escalators will be completely solar-powered. Even though initial testing suggests they will only work once a week—and even less in the winter.

To further appeal to the superfreaky, mall-loving soccer moms and cougars, Ford is toying with the idea of installing a tanning bed in the back of each of their tailgate-escalator trucks.

"But don't worry," says Ford CEO Alan Mulally, "in an effort to go green, we decided to only equip our trucks with solar-powered tanning beds."

They are still developing the design for theses solar-powered tanning beds, but they have agreed on an initial front-runner (pictured below).

—Thanks for Reading

Character Overview: Daniel Faraday

2009-03-20T11:28:00.006-04:00

This isn't a complete character overview, and in some ways, it's more of a prediction/theory. But first, I wanted to create a basic timeline for Daniel's life (as we've seen it), since his journey has been confusing, and doing so helped me assess what's going on with our mad physicist.

So here goes:

Birth&mdash Unknown. Eloise Hawking is his mother, but I stand by my claim that she adopted him...which means it could have happened later and we needn't assume he was born wherever she was living. If their connection is biological, however, then it could mean Daniel was born on the island (as an Other/Hostile, born to that Ellie woman he met in 1954—or Ellie could have given birth to him after she left the island.)

1954—(on the island during a time-flash)—tells the Others what to do with the Jughead bomb, has a strange conversation with Ellie (thinks he recognizes her…)

1974—on the island (after Charlotte’s body disappeared) with Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Jin…mumbling about how he can't change things, blah, blah, blah.

1970’s (presumably after 1974?)—working on the construction of The Orchid

1977—Sawyer says Daniel isn’t there anymore…

So where did he go? My guess…since they were constructing the Orchid station in the 1970’s and Pierre Chang expressed an interest in time travel…maybe Faraday was the guinea pig, and maybe that’s what shipped him off the island…?

1996 –teaching at Oxford

After Desmond tells Daniel what numbers to use to “unstick Eloise in time,” they have this exchange:

DESMOND: So, so how does that help me?
DAN: You, what? I don't understand, am I supposed to help you? Didn't I send you back here to help me?
DESMOND: I don't know why you sent me here. All I know about you is that you end up on some bloody island.
DAN: An island. What island, where...why would I go to an island?

2004—living in Essex, Massachusetts, and he has a caregiver who watches over him…? After Flight 815 crashes, he cries, but doesn’t know why. Shortly after that, he’s recruited by Matthew Abaddon to join the team with Naomi, Miles, Charlotte, and Frank.

Another thing to think about…Daniel was the one who went to the Tempest station to shut it down and prevent the spread of toxic gas. Before this, Charlotte was helping him regain his memory…so I think he helped design this station, and that’s why he was the one who knew how to disable it. Maybe...

But here's the idea that really intrigues me. Remember, if you read my Desmond Hume Character Overview, I put a lot of emphasis on Daniel telling Desmond that he is "uniquely and miraculously special." Daniel believes Desmond has the power to change things.

And in 1974, Daniel is really hung up on "what happened happened...we can't change things...the record is stuck, but we're not on the song we want..." So he has this great understanding of time travel, but for whatever reason, he doesn't think he can change things. But he thinks Desmond can!

And what's the fun in time travel if one doesn't have the ability to change things? So where did Daniel go? My answer: to find Desmond Hume. Maybe it'll be in present day, or maybe in the past, but I think Daniel is looking for Desmond. I think he'll find him. Soon. And I'm looking forward to it.

(And one last crackpot theory: What if Ellie the Other is in fact Daniel's mother...and what if his father was a member of the Dharma Initiative. That would give us a Romeo/Juliet type of love story, where Ellie the Other and a Dharma man become "two star-crossed lovers," but without the mutual suicide at the end, of course. Maybe that relationship in the 60's or early 70's even led to the formation of "The Truce.")

Any errors in this thinking? Other ideas?

—Thanks for reading

Everybody say 'Namaste'

2009-03-19T00:50:00.004-04:00

We’re more than halfway through Season 5, and finally, it feels like the stage has been set. Which is great...and discomforting. It’s great because, after episodes of flashing around, confused, askew, trying to get back to the island or trying to get the island to hold still, the group is finally reassembled in the same place (though not yet all in the same time). And it’s discomforting because now that we’re feeling settled, things are about to get really messy. You feel it too, don't you?

This week, my summary won’t include everything, but I’m going to hit some highlights and share my thoughts on each. And I’ll be sure to include the quotes and questions at the end. So here goes.

Season 5—Episode 9: “Namaste”

I knew Sun was going to hit Ben with that paddle. Knew it. But I still liked knowing that it was Sun, and not the plane crash, that landed him in the sick bay in the previous episode.

And it wasn’t long before we learned for sure that Sun, Frank, Ben, and the other Flight 316 survivors aren’t in the same time period as the Dharma folks. All it took to make that clear was one “30 Years Earlier” flash that took us back to the same scene we ended with last episode—with Jack, Kate, and Hurley meeting up with Sawyer.

It doesn’t take long for us to realize that the Oceanic 6 (or at least the 3, 4, or 5 of them—depending how and when you count) aren’t going to be invited to any Homecoming dances. Especially when Sawyer learns that Locke is dead—since I think Sawyer still thought Locke could put things right. No Locke means they're stuck with the current arrangement, and Sawyer seems to think his current life is better than whatever his returning friends have to offer.

And it's not just Sawyer. All the new DI’s—Sawyer, Jin, Miles, and Juliet—found an opportunity to put off the We-Were-Doing-Just-Fine-And-Dandy-Without-You-Here-Thank-You-Very-Much vibes.

Want examples? Well, there was Juliet leaving Kate’s name off the manifold list (accident? I doubt it…), but adding it at the last minute so that she could be the one to come in and save Kate. Why would she do that? Well, because she knows Kate and Sawyer had a little thing, and this is her power play—letting Kate know that Kate’s there because Juliet is letting Kate be there. (Sort of like Tom back in Season 2..."This is our island. You're living on it because we let you live on it.")

Miles certainly didn’t seem thrilled to see the return of the 06.

As for Jin, well, he definitely appears to be a loyal Dharma guy now, but his desire to find Sun sort of trumped everything else—even though he was still able to hold a gun to Sayid’s head when he needed to.

And Sawyer, well, we’re still learning what he’s thinking. He’s glad to see Hurley, not sure how to feel about seeing Kate, and well, not exactly ecstatic to see Jack. And that brings us to our next scene—which I think is the most important and most foreboding scene from this episode.

I don’t know how everyone else feels or has felt about Jack, but I’ve always liked him. I admire his loyalty, respect his leadership—and on an island full of twists, turns, and the likes of Sawyer, Locke, and Ben, I’ve always enjoyed knowing I could trust Jack to be constant. (I guess you could say, Jack Shephard is my constant.) So in this episode, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jack.

First of all, he had to sit through Pierre Chang telling him that he’s been assigned to be a workman, doing custodial work, because of his scores on an aptitude test. (I bet that’s a tough pill to swallow for one of the world’s premier spinal surgeons.) And while we’re thinking about this, let’s ask ourselves where Pierre Chang got Jack’s test results. After all, Chang told Jack that his file was missing…but somehow, they still had his aptitude test results—and the results made him a lowly workman? Hmmm, now who could have arranged that? (cough…Sawyer…cough)

And then when he goes to talk to Sawyer to see what the plan is—a gesture which suggests that Jack expects to be at least on equal footing with Sawyer—Head of Security Jim LaFleur is not so accommodating.

Sure, the exchange is friendly enough to begin with. Sawyer even tells Jack to “sit down and take a load off” and offers him a cold Dharma Lite. But then again, maybe this was just Sawyer’s way of reminding Jack that the good doctor is now on the outlaw’s turf.

Jack first wants to know what they're going to do about the imprisoned Sayid.

Sawyer says he had no choice, but emphasizes that Sayid is safe. Jack surely noticed when Sawyer said, “he got caught by my people.” My people. That should have been a subtle enough hint, suggesting that Sawyer’s allegiance has shifted. Or, perhaps, that Sawyer's in charge and Jack’s going to have to live with it.

But Jack pushes his luck:

Jack: Where do we go from here?
Sawyer: I’m working on it.
Jack: Really? You’re working on it? Because it looked to me like you were sitting here reading a book.

Sawyer looks away before responding, and it seems like he is steeling himself not just for this one response, but also for the ongoing conflict that will inevitably result from it. And he certainly doesn't shy away from that conflict.

In response, Sawyer begins by saying that Winston Churchill read a book every night (even "during the Blitz"), because it helped him think. And then Sawyer channels his inner high school cheerleader with this:

Sawyer: It's how I like to run things. I think. I'm sure that doesn't mean that much to you, 'cause back when you were calling the shots, you pretty much just reacted. See, you didn't think, Jack, and as I recall, a lot of people ended up dead.

Jack: I got us off the Island.

Sawyer: But here you are... right back where you started. So I'm gonna go back to reading my book, and I'm gonna think, 'cause that's how I saved your ass today. And that's how I'm gonna save Sayid's tomorrow. All you gotta do is go home, get a good night's rest. Let me do what I do.

But here you are "right back where you started," except that now you're a Dharma workman—with no say and no influence—while here I am, the head of security. And oh yeah, you might have noticed on your way in that lady Juliet and I are busy living happily ever after, much happier than you ever were with Kate off the island...so I'll see you later, and don't let the door hit you on your way out. Or do; I don't really care.

So yeah, I don’t expect this power struggle to give way anytime soon.

When Sawyer saw Jack to the door, Sawyer stood on the porch and happened to glance over and see Kate standing on hers. He waved, almost shyly. She did the same. I admit, it was kind of cute.

A few other highlights:

1)
We met Radzinsky—the same guy who later blew his brains out in the Swan station. I feel like there were a lot of clues buried in his scenes, but I couldn’t catch them. We know he was the one putting together the model for The Swan station—which, apparently wasn’t built yet (so could it be the addition of the Swan…and maybe the ensuing Incident?…which led to the no-babies-on-the-island situation in which The Others later found themselves?). Bottom line: Radzinsky was a smart dude who kept his eyes on everything.

2)
Sun and Frank paddle over to the main island, and they find their way to a dark Barracks. And just when they decide it’s deserted, a light comes on. And who’s there? Of course, it’s Christian Shephard. Who else. Christian takes them into a building (did anyone notice which one?) and shows them the Dharma Initiative picture from 1977—where Sun sees Hurley, Kate, and Jack pictured as Dharma’s “New Recruits” (Was Jin also in the picture? I didn’t notice…). And Christian tells Sun that she has “quite a journey ahead of her,” which sounded so much like his typical “you’ve got work to do” mantra.

I wish I could comment more on this scene, but I don’t understand Christian Shephard at all, and it’s driving me nuts. Not only do I not understand his presence and significance, but I don’t get why he keeps telling everyone they have “work to do.” He says that about as often as Hurley says “Dude,” which is only slightly more often than the number of times Michael yelled, “WALT!” If I just understood it, I wouldn’t be so annoyed…but I just don't know why he cares so much.

3) Amy tells Juliet that she and Horace are naming their kid Ethan. And Juliet’s face is priceless. But Ethan’s last name was not Goodspeed; it was Rom. So is it the same Ethan? If so, then that raises another question. Ethan was born into the Dharma Initiative, but if he grows up to be Ethan Rom, then he survived The Purge. And became an Other. Hmmm.

4) After Sayid gets caught by Radzinski (and Jin), Sawyer goes to take care of it. Radzinsky wants to kill him, but Sawyer insists on taking him back to the Barracks. Radzinsky says he plans to talk to Horace about this…and Sawyer tells him to go ahead. I don’t have much of a comment on this, but I think he will talk to Horace and Horace will talk to Sawyer.

5) We learned a little more about the truce. Apparently, the truce dictates that a hostile, when apprehended or on Dharma land, must admit to being a “hostile.” Or, in Sawyer’s words:

Sawyer: My name’s LaFleur; I’m the head of security. I want you to listen real closely to what I got to say. You do that and you’ll be fine. Identify yourself as a hostile. The terms of the truce say you must identify yourself as a hostile.

It seems that they don’t like that term, and won’t admit to being such. It’s not much, but it adds a little clarity. Or does it?

6) And last but certainly not least, at the end, a little boy named Ben brings Sayid a sandwich (no mustard though, for whatever that’s worth). Ben’s interest in “The Hostiles” is evident—and I suspect (can we confirm this?) that this meeting happened sometime after Ben met Richard in the woods. This scene was fun. And it confirmed that little Ben is on the island with our group while older, weasely-er Ben is still 30 years in the future.

Summary:

Sawyer is living large and in charge. He seems pretty proud of himself. He thinks, therefore he thinks he’s a good leader, and it’s hard for me to disagree with someone who values reading so much.

But the truth is, he’d be a sucky leader without Juliet. She’s the one who’s “had his back,” supporting his decisions (which, I contend, he wouldn’t have had the guts to make without her support), and giving him ideas.

For example, when he’s trying to figure out what to do with Jack, Kate, and Hurley:

Sawyer: I gotta figure out what to do before someone else finds them.
Juliet: There’s a sub coming in this afternoon.

So while Sawyer is trying to think, Juliet is providing his answer. Without her, I think he’d be in trouble. But even if she stays by his side for the rest of the season (see how boring that sounds?), I still think things are going to start crumbling around him. Maybe it will begin when he has to explain to Horace why he brought Sayid in…I don’t know. But I do know this, opposing Jack, Sayid, and Kate isn’t smart. Especially if Jin—desperate to find Sun—agrees to help them.

The divisions aren’t clear yet, but it definitely seems like battle lines are being drawn. Should be interesting…

Quotes:

1) Frank’s co-pilot: “Is that a runway?”

2) On the plane after the crash landing…
Frank asks Sun, “Where’s everyone else?”
Ben: “They’re gone.”
Frank: “Gone? Gone where?”
Ben: How would I know?

3) Sawyer: It’s good to see you, Kong.
Hurley: Kong, I actually missed that.
Sawyer: I missed it too.

4) Sawyer: We’re in the Dharma Initiative.
Jack: What? They came back?
Sawyer: No, we came back.

5) Hurley to Jin: Dude, your English is good.

6) Sawyer: It’s 1977.
Hurley: Uh, what?

7) Ben (to Sun) why are you following me?
Sun: Where are you going?
Ben: Back to our island. Want to come?

8) Radzinsky: We shoot him.
Sawyer: I appreciate your input there, Quick Draw, but I want to talk to him first.

9) Hurley: So it’s 1977.
Sawyer: Yep
Hurley: And you guys are all members of the Dharma Initiative.
Sawyer: Yep
Hurley: You know those guys get wiped out soon, right?

10) Jack: Did you say Faraday? He’s here?
Sawyer: Not anymore.

11) Kate: The woman who told you how to come back…did she say it was going to be 30 years ago?
Jack: No, she left that part out.
Kate: So what are we supposed to do now?
Jack: I’m not sure yet.

12) Amy: When are you and Jim going to have a baby?
Juliet: I don’t know…the timing’s got to be right… (ha)

13) Sawyer: Nice suit, Doc. Not exactly island wear.

14) Jack: What do you think?
Kate: I think we should listen to Sawyer.
Hurley: I vote for not camping.

15) Hurley: What if we can’t answer questions like who’s the president in 1977?
Sawyer: It’s not a damn game show, Hugo.

16) Sun: Why are you leaving?
Ben: Why are you staying?

17) Pierre Chang: Good man, Lafleur. He runs a tight ship.

18) Frank Lapidus: Last time I was here, I was on a freighter filled with commandos, and their only mission was to get him.
Ben: Yeah, and how’d that work out for them?

19) Juliet: I’m sorry for the mix-up. I’m Juliet.
Kate: Kate.
Juliet: Hi, Kate. Welcome to the island.

20) As they’re taking the New Recruits picture…
Camera person: Everybody say, ‘Namaste’
Hurley: Nama-what?

21) Phil tells Jack that he probably shouldn’t call Jim LaFleur, “James,” adding, “He hates it.” (ha)

22) Ben: What’s your name.
Sayid: Sayid. What’s yours?
Ben: I’m Ben.
Sayid: It’s nice to meet you, Ben.

Prevailing Questions:

1) Why did Sawyer say Daniel’s not there anymore? Where did he go?

2) Why did only a few of the passengers of 316 flash back to 1977? Each idea seems to offer conflicting evidence. Maybe because Ben and Frank weren’t passengers on 815…but wait, Sun was. Maybe it’s because a younger Ben is already on that island in 1977…but wait, does the island also have a younger Frank and a younger Sun? Any ideas?

3) What kind of Dharma assignment is Hurley going to get? One way or another, it should involve fried chicken.

4) Right now people seem to be wondering if Sawyer’s interest in Kate will be rekindled, but what about Juliet—the brains behind Sawyer? Any chance she ends up standing beside Jack, not Sawyer?

5) I’m thinking young Ben is going to befriend one of our characters. But I don’t know which one. Sayid seems like the odds-on favorite right now… But I’m going to say Jack. After all, Jack is a workman. And at the time of The Purge, Ben is a workman, too. Thoughts?

6) How many episodes before Desmond shows up? I'm hoping not many.

7) If Ethan Rom (the Other) is the same Ethan born to Amy and Horace, did Ben spare him during The Purge as a tribute to Horace? According to lostpedia, The Purge happened in 1992. So that means Ethan would have been roughly 15...definitely old enough to remember his parents and his last name. Hmmm. It also means he would have been in his mid-twenties when Flight 815 crashed, which seems a little unlikely (based on his appearance). But who knows?

Next week, it's "He's Our You."

So that's the bonus question. Who is the "he" and who is the "you"?

—Thanks for Reading

Because They Came Back

2009-03-05T08:36:00.012-05:00

I’m getting sick of being so surprised by LOST each and every week. I mean, the show’s unpredictability is becoming way too predictable. One week, just once, I wish they’d mix things up and leave me saying, “Wow, I wasn’t surprised at all by this episode…that one was completely expected…and obvious...and boring.”

Okay, I didn’t mean a word of that. But the real point is, they surprised my pants off (I’m not sure that’s a real saying…and it probably shouldn’t be) yet again.

Season 5—Episode 8: “LaFleur”

Now that the island is finally done jumping, the producers and writers decided to flash three years forward, three years back, three years forward, and back and forward again. But in this recap, I’m going to eschew LOST’s time-flashiness. That’s right, I’m going to do something absurd: tell the story CHRONOLOGICALLY. Starting with the moment when Locke stopped the flashing island, I’ll recap this episode, flashing forward just one unavoidable time.

I would say the LOST writers are happy to be back on the island again. This episode might have included more witty dialogue than the preceding episodes of Season 5 combined (how can “hootenanny” be anything but hilarious?). But then again, maybe the Sawyer-focused episode had something to do with that.

So in the beginning, the first shocker: Jin points, directing the others’ attention to the back of a large (four-toed?) statue. Seeing only its back, we still don’t know anything about its origin, but I think it’s safe to assume it wasn’t Dharma’s work. Hostiles, maybe. Dharma, don’t think so.

So we begin, episodically and chronologically, with Sawyer, Jin, Miles, and Juliet. First of all, our foursome realizes that this flash was different somehow, “more like an earthquake,” in the words of Miles Straume. And they realize their headaches and nosebleeds are gone. And the well is back! So Sawyer screams Locke’s name, grabs the rope, and leaps over the lip of the well…only to find it filled with dirt.

They decide that Locke must have been successful, and so they traipse back the way from which they came. And they find Daniel, sitting alone on the ground.

Sawyer: Where’s Red?

Charlotte is nowhere to be found, but Daniel keeps saying things like, “I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to tell her.”

He pauses long enough to tell them that Charlotte died and when they flashed, “her body…just disappeared.”

Daniel: She moved on, and we stayed.
Sawyer: …you’re telling me, it’s over?
Daniel: Wherever we are, whenever we are, we’re here for good.
(Note: I think it's more likely they're "here for awhile," but not "for good." But I guess we'll see.)

Then Daniel goes back into his “I’m not gonna…I won’t…” routine, prompting Sawyer to say, “Until Dan checks back in, let’s go back to the beach.”

I think Daniel is remembering his final exchange with Charlotte, when she remembered (a question for later will be, why did she only remember it then) that a “crazy, scary man” told her that if she left the island, she’d die if she ever came back, and he’s decided that this time, if he sees her, he’s not going to tell her. For one thing, it didn’t help. And two, maybe he wants to see if it’s possible to change things—by not telling her—so that she might live, or so that, if she still must die, she won’t think of him, on her deathbed, as the scary man who spooked her as a child.

Much to Miles’ sarcasm and chagrin, Sawyer assumes the role of leader—and Miles reluctantly concedes, but only because Juliet is quick to play Bonnie to Sawyer’s Clyde. (If that reference doesn’t work, I apologize. I’ve never actually seen the movie, or show, or whatever it originally was.)

But our fivesome (now that Daniel has joined the jungle party) never makes it to the beach. They hear a woman in hysterics, and they see two armed men standing by her. She’s on her knees, and they’re about to put a bag over her head—a mafia-style offing. (How modern for these old-world Hostiles.) Her husband, a man named Paul, is already dead on the ground beside her.

Sawyer wants to do something to help, and Miles is nervous about this. Hoping Dan is still the man with the answers (as he was earlier this season), Miles asks him, “Dan, we don’t get involved, right? That’s what you said…”

Daniel responds, in a tone that reveals a total lack of interest (or shock), “It doesn’t matter what we do. Whatever happened happened.”

To which Sawyer replies, “Thanks a lot, Plato.” (Ah, welcome back, James.)

Striding out like the would-be hero, Sawyer raises his gun and commands the men to drop theirs. Instead of listening, one of them spins and fires. But Bonnie saves Clyde (that’s the last time with this analogy, I promise), gunning down Sawyer’s would-be killer. Sawyer has time to look incredulously at Juliet before he fires and takes down the other man.

Sawyer tells the woman she’s safe, and she, of course, wants to know who they are. At this, Sawyer the conman is resurrected. (Perhaps I should say he “resurfaces.” I don’t want to steal any of Locke’s thunder.) Sawyer talks about their ship wrecking on the way to Tahiti…but this woman—whose name is Amy—starts raving about a “truce” and the need to bury the two dead man. And, of course, they have to haul Paul’s dead body back to New Otherton, too.

Jin offers to carry Paul, and they hurriedly bury the two men.

As they’re hiking over to Otherburbs, Juliet suddenly screams, “Daniel, stop!” Daniel, his mind still elsewhere, has almost walked into the perimeter of the stroke-inducing fence.

Juliet unnerves Amy by demanding that she turn off the “sonic fence.” Amy asks them to tell her again where they said they were from. But they’re not interested in talking until they get back to her camp. Now Amy looks at them and (it was so apparent to me) seems to decide that she shouldn’t trust them. Not yet. So she pretends to turn the fence off, but she really just slips some earplugs in. So she walks through the fence unhindered, but when the fivesome follows her lead, they get knocked out by the fence’s sonic power.

(Time out: Okay, I understand why most of them fell for this little trick. But Juliet? Juliet? Not only does she have a history of not trusting people—does she trust anyone?—but hasn’t she also pulled a different variation of the same sonic-fence trick, back when she disabled it so she and Kate could get inside the barrier before the smoke monster slammed into the perimeter? So couldn't she have at least kept an eye on Amy to make sure she wasn’t up to anything funky? And don’t we think Juliet would have at least done that? Not to mention the fact that the earplug trick probably still existed thirty years later when Juliet was an Other. I just think she should have been savvy enough, and alert enough, to avoid getting hoodwinked like this. That's all.)

When Sawyer comes to, Horace Goodspeed is standing over him—of course, Sawyer doesn’t know who he is yet.

Among other things, while asking Sawyer where he and his people come from, Horace acknowledges that there are “hostile, indigenous people on the island” and the Dharmatians “don’t get along with them.” (Note: I liked the term “indigenous” in this description. It felt like a subtle acknowledgement on Horace’s part—saying that he understands that they were on the island long before the Dharma Initiative. This also interests me since Horace was the one who apparently built Jacob’s cabin, and Jacob has always seemed to be connected to the Hostiles, not the Dharma-ites. But I’ll have to ponder that a little longer.)

Conman Sawyer launches into old form again, and he is back, as the rappers of the early 90’s liked to say, in full effect. He claims to be the captain of a searcher vessel that he and his crew were using to locate a missing slave ship, the Black Rock. (When asked, Horace says he hasn’t heard of it. I think 1) he’s lying, because he wants to make sure Sawyer and friends leave the island posthaste or 2) he doesn’t know about the ship because he hasn’t strayed that far away from the Barracks. I’m leaning toward option 1.)

Sawyer assumes the name James LaFleur, and he tells Horace, “but you can call me Jim.” (Note: I realize that my chronological recap removes some of episode’s best surprises, like when the two Dharma men saw Horace blowing up trees and they went to get “LaFleur,” and shock: it’s Sawyer! But I realize the flaws inherent in this approach, and that’s why I’m relying on these parenthetical citations to recreate those shocking moments…clever, huh? No? Ah well, I tried.)

So Horace tells Sawyer that he and his friends will be on a submarine headed to Tahiti the following morning. This isn’t great news for them, since they plan to wait for Locke to return. But it’s certainly better treatment than they would have gotten from Ben 30 years later. Of course, even though the two groups have occupied the same living area, Horace’s Dharma-ites are not the same as Ben’s Hostile Others. I need to remind myself of this at times. Like right now.

Not that the Dharma folk don’t have their own secrets and idiosyncrasies. For example, Horace tells Sawyer in no uncertain terms, “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, Jim, but please, you are not Dharma material.” Interesting. (Note: What is "Dharma material"?)

Sawyer shares the news with his friends, and then Daniel notices a cute little girl running around in a red dress, and for the first time, his face brightens: “Charlotte?”

Before we can really ponder this, sirens sound and security lights flash throughout the compound. Sawyer and friends are ushered into a house where they’re guarded at gunpoint by a woman (did they call her Heather?).

Outside the window, we see Richard Alpert walking—strutting, almost—into the center of the compound. Richard plants a lit torch in the ground and then strides about the empty compound like a tiger circling prey.

As they’re looking out the window at Richard, Juliet shuts her eyes in an “I do not like this” gesture, and then she turns to Sawyer, who meets her gaze with the words, “Uh-oh.”

Horace goes out to meet Richard, and says, “Hello, Mr. Alpert. If I had known you were coming, I could have turned the fence off for you.”

Richard’s response was almost menacing, “That fence may keep other things out, but not us. The only thing that does keep us out is that truce, which you’ve now broken.”

Horace plays dumb, but Richard asks point blank, “Where are my two men?”

Then we see Horace come indoors and he asks how well they buried the men. The answer isn’t reassuring, so he tells someone (Heather?) to “call the Arrow and let them know we’re at level one, and have the fence turned all the way up.”

And this is when ol’ Jim LaFleur takes charge, saying that he wants to talk to Richard. Horace doesn’t think that’s a good idea, but Sawyer says, “It’s a good thing I’m not asking then.”

Outside, Richard is seated casually on the bench (the same bench where Horace dies during The Purge, perhaps?). Sawyer strolls up and, almost as casually, offers a “Hello, Richard.”

Richard: I’m sorry, do we know each other?
Sawyer: I’m the guy who killed your men.

(Note: Did Richard meet Sawyer 20 years before this? In "Jughead"? I would have thought he would have recognized Daniel, at least, since Daniel was their purported leader at that time. Then again, Daniel was strangely absent for almost all of this episode, so I suppose Richard probably didn't see him.)

Surprisingly, Sawyer tells the truth about the events: seeing the woman with the bag over her head, the men with guns, the one guy already killed, Sawyer’s command that they put down their weapons, the shot fired at him, and the subsequent deaths of both Hostiles. (Of course, he doesn’t mention that Juliet killed the first one. But for a conman, that's still pretty darn close to the exact truth.)

Richard’s response: Do your people know you’re telling me this?
Sawyer: They ain’t my people, Hoss. (I couldn’t tell if he said “Hoss” or “Boss,” but since he calls Horace “Boss” a few times this episode, I prefer to think Alpert is “Hoss.”)

It’s kind of fun to see Richard flummoxed, isn't it? He says, “If you’re not a member of the Dharma Initiative, then who are you?”

Sawyer, has the perfect response:

“Did you bury the bomb?”

Sawyer provides details about the Jughead bomb, and then if that doesn’t completely befuddle Richard, Sawyer has some more ammunition:

“I also know a bald guy stumbled into your camp 20 years ago mumbling about being your leader and then poof, he disappeared. Any of that ringing a bell?” Sawyer lets that sink in for a moment. “That man’s name was John Locke, and I’m waiting for him to come back. Still think I’m a member of the Dharma Initiative?”

Richard’s convinced, but he says his people still need “some kind of justice,” so he asks Sawyer, “what are we gonna do about that?”

Apparently Richard decides that Paul’s dead body would suffice. (Just to prove to his people that they killed one of the DIs? That seemed weird to me. What does he need the body for? A Smoky sacrifice?)

Horace talks this over with Amy, and he says, “We’ve been friends for a long time…(Note: and if we were flashing ahead—which we clearly are not doing—we would know that Amy and Horace will be having a baby together in just three short years)…if you don’t want to give in to them, we’ll suffer the consequences.” (Note: Horace seems like a good guy. Just saying.)

Amy gives her consent, saying Paul “would want to keep us safe.”

This is all well and good, but it begs the question again, what did Amy and Paul do to deserve execution at the hands of the Hostiles? Did they violate the truce by leaving the perimeter? If that’s what caused this hullabaloo in the first place, and if Paul was really interested in keeping everyone safe, then what were they doing out there?!?

So after Sawyer’s dealings with Richard, Horace tells Sawyer that they don’t need to leave the next day. They can stay two weeks, which is when the sub will return again.

Sawyer shared this news with Juliet, but she’s not as thrilled as he is.

“I’ve been waiting to get off this island for three years, and now I’ve got my chance. I’m going to leave,” says Juliet.

Sawyer doesn’t want to accept this. “You realize it’s 1974, and whatever you think you’re going back to doesn’t really exist anymore.”

He goes on to say, “What about me? You really want to leave me here with the mad scientist and Mr. I-Talk-to-Dead-People. And Jin? He might be a great guy and all, but he isn’t the best conversationalist. Who’s going to get my back? Just give me two weeks; that’s all I’m asking.”
Juliet smiles and consents, “Alright, two weeks…”

And with that, we will fast-forward three years. Just this once.

We begin with two men working the night shift in a Dharma monitoring station, and they kickstarted this segment with some great quotes (you can find them below). They quickly discover that Horace is drinking—completely sloshed—and he’s hurling dynamite at trees. Which is funny, no, make that, hilarious. How often do you see mathematicians stumbling out of the jungle, drunk and hurling sticks of dynamite? Not often enough, I say.

So they go get Sawyer/Lafleur, and Sawyer and Miles go to retrieve Horace, who Sawyer refers to as their “fearless leader.”

Sawyer talks to Amy and learns that she and Horace had fought about Paul—her murdered husband now three years dead.

“Musta been a doozy,” Sawyer LaFleur says about their fight.

And then, suddenly, she’s going into labor…three weeks early.

We learned a couple things about Dharma’s history with childbirth in the days before pregnancy was fatal.

For example, the women always delivered on the mainland. (What mainland?) The sub takes the women to shore so that proper doctors can take care of them.

The obstetrician who shares these facts with LaFleur does not feel like he can perform the necessary Cesarean, so Sawyer LaFleur fetches Juliet.

(Time out: Was anyone else distracted by how clean Sawyer’s hair looks now that he’s been showering in New Otherton for three years? It was almost distracting, it looked so out of place—like a Pantene or Herbal Essences commercial or something. Or, more likely, Dharma 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner.)

Juliet is reluctant, saying that “it doesn’t work” whenever she tries to help a woman give birth on that island.” But Sawyer persuades her with some encouraging words—and his dimples and shiny hair.

(Note: Jin showed up while Juliet was helping with the delivery, and his hair looked long and pretty and sort of Pantene-commercial-ish, too. I’m just saying…Sawyer’s hair was one thing, but he’s always had long hair. But why doesn’t Jin get a haircut? They don’t have scissors in the Otherburbs?)

Jin and Sawyer speak briefly and we learn that Jin has been searching grid points to see if they can find “their people.” Nothing yet.

Jin says, “How long do we look, James?” (Note: I can’t remember Jin calling him “James” before. But maybe that’s just because “Sawyer” isn’t his name right now.)

As if he’s our new “man of faith,” Sawyer responds, “As long as it takes.”

Then Juliet emerges from the house, crying—but happy. And Sawyer is all smiles and dimples and for her. And hair.

Oh, by the way, the baby is a boy. Which frustrated me, because I expected that to be baby Charlotte (although I blame the Todd for planting this misguided theory in my head last week—and it’s clearly all his fault). But a boy? Who could that be? (My first thought: Daniel Faraday…though I’m still trying to work out those logistics…but I’m going to cling to that theory until we see Daniel again. And so far, we haven’t.)

As if we weren’t completely convinced that Head and Shoulders Sawyer is hooking up with Dr. Juliet Burke, the next scene left no doubt:

Sawyer picks a yellow flower (la fleur, for those of you who parle francais) and smells it (out in the open, for all to see!) his dimples preening for the cameras once again. (Yes, his dimples were preening. I don’t know how, but it happened.) If Sawyer had seen Hurley or Charlie Pace doing something like this for Libby or Claire, he wouldn’t have let them hear the end of it—calling them Don Juan, or Casanova, or…Romeo. (ah, how fitting.)

Sawyer carries the flower into Juliet’s house (the same one she lived in for 3 years?), where there’s wine on the table and Juliet is making dinner.

Juliet: Is that for me?
Sawyer: You were amazing today.
Juliet: Thanks for believing in me.

And then they start kissing.

Juliet: I love you.
Sawyer: I love you, too.

And then they kiss and canoodle some more…but wait a second, did Sawyer just bust out the “L” word? That’s big-time. And if I thought Sawyer was sappy four episodes ago…wow, look at him now! But actually, I don’t mind romantic, sappy Sawyer. I just didn’t like lovesick, sappy, I-miss-Kate Sawyer.

Speaking of Kate, though she wasn’t mentioned by name, we all know Sawyer was talking about her when he convinced the recently-revived Horace that one can get over someone in just three years. Amy can get over Paul, because Sawyer got over that one girl—that girl whose face he can't even remember anymore. (Right...)

But if he’s really over Kate—completely over her—then why didn’t he tell Juliet where he was going when Jin called, prompting him to leave Juliet alone in bed without an explanation:

Juliet: Who was it?
Sawyer doesn’t respond.
Juliet: James!
Sawyer: It was Jin.
Juliet: Is everything okay?
Sawyer: Yeah…but, I gotta go.

Sawyer, wearing Dharma-issue coveralls and glasses, drives a blue jeep out to meet Jin. And the van pulls up and out climbs Hurley, Jack, and…a minute later…Kate.

Sawyer takes his glasses off, and Kate swallows, showing a little dimple of her own. But Sawyer doesn’t smile now…and he doesn’t look happy (or sappy) at all. Just conflicted. Uncomfortable.

Summary:
We saw a couple of characters resorting back to familiar roles: Daniel is back to a semi-coherent smart guy who operates (both mentally and physically) somewhat separately from everyone else. Meanwhile, Sawyer is back to being a feared man in camp, although still not quite the leader (with Horace serving as Sawyer’s new “Boss”). He’s got a pretty girl by his side, and by the time Kate climbs out of the van, he has most likely found himself right smack in the middle of another love triangle—although in fairness to Jack, this situation probably necessitates a geometrical shape with more sides. Perhaps a love quadrilateral, or love rhombus. (Yes, I like the love rhombus. Methinks that fits.)

But it seems like Sawyer was so content in his Dharma world. Like he was fitting in somewhere for the first time in his life.

So how is he going to feel about the return of his friends…and Kate?

Notable Quotes:
1)
Juliet: I think it’s over. I think John did it.
Jin: Now what?
Sawyer: Now we wait for him to come back.

2)
Sawyer: Thanks for getting my back on that whole beach thing.
Juliet: You should thank me; that was a stupid plan.

3)
Sawyer: Just keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking.
Miles: You really think you can convince them we were in a boatwreck.
Sawyer: I’m a professional; I used to lie for a living.

4)
Sawyer: Sonic fence? Didn’t I say let me do the talking?
Juliet: If Daniel took another step, it would have fried his brain.
Sawyer: His brain is already fried.

5)
Miles (While Horace is in talking to Sawyer): We’re screwed. He’s probably in there trying to explain time travel right now.

6)
Jin: Daniel, no more flash?
Daniel: No, no more flash. The record is spinning again. We’re just not on the song we want to be on…

7)
Miles: Mr. LaFleur?
Sawyer: It’s Creole. I improvised.
(Note: If only I could capture Miles’ tone in these quotes.)

8)
Sawyer: Your man out there with the eyeliner, let me talk to him.

9)
Juliet: James, are you sure you know what you’re doing?
Sawyer: Not yet, but I’ll figure something out.

10)
Dharma guy (when he sees other Dharma guy dancing with a girl): Are you kidding me? I’m gone ten minutes and you’re having a hootenanny?

11)
Dharma guy: What’s going to happen, the polar bears are going to find their way out of the cages?

12)
Dharma guy: Is that a hostile?
Other Dharma guy: Is that…Horace?
Dharma guy: Oh…he’s got dynamite. This is bad.

13)
Sawyer: Our fearless leader is out blowing up trees.
Miles: Why?
Sawyer: He’s loaded.
Miles: Since when does Horace drink?
Sawyer: He doesn’t, and that’s why we’re going to keep this on the down-low.
(Note: That’s pretty admirable for Sawyer. Is he covering for Horace out of respect for the man, or to protect the Dharma community? Either way, it’s a new side of Sawyer.)

14)
Sawyer: Juliet’s in there.
Jin: Juliet?
Sawyer: I pulled her out of retirement.

15)
Sawyer: I got good news and bad news, which you want first?
Horace: Good news.
Sawyer: You’re a daddy. Bad news is you missed it.

16)
Sawyer: I had a thing for a girl once, and I had a shot at her, but I didn’t take it. For awhile I’d lay in bed every night wondering if it was a mistake, wondering if I’d never stop thinking about her. And now I can barely remember what she looks like, and her face…she’s just gone. And she ain’t never coming back. So is three years long enough to get over someone? Absolutely.

Questions:

1) Why were Richard’s men—the hostiles—killing Paul and Amy? Doesn’t this violate their truce? Or were Paul and Amy violating the truce by wandering too far from the Barracks? Does the truce involve staying inside their sonic fence?

2) Apparently some people think that “the war” to which Widmore referred is The Purge, and our characters are going to help the DI survive the purge. This is interesting, and possible. But I have a couple problems with it. First of all, Ben is on the island now. And if it’s 1977, how long will it be before Ben’s dad brings young Ben to the island? That seems impossible, doesn’t it? Young Ben and current Ben in the same place?

3) I don’t think we’ll see young Ben come to the island while Sawyer and friends are still kicking it with the Dharma crew, but if we did, I think it’d be funny to see Sawyer interact with the young kid who will one day become the Benjamin Linus who tormented them. I just realized this isn’t a question at all, and I apologize for that. Here, let me fix that: Wouldn’t that be fun?

4) So where did Horace get the dynamite? Do they have their own supply, or did he make a trek over to the slave ship he told Sawyer he didn’t know about? If he got it from the Black Rock, did he lie to Sawyer, or is that a new discovery in the last three years?

5) Charlotte’s memory of Daniel telling her, when she was a child, that she would die if she came back the island…why does she say “I remember now…” near the end of her life? Is it because something changed and her future changed? Meaning, she couldn’t remember it until Daniel showed up on the island—in the past—and tells her this? And here’s the question that really intrigues me: Can Daniel not tell her this time? Or is that an element of history that is unalterable? Something which cannot be changed?

6) Why did the Hostiles/Dharma agree to a truce in the first place? And if they can manage a truce, why can’t they just get along? Richard and Horace both seem reasonable enough, right?

7) When Ben comes to the island, is Horace the leader of the Dharma folks? It didn’t seem like it, although he did seem important. His worksuit said “Mathematician”—another reason I thought he could be Faraday’s father. (Oh, and if you’re saying, but Elosie Hawking is his mother, not Amy…then I stand by my hunch/claim that Ms. Hawking is Daniel’s adopted mother.)

8) So if Horace is with Amy, and they give birth to a son, who is this Olivia Goodspeed he's with on the day of Benjamin Linus' birth? Back when they're driving outside Portland when Ben's dad carries his dying wife and newborn baby to the roadside where Horace and Olivia try to help them? I had assumed Olivia was his wife... (a quick lostpedia check revealed that Ben was born in the early 1960's, so it was a little over a decade ago that Horace was with an Olivia Goodspeed. Hmmm.) Olivia would later serve as Ben's teacher. So she's with Horace before Ben comes to the island, and she's still on the island once Ben is there, so it seems like she should be there now? But what's her connection to Horace? Any insights? (Note: Olivia's last name hasn't been revealed on the show, but ABC's website referred to her as Olivia Goodspeed, according to lostpedia.)

9) Richard always baffles me. But in 1974, Richard not only looks the same as he will 30 years later, but he's even dressed similarly. Yet just a few years after this, when Ben meets Richard in the woods, he's dressed a lot differently—more like a hippie. Why?

10) And a question dating back to the previous episode, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"...when we see Ben seeing Locke and Abaddon after Locke's heart to heart with Walt, Ben is dressed nicely. Wearing a tie, I'm pretty sure. If he found Locke because he had someone watching Sayid, he wouldn't have put on a tie to come spy on John. And I don't think LOST is careless enough to dress Ben up for no reason. So he must have been dressed up and in New York for something...but what?

11) By the end of this episode, it should be 1977, right? Three years after Sawyer said it was 1974. If Ben was born in the early 60's (lostpedia tells me its true), then shouldn't he be on the island by now? If not, he must be coming really, really soon...right?

12) Didn't Widmore tell Locke that Ben tricked him (Widmore) into leaving the island? So if Ben's not on the island yet, then Widmore still should be, right? Although, he'd be in Richard's camp, not in camp with the Dharma folk. How much do you want to bet that Ben and Widmore were once good friends? I don't want to bet anything, but I wonder...

13) This probably means nothing, but remember back in the day when the Others gave Michael a list of four names—and he was instructed to bring all of them to the Others? When this episode ended, who were the four standing and staring at each other?

—Thanks for Reading

The War is Coming

2009-02-26T01:36:00.009-05:00

LOST loves to make us wait for answers, and this year, it took 7 excruciating episodes for the show to answer the biggest question raised by last season’s finale: “What happened to John Locke?”

And it was worth the wait. Let’s recap…

Season 5—Episode 7: “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”

This episode begins on the sidekick island. Caesar—quickly emerging as a new leader—is rifling through things when Ilana finds him and shares this disturbing news:

“We found a man who wasn’t on the plane.” And then she adds, “He was wearing a suit and standing in the water.”

For a moment, silly me, I thought she was talking about Christian Shephard. But no, this is John Locke’s episode, and sure enough, it’s Locke staring wistfully across the water at the island (his island, perhaps).

Almost in passing, Locke and Ilana talk about the outrigger canoes. Ilana tells him there were three of them, but the pilot and a woman took off in one of them. (Lapidus and Sun, I presume—instead of “I presume,” I wanted to say “methinks,” but a certain woman pointed out that I’ve used this Shakespearean word in a couple of my recent posts, and shethinks I’ve taken a liking to it. Even though she’s right, I don’t want to admit it…so methinks I will “presume” from now on.)

(Twenty-Second Timeout: So if Frank and Sun took one of the outriggers, we haven’t seen that one yet this season. But we did see the other two outriggers at the old camp (safe to assume Locke led this crew there, no?), where Sawyer, Juliet, and the others stole one of them…so, if we want to try to keep things straight, I think we can assume Sawyer’s crew has one of the outriggers, Frank and Sun have one, and other is with Locke, or maybe Caesar…)

It’s interesting to note that Caesar and Ilana seem to have immediately taken charge. Then again, what else should we expect from a “Caesar”? I still contend that Caesar is working for Widmore (but if that were true, I’d think he would know what Benjamin Linus looks like…and at the end of this episode, I’m not sure he did). When Caesar came to meet John Locke, I thought I noticed Sayid in the background. If that’s true, then I’m wondering why he’s letting these two newcomers (are they newcomers to the island, or homecomers?) take command. Sayid seems like the natural leader (well, and Locke, of course)…but then again, we still don’t know how Sayid ended up in Ilana’s custody or why he ended up getting on that plane in the first place. So I’ll hold off on any Sayid-related assumptions until those questions are answered.

Like most of this season’s episodes, this one was rife with significant conversations, starting with this one:

Ilana: Nobody remembers you being on the plane.
Locke: I don’t remember it either.
Ilana: What do you remember?
Locke: I remember a lot.
Ilana: Like why you’re dressed up so nice?
Locke: No, I don’t remember that. But I can guess.
Ilana: So what do you remember.
Locke (pauses): I remember dying.

And then we flash back (not one of the island’s time flashes, but a typical LOST-storytelling flashback) back to the moment when Locke turned that underground wheel, back—finally—to the storyline we’ve been waiting for all season.

And right away, a question is answered for us: after turning the wheel Locke ends up on his back in the Tunisian desert—in a place very similar to the place (if not the exact location) where Ben landed after turning the wheel, and in the same country where Charlotte once found the skeleton of a polar bear wearing a Dharma tag.

John sees a camera watching him, but he lies unmoving in the desert until four men come and procure him, hauling him away in their pickup. The men take him to a doctor, and just before the doctor breaks (or sets) Locke’s leg, Locke notices Abaddon standing in the background.

After Locke regains consciousness, we see someone new sitting by his side:

Widmore: It’s nice to see you again, John.
John: Do I know you?
Widmore: I met you when I was 17, now all these years later, here we are. You look exactly the same…My name is Charles Widmore.

Widmore: Tell me, John, how long has it been since we met, since you walked into our camp and talked to Richard.
John: 4 days.
Widmore: Incredible.

(Note: This conversation moved much too fast for me to capture everything, but what follows are the snippets I managed to record.)

Widmore: I was afraid Benjamin might fool you into leaving the island like he did with me.

Widmore: I was their leader.
John: The Others?
Widmore: They’re not “The Others” to me.

--Widmore claims that Ben “exiled” him.
--We learn that it’s Widmore’s camera monitoring the spot where John appeared in the desert. And Widmore refers to this location as “the exit.”

John: Ben was already gone when I left. I chose to leave.
Widmore: So you came to bring them back. Those who left?
John: No.
Widmore: I understand you’re lying to me, but there’s something you should know. Your friends who left the island have been back for 3 years, and none of them have spoken a word of truth about where they’ve been.

John: I have to bring them back.
Widmore: And I’m going to do everything in my power to help you do that.
John: Why?
Widmore: Because there’s a war coming, John. And if you’re not back on the island when that happens, the wrong side is going to win. (Note: So there’s a war a-coming, eh? I’ll have more to say on that later…)

Other notes on the fundamental (or so it seemed) exchange between Widmore and Locke:

Widmore gives Locke the whereabouts of the O6.
Locke: You’ve been watching them?
Widmore: I’m very invested in the future of the island.

Widmore: I wouldn’t mention that I’m involved in this. No doubt your people won’t think very much of me after listening to Benjamin Linus’ lies?
Locke: How do I know you’re not the one who’s lying.
Widmore: I haven’t tried to kill you. Can you say the same for him?
Locke: No, you’re the one who sent a freighter to the island…something—they were talking too fast—something…C4…
Widmore: I needed Linus removed so you could replace him.
John: What makes you think I’m so special?
Widmore: Because you are.

Locke: He said I would die.
Widmore: I beg your pardon?
Locke: Richard said the only way I could get them to come back would be if I died.
Widmore: I don’t know why he said that. I’m not going to let that happen. (Note: Do we believe him? My gut tells me yes, but my gut might really be telling me to go get a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It can be really tough to interpret at times…)

--Abaddon is definitely working with/for Widmore (Let me pat myself on the back for a moment—ah, it feels good to be right every now and then)
--Abaddon is going to be Locke’s driver, and once again, Locke must allow Abaddon to push him in a wheelchair

Abaddon: The whole world thinks you’re dead. There must be someone who’d be happy to see you.
Locke: Please don’t talk to me. (Note: This was an odd response, I thought.)

With Abaddon escorting him, Locke visits Sayid, Walt, Hurley, Kate, and eventually a grave where his old girlfriend, Helen, is buried. Locke asked each of them (Walt being the exception...well, and Helen too, I suppose) to come back to the island. They all said no. Adamantly. Here’s the brief overview of each exchange.

Sayid—Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Sayid is building houses—or, in his words, doing “some real good.”

Sayid: You actually want me to go back?
Sayid: I’m not going back.
Sayid: For two years I was manipulated into thinking I was protecting everyone on the island. So who’s manipulating you, John? (Note: That question might be worth remembering.)

Sayid: Why do you really need to go back? Is it just because you have nowhere else to go?
Sayid: And if you change your mind, you’re welcome to come back here and do some real good.

Walt—New York City

Locke: You don’t look surprised to see me.
Walt: I’ve been having dreams about you. You’re on the island wearing a suit, and there are a lot of people around you. And they’re trying to hurt you, Mr. Locke.
Locke: Then it’s a good thing they’re just dreams.

Walt: So why’d you come to see me?
Locke: I just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay.

Ah, and here we have our brief feel-good moment from tonight’s episode. I think this was our official goodbye to Walt Lloyd. I don’t think he really fits into the storyline (not to mention the fact that he no longer looks like his part in the storyline), but the show couldn’t leave him dangling like a loose end (not to be confused with the “loose end” that Ben took care of in last week’s episode). So they showed us a happy Walt—which is more than I had expected from a boy who lost his mother, then lost his father (but not until after his father revealed that he killed a couple people to help his son escape from some crazy “others” on an uncharted and magical island where monsters and polar bears exist…yeah, I’d say a smiling and seemingly well-adjusted Walt ain’t too shabby, all things considered.) And the writers did a nice job throwing in that bit about how Walt is having dreams of Locke on a beach, wearing a suit, while people want to kill him. Not only does that foreshadow the “coming war” we just learned about, but it also reminds us that Walt does have some special powers. It’s as if the show said, “Oh yeah, Walt still has unique abilities, and he always will…but it’s really not that relevant anymore….so just enjoy the fact that he’s growing up like a normal kid (somehow) and then turn your attention back to the story at hand.” And I was okay with that.

Then, as Locke prepared to leave:

Abaddon: I take it you didn’t invite him along.
Locke: He’s been through enough.
Abaddon: That’s 0 for 2, Mr. Locke. I might be mistaken, but I was under the impression that you had to bring them all back.
Locke: I only have to convince one. And the rest will follow. And I was under the impression that you were just my driver.

Oh, and if you were still picturing Walt’s smiling face and harboring those happy thoughts, go ahead and kiss those good vibes goodbye. Because as Abaddon and Locke get back in the car, we see Ben standing in the street watching them. And he isn’t smiling.

Hurley—Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute

Oh, Hurley. You never fail to make me laugh.

Hurley, not surprisingly, thinks Locke is dead. He has to ask a nurse, “Excuse me, am I talking to a dude in a wheelchair right now?” When the nurse casually responds, “Yep,” then good old Hurley freaks out. But it’s just a mini freak out, for now.

Hurley starts telling Locke that he doesn’t think any of the Oceanic 6 will want to go back. He says they have lives now. Jack’s a doctor. Sun has her kid. Kate has Aaron…and then he notices Abaddon standing across the way:

Hurley: Uh-oh, don’t look. We’re being watched.
Locke (looks): Oh, it’s fine. He’s with me. He’s okay.
Hurley: That dude is far from okay. That dude showed up saying he worked for Oceanic Air. He’s evil.

And with that, Hurley freaks out. But this time it’s a full-sized freak out. He screams for the nurse and says he doesn’t want to talk anymore, leaving Locke alone on the lawn, sitting helplessly in his wheelchair.

Abaddon didn’t have any words of encouragement for Locke, either: “That’s three visits now. You might want to step up your game, or we’re all in serious trouble.”

Kate—Los Angeles

What a strange exchange between Kate and Locke…

Kate: Have you ever been in love, John? I think about you sometimes. I think about how desperate you were to stay on that island. And I think that’s because you don’t love anybody, John.
Locke says he did love someone…talks about Helen…”it just didn’t work out.”
Kate: Why not John?
John: I was angry. I was obsessed.
Kate: Look how far you’ve come. (Note: If this comment was supposed to be sincere, it didn’t sound that way to me. It sounded like Kate was putting Locke in his place—whatever place that might be—and it just seemed, I don’t know, cold. Ruthless.)

I definitely think it’s odd that Kate was so quick to talk to Locke about being in love. It made me wonder whom Kate loves. Jack? Sawyer? That guy she killed a long time ago, the one whose airplane was in the safety deposit box? I wonder if this exchange wasn’t inserted to help reestablish the love triangle between Jack and Kate and Sawyer. The preview for next week’s episode also gave me that idea.

As they’re leaving Kate’s place, Locke confronts Abaddon about his inability to find Helen Norwood. Locke finds it hard to believe that Abaddon is truly unable to find her, and then we learn why he’s been unsuccessful…

Helen—Santa Monica, CA

Locke (reads her tombstone): What happened to her?
Abaddon: She died of a brain aneurysm. I’m very sorry, Mr. Locke.

Abaddon: Helen is where she’s supposed to be. As sad as it is, her path led her here. And your path…leads back to the island.
Locke: You make it sound like it’s inevitable.
Abaddon refers to the Locke’s death and asks if that’s inevitable…
Locke: You think I want to die? How could you think that’s a choice?
Abaddon: I’m just a driver…

Locke gets in the car, and then blood spatters the rear window behind his head.

The camera cuts to a different angle, and we see Abaddon take a slug in the chest. As Abaddon is collapsing on the back of the car, obviously dying, Locke climbs into the front seat and drives away…but he drives like a maniac (as if someone is trying to kill him, or something) and as he flies through an intersection, he gets blasted by a car.

In the next scene, Locke is back in a familiar location: yet another hospital bed. (If Locke believed in luck, I’m sure he’d swear he had the worst luck in the world.)

And just like earlier in this episode, when Locke comes to, he finds someone sitting beside him. Instead of Widmore, this time it’s Jack.

Jack: What are you doing here?
Locke: Jack, how’d you find me?
Jack: You were in a car accident and you were brought into my hospital. What are you doing here?
Locke: We have to go back.
Jack: Of course we do.
Jack: Because it’s our destiny. How many times are you going to tell me that?
Locke: Somebody is trying to kill me. They don’t want me to get back, because I’m important.
Jack: Have you ever stopped to think that maybe these delusions that you’re special aren’t real? Maybe there’s nothing important about you at all. Maybe you’re just a lonely old man who crashed on an island. That’s it. Goodbye, John.

But before Jack walks out of the hospital room:

Locke: Your father says hello…
Jack: My father is dead.
Locke: He didn’t look dead to me. (Note: This made me wonder if Christian knew this is what it would take to convince Jack.)

Locke: You have to convince the others to go back. You’re the only one who can help me. You’re supposed to help me.
Jack: We left. We were never important. You leave me alone. (Note: “We were never important”? What an odd thing for Jack to say…unless he knows it’s not true. Unless he feels like they are important, and he’s trying to deny that impulse.)

After Jack refused to go with him, in the next scene, Locke is stringing up a noose for himself.

But in his darkest hour...bursting through the door like a superhero, never fear yada yada yada, Benjamin Linus is here!

Locke is standing on a table with an electrical wire noose looped around his bald noggin, and he can only stare googly-eyed at Ben and his equally googly eyes.

Ben: What are you doing? John, please, stop!
Locke: How did you find me?
Ben: I had a man watching Sayid. I’m watching all of them. Keeping them safe. (Note: Really?)
Locke: Get away from me!
Ben: I’m trying to protect you.
Locke: Protect me? …You shot him. You killed Abaddon.
Ben: Yes, I did. (he goes on to claim that Abaddon would have killed Locke…but I don’t believe this)
Ben: He’s working for Widmore, and he’s extremely dangerous.
Locke: No, he helped me.
Ben: No, he used you. (Note: At this point, I didn’t know who to believe. I still don’t.)
Ben: You can’t do this. If anything happens to you…you have no idea how important you are. Let me help you.
Locke: There’s no helping me. I’m a failure.
Ben: No, John. You’re not.
Locke: I am! I couldn’t get any of them. I couldn’t get a single one to go back with me.
Ben: Jack booked a ticket…to Sydney tonight….whatever you said to him, it worked. If you can get Jack, you can get the rest of them…John, you can’t die. You’ve got too much work to do. And we’ve got to get you back to the island so you can do it…
Ben: Please, John. Come down… (Note: Wow, Ben seems so caring. Well, almost.)

Ben: You haven’t even been to Sun yet. Let’s start with her.
Locke: No, I promised Jin I wouldn’t bring her back.
Ben: Jin’s alive? (He looks genuinely shocked.) (Note: Does this change anything for Ben?)

Ben: Once we can get them all in the same place, I don’t know where we can go from there, but we’ll figure something out.
Locke: There’s a woman here in Los Angeles. She shouldn’t be that hard to find. Her name is Eloise Hawking.
Ben: Eloise Hawking?
Locke: Yes, Eloise Hawking. Why, you know her?
Ben: Yes, John. …and then, as if Ben only needed John to live long enough to spill Ms. Hawking’s name and whereabouts, Ben grabs the electrical wire and brutally strangles Locke. (Note: Remember when Ben shot Locke, but Locke didn’t die? Remember when Michael tried to kill himself, but “the island wasn’t done with him yet”? Well, apparently, this time, the island was okay with Locke’s demise.)

Ben strung Locke up to make it look like a suicide…and then he noticed Jin’s ring, and he pocketed it for later use.

But before he shut the door on Locke, Ben uttered these bizarre words: “I’ll miss you, John. I really will.”

(Note: I was so convinced that Ben was lying when he told Jack that he didn’t know that Locke had killed himself. But apparently, he wasn’t lying. He didn’t know that Locke killed himself because he knew that Locke hadn’t.)

The episode ends back on the sidekick island (I think I might try to coin that phrase, too). Caesar is reading something in a Dharma notebook, and John walks into the building (whatever building it is) and starts telling him a little bit about the Dharma Initiative. This conversation follows:

Locke: I spent more than 100 days on this island; I know a lot.
Caesar: So when we crashed, you were already here?
Locke: No
Caesar: When did you leave?
Locke: To be honest, the timing would confuse you.

Caesar talks about Hurley, the “really big guy with curly hair," disappearing during the flight. Caesar mentions the bright light, and says, “and that big guy was gone.” Then he asks, “So, Mr. John Locke, do you have any idea about what happened?
John: I think I might have an idea about how I came to be here.

Then Caesar refers to others who disappeared and mentions “those who got hurt.”

John, obviously, wants to see those who were hurt during the flight. So Caesar takes him to what appears to be a makeshift infirmary, and lying asleep on a cot, his arms wrapped around his chest and vivid cuts still apparent on his face, is Benjamin Linus.

Summary:

Locke:
This episode was good. But it was a mess. I can’t help but feel sorry for John Locke. He’s definitely being manipulated, by either Ben or Widmore. My guess is both. And Locke has to wonder if there might be some truth to the scathing comments from Kate (“I think about how desperate you were to stay on that island. And I think that’s because you don’t love anybody, John.”), Sayid (“Why do you really need to go back? Is it just because you have nowhere else to go?”), and Jack (“Maybe there’s nothing important about you at all. Maybe you’re just a lonely old man who crashed on an island.”). As viewers, I think we have to wonder about these statments, too.

Sure, Richard Alpert, Benjamin Linus, and Charles Widmore have all told Locke that he’s special. But is he special, or do they know he’s just gullible enough, hopeful enough, and maybe even crazy enough to do whatever they need him to do. Maybe what Desmond said last week is right after all; maybe they (we’ll leave this “they” ambiguous for now, since that’s less confusing than trying to define who the players are at this point) are playing some kind of game and they’re using our characters—Locke included—as the pieces.

Widmore:
After Locke arrives in Tunisia, Widmore offers him a brief synopsis of Island History 101, which was just great. I’ve been dying to know those things: Widmore was the leader of the hostiles/others, Ben tricked him, Ben exiled him…yada, yada…so that’s what happened!

But there’s a problem. We have no idea if any word of this is true. My suspicion: Widmore’s lying. This is just a hunch, but I think Widmore wanted control of the island, but I don’t think he ever had it. Maybe he and Ben were in a power struggle, and maybe Ben tricked him into exile. So maybe he thinks everything Ben has is rightfully his, maybe he believes Ben “took it from him” (which he said in a previous episode), but I have a feeling that’s debatable.

Ben:
So now that we know Ben killed Locke, we can assume he’s the evil one, right? Widmore is the good guy, and Ben is the bad guy. (I know at least one viewer—not me—who is trying very hard to draw clear-cut lines of right vs. wrong…) So is Ben clearly a bad guy?

My thoughts: No, not anymore than he was before. Sure, he killed Abaddon. But maybe Abaddon really is evil (as Hurley said, by the way). And yeah, he killed Locke. But Ben’s also the one who made sure Locke’s body made it back to the island. Ben was the one who met Jack at the Funeral Parlor, and he was the one who insisted that they “bring him, too.”

So even though the strangling seems pretty brutal, Ben’s motives could conceivably be decent this time. (Oh, probably not…but they could be.) When he shot Locke in his kidney hole and left him to die in the Dharma Death Pit…that was cold-blooded.

Right vs. Wrong
I mentioned the viewer, who will remain anonymous, who seems to want things to fit nicely into categories of good/evil and right/wrong. One aspect of LOST that has been fascinating to me is the ambiguous source of evil. A lot of people have died. And traced to the root, those deaths must surely stem from evil, right? Somewhere, there is a bad guy. Bad guys, probably. But that’s so open to interpretation right now. We think the survivors of Oceanic 815 are “good guys,” but that’s only because we watched their stories unfold first. Half of them killed people before coming to the island, and now, they’re all killing people. Every person on the island has adopted an “Us vs. Them” mentality, and on that island, no one preaches love or forgiveness. Instead, it’s “We were here first!” and “They took my boy!” and “This is our island!” and “You changed the rules!” and “it was a sacrifice the island demanded” and it never ends.

Ben and Widmore are certainly opposing forces. But that doesn’t mean either one of them is a “good guy.” And it’s this ambiguity, the unanswered “who is justified in all this?” question, that makes this show complex…and, well, good.

But eventually, as we have a little over a season and a half to go, we’re going to need a clear-cut “bad guy,” so to speak. Regardless of whether or not they’re “good guys,” we’ll always cheer for our Oceanic Survivors (most of them, anyway), but eventually we’ll need to know who their opposition is…and now that they’re back on the island, they’re going to need some clear objectives, too. In the past, they were focused on getting off the island. Now, Jack and friends are going to need a new mission…

Now if only there were a war to fight, or something…

“There’s a war coming, John…”
Widmore says a war is coming, but I think he’s wrong. I think the war’s already begun. The opposing forces are murky, but it certainly felt like this episode was a war for John Locke. A war between Widmore and Ben. A war between Locke’s faith and the doubts of others. A war between Locke’s belief that he’s special and his insecurities. And, just below the surface, where it has been for five seasons now, bubbling up and into view often enough, is an ongoing war between fate and free will.

Does free will exist? Does fate exist? Can one defeat the other? Does it matter? Not without stakes, and there are certainly stakes here. We don’t know what they are yet, but we will. Before this war is over, we’ll know.

May the good guys win…whoever they might be.

Notable Quotes:

1) Abaddon: I help people get to where they need to get to, John. That’s what I do for Mr. Widmore.

2) Abaddon: So that’s Michael Dawson’s son, huh? Boy’s gotten big. (Note: Ha.)

3) Locke: Jeremy Bentham?
Widmore: He was a British philosopher. Your parents had a sense of humor when they named you; why can’t I?

4) Caesar: You know him?
Locke: Yeah. He’s the man who killed me.

Prevailing Questions:

1) Do we care that Abaddon died? (Note: I didn’t, but Barbie did. I didn’t trust him, so I didn’t mind having him eliminated. But Barbie liked his character, so she was sad to see him go. I’m curious about how others felt.)

2) Ben has mentioned a couple of times now that he’s been doing everything he can to keep those on the island—and the Oceanic 6 back home—safe. Sayid just mentioned that he had been manipulated into thinking his work (presumably the murders he committed) had been done to protect his friends. So has Ben really helped keep them safe? Was that why he gave Sayid a hit-list? (My guess is no, but if the answer is yes, then why does Sayid think he’s been manipulated?)

3) Has Caesar been to the island before? What about Ilana? Why was Caesar on the flight?

4) It seemed like Ben was surprised to learn that Eloise Hawking was in L.A. If he didn’t know she was there, then does that mean that Ms. Hawking might be better-connected to Widmore? After all, Widmore gave Desmond her address…but then again, I suppose Widmore could have just had her followed. He seems to enjoy doing that.

5) How did Christian Shephard know to tell Locke to find Eloise Hawking?

6) Was Locke unconscious for a long time after the doctor fixed his leg? If not, then how did Widmore get to Tunisia so quickly? More importantly, how did Abaddon know to be there when Locke was carried to the doctor’s? (Note: I suppose they left Locke lying in the desert for awhile, so I guess that gave them some time to get there.)

7) When Ben arrived in Tunisia, he fought off a couple guys (with that handy telescopic steel baton—which is much more sinister than it sounds) who approached him with guns. At the time, I thought these were just your run-of-the-mill desert mercenaries who happened to find a stranger on their turf, but since we know that Widmore has a camera trained on that “exit,” does that mean those gun-toting men were Widmore’s guys?

Oh, there are still so many other questions, but I’ll go ahead and quit now.

—Thanks for Reading

The Ajira 8

2009-02-19T01:22:00.007-05:00

Well, LOST made a liar out of me. Instead of airing “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” this week, the producers decided to run “316” first. According to Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, these two episodes are pretty much interchangeable, but I think it’s interesting that they chose to switch the order so close to the date it actually aired. Probably means nothing, but it’s interesting.

So let’s get this recap party started, shall we?

Season 5—Episode 6: “316”

“316” was more dialogue than action, and it seemed like every other line of dialogue was oozing with importance.

So where to begin? I suppose we might as well start with the opening of this episode.

We begin with a familiar scene: Jack on his back in the jungle. But immediately we can see that this is different. And he has a scrap of paper that says “I wish,” but the rest of the message is missing.

He runs through the jungle, comes to a waterfall, and dives into the pool below to help Hurley—who is floundering around in the water with a guitar case—and then he swims over to Kate’s body, which they find on the rocks. She’s fine…

But I’m wondering what in the world is going on. Is this real? Is it a dream?

And then, Kate says, “Are we?”

And Jack answers her question and ours, “Yeah, we’re back.”

Kate: What happened?

And then the image fades to black, and we see: “46 hours earlier.”

Summing up what happened in those 46 hours could be quite an endeavor, but I’m hoping to make this post a little more concise than the recent ones. So I’m going to highlight a lot of snippets, and I’ll do my best not to elaborate on everything.

One observation: When Eloise Hawking told Ben and the others that those present would “have to do for now,” did you see the look she gave Jack? I felt like that look said, “It will do, as long as Jack’s here.”

The LA-laboratory hidden beneath the church is the final (I think it’s the last one) Dharma station. The name? The Lamppost. As Doc Jensen mentioned in his column on EW yesterday, this is a pretty obvious reference to The Chronicles of Narnia.

Eloise Hawking tells us a few details about The Lamppost, including the ambiguous statement, “this is how they found the island.” Who the “they” is, I don’t know. Supposedly it was constructed over a pocket of electromagnetic energy, which is “connected to other pockets,” but “those who built it only cared about the island.”
(At a later date, I might want to spend more time thinking about those “other pockets” that we’re ignoring at the moment.)

Eloise goes on to say this, “Then a very clever fellow built this pendulum on the notion that they should stop looking for where it was supposed to be but where it was going to be…the island was always moving…why do you think you were never rescued?” (“clever fellow”—that’s another item I’ll revisit, I’m sure.)

And this: “They used formulas to determine where the island is going to be…in time.” And she explains that there are windows of time when they can predict where the island will be.

And this, too: “These windows don’t stay open very long. Yours closes in 36 hours.”

And this is when Desmond has had enough of the mumbo-jumbo Ms. Hawking is selling.

Desmond: I don’t believe this! You’re all going back to the island? Willingly?

I wasn’t able to keep up with the entire exchange, but I think I caught the highlights.

Desmond: I came here to deliver a message. Consider the message delivered.
Eloise Hawking: I’m sorry to tell you this, Desmond, but the island isn’t done with you yet.

Desmond to Jack: These people are using us. They’re playing some kind of game, and we’re just the pieces. Whatever she tells you to do, ignore it. (Note: In my character overview of Desmond Hume earlier this week, I think I suggested this exact idea.)

Desmond to Eloise Hawking: You said the island’s not done with me? Well, I’m done with the island.

I was also intrigued by Ms. Hawking’s non-reaction when Desmond announced that she is Daniel Faraday’s mother. I don’t know what kind of response I was hoping for. Maybe an acknowledgment of some kind, like a head nod. (Or maybe she could have at least corrected him by saying “adopted mother.” Since that would have confirmed my hunch, even though it probably doesn’t matter.)

Eloise Hawking tells them they need to be on the Ajira Airways Flight 316, and she says, “You all need to be on it.” For some reason, I didn’t take this literally. And yet, before the episode ended, there they were, seated neatly on the plane. (All except Desmond and Aaron, that is.)

And here’s the catch, according to Eloise: “If you want to return, you need to re-create as best you can, the circumstances that brought you there.”

Jack: We just get on that flight and we hope that it works? That’s all?
EH: No, that’s not all, Jack…at least not for you.

She takes Jack into a private room, saying what she has to tell them doesn’t concern Ben and Sun. In the room, she gives Jack a envelope containing John Locke’s suicide note. We also learn from Ms. Hawking that John hanged himself.

And then she reveals what might be the most important news:

EH: John is going to be a proxy, a substitute.
Jack: A proxy, for who?
EH: Jack, who do you think?

My money is on Jacob, just as Christian has been “speaking on his behalf.” Of course, I wouldn’t dare put much money on this. After all, this is LOST.

Eloise Hawking tells Jack to get something that belonged to his father and give it to John. (So maybe John’s going to be a proxy for Christian, not Jacob…and see already, I’m glad I wasn’t putting much money on Jacob.)

Jack, alone with Ben, makes the mistake of asking the former leader of the Others a direct question. Or maybe it’s just a mistake to expect a straight—and honest—answer. (And I’m sure the writers have a lot of fun with this, because this question, like some others Ben doesn’t answer directly, is one that viewers are itching to have resolved.)

Jack: who is she? Why is she helping us? How does she know all this?

Ben’s response says nothing about Eloise Hawking. Instead, he begins talking about the apostle Thomas. He talks about how Thomas is best remembered for doubting Jesus’ resurrection.

Ben: He just couldn’t wrap his mind around the resurrection. Legend has it, he even needed to touch the wounds to be convinced.
Jack: Was he?
Ben: Of course he was. We’re all convinced sooner or later, Jack.

Wow, that just seemed to be dripping with insinuation, didn’t it?

Then the enigmatic Mr. Linus tells Jack he’s off on a mission to fulfill a promise he made “to an old friend,” saying it’s just “a loose end that needs tying up.” (I have a suspicion about this errand of his, and if you read nothing else, scroll down to the bottom and read this thought—it’s the last question I ask. And for once, I hope I’m wrong.)

And then we have the episode where Jack gets his dad’s shoes from his grandpa Ray. Seem a little unnecessary to anyone else? Why couldn’t Jack just go to his mom’s house to get something that belonged to his dad? My answer: Because the writers needed to introduce Jack’s granddad because he’ll be important later. (I like the way this corresponds with my analysis of Jack Shephard, which I’ll post in my next Character Overview.)

For now, I’ll just highlight the eyebrow-raising elements of this encounter:

--Jack’s granddad has tried to run away from that (nursing home?) four times.
--Granddad Ray says, “One of these times, I’m going to get away. And they’re not going to find me, either.”
--A chunk of dialogue that might mean nothing:
Jack: I think I might be going away for awhile.
Ray: Where is ‘away’ exactly?
Jack: Somewhere better than here.
Ray: Touche.

So then Jack goes home, and he finds Kate in his bed. Which leads to this beguiling exchange:

Kate: Are you still going back to the island?
Jack: Yeah, I think I am.
Kate: Then I’m going with you?
Jack: Kate, what happened? Where’s Aaron?
Kate: If you want me to go with you, you’ll never ask me that question again. You’ll never ask about Aaron. Do you understand that, Jack?
Jack: yes
(Then they make out)

(My thoughts on Aaron are included in the questions at the end of this post.)

The next morning, Ben calls Jack. We see that Ben is calling from a dock or a wharf, and he’s bloody. “I’ve been sidetracked,” Ben says. So he sends Jack to pick up Locke’s coffin from Simon’s butcher shop.

Once there, Jack puts his dad’s shoes on Locke’s feet. And he takes the unopened envelope containing Locke’s suicide note, and he puts it in Locke’s jacket, saying, “I’ve already heard everything you had to say, John. You wanted me to go back, I’m going back.” (Jack gets this note back after the flight crew searched the coffin and found the envelope with Jack’s name on it.)

“Rest in peace,” Jack adds as he closes the coffin lid.

And now they’re ready to fly to Guam…or ready to board a flight headed for Guam, anyway. Jack’s there, with Locke’s coffin in tow. Kate’s there. And Sun. And Sayid (in handcuffs, escorted by a woman with a badge?). Then we see Hurley. And finally Ben—with his arm in a sling and fresh cuts still apparent on his face.

When Ben strolled onto the plane, Hurley just about went apoplectic.

Hurley: Wait! No! What’s he doing here? No one told me he was going to be here…
Ben: Who told you to be here, Hugo?

And with that Hurley shut up.

And then the episode ended with two more twists.

The first twist: Frank Lapidus is the pilot. I guess this answers my question from last week, when I wondered when we were going to see ol’ Frank again. He looks different without his beard, but it’s good to see him, nonetheless.

The second twist came after the plane crash (“flash” might be a more accurate description), after we relived the opening sequence with Jack, Hurley, and Kate. The three of them hear a van approaching, music blaring. We see it’s a Dharma van—but it doesn’t look rundown like the van Hurley used to play demolition derby with the bodies of a couple Others. The van stops, and out steps a gun-toting man in full Dharma gear. They all look at him, and then Hurley says, “Jin?”

Summary:
This was a fun episode. Watching the characters get ready to embark on another flight, getting in position for another plane crash, it was just fun. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I even felt a little bit excited—the way one feels before they embark on a vacation. I guess I’m just happy to see our 815-ers reuniting.

Observations:
1) We have our Ajira 8:

Jack
Sayid
Hurley
Kate
Sun
Ben
Frank
Locke
(But no Desmond or Aaron)

2) I know it’s been a few years now, but when the Oceanic Six first made it back to the States, they were widely-recognized figures. Wouldn’t it have raised some flags for someone—the flight crew, other people on the flight, or people at the airport—when they’re all boarding the same flight, but not sitting together (even though they obviously know one another)? Well, if they didn’t notice and think it was odd before, I suppose they probably will when those characters disappear after another plane trip together…

3) Frank Lapidus seemed to have no idea that they were headed back to the island. So he, for one, didn’t know they would be going back.

4) The actress who plays Eloise Hawking was cast perfectly…just like Locke and Ben. I thought her performance in “316” was stellar.

Notable Quotes:
1)
Ben claims he didn’t know about The Lamppost, which prompts the following exchange...
Jack, to Ms. Hawking: Is he telling the truth?
Eloise Hawking: Probably not.

2)
Jack: This is ridiculous.
Eloise Hawking: Oh, stop thinking about how ridiculous this is, and start asking yourself whether you think it’s going to work. That’s why it’s called a ‘leap of faith,’ Jack.

3)
Frank Lapidus: Is that Sayid? … Wait a second …We’re not going to Guam, are we?

4)
Hurley: Those seats aren’t open; I bought those seats—all 78 of them are mine.
Attendant: These people just want to reach their destination. Why wouldn’t you want them to be on this flight?
Hurley: It doesn’t matter why. Just let them take the next flight…

5)
Jack: The other people on this plane…what’s going to happen to them?
Ben: Who cares?

6)
Jack: Don’t you think it means something? We’re all on the same plane, together.
Kate: We’re on the same plane, Jack. That doesn’t mean we’re together.

7) Locke’s “suicide note”:

Jack,

I wish you had believed.

--J.L.

8)
Kate: The plane…where’s the plane?
Jack: Do either of you remember crashing?
Hurley: No…

9)
During the flight, Ben’s reading Ulysses, by James Joyce
Jack: How can you read?
Ben: My mother taught me.
(Note: Not only was this funny, it was also a lie. We know that Ben’s mother died during childbirth, and there’s no way Ben was that fast of a learner.)

10)
Jack: What is going to happen?
Ben: You tell me, Jack. You’re the one that got to stay after school with Ms. Hawking.

11)
Jack: Did you know that Locke killed himself?
Ben: No, I didn’t, Jack.
(Note: I think this is a lie)

12)
Jack: I feel like John needs me to read it.
Ben: Why don’t you then? Is it because you’re afraid?
Jack: Afraid of what?
Ben: Afraid that he blames you. Afraid that it’s because of you that he killed himself.
Jack: It wasn’t my fault.
Ben: No, Jack, it wasn’t your fault…I’m going to give you some privacy. (It seems like Ben wants Jack to read it…and I think Ben knows what it says, too.)

Questions that left me baffled:
1) Eloise Hawking referred at least twice to the “clever man” who built the pendulum in The Lamppost. Who is this “clever man”?
(Note:I have a feeling it’ll be someone we know, but right now, I can’t fathom who it might be.)

2) Eloise Hawking also referred to "other pockets" of energy, but where are these other pockets? And are they relevant?
(Note: I suspect the locations of these other pockets would be more interesting than relevant. If I had to guess, I'd throw out at least one option: the house where Isaac of Uluru lives—where Bernard took Rose hoping she'd be healed.)

3) Why is Sayid in police custody?
(Note: I wanted to come up with a theory here, but nothing seems to make sense. Even if he’d been arrested for something, why would they be taking him on a flight to Guam?)

Questions I’ll attempt to answer:
1) Where is Aaron?
My guess: Kate went back to that hotel and told Claire’s mom, Ms. Littleton, that Aaron was Claire’s son. And I think she left the boy in his grandmother’s custody. Of course, if that’s true, it doesn’t explain why she wouldn’t be willing to share this with Jack. Maybe she called up Sawyer’s ex (whose name I forget right now), and maybe Sawyer’s ex is going to raise Aaron along with Sawyer’s baby girl, Clementine (who wouldn’t be much of a baby anymore, I suppose).

2) So who told Hurley to be on that flight?
My guess: Our deceased rockstar, Charlie Pace. I think that’s why Hurley shut up right after Ben asked him who told him. It might also explain why Hurley is carrying a guitar case with him. I don’t remember Hurley playing the guitar in previous episodes. So I don’t know why else it would be a priority now. (If it was Charlie, then the real question for me is “How would Ben know that Charlie—or any dead person—was appearing to Hurley?”)

3) Will the man on Ajira Airways Flight 316 be a recurring character?
My guess: Yes, he’ll be back. The producers took the liberty of showing him three times. The first was when he offered his condolences to Jack after overhearing Jack explaining that the man in the coffin was “a friend.” Later, Hurley told this passenger he “might want to buckle up.” (Plus, I recently saw this actor in Traitor, a relatively new Don Cheadle movie, so even though he’s not a superstar, I think he’s too recognizable for a one-episode cameo.)

4) Who is this new character?
My guess: A Widmore operative. Widmore sent Desmond to Ms. Hawking. And he even knew the address for The Lamppost (although it’s possible he doesn’t know that the building hides a Dharma station). Widmore isn’t going to send Desmond off on an island-related errand without at least sending someone to keep tabs on him, is he? So I think this guy is a Widmore agent trying to get to the island with the Oceanic 6. Oh, and I think he’s been on the island before.

5) What’s up with Jin in the Dharma suit?
My guess: When the plane “crashed” it actually seemed more like one of the time-flashes. And Jack, Kate, and Hurley don’t remember the crash, nor do they see the wreckage. So maybe they were pulled through time—back to the period where/when the “constantly moving” island currently resides. And if Jin (along with Juliet, Sawyer, Miles, Daniel, and whatever is left of Charlotte) had already traveled back to that period, then maybe he’s posing as a Dharma member.

6) Where are Sayid, Sun, Ben, Frank Lapidus, and Locke?
My guess: I think they just haven’t found them yet. I think they’re all there. When Kate, Hurley, and Jack begin wondering where they are, I think the writers were hoping to make us think that they weren’t all there. But I think it was just playful misdirection. But then again, perhaps they didn’t all land in the same time period…but no, my guess is that they’re all there. (But I wouldn’t put any money on that.)

7) Where did Ben go when he said he had to take care of a “loose end”? And how did he end up bloody-faced with his arm in a sling?
(Before I share my theory here, I want to stress how hopeful I am that I’m wrong. When this thought first occurred to me, I was stunned. And I thought, “No, it can’t be!” And I hope it’s my response, not the thought that prompted it, that ends up being correct.)
My guess/fear: We should have immediately suspected evil when Ben referred to his "old friend." First of all, I'm not sure Ben has any old friends. And even if he did, he probably wouldn't be too concerned about making good on any promises to them. In a previous season, however, we do see him talking to an old acquaintance: Charles Widmore. Remember Ben's "you changed the rules" accusation? And do you recall how that meeting ended? That's right, with Ben informing his "old friend" that he plans to kill his daughter. Penny. Desmond's Penny.
And of course he could have assumed Penny was in the area, since he had just watched Desmond walk away from Ms. Hawking. Not only that, but when we last saw Penny, she and Desmond were on a boat with their baby, Charlie. And from where did Ben call Jack? I don't know if it was a dock, but it was certainly next to a body of water.

So I hope I'm wrong, but I think Ben's "loose end" was killing Penelope Widmore.

Of course, maybe his face is bloodied and his arm is in a sling because Penny (or Penny and Desmond) fought him off. But if that's true, if they fought him off, then I'd think Ben would have needed to run farther away from their boat before calling Jack.

As much as I'd hate to learn that Ben killed Penny, I can see why it would be a logical move by the writers. If Penny's dead, Desmond will come back to the island, even if it's only because he wants to track Ben down and get vengeance. And if Ben cares about one thing, it's the island. And if the island isn't done with Desmond (as Ms. Hawking said tonight), but he's refusing to come to the island, do I think Ben would do whatever it takes to bring Desmond back? Unfortunately, I do.

—Thanks for Reading

Character Overview: Desmond Hume

2009-02-17T21:55:00.000-05:00

In last week's recap, I promised I would post a theory involving Desmond. I'm going to renege on that promise...but just a little bit. Instead of a full-fledged theory, I'm going to offer a character overview, which I think will be more helpful than a theory as we watch Season 5 unfold.

You see, I can't put all the pieces together and produce a completely cohesive theory, but I think I've connected enough puzzle pieces to make the picture a little clearer.

Enough babble, here goes...

"Desmond Hume's Worlds of Experience"

After claiming I will "make the picture a little clearer," I'm going to start with a tangent that will probably only muddy the waters. But hey, I spent a lot of time researching this, so I'm not going to take it out now...

What's in a name?
It's clear that the LOST writers love playing with names. C.S. Lewis, Henry Gale, John Locke, Edmund Burke, and others have proved this quite well.

The list of philosophers is especially noteworthy, including not only Locke and Burke, but also appearances by Jeremy Bentham, Mikhail Bakunin, Anthony Cooper, Rousseau, and...David Hume, in the form of our friend, Desmond David Hume.

What do we know about Hume, the philosopher? Well he was Scottish, for starters.

Like a certain John Locke, he was also an empiricist. Empiricism, simplified as much as possible, is the theory of knowledge based upon the idea that knowledge results from experience.

More importantly, Hume's empiricist ideas were based on what is now called the "Problem of Induction," which asserts that we can't know that something will always happen in the future the way it has in the past. (Sound LOST-ish yet?) For example, we can't know for certain that the sun will rise in the east based solely on the knowledge that it always has. Or in an example provided by wikipedia, and one that's especially relevant when considering LOST, the problem of induction suggests that we can't know that the laws of physics, as we know them, will continue to hold in the future.

Again quoting wikipedia (I'm almost done, I promise), I found this interesting: "C.S. Lewis, a 20th century popular theologian, argues in Miracles that the past-future variety of problem of induction can be easily solved by presupposing the existence of a consistent Creator who would create a consistent Universe. Such a Creator allows us to stipulate that the Universe works according to consistent rules, since the Creator would not create a Universe that was so contrary to his own nature. Thus, we can assume that once we have learned one of the Creator's rules, it will continue to hold in the future."

Also worth mentioning, considering LOST's interest in "free-will vs. fate": Hume was, again quoting wikipedia, "a classical compatibilist about the notions of freedom and determinism. The thesis of compatibilism seeks to reconcile human freedom with the fact that human beings are part of a deterministic universe, whose happenings are governed by the laws of physics."

So let's sum up this muddy tangent:

Hume believed that free will and fate are compatible. We are free to make our own decisions, even though our world/universe might be determining the final outcomes. And this determinism is due, at least in part, to the laws of physics. But he also believed that we can't be certain that the laws of physics will remain constant. Meaning, in a sense, that things can be changed...(anyone else thinking of Desmond's flashes, and the way he changed the future in order to save Charlie's life?)

So you might be asking, "What's the point?" Or, if you read the above closely, you're probably thinking, "Wow, that summary was a really mangled and juvenile interpretation of Hume's ideas." If the latter is true, then I stick my tongue out at you. As for the former, well...

There might not be a point. But then again, maybe there is.

Let's not forget Daniel's words to Desmond: "The rules don't apply to you. You're special. You're uniquely and miraculously special."

"What rules?" you ask. Hmmm, could it be that physicist Daniel Faraday is referring to the rules (or laws) of physics? I think so. If we pause and think about it, I think it's only fair to ask ourselves, to what else could Faraday be referring?

So maybe, just maybe, that philosophical mish-mash about Hume and empiricism and the importance of experiences...maybe that's just a way of reinforcing Daniel's claim that Desmond is "uniquely and miraculously special."

Just for fun, let's sum Hume's beliefs up in one word. Since he was an empiricist, I can't think of a better word than "experience."

Now let's combine that with Desmond's first name...

My knowledge of the French language is nominal at best, and it rarely comes in handy for anything. Ever. But for one rare moment, I thought it might have revealed something...

In French, "le monde" is "the world." And if you want to make that world plural, it would be "des mondes." "Des mondes" isn't exactly the same as "Desmond," but it's close...

And when you combine that with our one-word synonym for Hume:

"Desmond Hume" = "The worlds of experience"

Is that a stretch? Yes, definitely. But let's keep it in mind, anyway.

(If you'd prefer to extrapolate on a theory that Desmond's name is based on the
Desmond Rebellions, be my guest. And if you are so inclined, then I encourage you to note that Elizabeth I was the Queen of England, and she was the one who eventually put down the revolt, destroying the Desmond dynasty. After all, how did those Elizabethan soldiers travel to Ireland to put down the revolt? Well, by boat of course...and who provided our beloved Desmond Hume with his boat? That's right, good ol' Elizabeth, or Libby, if you prefer...dun dun dun...so extrapolate away, if you're so inclined...)

(One P.S. on Hume...I think it's ironic that LOST fans—or at least this one—would use Hume's name as a source for inferences, since he spent his life insisting that knowledge comes from experiences…it's kind of like, fifty years from now, having a fast-food chain name a platter of chili-cheese fries after Jenny Craig...but I really should get back to the point.)

If you've stuck with me this far, I appreciate it. And now I'll commence the overview.

I want to walk through Desmond's timeline, as we know it. But first, one last precursor.

I know I've referred to this before, but I must point it out again. Brother Campbell, the monk who eventually kicks Desmond out of the monastery, is shown in a picture (on his desk) with Eloise Hawking. We know that Eloise Hawking is a time-travel/island expert. We've also seen her sporting a robe (similar to the one Brother Campbell wore, no?) when she was working in her laboratory in a church in L.A. I think it's safe to at least suspect, if not assume, that Brother Campbell and Mrs. Hawking might be working together. And with that lodged in the forefront of your mind, here's what we know about Desmond:

Desmond's Daddy Issues
—According to Lostpedia, "Desmond did not graduate from university because he had to support his three brothers after something happened involving his father. The cause of the elder Hume's departure remains unknown."

My thoughts: So something happened to his daddy, but we don't know what. That might be worth remembering.

Desmond finds a calling…
—Later, Desmond is dating a woman named Ruth (for 6 years), but he ends up drunk in the street a week before their wedding, and he's having doubts, afraid to commit to her. (This, for me, is when things get interesting. Starting with this moment, Desmond's life is intersected at crucial moments by a list of people, all of whom, looking back, seem to have ulterior motives.)So, back to Desmond being in the street…

Again citing lostpedia, "Brother Campbell, a monk at a monastery in Eddington, Scotland, offered him help, which led Desmond to believe he had a calling to become a monk too. Desmond entered the monastery. He impressed and surprised Campbell by keeping his vow of silence, earning status as a novice monk and the title 'Brother.'"

My thoughts: So this monk appears out of nowhere and offers to help him. Coincidence? Chance? Fate? Or part of a plot by those who just might know Desmond is "uniquely and miraculously special."

Desmond Needs a New Calling
—After Brother Campbell finds Desmond drinking the monastery's wine one night, he tells him he doesn't think he should be a monk, but says Desmond "obviously is meant for a greater purpose."

My thoughts: Interesting... (For a second look at conversations Desmond has while in the monastery, see footnotes #1, #2, and #3.)

Desmond finds a Pretty Penny (pun intended)
—Then when Desmond leaves the monastery, he meets Penny and offers to help her load the wine into her vehicle. And the rest, as they say, is history…at least as far as the blossoming of the Desmond/Penny relationship is concerned.

My thoughts: Is it coincidental that he was expelled from the monastery just as Penny was arriving to pick up some crates of wine? Any chance Widmore, or Widmore and Brother Campbell (with perhaps a sprinkling of Mrs. Hawking), intended this? For a moment, I suspected that perhaps Penny was in on this, manipulating Desmond at the behest of her father and friends. But that would spoil the whole Desmond/Penny love story, so I chose to dismiss the thought, even if it might be true…
(See footnote #4 if you want evidence that suggests Brother Campbell subtly may have arranged the Desmond/Penny meeting.)

Desmond has Daddy-in-Law Issues
—Eventually Desmond goes to Widmore's office to apply for a job, but he reveals that he's actually not interested in the job. Instead, he would like Widmore's permission to marry his daughter. Widmore doesn't grant it. Instead, he says Desmond isn't worth enough to share his whiskey with him, and he certainly isn't worth his precious Penny (yup, intended).

My thoughts: (This is when we first learn that Widmore is a royal jerk. But then again, if Widmore knows that Desmond is special. If he knows he needs to be on that island, then maybe he has no choice but to turn Desmond away.)

Desmond Drops His Penny…and he goes (into the) Clink (I really tried—too hard, obviously—to make this a pun…and I apologize)
—We know that Desmond ended things with Penny and then, at some point, he enlisted in The Royal Scots Regiment. And according to lostpedia, "Desmond managed to reach the rank of a lance-corporal before being dishonorably discharged and serving time in the Southway Garrison military prison for failing to 'follow orders.' His exact offense is still unknown."

My thoughts: I just wish we knew more here.

"Pick a box, Desmond, any box…as long as it's the one I say"
—When Desmond is released from prison, a car is waiting for him. And who do we see inside that car but the beloved Mr. Charles Widmore. He shows Desmond that he has confiscated every letter Desmond wrote to Penny while he was locked up. He tells Des that this box represents his past, and he shows him a second box—full of money—and this one, he says, represents Desmond's future. But only if he ceases all contact with Penny.

My thoughts: I didn't realize it at the time, but since we've learned a little more about Widmore since this time, it seems especially odd that Widmore would try to buy off Desmond. Why? Well, because it doesn't seem like Penny is the top priority in Widmore's life. After all, when Des showed up for the "job interview" only to ask for Penny's hand in marriage, wasn't that the first time he'd ever met Desmond? (Maybe not, but it sure seemed like it.) And being the wealthy, important man he is, do we think it's logical that he would make this Desmond/Penny issue his top priority? It just seems odd to me. I think it's more likely that he was trying to keep Desmond away from Penny because he needs Desmond to go to the island and push the button.

(If you want to read that conversation between Widmore and Des, see footnote #5.)

Come Sail Away, Come Sail Away
—Desmond decides he's going to win his "honor back" by winning the Widmore-sponsored boat race around the world. One problem, he has no money and no boat…until he meets a woman at an airport who is quick to offer the boat that belonged to her recently-deceased husband. That woman is the one and the same Libby, the flight 815 tail-section surivor, the object of Hurley's crush, and the former resident of the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute.

My thoughts: Oh ho, Libby. Fool me once, shame on you… Libby might be my favorite mystery, but only because I think I figured her out awhile ago. At first, I really wanted to know why she was in that Institute. I really wanted to know how this sweet woman, this former psychiatrist (the same woman who was kind enough to offer her expensive boat as a gift to a man she just met), became a vacant-eyed, disheveled resident of Santa Rosa's.

And then it hit me! If we hadn't already known Libby, if we hadn't already thought she was a sweetheart, there's no way we would have believed that she would give away such an expensive boat just minutes after meeting someone. And then I realized, we wouldn't have believed it because we shouldn't believe it! So why would she give away that boat? Why was she in Santa Rosa's? Two questions, but one answer: Libby was just doing her job. I don't know if she's a Widmore employee or an accomplice, but either way, I think she was just carrying out business. Widmore, Hawking, and whoever else needed Desmond to have a boat to get to the island, so they concocted this plan to give him one. As for Santa Rosa's, remember Hurley's Connect Four-playing, number-spouting buddy, Lenny? After Hurley first suspected that "the numbers are bad," remember when he tried to visit Lenny to find out the source of the numbers? And remember how his request was denied because he wasn't family? (Until he saw a doctor who remembered him, that is.) So in Widmore's quest to rediscover the island, it makes sense that he would send someone undercover to learn something—if possible—from a guy who spouts "the numbers" non-stop. And if Libby really had been a psychiatrist (I have my doubts), then she's the perfect choice for an undercover assignment posing as a mental patient.

(If you'd like to read the Desmond/Libby conversation, see footnote #6.)

Desmond Flashes (At this point, my timeline is out of sorts. But I wasn't sure where to place this event. And really, can you blame me?)
—So after he turns the fail-safe key, Desmond starts getting flashes. And when he's riding in the helicopter on the way to the freighter, his consciousness starts jumping. And when Des finds himself back with Penny again, he decides this time he's going to propose. But when he tries to buy the ring, the jewelery store employee tells him he's not supposed to buy the ring. This employee is the now infamous Ms. Hawking. And she explains to Desmond that he doesn't/shouldn't propose to Penny because he needs to go to the island to push that button. She also tells Desmond that what is supposed to happen will happen. She says "the universe, unfortunately, has a way of course-correcting." She is implying that Desmond is powerless to change things.

(If you'd like to read their conversation, please see footnote #7.)

My thoughts: First of all, knowing what we know about Ms Hawking now, and also knowing that Damon Lindelof says she's a "temporal policeman," do we really believe that she spends her days polishing the display cases in a small jewelry store? I, for one, don't buy it.

I think she was there solely to meet Desmond.

But why does Ms. Hawking bother telling Desmond he can't change things? If he really couldn't change the course of history, then why bother to tell him? Why not just let him try, and fail? Unless, of course, he can change things. And I think we have reason to believe he can. Not only is he "unique and miraculously special," but by saving Charlie's life (albeit temporarily), he changed the course of the future. Would Penny's boat ever have been able to locate them if Charlie (the musician they needed to play "Good Vibrations" on the keyboard to disarm the jamming frequency) hadn't been alive to swim down into the Looking Glass?

I think Ms. Hawking, along with Widmore, Brother Campbell, Libby, and probably others, know Desmond is special, and that's why they're keeping tabs on him.

I have a related theory in regards to this. Ms. Hawking definitely seems to understand time travel. So it's not far-fetched to think she might be a traveler. If they know Desmond is special (I don't know how they know, although perhaps it could trace back to Desmond's father, the one who disappeared/died in a manner not explained to us. But the point is, these people, all or some of them, former islanders, know...), then maybe someone stopped pushing the button, and maybe the island blew up. So, being the time travelers they are, they needed to find someone in history who could change time, someone special. And they, working together, took the steps necessary (calling him a coward, making sure he couldn't be with the woman he loved, stripping him of his honor, suggesting he has a calling, etc., etc.) to make sure Desmond landed on that island, and to make sure he'd keep pushing the button, or develop the courage, in the words of Kelvin Inman, to "pull his finger out of the dam and blow the whole thing up."

Questions:
1) So, why and how is Desmond "uniquely and miraculously special"?
2) Is it possible that Ms. Hawking was lying about what Desmond was "supposed" to do? Maybe, left to his own devices, he would have purchased the ring for Penny, and maybe they would have married…and maybe it's only because of outside interference that he never followed through. You think?
3) Why was Desmond imprisoned? Because he didn't "follow orders"?
4) Why/How did Desmond's dad die when he was a kid? Who was his dad? Any chance he was an Other/Hostile who knew Widmore, Ms. Hawking, and the rest?

Other things to note:
1) Because of the system failure that occurred when he was following Kelvin instead of pushing the button, Desmond was the one who caused the crash of Flight 815.
2) Desmond was also the one who got the Oceanic 6 off the island, since it was his jumping consciousness that enabled him to make contact with Penny, prompting her to be waiting by the phone years later, and leading her on her epic quest to find him.

What's the take-away?

In short, Desmond is special. And I think Widmore and Ms. Hawking and others have known it for a long time, long enough to be altering and impacting his life in a way that will suit their purposes. His name, Desmond Hume, could be a clue about his ability to operate outside the laws of physics, potentially changing the past (or future).

Consequently, Widmore might not be a jerk. He might just be acting in the ways necessary to achieve an ultimate goal (and if we are to take Ms. Hawking's statements literally, this goal might involve saving the lives of all mankind). A brief tangent: Similar to this Widmore-might-not-be-evil thought, I've often wondered if Ben isn't evil. If he knows, because of Jacob, what is going to happen, maybe all his actions are based on a desire to make the process to that unalterable result as smooth as possible. If he knows someone is going to die, then instead of being sentimental or trying to save anyone, maybe he's just trying to expedite the process since the island/universe is going to course-correct anyway. If this is true, instead of being diabolical, Ben is more like a slave to fate.

Widmore, in contrast, would seem to have the opposite motive. If Ben is a slave to fate, carrying out Jacob's wishes, then perhaps Widmore is working with others (not the Others) to defeat fate, using someone like Desmond as the conduit.

(Of course, Ms. Hawking seems to be working with both Widmore and Ben, so I can't make any sense of that. But we'll save that for another post.)

Footnotes

Footnote #1: Dialogue from "Catch-22":

DESMOND: Are you firing me?
MONK: I am indeed.
DESMOND: You can't do that, I heard the call.
MONK: I'm sure you did hear the call, but the abbey clearly isn't where you were meant to end up. I have little doubt that God has different plans than you being a monk, Desmond. Bigger plans.
DESMOND: Oh aye, I'm sure he does.
MONK: He does! You've just spent too much time running away to realize what you may be running toward.
[The monk moves to leave]
DESMOND: Hey. What am I supposed to do now?
MONK: Whatever comes next.

Footnote #2: Dialogue from "Catch-22":

MONK: You do realize you are free to talk again, brother Desmond.
DESMOND: Used to being quiet I suppose. [He looks at the "Moriah Vineyards" label]
DESMOND: Moriah. I find the name the brothers have chosen for the wine made here, interesting.
MONK: And why is that brother?
DESMOND: Well Moriah's the mountain where Abraham was asked to kill Isaac. Its not exactly the most, festive locale is it.
MONK: And yet God spared Isaac.
DESMOND: Well one might argue then, God may not have asked Abraham to sacrifice his son in the first place.
MONK: Well then it wouldn't have been much of a test, would it brother? Perhaps you underestimate the value of sacrifice.

My thoughts: Interesting chatter about Abraham and Isaac…and perhaps worth remembering that Isaac is the father of Jacob.

Footnote #3: Dialogue from "Catch-22"

DESMOND: OK, yes, I was scared about the wedding, so I had a few pints too many, maybe I, I raised my eyes, and I asked am I doing the right thing, and that's the last thing I remember. And when I woke up, I was lying on my back in the street, and I dunno how I got there and, there was this man standing over me, Ruth. And he reached out his hand and he said to me, can I help you brother. And the first thing I noticed was the rope tied round his waist, and I looked at him and I knew, I knew, I was supposed to go with him. I was supposed to go with him, I was supposed to leave everything that mattered behind, sacrifice all of it, for a greater calling.

RUTH: Well its a good thing a bloody shepherd didn't help you up, or as I suppose you'd be off with the sheep wouldn't you? Next time you want to break up with someone, Des, don't join a monastery. Just tell the girl you're too bloody scared.

My thoughts: good thing "a bloody shepherd" didn't help him? Or is it a good thing that a "bloody Shephard" (as in Jack or Christian) didn't help him? Maybe it's nothing. Maybe.

Footnote #4: Dialogue from "Catch-22"

[Desmond enters the monk's office carrying his religious clothes in his arm]
MONK: I was afraid you'd let without saying goodbye.
DESMOND: No.
[He lays the clothes down]
DESMOND: I nearly took this with me.
[Desmond heads to leave]
MONK: If you're not in a hurry, brother Martin's heading into town in a few hours, he can give you a ride. That is, if you don't mind doing some heavy lifting.
[Desmond laughs]
[Outside, Desmond wheels cases of the vineyard wine to a car, as the monk chats with a woman]
MONK: All ten cases are ready to go. Desmond there is just getting the last one.
PENNY: Thank you, and my father sent the check in advance.
MONK: Please thank him for his generous donation. Always a pleasure to see you.
[The monk leaves, shaking Desmond's hand as he goes]
MONK: Goodbye Desmond.
[Desmond carries some of the crates round to the back of the car]
PENNY: I think we should be able to fit it all in the back, and if not we'll put the rest in the front. [She turns and looks at Desmond] Is that alright?
DESMOND: Absolutely.

My thoughts: "If you don't mind doing some heavy lifting"…that's just subtle enough, methinks.

Footnote #5: Dialogue from "Live Together, Die Alone":

[We see Desmond exiting the garrison as a limo pulls up. A man, Charles Widmore, rolls down the window.]
WIDMORE: You want a ride?
DESMOND: Not with you.
WIDMORE: Get in the car.
[Desmond gets in and notices boxes on the seat.]
DESMOND: Did you bring me a present?
WIDMORE: Actually, two presents. One of these boxes contains your past, Hume. The other, your future. Go ahead, open it.
[Desmond opens a box and finds it filled with letters which are unopened and addressed to Penelope Widmore, sent by Desmond.]
DESMOND: You're a bastard, you know that?
WIDMORE: The fact that she never received your sentiments is good for her. Good, because as far as she's concerned you've forsaken her. And that's the way it's going to stay.
DESMOND: Is it now?
WIDMORE: Penelope's moved on, Hume. She's getting married. [He opens the other box which is filled with money.] This is for your new life—away from my daughter. The conditions are simple—no contact, no calls, no posts. You just run away, Desmond.
DESMOND: And what makes you think I would just run away?
WIDMORE: Because you're a coward.

Footnote #6: Dialogue from "Live Together, Die Alone"

[We see Desmond at a coffee bar counter.]
DESMOND: Just give me which ever one has the most caffeine in it, brother. [he opens his wallet] Damn, um, I'm sorry. I've just arrived and I spent all my American money on a taxi.
LIBBY: [putting money on the counter] I've got it.
DESMOND: That's not necessary.
LIBBY: It's just 4 bucks.
DESMOND: I don't suppose you have 42,000 more of those do you?
LIBBY: Depends on what it's for.
DESMOND: I was joking.
LIBBY: No you weren't.
[We see Libby and Desmond sitting with each other. Libby is looking at a brochure for a sailing race. There's a picture of Widmore on the brochure.]
LIBBY: So, a sailing race around the world?
DESMOND: I have 8 months to get into the best shape of my life. I'll tell you what, miss, I'm going to win.
LIBBY: And what do you get if you do?
DESMOND: What really matters is who I win it for. [he pushes the brochure toward her]
LIBBY: [looking at the brochure] Charles Widmore.
DESMOND: He tried to buy me off. And when I didn't take his money, he took away the only thing in the world that I ever truly cared about.
LIBBY: Who is she?
DESMOND: His daughter. I was unsuitable on several levels.
LIBBY: And what' the 42 grand for?
DESMOND: It's a wee bit complicated. As of yet, I don't actually have a boat. [Libby looks sad] Sorry, did I say something wrong?
LIBBY: I have a boat. It was my husband's but he got sick. He wanted to sail the Mediterranean—he never—he passed away about a month ago.
DESMOND: I'm sorry.
LIBBY: I want you to have it.
DESMOND: I can't take your boat, miss.
LIBBY: But you have to. He'd want you to.
DESMOND: What was your husband's name?
LIBBY: David.
DESMOND: And what did he name his boat?
LIBBY: Elizabeth. He named it after me.
DESMOND: Then I thank you, Elizabeth. And I shall win this race for love.

Footnote #7: Dialogue from "Flashes Before Your Eyes" (my emphasis added, in bold)

MS. HAWKING: I have just the thing. [she shows him a ring] This won't blind any queens, to be sure, but still has the sparkle of life.
DESMOND: I'll take it.
MS. HAWKING: [surprised] I'm sorry?
DESMOND: It's perfect. I'll take it.
MS. HAWKING: No you won't. Give me the ring. Give it here.
DESMOND: I don't understand.
MS. HAWKING: This is wrong. You don't buy the ring. You have second thoughts; you walk right out that door. So, come on, let's have it.
DESMOND: I don't know what you're on about.
MS. HAWKING: You don't buy the ring, Desmond.
DESMOND: How do you know my name?
MS. HAWKING: Well, I know your name as well as I know that you that don't ask Penny to marry you. In fact, you break her heart. Well, breaking her heart is, of course, what drives you in a few short years from now to enter that sailing race -- to prove her father wrong -- which brings you to the island where you spend the next 3 years of your life entering numbers into the computer until you are forced to turn that failsafe key. And if you don't do those things, Desmond David Hume, every single one of us is dead. So give me that sodding ring.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
MS. HAWKING: [when Desmond doesn't give her the ring] Oh, you're going to be difficult about this, I can see.
DESMOND: Who are you?
MS. HAWKING: Do you like chestnuts?
DESMOND: What?
[Scene switches to Ms. Hawking buying chestnuts from a street vendor.]
MS. HAWKING: Thank you.
[She notices a man climbing stairs from the Underground.]
MS. HAWKING: That man over there is wearing red shoes.
DESMOND: So, what then?
MS. HAWKING: Just thought it was a bold fashion choice worth noting.
DESMOND: This isn't really happening, is it?
MS. HAWKING: Sorry?
DESMOND: I've had a concussion. You're my subconscious.
MS. HAWKING: [amused] Am I?
DESMOND: You're here to talk me out of marrying Penny. Well, it won't bloody work.
MS. HAWKING: Oh, yes it will.
DESMOND: No, there is no island. There is no button. It's madness. I love her. She loves me. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her.
MS. HAWKING: No, Desmond, you're not.
[Suddenly, there is a loud crash behind the bench Ms. Hawking and Desmond have been sitting on. Some scaffolding has fallen and killed the man with red shoes.]
DESMOND: Oh, my God. You knew that was going to happen, didn't you? [she nods] Then why didn't you stop it? Why didn't you do anything?
MS. HAWKING: Because it wouldn't matter. Had I warned him about the scaffolding tomorrow he'd be hit by a taxi. If I warned him about the taxi, he'd fall in the shower and break his neck. The universe, unfortunately, has a way of course correcting. That man was supposed to die. That was his path just as it's your path to go to the island. You don't do it because you choose to, Desmond. You do it because you're supposed to.
DESMOND: I'm going to meet Penny in an hour. I've got the ring; she'll say yes; I can choose whatever I want.
MS. HAWKING: You may not like your path, Desmond, but pushing that button is the only truly great thing that you will ever do.
DESMOND: How much for the ring?
[Ms. Hawking looks disappointed and walks away.]
[Cut to Desmond walking down a street. He passes an Armed Forces Careers office, and eyes a recruitment poster with the tag line: Become a man you can be proud of.]

And one last piece of dialogue to consider:

LOCKE: Blow it open with what?
CHARLIE: With dynamite from the old ship in the jungle.
DESMOND: It would take an atom bomb, brother. Tell him not to bother.
LOCKE: You're sure it'll hold?
DESMOND: Aye, I'm sure.

My thoughts: "It would take an atom bomb" to blow up the hatch, eh? That's interesting since we know now that there's a 60-year-old atom bomb buried somewhere (maybe in that very hatch) on that island.

We'll Miss You, Red...

2009-02-11T22:37:00.007-05:00

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

Shame on you...

2009-02-09T10:44:00.008-05:00

I haven't lived in the Chicago area all that long—certainly not long enough to feel a sense of ownership when it comes to the downtown landmarks. But I've lived here long enough, and walked around downtown with enough visiting friends and family, to develop an appreciation for certain elements of the Windy City.

One of my favorite things downtown is the Cloud Gate sculpture—affectionately known to most people as "The Bean."

For those who haven't seen it, The Bean is a 110-ton sculpture that sits in Millennium Park. The Bean's highly-polished stainless steel provides a stunning reflection of the city's skyline (and the sky...hence the name, "Cloud Gate").

I've visited The Bean at least four times, and I've been mesmerized by it each time.

And last week, it was vandalized.

Of all the property downtown, the vandal (or vandals) chose to inscribe their pretty little names on The Bean: "Peter S" and "Ashley D." I may not have lived here long enough to call the sculpture "our Bean," but apparently I've been here long enough to feel ashamed by the vandalism. For some reason, their act made me very sad.

When Barbie first told me this happened, my shoulders drooped and I said, "No." I paused and said, "Why?" Which is really a stupid question. Because I'm fairly certain Barbie wasn't in on the plot.

But right now, as we're already bombarded with depressing news every day, I just felt like this should not have happened.

Right now, Chicagoans are proud of their city. More so than usual. After all, Grant Park (a mere stone's throw from The Bean) is where President Obama elected to speak on Election Night. The Bean, elevated from street level, currently overlooks an ice rink (just off Michigan Avenue) where the center ice is adorned with the Olympic Rings and these words: "Chicago 2016: Candidate City." And while so many in this area are feeling proud to call this city home, even during a time when America is not nearly as proud as it was just months ago (although that might be a good thing), the vandal(s)picked this moment to deface a beloved monument.

It's sad, really.

Whether the vandal(s) knew it or not, there is a security camera that monitors The Bean, and authorities hoped it would lead them to the culprit(s). But it's been nearly a week since the vandalism, and I haven't heard anything yet. The Bean was expected to be repaired—the names buffed out—by the end of last week. Of course, the taxpayers will cover that cost (unless the vandals are apprehended).

So by now, the damage should be undone; The Bean should sit unblemished again—back to its usual smooth and stoic self.

But the next time I visit the sculpture, as I look at the way the city and sky converge in its reflection, I'll know that the vandals are looming somewhere behind the mirrored skyline, and it will still make me sad. Just a little bit.

—Thanks for Reading

Where have our beloved characters gone?

2009-02-05T00:57:00.017-05:00

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

Groundhog Day: The True Story

2009-02-02T11:44:00.014-05:00

Everyone knows how Groundhog Day works, right?

On February 2, one groundhog (Punxsutawney Phil) emerges from the ground, and if he sees his shadow and returns to his hole, we get another 6 weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, then we'll have an early spring.

It's a simple enough story...or at least that's what I used to think.

Dun dun dun.

Friends, it's time we uncover the truth.

First of all, let's clear up this matter of Punxsutawney Phil. To be accurate, I should probably include his full name at least once, so here goes: "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary." (now let me pause for a breath)

According to legend, there is only 1 Punxsutawney Phil. But when I was a child, my family stopped in Punxsutawney, PA, to take a gander at the famous groundhog. And I swear I remember seeing multiple Phils in that enclosure, and I thought I was told (or read) at that time, that they always have multiple Phils on hand... I know I have pictures somewhere, or at least I used to. But alas, despite my certainty, I can produce no evidence. Nor, it seems, can anyone else.

And if I could provide incriminating information about Phil's legitimacy, I'm not sure I'd go through with it. If I did, who knows what the Inner Circle might do to me.

"The Inner Circle?" you ask.

Oh, right! That, dear reader, is another element of Groundhog Day we don't learn about in school. The Inner Circle is, well...how can I put this? I'll just be blunt: if this group's chief interest weren't so trivial, I'd swear they were a cult. As it stands now, I merely suspect them to be a cult.

These men, all of them Punxsutawney dignitaries, can be identified by their tuxedos and top hats (often with an accompanying handlebar 'stache)—which one can only hope they don year round. These are the men (I don't know if women are definitely excluded, but I do think they'd have trouble growing the signature 'stache) who take care of Punxsutawney Phil throughout the year.

Sure the attire doesn't scream "cult," but if nothing else convinces you, the elitism and the strange customs should.

If you ask me, the Inner Circle is probably a cover for something much more insidious. Need proof?

Okay, first notice that there are 22 men in that picture above. 22 men to take care of one groundhog? And why does an immortal groundhog need anyone to take care of him?

Wait, you hadn't heard that "immortal" part of the story, either?

Well, according to groundhog.org (the official site for the cult, er um, I mean, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club), the same "Phil" has been making weather predictions (prognostications, if you prefer) for over 120 years.

How in the world could he live for over 120 years, you ask? (Especially if you know that few groundhogs live for more than one decade.) Well, let's go back to groundhog.org for a response:

"Punxsutawney Phil gets his longevity from drinking the 'elixir of life,' a secret recipe. Phil takes one sip every summer at the Groundhog Picnic and it magically gives him seven more years of life."

C'mon, drinking "the elixir of life"? You can't tell me that doesn't have "cult" written all over it...

And I find it especially odd that each sip gives him seven more years of life. If that's true, then why does he drink it every summer? After 120 years, shouldn't he have about 720 extra years already stored away?

Now if all of this were true, I think there'd be some people crashing that Groundhog Picnic party...and rightfully so. Because if they have a secret recipe that can keep one groundhog alive for 120 years, and they're not willing to share it with anyone else... but then again, perhaps that explains why this true story isn't widely known.

Oh, but wait, it gets weirder. Forget the whole see-his-shadow-and-go-back-in-the-hole rigmarole. Oh no, Phil doesn't have to do that anymore. Once again quoting groundhog.org:

"After Phil emerges from his burrow on February 2, he speaks to the Groundhog Club president in "Groundhogese"(a language only understood by the current president of the Inner Circle). His proclamation is then translated for the world."

Only understood by the current president? So what, does the previous president un-learn the language when his term ends? If so, who teaches it to the new president? Upon his oath of office, is this understanding magically bequeathed to him by the Groundhog Gods?

However this special language is learned, it's clear that this whole practice is uber cult-like. I mean, every cult has a leader, right? And what self-respecting cult doesn't have a secret language?

Of course, the Inner Circle also claims that Punxsutawney Phil's predictions have been accurate every single year...never mind that wikipedia says "according to StormFax Weather Almanac, his accuracy is just 39%."

So now we can add delusions of grandeur to the equation, which, combined with their uniform dress code, elitism, secret language, the presence of a clear leader, and their special life-extending drink, equals cult, cult, cult, cult, cult.

It's highly probable that this group is actually just using the groundhogs for animal sacrifices. Doubt me? Just look at the guy's eyes in this last picture? And then look at the terrified groundhog? (I never thought I'd say this, but where is PETA when you need 'em?)

Even before I knew about the Inner Circle, Groundhog Day always interested me for one reason. You see, I've never been able to decide whether or not I think the whole tradition is just plain stupid. And that's weird, because I'm usually very good at deciding that things are stupid. But on this, I vacillate. Sure the procedure makes no sense; that much is clear. And I do think Groundhog Day definitely is the most depressing holiday (since it seems we're always reminded that winter is still here...). But if the tradition ceased to exist, I suppose I'd miss it.

Yeah, stupid or not, I'd miss it.

So maybe we owe a debt of gratitude to those handlebar-moustached men of the Inner Circle, those dedicated souls who keep the tradition (and the one and only Punxsutawney Phil) alive year after year. Maybe their hard work and unwavering commitment make all of our lives a little richer, in a way that is nearly unnoticeable yet altogether significant...

Or...maybe I'm just saying that because I fear what that cult will do to me...

Either way, Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil live on. And I'll just leave it at that.

—Thanks for Reading

Holy Hydrogen Bomb!

2009-01-28T23:44:00.015-05:00

I've decided to join the thousands who are already blogging about LOST. I might occasionally include a theory, but I mostly want to highlight what I perceive to be the most interesting elements after each new episode.

Season 5—Episode 3: "Jughead"

Wow, this episode was a doozy. I'm glad I chose tonight to start typing up facts and quotes that intrigued me while watching the show.

There were so many jaw-dropping moments. My eyes bugged out and my mouth dropped open when Richard Alpert said, to the young punk telling him he shouldn't trust John Locke, "Put the gun down, Widmore."

Wow! Just, wow! But more on that in a bit.

Daniel also confessed his love for Charlotte...to Richard Alpert, with Charlotte and Miles Straume there, too. Romantic, no? But I suppose it's a good thing he didn't wait any longer, since Charlotte collapses at the end of the episode—after they flashed backward (or was it forward?) yet again—with blood running from both of her nostrils.

When he wasn't confessing his love for Charlotte, Daniel was marching across the island, held at gunpoint by Ellie, a feisty young woman whom I'm convinced we'll learn a lot more about. Daniel's destination: oh, just a large wooden platform/scaffolding that happens to be supporting a dangling hydrogen bomb (property of the U.S. government).

Daniel realizes how volatile this bomb is (it's leaking something—hydrogen? or whatever a hydrogen bomb leaks)and before they flash forward again, he insists that The Others use lead or concrete to neutralize this bomb and then bury it.

We didn't see much (if any) of the Oceanic 6 in this episode, and I couldn't have been happier about that. For me, the most compelling storyline (or should I say "timeline") is taking place on the island, not Los Angeles.

Only slightly less interesting than the events on the island are Desmond's adventures as he and Penny steered their boat back to Great Britain—and Desmond set out to find Daniel's mom, as Daniel had instructed him to do in his dream/memory.

We learned so many things through Desmond's story. Here's a snippet of the new information:

—Oxford has no record of a Daniel Faraday ever working there
—Faraday's old laboratory had a sign on it claiming it was closed for "fumigation."
—When Desmond broke into Daniel's old facilities, a man caught him in there and he said Desmond "wasn't the first to come poking around," and he asked Desmond to tell "his mates" that all he found was "rubbish left behind by a man" (whatever that means...)
—We also see a picture of Daniel with a girl, which we can presume is the same girl who the man in the lab refers to when he says, commenting on the fact that Oxford has removed all records of Faraday, "Do you blame them? After what he done to that poor girl?"
—Speaking of "that poor girl," Desmond goes to the address given to him by this helpful laboratory man and he meets a woman named Abigail. She has a sister, Theresa Spencer, who is bedridden. Theresa's consciousness seems to be jumping to and from different time periods, and Abigail suggests that Daniel "left her this way" when he "ran off to America."
—We learned Widmore is not only paying for the medical care for the bedridden Theresa, but he was also Daniel's benefactor—and he had been funding Daniel's research

Then Desmond burst into Widmore's office. And he demanded that Widmore tell him where Daniel Faraday's mom is.

Widmore, strangely, does comply. Which makes me think it's in his (Widmore's) best interest. Surely he knows why Desmond is looking for her...

If we weren't already convinced that Daniel's mother is Mrs. Hawking, who's first name just so happens to be Eloise, which just so happens to be the name Daniel chose for his time-traveling rat in Season 4's "The Constant," I think we should be pretty darn convinced now. Especially since we know Mrs. Hawking was just seen in Los Angeles in episode 2.

When Widmore gives her address to Desmond he says, "I suspect she won’t be pleased to see you; she’s a very private person."

I can't help thinking there is something more to that quote. It almost seems as if Desmond's agenda (which is Daniel's agenda...and on some level, is most certainly Widmore's agenda) will conflict with her plans (which also seem to be Ben's plans...).

Widmore also implores Desmond to finish delivering this message and then to get away from "this mess," suggesting that what he's going to do will affect many lives (or history, or time, or however he phrased it).

And so Widmore says, "Wherever you were hiding, go back there.”

Desmond then seems reluctant to carry out his mission, or maybe he just feels bad hauling Penny and their young son (another new revelation in this episode) across the ocean to L.A. Penny knows he's lying when he claims that Daniel's mom is dead. And she tells him that they'll go together...but only after we learn that their boy is named Charlie (after the late Charlie Pace, I'm sure—rather than the child's grandfather).

Now let's flash back to the end of the 1954 island scene. John Locke comes out of the island calling for Richard Alpert, and then he claims that Jacob sent him—and I still can't figure out if that's true, or if it was Locke's strategy for claiming the leaderhip role he believes is rightfully his. Eventually Locke shows Alpert the compass (just as Richard had instructed him to do) and Locke also tells him that he's their leader. Richard says that they have a very definite process for selecting their leader—saying that it starts at a very young age.

Locke, in response, suggests that perhaps Richard should go to California in two years—to witness Locke's birth. And, we know, if we remember our past seasons, that Richard did just that. (So that's how Richard knew to be there!)

As for the revelation that Widmore is one of the young kids living on the island...that just made my night. It confirmed some of my suspicions. But it also made me wonder whether we should recognize any of the others (the other Others, as it were). Is Mrs. Hawking there somewhere? Maybe a parent of another character we've come to know? Matthew Abaddon? Christian Shephard? Richard Malkin, the Australian psychic? What about Brother Campbell, the monk at the monastery where Desmond temporarily lived...after all, he did have a picture on his desk of him and Mrs. Hawking.

It's also interesting to note that Locke could have shot Widmore before they knew who he was. They had captured him and another Other, and when the other one started revealing the location of the Others' camp, Widmore broke his neck and ran off through the jungle. Sawyer screamed for Locke to shoot him, but Locke hesitated, and then did nothing. Sawyer grabbed the gun, fired once, and missed. When he asked Locke why he didn't shoot, Locke said, "Because he's one of my people."

Which brings me to...the most notable quotes. I had planned to only include 5, but there were too many good ones. So...

The 11 most notable quotes:

Desmond, after Penny asked him to swear he'll never go back to the island: "Why would I ever want to go back there?"

Richard Alpert, to Daniel: "I assume you've come back for your bomb."

Miles, after Daniel rushes over to ask Charlotte if she's okay: "Yeah, me too. I'm great, too."

Desmond: “You're my life now, you and Charlie.”

Richard: “Put the gun down, Widmore.”

Locke: "Nice to meet you, Charles."

Widmore: "I suspect she won’t be pleased to see you; she’s a very private person."

Locke: "How did you know Richard would be here?"
Juliette: "Richard’s always been here."
Locke: "How old is he?"
Juliette: "He's very old, John."

Locke: “Because he’s one of my people…” (turns out it was Widmore)

Daniel: "I'm in love with the woman sitting next to me…"

Locke: "Jacob sent me."

Despite all the great quotes, alas, there was still nothing that could match Hurley throwing his Hot Pocket into the wall in Episode 2. Maybe next time...

Things to ponder:

1) Why does Daniel tell the woman who is walking him at gunpoint (Ellie?) that she looks familiar? Why does he seem to recognize her?

2) Who is the Jill character who is working in the butcher shop, the one Ben is confiding in? Is that character going to become more relevant, or was she just introduced to show that Ben has cohorts off the island?

3) What is Sun up to? Is she really in cahoots with Widmore? Can she be trusted?

4) Can Sayid be trusted?

5) Why is Charlotte the only one being affected by the time-jumping?

6) Is Ben's childhood friend, Annie, going to emerge in one of these scenes as the island leaps along its timeline?

7) Will Danielle Rousseau and her team of scientists factor in to one of these episodes?

8) What about the Black Rock, the slave ship that was wrecked on the island?

9) What's Pierre Chang's role with the Dharma Initiative? And could Miles be his son, the crying baby in the Comic-Con video (and the baby from the beginning of Episode 1)?

10) Is there something significant about the picture that shows Brother Campbell and Mrs. Hawking together?

11) In "The Constant," Mrs. Hawking told Desmond that fate has a way of "course-correcting," and she told him that he can't change things. Yet Daniel seems to think Desmond has the ability to change things. And the fate of those on the island (especially Charlotte, at the moment) seems to be riding on Desmond's ability to change things. So if this is true, who else is special (like Desmond), able to change things? And did Mrs. Hawking know Desmond was special? She once told him that pushing that button was the only truly great thing he would ever do. Was that a lie to get him to fall in and do what she wanted?

12) Is John Locke going to be presented as a Christ figure—sacrificing his life to save the others (and his beloved island)? I'm hoping not. I think LOST can be more innovative than that.

This isn't a point to ponder, but I just realized that Mrs. Hawking's name is clearly a reference to Stephen Hawking. And I'm not sure how I could have missed that before.

Overall, I think "Jughead" was one of my favorite episodes from any season. It answered a lot of my questions, and it got me even more excited about where we're going next...

—Thanks for Reading

This is disgusting ...(and no, I'm not referring to what you think I am)

2009-01-28T23:14:00.013-05:00

Let me begin by saying I don't have a strong opinion about Jessica Simpson one way or the other; I don't think she's loathsome, nor does she ever inspire rapt admiration from me.

That being said, I'm disgusted by our media (and that takes a lot) and the suddenly pervasive commentaries on her weight/figure.

These pictures were taken when she recently performed at a Chili-Cookoff in Texas. Why do I know this? To be honest, I wish I didn't. I wish this "hot story" hadn't been picked up by mutliple media outlets.

I suppose the media is often drawn to stories (or at least, pictures) like this. So I probably shouldn't be surprised... but I just found this especially disturbing. Jessica Simpson appears to have gained a little weight. Is she going to have a heart attack tomorrow? Be on The Biggest Loser next fall? No, I don't think so.

Meanwhile, there's a whole host of Hollywood actresses who are starving themselves to be skinny. There are girls literally dying from anorexia because of this crap. Because they don't want to put on 10 pounds and be crucified in the news—instead they'll do anything to avoid the same scathing reports Jessica Simpson has been forced to endure this week.

So while some girls are starving themselves, delusional and desperate, Jessica Simpson just might be enjoying food...unbelievable as that might be—a starlet who actually eats.

What kind of message does that send to young girls? And what does that say about our media? About us?

I just think it's disgusting.

—Thanks for Reading

Zooey's Jesus

2009-01-28T22:38:00.009-05:00

Since my good friend Chad feels I cheated with my last post, simply embedding my review from goodreads.com, I decided not to embed my review of the book I just finished, J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey.

Instead, I'm going to post the long quote from the book that I referred to as one of the best descriptions of Jesus I've ever read.

Just do me one favor. Don't scroll to the bottom of the post to see how long it is. It might make you decide it's not worth reading. But trust me, it is. Just start reading, and I don't think you'll regret it.

If you haven't read this book, know that Zooey is Franny's older brother. And they're both brilliant. Zooey's about 25 and Franny is roughly 20, I think.

The quote begins with Zooey and continues that way with only mild interference from his sister, Franny (everything emphasized by bold type was added by yours truly):

"This last thing," he said abruptly, "will probably cause an explosion. But I can't help it. It's the most important thing of all." He appeared to consult the ceiling plaster briefly, then closed his eyes. "I don't know if you remember, but I remember a time around here, buddy, when you were going through a little apostasy from the New Testament that could be heard for miles around. Everyone was in the goddam Army at the time, and I was the one that got his ear bent. But do you remember? Do you remember it at all?"
"I was all of ten years old!" Franny said—nasally, rather dangerously.
"I know you were. I know how old you were. I know very well how old you were. C'mon, now. I'm not bringing this up with the idea of throwing anything back in your teeth—my God. I'm bringing this up for a good reason. I'm bringing it up because I don't think you understood Jesus when you were a child and I don't think you understand him now. I think you've got him confused in your mind with about five or ten other religious personages, and I don't see how you can go ahead with the Jesus prayer til you know who's who and what's what. Do you remember at all what started that little apostasy?…Franny? Do you remember, or don't you?"
He didn't get an answer. Only the sound of a nose being rather violently blown.
"Well, I do, it happens. Matthew, Chapter Six. I remember is very clearly, buddy. I even remember where I was. I was back in my room putting some friction tape on my goddam hockey stick, and you banged in—all in an uproar, with the Bible wide open. You didn't like Jesus anymore, and you wanted to know if you could call Seymour at his Army camp and tell him all about it. And you know why you didn't like Jesus anymore? I'll tell you. Because, one, you didn't approve of his going into the synagogue and throwing all the tables and idols all over the place. That was very rude, very Unnecessary. You were sure that Solomon or somebody wouldn't have done anything like that. And the other thing you disapproved of—the thing you had the Bible open to—was the lines 'Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.' That was all right. That was lovely. That you approved of. But, when Jesus says in the same breath, 'Are ye not much better than they?'—ah, that's where little Franny gets off. That's where little Franny quits the Bible cold and goes straight to Buddha, who doesn't discriminate against all those nice fowls of the air. All those sweet, lovely chickens and geese that we used to keep up at the Lake. And don't tell me again that you were ten years old. Your age has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. There are no big changes between ten and twenty—or ten and eighty, for that matter. You still can't love a Jesus as much as you'd like to who did and said a couple of things he was at least reported to have said or done—and you know it. You're constitutionally unable to love or understand any son of God who throws tables around. And you're constitutionally unable to love or understand any son of God who says a human being, any human being—even a Professor Tupper—is more valuable to God than any soft, helpless Easter chick."
Franny was now facing directly into the sound of Zooey's voice, sitting bolt upright, a wad of Kleenex clenched in one hand. Bloomberg was no longer in her lap. "I suppose you can," she said, shrilling.
"It's beside the point whether I can or not. But, yes, as a matter of fact, I can. I don't feel like going into it, but at least I've never tried, consciously or otherwise, to turn Jesus into St. Francis of Assisi to make him more 'lovable'—which is exactly what ninety-eight percent of the Christian world has always insisted on doing. Not that it's to my credit. I don't happen to be attracted to the St. Francis of Assisi type. But you are. And, in my opinion, that's one of the reasons why you're having this little nervous breakdown. And especially the reason why you're having it at home. This place is made to order for you. The service is good, and there's plenty of hot and cold running ghosts. What could be more convenient? You can say your prayer here and roll Jesus and St. Francis and Seymour and Heidi's grandfather all in one." Zooey's voice stopped, very briefly. "Can't you see that? Can't you see how unclearly, how sloppily, you're looking at things? My God, there's absolutely nothing tenth-rate about you, and you're up to your neck at this minute in tenth-rate thinking. Not only is the way you're going about your prayer tenth-rate religion but, whether you know it or not, you're having a tenth-rate nervous breakdown. I've seen a couple of real breakdowns, and the people who had them didn't bother to pick and choose the place they—"
"Just stop it, Zooey! Just stop it!" Franny said, sobbing.
"I will, in a minute, in just a minute. Why are you breaking down, incidently? I mean if you're able to go into a collapse with all your might, why can't you use the same energy to stay well and busy? All right, so I'm being unreasonable. I'm being very unreasonable now. But, my God, how you try what little patience I was born with! You take a look around your college campus, and the world, and politics, and one season of summer stock, and you listen to the conversation of a bunch of nitwit college students, and you decide that everything's ego, ego, ego, and the only intelligent thing for a girl to do is lie around and shave her head and say the Jesus Prayer and beg God for a little mystical experience that'll make her nice and happy."
Franny shrieked, "Will you shut up, please?" …
"Always the heavy," Zooey said, a trifle too matter-of-factly. "No matter what I say, I sound as though I'm undermining your Jesus Prayer. And I'm not, God damn it. All I am is against why and how and where you're using it. I'd like to be convinced—I'd love to be convinced—that you're not using it as a substitute for doing whatever the hell your duty is in life, or just your daily duty. Worse than that, though, I can't see, I swear to God I can't—how you can pray to a Jesus you don't even understand. And what's really inexcusable, considering that you've been funnel-fed on just about the same amount of religious philosophy that I have—what's really inexcusable is that you don't try to understand him. There'd be some excuse for it if you were either a very simple person, like the pilgrim, or a very goddam desperate person—but you're not simple, buddy, and you're not that damned desperate." … "God Almighty, Franny," he said. "If you're going to say the Jesus Prayer, at least say it to Jesus, and not to St. Francis and Seymour and Heidi's grandfather all wrapped up in one. Keep him in mind if you say it, and him only, and him as he was and not as you'd like him to have been. You don't face any facts. This same damned attitude of not facing facts is what got you into this messy state of mind in the first place, and it can't possibly get you out of it." …
"The part that stumps me, really stumps me, is that I can't see why anybody—unless he was a child, or an angel, or a lucky simpleton like the pilgrim—would even want to say the prayer to a Jesus who was the least bit different from the way he looks and sounds in the New Testament. My God! He's only the most intelligent man in the Bible, that's all! Who isn't he head and shoulders over? Who? Both Testaments are full of pundits, prophets, disciples, favorite sons, Solomons, Isaiahs, Davids, Pauls—but, my God, who beside Jesus really knew which end was up? Nobody. Not Moses. Don't tell me Moses. He was a nice man, and he kept in beautiful touch with his God, and all that—but that's exactly the point. He had to keep in touch. Jesus realized there is no separation from God…Oh, my God, what a mind!" he said. "Who else, for example, would have kept his mouth shut when Pilate asked for an explanation? Not Solomon. Don't say Solomon. Solomon would have had a few pithy words for the occasion. I'm not sure Socrates wouldn't have, for that matter. Crito, or somebody, would have managed to pull him aside just long enough to get a couple of well-chosen words for the record. But most of all, above everything, who in the Bible besides Jesus knew—knew—that we're carrying the Kingdom of Heaven around with us, inside, where we're all too goddam stupid and sentimental and unimaginative to look? You have to be a son of God to know that kind of stuff. Why don't you think of these things? I mean it, Franny, I'm being serious. When you don't see Jesus for exactly what he was you miss the whole point of the Jesus Prayer. If you don't understand Jesus, you can't understand his prayer—you don't get the prayer at all, you just get some kind of organized cant. Jesus was a supreme adept, by God, on a terribly important mission. This was no St. Francis, with enough time to knock out a few canticles, or to preach to the birds, or to do any of the other endearing things so close to Franny Glass's heart. I'm being serious now, God damn it. How can you miss seeing that? If God had wanted somebody with St. Francis's consistently winning personality for the job in the New Testament, he'd've picked him, you can be sure. As it was, he picked the best, the smartest, the most loving, the least sentimental, the most unimitative master he could possibly have picked. And when you miss seeing that, I swear to you, you're missing the whole point of the Jesus prayer. The Jesus Prayer has one aim, and one aim only. To endow the person who says it with Christ-Consciousness. Not to set up some little cozy, holier-than-thou trysting place with some sticky, adorable divine personage who'll take you in his arms and relieve you of all your duties and make all your nasty Weltschmerzen and Professor Tuppers go away and never come back. And by God, if you have intelligence enough to see that—and you do—and yet you refuse to see it, then you're misusing the prayer, you're using it to ask for a world full of dolls and saints and no Professor Tuppers."

When I read all that, it gave me goosebumps. If you didn't find it as interesting, I apologize...but that doesn't mean I'm sorry.

--Thanks for reading.

Reviewing The Road

2009-01-12T16:10:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written...

So I thought I'd paste a book review I posted on goodreads today:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was very good. If I were writing an official review, I'd probably try to use a word like "harrowing" or "haunting" or some such adjective...and then I'd decide that it was an inadequate description and I'd rack my brain for a more suitable description...eventually determining that each new one was just as unsuitable as the first...

So I'm glad I'm not writing an official review. And I can just say "this book was very good" and leave it at that...

...except I can't leave it at that. Because, despite the "very good"-ness of this book, I don't think it was nearly as monumental as do those who have written official reviews.

Do I think it shouldn't have won the Pulitzer? No, I think that honor may have been well-deserved. Other honors, however, seem a bit preposterous to me. What honors could be bigger than the Pulitzer, you ask?

Well, Entertainment Weekly concluded that The Road is the best book in the last 25 years. British environmentalist George Monbiot determined, after reading The Road, that author Cormac McCarthy is one of 50 people "who could save the planet."

Monbiot also claimed that The Road is the "most important environmental book ever written." That quote first startled me, and then it provided the enlightenment for which I was looking.

Never once while reading The Road did I think of it as an environmental book. Looking back on it, I still don't.

A father and son are traveling a road in a post-apocalyptic world. The earth is bitter cold, covered in ash, and no longer capable of sustaining healthy life. If you want to claim this setting makes The Road an environmental book, fine. But then I'll claim it's the most important civil engineering book ever written---a testament to the durability and longevity of our finely-constructed roads.

The book, thankfully, contains no explanation for the ash that permeates everything, nor does it explain the eternal coldness. It doesn't say that humans destroyed the earth...

...and if readers want to infer that, I suppose that's their prerogative. And I suppose that prerogative will continue to elevate The Road's status in our increasingly environment-loving world.

In my opinion, The Road is a good book. If you're reading it as a caution against destroying the environment, then perhaps you will see it as a great book.

But if that were the real message behind it, if that were the thread on which the story relied, it would actually detract from the beauty of the story---a story about a father and son and their unbreakable bond, a story about the perseverance of man and the willingness to suffer in the hope that hope might still exist. That's what makes The Road a good book, not some subtle---and dare I say, petty---environmental warning.

I would recommend The Road for anyone. Including you overzealous environmentalists...and the overzealous civil engineers, wherever they might be.

View all my reviews.

Searching Through the Debris

2008-06-02T14:26:00.010-04:00

I find myself trying to write a blog at a time when I know I can't find the right words. And yet I feel compelled to write something.

I have been reading about today's car bombing in Pakistan. Yes, another car bomb.

But this one shook me.

Earlier today, a car exploded outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. Early reports indicate at least 6 dead and approximately 35 injured.

Many suspect that al-Qaida is behind this bombing.

Background information:

You might remember back in September of 2005 when Denmark published some political cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb. These cartoons infuriated some followers of Islam because they believe it is wrong to depict Muhammad in any way. To do so could lead to idolatry, and for that reason it is prohibited.

These cartoons, appearing in Danish newspapers, have sparked riots and deaths on more than one occasion in the past three years.

But why now, you might ask? Well, supposedly, al-Qaida bigshot Ayman al-Zawahri encouraged Muslims to attack Danish targets because of these caricatures of Muhammad. According to Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080602/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_ylt=Avr.4yXzmyqMq0wcvWk.9mwZO7gF),
IntelCenter reports that al-Zawahri recently said, "Denmark went too far in its aggression against Muslims by repeatedly slandering the Prophet, God's peace and prayers be upon him. I urge and incite every Muslim who can harm Denmark to do so in support of the Prophet."

So presumably, the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, was blown to pieces because a Danish newspaper depicted Muhammad in a way that some Muslims (including al-Qaida) did not like.

Here are a couple pictures of the aftermath:

(Mian Khursheed/Reuters)

(AFP/Aamir Qureshi)

So why does this bombing sadden me so much? Why this one when there have been so many others like it?

I don't know exactly.

Maybe it's because I recognize how senseless it is. How pointless it is to blow up an embassy in Pakistan because of something printed on paper in Denmark. Seriously, what did this bombing accomplish? 6 dead. Guess how many of them are from Denmark. Maybe one. The blast killed two Pakistani policemen, a Pakistani cleaner, a Pakistani handyman, and they are still trying to identify the others. One might have been from Denmark, but they aren't sure.

I think I'm also saddened because there is no end in sight. These cartoons were first published nearly 3 years ago. People died because of it then. And now, after a Danish newspaper reprints some of these images, now al-Qaida is calling for Muslims to murder more. All to "support the Prophet."

(I must also stop and wonder whether the irony is lost on these extremists. They are blowing people up to defend their Prophet because somebody depicted him with a turban shaped like a bomb. Hmmm. It's like a kid telling a bully, "I don't like you because you punch me." And then the bully gets mad and decks the kid.)

Maybe I'm just saddened because I don't understand how people can continue to adhere to these beliefs. I fully understand that not all Muslims are willing to blow up cars outside of embassies. In fact, the majority of those who follow Islam do not support the extremists. And yet, far too many are willing to kill for their God (and their Prophet), and I really don't know how we can change that.

(AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer)

The picture above shows a peaceful protest that occurred in Pakistan today, the day the car bomb exploded outside the Danish embassy. The banner declares that Pakistan should sever all diplomatic ties with Denmark. And I'm fine with that. If 300 men want to march in the streets, carrying a banner calling for a severing of diplomatic ties, that's fine by me. In America, we call that freedom of speech. Or the right to assemble.

But I am not fine with more senseless killing. I am not fine with a terrorist leader calling for Muslims to kill anyone and anything affiliated with a country that printed something disagreeable in a newspaper.

As one who follows a different God, I want to ask these Muslims, "Why must you kill to defend your Prophet, to defend your God? Why is your God not powerful enough to withstand slander? Why must you exact revenge for your God? Why must judgment come from your hands?"

But even more than those questions, I want to ask these bombers, "What do you think you are accomplishing? Do you honestly think you are doing something good? "

Denmark is not going to stop printing their caricatures because of this. Instead, the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen (which is a sweet name, by the way), is left sounding like George W. Bush following September 11:

"We will not give in to terrorists," says Rasmussen.

And so it continues...

Other embassies will most likely be evacuated before nightfall. And even once things calm down in Islamabad (you could certainly make a pun out of that name, huh?), the enmity will spill forth in another city, outside another embassy, or hotel, or streetcorner cafe...wherever another extremist decides to park a car full of explosives, or detonate a bomb strapped to his chest, all because someone is telling them they must destroy life in order to "defend their Prophet."

I think I've figured out the main reason why I am so bothered by this bombing. Typically, the more I think about something, the more it begins to make sense to me. But I can't pinpoint the logic behind violence like this. I can't find enough justification to even begin to comprehend the motives at work here.

And yet things like this keep happening.

I really don't understand why. And I can't accept that.

--Thanks for reading

Knock yourselves out...

2008-05-14T16:03:00.003-04:00

I stumbled across this embeddable version of Guitar Hero III, and I decided to throw it on my blog.

So far I haven't been able to hit any notes. But maybe that's just me. If it's absolutely impossible, I'll take it back down. That would just annoy everyone who tried to actually play it. As funny as that might sound, I won't do that to you.

Have fun.

EDIT: I found out later that you have to hit ENTER while you hit the appropriate number key. Without hitting ENTER, you'll never hit a note. I played twice and my high score is 9500 on the first song. Now my fingers are tired, so I'm going to take a break.

Growling Tiger

2008-03-28T16:00:00.004-04:00

Think of one thing that you're really good at. One thing.

Let's pretend that one thing is staring contests. You're the master of staring contests. Now let's say that all the best starers in the world get together for staring competitions. You have to stare over and over again for 4 day tournaments. And you're so good at staring that you beat all these other professional starers. And you do this regularly. And everyone expects you to win. Always.

Well, I'm realizing that staring contests was a horrible example. So hopefully you thought of something better that you're good at. Whatever that may be, the scenario above is what it would be like to be Tiger Woods.

PGA Tournaments pit all the best golfers in the world against each other, and they play 4 rounds, or four days, of golf. And, obviously, in keeping with how golf is played, the lowest score at the end of the tournament wins. Everyone else doesn't lose; they place. The golfer with the second-lowest score finishes second. (And he still gets a lot of money.) And for many golfers, a top 5 finish would be the highlight of their career.

But when Tiger Woods finishes anything other than first, you'll notice sports gurus referring to it as a loss for Tiger Woods (I'm sure, as competitive as he is, Tiger sees it the same way). But I think the suggestion that a second-place finish be considered a loss, in a field of all the best players in the world, in a sport where strokes can be determined by fractions of an inch, is just absolutely absurd.

In golf, not winning is not the same thing as losing.

If Ernie Els finishes 9th, Vijay Singh winds up 5th, Mickelson shoots 3 under on the final day and heads to the clubhouse in 8th... none of those pros "lose." Yet Tiger Woods finished 5th last weekend, and all week people have been talking about Tiger Woods "losing."

Here's why:

Tiger Woods is the best athlete ever. Ever.

Yes, better than Michael Jordan. I said it.

No one has ever been as dominant in their sport as Tiger Woods is on a golf course.

Here's a few numbers for ya:

-Heading into last weekend's PGA tournament, Tiger had won the last 5 tournaments in which he played (including every one thus far in 2008).

-Tiger had finished first in 7 of his last 8 tournaments, with the one exception being a second place finish on September 3, 2007 (a "loss," clearly).

And remember, he is playing against the whole field. Of professionals. All it should take is for one player to play great golf, and Tiger would get edged out. But this rarely happens. It's truly remarkable. Woods is just that dominant.

Last weekend, when he didn't win...when he was edged out by fellow professionals...did Tiger tip his hat to them and say "nicely done, chaps"? (I think that's how golfers talk, right?)

No, Tiger, the greatest athlete ever, decided to blame his loss on the photographers.

Come again?

That's right, those photographers, believe it or not, were taking pictures of him. And he heard their cameras click when he was in the middle of his backswing on an approach shot. Apparently this made Tiger flinch, pulling him off the shot a little...and instead of landing on the green his ball nearly went in the water.

Immediately after this, Tiger turned to the crowd and yelled at the photographers:

"The next time anyone takes a ****ing picture, I'll break his ****ing neck!"

You might want to read that quote again.

Right now you're thinking, "Tiger Woods said that?"

Yeah, Tiger Woods said that.

When asked on Monday about his outburst, he said that it's happened 3 or 4 times this year (can you believe that? People have been taking pictures of him...), and he's made a bogey on three of those holes. Apparently after we learn that photographers have made him bogey 3 holes this year we're supposed to think, "Well it's a wonder he didn't threaten to break their necks before!"

I should pause to point out that one of the reasons Tiger is so good is that he is a fierce competitor. As a competitive person myself, I can think of times (too many times, actually) when I have been frustrated or annoyed in the middle of a competition, and I have done things and said things that were inappropriate. In fact, I'm not proud of this, and I hesitate to post it, but during a competition I once told a girl, "If you weren't a girl, I'd punch you in the face."

Yeah, I said that (and I was 21 years old at the time).

I'm pretty sure though, if I had been asked about it the next day, I wouldn't have tried to provide background information that would justify a desire to punch that girl in the face. I would have been able to say, with my head down, "Yeah, I shouldn't have said that."

Tiger, on the other hand, smiled his patented smile and justified his outburst by saying that it's now happened 3 or 4 times (surely that warrants breaking a cameraman's neck, right?). When the interviewer pushed harder to get Tiger to address the severity of his response, Tiger smiled (of course) and said, "You have no idea what's said out there all the time on the golf course."

Then he repeated:

"That one shot took momentum away."

So again he is justifying his outburst.

From where I'm sitting, I don't even care if he's right. If I had been playing that hole and a photographer's clicking camera made me flinch, stripping me of my momentum and costing me the tournament...I'd be hacked off, too.

But the next day, I could still say, "I shouldn't have responded that way." ("Why don't I just eat some hay. I can lie by the bay. I think I may. What do you say?")

Like it or not, cameramen will be there. For that matter, so will birds. And heaven forbid that one of those creatures of flight might coo or chirp at the wrong time in the upcoming Master's tournament...

As much as I love Michael Jordan, I now firmly believe that Tiger is the most dominant athlete I've ever seen. And his competitive nature is the thing that makes him great.

But instead of pointing to photographers for costing him the win, Tiger should still be able to tip his hat to the competition on those rare Sunday afternoons when someone else is receiving the over-sized check.

And he should definitely have enough class to admit that there is really no excuse for threatening to break necks on a golf course. Golf, after all, is a gentleman's sport. And as the greatest ever, Tiger should be able to win (and lose) like a gentleman.

--Thanks for reading

P.S. I eventually did apologize to the girl who I would have punched in the face if she hadn't been a girl. And for the record, we were playing a sport and she was cheating. And it destroyed my momentum. And it had happened 3 or 4 times. And...uh...she was asking for it...

March Madness, Easter, and a Killer Robot

2008-03-19T18:12:00.003-04:00

Warning: This is a hodgepodge. (On second thought, it's not really. But I'm not going to edit that out, because "hodgepodge" is a fun term.)

Looks like somebody at the calendar company should be losing their job. Easter in March? That's madness. Or "March Madness," more like it. (Picture me slapping my knee and making the I-think-I'm-so-funny face.)

I'm not thrilled about this new March/Easter arrangement. First of all, here in the suburbs of Chicago, they're predicting 6 inches of snow tomorrow. Easter eggs are not supposed to be hidden in snowdrifts. Unless you're from Canada. But Canadians don't celebrate Easter, so that's irrelevant. (What's that? They do?) Moving on...

The real reason I'm unhappy about Easter in March is that it conflicts with the NCAA tourney. Those who know me know that I love March Madness. Well, I also love spending Easter with my family. That's why I'll be driving to Ohio tonight...while the games are on TV. And that's why I'll be driving back to Illinois on Sunday...while the games are on TV. And then Saturday is my mom's birthday (while it always falls in the middle of March Madness, it usually lands a safe distance away from Easter festivities). So we'll be going out to eat to celebrate her birthday on Saturday night...while the games are on TV.

In short, due to this new March/Easter arrangement, I'll miss about three quarters of the first 2 rounds of March Madness. That's just plain sad. But, there is one thing that will make up for it:

Cadbury Mini-Eggs. The best candy ever made. (They recently introduced a Christmas version of these eggs--although the Christmas treats are not eggs, but balls--but somehow, even though they're the same candy, they don't taste as good as these eggs. But I digress...)

Even though I won't get to see much March Madness this weekend, I will have the chance to eat many Cadbury Mini Eggs. Or, I guess you could say I will be eating "Many-Eggs." (Picture me being disgusted by that terrible joke.)

Madness and Mini-Eggs aside, I'm really looking forward to going home to Ohio and spending time with family--mine and Barbie's.

Completely unrelated... a co-worker/friend/arch-nemesis of mine shared a link with me yesterday, and I feel compelled to pass it on.

As I read it yesterday, my emotions went through this progression: interested, incredulous, scared, impressed, and then very sad. Perhaps your experience will be similar:

Deadly Robot

On that note, I will wrap this up.

I hope you all have a happy Easter, and I hope you enjoy some (more than me) March Madness and some (less than me, I'm sure) Cadbury Mini-Eggs. And take a moment or two to think about just how unthinkable the Easter story was and is.

--Thanks for reading.