I've looked into the eye of the island and what I saw was beautiful

So I know I said I was going to wait a few days to post my thoughts but I wanted to respond to all of the negative feedback about last night's finale. I have read a few bad reviews and all of the morning radio hosts were trashing it. So here is what I thought.

First and foremost, I thought the episode was beautifully done, it was epic, and it was a fitting end to a great series. I could not have been more pleased. This is complete speculation, but my general thought is that if you were a die hard fan who has followed Lost over the years and spent more hours than you care to remember watching, rewatching, and discussing all of the intricacies of the show you probably enjoyed last night (I know some people who didn't enjoy it fall into this category but I'm generalizing). If you were a casual fan who watched the first two seasons and then decided that the show was too complicated, you watched episodes when you got around to it, or watched because you thought (insert actor or actress) was gorgeous, you probably didn't enjoy last night. I think those who came into the finale wanting answers to very specific questions probably walked away disappointed.

Lost is and always has been a show about the characters. The mystery surrounding the island was certainly intriguing and led to many of the countless hours of rehashing that we did here. But at the end of the day it was about Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Jin, Claire, Charlie, Desmond and the rest of the gang. This is the reason that I have enjoyed Lost so much. Now that Lost is over I'm sad that the show has ended, but I'm mostly sad that I am losing these characters that I have come to know so well over the years. Would I have liked to have known what happened to Walt, what the deal with Aaron was, more on the Dharma Initiative, how the island came to be, etc...of course. But at the end of the day those things were ancillary to the story of our central characters. I think this show is the ultimate example of being about the journey and not the destination.

I have to say, for most of the season I was very iffy on the "flash sideways." I thought the payoff last night was worth all of it. There was something so beautiful about the awakenings and then the final reveal. This has long been a show about life and death, faith, spirituality, and redemption, and I think the end was only fitting of this.

So why should we care whether Jack saved the island or not? Because everything that they did on the island mattered. Despite Desmond's assurances that none of it mattered, Jack proved correct in the end. Everything each of them did in their lives mattered. They each affected so many others. Had Jack not saved the island I have no doubt that the world would have ended. But everybody dies eventually. It is about the journey. Live together or die alone.

I will have more thoughts as the days go on and after I watch the finale again, but for now I just wanted to calm down all the haters. Enjoy the ride. I can't think of a more fitting end for our Losties. The final scene was just perfect. I hope you all have enjoyed this journey as much as I have and I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts.

The Beginning of the End

Unfortunately this is not a review of the season 4 premiere. We are less than 36 hours from the Lost finale. I think it finally hit me after "What They Died For" that it really is all coming to an end. I'm trying to think of other shows that I have been as invested in that have had a series finale. Many of my favorites, either I didn't get into until after they had aired (The Wire, Firefly/Serenity) or in the case of Battlestar, I wasn't caught up on previous seasons until the final 6 episodes were airing so there wasn't the long goodbye. With Lost, I have been a faithful viewer since the Season 2 premiere. I actually saw the pilot, but the show aired on Wednesday nights, and Wednesday's were Kinvara trivia and dollar draft night at the Kells so there really was no room for a serial drama as a senior in college. After watching Season 1 during a two day viewing marathon, I have seen every episode since. I know many of you have similar stories (Julia and Jim watched 4 seasons in a matter of days I think). I am excited for tomorrow but at the same time I know that this is the end of an era in television. There really aren't any good serial dramas on the horizon (I think Caprica has been promising but I'm not convinced that SyFy will give it a chance to get its legs). It is very difficult for shows to get the right mix. Lost caught lightning in a bottle. Look at all the shows that have tried to piggyback and failed: Invasion, Day Break, The Nine, Flash Forward, Heroes after season 2. I think Fringe is the only show with a overarching story arc that is still successful (of course J.J. Abrams is at the helm). I'm sad that the story is ending and I don't want to let these characters go, but I will say I am excited to find out how it ends and almost as excited to go back and watch all 6 seasons again (DVD and Blu-Ray box set out this summer!). It has been a pleasure sharing with you over the past two seasons and maybe in the future we can coordinate a a rewatch to discuss some episodes after knowing how everything ends. I will probably hold off posting any thoughts after the finale to give myself time for everything to set in. I hope you all have enjoyed this show as much as I have. I look forward to having a spirited discussion after all is said and done, but until then, if anything goes wrong Desmond Hume will be my constant.

We're Back - Across The Sea

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back. Many apologies for the long lay off. I feel like as we head into the final three plus hours of Lost we should get this thing up and running again. I am going to avoid the episode recaps because by this point I'm going to assume that you guys have watched the episode. I will focus more on what we now know, what big questions we still have, and what people are thinking. So lets go.

First, R.I.P. Sayid, Sun, Jin, Ilana and maybe Frank. I was confused with Sayid. He was playing zombie for the entire season and then in the wake of his encounter with Desmond he seemed like old Sayid again. He completed the Jesus symbolism that we first encountered as he was carried out of the pool. He sacrificed himself to save the others. Sun and Jin. Eh. I had really grown tired of them. I thought they should have been reunited about six episodes earlier. It was a heartbreaking scene and I'm sad when any Lost mainstay is killed, but I could live with it. Fewer loose ends to deal with in the final episodes.

I'm going to skip most of what we learned in the episodes I missed, mostly because I can't coherently assemble it all right now. If you want to discuss please feel free. I want to concentrate mostly on last night's episode, "Across The Sea."

First and foremost, I loved the episode. I think Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver have turned in some top notch performances this season. Plus, it's always good to see Press Secretary C.J. Craig again. I thought the episode started off with a great quote from "Mother" which was basically aimed at the fans. "Every question I answer will simply lead to another question." The writers just aren't going to be able to answer everything. And even if they tried, people would have more questions. So at this point I'm going to stop begging for answers and just enjoy them as they come.

There were a few big reveals in this episode. The biggest of course being what the island is. The "heart" of the island is a light which is "the warmest brightest light you've ever felt." While not exactly very clear as to what this light actually is, it seems to represent purity, goodness, sort of like Adam and Eve before the fall. I think of it like Eywa from Avatar (see I wasn't so far off on my Tree of Souls reference). Mother must protect this light because if man discovers it he will exploit it and the light will go out. And if the light goes out on the island is goes out everywhere. Mother gives the line that men come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt and it always ends the same. I guess MIB took this to heart.

We see the origins of the donkey wheel. It's not exactly clear to me how this was going to work (the water and the light were somehow going to get him off the island) but eventually someone does figure out how to get it to work.

Another reveal was the origin of the smoke monster. After MIB kills Mother, Jacob is so enraged that he drags him to the light and throws him in. Out comes the smoke monster and to me it appeared that the light didn't come back. I could be mistaken. It is also interesting to think about Jacob's line from Ab Aeterno that the island is like a cork keeping all of the evil bottled up. Doesn't sound like the great light to me.

As an aside, I really came around on MIB this episode. He really wasn't all that bad. He got along with Jacob and they seemed to really love each other. He seemed to also really care for his mother. The massacre of the people he was living with really changed him though. Even after he killed Mother he was pretty upset about it and tried to justify himself to Jacob. After Jacob discovers MIB's body he is genuinely sad. Some really touching but heartbreaking scenes.

We also found out who Adam and Eve are. Mother and MIB were laid to rest in the cave with the black and white stones. "But how can MIB's body be in the cave the whole time if we see him in bodily form later in the timeline, like with Richard in 'Ab Aeterno'?"

When Jacob threw him into the light, he ceased to be the MIB and became the smoke monster. The smoke monster can take the form of dead people on the island. I suspect he was still MIB in a sense. He had the same memories and experiences, but he had no permanent body. He could take the form of his old body, which we see he did later in the show. But the person who was Jacob's brother is no more and all that is left of him is the smoke monster.

I don't pretend to completely understand everything that we learned last night but I am confident it will be clarified in the next three hours. The series is really ramping up heading into the series finale event. As I start to come to grips with the fact that there are only two more episodes it makes me a little sad, but I can't wait to see how everything plays out. I'm interested in what people have to say so please comment away.

6.10 - The Package

So after an awesome episode last week we are back to our traditional flash sideways and island timelines. This episode revolves around Sun and Jin. Last we saw from Sun and Jin in the island timeline, Jin had a bum leg and was with MIB and his gang. Sun was with Ilana and Jack back at the beach waiting for orders from Richard. Off island, Jin was tied up in a meat locker and we don't know where Sun is.

Flash Sideways

We are back at LAX and Jin is coming out with the customs guy. He gets his watch back but customs is keeping the $25,000. Jin has to fill out paperwork to get it back. I guarantee that money gets "misplaced" by the customs agent. Jin missed his meeting at the restaurant. He doesn't know what the money was for, just that Sun's father gave it to him just before he left and Jin does not ask questions.

As they check in at the hotel under Paik, Jin is a little upset that the guy doesn't realize he isn't married to Sun. He wants his own room. This answers the speculation from LAX as to whether or not they are married. After they check in Jin shows up at Sun's room and says he is going to the restaurant to deliver the watch. She invites him inside and says no one will be at the restaurant. Plus they work for Sun's father so tough luck if they don't like it. What does Sun care, she's only in LA to go shopping. Maybe Jin can yell at her for having her top button undone. Jin was worried people were watching. Sun starts to unbutton her top and Jin doesn't want her to stop. Bow-chicka-bow-wow. It looks like my last week's prediction about the title of this episode might not be so off base after all. They bang and then drink champaign.

In the morning Sun says she wants to run away and use the money that she has stored in a secret bank account. Jin says that he loves Sun, and then she is about to tell him something important. Of course before she can there is a knock on the door and it is our friend Martin Keamy. He really is an awesome bad guy. He wants the $25,000 that Sun's dad sent. Omar arrives and they look around for Jin. He's hiding in the bathroom and doesn't seem to resist at all when they look for him. No one can speak Korean so they need Mikhail to translate.

SIDE NOTE: On her way to answering the door, Sun stopped to look in the mirror and fix her hair but seemed to have a confused look on her face as she walked away. This was similar to Jack and the appendix scar in the mirror. Sawyer also punched a mirror in his flash sideways. Did Kate use a mirror at all? Maybe at the autoshop when she was changing. I'm not sure about any other mirror connections, but combined with Jacob's mirrors in The Lighthouse, there could be some meaning here.

Mikhail makes a reappearance to serve as translator. I think this is just part of the plan to bring back every former cast member for a cameo. He has two working eyes (for now) in the flash sideways. Sun will go take the $25,000 out of her secret account and give it to Keamy. Jin doesn't want Keamy to tell Mr. Paik about Jin and Sun. No worries dude, Keamy won't cock block you. Keamy is going to keep Jin as collateral and bring him to the restaurant. Mikhail will go with Sun.

When Sun tried to take the money out, the account has been closed by Sun's dad. But it was secret! Apparently not so secret to Sun's father. Uh-oh. At the restaurant Jin is put in the freezer. Omar knocks his head on the side of the freezer and gives him a cut. Keamy cleans up his cut and then ties him up with duct tape. He then tells Jin that he is there to kill him. The $25,000 was payment from Mr. Paik to kill Jin. He broke the cardinal rule and got freaky with the boss's daughter. Omar is sent off to get the Arab and then Keamy goes to make eggs. We hear the interaction with Sayid and everyone get shot. Jin starts making a racket and Sayid opens the door. He won't free Jin, but he won't kill him either so he gives him a box cutter and wishes him luck.

Sun and Mikhail arrive back at the restaurant and I guess Keamy isn't dead yet. Mikhail wants to know what happened but his last words are warning Mikhail to turn around. Too late. Jin has a gun to the back of his head. Mikhail thinks that if Jin had killed all those people he would have killed him already. He tries to attack Jin and they do some karate while shooting off a bunch of rounds. Then Jin puts a bullet through Mikhail's eye. Now he needs his eyepatch. Sun caught a stray bullet in the uterus and lets Jin know that she is preggers. He's going to save her. I bet Dr. Jack actually saves her.

On Island

We open up with night vision. Someone is watching Locke's merry band of losties. MIB sits down with Jin while he bandages himself. They talk about Jacob's cave and how Kwon was on the cave. MIB can't leave the island without all of the people whose names are on the wall. So he needs Jin and Sun. Locke will go and get Sun, don't worry.

MIB is leaving for the night and tells Sayid to watch over the camp. Sayid can't feel anything. No emotion, no pain, nothing. That's probably better for what is coming. Jin starts to hobble out of camp and Sawyer wants to know where he is going. He is looking for Sun. Why is Sawyer listening to that thing? Then they all get shot by tazers or some other kind of dart. Everyone gets shot and knocked out. Zoe (who I guess the rest of the blogosphere is calling Tina Fey/Liz Lemon) finds Jin and lets Widmore's men know that they have their person.

MIB comes back to the camp and finds everyone still passed out. He goes right to Sayid and wakes him up. He wants to know who did this and where is Jin. Sayid doesn't know, being passed out and all. MIB gives Sayid a gun and tells him to wrap it in plastic and asks if he is a good swimmer. Enter Claire who wants to make it all about her. Is her name on the wall? No it's not. Well it was, but it was crossed out. Cry me a river Claire. MIB says he still needs her and there is plenty of room on the plane. He is clearly lying to her. Is Kate on the wall? No. But she was on the lighthouse wheel and not crossed out, so this could turn out to be big. Claire whines a little more about Aaron not recognizing her and Kate being her mother. Maybe you shouldn't have abandoned your son in the jungle. MIB needs Kate to get some others off the island, but after that, whatever happens, happens. Amen.

As MIB and Sayid are leaving Sawyer asks why he doesn't float over there and Locke says that if that was possible he wouldn't be on the island anymore. They are going to get Jin back. MIB arrives at the beach and walks towards the pylons. Everyone jumps out and draws guns. Then Widmore comes to talk to MIB. Widmore says he only knows rumors and ghost stories about MIB. MIB wants Jin back. Widmore says he has no idea what he's talking about. "A wise man once said that war is coming to the island. I think it just got here." That wise man was of course Widmore in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham."

Back at the beach Ben is getting anxious and wants to know what everyone is waiting for. He was digging his own grave two days ago but all of a sudden he is bold enough to question Ilana? Seriously Ben, give it a rest. They are waiting for Richard. Sun throws a hissy fit and runs off to her dead garden. Jack follows her and is now a full on believer. He is stoked to be a candidate and doesn't understand why Sun doesn't share the same feelings. She tells him to buzz off.

MIB shows up and says he found Jin and will take Sun to him. He reaches out his hand and says he would never make Sun do anything she didn't want to. Sun turns and runs away. Then she runs smack into a tree. If that's how she is running, I really hope nobody lets her behind the wheel of a car.

Ben stumbled upon Sun and she forgets how to speak English. She can understand it but can't speak it. I'm thinking that this head injury has melded the two worlds, on island and flash sideways, a bit. I'll be interested to hear about the connection. Maybe next week. Jack takes a look at her head wound and diagnoses it. Ilana is skeptical that Ben didn't have anything to do with it. Why won't she believe him? Because he is speaking. Zing!

Hurley comes back with Richard who tells them to pack up because they are leaving. They are heading to Hydra island to stop MIB from leaving. Sun has a minor freak out and screams at Richard in Korean. He listens to her but doesn't know what she is saying and she runs off in a fit.

Jin wakes up in Room 23 where Karl was treated to a Clockwork Orange treatment a few seasons ago. Zoe/Tina/Liz comes in and ends up stopping Jin from leaving. Don't taze me bro. She shows him grid maps from the Dharma Initiative that were signed by Jin-Soo Kwon which was Jin from the 70's. He wants to speak with Widmore. Good, Widmore wants to talk to him.

Widmore is pretty upset that Zoe and her team already got Jin. They should have waited a few days. Well she's only a geophysicist. He wants Zoe to bring the package to the infirmary. Widmore shows Jin a digital camera that he found from the wreckage with pics of Ji Yeon. Widmore tells him that he has a daughter as well. And if they don't stop the MIB from leaving the island it will all be for naught. If MIB gets off the island everything will cease to be and he will never see his wife and daughter. But how will Widmore prevent this? Jin needs to see the package. It's not a what, it's a who.

Sun is off by herself by the fire and Jack comes to talk to her. He gives her a pad of paper to write her thoughts. She doesn't trust Locke, but she trusts Jack. Jack promises that he will make sure that they find Jin and get off the island together.

Back in Smokey's camp Sawyer hopes that it will all be over soon and that Widmore killed Locke. Locke comes back into camp and Sawyer wants to know where Jin is. Widmore says he didn't have him. But MIB doesn't believe him. Where is Sayid? They have a secret on the sub in the locked door and MIB doesn't like secrets.

We see Sayid surface from the water near the sub. Zoe and her pal are bringing a guy out from the sub, but Zoe gave him too many drugs. The man is Desmond. He falls near the dock and looks at Sayid. He looks like he might recognize him but he's so drugged out I don't know.

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So finally Desmond is back. I know we were going to see him again, but I was getting anxious. Damon Lindelof says that after next week the conversation will change. I take it this means that we will be getting some big answers next week. We know that Desmond is a game changer. Flashes Before Your Eyes and The Constant were awesome Desmond centric episodes. The Constant is still the highest rated episode among fans. I'm expecting big things next week.

Next up: "Happily Every After"

Next week. Desmond centric. 'Nuff said.

6.09 - Ab Aeterno

So I will continue my recent practice of posting about the most recent episode on the night that the new episode airs. I know, I know, I need to be better about it. I spent about 2 hours last Tuesday night downloading "The D.E.N.N.I.S. System" episode, downloading a program to allow me to capture the audio, then edit the audio into the 10 second clip, and then find a way to post the audio on the website. I didn't have much energy left to put anything of substance on the site.

On to "Ab Aeterno." Over at DarkUFO they let you vote after each episode 1-5 on how much you liked it. This episode has now been voted on the most of any other episode and ranks 2nd all time in rating behind only "The Constant." So now you know what we're dealing with. Personally, I loved this episode. It was just a very different feel and I thought it did an amazing job of story telling. I liked that we weren't constantly interrupted with flashes. Just the little bit in the beginning and the end on island and then the rest was Richard's history. I thought Nestor Carbonell put up one of the all time great Lost performances. This rivaled any of the best Michael Emerson performances. He was just a completely different character. The scared, devastated Ricardo is nothing like the Richard that we have known up until now. His wife is sick so he rides several hours in the rain to find a doctor. When the doctor refuses to give him the medicine Ricardo ends up knocking him over accidentally killing the doctor. He brings the medicine back to his wife but it is too late. He is to be hung for his crime. Instead because he knows some English and has strong hands he is sold to Magnus Hanso as a slave. On the trip over there is a violent storm and the ship gets carried by a huge wave to the island, but not before knocking over the giant statue. One of the other slaves mentions that the island is guarded by the devil.

Richard survives the shipwreck but with limited water and food one of the officers begins killing the slaves. Just as he is about to kill Richard the smoke monster arrives and kills everyone. He sizes up Ricahrd but leaves before doing anything. We see a series of hours pass as Richard tries to free himself by clawing at a nail. When he is attacked by a boar he loses the nail and in the process loses hope. Then Isabella his dead wife arrives. Isabella tells Richard that they are both dead and that they are in hell. Then the smoke monster arrives and Richard tells Isabella to run. She goes up the stairs and Richard can only hear her screams.

The Man in Black shows up and gives Richard some water. He confirms that they are in Hell and that the Devil took his wife. He offers to help Richard because he wants to get out of Hell as well but only if Richard does what he asks of him. Richard readily agrees. After freeing him the Man in Black says that "It is good to see you out of those chains." This is how Richard knew that Locke was the Man in Black back at the statue. The Man in Black gives Richard the same dagger that Dogan gave to Sayid and says that he must go to the statue and kill the devil there but he must not let him talk because he can be very persuasive.

Richard arrives at the statue and gets his ass kicked by Jacob. Jacob is apparently also a ninja. Awesome.    Richard wants to know where his wife is. She is dead so why is he asking Jacob? Because he talked to the Man in Black. Jacob then baptizes Richard and all is good. He explains to Richard that the island is like a bottle of wine. The wine represents what Richard calls "hell" but it is also known as evil or malevolence. If it got out of the bottle it would spread. The island serves as a cork to the bottle. The Man in Black thinks that everyone can be corrupted because it is in their nature to be bad. Jacob keeps bringing people to the island to prove him wrong. So far it looks like the Man in Black is winning this argument because everyone who has come before is dead. I guess that's just progress. Jacob doesn't want to intervene because if he tells people what to do that really defeats the purpose. But the Man in Black has no problem stepping in. So Jacob hires Richard to be his go between. Richard wants his wife back but Jacob says he can't do that (although apparently he said that he could do that for Dogan...). He wants to be absolved of his sins but Jacob can't do that either. Then Richard wants to live forever so that he doesn't go to Hell. That Jacob can do. Richard goes back to the Man in Black and gives him a white stone. Its an inside joke. The MIB says that the offer will stand for as long as they are on the island. Richard buries his wife's cross by the Tree of Souls.

Jacob and MIB have another meeting a la The Incident. Jacob can't believe that the MIB tried to have him killed. MIB doesn't want Jacob to gloat. MIB just wants to leave the island but Jacob won't let him. And if he is killed someone will take his place. MIB will kill him or her too. It looks like Jacob is the rainmaker here and MIB is just living in his world. Jacob gives MIB the bottle of wine to pass the time. He says that he'll be seeing him soon. MIB responds "sooner than you think." Not really sure what this is supposed to mean.

Back on the island in present time we start out with Ilana. Jacob says that he needs her to protect 6 people. She's been training her whole like for this. Her face is messed up. Then it isn't. But what should she do when she takes them to the Temple? Ask Richardus, he will know. But Richard is going out of his mind on the island and he doesn't believe Jacob anymore. He runs off into the Jungle. Hurley is talking to a ghost in Spanish who is not Jacob. Richard goes back to the Tree of Souls and digs up the cross. He wants to know if the offer still stands from the MIB. Hurley shows up instead and Richard starts yelling at him. Hurley was talking to Isabella though. Hurley interprets ghost talk for Richard but then apparently Richard can hear her or Hurley doesn't think its important to keep translating. Oh yeah, she has one more thing for Richard. He has to stop the Man in Black from leaving the island or else everyone is going to hell. We pan out to see Flocke watching from a distance.

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Overall it was an awesome episode. We got lots of answers as well as a great episode start to finish. I have a feeling we are going back to the flashes tonight with "The Package," which I think is about Jin's privates. Or maybe it's not.

We're half way there

We just got through episode 9 of the 18 episode season. There's been a bit of scuttlebutt around the old internets about how some folks are upset that the writers haven't been answering our questions, even this late in the game.

With that in mind, I dug into my archives and pulled out my grand list of questions for the final season. Let's see how we're doing so far.

Smoke monster (Random thoughts: Why did it kill the pilot? Was it trying to kill Lapidus? Why didn't it kill Locke in season 1-and why did he see it as a white light? Where was it trying to take him-The Temple? Why did it kill Eko? Kate and Juliet also saw a white flash in Season 3, as an aside. It probably works for Jacob's enemy, but does Jacob have a smoke monster?)-Partially answered-The monster IS Jacob's enemy.

Adam and Eve - Not answered, WILL be answered

Whispers (Conversations by the Others? Jacob?)-ANSWERED-The others

Childbirth/Kids-Why can no kids be born on the Island? Why are children so important? - Not answered

Richard Alpert-Why doesn't he age? Where did he come from (Black Rock, probably)? COMPLETELY ANSWERED-Episode 6.09

Ben/Widmore-What did Widmore do to get kicked off the Island? Is he aligned with Jacob's enemy? Why can't Ben kill Jacob? What "war" is coming? What happened to Ben in the Temple? What is the temple? No, Partially answered, No, No, Partially answered, Answered

Random Island issues-Why can the Island move? Who built the Wheel? How did the US Army/the Dharma Initiative find the place? How can the Island resurrect dead bodies or make people see things from their lives? - No, No, ANSWERED (Jacob brought them), Partially Answered

Jacob-Who is he? Why does he fight with his enemy? - Partially answered

"The incident"-Did it change anything? - Partially Answered-THIS WILL DEFINITELY BE ADDRESSED.

It is pretty incredible that despite claims of others to the contrary, we've been given a TON of information. It is also incredible how I've been asking the wrong kind of questions-but we didn't have enough information to ask the right questions. The most important question of them all- "Why are you on this Island?"...a question whose answer we now know.

Furthermore, this just reinforces a theory I've been kicking around for a while, that Lost is a giant metaphor for Lost.

In season 2, as we know, the majority of the season centered around the pushing of the magical button. What happens when we stop pushing the button? We don't know. We have to have faith. Because when we lose that faith and stop losing that button, stop watching the show, a nuclear bomb goes off.

Or something. I don't know. This metaphor is falling apart pretty quickly.

Did I miss any big questions?

Welcome to HELL

6.08 - Recon

Ok so I know this is way late but I figured I would post something quick about last week before we got to tonight's episode. As such we won't do the full recap. I will just throw out some of the big plot points from last week.

Dear Lost. Sawyer is a con man. I get it. "Confidence Man", "The Long Con", "Recon."

Alternate Time Line


Sawyer is in bed with an attractive vixen apparently pulling his classic con from "Confidence Man" and "The Long Con." Like Cassidy, this broad doesn't bite. She pulls a gun on Sawyer and says that she is married to a con man so he would have to think she's a fool to fall for that. He says he does think she's a fool because its all a set up and the cops are outside just waiting for his go. She should just take the case with a tracking device to her hubby. She doesn't believe him and wants to shoot him. He mutters "LaFleur" and the cops come busting in. Miles throws Sayer his badge and it is revealed that Miles is his partner in the police force.

Sawyer, or James Ford now I guess, is calling people named Anthony Cooper. So it appears there is still a connection. Miles questions him about his trip but Sawyer fumbles. Miles reminds him that he has a blind date with one of his dad's coworkers from the museum. So Dr. Change now works in a museum. I wonder why he left the island.

Sawyer goes on the blind date and it turns out to be Charlotte. They hit it off real well and pretty soon they're back at Sawyer's and the sexing begins. Charlotte goes to get a tshirt and finds a folder with all the news clippings on Sawyer's parent's death. Turns out that Anthony Cooper still conned his parents and his dad still killed his mom and himself. He didn't become a criminal this time though. Perhaps because Jacob wasn't there to encourage him to continue his letter? Sawyer comes back and and freaks out on Charlotte and demands she leave. She's still naked.

Later at the station we see Charlie's brother Liam there to bail him out but he can't get any info. Miles confronts Sawyer about his vacation. He knows Sawyer went to Sydney on Oceanic 815. Miles breaks up with Sawyer.

Sawyer feels bad about Charlotte and tried to make it up to her with a flower and a six pack. Understandably she is not swayed. He leaves the flower and takes the six pack.

The next day Sawyer tells Miles about his parents. He wants to find Anthony Cooper and kill him. But Miles would have talked him out of it. Then they get rear ended by a car. Sawyer chases the suspect down and its Kate. He recognizes her.

Original Timeline

Everyone wants to know what happened at the Temple and Locke says the black smoke killed everyone. Technically the truth. Sawyer wants to get off the rock immediately. Locke is annoyed and brings him into the woods. Locke reveals to Sawyer that he is the smoke monster and Sawyer seems to already know this. Locke wants Sawyer to take an outrigger to the Hydra Island to do some recon because they are going to get on the airplane and fly it off the island. What if Sawyer gets in trouble? He's the best liar Smokey's ever seen.

Kate finally gets what's coming to her. Claire tries to kill her and Sayid just stares at her like a zombie. Locke comes in and plays the dad breaking up squabbling children. Locke defends Kate and says she took Aaron because she did what she had to do. He bitch slaps Claire and says she's being inappropriate.

Sawyer gets to Hydra and finds the plane and sees a pile of bodies. Some broad is running in the woods and Sawyer tackles her. I don't trust her. She asks all kinds of questions and Sawyer runs with it. As they are getting in the boat to head back Sawyer pulls a gun on her and says she's good but not that good. She whistles and a bunch of dudes with guns come out. Sawyer says take me to your leader.

Locke apologizes to Kate because he said he would take care of everybody with him and that includes Kate. Locke told Claire the Others took her baby because she needed something to live for. She needed someone to hate. Kate wants to know where Sawyer is and Locke takes her to the beach.

They have a discussion about crazy mothers. Locke is pretty upset by this. He had a crazy mother a long time ago and he is still working through his problems. Things would have been better if they were only different. Why is he telling Kate this? Because now Aaron has a crazy mother too. Claire finds Kate and says she's sorry. She gives Kate a hug. It seems like she means it.

Sawyer is taken towards the sub. They are putting up the sonar fence which will keep Smokey out. He gets on the sub and sees a locked door. Not sure what's inside. I hope its Desmond. Sawyer meets with Widmore and says he knows him as the man who sent the freighter to kill everyone. Widmore says something like "There is so much about this that you don't know." Apparently not curious in the least, Sawyer asks no follow up. Slate was very critical of this fact and I have to agree. Nobody on this show seems the least bit curious. Whenever we get some mysterious question like "you don't know the half of it," there is never a follow up. That is answer enough. I get why for storytelling purposes they don't do it, but I mean come on! You are on the most mysterious island in history and everyone seems to have no questions about it. Sawyer will bring Locke to Widmore as long as Widmore leaves Sawyer's friends alone and gets them off the island.

Sawyer goes back and tells Locke all about the plan because a deal's a deal. That night he tells Kate that he plans on letting Locke and Widmore fight it out and while they're distracted him and Kate are going to steal the sub and get off the island.

-------------------------------------

Ok so that's your quick recap. I don't have too many thoughts right now because whatever I write will probably change after tonight. I am really excited for Ab Aeterno tonight. We will finally learn more about Richard and his back story. I suspect that we will see Jacob and the Man in Black in the forms we first met them in The Incident. Hopefully we get a better understanding of the island after tonight. Enjoy!

Mmm....Cake

So I know I'm late on posting a recap of "Recon" so here is this to hold you over. I am toying with tweaking the format a little bit this week. I'll post soon, I promise.

Our Crazy Girlfriend Returns

Click on the picture for a great article about how Lost is like your crazy girlfriend

6.07 Dr. Linus

Alright, this is already later than I wanted to post so I'm just going to go ahead and get right to the recap.

Alternate Timeline

We open with Ben giving a lecture to his class about an Island where everything became clear. The island is Elba and he is talking about Napoleon. The writers really lay it on thick here. He talks about Napoleon facing his greatest test on the island, the loss of his power. Do you see what they did there? They want you to think about Ben's own struggle on an island facing his loss of power. After class Ben runs into his boss, Principle Reynolds (who apparently quit his job as annoying tv reporter, a job he held down during the first two Die Hard movies) and is informed that he has to run detention all week and will have to miss his History club. But the History Club is really for Ben, not the students. As he walks away Ben mutters that he is "Dr. Linus."

At lunch, Arzt is complaining about how old his equipment is and Ben rails about the nature of administrators and the teachers who care for their students. On a side note, why are we being hit over the head with Arzt? He was in like 2 episodes, and was annoying as all get up. He was a Nikki and Paolo type character who came out of nowhere at the end of the first season and we were supposed to believe he was there the whole time. I don't care about him. Stop force feeding me Arzt! New substitute, John Locke thinks that Ben should be principal. But who would listen to little old Ben? John Locke would.

Ben is back home with his father and their relationship seems much less contentious. I would think that his mother didn't die in child birth, or if she did, his father has grown out of his hatred for his son. Ben's dad is on an oxygen tank. There is a sad scene where Ben waxes about his advanced degrees but is forced to babysit delinquents and Ben wonders if maybe he is the biggest loser of all. Ben's dad wishes things were different and that is why he signed them up for the Dharma initiative and took him to the island. If only they had stayed maybe their lives would have been different.

The doorbell rings and it is Alex Rousseau. She is a student and in the History Club. She wants to know why Ben wasn't there. She has an important AP test and needs tutoring. If she brings the coffee, Ben will tutor her the next day. Side note here. Maybe it is because she was always dressed up in island gear and made to look dirty and grungy, but I never noticed what a stone cold fox Alex is. I mean Karl was way out of his league. I for one would like to see more Alex please.

During tutoring Alex mentions that she needs a recommendation from a Yale graduate to apply and the only one is that pervert Principal Reynolds. She tells Ben that she was in the nurses office one day and fell asleep. When she woke up Principal Reynolds was boning Nurse Kondracki. Ben promises not to say anything about this secret.

So of course Ben goes right to Arzt and asks him to hack into teacher email and find out what kind of juicy emails Reynolds has been sending to the nurse. Arzt wants something in return but he agrees to help. We are beginning to see the manipulative Ben that we all know and love. He walks into Reynolds office and shows him the emails. He tells the principal that he won't show the school board and his wife if Reynolds resigns for personal reasons and recommends Ben as his replacement. Reynolds responds that he got an email from Alex asking for a recommendation. Either Ben can have the job and Alex gets a bad recommendation or she gets the recommendation and Ben backs down. To be honest, I really thought Ben would take the job. If Sayid is going to get no redemption in his alternate timeline, I was sure Ben would get no redemption. We next see Ben walk into the principals office and for a second I think that he did it, but then Alex walks in and says she was looking to thank Principal Reynolds who wrote her an overly enthusiastic recommendation. Ben seems happy to have helped her out. Of course Arzt isn't happy that he won't get his new parking spot, but seriously, who cares. I was glad to see Ben get a little redemption in his other life.

Original Timeline

So Jack and Hurley wake up and Jack wants to press on to the Temple. Hurley, knowing that something bad has happened at the Temple wants to take his time and slow up. Hurley continues to stall and tries to take them the wrong way. Then Richard shows up. Jack wants to know where he has been, but Richard says Jack wouldn't believe him if he told them. Try me. Not yet. Ok. Richard knows the way to the Temple, just follow him.

Hurley wants to know why Richard looks the same as he did 30 years ago. Skoks, fact check me here, but I was unaware that Richard and Hurley had met before. Either way, Richard says that Jacob gave him a gift. They arrive at the Black Rock. This isn't the Temple! Yeah, NBD, everyone at the Temple is dead. WHAT ABOUT KATE?!!? Don't worry Jack, I didn't see them, they probably made it out alive. Jack wants to know if Hurley knew about this and he says that Jacob hinted at it. Richard says that whatever Jacob says, don't listen to him. Where are you going Richard? I have to go die.

We get a little bit more about Richard in this scene which I liked. It now appears that Richard indeed came over in the Black Rock and the chains that Flocke was talking about were literal chains from the ship. Richard hadn't been back since he got to the island. He starts playing with the dynamite that blew up Arzt. Hurley freaks out but Richard explains that he couldn't kill himself even if he wanted to, that is why he wants Hurley or Jack to do it. Jack seems a little too eager to help him. Richard explains that Jacob touched him and that this is actually a curse not a gift. I wonder if this means that all of those he touched in "The Incident" have the gift as well. The gift can't just be not aging because Kate and Sawyer both aged just fine. Richard explains that he has devoted longer than Jack can imagine to serving Jacob who said that he had a plan and that he would reveal the plan to Richard when the time was right. Now Jacob is dead, so Richard thinks his entire life had no purpose. Jack lights the fuse but doesn't leave. He tells Richard that it is time to talk.

Jack tells Richard that he went to the lighthouse and saw his name etched in the wheel. When it was turned to his name the mirrors showed his house. Jacob had been watching him since he was young. Jack says that if Jacob went through all that trouble and brought him to the island, it wasn't so that he could blow up with Richard. The fuse dies out before it reaches the end. This is a complete 180 from early seasons Jack. He is now the man of faith. I feel like redemption isn't far off for Jack Shephard. Jack seams to have all the answers, so what next? Back to where it all began.

Ben comes stumbling out of the Temple and meets up with the rest of the gang (Ilana, Frank, Sun, Miles). They decide to head to the beach. Miles asks Ben what the smoke monster was and he says it is what killed his friends. Ilana jumps in to remind Ben that it killed Jacob as well. She takes the bag of Jacob's ashes and gives it to Miles to find out how he died. Miles explains that Ben killed Jacob. Ilana says that Jacob was the closest thing to a father she had. Back at the beach camp, Ben tried to convince Ilana he didn't kill Jacob but she doesn't seem to pay any attention to him.

Sun asks Ilana how long they are saying and she doesn't know. But Sun wants to find Jin. So does Ilana. But why? Because both Sun and Jin are named Kwon and she isn't sure if she had to protect one or both. They are candidates. How many are left? Just six.

Ben and Frank have a throwaway conversation about how Frank was supposed to be the pilot on 815. How would his life have been different if he set his alarm correctly. Well the island got him anyway, so it wouldn't have been all that different. Ilana comes in and points a gun at Ben and makes him walk to the cemetery. She ties him to a tree and makes him start digging his own grave. Miles comes by to offer Ben food and Ben offers him the $3.2 million if he lets Ben free. Miles has apparently been talking to the bodies in the cemetery and mentions that Nikki and Paolo were buried alive with $8 million in diamonds.  Ben can't believe Miles will watch him get killed for killing a man who didn't care that he got killed. Miles says that he did care. Right up until the knife went through his heart he hoped he was wrong about Ben. But Miles guesses he wasn't wrong.

Flocke shows up while Ilana is away. He tells Ben that he wants Ben to join him on the Hydra island. Flocke is leaving the island but he needs to leave someone in charge of it. He can't think of a better person than Ben. He magically lets Ben out of his leg chain and says there is a rifle in the clearing and Ben will have the jump on Ilana. Don't hesitate, because she won't. Ben starts running and Ilana chases him. He gets to the rifle before her and gets the drop on her. She is forced to drop her weapon.

I thought this next scene was awesome. Ilana asks Ben what he is waiting for and wants him to shoot already. He says that he knows what she is going through because he watched his daughter Alex die in front of him. Ben had the chance to save his daughter but chose the island instead. He sacrificed for Jacob, and Jacob didn't even care. When he killed him Ben was angry and confused and scared that he would lose the only thing that mattered to him, his power. He apologizes for killing Jacob but doesn't expect Ilana to forgive him because he can't forgive himself. He lowers his rifle and Ilana asks Ben what he wants. He wants to be allowed to leave. He will go to Locke because Locke is the only one who will have him. Ilana says that she will have him. She heads back to the beach and Ben heads after her. It was a beautifully acted scene. Ben has always been one of my favorite characters but this season I haven't really like him. I thought this episode was a great Michael Emerson performance.

As Ben gets back to the beach and throws down his rifle and heads over to help Sun with the shelter. Miles has apparently found the diamonds. Richard, Hurley, and Jack arrive back at the beach camp. There are warm embraces all around. Ben is left on the outside, no one apparently happy to see him. This made me a little sad. Then we see the ocean and up pops a periscope from a sub. A man says that there are people on the beach and wants to know if he should stop. Charles Widmore says that they will proceed as planned. Cut to black.

Thoughts

I actually really liked this episode. There wasn't a ton of action, but I thought we got some good insights into Richard, we saw Jack completely become his man of faith, Ben seems to have found some redemption both on and off island, and apparently the person trying to find the island was Charles Widmore. It could still be someone else, but I am going to assume for now that this is who Jacob wanted to help to the island. Charles Widmore was the one who told Locke that he had to get his friends back to the island because a war was coming and if they weren't there, the wrong side would win. I think Widmore is a Jacob man. Perhaps Widmore and Ben fighting for the same team? We are beginning to move towards a resolution, but I was really hope that this season doesn't spend the entire time explaining Jacob/MIB conflict and completely forget one of the other mysteries thus far: The Dharma Initiative. It is still pretty mysterious as to what drew them to the island, the Lamp Post, what their purpose on the island is, and what the fallout of the Purge was (I mean did everyone in Michigan just pack up and leave? Kelvin was recruited to the Swan after the Purge, etc). I hope we get some closure on this before the end of the show. All in all, I thought it was a pretty good episode and look forward to next week.

Next up:  "Recon" a Sawyer-centric episode

Retort

So I Put My Hands Up, They're Playing My Song...

The most important paragraph ever written about Lost

(S06E06) In a season where all the answers are supposedly being given, I actually appreciate that I still have no idea what's coming next on 'Lost.' With twelve episodes left to go, it's certainly not necessary for me to be spoon fed all the answers right now. If they did that, why would we keep watching it for the next two-and-a-half months?

-TV Squad

I'll post something real later, but for now, here's a teaser for next week's episode, Dr. Linus.

(not really)

"Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" - 6.06 Sundown

First, apologies that this is so late, but I was picking a jury today so there was a certain lack of internet access that was impeding an update. I enjoyed "Sundown" a lot. Right off the bat I was thrown for a loop as I was sure this was a Sun and Jin episode. I thought there was a lot more action in the sideways flashes and maybe even some possible hints at its connection (see below). The 2007 timeline was pretty eventful as well, so lets dive in.

Alternate Timeline

We open up with Sayid in a cab with some flowers apparently outside Nadia's place. He knocks on the door and Nadia answers. They share a nice hug and out jump a couple of rug rats. Sayid's brother, Omer walks in and it is revealed that Omer and Nadia are married. So sad for Sayid. Omer gives him some lip for bringing roses to Nadia. Apparently he's not the same sissy that couldn't kill a chicken. Sayid gets the kids some boomerangs from Australia where he was translating contracts and not luring his friend into killing himself. Sayid and Nadia share a moment and the kids find a picture of her that Sayid keeps. Omer gets off the phone and is not happy. Sayid is awoken by his brother in the middle of the night. I'm thinking we're gonna get a brother brawl over Nadia. Apparently Omer is still a sissy and needs his brother solve his problems again. He is in it deep with a loan shark and needs Sayid to get these guys off his back. Sayid says no.

The next day Sayid puts the kids on the bus. He looks genuinely happy. Nadia comes running out of the house crying about Omer and they head to the hospital. Of course its Jack's hospital. Sayid gets all upset and runs off to find the guys who did this. Nadia doesn't want him to be that man anymore and wants him to go take care of the kids and make them feel safe. Cut to later in the night and Sayid and Nadia talk about why Sayid isn't with her. Sayid says he has spent a long time dealing with what he had done and that he didn't deserve to be with her.

The next day a black SUV shows up and demands that Sayid get in with them. They bring him into some back room kitchen and we are reunited with Martin Keamy who makes great eggs. He wants money from Sayid's brother. Sayid asks if Keamy put his brother in the hospital and he denies it. Sayid steals one of the henchmen's guns, uses him as a shield, and kills the other henchmen. Keamy freaks out and tells Sayid that the debt is settled and he should just forget about it. Sayid say's he can't forget about it and shoots Keamy. We suddenly hear some yelling from the closet and find a tied up Jin. Jin can't speak english. Did Keamy and his boys take Jin from the airport? Are they the people that Jin is supposed to deliver the watch to? No answers on this yet.

Original Timeline

Sayid runs into Dogen's little lair and wants to know why they tried to kill him. Because the machine can tell what his balance is between good and evil. The balance tipped in the wrong direction. Dogen thinks it would be better if Sayid were dead. Sayid gets upset and says that Dogen doesn't even know him and that Sayid is really a good man. Then, because Dogen is asian, the writers feel that they need to throw in a martial arts scene. Dogen and Sayid have a pretty intense fight and Dogen comes very close to killing him. But apparently he can't or won't. I'm thinking can't because of the rules. He tells Sayid to leave and never come back.

Claire and Locke (I'm just going to call him Locke from now on but we all know what I mean) chat just outside a circle of ash. Locke needs Claire to deliver a message because he can't. Claire wants to make sure she gets her baby back and Locke says he always does what he says. Is he going to hurt the people at the temple? "Only those that don't listen." Locke does not seem to be such a fan of free will. Do what he wants or die.

On Sayid's way out he has a chat with Miles. Sayid doesn't understand why they wanted to kill him when they were the ones who saved him. Miles tells him that he was dead. I was hoping we'd get something about Miles communicating with him when he died, but instead he just says that Sayid was dead and then came back to life. It wasn't the Temple people who brought him back.

Claire marches into camp and has a message. She wants Dogen to go see Locke outside the Temple. Dogen isn't stupid and knows Locke will kill him when he's outside. Claire says that he should send someone that Locke won't kill. They throw Claire in a pit. Dogen then asks Sayid to kill Locke, because Locke is evil incarnate. He gives him a knife and says that he will appear as someone Sayid knows but who has died. Dogen says to stab him in the chest before he speaks. If he speaks, it is too late. Why should Sayid do this? Because if he still has some good in him he should prove it.

Sayid runs into Kate in the jungle. For a minute I was hoping that Sayid would think that Kate was the MIB and kill her. But he just says to go talk to Miles. Kate talks to Miles and finds out that Claire is back and rushes to see her.

Sayid is in the jungle and stops to rest. Then we hear the smoke monster noises and a few of the classic Season 1 smoke monster effects. Then Locke shows up and says, "Hello Sayid." Of course I'm thinking, "uh oh, he spoke, it's too late." Sayid stabs him in the chest, which I actually didn't expect, but it doesn't work. Sayid wants to know what Locke is, but Locke chooses not to answer and turns it back on Sayid. He says that Dogen sent Sayid to kill the MIB because he wanted Locke to kill Sayid. And its not the first time he's tried to kill Sayid. Hook, line, and sinker. Sayid is on team MIB. He wants Sayid to deliver a message and if he does he can give Sayid anything in the world that he wants. He just wants to see Nadia again. MIB implies that he can make this happen.

Sayid comes back to the Temple with a message. Jacob is dead and the people don't have to stay at the Temple anymore. Locke is leaving the island and those who want to go with him should leave the Temple before sundown. If not, they are going to die.

Kate throws Lennon around like a rag doll and wants to see Claire. Claire is singing "catch a falling star and put it in your pocket" (as seen at the Christmas pageant in "Love Actually"). She is happy to see Kate but is unhappy that they took Aaron. Kate says that she took Aaron and is pretty impressed with herself, expecting to be greeted as a hero. Claire looks like she will jump up from the pit and kill her. Kate came to rescue Claire, but Claire isn't the one who needs rescuing. He is coming and Kate can't stop him.

Temple folks are freaking out and leaving. Lennon insists that he is bluffing and if they stay at the Temple they are safe. Cindy and the kids aren't buying this and take off. Miles suggests that him and Sayid take off, but Sayid needs to return the dagger to Dogen. Dun Dun Duh.

Dogen is sitting on the steps by the pool looking at his baseball very longingly. Sayid wants to know why he didn't kill him when he had the chance. Dogen gives us his life story. He was a hard working Japanese man who got a promotion and then went out boozing with his buddies. He can't handle his liquor and decided that it was a good idea to go pick up his son at baseball. Obvi there was an accident and the boy dies. At the hospital Jacob shows up and says that if Dogen comes to the island and performs a new job his son will leave but he will never see him again. Jacob drives a hard bargain. But so does MIB says Dogen. Uh oh. It's sundown, what is Sayid going to do? He'd like to stay. But by stay he means that he wants to drown Dogen. That's sad. Lennon comes running in freaking out. What did Sayid do?! Dogen was the only thing keeping HIM out! Sayid knows this and slits Lennon's throat. Then smokey comes flowing into the Temple. Kate and Miles take off together while everyone else looks like a chicken with their head cut off.

All I could think of during the smokey scene was redshirts. As Boone explained in "All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues" in Star Trek, the crew guys who would go down to the planet with the main guys, they all wore red shirts and they always died. Lots of red shirts in the Temple who die. Of course our Losties seem to make it out ok.

Miles and Kate split up when Kate demands that she has to get Claire. Claire says that Kate would be safer down in the pit. As smokey comes in the room she jumps down and hangs onto the ladder. Smokey can't go down pits I guess.

Miles tries to barricade himself in one of the rooms but the door gets forced down. Not Smokey but Ilana, Frank, Sun, and Ben. Ilana wants to know where Shepard, Ford, and Reyes are. I know where Shepard and Reyes are but I too want to know where Ford is. Where is Jarrah? In the pool, don't worry Ben will get him. Ben finds Sayid and sees the bodies and says there is still time to escape. Sayid says, "Not for me," with a little smile. Ben looks genuinely terrified and runs away. Miles lets Sun know that Jin is still alive and he is not in the Temple. Ilana finds the secret passageway that Hurley was looking for in The Lighthouse and hides them inside.

After the carnage stops Claire and Sayid stroll out of the Temple with Kate following farther back. Kate looks pretty disgusted but Claire and Sayid have smirks on their face. Locke looks pretty satisfied with himself as well as he heads into the Jungle to lead his new band of followers. Cut to black.

Thoughts

So Sayid had been a really strange character as of late. After Nadia gets killed he lets himself get manipulated by Ben and just kills people because Ben says they are responsible for killing Nadia. He is apparently not very happy with Ben for this. I'm not sure why he is so crazed about this. It's not like Ben killed Nadia. Ilana makes sure that Sayid gets back to the island and Sayid is so overcome that he thinks he must shoot little Ben. Then we get his current "sickness" state where he has been really flakey. It's just been really strange. But one thing that has been consistent throughout and apparently in the other timeline is Sayid's struggle to be the good man that he believes he is and the man that he actually is. The struggle between good and evil. He is a torturer but he loves Nadia and wants to atone for those things. He promises to never do that again but breaks his promise and tortures Sawyer. He wants to be a good husband to Nadia but after she dies he wants to kill anyone involved. He wants to kill young Ben. He wants Dogen to believe he is a good person but in the end he snaps and kills Dogen and Lennon. In the ATL he wants to be the person the Nadia wants him to be and to atone for what he did, but he just can't let it go and kills Keamy. He can't fight who he is.

I am going on the record now. I know that things might change over the next few episodes and we still don't know the nature of Jacob and MIB, but I am firmly on Team Jacob. Hurley has always been a character that seems to speak for the audience at times. If Hurley is a solid Team Jacob, that is good enough for me. I think Jack will be Team Jacob as well. I want to be on that team. MIB seems to want to kill anybody who doesn't want to leave the island. Why not just live and let live. I just don't buy it. I'm going to believe that he is evil.

I don't like that Dogen and Lennon were killed off. They served very little purpose. I wanted to know more about them and especially Dogen. If he was the only reason that Locke couldn't enter the Temple I want to know why. But I guess we need to clean up loose ends and they didn't want to take away from the main characters.

So Jacob offered Dogen the chance to save his son but never see him again, MIB offered Claire a chance to have Aaron back and Sayid the chance for Nadia to be alive. All of this happens in the alternate flashes. Perhaps the outcome of our battle will lead to the alternate verse. I'm not happy with that explanation so ultimately I don't think that will be the whole story, but I could see that it could be a partial explanation. Maybe Claire will mind meld with her alternate self and be able to have Aaron again. Just throwing things against the wall. But both promised things that are seemingly impossible so it might be related to these flashes.

I was interested in the flashes this time probably because there was some action to it. But I still am finding it hard to emotionally invest. Next week is "Dr. Linus" so I assume it is Ben-centric. The preview intimated that Ben will face his demise. I hope not. I don't like how his arc has headed recently. I'd like to see a bit more to Ben's story. I'm sure I forgot a lot, so as always post thoughts, questions, comments.

A Note on Spoilers

So I just wanted to take a minute to talk about spoilers. Well specifically to talk about not talking about them. I know some people either like to or can't help themselves from readings spoilers about upcoming episodes. I for one prefer to go into an episode with only the knowledge gleaned from previous episodes. It's no fun already knowing about a big twist or plot point. I only mention this because the spoiler buzz has really heated up in the past week or so.

io9.com, which has a "Morning Spoilers" section, teased the link with "earth shattering Lost spoilers," so I obviously made sure to steer clear. For those who can't help it, that's your choice but I just ask that when you post you make no mention or reference to anything you might learn from these spoilers before the show actually airs.

GOAT

We have enough information, right now, to know where (generally) this season is going.

Things we've learned from this season:

There are two realities.

One is very happy, the other our heroes are on the Island.

The Island reality may be the result of Jacob's interference.

The two realities have a very vague sort of relationship to each other.

Jacob has been observing our heroes for quite some time.

The Man in Black is recruiting some of our heroes for his battle against Jacob.

FROM ALL OF THIS, WHAT CAN WE DETERMINE?

FIRST, THE UNIVERSES

First and foremost, I reject the idea that the universes are split by the detonation of the H-Bomb, as we're lead to believe. Instead, I believe that it is the murder of Jacob that splits the realities. Jacob and his rival, I believe, are timeless, so when you kill him, it changes EVERYTHING THAT HAS COME BEFORE. This removes Jacob from the reality, and as a result it removes the impact he's had on everyone's lives. This ultimately leads to a world where our heroes aren't pulled to the Island-instead, they're allowed to live their lives and be happy. However, what is the cost of that happiness? The Island has sunk to the bottom of the ocean. As Watch With Kristin has enforced, however, the Island HAS to exist, for some reason we can't yet realize. The MIB has created a reality where our heroes are blissfully unaware of the Island. At some point, the survivors will realize this, and have to make a choice: Leave this perfect world and save the Island, or continue to live happily ever after and be without The Island-whatever that entails.

The question, however, is how do they come to this realization? How do the universes connect?

We know that when our heroes see each other, they're reminded of something, but can't quite place it. Where have we seen this before?

Between "The Constant" and "Flashes Before Your Eyes", we're introduced to Desmond's powers. Desmond, simply put, has the power to see alternate realities. Alternate realities in which Charlie dies. Why Charlie? Good question, but that's not important right now.

Desmond has been missing this season, outside of a mysterious appearance on the plane-However, as we know, the Island is not yet done with him. The rules, as we've heard, do not apply to Mr. Hume. He's going to prove crucial to this season in the second half as the one who can remember everything that has happened in both timelines. He will be the one who approaches the survivors to remind them of what has come before-he will act as their constant. He is going to be crucial to the series' endgame. I expect his appearance to coincide with that of Faraday (still scheduled to appear this season), who will explain to all of us why this makes sense.

SECOND, THE SERIES' ENDGAME

As we all can be aware, the series is moving toward a final act where the forces of Good (Jacob) do battle with the forces of Evil (MIB). This battle, I suspect, will begin to take place on both planes, yet ultimately it will conclude on the Island. As an initial roster, we appear to have:

Team Jacob: Hurley, Richard

Team MIB: Claire, Sawyer

The rest of our main characters (Ben, Jack, Kate, Miles, Jin, Sun, Sayid, Ilana, Lapidus) have yet to declare allegiance. But we can probably assume that Sayid (infection) is headed towards MIB. Ilana appears to have an allegiance to Jacob. Ben-MIB.

The most important soul, however, will be that of Jack. The series has always been about Jack's rise and fall, in both his "normal" life and life on the Island. Here now, however, is going to be his redemptive final act. He will realize his ultimate destiny as Jacob's chosen one. He will be the one in the alternate dimension to realize WE HAVE TO GO BACK. And he will be the one to bring the realities together, save the Island, and become the new Jacob.

Of course, if they decide to go full Jesus allegory, bring John Locke back from the dead, and have him be the savior, then all bets are off.

"Sail on, ye stately ships!" - 6.05 Lighthouse

The fifth hour of season 6 is in the books. I liked it better than "What Kate Does" but worse than "LA X" and "The Substitute." It is still suffering from the fact that we have no idea what the flashes are. Once we find out, I have a feeling that some of these episodes will get a lot better on a subsequent viewing. As of right now? I don't care that Jack has a kid. I don't want to deal with anymore daddy issues on this show. I got very little out of the flashes except that Jack doesn't want to turn into his father. Jack and David decide that they will have a good relationship after all. I suppose we can just dive in with a recap.

Jack's Flashes

First off, I have been rewatching season 1, and so far, the character centric episodes have mirrored the first season. The Pilot and LA X were mashes of a bunch of characters, Tabula Rasa and What Kate Does were both Kate episodes, Walkabout and The Substitute were Locke, White Rabbit and Lighthouse were Jack. Next episode is Sunrise and it should be a Jin and Sun episode as was House of the Rising Sun. The real question will be what happens when we get to the 7th hour. In Season 1, The Moth was a Charlie-centric episode. Its possible we could see some Charlie in a flash, but I suspect we will get one of our on island characters in the flashes.

Onto Jack. He isn't driving a car I would expect a hot shot spinal surgeon to drive but maybe I don't have good taste in cars. He notices his appendectomy scar while changing shirts and doesn't seem to recognize this. First thought is obviously, "oh he got his appendix removed on the island and just can't remember it yet." Nope. He got it out when he was 7 or 8 and collapsed at school. Christian wanted to do the procedure but they wouldn't let him. Jack can't really remember this. So he's been walking around with a scar for 30 years and is just now realizing it? Jack's mom is freaking out about finding Christian's will and Jack says he'll be over. But then he realizes he's late and rushes off. He shows up at a school to pick up David, his son.

Jack and David don't appear to get along too well, but Jack set up cable on a sweet HD tv so that David could watch the Red Sox. What a spoiled brat. I'm almost 27 and don't have an HD tv in my room to watch the Red Sox. And I get NESN, which shows every Red Sox game. Jack clearly had to drop a pretty penny to get the MLB Extra Innings package so that his son could get the Red Sox in Los Angeles. A little more appreciation would be expected. Jack tried to talk to him about Alice in Wonderland and David gives him attitude about just getting through their visit. I would have slapped him, but Jack is a stronger man than me. Jack's mother is nagging him so he heads over to find the will.

They share some conversation about Jack's father and how upset David was and how Jack and David don't communicate, blah blah blah. Jack's mom offers him a drink and he declines. She says "good for you." And then she finds the will in a fairly obviously looking location. Did Christian ever mention Claire Littleton?

Jack comes home to find David gone so he pulls a Mikey from "Swingers" and calls him about 100 times in the matter of 5 minutes. He rushes over to David's mothers place (who we haven't seen up to this point. Is it Sarah? Is it someone else we know? Is it a stranger?) and goes into his room. He finds sheet music all around and listens to David's messages to find out he has an audition with some conservatory. Jack rushes over to get to the audition. A sign reads "Welcome all Candidates." How fitting for Jack. He watches David dominate and then runs into Dogen who says something like "it's hard to watch them and not be able to help." Jack doesn't even know how long David has been playing.

David tells Jack that he didn't tell him because Jack was always so intense about it (Jack? Intense? Really?) and didn't want to disappoint him. Jack gets all nostalgic and says that his father always said he didn't have what it takes and he doesn't want David to feel that way. Jack will always love David.

Island Action

Jack and Dogen make small talk about how they like being honest with each other. Hurley and Miles are playing tic-tac-toe and Hurley wants to go grab them some food. He heads into the Temple and asks a creeper hanging by the pool where the cafeteria is. Jacob tells him that it's down the hall. Then he tells Hurley that he needs his help and it's important so he should write it down.

Jack and Sayid talk and Jack treats him like a leper. Jack says that whatever happened to Sayid happened to someone else.

Hurley is searching ancient symbols in a hallway in the Temple. Dogen comes and tells him he needs to go back outside. Jacob shows up and Hurley tells Dogen that he is a candidate and can do what he wants. Dogen gets mad and says that Hurley is lucky that he has to protect him otherwise he would cut his head off (thank you Lostpedia). Jacob tells Hurley that he needs to bring Jack and Hurley is doubtful they can get Jack.

Hurley goes outside and tells Jack to follow him on a mission. Jack obviously says no. Hurley says that Jacob told him that Jack "has what it takes." This is clearly in reference to Christian always telling Jack that he doesn't have what it takes (see: "White Rabbit). Jack decides to come along. They sneak out into the jungle and stumble across Kate. Kate is going to find Claire and she doesn't care if Jack says that something happened to her. Jack invites Kate to come and Hurley says Kate isn't invited. But Jack decides that he makes the rules and invited Kate. Thankfully Kate doesn't come. Our heroes stumble across Shannon's inhaler which is about the only thing left from the caves. Except Adam and Eve. Hurley says what we're all thinking, that Adam and Eve are characters we already know gone back in time. But they don't pay this off yet. Jack talks about finding the caves while looking for his father and then smashing the coffin when Christian wasn't in it. They talk about why they came to the island. Hurley only needed by told by Jacob; Jack thought he was broken and hoped the island could fix him.

They get to the Lighthouse and Jack breaks down the door. Upstairs is a wheel with mirrors. Hurley says they have to move the wheel to 108 degrees. As they start to turn the wheel, Jack starts to see images flash. He sees where Jin and Sun got married and he sees the church where Sawyer's parents funeral was. He sees his name on the wheel and wants Hurley to turn it to 23. Hurley doesn't so Jack does. It shows a picture of his childhood home. Jack freaks out and demands to speak to Jacob. Hurley says it doesn't work like that but there is no reasoning with Jack. Rather than maybe play with the wheel and see what other places they can see or something fun like that, Jack smashes the mirrors.

Outside the Lighthouse Hurley talks to Jacob. Turns out he really doesn't care about the Lighthouse, he just needed Jack to see how important it is. Jack has something that he needs to do but he needs to find it on his own. Some people like Hurley can be told what to do, others like Jack have to stare at the ocean for a while. Plus Jacob needs to make sure that they are far away from the Temple because someone very bad is headed there and it is too late to help anyone.

Claire

I really wasn't into the Claire storyline. She is batshit crazy in the woods, caring for her "baby" which is an animal carcass. She insists that the Others took her baby because her father and her friend told her. She was tortured by the Others at the Temple (similar to Sayid it appears). Jin tells her that Kate has Aaron in hopes of saving Justin. Claire chops him in the abdomen anyway. That wouldn't have killed Justin instantly either. It would have been a long painful death for him. Jin says he was lying about Kate to try and save Justin but that the Others have her baby, Jin has seen him and will take Claire to the Temple. Good says Claire, because she would have had to kill Kate. Then Locke shows up and Claire says that isn't John, it's her friend.

I see the parallels to Rousseau but Rousseau had her child taken from her at gunpoint and has every reason to be upset and vengeful. Claire abandoned her baby. She lost parental rights. She has no right to go accusing people of stealing her baby. While I would love to see Claire take down Kate, I think I would root for Kate in that fight. I mean she took care of Aaron when Claire left him for dead. She has no one to blame but herself. I don't care if she had the infection or not.

Thoughts

Ok first, we found out some more about the candidates. With the help of HD and DVR's you can freeze the picture to see the names on the wheel. He are some notables that I have found so far:

124 - Dawson (Michael)
117 - Linus (Probably Ben)
109 - Friendly (Tom)
108 - Wallace - Don't know who this is but this is what Hurley was going to turn the wheel to
104 - Lewis (Charlotte)
102 - Montand
101- Faraday
58 - Burke (I think)
20 - Rousseau

And finally:

51 - Austen

I'm not sure why we didn't see her on Jacob's wall but Kate is on the wheel and her name is most definitely not crossed out. So Kate is a candidate after all. I'm still interested to see if MiB knows this or maybe Kate becomes some secret weapon because he doesn't know. I'm not sure.

Adam and Eve - After watching "House of the Rising Sun" again, I'm moving away from Rose and Bernard as Adam and Eve. I lean more towards Jack and Kate. I think the black and white rocks will mean something too. Perhaps Jack will take Jacob's place and Kate will take MiB's place? I don't know that I like that explanation but I think it will be something closer to that than just a throwaway about Rose and Bernard.

All in all, not great yet, but it did set up some stuff that should pay off nicely in the future. I'm still having trouble caring about the flashes. I cared about flash forward and back because they were the same characters on the same timeline. It informed their character. These aren't the same characters. All it tells me is that they fit certain archetypes no matter what timeline they are in and I'm not sure that I really care right now. Again, I'm sure once that timeline pays itself off I will look at it differently, but right now, I'm just so-so. Lots of set up right now. I know there are still 13 hours to go and they have plenty of time to tie it together, but I'm starting to get impatient. I hate waiting a week to see more set up.

Hopefully next week we see the showdown at the Temple. I'm not sure that its good news for guys like Miles but we'll see what happens. Side thought. What is the deal with Ilana? What a useless character thus far. I mean she was set up to be this important character who knew and had a history with Jacob and we've seen her for like 2 minutes and she just cries. That's about all I have right now.