Month: March 2008

The Episode…

Well, the cat’s out of the bag. Widmore’s the one looking for the island. Last week’s episode, The Constant, already gave us an undeniable hint, but this week just plain out confirmed it – LOST style: with a Red Sox reference. There are a few holes in Ben’s explanations though: I don’t buy his “Virgin Mary Mold” rhetorics one bit. Once again, Ben is telling us two truths and a lie. The second truth (and the truth which should keep me from strangling Locke for being gullible) is obviously the identity of the man on the freighter. We’ll find out next week. Small hint: it’s Michael. (seriously, if you hadn’t figured that out by now, you’re not paying attention).

I like Juliet. She’s a real tragic character, being haunted by her past. What’s up with that Harper woman? I suspect we don’t know half of the entire story – I’m quite sure Harper, at some point in the story, died or disappeared or something. I don’t know, I could be wrong, but this entire episode felt a bit wrong, like the first
flash forward in the season 3 finale. You watch it, you feel something’s wrong, but you can’t quite place it. There’s some important pieces of the puzzle missing. Small, but important pieces nonetheless.

The Questions…

So, right. Anyway. Jack kissed Juliet. Could we give the whole love triangle-quadrangle a rest now? Pretty please? It’s getting more complicated and annoying than my last geometry course. Question seven is really starting to annoy me! In other news, question six got worked on. We already knew why Locke didn’t want Jack to call the freighter. Taller ghost Walt. But why Ben? We know half of the story now: Widmore. Not Penny, but Charles, is looking for the island. We could offer a reasonable explanation: about eternal youth, about healing powers… But I don’t expect that to be the case. I think the answer lies more towards the room behind the book shelf in Ben’s house. Time travel.

I was kind of disappointed in this episode. I’m a big Juliet fan, but this really failed to “wow” me. It’s like they had some leftover “first half of season 3” storyline lying there, and just needed to tie the interesting parts in Juliets life together – but those ties turned out to be pretty dull. All the actors delivered a great performance (especially Daniel with his wonderful quote – see below), but it all seemed a bit too far-fetched. What a shame! But I’m sure this is once again just a little anticipation for next week’s episode… which proves to be quite shocking. We’ll see!

Favourite Quote: Dan: “Juliet… what are you doing here?”

Wellllll. Whoa. Turns out I was right!

The Episode…

Where to begin? The Black Rock? Charles Widmore linked with Alvar Hanso and thus with the Dharma initiative? Finally seeing George Minkowski? Daniel Faraday’s hair anno 1996? The man on the boat helping our Losties? Which Desmond has a wig – the short haired one or the long haired one? …No. It’s only right to start with the reason why this episode of LOST is as good as it will ever get: Desmond and Penny. I shed a tear. Okay, two tears. This was heart-breaking, and maybe the best moment in LOST history. It’s the new “Flashes before your eyes” moment, the moment that just gets to you in a way you would never think possible. The moment that – without anyone dying – moves you. Kudos to both actors for moving all of us. It just shows that the most interesting love story doesn’t belong to… well, anyone in contact with effing Kate.

But this episode is not the best episode ever just for that. There’s so much in it, so much little subtle hints, so much answers and so much questions… so much Lostness that I can never hope to explain it all in this little review. Instead, I’ll just focus on something very important, something’s been aching in my skull ever since I watched the episode: subconscious time travel. So, basically, here’s what it boils down to: time’s set. Unlike Back to the Future, where your past actions influence your future. In LOST, future is determined. So… does that mean that Desmond always subconsciously visited Faraday in 1996? It’d be subconscious (as we’re talking subconscious time travel), so Desmond himself would not remember. Which raises the question: how does Desmond’s subconscious materialize? How does the subconscious become not only material, but also… well, conscious? It seems like 1996-Desmond’s living a dream in which he visits Faraday. When he wakes up, the dream is gone. But if he’s material, and ergo walking the face of the planet – does that mean there’s two Desmonds running out there? This kind of boggles my mind from a metaphysical point of view. I mean – I can clearly see why it’s his subconscious traveling through time. But… what about the basics of existence? Maybe I’m looking too deep into this, but it’s finally something I can grasp: it’s got two parts this time, physics and existential philosophy. I might not get the physics part (which will undoubtedly explain his materializing) but I do get the philosophy part – and philosophy’s not really that keen on doubling your existence. But then again, neither is physics about time travel. Heh.

Oh, and me and Cake Sensei came up with an interesting theory. Remember the Eggtown scene where Faraday was trying to remember cards? What if Faraday’s trying the Elouise experiment on himself? What if Faraday – at that point in time where he’s playing cards – had already seen the cards? It would explain why they were playing cards. It would also explain why Faraday wasn’t happy with two cards out of three. He’s already seen them before. Does that mean Faraday, let’s say anno 2000, sent his subconscious into the future? Let’s make it a bit more complicated. 1996. Desmond visits Faraday and gives him the numbers (which he got from Future Faraday – paradox!). Desmond also mentions being stranded on an island. Desmond leaves, never to be seen again. Faraday starts experimenting. Through let’s say the Dharma Initiative or the Hanso Foundation, Faraday gets in touch which Charles Widmore (the auction scene confirmed this link). Charles Widmore tells him about Penny and Desmond. Tells him Desmond’s making a race around the world. Tells him he’s lost, on an island. Widmore tells him how to get to the island. Faraday then experiments on himself, and ends up in the future… on the island.

It doesn’t make perfect sense, but I’m quite sure I’m onto something. Faraday had seen the cards before, because he had been there before. Faraday started crying when he saw the footage of the crash… because he knew all the people on the plane. He had been there already. So, as far as time travel is concerned, Faraday’s our key. Along with Widmore – something I’ve suspected since he got introduced, and something that’s almost certain for me right now.

The Questions…

Ehm… Nothing on those. Oops!

In all…

This was without a doubt the best episode of Season 4. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and up till Minkowski died, I was really scared that Desmond had seen his final episode. I’m not quite sure if it’s the best episode of LOST so far, but it might very well be. This is LOST at its finest, and ranks up there with the revelation that Locke was in a wheelchair, the light flicking on in the hatch when Boone fell, the hatch’s implosion, Flashes before your eyes and Charlie sacrificing himself. It brought me to tears. It was wonderful.

Favourite Quote: DESMOND: I love you, Penny. I’ve always loved you. I’m so sorry. I love you!
PENNY: I love you too.
DESMOND: I don’t know where I am, but-
PENNY: I’ll find you, Des-
DESMOND: I promise-
PENNY: no matter what-
DESMOND: I’ll come back to you-
PENNY: I won’t give up-
BOTH: I promise. I love you.