Category: LOST

The Episode…

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!! When Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse teased this episode as being The Constant’s brother, I held my heart in anticipation: no way an episode can be as good as The Constant when it’s been announced as being so. So I shrugged and forgot about it.

But Oh My God! This episode really was exactly what they told it would be. It delivers loads of answers, builds up to the finale in a way I could not have imagined, and it’s so dramatic on a whole new level. Too bad poor, poor Daniel Farady had to die for it.

And that was the brilliant part. Sure, if you watch the episode a second time, you can see it coming about three minutes in. But the first time you’re watching, you’re thinking that they possibly cannot kill Farady. It cannot happen. Farady is Season Five’s Libby. You think he’ll make it… but he won’t.

Right before Faraday died, he revealed it all: that there’s more than just constants in this world. That there’s variables – people. Kant and Rousseau would be pleased to hear Faraday’s words. Does this mean everything up till now has been in vein? That this destiny stuff will be wrong? That they will detonate Jughead and the first five seasons will have never happened?

In my opinion, that is very likely. I mean, there’s a few different roads the finale could walk. First of all, the bomb could not explode, making their efforts useless and showing us the whole constant/destiny thing again. Second, the bomb could explode but it had always exploded. This would basically define the “Whatever happened, happened” thing this season seems to have.

In my opinion, they oughta walk the third, daring line. And I think they will. The bomb will explode. And the crash of Flight 815… will have never happened. Once again, people who read this theory dismiss it as jumping the shark. But didn’t they do that when the flashforward thing got out? And when the frozen donkey wheel got out and the island disappeared? We are looking forward to a finale of epic proportions.

The Questions…

We finally know all there is to know about Farady. Except for the book. Was the book truly just a notebook he kept because he had memory problems? I was kind of thinking he had been traveling through time and had given the book to himself at some point. But seeing how he’s dead… my theory doesn’t have much chance anymore.

In All…

This was easily the best episode of Season 5 so far. In fact, it might be one of the top episode of the series ever. It’s up there with The Constant, that’s for sure. I just can’t get over the shock effect of Eloise killing her own son. And knowing about it all of her life. And still not letting the poor kid playing the piano. Bitch.

Favourite Quote:
Young Daniel: “But I want to keep playing the piano. I can do both. I can make time.”
Eloise: “If only you could.”

Well, apparently it can be done. Flashbacks can also happen to stuff that happened on the island. It’s a nice mechanic, and I feel that the explanation of what happened to Claire after her abduction by Ethan was a satisfying one. They were trying to get the baby out alive, but didn’t really care about Claire’s well-being. Well, I’d like to believe Ethan does, but he’s just a cog in a bigger system it seems. Like how he answers to beardless Mr. Friedly, for instance. Interestingly, this showed Ethan in a completely different light. Apparently there’s more to him than just a Jungle Brawler – he has a soft spot for Claire. I wonder what kind of sickness he felt he was protecting Aaron from?

This episode shed a bit of light on the Others. So they are using the Dharma Initiative medical station for their own cause. Also, they are masters of disguise – which is great. It means they’re not just savages tromping through the jungle eating babies and dragging their teddy bears as trophies. Big relief that was. I’m kind of amazed that the medical station was empty. Why did the Others leave it? Did they leave it at all? Or are they just trying to make it look deserted, just like they dress up and play savage?

We saw Rousseau’s daughter Alex! …At least, I think we did. It would make sense that the sixteen year old girl that looks exactly like Rousseau is in fact her daughter. I wonder if she knows anything at all? She seemed really nice – she saved Claire’s life together with her mother. How’s that for a nice metaphor?

Favourite Quote:
Claire: So, you’re a shrink, right?
Libby: I’m a clinical psychologist, but “shrink” works, too.

Yes. Yes! Yes!! Progress!! Finally, it’s starting to go somewhere again. I mean come on – they found a man in the jungle, a man named “Henry Gale” and he is from effng Minnesota. Can it get any more awesome than this? Obviously, the first thing our Losties do with Henry Gale from Minnesota, is beat him up. But hey, that’s after Rousseau shot an arrow through his shoulder so I guess it’s okay, right? I really felt for poor Henry – so much abuse in his first episode. But on the other hand, you never know who you can or cannot trust on this island. Maybe he really is one of them?

Obviously, this episode would not be complete without a Locke-Jack standoff. Locke caved so he could press the button. And because he can’t type blindly, we now know what happens when the timer goes down to zero: hieroglyphs. Yes, hieroglyphs. Why hieroglyphs? What would the Dharma Initiative have as a reason to do this? Maybe Jack is right and it all is a giant joke. Even though I refuse to believe that.

I’m not a big fan of Sayid
flashbacks. This one had one nice thing though: the appearance of Sam Austen – aka Kate’s dad. Sam’s a nice guy, just your regular honest hard-working Joe. He seemed like a saint in comparison to that other guy, Joe Inman, who seemed like a loose cannon. So am I seeing this right if I say that not the Iraqi brought Sayid to torturing, but the Americans? I am so confused; I feel like oughta read a timeline of the Gulf War to understand this kind of thing.

Favourite Quote:
Henry Gale: I’m Henry Gale – I’m from Minnesota!

Oh Sawyer, why dost thou do such evil things? I guess he says it all himself: A tiger don’t change his stripes. I’m a bit weary of Sawyer’s seemingly anarchistic approach to this, but I guess it makes sense: Sawyer needs stuff to feel good.

This episode was another in-betweener: good if you can continue watching, but hell if you have to wait for a week to see how things unroll. You have to admit, nothing really happened other than Sawyer taking the Island Prick award from Charlie.

He basically fooled everyone – especially Jack and Locke. And somehow I can accept Jack being gullible, but Locke? Locke’s pissing me off this season – where’s the boar-hunting, knife-hurling Locke we met in Season One? It’s like the revived Locke withered away when the hatch was opened. Really frustrating.

My favourite moment this episode was when Hurley and Sayid tried out the walkie and were met with… “moonlight serenade” playing on a radio station. There was something really interesting in that scene, I think. And not just the characters or the absurdity of it all.

An interesting in-between episode. It’s nice to get to know Sawyer a little better – there’s more to him than it seems. He really did like Cassidy, even though he tricked her. He felt really bad about it. And that’s something interesting for a con man. Something Anthony Cooper will never have.

Favourite Quote:
Hurley: “Or any time. …Just kidding, dude.”

The Episode…

When the writers said they wanted a little “silence before the storm” moment, a little humour in their show before they start building up to the dramatic season five cliffhanger duly named The Incident, I was worried. The last time there was an intermezzo in LOST, it came in the form of an apendicitis, and that was not what I was waiting for. Thank God I was wrong: this episode was rock solid and delivered a lot of that typical Lost
air. It was emotional, and it wasn’t about Kate, Jack or Sawyer. Well what do you know – pigs CAN fly.

I like Miles. I love how he hides his soul underneath a gooey layer of sarcasm; you know there’s something shiny in there but you just can’t seem to get it out. I think this is the closest we’ve ever been to the season 1 feeling where the flashbacks introduce a new layer to the character. I think the opening scene with little Miles was the thing that ultimately did it (even if it came first): for the first time ever we saw Miles as a human being capable of… fear. For the first time ever, you felt for this kid. You really did.

Pairing Miles with Hurley for this episode introduced us to a link some of us had not yet considered: both Hurley and Miles can speak to dead people. Both characters have some sort of “power”, powers with a defined ruleset (something very important in this show – everything has rules), but those rules are not the same. These characters are linked, but we are still missing some pieces of the puzzle. Somehow, I figured the whole Hurley-plays-chess-with-Eko thing wouldn’t be important. Seems I was wrong.

The Questions…

It took a while, but we finally got our first real freighter people flashback. Now we know why Miles was going to the island (money), why he was willing to help Ben out (more money) and why he wanted a precise amount of money for it. Oh, and the fact that all the money in the world just can’t fill the gaping hole in his chest that is Pierre Chang.

This episode also did a great job in answering some other questions about mysteries back in season 2 (questions I didn’t bother to ask at the start of season five). The numbers apparently are a serial number. Or, as a second one, that the plane really crashed because of the Swan station. I know they already cleared this up back in Season 2, but a lot of people didn’t believe it back then. They’re sticking with this story, and I love it.

In All…

This was en episode filled with oohs and ahs on my behalf. I oohed when we saw the Swan and the Orchid being built (in the case of the Orchid, it was at the same state it was in back in the first scene of season 1, so I guess the Faraday thing is yet to happen), and awed when Pierre Change, the Dharma Asshole, read “me and my polar bear” to baby Miles. That was a brilliant scene, by the way. Kudos to Ken Leung for portraing these emotions in Miles. The adult one. Not the baby.

Favourite Quote:
Dr. Chang: I need you to take me to Radzinsky at the work site. Immediately. You… Hurley – you say a word…
Hurley: Polar bear poop. Got it.

The Episode…

Let me get this out of the way first: this episode rocked my brains out. While the past few episodes were really awesome, you can feel they’re just building up to something extravagant: the incident – which “incidently” is the title of the season five finale. This episode was less like that and more like a big, crunchy meal to sink your teeth in.

As per usual in Ben-centric episodes, we got to know a bit more of the creepy man’s sensitive side. He happens to like children – in the normal way. He couldn’t bring himself to shoot Penny when little Charlie was looking, nor could he kill Danielle when he found out she had a baby of her own. We also found out he really, really regrets how things came to pass. A sad state of affairs, it was.

This episode is almost religious in the sense that we returned to the whole “religion versus science” debate that was so predominant in the first two seasons. Apparently, the monster “judges” you, and if you regret your sins then you can live. That’s why Eko died. I’m very happy his death – a very arbitrary and unexpected one – now makes sense.

Let’s return to a scene in Walkabout back in season 1: where Locke looked at the monster (“into the eye of the island”, he would later say). Did Locke get confronted with his past? Did he finally see how silly he was in not being able to let go of his father? Did the island offer him a new perspective and make him into a new, improved man? I think that scene gets more and more significant with every passing “monster-centric” episode.

The Questions…

We found out a bit more about Charles versus Benjamin. It appears Charles was not a very good or nice leader. But then again, that might just be one side of the coin. He did break the rules in that he had an affair with an outsider. But something tells me we’re not seeing the complete picture just yet. We found out something more about the smoke monster, too. Where it lives, for example. The other stuff was basically things we already knew shown in big: the
ashes of the past inside the monster, the judgement… It was very interesting though.

In All…

I can’t stop saying how wonderfully done this episode was. I focused on the mythological facts above, but let’s not forget the great evolution and power shift the characters went through – Ben and Locke practically switched sides, and it’s all confirmed by the sentence below.

Favourite Quote:
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.

The Episode

There you have it. Again. For those who hadn’t quite got it yet, in this episode you have it again black on white: “whatever happened, happened”. Ben became the person he was because Sayid shot him, because Kate and Sawyer handed him to Alpert, because Juliet couldn’t save him and because Jack refused to operate on him. Way to go, Jack. Way to go.

It’s an interesting way of looking at time travel, and I think this is exactly where the series is going in its final run: the question of determinism versus free will. The writers are trying so hard to lure us into this determinism thinking, but I expect that before this season is over, we’ll be confronted with the other side of the coin. At least something will change.

Endless speculation aside, this episode itself was quite the treat – for a Kate episode. It shall be no secret that I don’t like Kate, but her talk with sandwich making Jack he gave her a tiny piece of his mind with which I wholeheartedly agreed, and that was good. As if the writers were confirming to me that, yes, she is an annoying little thing.

Roger, Ben’s dad, did show sympathy when he heard “his boy” got shot. So maybe we’ve been seeing things in the wrong perspective during The Man behind the Curtain? I’m not so sure, but seeing how Ben will be a changed kid after his visit to the temple, we definitely know we’ve had a big gaping hole in our story so far. Maybe Ben’s dad tried to change things over after Ben came back? Maybe Ben wouldn’t listen anymore?

That being said, I kind of worry about Ben at the moment. I don’t think he’ll make it to the end of the season. He’s kind of evolved into Lost’s own evil Dumbledore, and once the beans have been spilled on our creepy bastard… it’s down and out for Linus. But who knows? I’m probably out of my mind for saying this.

The Questions

So kate gave Aaron to his grandmother. It was kind of the obvious (and fair) thing to do. Connected to that, we now know what Sawyer whispered to Kate. I was right – he wanted her to take care of his daughter and her mother. And I also was right in assuming this was going to be not important at all. The most interesting question in my little list is undoubtedly the last: “What is the smoke monster?”

Now this may sound crazy, but could it be that Ben Linus is – in part – the smoke monster? He could summon it, and Charles knew who and WHAT Ben was at the end of “A Shape of Things to Come” in season 4. Interesting thought worth pondering or just crazy? The next episode might just give us the answer.

In all…

Quite a nice episode. The “bye bye baby” line was unbelievably corny, but that aside I could feel a mother giving away her child. Not that I know what that feels like. Does this all mean that Aaron is out of the picture? Is this the end of the “raised by another” saga? I guess only time will tell – but I don’t think the island is done with Aaron…

Favourite Quote:
Hurley: “Back to the Future,” man. We came back in time to the island and changed stuff. So if little Ben dies, he’ll never grow up to be big Ben, who’s the one who made us come back here in the first place. Which means we can’t be here. And therefore, dude? We don’t exist.

It’s back!

The Episode…

I was getting kind of disappointed and tired of waiting, but just like it goes with LOST: the waiting did not disappoint. Not one bit. The fact that Sayid shot Ben – I saw it coming but was still shocked – was brilliant, and will have viewers scratching their heads for an entire week.

The reason for this is of course that people believe that this means the end of Benjamin Linus. In Doc Brown fahsion, Sayid should have created an alternate universe in which Ben Linus does not live past 1977. Now, this obviously does not make sense. LOST boasts a thing called “self-consistent time travel”, meaning that whatever happened, happened. It has always been like this. Ben has always gotten shot by Sayid and always will. Which means that this might possibly be the thing Ben has against our Losties. Maybe it’s the thing that turned him into Ben as we know him?

Other than that, I loved how Sayid honestly told the Dharma Initiative about himself. Yes, I am from the future. And I know those hatches in past tense even though you haven’t built them yet. Powerful stuff. In fact, it was the second time since the Pilot where we saw Sayid laugh (the first time being when he picked up the French distress call way back when). A creepy laugh, almost like the devil. Speaking of confessions and hatches: I want to see more of Stuart Radzinsky. He is simply awesome.

Concerning the flashbacks, it was nice to see Sayid’s story finally be tied together. His reasons for helping Ben, his reason for helping Hurley and finally his reason for being on the plane: none whatsoever. This places the ball in Ilana’s court: did she know they weren’t going to Guam? Or was she hired by someone else? Interesting questions…

The Questions…

Now we know why Sayid came back. Or was forced to come back. I loved seeing the dread in his face. It looked kind of like Franks, but way funnier. Other than that, I don’t see any clues for other questions.

In all…

As I already said, this episode was nice: as always it was solidly written, but this time it actually moved the story forward. Maybe we were taking baby steps towards the first part, but by the time Ben got shot at the end we were leaping. I do start getting annoyed by the fact that we see so little of some of my favourite characters: Locke, Faraday and Desmond. When will they be incorporated in the story again? I know how they’re trying to tell this story as coherently as possible and with as little time flashes as possible, but seriously: no Desmond since episode 7? That’s pretty damn harsh.

Favourite Quote:
Sawyer: “Three years no burning buses. Y’all are back for one day…”

The Episode…

Okay guys, it’s gone far enough. I’ve been with you for five seasons, rooting for you, cheering you on, hoping something good would come of it. In fact: I still do, don’t doubt that. But seriously: when you’ve only got one and a half season of your show left, the clock is ticking. So… how do you keep the story at a standstill for three consecutive episodes? Namaste, together with the previous episode LaFleur, have “Deathly Hallows” written all over them: in need of serious cutting. Not because of youn Ben. Not at all.

Now I’m not saying those two episodes were bad – they were clever, funny and well-written, the things I have come to expect from a LOST episode. But: they reeked of filler. And I can handle one filler episode, but two in a row when I know there’s only going to be that many episodes? That stinks.

I loved one part though, but only time can tell if it has been deliberate. When Christian is talking to Frank and Sun at the reception, all of a sudden the door opens. Obviously our good old island smoke monster. When the camera cuts back to Sun, however, we can see the shadow of a girl moving in the background. Who was that? Claire? And why? Why didn’t Sun notice her? There are so many cool possibilities, so I hope we get to explore one fast. Oh, and I also hope Lapidus grows his beard back. He looks too much like a pedophile now.

We finally got our first look at the fabled Radzinsky. So he’s the one that designed the Swan station? Does this mean the numbers originated from him (seeing how he is at a communication station at the moment and will brand the numbers on the side of the hatch)? I like how he seems like the perfect Dharma-trooper at the moment. I hope to see him grow into this deranged maniac that drew the blast door map and shot himself through the head. But don’t show us the shooting through the head please. Nobody wants to see that.

The Questions…

Interesting point to raise: Sun and Lapidus did not end up in 1977. Why is that? Did the island not take Sun because Jin wasn’t there? Did Lapidus not fit the part of Seth Norris, our original captain? I kind of get the feeling they’re all part of some game at the moment, a game played by either Jacob or the whispers. Interesting, no?

In All…

LOST, I know that you’ll get your act together. I know this all just a big set-up towards the next big thing. But it better start next week. These episodes will be awesome on DVD, but when you’ve got to wait in between? Not so much. Let’s hope a Sayid episode can stir things up a bit.

Favourite Quote:
Hurley: Dude your English is awesome.

I was wrong. There was one more episode inbetween.

The Episode

It was so obvious, and I still don’t get why I hadn’t figured it out. We saw the Oceanic Six’s side of the three years. We saw John Locke’s side of the three years. Why did I think for a minute that we wouldn’t see the three years go by for Team Island? When I heard Sawyer say “As long as it takes”, and then “three years later” popped, my heart skipped a beat. And I felt stupid – the good, Lostian way.

I was a bit suspicious of having a Sawyer episode. Sure, it’s been a while (two seasons!) but they never really were good… mediocre at best, but never good. This episode changes all that: Sawyer, who has redeemed himself in those three years and became a walking woman’s wet dream that will also do your dishes on the side, has suddenly become more interesting than he was before. Odd, seeing how they stripped him of practically everything that made him interesting in the beginning of the show. They did this with Kate, but it didn’t work quite as well as for Sawyer. Maybe they learned from their mistakes? Or maybe Kate’s just a less interesting character than Sawyer?

I was so, so happy to see Juliet and Sawyer together. It’s not that they are the match made in heaven (unless opposites really do attract), but I realised that these two characters are the two in this quadrangle that I wish to see happy. I don’t care about Jack or Kate (let them be miserable and angsty together), but those two… I wish nothing but the best for them. And that can’t be in the penultimate season. So expect them to be broken up fast.

On the mysterious islandy side, we got a glimpse of the statue. The fact that we saw it from behind has the mean something. Or is it just because it’s logical that statues look out at the sea (e.g. Alexandria)? At any rate: the thing looked very Egyptian. In case you hadn’t guessed yet: that puts it in the group containing the smoke monster and the temple. Interesting thought.

Ending up in the seventies means a few things. First: Dharma. Second: Widmore. Third: Ben. I’ve been thinking: if Ben banished Widmore from the island… maybe it wasn’t a power surge? Maybe he was trying to protect him from the purge? There’s so little things we do not know yet, but I have a gut feeling we’ll find it out sooner rather then later. While we’re in the seventies, might as well visit good old young Ben.

The Questions

No relevant questions this week. Tune in next time! Even though I fear the questions section will be kind of empty until they leave the Dharma Age.

In All

This episode was an emotional roller coaster. We saw Sawyer come so far in three years time, there was Amy who
ashed between weak strong, Juliet found her happiness, Daniel’s grief over Charlotte… I did miss a little reveals in the second half of the episode, though, and I hated the cliffhanger. I mean: no one can possibly be rooting for Kate to end up with Sawyer after they’ve seen how cute Sawyer looks with a Juliet on him?

Favourite Quote :
Sawyer: “Let me talk to him.”
Horace: “Excuse me?”
Sawyer: “Your buddy out there with the eyeliner. Let me talk to him.”