(Rev) They're NOT dead.

These are the kind of episodes that have me wrapped around Lost’s little finger. What a night. Let’s dive right in…

Murder in the Brig
Thanks to Our Charlie’s research yesterday, I understood what a Brig was before the episode started. However, I didn’t make the connection that Tom Sawyer’s final hour was going to go down in the brig of the Black Rock. What a scene. The skeleton remains, chained up like puppets. The sun shining through the cages. Locke sharpening his knife while listening to the screams inside the Brig (eerily familiar to the abuses our Survivors inflicted upon Ben while he was locked up in the gun closet inside our hatch, huh?...)

There were two men who needed Tom Sawyer to be dead in order to “live.” Locke needed Tom Sawyer dead before he could “follow his path” and “find his purpose” with Ben and Company (Ben said “kill your dad, then you can be in the cool-kids club”). James Ford needed Tom Sawyer dead before he could sleep with both eyes shut…and move on. The pain that Tom Sawyer inflicted (physical, emotional, spiritual, everything…) was so deep that you just knew Tom’s final hour had arrived. Who was going to do it? Richard (remember him as the recruiter who gave Juliet the drug-laced lemonade on Day 1) gave Locke the file of James Ford, which revealed his past misgivings, including the untimely death of the shrimper. James Ford had the capacity…and Locke had the guy. It was a perfect match.

I struggled with this scene because I struggled with whether or not James Ford really had it in him to kill this guy. Part of me thought there was no way he could do it – he tried to act like a tough guy on the outside, but inside, he still was the child hiding under the bed as his father’s dead body slumped over after the gun shot. But then I reminded myself that every step James Ford has taken since the death of his parents has been in search of the killer, in revenge for the death. This had been building up for much too long to let an opportunity like this pass him by.
And with that passion (and that chain…), Tom Sawyer went from staged car accident in Tallahassee, to island in the Pacific, to the movie theater in the sky…

Has Sawyer “found his peace?”
So when you live every day of your life trying to find one man and kill him, what do you do when it is “mission accomplished?” James Ford’s identity is gone…literally and figuratively. Literally, the man he allowed himself to become (Sawyer) is dead. Figuratively, his “life” is dead…his purpose in life is dead. So who is James Ford? What drives him? We don’t know…and he doesn’t know either. James Ford is going to have a tough time for awhile. He is lost…in every sense of the word. I don’t know how he will find his new path. He needs not only a new name…but a new way to live. Will Kate play a role in this? Probably…but at the same time, James needs to do this on his own if he is going to survive this ridiculously long chapter of his life: The Long Con.

Danielle – “Don’t mind me; I’ll just take this box of explosives and be on my merry way…”
Did it bother anyone else that Danielle came into the Black Rock, took a box of unstable explosives (same kind that killed our 8th grade science teacher back in Season 1), and left? Nevermind that Locke was sharpening a knife while listening to the sounds of yelling from behind a locked door. I don’t know – Danielle seems pretty phased from everything that is going on. She has seen Alex – she knows her daughter is alive. All signs point to something drastic happening. We know that the driving factor in Danielle’s life right now is to find her daughter (check) and get her back. Next stop? Large explosion that creates enough chaos to allow for a kidnapping? Me thinks yes.

Naomi – Just searching for people.
Okay, so our Italian-Portuguese-Chinese vixen who fell out of the sky as if from a tornado in Kansas…she is a people hunter. She finds people. Doesn’t matter where you are, what you are doing, who you are, or why she is supposed to find you…she’s going to fly around in her helicopter and haul you home. (How do I get a job like that?? I’m really good at googling…surely that equates to a skill at helicoptering…). Anyways, she revealed the big “mystery” from last week: Penny Widmore hired Naomi’s company to find the coordinates (thanks for the coordinates, Portuguese Igloo Men), find Desmond (“He’ll look like the man in this photo”), and bring him back to England. Naomi has been searching for weeks…and she can’t find the darn coordinates. But then the clouds part and the island is revealed….along with a suction tornado that spins her astronaut body down to the island. Whoops. Good thing she brought her not-iPhone with her.

Biggest question this raises? Penny had the Portuguese Igloo Men looking for an “incident” that would lead them to these coordinates, right? So what the heck were they looking for? How did she know there was going to be an “incident”? Even deeper…how did she know something would show up on the radar? How did she know what would show up? If the hatch explosion turned the sky purple and showed up on the radar…then what the heck? How did Penny know??

Sayid has a hard time trusting people.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “I know Sayid, I trust Sayid. I trust his judgment.” …Okay, so I really don’t know him, but I do tend to think he is on the right track. Naomi was taken aback by his line of questioning, but I’m glad he did it. Afterall, Sayid has come across multiple people on this island just randomly…and has every right to not trust everyone he finds. (i.e. Danielle….Ben….Desmond….Juliet….Ana Lucia (she killed his Shannon, remember?)) All of this aside, I am glad he made Naomi recount the story. I’m also glad that the not-iPhone has been given to Sayid’s Electronics for repair.

I’m going to stick by Sayid for the remainder of the season. He goes with his gut…and I like the guy.

Kate can’t keep a secret.
Kate clearly still has a thing for Jack. When you have a “thing” for someone, you tend to divulge secrets. For me, this happens when I have 1 too many glasses of wine and disclose the location of the hidden office football to a certain young gentleman on the other side of the hall. For Kate, this happens when she comes across the M.A.S.H. tent where Naomi is recovering. Hurley just looks like he is hiding something…Kate immediately knew something was up. Yet, when Sayid said “Don’t tell anyone,” she hears “Go tell Jack.” So she does. And in a bumbling mess, she tells all…and Jack has a really strange response…

Jack and Juliet – What are they hiding?
So while Jack and Jules listen to Kate shed light on the existence of Naomi, they both have a very strange demeanor. A few things right off the bat:
1. I do not believe that J&J knew about Naomi.
2. When Jules says “We should tell her [Kate],” I believe this was in response to Kate’s comment about the possibility of communication via not-iPhone. I think Jules wanted Kate to know that it just isn’t possible for Naomi to communicate with the ship…that there is a bubble of some sort around the island that will prohibit the signal from leaving.
3. Other individuals I have spoken with believe that Jules wanted Kate to know what is going to happen in three days…the whole Beach Kidnapping thing that Ben et. al. are going to pull. While I do think J&J are working together on a master plan of their own, I don’t think they would clue Kate in on the plan. Jack may still care about her, but Jules certainly sees her as a threat to marrying the spinal surgeon of her dreams.

Oceanic 815 was underwater and full of bodies.
GROSS. I mean, that is absolutely disgusting. From the story Naomi told, it sounded “Titanic-ish.” That is, it sounded like the plane remains in its’ underwater grave…and that they sent little water cameras down there to check in out. So if the plane is to remain there (and not be brought to the surface), then it makes total sense that the bodies would just wither away into the nothingness of the ocean, never to be DNA-identified or anything. However, what the heck? Since when does the NTSB allow a U.S.-bound plane with many Americans to be left on the bottom of the ocean? This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! Why didn’t they bring the plane up? How come no one noticed that there wasn’t a Hurley-like person on board? Or Kate the fugitive, who is being escorted by a U.S. Marshall? Something doesn’t match up. Something doesn’t feel right. Clearly the U.S. Government is behind the whole thing. (kidding…)

Locke is special, but so is Desmond, right?
Is there a connection between these two characters? They obviously both have huge impacts on the bigger storyline of this island. Who is “more” important? I’m not sure. I look at it this way: Desmond has been sent to the island by someone; Locke has been brought to the island by someone. Could the “someones” be the same? Maybe…but maybe they are two different people with the same “end goal.” Idea: Desmond was sent by Mr. Widmore, Locke was brought by “Jacob” (still am holding out for a big Jacob reveal before the end of the season.)

The Biggest Conspiracy ever.
Mittelsos Biosciences…the Widmore Corporation…the Hanso Foundation…the Dharma Initiative…Oceanic Airlines…

Put them all together and what does it unscramble to spell? THERE IS SOMETHING GOING ON AND I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT BUT MR. WIDMORE IS BEHIND THIS WHOLE DARN THING AND IT ALL COMES BACK TO EITHER DESMOND OR LOCKE, BUT I AM NOT SURE WHICH ONE.

Okay, so it doesn’t spell that. But it should.

This show makes my brain want to explode because it is working on overdrive.

Three days.
The time period of three days has both Biblical and pop culture significance. I will now share some of these with you:
1. Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2. The story of the crucifixion of Jesus was three days and three nights.
3. Three days is used in the Old Testament as an expression for a short, indefinite period of time.
4. While interpreting dreams in prison, Joseph told the baker that within three days, Pharaoh would lift off his head and hang him on a tree.
5. In the Little Mermaid, Ursula told Ariel that before the sun sets on the third day, she must get Prince Eric to kiss her or else she would remain a mermaid forever.

Last question: Are we at the Disneyland from hell?
I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m going on a roller coaster for the first time in my life on Saturday at King’s Dominion in Richmond. For some reason, I’ve convinced myself that if I go through a tunnel on the roller coaster, the other end of the tunnel will be on this stupid island. And I will be stuck there, living in the burlap tents and eating Dharma Cheerios for the rest of my life. However, I am going to take my Sprint cell phone with me…and I’m willing to make a call in “analog roam” mode to let you all know what I’ve discovered. If I do survive, I look forward to discussing the next three episodes with you all – it is going to be awesome.

Namaste,
-Maggie