(Rev) Two steps forward, two steps back

Last night’s episode blew my mind. Two hours of major fake-outs, numerous dead bodies, the hope of rescue, heroes around every turn…and the most touching loss so far. We were promised a game-changing episode.

This episode delivered…and also undermined so many assumptions we’ve had about Lost for the last three years.

I’m a Lost addict. I’ll be the first to admit it. No need to have an intervention where my friends and family sit me down and say, in low voices, “Maggie, you have a problem”. It’s true. I stay up hours past when I should be sleeping to think about what will happen next on the island. I sit in front of my computer for hours on end, reading blogs and summaries; testing my Lost knowledge against the oh-so-wise Lostpedia; casting the show with people in my own life (I’m always Kate, of course); theorizing about the next character-connection we’re going to find; and trying to figure out what the heck that smoke is. Recently, I’ve thought about changing all my passwords to 4-8-15-16-23-42. I’ve wondered about taking a few vacation days to fly out into the Pacific Ocean and find the island myself.

Last night reaffirmed for me that I am in love with "Lost" in a big way. No other show has the power to put me in such a profound, almost philosophical state of wondering. (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman couldn’t hold a candle to Lost…neither can The Bachelor.) I literally feel what the Losties feel – out to sea and unable to figure out what's happening in “real time,” but obsessed with learning the truth. While we all agree that the season began slowly last fall, "Lost" found its groove and has been on a roll since it returned in February.

Although Lost won’t return until February, the finale convinced me to wait that long for more answers to the new bevy of questions that unfolded in the best two hours of television. As we look back on last night’s finale, I won’t try to answer all the questions…we have plenty of time to do that. What I would like to do is touch on some of the big plot and character arcs that were introduced…and theorize about a few possible explanations.

Locke
I think we can all agree that Locke was going to kill himself. He couldn’t move his legs. His “idol” (Ben, not Jordin Sparks) had just shot him in the stomach. He was lost in every sense of the word…so overwhelmed that he didn’t want to try any more. At the end of his rope…and, in his mind, at the end of his life. As he cocked the gun towards his own body, he heard a voice. A voice we “kinda sorta” recognized…ah, yes. Teenager Walt had returned to woo his friend out of the Dharma ditch. “You have work to do” he said to Locke. What did Walt represent for Locke? It was almost a new found hope…a new found encouragement to keep discovering mysteries and answers. And with that, we can assume that his legs returned and he climbed out of the Dharma body ditch.

What does all of this mean for Locke? After the encounter with the mysterious Jacob (and subsequent attempted murder by Ben), Locke had literally hit rock bottom…or should I say “body bottom.” (Gosh, what a horrible joke.) Walt’s appearance switched his frame of mind. The Locke Attack is back (yes, that is a reference to Saved By the Bell). Locke isn’t done yet. What is interesting is that even though Ben tried to kill him, Locke returned to our Losties to essentially “help” Ben keep everyone here. So has Locke decided to “let bygones be bygones” (“Oh, Ben…I forgive you for trying to kill me. You were just having a rough day.”) It certainly appears that way…as confusing as that is. I don’t know about you, but I tend to hold grudges against people who try to kill me.

Next season:
Locke Attack is going to continue to play a key role in unfolding the island’s mysteries. I think he is going to stay on the Ben Team and continue to try to keep our Losties here….make them stay put. The last time we saw Locke Attack last night was a shot of him wandering back into the jungle. Where was he going? Who knows! He’s not trying to find Ben (we’ve got him tied to a tree). Perhaps he is heading back to find Richard.

On that vein, I really like the prospect of Locke and Richard teaming up for the ’08 Others Presidential Election. I think Locke would be on the top of the ticket and Richard would be VP. I’m not sure if the Others will want to elect Ben, the Independent Candidate. His approval rating has really gone down as of late.

Charlie and Desmond
And with last night, Charlie headed to that great bingo game in the sky. A great ending for a really great character. As many people have pointed out, the series pilot introduced us to the background of three characters: Kate, Jack and our Charlie. It is a loss for him to leave, but his arc was truly completed when Desmond’s premonition was fulfilled. Blinking yellow light. Flip the switch. Unjam the communication blocker. Jack & Co. can make a call. Everyone is rescued. Charlie took one for the team...the biggest act of heroism in the whole episode, nay, the whole series up to this point. I shed a single tear as he put his hand on the window with the message “Not Penny’s Boat”…then watched as his body floated backwards. Good bye, Charlie Pace.

Before he drowned, though, Charlie accepted an incoming transition from the beautiful Penny Widmore. Thanks to the quick thinking of Charlie, Penny now knows that 1) there survivors of Oceanic 815; 2) has-been Charlie Pace survived the plane crash; and 3) her soulmate Desmond is alive and well. What a powerful 30 seconds! Crazy Mikhail had to ruin it all with the old grenade-through-the-window trick, but as I’ve pointed out, that was “supposed to happen.” Penny claimed to not know about Naomi…whoahhh. Plot twist! An interesting one, too.

What a wonderful tie in to include “Good Vibrations” as the passcode…and to note that it was programmed by a “musician.” Charlie felt a purpose…felt a calling. It was quite moving.

Next season:
Penny is going to keep searching for her Desmond. Does her transmission with Charlie indicate that she can locate the island? I think so…maybe. And since Penny had no idea who Naomi was, we have a lot to discover about her. How did she have a picture of Des and Penny? Our records show that there are three versions of the Penny/Des photo (which has come to have more and more significance as the season progresses): Penny (on her night stand), Des (in his pocket), and Naomi (in her book). Did Naomi get it from, say, Penny’s father Charles Widmore? This is my new running theory…

Jack
Jack’s apparent backstory (drinking and drugging himself into a stupor) turned out to be flash forward -- flashes into his future life. And in that future, Jack, Kate, a mysterious somebody with whom Kate lives, and another mysterious somebody who just died, appear to have been rescued from the island. Suicidal with remorse for having left the island, Jack takes a plane flight every Friday night across the Pacific Ocean in hopes that one will crash and return him to the island. Oh, and he uses his Golden Pass from Oceanic Air for this purpose…

As many have already pointed out, Jack's future misery casts a shadow backward: knowing that “rescue” isn’t the greatest thing ever darkens our perception of Jack's optimistic struggles to get everyone off the island. It completely reverses the tone of the show. Will we continue to want our Losties to escape from the island next season…or will we reconsider Locke/Ben’s belief that they need to stay put?

Jack’s flash forward also showed that Sarah (the ex) was pregnant with someone else’s child. How painful when Sarah admitted to Jack that she was “still his emergency contact” at work. Whew. That was a tear jerker. Jack doesn’t have anyone else in his life. What happened to Jack’s Mother? What about his doctor friends from before the crash? It looks like Jack is all alone.

Oxycodone:
Oxycodone is used in treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain. Was Jack in severe chronic pain in this episode? No, I think he was turning to Oxycodone for to take him away from all the “pain” of his life. After all, we did see Jack almost commit suicide on the bridge. As wikipedia points out, Oxycodone has similar effects to morphine and heroin, and appeals to the same abuse community. So…Charlie’s heroin addiction lives on through Jack? Interesting…

Thoughts about Christian Shepherd:
Jack-of-the-island arrived on the island because he was coming home from Australia with the body of his deceased father. Christian Shepherd is dead…so why does Jack-of-the-future keep talking about his father (he wrote me this prescription…go see who is more intoxicated, etc.)? While watching the episode, I thought it was because Jack-of-the-future was so drugged by the oxycodone that he was “pretending” like his father was alive. However, after the fact, I’m beginning to wonder…is Christian Shepherd really alive in Jack-of-the-future’s life?? If Jack-of-the-island’s dad was dead when he arrived on the island, can he be alive in the future? He can't, right??

Man, I've got a headache.

Jack’s Beard:
Some disagree with me, but I thought his beard was kinda fake looking.

So…who was in that casket?
Such a terrible thought…to die and have literally no one show up for your funeral and/or viewing. Sends chills up the spine. So who was that? Who has “no one” in their life to come to a funeral? We know that the death was announced in the paper…it appeared to be a short article. But even the TiVo couldn’t pick up what the article said. There are three possible people in my mind who could have been in that coffin: Locke, Sawyer or Ben. Or, it could be someone that we don’t know yet…some character we have yet to meet. But if it is one of our current Losties, my money is on one of these three guys. We must take Kate’s comment very seriously when Jack showed her the article: “Why would I have gone?” she said with a glare…a hint of exasperation in her voice. Surely she wouldn’t say that about Sawyer, right? So is it Locke or Ben? Well, Kate has some anxiety about both of these guys: they both happened to try to keep them on the island. For now, I’m going to predict it is Ben…don’t ask why. I just picked one of them.

And about Kate’s comment (“he’ll notice I am gone”)…is it Sawyer? Or is it…maybe…her son??

Next season (and beyond):
Jack and Kate apparently get off the island. As I pointed out earlier, Jack’s rescue does not lead him to fields of flowers, bunnies and butterflies. Instead, getting off the island plunges Jack into a deep, dark despair. He says to Kate “We weren’t supposed to leave” and “We have to go back to the island.” He appears to feel like there is “unfinished business”….so what is it? What did he not do? At this point, I can’t even go there. I can’t even guess what it is. Heck, I have seven months to come up with theories.

For now, let’s just all sit back and drop our jaws. What an excellently-acted (not a word) episode, Matthew Fox. Bravo, you. Bravo. Standing ovation. Brilliant performance. Best performance by an actor in a drama. My vote is for Matthew Fox. Ding ding ding. Wooooo!

Ben
Beaten to a pulp, tied to a tree. Ben didn’t fair too well last night….and I loved it. Ben was betrayed multiple times during the episode…by people he thought he “controlled,” no less, which made him quite angry.

Juliet:
Juliet told the Others’ kidnapping plan to the Losties. Instead of capturing three possibly-pregnant women (note: who is the third? There were three tents marked, right? Kate, Sun and ___ ? Ideas?), Ben lost ten men. Quite a blow for his creepy compound. Ben thought Juliet was his mole. Turns out she was kissing the doctor. Ben lost.

Alex:
Alex told Karl the kidnapping plan, who subsequently filled in some of the details for the Losties. Ben’s “daughter” (anyone else notice that Alex called him Ben, not Dad???) turned on him. His response? He puts her up for adoption and introduces her to her real mother, Danielle. What a moment that was…when Danielle and Alex “met” each other for the first time. So powerful. And Ben’s stock just went straight into the ground when you saw how overwhelmed and touched Alex was at the meeting. Ben lost.

Jack:
Ben told Richard that he was going to the radio tower to convince Jack to not make the call off the island. During the scene, Ben seemed quite certain that he could manipulate the situation to “win.” That is, he was certain he could convince Jack to not do it…to just stay put. In the end, though, Jack last through three fake shootings of his friends (I knew they were alive…I just knew it) and a near murder by Locke to make the call. Ben lost.

Next season:
Physically, Ben can’t escape from his captivity by our guys. I also don’t know if any of his people “want” to save him. The only guy I could maybe, sorta see coming for him is Mikhail….and that rests on whether or not Mikhail survived the grenade explosion (I just don’t think he is dead, as crazy as that sounds.) Outside of Mikhail, perhaps Locked would do it. However, it is clear there is dissension in the ranks. People aren’t too pleased with Ben (Richard said “A lot of people are questioning you right now”). If Locke is going to reunite with Richard, I could see them just forgetting about Ben.

In addition, I am wondering what Ben’s purpose is from now on. What does he have left to do? This all rests on who the heck answered the phone call that Jack made. Whoever it was…I don’t know if they are necessarily “good guys.” While Jack’s plan might work, there have to repercussions.

Was the man on the other end of the phone maybe a Dharma guy? Someone who has realized that the Dharma people are gone….that another group has taken over? Maybe they are trying to figure out what is going on? Do they think Jack and our guys are “Others”? Will Ben lie and say that they are part of his team? Or that Ben, himself, is the victim? That he, himself, crashed on the island? Or is the guy on the phone someone connected to Charles Widmore???

So much to wonder about.

Naomi
At the start of the episode, I did not believe her…I didn’t believe anything she said. In the end, she was killed by John Locke and may have jeopardized our Losties since they made a call with her phone. So…is Naomi a good guy or bad guy? Did Naomi “know” she would be killed? Not necessarily a vision a la Desmond, but perhaps she knew that someone would not want the island to be found. She told Jack how to use the phone to set our guys up…she knew we would use the phone and her people would find the island location.

Next season:
So assuming Naomi’s boat people show up, what is going to happen? WHO KNOWS. Are they here to find the people on the island or the island itself? If it is the people, is it a certain “person”? If it is the island, do they know there are people on the island? (Random questions: Is Naomi some crazy horticulturist trying to find an extinct plant? A zoologist trying to find island-living polar bears?) If Naomi really does work for a company that finds people (like she claimed), will they come pick up Desmond, then take off? Maybe Penny didn’t send Naomi (I believe Penny when she said “Who is Naomi??”)…maybe Charles Widmore sent Naomi in order to get Desmond out of Penny’s life once and for all.

Again, so much to wonder about.

Maggie S. and Charlie S.
At the start of 2007, Charlie and I started to write this blog. It is now May 24, 2007…and we are without a new episode of Lost and without meaning in our lives. It is going to be tough for the first few weeks. For those of you that see us both on a regular basis, a hug or a pat on the back would be most appreciated. Although neither of us will turn to oxycodone for relief from the pain, there is a good chance we’ll both start eating a lot of Sour Patch Kids and drinking a lot of Diet Dr. Pepper. If you see us dampening the pain with either of these, offer us a water and an apple.

Next season:
Stay tuned for continuous updates from us during the next several months. Although we don’t know if there will be a multimedia internet “game” like last year, we will definitely find things to blog about during this interim.

Good bye:
Although Boyz II Men “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” is playing in my head (it has been for 16 years…haha, just kidding. I don’t like that song.), I’ll close with an old Lost blessing that I was once told by my Great Grandpa Kelvin (again, I’m kidding…Great Grandpa’s name was Oakley):

May the jammer rise to allow your transmission.
May the polar bears always be far, far away from you.
May the Others not gas you to death.
May all your pregnant women friends be safe.
And may Damon and Carlton and JJ hold your questions in their forefront of their minds as they write the next season.

-Maggie