While You Were Out

John Locke leaves for one little sacrificial mission and everything goes to shit. Our castaways join the Dharma Initiative, Juliet and Sawyer bump uglies and Richard Alpert makes Horace Goodspeed soil himself.

But it was another week of big answers for LOST, our beloved, ever-inquisitive, rarely-forthcoming serial. Last night, we got the bookends of what happened from the time Locke Donkey-Wheeled himself off the Island to the time when Ajira 316 brings the Oceanic Six (minus Aaron, plus Ben) back home. In the end, we see just how John Locke is returning to a very different Island.

So let’s look at what happened right after Locke left, then zoom ahead to what happened right before he came back. And with that knowledge in hand, we'll peer into the Dharma Blog Crystal Ball to see what we might expect from the rest of Season 5.

UPON JOHN’S DEPARTURE
My Winding Wheel
Seemingly aware of its recent penchant for answer-giving, LOST generously delivered – in the opening moment – a glimpse at an answer to one of the show’s longest-running, largely-incidental mysteries: the four-toed statue! It’s back, but it’s not hanging around long enough for examination. For a second though, we realized that the castaways were in the way-way-wayback machine. So what was the statue depicting? Maggie thinks it was Anubis. I think it was Nikki of Nikki & Paolo fame (kidding, but a man can dream). Maggie's probably closer, considering Anubis is jackal-headed Greek God of mummification and the afterlife. How very John Locke.

Locke’s Frozen Donkey Wheel turn quickly dislodges the castaways from the statue era, and hurls them into 1974. As Miles noted “that one was different.” The nosebleeds and headaches are gone, leading Juliet to conclude, “I think it’s over, I think John did it.” It looks like Locke’s pre-destined spin of the wheel was exactly the cure our time travelers needed.

Danny Downer
So now what do they do? What they always do: head back to the beach (despite Miles’ objections) and wait for Locke to come back. But before Sawyer and Co. can arrive at the beach dwellings that aren’t there, they come upon Daniel, mourning Charlotte’s death.

Faraday Sidebar #1: Was anyone else a little thrown off by the shell of a man that was Daniel last night? Not that he’s ever a beacon of unwavering confidence, but last night he was despondent, broken and aloof. The death of his sweet Ginger lover trumped the excitement he had over stumbling upon a playground for the theories of his life’s work. Starkly he informs everyone, “Whenever we are now, we’re there for good.” It was almost as if he was filling them in to get them off his back. Here’s what you need to know. Leave me alone. I don’t even care anymore.

Getting In the Middle of Things
Moping Faraday in tow, Sawyer and his followers trudge on to the beach. But they’re interrupted again, this time by a vicious, callous conflict between two Dharma Initiative members (husband and wife Paul and Amy) and two Richard Alpert-led Hostiles. The hostiles murder Paul, and appear ready to instantly reunite Amy with him. But Juliet and Sawyer get in the way, murdering the hostiles.
Motivated by her own hurried mutterings of a “truce,” Amy begs the mysterious strangers to bury the hostiles and carry her husband Pauls’ body back to Dharmaville. Reluctantly, Sawyer agrees. One thing: that “truce” Amy spoke of has been alluded to before. Apparently, as we later learn, it’s a tenuous gentleman’s agreement between the Dharma folk and the hostiles to leave each other alone. Keep that rule of engagement in mind, and remember back (or forward) to when Ben Linus orchestrates the Great Purge. Last night we saw how a pseudo-violation of the truce angered Richard. And yet, he seemed perfectly willing to let Ben treat the same truce like those tree-hugging liberals treat the 2nd Amendment (kidding. I hate guns, unless handled by John Locke).

After fooling Sawyer’s people with the old Sonic Fence-Ear Plug bait-and-switch, Amy delivers her new “friends” to Horace Goodspeed. You remember Horace, right? He brought Ben and Roger Linus to the Island and acted as a ghostly guide to John Locke last season. It would seem that he’s Dharma de facto leader, although the whole “free love” communal living situation would suggest that Horace the Dude abides by his peoples’ will.

You Can Take the Man out of the Con, But…
Pulling his latest, greatest (and eventually longest) con yet, Sawyer claims to be Jim LaFleur, the captain of a salvage ship whose crew wrecked on the Island en route to Tahiti. With some classic James Ford heads-up thinking, Sawyer invokes the name of the Black Rock as the ship he was looking for, thus nailing his pop quiz in hisotry and proving himself to doubtful Horace.

Horace buys the lie, but he’s not selling Jim Lafleur any time to look for his crew. He gives Sawyer his walking papers for a submarine departing the next day, much to the chagrin of a Sawyer who – at this point – was still hopeful for a Locke (and Kate) return, and fast. Apparently, he has underestimated how bad airline travel has gotten since he’s been on the Island.

Lady in Red
Faraday Sidebar #2: How about that Charlotte spotting last night? The burning question is, will Daniel still warn lil’ Ginger about coming back to the Island? Or will he realize the futility of the act and resign himself to becoming a Dharma miner? Yet another case study in this season’s Tampering with the Past 101 crash course.

Respect the Guyliner
Richard Alpert arrives, his eyes lined with the fire of a scorned leader and the mascara of a drag queen. (Seriously, what’s with that? I'd like to credit the Dharma Blog watch party with calling this out last night before it was mentioned on the show). “That fence may keep other things out, but not us,” he tells Horace during their confrontation. Richard has come to settle the score for the Hostiles v. Paul & Amy death match earlier. Guyliner (eyeliner for guys) aside, Richard Alpert is one of the coolest characters on this show. I’ve always loved him. Every episode with him automatically ratchets the intensity up a notch.
Before Richard can strangle Horace, Sawyer comes in to save the day, convincing Richard not to hold the Dharma folk accountable for the murders, and striking a deal to return Paul’s corpse to the hostiles as a symbol of vengeance.

In this scene, Sawyer again draws on the lessons of his experience, citing Richard’s meeting with John Locke and the Jughead incident as proof that he’s no ordinary Dharma dude. Think of these history applications as another outgrowth of the time-travel-tampering debate: Sawyer is using his own experiences to alter the course of the past. And in a way, he used it this time to course correct himself. The hostiles wouldn’t have died had he not interfered, but he makes amends by striking the deal with Richard.

And You Say…”Stay”
Bet you didn’t think I could work a Lisa Loeb lyric into this post, did you? Wrong! For the second time in her life, Juliet is convinced to stay on the Island “just a little big longer.” I liked Sawyer’s reasonable plea, “It’s 1974. Whatever it is you think you’re going back to, don’t exist yet.” And I thought this scene was further evidence that – despite her background as a woman of science – Juliet carries some underlying obligation to, loyalty to or belief in the Island. She knows she’s supposed to leave. But she just. Can’t. Quite. Do it.

And whatever happened between this moonlit beach scene and the Ajira crash must’ve been good. Because folks, Sawyer and Juliet… are knocking the boots.

UPON JOHN’S ARRIVAL
On Newborns and Ex-Girlfriends
While most of the episode focused on what happened right after John Locke left the Island, we got a decent look at what happened right before he came back.


Jim “Sawyer” LaFleur is now the head of security, striking fear into the trembling hearts of his lowly underlings as they discover Horace Goodspeed on a late night bender. Interrupting their own “hootenanny,” the subordinates report to LaFleur that Horace is out at the Sonic Fence, drinking Jacob Daniels (get it? Well it’s midnight and I think it’s hilarious) and setting off dynamite. Impromptu dance parties and Sonic Fence-taunting benders? The Dharma Initiative knows how to party.

Sawyer – along with fellow security detail minion Miles – retrieves Horace and brings him to his lady-friend (and widow) Amy. I’ll fast-forward you to the good part here. She goes into labor, forcing Juliet “out of retirement” to help and Sawyer and Juliet help each other through yet another difficult situation so they can go home and be in love. Yeah. You heard me. In. Love. Kate be damned! Sawyer has moved on because – as he tells Horace – three years is absolutely long enough to get over someone.

Or is it?

Because when Sawyer gets ripped out of the Little Spoon position to go meet Jin in the North Valley, he’s suddenly not so forthcoming with his Big Spoon, Juliet. And the look he drops on Kate to end last night’s episode may have satiated all of the embittered female viewers who are still upset about whatever the Bachelor did to some poor woman earlier this week (good God, I’ve never seen so many angry status updates from my female Facebook friends).

Faraday Sidebar #3: reader Michael J. (not Fox) pointed out that Faraday was noticeably absent from the "Three Years Later" scenes. What happened there? Does he defect after creative differences with Pierre Chang? Does Charlotte's presence drive him mad? Does he join the hostiles? Or did they just not have him in the scenes last night?


CONVERGENCE
So there you have it. We know what happened to those who stayed on the Island (Sawyer et al.). We know what happened to those who left (the Oceanic Six). And we mostly know what happened to the dude who stayed, left and came back (Locke). LOST has set the table for the rest of the season, without falling into the trap of drawing out these “reunions” for 8 episodes (see Season 3’s arduous Hydra Station cage scenes).

I think this is precisely the benefit of LOST announcing its end date. Back in Season 3, they had to draw out storylines because they didn’t know how many episodes they’d have to write. Now they know. They’ve got roughly 20-22 episodes left, and there’s no time to dawdle.

So if the table is set, what’s for supper in Season 5? Here are some mysteries I think we can reasonably expect an answer (or part of an answer) to this season. We won't get 'em all, but hopefully they'll cover a few of these:

• A resolution of the Kate-Sawyer-Jack-Juliet Love Rhombus. It’s time. Kate, pick a man. Juliet, take whoever’s left. And let’s get on to more important to things.
• A testing and analysis of Faraday’s theory that “Whatever happened, happened.” Can you change things when you go back? Well, we’ve got a dozen or so castaways who are about to find out. And there's an episode later this season titled, fittingly, "Whatever happened, happened."
  
• How the Dharma Initiative progressed. We’ve seen them in their heyday. We’ve seen their demise. But how did the initiative truly begin? Who were the DeGroots, and are Hanso and Widmore (and Mr. Paik?) mere benefactors or mega-masterminds? Was a young Charles Widmore involved (I think he was).
  
• If there are family trees to be fleshed out among our Dharma Country Club (Widmore & Hawking [is Widmore Faraday’s dad? Is Hawking Penny’s mom?]; Pierre Chang’s baby [Miles?]; Horace and Amy’s baby [Maggie says it’s Ethan Rom. I hope it's Paolo of Nikki & Paolo fame]; Charlotte’s mom and dad; and more), will we get those answers this season? I think we should, as I think those are precursors to the larger story to be unfolded next year. Plus, I want validation of my grand Widmore-Hawking Family Tree theory.
• How does Desmond factor back in here? Later this season, an episode called The Variable will air. I think it’s a follow-up to last season’s heart-stopping “The Constant,” and hopefully we’ll get our Desmond answers there. Why is he special? How does he get back to the Island? What wrenches do his abilities throw in the spokes? Can he use his “special powers” to course-correct our survivors back to 2008ish?
• And most importantly: what does Locke’s journey of self-sacrifice back to the mainland illuminate for us on the Island? Does this place really have special healing powers? Can it reanimate dead souls who have unfinished business? It is a fountain of youth? Or is it all in someone's head...

LOST IS TAKING A WEEK OFF? YES, AND HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.
If you don’t feel it yet, you will next Wednesday. LOST is taking a week off. What will we do?!? Maggie and I are already in preemptive mourning, but here’s what we’re going to do for you, our loyal Dharma Blog readers next week:

In the comments section today, post a big(gish) question you want answered. Try to think outside of what happened last night, or last week, and let us know what about Season 5 – as a whole – keeps you awake at night. We’ll pick the Top 5 questions and (attempt to) answer one a day next week. If you want to pose some LaFleur-specific questions in there, I’ll address those right away. But pose the bigger picture questions, too, and Maggie and I will tackle them next week.

Why are we doing this? Because we love you like Sawyer loves the hottest available woman on the Island.

Namaste.
Charlie