The Charlie Paradox

(note: some users are experiencing troubles with seeing HTML code text around the post. I tried reposting this entry to fix it, and I think it only happens to PC users, but I'm not sure what the problem is)

Season Six. Episode One: LA X

I don’t have time for a cute introduction about how “worth the wait,” and “mega epic” that was. An alternate reality. Other Others. And a terrifying look at the new 2010 John Locke model, which is possibly more dangerous than a Toyota.

In the words of John Locke, upon reviewing the Dharma Initiative Orientation film, “We’re going to need to see that again.”

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

Alternate Reality Bites

You knew right away, didn’t you? I mean, you’ve watched the pilot episode of LOST enough to know that Cindy the flight attendant handed Jack two extra bottles of booze when he asked for a stronger drink, right? So when she only handed him one last night, you had to know, “Oh, we’re dealing with an alternate reality here.”

Confused? I wouldn’t worry yet. Remember, this time last year we were asking how the hell we were supposed to deal with time travel. And we all got through that, right?

Just so we’re on the same page here, it's my understanding that all those Oceanic 815 scenes you saw last night were the result of the Jughead detonation successfully negating the sequence of events that caused the original flight to crash on the Island. But it didn’t work seamlessly. In my opinion, it didn’t change the course of events, it split it. So our characters are now simultaneously experiencing two realities: one where 815 crashes, one where it doesn’t. So when Juliet said, “It didn’t work,” to Sawyer, she was right, because our characters were still stuck on the damn Island. And when Miles communed with Juliet to hear her say, “It worked,” Juliet was also right, because our characters are also experiencing a universe in which Jughead did what it was supposed to do.

Oh, and in this newly-created reality, big Island elements like the Four-Toed statue, Dharmaville and the Sonic Fence are, for some reason, at the bottom of the ocean. So something in the Jughead reality caused the Island to take a very different course. I’m excited to see what that was.

Don’t concern yourself too much with the paradoxes and implications of this split reality. Really. I mean it. Stop worrying. It’ll be explained as much as it needs to be explained, because – just like time travel, flashbacks and flash-forwards – it’s merely a narrative element used to tell character stories. Keep your eyes on the characters, and we’ll be just fine. Okay? Pep talk over, let’s talk about what we saw.

Oceanic 815: The Remix

Kudos to Maggie, who predicted the show would open with Oceanic 815 flying safely above the Pacific Ocean before safely landing at LAX.

But this wasn’t the Oceanic 815 experience we’ve seen pieced together through years of flashbacks. Everything was just slightly different. Jack chatted up Desmond (Desmond!?!), who grabbed a seat by him for the middle leg of the flight. Bernard returned from the lavatory. Kate bumped into Jack after leaving the bathroom. Dr. Arzt annoyed Colonel Hugo Sanders, who has apparently built Mr. Clucks into a chicken empire and experienced great fortune and luck, not a curse, from his lottery winnings. Jin & Sun remained cold and estranged, but Boone chatted up Locke about what John can and can’t do, and then the two of them agree that Boone is, indeed, kind of a jackass.

In Oceanic 815 The Remix, Jack is summoned to help a man the lavatory, whom he reaches with a little help from Sayid’s right foot. That man is Charlie, who is unconscious after accidentally swallowing a bag of heroin. Luckily, Jack saves Charlie, and doesn't get a warm "thank you" from him for his efforts. More on that later, by the way.

Okay, so obviously Oceanic 815 The Remix has some slight upgrades and downgrades from the original. Much like R. Kelly’s remix of Ignition. Oh, who am I kidding? The remix to Ignition was better than the original in every way. But I digress.

What I noticed about this version of Oceanic 815 was not the differences that resulted from the plane not crashing. I noticed some smaller things. Like Jack saying, “I had a pen in my jacket, but it’s gone,” when working to save Charlie. That pen, you’ll remember, was used by Jack in the original iteration of Oceanic 815 to save someone on the beach.

Clearly, there are going to be big differences in this Oceanic 815 (i.e., it doesn't freaking crash). But it’s the little discrepancies like Jack’s pen that have me tripped up, and believing that this iteration of Oceanic 815 is still going to be somewhat affected by what we’ve watched over the past five seasons.

Which leads me to my next point: do I give a boar’s tusk about these people that land from Oceanic 815? How is their collective story arc going to create a necessary, compelling amount of conflict? I think we started to get the answers to those questions once Oceanic 815 The Remix touched down.

Ties That Bind

Once Oceanic 815 lands, things really start to happen differently. Mostly because, well, they happen at LAX and not on a mysterious Island. Kate escapes and is abetted by Sawyer before carjacking a cab and splitting the fare with Claire. Jin is detained at customs for rocking too much ice – you never rock too much ice at LAX, man. Everyone knows that.

And most importantly, I think, is that in this iteration of Oceanic 815, Oceanic Airlines loses Christian Shephard’s coffin. This leads to Matthew Fox getting to show off his finely-honed “simultaneously disappointed and incredulous” face, and leads to one of the eerier conversations of the episode. Lock and Jack’s discussion about the lost coffin was loaded with knowing glances and important subtext. “How could they know where he is? They didn’t lose your father, they just lost his body,” says Locke, as if acknowledging the concept that a body is only a physical vessel for something much more important. That’s more of a Season 5 Locke insight, don’t you think? And how about Jack telling Locke “nothing is irreversible,” before offering a free surgical consult?

Here’s why this is important. If these characters can form enough meaningful connections (Locke with Jack, Kate with Claire, and presumably others that we are yet to see), I think they might start to remember each other and what they’ve been through. I think Jack’s near-recognition of Desmond, and all the just-too-lengthy glances between passengers throughout the episode, are the beginnings of what is going to make this alternate reality important. Somewhere down the road here, these two realities have to merge and reconcile. The narrative almost requires it. And I think that reconciliation is going to be the impetus for this season's drama. I just have no idea how it’s going to happen. Yet.

LOCKE 2.0

Kicking Ass and Taking Name

Damn I love Locke. I love new Locke, old Locke, Jacob’s nemesis, the smoke monster, etc. I guess I just love Terry O’Quinn, the actor. But I was absolutely riveted by his continued confidence and certainty in carrying out his mission last night. I thought the episode did a nice job of debriefing the big happenings from the four-toed statue during the season finale, while answering some questions and preparing us for the all-new John Locke Action Figure, now with Extra Smokey powers.

Just to be clear, Jacob’s nemesis (a.k.a. the Man in Black) has taken over the body of John Locke. He is also the Smoke Monster. I am 99.99% certain of this after last night. I’ll say it: it’s confirmed.

I loved how Locke 2.0 continued to toy with Ben, who was still emotionally shattered after killing his idol. I mean, that’d be like if I killed Kirby Puckett. Which I can’t, because Kirby Puckett is dead, sadly. Unless I can time travel or create an alternate reality in which Kirby is still alive. Damnit, it’s midnight! Concentrate, Charlie!

Locke told Ben that Jacob “knew he was beaten.” He commanded Ben to go get Richard so they could have a talk. He stalked around the room with unprecedented confidence, cleaning Jacob’s blood off his knife with the very tapestry that Jacob had woven. He was clear and self-assured. He was scary as hell.

And when Ben accidentally brought the wrong dudes in for a visit, Locke let him know just how he felt about it. After changing into something more comfortable – smoke – Locke 2.0 went to town on Bram and a pair of hapless henchmen. Even Bram’s ring of ash was no match for him, as he shook the room until Bram was unprotected, then impaled him on a loom. Death by loom. Not a good way to go. But damn, a bullet bounced off of Locke 2.0. And then he returned to Locke-form and said to Ben, “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.” God. Yes. How can you not love this? I’m amped up on the new testosterone-fortified Locke. Is this how meatheads feel all the time? I just fist-pumped, Jersey Shore-style.

Regarding that ring of ash: remember that Jacob’s cabin was surrounded by the same type of ring. We can see that this ash stops MIB/Smokey, so it’s used to protect things/places/people from him. Which is why Ilana freaked out when the ring of ash had been broken last year. Just something to keep in mind, as we know that Smokey has one weakness, albeit an apparently easily-surmountable one.

That Was The Old Me

Locke 2.0 basically spent the episode putting his foot down and reassuring Ben that he was, in fact, serious. But in perhaps the most human and tender moment, Locke 2.0 reminisced about the soul that used to inhabit his flesh: Ole’ John Locke. He talked about how confused Locke was when Ben killed him. How his last thought was, “I don’t understand.” How fitting that thought was, considering how “weak, pathetic and irreparably broken” John was when he came to the Island. But Locke 2.0 also discussed his predecessor’s more admirable quality: that he was the only Oceanic 815 survivor who “realized how pitiful the life he left behind actually was,” and how he didn’t want to leave.

Then, Locke 2.0 delivered his best line of the night before storming out of the statue, kicking Richard’s ass and admonishing his band of followers. He told Ben that, ironically, he wants the one thing that Old John Locke never did. He wants to go home.

What a brilliant set up of MIB/Smokey/Locke 2.0’s motivation for the final season. He is, indeed, a prisoner on this Island. He is there unwittingly. He is being punished, perhaps. He is beholden to Jacob – or was, anyway. He has something to prove before he can go home. But where is home? I think the answer to that question is going to be fairly grandiose. Maybe heaven. Or hell. There is certainly a “fallen angel,” quality to he and Jacob, and my way-too-early prediction is that they are cosmic gods, demons or angels; and that their struggle has implications for all of mankind. It’s big, folks. It is, quite frankly, what this show is going to be about.

THE MORNING AFTER

"It Worked" And Also "It Didn't" And Also Juliet, Just Die Already

Alright, I’m running out of time and space, and I know you all watched the episode. So I’m going to skip the Juliet-in-the-hole and Sawyer-angry-at-Jack analysis here. I'll also spare you my lamentations about the way they dragged out Juliet's death over several scenes. And I already explained what Juliet’s “it worked,” and “it didn’t work” lines meant, in my opinion. But I should share with you a quote from my dad, 12 minutes after the episode, via email. “OK, I can believe in reincarnation, parallel universes, and a gut-shot Republican Guard vet returning from the dead, but I KNOW that a VW bus could not pull a 2 x 4 out of a pothole, let alone a steel beam out of the Swan Station.” He's the best.

But let’s fast-forward to the good part: the Temple! Finally, after two seasons of allusions to this place, we finally see it. And that, friends, was worth the wait. I loved Hurley stepping up to the plate by playing the Jacob card to save he and his friends from a quick death. I thought the ankh-in-the-guitar case reveal was a little odd, but cool, and totally fitting. We got to see Jacob’s final list, as well as a written warning to his people that they must save Sayid in order to save themselves.

I love this new group of Other Others, complete with Oceanic 815ers Cindy the flight attendant and captured tail section youngsters Zach and Emma. (I was thrilled to see them come back and start to explain Cindy, and I’ll be really interested to see how they explain her progression from flight attendant to authentic Other). I also liked the new characters. There was Creepy Old Asian (COA) and that geeky white guy, who looked like he could be Radzinsky’s brother from another Other.

We also finally got a little insight into the “healing powers” of these people. They immediately took Sayid to “the Spring,” a magical healing whirlpool (more on this in a seond). And we learned that Hurley wasn’t done taking charge. In his private meeting with COA, he broke the news that Jacob was dead, sending the Other Others into panic mode, complete with signal flares, fortified walls and, yes, ash circles. They must really be afraid of this MIB guy.

But back to that whirlpool. Maggie had an interesting thought on this, which I’ll try to elaborate upon. I do believe that this “spring,” is the very method that Richard used to heal young Ben Linus last season. But remember, when Richard took Ben, he promised he’d save him but warned that Ben would never be the same after that. And Richard was right. Ben became the ruthless, manipulative leader who orchestrated The Purge from the inside. That was – as the COA put it last night – something of a “side effect,” to the healing powers of that pool. It may heal your physical wounds, but it changes you.

And now, quickly, I want to direct your attention to ABC’s promotional image of The LOST Supper, where our LOST characters were used to recreate Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. In these images, Sayid is seated in the same place as Judas, who eventually betrays Jesus.

So last night, Sayid was submerged in The Spring. He was drowned, killed, and laid out for dead on the temple floor. But then he awoke. “What happened?” he uttered, in an uncharacteristically terrified tone. I don’t know what happened, but Maggie’s fear is that something about this “cleansing process,” this healing pool, is going to change Sayid profoundly. Will the Sayid’s “side effect” be a shifted allegiance? Will he betray his friends like Judas did? And wouldn’t it be something to watch Sayid fall victim to the same circumstances that created Ben Linus, the man whose eight-year-old self he once tried to murder in order to spare the world from his evil?

THE MANY LIVES OF CHARLIE

Alright, it’s been eight months, so here’s a bonus theory for you. And kind of a fitting one for yours truly.

Did you notice Kate when she woke up last night? She couldn’t hear. Everything was muted and her ears were ringing. It was exactly what happened to Charlie after the hatch imploded.

So I’m going to go out on a limb here with a what-if. What if the hatch implosion (from Season 2) actually created a separate reality for Charlie? It either killed him or redirected his life course enough to create an alternate reality and split his consciousness and soul among two realities. And that’s why, beginning in Season 3, the universe tries to kill Charlie. Repeatedly. Because he was existing on the Island, where he was palling around with Desmond and wooing Claire. But he was also existing off the Island, where he would eventually go visit Santa Rosa and convince Hurley to bring everyone back to the Island (Don't forget, in that scene, Charlie told Hurley, "I'm not dead.") Two Charlies, each operating paradoxically in contrast to one another.

But paradoxes need to be rectified. The universe has to course-correct, so to speak. Which is why, throughout Season 3, Charlie was confronted with the inevitability of his own death on the Island. Desmond saw it repeatedly in those flashes, and ultimately, Charlie capitulated and let fate do its thing in the control room of the Looking Glass station. That was fate/the universe/God eliminating the paradox that resulted from Charlie’s existence in two separate, simultaneous, alternate realities.

And then, wouldn’t you know it, last night Charlie entered another new reality. One in which he nearly died on Oceanic 815 by swallowing a bag of heroine. One in which he was saved by a well-meaning doctor who he thanked by scowling, “I was supposed to die," because he he knows that only one Charlie can exist. And the one that needs to exist is the one who told Hurley to take everyone back to the Island. That Charlie is essential. So Island Charlie and Oceanic 815 The Remix Charlie needed to die.

In Conclusion

I love all the Charlie’s on LOST – Charlie Pace, Charles Widmore, and Charlie Hume, Penny and Desmond’s son. We all share a name, and we share it with my father, whose middle name is Charlie, and who I also love very much, and not just for his timely knowledge of VW bus limitations.

But as of last week, I’ve got a new favorite. He’s my nephew, Charles Bond, born to my wonderful sister Karen and her husband, Taylor. Here’s the little fella’, way too tuckered out to contemplate alternate reality paradoxes and content to sleep the night away in an awesome Dharma Baby Station onesie, sent to him by his favorite uncle.

Wouldn’t you know it, he got here just in time for Season Six.

Namaste.

Charlie