tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60094689924233306372023-12-12T09:45:22.611-05:00THE DHARMA BLOGChanneling the mysteries of the Island, from the flatlands of Nebraska. <br> Namaste.Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.comBlogger165125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-38284003796773529412010-05-25T10:01:00.002-05:002010-05-25T10:13:10.887-05:00Life and DeathTotally saw that one coming.<br /><br />No, not the ending, but the fact that the ending would elicit a full spectrum of reactions from “epic” and “beautiful” to “disappointing cop-out.” I get that, I do. That’s actually why I’ve let myself sleep on this (twice) before writing my post. I thought it would be a disservice to try to wrap it up after the six-hour marathon on Sunday night, and Monday night, well, I went drinking. So sue me. But I’ve needed that time to dissect how I felt about, “The End.” And I’m happy to report, I still have no idea.<br /><br /> But this isn’t going to be about whether or not I liked the finale. (I did). It’s about what LOST’s purpose was now that it’s all said and done.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What Happened</span><br />First, let’s make sure we’re on the same page with the events that unfolded. I believe there is some confusion here.<br /><br />Everything you saw on the Island, that all happened. From the crash to the Others to Jacob and his brother, ageless Richard Alpert and the Dharma food drops. Even the time traveling, that happened. That was all real. Real, mystical and possibly unexplainable. Which is why it wasn’t fully explained.<br /><br />The alternate storyline was a pseudo-purgatory that our characters created, in their minds, as a place to meet up before venturing into the afterlife. Everybody died at different times. Boone died in that beach craft plane. Jack died at the end of the episode after being stabbed by Locke. Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Frank and Richad (now mortal) escaped the Island on that plane and died sometime later. Ben and Hurley stayed to protect the Island, and died years later. But the Alternate Afterlife was a place free from the confines of time and space where our characters could meet up before going to the afterlife. I’ll explain its significance later. Or try to.<br /><br />The Island’s light was essentially a life force. My interpretation: it granted mankind mortality, but was used with Jacob, Jack and Hurley to grant immortality. Why do we need something to grant mortality? For the same reason LOST itself needed to announce it’s end date. Without a horizon to drive toward, without a destination in place, without a time limit, we are essentially wandering vessels, doomed to aimlessness. Just look at the MIB. His corporeal form deserted, he was forced to wander the Island as Smokey for centuries. Remember how pissed he was? Me, too. So I think the Island’s light source was the “thing that existed in every man,” that put some sense of urgency and purpose into his daily life. It’s the ticking biological clock we all have that impels us to take risks, to make something of ourselves and seek out meaning and truth. That's why it would've been so catastrophic for it to go out permanently. The light source was also manipulated, one way or another, to have the opposite affect on Jacob, who then passed that on to Jack, who then passed that on to Hurley. They were given eternal life by the light, in exchange for protecting it. Which, as we saw, was a mixed blessing.<br /><br />At least, that’s what I think. But what did it all mean?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Life and Death</span><br />LOST’s epic score (an underappreciated element of the show) is anchored by the iconic theme, “Life and Death.” It’s the song that goes, “Do do doooo, do do do dooooooo, do do.” Oh just google it.<br /><br />After the finale, that title makes sense to me. Because that’s what the show was about. It was about people who must learn how to live in the face of death. The grim reaper was all over that Island. As Charlotte said, “This place <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> death.” Our castaways’ arrival was surrounded by death, as the plane crash killed off dozens and left others maimed and beaten. Soon after, Boone, Shannon, Ana Lucia, Libby, Eko unnamed red shirts and more fell off one by one. The castaways experienced death at a much higher clip than the average group of 70-some people do.<br /><br />In the face of that, they had to learn to live. As Jacob said, they were all flawed, scared, lonely individuals who hadn’t discovered how to live with purpose and make peace with their demons. We saw that develop over six seasons, with all the daddy issues, addictions, lies, etc. These people were not overtly evil, but they were certainly flawed in ways that we, as viewers, could identify with.<br /><br />And so, one major theme of LOST was forcing people to work under pressure. Put another way, they were forced to examine their life and its ups and downs against the backdrop of certain death. That’s what the Island provided them: a deadline, much in the same way that it’s light provides every man an eventual deadline. Being on the Island, closer to the source, merely accelerates that deadline, or threatens to. And as we all know, we learn a lot about ourselves when we work under pressure.<br /><br />Bottom line: they were forced to find what their purpose in life was. Only then could they move on.<br /><br />To aid in that discovery, the Island presented our characters with a plethora of philosophical constructs against which to examine themselves. Like the old nature vs. nurture debate. The show was rife with characters eschewing long-held beliefs in favor of more communally and personally beneficial ways of living. We saw Jack transition from science, to faith, to somewhere in between; and along the way, he ditched his addiction to “fixing” everything. We saw Sawyer learn the actual value of selflessness, after arriving on the Island as a selfish, scavenging hoarder. We saw flighty Kate learn to fight. The examples go on and on. But clearly, part of these people’s ability to grow was contingent on their ability to question the unquestionable and reexamine their own worldviews. Those who did moved on. Those who didn’t are still whispering in the jungle.<br /><br />Fate and free will was clearly another important concept. I’d say the show put forward the argument that reality requires both. They made that argument, oddly enough, by the use of time travel as a narrative device. As Daniel and Eloise explained, certain things are fated to happen (the universe has a way of course-correcting, etc.), but what people can change is the manner in which those things happen. To use another Faraday explanation, if life is an equation then the constants (fate) are just as important as the variables (man’s free will). But for our characters, what’s more important than the recognition of their fate is their ability to react to it correctly. Throughout the show, they each had to learn to make their own luck while always dealing with the hands they were dealt, simultaneously. For Hurley, that meant exuding positive vibes in the face of adversity. His fate was to land on the Island, but he used his free will to make the best of it and cheer up his friends. Similarly, Charlie was fated to crash in that plane; but he used his free will to overcome his addiction and learn to love (Claire). For Claire, again, it was her fate to crash on Oceanic 815; but she willed herself to make peace with motherhood and convince herself that she was worthy of Aaron. And that’s what I think LOST was trying to say about free will: that life’s not about what happens, it’s about how you deal with it. Plain and simple.<br /><br /><br />You know what? I could draw a myriad number of conclusions about what LOST was trying to say throughout this show. They certainly extended themselves to touch on every “life issue” they could cover in six years. I could sit here and write for days about what the show said about fate, free will, good, evil, nature, nurture, maternity, paternity, eternity, purpose, faith, science, religion and a host of other things.<br /><br />But the point of the show was not to make a declarative statement about each of those things. It was to develop a narrative in which they all work together. It was about what the creators always said it was about: the characters, and how they reconciled the contradictions and commonalities between all those over-arching themes in order to find their purpose and learn how to live in the face of death.<br /><br />And one thing to understand is that there isn’t a declarative statement on how all those things work together. Truthfully, it varies from person to person. The value comes in finding a balance between the dichotomies and appreciating how others operate within those same parameters.<br /><br />So that’s what I think the Island was about. Life.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Moving On</span><br />The alternate universe, however, was all about death, and making peace with it.<br /><br />Early in the season six premiere, “LA X,” Oceanic 815 hit some turbulence. Rose turned to Jack, whose knuckles were white as he clenched the arm rest, and said, “You can let go now.” At the time, we took her literally. In retrospect, we understand her deeper meaning. In fact, my little theory is that in that moment, we saw the genesis of Jack’s experience in the Alternate Afterlife. That’s when he died in real life.<br /><br />The Alternate Afterlife (AA) was all about moving on and letting go, just like Rose said. Understandably, Jack was the one who took the longest to let go. But Hurley, Desmond, Penny, Boone, Shannon, Rose, Bernard, Libby and all the others in that church that night had all made peace with who they were and what they were. They were ready to let go of their earthly life and move on somewhere new.<br /><br /> Do I think this is a Christian parable? No. I don’t think it’s aimed at explaining any certain religion actually. Rather, I think there’s a fairly secular element to the whole thing. What I got from the AA was that these people created this world as a reflection of what was most important to them: the relationships they formed during their ordeals on the Island.<br /><br /> The time that these folks spent on the Island was, as Christian said, the most important time of their lives. I mean, hands-down, no-contest. For all the reasons I explained earlier, for all the themes it explored, for all the ways it made them examine themselves and learn what their purpose was. And for the relationships that they formed in the process. Those relationships were an inevitable byproduct of the challenges the Island presented them, and the way they were formed and progressed made indelible impacts on each of the characters. Would Jack have been the same Jack without Locke? No. Would Hurley have been the same Hurley without Libby? No.<br /><br />So if the Island taught our characters that life is not about what happens, but rather how you react to it, then the AA taught our characters that of equal importance is the people you surround yourself with when whatever happens, happens. The AA was the place they created to meet up once their personal journeys had culminated, so that they could forever hold onto the relationships they had forged in the process.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The End</span><br />And that’s what I think the show was about. LOST used a mystical, magical Island to explore the way that people deal with deep philosophical and emotional issues in practice, and how the relationships they form along the way continue to shape them. They explored it in terms of living amidst the dying, and used astronomical conflict in order to expedite and highlight the struggles of that journey.<br /><br />No, it didn’t explain the trickier sci-fi elements or mystical happenings. But that’s the point. It’s about how people deal with the unexplainable and the difficult things that happen to them. As Carlton Cuse said in the preview special, the title LOST is not about people being lost on an Island, it’s about them being lost in themselves.<br /><br />And to me, that’s a much better story. If I had to choose between hearing about how people deal with deep philosophical questions or hearing about how time travel could possibly work, I’d pick the former over the latter, a hundred times in a row. I loved these characters, and I’ll bet you did, too. I’m not trying to be an apologist. There were things I didn’t love about the finale. But I’m glad they made it about the people, not the science. Because that’s something everyone can connect to and relate with. And I thought they did an excellent job.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Farewell</span><br />I believe this is my last post. I mean, good lord, I could write a lengthy post about each character and carry this thing through the summer. And I’ll be happy to address questions and whatever else in the comment section here.<br /><br />But I’m going to leave it where LOST did: I've given you my basic account of things and I'll let you all discuss and think about its specific outgrowths on your own. I think you’ll like it better that way. You wouldn’t want all the answers, would you?<br /><br />And so, just in case I don’t hop back on here to say hello, let me say this: thank you. I have so enjoyed writing this blog and examining this show with all of you every week for the past few years. I will most definitely miss it as a creative outlet, a place to connect and an intellectual test. You all have made the experience all that much richer, giving me someone to write these posts to. And I sincerely appreciate that. It’s been lovely working for you people, and thank you so much for all the kind words, encouragement and questions over the years.<br /><br />We made this thing on a whim, and it’s turned into something really cool and memorable for both Maggie and I. You’re why. Thanks friends.<br /><br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-18771534417180818682010-05-23T12:13:00.001-05:002010-05-23T12:14:28.846-05:00The EndOnly a handful of hours until the finale arrives, and a few more before it disappears. (Cliché alert:) I can’t believe it is here.<br /><br />I apologize I didn’t get this post up earlier…I blame the bright lights of Las Vegas. And let the record show that as I write this post, I am at about 35,000 feet above the Rocky Mountains, in seat 23 D (I wanted 23 C…) on Southwest flight 1045 from McCarran International to Omaha.<br /><br />Tonight is the night. Six years of our lives, book ended in a matter of hours. Rather than formally previewing tonight, I’m going to let it speak for itself. After you finish reading this short entry, I encourage you to shut off your computers, go pick up some snacks for tonight’s marathon event, and enjoy the episode for what it is.<br /><br />The episode title is “The End,” and the description from ABC Medianet is “The series finale.” There has been no released guest star list, no indication of what may or may not happen. And I love it.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">The Schedule (in CST – also known as “God’s Time”; please adjust for your time zone)</span></b><br />6:00 PM : 2 hour retrospective on the series<br />8:00 PM : 2.5 hour finale, “The End”<br />10:30 PM : Your local news (read below for info if you’re in the Lincoln area)<br />11:30 PM : Jimmy Kimmel’s “Aloha to Lost”<br /><br />I, too, am bummed that the local news will interrupt the momentum going into Jimmy Kimmel. However, I highly encourage you to not go to bed and power through until 11:30. Perhaps you could take a walk around your neighborhood to decompress? Maybe smoke a cigar in honor of the finale on your back porch? Maybe get on The Dharma Blog and provide your instant thoughts in the comment section? There are several options.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">…but if you’re in the Lincoln area</span></b><br />Have we got an exciting opportunity for you! Perhaps you heard about The Dharma Blog’s second brush with fame in the Lincoln Journal Star on Thursday? Well, we managed to get past the nerd filters at our local paper again for another article about the show, the finale, and our thoughts going into tonight. The local ABC affiliate, KLKN, called up Charlie on Thursday afternoon after seeing the article and asked if they could come film our finale watch party at Charlie’s house tonight. And in a moment of insanity, Charlie said yes. Welcome to local news on Sunday nights, folks - - it’ll be a riveting piece, I just know. So, if you’re in the Lincoln area and need a laugh to help get through the sadness you are feeling post-finale, switch to channel 8 and watch The Dharma Blog watch party kids make fools of themselves on local television.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">This week</span></b><br />Watch for a few posts this week from Charlie and me as we digest what just happened and provide some final, parting thoughts. After this week, The Dharma Blog will retire. We are going to miss it, too, but we can’t bring ourselves to start up another blog called “The Final Rose” or “Seattle Grace Unscripted” or “Mr. Schuester’s World”. <div><br /></div><div>We’re so appreciative of the encouragement and enthusiasm from everyone during this wild ride. Thank you for allowing us to nerd out with you a few times a week.<br /><br />Namaste, and enjoy tonight,<br />Maggie</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-73908237046276502742010-05-19T00:47:00.002-05:002010-05-19T00:49:56.264-05:00Everything in Concert<span style="font-weight: bold;">LOST Season Six. Episode 16. What They Died For. </span><br /><br />I needed that.<br /><br />After last week’s polarizing, ambiguous mythology exploration, I needed an episode that perfectly reset our characters’ situations and advanced the plot. In my opinion, “What They Died For,” delivered, equaling the accomplishments of other near-the-end-of-the-season episodes such as “?”, “Man Behind the Curtain,” “Greatest Hits,” and “The Variable.” No character was left untouched – from the all-encompassing alternate storyline to the Island-hopping reveals and murders. Multiple moving parts complemented each other instead of distracting from each other. Next to “Sundown,” this was my favorite offering of Season Six. It was everything I hoped Across the Sea was going to be, and it made me appreciate that episode a lot more.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">All Together Now</span><br /></div>Desmond resumed his role as puppet master in the alternate universe last night. Plain and simple. The dude was working all the angles, “orchestrating” the reunion necessary to his mission. Watching it, we were – at times – as much in the dark and unaware of Desmond’s intervention as the characters themselves. But that only made the revelation that he was in complete control all the more credible.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Siblings Shephard</span><br />Papa Jack, son David and Auntie Claire. All living in perfect harmony. Sitting down to a breakfast of Super Bran only to WAIT A MINUTE. “Super Bran.” That’s got to be an anagram, right? S-U-P-E-R B-R-A-N becomes…”Spear Burn!” Yes, Spear Burn! It has to mean something right?! Right? Hello…<br /><br />Okay fine. They’re just bran flakes. Good to see the Shephards staying regular. And good to get the nugget that little David is set to perform at a concert that evening, where Jack, Claire and David’s mom will be in attendance. I was hoping we’d learn who David’s mom was last night, but in light of the awesomeness of the episode as a whole, I’ll let it slide. But it’s probably Nikki.<br /><br />The important thing: those three are heading to the concert, and they’re not the only ones. But what was with Desmond calling Jack, pretending to be an Oceanic Airlines employee and claiming that they had found his dad’s coffin? If Jack’s headed to the concert anyway, what does Desmond need to pull that string for? I don’t know, but don’t forget about it. I get the feeling that Jack’s mission isn’t going to be as simple as showing up to hear David tickle the ivories. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Great Escape</span><br />Desmond further manipulated the mainland with his brilliant prison break of Kate and Sayid. I loved this. There’s not much to analyze here, it was just a sweet move by my hetero-man-crush Desmond. The old pose-as-the-prisoner gag, complete with a Hugo Reyes bailout, a payoff of Officer Ana Lucia Cortez (who “isn’t ready yet” for spiritual alternate reality awakening) and a dress that I’m pretty sure Kate will look phenomenal in. Because Kate is hot.<br /><br />Most importantly: they, too, are on their way to the concert.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Teachers Lounge</span><br />Working the longest substitution gig ever, Locke goes back to school to resume work. But waiting in the parking lot is his assailant, Desmond Hume. Before Desmond can put the pedal to the mettle (pun alert!), he’s intercepted by Mr. – excuse me, Doctor – Linus. Desmond proceeds to beat the hell out of Ben, the same way he did when Ben visited and shot him at his houseboat during the Oceanic Six ordeal. In fact, so keen was the parallel between those two scenes that a few blows to the head woke Ben Linus up, and he saw glimpses of that life in the same way that Hurley, Charlie and Desmond had before him.<br /><br />Of more importance was Desmond’s explanation of his attempted Locke-acide. He told Ben he was trying to help John “let go,” and when Ben communicated that to John, it resonated soundly. If the parking lot rundown and the hospital run-in didn’t awaken John Locke to the existence of his alternate self, this short conversation with Ben did.<br /><br />Side note: Good to see Rousseau and Alex again. I have nothing to say about that. It was a nice aside, and good to see the kind of parent Danielle Rousseau could be, given the chance to be one in more normal circumstances. That is all.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bedside Manor</span><br />Freshly awoken, Locke decided to pay a third visit to Dr. Shephard. Here we saw that Mr. Locke wasn’t just awoken to the possibility of his alternate self, but also to the the reincarnation of his Island-born faith. The scene was laden with heavy remixes of some of LOST’s most storied dialogue. “But what if all this – maybe this is happening for a reason,” John Locke said of his chance encounters with Jack and other Oceanic 815 passengers – echoing his sentiments about his chance crash landing with Jack and the original Oceanic 815 passengers. “I think you’re mistaking coincidence for fate,” Jack said about Locke’s newfound faith, spinning Mr. Eko’s Season Two warning about the importance of the hatch.<br /><br />It was glorious, really, the way this episode came full circle to an alternate reality conversation in which whatever was said, was said. Just like certain events cannot be avoided by messing with time and space, apparently certain truths are meant to be delivered to our characters by very particular, precise, pointed dialogue. And that conversation with Jack and Locke last night was the universe’s way of course correcting their conflict, setting them back up as strong personalities on ambiguous and ever-changing sides of the debate over faith versus reason.<br /><br />In another plotline that seems to complicate Jack’s alternate reality mission, Locke agrees to do the surgery. Again I wonder, if they’re all headed to The Desmond Hume Philharmonic Orchestra, then what’s important about Locke agreeing to do surgery or Jack thinking his father’s coffin has turned up at LAX? Questions for Sunday night, I suppose…<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Drama Initiative</span><br /></div>We finally caught back up with Ben, Miles and Richard last night, as the unholy triumvirate made their way back to Dharmaville to procure some C4, in order to blow up the plane. Spoiler alert, fellas, Widmore beat you to both the plane and the Dharma cabin. I really liked Ben’s quick aside that he was going to the place “where I was told I could summon the monster. That’s before I realized, it was the one summoning me.” I’ve been harboring this feeling that Ben – whether he knew it or not – was following Smokey all those years, instead of his beloved Jacob. This line seemed to confirm that. And perhaps it speaks to the perils of unwavering, unquestioning faith. For five seasons, we watched Ben blindly execute the will of what he believed to be Jacob. All it got him was a massive purge of the Dharma Initiative, the death of his own daughter and the demise of the Island’s inhabitants. Last night, Ben seemed to acknowledge the fallacy of his loyalty, and its very real consequences.<br /><br />That acknowledgement was reaffirmed when the trio traversed some hallowed ground, where Miles’ sixth sense needle went off the page. Turns out, they were walking over the spot where Richard had done Ben the favor of burying Alex. Maybe he did it so Smokey couldn’t assume her corpse and use it to manipulate Ben. But we all saw how that turned out last season in The Temple, when Alex’s ghost persuaded Ben to follow Flocke into the dark. This moment and the acknowledgement of Smokey’s power before it would prove to be Ben’s motivations for the remainder of his episode. He laid out what might be last bargaining chips and asked Smokey to call. But Smokey raised.<br /><br />Widmore – squatting with Zoe in Ben’s old home – intriguingly alluded to an off-Island encounter with Jacob, who he claimed showed him the error of his ways and put him on his current path. If Ben was looking for one final reason to let go of his faith in Jacob, he got it when his arch-nemesis claimed to be acting on Jacob’s orders. If there’s one thing Ben knows at this point, it’s that whatever side Charles Widmore is on, he’s on the opposite. So if Widmore is acting on Jacob’s directive, then Jacob’s nemesis is right. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.<br /><br />And who should come rowing ashore to expedite the conflict? Flocke! Widmore and Zoe hide to protect themselves and their Jacobian motives, embedding themselves deep in the home of Jacob’s former acolyte to draw a physical parallel to their usurping of Ben’s position as Jacob’s right hand man. But Ben doesn’t care. He and Richard are off to the front yard to confront Flocke once and for all. I thought Richard’s death – considering it took hundreds of years to accomplish – was rather unceremonious. But hey, if Frank Lapidus doesn’t get an epic death, then neither do you, eyeliner boy!<br /><br />Besides, Flocke couldn’t be bothered to draw out Richard Alpert’s death. He had an apprentice to mold. Ben, waiting like a dog on the front porch for his master, agrees to a deal with Flocke: he’ll help him leave the Island by killing some people in exchange for carte blanche Island dominance.<br /><br />Ben served Flocke much in the way that Sayid served Ben, as an emotionless empty vessel assassin. The first name on his list was Charles Widmore (well technically Zoe was first, but as Flocke said, she was “pointless”). Flocke and Widmore engage in a tete a tete, with Flocke threatening to kill Penny before giving Widmore a chance to explain his mission. Before Charles can get into specifics, Ben draws on the recently remembered painful memory of what Charles’ men did to his daughter, and then pumps Widmore’s chest full of lead from the entry of his once-sacred secret room. “He doesn’t get to save his daughter,” Ben said mercilessly.<br /><br />I loved it. Ben’s aimless search for purpose has been the driving force of his character, so his directionless mood in Season Six has seemed unfulfilling. But now, he has a purpose again. And even though that purpose serves bad intentions, it’s a purpose nonetheless. For Ben, an evil purpose is better than no purpose at all. We first learned that when he purged the Dharma Initiative. And we had it confirmed last night, as he turned to Flocke and said coldly, “Did you say there were some other people to kill?”<br /><br />Finally, Ben and Flocke venture to the well, where they see that Desmond has been freed. It might not be important, but I don’t think Sayid freed him. Sayid seemed to be telling the truth when he told Jack, two weeks ago, that Desmond was in that well. So who freed him? You guessed it, Vincent the dog. Okay, I don’t know who got him out of that well. Perhaps Sting dug him out. If you get that reference, we should hang.<br /><br />Regardless, I loved the measured reintroductions of Ben and Miles and the resolutions of Richard, Zoe and Charles Widmore. It was the tying up of loose ends, but it was done purposefully, with Ben being redeemed with a new sinister purpose and Richard and Charles being murdered once their usefulness had run out. Put another way, the Island was done with Richard and Charles. It’s not done with Ben Linus quite yet.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Once and Future King</span><br /></div>The four castaways who found themselves on Jacob’s list at the end of Season Two (Hey! Remember when Michael had that list? Turns out the Others kind of knew what they were doing!) continued to mourn the death of their friends on the beach. But Jack wasn’t going to let them wallow in it for long. To quote his father, they had “work to do.” In Jack’s view, that meant it was time to exact revenge on Flocke for killing his friends. Quickly though, I liked how Jack was sewing up Kate’s wound on the beach. It was a nice skewed mirror version of the Pilot episode, in which Kate stitched up Jack in the jungle. I also liked how Jack made the very Jacobian move of using fresh pain to motivate action. Sawyer, Kate and Hurley followed Jack like it was Season One all over again, as he tactfully utilized the deaths of Jin, Sun and Sayid to move them toward a greater purpose. It was a nice foreshadowing of Jack’s later transformation into the new Jacob.<br /><br />The most important breakthrough of the night, in this story arc, was that Jacob could be seen and heard by Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Hurley, for one, seemed happy to be relieved of his role as interpreter. Likewise, we as the audience had to feel some sense of relief that the communications barriers were coming down, and answers were about to be given. As Jacob said, “We’re very close to the end, Hugo.” And because Hurley acts as the audience’s surrogate, we could safely (and correctly) assume that Jacob was reassuring the audience that resolution was within reach.<br /><br />Jacob unloaded answers on four castaways who were all ears, promising to explain to them what their friends had died for and why they had all been chosen. But Jacob was interested in more than debriefing his candidates. “Then I’ll tell you everything you need to know about protecting this Island, because by the time that fire burns out, one of you is going to have to start doing it,” he said, inviting them into the gnarliest group job interview ever.<br /><br />Jacob explains that he made a mistake when he threw his brother into the light, and that the error of creating Smokey was the impetus for his recruitment of our castaways. He knew immediately that his brother would seek revenge on him for separating him from his corporeal self (a fate “worse than death” as we learned last week), and he needed the candidates in place to take over in case his brother ever succeeded.<br /><br />Why them, though? “None of you were (‘doing just fine’). I didn’t pluck any of you out of a happy existence. You were all flawed. I chose you because you were like me, you were all alone. You were all looking for something that you couldn’t find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you.” If ever a single line of dialogue has synthesized more in this series, I haven’t heard it. That line from Jacob was perfect. It was addressed as much to us as it was to Jack and his friends. And it reaffirmed the notion of the Island as a kind of Purgatory without making that direct biblical parallel. Jacob sought souls in need of saving, but with potential for triumph. He looked for those whose loneliness led to a quest for purpose, which would explain why John Locke’s soul was always considered particularly special. Hell, he even threw us a bone and explained that Kate was only crossed out because she was a mother, but that the job was hers for the taking. Thanks Jacob!<br /><br />Jacob ultimately sells the job by giving the candidates the one thing he never had: choice. Here, we might’ve just gotten the best explanation of Jacob’s modus operandi that we’ll get. The reason he believed so strongly in man’s ability to choose was because he wanted to give them what he was never granted. He believes that man is capable and worthy and deserving of free will, and that given it, they can achieve anything – including protecting The Island and all mankind from the forces of evil. That’s an optimist for you.<br /><br />So how do you do this job that Jacob has described? Why you just have to kill a walking corpse who’s impervious to bullets and cannot be killed once he’s spoken to you and has been plotting this fight for thousands (?) of years while carefully manipulating all the variables in his favor. And he also just recruited the Island’s preeminent carpetbagger wunderkind to help him out.<br /><br />It’s a tall order, but Jack Ignatius Shephard is up to the task. Okay, I made up Ignatius. But in a move that surprised nobody, the “god complex”-afflicted good doctor finally got the patient he’d been waiting for his entire life: the human race. Jack drew on a combination of his newfound faith and his long-held pragmatism, reasoning that he was best-suited to protect the Island while simultaneously avowing that, “This is why I’m here, this is what I’m supposed to do.” It was a long overdue marriage of faith and science in my opinion. Scientifically, logically, Jack was the best choice to take over the Island. His natural-born protection instinct is a perfect asset. But mystically, faithfully, he’s also the perfect choice, as he truly believes that it’s his ultimate purpose. Not a means to an end, not a stop on the journey, but the destination. Finally, we saw Jack do what so many characters have not been able to – abandon extremes in favor of a middle ground that can yield actual results. People of the Island, rejoice!<br /><br />Jacob consecrates Jack’s decision by blessing water from the stream, having Jack drink it and declaring – in the same way his own mother did to him eons ago – “Now you’re like me.”<br /><br />Water, water everywhere. And finally, it was time for Jack to take a drink. I loved this scene for a lot of reasons, but here’s my main one: in Season One, Jack hiked into the jungle in search of water when he realized that the bottled supply on the beach was not sustainable. He found his answer in the caves, where stream water provided a constant cycle of refreshment and sustenance for the people he was tasked with saving. Last night, that same stream water was given to him to grant eternal life, with the intent that he use its power to continue to save his people and people everywhere by protecting the Island and its light from the smoke monster and its evil. Jack thus completes the circuit from once-king of a small fledgling empire of castaways to future king of all mankind. It’s the reincarnation of Jack’s fix-it mentality, retooled and refocused for a much broader, more important purpose. Meet the new Jacob.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Next Stage</span><br /></div>“What They Died For,” was fittingly all about setting stages, both figurative and literal. On the Island, the stage was set by the final alignment of our characters toward Good (led by Jack, with Hurley, Kate, Sawyer and Desmond following) and Evil (led by Flocke, with loyal Ben Linus at his disposal). Off the Island, a stage is literally being set for a piano concert starring the son of Jack Shephard and attended by the fate-stricken passengers of Oceanic 815.<br /><br />But for a set-up episode, this one delivered more than enough punch for me. I dug the closure on Widmore and Richard, I dug the development of Ben’s final mission as Flocke’s accomplice in exchange for Island dominance, I dug Jack’s inevitable acceptance of the role of Island Protector.<br /><br />And I think if you were one of those people who worried about LOST’s ability to bring closure after last week’s episode, you were probably converted to a Viewer of Faith last night. LOST proved it could deliver answers without beating us over the head with it and still deliver an enthralling character-driven episode.<br /><br />That’s why, instead of trying to predict how to tonight’s happenings will play into the end game, I’ll leave this as an analysis of a stand-alone episode. An episode with messages about the perils and rewards of faith, the fine line between coincidence and fate, and the very LOSTian worldview that whatever happens, happens. As players on the board, all we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride. That’s what I plan to do until Sunday, when we get to sit back up and enjoy one last offering of the greatest story ever told.<br /><br />Namaste.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-9051182098576905902010-05-17T21:59:00.003-05:002010-05-17T22:14:39.285-05:00Penultimate.There are three and a half hours left in the story of Lost.<br /><br />Gone are the days of pushing a button in the Swan Hatch, finding fresh water to stay alive, burying the bodies of survivors past, wondering whether or not Mr. Friendly was the leader of a renegade sect living in the jungle, and arguing about Richard’s alleged eye liner. We have reached a point of no return, and are faced with the reality of time: three and a half hours until the final fade to black scene.<br /><br />I have spent a lot of time thinking about this inevitable week, wondering how I’d be feeling, how much we would ‘know,’ and curious about whether or not we’d be able to see what was coming. Truth be told, a lot of people are fairly cynical about how many mysteries are still out there and how much time is left, claiming there is no way everything could be answered and tied up by Sunday night.<br /><br />The truth? I think those people are right. It simply won’t happen. <div><br /></div><div>And I think this is how the producers want it. I have moved past the “I need answers and I need them now” stage and accepted the fact that the ending of Lost is very likely to have some closure, but a lot of ambiguity, too. I believe the ending will mean different things to different people, and that the producers are going to leave questions out there so the conversation continues. So the story continues. And so Lost continues.<br /><br />Which, I’d like to point out is fairly ironic, seeing as the Dharma Blog arose out of a need Charlie and I noticed to have a central place to talk through this show. To discuss. To theorize. To research. To process. I believed (clearly naively) that if enough people got together and talked about this whole story, we might be able to figure it out…or come pretty darn close to it.<br /><br />And now, I’m realizing that it might not be figure out-able. It might not be concrete.<br /><br />And because of that, the story of Lost might never end.<br /><br />Who knows: when Charlie and I are celebrating our 50th Class Reunion (go Knights), we might still be arguing about whether Locke or Mr. Eko was right to not push the button in the season two finale…about whether Sawyer’s character came full circle or was left unfortunately abbreviated…about whether Jack was ever able to really forgive himself for what happened to his father…about whether or not Man in Black was the victim of circumstance and not purely evil...and about who the hottest female character really was (nevermind…only Charlie will want to talk about that).<br /><br />By providing an ending that is not concrete and open to interpretation, I truly believe the producers have given us a wonderful gift: Lost will still be ‘our show’ after the series finale. It will be our show, our theories, our bizarre knowledge of the time-space continuum and electromagnetism, and our memories of a great six seasons of television. The best show there ever was.<br /><br />And so, folks, it’s time to prepare for the final journey. Following tonight’s episode, we have a mere 5 days to process and prepare for Sunday. And Sunday will come to fast, and Sunday will leave too soon. Monday morning will arrive. We will walk into work/school, bleary-eyed for the last time, and head to the Dharma Blog. We’ll shake our heads no if our boss asks if we want to talk about it (and secretly want to say “Yes, please, I need to talk about it!”) We’ll probably go to Chipotle, which is an ideal place for comfort food and a guaranteed food coma to numb the pain…<br /><br />And so will begin the next chapter of Lost…a chapter of our lives defined by our own understanding of what happened, things both seen and unseen. We’ll continue to live it. It will still be our show.<br /><br />Call it a loophole.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Where we left off…</span></b><br />Prior to the Jacob / Flocke flashback of last week, we were at a pretty hard-core point in the storyline. As you’ll recall, the episode prior had a small catastrophe/tragedy with the explosion of the submarine and subsequent deaths of Sayid, Sun, and Jin. (And for all of you who are saying to yourselves “How do we know they are dead????”, I have no proof or reason or evidence to answer your question. I just think they’re dead. Their stories had come to a close. Hate me, but that’s what I think.) There is inconclusive evidence about Frank, but I’m leaning more towards the “he’s dead, too” column than not. That being said, I’ll probably roll my eyes and nod in agreement when/if he emerges to save the day and fly the Ajira jet off the island.<br /><br />Moving on.<br /><br />So the submarine exploded and killed three main original characters. Shocker! But right before the explosion, Sayid shared highly important and valuable intel with Jack about Desmond. Remember? “Listen carefully. There’s a well on the main island a half mile south from where we were just left. Desmond is inside it. Locke wants him dead, which means you are going to need him. Do you understand me? … Because it’s going to be you, Jack.” Then, <b>BOOM</b>.<br /><br />Post underwater explosion, Jack, Hurley, Kate, and passed-out Sawyer washed up on the beach (to be determined if they are on Hydra beach or main island beach…I vote main island…), exhausted and overwhelmed. A highly emotional scene followed where the information was shared about the fate of their friends. Tears were shed, both on screen and off screen (at Charlie’s house in particular…). Let’s face it: that scene was a doozy.<br /><br />Meanwhile, back on the dock, Flocke and Claire watched for the reemergence of the submarine. When it didn’t happen, Flocke seemed to be both angry and a little nervous when he said “It sank” to Claire. Claire asked if that meant everyone was dead. Flocke responded “Not everyone.” As he walked away, Claire asked where he was going. Flocke responded “To finish what I started.”<br /><br />L O S T<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">So where do we go from here?</span></b><br />Tonight’s episode is called “What They Died For.”<br /><br />Can I get an AMEN?<br /><br />In the context of “The Candidate,” the obvious ‘they’ reference is the trio of Sayid, Jin and Sun. Yet, in the broader context of the show (and the mere 3.5 hours remaining), perhaps the episode title is referring to all of the individuals who have died since the Marshal’s death on day 1? What <b>did</b> everyone die for?<br /><br />Now that’s an interesting question.<br /><br />Some of the survivors seemed to have purpose in their death. Best example of this would be Charlie. Charlie’s death was preceded by his selfless act of opening up communication with Penny, finding out it was “Not Penny’s Boat”, sharing that with Desmond, leading to contact with the freighter, leading to getting off the island, leading to returning to the island, leading to the loophole, etc. It was absolutely for the greater good.<br /><br />But what about all of the innocent people who died on Oceanic 815 to get the ‘candidates’ to the island? What did <b>THEY</b> die for?<br /><br />With all of the death during the last six seasons, I’m hoping justification comes in the form of the end game of Lost somehow involving SAVING THE WORLD. Otherwise, I’m not sure if it has been worth all of the loss. If the show proves that man is innately good? Meh. If it proves that redemption is possible? Bah. If it proves the island is the Fountain of Youth? The Source of all Life? (Yawn.) Nope, saving the world. S a v i n g t h e w o r l d. If that is what they died for, I’ll carry the torch of Lost to my grave.<br /><br />But back to tonight. Jack is going to figure out (with Desmond’s help) how to stop Flocke (and save the world?). They will make the choice tonight to follow through on whatever that task is (perhaps sacrifice and death?). And if they succeed, they will save the world. And I will be happy.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Disclaimer!</span></b><br />As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Guest Stars</span></b><br />Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia, Mira Furlan as Danielle Rousseau, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Tania Raymonde as Alex, Mark Pellegrino as Jacob, Dylan Minnette as David, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Kenton Duty as Teenage Boy, Wendy Pearson as Nurse Kondracki, Ashlee Kyker as Student, Ernesto Lopez as LAPD Cop.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Maggie Says</span></b><br />Making their final curtain call, we have Ana Lucia and Danielle. It seems logical, as this season has provided opportunities for characters-gone-by to bid a parting adieu. Watch for Ana Lu Lu to pop up in a Sawyer-the-cop scene in the alternate timeline. With Danielle, I’m wondering if she still is Alex’s Mom in the alternate world?<br /><br />We have both Jacob and Young Jacob (or as the press release says, “teenage boy”) this week. Interesting and confusing. I wonder when the action will take place on-island this week.<br /><br />The rest of the list seems to point to the alternate timeline plot moving forward. Jack’s son David is back (will his Mother be revealed??). Alex is back, which means we might get a little more Ben in the alt-world.<br /><br />Finally, there’s Dirty Tina Fey (Zoe) and Widmore. Thanks for showing up, guys. Where were you when the submarine exploded and everyone died???<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Episode Guide Says</span></b><br /><i>While Locke devises a new strategy, Jack’s group searches for Desmond.</i><br /><br />Interesting that Flocke needs a new strategy. Leads me to believe his old one wasn’t working. So, despite 1,000’s of years of planning, Flocke is thinking on his feet and improvising. Hmm. And will Claire be at his side? The second half of the description is where the action is going to be…and is the scene I have been looking forward to: Jack’s reunion with Desmond. There’s lots of information and intel to be transferred in those coming moments, so prepare for another onslaught of knowledge (What is Desmond’s deal? How does he know what he knows? Why is he so ZEN right now?) from these two.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Parting thoughts</span></b><br />Stop worrying. Start enjoying.<br /><br />It’s always a pleasure, folks.<br /><br />Namaste,<br />Maggie</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-27530909934878105492010-05-12T00:22:00.003-05:002010-05-12T10:16:56.853-05:00One Crazy Mother<span style="font-weight: bold;">LOST. Season Six. Episode Fifteen. Across The Sea.</span><br /><br />If, six years ago, you would’ve showed me five minutes of this episode, I wouldn’t have believed it was LOST. But in a show that can only end once (and is about to), Across The Sea was progress.<br /><br />We learned that Jacob and MIB were brothers (and…and twins!), that their centuries-old battle was based on free will and the concept of belonging and – in the worst Mother’s Day tribute of any show ever – that their adoptive mother was out of her damn mind, though possibly well-intentioned.<br /><br />I’m going to tackle this a little differently. First, I’m going to recap the action in play-by-play style with some minimal side-analyses. Because this episode was so thick, I want to make sure I’m on the same page as all of you. Then, I’ll get into an analysis of what those events might tell us about the grander story of LOST. Here we go.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WHATEVER HAPPENED</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Showcase Showdown</span><br />Remember that Hole in One game on Price is Right, where the contestant would have to putt? But if they missed, they learned that they had another chance because the game was actually called…wait for it… Hole in TWO!<br /><br />That’s kind of what happened to shipwrecked Claudia, who both arrived in and was a vessel. She was also pretty trustworthy, allowing that mysterious woman who rescued her to get all up in her business when her water broke. Bad move. Because after Claudia popped out two babies for the price of one, that mysterious woman swaddled one in white cloth (Jacob) and one in black (unnamed. Damn!). Then, she straight up killed that mother.<br /><br />Quick tidbit: I liked the parallel in this scene – intended or not – of this woman serving as midwife to Claudia much in the way Kate did to Claire. And it continued, in a sense, in that the midwife ended up raising the child(ren) while the biological mother was left behind (or killed).<br /><br />Also, I know it’s a TV show. But damn. Child birth looks effing hard. Thanks for taking the bullet on that one, ladies.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Rules Change…!</span><br />Jacob and his brother like to play games. When MIB finds one washed up on the shore, he invites Jacob to play. He makes up the rules, manipulating the game to his advantage and greedily hoarding it from his mother, lest she “take the game away.” Later, he cryptically tells Jacob, “One day, you can make up your own game and everyone else will have to follow your rules.” More on that in the analysis section.<br /><br />Later, in what would constitute a more significant rule change in a much more significant game, the boys’ “Mother” reveals to MIB that she has imbued them both with something that will cause them to never have to worry about dying. Also, they can never hurt each other. As we learned later, that might not have been entirely true. But what definitely was a lie was Mother telling MIB that, “there is nowhere else. The Island is all there is.”<br /><br />This was a mistake. One that Mother could not have known she was making, but that would shape our three characters’ lives. When a kid that age finds out he’s been lied to his entire life by the only adult authority figure in his life, the consequences are bad. And as we saw, as soon as MIB got an opportunity to act on that resentment, things got ugly.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">It’s The Light That’s Breaking</span><br />When the boys come across jungle men killing a boar, they get curious and ask “Mother.” By that point, she can’t lie anymore. She tells them that those men are bad, that they’re not like them, and they don’t belong here.<br /><br />Out of escape hatches, Mother breaks down and takes them to what she calls “the reason” for their existence. She blindfolds them, making them look like Teenage Mutant Ninja Others, and explains about the men: “They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt and it always ends the same.” That sentiment would be echoed verbatim, centuries later, by Smokey. Which makes sense, because didn’t you all get the impression that MIB was a lot more like his mother than Jacob was? Jacob almost seemed to resent them, transforming into a black sheep before becoming the only option to succeed his mother.<br /><br />But learned mother-child relations were not the point of this journey. A small cave glowing with eternal light was. The boys’ Mother explained to them that they must ensure that nobody ever finds this bright, warm light. That this light was present inside every man, but man’s inherent greed always causes him to want more, which could cause them to douse the light and end it. “If the light goes out, it goes out everywhere,” she says. And then tells the boys that one of them will be selected to protect it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Homeward Bound</span><br />During afternoon game time, MIB is drawn away by the ghost of his mother, who he chases through the jungle. She reveals to him her camp of people, and that they had come from across the sea. She also tells MIB that she’s his mother.<br /><br />That’s a pretty loaded pill for a teenager to swallow. And it didn’t go down smooth for the MIB. This conversation planted anger, cynicism and a longing to go home in the Man in Black. Ghost Claudia shattered his ignorant bliss and opened his eyes to a reality and a sense of belonging that he didn’t know could possibly exist. Suddenly, he longs to be born again into this “real world.” He wants to know where he came from. And most importantly, he’s finally able to define and pinpoint the detachment and lack of belonging he’s felt his entire life.<br /><br />Actually, this scene was tragic. Poor kid. To have the rug yanked out from under your world like that.<br /><br />As we would see though, different people handle a situation differently. MIB chose to run. Jacob chose to stay the course, for better or worse. And that choice would have serious consequences.<br /><br />When MIB tried to get Jacob to join him, claiming that their Mother had lied, that these were their people, and that their Mother didn’t really love them, Jacob attacked MIB. It was here that the schism was formed, where these two twins chose to react in very different ways to the possibility of their origins. To MIB, the tribe of people represented potential belonging, comfort and home. But Jacob claimed this Island was his home. Essentially, he may or may not have believed his brother. But he didn’t care. Home was what he had made it: a nice cave where he could weave tapestries with mother and live out that existence in pursuit of “the light” he was shown. That’s Jacob “normal,” by this point. But it’s not his brother’s.<br /><br />The disagreement between MIB and Jacob regarding the nature of home, family, belonging and purpose became – and remains – the heart of their conflict. It was really cool to see its genesis last night.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Family Reunion</span><br />30 years later, MIB is entrenched with this tribe, searching for family and a way off the Island. Jacob is living in his mother’s basement. But neither man is completely content.<br /><br />When Jacob goes to visit, MIB confirms what Mother had said about man. That they’re indeed bad, that they’re, “Greedy, manipulative, untrustworthy and selfish,” and that Jacob only can’t see that because he merely observes them from on high. This fundamental disagreement is also, obviously, at the heart of the twins and their battle.<br /><br />But never mind them. They’re “a means to an end,” says MIB, who proceeds to explain to Jacob that he’s leaving the Island to find his real home. When Jacob relays that to Mother like the blindly faithful servant he is, it sets in motion a series of events that serves what we now see between these two men.<br /><br />Mother, dismayed that MIB could have found an actual way off the Island, goes to confront him. He explains to her the donkey wheel, how it harnesses water and light, and that when he turns it, he’ll be able to leave. He even turns her words against her, citing her description of him as “special” as proof that his plan will work.<br /><br />Fed up and out of options, Mother snaps. She knocks her bad twin out, drags him to the surface, crushes the well and proceeds to burn down the village and kill its “very smart” people.<br /><br />This act, more than any other, set in stone which son would be on which side of the pending war. MIB’s angst was solidified, and Jacob moved from second string Island protector to the varsity squad.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Backup Plan<br /></span>When Jacob, now an adult, asks his mother what’s in the cave, she replies, “Life, death, rebirth. It’s the source, the heart, of The Island. Just promise me, no matter what you do, you won’t ever go down there.” Why? “It’d be worse than dying, Jacob. Much worse.”<br /><br />Believing himself to be his Mother’s back-up plan, Jacob discusses the role of protecting the Island. “My time is over,” claims the Mother, who continues, “It was always supposed to be you Jacob. I see that now and one day you’ll see it, too. But until then, you don’t really have a choice…Now, you and I are the same.”<br /><br />With that, the torch was passed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Best Served Cold</span><br />After awakening to find his well destroyed and his people killed, MIB goes medieval. He storms up to the cave, and before letting her speak, pierces his adoptive mother through the back with that damned dagger. When he asks why she wouldn’t let him leave, she replies that it’s because she loves him, before thanking him for killing her. If you can explain why she’d think that, please have at it in the comments section.<br /><br />But the revenge wasn’t over. Jacob returns, beats the hell out of his brother just like he did when they were teenagers, then drags him down to the river.<br /><br />Fully enraged, Jacob is willing to subject his own brother to a fate that his mother called “worse than dying.” He knocks him out cold and sends him down the river. Seconds later, the Smoke Monster emerges for what I assume is the first time ever. Jacob runs from it, then finds his brother’s body in the creek. He takes it back to the caves, and sets it next to his mother’s, placing the black and white stones from the game next to them and creating the Adam & Eve that Jack and Kate found in Season One.<br /><br />And…. L O S T.<br /><br />So what the hell was all that about? I’ll try.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">TOTAL EXPLANATION OF EVERYTHING EVER.</span><br /></div>Okay not everything. Here's a stab though.<br /><br />Let’s just start with free will. Last night we saw the characters faced with all kinds of opportunities to make life-altering choices – and more importantly, we saw what happened when they weren’t given choices.<br /><br />Jacob was given a choice on whether or not to play the game with his brother. MIB created for himself the choice to live with the people on the other side of the Island. And they both chose how they would react to the various hands they were dealt.<br /><br />But those choices had consequences. Jacob stayed with his mother and basically gave up on any chance of ever leaving the Island and experiencing his real home. MIB was forced to deal with the reality of man’s corruptibility and burdened with the feeling of never being “home.”<br /><br />That’s the root of what fragmented these two brothers, who now use the Island as their playground for that debate. But what grows from those roots are some pretty fascinating arguments.<br /><br />Last night, the concept of choice – or free will, put another way – was explored by the two men as they tried to discover how they felt about human nature. Both boys were initially told that man was inherently bad, but they took different paths to discover it for themselves. MIB didn’t believe his mother, but instead wanted to believe that the people were good, and that following them would lead to his enlightenment and acceptance into a “real home.” So he chose to entrench himself with mankind. Jacob believed his mother, initially choosing to stay with her and observe mankind from on high.<br /><br />What both men learned, through their choices, was the ability to change their mind. MIB eventually called his men “Greedy, manipulative, untrustworthy and selfish,” while Jacob seemed to disagree. But most importantly, they got to choose those opinions for themselves.<br /><br />And those things – taken with the whole concept of finding home and family – are what were revealed to lie at the heart of Jacob and MIB’s end game.<br /><br />It would appear that the game is indeed about MIB getting off the Island and learning what lies across the sea. We knew that.<br /><br />What we learned last night is that the reason MIB can’t just up and leave the Island is because his physical body is no more, which would explain why he said a few weeks ago that Jacob had “stolen” his body away from him.<br /><br />So last night, when we saw the origin of Smokey, what did that tell us? I kind of took it to mean that the “fate worse than death” was to have one’s soul separated from one’s body. The Smoke represents MIB’s dark, troubled, cloudy, destructive soul. But his physical body is the one lying dead in the cave next to his mother’s.<br /><br />So how does that tie in with the free will stuff?<br /><br />The Mother said that the light existed in every man, but that if man gets greedy and tries to get more of the light, then the light will go out everywhere. It would appear then, that the very existence of man can be threatened by man’s own corruptibility. So if Jacob is right, and man is inherently good, then the light is protected. If MIB is right, and man is inherently bad, then the light is always at risk. The difference, really, is that Jacob believes the light can always be protected, while MIB sees its exploitation and expiration as inevitable.<br /><br />When some characters have talked about the world “ceasing to exist,” I wonder if this if what they meant. Think about it. If the “life force”/light in all of is extinguished, then we all cease to exist, right?<br /><br />So if Smokey’s escape would cause the world to cease to exist, then I might infer that Smokey’s escape is predicated on his possession of or knowledge about the light. What if Smokey’s escape involves removing all the obstructions (Candidates) so that he can harness the Island’s light? As we saw last night, he believes that harnessing that light will allow him to leave the Island – that’s why he built the Donkey Wheel. So maybe he’s just trying to get rid of all the Candidates so that he can selfishly, greedily exploit the light and deliver himself to his “home.”<br /><br />Eh?<br /><br />The one big roadblock on that plan: Desmond. He’s stuck in a well, which we know is built upon that same kind of “light” or “energy” or “electromagnetism” that Smokey wants to harness. And we know that Desmond was being tested by Widmore to withstand a massive jolt of such energy. So what if Desmond’s job is to somehow prevent or diffuse Smokey’s access to and exploitation of the light, so as to save everyone in the world?<br /><br />In doing so, we have to consider our other characters. Is there survival from the Island and Desmond & Smokey’s Great Electromagnetic Storm dependent on their ability to “wake up” to their alternate realities?<br /><br />And if one of them (my money’s on Jack) is selected to replace Jacob, they won’t have MIB to contend with any more. But as the Mother said last night, man’s greed will always be a threat to the light. The protector will always have something to protect against, which would seem to ironically support MIB’s position that man is inherently evil.<br /><br />It is a wonder I don’t do drugs.<br /><br /> Okay, that’s what I’m going with, for tonight anyway. But honestly, this has been a really hard review to write. I’d love to know what you think. Thanks for the comments, keep ‘em coming.<br /><br />Namate.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-3036622384953453982010-05-10T21:39:00.004-05:002010-05-10T21:56:14.816-05:00Beyond the Clouds.With only 4.5 hours left of Lost, we’ve arrived at the episode many have been waiting for since the finale of season 5. Since early in season 6, there have been rumblings of the nature of tonight’s episode, “Across the Sea.” Michael Emerson (Ben) has gone so far as saying the episode is “unlike anything you’ve ever seen on network TV.”<br /><br />So what is the big deal? What is going to happen tonight?<br /><br />Going off of the title of the episode, there are a couple options. One, there is a literal “across the sea,” which is symbolic of the movement of the action from Hydra island to Desmond’s well on the main island after last week’s tragic submarine explosion. The other option is across the sea more figuratively, as in the sea of time and space. As in the long-awaited story of how the island and its inhabitants came to be.<br /><br />And when you read the episode description, option #2 is exactly what we’re getting. <div><br /></div><div>Get ready for the Jacob / Man in Black backstory.<br /><br />We are almost guaranteed a huge dose of mythology answers and ah-ha moments as the island’s oldest inhabitants are finally able to tell their story. How did they come to be? What is their connection to one another? What is the source of this centuries-old disagreement that led to distrust, destruction, and death for so many people? What is their endgame? What are the rules everyone keeps referring to? What are (and how do they have) their powers? How does MIB become the smoke monster?<br /><br />And possibly: WHO THE HECK ARE ADAM AND EVE?<br /><br />Plan on a nearly entire flashback episode this week without a lot of island time. I think I can accept that. We’re talking a pretty incredible story here.<br /><br />In this week’s Podcast, producers Damon and Carlton said that this week’s episode speaks for itself and you should go in with as little knowledge as possible. So I’m going to keep this post pretty short and sweet.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">[Insert Disclaimer Here.]</span></b><br />As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">On the billboard as guest stars tonight…</span></b><br />Mark Pellegrino as Jacob, Titus Welliver as Man in Black, Allison Janney as Woman, Kenton Duty as Teenage Boy, Ryan Bradford as Boy in Black, Lela Loren as Claudia, and Ivo Nandi as Oldest Hunter.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Maggie says: C.J. Cregg???</span></b><br />Trust me, guys: I share your excitement. I loved West Wing like 95% of our readers. But before we get to CJ…<br /><br />I had to laugh a little bit when I saw “Boy in Black” listed as a guest star. Although, I suppose that at some point, Man in Black was “boy in black,” but it seems a little ridiculous to me to cast someone with such a name. We’ve seen Kenton Duty as “teenage boy” before. He’s the blond kid who keeps appearing randomly, laughing at Flocke at one point and reminding him of the rules (whatever they are). Many are speculating that teenage boy is Jacob, and I’m definitely in that camp. Perhaps tonight will answer the question of what teenage boy is (an apparition?) and why his hands were covered in blood the first time we saw him (CREEPY). Plan on answers, folks.<br /><br />To the point that there are two young boys on the island, it would stand to reason that they have a parent figure. I’m guessing this is where Allison Janey (formerly of West Wing fame) as “woman” fits in.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">"Flamingo."</span></b><br />I’ll be honest, though. I’m more than a little WORRIED that they have cast CJ to be on Lost. I don’t know about you, but ever since West Wing, I have had a hard time separating Allison Janney from CJ. At some point in the last 6 years, I read that many well-known actors have come to the Lost producers since the show began, asking if they could guest star. And they’ve purposefully NOT cast them on the show because they want the characters to be the focus, not the easily-recognized actors, which might cause some confusion. So it is super interesting that Allison Janney is coming in, no matter what the role, because she is recognizable and definitely pegged as CJ Cregg for me for ever and ever.<br /><br />But back to her role tonight. I’m guessing that “woman” translates into MOM. I think Allison Janney is playing Mom…to <i>both</i> Jacob and MIB. I’m still convinced that Jake and MIB are bros. Tonight’s story is going to be very interesting. Remember, MIB (as Flocke) made a comment about his crazy Mom a few episodes back. He told Sawyer that he was once a man and knows how it is to “feel joy, anger, fear, and experience betrayal” and to “lose someone you love.” And he told Kate that he once had a “crazy” mother, who caused him issues he is still trying to get over. CJ = MOM = Crazy? Perhaps.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">TV Guide says…</span></b><br /><i>The motives of John Locke are finally explained.</i><br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Maggie says…are we finally going to get a name for MIB??<br /></span></b>We have a fairly good understanding of what MIB wants to do: kill the candidates and leave the island that has had him trapped for so long. But we don’t know how he got here, why he feels such desperation, and how long this has been going on. Tonight will probably change this. Not to sound like a broken record, but you should probably be really really excited right about now. The potential for this episode is huge.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Questions from the Audience</span></b><br />Dharma Blog reader Dan inquired what timeline MIB and Jacob originally lived in. And the truth is, we have no clue. NO clue. There were hieroglyphics in one of the underground tunnels our characters have been in that depicted the smoke monster…but that means little to nothing. Why? Because, if I understand the MIB right, he has spent DECADES, nay CENTURIES, nay MILLENIA, switching into different forms/different people…all in an attempt to get off the island. So, the actor Titus Welliver is just playing ONE iteration of MIB, not ‘the original’. And I’m guessing that during the Egyptian times (hello, limited knowledge about Egpytians…), MIB took the form of an Egyptian (?) and at times, went all SMOKEY on everyone.<br /><br />So…this all means that if we are getting back to the ORIGINAL <i>ORIGINAL</i> MIB tonight, we’ll finally have an understanding of the age of the island. I’m thinking B.C. ish. Maybe Biblical “ADAM AND EVE” generation is pretty darn close. And we’re going to find out why MIB is so angry. And feels so betrayed. And who he lost (per his comment to Sawyer). And what crazy issues his Mom caused (per his comment to Kate). And the whole cycle of his reiteration, generation after generation, will begin…because ____. Not sure. Something is going to happen. Deal with the devil? A Jacob v. Esau thing? A la your typical Biblical brother spat? Maybe. And so on. And so forth.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Quick tidbit on Esau</span></b><br />Since many theories about MIB are riding on his name being revealed as Esau, here is a quick Sunday School refresher:</div><div><br />- According to the Book of Genesis, Esau was the fraternal twin brother of Jacob.<br />- Their parents? Issac and Rebekah. Their grandparents? Abraham and Sarah.<br />- Esau was born first and when Jacob was born, he held onto Esau’s heel. This was seen as a sign that Jacob wanted to be born first and was trying to hold back Esau.<br />- As the first born, Esau was entitled to inherit the wealth of his father after his death.<br />- One day, Esau returned from an unsuccessful hunting trip and was famished. He saw that Jacob had been cooking lentils and he asked for a serving. Jacob asked him if he would be willing to sell his rights as the first-born son in exchange for a bowl of lentils. For some bizarre reason, Esau agreed.<br />- Regardless of whether Esau was being serious or flippant in selling off his birthright (he was hungry after a long day of hunting, after all), Jacob didn’t forget Esau’s promise and, with Rebekah’s help, tricked his aging father into giving Jacob the blessing that traditionally would been reserved for the first-born.<br />- After Jacob received blessing from their father, Esau vowed to kill Jacob. To protect Jacob, his mother arranged for him to live with her relatives in Haran. Jacob lived in Haran for about 20 years.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">So, Maggie, what happened when Jacob returned home?!!??</span></b><br />Well, my little Dharma Blog readers, I’m going to keep that card in my pocket. Sure, you could google it…but how about instead, you just enjoy tonight’s episode and see if any of this Esau stuff comes to fruition. Then we can talk analogies between Jacob and Esau. Deal?<br /><br />Come back tomorrow for Charlie’s review…it’ll be a doozy!<br /><br /><b>4.5 hours left. Let’s do this.</b><br /><br />Namaste,<br />Maggie</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-53074499210940664162010-05-07T10:02:00.005-05:002010-05-07T13:56:40.478-05:00Happy Lost Birthday!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jqngMQ9-y_UJx8dp-tB-pFFPoI_LPh_elOWJwkCtA1ii2W_08e7g5n3xF8BKMl4a_7-jkI77uKt6jNzqIdDw_TBPI3cbollVhFa8R0-M29J3yertZRUgBzd3qPQZ9DT88yPXGyev9qs/s1600/lostbirthdaycookie.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468604012543489698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jqngMQ9-y_UJx8dp-tB-pFFPoI_LPh_elOWJwkCtA1ii2W_08e7g5n3xF8BKMl4a_7-jkI77uKt6jNzqIdDw_TBPI3cbollVhFa8R0-M29J3yertZRUgBzd3qPQZ9DT88yPXGyev9qs/s320/lostbirthdaycookie.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>My coworkers are ridiculous. My desk was plastered with Maggie-in-Lost-scenes photographs this morning. Enjoy!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoR4nnXC0lfvjVkYZ8Ixm0QnJKy6sYK_wwum2Xiiw5uxh3Ihkdgaf7YuuT0Ywsb4ryQVFYTuAl5vbqlR_BzU82g1iRbnoiUF7pHsI_F3V1TynFo1ZSvRyjiry7fClc-CPtXHiQ0ObagU/s1600/Van-Maggie.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468544399322158034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoR4nnXC0lfvjVkYZ8Ixm0QnJKy6sYK_wwum2Xiiw5uxh3Ihkdgaf7YuuT0Ywsb4ryQVFYTuAl5vbqlR_BzU82g1iRbnoiUF7pHsI_F3V1TynFo1ZSvRyjiry7fClc-CPtXHiQ0ObagU/s320/Van-Maggie.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0x2dm0-Ji-5AgHRoVTlEWECrwHLhc2JqMk1zfXjJz-_KBSnUGIZwINXMKDY6ghJtFL2Y5pJVWxVtcnwM-p5XwKKoZmikOOpCqm009Hk8HneTgmd0Vp8IHT7zWPjSW7yOPUY26wm547Ic/s1600/Maggie-Statue.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468544250774188578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0x2dm0-Ji-5AgHRoVTlEWECrwHLhc2JqMk1zfXjJz-_KBSnUGIZwINXMKDY6ghJtFL2Y5pJVWxVtcnwM-p5XwKKoZmikOOpCqm009Hk8HneTgmd0Vp8IHT7zWPjSW7yOPUY26wm547Ic/s320/Maggie-Statue.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBuCwwoc6aK7NLGO0PRHlFsYCFASIq2qfOL6rvbn3zQaRo6pnPO3QdbTF45IWbITaopYcjlsiyXLGj4ifexjF8lpnpqRP98pCzunJqxhHPCAgsXkdTrF3UKseEsoU9R0LXuSBJhl-4KE/s1600/Lost-Maggie_stroll.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468544247146036738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBuCwwoc6aK7NLGO0PRHlFsYCFASIq2qfOL6rvbn3zQaRo6pnPO3QdbTF45IWbITaopYcjlsiyXLGj4ifexjF8lpnpqRP98pCzunJqxhHPCAgsXkdTrF3UKseEsoU9R0LXuSBJhl-4KE/s320/Lost-Maggie_stroll.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Win_0MEwBEgPy1_ssw08QCQxYT_TTT2PI7I0utslAYmPco-YF1ZUhUo5ifbKJUNaBeczT0-k3Z36Y6oLi0E5wk_D1fSrQu3YBdPi5VjlETuMG_EteqH2NWBZrQ9KBuzSKsgw_nGArzc/s1600/lost460-Maggie.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468544237630898530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Win_0MEwBEgPy1_ssw08QCQxYT_TTT2PI7I0utslAYmPco-YF1ZUhUo5ifbKJUNaBeczT0-k3Z36Y6oLi0E5wk_D1fSrQu3YBdPi5VjlETuMG_EteqH2NWBZrQ9KBuzSKsgw_nGArzc/s320/lost460-Maggie.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0WtPiAnHkkCiP7KgjizABliMjmEWZ859epiNyrHYQ0vc4oZa8SfOOwAOVlKja-ICYSITXUZ7_2gpWIwRWDW7xdKg4KsHzZ4jadbM-S_-rinSJ6_MOzc4OwYRIA-hkBjcWMFBPq7kXuHU/s1600/CharlieGun-Maggie.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468544228742146098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 177px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0WtPiAnHkkCiP7KgjizABliMjmEWZ859epiNyrHYQ0vc4oZa8SfOOwAOVlKja-ICYSITXUZ7_2gpWIwRWDW7xdKg4KsHzZ4jadbM-S_-rinSJ6_MOzc4OwYRIA-hkBjcWMFBPq7kXuHU/s320/CharlieGun-Maggie.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7roUXS7xSCtbANFUWmn3HwVn60mJD2wf4EzKk3jelCf_2Ec9IyZGRtstlqZCxrDmI0iztrqhXavRTumE-syT-sDSEx6Yx-iKZZ5URciCfYAgS67biLX5UhdVGT8g1-gAlUx7mrQWQkU/s1600/Charlie-BdayWishes.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468544217463626834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 135px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7roUXS7xSCtbANFUWmn3HwVn60mJD2wf4EzKk3jelCf_2Ec9IyZGRtstlqZCxrDmI0iztrqhXavRTumE-syT-sDSEx6Yx-iKZZ5URciCfYAgS67biLX5UhdVGT8g1-gAlUx7mrQWQkU/s320/Charlie-BdayWishes.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-26765030659838336372010-05-04T23:06:00.004-05:002010-05-04T23:23:58.968-05:00It only ends once.If I only had two words, my review would be: NO WAY.<br /><br />We only have 19 days left until this show is over. And for the last several weeks, Charlie and I have wondered quietly and on this blog about when stuff was going to start to happen. Granted, we’ve had some crazy episodes this season and quite a bit HAS happened. But at the same time, there has been a lot of set up…a lot of moving of pieces and storylines to get everyone in the right place before…<br /><br />Well, to use Flocke's word…<b>BOOM</b>.<br /><br />Tonight, we had <b>BOOM</b>.<br /><br />And all you people who have been going back and forth about who is the bad guy and who is the good guy…and is Flocke really actually GOOD, but being portrayed as bad…<b>BOOM</b>. Do you believe that now? <b>BOOM</b>. Flocke is bad. Flocke is very bad.<br /><br />While I’d never admit this in public, I’ll admit it to you all, my friends on the Dharma Blog (and yes, I recognize the error in that statement): I teared up. I really did. We lost three original characters (and one awesome pilot) tonight in a matter of 8 minutes time. Believe it or not, we haven’t lost an original cast member (I’m talking season 1, episode 1 cast) since Michael died at the end of season 4. And his death certainly didn’t have the gravity that tonight’s losses had.<br /><br />But before I go into obituaries for the long-suffering-but-now-redeemed Sayid, the star-cross’d lovers Jin and Sun, and Captain Frank J. Lapidus (who just stepped off the set of a Burt Reynolds movie), we need to take a look at the entire episode. Tonight moved the storyline big time. And it makes sense that it did, since we only have four and a half hours left.<br /><br />(“Wait. Four <b>and a half</b> hours?” you ask.)<br /><br />Yep. ABC announced last night the finale on Sunday, May 23, will be 2.5 hours long, not 2 hours long.<br /><br />Chances of Maggie going to work on May 24? <b>SLIM TO NONE.</b><br /><br />Let’s dissect “The Candidate.” Deep breaths, everyone.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Alternate Timeline: Locke recovers.</span></b><br />Sure enough, the invincible John Locke managed to beat fate once again this episode, surviving Desmond’s erratic (but purposeful) hit-and-run. And who was there to greet him when he awoke? None other than Jack, the spinal surgeon extraordinaire whom Locke had met just a week before on Oceanic 815. Jack explained that, while he was operating on Locke, he took a look at his spine and determined that Locke was, indeed, a candidate for a special new-age ninja surgery. Surgery that could give Locke feeling in his legs. Surgery that could maybe even allow him to walk again.<br /><br />But Locke wasn’t interested. At all. This was, in fact, not new information to us. Jack had already proposed this possibility of surgery while they were waiting at the luggage counter at LAX. And while Locke had dialed the number from Jack’s business card a few episodes back, he hung up without engaging in conversation and subsequently tore up the card.<br /><br />His adamant refusal, once again, seemed a little far-fetched to me. It wasn’t until later in the episode that we found out why he was so opposed to the surgery. Locke’s injury, as we came to find out, was caused by a plane accident. And not just your typical commercial-airliner-on-a-deserted-island plane crash (that’d be a cool t.v. show, by the way). But it was a single engine, didn’t-even-make-it-off-the-runway crash. And Locke was at the controls with his father at his side. The result? Locke was paralyzed. His father, Anthony Cooper, was also critically injured, losing both his mobility and suffering a severe, life-altering head injury.<br /><br />And Locke blames himself.<br /><br />So why would he refuse the surgery? As he explained it to Jack, he doesn’t deserve it because of the pain his mistake inflicted on his father. Jack did his best to change Locke’s thinking, telling him to forgive himself and move on with his life. Jack also invoked phrases we’ve heard time and time again in this show. “What happened, happened.” “I wish you believed me.” It was a powerful scene, yet Locke left, not entirely convinced but certainly with a lot to think about.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">It’s a small world after all.<br /></span></b>Talk about coincidence. Alt-Jack was definitely feeling some déjà vu throughout the episode as he continued to come across individuals who had flown with him on Oceanic 815 the week prior. Dr. Bernard Nadler, D.D.S., provided him with a gulp moment as he shared the name of Anthony Cooper. Claire, his newfound sister, gave him wide eyes when she revealed a beautiful, mirrored music box from Christian’s estate, playing the tune “Catch A Falling Star,” which has been part of this show from season 1. And of course his new patient, John Locke, left him with a bit of disbelief about the whole situation, when he chose to not trust him to do the surgery.<br /><br />I find it interesting that this whole realization process is 180 degrees from, yet exactly the same as, what we had in the first season of Lost. As you’ll recall, we had a group of strangers who, through flashbacks, we watched connect in the most bizarre and unexpected ways. Now, we have a group of people we know very well. Yet, in the alternate world, we are watching them make connections again in new and profound ways. Although I’m not really sure how the alternate world is going to shake down, I dig how they are making it work. And I don’t think it is all for naught. And I do think it is going to be a significant part in the end game, though I don’t really get how that is going to happen. At all. I’ll let Charlie tackle that elephant in the room next week…<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Back on the island.<br /></span></b>At first, the island was pretty predictable. Hydra Island will forever be the site of the polar bear cages and the shark tank. So, I wasn’t too shocked when Widmore’s new prisoners were thrown back in the cages. Widmore made it pretty tense, stating that Kate wasn’t on his list and he couldn’t care less if she lived or died. Sawyer caved, Kate was saved. Interesting foreshadowing? I think so.<br /><br />After Smokey showed up and Jack freed the gang from the cages, it was time to head to Ajira, where Flocke was waiting. Several of the moments prior to their arrival were very odd, causing me (and several of you) to wonder what was going on. Flocke finding the watch. Flocke finding the C-4 in the plane. Flocke visibly switching backpacks with Jack.<br /><br />But I certainly didn’t expect things to go to hell so quickly and so permanently.<br /><br />I was expecting Jack to get Sawyer to believe in the island once again. However, it looks like Sawyer ended up being a loophole for Flocke. In my book, Jack was right: that bomb was not going to go off. We don’t exactly know what the rules say, but we know this much: Flocke cannot kill the Candidates. However, once Sawyer decided to unhook the wires and alter the bomb, its eventual explosion suddenly became Sawyer’s fault, not Flocke’s. Poor Sawyer. Yet, I have to wonder if this moment will give him a newfound understanding of the situation that killed Juliet…a death he has been blaming Jack for since episode 1 of this season.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">But back to tonight.</span></b><br />I am still SHOCKED that Sun and Jin were killed off tonight, despite the eye rolling that I have done in 80% of their scenes this season. These two had a chance to be happy, to find their happy ending. Not to mention, they have a child! Ji Yeon! (Need I remind you all how much I <i>love</i> the children of Lost?) However, Jin foreshadowed this inevitable ending when he said “I will never leave you again” during the last episode. While we didn’t see it going down so quickly after their reunion, I think we all saw their deaths coming.<br /><br />And Frank? Well, my rule of thumb on Lost is that unless I see the dead body, I don’t believe they are dead. Sure, he was hit by a large steel door in a sinking submarine, knocking him out into a torrential rush of flooding waters. But it is FRANK we’re talking about here! Maybe he woke up and swam out! Maybe not. But maybe.<br /><br />As for Sayid, “there is no Sayid.” I actually think he got the death that he deserved: big time redemption. He saved everyone. He spilled the beans about Desmond, giving Jack critical details about his importance. And then he sacrificed himself. Quite the ending to an incredible character. While season 6 Sayid has been more creepy than not, I’m going to miss him.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Where the bleep do we go from here?</span></b><br />It looks like we’re going to get a huge mythological reveal next week with the super top-secret Jacob / Man in Black flashback episode. Much more on that in my preview next week.<br /><br />However, it likely means we have two weeks to digest this week’s episode. For now, a quick refresher on who is who and where and why and how. And stuff.<br /><br /><i>1. The Remaining Candidates. </i><br />Well, the final three have been revealed: Hurley, Sawyer, and Jack. But there was that small, extremely important conversation between Jack and Sayid that leads me to wonder if we’re actually already down to the final Candidate:<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Sayid</span><br />“There’s a well on the main Island, half-a-mile south from the camp we just left. Desmond’s inside. Locke wants him dead. Which means you’re going to need him”<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Jack</span><br />“Why are you telling me this?”<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Sayid</span><br />“Because it’s going to be you, Jack.”<br /><br />So, does this really mean that Jack is going to be the Candidate? Does Sayid somehow know that Jack is destined to become Jacob? Or, is Sayid just implying that Jack will be the person who eventually takes down Flocke, and that Desmond will play a critical role in the process?<br /><br /><i>2. The Remaining Not - Candidates. </i><br />Very few people left after this week. KEY: Desmond. Sorta key: Kate, Claire, Widmore, Dirty Tina Fey, Richard / Ben / Miles, and a few nameless randoms who are on Widmore’s team<br /><br />Once their grief subsides, Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, and Kate are going to head off to find Desmond. It seems inevitable that Des will tell them what the need to do at this point, which will likely set up the end game. However, Flocke is apparently on his way to finish what he started. With the rules of engagement, I’m not sure how he is going to carry out this plan. I suppose he could somehow get Claire to do his bidding, but she seems a little unstable to trust with such a big task. Dare I suggest Ben jumps to the dark side and helps Flocke out? Yes, I dare…<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Moments to rewatch this week.</span></b><br />This was one of the best-acted episodes to date in my book. Jin and Sun’s death was pretty incredible. Locke’s confession about the plane crash to Jack was powerful and poignant. Jack standing on the beach, mourning the deaths of Jin, Sun, and Sayid was epic and very real (and classic Jack).<br /><br />If you haven’t already, I’d recommend a rewatch of this week’s episode. Pretty incredible stuff…and likely so much more than my mind can digest at this late hour.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Final Review.</span></b><br />And so, I will sign off with my last review of the blog. A bittersweet moment, but also kind of exciting. Like you, I am anxious to see how this story will end. (It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.)<br /><br />But I’m also very cognizant of the fact that Lost’s departure will create quite a void. Thank goodness the new season of the Bachelorette starts the day after the finale.<br /><br />(Kidding.) (Only kind of.)<br /><br />I look forward to your comments today.<br /><br />It’s been a pleasure, folks.<br /><br /><b>BOOM</b>.<br /><br />Namaste,<br />MaggieUnknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-42566408179628442352010-05-02T20:25:00.003-05:002010-05-03T22:23:17.989-05:00Not the Candid Seven<span style="font-weight: bold;">LOST: Season 6, Episode 14: The Candidate</span><br />Hi folks. Charlie here, switching roles with Maggie one last time, as work demands have me whisked off to scenic Mankato, Minnesota.<br /><br />I hope everyone enjoyed their week off of LOST. I know I did. I went outside. Turns out there’s this big, glowing star called “the sun” that actually makes it very warm and pleasant to be out there. Who knew?! I’m still exploring connections between this “sun” and the special pockets of electromagnetic energy on the Island.<br /><br />But this week, LOST is back, with an episode whose title alone conjures up anticipatory notions of a big plot reveal. THE. Candidate. Not “A candidate.” The. As in, “The One.” That’s right, here comes Keanu Reeves.<br /><br />Okay, not really. But look, there are four episodes remaining (five hours total), and for the last several we’ve been left saying, “Hey, the pieces are in place,” as the plot begins to turn the corner and barrel toward its conclusion. Just look at the last two weeks, where two big mysteries (the identity of Christian Shephard and the nature of The Whispers) were revealed in plain English. I take those reveals as harbingers of the bigger things to come, and combined with the juxtaposition of our characters on different parts of the Island, I think The Candidate is going to be our first unfettered look into LOST’s much anticipated conclusion.<br /><br />So who is THE Candidate? I’ll venture some guesses. But first, a small apology/disclosure. Usually, I would look up the 30-second previews that ABC releases and read the guest list, etc., in order to adequately prepare you for the episode. But I can’t do it. It’s too close to the end of the show, and I’m too worried about stumbling upon something I don’t want to have ruined for me. So instead, this preview will focus on what we know about Jacob, the Man in Black and their race to replace. Candidates abound, let’s see what we do know.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bottled Up</span><br />Based on what we know, a “candidate” is someone who has been chosen by Jacob to replace him as the Island’s protector. To summarize Jacob’s “wine bottle” analogy, the wine represents evil (presumably the Man in Black) that must be contained by the cork (The Island). The bottle, presumably, is Jacob.<br /><br />So Jacob’s looking for a new bottle, err, protector. A replacement. The Man in Black knows that as long as there is a bottle and cork, he will be stuck on the Island. As Jacob mentioned in Ab Aeterno, even if the Man in Black kills him, someone else will just take his place. The Man in Black’s plan, therefore, is twofold. One, assume the body of a Candidate in order to gain access to Jacob and murder him (check). Two, remove the only remaining candidates – all of whom arrived on Oceanic 815 – from the Island and thus free himself from Island captivity (in progress).<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Caves and Compass Wheels</span><br />The identities of the candidates are a little bit disputed, but generally we know there are six remaining: Hurley, Sayid, Locke, Jack, Sawyer and one of the Kwons. We know this because of the lists located at two places on the Island: the cave and the Lighthouse. While there are some minor discrepancies between the two lists, they are largely similar, save for the inclusion of “Austen” in the lighthouse (Austen was crossed out in the cave).<br /><br />I have theorized that the cave list is Man in Black’s, and the Lighthouse list is Jacob’s. True or not, it’s always good to back up your files. In the cave, speaking to Sawyer, Man in Black crossed Locke’s name out, presumably because of his death. In the Lighthouse, Jack and Hurley revolved the wheel and watched it reveal different historical snapshots of the candidates’ lives, including the house Jack grew up in.<br /><br />We also know that one of the primary functions of The Others is to protect and guide the candidates on their journey. At least, that’s what it would seem. We saw Dogen bow to Hurley’s assertion of himself as a candidate, and it would appear Ilana’s life mission was to protect Jacob’s successors.<br /><br />Additionally, if every point on the Lighthouse compass wheel corresponded to a candidate, there are 360 candidates. But only six remain. Ilana essentially confirmed this, before pulling an Arzt.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Gameplan</span><br />So what does this all mean for tonight? Well, perhaps the one “not-a-spoiler spoiler” I’ll allow myself this week will help illuminate that. The DVR preview for tonight reads:<br /><br />“Jack must decide whether or not to trust Locke after he is asked to follow through on a difficult task.”<br /><br />Last time I wrote, I opined that Jack and Flocke being left on the beach while everyone else was over on Hydra Island was a sign that Jack would become Jacob’s replacement, while the Man in Black would be left to rot on the Island in the form of John Locke. I still think that.<br /><br />And I think Jack is “The Candidate.” We’ve seen his hero’s journey go from the highs (phoning the freighter and thinking he had everyone rescued) to the lows (drug addiction and submitting to a return trip to the Island). And now, we see him somewhere in the middle. Though he’s not the savior and leader he’s always reluctantly wanted to be, he’s comfortable. He has faith in the Island – or, put another way, faith in fate. He’s willing to let the chips fall where they may and do what he can with them. That’s a far cry from Seasons 1-5 Jack, whose well-intentioned interventions and manipulations of every situation usually spelled disaster.<br /><br />Jack’s “Man of Faith” personality shift has many people comparing him to early John Locke. I’d go another route though. Locke’s faith was blind and unknowing. And while that’s admirable, it also made him extraordinarily vulnerable. Everyone from his father to Ben Linus to the Man in Black exploited that faith whenever it suited their needs. And in the end, John Locke was always thrown out with the rest of the trash. He was exploited for his kidney by his father, exploited for his supposed mystical Island communion by Ben, and exploited for his physical body by the Man in Black.<br /><br />Jack, on the other hand, practices a deliberate and learned faith. While we as a society sometimes romanticize the kind of blind and unquestioning devotion that Locke has, in this story, it’s an informed faith that may be key. Jack’s faith in fate is hard-earned. It took him a lifetime to break himself of the constant need for approval fostered by his father from a young age. No more does he require the acceptance of others to validate his journey. He’s on his own mission now, one that requires placing complete faith and trust in the inevitable.<br /><br />So tonight, The Candidate must “decide whether or not to trust Locke after he is asked to follow through on a difficult task.” (Hasn’t every episode description this season included a “task”? Just replace Jack with Hurley, Desmond, Sayid, or Sawyer. But I digress).<br /><br />What could that task be? I’m not sure, but it won’t be without an ulterior motive from the Man in Black, I can tell you that. Whatever Flocke asks Jack to do, keep in mind that Flocke’s ultimate goal is to either murder the candidates or remove them from the Island, so that he can leave. I don’t think he can kill them himself, actually, so he generally just tries to lead them into dangerous situations and hopes they die.<br /><br />But ultimately, it’s my opinion that Jack and Locke are the new Jacob and Man in Black. I think it’s going to happen. Everything’s already setting up for that, with everyone removed from them, and what a perfect bit of closure that would be to the inherent animosity that has existed between them since day one.<br /><br /><br />That’ll do. Sorry for the unusually brief post, but when one denies himself any "clues," one has little to write about. Confucius said that.<br /><br />But what do you think we’ll see tonight (no spoilers, please)? Is Jack your #1 candidate? Is Flocke to be trusted, or do you still buy that he’s the bad guy in this story? And what, in the hell, is up with Zoe the Tina Fey look-alike? Can she please die already?<br /> <br />Maggie will be back to break down the action tomorrow morning. Until then, enjoy the return of TV’s greatest mind#*(@.<br /><br />Namaste.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-12406292069064504552010-04-29T11:52:00.003-05:002010-04-29T12:59:28.540-05:00Origin StoryFirst off, a quick programming note: We'll be back next week, with a preview and review of The Candidate - and Maggie and I will be switching roles next week, as I have to travel for work to lovely Minnesota.<br /><br />Now then. We've had a fair amount of questions about just how in the hell the Dharma Blog came to be. I can assure you that it wasn't a conscious effort. We didn't think to ourselves one day, "Hey, we love LOST, and there are only 14 million blogs about it on the internet, let's make it 14 million and one!" Actually, it happened surprisingly organically. So, given the off week for LOST, I thought I'd tell the story, for those who care :)<br /><br />Maggie and I have known each other since grade school. We grew up blocks apart, and went to the same schools, and we've always been good friends. Maggie is a year older than I. She graduated and moved to Boston for school, before returning after her freshman year to finish out at the University of Nebraska. I then went to Texas to attend TCU for four years. When I moved back, Maggie was out in Washington D.C., doing the people's work.<br /><br />Randomly - or via Facebook, as legend has it - we discovered our mutual love. Our friendship frayed by years of distance, we began to reconnect over our shared obsession in this stupid show. At that time, Eko was still alive, the Others were an abstract concept and W was still president. Sadly.<br /><br />Anyway. We began emailing each other back and forth about our theories on the show, questions, assumptions, etc. Basically all the stuff you read now on the blog, but in a much more familiar form. As we both had friends who shared our love for LOST, we began including people on the emails. As more people joined the list, we decided to formalize it, with me writing previews and Mags taking the reviews. Once the list got to about 60 or 70 people, it was suggested to us that we ditch the long-form emails and put our thoughts out into the blogosphere for the world to read.<br /><br />The blog was born at some point in Season 3, and has grown and evolved a ton since then, not unlike the show it covers. Maggie now takes the previews while I handle the reviews. We have changed our perspective of what the show is about a million times. And a lot of people have joined us.<br /><br />In fact, we are shocked at how many people read this thing. Really. We still can't believe people consider us authorities. I was amazed when a client at my real job told me that his parents were impressed that he actually <span style="font-style: italic;">knew</span> "Charlie who writes the Dharma Blog." He had passed it onto them, and they thought we actually knew what we were doing. We were equally shocked when the local paper wanted to do a story on us.<br /><br />So, as curiosity got the best of us, we set up analytics on this site back in 2007, to track how many people were visiting us, and from where. In just under three years, we've had:<br /><ul><li>Almost 43,000 visits to the site</li><li>Visitors from all 50 states, led by Nebraska (9000), Texas (4000) and New York (3000)</li><li>Visitors from 121 countries/territories, from the US (36,000) to Bahrain (1). Hi, Bahrain!<br /></li></ul>And that is just ridiculous. That's way too many people. But we thank you. We don't advertise on this site, and we don't make any money doing it. We've thought about that, but ultimately, we really just like writing this for ourselves and for those of you who read it, comment on it and think about it. We're glad if we can provide some guidance and clarification to this unbelievably complicated show. We know we miss things, and we know we're wrong sometimes. But we've never really set out to "figure out" LOST or try to predict its ending.<br /><br />The reason we do this is because, frankly, Maggie and I like a good story. And LOST is one of the best ones we've ever heard. It's so think and so complex that it begs for some interpretation and introspection. And because we're both geeks, both like to write and both have apparently way too much spare time, the blog is a great outlet for us.<br /><br />And on a personal level, it's been awesome to reconnect with Maggie through this thing. Seriously, she's one of the better friends a person could have, and I was bummed we both lost touch when we moved away. But, silly as this blog is, it's given us a means to reconnect and become great friends again, gathering every week with a few others (Others!) to watch and analyze the show.<br /><br />It's also been awesome to connect with all of you, albeit only over the internet. Well, sometimes in real life. I moved into a house a year ago, and my neighbor said, "Wait, are you Dharma Blog Charlie?" True story. We're huge in Nebraska.<br /><br />But really, we love the comments, the questions and the why-didn't-we-think-of-that epiphanies you supply us each week. If I ever go down in a plane onto a mysterious Island that serves as a battleground for age-old philosophical concepts and pseudo-biblical parables, I hope you're all there with me.<br /><br />Namaste.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-6681500191968136302010-04-26T22:01:00.002-05:002010-04-26T22:08:23.460-05:00Bye Week.Welcome to Bye Week, everyone.<div><br /></div><div>As if the Lost producers knew that this was the busiest day of the week at the Arbor Day Foundation (happy early Arbor Day everyone!), there will not be a new episode of Lost tonight. Instead, the ABC powers-that-be will give viewers a second showing of "Ab Aeterno," the Richard way-flashback episode from earlier this season.</div><div><br /></div><div>And so, in due form, Charlie and I are going to take a break this week to ruminate further about "The Last Recruit." And if you're lucky, you might see a post from us later on this week with some bigger picture comments about the show's looming end and what is to come as we race towards the ending. (Which, by the way, is in 28 days. Only. 28. Days. Oh, boy...)</div><div><br /></div><div>Come to think of it, if you have any suggestions on issues you'd like us to tackle during this bye week, feel free to leave a comment and we'll see what we can come up with.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have a great week, everyone. And plant a tree on Friday!</div><div><br /></div><div>Namaste,</div><div>Maggie</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-72615689115902214002010-04-21T00:07:00.006-05:002010-04-21T08:37:41.056-05:00Where Soul Meets Body<span style="font-weight: bold;">LOST. Season Six. Episode Thirteen. The Last Recruit</span><br /><br />The pieces are now in place. LOST, notorious for the occasional “set-up” episode, delivered such an offering last night that – because this is Season Six – was well worth watching. A few key players unrolled their competing strategies, with some (Flocke and Sawyer) taking on the role of aggressor while others (Jack and Widmore) were put on the defensive. All the while, in an alternate universe far, far away, our characters were assembled by the one player who holds all the cards. “Fate,” as Ilana called him.<br /><br />In the words of Flocke, “Here we go.”<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hunters and Gatherers</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">You Can Lead a Jack to Water</span><br />We began where the “whispers” reveal left off last week – a straightforward conversation revealing a key piece of mythology. Flocke told Jack that he was the Christian Shephard apparition Jack had chased through the jungle on his third day, and that he did it in order to lead Jack to a water source. In fact, he claimed, it was the first of many “helpful” interferences he made in Jack’s life, in order to free him from Jacob’s Island prison. Problem is, Jack has almost completely taken on the characteristics of John Locke – the man who Flocke called “…stupid enough to believe he was brought here for a reason.” That indictment cut through Jack and the empathy he feels for Locke’s futile faithfulness. More importantly, it gave Jack something to work towards. As we later saw on the S.S. Elizabeth, Jack feels responsible for carrying the torch of Locke’s faith – and he’s willing to carry it at great cost.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Making Camp</span><br />Back at Camp Flocke, the followers fracture into competing sects. “It’s so nice to have everyone back together again,” says Flocke upon his return. Not for long. Fellow unlikely leaders Sawyer and Hurley were already comparing notes, questioning the impact of the “dark side,” and getting on the same page.<br /><br />Catalyzing the call to arms was Zoe, who arrived with a walkie-talkie and a demand for Desmond’s return. Flocke wryly obliged, knowing full well that he wasn’t about to take a threat from some Tina Fey wannabe. Interesting moment when he smashed that walkie, though. Remember when Ben first took Locke to meet Jacob at the cabin, and he claimed Jacob didn’t like “technology?” Some have speculated that the entity Ben had been chasing around all those years was the Man in Black. So maybe it was the Man in Black who hated technology – he certainly seemed to when he obliterated that walkie. Ben Linus and his false god. Speaking of which, don’t fall asleep on Ben, Richard and Miles and their imminent reentry into the fracas.<br /><br />Flocke decides to sic Sayid on Desmond before mobilizing his newly-gathered flock to head to the shore, where they’ll meet Sawyer and Kate with the S.S. Elizabeth. One problem: Sawyer’s already got other plans. The saboteur with a heart of gold fills in Jack, and heads off with Freckles.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Down in a Hole</span><br />I think Desmond talked Sayid out of killing him. Sayid’s weakness has always been the guilt he carries over the means to his ends. Desmond exploited that weakness last night, asking Sayid why he was following Flocke. When Sayid told him it was for a woman, Desmond seemed to crush him when he asked, “This woman, when she asks you what you did to be with her again, what will you tell her?”<br /><br />The only killer in this scene was Desmond. He pushed the only button to which Sayid feels any semblance of a connection when he played that guilt card. From the look in Sayid’s eyes, the fact that they never showed us Desmond’s death and the stammering manner in which Sayid reported back to Locke, my money’s on Desmond being alive at the bottom of that well, brotha.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?</span><br />One passenger on the no-sail list for Sawyer’s master plan was Claire. He declares that she’s too dangerous to be around Aaron, that she’s drinking Locke’s Kool-Aid (“Oh Yeah!”) and that she’s not herself. He’d take Claire. But that’s not Claire. Kate’s not so sure. Retrieving Claire (physically and mentally) was her mission in coming back to the Island, and Sawyer wants to take that away from her.<br /><br />But why should she? This is, as Sawyer stated, not the Claire they know and love. She resents Jack and Co. for “abandoning” her, even though it was the right thing to do for that baby she so clings to (real baby, not poop baby). Claire is even an agent for the Dark Side now, telling Jack he was already on Team Locke, and putting bugs in the ears of her fellow castaways, trying to get them to trust in the Man in Black.<br /><br />So why don’t they just leave her behind? Honestly, I don’t think it matters what they do wit her. And I’ll explain why in a bit.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Avast, Mateys</span><br />Sawyer and Kate find the boat, but only after Sawyer drops a “That’s what she said” followed by his best not-a-nickname nickname regarding Lapidus: “That pilot who looks like he stepped off the set of a Burt Reynolds movie.” I could’ve died. Brilliant. And great to see LOST hasn’t foregone its sense of humor in the midst of its endgame.<br /><br />Jack, Hurley, Frank and Sun (god I’m glad they’re taking Frank with them) peel off from Flocke’s death march to rendezvous with Kate and Sawyer. But they’ve got a tag-along. Claire tracks them to the boat and asks why she’s being left behind. Kate has had enough. She talks Claire down, disarming her figuratively and literally by denouncing Locke and playing the treasured Aaron card. And ultimately, she makes good (at least temporarily) on fulfilling her purpose of rescuing Lil’ Miss Littleton.<br /><br />Good for Kate, but I think that “conversion” is short-lived. Claire’s mind is too warped to be changed by a single pep talk, and that’s going to have big consequences moving forward.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Might as Well Jump</span><br />Aboard the Elizabeth and due on a mystical compass bearing toward Hyrda Island, Jack and Sawyer have what might be their final pissing match in their long, sordid history. Jack, carrying dead Locke’s disillusionment as his own, tells Sawyer, “This doesn’t feel right, leaving the Island….I remember how I felt last time I left, like a part of me was missing. We were brought here because we were supposed to do something.”<br /><br />It doesn’t get more John Locke than that, folks. Jack’s transformation to Man of Faith is complete. He’s even questioning the Island’s manifestation of evil (Flocke) by purporting that staying on the Island is the right thing to do because it’s what Flocke doesn’t want. But what Sawyer doesn’t want is dissent. He tells Jack to take his crazy ideas and swim back to shore. And Jack, following his own internal mystical compass bearing, does just that. He leaps, and when Kate predictably tells Sawyer to go back for him, Sawyer delivers the final blow: “We’re done going back, Kate.”<br /><br />And off they went, to reunite Sun and Jin or something. I don’t know, I checked my email while Maggie wept at that scene. Good for them, I suppose. But I had better things to think about.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Watching Grunge Leg Drop New Jack</span><br />We are done with Leader Jack. He died. His funeral was last week with Hurley, when he admitted he was done fixing things. New Jack is fully converted, standing on the other side of the chess board from Flocke.<br /><br />You want my prediction? You’re looking at the replacement vessels for Jacob and the Man in Black. Jack is now Jacob and Flocke is Smokey, now and forever. Think about it: Jacob told Hurley that Jack had to realize his purpose, find it and fulfill it. What more sensible purpose could Jacob have been guiding Jack to? Jacob has been tracking candidates for his replacement, and Jack is just the man for the job, with a heart for doing the right thing and a learned sense of laissez-faire leadership.<br /><br />But this episode was called “The Last Recruit.” The Last Recruit is also Jack, and Flocke’s the one recruiting him. Notice that Jacob calls his potential replacements “candidates,” denoting an absence of finality and certainty and implying that those potential replacements have something of a choice. Man in Black calls his people “recruits,” a more militaristic term that conveys less choice and implies that people are “destined” to replace the Man in Black, whether they like it or not.<br /><br />And Jack is the Man in Black’s Last Recruit. His great white hope. As Widmore-brand missiles rain down on the beach – presumably killing Cindy, Zach, Emma and the other Others who had converted to the tribe of Flocke – Flocke carefully delivers Jack from danger. As he regains consciousness, Flocke assures him, “You’re with me now.” Flocke is protecting Jack in the same way he did when he posed as his dead father to lead him to water. Then and now, his means are heroic but his ends are devious.<br /><br />And like I said, the betting man in me bets that Man in Black is not getting off the Island, and that he’s doomed to live out his existence in the shell of the man he just called “a sucker.”<br /><br />My reasoning for that? It’s in the alternate reality. Let’s see what’s going on over there.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I Wanna Be Everywhere Twice </span><br /></div>The Last Recruit featured my favorite alternate reality storyline, and I think it was due to the fact that it was multi-focused. We got a little bit of everybody’s story, and that was a very deliberate decision. LOST is rife with convergences both on and off the Island, especially now that it’s winding down. Even Flocke said it was nice to have everybody back together.<br /><br />And maybe it was that convergence that illuminated the similarities between our characters’ on-Island and alternate storylines. The mirror parallels were woven throughout the episode, and it gave the whole thing a nice sense of a looming finality.<br /><br />PS: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAB7kse0zgw">This song</a> might be a good one to listen to while you read the rest of this.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Stab in the Spine</span><br />How much do you love Dr. Linus? Sweet, down-trodden Dr. Linus, coaxing Locke back into consciousness in the back of that ambulance. He seemed generally troubled, doing his best to help his new friend. And Locke did his best to help Ben out. "Helen Norwood," he muttered. He said he "was" going to marry her. I'll get to the ominous use of that past tense at the end, by the way. (Also, some have theorized that it was MIB, not Jacob, that Ben followed around the Island for years. Which means it was MIB, not Jacob, who muttered "Help me" to Locke back in the cabin a few years ago. So we have MIB muttering "help me" and Locke muttering things in order to help himself. Cool parallel? Or am I just up too late again?)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Be My Valentine, You Don’t Have to Say Much</span><br />While Locke drifts in and out of consciousness on his way to the hospital, a pregnant and wounded Sun is wheeled in next to him. Terrified, she recognizes him, and begins screaming in Korean. I think that was Sun “crossing over,” but she didn’t seem to be affected by it later, when talking to Jin. Luckily, she came out of surgery smelling like a Tokyo Rose. Baby fine. Mama fine. Papa fine.<br /><br />This moment of simultaneous terror and resolution mirrored the on-Island events. There was the fear of being held captive by Team Widmore, juxtaposed against the joy and resolution of her reunion with Jin. I’m going to mention further juxtapositions as we go along here, so just keep these in mind.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You Be Betty. I’ll Play Joe.</span><br />Sawyer and Kate’s pointed back-and-forth, where they questioned each other’s hidden agendas, was a reflection of their on-Island story. They bickered and poked, but ultimately ended up estranged. Their relationship is a non-factor. He’s the cop. She’s the con. And that’s as far as it goes – just like the Island, where try as they might to end up together, it’s not in the cards.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Words Hit Much Harder Than The Bullet From a Gun</span><br />Sawyer and Kate’s interrogation is interrupted by Miles, who has a new case to crack and needs help from James. They chase down Sayid at Nadia’s house, who tries to flee the scene, only to be thwarted by Detective James Ford’s Rubber Hose of Justice. Oh man that sounded wrong.<br /><br />So Sayid’s on his way downtown. Where does this leave us? I’ll get back to that one, too.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Memories Enhance The Way That You Feel</span><br />Then it was time for Claire. Poor, sweet, Claire. She survived a cab ride with fugitive Kate after a tumultuous, third-trimester, ocean-crossing flight. And she’s finally arrived to the climax of her bittersweet mission: the adoption agency.<br /> <br />But not so fast. Desmond intervenes, trying to prevent Claire from getting into an “irreversible” situation with the adoption and imploring her to see his lawyer. And his lawyer is alternate Ilana! She does have a purpose – and just like in the Island world, it’s looking after candidates.<br /> <br />This time, the candidate is Jack and she’s been tasked with executing his father’s will – which means tracking down the mysterious “Claire Littleton” named in it. That mission accomplished, she calls a meeting with Jack, who finally meets his sister before being called away for some emergency spinal surgery. Claire is thus deserted at Ilana & Associates, LLC, and not privy to the grand cosmos reunion at the hospital. Why? You guessed it. I’m getting there later. Soon, I promise.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Give Me Some Time To Get On Your Mind</span><br />Finally, we see the long-awaited, pre-destined surgery with Jack operating on Locke. The fact that Jack saw Locke's face (and not his own) in that mirror is something I'm using as further ammunition to my theory that they are the new Jacob and Man in Black, respectively. Jack didn't see himself because he's already found himself. Same goes for Locke.<br /><br />Their meeting happened - not by choice, but by circumstance; but the important thing is, it happened. Whatever happens, happens. That Faraday battle cry is starting to ring truer and truer, and I believe it’s intent is not limited to time travel.<br /><br />As the parallels between the on-Island and alternate storylines showed last night, there are certain things that, damn it, are just going to happen. Sun and Jin will reunite amid turmoil, Jack will be called into action and relied upon to come through in the clutch, Kate’s a fugitive, Sawyer a well-intentioned man with a wild streak and the list goes on and on.<br /><br />I think it goes to show that, whether you’re traveling through time or hurtling sideways through space, there are certain undeniable aspects of our core essence. Those aspects create circumstances which are equally unavoidable. And they shape character that transcends time and space. At least, according to LOST.<br /><br />It does, anyway, for most of them. But for some, the path is not so clear. For the souls that have been claimed, there are some very serious roadblocks.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Waking Life</span><br /></div>Okay, I’ve promised to touch on Sayid’s incarceration, Claire’s inclusion on Team Sawyer and exclusion from the hospital and Locke’s use of past tense. See a pattern here?<br /><br />Claimed souls with “irreversible” conditions. That’s an amalgamation of some of the terminology that’s been applied to Locke, Sayid and Claire. I think what it means, and what we’re seeing, is that these people are going to be denied from “connecting” with their alternate selves. All three of them have failed to connect – at least so far.<br /><br />And all three of them are in pretty dire circumstances in the alternate reality. Claire is marooned in a drab boardroom, the future of her baby up in the air and her relationship with her half-brother further and further estranged. Sayid is incarcerated. And John Locke is in the grips of some life-threatening injuries, and already seems resigned to succumbing to those injuries, hence his used of "was" when speaking about marrying Helen.<br /><br />Compare that to their on-Island doppelgangers. Claire is unwanted; damaged goods; left by Sawyer to rot on the Island with her dark thoughts and her poop baby. Sayid is imprisoned by the debt he’s racking up in his dealings with Flocke. And Locke is, well, dead.<br /><br />My takeaway/theory of the night, after watching The Last Recruit, is that these damned souls – purposeless Locke, childless Claire and Nadia-less Sayid – won’t be able to make the leap to their alternate selves. They'll be left to rot in the Island prison, a punishment for allowing themselves to be claimed by dark, sinister forces.<br /><br />But I think what we’ll see is Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Sun and Jin being given the opportunity (thanks in large part to Desmond) to choose what lives they want to lead. Jack will opt to stay on the Island and take over for Jacob. His friends will choose to leap, and leave Jack to protect the Island from the evils of the Man in Black.<br /> <br />The Man in Black, trapped forever in Locke’s body, will stay to oppose newly-faithful Jack. Locke will be allowed to "live on" as the Man in Black, since it was just his body (not his soul) that was claimed. And Sayid and Claire will either serve as his minions or die before they have the chance to do more damage.<br /><br />But perhaps the lesson that underscores this possible outcome is something that can tie together good and evil, as well as fate and free will. Those who choose good (Jack, Sawyer, Sun, Jin and Hurley) are given the luxury of free will in order to choose to live the life they want most. But those who choose evil (Sayid and Claire – and Locke’s body) are doomed to a dark, foreboding fate.<br /><br />Which begs the question… what the hell are they gonna do with Frank “Chesty” Lapidus?<br /><br />Namaste. <br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-48994070599827485182010-04-19T22:32:00.002-05:002010-04-19T22:37:57.830-05:00Let the games begin.We’re on the homestretch, folks.<br /><br />Tonight, get ready for “The Last Recruit.”<br /><br />As we’ve heard throughout the season, Flocke has been attempting to recruit people to be charter members of Team Flocke. His first recruit was Sawyer, who joined up after Flocke visited him (and enjoyed a brew or two) in the barracks. For the last several episodes, the numbers on Team Flocke have increased fairly rapidly (sure, it doesn’t hurt that he can turn into Smoke and kill all dissenters). And as last week’s final scene revealed, he almost has everybody he needs. Everyone is with him for a different reason. Voluntarily (Sawyer), claimed by Flocke (Sayid), fear (Cindy), and because there doesn’t seem to be a better option (Kate).<br /><br />Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the roster of Team Flocke is as follows:<br />- Sayid<br />- Claire<br />- Sawyer<br />- Jin (although he is currently otherwise occupied)<br />- Kate<br />- Cindy the flight attendant<br />- Zach and Emma<br />- Approximately 15 other Others without names<br /><br />So…per tonight’s title, who will be the last recruit?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">The options</span></div>The final scene of last week’s episode showed Hurley, Jack, Frank, and Sun arriving at Team Flocke’s camp in the middle of the jungle. Potential recruits? I think so. And convincing each member of the new class to join Team Flocke will take different strategies.<br /><br /><b>Sun</b>: My money is on Sun being the easiest to recruit. Reuniting with Jin is her purpose in life right now (followed by reuniting with her daughter, no? I’m a little irked that she hasn’t expressed any “Oh, I miss my daughter” woes…anyone else feel that way?). So, a simple “Join me and let’s go get Jin” from Flocke will have her sign on the dotted line.<br /><br /><b>Frank</b>: I love Frank, but I’m not sure if his purpose for the rest of this series will be anything deeper than pure logistics. Last I checked, Flocke doesn't know how to fly a plane. Since the plan is “fly off the island on the Ajira jet,” it seems that Frank will be a key piece of this puzzle. Flocke needs Frank to make this plan a reality. Watch for phrases like “I can’t do this without you, Frank” and “You are so important and this is your purpose.”<br /><br /><b>Hurley</b>: Hurley is in a bit of a strange place right now. If we are to believe what we saw in last week’s episode (though I don’t know exactly what to believe any more), Hurley is experiencing some traveling consciousness between the two timelines (on island and alternate). The implications? Unknown at this point. However, Hurley’s reunion with Libby in the alt-world (and subsequent realization of his <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">love</span></b> for her…yes, I said it…<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">LOVE</span></b>) will probably be a guiding force. Heading off the island and back to Libby will probably seem like a great idea to Hurley. Barring some totally opposite instructions from Jacob, I think Hurley will be a relatively easy sell.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">What about Jack?</span></div>This means Jack is the last holdout. Surprised? Me either. <br /><br />Last week’s final seconds set up (in the words of Miley Cyrus) a “hoedown throwdown” between the original complicated duo of Jack and Locke. And while both characters have changed and grown a lot since September 22, 2004, there was still a helluva lot of tension between the two. Flocke has to have everyone on that plane to actually get off the island, including Jack. Jack’s last interaction with (F)Locke was when he putting his father’s shoes on Locke’s body inside the meat cooler last season. Talk about confusing. Watch for some fancy footwork on the part of Flocke to calm Jack down to the point where he can explain what he needs to in order to keep the peace and keep the plan on track. How will he does this? Good God, I have no idea.<br /><br />But the reality is that this episode is going to be headed somewhere: Hydra Island. Conveniently, this is where Flocke will find Jin. And wadaya know: the whole gang (minus Richard, Ben, and Miles) will be back together again for the first time in a LONG time. When was the last time everyone was together? I honestly don’t even remember. Think you do? Please leave a comment…I’m curious.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">So back to the title…you really think Jack is the last recruit?</span></div>Yes, I do. Jack is a fairly polarizing character, even amongst the Dharma Blog faithful. You either love him (me) or you hate him (guess who...). However, like it or not, he has been set up from day one as the most main character this show has. It really only seems logical that in these final episodes, Jack will play a fairly significant role. And judging from the episode title, I’d say he will absolutely be the last hold out for Team Flocke…the last piece of the puzzle…the last recruit.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Disclaimers are fun!</span></div>As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Guest Starring tonight!</span></div>Andrea Gabriel as Noor “Nadia” Abed Jaseem, Sheila Kelley as Zoe (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">aka Dirty Tina Fey</span>), Kimberley Joseph as Cindy (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">aka the flight attendant</span>), Dylan Minnette as David (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">aka Jack’s son</span>), Teresa Huang as surgeon, Skyler Stone as EMT #1, Todd Coolidge as EMT #2, Yvonne Midkiff as receptionist, Christopher Amitrano as Burditt, Kasim Saul as guard, Steve Boatright as Mike, Mickey Graue as Zack and Kiersten Havelock as Emma.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Maggie’s Predictions</span></div>Let’s see…how are these characters all connected? Surgeon…EMT #1…EMT #2…hmm. It’s coming to me. Hold on. Wait for it…got it! Sounds rather “Alt-Timeline Hospital”, don’t you think?<br /><br />It is beyond likely that we’re headed to visit Dr. Jack Shepherd at his place of employment tonight. After all, we’ve had two fairly traumatic accidents in the last two episodes. You’ll remember Sun was shot in Hell’s Kitchen two weeks back, uttering the tragic words “I’m pregnant” to Jin as he rushed her out of the restaurant. And then last week’s crazy parking lot scene, where wheelchair-bound Locke was darn near run over by Desmond. Oh, and Nadia probably fits in because her husband (Sayid’s brother) is likely still at the hospital, recovering from his thug beating.<br /><br />So. There’s that.<br /><br />I do want to point out that David Minnette’s return as Jack’s son (aka child prodigy) is rather interesting. Take your child to work day? Waiting for Dad to finish up work and take him to piano rehearsal? Mom has to drop off son with ex-husband because she has a (ahem) prior engagement? While it certainly isn’t the biggest fish to fry right now, let’s be somewhat prepared for a reveal about the identity of David’s Mom tonight. Crucial to the storyline? Not at all. Possibly intriguing and ironic? Absolutely. Lots of theories about whom this mystery woman is, ranging from Mrs. Phil Dunphy (Jack’s ex-wife, Sarah, who is now on <i>Modern Family</i>…and is brilliantly hilarious) to Ana-Lucia Cortez.<br /><br />Most common prediction I’ve seen: Juliet. <br /><br />Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">TV Guide says…</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Alliances are forged and broken as the Locke and Jack camps merge.</i></div><br />Well, I could have written that one. Alliances are the name of the game from here on out. Who do you trust? Who do you follow? Jack’s entrance into Team Flocke’s camp will probably cause a few people (read: Kate) to second guess whose side they are really on. And I bet Kate won’t be the only person to consider pulling a flippy-floppy.<br /><br />Team Jack and Team Flocke are geographically back together, but that’s about it at this point. And team assimilation won’t happen in five minutes. We’re definitely going to get disagreements about the best course of action (perhaps harkening back to the poignant glory days arguments between Jack and Locke in the first several seasons). I’m not sure how it is all going to shake down, but I can pretty much guarantee that the party is going to start to move to Hydra Island by the end of the episode, where Widmore is waiting and ready to fight.<br /><br />Let the games begin.<br /><br />Namaste,<br />MaggieUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-63230667595928588382010-04-14T01:22:00.009-05:002010-04-14T10:05:15.488-05:00Large and in Charge<span style="font-weight: bold;">LOST. Season Six. Episode Twelve: Everybody Loves Hugo</span><br /><br />After the best Hurley-centric episode in LOST’s six-year run, I think there’s only one thing we can say.<br /><br />Dude.<br /><br />I loved it. It was all the joy and pain of a Hurley episode, set amidst the most profound depths of the Island enigma. We got straightforward answers (the whispers), escalating conflict (Jack and Locke’s impending monumental meeting) and Hurley, breaking on through to the other side. Plus, Desmond ran over Locke with his car. Loved it. Let’s chat.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">On the Wings of Love</span><br /></div>Alternate Hurley’s got it all. The adoration of his community, freedom from his curses and all the fried chicken he can eat. But even with Pierre Chang – LOST’s venerable narrator – extolling his virtues to a charity ball, Mrs. Reyes wanted more for her son: a girlfriend. The donor of museum wings and consumer of chicken wings was without a wind beneath his own.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Elimidate</span><br />But his first blind date is a no-show, opening the door for his grand awakening. He didn’t need a girl. He needed <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> girl. Libby, who drops the bombshell on him that he (more innocently) dropped on her in season two: “I know you from somewhere.” But, this time, it’s Hurley who’s in the dark.<br /><br />Though not completely. While he wants to believe his new friend is a nut-job, he can’t quite commit to it. Even after he sees his old friend Dr. Brooks shuttle her into the Santa Rosa short bus, he still holds out hope. And when he visits Dr. Brooks and learns she is indeed certifiably insane, he drops $100K to find out for himself. Why? Because somewhere in the depths of his oversized, fast-beating heart, lies a soft-spot that transcends alternate realities; an empathy for people who believe in themselves, even when they’re told they’re crazy.<br /><br />And given the chance to explain, Libby does. Her alternate life – plane crash, Island, their relationship and all – and the idea she can’t escape, that she knows him from somewhere. Crazy as it sounds, he can’t dismiss it, and he asks for a date.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Welcome to the Club</span><br />I thought it fitting that Libby served as the link Desmond needed. Just as she bailed him out with a sailboat in their first interaction, this time, she left the door of “what if” cracked open. And Desmond, the great awakener of souls, was there to pull it open a little further with some encouraging words at the chicken shack. Libby gives an inch, Desmond takes a mile.<br /><br />And Hurley takes a chance. On their date, they kiss, and flashes of a fleeting love from a “bizarro, alternate universe” awaken Hurley. The same hope for love that served as an epiphany for Desmond, Charlie and Faraday illuminates Hurley. “I don’t think you’re crazy,” he reassures her, granting her the very same reassurance he so desperately sought himself in his Island life.<br /><br />What is it about love that opens the gateway into alternate self recognition? We’ve seen four characters experience the epiphany that a different version of themselves exists, and each has come to that realization only after experiencing “real, consciousness-altering love.” Part of me wonders if it harkens back the “constant” concept. Remember, Desmond was only able to ground his time-traveling conscious mind by anchoring it to Penny in two separate time periods. Perhaps that constancy is what alternate souls also require for recognition, realization and reconciliation. It is, after all, the most powerful of all emotions – or so my lame girlfriend tells me! (Kidding, darling). But it actually makes sense, on a not-totally-sappy level. Love is a unique emotion, one of the few that can alter actual behavior. We’ve all had a friend who has been changed by a new love interest. That’s what’s happening to these four gents, but on a much deeper, existential level.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I'll Go Where Hugo</span><br /></div>That beach team, Jacob Bless Them, is the most lost of all parties. Between Richard’s crisis of faith, Ilana’s desperation, Jack’s forced apathy, Hurley’s wanderlust and Ben’s dark cynicism, they’re running around like chickens with their necks snapped off by John Locke. Somebody needed to step up, and last night, Hurley wobbled up from his sitting position and took charge.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Boom Goes the Dynamite</span><br />Dude. You got some Ilana on you. The more things change, the more they stay the same. And any remaining hope that Richard and Ilana had a clue as to what to do got literally blown to pieces last night. Pieces of Ilana. Her carcass. She died. And rather unceremoniously, I might add.<br /><br />Did you notice Hurley pick up that little bag from Ilana’s stash? I think that was the bag of ashes Ilana collected from Jacob’s fiery grave. It seemed like that find empowered Hurley, imbuing him with a new brand of confidence. And it showed. The comic book clown did what nerds can only dream of – he dove into the narrative head-first and did what he wanted to do. Enough following, enough reading, enough waiting. Hurley will take it form here.<br /><br />To establish ownership and dominance, dogs pee on things. LOST characters, on the other hand, blow shit up. Locke with his submarine, Jack with his tents, and now Hurley, with the Black Rock. With the group’s attention firmly fixed on him, Hurley then initiates his power play: a fake communion with Jacob complete with new instructions. Even when Richard calls his bluff, Hurley stands his ground. And the schism is thus formed. Ben follows Richard, presumably out of habit. Jack and Sun follow fellow candidate Hurley. And Lapidus and Miles split up, in order to maintain the necessary “one snarky guy” quota required in all LOST sub-groupings.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cease to Begin</span><br />Quick side note: did you catch that implication again? The one so eloquently worded by Widmore a few weeks back and reiterated by Richard tonight? When Richard and Widmore warn about the MIB’s escape, they talk about the world being “over,” or “ceasing to exist.” Not, “everyone dies” or “we’re all in trouble” – but cease to exist. I think this semantic subtlety is important. One way or another, MIB’s escape wipes out the existence and memories of a given timeline, a given reality. Perhaps MIB’s escape erases the storyline we’ve seen for the past five years, and that’s what some are trying to prevent. Some, but not Desmond. Maybe he’s trying to circumvent that erasure by uploading everyone’s minds into their more-perfect-world: alternate reality world. Hey, it’s midnight!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Can We Fix It? Ahh, Who Cares</span><br />Post-schism, I loved the chat between Jack and the Fat Man. Jack’s “fix-it” fever seems to be breaking. “All I’ve wanted was to fix it. But I can’t. I can’t ever fix it….I think maybe that’s the point. Maybe I’m supposed to let go.” Finally, Jack is learning to sit back and accept his fate. The physician is healing himself of his worst addiction. And even when Hurley doubted his own intuition and gave Jack a chance to take the lead, Jack bit his tongue. He didn’t bite like he did with Ben’s offer to “fix” the situation by reuniting the Oceanic Six. He shut his trap, sat back and trusted Hurley. Perhaps this is the revelation, the acceptance, that Jacob has been waiting for Jack to realize. Maybe new humble Jack is ready to do what Jacob needs. About damn time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One, Mike</span><br />Hurley’s right to hate Michael Dawson for killing his woman. But last night, Michael attempted to atone. Visiting in ghost form, Michael attempted to guide Hurley in his new quest for leadership. And I think he served as an important “anchor” or “touchstone” for Hurley. Just as Libby burst into Hurley’s alternate life, she was also carefully woven into his Island story, thanks to Michael’s continued ghostly presence. If my earlier “constant” theory is to be believed, Michael helped Hurley establish Libby as a necessary facet of his Island life, a touchstone he needed in order to “break through” in his alternate life.<br /><br />And Michael also did us the favor of confirming the nature of the “whispers,” one of LOST’s oldest mysteries. They belong to people who are trapped on the Island, who “can’t move on” because of the horrible things they’ve done. For Michael, that crime was murdering Libby and Ana Lucia.<br /><br />But back up. Didn’t Christian Shephard appear to Michael just before the Kahana exploded and tell him he “could go now”? (Yes, he did.) Why would Christian tell Michael he was absolved, or freed to move on, if the Island was just going to ensnare him for eternity? Also, what a cruel punishment to relegate Michael to merely whispering “Waaaaalt,” thus denying the other whisper-prisoners an eternity of hearing that young man’s named yelled gratingly at the top of his lungs. For shame.<br /><br />Sorry, I digressed. But what’s with Christian, Michael and the Whisperers? Perhaps Christian is one of them – their leader, perhaps – and he manipulated Michael into death in order to recruit him to his team. Why though? What purpose do these people serve? Quick theory: they’re held in Island purgatory, made to guide the Island’s inhabitants down a righteous path, and if they succeed, they’re free. Christian Shephard. I know we’re not done with him. I hope that whatever they use to explain him also explains this new legion of whisper spirits. The more I think about them, the more intrigued I become.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Package Transfer</span><br /></div>Flocke began the night by giving his own version of Jack’s Season One sermon on the beach. Only this time, it’s Leave Together, Die Alone. He explains that they must leave in the same way they entered – together. The other candidates are needed in order to complete his escape. But that’ll have to wait for another day, because Flocke has bigger fish to fry, brother.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Special Delivery</span><br />Sayid shows his package to Locke. Wait, let me rephrase that. Sayid brings “the package” (Desmond) to Locke. And like a checkers player that just got kinged, Flocke licks his chops at the possibilities of his new weapon. But Desmond, still aloof, proves enigmatic and unafraid. So Flocke continues the great trend of Season Six. “Let me show you something,” he says to the man who has a whole flight manifest of people he, himself, needs to show something in an alternate universe. (I just reread that sentence. The hell?).<br /><br />If anything upset me about last night, it was the realization that we haven’t had enough Desmond-Locke scenes. Man, they’re great together.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That Kid is On The Escalator Again!</span><br />And by escalator, I mean Island.<br /><br />En route to the well, we see another vision of (presumably) the same kid that showed himself to Sawyer and Flocke earlier in the season. But holy crap, this kid ages faster than Walt! Waaaaalt!<br /><br />I like this kid. I like his knowing smile, the way he just seems to take pleasure in throwing Flocke off his game. When Desmond asked who the kid was, Flocke bristled and insisted they moved on. The kid smiled widely, as if everything is going according to plan. As if he took joy in inciting anger within Flocke.<br /><br /> And who likes making Flocke angry? Jacob. I want to believe that kid is an apparition of younger Jacob. I also want to believe he’s the aging apparition of some higher entity – a boss or a referee in Jacob and MIB’s cosmic chess match. And I go back and forth on these things. But hear this – had the boy’s only appearance been the one earlier this season, I could’ve written him off. But last night marked his second appearance, and I therefore deem him “probably important,” which is one of the highest honors I can bestow on a character.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Well Shit</span><br />Flocke’s speech to Desmond at the well is an instant classic.<br /><br />I loved Desmond's pacifist aloofness throughout the episode, and he brought it to a boil at the well. Flocke tried to scare him by showing how deep the well was, and Desmond didn’t flinch. He tried to impress him wiht the history of the well, and Desmond laughed him off. He tried to badmouth Widmore and pit Desmond against him, to no avail. He even tried to freak him out by hinting at a Swan-like electromagnetic anomaly beneath the well, but quickly saw that nothing was getting through. “Why aren’t you afraid?” Flocke finally asks Desmond. He needed to know, because fear is the easiest emotion for Flocke to exploit. The MIB probably knows how special Desmond is, and knows that if he can get him on his side, he’s got the upper hand. But Desmond isn’t flinching. He’s not giving him anything to exploit. At every turn, Desmond shuts the door. And Flocke wants to know why, and how, Desmond can do that. “Why aren’t you afraid (damn it!)?”<br /><br />“What’s the point in being afraid?” asks Desmond. Flustered Flocke flings Desmond down the well and walks off. (“That’s the point, you arrogant, time-traveling bastard!”).<br /><br />So why wasn’t Desmond afraid? I think it’s because he just doesn’t care. Let me put it this way. If you knew that there was a version of you, somewhere, that was being put through torturous paces, caught in the middle of an age-old pissing match between entities you didn’t comprehend, and you knew that every attempt at betterment you made was futile, would you care if he was thrown down a well? I wouldn’t. Not if I was simultaneously, consciously aware of an alternate existence where I was rich, powerful, well-liked and had just met the girl of my dreams. I think that’s the explanation of Desmond’s uncaring attitude. He’s willing to sacrifice his Island self, because he’s making his alternate self into the Desmond Hume he wants to be. One flaw in this logic: baby Charlie. He doesn’t exist in the alternate timeline; so Desmond would then be betting that he could “recreate” (giggity) his son with Penny in his new, alternate life.<br /><br />We’ll see what becomes of Desmond in that well, but I don’t think it’s going anywhere good. The good news is, I don’t think it matters. Because in the world that matters to Desmond, revenge is already his.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We Have Company</span><br />I loved Hurley leading his group to “talk” with Flocke. I love it and believe in it more than Hurley does, actually. And I thought the convergence of these two camps was, in a way, a metaphor for the way our two realities are beginning to converge. Finally, the show that can’t keep all its characters in the same time/place/space/universe is putting all the cards (characters) on the table (campsite).<br /><br />At the end of the scene, Locke muttered, “Hello, Jack,” with the same inflection and casualness he did in Season One. But this time around, the meeting’s going to be a lot uglier. Jack and Locke, reunited, for one last battle between faith and science. That’ll be a good one.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Faith in Fast Cars</span><br /></div>Then Desmond hit Locke with his car.<br /><br />So that happened. Desmond, violating Megan’s law to the disgust of Dr. Linus, watches John Locke wheel his way around the grounds of the middle school. He guns it and plows into poor, helpless alternate Locke. And we left “Everybody Loves Hugo” with almost the identical shot that opened John Locke’s first episode, Walkabout, in which it was revealed he was paralyzed.<br /><br />A glorious ending to a glorious scene, but why did that just happen?<br /><br />My answer to that assumes that Desmond is consciously experiencing both realities, at the same time. Get that? He’s aware of what’s happening to him on the Island, and just as aware of his conversation with Hurley at Mr. Clucks.<br /><br />Desmond told the MIB last night that he believed him to be John Locke. “Of course I know you who you are.” I don’t think that was a bluff. I don’t think Desmond knew who he was dealing with. But after Flocke’s desperate attempts at fear-mongering and his violent Scot-Toss, Desmond knew he was not a good guy. So what the Island Desmond learned, the Alternate Desmond also learned. And Alternate Desmond knew he had to even the score by taking out Alternate Locke. So he hit him with his car.<br /><br />But he didn’t kill him. Probably. At the very least, he didn’t seem to care if Locke was killed or maimed. He just wanted to hurt him. And that’s where this gets tricky. If Desmond had killed Locke, I would’ve assumed that he did it in order to prevent MIB from “escaping” into Alternate Locke’s body or using it for some sinister purpose. But he didn’t kill him, he just messed him up real bad. Why?<br /><br />Well here’s a stab at it. Most people in the Alternate World have it better than their Island counterpart. Yeah, they’ve got some shortcomings, but mostly they’re better off. So most of our characters would gladly ditch their Island selves in favor of their Alternate selves, right? Right.<br /><br />But some of the Island souls are “claimed.” Locke, Sayid, Claire. If I’m Desmond, I don’t want these claimed souls making their way into my Alternate Universe Utopia. So perhaps Desmond – in addition to awakening good souls like Hurley – is on a mission to maim and disparage the vessels of those whose souls have been claimed on the Island. Desmond learned that Locke was evil on the Island, so he went after him, aiming to create an undesirable vessel into which Island Locke could escape. By that logic, he’d need to also “mess with” Alternate Sayid and Alternate Claire (d’oh! If only he’d known that when he saw her in the airport).<br /><br />Yeah, it’s a long-shot, I realize it. But I’ve been up for 20 straight hours and flew halfway across the country today, so you’ll read it and like it. And if you think you can do better, I’d like to hear you try.<br /><br />No, seriously. I wasn’t being a sarcastic jerk. Click on “comments” and let’s discuss what Desmond’s rundown of Locke meant to his overall mission, and any other thoughts you had on the episode.<br /> <br />In the meantime, I’m gonna hit the hay.<br /><br />Namaste.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-55899447461066068562010-04-12T22:30:00.003-05:002010-04-12T22:36:53.412-05:00Countdown: 5 left.Aaaaand we’re back. Have you slept since last week’s Desmond episode? Yeah, me either. Err…I mean. What?<br /><br />Welcome back to the Dharma Blog for another exciting episode! This week, we’ve got “<i>Everybody Loves Hugo</i>.” Remember when the writers pulled a fast one on us earlier this season with “<i>What Kate Does</i>,” paying homage to the season 1 episode “<i>What Kate Did</i>”? Well, consider yourself winked at again, as this week’s episode harkens back to seasons past again. Don’t remember it? Season 2: “<i>Everybody Hates Hugo</i>.”<br /><br />Unless you’re Charlie, you probably haven’t watched that season 2 episode in awhile. And that’s okay. And that’s healthy. Ahem. But as a quick refresher: Hurley was in charge of all of the food that had been found inside of the Swan, and instead of making decisions about who got what, he kept it a secret. And people got mad. Oh, and flashback Hurley won the lottery. And the end on-island was a big feast where they ate all the food…and after all was said and done, everybody DID love Hurley. Ah, wonderful.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">So what does it mean for tonight?</span></div>So far this season, we’ve had a pretty good vibe from alt-Hurley. Life seems good. See: drives a hummer (epitome of cool, right Charlie?). See also: he told alt-Locke he’d give him a job. But, in keeping with the tradition of most of the alt-timelines we have seen, ‘perfect’ may not be everything it seems. What is wrong? Well, in keeping with the <b>ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE</b> theory from last week’s episode, I’m guessing <b>LOVE</b> is missing.<br /><br />Yes, I know. Maybe a stretch. Sure, Hurley didn’t have a “Penny.” Rather, he had a Libby…a pretty creepy, pretty bizarre lady who gave Hurley quite a bit of confidence. That is, until Michael shot her. And she died. And Hurley was really sad. <br /><br />So, maybe in a weird way, “<i>Everybody Loves Hugo</i>” is not entirely true…because no <i>one</i> is really in LOVE with him. Make sense?<br /><br />A stretch, sure. But it’s what I’ve got.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Time for The Disclaimer! Again!</span></div>As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Tonight’s Guest Stars are…</span></div>Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Harold Perrineau as Michael, Cynthia Watros as Libby, Francois Chau as Pierre Chang, Lillian Hurst as Carmen Reyes, Bruce Davison as Dr. Douglas Brooks, Kenton Duty as teenage boy, Samm Levine as clerk, Jesse Smith as waiter and Archie Ahuna as Tito.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Hey-o…more dead people.</span></div>Yikes! Charlie and Daniel returned from the dead last week to guide Desmond toward the realization that things in alt-world were not as they seemed. And this week, it looks like Michael and Libby are up for some from-the-grave guiding. Then again, Island Hurley talks to dead people. So, maybe he is just going to talk to their spirits on-island? I suppose there is an equal chance of appearance by Michael and Libby in either place.<br /><br />It is interesting to note that Michael and Libby both played serious roles in Hurley’s pre-seaosn-6 life (in the same way that Charlie and Daniel Faraday-Widmore had significant impacts on Des’s life). If Michael hadn’t killed Libby, who knows where the Hurley-Libby love affair would have gone? So, no matter when or where these walking-dead appear, it will be significant to Hurley because of the past.<br /><br />Pierre Chang is an interesting throw-in to this cast list. Ironic alt-timeline appearance? Probably. But come to think of it, we have no idea what happened to Pierre after the Jughead explosion. Was the Purge the end of the road for him? Or did he somehow escape the island? And with five episodes left, does any of this really matter? I’m leaning towards no, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Pierre Chang/Marvin Candle because he has been this funny, ambiguous Dharma guy in the videos for so long. Is it too much to ask for a nice house in the alt-suburbs for this guy? Probably…<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">TV Guide Says…</span></div><i>Hurley agonizes over what the group should do next, and Locke is curious about the new arrival to his camp.<br /></i><br />Hurley is definitely in an interesting situation right now on-island. He is the only person able to communicate with Jacob. Yet, this position of power goes against his natural instinct…which is, how to say it, not leader-y. Sure, he is growing into it a bit (see: great scene with Richard and dead-Isabella), but he’s not completely comfortable with it. So, it would make sense that he would have some agony about directions he continues to receive from Jacob. Does he pay attention to it? Does he ignore it? Does he tell anyone? <br /><br />I bet Hurley is going to continue to do what Jacob is asking, coming to terms with the fact that he might not be popular for doing it (see: Jack will be upset). When we were last with Team Jacob et. al., they were off to Hydra to apparently destroy the Ajira plane so MIB could not leave. Does Jacob tell him to stop the mission because someone is going to die? Does Jacob agree with the decision to destroy 316? Because there will definitely be tension (five episodes left = Jacob disagrees with the plan), I bet Jacob says "stop to save lives that will be lost in the mission." (Outrigger scene resolution from last season? Anyone? Anyone??) So Hurley will be agonizing about completing the mission or saving the lives. Poor Hurley: leadership is tough.<br /><br />And what about Flocke’s newest team member? That’d be Desmond, brutha’!! And that’s going to be exciting. Desmond went <i>very</i> easily with Sayid at the end of the episode last week…<i>curiously</i> easy, one might say. Perhaps Flocke is wondering how the mission to retrieve Desmond went so well. Perhaps he is trying to figure out whose side Des is really on, and what his mission really is…<br /><br />It will be SO interesting to see how Desmond interacts with the survivor folk trudging along with MIB. Will he remember them? Will he interact with them? Will he fill them in on the plan? <br /><br />Ooooh, it could be good.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Parting Thoughts</span></div>Hurley’s flashback in season 2 was the last of the regular cast member flashbacks to be shown. And I think there will be some parallels tonight in that this might be the last character-centric alternate episode (wow, did I just say that? Confusing myself.). After tonight, we might be headed towards all-character-centric episodes to finish this story and this series. <br /><br />So will tonight be the final character-centric episode of Lost…(gulp)…ever? <br /><br />Maybe.<br /><br />How sad is that? Man, my heart hurts.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">And…go!</span></div>It’s not over yet! Stop crying, Charlie! And comment away!!<br /><br />Namaste,<br />MaggieUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-77581060895687494252010-04-06T23:54:00.004-05:002010-04-07T09:56:50.778-05:00Out the Window<span style="font-weight: bold;">LOST. Season Six. Episode Eleven: Happily Ever After</span><br /><br />While every episode of LOST’s final season has (mostly) satisfied me, each one has also left me a little bit empty, with varying degrees of the feeling, “Okay, cool. So what?”<br /><br />Last night, LOST turned a corner, with a Darlton-penned, Desmond-centric, mostly-straightforward window into how, exactly, the alternate reality we’ve been shown will impact and be impacted by the story we’ve spent five years digesting. Into that window flew possibilities of reconciliation and resolution. And out of that window flew everything I thought I knew about where Season Six was headed. Let’s get after it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Up And Atom!</span><br />Every good episode starts with someone’s eye opening. This one did, as Desmond awoke from the coma induced by Team Widmore. Sadly, the first thing he saw when he woke up was Dirty Tina Fey. We learned that Widmore – perhaps tipped off by Ben’s warning phone call to him from the pier – knew Desmond would be vulnerable in the hospital, and used that moment to seize him for his master plan.<br /><br />As Widmore catches Desmond up on the events of the last few days, Hume’s lip twitches with rage, eventually boiling over into a short-lived beatdown of his nemesis. Desmond demands to be returned to Penny, at which point Widmore channels his estranged wife Eloise, telling Desmond, “I can’t take you back, the Island isn’t done with you yet.” Indeed it isn’t.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Testing, 1, 2, 3.</span><br />Widmore informs Zoe to prematurely “start the test,” which takes place in the newest version of an Island mystery box. Test one failed due to a generator problem. Test two succeeded – in killing a Widmore flunky who was in the wrong electromagnetic hotbox at the wrong time. And test three? That one was for Desmond, who was dragged unwittingly into the mystery box, past the charred remains of an unlucky lab rat.<br /><br />But Widmore knew – or was pretty sure – that Desmond wouldn’t suffer the same fate as that poor chap. First, he warned his new subject that after the test, he would need Desmond to make a sacrifice. When Desmond claimed Widmore knew nothing of sacrifice, Charles retorted by lamenting his estrangement from his daughter, his isolation from his grandson and his son’s death. Touche, Chuck.<br /><br />So what was Widmore testing Desmond for? As he told Jin, “That man is the only person I’m aware of in the world who has survived a catastrophic electromagnetic event. I need to know that he can do it again, or we all die.” Clear as mud. And with that, Widmore flipped the switch, and Desmond’s mind was fried into another life…brutha.<br /><br />If you’re one of those people who frets LOST’s “mystery box” method of storytelling – in which a giant reveal is shrouded in a metaphorical mystery box – this scene should have assuaged your fears. LOST literally opened the box, showed us what was inside and explained it to us. I get the feeling a lot more mystery boxes are going to be opened in the coming weeks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning</span><br />The electromagnetic mystery box catapulted Desmond’s consciousness not forward or backward in time – the way the Swan implosion did – but sideways. He “awoke” in LAX (or LA[space]X, if you will), and Hurley wasted no time dropping a little metaphorical wink in the form of an accursed number, telling Desmond that his bags were on carousel four.<br /><br />After befriending poor, helpless, pregnant Claire – and casually predicting her baby will be a boy with an eerie, confident, certainty – Desmond meets up with his driver. And lo and behold, it’s our old friend George Minkowski, the communications expert from the Kahana freighter who, in this reality, is a sleezy limo driver who can hook you up with anything from a restaurant reservation to a restaurant reservation with a happy ending.<br /><br />But Desmond wants none of what George is selling. This Desmond is markedly different. The man who couldn’t beg for a job in his “other life” was now the #2 in a global corporation. He was not distracted by lovelorn exploits, or bogged down by inadequacies. This was a confident, smiling, suave Desmond Hume, making pregnant Aussies swoon and dropping some ABC (“Always Be Closin’”) in Sydney. So this Desmond had it all figured out, right? Not quite. His happiness was superficial, material, fleeting. And while he may not <span style="font-style: italic;">thought</span> he had a problem with that, the series of events about to unfold would prove to him otherwise.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oh, Dream Weaver. I Believe You Can Get Me Through the Night.</span><br />Widmore gives Desmond the assignment of babysitting a rock God who had OD’d en route to performing a benefit show with his son, organized by his wife. Not one to piss off the man he’s spent his whole alternate life trying to please, Desmond agrees. And to thank him, Widmore pours one out for his homie, offering him a shot of scotch from the same bottle that – in another time and place – he claimed Desmond was unworthy of sipping from. Ahh, MacCutcheon’s, you great diviner of worthiness.<br /><br />Charlie and Desmond then sit down for a drink of their own. Charlie goes on to recount the long, strange trip that was his near-death experience on Oceanic 815, complete with an other-worldly vision of a woman who he knew he loved, even though he’d never seen her. Charlie challenges Desmond’s perception of his own happiness, asking if he’s ever been in “spectactular, consciousness-altering love.” (Nice choice of words, by the way). Charlie describes his dream girl as “Blond, raptuously beautiful. And I know her. We’re together. It’s like, we’ve always been and always will be. This feeling, this love.”<br /><br />The vision (of Claire, no doubt) was interrupted by Jack-ass, who ruins everything for everyone in every timeline. You could see Desmond shaken a bit by this. Here was this complete stranger, exposing in him a deep insecurity about the quality of his happiness. Desmond tries to brush it off, posing an offer to Charlie to either keep drinking and end his music career or come with him and thrive. Not much of a choice, eh? “There’s always a choice, brutha.”<br /><br />Seriously, between Charlie referencing “conscious-altering love,” and Desmond positing that there’s “always a choice,” it’s as if our characters are beginning to channel each other in ways they don’t even understand. In a way, this predestined quantum entanglement that brought them all together on the Island has become a part of their hard-wiring, with each character subconsciously drawing on the philosophies and personalities of each other as if it were in their DNA all along. Desmond never gave a lab rat’s time-traveling ass about the power of “choice.” And Charlie “conscious-altering love” Pace was in bed with a heroine addict and two chicks at the same time, man, before getting on Oceanic 815. But their experiences with each other have altered their modus operandi, in ways subtle and monumental. It’s even why Jack became a man of faith – he learned it from Locke, whether he likes it or not. And it’s all pretty cool to see. As we’d later find out, perhaps that bleeding of personality traits wasn’t done on an entirely subconscious level.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You All, Everyb – (Gurgle, Gurgle, Gurgle)</span><br />Desmond and Charlie hit the road, blasting some Driveshaft, when Charlie again tells Desmond he feels sorry for him. “Why?” asks Desmond, ”Is none of this real?” Another loaded question, which Charlie answered by yanking the car into the nearest harbor, in an effort to “teach” Desmond something.<br /><br />Desmond swims up to catch air, then descends again to save Charlie. While Desmond looks at him through the passenger window, Charlie puts his hand up to the glass, almost knowingly. Desmond, caught momentarily between worlds, sees a flash of the words, “Not Penny’s Boat,” on Charlie’s hand – the same scene that played out just before Charlie’s death. It was a carbon copy of Charlie's death scene, as he once again tried to guide Desmond with a last-ditch, suicidal effort. Only this time, Charlie was saved.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I Don’t Wanna Die in a Hospital, You Gotta Take Me Back Outside</span><br />Desmond and Charlie are taken to the hospital, where Desmond undergoes an MRI to examine his “hallucinations.” While the MRI scans Desmond brain, Desmond himself scans his own consciousness. And he digs deep, seeing flashes of Charlie’s drowning, Penny and baby Charlie.<br /><br />Freaked out, he flees, looking for Charlie – and some damned answers. Just then, Charlie runs out in a hospital gown, looking for an exit. He blows by Dr. Jack Shephard, interrupting his nicety-laden reunion with Desmond. Desmond chases him down and asks to see his hands, before demanding to know who Penny is. At that point, Charlie knows, Desmond has “crossed over.” He “felt it,” and Charlie can finally explain to Desmond what he’s been trying to tell him all along, that, “This doesn’t matter, none of this matters. All that matters is that we felt it…if I were you, I’d stop worrying about me, and start looking for Penny.” Translation: stop worrying about pleasing your boss, or making money. Go find love.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Event Planning</span><br />Desmond goes to break the Driveshaft news to Widmore’s wife, explaining that the rock gods won’t be able to attend her son’s Super Sweet Thirty-Three Party. There’s something off about that whole first meeting. Eloise seems to be playing along, but even drops the winking line, “It’s a travesty we haven’t met before. It’s about time.”<br /><br />It’s not until Desmond hears the name “Penny” being read off a guest list that Eloise is forced to snap into action. She pulls Desmond aside, and breaks out of her Miss Manners demeanor. And for just a second, she stopped pretending she didn’t know more than she did. “I want you to stop. Someone has clearly affected the way you see things. This is a serious problem. It is, in fact, a violation. So whatever you’re doing, whatever it is you think you’re looking for, you need to stop looking for it.”<br /><br />Whew. If you thought Eloise knew more than she was letting on at first, that line proved it. How did she know how Desmond “sees things,” and that he was being “affected.” She just met him! And what in the hell was his new way of thinking a “violation” of?<br /><br />I’m not sure, but I do know that Eloise lost her cool. She is fully aware of what people like Charlie are “feeling,” and apparently sees Desmond's realization of that feeling as dangerous. He asks to see the list again, to which she coldly replies that he’s “not ready yet,” and walks away.<br /><br />So what is Eloise Widmore protecting, or hiding? Why doesn’t she want Desmond to keep looking for meaning in his life? Why is she insistent on his being content with his shallow life? I’m not sure. Maggie theorized that she’s trying to keep that timeline in tact, because in it, her son is still alive. Maybe. I hope we’ll find out. I love Eloise’s cold, informed, controlling demeanor. She’s the anti-Jacob, using intimidation, fear and direct contact to lead people down fate’s path. Hey, maybe she’s working for the Man in Black! Or not.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">She Ain’t Penny, She’s My Sister</span><br />Before Desmond can flee that very awkward scene, he’s interrupted by ivory-tickling prodigy, Daniel Faraday, err, Widmore. In this reality, Daniel was allowed by his mother to pursue his passion for music.. And wear stupid hats.<br /><br />Daniel abruptly asks Desmond if he believes in love at first sight, then recounts a moment a few weeks earlier where he saw a red-headed woman at a museum who, “As soon as I saw her, right in that moment, it was like I already loved her. And that’s when things got weird.” Obviously, Daniel is talking about Charlotte. But what’s more interesting – okay, anything’s more interesting than Charlotte – is what happened later that night, when Faraday sleepily scrawled a complex physics equation in his moleskin notebook, one that could only be written by someone who had studied the field their entire life.<br /><br />And it’s here we learn that musician Daniel is just as bright as physicist Daniel. He’s been putting two and two together, and he realizes that the only way he could channel a lifetime of physics knowledge is to have <span style="font-style: italic;">actually experienced</span> a lifetime of physics knowledge. The more his mind wades in that pool, the more he starts recalling, including some little tidbit about a hydrogen bomb. And as he so brilliantly crystallizes it for Desmond, “What if all this wasn’t supposed to be our life? What if we had some other life, and for some reason, we changed things. I don’t want to set off a nuclear bomb, Mr. Hume. I think I already did.”<br /><br />This was the scene of the night for me. It’s the first time the alternate realities have been elevated to a level of real importance, and it even drew on the lessons of “changing things,” vs. “whatever happened, happened,” that were explored in the time travel episodes. It would seem that time travel was, in a way, just a device being used to make our characters think about what they would change about their lives if they could. That’s the quandary that was posed to Desmond last night – that maybe there was a version of himself that had found true happiness with some woman named Penny. And that the choices he had made in his life – or that someone else had made in theirs regarding the use of hydrogen bombs – had altered that life path, and sent him down a non-ideal course.<br /><br />Suddenly, Desmond was faced with the notion that his best life was out there, waiting to be lived. The notion was simultaneously uplifting and unsettling. But ultimately, Desmond knew that if there was a better life out there for him, it started with Penny. And luckily for him, the guy sitting next to him knew just where to find her. “She’s my half-sister,” Daniel conveniently revealed. And it was off to the (stair) races.<br /><br />Desmond finds Penny running the same stairs where he met Jack, and he stops her to introduce himself. I’m pretty sure if I met Sonya Walger, I’d faint. And whaddya know, so did Desmond.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Yes Man</span><br />Desmond wakes back up in the electromagnetic mystery box, feeling happy, healthy and surprisingly compliant. “You told me you brought me here to the Island to do something very important. When do we start?” He starts with Zoe, trekking back to the Hydra Station, before being interrupted by Sayid, who knocks out his entourage and tells Desmond he needs to come with him and get away from these “dangerous” people. Desmond, still super-compliant, tells Sayid to lead the way.<br /><br />If alternate-reality Desmond needed to faint in order to wake up his on-Island counterpart, he didn’t need to <span style="font-style: italic;">stay</span> unconscious. While on-Island Desmond happily, inexplicably followed Widmore, then Zoe, then Sayid wherever they were going, alternate-Desmond woke up. Both Desmonds, operating simultaneously. How does that happen? I’d argue that on-Island Desmond was something of an empty vessel. He seemed to be floating through the whole turn of events, from waking up to following Sayid. Perhaps it was because the events of his alternate reality storyline demanded the full attention of his consciousness.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Manifest Destiny</span><br />Desmond awoke in the stadium, with Penny hovering over him. Again, this man. I want to be this man. He regains his cool, and being the cheeky bastard he is, asks her out for coffee. She obliges, and they agree to meet up in an hour.<br /><br />New, happy, lovestruck Desmond ambles back to the limo, full of new, strange feelings and something resembling a purpose. And it appeared he was carrying something else – his first real, genuine understanding of his multiple existences. Like Charlie before him, Desmond wanted to spread the word. So he asked Minkowski to get him a manifest of the passengers on 815. Why? “I just need to show them something.”<br /><br />And scene. So what the hell just happened?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Come Together. Right Now.</span><br />I think what just happened is Desmond learned what the hell is going on in LOST.<br /><br />I think he pieced together the ramblings of Charlie and Daniel with his own flashes, and he’s finally seeing the picture on the front of the puzzle box, as he once called it.<br /><br />Desmond gleaned from Daniel that there were possible alternate versions of ourselves that could be explored. And he learned from Charlie that those alternate selves were potentially enormous improvements on our current selves. And so, he’s off to find the Oceanic 815ers and free their minds – and the rest will follow. By the way, that doesn't necessarily mean that our characters have to "jump in" to an ideal version of himself. That's not what Desmond did - he's finding Penny in an entirely different way than he did originally, and eight years later, too. On the contrary, I think Desmond's message will be one of continual self-improvement, of always being on the lookout for opportunities for betterment, of not being content with shallow fulfillment.<br /><br />But what does that mean for Widmore, Flocke, Jacob and the Man in Black? Yeah, did you forget about them during last night’s episode? I did. It was almost an entirely different show. How does Desmond’s quest to give all his Oceanic 815 mates their own “happily ever after” impact the “war,” the “release of evil,” and the age-old battle of free will vs. predestination being waged by Jacob and his nemesis?<br /><br />Last night’s brief Island scene at the end didn’t do much to answer those questions. We saw Desmond willingly join up with Widmore, then just as willingly ditch Widmore’s crew to follow Sayid back to the Man in Black. I’d wager that the end-goal is still to contain MIB to the Island, preventing his contamination of the outside world and ensuring that everything that everybody loves doesn’t “cease to exist,” as Widmore put it. But how does Desmond’s mission impact that?<br /><br />I think it might have something to do with Jacob and the MIB’s candidates. While we know little about these two and their “game,” it does seem that they require willing, able-bodied subjects to help them along their way. Jacob has a lighthouse wheel full of candidates to replace him. MIB has assumed the body of a mortal, while claiming the souls of a few others, all of which he deems necessary for his escape plan.<br /><br />But Desmond’s plan seems to transcend that game. It's as if he's out to overstep that eons-old squabble between these two mystic entities. MIB and Jacob be damned, Desmond just wants people to self-actualize and find their path in life.<br /><br />Here’s the catch, though. By doing that, Desmond helps Jacob win. Jacob would prove – through Desmond – that mankind, despite its corruptibility and potential for evil, is capable of doing the right thing. When presented with the potential for meaningful happiness, true love and real purpose, mankind will choose to pursue that life. They’ll do what they need to do to secure that for themselves and the people they love. Maggie and I both realized, at the end of this episode, that we haven’t really seen any of our alternate reality characters experience any kind of true love (even Jin and Sun were just dipping their pins in company ink; not quite in love yet). Maybe a world devoid of true love is the world into which the Man in Black can escape – cheesy, I know. But if Desmond can convince Jack that there’s more than being a good surgeon; or Kate that there’s some things not worth running away from; or Locke that physical limitations do not a weak spirit make; if Desmond can steer these people towards lives of meaning and substantive love, then Jacob might win his argument.<br /><br />And to that unintelligible paragraph of sappy what-ifs, I’ll add this one. Maybe Widmore knows that Desmond is the only one who can consciously transcend and comprehend the alternate versions of himself. He knows that it’s up to Desmond to create a world that the Man in Black can’t escape to. So he brought him to the Island, pumped him full of electromagnetism, and let his mind wander to different times and places until he could grasp, for himself, the idea that the Man in Black’s cynical worldview could be contained by free-willed, self-actualizing optimism.<br /><br />Widmore said Desmond was the x-factor that could prevent the release of MIB. Is this mission of betterment the manor in which Widmore saw that happening? Is Desmond, the insignificant speck on Widmore’s radar for all his life, actually the cork the Island needs and the fulfillment of Widmore’s eternal promise to protect the Island? I think it could be. And if you buy that, maybe you’ll buy this: Desmond’s “sacrifice” will be to stay on the Island forever, replacing Jacob as the protector of the power of free will –and the enduring spirit of optimism.<br /><br />Namaste.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-56188157763919011702010-04-05T22:31:00.006-05:002010-04-05T22:47:12.281-05:00In search of a happy ending.Welcome to another week of Lost, Dharma Blog fans. It is good to be back in my normal timeline (preview post), after living in the alternate timeline (review post) last week. I hope I don’t get a nosebleed…<br /><br />Another bizarre Maggie-statement, or an excellent segue? You be the judge.<br /><br />Tonight’s episode is all Desmond, all the time. Welcome to “Happily Ever After.”<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><b>“Happily Ever After”</b></span></div>Oh, sweet Desmond, how I’ve missed you. Not as much as Charlie, but I really have missed you. For the better part of the last two seasons, you have been notably absent. But why? And what does your return tonight mean, with only 6 new episodes left in this series?<br /><br />My gut reaction is: <i>uh-oh</i>.<br /><br />There are several reasons I am worried about tonight. First, the use of the song “<i>Amazing Grace</i>” (played on bagpipes, no less) in the preview commercials gives me the chills. Not only is it one of the most recognizable tunes in the English language, “<i>Amazing Grace</i>” is a song about forgiveness and finding peace with your life. More specifically, the song says that redemption is possible regardless of the sins you have committed, but that you will only be delivered from that despair through the mercy of God. What does that mean for our survivors? Think on that.<br /><br />Second reason for my worry? The episode title, “Happily Ever After.” So far, Desmond is the only character we have seen who has received his “happy ending” (<b>see</b>: reuniting with Penny). That scene on The Searcher was wayyyy back in the finale of season four…and it was a GREAT scene. Oh, it was so wonderful. Everything was so perfect. They found each other…they found love! It was their happily ever after! And in the midst of the life and love that followed, Desmond promised Penny he would never, ever, ever return to the island, even though Mrs. Hawking told him “the island is not finished with you” when he saw her in the Lamp Post station. And last week’s final scene revealed that, apparently, Mrs. Hawking was right.<br /><br />Yikes.<br /><br />So what will tonight bring? Is this episode title really just a ruse, designed to makes us think everyone is going to continue to be great for our star-cross’d lovers, but ultimately result in the tragedy to beat all tragedies?? Will Charlie cry tonight???<br /><br />I really really hope not. And I actually don’t <i>think</i> so…not tonight. Desmond has had all of two minutes in this season so far, and I’m quite certain there is work he needs to do before his final curtain call arrives.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><b>Eventually, though…</b></span></div>It is hard to not see Desmond’s return as a not-so-great omen of the future of his relationship with Penny. I’m not positing death here for our game-changer, but I’m positing the possibility of separation from his one true love. And I think his decision will be made for the sake of something far bigger than the two of them…say, like, saving the world.<br /><br />Come to think of it, Desmond did get his happy ending very early in the grand scheme of things. Look at Charlie’s two favorite characters, Jin and Sun. They’ve been apart now for, what, two years? So why did they decide to reunite Penny and Des so long ago? Well, it would make any tragic ending for them that much more heartbreaking for all of us. And at the same time, we’ll know in our hearts that they had two wonderful years together, and the adorable baby Charlie, too. How does the saying go? <i>“‘Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.”</i><br /><br />No, I do NOT read books by Nicholas Sparks. Stop hurling accusations at me.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Getting back on track…</span></div>You’d be hard-pressed to find a Lost watcher who does not believe that Desmond is in the role of game changer right now. He is in the hot seat. He has the power to pick which way we’re going, “Choose Your Own Adventure” style. And it appears the first person to make their case for the ‘right path’ will be Widmore. Who else thinks he’ll say something about Desmond doing _____ (fill in the blank here) so that everyone can live “happily ever after”? Yeah. Me too.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">And now…a Disclaimer!</span></div>As we race towards the series finale, we are getting a lot of answers, in rapid fire, about some very crucial characters. In light of this reality, The Dharma Blog would like to issue a simple disclaimer about the next section. The following information you are about to read is Maggie’s somewhat-insightful-and-never-completely-accurate, opinion about the Guest Stars on tonight’s episode and what might be on the horizon for these fine folks. Maggie consults a number of websites, including the press releases issued by ABC Medianet, to uncover this information and speculate, but she never consults any spoiler sites. So, if you are a Lost purist and want to know watch tonight’s episode without the knowledge of the Guest Stars or what might happen, you should stop reading now. However, if you do want to know (even if it is just to tease Maggie tomorrow about how horribly wrong her predictions were), by all means: continue reading.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Tonight’s Guest Stars</span></span></div>Dominic Monaghan as Charlie, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Fionnula Flanagan as Eloise Hawking, Sonya Walger as Penelope “Penny” Widmore, Fisher Stevens as George Minkowski, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Fred Koehler as Seamus, Kayren Butler as doctor, Ben Cain as MRI tech, Grisel Toledo as Nurse Tyra, Sundra Oakley as lawyer, Haley Williams as assistant, Jonathan Arthur as Simmons, Gerard Elmore as clipboard guy, Hannah Bell as nurse, Christopher McGahan as techie #1 and Steve Boatright as goon #1.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Survey Says: YES!!!!</span></div>This is going to be a great episode. I’m officially EXCITED (as if I wasn’t already). Faraday + Mrs. Hawking + a Desmond episode = brilliant. What’s to come? An explanation of the alternate timeline? An explanation of what Jughead did? An explanation of whether or not Jughead altered the past and changed the future?<br /><br />I’ll accept any and all of these answers.<br /><br />Mrs. Hawking is actually at the root of all of this. Our initial introductions to each and every single one of these concepts came from her. Remember “the universe has a way of [pause] course correcting”? Season three, kids. Look it up. I assumed at the time she was some angel-like figure, communing with the gods and serving as a spiritual guide to Desmond. Wrong-o. Mrs. Hawking is as real as they get, living on the island, living on the island, falling in love with Charles “Fabio” Widmore, giving birth to baby Danny Faraday…and later sending him to DIE on the island at HER hand.<br /><br />Mrs. Hawking is a crazy fool. And yet, she definitely still has some answers to give. Starting…now.<br /><br />Oh, and Danny Faraday. He is full of theories and knowledge about what is happening, not to mention a handful of unfinished storylines of his own. Talk to us, Danny.<br /><br />And if you’re still not sure tonight is going to rock, throw in Penny, Charlie (Pace, not Stephan), and freaking George Minkowski!<br /><br /><b>Charlie</b>: Refresher that Desmond was the first person to attempt to change the past when he (unsuccessfully) attempted to prevent the death of Charlie in season 3. And in the season 6 premiere, we heard Charlie say “I was supposed to die” as he was dragged off the plane by the TSA. Hmm. How does Charlie fit in tonight? Maybe alt-Charlie, who is now in LA County Jail? That’s my best guess.<br /><br /><b>Penny</b>: I’m going to guess that Desmond’s alternate timeline is a happy ever after timeline where he is married to Penny, his constant, his one true love. Because I’m a romantic like that. (And, yes, I just watched the phone call scene from "The Constant." Twice.) Does this mean there is a risk of Desmond losing his happily ever after in both timelines? Ugggggh. Expect to see what happens between the post-marina hospital scene (where Widmore and Eloise chatted outside Desmond’s room) and him returning to the island.<br /><br /><b>Minkowski</b>: Token blast-from-the-past guest star. But I’m still excited. He was a good guy.<br /><br /><b>Clipboard Guy</b>: Yep. Someone is listed as Clipboard Guy in the guest star list. Game changer, right?? Haha.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><b>TV Guide says:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Desmond wakes up to discover he’s back on the island.</i></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Maggie says:</span></div>Well, duh. That happened at the end of last week’s episode. I demand a new episode description.<br /><br />Okay, but really. How did Desmond end up back here? From the looks of things, Widmore brought him back against his will to save the world and fix everything. He was totally drugged up, Dharma submarine style. And once he comes out of his stooper, he is going to be t i c k e d off.<br /><br />Why does Widmore need him? Lots of possibilities:<br /><br /><b>Theory 1</b>: Desmond is the only one who can jump between the timelines.<br />Short summary: Widmore is going to charge Desmond with the task of jumping consciousness to the alternate timeline to get people where they need to be so they can all take down MIB. See: Desmond appearing to Jack on the plane, giving him just enough to make Jack realize that he knew him, even though it was in a different timeline.<br /><br /><b>Theory 2</b>: Desmond is the only one who can kill/disable/disarm/defeat MIB.<br />Short summary: Thanks to the Swan implosion, Desmond can channel the electromagnetic properties of the island in the same way that MIB can channel the properties and turn into smoke. So, Desmond is the only person with the ability to stop MIB from…doing whatever MIB is trying to do.<br /><br /><b>Theory 3</b>: Desmond can jump back AND FORTH between the timelines.<br />Short summary: Desmond can go back in time with his knowledge of the future and prevent an of this from ever happening. See: Faraday gave Desmond a message in the past, which he woke up with in the future.<br /><br /><b>Theory 4</b>: Something completely different than all of these theories.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Parting Thoughts</span></div>Desmond is the game changer.<br /><br />This is going to be one for the history books.<br /><br />I have no idea what is going to happen. But I’m so excited.<br /><br />Oh, and one more thing: tonight’s episode was written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof.<br /><br />Game. On.<br /><br />Namaste,<br />Maggie<div><br /></div><div>P.S. Yes, the rumors are true. I did bowl a 210 earlier this evening. No big deal.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-53112648752564892842010-03-30T21:54:00.004-06:002010-03-30T22:04:35.314-06:00What can Widmore do for you?I came into tonight’s episode with pretty low expectations, but was only 60% annoyed by “The Package.” Sun and Jin episodes are rarely on the top of my favorite characters list, but I don’t hate them as characters as much as Charlie does. “The Package” delivered (pun intended) a few diamonds in the (very) rough. Were questions answered tonight? Yep. Were more questions asked? Yessir. Were there close-my-eyes-in-horror scenes? Uh-huh. Were there roll-my-eyes-in-non-amusement scenes? Absolutely. Was I totally annoyed by the countdown to V in the lower right hand corner? UM, YEAH.<br /><br />Now the question is: can I adequately write a post that lives up to the Charlie level of review-nerdiness? Absolutely not. But I’ll try anyways.<br /><br />We had action in four different places in time / space tonight, so I’ll tackle each place independently. And…go.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Team Ilana / Jack</span></b><br />I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least briefly touch on what happened at the beach with Team Ilana / Jack, even though it was pretty straightforward. I’ll tackle this bullet style:<div><br />- In the most annoying plot development of the night, Sun loses her ability to speak English by hitting her head on a tree, moving the communication style back to Jin-in-season-1 can’t speak to anyone else. Interesting parallel? Maybe. Pointless vehicle for to give Jack the opportunity to diagnose a rare disease and show his doctorness? Probably. Apparently aphasia does exist, but I shake my head at this whole development. Really? REALLY?</div><div><br />- Sun trusts Jack, not Flocke. (yawn)</div><div><br />- Richard took Isabella’s messages from the grave to heart and says they are going to Hydra to stop Flocke. (Everyone saw this coming, right?...)<br /><br />Okay. Moving on.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">The Alternate Timeline</span></b><br />Tonight, Sun and Jin received some heavy screen time in the alternate timeline. Up until “The Package,” we knew very little about their alt-lives, other than the fact that Jin still appeared to be in the Korean Mafia and Sun still wore cardigans. But tonight, the stories were given some depth.<br /><br /><i>They’re not married?</i><br />It seemed like a bigger deal at first blush, but now I’m not so shocked by it. In the alternate timeline, Jin and Sun aren’t married…but they are definitely still together. And by “together,” I mean “Sun’s pregnant.” So what does this mean for their alterna-lives? I’m not sure if it really means anything. We have seen quite a few characters have strange coincidences pop up in this alternate timeline (see: Jack has a son; see: Nadia is married to Sayid’s brother). I’m chalking this reveal up to a coincidence.<br /><br /><i>You should always look through the peephole.</i><br />Really, Sun? After looking at yourself in the mirror (…the mirror theory continues…), you answer your door in your robe without looking through the peephole? Really? That’s safe. And, oh look, here’s the <b>SCARIEST MAN I HAVE EVER SEEN</b>, Martin Keamy. And now he’s in your room. You’re officially screwed.<br /><br /><i>The Rolex watch returns</i><br />Well, it looks like Mr. Paik is still delivering messages to his business partners via Rolex watches. We’ve seen this before in the first timeline. In fact, delivering a Rolex was the reason Sun and Jin were originally in Australia…and the reason they headed to LA afterwards. You’ll recall that Michael found the Rolex after the plane crash and wore it, sending Jin into a tizzy and causing quite a rift early on. It seems so long ago… </div><div><br /></div><div>But anyways, Jin was delivering a watch for Mr. Paik to…Keamy? On the surface, yes. But as we’ve discussed before, all signs point to Keamy working with Widmore…so the watch was probably going to end up with Widmore. But the $25,000…<br /><br /><i>An easy $25,000?</i><br />Answers, answers everywhere on this topic. Jin was to give $25,000 to Keamy, and wadaya know, that money was to pay Keamy to kill Jin! Oh, the irony. When Jin reveals to Keamy that the money was taken by Customs, Sun offers to dip into her secret account to pay him off. Sounds like a great plan until Daddy Paik closed the account and transferred the money. Why? Jin broke the cardinal rule…<br /><br /><i>Stay away from the boss’s daughter.</i><br />Well, I get the rule. We all know the rule. But killing Jin for this infraction seems a little harsh. I’m wondering if alterna-Mr. Paik was also hoping for an arranged marriage with someone of a higher pedigree than Jin, the fisherman’s son. Unfortunately, Jin is oblivious to the bounty for his head, as evidenced by the “Cardigan Seduction Scene” in Sun’s hotel room. I am not going to say anything else about the scene, except that I could hear Charlie yelling in agony…the entire scene was painful and far too long.<br /><br /><i>Patchy is back! Or should we say “Unpatchy”! But wait…oops, he’s Patchy again!</i><br />Mikhail Bakunin, the one-eyed creeper from seasons past, returned for a cameo tonight in the form of translator extraordinaire. According to Keamy, “Danny’s friend” (yeah, did you catch that too? Faraday??) can speak 9 languages…and wadaya know, one of them is Korean. Excellent coincidence. Until he is shot IN THE EYE by Jin in the Restaurant Kitchen Shoot Out #2 of season 6. He needs a patch. Again. Gross.<br /><br /><i>And at the end of all of this…</i><br />We did have a bit of a cliffhanger. Pregnant alternaSun is injured (though I couldn’t tell if her injury was a hand injury or worse) and Jin just killed a man. I continue to have faith that the set up of these characters in the alternate timeline is leading to something. Something big. Because otherwise, it has been a lot of time wasted when we could have been in the heat of the island action.<br /><br />And on that note…<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Team Flocke</span></b><br />Hanging out mid-jungle was Team Flocke, a hodgepodge of sane people, bizarre people, and unnamed people. Flocke continued to waltz around and do “leader things” (to quote Hurley from a previous episode), but there wasn’t a lot of forward movement until the very end.<br /><br /><i>Flocke’s role in the Jin/Sun Reunion</i><br />Flocke kicked off the episode with an interesting statement to Jin about the names in the cave. Granted, it wasn’t anything new, but the phrasing put a new spin on things: he said that all the people whose names weren’t crossed out needed to leave the island together. Now, perhaps this has been how everyone has understood it this whole time, but I have been under the impression that Flocke wanted to kill all the candidates, not take them with him…so I was a little surprised. But again, maybe that is just me. So apparently if all the candidates leave the island with Flocke, he wins. Seems easy enough, right?<br /><br />But back to Jin and Sun. Flocke was playing on the emotions of both Sun and Jin during this episode, with the hopes of getting them to do whatever Flocke said under the assumption that he is working to unite them. Unfortunately, the Kwon’s both have a degree in sensing bullshit and weren’t having any of it, choosing instead to run away. Not the best idea for either.<br /><br /><i>Flying Tranquilizer Darts…again?</i><br />Good grief, not only does Sayid not "feel" anything anymore, but poor Sayid has been hit with darn tranquilizer darts three times. Three times! The first two times were on his wild goose chase with Hurley, as he was shot in St. Sebastian Hospital by the fake nurse, and then again in the apartment (which was the site of the death-by-dishwasher scene that still haunts my dreams). But this time, everyone got a taste of the tranquilizers, courtesy of Dirty Tina Fey and her chubby accomplice. “Is this the guy,” she says about Jin. “Yep, that’s him.” And they took him away. What the…more on that to come.<br /><br /><i>Sayid, what happened?</i><br />So while Flocke was out recruiting Sun to join Team Flocke, Sayid was supposed to be in charge. But, the tranquilizer dart took him out of commission and he didn’t have much intel with Daddy Flocke came back. “We were attacked,” he said stoically. “Can you swim,” asked Flocke. With an affirmative answer, a plan is hatched to go to Hydra and get back Jin. But first, Sayid needed to put the gun in a Ziploc bag. You know. To keep it safe. And stuff.<br /><br /><i>Portable Pylons? This is getting serious.</i><br />Flocke shows up (alone) on the beach of Hydra to find portable pylons and gun-toting hooligans waiting for him. Wandering down the beach, he discovers Charles Widmore emerging from the foliage. After a quick “Do you know who I am?” conversation, Widmore claims ignorance about Jin’s whereabouts. And Flocke is not pleased.<br /><br />“A wise man once said war is coming to the island. I think it just got here.”<br /><br />Oh. Boy.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Team Widmore</span></b><br />Charles Widmore was a little frustrated tonight. It appeared like things were not going exactly according to plan, and that Dirty Tina Fey was to blame (I knew it!).<br /><br /><i>Room 23 Returns</i><br />The darted Jin wakes up to find himself inside Room 23 of the Hydra Island, which was exciting to see. After messing with a few of the buttons in the room, Jin managed to watch a few special clips of the brainwashing video we had seen before. As you’ll recall, both <b>Waaaaaaaaalt</b> and Karl have spent a considerable amount of time in Room 23, and we had seen this video clip before, including the powerful phrase “We are the causes of our own suffering.”<br /><br /><i>Jin demands answers.</i><br />Dirty Tina Fey found some maps of the island with designations about the electromagnetic properties. The geophysicist in her was apparently nerding out a bit (and probably needed to know the information for her job as Member of Team Widmore) and came to Jin because his 1977 signature was at the bottom of the map. What could he tell her? Nothing, he said, unless he can talk to Charles Widmore.<br /><br /><i>Canon Power Shot: The Power is Yours</i><br />Charles Widmore took a play out of the Team Flocke playbook and pulled out a camera to play the heart strings of Papa Jin, who had never met his daughter, Ji Yeon. And yes, Charlie, I was moved by this scene! Babies and puppies?? Come on! My dream! And I’m not ashamed! It was well acted and Widmore got what he wanted: Jin’s trust. How can we be sure? He shared some serious intel.<br /><br /><i>Here’s the scoop.</i><br />Widmore told Jin that if Flocke is allowed to leave the island, everyone will cease to exist, notably including Ji Yeon and Penny. Now, this is very different than Hurley’s take (“we’re going to hell”), which I understood as “bad things happen in the world” (possibly see: ten plagues of Egypt?). The phrase “ceasing to exist” makes me think seriously about the theory that Flocke will somehow rip apart the space-time continuum when he leaves the island, or make the current timeline merge with the alternate timeline, resulting in some sort of timeline explosion.<br /><br />Of course, the truth of this all based on whether or not you believe Widmore. While he doesn’t have a great track record of honesty, his speech about loving his daughter was heartfelt and powerful. I’ll admit it: I’m believing him, at least this week. With that, however, it is possible that Widmore will end up being on Team Jacob after all, even though that means he is on the same team as Ben. Did NOT see that coming…<br /><br />Oh, and one more secret was revealed…<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">The Package</span></b><br />In true lost fashion, the last 3 minutes of the episode brought us the reveal we’ve all been waiting for. Widmore told Jin it was time for him to see the package…a package that is not a “what,” but a “who.”<br /><br />Quick cut to the dock, where Dirty Tina Fey and her accomplice were pulling a limp, exhausted man from the submarine. Who was it? None other than Desmond Hume, the love of Charlie’s life. Implications? Huge.<br /><br />So, why would Widmore need to bring Des back? My guess is that it is somehow related to the electromagnetic energy island stuff. We know that Desmond is special. Perhaps he is the only person who can match Flocke in power (via the electromagnetism?), or sink the island. Either way, I’m nearly certain that this is going to come back to Desmond’s implosion of the Swan and his subsequent encounter with the properties of the island.<br /><br />And one more thing…and I hate myself for saying this, but I need to say it. I am very worried that Penny and Desmond are not going to get a happy ending.<br /><br />(sigh)<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Closing Thoughts…</span></b><br />I liked that some of the dialogue paralleled older episodes - Flocke said "whatever happens, happens," and Widmore said "what's done is done." Well played, Lost.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, Charlie was sad to find out that Yunjin Kim (the actress who plays Sun) got married to her long-term boyfriend over the weekend. Totally serious, by the way. Google it.<br /><br /></div><div>That was what we kids in the business call a set-up episode. Let’s hope it all pays off. Looking forward to your comments and questions. Take pity on me...it has been awhile since I reviewed! I plan on leaving this alternate timeline and going back to Mondays next week.<br /><br />Namaste,<br />Maggie</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-91679976664884525472010-03-30T00:01:00.000-06:002010-03-29T22:43:58.892-06:00Kwontum Leap<span style="font-style: italic;">PREVIEW: LOST Season Six, Episode Ten: The Package</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If Work Permits</span><br /><blockquote>“I think we both know the guy I’m talking about (writing this post) isn’t Locke (Maggie).”<br />- James Ford<br /></blockquote>Two weeks ago, the prophet Sawyer foretold what you see before you. While this is a preview post, the author has been inhabited by a darker, more sinister spirit: me (Charlie). Okay, Maggie and I are switching roles – but not bodies – this week, as work demands have destined me to preview duties and Maggie to a late-night review tonight. I must say, writing a Dharma Blog article in the daylight is refreshing. Hey! Maggie writes in the light of day, I write in the dark of night. Metaphor!<br /><br />Anyway, tonight we tackle the 10th chapter of LOST’s whirlwind finale tour de force. It’s a Sun & Jin episode titled, “The Package,” and it also marks the first “That’s What She Said” episode title since last season’s “Jughead.” (sorry, mom.)<br /><br />Dharma Blog regulars know that my love for Sun has dwindled in the past year. While (almost) every other actor on the show has improved over the course of the series, Yunjin Kim has regressed markedly. Daniel Dae Kim plays her doggedly loyal, battle-ready husband Jin brilliantly, but Sun’s presence has bordered on obnoxious as of late. However, her primary drawback for two seasons has been that her dialogue has been relegated to “I need to find my husband,” and variations thereof. No actor can make that interesting 20 different times. So in the spirit of resolution that has marked this final season of LOST, perhaps tonight’s episode will mercifully treat us to their reunion. Let’s see what we know.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jin Cahouts</span><br />Last we saw Jin, he was tenuously bunking with Kate, Sawyer, crazyClaire, crazySayid and Not-John-Locke at Camp Poop Baby. Jin was captured/saved by Claire, who subjected him as a witness to the murder of innocuously-named Other, Justin. Then, he and fellow Flockester Sawyer awaited the return of their bald eagle and his band of Temple converts. We didn’t see much of Jin during “Recon,” while Flocke was playing Michael Walton to his bickering charges (Sawyer, Kate and Claire).<br /><br /> But Jin’s presence on Team Flocke is an interesting one. For now, he appears to be playing possum, waiting to see just what Flocke, Claire, Sayid and Sawyer have planned. You get the sense that – understandably –Jin isn’t a track-suit-wearing, card-carrying member of this team. And why should he be? He hasn’t even given Flocke something to exploit – and Flocke hasn’t given him something to hate. Yet.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here Comes the Sun</span><br />Alright Yunjin Kim, change my mind about your acting skills. Or die already.<br /><br />Sun – like her husband – has taken on a role as team player since last season. When Ajira 316 crashed, she and unlikely cohort Frank Lapidus hijacked a boat to the main Island, where they met up with creeper Christian Shephard (Man in Black?) in the former Dharma Welcome Room. That room, as we saw it in 2007, had been ransacked and deserted long ago. Broken pictures and tattered welcome banners adorned the facility, but Christian led Frank and Sun through the wreckage and showed them a picture of the Dharma Initiative’s Class of 1977, of which Jin was a member. That was the moment Sun knew that Ben hadn’t lied to her off the Island when he told her he could reunite her with her husband. It was also the moment that Sun was reduced to a single dimension and a single mission: Find Jin, even if it means sacrificing acting skills (Okay, I’ll stop harping on her now).<br /><br />After her close encounter of the Christian kind, Sun joined up with Flocke, Richard, Ben Linus and the Others as they headed to the Temple to confront Jacob. Initially, she joined up with Flocke because he said he could deliver her to Jin. When it became clear that Flocke had a different mission, Sun fell in with the remnants of Team Jacob – Ilana, Ben, Miles, Lapidus and (eventually) Richard, Jack and Hurley. This realignment presumably coincided with the Jughead detonation, or whatever it was that “merged” the two timelines. That’s where we sit now, with Sun making camp on the beach amidst yet another group of people she hopes can lead her to Jin.<br /><br />Interestingly enough, Sun and Jin are in really similar positions right now: biding their time within a group of people they don’t necessarily trust, tracking the carrot on a stick that is their shared reunion. The question becomes, what will be the catalyst that finally allows them to meet up?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Smoke(y) and Mirrors</span><br />My guess at the answer: John Locke. More specifically, the Man-in-Black/Smoke Monster as John Locke. We’ve seen that this entity’s modus operandi is to find people who have something he needs, then offer them something that exploits a weakness or longing they have.<br /><br />In this case, Flocke has two malleable subjects – Sun and Jin – with the same weakness/longing: each other. Sun and Jin are very vulnerable right now. We’ve seen them both take uncharacteristic paths in the hopes of finding each other. Sun is aligned with a man she doesn’t really know (Frank), a woman who gives me nightmares (Ilana) and the shell of a man that she’s never fully trusted (Jack – remember, in their Oceanic Six stint, she was very distrusting of the good doctor). Jin, in the same vein, is making camp with self-destructive Sawyer, two “claimed” souls (Sayid and Claire) and the man who claimed them (Flocke). Clearly, the Kwons have pushed in all their chips, betting the farm on this chance to reunite.<br /><br />That’s where Flocke comes in. He likes ‘em good and vulnerable. A man who just lost the love of his life (Sawyer), a woman whose child was taken away from her (Claire) and a tortured torturer (Sayid) are just his recent recruits. But as we saw last week with his recruitment of Richard, the Man in Black/Flocke has a keen eye for souls in need of a purpose.<br /><br />My guess, tonight we’ll see the last temptation of Kwon. I’m just not sure which one. Flocke has easy access to Jin, but I imagine he’s a little more suspicious of the entire situation. Sun, however, would follow Jeffrey Dahmer to a Cannibal Convention. I think Flocke will swing for the low-hanging fruit here, and go after Sun. Remember, when we last saw Flocke, he was eavesdropping on Hurley and Richard’s heart-breaking, Isabella-motivated test of faith. It’s a hop, skip and a smoke over to the beach where Sun is just waiting for someone to tell her what to do.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prime Candidates</span><br />Among the many mysteries surrounding the concept of “candidacy” is the identity of #42: Kwon. Jin? Sun? Baby Ji Yeon? (Settle down Maggie, you baby-loving LOST addict.) I kind of think it’s both. Ilana said six candidates were left. I don’t think John Locke is legitimately one of them anymore. Which would leave Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Sayid and two, two, two Kwons!<br /><br />But to me, the Kwondidate mystery is second to the “What are they candidates for?” mystery. I can’t get past the cave that Flocke showed Sawyer, and its narrative juxtaposition with Jacob’s lighthouse. Two structures, each with numbers and candidates. But one is dark (cave) and one is light (house). I get the sneaking suspicion that the cave is actually a list of the Man in Black’s candidates. He said that the candidates were those who could possibly take over for Jacob. I wonder if that was a lie to Sawyer, and if, actually, the cave candidates were people whom Man in Black thought he might be able to exploit in order to uncork his prison and leave the Island. Interestingly, the cave and the lighthouse have (mostly) the same candidates and numbers. Maybe the cave is where Man in Black is keeping his own records, trying to match Jacob, soul-for-soul, in his bid for escape.<br /><br />Hey, also, did you like how I used the word Kwondidate in that last paragraph? God, that was great.<br /><br />But where do Sun and Jin enter into this? I think tonight we’ll find out. Perhaps their natural “goodness” will be tested against their capacity for corruptibility. They’re interesting character studies in that way. In their back stories, we’ve seen both sides of the Kwon Koins (another play on words! I’m on fire when I’m not writing at midnight).<br /><br />First, look at Sun. Sweet, good-natured, loyal Sun. Who cheated on her husband and learned English behind her husband’s back with the intention of leaving him at the airport.<br /><br />Then, look at Jin. Hard-working, equally loyal Jin who will do anything to win the favor of his wife’s very judgmental father. Anything, including murder. Also, he subjugated his wife, deeming her a second class citizen. And he told her to button up that blouse in Season One, thus denying all the Oceanic 815 men some much-needed cleavage.<br /><br />In a sense, the Kwons are each other’s ever-evolving yin and yang. And no, I’m not just saying that because they’re Asian. I’m 1/14 Asian, due to the presence of my Chiniece (Chinese niece), so I can say things like that. But really, when one goes bad (Sun learning English and wanting to leave her husband), the other goes good (Jin brings her a flower, tells her she looks beautiful and promises to take her away from their horrible life). And when one goes good (Sun making peace with the other survivors, planting a garden and assimilating herself into the makeshift culture) the other goes bad (Jin deriding other survivors, being obstinate and kicking the shit out of Michael for wearing his watch).<br /><br />The Kwons represent the dichotomy of good and evil, while simultaneously showcasing the moral ambiguity of mankind. On multiple occasions, they’ve eluded cookie-cutter “good” or “evil” characterizations. They’ve shown their heart, and they’ve shown their dark sides.<br /><br />So tonight, perhaps, the true nature of the Kwons will be revealed. Will they prove themselves good-hearted souls, capable of taking over for Jacob as the Island’s protector? Or will they prove themselves susceptible to evil, and thus become pawns in Flocke’s great escape?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not That Kwon, The Other Kwon</span><br />So many puns today. I’m Kwon a roll. Sorry.<br /><br />We also must prepare for the alternate-reality Kwon storyline. Last we saw Sun, she was watching with fear as Jin was dragged into a TSA holding cell. Last we saw Jin, he was being rescued from a freezer, where Keamy and Omar were holding him captive. I assumed, after that, that Keamy and Omar were still working for Widmore in the alternate reality. Perhaps, thought I, Jin’s “delivery” was for Widmore, and Keamy and Omar were upset with him for getting held up at the airport.<br /><br /> Keamy and Omar were killed by Sayid, who was on the warpath looking for answers to his brother’s assault. And when we departed, Sayid found Jin in the deep freeze, and we were left to wonder where they went. Perhaps out for coffee, with Juliet.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stop Reading This</span><br />Personally, I hate spoilers, but I generally allow myself to read the episode title and description. I don’t always like to read the guest list, but I’ve done it this week to fulfill my previewer duties (ha, I said, “duties”) and I’ll break it down for you (there’s not much to it).<br /><br />So, if you’re a spoiler purist, stop reading this and we’ll see you in the morning. Those who want a cryptic-but-doesn’t-actually-tell-us-much tease, read on.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Such a Tease</span><br />The official episode description for tonight:<br />“Sun and Jin desperately continue their search for one another, and Locke confronts his enemy.”<br /><br />Whoa. Okay, we tackled the first 2/3 of that tease, but I wasn’t aware of the final 1/3. “Locke confronts his enemy.” That has to mean Jacob, right? Will Flocke channel the postmortem abilities of his Man in Black core to speak with recently-deceased Jacob? Things could get awkward. “Hey, how’s it going.” “Oh not bad, except the whole thing where you manipulated my most loyal follower into killing me.” “Eee. Right. Have some wine.”<br /><br />We haven’t seen MIB-as-Locke talk to Jacob since right before he murdered him and kicked him into the fire. It’ll be interesting to see them talk about what has transpired since then. And I’d wager, we’ll get a little insight as to the nature of the candidates, and their respective statuses. MIB has Sayid, Sawyer and Kwon 1. Jacob has Jack, Hurley and Kwon 2. I’d say the pieces are on the board, and maybe tonight we’ll see one of the combatants make the first move. THE WAR. IS. ON.<br /><br />Alternative possibility: the “enemy” is Widmore, and Flocke heads over to Hydra to survey the scene. I don’t think so, though. I think Widmore is far from an “enemy” of the Man in Black.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Please, Not In Front of the Guests</span><br />Of note on tonight’s guest list, we’ve got Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Kevin Durand as Keamy, Anthony Azizi as Omar, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Fred Koehler as Seamus and a few people whose characters are unknown to us at this point. That makes sense. We’ve got Widmore, his off-Island henchmen (Keamy and Omar) and his on-Island henchman and woman (Seamus and Zoe). I, for one, am pumped for some Keamy. I mean, the guy makes good eggs.<br /><br />Wait a second though. As I mentioned earlier, Keamy and Omar were offed by Sayid as they held Jin captive. Does that mean their appearance tonight will be of the on-Island variety? I don’t think so. My guess is, tonight’s story will fill in the blanks of how, exactly, Jin came to be held captive by Keamy and Omar in that freezer.<br /><br />There is one very curious little nugget on the guest list: Andrew Divoff as Mikhail Bakunin. Huh. Here I thought he died 8 times already. I wonder if he’ll surface in the alternate reality, perhaps as an accomplice to Keamy and Omar. We’ve already seen Others Dogen and Ben Linus relegated to alternate reality normalcy, so maybe that’s where Mikhail ends up, too. I hope he likes eggs.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tomorrow. Tomorrow. We Love You. Tomorrow.</span><br />Maggie will be back in the a.m. with a review of The Package (again, that just sounds dirty). Until then, enjoy Sun, Jin and the rest of the gang.<br /><br />Namaste.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-48919032801666908082010-03-23T23:23:00.002-06:002010-03-23T23:51:11.350-06:00Evil Urges<span style="font-weight: bold;">LOST Season Six, Episode Nine: Ab Aeterno</span><br /><br />We got Richard’s full back story (thankfully without lingering holes) while doubling our total Man in Black screen time. We got illusions of hell and the devil. And we got one seriously symbolic bottle of wine.<br /><br />I’m going to take the unusual path of recapping this episode as it unfolded, instead of storyline-by-storyline, in hopes of making this make sense. Here we go.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">See You In Hell</span><br />To start, we filled in the holes of Jacob’s bedside visit with Ilana. We learned that she was indeed tasked with protecting the six remaining candidates by shepherding them to the Island. Lingering question: what put her in that hospital bed? She looks pretty roughed up, and I think it might be tied to Jacob’s comment that this task was what she had been “training for.”<br /><br />Back on the beach, Ilana explains (per Jacob) that Richard will know what to do next. After some hearty scoffing from Richard, we see the continuation of his complete and utter brokenness, his loss of faith. He explains that Jacob is a liar and that he’s leaving to follow someone else. And he drops a bombshell on the gang, explaining that they’re all dead and that the Island is, get this, hell!<br /><br />As we later learned, that statement was indeed too dramatic to be true. It was merely an extension of the suicidal Richard we saw in the Black Rock. The bottom had dropped out of a faith he spend 150 years developing when Jacob died and MIB took over. He was in pure desperation mode, stuck in an eternally meaningless existence without a moral compass. And what’s an immortal, lost soul to do in such a situation? Retreat to the literal jungle, and into his own figurative one.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pre-Existing Conditions</span><br />In what constituted our first true flashback in some time, we were whisked away to Delaware. Hi, I’m in Delaware. No wait, wrong thing.<br /><br />We were in fact transported to a land just off the west coast of Africa, the Canary Islands. It was 1867, where a familiarly-distraught Richard Alpert was in a race to save his wife’s life. Isabella’s case of coughing-up-blood-itis had reached its critical stage, and Richard – with her cross necklace in hand – went to see what he could do.<br /><br />In town, the doctor tells Richard that the treatment Isabella needs is very expensive, and he doesn’t have the money (or collateral) to pay him. [Insert your timely overreaction to health insurance reform here]. Tensions escalate, and Richard kills the doctor in the same exact way Desmond killed Inman: an accidental blow to the back of the head. Medicine in hand, Richard retreats to his beloved, only to find himself a few hours late and a vile of mysterious white medicine short. To make matters worse, Canary Island’s finest were right behind him, ready to haul him off to jail.<br /><br />What intrigues me about Richard’s story is how very ordinary it was. There was nothing supernatural about him. He did not seem “special.” He was simply a man who got caught up in all the wrong kinds of circumstances, and had to pay the price. It’s almost as if Richard’s normalcy is the grounding force – the palate cleanser – that Jacob needed in order to deal with all his varies tortured and pre-destined souls on the Island.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hangman is Coming Down From the Gallows</span><br /><br />Yup, second Styx lyric referenced by a subhead this season. Count it.<br /> <br />Imprisoned for physicia-cide, Richard reveals to a (probably crooked) priest that he is learning English, from a bible opened to a passage about Jesus casting a demon out of a man in Galilee. The priest tells Richard that his sins cannot be absolved, and that penance is not an option, as his hanging has already been scheduled. It is here that the seed of “hell,” is planted in Richard’s head by the priest, who tells him that’s right where he’s headed.<br /><br />But not yet. En route to the gallows, blindfolded Richard is intercepted by Captain Magnus Hanso, who purchases him as an indentured servant for his ship, The Black Rock. Side note: Hanso – as Maggie pointed out – is the surname of the Dharma Initiative’s financier (Alvar Hanso). Chew on that one.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">This Place is a Prison</span><br /><br />How did the Black Rock get to the Island? How did the statue get destroyed? How did the ship get so far inland? Three questions, one answer: a hell of a tsunami. I kind of brush that off as a copout on the answers to those questions, but I’ll forgive it, if only because this episode included a minimum amount of dialogue from Sun.<br /><br />Alpert and the other slaves awaken on the ship, hearing their overlords lament their plight. Captain Hanso comes downstairs, and in his anger kills three slaves. But just before he can preemptively kill Richard, the familiar tick-tock of Smokey is heard, and the death rattles of the Black Rock’s commanding officers follow. As blood drips onto Hanso, he looks up just in time to see Smokey lift him out of the ship and kill him.<br /><br />I’ll say one thing for Smokey, he makes an entrance. In fact, you could say it’s a calling card of sorts. Remember that the first time we saw him (in the Pilot episode), he jolted Jack, Kate and Charlie from the fuselage and killed the pilot (Ha! Pilot and Pilot, I just got that!). It would seem that Smokey – in his infinite anger over Jacob’s relentless “testing” – likes to fire a little warning shot to new arrivals to the Island.<br /><br />I also took notice of his scanning – and subsequent sparing – of Richard. As Jacob later said, MIB/Smokey is on the hunt for “corruptible” souls. Did he see in Richard an opportunity for corruption? I think so. I think he saw Richard’s angst over Isabella, his pressing fear of being hell-bound and his lamentation of his doomed existence. And when he saw it, he spared Richard. Because those very corruptible elements were something he could use later.<br /><br />It brings to mind Smokey’s scans of Kate, Eko, John Locke and others. And it makes me wonder if MIB saw in Locke the same sort of malleable, corruptible elements – daddy issues, purposelessness, constant feelings of inadequacy and frustration with his physical paralysis. I think he saw those in Locke, and he knew right away he might have found his ticket off the Island.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here Comes the Man in Black</span><br /><br />Richard – trying desperately to unshackle himself – is visited by what we can only assume is another MIB apparition. His beloved Isabella drops by to tell him that they are indeed dead and in hell, and even mentions the devil. Then she leaves, and we hear her scream at the hands of Smokey.<br /><br />Sign of hope? Nah. Try “elaborate ruse.” I think that was all a Smokey production, meant to reaffirm in Richard his fears of hell and the devil. He even used the most effective wedge possible with Richard: his dead wife. Shame on me for questioning whether or not this dude was evil. He is, and that manipulative hoax is all the proof I need (until next week, when I’ll believe he’s good again).<br /><br />But the Devil’s greatest trick was convincing the world he didn’t exist. Or, in this case, convincing Richard that the devil was someone else. The MIB visits newly-rebroken Richard and does exactly what Locke said he did to Claire: he gives him someone to hate. That someone, for Richard, is Jacob. MIB tells Richard that it was Jacob who was the devil, that it was Jacob who took Isabella, that Jacob was imprisoning them both and that Jacob needs to die in order for Isabella to be safe and for them to escape hell. And – much in the same way that Locke last week distanced himself from Smokey while speaking to his followers – MIB told Richard he was a “friend.”<br /><br />All MIB asked in return for this gift of epiphany was complete, blind allegiance. And Richard was all too happy too oblige, even when MIB revealed that it would mean killing the devil. How, you ask? With a dagger through the heart, delivered before the devil can speak. Sound familiar? It should. That’s how Dogen told Sayid he had to kill MIB/Locke/Smokey a few weeks ago.<br /><br />Also, a quick closing of a loop: MIB tells Richard that it’s good to see him out of his chains. This explains why Richard looked so terrified when Locke said that to him earlier this season – and why Richard knew at that moment who Locke really was.<br /><br />What this all boils down to is MIB’s very primitive, ill-conceived attempt at escape. We saw last season the lengths that MIB had to go to in order to kill Jacob. But last night, we saw his failed earlier attempt, using Richard. It’s interesting to think about how far MIB has come in his sophistication. He went from “use this knife,” to “I’ll inhabit the dead body of one of Jacob’s candidates, who I’ll have to manipulate for 50 years in order to get him right into position.”<br /><br />This also brings to mind a quick thought on Widmore, who told Locke that he had to get back to the Island in order to be on “the right side” of the war. He’s also the man that employed Matthew Abbadon to get people where they needed to go – which, for John Locke, meant an Australian walkabout trip that ultimately resulted in his presence on the Island. I’m starting to see a clearer link between Widmore and the MIB. If Jacob had Ben, it would appear that MIB has Widmore. Keep that in mind as you watch Charles and his submarine crew operate on the Island in the coming weeks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jacob the Baptist</span><br /><br />Upon reaching the statue, Richard is intercepted by a stiff right hook to the jaw. That hook belonged to Jacob, who surprised me with his fighting skills. After roughing Richard up, Jacob takes the dagger away, and Richard reveals that it was the MIB who told him Jacob was the devil, promised him reunion with his wife, and sent him on his homicidal mission.<br /><br />Half out of pity and half out of angst, Jacob sets out to prove to Richard just who exactly is good and evil. He grabs him and drags him into the water, where he proceeds to dunk him in the water until Richard admits he wants to live.<br /><br />It doesn’t take a Sunday School teacher (Maggie) to catch the baptism symbolism here. Jacob bestowed upon Richard a new life. It was one with purpose, a mission and someone to follow.<br /><br />As long as we’re on the biblical tract, let me jump out of order here to talk quickly about the next-to-last scene, in which the forgiveness motif of LOST’s final season was continued. But this time, the forgiver and the forgiven were one in the same. Richard Alpert finally forgave himself for the things he’d done in the name of finding Isabella again. Standing in the jungle, yelling for MIB to overtake him, Richard was mercifully interrupted (and saved) by good ole’ fun time Hurley, who spoke Spanish and Ghost-anese to give Richard the peace, closure and acceptance he had sought for 150 years. This moment was beautifully acted by Jorge Garcia and Nestor Carbonell. It was a strange scene that, done wrong, would’ve been cheesy. But I believed the calm in Richard’s face as Isabella left him for the last time. And I believed the urgency in Hurley’s voice when he told Richard that Isabella insisted he, “Stop the man in black. Stop him from leaving the Island, or else, we all go to hell.”<br /><br />This scene, to me, was Richard Alpert’s epiphany. In it, we saw him reconcile his primitive notions of evil with his more learned, informed understanding of hell. Hurley restored Richard’s faith with one conversation, elucidating for him that hell wasn’t some man in a statue or some dark-robed jungle tyrant. What was it? Well, I’ll let Jacob explain that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tale of the Tape</span><br /><br />Richard’s first service at the Church of Jacob was one of the better moments of the season, as it very clearly broke down the battle between Jacob and MIB. I’m going to recap it pretty precisely, and in the next section I’ll get to a bigger analysis.<br /><br />Jacob seemed almost annoyed at Richard’s preoccupation with hell and the devil. It was as if such talk was beneath him, and what he was doing on the Island. While I won’t be surprised if Jacob and the MIB’s origins are biblical in nature, I also sense in their dialogue a sentiment that their purpose transcends religion. Instead, their argument seems aimed at the hears and minds of mankind, and the very nature of good and evil. Last night, Richard got a shallow, fear-based lesson in the dangers of evil from MIB. But it was his deeper, more purposeful talk with Jacob about the power of good that held more sway.<br /><br />When Richard asks Jacob why he brought the Black Rock to the Island, Jacob holds up a bottle of wine and responds,<br /><blockquote>“Think of this wine as what you keep calling ‘hell.’ There’s many other names for it, too. Malevolence, evil, darkness. And here it is, swirling around in the bottle, unable to get out. Because if it did, it would spread. The cork, is this Island. And it’s the only thing keeping the darkness where it belongs.”<br /></blockquote><br />He continues,<br /><blockquote>“That man who sent you to kill me believes that everyone is corruptible because it’s in their very nature to sin. I bring people here to prove him wrong. And when they get here, their past doesn’t matter.”</blockquote><br />And finally, he tells Richard that his group is not the first, and that the others before him were all dead. When Richard asks why Jacob didn’t save them, it prompts this excellent exchange:<br /><br />Jacob: “I wanted them to help themselves. To know the difference between right and wrong without me having to tell them. It’s all meaningless if I have to force them to do anything. Why should I have to step in?”<br /><br />Richard: “Because if you don’t, he will.”<br /><br />And right there, Jacob is stopped dead in his tracks. Richard’s assertion struck a chord, and Jacob’s reaction was to offer Richard a job as the intermediary between himself and those he brought to the Island. When Jacob tells Richard that he can’t pay him by absolving his sins or reuniting him with Isabella, Richard laments that he wants to live forever (so he never has to deal with the hell of his past). Bingo. Jacob obliges with a hearty shoulder grab, and ageless Richard Alpert is born, and he delivers that message to MIB with a poignant white rock. Then, realizing that his hope for reunion with Isabella is dead, Richard puts the necklace six feet (okay, inches) underground, burying his hope of ever seeing her again.<br /><br />The next morning (presumably), we see MIB and Jacob meet in the jungle, with MIB clutching Jacob’s celebratory white rock. MIB explains why he’s trying to kill Jacob: he wants to leave. But Jacob vows not to let that happen, and warns MIB that even if he kills him, “Someone else will take my place.” MIB threatens to kill any replacement prison guard, too. Finally, Jacob gives MIB the bottle of wine that he had used as a metaphor for their relationship when talking to Richard, and in what I think was one hugely symbolic moment, MIB smashes the bottle over a log.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bottled Up</span><br /><br />Okay, here's my take on what this all means.<br /><br />I said right before that last section that Hurley redefined the notion of evil for Richard Alpert in the course of their otherworldly conversation. And here’s what I meant. As explained by Jacob, evil/ darkness/malevolence is not embodied by a man (MIB, or the devil) or a place (the Island, or hell). To Jacob, evil is the <span style="font-style: italic;">very act of accepting</span> MIB’s worldview that man is “corruptible,” and that “it’s in their very nature to sin.”<br /><br />Jacob’s metaphor of the bottle can be extrapolated out in this manner. The “release of MIB from the Island” represents the permeation of evil into the world. And to Jacob, “evil” is defined as mankind’s resignation to its worst demons. It is not the mere idea of malevolence, it’s the acceptance of malevolence as an inevitability.<br /><br />Last night, Jacob said that intervening in man’s capacity to determine what was right or wrong was counter-productive to his end game. He couldn’t get in the way, or make man’s decisions for him. Why not? Because every man will <span style="font-style: italic;">tell you</span> he doesn’t want to be evil, but in order to prove the absence of evil’s influence, man has to <span style="font-style: italic;">choose</span> to turn away from it. He has to choose to forego wrongdoing at the expense of his own selfish motives.<br /><br />In this context, examine MIB’s manipulation of Locke. MIB/Smokey examined Locke, and found in him several corruptible elements (the aforementioned issues with his father, his physical limitations and his inadequacies as a man). And so, in order to prove himself right to Jacob, MIB manipulated Locke (partially by manipulating Ben, another tortured soul) into perpetrating Jacob’s death.<br /><br />And that is damn brilliant. Because the MIB that haphazardly tried to get Richard to kill Jacob has since learned one hell of a lesson: that in order to kill Jacob, he must kill Jacob’s premise. Stay with me. MIB could only kill Jacob by proving just how corruptible, evil, malleable and dark mankind could choose to be. He did it through Locke and Ben. And only by showcasing for Jacob just how dark their very average souls were capable of being, could that dagger finally pierce – and kill – Jacob. And thus, MIB freed himself from the argument and the imprisonment.<br /><br />This all matches up fairly well, because it would appear that in current Island time, MIB’s got the upper hand. He has his minions in place and Jacob is dead (though still influencing Hurley, Jack and others). The question now becomes, “How does MIB escape?” I mean, this guy’s not just gonna get on a plane and touch down at LAX to start a drug ring or something is he?<br /><br />My guess: the alternate timeline. I’ve theorized that the alternate timeline is the world into which MIB/Smokey and his followers will escape. But how? Well, remember, the wine was MIB, the cork was the Island, and Jacob was essentially the bottle itself. So by shattering that bottle, MIB was foreshadowing his shattering of Jacob’s entire concept of the goodness of man in order to put all the dominos in place for his escape. And in practice, he did that through the manipulation of Ben and Locke.<br /><br />So is the alternate reality a world in which man has resigned himself to the inevitability of evil? Or is it a pure world, in which our characters have foregone their inner darkness in order to lead their best possible lives? It appears to be the latter, based on things like Jack’s good father skills, Ben’s selflessness, Kate’s heart and Locke’s acceptance of his inadequacies.<br /><br />MIB's ability to prove the inevitability of evil and corruption in this alternate reality is the very "war" that we’ve heard allusions to for a couple season. It involves if, when, how and to what degree “evil” can enter that world. For centuries, the presence of MIB's brand of evil has been confined to (or "bottled up by") the Island. Will he truly succeed in shattering the bottle? I think <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span> will rely on our main characters’ ability to channel the lessons they learned on the Island in order to do what’s right; and prove Jacob right once and for all.<br /><br />Or they’re all aliens.<br /><br /> Namaste.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-35835440029145753662010-03-22T21:19:00.004-06:002010-03-22T21:29:03.563-06:00Particularly Special.Tonight’s episode has been looming since February 7, 2007, the original airdate of “Not In Portland” (season 3, episode 7) when we were introduced, for the first time, to one Richard Alpert. At the time, he was known as Dr. Alpert of the Mittelos Bioscience company, working to recruit Dr. Juliet Burke, a prominent fertility specialist, to work at their facility in Portland, Oregon. <br /><br />For the last 3 years, 1 month, and 17 days, we’ve all wondered about this Richard Alpert. And tonight, all signs point to some serious answers, stretching back to a place and time on the island Charlie and I have only dreamed about.<br /><br />Welcome to <i>Ab Aeterno</i>, readers: Richard Alpert’s first and (presumably) last centric episode. Better go refill that coffee mug before taking in this preview: we’ve got a lot to cover…<br /><br />…actually, more to cover than usual. Why? Because tonight’s episode is going to be longer than normal!! That’s right: Charlie’s 26th birthday wish came true. This episode will be <b>SIX MINUTES longer than normal</b>, so check your DVR to make sure it is recording the entire episode (or record the show that follows, just to be safe). For those of you in Central Standard Time (also called <i>“God’s Time”</i>), Lost will air from 8:00 PM until 9:06 PM. Other time zoners, do the appropriate math or consult the TV Guide or pull it together because you really should know what time this show is on by now.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">It’s All Latin To Me</span></span></div>Tonight's episode is called <i>Ab Aeterno</i>. Latin. Translation: from the eternal.<br /><br />And the wikipedia notes continue: literally, “from the everlasting” or “from eternity.” Thus, “from time immemorial,” “since the beginning of time,” or “from an infinitely remote time in the past.” In theology, often indicates something (such as the universe) that was created outside of time.<br /><br />I’ll pause here for you to take a deep breath and blink for the first time since the beginning of this post.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Meet Richard Alpert</span></div>To get us ready for tonight’s episode, I’d like to take some time to dive into the man, the myth, the legend, the ageless acolyte of Jacob: Richard Alpert. He’s been around for 3 years, but what do we really know? Where has he been? What has he said? Is he really wearing eye liner? And can we trust him? <br /><br />However, I'm going to do things a little differently today. Everyone who visits this site has opinions about who Richard is, where he comes from, and what is role is in the endgame of the show. However, instead of diving into all of my theories, it seems to me the best use of today’s preview is to walk through what we know about Richard. As Charlie has said, “Tonight’s episode will stand on its own.” My job is to set you up with the information you need to understand the episode in the context of where we’ve been already. There will be plenty of post-episode theorizing to occupy our time…<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Time for a Deep Dive</span></div>All the time traveling, flash backing, and flash forwarding can really confuse a girl, especially when it comes to Richard. So, my type A personality will now present a fairly lengthy summation of Richard Alpert, chronologically through the years, thanks to the help of the trusty lostpedia.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">1954</span><br /><i>Jughead</i>, Season 5 Episode 3<br />We see Richard Alpert at the Others’ camp. Richard appeared to be in charge at the time, though we have since found out he was actually an advisor to, well, whoever was in charge at the time. We found out that around 1954, the U.S. government had sent military installations to multiple islands in the Pacific to test hydrogen bombs, including Jughead, which was the bomb brought to the island. Richard told the soldiers to leave the island. The soldiers refused. So, the Others did what they do best: they killed them. And after burying the bodies, Richard and the Others took over their camp, weapons, tents, clothes, etc. The bomb, Jughead, remained on the island, undetonated.<br /><br />John Locke stumbled out of the jungle towards the camp, and a strapping, young Charles Widmore nearly kills him. However, Locke claimed that Jacob sent him and Richard agreed to speak with him. Locke showed Richard the compass Richard had given him, and explained that he knew Richard in the future, where Locke is leader of the Others. Richard was skeptical. To prove his claims, Locke said that in two years he would be born in Tustin, CA, and that Richard should go visit him. Locke then asked how to leave the island, but a time flash happened before he could discover the answer.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">1956</span><br /><i>Cabin Fever</i>, Season 4 Episode 11<br />Richard appears at the Tustin hospital where John Locke had, in fact, been born prematurely a month earlier, just as the elder John Locke had said.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">1961</span><br /><i>Cabin Fever</i>, Season 4 Episode 11<br />Richard visits five-year-old John Locke while he was in foster care. Richard tested Locke as part of the process of choosing the leader of the Others by presenting him with six items: a baseball glove, a book of laws, a vial of sand, a compass, a comic book, and a knife. Locke was asked to identify which of these items were “already his.” Richard was pleased when Locke chose the compass and vial of sand, and smiled slightly as Locke considered the book, but Locke ultimately chose the knife. At this, Richard turned cold and left.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">1973</span><br /><i>The Man Behind the Curtain</i>, Season 3 Episode 20<br />A young Ben Linus met Richard in the jungle while searching for an apparition of his dead mother. Richard had long hair and was dressed in primitive clothing. Richard asked why Ben was out in the jungle alone. When Ben explained what he had seen, and that she had died off the Island, Richard was visibly interested in this development, but told him to return home. Ben, however, pleaded with Richard to let him return to the “Hostiles” with him. Considering this, Richard told Ben that this might be possible, but that Ben would need to be “very, very patient.”<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">1974</span><br /><i>LaFleur</i>, Season 5 Episode 8<br />Richard marched into the Dharma barracks after dark, causing mass hysteria and panic. He placed a torch in the ground and waited, until Horace Goodspeed came to meet him. Richard accused Dharma of breaking their truce by having killed two of his men. With Horace’s permission, Sawyer, who was stranded in that year after Locke turned the frozen donkey wheel, emerged from a cabin and confronted Richard. Sawyer told Richard he was not a member of the Dharma Initiative, as Richard originally assumed, citing his knowledge of the events at the Others’ Camp with Locke in 1954 as proof. The two made a deal that the truce between Dharma and the Others would remain unbroken, since Sawyer killed the two men in self-defense, which was not a violation of the truce.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">1977</span><br /><i>Whatever Happened, Happened</i>, Season 5 Episode 11<br />Sawyer and Kate were captured by the Others while carrying the seriously wounded young Ben (thanks to Sayid) in an attempt to get the Others’ help in saving Ben’s life. Sawyer demanded that they be taken to Richard stating that Ben's death would have repercussions on both the Dharma Initiative and the Others. After telling them that Ben would remember none of this and would be “one of them” (an Other) for good after this, Richard carried Ben through the jungle and brought him into the Temple.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">1977 (appx)</span><br /><i>The Variable</i>, Season 5 Episode 14<br />Daniel Faraday entered the Others’ camp and demanded to meet Ellie. Richard tried to calm him down, but Daniel demanded to know where Richard had buried Jughead. Pointing his gun at Richard, Daniel told that he would count to three. Before he could do so, Ellie shot him from behind. Richard asked why she did it, to which Ellie replied that Daniel was threatening Richard. Richard then watched as Daniel revealed that he was Ellie’s son, before dying.<br /><br />Charles Widmore then appeared with Jack and Kate as prisoners. After Ellie read Daniel’s journal, she ordered to release them. She then asked Richard to accompany them to the Jughead. The group traveled to the lake, which held the entrance to the tunnels in which Jughead had been placed. After Sayid removed Jughead’s core, the group then traveled further down the tunnels, where Richard used a hammer to break down a wall leading to a house in the Barracks. Ellie then decided that she should go into the house first, but Richard knocked her out, telling Jack and Sayid that Ellie ordered him to help them get the bomb, which he did, and that he was just protecting their leader.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">December 19, 1992</span><br /><i>The Man Behind the Curtain</i>, Season 3 Episode 20<br />Richard led the Hostiles in the Purge when they killed the Dharma Initiative population with gas from the Tempest station. After the gas had dissipated, Richard emerged from the Barracks with the other Hostiles to meet Ben who had just returned from killing his father.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">2001</span><br /><i>Not in Portland</i>, Season 3 Episode 7<br />Ben sent Richard and Ethan to recruit Juliet in the name of Mittelos Bioscience in his attempts to find the reason and cure for pregnant woman dying on the island.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">September 24, 2004</span><br /><i>One of Us</i>, Season 3 Episode 16<br />Moments after Flight 815 crashed, Ben took Juliet to the Flame station, where Mikhail patched them through to a live broadcast of Richard filming in Miami. The broadcast showed Juliet’s sister and nephew having a happy moment at a playground, with the date illustrated by Richard filming a Miami Journal newspaper header.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Days 80 – 90 (Season 3)</span><br />Eighty days after the crash of Flight 815, Ben instructed Richard to bring him “the man from Tallahassee.” The next day Richard helped Ben bring him to a room where that man was revealed to be Locke’s father, Anthony Cooper. Ben insisted that Locke kill his own father, but Locke refused. The next morning, Richard introduced himself to Locke, who did not remember his childhood encounter with him. He said that Ben had known Locke wouldn’t kill his dad and wanted him to fail in front of the group. Richard mentioned that they were all there for reasons more important than the fertility issues Ben had been focusing on. He then presented Locke with a file on Sawyer, suggesting that he should kill Cooper instead. Locke, confused, asked why Sawyer would want to kill Cooper; Richard simply told him to read the file.<br /><br />Two days later, at the temporary camp, as Ben reminisced over a wooden doll he had received from Annie as a child, Richard entered and asked what it was. Ben explained that it was a birthday present and asked cryptically, “You do remember birthdays, don't you, Richard?”, to which he received no response.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Day 100 (Season 4)</span><br />Richard makes a deal with Kate and Sayid that if they helped the Others rescue Ben, they could leave the island on the helicopter. Upon success, Lapidus takes off with a group of the survivors. Prior to leaving the island via the Orchid, Ben told Locke that Richard and his people were two miles east of the station. Ben also said that Richard would answer all of Locke’s questions about the Island and follow all his commands. Locke proceeded to the camp to be warmly welcomed by Richard and the Others. The two were talking when the sky began to glow as Ben began the process of moving the island. Locke disappeared at this point, while Richard and the Others remained in the same time.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">2007 (Season 5)</span><br />Richard Alpert was working on a ship in a bottle when he was interrupted by the arrival of the Man in Black, in the form of the recently deceased John Locke. Richard, however, did not know that it was MIB and proceeded to follow every command and step of Fake Locke (Flocke). In what is now a classic season of season 5, Flocke gave Richard a medical kit and told him that a wounded man would come out of the jungle. Richard was told to extract the bullet from the man’s leg and tell him that he should bring back everyone who had left the island and that in order to do that, the man would have to die. Flocke also tricked Richard to give ‘his’ compass to the man. The man emerged from the jungle, limping. To Richard’s surprise, it was Locke before his death, who was time-traveling as a result of the island’s movement. After healing his wound and delivering the message, time travel zapped the real John Locke away. Richard made his way back to Flocke and Ben, and seemed satisfied that the time-traveling John believed him. Richard was happy that Locke did not actually have to die, to which Flocke said “he did.”<br /><br />Shortly after, Richard, Ben and Flocke made their way back to camp, where Flocke introduced himself to his people and informed them that Richard is going to take him, along with the rest of them, to see their unseen leader, Jacob. Richard wondered if Flocke would only cause trouble, to which Ben exclaimed that this is the reason he tried to kill him, which elicited a shocked response from Richard.<br /><br />Richard led Flocke and the rest of the Others to the Four-Toed Foot, informing him that this is where Jacob lived. Along the way, he told Flocke the reason for him being the way he was (not aging), was because of Jacob and he suspected that Flocke’s apparent resurrection may have something to do with Jacob as well. At the Foot, Flocke wanted to take Ben with him to see Jacob but Richard objected, stating that the rules he follows says that only the Leader can meet Jacob and there can only be one leader on the island at a time. Despite hearing this and accusing Richard of making the rules up as he goes along, Flocke insisted Ben come along and Richard eventually gave in to his demand. Richard pushed in a stone at the base of the Foot allowing access and departed after telling them both to say “hi” to Jacob.<br /><br />Later, Ilana and her group arrived and asked for “Richardus.” Richard came forward and corrected her by saying, “Actually, it’s Richard.” Ilana asked him the question, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” To which Richard responded (in Latin), “He who shall save us all.” Ilana then said that she had something to show him. She opened the crate she and her people had been carrying around to reveal the corpse of John Locke. Richard asked Ilana where she found him and she explained thus revealing to Richard and all the Others that the Flocke whom Richard had been following was an impostor.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">2007 (Season 6)</span><br />After the revelation of Locke's body, Richard attempted to prevent Ilana and Bram entrance to the statue, claiming that asking “what lies in the shadow of the statue” does not make them in charge. Ben walked out of the statue and asked Richard to go inside and talk to Flocke. Richard, frustrated, dragged Ben to the Ajira crate and tossed him on the ground, bringing Ben face-to-face with dead Locke.<br /><br />The following morning, Richard saw the Temple’s message flare presumably, indicating Jacob's death. Just then, Flocke descended from the statue, causing the Others to point their guns at him. In a panic, Richard screamed for them to not shoot. Flocke approached Richard, and commented that it was good to see him “out of [his] chains.” Richard seemed to instantly realize who Flocke was, yet Flocke attacked him and knocked him unconscious before he could do anything. Lifting Richard on his back, Flocke said he was very disappointed in the Others before carrying Richard into the jungle.<br /><br />When Richard regains consciousness, Flocke tells Richard he wants what he has always wanted: for Richard to come with him. Richard asks why he now looks like Locke, and he replies that Locke could get close to Jacob because he was a “candidate.” When Richard inquiries as to what a candidate is, Flocke responds sarcastically, asking why Richard would follow Jacob without knowing what he was following Jacob for and that he would never have kept Richard in the dark. He again requests Richard to come with him and promises to tell him everything, but Richard refuses to go with him.<br /><br />After leaving Flocke, Richard goes to the Temple and discovers the terror that has occurred. He runs into Jack and Hurley out in the jungle and says he’ll take them to the Temple. Instead, he goes to the Black Rock. Richard stops to examine some chains and shackles, and muses that he has been on the island for a long time and this is his first trip back to the ship. <br /><br />Richard begins playing around with some dynamite, to Hurley’s shock. The dynamite will not explode. Richard explains that Jacob touched him and he cannot die by his own hands. Because of this, Richard asks Jack to kill him. He tells Jack that he feels that his long life on the island has lacked purpose, because Jacob had promised to share his plans with Richard but did not do so before he died. Jack listens and lights a stick of dynamite, but instead of leaving, he sits across from Richard to ask him some questions. Hurley, panicked, runs off. Jack asks about Jacob’s purposes for him and Richard says he does not know. Jack tells Richard about how the mirrors in the Lighthouse showed Jack’s childhood home, and that Jacob had been watching him his whole life. Jack is not worried about the dynamite exploding because he feels Jacob would never let anything happen to someone who is part of his plan. Richard appears genuinely stirred by Jack’s words, but feels the latter is taking an awful risk in their current situation. However, the dynamite does not blow up just as Jack predicted.<br /><br />Realizing Jack is now the one “with all the answers,” Richard asks where they should go next. Jack responds with a smile: “Back to where it all started.” They return to survivors’ beach camp, where they reunite with Sun, Lapidus, Ilana, Miles and Ben who have gone there for safety from Flocke. Richard stands apart from the group (as does Ben on the opposite side) and silently watches the friends happily reunite.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">I have a headache.</span></div>Yeah, me too. It is funny how we think we know so little about Richard, but he has actually been around at several very critical moments in the show’s history. <br /><br />So what does this mean for tonight?<br /><br />Well, the episode description is “<i>Richard Alpert faces a difficult choice</i>.” Is the choice in present time or “eternal time,” as the episode title seems to indicate? I’m going to vote for the latter, as I think tonight is going to fill in the holes of his backstory:<br /><br />-When did he get the ‘gift’ of immortality from Jacob?<br />-Why did he get this gift?<br />-Did he really not know anything about the candidates?<br />-What was the deal with the six items placed in front of Locke? What did they mean?<br />-What was his life like before servitude to Jacob?<br />-Why did Ilana call him Richardus?<div>-And 1,000 more questions Charlie and I have pondered for the last 3 years.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">And about the Black Rock..</span></div>Last week’s episode inside the Black Rock seemed to indicate that Richard had been there before (he said as much). In fact, Richard almost said that, at some point, he had arrived on the island via the Black Rock. Was it his first time to the island? Most people think no. In fact, I have read several theories that equate the Black Rock to Richard’s “Ajira 316,” in that it served as his second (or third? Or fourth?) vehicle to reach the island. The name Richardus does seem to date him a bit…<br /><br />But this would be a good time to talk about the Black Rock. What do we know? What do we not know? Black Rock has been around since episode 1 of season 1. Danielle mentioned the Black Rock in her French distress signal, even though Shannon’s 3rd year French translation didn’t pick it up. However, since I am already three times the normal length of a preview on the Dharma Blog, I won’t go into the season-by-season summation of what we’ve seen of the ship. Instead, I’ll present you with the Top Ten Fun Facts about the Black Rock, Letterman-style, that we have learned over the year<br /><br />1. In 1845, it set sail from Portsmouth, England (out of slip 23 on the docks) on a trading mission to Siam (aka Thailand).</div><div><br />2. It was a mining ship, but some of its cargo secretly included slaves. (The slave trade had been outlawed in 1807, but slavery itself was not abolished in the British Empire until 1833.) History claimed the Black Rock disappeared while on its return voyage from a gold mining operation in the South Indian Ocean. It had a crew of 40 men and an unknown number of slaves on board.</div><div><br />3. In that crazy beach scene from the season 5 finale, Man In Black claimed that Jacob “brought” the Black Rock to the island.</div><div><br />4. Currently, the Black Rock is mysteriously and bizarrely located extremely far inland on the island in an area called the Dark Territory. This part of the island (according to the Blast Door Map) is where the Smoke Monster is known to be most active.</div><div><br />5. It is full of highly sensitive dynamite, even though dynamite wasn’t invented until after 1845.</div><div><br />6. It is assumed that Alpert came to the Island on the Black Rock, but hadn’t visited it since.</div><div><br />7. The Black Rock was part of a fleet of boats owned by the New World Sea Traders. The New World Sea Traders was owned and operated by Magnus Hanso, a former ship’s captain who became a business entrepreneur. It is believed that the Black Rock was captained by Magnus Hanso, who is the great grandfather of Alvar Hanso, the financier behind the Dharma Initiative.</div><div><br />8. In 1989, the first mate’s journal from the Black Rock came up for sale at an auction at Southfield's. Charles Widmore purchased the journal, outbidding an unknown/remote individual who was never named. In addition to the journal, Widmore received a painting called “The Black Rock Storm,” which is later seen hanging in Widmore’s residence.</div><div><br />9. After Claire’s abduction by the Others in season 1, Charlie read her diary, hoping to find some clues as to her whereabouts. He uncovered a passage where Claire mentioned she had been having dreams about a “black rock.”</div><div><br />10. The Black Rock is presumed to have been lost in the Sunda Trench, which is where the fake Oceanic 815 crash was discovered (4 miles deep) by a vessel searching for the Black Rock wreckage.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Enjoy tonight!</span></div>Well, that’s all I have in me, folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed this flash through the Lost series from the perspective of everyone’s favorite eyeliner wonder boy, Richard Alpert, with a bonus Black Rock top 10 list!</div><div><br /></div><div>I invite you to take some time now to leave a comment. What question about Richard Alpert do YOU want addressed tonight? What theories do you have? And where do you fall in the eyeliner discussion? (Note: I vote he doesn't wear eyeliner, but has naturally dark eye lashes.)</div><div><br /></div><div>ENJOY this episode. Lord knows Charlie and I will! Be sure to come back tomorrow morning when Charlie tackles the tough questions and puts it all in perspective, as he does so well week after week.<br /><br />Namaste,<br />Maggie</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-2035589149723651682010-03-16T23:20:00.001-06:002010-03-16T23:21:55.917-06:00Get Your Recon<span style="font-weight: bold;">Lost Season Six, Episode Eight: Recon</span><br /><br />Top of the mornin’! Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and more importantly, Happy Morning After LOST.<br /><br />Another week, another episode that underwhelmed Maggie and satiated yours truly. I didn’t love “Recon,” but I view it like this season’s “Lighthouse” episode: what it lacked in plot development or compelling dialogue, it made up for in mythology and did a nice job setting up the next episode. Let’s just hope that next week’s episode is as impressive as Lighthouse’s follow-up, Sundown. (From the looks of the preview – a Richard Alpert backstory episode – I’m betting we won’t be disappointed.)<br /><br />But we’ve got some nuggets to dissect from Recon; aside from Sawyer bedding two gingers, some serious mommy issues and a really ominous submarine closet. Let’s do this.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">LAPD Blues</span><br /></div>Recon began with déjà vu all over again: Sawyer’s classic “pigeon drop” con being played out on a hapless, post-coital mark. Only, this ginger was sharper than the average daywalker: turns out, her hubby was a conman, and she was onto Sawyer. Ever a step ahead, Sawyer revealed he was in fact doing Recon on her – that she was part of a setup designed to lead the LAPD to her con artist lover. For proof, he summoned the swat team with a very interesting codeword: LaFleur. Chalk that up as yet another probably-insignificant-but-still-cool commonality between our two timelines.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Different But the Same</span><br />Detective Ford is a mostly-readable carbon copy of Scumbag Sawyer. He’s the same smooth-talking, criminally-minded southern gentleman. His origin story – where a conman Sawyer ruins his parents’ marriage and causes his father to kill his mother and then himself – remains the same. And he’s still out for revenge.<br /><br />But Detective Ford is different in some ways. For one thing, he followed a more noble path toward that vengeance against Sawyer. “I guess I got to a point in my life where I was either gonna be a criminal or a cop, so I chose cop,” he says. The key word there is “chose.” Remember, Jacob’s modus operandi is to lead people to the precipice of a big decision, then trust their inherent goodness to let their free will make the right decision. In his original back story, Sawyer chose evil. This time though, he has chosen to at least accrue some karma by taking down bad guys.<br /><br />Interestingly enough, this episode featured Miles in a prominent role, but we didn’t see one ghost. Unless you count Charlotte’s glaring white backside. And I do. Miles – playing Ford’s partner on the force – sets James up with Charlotte, who he says works with his dad at the museum. Remember, Miles’ father is Pierre Chang, the mastermind behind Dharma’s time travel experiments. In this timeline, it would appear Chang left the Island (or never went) before it sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Interesting. I would’ve pegged Chang as “destined” for that job.<br /><br />Bottom line: last night’s Sawyer was a familiar face, but the choices he had made left him in different surroundings. Whether his killer instinct is still honed remains to be seen. But something tells me this Sawyer doesn’t quite have it in him. I think he’s a better guy.<br /><br />Additional fun fact: Sawyer was watching Little House on the Prairie, the very show he told Kate he liked in the Season Three episode, “Tricia Tanaka is Dead.” Whaddya know, that episode was good for something after all.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Man in the Mirror</span><br />After adding a second ginger notch to his belt in as many days, James Ford chases Charlotte out of his apartment when she finds his Sawyer File. Miles – after doing a little recon himself – puts the pieces together and sniffs out Sawyer’s deceptions. Sawyer, frustrated at the rare occurrence of being found out, smashes his hand through the mirror in the locker room.<br /><br />And here I should apologize. I’ve neglected to mention in any of my writeups this season the significance of mirrors. Every flash-sideways storyline has featured a main character examining themselves in a reflective surface. Jack checked out his mysterious shaving nick in the 815 lavatory, then examined his abdominal scar in his apartment. Kate, Locke and Ben all caught glimpses of themselves, too. The whole gang has had one moment of literal and figurative reflection in each of their respective flash-sideways.<br /><br />That can’t be insignificant. I believe it has something to do with the motif of self-actualization that I’ve discussed previously. Our sideways characters are – for the most part – at peace with themselves and living, arguably, a better life. Jack’s a good dad, Kate grew a heart, Locke made peace with his paralysis, Ben was selfless with Alex and Sawyer chose cop over con. While these characters all still have their faults, they’re more or less in a better place.<br /><br />I’m still high on my theory that this alternate reality will be the reality into which our Island-bound castaways “escape,” if they choose to do so. And I think the mirror theme, as a symbol of self-examination, is meant to provide our characters a literal and figurative device with which to examine the merits of that reality. Each character has improved their lives in this reality, but each still has glaring flaws. And perhaps the mirror metaphor is a method of reminding them (and us) that the grass may not always be greener on the other side(ways).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Connect(ion) Four</span><br />And I’d be remised if I didn’t mention Sawyer and Kate’s rendezvous. After slamming into his and Miles’ cruiser, Kate runs (shocker!) before Sawyer tracks her down.<br /><br />So that’s Sawyer and Kate, together. Jin and Sayid, together. Locke and Jack, linked by an inevitable surgical consult. And Ben and Locke, chilling in the teacher’s lounge. Four big connections that may prove the link between our castaways to be strong enough to withstand the test of (alternate) time(lines). Keep an eye on it. I swear, it’s gonna matter.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Mamas and the Papas</span><br /></div>Once again, I found the on-Island story much more compelling than What If Land. Terry O’Quinn’s ability to make me believe he is a completely different character this season is unbelievable. I buy him as Locke, and as Flocke. And last night, Flocke set up several strategic dominos.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Group Dynamics</span><br />Locke played Charles Ingalls last night, serving as a reassuring, motivating father to his wayward flock. Pretty ironic for a man who never had a good example of a father to go off of.<br /><br />After uniting his new band of followers with unwitting participant Jin and new recruit Sawyer – who were left behind at Camp Crazy to babysit Claire’s poop baby – he distanced himself from “the black smoke” by claiming that it killed the people at the Temple. He didn’t see fit to mention that he is the freaking black smoke, so add that to your list of reasons Flocke is Evil. He even took time to console tail section kiddos Emma and Zach, who is still cradling the same teddy bear he’s been dragging around since Season Two.<br /><br />Next, he sought to chill everyone else the eff out. He explained that they needed to keep moving in order to (metaphor alert!) “take advantage of the daylight.” Innocuous line or another hint that new-look-Locke is, in fact, exploiting these people’s natural goodness (or “light”), for his own personal gain.<br /><br />Finally, Locke set out to strategically position Sawyer, Kate and Claire, for the next phase of his chess match.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Papa Do Preach</span><br />Claire explains to Kate that poop baby was merely a substitute for Aaron. “It’s all I had,” she says. 30 minutes later, Claire jumps Kate. (You would’ve thought that an episode that required me writing “Claire jumps Kate” would’ve been much better.) Locke pulls Claire off to diffuse the situation, but Claire isn’t calming down. He tells her – much like my parents often had to tell me – “this is completely inappropriate.” And when she still doesn’t chill out, Locke proves once and for all that his pimp hand is strong, and swipes Claire across the face. While you may not agree with the methods, you can’t deny that Locke has a very fatherly dynamic with Claire – one that perhaps originated with his protection of her from drug-addled Charlie and his building of Aaron’s bassinet, way back in Season One. Though now, that relationship is in a much darker place; one where Locke seems primed to exploit Claire’s trust in him for personal gain.<br /><br />Next up on the John Locke tour of fatherhood missions: Sawyer, who trusts Locke more than I would. Locke easily talks Sawyer into a Hyrda Island recon mission, after explaining to his new “son,” that his predicament with the Temple Others was a “kill or be killed” situation – they wanted him dead, he wanted to leave the Island, and something had to give.<br /><br />Finally, Locke addresses Kate. He apologizes for Claire’s behavior, taking responsibility for creating in her a dark hatred. Interesting to hear Locke rationalize his manipulation of Claire, wasn’t it? He claimed that hatred kept Claire going when she thought Aaron was gone. Some father.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mommy Dearest</span><br />For a show heavy on daddy issues, last night’s mommy blockbuster was a hell of a moment. Locke’s monologue to Kate about his own issues with his lineage was perhaps one of the more revealing mythology moments we’ve had yet.<br />“You referred to me as a dead man. I am not a dead man…. My mother was crazy. A long time ago, before I looked like this, I had a mother just like everyone. She was a very disturbing woman, and as a result of that, I had some growing pains. Problems that I’m still trying to work my way through. Problems that could’ve been avoided had things been different…(and) now, Aaron has a crazy mother, too.”<br /><br />Whew. That’s heavy. If Jacob and MIB are indeed meant to be actual historical characters, then we should all be looking up “crazy, disturbing mothers in history” on Wikipedia. I love hearing about pre-body-of-Locke MIB. I can’t wait to see where the origins of that character came from.<br /><br />Here’s a couple thoughts. As Maggie reminded me, many have purported a “time loop” theory as it pertains to LOST. That everything we’re seeing is just a continuous loop, rehashing the same major events with slightly different twists each time. Last night, we heard Locke refer to his crazy mom, who he then equated to Claire. If LOST is indeed showcasing a repeating loop of time, could it be reasoned that MIB is the manifestation of Aaron? Remember, Aaron has always been ominous. Psychic Richard Malkin warned that “great danger surrounds this child,” and Claire has always been afraid to raise him. What if Aaron – the only character we really know with a crazy mom – is the reincarnation of the Man in Black? Or, put another way, maybe the Man in Black is the grown up version of Aaron. Makes you think again about that mysterious little blondie that Sawyer and Locke encountered in the jungle a few weeks back, doesn’t it?<br /><br />Or let’s go another direction with Locke’s monologue last night. I hung on the part where he said that his crazy mother had resulted in “growing pains” for him. I don’t think he mean the Seaver Family kind (RIP Boner). He also noted that he was still trying to work through those problems, and that those problems “could’ve been avoided had things been different.” Very interesting. Is Man in Black looking through his own mirror at this point? He seems to be contemplating what an alternate version of himself – one devoid of bad-momma baggage – might’ve turned out. The more we learn about the Man in Black, the more I’m intrigued by the concept of him as a real, living, breathing man. He referenced his “past body” last night, and told Sawyer a few weeks ago that he used to be a man, just like him, who felt pain and loss. So how did this flesh-and-blood man become the ruthless, smokey, Man in Black ala Locke? I think it might have to do something with his physical and mental imprisonment, and perhaps the idea that he can’t leave the Island until he’s unloaded and dealt with that “pain,” that “loss” and that “crazy mother.”<br /><br />Time will tell. But let’s mentally bookmark Locke’s download of information about his mother. It matters.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hydra? I Don’t Even Knowa!</span><br />Sawyer’s mission to Hydra Island was fruitful, for the most part, if not somewhat confusing. After battling through a half dozen Widmore flunkies – including “Zoe,” or as I like to call her, “Lizzzzz Lemmoooonnnnnnnn!!” – Sawyer finally gains an audience with the man himself. (He even got the line of the night for, “Take me to your leader.”)<br /><br />Two quick notes: (1) the makeshift pylon fence leads me to believe that Widmore knows exactly what he’s dealing with in Smokey. (2) What’s in that locked closet? More to the point: who is in that locked closet? Early money is on Desmond, who would only go back to the Island if locked in a submarine closet. But, seeing as I’m in NCAA bracket mode, I’ll pick a sleeper: Walt. Sorry, I just don’t think we’re done with him yet.<br /><br />Sawyer’s contentious, terse meeting with Widmore was a little ho-hum. They wasted no time on pleasantries, however, with Sawyer accusing Widmore of attempted mass murder and Widmore condescending to Sawyer as a misinformed, ignorant pawn. But both men put down their rulers long enough to cut a deal: Sawyer would deliver Locke if Widmore would deliver Sawyer (and friends) off the Island. Fair enough. I did like Sawyer’s response when Widmore asked how he knew he could trust him. “Same way I know I can trust you.” (Read: you can’t, but I’m all you’ve got.)<br /><br />Upon returning to the beach, Sawyer comes clean to Locke and sets into motion some sneak attack battle plans. Then, he returns to the camp to tell Kate that he’s really just using Locke as a decoy to distract Widmore’s people away from the submarine long enough to commandeer it and ride it to safety. (by the way, worst dramatic ending ever: “We’re taking the sub!” Sigh).<br /><br />To me, the question is where do Sawyer’s loyalties lie. What’s his motive right now? I think it is, plain and simple, to get off the Island. But it was interesting to watch him claim a variety of different alliances. He told Jin he was “with Locke.” Then he told Widmroe he would turn Locke in. Then he told Kate he wasn’t “with anybody.” It seems Sawyer is playing a game within the game, pushing certain people into place for his own purposes.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">In Conclusion</span><br /></div>I’m going to end this about 500 words earlier than usual, if only because I don’t think 3000 words are necessary to breakdown a “setup” episode. And because next week looks like it might require 5000.<br /><br />But I think my main takeaway from Recon is a reinforcement of the motif of moral ambiguity that has been such a big part of this series. I remember in Season One, convincing myself Locke was evil. By the end of the season, I was sure he was good. I’ve repeated this cycle at least 20 times since. Same for Sawyer. And I go back and forth on Jacob, MIB, Richard Alpert and Ben Linus.<br /><br />Contrast that ambiguity with the show’s very deliberate inclusion of non-ambiguous dichromatic symbolism: black and white. Every day, we hear about problems that “can’t be broken down in black and white.” We hear about things that aren’t as simple as we’d like them to be. We question leaders who ensure us that there is one right answer to a problem. And now we have Jacob and his nemesis, who seem unfailingly tied to their respective color: black or white. Maybe the message behind that, is that no one way is right; no solution is without its drawbacks. And that we as humans – no matter which versions of ourselves we try to hold up to the mirror – are never without flaw.<br /><br />Namaste. <br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-52245991454917529922010-03-15T21:27:00.003-06:002010-03-15T21:35:55.685-06:00Sawyer, I will be your constant.Well, it has been a week of<i> crazy fame</i> for Charlie and me. I tell you what: who knew the Lincoln Journal Star was read by so many of our parents’ friends? We hope you enjoyed the article as much as we did…and laughed as much as we did. Oh, local newspapers are the best.<br /><br />Tonight, we’ve got an interesting episode on our hands. Sawyer is back…and I, for one, am not complaining.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Tonight’s episode: “Recon”</span></b></div>Obviously, the mind immediately wanders to reconnaissance for tonight’s episode, which is a term used in the military meaning the gathering of information. As you’ll recall, we last saw Sawyer agreeing to help Flocke get off the island (Sawyer’s actual words were ‘hell yes’). However, unlike the other survivors who are wandering with Flocke through the jungle, Sawyer’s reason to want to leave the island is to <i>escape</i> his current situation, not go to a different situation. In contrast, Claire is following along with Flocke because she wants to leave the island to find Aaron. On the same note, Sayid is with Flocke because of the promise that he could get back the one thing he lost: Nadia.<br /><br />But this is not the case for Sawyer. He is desperate to escape the very painful memories that are on the island, but doesn’t really have a plan outside of that. Also, it is important to note that even though Sawyer knows Flocke is an ‘alive deadman’, he has no idea that Flocke is allegedly evil incarnate. Just like the Black Eyed Peas, I gotta feeling that once Sawyer starts interacting with other characters during this jungle hike (<b>see</b>: Kate) and learns a little bit more about what is going down with Flocke, there is a very good chance he will retract his membership with Team Flocke. This is Sawyer we’re talking about. Although he puts up quite a front that he is only in it for himself, he has shown time and time again that he cares about his friends and wants to protect them. (Unfortunately, I’m wondering if this is going to spell disaster for Sawyer by the end of this season...)<br /><br />But back to tonight. Sawyer doesn’t have the ‘darkness’. He hasn’t been claimed. He just wants to leave this island because he’s alone. Again. Juliet is gone. And Flocke is giving him an out. It seems likely that Flocke will convince him to do some (wait for it) <b>RECON</b> work of Team Jacob before this episode is over.<br /><br />Think about it. Sawyer comes back to the beach. Everyone runs to greet him. He says he needed some time away to mourn the loss of Juliet. Everyone understands and welcomes him back into the club. Secretly, he is figuring out what the plan is: where are they headed next? What do they know? Who is going to do what? And all that information goes straight back to Flocke.<br /><br />Minor hiccup in said theory: Couldn’t Flocke just become the smoke monster, hide in a bush, and listen? Survey says: yes. So, there must be some sort of action required with this recon. Foil the plans. Steal something. Plant something (<a href="http://www.arborday.org/">like a tree</a>, but not really). I’m not sure what this will be, but you get the idea, right? Right.<br /><br />Note: Let the record show that I’m not convinced Sawyer is on Team Flocke for sure right now. What if he goes back to his old ways? Can’t you just see it? Sawyer setting up the ultimate long con against Flocke, secretly aiding Jacob? And he saves the day? Yep. <i>Love it</i>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Maggie needs to get on a soapbox for just a second.</span></div>Okay. We’re almost halfway through this final season. There’s a lot of questions. A few things I’d like to find out…soon, if at all possible.<br />(1) What is Flocke trying to do? He’s enlisting Sawyer’s help, but why? For what end? And why does he need to go to Hydra?<br />(2) What can Jacob do to stop him? And does Ilana have any idea what to do?<br />(3) Do I have it <i>all wrong</i>…should I be worried about what Jacob is trying to do and what Flocke can do to stop him?<br /><br />Okay, I’m done. Sorry.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold; ">Guest Starring Tonight!</span></div>Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Lewis, Kimberley Joseph as Cindy, Neil Hopkins as Liam Pace, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as Ava, Fred Koehler as Seamus, Allen Cole as duty sergeant, Mickey Graue as Zack, Kiersten Havelock as Emma, Christopher Johnson as police officer and Michael Green as lawyer.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Whew!</span></span></div>More Widmore. Yesssssss. I have a feeling it will be more than the 32 seconds he was on last week’s episode. How did he find the island? Why did he find the island? Is he the person Jacob was referring to? And why couldn’t he splurge for a bigger submarine…tough economic times? Finally, perhaps tonight’s episode title refers (in part) to the recon Widmore is doing from his submarine of Team Jacob on the beach…<br /><br />Not too surprised with Cindy, Zack, and Emma. They’re on Team Flocke, marching toward Hydra. I predict a line or two of dialogue from each of them, with little to no consequence.<br /><br />Two female names we’ve never seen before: Zoe and Ava. My money is on “women Sawyer is hooking up with in the alternate timeline.”<br /><br />Seamus is a funny name. But you want to know something crazy? In Ireland, Seamus is a variant / nickname for a very Lostian name: Jacob. <i>I’m not kidding, you guys</i>! Just like Charlie is a nickname for Charles, and Maggie is a nickname for Margaret…if you are a Jacob living in Ireland, you might be called Seamus. No idea what this means for the show…judging by my track record, nothing. But I’m throwing it out there because that is my job!!<br /><br />Characters that make me believe alternaSawyer continues to challenge authority: “duty sergeant”, “police officer”, and “lawyer”. I smell legal trouble.<br /><br />Finally, two very surprising guest stars for a Sawyerisode: the woman Charlie Stephan loves to hate, Charlotte Lewis, and the brother Charlie Pace loves to hate, Liam Pace.<br /><br />Retrospective: Liam is Charlie’s older brother and member of Driveshaft (“You all everybody!”). He is to blame for the following huge moments in Charlie’s life: addicted to drugs, band falls apart. Lucky for him, Liam is living in Sydney with a loving wife and daughter, apparently having pulled his life together. I predict no major role this week (not sure how he would fit into Sawyer’s story), so I predict a wink appearance in the alternatimeline (like Rose at the employment agency) in tonight’s episode.<br /><br />Charlotte Lewis is the redheaded anthropologist who wouldn’t die last season. She grew up on the island, met Faraday as a young girl, and came back on Widmore’s freighter. Even though Faraday could do so much better, her death inspired him to “change the past”, which ultimately led to the Incident. I suppose that her death means that Man in Black could take over her body, but it is a little more confusing than that. Unfortunately, we don’t know when Charlotte died, as the island was jumping through time. So, while it is possible, it would mean that she has been wandering around the island undead for a long time (most think she died between the Statue’s construction and the well’s construction…by the way, how is that for vague?) without interacting with anyone. Tough sell. I predict Charlotte is off island in the alternatimeline, doing something annoying (sorry, I don’t like her). And that’s all I’ve got on her.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><b>DVR says…</b></span><br />Locke tasks Sawyer with a mission.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;">Maggie says…</span></b><br />Seriously? That's it? Okay, so he is going on a mission. A reconnaissance mission? I vote yes.<br /><br />After a powerful performance on the dock with Kate, it has been several weeks since Sawyer graced the screen. We’re due for lots of Sawyer this week. I, for one, am equal to the challenge. God Bless Sawyer.<br /><br />Namaste,<br />MaggieUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-73144421044502959282010-03-10T00:37:00.005-06:002010-03-10T00:58:08.018-06:00The Doctor is Always In<span style="font-weight: bold;">LOST Season Six, Episode Seven: Dr. Linus.</span><br /><br />Well then. Now that we’re <a href="http://journalstar.com/entertainment/small-screen/television-and-radio/article_07fb875c-2af9-11df-8f32-001cc4c03286.html">super famous</a>, I’d better make this good. If you’re just joining us, I’m going to recap last night’s LOST offering, “Dr. Linus,” an episode that featured the best alternate reality storyline thus far, some killer Locke moments, a faithless Richard and Nudie Magazine Day.<br /><br />Maggie didn’t love it. I thought it was awesome. Allow me to try to prove her wrong…<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MY FAITH IS GONE</span><br /></div>Last night’s Island story began with Ben in a very Jack-ala-Season-One position: lying prone in the jungle, terrified. He somehow survived Smokey’s wrath in the Temple (which I don’t think is a coincidence because, well, this is LOST), and he tells Ilana, Frank, Sun and Miles that Sayid has killed Temple Headmaster Dogen, and Lennon, the Assistant (to the) Regional Other.<br /><br />Of more importance, Miles uses his sixth sense to indict Ben as Jacob’s killer, thus spinning Ilana into a new dimension of vengeful and pissed off. Miles gets the line of the night here for his sarcastically-ominous, “Uh oh!” which, for me, instantly recalled <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c9udd72U9g">this classic Stewie moment </a>from Family Guy (the parallel happens at the :35 mark).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Beach Please</span><br />The happy travelers settle on a beachfront property, determining it the safest place to regroup. Sun (who somehow gets worse at acting every week) pleaded with Ilana to find Jin. Finally, we have a third party who is interested in making this reunion happen, as Ilana revealed that she was still tasked with protecting the candidates, of which Sun, Jin or both are still possibilities. (Remember, the name on the cave and wheel simply said “Kwon,” and didn’t clarify which.) Hopefully, Ilana’s involvement will expedite a resolution of the Jin and Sun story, if only to spare us more scene-killing lines from Sun. Ilana also confirmed that there are only six candidates remaining: Jack, Sawyer, Kwon, Hurley, Sayid and Locke, who she is apparently not counting out of the race quite yet.<br /><br />Quick side note: did you notice what Ben found amidst Sawyer’s old stash? No, not the issue of Badonkadonk Quarterly. The other piece of literature. It was “The Chosen,” by Chaim Potok. Wikipedia informs us that, “The Chosen' tells the story of the friendship between two Jewish boys growing up in 1940’s Brooklyn. Reuven Malter, who has a mind for mathematics, wants to become a rabbi and follows modern methods of studying Judaism. Danny is a genius son of a Hasidic Rabbi, Reb Saunders, who expects him to take over his position as tzaddik eventually.” A predestined position of authority over a given people who follow with steadfast reverence? Methinks this makes a must-have addition to our summer reading list.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Richard Alpert’s “Special Purpose”</span><br />Meanwhile, on the other side of the Island, Jack contemplated his next move while visions of cheese curds danced in Hurley’s head. Begrudgingly, Hurley agrees to follow Jack back to the Temple, but not without a few attempts at obstruction.<br /><br />They’re subverted quickly, though, by the sudden appearance of Richard, who looks markedly different. No, he still doesn’t age. But his haggard visage, his breathless, desperate instructions and his general listlessness were the marks of a man who had lost his faith. And that’s exactly what’s happened to Richard. As he later explained, he wants to die, because Jacob – the man he had followed for a majority of his (unusually long) life – was dead. And when Jacob died, so did Richard's chances for purpose, meaning, answers and direction. The ageless wonder was now destined to an eternal life of meaninglessness, and he didn’t want to end up like the Man in Black – imprisoned in a hellish nightmare for the unforeseeable future with no purpose.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dy-no-mite!</span><br />To that end, Richard takes Jack and Hurley to the Black Rock, hoping they’ll assist him in his grizzly goal. Why can’t he just kill himself? Because Jacob touched him, and Jacob’s people are apparently not allowed to commit suicide. (Side note: was Michael (who also couldn’t commit suicide) blessed by Jacob?). Someone should write an essay on different cultural and religious attitudes toward suicide and what they might reveal about LOST. Someone. Not me. I’m busy.<br /><br />Richard went on to explain that the “gift” of life from Jacob was really more of a curse. Additionally, Richard dropped a hint that the Black Rock was his place of origin, saying, “Of all the time I’ve spent on this Island, today’s the first time I’ve ever come back.” I expect confirmation of this – one way or another – sooner than later, but I actually have an inkling that Richard’s presence on the Island predates that of the Black Rock, which crashed there in the 19th century.<br /><br />Eventually, Richard gets around to that whole assisted suicide bit, asking Jack to light a long fuse attached to some Black Rock dynamite and then run away. Jack surprisingly obliges, but doesn’t take Richard up on the second half of the offer. Instead, he stays with Richard for a chat. After lighting the fuse, they discuss Jack’s purpose, and what Jack found at Jacob’s lighthouse. As the fuse shortens and the tension mounts, Jack’s becomes almost maniacally convinced that he’s invincible in this situation. Faith-shaken Richard isn’t so sure, but just as the dynamite is about to be ignited, the fuse dies. And Jack and Richard do not. So Richard, now malleable and suggestible, decides to follow his new Man of Faith, Jack, back to the beach. Or as Jack put it, “back to where we started.”<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Can You Dig It?</span><br />Before Richard, Jack and Hurley can arrive, Ben Linus has some work to do on the beach. Namely, he’s been tasked by Ilana to dig his own grave. Which she will soon fill. With his body. After she kills him. And you think your job sucks.<br /><br />Ben holds court with Frank, and even quickly invokes Faraday’s “Whatever happened, happened” theory when Frank tells him that he was originally supposed to fly Oceanic 815. When Frank imagines how different his life would’ve been had he not overslept that morning, Ben counters with the assertion that, “The Island still got you in the end, didn’t it?” This was a nice little nod to the idea of course correction – something I’ll touch on later in my discussion of the alternate reality story.<br /><br />As Ben digs into his grave, Miles digs into Ben’s fragile psyche with the emotional dagger of a revelation that Jacob “was hoping he was wrong” about Ben right before Ben plunged that dagger into him. At this point, I knew Ben wasn’t going to die. It was a confirmation that Ben wasn’t done being important. Not yet.<br /><br /> And if you needed further proof of that, guess who showed up next? FLocke, who played to Ben’s feelings of worthlessness by suggesting that, when FLocke and his followers found escape, Ben would be a great candidate for Island Protector. “Hey, you want this Island? I’m not doing anything with it.” FLocke essentially reiterated the insinuations that Jacob made about Ben’s diminished importance last season, telling the downtrodden Linus that once he was done with Island, the table scraps were all his. But hey, a purpose is still a purpose. And Ben took the bait, with the intention of joining Team Flocke on Hydra Island for further instructions.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Follow Me</span><br />But after luring Ilana into the jungle and training a well-placed rifle right between her eyes, Ben Linus finally broke down. He told Ilana that he killed Jacob because Jacob had robbed him of a meaningful life. He explained that he had sacrificed his daughter – and everything else he loved – in the name of Jacob and the Island. But Jacob didn't even care.<br /><br />He went on to describe Ilana’s “father figure” as a superficial, callous, uncaring manipulator. When he stabbed Jacob, he was “so angry, confused and terrified that I was about to lose the only thing that had ever mattered to me: my power. But the thing that really mattered was already gone.” You could see these words pierce through Ilana, as she began to see chinks in the armor of her once-infallible leader, Jacob. And in a rare moment of weakness, she caved. She told Ben he didn’t have to settle for the exploitative acceptance that Locke was offering; that she would take him in.<br /><br />Things aren’t good right now for Jacob. Last week, his two lead protectors were murdered by Sayid. This week, his two most fervent admirers lost their faith in him. First Richard, then Ilana. And that’s after he lost Ben’s trust last season. It would seem that our initial inkling to characterize Jacob as “good” and the Man in Black as “evil” was premature. I maintain that their morality is not so black and white. Both have good and bad qualities, as well as competing and morally ambiguous motives.<br /><br />But I think the lesson here is to ask questions. To not buy any one thing part-and-parcel – whether it’s a person, an institution or a belief. If that’s the worldview that LOST’s creators are purporting, it may seem like a cynical one. But it’s utilitarian realism at its finest: if the entity you idolize can’t truly improve your life, are they really worth sacrificing for? Last night, Richard and Ilana joined Ben in saying, “Hell no.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sub Rosa</span><br />So as this darker portrait of Jacob emerges, we have to reexamine everything about him. For instance: I wouldn’t have guessed that Jacob would align himself with one of the Island’s most tarnished and flawed leaders. But lo and behold, last night ended with the arrival of just such a man, Charles Widmore, in a submarine. And remember, it was Jacob who warned that someone was coming to the Island. Are we to believe that Jacob knew it was Charles? If so, Jacob’s squeaky white clean garb has just been further besmirched. Charles Widmore disgraced his people with an off-Island affair, and was banished by Ben Linus. So why would Jacob want him back?<br /><br />Then again, Ben Linus ain’t exactly the most trustworthy guy in the world. Perhaps his exile of Widmore was misguided, and Jacob is now making amends by allowing Charles to return.<br /><br />It all points back to the ambiguity of the motives and methods of the Island’s keepers. But Charles Widmore is at one knot and closing, and I can’t wait to see where this thing ends up.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HANGIN' WITH DR. LINUS</span><br /></div>I loved the alternate reality universe last night. Loved it. A warped-mirror Ben Linus, high school politics, an uncharacteristically attractive Alex Rousseau. I mean, dude, we even got some Arzt on us.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Same Song, Different Verse</span><br />The thing that struck me about Dr. Linus’ life was how closely it mirrored every major element of his on-Island life.<br /><br />In fact, right from the start, when Dr. Linus began by uttering the words, “It was on this Island that everything changed,” you knew this story arc was going to be a big, juicy metaphor. Ben continued lecturing on Napoleon Bonaparte, saying, “Exile wasn’t the worst of his fate. What was truly devastating to him was the loss of his power… He might just as well have been dead.” Right. What other vertically-impaired leader on an Island could this describe? Hell, even the assignment on the blackboard pointed to Ben’s alternate shenanigans. It said, “Places to locate.” Here’s some more:<br /><br /><ul><li>Dr. Linus was relegated to detention supervisor instead of focusing on his pet project, the History Club – much in the same way that Island Ben was forced to pay undue attention to the pre-natal fatality issue instead of serving and protecting the Island. </li><li>Dr. Linus didn’t believe in, trust or care to follow his supervisor (Principal Reynolds, who was focused more on budgets than beakers) much in the same way that Island Ben couldn’t buy into Charles Widmore’s ruthless leadership style. </li><li>John Locke was “substituting” for Richard Alpert as the “teacher” who encouraged Ben’s usurpation of his superior. </li><li>Ben used the sexual indiscretion of his superior as a wedge with which to supplant him. Charles Widmore’s off-Island affair was Principal Reynolds nurses’ office tryst. When Alex told Ben about this, I couldn’t help but hear Ralph Wiggum say, “Mrs. Krabappel and Principal Skinner were in the closet making babies and I saw one of the babies and then the baby looked at me.”</li><li>And in the most obvious example, Ben has a sincere, caring, fatherly relationship with Alex, despite an absence of biological connection. On the Island, she’s his “daughter.” Off it, she’s his prized student.</li></ul><br />The list goes on, people. Hell, Ben even gassed his father in both storylines. Except last night, the gas was used to save Roger Linus, not kill him. Side note: Roger’s revelation that, in this reality, they still go to the Island but choose to leave, was really interesting. It’s confirmation that the Island still existed, Dharma-and-all, but that Roger and Ben just left. What happened differently in this iteration of the story to prevent Ben from seeking solace from Richard and the Others and ultimately massacring his own people? Again, I’ll get to that later. Don’t you like when I say that? Over-promise, under-deliver. That’s how I roll.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Change of Plans </span><br />But while all of Dr. Linus’ life played out like a cover band reprising Island Ben’s greatest hits, one song definitely sounded out-of-key, right?<br /><br />In this reality, Ben confronts his superior with the damning evidence of misdeeds that could lead to his demise. But Principal Reynolds counters with a threat of his own: to prevent Alex’s admittance into Yale. Once again, Ben’s loyalty to Alex was tested. Would Ben once again choose to sacrifice Alex to satisfy his own ambitions? Surprisingly, no. This time, Ben took the high road, selflessly bowing out of his blackmail request and paving the way for Alex to get a kick-ass letter of recommendation from Principal Reynolds.<br /><br />Interesting. Dr. Linus – disguised as a ruthless, cardigan-clad history teacher – seemed destined to emulate his alternate Island self. But when it came time to act in the best interest of the little girl he can’t help but love, he actually chose her over himself. He didn’t spare her from Keamy’s gun, but he did spare her from Principal Reynolds’ spiteful wrath. How was alternate reality Ben (Dr. Linus) suddenly imbued with this sense of goodness? For the answer, I’ll turn to Daniel Faraday.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE VARIABLE</span><br /></div>Whatever happened, happened. You go back in time and you know how certain events will unfold. But no matter how much you try to change them, you can’t. Because the universe has a way of course-correcting itself, and whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. This was the battle cry of Faraday and his mother, Eloise Hawking, for a long time. Last night, we saw Ben live that out. It seemed his life was destined to present him with a certain set of challenges – whether they be set on a mystical Island or a public high school.<br /><br />But last season, Daniel Faraday revised his socio-mathematical theory just a little bit. He said that while certain important milestones were unavoidable, we did have the ability to change how they happened. Or as he explained it to Jack:<br /><br />“Whatever happened, happened. All right? But then I finally realized... I had been spending so much time focused on the constants, I forgot about the variables. Do you know what the variables in these equations are, Jack? Us. We're the variables. People. We think. We reason. We make choices. We have free will. We can change our destiny.”<br /><br />That’s it. In the cosmic equations of our lives, certain events, people, feelings and predispositions are inevitable. They are the constants in our personal equations. For Ben, this includes everything I mentioned above that was common to his on-Island and Dr. Linus realities (trouble with an authority figure, relegation to meaninglessness, a connection to Alex, a desire to dethrone those in charge in order to take power, etc.).<br /><br />But, like Faraday, perhaps we focused too much on the constants and not enough on how our own free will can drastically alter the circumstances of our pre-ordained realities. Last night, Dr. Linus altered the variable in his equation slightly. He chose, on his own free will, to be selfless instead of selfish. He chose to spare Alex, instead of sacrifice her.<br /><br />And maybe this “variable” theory explains why Ben and Roger are off the Island in this iteration of time. Whatever anger and vengeance Ben felt toward his father on the Island – this time he reacted to it differently and chose not to let it lead him to a dark place. Or maybe Roger, in this iteration of time, chose not to hold Ben accountable for his mother’s death. Just a thought.<br /><br />So the lessons of time travel constants and variables can be applied to the more relatable human experience. For LOST, that carries heavy implications. Specifically, Jacob has said that people have to “want” to do something. He told Hurley that Jack had to discover what his purpose was on his own, that he couldn’t be told. He told Hurley, in the taxi cab, that he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to – that the decision to get on Ajira 316 was his and his alone. In fact, it seems Jacob’s entire philosophy centers on getting certain people to select the correct variables; that is, to make decisions of their own accord. But Jacob has motives. He wants people to make the decisions that ultimately serve his grand purpose. Based on what we know thus far, that purpose involves finding a replacement for his role as Protector of the Island.<br /><br />So Jacob must prove that man is capable of progress using nothing but his own free will. But the Man in Black believes that free will is man’s downfall. Will LOST choose to name a winner of this argument?<br /><br />That’s a fairly deep discussion, and an ambitious one for a TV show to take on. But in the end, maybe the show is intended to make us form our own opinions about this debate. Ironically, the answer to this question in LOST might rely on our own free will to decide for ourselves.<br /><br />Namaste.<br />CharlieCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11035624261579432230noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009468992423330637.post-21061548044523239902010-03-08T22:09:00.008-06:002010-03-09T08:20:38.780-06:00Turn in your textbooks to page 23.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Welcome to the best day of the week! Tonight brings us episode seven, which seems unbelievable to me! It feels like this season is flying by…<br /><br />I know what you’re probably thinking: “Maggie, how in the world are you going to watch tonight’s episode? Bon Jovi is at the Qwest in Omaha!!” Yeah. I know. And I don’t want to talk about it. Look, sometimes Charlie and I make difficult life decisions because of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lost</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. For me, it is not going to Bon Jovi tonight (…single tear…). For Charlie, it is selling his Cirque du Soleil tickets for later on this month on Craigslist. (I’m totally kidding, by the way, but feel free to start the rumor and / or offer to buy his tickets.) We both make sacrifices (just like Tommy and Gina). Hahaha.<br /><br />A very special Dharma Blog welcome this morning to anyone who has happened upon our site courtesy of the Lincoln Journal Star! (Hi, Grandpa and Grandma!) We are thrilled to have you here and hope you enjoy your stay (and continue to visit us throughout the rest of the season).<br /><br />And for those of you who missed our 5 minutes in the spotlight this morning, the premier news and information source in southeast Nebraska (a.k.a. The Lincoln Journal Star) interviewed the writers of the #1-</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lost</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">-Blog-Written-By-Nebraskans-As-Voted-On-By-Our-Moms (a.k.a Charlie and I) about </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lost</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. And it was in the paper this morning. (Yes, our Moms are beyond excited. Hi, Sharon and Nancy!) But don’t worry: we won’t let the fame get to us.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Editor's Note</span>: <a href="http://journalstar.com/entertainment/small-screen/television-and-radio/article_07fb875c-2af9-11df-8f32-001cc4c03286.html">Here's the article in question</a> from the Journal Star, if you'd like to read.<br /><br />Alright, guys. Time to focus. Only 10 hours left of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lost</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. Let’s get down to it!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Tonight: Dr. Linus</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Wow! Could it really be this easy of an episode title? Has God really heard my prayer?<br /><br />Survey says: perhaps. “</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Dr. Linus</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">” implies that we definitely have a Ben Linus episode ahead.<br /><br />So far, Ben has had a fairly (and uncomfortably) low-key season 6. If you think about it, we really haven’t seen him much since he…uhh…what did he do? Oh, yeah: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">HE KILLED JACOB</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. This season, on-island Ben has been out of his element, appearing unsure of who to trust and what is really going on. For the last couple weeks, he has sticking close to the mysterious Ilana, but staying in the background and letting her run the show. However, none of us will soon forget his eulogy for John Locke, which showcased the Ben Linus we have all come to love and hate, seeming both cynical and sincere at the same time.<br /><br />I would argue that we have had only one (nearly) jaw-dropping moment for Ben, which my obvious-radar thinks tonight will pick up at (more on that shortly). In “</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Substitute</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">,” we found out that in the alternate/sideways timeline, Ben (a.k.a. Dr. Linus) is a cardigan-wearing, coffee-drinking, hell-raising teacher of European History at a high school in Southern California. If you haven’t done so already, take some time to imagine taking Dr. Linus’s class back during your high school years. (Wow, Lincoln Southeast would have had one hell of a WePo team…)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Guest Starring tonight!</span></div></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Tania Raymonde as Alex, Daniel Roebuck as Dr. Leslie Arzt, Jon Gries as Roger Linus, William Atherton as Principal Don Reynolds and Steve Boatright as officer.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /><br />Oh YES! This is going to be awesome!<br /><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Alan Dale as Charles Widmore</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: I can hear Charlie squealing already. Charles Widmore is one of our most favorite Lost characters…and we haven’t seen him since season 5. You’ll recall the last scene with Widmore was outside Desmond’s hospital room (where he was recovering from the gunshot from Ben, which he received during the fight at the marina). Widmore went to visit Desmond during his recovery and ran into Eloise Hawking. We found out during this conversation (about what it means to “sacrifice for the island”) that Daniel Faraday was Eloise and Charles’ child. Heavy heavy stuff.<br /><br />But back to tonight. It looks like Widmore might be alive in the sideways timeline, likely still connected to Ben somehow. I’m not quite sure how this will work out, but it will be very interesting to see if Widmore still has the financial/mobster clout in the alternate universe. If he doesn’t, my money is on Mr. Widmore being the weird AP Econ teacher down the hall from Dr. Linus’s history classroom.<br /><br />On a sidenote, it seems like so long ago that we were caught up in discussions about about “who will win the Ben – Widmore battle for the island” (considering where the storyline has gone during the last two seasons). While it might seem all for naught at this point, what if it isn’t?<br /><br />I direct your attention to one Ben – Widmore scene, just as food for thought.<br /><br />Remember “</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Shape of Things to Come</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">,” when Ben shows up in Widmore’s bedroom? Widmore asks if Ben is going to kill him. Ben replies “We both know I can’t do that.” Sounds pretty close to the Jacob – Man In Black scene on the beach from “</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Incident</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">,” right? Also a little Dogen-trying-to-get-someone-else (i.e. Jack) to-kill-Sayid, don’t you think? So does that mean, even after being exiled from the island, Widmore was still abiding by these ‘rules’? And if Widmore was abiding by the rules, and Ben (thought he) was on Team Jacob, can we be for certain that Widmore is on Team Man In Black?<br /><br />Oh, my head.<br /><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Tania Raymonde as Alex</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: (Oh, Alex. I still can’t think about the scene when Keamy murdered you. It was SO awful to watch and I HATE Keamy for it.) I see two options for the return of Rousseau’s daughter. First, she could appear on-island to guide Ben as a form of the Man In Black. (Probability?</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> 20%</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.) More likely (and more ridiculous) is that she will end up as a student at the high school where her not-Dad, Ben, works. (Probability? </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">80%.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">)<br /><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Daniel Roebuck as Dr. Leslie Arz</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">t: After a short-lived stint on the island (remember his death-by-dynamite scene?), Dr. Arzt is getting plenty of screen time in the alternate timeline. It seems very probable that he will be using his extensive/excessive knowledge of insects and dynamite as a ninth-grade science teacher at the very school our friend, Dr. Linus, works.<br /><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Jon Gries as Roger Linus</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: Looks like Roger didn’t die on Ben’s 28th birthday in the alternate timeline. The question remains, will he still be a jerk to Ben? Or, as it has been alluded to with Locke’s father, will he be the kind and loving father on-island Ben never had? I vote door #2.<br /><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">William Atherton as Principal Don Reynolds</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: The EPA guy from </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Ghostbusters</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">! YES! Maybe you’ll remember him when you see him, but William Atherton played evil Walter Peck in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Ghostbusters</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, who ordered the guys shut down their ghost containment grid, releasing thousands of ghosts onto the streets of NYC. What a jerk! It looks like he has come a long way from his days at the EPA, as he will be playing Principal Don Reynolds, presumably at Ben’s high school. What do you think: will he be more Mr. Belding (SBTB) or more Mr. Figgins (Glee)? Anecdote / probably a coincidence: “Reynolds” was one of the names written on the cave wall. Hmmm.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">DVR says…</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Ben deals with the consequences of an uncovered lie.”<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Let’s think this through.</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">At the end of last week’s episode, we had ScarySayid, ScaryClaire, and Kate headed off on a jungle-march with Flocke (Fake Locke). We also had Ilana guiding Miles, Frank, and Sun into the secret passage and out of the Temple (same one Hurley and Jack used in “</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Lighthouse</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">”).<br /><br />But where’s Ben? As of right now, we don’t know where Ben is. Last time we saw him, he was running out of the Temple Hot Tub room after seeing Sayid with a bloody knife, and two floating corpses in the pool. (Note: I would have run off, too.)<br /><br />So he’s either going to (1) join up with Team Ilana, (2) follow Flocke & Co. to see where they head, (3) go find Jack and Hurley at the Lighthouse, or (4) meet up with Richard, who is probably still running around the jungle with huge eyes. Or (5) he’s going to hang out by himself for awhile. I think #5…he needs some time to think.<br /><br />But what lie is he going to uncover?<br /><br />The first thing that came to my mind is the lie surrounding Flocke / Man In Black. Ben was tricked into becoming a pawn in the big-loophole-hoopla of Man In Black. Frankly, it looks like this long-con was hatched a long time before the scenes at the Four Toed Statue when he was told to go inside and kill Jacob. Presumably, this con began all the way back in his childhood. And the worst of it? Ben fell for it. Completely fell for it. The whole time. Even as he seemed to be several steps ahead of everyone else (</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">see</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: “My name is Henry Gale!”; </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">see</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: “I want you to want to save my life.”; </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">see</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: “It happened because you left, Jack."), it appears Man In Black was always several steps ahead of him.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Ben fell for the tactics he was using against everyone else.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br />And I bet he is ticked off.<br /><br />The consequences of this lie are most certainly related to the island’s well-being. And if you were a betting individual, I’d put it all on “shit will continue to hit the fan.”<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">So tonight…what is going to happen?</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It looks like Ben is going to spend some time soul searching tonight, and coming to grips with everything he has done. It will be another chapter in Ben’s </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Road to Redemption</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, which has been a long-time coming. Knowing what we now know about how his character has been conned over and over again throughout his whole life, this guy needs some redemption.<br /><br />I would argue that Ben-centric episodes are always good, so whatever happens (happens…hahaha) will most certainly be captivating and thrilling.<br /><br />We never expect anything less.<br /><br />Namaste,<br />Maggie</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7