Big Black Horse and a Cherry Tree

Week two is here! I don’t know about you, but this whole new-episodes-air-on-Tuesday thing really is messing with my schedule. I have not yet adjusted to having all of this blog homework (and pressure) on Monday nights. But, it’s all for you guys…and I will prevail!

We hope you’ve recovered from last week’s "mind-bending, action-packed, who's-the-new-bonsai-ninja-guy-and-what-did-he-just-say" episodes. As you probably guessed, Charlie and I were pretty thrilled with last week’s premiere and are totally excited for the rest of the season. Now that we’ve come off our premiere-high, we’re ready to really nerd out and get down to business.

Tonight’s episode: What Kate Does.

Will Kate do what she did? Or did she already do what she already did? Or…what?
Everybody all together now: ready…set…alternate reality!

As we found out last week, in some point in space and time, a version of Oceanic 815 has landed at LAX. Tonight’s episode title seems to be implying that at some point in space and time, Kate did something other than what we think she did…before.

Confused?

Okay. Tonight’s episode “What Kate Does” is a play on the season 2 episode “What Kate Did,” where we were finally let in on Kate’s little secret about why was she being escorted back to America by a U.S. Marshal on Oceanic 815. In case you didn’t rewatch the episode this weekend (cough cough, ahem), let me remind you. Kate was on the run from the law for blowing up the house of Wayne, her drunken biological father. A few other things happened in that episode many moons ago. We saw Kate’s big black horse. Kate kissed Jack for the first time. Aaaaand then she ran away. Shocking.

Oh! Best part of the episode. Mr. Eko added a quote to my “Best Quotes of All Time” list: he told Locke “do not mistake coincidence with fate.” (swoon)

Nice, Maggie. Okay, so what are going to see tonight?
Well, one of our tasks tonight will be to compare and contrast season 2’s “What Kate Did” to tonight’s “What Kate Does.” From everything we saw last week, I’m guessing we’re going to see some minor differences. At the same time, I’m also guessing we’re going to see some major differences. As you might recall from a post earlier this month, the America’s Most Wanted video shown at Comic Con stated Kate Austen was a criminal for killing Wayne’s apprentice…NOT Wayne.

Okay…so…huh?
I know some of you will be shocked by what I’m about to say, but I don’t think we need to be too stressed about this change of events (that Kate killed the apprentice instead of her father) in Kate’s backstory (or any of the changes, really). Sure, it is a pretty big difference. It changes a lot of Kate’s motivation…adds a helping of guilt to her troubled past…and means crazy Wayne is still alive, drunk as ever.

However, I think we need to focus on the 2 Kates we have seen in this season…and what THEY DO from this moment on. The 2 Kates I’m referring to are (1) the gun-wielding Kate that just got into a cab with (pregnant?) Claire and (2) the Kate who is at the dirty healing pool with a not-so-dead-anymore Sayid.

Taxi Kate: I’m very intrigued about what Taxi Kate does from here. She’s on the run (again) with her baby mama (hahahaha) in a cab. I don’t see how this could end well. I also don’t see how her story is going to intersect with any other 815-X-ers who just landed…which makes me wonder if Taxi Kate’s story is not going to last very long. (Yep, I said it.) Let’s see, she either gets thrown in jail, goes into hiding, or…

At the Healing Pool Kate: Back on the Island, what Healing Pool Kate does is far more interesting. Along with the rest of the gang, she is essentially a prisoner of Bonsai Ninja and his Other Others. And the Other Others likely have a lot of answers to a lot of stuff that’s gone down over the last five seasons. There’s what they know about the Man In Black. There’s why they believe in / follow Jacob. There’s what’s their relationship/history with Ben’s Others. There's how the heck Sayid is alive right now. For these reasons, I’m hopeful that the overall story will keep moving tonight, even though it is Kate-centric. (This is good in my book, as I have grown skeptical about Kate episodes over the years. They often seem to drag.)

Guest Stars
None listed. Again.

Really?
I. Love. This. Show. I love the mystery of not knowing. And I love that there will be so many guest stars tonight and we’ll have no idea who they are and what they’re doing. AWESOME!

Episode Description
“Kate finds herself on the run, while Jack is tasked with something that could endanger a friend’s life.”

Vague. Again.

ABC is on it’s a game this season. Well played, episode description writerman. Well played.

Okay. “Kate finds herself on the run.” Right. Taxi Kate is on the run. Got it.

“Jack is tasked with something that could endanger a friend’s life.” So this is our only on-island intel. Well, last week ended with Bonsai Ninja wanting to talk to Jack in private…and Jack refusing and starting a street fight with the Other Others. And in the middle of this, Sayid rose from the dead and interrupted. So, I’ll go out on a limb and guess that after the excitement over Sayid’s resurrection (deliberate choice of word, by the way) dies down, Jack will have the meeting with the Ninja…and receive his task.

What’s the mission going to be? Call me crazy, but I’m thinking it is going to be something pretty huge. I mean, I’m thinking in the realm of “move the island” huge.

Write this down, kids: I’m wondering if this task will have something to do with why fate brought Jack to the island in the first place.

>Is Jack the key to this whole show?
>Is he the next leader of the Others? Of the Other Others?
>Is he the means by which Jacob will reincarnate?
>Is he the only one who can stop Man In Black?

Go ahead and roll your eyes, all you Locke fans (ahem, Charlie, ahem)...but Jack is still a big player in this game, like it or not. Maybe not as a big as these questions imply, but big. Mark my words.

As far the part about “endangering a friend’s life?” Not sure. Honestly, Jack doesn’t have many friends as this point. Technically, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Jin, Miles, and Sayid are the friends with him at this point in time and space, so you have to assume it is one of these peeps. And seeing as Sayid nearly died last week and is now alive because he went swimming in a dirty pool…well…if I was a betting girl (guess what? I am!), my money would be (is!) on Sayid.

Well, that’s all she wrote! Enjoy the episode!!

Namaste,
Maggie

A Little Friday Fun

Hey guys,
Thanks so much for all the visits, comments and kind words this week on the Dharma Blog. We had well over 1000 people stop by! Don't you people work!?!

Anyway, just to say thanks, here's a little something for your Friday. And to all our DC readers, have fun in Snowpocalypse II.

If you're having trouble reading it, click here for the larger version.

The Charlie Paradox

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

Season Six. Episode One: LA X

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

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

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

Alternate Reality Bites

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

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

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

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

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

Oceanic 815: The Remix

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ties That Bind

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

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

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

LOCKE 2.0

Kicking Ass and Taking Name

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

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

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

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

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

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

That Was The Old Me

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

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

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

THE MORNING AFTER

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE MANY LIVES OF CHARLIE

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

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

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

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

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

In Conclusion

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

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

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

Namaste.

Charlie

It is finally here!

It’s been 265 long days since the season five finale of Lost. And a lot has happened. A few news-worthy items to jog your memory:

May: Adam Lambert didn’t win American Idol…the other guy did.

June: SC Governor Mark Sanford “went for a hike along the Appalachian Trail”...

July: Cash for Clunkers began and cost the government $2 billion more than predicted.

August: Twitter and Facebook had simultaneous outages, rebooting the world to 2001 for 5 short hours.

September: “YOU LIE!” – Joe Wilson.

October: 6 year-old Falcon did not, in fact, joy-ride across Colorado in a balloon.

November: Party crashers hit the White House, Tiger hit a tree, and the Yankees won the World Series.

December: My co-blogger, Charlie, had a birthday and received the Season 5 Dharma Initiative Orientation Kit from his Mom.

January: Spain took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Sweden.

Yep…it has been a LONG TIME. And some CRAZY STUFF has happened. But we’re here now. And we’re so glad you’ve found your way back through this crazy world to the Dharma Blog. WELCOME HOME!

I don’t know about you, but this morning, I woke up happier than I’ve been in, oh, 265 days. LOST IS BACK!

There is no word to adequately capture my excitement about tonight. Say what you will about my sanity, but my life has been somewhat defined by Lost for the past several years. I have spent a lot of time (too much, some might say) theorizing, postulating, arguing, discussing, writing, and rewriting about this show. To think that the answers are going to start coming fast and furious tonight (a producer was quoted as saying the answers will start arriving like “water from a firehose”) is THRILLING.

Even more exciting is the fact that, until the new promo commercial and 2 minute video clip were released over the weekend, the season 6 storyline has been a closely guarded secret for the last nine months. (Truth: I have seen the commercial; I have NOT watched the 2 minute video clip.) We can guess all we want about what is going to happen…but that’s just it: we can only guess. No one knows! Awesome!

So as I sit down to write this first review of the sixth and final season, I’m left to my own devices. I don’t have all the answers or a huge overall theory to put forth about what is about to happen. Instead, I’m going to lay out a few concepts for you to be thinking about as you sit down tonight in your Dharma jumpsuits with your Dharma beer and your true Lost friends (shout-out to my Lost-Watch Party friends!). You might agree with me on a few things…you probably will disagree on most things. Most importantly, though, is that you allow yourself a few minutes to think about Lost before the clock strikes 7:00 PM CST. There’s a lot to think about…you owe it to yourself to go into tonight ready for anything.

According to executive producer Damon Lindelof, “what it is we’re doing this year is different than what we’ve done in other years.” And if that doesn’t get you excited, you should just close this browser window and go back to your TPS reports.

Let’s do this, team.

LA X

If you watched the Dharma Blog Preview Video from a couple weeks ago, you already know that tonight’s episode is entitled LA X. (That’s LA [space] X, in case the formatting isn’t coming through on your screen.) On the surface, LA X reminds one of the Los Angeles International Airport, which has the FAA code LAX, which is where Oceanic 815 was to land wayyyy back on September 22, 2004.

So...is this episode title proof that Juliet successfully changed the past by detonating Jughead in the season five finale? Did Juliet prevent the Swan Station from being completed…which prevented Desmond from pushing the button…which caused Desmond to fail to push the button while he was off killing Kelvin…which prevented Oceanic 815 from crashing onto the island? Is this season really going to be about what happens to our characters if they land at LAX (as strangers) and never go to the island?

Me thinks no.

Caveat: I do believe that there will be some sort of reset…in some capacity…this season. But a total reset? No. That would be a HUGE cop-out. It would negate all the stories, all of our emotional attachments to the characters (okay, my emotional attachment), and the extensive character development that has evolved since 2004. It won’t be happen. It can’t happen.

But let’s think about this. Almost every episode title over the last five seasons has represented a key theme or moment for the viewing audience (exception: Eggtown…lamest title ever). So what could LA X mean?

I’m pretty sure Charlie was on to something with his theory in our Preview Video. The reference to airport is intentional, but there is deeper meaning. Charlie believes that the X signifies an “alternate” (read: reset) Los Angeles…which I’m going to take on as my not-so-new theory about what tonight’s episode is going to be about. Tonight, there is going to be a partial reset. We’re going to see what would have happened if 815 had landed at LAX back in 2004.

More on that shortly.

Guest Starring tonight…

Guess what? The ABC news release says there will be no guest stars tonight. All together now: hahahahaha, ABC. Nice try. Of course there will be guest stars. This is Lost. There are always guest stars. ABC is lying, kids. The list of guest stars usually leads obsessive fans like me and Charlie to piece together possible roles for said individuals…so the non-release of said list is a smart move. Well played, ABC. Well played.

I guess we should reflect on the series regulars, then?

Many of you have pointed out small but significant changes to the ABC-released “permanent cast list” for the show this season (the ‘Varsity Squad’):

“Lost” stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Terry O’Quinn as Locke and Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana.

Anyone else a little intrigued by the fact that Richard Alpert and Ilana are on Varsity? Yeah, that’s interesting for SURE. Since we know that these two exist only in the current storyline on the island (they are at The Foot, as we like to call it), the possibility that Juliet and the Jughead prevented Oceanic 815 from crashing is eliminated (they wouldn’t be around). Also interesting is that Claire is back…and all the confusion that surrounds her. Is she alive? Is she dead? And what was the deal with her and Christian Shephard in Jacob’s cabin? I could go on and on about her.

Notably absent from the Varsity squad (and causing serious distress for Charlie) is Desmond. What does this mean? I’m quite certain we will see Desmond this season. Nay, I’m certain we will. To look on the bright side of things, perhaps he is happy with Penny and baby Charlie…and living a great life…and done with this crazy island. (pause) Eh, probably not all sunny skies for the Hume Family, but I can still dream.

What else does the news release say?

The episode description for tonight (which is also showing up on your DVR / channel guides on your TV’s) reads as follows:

“The aftermath from Juliet’s detonation of the hydrogen bomb is revealed.”

Okay. So Juliet did, indeed, detonate the Jughead (for those of you still doubting that…), and we’re going to find out what happened. Great. Excellent. Lots of information. Thanks for nothing, ABC.

That’s all we’ve got…

Okay, before I go off on what to be on the lookout for tonight, here are a few big picture things I’m confident about:

1. Despite my ruminations about a reset, the island is going to stay a huge part of this show. Like it or not, Lost doesn’t really exist without the island. It is essentially a character on the show…arguably one of the most important characters.

2. The most critical storyline right now is Jacob / Man-in-Black (MIB) for three reasons. First, this storyline is taking place in the present, which means it is the only one that can move forward the overall timeline. Second, this storyline has the best chance of providing answers about all the island’s / show’s mysteries. Third, I believe this is the storyline / timeline that all of our characters need to get to, as quickly as possible, if there is going to be any real resolution for this show.

3. I know I sound like a broken record, but whatever happened, happened. This is true. This HAS to be true. Changing the past will denigrate the last five seasons of the show (and the last five years of our lives). Whatever happened, happened.

So…about LA X…

Despite everything I just said and everything I have ever learned…I believe tonight’s episode will start with Oceanic 815 successfully landing in Los Angeles. Yep. Reread that sentence and be shocked. I will go so far as to say the opening scene will be in the cabin of 815 in 2004 (perhaps a close-up on Jack’s eye, as he wakes up from a nap), flying over the island…and not crashing. I know you’re thinking WTF (why the face? I love Modern Family…). But I’m serious about this. How CRAZY would that be??

However, it won’t be all that it seems.

I’m wondering if this whole storyline will be “It’s a Wonderful Life” – esque and show us “what might have been” (thanks, Lonestar). It will be a reset to an alternate reality of what would have happened if the plan worked. (Whew. Tongue twister.) But we’ll eventually find out that the plan DID NOT work. These opening scenes will be the first of a series of cruel glimpses into how different everyone’s lives would have been…but it won’t matter. Because it never happened.

Confused? Okay…how about this.

Did anyone ever see the Gwyneth Paltrow movie “Sliding Doors” from the early 2000’s? Bear with me for a moment. This is a crazy movie about the impact of a single moment on a life. Here’s the set up: one morning, Paltrow is running late to get to the subway to go to work. The movie travels two parallel timelines: one in which she makes the subway and gets on, and one in which she doesn’t. In the end, both timelines converge upon the same moment…a moment that she was going to get to no matter what happened in her life (or what timeline she followed). It is a bizarre movie, but it really makes you think about all the seemingly-mundane choices we make in our lives every day…and how they all have the potential of having huge ramifications.

So how does this movie relate to Lost? Well, the “subway moment” (per se) in this show is the plane crashing. We’ve already seen the timeline where the plane crashes. Tonight, we’re going to start to see a timeline where the plane does NOT crash. But, if it is like “Sliding Doors”, both the crashing and not-crashing timelines will inevitably end up at the same place…a moment that was going to happen, no matter what. What is that moment? No clue. When is that moment? No clue. Where is that moment? Say it with me now: the island? I think so.

So I know it probably seems like this whole not-crashing scenario will be a big waste of time. However, I think the writers are trying to show us that the crash was the BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO OUR CHARACTERS.

I don’t know about you, but I have never thought of the crash of 815 as a good thing. Sure, there have been a few moments of “awww…” (Baby Aaron is here!) and “ohhhhh…” (Sawyer gave Juliet a daisy!), but overall, I have a general policy that all plane crashes = bad. So perhaps this alternate, non-crashing timeline will show terrible, horrible things…like Kate going to jail, Jack battling an even worse addiction, Locke in his wheelchair at a box company, Nikki/Paolo/Boone/Shannon being alive, Etc etc. And when we realize that this alternate timeline isn’t real…we’re going to be SO happy the plane crashed. We’re going to see the island as a wonderful place. And as a place that really did change all the characters’ lives for the better.

How awesome would that be??!

A few other options…

So while I think the above theory would be an excellent storyline to follow…it’s probably completely wrong. I’ve been reading a lot of other theories about this season, and offer these two additional theories for you to consider:

1. Course Correction Theory: Juliet and the Jughead did change the past. However, everything still shakes down the way it always was supposed to be. The universe found a way for something else to bring down 815, Desmond did something different with his time on the Island, etc. In the end, all our characters end up in the exact same place, even though some of the details in getting there have been changed. To use an analogy, detonating Jughead threw a big rock in the stream…but the stream found a way around the rock and down the original path. Kapeesh?

2. Flashes Before Your Eyes Theory: Recall that when Desmond experienced the implosion of the Swan Station, he gained the ability to see the future. What if when Juliet detonated the Jughead, something similar happens...and our time-traveling survivors see the “alternate reality” future in flashes?

Let’s be honest, though. None of these theories are great. Lost storylines tend to come out of left field…and are simultaneously completely unpredictable, completely bizarre, and completely awesome. I’m confident tonight’s episode will be exactly this: unpredictable, bizarre, and awesome.

Reuniting the Cast

I’d like to spend a few minutes talking about how the characters are going to reunite…because, as I stated before, this has to happen. (Truth: My heart just can’t bear the thought of Sun and Jin remaining decades apart…it’s just too cruel…go ahead and roll your eyes, Charlie). So, a few theories that I’ve found to this pesky problem:

1. The detonation of the Jughead zaps the characters back to their true time. Perhaps the universe doesn’t want our survivors to change the past, and in order to prevent it, it flashes them forward to 2007 right before the Jughead detonates.

2. (Warning: this one is weird) Jacob touching the time-traveling survivors in the past activates them to be called upon if he dies. Ben stabbing Jacob ‘calls’ our survivors to Jacob…even though it means pulling them through time. Weird. And kinda magical. But Jacob is both weird and magical.

(long, awkward pause)

Man, these are dumb. Really really dumb. I have no idea how the characters will be reunited. Anyone out there have any theories on this??

And the Schedule for Tonight…

7:00 CST – “Lost: Beginning of the End” (clip show)

8:00 CST – “LA X, Part 1”

9:00 CST – “LA X, Part 2”

To Close…

“There are two sides, two players. One is light, the other is dark.” John Locke spoke these words five years ago in the episode “Pilot.” On the brink of season six, this quote remains a window into the heart of this show. Could it be this simple? Have the answers been in front of us the whole time?

Tonight is going to rock, guys. Enjoy the ride. See you tomorrow morning!!

Namaste,

Maggie

New LOST Promo

I....I can't really even talk right now. Just saw this, so much to dissect. All I know is, I'm worthless at work today, for the rest of the day.