LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 3, Episode 2, The Glass Ballerina

On-Island Events: 

Others: Jack is still being held in the underwater cell; Juliet delivers soup to him. Ben is visited by Colleen who reports that Sayid found the decoy village and has a boat. Ben tells her to assemble at team to acquire the boat. Sawyer and Kate are made to dig and haul rocks, supervised by Juliet and Colleen's husband, Danny. Sawyer breaks rank to kiss Kate; later he admits to her his name is James. Ben visits Jack and introduces himself as Benjamin Linus; Jack refuses to shake his hand. In an attempt to prove to Jack that he has the power to send him home, Ben shows him a video of the Red Sox winning the world series of 2004.

Survivors: Jin, Sun, and Sayid are on Desmond's boat as they were at the end of the second season; Jin does not want to continue searching for Jack but Sun assures Sayid she knows enough about sailing to help him keep going. Sayid builds a large fire, which he claims is to signal Jack, but Sun suspects otherwise. Soon Jin realizes that Sun has conspired with Sayid to trap the others and that he needs to defend them when they show up. As Sayid and Jin wait on the shore, Sun waits on the boat where she encounters Colleen. Sun shoots Colleen in defense and the others on deck return fire; Sun manages to escape but the others steal Desmond's boat. 

Flashbacks: Young Sun knocks a glass ballerina onto the floor and blames the family maid for it, even knowing this will cause her father to fire the woman. 

Sun is in bed with Jae, the man she was previously matched with (. . . And Found) and who became her English tutor (The Whole Truth). He presents her with a pearl necklace and implores her to come with him to America. Suddenly, Sun's father bursts into the room, seeing them. Later Jin comes home and blames Sun for the terrible things her father makes him do. He storms off to "deliver a message," presumably to one of Mr. Paik's adversaries but it is Jae. Jin is unable to kill him but demands he leave the country; Jae hurls himself off the building and lands on Jin's car.

Greater Meaning: As this episode focuses on Sun and the various ways she has kept the truth hidden in her life, we learn that she is actually quite skilled in looking after her own self-interests. She feared her father enough to allow a maid's dismissal over the glass ballerina lie; she feared both her father and Jin's reaction to the discovery of her affair with Jae yet went ahead with it anyway. Jae ends up being sacrificed just as the maid was. Sun does not suffer any personal consequences and is free to live her unhappy life but as long as she remains in Korea, she will still be under her father's thumb. The fact that she chooses not to save herself but supports Sayid in continuing the hunt for Sawyer, Kate, and Jack suggests that she sees them as more than just co-survivors, she cares enough to risk her life and safety to help them. The stand-off with Colleen is another example of how Sun is more capable than most people have credited; being away from her father has clearly produced some positive changes in her life.

This is a small part of the episode, taking up only the last few minutes, but Ben's interest in Jack is specific and peculiar. All this effort to win Jack's trust is focused on letting him go home, but why? Jack will likely not leave without his friends, which Ben has doing manual labor with rocks, and Ben's discussion with Juliet and Colleen suggests that they do not want to be found by any of the other survivors. So why exactly are they keeping Jack if they have the ability to send him home? Similarly, why did Michael and Walt have to fight so hard to leave? What are the others even doing?

Further Questions: 

1. What is the beef between Juliet and Colleen? 

2. What is the purpose of "the decoy village?" 

3. Is it possible that Jae impregnated Sun before the crash?

4. Will Ben let Jack off the island? 

5. Is Ben obsessed with Juliet?

6. Will Sun and Jin's marriage survive the island?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 2, Episode 23, Live Together, Die Alone part 1

On-Island Events: Jack, Sawyer, and Sayid swim out to the boat just offshore from their beach. Once aboard gunshots ring out at them from below its galley and they discover Desmond, apparently inebriated, is the shooter. They bring him back to the beach and Desmond explains that he couldn't leave the island. Sayid suggests that he use Desmond's boat to meet Jack and the rest of the group as a surprise attack when they return to the others' camp; Jack agrees. As they make their way through the jungle Kate discovers two others tracking them. A shootout happens and one other is killed. Jack informs the group that Michael has been turned and forces him to confess his betrayal to the group. Michael admits his role everything and apologizes for killing Ana Lucia and Libby. Hugo wants to return but Jack insists they carry on, stating he has a plan.

When Sayid asks Desmond to borrow the boat for a trip northward, Desmond asks if he's headed to see "the hostiles." Desmond refuses to sail Sayid, but Jin has sailing experience and is willing to accompany him. They set out with Sun along the island's coast and are confused when they happen across a four-toed statue of a foot. 

Locke demands that Eko stop pushing the button in the hatch; Eko refuses and pushes Locke out. Later Locke finds Desmond drinking on the beach and shares the contents of the pearl station's orientation video with him. Desmond lures Eko out of the computer room inside the hatch and forces the blast doors down so he and Locke can wait for the countdown to run out. Eko runs to the beach and asks for Charlie's help in getting back into the hatch. 

Flashbacks: A short-haired Desmond receives a collection of possessions, including a Dickens novel (Our Mutual Friend) which he says he'll read just before he dies, at the conclusion of having served time in jail. He is met by a gentleman who presents him with a box full of letters addressed to Penelope Widmore, his daughter. The man attempts to pay Desmond to stay away from Penelope. 

Desmond is in America where he meets Libby, who pays for his coffee and offers up her late husband's boat, The Elizabeth, for Desmond's sailing race around the world. Later, Desmond meets Penelope who asks why he didn't write to her while he was in prison. He shares his plan to win Widmore's race, intending to regain his honor in doing so. Lost in a storm at sea, Desmond falls and is knocked unconscious on the boat. When he awakens, Kelvin Inman, the same man who trained Sayid to be a torturer, is standing before him in a yellow hazardous materials suit in the hatch. Inman shows Desmond the hatch's orientation video and explains the need for him to vaccinate himself.

Greater Meaning: Desmond's flashbacks reference the previously introduced connection with Jack at the stadium but now include connections with Libby and the previously unidentified Kelvin Inman, who was connected directly with Sayid and secondarily with Kate (through Sam Austen). The connections are growing with every new episode, but thus far Desmond is special for having multiple links to survivors. This again seems too important to ignore and must be for a bigger purpose than just coincidence. Obviously Desmond is not just a throwaway character. He's the person with the most knowledge about the hatch and the button, he has a sailboat (although why the boat was unable to carry him away from the island is a mystery and he seems upset about it), and now, he has these connections. We must conclude, like Locke has consistently maintained, there is a reason for this and that ultimately Desmond is important for what lies ahead. The fact that he's entertaining Locke's stop-the-button-pushing idea as a serious one says a lot about what Desmond knows (or suspects) about the island. If they stop pushing the button and nothing happens, they've all been duped, but why? Are the people Claire saw in the medical station the scientists who are conducting the psychological experiments being observed? Are they "pretending" to be scientists just as they are "pretending" to be hillbillies (as Kate stated)? If they stop pushing the button and something happens, it will be clear that Eko's faith was guiding him correctly and that Locke was wrong to doubt himself and his importance on the island. Desmond doesn't seem quite as invested in the right and wrong of it all the way Eko and Locke are, but he is interested and we are heading for a potentially explosive series of events for the season two finale.

The stealing of children from parents remains an ongoing theme in the show's narrative: first Rousseau
(Alex), then Claire (Aaron, by Rousseau then Ethan), and now Michael (Walt). The two young children from the tail section were not with their parents but were also taken. Walt tells Michael the others make him do tests; are they doing experiments on the other children? Alex seems to have joined their cause but chose to free Claire and shows a kindly concern for her, now. This only people able to fully empathize with Michael are Rousseau and Claire as none of the rest of the survivors are parents. Of course everyone continues to look to Jack for answers, but Jack is a doctor, not a father. The reactions of everyone's faces after Michael admits his terrible acts are ones of disgust; they cannot fathom Michael having chosen Walt, his own son, over other community members. This seems significant as Rousseau was unable to reclaim Alex and eventually lost her; Claire was drugged into agreeing to give the others her baby but was saved by Alex, and now Michael, after killing two people and betraying another four, is fighting to get his son back. Will he? 

Further Questions: 

1. What is Jack's plan?

2. What happened to the foot statue?

3. What will happen when the countdown completes and the button isn't pushed? 

4. What is Desmond's role in all this?

5. What happened to Kelvin Inman?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 2, episode 14, One of Them

On-island Events: Ana Lucia leads Sayid to Rousseau, who has returned to the survivors' camp looking for Sayid. She leads them deep into the jungle where a man has been caught in one of Rousseau's net traps. Sayid frees the man, who says he's Henry Gale from Minnesota but when the man tries to flee, Rousseau shoots him with an arrow, injuring him.  "He's one of them," she warns. 

Sayid brings Henry to the hatch, where Locke is sleeping. Henry explains he crash-landed onto the island on an air balloon and that his wife, who was with him, got sick and died. Jack arrives at the hatch and is angry that Sayid and Locke have allowed the man to suffer. While Jack tends to Henry's injury, Sayid suggests Locke change the combination to the weapons room in the hatch, suggesting Jack will not approve of Sayid's methods in obtaining information from Henry. When the men move Henry into the armory, Sayid locks Locke and Jack out.

Sayid questions Henry, who asks Sayid details about himself. Sayid replies only, "My name is Sayid Jarrah and I am a torturer." Henry reveals details about his air balloon, his wife, and his occupation, but Sayid is unsatisfied and becomes upset in remembering Shannon's death. While Sayid beats Henry inside the armory, Jack and Locke fight over pushing the button, which needs immediate attention. Jack prevents Locke from going to the computer and forces him to open the armory door, where he pulls Sayid away from Henry. Locke rushes to the computer and enters the numbers partially as the countdown clock reaches zero. Locke stands frozen as the clock's cells suddenly switch from zeroes to black and red hieroglyphics but enters the complete series quickly, sending the count back to 108. 

Flashbacks: While in the Republican Army in Iraq, Sayid and others are surprised by American troops as they shred and destroy documents. The American officer in command asks for Sayid's help in locating a  missing pilot. Sayid is then made to interrogate his own commanding officer, who refuses to cooperate and encourages Sayid to kill the American soldiers.

Later another American informs Sayid that Tariq, his commanding officer, was responsible for an attack using sarin gas on Sayid's old village where many women and children were killed. The man asks for Sayid's help in retrieving the American pilot, suggesting he can show him methods that will bring results. Sayid eventually tortures Tariq to get the information he seeks, but reveals that the man had been executed.

As Sayid is driven back to be released, the American commander looks at a picture of his daughter, which turns out to be a young Kate Austen. The man who ordered Sayid to interrogate implies that although he will remain in Iraq under Saddam, he may need these recently-acquired torturing skills again someday. Sayid emphatically states he will never torture again.

Greater Meaning: The connection between Sayid and soldier Austen is the second such connection between a member of Kate's family and one of the survivors on the island (the first being Diane Janssen who served Sawyer in a diner in The Long Con). What is going on with these connections, and will they affect Sayid and Sawyer down the road? 

We know that Sayid indeed uses his torturing skills for further war incidences as well as on the island, but bigger than the skills themselves seems to be Sayid's guilt over using them. He insisted he would never torture anyone again, but does. He offers his torturing skills when Sawyer appears to have hidden Shannon's inhaler (back in Confidence Man) but then has intense feelings of regret after having done so. Jack intervened before Sayid was able to seriously injure Henry; what would have happened had he not done that? Sayid has become an important member of the survivors since his early days, a respected leader, strategist, and man of action. Will his guilt over his role as a torturer doom him? 

Further Questions: 

1. What were those hieroglyphics on the clock countdown?

2. Will Sayid continue to torture people?

3. Was Rousseau setting Sayid up?

4. Is Henry who he claims to be? 

5. Is there a situation where Sayid's torturing skills will come in handy? 

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 2, Episode 6, Abandoned

The Tail Section: Michael returns to the group as they continue their journey back to the beach camp; Sawyer's bullet injury continues to worsen. Eko is sympathetic toward Sawyer but Ana Lucia is not. When Michael challenges Ana Lucia about her attitude, she explains that the others took several members of their group and that the people are smart but "animals." Eventually Sawyer collapses with fever from his infected wound and the group make a stretcher to carry him forward. As they are working together to lift the stretcher to higher ground, Ana Lucia discovers that Cindy is missing. Soon Michael hears whispering and Ana Lucia commands everyone to run.

On-Island Events: At night inside her tent, Shannon sees Walt, soaking wet and whispering, but no one believes her. After digging through Michael and Walt's remaining clothing, Shannon sends Vincent off in search of Walt's scent, convinced she hadn't been dreaming. When Aaron won't stop crying, Locke helps Claire by swaddling the baby and Claire inadvertently lets slip the fact that Charlie has one of the virgin Mary statues leading to awkwardness between Locke and Charlie. Later Shannon admits to Sayid that the reason she needs him to believe her is that she's convinced he will eventually leave her; he assures her he won't leave and tells her he loves her. Just afterward, during a downpour in the jungle, Sayid and Shannon both see Walt. When Shannon runs after Walt, a gunshot rings out and she collapses in Sayid's arms, having been accidentally shot by Ana Lucia, who with the rest of the group, has finally arrived at their camp.

Flashbacks: Shannon's experiences with her stepmother after her father's death were rife with tension and frustration but Boone is supportive. Shannon looks forward to a ballet internship but her stepmother refuses to give her any of her late father's money or estate. Boone attempts to get the money from his mother himself, but is also denied. He offers to give Shannon money once his trust fund kicks in but she decides she'd rather find a way to support herself rather than remaining dependent on him or his mother any longer.

Greater Meaning: Clearly Shannon has shown that she has the skills to manipulate others to her will, and if Locke's advice ("everyone gets a new life here,") is true, Shannon's relationship with Sayid could indeed be a positive thing built on honesty instead of manipulation. Sayid's unwillingness to believe that Shannon has seen Walt does seem a little paternalistic and man-splainy, Sayid after all must know by now that stranger things have happened on the island, but seeing Shannon show her vulnerable side with legitimate emotion instead of spite is kind of nice. Why Walt chose to reveal himself to Shannon is a mystery, maybe her caretaking of Vincent and Walt's acknowledgement of her pain over Boone before leaving on the raft bonded them, but it could also have been a sort of premonition of her eventual downfall (which Ana Lucia may or may not have instigated had Shannon and Sayid not been chasing Walt through the jungle). It's not yet proven if this was actually Walt or just a vision of Walt (ala Christian Shephard in White Rabbit). If only a vision, how is Walt able to appear to people like that? Walt's episode in season 1 was entitled "Special," is this just evidence of his specialness? And if it's only a vision, does this mean that Walt has died?

Further Questions:

1. What are the whispers in the jungle?
2. Is Walt just hanging out in the jungle by himself?
3. Will Charlie begin using heroin again?
4. Will Sawyer be okay?
5. What will Sayid do to Ana Lucia?
6. Is Shannon dead?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, episode 7, The Moth

The Moth

"Give me my bloody drugs!"

Events: Charlie is in active detox from his heroin addiction; John attempts to distract him with exercise but it turns out he really just needed bait for a wild boar trap. When he asks Locke for the drugs he found inside the Virgin Mary statue back, Locke says he'll return them only after Charlie asks him three times, that giving him a choice in the matter is important. Later as people relocate to the caves, Charlie offers to help and things go poorly. Jack blows him off, ("We don't need you right now.") Charlie brightens when Hurley seems to notice his guitar, but Hurley has no real interest in it, he just needs Charlie to move it. Protesting the way he's being disregarded to Jack in anger, Charlie proclaims, "I'm a bloody rock god!" The force of his voice causes the cave he and Jack are in to collapse; Charlie gets out, Jack is trapped. After getting a group of people together to help Jack, Charlie asks Locke for his drugs a second time. John responds by showing Charlie a moth cocoon and explains in detail how the moth's struggle is difficult but necessary. Charlie ends up saving Jack by climbing into the cave himself and pushing back out. After his third request, John gives Charlie the drugs but Charlie throws the heroin into the fire.

In other events, Sayid, Kate, and Sawyer attempt to triangulate the source of the French woman's distress signal but just as Sayid switches on the transceiver someone clubs him with a stick from behind, knocking him down and thwarting the mission.

"I could help it,"

In flashbacks, Charlie's rock star lifestyle presents several moral challenges, prompting him to quit Drive Shaft after a priest's warning during confession. He admits to brother Liam, the lead singer, that the music is getting lost in the chaos of the band's success and implores that they both walk away if it gets to be too much. Eventually, Liam sings over Charlie's vocals at a concert, openly takes drugs, and misses sound checks. Charlie decides again to leave Drive Shaft but Liam responds with cruelty, driving Charlie to use drugs himself. Just before the crash of Oceanic 815, Charlie visits Liam in Sydney in an attempt to reunite the band but Liam, clean now, refuses. Charlie expresses his anger, blames Liam for his own drug addiction, and walks off.



Greater Meaning: The themes of this episode focus around religion and respect. Charlie has been religious in the past yet he actively experiencing drug addiction. The fact that he was singled out by a boar and before, a polar bear, suggests the monkey-on-the-back metaphor of drug addiction or a physical embodiment of being literally chased by one's demons. John compares Charlie to the boar in discussing the factor of choice that humans employ, not just a blind, animalistic devotion to physical drives (which in many ways, Charlie has lived in his experiences as a rock star). Religion seems to have been an influence in Charlie's life prior to the plane crash and his music career, but on the island, animal instincts, not just in him, become more important than an organized system of social rules and norms. Events on the island seem to have primal, immediate implications that supplant religion.

Early in the episode, Charlie is disrespected multiple times yet still insists that he can be useful. His former "Rock God" status, which earned him respect in the past, doesn't matter on the island; music is nice but actual survival skills are more valuable now. Charlie ends up proving his use in the best possible way----he earns the respect of the two most important people on the island (Jack and Locke) through what can be rightly viewed as sacrificial behavior: putting his own life at risk to save Jack and forgoing his own physical needs for the drugs to rise to Locke's expectations of him.

The issue of respect applies to many other character dynamics in this episode, too. While Jack and Hurley's disrespect of Charlie brings about serious consequences, Kate's disrespect of Sawyer does the same. In her dismissive treatment of Sawyer, Kate brings forth equally cruel and defensive reactions from him. Jin appears to consider Sun's comfort in relaxing his attitude on her wardrobe, moving toward respect, and Walt sees his own father, someone still somewhat unfamiliar to him, assert his skills and take charge, moving toward respect, and Locke, in the end, respects Charlie's decision to ask for the drugs a third time, although he had no foreknowledge that Charlie would destroy them.

Further Questions: 

1. Sayid insists their survival was extremely unlikely, so why did it happen? How?

2. Who hit Sayid, and why?

3. Jack admits to Charlie when speaking of confession that he's "no saint, either." What sins has Jack committed?

4. Will Charlie stay sober?

Why "The Candidate" was well-written.

There once was a young man that I sort of was acquainted with who prided himself on knowing EVERYTHING. I'm kind of a know-it-all sometimes, so me saying this means basically that this dude was insufferable. He would argue really minute points, lecture people, make smart ass comments on peoples' semantics and grammar mistakes, etc. I hadn't thought about him in a very long time, but last night, as I was combing the LOST boards and forums, there were several people (stuff-shirts?) who were ANGRY about last night's episode. As in, they thought it was bad, or horrible, even, saying:

it was too predictable.
there wasn't anything personal/all action
only the Asian characters died
it moved too fast
it moved too slow
it was boring
it wasn't believable
it pales in comparison to the time travel events
etc.

COME. ON. Just come right the hell on.

This isn't an opinion matter, either. This is basic fact, the episode was well done. Anyone wants a piece of me, I'll argue it to the death. If I have to break it down scene by scene, event by event and EXPLAIN why it was good, how each of the elements that went into making it contribute to it BEING good, then so be it. Following is a hit list, ARE YOU EFFS READY TO GET YOUR GEEK ON? This may be the biggest media rant that ever was.


1. "if you give me a shot, Mr. Locke, I think that I can fix you." Jack wants to fix the physically (and later we find out mentally) broken John Locke. Earlier in the season Jack told Hurley that he went back to the island because he was broken and that he was stupid enough to believe that "this place" (the island) could fix him. Perhaps the island DOES fix Jack, so perhaps Jack WILL fix John.

2. John Locke is genuinely happy with Helen, and Jack notices this. Even if Locke doesn't ever walk again, he is obviously in love. This is important lesson to be learned in life. Also, every time Helen comes on I have to just celebrate the fact that FRICKING PEGGY BUNDY is on LOST!!

3. The music while Jack is on the beach: Acoustic guitar reminiscent of a western leading into The Hydra cages: very Hitchcock, very Twilight Zone suspense. REVEL IN IT; it's always been good like this.

4. "Because I'm the one with the gun." "NOT ANYMORE, DOUGH BOY." Sawyer snatches the gun and wratches it. Widmore explaining who's on the list is very much something else I've seen, maybe a horror, maybe The Twilight Zone. It's escaping me now, but I've heard that chilling British voice explaining something unpleasant before. "FORD is on it, as is REYES and The KWONS." Where the hell is that from?

5. Bernard seems to know things, almost seems to be waiting for Jack to show up! He remembers things, smiles as if to encourage Jack to draw conclusions and make connections. "Maybe you're onto something here." So obviously this is a hint that Bernard and Rose are still a part of all this, has Desmond visited them, do they remember for some other reason? Where's Rose? Is her cancer gone? The only information Bernard gives to Jack is ANTHONY COOPER's name. Obviously Jack needed to meet him, see what has happened, understand why John doesn't want the surgery, and then go from there.

6. Back in the cages Sawyer tells Kate her name was crossed out. WHY IS IT CROSSED OUT? She is obviously still alive; Locke was crossed out presumably when he died, but what is the reason for Kate not being a candidate? (knocked up?) This is a big one. Why is she even there?

7. John won't get the surgery just like Jack wouldn't listen to him about not leaving the island and then having to come back. The Daddy issues return.

8. John Locke (the smoke monster) walks through bullets. What a bad ass. I like the Marcellus Wallace briefcase-quality the bomb on the plane was given, this mysterious item that is obviously important. Also, he took the watch BEFORE he found it, obviously he knew it was there. Did he reevaluate the plane as a death device or was this his plan all along? He explains about "a nice, confined space we have no chance of getting out of" and then puts the C4 in a backpack, just like the real John Locke put the other C4 in his backpack when they left the Flame Station.

9. "I don't trust that thing one bit." That THING! Do you suppose by the end of all this Sawyer will have a new nickname for the Smoke Monster?

10. These items: Apollo bar. Music box playing "Catch a Falling Star," Jack and Claire in the mirror. Obviously we've seen Apollo bars before. The song was always about Aaron. The box, left to Claire by Christian is maybe supposed to ensure that brother and sister are together, a part of each others' lives? Aaron really needs someone to read "Alice in Wonderland" to him. This prompts Jack to invite Claire to stay with him, confirming maybe, that they will continue to have a relationship? Jack neglected his first wife, Sarah, in favor of fixing people at work. Christian may have fallen into the trap of neglecting people too? Maybe this is all to teach Jack to be able to see the forest for the trees? Good lesson for all of us.

11. "You think you two can get our backs?" "ABSOLUTELY." Juliet said this to Sawyer not once but two times when he asked her the same thing. Jack shows loyalty to John Locke by telling Smokey Locke "JOHN LOCKE TOLD ME TO STAY." Jack showing loyalty to Locke is awesome, ADMIT IT.

12. At the sub, the gunfire does not start until Locke has been pushed into the water and there is a completely clear shot at Kate. WHO SET THAT UP? Widmore, Locke, WHO? More about this. What is her role in all of this? Again, why is she even there? There are a lot of open, loose ends with her, grounds for tons more discussion, which face it, LOST fans obsess over, so good, right?

13. "Nothin' personal," Lapidus to the guard on the sub. Sawyer and always "HOSS" to people! (a southern, colloquial term for 'partner') Bag switcheroo. It was a tense moment, Jack was obviously preoccupied with the mission at hand, I don't buy TOO PREDICTABLE. After all, most of these events are really just recast replays of things that have already happened on the show, so even if it was an easy out for the plot, it gels with everything else that has gone on until this point. Jack switched Kate's bag when they carried the dynamite back from The Black Rock, so in a way, he had it coming. (All the little things you do will end up coming back to you. . .)The way they have switched events, characters, and even LINES in this show is brilliant, and it's obviously taken a lot of work and geekery. GIVE PROPS.

14. The realization that Jack has is HUGE. Three years ago he never would have entertained the idea that The Devil even existed. Now he's explaining principals of faith to everyone else, with CONFIDENCE, even! I love Jack. "I think he can't leave the island unless we're all dead. What if he can't kill us because--he's not allowed to? HE CAN'T KILL US!"

15. Sayid's sacrifice? People can come back from the dark side, ANAKIN SKYWALKER!!! He gets his redemption. This was alluded to in a tasteful way and then carried out in a tasteful way. Say what you want about a cliche suicide bomber ending, this fit Sayid's character just as Michael's end fit him.

16. I will accept that maybe Lapidus survived. I won't get militant about it, but it's definitely a possibility. (please God, let it be ding-dongs.) If I get substantial proof next week you can be sure I'll have a black dress on and be playing the funeral march on the piano, but I'm holding off for the time being. Lapidus as a character was very well done and always good for laughs. If he's really gone, I'm very much going to miss him.

17. The flooded sub is like the flooded Looking Glass station and the countdown to death in the Swan station, blinking lights, struggle, etc. Jin and Jack KNOW that Jin and Sun are not going to make it. Jack tries to give Jin the oxygen and Jin won't take it. If you haven't cried by now, YOU NEVER WILL. These characters, people we have spent SIX YEARS with, are almost as real as anyone else can be, it was extremely difficult seeing this. Say what you want about Titanic, it was sad. Piano instrumentals and still shots of the flooded sub ending with the breaking apart of the hands? I would say it was the most emotional moment on the show to date, up there with Juliet biting it and Sawyer telling Jack about Christian wanting to call him on the pay phone.

18. Orderly wheels John down the hall just like Matthew Abaddon did after the push out the window. Abaddon then gives John a suggestion that influences him to go on his walkabout. Does this have any bearing on the discussion Jack has with him? John has guilt over his father's injuries just as Jack has guilt over his own father's death and later, Juliet's.

19. "What makes you think letting go is so easy?" "It's not, in fact, I don't really know how to do it myself."
"Why is it so easy for you to believe?" "It's never been easy." (season 2, outside the hatch).

20. Hugo sobbing on the beach? Again, if this didn't move you, chances are you could pour a quart of boiling water down your throat and piss ice cubes.

I WISH YOU BELIEVED ME. This was amazing. Acknowledge it.

The Non-Utilitarian Dr. Shephard

The Jack vs. Sawyer bit is getting more solidified in my head. I used to really hate Jack but I seem to be coming around to his camp, slowly.

"He walks among them but He is not one of them."

Jack always came off as a crappy leader because his choices seemed to always be crappy. Obviously he's not a stupid man, but so much of the time I wondered why he always seemed to be betting on the wrong horse or putting his eggs in the wrong basket. I think he got the shaft all the time because of something his father told him in one of the earlier seasons during the flashback when Jack tried to save his friend from getting beat up. . . "YOU DON'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES." and later, "YOU HAVE TO LET IT GO, JACK."

He doesn't, and he can't.

Back in a intro to ethics class, there were two major opponents in our text, Immanuel Kant (treat people as ends and not as means to an end) and the Utilitarians. The Utilitarians wanted their leaders to do what was best for the greatest number of people. This would involve something like sacrificing a child in order to save a village (you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs). The followers of Kant didn't go for it and wanted each person to be treated equally and equally valued. Many of the parents in the class were with Kant and not the Utilitarians. Jack seems unable or unwilling to act as a Utilitarian, even though he was technically a leader of people, as a doctor off island, and on the island with the survivors. Locke seemed a little more comfortable using a Utilitarian approach ("Boone was a sacrifice the island demanded," "This is not a democracy, Claire." etc.)

I find it interesting that Jack puts his own safety on the line (for Sayid) by almost swallowing that ash-pill, and the guy takes great care to get it out of him. Also, that those guards in front of the Apothocary office just willingly let him in when he demanded they stand aside. Why do they listen to him, and why do they need him to get Sayid to do anything? And where is Old Man Shephard during all of this?

When Hurley asks Sayid if he's a zombie, Sayid's eyes FLUTTER rapidly; it's weird. Sayid, a professional INTERROGATOR, has a little fidgety tic all of a sudden? My guess is then, YES, HE'S A ZOMBIE.

Claire = Rousseau (nouveau?) No more baby-stealing. Is Kate pregnant? There was too much pregnancy-sticking and allusions to Kate as a non-mother/mother/potential mother for me to let this drop.

If I could ask JJ one question right now, I'd ask him if the Twilight Zone has any bearing on how this will all end, and if yes, I would immediately put my money on SHADOW PLAY.

Nothing is Irreversible.

More? Of course.

1. I used to think the final battle of LOST would come down between the proverbial MAN OF FAITH and MAN OF SCIENCE. I don't think that anymore. I think this will come down to Jack and Sawyer. John is important, no doubt. But those two have been butting heads from the beginning, and now with Juliet gone the way she is, (and Sawyer blaming all of it on Jack DESPITE telling him to drop the nuke) the anger will grow and grow. Bitterness, over a lost love, especially, could provide a seeding hate that could create the Jacob/Smokey Man rivalry. I was so hoping she was going to tell him she was pregs. . . . but that would have been a little too TERRI BAUER for this show. Wouldn't have worked. See, earlier this year, I totally thought that Juliet would carry Sawyer's child and Kate Jack's, and these two boys would somehow get displaced back to the day of the full Sobek statue and continue the sins of the fathers, so to speak. I don't think it's out of the question, necessarily, but. . . it doesn't seem quite so fitting anymore.

Sawyer is shittin' PISSED. Well, I am too, actually, Juliet was my favorite girl after all. I had such high hopes for her.

I had a very difficult time watching Smokey Man kick the hell out of Richard. BE CAREFUL WITH HIM! He might not show age physically, but I'm sure he's EONS old, kids.

Also, Jack just can't have this terrible luck follow him around for much longer. It's like the misfortunes of John Locke, pre-island: No one should have to deal with that much misery in one lifetime. Jeez. It's all happening for a reason, definitely: The Nuke doesn't work (well, not all the way), Charlie is angry at Jack for saving his life, The coffin containing Christian is M.I.A., Juliet croaks, Sawyer blames Jack, Sayid (at first), etc. Hopefully this is teaching him things for whatever the last main event will be.

JOHN? He seemed like a regular jolly old soul on the plane back! I don't remember him being quite so personable in any of the flashbacks before; he hammed it up with Boone AND Jack, very confident, very impressive! As I recall, he was NOT quite so chipper during the first flashback before the boarding of Oceanic 815, wasn't there some issue about the wheelchair and him being carried on? And Hurley? The "Luckiest Man Alive?" Hmmmmm.

Oh MAN! Six days is WAY too long to wait for the next one! My son watched the last part of it with me this afternoon and was quite concerned about the "cuts" on Sawyer's face. I told him he should draw LOST tonight for an art project and he decided he would draw The Smoke Monster coming out of John Locke, thought I'd share it with you. Kate and Sawyer also made an appearance, along with a yellow Dharma bus.

A small complaint. . .

All right. It's about high time someone explained why all the mothers on LOST are of the RABBIT variety? As in, is there one that can actually be considered a good one? This Eloise Hawking business better have some MAJOR significance to what happens in the long run.

I can sort of see Rousseau not being able to get Alex back, as they probably would have killed her.

I don't get Claire abandoning Aaron to hang out with Christian in the woods.

I don't get Kate going back to the island and just leaving Aaron, who'd she had been raising since he was 3 months olds.

Sawyer's mother was killed (absent).
Sun's mother seemed like she was out to lunch.
No mention of Sayid's mother, Desmond's mother, or Penny Widmore's mother.

Hurley and Charlie Pace seemed to have okay relationships but Charlie's mother croaked.
Kate obviously has mama issues.

Jin's mother was an evil whore.

?????????

A revisit to season 1

1. Locke gave Sayid his compass after he and Boone found the hatch, apparently thinking he didn't need it any more. Sayid discovers that it doesn't actually point north, Jack confirms this. Did Richard Alpert have this thing in the future? Was there something more to the compass at all? I read a theory tonight about how in season 2, once Mr. Eko arrives, there is a lot of business about looking up and going north. . . and how the island has to keep corralling Locke back in line to keep him on the right track, which is apparently to The Others (in a northward direction).

Lost season 5

I love it.
LOVE it.

My thoughts are seeming to be correct about how this really is all about Jack and the old man. John Locke I think, may or may not be "the leader," but my prediction is that John will either stay dead or fail, and it will really come down to Jack in the end. As in, can you take the leap of faith? Can you leave your ridiculously scientific thought processes and just realize that there is more to life than that? Christian told John how to get Jack back, couldn't help him physically, but also told him that he, John, NOT BEN was supposed to move the island. How is Ben involved in all this? Is he out? Just trying to weasel his way back onto the island? Of course he would be manipulating everything in order to engineer his own favorable outcome. . . but why was his face all bitched up when he called Jack? And if he somehow coerced Kate into going to Jack's to screw him and get knocked up I am going to be very, very upset. I'm sure he somehow got a hold of Aaron, held him for ransom, had been secretly charting Kate's menstrual cycle and then forced her to go and put out. Widmore? What is WITH that guy? What is his interest in the island? That guy seems to have everything he needs, there must be some secret between him and Ben that he needs the ability to time travel back to the island for, some deep, dark vendetta that needs avenging. Perhaps a woman?

Penelope and Desmond are going to be a factor, I think. What of the babies? Aaron, Charlie, Sun's daughter?

Everyone had a different mixed-up identity when they got on that plane again. Hurley had a guitar, as if he were Charlie (Drive Shaft). Sayid was in cuffs, as if he were Kate. Kate may or may not be knocked up, as if she were Claire. John Locke is in the hold, in his casket, wearing Doc Shephard's shoes. FRANK LAPIDIS IS THE GODDAMNED PILOT!

"We're not going to Guam, are we. . . " followed by a grimace.

Of course that damned note would be the catalyst for the actual transformation. It kept following him! I about cried when Jack read what it said.

I just watched it again for the 2nd time. Thomas the Apostle? Has to put his hands inside the wounds in order to believe? Then, according to history went on to become the most widespread Apostle to branch out from the promised land? (dies a martyr, somewhere in India?) Jack is beginning to believe?

Somehow, they got Kate, Sayid, and Hugo onto that plane by telling them that Jack was going to die or something. Kate is all distant and awkward, Hugo has a hard time maintaining eye contact, Sayid looks as if he really wants to tell Jack something. . . Sun probably doesn't care either way.

Ben's mother did NOT teach him to read. Didn't she die giving birth to him?

And was that little "scuffle" that Ben was in before the flight something to do with Widmore? Wasn't his last promise something along the lines of I'M GOING TO KILL YOUR DAUGHTER? He mentioned before leaving the church that he was going to do something, something he'd promised an old friend?

This is getting a bit obsessive.

Lost Season 5 and 24 episode 4

LOST: fine. A good enough beginning. Kate kind of overreacted to the whole blood test thing, which I'm sure was engineered by Benjamin Linus somehow. Sun, I just feel kind of blah about. So getting revenge is more important than spending time with your daughter? Take a lesson from Beatrix Kiddo: sit in a hotel room, spend your money, and don't look back.

Sayid is the Iraqi Jack Bauer. I love it.


24: That killing of Samantha Roth was unnecessarily brutal. What luck that the secret service guy happened to catch a less than ideal position on the fall over the railing! Now if that first gentleman knows ANYTHING he'll call his WIFE and get someone outside the secret service over the ASAP to see the kid dead with this elaborate scheme all laid out and rubber gloves and plastic wrap still on his person.

I am starting to think that ETHAN is the rat inside the oval office. It obviously won't be the secretary that resigned but someone she thinks is on her side; he fits the bill. Plus he was the corrupt warden in The Shawshank Redemption, some stereotypes you just can't escape. . .

Jack needs to stop being tender with Renee Walker. She honestly believes the FBI ISN'T INFILTRATED? Like David Lynch said about the Iphone. . . GET REAL.

Lost Diaries: Episode 23 and 24

Exodus parts 1 and 2

"The French woman—Danielle Rousseau (guest star Mira Furlan)—shocks the survivors by showing up to the camp with a dire warning about "the Others" who are on the island, and the black smoke that precedes them. Meanwhile, Michael and Jin ready the raft for sailing. In flashbacks, we see the survivors final moments before they boarded their fateful flight."

read here

"The castaways on the raft run into unexpected trouble. Meanwhile, the remaining islanders attempt to blow open the hatch. Flashbacks continue to show the survivors' final moments before boarding their fateful flight."

read here

YES! Jack and Sawyer's Goodbye? I can't believe it. What is the fire burning business on the other side of the island? Sayid has keen insight into Rousseau's actions. Poor Claire. I don't think she can take much more of all this. What a wonderful show.

Here are the things I wrote when I originally finshed the first season, back in May. I thought they'd be, you know, relevant:


this is out of order from the lost diaries but i had to do it.

we finished it yesterday. it's like 24 now, where i keep thinking about it all the time and obsessing.
these are the thoughts i had after the end.....

hurley gets a lot of good one-liners (sarcasm)....like a security system that eats people?

wtf are the moving shadows/clicking noises? SERIOUSLY?

locke is okay with being pulled into the black hole? jack and kate threw TNT into the hole; the island is gonna be pissed.....

a "Locke problem?" if we live through this? science vs. faith. surgeon vs. freaky marlon brando guy?

funny how shannon seemed so random and insignificant at the beginning. now she gets to bone with sayid and hear the whispers! that's big!

sawyer and jack's goodbye is probably my favorite moment of the whole show. LOVE THEM BOTH. LOTS.

WALT. brian the step dad didn't want to raise him/said THINGS HAPPEN with him? what kind of "special" is this kid? he also said not to open the hatch. he TOLD locke this and he opened it anyway. you'd think that Locke would be able to sense if what walt was telling him was important....

where is beatrix kiddo on this island? don't let ANYONE mess with the pregnant chick OR her baby. what could be worse? sayid understands. do not try to understand her, she's a woman who's lost her child (rousseau). crazy old french bat. i'm sure this happens frequently in iraq; the losing of children.


WHAT IS WITH THE DELIVERANCE DUDES IN THE BOAT?!?!?!?!?!?!!? seriously! people have a way of being a bit too loose with their kids on this show. GRIP THEM TIGHTLY. do not let others remove them from your clutches. CHRIST. i have 3 kids and i am already mentally working out how i could cling onto them in the event of kidnapping island hillbillies or random tsunamis: zizzy on back, bubby in front helping me hold beebins. bite attackers with sharp teeth if need be. kick and flail like ruth stupes running away from the abortion house.


my theory on this is that it is an isolation booth that everyone is hooked up to, separately. the gvt is doing experiments on them, OR ALIENS. what makes me think this are the polar bears. and the random boats and planes. AND the hatch.
i made matt get season 2 last night. i am sooooooo excited.

Lost Diaries: Episode 21

The Greater Good

"After another funeral, tempers rise as the survivors' suspicions of each other grow, and an unlikely survivor vows revenge. The events that landed Sayid on Flight 815 play out as he engages Locke in a psychological game of cat and mouse to uncover the truth about the mishap that claimed Boone's life."

read here

Blah. Again with this Boone business. Can't say I'll miss him. Can't say I'm even the least bit annoyed with Locke for letting him into that plane; someone had to do it, right? Sometimes Jack just needs to let it drop. Sayid is great.

LOST Diaries: episode 9

Solitary

"Sayid's life is placed in grave danger after he stumbles upon the source of the mysterious French transmission, the woman Danielle Rousseau (guest-star Mira Furlan). She was on the distress call and is found alive. Meanwhile, Hurley has a ridiculous plan to make life on the island a little more civilized. The plan involves golf clubs he finds in the debris, and it looks like it just might work. Lastly, we flash back to Sayid's childhood friend Nadia as well as his participation in hostage situations in Iraq."

read here

Hmmm. Revealing, yes. The best thing in all of these major incedents seems to me to be the making of the golf course. A DOCTOR PLAYING GOLF? WHAT'S NEXT? A COP EATIN' A DOUGHNUT? hahahahahaha. Sawyer is fast becoming my favorite person on the island. Nice touch with the hypochondriac searching for Jack about his rash only to find him playing golf. I seriously love this show more with every episode.

LOST Diaries: episode 7

Moth

"Charlie begins a painful journey of withdrawal from drugs, surprisingly aided by Locke, whose true motive for helping Charlie is a mystery. Meanwhile, survivors struggle to find and free Jack when he's buried alive in a cave collapse, and someone might be secretly thwarting Sayid, Kate, and Boone when they enact a plan to find the source of the French transmission."
read here

Very Nice. An ending reminiscent of A MILLION LITTLE PIECES.......I liked it. GOOD FOR CHARLIE. I enjoy the way that the sort of ridiculous drama between Kate and Jack became something emotional and more meaningful when she's faced with the possibility of losing him. WHY ISN"T ANYONE DIGGING? No kidding.

LOST Diaries: episode 6

House of the Rising Sun

"Walt and the others are shocked when Michael is brutally beaten, but only the non-English-speaking Jin and Sun know the truth behind the attack. Meanwhile Kate, Jack, Sawyer and Sayid argue about where the survivors should camp -- on the beach, where they're more likely to be seen, or in a remote inland valley where fresh water abounds; and Locke discovers Charlie's secret."
read here

Not bad. I wondered what the crap the story was going to be with those two. I really have to wonder about someone, even a fictional character who will beat someone in front of their child......this will have a direct link to the bit I'm eventually going to write about THE BRAVE ONE.....later. The business between Jack and Kate is already feeling very much like a marriage. Does she have a total attitude with him because he wanted to move the tribe into the cave instead of having some relations with her? Very much seemed that way. I am very much enjoying finding out about all these randoms.