LOST, Season 3, Episode 4 “Every Man For Himself”

Okay, so you all know I’m a huge fan of this show. But, I sure hope it starts to pick-up with some stronger episodes…similar to those of Seasons 1 and 2. It’s not that these episodes are bad, but they move slow….it’s like everyone is standing still. I, however, am keeping my faith that the writers and producers are using these slower-paced shows for the big pay-off.

On to this week’s episode:

Sawyer: Con men getting conned. Sawyer’s flashback reveals that while in prison for having been caught in a con, he meets a prisoner, Munson…though Sawyer’s knack for giving nicknames dubbed this guy both Constanza (as in George?) and Murgatroy (that’s got me stumped because I remember the cartoon character Snagglepuss always saying “Heaven to Murgatroy”, but always thought it was his way of saying “purgatory”…I don’t know what a Murgatory is). Munson was in prison for stealing $10 million, and Sawyer told him that since the money wasn’t found yet, that the warden would start working on Munson’s wife to get the info. When the warden did indeed start working on Munson’s wife to find the money, Munson asked Sawyer to move the money for him. Sawyer, recently given news that he had a daughter (Clementine Phillips) with a woman he conned, learned the whereabouts of the money (in a red truck in a car lot, 23C….NOTE: 23 is one of the numbers, FYI), and passed the info to the warden in order to: a) get his own sentenced commuted; and b) to have the reward money deposited into an account for Clementine so she would grow up with money in an account. On the island, Sawyer himself gets conned by Benjamin Linus (Note: Linus was the son of the Greek god Apollo…..and don’t forget about the Apollo candy bars found in the hatch…..), who tells Sawyer that they implanted a pacemaker into his heart, and the pacemaker would explode is Sawyer’s heart-rate went above 140 bpm. Though it was obvious Ben was lying (there’s no way they have the technology on the island to do major surgery…surgery that requires blood transfusions…on the island), Sawyer fell for it, and was a good little boy for the episode. Plus, Benry threatened to put a pacemaker into Kate if Sawyer told her about it. While convincing Sawyer about the pacemaker, Benry shook a cage with a bunny in it (the bunny was Number 8…one of the numbers, FYI) until the bunny “died”. Benry told Sawyer about the heart-rate issue, saying the bunny also had the pacemaker, and died because the heart-rate went up in the bunny’s stressed-out state. Sawyer: “Did you kill that bunny?” Sawyer given a heart-rate monitor on his wrist, which would beep when it hit around 125bpms, which happened the first time when he was watching Kate get undressed. Ha ha!

Benry: Obviously head of the community, but doesn’t necessarily mean he’s in control. However, he did freak out when Colleen was brought back to camp with the gunshot wound. Also was able to get Sawyer to behave with the whole “you’re heart will explode” story. While leading Sawyer on the hike up the cliff/hill, Sawyer’s heart monitor starts beating, and Ben then tells him that they didn’t put a pacemaker into him, “The only thing we put into you is doubt”. Sawyer looks defeated, but he is a con man. Benry telling Sawyer that he’s a good con man, but “we’re better”.

Jack: In his cell, and they’re playing cartoons for him. Interesting how there are swans in the cartoons, and the Losties were in the Swan hatch. Doubts that Juliet has any real power on the island, claiming he believes that Benry is in charge. But, he’s called in to help try to save Colleen, who had been shot by Sun. Jack, however, cannot save her as the equipment on in the Hydra Station is inadequate. On the way into the medical room, Jack sees an XRay, and notices that there is a tumor on the L4 vertebrae (Note: 4 is one of the numbers…FYI), and realizes that they intentionally wanted him to see that XRay (though they probably didn’t want someone to get shot to do it). He questions why he was really brought there, realizing that he’s been brought there to address the spinal tumor, since he is a spinal surgeon. Wow! Jack might be getting a clue! Jack’s line to Juliet: “I don’t care about making you feel better.” Classic.

Juliet: Tells Jack that she’s a fertility doctor. She must’ve been the one doing the experiments on Claire….? Also, did you see the logo on Juliet’s scrubs? It’s the Hydra logo. Kind of cool logo, actually.

Desmond: He must be psychic…he tried to get Claire to get out of her tent with Aaron claiming he’d fix her roof. However, she wasn’t buying it, and didn’t want to leave. Desmond gets a 5 iron from the golf bag (being used by one of this season’s as-yet-underused new characters, Paulo) and builds something with it. “Is it art?”, Hurley asks. “Nope, just an experiment”, says Desmond. Turns out, a few minutes later, a storm kicks up, and lightening hits the crudely fashioned lightening rod. Desmond’s foresight must’ve seen the lightening hitting Claire’s tent, but he changed that by building the lightening rod. Could Desmond also change things on the island if he’s seen them happen already? Also, Desmond couldn’t have had this ability before he got to the island, otherwise he never would’ve gotten in trouble in the military, or would’ve gotten lost in the first place. Could this ability have been caused by the injections he was giving himself in the hatch all those years? And if so, does that mean that Claire’s baby, Aaron, will at some point gain this gift since Claire’s been giving the baby the serum since Charlie gave her the injection kit he found on the supply drop during last season?

Kate: Not much to do except panic this week. Although, admitting she loved Sawyer just to get Danny to stop beating him was nice…but, she does have a thing for Sawyer. Also, the fact that she crawled out of the cage shows that there’s a way out, but I’m sure she was seen on the monitors doing this.

The Other Island: When Benry took the Sawyer to see the other island, he claimed that the island Sawyer was looking was their (the Losties) island, and the one they were standing on was the Other’s island and community. So, this implies that the Hydra Station is the island that the experiments are conducted on/from, and the Losties island is the “control” island.
And, was there mention of a submarine? That would be how The Others were able to transfer Kate/Sawyer/Jack off their island and to the Hydra station. Or maybe there’s an underground/water tunnel? I’m sure we’ll find out. Keep this in the back of your mind: Galaga. Don’t ask…just remember. ;-)

“Of Mice and Men” : This week’s highlighted novel, written by John Steinbeck, is, loosely, the story of a man who’s lost in the big world, and of the man who tries to guide him through it. When the one who’s lost continues to get into trouble by going to into the wrong place, or saying the wrong thing, the guide ends up becoming the disciplinarian. See any parallels here? Lost? Disciplinarian? Hmmmmm….

Hurley: Making fruit salad? And serving it with Ranch dressing, I presume?

Rousseau: So, where the hell has she been all this time? How has she escaped the wrath of the Others all this time?

Programming note: Only 2 more new episodes left in this first batch. Remember: the series will pick back up on February 7, and will air uninterrupted until the end of the season.
Yeah, it will be a big break in-between, but I so prefer this way to the way they were airing the episodes last year.

So, nobody’s taken me up on my “who’s gonna die next” ponderings. C’mon, you know it’s gonna happen! I had said either Claire, Desmond or Sawyer. I am, however, taking back my Desmond guess.

See you next week!

Until then….Namaste.