LOST, Season 3, Episode 21, “Greatest Hits” (5/16/07)

Charlie Pace: Charlie finds a way to make peace with Desmond’s recurring visions about his death: face it and do the right thing. He makes the decision to go into the Looking Glass station in order to flick a switch (as opposed to push a button…) that will somehow get Claire and Aaron rescued by helicopter. Or so says Desmond. To reach this point, Charlie recalls his 5 best moments, his ‘greatest hits’, so that this list can be given to Claire upon his death where she will see his greatest moment was meeting her. The flashbacks that accompanied each of his 5 memories, were quite telling, especially the one in which his father teaches him to swim. This is the first Lostie we’ve seen who seems to have a normal father…no father issues for Charlie, which is quite a change for a character on this show. (Maybe Charlie has Mom issues since his Mom didn’t make the top 5…?) The other big flashback was the scene where he helps the woman in the alley. That woman, as you all saw, was Nadia, the girl Sayid tortured/rescued from Iraq (and whose house John Locke inspected in California). The flashback of him meeting Claire was nice. But, does Charlie end up dying? I figured his character had been played out, and it made sense that the island would end up taking him, especially when added with Desmond’s visions. But, in giving in to the fate that Desmond was seeing in his flashes, Charlie accepted that his death was imminent, and at that point knew the ultimate sacrifice of his life to save the Losties would be acceptable. At that point, having given in to fate, Charlie may have ended up saving himself. We’ll see. In the past, Locke tried to mentor Charlie, as did Eko. In the end, however, it’s Desmond who has the greatest impact on Charlie. He still has two girls in the Looking Glass to deal with. And wouldn’t it be a wild coincidence if those two girls in the Looking Glass were the same two he woke up in bed with in Finland on the Christmas morning Liam gave him the ring?? Haha! (And what’s with Dominick Monaghan always being in something where he gets the RING…the ONE TRUE RING…..) ;-) The big question: can he stop the jamming signal and escape from his would-be captors? (I’m just glad the Dharma Shark didn’t get him on the way down to the station….)

Desmond: For the first time, Desmond’s flash is not shown to us, so we’re in the dark about what really happens in the Looking Glass. One has to assume that Desmond’s action to take Charlie’s place swimming down to the Looking Glass was seen by Desmond in his vision, and thus knew Charlie would clobber him with the oar. But, we don’t know at this point. Desmond, in my mind, has taken over as “major character” this season, supplanting Locke.

Jack: Accepting the role of leader means making big decisions. I’d say Jack done that twice since returning from the Others: he recruited Danielle Rousseau to help the Losties get the Others, and by making the decision to move the group to the radio tower. And now, the Sheppard will lead his flock to safety.

Danielle: Well, looks like she’s currently on the side of the Losties. That she’s been working secretly with Jack is cool. It also explains why she was getting the TNT out of the Black Rock when Locke had Sawyer and his dad locked in the ship’s hold. Will shutting down her distress call, which has been playing for 16 years, be the impetus they need to get the satellite phone working?

Nadia: It cannot be a coincidence that Nadia has been in Iraq, California and England, and has met three of the people who crashed on Oceanic Flight 815. Can it?

Sayid: As the sheriff of the Losties, it’s good to see Sayid taking charge of the ambush.

Alex: So, once again we see a white bunny. Unfortunately for said bunny, Alex was cutting it up for cooking. How many white bunnies exist on this island? Nice to see that Alex is more for the Losties than for the Others. By sending Carl off to tell the Losties about the Others planning to arrive early, she shows that she too is not happy with Ben’s leadership and direction. In addition, she’s doubting Ben’s claims of being her father.

Carl: Looks like Carl and Alex could end up being allies with the Losties. If so, this would provide them with important insight into the Other’s movements/intent. But, Carl could be expendable.

Ben: The kooky leader keeps getting kookier! And that could be dangerous, which of course means great drama! His control continues to slip within his own camp as Richard questions his decision to head to the Losties’ beach a day earlier, as well as Alex sending Carl over to warn them. If there’s a struggle within the Others’ camp, I would expect Ben to bite it, and Richard to take over. And, obviously Ben lied to his people when he told them the Looking Glass station had an accident and was flooded.

Rose and Bernard: It’s nice to see them again. And Bernard, try as me might, just can’t seem to get things right the first time he tries them (i.e. tying wire together). However, I think he may be one of the casualties when the Others come into the Losties camp next week. He’ll be a hero (shooting the dynamite to blow up a tent, perhaps), but he’ll also end up going out like one, too.

Looking Glass Station/Hatch: Wonder why this hatch was put near the island to begin with? And the bunny logo of it may imply it’s used for fertility issues also? Or, is it a metaphor for the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, as a doorway to somewhere else? And, does that doorway lead to something that changes time or warps time?

Misc:
1. License Plate on Driveshaft van: YRE2OL….is that “lottery” backwards? (Lo-2-ery = lottery?)
2. Interesting to note that Charlie and Naomi are both from Manchester, England.
3. Will we be seeing Penny Widmore in the season finale?
4. Wouldn’t it be cool to actually have a helicopter be able to reach the island and get some of the Losties off the island (I’m thinking of Claire and Aaron especially)? This would provide an opportunity for the people who get off to get word back that the Oceanic 815 crash did not kill everyone, and would allow us (the viewer) to possibly see the outside world’s reaction to this and the action they take to do something about a rescue. It would also provide a look, possibly, into the actions of Dharma, Hanso, and Widmore. Just a thought….
5. In Charlie’s flash about saving Nadia from the mugger, when he is singing Oasis’ “Wonderwall” on his acoustic guitar, it’s reminiscent of Desmond’s vision of the same scene, but Charlie’s flashback has him wearing different clothes. Shows how different the result is in a real-flashback compared to Desmond’s flashes.
6. Funny line between Charlie and Claire when they first met: Charlie: “This your first plane crash?”
7. Who dies? Charlie? Ben? Bernard? Carl? Juliette? It will be interesting to find out…
8. What is the fate of John Locke?
9. Amazingly, even with his nickname-ban lifted, Sawyer didn’t use one nickname this episode! Maybe he’s softening up….
10. Charlie, the former drug addict, seeing a White Rabbit and going to the Looking Glass. Charlie in Wonderland, perhaps?

Whew! A lot is going on, eh? The clash of the tribes is going to be awesome. And Charlie’s situation in the Looking Glass hatch is also going to be interesting. The season finale is going to great.

Comments? Ideas? Let me hear them! Please, anything to get this song out of my head, “You all everybody…you all everybody…”

Until next week…BOOM!

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http://lost.cubit.net/forum/index.php
http://darkufo.blogspot.com/
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