LOST Season 6 Episode 5 “Lighthouse”

Interesting parrallel: Season 1’s first and second episodes were the two-hour premiere regarding the crash of Oceanic 815 and began the introduction of the characters to us. The second episode of Season 1 was a Kate-centric episode (Tabula Rosa). The third ep of Season 1, Walkabout, focused on Locke. The fourth episode was mostly about Jack (White Rabbit), and the fifthm House of the Rising Sun, focused on Sun and Jin.

Now, on to Season 6, which the producers said before it started would be told more in-line with the Season 1’s storytelling. Episode 1&2 of Season 6 made up the two-hour premiere that dealt with the Oceanic 815 flight as it existed in the Flash Sideways (yes, it dealt with more, but bear with me). Episode 3, What Kate Does, was a Kate-centric episode, just as Episode 3 in Season 1 was. Last week’s episode was a Locke (or FLocke, as the case were) focused-story in the same way that the debut season's Walkabout was its fourth episode. This week’s tale, wrapped-up below, was Jack-centric, just as the fifth episode of Season 1 was Jack-centric (White Rabbit). See a pattern here? I know I do.

Good stuff. Now, on with the show.

Jack: On the Island, Jack is still trying to figure out what’s going on, and Hurley’s trip with him to the Lighthouse moved Jack closer to understanding what he’s been called upon to do. What will he be doing? Well, one could speculate that he’ll be taking over for Jacob. We’ll have to see. Flash-sideways Jack is a father with a son named David (14 or 15 years old, perhaps?), and...SURPRISE!...David has daddy issues. Jack attempts to reconcile whatever it is that drove them apart by giving David the “you could never disappoint me and I’ll always love you no matter what” speech. But Jack seems to mean it. However, this whole thing with the son seemed to me like a long, drawn-out reason to make us wonder who David’s mom, Jack’s wife (soon to be ex?) is. It is not revealed here why Jack and his wife aren’t together, but it seems a separation, or possibly divorce, is the current situation between them. Jack, however, is definitely a proud father watching David during the audition.

David: Appearing only in the Flash Sideways as he does not exist in the Island timeline. Jack’s son David, who is a great pianist for his age, wants to be accepted by his father. Not feeling that he is has driven a wedge between them, but David seems as happy about resolving their rift as Jack is. His audition at St Marys Academy for possible acceptance into the Williams Conservatory is seen by Jack, who was not told by David of his performance but finds out after hearing a phone message. The performance, a song by Chopin I think because of the Chopin poster seen in David’s room, is great and Jack is definitely proud of him.

Hurley: As Jacob’s current mouthpiece, Hurley has shown some pretty good courage to take on the role of telling people Jacob’s wishes. Always the peacemaker, Hugo is called upon to bring Jack the Lighthouse. Seeing this as a tough challenge, Hurley tells Jack “you have what it takes” as per Jacob’s request. Since Jack’s dad, Christian, noticeably missing this season so far, always told Jack that he didn’t have what it takes. Ultimately, Hurley will be an important piece to this whole puzzle we call Lost. And I’ll be okay with that.

Dogen: As seen on the Island, he is the leader of the people inside the Temple. He is realizing that Hurley will play a big (haha! pun intended) role in what goes on when he approaches him and asks what he’s doing in a section of the Temple and Hurley tells him that he is a candidate and he can do what he wants. What Dogen couldn’t see was Jacob telling Hurley what to say. In the Flash Sideways, Dogen and his son are also at the St Marys Academy recital and Dogen talks to Jack. Dogen’s son also tells Jack how good of a piano player David is. This reveals to us that Dogen was also brought to the Island at some point in time in the other timeline and is not part of the Island contingent that people like Richard and Jacob and Man in Black are. So, he was brought to the Island to......lead the Temple people? I had to look this up so I can't confirm 100% if this is correct: apparently, when Dogen spoke to Hurley in Japanese, he said "You are lucky you are protected. If you were not protected, I would cut off your head."

Sayid: Not much screen-time in this episode, but enough to acknowledge with Jack that something is wrong with him, and for Jack to acknowledge that someone else has also been claimed.

Claire: Psycho killer, qu’est-ce que c’est. Claire is full-blown mad after three years alone on the Island, in a Rousseau kind of way. Clairesseau assists Jin with his messed up ankle, caused by her trap, and also kills the guy from the Temple when he tells her that they do not have Aaron. While this is true, Claire decides to bury an axe into the guy’s chest, killing him. I’m sure she’ll say later that it was all an....axe-ident. HEY NOW! She tells Jin that she has a friend who said that Aaron was taken by the Temple crew. That friend, we learn at the end of the episode, is FLocke. She also mentions that her father told her this. You’ll remember from last season when Claire and Christian were in the cabin. Side note: what does she need all the dynamite for? After Jin lies and says it was not Kate, but the Temple people, who took Aaron, she says if Kate had taken him, she would kill her. Side note 2: Why didn’t Claire think it was strange that Jin could speak English (they were separated by the time-hops)?

Jin: Zoinks. That was one messed up ankle. But Claire does her own version of Jack on it and stitches it up. While it was likely the fastest stitch job in history, he tells her that the Temple dude is correct and that they did not take Aaron, but that Kate did three years earlier when she left the Island. After killing the Temple guy, Jin then retracts his statement, saying he was lying and that Aaron is indeed in the Temple. This, however, is the real lie as we all know. He tells Claire he can get her into the Temple, but I think he’s more interested in getting back there himself. Remember, he is still trying to re-connect with Sun and has yet to find her since they've all time-hopped back to 2004.

Jacob: Still visiting Hurley, and Hurley only, he sends him on a mission to get Jack to the Lighthouse. In the same way that FLocke/Man-in-Black is manipulating Sawyer (and Claire and FLocke’s body), Jacob continues to manipulate Hurley. But to what end? Also, what if Jacob is the name of a person that was taken over by an entity similar to the way Locke’s body was taken over by the Man-in-Black thing. So, the blond guy we know as Jacob may in fact have been a man named Jacob in the same way that Fake-Locke was once a man named John Locke, but is now taken over by something. So, Jacob may well have been brought to the Island long ago (when people used looms) and went through a similar experience that the Losties are going through. Jacob may have at one time been a candidate.

The Lighthouse: A tall, mystical looking-glass that can peer into the lives of people off the Island. When Hurley and Jack reach it, they climb the tower to find a massive compass-like wheel with 360 degrees marked off around the edge. Per Jacob’s instructions, Hurley starts turning the wheel to get it to 108 degrees, but Jack notices hundreds of names written around the wheel, one on each degree. While most of the names are crossed off, he sees that his name, along with the names of Jarrah, Reyes, Kwon, Ford, and Locke, are not. When he puts the gauge of the Lighthouse compass wheel on his #23, he sees in the Lighthouse’s mirrors his childhood home. Realizing that they’ve all been watched their whole lives, Jack smashes the mirrors. Side note: how did they never find the Lighthouse previously? Other names seen on the degree marks: #51 Austen (Kate perhaps? Note that Austen’s name has NOT been crossed off), #117 Linus, #61 Davis, #44 Martinez, #43 Barnes, #40 Dorsett, #39 Morton, #37 Torres, #34 Grimaldi, #22 Moorehead, #20 Rousseau,#195 Pace (Charley?), and #108 Wallace. Again, with the exception of Kate and the other 6 Losties, all other names were crossed off. The Lighthouse trip, as Jacob told Hurley later, was about Jack realizing that he has a bigger purpose.

Funny lines:

--Not a line so much as the scene where Miles and Hurley were playing tic-tac-toe with roped vines and leaves as the Xs and Os.

--”I just lied to a samuri”, Hurley to Jacob, regarding Dogen.

--”Anything on your arm about the door being jammed?”, Jack to Hurley about the door of the Lighthouse. (Hurley wrote Jacob’s instructions on his forearm)

--”Thanks for the seven years of bad luck, by the way”, Hurley to Jacob regarding Jack smashing all the mirrors in the Lighthouse.

Interesting:

--Jack’s son is wearing a LA Dodgers hat, but Jack says he can watch the Red Sox if he wants. C’mon Jack..you gotta raise you kid to be a Red Sox fan!

--In LA, Jack’s mom finding the will of Christian, and while reading it asks Jack if he knows of a Claire Littleton, someone mentioned in the will that neither of them know.

--Hurley and Jack back at the caves, and Hurley speculating that the skeletons in the cave are actually them from a previous time hop. My guess? We’ll not find out who the skeletons were.

--Jack admitting he came back to the Island because he was ‘broken’ and thought the Island could fix him. Hurley admitting to Jack that he came back because Jacob got in the taxi with him in LA.

--The coincidences that the Flash Sideways folks are experiencing, including Jack not knowing his appendix scar (on the Island, Juliet did that surgery), the Claire Littleton connection, etc.

--Walking into the piano audition of his son David, Jack passes a sign that says “Welcome all Candidates” for the kids there to audition. There’s that word Candidates again. Also, Dogen saying that “your son has a gift” regarding David’s piano talents was interesting.

--Claire admitting that the Temple people branded her, stuck her with needles. This would’ve been when Dogen realized that she had been claimed (infected).

--”Sometimes you can hop in the back of someone’s cab and tell them what to do. Other times, you have to let them look out at the ocean for a while”, Jacob to Hurley regarding the reason Jacob had Hurley bring Jack to the Lighthouse.

--More references to Alice in Wonderland: Jack's son David reading "The Annotated Alice", and Jack finding the key to his wife's (?) house under a fake rabbit on the house's doorstep.

Answered:

--The numbers represent where each person's name was listed on the Lighthouse's compass wheel.

Questions:

--Who is Jack’s Flash Sideways wife? We’re probably supposed to think Kate (especially since Hurley says he thought Kate and Jack would marry and have dozens of kids), but I’m not going there. Not sure, but how about Juliet?

--Has Claire also been recruited by FLocke in the same way that Sawyer was (although Sawyer could still be pulling a con)?

--Who’s coming to the Temple that is bad? Why did Jacob want Hurley and Jack away from the Temple? Is it Desmond? Widmore? Someone else? Or someTHING else?

--What is Jack’s role going to be? Does he take over for Jacob? Dogen?

--The name that was #108 was listed as Wallace. Could Jacob's last name have been Wallace?

Tune in next Tuesday night for episode 6, Sundown. Will this episode focus on Sun and Jin? I'm not sure but I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that the sixth episode of Season 1 was also a Sun/Jin episode.

Share your thoughts. Until next week, you’ve got some ink on your forehead.

Wednesday’s Word

Word: Baster (N.) pronounced with a long ‘a’

Definition: anything of considerable size; also, masculine term of endearment

Usages:

“George got himself a old baster, didn’t he?”

“I guess. That deer dressed out at two-thirty-five.”

Or:

“Jim, you old baster, where you been all spring?”

(Definition from: “How To Talk Yankee”, by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

Did You Know Tuesdays

Did you know it was on this date, February 23, in 1945, that the iconic photograph of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the flag on Mount Suribachi in Japan was taken? It was the fifth day after the start of the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The picture, taken by photographer Lewis R Lowery, was actually of the second, larger flag that was raised. The five Marines were Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, Michael Strank, Rene Gagnon and Ira Hayes. The Navy Corpsman (HM) was John Bradley and I single him out because I was once a Navy Corpsman. An interview with HM Bradley regarding that day during the War can be found here. (I'm not sure when the interview was conducted, but it's pretty interesting.)

photo from freeinfosociety.com

A big hearty THANK YOU to all of the troops wherever you are.

Monday Morning Chuckle

LOST Season 6 Episode 4 The Substitute

The producers are referring to the Alternate Timeline as a Flash Sideways, so I’ll refer to it as such from here on out.

Locke: In the Flash Sideways, Locke is engaged to Helen (awwwwww) and seemingly happy (even has a pic of him and his father in his cubicle at work). He gets fired from the box company (nice return of Randy as John’s boss), but he meets Hugo who confesses to being the owner and gives John the number to a temp agency he owns to look for another job. At the temp agency, he meets with Rose Madler. (It’s interesting that these characters are still being drawn together in the Flash Sideways.) He considers taking Jack up on the offer of a free consultation after Helen says it’s a great coincidence that he needs a spinal surgeon and one has now entered his life. (Sort of the same thing that Ben said when Jack crashed on the Island). On the Island, Dead-Body-Locke, with crabs crawling on him, is taken and given a burial by Lapidus and Ben, et al. It would seem that the Locke that crashed with Oceanic 815 is now out of the picture. Never say never, eh?

Fake Locke: Begins to work on James Ford/Sawyer. Seems to be leading James to do something that will help him get off the Island. In the caves with James, he throws the white stone on the scale into the ocean, leaving the black stone. Whatever, or whoever, has taken over Locke’s body is trying to get home, and home appears to be off the Island. He tells James that everything that has happened to him in his life is because Jacob contacted him at some point in his life, that everything he has done was a result of Jacob pushing Sawyer to land on the Island and take over for Jacob. Tells Sawyer he has three choices: 1. Do nothing and see how it all plays out, and possibly have his name taken off the wall; 2. Accept job and become the new Jacob; or 3. Leave the Island with FLocke.

James Ford/Sawyer: James is still in deep mourning over the loss of Juliet (love that he was jamming out to Iggy and the Stooges’ Search and Destroy, though). Approached by FLocke, he is told that FLocke will tell him why he was brought to the Island. James knows that it’s not the Locke he knew (saying that FLocke isn’t scared the way Locke was), so he’ll be careful, I’m sure. It’s unlikely that FLocke is telling the truth and is more than likely trying to use James for his own purpose. However, could James actually be pulling another long-con on FLocke? We’ll see. He does not remember ever meeting Jacob, at least that what he lets on to FLocke. He does tell FLocke that he is ready to go home.

The Kid: Are we supposed to believe that the blond haired kid that FLocke and James see is Aaron? Maybe, but I’m not buying it. Despite the blond hair, The Kid seems to be some sort of referee, pointing out that FLocke is not following the rules. The rules of what, we have yet to learn. But Ben accused Widmore of breaking the rules (when he had Keamy kill Alex), and Man in Black seemed to bend the rules when he found the ‘loophole’. Maybe The Kid is required to keep the game (one side is light, one side is dark) within the established rules. He certainly wasn’t afraid of FLocke/SMonster.

Richard: He is more panicked than we’ve seen before and knows that Man in Black has taken Locke’s body, but doesn’t know how. Tells James that FLocke wants to kill them all, but it could be that Richard, like FLocke, will lie to get their way.

Rose Nadler: In the Flash Sideways, she admits to Locke that she has cancer but has gotten past the denial. She is living whatever life she has left to the fullest. She works as a supervisor at Hurley's temp agency.

Ilana: Is told by Ben that Jacob was killed by Locke (lie...Ben did it) and that his body was pushed into the fire. From the fire, Ilana retrieves some of the ash. Is this ash the same that was around the cabin and that Braham used to (unsuccessfully) protect himself from the SMonster attack in the Statue? She tells Ben that the Man in Black is now stuck in Locke’s body. She knows a lot, it appears, about what might be going on. Expect more from her.

Ben: In the Flash Sideways, Ben meets Locke at the school where Locke is substitute teaching. Ben introduces himself as a teacher of European history. He’s funny bitching about nobody making more coffee.

The Cave: FLocke takes James to a cliff-side cave in which he shows Sawyer that the walls and ceiling have written on them dozens and dozens (hundreds?) of names, each numbered. Most of the names are crossed off, like some kind of grocery list. FLocke shows James that some of the names belong to Oceanic 815 passengers, including himself and the real Locke. These names are people selected as ‘candidates’ by Jacob, according to FLocke. Candidates for what? To take over for Jacob protecting the Island, although FLocke contends that the Island doesn’t need protecting because there’s nothing there.

Funny lines:

--FLocke: “Nope. It’s a little after my time” he says when James asks if he’s read John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

--Lapidus: “This is the weirdest damn funeral I’ve ever been to” regarding the burial of Locke’s body.

--Hurley: “He’s a douche”, when Locke told him he got fired by Randy Nations.

Interesting:

--The episode title, The Substitute can mean Locke was a substitute teacher, and also a substitute for the Man in Black. Deep.

--When Locke falls out of his van onto the lawn, the sprinklers go off and begin to soak him. Just like on the Island, it always seems to rain on Locke, eh?

--The numbers are how Jacob listed some of the Oceanic 815 people. According to FLocke, “Jacob had a thing for numbers”. They are all people that Jacob touched at some point of their lives. 4=John Locke, 8=Hugo Reyes , 15=James Ford, 16=Sayid Jarrah, 23=Jack Shephard, and 42=Kwon (don’t know if it’s Jin or Sun, but remember that Sun’s last name was Paik before marrying Jin, so likely Jin). Kate, also touched by Jacob, is not listed. Maybe she was 108? (Note: while the other names on the wall were hard to read, it did look like there was a #20 with Rousseau as the name, #90=Troupe [Gary Troupe, writer of book from Season 2 that Hurley and Sawyer were reading the manuscript to called Bad Twin], #140 Charlotte Lewis, #222 O’Toole [?], #291 Domingo [?], #312 Littleton [Claire?] and Farraday crossed off)

--FLocke yelling “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” to The Kid.

--Quite a few people buried in the Losties cemetery, eh?

--Locke’s alarm clock sounding just like the noise the countdown clock would make when it was time to enter the numbers and push the button.

--FLocke and James had to climb a ladder to get to Jacob’s cave. So, was it Jacob’s Ladder? I’m just sayin’...

--The white stone/black stone in the cave on the scale. Once the white stone was removed, it tipped to the black side. Literal, much?

Questions:

--Where is home for FLocke?

--What is everybody a candidate for? FLocke says it’s to take over for Jacob, but he could be lying.

--How much does Ilana know about what’s going on?

Tune in next Tuesday night for episode 5, Lighthouse.

As an observation, actor Terry O’Quinn was great in this episode, playing FLocke, Flash Sideways Locke, and dead body Locke.

Share your thoughts. Until next week, don’t tell me what I can’t do.

Wednesday’s Word

Word: Rig (N.)

Definition: Unusual device, outfit, or person

Usages:

Jerry-built contrivance: “What of a rig is that you got for a fan belt on your tractor?”

“Well, the regular one busted and I made up one out of a piece of harness. Guess I can piece along with it till I get a new one.”

Or bizarre attire: “You can’t imagine what rigs they wear down in the city. I see one feller with a long black cloak, gum rubbers, a coonskin hat--and ear rings!”

Or an outlandish person: “That Peter is an awful rig. He’s taking out them two Williams sisters, and I hear they both got a bun in the oven.”

(Definition from: “How To Talk Yankee”, by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

Did You Know Tuesdays

Did you know that the Maine tidal coastline is 3,478 miles long? The nooks and crannies of the numerous inlets and coves makes this great state's coastline longer than even California's (3,427 miles)!

map from www.maine.gov

Monday Morning Chuckle

I don't know why some people have such an issue with Gallagher? I remember watching all of his vids as they were released back in the mid-80s/early 90s. Never got to see him live, but jeez...he makes me laugh! Wicked hahd! He'll be 64 this coming July.

Lost, Season 6, Episode 3 What Kate Does

In season 2, there was an episode called “What Kate Did” that flash-backed to her history about killing her father. This week’s episode was called “What Kate Does”. Kate-centric a bit, but much more about others on the Island.

Kate: Apparently what Kate does is nurtures. Even when she’s running away, she wants to nurture people. She tried with Jack. Sawyer. Claire. Aaron. And in the Alternate-2004 timeline, she also tries to protect Claire (after initially keeping her in the stolen taxi) and Aaron. The timelines seem to mimic each other regarding the associations between the Losties. Apparently, these people were meant to go through a journey together, and the Universe has made sure this happens. Kate? Still not sure what her character is all about. Her scene with Sawyer on the pier was nice. Funny...she signed into hospital registry as Joan Hart.

Claire: I’m still of the belief that she died in Otherville when her house was blown up by Keamey’s men (Season 4’s “The Shape of Things to Come”) and that the SMonster/Man in Black thing assumed her form, as it’s done for so many others, including Christian Shephard, Yemi (Eko’s brother), Dave (Hurley’s buddy), etc. Let’s not forget that we also saw Claire off-Island when “she” visited Kate and told her not to bring Aaron back to the Island. In 2007, she’s taken on the crazy persona that Rousseau had (Clairesseau?), living in the jungle, setting rudimentary traps. In the other timeline, she befriends Kate, and has already decided the name of her unborn baby: Aaron (“I don’t know why...it’s like I just knew it”). She also finds that the couple in Brentwood, CA who said they would adopt her “bayyyy-beeeee” have separated and the woman does not want to raise a baby alone. You’ll remember that the psychic, Malkin, told Claire that she should not let someone else raise the baby, that she should do it herself. In the 2004 Alternate Timeline, it appears this is what will happen.

Sayid: Back from the dead, or never really died? Hard to say on LOST. Sayid is lied to by Dogen and Lennon, however, when he is told that the electric shock, blowing of dust and hot anvil poke were tests and he passed. What is wrong with Sayid has yet to be revealed, but Dogen says he’s been ‘claimed’.

Sawyer: Confesses to Kate his intention was to proprose to Juliet, something that will not happen now. His anger is high in the Island timeline, but back in Alternate-2004 Timeline, he’s a much more content Sawyer it seems.

Dogen: Dogen, the Temple Master, tells Jack that he was brought to the Island the same way as everyone else. He also tells Jack that Sayid has been ‘claimed’, with a darkness growing in him that if it reaches Sayid’s heart it will change him forever, and says this has happened to his sister, presumably referring to Claire. Also tells Jack that the people of Oceanic 815 were brought there for a reason (so apparently this is not Desmond’s fault, as he’s believed it to be).

Jack: “I don’t trust myself, how can I trust you?” he says to Dogen. Probably the most accurate thing Jack has said since crashing on the Island. Jack is coming back from the his beaten-down psyche of the previous episodes to slowly regain confidence, but to what end?

Interesting:

--Jack’s tattoo reads something like “he walks with them but he is not one of them”. Dogen tells Jack that he rarely speaks English so as to keep himself separated from the people he has to lead because it makes it easier to give them commands and lead them. Jack and Dogen are both in the same situation: they walk with them but are not one of them”. Me thinks Jack will take over the role of Dogen at some point. He just won’t have the cool kung-fu moves.

--Many episodes have featured backgammon, which Locke told Walt had been around for thousands of years and was a game of light vs dark. If Jacob is “light”, would some of his pieces be the people he touched, like Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Jin and Sun, Locke, and Hurley? If Man-in-Black is “dark”, would his pieces be the people he re-creates, like Christian Shephard, John Locke, Claire (off Island visited Kate), Charlie (visited Hurley), Dave (Hurley’s friend)?

--Ethan Goodspeed as Clarie’s doctor in the LA hospital. A nice, friendly Ethan, in contrast to the Ethan who kidnapped Claire on the Island.

Funny:

--”As you can see, Hurley has assumed a leadership position, so that’s pretty great”, Miles says to Sayid.

--”You’re not a zombie, right?”, Hurley to the alive-again Sayid. “No, I am not a zombie.”

Questions:

1. Anybody wonder if the Island is what actually requires these people? Maybe this is all being done by the Island, the Island is the ultimate thing running all of this? Jacob and Man-In-Black were people that were brought to the Island thousands of years ago to play the parts they currently have. But, maybe they have to be replaced every so often. Maybe we’re seeing how the residents of the Island get replaced. It takes special Humans to fills these roles, both good and evil roles. (Remember that good and evil are often a matter of perspective.)

2. Does Jack eventually take the role of Dogen? Here’s my thoughts why: Dogen says he won’t speak English because it’s easier to keep himself separate from the people he has to give orders to. Kind of like Jack’s tattoo: he walks among them but he is not one of them. Both of these men keep distance between them and others, but still try to lead them. Ben and Locke could take over the roles of Jacob and Man-In-Black. Sayid as Richard. Hurley as....a polar bear.

3. Is the infection related to being brought on by the SMonster somehow? And is this somehow related to the Swan Hatch having the quarantine sign on the hatch, or why Desmond kept taking the vaccine?

4. In the Alternate Timeline, all of the Losties seem to recognize each other. Not a true “I know you”, but a “where do I know you from?” type familiarity. Somehow memories are shared to some degree? (Season 5, episode “This Place is Death” - remember the “Canton-Rainier” van? Canton-Rainier is an anagram of reincarnation.) Maybe the Alternate Timeline is them reincarnated?

5. In the 2007 Timeline, why is is night over by the four-toed statue where Fake Locke (FLocke)...or Locke-ness Monster...and Richard and Ben are, but it’s daytime at the Temple? Is the Island big enough to have night and day at the same time? Or was this a production oversight?

6. Who are the people in the Temple? We see Aldo again (and later killed), and we’ve seen Cindy (the stewardess), and we know that Ben sent a bunch of people to the Temple in Season 3. Why do some people get to go into the Temple? What is the criteria? (Must have to believe in Jacob, maybe?)

7. Is the war that Ben and Widmore talked about more a war between Jacob and Man-in-Black? Ben and Widmore just more puppets in this game...?

8. Dogen had the baseball on his desk. Seems like more than just a random placement. Wonder if it means anything? Maybe it’s from the Red Sox 2004 World Series.

9. Were Danielle Rousseau’s team also ‘claimed’, what she called ‘infected’, and caused her to eventually kill them?

There’s always so much more in LOST, but this is all I got for you from this episode. Share you thoughts.

Next week’s episode looks like a goodie called The Substitute.

For fun, someone posted the video below on YouTube. It’s the first 10 minutes of LOST done in a 24-style format. Check it out.

Until next week. --joe

Wednesday’s Word

Word: Slimpsy (Adj.)

Definition: Sleazy, of poor quality, cheap

Usage:

“She was braggin’ up that bargain coat she got at the lawn sale, but wan’t that slimpsy goods?”

“Ayuh. Think I saw that coat in Martha’s sale last year.”

(Definition from: “How To Talk Yankee”, by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that the naturally-occurring coldest place in the known universe is the Boomerang Nebula, located 5,000 light years from Earth? In 1993, it’s temperature was recorded by scientists as 1 K(elvin), which is -272.15 Celcius, or -457.87 F. Brrrrrr.

Picture by the Hubble Heritage Team, via apod.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071228.html

Double Dose of Monday Chuckle

The opening credits from LOST if it was a 1960s show. Funny stuff. Va va vooooom!

Monday Morning Chuckle

Lost, Season 6, Episode 1&2 "LA X"

Well. Losties, I’ve tried to figure out how to approach this final season. My write-ups grew too long, and quite honestly, took so long to put together.

So for the final season, I’m keeping it much simpler. Easier on you, easier on me. And let’s face it, you watched the episode anyway, so you know what’s going on...if anybody really knows, right? haha.

Final season, here we go:

1. The Alternate Reality: I’ve said before, I think that the Losties are in some sort of loop. (Note: The title of this episode is “LA X”. LAX is the abbreviation for Los Angeles airport, but the title separates the “X” from the “LA”. Since X is the Roman Numeral for 10, I interpret this as the 10th time they’ve experienced the LA loop. See how my mind works? heh heh heh) Whatever “loophole” Man in Black was looking for required many time-loops to get the scenarios just perfect so he could take over Locke’s body in order to kill Jacob. The Alternate Reality we’re seeing could be one of those loops. Remember: Juliet meant to tell Sawyer “it worked”, likely referring to their return. But who returned to 2004 timeline on the now-completed Oceanic 815 flight has yet to be determined. In this reality, Jack seems to know something is wrong, or something’s different; Rose seems to know this too; Kate’s still trying to get away from the marshall; and Charlie tells Jack that he was supposed to die in the airplane bathroom. Something’s amiss in the alternate timeline, eh?
2. Man in Black: He’s the SMonster. Or the SMonster is what manipulates the body of Man in Black, now Locke, fake Locke, now referred to by me as FLocke. FLocke is trying to get home, but where is home? The Temple? Somewhere else? FLocke was pretty brutal on describing Locke’s pre-Island life as pathetic.
3. Juliet: Detonated the bomb, but lived. Odd. And then died. We saw a shot of the Island underwater in the Alternate Reality. Did the Island sink due to the bomb detonation? (PS How cool was the camera shot coming from the plane through the clouds into the water and through the now-underwater Island?)
4. Sayid: Dies, but is returned to life in the Temple. Loved the whole dipping Sayid in the pool (the water wasn’t clear...a sign of Jacob’s death?), and being carried out of it with arms out like Jesus, and then ressurrected like Jesus after the water bath (baptism-like). Interesting to watch the Muslim character being brought back in such a Christian fashion.
5. Richard Alpert: Not liked by FLocke. FLocke suggests that Richard and he first met when Richard was in chains, a possible connection to the Black Rock. But why the anger by FLocke towards Richard? Unless Richard helped Jacob at the time overthrow the Man in Black, who may have been in charge at the time. This was the first time Richard seemed completely frazzled.
6. The Temple: Who are the people inside the Temple? It seems they’re devoted to Jacob and with his death are readying for something big. Like a war, let’s say. Like backgammon...one side light, one side dark.
7. Desmond: Why was Desmond on the plane in the Alternate Reality? He didn’t ride on Oceanic 815 the first time around. And then all of the sudden, he was nowhere to be seen on the plane. Wacky.
8. Jacob’s List: In an Ankh in a guitar case? That was a little over the top. Alghough it was funny when Peacenik asked Hurley if he looked in the case: “Maybe...?” haha But, it doesn’t appear this is the only list he ever put together, as you’ll remember that Jacob’s lists have been referenced by Ben and the Others.
9. Jack: Utterly defeated by his inability to get anything right. It’s rare that something he tries to fix actually gets fixed, and his being wrong about the bomb setting things right and then being unable to save Sayid have done this man in. Until Sayid comes back to life, and we see a little spark in Jack’s eyes.
10. Arzt! Dr Arzt is back...albeit briefly.
11. Hurley: “I’m the luckiest guy alive” he says to Sawyer on the plane. Okay, that’s a change from bad luck Hurley. But why has Jacob chosen Hurley to be the one he speaks through? Hurley really stepped up in this episode, especially after Jacob told him to get Sayid to the Temple.
12. Alternate Reality Locke: Still in the wheelchair (and he gets a free consultation from Dr Jack Shephard regarding his spinal injury...on the house) talks about his walkabout, but I’m not sure how he did that in the wheelchair. But he does say something I found interesting to Jack: when Jack was telling Locke how the body of his father disappeared from the flight, Locke says "They didn't lose your father. They just lost his body." Does this mean that Locke isn’t lost either, because his body is still back on the Island in the sand?
13. Sun and Jin were here too, as were Sawyer, Kate, Miles Straume and Frank Lapidus. Did I miss anybody?

Interesting:

--it’s a circle of ash that is used to keep the SMonster away (and somehow the sonic fence does it too)

--Frogurt was on the plane (wasn’t he killed by one of the 1954 flaming arrows in the flaming arrow attack?)

--The Island moved back to the 2007 timeline after Juliet ignited the bomb.

--"Who brings a book into a cave?" Hurley asks when they find the skeletal remains of Rousseau's former shipmates under the Temple. The book in question was written in the 1800's by Soren Kirkegaard, called "Crainte et Tremblement" ("Fear and Trembling"). It is a philosophical look at moral philosophy vs philosophy of religion.

Funny:

--Boone to Locke: “If this thing goes down, I’m sticking with you” after Locke tells story of walkabout in Australia in Alternate Timeline

--Hurley: “I’ve got a gun and I know how to use it!” while being unable to even get it cocked or get the safety off.

Questions:

1. So, how do Charles Widmore and Eloise Hawking fit into all of this?
2. What is so special about the group of people who live inside the Temple?
3. What is coming from FLocke/Man in Black, and is his home the Temple? Or is his home off Island?
4. What’s up with the newly resurrected Sayid? Is he now Jacob? At the end of the show, will it be Sayid and FLocke on the beach the same way Jacob and Man in Black were?
5. What’s up with all the missing luggage (ah, and dead bodies) from the Oceanic 815 flight in the Alternate Reality?
6. Where is Christian Shephard in all this? I think he’s still around somewhere.
7. Did the Island time-hop at the instant the bomb was about to blow? If so, the bomb/explosion would have been left in 1977 and would explain why nobody died as a result of the kaboom when they arrived in 2007’s timeline.
8. Did Richard revive young Ben the same way that Sayid was revived, in the Temple Pool of Eternal Life (or whatever they call it)?
9. What do the people in the Temple want to talk to Jack about?
10. Does the detonation of the bomb in 1954 affect more than just the Losties on the Island, or does this actually create changes throughout the world?
11. Is the mysterious healing power of the Island contained in the water?

I know there’s lots more, but this is it for now. See how easy it is for these things to run long? Whew!

I liked the two-hour premiere, but to be honest, I kind of liked the Alternate Reality parts a bit better than the Island parts. I really like the new story-telling technique being used in this premiere, with no flashbacks, but only focusing on the current timeline (2007) and the 2004 timeline with the flight landing safely in LA.

Something to think about: every day, we make choices. Based on that choice, our life moves in a certain direction. But, what if another reality existed that continues a timeline of the choice not taken? So, you have to choose from one of two things, and you choose thing one, and on your timeline goes based on that decision. But, what if you could see what happened if you had opted for the second choice? Or maybe you can’t see it, but it actually happens in an alternate timeline. Maybe in LOST, we’re seeing the other timeline, because......the Losties lives are in a loop! See how my loop theory keeps coming back? Loop. Loop it.

By the way, the Series Finale will be on Sunday night, May 23rd.

‘Til next week, in the words of Locke (and later Mr Eko): “I think I’m gonna need to watch that again.”