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.”