Sizing up "The Variable"

HOLY FRIJOLE.

Yeah, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around a mother shooting her adult son before he's been born - and that her older self sent him back to fulfill this wonderful "destiny." Wow. Just wow. Bravo LOST writers, because even though Faraday was by far the most interesting "Freightie," that was one of the greatest deaths LOST has ever seen. Nothing could probably top Chahlie's death in season 3, but this comes very close for sure.

Things are definitely coming to a head, aren't they? Love it. With only one episode left until the finale (which is amazingly entitled, "The Incident"), where will this season end up? Will Jack, Kate, and the others (well, not "The Others"...you know what I mean) effectively change time and erase the so-called "misery" of the past three years? Will Ben, Locke, and Sun ever get out of 2007 and/or reunite with everyone else? What exactly IS this "incident" that Dr. Chang has preached about in all those Dharma videos? Why does he use so many alias names in those videos? And how did he lose his left arm? Here's a refresher:



I'm hoping that most or all of these questions will be resolved very shortly!

Another huge part of the episode: Widmore is Faraday's dad! I knew it. Loved that scene between Ms. Hawking (<3) and Charles. They obviously have a lengthy history between them going back to the island. I hope we get to see more of that in the next (...final...*tear*) season. A couple episodes ago when Widmore was exiled from this island, we learned from Ben that Charles had fathered a child with a non-Other. At the time we weren't sure if this was Daniel or Penny. But since he and Other "Ellie" obviously hooked up at some point, that would naturally imply that Penny is this "unclean" child. So...who's Penny's mom then? Is it even important to the story? Who knows. Have we even met any other Dharma women aside from Amy? I don't think so...

All in all, this was definitely a huge improvement from last time's slower-paced Miles-centric episode. A great 100th episode! Hard to believe we only have 20ish left before that final fade to a black screen with those four white letters...

LOST.

Quick Hi[tz]: "Dead is Dead" & "Some Like it Hoth"

Long time no blog! Alas, school's gotten a tight hold of me again. The good news is that I've only got three more weeks of it to endure! Woo!

So, with regard to the past two episodes, I'm just gonna jump around wherever my heart pleases...

"Dead is Dead" was a really great episode. If not for the "Jeremy Bentham" episode earlier in the season, I'd have decreed it the best of the season thus far. Overall I think it's easily a top-10 episode. So many delectable things: Ben with a horrible haircut as a youth, his compassion for little Alex (and also little Charlie), the exile of Widmore, the dock scene where Desmond somehow survives a bullet to the chest, all culminated by that epicK smoke monster scene at the end of the episode. Pretty cool stuff, huh? Obviously there are huge similarities (and constrasts) of that scene with the Eko-death scene from season 3. In that episode, Mr. Eko was not (NOT) sorry for killing a man as a child because it saved his brother's life. The smoke monster subsequently came after him and slammed him dead into the earth. Re-live this great moment now!



After Mr. Eko "non-confesses," I love how Yemi gravely says, "You speak to me as if I were your brother!" This followed by Smokey's entrance. Freaky stuff!

So with Mr. Eko, the smoke monster passed a rather harsh, rather lethal judgment. I had a feeling we'd get the opposite scenario with Ben. Sure enough, Ben repented for his sin (letting Alex die / killing her) and he was forgiven. Allowed to live. And then, just like that, Smokey disappeared into those mysterious little holes.

...and then Locke shows up. Hmm...he disappeared before Smokey arrived and returned after Smokey left...John Locke = Smokey, anyone?

As for the past episode, it wasn't as interesting, but it had its moments. It was actually one of the funnier episodes I've ever seen, the more I think about it. The scene with Hurley, Dr. Chang, and Miles in the Dharma bus has to be in the top-5 funniest scenes of all-time. Hurley prodding and trying to set up Dr. Chang with his long lost son? Hilarious! The fact that Hurley was writing "The Empire Strikes Back" also made me laugh out loud. Now we know how George Lucas got his inspiration.

"What lies in the shadow of the statue?" I love how this little line has suddenly carried on this big, huge, mysterious presence. What DOES lie in the shadow of the statue? Clearly the question is being used as a test for other people, to determine if they're on the "right side" of this battle. If you know the answer to the question, you're good. If you don't...well, then you get whapped with the butt of a gun a la Captain Frank. This password-question reminds me of Dharma Kelvin's, "What did one snowman say to the other?" when Desmond arrived on the island / at the hatch for the first time. ("It smells like carrots" is the correct answer.) I look forward to seeing who exactly is on which "side" and what exactly this "battle" is with regard to this new riddle.

The closing scene with Miles looking at his father and Baby Him was pretty moving. I wonder if this causes Miles to want to be around his father more...and perhaps that ultimately leads to his father finding out that THIS Miles is the same as his BABY Miles. And perhaps THAT is why Dr. Chang ultimately splits with his wife and Baby Miles. That's pretty mind-boggling to think you caused your parents' break-up - but not as your innocent baby-self, but rather as your intrusive adult-self from the future.

We've got a two-week break before LOST's epicK 100th episode starring the long-lost Daniel Faraday. Greatly looking forward to it!

Quick Hi[tz]: "Whatever Happened, Happened"

Well, after a couple of the more slowly paced episodes in LOST history, tonight's episode dived right back into the mystery of this show and propelled us forward again. And a ton of stuff actually got revealed! Right off the top of my head...

1) Ben didn't die. Told ya! Turns out BOTH of my theories may have actually been right...sorta. For one, Sayid's bullet didn't kill Ben; I had a feeling. But I also had a feeling that if Jack didn't save him that something miraculous must happen to him. If not resurrection, then...something. Sure enough, we see Richard Alpert taking Little Ben into the temple as the episode comes to a close. The only thing we really know about the temple is that our good friend Smokey the Smoke Monster lives there, so it's anyone's guess as to what happens to Ben there and causes him to "lose his innocence." So foreboding!

2) When Sawyer whispered into Kate's ear in the season four finale, he told her to check up on his long lost daughter Clementine. This had long been speculated, so it wasn't that big of a shock for me. Still, it was nice to FINALLY see this part of Kate's story unfold. I like Cassidy too, so it was great to see her on the show again.

3)We got a little intentional playfulness/serious explanation when it comes to this whole timeline business with the Miles/Hurley exchanges. Basically they just reinforced what I'd already figured: everyone in Dharmaville minus the time travelers are operating on their normal timeline (the PAST) and therefore their lives CANNOT be altered. But all the time travelers are currently in their own PRESENT, so therefore anything can happen to them. Well, unless their lives interfere with the Dharma people in which case they're predestined to do whatever it is they're supposed to do to/with them (eg Juliet delivering Amy's baby, Evil Other Ethan).

4) Aaron was returned to his rightful owner. Like a lost dog. Naturally the whole episode had us thinking Kate would leave him with Cassidy and Clementine, but then at the end she gives him up to his long lost grandmother. That's gotta be a little awkward for a small three-year-old boy, right? Suddenly being abandoned by your mom for this old Australian woman? Question: will Aaron now grow up with an American accent or an Australian one? The plot thickens.

5) And finally, we know why Kate came back to the island. It wasn't (necessarily...) to see Sawyer again, but it was to find Claire. If I had to guess, I'd say Claire's hanging out somewhere with Charlie in the great mystical land of the Undead. So uh, good luck with that Kate!

Next week's episode looks like a GREAT one. Can't wait to uncover a little bit more of the mystery of Benjamin Linus.