A blog on all things LOST. From theories to analysis to pure admiration, I'll try to get as LOST as humanly possible! It'll surely be intense, but no worries. This is a nosebleed-free zone.
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...
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!
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.
I'm not really a big Jimmy Kimmel fan, but I thoroughly enjoy his obsession for LOST. (He's on the same network, after all.) In particular I love his hilarious "secrets of LOST" segments. Here's a couple short videos from his show where he gets LOST cast members to reveal "the secrets of LOST." Funny stuff.
All right, the moment has arrived for me to size up the latest episodes in this amazing (yet quickly dwindling!) fifth season. Neither of these last two episodes were particularly GREAT, but they've set a lot of things in motion. I look forward to the payoff that's sure to come in these last several episodes of the season.
Let's delve into "Namaste." Firstly: the runway! It's something a lot of people probably don't remember, but back in season three when Sawyer and Kate were being held captive by the Others, they were forced to build this random runway on Mini Island. I tried to find a video of this, but failed. Please forgive me. And just trust me that this did indeed happen (I nearly forgot about it myself). Well, back then we wondered what in the world the Others needed a RUNWAY for. Two seasons later, we find out. That's why I absolutely love this show. You never know when something - big or small - will be answered. As Ajira #316 went down, Frank saw the runway and successfully landed the plane on it with minimal damage (well...save for his co-pilot who got skewered by a tree limb).
This doesn't really fit in anywhere, but I'll post this video anyway. Have a listen at what's being uttered across the plane's radio:
It's the numbers! Part of them, anyway. I'm not that sharp on my LOST lore, but according to the dude who posted this video, Rousseau switched out a message with "the numbers" playing for her French distress call back in 1989. Which would imply that Ajira #316 just crashed sometime prior to 1989. All this time I've assumed they crashed in "regular time" (aka 2007-2008). So when are they, then? Ultimately, the only thing we know for sure is that they're in some year AFTER 1977. And we know that thanks to the scene with Christian, Sun, and Frank looking at the old '77 Dharma picture with Jack, Kate, Hurley, and all the other new Dharma recruits.
Which brings us to the Christian Shepherd scene. I loved his overly dramatic entrance with the light turning on in the house and the creaky door slowly winding open with his shadowed figure just standing there. Normally I'd scoff at such a ridiculously dramatic scene, but for Christian, it works. I still have no idea how he became Jacob's second-in-command, but I always love it when he makes an appearance on the show.
The following clip from inside the darkened Dharma house is something people have been looking at over and over again. Have a look yourself:
I definitely didn't see this the first time around. So, who's the woman behind Sun? Is it a real person or was it a filming mistake? Many people think it's Claire. It would make sense, considering we've not seen her since last season (and she was with her also-dead daddy, Christian, at the time). But by the somewhat reddish tint of the woman's hair though, I'm gonna go with Charlotte on this one. After all, she's dead too. And once you die on LOST island, you never go away! I'd love to watch a poker night at Christian's house (it's next-door to Jacob's cabin) with himself, Charlie, Claire, Boone, that random Frogurt guy who had a flaming arrow pierce his chest earlier this season, and all the rest of the deceased gang.
To wrap up "Namaste," I've gotta mention one of my favorite LOST moments ever (a growing list of approximately 158 items):
There's so much to dissect in this single minute of excellence. Just watch the creeping smile on Jack's face as he listens to Dr. Chang speak - THE ONE AND ONLY DR. CHANG FROM ALL THOSE DHARMA VIDEOS! Could you imagine watching all those sepia-toned hatch videos of this Asian scientist dude from 30 years ago and now, suddenly, you're sitting face-to-face with him? And then for Jack to be assigned a job as "workman" (aka UNQUALIFIED IDIOT) was just icing on the cake. Absolutely loved this scene.
I basically summed up "He's Our You" in the last post, so there's not a whole lot to really elaborate on here. I'd just like to reemphasize, though, that BEN IS NOT DEAD. He just can't be. I'm hoping for the resurrection theory to pull through, but I'm kinda leaning more toward the fact that Benny is only injured from the shot. Well, seriously injured. And the reason I lean toward this scenario is because it makes me giddy to think of a dying Benny being wheeled into a room with Jack watching and cleaning a floor to the side (or doing whatever it is a "workman" does). Maybe Sayid's bullet hit Benny's spinal cord or something, which would make it even more delectable if Jack somehow had this moral dilemma of whether or not to reveal his true identity as a spinal surgeon and save Benny's life (...again). The possibilities!
As for Sayid, this episode only reaffirmed my shot-in-the-dark prediction from a while back that he'd be the "major" character to die this season. The whole episode focused so heavily on "purpose," and ultimately, I think Sayid has finished serving his with that gunshot to Benny's chest. I think Benny makes a miraculous recovery, makes people (and himself) think he's special, and he becomes the mighty man he becomes. And meanwhile, Sayid dies having accomplished everything the island had for him and passes on...where he'll be at Christian's next poker night.
I know this is kinda random, but I'm still looking forward to the scene when Ben (not Little Ben, but "Big Ben"...haha, you see what I did there?) wakes up from his cot and reunites with an arisen Locke. They can't hold this off forever!
To be honest, this wasn't my most favorite of episodes. And I guess that correlates with the fact that I've not been a big Sayid fan over the past season-and-a-half. When I made my "death predictions" several posts back I included Sayid simply because I don't know why he's in the show anymore. I don't know what his "purpose" is, if you will. Well, things certainly got interesting toward the end of this here episode, didn't they?!
Some of my "quick hitz" before I delve deeper this weekend:
* I really loved the opening scene in Iraq with Little Sayid and the chicken. You don't see much of these old-fashioned flashbacks anymore thanks to all the flash-forwards and time-jumping of the past couple seasons. So major kudos to this simple scene! RIP chicken.
* I loved the Dharma outcast dude living in the middle of the jungle with his hippie music and southern drawl. I was hoping it'd be somebody we already knew because of the dramatic reveal, but I dug his odd quirkiness. The dynamic of watching Sawyer react to what was going on to his old Arabic friend was pretty intense. And the "he's our you" line was pretty poetic too. Nice, LaFleur.
* I absolutely loved the scene with Little Ben and his dad. Makes you feel kinda sorry for the little bug-eyed booger, huh? Random sidenote: they found the PERFECT little kid to play young Ben. Seriously, those eyes...
* "Ann Arbor"...during the Dharma meeting where they voted to kill Sayid, Radzinski mentioned something about Ann Arbor...which I do believe is Dharma Headquarters. Hmm...
* Where was Dr. Chang during that meeting? You know, the Asian dude in all those Dharma videos who made a great (GREAT) appearance last week with Jack? Does he not matter in the to-kill-or-not-to-kill Dharma votes? And who's really in charge here? Horace? Dr. Chang? Ann Arbor?
* Obviously the highlight moment was the final scene where Sayid shoots an innocent Benjamin Linus. Shocking indeed! The scene is naturally made to make us think that Sayid just drastically changed history with one fell-swoop...but hoooooold your horses there. I don't think it really works like that. The writers of this beloved show of ours have frequently said that none of this is "Purgatory" or "a dream" because it would lessen the stakes of everything we've experienced. Basically, if it's all not real, then what would be the point of the journey? Similarly, if Ben died (as in, permanently) then none of what we've seen of him ever even happened. And that's just stupid. So, as of now my primary theory is that Ben gets resurrected a-la Locke in the future. It would explain how he had that knowing look with Jack in the future that Locke wasn't really dead. That's my number one, far-out theory. My second theory...quite simply, is that Ben isn't dead. Period. Just because he was shot doesn't mean he died then-and-there. So, perhaps with the aid of a doctor (Jack?) and a little island healing, young Bengie will be back on his feet in no-time.
Firstly, so sorry that I haven't recapped the last episode, "Namaste." School be crazy! Hopefully I'll touch on it briefly whilst recapping this next episode tomorrow night, "He's Our You." There were definitely plenty-o-moments to talk about!
Let's sidetrack for a moment though. Lately a bit of a LOST controversy has been brewing. Ever since Daniel saw Little Charlotte prancing about in 1974 DharmaVille a couple episodes ago, the following clip from the second episode of season four has been brought to the forefront. Take a watch:
Did you catch it? Near the beginning of the video, at the :11 mark, Ben shouts out that Charlotte Staples Lewis (C.S. Lewis...haha, I love it) was born in 1979.
1979.
As in, five years after 1974 where Faraday, "LaFleur," and the others were transported. Given the fact that Little Charlotte looked to be about three years old in 1974, well, it can be assumed she was born around 1971.
1971.
So...huh? What's going on? I honestly have no idea. Apparently there's more to the controversy though than these conflicting birthdates. Like the actress playing C.S. Lewis was accused of changing her character's age in the script or something? I don't know; weird. You can read it all here.
But let's get past any potential feud between the actress portraying Charlotte and the LOST writers. And let's focus on this eight-year difference. How in the world to rectify it? You could argue that after Charlotte's mom pulled her off the island, she gave her a new birthday and a new identity. We'd already learned from Charlotte herself that her mom tried to make Charlotte believe that the island was just all a dream. So, that could work I guess. But...an eight-year difference? I could understand one, MAYBE two years, but EIGHT YEARS? There's no way a ten-year-old kid could pretend to be living life as a two-year-old. Unless you claimed the kid had some kind of "JACK" disorder (an old Robin Williams movie...anyone remember it?). You could argue that Ben's a liar and he could've just lied about Charlotte's age during that scene...but why? And wouldn't Charlotte, who was kinda standing right there, have said something like, "Uh...dude, I don't know who you are with those big creepy bug-eyes of yours, but you're a little off with my birthday."
Is this a big, pressing issue for the show? Not really. But surely the writers have got to be thinking about this, about how to fix it. Maybe it was supposed to be like this all along and they do have a way out? I guess it shouldn't be that hard to explain, since time travel is now a part of the show, right? Anyway, I refuse to believe this show will ever be flawed in some way!
I'm not counting the whole Nikki and Paolo incident. They never existed.
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania before moving to Georgia in 1999. Several years ago I graduated as valedictorian of the Athens Christian School class of 2005. After that, I fled the coop and attended Brewton-Parker College down in the bubbling metropolis of Mt Vernon, GA. Had a great first year of college there, but then decided that it was best to make a transfer to the University of Georgia. I'm now a senior in my LAST semester of college, majoring in English and minoring in Computer Science. After I graduate, I plan on taking (at least) a year off before I even think about pursuing graduate school. In the meantime, I'll definitely catch up on some reading and get some writing done as well! 2009 twill be a fun, fun year...
