Lostpedia Blog

The Lost Rewatch: 1x18 "Numbers"

2009-07-03T21:52:00.002-07:00

On we go to episode 1x18, "Numbers," the first Hurley-centric outing we've had. When Hurley sees the Numbers on Rousseau's maps and notes, he remembers them from his past, prompting him to head into the jungle after the French woman. Elsewhere, Locke asks for Claire's help in building something. Flashbacks in this episode feature Hurley's quest for the source of the cursed "Numbers" after winning the lottery with the numbers in question.

Hurley, in his misunderstanding of Jin, wonders if Jin is referring to making snowballs. Hurley does seem to love the snow, as referenced from his painting of an igloo during his time in the mental institute. And even though thinking about snowballs on a tropical island may seem pointless, it's ironic that we later find out about the frozen donkey wheel chamber.

Michael is taking extra care to make sure that his raft isn't destroyed, but he'll later get on a much bigger boat with the intention of destroying it, and will eventually die when the boat explodes (though not by his doing).

Then we get the first glimpse of Carmen Reyes -- Hurley's mother -- and one of my favorite characters on the show. Her overprotectiveness of her son is alternatively funny or endearing. She's a wonderful character, and will appear in at least one episode each season.

As I stated in my recap for "Outlaws," the lottery woman, Mary Jo, was seen romancing Sawyer and is played by Brittany Perrineau, the real-life wife of Harold Perrineau. The lottery official conversing with Mary Jo is voiced by Carlton Cuse.

And there are the numbers, popping up all together for the first time on the show. They're a tantalizing mystery, part of the Valenzetti equation, and have popped up all over the show, as easter eggs, in and on the hatch, in plane numbers, and many other places. However, I fear that the only real relevance that the numbers have will lie with their scientific meaning for DHARMA and the Swan. The way they pop up to Hurley as almost a "curse" will probably be one of the mysteries of the show that's never explained, and really, I'm okay with that. However, one recent event with the numbers remains unanswered. In "This Place is Death," there is a voice repeating these numbers over and over again over the radio that Rousseau's team is listening to. The voice sounds distinctly like Hurley's. I feel certain that this is the transmission that Sam Toomey and Leonard heard while at the listening post (as mentioned later in the episode), especially since both the crash of the Besixdouze and Sam's hearing of the numbers both happened around 1988. Since Hurley got the numbers from Leonard, in a way this would form a predestination paradox, as Hurley would technically be responsible for everything that happened, if it is indeed him on the radio.

Leonard tells Hurley that he's "opened the box." While Hurley obviously hasn't opened a literal box, metaphorical boxes have popped up several times on the show, most notably with Ben's "magic box" which he described to Locke. The box Lenny is referring to is probably something like Pandora's Box, an object from Greek mythology given from Zeus to the woman Pandora, with the instructions not to open it. However, out of curiosity, Pandora opened it regardless. When she did, all of the evils, ills, diseases, and burdensome labor that mankind had not known previously, escaped from the jar, but it is said, that at the very bottom of her box, there lay hope.

Martha Toomey has a prothsthetic limb, a theme that's already been explored with the character of Ray Mullen, and will later be explored with Pierre Chang.

Claire says that John should have a show where he fixes houses for people. Locke actually did used to work as a repairman, owning his own home inspection company, "Welcome Home." He inspected Nadia's house while working as an inspector.

Danielle mentions that the radio tower is near the Black Rock, but from the events of "Through the Looking Glass," this is obviously not true. She also mentions that her team went up to the radio tower before the sickness, which is most likely not true, since the team seemed to be affected by the sickness after climbing under the Temple wall to rescue Montand.

Locke builds Claire a cradle, which she will use to keep Aaron until she leaves the beach camp in "Through the Looking Glass." The overturned cradle is later found by Sun in "The Incident."

The numbers are etched onto the side of the hatch at the end of this episode, though when we see them being placed on the hatch in "Some Like It Hoth," they are hammered into the metal instead, producing a completely different look.

And that's it for the episode. Look for the blog for the next episode, "Deus Ex Machina," soon. You can discuss this episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x17 "...In Translation"

2009-06-30T21:43:00.004-07:00

Last week's blog recieved quite a few poor reviews. It was a busy week for me last week, and I had very little time to write the recaps, but I suppose that since I made the commitment, I should put the rewatch first and foremost in my list of priorities. So without further apologies and excuses, I present to you the rewatch recap for episode 1x17, "...In Translation." An arsonist torches Michael's raft, and when Michael sees that Jin has burnt hands, the conflict between them escalates. Meanwhile, Boone begins to interfere in the growing relationship between Shannon and Sayid. Flashbacks in this episode are of Jin's point-of-view of the same events focused on in "House of the Rising Sun".

Mr. Paik convinces Jin to work for him. This event occurred because Jin's mother, a former prostitute, bribed Sun into giving her $100,000, which Sun took from her father. Her father, in turn, would make Jin pay back the debt by working for him. In this same conversation, Jin claims that his father is dead, though in reality his father is a fisherman, as we find out later in the episode. Jin has convinced Sun that his father is dead as well, though she actually knows that his father is alive, having visited him during the events of "D.O.C."

Jin is suspicious of an affair between Michael and Sun. He seems to sense that Sun has been unfaithful to him (as she was with Jae Lee), but she assures him that she has no relationship with Michael, even though they would have kissed had Vincent not interrupted (this is from the mobisode "Buried Secrets"). Jin goes and lets off steam at the golf course, a place where, nine days later, he will have a complete temper-tantrum about his lonliness on the Island in front of Michael and Hurley after he misses a putt. This can be seen in another mobisode, "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course."

Michael mentions the Flat Iron Building in New York. While this isn't really relevant to Lost, many of you have probably seen this building before, even if you've never been to New York: it's the location of the Daily Bugle offices in the Spider-Man film series, a notable comic-book adaptation which has featured Daniel Dae Kim

Kate asks Sun why she's letting Jin treat her so badly, and Sun replies that it's because she loves Jin. I immediately think forward to Kate's crime, when she killed her father because he was abusive to his wife (and her mother), Diane. However, once her mother found out what she did, she turned Kate in to the authorities. Why? Because she loved Wayne. Not an exact correlation, but the situations are very, very similar.

Here's an oldie but a goodie - when Jin goes to visit Byung Han, his daughter is watching the news on TV. And guess which lucky lottery winner is the star of the show?

Locke says that "everyone gets a new life on this Island." After Ajira 316 crashes, he'll be getting an even newer life -- but not as himself.

The irony in the flashbacks is blatant when compared to the events on the Island -- in flashbacks, Jin is trying to hide a secret from Sun, but on the Island, he is angry at Sun for keeping secrets from him. You can also find parallels between both the flashback Jin and the on-Island Sun's wishes to start over.

Locke says that none of the survivors would hinder an attempt to leave the Island, even though he had earlier sabotaged Sayid's transceiver, and would later blow up the Flame and the submarine in order to do just that. In another twist of irony, he'll end up dying off-Island.

Locke mentions that his dad is not cool to Walt, the full extent of which we won't realize until "The Brig," although gradually we'll find out more and more about his destructive lifestyle as a con man, the ramifications of which were shown at the beginning of the last episode, "Outlaws." Locke's next flashback, in which we'll learn more about his father, will pop up later this week, as episode 1x19, "Deus Ex Machina."

The episode ends with Hurley's CD player dying, a lead-in to the next episode's Hurley flashback, "Numbers."

And that's it for the episode. Look for the blog for the next episode, "Numbers," soon. You can discuss this episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

Season 6 will have 18 hours

2009-06-30T15:59:00.002-07:00

It's been confirmed: the sixth and final season of Lost will have one more hour than the fifth season did. However, like the fifth season, there will be sixteen episodes, meaning that the premiere of the sixth season will be two hours long, making it the only two hour non-finale episode of the series.

This information was released by actor Matthew Fox, and later confirmed by representatives at ABC. Much thanks to DarkUfo for announcing this.

As I'm sure all of you are, I'm glad that we have one more hour to sort out the many intricate mysteries still remaining on Lost, as well as to further develop and resolve the fates of the many characters the show revolves around.

What would you like to see answered in this extra hour?

The Lost Rewatch: 1x13 - 1x16

2009-06-27T11:01:00.004-07:00

Because this week's episodes were so lacking in usable content, I felt it was only right to just use one blog for all four episodes, to be economical with both time and space. This blog will be a short one, even despite four episodes being covered, but things will definitely start to work more and more from season two onwards. So let's get started with this week's episodes!

1x13 "Hearts and Minds"

Locke makes Boone some "wacky paste" which makes him hallucinate. Locke has imbibed similar wacky paste himself, while in the sweat lodge in "Further Instructions." During his hallucination, he also saw Boone.

1x14 "Special"

Michael is once again looking for "his boy." This is just another entry in the ever-continuing pattern of Michael losing his son.
Locke mentions "the mind's eye." That seems very prevalent to the recurring theme of eyes on the show. Walt's visualization of stabbing the tree with his knife actually works. As someone commented on one of my previous rewatch blogs, perhaps Walt's imagination affects the reality around him.
Michael tells Walt that they are "taking control of their destiny." Destiny also becomes a recurring motif in Lost, especially when you look at the tagline for Ajira Airways (and also the tagline for season five as a whole): "Destiny calls."
Locke and Boone find Claire coming out of the jungle at night, similarly to how Michael will later be found after he returns from being with the Others at the end of season two.

1x15 "Homecoming"

After Claire's return, Jack says that he doesn't know if Claire's memory of her time with Ethan will ever return. It will, however, in the season two episode "Maternity Leave," which will air exactly one season away from this episode.
About the guns, Jack says "I hand them out, someone hears something out in the jungle and gets scared, the chances of us shooting each other are much higher than of us shooting him." This will prove to be true with Ana Lucia, who will shoot Shannon in the jungle when mistaking her for an Other.
Charlie shoots and kills Ethan, ending quite a full life, especially since he was the only baby we've seen to be delivered on the Island (besides Aaron). Check out the Ethan article to read up on all that Ethan's done on (and off) the Island.

1x16 "Outlaws"

We witness the murder of Mary Ford and Mr. Ford's suicide, which were both caused by the father of John Locke, Anthony Cooper (who at the time was using the alias Tom Sawyer). Their collective funeral will later be attended by Jacob.
It's interesting to note that the child who played Sawyer in this episode, Gordon Hardie, did not portray Sawyer in the flashback from "The Incident," presumably because Hardie had aged considerably. Instead, the young Sawyer at the funeral was portrayed by Keegan Boos.
Sawyer romances Mary Jo, who we'll later see call out the winning lottery numbers for Hurley. Mary Jo is played by Brittany Perrineau, wife of Harold Perrineau, who plays Michael.
Kate drinks when Sawyer says that he's never been married, referencing her marriage to policeman Kevin Callis, which ended abruptly when she left him to continue running.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x12 "Whatever the Case May Be"

2009-06-22T07:59:00.005-07:00

I know I've bled over a little bit into week four, but we're virtually right back on track. Here are my thoughts on episode twelve of the series and season one, entitled "Whatever the Case May Be." In the episode, when Kate and Sawyer find a case on a dead passenger, Kate begins to act erratically, using whatever means necessary to get it away from Sawyer. At the beach, Sayid and Shannon begin to get close. Flashbacks in this episode center around Kate's involvement in a bank robbery in New Mexico.

Sawyer and Kate find a waterfall on the Island. This is the same waterfall that Paulo found the diamonds in, which he hid from Nikki, and also the waterfall that Kate and Hurley landed in after being transported off Ajira Flight 316.

Kate finds the Halliburton suitcase under the seats of some dead passengers. This case will be the source of so much conflict on the Island, due to the fact that it contains guns and a toy airplane.

We start to see a blossoming relationship between Sayid and Shannon, which has its false starts but leads to both of them having trust in the the other.

Kate pulls out a topy airplane from the Halliburton Case. It belonged to her childhood friend Tom Brennan. He was seen playing with it outside a general store before Kate entered and attempted to steal a lunchbox, and they eventually buried it in a time capsule, for them to open up years later, shortly before Tom was killed by the police. So Kate is telling the truth when she says that the airplane belonged to both the man she loved and the man she killed, though she was only indirectly responsible for Brennan's death.

And that's it for the episode. I know that it's a really short blog, but the episode has no real weight to the following story (save for the guns). The next episode, "Hearts and Minds," has a bit more usable content, so expect a longer blog for it. You can discuss the episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x11 "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"

2009-06-21T08:24:00.003-07:00

This long-titled episode is the eleventh of the series and season one, and definitely the first really action-packed episode since the Pilot. In the episode, with the revelation that Ethan was never on the plane, the survivors rush to find the missing Claire and Charlie, whom they realize have been taken. Leading the way is Jack, who feels guilty after never believing Claire's claims that she was in danger. Flashbacks in this episode concentrate on Jack's decision to stand up to his father and fight for what is right. So let's get started!

The survivors realize that Claire and Charlie have been "taken" by Ethan. However, what they don't know yet is that the Others only want Claire, and that Charlie will just be an expendable pawn. It's unknown why the generally friendly (according to flashbacks) Ethan has gone so bad, but my guess is that it's some psychological need to prove himself to Ben, who coldly left Ethan out of the kidnapping of Alex all those years ago.

Boone volunteers to go with Locke. This is the beginning of a master-apprentice relationship that will eventually end with Boone's death.

Sawyer asks "Who the hell is Ethan?" showing that he neither knows nor cares for many of the other survivors. He'll repeat this line when referring to Nikki and Paulo weeks later.

Boone tells Locke the etymology of redshirts, a term that will be used by fandom to describe expendables like Frogurt, Doug, and Arzt for years to come.

Walt shows his abilities while playing a game of backgammon with Hurley. His abilities certainly seem unconsciously telekinetic, more emotional than deliberate.

Walt tells Hurley that Hurley owes him $20,000, and Hurley tells Walt he'll get it. This statement seemed silly the first time around, but seven episodes later, when we discovered that Hurley was the lotto winner, it made perfect sense.

In flashbacks, Jack rats out his father's alcoholism to the hospital board, causing his father to lose his license. Christian will then travel to Australia, where he'll meet Sawyer, and tell Sawyer that he believes Jack did the right thing.

Ethan hangs Charlie, and Jack resuscitates him, although barely. This is an instance (in a very long line of instances) that Charlie has brushed with death, leading fate to course-correct until Charlie actually does die.

And then there's that wonderful moment that is perhaps the best moment of the first season: Locke and Boone find the hatch. It's submerged in the ground, covered by canopy and foliage. It's the first hint we've gotten of the DHARMA Initiative, even though DHARMA has long abandoned it, their pet project, after the massive purge. Desmond is underneath them in the hatch, carrying out the same routine that he has been for the past three years. Though it won't even be opened until the end of this season, this hatch is almost literally the tip of a completely new iceberg that will be the main focus of the rest of the show. Too bad Locke and Boone don't realize that there's a door nearby.

And that's it for episode 1x11, "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues." You can discuss the episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x10 "Raised By Another"

2009-06-20T09:44:00.003-07:00

Since the new format has taken off really well, I'll be continuing with this format for the rest of the rewatch. Today for the rewatch, we'll be taking a look at the tenth episode of the series and the season, "Raised By Another," the first Claire centric episode. Though it's not as relevant to the show now as "Solitary" was, there's still plenty to discuss. So let's get started, shall we?

The episode opens up with Claire's dream, which includes Locke with black and white eyes. It's quite an interesting visual, though some people have taken it to mean a little more than I think it does, indicating that it hints that Locke will be possessed by Jacob's nemesis, something I think isn't really true. What do you think?

Claire's boyfriend in her flashbacks, Thomas, is played by Keir O'Donnell. I interviewed Keir last year, and you can read that interview here.

Claire says that her mom would disown her for being pregnant. However, we know that at that point, Carole Littleton was catatonic in the hospital after suffering a severe car crash with Claire at the wheel. Whether or not this is a continuity error is debatable; it could always be argue that Claire's way of coping with grief is pretending that her mother is still conscious and part of her life.

Thomas mentions his paintings, which are similar to the mural in the hatch. That's because they're both done by Jack Bender, a director on Lost.

Then we've got Richard Malkin, the fortune teller who we'll later see as part of Eko's flashback in the episode "?." He was also slated to appear in "The Brig" as a character held captive with Anthony Cooper, but that idea was scrapped in the early writing process.

Thomas tells Claire that she has "Daddy abandonment crap," a reference Christian Shephard's abandonment of her, as we saw in "Par Avion." However, Claire is no longer abandoned by her daddy, as we last saw her in Jacob's cabin with Christian himself (or someone who appeared to be Christian).

Ethan tells Hurley his last name is Rom. How he came to get the surname Rom is completely unknown, as it most likely should be Goodspeed. Either Amy's last name is Rom, or he's using that as a surname just to screw with the survivors, because "Ethan Rom" is an anagram for "Other man."

Why does Malkin want Claire to get on the plane? Is he paid off by Widmore, or by someone who knows she's going to the Island? Did Jacob tell him to do it, since Jacob seems so interested in getting people to the Island?

And that's it for episode 1x10, "Raised By Another." You can discuss the episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

LP Caption Contest #5

2009-06-18T22:15:00.002-07:00

This time, we have an image of Bram and Ilana from "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2." This screencap was taken when Bram realizes that Frank's been eavesdropping on the conversation between him and Ilana.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x09 "Solitary"

2009-06-18T16:05:00.002-07:00

The new format went over incredibly well, according to the first few comments, so I'm going ahead and finally getting started on this week's batch of episodes, beginning with the ever-juicy "Solitary," an episode which is just so much better now that we've seen "This Place Is Death." The episode concerns Sayid going into the jungle and meeting Rousseau, while flashbacks tell of Sayid's time in the Republican Guard and his being forced to torture Nadia, with whom he has fallen in love. Well, let's get started.

Sayid finds a cable on the ground leading from the ocean to the jungle. What the cable's purpose is (or where it leads) isn't revealed at this point, but we later find out that it runs from the Looking Glass station underwater to an unknown point on the Island, and serves as an anchor for the station. However, Mikhail has described cables from the Flame to other DHARMA stations, so the cable may serve as a communications wire as well.

Sayid is captured by one of Danielle Rousseau's many traps. Other traps include a spiky ball that swings like a pendulum, a crossbow rigged to a string, and giant nets that have caught Jack, Kate, and Ben.

Danielle asks Sayid where Alex is. Alex is with the Others, and considers Benjamin Linus her father. She'll later be killed by Martin Keamy at the Barracks.

We meet Ethan for the first time in this episode. It's rather fitting, introducing Danielle and Ethan in the same episode, because we'll later find out that Ethan aided Ben in the kidnapping of Danielle's daughter, Alex.

Sayid fixes Rousseau's msuic box. The music box was broken by Ben during the kidnapping of Alex, as he knocked it over, also alerting her to his presence.

There are several disrepancies between Danielle's story and what really happened. She claims that the rest of her team helped her dig out the temporary shelter, but we saw before that they were still living on the beach when she killed Robert, Brennan, and Lacombe, and was still on the beach as late as when Alex was kidnapped. She also mentions that they were "coming from the Black Rock," which they were not doing at all. They were trekking through the jungle after leaving the beach.

Rousseau says that the Others were the carriers. This is the first mention of "the Others" on the show, and she's referring to Ben, whom she believed was a carrier when he kidnapped Alex. However, immediately after that, she claims to have seen no Others on the Island, which is not true due to the event I just referenced. She later claims that there's "no such thing as monsters," even though she clearly saw ole Smokey rip off Montand's arm.

In flashbacks, Sayid helps Nadia escape the Rublican Guard. He'll spend the next years of his life trying to find her, eventually succeeding after his escape from the Island. Shortly afterward, she will be killed by Ishmael Bakir, leading Sayid to begin working for Ben. Why was Nadia killed? Jacob was there when she died as well, and he apparently had something to do with it, keeping Sayid out of harm's way while leaving Nadia to walk out into the street. Which begs the question: who really killed Nadia?

Sayid tries to shoot Danielle, but discovers that the firing pin of her rifle has been removed. Danielle says that Robert made the same mistake when she killed him. This part of her story is true -- she shot him in the head after he tried to shoot her with a pinless rifle.

Danielle mentions the sickness. Is the sickness caused by the monster? Most likely. Everyone who went into the hole under the Temple wall was "infected," and apparently all wished to kill Rousseau. If the monster is indeed Jacob's nemesis like I believe he is, then this simply takes his anti-human agenda to the next level. "It all ends the same way," he claims.

Sayid hears the whispers for the first time while walking in the jungle. The whispers are one of the oldest mysteries that we've never really gotten an answer to, and we haven't even gotten the slightest clue as to what they are, really. I really hope that they're covered in the sixth season, because they're so intriguing.

And that's it for episode 1x09, "Solitary." You can discuss the episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x08 "Confidence Man"

2009-06-18T14:56:00.004-07:00

I've gotten my share of criticism over the past few days regarding these recaps, which people say are starting to be more and more like just synopses. And while I can agree with that, I would just like everyone to understand that not every episode has content that can be drawn to plot a conjecture for the sixth season. Some episodes are only important in their context, and will hold no further meaning. I've been attempting to link to future episodes with these rewatch posts, but sometimes it's a little hard. So bear with me; the really juicy bits will be coming in season two with the deepening mythology of the show.

I'm going to be trying a different method of recapping with this episode's blog, so tell me what you think and if you like this way better.

Sawyer is reading Watership Down in the first season (or rather, his book is with his things). Watership Down, though it still made mention on the show, was almost a much bigger part of the show through the character of Boone. The character was almost named Boone Anthony Markham V, and would have been referred to on the show as "Five," an almost exact reference to one of the rabbits in Watership Down named Fiver, who has dreams that can tell the future. This is an even bigger coincidence (or lack of one) when we find out that Watership Down was originally Boone's book.

We see Sawyer's past as a con-man, a profession he received from Locke's father, Anthony Cooper, who led to the death of Sawyer's parents. Sawyer's inability to let go (as shown in the flashback from "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2" when he is told to stop writing the letter but later continues anyway) is almost certainly what contributed to his becoming a con man, and following in the steps of the man he hated most. At least he'll finally get to kill Cooper on the Island in "The Brig."

Kate says she sees humanity in Sawyer. Her hatred of him right now is very interesting to watch, because by the time season three rolls around, that dynamic will be the complete opposite of what it is at this point. Soon after that, Kate reads Sawyer's letter, which we saw him write in "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2." Most of it was actually written with Jacob's pen. Does this mean that Jacob wanted Sawyer to continue down his spiral of self-destruction? He obviously had some form of foresight in visiting him in the first place, so the question remains: why?

Locke tries to blame Sawyer for knocking Sayid out and destroying the transceiver, and his lie is very well orchestrated, even though we'll find out later that he really did it. Why? For the same reason he blew up the flame, the sub, and tried to kill Naomi. His connection with the Island is very powerful.

Jessica's husband David mentions a "loophole" while negotiating business with Sawyer in the flashback. While I'm not suggesting that there's any connection--that'd be stupid--it was quite a bit shocking to hear that word so soon in the show, but to not know that it would have such relevance.

Charlie asks Hurley if he's hoarding food. Though he's offended now, in a few weeks, when the pantry of the hatch is opened, he'll be hoarding food, fitting right into his stereotype.

Sayid's torturous past is revealed through his torture of Sawyer. And who did he learn the skill of torturing from? None other than Kelvin Joe Inman, who lived on the Island for years before the plane crash, and died on the very same day 815 split up in midair.

Sayid leaves the beach after the torture of Sawyer. He'll find Danielle Rousseau next episode. But we'll leave that for then.

And that's it for episode 1x08, "Confidence Man." You can discuss the episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x07 "The Moth"

2009-06-17T11:11:00.003-07:00

Because we're so pressed for time, I'm posting the review for "The Moth" right away. Don't be surprised if I post more today -- I've still got five more to go after this one.

"The Moth" is the seventh episode of season one, as well as the seventh episode of the series as a whole. It shows us the past of Charlie Pace, the rock star, who is also undergoing detox on the Island with the help of Locke.

Kate and Jack continue to bicker about the caves, but Kate says that she wants to go through with Sayid's plan to triangulate a signal to call for help, a plan that is destined to fail for two reasons: Locke, and the Looking Glass.

In a flashback, Charlie confesses his sins to a priest, and vows to quit the band. However, as soon as he leaves the confession booth, he meets Liam, his brother, who tells him that the band has signed a records deal.

Locke tells Charlie that he can ask for the drugs three times, and after the third time Locke will return the drugs to Charlie. Charlie asks him why, but Locke says that it's to give Charlie a choice.

Later, Charlie, who has been told he's in the way, finally tells his frustrations to Jack, but the cave collapses, trapping Jack inside. Charlie and Michael go to the beach for help, and get Steve and Scott (who they famously mix up) to help.

Meanwhile, in a flashback, Charlie confronts Liam, who has broken another promise once again. Back on the Island, Charlie goes to find Locke to help, and Locke tells Charlie the moth parable. Charlie asks for his drugs the second time, and Locke says he has one more chance. Charlie returns to the caves, and volunteers to go inside and rescue Jack. A flashback shows him being yelled at by his brother, eventually turning to his brother's drugs. Charlie reaches Jack in the cave, but the tunnel collapses behind him. Charlie tells Jack "I'm here to rescue you," a line that will be repeated (once again to Jack) by Daniel Faraday.

Charlie, seeing a moth in the cave, finds a way out through a hole in the roof. He's a hero this time, and even Hurley says "Dude, you rock" (another hint at the beginning of a beautiful friendship).

Meanwhile, Sayid is able to triangulate the signal, but is knocked unconscious by an unseen person (Locke) before he is able to do anything. His tranciever is destroyed.

Later, Charlie goes and meets Locke, asking for his drugs a third time. Locke, disappointed, gives them to Charlie, who promptly tosses them into the fire. Locke is proud. Charlie looks up, and once again sees a moth, closing out the episode.

And that's it for episode 1x07, "The Moth." You can discuss the episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x06 "House of the Rising Sun"

2009-06-17T09:18:00.004-07:00

Now moving on to the sixth episode of the series, this is the first Sun/Jin centric episode we've had, and it opens up quite the can of worms.

The episode opens up with Sun observing Kate and Jack discussing Jack's tattoos, which he claims are personal. The tattoos in fact came from Achara in "Stranger in a Strange Land" (one of my least favorite episodes), and they mean "he walks among us, but is not one of us," according to the Others' sheriff, Isabel.

As Jack, Kate, and Charlie head off to the caves to get water, Sun has a flashback to her clandestine affair with Jin, a waiter. Jin is much more romantic then than he is on the Island, as a result of working for Sun's father. Sun refuses to elope with Jin because her father will not allow it, but Jin insists that he'll convince Mr. Paik.

Back on the Island, Jin assaults Michael. While this attack seems unprovoked, it's actually because Michael is wearing the watch that belonged to Jin. It's a sad twist, but after Michael escapes the Island, he will pawn the watch off for a gun to kill himself with, but that gun will ultimately not work. Ultimately, Sayid and Sawyer work to break up Jin and Michael, handcuffing Jin to the fuselage.

Meanwhile, at the caves, Charlie sneaks off to take some drugs when he is suddenly confronted by Locke, who tells him not to move. While Locke does not say anything about the drugs now, they will be the focus of next week's episode. Charlie's standing on a beehive, Locke says.

Back at the beach, Michael tells Sayid that in America, Koreans don't like blacks. This is slightly humorous, because Harold Perrineau will continue accusing people of racism even after he leaves the show. Sun tries to tell them that it's the watch, but they think she's talking about the handcuffs.

In a flashback, Jin goes to work for Sun's father, allowing them to be married.

Meanwhile, as Kate flees the bees, she sees a skeleton. It's Adam and/or Eve (who I think are Rose and Bernard). They have black and white stones on their bodies (another reference to the black and white of Rose and Bernard). Charlie makes a funny joke that Kate's shirt was full of C's, not bees, something that Kate doesn't seem to appreciate. Jack notices that one of the skeletons is female, and Locke dubs them "Adam and Eve."

In a flashback, Jin gives Sun a dog (which he actually recieved from Byung Han in exchange for not hurting him).

While Locke volunteers to search the fuselage at the caves with Charlie to "get to know him a little better," Jack realizes that the caves would be a good place to live. Locke stays with Charlie, and tells him that he's heard of Drive Shaft, and has both their albums. Locke tells Charlie that he'll see his guitar again, but Charlie is doubtful.

In a flashback, Sun prepares to leave Jin at the airport. Back on the Island, she reveals to Michael that she can speak English, though it's a secret from her husband because of his temper. The secret will be revealed to Jin by the episode "...In Translation," and we'll find out that Sun was right for not telling him.

Meanwhile, at the caves, Locke offers to help Charlie detox, telling him that he knows a lot about pain (after all, he was thrown from a window). Locke says that he'll help Charlie find his guitar if Charlie will give him the drugs. Charlie agrees, and Locke points up to show the guitar stuck in the canopy.

Michael confronts Jin, setting him free but giving him back the watch and telling him to stay away. In a flashback, Jin shows his more tender side to Sun by holding up a flower, convincing her not to leave him.

At the end of the episode, the group at the caves and the group at the beach both talk peacefully. It's not the last time that the survivors will split into factions, however.

As the episode ends, Charlie plays his guitar, slowly beginning his detox from the heroin.

And that's it for episode 1x06, "House of the Rising Sun." You can discuss the episode in this forum thread, read others' posts about it at the rewatch hub, and edit the episode's article.

Seasons 1 & 2 released on Blu-Ray

2009-06-16T10:47:00.002-07:00

The day has finally come: seasons one and two are finally available in the high definition of Blu-ray disc. All four seasons are now available (in the United States) in Blu-Ray, and now the collections can finally be completed.

This release is also just in time for The Lost Rewatch, so that you can rewatch along in high-quality style. Maybe you'll catch something you missed the second time around.

For more information on the Blu-Ray release, see my earlier blog post.

LP Caption Contest #4

2009-06-15T19:19:00.001-07:00

By the request of Luke, here's the image from an earlier blog post of mine for a caption contest. Enjoy.If anyone's curious, the image is from "Eggtown."

The Lost Rewatch: 1x05 "White Rabbit"

2009-06-15T09:25:00.003-07:00

Sorry that we're a week behind, but hopefully we'll be fully caught up by the end of this week, with eight new mini-posts that recap episodes five through twelve. This is the first one, for "White Rabbit," the first episode that shows us a glimpse into Jack's pre-Oceanic past.

We open with a scene from Jack's childhood, in which he and Marc Silverman are getting beaten up. Jack is given lenience if he'll just stay down, but he shows his need to fix things by trying to help Marc, which ends up resulting in his knockout. We'll see Marc again in season two as best man in Jack's wedding to Sarah. Jack comes out of his flashback to hear Charlie screaming at him, who tells him that Joanna's drowning in the ocean. Charlie ssays that he would go but he "can't swim." We now know that he can swim rather well, and that this is just another expression of his cowardice at this very dark point of his life.

Jack pulls Boone out of the ocean, but realizes that Boone was trying to save another woman who was drowning, Joanna Miller, another example of Boone's poor lifeguarding skills. Jack tries to save Joanna, but it's too late. She's drowned. After the Lost intertitle, Kate reveals that Joanna wasn't supposed to be on the flight, just like everyone else. Jack tells Kate he regrets his actions, and then he sees Christian standing in the surf. Now, who is this apparition of Christian? If you've read my earlier deconstructing blog, you'll know that I believe that this is "the monster," which is the same entity as Jacob's nemesis. To me, it just makes sense.

Kate thinks that Jack is overexhausted, but he refuses to rest. Sun watches Michael as he impatiently deals with Walt's questions, but she is interrupted by Jin, who stresses that they don't need anyone else. By three years later, in the DHARMA Initiative, however, he believes in team effort, speaking flawless English and working with Sawyer and Miles. Speaking of Sawyer, during his following confrontation with Shannon, he's reading Watership Down, the first literary reference we've had on the show. Saawyer will show his love of reading throughout the rest of the show, but it's fun to see it beginning now. But we also know that the book he's reading will cause him quite a lot of trouble with a certain Iraqi.

Hurley tells Jack that he looks "tired, brother." The nickname "brother" will later be used by a certain Scotsman, but without the last two letters. Hurley also tells Jack that they have a limited supply of water. Jack refuses to make a decision, something that he'll later come to regret when Boone steals the water. Jack walks out of his tent, and we get a wooshless flashback to his childhood. Christian berates him for trying to fix everything. Back on the Island, Jack follows his apparition of Christian, asking him "Dad?" when he sees his face, much like Locke will ask in "The Man From Tallahassee" when he finds Anthony Cooper being held captive by the Others. In a flashback, Margo Shephard tells Jack to go after his father, who has gone to Australia. Jack is unwilling to, but she forcefully tells him to go, after "what he did" (the events of the flashback in "A Tale of Two Cities").

After the water is stolen, Locke goes off into the jungle to find freshwater. He knows where to look, he says. Jack looks for his father in the jungle, meanwhile, but flashbacks to Australia, where he's looking for his father. Christian was in Australia to try and see his daughter, Claire. Christian is missing from his hotel room. But after the flashback, Jack finds him once again on the Island. Chasing after him, Jack nearly falls into a very deep ravine, grabbing onto a root at the last minute. He's then saved by Locke, but can only laugh hysterically. Charlie brings Claire some water, and stays by her side, cracking jokes and making her more comfortable. Hurley finds out that Sun has water, and Sayid asks her where she got the water. Kate insists Sun doesn't understand, but the ever persistent and intuitive Sayid insists that she does understand. And he's right, she does understand. Jin intervenes, and eventually tells them that Sawyer gave them the water. Sayid tells them to wait, so that Sawyer would lead them to their stash. However, he doesn't have the water, but he gives her the marshal's badge.

Locke tells Jack he must be a leader, and also cites his believe in destiny. Locke tells him that he's looked into the eye of the Island, and what he saw was beautiful. There was another reference to eyes. He was presumably talking about his experience with the monster, or the "bright light" that he saw. In a flashback, Jack goes to a morgue and finds the dead body of his father. Back on the Island, he sees Christian again, but this time he is led to the caves, where there is plenty of fresh water. There's a baby doll in the water, from an apparently shipment of them that fell outo of the plane. There's bits of the fuselage there at the caves as well. He finds his father's coffin there, but it's empty. A flashback shows him arguing with a ticket agent at the airport about the coffin. The disappearance of the bodyis distinctly different from what happened to Locke in season five, however. In season five, the body was left behind and a doppelganger tooks its place. It appears this time that Christian's body itself has been possessed.

Boone is revealed to have stolen the water, but Jack returns, giving his famous "live together, die alone" speech. Sun and Jin are shown to be growing closer once again. Jack tells Kate that his father died in Sydney, and that's the end of the episode.

You can discuss "White Rabbit" in this forum thread. You can find others' reviews of this episode at the Lostpedia hub. Look for my recap of "House of the Rising Sun" soon.

Rewatch blog update

2009-06-14T12:35:00.003-07:00

Sorry that we haven't had any rewatch updates to the blog this week. It's been a crazy week for me, and I just haven't had a chance to watch the four episodes. But don't worry -- next week, I will have eight mini-blogs to catch-up, with one for each episode. By the end of next week, we'll be all caught up.

I can't promise that such delays won't happen again, but I hope we'll be able to avoid them for a while.

Thanks for sticking around, guys!

Lost: Messages From The Island

2009-06-10T14:53:00.002-07:00

I started reading Lost: The Official Magazine at around the same time I began watching Lost. The first issue I bought was the "Season 3 Is Here" issue, the seventh issued. I've bought as many issues of the magazine as I could since then, but have not been able to get back issues of the magazine, and therefore have not yet read the first six issues of the magazine. I'm sure that's the case with many of you as well.

So imagine my happiness when I found out that Titan Books was coming out with a compilation book of their best articles, mainly from the ones I missed! The book, titled Lost: Messages From The Island, is slated to be released June 30 by Titan Books (the sister company of Titan Magazines, who publish the Lost magazine.

I received my advance review copy of the book today, and I must say that it quickly took away any want I had for back issues of the Lost magazine. It's a paperback, and in its 176 glossy pages, the magazine encompasses everything I love about Lost magazine, and everything I was afraid I had missed. It's a truly stunning collection of behind-the-scenes images and interviews that has just as much value as any special features on the DVD.

The full-sized book starts with an introduction from show creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, thanking the creators of Lost magazine for helping to compile "this engaging and entertaining slice of Lost history." Ending with the salutation "Peace, love, and Namaste" (a phrase sure to live on in the Lost fandom), the letter adds an official weight to the magazine. It's the first of its kind since the season one guide The Lost Chronicles, and it's oh-so-much better.

The book then lapses into presenting its best from the magazine, and starts right off with content from the first issue, "Cast Away," which includes a neat section with passenger cards for many of the mean characters (at the time of the issue), and an interview with Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly, which is actually really informative for a cast interview. Other sections from issue one include interviews with the VFX team, Dominic Monaghan and Emilie de Ravin, and Damon Lindelof. They're all great interviews, as are the rest of the interviews in the book. Almost every main actor from the first two seasons in interviewed in-depth in the book,

However, the real gems in the book are wonderful interviews with the production and post-production crew of Lost, like set designer Ron Yates, who discussed the conception of the raft, along with great concept art that shows just how deeply sets like that are thought out. There's another section of concept art that shows the wreckage of flight 815 as it was originally planned, in which the tail section landed on the beach with the rest of the plane (an idea that we know was later scrapped in favor of the tail section crashing on the opposite side of the Island). Another piece of concept art shows the tunnel leading into the Swan station, another intricately thought-out set design.

There's a nice storyboard of a scene from "Man of Science, Man of Faith," in which Kate gets lowered into the hatch that is quite interesting, especially when placed side-by-side to screen captures from the actual episode.

Still photos from both the episode and behind the scenes by Mario Perez dot each page, and give us a deeper glimpse into the world of Lost, as does the rest of the book. Though only season two is covered, the book is a worthwhile read, especially for those who were (like me) unlucky enough to get the first six issues of the magazine.

Paul Terry teases that another "Best of" collection may be coming in the future, and I must say, I cannot wait for it to come. If it's anything like this one, it'll be a definite keepsake. But I'm getting ahead of myself -- I'll still be poring over this book for months to come!

Lost: Messages From The Island will hit shelves on June 30. You can pre-order it from Amazon now. It's worth every cent.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x04 "Walkabout"

2009-06-06T09:07:00.003-07:00

It's hard to top "Walkabout," which is still on top of many fans' favorites lists, even after all this time. It was the very first (and perhaps best) Locke-centric episode, and the fourth episode of the series overall. So let's begin, shall we?

"Walkabout" begins with the opening eye of John Locke. It's the first time since Jack's eye in the first episode that an eye has opened an episode. This time, it's the green eye of Locke. It's a flashback to the crash. He's unconscious on the beach, surrounded in debris from the plane. Locke looks down at his moving toe, and is shocked. Of course, we now know that he was shocked that he could even move his foot at all after that little push that his dad gave him four years before. He sees a shoe next to him, and he picks it up.

A barking dog leads us out of the flashback and to a closeup of Locke's face. Vincent is barking in the background, and we see that he's running toward the fuselage, where there is a rustling and growling. The survivors quickly deduce that there's someone in the fuselage. Jack immediately suspects Sawyer, but Sawyer is "right behind ya, jackass." Either Jack didn't hear the growling, or he took Sawyer literally in "Tabula Rasa" when he said he was "in the wild." Pulling out his pocket flashlight, Jack goes to investigate. Sawyer follows, holding a much larger flashlight. They slowly walk into the fuselage, and see the outline of something hairy. Sawyer decides to "shed some light on this thing" by shining his huge flashlight at the creature, but it's a boar. It charges. Or rather, three of them charge. The beach erupts into chaos as everyone tries to get away from the charging creatures, but they simply run off into the woods. Locke recognizes that they are boars, and then gives that mischevous smile.

After the Lost intertitle, Jack cleans Charlie's wound, and thinks that they need to burn the bodies to keep them from being eaten. Sayid thinks that they deserve better, but Jack insists that any bodies they bury would not stay buried for very long. Locke will repeat this sentiment to Paulo in "Expose" ("nothing stays buried on this Island"). Which is funny, considering the creation of Boone hill (the cemetery) later on in the series. Sayid is still skeptical, asking Jack to consider people's religions, but Jack says they don't have time. Jack intends to light the fuselage on fire the following night, so that people will see it.

The next day, Sayid works on building an antenna, so that he can find out where the signal is coming from. Michael and Walt are gathering firewood, and Michael notices Locke looking into a box. He decides not to let Walt go see Locke. Meanwhile, Hurley is fighting Sawyer for the peanuts, because there is no food left. Sayid says that there are plenty of food sources on the Island. Sawyer asks how they can find sustenance, and Locke throws a knife into the seat beside him. "We hunt," he says as the theme "Crocodile Locke" plays. Locke says that he checked the knife onto the plane. Jack introduces himself to Locke, and Michael looks on with loathing. Locke explains that they'll be hunting boar, and describes how he's going to kill the boar (leading Sawyer to ask Jack why he gave Locke his knife back). Locke then opens his case and reveals that it's actually filled with knives (for his walkabout that he attempted to go on).

As Hurley asks who this guy is, we get a flashback. Locke's working in a cubicle (the episode was originally titled "Lord of the Files"), when he gets a call. The man on the other end, calling him Colonel Locke, asks if the line is secure. Locke is then harassed by Randy, who we later find out was also Hurley's boss at Mr. Clucks before beginning to work at a box company. Later, Randy would work at a "Circuit House" electronics store, and would film Hurley's car crash in "The Beginning of the End." Locke continues working, and the calculator he uses prints out a reciept with a monster-like sound.

Jack is skeptical of Locke, something that will continue until after Locke's death. Kate's going with Locke because she has Sayid's transciever, and Kate says that she's a vegetarian. Claire approaches Jack and asks if they should do a memorial service, but Jack doesn't want to lead it. Boone notices Rose sitting down the beach in her vigil for Bernard. He mentions it to Shannon, and the conversation moves to Shannon finding food, and she insists that she can catch a fish. She cons Charlie into fishing for her. Somene uses Locke's wheelchair to carry wood while Boone goes up to Jack to ask him to talk to Rose. Jack does, bringing her some water. She doesn't talk, but he sits with her for a while.

Meanwhile, Locke, Kate, and Michael hear a boar. The boar tackles Michael after he doesn't keep quiet, and it cuts his leg. In a flashback, Locke is playing a Risk-like game, while he is harassed by Randy about taking a walkabout. Randy tells Locke that he can't do any of that, but Locke says that it's his "destiny," a phrase that he'll use many times later. "Don't tell me what I can't do," he says. Back on the Island, Locke continues after the boar on his on while Kate takes Michael back to the beach.

Hurley and Charlie fish, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Claire, meanwhile, gives Sayid an envelope containing pictures of Nadia. Sayid will eventually find Nadia once off the Island, only to have her be run down by a car while he helped Jacob "find" directions. Rose breaks her silence to Jack, telling him she's letting him off the hook, a line that will be repeated by Boone before his death. Rose tells Jack that he has a "good" soul.

In a flashback, Locke sits on his bed talking to a phone operator named Helen. It's unknown why she's named Helen, like his old girlfriend Helen Norwood, but it's likely that he asked her to use that name. He tells her about his personal goals, and invites her to come along with him on the walkabout. She refuses, because he's a customer, hanging up on him. If you'll notice during this scene, Locke's wheelchair is nowhere around the bed, presumably to keep the twist secret.

Kate climbs a tree to boost the transciever signal, but the monster approaches, causing her to drop it. She worries about Locke, who suddenly is approached by the monster, which rises above him. He looks at it with a look of wonder. Did the monster judge him like it did Eko? Or, due to Locke claiming that she did not see black smoke, did he see something else entirely?

Kate and Michael return to the beach, but without Locke. Charlie realizes he's been conned by Shannon. Jack tries to get Rose to return to the funeral service to say words about Bernard, but Rose does not believe Bernard is dead, which is stunningly correct. Jack says that everyone in the tail section is gone, and Rose insists that "they're probably thinking the same thing about us." Jack, at a loss for words, looks out into the jungle and sees his father standing there. Now, this raises some interesting questions. Of course we know that it's not a hallucination, and that his father's actually there, but is this Jacob's nemesis? I think so. Jack sees Christian again, but he's gone just as quickly as he appeared. Jack follows Christian into the jungle, but instead sees Locke dragging a boar to the beach. He survived.

At the funeral, Claire reads out the names of the deceased. Jack sits down the beach, trying to figure out what he just saw. Michael congratulates Locke about the boar. He asks Locke if he saw anything, but Locke denies it, even though we know he did.

In a flashback, Locke is denied a walkabout because of his paralysis, and we see that Locke's in a wheelchair, a result of being pushed out a window by his con-man father. Locke's able to "walk about" on the Island, leading us to wonder how exactly this was possible. Was it the Island's electromagnetism that conveys the healing properties? Regardless of what it was, Locke is able to walk, and he sees it as a new beginning as he watches the wheelchair in the fire.

And thus the episode ends. It's been consistently heralded as one of the greatest of the series, and it really is one of the best. It's a brilliant introduction into the character of Locke, and we'll get another flashback from him in "Deus Ex Machina."

Now for something completely unrelated -- next week's Lostpedia blogs will not be done by me -- I'm going on summer vacation for the greater part of the week. The rewatch will be covered by another administrator. I should be back week after next to go through "Solitary," "Raised By Another," "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues," and "Whatever the Case May Be" with you guys. I will watch next week's episodes, though, so when I return I'll discuss them along with everyone else in the forums.

Until then, thank you, namaste, and good luck.

Food for Thought: The Final Main Cast

2009-06-05T15:05:00.004-07:00

For the past four years, people have been speculating on the main cast lineup of the next season of Lost. Many draft picks have not made the cut several times in a row (fan favorite Richard Alpert has not been on the main cast yet), though quite a few have (Michael Emerson and Henry Ian Cusick joined the cast for season three onward). But by the end of this year, the speculation on who will be a member of the main cast will be over for good -- press releases will be out by December, if not earlier, and we'll find out who is in the final lineup. Here's my guess for the main cast of next year.

I think by now that we've ascertained that all our seventies friends survived the blast (simply because there are so many integral characters in that group). So that means that next year we'll (of course) have Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, Daniel Dae Kim, and Ken Leung on the main cast once again. I don't think that Sayid (played by Naveen Andrews), despite the gutshot, is done quite yet either, so we'll add him to the queue as well. However, I think that Elizabeth Mitchell is done for, regardless of the reset or not. Not only is she starring in V next year, but she looked in pretty bad shape at the end of last year, and she detonated the Jughead. So I'm ruling her out.

The 2007ers are probably all safe too. Terry O'Quinn as Jacob's nemesis, Michael Emerson as Ben, and Yunjin Kim as Sun are all safe, undoubtedly. Henry Ian Cusick, who remains off-Island, was extremely underused last year, but it's safe to say he'll be back into the fray before long. We're not done with him.

So here's where we determine who's going to be on the main cast next year. I think it's high time we get Emilie de Ravin back on the cast, so she'll probably rejoin for the final season. Frank, with his candidacy, looks to be a pretty likely pick for next year's cast, as do Ilana and Bram, who are apparently going to be major players next year. Then there's Richard, who fans have been dying to find out about since his appearances in season three. I think there's little question that he'll be on the main cast.

There are a few other recurrings that I'll go over the chances for in the list below.

Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard -- Certain.
Evangeline Lilly as Kate Austen -- Certain.
Josh Holloway as James "Sawyer" Ford -- Certain
Jorge Garcia as Hugo "Hurley" Reyes -- Certain
Michael Emerson as Benjamin Linus -- Certain
Daniel Dae Kim as Jin-Soo Kwon -- Certain
Yunjin Kim as Sun-Hwa Kwon -- Certain
Ken Leung as Miles Straume -- Certain
Terry O'Quinn as Jacob's nemesis -- Certain
Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond Hume -- Certain
Naveen Andrews as Sayid Jarrah -- Likely
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert -- Likely
Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana -- Likely
Brad William Henke as Bram -- Likely
Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus -- Likely
Emilie de Ravin as Claire Littleton -- Likely
Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet Burke -- Unlikely
L. Scott Caldwell as Rose Nadler -- Unlikely
Sam Anderson as Bernard Nadler -- Unlikely

Now, you may think that I'm being a little too liberal with the "certains" and "likelies" but even if everyone I listed as certain or likely was a member of the main cast next year, it still wouldn't be as large of a cast as the cast of season four was.

But now, it's your turn. Who do you think will be a main character next year?

The Lost Rewatch: 1x03 "Tabula Rasa"

2009-06-04T09:24:00.002-07:00

Now we move on to the third episode of the series, "Tabula Rasa," in which some of Kate's backstory is revealed.

We start off with the first ever "Previously on Lost" showing clips from the first two episodes. One of those scenes is the backgammon scene between Walt and Locke...there is absolutely no way that is not important.

We start off among the fuselage with the survivors. People are sorting through the clothes, led by Claire. Meanwhile, Jack is tending to Edward Mars, our favorite marshal, who is trying to warn Jack that "she's dangerous." He repeats that he has to "find her" and "bring her back." The marshal mentions his handcuffs (the ones that Walt found in the jungle), and then forcefully tells Jack to check his jacket pocket. He's not doing very well, and Jack mentions that he has a high fever and frequently passes out. Jack checks the marshal's pocket, and finds Kate's mugshot. Jack is very shocked, obviously.

Meanwhile, Kate and the rest of her group are journeying back from the high ground they went to check the transceiver on. In a funny moment, Boone calls Sawyer a "hick," and Sawyer notices. Sayid states that they should make camp. Sawyer tells the rest that he is going to continue on the on, but Sayid tells him that whatever is knocking down the trees will get him. Kate convinces Sawyer to stay with them.

Meanwhile, Sayid tries to determine where they are using a rock and a torch. Kate tells them (in a line that will be repeated in every clip show ever) "The pilot said we were a thousand miles off course." Sawyer changes the subject to talk about Rousseau's transmission, and then he asks Kate how long the transmission was on a loop for, calling her "Freckles." That's a nickname that will probably be Sawyer's most oft-used. Kate obviously doesn't like the nickname now, but she will come to. Boone wants to tell the rest about the transmission, but Sayid says not to, in order to avoid a panic. "So we lie?" Kate asks. It's very reminiscent (in retrospect) to discussion that the Oceanic 6 told once off the Island in the episode titled (believe it or not) "The Lie."

Hurley, meanwhile, asks Jack if the monster was a dinosaur (which was actually a popular fan theory back in season one). Jack admits that if it antibiotics don't work, the marshal will die. Hurley notices Kate's mugshot. Hurley thinks she looks pretty hardcore, but Jack doesn't care what Kate did -- it's "none of his business."

After the Lost intertitle, we go back and join Sayid's group. He's sleeping next to Shannon, which is interesting because before long, he'll be sleeping with Shannon. Boone steals the gun and the clip, saying he's going to stand guard. Sayid demands it back, but Sawyer doesn't think that "Al-Jazeera" will protect them (to which Charlie humorously replies that "Al-Jazeera's a network"). Shannon suggests that they should give the gun to Kate, which is ironic because she's the fugitive from justice. Everyone agrees, and Boone gives the gun to Kate.

And then we get the first "whoosh" flashback, and also the first pre-Oceanic flashback. It opens with Kate having a gun pointed at her by Ray Mullen, who has caught her sleeping in his sheep pen. Kate tells Ray that her name is "Annie," a name that is most famously held by Ben's childhood friend. Ray offers "Annie" some food. While she eats, she tells him that she ran out of money. She identifies herself as a Canadian (something that she is not, but Evangeline Lilly is). Ray tells her his wife died eight months before (one of the many number references throughout this episode), and he offers her a job in exchange for a fair wage and a place to stay. She goes to shake his hand, but his right arm is actually a prosthetic (not unlike a certain DHARMA scientist we know).

Back on the Island, Hurley runs to inform Jack of Sayid's group's return. The marshal, however, is not doing good. Sayid explains to the gathered survivors that though the transceiver tailed to pick up a signal, with the help of the survivors electronics, they could possibly boost the signal and try again. Locke, meanwhile, looks on. He doesn't like what Sayid wants to do, not one bit. Sayid actually begins to take a leadership position within the survivors, organizing groups for food, electronics, and water. Kate goes up to Jack and privately tells him about the transmission they heard. Kate asks about the marshal, and asks if he said anything. Jack lies and tells her that he didn't.

Jack talks to Hurley about Kate, and tells him that he won't confront Kate about the mugshot. However, the marshal is deteriorating fast, so he needs some more medication for him. Hurley won't go inside the plane because it's full of bodies, so Jack has to go inside. Once inside, he hears Sawyer inside, looting. Sawyer mentions Jack's need to fix things, telling him he's not "looking at the big picture." Sawyer says that Jack's still in civilization, while Sawyer's in the wild.

Charlie helps Claire with her bag, and puts it in the wheelchair he's found. This short scene is important for two reasons. Firstly, it sets up the Charlie/Claire romance that will continue up until Charlie's death in "Through the Looking Glass." Secondly, it introduces the wheelchair. Charlie says that the former owner of the wheelchair was probably "better off than they are," though the wheelchair actually belonged to Locke.

Meanwhile, Sun thinks she's found Jin's bag, but he tells her that the one she was holding wasn't his. Jin tells her that's she's filthy, and that she should go wash up instead of continuing to look for his bag. Before she leaves, however, he tells her that he loves her, the first tender moment we've seen from Jin on the show. Charlie asks Claire if her husband was on the flight, but she tells him that she's not married. The father of her baby was actually Thomas, the painter who left her after he found out that she was pregnant.

Hurley, meanwhile, leaves the tent where the marshal is kept and runs into Kate. She introduces herself, and he's obviously nervous around her.

Later, Kate approaches the marshal while he sleeps. As she looks over him, we have a flashback. She's in Ray Mullen's pantry. Removing a back panel, she takes out her savings. This isn't the only time we'll see valuables kept in a pantry -- director Howard Zukerman, who Nikki and Paulo killed, kept his diamonds in a vault hidden in his pantry. Ray catches Kate, and it's revealed that she's not stealing; its her wages she's taking out. Kate tells him that she's got trust issues. She prepares to leave, but Ray offers to drive her to the train station in the morning. Ray tells her that he gets it, everyone deserves a fresh start. And that's where the name of the episode, "Tabula Rasa," comes from: the philosopher John Locke's idea that everyone deserved a blank slate, or Tabula Rasa.

Back on the Island, Kate looks over the marshal while he's sleeping. He suddenly wakes up and starts choking her. Jack intervenes and pulls the marshal off. Jack realizes that the marshal's body is shutting down. Jack mentions that the marshal will suffer. Jack mentions that he saw Kate's mugshot -- and he is not going to kill the marshal, because he's not a murderer.

There's another Kate flashback, which opens with a Patsy Cline song, a recurring feature that will almost become a staple of Kate-centric episodes. When she sees the marshal in the rearview mirror, Kate realizes that Ray intends to turn her in. Ray mentions that the reward for turning her in was $23,000 (another instance of the numbers), and he has a "hell of a mortgage." The marshal pulls up beside them and the flashback ends.

Meanwhile, Michael questions Walt about Locke, something that will eventually cause great tension between Michael, Walt, and Locke. Walt mentions that Locke told him a secret (about his paralysis) and Michael demands to know. Walt tells Michael that a miracle happened to Locke, but Michael writes this off as surviving the plane crash. Michael tells Walt that he shouldn't hang around Locke anymore. Michael promises to get Vincent as soon as it stops raining...and then it suddenly stops raining as Walt looks outside angrily. This is only the tip of the iceberg, but you can already tell that Walt has some sort of ability. Michael goes out looking for Vincent, but he doesn't hear Vincent...he hears a rustling and a roaring instead. He runs...right into a topless Sun, who is bathing. Michael tells Sun that something was chasing him, but she appears not to understand him, even though she really does. He then walks away, repeating that he didn't see anything.

The marshal's not doing too well, and his moans echo down the beach, where Locke is carving something. Charlie approaches, asking Locke what he's making. It's a whistle -- a dog whistle for Vincent. Charlie tells Locke that he's in a band, but Locke doesn't seem to care. Shannon, meanwhile, wishes that the marshal would just "die already." Sayid offers to help Jack, and informs him that the survivors are getting uneasy.

Kate tries to build a fire later on that night, and Sawyer comes up to offer her a light. Sawyer has come by to thank her for taking the gun away, because he wouldn't want to be the one with the gun, because he knows that the marshal has to be euthanized. The only one that can do it is the one with the gun. The marshal tells Jack not to trust Kate, because she will do anything to get away. The marshal won't tell Jack what she did, but he wants to talk to Kate alone.

The flashback continues, and the marshal once again gets behind them to avoid a car. As he comes back around, Kate jerks the wheel from Ray's hand, flipping the truck and getting it off the road. The truch catches on fire, and she drags Ray to safety, inadvertently yanking of his prosthesis as well. She is suddenly caught by the marshal.

After the flashback, the marshal asks what the favor was that Kate wanted. She remembers the favor that she asked the marshal before the plane crash, and then tells him that she wanted him to make sure that Ray Mullen got his $23,000. The marshal tells her that she really is one of a kind, and that she would have gotten away if she hadn't saved him. She thinks she's gotten away, and she tells the marshal that he's gonna die. The marshal asks if she's going to euthanize him, or what.

Meanwhile, Jack is outside, talking with Hurley. Hurley mentions that Kate has the gun. Jack rushes to the tent, but sees her walking out. The gun fires anyway, and Sawyer exits the the tent, holding the gun. Then they realize that Sawyer didn't kill the marshal -- as a matter of fact, he missed his heart and hit the marshal's lung. Ashamedly, Sawyer leaves. Shaken, he pulls out a cigarette, but it won't light. Inside, Jack makes the moaning stop -- he's finally euthanized the marshal.

The next morning, Locke blows his whistle while sitting on the beach. Vincent suddenly emerges from the jungel, running toward Locke. Locke goes to get Michael, and tells him that he's found Vincent, and suggests that Michael bring Vincent back to Walt. Michael thanks Locke, and they're okay...for now.

Kate comes and sits next to Jack on the beach, offering to tell him what her crime was. he doesn't want to know, however, and we won't find out that she blew up her father's house until the season two episode "What Kate Did." Jack mentions that three days ago they "all died," the quote that spawned a thousand theories that they were all in purgatory. Jack offers her a fresh start, and they sit alone on the beach in silence, while Hurley listens to his CD player, Joe Purdy's "Wash Away." The episode ends in a montage of happiness, with Jin stroking Sun's hair, Boone finding Shannon some sunglasses, Sayid tossing Sawyer an apple (making amends with him for their previous fight), and Charlie taping up his fingers (but changing the "F" in "Fate" to an "L") while Claire sits down the beach. Michael also brings Vincent to Walt, who happily runs to meet his dog. Locke watches from afar, and he's got the enigmatic expression that could only indicate that next week, he's going to have a flashback.

You can discuss "Tabula Rasa" in this forum thread. You can find others' reviews of this episode at the Lostpedia hub. Look for my review of "Walkabout" on Saturday.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x02 "Pilot, Part 2"

2009-06-02T20:00:00.003-07:00

And so we begin "Pilot, Part 2," the second episode of Lost. After Monday's extremely long write-up of "Pilot, Part 1," I'll try to keep this one more concise, but still chock full of retrospective dissection.

Jack, Kate, and Charlie, having at least somewhat recovered from the terrifying incident at the cockpit, trek home through the jungle. Kate asks Charlie what he was doing in the bathroom, and he makes up a quick lie, telling her that he was getting sick. Of course, we all know that instead he was getting his heroin which he left in the bathroom. Charlie mentions he's a coward, an opinion Kate is quick to refute. Cowardice is a theme that will run through Lost with Charlie, and later, Desmond.

Charlie then has the second flashback of the series, in which he is on the airplane, jonesing for a fix. It's interesting to note that this flashback transition does not have that familiar whooshing sound that we're all used to by now. When Charlie thinks that his obvious withdrawal symptoms have been noticed by Cindy, he flees through the plane, passing a number of passengers whom we now recognize as main characters. Charlie gets high on his heroin (though that's only really brown sugar), even though the flight attendants insist he come out of the bathroom. Charlie drops his heroin into the toilet, and seems ready to flush it down (in which case he wouldn't have had much of a character arc), but the turbulence stops him and he exits the bathroom, taking a seat and strapping himself in as the plane crashes.

We then watch shallow Shannon sunbathe, an action that will be immortalized in the form of an action figure. Claire talks to her -- she doesn't know whether her baby will be a boy or a girl, even though she's eight months pregnant. She's also worried that she hasn't felt the baby move since the day the plane crashed. Of course, we all know that her baby will be little Aaron, a healthy baby boy who will eventually leave the Island without his mommy.

Meanwhile, Michael approaches Sun and Jin looking for Walt. Of course, this won't be the last time he loses Walt, and each search attempt that he'll make will just get more and more annoying. Sun pretends not to speak English, even though she really knows how from her lessons with Jae Lee (which turned into quite a bit more than just lessons). Michael goes off again, looking for Walt, who's looking for Vincent. He finds Kate's handcuffs on the ground near some fuselage. Michael sees the handcuffs, and gets a little worried.

We come back into act two with a punch from Sayid to Sawyer. The two are fighting because Sawyer said that Sayid crashed the plane. It's quite interesting to see the two fight, because they'll later become allies (of course, out of all the survivors, Sawyer and Sayid never were really close). Sawyer points out how Sayid obviously looks like a terrorist after the two are split up by Jack and Michael, and mentions Sayid being pulled out of line before they boarded the plane, a result of Shannon proving herself to Boone by reporting Sayid for leaving his bags unattended.

Sayid volunteers to help with the transciever, the first glimpse we get of Sayid's technical prowess, which will eventually be most useful when taking the core out of Jughead in "The Incident." Sawyer also calls Hurley "lardo." He'll later become good friends with Hurley, but for now he's sticking to weight-related nicknames. Hurley instead buddies up with Sayid, and they trade names. Sayid later reveals that he was in the Republican Guard, shocking Hurley.

Sun gives Kate a message as Kate bathes, but her look of jealousy at Kate's immodesty shines through clearly. Kate goes to talk to Sayid, who has managed to repair the transciever, but wants to go to high ground to pick up a signal. Of course, we know now that this will be a waste because of Rousseau's signal and the Looking Glass station.

Jack, meanwhile, works on the marshal, who will be dead very soon. Jack's relying on chance, but he is going to try to fix the marshal. Kate tells Jack that she's going on a hike, despite Jack's warning about the marshal.

Jin's abusiveness to Sun is shown when he slaps her hand after a reach to get food, and you can see her loathing of him in her eyes. Instead, he gives that food to the other survivors, and she defiantly opens the top buttons of her shirt. Hurley laughingly turns down Jin, angering him slightly. Walt, meanwhile, read's Hurley's comic book in Spanish. The comic will later be proxied with Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man (or El Ultimo Hombre) when Hurley boards Flight 316.

While Charlie uses some powerful drugs, Jack enlists Hurley to once again use his inventory skills to find antibiotic drugs for the marshal. After Shannon decides that she's going on the hike with Kate and Sayid to prove her worthiness to Boone, there's a humorous scene when a stoned Charlie shows up.

SHANNON: You're going, aren't you?

CHARLIE: Yeah, are you?

SHANNON: Yup.

CHARLIE: Yeah, I'm definitely going.

Sawyer smokes his cigarette and reads his letter, which he wrote to Locke's father Anthony Cooper after the funeral of his parents. And that ink that's on the letter? It came from Jacob's pen. He watches Kate, Sayid, Boone, Charlie, and Shannon leave, and decides to come along, stating that's he's a "complex guy, sweetheart." Which he really is, as we later find out. They set off, climbing up a steep ledge.

Jack, meanwhile, talks to Michael, and discovers that Michael doesn't know much about Walt, and reveals that Vincent is actually still alive, elating Michael at the chance to be a hero in his son's eyes. If Jack hadn't offered him this as a chance to be noble, who knows what Michael would have done. He might have gone so far as to put himself as a deckhand on a freighter just to blow it up, or something drastic like that.

And here's what I think is the most important scene of the entire episode: Locke explaining backgammon to Walt. Locke mentions that backgammon is the oldest game in the world. He then holds up the two round tiles for backgammon. "Two sides -- one is light, and one is dark." This sets up the ever-important black and white dynamic that is prevalent in the show even now, with Jacob and his enemy being dressed in white and black tunics, respectively. Does this perhaps mean that Jacob and his enemy are playing a game with the survivors? Fighting against each other using pawns? It's quite an interesting scene that seems to have a bigger meaning than what is obvious. Locke then offers to tell Walt a secret, which we'll later find out concerns his paralysis before the crash.

Claire writes in her diary (the same diary that Charlie will read after she's kidnapped), when Jin offers her some fish. She takes a bite, and though she doesn't necessarily like it, she feels Aaron kick, something she is elated about, and makes an uncomfortable Jin touch her belly.

Meanwhile, in the jungle, the people hiking to the mountain with the transceiver hear a roaring. Fearing that it's the monster, they all run away, except for Sawyer, who coolly faces what's charging them. Pulling out a gun, he shoots the polar bear that's running toward them. (A humorous special feature on the first season DVD revealed that at first the polar bear was a stuffed animal that looked absolutely silly when freeze-framed.) The polar bear, if you don't remember, was used in the Hydra for unknown experiments (but they were able to get a fish biscuit faster than Sawyer). They were also used to turn the frozen donkey wheel, as evidenced by the polar bear skeleton that Charlotte would find at the same dropoff point that Locke and Ben would later appear at after turning the wheel.

Jack needs Hurley's help to hold down the marshal while he operates, but Hurley has Mr. Friendly synbrome and can't stand the sight of blood. Hurley faints. Meanwhile, after confirming that the bear was a polar bear, the survivors confront Sawyer about where he got the gun. He says he got it from a U.S. marshal, and they accuse him of being the prisoner, though in reality it was actually Kate. Kate takes the gun and pretends to not know how to use it (a con she used once before in "Whatever the Case May Be".) There's a little heat between Sawyer and Kate, but nothing too much -- Kate obviously dislikes Sawyer.

There's another whoosh-less flashback, this time from Kate's perspective as we discover that she was the prisoner. Kate says she has a favor to ask, but the plane begins to crash before she can ask it. She uncuffs herself, and fixes a mask on both herself and the marshall before the plane crashes, and the tail section is ripped from the back of the plane (seen from a better angle in "A Tale of Two Cities").

The marshal meanwhile wakes up in the middle of surgery, asking Jack where Kate is. She's with the group with Sayid, when he discovers that the transciever has a bar. They pick up a transmission, which Sayid speculates could be from a satphone. Sorry Sayid, but you won't be seeing one of those until Naomi crashes on the Island. They hear a French transmission (from Rousseau), which Shannon translates to say "Please help me. Please, come get me. I'm alone now. On the island alone. Please, someone come. The others, they're dead. It killed them. It killed them all." Rousseau is of course referring to the sickness, which happened to her team after Montand was dragged beneath the Temple walls by the monster, and her team followed. What was the sickness? Was it a possession, like what Jacob's enemy did to Locke? We know that Robert, Lacombe, and Brennan weren't the same after they went into the hole...were the possessed by the monster? Either way, Danielle was right. It killed them all. Or rather, she killed them all.

And then Charlie utters that oft-repeated line: "Guys...where are we?" It's a good question that hasn't really been fully answered, yet, because, well, the Island moves a lot.

You can discuss "Pilot, Part 2" in this forum thread. You can find others' reviews of this episode at the Lostpedia hub. Look for my review of "Tabula Rasa" Thursday.

The Lost Rewatch: 1x01 "Pilot, Part 1"

2009-05-31T20:32:00.002-07:00

This is my first blog post of the Lost Rewatch, and I can't say that I'm not excited. Even though this blog will only be covering the first of 103 hours, I'm ready to start watching my favorite TV show from the beginning. We're going back to where it all began -- before the Others, before the flash forwards, before the time travel, before the Jughead. We're going back to "Pilot, Part 1."

As with every great series, Lost starts with an iconic shot that will come to define the series. After the episode starts off with that blurred Lost title, we get that shot: Jack's eye snapping open, dilating quickly. (Here's a fun fact: that pupil was actually the product of CGI.) This shot, in a way, remains relevant for the entire series. Not only does the eye, through its rapid dilation, convey the confusion and fear that will underline much of the mystery of the series, but it also shows that the show is more about the characters. Someone more eloquent than me once said that the "eye is the window to the soul," and surely this shot represents that we will be examining the very soul of these characters from week to week. Perhaps close-up shots of eyes have opened eighteen episodes and been seen in eighteen more. We'll see this particular shot of Jack's eye again in "316," in which Jack returns to the Island. In fact, this scene will almost be perfectly repeated, with Jack awakening in the middle of the jungle and running toward the sound of someone screaming. Does this have significance? If Jack landed in a similar place after being teleported out of Flight 316, does this mean that he was possibly teleported out of Flight 815?

As Jack is still gathering his bearings, he is visited by Vincent, who walks up to him slowly before running off into the jungle. If you watched the Missing Pieces mobisodes, you'll know that Vincent was told to go wake up Jack by who appears to be Christian Shephard (but I think is Jacob's nemesis). Jack then looks at the pocket vodka that Cindy gave to him while he was on the plane, and then begins to run haphazardly through the bamboo, eventually coming out on the beach, and noticing the large amount of flaming fuselage sitting further down the beach. But before he does that, he passes a white tennis shoe hanging from a tree. The shoe seems to match the ones that Jack gave Christian to be buried in, which he talked about with Kate in "316." Does this have any significance? Probably not. It's probably just some mildly symbolic item to hint that there's been a plane crash before we actually see the fuselage seconds later.

And as Jack surfaces onto the beach, we hear screaming, probably from Shannon. Jack dodges a turbine and runs through the wreckage of a familiar red, white, and blue plane: Oceanic Flight 815 is sitting on the beach. As Jack passes the open cabin, you can see a person hanging upside down and flailing in their seat. This person's hand will later hang into the frame as Jack looks into the cabin after the chaos subsides.

Jack looks over to a turbine, and we see the second person that will become a main character: Charlie, standing next to the turbine, in shock. Jin screams for Sun, Michael screams for Walt, Shannon screams for Boone, and a man screams for someone off-screen to stay away from the gas. This wouldn't be notable, save for the fact that this actor will appear once again as the mortician in "White Rabbit," the episode that will kick off next week.

A man trapped under a piece of metal screams for help (this man is played by Dale Radomski, a stuntman who appeared as an Other in season two and has conducted an interview with Lostpedia), and Jack rushes to his aid. Jack can't do it on his own, so he calls Locke and another man over to help him out. This is probably both the first and last time that Jack and Locke will work together for the same means. It was nice while it lasted.

And then there's Claire, eight months pregnant with her bundle of joy Aaron, screaming for help. Jack can hardly finish tying off the wounded man's tourniquet before he's rushing to help Claire, who, even though he doesn't know it, is his long-lost half sister, and the indirect season that he was even on the plane. It's a sad irony that won't be revealed until the season three episode "Par Avion," but it only adds that much to retrospective viewing.

Boone tries to perform CPR on an unconscious Rose, who, ironically, will outsurvive him for at least three years. Locke tries to warn Bad Twin author Gary Troup to get out of the turbine's way, but Troup is probably too busy worrying about his girlfriend, flight attendant Cindy Chandler (who survived with the tail section) to get out of the way, and instead stops and asks Locke to repeat himself, a mistake that costs him his life as he is sucked into the turbine, which promptly explodes. Of course, as that turbine blows, there's that flash of black swooping across the screen that many believed to be the smoke monster before it was confirmed to be just bad CGI.

Jack calls to Hurley, who is standing nearby, to stay with Claire. Hurley responds less than favorably, but I think we all know that the "you gotta be kidding me" line was referencing his bad "luck," not Jack's request for help. He asks for Jack's name, to which Jack replies Jack. After pointing out Boone's incompetence as a lifeguard and sending him on a pointless mission to collect pens (which we will see another angle of in "Expose"), Jack saves Rose's life. As soon as he tells her to take deep breaths, the wing sways and threatens to crush Hurley and Claire, who are saved just in the nick of time by Jack. Sure, he's being noble, but that need to fix things is very, very evident.

After that explosion, the debris of which nearly crushes Charlie, the hubbub seems to subside, and Jack wanders through the wreckage, shellshocked. He then looks into the cabin and sees the hand dangling over his head. It's a sobering moment for anyone just beginning Lost: the show is not afraid of death. Boone returns with a handful of pens, showing them to Jack. This is foreshadowing at its greatest; if Boone is dumb enough to think that the pens still matter, he obviously won't make it very long on the Island. And he won't.

Jack picks out the sewing kit, and runs away into the jungle to sew himself up. Kate appears (rubbing her wrists where the handcuffs were), and he tells her to sew him up. In a later continuation of this scene, Jack will tell her the "count to five" story, which we recently experienced firsthand in "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2." As you remember, right after that story went down, Jack met Jacob for the first (and maybe only) time. Jacob, one of the biggest mysteries of seasons three through five, has been right on the edge of one of Jack's biggest memories. The sewing scene also serves as the beginning of the Jack and Kate relationship that has been so hotly debated amongst fans. It's the beginning of a complicated and often fickle relationship. But this is one of the few episodes where Sawyer is not an obstacle in the relationship between Jack and Kate.

But he's introduced in the very next scene, lighting a cigarette next to the fuselage, and walking around angstily. In a deleted scene that originally took place within this one, Charlie came up and asked Sawyer for a cigarette. Sawyer gives Charlie the cigarette he is smoking, and lights another. Sawyer actually looks sad for a moment before continuing down the beach. Claire's standing near the surf, letting the waves lap over her feet. Kate would later call this practice "sinking," in the episode "Raised By Another," because the waves would carry the sand away. This shot of Claire would be reused in the mobisode, "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack." Meanwhile, Hurley sorts the food, a role he will once again have when the Swan station is discovered to have a large pantry. And there's the ever-mysterious Locke, staring out at the waves. Just this one shot let's us know that there's something...special...about him.

At twelve minutes in, we meet Sayid for the first time, building a fire with Charlie's help. And meanwhile, Rose holds Bernard's wedding ring, kissing it. She knows, somehow, that Bernard is alive, even though he's on the other side of the Island. I'm not suggesting anything supernatural, but Rose's faith is very solid. I think she'd be on Eko's side in the science vs. faith debate.

That night, Charlie writes "FATE" on his finger bandages, a somewhat iconinc moment for the character, and one that was immortalized with the Charlie action figure which is currently sitting next to me on my desk. Sayid begins to express discomfort about the rescuers' lateness. Shannon and Boone bicker, setting up the light rivalry between them, which will soon end, as they will be the first two main characters to die. Shannon references the plane's black box, something that Captain Gault later claims to have with him on the Kahana, though the box in his possession was a fake created by Charles Widmore, who we unfortunately will not meet for quite a while.

Walt's coldness toward Michael is shown as they lie in front of a campfire. Of course, at this point they hardly know each other. This relationship will come full circle, as Walt will eventually come to accept Michael before shunning him once again after learning of Michael's murders of Ana Lucia and Libby. It doesn't look like there will be another chance for them, because Michael was killed onboard the Kahana. Meanwhile, Jin establishes guidelines for Sun in a hard, domineering way. He's been changed by working for her father, but the relationship between Sun and Jin will drastically change over the course of the show. Sun shouldn't be pitied, she's actually more manipulative than he is. He may not be the best husband, but he never cheated on her.

Jack and Kate watch over the marshal Edward Mars, who was actually transporting Kate to Los Angeles to stand trial for the murder of her father, Wayne Janssen. Kate and the marshal have quite a history together, but it'll end soon when he dies from the shrapnel (well, fromSawyer's bullet and Jack's euthanization, at least). Later, Jack and Kate discuss their experiences of the crash. Jack blacked out, but Kate remembers vividly what happened, telling Jack that the cockpit and the tail both broke off, something we'll see from a better angle when Juliet's book club is interrupted in "A Tale of Two Cities." Jack says he wants to find a cockpit for the transceiver, a mission that they will go on the next day. Jack mentions having taken flying lessons, but it "wasn't for him." Kate volunteers to tag along, something she would do regardless of whether or not they actually want her to -- a personal flaw that will get the best of her in season two's "The Hunting Party." She says that she saw smoke. While that may have been from the cockpit, we also know that the monster frequented that area for a while.

And then enters the monster, the mysteriously Egyptian-related cloud of smoke that tonight terrorizes the survivors by uprooting trees in the jungle. That's not usually the monster's main objective -- usually it's more concerned with judging and killing people. It's obviously not a feral beast, but more of a calculating, judgmental beast whom I personally think is Jacob's nemesis. So is he just asserting his authority, or is Smoky doing something else entirely? Locke looks around at the jungle, hearing for the first time its mysterious qualities (aside from the healing of his paraplegia). Walt asks if the thing shaking the trees is his dog, Vincent, one of the dumbest lines of the entire series. Or is it? Vincent's always been enigmatic, but is this some hint that he's related to the monster? Walt's generally been shown to be somewhat smart and "special," and that question would be out of character for him if there's not something else behind that line. Charlie, deadpan as always, sarcastically comments "terrific."

And then we get our first flashback, the very first one in a very long line. It doesn't go back very far, though; just to earlier that day. Jack's on the plane, looking out the window at the wing that would later threaten to fall on Hurley and Claire. Flight attendant Cindy Chandler asks him how is drink is, to which he replies that it's not a very strong drink. She's charismatic and sweet, and hands him two small bottles of vodka, which he will later use to disinfect the gash on his back. She walks away, and Jack will not see her again until the season three episode "Stranger in a Strange Land," because she was kidnapped by the Others during her time with the tail section.

Jack dumps the first bottle of vodka into his drink and takes a rather large sip, perhaps foreshadowing to his alcoholic tendencies once rescued from the Island. He stands up to go the bathroom, but is passed by Charlie, who we find out in the next episode was running from the flight attendants in order to get a fix in the bathroom. Jack looks over, and he's sitting next to Rose, whose husband Bernard has gone to the bathroom in the tail section of the plane. Rose won't see Bernard again until the episode "Collision," when Bernard arrives back at the beach camp. The plane shakes, and for a brief moment, Locke is seen sitting behind Rose. Jack tries to reassure her, but the turbulence just gets worse. Jack promises to keep Rose company until Bernard gets back from the bathroom. Just as Jack tells her not to worry, the plane shakes, and some fool who forgot to fasten his seatbelt is flung into the ceiling. Masks drop, and the plane continues to fall until Jack presumably blacks out, ending the flashback.

Back on the Island, the survivors discuss what exactly the monster was. Rose said it sounded familiar to her, even though she grew up in the Bronx. This is a reference to the fact that part of the audio used to create the monster is rendered from the reciept dispenser of a taxicab, though this subtle in-joke is often taken by fans to mean more than it actually does. Hurley also says "technically, you know, we don't even know if we're on an Island." This is also an in-joke about the fact that if Lost hadn't been picked up, the producers jokingly stated that they'd have the show end with the survivors being in Florida.

Kate and Jack prepare to leave for the cockpit, but first Kate needs to get better shoes, which she morosely accomplishes by removing them from a corpse. Down the beach, Locke is eating an orange, and gives her the infamous orange-peel grin, which Kate does not appreciate. However, audiences did, because it has been lauded as one of the funniest moments of the series. Another funny moment comes a few seconds later, as Hurley misspells "bodies" (b-o-d-y-s) in an attempt to protect Walt's innocence, but Walt corrects his spelling. Jack then alerts them that he's going to look for the cockpit. Charlie, remembering that he left his drugs in the cockpit bathroom, decides to tag along.

On the way to the cockpit, they trek across the Mesa, a location that has been used multiple times: it was the location of the 1954 Others camp and it was where Ben killed his father during the Purge. Kate, finding Charlie familiar, discovers that he's a member of the band DriveShaft. She finds this coincidence interesting; Jack doesn't have time for such small talk. Kate says that DriveShaft was good, but Charlie insists that the band still is. He'll later accept that the band is no more in "Greatest Hits," when he says that they "had their moment in the sun." And as they walk on, Vincent watches from afar. Is he possessed by either Jacob or Jacob's enemy to look after the other survivors? After all, they both seemed pretty interested in the affairs of humans. It couldn't be hard to possess a dog, right?

It starts to rain. Charlie comments that this is "day turning into night" type weather (notice the black and white similarities there). Locke sits out on the beach in the rain, enjoying himself. He's always had an affinity for the rain, as later seen in "Confirmed Dead," when he was able to predict a coming rain.

And then the monster returns, knocking down the trees. Why is it doing that? But Rose knows there's trouble brewing, because Jack, Kate, and Charlie are still in the jungle. The cockpit is soon found, though, and they quickly get inside. It's on an incline, so they struggle to climb up. Jack opens the door to the cockpit, and out flies the co-pilot's body, who obviously died rather quickly. Isn't that familiar? The copilot dies first, while the pilot is left alive? Flight 316, anyone?

They look around for the transciever, but instead find out that the pilot, Seth Norris, is alive. He discovers that he's been out cold for sixteen hours (the numbers were popping up back before we even knew they existed). The pilot reveals that six hours in, the radio went out. They turned back to land at Fiji, but by the time the plane crashed, they were a thousand miles off course. No one would know where they were. Which, as we would later find out, wouldn't matter anyway, because the Island moves a lot. Seth shows them where the transciever is, and then they realize that Charlie's missing. He's actually in the bathroom, getting his drugs. Kate goes out to find him as Seth realizes that the transciever's not working. Suddenly, Charlie pops out of the bathroom, dodging her question why he was in there.

And then the monster lets out its signature howl. The survivors huddle in the cockpit for safety. After it looks like the monster is gone, Seth stupidly sticks his head out the window of the cockpit and is suddenly dragged out by the monster. Why did the monster do this? Did it judge Seth? This was again, one of the strange, almost senseless actions that the monster took in the first season. All I can say was that at least Frank couldn't make it onto that flight, or he'd be gone.

They flee the cockpit with the transciever after the monster knocks the cockpit down, and the monster pursues them. Charlie falls, and calls for Jack to help him. Jack, of course, having something to fix, turns around and helps. Kate flees into a bamboo patch (similar to the one Walt will hide from the polar bear in during "Special,") and screams for Jack. This moment will be immortalized in the Kate action figure. She counts to five to ease her fear, and appears to be a little calmer. Just as she seems to have gained her composure, Charlie appears, startling her. She fears for Jack's life because he hasn't showed up yet. Kate mutters that they "have to go back" for him, the first (but not the last) time this phrase is uttered on the show. Charlie argues, but she goes anyway, and he follows. While looking for him, Charlie expresses his jealousy that Kate didn't shout his name.

They see Seth's pilot ensignia in the mud, and then they see the reflection of a body in a tree. Jack appears and says it's the pilot, but the pilot's mangled body leads Charlie to ask how something like that happens. The body was originally planned to be Jack's, as a ploy by the producers to shock the audience, but this was eventually abandoned so that the audience was not alienated from the pilot episode on. However, this idea of killing off the supposed leader was revisted with Flight 316, when Caesar, the supposed leader of the survivors, was gunned down by Ben in "Dead is Dead."

As the pilot's mangled body is revealed, the all too familiar cut to black with the word LOST in white is shown, a formula that would continue until the season five finale, when the end title was inverted.

And thus ends the first episode of the Lost Rewatch. Sorry for the long post, but there was so much to cover. The next ones will be at least a little shorter, I promise.

You can discuss "Pilot, Part 1" in this forum thread. You can find others' reviews of this episode at the Lostpedia hub.

And also, don't forget to work on the "Pilot, Part 1" article on Lostpedia and improve it as much as possible!

Look for my review of "Pilot, Part 2" on Wednesday.

The Lost Rewatch begins!

2009-05-31T18:07:00.002-07:00

According to Lostpedia's internal clock, it's June 1st. You know what that means: it's time for the Lost Rewatch to begin! From today until January 3 of 2010, we will be rewatching and discussing every episode of Lost, from "Pilot, Part 1," to "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2." It'll be a great time for the Lost community to grow closer before the sixth and final season commences in late January of next year.

While I have already discussed this in a previous blog post, I'll go over it once again just so that it's fresh on everyone's mind.

We will have nine participating sites (including Lostpedia) to take part in the rewatch. Here is a list of them:

There are also a variety of ways to follow the Lost Rewatch. You can always check in at the rewatch hub on Lostpedia, where you can follow the blog posts of all the different participating sites, as well as find out where you can watch the episodes. You can also follow the official Lost Rewatch account on Twitter (@lostrewatch). There's also the Facebook group.

If you want to discuss the episodes, the Lostpedia forums are the place to do it. We've set aside an entire subforum just for rewatch discussion, so feel free to join and post.

This week's episodes will be "Pilot, Part 1," "Pilot, Part 2," "Tabula Rasa," and "Walkabout." Don't forget to improve the Lostpedia articles as you rewatch! My review for "Pilot, Part 1" will be posted in just a few hours.

And keep track of the coming weeks' episodes with this schedule on Lostpedia.

This will be a fun and exciting event for everyone involved. I hope you can join us!

LP Caption Contest #3

2009-05-30T08:01:00.002-07:00

Lost Season 5 Review

2009-05-29T16:14:00.053-07:00

Well it's been a few weeks since "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2" aired around the world, ending Lost's superb fifth season with a climactic and unforgettable cliffhanger. So now, I figured it would be a good time to do an all-encompassing review of Lost's fifth season, right before we engage in the five-season-long LOST Rewatch.

I will start by saying that this season has been my favorite season so far -- it has been full of shocking twists, intricate mythology, enigmatic time travel, and incredible character development. The writers have truly succeeded at creating a show that comprehensively explains mysteries and systematically improves.

Episode 1: "Because You Left"

In the epic and unforgettable first scene of the season, Pierre Chang is filming the DHARMA Orientation for the Arrow station (a station that is shrouded in mystery). I was very glad to see that the Arrow had more purpose than being an abandoned stocking and staging area for the D.I.H.G. The purpose of this station is to develop defensive warfare against the Hostile natives of the Island. During filming, Chang is interrupted and brought to the Orchid station where it's revealed that energy released from drilling too close to the frozen wheel has killed a construction worker. Unbeknownst to Chang, Daniel Faraday has snuck into the station, and knows that what just happened at the Orchid will soon happen at the Swan, but the energy there is 30,000 tmies greater than at the Orchid. The premiere this season dove full-force into the mysterious aspects of time travel. Time travel has been gradually and slowly integrated into LOST -- in "Flashes Before Your Eyes", Desmond time traveled after turning the fail-safe key -- in "The Constant", Desmond time traveled through consciousness intermittently between past and present -- and finally, in "The Shape of Things to Come" and "There's No Place Like Home, Part 3," the full story of Ben's time travel jounrey was complete. Ben had traveled ten months into the future, and started to work with Sayid.

"Because You Left" starts to slowly unravel something that has been foreshadowed for quite some time -- Jack is really "lost," and his only way to regain purpose is to return to the Island. This was a great start to a great season -- time travel was a very risky concept for the writers to employ, but I'm glad they did.

Episode 2: "The Lie"

This episode revealed that Hurley Reyes has had a long struggle with maintaining the "lie" that the survivors developed to protect the Island. We also get to see some amazing Neil Frogurt scenes (finally!). His scenes however, do not end well -- after scolding the survivors for not making fire, he himself is killed by flaming arrows shot by the Others.

One of my favorite scenes of this episode was Hurley's amazing conversation with his mother Carmen. Hurley spills the beans on their "lie" by giving Carmen an epic, comprehensive recap of everything we've seen on Lost thus far:

"Okay. See, we did crash, but it was on this crazy island. And we waited for rescue, and there wasn't any rescue. And there was a smoke monster, and then there were other people on the island. We called them the Others, and they started attacking us. And we found some hatches, and there was a button you had to push every 108 minutes or... well, I was never really clear on that. But... the Others didn't have anything to do with the hatches. That was the DHARMA Initiative. The Others killed them, and now they're trying to kill us. And then we teamed up with the Others because some worse people were coming on a freighter. Desmond's girlfriend's father sent them to kill us. So we stole their helicopter and we flew it to their freighter, but it blew up. And we couldn't go back to the island because it disappeared, so then we crashed into the ocean, and we floated there for a while until a boat came and picked us up. And by then, there were six of us. That part was true. But the rest of the people... who were on the plane? They're still on that island."

- Hugo Reyes

And of course, who could forget the amazing reveal at the end of this episode? It is revealed that Eloise Hawking, last seen with Desmond in "Flashes Before Your Eyes," (unless you count the easter egg at Moriah Vineyards) is invovled with Ben in the attempt to get the Oceanic 6 back to the Island.

Episode 3: "Jughead"

This will probably go down as one of the most epic Lost episodes of all time -- not only do we get to see amazing sequences of the Others, Richard, redshirts exploded, Desmond confront Charles, and Penny give birth to Charlie -- the on-Island events occur in 1954. I found it very enlightening and intriguing to view the Island in the perspective of 1954. A thought occurred to me after watching this season: what if the majority of the season took place in 1954 instead of 1977? I think that would be very interesting. We only got to see a small slice of the cake; I'm sure there is a lot more Island history we have't yet seen.

Of course, we get to see the hydrogen bomb "Jughead". This bomb will later come into play, and have an explosive (pun intended, haha) impact on the finale. I absolutely loved the off-Island scenes with Desmond in this episode. Desmond was on the sidelines for most of this season, and didn't get as large of a role as I hoped -- I was glad to see him be the spotlight and focus of things, even if it was just for one episode.

Episode 4: "The Little Prince"

Kate's struggle with the authorities continues in this episode, and her custody of Aaron is at risk. When Jack finds her, they follow Ben's attorney to Carole Littleton, who states that she doesn't know who "Aaron" is.

On the Island, we get to see some of my favorite scenes of LOST ever -- the survivors have flashed back a few months in time (to the era of "Deus Ex Machina" and "Do No Harm"). In my two favorite parts of the episode, Sawyer witnesses Kate help Claire give birth to Aaron, and Locke sees the light from the hatch in the distance. Every time I rewatch this scene, I wish that they would've been just a little closer to the hatch so that Locke could have heard himself yelling at "the island". John Locke also has one of my favorite quotes ever after Sawyer wonders why Locke didn't intervene with himself: "I needed that pain, to get to where I am now." Hopefully we will get to see the Ajira outrigger shootout in the future -- my guess is that Bram, Ilana, and the other statue people were the people chasing everyone in this episode.

Episode 5: "This Place Is Death"

It's the epic story we've been waiting for since early Season 1: Danielle and the French science expedition. I think that their story should have been throughout the entire episode, rather than just the first part. We get to see the science team shot right into action, seeing the mythology that has taken our Losties months to see -- Montand is dragged by the Monster to the Temple, where most of the team becomes "infected".

Charlotte dies from the time shifts in this episode -- I wasn't too sad to see her go, as she was one of my least favorite characters, and one of the least interesting in my opinion. In one of my favorite scenes, we see John Locke talk with Christian Shephard. He convinces John to turn the wheel, and that he must "sacrifice" himself for the islanders. I have a theory that Christian is really the mysterious man we saw with Jacob in the finale - and that he is also the smoke monster. I guess we won't know till Season 6, though. I absolutely loved seeing this episode unfold; we first heard about Danielle's story in Season 1 (in "Pilot, Part 2", "Solitary", and "Exodus.") This was a story we have all been waiting to see, and we finally get to see it. I thought it was nice to see Jin give Locke his wedding wing, to keep Sun away from the island -- ironically, that is the force that will eventually cause her to want to go back to the island. I found it a little odd, though, that Sun would so willingly leave her daughter Ji Yeon back home, and go on a trip back to find Jin.

Episode 6: "316"

Some of the Oceanic 6 make their long-awaited and epic return to the Island. With the help of Eloise, Jack, Kate, and Sun go aboard Ajira Airways Flight 316 to go through the 'window' that will get them back to the island. Sayid comes back to the Island unwillingly, along with Ilana (later revealed to be on a personal mission from Jacob). Hurley is also told by Jacob, who says that he has a choice, to return to the Island.

In one of my favorite scenes, Ben tells Jack the story of Thomas the Apostle, and how he had to actually "see" Jesus' wounds to believe that he rose from the dead. This relates to Jack and how he has made a large leap of faith -- man of science, to man of faith. This episode is top-notch in my book. Everything about this episode reminded me of the classic Season 1 -- the opening scene, the music, and the characters all made this episode one of the best ever. Jack has made a complete leap of faith -- what he did in this episode (putting Christian's shoes on Locke) is much like something Locke would do. It's amazing that Locke's words back from the Season 1 episode "Exodus, Part 2" have shown to be true:

JACK: I don't believe in destiny.

LOCKE: Yes you do. You just don't know it yet.

Jack has been told numerous times throughout LOST that he shouldn't leave the island -- Locke told him on several occasions ("Through the Looking Glass", "There's No Place Like Home") and Ben has also said that he may one day regret leaving ("King of the Castle"). Jack realizes he made a mistake, and that his destiny is on the Island.

Episode 7: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

The long-awaited story of John Locke's perilous off-Island journey is revealed. Locke is unable to get any of the Oceanic 6 to want to return to the Island -- this of course, launches him into depression, and he is about to hang himself when none other than Ben Linus storms in, intervening. After watching the finale, I'm beginning to fear that Locke's off-Island venture was not meant to happen -- Christian Shephard and "fake Locke" (a.k.a. Esau, Flocke, etc.) both said that Locke had to die --- why? Probably so that Flocke could takeover Locke's identity, manipulate Ben into wanting to kill Jacob, and fulfilling his promise to find a loophole.

Anyways, back to this episode. I was glad to see that Locke had pursued his lost love Helen Norwood, who unfortunately had passed away. This episode shows us a great conversation between Jack and Locke -- Jack refuses to believe Locke's claims that his father is still alive, and completely refutes all of the "destiny" and "you have to go back" stuff. We all know that he will soon undergo extreme character developement. This episode contains one of the biggest and most shocking twists of all-time -- Ben Linus kills John Locke! And since Locke didn't get raised from the dead, we know that Ben actually killed Locke.

Episode 8: "LaFleur"

In one of the best episodes of the season, we get to see James "Sawyer" Ford undergo the greatest character development in Lost, ever. Starting as a con man on a mysterious island, intent on hoarding everything for himself, stealing guns from the camp, and always focused on himself - Sawyer has become the DHARMA Initiative head of security. He has a powerful position in the DI. I absolutely love this episode -- not only do we get to see the characters in DHARMA times, we see it from two points of view. In 1974, Juliet wants to return home on the sub, but Sawyer convinces her to stay. They end up falling in love (and become the best relationship in LOST in my opinion, Suliet...) The scenes with Sawyer and Juliet are awesome -- there isn't any drama and fighting like with Jack/Kate or Sawyer/Kate scenes. Juliet and Sawyer are a great match.

The DHARMA Initiative has been a compelling mystery ever since Season 2. We have seen bits and pieces of mythology relating to DHARMA, but this season (and particularly this episode) has given us great insight into the people, events, and mysteries related to DHARMA. Horace Goodspeed is a character only seen twice in the LOST before this episode ("The Man Behind the Curtain" and "Cabin Fever"). It is very interesting to learn more about these characters. Overall, this episode ranks as my third favorite from this season.

Episode 9: "Namaste"

This was probably one of the weaker episodes of the season. Not much happens, other than we get to see Jack, Kate, and Hurley brought in to the DI. Sayid is unlucky, and is caught by Jin and Radzinsky inside the Flame perimeter. This, of course, isn't good since Stuart thinks he's a Hostile. The best part of this episode was seeing Pierre Chang hand out janatorial duties to Jack. However, Jack doesn't demand a new job or go throw a fit, he is actually content with things, for the first time in a long time. This was very awesome to see -- I definitely like the new Jack (so far, at least). Rather than lead a group to a radio tower, go on a treacherous mission for dynamite, or give a speech about living together and dying alone -- Jack decides to sit back and make some sandwiches... Now that is some major character development.

Episode 10: "He's Our You"

This is probably the most underrated episode of the season. Not only do we get to see Sayid captured by Ilana, but we also get to see young Ben for the first time since "The Man Behind the Curtain". Ben has been living a terrible life, and his abusive father Roger isn't helping at all. Sayid is brought to Oldham, who is the "torturer" or the DI. He doesn't really torture Sayid, but he sedates him and gives him drugs that force him to tell the truth; and he does. He reveals the truth about everything -- Flight 815, Ajira 316, the survivors, and even Sawyer (LaFleur)... but Stuart seems focused on his Swan model over anything else. In the final scene we see one of the best cliffhangers ever -- Sayid shoots young Ben, knowing that he will soon grow up into the diabolical, manipulative man that made him an assasin. This is a fantastic episode that shows us the dark relationship between Sayid and Ben. I love to see the character correlations in this episode: In 1977, Sayid (in his future) shoots Ben (in his past) because of what Ben (in his future) did to Sayid (in his past). Yes, Lost can be confusing someimes, but it makes it all the more awesome.

Episode 11: "Whatever Happened, Happened"

This episode probably ranks as the best Kate-centric in LOST. This episode sort of takes off where "The Little Prince" left off -- Kate is continuously plagued by the guilt of taking Aaron. She goes to see Cassidy Phillips, mother of Clementine (Sawyer told her to do this, in "TNPLH"). Cassidy has no toruble reminding Kate that she took Aaron because she needed someone. She calls Sawyer a coward, claiming that the only reason he jumped off the helicopter was to escape from Kate. Back at the Barracks, Juliet attempts to save young Ben, who is suffering terribly from his gun shot wound at close range. Jack refuses to help with saving him, saying that he already did that once before (back at the Hydra, Season 3). Juliet knows the only way to save him is to take him to the Others. In one of my favorite scenes of this show, Hurley and Miles engage in an epic conversation about WHH (whatever happened, happened).

"Back to the Future," man. We came back in time to the island and changed stuff. So if little Ben dies, he'll never grow up to be big Ben, who's the one who made us come back here in the first place. Which means we can't be here. And therefore, dude? We don't exist.

- Hugo Reyes

This episode ends with great mythology -- Richard Alpert takes young Ben into the Temple without consent from either Charles Widmore or Eloise Hawking (two prominent Others). This, of course, is what saves him, and he grows up to be the Ben that we all know (and sometimes love...)

Episode 12: "Dead Is Dead"

This is definitely the second best episode of the season. To start things off, we get to see Ben shoot Caesar (who was expected to become a major character in the show) in the chest, instantly killing him. This allows him and Locke to make a journey to the "real island," and they make their way to the Barracks. They find Sun and Frank, who have been waiting for Locke (on the orders of Christian Shephard). Ben tries to summon the Monster, but it doesn't come -- Locke (who is really the fake Locke) says that they need to go to it. And he knows exactly where it is: the Temple. In one of my favorite sequences of the episode, Ben is judged by the Monster for letting his daughter Alex die back in "The Shape of Things to Come." The Monster lets Ben live. In flashbacks, we get to see very interesting chunks of island history -- we see Ben capture Alex from Danielle, much to the dislike of Widmore. We get to see Charles Widmore exiled from the Island, largely based on his relationship with an outsider. And we get to see Ben confront Penny (Widmore's daughter) at the marina; he almost kills her, but stops after seeing Charlie Hume. Desmond then beats him up, throwing him in the water. I absolutely loved this episode, and it ranks one of the best of the series.

Episode 13: "Some Like It Hoth"

Finally... we get a Miles-centric (even if it is one of the stragest episode titles ever). Miles is one of my favorite characters, and he has really grown over these past two seasons. I really disliked Miles in Season 4 -- he was annoying, selfish, and a just plain boring character compared to everyone else. Miles has evolved into a great character though, and I thought this was a genuine episode that revealed a lot of connections between him and the Island. It was revealed (not to my surprise) that Pierre Chang (a DHARMA leader who has appeared in numerous orientation films) is his father. I thought this was great work by the writers -- it was a perfect way to relate Miles to the Island. In one of the light-hearted aspects of this episode, Hurley is seen writing the script for "The Empire Strikes Back." He plans to send George Lucas the script when he's finish to save him some work. Miles and Hurley are a great duo, and I loved their scenes together. In another great scene, Hurley sees the Hatch being built, and once again he faces those ominous numbers: 4 8 15 16 23 42.

Episode 14: "The Variable"

It's episode 100 -- my expectations for this episode were tremendously high. This Daniel Faraday centric gave us a ton of insight on his family -- Eloise Hawking (leader of the Others in 1977) is the mother of Daniel. Daniel saw his own mother in 1954 during a time flash. To make things more complicated, Charles Widmore is his father! A disappointing aspect of this episode was the lack of Desmond -- Desmond has been at the sidelines for pretty much this entire season, and I wish they had put more emphasis on his character in this episode (considering that the episode title mirrors that of "The Constant," a prominent Desmond-centric from Season 4). At Dharmaville, things get messy when Radzinsky catches Kate, Daniel, and Jack collecting guns at the Motor Pool -- a shootout ensues, and they escape to go to the Hostiles. Daniel says that he has to find his mother, Eloise. In a shocking twist, Daniel claims that he has focused so much on the CONSTANTS and whatever happened, happened -- he forgot about the VARIABLES. Daniel says that free will exists; they make choices, decisions, and they can change things. He wants to detonate Jughead, the hydrogen bomb, in order to negate the hatch, destroy the electromagnetic energy, and prevent Desmond from every forgetting to push the button, and finally preventing the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. I thought it was interesting to see Daniel completely change viewpoints; he had been strongly focused on WHH, and suddenly he says that variables exist. At the end of this episode, we shockingly see Eloise kill her own son, Daniel. Daniel was a great character, and this was a great way for him to die -- telling his mother, "I'm your son."

Episode 15: "Follow the Leader"

The penultimate episode of the season can be described in only one word - EPIC. Flocke (also known by a variety of nicknames like Esau/Mr. X/Jacob's nemesis/Unlocke) goes to the Others' camp, where he finds the ageless advisor Richard Alpert. He says that they have an errand to run, and Ben must come along. Ben snarkily replies with, "afraid I'll stage a coup?" But Locke is no longer afraid of Ben. They go into the jungle to find the "real" time-traveling Locke; Flocke commands Richard to tell the real Locke that he must leave the island and die. This, of course, is all part of Flcoke's plan (I believe that Flocke wants Locke to die so that he can takeover his identity, hence manipulating Ben to kill Jacob -- this is probably the loophole that he's been aiming to achieve for more two hundred years). In 1977, Jack has seemed to takeover Daniel's mission -- detonate Jughead, and erase a substantial part of their lives. Kate is not so keen on this -- perhaps she thinks her life has been better because of the crash. If the plane hadn't crashed, she could still be in jail for murdering her father. We get to see Sayid return -- he's been absent for quite some time, and still thinks that he was able to kill young Ben.

Jack, Eloise, Richard, and Sayid venture into the tunnels, and prepare to find a way to detonate the bomb. I absolutely loved the Richard scenes in this episode -- he is present in two timelines spanning 30 years (1977 and 2007) -- he has always been one of the most intriguing characters in the show. I absolutely love the hilarious conversation between Chang and Hurley:

DR. CHANG: Your friend Faraday said that you were from the future. I need to know if he was telling the truth.

HURLEY: Dude, that's ridiculous.

DR. CHANG: What year were you born? What year?

HURLEY: Uh... 1931?

DR. CHANG: You're 46?

HURLEY: Yeah. Yes, I am.

DR. CHANG: So you fought in the Korean War?

HURLEY: There's... no such thing.

DR. CHANG: Who's the President of the United States?

HURLEY: All right, dude, we're from the future.

Hurley is just such a great character. I love funny moments like these in LOST -- it's amazing that LOST can be so dark, mysterious, and enigmatic and at the same time be funny.

Episode 16: "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2"

This episode is mindblowing -- it is the best finale and episode of the show ever, in my opinion. We get to see an incredible opening scene -- it reveals that Jacob has been alive since the 1800s, and he has a nemesis; this man has been searching for a loophole - a way to kill Jacob. The origins of their rivalry has yet to be exlpained. Jacob lives inside the four-toed statue, and we get to see a nice close-up of this age-old mystery. I am very glad to see that the writers introduced us to Jacob immediately, rather than waiting for some cliffhanger reveal. We don't just see brief moments with Jacob -- this is actually a Jacob-centric. Jacob is featured and seen in many of the survivors lives, including Sun, Jin, Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, and Sayid. In every one of these encounters, he appeared to 'touch' them -- perhaps a touch from Jacob somehow lures you to the island through the work of destiny? Flocke continues to lead the Others to Jacob -- he says that Ben is the one that will have to kill him. We also learn that Jacob's cabin has been used by someone else for quite some time -- perhaps all of those ominous apparitions we saw in Season 3 and 4 weren't Jacob after all. In an astonishing reveal, we learn that Locke has been dead since he was strangled by Ben in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham." Flcoke has taken over his identity, and he manipulated Ben to kill Jacob. I still don't believe that JACOB, the ageless seemingly all-powerful island entity, was killed by Ben. I'm pretty sure that Jacob wanted to be killed, for reasons unknown. Back at the Swan site, Juliet falls into a massive hole, along with the bomb didn't go off with the fall. In her last effort, Juliet detonates the bomb. I'm curious to see what will happen next...

Overall this has been a captivating, compelling, and incredible season. There have been shocking mythological reveals and tremendous character development -- let's hope that Season 6 will fill the rest of this amazing story.