Thursday, November 15, 2007

Archive Post: S3E18 - "D.O.C. (Date of Conception)"

Episode: D.O.C. (Date of Conception)

Characters: Jin and Sun

Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed last night’s episode. There were a lot of really cool things that happened, so let’s get right into it….

The Resurrection of Mikhail: Most likely as an effect of Hurly shooting a flare into the air, we hear someone running toward the group. They all look up and see… Mikhail! He’s alive! But how? When you look back at the scene from where Locke threw him into the sonic fence, Sayid said that it looked like he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage… which, technically, isn’t always fatal. And they didn’t check to make sure he was dead. SO, it’s totally plausible.

The Effects of the Sonic Fence: I said, “THE EFFECTS OF THE SONIC FENCE”! Could it be that Mikhail has some serious loss of hearing, caused by the cerebral hemorrhage? He made a gesture to Charlie suggesting that he didn’t hear him. I wrote that off as Mikhail just being a smart ass…. But while Jin was running after him (after he stole the phone), he just walked away and didn’t run…. Even though the crowd behind him was making a lot of noise. So did he not hear the losties chasing behind him?

The Multi-Lingual Stranger: Our newest friend (who’s credited as “Naomi”) appears to speak at least 5 languages: Spanish, English, Chinese, Italian, and Portugese. But how do you say “Liar” in Portugese? While the losties take turns translating Naomi’s comments, she speaks in Portugese, a language in which it appears only Mikhail can translate. And unfortunately, he lied to the losties about the translation. While he told them that she was thanking him for helping her, the actual translation of what she said was… (are you ready for this?)…. “I am not alone.” WHAT?! Does that mean that Penny is on the island? Who did she come with? When will we find out? We’ve only got 4 episodes left this season!!!!! I really hope she “comes to” next week and starts giving some answers… in ENGLISH!

Son of a Hooker: Sun was approached by a woman, who we later find out is Jin’s mother. Sun didn’t know that Jin’s parents were alive. As we’d known, Jin hid the identity of his father because he was ashamed of his background and didn’t want anyone to know where he came from. What Jin didn’t know was that his mother was still alive…. And is a blackmailing whore (pardon my language). She threatened Sun, saying that if she doesn’t bring her $100,000, she’ll come out and reveal his past. Trying her hardest to not embarrass Jin, she talks her dad into giving her the money.

How to Become a Hitman: Step one: Have your wife make a deal with her mobster father so that your hooker-mom doesn’t spill the beans about your past.

Sun’s father gives her the 100 G’s under the agreement that Jin is “promoted” from “Floor Manager” to “Goon”. And, as of the end of the episode, we still have yet to find out if Jin knows about his mother. He asked Sun about why she had the money, but as we all know, Sun is a big fat liar. It would only make sense that he found out the truth about what she did somewhere down the line and that’s why he resented her so much. It was her fault that he was forced to “deliver messages” for her dad. We know that he hated doing it, and it seemed that he had always blamed her for it. But now we know that he had a right to point the finger. If you ask me, she should’ve just cried to her daddy and said that this prostitute was threatening her life. Then Mr. Paik would’ve had one of his other goons track her down and chop her head off.

The Baby’ Daddy: In a scene that was certainly more touching that the traditional “…and the father is…” moments on Maury Povich, it is revealed that Jin fathered the baby. Perhaps this episode should’ve been called “Catch 22”, instead of last week’s. Here’s the deal: If Sun conceived the baby off of the island, then it would be Jae Lee’s baby and her marriage would be ruined. If she conceived the baby ON the island, it would be Jin’s (yay!), but she would probably die (boo!). It’s a lose-lose situation…. Unless Juliet can help her. Now, we know it’s easy to GET a woman pregnant on the island. (I mean, with a sperm count jumping to 5-times its normal amount on the island, I’m surprised girls aren’t getting pregnant just by standing next to a guy.) Juliet revealed that women who conceive on the island never make it to their third trimester. And from the conversations she’s had with Ben, it appears that if she is able to figure out a way for Sun to carry the baby full-term without dying, she will have succeeded in her research and will be let off the island. I’ve got my fingers crossed for you, Juliet!

Jack the Other: He seemed to be on a mission to find Sun and get answers about the baby. So was he just being a good doctor and friend who truly cared about her? Or has he been manipulated by the others? Is he helping Juliet get info about the baby? My opinion… he’s being a good friend and doc. He knows about their fertility research and wants to make sure she is okay. I don’t think he’ll be kidnapping her any time soon.

Mommy Kate? So, the sperm count on this island is 5-times its normal amount? I think we might want Kate to take a pregnancy test after hooking up with Sawyer…. Twice. And I’d be willing to put money on the fact that they didn’t use any Dharma-brand contraceptives. I’m thinking we’ll see a pregnant Kate in season 4. Maybe she and Sun can have a dual baby shower.

Flight 815: ……and now for the kicker. Naomi FINALLY speaks English after Hurley tells her that they are survivors of Oceanic Airlines, flight 815. Her response— Flight 815 was already found… and there were no survivors. HO-LY-CRAP!

So this brings about several theories……

1. Purgatory – Are all of the survivors of the crash actually dead, and are now stuck in purgatory? This is one of the first theories that surfaced about the Losties…. And is also one of the first to get debunked by the producers. It is NOT purgatory. Keep guessing

2. Staged Crash on the Island – The survivors of the crash are not actually survivors of a crash. The plane wreckage was planted on the island. And the flashbacks and memories of the losties were implanted into their brains. I don’t believe this one because Ben and Friends saw the plane crash. Then again, that part could’ve been staged for the Others too.

3. Staged Crash (plane found) – This is the one that I believe is true. The Hanso Foundation (or the government, or whoever is behind all of this) is covering up the truth by staging another plane crash, which they claim is Flight 815. My question…. Is this something that was done a week or so later, like, “Hey look… we found that plane that crashed!” or was it all part of the plan? Did it go missing for only a couple hours, before the decoy plane was brought in and taken down?

Next Week: YES! YES! YES! Next week is the return of John Locke in yet another Locke-centric episode, titled “The Brig”. From the looks of the preview, Locke claims to have captured Ben and demands that Sawyer kill him. My thoughts….. Locke knows that his dad is the real Sawyer, and has (obviously) captured him, and knows that Sawyer will finally be able to kill him. The thing that scares me about this, though, is that it seems that if Sawyer kills the real Sawyer, then his storyline is complete (kinda). And normally, when a character completes their story line (like Boone, Shannon, Eko, etc.)… you see the trend there?…… they die. Part of me doesn’t think that they could realistically kill of Sawyer, but then again, it’s LOST. They can do anything.

As always, I’d love your feedback.

Until next week!

-drew.

Archive Post: S3E22 - "Through the Looking Glass"

Episode: Through the Looking Glass

Character: Jack

Hi, everyone! What a great way to end a terrific season! I’m going to apologize in advance for the scattered-brainy-ness (as if that’s even a word) in this recap. I’ve been writing it on and off for the past week. So, let’s get to it.

Bun-in-the-Oven: For those that didn’t catch it, when Sarah came in to visit Jack in the hospital, she was obviously pregnant. And if you watch the scene closely, you’ll see that it’s the first thing Jack looks at when she walks into the room. They hinted in a previous episode that Jack and Sarah might not be able to have a baby together. His whole flashforward was like a bad nightmare for himi… all of his fears coming true—he’s turned into his father, and Sarah is happy (and pregnant) with someone else.

Q: Why were Kate and Sawyer crushing rocks? A: They were building a runway.

Q: For What? A: In typical LOST fashion, they answer a question, and ask a new one at the same time. Sheesh! So what do you think they were building a runway for? Maybe the Others are planning to have a reality show called ‘Mysterious Island’s Next Top Model’. J Seriously, though, if they’re building a runway, then does that mean that it’s possible to leave the island via plane? Does that mean that the others have a plane? Or is this a way for them to get back to the island? Perhaps it’s just busy-work for the Others.

Meow-khail: Okay… I can understand Mikhail not being dead after being thrown between the pylons. But COME ON! Desmond shot a spear through the center of his chest and he still had enough energy to grab a grenade, swim out of the station and to Charlie’s window, wave good-bye, and blow the window up. We also know that at some point in his life, something happened to him, causing him to lose an eye. So, can the man with nine lives survive a grenade blowing up in his hand? Probably. My guess is that we’ll see him next season, but with only one arm.

In all seriousness though, is it possible that he really is indestructible? Maybe he is one of those island natives that lives forever and never ages (like Richard). Or maybe he’s just really lucky.

Rest In Peace: I just wanted to give a shout-out to Dominic Monaghan (the actor who played Charlie). He’s done a great job since the show began, and his presence will be missed. It was a sad moment when he died (even baby Aaron cried when it happened). I should address a common question—Why didn’t Charlie just leave the room and close the door behind him? Because Desmond told him that the only way Claire and Aaron would be rescued is if he died. He sacrificed himself and died as a hero. …Not to mention his final message “Not Penny’s Boat” warning Desmond that the losties’ new friend, Naomi, isn’t who she says she is.

And for those wondering if we’ll see Charlie alive next year, I’m afraid to say that the producers and Dominic Monaghan have confirmed—Charlie is dead.

The Official Death Toll: Okay, so rumors were right…. kinda. It was mentioned before the finale aired (TV Guide) that as many as 5 people were supposed to die in the finale. And while the rumors suggested that they were supposed to be main cast members, that part was not so accurate. Here is the official death toll from the finale:

Charlie – drowned, sacrificing his life to assure Claire and Aaron’s rescue

Bonnie – Shot by Mikhail, as instructed by Ben

Greta – Shot by Mikhail, as instructed by Ben

Mikhail (?) – Pylons, spear, grenade, etc.

Tom – Shot by Sawyer after surrendering

Ryan – Ran over by Hurley in the Dharma bus

Naomi – Knife in the back, courtesy of Locke

Misc. Others – Burnt to a crisp and/or shot, courtesy of Bernard, Sayid, and Jin

Back from the Dead: No, this is not another paragraph about Mikhail. This is in reference to Jack’s comment about his father. For those that didn’t catch it, while talking to the doctor, a very drunk Jack said something like, “Call my father. Have him come down here, and if he’s more drunk than I am…”. This brought about a lot of questions, as Jack’s father is (or was) dead. And while I believe that this line is in the show to emphasize how drunk Jack really is, the Lost community has been buzzing with chatter about the possibility of Christian Shephard being alive. I just don’t believe it.

Alex, Danielle. Danielle, Alex. A bloodied Ben looks up to the duo and finally introduces Alex to her Rousseau, “This is your mother.” And I, for one, am really glad that they finally met. But what does this mean for the future of Lost? Will Alex accept the crazy French lady as her mother? And, to clear up speculation, the producers confirmed this week that Ben is not Alex’s biological father. So any theories that had Rousseau and Ben shacking up in the past are wrong.

Good Vibrations: The code for deactivating the signal-blocker in the Looking Glass is the song “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys. This could very well be a reference to “Vanilla Sky” I’m not gonna say too much on this, for fear of ruining the ending to a movie, but this was the same song played in the final scene. If you can bear to sit through a Tom Cruise movie, watch it. You’ll know what I’m sayin.

A New Enemy? So, if Penny didn’t send Naomi, then who did? Can we trust what Ben said—she’s one of the “bad guys”? Ben told Michael last year that the Others were “the good guys”. So, is Naomi’s crew the new enemy on the show? Can we expect the losties and whatever’s left of the Others to join forces next year in a battle against the people coming to “rescue” the losties? And if they do team up, we can probably expect to learn a lot more about the island in the new season, as I’m sure someone will be asking questions.

Another interesting note about Naomi is that she asked Jack what he did for a living right before showing him how to use the phone. Why did she need to know that? It seemed like small talk at first, but was very awkward. I wonder if she had an ulterior motive with that question.

“This just in…” Everybody has been talking about the big question of whose funeral it was. You’ll be happy to know that I have an answer. You’ll be unhappy to know that it won’t mean anything to you. Haha. The funeral was that of John Lantham. I beg your pardon? Who the hell is John Lantham? And more importantly, how do I know that? The details of the infamous newspaper clipping were released by a member of the “Lost” production crew. Here is what the article said:

Man Found Dead in Downtown Loft: The body of John Lantham from New York was found after 4 a.m. in the 4300 block of Grand Avenue. Ted Worden, a doorman at the Tower Lofts complex, heard loud noises coming from the victim’s loft. Concerned for tenants’ safety, he entered the loft and found the body hanging from a beam in the living room. According to Jamie Ortiz, a police spokesman, the incident was deemed a suicide after medical tests. Lantham is survived by one teenage son. Memorial services will be held at the Hoffs / Drawlar funeral home tomorrow evening.

So, who is John Lantham? Is it someone we already know? Is it possible that “John Lantham” is an alias used by one of our losties once they get rescued? A popular theory places Michael in the casket. Think about it—“survived by one teenage son” could very well be a reference to Walt, who would (at this time) be about 13 or 14 years old. Luckily, we know enough of our Losties’ pasts to know that he is the only one with a teenage son. And if it were Michael, that would explain why nobody was at the funeral (except Walt). He killed two of the losties in order to save himself and his son.

But after watching this episode for a third time, I got the feeling that Jack felt like it was his fault that the person was dead? That makes me think that it might very well be Locke. If Jack went against what Locke said and called for rescue, perhaps Locke too was brought home. And then he became paralyzed again and also lost all faith in himself. And then killed himself. And it was Jack’s fault that he did because he is the one who got them “rescued”.

Let me throw just one more wrench in the mix—look at the casket—it looks like it belongs to a child (or at least a short person). It certainly doesn’t appear to be big enough to contain a full-grown man.

HOFFS / DRAWLER Funeral Parlor: God bless the Lost producers and their anagram-creating skills! Rearranging the letters of “Hoffs Drawlar”, you come up with “Flash Forward”, an obvious nod to our first ever flash-forward… unless you count that whole Desmond-seeing-Charlie-die thing. J

The Rattlesnake: The producers have a secret scene that they film every year for the finale. This year, they nicknamed that scene “The Rattlesnake”. In the final scene, we realize that Jack’s “flashbacks” were actually flash-forwards. But is this how our hero ends up? Suicidal? Alcoholic? Is this really how post-island life is for Jack Shephard? Or is the island showing Jack how he’ll end up if he leaves? The maps in his house show that he is trying to find the island. In the Rattlesnake, he tells Kate that they need to go back. So is it possible that Jack and Kate are the only people that made it off the island? Is Jack trying to go back to rescue the rest of the Losties? Or is his life just so miserable that he misses the island life? Jack and Kate each made comments during that scene that require a second look:

Jack: “I’m tired of lying” – Lying about what? Can we assume that in order to keep the island a secret, an offer was made to Jack and Kate? Perhaps they said that Kate will be free if they don’t mention the island (remember, she’s a fugitive)?

Kate: “He’s gonna be wondering where I am.” He? Is she married? Sawyer, possibly? But if it were Sawyer, you think he would’ve come too. So can we assume it is to someone that wasn’t on the island? I’ve heard rumblings that Kate could possibly have a son now (remember… she could very well be pregnant in island-time). But assuming that only a few years have passed, it is unlikely to think that she would have a child old enough to wonder. I lean towards her having a non-lostie husband.

A New Theory on Jacob: What if Jacob is Jack, from the future? He’s found a way to go back in time and converse with the island. He’s found Ben and knows how good Ben is at talking people into things, so he tries to tell Ben to talk him into staying on the island. When that doesn’t work, he tries to get Locke to talk Jack into staying. Everything that happens on the show is Future Jack’s attempt at trying to get island-Jack to stay.

So, let me add my own thoughts to this theory. What if future Desmond is doing the same thing as Future Jack, but is trying to get them to leave the island? Maybe we’ll see that Naomi’s team is being led by a mysterious force too, but instead of Future Jack / Jacob, it is Future Desmond.

I know that the whole time-travel thing is a little stretch, but I totally dig it! What are your thoughts?

Next on LOST: ….as if I’d even attempt to figure that out! All I can say is that it won’t be back until February. So, shut your TV off and enjoy your summer. You can at least expect one recap from me this summer when the LOST producers have their annual San Diego Comic Convention and give us some insight into things we may have missed from season three, and also what we might expect from season four. If I hear anything else worth sharing, I’ll certainly do just that.

Until next time!

-drew.

…and just for fun….

The LOST Finale awards…..

Top Five Funniest Moments:

5.) Sawyer and Juliet’s entire conversation, from the Alien Runway to the “Are you screwing Jack” line, to the “No, are you?” response! Priceless!

4.) Rose made Bernard admit that he’s only a dentist, and is not Rambo.

3.) While Bonnie is on the radio with Ben and he asks who is down there, Charlie shouts “It’s Charlie! Tell him I said Hi!” That’s Golden!

2.) After Hurley ran over Ryan and the rest of the others were taken out, he tried to radio the others by saying “Attention Others…come in, Others. If you can hear this, I want you to know we got you bastards.” HAHA

1.) My #1 funniest moment from the finale was when Rose told Jack, “If you say ‘live together, die alone’ to me, Jack, I’m gonna punch you in the face.” LOL! This line makes me laugh, just thinking about it.

Top 3 Most Kick-Ass Moments

3.) When Hurley ran over Ryan with the Dharma Bus

2.) When Sawyer shot Tom and said “That’s for takin’ the kid off the raft.”

1.) When Sayid swept that guy the ground, wrapped his feet around the guys head, and snapped his neck.

… And the #1 Funniest Kick-Ass Moment Award goes to….

When Rousseau elbowed Ben in the face. Priceless.


Archive Post: S3E21 - "Greatest Hits"

Episode: Greatest Hits

Character: Charlie

Hi, everyone! As always, we had a great episode last night, leading up to next week’s season finale! I hope you all enjoyed it. Let’s get into some discussion points. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback on theories and ideas on the show.

Losties in Wonderland: Before last night’s episode, I hadn’t yet re-watched “The Man Behind The Curtain”, but made sure to sneak it in before the new episode. My wife was quick to point out that in Ben’s vision where he saw his mom outside the pylons, that she looked a lot like Alice, from Alice in Wonderland. Then Ben had a white rabbit. And this week, we found the newest of Dharma stations—the looking glass. This is an awful lot of Alice in Wonderland references. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen “Alice in Wonderland” and can’t make any real comparisons. If you’ve seen it and can think of any other references or possible Lost connections, please send them to me. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Karl knows? After Ben returned from shooting Locke, he tells his camp that they are going to attack the Losties a day sooner. Alex runs to tell Karl so that he can warn them. Right before leaving, Karl tells Alex that if he gets caught, then her father (Ben) will kill him. But she quickly comes back and says “Is he my father?” And the look on Karl’s face seems to indicate that he already knows the truth about Ben not being her real father. More importantly, though, it shows that Alex is accepting that fact and could possibly be on a mission to find her mother.

Wonderwall: In one of the flashbacks, we see Charlie standing on a street corner playing “Wonderwall” by Oasis. In the middle of singing, it starts pouring down rain. This scene mirrors the one from “Flashes Before Your Eyes” where Desmond approached him…. Except now, he didn’t. So the question is—is this supposed to be the same scene? Has something changed? Luckily, you won’t have to wait until future episodes for an answer: The clothing that Charlie is wearing, however, is different. And his surroundings are not same either. So, while Charlie was playing the same song, it was not the same flashback.

United We Stand, Divided They Will Fall: When Ben arrived back at his camp, Richard was asking him where Locke was and seemed very concerned about what Ben did. I have a feeling that (assuming my ‘Locke=Prophecy’ theory is right) there is going to be a GREAT divide between Ben and the rest of the Others. Ultimately, I think this war we are facing will not end well for the Others. (See ‘Death Toll Predictions’)

Drive Shaft’s Greatest Hits: Charlie was talking to Naomi and mentioned that she was in Drive Shaft, which she had recognized as the rock star that died in the crash. She flooded him with a story about how they had a huge memorial service for him and Drive Shaft put out a “Greatest Hits” album. Wait a minute! How long have they been on the island? I thought it was only 90 days. So let’s think about this…. After the plane crashed, they had to have a search party. Then someone had to stage a fake plane wreckage, complete with dead bodies and all. And then after that, Drive Shaft had time to throw a huge memorial service and then put out another album? I don’t know about you, but I’m convinced that time on the Lost island moves a lot slower than time outside the island. (i.e. 1 day on island = 1 month off island). This could definitely explain what would happen if Walt ever came back (post-puberty) and was 6’10”.

Charlie’s Greatest Hits: My favorite aspect of this episode was Charlie writing his own Greatest Hits. His flashbacks corresponded with them as he went down the list:

#5 – The first time he heard himself on the radio

Charlie, Liam, and the rest of DriveShaft were fixing a flat tire on their van and just as Charlie is telling Liam that he wants to quit the band because they aren’t amounting to anything, their famous hit single “You All Everybody” came on the radio. And the rest is Rock-N-Roll history.

#4 – His dad teaching him to swim at Butlins

We learned back in season one that Charlie “doesn’t swim”. It was never said that he can’t swim… just that he doesn’t. We saw him learning how to swim from his father. (this must’ve been pre-daddy-issues). But I wonder why he normally doesn’t swim. Something must’ve happened in the water to make him afraid of swimming.

#3 – The Christmas when Liam gave him the ring

Let’s face it… the ring was a great gift. But you know that if Charlie wasn’t giving his “Greatest Hits” list to Claire, he would’ve put his Christmas Eve present on that list. (That’s all I’m gonna say about it… if you don’t know what I’m talking about, re-watch the episode).

#2 – The woman outside Covent Garden calling him a hero

Charlie was wrapping up one of his street corner performances when he saw a woman being mugged in an alley. He ran over and smacked the guy with his guitar case and he ran away. The woman looked up to thank Charlie and WHAT?!—that’s Nadia! Sayid’s girlfriend! She’s catching up to Christian Shephard in flashback crossovers, now having appeared in the pasts of three losties (Sayid, Charlie, and Locke).

She also made a comment about how there were 3 people that walked past and didn’t help her. Now I can’t help but wonder if Charlie was being tested by Nadia. Now, let me preface this by saying that a part of me believes that everyone on that plane was hand-picked to be on that plane and to be on that island. While the passengers are being picked, the man in charge decided that they needed someone that had characteristics where he would save a woman in danger.

#1 – The night he met Claire

“First plane crash? I can always spot a newbie.” A funny beginning to a terrific relationship on Lost. Their relationship is one of the main reasons why I don’t want Charlie to die. I think that this relationship is much stronger that Kate’s relationship with Sawyer (or Jack), which merely exists out of lust.

Inside the Looking Glass: Ready to die, Charlie dives into the water so that he can flip the switch in the Looking Glass station to allow the Losties to communicate with Naomi’s ship. When he arrived, he was very relieved to be breathing again—but that didn’t last long. Two women rushed into the room with rifles (hey, maybe those are the two girls from the second row). In all seriousness, I don’t recall seeing either of these women in past episodes. They appear to be completely new characters.

Who Can We Trust? Trust is a very important issue right now. The trust-value of some of the losties is definitely in question. I’m just gonna run down a list of some of these people and whether or not I trust them.

Juliet – Sorry to say it, but you can probably trust her.

Jack – Before last night, I would’ve said No, but I’m gonna also trust Jack.

Karl – Yes Yes Yes. I really like his character and would trust him.

Naomi – I have no reason not to trust her. Plus, she’s their only chance off the island.

Danielle – Eh…. You could probably trust about 30% of the things she says…. I’d say that at least 25% of the things she says is a lie. And I know what you’re asking—what about the other 45%?! Well, that’s what happens when you spend years and years alone on a deserted island—you just go crazy. So, recap: 30% Truth, 25% Lies, 45% crazy ramblings due to deserted jungle lifestyle.

Ben – You can’t trust ANYTHING Ben says.

The Plan: A war is on the horizon and here’s what the Losties have up their sleeves—Juliet is supposed to mark specific tents so that the others know who to kidnap. Jack has teamed up with Rousseau (and her dynamite) to rig explosive devices to be placed in those tents. Once the others arrive, the plans is to “blow them all to hell.” The problem is, they’re on a tight deadline and don’t have time to wire the explosives. So instead, they’ve got to set up a few sniper positions and shoot at the dynamite. But something tells me things aren’t going to go quite as planned.

Death Toll Predictions: Nowadays, it is almost required to kill off at least one person in your season finale. This year will be no different. I’m sure at least one person will die… possibly even a few people. So here are my predictions:

Jack – He’ll be alive till the end.

Kate – Let’s be honest, she’s too pretty to die.

Sawyer – He’ll die…. But not until the series finale (in 2010)

Charlie – It’s still too soon.

Hurley – He will NEVER die.

Sayid – Sorry to say it….. but I don’t think he’ll see season 4.

Claire – She’ll be okay for now.

Aaron – (see Claire)

Sun – She’ll survive… at least until the middle of the second trimester.

Jin – Tell Sun to cover her ears… I don’t think Jin’s gonna make it.

Ben – Best enemy ever… Unfortunately, it may be time for his demise.

Juliet – I’m on the fence. Maybe she’ll just be injured badly.

Rousseau – She’ll be safe until we get at least one flashback.

Tom – I think he’ll be the one to kill Ben.

Rose & Bernard – Their first season 3 appearance was last night…. And I think next week will be Bernard’s last.

Next Week: First off, don’t forget to watch the new show tonight! They’re gonna talk about past episodes and give more insight into the show. It’ll definitely be cool to watch!

Next week, however, is the much-more-important Season 3 Finale, titled “Through the Looking Glass”, and will be Jack-centric (from what I hear). As mentioned before, we can probably expect a few people to die and a few more to be injured. Past finales have had cameos by the Hurley bird, so maybe we’ll see it again. And rumor has it that there is going to be a “game-changer”. I CAN’T FRIGGIN WAIT!

Until then!

-drew.


Archive Post: S3E20 - "The Man Behind the Curtain"

Episode: The Man Behind the Curtain

Character: Ben

Hi everyone! I really hope you all watched last night’s episode of LOST… because, HOLY CRAP, it was great! Let’s get into some discussion points….

Benjamin Workman: The opening scene was wonderful, with two big reveals—Ben was NOT born on the island, and was instead born 32 miles outside of Portland; and his father is the infamous Roger “Workman” that we met earlier this season hanging out in the Dharma VW-Bug. I considered that he wasn’t born on the island before, but the thought of Roger being his dad never crossed my mind.

Who is Jacob…. If anyone? I’m sure the one big question on everyone’s mind after last night’s episode is, “Does Jacob exist?” We saw Ben lead Locke into a shack where Ben introduced him to Jacob… sorta. It was really just an “empty” chair. We see Ben appearing to have a conversation with the chair, as he believes that Jacob is sitting in it. Locke thought (just as all of the viewers did) that Ben was just cuckoo! So Jacob is a figment of Ben’s imagination? Not so fast! Not only do we hear Jacob whisper “Help me” to Locke, but during the freaky twilight-zone scene where the walls are shaking and things are being tossed around, Ben gets thrown up against a wall and the camera pans to the seat where we see Jacob.

So who is Jacob? Here’s my bit-of-a-reach theory. If you haven’t already, click on that link in the above paragraph to see the photo of Jacob. After close examination, it looks an awful lot like Locke (plus hair). Just look at the facial features. So my theory is that Locke is thought of as a sort of prophecy. Think of Jacob as a Jesus-like figure to the Others. He did exist at one point and Ben has some “special” ability that lets him see (and hear) him, which is why Ben has been promoted to a leadership position among the others. And the others believe that Locke is the second coming, but Ben doesn’t. So he brought Locke there so that he could prove that he’s not who they thought he was. (Remember last week, Richard even pointed out to Locke that Ben was trying to make a fool of him in front of everyone, to prove that he wasn’t who they thought).

....and now my wife’s theory….

Being nearly 8 months pregnant, my wife is convinced that our unborn child has stolen all of her brain cells, causing her to have some… for lack of a better word….dumb moments. But something kicked into overdrive last night and she had a lot of theories on Lost (I even offered for her to write the recap today because she was on a roll, but she declined and asked that I just make sure to include this one in my recap). She suggested that Jacob is a split-personality of Ben. So Ben ultimately believes that Jacob exists, but to everyone else, it is just Ben. (I want to reference a movie that did this same thing, but it’s the twist at the end… so I don’t want to say the name of the movie in order to avoid spoiling it for you. But if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about.) Then again, this theory still doesn’t explain how we saw him in the chair…. Unless they were showing you what Ben saw. Haha.

This is a matter that I’d love to hear other theories on. So if you’ve thought of anything that you want to share, please send me feedback. I’d really love to hear what you’ve got to say.

Jacob’s Boundaries: Outside of Jacob’s shack, Locke notices a stream of “sand”, which he picks up and smells. My initial thought was that it was gunpowder… that maybe Rousseau was looking to set off that dynamite and possibly blow up Jacob’s shack. But after I saw that Jacob appeared to be some sort of spirit, I started thinking that it was some sort of boundary for the supernatural. You know how they say that if your house is haunted, you should put a path of salt around your house to keep the ghosts out (or something like that)? Perhaps this line of “crazy-sand” surrounds Jacob’s shack and prevents him from leaving it. This could be compared to the sonic fence that the smoke monster can’t get past….which of course brings us to the third option with Jacob, which is…. is he the smoke monster?

Best Birthday Present Ever! Before heading off to introduce Locke to Jacob, Alex swings by and gives Locke a gun. Then before leaving, she turns to Ben and wishes him a Happy Birthday. This brings up some interesting ideas. The ultimate question is…. is Alex on Ben’s side? She could’ve given Locke the gun because she knew that Ben would try to kill him, so she wanted him to be able to protect himself. On the other hand, perhaps the gun actually was a birthday present for Ben. It gave him access to the gun without drawing any suspicion. And I’m not 100% sure, I don’t think Ben had his own gun. If I remember correctly, he stole the gun from Locke that’s what he used when…….

NNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! ....he shot Locke. I can’t believe he shot Locke! Holy crap, he shot Locke! (Calm down, Andrew) Okay, so I’m sure a lot of people are asking, “Is Locke dead?”. Being completely spoiler-free, I can’t say for sure, but I’m gonna say there’s a 95% chance that he is still alive and will be fine. I can’t imagine them killing off such a vital character. Then again, it’s Lost, so what the hell. I always imagine Locke as a character that plays a huge part in the overall story…. And if he dies with 3 seasons left, that just wouldn’t make sense. I just hope we find out by the end of this season (only two episodes left!).

Foreshadowing at its Finest: There was talk in Ben’s flashback about a volcano erupting on the island. I couldn’t help but notice how prominent this conversation was and how much it seemed like the writers were throwing that in our face like, “THERE’S A VOLCANO! IT ERRUPTED BOFORE! REMEMBER THIS BECAUSE IT WILL ERRUPT AGAIN!” So just keep that in the back of your mind. And if you forget, it’s no big deal, ‘cause when it does erupt again, I’ll remind you.

The Everlasting Eyeliner: In one of Ben’s flashbacks from his childhood, he sneaks out of the barracks and past the sonic fence, only to run into an Other….but wait…. Isn’t that…. It couldn’t be…. Is that…. Richard? But he looks the same…. And Ben is just a boy. That had to be at least 25 years ago. So how does Richard (and his eyeliner) not age over 25 years? The only apparent difference between present-Richard and flashback-Richard is that his hair is different lengths. It is impossible that this was just a lack of effort on the make-up team. The only logical conclusions that I can think of is…. either the Others don’t age, or it was Richard’s dad. And if the Others don’t age, then where (and when) did they come from? Maybe they were survivors of the Black Rock? Maybe this is where that four-toed statue comes into play.

Jack and Juliet: This week, we learned Jack and Juliet’s secret. Apparently, after taking Sun to the Staff (medical station), she came back and informed Jack of the Others’ plan to attack. So why didn’t Jack tell anyone? He explains that he didn’t yet come up with a plan. Uh…. Dumbass…. If you told other people, they could HELP YOU come up with a plan. Duh! I swear, Jack has seriously lost some brain cells since he left Othersville (hey….maybe Jack is pregnant!) So now that everyone knows, it’s time to band together and come up with a strategy to defeat the others.

Ben = Locke / Losties + Others = War: Anyone else notice the extreme parallels that existed between Ben and Locke? They both belonged to a group that was at war with the others. Before the others attacked, they both tried joining the others. Before either could join, they killed their fathers. And now that the war is about to begin between the Others and the Losties, it’ll be interesting to see where Locke’s loyalties are. And will the Losties win the war? If so, does that mean that they get to live in those cool houses? My biggest fear is that they will win the war and kill off all of the others, meaning that now, nobody on the island will know where they are or have any answers to the islands mysteries, including what the hell that smoke monster is.

Next on Lost: Next week’s episode is called “Greatest Hits” and will be Charlie-centric. The week after that will be the highly-anticipated two-hour season finale, titled “Through the Looking Glass” and will be Jack-centric. It looks like we’ve got a war on our hands and I’m eager to find out how many casualties there will be. But more importantly, WHO? I fear that we’ll be losing some of our good friends by the end of the season.

Next season…. And the next season…. And the next season: Just as a quick note, ABC announced this week that they’ve come to an agreement with the Lost producers to make two more seasons worth of episodes….. but air them across three seasons. It sounds dumb, I know… but it could work. The plan is to have three more seasons of Lost, each with only 16 episodes and run them from February to May in 2008, 2009, and 2010. So no repeats is a good thing…. But waiting 8 months between seasons… OUCH! At first, I was kinda pissed about the shorter seasons, but they’ve assured the fans that it will be faster-paced and will not have any “filler” episodes. And as long as they stick to their promise, I’ll be okay. And just to give you a little perspective, this spring had 16 episodes… so just imagine that the 6 episodes in the fall never happened, and that’s what it’ll be like.

That just about does it for me. If you have any thoughts or theories that you want to share, I’d love to hear ‘em. Otherwise, I’ll talk to you all next week!

Namaste, dudes. (the hippie version, courtesy of this week’s episode)

-Andrew.


Archive Post: S3E19 - "The Brig"

Episode: “The Brig”

Character: John Locke

Hi, everyone! What an episode!! As for mythology, there wasn’t too much, but the acting was top-notch! I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but Josh Holloway (Sawyer) actually stole some scenes from Terry O’Quinn (Locke). They’d better both be up for an Emmy…. Along with everyone else on this show. Anyway, on with the recap.

Hand + Bandages = Handages: Back a few episodes ago, Locke went into the rec room to say bye to Kate and his hand was wrapped up in bandages. It turns out that his dad was being kept captive so long that he turned into a cannibal and tried taking a bite out of Locke’s hand. Nothing too special here… just a small question answered.

Third Time’s a Charm: If Sawyer didn’t get Kate pregnant the first two times they did it, I would almost guarantee that he did this time! I’m telling ya… these island women need to keep their pants on. Perhaps we’ll see this play out before the end of the season. Do you think Juliet will tell Kate about the pregnancy curse?

Locke = Isaac: In the second season, in the Rose/Bernard episode, Rose revealed that she had cancer, and Bernard took her to see a man named Isaac, who had the ability to harness the healing powers of the earth and help people that were ill. In tonight’s episode, Ben told Locke that he wasn’t healing at all until Locke came around. So does Locke have this ability? Maybe if Locke would’ve stuck around in season one when Boone died, maybe he would’ve survived.

Friend of the Four-Toed Statue: When Ben brought Locke to kill his father, he was tied to a giant pillar, that resembled ancient ruins. This could very well tie in to the story of the four-toed statue from the season finale last year. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is something we’ll explore this season. After all, there are only 3 episodes left. They’ll probably save this for the last season (they’ll likely do 5 total).

Phone Home: Naomi told Sayid the details of her story: Her company was hired by Penny Widmore to travel to given coordinates to find Desmond. They didn’t have record of any island in that location and on her way back to their ship, the clouds broke and she saw the island. That’s when her compasses went berserk and she bailed out of her helicopter. She explained that research vessels found the plane along with all of the bodies of the passengers. She gave Sayid her satellite phone, which he is working on trying to fix. He said that he is getting some interference that won’t let it work. Keep in mind, though, that the others are aware that they’ve got that phone. So could it be them causing the interference? Or is that just a property of the island?

Will the Real Sawyer Please Stand Up? Locke led Sawyer to the Black Rock, where he had his father captive. He put Sawyer in the room, telling him that the bagged man in front of him is actually Ben and that he is supposed to kill him. When Sawyer removes the bag from his head, he sees that it isn’t Ben, but is Locke’s Dad. At first he’s obviously confused, not knowing who he is. He slowly learns that the man in front of him is actually the man he’s been searching for his whole life—the real Sawyer. YES! And in an extremely emotional scene, Sawyer whips out the infamous letter and forces him to read it. Anthony Cooper is indifferent while he reads it, even skipping half the letter saying “Blah Blah Blah”. Sawyer throws the letter back at him demanding that he read it, and he just tears it up. OH NO YOU DIDN’T! Sawyer loses it and strangles Anthony Cooper to death with one of the chains in the brig.

So now that Sawyer has finally got revenge on the real Sawyer, does that mean that his storyline is complete? Is Sawyer’s fate sealed? Is he going to be killed off now? I hate to think it, but past deaths would lead me to believe that it’s possible.

Rousseau’s Plan? While waiting outside of the brig for Sawyer to kill Anthony Cooper, Locke sees Rousseau walk into the Black Rock looking for dynamite. But what for? Does Rousseau have a plan? Last time we saw her, she saw Alex for the first time. Is she planning an explosive attempt at retrieving her daughter? Something tells me that we’ll be seeing Rousseau and her dynamite back during the finale.

Tape Recorder: When the episode began, we saw Ben listening to the message that Juliet left on the tape recorder about Sun being pregnant. And at the end of the episode, Locke gave that tape recorder to Sawyer and told him that Juliet is a mole for the Others. So let me pose a couple questions—Is Ben setting up Juliet? Did he give Locke the tape recorder in hopes that the Losties would all turn against Juliet and kill her? Or did Locke really steal the recorder without Ben knowing about it?

Juliet & Jack Plotting Something? When Kate approached Jack to explain to him about Naomi and her satellite phone, Juliet mentioned something like, “We should tell her,” to which Jack replied, “No, they’re not ready yet.” So what kind of tricks to Jack and Juliet have up their sleeve? Are they both planning something against Ben? Is Juliet tricking the losties? Is Juliet tricking the others? I know I’ll regret saying this, but I think that we’ll see Juliet and Jack working together to defeat Ben. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the Others make their way to the Losties’ camp. I can smell a war brewing!

Next Week: This is where things start to change. While I try to avoid all spoilers, I do try to at least find the name of the next episode, as well as who-centric it is. I can tell you that the episode will be called “The Man Behind The Curtain” (another Wizard of Oz reference). I can’t, however, give you a clear idea of who-centric it is. It appears that Locke is going to finally ask for some answers from Ben and we’ll be taken back in time to when the Dharma Initiative was on the island. So we’ll likely get a lot of cool answers (as well as more questions). As for whose episode it will be…. I’m going to classify it as a Ben/Dharma-centric episode for now.

As always, I’d love to hear your theories and thoughts. Please let me know if I missed anything important. Otherwise, I’ll talk at ya next week!

-drew.


Archive Post: S3E17 - "Catch 22"

Episode: Catch 22

Character: Desmond

It’s Thursday again! And I hope you all enjoyed last night’s episode. There were a lot of cool things to think about. So let’s get to it…..

The Flashes: We finally get to see one of Desmond’s flashes that we’ve heard so much about. In it, we see Charlie, Hurley, Jin, and Desmond trekking through the jungle when Charlie trips one of Rousseau’s traps and catches an arrow to the throat. We then get little glimpses of events, which include Hurley pulling a cable from the ground and a red light flashing in the sky. It appears that Desmond will need to save Charlie yet again. But the big question, of course, is “Why is this happening to Charlie? Will he die?” And as much as I’d hate to admit it, I think Charlie is going to die. And I think that the island is demanding it.

Think back to season one when Boone died. Right before he was killed, Locke had a vision of a bloody Boone standing before him, followed by flashes of a plane crashing overhead and him being back in a wheelchair. Then, Locke was on a mission to find the plane. Once the plane was found, he began losing his ability to walk. And that’s when Boone climbed into it, it fell to the ground, and he was killed.

So can we assume that Locke was (or is) having these same kinds of flashes that Desmond has? And can we also assume that just as Boone died, Charlie will too? Desmond seems to be acting a little bit against what the island is showing him will happen, while Locke just went with the flow and made sure that everything happened (of course, not realizing what will happen to Boone). I think we will see the island tempting Desmond more and more until he finally gives in and lets Charlie die.

The Helicopter: While camping out for the night, Desmond and Co. hear what sounds like a helicopter flying overhead. And because it’s dark outside, the details are sketchy of what exactly is going on. But what appears to have happened is this… A helicopter is flying over head and something happens to the chopper that sends it plummeting to the ground. So the pilot ejects herself over the island and the chopper crashes in the water. Desmond is convinced that the woman who fell from the sky is Penny.

The Love Quadrilateral: Kate and Sawyer. Jack and Kate. Jack and Juliet. But not Juliet and Sawyer… yet.

Not too much island mythology there, but it is definitely worth talking about. As you all know, Kate and Sawyer got it on again last night. But if you ask me, Kate was probably thinking about Jack the whole time. She climbed on top of him right after she saw Jack with Juliet. She is OBVIOUSLY jealous. She even told Sawyer not to speak. She might as well have asked him to put a paper bag over his head (of course, the paper bag would have a picture of Jack’s face taped to the front of it). But I question the validity of the Jack and Juliet relationship. I struggle because part of me believes that she is deceiving Ben, but the other part can’t help but think that she is a full-fledged Other.

The Red Shirt: There have been a couple references to “red shirts” on the show. Boone mentioned to Locke that in Star Trek, you could always tell who was going to die because they were always wearing red shirts (while Boone himself was carrying a red shirt). Shortly after that, he died. Tonight’s episode had Jack wearing a very noticeable red sleeveless shirt. Jin too was wearing a shade of red, but not nearly as red as Jack’s shirt. It looks like the producers might be hinting that Jack will die by the end of the season. Now THAT would be a cool twist—killing off the main character.

As a side note, for those who don’t know, the first draft of the pilot episode had Jack being killed. They thought it would be a great shock to kill off the main character in the first episode, leaving the audience with a sense of also being lost. So maybe they’ll finally get their wish.

The Jeweler: After the monks fired Desmond, he went to turn in his robes and there on the desk of the head-honcho-munk was a (poorly photoshopped) picture of the monk with the jeweler. You remember her, Ms. Hawkings. She was the one from Desmond’s last episode that guided him throughout his flashback (aka the Oracle). So she was real. And how did she know the monk? And did Desmond really know her (other than the fact that she tried selling him the ring)? I wonder if there is any connection between her and Richard Malkin (Claire’s psychic). They both seem to be strong mystic forces.

The Arrow: Charlie triggered Rousseau’s trap, sending an arrow straight for his throat. At the last minute, Desmond screamed for him to duck and knocked Charlie to the ground, with the arrow piercing the neck of his guitar. Desmond told Charlie that he was supposed to let him die. I guess this means that Charlie can’t really trust Desmond any more. It’s likely that we’ll see Charlie going through some rough times in the coming weeks. With death hanging over his head, he’ll probably become a different person.

The Girl: A bag fell from the chopper that contained a book (“Catch 22”) that had a copy of the picture of Desmond and Penny in it. The bag also contained a satellite phone, which, of course, didn’t work. We assume that the bag belongs to the girl who also fell from the helicopter. So who is this person? We find at the end of the episode that she isn’t Penny, who Desmond had originally thought. But she did manage to get out one word… a name… “Desmond”. So she’s not Penny, but she knows who Desmond is. It is logical to assume that some time after the finale last year when Penny’s two researchers found the island, she sent that girl to find Desmond, equipping her with a photo to match him to, and a satellite phone. So….what now?

Any information that we receive from this girl could be groundbreaking. But in true Lost fashion, she will probably die right before being able to give us any answers. I’d like to say that I think she’ll be around for a while, but I haven’t heard anything about someone joining the cast. Then again, as always, I try my best to avoid spoilers, so it’s possible that she’ll be around for a while.

Also, don’t ignore the possibility that she too is a plant from the Others.

Dun-dun-DUUUUUHHHHNNNNNNNN

Next Week: Unfortunately, with the previews being more rest-of-the-season centric, I can’t give much details about next week’s episode. I can, however, tell you that it will be called “D.O.C.” and will be Sun & Jin centric. Perhaps the episode will center around them both getting new glasses. J

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and theories.

Until next week!

-drew.

Archive Post: S3E16 - "One of Us"

Episode: One of Us

Character: Juliet

In last night’s episode, we got a lot of cool answers to some of the smaller questions. And of course, in traditional Lost fashion, several more questions were raised. Let’s get into it.

Juliet = Liar, Jack = Stupid: I think that Jack seriously needs to stop thinking with “Mr. Happy” and start thinking with his brain. There is a giant monster made out of smoke that has attacked and killed people on the island, and he’s not asking Juliet any questions?! And why trust her? He should know by now that NOBODY on that island (except maybe Hurley J) can be trusted.

Who is Jacob? We’ve never met him, but we’ve heard his name mentioned a number of times. Whenever he is mentioned, he is described as a powerful and threatening person. But I can’t help but wonder if he is a person at all. Could Ben have invented the idea of Jacob to use as a threat? I can say this, though…. If Jacob is a real person, I have a strong feeling that he will be someone that we have already met before. Maybe it’s smokey’s name.

A Bumpy Ride: After spiking Juliet’s orange juice with a mild tranquilizer, Richard (Alpert) explained that she would need to drink it before going on the submarine because it’s a “bumpy ride”. There is definitely something to that! Are they just trying to keep the location of the island a secret (not that she would be able to look out the window of a submarine and remember her way to the island). So why put her to sleep? Maybe because they didn’t really travel to the island via submarine. Or maybe there was some sort of secret underwater apparatus that they had to travel through. Or maybe they had to time-travel to get there.

Q: Why was Juliet crying at the beginning of season 3? The last time Juliet saw her sister was as she was being dropped off at the Herarat Aviation building, where she meets up with Ethan and Mr. Alpert. The song playing in the car was “Downtown”. While Juliet was getting ready in the season premiere, she put the CD in the stereo and played that song. So, it appears that she was just crying because she missed her sister.

Herarat Aviation: The name of the place where Juliet was dropped off was Herarat Aviation. This is just a small easter egg put in by the producers. The meaning of it is still in question. Here are the two possibilities:

  1. “Herarat” is either a clue to Juliet (“Her”) being “a rat”.
  2. (Probably what is intended) “Herarat” is an anagram for “Earhart”…. As in Amelia Earhart, who has been referenced several times. The woman who met Juliet in the first episode for the book club was named (in the scripts) as Amelia, and she bore a strong resemblance to Amelia Earhart. Maybe she crash-landed on the island. Or Maybe she’s actually Jacob. J

Dharma vs. Others: This episode has confused me on how the others are associated with Dharma. By the symbols that we saw on this guy’s shirt and on the side of the submarine, it makes me think that at least the submarine and the shirt belong to the Dharma Initiative. If Ben & Co. didn’t work for Dharma (as I’d previously theorized), then the others tend to have all of their stuff. We even saw the Dharma maps showed the Dharma barracks. So that means that the houses belonged to Dharma as well. So here’s my question: If the submarine is Dharma’s, and the hatches are Dharma’s, and the houses are Dharma’s, where the hell did Ben live for the 20+ years that he spent on the island before the Dharma Initiative showed up and built all those things? Was he raised by wolves? Or Boars? Or Smokey?

Ethan’s Tree Symbol: The tree next to Ethan’s drop-point had a symbol carved into it that caught my eye. It appears to be the logo of the others, as it seems to be the same symbol that was branded on Juliet’s back. So what is the significance of the symbol? It looks a lot like this symbol, which, from what I read, is a letter referenced in the investigations of Ummo. For those that don’t know anything about Ummo, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: “Ummoism describes a series of decades-long claims that aliens from the planet Ummo were communicating with persons on Earth.”

Return of the Cancer: When Juliet asked to go home to be with her sister, Ben tells her that her sister’s cancer came back, and she will die soon. But he told her that if she helps them, then Jacob promised that he will heal her sister. So wait…. Does Jacob have the cure for cancer? Or is Ben lying to Juliet about the cancer coming back?

Cancer-Free Island: Ben told Juliet that nobody on the island has ever had cancer. But wait… Ben has cancer. How did that happen? Is he immune to the healing abilities of the island? Maybe Ben needs to have a talk with Rose—she had cancer before crashing on the island, but is now healed (or so she thinks).

No Mo’ Babies? So the big reveal tonight (other than the fact that Juliet is a mole and a liar) is that people on the island cannot have babies, and that is what Juliet was brought there to investigate. She’s been trying to fix it but has been unsuccessful so far. She mentioned that Claire was the first person on the island to successfully have a kid. But what about Ben’s parents? What about Rousseau? They both apparently had kids on the island. The only thing that makes sense is that the inability to reproduce is relatively new (maybe within the past 5 years). So this begs the question… what happened 5 years ago (or whenever) that made it impossible to have a baby?

Sun better watch out! Lots of talk this week about babies and not being able to reproduce, it seems that in the upcoming episodes, the island’s current preggy (Sun) will be facing some issues. I think that her being pregnant is the reason that Juliet is infiltrating their camp. I think that they’re planning on kidnapping her the same way that Ethan kidnapped Claire in season one. I got goosebumps watching Ben and Juliet’s conversation at the end of the episode where Ben said that he’d see her in a week. I’m just really anticipating a full-on head-to-head confrontation between the Others and the Losties.

Next Week: The next episode will be called “Catch 22”, and will be a Desmond-centric episode. Unfortunatley, the preview at the end of last night’s episode had clips from more than one episode. So I can’t really theorize about what will happen next week. But I hope it isn’t as confusing as the last Desmond-centric episode. And let me ask this…. If Desmond’s already had a flashback episode this season, why not give Charlie one? I think he’s the only one who hasn’t had a flashback this season.

I’d love to hear your feedback. I know I missed a few things in the recap because I didn’t get a chance to re-watch the episode (ABC hasn’t posted it to their site yet). L So if you have any thoughts or theories on last night’s episode, don’t hesitate to send it along.

Until next week.

-drew.

Archive Post: S3E15 - "Left Behind"

Episode: Left Behind

Character: Kate

Hi, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed “Lost” last night! And because I’m in a little bit of a hurry to get this written, let’s just get to it.

Super-Kate vs. Super-Juliet: When Kate attacked Juliet with the pool stick, Juliet pulled some super-human defense moves and flipped Kate onto the ground. Juliet just doesn’t seem like the kind of person to have this kind of training. I just can’t help but think that maybe all of the Others have some sort of martial arts training. Maybe this is part of the whole brainwashing process.

Mysterious Locke: Locke came in the recreation room to tell Kate that he was going off with the Others. He had a noticeably large black eye, and his wrist and hand were wrapped with tape. Questions: What happened to his eye and hand? Was he in a fight with his father? More importantly, where the hell are the others taking him to? We see later that the others put on gas masks, and pack up their backpacks just before gassing Kate, Jack, and Juliet. (But what about Rousseau? Where is she?)

The Return of Cassidy: In Kate’s flashback, we see that she’s crossed paths with a familiar face from Sawyer’s past—Cassidy. You’ll remember her from the episode “The Long Con” from last year. She fell in love with him and he conned her in the end. We also saw Sawyer this season when Sawyer was in prison and she came to visit him, telling him that she has a daughter (and he’s the father). It was theorized that perhaps she was lying, but she told Kate that she was pregnant with his baby in this episode. So now we know for sure she wasn’t lying.

Handcuffs: After being gassed, Kate wakes up in the middle of the jungle and when she comes to, she realizes that she is handcuffed to Juliet, who claims that she too was gassed and “left behind” by the Others. So now for the big question for this episode: Can we believe what Juliet says? Was she planted there as a mole? Now that she is being brought back to the Losties’ camp, will she betray them? Is this all part of the Others’ plan? Or is she officially an enemy of the Others now? I hope for the latter.

Here Comes the Rain Again: Kate told Juliet that they needed to follow the trail of the Others, but Juliet forewarned her that it was about to rain. This is certainly not the first time in “Lost” that people have been able to easily predict the rain…. And didn’t Rousseau say that the Others don’t leave footprints (not only Rousseau… this has been referenced SEVERAL times)? So is it possible that the Others control the weather on the island, making it rain every time they go somewhere that they don’t want to be followed, thus washing away their footprints?

Heeeeeeerrrreee’s Smokey: While fighting in the rain, Kate dislocated Juliet’s shoulder, and as Juliet fell to the ground screaming, we hear the eerie yell of the smoke monster. Kate and Juliet hide within some trees and we see the monster approach from its own point-of-view. As it gets close to Juliet, we see flashes of light. It looks almost like it is taking pictures of her.

This could be the same thing that happened to Eko, but just shown from a different perspective. This makes me think that Smokey will inevitably return and try to kill Juliet, as it has done to Eko and possibly tried to do to Locke (we’re still not 100% sure what it was trying to do to Locke).

The strange part of this scene was when Juliet said “What is that?” as if she had never seen it before. By the end of the episode, though, we get a little more clarification. She claims that they don’t know what it is, but they know that the sonic fence seems to be able to block it. So here’s my theory on the smoke monster…. It is something that was developed by the Dharma Initiative, who also built the barracks (the houses that the Others live in). The Dharma folks also built those sonic fences to keep the Smoke Monster out of it. The Smoke Monster (as Rousseau mentioned) is a security system). The Others are trying to get to whatever it is that Smokey is protecting, but cannot get past it. They’re attempting to gather “good” people because Smokey can’t (won’t?) attack them if they’re “good”.

We also learned in the sonic fence scene that Smokey is not just one thing… it can break apart into several trails of smoke. This means that it can be in multiple places at once… but I can’t help but wonder if Smokey NEEDS to be all together in order to do its damage. Maybe it separates so that it can monitor events and people from all over the island, and when it needs to actually do something, all parts need to be joined together.

A Key? While escaping the smoke monster, Juliet pulls a handcuff key from her pocket and un-cuffs Kate from her wrist. So why leave it on? It seems that Juliet has some kind of ulterior motive, which is why I keep thinking that she is a mole for the Others.

The Tension Remains: Throughout the entire episode, Sawyer makes eye contact with Sun quite a few times, but she glares back at him in disgust. She is still obviously upset about the kidnapping that he arranged for last season. I just wonder when Jin will catch on to the tension between them and what the repercussions will be.

The Journey Back: Well, it appears that Jack, Juliet, Kate, and Sayid are all headed back to the beach where the rest of the survivors of flight 815 are living. This could mean big trouble if Juliet is a mole for the Others. Even if she isn’t, they might try to “rescue” Juliet, in which case we might see a full-on head-to-head between all of the others and all of the Losties. I would be very excited to see that happen!

Next Week: The next episode is titled “One of Us” and will be a Juliet-centric episode. The title makes me think that this episode will focus on the events of Ben being “captured” by Rousseau, but from the Others’ perspective (the original episode where that happened was called ‘One of Them’). And by the looks of the preview, I think we might actually start getting some good answers about the Others, and Juliet’s past with them.

Well… that just about does it for me. I’d love to hear your theories and thoughts on last night’s episode. Otherwise, I’ll just talk to you next week.

-drew.