Sunday, March 30, 2008

Lost with Dawson

If you're a frequent reader of my blog, you know that I'll occasionally post a "Lost with Julie" entry where I talk about a theory that my wife has. And while my son (Dawson) is only 8 months old and doesn't have any theories (yet), this picture is definitely worth posting. My wife was quick to point out that a family member bought Dawson the same kind of shirt that Aaron was wearing in "Eggtown" (see pic).

Aaron's Shirt
(picture courtesy of Lost-Media.com)

Notice the white shirt with red and grey stripes on the sleeve, and the brown moose. Now take a look at Dawson with his shirt (and a couple LOST action figures):

Lost with Dawson

Needless to say, since we realized that he has this shirt, he's been wearing it a lot more! And I'll be sure to post his first theory... as soon as he learns to talk.

-drew.

Friday, March 21, 2008

S4E08 - "Meet Kevin Johnson"

Michael's back!!!!!!!! Libby's back!!!!! Tom's back!!!!!!!! Walt's back (sorta?)!!!!!!! This week's episode was great! And I have a feeling that once LOST returns, we are gonna be speed through the rest of the season with hard-hitting episodes each and every week. But in the meantime, let's look at what happened this week.

The Oceanic 6
Sheesh... it feels like I have a subject every week talking about the idenities of the Oceanic 6, and now I can say with certainty that they are as follows: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Aaron, and Sun. The question we should be asking now is.... what happened to the rest of the people? I can't think that they'd just kill everyone else off. And I'm going to go on record as saying that if they kill off John Locke, I am officially going on strike from writing this blog until they bring him back from the dead! But something tells me that the people that are not of the Oceanic 6 are still alive and on the island.... however, I think that the Oceanic 6 might believe that they are all dead.

Immortality?
After returning home, Walt refused to talk to Michael becuase of what he had done. And Michael's life went down the toilet. He strapped a suicide note to his chest and drove head-on into a cement wall. And after a couple days in the hospital, he was released.... at which point, he purchased a gun so that he could shoot himself. And just before he pulled the trigger, we hear a familiar voice come from the shadows in the alley-- it's Tom! And he tells Michael that the island won't let him kill himself. Does that mean that he can't die at all? Or that he just can't take his own life? And think back to last year's finale, when Jack was on the bridge in LA, ready to jump to his death, when suddenly there was a crash behind him. This too appears to be the island not letting him die. It's also worth noting that people on the island seem to die without any problems (except for Mikhail, who was killed about 15 times before he actually died).

"You're Not My Type"
After the season 3 premiere, fans couldn't help but wonder why Tom (aka Mr. Friendly) laughed at Kate and told her that she's not his type. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Kate everyone's type? Apparently not..... especially if you swing in the opposite direction. Yes, Tom is officially LOST's first gay character. And something made me think that his boyfriend was not just a one-time hook-up.... I got the impression that they were actually in a relationship, so how often did Tom leave the island? That brings me to my next point...

Tom's Vacation
When did Tom have time to go to Manhattan to meet up with Michael? And did anyone else feel that Tom stayed in Manhattan for more than just a couple days? Wouldn't we have seen him missing for a few episodes last season? If time on the island is different from time off the island, that might help explain it.... especially if Tom knows of ways to leave the island and arrive "back in time" in the real world.

Everyone Has Secrets
When stepping onto the freighter for the first time, Michael gives his name as Kevin Johnson, to which Miles quickly remarks, "Kevin isn't your real name." And when Michael looks up at him, he makes a comment about how everyone's lying about something. So what is he lying about? What about Faraday? Charlotte? Frank? I'm starting to think that while Michael's note said not to trust the captain... that maybe we shouldn't trust ANYONE. But most importantly, don't trust Sayid with your secrets.

Tattle-Tail
Sayid was awfully quick to turn Michael in to the captain. And when he made his big reveal to the captain about Michael being from Oceanic Flight 815, and working for Ben, the captain didn't really seem too surprised. My question is-- how long has the captain known? It was very frustrating to watch how mad Sayid got that Michael is working for Ben, when we all know that in the future, Sayid will be working for him.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
After last week's episode, they aired a trailer for "Meet Kevin Johnson", saying that someone was going to die. And while I've been predicting that Claire would die lately, I couldn't help but guess Juliet. My wife was thinking that they'd kill Desmond. The end of this week's episode would prove us both wrong. While making their journey to the temple, Rousseau and Karl were both shot, leaving Alex to exclaim, "I'm Ben's daughter!"

This is known as the "Who Shot Mr. Burns" cliffhanger. Was it the Freighter Folk? Was it the Others? My guess is that it's the Freighties. We saw them doing some skeet shooting over the ocean, so we know they've got some pretty heavy arsenal (and good aim too). And remember, the helicopter was missing for a couple days. It's possible that Frank took a few of their soldiers over to the island to start picking the people off one-by-one. It'd certainly be in their favor if they were to capture Alex and trade her life for Ben's..... then again, I don't know that Ben would make that trade. I mean, he "loves" Juliet, and nearly let her drown when Jack opened the door in the Hydra. It appears he's only looking out for numero uno. So, who do you think is the shooter?

Choose a Side
Put yourself in the place of the Losties, and choose a side. Charles Widmore or Benjamin Linus? Who's good, and who's bad? Who staged the crash? I'm going to be the first to go on record as saying that I would side with Ben. I think that Charles Widmore is the bad guy here, and he is the one that staged the plane crash. He obviously knows about Flight 815, and he was the one to purchase the journal of Magnus Hanso, captain of the Black Rock (which, as we all know, is on that same island). I'd love to hear theories on who we can trust and why. If you've got any, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. But if you don't have time for an email, be sure to at least respond to the poll that I posted.

Sorry for the huge delay on this recap. It's been a crazy Easter weekend. The recap isn't totally complete yet, but I figured I'd post what I have done so far. Look for a continued recap later in the week.

Until next time!

-drew.

Friday, March 14, 2008

S4E07 - "Ji Yeon"

What a great episode! Lots of answers.... lots of questions! But first, an exclusive answer from the producers of LOST. In a podcast released earlier this week, they stated that Harper (Juliet's therapist) was not dead. So in her creepy appearance (and disappearance) last week, she wasn't a ghost. That's not to say that she wasn't bi-locating though. :)

"Can't" with a capital SEE
Yes, I realize that these titles are getting lamer and lamer with each post, but whatever. That's not what this is about. This one is about Regina. She was "reading" her book upside-down outside the room where Sayid and Desmond were being kept captive. But why was it upside-down? Can she not read? Has she gone crazy? Is she just REALLY REALLY talented? Or, could it be that she's blind? When Frank approached her, she seemed startled and mentioned that she didn't hear him coming (an indication that she might really be blind). Either way, why was she pretending to read?

The Suicide Ship
While out on the deck, we see Regina walk out onto a platform with chains wrapped around her body. She stepped to the edge of the boat and just jumped into the water (using those chains to weigh her down). Okay, so maybe now I'm leaning more towards the "Regina is crazy" option. And apparently, she isn't the only one. When Desmond and Sayid are brought to their new room (complete with scatterring cockroaches), we see a giant blood-stain on the wall. At first glance, it appears to be the result of a bullet-to-the-head. And I have a strange feeling that it was self-inflicted.

Yar! What be wrong with the captain?
After Frank's warning of them not wanting to meet the captain and the mysterious note slipped under the door warning "Do not trust the captain", I can't help but think that maybe the captain isn't such a good guy. Move over Ben-- you've got competition!

Frankie Goes To.... I don't know
While out on the landing pads, Sayid pointed out that the helicopter is gone (as is Frank). It seems logical to assume that he refilled his fuel and headed back to the island. But something tells me that Frank might disappear for a few episodes (similar to the way the payload took longer than it should have to reach the island).

"Y'all wanna see 324 dead bodies?"
It was almost revealed in this episode that Ben is the one responsible for staging the Flight 815 wreckage in the bottom of the Ocean (as discovered in the episode "Confirmed Dead"). The captain (who...keep in mind... we CANNOT trust) mentioned that there are concerns over how someone could stage something that huge, complete with all 300+ dead passengers. And that, he said, is why they need to talk to Ben. So where did Ben get 324 dead bodies? My initial thought was that he used a bunch of the corpses of the DHARMA folk that were killed in the purge. But, when he showed Locke the pit where he disposed of their bodies, they were all skeletons (which the "passengers" were not).

Kareem Abdul Jabar
Okay, so using that name might have made it a little more obvious that he was lying. I guess that's why Michael (YES!), who is on the freighter (YES! YES!), using the alias Kevin Johnson (former guard for the Phoenix Suns). I don't know about you guys, but I am totally psyched to see Michael finally back on the show! And if having him back isn't cool enough, it looks like we're gonna get some answers next week, in an episode titled, "Meet Kevin Johnson". My prediction is this-- Michael and Walt sailed off and eventually made it back to the mainland. Feeling bad, Michael dropped Walt off with his grandma (Michael's mom), and immediately headed back for the island, in an attempt to make good for what he did. Remember, he killed Ana Lucia and Libby in order to release Ben so that he could get Walt back from the Others. Oh... and, by the way, if you watched the episode close enough, you would've seen Michael early on, looking down at Sayid and Desmond on the launch pad.


Michael in the Hoodie

Don't forget Jin & Sun!
Oh yeah... it was a Jin and Sun episode. I guess I should talk a little bit about them. Well, the writers have done it again-- they pulled a quick one on us. While the whole episode, my wife is saying, "Jin and Sun are divorced! Jin's not going to see her at the hospital," I couldn't help but have hope that she was wrong and that they were happily married, and ready to accept their first baby into this world. And in traditional LOST fashion, we were both wrong. Last night's episode marks the very first time we saw BOTH a flashback of one character, and a flashforward of another... only to find out in the end that Jin died.....well.....maybe not. Take a look at this:


Jin's Tombstone

Do you see it? Jin's date of death is September 22, 2004... also known as the day Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashed. So he is NOT one of the Oceanic 6... which means that he NEVER got off the island... which means that he could still be alive, living on the island. I have a feeling that people were being taken to the freighter in shipments of only a few at a time... and before they could get everyone off the island, the freighter had to leave, resulting in only 7 being rescued (Desmond wasn't on the plane, and wouldn't be on of the Oceanic 6.... I think). Also an interesting note... according to the date on the left (Sun's birthdate), she is only 24 on the show. That's strange, since she is actually 34 in real life.

And as a side note, while we're on the subject of age, does anyone else find it hard to believe that the actor that plays Ben will be turning 54 this year? I always just assumed that he was in his early 40's.

The Return of Nikki
If you watched closely in Sun's first flashback, you could see that she was watching an episode of Exposé, the TV show that Nikki (of "Nikki and Paulo") starred in. I wonder if she recognized her.


Nikki on TV

Just a Few More Things...
While I think that basically wraps up my summary for now, I did want to make note of a couple things. The first being that the producers recently did an interview they were asked if we would ever see an on-island flash-forward. Their response was, "Who says we haven't already seen one?" And while they're probably just pulling our chains, we'll all have to remember to keep that in mind while re-watching these episodes during the 6-week hiatus. Yes, it's true... we're going to have to take a 6-week break. Basically, next week is our last episode for a while, and the show is set to return on April 24th, and run through May 22nd. The finale this year will be 2 hours (don't get excited yet) separated into two one-hour episodes.

And now for a bonus...
I came across this video on one of the many LOST sites I frequent, and I thought it'd be a fun way to end this week's recap. Enjoy!



I really appreciate all the feedback I've been getting. Please don't hesitate to e-mail me or leave some feedback directly on the blog. Until next time!

-drew.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Tempest

Okay... first, a confession-- a week ago, I had no idea what a tempest was. A quick search on Dictionary.com defines a tempest as a violent windstorm.

Back in the pilot episode (yes... the very first episode), it began raining (not just raining... I mean, torrential downpour). Charlie even asked Kate and Jack, "Hey, guys, is this normal? Day turning into night? Sort of end-of-the-world-type weather?" Locke was even able to predict rain (on several occasions), and Walt was able to stop the rain. So, weather has always played a part in the mysteries of the island. So, with this post, I'm proposing a new theory-- the newly revealed Tempest station controls the weather on the island.

Thoughts? Leave me a comment, or e-mail me.

Friday, March 7, 2008

S4E06 - "The Other Woman"

While last night's episode can't hold a candle to last week's Desmond episode, it was still great. We even got an answer to one of the big questions this season. Granted, in traditional LOST fashion, even more questions were raised. Let's dive in....

Juliet: One of the Oceanic 6?
Nope. But the opening scene definitely made me wonder. But this got me to really think about whether or not Juliet would leave the island. It's said that next week, we'll learn 100% who the Oceanic 6 are. But that won't stop me from making my prediction today. My current lineup includes: Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Sawyer, & Locke. So...what about Claire? I think her time's up (sorry). Here's where the trickery comes in..... I think Jin and Sun also make it off the island, but end up going back to South Korea, and are not recognized as the famous "Oceanic 6" (a name given to the 6 American survivors).

The Return of Mr. Friendly
One of the characters that made a return this week is Tom, who Sawyer killed at the end of last season. In Juliet's flashback, he walks with her to Ben's house shortly after she arrives on the island. In their conversation, Tom mentions missing his family. So, I guess this means that Tom was NOT an island native... but was recruited like Juliet. As of now, the only island native that we know is Richard Alpert.

Psst....
There are so many secrets on this show, it's no wonder that the voices on the island are whispering. And every time I hear those whispers, I get so pumped! What concerns me is that it appears that Juliet is hearing them for the first time. And it appears that these are tied somehow to the appearance of one of the Others. A new character named Harper (who is actually Goodwyn's wife) appears next to Juliet. She tells Juliet that Daniel and Charlotte are on their way to The Tempest (YES! New Dharma Station!), and Ben has passed along orders to find and kill them. This scene alone raised so many questions...

Harper - Dead or Alive?
Her appearance reminded me of when Shannon saw Walt in the jungle (season 2). We also know that Sayid saw Walt. Charlie even mentioned that most of the people had seen Walt in the jungle. It appeared that Walt was able to bi-locate himself... being a captive of the Others, but at the same time projecting himself to another spot on the island. So is Harper also bi-locating? If the Others have figured out a way to "travel" to other places without actually leaving their current location, it would explain A LOT. Maybe that's how Ben was able to contact Harper to pass along his orders to Juliet. Then again.... if that's true, why wouldn't he just tell Juliet himself?

Look-Alike
While talking to Harper in her therapy session, Juliet is asked about how she feels about Ben. She responds that he's very nice to her, to which Harper responds, "Of course he is. You look just like her." So is it safe to assume that Ben was, at one time, married to a woman that resembles Juliet? And perhaps she died while pregnant, explaining why Ben has made solving this fertility issue his top priority?

Babies are diseases-- Confirmed!
During her flashback, Juliet gives a few more details about the fertility issue on the island, further confirming a popular long-time theory. We know that the island has VERY strong healing properties. And when a woman gets pregnant, the body treats the baby as a foreign object and works to eliminate it. That being said, Juliet went on to explain that it only happens if the baby is conceived on the island. So here's my question-- if a baby is conceived on Monday, and the mom arrives on the island on Tuesday, does that mean that they'd be okay? If so, there goes that theory!

Emma & Zack
In one of the flashbacks, Ben thanked Juliet for taking such good care of Emma and Zack. For those of you that don't remember, Emma and Zack were on Flight 815 and were some of the tail section survivors that were taken. They were headed back to LA to meet up with their parents. As for what they were doing in Sydney, that has yet to be revealed. But Ana Lucia promised them that she would watch after them and get them back to their parents. Then, when Jack was being temporarily kept in the polar bear cages last season, Cindy (the stewardess) came up and was talking to him, and Emma came up and asked about Ana Lucia (who had been shot a couple weeks prior).

Rabbit #8
Last season, Ben introduced us to a rabbit, which had a number 8 painted on its back. And over the summer, the Orchid Station's orientation video showed another rabbit with the number 15 painted on its back. Apparently, these were subjects of DHARMA experiements. And when Locke brought Ben his dinner (rabbit....yum), Ben asked, "It didn't have a number on it, did it?". Now, I would assume that if it did, Locke would've said something here.... but he didn't. That's not to say that over the past 25 years, a number couldn't have washed off. So if this is one of the DHARMA rabbits, we may be able to expect some side effects.

Answers for sale - $1.00
In an attempt to be a smart-ass, Locke gave Ben a dollar bill to give him a start on his $3.2 Million that he owes Miles. And in exchange, Locke finally gets some answers! Unfortunately, we are only given on of those answers-- The "boss" that has been trying to find Ben... The person who hired the Freighter Folk is.... Charles Widmore. I think it's pretty safe to assume now that he is the Economist that Sayid was hired to kill. But does Charles Widmore know about Desmond being on the island? I certainly think so. Think about this... Charles Widmore bought the journal that belonged to Magnus Hanso (captain of the Black Rock) in 1996. This shows that he's got interest in the Black Rock. After a few years of investigating, learns of the island and its powers, and is now on a mission to find it. He then announces a contest-- a solo race around the world (he knows Desmond will sign up). He also knows that Desmond doesn't have a boat, so he pays Libby to give Desmond a boat (claiming it belonged to her deceased husband). What Libby and Desmond don't know is that Charles has "programmed" the boat to arrive at those coordinates. He's also attached a tracking device. After the hatch imploded the signal was sent to Charles Widmore, who then hired Matthew Abaddon (who hired Naomi) to find the island.

Whew....

Okay, so I know that probably isn't 100% true, I would wager at least a 20% accuracy rate.

Mad Drawin' Skillz
Daniel and Charlotte were on their way to the Tempest station, and Daniel pulled out his "map" of the island. Now if the island is hidden from the rest of the world, it only seems logical that the map was drawn by (1) someone who has travelled across the island, (2) someone with pretty decent drawing skills (see below), and (3) someone who has met Charlotte and Daniel.
The Map
So, who do we know that fits all 3 of those? I can't help but think about how Michael trekked across the island's terrain to find Walt, had an art background, and (if my theory is right) might be on the boat. Another option is the "Henry Gale" method, where (just like Ben threatened to do in season 2), Ben's "man" on the boat drew them up a map that would lead them to a place where they would be captured. This ties in with Ben's knowledge of them going to the Tempest, and his plan to have Juliet find them there and shoot them.

Did Ethan Hit It too?
When Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on the island, Ben quickly sent Goodwyn and Ethan to assemble lists of the survivors. We know now that his reason for sending Goodwyn (and keeping him on assignment) was because he was sleeping with Juliet. Oh, yeah-- by the way, Ben's totally in love with Juliet. And he likely knew that it was only a matter of time before they figured out that Goodwyn wasn't on the plane, and they'd kill him. That way, Ben will have Juliet all to himself. ....but then he goes and gets Jack to operate on him, and Juliet falls in love with Jack.

Where's the Love?
(Disclaimer: This part uses the word "love" loosely). Some TV shows have a love story between two people (Ross & Rachel). Other shows have, what is commonly referred to as, a love triangle between 3 people (Dawson, Pacey, & Joey). LOST is breaking all of the rules here. Let's see if we can get this straight..... Ben loves Juliet. Juliet loves Goodwyn and Jack. Jack loves Juliet and Kate. Kate loves Jack and Sawyer. Sawyer loves Kate. But let's face it.... none of these "relationships" is as strong as the Desmond and Penny connection..... *teardrop*

And while I used to be a huge Charlie & Claire fan, I can't help but wonder why the hell Claire hasn't spent any time mourning the loss of her man. And I wonder if she ever found the ring that he left for Aaron.

And I'll beat you to the punchline by answering the two questions I know I'm going to get after posting about the relationships:

1) Who will Kate end up with-- Jack or Sawyer? My answer... Jack.
2) Does Ben still love Juliet? My answer... Yes.

Dinner Guest
At the end of the episode, we see Hurley and Sawyer playing horseshoes in the front yard when Ben comes walking out of Locke's house (which actually used to be Ben's house) with a stack of blankets, and he casually says to Hurley and Sawyer, "See you guys at dinner." To me, this must mean that Ben gave Locke some real answers. We saw Locke ask Ben who his man on the boat was, to which Ben replied, "You're gonna want to sit down." Unfortunately for us, we didn't get to see the rest of that conversation. But I have a hard time believing that this answer was just like, "The man on the boat is Richard Alpert," and then Locke let him go. The real answer had to just blow his mind, where Ben said something like, "Actually, John, the man on the boat is you." Could you imagine?! If Ben were to explain some of the island's special properties to Locke, I would totally understand him letting Ben go. And what does this mean for the future episodes? Will Ben and Locke become partners?

Next Week
The next episode, titled "Ji Yeon" will be (you guessed it!) Jin and Sun-centric. We are also supposed to find out the rest of the Oceanic 6. And according to some articles I've read, this next episode is supposed to be "the most shocking episode this season". I can't wait!

The New Schedule
I don't remember where it was last time I mentioned the schedule, so I'll drop a quick update. We only have 2 new episodes left before we have a six-week hiatus. And when LOST returns, it'll be on at 10pm (EST) on Thursdays, following new episodes of Grey's Anatomy.

As always, I'd love to hear your feedback! Keep the theories coming!

-drew.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Re-Watching "The Constant"

More insights after re-watching the episode...

Finding Your Own Constant
At the end of the episode, Dan was flipping through his journal when he suddenly came to a page that said "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."

Desmond Hume will be my Constant

So, is this the first time that Daniel Faraday is reading this entry? Or has it been there the whole time? Is he now just realizing who Desmond Hume is? Reading this journal entry also made me realize that Daniel could've just as well told Desmond about finding a constant over the phone. Instead, he sent Desmond to meet up with him in the past...as if he were using Desmond so that he could have a constant, just in case something goes wrong.

Where Do I Know Him From?
You might have found yourself asking, "Where do I know George Minkowski from?" He's probably best known for his role as Benjamin in "Short Circuit". Anyone else hoping that we get a guest appearance from Johnny 5 soon?

Fisher Stevens