S5E11 - Whatever Happened Happened

Remember Cassidy?

For those that don't remember Cassidy, I think the best way to start off this week's recap is to give you a quick reminder.

She was the recipient of a large settlement, and Sawyer's job was to con her out of it. Try to follow me here-- as a part of that con, he let her find out that he was a con man, where he taught her how to con other people, thus earning her trust and ultimately conning her out of her money. It's what they refer to as a "long con".

During the con, Sawyer fell in love with Cassidy, but ended up finishing the con to save her from his "boss", who threatened to kill her if he didn't. In the end, she turned him over to the police, but was pregnant with his child, a daughter named Clementine.

The Three That Know

In an earlier episode this season, Hurley told his mom the truth about the island. As far as we know, she was the only person that someone from the Oceanic 6 blabbed to. This episode revealed 2 more people that know the truth: Claire's mom and Cassidy. I've got a serious suspicion that there are already more people than we know that know the truth about the island. And it's only a matter of time before their cover is completely blown and the public finds out about the island.

Catch a Falling Star

While Kate was carrying Aaron into Cassidy's house, she was singing "Catch a Falling Star" to him. When Claire was trying to put her baby up for adoption, her only request to the adoptive parents was for them to sing that song to him, as her father (Christian Shephard) sang it to her when she was a kid. Since that was revealed, we've seen/heard that song come up several times.

Jack is Locke

This episode was very important for the Jack storyline. Jack's life revolves around helping people... so why not help young Ben? The most important line for Jack in this episode was "Do you think that maybe the Island wants to fix things itself and we are getting in the way?" Woah. Is Jack a believer of the island? Or is her just being difficult because he's still pissed that Sawyer is the "leader" now?

What The Writers Do Best

The LOST writers are good at A LOT... but what they do best is take a character that we don't like and flip it to make us really sympathetic to them. This week, it was Roger Linus's turn. Is anyone else a Roger Linus fan now?

Kate's Nicknames

Kate had 2 nicknames this episode that deserve recognition. The obvious one is when Sawyer called her "Freckles" again. This is bad news for Juliet. The other nickname is when Clementine (Sawyer's daughter) called her "Auntie Kate". While not important to the overall story, it's important to note that this indicates Kate and Cassidy hung out frequently over the years.

Why Did They Come Back?

We know why Kate came back.... we know why Jack came back... Same for Sayid and Sun. We still have yet to find out why Hurley came back. But that's not what I'm questioning here. I'm wondering why they needed to come back. When Locke turned the wheel, the time skipping stopped, and they were all ok (granted, they were in 1977)... but in the overall scheme of things, they didn't need saving. ...or did they? If you read my post last week, this could tie in with my Rat Theory. The reason that Jack & Co. needed to come back was because they DID, and because they were meant to. Had they not come back, Sayid wouldn't have shot little Ben, and it would've created a paradox.

If that was a confusing statement, don't worry.... The conversations with Miles and Hurley in this episode are EXACTLY how my brain works. I'm constantly battling both sides. So if I'm not making any sense here, forgive me.

...and if that's not confusing enough...... it's about to get a little worse.

Let's try this.

Richard Breaks The Rules

At the end of the episode, Richard took an injured Ben to some sort of building (maybe the temple?), but warned Sawyer and Kate that, by helping Ben, he would "forget this ever happened," continuing with, "His innocence will be gone. He'll always be one of us." Is this just a cop-out to say that this is why he doesn't remember Sayid shooting him? Or is there more to the story here. I have a theory.

Most people are incapable of creating a paradox in time, but Richard can. The reason that Ben won't remember being shot is because Richard can take him back in time and help Ben avoid getting shot in one timeline, and bring him back to his original timeline. I think that there are only 3 people who can do this-- Richard Alpert, Charles Widmore, and Desmond. Charles Widmore "broke the rules" when he had Ben's "daughter" killed. We've also heard Faraday refer to Desmond as being special. I think they're going to rely heavily on Desmond to help them avoid the purge, thus changing the course of the future. I think that's how this season is going to wrap up, leaving us with the inevitable "Now what?" feeling that we end every season with.

Charles and Ellie

After taking Ben, Richard was warned by another one of the Others that he shouldn't do it without talking to Ellie first, and even saying, "...if Charles finds out...". Richard was quick to respond, "I don't answer to them." I think in the episodes to come, we'll get a good feeling for Richard's role (as well as Charles and Ellie's role) with the Others.

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The Poll

We're probably still several weeks away from an answer on this poll, so I'm going to leave it up for an additional week. I want to hear your thoughts on the Purge. For those that don't remember, the Purge happened in 1992, and was when Ben and the Others killed most of the Dharma Initiative. I have a serious feeling that the Purge will be the focus of the last couple episodes of season 5. The big question-- will they be able to avoid it? Vote in the poll and let me know!