Monday, February 13, 2006

S2Ep13 - The Long Con (Sawyer's third flashback) - 2/8/06

Hello my dear friends -

We're half-way through the season and the proverbial tide has turned - welcome to a much darker Lost. I was surprised to find that on the boards, fans were split down the middle on last week's episode (The Long Con) - people either loved it or hated it - there was no gray area this time whatsoever. Count me in the "loved it" camp for several reasons:

1) Some of the spoilers I had accidentally come across did not turn out to be true, which kept me on my toes and made it more enjoyable overall.

2) Though some things my peeps and I called from a mile away (Sawyer pulling the long con on Locke to get the guns for himself), there were enough twists and turns to make things interesting - especially when it came to guessing who exactly Sawyer was working with.

3) I love anything that is remotely Lord of the Flies-ish, because besides the fact that that book (and the old school movie - Piggy! The Conch Shell!) rocks, I am always fascinated by human nature in general, and by what people will do when put in a new situation - especially one that is threatening. I just quickly skimmed some Cliff Notes on The Lord of the Flies, and came across two interesting things - which most likely have no relevance to Lost, but I will mention them anyway:
- One of the leaders of the boys in the book is named Jack.
- "A stick sharpened at both ends" is referenced in the book as quite a threatening object - used by "the savages" for "impaling one end in the head and another in the ground." Sure hope there's no connection to Eko's Jesus Stick, which is also sharpened on both ends...

Geez, now I want to read the book again.

But before I run out to Borders... I will finish this post.

So as with The Lord of the Flies, this episode reminded us to beware of "the enemy within." Yeah, The Others are all freaky and whatnot, but at this point they could probably sit back and spend their free time trimming their hillbilly beards and cutting off more khakis, because I think our beloved Lostaways are on the verge of self-destructing without anyone else's help.



FEELING A LITTLE SHEEPISH NOW, JACK AND LOCKE?

Jack and Locke's attempt to play nice at the beginning of the episode devolved into plotting against each other and caused them both to look like idiots at the end. A few things to note:

- Some people on the boards actually thought Locke was being serious when he told Jack that he could always use the heroin for therapeutic reasons. COME ON. Even I am not that blinded by the fabulousness that is Locke. If the statues are left unbroken, you have several characters who KNOW what is inside: Charlie, Locke, Jack, Sayid, Claire and Eko (off the top of my head). If Locke was really only concerned about saving the heroin for pain-killing purposes rather than for leverage or some other not-so-noble reason in the future, he would've kept all of the heroin together in some unmarked container. And as for this line: "YOU want to break seven statues of the Virgin Mary? I'm superstitious." No way. He may be reading too much into "signs that the island is sending him," but he is NOT religious or superstitious. He definitely wanted the statues to stay whole for a specific reason, we just don't know what that is yet.

- Some may argue that Locke broke the pact that he and Jack made to be sure to tell each other should either one of them ever want to take any guns out of the ammo room. I of course do not see it that way. While Locke probably believed Sawyer's warnings that Jack was coming for the guns a little too quickly, he had good reason. Anyone would agree that Jack has flown off of the handle several times in the past and could easily get all worked up again after Sun's attempted kidnapping and want to go teach Zeke and crew a lesson without thinking it through. Also, to anyone who thinks that Jack would've actually listened to or consulted Locke before taking the guns out, had Locke kept the guns where they were and had been in the hatch himself, I say: "Brotha/Sista, please." Jack had hardly ever listened to Locke's cool-headed reasoning in the past... he wasn't about to start then.

SAWYER

"Sawyer, you magnificent bastard!"

This phrase was uttered so many times on the boards that I would be remiss not to mention it.

But Sawyer retorts, per his last line in The Long Con:

"I'm not a good person."

I believe that statement is still debatable... but for now, it serves to once again illustrate one of the main themes of the show: what makes someone "good" or "bad"? Most of the time Sawyer does act completely in his own self-interest, but there have been glimmers of hope for him, including: telling Jack about the bar meeting with his dad, attempting to thwart the Others' kidnapping of Walt, threatening to beat down Seabilly Jim if he hurt Kate, giving Kate all the alcohol with no questions asked when Boone was dying, and so on. But masterminding the Sun kidnapping attempt, fooling Kate into suspecting Ana Lucia and thus setting off a series of events to plot Locke against Jack and achieve Sawyer's goal is quite dastardly.

On another topic, there was much discussion about Sawyer's other "long con" - the one he pulled on Cassandra in his flashback. First off, people now think that he was most likely talking about Cassandra -not Kate- when mumbling his "I love her" comment in the hatch to Jack a few episodes back.

On a similar note, people were split as to whether or not Sawyer would have gone through with the con on Cassandra, had she given him a different reaction at the end. This post explains it best:

- "She let him down in her response to the situation, and I think he decided it wasn't worth pursuing because he gave her the choice to say "the money doesn't matter, you're what counts," and she blew it. And I don't think Sawyer would let himself "love" someone until he had utter faith in them to say that."

Others thought he never intended to do anything but keep the money for himself:

- "One of the things I find interesting is that Locke has been presented as a character whose life has changed (or at least whose true nature was liberated) on the island, while Sawyer is presented as the torch boy for the other side of the argument, that people do not really change. I still believe that Sawyer wants to be good; he is just hopeless about his ability to do so, or at least it is easier to use the tiger/stripes argument as a crutch because change is hard, change takes work, change hurts."


"NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN, BOYS! YOU ALL BEST GET USED TO IT."

Regarding Sawyer's coup d'etat - while everyone applauded the shake-up in the Lostaway's leadership and power structure, people were split as to whether or not Sawyer is the best person to now have control of the guns. Here is a sampling of posts:

- "Actually, I take the position that the one person Sawyer was NOT looking out for is number one. Sawyer is actually the one person I'd want in control of the guns right now. He has been the most pragmatic since day one -- every action, every decision. We know that Sawyer has feelings (deep ones), and this episode was no different. Unlike Jack and the rest, we also know that he is willing (and able) to set them all aside to do what needs to get done. Does he do bad things? Yes. Does he know exactly what he is doing? Yes. He is the *only* person on the island that is in complete control. Does that make him "likeable"? No. Does that make him interesting? Hell yes. I don't see this as a power play, as much as I see it as Sawyer trying to rein people in. Do we really think hauling off and building up an army to fight The Others on Jack's whim is a wise idea? Neither does Sawyer."

- "Actually Sawyer may or may not be the wisest person to have the guns right now. On one hand, he is neither Locke, nor Jack, and the two of them have entirely too many hidden agendas and mutual mistrust to be in charge of the weapons. On the other hand, who knows how bribable Sawyer might be. He keeps saying he has needs. If Kate, or Ana Lucia really want those guns, they probably could get them. Or maybe not. See... Sawyer as the sheriff is an unknown quantity, and that's what makes it interesting."

- "As much as I don't like the "you took my stuff" rationale, I do like the fact that there's a new dynamic in the Lostaway leadership. Light vs. dark, faith vs. science, was getting set up a little too neatly. A wild card is always good!"

- "Sociopathic tendencies aside, I consider Sawyer better to make judgments about the guns than Jack or Locke or especially Jack AND Locke. He's a happy medium when it comes to knowing what's going on and how to handle it. I'm glad they're under his control. Stakes went WAY up, and as someone said, it's a whole new ballgame, once Charlie attacked Sun. Like damn."

- "These people need to get on the same page. You think any of the Others ever give Zeke shit? Think Alex would've hid the torches before their big showdown in the clearing? Or somebody would speak intelligibly in the jungle, rather than whisper menacingly? No, they accept him as a leader, and they do as he says. In the meantime, the Lostaways are all pulling in opposite directions."

- "The balance of power has shifted, and though I love Jack, I am happy to see this happen, because I think it's realistic. In our society, what Charlie and Sawyer did was wrong. But isn't it amazing how the rules can change, and the con man and the junkie can be among the most savvy in a society in which there are no rules?"

Yes... the game has changed, my friends... The Game Has Changed.



I LOVE NICKNAMES


Darth Hobbit
Darth Hoodie
Sith Lord Mini
Anakin Charlie

Those are just but a sampling of the brilliant nicknames Charlie earned himself on the boards for rockin' the black hoodie and lurking in the shadows all episode. The funny thing is, no one seems quite as annoyed with him anymore now that he just straight up did something really bad. And I find it fascinating that his hate for Locke trumps his drug habit as a reason to help out Sawyer. Here are a few more posts on this subject:

- "I don't think that either Sawyer or Charlie intended to hurt Sun. Sawyer had become almost friends with Jin, and I don't see him deliberately hurting Sun.. his cons are not about hurting people. And Charlie has that whole protector of the female race thing going on, so he wouldn't try to hurt her either. I think her head bump was an accident, which her account supports."

- "Interesting that Charlie turned down the Hell Marys. He's got something new to keep him interesting and off drugs. Revenge. Cool."



GET YOUR READ ON

There was yet another book capturing the spotlight briefly on the show... Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Except, the thing is, it's not really a book, but rather a very, very short story.

I'm about to tell you what the story is about, so skip the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to know for some reason... The story seems to be about this guy escaping from his own hanging... until the end when it is revealed that everything that happened is simply what went through his mind during the split second in which he was hanged. This led some people to bring up the #)R$%#)%(&#$*&!!! purgatory theory again, and a few others to wonder if the show will turn out to be all the things that were going through one specific character's head during the crash, right before they died. I sincerely hope that's not the case... and it wouldn't really explain the flashbacks, unless the series was supposed to be showing what ALL crash victims were thinking right before they died. Pause. Hmmm... Naahhhh, they wouldn't.

If you would like to read the story (it will take all of 5 minutes), here it is:

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge


OTHER STUFF I WANT TO MENTION BUT CAN'T THINK OF A CLEVER, ALL-ENCOMPASSING SECTION TITLE FOR BECAUSE I REALLY WANT TO HURRY UP AND GO WATCH '24' NOW


- The manuscript "Bad Twin" that Hurley found and was shown reading briefly is going to be the infamous "marketing tie-in" for the show. As in, they are actually going to sell that book at some point in the near future. The story goes that it is a manuscript that one of the not-so-lucky passengers had just tried to sell to an agent right before the crash. This unfortunate passenger (named Gary Troup) left a copy behind as well, and so said agent will attempt to make money off of the fact that the author was on the mysterious flight 815 that was never found, and will publish the book posthumously. Lame idea? Possibly. Or brilliant, "next generation marketing" idea? Possibly. Will I still buy it either way? Definitely. The Lost creators know millions of suckers when they see 'em!

- I loved the Ana Lucia and Kate staredown sequence.

- The ongoing Scott vs. Steve joke (nowAna Lucia is mentioning it???) is getting old. Enough already.

- Did anyone else laugh when Jin kept saying "Gun!" "Gun!" I don't think I was supposed to laugh, but he just sounded kind of goofy.

- I really thought in the final scene when Sawyer looked over to the driver's seat of the black car, that Locke's dad was going to be there. Because after all, that guy is the MASTER of the long con by getting Locke to give him a kidney?!?!? Anyway, he wasn't there, so oh, well. If *I* wrote the show, he would've been.

- Jack sucks and is now in my #1 Most Hated Character position. Good God, he annoys me. Kate is down to #3!

- Did you catch Hurley mentioning that Bernard was a dentist? I was thinking his back-story would be something more exciting than that. But regardless, I certainly hope that mention means that we will get a Bernard and/or Rose flashback some time in the near future. Where have those two been, by the way? Sure, it's only been like 4 days on the island since their reunion, but are they still cooped up in some tent cuddling somewhere and hiding from the rest of the freaks ... still?


I TOLD YOU TO KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED!

How many of you noticed Kate's mom as Sawyer and Gordy's waitress?


You missed it? You need to go through my Lost-viewing-boot-camp! Fine, I'll indulge you - see it here, but be forewarned that this site is packed with spoilers:


Kate's Mom in Sawyer's Flashback


END OF EPISODE "WHOA" MOMENT #1

To refresh your memory before we all hail the nerds who investigated this:

HURLEY: Wait, what's that?!
SAYID: It's Rousseau's signal.
HURLEY: Oh, crap.
SAYID [changing the dial]: But this radio has a wider bandwidth.
HURLEY: Hold it, stop! Do you hear that!
RADIO [with spotty reception]: That was the... Duke Ellington... orchestra featuring... up next on WXO, the Glen Miller Orchestra with Moonlight Serenade.
[The song begins to play with good reception.]
HURLEY: Whoa, you hear how clear that is? It's got to be close, right?
SAYID: Radio waves at this frequency bounce off the ionosphere. They can travel thousands of miles. It could be coming from anywhere.
HURLEY: Or, any time... Just kidding, dude.

So first off, you KNOW I was freaking out when Hurley said the "or any time" line. Because yes, I fully admit that I want there to be a time warp or loop, just like a few episodes ago when I wanted there to be a force field. And if they threw in a dragon, a wizard, a few elves and then some robots for good measure, I would probably quit my job and just spend all day watching and re-watching episodes of Lost. Which leads to the question - did the writers give Hurley that line because they've always said he's supposed to "be the voice of the audience" and they know that everyone on the boards has been talking about this time warp/loop theory and therefore they knew everyone would go berzerker if Hurley alluded to it? Or in other words, did they put that line in just to screw with our heads? I will sadly admit this is a possibility.

HOWEVER, and I really mean this, so don't blow me off like I'm a crazy lunatic - even though I am: the nerds who researched the exchange above came up with some very interesting things that I really do not think should be ignored. All of the points below are posts from the boards, so you can read through them below and then decide for yourself if Hurley's line was just a throwaway comment:

- Glenn Miller is from the WW2 era.
- Did anyone make out the radio station's call letters? It was a W, which would make it east of the Mississippi.
- WXO which are letters 23, 24, and 15 of the alphabet and I'd like to thank the creators of Lost for making me look for the numbers anywhere and everywhere.
- Speaking of which... nice touch making the call letters of the station "WXO." Only the oldest radio stations carry a three-letter call sign. Fairly common in the 1930s and 40s, but not so common today. Just like the music being played. Maybe Hurley was right, after all. Come to think of it, how old were the bodies in the cave? Didn't Jack guesstimate that they'd been there since the 1940s? Hmm.
- On December 15, 1944, Glenn Miller was scheduled to fly from England to Paris to play for the soldiers who had recently liberated the city. His plane departed from Twinwoods Airfield, Clapham, a village near Bedford, but disappeared over the English Channel and was never found. Miller's disappearence remains a mystery; the fact that neither Miller's remains nor the wreckage of his plane (a single-engined Noorduyn Norseman UC-64, USAAF Tail Number 44-70285) were ever recovered from the Channel have led to many conspiracy theories over the years.
- Wait... does that mean that Glenn Miller is (*gasp*) – on the island?! Now that’s what I call a plot twist!! Maybe they’ll find his plane stuck in a tree somewhere, too? That would be wicked sweet. Who knows, maybe the radio in old Glenn's plane has been playing his damn song on a loop for 16 years.

OK, so now that you've read all that, you can decide if it was significant. One last thing on the time warp/loop stuff... before anyone emails me about all the recent chatter on the boards about "proof" of time travel - rest assured that I have read all of that and know that the writers are admitting to a few things they screwed up on. For example, in Jack's most recent flashback, the date on an X-ray says "Nov 2005." How can that be, if that was a flashback? There are several other similar things that I don't have the energy to write out that were just straight-up mistakes, and they all deal with time, and it's got fans worked into a fever pitch. However, I will end with this, which I believe I have said before: the writers have said, "We've never said WHEN this is all taking place."


END OF EPISODE "WHOA" MOMENT #2

The "Charlie reveal" at the end definitely surprised me. At first, I didn't even think "how did Sawyer find the statues if he stayed in the hatch?" Then I thought that Kate helped him, until she confronted him. Then thought it was Ana Lucia, and suspected her up until Darth Hoodie emerged. What I loved about this episode is that both Charlie and Sawyer did what they did for no other reason than just good ol' testosterone-fueled jealousy. Charlie wanted Locke to look like a fool and Sawyer doesn't like Jack and that's about all there was to their reasoning. And if they were willing to fake a kidnapping attempt with Sun of all people - basically for those lame reasons... what else will they be willing to do in the future?



RANDOM FUNNY POSTS FROM THE BOARDS


- Sayid staring at the new radio: "Must...resist...urge...to fix...communications device!"
- Was Vincent in on the Long Con? If so: awesome!
- I think Jack and Locke need to breakdance fight for supreme leadership. While it would make about as much sense as any other "confrontation" they've had, it would more entertaining. Season 2: Electric Boogaloo?
- All I want is Jin to borrow Eko's Jesus stick and beat Sawyer and Charlie with it.
- On a lighter note, Vincent the shifty-eyed dog is getting fat. What the hell are they feeding that dog??!?
- Anyone else notice that the rain immediately followed Vincent's scene (and the weather had not indicated rain prior to that)? I'm still working on my rain theory. It *always* rains when someone gets hurt/killed/kidnapped. It *only* rains when someone gets hurt/killed/kidnapped. This time, though, the losties set up the kidnapping. It wasn't the "island". So, I'm not sure how it all fits.
- I hope Jack found a bottle of Xanax in Sawyer's stash. The man could totally stand to pop one of those bad boys. As Hurley might say, "Dudes, chill."
- Loved Charlie going all Emperor Palpatine at the end.



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


[Back on the beach, Sawyer is coming back to his tent from a swim and sees Charlie building a shelter nearby.]
SAWYER: Well, well, now look who had to relocate to the suburbs. [Charlie doesn't respond] Ain't that just like a woman? She keeps the house and you get the cheap-ass apartment. Man, I thought these people hated me, but I've got to hand it to you -- stealing a baby, trying to drown it -- now, that's a new low. You even made Locke take a swing at you. Hell, that's like getting Gandhi to beat his kids.

KATE: I heard Jack took your pain killers.
SAWYER: Well, I guess me and the Doc are on the outs. One less Christmas card I'll have to send this year.


HURLEY: Hey, man. You gonna put the lime in the coconut, drink 'em both up? [Sayid doesn't respond] Lime in the coconut? The song?
SAYID: What do you want, Hurley?
HURLEY: So, I'm over at Rose and Bernard's tent -- did you know he's a dentist? Well, that's not all he's been holding out on us. The guy picked up Boone's signal from the Norwegian plane.
SAYID: Nigerian.


SAWYER: It's worth a look. Let me ask you something -- this whole scenario make sense to you?
KATE: What do you mean?
SAWYER: Think about it. First off, how'd she get away? The woman doesn't weigh 100 pounds soaking wet.
KATE: She was fighting for her life. People are capable of almost anything...
SAWYER: You couldn't get away. You versus Sun -- hot oil death match -- my money's on you, She-Ra.


KATE: Hey, what's going on?
SAWYER: It looks like the good folks of Island Town are about to form a posse -- get themselves armed up. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Jack didn't find himself that horse of yours and start leading the charge in a big white hat.


SAWYER: Hate to interrupt whatever the hell it is you're doing. What are you doing?
[We see a bunch of books thrown on the ping-pong table that Locke has presumably already looked through.]
LOCKE: I'm alphabetizing.
SAWYER: Oh, sure. Sun gets attacked in the jungle and you figure it's a good time to start the damn Dewey decimal system. Good thinking.


SAWYER: Well, actually, John, I'm here to help you -- give you the heads-up.
LOCKE: Heads-up?
SAWYER: Seems Jack's on his way over here to open your little gun closet and take whatever he needs. You should know he's not alone. The whole camp's pretty shook up about what happened to Tokyo Rose. I'm guessing everybody's going to want to play Cowboys and Indians. And once those guns are out and about -- something tells me they ain't never going back in.



(Note: this next one makes it into the Best Lines of the Series echelon)

[We hear the sound of the timer alarm in the Hatch and see Sawyer open his eyes in front of the computer, apparently awakened. He inputs the numbers as Jack and Jin enter.]
JACK: What are you doing here?
SAWYER: One second, I'm like this close to the high score on Donkey Kong.



PREVIEWS



Do you really think the counter gets to zero? Do ya? Do ya?!?!?!?!!?

By the way, I may have lied in my last post (unintentionally, of course). It looks like there will not be an episode on 2/22 because of the Olympics (yes, they are on another network, but so was the World Series, and they delayed Lost because of that). Right now, they are showing a rerun of the original two-hour pilot episode on 2/22. If you can catch that, I highly recommend it - it's very cool to watch now that you know how things have unraveled. The schedule currently shows Maternity Leave airing on 3/1. I will put a short post up if I learn otherwise. This week's episode, One of Them, is still good to go.

The most recent ABC Lost podcast (done by the writers) supposedly had a lot of good info in it. I haven't listened to it yet, but found this brief write-up of some major points. I do not consider any of these spoilers, but if you literally want to know nothing about even general themes of what may happen, then read no further.

- The Long Con-writers were itching to get Sawyer back to his roots, Han Solo fashion. They've consciously reset characters back to where they were last season - we will see the results of those changes in the upcoming episodes.

- The necklace con actually happened to Carlton (one of the writers)!

- They will do more with characters lives intertwining in their pasts like with Sawyer and Kate's Mom.

- The Long Con launched the narrative focus for the next 5 episodes of the show.

- Sayid's flashbacks will be from an earlier point in time than all his previous flashbacks.

- They will soon deal with the question of why they didn't ask Zeke more questions about the Others when they had the chance. (Erika: Hallelujah!) We will get more answers about the Others this season.

- They attempted to explain past mysterious statements they've made about 'the numbers' never being explained. They did not mean we would not learn their significance and the purpose they serve, just that on some mystical level we may never understand why they pop up all the time.

- There are thematic similarities between Lost and Darron Aronofsky's movie "Pi" (Erika: This scares THE CRAP out of me because I HATED that movie!!!!! Aaaahhhhh!!!! Also, I believe Darron will direct a future episode, and I think I mentioned that before)

- They have reiterated that we will definitively learn why the plane crashed by the end of season 2.

That's all, folks!

Til next time,

- e

Monday, February 06, 2006

S2Ep12 - Fire + Water (Charlie's third flashback) - 1/25/06

Hello my dear friends -

I want to start off by saying how excited I was to be watching the Screen Actors Guild awards (which I thought were only 'movie' awards) two weekends ago and see the cast of Lost win for Best Ensemble Cast in a Drama Series. But that's not even the best part... Terry O'Quinn (Locke) was the one to speak for the group! He looked dashing in all black - quite a departure from his usual show garb. Don't you agree?




Now onto 'Fire + Water' ... I think anyone who has watched the show since its inception knew that yet another Charlie flashback was going to be lame. I think this episode was probably the worst episode of the series to date, and most people on the boards agree. However, many boarders mentioned that this could also be one of those “set-up” episodes where when you look back at the end of the season, you realize that it was a turning point in many ways. With that, I will share what scarce tidbits there were...

A FEW COOL THINGS
  • The reference to the 80s toy 'Voltron' ("the Defender... of the UNIVERSE!!!!!!") in the beginning of Charlie's flashback. Shout out to my brother because otherwise I wouldn't have known/cared about Voltron. http://www.voltronforce.com/
  • THREE more nicknames bestowed upon Hurley courtesy of Sawyer: Jabba, Jethro and Hoss
  • Seeing Hurley in crazy robes during Charlie's wacked-out dream
  • "You All Every-Butties!"

TPTB GIVE ANOTHER SHOUT-OUT TO THE BOARD PEEPS

The scene where Libby and Hurley were washing clothes was almost entirely a shout-out to the message board geeks. Here are the three main issues that have often been discussed on the boards that were addressed during that scene:

1. The fact that the washer and dryer are new front-load models, whilst everything else in the Hatch appears to be from the 70s:

  • LIBBY: Is this washer and dryer newer than everything else in here?
    HURLEY: It washes clothes. That's all I need to know.
  • So... no real ANSWERS on that issue, but it makes me happy that it was addressed, because that means to me that the writers thought it through and are comfortable with the fact that people noticed it. As in, it's not just a "mistake." Most people think that the washer and dryer are there to hint that while the hatch itself and was established a long time ago, it is clearly being "maintained." Meaning that someone has actually COME TO and subsequently LEFT the island, meaning it is possible to leave.

2. Perhaps Hurley and Libby had met pre-flight 815?

  • HURLEY [studying Libby's face]: Do I know you from somewhere?
    LIBBY: You mean other than the flight?
  • Let's remember... He was in a psych ward and she claims to be a psychiatrist. People think that perhaps they could've both been at the same hospital at one point. However, others think that she may be lying, and that she herself was also a patient. Or that maybe she was stalking him after he won the Lotto? I'm not sure what I think about Libby yet, but she definitely is sketchy and I'm not sure she's been entirely truthful thus far.

3. Is Libby another Others' mole?

From the beginning, people on the boards were doubtful that Libby was actually on the flight, they just felt that she acted too shady, and unlike some of the Tailies, she had not been referenced or seen on the plane in Season One (Bernard was obviously mentioned in Season One as he is Rose's husband, Cindy (who has now disappeared) was in the pilot episode as a stewardess, Ana Lucia was in a Season One flashback of Jack's, and now that we've seen Eko's flashback, combined with the fact that he killed two Others, he is not likely to be a mole).

  • LIBBY: ... I cannot believe you don't remember stepping on my foot.
    HURLEY: I did?
    LIBBY: Yes, you did. And it was hard. I know that because I remember you were the last one on the flight, and you were all sweaty, and you had headphones on -- and crunch. You stepped on my foot.
  • People on the boards were quick to note that since Libby was in the TAIL section, there is no way Hurley would've passed her seat when he boarded the plane. Also, he did not put his headphones on until he sat down. However, the other details she provided are true (he was the last one to board and he was all sweaty) Remember, we saw the scene with him boarding the plane, and Libby was not in it. So is she lying, or did the writers make a mistake? Something makes me think they did NOT make a mistake.

MIND OVER MATTER

So to everyone who is freaking out that this is going to turn out to be some extremely religious show - fear not, I am positive that that is not going to happen. Jack seems to be an Atheist, Locke worships ‘The Island’ itself, and most other characters are not overtly spiritual. But undoubtedly, there are religious undertones in the series. My take on why that is is that religion is part of a much larger, overriding theme in the show: ‘the mind is powerful.’ Rose believing her husband was not dead. Hurley believing he is cursed. Kate believing she is “not good” because of her birth father. And on and on and on and on. There are also many examples of people desiring/wishing things to happen that actually end up happening seemingly of pure will (a few: Jack bringing Charlie back from the dead, everything related to Walt, Locke wanting to walk, Charlie wanting his guitar and it appears, Jack seeing his zombie dad, etc., etc.). An example from this episode: it was made very clear that Claire was not a religious person, but once she got the idea in her head, courtesy of Charlie and then Eko, that she and her baby would go to Heaven if they were baptized, she wanted it to happen. Since she believed it would save them, that drove her to carry out what Charlie originally intended. And before anyone jumps all over me – I am NOT saying that I personally think religious beliefs are all just in peoples’ heads to make them feel better about things, but I am saying that perhaps this show is raising the question – “if you believe in something so deeply and completely, does that make it so?” Or, does that make it so on this crazy island at the very least???


And I don’t know about you all, but when Claire was baptized by Eko, all I could think was that her chances of being killed off just jumped like 400%.

CLAIRE: I haven't been baptized. Does that mean that if you do it to Aaron and something happened to us that we wouldn't be together?
EKO: Not if I baptize you both.

On this show, if that's not asking to for the ol' Grim Reaper to come a-knockin', I don't know what is.

I should also mention here that it has been pointed out several times on that boards that the show is messing up nearly every time it actually references religion directly. Eko and Charlie mixed around words in The 23rd Psalm, and the baptism story Eko told was not correct. There are literally entire sites devoted to the show and its religious undertones.

EKO HEARTS TREES

So is it just me, or ever since Eko's flashback, when he comes on the screen now, do you start hearing the low humming and eventual smooth sounds of Kanye West's choir singing "Je. Sus. Walks!.... ….Jesus. Walks. With. Me." I can't shake it. (As a complete side note, Jesus Walks has to contain some of the best rap lyrics of all time, and I quote: "The way Kathy Lee needed Regis that's the way y'all need Jesus!" Deep. So, so deep. And inspiring. Kanye, we’re proud you’re from Chicago).


But back to Eko and his “marking” of the trees because he “likes them.” Uh, that’s weird. Some people thought it was some Biblical reference about building a chapel. People were totally split as to if they were the same trees burned down by Charlie’s fire at the end. I assumed they were, because Eko acted all sad looking at burnt tree stalks once the fire was put out, but others thought that the two scenes happened in totally different places.

WHAT'S MY MAN LOCKE UP TO?

To all you people posting comments to me trying to convince me that Locke is "bad" or "evil"... I ain't gonna believe it until Terry O’Quinn himself delivers this news to me, so don't waste your time. And as with the “power of the mind” theme – can someone really be “bad” if THEY think the things they’re doing are in everyone’s best interests? Anyway, until Terry knocks on my door, I will at the very least admit that Locke is acting kind of weird lately. And the ominous long rotating shot around Locke glaring at Charlie and Claire was definitely done for a reason.

Then you’ve got Locke not wanting Claire and Aaron to sleep in the hatch, along with the fact that he’s continually changing the locks on the ammo room door, and is now saving the Virgin Mary statues in the hatch for some unknown reason, rather than destroying them as Charlie of all people suggested.... hmmmm. Some very, very naïve people on the boards were like, “Maybe Locke is saving the statues so Jack can use the heroin as a painkiller for people in the future?”


Ummmm….. no.

But Charlie DID deserve to get the beat-down, so I was fine with that.

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE:

HURLEY: Uh, Sawyer, when you were over there across the island how well did you get to know those Tailies?
SAWYER: Well enough, why?
HURLEY: That Libby chick seems pretty cool. I mean, is she?
SAWYER: Well, you got a little love connection brewing over there, Jabba?

LOCKE: Is there something you want from me, Charlie?
CHARLIE: I was hoping you could speak to Claire for me. You know, put in a good word.
LOCKE: Are you using?
CHARLIE: What?
LOCKE: Heroin. Are you using again?
CHARLIE: Kate sees a horse -- nothing. Pretty much everybody's seen Walt wondering around the jungle. But when it's Charlie it must be the bloody drugs, right?
LOCKE: It's funny, you didn't answer my question.

[We see Eko marking an X on a tree. Charlie approaches.]
CHARLIE: What are you doing?
EKO: I'm marking trees.
CHARLIE: Why?
EKO: Because these are the ones I like.

ANA: So when are you going to tell me what happened in the jungle?
JACK: I already did.
ANA: You told me what that guy said. You didn't tell me what made you turn around -- what made you come back.
JACK: He had a gun at Kate's head.
ANA: You hittin' that?
JACK: What?
ANA: Plane crash -- you both survive -- nice beach -- she's hot, you're hot. It's what people do.
JACK: I'm not hittin' that.

ARE YOU SITTING DOWN? THERE ARE AT LEAST 3 NEW EPISODES IN A ROW COMING UP!


I will give you the names of the next three episodes, because you can probably guess whose flashbacks they are just from the titles. I have fallen off the spoiler wagon a tad lately so I do know what these are about - but no worries, I will not pass my knowledge on to you. All I want to let you know is - rest assured - they should be good... or good enough to make up for the crap that was Fire + Water.


2/8/06 - The Long Con
2/13/06 - One of Them
2/22/06 - Maternity Leave

Two more non-spoilery hints:
- I hope you paid extremely close attention to the Numbers repeat episode, or to the episode when it aired the first time around.
- I hope you keep your eyes peeled during The Long Con (as you always should).

We all saw from the previews that it looks like Sun is going to be kidnapped. If that brings out MajorlyPissedJin, then I’m all for it.


MIGHT AS WELL FACE IT, YOU'RE ADDICTED TO LOST

If you watched the Super Bowl, then you saw a shortened version of this. I just watched the full thing and I must say, even though I muttered, "Oh NOooooo, how CHEESY!!!!" during the game, I actually quite enjoyed the extended version.

Addicted to Lost


I DON'T LIKE PINK FLOYD, BUT IF YOU DO, THEN YOU MAY CARE

Beware of spoilers elsewhere on this site:

Screen capture


DWIGHT ROCKS
In last week's episode of "The Office" (on rival network NBC, mind you), the "white collar" workers from the office went down to visit the "blue collar" workers in the warehouse, and as the office boys were heading down the stairs, Resident Nerd Dwight whispers into the camera, "Remember on 'Lost,' when they met 'The Others'...????" Awesome.


SCREEN ACTORS GUILD - BEST ENSEMBLE CAST


IS HE AS ANNOYING IN REAL LIFE? YOU BE THE JUDGE.



YO DIDDY! TELL THE CAST: MO' MONEY, MO' PROBLEMS!


DUH!


LOST - THE MUSICAL - CLIP FROM JIMMY KIMMEL



IF YOU LEARN HOW TO REWIND TIME LIKE IN HARRY POTTER 3 SO WE CAN ALL GET MORE HOURS OUT OF EACH DAY, LET ME KNOW. UNTIL THEN...

Full disclosure - I wrote and re-wrote this section of the write-up about twenty times, because quite frankly I really take to heart the emails and posted comments I get regarding this blog, and it bothers me that some people are upset that I can't post my write-ups fast enough. There are a lot of things I would like to say on this subject, but since I would most likely offend somebody, I will leave it at this: I know that a handful of people are impatient and want to read the write-ups shortly after a new episode airs, and I do take that as a compliment… but there are several good reasons why I will never, ever be able to make that happen. Hey, as we say at work: 'It's all about setting expectations,' so I just want to be clear to everyone, I have no intention to ever post these write-ups any sooner than I currently do. If you do not like to check the site several times to catch a new post, your safest bet is to check the site Wednesday AM on the day a new episode will air - the post from the previous episode should definitely be up by then.

Forewarning - between now and the end of the season, I have several - gasp! - mini-vacations coming up that could throw a wrench into things. I will let you know in advance when/if I expect that to happen.

For example, I will be gone this weekend entirely (shout-out to the Silver Bullet and Mrs. D, whom I will have just missed in West Palm Beach). Typically that's when I work the most on the write-ups. Therefore, I do not expect the write-up for 'The Long Con' to be up before Tuesday the 14th - a little Valentine's Day present for my dear friends. On that note, what are you all going to get me? ....


Until then,
- e