Wow…this was quite an episode. Might go down as the most talked about in the series history. So, I might as well talk about it here too. 🙂
( If you want to hear more thoughts, stop by the Lost Revisited Now podcast Episode 107 for the Initial Reaction show for ” Across the Sea”. )
Two Babies, Two Sides: Mother seemed to want to hold the BIB. Claudia only asked for “him” , first born Jacob , not “them”. “Are you ‘him’?” = Desmond’s question to who he thought was to be his “replacement”, John Locke. Mother looking for a “replacement”. It turned out to be Jacob. Jacob is looking for his “replacement” in the candidate. Or (as Wray suggested in “comments” last week) could the candidate be for something else entirely?
What’s in a Name?: In some traditions, like Judaism, there is a spiritual connotation to naming a child- that it would be telling of who they are , “their essence”, and would grow to be by the significance of the names chosen for them. In Hopi legend, it is several years and many names given to a child until what seems to best suit who he/she is , personality-wise, that a final name is selected. In Rome, where Claudia was most likely from, the father, not the mother, would decide the name, about eight days later after birth…and that’s if he decided the child would live or not! Where in ancient Egypt, of where we have seen a lot of reference to that culture on the show, the parents would waste not time in naming the baby after their birth, often siting a physical characteristic of the infant. But here…we have no name still for Man in Black. Is he the powerful but not forgiving Henry Gale’s boss “Him”, much like the pure evil figure from The PowerPuff Girls? Will a name be insufficient, at this point? At this point, I don’t mind it remaining a mystery.
Bad Twin! Baaaad! : There are so many stories of twin sagas gone wrong: Jacob and Esau of the Old Testament, Osiris and Set from Egyptian lore, Apollo and Artemis from Greek mythology, Romulus and Remus from Roman mythology ( who’s mother was a princess and father the god of war, Mars, who were raised by a she wolf and only one of them could be king, ending in Romulus killing Remus) .So, what’s one more! 😉
One set of twin from where we get the Gemini constellation, are Castor and Pollux, of Greek/Roman mythology. According to Wiki…
“In the myth the twins shared the same mother but had different fathers which meant that Pollux was immortal and Castor was mortal. When Castor died, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together and they were transformed into the Gemini constellation. The pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo’s fire.”
(Well, there have been a few vessels that tend to drop by…or on, the Island.)
Is this what happens with Mother/Jacob, Jacob/Richard MIB/Locke and Sayid, exchanges…even possibly what happens, to some extent, when you become an Other, like Ben- the sharing of immortality? But the “rules” may somehow make immortality…flexible?
Oh, Grow Up!: It’s curious that MIB “saw” his birth mother ( or was it the image “Mother” wanted him to see?) when he was 13 years old. According to Jewish tradition, this is the age of Bar Mitzvah, when a boy becomes a man and becomes responsible for his own understanding of the law, tradition, as well as becoming accountable to morals and ethics. Among the Aborigines of Australia… they send them on … a Walkabout. In some Native American tradition, the rite of passage called Smudge that involves… a sweat lodge. No wonder John Locke was a “custom fit” for the MIB.
Bring Out Your Dead!: So, MIB could see “Claudia”? Hurley can see the deceased too. And apparently Sawyer…and Desmond, at least as far as mini Jacob is concerned. Is this tied into being “Special”? Mother said that Jacob couldn’t lie and that MIB could because he was “special”… or at least, inferred as such. Hurley is a horrible liar. Sawyer excels at it and is one of the reasons MIB wanted him on his side. So, just because Mother said Jacob couldn’t “see” Claudia” because she was dead…doesn’t mean it was true. Jacob just happened not to be there.
I Wanna Big Wheel, Mom!: We get to at least see the starting of the Donkey Wheel’s presence on the Island. Even if MIB actually got it to work, would he have been able to have left? Would it have shifted time, like it did before? And maybe this is why the Egyptian statue and hieroglyphics show up “later” in the show? MIB taking it for a test run?
Wake Up , Sleepyhead!: Mother disturbs Jacob’s slumber to tell him ” It’s time.” This is where she takes him to the cave, has him drink the wine as the initiation of becoming ” Protector” of the whatever is emanating from it. “You and I are the same now”. Will we see something very similar between Desmond and Ms. Hawking/Mrs.Widmore or even Charles, when he finally “ready” ?
Now You See Me… Now You Don’t: MIB has been looking for that cavern of light for 30 years. Mother can show her “sons” at a moment’s notice. Is it like Jack finally seeing the Lighthouse? It might be that you need to have a certain level of “faith”? And interestingly, in the same way, how was Hurley the only one to find Jacob’s Cabin, despite it moving locations… and he wasn’t looking for it at all?
Tunnel Vision: Looking at that glowing cave, I had to figure there were some kind of references to caves in literary and other “sources”. There are many. I found a fantastic compilation of them here at the studyworld.com site It was quite an interesting and enlightening read …and, for me, made the reveal more “accessible”.
See-ms Like Old Times: The way that MIB was left at the end of the river was very reminiscent of Boone’s vision of Shannon’s death by Smokey in the Season One Episode “Hearts and Minds” . In this episode, there is also a talk between Locke and Jack that is similar to Jacob and MIB in Season Five finale ” The Incident”. MIB ‘s body was entangled in the tree, like how we saw the pilot in The Pilot, after the Smoke Monster actually killed him. Also, his body was tossed aside by the black smoke but we’ve seen Brother since then, just like John Locke is now. In “Hearts and Minds” Locke said to Boone ” What did it make you see?”. Is it the Island? The Smokey Monster? The wacky paste John put on Boone’s head? We still don’t know! Is seeing here like the concept of seeing/showing that Charlie and now Desmond have been utilizing? And is seeing going to be what bridges the gap between what’s real, what’s an illusion and both of Lost’s “worlds?
” You Haven’t Aged a Bit!” : Now, I figure that we are just supposed to chalk up Jack thinking Adam and Eve were only there 40 to 50 years, instead of a couple millennium, because he’s not exactly an expert ( as I know that I talk about stuff I don’t know about all the time…so I can empathize..lol) . But what came to mind was the story of Moses and the Israelites wandering the desert for 40 years and God preserving their clothes so they never fell apart.
Hey, Locke said the Island was a place where miracles happened…so it could work?! 🙂
And lastly, I think I may have solved a major mystery. The cave that contains life, death, rebirth… Mother called ” The Heart of the Island” . The MIB , as far as we know, is a man without a name. In the southernmost part of the United States in Boerne TX, there is a National Park that features The Cave Without a Name. So, does this mean ” The stars at night are big and bright *clap clap clap clap* DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS!
Sorry… I couldn’t resist. 🙂
Now, time to set sail across the sea… to land on Episode 16.
This episode gave us a nice multicentric mix in the flash-sideways. Just going to hit on some points for each of the main players. If you would like to hear more about the The Last Recruit, head on over to The LOST Revisited Now site and listen to podcast episode # 104 .
Jack: ” You look just like him” … very reminiscent of Harper to Juliet ” You look just like her”. At first, I thought it was maybe because of time travel and that Juliet is herself from the Seventies that Ben may have “loved” because she was his doctor when Sayid shot him. But now, I wonder if Harper, who showed up with the Whispers, was talking about the vision of Ben’s mother, Emily. She didn’t die on the Island, so was Ben scanned at another time…or even Roger Linus was, and that’s how Smocke was able to
Smocke: He said that he was “trapped” by Jacob. He said that they were all “trapped” by him, at one point, including himself. But he claims that Dr. Shephard and the rest are no longer because of Jacob’s death. Does “trapped” mean “commitment” to MIB? If it is, he’s talking to the wrong guy. And Smocke should have known that, considering he said he was Jack’s dad, Christian, after the crash. And if that is the case, then MIB would know that “Commitment…is what makes you tick,Jack”.
Claire: If she was under the impression in Jacob’s cabin that she was with Christian, then was this who was “trapped” with the ash, aka MIB? I wonder how he got out then, to hold Aaron, then leave him there and lured her back to the cabin? Hurley saw Christian in the cabin before this…but he saw someone else too. And we still don’t know who. Will we ever ?
Ben: In the FS, he didn’t know that Locke’s name was John. On the Island, does he know what MIB’s name is but is assumed he doesn’t because he has yet to speak it out loud? Does anyone else that is still alive? Will it be John, just like Locke and was why it was so important to name him that? John in Hebrew means “God’s grace”. Jacob in Hebrew means ” One who supplants” ie uses trickery or underhandedness to usurp someone’s place of standing. Are the naming of these two steeped in irony or are they revealing what is already there?
Sun: She “recognizes” John Locke in FS, in a very terrified way. Will we see that they have had a previous run in in the FS still or is this bleed-through, from the other time-line? She spoke to Jin as if he would know who he is, either way.
Ilana: Verdansky is her name in the FS . I wonder if it is the same as in the OTL? Most peoples’ names are the same, with the Widmore family’s being the most “flexible”. With her connection with Jacob. Knowing her surname, I wonder if Mikhail was her counterbalance in the part of the world that she was from? That he was MIB’s man in the field? Going back to the cabin, I always thought that the eye that popped out right after we see “Christian Shephard” was Mikhail. He was almost indestructible, the Island’s own Rasputin. But in the FS… mmm not so much.
Desmond: Is he more like Jacob or a Matthew Abbadon type figure? Either way, reading Claire’s name from the sign in sheet then following her to the elevator: strong contender for “Most Creepy Moment, Act 3″ 😉 See what happens when you get the fast-track, Cliff Notes version of ” Course Correction” , curiosity of Charles Widmore… you totally bypass the etiquette portion.
I’m going to keep this simple , like the ankh list. To sum up…
Kate – First to wake from flash/blast ( in a tree!) like Charlie was the first to leave the imploded hatch and also couldn’t hear. First to meet up with someone by falling on them ( Miles, just like she did with Charlie after running from Smokey for the first time) . First to find out where/when they were. First chooses to help unconscious Jack then unconscious Sawyer. First to go into the tunnels ( just like the Hatch in S2) Jack – Broken man who just can’t seem to “fix” anyone, at least right now. Sawyer – Broken man who wants to kill someone ( namely, Jack) but changes his mind. Rather watch him suffer in this life. From the look on Jack’s face, I think it’s working.
Juliet – Thought was dead but is alive. She said to Sawyer ” It didn’t work” , then talked about going dutch sometime for coffee. She wants to tell him something very important, then dies yet again… or at least, felt like it 😦 Miles- Knows what that very important message Juliet was going to say, now that she’s dead… ” It worked!”. Was she glancing (flash) sideways? Jacob – Speaks to Hurley because he’s dead now. Old friend murdered him an hour ago. Some friend… Hurley – Sees/Hears Jacob because he’s dead now. Knows how to ” fix” Sayid and knows what’s in the case but not what was in what was in the case ( Nama…wha? ). Jin – Knew what Hurley was talking about when he was asked about the ” Hole in the Wall” ( at The Temple not Butch Cassidy’s gang) . Sayid – Was dying, repented, drowned ( or was it “baptized” ? ), attempted to be revived, no use… no wait…he’s fine!
Some things that happened…
They were back at the Swan Hatch, circa 2004..ish. Whatever happened, happened… at least, here it did…somewhat.
We saw more of the tunnels
We heard more of the Whispers
We saw The Temple
We saw more of The Others ( dressed a lot like The Sheriff, Isabelle in SIASL)
We saw Others Cindy with a groovy headband, Zach and Emma
We saw what was in the guitar case. “It’s a giant ankh! Wow! I wonder how that plays into the mysterious worship practices of The Oth…NO! Wait…don’t do THAT *crack* … oh. Well, at least Jacob’s list faired better than Charlies’ Greatest Hits. ”
We saw a spring and a darkened, bloody pool. And how it doesn’t heal anymore. And a super-sized eggtimer. Did this help/hurt Sayid?
We saw that this Others leader doesn’t like our scrawny, New Yorker teen -like Losties, the taste of English on his tongue but digs trimming little trees. But it looks like the “warming up” stage is going to go awfully quick now that Jacob’s dead, the ash scattered and the warning flare’s been launched. And Smocke’s coming to “Sweep the leg!” of our Losties.
Which will bring us to Turn 3 : The Island/The Foot … To be continued. 🙂
This one’s going all the way back to when Ben wasn’t even Ben.
I’M HENRY GALE I AM
I’m Henry Gale, I Am
Henry Gale, I am, I am
Jennifer died, so a widower I be
So, please don’t sick Sayid on me
From Minnesota, I’m Henry ( Henry!)
Crashed in my balloon, so here I am ( Ka-blam!)
I am not an Other, I’m Henry
Henry Gale, I am
( Second verse…same as the first!)
I’m Henry Gale, I Am
Henry Gale, I am, I am
Jennifer died, so a widower I be
So, please don’t sick Sayid on me
From Minnesota, I’m Henry ( Henry!)
Crashed in my balloon, so here I am ( Ka-blam!)
I am not an Other, I’m Henry
Henry Gale, I am
So, Henry Gale, you are
Henry Gale, you are, you are
Followed your map right to the balloon
But Henry’s grave sang a different tune
This license proves you ain’t Henry ( Henry!)
Danielle caught an Other in her trap ( Oh, snap!)
No more milk for you, fake Henry
Henry Gale’s a sham
H-E-N-R-Y
Henry ( Henry! ) Henry (Henry!)
Henry Gale, I am, I am
Henry Gale, I am
I’m Henry Gale I Am
(Parody of the song “Henry the Eighth, I Am” by Herman’s Hermits {Murray/Weston, 1910, Revised by Herman’s Hermits, 1965 } New lyrics by Wendy Lincoln, 2007)
(If you would like to listen to more LOST parodies, click here). 🙂
Before I became a co-host on the LRN , Heath was doing a rewatch of past episodes. He left off at Season One’s Sayidcentric episode ” Solitary”. He just didn’t get around to recording it. During this hiatus, one of the things we have planned is to do a few shows pairing a Season One episode with a Season Two episode, focusing mainly on one character. So, Heath and I are going to start this off withEpisode 56 ” Solitary and One of Them : A Sayid Rewatch” on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 9:00 pm EST. on Talkshoe. Hopefully, we’ll both have our LOST Seasons One & Two on Blu Ray by then, with the release date being June 16th. 🙂
( Speaking of June 16th, those who are regular listeners to the show might be interested in Glen, Heath ,Donald, Anna and I doing our ” Hawthorne Initial Reaction ” podcast . Recording time will be at 10:15 pm EST on Talkshoe under Heath’s other podcast, Episode 10 of The Film List.)
Heath was also recently on the first episode of the LOSTAholics Rewatching LOST podcast , Hosted by Nancy Drew ( I was in the chat 🙂 )Along with TimeIsRelative, StefanyMac ,LostGirlDeb, Curt and Dan from The Black Rock podcast and other lost podcaster and fans, they are going back and rewatching LOST straight through the hiatus. The first episode ” Season 1: Episodes 1-4 ” is up now. ( The next episode will cover Season One, Episodes 5-8 ) The recordings for each episode are scheduled for Sunday evenings at 9pm on Talkshoe.
If you want to email us : Heath’s is thelostrevisited@gmail.com or me ( Ms. Wendy) at bunnieshatch@aol.com.
Again, thank you to everyone who stopped by the last show. 🙂
K nocked out Jin wakes up to find little Ben with a gunshot wound on his right side? Mirror image or issue of character’s perception of events?
A aron just waking up, arriving at Cassidy’s house. Snoozing again, later on at hotel. Writers seem to make a point of Aaron’s sleeping habits in just about every episode he’s in. Why?
T une playing on Kate’s car stereo ” She’s Got You” by Patsy Cline. Her music has a propensity of popping up in Katecentric episodes. Perhaps because not only Ms. Kline died in a plane crash but she was also the wife of an abusive alcoholic. Will this be Kate’s fate as well… or at least, thinks it is? ( Lost Alums : ” Sweet Dreams” : (1985) Biopic about Patsy Cline, Starring Jessica Lange and Ed Harris…. also features a Mr. Carlton Cuse in the role of ” Sargent” . 8) )
H urley and Miles ” Time Travel Tussle” was mindbogglingly hilarious. Was like a sci fi version of Abbott and Costello’s ” Who’s On First”. And I love the fact that despite his initial frustration with Hugo’s POV, Miles still wanted to continue the discussion after Juliet kicked them out. “Hey, ask me some more questions about time travel!”
E verybody’s favorite island lullaby ” Catch a Falling Star ” is being sung by Kate as she walks up to Cassidy’s door for the first time. Christian sang it to Claire when she was little. Claire wanted the adoptive parents to sing it to her then unborn child. It was on the mobile at the Medical Station (The Staff) when Ethan took Claire there, after he kidnapped her. Now Kate is singing it. Claire wasn’t supposed to let Aaron be “Raised by AnOther ” until that nice couple from LA “showed up”. What if Claire isn’t “found” by Kate. Is Ms. Austen still part of that “nice couple” … or will Desmond’s vision come true? The only thing is… getting Aaron on the Island for that to happen…. unless he’s on the rescue chopper back?
R oger , Jack and Willie are the only janitors that had keys that could have let Sayid out. Maybe it’s Willie Nelson and the song in the season opener was recorded at Dharma Studios ? 🙂
I ngenious LeFleur makes it look so easy. Acted like he just met Kate and solved “The Case of the Missing Keys” in a minute’s time!
N oticed a ” No Soliciting” sign on Cassidy’s house. Not going to fall for any more “Salesmen”. Not sure about the whole “Sawyer jumped cuz’ he’s a coward” rant by Cassidy. Still think he did more for his friends than for himself… but might have played a small role in it. Another Lostie branded with the “Coward” label. Hmmm…
E xperience of how it all “turns out” hasn’t happened yet … but everything else has, past and future.
C an Jack save little Ben? Maybe…but he’s not going to. I guess Jack now knows that he believes in destiny. ( Question : Why is Dharma’s only known surgeon at the Looking Glass Station for the next couple days and why can’t they bring them back? )
A ppointed to the wrong jobs were Roger Linus and Kate Austen. Why Kate is now a “grease monkey” is for her protection… and Juliet can keep an eye on her. But I wonder if Roger really was meant for a more “prestigious” position, as he claims?
R oger seems to have “taken a shine” to Kate. Here’s a weird theory: Kate thinks she can never be “good” ( ” What Kate Did, Season 2) but still wants a family. What if she takes up with Mr. Linus, a man much like her dad and becomes… Ben’s “mom”? Aaron is “Sweet and kind and GOOD” , Kate tells his grandmother. But Ben, who is not… she might be able to work with him. Hey, it’s LOST. Ya never know! 🙂
O ld Jack apparently wasn’t much liked by Kate either. Ouch!
L ost Aaron at the grocery store, in search of a much needed milk… no wait…juice box. He’s found by Claire lookalike. Reality sets in for Kate. Or is that destiny?
E ventually , despite her best efforts, Juliet is resolved that little Ben will die. That is …unless they take him to The Others.
A ny of us can die” says Miles (according to time travel “rules” ) Season 5 Foreshadow alert?
N o , you’re all free to leave when ever you want. I’ll just shoot you in the leg”. Miles is on a roll in this episode! 🙂
D renched Jack in ethical battle with irate Juliet. Why did Jack come back to the Island? He doesn’t know..but he was supposed to.
C lementine details from Kate making Sawyer flustered… in a happy kinda way. 🙂
L ooks like Sawyer is letting ” Freckles” know that he is trying to save Ben for “her” . Presumptively for Juliet… but maybe a little for his own child, Clementine, too.
A aron , as we discover, is with Carole Littleton, so Kate can go back to the Island to find his mother. Excellent…Kudos to the writers!
I nto Hostile territory go Kate, Sawyer and a nearly dead Benjamin Linus. It’s not too long before they “meet their acquaintance “.
R ichard Alpert steps in and says that he can “help” Ben … but he won’t remember what happened to him, he will “lose his innocence” and will never be the same, permanently making him an Other. And it looked like Richard couldn’t wait to get started and is Temple bound. Mr. Alpert = Creeptastic! However, Ellie and Charles most likely won’t approve of this. But Richard says he doesn’t answer to them. So, who does he answer to, then? Have a pretty good idea who. Ellie, being most likely Eloise Hawking, is supposedly Daniel’s mother (but she never fesses up to it) . If this is the case, does that mean Daniel is an Islander and will a younger version of him show up soon? And if is true, why no nosebleeds? Is it because of Desmond, his constant? Is it because he “built an immunity” at Oxford, doing all those experiments without a helmet on? And could his being there, as both a child and an adult… help usher in ” The Incident” ? And knowing this, is this why Daniel made himself “gone” or did something/someone else?
E nds with a now conscious Ben facing a now alive Locke. Umm…Bygones?
After all that, now I need a juice box too. Grape, if you got it. 🙂
For starters, (IMO) one of the tensest episodes to date.
And you just knew someone wasn’t going to make it out of it alive.
It just happened to be Ben this time… or should I say IN this time?
I am going to attempt to categorize this episode in “Bill and Ted” speak… The 80’s meets The 70’s….Whoa!
Grody! Sayid kills a chicken with his bare hands…but he lures his prey first. Much like Nathan/Goodwin in Season Two. Similar scenario to Mr. Eko killing for his younger brother, Yemi and Sawyer killing Cooper for Locke. Born killers or circumstantial? Also, another broken neck on the show. What’s the deal with all the broken necks?
Psyche! Ben made Sayid believe that he had some kind of noble purpose in his life. Fooled ya! So sorry about that. Turns out Ben was just using someone for personal gain. ( Imagine that !) In this case, to kill the majority of Widmore’s flunkies, who may or may not truly be responsible for Nadia’s death. Which still doesn’t answer the question of who is The Economist. And seeing that Widmore gave Locke a beyond current telephone to contact him with ( Just dial the # 23) , I’m guessing Charles is A-OK with technology. But Jacob isn’t. Were these people Ben had Sayid kill Jacob’s people and not Widmore’s? I’m thinking that Sayid ” I believe what I can see” Jarrah is not going to be as quickly convinced about seeking vengeance on ” The Invisible Man”.
Schweet! Hurley’s working in the kitchen making Dharma Ham Flavored Waffles with dipping sauce… informing Kate and Jack of the obvious… Sawliet or Jawyer… I’m not sure what term we’re using yet. Is it just me, or was that Locke’s almost tour guide from the ” Walkabout” episode walking over, then sitting down, at a table diagonal from them? Hey, who knows…it’s LOST! 😉
Harsh!
Good ol’ Roger Workman… what a sweetheart, huh? So, we get a longer glimpse into Ben’s sad past. Roger was not only an alcoholic, neglectful and verbally destructive, the elder Linus likes to throw in a beating, if the mood strikes him ( Please, Mood…you have my permission to strike him 🙂 ) And it clearly affects Sayid…but it does not dissuade him from what he believes is his “purpose”.
Pegged!
A lot of physicality in the episode… Sawyer urging Sayid to punch him…and vice versa… but that was to keep Sayid safe.
Sayid getting tasered….I’m gonna say, in the gut. Yeah, I’m sticking with that answer… 🙂
Sayid takes a boot to the face by Ilana. I think that move in is the hitman/spy equivalent to the ” Ol’ Wookie Prisoner Gag” … that was so effectively used against Aldo in Season Three’s ” Not in Portland”.
Yikes!
Sayid walked right into the arms of Ilana… only to be escorted onto a flight to Guam to avenge the death of Mr. Avileno. Sayid doesn’t want to get on board , once he gets a load of who are his traveling companions. Ilana offers the idea of getting a rabbit’s foot to ward off Sayid’s sudden “superstition”. It’s About Bunnies!
8)
Wiggin’ Out!
Sayid is taken by LeFleur, Horace, Phil and Radzinsky ( aka Stu) to see Larry…I’m sorry…Oldham, the Dharma’s “Medicine Man” , of sorts. His pharmacy is strictly of the “bathtub” variety. Sayid is given a sugar cube with “truth telling serum” on it. It worked…but they didn’t know what he was talking about…thankfully for Sawyer and the rest of our Losties.
Watching this scene made me think if the stuff that Sayid was detailing actually gave them “ideas”about what to build in the future. 🙂
Warped!
Town Counsel Meeting about what to do with the ” Hostile”. Stu wants to “stew” him. Amy at first looks concerned, then quickly changes her tune and says ” Kill him. What about the children.” I am now in the camp of theorist that Amy is short for Amelia, the older woman at Juliet’s book club. ( Tale of Two Cities, Season 3) . Add almost 30 years to her…. it fits. This would make her…an Other. The question is…has she been one all along, not just since ” The Purge” to come?
As If!
Ben is the one to get Sayid to leave his life of house building to do his bidding again! And of course, Ben wasn’t sure what happened to Locke, but he thinks it was murder! You don’t say!! Interestingly, the usually well pressed, dapper Ben, is seen wearing a wrinkled old blue striped shirt under a beige blazer… a shirt just like….Christian Shepard. “You’re a killer, Sayid”…very reminiscent of ” You’re the killer, Ana Lucia” in Season Two. Fate vs Choice? Also, on the wall behind Sayid are two handsaws , facing opposite directions. One has a light handle, one has a dark handle.
No Way!
Flaming microbus, started by ..little Ben? Much like Walt burning the raft ( Ben was also sporting a stripped shirt just like Walt used to wear) Fire was also used in diversion by Charlie when he took Aaron ( Fire + Water, Season Two) and smoke by Danielle ( to also take Aaron , Exodus , Season One) and by the Losties ( Live Together, Die Alone, Season Two) Ben wants to join the Hostiles, with Sayid’s help. Sayid tells him that his father was a hard man too. Ben replies ” I hated him” . To quote Hurley ” Um…what?” *Unless I heard it wrong, Ben speaks of Roger in past tense. Why? Let the theories begin! 🙂 *UPDATE I did hear it wrong. It was “I hate it here” … Thanks to rewatch on better tv and confirmation from Capcom. I’ve GOT to get a DVR or something! Tube tv & VHS… you’re lettin’ me down! 😉
Heinous!
Sayid, like that chicken , lures little Ben to his death. And there is no question of whether he was shot. The question remains, ” Will Ben survive?” And from that inquiry, other questions emerge…
Will the Island heal Ben?
Will Jack operate on Ben again?
If he is dead, how does this affect the story?
If he is not dead, how will this affect the story?
And in the end…maybe ” He’s Our You” really isn’t about the commonalities between Sayid and Dr. Sugar Cubes… but the ” He” is really Ben.
Last season, we were treated to Kate “answering” questions at the Oceanic 6 press conference about her giving birth on the island to a very “hearty” Aaron. Obviously, no one noticed at the time, about Sun’s pregnancy, since she wasn’t quite showing yet. But considering their world wide fame after the crash, I wonder if this will be pointed out that Sun was “with child” from a husband that was dead for three+ months. And that got me thinking if “The Lie” will get expanded to Sun having to deny that Jin is the father of her child. This is especially heartbreaking knowing their history of fertility issues and marital problems that got “resolved” prior to Jin’s probable death ( I say probable because this is after all…LOST! 🙂 )
So, who will play the phony daddy? Jack, Sayid or Hurley? My guess: It’s Hurley. He’ll play the role of father in exchange for Sun taking his “cursed” millions (along with her settlement) that gives her the cash to get controlling interest in her father’s company.
There was an actual frozen donkey wheel that “moves the island” … so, hey… why not this? 😉
Sawyer is having his bandages changed by “Dr.Quinn” aka Jack, , from the wound that Sayid accidentally inflicted on him, post torture (Solitary, Season One).
“Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman” was an hour long drama from the 1990’s on CBS, set in the Old West. Jane Seymour plays Dr.Michaela Quinn, an independant and spirited but “citified” physician, who adopted orphaned children, befriended scruffy mountain folk and fought injustice with nothing but her wits, resting beneath a fancy Hair Do.
LOST is filled with lines spoken that are peculiar…ambiguous…potentially rife with multi-meaning. IMO, one of the oddest bits of dialog comes from the Season One episode ” White Rabbit”.
It “looks” like Sawyer had been hoarding what was left of the water from Flight 815. Kate and Sayid decide to lay low for a while then follow Sawyer because” a rat will always lead you to its hole”. Sure enough, Sawyer goes to a frond covered suitcase, buried in the jungle , containing some disaster “discoveries” ( but no water) . He is confronted first by Kate. They have a slight altercation and she lands on top of him. To which, Sawyer exclaims ” I made this birthday wish four years ago”.
Right off the bat, I’m thinking Sawyer’s just being Sawyer with one of his famous “snappy one liners’. But then it just seemed even more awkward than the situation that they just found themselves in. It was a pretty bizarre thing to say to a “stranger” ? And four years ago? Why four?
We find out toward the end of the first season in the Hurleyrific < episode ” Numbers”, that four (along with 8,15,16,23 and 42) is a significant number. But it also is a significant period of time. Life altering things happened to some of the characters “four years ago”, such as Locke< becoming paralyzed and Sun and Jin getting married (any others, please let me know 🙂 )
When I watched ” Through the Looking Glass” for the first time, for a minute, I thought that Jack and Kate knew each other prior to being on the Island. But we soon learn about the “twist” of their post Island meeting.
Will there be a “twist” that reveals that Kate and Sawyer actually did know each other before they crashed? Did something happen between Sawyer and Kate four years earlier, maybe they just aren’t fully “conscious” of it? Is Sawyer having “flashes” of the past, much likeDesmond…or even Daniel Faraday? If he is, I think the writers, much like the character, are keeping it “close to the chest” , like when Sawyer tried to not talk to Sayid about The Whispers 🙂 .
Eh, it’s “food for thought” …. possibly in the form of some very moldy birthday cake. 😉
In Confidence Man (Season One), Sawyer tells Kate that he was just tortured by a spinal surgeon and “a jen-yoo-wine Iraqi ” .
Now, genuine typically signifies “real , authentic, sincere, legitimate” . And that is what is the case here. Sayid …actually from Iraq. Sawyer’s just put a Bit O’ Flare on it, going for the funny (as Sawyer is prone to do ) 🙂
But then there is the “jen-yoo-wine” that is used in advertising that is a bit more “non-descript” , for lack of a better word 😉 : Genuine leather…genuine gold leaf…genuine Elvis fragrances (?) .
Here’s a video of one of the best “jen-yoo-wine” products of the 80’s . I got one of these for a present a while back….but I didn’t get the bamboo steamer with it 😦 .
Another big quandary amongst the many LOST podcasts, blogs and message boards: “Where did all the tarps come from?”. Not just a handful from possible plane cargo wreckage… but scads and scads of them! This is a parodical acknowledgement to their welcome , yet curiously overwhelming, presence.
(If you’d like to hear more LOST Parodies, click the link or find them under “LOST Parodies” under “Catergories” in the Blogroll)
TARPS
Jack laid alone on the jungle floor
Lookin’ around like he’d been there before
He ran to the beach, seeing a messed up plane
But my first thought was “What if it rains?”
There’s tarps! There’s tarps!
They’re watertight
There’s tarps! There’s tarps! There’s tarps!
They’re on this flight
Tarps are the Losties new best friends
Their usefulness, well, it never seems to end
Good for hidin’ all of Sawyer’s junk
Better than the caves or The Hatch’s cushy bunks
They’re tarps! They’re tarps!
They crunch alot
They’re tarps! They’re tarps! They’re tarps!
Shade when it’s hot
(Scream)
Taaaaaaaarps………………..TARPS!
Big and rectangular, in inordinate amounts
They’ve got so many, I think we’ve all lost count
One was taken by a boar to go campin’
They’re perfect for Island home design revampin’
They’re tarps! They’re tarps!
They’re really blue
They’re tarps! They’re tarps! They’re tarps!
Not parachutes
Was Oceanic thinkin’ ahead? I think so!
Did Oceanic leave ’em for dead? I think so!
Was Oceanic thinkin’ ahead? I think so!
Now, excuse me. It’s gonna rain once again
Tarps.mp3 by Ms. Wendy (Parody of “Lump” by The Presidents of the United States,Songwriters: Ballew, Christopher Weldo; Dederer, David Michael; Finn, Jason S; Copyright 1995, Columbia Records. New lyrics by Wendy Lincoln, 2007)
What happens when “The World’s Most Watched Show” Baywatch (or at least used to be) meets the survivors of Oceanic 815? This delightful video does . 🙂 (Made for youtube by vipernoj)
( When this was made, vipernoj said that the “Official LOST Companion” said Evi’s character’s name was “Kate Ryan” . Hey, who knows? By the end of the series, maybe it will be. ) 😉
And don’t miss ” A Very Special Episode” with Special Guest Star Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond David
Hume. (“Desmond a lo Baywatch” made by JaviPloKoon for youtube)
I have been hearing/reading about the dismay over certain characters’ “attitudes”, whether it be the grieving process is too quick or “I used to like them, now they are a jerky control freak” 😉 . And I see those things myself. But it got me thinking about why.
Sayid was pretty much inconsolable over Shannon’s death for several episodes. It even drove some of the plot, i.e. Henry’s interrogation and exposer as a fraud. However, that was Season Two and the “endgame” was still unknown. Now, is it just that it takes too long to write about the grief when there is so much more story to tell and not as much time to tell it?
That certainly is a very good possiblity. But here is another one of maybe why Claire seems to be “over” Charlie’s death so quickly? Location…location…location.
On the Season Two Extra’s Disc 7, there is a section called ” Secrets of the Hatch”. In it, Damon Lindelof describes why peoples attitudes and drives have “amped up”. Lindelof talks about how the hatch has a “Jeckle and Hyde” quality. They designed it so ” You are one person outside of the hatch and once you get inside of it you become another person. It forces other aspects of your personality to manifest, just by virtue of what you have to do there.”He talks about how the hatch affects Jack, when Sayid is beating up Henry Gale, in how far is he willing to go just to test his own inner struggle with “faith” and “reason”.
“The hatch brings out the worst in you. The hatch in many ways represented ‘The devil has arrived on the island and is going to give you exactly what you want.” “It is a Faustian sort of deal because when you make a deal with the devil, (Ex: Locke wanting a purpose) it’s doesn’t turn out how you’d thought it would be. And now you’ve got to deal with it. ”
So, this led me to considering that New Otherton might have a different “quality” to it as well. Claire was grieving , as was everyone else before they reached Ben’s Bungalows . Claire was the obvious choice to focus attention on because of her and Charlie’s budding relationship. But if you look a little closer, it seems like everyone pretty much “forgot” about Charlie. They’re all drinking coffee on the porch, watching Xanadu and playing Risk.
Oh, the Losties are still on guard. But I think that it might be an instance of “ignorance is domestic bliss”. I mean, who can ever forget Jack’s famous football spike in Season 3. ( I know it was for “diversionary tactics”. But “when in Rome” … 😉 )
It almost has a sedative quality, like their own “field of poppies” perhaps? It’s as if something has to “snap you out of it”. Be it a emotional “slap” , like between Kate and Sawyer . Or if you need something more “caffeinated”,like a band of mercinaries knocking on your pastel painted door with a rocket launcher. 🙂 (Now that the Hatch and New Otherton are “gone” , wonder where the next “adjustment” will come from?)
Then there is always the concept that Shannon was taken so tragically and without warning, driven by fear and confusion. Charlie, on the other hand, knowingly gave his life to make sure that his friends were rescued. And maybe that being the case, helped them all “cope” a little bit easier.
But then again, this is LOST . You’ll probably be hearing me saying ” I was wrong” well before this series is through. 😉
” There are two types of people in this world…those who like Neil Diamond and those who don’t” ( Bob Wiley~ “What About Bob”)
I wrote this parody, in tribute, to the much spoken of “fact”, on various LOST podcasts , that our beloved Losties apparently really dig swimming with their jeans on.
As summer is winding down, I thought I’d finally put this song out there (and it’s pretty out there… 🙂 )
WARNING : If you have an aversion to the effects of what happens when denim and salt water mix and/or disturbing ” interpretation” of a Neil Diamond vocalization (are there any other kind?) , turn back NOW! 😉
(If you’d like to hear more LOST Parodies, click the link or find them under “LOST Parodies” under “Catergories” in the Blogroll)
SWIMMING IN BLUE JEANS
Stick like caulk
And chaffin’ so bad, I can barely walk
But if it worked for Sawyer and Charlie
I’d much rather be
Swimmin’ in blue jeans
Denim’s sweet
So I don’t care about the gravity
And like Des and Sayid
I’d like to stay pruney all day
Swimmin’ in blue jeans
Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight by the fire get my jeans nice and dry
But then the sound of the pounding surf
Calls me to dive
Stick like caulk
And fabric so tight that it hurts to cough
But if it worked for Sawyer and Charlie
I’d much rather be
Swimmin’ in blue jeans, babe
And denim’s sweet
So I don’t care it pinches in the seat
And like Des and Sayid
I’d like to stay pruney all day
Swimmin’ in blue jeans
Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight by the fire get my jeans nice and dry
But then the sound of the pounding surf
Calls me to dive
Skin like chalk
Wrinkled like the trenchcoat of Peter Falk
But if I wanna be like a Lostie
I guess I’ll just keep
Swimmin’ in blue jeans
And if you pardon me
Havin’ fun but…
My fly’s rusted shut
From swimmin’ in blue jeans, babe
Until I get some WD-40
I guess I’ll still be
Swimmin’ in blue jeans
(Parody of ” Forever in Blue Jeans ” By Neil Diamond {Neil Diamond, Richard Bennett, 1979 Stonebridge Music (ASCAP) } , New lyrics by Wendy Lincoln, 2008)
During Charlie’s attempt to get help for Jack in the cave in, Sawyer tells him Kate and ” Muhammed” (Sayid) were in the jungle and that he’d go look for them.
Now, “Muhammed” , could be refering to a popular and commonly used name by people in Arabic nations , a nickname generating tool utilized by James ( see Sawyer Nickname Origin # 5 ).
But maybe he calls Sayid that nickname after Boxing Heavyweight Champ, Muhammed Ali (formally known as Cassius Clay) because, as far as island fighers go ” He is the Greatest” and Sayid is ” so pretty!” ) 😉 ( But then again, aren’t they all on Lost ! 🙂 )
Jack is trapped in a cave in. Charlie, who managed to escape it, runs to the beach to get some assistance in digging him out. Sawyer tries to reassure ” Sport” that he’ll do his part and go find Kate, who is with Sayid looking for the right place to triangulate Danielle’s distress signal. ( The Moth, Season One)
According to dictionary.com (in this meaning of the word) a ” sport” is …
One known for the manner of one’s acceptance of rules, especially of a game, or of a difficult situation: a poor sport.
Informal One who accepts rules or difficult situations well.
Informal A pleasant companion: was a real sport during the trip.
A person who lives a jolly, extravagant life
And I’m sure Sawyer saw Charlie that way. At least, right up until Sawyer decided to play “keep away” with Claire’s diary and Charlie punched him where Sayid accidentally stabbed him through the arm. 😉 ( Special, Season One)
American Psychological Association (APA):
Sport. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved August 25, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Sport
Chicago Manual Style (CMS):
Sport. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Sport (accessed: August 25, 2008).
Modern Language Association (MLA):
“Sport.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 25 Aug. 2008.
In House of the Rising Sun (Season One) Sawyer is grilling Kate about if she is going to the caves with Dr. Jack or staying on the beach with ” Captain Falafel” , otherwise known as Sayid
According to Wikipedia ” Falafel (Arabic: فلافل falaafil (help·info), Hebrew: פָלָאפֶל; also known in Egypt and Sudan as ta’meya, Arabic طعمية), is a fried ball or patty made from spiced fava beans and/or chickpeas. It is a popular form of fast food in the Middle East, where it is also served as a mezze (snack or tapas)….Falafel is generally served in pita bread, either inside the pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flat pita. In many countries, falafel is a popular street food or fast food. ”
Sawyer does love a good food related insult, doesn’t he? 😉
Well, maybe this youtube video by RhettandLink ( The Food Cart Song-NYC), will help James have a new perspective about falafel, its vendors and their fellow food “cartists” ( Did I just make up a new word ? 🙂 )
John Locke. Mother looking for a “replacement”. It turned out to be Jacob. Jacob is looking for his “replacement” in the candidate. Or (as Wray suggested in “comments” last week) could the candidate be for something else entirely? 
Henry Gale’s boss “Him”, much like the pure evil figure from The PowerPuff Girls? Will a name be insufficient, at this point? At this point, I don’t mind it remaining a mystery. 
Richard MIB/Locke and Sayid
, exchanges…even possibly what happens, to some extent, when you become an Other, like Ben- the sharing of immortality? But the “rules” may somehow make immortality…flexible? 
Hurley can see the deceased too. And apparently Sawyer…and 
Desmond, at least as far as mini Jacob is concerned. Is this tied into being “Special”? Mother said that Jacob couldn’t lie and that MIB could because he was “special”… or at least, inferred as such. Hurley is a horrible liar. 
Sawyer excels at it and is one of the reasons MIB wanted him on his side. So, just because Mother said Jacob couldn’t “see” Claudia” because she was dead…doesn’t mean it was true. Jacob just happened not to be there. 
Boone’s vision of 
Shannon’s death by Smokey in the Season One Episode “Hearts and Minds” . In this episode, there is also a talk between Locke and Jack that is similar to Jacob and MIB in Season Five finale ” The Incident”. MIB ‘s body was entangled in the tree, like how we saw the pilot in The Pilot, after the Smoke Monster actually killed him. Also, his body was tossed aside by the black smoke but we’ve seen Brother since then, just like John Locke is now. In “Hearts and Minds” Locke said to Boone ” What did it make you see?”. Is it the Island? The Smokey Monster? The wacky paste John put on Boone’s head? We still don’t know! Is seeing here like the concept of seeing/showing that 
Charlie and now Desmond have been utilizing? And is seeing going to be what bridges the gap between what’s real, what’s an illusion and both of Lost’s “worlds? 
Jack thinking Adam and Eve were only there 40 to 50 years, instead of a couple millennium, because he’s not exactly an expert ( as I know that I talk about stuff I don’t know about all the time…so I can empathize..lol) . But what came to mind was the story of Moses and the Israelites wandering the desert for 40 years and God preserving their clothes so they never fell apart.
In light of our Sayid Double Feature on the LRN last week, here’s a little tribute video to Mr. Jarrah. 
Jin wakes up to find little 
Ben with a gunshot wound on his right side? Mirror image or issue of character’s perception of events?
Kate’s car stereo ” She’s Got You” by Patsy Cline. Her music has a propensity of popping up in Katecentric episodes. Perhaps because not only Ms. Kline died in a plane crash but she was also the wife of an abusive alcoholic. Will this be Kate’s fate as well… or at least, thinks it is?
and 
Miles ” Time Travel Tussle” was mindbogglingly hilarious. Was like a sci fi version of Abbott and Costello’s ” Who’s On First”. And I love the fact that despite his initial frustration with Hugo’s POV, Miles still wanted to continue the discussion after 
Juliet kicked them out. “Hey, ask me some more questions about time travel!” 
Christian sang it to 
Claire when she was little. Claire wanted the adoptive parents to sing it to her then unborn child. It was on the mobile at the Medical Station (The Staff) when Ethan took Claire there, after he kidnapped her. Now Kate is singing it. Claire wasn’t supposed to let Aaron be “Raised by AnOther ” until that nice couple from LA “showed up”. What if Claire isn’t “found” by Kate. Is Ms. Austen still part of that “nice couple” … or will 
Desmond’s vision come true? The only thing is… getting Aaron on the Island for that to happen…. unless he’s on the rescue chopper back? 
Jack and Willie are the only janitors that had keys that could have let Sayid out. Maybe it’s Willie Nelson and the song in the season opener was recorded at Dharma Studios ? 🙂
LeFleur makes it look so easy. Acted like he just met Kate and solved “The Case of the Missing Keys” in a minute’s time!
steps in and says that he can “help” Ben … but he won’t remember what happened to him, he will “lose his innocence” and will never be the same, permanently making him an Other. And it looked like Richard couldn’t wait to get started and is Temple bound. Mr. Alpert = Creeptastic! However, Ellie and Charles most likely won’t approve of this. But Richard says he doesn’t answer to them. So, who does he answer to, then? Have a pretty good idea who. Ellie, being most likely Eloise Hawking, is supposedly 
Daniel’s mother (but she never fesses up to it) . If this is the case, does that mean Daniel is an Islander and will a younger version of him show up soon? And if is true, why no nosebleeds? Is it because of Desmond, his constant? Is it because he “built an immunity” at Oxford, doing all those experiments without a helmet on? And could his being there, as both a child and an adult… help usher in ” The Incident” ? And knowing this, is this why Daniel made himself “gone” or did something/someone else? 
Locke. Umm…Bygones? 
Sayid kills a chicken with his bare hands…but he lures his prey first. Much like Nathan/Goodwin in Season Two. Similar scenario to 
Mr. Eko killing for his younger brother, Yemi and 
Walt burning the raft ( Ben was also sporting a stripped shirt just like Walt used to wear) Fire was also used in diversion by 
Charlie when he took Aaron ( Fire + Water, Season Two) and smoke by 
pregnancy, since she wasn’t quite showing yet. But considering their world wide fame after the crash, I wonder if this will be pointed out that Sun was “with child” from a husband that was dead for three+ months. And that got me thinking if “The Lie” will get expanded to Sun having to deny that Jin 
, Sayid
It's About Bunnies! 