Lost re-watch! (Spoilers)

[Werthead]

People who are pretty happy to spill other secrets (like Lindelof's near-nervous breakdown on Season 1, which they worked overtime to hide) have said that purgatory absolutely never was the answer to the show's mysteries and I think it's clear that that is the case. The show simply wouldn't make sense if the whole thing is purgatory.

Of the theories of what the Island is, the idea that it's the last remaining piece of the original paradise (or Eden) is an interesting one, although I think they'd be hesitant to link it to any one religion like that. The alien spaceship idea is a bit urrrrgh. I haven't seen too many other explanations that make a lot of sense. Or it could just be an island with really whacky properties that people have been using and abusing for thousands of years.

[Werthead]

This entry is a little different in that it recaps The Lost Experience. This was an alternate reality game (ARG) that unfolded between Seasons 2 and 3 of Lost in the United States, and also played out via the show's British and Australian broadcasters. The ARG took the form of multiple websites, fake TV ads and live-action Comic-Con appearances which led to the unveiling of a series of videos with contained further information on the Hanso Foundation, the mysterious financial backers of the DHARMA Initiative. Part of The Lost Experience's modern-day storyline is considered semi-apocryphal (since some of it plays out in the "real world" where Lost is a TV show) but the revelations it contains about the backstory of DHARMA, Hanso, the Numbers and the Island were considered canon by the TV show producers.

 

The Lost Experience

Written by Jordan Rosenberg, Laurence Shames, Javier Grillo-Marxuach and others

Airdate: 2 May 2006-25 September 2006

Story: The mysterious disappearance of Flight 815 in the South Pacific in September 2004 briefly grips the imagination of the world. The publishers of author Gary Troup - who was on board the plane -  rush-release his latest novel, Bad Twin, in an effort to cash in on the mystery. Although the novel is fictional, it does use the names of several real organisations, such as the Widmore Corporation and the Hanso Foundation. The Hanso Foundation is angered and runs newspaper adverts denouncing the novel. A hacker and activist code-named "Persephone" has been investigating the Hanso Foundation for some time and now feels motivated to start sharing her information with the outside world, in the hope of getting assistance for learning the truth about the organisation. A conspiracy theorist radio talk show host, DJ Dan, joins the quest for the truth.

 

The Hanso Foundation's founder is Alvar Hanso, a Danish weapons magnate who became fabulously wealthy in the 1950s and 1960s, helping provide arms for NATO. In the 1960s he set up the Hanso Foundation and began moving away from arms in favour of researching science and technology designed to help people. Alvar was also obsessed with his family history, particularly the mysterious disappearance of his great-grandfather Magnus Hanso in the 1840s, when his ship, the Black Rock, vanished on a voyage to the Pacific. In 1970 Hanso began bank-rolling the scientific research of a pair of scientists at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the DeGroots, who then founded the DHARMA Initiative. Hanso continued to bankroll the organisation until the late 1980s, when he suddenly pulled the funding for unknown reasons. Alvar Hanso himself has not been seen in public for some years, with Dr. Thomas Werner Mittelwerk becoming the public face of the company. The Foundation's primary scientific work is now carried out at the Vik Institute in Iceland, where Mittelwerk has ordered experiments to be run using the "Valenzetti Equation" on a group of autistic savants.

 

"Persephone" is revealed to be a young woman named Rachel Blake. Blake travels around Europe, attempting to track down employees (current or former) of the Hasnso Foundation. She is helped by Darla Taft, an insider in the organisation keen to see its more dubious secrets exposed. Taft and her lover Hugh McIntyre are killed to prevent them revealing more information. Despite the danger, Blake continues to follow clues left behind by Taft. This leads her to Sri Lanka, where Mittelwerk has travelled using the container transport Helgus Antonius. 

 

Blake releases the "Sri Lanka Video" to the world via the (then) new video streaming service YouTube. This video, dated to 1975, is presented by Alvar Hanso himself. Hanso states that in late 1962, following the near-destruction of the world in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United Nations began working on a top-secret project. They wanted to see if it was possible to see when the world might be destroyed by nuclear war, overpopulation, bacteriological warfare, climate change or any of a number of other artificial causes, and how it might be possible to avert it. Italian mathematician and genius Enzo Valenzetti created the Valenzetti Equation, factoring in these numbers, and came up with a final figure that was not heartening: the final destruction of the civilised world from one or more of these causes would come in decades, not centuries or millennia. The values of this equation were 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42, but the application of these figures was not provided.

 

To prevent a panic, the UN buried the report, but not before Hanso had learned of its existence. Using the experience gained in tracking the course of the Black Rock, he had located an island with unusual properties in the South Pacific. This island made a perfect, secluded place for scientific research. Working with the DeGroots, Hanso set up a series of installations on the unknown island starting in the early 1970s, resulting in the creation of the DHARMA Initiative. The goal of DHARMA was straightforward: by scientific investigation into areas such as finding alternate energy sources and manipulating electromagnetism and nuclear forces and seeing if it was possible to enforce behavourial change on mammals through environmental control (using polar bears as test subjects), it wanted to see if it was possible to start changing the values of the Valenzetti Equation. By changing those values, it would be possible to extend the anticipated lifespan of human civilisation.

 

At the end of the video, Mittelwerk appears and briefs a room full of scientists working for the Hanso Foundation. He confirms that the DHARMA Initiative failed, so the Foundation has been continuing research into the Valenzetti Equation itself. Their constant re-running of the equation over the previous forty-five years has failed to result in any changes, suggesting that despite growing environmental knowledge, the increase of renewable energy sources and so on, the human race is still moving towards the end as predicted by Valenzetti. Unfortunately, they're still not sure what date the numbers point to. Mittelwerk has come up with a radical new experiment: to infect two Sri Lankan villages with a deadly virus. The Foundation will use its vaccines to keep the mortality rate perfectly aligned at 30%. If they succeed, it means they will have gained complete understanding - and taken complete control of - an environmental factor, in this case a virus. One of the ways of changing the values of the Equation is to use science to gain a complete understanding of nature, and thus allow them to manipulate it to the advantage of humanity. The human cost will be painful, but necessary to save the billions of other people on planet. The video appears to end with Rachel Blake, who has been clandestinely filming the meeting, being apprehended by the people present.

 

Two Hanso insiders, Malik and De Zylva, help Rachel escape captivity and return to her the video she recorded.

 

A subsequent video is released in which Rachel is shown to be visiting a house in Narvik, Norway. Alvar Hanso is living in this house. He claims to be a virtual prisoner, having been overthrown in a corporate coup staged by Thomas Mittelwerk some years earlier. Rachel believes that Hanso is lying to dodge out of his responsibility for that the Hanso Foundation has done. Hanso confesses that he is Rachel's father and has been behind some of the leaks to encourage her investigations. He urges Rachel to use her videos and internet expertise to expose Mittelwerk and help free him.

 

Subsequently the police issue a warrant for Mittelwerk's arrest and Alvar Hanso is freed. He retakes control of the Hanso Foundation, halts Mittwelwerk's horrific experiments and vows to restore the Foundation to the work it has been doing for the good of humanity. However, Mittelwerk also releases a video saying that his way of saving humanity is the only way, and that he still has the virus in his control.

 

Major WTFery: The whole thing, really. As a marketing tool, The Lost Experience was so obscure as to be almost impenetrable, but as a way of galvanising hardcore Lost fans into getting involved in the mythology, it was quite impressive.

 

Hindsight: Gary Troup was the guy who got sucked into the fanjet and killed in the opening moments of the pilot, shortly after the crash of Flight 815. The manuscript for his novel was found and read by both Hurley and Sawyer in the second season.

 

Marketing related to the band Geronimo Jackson was part of The Lost Experience. Geronimo Jackson albums were located in the Swan Station and the band was mentioned several times throughout the show.

 

Apollo Candy Bars, found in the Swan Station, were sold for real in British comic book stores during the Experience, most notably in branches of Forbidden Planet. Apollo Bars have become of a bit of an ABC in-joke, cropping up as recently as early 2016 in episodes of Brooklyn Nine Nine.

 

In the 1975 video, Hanso states that food drops will continue on the Island "in perpetuity". This confirms that the Hanso Foundation are behind the pallet drops on the Island in Season 2, and these continue until Ben cancels them in the Season 6 epilogue minisode The New Man in Charge. It is probable that the Hanso Foundation was responsible for recruiting and sending people to the Island even after DHARMA's collapse, most notably Kelvin Inman (Live Together, Die Alone).

 

A much smaller-scaled ARG between Seasons 5 and 6 seemed to suggest that Hanso was reconstituting the DHARMA Initiative in a new, modern incarnation to pick up where the old organisation left off. However, this storyline was not developed further before Lost concluded.

 

Magnus Hanso is revealed to be the captain of the Black Rock on the Swan Station blast door map in Lockdown. In the Season 6 episode Ab Aeterno, it is confirmed that Magnus is the captain of the ship although he doesn't actually appear.

 

Some fans speculate that the Valenzetti Equation provides an average expected lifespan for civilisation and thus the conclusion is that life on Earth as we know it will be expected to end around 2070 (1962+108), with the chances of a cataclysmic end to civilisation rising sharply every year after that. However, that is not confirmed.

 

The Numbers of the Valenzetti Equation do appear later on in the show. In Season 6 it is revealed that Jacob has gathered candidates to replace him as the protector of the Island. He has assigned each person a number as follows:

• 4: Locke
• 8: Hurley
• 15: Sawyer
• 16: Sayid
• 23: Jack
• 42: Jin or Sun

Each one of these people has the ability to serve as protector and help save the world. Eventually, Locke, Sayid, Jin and Sun are all killed and Jack apparently dies in the finale, leaving Hurley as the protector of the Island (Sawyer is allowed to escape with former - but now revoked - candidates Kate, Claire and Miles). The link between the person and the Numbers may be symbolic or it may be a clue that the equation was actually about the characters who have the ability to save the world rather than the environmental factors.

 

Canonicity: The backstory revelations from The Lost Experience about the Hanso Foundation, DHARMA Initiative and Valenzetti Equation are all 100% canon, being written and provided by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof themselves. The meta-fictional interactions, such as Rachel Blake interrupting a Comic-Con appearance by the producers, are 100% non-canon, since clearly Lost the TV show does not exist in the fictional universe itself. The recorded, present-day segments are said by the show producers to have "wriggle room", meaning that whilst the ultimate fate of the Hanso Foundation is likely canon, the details of Hanso, Mittwelwerk and Rachel's adventures do not necessarily have any bearing on the show. Since Lost's conclusion, fans tend to accept the whole thing (barring only the metafictional interactions where Lost is referenced as a TV show) as canon, since it is unlikely anything will happen in the future to contradict this.

 

Assessment: The Lost Experience was undeniably confusing, weird and bizarre. As Internet based series tie-ins go, it was hard to follow and difficult to tie into the events of the show until long after it had finished and people could sum it up better. Whilst the hardcore nature of the game is impressive, the fact that it locked out 99% of the show's fans things like the explanation for the Numbers is less laudable. Future Internet tie-ins to the series were far more straightforward, and The Lost Experience is notable for showing how you can overboard in your marketing. Only Valve's similar 2011 ARG for its video game Portal 2 was of comparable complexity, and even that didn't go anywhere near as far as this.

 

At the same time, the explanations for Hanso, the Numbers and the long-term purpose of the DHARMA Initiative are reasonably interesting, although it is somewhat mystifying the information was not released on the show as well.

[Werthead]

301: A Tale of Two Cities

Written by Damon Lindelof and J.J. Abrams, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 4 October 2006

Survivor Count: 48

Days on Island: 68 (28 November 2004)

Flashback Character: Jack

Day 1: A woman named Juliet is hosting a book club at her house. She burns some cakes in the oven, listens to some music and sets out chairs. The club is discussing Stephen King's Carrie, but not all of the group are impressed by it. A man named Adam derides the choice, as it has no metaphor and as science fiction is artistically meaningless. He says he's not surprised that "Ben" didn't come. Juliet says it's her favourite novel and she is delighted by the fact that Ben would hate it. She sarcastically remarks that she didn't think free will had been lost just yet.

Suddenly the ground starts violently shaking. Everyone takes shelter in a doorway until it passes. They then go outside. They are in a compound of pleasant yellow houses. Ethan Rom and Goodwin are present, indicating that is on the Island. "Henry Gale" emerges from another house. As everyone tries to work out what's going on suddenly they hear a roaring sound from above. Oceanic Flight 815 flies directly overhead and begins to break up, the tale section spinning off and crashing into the ocean nearby. The rest of the plane carries on to the very far side of the Island. "Henry" starts barking orders, telling Goodwin to ingratiate himself amongst the tail section and Ethan amongst the fuselage group. They depart at a run. "Henry" then sees Juliet with the book and sarcastically remarks that he must be out of the book club, since he wasn't invited. Everyone else goes back to what they were doing.

Flashbacks: Jack has become miserable following the failure of his marriage to Sarah. He desperately attempts to learn the identity of the man she was cheating on him with, but can't get any luck from going through her phone records. He tries to contest the divorce, but Sarah talks him into allowing it to go through. She refuses to tell him who her new man is, though. Jack keeps trying the numbers in her phone and discovers one of them is to his father. He becomes convinced that his father is sleeping with Sarah, to Christian's disgust, even going as far as to burst in on him as he attends an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and punching him. He is thrown in jail. Sarah bails him out and Jacks sees her getting into a car with a stranger. She refuses to tell Jack who he is and they drive off together, leaving Jack bereft and alone.

On the Island: Jack wakes up in what appears to be a cell of some kind. The door is bolted and the intercom doesn't work. There is a glass partition across the cell and pipes and chains in the ceiling. Attempts to damage either the glass or the partition fail. Jack is trying to pull down the chains when Juliet enters. She introduces herself and asks him to stop messing with the chains, but he ignores her. Juliet gets a grilled cheese sandwich, but Jack refuses to eat it. Juliet asks him what he does for a living and he lies, saying he's a repo man. However, he does admit that Flight 815 took off from Sydney and that he went there to collect his father's body. Julie offers her condolences and asks Jack to trust her, but he refuses. She leaves, eating the sandwich.

Kate wakes up in a well-equipped shower facility. Tom (the Other formerly known as "Zeke") has prepared clean clothes and towels for her, and suggests that she wash up. Kate is bewildered, and worried that Tom will watch. Tom laughs, telling her she isn't his type. Kate finds that her new clothes consist of a nice summery dress. She is taken outside to where "Henry" is eating breakfast on the beach. He asks her to join him. Kate wants to know why he's treating her well, but "Henry" only says it's to make her feel nice because the next two weeks will be "very unpleasant".

Sawyer wakes up in an outdoor cell. The cell consists of a strange machine comprising a button, a handle and a switch in the floor. A young man, Karl, is imprisoned in a neighbouring cell. Sawyer presses the button twice. Karl advises him not to do it again and Sawyer refuses to listen. He gets blasted across the cell by an electric charge. Karl asks Sawyer where his camp is and how many people are there. He picks his cell door and escapes, telling Sawyer to go the opposite way to divide their pursuers. Sawyer doesn't make it far before being tasered by Juliet. Karl is also recaptured. Sawyer is stuck back in his cell and watches, bemused, as Karl is told to apologise to him by the other Others. They then take him away to an unknown location. Sawyer resumes work on the machine and manages to get a stone to hold down the switch. He throws his shoe at the handle and hits the switch simultaneously to get a reward: water and a fish biscuit. Sawyer realises that the cage was originally designed to hold a polar bear when Tom comes by with Kate, putting her in the other cage. Tom says that the bears figured it out in two hours, but Sawyer defends himself by pointing out there were more of them. He and Kate compare notes and Sawyer gives her a fish biscuit.

Juliet talks Jack into accepting food, but it's a trick so he can grab her and try to escape. He finds a massive hatch and tells her to open it, but Juliet says it will kill them. "Henry" appears and tells Jack to stand down, but Jack kicks open the hatch. It is actually an underwater access point and the hallway becomes flooded in a torrent of water. "Henry" escapes and Jack and Juliet take refuge in his cell's observation area. An emergency button on the floor flushes the water away. Juliet knocks Jack out and puts him back in his cell. When he comes back around he realises it's an aquarium, previously designed to hold sharks and dolphins. Juliet tells him they are in a DHARMA station called the Hydra. Jack asks if the Others remnants of the DHARMA Initiative, but she refuses to answer, saying that DHARMA was around a long time ago. She produces a stack of documents confirming Jack's name, his profession and where he works, as well as information on his family and ex-wife. Jack goes to ask who her new boyfriend is but stops himself. Instead he asks if she's happy. Juliet says she is. Jack finally gives in and lets Juliet give him food.

Outside in the corridor, "Henry" thanks Juliet for her good work. Juliet replies, "Thank you, Ben."

Major WTFery: Hey! The Others are all clean and live in totally awesome houses. We did kind of see that coming, but it's still weird that they portrayed themselves as dumb hicks for over a season.

All due respect to Juliet, but I don't think she could lay out Jack with a single punch.

Hindsight: This episode introduces both the Barracks (mentioned in ? but not seen) and the Hydra Station. It also introduces the character of Juliet.

The decision to put Sawyer in the polar bear cage came after the producers realised that people were still asking where the polar bears came from, even after the opening episodes of Season 2 made that clear. To their bemusement, the question would still come up even after these first few episodes.

The reveal of Juliet, using an apparently off-Island location and classic pop music before revealing the location is on the Island, is very similar to the reveal of Desmond in the Season 2 premiere, in one of the show's numerous deliberate uses of mirroring storylines.

We finally learn that "Henry"'s real name is Ben.

Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof are both Stephen King fans, which is why they chose Carrie to be the book at the book club. Stephen King was also a big Lost fan, regularly discussing the show online and in newspaper columns.

This is the only episode of Lost after the opening of Season 1 to involve J.J. Abrams in any capacity. Abrams had left Lost to work on Mission: Impossible III. Shorlty after this episode aired, Abrams would being development of a new TV series, Fringe, and begin development of a new Star Trek movie.

Review: Season 3 of Lost gets off to a surprisingly relaxed start. Oh, we see the crash from the Others' point of view, discover they live in sweet houses and meet a new regular character who will play a major role for the next three seasons, but there is very little that's really revelatory about the episode. None of our heroes seem inclined to ask the Others what the hell is going on (although to be fair they'd be unlikely to answer) and the episode seems more content to simply throw new plot coupons at the audience to see what sticks. So, a scene-setting and even fillery episode, down to the now-standardly redundant Jackback, but a watchable and interesting one. (****)

 

302: The Glass Ballerina

Written by Jeff Pinkner and Drew Goddard, directed by Paul Edwards

Airdate: 11 October 2006

Survivor Count: 48

Days on Island: 69 (29 November 2004)

Flashback Character: Sun and Jin

Flashbacks: As a little girl, Sun breaks an expensive glass ballerina that her father, Mr. Paik, bought as an ornament. Paik demands to know if Sun broke it, but she says no and puts the blame on the housekeeper. Paik tells her that if she will not take responsibility, he will have to fire the housekeeper. He asks her if she understands. She says yes.

Many years later, Sun's friendship with Jae Lee has turned into an affair. Ravaged by guilt, Sun says their relationship cannot continue. Jae gives her a string of pearls, suggesting that Sun leave Jin and the two of them could go to America and start a new life there. They are interrupted by Sun's father, who bursts in and tells his daughter to get dressed.

Paik summons Jin and gives him details about Jae Lee. He says that Jae stole something from him and must be permanantly punished. Jin goes home to Sun, who is anxious that her father told Jin about the affair. Jin instead only tells her that he has another difficult job to do for her father. When Sun suggests they could go to America instead, Jin angrily tells her that what he does for her father, he does for her. He confronts Jae Lee, who thinks Jin is going to kill him for the affair. Without learning the truth, Jin merely threatens him and tells him to leave South Korea. If he seems him again, Jin will have no choice but to kill him. Jin gets in his car to leave, but Jae Lee commits suicide by hurling himself out of his window. His body lands on Jin's car.

Paik attends Jae Lee's funeral, since Jae's father is a business associate. He is angry to see Sun watching from nearby. When she asks him if he will tell Jin, he says it is not his place to tell Jin and leaves.

On the Island: The Elizabeth is lying off the west coast of the Island near the Others' fake camp. Sayid has returned from his recon mission and confirmed that the camp is uninhabited. The signal fire is burning nearby, but Sayid is concerned that Jack might not be able to see the smoke as the western mountain range may be blocking it. He suggests they should sail further north and find a place to establish a second signal fire. Jin believes they should return to the main camp, as he thinks it is likely that Jack and his team have either turned back or been captured. Sun supports Sayid's plan, which irritates Jin.

At the Hydra, Juliet brings Jack some soup but he's not interested in talking. Juliet consults with Ben, but they are interrupted by Colleen, Danny Pickett's wife. Colleen tells them that Sayid scouted as the village, as was expected, but he arrived by boat, which was not. Juliet points out that they can't leave, they'll just sail around in circles, but Colleen points out that if they circle the Island they might find the Hydra. Ben decides it is imperative that they take the boat. He sends Colleen, Tom and a small team to capture it.

Sawyer and Kate are put to work on what appears to be a road. Kate is told to break rocks and Sawyer is told to take them away. When Kate asks what's happened to Jack, Pickett electro-shocks Sawyer as punishment. As they work, Kate is approached by Alex. Alex asks if Kate has seen the boy from the cages, but Kate replies she hasn't. Juliet arrives and tries to win Sawyer's trust by giving him water, but Sawyer pours it away in defiance. As work continues, Sawyer apparently becomes overwhelmed by passion and kisses Kate. Pickett and his men try to restrain them, but Sawyer beats Pickett bloody and knocks out another attacker. He only surrenders when Juliet holds a gun on Kate. Pickett beats up Sawyer in response and dumps him and Kate back in their cages. Sawyer and Kate immediately compare notes: Pickett is vicious and a bully but not a very experienced fighter. In fact, Sawyer doesn't think many of the Others have "seen action". The only thing he is concerned about is that Juliet would have killed Kate without question. Sawyer thinks that in a surprise situation, he and Kate can get the upper hand. They just have to wait for the Others to make a mistake. This amuses Ben, who is listening and watching in via video and audio feeds.

The Elizabeth sails up the coast and discover the Pala Ferry dock, from where the Others sent off Michael and Walt the previous day. Sayid assesses the dock and says it hasn't been used for some time and is heavily overgrown. He says it's an excellent place to set a fire. As they make the fire as big as possible, Sun asks him why he is lying. Sayid admits that he also thinks Jack has been captured, but that they can lure the Others into a trap. Sayid plans to kill all but two of those who attack, take them captive and use them to barter for Jack if necessary. Sayid says they should maintain the deception to keep Jin on side, but Jin says it's not necessary: he has picked up more English than they had thought and understands the plan. He insists on Sun being kept safe on the boat. Sayid agrees and tells Sun where he's hidden a gun on the boat.

The Others sneak onto the boat via the sea, bypassing Sayid and Jin's position. Sun gets the gun and holds Colleen at gunpoint as she comes belowdecks. Colleen is overconfident, saying that she knows who Sun is and that she's a good person, not a killer. When she takes a step forwards, Sun shoots her in the stomach. The other Others open fire, alerting Jin and Sayid. Tom takes command, sailing the boat away from the shore. Jin is horrified and swims after it, only to meet Sun coming the other way: she escaped via a rear hatch during the confusion. They head back to the main camp overland, Sayid reflecting that Jin was probably right all along.

Ben goes to speak to Jack and tells him that his full name is Benjamin Linus and that he has lived on the Island his whole life. He wants Jack to do something for him and he wants Jack to want to do it, so he agrees to make the same deal that Michael made: if Jack helps him, Ben will arrange for Jack to leave the Island forever. Jack is sceptical, saying that the Others are probably trapped just like the rest of them. Ben tells him about events that have unfolded in the outside world in the 69 days since the crash, such as actor Christopher Reeve passing away and the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series. Jack says that is preposterous, until Ben shows him a recording of the game.

Major WTFery: This episode creates some minor geographic confusion. Sayid's map appears to place the fake Others' camp at the south-western edge of the large bay on the west coast of the Island where the tail section crashed. However, the tail section never found the fake camp in two weeks of staying in this location. Although they - deliberately - did not explore far due to fear of the Others, it still seems implausible they did not locate this camp. One possibility is that the camp is a recent construction, having been built in the 6-7 weeks since the tail section survivors abandoned the beach. If we assume this is the case, it requires some changes to the maps of the Island putting the statue further south. This is all necessary because the Pala Ferry is shown, clearly, as being north of the fake camp.

Hindsight: Sawyer and Juliet's first meeting is antagonistic, which raises a smile when you realise they later spend three years together as a couple.

Colleen was a replacement for Ms. Klugh, created when the actress was unavailable. It was decided to make her Pickett's wife to give Pickett even more motivation for hating the 815 survivors.

Kate and Sawyer are, of course, working on the runway which will become critically important in Seasons 5 and 6. Ironically, they are working on the very thing which will one day save them both and get them off the Island for good.

Ryan, another Other security expert, is mentioned but doesn't show up for another 11 episodes.

This episode and Further Instructions were switched in transmission order. This may have been to allow for more time for the various submarines and boats sailing backwards and forwards and Jin, Sn and Sayid travelling through the jungle back to the camp.

Although it was insinuated from the dossier the Others assembled on Jack and their ability to send Michael and Walt home, this episode 100% confirms that the Others have the ability to travel to and from the Island at will. It also confirms that the days elapsing on the Island are elapsing in the outside world as well: some fans had suggested that only 69 days had passed on the Island whilst three years had passed in the outside world, so as to explain Walt's ageing should he return in a later episode.

Review: This is a pretty solid episode, especially as the "each side thinks they have the upper hand over the other" dynamic is realistically messy. Rather than the Others completely getting the drop on Team Sayid or vice versa, they sort of surprise each other even though they both expect the other group to be around. Sun also foreshadows her Seasons 4-5 arc by blowing away Colleen without too much trouble (and she seems rather unphased by it afterwards). A solid on-Island story is backed up by a well-played flashback. (****)

 

303: Further Instructions

Written by Carlton Cuse and Elizabeth Sarnoff, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 18 October 2006

Survivor Count: 48

Days on Island: 68 (28 November 2004)

Flashback Character: Locke

Flashbacks: Locke is working and living on a rural commune in California, some time after breaking up with Helen. He picks up a hitch-hiker, Eddie, and convinces the leaders of the commune, Mike and Jan, to let him stay. Locke says that the commune has provided structure and continuity in his life, as well as a sense of family after his real family screwed him over.

Weeks go by and Eddie notes that the commune keeps a large greenhouse secured and guarded. He asks Locke to be let in on whatever they are up. Locke agrees to discuss it with Jan and Mike. However, they've worked out that Eddie is an undercover cop trying to must their weed-growing operation. Locke agrees to "make things right" and takes Eddie hunting. He holds Eddie at gunpoint and gets him to admit the truth about being a cop. However, Eddie simply tells Locke he's leaving as he knows that Locke won't shoot him. Locke lets him go, knowing that he's lost another family and a place to stay.

On the Island: Desmond activates the failsafe key, resulting in the Swan Station imploding. Hours later, Locke wakes up in the jungle to find that he has lost the power of speech. He catches a brief glimpse of Desmond running naked through the trees before returning to camp. He urgently starts building a structure inside Eko's barely-started church. Charlie approaches to ask what's going on. Locke reveals he can't talk and, using hand gestures and a pen, says he needs to talk to the Island. He asks for Charlie's help, but Charlie helpfully reminds Locke that he beat the living hell out of him, which has not left Charlie well-disposed to him. Reluctantly, Charlie helps Locke set up a "sweat tent". Locke has a vision in which Boone appears to him and they both travel to Sydney Airport with Locke back in his wheelchair. Boone tells him someone needs his help. Locke sees Charlie, Claire and Aaron at the departure line but Boone tells him that they are fine, "for a while". He also tells him that Sayid has Jin and Sun's back, Desmond is finding his own path, that Hurley is okay, and that Jack, Kate and Sawyer do need his help, but not yet. Locke needs to find his own path first. Locke finds Mr. Eko's "Jesus stick" covered in blood and has a vision of a polar bear charging at him.

Emerging from the sweat tent, able to speak again, Locke tells Charlie that a polar bear has captured Mr. Eko and they need to help him. Charlie agrees to go with him. They head out into the jungle in search of the polar bear. Hearing something in the undergrowth, Locke throws a knife at it. Hurley emerges, holding his canteen up with the knife embedded in it. He tells Locke about Jack and co. being taken prisoner and is startled when Locke tells him he can't deal with that right now.

Hurley heads back to camp but encounters the still-naked Desmond. He gets some clothes for Desmond from the beach and relates his meeting with Locke. Desmond tells him everything will be fine, as Locke is going to go after Jack, Kate and Sawyer, like he said in his speech. Hurley, confused, asks "what speech?" Desmond, looking puzzled, wonders if he is more injured than he thought.

Charlie and Locke locate the polar bear's den in a cave. Locke goes in alone, using a deodorant can and a torch as a makeshift flamethrower. He recovers Eko and scares off the polar bear with the fire. The three of them head back to camp. On the way they pause for water and Eko tells Locke that he will reunite everyone because he always reaches his goal, because he is a hunter.

At the beach everyone regroups and the survivors angrily demand to know what is going on. Locke calms everyone down and says, with confidence, that he is going to go after Jack, Sawyer and Kate and get them back. Hurley looks at Desmond throwing stones into the sea and tells Charlie he feels a sudden sense of deja vu.

Major WTFery: The toy dump truck in the polar bear cave is never explained, although it's easy to imagine it belonged to someone in the DHARMA Initiative and was dragged in there by the bear.

This episode marks the first appearance of the infamous Nikki and Paulo, who literally show up out of nowhere on the beach but act as if they've been there all along. Subsequent episodes make a nod to the fact that the background survivors are getting antsy about the "A-Team" (Jack, Sawyer, Locke, Kate, Hurley and Sayid) and "B-Team" (Claire, Charlie, Rose, Bernard, Jin and Sun) running around and getting into trouble, but it's still rather weird seeing two people we've never once seen in fifty-one previous episodes suddenly popping up and taking a (relatively) prominent role in events. This led to a lot of irate fan reaction online, resulting in the two characters being written out of the show ahead of schedule in Expose.

Hindsight: Locke finds a toy dumptruck in the polar bear cave. He also finds skeletons bearing the DHARMA Pearl Station logo, suggesting the polar bear either killed DHARMA personnel or dug up the bodies from somewhere.

A deleted scene has a police taskforce raiding the compound when Locke returns. Eddie spots Locke but doesn't say anything, allowing Locke to escape.

Review: This episode represents Lost being so weird and randomly meta about itself that it teeters on the edge of self-parody in the sweat lodge sequence. However, it's also refreshingly straightforward: Locke tries some really random stuff that half the characters would have freaked out about for half a Season 1 episode but then it works and it's fine. Here they just cut to the chase and move on. The result is a rather barmy episode with some quite terrible polar bear CGI and an utterly pointless flashback, but the on-Island stuff moves reasonably fast and is entertaining. (***½)

 

304: Every Man For Himself

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate:

Survivor Count: 48

Days on Island: 70-71 (30 November-1 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Sawyer

Flashbacks: Sawyer is in prison as a result of the long con he pulled on Cassidy. Cassidy visits him and tells him that he has a daughter, Clementine. Sawyer angrily says he doesn't believe her. Angrily resuming his prison life he sees a new prisoner, Munson, being beaten. He is told that Munson stole $10 million but no-one can find it. Sawyer ingratiates himself with Munson, warning him that the governor will be trying to find it for himself and will go easy on Munson in the hope he gives it up. After Sawyer is proven right, Munson tells Sawyer where the money is in the hopes that he can move it for him. Sawyer reports this to the FBI to get the last six years of his sentence commuted and earning a reward. He tells him to put the reward in the name of Clementine Phillips. The prison governor congratulates Sawyer on having "lied and cheated your way out of prison."

On the Island: Juliet brings Jack food but Jack wants to talk to Ben, since he's in charge. Juliet bristles at this, saying that they make decisions together and no-one is in charge. Ben then bursts in and orders Juliet to come with him to help with Colleen, who has been injured. Juliet follows him, to Jack's amusement at apparently being proven right.

Pickett arrives at the cages to take Sawyer and Kate to "work", but hears about his wife Colleen's arrival on the radio. The Others march past with her on a stretcher. Pickett races off with them. Sawyer realises that their group must have been responsible for the injury and says they may have found a way back home. He uses the food and water dispenser to create a puddle and plans to use the electric charge on the food machine button to stun an Other when they open the cage. Ben arrives to question Sawyer, but his questions are odd: asking Sawyer his age and weight. Sawyer grabs Ben but finds the button doesn't work. Ben tells him they switched off, before beating Sawyer unconscious with a stun baton.

Sawyer wakes up in a room. He is strapped to the table and has an operating scar on his chet. Ben produes a bunny in a cage, puts it on Sawyer's table and screams at the bunny whilst shaking the cage until the bunny apparently drops dead. Ben tells him they put a pacemaker in the bunny and when its heartbeat reached a certain level the bunny was killed. He tells Sawyer they have put a similar pacemaker in his heart and if his heartbeat rises too high it'll kill him too. Sawyer returns to the cages, having been told not to tell Kate they are being watched or what has been done to him. In his absence, Kate has noted that the bars on top of the cage are further apart than elsewhere and she might be able to squeeze through. Sawyer suggests they lay low for a bit instead.

Back the main camp, Desmond tells Claire that he's spotted something wrong with the roof of her shelter. Charlie, overhearing, inspects it and doesn't see anything wrong. Desmond sees another survivor, Paulo, playing golf with fruit on the beach and asks to borrow a club. He builds a large tower-like object in the middle of the camp, with the club on top. A confused Hurley asks if it is art. Moments later a torrential downpour hits the camp and collapses Claire's tent roof. A lightning bolt then hits the camp, but is diverted to Desmond's makeshift conductor and grounds itself harmlessly. Hurley is shocked by what appears to be a second example of Desmond being able to see the future.

Juliet asks Jack to help them save Colleen, as Juliet's medical knowledge is insufficient. Jack, reluctantly, agrees. Whilst assessing Colleen's situation he sees X-rays of someone with a spinal issue, but Juliet tells him those are for someone else. Jack is unable to help Colleen, who soon passes away. In a fury, Pickett goes outside, drags Sawyer out of his cage and beats him senseless. He keeps asking Kate if she loves him, only stopping when she says yes. Kate later escapes from her cell via the roof and opens Sawyer's cage, but he refuses to escape. Kate also says that she only said what she said so Pickett would stop hitting Sawyer. Sawyer urges Kate to run, saying "It's every man for himself," but Kate replies, "Live together, die alone."

Jack tells Juliet that the X-ray showed a man in his forties suffering from a large tumour on his spine. He wants to know who he is there to save.

Ben takes Sawyer out of his cage and for a walk. He confesses they didn't really give him a pacemaker and shows him the bunny, alive and well. Sawyer asks how he is supposed to know if Ben's telling the truth and Ben, laughing, says he doesn't. Sawyer punches Ben in the face, which Ben seems to accept is fair. He takes him up a rise and shows him the truth: they aren't on the Island. They Hydra Station is instead located on a smaller island about twice the size of Alcatraz, located a few miles off-shore. He shows Sawyer this to make it clear that there is nowhere to run to.

Major WTFery: The bunny scene, which injects some pure Monty Python WTFery into the episode.

Hindsight: First mention of the submarine. It was named in the previous episode as the Galaga (barely discernible on the audio but confirmed on the closed captioning and later episodes).

Jack uses the Others' own tactics against them: just as Ben sowed discord between Locke and Jack in the Swan Station, Jack starts turning Juliet against Ben in a similar manner. Given that Jack usually has all the subtletly of jackhammer in a library, this plan works surprisingly well.

It seems rather unlikely that Cassidy, an accomplice to Sawyer's con-artist schemes, would have Sawyer arrested. In a later episode, Left Behind, it is confirmed that in fact it was Kate herself who talked a pregnant Cassidy into turning Sawyer in over her objections. This is also the first episode to mention Clementine, who finally appears in the Season 5 episode Whatever Happened, Happened.

This is the final Sawyer-centric episode until Season 5. An additional Sawyer flashback for later in Season 3 and another in Season 4 were likely planned, but abandoned due to the shrinking episode count (Season 3 being one episode shorter than Season 2) and the 2008 Writer's Strike (which shaved several episodes off Season 4's run time).

Review: A fairly entertaining Sawyer episode, with the crazy rabbit scene, the Of Mice and Men allusions and Desmond's future time predictions all spicing things up nicely. There's maybe the feeling that they could be moving things forward more decisively, but with the advantage of being able to watch the next episode immediately this definitely isn't as much of a problem as it was at the time. (****)

 

305: The Cost of Living

Written by Alison Schapker and Monica Owusu-Breen, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 1 November 2006

Survivor Count: 48

Days on Island: 71-72 (1-2 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Mr. Eko

Flashbacks: As a young boy, Eko is caught stealing food for his brother by a nun and taken to the church to confess. Eko refuses to confess, however, saying that stealing the food was justified for his brother's well-being.

Decades later, Eko returns to his village immediately after seeing his brother being shot and collapsing onto the Beechcraft plane. He tells the villagers he will be taking Yemi's place, both in the village and then on his brother's sabbatical to the UK to continue his religious studies. Eko learns that when the village receives a vaccine shipment, they keep 20% of it and give the rest to a local militia leader, Emeka, who provides protection to the village. The latest shipment is late and Emeka visits the village to express his displeasure. Eko is unimpressed with Emeka, telling him he is not afraid of him. Emeka kills an innocent bystand and tells Eko that he will be back for the money.

Eko plans to sell the vaccine on the black market himself and makes enquiries. Emeka hears about this and arrives at the church. He says he won't kill Eko because he is a superstitious man, but has no compunction about chopping his hands off. Before he can do this, Eko kills Emeka and his two bodyguards. He emerges from the church bloodied and battered, shocking the villagers. They board up the church, telling him it has been defiled. Yemi departs, with one of the village boys asking if he is a "bad man". Eko says he doesn't know.

At the Hydra: Ben invites Jack to join the procession for Colleen's funeral. Jack casually asks Ben how long he has had the tumour and how bad it is. Ben is shocked and tries to pretend it's not him, but Jack doesn't buy it. At the funeral Ben angrily asks Juliet why she told Jack, but Juliet says she didn't. Jack must have guessed, and now Ben has confirmed it for him.

Annoyed, Ben tells Jack the truth: that he had a wonderful plan to break Jack down and get Jack to join them by exploiting the resemblance between Sarah and Juliet but that's now all gone out the window. He simply asks Jack to help him. He asks Jack if he believes in God, because two days after he was diagnosed with a spinal tumour, a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky and if that isn't proof of God, he doesn't know what is.

Later, Juliet tries to convince Jack to save Ben. However, as she talks a video plays on the TV in the background, with no sound and turned away from the hidden camera. On this video Juliet holds up placards telling Jack that Ben is a dangerous liar, that he has become a liability and that many of the Others want a change in leadership. She suggests that Jack let Ben die on the operating table. None of the Others have enough medical knowledge to know if it's an accident or deliberate. As the video plays, Juliet continues saying that Ben is a great man and Jack should save him. Jack tells her to get out, as the placards on the screen advise.

On the Island: Eko wakes up in a delirious stupour at the beach camp and sees his brother before him, holding a lighter. Yemi tells him it is time for Eko to confess. The tent then bursts into flames. Charlie and Hurley rescue Eko and leave him propped up against a tree as he keeps saying, "My brother!" Eko then disappears into the jungle.

The next morning, Locke hits on an idea to use the Pearl Station to try to communicate with the Others and see if there is a way they can get their friends back. He takes Desmond, who wants to see another hatch, and the recently-returned Sayid, whose technological know-how might come in handy. With the camp looking up to Locke as the guy in charge in Kate and Jack's absence, Locke decides to be a more open leader. He tells everyone what's going on and even asks if any of the other survivors want to help out. Nikki and Paulo, two of the survivors most frustrated with the "A-team" constantly romping off into the jungle inexplicably, volunteer to come along. Charlie and Hurley return from a sweep of the area and say they can't find Eko. They mention how he was talking about his brother and Locke realises that Eko must be going to the Beechcraft, which is conveniently located on top of the Pearl Station.

Eko stumbles through the jungle in a daze. He hears the telltale sounds of the Monster. Suddenly Emeka appears to him and Eko nearly kills him again before stopping himself, realising that this isn't real. He stops at a stream to drink, only to see the Monster appear behind him in the reflection. When he turns, the Monster retreats. Locke and company catch up with Eko and they press onto the Pearl.

As the rest of the party descends into the station, Eko takes a look in the plane and sees that his brother's body has disappeared. Locke suggests that it was dragged off by animals, but Eko seems unconvinced. Locke, suspecting that Eko has seen the Monster, tells him that he also saw it and it was beautiful, like a white light. Eko says that is not what he saw. He then says he will stand guard and Locke joins the rest of the party inside the station.

Inside the station Nikki re-watches the Pearl Orientation video whilst Sayid fiddles with the electronics. Sayid says that the signals are all incoming only, there is no way to send a signal out. However, Nikki points out that in the video it is said that the Pearl can spy on other experiments in other stations, plural. Locke berates himself for not noticing that. Sayid is able to power up another screen, this time depicting a station of unknown location. A man wearing an eyepatch appears, studying the camera that has (presumably) just suddenly become active, before switching it off. Locke says, "I guess he'll be expecting us."

Eko sees Yemi at the edge of the question mark clearing and follows him away from the plane. Yemi says it is time, but Eko says he does not want to confess. He was dealt a hard hand with his life, and he has played it the best he can, always doing what he could to survive and help Yemi to survive. He is not sorry for this. Yemi becomes enraged, saying, "You speak to me as if I were your brother!" before storming off. Eko also becomes angry and runs after him, screaming, "WHO ARE YOU?" Yemi disappears. Suddenly the ground erupts and the Monster appears. Eko recites the 23rd Psalm, hoping to protect himself, but to no avail. The Monster curls smoke around Eko's body, picks him and up and smashes him through the trees, breaking bones and causing internal injuries. It finally slams Eko into the ground before vanishing. Locke and the rest of the group find his body moments later. Before he dies, Eko has time for one last warning: "You're next."

Major WTFery: Given that the village is Eko's home and he visited there at least a few times before Yemi's departure, it seems implausible that no-one recognised him as Yemi's brother.

Aside from both being fair-haired, the resemblance between Juliet and Sarah is slight, at best. It may be that Ben's plan to "break" Jack is in fact saying that Jack has identified his plan already to lure him into a false sense of control.

Something that hasn't come up yet (though it will): if the Island heals injuries, afflictions and cancer (like Rose's), then how did Ben's tumour develop in the first place?

Hindsight: This episode seemingly confirms that the Monster requires the body of a person before being able to take the form of an exact replica of it, and may even be capable of reparing the dead body and walking it around in a possessed state. This was also apparently the case with Christian Shepard's body in Season 1. However, Seasons 5 and 6 seemingly confirm that, although the person has to be dead and the body on the Island, the Monster does not need to actually have possession of it (i.e. after both Locke and the Man in Black's physical bodies die, the Monster can appear as them both even after Locke is buried and the MiB's body is left at the caves). It is unclear why the Monster therefore needed to steal away Yemi's body.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was originally contracted to appear on the show for four years, with a storyline the produces envisaged as developing between Seasons 2 and 5. However, Triple A (as he is known to his fans) was unhappy at the long filming time for the series and the separation this meant from his family back in the UK. He asked to be released early from his contract and the producers agreed. There were several attempts to bring him back for later episodes, but either scheduling clashes or disputes over pay prevented his return.

Sayid says that there is no way to send a signal from the Pear to other stations, although this is really the only plausible explanation for how the Others, posing as Walt, were able to communicate with Michael in the Swan (since they needed the Pearl's cameras to see when Michael was at the computer alone). It is possible the Others brought equipment with them and then took it away with them afterwards.

This marks the first appearance of Mikhail (i.e. "eyepatch guy") and, at least via a computer monitor, the Flame Station (although it had previously been mentioned on the blast door map in the Swan). The Flame appears properly later this season in Enter 77.

This episode would have made it clear that Sawyer and Kate were helping build a runway, but dialogue confirming it was cut for time. A new line was inserted into the Season 3 finale to confirm it was a runway, but not what for.

Review: A brutal episode, with the confirmation that the Monster is judging people on the Island and killing those it doesn't find worthy or who try to atone for their past sins. Eko's death is pretty unpleasant, and the writes even (almost) find a way of justifying Nikki and Paulo's existence. The flashbacks add a note of tragedy to the episode. The rising tension between Juliet and Eko is also nicely-handled, but it's difficult to work out who's playing who and at this point we haven't fully invested in Juliet as a character to get a sense of the stakes. But still, a watchable and rich episode. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's intense portrayal of Mr. Eko will, in particular, be missed. (****½)

 

306: I Do

Written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, directed by Tucker Gates

Airdate: 8 November 2006

Survivor Count: 47 (-1 after Eko's death in the previous episode)

Days on Island: 72-73 (2-3 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Kate

Flashbacks: Kate is living undercover in Miami-Dade County, Florida, near Miami. She has taken the name "Monica" and has fallen in love with a police officer, Kevin, whom she marries. For a while she is happy, doing menial chores and cooking for taco night. She even rings the Marshal and tries to talk him into abandoning the pursuit, which he refuses to do. However, when Kate has a pregnancy scare and then Kevin books tickets for an overseas honeymoon in Costa Rica and advises her to make sure her passport is in order, Kate realises she can't live this life of deception any longer. She tells Kevin everything, including the fact she loves him, and knocks him out with a drug in his drink. She then flees.

On the Island: Locke and his group bury Mr. Eko near the Pearl, not wanting to spread more panic on the beach. Locke tells Nikki, Paulo and the rest of the group that Eko was killed by a polar bear. He and Sayid leave to get shovels and also take a detour to retrieve Eko's "Jesus stick", which is covered in scripture. Locke and Sayid briefly discuss the Monster. Locke ponders what greater meaning, if any, Eko's death stands for. Returning to the grave, he uses the stick as a marker. But when he looks at it, he sees the words "LIFT UP YOUR EYES AND LOOK NORTH" placed next to "JOHN 3:05".

At the Hydra: Jack examines Ben's medical charts in greater detail. He tells Ben that he needs to be in surgery yesterday to stand any chance of survival. After further consideration, he tells Ben he will not perform the surgery as he has no guarantee that the Others will free him, Sawyer and Kate.

Kate and Sawyer resume work on the runway but are interrupted by Alex, who tries to get them to escape. She demands to know where Karl is from Pickett, but is overpowered and dragged off. She tells Kate that they will kill "her boyfriend" like they killed Alex's. Kate is then taken inside the main Hydra Station and, after being brief by Juliet, is reunited with Jack. Kate tells Jack that the Others will kill Sawyer if he doesn't do the surgery. Jack angrily tells the security cameras that "We're done". Kate is returned to the cages. She opens Sawyer's cage and tells him to go, as Pickett has been looking for a chance to kill him and now Jack and Ben have given him an excuse. Sawyer refuses to go, telling her they are on a smaller island. They end up making love instead.

Jack finds the door to his cell open. He leaves, finds a gun cupboard near the monitoring room and tools up. When he checks the monitoring room, he sees Kate and Sawyer in their post-coital repose. Ben enters, saying that he figured that Kate would choose Jack. Jack holds him at gunpoint, but then thinks better of it. He tells Ben he will do the surgery the next morning because he needs to get off the Island.

The next morning Jack starts the surgery on Ben. As soon as Ben is out and everyone else is unconscious, Pickett sneaks off to kill Sawyer, telling the other Others that "Ford was never on Jacob's list anyway". However, Jack nicks an artery and tells everyone that Ben has roughly an hour to live. He wants his friends released and on their way, and confirmation of that before he repairs the damage. Pickett drags Sawyer out of his cage and prepares to shoot him in front of Kate, but Tom stops him over the radio. Jack talks to Kate, saying they have an hour's head start and need to run. When Kate hesitates, Jack yells at her to run.

Major WTFery: Locke tells Desmond, Nikki and Paulo that Eko was killed by a polar bear. Whilst it is certainly possible that Desmond completely avoided hearing the Monster from inside the Swan Station, Nikki and Paulo were on the beach after the crash when the Monster was first heard with the same sounds they heard from inside the Pearl in the previous episode. It seems unlikely they would buy the polar bear story.

Not matter how amazing a surgeon Jack is, it's not really plausible that he is able to injure Ben so precisely that he has exactly 60 minutes to live, no more or no less.

The episode's cliffhanger ending is pretty pointless: Jack has Ben's life in his hands, Tom is already cooperating and has stopped Pickett from killing Sawyer.

Hindsight: Kate confirmed in Outlaws that she was married, briefly, and in The Whole Truth that she once took a pregnancy test.

This is the first episode to explicitly mention the name "Jacob" as the unseen, overall leader of the Others. Fans assumed that Jacob was the "him" mentioned by Ben during his time in the Swan Station.

Later episodes would hint that the "Jacob" the Others know is in fact the Man in Black. However, the MiB has no real reason to build the runway which Jacob needs to bring the final Candidates back to the Island in Seasons 5 and 6, so the situation remains a little confused.

This episode marked the end of the initial six-week "mini-series" that opened Season 3. There was a three-month break until the next episode aired. The cliffhanger to the episode meant that this did not go over well with the fanbase.

Apparently Evengeline Lily got so carried away in the scene where she has to jump into Nathan Fillion's arms that she sent him crashing into the opposite wall.

Review: A fairly pedestrian flashback, Nathan Fillion aside, but the on-Island storyline ramps up another notch. It is a bit bizarre how it's being dragged out (with better writing, they could have condensed the Hydra storyline into five or six episodes max), but it remains entertaining. (***½)

 

307: Not in Portland

Written by Carlton Cuse and Jeff Pinker, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 7 February 2007

Survivor Count: 47

Days on Island: 73 (3 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Juliet

Flashbacks: Juliet is a fertility doctor who is trying to help her sister, who has cancer, get pregnant and have a child before she passes away. Bizarrely, Ethan Rom appears to be visiting Juliet's workplace. Juliet works in the same labratory as her ex-husband, Dr. Edmund Burke. Burke gets wind of her research and offers to let Juliet use their facilities to research her new treatment in return for a share of the credit. Juliet goes for a job interview with a company called Mittelos, based just outside of Portland, represented by Richard Alpert. Richard offers her tremendous terms to move and continue her research, but Juliet breaks down, knowing that the only way Burke will let her leave with her research is if he gets hit by a bus. Juliet discovers that her sister is pregnant, confirming the viability of her treatment and encouraging Juliet to take the new job. A few days later Juliet is talking to Burke in the street outside the lab when he is hit and instantly killed by a bus.

Juliet formally identifies the body and is approached by Richard Alpert again, with Ethan working as his aide. Juliet agrees to the job if she can bring her sister with her, but Richard says where they are working is very remote. It's "not quite in Portland."

At the Hydra: Jack continues to yell into the radio, telling Kate to flee. Kate and Sawyer overpower Pickett and another Other, Jason, with him, Sawyer taking pleasure in smashing Pickett's head against the food dispenser until he's unconscious. They lock the two Others in a prison cell and flee with their guns. Juliet calls Jack's bluff, sending more people after Kate and Sawyer. In retaliation Jack tells Tom that Juliet asked him to kill Ben. Tom sends Juliet out of the operating room to quiz Jack mor thoroughly, but Ben wakes up and overhears what's going on. He tells them to leave and Juliet to be brought back in so he can talk to her.

One of the Others, Ivan, releases Jason and Pickett. They chase after Kate and Sawyer and there is an exchange of gunfire, until Kate and Sawyer run out of ammo. Alex appears and leads Kate and Sawyer to her hideout. Alex agrees to provide them with a boat to escape Hydra Island in return for helping her rescue her boyfriend, Karl. He is being held prisoner in a building nearby. Kate and Sawyer agree. They find Karl in a Clockwork Orange-style room ("Room 23") being forced to watch a video full of strange images and sounds. They escape with Karl and head to the beach where Alex has hidden a canoe.

After Ben's talk with Juliet, she emerges and asks Jack to complete the surgery. In return she will help Sawyer and Kate escape. Jack agrees.

Pickett finds Sawyer, Kate and Alex on the beach and holds that at gunpoint. He tells Sawyer to get down on his knees and prepares to execute him. He is stopped by Juliet, who shoots him several times in the chest. She gives a walkie talkie to Kate, who confirms to Jack that they've been allowed to escape. Juliet lets Kate and Sawyer take Karl with them, but tells Alex that her father - apparently Ben - will not let her go as well. Alex, reluctantly, agrees to stay.

Over the radio, Jack tells Kate and Sawyer to leave and never come back for him. Kate tearfully agrees. Later on, after Juliet returns to the Hydra Station, Jack asks why she changed her mind and asked him to save Ben. Juliet says that she has been on the Island for three years, two months and twenty-eight days, and Ben promised that if she saved him, she would be allowed to go home.

Major WTFery: Continuing from the previous episode, it is highly doubtful that Jack could so precisely nick an artery that he knows that Ben will bleed to death in an hour, to the point of providing accurate countdown reminders. It's also rather unnecessary, as Jack is able to repair the damage with something like half an hour left on the clock.

Hindsight: This episode marks the very first appearance of noted immortal Other Richard Alpert who, contrary to fan opinion, didn't wear guyliner for the role. He just has naturally dark eyelashes. Richard goes on to be an important recurring character right up to the series finale, and gets his own flashback episode in Season 6.

One of the Others is reading Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, a hint that weird space/time stuff is about to ensue in the show.

"Room 23" may be "the room" where Walt was imprisoned (mentioned in Three Minutes).

According to Juliet's dates, she arrived on the Island on 5 September 2001. Coincidentally, this would be quite close to the date that Desmond arrived on the Island in the Elizabeth.

According to Tom, it has not been possible to leave the Island since the sky turned purple (the Discharge). It is later revealed that the Discharged knocked out the underwater beacon at the Looking Glass Station, preventing the submarine from locating the Island again. Until it is repaired, the Others only know how to leave the Island but not return.

Review: A decent action episode with some nice twists, reversals, betrayals and counter-betrayals, interspersed with Clockwork Orange and Brief History of Time nods and Jack being surly yet self-sacrificing. In fact, it's not a bad episode to show as an encapsulation of Lost as a whole. One also cannot help but cheer when Sawyer and Kate finally escape from their prison. Juliet's flashback is also a little overdue (it may have been better in the Season 3 premiere), as we could have done with knowing her backstory and motivation before this point. (****)

 

308: Flashes Before Your Eyes

Written by Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 14 February 2007

Survivor Count: 47

Days on Island: 73 (3 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Desmond

On the Island: Desmond returns to the beach camp and finds Charlie and Hurley ransacking Sawyer's stash, returning food and medical supplies to the rest of the group. Desmond asks them to come with him into the jungle, where they meet Locke and Sayid. Locke confirms that Eko is dead but they don't want to spread panic, fear or alarm. Desmond suddenly races off through the jungle, onto the beach and dives in the ocean. The others follow him, bemused, until they see him emerge with an unconscious Claire. She was caught in the riptide and dragged out to sea. Claire recovers. Desmond says he could hear her cries through the jungle, but Hurley tells Charlie about his own theory: that Desmond can see the future.

Charlie and Hurley get Desmond roaring drunk. Desmond and Charlie try teaching Hurley some British drinking songs. Charlie asks Desmond what happened to him after he turned the failsafe key and Desmond reluctantly agrees.

Flash: Desmond remembers turning the failsafe key and saying, "I love you Penny". There is a blinding flash of light and Desmond wakes up in his flat in London in 1996. He was painting the wall, fell off the ladder and knocked himself out. Penny helps him recover, but Desmond is freaking out because this isn't just a flashback: he can remember the Island, being in the Swan Station, the Discharge and everything. He calms down and goes along with what Penny is saying, that he's just suffering a mild concussion.

Desmond has an interview at Penny's father's company. He goes to the office and is unsettled when a delivery driver says he has a parcel "for 8-15". He goes through the interview - where Widmore seems unimpressed by his lack of a degree or military experience - but then tells Charles Widmore that he's really there to ask Widmore's permission to marry Penny. Widmore tells him he appreciates the noble gesture but he cannot agree. He thinks that Desmond is not a "great man" and doesn't have what it takes to become one. He is not worthy of Penny's hand. Desmond, angry, goes outside and sees a busker playing "Wonderwall" by Oasis. In a shock, he recognises the busker as Charlie. Charlie doesn't recognise Desmond and gets a bit freaked out by Desmond yelling at him. Desmond suddenly remembers that it's about to rain, seconds before a downpour takes place.

Desmond meets up with a friend, Donovan, who is a physicist. Donovan says time travel is impossible. Desmond remembers being in the pub before and excitedly tells Donovan what is about to happen: the team currently down in the football game playing on the pub stages an improbable recovey to win 2-1 and a man enters and attacks the barman with a cricket bat. Neither of these events happen, leaving Desmond feeling confused.

Desmond goes to buy an engagement ring for Penny from a shop run by a Ms. Eloise Hawkwing. Eloise shows him a ring and Desmond says that he will take it. Eloise looks thunderstruck and then says he won't take it. He's supposed to change his mind and walk out on the path that leads him to the yacht race, the Island and pushing the button. If he doesn't do that, everyone in the world will die. She takes him outside and identifies a man walking past with red shoes. Moments later some scaffolding collapses and kills the man. Eloise says that if she had tried to save him, he would have still died later on from a heart attack or falling in the shower. The universe always course corrects back onto its destined path, and Desmond will go to the Island. Desmond angrily rejects this, buys the ring and goes to meet Penny. On the way he passes a recruitment poster for the British Army.

Desmond and Penny go for a walk along the Embankment and have their photograph taken, the one Desmond keeps with him. Desmond suddenly realises that the future is pre-ordained and he has to do what was done before. He tells Penny that he loves her but they can't be together because of who he is. She runs off, crying, and he throws the ring into the Thames.

Desmond goes to the pub, where the football is playing, and tells the barman that he's made the biggest mistake of his life, again. Suddenly he sees the team that's down stage a stunning comeback. He realises that he got the dates wrong. A man enters the bar and goes to hit the barman with a cricket bat. Desmond tells him to duck and gets hit by the bat instead. He wakes up back on the Island in the jungle, just after the hatch implosion. He finds Penny's picture and begs to go back and change things again.

On the Island: Hurley and Charlie are taken aback by Desmond's story. Charlie helps Desmond back to his tent and Desmond tells Charlie that he's a good man and that he's sorry. In his flashes Desmond saw lightning hit the beach and kill Charlie, so he built the lighting rod to stop that happening. He also saw Charlie diving into the sea to rescue Claire and drown. He tells Charlie that he is fated to die and Desmond can try to stop it, but he won't be able to as the universe always course-corrects in the end.

Major WTFery: This episode is the first to feature Lost's application of time travel. Broadly speaking, later episodes the rule is that "Whatever happened, happened" and that time travel is a closed circle, so that some of the Others (like Richard Alpert) are already familiar with the Lost characters from their visits to the 1950s and 1970s although, from their perspective, those events won't take place for another two years. The rules also establish that events in the future from the POV of the fixed point in time can be changed slightly, but will also course-correct back onto the primary path.

This episode, however, has Desmond apparently changing things in the past (he confronts and yells at Charlie, which he didn't do previously, and has a long chat with Eloise Hawking which he also didn't do the first time around). It is possible that none of this happens - Charlie certainly doesn't seem to remember Desmond - outside of Desmond's mind and he was only aware of Eloise's knowledge of the future from the Island's influence, but the Season 4 episode The Constant (a sequel to this episode) seems to establish that it is possible to change the past in very minor ways by sending your consciousness back in time. This is not the case for physical time travel, where you are locked into repeating the same actions in the past. It again confirms that, due to Desmond's exposure to the Discharge, he has become a special case.

Hindsight: This episode features the first appearance of MacCutcheon whisky, which, like Apollo candy bars, is a fictional brand that goes on to appear intermittently throughout the rest of the show. It is noted as a very exclusive, very expensive brand of whisky. Like Apollo bars, it also goes on to appear in other ABC shows, such as Once Upon a Time.

This episode confirms the American misjudgement that "Wonderwall" is the only song by Oasis that anyone knows, which is really not true in the UK (although they were technically a one-hit wonder in the States, Oasis had quite a few hit songs in the British charts from 1994 right thorough to 2009). That said, "Wonderwall" is their easiest song for buskers to play and 1996 was the height of their fame, so it's not unreasonable that Charlie would be starting his music career by playing it. Oasis, of course, are the direct inspiration for Charlie's band, Drive Shaft.

Charlie is fated to die, and eventually this comes to pass in the Season 3 finale. However, Desmond keeps him alive long enough for his death to have a heroic meaning and paves the way for pretty much everything that happens after that point.

Review: There's a tremendous amount of humanity and pathos in Henry Ian Cusick's performance as Desmond. This helped make him one of the most popular and fan-favourite characters on the show, which otherwise would be odd in retrospect given his relatively late arrival on the series and his relatively limited number of centric episodes. This episode of Lost plays out like a particularly good Twilight Zone, throwing up time travel and paradoxes, ideas about predestination and fate, but rooting them all in the very human desires for love, respect and a place to belong. Ignoring some inconsistences with how the show treats time travel, this is an excellent episode. (*****)

[RumHam]

Some interesting changes to the season three premier were made at some point before it aired. Originally while spying on Sarah Jack was forced to reveal himself because a little girl was having some kinda medical crisis. He saved her and the girl warned him not to trust "her." Then she showed up again in the Hydra station. So I'd guess this was more of the "Others manipulating the survivors before they even got on the plane" stuff that got cut.

I think the Man in Black did have a reason to build the runway. (Albeit an incredibly convoluted one.) He needed Locke's body to come back on that plane as much as Jacob needed the candidates to come back. Why needed to be in the form of Locke to talk Ben into killing Jacob, I'll never understand. 

I also don't get why Richard didn't notice/say anything if the Others were being mislead by the Man in Black. We know he was bringing Ben lists from Jacob, so it seems really unlikely he wouldn't eventually figure out something was wrong. 

7 hours ago, Werthead said:

The rising tension between Juliet and Eko is also nicely-handled, but it's difficult to work out who's playing who and at this point

Pretty sure you meant Ben there and not Eko. At one point in one of these episodes Tom tells Jack that Juliet and Ben "have history" in a way that makes it seem like they were once a couple. Of course we later learn that this history was pretty much three years of Ben pining for her and being a major creep. Seems odd in retrospect. 

And yeah a lot of the flashbacks at this point are really redundant and pointless. 

Oh and I wouldn't say Oasis was a one hit wonder in the US. They had a couple songs other than Wonderwall that got a lot of play on the radio around that time. Champagne Supernova and Don't Look Back in Anger come to mind. 

[Werthead]

309: Stranger in a Strange Land

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Christina M. Kim, directed by Paris Barclay

Airdate: 21 February 2007

Survivor Count: 47

Days on Island: 73-74 (3-4 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Jack

 

Flashbacks: Jack is on holiday in Phuket, Thailand. He meets a Chinese woman, Achara, and they start a relationship. This relationship is based on them not sharing secrets or backstories with one another. Jack is bemused when a man gives Achara a large amount of money, which she says was in return for her "gift". Jack follows her one night and discovers that Achara is a tattoo artist. Achara angrily corrects him, saying that she inks the truth of things onto people. Jack asks her to ink the truth of him onto his skin and she agrees, although it is normally forbidden for "outsiders". She tells Jack that he is a great man, a leader, but someone who is also lonely, which leaves him angry and frustrated. The next day Jack is approached by a group of local men. They beat him up and tell him to leave the country for breaking their customs, whilst Achara watches and cries.

 

On the Island: Sawyer and Kate make good their escape from the Hydra Island. Kate advocates sailing back to their camp, but Sawyer thinks it's too dangerous and they need to land on the main Island to get food and water. They do so and quiz Karl about his life with the Others. Karl says that the Hydra is where they go to work on "projects" and they live on the main Island, in houses that have back yards. He tells them about lying out in his yard with Alex and looking at the stars. He also tells them that the kids they took from the tail section (Zach and Emma) are safe. The Others are giving them a better life. When Kate asks better than what, he says, "Better than yours". The next morning they find Karl missing, but Sawyer quickly locates him crying nearby. Karl says he loves Alex more than anything else. Sawyer empathises and tells him to go and find her. Kate berates Sawyer for letting Karl go when he could have led them to the Others' real home. Sawyer brings up the elephant in the room, that they slept together at the Hydra. He tells her not to worry as he knows she did it only because she thought he was going to die.

 

Later that night, Karl sits by a fire somewhere and looks up at the stars.

 

At the Hydra: Jack is moved into the outdoor bear cages. He learns that Juliet is in trouble after killing Pickett, but is not moved to help her, or Ben when he is told that Ben's stitches have become infected. The Others' "sheriff", Isabel, visits Jack to find out more about him and his claim that Juliet was planning to kill Ben. She can read Chinese and is amused by Jack's tattoos. Jack says that he lied about Juliet planning to kill Ben. He wanted to sow discord and chaos so he or his friends could escape. Isabel says he's lying, but Jack merely asks to go back to his cell.

 

The next morning, Jack wakes up to find a crowd of Others watching him, to his disquiet. He recognises one of the watchers as one of the stewardesses from the plane, Cindy Chandler. Cindy disappeared whilst travelling to the main camp with the tail section survivors three weeks earlier. Jack asks her if she is with the Others and she says it's more complicated than that. The two young children, Zack and Emma, come up and ask if Ana Lucia is okay. This angers Jack and he tells them all to leave. Some time later Alex breaks the surveillance camera and asks him why he helped Ben. Jack is more interested in what is going on with Juliet. Alex tells Jack that the Others have a strict code and will demand Juliet's death for killing Pickett. Alex also tells Jack that Juliet killed Pickett to help Sawyer and Kate escape. Jack agrees to help Ben and treats his wounds in return for him saving Juliet. Ben sends a message to Isabel telling her that Juliet is not to be harmed.

 

Juliet is freed, but she is branded with a curious mark. Jack treats the wound and tells her that he means to ensure that Ben keeps his word and lets them both go. Juliet says that since Jack's friends know where they are, it's too dangerous to remain on the Hydra. They are going "home", on a large motor boat. As they sail off, Isabel tells Jack that his tattoos read "He walks amongst us, but is not one of us." Jack says that's what they say but it's not what they mean. Later, Jack, Juliet and Alex look up at the stars at the same time Karl is, elsewhere.

 

Major WTFery: The whole "spiritual tattoo" thing.

 

The location of Hydra Island remains contentious amongst Lost cartography fans. According to the producers, the Hydra Island is one of the smaller islands seen on Danielle Rousseau's maps. However, the positioning of these islands is awkward. We know that the main centre of Other activity on the Island is in the Barracks area in the far north, and the Others seem to travel between the Barracks area and the Hydra Island relatively easily and quickly. They also don't pass within visual range of the southern beach camp where the 815 survivors normally congregate (they use a submarine, which could allow them to slip by, but they are also shown using standard boats, which would not). This supports the placement of Hydra Island as the large (ish) island off the eastern coast of the main Island. It seems to lie off the rocky peninsula that Eko avoids at the start of Season 2 and presumably other characters would also avoid, explaining how it's been missed. However, this placement puts the Hydra a long, long way from the main Others base at the Barracks. In addition, in this episode Kate and Sawyer sail away from the Hydra, moving "right" with the main Island in the background. This means they are heading north. Kate is adamant that this is the correct direction to get back to the main camp. This suggests that the Hydra is actually located off the north-western or northern coasts, both of which would also fit the location of the Barracks better as well.

 

Some fan cartographers have therefore ignored the producers' statements and added the Hydra Island off the northern coast of the main Island. The official Lost complete series DVD and Blu-Ray box set confuses things every further by placing a large island off the south-eastern coast of the main Island which may be intended to be the Hydra, but this is even more contradictory and unworkable.

 

Hindsight: Isabel was supposed to be a recurring character, but the producers declared later on that she had died in the events of the Season 3 finale. It's unclear if the problem was actor availability or if the producers thought they'd simply introduced too many Others and needed to thin out the ranks.

 

Stranger in a Strange Land is widely regarded as the worst-ever episode of Lost, although producer Damon Lindelof did initially cite the Season 1 episode Homecoming as his least-favourite. However, he later agreed that Stranger is the weaker episode. The producers claimed that the demands of producing 23+ episodes per season had left them bereft of flashback ideas and having to dramatically slow down the pace of the on-Island storyline, taking nine episodes to resolve the Season 2 cliffhanger when they should have done it much more quickly. The blanket criticism of this episode (and related ratings decline following the long break from the opening six episodes) allowed the producers to go to ABC suggest they both set an end date for the show and produce fewer episodes over the next three seasons. ABC agreed, allegedly after both Carlton and Lindelof suggested they could leave the show at the end of the third season if they refused. ABC's decision surprised industry-watchers, as the networks were normally much more ruthless towards their employees if they thought money was at stake. However, the widespread criticism Lost had attracted at the start of the third season for drawing out mysteries and giving vital answers in an obscure online game rather than the main show may have left ABC feeling skittish.

 

Review: Behold! The infamous "Jack's tattoo episode", famed in song and rhyme as the worst-ever episode of Lost. I thought the passage of nine years would make it a more bearable hour of television, but nope, this is easily the single most pointless flashback story they ever did. It adds nothing to Jack's character and doesn't set anything up that is resolved later on. The on-Island story is a bit better but there is some ropey dialogue and cheesy, saccharine moments. Lost isn't exactly immune from these issues, but in this episode they feel like they are enhanced by the dodgy flashbacks. (*)

 

310: Tricia Tanaka is Dead

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

Airdate: 28 February 2007

Survivor Count: 47

Days on Island: 76 (6 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Hurley

 

Flashbacks: In 1987, a young Hurley is working on fixing his dad's Camaro. His dad comes out of the house and tells him, reluctantly, that he has to postpone their road trip to the Grand Canyon. He has work in Las Vegas, but tells him that he'll be back soon and they can go on their trip then.

 

In early 2004 Hurley is being interviewed to local news reporter Tricia Tanaka (whom he can only address using her full name). He has won the lottery and bought the Chicken Shack where he used to work. Tanaka wants a feel-good fluff piece and gets annoyed when Hurley instead insists on talking about his bad luck, which recently continued with his best friend Johnny running off with his girlfriend Starla. Tanaka goes inside the Chicken Shack to film some establishing shots, leaving Hurley outside with Randy, his former boss-turned-minion. As Randy assures Hurley that everything in the restaurant is fine, suddenly a flaming meteorite screams out of the sky and reduces the Chicken Shack to smouldering rubble. Hurley and Randy are blown clear, but Tanaka and cameraman are killed instantly.

 

A stunned Hurley goes home and tells his mother that this is the final straw and he is going to Australia to find the source of the Numbers, as he had previously planned. His mother has news for him, however: his father has returned home. She is elated but Hurley is angry. His father was gone for seventeen years and it's clear he has only returned because he found out about the money. His father denies this and Hurley's mother tries to make peace. She tells Hurley to take his dad to the garage. Hurley reluctantly does so and his father is speechless to see the Camaro, fully repaired and ready to hit the road.

 

Hurley's father takes him to see a psychic, convinced she can help him. Using a Tarot card deck, she discovers that Hurley has had luck with the winning the money but then misfortune with the amount of death and carnage that has followed. She proclaims him cursed, but she can lift the curse with the help of dubious ritual. Smelling a rat, Hurley asks her if his father put her up to this. When she hesitates, he offers her $10,000 to tell the truth. She admits he did.

 

Hurley packs for the trip to Australia. His dad apologises, saying that of course he came back because of the money but he also did want to reunite with his family. He suggests that Hurley give away the money, apart from enough to get the Camaro back on the road so they can take that road trip. He tells Hurley he'll still be there when he gets back.

 

On the Island: Hurley is feeling down and visits Libby's grave. He leaves a flower before going to see Charlie, who is still moping. He gets Charlie to admit the truth about Desmond's visions. Hurley wonders if the curse of the Numbers is still following him around. Vincent then emerges from the jungle, carrying a skeletal arm holding what appears to be an ignition key. Hurley races after Vincent, to Charlie's disbelief.

 

Vincent leads Hurley to an overturned Volkswagen van in the undergrowth. Hurley stares at it in disbelief before saying, "Awesome." He rushes back to the beach, where Sun has been helping Jin improve his English. He gathers everyone around and asks for their help in getting the van working again. When people ask him why, he says "Because it'll be fun." Everyone else seems unconvinced, apart from Jin who volunteers to help with no idea of what's going on. However, Jin seems enthused by the project. Investigating the van further they find a deteriorating corpse with the nametag "Roger Workman" inside, as well as a large amount of beer. They attempt to remove the corpse, but the head detaches in the effort and rolls into the van. Hurley suggests they retrieve it later. They place logs under the van to right it.

 

Kate and Sawyer return to the beach camp and are greeted enthusiastically by the other survivors. Sawyer's elation turns to anger when he discovers his stash is missing. He asks who was responsible and Charlie admits it was him and Hurley. Sawyer storms off to find Hurley, only to discover Hurley and Jin in the middle of recovering the van. Sawyer's anger is briefly abated by the hugs from his friends. When he demands that Hurley return his stash to him, Hurley refuses and says not only is he not going to do that, Sawyer is going to help them fix the van. When Sawyer asks why, Hurley replies that "There is beer." Sawyer agrees to help them and they get the van turned upright.

 

On the beach, Kate tells Sayid that Jack ordered them not to attempt a rescue. However, Kate has a plan for such a rescue mission. She sets out to "get help".

 

Sawyer explores the van and discovers some documents suggesting that DHARMA was planning to build a network of roads on the Island. Evidently they didn't get very far. He also finds Roger's detached head, causing him to momentarily freak out. Hurley tries switching the engine on to find that it's not working. Sawyer teaches Jin some more English - mostly phrases designed to pacify an angry woman - and sees that Hurley has started praying for hope. Sawyer lobs a beer can at him. Hurley sees the can disappear over an incline and realises they're right next to the Island's central valley, with fairly steep drops down the side. Getting an idea, he runs back to the beach and recruits Charlie, snapping him out of his funk by telling him he needs to confront the risk to his mortality head-on.

 

Sawyer and Jin push the van down the side of the valley. The van drops quite steeply, but Hurley maintains control of the vehicle. At a key moment he guns the engine and its sputters into life. After recovering Sawyer, Jin and Vincent, the lads set out on a road trip up the valley.

 

Much later, Jin and Charlie return to the beach camp in excellent moods and celebrate their good humour with Sun and Claire, respectively. Sawyer is hoping for the same with Kate, but can't find her anywhere so settles for sitting on the beach and drinking the sixteen-year-old beer. Hurley sits in the van for a while longer, thinking of his dad and their car back home, before pulling some doughnuts.

 

In the jungle Sayid and Locke catch up with Kate. Locke has an idea on where to find Jack, thanks to the directions he saw on Eko's "Jesus stick". Sayid thinks the notion is utterly ludicrous. Kate's plan is revealed when they are approached by Danielle Rousseau. Kate says they need Danielle's help to find the Others. Danielle asks why she should help. Kate replies that a sixteen-year-old girl named Alex helped her escape, and she's pretty sure she's Danielle's daughter.

 

Major WTFery: The meteor strike is improbable and random. As well as being, of course, darkly humourous.

 

Hindsight: "Roger Workman", of course, later turns out to be Ben's father.

 

The flashback in The Man Behind the Curtain explores Roger's death, including the fact that he and Ben were delivering beer to the Pearl Station when the van was abandoned. Presumably Roger and Ben deliberately drove past the Pearl Station to almost the south coast of the Island so they could enjoy the view of the valley.

 

Hurley points out that the beer has been inside the DHARMA van, in the sun, since "Rocky III, if not Rocky II." Rocky II was released in 1979 and Rocky III in 1982. Later episodes confirm that the Purge, when Roger died in the car, took place in 1988, between the releases of Rocky IV (1985) and Rocky V (1990).

 

This episode is a sequel to Everybody Hates Hugo in Season 2, explaining what happened to Johnny (Hurley's best friend) and Starla (the girl he asked on a date). Hurley's father keeps his promise, and greets Hurley on his return home in the Season 4 finale.

 

This episode marks the first appearance of David Reyes (played by the legendary Cheech Marin) and - sort of - Roger Linus.

 

Review: From the ridiculously awful to the ridiculously good. There are episodes of Lost that are better from a character, mystery or drama perspective, but Tricia Tanaka is Dead is hands down the most fun episode of Lost ever made. The dialogue is funny, the actors' ease with one another and confidence is a massive boon and the show even makes fun of some of its more tiresome tropes, such as simply giving Sawyer beer in return for his assistance rather than coming up with some labyrinthe motivation-inducing plan. After a long run of dramatically intense episodes, this is Lost kicking back and having fun. (*****)

 

311: Enter 77

Written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof

Airdate: 7 March 2007

Survivor Count: 47

Days on Island: 79 (9 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Sayid

 

Flashbacks: Sayid is working as a cook in a restaurant in Paris. A customer asks to speak to him to thank him personally for the excellent food. The man, Sami, asks where Sayid - using the alias Najeev - is from. When Sayid says Syria, Sami laughs and says he can tell he is from Iraq, like himself. Sami also owns a restaurant whose cook quit recently. He asks Sayid to come and work for him. Sayid agrees to come and have a look. When he arrives at the restaurant there are only a few customers in. Sami thanks Sayid for coming and introduces him to his wife, Amira. Amira has scarred arms and a strange expression on her face. When Sami asks her if Sayid is "him", she nods. The "customers" - friends of Sami - overpower Sayid and knock him out.

 

Sayid wakes up in the basement. Amira was tortured in Iraq and is certain that Sayid was the one who hurt her. Sayid admits his real name and says that he was a torturer, but that he never hurt women. He suggests that Amira saw him in passing at the same facility and mistook him for her torturer. She disagrees, saying it was Sayid who hurt her. Sayid proclaims his innocence. Eventually, Amira comes to talk to him by herself. She says that when she first came to Paris she was so scared she couldn't even leave the flat she lived in with Sami. She was forced to leave only by the sounds of cat being tormented in the alleyway nearby. She asks that Sayid show her respect by not lying to her. Sayid breaks down in tears, saying he remembers her face, just as he remembers all of their faces, as they haunt him every single day and night. Seeing his suffering, Amira is satisfied. She says she will tell Sami she was mistaken and they will let Sayid go.

 

On the Island: Several of the survivors have located the ping pong table from the hatch, which was apparently blown clear during the Discharge. They have repaired it and start setting it up on the beach. Sawyer, still smarting from the loss of his stash of looted goods, sees an opportunity. He will play anyone they can put up. If Sawyer wins, he gets his stash back. Sun suggests that if Sawyer loses, he has to stop calling people by nicknames for a full week. Sawyer agrees. Hurley steps up as the people's champion. Sawyer expects an easy victory, only to be thrashed soundly. Sawyer is not amused. Hurley reminds him that his name is "Hurley" or "Hugo", not "Pork Chop" or any of the other names Sawyer uses for him.

 

Sawyer, Locke, Kate and Danielle march north through the jungle. Sayid confirms that their plan is to march north on a bearing of 305, as was revealed via Mr. Eko's stick. Sayid reiterates that this is a ludicrous plan. After stopping to get some food and water near a river, Sayid is surprised to hear a bell ringing. He finds it belonging to a cow, who is wandering around near a large building. Sayid scopes it out and sees a man with an eyepatch outside, apparently the same guy they saw on the monitor screens in the Pearl. He also spies a horse saddled up outside the building and a satellite dish on the roof. The party regroups and Danielle confirms that this is not the radio tower, which is located in a different part of the Island. She has no idea what this place is for. Deciding it's a tangent from their mission of finding Jack and Alex, Danielle heads back to the river and says that those who survive this escapade can find her there.

 

Sayid approaches the installation and tries to negotiate. The man shoots him instead. Kate and Locke overwhelm him with superior firepower and the man surrenders. He claims that his name is Mikhail Bakunin and that he is the last surviving member of the DHARMA Initiative. He patches up Sayid and removes the bullet. He claims that he was recruited by DHARMA following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of his military career. He came to the Island and was given command of this installation, known as the Flame Station. The Flame coordinated communications between the Island and the outside world. DHARMA shared the Island with a group known as "the Hostiles" (the Others) who had been living on the Island for a lot, lot longer. At an unspecified point in time the Hostiles turned on DHARMA and wiped out its presence on the Island in an event known as "the Purge". Mikhail took no part in these events. Shortly afterwards, he was approached by the Hostiles and told that "a line" had been drawn around the valley the Flame sits in. As long as he never crossed that line he'd be fine, and he's been here ever since. Sayid finds this hard to believe since with all this equipment Mikhail could have called for help from the outside world, but Mikhail replies that the satellite dish and other communications equipment stopped work years ago and he doesn't have the means to repair it. Mikhail also introduces his cat, Nadia, to the group. Sayid is bemused that the cat has the same name as his lost love.

 

Locke explores the Flame and finds a room with a computer in it. He discovers that the computer has a chess game loaded into it, and becomes obsessed with beating it. Mikhail is amused, saying that the game cheats. Locke says he doubts that, as cheating is a uniquely human characteristic.

 

Kate and Sayid quietly converse and Sayid confirms that he thinks Mikhail is an Other. However, he doesn't think that he is alone. The horse outside is still saddled and, from the length of the stirrups, for someone shorter than Mikhail. Mikhail returns with drinks and Sayid asks more questions. Mikhail is quite cooperative. He tells them that the Flame controlled communications across the Island, with communications cables linking the Flame to other stations. He also tells them that the DHARMA Initiative travelled to and from the Island via a submarine homing in on an underwater beacon. Without the beacon it would be impossible to find the Island. Mikhail's guess is that the Others have commandeered or destroyed the submarine. Sayid mentions that the Others probably used the submarine to approach their sailboat by stealth. Mikhail seems surprised that they had a boat and then lost it. Sayid also mentions that an Other was killed during this engagement. Mikhail seems to get annoyed by this and admits his ruse. He, Sayid and Kate fight but, even injured, Sayid is able to overpower Mikhail and tie him to a chair.

 

They locate a secret hatch in the floor and go underneath the Flame, leaving Locke to guard Mikhail. However, Locke hears the computer demanding the next move in the chess game. Seeing that Mikhail is still out, Locke plays and defeats the game. A video then plays, showing the same Dr. "Marvin Candle" from the Swan and Pearl orientation videos. Instead of introducing the Flame Station, Candle gives a list of commands that can be entered into the computer: 24 for a pallet drop, 32 for a station uplink, 38 for mainland communications, 56 for sonar access and 77 to report a Hostile incursion. Locke tries entering 38 and 56, but is told that all communications and sonar access are out. Locke is about to enter 77 when Mikhail sneaks up behind him with a knife.

 

In the basement of the Flame, Locke and Kate find stacks and folders full of information about the DHARMA Initiative and its operations on the Island. Sayid is more disturbed by the amount of C4 lining the walls with detonators in place. They also find a hiding Ms. Klugh, who promptly attacks them. They overpower her, but she is not interested in talking to them. They leave the Flame only to find Mikhail holding Locke at gunpoint. There is a standoff, but Ms. Klugh starts talking to Mikhail in Russian. After a moment's hesitation, Mikhail shoots Ms. Klugh dead and tries to shoot himself, but is over powered by the others.

 

The party regroups and moves to leave the Flame. Sayid has found a cabling map identifying an area not far to the west called "the Barracks". It seems to consist of houses. Sayid suspects it is the Others' home. Mikhail refuses to confirm this, saying he will happily kill them the second they drop their guard. Danielle rejoins them and wonders why they are keeping him alive. Sayid says he doesn't want to kill the man unnecessarily. Before they move out, Locke heads back inside to enter 77 to see what happens. He leaves the Flame and promptly the entire building blows up. Sayid incredulously tells Locke that he may have just destroyed their only chance of communicating with the outside world.

 

Major WTFery: The episode makes it clear that Mikhail's cat, Nadia, survived the destruction of the Flame. Unfortunately, it forgets to do the same for the horse and cow. Whilst it's possible the cow survived (as it had a large area it could walk around in), the horse certainly couldn't as it was tied up right outside. So this is the episode of Lost that blows a horse to smithereens for no real reason. Nice work, Locke.

 

It would seem that Sayid spent at least a few months in Paris at some point. Even allowing that it was probably at least a decade before his time on the Island, it would seem unusual that he hadn't picked up at least a small amount of French given his apparent skill at learning English. Of course, it is possible that he spent most of his time amongst other Arabic-speakers, and thus explaining why he needed to get Shannon to help him translate Danielle's notes and materials.

 

The Purge took place in 1988, but Mikhail says he came to the Island after the fall of the Soviet Union, which was (depending on how you look at it) between 1989 and 1991. A few episodes suggest that the Purge actually took place in 1992, but the overwhelming amount of evidence (most decisively, the fact that Ben can only have started raising Alex after the Purge and the expiry of the fifteen-year truce agreed to in 1973) places the Purge to 1988, and this was later confirmed by the post-finale Lost Encyclopedia. Mikhail likely adjusted the timeline for plausibility. It isn't impossible that someone from DHARMA could have come post-1991, since the Hanso Foundation apparently did recruit Inman and assigned him to the Swan Station, but their interest primarily revolved around the Swan as that determined the fate of the world, not the Flame.

 

Locke taking his eyes off Mikhail to play a video game seems rather out of character.

 

Hindsight: According to the producers, everything that Mikhail says is true except for being a member of the DHARMA Initiative. He was actually recruited by the Others rather than DHARMA. This is the second episode (after Not in Portland) that firmly shows that the Others are actively recruiting people from the outside world.

 

Ms. Klugh had been supposed to return in the opening episodes of Season 3, but the actress had not been available. Colleen Pickett had been created to replace her. This episode gave the producers a chance to bring her back and dispose of the character.

 

Actor Andrew Divoff, who played Mikhail, developed a backstory element that Mikhail and Ms. Klugh had been lovers. Being forced to shoot her explains Mikhail's later homicidal hatred of the 815 survivors, although this was never confirmed on-screen.

 

The Flame Station was first mentioned on the blast door map in Lockdown.

 

Review: The producers went overboard with information in this episode, showing us the Flame Station, telling us (and the 815 survivors) a lot more info about the end of the DHARMA Initiative and the Purge and so forth. The flashback is self-contained but dramatically effective, with an excellent performance by guest star Anne Bedian as Amira. If the episode has some problems it's that Locke's incompetence in letting Mikhail escape and later his stupidity in blowing up the Flame feels very random: the latter is later explained (by his growing belief they should never leave the Island) but the former is not. But overall this is an effective episode that adds a lot more information to the databank. (****)

 

312: Par Avion

Written by Christina M. Kim and Jordan Rosenberg, directed by Paul Edwards

Airdate: 14 March 2007

Survivor Count: 47

Days on Island: 80 (10 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Claire

 

Flashbacks: Claire (with dyed black hair) is driving with her mother when she is involved in a very serious motor accident. Claire is fine but her mother is thrown clear of the vehicle, sustaining serious head injuries. At the hospital she is hooked up to a life support machine, but drifts into a coma. Claire and her aunt, Lindsey, are surprised to hear that her mother's medical bills are being taken care of by an anonymous donor.

 

Some time later, Claire visits her mother to find an American doctor - Christian Shepard - visiting with her. The man is surprised to see Claire, but confirms that he is paying the medical bills. Lindsey arrives and argues with the man, who eventually says that Claire deserves to know the truth. He tells her that he is her father. He stayed away at her mother's request.

 

Claire is at work in a tattoo and piercing parlour when her father stops by. He asks to buy her a coffee. He tells her he did visit a few times when she was little, but her mother wasn't too happy about it and her aunt despises him. He makes Claire laugh, but her attitude towards him turns sour when he asks her not to let her mother suffer. Claire says she won't turn off the life support machines and is disgusted he suggested it. She walks off, saying she doesn't even want to know his name.

 

Five years later, Claire is pregnant and getting ready to leave for the United States to give up her child for adoption. She visits her mum and switches on the TV. A programme about migratory birds is running. She apologises to her mum for the fight they had in the car before the accident.

 

On the Island: Charlie wakes up Claire with a special breakfast. He has arranged for Aaron to spend the day with "Auntie Sun" and for him and Claire to have a relaxing day of fun on the beach. Claire is delighted, since Charlie had been so miserable recently. Their celebrations are interrupted by Desmond, who urges Charlie to help him in hunting boar. By the tone of his words, Charlie realises he means that this is something to do with Charlie's prophesied death. Claire realises that something is going on with the two guys, but is distracted by an eruption of seabirds flying out of the trees. She suddenly says she has an idea to get them all off the Island.

 

Back at the beach camp Claire calls upon Jin, Sun and Charlie to help. She used to watch nature programmes with her mother (neglecting to mention it was when she was in a coma) and knows that birds like these are migratory. If they can attach a message to one of the birds, someone might find it. Charlie says it's a long shot, but Claire is sure she saw an electronic tag on the bird's leg. If that's true, a science team may recover the bird and any message they send. Charlie, after noticing Desmond watching disapprovingly, says he thinks it's a waste of time and leaves, to Claire's bemusement. Jin and Sun agree to help her create a trap and bait for the birds. When Claire goes to get one of the birds, Desmond fires a rifle nearby, scaring them off. Desmond apologises, saying he was hunting.

 

Convinced something is up, Claire follows Desmond surreptitiously to a rocky stretch of beach where he catches one of the birds, which indeed has a tag on its foot. She asks him what the hell is going on. Reluctantly he tells her about his flashes. In one of them Charlie was trying to catch a bird on her behalf, only to dash his head on the rocks nearby and die. Claire goes back to the beach and tells Charlie that she knows what Desmond says and thinks that they can avoid Charlie's fate if she just believes in him. They write a note confirming that the survivors of Oceanic 815 have survived on this island for 80 days and are still alive and still have hope.

 

On the other side of the Island, the party becomes divided. Locke wants them to keep following Eko's stick, but the rest believe that the stick was only to guide them to the Flame, and the map from the Flame will guide them to the Others' camp. As they bicker, Kate and Danielle get some water. Kate says she is surprised that Danielle has not asked more questions about Alex. Danielle says that to Alex she will be a stranger, and in turn Danielle may not like when Alex has become.

 

Mikhail confirms that he came to the Island by submarine and that the sonar beacon was knocked out by the Discharge, which Mikhail describes as an electromagnetic pulse or EMP event. The Others can leave on the submarine, but they can never come back until the beacon is repaired. Kate is bemused that anyone would willingly live on the Island by choice. Mikhail says she would not understand because she is not capable. A "magnificent man" brought him to the Island, as he brings others. Those who are not on "the list" provided by this man will not be able to understand why it's important they remain on the Island. Mikhail seems to indicate that Kate, Sayid and Locke are not on the list.

 

Sayid starts mocking Mikhail, saying that the Others are not omniscient. Mikhail agrees, but then refers to all three of them (he studiously ignores Danielle) by their full names. He says they are all strangers to him, apart from Locke, but the Locke he knows was "para..." Danielle interrupts him with news of a discovery. She has found a series of poles topped by large spherical devices. These poles extend in either direction as far as the eye can see, through hilly terrain. Consulting the map, Sayid realises these poles are shown on it as small squares. They completely surround the Barracks in a massive circle, with no way around them. Mikhail claims that they are a security system, but like everything else on the Island they don't work. Locke decides to test it by pushing Mikhail between the poles. Mikhail says "thank you" and promptly drops (apparently) dead as a devastating sonic pulse runs through him.

 

Sayid berates Locke for his carelessness, which has yet again a devastating consequence. They also discover some C4 from the Flame in Locke's backpack, suggesting that Locke may have known more about what was going on there then he let on. Danielle suggests using the C4 to blow up a pylon, but Locke is unwilling to go near any of the things. The group gets a massive tree branch instead and run it over the top of one of the pylons. They use this to cross over. They examine Mikhail's body on the far side and he appears to be dead.

 

They finally reach the Barracks, the same cluster of yellow houses from where Juliet and Ben saw the crash of Flight 815. They see Jack running, and prepare to cover his escape. Instead Jack stops, picks up a football and throws it back to Tom. The sight of Jack apparently cooperating with the Others befuddles the group.

 

Major WTFery: Mikhail is quite clearly killed by the sonic fence: you don't get "stunned" by having a cerebral hemorrhage and spurting blood out of your ears and nose in all directions, and then collapsing on the floor with your eyes wide open. The producers presumably liked Andrew Divoff's performance (he was popular with fans as well) so contrived a reason to bring him back at the end of the season.

 

Mikhail says that he came to the Island when he was 24. However, if he indeed came to the Island after the end of the Cold War, say in 1991, that would have only made him 37 or 38 at the time of this episode was filmed. Andrew Divoff was actually 49 when they filmed this episode and looks it. Either Mikhail had a very hard and stressful life (which as an ex-Soviet soldier is entirely possible), or he actually came to the Island rather earlier than he originally claimed.

 

Australia's medical provision is rather different to the United States and in fact it is highly unlikely that Claire's mother's life support would have been turned off without additional funds.

 

Hindsight: The halfway point of this episode is also the halfway point of the entire series, as this is the 61st hour of 121 hours produced for Lost overall.

 

This is Claire's last-ever flashback or indeed centric episode, which is unusual for a character who remains a regular for another two-and-a-half seasons (if separated by Season 5, in which she does not appear as a regular character).

 

This episode confirms that Christian is both Jack and Claire's father, making them half-siblings. Jack does not learn this until the Season 4 finale, when he is off the Island. Jack and Claire don't actually reunite with the knowledge of their relationship until The Last Recruit in Season 6.

 

Christian suggests it would be a mercy for Claire to end her mother's life. However, in the Season 4 finale it is confirmed that her mother recovers in full from the coma.

 

The message that Claire and Charlie send on the bird is never found. However, it is interesting to note that the note does not explicitly contradict the cover story later provided by the Oceanic Six.

 

This episode also alludes to Jacob, with Mikhail saying that he was brought to the Island by a "magnificent man."

 

The episode also mentions "the list", presumably the list of Candidates to replace Jacob. This list becomes highly important in Season 6. Clearly Mikhail's copy of the list has not been updated recently if Sayid, Kate and especially Locke are not on it.

 

The producers would use the fact that Mikhail can be seen breathing after he was "killed" as proof that he survived, allowing him to return later. In actuality, almost every character killed on Lost has been shown breathing after being killed, because it is often impractical for actors to hold their breath continuously for multiple long takes and set-ups. This is more of a problem for TV shows, as films can more easily afford visual effects to freeze the part of the screen where a corpse is located to make sure it appears dead.

 

Review: Claire's flashback and on-Island story are both enjoyable, if slight, and give the episode a bit of a "Season 1" vibe, something that Damon Lindelof in particular was keen to revisit as the series approached the point when it the standard Lost set-up was going to be shattered forever. The stuff with Mikhail is entertaining, especially Locke speaking for the entire episode when adopts a "Just get on with it" attitude and throws him through the sonic fence, with disastrous results. (****)

[RumHam]

The cow totally survives! He appears again in a season four episode where Lapidus sees him. 

Apparently the Dharma people were very concerned with the idea of the Others contacting the outside world, or preventing Dharama from contacting it. I'd imagine the latter. None of the other stations seem to be wired to explode if the hostiles are attacking. It make no sense whatsoever that they would hide the station's emergency self destruct button behind a chess game. I think it would have made a lot more sense if the Others had set up the C4 as a fail-safe. 

53 minutes ago, Werthead said:

The episode also mentions "the list", presumably the list of Candidates to replace Jacob. This list becomes highly important in Season 6. Clearly Mikhail's copy of the list has not been updated recently if Sayid, Kate and especially Locke are not on it.

 

Jacob had these people, well at least Kate and Locke, on his list for a long time. He visits Kate when she's like eight and Lock after his accident. I think he's just talking about Ben's list (given to Micheal) that Ben passed off to his people as Jacob's. The fact that Ben's list was all candidates is coincidental (/because they are the main characters.) Ben's whole thing to cure himself of cancer by using Sawyer and Kate to manipulate Jack into performing surgery is so clearly his own agenda that it's actually probably a plot hole that RIchard and some of the others don't realize this. I mean Ben even uses the other's immaculate cancer-free health as evidence of Jacob's power. Yet he gets cancer and then claims Jacobs will is that they capture and manipulate a spinal surgeon? 

[Werthead]

313: The Man From Tallahassee

Written by Drew Goddard and Jeff Pinkner, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 21 March 2007

Survivor Count: 47

Days on Island: 80 (10 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Locke

 

Flashbacks: Locke is being quizzed by a government worker about his disability payments. He has severe depression and has been unable to work. Locke says he stopped going to therapy because it is a waste of time. The worker stops his disability payments and tells him they will resume when he restarts therapy.

 

Locke is visited at home by a young man named Peter Talbot. Peter asks Locke if he knows an "Adam Seward". Locke says no, but as Peter describes him Locke realises he is talking about his father. Locke's father has met Peter's mother and now they plan to get married, but Peter's research has suggested he is not all that he appears, including the fact that he was using an alias, "Anthony Cooper", when Locke gave his his kidney. Locke says it was an anonymous donation and he knows nothing about the man. However, he later tracks Cooper down and tells him that he knows he is conning Mrs. Talbot and will tell her the truth unless Cooper leaves town. He lets slip that Adam is onto him.

 

Some days later, Locke is visited by the police. Adam Seward's body has been found. Horrified, Locke confronts Cooper in his eighth-floor apartment and asks him if he killed Adam. Cooper denies it, saying it was a terrible coincidence. The wedding is off and Locke has got what he wants. Locke asks for proof. Cooper lets Locke use the telephone by the window to ring Mrs. Talbot. When Locke turns his back on him, Cooper pushes him out of the window. Locke lands on the lawn outside with a sickening crack.

 

In hospital, the paralysed Locke is visited by the police who tell him that Cooper has fled to Mexico. Locke's physiotherapist begins working with Locke, who doesn't want to get out of bed. The therapist tells him: "John, you fell eight stories out of a window and survived. I don't want to hear about what you can't do."

 

On the Island: Kate, Locke, Sayid and Danielle observe the Others' activities at the Barracks. They see Jack apparently on good terms with Tom and Juliet, and even shakes hands with the wheelchair-bound Ben. Locke observes this is going to be more difficult than they first thought. They hatch on a plan: wait for nightfall and set a watch on Jack's house. When the coast is clear Kate will go in and speak to Jack. Locke seems convinced that Jack is cooperating with the Others as part of a stratagem but the rest are not so sure.

 

Night falls and Danielle departs without a word, apparently unwilling to spend so much time near the Others. Locke and Sayid set up a watch on the house and Kate sneaks in. She finds Jack playing the piano quite well, to her surprise. Jack is surprised to see her, but any discussion they can have is cut short: Jack's house is bugged with cameras. Tom and other guards arrive, dragging Sayid in. Kate says that only she and Sayid came to the Barracks.

 

Ben wakes up in his house to find Locke holding a gun on him. Locke demands to know where the submarine is. Ben professes ignorance until Locke says that he killed Mikhail. Alex enters the room and Locke takes her hostage, holding her at gunpoint. Still holding her, he takes her into Ben's closet as Tom and Richard Alpert (the Other who recruited Juliet in Miami) arrive. They confirm that Kate and Sayid have been captured. Ben asks for "the man from Tallahassee" to be brought to him. After they leave Locke and Alex emerge from the closet. Locke asks if that was code and Ben sardonically replies that the Others don't have a secret code for "John Locke is holding my daughter hostage in my closet." Locke sends Alex to retrieve Sayid's backpack whilst he helps Ben into his wheelchair. Ben tells Locke that the submarine is a very complicated vehicle and he won't be able to pilot it alone. Locke replies that he'll figure it out. Ben deduces from Locke's unconcerned demeanour that escape isn't his plan, and he wants to destroy the submarine instead. Ben attempts to unnerve Locke by telling him detailed information from his life, including how he broke his back, but Locke is unmoved. Ben keeps asking questions about how quickly Locke healed and Locke realises that Ben is concerned because he hasn't been healing as fast as he should have given the Island's restorative powers. In fact, he shouldn't have gotten sick in the first place. Ben tries to shrug off Locke's comments, but is clearly concerned by the implications.

 

Alex collects Sayid's backpack, telling the guards only that her dad wanted it. As she walks off, Sayid asks if she is Alex. When she replies yes, Sayid says that she looks just like her mother. Confused, Alex says that her mother is dead, but Sayid says that she has been told a lie. One of the guards intervenes to silence Sayid and sends Alex off.

 

Ben and Locke discuss the nature of the Island. Ben tells Locke that on the Island is a special box that can manifest anything anyone wishes for. Locke suggests that Ben start wishing for a new submarine. Ben asks Locke not to destroy the submarine, saying he'll have problems with his people if he does. Locke calls Ben a hypocrite for rejecting the Island as it is and choosing to live with electricity and guns. Ben angrily asks Locke how he knows the Island better than someone who has lived there his whole life. Locke replies, "Because you're in a wheelchair and I'm not".

 

Jack visits Kate, who has been imprisoned in a recreation room. He tells her that the Others are letting him leave the Island - tomorrow - but that he will return with help for everyone else. Kate is apparently more concerned with what they "told him" (about her and Sawyer) but the conversation is interrupted by Juliet. Jack leaves, promising that he will be back for the rest of the survivors.

 

Alex returns to Ben's house with Sayid's backpack. Locke asks her to guide him to the submarine, indicating to Ben that he will threaten Alex if he raises the alarm whilst he's gone. At the submarine pen Locke lets Alex go, apologising for mixing her up in everything. Alex warns him that her father is manipulative and will get Locke to do things thinking they're his idea. Locke boards the submarine and places the C4 explosives he secured from the Flame Station. Getting off the submarine he bumps into Jack and Juliet coming the other way. He is held at gunpoint by the Others and says, "I'm sorry." The submarine promptly explodes.

 

Ben later frees Locke from his holding place and takes him to see "the box". He tells him that Locke provided a solution to his problem: he had agreed to let Jack leave the Island and could not break his word without seeming weak. However, he could also not let Jack leave the Island without appearing compromised. By destroying the submarine, Locke neatly solved the problem. Ben admits, grudgingly, that Locke appears to have a special form of "communion" with the Island and that makes him special. They arrive at "the box", which is just an ordinary storage room. Inside is Locke's father, Anthony Cooper, bound to a chair and gagged. Cooper and Locke look at each other in shocked disbelief.

 

Major WTFery: Locke is dripping wet when gets out of the submarine, when there is no real reason for him to be so. Lots of people developed insane, elaborate conspiracy theories for this. The producers eventually confirmed it was just a continuity error.

 

Ben's discussion of the "box" led to a couple of weeks of people assuming the box was an actual thing on the Island that disgorged Kate's horse, Jack's dad etc. Damon Lindelof had to later clarify that it was a metaphor, and that a literal box on the Island producing things would be too crazy even for Lost.

 

Locke's information about the death of Mikhail seems to be news to Ben. This is odd. I'd assume that the sonic fence should have set off an alarm when it was activated, or that Mikhail's body should have been found relatively quickly if the Others kept up any kind of security patrols. More bizarrely, later episodes suggest that Ben didn't send anyone out to look for Mikhail's body even after being told he was dead.

 

A Tale of Two Cities and the map in Enter 77 show the Barracks being well inland and away from any source of water. This episode and subsequent ones show that there is an inlet of the sea, maybe a river, extending up to the Barracks with the submarine dock located immediately adjacent to the buildings. This appears to have been a change in the pre-existing geography based on plot requirements.

 

The Season 5 episode Namaste has DHARMA take a picture of the time-travelling Jack, Hurley and Kate and hang it on a wall in the recreation room. That episode then confirms that the picture is still there in 2007, three years after the events of this episode. Somehow, the Others completely missed this and Kate didn't see it either, despite spending hours in the room with absolutely nothing to do. The only other explanation is that the picture was actually taken down by the Others when they took control of the Barracks (if it was Richard, this would explain a lot) and the Monster/Christian put it back up again so he could do a dramatic reveal to Sun and Frank in that episode.

 

Hindsight: This is the first time that Locke and Richard Alpert have met from Locke's point of view. However, Richard has met Locke several times before, as expanded on in later episodes.

 

Review: Like Kate's crime, Lost dragged the mystery of what caused Locke's injury out way past the time when it should have been revealed. However, it's hard to argue with the devastating effectiveness of how that story is finally told. Locke here is on top of his game, manipulating everyone around him to get what he wants, although the revelation that he was actually manipulated by Ben in turn is well-handled. The ending is one of the most mind-screwing things Lost ever did, and the whole episode works well. (****½)

 

314: Exposé

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 28 March 2007

Survivor Count: 47

Days on Island: 81 (11 December 2014)

Flashback Character: Nikki and Paulo

 

Flashbacks: Nikki Fernandez is a gust actress on Exposé, a mystery show about two crime-fighting strippers working for Mr. LaShade (played by Billy Dee Williams) and trying to track down the mysterious villain known as "the Cobra". The episode Nikki is on is crucial as it reveals that Mr. LaShade was really the Cobra all along, but her character is killed off before she can reveal this information. The series films in Sydney, Australia. 

 

Nikki is also having an affair with the septuagenarian executive producer, Howard L. Zuckerman, who is very wealthy, while Paulo works as his chef. Paulo kills Zuckerman by poisoning his food, and the couple steals his diamonds, which are worth $8 million. The couple plan on returning to the United States on Oceanic Flight 815, encountering Boone and Shannon at the airport. Upon surviving the crash, Nikki and Paulo realise that they have lost the bag with the diamonds. Nikki consults Dr. Arzt, who tells her of a spider with the ability to paralyse people. He also gives her a trajectory map which leads them to the Pearl Station and the Beechcraft long before Locke and Boone find either; they explore neither. When Kate mentions that she found luggage from the plane in a lake, Paulo finds the diamonds, but does not tell Nikki. Instead, he hides them in the toilet at the Pearl and overhears a conversation between Juliet Burke and Ben Linus. The two accidentally leave behind a walkie-talkie that Paulo takes. Later, when Sayid, Locke, Desmond, Nikki and Paulo visit the Pearl Station, Paulo retrieves the diamonds by pretending to use the bathroom. Nikki figures out that Paulo has found the diamonds without telling her and decides to lure him into a trap. When he denies that he has the diamonds she unleashes one of the paralysing spiders on him. She finds the diamonds and Paulo apologises, claiming that he did it so that she would not end their relationship. As Nikki stands in a state of regret, the pheromones of the female spider attract a group of the male spiders of the same species and she is bitten on her leg. She buries the diamonds and sprints to the beach.

 

On the Island: Nikki then runs onto the beach, before collapsing where Hurley and Sawyer are playing ping pong. As Hurley and Sawyer rush to her, she says something barely audible. She is soon pronounced dead. Hurley and Sawyer try to recount what Nikki said before she died and come to the conclusion that she said, "Paulo lies", although she actually said "paralysed". Sawyer and Hurley begin an investigation and find Paulo lying lifeless in the jungle. Sawyer finds a walkie talkie in Nikki and Paulo's tent, and concludes they were working with the Others, due to the similarity. Hurley does not think the Others are near their camp, but Sun reminds them that she was abducted nearby (unaware that it was Charlie who grabbed her). Sawyer tries to calm them down and says he will do a perimeter sweep. Meanwhile, Charlie, who feels guilty, confesses to Sun that it was he who attempted to kidnap her. Sawyer returns, having found the diamonds, and the other survivors accuse him of being the killer because Desmond saw him arguing with Nikki just that morning. He gives the diamonds to Sun, but she later confronts him about kidnapping her and returns the diamonds because "they're worthless here." The survivors then hold a funeral for Nikki and Paulo, where Sawyer pours the pouch of diamonds into the grave. Nikki's eyelids open just as Hurley and Sawyer are filling the grave, burying her and Paulo alive.

Major WTFery: This episode pretty much only exists to kill off Nikki and Paulo, characters who were loathed by fans for suddenly showing up out of nowhere and being treated if they'd been there all along. The episode makes a number of meta-references to this, to TV show logic (Nikki being offered a chance to return, despite being clearly killed off) and to Lost itself.

The integration of Nikki and Paulo into already-existing scenes is rather unconvincing, since they're simply not there in the original episodes. Particularly notable is the scene showing Nikki standing next to Hurley whilst Jack gives his "Live together, die alone" speech.
 

Hindsight: According to this episode, Nikki and Paulo found the Beechcraft days before Locke and Boone did and located the Pearl Station many weeks before everyone else. They were also good friends with Dr. Arzt.

 

This episode clears up a minor plot discrepancy from Season 1, with Kate coming clean on the Marshal's stash of guns. This explains how Shannon knew where to get a gun to threaten Locke with (in Season 1's The Greater Good).

 

The sounds of the Monster can be - quietly - heard when the Medusa spiders swarm over Nikki. The producers later confirm that the Monster orchestrated Nikki and Paulo's deaths because they were "not good people".

 

Among the meta-references to Lost itself are "The big bad guy's identity has been a mystery for four seasons!" (in Lost's case it is actually five seasons before the existence of the Man in Black is revealed) and "It's not Jurassic Park!" (Lost uses many of the same shooting locations in Hawaii as the movie Jurassic Park). Hurley also seems to be referencing over-eager fans by insisting that Expose is "Like Baywatch but better!"

 

The episode references the fact that Thanksgiving passed completely unmentioned on the Island several weeks earlier, something that fans had noted as well.

 

This episode features Billy Dee Williams - best known as Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi - playing himself. This is the only example of a real-life person playing themselves in the entire show.

 

Review: An interesting episode which attempts meta-commentary on the nature of Lost as a TV series whilst lampshading some of the comment criticisms of the show and eliminating two distinctly unliked characters. It's all vaguely amusing but a bit too slight at this stage. It also doesn't help that Nikki and Paulo's storylines feel both redundant and tonally at variance with the rest of the series, particularly their murdering of an old man being played for laughs. Some of the meta-commentary is amusing and it is good to see producers taking legitimate criticism on board, but it does make the episode feel a little pointless. (***)

 

315: Left Behind

Written by Damon Lindelof and Elizabeth Sarnoff, directed by Karen Gaviola

Airdate: 4 April 2007

Survivor Count: 45 (-2 from the last episode after Nikki and Paulo's deaths)

Days on Island: 81-82 (11-12 December 2014)

Flashback Character: Kate

Flashbacks: Kate's car breaks down in Iowa and is towed into a service station. She overhears a man and a woman arguing. The woman, Cassidy, is working a jewellery con on the man. He does not believe Cassidy and wants to call the police. Kate tells him that her father was a jeweller, and the jewellery is not fake. Cassidy thanks Kate for the save and offers to take her into town. They have a drink together and Cassidy asks why Kate did not want the police there. Kate says her stepfather was a bad man, so she killed him, escaped from the US marshal who arrested her and now she is back to talk to her mother. Cassidy offers to help. She says she was conned and embarrassed by a "bad guy", too, and that one of them deserves something good to happen to them.

Kate goes to see her mother. Diane opens the door, but before she can say anything, cops surround Kate and cuff her. The Marshal emerges, only to realise that it's not Kate at all: it's Cassidy posing as a Bible salesperson. Kate and Cassidy regroup, realising that this is going to be a tough job. Kate admits that her mother gave her up to the police, choosing her abusive husband over her daughter, betraying her, and Kate needs to know why.

Cassidy goes to the restaurant where Kate's mom works and "accidentally" dumps a bowl of chilli on her. Diane goes to the bathroom to clean up; Kate is waiting there for her. Diane tells Kate that she killed the man she loved. Kate replies that Wayne abused her, but Diane simply snaps back that she didn't kill Wayne for anyone but herself. Diane promises not to say anything now, but the next time she sees Kate she'll yell for help.

Cassidy later drops Kate off at the service station to pick up her car. Cassidy tells her she is pregnant. She wants the guy dead, yet she still loves him. Kate says to call the cops and have him locked up. Cassidy asks if Kate would forgive her mom for calling the cops. Kate says no, but that this guy has it coming. Cassidy never tells Kate that the man's name is Sawyer.

On the Island: Kate is still handcuffed in the rec room at the Barracks. When Juliet brings her food, Kate attempts to attack her, but is quickly overpowered. Soon after, Locke comes in to say that he is leaving with the Others. Locke tells her he does not want to go home; he explains that he made a strong case for her but then they told him who she was and what she had done, he knew that they would likely not forgive her.

Back at the Barracks, Kate hears a loud bang, and looks outside in time to see the Others packing to leave. They all put on gas masks and pour knockout gasses into the houses where Jack, Juliet, Kate and Sayid are held prisoner. Kate wakes up in the jungle, handcuffed to Juliet. Kate takes Juliet's knife and tries unsuccessfully to unlock the handcuffs. Kate says they are going back for her friends.
As Kate follows a trail leading to the Barracks, they end up getting into an argument about Jack and Kate dislocates Juliet's shoulder by accident. Juliet's yell of pain attracts the Smoke Monster, and they quickly run into the roots of a banyan tree for cover. The Monster roils up in front of them, and Juliet's face is lit up by a series of bright flashes of light. The monster then retreats, leaving Juliet terrified. Juliet claims not to know what the Monster is and that is the first time she's even heard of it, which Kate finds preposterous given how long she's been on the Island.

Juliet reveals that Jack told Kate not to come back for him, not because he does not want Kate to be harmed, but because she broke his heart. Then, as Kate calms Juliet down, Juliet asks Kate to put her shoulder back in place, after doing so, they fall asleep.

Kate and Juliet continue to the Barracks; however, the Monster returns. They reach the sonic fence. Kate pulls Juliet to a stop and says they cannot go through them. Juliet reaches into her back pocket, takes out a key, and unlocks the cuffs. She then runs to a pylon, enters an access code on a key pad, and they run across the barrier. Juliet reactivates it afterwards. The Monster attempts to follow but bounces off the barrier. It then withdraws. Juliet admits that she has heard about the Monster before. The Others don't know what it is or where it came from. Kate asks about the key. Juliet says she was left behind, too, and by people she knew and trusted. She hoped that if Kate thought they were in it together, Kate would not leave her behind in the jungle like they did. Kate unlocks her cuff, and they continue on.

Kate and Juliet reach the Barracks. Everyone appears to be gone. Juliet goes to look for Sayid, and Kate goes to get Jack, finding him unconscious on the floor of his house. Kate wakes him up and tells him the Others left because of her (she is unaware of Locke destroying the submarine). She apologises and cries for messing up his plans to go home, but he ignores her and asks where Juliet is. Kate pulls back emotionally, telling him that they left her, too. They join Juliet and Sayid. Jack suggests taking what they can find and starting back before dark. Sayid objects to Juliet coming with them, but Jack is insistent she returns with them, to Kate and Sayid's disquiet.

Back at the beach, Hurley tells Sawyer that after the Nikki and Paulo situation with the diamonds, the camp is going to vote on whether or not to "banish" him. Hurley says there are benefits to living as part of a society and suggests he make amends to fix things.

After trying - and failing - to survive on his own wits, Sawyer tells Hurley he is ready to make amends. He apologises to Hurley for calling him all those names, gives Claire a blanket for Aaron and partners with Desmond to hunt for boar and provide food for the camp. Later, Sawyer roasts the boar and everyone eats. Charlie tells Sawyer he had not heard about any vote, and Sawyer realises he was conned by Hurley into being nice. Hurley explains that with Jack, Locke, Kate and Sayid gone, Sawyer is all they have, and is the de facto leader. Sawyer dislikes this idea, but Hurley insists that while Jack didn't like it either, it didn't change the fact that all eyes were on him. Sawyer sees how happy he made people and attempts to keep the good vibes going, even offering to hold Aaron for Claire. Sun, however, still hasn't forgiven Sawyer for organising the attack on her and Sawyer realises he still has work to do there.

Major WTFery: Kate and Juliet are gassed at the same time as Jack and Sayid, but wake up a day earlier. This may be deliberate, because Juliet wanted time to ingratiate herself with Kate, but no-one mentions it.

 

Hindsight: This episode explains that, following the destruction of the Swan Station, they have a water rotation system organised by Steve. This suggests that people go to the caves every day and fill up multiple water bottles for the camp.

 

This episode shows the Smoke Monster forming out of three separate columns of smoke that emerge from different parts of the jungle. This may be one of the reasons why the DHARMA Initiative dubbed the Monster "Cerberus", the canine guardian of the Underworld which had three heads.

 

Kate meeting Cassidy may appear to be pointless self-referencing, but becomes more important in the Season 4 finale and later seasons of the show.

 

According to this episode, about fifty Others lived in the Barracks. However, this isn't all of the Others on the Island as we later learn that more live at the Temple and the Looking Glass.

 

Review: A pretty solid episode, with the Kate flashback being unspectacular but lays down some key plot elements for later episodes. Seeing the Monster being defeated (for once) is enjoyable, but the lack of explanation for it from Juliet is a bit disappointing. (****)

 

316: One of Us

Written by Carlton Cuse and Drew Goddard, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 11 April 2007

Survivor Count: 45

Days on Island: 82-84 (12-14 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Juliet

Flashbacks: Juliet arrives at a private airport with her sister, where Richard Alpert and Ethan Rom are there to escort her the rest of the way to her new job. Juliet says good-bye to her sister, Rachel, promising to be back before her baby is born. In the airport terminal, Alpert pours sedative into a glass of orange juice and gives it to Juliet to drink, explaining that the trip is very intense. Juliet is wary of drinking the juice, even though she is okay with the other circumstances surrounding the trip. Alpert interrupts and tells her the place she is going is very special and that she has a gift with which she is supposed to do something significant. He offers to let her change her mind and walk away, but Juliet drinks the orange juice and passes out. She wakes up in a submarine with her arms and waist strapped down for safety.

She departs the submarine onto the dock at the Barracks, where she meets Ben Linus. Months later, Juliet is shown operating with Ethan and Goodwin on a pregnant patient, Sabine, who dies; she is comforted by Goodwin. Juliet meets with Ben and explains her theory that the problems with pregnant women happen at conception. She wants to test this theory by having a woman conceive off the Island, but Ben refuses to let anyone leave. When Juliet tells him that nothing else can be done and asks to go home and be with her sister, Ben informs Juliet that her sister's cancer has come back. He offers her a choice: either Juliet can go home and be with her sister as she dies, or she can stay and he will have Jacob cure her sister's cancer.

Juliet is in bed after sleeping with Goodwin. Afterwards, she is given x-rays of Ben's back, and when she determines that Ben has a tumour, she confronts him and accuses him of lying about Rachel. He denies lying to her and refuses to let her go home. The next day, immediately after Flight 815 crashes, Ben takes Juliet to the Flame Station to see Mikhail. Ben tells Mikhail that he wants information on all of the passengers of the plane, then asks him to bring up a live feed. On the screen a newspaper is shown with yesterday's date, September 22, 2004, followed by a shot of Rachel playing with her child (Rachel named her son Julian, presumably after Juliet) in a playground, and Ben explains that her cancer is in complete remission.

Months later, just before the Others depart the Barracks, Ben tells Juliet to handcuff herself to Kate and say she was left behind. She is also told that Claire's "implant" has been "activated" and that this will make Claire ill. Juliet is to use drugs left at the drop point to cure her and earn the trust of the survivors; Ben gives her a gas mask and leaves.

On the Island: Jack, Kate, Sayid and Juliet move back to the beach camp. As they stop for the night, Jack explains to Kate the deal he made with Ben. Sayid attempts to interrogate Juliet, but Jack intervenes and defends her. At the beach camp, Charlie hears Claire's baby, Aaron, crying and Claire asleep. Claire says she is not feeling well, so Charlie offers to take care of Aaron. Sawyer sees Jack, Kate and Sayid returning. Though happy about their return, he expresses his displeasure at seeing Juliet.

Hurley engages Juliet in casual conversation. Juliet guesses that Hurley was sent to keep an eye on her. He tells her the last Other who came over, Ethan, was killed and is buried nearby.
That night, Jack tells everyone that he trusts Juliet and that should be enough, but Sayid disagrees. Jack continues to explain that Locke blew up the submarine that was to take him home. Claire suddenly collapses with blood gushing from her face. Juliet takes Jack and Kate aside and tells them she knows what's wrong with Claire because she did it to her. At the camp, Juliet explains that Claire's immune system has turned against her due to a latent reaction to medication in her bloodstream, given to her at the Staff Station during her kidnapping ordeal. The medication was designed by Juliet to keep Claire alive during her pregnancy. She was brought to the island to find out why women couldn't have children on the Island. It's actually the same process that allows people to heal so quickly: the mother's body becomes ultra-efficient but overcompensates, treating the pregnancy as a foreign invader. Every woman who conceived on the island has died. Claire was the first to survive even though she showed some of the symptoms, probably due to her arriving on the Island so close to term.

Juliet reveals that Ethan kept a stash of the serum at a nearby drop point. She goes out into the jungle and retrieves the serum, but Sayid and Sawyer follow her and demand answers. Juliet tells them there is no time, and realising they are not going to budge, she stands up to them and says she finds it interesting that they are the camp's moral police, considering their violent pasts. She notes several specific incidents, including Sawyer murdering a man just before he got on the plane and something that happened to Sayid in Basra. They back down. Juliet takes the serum back to the beach and gives it to Jack. He warns her that if anything happens to Claire, he will not be able to protect her against the will of the survivors any longer and she would be alone, to which Juliet states that she already is. At the camp, Claire wakes up. She is feeling and looking much better. Juliet is now on the path to being trusted by the survivors. Jack brings her supplies to set up her tent area and tells her eventually everyone will need answers. Juliet asks why Jack trusts her and does not ask for answers. He says because when the submarine exploded, he saw in her eyes that she wanted to get off this island more than anything. That makes her "one of us."

Major WTFery: Ben and Juliet meet to discuss Juliet's request to leave the Island at the exact same rocks where Desmond killed Inman. However, this is on the exact opposite side of the Island, 35-40 miles from the Barracks. It can be assumed that this was meant to be somewhere else but they had to reuse the - fairly distinctive - location for cost and practicality.

Sayid and Sawyer potentially risk Claire's life in order to interrogate Juliet, which seems moderately out of character for both of them.

It is said that Sawyer killed a man the night before getting on the plane, but he actually killed him a week earlier.

Hindsight: This episode confirms that the problems with pregnancy on the Island take place at the moment of conception. If you conceive on-Island and remain there, the mother and baby will both die. However, if you conceive off-Island and give birth on-Island, both should be fine (like Claire), and if you conceive on-Island and leave before the second trimester (like Sun) you should also be okay. It appears that the danger zone is the second trimester.

This is the first episode where Jacob is ascribed supernatural powers, such as the ability to cure cancer in people off the Island.

This episode is the first which establishes that Ocean Flight 815 had 324 people on board in total, meaning that (since there were 71 survivors in the three sections) 253 people died in the crash itself.

 

Review: A messy episode of tested loyalties, thwarted ambitions and rising tensions at the beach camp. It's all solid stuff, but it also feels a bit artificial since it could be sorted out by people sitting down and just explaining WTF is going on. (***½)

 

 

317: Catch-22

Written by Jeff Pinkner and Brian K. Vaughan, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 18 April 2007

Survivor Count: 45

Days on Island: 84-85 (14-15 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Desmond

 

Flashbacks: Desmond is living in a monastery. He is greeted by Brother Campbell, who welcomes him to the abbey and gives him permission to end his period of silence. Campbell was sure that Desmond didn't have enough faith to remain and is pleased to have been proven wrong. After several weeks at the monastery, a man arrives to see Desmond. He simply punches him in the before leaving, apologising to Campbell. Desmond knows the man, who is the brother of the woman he dumped a week before their wedding day. He goes to see her and explains that he was suddenly visited by a calling he couldn't resist. Ruth doesn't buy it, accusing him of being scared and not having the decency to come clean when breaking up with a woman. Later that night, Desmond gets drunk on the monastery's wine. Brother Campbell catches him and is unimpressed. He informs him that he is not cut out for the monastery and "fires" him. The next day, he asks Desmond to help load the crates of wine into the car of a customer as a final favour. As he wheels them out, he meets the customer, Penny Widmore, who offers to give him a lift.

On the Island: Desmond, Hurley, Jin and Charlie are walking through the jungle, talking about superheroes, when Charlie suddenly springs one of Rousseau's traps and is shot in the throat by an arrow. Desmond tries to give him aid, but Charlie dies in his arms. We then see a string of flashes: Hurley lifting a cable out of the sand, a red light dropping from the sky, Jin holding a parachute in the jungle and a person in a helmet stuck in a tree.

Desmond is fishing on the beach, having just experienced one of his visions. He looks over to see that Charlie is still alive and well. Desmond approaches Hurley and asks him to take him to the cable. Hurley pretends not to know anything, but eventually Desmond coaxes him into telling him, and also asks him to go with him on a hike. The two visit Jack to pick up a first-aid kit, with Desmond telling him that he has a sprained ankle. Jack is sceptical at first, but eventually hands it over. Hurley then demands that Desmond tells him what he's up to. Desmond explains that he experienced more visions, but they weren't shown in order, so everything needs to happen exactly as it appeared.
Meanwhile, Kate is approached by Sawyer in her tent while she is changing, and he asks her if Jack knows about their fling while in captivity. She explains that Jack saw them having sex through the surveillance monitors. Sawyer tries flirting with her, but Kate playfully shrugs him off.

Desmond gets Hurley to speak with Jin, who comes along after being told about a "camping trip." Desmond then approaches Charlie with the same story, but Charlie sees through this and questions him about his visions. Desmond gives in and explains, but only a limited amount to convince Charlie to come along. They walk along the beach, up until the point where Hurley first discovered the cable. Desmond suggests that they camp out here until the next morning, causing Charlie to become wary. However, the four of them agree and enjoy a ghost story told by Jin (in Korean), while gathered around a campfire. Charlie notices Desmond is looking at the photo of him and Penny. Charlie asks how he could leave someone so beautiful. Desmond replies that he is a coward. Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of an approaching helicopter. Thinking that they are being rescued, they suddenly notice the helicopter doesn't sound right, and they hear it crash into the ocean. Jin, however, spots a beacon flashing in the sky, landing somewhere in the jungle. Desmond is eager to follow, but Charlie suggests they wait until morning. Desmond tries to insist they go now - hoping to avert Charlie's fate - but Charlie says he will not go until first light. Reluctantly, Desmond agrees.

Back at the camp, Kate and Jack have a talk in the kitchen, and reminisce about days on the island. Their renewed good relations make Kate happy, but she then sees Jack going over to Juliet's tent to eat dinner with her. Kate becomes upset, so she goes to Sawyer's tent and seduces him.

The next morning, Desmond, Charlie, Jin and Hurley venture off into the jungle. Charlie stumbles across a small Hawaiian doll, which they at first mistake for one of Rousseau's traps. Desmond then discovers a rucksack wedged in a tree above Hurley and retrieves it. Inside, they find a satellite phone, which has stopped working, and a Portuguese translation of Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22. Inside, Desmond finds a perfect copy of the photograph with him and Penny, causing him and Charlie to suspect that Penny is the person who parachuted on the island.

Jack and Juliet talk as they build her tent back on the beach. They are soon confronted by Sawyer, who challenges Jack to a game of ping-pong. When Sawyer says how strange it is to be back, Jack reveals that he spoke with Kate the night before, but ate supper with Juliet. Sawyer confronts Kate and gives her a "mix tape" (The Best of Phil Collins), which he stole from Bernard. He then questions her about why she jumped him, asking her if she was upset about Jack and Juliet. Sawyer accuses her of using him and tells her "all you have to do is ask" before walking away, leaving her upset.

Back in the jungle, Desmond and Charlie discuss his reasons for bringing them on the hike. It soon starts raining, and Desmond is eager for the group to pick up the pace. Hurley and Charlie discuss who is faster, Superman or the Flash, as seen in Desmond's vision at the start of the episode. As also foreseen, Charlie activates the trap that is supposed to kill him. Desmond, however, pushes him to the ground, saving his life and narrowly avoiding the arrow. Charlie immediately understands that Desmond knew it would happen.

As they continue onwards, Jin and Desmond are unable to decide which direction to go. Hurley suggests that he and Charlie go one way while Jin and Desmond go another. Charlie immediately declines and wants to go with Desmond. When they are alone, Charlie berates Desmond for not telling him the truth about his visions, to which he responds that it should be pointless for Desmond to save him, as it will keep happening over again, referring it to a "test of God". Jin suddenly calls for them, as he and Hurley have discovered the beacon and the parachutist hanging motionless from the trees. Desmond climbs the tree and cuts off the parachute, so Jin, Charlie and Hurley can use it as a safety net for when Desmond cuts the pilot free. Convinced that he will be finally reunited with Penny, Desmond quickly removes the helmet, only to discover that she is a different woman. She recognises Desmond and says his name. 
 

Major WTFery: The arrival of Naomi is a major, gamechanging moment for the series.

 

At the time Lost was made, there were no vineyards in Scotland. The climate is too cold to grow grapes and it's unclear how the monastery could be making wine. A later attempt in 2015 to make Scottish wine resulted in a vintage branded "undrinkable" by experts.

 

Hindsight: Jin and Charlie whistle the theme song from The Great Escape as they walk along the beach, foreshadowing that the following events will give them their best chance of escaping from the Island for good.

 

This episode shows the first meeting of Penny and Desmond, putting these events at prior to 1996. It's also notable that it's Penny who enthusiastically pursues Desmond to start with.

 

Review: Desmond episodes are always good fun and this is a decent one, although it tends to be forgotten since it's neither Flashes Before Your Eyes nor The Constant, both acclaimed as among the best episodes of the series. But the tragi-comical Heart of Darkness interlude works very well indeed. (****)

 

318: D.O.C.

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Frederick E.O. Toye

Airdate: 25 April 2007

Survivor Count: 45

Days on Island: 85-86 (15-16 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Sun

 

Flashbacks: Sun is sitting in a park in South Korea. A middle-aged woman sitting next to her points out Sun's wedding photograph with Jin in the newspaper and enquires if that's her. Sun affirms that it is. The woman suggests that it would be embarrassing if the world were to find out that a daughter from the wealthy Paik family had married a man whose mother is a prostitute. The woman demands money as blackmail.

Later, Sun asks her husband about his family. He tells her that his mother died when he was a child, then gives conflicting stories on when his father died. When she pushes for more information, he grows angry and asks her to drop the issue. Sun visits Jin's father without his knowledge, who confirms the woman's story. He never told Jin his mother was a prostitute and is still alive, and pleads with Sun not to tell his son the truth. He also mentions that he raised Jin alone and is not even sure he is his biological father.

Sun then visits her father and asks for the money. When he demands a reason, she tells him that she has never pried into his affairs, which are clearly illegal, and would like the same respect. However, she admits that the money will prevent great shame coming to someone she loves. Mr. Paik realises she means Jin, and tells her that he will bear the debt by working for him directly, instead of as a floor manager.

Jin discovers the money in Sun's purse. She concedes she got it from her father, but claims it was just for furniture and their honeymoon. Jin says he doesn't want to be any further in her father's debt, and asks her to return it. Sun agrees, then goes directly to the park, where the woman is waiting. She gives her the money, then reveals that she knows the woman's identity: she is Jin's biological mother. The blackmailer callously shrugs this off and Sun threatens to have her father kill the woman if she reveals her existence to Jin.

On the Island: Jack asks about Sun's pregnancy in a manner that arouses her suspicions. Sun asks Kate about Jack's loyalty. Kate suggests she talk to Juliet, who reveals that pregnant women die on the island. Juliet convinces Sun to leave with her to go to the Staff Station. It is revealed that women who conceive on the island do not survive. Sun says Jin was infertile before coming to the island and also that she had an affair with Jae Lee before the crash. She fears revealing these facts to Jin. The tests reveal the conception took place after the crash; hence, Jin is the father. Juliet secretly leaves a message for Ben on a tape recorder, explaining her findings with Sun, and promising to get a sample from Kate. She then stops the tape and whispers, "I hate you."

Meanwhile, Desmond, Hurley, Jin and Charlie are arguing how to care for the parachutist, whose name is Naomi Dorrit. She has a satellite phone, but it's unable to pick up a signal (which elicits the reaction "Typical" from Charlie). Hurley accidentally shoots off a flare he finds in Naomi's backpack. Mikhail Bakunin soon comes running through the jungle. He attempts to flee but Jin subdues him.

The other three question him, revealing that Sayid, Kate and Jack told them how he'd been supposedly killed by the sonic fence. Mikhail ignores that, saying he was a field medic and offers to help save the parachutist's life if they promise to let him go. The woman fades in and out of consciousness, at one point asking in Mandarin Chinese, what happened. She also tells them, in Portuguese that she is not alone. Mikhail seems to understand this but tells Desmond that she merely said "Thank you." He keeps his word and they keep theirs, although he does try to steal Naomi's satellite phone. Jin stops Mikhail from taking the phone. The man is allowed to leave empty-handed.
 

The parachutist asks Hugo who he is and Hugo tells her that he was on Oceanic Flight 815. On his response she says "That's not possible" because "They found the plane. There were no survivors. They were all dead."

 

Major WTFery: As mentioned before, the chances of Mikhail surviving the sonic fence are effectively zero, and his return here is likely the result of the producers enjoying the actor's performance and wanting him back (possibly foreshadowed by Expose's discussion of a character returning unconvincingly from the dead).

 

It takes eight hours to get from where Naomi is back to the camp, whilst it took two days for Sayid to get to the same area in Season 1.

 

Hindsight: This is the first episode to lampshade the widespread and erroneous belief that everyone on the Island is dead and the Island is Purgatory, or Hell.

 

The revelation about the plane wreckage being located in the ocean completely dumbfounded fans on first airing. Later on it is revealed that Charles Widmore staged the fake crash to prevent anyone else stumbling across the Island.

 

There is a picture of Brother Campbell with Mrs. Eloise Hawkwing (from Flashes Before Your Eyes) on his desk.

 

The episode title refers to Desmond's no-win scenario: he needs Charlie to find Naomi, but if Charlie comes along he may be killed.

 

Sawyer mentions that he took the Phil Collins tape from Bernard. This is the first time Bernard has been mentioned all season, and he and Rose have been absent from the show since the end of Season 2.

 

According to the producers, they wanted to show the wire again to remind people it existed and foreshadow the discovery of the Looking Glass Station.

 

Review: Another solid episode with the trek into the jungle to find salvation mirrored by Sun's own discoveries and the flashback episode, in which Sun suddenly becomes a stronger, more threatening figure (foreshadowing Sun's much more ruthless turn as a member of the Oceanic Six from Season 4 onwards), is very enjoyable. However, it does feel like the value of the flashbacks is starting to diminish, which is just as well given how few of them are left. (****)

 

319: The Brig

Written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, directed by Eric Laneuville

Airdate: 2 May 2007

Survivor Count: 45

Days on Island: 88-89 (18-19 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Locke

Flashbacks: Locke asks Ben and Tom why his father, Anthony Cooper, is on the island. Locke ungags Cooper, who then viciously bites him. As they leave, Ben invites Locke to join them as they prepare to abandon their living quarters, and Locke accepts. A few days later, Locke and the rest of the Others set up camp in a clearing in the middle of the jungle. As Locke helps Cindy put up her tent, she tells him that the Others are excited that he's here with them. Lock overhears Ben playing the tape recorder from Juliet and planning an attack on the survivors' camp to take the women of childbearing age. Ben summons Locke that night and tells him that he must kill Cooper in order to truly become one of them.

The Others gather to watch, but Locke is unable to kill Cooper despite his father's contemptuous taunting of him. The next morning, while Locke is on a hillside overlooking the camp, Richard joins him. Richard explains that Ben knew he wouldn't be able to kill Cooper and wanted to embarrass him. He tells Locke that if he won't kill his father, then someone else should: Sawyer. Locke is baffled but Richard gives him a dossier filled with detailed information about Sawyer's life. The next day, Locke wakes to find that the Others have packed up and are ready to move on. Ben tells him they will leave a trail for him, that he must stay behind with Cooper and "clean up his mess", and that if he doesn't bring his father's body with him, then not to bother following.

On the Island: Kate wakes up during the night next to Sawyer and starts getting dressed. She explains she can only sleep in her own tent and that it's nothing personal. She kisses him goodnight and leaves. Sawyer slips a handgun into his waistband and steps outside to urinate. He spots Hurley and Jin standing outside a tent. After a quick, odd conversation with them, Sawyer heads into the jungle, where he is confronted by Locke. Locke tells him that he has infiltrated the Others' camp and has taken their leader Ben hostage, and needs Sawyer to kill him. Sawyer questions why Locke would come to him, and Locke explains that, thanks to the files the Others have on all of the Flight 815 survivors, he knows that Sawyer killed a man in Sydney before the plane took off. Locke turns and leaves, and Sawyer reluctantly follows, barefooted.

Charlie encounters Jack when he goes into the kitchen tent to collect food for Naomi, whose presence in the camp remains generally unknown. Charlie explains that the camping trip with Desmond, Jin and Hurley was "male bonding". Jack tells Charlie that if they plan another one to count him in. Back in the tent, Jin gives Naomi the food while Desmond questions whether Jack's loyalties lie with the survivors or with the Others. Because Naomi still needs medical attention, they decide to let Sayid in on their secret.

As Locke and Sawyer trek through the jungle, Locke proceeds to reel off certain points of Sawyer's life, provoking Sawyer's anger. Sawyer pulls out his knife and demands that Locke starts answering questions. Locke admits that he cannot bring himself to kill Ben and needs someone to do it for him. Locke leads Sawyer to the Black Rock, the derelict slave ship, taking him to the brig where a man sits chained, gagged and hooded. Locke locks Sawyer in the brig with the prisoner, to Sawyer's anger and confusion.

On the beach, Charlie tells Sayid about their new arrival. Sayid agrees that they shouldn't tell Jack until his loyalties are more certain. Sayid questions Naomi and she responds professionally. She is with a survey team based on a freighter located about 80 nautical miles from the Island. Penny Widmore hired the crew to search for Desmond, though she has not met her personally. She also repeats that the wreckage of Flight 815 was found off the shore of Bali, four miles underwater, and ROVs revealed that all the passengers on board were dead. The depth meant that the bodies could not be recovered for proper identification. While searching for Desmond, the freighter team received coordinates which took them to the middle of the ocean. However, on Naomi's return to the search vessel, the island mysteriously appeared out of cloud cover, and her helicopter lost power as she managed to bail out. Sayid doubts her story and asks for the whereabouts of her helicopter. Naomi, apparently offended, gives Sayid her satellite phone and quips that she will not rescue him.

Danielle enters the Black Rock and is surprised to see Locke. She explains she is looking for dynamite. Locke does not give an explanation for his presence or for Sawyer's thumping and yelling behind the brig door, and Danielle decides not to ask. She takes a crate of dynamite and then leaves. In the brig, Sawyer threatens to shoot Locke through the door if he won't open it, but Locke tells him that if his gun had bullets he would have threatened him with it, and not a knife, in the jungle. Sawyer begins to lose patience with the prisoner. He removes the hood and is startled to see it is not Ben but Anthony Cooper. Both are equally confused, but Cooper explains that he was involved in a car collision in Tallahassee and the last thing he remembers is being lifted into the ambulance as the paramedics placed an I.V. needle in him. He has concluded that they're in Hell. He explains that he is Locke's father, that he conned Locke out of a kidney and pushed him out an eighth story window because he was a "nuisance". Sawyer asks him if his a conman and Cooper replies in the affirmative. Suspicious, Sawyer asks the prisoner for his name. Cooper starts laughing and reels off a list of his aliases, including "Tom Sawyer". He admits to having been to Jasper, Alabama (Sawyer's home town). Sawyer realises Cooper is the "Sawyer" that he has been seeking all his life, the man responsible for his parents' deaths. Sawyer orders Cooper to read the letter he wrote as a young boy, but Cooper reads the beginning, then mocks him. Cooper admits he took Sawyer's mother's money but absolves himself of any guilt over her death. Sawyer rages at Cooper to finish the letter, but he tears the letter to pieces. Sawyer chokes Cooper to death with his chains in a fury. Locke frees Sawyer. Sawyer goes outside and throws up. Locke then tells him that Juliet is a spy for the Others who know Sun is pregnant, and are planning to raid the camp in three days. He gives Sawyer the tape recorder from the Staff (which he stole from Ben's tent) as proof to present to the other survivors. He tells Sawyer he is not returning with him, because he is on his own journey now.

Back on the beach, Sayid and Hurley try to fix Naomi's radio. Sayid says the technology is more advanced than any he has ever seen. He manages to fix it but the signal is blocked. The noise of the static attracts a curious Kate. At first, Sayid is reluctant, but seeing no other choice, he tells Kate about Naomi, and asks her not to tell Jack. Kate, however, goes straight to Jack who is sitting with Juliet on the beach. She asks to speak privately to him but he says that whatever she has to say can be said in front of Juliet. Kate tells them about Naomi and that he wasn't told because no one on the beach trusts him anymore. Jack and Juliet then debate whether or not to tell Kate about their plan. Juliet wants to, but Jack replies, "Not yet".

Locke throws over his shoulder a sack with his father's body inside and heads into the jungle.

Major WTFery: It is questionable if the Others could have learned of Sawyer's murdering of the man in Sydney. All of the other records they've found are publicly available, but no-one apart from Sawyer knows what he did. This suggests that the Others have access to a supernatural source of knowledge.

 

Hindsight: This episode revisits the idea of, "Is the Island Hell (or at least Purgatory)?" It seemingly concludes not, with Sayid pointing out to Naomi that everyone is alive and she agrees.

 

By pretending he has Ben prisoner, Locke successfully pulls off a long con on Sawyer.

 

Review: A dark and brutal episode, with Josh Holloway pulling off the performance of his career (rivalled only on the show by LaFleur in Season 5) as he confronts and then kills the man who destroyed his life. Other elements work quite well - such as Danielle's lack of interest in what the survivors are up to, putting it down to another one of their crazy schemes - but it's this central story that resonates the most strongly. (****½)

 

320: The Man Behind the Curtain

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Drew Goddard, directed by Bobby Roth

Airdate: 9 May 2007

Survivor Count: 45

Days on Island: 89-90 (19-20 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Ben

1964: Roger and Emily Linus, are hiking through a forest near Portland, Oregon. Emily, who is pregnant, gives birth in the woods but suffers medical complications. Roger carries Emily and the baby to the roadside, where a car carrying Horace and Olivia Goodspeed stops to help them. Emily dies after telling Roger to name the baby Benjamin.

1973: Nine years later, Ben and his father arrive at the Island to work for the DHARMA Initiative, of which Horace and Olivia are both members. At one point, Ben sees a vision of his dead mother. This, along with his drunken father blaming him for his mother's death, prompts Ben to sneak into the jungle in search of her. He encounters Richard Alpert (who looks exactly the same thirty-one years later), one of the "Hostiles" who are native to the island. Ben tells Richard that he wants to join the Hostiles on the grounds of not liking the DHARMA Initiative. Richard tells Ben that if he truly wants this, then he must be patient and wait for his time to come.

1988: Ben, now a young man working for DHARMA, helps his father Roger load a van with beer and other supplies for the Pearl Station. After confronting his father about forgetting his birthday again, Roger suggests they go for a drive together after their work is done, to have some father-son time. After parking atop a hill near the central valley of the Island, Ben asks his father if he blames him for the death of his mother. Roger simply answers "What do I know?", and promises to try and remember Ben's birthday the following year. But Ben, fed up after years of neglect and abuse, pulls out a gas mask and bids his father goodbye. He lets off a gas grenade that kills Roger. Ben returns to the Barracks, where all the DHARMA workers have died from the same gas, and Alpert and his men arrive wearing masks. As Alpert's men start picking up the bodies, Alpert offers to go and collect Roger's, but Ben tells him to "just leave him out there".

2004: Locke arrives at the Others' camp, carrying his father's body on his back, and demands that Ben tell him everything about the Island. Ben tells him that he does not have the authority. He tells Locke that the true leader of the Others is a man named Jacob, but denies Locke's request to see him. Soon after, Mikhail stumbles into the camp and talks about a parachutist who landed on the Island. Ben uses this as an excuse to avoid Locke's demands, saying they will have to ensure that Naomi is captured when they go to capture Sun and the other women of childbearing age. Locke is unimpressed with Ben's prevarication. He beats Mikhail unconscious to shut him up. Ben, horrified, asks Tom and Richard to intervene but they refuse. Locke then asks when are they leaving. Ben relents and guides Locke out of the camp, Richard, Tom and Alex watching them depart.

At the survivors' camp, Sawyer plays Juliet's tape for Sayid and Kate. Later that night the entire camp gathers and Naomi's existence is revealed. They also play Juliet's tape. Juliet and Jack arrive and there are angry recriminations about Juliet's treachery. However, Juliet asks Sawyer to play the other side of the tape, in which Ben says the Others will raid the camp in three days to capture all of the pregnant women. Juliet confirms that when she received the message from Ben originally she immediately told Jack about the situation. They have been working on a way to set a trap for the Others ever since. Jack confirms this, telling everyone they have some catching up to do.

Ben and Locke travel through the jungle. They fine a massive line of salt in the woods, apparently part of a colossal circle. Ben is careful not to break the circle and steps over it. Locke does the same. Shortly afterwards they arrive at a small wooden cabin. Ben advises Locke to not use his torch or any kind of technology, as Jacob despises it. Ben becomes very nervous and knocks on the door and speaks loudly, saying that he is coming in with John Locke. They enter, but Locke cannot see anyone inside. Ben introduces Locke to Jacob and gestures towards an empty chair, to which he starts talking. Jacob realises that Locke cannot see Jacob and tells him that he is "sorry" that Locke's vision is too limited to see. Locke tells Ben in turn that he is crazy and pathetic. Just as Locke is about to exit the cabin, an odd and deep voice says "Help me". Locke asks Ben to repeat himself and Ben is puzzled, asking what he means. Locke pulls out a flashlight and suddenly objects in the room begin to violently fly about, windows shattering, and Ben is flung against the wall. Locke turns the light on the chair and this time sees a strange, white-haired man who looks at Locke with a terrifying gaze. Locke flees the cabin. The shaking subsides and a shaken and disturbed Ben emerges. Locke asks him what the hell just happened and Ben replies, "That was Jacob."
 

The following day, Locke has decided that Jacob is not real and Ben staged the whole incident for his benefit. He says he will expose Ben as a fraud and liar. Locke notices that Ben is leading them back by a different path. Ben tells him there is something he needs to see. He brings Locke to a mass grave full of skeletons clothed in DHARMA uniforms. Ben tells Locke that he lied about being born on the Island. He helped kill his own people when it became clear that the DHARMA workers could not coexist with the natives. He then shoots Locke, who falls into the pit. He demands to know what Jacob said to him. Locke reveals Jacob said "Help me", and Ben replies that he certainly hopes Jacob helps him, as he departs, leaving Locke for dead.

 

Major WTFery: This episode features - very arguably - the most confusing and bizarre scene in the entire history of Lost (which is saying something). The next season or so suggests that Jacob is a prisoner in the cabin, trapped by the line of salt, and that there is a link between Jacob and the image of Christian we've seen wandering around the Island. However, Seasons 5 and 6 abruptly contradict this, revealing that Jacob has been living in the Four-Toed Statue ruin all along. The torching of Jacob's cabin in Season 5 seems to imply that the producers really changed their mind about where this story was going and wanted to get rid of it.

 

The alternate explanation is that the man in the cabin is really the Man in Black, the salt prison simply doesn't work (since we've seen the Smoke Monster all over the Island) and it's all part of his attempt to manipulate Ben, Locke, the Others and the 815 survivors.

 

Hindsight: This episode shows Richard as being the same age in 1973 as in 2004. Ben confirms this is deliberate when he says, "You do remember birthdays, don't you, Richard?"

 

This episode confirms that there is a volcano on the Island, although it is never seen or mentioned. According to Danielle's maps, there is a volcanic crater not far to the south-east of the main beach camp and the Swan, and fans have speculated that the rocky coast where Inman hid the Elizabeth is located in this area. However, it seems unusual that the crater has not been explored or noted by the survivors.

 

Both the volcano and Ben's childhood friend, Annie, were supposed to return in later episodes. However, the writers never got back to addressing either story point. They later confirmed that Annie had been evacuated in 1977 prior to the Incident and had never returned to the Island.

 

Ben leaves the DHARMA van upright in the jungle. When Hurley finds it, it's been overturned and smashed up. It may have been damaged by a polar bear trying to get inside.

 

This episode establishes that Ben was born in 1964. This makes Ben ten years younger than the actor who plays him, Michael Emerson. In fact, Michael Emerson looks remarkably younger than his real age: he certainly looks a lot younger than Terry O'Quinn, who plays Locke, when they were born in the same year. Emerson and O'Quinn went head-to-head for the Best Actor Emmy Award for this season, with O'Quinn eventually emerging victorious.

 

Michael Emerson's real-life wife, Carrie Preston, plays his mother in this episode. They would later work together on Person of Interest.

 

Review: An excellent episode, creepy and intense as hell with Emerson turning in an absolutely brilliant performance (as does his younger counterpart Sterling Beaumon) and even being very convincing as the 24-year-old version of the character (helped by some great make-up). The fact that the scene in the cabin is never really explained is frustrating, but beyond that this is one of the show's best hours. (*****)

[Werthead]

321: Greatest Hits

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 16 May 2007

Survivor Count: 45

Days on Island: 90 (20 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Charlie

 

Flashbacks: Faced with the reality of his own mortality, Charlie decides to put together a list of the "greatest hits" of his life. Revisiting these moments, he writes them down on a list for Claire:

1. The first time he heard "You All Everybody" on the radio, when he was feeling despair and wanted to quit the band.
2. When his father taught him to swim at Butlins Holiday Camp.
3. The time when his brother Liam gave him their grandfather's ring, which was inscribed "DS" for his name (Dexter Stratton). This inspired their choice of band name.
4. When Charlie saved a woman - who turns out to be Sayid's former love, Nadia - from being mugged and was called a hero.
5. The night following the crash of Oceanic 815, "The night I met you."

On the Island: Returning to his camp - and refusing to explain his absence or what happened to Locke - Ben orders ten of the Others to go to the survivors' camp to kidnap any pregnant women that night, a night earlier than scheduled. Alex, overhearing the plan, alerts Karl who has been shadowing the main camp of Others and is hiding nearby. Karl grabs the outrigger and paddles down the coast to the main camp.

Jack guides most of the survivors out into the jungle where Danielle has rigged a tree with dynamite from the Black Rock. Demonstrating that it is still lethal, Jack explains his plan: they will lure the Others onto the beach and detonate dynamite in the tents to kill them. Back on the beach Danielle shows the survivors how to rig the explosives with wire from the wreckage, but they are finding it tough to get enough wire.

Naomi tells Charlie that his band Drive Shaft released a successful greatest hits album after the crash of Flight 815. Charlie is delighted, and this inspires him to start writing the list of his own personal "greatest hits". Desmond tells Charlie about his latest premonition: Claire and Aaron will escape the island via helicopter if Charlie flips a switch in a DHARMA Initiative station and drowns. Charlie is disturbed by the thought of his own death, but doesn't hesitate to say he will do it if it means that Claire and Aaron are saved.

Sayid tells Jack that they may be able to communicate with Naomi's freighter, but they need to disable Rousseau's distress signal from the DHARMA radio tower. Juliet tells Sayid that this plan will not work because all outgoing transmissions are being jammed by the Looking Glass, a DHARMA Initiative station located offshore and underwater. Sayid realises that the cable he found seventy days before connects to this station. Looking through the papers he took from the Flame Station, he finds references to the Looking Glass and how to disable its communications equipment. According to Juliet, the station was flooded and there isn't enough time to get down, flip the switch and swim back up again. Whoever goes down may end up suffocating. After a moment of doubt, Charlie volunteers, saying he can hold his breath for four minutes. Desmond later asks him how long he can really hold his breath and Charlie asks, "Does it matter?"

Karl arrives on the beach to warn the survivors of the imminent attack. Jack realises that they cannot rig the explosives in time. They improvise a new plan: Danielle will guide the entire group of survivors to the radio tower whilst the best shots - Sayid, Bernard and Jin - stay behind and manually detonate the explosives with rifle fire. Charlie and Desmond will take Karl's outrigger to the Looking Glass. Charlie will dive down and deactivate the signal. In order for this all to work, it has to happen as close together as possible.

Charlie assures Claire that he will be fine, kisses her goodbye and leaves his "DS" ring in Aaron's crib. Desmond and Charlie paddle out to the Looking Glass and debate what to do. Desmond volunteers to take Charlie's place, suggesting that the Island or fate or whatever will be satisfied with his death instead. "What about your girl?" Charlie asks, about Penny. "What about yours?" Desmond asks, about Claire. Charlie accepts Desmond's magnanimous gesture, only to knock him unconscious with an oar. He puts the list in Desmond's pocket before diving down. He enters the station through a moon pool, but is surprised to discover that it isn't flooded. However, two Others named Greta and Bonnie arrive in the moon pool with guns aimed at Charlie.
 

Major WTFery: An underwater station seems a bit of an odd place to generate a jamming signal from. In fact, the jamming signal would have been stronger if it had originated either from the Flame or from the radio tower itself.

 

Given all the attention paid to Charlie's list, it's rather odd that Desmond never gets around to giving the list to Claire. According to the producers, the cutting of this episode and the next one made it look like Desmond still had the list on him when he dove in the water. Rather than explaining that he'd left it in the boat, they simply assumed it had been ruined or destroyed when he dove in the water.

 

Hindsight: The woman Charlie saves in London is, of course, Nadia.

 

The flashback scene with Charlie in London shows Charlie playing "Wonderwall" by Oasis, just as in Desmond's scene in Flashes Before Your Eyes. However, from Charlie's POV it appears that Desmond never shows up. This seems to violate the principle that "Whatever happened, happened" and that time is circular. However, it is also possible that it was raining on and off all day as Charlie wandered around London busking.

 

This episode features an unusual flashback structure where Charlie deliberately evokes several completely unconnected memories and then refers to them in the present day.

 

It is also the 70th sequential and last episode to feature flashbacks. Flashbacks will continue to appear, but much more rarely than before.

 

Rose and Bernard make their first appearance since the end of Season 2. Both actors had been busy with other projects, and the producers had also had some issues juggling the expanded cast this season, with even major characters sitting out several episodes in a row. However, the producers decided to make up for their absence by giving them a key role in the defence of the beach camp.

 

Review: This episode feels like an extended apology from the writers and producers to Dominic Monaghan and the character of Charlie. After some good material in early Season 1 and the development of a very sweet relationship with Claire, the writers didn't seem to know quite what to do with him and leaned too much on his junkie backstory (later admitted by Damon Lindelof to have been a mistake). It's only in the latter part of Season 3 that he's had more stuff to do, with the foreshadowing of his death. The result is an episode which focuses on Charlie's heroism, his love for Claire and Aaron and the positivity in his life, and it works very well indeed. (****).

 

 

322: Through the Looking Glass

Written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 23 May 2007

Survivor Count: 45

Days on Island: 90-91 (20-21 December 2004)

Flash Character: Jack

 

On the Island: Charlie is imprisoned by Greta and Bonnie and interrogated, but he refuses to say anything. See the radio switch and the flashing light mentioned by Desmond, Charlie realises that he is going to die...but not before the switch is pulled. This makes him cocky and overconfident. Disturbed by his presence and manner, Greta and Bonnie call Ben who is likewise bemused by how on earth the survivors could know about the Looking Glass. He orders Mikhail to take charge of the situation. Realising that Juliet has betrayed them, he calls Tom and the rest of the assault team, but it's too late. They've switched off their radios for security.

 

Jin, Sayid and Bernard have placed three bundles of dynamite at key points in the camp. They successfully detonate two of the bundles, resulting in two massive blasts that the other survivors can see from miles away. They fail to detonate the third bundle. Seven of the ten Others are killed. The other three, including Tom, take Jin, Sayid and Bernard prisoner. They radio Ben with the news that the camp is empty and Ben realises that the survivors must be trying to make contact with the freighter (Mikhail having told him about Naomi). He orders Richard to take the rest of the Others to a location known as "the Temple" whilst he cuts across the Island to intercept Jack and the other survivors, alone. Alex volunteers to accompany him, hoping to find Karl, and to her surprise Ben agrees.

 

Having only seen two explosions and with Naomi still unable to clear the Looking Glass's jamming signal, the survivors assume that their plan has failed. Jack urges them to have faith and convinces everyone to press onto the radio tower. However, Sawyer, Juliet and Hurley decide to double back to see what's going on. Sawyer tells Hurley that he will slow them down and suggests that he hang back, to Hurley's annoyance and upset.

 

Locke, still suffering from Ben's gunshot wound, wakes up in the pit of dead DHARMA survivors. He finds a 30-year-old revolver and plans to kill himself but is stopped by an image of Walt which appears at the lip of the pit. Walt tells him to stop feeling sorry for himself as he "has work to do".

 

Desmond recovers in the outrigger, but is then fired on by Mikhail, who has arrived on the shore. Desmond dives down and enters the Looking Glass surreptitiously, taking cover in a supply locker. Mikhail follows him down in scuba gear and angrily wants to know where he is. Mikhail is also annoyed that Greta and Bonnie are there, as Ben told him they'd gone on assignment in Canada. He talks to Ben over the radio and Ben tells him that he must eliminate Greta, Bonnie, Desmond and Charlie, and apologises for the deception. Mikhail is uncertain whether to follow the order, but then his soldier's instinct for obeying orders kicks in. He kills Greta immediately and shoots and injures Bonnie. Before he can finish her off, Desmond bursts out of the supply locker and gut-shoots Mikhail with a spear gun.

 

Ben and Alex meet Jack's group near the radio tower. Ben uses his walkie talkie to communicate with Tom on the beach. Ben tells Jack that Naomi's boat is not at the Island to help the survivors and their true purpose will get everyone - 815 survivors and Others alike - all killed. He tells Jack to get Naomi's satellite phone and give it to Ben. Jack refuses. Ben then says he will order Tom to kill Sayid, Jin and Bernard. Jack still refuses to give in, and they hear gunfire over the radio. Jack freaks out and beats Ben senseless. He drags him back to the group - where a shocked Alex has met her mother, Danielle, for the first time - and they resume the trek to the radio tower.

 

Juliet and Sawyer reach the beach and see Tom angrily wondering why Ben told them to fire their guns into the sand rather than actually kill the prisoners. Juliet and Sawyer debate tactics considering that they aren't armed, but suddenly the DHARMA Initiative van repaired by Hurley bursts onto the beach, running over and killing one of the Others immediately. Sayid manages to get one of the other Others in a headlock with his feet and snaps his neck. Tom surrenders. Sawyer considers for a moment and then shoots him, saying "That's for taking the kid off the boat." Hurley points out that he was surrendering but Sawyer says that he didn't believe him. They radio Jack and give him the good news that Jin, Sayid and Bernard are still alive.

 

In the Looking Glass, Charlie talks to Bonnie, who realises that Ben has betrayed her. She tells Charlie how to switch off the jamming signal before dying, which he does. Surprised at still being alive, Charlie and Desmond prepare to leave the Looking Glass with scuba gear they find on board. As Desmond gathers the equipment, Charlie hears a new signal coming through. Penelope appears on the screen and Charlie talks to her, telling her that Desmond is nearby and they have met Naomi and heard from Penny's boat. Penny is bewildered, as she doesn't know a Naomi and hasn't sent out any boat. Charlie is distracted by a sound through the porthole: the injured Mikhail has managed to get outside the Looking Glass with a grenade, which he clearly plans to use to destroy the station. Charlie slams shut the radio room door just as the grenade goes off. Mikhail is killed and the communications room breached. Charlie manages to write on his hand in waterproof ink (the same pen he's been carrying around since the crash), "NOT PENNY'S BOAT." He shows it to Desmond, making sure he understands. Charlie then makes the sign of the cross before drowning.

 

Jack's team reaches the radio tower just as the satellite phone picks up a clear signal. Naomi relays the good news to Jack, but they can't make a call until Danielle's signal is shut down. Danielle does just that, feeling odd at shutting down the signal she set up sixteen years earlier. Emerging from the tower, Naomi goes to call her freighter but is stabbed by a knife hurled by Locke. Locke holds Jack at gunpoint, telling him to give him the phone (presumably so he can destroy it). Jack refuses. Locke tells him he won't hesitate to kill him to protect the Island. Jack ignores him and makes the call. Locke, reluctantly, lowers his gun, telling him of course he could never hurt Jack after everything they've been through together.

The call is picked up by a man, George Minkowski, on Naomi's boat. Jack tells him that "We are the survivors of Oceanic 815," and asks him to lock onto his signal.

Flash: A bearded Jack is on a flight about to arrive at Los Angeles. He is drinking heavily. When he tries to get another drink, the stewardess gives him a paper instead. Jack glances at it and sees an obituary for someone he knows. He becomes upset. Driving back from the airport, he stops on a bridge and tries to call someone, who doesn't pick up. Jack jumps onto the side of the bridge, apparently planning to jump. Before he can do so, there is a car crash behind him. He immediately lends aid, and is feted for saving two people from burning to death in the accident. Jack takes an interest in the survivors and a new surgeon at the hospital, Dr. Hamill, agrees to keep him informed on their progress.

 

Jack goes to the funeral of the person he read about in the paper. He is surprised and sad to see that he is the only person present. After paying his respects, he leaves, again trying to make a call and failing to connect. At the hospital Dr. Hamill tells him that the driver has recovered and said that she crashed the car after being distracted by the sight of someone about to jump off the bridge. Hamill realises that Jack was planning to kill himself, but Jack becomes angry and irrational, suggesting that he get his father down to talk to him, which confuses both Hamill and the nurses present.

 

Jack's call finally connects and he arranges a meeting at the airport behind the runway. Another car arrives and someone gets out: Kate. Jack says he'd hoped to see her at the funeral, but Kate is incredulous, as why would she ever go to the funeral? Jack tells her that he's been flying a lot, using the golden pass ticket that Oceanic Airlines gave everyone. He flies back and forth across the Pacific, hoping that the plane crashes and he can get back to the Island. He tells her they made a mistake leaving, but she angrily disagrees. She says she has to go, as "He," is waiting for her. As she drives off Jack shouts after her, "We have to go back!"

Major WTFery: In one of the most glaring continuity error in the series, the 815 survivors walk off up the beach with the sea to their right, heading east, but in the next scene they are walking along with the sea to their left, heading west. Given the radio tower is straight north it is unclear why they are walking along the sea at all, unless it is to avoid any possible route of approach by the Other assault team, or Danielle knows a way around the mountains that allows for easier travelling.

Hindsight: Jack's storyline in this episode caught many viewers by surprise, as they had assumed it was a series of flashbacks showing Jack in despair after his divorce or after his earlier, dysfunctional relationship with his father. This was subtly reinforced by him calling for his father in the hospital, but the reaction from the hospital staff clearly shows that they know that Christian is dead and are fearing for Jack's sanity. The final revelation - that we're seeing a flashforwards rather than a flashback - was widely applauded as the most impressive paradigm shift in the show's history. Lost is very much two stories being told back to back - before and after the rescue - and this is the moment it all spins around.

 

The producers did subtly place several clues earlier on that this was a flashforwards rather than a flashback. Most tellingly with Jack having a map of the Pacific on the wall with pins in it. Prior to the crash, Jack had no interest in the Pacific Ocean. Jack also has a Motorola KRZR mobile phone, a fairly trendy and identifiable model that was only released in 2006 (i.e. two years after the crash).

 

Similarly, the paper Jack reads is a copy of the LA Times dated 5 April 2007, although this isn't readily legible on screen. Later episodes will confirm that the flash-forwards in this episode takes place in 2007, between two and three years after the final scene on the Island.

 

Viewers would have to wait until the Season 4 finale to confirm who it is in the casket (Locke), and for the seventh episode of Season 5 to find out how he died (murdered by Ben).

 

This episode marks the final appearance of the present-day Others in force until Season 6: however, the 1970s incarnation of the organisation plays a major role in Season 5. At Comic-Con, the producers noted that in the "war" between the Others and the 815 survivors, Team 815 performed excellently, killing multiple named Others over the course of the season (Mikhail, Ms. Klugh, Colleen, Pickett, Tom, Bonnie, Greta and all ten of the team that attack the beach) and convincing others to switch sides (Juliet, Karl, Alex) as well as taking Ben prisoner, leaving just Richard Alpert and Cindy as named, known Other characters at large.

 

Given that keeping track of geography is not the show's strongest point, this episode actually does a pretty good job of it. It establishes the Others' camp as being located near the eastern mountains of the Island, which actually makes it extremely plausible that both Ben and Alex could reach the radio tower (on top of the western mountains) and Mikhail could reach the Looking Glass (off the eastern coast) relatively quickly.

 

This episode confirms that Kate and Sawyer were helping to build a runway, "for the aliens".

 

The vision of Walt that appears to Locke apparently is a projection of Walt himself. It can't be the Monster, as the Monster (as later seasons confirm) can only appear as someone who has died.

 

This episode is the first to mention the Temple, which some viewers assumed was yet another DHARMA station. It actually turns out to be a literal temple in Season 5.

 

This episode also confirms that forty people died in the Purge. Season 5 revealed that there were a lot more people than that in the DHARMA Initiative on the Island, but most of the women and children evacuated prior to the Incident in 1977 and most of them (like Charlotte and Annie) never returned before the Purge in 1988.

 

Sawyer promised payback to "Zeke" (Tom) several times over the course of the series before finally delivering it here, two years later for viewers.

 

Review: Very few shows can pull off a paradigm shift, a complete and total inversion of the show's format and what the viewers are expecting from it, because destroying the premise of a TV series is generally not a good idea and very few shows can actually make what comes after as good as what came before. Lost arguably pulls off such the greatest such paradigm shift seen in an American TV show to date, spinning the series onto a completely different path whilst - after two and a half seasons - effectively wrapping up the Others storyline. We also get a moving death scene for Charlie and some great moments of comedy, action and drama. Locke's outright murder of Naomi feels a bit out-of-character, but motivated by the fear of death and Weird Ghost Walt, it's forgivable enough. Probably not the best episode of the series (The Constant is superior and maybe one or two others), but definitely up there as the show at the very peak of its powers, with an ending that is still brilliantly handled (*****)

[williamjm]

22 hours ago, Werthead said:

Review: Very few shows can pull off a paradigm shift, a complete and total inversion of the show's format and what the viewers are expecting from it, because destroying the premise of a TV series is generally not a good idea and very few shows can actually make what comes after as good as what came before. Lost arguably pulls off such the greatest such paradigm shift seen in an American TV show to date, spinning the series onto a completely different path whilst - after two and a half seasons - effectively wrapping up the Others storyline. We also get a moving death scene for Charlie and some great moments of comedy, action and drama. Locke's outright murder of Naomi feels a bit out-of-character, but motivated by the fear of death and Weird Ghost Walt, it's forgivable enough. Probably not the best episode of the series (The Constant is superior and maybe one or two others), but definitely up there as the show at the very peak of its powers, with an ending that is still brilliantly handled (*****)

I agree that it might be debatable whether it's the best episode but I think it's definitely the best of the season finales (not that others weren't good as well) and has some of the most iconic moments in the show. The flashback really being a flashforward was a great twist.

[Werthead]

401: The Beginning of the End

Written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 31 January 2008

Survivor Count: 44 (-1 after Charlie's death in the previous episode)

Days on Island: 91 (21 December 2004)

Flashforwards Character: Hurley

 

Flashforwards: A major police chase unfolds in Los Angeles as a red Camaro attempts to evade justice. It eventually crashes and police surround and arrest the driver: Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, millionaire, business-owner and one of the infamous "Oceanic Six". In the police station Hurley is interrogated by Detective Mike Walton about what happened: security camera footage shows Hurley going into a convenience store and freaking out after seeing something off-picture. Hurley refuses to talk. Walton tells him that his former partner, Ana Lucia Cortez, was on Oceanic 815 but Hurley says he never knew her. Walton leaves the room and Hurley sees an apparition of a figure - Charlie - dying underwater. His screams bring Walton back, who asks Hurley if he is crazy and wants to be locked up. Hurley asks if that is possible and hugs him in gratitude.

 

Hurley is sent back to Santa Rosa Mental Hospital and seems a lot happier. A man asks to see him, saying his name is Matthew Abaddon and that he is a lawyer working for Oceanic Airlines. Abaddon offers the airline's help as they feel responsible for any trauma he has suffered, but Hurley becomes suspicious and asks to see a business card. Abaddon says he left them at home. As he leaves, he asks if "they are still alive". Hurley refuses to answer. After Abaddon leaves, Hurley is visited by an apparition of Charlie, who begs him not to freak out like he did when he saw him in the store. Charlie tells Hurley that "they" need him, but Hurley closes his eyes and starts counting loudly. When he finishes, Charlie is gone.

 

Charlie is later visited by Jack and confirms that he won't be giving up the secrets the Oceanic Six agreed to keep. However, Hurley says that he made a mistake in siding with Locke on the Island and also made a mistake in leaving. He thinks they are needed on the Island, but Jack dismisses the idea and leaves, musing that he should grow a beard to stop being recognised.

 

On the Island: At the radio tower the survivors celebrate making contact with the freighter, but Jack is furious with Locke's attack on Naomi. Whilst the rest of the group is distracted, Locke flees. Ben, under guard by Danielle, seems to be finding the whole situation vastly amusing. He advises that Danielle get Alex away from their location, as soon everyone on the Island will be dead, but Danielle is unimpressed.

 

Naomi crawls away from the radio tower and into the jungle. Jack and Kate pursue, but split up when the trail becomes too faint. Kate finds Naomi dying and tells her that the man who attacked her was not with the main group of survivors. Naomi uses the satellite phone to call George Minkowski, the radio man on the freighter. Before she dies, she tells him that her injury was an accident and to give her love to her sister. Meanwhile, Hurley finds Jacob's cabin. He looks through the window and sees a strange man (whom we recognise as Christian Shepard) in a rocking chair, before someone steps up to the glass, only the left eye visible. Hurley runs away, but finds the cabin again in a different location. He squeezes his eyes shut and when he opens them, the building is gone. Locke appears out of the jungle. He guides him through the woods to the cockpit of Oceanic 815, a convenient nearby landmark.

 

Desmond returns from the Looking Glass to the beach, bearing Charlie's final message that the freighter is not owned by Penny. All of the survivors reunite at 815's cockpit. Jack knocks Locke to the ground, takes his gun and pulls the trigger, but finds that the gun is not loaded because Locke had no intention of killing Jack earlier that day. Hurley tells Claire that Charlie is dead, leaving Claire grief-stricken and upset. Locke tells the castaways that they are in great danger, citing Charlie's last message as proof that the freighter crew mean the survivors harm. Jack disagrees.

 

The thirty-nine survivors of Oceanic 815 present and their newfound allies - Juliet, Karl, Danielle and Alex - choose sides. Hurley, Claire, Danielle, Sawyer, Alex, Karl and four survivors side with Locke and decide to set up a new camp at the Barracks. They take Aaron and Vincent the dog with them. Ben asks to go with Locke's group and Jack agrees. Kate, Juliet, Desmond, Sayid, Jin, Sun, Rose, Bernard and the remaining survivors side with Jack and return to the beach camp.

 

As Jack's team heads back to the beach, he and Kate hear a sound in the distance. Breaking off to investigate they see a second helicopter from the freighter in difficulty and several people bailing out. One of the people lands nearby. He introduces himself as Daniel and tells Jack he is here to help rescue them.                                          

 

Major WTFery: Hurley appears to have been selected for a chat with Jacob, but manages to avoid the cabin. This is a continuation of the oddness of the cabin from Season 3's The Man Behind the Curtain. It appears that this storyline was meant as the original way of revealing Jacob, but was later ditched in favour of the Man in Black/Jacob storyline that gets underway in the Season 5 finale and dominates Season 6. The presence of Christian Shepard in the cabin would seem to suggest that it's actually the Man in Black/Smoke Monster who is there rather than Jacob, but this then begs the question who the person is who steps up to the window (since the Smoke Monster can't be in two places at once, that we've seen).

 

Charlie appearing to Hurley appears to be the show - rather casually - confirming the existence of the afterlife and that it is possible for the dead to talk to the living under certain circumstances. This is confirmed further in the next episode. As this scene takes place off-Island, it appears to genuinely be the dead Charlie and not the Smoke Monster.

 

Hindsight: The splitting of the camps is a fairly pivotal moment in the series, although it is somewhat underplayed in the episode. Notably, this is the very last time that Desmond, Rose and Bernard see the real John Locke. It's also the very last time (chronologically) that Juliet and Ben share any scenes.

 

This episode reveals that only six survivors of Oceanic 815 made it back to the mainland, introducing tension for the first part of the season as viewers both tried to work out what happened to the over thirty-three survivors still alive at this point (and not recruited by the Others or having already escaped, like Michael and Walt). By the end of this episode we know the identities of three members of the Oceanic Six: Jack, Kate and Hurley.

 

This episode marks the first appearance of Matthew Abaddon, who makes several more appearances on the series until his demise in Season 5's The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham. The producers and J.J. Abrams were keen to work with Lance Reddick, having been huge fans of his role as Lt. Daniels on HBO's The Wire. They have previously tried to cast him as Mr. Eko in Season 2, but The Wire was still filming. J.J. Abrams offered him a full-time series regular role on the new TV series he was developing with Fox, Fringe, which necessitated his departure from Lost.

 

Review: Season 4 opens with another busy episode and the decision to focus on Hurley is surprising but works extremely well. Like the rest of the season, this is a busy and fast-moving episode with developments in both the on-Island storyline and the flashforwards being compelling. However, the faster pace of storytelling that the show adopts from now on does mean a reduction in some of the nice character interludes the series did very well in earlier episodes. There is also a certain degree of sloppiness in setting up some story elements, most notably the survivors apparently just happening to come together at the cockpit for a big scene rather than it being pre-planned. Still, this is Lost with the training wheels removed and moving forwards with purpose and vigour, feeling very much like a relaunch for the second half of the series. (****)

 

402: Confirmed Dead

Written by Drew Goddard and Brian K. Vaughan, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 7 February 2008

Survivor Count: 44

Days on Island: 91-92 (21-22 December 2004)

Flashback Characters: Faraday, Charlotte, Miles, Frank and Naomi

 

Flashbacks: Two remotely-operated vehicles (ROV) are exploring the seabed off Indonesia when they come across wreckage and what appears to be luggage strewn over a wide area. Exploring further, they discovered the shattered remains of what appears to be a commercial jetliner sporting an Oceanic Airlines tail insignia. One of the crew piloting the ROVs realises that this must be the remains of Oceanic Flight 815.

 

In Essex, Massachussetts, Daniel Faraday watches the newscast confirming that everyone on the plane is dead and bursts into tears. His caretaker asks what is wrong and Faraday says he doesn't know.

 

Meanwhile, in Inglewood, California, psychic Miles Straume is employed to remove the ghost of her grandson from her home. Miles apparently has genuine powers, talking to the spirit and identifying a secret cache of money and drugs that he covertly steals.

 

In Tunisia, anthropolohist Charlotte Lewis talks her way onto a dig site where a polar bear skeleton has been found, wearing a collar emblazoned with a DHARMA Initiative logo. The archaeologists don't know how a polar bear got into the desert.

 

In Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, washed-up pilot Frank Lapidus watches the discovery of Flight 815 on the news. He calls the Oceanic hotline, telling them that the pilot isn't Seth Norris, the captain of the flight, as Norris religiously wore his wedding ring and the body doesn't have a ring on it. When the helpline operator asks him how he knew this, Frank says that he was originally supposed to be the pilot of Flight 815.

 

Naomi Dorrit confronts her employer, Matthew Abaddon, about the suitability of the experts he has picked for the freighter mission. None have combat experience and she is uncertain about their reliability. Abaddon insists that they are the best people for the job. Naomi asks what to do if they find survivors from Flight 815 but Abaddon calmly tells her that there were no survivors.

 

On the Island: Daniel makes contact with Jack and Kate, telling them that there were four people on the helicopter. He can use the satellite phone to track them down. They quickly locate Miles, but he is extremely hostile and angrily demands that they take him to Naomi's body. Apparently communicating with her spirit (to Jack and Kate's bewilderment), he confirms that she was killed by a rogue agent on the Island, John Locke. They regroup with Sayid and Juliet and make their way to the third survivor, Frank, after he fires off a flare. Frank managed to land his helicopter completely intact and it requires only moderate repairs to take off again. As the group talks, they realise the Juliet is one of the Others, since Frank memorised the passenger manifest and there was no "Juliet Burke" on it. Miles angrily demands to know where Benjamin Linus is, as retrieving Ben is the freighter crew's primary mission.

 

Locke's team finds Charlotte and decide to take her prisoner, attaching her tracking device to Vincent to lure the others off on a false trail. Charlotte is bewildered by her treatment. Ben and others in Locke's group begin to question Locke's motives, with Locke revealing that he is following instructions of Walt, who appeared to him when he was shot. Seeing Frank's flare, Charlotte suggests they investigate and Claire admits that the person may be hurt. Ben suddenly grabs a gun and shoots Charlotte several times, but she survives thanks to a bulletproof vest. An angry Sawyer wants to know why they are bothering to keep Ben alive after this latest treachery. Locke admits they have a point since Ben is unwilling to give them information. He asks "What is the Monster?" When Ben says he doesn't know, Locke concludes that he is of no further value and prepares to shoot him. Ben quickly rattles off Charlotte's name, date of birth and occupation, along with the details of Frank, Miles and Daniel. Locke, bewildered, asks how he could know all of that and Ben tells him that he has a spy on the freighter.

 

Major WTFery: This episode features an aging continuity error. Actress Rebecca Mader was younger than her character of Charlotte Lewis, but blew away the producers so much they cast her anyway. This caused issues on-set when the script gave Lewis's birthday as 2 July 1970, making Lewis 34. Mader, who was 30 when the scene was shot, did not take into account that the episode was set in 2004 and believed that she was being asked to portrary a character seven years older than herself, rather than a less problematic four. Script supervisor Gregg Nations, believing that the producers had simply not adjusted the script after casting a younger actress than originally planned, made a decision to to change the date of birth to 1979 (actually two years younger than Mader herself) in the shooting script.

 

This created a minor issue in Season 5, when it was confirmed that a very young Charlotte was living with the DHARMA Initiative on the Island in 1974. The producers later ruled that the 1979 date was simply wrong and Charlotte's original date of birth of 1970 should stand.

 

In Frank's scene one of the ROVs is shown passing the fake plane wreck closely enough to identify bodies, even to the point of being able to identify if the pilot had has wedding ring or not. It is highly unlikely that footage showing the decomposing remains of underwater bodies would be broadcast on a commercial television news channel in such detail.

 

At one point it is said that the Barracks is due south of the crashed 815 cockpit. This is, of course, highly erroneous. The Barracks are a considerable distance north of the cockpit and beach camp.

 

Hindsight: This episode features flashbacks rather than the flashforwards used for the previous two episodes. However, the structure is slightly unusual. It moves between five separate characters, one of whom is dead, and provides captions identfying the locations of the characters rather than timestamps, which has not been done before on the show.

 

 

This episode confirms that the pilot of Oceanic 815, played by Greg Grunberg and killed in the pilot episode, was named Seth Norris. Grunberg was winning plaudits for his appearance in rival NBC drama Heroes at this time and the mention of Grunberg (a childhood friend of J.J. Abrams) was meant as a tip of the hat to his previous role in Lost.

 

Some Like It Hoth would suggest that Miles required a dead body or ashes to be nearby to allow him to communicate with the dead. In Inglewood, however, there are no such remains. It is possible that a very large concentration of belongings and artifcats belonging to the deceased may suffice instead. In addition, the spirit in that case was tied to a specific location, which was not the case with Naomi.

 

When Locke is asked how he survived getting shot by Ben in The Man Behind the Curtain, he points out that he was shot through the space where his kidney used to be. The bullet went straight through him. If he'd still had that kidney, he'd be dead.

 

The DHARMA polar bear presumably arrived in the Tunisian desert after passing through the "windows" leading from the Island. Both Ben Linus and John Locke would later use the same window to effect their escapes from the Island.

 

Review: The "freighter folk" get one heck of an introduction that pushes forward the storyline and establishes four major new recurring characters. This is done quite well, and it's particularly interesting that our POV mostly stays with the "freighties" throughout the episode, reflecting their bemusement at these crazy Island people. The only flaw is that this episode confirms (after heavy hints in the prior epsiode and in the Season 1 Claire episodes) that there is an afterlife in the Lost universe and ghosts can talk to some members of the living. This is kind of a big deal but is shrugged off fairly off-handedly. (****)

 

403: The Economist

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 14 February 2008

Survivor Count: 44

Days on Island: 92 (22 December 2004)

Flashforwards Character: Sayid

 

Flashforwards: Sayid is a professional assassin, working for parties unknown. He travels to Berlin and courts a German woman, Elsa, in order to get closer to her employer (the eponymous "economist"). After several dates, Sayid turns on Elsa, who reveals herself to be a counter-spy by unexpectedly shooting Sayid in the shoulder. Sayid is able to shoot and kill Elsa. As the episode ends, Sayid is treated for his wound by Ben, who gives him another assignment. Sayid is now wary since they now know that he's after them, to which Ben replies, "Good".
 

On the Island: Jack and Miles argue about what to do about leader of the Others, Ben Linus, and Miles's colleague Charlotte, both sought after by Miles and his colleagues and taken prisoner by Locke. Sayid pays his respects to Naomi Dorrit, and takes her bracelet. He then offers to retrieve Charlotte without bloodshed, in return for a helicopter flight to the freighter. He takes Miles and Kate to the Barracks. Sayid asks Jack not to come with them as he might be unpredictable around Locke.

 

While Sayid is gone, Daniel radios the freighter and asks Regina, a colleague on the boat, to shoot a projectile onto the island. Regina does so, but the projectile does not arrive for thirty minutes. When it lands, Daniel extracts a clock from the payload and finds that the two times, that running on the island and that running outside, are not synchronized. Daniel seems to have been expecting this result, but the size of the disparity (31 minutes and 18 seconds) shocks him.

 

The survivors led by Locke arrive at the location of Jacob's cabin, but find the area deserted and no cabin in sight. Locke and his team head to the Barracks as originally planned, and there use Hurley to lure Sayid, Kate and Miles into a trap. Kate is watched by Sawyer, and they discuss their reasons for wanting or not wanting to go home. Kate, realizing that she would be arrested for her crimes upon rescue, defects to Locke's group. Sayid negotiates with Locke to exchange Charlotte with Miles, in order to get access to the boat. Locke tells him that wouldn't be necessary as Ben has a spy on that freighter, to which Sayid responds that he would rather sell his soul than trust Ben.

 

At the helicopter, Desmond - who has been fetched by Juliet - confronts pilot Frank about the picture Naomi had of him and his ex-fiancé Penny. Frank denies any knowledge of her, but Desmond nevertheless demands a place on a helicopter. At the same time, Sayid returns with Charlotte. While Frank accuses Sayid of being dishonest, he considered Miles a "pain in the ass" and agrees to fly him offshore. Desmond decides to accompany him to find out more about where the picture of Penny came from.

 

Major WTFery: It would seem to be counter-productive to use one of the most famous people in the world (as the next episode suggests the Oceanic Six become) as an assasssin. However, Ben does appear to be working with limited assets.

 

Hindsight: This episode confirms Sayid as the fourth member of the Oceanic Six.

 

In this episode Desmond leaves the Island and does not return until Season 6's The Package.

 

Review: Sayid getting involved in an intense, moody and violent story of double-cross and thwarted passions is nothing new, but Naveen Andrews is such a formidably good actor that it all remains highly compelling and watchable. The back-and-forth between Team Locke and Team Jack has the potential to get a little wearying, but for now the splitting of the survivors is working quite well. Faraday's crazy scientific experiments and his analysis of the weirdness on the Island is also quite amusing. (****)

 

 

404: Eggtown

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Greggory Nations, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 21 February 2008

Survivor Count: 44

Days on Island: 93-94 (23-24 December 2004)

Flashforwards Character: Kate

 

Flashforwards: After leaving the island, Kate has become famous as one of the Oceanic Six but still has to stand trial for murder, escaping from custody and theft. She pleads not guilty. Because Kate is opposed to bringing "her son" into the trial, Jack is called in as a character witness. He lies in his testimony, saying that Flight 815 crashed in the water, eight survived the crash, but two have since died and Kate was primarily responsible for the Oceanic Six's survival. Kate speaks with her mother Diane Janssen for the first time in four years. Diane is no longer angry at Kate because her perspective changed when she thought that Kate had died in the plane crash. When Diane, the prosecution's star witness, no longer wants to testify against her daughter, the District Attorney makes a plea deal: Kate gets ten years probation, but must stay in the state of California. Jack meets Kate in the parking garage. He admits that he still loves her (in contrast to his false testimony under oath on her behalf) and asks to go out for coffee with her. Kate responds that they cannot go out until he is willing to visit her baby. It is then revealed that Kate is raising Claire's son Aaron as her own.

 

On the Island: Locke is keeping Ben prisoner in the basement of the house that he has claimed in the Barracks. He prepares breakfast for him, including the two remaining eggs which he fries along with some fresh melon, but Ben taunts him and Locke becomes frustrated. Kate cuts a deal with Locke's prisoner Miles: he will tell her what he knows about her if he can speak to Ben for a minute. Miles wants to extort $3.2 million from Ben and in return, Miles promises to lie to his employer claiming Ben is dead. Miles gives Ben a week to produce the cash. Before Locke finds them, Miles reveals that he knows all about Kate's past. Locke banishes Kate from the Barracks and goes to a lake house where Miles is being held captive. Locke puts a grenade in Miles's mouth so that if he ceases to bite, he will die. Kate sleeps with Sawyer but does not have sex with him. Before Kate leaves for the camp at the beach, she slaps Sawyer across the face after he suggests that she is just pretending to be mad as an excuse to go back to Jack and continue their love triangle.

 

Meanwhile, Jack returns to the survivors' beach camp with Juliet and newcomers Daniel Faraday and Charlotte Lewis. Jack and Juliet grow increasingly uneasy over a series of unsuccessful attempts to contact the freighter by satellite phone and verify that Desmond, Sayid and Frank, who departed for the freighter by helicopter the previous evening, have arrived safely. That evening, as Charlotte tests Daniel's memory using playing cards (Daniel successfully remembers two out of three cards, and Charlotte remarks that this is "progress"), Jack and Juliet ask if there is another phone number they could try. Charlotte dials an emergency number and speaks to Regina, who reports that the helicopter never arrived.

 

Major WTFery: Although not impossible, Kate's story about being pregnant when Flight 815 crashed seems a little far-fetched. However, with testimony from four eyewitness to Kate giving birth to Aaron (Hurley, Jack, Sayid and Sun), this may have been enough to forego a DNA test.

 

Adam, one of the Others, seems to suggest in A Tale of Two Cities that Ben does not like science fiction. However, in this episode he is seen reading and enjoying Philip K. Dick's novel VALIS. It may be that Adam was projecting his own dislike of SF onto Ben, his idol, or that neither consider Dick's work to be science fiction.

 

Claire offers Kate the chance to hold Aaron, briefly freaking Kate out. It seems unlikely that Kate has gone 51 days without ever holding the baby that she herself helped deliver.

 

Kate's trial is somewhat bafflingly handled. The plea bargains and her mother's testimony would be relevant only to her murder of her stepfather, but the bank robbery and the resulting deaths would have been a separate charge which would have been almost impossible for her to avoid.

 

At the trial Jack says that Oceanic 815 crashed in the South Pacific, but as part of the cover story it would have been in the Indian Ocean.

 

Hindsight: This episode suggests that Aaron was the fifth member of the Oceanic Six, although at the time there was some discussion over this as Aaron was not born until after the crash, so potentiallly two members of the Six remain unidentified. The episode Ji Yeon plays on this uncertainty.

 

This episode establishes the Oceanic Six's cover story: the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean near Bali and Sumba after going massively off-course. There were initially eight survivors in the water, but two died subsequent to the crash. Kate Austen, who was then pregnant, was instrumental in tending to the others' wounds. They managed to get a small uninhabited island and managed to survive for several months whilst constructing a raft. Kate gave birth to Aaron in this time. They then paddled to Sumba and rescue.

 

Of course, at this point the reasons why the Six are lying about the situation and the fates of everyone else (Sawyer, Jin, Claire, Locke, Juliet, Desmond, etc) remain unknown.

 

Review: The trial of Kate Austen is something I think most fans just assumed we'd never see. It's ridiculously implausible that Kate would escape jail time or a mandatory DNA test to confirm she is Aaron's mother, but if you blink a lot it's just about excusable to keep the story moving. (***½).

 

405: The Constant

Written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 28 February 2008

Survivor Count: 44

Days on Island: 94 (24 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Desmond

 

Now and Then: Desmond, Sayid and Lapidus experience turbulence while flying the 130 kilometers (about 80 miles) distance from the island where they were stranded to Lapidus' team's freighter, the Kahana. Desmond's consciousness travels back eight years to 1996, when he is serving with the British Army's Royal Scots Regiment. Moments later, when his consciousness returns to the present day, he neither knows where he is nor recognizes his companions, and has no memory of his life since 1996. After the helicopter lands, Desmond continues to jump between 1996 and 2004. He is taken to the sick bay, where a man named Minkowski is strapped to a bed because he is experiencing similar problems. Minkowski explains that someone sabotaged the radio room two days earlier and that Desmond's ex-girlfriend Penny Widmore has been trying to contact the freighter. Sayid uses the satellite phone to contact Jack on the island and explains that Desmond appears to have amnesia. Daniel, a physicist from the freighter, asks Jack whether Desmond has recently been exposed to a high level of radiation or electromagnetism. Jack is unsure, and so Daniel speaks to Desmond and asks him about his situation. Desmond responds that he believes that he is in 1996 and is serving with the Royal Scots. Faraday understands and tells Desmond that when he returns to 1996, he needs to go to the physics department of Queen's College, Oxford University in England to meet with Daniel's past self, and gives Desmond some mechanical settings to relay, along with an extra phrase that Daniel assures him will convince Daniel's past self that the story is legitimate.

 

Desmond's flashbacks become more frequent and longer. In 1996, Desmond tracks down a younger Faraday at Oxford, who takes Desmond into his laboratory where he is experimenting with a time machine. Setting his electromagnetic device with the settings that Desmond has given him, Daniel places his laboratory rat, Eloise, in a maze and exposes her to electromagnetic energy. The rat appears to become comatose, then awakens and runs the maze. Daniel becomes excited because he had just built the maze and had not yet taught Eloise how to run it. Desmond realizes that, like the rat, he is caught in a time warp that is moving his consciousness between two different bodies at two different points in time and space. Eloise dies of a suspected brain aneurysm brought on by the exposure to the time lapse. Desmond becomes worried that he will die like Eloise, and Daniel instructs him to find something or someone—a constant—who is present in both times and can serve as an anchor for Desmond's mental stability. Desmond decides that Penny can be the constant; however, he must make contact with her in 2004. To find out where she lives, Desmond gets her address from her father Charles, who is at an auction buying a journal owned by Tovard Hanso written by a crew member of the 19th century ship called the Black Rock.

 

In 1996, Desmond finds Penny, who is still distraught over their break-up and is not willing to see him. However, he gets her telephone number and tells her not to change it because he will call her on Christmas Eve 2004. In 2004, Sayid, Desmond, and Minkowski escape the sick bay and begin to repair the broken communications equipment. Meanwhile, Minkowski enters into another flashback, and dies. Showing signs of suffering the same fate as Minkowski, Desmond telephones Penny, who tells Desmond that she has been searching for him for the past three years and that she knows about the Island. They reconcile before the power is cut off. Having made contact with his "constant", Desmond stops alternating between 1996 and 2004. Back on the island, Daniel flips through his journal and discovers a note that he had written, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant."

 

Major WTFery: This episode suggests that the Black Rock departed Portsmouth, England on 22 March 1845 on a trading mission to Siam (Thailand). It was lost on this mission. However, Season 6's Ab Aeterno confirms that the boat was instead lost in 1867. The discrepancy was never solved on the show, but it was likely a result of the producers realising that dynamite was not invented until the mid-1860s and changing the date to explain how the ship had so much dynamite on board.

 

Hindsight: The Constant may be the most atypical episode of Lost ever made. This is the only episode which - arguably - features no flashbacks or flashforwards at all. Instead we remain with Desmond's POV as it moves bath and forth in time, experiencing the events linearly (even when they involve time travel). This episode also has the fewest number of main characters to appear in it, with just Jack and Sayid appearing in it from the Season 1 cast.

 

The episode is notable for maintaining its focus almost entirely on Desmond for the entire episode (the exception being the beach scene, but even this is connected to Desmond through his telephone call). 

 

This episode can be seen as a direct sequel to Flashes Before Your Eyes, and features a nod at that episode with Daniel's rat Eloise being named after Eloise Hawkwing (whom later episodes would establish is Daniel's mother).

 

Tovard Hanso sold the Black Rock ledger. According to the DVD commentary, Tovard is a distant relative of Alvar Hanso, the founder of the Hanso Foundation and, like him, is a descendant of Magnus Hanso, the captain of the Black Rock.

 

This episode introduces additional members of the freighter's crew, including Martin Keamy, Omar and Dr. Ray. It also confirms that the freighter is called the Kahana.

 

Desmond's time-skipping was inspired by All Good Things, the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which likewise sees Captain Picard's consciousness moving backwards and forwards in time.

 

Review: This is widely-cited as the best-ever episode of Lost and its hard to argue with that assertion. The key to the episode's success is its focus, clarity (despite dealing with a complex narrative) and the fact that it's science-fictional elements are told through a very human and emotional story about Desmond and Penny's need to reconnect. The result is a very powerful and human story that also furthers the background mythology, is impeccably directed and builds up to a pitch-perfect finale. (*****)

 

406: The Other Woman

Written by Drew Goddard and Christina M. Kim, directed by Eric Laneuville

Airdate: 6 March 2008

Survivor Count: 44

Days on Island: 94-95 (24-25 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Juliet

 

Flashback: Following her arrival on the Island in September 2001, Juliet starts adjusting to life there. Juliet has an affair with Goodwin, who is married to therapist Harper Stanhope. Harper discovers the affair, and warns Juliet that their leader Ben will punish Goodwin because he has a crush on Juliet. Following the crash of Flight 815, Ben sends Goodwind to infiltrate the tail section group. He is killed by Ana Lucia after she realizes he is not a survivor. In October 2004, Ben invites Juliet to what he initially describes as a dinner party, but is actually a private date. Ben leads Juliet to Goodwin's impaled corpse, where she accuses him of having wanted Goodwin to die. Ben then subsequently reveals his love for her.

 

On the Island: Daniel and Charlotte leave the beach camp, sneaking off. Juliet and Jack notice their absence from the camp and pursue them. After hearing the whispers, Harper approaches Juliet. She tells her that Daniel and Charlotte intend to kill everyone on the island by deploying a lethal gas at the Tempest Station and that Ben's orders are for Juliet to kill them. On a trek back to the beach in the morning, Kate encounters Daniel and Charlotte and is knocked unconscious by the latter. Jack and Juliet come across Kate and they split up: Juliet continues for the Tempest alone, as Jack looks after Kate. Inside the station, Juliet finds Daniel in a hazmat suit at a computer. After a standoff, Daniel and Charlotte convince Juliet that they are not going to kill anyone; they are neutralizing the gas in case Ben decides to use it again, as he had sixteen years earlier during the Purge. Jack arrives at the Tempest and Juliet explains that those on the freighter came to the island to wage war against Ben and she expects him to win. She fears for Jack because Ben thinks that she belongs to him, but Jack shows no concern and kisses her.

 

In the Barracks, Ben bargains with Locke for his freedom. Ben explains that Charles Widmore, a rich industrialist and the father of Penny, owns the freighter and has been searching for it for years. Widmore hopes to exploit the Island but needs to kill everyone living there first. Ben also tells Locke who his spy on the freighter is in return for being granted parole and limited freedom. Sawyer and Hurley later watch, shocked, as Ben moves back into his house and is given his liberty by Locke. 

 

Major WTFery: This episode features the crash of Oceanic 815 as seen by Juliet in A Tale of Two Cities. However, the scene is re-edited so that Harper is present and significant glances are exchanged between Juliet, Harper and Goodwin. These changes are rather unconvincing, it has to be said.

 

Presumably to save having to pay an appearance fee, Ethan Rom does not appear in the flashbacks despite being present.

 

Harper's sudden appearance and disappearance in the jungle is reminiscent of the first two seasons, when the Others had an apparently supernatural ability to move through the jungle without detection. No explanation is given for this. Harper's fate is also unknown, as she never appears on the show again. It is probable that she died in the Temple massacre in the episode Sundown.

 

Hindsight: Ben's claim that he doesn't know how Widmore knows about the Island is, of course, a lie. Charles Widmore was the previous leader of the Others, but Ben usurped him after exposing the double life he had been leading in the outside world for decades (including having a relationship with a woman off the Island, having a daughter and building up a business empire) and banishing him. Widmore has since been searching for a way to get back to the Island and take his vengeance on Ben.

 

The relationshp between Ben and Widmore is explored in much greater detail in later episodes and seasons.

 

This episode is a straightforward flashback, but the opening scene makes it appear that it could be a flashforwards with Juliet seeking counselling and being told that she is a "celebrity". Of course, since she was never on Oceanic 815 in the first place, Juliet could never be a member of the Oceanic Six.

 

Review: This episode feels a little redundant, since we already knew that Ben had a creepy obsession with Juliet and that Juliet was having a relationship with Goodwin. The revelation of yet another DHARMA station a couple of hours from the main camp that the survivors have somehow missed in three and a half months of exploration is also rather less than convincing. That said, there's some nice performances and it's good to get confirmation that the central conflict of the series - at least at this point - is between Widmore and Ben. (***)

 

407: Ji Yeon

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Stephen Semel

Airdate: 13 March 2008

Survivor Count: 44

Days on Island: 95-96 (25-26 December 2004)

Flash Characters: Sun and Jin

 

Flashes: Jin rushes to a hospital while Sun, now enormously pregnant, goes into labour. Jin's journey to the hospital is marred by several unfortunate incidents, including difficulty in purchasing a stuffed panda and his cell phone being broken. Sun gives birth to a girl, who she names "Ji Yeon", the name chosen by Jin. However, it is revealed that Jin's story is set in the past, two months into his marriage to Sun. He was rushing to the birth of a Chinese ambassador's grandchild to deliver the panda as a gift on behalf of his employer, Mr. Paik. In the final flashforward, Sun and her daughter are visited by Hurley, who takes her to pay her respects to Jin. His memorial tombstone indicates that he died on the day of the crash of Oceanic 815.

 

On the Island: Sun becomes increasingly worried about the intentions of Kahana crew. Despite Juliet's warning to Sun that women who conceive on the Island die during their second trimester, Sun arranges to defect with Jin to the rival faction led by Locke, who does not want to leave the Island. Juliet tries to stop Sun from leaving by telling Jin that Sun had an affair, causing him to angrily back out of the journey at the last minute. After having a heartfelt conversation while fishing with Bernard, the only other married man on the island, he forgives Sun, who assures him that the baby is his.

 

On the Freighter: On the Kahana, Desmond and Sayid are still waiting to speak to the captain of the freighter, Gault. Frank Lapidus gives them food before departing with the helicopter and several other crewmen. When Desmond and Sayid are taken to see the captain, a crewwoman named Regina jumps off the side of the ship, having wrapped herself in chains. Gault shockingly dismisses this as "a heightened case of cabin fever", and asserts that losing her is better than losing several more in saving her. He says that he is employed by Charles Widmore, Desmond's girlfriend's father and tells them that Benjamin Linus faked the plane crash by expending tremendous resources in the process and procured 324 dead bodies to make everybody believe that all the passengers were dead. Gault proceeds by saying that is one of the reasons why Mr. Widmore is keen on finding Benjamin Linus and the Island. After their meeting, Desmond and Sayid are relocated to a different part of the ship, where they meet Michael Dawson working as a deckhand under the alias "Kevin Johnson".

 

Major WTFery: This episode and the previous one take place on Christmas and Boxing Day 2004. Although Sayid mentions in The Constant that is nearly Christmas, no-one else remarks on the dates. Admittedly, there is rather a lot going on.

 

Hindsight: Although the full list wouldn't be confirmed until the Season 4 finale, this episode indicates that Sun is the sixth and final member of the Oceanic Six (after Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid and Aaron). It also confirms that Jin is not a member of the Six, and that Hurley and Sun believe that he is dead.

 

Hurley flies to South Korea without issue or warning to see Sun, suggesting that he regained his fortune after leaving the Island.

 

This is the only episode of Lost which employs two different secondary narrative tricks: prevous episodes had been 100% flashforwards or flashbacks. This is the only one that mixes a flashback narrative with a flashforward one.

 

This episode also reverses the trick from the Season 3 finale, where what appear to be Jack flashbacks turn out to be flashforwards. In this episode, Jin's story is presented as a flashforward but turns out to be a flashback.

 

The flashforwards in this episode appears to take place about seven months into the future, around July or August 2005, when Ji Yeon is born. 

 

Jin has taken possession of Karl and Alex's outrigger and has been using it to fish in deeper waters offshore.

 

This episode establishes that, in 2004, Jin is 30 years old and Sun is 24.

 

Review: Sun and Jin episodes are always good value and this one continues in that vein, with Jin's storyline being quite funny ("I need the panda!"). Some people loathe the twist in this episode, feeling that it is manipulative, but I thought it was both clever and worked really well, setting up the possibility that Jin may be killed during the course of the season. (****)

 

408: Meet Kevin Johnson

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Brian K. Vaughan, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 20 March 2008

Survivor Count: 44

Days on Island: 96-97 (26-27 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Michael

 

On the Freighter: Captain Gault stops two crewmembers from deserting the freighter in a raft. He publicly beats them and shouts that this is to save their lives, reminding the crew of what happened to George Minkowski when he left the boat. The next morning, Sayid confronts Michael and demands to know what is going on. Michael, reluctantly, agrees to tell his story.

 

Flashback: Michael and his son Walt Lloyd return to New York. Overcome with guilt, Michael confesses that he murdered Ana Lucia and Libby as part of his rescue of Walt from the Others' captivity. Michael becomes estranged from Walt, who goes to live with Michael's mother. Michael is haunted by apparitions and nightmares of the late Libby. Michael attempts to kill himself in a car crash, but fails. He sells the watch that Jin gave him in the first season finale and buys a gun for another suicide attempt, but this, too, is unsuccessful because the gun jams. That night, Michael is confronted by Tom, the Other who abducted Walt. Tom explains that the Island will not allow Michael to kill himself, and gives Michael an assignment: Michael must infiltrate the freighter Kahana using the pseudonym "Kevin Johnson" and kill everyone on board, as they will try to kill his fellow crash survivors. Michael agrees to do it and boards the freighter at Fiji. Michael becomes acquainted with the crew and hesitates to sabotage their mission until he finds Martin Keamy and his associates target-practicing with machine guns. After Michael tries to detonate a bomb provided by the Others only to discover that it is a fake, Ben contacts Michael by radio and explains that the trick illustrated his stance against killing innocent people in his war against Widmore.

 

On the Freighter: Sayid, appalled by Michael's association with Ben, exposes his duplicity to Gault.

 

On the Island: At the Barracks Locke meets with the rest of his group to discuss the situation. Ben reveals that Michael is spying for him on the freighter. Ben later urges his adopted daughter Alex to flee to the Others' sanctuary at the "Temple" for safety. Alex agrees and departs, accompanied by Danielle and Karl. On their way, Karl and Rousseau are shot dead by hidden assailants and Alex surrenders, loudly proclaiming that Ben is her father.

 

Major WTFery: The timeline for Michael's escape, return to New York, estrangement from Walt and his return to the Island seems very tight. They escaped on Day 68 (28 November) and on Day 82 Ben and Tom led an exodus of the Others from the Barracks, beginning a continuous stream of story that ended with Tom's death on Day 91. The only window for Tom's trip to New York is in fact between Days 74 and 80.

 

When Walt appears in the window, it appears to be a different actor playing the role. Weirdly, the producers later said that Season 1 footage of Malcolm David Kelley was used to digitally create the image, but this does not appear to be the case at all. Kelley himself said that make-up was used to make him appear younger, but it was not tremendously effective so was used only for a fleeting glimpse. It is possible that the production team considered using a digital solution but were unable to find suitable footage. Whatever the truth of the situation, Kelley is not credited for this episode.

 

There were two helicopters on the Kahana, the one crashed and destroyed by Naomi and the one later used by Frank to shuttle back and forth. However, only one helicopter is seen on the freighter before its arrival at the Island.

 

Hindsight: This episode marks the last appearance of M.C. Gainey as Tom Friendly on the show. It also marks the last appearance of Mira Furlan until Season 6's What They Died For. The 1988 version of Danielle would reappear in Season 5, played by a different actress.

 

Contrary to rumours that Furlan asked to be written off the show due to "island fever" (a term used by Lost cast and crew to refer to the isolation of living so far from friends and family for a large chunk of the year), Furlan had instead hoped to explore her character in greater depth after being reunited with Alex and was disappointed that she was killed off so quickly.

 

This episode confirms that it was Michael's choice to killed Ana Lucia to rescue Ben. He was not ordered to do so by the Others.

 

Review: Michael's flashback is interesting, if a little too predictable, but it's good to see the story stepping up a notch. The last-minute killing of Danielle, a relatively major recurring character since Season 1, is shockingly effective. This is another episode when Lost unleashes its ruthless side and does it very effectively. (****)

[RumHam]

2 hours ago, Werthead said:

Harper's sudden appearance and disappearance in the jungle is reminiscent of the first two seasons, when the Others had an apparently supernatural ability to move through the jungle without detection. No explanation is given for this. Harper's fate is also unknown, as she never appears on the show again. It is probable that she died in the Temple massacre in the episode Sundown.

Or maybe she died before this episode, and it's the smoke monster? 

I think Eggtown is one of the low points of the series. In addition to the issues you mentioned, contriving to have the prosecutor ask Jack if he loved Kate under oath is one of the more soap-opery things the show ever did. 

[Werthead]

409: The Shape of Things to Come

Written by Brian K. Vaughan and Drew Goddard, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 24 April 2008

Survivor Count: 44

Days on Island: 97 (27 December 2004)

Flashforwards Character: Ben

On the Island: At the beach camp, the corpse of Ray, the freighter's doctor, washes ashore. Faraday calls the freighter and asks what happened to Ray via morse code. Daniel lies about the response, saying that rescue helicopters will be sent soon; however, Bernard (who knows morse code) correctly interprets the freighter's message: "What are you talking about? The doctor is fine." Jack, who suffers from stomach pains throughout the day, forces Daniel to reveal that it was never their intention to rescue the survivors.

Meanwhile, Alex is captured by Keamy and the other mercenaries from the freighter. As they take her to the Barracks, they force her to deactivate the sonic fence. As she does so, she deliberately triggers an alert ("Code 14J") in the Barracks. Hearing the alarm, Ben encourages everyone to take shelter and tool up. Ben, Locke, and Hurley fortify Ben's house, while Sawyer goes to warn the other survivors. The mercenaries launch their attack, shooting dead four of the other 815 survivors and then firing a rocket at Claire's house, destroying it. Sawyer returns fire and is able to save Claire, taking her back to Ben's house. Keamy finds and frees Miles, giving him a walkie-talkie to take to Ben. Keamy threatens to kill Alex if Ben does not surrender. Ben attempts to negotiate, explaining that Alex is not his daughter and he stole her from a madwoman when she was a baby. Keamy is unimpressed and coldly executes Alex with a single shot to the head, leaving her body in the sun. Ben is shocked into speechlessness for several seconds before revealing a secret chamber in the house. He locks himself inside for several minutes before emerging covered in soot. He warns the others they are going to have to flee. When the chaos starts they have to run and not come back. The bafflement of the others is resolved moments later when the Smoke Monster arrives in full force and tears through Keamy's squad, who open fire on it to no effect whilst it kills several of them and wounds others. The survivors flee for the forest, with Ben lingering briefly to grieve over Alex's body. Afterward, Ben and Locke decide to try to find Jacob and request his help. Sawyer, Hurley, Claire and Aaron decide to return to the beach with Miles, but Locke holds them at gunpoint, demanding that Hurley goes with him to help them find Jacob's cabin. After a brief stand-off, Hurley agrees.

Flashforwards: Ben Linus wakes up to find himself on the fringes of the Sahara Desert, in Tunisia. He is wearing a winter jacket and has a large cut on his arm. He is challenged by two armed locals on horseback, but kills one of them and knocks the other unconscious. He steals one of the horses and travels overland to Tozeur. Checking into a hotel, he learns that the date is 24 October 2005. He hears the name "Sayid" and sees a news report about one of the famous Oceanic Six, whose wife has died recently. In the report Sayid asks to be left alone to bury his wife in peace.

Ben travels to Tikrit in Iraq and sees Sayid bearing his wife's coffin. Ben takes some pictures of Sayid and a man who is watching the procession. Sayid spots Ben and overpowers him, demanding to know what he is doing there. Sayid tells him that Nadia was killed by a man named Ishmael Bakir on the orders of Charles Widmore. Ben lures Bakir into a trap and Sayid executes Bakir. Ben goes to leave and Sayid demands to know what he is supposed to do now. Ben suggests that he lives his life, but Sayid tells him that his life was Nadia, and is now gone. Ben says there are more people to eliminate before they can tackle Widmore and Sayid asks "Who's next?" Ben tells him he'll be in touch.

Ben arrives in London and enters a high-class apartment block. He breaks into the penthouse, which belongs to Charles Widmore. Widmore wakes up, apparently unconcerned by Ben's presence. He asks if Ben is going to kill him and Ben tells him of course not, as that is not allowed for by "the rules". He asks Charles when he started sleeping with a bottle of scotch next to the bed and Widmore replies "Since the nightmares started." They trade verbal blows, with Ben vowing to kill Widmore's daughter Penny in retribution for Alex's death. Widmore is furious, telling him that it was Ben himself who got "that poor girl" killed. He also says that Ben will never find Penny. As Ben leaves, acknowledging that a new game is being played, Widmore tells him that the Island belongs to him and that he will take it back. Ben replies that he will never find it.

Major WTFery: The mysterious room that summons the Smoke Monster is cool and all, but seems out of keeping with Seasons 5 and 6 which establish the Monster is actually a person with his own volition. Ben even acknowledges this, suggsting that the summoning room did nothing and it was all part of the Man in Black's manipulations.

 

It's traditional for heroes to be more capable of dodging gunfire than extras, but the pinpoint, precision sniping of three 815 survivors by the mercs (after killing Danielle and Karl the same way) followed by them being unable to hit Sawyer (using famously bullet-resistant cover like wooden poles) is more than slightly unconvincing.

 

The hotel receptionist in Tunisia is wearing the hijab. However, Tunisia banned the hijab in 1981 and only partially rescinded the ban in 2011. It would have still been illegal in 2005.

 

Hindsight: The triggering of the alert initially appears to be a continuity error, as no such alarm sounded in Season 3 when Team Locke breached the fence with Mikhail or Juliet later shut it down. However, Ben's dialogue suggests that the alarm has to be triggered manually and is not an automatic result of the fence going off or being shut down.

 

Ben initially appears to be genuinely trying to dissuade Sayid from joining his war. As he walks off he is seen smiling, suggesting that he manipulated the entire situation for his advantage. A fan theory that Ben arranged Nadia's death seems to be impossible, however: Ben disappeared from the Island and reappeared ten months later from the outside world's POV, but only moments from his own. Nadia was already dead at this time, so it appears (for once) that Ben is telling the truth.

 

Three of the background survivors are seen being killed, when four joined Team Locke earlier in the season. The other survivor never shows up again, so they are counted as being killed off-screen in this episode.

 

The final scene of the episode is set in London. All previous London scenes had been filmed in Hawaii, with some scenery redressing, greenscreen backdrops and the use of right-hand drive cars. However, this episode and the Season 4 finale are genuinely filmed in London. This is because Alan Dale was on stage there in Spamalot! and it wasn't possible to fly him out to Hawaii and back again in time for the shoot, so the filming crew and actors Michael Emerson and Yunjin Kim were flown out instead. This is actually the first time that Lost ever filmed outside the United States: every other scene had been filmed in Hawaii, aside from the plane crash set which was located in Los Angeles.

 

Ben and Charles being unable to kill one another (even indirectly) is a rule put in place by Jacob, echoing the rules established between Jacob and the Man in the Black.

 

Review: The Shape of Things to Come is one of Lost's finest hours. It's in some respects its bleakest and most brutal, with everything going Die Hard as the mercs attack the Barracks only to be torn apart by the Smoke Monster. Alex's death is cold, shocking and startling. Michael Emeron's expression stands in for the audience at the offhand manner of her death and his coldly-concealed retaliation will make you - very briefly - completely side with Ben. This empathy extends right up to the end when Ben vows to get even with Widmore - yeah! - by killing his daughter, Penny, whom we all like. This is a terrific episode, probably Lost's most action-packed and most thrilling (*****).

 

410: Something Nice Back Home

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 1 May 2008

Survivor Count: 40 (four minor characters were killed during the mercenary raid on the Barracks in the prior episode)

Days on Island: 98-99 (28-29 December 2004)

Flashforwards Character: Jack

 

Flashforwards: Jack has returned to work as a doctor in Los Angeles. He is engaged to Kate and lives with her while helping to raise Aaron. Jack visits Hurley, who is still in the mental institution. Hurley has not been taking his medication and has been suffering from hallucinations of his deceased friend, Charlie. He believes that the Oceanic Six have died and gone to heaven. Hurley gives Jack a message from Charlie: "You're not supposed to raise him." Charlie has also told Hurley that Jack will be receiving a visitor. On two separate occasions, Jack sees his father walking around. Concerned, Jack asks his colleague to prescribe him the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam. After overhearing a phone call, Jack becomes suspicious of Kate. The next night, a heated argument ensues, in which she reveals that she is doing an errand for Sawyer, who Jack says is on the Island by choice. Kate says the matter has nothing at all to do with Jack and she can't reveal the secret to him, infuriating Jack. Aaron walks into the room as Jack blurts out that Kate and Aaron are not related. Jack leaves and Kate bursts into tears.

On the Island: After feeling ill for a day, Jack faints. Juliet diagnoses him with appendicitis and deems an appendectomy necessary. She sends Sun to get medical supplies from the Staff Station. Sun is accompanied by Jin, Faraday and Charlotte; the latter pair are increasingly distrusted by the survivors. Jin realizes that Charlotte is fluent in Korean and confronts her after their successful trip, threatening to hurt Daniel if she continues to lie about her agenda and does not get Sun off the island. Charlotte agrees. Jack convinces Juliet to allow him to remain awake during the surgery, with Kate holding a mirror, so that he can see and direct the surgery. As Juliet operates, Jack's consciousness proves to be a detriment and her nurse - Bernard - knocks him out with chloroform. The appendectomy is a success; afterwards, Juliet tells Kate that Jack really does love Kate and not Juliet.

In the jungle Sawyer gives Miles a "restraining order" to keep him away from Claire as they travel to the survivors' beach camp with Aaron. On their way, Miles discovers the partially buried bodies of Danielle Rousseau and Karl. They encounter Frank Lapidus, who saves their lives by instructing them to hide from Keamy and the other mercenaries, who, following their defeat by the Monster, are on their way back to the helicopter to return to the freighter. At night, Miles watches Claire as she leaves with her deceased father, Christian. Sawyer awakes the next morning to find Aaron alone at the foot of a tree and calls out for Claire with no response.

Major WTFery: Since Smokey is trapped on the Island, it must be the "real" undead Christian that Jack glimpses in this episode, although since he doesn't say anything it's hard to tell.

 

Hindsight: Kate is fulfilling her promise to Sawyer (given in the Season 4 finale) to find his daughter, Clementine, and make sure she is provided for.

 

The vitriolic way Jack says that Kate and Aaron are not even related suggests that he may be aware that he is. This is confirmed in the Season 4 finale, when Claire's mother tells Jack that he is Claire half-brother.

 

Review: This is a clever episode, showing what many fans were hoping for from the ending of the series: Jack and Kate playing homemaker together after their rescue. Of course, things aren't as simple as that and it isn't long before everything gets torn down. It makes for a tragic, heartfelt storyline that works quite well. The on-Island stuff is entertaining - Jack trying to talk the others through an appendectomy on him basically takes the mickey out of every medical drama ever - but Claire's abrupt departure feels very random at this stage. (****)

 

411: Cabin Fever

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Kyle Pennington, directed by Paul Edwards

Airdate: 8 May 2008

Survivor Count: 40

Days on Island: 98-99 (28-29 December 2004)

Flashback Character: Locke

 

Flashback: In 1956, sixteen-year-old Emily Locke is preparing for a date with a man twice her age (who has gotten her pregnant, which she refuses to tell her mother about). Emily's mother tries to stop her from going out, but Emily escapes and is struck by a car. The trauma triggers the premature birth of John. Locke's life is monitored by Richard Alpert, who at John's birth and throughout his childhood looks the same age as he does in present day. Alpert twice tries to recruit Locke to the Others, the first when he is a child (under the pretense of going to a special school for gifted children) and the second when he is at school, when he is invited to take part in a science camp run by a company called Mittelos. The first time, Richard judges that Locke is not old enough and the second Locke rejects the proposal, angrily saying that he likes sports and hunting and isn't a geek. Much later, whilst recovering from his broken back, Locke is looked after briefly by a new orderly, Matthew Abaddon, who tells him about his spiritual transformation as a result of going on an Australian walkabout. Locke finds the idea initially ludicrous, but then intriguing.

On the Freighter: The mercenary team led by Keamy returns from its unsuccessful attack on the Barracks. Enraged that his mission was unsuccessful and several of his colleagues were killed, he accuses Captain Gault of giving him up to Ben, but Gault tells Keamy that Michael is the actual spy. Keamy tries to kill Michael by shooting him, but the gun jams (as it did when Michael tried to kill himself back in New York). Gault then tells Keamy that Michael is vital to repairing the engines, because he is the one that sabotaged them initially. Sayid, fearing Keamy's intentions, uses a Zodiac boat to return to the island, hoping to save as many people as possible. Desmond refuses to accompany him, saying that he could never return to the island after he left.

Several hours after Sayid leaves, Keamy stages a mutiny. A soldier receives a message from the island saying they found the body of the doctor, but the doctor protests that it's impossible since he's alive on the boat. Keamy orders Frank Lapidus at gunpoint to prepare the freighter's helicopter; Lapidus refuses, and Keamy kills the doctor and Gault in response. Lapidus acquiesces and Keamy leaves the freighter with a group of mercenaries, intending to "torch the Island". When the helicopter passes over the survivors' beach camp, Frank drops a bag containing a satellite phone onto the beach, allowing Jack and the other survivors to track the helicopter team.

On the Island: Locke, Hurley and Ben are attempting to find the cabin inhabited by Jacob, the de facto leader of the Others. They are initially unsuccessful, but an apparition of deceased DHARMA Initiative member Horace Goodspeed assists Locke by pointing him to the Initiative's mass grave. There, Locke extracts a set of blueprints from Horace's jacket, and uses it to locate the cabin. Locke enters the cabin alone and meets the figure of the deceased Christian Shepherd (who only identifies himself as "Christian"), who claims he is speaking on Jacob's behalf. Claire is also hanging out in the cabin, but tells Locke it's okay and she's "with him". Christian warns Locke that Keamy's mercenaries from the Kahana are already en route to the Island, and that the Island must be moved.

 

Major WTFery: Horace says he's been dead for twelve years, suggesting that the Purge took place in 1992. However, other episodes and the official Lost Encyclopedia published after the show finished all firmly date the Purge to 1988, sixteen years earlier. Ghost Horace was probably temporally confused by the whole ghost thing.

 

If Cooper was twice Emily's age (16) in 1956, that would have made him 32, born in 1924. This would make him 80 in 2004, when he was killed on the Island by Sawyer. Actor Kevin Tighe was actually born in 1944, making him 20 years younger than the character he was playing (and only eight years older than Terry O'Quinn). 

 

Gault tells Sayid to follow a bearing of 305 degrees to return to the Island. However, this was the bearing used to reach the freighter. To reverse the bearing back to the Island, Sayid should follow a bearing of 125 degrees. Season 1 established that the Island's magnetic field messes around compass bearings so some variance is possible, but not a full reversal of direction.

 

This episode confirms beyond any doubt that Richard Alpert does not age and also that the Others have been monitoring Locke his whole life, aware that he is special. Season 5 answers - rather more speedily than might be expected - why: Locke time-travelled to the Island in 1954 (two years before his birth) and gave a ton of information to Richard that resulted in Richard monitoring Locke's progress forward from that point.

 

Hindsight: This is the only episode of the fourth season and the last-ever episode of the show to exclusively feature pre-crash flashbacks of an Oceanic 815 survivor. In that sense, this may be regarded as the last episode of Lost to use the storytelling structure that was traditional for the first three seasons.

 

Nestor Carbonell was cast as a regular on a CBS show called Crane between Lost's third and fourth seasons. The Lost team hoped to work out a deal to use him intermittently, but CBS were unwilling to let him appear on a show on a rival network. Initially they feared they'd have to write the character out of the show off-screen. However, Crane was cancelled during the 2007-08 Writer's Strike, allowing him to return to Lost for the end of Season 4. The producers gave Alpert a larger role in Seasons 5 and 6 (culminating in his own flashback episode in Season 6) to persuade Carbonell to stay on the show.

 

When Richard visits Locke as a child he sees a picture on the wall that looks like the Smoke Monster attacking someone. The image bears a strong similarity to the Season 6 episode Beyond the Sea, particularly the scene where the Monster bursts out of the Heart of the Island whilst Jacob is lying on the ground. It is unclear if this was deliberate or not.

 

This is the last time that Claire appears in the present-day, on-Island storyline until Season 6's What Kate Does.

 

Review: An interesting episode, with one of the funniest scenes of the whole show (Ben and Hurley's silent eating of chocolate together)  and establishing more backstory for Locke that shows that the Others have known about him for a long time. On first viewing this felt like a very random plot development, but Season 5 justifies it quite well. Generally, the episode does a good job of raising the stakes and tension. (****)

 

412: There's No Place Like Home

Written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, directed by Stephen Williams & Jack Bender

Airdate: 15-29 May 2008

Survivor Count: 40

Days on Island: 99-108 (29 December 2004-7 January 2005)

Flashforwards Characters: Jack, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Kate

 

Flashforwards (January 2005): The Oceanic Six - Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun, Hurley and Aaron - arrive in Honolulu, where Hurley and Sun are reunited with their parents; Jack with his mother; and Sayid with his girlfriend, Nadia. In the ensuing media circus, a press conference is held, where they lie about everything that has happened on the island, going as far as saying that they are the only living survivors of the plane crash. They do claim that three others - Charlie, Libby and Boone - also survived but all died shortly afterwards. Sometime later, Hurley's dad gives Hurley his newly rebuilt 1970s Camaro, at a surprise birthday party. Hurley, however, becomes panicked and runs away when he notices that the car's odometer displays the Numbers. In Seoul Sun visits her father and informs him that she used the money from her settlement with Oceanic Airlines to buy a controlling interest in his company because she blames him for her Jin's death. Several months after their rescue, Jack eulogizes his deceased father, Christian. After the ceremony, Carole Littleton, Claire's mother, reveals to Jack that Claire was his half-sister. Jack, shocked, realises that this makes Aaron his nephew and leaves him feeling guilty that he didn't do more to rescue Claire from the Island.

On the Island: Jack and Kate follow the tracking signal on the phone given to them by Lapidus. They encounter Sawyer, Aaron and Miles; Kate returns to the beach with Miles and Aaron whilst Sawyer joins Jack. Jack and Sawyer meet up with Lapidus at the helicopter, but decide to rescue Hurley before leaving for the freighter. Meanwhile, Sayid arrives at the beach on the freighter's Zodiac boat and informs the survivors that they must go to the freighter as soon as possible because the mercenaries' secondary objective is to kill everyone on the island. He and Kate go after Jack and Sawyer, but are captured by Richard Alpert and the rest of the Others. After unsuccessfully attempting to convince Charlotte to leave the island, Faraday starts ferrying people to the freighter. Sun, Jin, and Aaron arrive at the boat in the first batch, only to discover a bomb, consisting of a large amount of C4 explosives, on board.

Meanwhile, in their quest to move the island, Ben, Locke and Hurley arrive at the DHARMA Initiative's Orchid station, which is disguised as a greenhouse. The greenhouse is already guarded by the Kahana mercenaries. Ben sends Locke to the real part of the station whilst he surrenders himself to Keamy. They all depart together, allowing Locke to explore the station. Jack and Sawyer arrive and find Locke unable to find his way into the station proper. Jack and Locke once more argue about the nature of the Island, but realising that Jack is adamant about escaping, Locke implores him to lie about the Island once he and the other survivors leave. At the helicopter, Kate, Sayid, and the Others free Ben by ambushing and killing all the mercenaries, except Keamy, who feigns death. In return, the Others allow Kate, Sayid and the other survivors to leave the Island. Ben wishes them well before returning to the Orchid, where he gets in a hidden elevator with Locke.

Inside the underground part of the Orchid station, Ben puts every metal item he can find into a small compartment at the back of the room, while Locke watches the DHARMA orientation video for the station. On the tape, Pierre Chang begins to discuss time travel involving "negatively charged exotic matter" when the VCR malfunctions and the tape rewinds itself. Shortly afterwards, the mortally wounded Keamy arrives and tells Locke that if he dies, the C4 on the freighter will detonate, due to a remote trigger linked to a heart rate monitor he is wearing. Regardless, Ben kills Keamy with no remorse or sympathy for those on the boat, in order to avenge Alex. When Locke points out that everyone on the freighter will die, Ben just asks, "So?" Ben then seals the compartment he had loaded with metal items and activates it, blowing a hole in the back of it. Ben, now wearing a cold weather parka, tells Locke that whoever moves the Island has to leave it and never come back; Ben must do it so that Locke can stay and lead the Others. Locke then goes to the Others, who welcome him home. Ben climbs through the hole and down a rocky tunnel beyond it into a frozen chamber, cutting his arm in the process. He then turns a very large metal wheel. As he completes the rotation, an eerie sound and white-yellow light soon envelop the entire island. Ben disappears, only to reappear several months later in the Sahara Desert.

Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sawyer, Hurley, and Frank Lapidus leave the island on the helicopter, but discover a fuel leak on board. In order to lighten the helicopter, Sawyer jumps out after whispering something in Kate's ear and kissing her. The helicopter makes it to the Kahana in the nick of time; they refuel it, fix the leak, pick up Desmond, Sun and Aaron and leave seconds before the C4 detonates. The resulting explosion kills several of the survivors from Flight 815, including Michael, who is told that he "can go now" by a vision of Christian Shephard. Sawyer swims back to the island and laments the destruction of the boat on the horizon with Juliet and a bottle of whisky.

The helicopter circles the debris, but there is no sign of any survivors. They conclude that they are all dead, including Jin, to Sun's utter horror. As the chopper approaches, they see the Island vanish in a blast of light. With nowhere to land, the helicopter runs out of fuel and the survivors are forced to ditch into the ocean. They drift in a rescue raft for several hours. Hurley suggests that Locke succeeded in moving the Island, but Jack disagrees. At night, the survivors are rescued by a boat commanded by Penny Widmore and Desmond is finally reunited with his long lost love. Jack then convinces the other survivors that they must lie about their experiences on the Island, to protect those left behind. In keeping with the faked wreckage of Flight 815 found in the Java Trench, the Oceanic Six are dropped off near the island of Sumba, where they are found by local villagers.

Flashforwards (late 2007): Jack, Kate and Walt Lloyd all recount stories of being approached by "Jeremy Bentham", the dead man in the coffin. Kate has a dream in which Claire tells her not to bring Aaron back to the Island. In London, England, Sun confronts Charles Widmore, Penny's father, who sent the Kahana to the island, and tells him that they have common interests involving the island. After finding out that Bentham is dead, Sayid breaks into the mental hospital where Hurley is staying and convinces him to go "somewhere safe". Jack returns to the funeral parlor, where he is confronted by Ben, who says that the island will not allow Jack to return without everyone else who left joining him. This includes Jeremy Bentham's body, who is finally revealed to be John Locke.

Major WTFery: Oceanic Airlines offer no explanation for the fact that there are five survivors (not counting the unborn Aaron) but they had confirmed the bodies of all 324 passengers were on the fake plane at the bottom of the ocean.

Keamy's dead man's switch requires a continuous radio signal to be sent to the freighter. It's already questionable if the radio strapped to his arm can maintain contact with the freighter 80 nautical miles away without some kind of massive transmitter or power source. It seems extremely unlikely it would be able to maintain contact when hundreds (or even thousands) of feet underground in the Orchid Station.

 

Hindsight: This episode confirms that Desmond and Frank Lapidus also escaped the Island, as well as the Oceanic Six. It also confirms that Sawyer, Juliet, Bernard, Rose, Claire, Locke, Charlotte, the Others and the remaining 815 survivors are still - as of this episode - alive on the Island, only that the Island's whereabouts are now unknown. Michael and several 815 survivors on the freighter are dead and Jin is presumed dead. Faraday's status is unknown as he was between the freighter and the Island on the zodiac raft when it shifted.

Hurley tells Walt that his dad is still alive on the Island, which is a rare instance of Hurley knowingly lying and doing it well.

Sawyer loses his shirt whilst swimming back to the beach. The producers warned Josh Holloway that the first episode of Season 5 would pick up with him still shirtless, forcing him to stay in good shape throughout the summer break.

Ben explains his entire story arc in one sentence: "Sometimes good command decisions are compromised by bad emotional respones."

Based on previous episodes, it is unclear if the Island physically "moves" or if the "access point" between the rest of the world and the Island has shifted and the Island itself is permanently sealed in its own sub-reality or pocket dimension that only loosely interfaces with our own.

This is the last episode of Lost to air that continues the relentless narrative began in the very first episode of the series, as it features a time-jump to seven days after the rest of the episode and then the story of the Oceanic Six unfolds sparingly over the next three years. Season 5 does, however, pick up the narrative strand with several on-Island survivors for the first couple of episodes before it also time-jumps forward three years.

This episode brings in Michelle Forbes, a popular actor in SFF dramas. As well as her recurring role as Ensign Ro on Star Trek: The Next Generation, she appeared in the superb role of Admiral Helena Cain on Battlestar Galactica in three episodes and a TV movie shortly before this episode was filmed. A year later, she would become a recurring enemy on True Blood. In comparison, her role on Lost as an Oceanic Airlines representative is fairly small.

The United States Coast Guard provided the aircraft used by the Oceanic Six.

Margo Shephard, Jack's mother, appears for the first time since White Rabbit in Season 1, 75 episodes ago. This is the longest gap for any recurring character in the whole series.

As with The Shape of Things to Come, the confrontation between Sun and Widmore was actually filmed in London, in front of Tower Bridge (instead of using a greenscreen of the London skyline, such as was used in Flashes Before Your Eyes).

Fearing spoiler leaks, the production team filmed two alternative takes of the reveal of Locke's body in the coffin, one using Josh Holloway as Sawyer and the other Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond.

 

Review: This is a big (two and a half hours in its full form), epic finale and it covers a lot of ground. There's long-awaited reappearances (Walt), exploding freighters, crashing helicopters, epic gunfights, dark humour and, of course, yet more mysteries being opened up (the frozen donkey wheel) at the same time others are closed down (who escapes from the Island, and how). But there's a certain emotional power to seeing the 815 survivors - even if only a few - finally escaping from the Island and returning to their old lives. This is something I suspected a lot of people weren't expecting to happen until the very end of the series, so for it to happen at the three-quarters mark is rather surprising and sets up the fifth season excellently. (****½)

[Howdyphillip]

4 hours ago, Werthead said:

Snip

I feel woefully inadequate to contribute to the conversation because there is just no way I could invest the amount of time and care that you have put into your summaries. Hell, it is really too much content to even narrow things down to discuss. I just wanted to let you know that I have enjoyed it. 

 I do have a question. Are you writing these summaries currently as you are doing a rewatch, or is this material from a different time? Just doing a rewatch of the show this year was an 82 hour investment. I can not imagine how much time you put in to write these reviews. 

[Werthead]

8 hours ago, HowdyGareth Bale said:

I feel woefully inadequate to contribute to the conversation because there is just no way I could invest the amount of time and care that you have put into your summaries. Hell, it is really too much content to even narrow things down to discuss. I just wanted to let you know that I have enjoyed it. 

 I do have a question. Are you writing these summaries currently as you are doing a rewatch, or is this material from a different time? Just doing a rewatch of the show this year was an 82 hour investment. I can not imagine how much time you put in to write these reviews. 

Cheers. I'm doing both. And it was only possible because I was unemployed for 2 months, otherwise I just wouldn't have had the time. I started a new job 2 weeks ago, hence the slowdown.

[Ded As Ned]

Thanks Wert!  I'm enjoying these.  Let's me relive the show without the huge time investment.  Keep 'em coming!  

[Werthead]

501: Because You Left

 

Written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 21 January 2009

Survivor Count: 36 (Michael and 3 minor characters killed when the freighter exploded)

Flashback Character: None

July 1977: The DHARMA Initiative is in full operation on the Island. Dr. Pierre Chang is filming the orientation video for the Arrow Station when he is informed of an accident at the construction site of the Orchid. Arriving at the Orchid he discovers that the construction workers have found the energy source that DHARMA has been looking for, which he believes will allow them to manipulate time. They also show him underground radar scans of a chamber below the Orchid, including the frozen wheel. He warns the construction workers not to release that energy by accident, as the results could be catastrophic. As he departs the station he bumps into a construction worker, who is then revealed to be Daniel Faraday.

2007: Back in Los Angeles, two lawyers visit Kate Austen. They deliver a court order for a maternity test for her and Aaron but refuse to reveal their client's identity. In London, while en route to Los Angeles, Sun is confronted by Charles Widmore at the airport. She tells him that she wants to kill Benjamin Linus, a desire they seem to have in common. Following Hurley's breakout from a mental institution, he and Sayid go to a safehouse, which has been infiltrated by two armed men. Sayid kills the men using a dishwasher, but not before one of them shoots him with two potent drugged darts, knocking him unconscious. Meanwhile, Ben and Jack have left the funeral parlour with Locke's body. They discover that Hurley has broken out, hindering Ben's plan to reunite the Oceanic Six.
 

On the Island: On December 30, 2004, following the island being moved, the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, the freighter team, and Juliet begin to erratically jump through time, while the Others are unaffected. The first jump takes them to the day when the Beechcraft carrying Mr. Eko's brother crashes onto the island. John Locke is shot in the leg by Ethan Rom, who has not yet met him and therefore does not recognise him. Meanwhile, Sawyer, Juliet and the freighter team head to the Swan Station in order to determine when they are. A second jump brings the group forward in time to after the destruction of the station, saving Locke from Ethan in the process. When pressed for an explanation by Sawyer, Daniel Faraday likens the experience to a record skipping. Locke is approached by Richard Alpert, who recognises Locke and treats his wound. He informs Locke that they will be strangers at their next meeting, and thus gives him a compass to get his younger self to trust Locke. He explains that the only way to stop the erratic movements through time is to bring back everyone who has left the island, and to do that Locke will have to die. Another jump brings them to the past, and they find that the Swan station is now intact. Sawyer tries to contact Desmond Hume, who is inside, but Daniel asserts that the past can not be changed, and since Desmond didn't know Sawyer already when they first met (later in Desmond's timeline), Sawyer cannot be successful. No one answers, and everyone heads back to the beach. Daniel stays behind and knocks again, and Desmond emerges dressed in a hazmat suit, thus belying Daniel's original assertion. Daniel tells him that if Desmond's future self and the survivors of 815 make it off the island on the helicopter then he should go to Oxford University and find Daniel's mother, in order to help the survivors. Another jump occurs just before Daniel can give his mother's name.

2007: On a boat in an unknown location, Desmond wakes up, having remembered what Daniel told him in the past, and sets off for Oxford.
 

Major WTFery: It is unclear why certain characters are moving through time and others are not. This particularly applies to Juliet, because she is moving through time with the 815 survivors and the freighties who are all relatively recent arrivals. The rest of the Others, including those who joined them recently from Flight 815 (such as Cindy, Zach and Emma), apparently remained fixed in time. It is possible that Juliet's renouncing of her membership of the Others and the fact that she never visited the Temple may have something to do with this, and the Temple (where Cindy, Zach and Emma are residing) shields them from the time-travelling effects.

Desmond didn't recognise or remember Faraday in Season 4. It is possible that Desmond's exposure to the Island's electromagnetic energy fields, or just the stress of his experiences, prevented Desmond from remembering. It is also unclear why Desmond answered the Swan Station's door and not Inman: Desmond wearing the hazmat suit would seem to put Faraday's visit before Inman's death (since Desmond discovered that the hazmat suits were unnecessary at that point), but Desmond never left the hatch before Inman's death, to his anger in Live Together, Die Alone.

During the Beechcraft crash scene, the scenes with Locke are filmed from a very elevated position (probably meant to represent one of the mountains on the Island). This shows the Island stretching behind him for a vast distance. Lostpedia identifies this as a possible continuity error, as Oahu, Hawaii (the actual filming location) is "considerably larger" than the Island. However, based on previous maps the Island is almost as long as Oahu on its longest axis (over forty miles), just not as wide. As such, the vista we see behind Locka would be possible for the Island as well.
 

Hindsight: This episode sets up moments that will be revisited in later episodes. Faraday's trip to the Orchid Station is explained in The Variable and we discover how Richard knew to help Locke in Follow the Leader.

It becomes more difficult to track the dates on the Island as of this episode, as it the constant jumping through time between day and night makes it impossible to track the internal clock of the characters, and it becomes moot once they permanently fix the problem.

This episode marks the first appearance of Neil Frogurt, the "frozen yogurt guy" mentioned in the second season episode S.O.S. and who appeared in several webisodes.

Writers Lindelof and Cuse deliberately kept Josh Holloway (Sawyer) shirtless throughout the episode to "keep viewers interested" if they couldn't follow the time travel storyline.

This episode of Lost is unusual in that it has no centric-character. Previous episodes either focused on one or two specific characters, or moved between several different characters. This episode doesn't do anything similar, instead moving forward both the on-Island and off-Island storylines simultaneously.
 

Review: Season 5 gets off to an intriguing start, with a renewed focus on the DHARMA Initiative and Lost's full-blown move into time travel. There's a feeling of freshness to this episode, with the crazy time travel stuff being presented in a way that's (reasonably) understandable and enlivened by humour ("Maybe if you ate more comfort food, you wouldn't have to go around shooting people"). Having Faraday trying to explain the complexities of time travel to Sawyer, one of the least-scientifically literate characters on the show, is a good move as it means he has to get the concepts across clearly enough for all of the viewers to understand as well. Overall, a solid season opener enlivened by Sayid's most inventive-ever method of killing someone (using a dishwasher). (****)

 

502: The Lie

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 21 January 2009

Survivor Count: 36

Flashback Character: Hurley

1954: On the island, the remaining survivors are back on the beach, attempting to start a fire, when they are attacked by a barrage of flaming arrows. Some of the survivors are able to escape, but Frogurt and many of the others are killed, and Sawyer and Juliet are separated from the group. Lost in the jungle, they are captured by a group of armed military men who demand to know who they are, asserting that the Island is theirs. The men are about to cut off Juliet's hand to extract information, when Locke ambushes them, helping Sawyer and Juliet free themselves.

2007: Jack and Ben part ways, with Ben taking Locke's body to a butcher for safekeeping. Ben tells Jack to collect any personal items he really wants and meet up with him in six hours. Meanwhile, Kate and Aaron have fled their home to escape lawyers demanding a maternity test. They meet up with Sun at a hotel, who implies that Kate should take whatever measures are necessary to protect Aaron. Sun forgives Kate for leaving her husband, Jin, on the freighter when it exploded.

Meanwhile, Hurley and Sayid are on the run after they were attacked at their safehouse. Hurley drives the unconscious Sayid, who has been hit by two drugged darts, to his parents' house. On the way, Hurley is pulled over by a vision of the deceased Oceanic Flight 815 survivor and former police officer Ana Lucia Cortez, who gives him advice on how to avoid the real cops. Upon arriving home, Hurley's dad, David, covers for them when the police show up and suggests that Hurley take Sayid to the hospital. Hurley refuses, and David ends up taking Sayid to Jack, who is successful in reviving him. At home, Hurley confesses to his mother Carmen that the Oceanic Six have been lying; she believes him, though doesn't understand his disjointed story. Later, Ben unexpectedly shows up at the house and tries to convince Hurley to go with him to meet up with the rest of the Oceanic Six, saying they all want the same thing: to go back to the Island. Hurley wavers for a moment, then runs outside and turns himself in to police watching the house, having been advised by Sayid to do the opposite of whatever Ben asks. Later, Ben visits Ms. Hawking, who tells him she has found the Island and that Ben only has seventy hours to return to it with Locke's corpse and the Oceanic Six.
 

Major WTFery: Hurley's mother doesn't recognise Sayid, despite Hurley introducing her to him both after the Oceanic Six were rescued and when Sayid and Nadia attended Hurley's party. This stands out more because Hurley's father does recognise Sayid.

Hindsight: Michelle Rodriguez reprises her role as Ana Lucia after a gap of 42 episodes. Her reappearance was to reinforce the fact that Hurley's visions are "real" and may have also been an attempt by the producers to defuse the constant suggestions that her departure from the show was down to her DUI and a bad relationship with the cast and crew.

This episode was teased by the producers ahead of the season, who said that people should be far more worried about the other 815 survivors than about Faraday. The decision to kill off the bulk of the Flight 815 background survivors was presumably taken for logistical reasons - having to explain their fate going through the time flashes - as well as raising the stakes at this point of the series.

Review: A fast-moving episode with an (as usual) entertaining and emotional focus on Hurley. Hurley's garbled recap of the entire Lost storyline so far is comic gold. However, the decision to kill off the bulk of the Oceanic 815 redshirts may be admirably ruthless but it also feels a little pointless, since we didn't get to know them. The point of the show often felt like our heroes struggling to protect and eventually save the other survivors, so for them just to all be killed off apparently to make the filming crew's lives easier feels a bit mean. But it's a very well-realised action sequence. (****)

 

503: Jughead

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Paul Zbyszewski, directed by Rod Holcomb

Airdate: 28 January 2009

Survivor Count: 19 (Frogurt and 16 other survivors killed by the Others in the previous episode)

Flashback Character: Desmond

Late 2005: Desmond Hume, in the Philippines, searches for a doctor to help his wife Penny Widmore, who is giving birth to their son, Charlie.

2007: Desmond and Penny arrive in London, from where Desmond plans to travel to Oxford to look for the mother of Daniel Faraday. The university has no record of either Faraday, even though Daniel was a professor there. Desmond breaks into and searches Faraday's lab. He meets a janitor who tells him that Faraday conducted experiments on a woman and provides an address for her. At her house, Desmond finds that the woman is in a vegetative state after experiencing temporal disassociation, similar to Desmond's experiences on the freighter. He learns that Penny's father, Charles Widmore, is not only paying her medical expenses, but also funded Daniel's research. Desmond confronts Widmore, who gives him the address of Daniel's mother in Los Angeles. Desmond returns to Penny, who agrees that they must travel to Los Angeles.

1954: following the events of the previous episode, "The Lie", Juliet, Locke and Sawyer  interrogate the two men they have captured. Juliet deduces that they are members of the Others because they can speak Latin. One of the men, who is revealed to be a young Charles Widmore, kills the other when he agrees to lead them to Richard Alpert and flees to his campsite to warn his people. Locke follows him and meets with Alpert, using Jacob's name and the compass Alpert gave him to gain his trust; however, Alpert is not entirely convinced. Locke tells Alpert to visit him after he is born two years later. Locke attempts to convince Alpert to show him how to leave the island, but runs out of time as the next time shift occurs.

At the same time, the freighter team, consisting of Miles, Charlotte and Daniel Faraday, are captured by another group of Others, led by a 17-year-old girl named Ellie. Faraday deduces that the American military came to the Island to test hydrogen bombs, and that the Others are in possession of one. When he convinces Richard to let him defuse the bomb, Richard asks Faraday to prove that he is not on a suicide mission to detonate the bomb. Faraday then confesses his love for Charlotte as proof that he will not detonate the bomb on purpose. Ellie leads Faraday to the bomb (the "Jughead"), and after an inspection, he discovers that it is leaking radiation. Faraday immediately advises Ellie that the bomb should be buried and will not go off for at least 50 years, inadvertently revealing that he is from the future. Ellie doesn't believe him, but Juliet and Sawyer shows up and disarm her. The time shift occurs once again and the group is safe, but Charlotte suddenly collapses.

 

Major WTFery: The Others having possession of a H-bomb introduces a major, gamechanging wild card to the series. Although why the Others didn't try to dismantle or remove the bomb after the Purge, when they had unfettered access to the whole Island and a link back to the mainland, remains unknown.
 

Hindsight: This episode provides a clue to date the 2007 events in the series. Desmond and Penny's son, Charlie, is two years old in The Incident. Assuming he was conceived shortly after Desmond and Penny were reunited in January 2005, this puts his birth date in the last couple of months of 2005. Assuming Charlie wasn't born prematurely, this puts all of the 2007 events in the show at the end of the year, in November or December 2007. This also makes sense given all the references to three years having passed, but the year not having yet changed to 2008.

Desmond and Penny's son Charlie is presumably named for Charlie Pace and not Penny's father, Charles Widmore.

This episode explains the events of Cabin Fever, and how Richard Alpert knew to visit John Locke periodically through his life to check on him.

"Jughead" was a real American nuclear bomb. It was supposed to be detonated as part of the Castle Yankee series of nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in 1954, but it was cancelled due to the success of the larger and more powerful Castle Bravo tests. This may indicate that, in 1954, the interface between the Island and the rest of the world is located near or even in Bikini Atoll, which is how the American military stumbled across it.

"Ellie" is, of course, Eloise Hawkwing. She is 17 in this episode, putting her birth date in 1937. This makes her 39 or 40 in 1977 and 70 in 2007.

Review: A good episode, as Desmond-centric ones tend to be, with the 1954 scenes being a lot of fun. In particular, and this is something that continues throughout the fifth season, it's tremendously amusing for the Lost main characters (and us) to know the answers to the mysteries that are completely befuddling the Others. The shoe is on the other foot. (****)

 

504: The Little Prince

Written by Brian K. Vaughan and Melinda Hsu Taylor, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 4 February 2009

Survivor Count: 17 (two minor survivors were killed by explosives in the previous episode)

Survivors: As of this episode the only survivors of Oceanic 815 still alive are named characters: Jack, Kate, Locke, Sayid, Sawyer, Sun, Jin, Hurley, Rose, Bernard, Claire, Aaron, Cindy, Walt, Emma, Zach and Vincent.
Flashback Character: Kate

2005: On Penny's boat, after being rescued from the Island, Kate convinces Jack that once returning home that they should claim that Aaron is Kate's biological son to prevent him from being adopted by strangers. Jack is disturbed at the idea but agrees.

2007: Kate leaves Aaron in the care of Sun in order to confront attorney Dan Norton, who is pursuing a maternity test for Kate and Aaron. Sun receives a package with a gun and pictures of Ben and Jack. Norton tells Kate that he is going to meet his client later and Kate decides to follow him. Meanwhile, Ben Linus meets up with Jack and Sayid at the hospital. An orderly attacks Sayid, but Sayid overcomes him, and when he finds Kate's address in his wallet he, Ben and Jack, suspect Kate is the next target. The three decide to split up, with Jack going after Kate, and Sayid and Ben going to the prison where Hurley is being held. Jack and Kate follow Norton to a motel where he meets with Claire's mother, Carole. Once Norton leaves, Jack confronts Carole, who is only in Los Angeles to collect on a successful suit against Oceanic Airlines and has nothing to do with the maternity test. At the prison, Ben meets with Norton, who is also acting as Hurley's lawyer and is confident that he can have Hurley released the following morning. Ben and Sayid meet up with Jack and Kate, where Kate figures out that Ben has hired Norton to do the maternity test, while Sun, armed with a gun, watches the conversation from a car with Aaron.

On the Island: Charlotte is still unconscious following the last time jump. The jumps are becoming more painful for everyone. She eventually wakes up and the group travels on to the Orchid Station, where Locke believes he can find a way to leave the Island. During the course of the episode several others begin to show similar symptoms to Charlotte's. Daniel informs them that the nose bleeds may have something to do with one's time spent on the Island. This makes no sense to several of the group since Charlotte, who has the worst symptoms, has only been on the Island for a few days. The latest time jump has brought the group to November 1, 2004, the day of Aaron's birth, an event that Sawyer witnesses, and the death of Boone Carlyle. Another time jump brings them to the future. At their beach camp, they find a canoe which they use to paddle to the other side of the Island. They are attacked by unknown assailants and another time jump brings them to the middle of a torrential storm.

1988: The same storm causes a boat to run aground and the French crew to bail out in a life raft. They find Jin unconscious, floating on debris from the freighter, and take him with them. Jin wakes up and finds the survivors from the boat helpful but suspicious. One of them, a heavily pregnant young woman, is kind to Jin and tells him that her name is Danielle Rousseau, to Jin's extreme confusion.

Major WTFery: At one point the survivors see the light from the hatch shining into the sky. However, to be visible from miles away the light would have to be extremely bright, whilst Locke in Season 1 was able to stare into it with no problems. Apparently the effect was oversold compared to what was in the script.

The identity of the other outrigger crew who fire on the survivors is not revealed. Apparently a later episode would have revealed this, but the story was cut for time. The general fan assumption seems to be that it was a group of Others, but what they were doing randomly paddling around the Island is unclear.

The survivors paddle south down the east coast of the Island. To get to the Orchid Station - located directly behind the four-toed statue - from the vicinity of the main beach camp, they should be paddling north.

Hindsight: Solicitor Dan Norton's truck has the same car registration number as Ironhide in the 2007 movie Transformers, suggesting it is a number reserved for the use of Hollywood productions.

This episode mentions the "horn" of the Island, presumably a cape or promontory. There are several candidates for this on the maps.
 

Review: The pace stalls a little in this episode, with the constant interruptions to the Oceanic Six getting back to the Island starting to get redundant. But the events in the past remain fun and Jin's collision with Team Rousseau at the end of the episode is one hell of a cliffhanger. (***½)

 

505: This Place is Death

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Paul Edwards

Airdate: 11 February 2009

Survivor Count: 17

Flashback Character: Sun and Jin

1988: Jin and Danielle Rousseau's science team go in search of the radio tower which is broadcasting the Numbers. Soon after entering the jungle they are attacked by the Smoke Monster, which kills one of the team, Nadine, and drags another, Montand into a tunnel that leads to the Temple, severing his arm in the process. Robert Rousseau, Brennan and Lacombe follow him into the tunnel and another time jump brings Jin forward two months. He finds the bodies of Brennan and Lacombe. He then witnesses Danielle confronting her lover Robert because she believes that the rest of the team became "infected" while inside the temple. Each of them has a gun pointed at the other. Robert convinces her that they should lower their weapons, then raises his and pulls the trigger. The gun does not fire, as Danielle had removed the firing pin from it. She shoots him. Danielle also attempts to kill Jin, but another time shift occurs and Jin is reunited with the other survivors: Sawyer, Locke, Juliet, Miles, Charlotte and Daniel Faraday.

On the Island: The group is on their way to the Orchid Station, where Locke believes he can find a way to leave the island in his attempt to bring the Oceanic Six back to the island. Several time jumps occur and Charlotte becomes so ill that she must stay behind, with Daniel choosing to stay with her. She tells Jin to keep his wife away from the island, saying "This place is death." She tells Locke to look for a well, if the Orchid Station is not there. Later, she confesses to Daniel that she grew up on the Island and that before she left a man told her never to come back or she would die; she believes Daniel is that man. She dies shortly thereafter. The other survivors arrive at the location of the Orchid and find the well. Jin tells Locke to tell Sun that he died and gives Locke his wedding ring as proof because he does not want Sun or their child to return to the Island. While descending the well, another flash occurs and Locke falls and injures his leg, resulting in an open fracture. Arriving in the frozen chamber with the wheel that Ben used to move the Island, Jack's deceased father, Christian Shephard, greets Locke and tells him that he meant for Locke to move the island in the first place. Locke then pushes the wheel and disappears in a blaze of light.

2007: Sun confronts Ben during his meeting with Kate, Jack and Sayid. She intends to kill him but he reveals that Jin is still alive on the Island. She reluctantly agrees to go with him and Jack to another location, where he can substantiate his claims. They go to a church, where Ben shows her Jin's wedding ring, which Ben took from Locke as proof that Jin is alive. Desmond arrives at the church, in his search for the mother of Daniel Faraday, Eloise Hawking. The four go inside the church, where Eloise is disappointed that Ben did not bring the rest of the Oceanic Six.
 

Major WTFery: Any attempt to stick to a consistent geography of the Island in Season 5 appears to have gone out of the window. Team Rousseau appear to have landed on or near the main 815 beach camp (the headland in the background is identical), but Jin says he does not know where they are. According to Danielle's own maps, the team shipwrecked in the north-western large bay of the Island. Heading from that area south-eastwards to the radio tower would take them far to the south of the Temple. The Smoke Monster would have to drag Montand for the better part of ten miles through the jungle and over the north-western mountains. Although not impossible, it seems unlikely that the rest of the survivors would be able to catch up with them.

This episode begs the question why Danielle did not recognise Jin. The trauma of losing her son and killing her friends and husband may explain this, but they did spend several hours together and Danielle was in the same vicinity as Jin several times throughout the first three seasons of the show. Given that Widmore recognised Locke despite not seeing him for fifty-three years, Danielle not recognising Jin after sixteen feels like a stretch.

Christian seems to indicate that things went wrong because Locke got Ben to move the Island, rather than doing it himself. However, it is almost immediately then revealed that the problem was down to Ben accidentally knocking the "frozen donkey wheel" off its axis rather than it being to the identity of the person turning the wheel.

Christian/Man in Black presumably wants Locke to leave and then die in the outside world before coming back so the MiB can impersonate Locke in a more profound and complete way than MiB's simple impersonation of Christian, Yemi, Kate's horse etc. That is hinted at here, where Christian can't touch Locke or help him up. However, the MiB also inadvertently sets up his own doom by encouraging Locke to bring back the other candidates from Jacob's list, including Jack (who eventually kills the MiB).
 

Hindsight: Charlotte was only supposed to appear on the show for one season. The 2007-08 Writers' Strike changed this plan and allowed the character to continue onwards through Season 5. However, Rebecca Mader was disappointed that her character died just as it was confirmed that she was born on the Island, as this could have thrown up more character and story possibilities.

This episode explains why Danielle thinks the Smoke Monster is  "security system" in Season 1. It also confirms that Danielle's backstory revelations in Solitary are (mostly) accurate, down to Montand losing his arm and Robert trying to shoot her with a sabotaged gun.

This episode marks the last time that Sawyer, Juliet and Jin see Locke.

Review: Although Jin's presence with Danielle's team doesn't make a whole lot of sense, it is good to see that storyline unfolding and the Smoke Monster in action again. Christian showing up and Eloise Hawking turning out to be in LA with a way of finding the Island risks the show hitting information density overload, but things keep ticking along entertainingly enough. (****)

 

506: 316

Written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 18 February 2009

Survivor Count: 17

Flashback Character: Jack

On the Island: Jack wakes up on the Island. He finds Hurley in nearby lake and helps him to safety. They also find the unconscious Kate. Jack realises that they've done it, and finally gotten back to the Island.

2007: Eloise Hawking takes Jack, Desmond Hume, Sun and Ben Linus to a DHARMA Initiative station underneath the church called the Lamp Post, which was used by DHARMA to find the Island in the first place. Since the Island is constantly moving, they developed a way to predict where it would be at a given time using magnetic fields. When Eloise mentions that the group only has 36 hours to get on Ajira Airways Flight 316, a Boeing 737-300, in order to return to the island, Desmond refuses to join them and leaves. Eloise then tells Jack in private that he must bring something that belonged to his father Christian Shephard with him on the flight and also gives him John Locke's suicide note.

The next day, Jack gets a call informing him that his grandfather Ray has attempted to escape his nursing home. Jack goes to the nursing home and finds an old pair of Christian's shoes and decides to take them with him. Later, Jack returns to his apartment, where he finds Kate sleeping in his bed. He wakes her and asks where her adoptive son Aaron is, but she refuses to answer. Kate tells Jack that if he wants her to get back to the island, he must never ask her about Aaron. Then they kiss passionately and fall into bed. The next morning, Jack receives a phone call from a severely beaten Ben, who tells Jack that he must go to a butcher shop and retrieve Locke's dead body. Jack does so, putting Christian's shoes on Locke's feet in the process. He also leaves the suicide note in Locke's pocket.

At the airport, Jack, Kate, Sun, and Hurley all board Flight 316. Hurley was informed by someone other than Ben, and bought all the remaining seats on the plane, in order to spare the lives of potential passengers. Sayid Jarrah also boards the plane, in the custody of a woman named Ilana. Ben is last to board the plane, which momentarily disquiets Hurley. Also on board is a man named Caesar. Jack asks Ben as to what will happen to the other people on the plane, to which Ben replies: "Who cares?", leaving Jack speechless. During the flight, Jack realises that Frank Lapidus is piloting the plane and Frank realises that they are going back to the Island. Jack, who has been given Locke's note by a flight attendant, reads the note which says, "Jack, I wish you had believed me." The 737 hits turbulence and there is a flash of white light similar to that caused by the time shifts.

On the Island: Jack, Kate and Hurley are found by Jin, who is driving a DHARMA van (in pristine condition) and wearing a DHARMA Initiative jumpsuit.
 

Major WTFery: If the Lamp Post was built by the DHARMA Initiative to find the Island, the question is raised as to why the DHARMA Initiative, Hanso Foundation or Widmore haven't simply used it since then to locate the Island again. Widmore seems to know where Lamp Post is and what it's for, so why not just go there to find the Island after it moved in Season 4?

Hindsight: The Lamp Post is the first DHARMA station show to be located off the Island. This begs the question if the DHARMA Initiative had other assets located off the Island in other parts of the world.

According to Jorge Garcia, the scenes with Jack, Hurley and Kate at the lake were filmed on the day of the 2008 Presidential Election, when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.

This episode and The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham were switched in transmission order as the producers felt the story made more sense this way around. Lost's densely-serialised storytelling usually makes such swaps impossible. The only other time it happens in the show's history is in Season 1, when Solitary and Raised by Another were swapped around. That was only possible due to Solitary being a self-contained Sayid story.

This episode finally explains why Christian Shepherd's corpse was wearing tennis shoes in Season 1, something that really befuddled some fans at the time.

Review: 316 is a very weird episode in which plot contrivances pile on top of one another to the point where the viewer's sense of disbelief has to take an extended leave of absence. The episode does just go with this, with Frank's resigned look of "Okay then, whatever" standing in for the audience's. Assuming you can get into the same headspace, it's a reasonably effective way of getting our heroes back to the Island. (***½)

 

507: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

Written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 25 February 2009

Survivor Count: 17

Flashback Character: Locke

2007: Ajira Airways Flight 316 has made an emergency landing on the Hydra Island, located off the coast of the main Island. Fortunately, someone had constructed a runway on the island. The runway wasn't long enough so Flight 316 overshot and crashed, but remained intact.

One of the crash survivors, Caesar, searches through Benjamin Linus's old office in the Hydra Station, finding several documents and a sawed-off shotgun. He is interrupted by Ilana, who informs him that a man no one remembers seeing on the plane has been found: John Locke. Locke explains to Ilana that the last thing he remembers is dying.

2007: Locke awakens in a desert in Tunisia, where he is taken to a local hospital and visited by Charles Widmore. Widmore last saw Locke on the Island fifty-three years earlier, but for Locke it's only been four days. Widmore tells Locke that he led the Others until Ben took over and tricked him into leaving the Island. Widmore pledges to help Locke reunite the Oceanic Six in order to take them back to the Island. Widmore gives Locke a fake identity, Jeremy Bentham, and assigns Matthew Abaddon to assist him.

Sayid, Hurley and Kate all refuse to go back to the island after being visited by Locke. Locke also visits Walt, but decides not to ask him to return to the island because he has been through enough. Meanwhile, Kate's conversation with Locke leads him to look for his old girlfriend, Helen Norwood, whom he discovers has died. While visiting her grave, Abaddon is shot and killed; Locke gets into a car accident after he flees the scene in a panic. He awakens in Jack's hospital, where the two once again argue about the Island, faith and destiny. Before Jack leaves, Locke tells him that his father, Christian Shephard, is alive on the island. This greatly upsets Jack, and he leaves. Locke then goes to a hotel, where he attempts to hang himself in despair due to his failure. Ben, however, shows up and talks Locke down. He admits to shooting Abaddon, claiming it was to protect Locke. After learning of Locke's plan to seek advice from Eloise Hawking on how to return to the Island, Ben kills Locke, making it look like suicide. He then takes Jin's wedding ring, which Jin had entrusted to Locke.

2007: Locke discovers an unconscious Ben among the injured passengers of Flight 316.

 

Major WTFery: Locke's meeting with Jack is fairly short and to the point. In There's No Place Like Home, Jack tells Kate that Locke told him that a lot of "bad things" happened after they left, but Locke doesn't do anything like that here. Jack also knew that Ben was off the Island from Locke, but again Locke does not reveal that on-screen here. That suggests either cut dialogue or a second meeting between Jack and Locke that occurred off-screen.

Widmore says that the Others protected the Island for "over three decades" before his exile. This is a curious figure, as Widmore was presumably born on the Island in the late 1930s like Eloise. He was not exiled by Ben until several years after the Purge, in the early-to-mid 1990s, making it over five decades. Ab Aeterno reveals that Richard was on the Island for seventy years before Widmore was even born, gathering people together as the Others, and there may have been people living on the Island off and on for two thousand years before that.
 

Hindsight: This episode is a lot more momentous when watched after the fact because we now know that Locke really did 100% die in this episode. The Locke we see walking around later on is actually the Smoke Monster/Man in Black.

Review: Terry O'Quinn knocks it out of the park in his final appearance as the "real" John Locke. The episode benefits from some focused storytelling and the moment that Ben turns on and kills Locke is utterly shocking and rather heart-wrenching. Locke did a lot of dubious things but he didn't deserve to die like that. Some continuity issues with other episodes mar what is otherwise an excellent, intense episode. (****½)

 

 

508: LaFleur

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Kyle Pennington, directed by Mark Goldman

Airdate: 4 March 2009

Survivor Count: 16 (since Locke died in the previous episode)

Flashback Character: Sawyer

Unknown: A time jump briefly takes Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Faraday and Jin to a time when there is a massive, ancient statue standing on the island. They are only able to see the back of it from the site of the Orchid Station before John Locke turns the wheel again.

1974: The last time jump brings the survivors forward to 1974, at the peak of the DHARMA Initiative's presence on the island. Now that Locke has pushed the wheel, the time jumps have stopped and they are permanently stuck in the past. The group comes across a pair of DHARMA Initiative members who have been captured by two of the island's native inhabitants, known to them as the Others but to the DHARMA personnel of this time period as "the Hostiles". Juliet and Sawyer kill the Others and free Amy, but her husband Paul has been killed. The group returns to the barracks, where Amy resides. However, she tricks them into walking through the sonic fence which surrounds the barracks, knocking them unconscious.

Sawyer wakes up and is confronted by Horace Goodspeed, the leader of the DHARMA Initiative on the Island. Sawyer tells him that his name is James LaFleur and that he and the other survivors are from a shipwreck. They were looking for a lost sailing ship from the 19th Century, the Black Rock, and that they are looking for other survivors of the crew. Horace tells him that they will have to leave the next day on the submarine because they are not "DHARMA material". Meanwhile, Daniel sees Charlotte as a young girl, but decides not to say anything to her. That night, the spokesman of the Others, Richard Alpert, enters the barracks to determine why his treaty with DHARMA was broken. Sawyer convinces Alpert not to attack DHARMA, because he is the one who killed the Others. Alpert is further convinced when Sawyer shares knowledge of the events that transpired in 1954. Because Sawyer has successfully defused the situation, Horace allows the group to stay and look for the other crew members of their ship, when in reality they are waiting for Locke to return with the survivors who left the island.

1977: Three years later, the survivors have joined DHARMA, made themselves useful members of the team and are living contentedly in the Barracks. Sawyer is the well-respected head of security, while Jin (who is now fluent in English) continues to search for those who left the Island. Amy is pregnant with Horace's baby and due to give birth in two weeks. Following an argument between them, Horace gets drunk and hurls sticks of dynamite at trees whilst Amy goes into early labour. Juliet successfully delivers the baby, the first that has survived in all her time on the island. Sawyer suggests that whatever happened to cause babies to stop being born may not have happened yet. Horace believes that Amy is not yet over her deceased husband, however Sawyer reassures him by stating that three years is enough time to get over someone, referring to his relationship with Kate. Sawyer returns to his home, where he lives with Juliet, with whom he is now in a relationship. The next morning, he receives a call from Jin, who has found Kate, Jack, and Hurley in the jungle. A shocked Sawyer secretly meets them far from the Barracks.
 

Major WTFery: Horace denies knowing anything about the Black Rock. He is either lying or the DHARMA Initiative knows less about the Island after spending (at least) three years there than the 815 survivors did after three months.

This episode suggests that no child was born on the Island between the survivors' arrival in 1974 and the events of 1977 (since Juliet doesn't know of any), despite the Barracks having a school and play equipment. It might be that DHARMA sent women back to the mainland to give birth as a safety precaution.

According to Ben in Season 4, Charlotte was born in 1979. However, a very young Charlotte is in the Barracks in 1974. This was down to a well-reported snafu where Charlotte's birth date was changed on-set without consulting the writers, as actress Rebecca Mader was a lot younger than Charlotte should have been.
 

Hindsight: This episode seemingly confirms that the remains of the statue seen by Sayid, Sun and Jin in the Season 2 finale was of an Egyptian one, of the crocodile-faced god Tawaret.

This episode also establishes that the Incident of 1977 is what caused the Island to start affecting the ability of women to become pregnant. It is unclear if the Discharge of 2004 (in the Season 2 finale) reversed this problem, since it seemed to remove the EMP build-up that the Incident instigated.

Review: LaFleur is not at the level of The Constant or the Season 3 finale, but it's still an excellent episode. It restores Sawyer to being an intelligent and creative leader who can think on his feet far faster than most of the other characters, initiates a romance between him and Juliet which is extremely convincing and makes 1977 DHARMAville actually look like an interesting place to live. As with other Season 5 episodes, it's also great for us (and the characters) to have the answers and for the Others and the people of the DHARMA Initiative to be mystified by events. (*****)

[DaveSumm]

Your reviews must be averaging 4 stars I'd say? Whatever you think of the ending, it was a very consistent series.

[Werthead]

Yes, that was the biggest surprise. I was anticipating a lot of dips especially in the middle of Season 2 and the start of Season 3, but that demented Charlie flashback and the fricking Tattoo Episode From Hell aside, it never really happened.

I think Lost benefits from binge-watching more than any other TV show I've ever seen. It certainly makes the tangled-up timelines in Season 4 and especially 5 make a lot more sense, and the early, character-building episodes flow a lot better. In fact, on the rewatch I found myself wishing that Season 5 was back to 20-25 episodes long because it really could have benefitted from slowing down to explore the characters and their new circumstances better. I certainly wouldn't have said that back watching on a week-by-week basis in 2009.

Just finished Season 5. Season 6 awaits. This is going to be harder going, knowing that half of each episode is almost completely pointless.

[loranza]

S6 is tough bcoz sawyer'_s storyline disappoints. The whole world revolving around Jack just doesn't work for me.

[Werthead]

509: Namaste

Written by Paul Zbyszewski and Bryan K. Vaughan, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 18 March 2009

Survivor Count: 16

Flashback Character: none

2007: Ajira Airways Flight 316, a transpacific flight piloted by Frank Lapidus, crash-lands on the Hydra Island. Frank spots the runway that the Others were working on and is able to put the flight down relatively safely, but the runway is too short and the plane comes to rest in in the jungle beyond, mostly still intact. However, the co-pilot is killed by a tree branch that comes through the window and impales him. While the passengers begin to debate what to do next, Ben Linus plans to travel to the main Island. He is followed by Frank and Sun, who believes her husband Jin is there. After reaching a group of outrigger canoes left behind by the Others, Sun knocks Ben out with an oar and travels with Frank to the abandoned barracks of the Dharma Initiative. Waiting there is Christian Shephard, who shows Sun and Frank a picture of new recruits to the DHARMA Initiative from 1977, including Jack, Kate and Hurley. He also tells her that Jin is with them in 1977 and if she wants to rejoin them they have a long trip ahead of them.

1977: Sawyer reunites with Jack, Kate and Hurley. He explains to them that they are in 1977 and that he is part of the DHARMA Initiative. Aware that the submarine is bringing fresh recruits from the mainland, and that everyone is kept drugged and separated on the sub to mitigate the disorientation which comes from crossing the Island's boundary, Sawyer is able to arrange for the three of them to join the Initiative. Jack is assigned to janitorial work (by Pierre Chang, whom Jack has already seen on DHARMA Initiative orientation films), Hurley to the kitchens and Kate to the motor pool. Juliet helps forge the necessary documentation. Juliet also learns that Amy has named her baby Ethan and becomes disturbed, aware that he will one day join the Others. Jin learns that Sun was on Ajira 316 and travels to the Flame Station because he believes that its occupant, Radzinsky, will know if Flight 316 crashed on the island. Radzinsky - who is working on a scale model of the unbuilt Swan Station - thinks Jin is crazy but agrees to look for the plane. Soon, an alarm is set off and Jin finds Sayid wandering in the jungle. After a brief moment of reunion, Jin is forced to act as if Sayid were a Hostile to placate Radzinsky, who would not understand where Sayid really came from. They imprison him at the Flame, but Radzkinsky becomes concerned that Sayid may have seen the drawings and model of the Swan, which is being planned to be built deep in Hostile territory, beyond the truce line. Sawyer is summoned to the Flame and moves Sayid to a jail cell at the Barracks while he decides what to do.

Later in the evening, Jack visits Sawyer and Juliet's house to discuss the situation. James tells Jack that he is in charge and has a different approach to leadership than Jack had with the survivors of Oceanic 815: Sawyer prefers to carefully plan out his actions, as opposed to Jack's more impulsive style of command. He suggests that Jack sit back and take it easy for once. After a brief hesitation, Jack agrees to let Sawyer take charge. Meanwhile, at the jail, a young boy brings Sayid a sandwich and introduces himself as Ben. After a few moments of shock, Sayid says that he is very happy to meet him.

Major WTFery: This episode confirms that Ethan Rom was born in 1977. This makes him twelve years younger than actor William Mapother during the first season.

The question of why Sun did not travel back to 1977 with the rest of the 316 crash survivors remains debatable. A possibility is that she was still "tied" to 2007 through her daughter Ji Yeon, or that Jacob had a hand in events and decided it was more important she remain in 2007.

Frank and Sun sail from the Hydra Island directly to the main dock at the Barracks in relatively little time. This seemingly contradicts the placement of Hydra Island on the central-eastern side of the Island, twenty and maybe closer to thirty miles from the Barracks.

Christian gives Sun a DHARMA photograph from the wall of the Barracks cafeteria. As mentioned before, this means that that Others had a photo on their wall showing Hurley, Jack and Kate in 1977 sitting in plain view for the sixteen years between taking over the Barracks and the events of Seasons 1-4 of the series.

Hindsight: The DHARMA Initiative uses code 14J to signify danger. This is the same warning code that Alex sends to the Barracks in The Shape of Things to Come, and suggests that the Others inherited DHARMA's security codes and warnings when they took over the Barracks eleven years later.

 

Sun hears the sounds of the Monster as she and Frank approach the Barracks. Sun recognises them but says there is no danger. Christian then appearing indicates that the Monster is certainly Christian.

 

Review: Another excellent episode, following hot on the heels of LaFleur and showing the new, confident and in-his-element Sawyer taking charge of things and thinking on his feet. There's a lot of fun to be had from Jack coming to face-to-face with the guy from the DHARMA videos but what the episode benefits the most from is the writers slamming down the accelerator on the story. What was once the slowest-moving show on television is now churning through story at an impressive rate and keeping everything moving briskly. (****½)

 

510: He's Our You

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Greg Yaitanes

Airdate: 25 March 2009

Survivor Count: 16

Flashback Character: Sayid

 

Flashback: As a child, Sayid watches as his older brother is forced by his father to kill a chicken as a rite of passage. He is unable to do it, so Sayid does it for him; this greatly pleases Sayid's father. In 2007, While working for Ben, Sayid kills a man in Moscow. This is the last man on Ben's hit list, leaving Sayid uncertain about how to continue living his life. After John Locke dies, Ben visits Sayid and encourages him to go to Los Angeles. Sayid meets Ilana at a bar; she skillfully seduces him and then takes him into her custody at gunpoint. She turns out to be a bounty hunter who has been employed to take Sayid to Guam by the family of Peter Avellino, who Sayid previously killed for Ben. After seeing some of the Oceanic Six preparing to board the same flight, he begs her to take the next plane, but she refuses. On the plane, after he sees Ben and asks Ilana if she is working for him. Ilana seems puzzled. Sayid describes Ben as a monster and Ilana asks Sayid why she would work for a man like that. Sayid replies, "I did."

 

1977: Sayid is interrogated by the leader of the DHARMA Initiative on the Island, Horace Goodspeed, and Radzinsky, DHARMA's head of research. Sawyer, in his guise as LaFleur, the head of security, is also present. Sayid does not say anything and is later visited by a twelve-year-old Ben Linus with a sandwich. Ben's father Roger witnesses this and hits him. Sayid is later confronted one-on-one by Sawyer, who in an effort to save Sayid, tries to convince Sayid to give a false confession of being a defector from the island's native population, the Others. Sayid refuses and is subsequently taken to Oldham, DHARMA's resident interrogation expert ("He's our you," as Sawyer describes him to Sayid). Oldham gives Sayid a truth serum which forces Sayid to reveal his knowledge of DHARMA's stations, including the future Swan Station, and that he has previously been to the Island. However, he also tells them that he is from the future, which discredits his story. He tells them that Sawyer can confirm the story, but because the others don't know who "Sawyer" is, his cover remains intact. Upon returning to the jail, Sayid is once again visited by Ben, who pledges to free Sayid because Ben wishes to join the Others. Sayid agrees to take him, saying that's why he is there. That evening, several members of the DHARMA Initiative take a vote to decide whether to execute Sayid. After an impassioned statement from new mother Amy, they all vote in favour of execution. Sawyer attempts to let Sayid escape, but Sayid refuses, stating he has found his purpose for returning to the island.

Meanwhile, at the Barracks, Juliet expresses her concern to Sawyer that their relationship will be jeopardised because of Kate's return. Kate learns of their relationship from Hurley. Later in the evening, Sawyer goes to Kate's house and asks her why she came back to the Island. Before she can answer, however, a flaming DHARMA van crashes into one of the houses. While everyone is distracted by the fire, Ben helps Sayid escape from the jail. They run into Jin during their escape, so Sayid knocks Jin out and steals his gun. After saying to Ben "You were right, I am a killer" Sayid reluctantly shoots Ben in the chest and runs off.

Major WTFery: Ben says that he met Richard four years ago, when he first arrived on the Island in 1973 (as seen in The Man Behind the Curtain), but he doesn't look that much older. Of course, this is down to only two years passing between the scenes being filmed.

 

The DHARMA Initiative uses 1980s-vintage Apple Lisa computers, stun guns and mini-CCTV cameras, and 1990s-vintage in-car CD players, indicating that either the DHARMA Initiative was many years ahead of the curve in its use of technology, or (more likely) the props department had problems sourcing 1970s-vintage equipment in Hawaii at short notice.

 

It's not entirely clear why the DHARMA Initiative feels it needs a full-interrogator, especially with the Hostiles pacified by the treaty. Presumably Oldham has some other function or job on the Island.

 

Hindsight: Actor William Sanderson (Oldham) is of course best-known from his roles in Blade Runner and his then-recent regular role on Deadwood.

 

Radzinsky threatens to call Ann Arbor, which the rest of the DHARMA team wants to avoid. Season 2 established that the DHARMA Initiative is actually based out of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where the founders of the organisation, Gerald and Karen DeGroot are based. The fate of the Ann Arbor command team following the 1977 Incident and the 1988 Purge is unclear, although the Swan Station blast door map suggests that they did visit the Island in 1985 and were involved in second incident at the Swan.

 

Review: Sayid's bewilderment at what is going on ("A 12-year-old Benjamin Linus just brought me a chicken sandwich, how do you think I feel?") is well-played by Naveen Andrews and fuels a rather horrible idea in his head that his destiny is to change history by killing Ben, which of course just sets everything in motion. Previous seasons would have likely had Sayid as a prisoner for 3-4 episodes whilst people angsted about what to do, so it's great to see the story moving forwards so decisively. However, it's possible it might be moving forwards a bit too fast. The rapid pace of events leaves some characters - most notably Radzinsky - feeling a little too lightly sketched. But it's still all compelling viewing. (****)

 

 

511: Whatever Happened, Happened

Written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, directed by Bobby Roth

Airdate: 1 April 2009

Survivor Count: 16

Flashback Character: Kate

 

2005-07: Kate develops a friendship with Sawyer's ex-girlfriend Cassidy and Sawyer's daughter Clementine. Kate tells Cassidy the truth about everything that happened on the Island, including that baby Aaron is not her son. Cassidy eventually leads Kate to realise that the reason she took Aaron as her own, is because Kate needed him in order to get over her emotional attachment to Sawyer. After this realisation, she decides to return to the Island with the others who left. She leaves Aaron in the care of Carole Littleton, Aaron's biological grandmother. Kate also tells the shocked Carole that she is returning to the Island to find Carole's daughter, Claire, and bring her home.

1977: Jin wakes up and discovers that the young Ben has been shot by Sayid. He brings Ben to the Barracks so that his injuries can be treated by Juliet. Juliet is unable to perform the necessary surgery on Ben and sends Sawyer to retrieve Jack. Jack, knowing what Ben does in the future, refuses to help. This drives Kate to do everything she can to help Ben. Meanwhile, Hurley and Miles debate the nature of time travel, a particular point of confusion being why the older Ben, after meeting Sayid in 2004, did not seem to remember being shot by him as a boy.

Kate goes to the sick bay where Ben is being treated and donates her blood because she is a universal donor. She strikes up a conversation with Ben's father, Roger, who is upset that Ben stole his keys and freed Sayid from the jail. Once it becomes clear that Ben will succumb to his injuries without further intervention, Kate decides to take Ben to the Others, the Island's native population. Sawyer comes to Kate's aid and they bring Ben to Richard, who warns them that if he heals Ben, he will not remember what has happened and will never be the same again. They agree anyway. Richard carries Ben into the Temple. Another Other urges Richard to inform Ellie of his intentions and implies that Charles will not be pleased if he finds out, but Richard says he doesn't answer to either of them.
 

2007: In the Hydra Station Ben awakens from being knocked unconscious by Sun and is greeted by John Locke. He appears to be horrified to see that Locke is apparently alive and well.

 

Major WTFery: The last we see of young Ben is him being carried into the Temple. It is not made clear at all how he is returned to the Barracks, although we know he is because he is still there in 1988.

 

Hindsight: This episode has one of Lost's most obscure literary references. The episode aired on 1 April - i.e. March 32nd - and is based on the central thesis of the short story March Has 32 Days from issue 40 of Mystery Tales (dated April 1956), which features a time-traveller agonising over whether he can change the past, in a similar manner to Miles and Hurley's discussions. Issue 40 of Mystery Tales was the comic that Richard Alpert gave the young John Locke in Cabin Fever to test him to see if he should become an Other. The DHARMA Initiative recruitment game that played out between Seasons 4 and 5 also used March Has 32 Days as a clue and the comic appears again in The Variable.

 

This episode establishes a chain of command for the Others. There is one leader, who in 1977 is Charles Widmore and later, of course, is Ben Linus. Richard Alpert stands apart from the chain of command, respecting the leader and following most of their commands but he himself is acting under the direct authority of Jacob. Ellie, as Charles's lover, also appears to have some kind of authority.

 

This episode also establishes that to become truly an "Other" you have to visit the Temple. Since Juliet never visited the Temple she technically was never really an Other, only allied to them. This may explain why she moved through time with everyone else whilst the other Others, including those from Flight 815 like Cindy, remained behind.

This episode establishes and wraps up a major Lost mystery in record time: why does Ben not remember Sayid or being shot by him? Because the Temple heals him both of the wound and the memory of the trauma that caused the wound. However, Ben's failure to remember Sawyer, Juliet, Jin or Miles suggests that his memory of the entire preceding three years was affected as well.

 

This episode features the last flashback of an original Oceanic 815 survivor to something that happened previously, although it is still to a post-crash (and indeed post-rescue) timeframe.

 

Review: Another fast-moving episode, although the ease of Sawyer and Kate getting Ben to the Others and the utter lack of concern that results afterwards (Roger doesn't even seem to raise the alarm) is bizarre. However, the discussions between Hurley and Miles poke fun at time paradoxes and the show's own hardcore theorist fans, and it never hurts to drop a Back to the Future reference. (****)

 

512: Dead is Dead

Written by Brian K. Vaughan and Elizabeth Sarnoff, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 8 April 2009

Survivor Count: 16

Flashback Character: Ben

1988: Ben kidnaps Alex as a baby from her mother Danielle Rousseau, whose life he spares. Before leaving, Ben tells Rousseau to run the other direction if she hears whispers. He returns to the Others' camp with the baby, which disappoints their leader, Charles Widmore, who wanted Ben to kill both mother and daughter.

Early 1990s: Several years later, Charles is banished from the island for breaking the rules by leaving the Island frequently, building up a life and company in the outside world and fathering a daughter with an outsider. Before he leaves the Island by submarine, Charles tells Ben that Ben will ultimately be banished as well, because he was unable to sacrifice Alex's life.

2007: Just before boarding Ajira 316, Ben confronts Penny Widmore, Charles's daughter at a marina in Los Angeles. He shoots her husband Desmond. Ben states his intention to kill Penny in retribution for his own daughter's death, but hesitates upon seeing Penny's son, Charlie. Ben's hesitation allows Desmond to recover and severely beat him, throwing him into the water.

A few days later, after the crash, Ben wakes up after having been knocked unconscious by Sun. He is greeted by Locke, whom Ben previously murdered. Ben tells Locke that he has broken "the rules" by returning to the island after he left it in the episode "There's No Place Like Home", and that Ben must be judged by the Smoke Monster. Locke agrees to accompany him to the main Island. Before leaving, Ben retrieves a picture of his adopted daughter Alex from his old office at the DHARMA Initiative Hydra Station. Ben also tricks one of the other survivors from Ajira Flight 316, Caesar, and steals his shotgun. When Ben and Locke try to leave the smaller island on a canoe, they are halted by Caesar, whom Ben shoots and kills.

Upon arriving on the main island, Ben and Locke travel to the DHARMA Initiative Barracks, where they find Sun and Flight 316 pilot Frank Lapidus. Sun shows him the photograph of Jack, Kate and Hurley, who have traveled back in time to 1977 and joined the DHARMA Initiative. Sun also tells Ben that Christian instructed her to wait for Locke because together they will be able to rescue the others from the past. Frank decides to return to the Hydra Island where he is taken prisoner by Ilana and several of the other 316 survivors, who ask him if he knows "what lies in the shadow of the statue" and become hostile when he says no. Meanwhile, Ben, Locke and Sun travel to the Temple. They don't enter the Temple itself, instead entering the tunnels located beneath it (where Montand was dragged by the Monster in 1988). Underneath the Temple, Ben is separated from Locke and confronted by the Monster, which replays several of Ben's memories of Alex. The smoke dissipates and a manifestation of Alex appears to Ben, telling him that she knows of his intention to kill Locke again. She warns him to follow Locke's lead without question if he wishes to live. Ben agrees and his life is spared.

 

Major WTFery: Danielle not remembering Jin in the present after meeting him in 1986 is dubious but perhaps believable. However, it seems highly unlikely that Danielle would not remember the face or distinctive voice of the man who kidnapped her daughter sixteen years after the fact. There is also an odd discrepancy where Danielle said in Seasons 1 and 2 that she's never seen an Other, but has a conversation with the younger Ben when he takes Alex.

 

This episode strongly disproves the suggestion that the Purge actually happened in 1992: Danielle's arrival on the Island and Alex's birth are both fixed in 1988 by many dozens of references and Ben is clearly a full-time and influential member of the Others by this point. In addition, Widmore is repeatedly said to have been looking for the Island for almost twenty years, which makes more sense if he was exiled in the early 1990s (as the age of Alex indicates) than the middle or latter part of the decade, which would be required if the Purge was in 1992.

 

Hindsight: At this stage Ben does not know that Locke is the Smoke Monster. Locke conveniently disappears just before the Monster appears and reappears afterwards.

 

It looked like Caesar was being built up as a character with a past and some kind of significance, but he doesn't appear to be part of Ilana's team and his offhand death with no repurcussions suggests that sometimes, even in Lost, a spade is just a spade. However, the actor later revealed that he'd been asked back for Season 6, suggesting that maybe his backstory would be explored or he'd appear in the sideways world, but had to decline citing other commitments.

 

Review: There's a certain grim satisfaction in seeing Ben, the (alleged) master manipulator, being played like an instrument by the Man in Black, who ruthlessly turns his own guilt and his love for Alex against him. It's also satisfying to see a lot of dots finally being connected together and Desmond's storyline for Season 6 being set up. (****)

 

513: Some Like It Hoth

Written by Melinda Hsu Taylor and Greggory Nations, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 15 April 2009

Survivor Count: 16

Flashback Character: Miles

Flashback: As a child, Miles discovers that he can hear the voices of dead people, so long as their bodies are nearby. When his mother, Lara, is dying of cancer several years later, Miles questions her about his father. She tells him that his father died when Miles was still a baby and that he never cared about her or Miles. Some time later, Miles is approached by Naomi Dorrit who, after ascertaining that Miles is not a fraud, offers him $1.6 million to go to the Island on the freighter. He agrees. However he is later kidnapped by a group of people who claim that the owner of the freighter, Charles Widmore, is on the "wrong team." Miles says he will not go to the island if they can provide him double the money ($3.2 million). Their leader, Bram, who is later a passenger on Ajira Airways Flight 316, asks Miles the question, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Miles cannot answer, so he tells Miles that he won't be ready to go to the Island until he can. They then let Miles go. Meanwhile, Miles has also been employed by a man to speak with his dead son. Since the boy's body was cremated, Miles lies to the man and says that the boy knew his father loved him. Miles later returns the man's money, saying that he lied and that the man should have told his son that he loved him before he died. 

1977: Kate and Sawyer return from bringing Ben to the Others. Kate returns to the infirmary where Juliet had been treating Ben for a gunshot wound. Ben's father, Roger, arrives and notices that Ben has gone missing. Sometime later, Kate approaches Roger, who has been drinking, and tells him that everything will be okay. He grows suspicious of her and demands to know what happened to Ben. He later tells Jack of his suspicions, leading Jack to tell Sawyer and Juliet. After dismissing Jack, Sawyer is confronted by one of his security guards, Phil, who has seen the video of Sawyer taking Ben. Sawyer knocks Phil unconscious and tells Juliet to get some rope to tie him up.

Miles is sent by Horace Goodspeed, the DHARMA Initiative's leader on the Island, to the construction site of the Swan Station to retrieve a dead body and bring it to Dr. Pierre Chang at the Orchid Station. Before he can bring the body to Dr. Chang, Hurley tries to take the van containing the body, in order to deliver food to the Orchid Station. Since they are both going to the same place and there are no other vans available, Miles reluctantly agrees to let Hurley accompany him. On the way, Hurley finds the body and realises that Miles is able to communicate with dead people, an ability Hurley also possesses. After discussing the differences between their abilities, they arrive at the Orchid Station, where Miles transfers the body to Dr. Chang, who, after disposing of the body, requests a ride to the construction site. Miles tells Hurley that Dr. Chang is his father, so Hurley makes attempts to get them to bond, to no avail. After dropping Chang off, Miles discovers that Hurley is writing the screenplay for the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back, from memory, in order to give it to George Lucas. Hurley compares Miles's relationship with his father to the relationship between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, as well to the relationship between Hurley and his father. Hurley says that the best thing he ever did was forgive his father for abandoning him and suggests Miles do the same. Miles goes to Dr. Chang's house and briefly observes him interacting with his three-month-old self. However, Dr. Chang is on his way out and takes the older Miles to the dock, where a submarine is arriving with DHARMA scientists, among whom is Daniel Faraday. Faraday recognizes Miles and mentions that it has been a while since they have seen each other.

Major WTFery: The cans used by the DHARMA Initiative have litter-free ring-pulls. The producers noticed this themselves, justifying it by saying that DHARMA invented the concept.

The DHARMA workers move the prop of the Swan Station door around with ease. This is an error as the door is supposed to be one foot thick and made of steel: both Locke and Jacke had problems moving it in the Season 1 finale.

Hindsight: This is the first episode since Season 2 to make a big deal (if only briefly) about the Numbers.

Review: Given the criticism of Lost's slow pace in the first couple of seasons, it's unsurprising that by this point the producers want to keep the pedal to the metal in their storytelling. It's a shame because Season 5 actually opens up a whole new avenue of side-stories that could use some further exploration. LaFleur was a good example of that and so is Some Like It Hoth, which has some excellent character-based moments and humour that work without all hell breaking loose around them. As it stands, it's a nice break from the frentic pace of the season and gives Miles some much-needed character development. (****½)

 

514: The Variable

Written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, directed by Paul Edwards

Airdate: 29 April 2009

Survivor Count: 16

Flashback Character: Faraday

 

Flashback: As a child, Eloise asks Daniel if he knows what destiny is and then tells him that he has a special gift: his brilliant mind. She discourages him from pursuing an interest in music, insisting that he study science and mathmatics instead. After Daniel graduates from Oxford University, Eloise gives him a journal as a gift and again reminds him of his destiny. Meanwhile, Daniel has received an enormous research grant from Charles Widmore, whom Daniel does not know is actually his father. Years later, following the crash of Flight 815, Daniel has suffered severe psychological effects from performing experiments on himself: he has lost his mental acuity, and now lives with a caretaker. While watching the news coverage of the discovery of the Flight 815 wreckage in the Sunda Trench, Daniel is visited by Charles, who tells him that he faked the found wreckage and that the real plane actually landed on the Island. Charles invites Daniel to go to the Island, which Charles claims will cure his psychological problems. Eloise later visits Daniel and further encourages him to go to the Island.

 

1977: Daniel has returned to the island after spending most of the past three years in Ann Arbor, Michigan, conducting research for the DHARMA Initiative's mainland team. He has returned because Jack, Kate and Hurley have managed to travel back in time and become part of the Initiative. After learning from Jack that they were sent to the island by Daniel's mother, Eloise, Daniel visits Dr. Pierre Chang at the Orchid Station and warns him of a catastrophic event that is to occur at the Swan Station in six hours. Dr. Chang does not believe Daniel when he says that he is from the future, and Miles does not affirm Dan's story, even after Daniel informs Dr. Chang that Miles is his son.

At the Barracks, Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Hurley and Miles decide that they will flee to the survivors' original beach on the far side of the Island, abandoning DHARMA. But Kate, Jack and Daniel decide to visit the island's native population, the Others and get help to prevent the impending disaster. They arouse suspicion from Dharma's head of research, Radzinsky, while trying to steal weapons and a gun fight ensues. The survivors are able to escape; however, Radzinsky brings his team to Sawyer and Juliet's house, where they find DHARMA member Phil tied up in the closet. Meanwhile, Daniel explains to Jack and Kate that he intends to detonate the hydrogen bomb that had been buried on the island in 1954 in order to prevent the construction of the Swan, which in turn will ensure that Oceanic Flight 815 never crashes on the island, which means it never becomes visible to Widmore's team, so he never sends the freighter which brings himself and Charlotte, therefore Charlotte doesn't die. Daniel enters the Others' camp with his gun drawn and demands that Richard Alpert take him to see Eloise; Eloise shoots Daniel in the back as they argue, a move which provokes hostility from Richard. Before Daniel dies, he tells her that he is her son.
 

2007: Desmond is brought to a hospital, having been shot by Ben. While waiting, his wife Penny, is visited by Eloise, who apologizes for involving Desmond in everything that has happened. Penny later visits Desmond, who is expected to make a full recovery. Charles, who is also Daniel's father, speaks with Eloise outside the hospital, but does not visit his daughter.

 

Major WTFery: Daniel's abrupt heel turn on deciding that it is possible to change the past appears to be outright desperation as he tries to find a way of saving Charlotte. The arrival of Jack's team in the past spurs him to think it is possible to change things.

Only a few days have passed since Jack and co arrived on the Island but Daniel has already received a copy of the photo and has had time to get from Ann Arbor, Michigan to the Island. The sub has also had time to return to the mainland and get back again. It might be that in 1977 the window leading to the Island is conveniently located in the Atlantic Ocean or even Lake Michigan itself, would make travel times much faster than if the access point was still in the middle of the Pacific.

Daniel storming into the Others' camp and waving a gun around seems to be irrational behaviour and out of character. It might be that away from the healing effects of the Island, Daniel's previous instability and loss of control had returned.

Hindsight: Issue 40 of Mystery Tales (dated April 1956) can be seen in Daniel's house. This is the comic that carries the story March Has 32 Days, which appears to be a primary influence and inspiration for Lost's treatment of time travel.

 

This is the 100th episode of Lost. The cast celebrated the occasion on-set with a cake. Producer Damon Lindelof later admitted when they started planning the first season he was 100% convinced they'd never make it past the thirteenth episode.

 

The scenes with Charles Widmore and Eloise take place more or less in real time with the on-Island action, which is a highly unusual event.

 

Review: A companion piece to The Constant, but a notably weaker episode. This is because it's a much jumpier piece, moving around haphazardly through Faraday's life before he gets himself killed a very odd manner. We also don't get an explanation for why Faraday so abruptly changes his mind about time not being malleable. The idea of a woman killing her own son and then giving birth to him, raising him and going through life knowing what will happen to him is both powerful and haunting, if not sold altogether well. (***½)

 

515: Follow the Leader

Written by Paul Zbyszewski and Elizabeth Sarnoff, directed by Stephen Williams

Airdate: 6 May 2009

Survivor Count: 16

Flashback Character: Richard Alpert

1977:  Jack and Kate witness a young Eloise Hawking kill her son in the Others' camp. As Jack and Kate debate whether they should follow through with Faraday's plan to detonate the hydrogen bomb in order to change future events, they are captured by Charles Widmore. After reading Daniel's diary and finding her own handwriting in the dedication, Eloise believes their claim of being from the future and decides to take Jack's advice to detonate the bomb. They travel with Richard Alpert to a pond which leads to a series of tunnels in which the bomb is stored. The tunnels lie beneath the site of the DHARMA Initiative's barracks. Kate does not want to take part in Jack's plan and leaves. However, an Other refuses to let her go, prompting an unseen Sayid to shoot the Other. Sayid agrees to Jack's plan, but Kate still refuses and compares Jack to John Locke, whom Jack once regarded as crazy. She leaves for the Barracks and the others enter the tunnels.

At the DHARMA Initiative Barracks, Sawyer and Juliet are being held captive by Horace Goodspeed, Stuart Radzinsky, and Phil. Sawyer does not answer any of Radzinsky's questions, even after he is severely beaten and witnesses Phil strike Juliet. Meanwhile, Dr. Pierre Chang confronts Hurley, Miles and Jin as they ready their escape to the beach. He wants to know if Faraday was correct concerning time travel. Chang asks Hurley time-specific questions which he fails to answer correctly; Hurley then concedes they are indeed from the future. Miles confirms that he is Chang's son, and supports Faraday's request for the island to be evacuated. Chang informs Horace and Radzinsky of this, and Sawyer makes a deal to leave the island on the submarine in exchange for telling them what they want to hear. Sawyer and Juliet, followed by Kate, are placed aboard the submarine in handcuffs. The sub departs.

 

2007: Locke meets with Richard at the Others' camp and tells him that he now has a purpose. Sun confronts Richard about the fate of her husband and the other survivors stranded in the past. Richard grimly informs her that he watched them all die. Locke, Richard, and Ben Linus travel to the location that the time-jumping Locke will appear, so that Richard can remove the bullet from his leg and tell him what needs to be done. They return to camp, where Locke speaks to the Others and tells them that they are going on a trip to see Jacob, from whom they take orders but have never met (apart from Richard). Locke tells Sun that Jacob will know how to save their friends. However, he later admits to Ben that his plan is not to ask Jacob for help, but to kill him. This shocks and stuns Ben.

 

Major WTFery: This episode features a self-sustaining temporal paradox. Richard gives the compass to a time-shifting Locke in 2007. He takes it back and gives it to Richard in 1954, and the loop continues. This means that the compass basically gets infinitely older and older. This seems to break the laws of time travel as established on Lost so far. Alternatively, it is possible (and maybe probable) that the watch is actually lost or destroyed at some point by Richard and he bought an identical one to replace it.

 

This episode confirms that Daniel Faraday was born in early 1978 (his mother has only just learned she is pregnant in July 1977). Actor Jeremy Davies was born in 1969, making him nine years older than the character he's playing. This isn't unusual in Lost with William Mapother (Ethan Rom) and Michael Emerson (Ben Linus) also being significantly older than the characters they are playing and Rebecca Mader (Charlotte Lewis) being significantly younger.

 

When the sub departs the Island, it is shown moving way from the dock adjacent to the Barracks. But as the camera swings around we see only open ocean. The Barracks dock is actually on a lake or large river that runs from the Barracks (which is otherwise well inland) north for several miles to the sea. Other shots of the dock clearly show this. Presumably the geography was adjusted with CGI to make it appear more dramatic, at the expense of logic.

 

Richard says that he saw all of the time-travellers die in 1977. However, in The Incident Richard is not present. A scene written but never filmed had that episode ending with Richard witnessing the small nuclear explosion from several miles away, explaining Richard's certainty.

 

Hindsight: This episode is judged by some to be Richard Alpert-centric since Richard's presence in both time periods is used to anchor the storyline and many of the transitions from 1977 to 2007 and back use Richard as a linking factor.

 

In Namaste Hurley panics at the thought of someone asking him who the President is since he knows that will trip him up and expose the truth. Prophetically, this is what happens in this episode (note: the answer is Jimmy Carter).

 

Review: Hurley getting tripped up by the time travel conundrums is quite amusing, but otherwise this episode is mostly scene-setting for the finale and sees Jack taking charge once again. If Jack was the sceptical man of science in the first few seasons, here he is seen embracing faith that Daniel knew what he was doing, and thus becoming more Locke-like. It's an interesting development for Jack's character and improtant set-up work for Season 6, also drawing on his development through the Oceanic Six storyline in Season 4 and 5. (****)

 

516: The Incident

Written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, directed by Jack Bender

Airdate: 13 May 2009

Survivor Count: 16

Flashback Character: Jacob

 

Flashback: Jacob, now revealed as a blonde-haired man in his early forties, is weaving a tapestry inside a temple-like room. He is then shown on the beach of the island eating a fish near the large (and still-intact) four-toed statue of the Egyptian god Taweret, where he is visited by a man in a black shirt. The man comments on a sailing ship on the horizon, suggesting that Jacob has brought it to the island. The man states that no matter who comes to the island the same thing happens over and over, and that the man will eventually find a "loophole" so he can kill Jacob.

As a little girl, Kate is visited by Jacob - who still appears to be the same age as he was hundreds of years earlier - when she is caught shoplifting a lunchbox. He pays for it to placate the shopkeeper and tells her to be good.

At age eight, Sawyer is attending his parents' funeral. He has begun writing his letter to the con man "Tom Sawyer", but his pen is out of ink. Jacob appears and gives him a replacement.

In late 2005 Jacob is in Los Angeles. He bumps into Sayid and Nadia on the street and asks Sayid for directions. As they start crossing the road Nadia is hit by a car. As she dies, she begs Sayid to bring her home (to Iraq for burial).

While recovering in a Russian hospital, Ilana is visited by Jacob. He asks for her help and she agrees.

In 2001 Sun and Jin are visited by Jacob during their wedding and he tells them that their love is very special in fluent Korean.

In 2000, immediately after being pushed out of an eighth-story window by his father, John Locke is severely wounded and on the edge of death. Jacob arrives and touches him on the shoulder, and Locke reawakens.

After performing his first solo surgery on a young girl, Jack tries to buy a chocolate bar from a vending machine, but it gets stuck. Jack argues with his father Christian for interrupting him during the surgery. Jacob buys the same chocolate bar and when two come out, he gives Jack one.

In 2007 Hurley is visited by Jacob after he is released from prison. Jacob tells him that he may not be cursed or crazy, but blessed, and that his ability to see dead people could be a gift. He tells Hurley about Flight 316, giving him the choice of boarding it. Jacob leaves a guitar case behind for Hurley to take. One thing all these flashbacks have in common is that Jacob makes physical contact with each of the characters in his or her respective scene.

As a young girl, Juliet's parents tell her and her sister that they are getting divorced, greatly upsetting her; they claim that though they love each other, they were not meant to be together. Notably, Jacob does not visit Juliet or touch her.

1977: Kate, Juliet and Sawyer are on the submarine leaving the Island. Kate convinces Juliet and Sawyer that they need to stop Jack from detonating the hydrogen bomb. They force the captain to surface so that they may leave, instructing the captain to continue on course away from the Island. They arrive at a beach near the north shore, where they are greeted by Vincent the dog, who has been in the care of Rose and Bernard Nadler for the past three years. Rose explains to the trio that she and Bernard are now retired and live a quiet life near the beach, scavenging food and avoiding detection by the DHARMA Initiative. Kate and Sawyer start discussing what's going on, but Rose says "It's always something with you people" and tells them firmly that she and Bernard have left all of their nonsense behind him. Rose points them in the direction of the DHARMA Barracks and they leave.

At the same time, Jack and Sayid dismantle the hydrogen bomb in the tunnels under the DHARMA Barracks, in order to remove its core. Richard Alpert and a younger Eloise Hawking assist Jack and Sayid in entering the Barracks via the basement of one of the houses. Richard knocks out Eloise to prevent her traveling with them to detonate the bomb, because she is pregnant. Sayid dons a DHARMA jumpsuit in order to fit in at the barracks; they have almost escaped when Roger Linus recognizes him and opens fire. Jack and Sayid, who is wounded, escape in a van driven by Hurley, Jin and Miles. Hurley drives to the construction site of the Swan Station, while Jack treats Sayid's wounds; however, they are stopped by Juliet, Sawyer and Kate. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Pierre Chang is forced to continue drilling into the energy source beneath the construction site of the Swan station on the orders of Stuart Radzinsky, despite his growing misgivings about the idea and Faraday's warnings.

2007: Locke, Ben, Sun and the Others travel to the remains of the Taweret statue, where Jacob resides. Locke assigns Ben the task of killing Jacob, and provides motivation by reminding Ben of all the bad things that have happened to him. Ben admits that he has never seen Jacob and was lying about talking to him in the cabin, because he was embarrassed he had never met Jacob. However, he has no idea what was going on when all of the items in the cabin started flying around. All communication with Jacob has actually been through notes brought by Richard, including the lists of people to be taken from the Oceanic 815 survivors. Locke asks Richard how old he is and Richard says that he is "this way" because of Jacob.

At the same time, a group of survivors from Ajira Flight 316, including Ilana and Bram travel towards Jacob's cabin, with Frank and a metal crate from the cargo hold of the plane. They find the cabin deserted and the salt circle surrounding it broken. They set the cabin on fire after realizing that someone else has been using it. They then travel to the statue.

Their group arrives shortly after Ben and Locke enter a chamber in the base of the statue's remains. Ilana asks Richard the question, "what lies in the shadow of the statue", and Richard replies, "Ille qui nos omnes servabit" (Latin for "He who will save us all"). Ilana reveals the contents of the crate: John Locke's dead body. A shocked Sun asks if that is the real Locke, then who is in the statue?

Inside the chamber, Jacob deduces that Locke is really the Man in Black from the opening flashback and that he has tricked Ben into trying to kill him. Jacob suggests that Ben refuse and they can talk. Ben seems almost swayed, but then points out how miserable his life has been and all the things he's done for Jacob, starting with betraying his own people as a young man and arranging their deaths. Ben angrily asks, "What about me?" Jacob, looking puzzled, replies "What about you?" in a dispassionate way. Enraged, Ben stabs Jacob repeatedly. Jacob's final words are a warning or promise: "They're coming." Locke's imposter then kicks Jacob's body into the fire and watches it burn.

1977: Jack and Sawyer discuss the situation away from the other survivors, with Sawyer expressing his opinion that "what's done is done" and that they shouldn't try to change the past. Jack claims that it is his destiny to change the past and that John Locke has always been right about the Island. Jack and Sawyer get into a fist fight, which is broken up by Juliet, who now agrees with Jack that they must detonate the bomb. She tells Sawyer that although they love each other, they are not meant to be together (echoing her parents), and that if they never meet then she will never have to lose him.
With everyone now in agreement, Jack enters the construction site at the same time that security officer Phil arrives with a team of armed men.

A massive gunfight ensues, wherein the survivors gain the upper hand, allowing Jack to drop the bomb into the pit at the same time that the drill hits the energy source. The nuke fails to go off, and the pocket is breached, attracting every metal object in the area. In the ensuing chaos, Dr. Chang's arm is crushed by part of the drill mounting, Phil is stabbed by a rebar, and Juliet is dragged into the chasm by a metal chain. Sawyer attempts to pull her up in vain, and Juliet professes her love for him before falling. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Juliet survived the fall. She finds the undetonated nuke and begins hitting it with a rock as the screen cuts to white.

Major WTFery: It is unknown how Jacob can leave the Island: Beyond the Sea and Season 6 in general seem to suggest that the Protector of the Island leaving whilst the Man in Black is around is a bad idea. However, The New Man in Charge establishes that Hurley can leave after receiving his promotion (and the MiB's demise) so it's clearly not impossible.

 

It's also unclear by what mechanism Jacob can depart or arrive on the Island, given his dislike of technology. He can't use the windows or the donkey wheel as others would notice and this involves a time displacement effect that would give the MiB unfettered access to the Island in his absence. It is also possible that Jacob never leaves the Island directly, instead projecting manifestations across the outside world (this may also explain how Jack sees Christian in Los Angeles when the MiB/Smoke Monster cannot leave the Island).

 

After this episode, what happened to the people back in 1977 is not directly explored. This annoyed some fans, given their prominence for the whole of the fifth season. However, earlier seasons had already filled in the later history of the DHARMA Initiative in some detail (see below).

 

Hindsight: This episode was originally meant to end with Juliet hitting the bomb and setting it off. The camera would then cut to Richard Alpert and the Others seeing the explosion from a distance. This would confirm Richard's statement to Sun that he watched everyone who travelled back in time die. However, the scene does not appear to have been filmed. It is possible the writers decided to change it because the bomb actually detonating would have killed Radzinsky and possibly Chang, when we know that they both surived the Incident. In the end, canonically the ending is left ambiguous whether the bomb exploded as such or if it and the EMP pocket cancelled one another out.

 

Fans assumed that the ship in the opening scenes is the Black Rock. The Season 6 episode Ab Aeterno later established that the Black Rock arrived at the Island in the middle of a fierce storm at night, not during the day in calm weather. For that reason, either the boat is not the Black Rock or the ship was merely passing the Island and driven back a day or two later by the storm.

 

This episode marks the last time ever in the series that Jack, Kate, Hurley, Jin, Sun, Sayid, Locke, Sawyer or Juliet have flashbacks.

 

In each flashback, Jacob is careful to touch the person, even if briefly. This is probably what marks them as "Candidates". It is notable that he never visits or touches Juliet, and this may foreshadow that she is expendable.

 

Dr. Chang receives a severe injury to his arm during the incident, explaining why later DHARMA videos show him with a prosthetic arm.

 

The Season 2 finale had already confirmed that Radzinsky survived the Incident and in fact would survive the Purge. He'd spend the last few years of his life trapped in the Swan Station pushing the button, apparently going mad and eventually blowing his brains out with a shotgun.

 

This episode confirms that there are ancient tunnels below the Barracks, including the "Monster Summoning Room" that Ben later creates a route to via his house.

 

Rose and Bernard confirm in The End that at the moment of the Incident there was another time shift that moved them and Jack's group back to the present.

 

During the Incident there are sound effects and phenomena (like metal objects flying through the air) deliberately meant to evoke the Discharge from the Season 2 finale.

 

This episode hints at the grand master plan behind everything on the Island: the Man in Black is trapped on the Island and wants desperately to escape. Jacob is acting as his guard or jailor. The MiB is prevented - somehow - from harming Jacob, which Jacob is well aware of. The MiB has been searching for a loophole for a long time. Taking John Locke's place and manipulating Ben Linus into killing Jacob is the loophole in question. But Jacob has prepared a contingency plan involving several of the Oceanic 815 survivors.

 

Review: Not one of Lost's best finales (in particular, the foreshadowing of Juliet's death is clunky as hell), but it's still an emotional, action-packed and revelatory episode that reveals the real stakes for the end of the story and also sets things up for the - highly controversial and variable - final season. In particular, revealing the true Jacob and then immediately killing him is a disarming, left-field move that works really well. (****½)

 

And Then...

 

The detonation of the Jughead hydrogen bomb did not destroy or even significantly damage the Island. Instead, the release of nuclear energy cancelled out the massive build-up of electromagnetic energy underneath the site of the Swan Station and prevented it from returning for at least three years. However, the DHARMA Initative quickly realised that the electromagnetic energy would return and would destroy the Island (and potentially the world) if left unchecked.

 

The Swan Station was built as planned and completed in 1980. A reactor was built to tap the electromagnetic energy and divert it into a vent. Every 108 minutes the vent would need to be activated to release the energy lest it start building up to dangerous levels again. During their experiments, DHARMA discovered that it might be possible to discharge all of the electromagnetic energy permanently and forever. They could not guarantee it would work safely, so installed the Discharge only as a last-gasp failsafe option.

 

Dr. Chang feared for his family's safety, so chose not to invite them back to the Island. Instead, he cut them off entirely. This scarred his son Miles, who grew up hating his father.

 

George Lucas released The Empire Strikes Back with no input from Hugo Reyes.

 

Ben Linus was returned to the Barracks by the Hostiles. He had no memory at all of the previous few days and his memories of the preceding three years seem to have become extremely patchy. His previous ambition to join the Hostiles had now solidified into a yearning and total dedication to them, but they required him to wait as a sleeper agent in the Barracks for another eleven years.

 

Shortly after the Incident, both the DHARMA Initiative and the "Hostiles" discovered that it had had an unusual effect on fertility. Women from both camps who tried to undergo pregnancy on the Island died in the second trimester. This inability to raise families on the Island seems to have made the Island far less attractive as a career and lifestyle option. Many people from both camps left, including Eliose Hawking who moved to the UK with her young son, Daniel Faraday. The young Charlotte Lewis had also been evacuated, but had distinct memories of the Island and would dedicate her life to finding it again.

 

By the mid-1980s the DHARMA Initiative was possibly in trouble: it had not yet come close to solving the Valenzetti Equation which was the whole reason for its existence, and the material benefits justifying its existence seems to have become questionable. In 1985 it appears that the DeGroots (the founders of the DHARMA Initiative) and possibly even Alvar Hanso, their wealthy backer, visited the Island. Around the time of their visit another Incident seems to have taken place at the Swan Station, possibly involving the button not being pressed in time. This seems to have damaged the station, but allowed it to continue operations.

 

In 1988 the fifteen-year peace treaty signed between DHARMA and the Hostiles expired, but the DHARMA scientists refused to leave. Using the experimental weapons at the Tempest Station, Ben Linus killed his father and all of the DHARMA scientists left on the Island. The Others took control of the Barracks and the DHARMA submarine. The highest-ranking survivor, Stuart Radzinsky, locked himself in the Swan Station to keep pushing the button.

 

The loss of contact with the Island and the loss of the expensive submarine seems to have encouraged a now-sceptical Alvar Hanso to discontinue funding for the DHARMA Initiative. The organisation effectively shut down. However, aware of the importance of the Swan Station, Hanso continued to bankroll supply runs and recruitment to keep the station manned. Some time after 1992 Kelvin Inman was recruited and sent to the Island to help man the station. He found that Radzinsky had become somewhat unhinged following the collapse of all his scientific dreams and plans, creating an elaborate map on the back of a blast door. Radzinsky killed himself a few years after Inman's arrival.

 

In late 1988, Daniell Rousseau and her science team arrived on the Island. Corrupted by the Monster, the team went mad and Rousseau had to kill them all. She gave birth to her daughter, Alex, but the girl was taken just a few days later by Ben Linus. Ben rose quickly through the ranks of the Others thanks to his intelligence and cunning, but he was also respected for raising his adopted daughter well. The only person unhappy with Ben was the Others's leader, Charles Widmore. They engaged in a brief power struggle. This ended when Ben discovered and exposed the fact that Widmore had been living a double life. Under the guise of protecting the Island, he had in fact been building up a business empire, wealth and fortune in the outside world. He had also had a daughter, Penelope, with an outsider. He had been using the Island for personal gain and power, against the principles of Jacob. Somewhere around 1991-92, Widmore was permanently exiled from the Island. He would dedicate the rest of his life to finding it again.

 

In the mid-1990s, Alvar Hanso lost control of his company. He was unseated in a corporate coup engineered by Thomas Mittelwerk, who had little or no interest in the Island but instead wanted to continue working on the Valenzetti Equation in the outside world. Although the supply drops continued, the Hanso Foundation ceased recruiting people to send to the Island. This made it extremely fortunate for Kelvin Inman that a boat called the Elizabeth ran aground on the Island in 2001. The only person on board, Desmond Hume, became the next person to push the button. Inman secretly planned to repair and steal the Elizabeth and did this over the next three years. Shortly before completing the project, he was followed by a suspicious Desmond who killed him. This nearly resulted in him not pushing the button in time, resulting in a brief electromagnetic surge...which "pulled" Oceanic Flight 815 out of the sky and brought it crashing to the ground.