Time Travel vs. Life Travel

Yin vs. Yang -- The Moustrap Theory

2009-08-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am still waiting for the Ben-Annie storyline to develop and give us more insight into Ben's motivations, but after season 5 it appears that it is not Ben vs. The Universe, but Yin vs. Yang -- Jacob vs. the MIB. I think these guys have to exist in harmony -- balance -- the peace and the chaos -- and what we have seen is the chaos finding a loophole to finally destroy the peace -- but not before the peace can set in motion events that will close that loophole before any major damage can be done.

So here is my most recent theory.

I haven't been following the theories lately, just re-watching seasons 1 and 2, so if I am treading on someone else's ideas, you have my apologies. But this is my theory, and I think it's pretty clear:

What Happened, Happened

No reboot. No alternate timeline. Jughead always exploded. But when you explode an atomic bomb over a pocket of electromagnetic energy, you don't get a normal explosion -- you get "The Incident" which a brilliant guy like Radzinsky can work to contain. That's why the Swan hatch had cement poured over it like Sayid hadn't seen since Chernoble. It's why Desmond told Locke in S2 Finale that the blast doors could even withstand an atomic blast. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Jin -- they will all survive the Incident. But they won't rejoin Dharma and they won't flash back to where they once belonged. They will have to get back to the future the way we all do -- one day at a time -- but they will not age because Jacob's touch "Alpertized" them (they just haven't lived long enough to see that they don't physically age yet) and they will go through their lives from 1977 to 2004 with a foreknowledge of what is to come and a crystal clear understanding that Ms. Hawking is right -- you can't change "the past."

They will be rescued from the angry Dharma mob by Richard Alpert and the hostiles and they will be recruited into the "what lies in shadow of the statue" club. They may even become leaders of this group and will make key, behind-the-scenes moves to set things up for what has to happen -- to the point where they set up many of the things we have already seen in previous seasons: arranging the food-drops; broadcasting the numbers from the radio tower to bring Rousseu to the island; getting Radzinski to paint the flourescent map on the hatch door; splicing the swan orientation video and hiding the missing piece on the other side of the island where they know the tailies will find it; salting the earth around the pearl station to make a "question mark" that Eko can see from the cliff; instructing Ms. Clue to give their names to Michael to bring in exchange for Walt; having the others build a runway for Ajira 316, etc etc etc etc. In other words, they will be setting up a game of moustrap for their younger selves and ensuring that they get where they need to be. I mean, how many times has Lost shown us game-changing presentations of the same event told from different perspectives? This is what it's all about.

In the first half of season six, we will learn that Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Jin, Hurley, and Sayid are the main people setting the stage for the oceanic 815 crash -- even to the point where they 'encourage' and 'manipulate' certain events to get people on the plane who need to be on the plane (even their younger selves). But that's just the first half of Season 6. There is still the overall victory that must be won -- the final battle -- the loophole that must be closed -- the war that must be won. The consequences to Ben's loophole killing of Jacob and the showdown with un-Locke/MIB and whatever else is going on with this mysterious island and the smoke monster and whatnot. The balance between yin (Jacob) and yang (MIB) must be restored, and Jacob has found a way to out-loophole the loophole -- Jack and co. to the rescue ("they're coming...") -- still some surprises to come, I am sure.

My ideal final scene of Lost would be a repeat of the season 5 finale's first scene -- with Jack catching a fish and cooking it on a rock, and Locke coming up to him and saying "do you know how badly I want to kill you?" Jack is the new yin and Locke (or at least the smoke monster in locke's form) is the new yang.

Oh yeah -- one other part of this "What happened, happened" theory -- we will learn that Rose and Bernard are the Adam and Eve skeletons of the caves from season one. I mean we have already seen them hermitting it up in 1977 -- not such a stretch to find them dead and decomposed by 2004. white rock, black rock -- it's pretty obvious, no?

LOST REVIEW: Ep. 5.11 "Whatever Happened, Happened"

2009-04-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

Great episode, but I’m already building my hopes up WAY TOO HIGH for next week. I love Ben-centric episodes, and next week looks like it’s gonna be awesome. But I like the way this week played out. Sayid shoots Ben and that leads him ultimately to Richard Alpert and the others. I didn’t see the role that Juliette (and Kate and Sawyer) would play in it, but that made perfect sense and gives some significance to the “what are they meant to do – why did the island put them in 1977?” question. I wonder what will become of Sayid and I am very disappointed in the use of Miles, but I’ll get to that eventually.

Kate

Amazing performance. When she said her tearful goodbye to her sleeping little blonde haired boy it made me want to go in and hug my own sleeping little blonde haired boy. It is nice to see the backstory and to understand the intended motivation for her return to the island. I can’t say that I buy it 100%, but they had to get her back to the island somehow, and this seemed like the best way to do it. But I don’t believe that finding Claire is her #1 objective. She went back for Sawyer, plain and simple. She realized that Aaron was her crutch in a Sawyer-less world, so she went back. Not sure why she still got the love on with Jack, unless that was her flawed way of closing that book, but it does explain her former comment, “just because I’m with you doesn’t mean I am WITH you.”

Cassidy

I liked seeing Cassidy again – I have always loved how her super power is to sniff out BS. Yeah, Sawyer ultimately duped her in a long-con, but she is smart and can tell when people are lying. She’s cool. I like her. And I liked her cynical take on Sawyer’s heroic helicopter bail-out. And she was right on the money. He wasn’t being a hero to just be a hero. He didn’t want to go back and deal with the Jack-Kate thing, so he bailed. Good call. I think he acknowledged as much with his reaction to Kate when she confronted him with it.

Hurley and Miles

Great dialogue about time travel and some direct nods to the audience about how confusing it can be and that you just have to get used to it or stop existing (i.e. go watch American Idol) in which case it doesn’t really matter. I thought that the “ah hah!” moment was a little forced – why didn’t Ben remember Sayid when Sayid first tortured him? Who’s to say that Ben didn’t remember Sayid? Do you think that Ben is the kind of person who reveals all the cards in his deck? That Ben/Sayid question to me is a non-issue, and I certainly hope that Richard Alpert’s “he won’t remember this” is not the way the writers intend to answer Hurley’s question.

And Miles – man, this guy has got some serious talent as an actor and such an amazing super-power as a ghost whisperer. There is a reason he was selected to be part of the fantastic freighter four, but all we are seeing from him is “yes sir, okay sir” second fiddle to LeFleur. This guy is being wasted, and I hate watching it happen. So much potential, just not enough time to let it play out I guess. Too bad. I want to see more Miles. It’s a good dilemma to have, I guess, that you have characters like Miles and Desmond and Hurley and Faraday and Ben and Richard and Widmore, etc etc, who you really want to see more of but just can’t quite squeeze into a 45 minute show every week. Anyway…

Juliette

First of all, the barging into Jack coming out of the shower was way too Dharma-90210-ish for me. Not what I watch the show for. But the earlier moment when Juliette realized that there was “another way” that little Ben could be saved – that was cool. And it’s about time she starts leaking a bit more of her “The Others” knowledge, although the more I think of it, the more frustrated it makes me. I really like the Sawyer-Juliette pairing, although Tracey really hates it. And as I was trying to justify it to her after we watched the show, I realized that I have only been thinking about their relationship one way – the way that Sawyer had changed as a result of it – that he could be more open, less con-man, more mature and secure and be accepted by Juliette for who he is with all the dirt and baggage that goes with it. But when I started thinking about that in reverse, it didn‘t quite click for me. Has Juliette told Sawyer everything about herself, all her dirt and baggage? Wouldn’t you think that after three years playing house together that Juliette would tell Sawyer more about who and what the hostile others are all about? Maybe she has and we just haven’t seen it yet, but other than “they speak Latin and so do I” there hasn’t been a lot of info coming from Juliette, and that is frustrating, so I was glad to see this moment when Ben is pointed towards Richard.

Jack

I was a little surprised that he did not scrub up and go fix little Ben. I would have thought that a guy who is slowly sipping Locke’s “maybe I really am special” or “maybe the island really does need me here for something” cool-aid would jump at the “this must be why fate put me here” rationale. And if you follow the domino line of possibility, maybe Jack could have changed some things if he had saved Ben. Then Kate would never have conspired with Juliette, and Ben would never have been taken to Richard, and the island never would have healed little Ben, and Ben would never have turned into a forever-loss-of-innocence one of “them.” Or would he?

Jeff

I don’t normally do this, but this time I want to respond directly to EW.com’s Jeff Jensen, who tried to point Ben’s eventual turn to “the dark side” to a single random incident (or a series of single random incidents). He walked us through a little domino logic, and for the most part I agree, but I think he is forgetting the bigger picture (or, at least, he doesn’t see the bigger picture the same way that I do – which, by default, makes him wrong):

The way I see it is this: If Aaron didn't ask for some liquid refreshment to parch his creepy little throat, then Kate — a.k.a., Ms. ''Can't tell my (fake) kid 'No''' — wouldn't stop at the supermarket. If Kate didn't stop at the supermarket, she wouldn't get distracted by Aaron's change-of-mind (Me want juice box instead!) and an ill-timed phone call from Jack. If Kate didn't get distracted, then she wouldn't lose track of Aaron when he wandered off, dazzled by the pudding pop display. If he didn't wander off, then Kate wouldn't get rattled when she found the boy walking hand in hand with a dead-ringer (from the back at least) for Claire. (Pale, long blonde hair, wayyy too much make-up.) If she didn't get rattled, then she wouldn't get the epiphanies that finally compelled her to leave Aaron with Grandma Littleton, go back to the Island, and take it upon herself to save the life of her future foe in order to save the Star Wars generation from timeline-collapsing paradox. Aaron, we owe you one.

Well, yes, and no. Did we learn nothing two seasons ago from Desmond and Charlie? Remember what Ms. Hawking told us – that the Universe has a way of “course correcting.” Some things are just going to happen, no matter what we do to try and change it. Maybe Kate will ignore Aaron’s whining and not go to the supermarket, but that doesn’t mean that something else won’t trigger the emotions already welling up inside of her to return to the island and do whatever it is that she is supposed to do. Little details may change. But significant events will not.

And this, to me, is the essential brilliance of Lost. The show has always been about exploring the mysterious space between fate and free will, between faith and reason. The way those questions are explored is fascinating, and most importantly, incredibly entertaining.

So here we are, with a confirmation that both Widmore and Hawking are currently (in 1977) playing leadership roles among the hostiles. Ben is joining them, and we know that eventually he will unseat them, trick them off the island, and strip them of their power. And it looks to me that “The Universe” actually wants this to happen – it has gone to a lot of trouble to put Sayid and Kate and Sawyer into the past to make this happen and that is significant. Is Ben really a bad guy? Will Kate’s sympathy in saving little Ben be similar to Bilbo Baggin’s sympathy in sparing Gollum – an event that will pay big dividends in the final chapter of Lost? I say yes, but in Lost’s case, we still haven’t quite seen “The Precious” – this “magic box” on the island that makes all your wishes come true. But perhaps next week we will. Can’t wait.

LOST REVIEW: Ep. 5.10 "He's Our You"

2009-03-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

This will be pretty short compared to last week (for those ADD sufferers out there). Simply put: awesome.

I loved seeing a good old fashion Lost flashback to open this week's episode, and it totally fit that little Sayid would have no problem at all snapping that chicken's neck.

We also got to see how Sayid's soft spot for the ladies (his achilles heel -- or achilles something) got him in handcuffs onto Ajira 316. I think Alana (or whatever her name is) is really working for Ben, but she just doesn't know it.

I loved seeing drugged-up Sayid spill everything to "their him" -- including the fact that they gave him just the right amount of truth dope. His acting there was terrific.

The flaming Dharma van (and Sawyer's comment to Jack about being back for one day) -- awesome.

Kate and Hurley's reaction watching Jack take a back seat and just let Sawyer do his thing-- awesome.

Uncle Rico sure is mean to little Ben, isn't he? It makes you feel sorry for the kid. He just wants to be loved, is that so wrong?

And then in the end -- boom -- right in the chest. But we've seen this before, haven't we? Only last time, Ben was on the other side of the gun, and John Locke was the one getting shot. I expect that this will have the same effect.

Sayid did not "change" anything. He did what had already been done -- what HE had already done. I am dying to go back to season two, when Sayid first met (and tortured) Ben (aka "Henry Gale") in the Swan station. I doubt at the time that Michael Emerson was told "you already have met this character -- he shot you and left you for dead when you were a kid" -- but it is nice to think that all of the interaction that Ben has had with Sayid has been beased on the knowledge that he first met Sayid in a Dharma prison in 1977. It is all just so interesting and rich storytelling and allows you to enjoy previously viewed episodes with new intel and just adds layer and depth to an already incredible show.

So my guess is that this event -- the shooting -- will be another domino event that makes Ben into Ben. Of course his father's abuse is a big factor in that, and if there ever is the "Annie" storyline that I keep expecting, that will be a big one, too. But getting shot like this -- wow.

Here's how I hope it plays out: I hope that Richard will pick him up and bring him into the hostiles camp. Ben will meet Charles Widmore for the first time and he will go back to Dharma as if nothing had happened, and will be a Hostile spy (until he turns against the leader of the Hostiles as well).

At least that is the way I would like to see it. Another possibility is that Jack gets involved and has some life saving surgery for little Ben, which would keep Ben in Dharmaville and would be an interesting irony.

But either way, with Ben surviving the gunshot, it raises the question "why does the island want Ben alive?" Locke couldn't be killed. Michael (off island) couldn't be killed. Jack couldn't be allowed to jump to his suicide. So the island doesn't "off" you unless it is done with you. But is Ben really the island's protector, as he has claimed? Does the island really need to keep him alive for some important role he will play? Interesting questions.

Another question I have is who is behind Dharma. I used to think that Widmore was behind it, but Widmore is on the island right now leading the hostiles (he said he lead them for three generations -- so from the 50's, 60's, 70's -- then the purge, and then he gets tricked off the island by Ben). Radzinski made this ominous reference to the people in Michigan who run this Dharma thing making the final decision on Sayid. So who is it? How does Dharma tie in to the mythology of the island? It's coming more clearly intofocus, but still no clear answers there.

That does it for this week's review. I told you it would be short. A great episode. Can't wait for the hnext one.

LOST REVIEW: Ep. 5.9 "Namaste"

2009-03-21T05:12:00.001-07:00

I’m just 2 hours into a 13 hour Chicago to Tokyo flight. We just hit a patch of turbulence and were asked to fasten our seatbelts. So far I have not seen any flashes and no one around me has vanished from the plane. It’s time to re-watch this last episode of Lost and write my thoughts as I go. I certainly have the time.

Before I start, I just have to say that when I first watched this episode I felt a little underwhelmed. It didn’t seem to “do” as much as I have gotten used to the past few weeks on Lost. But yesterday, when I watched it a second time, it felt better to me. And reading Jeff Jensen’s EW.com column reminded me of a lot of cool stuff in this episode. There is actually more going on than I originally caught. So this will be my third viewing (and I’ll watch it again with Tracey when I get in to Tokyo tonight). Hello, my name is Glenn, I’m a Lost-a-holic.

Future Knowledge

People keep doing stuff because they know that other stuff is going to happen. Perhaps the most clear example of this so far has been Faraday’s explanation to his young mamma (a few episodes back) that the reason he knows the H-Bomb Jughead will not go off is because he has seen 50 years into the future of the island, and the bomb didn’t go off. That is the same kind of future knowledge that – to me – explains why Ben told Widmore last season “you and I both know I can’t do that” when Widmore asked if he had come to kill him. I think it also explains Ben’s shock about the death of Alex, who he had (I am guessing) seen in the future, and his disbelief in the statement that “he [Widmore] changed the rules.”
I mean, at this pointin the show, is there really any doubt that Ben knows that certain things that are going to happen in “the future?” How many times has he hidden little kits for himself, or left outriggers concealed on the beach, so that he can use what he needs when the time comes.

Of course he doesn’t know everything – there is still information that he has to extract along the way (i.e. that Ms. Hawking was the one in Los Angeles to point them back to the island, thank you John Locke), but I think he knows about certain significant events and certain significant people. And I think he uses that knowledge to prepare for the things he needs to prepare for (i.e. building a runway on Hydra Cage Island in 2004 to prepare for an emergency landing he will be a part of in 2007) and to prevent (or try to prevent) things that are not exactly in his favor (i.e. turning the donkey wheel himself to move the island instead of leaving that up to John Locke).

Each week we see more and more examples of this future knowledge, and these examples are key. You think this explains the names on “Jacob’s list?” (or, more specifically, on “Ben-the-man-behind-the-curtain’s list.” Yes, I still think that Ben has somehow “imprisoned” the real Jacob, who is an agent of “the Universe,” and part of Ben’s motivation is to maintain his control over Jacob – keep him under wraps). This may even tie into Ben’s at least partial control over the smoke monster. But more on that to come.

Frank Lapidus

It struck me in this episode that Lapidus will play a more significant role in the ultimate end-game of Lost than I had previously expected. Imagine this scenario with me –
Lapidus has some key role in a significant future event that Ben is aware of, but Ben doesn’t want him to play that role. So in 2004, when flight 815 is leaving from Sydney to Los Angeles, Ben arranges – somehow – for Frank to NOT be on that plane like he was supposed to be. In Ben’s mind, he knows that Lapidus is supposed to be on the island, so he keeps him from getting there (or at least he tries, but you can’t really change the course-correcting universe, can you?).
Widmore, however, also has this future knowledge of key people and key events, and to Widmore, having Lapidus on the island (as some part of this future “war” he told Locke about) is in his best interest, so he has Abaddon and Naomi recruit Lapidus as the helicopter pilot for the freighter folk. So, thanks to Widmore, Lapidus gets to the island like he’s supposed to. Chalk one up for destiny.

But Ben once again Ben is wiley, and he finds a way to get Lapidus off via the chopter and the Oceanic 6, and he moves the island before Lapidus can get back, so boom, score another one for Ben.

But Widmore is also wiley, he does not give up, and he arranges Lapidus to be the pilot on Ajira 316, to get him back to the island where he is still supposed to be. And now he is there again, and he are getting closer to whatever role he is supposed to play.
Now, what that role is I don’t specifically know. And he will probably be a minor piece that is sacrificed in some bigger domino mousetrap move by one side or another. But it looks to me like he is yet another pawn being moved in and out of place – a part of this great chess/mousetrap game of Lost.

The Players

Now I mention Widmore and Ben as the two main opponents in this chess/mousetrap analogy, but I still think it is really “The Universe” (aka fate, destiny) that both men are fighting against, and control of the island is what is at stake. How else do you explain Kate, Jack, Hurley, and Sayid being yanked out of time and placed in distinct, separate locations in 1977? I don’t think Ben or Widmore have the power to do that.
But the Universe… Why not?

So what is the ultimate role for these four? Why are Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, and Juliette “meant to be” in Dharma in 1977 and Sayid is “meant to be” seen as a hostile? Surely it was no accident that Sayid ended up in a different location than the other three. Why did the Universe put him where it did? It will be interesting to see the answers to these questions come in to focus. And I expect that in the end, it will explain why Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sawyer were singled out in season 2 as the four “names on the list” that Michael had to bring to Ben in order to free Walt.

The Numbers

I didn’t catch this the first time around, but if you listen closely to the radio in the cockpit when Lapidus’ co-pilot is shouting “mayday, mayday” you can hear what sounds like possibly Christian Shepherd’s voice (or perhaps a masked, deeper Hurley) repeating “4-8-15-16…”
Why are the numbers being repeated over their radio broadcast? What is the source?
Remember, this is what was being broadcast from the radio tower when Rousseau’s team shipwrecked onto the island and that was then replaced by Rousseau’s “help me, they’re all dead” French-Lady message (circ. 1988), which Jack and co. shut off in order to get their message out to the freighter folk (circ 2004). So if Lapidus and the Ajira 316 guys are really in 2007, why is that broadcast repeating as if it had never been removed? Please don’t tell me that this is an alternate future, where Rousseau’s team never came to the island or changed the numbers. But what is really going on?

Jarah

That is Sayid’s last name, right? I read Jeff Jenson’s column on EW.com. He thought that Alana (or whatever her name is – the woman who had Sayid in handcuffs -- the one who looks like Jordin Sparks) Jeff though that Alana said “Sarah” when Caeser woke her after the crash. I think she said “Jarah,” and this is evidenced by her reaction – turning to see that Sayid is gone, and reacting like she just lost a partner rather than a prisoner. I suspect that she works for Widmore, or maybe Ben. Does this mean that maybe Sayid is in league with her, working for Widmore (or Ben), too? Maybe Widmore. More on this later.

Sun

Interesting that Sun is not ”meant to be” in 1977 with the rest of her O6 companions. What role does she have to play? And do you really believe that Ben doesn’t know where they went? All he says is, “How would I know?,” which is typical Ben-speak smoke-screen diversion for “you have no idea all the things that I know, and I’m not going to tell you.”

Sawyer and Jack

I like seeing Sawyer more confident in his leadership abilities and seeing Jack a little more humble as a team player, but they still have a ways to go, don’t they? One of my favorite all-time moments in Lost came in Season one, right before Sawyer got on the raft (such a long time ago!) when he told Jack that he had met Jack’s father in Sydney. When Jack asked “Why are you telling me this?” Sawyer said, “Because Doc, you’re the closest thing to a friend that I’ve got.” I like that rivalry-friendship between them, and I saw hints of it in their initial reunion in this episode, but they are still not quite bosom buddies yet, are they? I want them to be. Their friendship is now more interesting and meaningful to me than whichever of them ends up playing house with Kate. Can I start a group of fans called the Jawyers? (just cuz I like that better than Sack).

Radzinski

Loved finally seeing this guy. He knows the island, and he knows Dharma. This is the guy who drew the fluorescent map on the door of the Swan station (that as of 1977 has not been built yet, and appears to be an important secret they plan to keep from the hostiles). I can’t wait to see who it is that will tell Radzinski that he needs to draw that invisible map, where he needs to draw it and why he needs to draw it. There has got to be some information on that map that will be key to the end-game of Lost – something that Locke needs to know that Ben will not know that he knows. And I expect that at least one of these guys have been put back here in 1977 to communicate that information to Radzinski.

I think this also will explain those yellow hazmat suits (or whatever they’re called) that Radzinski and Kelvin (and eventually Desmond) were wearing whenever they ventured outside the Swan station – because Radzinski escaped “the Purge” and wore the suit anytime he left the station as protection against poison gas residuals or possibly another poison gas attack. I am really looking forward to seeing his storyline develop.

And did you make the connection that he was manning the Flame communications center that Patchy ends up inheriting years later after the purge? (and that Locke ends up destroying). But where was the cow?

Juliette and Sawyer

I wanted to see them talk more about Kate’s return. I especially wanted to see Sawyer reassure Juliette that she’s the only gal for him and that he really does love her. I really like Juliette and Sawyer together. Can I start a group of fans called the Jawyers? (oh, Wait….)

The Snoring Dude in 4A.

There is a guy across the isle from me right now who is one of the loudest snorers I have ever heard. I have earphones in and I am watching Lost and I can still hear him over the sound of crashing planes, explosions, andsmokey-clicking-esque VW Busses! I wish I could record it and play it for all y’all (“y’all…” I am country now). This guy should be in Guinness.

Desmond and Aaron

Okay, I’m watching the part where Sun is following Ben through the jungle, and something just caught my eye. I had to go back and freeze frame. Did anyone else see Desmond hiding behind those trees with little Aaron holding his hand and reaching out as if he were being reunited with his mother Claire? This was just as Ben was confronting Sun.

Ok, hang on – I just made that part up to mess with you. Sorry. Blame it on the snorer. It is so incredibly distracting.

Baby Ethan

Man I dig Reiko Ayelsworth. I loved her as Michelle Dressler in 24. She’s just cute as a button. In a good way. The Amy character is a bit weaker for her than Dressler, but she was really pretty laying there in that hammock, so no complaints from me. And we now have confirmation that she is in fact Ethan’s mommy. Do I get points for guessing that right a few weeks ago? I know it was a popular pick.

My guess is that Ethan will be recruited by Ben and will turn against Dharma, although it is possible as someone suggested last night over tamales (yes, Sarah, I’m looking at you) that baby Ethan will leave the island like little Charlotte and will later be recruited back by Ben. Maybe. But my guess is that he lived on the island his entire life. How interesting that the woman he helped recruit (Juliette) would be the woman who delivered him at birth. I wonder if he knew.

Juliette looks just like…

Which made me wonder if Juliette looks just like… well… Juliette. Remember Harper the Harping Psyche lady who told Juliette that it is no surprise that Ben has a thing for her because “you look just like her?” Well, this is quite a stretch, but wouldn’t it be something if little adolescent Ben gets a little Bennie-Margine crush on the sexy auto mechanic Juliette back in 1977? Yes, indeed I think it would be something. I’m not sure what, though.

It would be even more of a stretch and even more more of a something if little Ben actually got with the much older Juliette and they had a little thing together, so that later in life when he says “you are mine!” he really actually means that from experience. Creepy, huh.

But not nearly as creepy as it would be if he actually got her pregnant and she died as a result of whatever it is that starts killing pregnant women. How ironic that would make it then if part of the reason Ben recruits her in the first place is to solve the mysteriouos conditions of her own past/future death.

Ewe.

Gross.

(way to go little Ben!)

Hurley’s Keen Knack for Exclaiming the Obvious

I loved it when Hurley shouted “Sawyer’s back” when the loud clunkity Dharma van drove up behind him. Thanks for letting us all know Hugo. We were wondering who else it might be in that Dharma van out in the middle of nowhere. (And thank you Craig for the laugh).

Faraday

Jack: “Is he here?”
Sawyer: “Not anymore. “
Cool. I’m still hoping he makes it back to 1950’s to build the Lamppost Dharma station in Los Angeles that helps them find the island in the first place.

Hello Frank

Did Ben and Lapidus ever meet before this moment on the island? That “Hello Frank” from Ben seemed awfully casual. Curioser and curioser.

The Swan

It was cool to see the model for this future button-pushing Dharma staton on Radzinsky’s table and to hear the intrigue behind where they are building it. My guess – it is outside the boundaries of their treaty, and it is in the same location where Jughead was buried, and it will harness the H-Bomb’s power in little 108 minute burts – or something.

Smokey and Christian

Is it a coincidence that we glimpse and hear the smoke monster just before we hear the whispering voices and see Christian Shepherd creak open the door to the rec room, so reminiscent of the Cabin door creaking open for Hurley back in season 4? Is Christian a manifestation of the smoke monster (and isn’t the smoke monster somehow controlled by Ben?) Could this shed light on Ben’s connection to Jacob and the power that he holds over him – even if it is only in part?

This is a fuzzy area for me. Let me take a stab at a few things:

When Locke goes into Jacob’s cabin for the first time, he crosses over this ring of ash. He watches Ben put on a little show in front of an empty chair and then he turns to leave but hears a voice say “help me.” So from this, we can assume that Ben dows have some kind of power over Jacob, but it is not complete, as Jacob can still get a brief message to John. Something that means John must be shot and left for dead, removed fro m the course of his destiny. But that didn’t work.

When John goes into Jacob’s cabin for the second time, he sees Christian Shepherd, who says he is not Jacob, but he can speak on his behalf. By this time we have learned that the cabin can move and appear to people if it chooses. So again, whatever power Ben has over Jacob,Jacob still has some wiggle room.

But what is this “power” of Ben’s? I expect it to be tied to the ash circle that we saw, but have we ever seen Ben exercise power of something really really powerful? Just the smoke monster. Just once. And he came out of his little hidden Egypt room covered with ash.

Now in tonight’s episode, we see the smoke monster before we see Christian. Whether or not they are one in the same – a physical manifestation of smokey – theydo seem to be in league with each other. We saw something similar with Mr. Eko and his “you-speak-to-me-as-if-I-were-your-brother” Yemi. So it seems quite possible that there is a connection between Jacob-Smokey-Christian, and that part of that is under Ben’s power/control, but not all of it. Make sense? Not sure. We’ll see.

Phil the Security Lackey

This guy has definitely got some Stephen Erastus Knudsen in him. He would pick up a little old lady by the armpits and drag her kicking and screaming across the street just so he could fulfill the cliché “help little old ladies across the street (whether they want to or not) Boy Scout mentality. Letter is more valuable than spirit to Mr. Phill. Or so he seems. The perfect candidate for disillusionment in a grand but flawed ideal, and a turn to a regimented dark side (Shout “heya” if you feel the Spirit).

Sawyer and Kate

The only thing I am really interested in with these two is what he whispered in her ear before he jumped out of the chopper and what she was doing for him in LA that she wouldn’t tell Jack. I expect it has something to do with his daughter, Clementine. I’m just waiting for that confirmation.

Little Ben

They sure did a great job of casting with this kid. It almost makes up for the young Rousseau and young Ms. Hawking incongruities (well, unless you are Tracey, in which case nothing will make up for those two casting abominations). So at this point, do you think Ben is already working for the Hostiles? I get the sense that he is, and that our security Phil is a Hostile turncoat, too. He seems a little too anal to just let some random kid walk in and see this prisoner alone behind closed doors with a brown paper bag in his hands (Phil doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would believe it was really a sandwich without taking a bite out of it first) .

I love the look in little Ben’s eyes when he asks if Sayid is “a hostile.” And the way he says “I’m Ben” and Sayid says “It’s nice to meet you Ben” makes me wonder if Sayid is still working for Ben, and if adult Ben in 2007 prepped him for this moment (and that young 1977 Ben has some future flash awareness from his adult self that this guy is here to help him). Interesting stuff.

But the other possibility—and the more I think of this the more I like it – is that Widmore pulled Sayid aside, and explained to him that he has to go back to the island, where he will encounter a young Ben (and possibly a young Widmore). And Widmore has entrusted Sayid with a mission that he needs to carry out against Ben, or to thwart some Ben move somehow. Of course it would have been a role that – in 2007 when Widmore had this conversation with Sayid – a role that Sayid would have already have played in 1977. So he’s not changing history. He’s just ensuring that whatever happened still happens. I’m interested to see if this theory bears any fruit.

CONCLUSION

So, as you can see, what initially seemed rather boring and mundane actually turned out to contain a lot of arcane Lost minutia jam packed at the seams. Or maybe that’s just me. Of course those of you with mere mortal minds will continue to struggle to connect all the pieces and fill in all the gaps that require, on average, a minimum commitment of five viewings per episode going all the way back to season one; and of course you would need the immense brain power to retain and manipulate all the information once you see it; but alas, the lonely life of a brilliant red headed zombie.

All I ask of you mere mortals is that when we discourse all things Lost in those spare moments I deign to give you, that that you listen completely and attentively to my full well-constructed and in-depth answers before launching into your next barrage of silly haven’t-quite-been-paying-attention questions. Is that too much to ask?

But alas, that requires patience and capacity that the mere mortal…

Blah blah blah. I still have eight (8) hours to go on this flight. I’m really just trying to drown out the amazing display of raw power and stamina emanating from Edward Scissor-throat in 4A. A mere mortal’s esophagus would be a shredded bloody mess after all that cacophonous grating.

Yawn. I’m bored. Time to take my ambien.

Until next week, possibly on my flight back to Tokyo from Shanghai (what, me brag?)

Namaste

LOST REVIEW: Ep. 5.8 "LaFleur"

2009-03-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

Did everyone notice the chess players in the Dharma compound? I did. How many subtle chess references is that now? Four? Eight? Fifteen? (Shall I go on?) I know I’m not the only one here, but I have long held that Lost is an elaborate chess game between Ben and “The Universe” (or God, or Fate, or whatever you want to call it…. not Simon Cowell). Of course it is not as simple as chess. There are elements of Moustrap, and Othello, and Backgammon as well. But this is what makes Lost so interesting for me – figuring out who is up against who, how each character fits into the equation, and what exactly the stakes are. Anyone reading this who has not read the ton of other garbage I have written over the past year can look it up here:

http://lost-ben-vs-the-universe.blogspot.com/

So… Welcome Jim LaFleur. I like it. As far as the whole “chess” analogy goes, I have always wondered what role Sawyer and Jin (and Kate and Hurley, etc) would play as the chess pieces. I believe they are agents of “the universe” and that they will play a key role in the defeat of Ben Linus, and in this episode, both Sawyer and Jin’s possible role and importance started coming a little more into focus. I’m so interested to see what – if any – reaction there will be from Sawyer (the new sheriff in town) when Horace brings little Ben and Roger Workman to the island. If he will even still be there.

I expect --- at least I hope – that the final moment in this season finale will be adult Ben tricking these Losties off the island yet again in another “ah hah!” “oh crap!” moment. But when things like this happen, the Universe is prepared, and it just puts them exactly where and when it needs them – i.e. the early 1950s where Faraday can build the Dharma lamppost station and find how to track the island.

That’s one possibility. But here’s another. What if “the war is coming” (so said Mr. Widmore) is actually “the purge” that we have already seen, and that Locke and co. – if they are there for “the purge” this time around – will ensure a different outcome? Maybe. I’m not sure all the pieces stack up, but it is another of the many intriguing possibilities this show has to offer.

So… who is Amy and Horace’s son? Born in 1977, this person would have been, about 27 years old at the time the Losties crashed on the island (assuming normal timelines, a dangerous but reasonable assumption at this point). My guess is Ethan. Juliette mentioned that the hostiles wiped out MOST of the Dharma initiative. We know Ben was spared. I think Annie was as well, if she was alive at that time. Maybe Ethan made the switch as well. We’ll see.

And as for Annie dying in childbirth (what I think Ben is trying to change/prevent -- the ultimate "stakes" in his chess game) -- Sawyer gave that great line to Juliette "what if whatever caused that to happen (pregnant women dying) hasn't happened yet?" It hadn't. Amy gave birth without a hitch. Of course. Ben isn't even on the island yet. He hasn't started abusing his "life travel remembering the future" abilities yet to continually save her life (like Desmond with Charlie) and the universe hasn't changed the properties of the island to kill women in childbirth to course correct Annies fated death. That's still my theory. I haven't given it up quite yet.

I am a little confused, though, about Horace’s love life. He seemed to be with a blonde woman when he came across Ben’s birth just outside of Portland (before the events we saw last night). He seemed to still be with that same woman when young Ben came to the island (after the events we saw last night). So what exactly is going on here? Did Horace grow up in Juniper Creek?

We saw the back of the four-toed statue. Not the best CGI I have ever seen, but cool to get another little tease about the antiquities of the island. Can’t wait to see the front. Someone suggested it may be the face of John Locke. Maybe. But this looked Egyptian-feline to me.

The record isn’t skipping any more. You know, I think I have been a little too generous in my application of “time travel” with some of my Ben/Widmore theories. I think it is becoming more clear that physical time travel/displacement is a rare, exceptional thing – maybe it is the thing that makes this group of Losties so “special.” Richard Alpert – who clearly has some deep, supernatural mysterious connection to the island – does not time travel. He also does not seem to “life travel” (the term I used last year to describe what Desmond has been experiencing with his flashes – the consciousness moving to different points in his life, allowing one to “remember” the future). Richard doesn’t do that. He exists in a linear time and experiences his meetings with these Losties in that linear sphere. (Can a sphere be linear?) I don’t think this group is going to be in the 1970’s for long. Faraday was up to something next to that Donkey wheel n the season premier. They’ll get back somehow. I just really hope they are tricked by Ben, like the way he tricked Widmore.

But it is not yet clear “when” Ben and Locke and the new plane crash victims are. It is clear that they are much later – probably 2007 by the look of the Dharma station Caeser was messing around in. So it will be really interesting to see what happens with Locke and Sun, who did not get magically sucked from the plane like Hurley and Jack and Kate.

Random thought: You think Hurley and his guitar may become Geronimo Jackson?

And sure, okay, I’ll spend a little time on the Kate-Sawyer thing. Yes, an interesting plot development. Not a surprising one. Didn’t we all see this Sawyer-Julliette romance coming the moment they left together in season three to go back and rescue Jin-Sayid-Bernard? And especially last season when Sawyer swam back to the island pretty much right into Juliette’s arms. I liked seeing them together. They were happy and good for each other. I like thinking of Jim LeFleur as the redemption of little James Ford who witnessed the murder/suicide of his parents and spent his whole life angry and vengeful. I liked him in the 70’s, happily playing house with Juliette, and it conjured up a line or two from Seals & Croft “Summer Breeze” –

see the light a’shinin’ in the kitchen

food's cookin’ and the plates for two-oo-hoo

feel the arms that reach out to hold me

in the evenin’ when the day is through-oo-hoo

and I come home from a hard days work

and you’re waiting there without a care in the world

Summer Breeze, makes me feel fine….

Sorry, I just dig that song. And we are in the 70's Dharma hay-day.

So now unreliable gorgeous firecracker “freckles” is back in Sawyer's life. I just hope we don’t see Jim LeFleur slide back into his angry Sawyer self as he tries to work out his feelings for her. But the dude did jump out of a helicopter to save her life. That is pretty amazing and a love like that can’t be “gotten over” in three years, or ever. So maybe Horace has a little cabin waiting for him at Juniper Creek. Let’s just hope that Juliette is more stable a first wife than Wanda.

That’s all I got for this week. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts and hopefully some responses to you guys in the comments. Till then, Namaste. Lost is back in full swing and the record is groovy man.

LOST REVIEW: Ep. 5.7 "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

2009-02-26T02:25:00.000-08:00

Another grand slam this week. I was glued. You didn't have to wait long to find out who put the camera up to await John Locke's arrival, and we had some great dialogue between Widmore and Locke. Of course Locke didn't ask all of the questions we may have wanted him to ask, but we got a clearer sense of the stakes this week than we have in the past: "There's a war coming, and if you're not on the island when that happens, the wrong side will win." How true this is remains to be seen, and it sure is conditional for all of the fate and destiny we see on this show, but it sure is interesting.

Do you believe Widmore? I think most of what he said was true. He was a leader of the people on the island. But if his idea of "peaceful defense" is snapping the neck of the colleague who is about to reveal the location of the camp, then this is going to be some awesome war! So no, I don't completely trust Widmore, but I do trust him more than Ben, and I love the reveal that Ben tricked him off the island -- something we have suspected since last season's "The Shape of Things to Come."

Was anyone really surprised the Ben strangled Locke and framed it as a suicide? He finds out what people are invested in, and he exploits it. He just needed to keep Mr. Special alive long enough to get the name of the person who would put him back on the island, and goodbye Johnny, again. Last time Ben tried to kill Locke he later said "I should have known better." WHy? Because he knows Locke has a role to play in the future and that he is already around for it. But Ben is all about changing fate, so he's going to keep testing it. I'm sure he thought he was getting rid of John by killing him like this and hoping that he could just leave him buried in some cemetary in LA. It wasn't until later that he learns that even dead John must go back to the island in order for him to be able to return. Drats, blocked again. The cat and mouse between these guys is awesome.

Do you think Helen is really dead? We have already seen that a gravestone in a cemetary does not a dead Jin make, and wouldn't it make sense for Widmore to stage Helen's death if some stupid notion like "the pursuit of love" were to distract Locke from getting where he needs to go?

Did you notice the "love" theme here? Sayid's "best nine months of his life" with the love of his life. Kate's "you wanted to leave the island because you've never been in love." And Abbaddon's "maybe you could have been together, but that was not your path." Nothing definitive in those themes, of course, but I still think it is forshadowing Ben's motivation -- doing all this nefarious business for the sake of cheating fate and spending more quality time with his beloved Annie. I know he is a liar and all, but I actually believed that bit of remorse when he said farewell to hanging corpse John -- I really will miss you. Regretably he has to do these things, but in hs mind (and his heart) the ends justify the means.

There is still some more off-island backstory to tell (Sayid's capture, Hurley's release, Kate & Aaron, Desmond & Penny, bloody Ben, etc) but it looks like we've tied up most of main the loose ends and are ready to continue the rest of the story on the island.

But I still have a few Widmore-related questions:

Ben clearly didn't know that Hawking was the way back to the island. Does Widmore? If he knows where she is I think that he must. So why doesn't he use her to get back to the island himself?

Richard used to visit off-island. Has he ever looked up Widmore? Are they enemies? Allies?

Anyway, another excellent episode. Can't wait for next week.

LOST REVIEW: Ep. 5.6 "316" (Additional Thoughts)

2009-02-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

Something wasn’t sitting quite right with me last night. It wasn’t the albondigas soup – that was fantastic. It was more the dilemma I face daily as I try to make sense of this puzzle that is Lost. It started with the simple question, “where did Ben go and how did he get so bloodied?”

Well, I think the obvious answer is that Ben went to kill Penny. He had seen Desmond minutes earlier at the church, and his eyes lit up in “future recognition,” although he had never actually met Desmond or known about his connection to Penny or even known that Penny has accompanied Desmond to Los Angeles in the first place (not from his past experience – only from his future experience). But Ben left jack in the church saying that he had made a “promise to an old friend” (i.e. that he would kill that old friend’s daughter) and had that loose end to tie up before heading back to the island for good. Clearly something went wrong with his plan – no, I don’t think that he did kill Penny – he was thwarted and barely made it back to the plane in time to get back to the island, which – ultimately – was more important to him than revenge. So Ben made it on the plane following the plan that Hawking set up to get him back to the island.

But when you start pulling on that string, other strings begin to unravel. Like this:

Why can’t Widmore use Hawking to get back to the island?

When Ben promised Widmore that he would kill his daughter, and Widmore said “you’ll never find her” Ben gave a “right back at ya” remark in regards to the island. But – hang on a minute – because this is the same Widmore who pointed Desmond to Los Angeles in the first place, to go find the mother of the guy who’s research he had been funding for so many years. If Widmore knew Hawking was in LA, he must also have known about the lamppost Dharma station and the island-finding pendulum. Infact, if Widmore is really trying to find the island and he is really funding someone’s research, isn’t it reasonable to expect that those two things go together? In other words, Widmore should be able to go to LA and look at the swinging pendulum himself and know exactly where the island is going to be in time – where the “windows” will open and close.

So why doesn’t Widmore do it himself?

Probably the same reason you don’t use your king to make aggressive moves in Chess. You get your pawns and bishops and knights to clear the way.

Which explains, I think, who these other people on the plane are with the Oceanic 6. The woman escorting Sayid – the Arab man who spoke to Jack – these guys are part of Widmore’s “next group” to go to the island for him – the group after Naomi, Faraday, Charlotte, Miles, etc. Heck, even clean-shaven Frank Lapidus is flying the plane, and he was a part of that previous group as well.

This flight is yet another attempt of Widmore to get back and regain control of the island. Widmore may even be the reason Sayid (captured) and Hurley (released from jail) and Kate (Aaron taken away) changed their minds and got on board in such a short amount of time. We already know he has something going on with Sun.

But Ben keeps gumming up the works, doesn’t he? John Locke was supposed to turn the donkey wheel, but Ben did it instead. John Locke was supposed to round up the O6 and take them to Hawking for a ticket back to the island, but Ben did that instead. Now Ben is situating himself once again between Widmore and his objectives. It would not surprise me at all to see that Ben is somehow undermining this third or fourth or whatever number attempt Widmore is making to get back to the island.

It also wouldn’t surprise me to see that Faraday is the “clever man” who created the lamppost station for Dharma in the early 50’s as the culmination of a research grant from Widmore that started in the early 80’s and that Widmore’s reason for including Faraday as part of Naomi’s first group to the island was to get him back to the 50’s to create that lamppost station that finally finds the island for Widmore after years of searching. He has the tool to find it, but the only way to get back is to ride the coattails of someone that the island really needs – like Jack Sheppard or John Locke or the other O6 who’s roles and overall importance are slowly coming into greater focus. I like all the Narnia and Caspian references I have been seeing from Doc Jensen and elsewhere. It really is looking like the return of the noble family of Narnia or something. They don’t really know who they are yet.

Such a cool show.

LOST REVIEW: Ep. 5.6 "316"

2009-02-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

“Is he telling the truth?”

“Probably not”

I loved every minute of this episode. From the very beginning with the iconic “eye close-up” on Jack waking up again on the island – I was absolutely hooked. The pacing was so much better – slower – more character driven. The reveals were so much more significant. It ranks right up there in my top five favorite episodes. Awesome.

So, thank you Nate for pointing out the Desmond quote that “these people are playing a game and we are just the pieces.” But the most significant reveals in this episode to me were Ms. Hawking’s history lesson about how Dharma found the island – “this is how they found the island.” Who exactly are the “they” she is referring to? I have some wacky ideas.

“A very clever fellow” built the pendulum on the theoretical notion that they should stop looking for where the island was supposed to be, and start looking for where it was going to be. This man and his team figured out where the island would be at a certain point in time.

I can’t help thinking that Daniel Faraday is/was/will be that very clever fellow, and that Jack Shepherd and his friends from Oceanic 815 are his team. If I am right, this all happened in a past that these guys haven’t quite arrived at that point in their own history yet. But it has already happened, so Ms. Hawking can confidently tell Desmond that the island is not through with him, because she knows that he has already played this important role in the past, just as she knew that he would go to the island and push the button.

It also explains her answer about what would happen if they all didn’t get back to the island – it would be unpredictable – which means, of course, that since they all DID get back to the island (it already happened) and their actions put into motion events that have already occurred, if that were somehow changed, you couldn’t predict with any certainty what would happen next.

Which – I think – is exactly what Ben is trying to accomplish in his quest to maintain control of the island and harness the power it gives him.

If Faraday and Jack and Co. are the historical founders of Dharma, the builders of the lamppost station, and the finders of the island, then Ben would have learned this in his history lessons on the island. He would have had knowledge of what had already happened, even though the players themselves had not advanced that far yet in the game.

One theory that I have scoffed at for the past two seasons is the suggestion that Jacob is John Locke. I haven’t completely embraced this idea yet (especially since Richard didn’t recognize Locke at one point when he said that Jacob sent him), but now I am seeing how this could possibly be the case, and if it is, I wouldn’t really hate it.

Imagine that Locke goes through everything he is going through – that in a return to the island as “proxy” he is reincarnated somehow -- but at an earlier stage in the island’s history – it is possible that he could become the “Jacob” who is the protector of the island. It is also possible that he is somehow imprisoned – or whatever the current state of Jacob is – by a greedy power-hungry guy like Charles Widmore, who then loses the island to greedier power-hungrier Benjamin Linus, who recognizes the young Jacob in John Locke, and tries to insert himself into Locke’s historical path to greatness so that he (Ben) will become the historic “Jacob” instead of Locke (example: Ben “moves the island” instead of Locke doing it because he thinks that will put himself on the path that makes Locke become Jacob).

It’s late. I’m rambling. And it’s late.

At one point in this past episode I started thinking along these “usurping” lines and I told Tracey that when Jack opened up the coffin to put in the shoes, he would find Ben inside instead of Locke – Ben, of course, trying to take Locke’s place. But, um… I was wrong.

It doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying.

Remember in this season’s premier, we saw Faraday in Dharma attire doing something sneaky around the soon-to-be orchid station. Well, I’m expecting a twist in this season’s finale. Faraday and some of the Losties (Jack and Co.) will hatch some plan to harness the energy to get them back to where they need to be, but will once again get booted off the island. Somehow Ben will be behind this to get them out of the picture. They will be sent back to the outside world, but this time they will be in the past – the 1950s – and they once again will have to find a way back to the island. That’s when they will build the lamppost, and will start Dharma, and will put all these things in to motion, and do it with a clearer picture of what will happen in the future, because they have already seen it and experienced it, and they will create a game of mousetrap to outsmart Ben linus with their 20-20 hindsight.

Let me walk you through another crazy mousetrap scenario I can imagine:

In order for Locke to finally triumph over Ben, he has to posses some knowledge that Ben does not know that he has – the glow-in-the-dark map of all Dharma stations he saw on the blast door. This knowledge will ultimately save the day. Somehow. Just work with me.

In order for Locke to see the map, Ben has to do whatever Ben did in the swan hatch to reset the system and cause the blackout and the map to start glowing (without knowing, of course, what he has done).

In order for Ben to get into the Swan hatch in the first place, he has to be captured unexpectedly by Rousseau in her net and delivered to Sayid and the Losties.

In order for Rousseau to build her net traps, she and her team must be lead to the island.

In order for Rousseau’s team to find the island, someone (my money is on Hurley) must transmit the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 from the radio tower. (I really like the idea that Hurley is the ultimate source of his own numbers paranoia).

In order for Locke to be able to see the map and the information it contains after all of this has happened, some named Radzinski (Faraday? Locke himself?) must paint it invisibly onto the blast door.

This may be way off, but with the new time twists in Lost, we can see all of these potentially mind-blowing possibilities of the older Losties preparing the island for the arrival of their younger selves. Who knows – maybe they somehow arrange the food drops in advance because they know they will need them in the future? There are so many ways this can be used.

Of course this episode also has many other minor mysteries to be solved in the next few episodes:

What happened with Aaron?
How did Ben get all bloodied?
Who is the woman with Sayid, and the Middle Eastern man in the seas with them?
Where (when?) are the other people on the plane (did it crash, or did the island just reclaim the people that weren’t supposed to leave it?)
Why did Frank Lapidus shave his cool Kenny Rogers beard?

So many questions. So many possible answers. So glad that Lost got itself back on track after Locke fixed that annoying skipping donkey wheel.

Yes!!!! It’s back.

Ep. 5.5 This Place is Death

2009-02-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

I’ve been a little disappointed in Lost the past few weeks -- too much so to really devote the time to a blog about it. It felt rushed (flash, bleed, flash, bleed). Anti-climatic (my name is Rousseau, Danielle Rousseau). Pointless (didn’t we see Claire give birth to Aaron a couple of seasons ago – do we really need to see it again?) Genuine character motivations were sacrificed for the sake of plot advancement (“Do not trust Benjamin Linus – well, okay, I’ll go with you, but I’m driving”). It got to a point where I thought maybe Nikki and Paulo were writing the scripts.

But this week was better.

The pacing felt better – less frenzied. And it was refreshing to see the main characters start acting more like themselves again. Sayid seemed more like Sayid (if I see either of you two again…). Kate seemed more like Kate (you are crazy, I am outa here). Locke was definitely Locke (climbing down that rope into the well that you knew with the next flash would probably not be there anymore). Overall it felt like the story started getting back on track.

I loved seeing Christian Shepherd help Locke to the donkey wheel. He confirmed my suspicions when he said “I told YOU to move the island.” What does that mean? It’s obvious, right? In the great game of chess between the Universe and Ben, the Universe has a killer move (Locke moves the island) so Ben sees that and blocks it (Ben moves the island instead). Exactly WHY that is such a killer move is yet to be revealed, and I haven’t thought through it well enough yet. It must have something to do with Ben losing control of the island somehow. Maybe if Locke would have turned the wheel in the first place, the island would have “moved” with he and his people intact and Ben and his people would have been skipping along the record of time. Whatever the real reason, Ben is still Ben, and that is refreshing as well.

Did anyone else think that the “wobbliness” of the donkey wheel had some correlation to the random flashes Locke had been experiencing?

I liked what I saw of Rousseau’s team this time, and I am glad that they will not be dragging out that storyline any longer. They were obligated to show a Danielle flashback – longtime fan expectations and all -- and thankfully the moments they chose to depict were meaningful. We knew already that Montague had lost an arm. Now we know how. And it was great to get back to that season one “smoke monster dragging people into the ground” thing. And it was cool to see the temple, with the hieroglyphs that we have seen in a few other places (the swan hatch numbers and Ben’s secret door). It was cool to hear Robert tell Danielle that smokey is a security system to protect the temple, and to get a sense for the unreliable nature of that information that we have had since season one. Just because Rousseau said it was a “security system” doesn’t mean that it is really a security system. It’s just what she heard from the mouth of her once-trusted husband who was lying through his teeth about many other things at that point so he could make her think that nothing really happened (what DID really happen?) and blow her brains out. And were they really “sick” or was this just Danielle’s interpretation of what happened after they went down on smokey? You understand Danielle’s “craziness” a little better this time.

I will miss Charlotte. I think Rebecca Mader had/has a lot untapped potential as an actress there. Maybe we will see her again and her storyline will continue to develop, but now we know why Faraday, when we first met him last season, was crying while watching the wreckage of 815 on TV. He was remembering the future loss he felt in Charlotte’s death. I do think that their relationship would have benefitted from more time together and more narrative development so that we as an audience would feel (and completely believe) the grief that Faraday felt. But that storyline is just window dressing at this point -- a nice little side-story not really worth the time or effort that could have made it much more meaningful. I did like the realization she experienced of her imminent death by the convenient (contrived?) recollection of the crazy man Faraday who warned her to never go back to the island or she would die, but there are much better ways to delivered that backstory than a deathbed exposition. That’s the downside of having a definite end date for the show – rushing through things like this that could have been done much better, and have been in past seasons when they had more of a luxury of time.

And Eloise (yes, that sound is me making armpit raspberries) Hawking. I resigned myself to the fact that she would be Faraday’s mother two episodes ago. But I still don’t really like it. Oh well. Looks from the previews like next week will be a really cool episode with her explaining more about the island and these “windows.” But I do feel a little cheated and manipulated at having the Ms. Hawking tease end two of the first four episodes of the season. That’s going to the well a little too often if you ask me. Maybe they were afraid it would disappear in the next flash.

So overall, I was happy with Lost this week. That doesn’t mean it was perfect. The Sun with a Gun storyline fizzled to its obvious conclusion (no, not Jack, she’s gonna shoot Ben – woo hoo). Jack still isn’t acting quite like Jack. Miles from Encino is pointless extra baggage without his awesome ghost whispering talents put to use. And Jin rearn so fast Engrish storyrine reary noying.

But Ben stopping the car and acting like a jilted drama queen was awesome (don’t make me stop this car again).

I’ll give this one a B-

Looking forward to next week.

Ep. 5.1-2 Because You Left/The Lie

2009-01-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

I miss the flashbacks. Even last season, when they were called flashforwards, they were great. Okay, maybe I just really like flashing, but mostly I really liked the way one episode would center around one specific character. You could say "this is a Jack episode" or "I can't wait for another Ben episode" but the new format looks like they are getting away from that, and I miss that. Hopefully I'm wrong.

But as for this theory of mine... I think it's still safely on track. Let's recap:

1. Ben is waging a cosmic game of chess against "the universe" (aka "fate")
2. The powers of the island give Ben his ability to play this game, and he will keep that power at all costs
3. The stakes: changing history (specifically, saving the life of his beloved Annie)

Those are the Bernard-colored spectacles through which I interpret this show, and I think I'm still doing pretty good. What additional information did we learn from the two-part season premier?

1. Ben has more chess pieces off the island than we previously suspected

Not a huge surprise. We saw how he used Sayid last season, and we saw the video where Widmore took out one of "Ben's men" -- if he could stitch up Sayid in a vet he can store Dead Bentham in a butcher shop.

Any doubt that Ben hired those attorneys to flush Kate and Aaron out into the open?

Any doubt that Ben’s man was the guy sitting in the car keeping an eye on Hurley so that Ben could come in and take him when the time was right?

Any doubt that the men shooting Sayid with a tranquilizer (instead of real bullets) were Ben’s men trying to get Sayid so they can go back to the island together?

Any doubt that Sun is playing double agent? I just haven’t decided if she is working with Ben against Widmore, or if she is truly working for herself against Ben, using Widmore. Not sure... It is easy for me to imagine, however, that Ben would have sought her out after her return the way he did Sayid – that he would have explained to Sun that the freighter and the explosives and the second protocol and Martin keamy and the plan to kill everyone on the island were all Widmore’s doing. I can even imagine Ben giving her a similar line to the one he gave Michael: “wouldn’t a father (or wife) do anything to save (or avenge) his son (or husband)?” – a question very similar to the one Sun asked Kate. And you're telling me that Sun just happened to fly to Los Angeles within this 70-hour window of time when ben has to get everyone back onto the island, and she just happened to call Kate's cell phone right after Kate was scared out by the big bad my so-called attorney? Smells to me like she is pulling the strings for someone, and I'm going out on a limb to say it is the ultimate con-artist, Ben (although it may very well be Widmore trying to gum up Ben's plans -- we'll see).

But Ben is, once again, moving the pieces, pulling the strings. And he’s really really good at it.

2. Ms. Hawking

I loved seeing her again so much that I broke out the DVD collection and showed The Others to my daughter. That is such a great movie. But is Ms. Hawking really working for Ben? I’m not sure. I don’t really see her as a piece on Ben’s chess board. But she certainly possesses information that he needs. I loved the druid hood and all the time watching and the 70-hour window. But what is her true role in all of this?

My previous guess was that she was a long-time inhabitant of the island, maybe along the lines of Richard Alpert. But at some point, the original inhabitants had to choose who they would follow – maybe at the same time that Ben usurped the island from Widmore – and while Alpert chose Ben, Hawking chose Widmore. Maybe. But if so, why is she helping Ben? Ben always finds out what people are emotionally invested in and he exploits it. It Hawking wants back to the island, maybe he is using that to his advantage – allying with a former adversary to achieve a common goal.

One thing I know for sure about Hawking – if she turns out to be Faraday’s mother, I’m going to start making raspberry sounds with my armpits (and that is not a good thing).

3. Ben’s foreknowledge

This is something that has interested me for a while. Ben, wherever he is, always seems to go to some hidden place and retrieve something that was previously left for him there. We saw it last year with the buried lunch box and the mirror (and the 15-year-old crackers) and in one of the deleted scene on the DVDs he gets a little care package out of a rock in the middle of the Arabian desert after turning the frozen donkey wheel.

Now, in the season opener, he pulls a package out of the air conditioning vent at the hotel. I think this is evidence of his foreknowledge – he knows that Bill and Ted are going to need the keys to the prison cell so he swipes them from Bill's dad and puts them right where they can find them ahead of time. It’s an example of how the time-manipulating properties of the island give Ben the power he needs to try and outmaneuver the universe. And it's only scratching the surface (please only be scratching the surface -- don't tell me that Lost is only as sophistacated as Bill and Ted).

4. You can’t change history – once something is done, it is done

So says Daniel, the academic. But I've been in academia, and I know a bit about how these theories work. It’s a nice theory. It is sound and testable. And it is one we’ve heard before, from Ms. Hawking for one (please don't be his mother!!!). But the problem is, through the magic of dramatic irony, we -- the audience -- have insights not available to Dr. Faraday. We have seen that his theory is not necessarily true. Or at least we have seen that there is some grey area here.

Desmond changed Charlie’s fate, and that change had some serious repercussions. If Charlie would have been struck by lightening, or killed by that pigeon (he was at one point pecked to death by a pigeon, right?), or shot with that booby-trap arrow (I just wanted to say booby), then he would never have pushed those good vibration buttons that allowed Widmore’s freighter folk to get a lock on the island, and that set a whole range of events into motion. Of course Ben was able to somehow turn that donkey wheel and block Widmore’s move, but Charlie’s single button-pushing event seriously influenced the lives of dozens – if not hundreds – of people. How course-correction fits into this I don’t really know, but it seems that history can in fact be changed -- at least kind of.

But this is going to be another one of these science vs. faith, free will vs. fate dichotomies that we have come to know and love on Lost. My money is on the ability to change history, and Ben is going to do it to save his woman. Can’t wait to see how close I am with this Annie thing.

5. Stuff I really liked

The skipping record metaphor

“Previously on Entourage”

Ms. Hawking (duh!)

Ben trying to get Hurley to trust him (or perhaps to “not” trust him, see Anna Lucia discussion below)

Sayid has discovered Ben’s duplicitousness (and I have discovered a fun new word). I am looking forward to seeing how Sayid finds out that it was really Ben who had Naudia killed – not Widmore.

Ah who am I kidding – I liked pretty much all of it.

Except…

6. Stuff I didn’t like

Not a big fan of the Back to the Future II “future self watching past self do things that defined past self's success but could not have been accomplished without future self’s intervention.” (Stop it - I'm dizzy). I hope Lost doesn’t go too far down that path, although I suspect that we will see a few things like that (and in some sense, Ben leaving packages for himself a'la Bill and ted is one form already).

Didn’t like Locke watching the Nigerian plane crash.

Didn’t like Ethan running out of the jungle to shoot John Locke. Wouldn’t Ethan have remembered an encounter like that?

Didn’t like Faraday talking to hatch-Desmond to send a message to sleeping-next-to-Penny-conveiently-at-the-right-moment-in-our-narrative Desmond. Wouldn’t Desmond have remembered an encounter like that in more than jsut a dream several years later? (or at the very least blown his brains out for not being “him”)

Not a big fan of the meaningless cameos. What was the point of Ghost Anna Lucia? Maybe there is more here than I am seeing – maybe she is on the side of the Universe (like Chrlie and Libby and Christian and all the other ghosts) and is trying to block Ben’s pieces in this cosmic game of chess. Except that she told Hurley to avoid cops and to NOT get arrested, and Ben didn’t seem to want Hurley to get arrested (or did he?), but Hurley chose to not go with Ben and get arrested anyway (okay – so maybe we will find out next week that the policemen Hurley surrendered to were really Ben’s men, and this was part of what Ben meant when he said “looks like our plans have changed” to Jack. Maybe Sayid killed the guy that was supposed to bring Hurley in, so Ben had to stage something bigger). Okay, so maybe the Anna Lucia thing might not be so bad after all.

But really, I’m not a big fan of all the new questions this premier raised about time travel and the people on the island. How are the Losties traveling through time on the island all together, even in different locations (i.e. Locke) and with all their stuff? What binds them to each other instead of to the island? Why is it that Locke disappeared into time but Alpert and the others didn’t? What binds them to the island? Why wouldn’t Juliette, who was an "other" for so long, also be bound to the island like Alpert and the other others? (Did the brand she received for killing Picket truly separate her from that group somehow?) It's not really the questions I don't like -- I guess I'm just nervous about the potential answers.

But mostly, I didn’t like Dr. Chang’s clunky acting. Stick to the orientation videos.

7. The Intro

It was, however, very cool seeing Dr. Chang and his baby. Whether or not it is Miles, why isn’t anyone asking what it means about the pregnancy issue? Looks to me like this was before whatever caused pregnant women to die on the island. So maybe we will see the event that makes things change.

8. The Event That Makes Things Change

Aka “The Incident”
Aka “The Volcano”
Aka “What Daniel Faraday is doing in the past by those holes drilled in the cave wall”

Remember the message in the Swan Station orientation video – there was “an incident” so now this button must be pushed every 108 minutes to release the energy that is building up.

Remember the volcano that is supposed to explode and have a major impact on the island?

Is it possible that Season five will end with a volcanic explosion – an explosion that is caused by a group of time-hopping Losties who are trying to get the record to stop skipping, so they blow a hole into the wall to get to the center where the donkey wheel will fix whatever went wrong – a hole that Dharma tries to cover up with the Orchid station (and later is blasted again and used as the corridor through which Benjamin Linus travels to turn the frozen donkey wheel to make the record start skipping inthe first place) – a hole that, becaise of Faraday and the time-hopping Losties, leaks energy now and makes Dharma build the Swan station as a release valve so that the volcano doesn’t explode again?

And somehow this is all being done so that Ben can maintain control of this island, so that he can skillfully engage the universe in a cosmic game of chess, and maybe – just maybe – find a way to save his Annie from her awful fickle bitchy fate (can someone say Adam and Eve).

By the way – my wife got a mysterious package under the Christmas tree this year addressed in unfamiliar handwriting from a J. Bentham. Man I’ve missed this show.

It’s been a long time. Good to be back.

Really Dead???

2008-06-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

Early in season 4, Miles Strom went into a black woman's house to chat up a ghost. On the stairway wall was a picture of a young black boy -- many speculared it was the young Mr. Eko. But it wasn't. I asked him.

Yesterday my wife and I were at a grocery store in Mira Loma, California, and I saw this kid who looked so familiar. I knew I knew him from somewhere. Maybe a former student or something? But then -- WHAM! -- it hit me. This was the young Mr. Eko! Or at least he looked exactly like him.

Now I am overly sensitive when it comes to any kind of racist claim, so the last thing I wanted to do was approach him and ask "hey, you're young Eko, huh?" cuz of the whole you-must-think-all-black-people-look-alike thing. But my wife was smarter and generally less concerned about that sort of thing than I am, so she walked up to him and asked him, "excuse me, have you been on TV?

He smiled shyly and said yes.

"Were you on Lost?"

"Yes."

And we spoke to him for a few minutes. Nice kid. His name is Kola (officially Kolawole Obileye, Jr. ). He just bought a new house near the area. He is very busy with school -- only did Lost as a fun little thing to do -- doesn't really even follow the show much. When I told him that we hoped to see him again on the show, he smiled and said "I'm dead now." But with Lost, you never know.

Checkmate, young Mr. Eko.

Ep. 4.13 No place Like Home, pt.2

2008-06-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

I guess it’s time I write this review. I’ve been sitting on it for two days now. Maybe I have put it off because I just don’t want the season to be officially over. Or maybe it’s because I was so disappointed by the finale.

Yes, it’s more about the disappointment. So let’s start there. Do you want to know what I hated the most about the ending of season four? Sloppy writing. Here’s what I mean:

Someone PLEASE explain to me why Keamy wired the freighter with all those explosives and his dead-man’s-trigger. Seriously. Why? Did he really think that Ben would give a rat’s tail about those “innocent” people on the freighter who have encroached on his hidden island for the sole purpose of capturing him and taking him to Widmore? I can see why Keamy would do it to maybe get Lapidus to fly him safely back to the island – or maybe if Keamy had wired the explosives to the orchid station or some other important part of the island. But he had already seen Ben let his own daughter die rather than surrender -- what kind of “life insurance” is boatload of strangers who aren’t anything to Ben anyway? Keamy is not that dumb. Stupid, sloppy writing. The ONLY reason Keamy wired those explosives was because the writers needed the freighter to explode. The writers needed that narrative beat. Contrivance. And that simply sucks.

You know what else I didn’t like? I didn’t like that Jack was the one who told the O6 that they needed to lie to protect the people on the island and they just went along with it. Why? How does that really protect the people on the island? And since when has Jack ever believed or followed what Locke has told him to do? I understand them covering their own collective butts – if the guy behind the hoax sees them contradicting his story, they will be in danger. But the people on the island? No, I don’t buy it. More weak writing. Cashing emotional checks early in the season without enough cash in the account, that’s what this was.

I also don’t like that Ben appears to be “off the island” like the rest of them. I am not convinced that he really is, by the way. Sure, he told Locke that the person who moves the island can’t come back, but Ben doesn’t always tell the whole truth, does he? And when did he visit Widmore anyway? After he moved the island, or before? It would make a big difference in the dialogue they shared if Ben really couldn’t get back to the island when he spoke with Widmore.

So I’ll spend some time over the long break ahead reconfiguring my whole black-pieces vs. white-pieces Ben vs. The Universe theory that I have posted elsewhere. I still am clinging to the idea that Ben is trying to outmaneuver the Universe – and perhaps this moving the island wasn’t as much about moving the island as it was the Universe’s way of getting Ben off of it. But I don’t know. I am a huge fan of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, and I continue to believe that they have a master plan, but I must admit their armor took a few chinks with this finale for me. How much worse would it have been if they would have only had one hour to fit it all in, like they originally imagined. Yikers!

Of course there are things I liked about the finale as well, but I’ll save that post for another day. We’ve got a long long wait ahead.

R.I.P.... Sayid?

2008-05-23T16:11:00.001-07:00

I want to make this very clear from the start -- I am not saying that I think Sayid will be killed in next weeks Season Finale. I am just saying that he should.

Why?

I like the character, don't get me wrong. But I think the writing demands it.

It is one thing to be able to tell a story and skillfully act out emotions and conflicts and surprises on screen. It is quite another to make the audience actually feel what the characters themselves are feeling. I think these writers have proven that they are up to it. They also have proven that they have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Go back a few weeks. Ben is standing in a house in New Otherton. Keemy has Alex at gunpoint. He is threatening to kill her if Ben doesn't surrender. Ben, however, is supremely confident that everything will be OK and the situation is under control. Why? Because he has seen a role that Alex has yet to play in the future. He knows she won't be killed because the island still has work for her to do.

It's like Michael, who we have seen escape death four times now (car crash, suicide, "not yet" bomb, Keemy pulling the trigger at point blank range) or Jack who has escaped at least once (jumping off a bridge) or Locke who has defied the odds at least twice (falling out an 8-story window, being shot by Ben) -- the rules of the universe are that you cannot be killed until it is "your time" -- and if you still have work to do in the future, it is not yet your time.

So Ben knew that Alex would be safe, until... BAM! Someone changed the rules.

What do you think Ben was feeling in that moment? He had seen Alex's role in the future. He loved Alex and had invested so much into her survival. Then suddenly, without warning, she was gone -- stollen away before her time. This is a significant turn in the story -- the rules have changed -- how do you live in a world where the rules have changed -- what do you do?

A perfect cliffhanger for a season finale, wouldn't you say?

So if you were a writer, how would try to get the audience to feel what Ben had felt when the rules changed? Well, first you would have to give the audience the ability to see the kinds of things that Ben can see -- you would have to introduce flash-forwards as a storytelling device (check). Then you would have to create a sense of security for a few beloved characters -- let the audience know that these people are safe in the "now" because they have seen them in the future -- make the audience emotionally invest (check). Then you would have to unexpectedly kill one of them -- you would have to change the rules.

Since the beginning of season 4 we have seen 8 characters in flash-forwards: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Aaron, Ben, Widmore. If you were a writer, which would you kill to create the "changing the rules" emotional effect?

I think we can rule out Ben and Widmore right off the bat. They are both too central to the overall story, and there is apparently something larger happening between them where they cannot kill the other person, otherwise Ben would have just killed Widmore in that bedroom and not bothered threatening Penny (interestingly enough, so that Widmore could feel the rules-changing loss that he had felt). I'll give these two a 2% chance of being killed in the season finale, although I also acknowledge my bias here -- I really want them to survive.

Aaron would be a very weak choice for death. No one has invested much in Aaron's future role at all, and the reaction to his being included among the oceanic six was just this side of Nicki and Paolo pretending they had been part of the cast since the beginning. Killing Aaron would be an easy character to kill, but it would not have the desired emotional impact. (10% chance of being killed).

I think we can rule out Sun. She bought a controlling share in her dad's company and she has unresolved issues with Jin's apparent death. There are still loose ends to be tied and we have an emotional investment here, but there has not been enough clarification on her future role to make her a signifiant candidate. (20% chance)

I think we can rule out Kate and Hurley because they are too central to the show emotionally. Yes, that means it would come as quite a shock, but I don't see that the writers have developed much of a role for them this season for the overall scheme of things. Besides, I think the public outcry in killing them off would be too great. But again, aside from Kate raising Aaron and Hurley having the ability to see Charlie (and Jacob's cabin), we haven't really been asked to make much investment in their future roles. (25% chance)

I think we can rule out Jack along with Ben and Widmore, because he is too central to the story as well. That said, however, it would certainly be a massive shock, which makes him a strong candidate for an emotionally-charged, rules-changing death. But Jack has to get back to the island to correct his mistakes and play his destined role in overthrowing Ben. As tempting as it would be, I wouldn't off Jack. (40% chance)

So that leaves us with Sayid, and he matches all the criteria perfectly (which is no accident, to be honest, since I created the criteria with Sayid specifically in mind). We have seen him twice as an assasin in flash-forwards, so we know his role very well. We have been given the emotional investment with his marriage to long-lost-love Nadia. And best of all, no one would ever suspect it. He is the perfect central-yet-not-so-central character for this kind of emotional payoff. (51% chance).

The writers have promised that in the finale we would find out who is in the coffin. After all the speculation that it is Michael or Sawyer or Ben, wouldn't it just freeze those donkey wheels right off you to find out it was Sayid?

Faraday's notebook

2008-05-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

We got another peek inside Faraday's notebook last week.

Among all the scribbled equations, I was really happy to see the following messages:

Timelike Factor

Spacelike Factors

Possible!

So what does it mean? It means I'm right, of course -- there is a difference between consciousness-time-life-traveling and "teleporting" to another location. In other words, a difference between being unstuck in time vs. being unstuck in space.

Can the two happen simultaneously?

Well, sure, it is volatile and unpredictable. Is that what happened in the Orchid station orientation video with bunny #15?

Ep. 4.12 No Place Like Home

2008-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

What a great set-up for the two-hour finale coming up in two weeks. I'm just going to ignore the obvious "Wizard of Oz" reference here because I just don't care enough about metaphorical ruby slippers. But some really nice tidbits came out like:

Sun buying a controlling interest in her baddy daddy’s company.

Hurley and the numbers reuniting after a long absence.

Claire’s longtime bed-ridden coma-momma “appearing” to Jack after Christian’s wake (She’s a ghost, like Charlie and Christian, right? An agent of the universe sent to deliver a message and plant the seeds for Jack’s eventual return? Do you think she really came out of that coma and flew all the way to LA for her papa-was-a-rolling-stone ex-lover?).

But the biggest question lingering with me is “why are the O6 lying?” Let me try and walk through this one if I can:

After the crash of Oceanic 815 (or maybe even before it, if someone had a – eh hem – bug-eyed foreknowledge that it would happen) someone staged a fake Oceanic 815 complete with fake Oceanic 815 passengers deep in the Sundra trench. This fake wreckage was discovered by a group who were – interestingly enough – searching for the wreckage of the Black Rock – the 18th century slave ship we have seen sitting in the middle of the jungle on Lost island. The discovery was announced to the world – all the passengers of 815 are dead!

Someone is behind this elaborate hoax. So far, we have heard two different possibilities. Widmore’s people say that Ben did it; Ben’s people say that Widmore did it. I don’t expect a firm answer to this question by the end of this season. This is one of those mysteries the producers want us to debate back and forth over the upcoming hiatus. But they will give us clues to work with, and a big one is the cover story we are seeing from the Oceanic six.

According to the lie, the plane did indeed crash in the ocean and sink deep into the Sundra trench, but not before eight of them were able to escape. (Why eight? Does it have anything to do with the numbers? Who were the other three? Aaron hadn’t been born yet.)

According to the lie, Jin never made it out of the plane, which explains the date we saw on his tombstone earlier this season.

According to the lie, Aaron is Kate’s baby (he couldn’t be Sun’s, since she’s already pregnant, and… well… Korean).

According to the lie, there is no magical island, there are no other survivors, there are no other “others” and – most importantly – there is no Benjimin Linus.

Who stands to benefit more from that lie, Widmore or Ben?

I’m pretty comfortable – at least for the next two weeks – with my theory that Ben is behind both the staged wreckage of 815 and the return of the Oceanic Six, who’s cover story fits the hoax perfectly. (And didn't the man behind the curtain send Dorothy back to her no plasce like home? Sorry, I said I would ignore the Oz stuff).

Of course these people are supposed to stay on the island to bring about the overthrow of Ben. Ben’s cosmic nemsis (the Universe/fate/destiny/God) clearly does not want Jack and co. to get off the island, which is why in the future we see it trying to get them to go back (sending Charlie, Christian, etc to send messages), but Ben has, once again, temporarily outwitted his cosmic nemesis by removing these potential threats. And at the perfect time, too – just before he gets John Locke to move the island, making the potential O6 return all the more difficult!

How did Ben know where that box was buried? How did he know it would have the mirror he would need to communicate with his people who just happened to be waiting for his signal at the top of that mountain. How did he know that the crackers were exactly 15 years old? Easy. Cuz he’s the one who put it there 15 years ago, like Bill and Ted stealing the keys to the cell after they escape and going back to hide them nearby before they ever got there.

And does anyone think that Keemy and his mercenary friends have any chance at all against Ben and his current plan? Keemy will die, that device on his arm will trigger the explosives on the freighter, everyone on the freighter will die, the island will move to a new location, and Ben has nicely covered his tracks to block the aggressive moves of his earthly nemesis (Widmore). Of course some people (Locke, Sawyer, Miles, Charlotte, Daniel) will be stuck on the island with him. But they are for Claire and Christian to take care of, now.

So the other lingering quesions:

How will the six get together?
Helicopter to the frieghter, about to land, frieghter explodes, but Sun and Aaron and Michael are already in a raft -- sorry Jin, you almost made it.

Did you just say Michael?
Yep, he makes it back but is not included as Oceanic six -- but he does make it as far as the coffin...

Why will Sawyer decide to stay on the island?
Something to do with Locke and continuing the search for Claire, but not before asking Kate to look after his daughter when she gets back -- we'll see.

What will happen to Jin?
He’ll die with the freighter explosion, or at least it will look like it to Sun.

Juliet?
Still on the beach -- probably won't even see her. Either that, or Ben will convince her to stay and continue her research – he still needs it for Annie, you see.

Miles/Charlotte/Daniel (and the Rose and Bernards of the world)?
Stuck on the island, although maybe Charlotte will die, which is why Daniel was crying when he watched the Oceanic footage on TV.

But I don’t think the island will be moved in ‘time.’ I think it will be ‘teleported’ the way that Ben was able to ‘teleport’ to Tunisia in that Sayid flash forward earlier this season. Furthermore, I expect it to move someplace cold – cold enough to warrant heavy Dharma parkas (aka dharkas). The reason it is unpredictable and dangerous is because you can never be exactly sure where the island will end up, or if it will arrive 100% in tact – you know, like the Star Trek/Galaxy Quest transporters where – ooops – my insides are now on my outsides.

But Widmore is smart, and he will anticipate the island’s move, and there will be another wave of attacks on Ben and the island. He may even become the primary means that the O6 have for getting back to the island. But that will be the subject of season 5 – how they get back. It will also give us more of a look at the Dharma initiative and Ben and Widmore’s back story. I expect our first glimpse of Annie’s importance towards the end of season 5. Season six will give us the final moves against Ben, and the restoration of Jacob, and that is when we will know what the smoke monster is and who the Adam and Eve skeletons are.

Finally, there is one theory out there that I am secretly hoping against, but I think it has some possible merit. This theory says that as a result of the moving of the island (or maybe a way that Ben tricks him while moving the island) John Locke will be sent back in time, become the leader of the hostiles, and assume the title of Jacob. I hope that John is not Jacob, but I can see how it might work out that way, and it could still fir into the Ben vs. the Universe theory – but I don’t know – we’ll see.

So what do you think is going on? And what in the world are you going to do after the finale when we have to wait another SEVEN MONTHS to get our next real Lost fix. This season went by too fast – a brilliant flash in the pan.

Ep. 4.11 Cabin Fever, Pt. 2: Q&A

2008-05-13T01:46:00.000-07:00

Lostpedia is a fantastic resource for all things Lost. I was looking through their review of Cabin Fever and came across a bunch of questions at the end. I thought it would be fun to take a stab at answering them here:

Flashback Scenes
How did Richard get to the mainland?
The same way Ben got to Tunisia. He has been unstuck in space and can “teleport” from one place to another.

Why did Richard think Locke was special?
Because he remembers the future and he has seen the role that Locke is destined to play in the restoration of Jacob and the overthrow of Benjamin Linus.

Which were the items that belonged to John already?
The Book of Laws (as a leader on the Island) and the vial of sand (representing the island) and the knife (from his role as a “hunter” after the crash of Oceanic 815).

Why was he disappointed in Locke's choice?
Because Locke couldn’t see past his “hunter” role to his ultimate destiny. He was short-sighted, not ready to see who he really was.

Why did they want to recruit Locke for Mittelos Bioscience Science Camp?
To test if he was ready to recognize his destiny yet. Future John Locke already knows what Mittlelos is, so teenage Locke should recognize it if he is truly in tune with his destiny.

Does adult Locke remember meeting Richard in his youth? Did he recognize him on the island?
Eventually adult Locke will be unstuck from space and time and will be able to remember all things, past, present, and future. But at this point, he is still coming to grips with his destiny. He may have felt some deja-vu when he met Richard on the island, but he doesn’t understand it… yet.

Why is Abaddon interested in Locke?
For the same reason Richard is interested in him, and Ms. Hawking and Father Campbell were interested in Desmond. Locke has a role to play and needed some guidance along his journey.

What happened during Abaddon's walkabout?
Abaddon was speaking metaphorically. Abaddon was a slave on the Black Rock. When he came to the island, he learned who he really was. He became a follower of Jacob and was lead by Widmore before Ben took control of the island.

On the Island
What is Frank's intent in giving the survivors a satellite phone?
So Jack and the others can find them and stop Keamy.

How is Locke supposed to move the island?
Good question. I don’t know.

Where is Jacob, and why are Christian and Claire in his cabin?
Jacob is imprisoned somewhere. Christian (who is dead) has been recruited by the Universe (like Charlie and Libby) to play a role in this final drama against Ben. This is Christian’s chance to redeem himself for the mistakes of his life. Claire (who may or may not be dead) is playing a role in it as well, but I don’t know what that is yet.

Why was Claire so calm and nonchalant?
Because at heart she has always been a cool hippy chick who likes imaginary peanut butter.

Why did Christian ask Locke not to tell anyone that he saw Claire in the cabin with him?
Awesome question. No idea.

How does Christian know Keamy and his men are on their way back to the island?
Because it has already happened – the future, past, and present are one eternal round – the universe knows all and Christian is working on the side of the Universe.

Where is the "one place" that Ben would go to hide, as stated by Keamy on the ship?
Two possibilities: The temple or the Orchid station. Not sure.

Why is Ben no longer the chosen one?
He never was the chosen one. Everything he has he stole from Charles Widmore.

Who was the Others' leader before Ben?
Charles Widmore.

On the Kahana Freighter
What causes the time fluctuations that allowed for Ray's body to wash ashore before he was killed on the freighter?
An electromagnetic “bubble” atmosphere thingy around the island. Certain coordinates are required to pass through the bubble. If they are not followed exactly, they can send a person to a slightly different place in time.

Why does Ray's body wash ashore a full day before the helicopter reaches the island?
It hit the bubble at a coordinate that sent it backwards by a day.

What is the secondary protocol?
Another way of Widmore “changing the rules.” It explains what happens in the future so that they can anticipate and change it.

What is the device strapped to Keamy's arm?
Something that monitors his heartbeat. If his heartbeat stops, it triggers a massive (nuclear?) explosion that burns the entire island.

Ep. 4.11 Cabin Fever, Pt. 1: Review

2008-05-09T05:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, time to do some more fine-tuning to my “Cosmic Game of Chess” theory.

I admit it -- during the first few moments of tonight’s episode I was a little disappointed that this was Emily Locke getting ready for a date, and not a teenage Annie, who I was secretly hoping was on the island getting ready to go on a nice Dharma date with her un-motherly-approved-boyfriend Ben. But no, it was Locke’s mom. Still, it was super cool.

So Richard Alpert – what is up with this guy? Keep in mind the line to Locke from the dream-visage Horace Goodspeed, “Jacob has been waiting for you for a long time.” Why? I still think Locke's destiny is to free Jacob from whatever power Ben has him under, although I am a little less sure of that after this episode than I was before.

But it looks to me like Richard is working for Jacob – sent to look out after Locke at certain times in his life. When he put those items on the table in front of little Locke and said “which one already belongs to you….” Awesome. And how else could little Locke draw a picture of smokey smashing Mr. Eko? Clearly he has some “memory” of future things that will happen to him in his life – and future is all relative, right? All things – past, present, future – are one eternal round, right?

Right?

Do I need to point out that little Locke was playing Backgammon – the same game he was playing in the pilot episode – the game he explained to Walt as the most ancient of all games? Even Richard made a point of commenting on the Backgammon game. Not exactly Chess, but still a very nice “game” reference where one player tries to anticipate and outmaneuver the other player (like Widmore's second protocol Keemy pulled out of the safe) – although the “chance” roll of the dice has more impact here than it would in chess.

And how cool was it to see Mathew Abaddon pushing Locke in that wheelchair, planting the idea of the Australian walk-about. At first I thought that we are seeing two sides with competing interest in the future of John Locke – mainly because I was had originally imagined Richard as being on “Ben’s side” (the black pieces) and Abaddon as being on “Widmore’s side” (the white pieces, aka The Universe’s side). But now I think Richard and Abaddon are both on Jacob’s side (aka, The Universe’s side). And here is why:

I’m still halfway considering that “Jacob” might be a piece of Widmore’s soul still imprisoned on the island – maybe the source of the nightmares Widmore spoke about. This would mean that Jacob/Widmore was the leader of the group that – as Ben referred to – ordered the mass execution of the Dharma Initiative. Ben was part of that group, but ultimately betrayed Widmore/Jacob and banished him from the island, imprisoning that little piece he needs to serve as his constant. I know, this is sounding a little stupid, right?

Right?

Well, it get’s even more stupider. So Richard, who was a Jacobite (aka, follower of Widmore/Jacob), supported Ben because he didn’t really know the role Ben played in Widmore/Jacob’s overthrow – he only knew that Ben was “chosen” (or so he claimed), so he followed him. But not all the Jacobites did. Some people like Ms. Hawking, Brother Campbell, and now Matthew Abaddon left the island to watch over key people -- to put pieces into play that would be needed to eventually overthrow Ben’s grip on the island.

Hawking and Campbell have helped Desmond on his destined path. Abaddon has helped Locke. And we know that Abaddon hired Naomi and the freighter folk, and we can see that they have a role to play in the overthrow of Ben, too.

Still, I really hope that Jacob and Widmore are two different people, where Jacob is maybe some personification of the island (like a "yoda" who has melded into the Force, and that Ben has somehow imprisoned) and Widmore was once one of Jacob’s “chosen ones” (like Obi-wan Kenobi) before Ben ran him off and sullied his name. I can see that Ben is claiming that he was one of Jacob’s “chosen ones” as well, but that may still be part of his big lie.

Is there any doubt now that Widmore can see future events and that he is using that knowledge to outmaneuver Ben? What was it the Keemy was saying about torching the island, and where Ben had gone/would go (and why was there a Dharma symbol on that second protocal folder?) All one eternal round to these guys, right? Unless of course they violate what is “supposed to be” and surprise the other person by “changing the rules.”

Which brings us to the best quote of the series to date. Drumroll please:

“Destiny… she’s a fickle bitch.”

I love Benjamin Linus! And Michael Emerson -- genious. What brilliant delivery on that line!!! But what does he mean?

Well, I still think he is angry at the universe because of this whole “destiny” thing. Even the way he said that he was “supposed to” get a tumor and that Alex “was supposed to” die because it was his path – that just sounded to me like he was mocking the things Ms. Hawking revered – the idea that everyone has a path and that the Universe is in control. So I get the “bitch” comment. But why fickle?

Because it’s changing, right? Which is why Faraday couldn't remember all of the cards Charlotte was about to show him, right? Or why Alex was killed when she wasn't supposed to be killed, right?

RIGHT???

If you believe Ben – one day you are the chosen savior of the island, and the next day you are replaced by Uncle “don’t tell me what I can’t do” Fester (sorry – I’m not Sawyer – I shouldn’t even try). But that aside – Alex wasn’t supposed to be killed because he saw her in the future – that was against the rules. And if the all powerful universe can take his beloved Annie because “it’s her path” and he is not supposed to do anything to change it, shouldn’t the universe also allow his only-somewhat-less-beloved Alex the chance to fulfill “her path” instead of having it cut short by Martin Keemy? How is the universe going to course correct that? Fickle bitch.

(Ok, so I just like saying that – would it make it less offensive if I transposed it to Bickle Fitch?).

Claire in the cabin with Christian was downright creepy. Not sure what to make of it. There’s a lot of speculation going around that Claire is actually dead – that she died in that house explosion, but didn’t realize it (nor did anyone else around her, except for ghost-whisperer Miles). I’m not sure I buy into that completely, but I can’t dismiss it either.

A retraction:

A few weeks ago I suggested that Ben and Mr. Friendly were long-conning Michael with that whole “the island won’t let you die” thing. I thought Friendly had switched out Michael’s real gun with a rigged gun to perpetuate the illusion. Then Martin Keemy goes and tries to shoot Michael on the ship. Click click. So much for my great Long-con theory.

See, I'm not too arrogant to admit when I’m wrong. Right?

Well???

Just an all-around AWESOME episode. This show is the coolest.

And thanks to Kyle Dutton of Norfolk VA for emailing me and pointing out the Buddy Holly song "Everyday" - a song about destiny. (Nice touch)

Ep. 1.1 Pilot

2008-05-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

We had some friends over for dinner tonight and watched the pilot episode of Lost with them. They have seen a few bits and pieces over the past few years, but really don't have any idea what Lost is, so we decided to get them hooked. As I was watching the pilot episode, I had a few ideas based on this "Ben vs. The Universe" theory:

1. Locke is sitting alone on the beach with a Backgammon board. Walt approaches him, and asks if it is like Checkers. Locke says it is better than checkers -- that it is the oldest game in history, the earliest known set was from Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. He also said, "There are two players. One side is light, and one side is dark." This is possibly a foreshadow to the oldest game in history -- fate vs. free will -- being played currently by Ben vs. The Universe.

2. The monster is in the trees around the beach, but never comes onto the beach. Is it possible that it is actually protecting the Losties? I haven't completely thought this one through yet, but if "the island" brought 815 to the island because people like Jack, Locke, Hurley, Sayid, etc. all have a role to play in the overthrow of Benjamin Linus, could the smoke monster be protecting the Losties from Ben? Is this why Ms. Clue tells Michael in season 2 "we can't do that" when Michael asks her why they don't just go to the camp and rescue Ben themselves? Maybe not, but it was a thought. I still have no idea why the monster ripped the pilot out of the cockpit and killed him, or why it didn't kill anyone else on the beach.

3. I also wondered why the island, with all its "healing properties" (i.e. Locke, Rose) didn't heal Kate's U.S. Marshall friend.

I plan to go back and watch episodes of season 1-3 over the next few weeks, and will add any information I see that might support (or not) my Ben vs. The Universe theory. Stay tuned (or not).

Ep 4.10 Something Nice Back Home

2008-05-02T06:45:00.001-07:00

I guess after ending with Ben and Widmore squaring off last week, a let down is kind of innevitable. In the immortal words of Randy Jackson, "this one was just a'ight for me, you know? I wasn't really feelin it." At least no one was pitchy.

So what did we learn? There were a few interesting moments:

1. Christian Sheppard is playing a behind the scenes role. It was cool to see him holding Aaron and to hear Claire say "dad?" But I really wanted that scene between him and Jack. I guess we'll have to wait. My guess is that Jack will see him before he leaves the island, and Christian will explain that he (Jack) is meant to be on the island, that he has work to do, that Claire is his sister, and that he is not supposed to raise his nephew, Aaron. I got the distinct impression when Hurley delivered Charlie's message that Jack had heard this once before. Someone had a theory about "Jacob" being like Scrooge's Jacob Marley. Well, we are sure seeing the visits from the ghosts, aren't we?

2. The island wants Jack to stay -- thus the problem with his apendix. Jack is not supposed to leave the island. But we already kind of knew that, didn't we? Still, it was interesting to see Rose put that piece together. Jack is still fighting that destiny, and we see the missing piece between the Jack at Kate's trial and the bearded drug-abusing Jack.

3. Sawyer chose to stay. That was an interesting reveal. Do you think he chose to stay because he is still determined to find the missing Claire?

4. Future Kate has her teeth capped -- like oversized chiklets. Distracting. But the rest of her ain't too bad.

Maybe there are some other interesting things that I missed, but I don't know -- it was my least favorite episode of the season. What did you think?

Who is charles Widmore?

2008-04-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

What an awesome final scene between Ben and Widmore in last night's 4.9 "The Shape of Things to Come." So what does that mean for my theory? Do I still think that Ben is waging a war against the Universe?

YES!!!

I still think that the biggest most important game is being played between Ben vs. The Universe, because Ben is trying to change fate and save Annie's life. The eventual outcome and the stakes of that game are more important to Ben than anything else (he is even willing to sacrifice his daughter Alex, who he loved as his replacement child when Annie died in childbirth).

The Ben vs. Widmore game is for possession of the island, and that is the source of the power Ben needs to wage his war against the universe. So this is an important game, too.

But who is Widmore? Why was it always his island? How did he know Ben well enough to say "I know you boy -- what you are -- and I know everything you have you took from me." In the war between Dharma and the Hostiles, on what side was Widmore?

I have some guesses here that may or may not pan out, but it sounds to me like there has been a classic "now the student is the teacher" moment between Ben and Widmore, and that would lead me to believe that Widmore was on the side of the Hostiles, not Dharma.

I earlier proposed some speculation about both Widmore and Jacob that I will have to tweak a little, but I think they were pretty close at the time, only now the roll of "teacher" that I enjisioned as Jacob is now filled by Widmore. Here is what I posted earlier -- you will see the tweaks I need to make:

[Young] Ben returned to Dharma and waited. He told no one about his encounter with Richard – no one except for Annie. Ben continued to sneak away from Dharma to meet “the hostiles,” sometimes taking Annie with him.
Richard introduced Ben to ~~Jacob~~ Widmore, the leader of “the hostiles.’ ~~Jacob~~ Widmore was a great man – a powerful man – a kind and forgiving man. He became a second father to Ben. Ben loved and respected him and was especially in awe of his great power.
~~Jacob~~ Widmore gained his power from the mysterious Jacob and from the island itself but shared its power and secrets with only a select few who had proven themselves worthy. He taught them to “unstick” themselves in time and space, but warned them of the hazards that would come if they tried to leave the island. Ben wanted to learn these secrets and prove himself worthy, but again, he was told he would have to be patient and wait.
~~Jacob~~ Widmore was in tune with the Universe, with God, and was a staunch protector of fate. He was very concerned about Dharma’s sinister attempts to exploit the power of the island, but he was confident that their efforts would eventually fail. He had seen the future – he knew what Dharma was trying to do – and he knew that their own chemical experimentations would shortly be used against them.
On the prescribed day at the prescribed time, Ben and Annie and a few other Dharma defectors assisted “the hostiles” in their purge against Dharma. The purge was successful and the connection between Dharma and the outside world was severed. The island had been saved from the outside world, once again.
After the Dharma purge, life on the island returned to normal – a peaceful, idyllic bliss. Ben and Annie were married, but then tragedy struck. Annie had a terrible accident and was killed. Ben was grief stricken. He appealed to ~~Jacob~~ Widmore
to use his great power to go back in time and save Annie from her fate, but ~~Jacob~~
Widmore refused.
“It wouldn’t matter,” he explained to Ben. “If you saved her from that death another would soon follow. The Universe has a way of course-correcting. That is simply Annie’s path. You cannot change it – not even with all the power this
island could give you.”
But Ben refused to accept it. He delved more deeply into his studies of the island. He began to recruit others – people who wanted more than what ~~Jacob~~ Widmore and the island were offering – people like Richard and Tom who wanted to experience life off the island – a benefit allowed only to the few elect who had been found worthy to be taught all the secrets of the island.
These elect people had proven themselves worthy and been taught by ~~Jacob~~ Widmore to “unstick’ themselves in time and space and to transcend their very natures. They became part of the island, and when “unsticking” themselves in time and space would manifest themselves as black smoke-like creatures with amazing power and ability. Ben wanted this power and ability for himself, so he went along doing all he needed to be deemed worthy, to become one of the elect – and eventually he was rewarded.
Once he learned the secrets of the island, however, Ben tricked ~~Jacob~~ Widmore and imprisoned [or expelled him from the island making it impossible for him to return] him. Ben could not simply kill Widmore, because Widmore -- as he had done for many of his followers -- had taught Ben the secrets of time and space, and had made himself Ben's constant. If Ben killed his constant, he would lose the control he had over time and space and would eventually "short circuit."
When ~~Jacob~~ Widmore did not return to his people, Ben spread the word that ~~Jacob~~ Widmore had lost favor with ~~the universe~~ Jacob– that he had lost favor with God. He began to speak of ~~Jacob~~ Widmore as a man who was neither kind nor forgiving.
~~Jacob~~ Widmore had been lost, but not permanently. He could still be redeemed if his followers gathered together and worked for a common goal.
And Ben – as the new custodian of the island’s powers – could still communicate with the mysterious Jacob, so he could show his people the way to reclaim him from his tragic fate.
This was the lie Ben used to assume his power.
He also taught his chosen supporters secrets that ~~Jacob~~ Widmore had safeguarded and reserved for the elect. This included making himself the "constant" for
people like Richard and Tom who wanted to travel off the island. Ben made these
things possible for them, and thus secured their loyalty.
But most importantly, once Ben assumed control, he used his new power to go back and save Annie from her original cause of death. But sure enough, when one death was avoided, the universe course-corrected and another death followed.
Still, each time Ben found a way to avoid it and postpone it. He used the lie about ~~Jacob~~ Widmore to recruit others to assist him in his efforts, and thus developed a powerful network of followers, both on and off the island, who could help him with any task he assigned.
Not all ~~Jacob~~ Widmore's people accepted Ben. Some of the elect abandoned the island, and set about working against Ben in their attempt to free ~~Jacob~~ Widmore.

So what is the relationship between Widmore and Jacob? Is Jacob Yoda to Widmore's Obi-Wan to Ben's Anakin? Is Widmore actually Jacob -- a piece of soul trapped on the island some quantum-ghost state? Does Widmore see the island in his nightmares? Did Widmore originally get to the island on the Black Rock? So many interesting questions. What a great episode. I absolutely loved it!

Just one final thing to say:

Yoda – Obi-wan –Anakin
Jacob – Widmore – Ben

Ep. 4.9: The Shape of Things to Come

2008-04-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

What an amazing hour of TV. Does this show just keep getting better, or what? How much clearer can it be that the central story to Lost is not about Jack or Locke or Sawyer or Kate or any of the Losties we have seen so much of in Seasons 1-3. This is Ben’s story, and the island has given him power to manipulate space and time. We still don’t know exactly how or why, but we are beginning to see more and more how real this actually is.

Was that not the coolest return from commercial break when we see Ben sprawled out on his back in the middle of the Tunisian desert? Wha???

This is Ben moving through space, from one location to another. And it was unsettling enough to make him vomit. And his interaction with those guys on horseback (or were they camels?) – do you speak English? No. Mental note to self – quickly consciousness-travel back in time and learn a little Arabic to distract them – wham, bam, thanks Imam.

What is the date? Still 2005, right? He just wanted to make sure that when he “space” traveled he didn’t accidentally “time” travel as well. Because time was of the essence – he had to get to Sayid while he was still grieving.

And poor Sayid – he made it back to LA as an O6 and married his long lost love, Nadia. But the long awaited honeymoon was cut tragically short. Why? Because Ben had her killed. Then he blamed it on Widmore’s guy. Now we know how he ensnared Sayid’services. Wicked, evil, manipulating, “I find what they are invested in and I exploit it” Benjamin Linus, with that conniving little grin. Something tells me that Ben knows all too well the grief that comes from the death of a wife, and the extreme measures a person will take in the wake of it.

Which brings me to Alex. I will miss Alex. She was interesting and cute. I was moved by Ben’s grief for her. What an amazingly complex character – so capable of outright malice, but so full of feeling for those who he loves...

(Smokey was terrifyingly menacing, no? Looks like the island’s Davy Jones has his own pet Kraken)

…and so capable of vengeance. I’m going to kill your daughter so you know how it feels.

That final scene with Widmore was completely amazing. So who else thinks after this episode that Widmore is Jacob? Ben can’t kill him. Why? What would happen? Could it have something to do with Widmore being Ben’s constant? The island always has been and always will be Widmore’s – fascinating! And he knows Ben – “I know you boy” – like a former mentor, a father figure. Widmore has bad dreams – could this be related to Jacob – a piece of his soul that is still imprisoned on the island? What did it mean that Charles “changed the rules?”

I absolutely LOVE this show. Now I have to go and watch it again.

Time Travel vs. Life Travel

2008-04-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

I think it is important to clearly define these terms. When we say “time travel” we traditionally think of a person being able to go backwards or forward to any point in time and to any place on the earth. Marty McFly can go back to the future in his De Lorean. Bill and Ted can collect famous history dudes in their flying phone booth. But that is not the kind of “time travel” we have seen so far on Lost. Lost's version isn’t really “time travel” in that traditional sense. It is more like “life travel.”

I want to call this “life travel” because the traveling is limited to the lifespan of the person doing the traveling. It is not the physical person who is traveling from one place to another place so much as it is the mind or the consciousness of that person -- like Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five.

In “life traveling,” Marty McFly can’t go back to meet his parents in 1955, 30 years before he was born, because there was no physical “Marty” in 1955 for his mind to travel in to. Ditto for Bill and Ted, although with those two you have to wonder if there is much of a mind to really travel at all (dude!). In life traveling, at no point does the person travel outside of himself. The travel is all inside – the mind or consciousness travels to different times within their own life.

For example, Desmond’s consciousness can go from 2004 to 1996, as we have seen a few times now. Theoretically, it could also go back to the day he was born, although he would be limited in what he could do as an infant with his under-developed motor and mental skills. But he could not go back to any time before he was born, nor could he go forward to a time after he has died. The traveling is limited to the person’s life span.

I don’t know much about quantum physics, and I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but as I understand it, from a molecular point of view (no, I don’t know what that means) a person’s past, present, future is all one. There is no good reason why we should not be able to remember the future the way we remember the past. “Life travel” allows you to not only remember the future, but also to pick any moment in your life and “be” in that moment. Desmond hasn't learned all there is to learn about it yet, but it is possible that he could come to be able to control it.

Of course, with that “memory” of the future, imperfect and incomplete as memories can be, a person can either let things unfold they way they remember them, or they can attempt to change it. For example, when Desmond remembers Charlie dying – as he did several times – he did what he could to change it. I think that the same thing is happening with Ben trying to save his beloved Annie, but on a much much larger scale.

Evidence

Let’s look at the episodes in Lost where “life travel” first showed up and see if we can understand how and why this is happening. (I'm starting early in season 3, and will add more later on):

FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS (S3.03)

We get our first glimpse of Desmond’s new ability when he “remembers” the future. Hurley says something about Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. Desmond says:

“Don’t worry. Locke’s gonna go after them. He said so in his speech.”

Of course Locke didn’t make that speech until later that day, which is when Hurley (and the rest of us) started to figure it out.

Every Man for Himself (S3.04)

In this episode, we see Desmond sitting on the beach looking over at Claire’s tent. He is remembering something that is going to happen -- a deja vu moment -- but we don’t know what. He first suggests that Claire and Aaron leave the tent for a while, so he can make some repairs. When that doesn’t work, he gets a golf club and makes a lightening rod just outside the tent. It starts to rain, lightening strikes, and bam – the disaster he saw earlier (Charlie being struck by lightening) has been averted. “Life traveling” gave Desmond information that he used to change a tragedy.

As if this were not important enough, several other significant things happen in this episode that begin to give us a glimpse into a much larger story on the horizon – the story of Ben and his “life traveling” experience as he changes the tragedies with Annie.

First, it is important to recognize that the Desmond-Charlie storyline is a foreshadowing of the Ben-Annie storyline and that the Ben-Annie storyline is central to the entire series. That assumption will color all these interpretations.

In this episode we learn a little more about Ben than we knew before. Ben tells Sawyer that he has implanted a pace-maker into his chest that will make his heart explode if his heart rate goes above 140. This is just a con, of course, meant to keep Sawyer in line, but also to gain his respect. Ben has some plans for Sawyer in the future, and he needs him to respect him as a conman.

But there is something deeper driving Ben. He comments that the reason Sawyer started behaving was not because he was afraid his heart would explode, it was because he was afraid they would do the same thing to Kate. It was because of love -- a love he tries to hide. Ben mentions this and quotes a passage from Of Mice and Men:

“You work so hard to make her think you don’t care – that you don’t need her… but, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. It don’t make no difference who the guy is, as long as he’s with you. I tell ya, a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick.”

Why is Ben saying this? Surely he wants to impress Sawyer with a bigger-better "don't you read" comeback. But why this message from the book? Maybe Ben is just trying to get Sawyer to let his guard down with Kate so they can be little humping guinea pigs in Ben's ongoing fertility experiment. But I think there is more to it. I think Ben is also giving us a glimpse of his own motivation. No one wants to be alone. Everyone’s gotta have someone to love. He urges Sawyer to express his feelings for Kate because love is important to Ben – Annie is important. He misses her. And he’s lonely.

Not in Portland (S3.07)

This is also a key episode in understanding Ben’s motivation. While it does not further the Desmond “life traveling” story line, it does give us our first glimpse at the lengths Ben will go to save Annie from dying.

Ben has sent Richard Alpert to Miami to recruit a fertility specialist. Juliet Burke has created life where life is not supposed to be. Ben wants her on the island. Why? In later episodes we learn that pregnant women die on the island. Ben wants Juliet to solve this, and he will not let her go until she does. Why is this so important? Is it because Ben has witnessed a pregnancy-related death on the island with his beloved Annie?

Imagine what would happen if Ben lost Annie, but he had the ability to “life travel.” In that case, it would be possible for him to move forward in time, commission some research to find a cure, then travel back in time and use that cure to save the woman he loves. Would something like that even be possible? With "life travel" it would be. But wouldn't something like that be changing fate? I thought the universe has a way of course-correcting so that people stay on their path no matter what.

Yes, but Ben is fighting against fate. He is pushing a doctrine of free will. He is challenging determinism and emphasizing each person's role in shaping their own life. It is a difficult concept to push because determinism has been the prevailing belief on the island for thousands of years. But he has convinced a few people, and he has created a nice little movie to help convince the rest. We get a taste of this movie when we enter room 23.

ROOM 23: YOU ARE FREE TO CHOOSE

Perhaps the most intriguing moment in "Not in Portlad" comes when Kate, Sawyer, and Alex rescue Carl from the brainwashing Room 23.

We hear sounds and see flashing lights and we see the following messages appear on the screen:

“Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit,”

“Everything Changes,”

“We are the causes of our own suffering,”

“God loves you as he loved Jacob,”

and “Think about your life.”

In addition, if you play the video backwards, you here a phrase repeated by different people over and over again: “Only fools are enslaved by time and space”

Each of these messages is meant to convince the brainwashee that THEY are in control of their actions – they are their own free agents --- their life is determined by their actions, not pre-determined by fate.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these messages:

“Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit,”

Obviously, you will reap the rewards of your own actions. What you put in to your life will determine what you get out of your life. You are in charge, not fate. This is the positive side of the coin.

“Everything Changes,”

Things are not predetermined and nothing is written in stone. You can change the past, the present, and future. Despite what Ms. Hawking said, you can save the man in the red-shoes and keep him alive. The course-correcting universe does not decide what will be. You do.

“We are the causes of our own suffering,”

Again, you reap the rewards of your own actions. This is the negative side of the coin.

“God loves you as he loved Jacob,”

A very important message to throw in to the brainwashing. This message of absolute human agency is contrary to what Jacob taught. But God supports your agency. He loves you and let’s you choose your path. He doesn’t choose it for you. He loved Jacob, but Jacob fell out of grace because he believed that the universe determines the course of your life. That was a false belief, so he fell out of favor with God. But God loves you like he used to love Jacob, and he supports your free agency.

“Think about your life.”

You control your life. It is up to you. And, if you think about it enough, you will have a clearer understanding of your past, present, and future. This can help you make the best choices and plant the best seeds now.

“Only fools are enslaved by time and space”

This is the ultimate goal for people on the island, to learn how to “un-stick” themselves in time and space. Not everyone is able to achieve it. And once achieved, not everyone is able to control it. But it is possible.

Only fools are enslaved by time and space

No one wants to be a fool, right? So how do you do it? What is the process? There are two main parts to this -- time and space-- and while they certainly interconnect, it would be best to understand them separately.

Time

First, to be enslaved by time means that your consciousness moves only forward, slowly, second-by-second, from birth until death. It is just the normal day-to-day aging process that fools like us are used to. Your mind is always only in “the now.” You may have memories of the past – imperfect and incomplete as they may be -- but if you are enslaved, you cannot “un-stick” yourself from time. You cannot move your mind forward or backward from the now. We have seen Desmond and Minkowski (“I was just on a ferris wheel”) become “unstuck” in time, although neither of them could control it. It happened as a result of their exposure to the electromagnetic qualities of the island, or perhaps to a force-bubble-type-thing that surrounds the island. Either way, we know that they have “life traveled.” Although since they have not learned to control it, the may possibly still be "stuck" (and Minkowski's death only sets an end point for his life traveling ability -- it is still possible for past Minkowski to life travel, if he could somehow find a constant and learn to control it).

Now, there is also reason to believe that "un-enslaving yourself in time" can also mean prolonging your life – stopping, or severally slowing the aging process. This has not been confirmed, but it has been suggested with Richard Alpert, who looks the same today as he did 30 years ago when he first met Ben. Ben says, “you do remember birthdays, don’t you Richard?” So it is possible that a person who is “un-enslaved” by time would live much longer, thus increasing the life span within which to “life travel.” But they are still mortal, and can still be killed...

...and surprised. The future does not always happen the way someone remembers it. You can plan for only so much, but since human agency is still a factor, and there are so many paths, and the universe is constantly course-correcting, the unexpected can (and does) happen all the time.

I think something like this happened with Colleen and Sun. Colleen believed that Sun would not shoot her, because she remembered Sun not shooting her. But in that moment, Sun made a different choice, and it surprised everyone.

We also see this – in a far less tragic example – with the jeweler Ms. Hawking. She is surprised when Desmond says he will take the ring. That isn’t how it was supposed to happen. It’s not how she remembered it. But after the initial shock wore off, she relaxed and resigned herself to fate as if to say, “Go ahead and take the ring – it won’t matter. You won’t use it. It is not your path.” But more on Hawking later.

Space

But what does it mean to be enslaved by space? This has to do with physical location – where you are. A person who is enslaved by space can only ever be exactly where they are. They can walk, or run, or take another means of transportation to move from one location to another, but this takes time (the other enslavement). To be un-enslaved or “un-stuck” in space means that you can move from one physical location to another in no time at all. We have not really seen any clear examples of this yet, but I think we have been given a few glimpses.

There were several times in season two when Walt instantaneously appeared in places he was not supposed to be. This, in fact, was one of the main questions Ms. Clue asked Michael when he mentioned they lived half a world away – did he ever see Walt when they were apart like that? Has Walt ever appeared in a place where he shouldn’t have been? Walt was special, and – although never properly trained on how to achieve this on the island – was intuitively sensitive to the whatever abilities are required to "unstick" yourself in space. This doesn't necessarily mean he could "life travel." Remember, unsticking yourself in time and space are two different things.

When Harper appears to Juliet to pass on a message from Ben, she seems to have appeared out of nowhere and then disappear just as quickly. We know that Tom was able to travel off the island – he told Michael that “some of us” are able to do that. Maybe he traveled by submarine, but it is also possible that he could unstuck himself in space.

We have also seen Jacob’s cabin move from place to place when Hurley came across it. It also was not where it was supposed to be when Locke went back with the hope of talking to Jacob.

It may be possible for a person to be able to unstick themselves in time, but not space (or vice-versa). But imagine how powerful a person would be if he could unstick himself in both! That is when a person would have the appearance of traditional "time travel" but it is still two separate processes. And while we are aware that the island has special electromagnetic qualitites, we still do not know exactly how either one of them is possible.

Flashes Before Your Eyes (S3.08)

So at this point, we have been given some glimpses of “life traveling” and have been introduced to a few motivational themes for anyone (i.e. Desmond, Ben) who might want to prevent a tragedy with their “life traveling” abilities. Now it is time to understand what that person would be up against.

First we learn how Desmond remembers the future. His memory is flawed – he only remembers bits and pieces – and sometimes he remembers wrong (he remembered the wrong night in the pub – the events were correct, but the night was wrong).

Second, we meet Ms. Hawking at the jewelry store while Desmond is shopping for wedding rings, and she provides a wealth of information about The Universe -- the thing that makes free choice inconsequential, because things are going to happen the way they are supposed to happen and you simply cannot change that.

Her first words to Desmond are:

“Never done this before, have you? I can always tell the first timers.”

On the surface, this is understood to mean that Desmond is a first-time ring shopper. But the dialogue is smart and has a double meaning. It can also communicate that this is the first time Desmond has “life traveled.” Ms. Hawking is not just a jeweler. She is much more. A seasoned “life traveler” herself, she has taught many others, and can easily spot a newbie.

When Desmond says, “I’ll take it [the ring],” she is initially surprised.

“No you won’t,” she says. “This is wrong. You don’t buy the ring. You have second thoughts and walk right out that door.”

Desmond is amazed at this, especially when she calls him by name. How is this done? Ms. Hawking replies with this matter-of-fact prophesy:
“I know your name as well as I know that you don’t ask Penny to marry you. In fact, you break her heart. Well, breaking her heart, of course, is what drives you in a few short years from now to enter that sailing race to prove her father wrong. Which brings you to the island, where you spend the next three years of your life entering numbers into the computer, until you are forced to turn that failsafe key. And if you don’t do those things, Desmond David Hulme, every single one of us is dead.”

I call this “prophesy” because it predicts the future. But it’s not really a prediction so much as a recollection of what has already happened – because in that weird quantum physics world, past, present, and future are all one.

But the most interesting question is how does Ms. Hawking know all this? Who is she?

When I first watched the episode, I thought she was a manifestation of the island – that this was all happening in Desmond’s head, not in real life. But since then through seasons 3 and 4 we have learned much more about the reality of “life traveling” – enough to suggest that Ms. Hawking was, in fact, a real person who really met Desmond in that jewelry store in 1996.

But as to who she really is, we can only guess. Besides what she says, the only other clue we have is a picture of she and brother Campbell (the monk who took in Desmond and introduced him to Penny and, indirectly, Charles Widmore) sitting on brother Campbell’s desk

My theory is that Ms. Hawking and brother Campbell are two of those few people who have freed themselves from the enslavement of space and time. They were “Jacobites” – followers of Jacob who lived on the island for hundreds of years. They left when Ben came to power and imprisoned Jacob. Now they are two of a handful of displaced “Jacobites” who are working in the outside world to free Jacob from Ben’s imprisonment. They have seen how this will happen, and they know the important role that Desmond will play (they also know how Ben plays the game and what he does to potential threats), so they have stationed themselves at different places (un-enslaved by space) and different times (un-enslaved by time) in Desmond’s life to guide him and protect him along his path.

Going back to the jewelry store, at first Hawking seems angry that Desmond is not returning the ring to her. But then she relaxes, shakes her head and says, “oh, you’re going to be difficult about this, I can see,” as if she has come across this many times before – like a wizened old Yoda who has wasted too much time with foolish neophytes who believe that they can choose their own path instead of accepting the path that fate has chosen for them.

To teach Desmond an important lesson, she takes him outside and points to a man wearing red shoes. Desmond doesn’t understand what is happening, and he doesn’t really believe it. He suggests that this is all in his head, and that Ms. Hawking is a figment of his subconscious. She simply laughs that away.

Desmond then launches into a speech about how he loves Penny and she loves him and he’s going to spend the rest of his life with her. Ms. Hawking matter-of-factly explains, “no, you’re not,” at which point a scaffolding collapses and kills the man in the red shoes.

Ms. Hawking acknowledges that she knew in advance that this was going to happen, but she tells Desmond that it wouldn’t matter if she had tried to stop it. And it is in this moment that we hear the most important speech ever spoken so far in the show:

“Had I warned him about the scaffolding, tomorrow he’d be hit by a taxi. If I warned him about the taxi, he’d fall in the shower and break his neck. The universe, unfortunately, has a way of course-correcting. That man was supposed to die. That was his path. Just as it’s your path to go to the island. You don’t do it because you choose to, Desmond. You do it because you are supposed to.”

Choice vs. Fate. Desmond is not convinced (and to be honest, I don't know how this plays out with the taxi driver and his path, but I won't convolute the issue with more speculation - I'll chase the rabbit down that hole another time).

Desmond tells Hawking that he is going to propose to Penny and she is going to accept – that he can choose whatever he wants.

With a wise shrug Hawking says, “You may not like your path, Desmond. But pushing that button is the only truly great thing you will ever do.”

Ultimately, she gives up trying to convince him, and leaves him to his fate, trusting completely that what is supposed to happen will in fact happen. And it does.

Choice vs. Fate

Even with the new “life traveling” wrinkle introduced in season 3 and developed further so far in season 4, this is really nothing new to Lost storyline. This tension between choice and fate has been central from day one. Do things happen by chance, or are they meant to be?

Locke believes things are pre-determined, that he is “meant” to do things. Yes, his faith has ebbed and waned, but ultimately he believes in fate.

Jack, on the other hand, believes in choice. He believes that his actions and his actions determine the difference between what happens and what does not happen, and he thinks that Locke is a fool for thinking otherwise.

We have seen what happens when Jack continues down that path – he makes it off the island, grows that awful beard, and contemplates suicide. But he eventually comes to his senses and realizes his mistake – that he was not supposed to leave the island – that there is a destiny for him that brought him to that island in the first place – a destiny he has fought against his entire life. He realizes that needs to return.

This tension between choice and fate is also the key tension that we will see between Ben and Jacob. Jacob and his followers – people like Ms. Hawking – respect fate and accept all that the universe has pre-determined, even those terrible, tragic, unfortunate events. But Ben is angry at fate. He doesn’t like his path, or the path fate chose for Annie, so -- like Jack -- he is pushing the doctrine of choice, as we can see in the freaky brainwashing film of room 23. Ben is determine to change what is “meant to be” by any means necessary. And Ben, with his ability to travel freely in space and time, is a man of very powerful means.

We see this on a smaller scale with Desmond. Like Ben, Desmond has a difficult time accepting this idea of fate. He wants to choose, but ultimately he does exactly what Ms. Hawking predicts. He breaks Penny’s heart. But instinctually, he still wants to protect people from the bad things the he sees in their future. When the guy comes into the bar with the cricket bat and takes a swing and the bartender, Desmond steps in front of the blow, slightly changing what was supposed to happen. And when he is back on the island and sees Charlie die, he goes to great lengths to save him over and over again.

As a result of Desmond’s actions, we see that choice can delay fate, at least temporarily. And it may have gone on much longer had Charlie not chosen to accept his fate. Perhaps this is a foreshadow as well. Perhaps in the end, we may see Ben finally accept fate and stop fighting what is meant to be. Maybe it will be a decision that sends he and Annie to an earlier time on the island – a time where they can live together and die together and have their remains discovered years later in a cave by Jack, Kate, and Locke.

Maybe. But right now he is still fighting, very much like Desmond, but on a much larger scale. The life he’s trying to save is his one true love. Does that make him a villain? (no, murdering and lying and manipulating does).

Ben vs. The Universe

Back to main page.

Ep. 4.8 Meet Kevin Johnson

2008-03-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

I loved this episode. I’ve only watched it once so far, but I think we learned a lot.

Ben vs. The Universe reinforced

My theory still stands, and I think this week brought more evidence -- at least in the way the game is being played. Ben has harnessed the power of the island and is trying to outfox the Universe by staying a few moves ahead of its course-correcting counter-moves (i.e. the cosmic game of chess).

Case in point:
Mr. Friendly’s proof (the Widmore File)

Remember a few weeks ago when Ben had Locke open his safe and pull out a video tape with Widmore on it? Wasn’t that just a little too convenient, that this tape just happened to be sitting there in Ben’s safe at the exact moment Ben needed it? The same sort of thing happened in tonight’s episode with Michael and Mr. Friendly.

Here is what is happening:

Michael asks Mr. Friendly for proof against Widmore. Mr. Friendly’s consciousness instantly travels back in time and instructs someone to prepare a file and leave it on the table in his penthouse. His consciousness then returns to the very moment when Michael asked him for the proof and bingo, there it is on the table (you know, the way Bill and Ted were able to escape from jail just in time to give their most excellent history presentation).

This instantaneous backward-forward consciousness time-traveling can explain many things: how Ben got that video tape in his safe, how Mr. Friendly knew where Michael would be when he committed suicide (which they stopped), etc etc.

And what if Ben really did give Michael a working bomb, and Michael really did blow up the freighter, but then in one of the Universe’s counter-moves, Ben realized that the destruction of the freighter actually worked against him, so he traveled back in time, deactivated the bomb, and put a little pop-up flag saying “not yet’ for Michael.

And since ghost-Libby and ghost-Charlie seem to be working against Ben, I am sticking to my theory that they are agents of the Universe trying to free the island (and Jacob) from Ben’s malevolent grasp.

Carl Bites the Dust

Well, as a father of two girls, I say he got what was coming to him. So who shot him and Rousseau? The freighter folk. You know, the guys who were “shooting stuff” in tonight’s episode. Remember, Frank Lapidus took them off the freighter last week. So now they are on the island, hunting. And Ben knew exactly where they would be, and he sent horny Carl and expendable Rousseau right into their path – but only after he gave Alex all the information she would need to save herself. It will be interesting to see how he uses the capture of Alex against them.

Mr. Friendly

It has been speculated since he told Kate that she “was not his type.” Now it has been confirmed. Okay, so Mr. Friendly is gay. Big deal.

Taller Ghost Walt

The Walt who appeared on the island to Locke was not really Walt. It was a manifestation of the island – maybe the smoke monster – encouraging Locke to get up and get to work. But the real Walt (or at least a body-double with real Walt’s CGI-imposed face) is with his grandmother in Manhattan.

Why Jack Couldn't Jump

When a badly-bearded suicidal Jack almost threw himself off a bridge last season, a car crashed behind him. The lure of saving someone was too strong, and he avoided an untimely death. Why? Because, like we found with Michael this week, he still has work to do, and "the island" won't let him die.

And, by the way, I still think that Michael is (will be) the man in the coffin.

I know there are at least four people who will read this. So what did you guys think of this episode? Did it raise any new questions for you? Let me know.

P.S. I am working on a website dedicated to flushing out my theory. It's a work in progress. Take a look at what I have so far and let me know what you think.

Ep. 4.7 Ji Yeon (aka: Gee... YAAAAWN)

2008-03-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

Another week, another Lost fix. So what new info did we learn in this latest episode of lost? Unfortunately, not very much.

Juliette spilled the beans about Sun's affair, but that was just rehashing stuff we already knew. Jin's forgiveness was touching, and the way he took responsibility for his role in their crappy marriage was admirable. But for the most part, I thought this episode was a bit of a bore.

So what were this episode's biggest reveals?

1. Michael is Ben’s spy on the boat
This wasn’t huge news – it has been anticipated for weeks. It’s a great storyline and next week's episode “Meet Kevin Johnson” should give us Michael’s backstory, explaining how he got on the freighter and why he is working for Ben. I have some ideas about that. I’ll discuss them a little later.

2. The wreckage of Oceanic flight 815 was staged
Again, not too revealing. We have known about this since Naomi first parachuted onto the island last season. We even saw the television footage of the discovery of the underwater wreckage in this year’s season premier. The only thing really new tonight was the direct implication that Ben is the one who staged it all. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I expect that will be a question we still won’t know even at the end of this season. We will see some compelling evidence to implicate Ben as well as Charles Widmore as the two people possibly behind the hoax. Regardless of who dunnit, the intriguing question is: why? Again, i'll get to that in a moment.

3. Sun is one of the Oceanic 6, but Jin is not (cuz Jin is dead)
Or is he? The date on the tombstone said 9-22-04, the date Oceanic 815 crashed. We know he didn’t die then, so this is clearly a cover-up. But what, exactly, is it covering up? The oceanic 6 have a secret. We still don’t know exactly what it is. But we do have some clues as to who arranged their rescue (Ben) and at least a few small hints of the price they had to pay (Sayid the super assassin) to get off the island.

4. Annoying Bernard really likes to talk
But this wasn't really anything new either. Bernard is one of those guys I dread sitting next to on a plane. Please, just give me a big set of headphones. I’ll listen to anything, just don’t make me pretend to be interested in whatever he has to say. Instant karma’s gonna get you.

So what does this episode do for the overall story?

I still think Ben is moving people around like pieces on a chessboard, manipulating them to serve his nefarious purposes – to try and change some future (or past) event and stay one move ahead of the course-correcting universe. He must have hundreds of agents like this. We've already seen a few of them. Now we know that Michael is among their ranks -- like he pretty much was the last time we saw him.

We already know that Michael is crazy enough to do anything to save his boy, and we know that Ben does what he always does (as he said to Juliette last season), “I find something people care about and I exploit it.” So you put the pieces together, and Ben has some power over Michael, and it is going to be tied to Walt.

I have seen some people suggesting that this is not really Michael, but is instead a grown-up Walt. I think those people are way over-thinking this whole ‘time lag’ thing on the island and are trying too hard to anticipate mind-blowing stuff that -- in this case at least -- doesn’t really fit with the tone this show has set for the past three-and-a-half seasons. No, it’s not a grown-up Walt. It is Michael. And he’s doing the same thing we saw him do over and over on the island – betraying people who trust him so he can get his boy back.

The Charles Widmore Theory

As for the staged Oceanic flight and the 324 dead bodies in the bottom of the ocean, let’s assume for a moment that this is actually Widmore’s doing, and not Ben’s as Cap'n Gault asserted (I really like that guy, by the way. They have brought on some awesome new actors this season). What would be Widmore's motivation for staging this crash? Where would he get his resources?

I had this thought in the season premier – when they showed footage of the underwater salvage team, and they flashed a number on the screen for family and friends of the victims to call. Remember when the guy Lapidus called in and said he knew that was not the real pilot, because he didn't have a wedding ring, and he knew this guy personally because he was supposed to be piloting 815 on that day? As I was watching that, I thought that the whole thing was staged for teh sole purpose of attracting the friends and loved-ones of the 815 survivors -- enough people to get some kind of 'psychic' connection.

I think it is safe to say that Widmore is definitely trying to find the island. Why? So he can get control of the immense power that it gives (the immense power that Ben is currently monopolizing). It is possible that Widmore staged the crash as a way to get in contact with people close to the survivors of 815.

It is also possible that he is using his daughter's connection with Desmond as a way to find the island (he may even have set up the race around the world and arranged for libby to give desmond the boat for the sole purpose of setting these events in motion and locating the island -- that might suggest some foresight on widmore's part -- and why not? Maybe he has had previous experience with the island -- the artwork in his office certainly suggeests as much -- and has 'unstuck' himself in time as well -- but i think i am getting a bit off track) – if he knew that they were still alive on the island and that people with a close connection to their loved-ones might – in some psychic, ESP kind of way – help lead him to the island.

What if Widmore had access to the island before – through his connections with Hanso and with Dharma – and he used the island to amass his current fortune, but lost that connection to the island with the Dharma purge (which wouold explain why he sent a team to neutralize the gas that purged out Dharma in the first place). That is one idea. I like it, and I don't think it has to be mutually exclusive to the Benjimin Linus theory.

The Benjimin Linus Theory

But what if Ben is behind the hoax – what would be his motivation? Well, that is pretty easy. He wants to keep the island for himself. He doesn’t want anyone to come looking for the survivors, so he arranged the hoax to tell the world that there were no survivors, so don't bother looking. I think this theory is more likely (although i can't completely discount the Widmore connection), and I think we will see it emerge as we learn more about the Oceanic 6.

Remember, those six are living a lie. We don’t know the entire lie, but we know that they have told the world that every other member of 815 is dead (so don’t bother going to look for them). But Widmore doesn’t believe it (his agent Mathew Abaddon asked Hurley “are they still alive?”) – Widmore is still looking for the island. Somehow, the return of the Oceanic 6 has thwarted Widmore’s efforts, at least temporarily. And who other than Ben would be behind something like that?

So is Jin really dead, or did he agree to work for Ben in exchange for Sun being able to get off the island? We can ask the same question about Claire and Aaron. Or maybe Sawyer gave himself up for Kate. Maybe Juliette for Jack. But if Jin is still alive and is working for Ben, it is possible that Sun doesn’t know. She might really think that Jin is dead. That would certainly make the lie seem more believable to the people who are definitely keeping an eye on the Oceanic 6.

"Gee... Yawn" is right!

There are other connections to make, but it’s late, I’m tired, and I've created enough loquatious "yawns" of my own for now, so I’ll call it quites for now. I'll just end by saying it was a good episode, but not a great episode. I felt a little frustrated at Jin’s flashback – contrived as it was simply to mess with the audience. It would have been better if his flashback would have contributed more to the overall storyline, but all it did was set up one of those “huh?” moments – it didn’t add anything to the show other than that. Unless of course I am missing something. Which is not beyond the realm of possibility. It's not as if I have been to the island and am in on the hoax as well.... or is it?

I'll never tell.