What?

I don't even know what to say:

Former Mars Hill Pastor teams up with Former Lost Showrunner to create new spiritual tv series.

Somebody Smarter Said

"There are no shortcuts, no do-overs – what happened, happened. All of this matters." - Jack Shepherd

Lost: The End

I don't even know where to begin.

Six years of my life came to an end last night. And it was.... amazing.

I don't want to say perfect, because it wasn't. I still have questions. There are still unanswered plot points. So from a plot and mythology standpoint, it wasn't perfect.

But from a character standpoint? It was perfect. Every scene in the alt tonight killed. I take back all the negative thoughts and opinions I had about the alt from the beginning of the season.

The Island? Good, not great. Nothing extraordinary. I did love Hurley becoming the new new Jacob, and nearly cried when he refused to let Jack sacrifice himself... And Hurley offering Ben Richard's position... Man, Hurley was really the best of them, huh?

The Locke / Jack fight was suitably epic. Just amazing. I really liked the heroic shot of Jack jumping to punch Locke in the head, right before it went to commercial. I liked that Kate got to shoot Locke (even though she didn't know he was mortal, so she's still dumb).

Frank and Richard being alive was happy. I was so afraid of one of them getting shot in the outrigger by Juliet (one of the beefs with season six - no outrigger chase scene). Happy that they got to fly away - although it made me smile and think of a sequel to Lost, where Frank crashes the Ajira plane on a different deserted island...

The Alt was, like I said before, amazing. I lost it when Charlie and Claire reunited... And Jin/Sun. And Juliet/Sawyer. Just amazing.

I loved the very end - the mirror of the opening scene. Jack's eye closing felt a perfect way to end the series.

And finally, the twist. That the alt was not in fact an alternate universe - but a waiting room for heaven. And that all these people chose to wait for each other. It's a bit like the season 3 finale - where we had to rewatch the episode to understand more of the flashbacks (flashforwards!). Now, we need to reexamine all of season six.

This was such a beautiful poetic way to end the series. I was afraid they would all wake up happily ever after and that would cheapen the real sacrifices made. This was so much better; and it helps explain some of the issues with continuity in the Alt. Just an amazing beautiful way to end the show.

I'm rambling, but that's where the show left me.

It only ends once. Everything else is just progress...

P.S. I hate you, Jimmy Kimmel.

Lost: What They Died For Review

Summary: Three main parts to the episode. First off, we have Sideways world. Jack has breakfast with his son, and plans to go to his concert. Desmond calls him and pretends to be Oceanic, with his Dad's casket. Desmond then beats the crap out of Ben, who starts to remember, and when he says a few words to Locke, Locke decides to get fixed. Then Ben hooks up with non-crazy Rousseau. Finally, Desmond turns himself in and gets Sayid and Kate on his side when he breaks them free, with the help of millionaire (and in on the Sideways) Hurley and corrupt (not in on the Sideways) Ana Lucia. And they're all off to the concert...

Next, we have Otherton. Ben, Miles, and Richard arrive, and shortly after that Widmore and Zoe arrive. A standoff ensues until they realize that Smokey is on the way. Charles and Zoe hide, Miles runs off into the jungle with a walkie-talkie, and Richard and Ben head out to face Smokey. Smokey tosses Richard into the jungle, and then calmly asks Ben to kill some people. Ben agrees, and then Fauxcke kills Zoe. Widmore reveals that he's working for Jacob, and brought Desmond back as a failsafe. Ben then shoots Widmore. Ben/Faucke go to the well, but Desmond isn't there, which is probably good, since Fauxke wants to use Des to destroy the island.

And after mourning, Jack and crew head to find Desmond. They are stopped by the ghost of Jacob, who reveals that he brought them to the island because they were miserable. Now, he wants to give them a choice to succeed him. And Jack steps up.

Reaction:

Funniest line of the night from Sawyer: "And I thought he had a God complex before..."

Next funniest from Miles: "Good luck with that!"

Is it just me, or was the music just amazing last night? I recognized some Season 1 cues but also some new stuff. Great job. (On that note, I don't think I like Jacob's general musical cue. It's kind of egyptian... And I just don't like it.)

I won't believe Richard (or Frank, actually) is dead until I see a body. It being the finale, you never know though... The list of characters that could show up at any random time in the finale includes Claire, Frank, Richard, Miles, Rose/Bernard, Vincent, Walt, Nikki and Paulo, and Achara (the tattoo lady).

I'm not sure about Ben right now. Is he playing Smokey for a fool? Because that really worked out well for Sawyer.

And speaking of that, I don't like the fact that now there is another backpack full of C4.

Thoughts:

I'm skipping themes/speculation this week, because I want to focus on the character of Jack. Here's his arc through the seasons:

Season 1: Leadership is forced on him, and he struggles with it, leading to a power struggle with Locke.

Season 2: The tension between Jack and Locke builds, until Jack just becomes dismissive of Locke. Then he gets kidnapped by the others.

Season 3: Jack is held captive by the others, and then promised freedom. Locke destroys it, and Jack swears revenge on Locke and the Others.

Season 4: Jack nearly kills Locke, and then sacrifices everything he can to get people off the Island. Jack listens to his inner Locke, lies about the Island, and then falls apart.

Season 5: When he gets back to the Island, Jack doesn't do anything - until he starts sensing a chance to fix his mistakes. And he blows up a nuke.

Season 6: Jack is broken, having realized that his decisions are almost always wrong. He lets Hurley lead, and starts being a leader, rather than acting like one.

It's a good arc. Season 1 (especially early in the season) he can do no wrong. He hits his absolute lowpoint in the flash forwards (Through the Looking Glass for example). And since then, his character has been building up. In fact, once Jack hits that low point, I can't think of a single thing he did that was stupid. Blowing up a nuke, okay, that's kinda dumb. But he's been such a good character since they broke him.

And now, he's back on top. In this episode, Jack says "I'll do it. This is my destiny." And Jacob asks him "Is that a question?" And in one of the best acted moments on Lost, Jack says "No."

In the look on Jack's face there, you can see all of his history. Every interaction with his father. Every mistake he's made on the Island. Every mistake he made off the Island. Every person he's gotten killed. Every person he couldn't save.

Every moment we've seen, since his eyes opened in the Pilot, is shining in his eyes there.

And that's been Jack's story so far. With 150 minutes left, there's so much more to go. And for the first time since season 2, I think I'm excited about what part Jack will play next week.

Lost: The Candidate Review

Originally posted this to the wrong Blog!

Summary: Starting with the Alt, Jack can't leave poor Locke alone - he wants to fix him. Locke refuses, so Jack goes on a Jackian journey to discover why. Turns out Locke was in a plane crash - he was the pilot. His dad (Anthony Cooper) became a vegetable as a result. Locke, who was muttering some Island type sayings in his sleep, turns down Jack's offer to help him.

On the island, Sawyer and everyone else are locked in the cages. Jack and Smokey rescue them, and they all make their way to the plane. Fauxcke disarms the planes C4, and they decide the safer route would be to take the sub. On the suspiciously unarmed dock, Jack knocks Fauxcke in the water, and they all run into the sub and press submerge. Fauxcke, along with Claire, are left on the dock. On the way, Kate gets shot but lives.

In the sub, Jack is tending to Kate when they discover that Fauxcke screwed them by planting the C4 in Jack's backpack. They have 2 minutes, and it will take five minutes to get to the top. Jack tries to convince everyone that nothing can happen because they are candidates. Sawyer, with echoes of Juliet in his eyes, doesn't believe him and pulls the wires. The bomb stops for a heartbeat, and then speeds up.

Sayid tells Jack about Desmond who is still alive, and then runs the bomb to the other side of the sub, sacrificing himself. The bomb explodes and the sub starts sinking. Frank is killed (presumably) by a door that bursts. Hurley takes Kate and escapes, and Sawyer, Jack and Jin attempt to free Sun who is trapped by some wreckage. Something collapses and hits Sawyer on the head, and Jin screams at Jack to get Sawyer out. And then, in one of the saddest moments in Lost, Jin refuses to leave Sun trapped, and they drown, together.

Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and Hurley wash up on the share, and cry.

Reactions: What a bloodbath... Absolutely brutal. I was just about in tears as Jin refused to leave Sun. And Sayid - what a heroic exit. In a way, I feel all the characters went out the best way possible - Jin/Sun touched us, Sayid was heroic, and Frank gave one of his classic one liners.

Sawyer is gonna be wrecked. At least Jack's plan only killed Juliet.

Also, how freaking evil is Fauxcke? Terry O Quinn has been amazing.

Themes: True love, redemption in the alt, Jack has to fix things. The man of science/man of faith dilemma now appears to rest a bit in Jack / Sawyer - also a bit of the Destiny / Free Will component.

Speculation: Maybe now we're going to go get some revenge on Fauxcke? Next week is "Across the Sea."

Fare thee well in the alternate, Jin / Sun.

Lost: Across the Sea Dissection

I'm going to forebear my normal review of Lost's new episode for a longer, more indepth, dissection. Because Ladies and Gentlemen... it didn't work. For a more profanity-laden dissection, check out Dave's quick thoughts.

Quick summary: The entire episode is the story of Jacob and MiB. They are born, and their mother is killed immediately after birth by a woman who comes to be known as Mother. Mother shows the boys a source of golden light, coming from an cave, the heart of the island. When MiB sees his dead real mother, he leaves Jacob/Mother for some other people - who are busy digging wells. When MiB comes up the plan to attach a (not-yet-frozen) donkey wheel to one of the wells to hopefully go through the light to Across the Sea, Mother knocks him out, fills in the dirt, and kills all the other people. Off screen. Then MiB wakes up, kills mother, and Jacob throws him in to the golden light cave. MiB becomes the black smoke monster. Jacob leaves the MiB's body with his mothers body in the caves, and we flash forward to Jack/Kate/Locke discovering the bodies of Adam and Eve.

I think some of the common complaints from this episode will be the vagueness of the answers, the slow pace, and the golden light cave. Oh, and the lack of explanation of the full rules. These are valid concerns, but I want to examine the episode in terms of narrative.

This episodes has 3 purposes - Explanation, Backstory, and Revelation. Let's deal with these in order.

Explanation - Perhaps better titled Answers. This is (expository or not) answers to the questions that we've been asking, in some cases since the first episode. Two mysteries are given answers that I don't expect any further clarification on, and one mystery has (probably/possibly) also been answered.

First, we know who Adam and Eve are - MiB and Mother. This I have little issue with. The largest concern is that Jack said the bodies were only 40-50 years old, while we know they at least predate 1867 (Ab Aeterno). I suppose on an island that frequently travels through time and space that could be expected. Perhaps they also age slowly like Jacob?

Second, (the most satisfying of the answers) - how did a frozen donkey wheel come to exist? Well, apparently the MiB created it to try to get off the island. This answer seemed satisfying to me. The island is one of those special magnetic places in the world - like that place in Australia where Rose visited a Faith Healer. Okay, I buy that one.

Third... the smoke monster is created when MiB is thrown into the golden cave of lightlovehope. This is the answer that hopefully has more coming - I would think so. See the revelation section for more details on this. Otherwise, it's not satisfying.

Okay, so on to the Backstory. The entire episode is backstory on Jacob and MiB. Stephen King says that the one rule of backstory is that even if the audience doesn't know it, the characters do. And I felt that the backstory was consistent with what we've seen of Jacob and the MiB. However - there were very few surprises. At this point, with 3.5 hours left, was this backstory necessary in this way? Was Mother necessary? That was a significant portion of the episode, and a portion that could have been very much left to the viewers imagination.

And finally, Revelation. The large revelation is the golden cave of living loveope. Loveope is a combination of love and hope, just so ya know. This is too random of a thing to introduce with 3 hours left - so this will be something important. It has to be revisited, right? At the very least, we need to know why it turns people into smoke monsters. Maybe Hurley will become a white smoke monster? Maybe that's what Widmore is looking for? What Desmond is going to be sacrificed for?

I did like the light portion connecting to the light at the frozen donkey wheel. That was one of the stranger aspects of that wheel in my mind - the light behind it. And now we know a bit more about it.

So overall, this episode has to rate as one of the more disappointing episodes, right? Not a bad episode, necessarily, just disappointing...

Lost: The Last Recruit Review

Summary: Jack talks to Locke, and reunites with Clair. Zoe shows up and threatens Locke's camp with missiles unless Desmond is returned. Locke decides to make his way over to the Hydra island to settle it, and sends Sayid to kill Desmond. Sawyer betrays Locke, steals Locke's boat, and convinces Jack to escape with Sun and Frank and Hurley. Claire follows, and nearly shoots Kate... but sadly does not. Jack has doubts, so he jumps off the boat. Sun and Jin reunite, and then Widmore betrays Sawyer. Sayid says he shot Desmond, but does so in a shady manner... and then all of Locke's people get blown up and Locke saves Jack.

In Alt-Lost, everyone starts converging. Sun/Jin/Locke/Jack are at the hospital (Sun and her baby are fine). Desmond/Claire/Jack are at the adoption agency (Desmond is super creepy). Sawyer/Miles are at the police station with Kate, until they go to get Sayid.

Reaction: Great episode. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next, and will all the losties end up in the hospital in the Alt world, recognize each other, and then sing Kum Ba Ya? Also, did Sayid totally redeem himself this episode - much like Hurley said was possible? And poor Sawyer... If you didn't see widmore betraying you, you probably should get your glasses back on.

Themes: A good bit this week. Jack seems to have finally made the switch from man of science to man of faith, and it should be interesting to see what happens now. He, at this point, seems to be the most logical candidate for Jacob's replacement.

Speculation: Next week should be a good one - finally a confrontation between Locke and Widmore? Where are Miles/Ben/Richard? Where is Desmond? Did Cindy and the kids die?

This show is setting up an epic finale...

Lost: Everybody Loves Hugo Review

Two weeks behind on this one, so it will be a short one, and I'll get right to work on The Last Recruit (and NHL Round 2 Preview).

Summary: Ilana blows up by carelessly handling dynamite. To prevent anyone else from arzting themselves, Hurley blows up the Black Rock. Then he decides to go talk to fake John Locke; Jack, Sun, and Frank go with him. Richard, Ben, and Miles go to blow up the Ajira plane. In sideways Lost, Hurley runs into Libby, but she's crazy, so he doesn't do anything until Desmond pushes him... Then he goes on a picnic date with Libby, and kisses her, and starts to remember the Island.

Oh, and Desmond gets pushed into a well by Locke.

Reactions: Saw Desmond ending up in the well, but I liked his calmness in the face of fear. Hurley and Libby getting a picnic finally was a sweet moment.

Themes: Love. Sideways world getting something right - in this case the picnic. Not being afraid of your purpose.

Speculation: None this week, because I already saw the next episode. Tune in tomorrowish for The Last Recruit Review.

Lost: Happily Ever After Review

Summary: Best Episode so far! That's the summary!

To be more in depth, Desmond wakes up, pissed to discover he's back on the island. Widmore locks him in what appears to be a machine that will fry him (as it just fried a redshirt). The machine gets turned on, and we flash to sideways world, where we spend most of the rest of the episode.

AltLost: Desmond is Widmore's successful right hand man, and was really on the flight 815. Widmore sends him to pick up a certain druggie bassist, none other than Mr. Charlie Pace! Charlie tells Desmond that as he was dying from the drugs caught in his throat, he had a vision of a beautiful blonde woman (Claire!). And it was real... And to prove it, Charlie crashes Desmond's car into a lake, and as Desmond frantically tries to pull Charlie out, he starts to remember Charlie drowning in the Looking Glass. Desmond rescues Charlie, and at the hospital, he starts to have memories of Penny. Charlie ditches Desmond after telling him to find Penny.

Widmore is not happy to have lost the bassist, so he sends Desmond to apologize to his wife and son. Eloise doesn't worry about it, but gets really concerned and upset when Desmond tries to inquire about Penny. Desmond is about to give up when Daniel Faraday shows up and shows him the way! Apparently, Dan saw a redhead (Charlotte!) in a museum, and fell instantly in love. Then he dreamt some nuclear equations, and figured out that he set off a nuclear bomb. He tells Desmond where to find Penny. Desmond finds Penny running in a stadium, and as he introduces herself, he...

wakes up on the Island. And here, he forgives Widmore for kidnapping him and swears to help him. As he's walking, Sayid shows up and kills some of Widmore's guards, and then takes Desmond with him. And then Des flashes back to Altworld...

Where he gets a date with Penny, and then asks his driver (George! Minkowski!) to get the flight manifest.

"Because I have something to show them."

LOST

Reactions: Best episode this season. A purpose for the Alt world. A direction for the end of the season. Desmond episodes always rock, and this was no exception. It helped that two of my favorite deceased characters - Faraday and Charlie are back. I wish Charlie had been funnier though...

Themes: True love. Penny is a constant. Desmond is unique. Sayid is not someone you want to run into in a dark jungle at night.

Speculation: From my good friend Dave, a theory that the sideways world is sort of a deal with the devil - Most of the losties have gotten what they think they want. Jack has solved his daddy issues. Sayid gets a chance to repent. Jin and Sun are together. Desmond has Widmore's approval. But just like any good deal with the devil, those are two sided - Jin and Sun are together, but Sun's shot. Jack solved his daddy issues by becoming a daddy (with issues). Desmond has Widmore's approval, but no Penny. Sayid gets a chance to repent, but fails... Kate and Sawyer I'm unsure of.

Next week is Hurley. I'm apprehensive - Hurley episodes are of two sorts. There's "Everybody Hates Hugo" which was boring and didn't really move the plot... And then there's "Numbers" which was integral to the mythology of the show. I think this will be more of a "Numbers" episode though - we're in the stage of the season where we need to set up the finale, and Hurley's ability to talk to dead people (Jacob, and was that Michael (WWWAAALLLTTT!!!) in the previews?) should lead to some interesting revelations.

Lost: The Package Review

Summary: On the the island, Jin is kidnapped by Widmore, who also has DESMOND in the sub. Sun sees Locke, then runs away and gets Aphasia. Jack gets her a pad of paper, and they make up.

Um, what else? Sawyer makes fun of the smoke monster. Sayid gets sent over to spy/assassinate Widmore?

ALT Lost - Jin and Sun aren't married, but they still are knocking boots, which means Sun is pregnant, and she wants to run away with Jin. Since the money has been confiscated, Keamy kidnaps Jin, and then tells Sun (via Mikhail "Patchy") to get the money. Keamy and team are killed by Sayid, who assists Jin in escaping. Jin shoots Mikhail through the eye, but not before Pregno Sun is shot.

Reaction: Sun/Jin episodes always bore me. There were a few interesting things that happened, but overall a let down. Even the reveal of Desmond was clumsy and easily predicted. Things I liked? Sawyer being a smartaleck, Action!Richard, and Sun not screwing around with Locke, but running away. Things I don't like: Sun / Jin. Things I'm actually neutral about: Aphasia. Who cares - it's Sun.

Themes: The helplessness of language barrier. Some people not being meant for each other. Locke offering a choice - and sides being clarified.

Speculation: Maybe the key to the aphasia is the start of the universes bleeding through to each other... Other than that, I have no idea. Desmond is next week, so my prediction is that one of two things will happen:

1) Desmond will change something profound - we will be having much different discussions next week.

2) Desmond will make a surprising allegiance change. With Widmore perhaps?

Lost Mid-Season Review and End Game Preview

Last week taught us how Richard has been serving "Ab Aeterno" (from eternity)... It was episode 9, with a total of 18 hours in the season. That means we're halfway. Let's start by reviewing my Lost Preseason Picks...

1. Locke Resurrection vs Charlie Resurrection : I picked Locke resurrected and Ghost Charlie. Not quite... We've had Sideways Locke and Sideways Charlie. Do I get half a point?

2. LAX 2004 vs Island 2007 : I said they would mess with us by making us think it was 2004, but really it was 2007. That's pretty much exactly what happened at the start of the season! I take a point.

3. Sawyer Lives vs Sawyer Dies: I said he dies. He hasn't yet...

4. Name of Bad Guy - Esau or Anything Else : No name yet. That's actually been sort of frustrating. (For the record, I picked anything else...)

5. Jacob Wins vs Esau Wins : No idea yet. I did predict that Esau would win and turn out to be the good guy.

6. Skate vs Jate: I picked Jate. Still stand by that. Sawyer is too heartbroken about Juliet, although Sawyer and Kate have spent most of the season together.

7. Ben Dies vs Richard Dies : No word on either. They survived their centric episodes, so who knows? I picked Richard, by the way.

8. Sayid Lives vs Juliet Lives: I said Sayid would live. I was right. Sort of. Screw it, I'm taking the point.

9. "They're coming" refers to Ajira or 1977 Losties : No definitive answer. I said Losties.

10. Smoke Monster is either Esau or works for Esau - I called that he was Esau. Point!

11. Adam and Eve are Jack/Kate or Rose/Bernard - Adam and Eve made a reappearance in Lighthouse, which made me happy. No answer as to their identity yet. I picked Jack/Kate.

Total: 3 1/2 points out of 11. I haven't really had anything wrong yet, so that's good.

Now to review the over/unders (my picks in parentheses)

3 Major Cast Members Die (OVER): We're at 1, with Juliet. Probably more coming.

6 Ajira Deaths (UNDER): 4 in LAX and the rest in Recon... I missed that one.

1.5 Mentions of Jack's Tattoo's (OVER): None, I think.

8 Episodes until we learn about Libby (OVER): Episode 9, and no new info. None coming?

4 Times that Kate changes her mind romantically (UNDER): Just once, I think. Looking good so far.

8 Lives that Kate destroys (OVER): She beat up two others who ended up getting killed... So that's two so far. Maybe we can blame the temple massacre on her?

5 Previews that will entirely mislead (NO PICK?): I guess I never wrote my pick down. But it's definitely OVER - every promo has promised lots of answers.

5 Times Dave Morgan Calls me (UNDER): Just once so far. Awesome!

So I'm not doing bad on the over/unders.

Here's my state of the season address (two parts):

I don't think the Island stuff has ever been more compelling. Answers about motivations, island mysteries, and redemptive arcs have been frequent. And that's all been in the middle of the season - there is a clear and building arc to the end. We've spent the last few episodes clarifying allegiances, since we learned that Claire was with Fauxcke in Lighthouse. A couple more weeks of that, and then the final battle will be playing out....

As far as the sideways stuff, it's been interesting, but that's all... I've enjoyed the random cameos, and the differences are interesting, but I still wonder what the point is? Last week was refreshing because it wasn't in the Alt World... This week, we're probably back there...

And a preview of what's to come... (if you don't want to know upcoming episode titles, don't look!)

6.10 - The Package (Jin/Sun, if the previews don't lie).

6.11 - Happily Ever After

6.12 - Everybody Loves Hugo

6.13 - The Last Recruit

6.14 - The Candidate

6.15 - Across the Sea

6.16 - What They Died For

6.17/18 - The End

Sixteen is part 1 of the 3 hour series finale... Appropriately epic, huh?

Lost: Ab Aeterno

Summary:
Ilana thinks that Richard knows what to do next, but he just giggles and says they’re in hell, so he goes to join Fauxke. Then we get a Richard Flashback! Yay!
Richard was married in 1867, and his wife was dying. He rides to a doctor, who charges more than Richard can afford, and so when Richard wrestles for the medicine, the doctor accidentally gets killed. Isabella dies anyway, and Richard goes to jail. The priest sells him out to a guy named Wheatfield, who chains him up on the Black Rock.
In the midst of a storm and a giant wave, the Black Rock smashes the four toed statue, and Richard survives, chained to the wall. A few other guys survive, but they are killed by Wheatfield, who is about to kill Richard when the Black Smoke eats him. Then the BS scans Richard. Later, Richard hallucinates? His wife, and the BS attacking her. Then the Man in Black (from last season, “You know how much I want to kill you?”) frees him, and sends him off to kill Jacob.
Jacob is not killed, probably because Richard is the least sneaky killer on the planet. Jacob drown/baptizes Richard, and then hires him so that he doesn’t have to interfere with people’s free will. Then he grants him immortal life. No big deal, right? Richard’s flashback ends with him giving the MiB a white stone, and burying his wifes cross. Oh, and the MiB says he can always change his mind.
Then in the present, Richard unburies his wifes cross, and screams that he wants to change his mind. Hurley shows up, and does his ghost whisperer thing with Richard’s wife, who calms down and returns to sanity.
Oh, and the point to the entire series – the Island is a cork, keeping the black smoke (evil incarnate) stuck on the island. Which makes it really creepy and ominous when the MiB smashes the wine bottle that Jacob used as an analogy.
Thoughts:
Wow, they really put it all out there. Much more information regarding Jacob and MiB, and much rejoicing was had. Richard’s story was vaguely interesting, but nothing not really guessed at…
Black Rock smashing the statue? I like it a lot. (and if you don’t believe that a wooden ship could do that, A) I think you’re wrong and B) the wave could have done it anyway).
Cool that MIB gave Richard the same knife and instructions to kill Richard as Dogen gave to Sayid…
Themes:
Redemption. Island is Hell. Free Will. Tabula Rasa.
Speculation:
We’re going to slowly transition out of the middle arc of the season. The last few episodes (since Sundown) have been clarifying allegiances. I would expect next week to do the same with apparently Sun/Jin, and after that…. We are gonna rock and roll.

Lost: Recon Review

Summary:

Fauxke tells Sawyer he's the smoke monster, and then sends him over to scope out the Ajira 316 survivors. That almost turns out to be a bust, because all of the Ajira 316'ers are dead, and we're not sure if it was the smoke monster (my bet) or Charles Widmore - who has parked his sub off of Hydra Island. Sawyer tells Widmore he'll lead the smoke monster right to him for a ride off the island. He then heads back to Fauxke and tells him that he told Widmore. Then he tells Kate he's playing the two sides against each other and he plans to get off the island in the sub unnoticed while they duke it out.

Also, Claire nearly kills Kate. Fauxke rescues her, then tells Kate about his crazy mom - and that Claire is crazy. Then Claire hugs Kate and everything is better? At least Kate is clearly confused and not buying anyone's crap.

AltLost - Sawyer is a cop, and has a partner, - Miles! Miles! sets Sawyer up on a blind date with Charlotte! but Sawyer blows it when Charlotte! discovers about his long dead parents. Sawyer confesses this to Miles!, and before much more can be done, they chase Kate! and catch her.

Thoughts:

Another transition episode. Now we have some picture of where this season might go - Sawyer trying to steal a sub. Is he planning on strong arming another sub captain, or did he get a little submarine training when he was Chief of Security?

This is one of the episodes where I actually liked Kate. She's not buying into Fauxke, and is clearly weirded out by A) Bat-Crazy Claire and her Squirrel-Baby and B) emotionless Sayid.

Somewhere, Jeremy Davies is crying that he didn't get to make out with Rebecca Mader...

Themes:

Not a lot in this episode.... More of a plot episode than a thematic one, in my mind. Sawyer off island makes a different life choice - but is still the same person. Interesting.

Also, all of the alt losties have looked in a mirror in the sideways. Important?

Speculation:

Speaking of Jeremy Davies, when is good old Faraday gonna show up in the sideways?

And when is Desmond gonna make an appearance?

Next week - Richard. No sideways I'm guessing...

For Dave:

Lost: Dr. Linus Review

Summary:

Jack and Hurley run into Richard, who leads them to the black rock. Jack and Richard play a game of chicken with a stick of dynamite, and the dynamite loses. Then they head to the beach, where....
Ben is outed as Jacob's killer by Miles, who reads Jacob's last thoughts from his bag of ashes. Ilana tells Ben to dig his own grave, and he does so, until Fauxcke shows up and lets him go. Ben runs into the jungle, confesses that he is lonely and has nowhere else to go, and Ilana forgives him. They then reunite with Jack and Hurley and Richard... Which is seen by a submarine bearing Widmore.
In Alt-Lost, Ben is teaching history to a young Alex Rousseau, who lets him know that the principle is a pervert. So he uses Dr Arzt to get into the principles email account, and blackmails him into resigning. The principle then reverse blackmails Ben by threatening to cripple Alex's school career. It looks for a minute that Ben will once again sacrifice Alex for his own self, but then it turns out he sacrificed himself for her.

Reaction:
This is first and foremost a character episode, and then solidly a transition episode. This is not a mythology episode, which has been a criticism of the episode online. I think some of the negative reaction online stems from people expecting that Season 6 would be a sprint to the finish - a constant season of finale's. This was probably stoked on by comments by the producers and by the promo's, but I think this season will still obey a season arc. Episodes 1-6 were introducing the season's arc, and now we're solidly in the transition/amp portion. The next few weeks will be upping the tension and transitioning the pieces for a great series finale.

Think about season 3, where Lost seemed to pick back up it's steam from a directionless second season. Episode 10, Tricia Tanaka is Dead, was a character based episode with very little mythological play. And looking back now, that episode set up the rest of the season, with Kate/Sayid/Locke going to get Jack, and Hurley discovering the van... All of which were elements that had direct repercussions in the finale (probably the best Lost season finale so far?).

That's this episode. A solid character study and the subtle beginnings of getting pieces in play. And I, for one, am willing to play along until the finale.


Themes:

Sacrifice seems to be the theme to Ben's life. At what point is he willing to sublimate his own desires for the better of someone else?

"Nothing stays buried on this Island..." Locke, to Paulo, as he is trying to bury the island. End of the episode? Miles, with the diamonds, now unburied.

Speculation:

No idea where we go from here. Three groups now on the island - the Jacob tribe, the Fauxke tribe, and Widmore's people. Who knows where we go from here?

Lost: Sundown Review

Summary:
Sayid gets banished by Dogen. Crazy Claire shows up at the temple and warns everyone, so then Dogen unbanishes Sayid so he can send Sayid to try and kill Flocke. Flocke is neither amused nor injured when Sayid stabs him in the chest, and offers Sayid the chance to get whatever he wants, in exchange for following him. (Deal with the devil...)
Meanwhile, Kate returns, and discovers Claire is mad kooky. Miles makes funny and inappropriate comments. Sayid returns from Flocke and gives an ultimatum - be out by sundown or die.
Dogen, at the healing spring, explains that he killed his son in a drunk driving accident. Sayid is appropriately sad, and then kills Dogen by drowning him, and Lennon by slashing his throat.
Then the smoke monster arrives, and everything and everyone gets ripped apart. Kate survives (dang it!) by jumping into the pit with Claire. Miles runs around frantically, and just when you think he's about to bite it by smoke monster, Ilana and the rest of Team Jacob show up and totally save the day by escaping through Jacob's secret tunnel.
And in the end, while a totally creepy "Catch a Falling Star" plays, Sayid and Claire (and befuddled Kate) wander out and smile knowingly at Flocke.
AltLost- Sayid meets up with Nadia, who is married to Sayid's brother Omar. Omar took out a bad loan, and the loan shark puts him in the hospital, and then threatens Sayid. When Sayid meets the loan shark, it turns out to be Keamy (!), who is appropriately creepy for two seconds. He's creepy for only thirty seconds because it takes Sayid approximately three seconds to kill him. Sayid then finds Jin locked in a freezer.
Thoughts:
Nice to know you Dogen and Lennon.
Oh boy did they have me worried about Miles...
Kate... so close to death so many times... Dang it.
Sayid vs Dogen... I rate it as one of the better Lost fight scenes - right up with Sayid vs Keamy 1.0.
Keamy in the alt world was freaking awesome. The other off island reveals haven't suprised me as much as Keamy did.
I was all prepared to think that A) Flocke was secretly the good guy and B) Sayid was conning Flocke (like I think Sawyer is). But after the massacre at the temple, I won't be able to buy either one as innocent.
Themes:
The magic box idea raises its head, with Flocke promising Sayid whatever he wants (shades of Ben to Locke in Season 3). The theme of redemption, and of repeating past mistakes, is all over Sayid (and Alt-Sayid).
Speculation:
First off - Alt Spec. I think Jin was released from customs, without the money he was supposed to pay Alt-Keamy. Thus his freezer imprisonment.
On island, Sawyer and Jin are together somewhere (where Sawyer won't see the genocide and change his tune).
And finally... my big speculation. The Alt - Verse is what Flocke is offering to the losties. So Sayid's reward for turning to Flocke's side is the alt-world where he can seek redemption. This obviously has questions... When will Jack flip to Flocke's side? What happens to those who don't flip to Flocke's side - (see one Hugo Reyes)?
Next week appears to be Ben, which shoots the crap out of all my speculation about the centrality of episodes mirroring first season. Even the title of last nights episode was to mess with me - Sundown should have been a Sun episode, if the pattern held. Jeez.

Lost: Lighthouse Review

But first - a link:
Never Seen Lost is the journey of one person who is starting Lost in season six. Very funny, and very insightful. My favorite idea? Calling the smoke monster the "Sad Day Monster" because it looks like a sad rain cloud.

Summary:
Claire rescues Jin and kills Justin, the surviving other, because she believes that Aaron is being held at the temple. Why does she believe that? Well, because Faux Locke told her so!
Jacob (dead) convinces Hurley (alive) to convince Jack (alive, technically) to make a journey. They sneak out a secret tunnel in the temple, find the good old caves and Shannon's inhaler, and then arrive at a lighthouse. At the top of the lighthouse - a mirror that sees things that are not nearby - namely, the childhood locations of the candidates, who are written around the mirror - seemingly pertaining to degrees. Because Jack is Jack, he promptly smashes this new and interesting thing. Ghost Jacob tells Hurley that he needed Jack to think about why he is on the island, and also needed to get Hurley and Jacob as far away from the temple as possible, because something bad is coming to the temple.
AltLost - Jack has a fresh appendix scar, even though he had his appendix out as a child in the Altverse. He also has a kid, who doesn't like Jack, until Jack just tells him he cares and wants to be in his life.

Reaction:
Slow moving episode, but one I think that may grow on me as time goes on. The most frustrating part? We saw Jack smashing something five weeks ago in one of the previews - so I've known at least since then that something would be smashed. Thankfully, the preview people don't seem to be showing us anything anymore.
Ghost Jacob? Rocks.
Crazy Claire? I don't know yet.
Hurley? Very funny.
Altverse... Damn you for sucking me in and making me care every week. You had better have a point.

Themes:
I thought perhaps Faux Locke, the smoke monster, was the component of Free Will, and Jacob the component of Destiny, but Jacob seems to always offer the choice. Interesting.
Jack names his sone after the most famous of shepherds - David. (thanks to Dave Morgan for that insight).
Claire is a recruit. Hmm.

Speculation:
I wouldn't want to be A)Dogen, B)Lennon, or C)Miles right now. A and B will get killed off next week when Flocke goes to the temple because they have information - thus they are considered MUY IMPORTANTE to MUERTO. C will probably get killed off because he has no story left, and the writers have already shown that they aren't afraid to kill fan favorites.

Some people have wondered why Sawyer isn't with Flocke at the end. Well, of course he is - he's just offscreen at that point, because the reveal is about Flocke, not Sawyer. He's probably just following in the jungle.

Further people have wondered how Sawyer got out of the cave if the ladder fell down. I would like to submit that he rode the Sad Day Monster. I don't feel we need a flashback to explain this - I will simply believe in my heart that Sawyer and Smokey flew around the Island having cool adventures.

Lost: The Substitute Review

Summary:
Fake Locke, after failing to recruit Richard, finds Sawyer, drunk and pantless, in New Otherton, and succesfully manages to convince Sawyer to come with him. Sawyer, who realizes that this is a FAKE Locke, asks a few questions before being led into a cave in the side of a cliff. In here, Fake Locke tells him that he is a candidate to replace Jacob, and shows him the list of candidates - Shepherd, Reyes, Jarrah, Sawyer, Locke, and Kwon (which?), who are each attached to one of THE numbers. Locke tells Sawyer to forget the candidate business and get off the island with him, and Sawyer agrees.
Illana takes some of Jacob's ashes, and then the beach group buries Locke after Ben admits to murdering him. Oh, and Richard runs through the jungle, scared, and tries to talk Sawyer into running to the temple, but scampers off before Fake Locke comes back from chasing a young boy (Aaron/Jacob/WHO?).
Alt Locke is still paralyzed, but he's now engaged to Helen, and it appears he doesn't hate his father. After he gets fired for attempting to go on a walkabout instead of going to a conference on the company dime, Hurley gives him the number for a temp agency, where Rose (!) tells him to be honest with himself. So he takes up a job he is qualified for - a substitute teacher, and becomes best friends with the European History Teacher - Mr. Benjamin Linus.

Reaction:
Holy crap. What a great episode. Real questions were asked - and answered (although there were still some frustrating missed questions). Fake Locke - great at evil, and great at manipulation.
And was I surprised to see Fake Locke show emotion - fear and surprise at the Jacob/Aaron/Boy.
And the cave'o numbers was suitably creepy. Thankfully, Kate does not appear to be a candidate for candidateness. And the candidate replacing Jacob? Cool. Crazy. Awesome.
Alas, my sole complaint is that there still hasn't been shown a purpose for the Alt World. It's interesting, but how does it play into the plot?

Themes:
Fake Locke seems to be an advocate of Free Will. Does that make Jacob the advocate of Fate?

Speculation:
Here are a few quick speculative thoughts:
Sawyer is conning Fake Locke. Why would he even want off the island?
Didn't Helen die of a sudden aneurysm in 2004? Is she about to drop dead on a (sorta) happy Alt Locke?
Hurley will turn out to be the Candidate. He's the only good Lostie.
Next week appears to be a Jack episode - keeping to the mirror of Season 1. Flashbacks (and centricness of the episode) went Plane / Plane / Kate / Locke / Jack / Sun / Charlie. So far this season? Plane / Plane / Kate / Locke... So Jack next week?

Lost: What Kate Does Review

Summary:

Kate, Jin, and a couple of exposable others chase after Sawyer, who ditches the Temple. Kate knocks out the others and leaves Jin behind to find that Sawyer is at New Otherton, where he goes to his old home, rips up some planks in the floor, and reveals he was going to propose to Juliet. After an amazingly acted scene, he throws the ring in the ocean, leaving it (and Kate) behind. Later, Jin is recaught by the others, who are about to kill him when they are shot by... Claire!
Sayid is alive again, and Dogen is suspicious, so he tortures Sayid, trying to diagnose him. The Others think he fails the test, and try to get Jack to unwittingly poison Sayid. When that fails, they reveal that Sayid is infected, and will become Evil? When Jack asks how they know that, they respond that it's the same thing that happened to his sister.
And in Alt World, Kate dumps Claire on the side of the road, and then has guilty feelings about it when she finds a stuffed animal in Claire's bag. She picks Claire back up, drives her to the Adopting Parents, who totally ditch her, and then brings Claire to the hospital to deliver the baby. Ethan (!) is the attending physician, and it turns out to be a false alarm. Kate and Claire part ways.

Reaction:
Claire is back! Okay, so I totally knew that was going to happen, but the reveal that she's infected too was crazy. Also, I'm loving that Claire 2.0 = Rousseau!
Jack is finally taking a stand and asking questions. Sayid may be possessed. Hurley and Miles continue to be the best onscreen duo ever.
Best line of the night: Miles, to resurrected Sayid: "As you can see, Hurley has assumed leadership responsibilities, which is awesome."

Themes:
Too early to say. Continued the theme of Kate and Claire's friendship, and the concern about who would raise Aaron. Oh yeah, leadership is a big theme - Jack and Dogen's conversation about why Dogen needs a translator is great, and has all sorts of practical application.

Speculation:
Next week, Locke and Sawyer? Fake Locke? Awesome. If it's about Locke, then are we following a repeat of the order of focus of Season 1 episodes? All / All / Kate / Locke / Jack / etc... So far we have All / All / Kate / and Locke next week? So then are we looking at Locke / Jack / Sun / CHARLIE?
Sayid and Claire as Fake Locke's evil minions... That could be freaking awesome, if Claire is as good at shooting people as she looked in this episode.
Can't wait to see what's next.

Lost: LA X Review

So hopefully every week I'll be reviewing an episode of Lost with four categories - Summary, Reactions, Themes, and Speculations. Let's start it off with 6.01 and 6.02 - LA X.

Summary:

  The bomb reset everything, and also didn't. In reset-land, the plane lands after Charlie nearly chokes to death on his drugs. Shannon didn't come with Boone, Locke still can't walk, Oceanic misplaced Christian's body, Kate escapes the marshall and jumps in a cab with Claire, Hurley claims to be super duper lucky, and Sayid kicks in a door. Oh, and Jack offers Locke a free consult, and seems to recognize when Desmond (!) sits next to him on the plane.
  In blast-land, the castaways are blasted to 2007, where Juliet dies in Sawyers arms. Everyone else heads to the temple (as instructed to Hurley by Jacob) to try to save Sayid. At the temple, some new others and old others (Cindy and the kids!) drown Sayid in a pool to try and save him, which doesn't work. Hurley tells the others that Jacob is dead, and they prepare to defend against "Him." Just as another confrontation starts to break out between Jack and the others, Sayid comes back to life.
  In foot-land, Bram and some other of Jacob's bodyguards go into the foot to shoot at Locke/Esau/Man in Black, who promptly summons/becomes the smoke monster and kills them all, including Bram, who thought he would be protected by a circle of Ash. The ash prevented the smoke from getting him, but did not prevent the smoke from throwing a rock at him. Evil Locke leaves the foot, beats up Richard, and then carries him off into the jungle.

Reaction:

  Holy cow, where to start? First off, the bomb worked... but didn't? And also... Evil Locke is awesome. I loved him making fun of poor confused Locke. Also loved Sawyer immediately kicking Jack in the face. Best thing ever.
  About the Alt - what's different, and why should we care at this point? Will it end up mattering?That being said, I loved it - and seeing long dead or long lost characters was great. Boone and Charlie are both great.
  Temple - looks sweet. I'm ready for the Temple/Smokey confrontation. Should be epic.
  Richard - looked absolutely terrified all episode. Great job. And when was he in chains?
  Was that the Dharma Shark underwater? And did the bomb going off in the reset push the island underwater?

Themes:

  Whatever happened, happened takes a big hit in this episode. Did what happened happen? Or did free will make an impact? Or both? I loved that the first thing that Sayid says when he 'resurrects' is "What happened?" - Did whatever happen, happen? What happened? AAAH.
  The idea of punishment/purgatory makes an appearance in this episode - Sawyer wants Jack to suffer on this island, just like the rest of them.
  Anyone else notice any other recurring themes? Dead apparently isn't dead, as Sayid comes back to life (and Charlie?)...

Speculation:

  Here's my first idea - Juliet exploded a hydrogen bomb in pretty much the same location that Desmond, thirty years later, turned the failsafe key. Is she now special in the same way as Desmond? Togetherly unique? Maybe her last words to Sawyer (alive words and dead words through Miles) were her in another timeline/alternate universe - and she can go through them, like Desmond. Is that why Desmond was on the plane so briefly?
  Did Locke really go on the walkabout in the alternate world? Did Boone ever sleep with his sister?
  Charlie's words "Am I alive? I was supposed to die." Bleeding through from the other timeline?
  Remember when I joked about a flashback about Jack's tattoos? What if we get a flashback about Jack's random cut/bruise/mark on his neck?

That's it for today. What do you think?