"I Heard Once Winston Churchill Read a Book Every Night, Even During the Blitz. He Said It Made Him Think Better..."

Namaste was one of those rare episodes that didn't begin with a "Previously on LOST". The beginning was a bit misleading, since we started out seeing something we'd already seen, but it quickly became apparent that we were getting another perspective. I love how the co-pilot recognized Hurley but failed to identify the other four members of the Oceanic Six. I guess Hurley stands out more... Frank is a heck of a pilot, and it's a good thing that he was in charge. I feel bad for the co-pilot, though. Death by tree? Almost as grotesque as death by Smokey. Nice to see Kate and Sawyer's time on the chain gang wasn't wasted. Without that runway, that landing would've been a lot more problematic... Despite his injuries, Frank leaped right into action on the ground, much like Jack. He definitely came across as a natural leader. I'm surprised he went with Sun, but I guess he felt especially responsible for her, given their previous association with each other. Good thing John showed up; otherwise, Ben might have stepped in to take charge of the crash survivors...

The first thing I noticed about Ben this episode was that he was in pretty good shape when the plane landed. It looked like he would be suffering yet another injury between that point and the point at which John sees him. So when Sun started stalking him, I thought she might have been planning to beat him up. What ultimately happened was eerily similar to Ben's last confrontation with John. Evidently she was just waiting for Ben to spill some vital information before whacking him with that paddle. Probably a smart thing to do. But pretty devious. The question remains... Just how much does Ben know? We now see that he met Sayid when he was just a teenager. Presumably he already would have known Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Daniel - and Jin, which would mean that his survival shouldn't have been a complete shock to him after all... And now, he'll likely be getting to know Jack, Kate and Hurley. So he's actually known these guys for a very long time, and perhaps they figure prominently into his development. The other big question here is why Sun is in 2007 when Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid landed in 1977. And how in the world are she and Jin going to reunite? Is a Jin 30 years older than her the best that she can hope for?

There were definitely some interesting things going on in the present-day segments, and Christian hanging out in the Barracks was certainly an odd development. That guy just shows up everywhere, doesn't he? Also, I wonder why, in their several days or weeks of living there, none of the season four Team John folks noticed that group picture from 1977. For that matter, why didn't Juliet; wasn't she in the picture too? Or did Ben deliberately keep them hidden? Or did that photograph not exist in their past? Anyway, having people land in two different time periods certainly complicates matters. But until we catch up with John, I'm finding myself more interested in 1977. And I think the rumblings about Caesar and Ilana being the new Nikki and Paolo just might not be so far off the mark. So far, they're really not grabbing me.

I loved the inevitable bear hug between Sawyer and Hurley and didn't mind that Sawyer gave him a nickname for the first time since mid-season three. It felt affectionate this time, especially immediately followed by "I missed you, too, Hugo." I also loved Hurley's impressed statement regarding Jin's English. And really, everything Hurley said in this episode, which was an acknowledgment of what a load of malarkey we're being asked to swallow here. Also, the first thought in Hurley's mind once he accepted their situation was concern for the other members of the DHARMA Initiative. Wasn't Sawyer going to stop the Purge? I would think that Sawyer would at least be planning ahead for an escape; surely he's not intending to stick around to get gassed in 15 years.

Relations between Sawyer and Jack were a bit less cordial. All Sawyer got from him was a stiff handshake, and Jack was the only one of the three who really seemed to be questioning following Sawyer's lead when he told them to pose as recruits. I think Sawyer rather relished assigning Jack to the lowest rank in the DHARMA hierarchy. For once, Sawyer gets to boss Jack around, and it's an interesting change of pace. What I especially liked was their conversation near the end of the episode. It's strange to think of Sawyer as the thoughtful leader and Jack as the blindly impulsive one, but Sawyer has a point. Then again, in the early days after the crash, Jack didn't have a lot of time to contemplate things. He had to take immediate action, and he did what he thought was best for everyone. In the beginning, he did an excellent job and was critical to their survival. As time wore on, I think he was less successful. Sawyer's implication that Jack got a lot of people killed was rather cruel, but I thought his response to Jack's barb about him sitting around reading was brilliant. Sawyer really is much more intellectual than he at first appears, and it seems that, using a carefully reasoned approach, he has done great work with the DHARMA Initiative. Now let's just hope he can figure out some way to let Sayid off the hook. The previews don't look too promising...

I wish I could say I was shocked to see Radzinsky, but IMDb tipped me off about him a couple weeks ago, and TV Guide mentioned little Ben's story arc last month. Oh, well. I'm sure I would've been wondering about them anyway, especially Ben. Is there a rule that you have to be off-kilter to man the Flame? Or does working there make you crazy? Because Radzinsky seems almost as paranoid as Mikhail. It's interesting to learn that the Swan doesn't exist yet and that Radzinsky designed it, making his suicide all the more intriguing. Did he feel he'd made a big mistake in building it at all? Speaking of loonies, what happened to Daniel? Did he hop a sub to Portland? Sawyer's way of referring to him suggests that he's still alive, but I'm bummed that he's not with the DHARMA folks anymore. Still holding out hope, though, that Whatever Happened, Happened will be Daniel-centric. Just as teen Ben seems pretty harmless so far, infant Ethan holds no hint of the monster he will become. (Unless, of course, they're just faking us out, and he's not the Ethan we know at all. After all, where'd the name Rom come from? And why does he look about 40 when he should be in his mid-twenties?)

In the weeks to come, I think Radzinsky and Phil are both going to pose problems for our pals. They are too suspicious for the castaways' good. Ironically, while John was all gung-ho for the Oceanic Six to come back, it seems at this point that everybody would be better off if they'd stayed away, at least the 1977 folks. Still, it's better for us that they're back.

I feel bad for Hurley, so sick and tired of living a lie and finding himself thrust right into another one. (I wonder what his assignment is? I'm gunning for Gardener - that's what I got! Or given his fondness for cars, maybe Sawyer will make him a mechanic and put him under Juliet's wing.) Poor Jack comes back to find himself a prisoner in the Barracks again, with little control over what happens to him. And Kate, whose motivation for returning may have had a lot to do with Sawyer, gets to find out that he and Juliet are well on their way to a common law marriage. Meanwhile, Sawyer's position is threatened by their arrival, and Juliet clearly is nervous that Kate is going to mess up her relationship with Sawyer.

Sayid's in Ben's season-two position, except that some of his captors are on his side. I still think he's in for an ordeal, and given that ominous snippet on the previews, I wonder if he will try to kill Ben. It's hard to imagine Sayid killing a kid in cold blood, but when that kid grows up to become someone Sayid hates so much, it seems plausible. Maybe he'll attempt it, and Annie will come running up at the last minute and jump in front of him - but if Sayid is responsible for Annie's death, wouldn't Ben have done everything in his power to keep Sayid from returning to the Island? Of course, I'm hoping for a scenario in which Annie survives into adulthood and then gets off the Island. But if we're going to see teen Ben evolve from mild-mannered dork to future super-villain, I'm guessing Annie will be involved. Or might we discover altruistic motives behind all of Ben's reprehensible actions?

Hard to believe the season is already halfway over. How many more answers will we get in the next few episodes? Will we ever find out what happened to Rose, Bernard and Vincent? When will we see Desmond again? And is LOST going to blow my mind by putting John Denver or Simon and Garfunkel on the record player? Stranger things have happened!

That's the Island (That's a Woman, Phil Coulter)

In so many ways, LOST is about Jack, the first character we met in the series premiere. From the beginning, he assumed a leadership role and showed great skill in rallying most of the castaways and convincing them to work together for survival. He thrived in that environment, but he never enjoyed it and was always focused on leaving. Post-Island, he seems to have a change of heart.

My last reflection was a gently regretful soliloquy to the tune of Mountains of Mourne, as sung by Keith Harkin of Celtic Thunder. Both songs deal with a man confessing to the woman he loves that the place he was so determined to get to doesn't feel as fulfilling as the place he left. I started writing it before the season started, and then The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham helped me finish it.

It also helped me realize I wanted a whole song dealing exclusively with the extended Jack-John showdown, and That's a Woman, the Celtic Thunder duet between Ryan Kelly and Paul Byrom, seemed an ideal vehicle. John, like Paul, is hopelessly smitten, but in this case the object of his affections is the Island rather than a woman. He's a total sap when it comes to the Island, while Jack is vitriolic, laying on the Sawyerish snark as he details the reasons he detests the Island. This duet takes their debate from their first days on the Island up until their second arrival.

That's the Island

Season One

John: Island, such a heavenly haven.
Don't be craven.
Now we can make a new start.
Explore it.
Learn to adore it
Before it
Gives you the chance to depart.

Jack: A torturous trap where we happened to crash.
Better take it from me, that's the Island.
I'm mired in a mess like a medic on M*A*S*H.
We were not meant to be on the Island.
My boozy dad's body was bound for L.A.,
Not meant to be on the Island.
He ought to be deep in dirt by today,
Not staring and scaring my senses away
On the Island, on the Island.

Season Two

Jack: A den of abductions and dread and deceit.
Take it from me, that's the Island.
Full of murderous men we don't want to meet.
Take it from me, that's the Island.
Who's to say hatches are better than huts
On this mysterious Island?
Pushing the button's the work of a putz.
You sob, "It's our job!" but I think you've gone nuts
On the Island, on the Island.

John: Perfect and pure, that's the Island.
Miracle cure, that's the Island.
Driving us all to be daring,
Strange as the secrets it's sharing.
When you look in the eye of the Island

Jack: Look in its eye and you'll probably die!
That's the Island!

John: And ponder the "why" of the Island

Jack: John, it doesn't mean squat! There's no purpose or plot
On the Island!

John: You're purging your past
And you're special at last.

Both: The enigmas are vast
On the Island!

Season Three

John: Island, in need of protection.
My defection
Gave me the knowledge I need.
Don't cater
To the folks from the freighter.
They're traitors
Waiting to watch our world bleed.

Jack: Bait all the natives and blow 'em to bits,
That's how we exit the Island.
Hike up the hill 'cause the phone's on the fritz,
That's how we exit the Island.
Take a trek to the tower to turn off Rousseau,
That's how we exit the Island.
With Charlie in charge down below,
He'll let us know when all systems are go
On the Island, on the Island.

Season Four

Jack: It took a little more time than I planned.
Now we can exit the Island.
Do I have to put up with your silly last stand?
I'm ready to exit the Island.
You stay in your leafy botanical lodge,
Lavishing love on the Island.
Go in there and pick out a handsome corsage;
We'll hop on the chopper and get outta Dodge.
So long, Island, so long, Island!

Season Five

Jack: Look at my aimless and miserable state.
I think I'm missing the Island.
I'm dour and drunk and rejected by Kate.
I think I'm missing the Island.
Gotta find another plane
To get me back to the Island.
I'm trusting Ben. Am I insane?
I hear your voice inside my brain:
"What an Island!" What an Island...

Memory of John: Perfect and pure, that's the Island.

Jack: I'm perfectly keen to take Flight Three-Sixteen
To the Island.

Memory of John: Miracle cure, that's the Island.

Jack: You cured my doubts; too bad you're on the outs
With the Island.

Memory of John: Driving us all to be daring...

Jack: Thanks to your dare, I'm in the air.
To the Island!

Memory of John: Strange as the secrets it's sharing.

Both: When you look in the eye of the Island
And ponder the "why" of the Island,
You're purging your past
And you're special at last.

Jack: Now the die has been cast.

Both: To the Island!

Jack: Sure as I'm Jack, it's great to be back!

Both: What an island!

Where We're Destined to Be (Mountains of Mourne, Traditional)

Here's Jack to Kate in the season three finale, to the tune of Celtic Thunder's version of Mountains of Mourne.

Where We're Destined to Be

Oh, Kate, California's a wonderful sight,
The civilization we craved since that flight.
We don't have to forage for something to eat,
And our houses have lighting and plumbing and heat.
We thought that we needed those things to be whole,
So we made getting back here out ultimate goal.
Oh, but now, three years later, I'm starting to see
That the Island's the place where we're destined to be.

There's beautiful people who we left behind,
Powerful purposes all intertwined.
How could we leave them when we've always known
That we live together or we die alone?
I'm grieving and guilty and losing my grip
And praying for just one more ill-fated trip.
It's a fortunate fact that I'm flying for free
Till I land on the isle where we're destined to be.

You remember old John, that unstoppable force?
Well, he told me that we were important, of course.
I snarled and I sneered as he went on the attack.
"They all need us," he begged me. "We have to go back."
Oh, I was so sure and so stubborn so long,
I couldn't admit that I'd got it all wrong.
For the sake of our friends, won't you team up with me
And return to the isle where we're destined to be?

For the sake of our friends, won't you team up with me
And return to the isle where we're destined to be?

Mr. Eko (Desperado, Glenn Frey / Don Henley)

I started writing this back in December during my family's Christmas travels. I had Ryan Kelly's rendition of Desperado firmly lodged in my head, and I thought I should try to take advantage of it. A couple years back, I saw a YouTube video in which somebody had set a series of Sawyer clips to the Eagles' version of the song, and ever since I'm always thought of Sawyer when I've heard it. So to avoid being a copycat, I consciously avoided writing about him and instead began to think about what other LOST characters the song could describe. I started my search by trying to come up with a character whose name or nickname had four syllables, and when I stumbled on Mr. Eko, I knew I'd found a winner.

I ended up setting the song aside for a couple of months, only picking it up again a few days into Lent, at which time it felt particularly meaningful. The Cost of Living is still one of my least favorite LOST episodes; it's befuddling and tragic, but I think it has some interesting things to say about the value of repentance. Eko seemed to turn over a new leaf when he came to the Island, but he couldn't bring himself to express any regret for the evil deeds that marked his previous life, instead claiming that he had no choice. A bit odd that Smokey singled him out like that; maybe we just have to chalk some of it up to needing to get Eko off the show, since Adewale wanted out. But I wish that confrontation had gone differently...

Mr. Eko

Mr. Eko, why don't you drop your defenses?
Confess the offenses that weigh you down.
You've had a hard life, but you must listen to Yemi,
Who drives you to demonstrate humility now.

You were never a repentant boy.
A Robin Hood, a rebel,
You stooped to ugly means to reach your noble ends.
But you can't go on pretending
That your plank is just a pebble.
True forgiveness comes to those who make amends.

Mr. Eko, don't you discern any danger?
Surrounded by strangers, your sins seem long gone.
But evil, oh evil has a habit of haunting.
The terror that's taunting you won't die with the dawn.

Have you kept a count of your heinous crimes?
You've seemed so full of remorse sometimes,
With silence stretching on for forty days.
Oh, but why deny you had free will
When you killed before you changed your wicked ways?

Mr. Eko, why don't you drop your defenses?
Expunge your expenses. Strengthen your state.
It may be painful, but you can paint a new morning.
But if you disregard the warning...
But if you disregard the warning, you've sealed your own fate.
Your own fate...

Yesterdayland (Yesterday's Men, Phil Coulter)

I've heard very mixed reactions to LaFleur, but I thought it was a wonderful episode that brought us up to speed with Camp Sawyer and gave him his first centric episode since the disturbing Every Man for Himself way back in the beginning of season three. Things were pretty crummy for him then, so it was nice to see him actually fairly serene and settled in his DHARMA life here. Sawyer's one of my favorite characters to write about because he's just so fun, and he has some pretty distinct traits that make it easier to try slipping into his head for a while. Here's what amounts to a recap of LaFleur, ballad-style, to the tune of Yesterday's Men, a seething reflection on sudden job loss sung by George Donaldson of Celtic Thunder. The growly tone fits Sawyer well, but instead of feeling cast aside, Sawyer is at last starting to find a respectable place in the world.

Yesterdayland

Well, the scene wasn't pretty when Red up and died,
Though she vanished before we came 'round.
We found poor Mr. Wizard lookin' frazzled and fried
As he mumbled and gazed at the ground.
Now our leader was lost and our course was unclear.
There was nothin' to do but go find out the year.

Good day to the nosebleeds, confusion and headaches.
Aloha to Locke, and with luck, he won't flake.
Since the time-skipping stopped when he slammed on the brake,
We're livin' in Yesterdayland.
Namaste! We're livin' in Yesterdayland.

So to give us our bearings, we made for the shore
Till we noticed a gal in distress.
Then we thwarted her murder by killing once more -
As if we all needed more stress!
While we walked to her village, I thought she seemed tense.
Then she thanked us by knockin' us out with her fence.

Good day to the nosebleeds, confusion and headaches.
Aloha to Locke, and with luck, he won't flake.
Since the time-skipping stopped when he slammed on the brake,
We're livin' in Yesterdayland.
Namaste! We're livin' in Yesterdayland.

Well, I hobnobbed with Horace, the head DHARMA geek,
Who I fed an elaborate lie,
And I bought his respect and a couple of weeks
By appeasing that Eyeliner Guy.
Till Baldie comes bargin' back in with his knife,
I imagine that I could get used to this life.

Good day to the nosebleeds, confusion and headaches.
Aloha to Locke, and with luck, he won't flake.
Since the time-skipping stopped when he slammed on the brake,
We're livin' in Yesterdayland.
Namaste! We're livin' in Yesterdayland.

Now we're firmly entrenched, and my friends call me Jim.
We're as happy as hippies can be.
Bruce Lee is a nuisance, but I put up with him,
And the boss is dependent on me.
Now Chewie is chatty and Juliet's mine.
I'm thinkin' the Seventies suit us just fine.

Good day to the nosebleeds, confusion and headaches.
Aloha to Locke, and with luck, he won't flake.
Since the time-skipping stopped when he slammed on the brake,
We're livin' in Yesterdayland.
Namaste! We're livin' in Yesterdayland. (repeat)

"The Record is Spinning Again, and We're Just Not on the Song We Wanna Be On."

What an eloquent line from Daniel, who otherwise barely managed a coherent word all night. I thought Jeremy Davies was brilliant in that scene when Sawyer and the gang first returned to him, and he was just a babbling basketcase trying to fight his fated future. If he fails to warn Charlotte, will that change anything? Anyway, I just wanted to give him a great big hug. Deflated, defeated, despairing... and then Charlotte appeared, a glowing vision of doomed innocence like the little girl in the red dress from Schindler's List. It's so sad that she died just moments before John stopped the skipping; would she have made a full recovery, or was she already too far gone?

And what was up with her body pulling a Jedi trick and vanishing on Daniel? Does that explain other disappearances of corpses, like Christian and Yemi - and does it mean adult Charlotte is going to show up again? Could that be why Richard took Paul's body - to strengthen his numbers? Anyway, if this was 1974 as Sawyer said, Charlotte and Ben are much closer to the same age than I'd figured. I'm not sure we've gotten a definitive birth year for him, but I've been pinning it at around 1961. Lostpedia just says "early sixties". I'd forgotten all about Ben's little laundry list of Charlotte stats back in Confirmed Dead; he said she was born in 1979, but she was the girl Daniel saw, that can't be right. And I have no clue who her parents are in the grand scheme of things.

How excited was I to see Horace, and to realize that he's now going to be a major character?? What a guy. As of the landing of Jack, Kate and Hurley, he's still got another good 15 years left in him, so if they're really stuck in this time, we ought to be getting to know Horace pretty well. While he seemed fairly high up back when he brought the Linuses to the Island - after all, he had the authority to issue an invitation - I never pictured him as being in charge. Was he at that point, or did it happen later? If Ben was born in 1961, I figure he came to the Island around 1971. Every time we saw him in that episode, and in Cabin Fever, Horace had fairly short hair, so the extreme hair length caught me by surprise. Did he kinda let himself go in the wake of a traumatic event - say, the tragic death of his wife? Because Olivia Goodspeed was nowhere to be seen. I now have to presume that Amy is "the missus" to whom Horace referred in the dream. He was building the cabin for her. How did it become Jacob's hideout?

"Whatever happened, happened." This has been Daniel's stance all along, and it's the name of an upcoming episode; I wonder if we're going to find out that he's wrong about not being able to change the past. (Maybe that will be a Daniel-centric episode; oh, I hope so!) Sawyer killing those Others and saving Amy would certainly be a big alteration if that was the case. Heck, it looked like she was a goner, so if this is an alternate track, the son she birthed never should have existed. Could the Island's baby curse have something to do with that? Anyway, it's pretty wild to see the castaways so firmly entrenched in the Dharma Initiative. Daniel's the only one we don't see in the future, but we know he's been hanging out at the Orchid, so I'm not too worried about him. Who I am worried about are Rose and Bernard. And Vincent. After three years, there is nothing to indicate that Sawyer's folks have ever seen them again. All I can think is that they wound up with the Others, but they don't seem big on taking in walk-ins...

Richard seemed pretty leaderly both when he met Ben and when he came to talk to Horace, but maybe he's just serving as the PR guy. He's certainly a lot more calm and conciliatory than Charles. He's got better people skills. Are we to gather from his words to Horace that Richard didn't turn the fence off, he just walked right through the barrier? Might that say something about the nature of the Hostiles, or at least Richard? He doesn't age; is he really even alive? And while Horace's hair was longer this time around, Richard's was shorter, and he looked generally much more clean-cut. Was his shaggy, dirty appearance a costume a la Mr. Friendly, one he cast off because he found Horace a leader he could reason with and respect? It didn't save him from death by mustard gas, but Horace seemed generally well-liked, and even Ben appeared just a touch distraught over his death. Horace was sort of like a godfather to him, and it seems he was the only member of the compound Ben really cared about, which again begs the question of what happened to Annie. Probably the most palatable option is that her parents hopped a sub back to the mainland and she went with them, never to be seen again. But I suspect something a little more dramatic.

Richard does not appear to be all-knowing. He was confused by John's presence in the 50s, and Sawyer's recollection of those events seemed to shake him up. I liked how Sawyer just sidled up to him like they were old buddies, no trace of fear. The thing is, I do think Richard is a pretty reasonable person. But this Island conflict is pretty messy. I wonder if Richard's memory of Sawyer having killed those men factored into his decision to suggest that John delegate his dad-killing duty. Not that it would have needed to; Sawyer had racked up a bit of a body count by then anyway.

I wasn't thrilled to see Sawyer killing again, but under the circumstances, I can excuse it. He was in heroic mode for the whole episode, even as he resisted the idea of being in charge. It was strange to see him in such a clear, and rather mundane, position of authority with the DI. He looked downright domestic, whether it was helping Horace through his hangover or coming home with a flower for Juliet. He saved Amy in both time frames, and he was altogether likable. I thought his heart-to-heart with Horace was terrific, and clearly foreshadowing; that look on his face when Kate stepped out of the van showed what we all figured: Sawyer is so not over Kate. Not when she's back in his presence. It's easier to be over someone you think you'll never see again. I kept thinking that when the plane landed, only a few days would have passed for the castaways on the Island. I figured it would be current-day, with the Island's skipping just making them land there briefly. I didn't realize that it really would be three full years for Sawyer and company. (I loved the first transition to "Three Years Later", right after Sawyer told Juliet he was going to wait for John as long as it took...) A lot has changed in that time. And we're probably about to have a really complicated Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet quadrangle. Maybe the four of them are gonna turn into a bunch of swingers. It is the 70s, after all...


What's with Sawyer's choice of name? It's funny, because for the first time, he's actually encouraging people to call him by his real first name, but why the flowery last name? Did he have the Orchid on the brain? By the way, seeing the statue was fantastic. Too bad it was only there for a few minutes. I want to know what the deal is with that thing. How far back in the past were they, anyway? I wonder, too, when the Dharma Initiative built those sonic fences. Juliet sure didn't do a great job of sounding like a clueless newbie when they came upon the gate, but I'm glad she was looking out for Daniel. The relationship that has developed between her and Sawyer seems so sweet and sincere, I really kinda hate for Kate and Jack to come in and muddle things.

It's been three weeks since we last saw Sawyer and company, and that felt like a long time. LaFleur was a welcome return to old friends. Right now, they don't seem too badly off. But throw the returning heroes into the mix, and it looks like things could get a little messy - not to mention that they're gonna have to get far away from there before the Purge. Unless they can prevent it. But that might just rip the space-time continuum to shreds...

The Death and Life of John Locke

John Locke is alive! Shall we shout it from the rooftops? Of course, as long as we've known John Locke was in that coffin, we've known that Ben intended for him to return to the Island, which suggested to me that he might not be staying in that coffin. Still, I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. Plane lands, John's good as new. Boy, that was easy. New John seems a bit dazed, like the first time he landed on the Island. So far, he appears completely serene, and I loved the crinkly smile on his face when he bit into that juicy mango, reminding me of his orange peel smile way back in the first season. The smile that earned such a disgusted look from Kate; their relationship hasn't improved much. Anyway, I saw John talking to Ilana on the preview, but I figured that was an off-Island moment and that he was recalling what happened when he turned the donkey wheel as a death-like experience. I didn't think we'd just suddenly see him walking and talking back on the Island.

These writers are making it really tough to figure out who, if anyone, is trustworthy. The first time we saw Abaddon, he was freaking Hurley out, and the ominous air and diabolical name weren't marks in his favor. And it is because of him that John wound up on the Island. But landing on the Island was the best thing that ever happened to John. And seeing Abaddon again, carting John here, there and everywhere before finally falling victim to Ben, he really seemed more helpful than harmful. And also more of a lackey than a mastermind. Widmore's Tom Friendly. So was he as evil as Hurley thought? Much as I love Hurley, he seems to have spent most of his time off the Island having nervous breakdowns, so I wonder just how useful he is as a judge of character at this particular point in his life.

I suspected for a long time that Charles Widmore was much more important than his role as a flashback character might lead us to believe. Generally, I've been leaning toward him being sinisterly significant, but could it be that he's really a pretty decent guy? Even if he murdered his fellow teenage Other and sent a boatload of C4 to the Island? He sure doesn't strike me as a nice guy. But who's worse, Ben or Charles? And where does Ms Hawking fit into all this? I do think that Charles had a huge hand in orchestrating Desmond's path to the Island and that his derisive treatment was less about Desmond being unworthy of Penny and more about driving him to enter that race. I also wonder if he had anything to do with Libby showing up at just the right time to give Desmond her boat, and if we're ever going to get a little more back story on her.

Both Charles and Ben really played on John's longing to be special in The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham. The odd thing is that while apparently those two are epic rivals, they both seem to see John as crucial to succeeding in their plans. They also both denied to John that he was supposed to die. But Ben evidently didn't mean it; did Charles? Would a completely different scenario unfold if John had returned to the Island as passenger instead of cargo? I have to say that while I don't trust Charles, at least not yet, he did seem to come off better here than Ben, who I keep half-forgetting is nearly as skilled an actor as Michael Emerson. I loved his giddiness in wrapping his mind around the concept of John’s meeting him only four days ago, when he remembered it as 50 years ago. (Speaking of which, if he ruled the Island for 30 years, mustn’t Penny have been conceived there? Because he sure didn’t seem in charge yet at 17, and Penny is well over 20.)

Ben's big scene with John was one of the most gripping in LOST history. Generally speaking, I'm not sure any two actors on the show have more intense chemistry than Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn. What a confrontation! It reminded me of the climactic scene in Scent of a Woman, and though I knew that Ben's determination to save John must be motivated primarily by self-interest rather than actual human concern, it sure did seem for a minute there that he genuinely cared about John. His emotional pleas touched me, and as I looked at the clock I thought, "Gee, maybe he sincerely tried to stop John from killing himself but John didn't listen." When he succeeded in talking him down, it was a thrilling moment, but there was so little time left in the episode, I did entertain the thought that now that he had control of the cord, Ben might turn all murderous. But why go to the trouble of stopping the suicide just to brutally strangle him moments later? (Side note: Sort of interesting that John and his father died the same way...) Did he always intend the evening to end with John's death, or was that sudden improvisation? He was surprised, and apparently pleased, to learn that Jin was alive. Then he heard about Ms Hawking, and he snapped. Had he just been waiting for enough information for him to continue his mission without John, or did the specific mention of her send him into a panic? It almost seemed to be the latter. I'm wondering if it was Ms Hawking who informed Ben that the coffin containing John Locke would have to return to the Island. His parting shot - "I'll miss you, John, I really will" - didn't carry much of an indication that he expected to see John again.

I don't think that Ben was supposed to be on that plane to the Island. While Jack, Kate and Hurley vanished and materialized in the jungle in perfect condition, Ben wound up grievously injured and stuck with the rest of the passengers. Of course, he wasn't in such good shape to begin with. But I wonder if all of Ben's orchestrations were mostly for the purpose of hitching onto the Oceanic Six on their return to the Island, since he couldn't get back on his own. I have to laugh at John's calm identification of Ben as "the man who killed me." He's being surprisingly forthright with everybody back on the Island, and Ilana and Caesar must think he's a bit loony. Given the way their relationship progressed the last time Ben tried to kill John, I don't see John trying to avenge himself. Mostly, I think he's going to want a really good explanation, and Ben will probably give him one, and it will probably be mostly bogus, and John will probably be only slightly skeptical. I do think the idea of Ben having ousted Charles seems pretty plausible, though I don't know if I buy the three decades of peaceful protection. Seems like the Hostiles were causing a lot of trouble in those years. So maybe getting rid of Charles was the best thing Ben could have done for the Island.

When John decided to kill himself, what were his motivations? Did he do it because Richard said he had to die or because he was just so darn miserable? Or both? It didn’t seem to me that he wanted to end his life; maybe he thought that was the only way to get through to the Oceanic Six, but I don’t really see the reasoning behind that. It seemed to me that he didn’t try hard enough to sway the people he went to visit. He gave up more easily than I expected. Then again, he certainly was poorly received. But Charles didn’t put a timeline on John’s mission, and neither did Christian or Richard. What was to keep John from trying again? Did he feel too helpless, stuck in a wheelchair and minus his chauffeur? I wonder if Charles knows at this point that John is dead, and that the castaways are headed to the Island. How does that fit into his master plan? Is he upset, or is he satisfied?

Walt was the only one who really seemed pleased to see John. That brief conversation was the happiest we saw John in his entire time as Jeremy Bentham. He seemed to be radiating paternal affection for the teen who, for John, had so recently been just a boy. Walt always had a special bond with John, and he was one of the few castaways who actually wanted to stay on the Island and took deliberate steps to keep himself there. So of all the castaways, I think Walt would have been most receptive to John’s invitation, had he issued it. But he didn’t. Why? Because he couldn’t face the idea of Walt finding out what really happened to his father? Maybe Walt’s dreams spooked him too. He brushed them off so Walt wouldn’t worry, but if he was foretelling future Island turmoil, perhaps John didn’t think the Island was a safe place for him. Not that it’s really so much safer for anybody else... I hope that wasn’t the writers’ way of saying goodbye to Walt once and for all.

Hurley was friendly enough to begin with. When he thought John was dead. I thought that snippet of conversation was probably the funniest bit of dialogue in the episode. John’s gently confused reaction to Hurley’s queries was priceless. But his demeanor changed quickly when he realized it was John in the flesh. Even at that point he was somewhat collected, able to carry on a rational conversation, but as soon as Abaddon entered the equation, Hurley went buggy. On a side note, I didn’t know Hurley was so artistic. Any significance to his choice of subject?

Hurley was a frustrating interview, but John could have brushed that off as mental instability on Hurley’s part. The rest? Not so much. Interesting that he didn’t go to see Sun; he seemed to think staying away from her was better than trying to lie about Jin. Maybe he didn’t think he’d be able to convince her. When Ben said, “A promise is a promise,” I thought he was going to suggest that he talk to Sun instead of John, a neat little loophole. The ring fell into Ben’s lap as an unexpected bargaining chip. If John hadn’t been determined to honor Jin’s request not to bring Sun back, he probably would have found her more receptive than the rest. But it didn’t work that way. Sayid was calm, rational and pleasant throughout their conversation, but he was also condescending, and I can’t argue with his notion that John is being yanked around. Abaddon, Ben, Richard, Charles, Christian... who isn’t manipulating him? Good for Sayid for deciding to devote his time to charitable organizations. It’s hard to fault him for channeling the angst from two horrific years into physical labor for the good of others, and for finding that preferable to what John was proposing.

I can’t decide which meeting was worse, Jack or Kate. Jack was exhibiting clear signs of substance abuse. He was almost as surly and fuzzy-headed as he was in our first glimpse into his future. He was cruel and cutting, insisting that there was nothing special about John, or about any of them, for that matter. Also, John isn’t that much older than Jack. Two decades at most. I feel like the “sad old man” comment was partly a reflection of Jack’s still-unresolved father issues, which inevitably came up again. John’s mention of Christian really unsettled Jack and maybe was what ultimately drove him to start looking for the Island. Kate wasn’t looking so hot either. Lethargic and world-weary. Her quiet assessment of John, as a pathetic man who’d never loved anyone seemed unfair to me, but her “Look how far you’ve come,” while vicious, didn’t seem that out of line, particularly the “obsessed” part. John is obsessive by nature. That hasn’t changed. And it could still get him into trouble.

I don’t have anything particularly insightful to say here. Just that this episode was every bit as intense as I expected and that I’m glad John’s still going to be around. And I want to know what in the world was going through Ben’s head in that suicide/homicide scene. I’m guessing I’ll have to wait a while on that. Looks like we’re back to Jack’s gang and Sawyer’s group next week - and maybe, given the French title, Danielle will factor in there somewhere, too. I assume that moment the previews say we’ve all been waiting for is Sawyer’s reunion with Kate, though I’m getting a little tired of Kate’s petulance and am not sure how much I’m looking forward to that reunion after all. If Jack is there when it happens, which he probably will be, that could be really awkward. Frankly, I’m more interested in Sawyer’s reunion with Hurley...

Back to the Island (Boy, That Was Fast!)

It took four seasons to get the Oceanic 6 off the Island and four episodes to get them back on it. I was surprised at how quickly it all happened; before the season started, I would have guessed it would take them at least a season. So they took off on Ajira 316, a flight with as many parallels to Oceanic 815 as they could muster. And it starts all over again...

Of course, I was not surprised to see that the episode with this title had the most overt Christian overtones since Catch-22; it's a short leap from 316 to John 3:16, especially when you factor in John Locke. Instead of a monastery and a discussion of Abraham and Isaac, it was a church, and Ben, of all people, was giving Jack a lesson on the apostle Thomas. I really liked that scene. I liked how Ben was sitting there, hands folded, looking reverent, when Jack came in. How he stood up for Thomas, who I always felt a little sorry for. Or maybe it wasn't so much standing up for Thomas as warning Jack that he might be remembered more for doubting John than for his heroics in caring for the castaways. Or maybe he was comparing himself to Thomas. It's always hard to tell just what Ben is driving at, but I found the conversation fascinating, not least because Ben was so well-versed in the Gospel, or at least a small part of it. And there was just a hint of the Life and Death theme, and it was all very stirring. And then Ben said he had a promise to keep to an old friend, and I wanted to slug him.

I don't know when we're going to find out whether that "promise" was fulfilled. Ben was certainly upset and unsettled when he called Jack, but was it because he failed or because he succeeded but found that sort of revenge was not so satisfying after all? Or was he just upset because somebody beat him up? The most likely culprit there is Desmond, but it could have been Penny herself. Or maybe Sun or Sayid had something to do with it; could Widmore have tipped Sun off that Ben might try something? But Ben didn't seem bothered by their presence on the plane, and if they were involved, wouldn't they let Jack in on what was going on? In any case, things didn't go just how Ben intended, but whether or not Penny is still alive is a mystery that may hang over the rest of the season. Killing off Charlotte and Penny both would be a low blow, though, especially after Nadia last season. And when we get that back story on Annie, it might not be so pleasant. Sigh. Still, it's too early to give up on Penny yet.

I don't think we have to worry that Aaron got killed. He's too critical to the story. But his whereabouts are a big mystery too, and I wonder if we'll see him again this season. Kate was obviously distraught when she came to Jack, but was he forcibly taken from her, or did she leave him with someone because someone sold her on going back to the Island but she was too spooked by that dream she had about Claire to bring Aaron along? It seems like he's going to have to join them at some point. Maybe Walt will bring him back. Or Desmond, despite his seething protests that he was done with the Island. You can hardly blame him for hating Ms Hawking. Is she really on their side, or is she a sinister puppet master? There is something undeniably creepy about her.

I wonder if, after this week, we're done with John, since the episode ends with his death. Will we meet him in the past? Will he suddenly spring to life? Or is Terry O'Quinn no longer a part of LOST? It's hard to imagine a season and a half of the show without him. But the fact that he's a stand-in for Christian's corpse seems to make the resurrection theory slightly less likely. Unless it means that John springs to life and Christian winds up back in the box? Because Christian is an awfully lively corpse... Speaking of which, was that man really Jack's grandfather, or was "Granddad" just a nickname? Because he didn't look a day older than Christian to me. Then again, Anthony Cooper always looked way too young too. It was odd to see Jack's grandpa after all this time, seemingly a major part of Jack's life, but we didn't even know he existed up until now.

How did Sayid and Hurley know about the flight? My guess is that Sun found them and told them, and somehow she convinced them. Sayid was in handcuffs, but I'm not sure if he was really under arrest or if it was for show. The officer with him was talking to John in the preview, which makes me think she was in on it and that the handcuffs were mostly about recreating more conditions of the original flight. Meanwhile, I thought it was sweet that Hurley brought a guitar to represent Charlie, and the comic book was a good idea. But what I really loved was that he bought up the last 78 seats on the plane, trying to do something proactive to keep more people from getting killed. (What, incidentally, makes everyone so sure that they will survive the crash again?) Just a few days ago, Jack was at the point where he didn't care who he brought down with him; he just had to get back to the Island. Now at least he's worried about his fellow passengers, while Ben, who probably has no business returning to the Island at all, is aggressively indifferent. I'm a little surprised at how violently frightened Hurley is of Ben this season; is it just because of Sayid, or did John say something to him? He didn't seem to be that hugely spooked by Ben the last time they were together.

I was amused by Ms Hawking's dismissive comment to Jack that Ben was probably not telling the truth about not knowing about her secret lair with the pendulum (with the wonderfully Lewisian name of the Lamp Post). From what little we've seen of their interactions, she seems to view Ben as a pest. They're tenuously on the same team, but she doesn't have much respect for him. I also thought Ben's snippish reply to Jack about his mother teaching him how to read was funny, though even there he was lying. Unless he was motivated to learn how to read to escape the loneliness of not having his mother, or something like that. Not likely, though. I think it was just a smart-alecky response, and he said the first thing that popped into his head. I imagine he wishes his mother had taught him... Judging by the previews, he was also lying about not knowing John committed suicide; it looks like he actually facilitated it.

I was excited to hear Frank's name and then to see him, barely recognizable without his facial hair. I figured that he must know what was going on because it would be too coincidental otherwise, but it seems he was completely in the dark. "We're not going to Guam, are we?" Ha! Funniest line of the night. It was encouraging because it made me think that maybe he'd let the plane down nice and easy, since he was in the know. Perhaps no crashing would be involved. But then the plane started shaking, and there was a blinding light, and who knows what happened? How did Jack, Kate and Hurley get off the plane, and what became of everybody else? That opening scene was strange; I figured Jack was having a dream, recalling that first Island landing but bringing Kate and Hurley more immediately into it. It was a decent chunk of a scene that we saw repeated at the end, but I think the bookends made sense.

I wonder if we won't be seeing the Oceanic 5 (plus Ben and Frank) for a while after The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham; I'd say Sawyer's crew has a bit of catching up to do. What's Jin doing in a Dharma uniform? How much time has passed for him since John disappeared? I suspect that the guy sitting next to Hurley, the one who offered his condolences to Jack, survived the plane crash and will become a part of the gang. And surely Frank will fare better than the first pilot. I'm glad the focus stayed on Jack's crew for the whole episode; an awful lot needed to happen here, and I doubt many people minded leaving the Islanders for a while.

Originally, The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham was supposed to air first; no matter what, some backtracking would have been involved in that episode. I wonder what made them decide to change the order? I'm guessing we won't see the Islanders this week either. But we probably will see Walt, which is an exciting prospect. And this may be the last dose of Terry O'Quinn we get for a long while, so I'm prepared to enjoy it. And to predict that his name might be on that Emmy list again. Everybody on LOST is fantastic, but O'Quinn, Michael Emerson and Henry Ian Cusick are just a smidge above everybody else, I think, though that's partly because they're getting the best material. Jeremy Davies might actually have a shot this season too. But for now, I'm focusing on John...

Alas, Charlotte, We Hardly Knew Ye...

In an episode entitled This Island Is Death, it's not much of a surprise that some unpleasant things happened - the main one, of course, being that Charlotte, who uttered the titular phrase, died. I was hoping she would get cured somehow, or at least stick around for a while longer. Alas, no luck. I did find her comments about her childhood interesting. I still feel like there's a slight possibility that she could be Ben and Annie's daughter; it would've made them teenage parents, probably, and she would have left the island right around the time Alex was abducted. It seemed like Charlotte had blocked out her childhood, so it could be conceivable that she didn't recognize Ben. But unless she had her name changed, how could Ben not know who she was? He even tried to killer. So yeah, it's probably a pretty flimsy theory. But she's gotta be connected to somebody.

Also a bummer was Danielle's massacre of her shipmates, though we knew that was coming. The "sickness" appears to be alleged possession by Smokey; I don't know if they cracked up or she did. Robert did try to kill her, but only after she killed at least two of their party and was about to kill him. So he might have been desperate, not crazy. It did seem to me that the voice calling from underground was Smokey; the "I'm injured" was a laughable understatement, and the whole thing just seemed like a trap. Since they were at the Temple, I thought Jin might flash forward and meet up with a bunch of Others, but joining up with the castaways was better. His reunion with Sawyer was a rare and beautiful moment of jubilation. He got together with them faster than I expected, but I didn't mind.

The flashes got way out of hand in this episode; they were starting to give me a headache! John going down into the well seemed like a very bad idea given the frequency of the flashes, though there was something grimly funny about the sight of Sawyer tugging on that rope. I also thought Juliet's comment about their luck in landing in a time when the Orchid existed was a rather amusing indication that they were about to jump into a pre-Orchid moment. And the little exchange between Sawyer and Miles when Sawyer asked him to translate for Jin was good, though I knew about that one already, since Daniel Dae-Kim mentioned it in an article in TV Guide.

Smokey and Charlotte were mighty interesting, but perhaps the oddest thing of all was Christian showing up to guide John through the getting-off-the-island process. His delivery of the line questioning John's decision to listen to Ben was classic. I've been thinking of Christian as a sort of mouthpiece for Jacob; I'm starting to wonder if he actually is Jacob himself. That seemed to be implied in his conversation.

The off-island stuff was great too. I wasn't surprised to see Kate take off. A little more surprised about Sayid, but then he still has a deep grudge against Ben. I liked Sun's conversation with her daughter; it was the sweetest we've seen her in a long time. And I'm glad we got to actually see Ji Yeon; I was starting to wonder if there was something fishy about her absence. I thought it was great when Ben stopped the car and had his little pity party. And I did feel sorry for him, though given what Christian said, I can't help but wonder if his agenda doesn't quite line up with John's. I also loved when Jack said, "I thought John didn't come to see you?" and Ben replied, "He didn't, Jack; I went to see him!" Way to get off on a technicality... I think my favorite off-island moment, though, was when Desmond suddenly busted in out of nowhere and demanded to know what Ben, Jack and Sun were doing, and Ben said he figured the same thing he was doing. "You're here to see Daniel Faraday's mother?" he asked, provoking a startled facial response from Ben suggesting that he didn't realize Ms Hawking was related to Faraday. And of course, he didn't answer. But they all went into the church together, one happy little band - for the moment. I was hoping for some interacting between Desmond and Ms Hawking, but the disoriented look on his face when he saw her will suffice for now.

I guess that's about it for now, but I really enjoyed this episode and am anxious to see the next episode, which, according to IMDb, is John-centric. And also in two weeks. I was unaware of that; I guess I'll have to be extra patient!

Time to Brush Up on My French...

So The Little Prince was a Kate episode, to the extent that anything other than a Desmond storyline can be truly centered on one character at this point - and even Desmond's course is likely to collide with the Oceanic 6 by the time we see him again. In reality, this was one of the most integrated episodes of the series thus far, with the focus sprinkled all over the place, which is one nice thing about the current format. We get to see different people on the Island and off, so if Kate and Jack aren't your cup of tea, you won't have to wait long to see Sawyer and Locke.

I'm still not quite clear on how the book The Little Prince factors into this episode. It's a French book; could it be a little clue of what was to come toward the end? With all the fuss about Aaron, one would think that "little prince" refers to him, though it could also be Miles, who seems even more likely to be Wickmund's son after Daniel's conclusion that time-travel sickness first affects those with prolonged exposure to the Island. That certainly applies to Desmond, and I'm guessing we'll see how Charlotte figures into that before long. I didn't notice the actual novel lying around at any point in the episode, or the cartoon playing on TV. Maybe the reference is intentionally obscure.

I was led astray a few times in this episode. When we were trying to figure out who was trying to take Aaron, I guessed Claire's mother, and that seemed confirmed when we saw her later on. But then she wound up having nothing to do with Aaron - though I would think she would be suspicious now, and the Oceanic 6 may have to contend with her. I also was thinking that the castaways' last leap was to the night Desmond crashed, and when I saw it wasn't him I was momentarily disappointed - until I realized that getting Danielle's back story first-hand is a much more interesting development.

It did occur to me, after we saw Ben talking to his lawyer, that maybe he was behind the plot to get Aaron, but I don't see how he could have any legal claim to him. Or was he just hoping that Kate would be driven right into Jack's arms? No doubt his idea was quite convoluted, whatever it was. The funny thing is that if he'd managed to convince Hurley to come along with him, every member of the Oceanic 6 would have been sitting in the parking lot at the end of the episode. Convincing Sun and Kate to return to the Island might be extra tricky, though. I'm also troubled by the implication I've received from Entertainment Weekly that not every member of the Oceanic 6 will return. Where does that leave things? And if Ben has been focusing his post-Island energies on getting them back, why did he ever let them leave in the first place? Then again, could he have done anything to stop them?

We got very little Hurley in this episode, but that little bit was amusing, and the lawyer's intel indicated that maybe Ben and Sayid won't have to break him out of maximum security after all. Getting him to return to the Island might still be a hurdle, but at this point I think Sun is the main obstacle. I can't see her successfully murdering Ben right then and there, though, if only because that would prevent the inevitable confrontation between Ben and Penny. Jack and Sayid will have to intervene, and maybe Kate as well, though I think she's still awfully freaked out about Ben's presence. Her shock at seeing him was palpable.

Interesting to see that Jack wasn't especially in favor of Kate posing as Aaron's mom. I guess it makes sense, though, especially since as a doctor he would know how implausible it would be that she would have been six months pregnant at the time of the plane crash. I loved their little exchange at the end of the first scene. "Are you with me?" "I have always been with you." So much like Frodo and Sam in Return of the King: "I need you on my side, Sam." "I'm on your side, Mr. Frodo." Unlike Sam, however, Kate's loyalties have often been in question.

We're starting to revisit past events on the Island, which could lead to some pretty interesting intersections. Evidently John has watched enough Back to the Future to know that it's best to avoid contact with one's former self. As soon as he knew what the time frame was, he steered clear of the castaways' camps, though that didn't prevent Sawyer from seeing Claire give birth. I thought we might see Charlie and Jin, too, though I decided it would be rather silly to bring them back for such a short scene, especially when they only would have been in the background. Little did I know that Jin was on his way... Actually, I'm not clear on whether that scene was re-shot; maybe there was just some creative splicing going on.

Richard was hanging around the Orchid before John disappeared, so I imagine John is hoping to see him there. Otherwise, he may have some idea of how to get off the Island, but he's pretty unclear on what to do after that. He knows he has to get the Oceanic 6 back, but how are they supposed to find the Island? And why does he have to die? Libbie brought up the very pertinent point that Sawyer and company probably will not have lived three years by the time Jack and the gang get back. More likely, it'll just be 70 hours from the end of The Lie, and one of their jumps will take them to 2008. In other words, very fast-paced season, with a reunion before the end of it. Which leaves a big "Then what?" for season six, if nobody is trying to get off the Island or on it. Fixing all the mistakes of the first five seasons, perhaps?

I figured Jack would get into trouble for showing up in the hospital, and he did; I wasn't really counting on thugs trying to get Sayid while he was still a patient. It doesn't seem like anyone other than Ben would know that he was there. But if Ben's goal is to get the Oceanic 6 back to the Island, why would he send an attacker? The same reason he tried to take Aaron by force? What if the lawyer leaked that information to the public? Wouldn't that cause a big stir, and lots more problems? Anyway, if it's not a Ben scheme, then I suppose it could be somebody connected with Widmore or Abaddon or one of the guys Ben was having Sayid assassinate. Whoever it was, it's unsettling.

I can't decide if I'm glad that Sawyer now knows that Kate is alive. Maybe now he'll be a little less miserable. But if he still thought she was dead, the eventual reunion would be all the more dramatic... It's clear from his reaction to seeing her that he's very much in love with her. I'm not sure how much stock he puts in John's plan, but I think he's glad to have any kind of plan at all. I like the fact that, for the first time I can remember in the show, Sawyer said what could be considered a prayer, and a prayer of gratitude, no less. Of course, he immediately took it back - but that further suggests that he thought maybe, just maybe, Someone was listening.

It was a great episode, but the most exciting element by far was saved until the last minute, when we discovered that we were going to get to see the aftermath of Danielle's crash and, even more importantly, that Jin was alive. Yes, he somehow survived the explosion after all! And has apparently been semi-conscious for the past day or so. I always suspected that he was alive, but it sure was nice to see that it wasn't just wishful thinking. I went back and read the transcript of Solitary for hints of Danielle having met Jin; I suppose I should peruse the other episodes she appeared in as well. I can't recall anything. I do wonder, though, whether the mysterious illness she referenced could have something to do with the time-travel sickness. It probably won't be long before Jin is affected. I wonder if he will reconnect with Sawyer's group during Danielle's time? Danielle, by the way, seems very pretty, sweet and well-balanced. She appears to have her act totally together. But 16 years all by yourself surrounded by hostile forces would unhinge anybody.

I was frustrated by all the atmospheric barriers to my translating what Danielle and her crew were saying, though I doubt I would have caught much of it even if it hadn't been raining cats and dogs. My French is pretty rusty. I found a transcript that did provide a translation, and I didn't miss much.

The episode concludes with us knowing nothing about the people who were shooting at our pals, though the boats Sawyer and Locke used looked just like Karl's. That suggests "other Others," apparently not too far into the future since the camp looks freshly abandoned by Rose, Bernard, Vincent and whatever random redshirts have managed to survive this long. Those three (-plus) had better show up again before too long. I don't want a repeat of season three in terms of the Rose and Bernard quotient. Desmond, Claire and Frank have good reasons to be MIA; Rose, Bernard and Vincent, not so much. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the distribution of character time. The next episode is entitled This Place Is Death, which is very spooky and doesn't sound like something a native English speaker would say. That is, I'm guessing it's something Danielle or Robert or maybe some other member of their crew say about the Island. We shall see...

LOST: Mystery of The Island Puzzle (The Hatch) Review

You might just go as crazy-eyed as Desmond trying to uncover the secrets in this Hatch puzzle.

Jughead Shows Yet Again That Outstanding Desmond Episodes Are a Constant

Ahhh, Desmond. I got the impression from the lovely little interview with Henry Ian Cusick in TV Guide that this week's episode would be Desmond-centric, and I sure was glad to see that the conclusion I'd drawn had been correct. The first scene was a bit baffling initially, and worrisome too, as we didn't know just when it took place. Penny looked like she was having a pretty tough time of it, and for a moment I worried that this was some point further in the future than we've seen yet, and that she might not pull through. But she did, thank goodness.

And isn't their son adorable? Especially in that fantastic sweater? He looks a little older than two to me, but I can buy it. Of course, I was immediately curious about the name of the lad, and we didn't get that until the end of the episode. I confess I was hoping for Charlie; what a fitting way to honor him, especially considering the fact that he facilitated Desmond and Penny's reunion. It wasn't until his name was spoken, however, that it occurred to me that the name could also be a tribute to Grandpa. That seems pretty unlikely, though, since Desmond loathes him and Penny doesn't seem too fond of him either. Still, perhaps it's no accident that these two characters who played such a crucial role in Desmond's life have the same first name. (Maybe, in an instance of supreme LOST weirdness, angelic Charlie winds up on the Island in the 30s or 40s and grows up to be a hothead who snaps his comrade's neck, tangles with Richard and, many years down the line, can honestly say, "I'm my own grandpa.")

I caught myself feeling sorry for Widmore again this week and wishing Desmond would at least tell him Penny was all right. I guess that announcement would have been unnecessary; Widmore knew the two of them had found each other, and if something had happened to her, he would have been able to read it in Desmond's face. I was surprised at how compliant he was. Desmond was pretty gutsy, just barging into his office and making demands. Then again, perhaps Desmond is just playing right into Widmore's hand... I can't really blame Des for not telling him about his grandson. If you want a guy to leave you alone, it's best not to reveal something that enticing. (And if Charles and Charlie are the same person, it's really best that they don't meet... :-P )

I don't think that Widmore knows Ben is in L.A., though you would think he'd know most of the Oceanic Six are there and would suspect that Ben would try to rendez-vous with them. Still, if he knew Ben was there, I can't imagine him sending Desmond off without an explicit warning. Yes, he told Desmond to keep Penny safe, but he didn't point out that Ben intends to murder her. Whatever their vices, I do believe that Ben and Widmore are both devoted to their daughters, despite the Alex and Penny's apparent distaste for them most of the time. It's frustrating to realize that Desmond is headed off to the worst possible place he could go (and I cringed every time the word "promise" escaped his lips, because you know he's going back to that island, and I hate for him to keep breaking his promises to Penny). It's also aggravating that after all that build-up, we probably won't actually get that meeting between Desmond and Daniel's mom for a couple of months. The fact that she's a recluse in L.A. fits with what we saw of Ms Hawking last week, and the pop-up indicated that her first name is Eloise. I'm sure the show never mentioned that before; in any case, it's a juicy tidbit, since that's the name of Daniel's maze-running rodent. (Would he have meant that as a tribute or as substitutionary satisfaction of matricidal urges? Hopefully the former!)

We saw the maze again today, and it's clear that Oxford really did frown upon those experiments of Daniel's. Just what happened to that girl he apparently abandoned after inflicting severe brain damage upon her? I'm guessing that she offered to be his test subject for a human trial of his time traveling tests. Maybe he finally got to the point at which Eloise's brain didn't explode, and he thought the time was ripe for a human guinea pig, but something went horribly wrong. Widmore financially providing for the victim reminds me of some of Lionel Luthor's pet projects on Smallville. His seemingly altruistic endeavors generally have ulterior motives. Maybe he paid Daniel off, promised to take care of her if Daniel would do some work for him. Or maybe Daniel just panicked and bolted.

Unanswered questions in Desmond's past and future... Why was he kicked out of the army? I keep thinking we'll find out, but none of the Desmond episodes have explained it so far. I'd also forgotten about Desmond almost becoming a doctor. Was that back before the monastery? Desmond told Widmore that he raised his brothers. Will we ever get to meet any of them? Finally, are Desmond and Penny married? Obviously it would've had to be a covert wedding, but surely it wouldn't have been impossible to find a priest who would marry them. On an unrelated note, I've noticed that Desmond and Charlie both always seem to be wearing scarves off the island. Is that a big thing in England? I don't recall that it was... But scarves become both of them quite well.

I really can't say that I missed the Oceanic Six and Ben this week. Not only did we get all that great stuff with Desmond and Daniel, John was thrown into the mix as well. And golly, it's a good thing he didn't shoot that upstart back at the army camp. I'd already been pondering whether he might be this season's Keamy; certainly he doesn't seem like a nice guy. But young Charles Widmore? If John had killed him, I'd think that would have ripped a giant hole in the space-time continuum. But how is it that there are no consequences to John knifing one guy and Widmore killing another? Are we supposed to think that only a select few people are of any real importance in the grand order of the world, and the rest are dispensable redshirts? Or were those guys who died like Charlie, destined to die anyway, and originally were killed in some sort of skirmish around the same time?

Could it be that Widmore was tapped to be the leader of the Others? He said it was his island and would be again; maybe he was in charge at some point between 1954 and 1971, which as I figure it is around the time that Richard first appeared to Ben. Or maybe he was supposed to be, but something interfered. I'm back to thinking that Richard is probably tied to the Black Rock somehow and has achieved some sort of immortality. It would seem that his job is to serve as leader when the Others are between leaders; maybe once he finds someone who is able to prove himself worthy of the job, he can move on. Certainly it seems that Ben was a mistake; the ball was in his court when he saw the plane crashing, and he could have made everyone's lives so much easier by forming an alliance with the castaways then and there instead of waiting around until his folks and the 815ers had wiped half of each other out. Richard seems like a wise, level-headed leader, but he can also be ruthless. He killed those guys from the army (and then apparently stole their clothes). He seems to have been responsible for the death of Juliet's ex-husband, and I get the sense that he's the one who orchestrated the Purge. So he's not any less violent than Ben; he just seems more capable of making reasoned decisions, and he doesn't spend so much time lying and trying to manipulate people.

Daniel is good at thinking on his feet. It was impressive how quickly he managed to formulate a strategy for getting out of their situation alive, and uncanny how he actually managed to hit upon the soldiers' reason for being there. Unless he already knew about it, which given his knowledge of the island wouldn't be that surprising. Still, well done. And Richard seemed convinced by Daniel's declaration of love for Charlotte. It reminded me of The Princess Bride, when Inigo swore on the soul of his father that Wesley would reach the top of the Cliffs of Insanity alive. I'm worried about Charlotte, though. Desmond never was in that bad of physical shape. He was close, but not that far gone. Daniel had better hurry up and find her an anchor. Charlotte hasn't had nearly enough to do yet, and I shall be very disappointed if they just kill off C. S. Lewis without even giving us a compelling reason for her name.

I loved the meeting between John and Richard, though it seems to be leading to a circular direction: Richard thinks John is special because John told him he told him he was special. He was at the hospital for John's birth because John told him to show up. (Maybe he can leave the Island and return at will as long as he's not the current leader?) He wanted John to pick up the compass when he visited him as a five-year-old because the compass was what John gave him to prove he had spoken with him in the future. By that same token, perhaps Widmore got involved with Daniel because he knew Daniel would wind up on the Island. And Daniel wound up on the Island because Widmore got involved with him.

When I saw that the title of this episode was Jughead, I wondered if that was a military term; I knew Jarhead was, and I was hoping this episode might shed some light on Desmond's army experience. If I'd bothered to Wikipedia it beforehand, maybe I would have guessed that the title didn't have anything to do with Desmond, at least not directly. Maybe, as Dad postulates, the H-bomb is responsible for some of the Island's bizarre properties. It's certainly an ominous sight.

I can't keep track of how many redshirts have bitten the dust since the show started, but there can't be many survivors of 815 left. The only ones we know about for sure are Sawyer and John, and I presume that Rose, Bernard and Vincent are all right, though I have no idea where they wound up. Are they headed to the creek too? And did the survivors who wound up with the Others start time traveling, or did they become immune as part of their Otherization? It was kind of nice to see Daniel, Charlotte and Miles together for a good chunk of the episode, and I liked Daniel's rebuffing of Miles for his bad attitude, as well as Miles' sulky reaction to Daniel's lack of concern for him upon their reunion.

I dig Sawyer's initiative in rescuing "the geek," and I thought his exasperation with Daniel for telling Other Girl that they were from the future was a hoot. (Also, I've watched The Lie three times now, and that scowl on Sawyer's face at the beginning of the scene that ends in Neil getting shot with a flaming arrow cracks me up every time. He has every reason to scowl, of course; but man, if looks could kill!) I was surprised that he did it, but sometimes honesty is the best policy! These people all seem so violent, her included, but I guess they have a right to be edgy when people are trying to blow up their island. She reminds me of Bonnie from the Looking Glass. Pretty tough cookie. But she might turn out not to be so bad. If we bump into her again. If she said what her name was, I didn't catch it. Could she be somebody we know? IMDb calls her Ellie; is that short for Eloise? That would explain Daniel's shock of recognition. If Charles Widmore is on the island in 1954, why not Eloise Hawking? Speaking of which, I recognized the woman who was checking records for Desmond, and after consulting IMDb, I see that she was the gate attendant at Sydney Airport - the one Hurley picked up, I think. The names are different, but I can't imagine they would cast the same actor in a completely different role unless they're just trying to mess with our heads. Which... they probably would do. Maybe she's just a red herring...

The more I contemplate this episode, the more interesting I find it. I think it's dropping all sorts of fantastic clues. I'm guessing that we won't see Desmond again for at least an episode or two, but I don't mind; he's worth the wait. It looks like next week will focus on Kate, along with the island folks. It would be really helpful if Daniel could figure out when they're going to jump, and to where. But it seems his top priority right now is trying to save Charlotte's life. The next episode is The Little Prince. Maybe we'll see Kate reading it to Aaron or happen upon the book in some other way. Within the world of the show, perhaps Aaron is the prince, or maybe young Charles Widmore - though I'm not sure what time they've jumped to. Could refer to John, too. Whoever it is, I'm guessing it will be mythologically significant. Meanwhile, Jughead has given me plenty to chew on!

Season Five Is Underway!

So I've been waiting for more than 200 days for the fifth season of LOST to start, and now the long hiatus is finally over. It wasn't as bad as the year before, since I found the season four finale much less depressing than the third, though I'm disappointed in myself for writing so little in the way of fan poetry this time around. I shall try to amend that this year.

Because You Left, The Lie is a bit of a cumbersome title. It doesn't exactly roll right off the tongue, but... Wait a minute. Strike that. I just realized they are two separate titles, not one awkwardly phrased title. That makes so much more sense. The central notion in Because You Left is the idea that Jack has to join Ben in rounding up the others, and that really weird stuff is happening on the island and it's all Jack's fault. The Lie is more focused on Hurley, but there's a whole lot of lying happening all around. There's the Big Lie that's giving Hurley a nervous breakdown and forcing Kate to go on the lam. There's Daniel's dishonesty with Charlotte about what is happening to her and Sun's declaration of forgiveness that seemed more like an accusation. Of course, in all of this, there's the fact that we're following parallel storylines instead of having flashbacks or flashforwards with a particular character. I suspect that convention will be used a lot less from here on in.

I tried very hard to avoid spoilers for eight months, but I was not entirely successful. There are too many theories and tidbits buzzing around, and some land directly in my inbox with little or no warning attached. So I knew we'd be seeing AnaLucia and Ms Hawking again, but I didn't know the context. I enjoyed AnaLucia's scene more than I expected and thought she looked a lot better than she did on the island. She seemed entirely in her element, just as Charlie did in last year's premiere.

Ms Hawking is mysterious and ominous as ever. I wasn't terribly surprised to see her conversing with Ben; back in Flashes Before Your Eyes I figured she had some connection with the Others, given her intimate knowledge of events unfolding on the Island. Where did the meeting with Ben take place? It looked to me like a monastery, but maybe I was just thinking that because I know she has ties to the monk who mentored Desmond. And I don't see how it could have been that monastery; I'd think it would have to be in L.A., given Ben's extremely limited time. Based on her complex board writing and Daniel's half-finished instructions to Desmond, it seems probable that she is Daniel's mother, which would strengthen the bond between Desmond and Daniel.

Starting the season off with Candle/Wickmund/Halliwax was an interesting choice. It seems to confirm that there's a lot of artifice in those orientation videos; on the other hand, it's clear that this guy is in the know. He's not just some guy reading a teleprompter. Is there some significance to his baby, of whom we only got a brief glance? Could it be somebody we know? Miles, perhaps? Strange to see Daniel there; I'm guessing that's a hint of things to come. I wonder if we'll get to see Little Ben again? I'm really hoping for some intel on Annie this season...

Speaking of returning to past moments, I felt gratified to see Frogurt actually integrated into the show in a semi-meaningful way. Granted, when random redshirts suddenly become prominent, it tends to be a kiss of death, but I find it vindicating, since I was a fan of the mobisode in which the thoroughly irritating young man, otherwise known as Neil, tries to convince Hurley that Libby would never go for a guy like him. I was sure that if this little scene was bothering to officially introduce a character who, as far as I can recall, had only been explicitly mentioned in S.O.S., we were probably going to be seeing him again before too long. From the looks of things, he's already out of the picture, which is unfortunate, though not entirely; he really is an obnoxious character. The assault by aggressively accurate, flaming flying arrows was terrifying. Really eye-popping way of picking off more of the survivors we never noticed were there to begin with. Who could orchestrate such a flashy attack?

As for other minor characters, it was great to see Bernard and Rose again, and I was happy to lay eyes on Vincent during a couple of scenes. Hurley's parents were also a welcome sight, and I was pleasantly surprised at Carmen's reaction to Hurley's rambling tale of woe; it sounded crazy to me, and we know he's telling the truth! Hurley is really the only member of the Oceanic Six with especially close ties to anybody he knew prior to the Island. Keeping the truth from his parents for three years has clearly taken its toll on him. That last scene between Ben and Hurley was outstanding and heartbreaking. For a change, Ben is being a pretty straight shooter, but Hurley, with little to go on but Sayid's warning and an awareness of Ben's past deceptions, rejects his earnest invitation. Complications ensue. Big bad Ben may have a better idea of what is going on than any of the castaways do, but knowledge isn't really power for him; what he knows is enough to scare him witless, and we get hints of that throughout the premiere but especially in his scene with Ms Hawking.

Dan, too, knows much more than most folks do, and it's especially handy to have him around now that the rest of the Oceanic survivors are hopping around in time with precious little in terms of an anchor. Dan gets to serve as Doc Brown, and I suspect he's got his work cut out for him trying to figure out exactly when they are. If he'd had a little more time, he could've just asked Desmond... I'd guess their meeting takes place sometime before Kelvin's death; otherwise, why would Desmond have bothered with the Hazmat suit? And more importantly, wouldn't Sawyer and the gang have bumped into themselves on the beach? We could be in for some seriously weird stuff if they happen to jump into a date between September 22, 2004 and early January 2005; it seems like they might be better off relocating to get as far away from themselves as possible.

And just how do these "rules" work? Did Ben visit the future before and find Alex alive and well, or are the rules Widmore broke unrelated to the time traveling? Dan saying that it's impossible to change the future seems like a gross oversimplification; every tiny action causes a change. But the grand scheme of things is another matter. Still, if Desmond operates outside of the rules, you'd think maybe he could have changed Charlie's destiny. The whole point of the Dharma Initiative is to change the factors in the Valenzetti Equation, right? But if the exact moment of the end of the world is set in stone, it seems like a pretty self-defeating exercise. I don't know; this sort of thing always makes my head spin. But it's great stuff. And nice to see Desmond again, of course. Until I started seeing him in commercials about a month ago, I thought we might be done with him for a while. It was a bit of a relief to see him headed to Oxford and not the island, but I just know he's going to wind up going back there at some point, despite his promises to Penny. Very heroic of him, but not so good for her. How much can a gal take?

The beginning of John's island reign has not been going so well. All of his subjects disappear, and then he starts jumping around through time and bumping into people he shouldn't be seeing. I would think that the encounter with Ethan might have ripples. (What did he go and shoot John for anyway? What a jerk...) It happened in about the same place as John's previous leg injury; is there a connection there? Before he got shot, I imagined him climbing up to the top of the cliff as he couldn't before and going inside it to discover Yemi still alive, and rescuing him, and thus causing a massively different chain of events. I thought that act of heroism might have been his first big mistake. But of course it never came to that. I loved his conversation with Richard, and the reappearance of the compass he was shown as a five-year-old. Naturally, I'm quite baffled by Richard's gentle insistence that John has to die in order to save the Island, and I suspect that The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham, on February 25, is going to be one doozy of an episode. I'm also extremely intrigued by the fact that the episode immediately after that is entitled 316. There's no colon after the 3, but if there aren't massive theological implications there, then my money's on a season five finale focusing exclusively on Vincent.

The preview scene I saw last week was Sayid's double whammy, which was the one scene I probably would have least liked to see twice. Throwing the guy over the railing was bad enough, but impalement by silverware? Grotesque. Not that Sayid had a whole lot of choice in the matter. And can you imagine Hurley's state of mind at that point, stuck with a gun in his hand, his face plastered all over the news, and the only person who has any idea of what he should be doing next unconscious? What a disaster! That storyline was pretty grim, but pulling Hurley's parents into it added both heart and levity. (Just that ridiculous sandwich his dad conjured up made me chortle, and I confess I guffawed when Hurley lobbed his Hot Pocket at Ben. No wonder Jimmy Kimmel picked that scene to lampoon later that night!) I also got a laugh out of Ben’s disposal of Jack’s drugs in a scene that otherwise gave me flashbacks to No Country for Old Men, what with the stashing of stuff in motel ductwork. Anyway, nasty withdrawal symptoms aside, this is a good thing for Jack, and so is losing the beard. I’m usually a fan of facial hair, but that just wasn’t working for him.

If it's so important that the exact people who left the island return, where exactly does that place Ji Yeon? Can she return with Sun? And how does Walt figure into all of this? I had it in my head that Sun was blaming Widmore for Jin's death, but I was thinking of her conversation with her father. Of course, she could blame Widmore, but it would seem that she's more interested in him as an ally than an adversary. Unless her intentions are the opposite of what they appear. If she really does want to help Widmore kill Ben, then I suppose Ben is the second person she blames - and in a way, he's more directly responsible for Jin's death than anyone, though she wouldn't really be able to know that, unless “Jeremy Bentham” told her what happened. Her meeting with Kate seemed awfully chilly to me; her lips spoke forgiveness and even thanks, but her body language said, "You broke your promise, and Jin's dead because of you.” I would think Kate’s role in the freighter fiasco would be especially troubling for her because it would dredge up her own guilt; if she had gone after Jin as she’d intended instead of listening to Kate, maybe things would have ended differently. (See why time travel is such a messy subject? There are so many points at which something could have been done that might stop the freighter from blowing up or the Looking Glass flooding or the plane crashing. Dan says it’s impossible to change the future; it seems impossible not to.)

I want to watch the episode again, of course. I think it’s fantastic that we got two hours in one shot, and what an action-packed two hours they were! Sawyer already managed to get in some (shirtless) heroics, though we also saw some pretty snarly behavior from him. I hope John doesn’t take long to clue him in to the fact that Kate and the gang are alive; he could use a load off his mind. Miles seems to be integrating with the group nicely. Dan and Charlotte are such a sweet couple, but she’d better figure out her connection to the Island, and fast, and even more importantly, find herself a constant before her brain explodes like poor George’s did. I’m sure Dan will be working diligently to help her avoid that fate. I still want to know just what the nature of this bond between Dan and Desmond is. I imagine that opportunities for them to have scenes with each other will be limited, but I’m definitely hoping for a few more.

I don’t think I can pinpoint a favorite moment in the first two episodes (which I’m inclined to think of as one), but I certainly enjoyed the ride. I’m guessing some might complain about Neil; he basically was Arzt all over again. But it worked for me. And while the Back to the Future on overdrive aspect is crazily confusing, so far, it seems entirely workable, with loads of creative possibilities. Rumor has it that next week will bring even more Des and Dan. Bring it on!