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This was an interesting episode of Lost. On the one hand, it featured a surprising death, the return of a significant character, the reunion of some central characters that have been kept apart for quite some time, and a fun little answer or two (the whispers! Confirmation!) Yet, at the same time, it seemed to lack of enormity and epic feel of some of the episodes that we’ve seen in recent weeks.
By no means is that a criticism of this episode. It furthered our understanding of the sideways world, and it was a legitimate joy seeing a confident, but still vulnerable Hurley take the leadership role. And his scene with Jack in the jungle, where Hurley confessed that he lied about Jacob commanding them to see Locke, only for Jack to admit that he was fully aware of that, was one of my favorite all season.
In fact, I think it’s a scene that even Jack-haters would appreciate. One of the major criticisms of his character is his arrogant attitude and bossy nature. He put all of that aside here when he came clean about some of the mistakes he’s made and that he recognizes that he’s perhaps supposed to sit back and let somebody else take the lead. I thought that both characters came across as very likable and real. I appreciated that Jack didn’t call him out in front of everybody, and liked that both were willing to face the consequences of their decision.
Continue reading "A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 6-12"....
Speaking of people facing consequences….wow, how about Ilana? That was….shocking, actually. And trust me I’m pissed about this, but I literally turned away from the television for a split second and suddenly I hear a massive explosion. I turn to the television to see the resulting blaze and I thought to myself, “Did that just happen?” It was very unexpected and I have to admit, a little disheartening. Ben’s poignant observation said it best, though: Jacob handpicked her to do a job, and moments after fulfilling that task, she’s blown up. As Ben said, the island was done with her.
But nonetheless, the various factions have been reshuffled somewhat. We have Richard, Ben, and Miles trying to blow up the plane. We have Hurley, Jack, Frank, Sun, Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Sayid, and the Locke Ness Monster wanting to get off the island for various reasons. Then we have Widmore, Jin, and a well-bound Desmond simply trying to stop the Smoke Monster. I’m guessing the three groups will come together on Hydra Island. And wouldn’t that be weird? If the epic battle – the ultimate climax – didn’t actually take place on THE island.
But I must say, it was rather surreal seeing Jack and Locke come face to face again.
Following this episode, can I ask if anybody still honestly believes that the Smoke Monster can possibly be the good guy? I mean, whenever this guy is threatened by somebody, he tries to kill them. And he usually does so with an incredibly menacing look on his face. I mean, just rewatch that scene with Desmond. He was downright chilling – making vague threats before tossing him down a well. C’mon, he’s a dick!
I think it’s also important to keep in mind who the characters are siding themselves with, as well as their motivations for doing so. Perhaps the purest character of them all, Hurley, is Jacob’s biggest follower. And like him or not, but Jack is the series’ “hero” if there ever was one, and he’s chosen Jacob as well. And while Ben has been historically villainous, this season has thus far been about his redemption. And who has he sided with? That’s right: Jacob.
And who has sided with the Smoke Monster? Well, there’s Sayid and Claire, who are absolutely off their rockers. And then there’s Sawyer, Kate, and Jin – all of whom are not with Smokey because they believe in what he’s preaching. Instead, they’re with him because of outside factors.
Basically, those following Jacob are doing so because of their faith in him. Smokey’s followers are there due to circumstance. That’s a very important difference.
Now, in my Revisited column, I discussed how characters that are dead in the island universe seem to have a certain awareness in the sideways world. This trend continued this week, as sideways Libby suddenly recalled her island life with Hurley after seeing him on television. And it was her intervention – and a little nudge from Desmond – that eventually triggered Hurley’s memories. It was actually very reminiscent of the whole Desmond/Charlie ordeal. Methinks this could play a significant role should we see Juliet pop up in the sideways universe.
Anyway, while I was never hugely invested in the Hurley/Libby relationship, it was nice to see Hurley finally get his beach picnic date.
And just a few random questions to ponder: Will we ever find out why island Libby was in the mental institution? Is there any further story behind Libby’s husband and how she gave Desmond the use of her boat? And in the sideways world, did Hurley use “The Numbers” to win the lottery?
By no means is that a criticism of this episode. It furthered our understanding of the sideways world, and it was a legitimate joy seeing a confident, but still vulnerable Hurley take the leadership role. And his scene with Jack in the jungle, where Hurley confessed that he lied about Jacob commanding them to see Locke, only for Jack to admit that he was fully aware of that, was one of my favorite all season.
In fact, I think it’s a scene that even Jack-haters would appreciate. One of the major criticisms of his character is his arrogant attitude and bossy nature. He put all of that aside here when he came clean about some of the mistakes he’s made and that he recognizes that he’s perhaps supposed to sit back and let somebody else take the lead. I thought that both characters came across as very likable and real. I appreciated that Jack didn’t call him out in front of everybody, and liked that both were willing to face the consequences of their decision.
Continue reading "A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 6-12"....
Speaking of people facing consequences….wow, how about Ilana? That was….shocking, actually. And trust me I’m pissed about this, but I literally turned away from the television for a split second and suddenly I hear a massive explosion. I turn to the television to see the resulting blaze and I thought to myself, “Did that just happen?” It was very unexpected and I have to admit, a little disheartening. Ben’s poignant observation said it best, though: Jacob handpicked her to do a job, and moments after fulfilling that task, she’s blown up. As Ben said, the island was done with her.
But nonetheless, the various factions have been reshuffled somewhat. We have Richard, Ben, and Miles trying to blow up the plane. We have Hurley, Jack, Frank, Sun, Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Sayid, and the Locke Ness Monster wanting to get off the island for various reasons. Then we have Widmore, Jin, and a well-bound Desmond simply trying to stop the Smoke Monster. I’m guessing the three groups will come together on Hydra Island. And wouldn’t that be weird? If the epic battle – the ultimate climax – didn’t actually take place on THE island.
But I must say, it was rather surreal seeing Jack and Locke come face to face again.
Following this episode, can I ask if anybody still honestly believes that the Smoke Monster can possibly be the good guy? I mean, whenever this guy is threatened by somebody, he tries to kill them. And he usually does so with an incredibly menacing look on his face. I mean, just rewatch that scene with Desmond. He was downright chilling – making vague threats before tossing him down a well. C’mon, he’s a dick!
I think it’s also important to keep in mind who the characters are siding themselves with, as well as their motivations for doing so. Perhaps the purest character of them all, Hurley, is Jacob’s biggest follower. And like him or not, but Jack is the series’ “hero” if there ever was one, and he’s chosen Jacob as well. And while Ben has been historically villainous, this season has thus far been about his redemption. And who has he sided with? That’s right: Jacob.
And who has sided with the Smoke Monster? Well, there’s Sayid and Claire, who are absolutely off their rockers. And then there’s Sawyer, Kate, and Jin – all of whom are not with Smokey because they believe in what he’s preaching. Instead, they’re with him because of outside factors.
Basically, those following Jacob are doing so because of their faith in him. Smokey’s followers are there due to circumstance. That’s a very important difference.
Now, in my Revisited column, I discussed how characters that are dead in the island universe seem to have a certain awareness in the sideways world. This trend continued this week, as sideways Libby suddenly recalled her island life with Hurley after seeing him on television. And it was her intervention – and a little nudge from Desmond – that eventually triggered Hurley’s memories. It was actually very reminiscent of the whole Desmond/Charlie ordeal. Methinks this could play a significant role should we see Juliet pop up in the sideways universe.
Anyway, while I was never hugely invested in the Hurley/Libby relationship, it was nice to see Hurley finally get his beach picnic date.
And just a few random questions to ponder: Will we ever find out why island Libby was in the mental institution? Is there any further story behind Libby’s husband and how she gave Desmond the use of her boat? And in the sideways world, did Hurley use “The Numbers” to win the lottery?
3 comments:
I liked the episode. The ending was "woah" to me. Why did Desmond do that? Was it because his memories were bleeding over and he thought Smoke Monster was ACTUALLY Locke, who tried to kill him? Or is there some other reason? This Desmond seemed to be travelling around visiting Flight 815 people, but why did he run over Locke?
One other point though that might actually support the idea of Smoke Monster = Christian. One of the arguments against it seems to be that he's trapped on the Island, so how did he get to the freighter/mainland to visit Michael and Jack? And we still have no clue. But if the whispers, and presumably the people Hurley is seeing (they didn't say that flat out, but it seems the conclusion they wanted us to make, since I doubt Hurley got this whole theory about the whispers based solely on Michael's one appearance), are dead people who are, as Michael and Hurley put it, "trapped on the island" and unable to move on, well, they've been appearing to Hurley off Island as well. I don't think Christian is one of those people, since nobody other than Hurley has been able to see any of them (whereas lots of people have seen Christian), but if they're both trapped on the Island yet able to appear briefly off Island, maybe Smoke Monster can too. Something to think about.
The biggest question from this episode is why did Desmond run Locke over?
I have heard some people say (including Kyle) that maybe he did it out of some kind of revenge for what Flocke just did to him on the island. I don't subscribe to this theory because revenge is a very unDesmond like thing to do. Instead I think he did it because it is what will ultimately show Locke his island self.
Desmond is acting very much like a Jacob figure. He stepped in with Hurley, didn't really explain who he was or what he was doing, and then he nudged Hurley in the direction he was supposed to go to see Libby. It was as if Desmond knew exactly what he had to say to get Hurley where he wanted him. I think the same thing applies to Locke. I think Des knows that hitting Locke will result in an emergency room visit and I am willing to bet he will be attended to by a certain spinal surgeon who will hopefully fix Locke and jog some memories for him.
I did not pick up on the fact that the dead people from the island are the ones who are first starting to remember. That is totally spot on.
I didn't think the big reveal about the whispers was all that surprising. Frankly, they just confirmed a theory I had for a while now. Illana dying was rather surprising. As soon as she stepped away from the group I thought to myself "uh oh" and then boom! So much for her protecting. I feel like some other characters who Jacob may be done with are going to meet their end soon as well. My guess is that now that Hurley is communicating direclty with Jacob, Richard is no longer needed.
Now for a little nitpicking. One thing that is bothering me about the "memories" or the merging of the universes is the fact that they are operating in 2 different time periods. Its not as though both universes are taking place in 2004. The sideways is 2004 and the island is 2007. How are the sideways people having memories of their island selves that didn't even happen yet?
I guess when you have a show that deals with these types of complicated scientific theories, you just have to suspend your disbelief.
Ooh, great point. In my head they were concurrent, but you're right, they're not, Island time is 3 years in the future.
So maybe this takes place "after"? Like this reality is their "reward" or something like that? I don't know, but that's a good point about the timelines not exactly matching up.
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