Thursday, March 08, 2007

Lost, Ep 11: Enter 77
This week’s episode of Lost rocked: best of the season so far. Kate, Sayid, Locke, and Rousseau all headed deep into the jungle and discovered Patchy from “The Cost of Living” and his house (and cows… and cat… and horse… and iced tea) while on the beach, Hurley and Co. challenged Sawyer to a game of table tennis. No word on the Others or Jack, but it was still a great episode to see how the other half are living on their side of the island. I will admit I yelled, “Nooooooo” out loud when Sun told Sawyer he couldn’t use nicknames anymore (those are always highlights for me) so thank goodness it’s only for a week.

In the flashback, we see how Sayid was captured by a man whose wife Sayid had tortured, even though Sayid insists that he is innocent. After days of torture, she tells him a story that finally makes him confess. What does the flashback have to do with the present-day story? Is it the fact that Mikhail is lying about who he is at first?

Highlights:
-Sawyer calling Paulo “Zorro”
-Sawyer looking at Nikki and saying, “Who the hell are you?” HAHAHAHA
-Sawyer calling Jin and Sun “Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon”
-Hurley’s first point against Sawyer, hahaha!
-the fact that Locke is playing computer chess in the next room, while Sayid is playing a mental chess game with Mikhail in the main room
-the wife’s story about the cat trapped in the box with the firecrackers; it was upsetting and haunting

Lowlights:
-Paulo and Nikki
-Paulo calling Sawyer “Heelbeely”
-the thought of all those Dharma Initiative secrets at their fingertips… gone.

Did You Notice?:
-this is the second time Paulo has been associated with a toilet. Seems a fitting association to me. -the gang must have been going north following the west coast of the island. On the blast door map that Inman was drawing, the Flame station is located just northwest of the Swan station.
-Mikhail refers to the Others as “the hostiles,” which is how Rousseau refers to them.
-during the table tennis tournament, Sceve appears to be standing behind Hurley
-Sayid and Locke both think Mikhail was sent out there when they lost communications, which might have been when the sky turned purple. A few episodes ago, Tom actually says to Ben that they’d lost communications when the sky turned purple, and he was about to say something else when he was cut off… maybe it was about Mikhail.
-we know early on that Sayid is lying when he tells the woman’s husband he would never torture a woman: we’d seen him torture Nadia
-if there has been an incursion by the hostiles, Locke has to enter 77. Aside from 9, 7 is the only other number not to appear anywhere in Hurley’s numbers.
-it doesn’t appear that the cat the woman is holding is the same as Mikhail’s cat. Her cat has a black smudge on his nose that the other one doesn’t. Also, hers is much bigger, almost the size of a Maine Coon, while his is smaller. This could be explained by lack of nutrition, age, and fur that wasn’t as full, but the mark on the nose makes them pretty distinct from one another.

Nitpicks:
-the writers making Locke seem mentally challenged throughout the episode. What was with that?? He goes into the other room to sit in front of a computer when the guy with possible answers is in the other room; he says he checked every nook and cranny of the place but missed the obvious “under the rug” hatch; he leaves Mikhail on the floor to go and play chess again (come ON), and then he goes and blows up the joint. Did he incur some serious, serious brain damage in the implosion? No wonder Terry O’Quinn has expressed disappointment in the treatment of his character lately. Now not only is he responsible for blowing up the hatch and possibly killing Eko, but now they’ve lost all chance to finally understand all the ins and outs of the Dharma Initiative AND of finally communicating with the outside world.
-there’s NO WAY Sayid would have ever taken a drink of the iced tea before letting Mikhail take a sip first

Questions:
-who takes Guns & Ammo to the bathroom with them? Does Paulo have a more serious gastric problem than we might think??
-where the heck did Sawyer get the ping-pong ball?
-why did Rousseau leave? Do we honestly believe she’s never seen this station before? Her actions were a little too suspicious: Is she an Other? Is she Dharma? She DID say she was a scientist who crashed onto the island: maybe she didn’t crash? Maybe she was a legit scientist with Dharma, and now that the Others have taken over, she’s on the run because she’s the last Dharma person standing? Notice how when she reappears, Mikhail seems to recognize her voice.
-when Mikhail first shoots Sayid, he’s all jittery and freaking out, yelling, “We had a truce! You said I could live here!” Was he just acting, or is he really a loner who’s broken ties with everyone?
-what sort of manuscript was Mikhail writing on the typewriter?
-Mikhail says he came because he was interested in computers. Didn’t he question why the computers were from 1980, when he would have arrived in 1993? For a rich philanthropic organization, it seems strange they didn’t update their equipment.
-what was Bea doing with Mikhail?

**If anyone reading this can translate Korean or Russian (or if you know someone who can), please email me or leave a comment letting me know how I can reach you. I’m looking for someone who can translate the languages other than English to use in my upcoming book on Lost. Thank you!

Next week: “Par Avion,” which appears to be a Claire flashback.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"-Mikhail refers to the Others as “the hostiles,” which is how Rousseau refers to them."

Rousseau? I think you meant Kelvin. Rousseau was the first one to call them the Others.

"-if there has been an incursion by the hostiles, Locke has to enter 77. Aside from 9, 7 is the only other number not to appear anywhere in Hurley’s numbers."

"0" also doesn't appear in the Numbers.

"-the writers making Locke seem mentally challenged throughout the episode. What was with that?? He goes into the other room to sit in front of a computer when the guy with possible answers is in the other room; he says he checked every nook and cranny of the place but missed the obvious “under the rug” hatch; he leaves Mikhail on the floor to go and play chess again (come ON), and then he goes and blows up the joint. Did he incur some serious, serious brain damage in the implosion? No wonder Terry O’Quinn has expressed disappointment in the treatment of his character lately. Now not only is he responsible for blowing up the hatch and possibly killing Eko, but now they’ve lost all chance to finally understand all the ins and outs of the Dharma Initiative AND of finally communicating with the outside world."

I think Locke knew what he was doing when he blew up the station. The others had coopted it for their own uses, and he was depriving them of that resource. Still, leaving a prisoner unguarded to play chess is a bit of an odd choice. Maybe because the guy was trying to get Locke to not play?

"-why did Rousseau leave? Do we honestly believe she’s never seen this station before? Her actions were a little too suspicious: Is she an Other? Is she Dharma? She DID say she was a scientist who crashed onto the island: maybe she didn’t crash? Maybe she was a legit scientist with Dharma, and now that the Others have taken over, she’s on the run because she’s the last Dharma person standing? Notice how when she reappears, Mikhail seems to recognize her voice."

Interesting theory. Is Rousseau
DHARMA? Maybe, though I don't think so. She would have known more about the numbers then. Of course she could be lying.

"-when Mikhail first shoots Sayid, he’s all jittery and freaking out, yelling, “We had a truce! You said I could live here!” Was he just acting, or is he really a loner who’s broken ties with everyone?"

Mikail was probably half-acting, half-telling the truth. He probably was a loner, although he was clearly an Other.

"-Mikhail says he came because he was interested in computers. Didn’t he question why the computers were from 1980, when he would have arrived in 1993? For a rich philanthropic organization, it seems strange they didn’t update their equipment."

Considering he was lying about being DHARMA, I don't think we can put much stalk in this statement.

The Chapati Kid said...

Brilliant episode! I blogged on it last night, because I had to talk about it with SOMEONE. I also think this was the best episode of the season -- vintage Lost. I think the idea of the flashback was brilliant on so many levels -- it shows how Saiyid can still lie so convincingly to protect himself, despite the fact that he suffers from such a guilt-ridden conscience that Amira's face haunts him every day. It shows how he is desperately seeking her forgiveness, and hates himself so much that he cannot believe she would forgive him. And yet, when the time comes to kill Eyepatch, Saiyid decides to continue the cat and mouse game with him. He's just such a complex, well-drawn out character. I love it.

And sadly, Nikki, I must disagree... about Paolo. Apart from the fact that he's more than marginally handsome in close up, he's finally getting a spine, and giving it back to no less than Sawyer. I loved that he called him a "heelbeely" actually (Santoro is Brazilian in real life, but I think they're supposed to be Spanish in the show), and then showed him a roll of toilet paper -- on a stick. Ha! That cracked me up! (I wrote on my blog that maybe "fetching bananas" was Paolo's euphemism for going to take a dump.) I'm actually curious to find out what the Nikki-Paolo flashback is now. They've obviously joined the gang after the triumvirate got kidnapped by the Others, which is why Sawyer doesn't know who Nikki is. (But wouldn't you think that someone would ASK? I mean, these guys could be Others. Wouldn't anyone be suspicious?) I think part of the reason we dislike(d) N&P so much is because we don't know what their story is, and they've been introduced so oddly. I bet they've got some kind of shady past, though. And I remember how Shannon used to chap my hide until I got to know her story too.

And why did they make John such an imbecile in this episode? I can't believe how frustrated I felt at this characterization. As if he's a ten-year-old with ADD. Also, the way Saiyid sips that iced tea... it looks as though he's only pretending to sip it. I was watching too, to see who sips it first, and I think they do it quite cleverly, because the way he holds the glass, you can't actually see the liquid going into his mouth.

Nikki Stafford said...

Brian: Yes, I meant Inman, sorry. I was typing the stuff about Rousseau and had the episode playing in the background and it came up, and I jumped up to type in that line and wrote Rousseau because she was on my mind. If you consider 108 to be one of the numbers (it's not one of Hurley's numbers, but it's come into play as an important number) then 0 is one of them. But out of Hurley's numbers, you're right. I don't think Locke knew what he was doing; he looked as dumbfounded when it exploded as he did when the hatch began to implode.

Chapatikid: I agree with you about Naveen and Sayid's character; I was SO excited when I heard it would be one of his flashbacks, because unlike some of the others -- Jack, Sawyer, etc. -- his flashbacks always add new dimensions rather than just repeating stuff we already knew.

But as for Paulo... ack... I don't know if I can speak to you anymore. Heehee... kidding. It's not Nikki and Paulo I don't like, per se (no wait... Nikki is grating, Paulo is useless and stupid so far, so no, I guess I don't like them) but the IDEA of them. Because we lost Ana Lucia, Eko, Libby, Michael, Walt, and others last season, they thought, "Oh hey, we need to bring forward some new people from the background because there aren't enough people to be involved here." No one seemed to think that maybe adding about 22 Others into the mix might actually do that for us. Hurley definitely knew them, and Jin and Sun talk to Nikki and Paulo like they know them, and if you remember Sawyer and Kate returning to the camp, Nikki ran up and Kate hugged her like they were old friends. The Sawyer line was funny because he was just speaking for the audience, who says, "AND YOU ARE??" week after week. Yes, they think they're somehow integral and in episode 14 we're supposed be getting their flashback, but you know, at least Shannon had a POINT. She was the whiny sister of Boone, she was the love interest of Sayid, yet, Nikki and Paulo were not needed. This flashback had better reveal something huge about them -- that could NOT have been revealed through any other character, by the way -- or I'll have to watch it with all shoes and heavy objects locked away to save my television from oncoming missiles.

So, short version, I have to disagree. :)

Anonymous said...

the writers making Locke seem mentally challenged throughout the episode. What was with that?? He goes into the other room to sit in front of a computer when the guy with possible answers is in the other room; he says he checked every nook and cranny of the place but missed the obvious “under the rug” hatch; he leaves Mikhail on the floor to go and play chess again (come ON), and then he goes and blows up the joint. Did he incur some serious, serious brain damage in the implosion?

THANK YOU. seriously, that drove me MAD last night!! lilybunny had a great theory that perhaps locke was just drawn to the computer out of natural curiosity/an extension of the computer in the hatch, which makes sense ... but it still didn't ring true for me. he's going to leave a prisoner unguarded to go off and play computer chess? locke? mr i-heart-the-island-the-island-has-all-these-super-cool-seekrits? totally didn't make any sort of sense to me.

i loved how rousseau took off when they approached the flame station, too. maybe she knew something we don't know ... and i had the same thought about her being dharma. hmmm.

at least we got some answers, though. we found out what the cables sayid found that went into the ocean were, we found out for sure that all the hatches are connected underground and the flame is the central hub. we found out that the real dharma (e.g. dr candle) was aware of the hostiles/others ... which is interesting, because up until this point, we'd been led to believe that the hostiles/others WERE dharma.

and i'm in total agreement about paolo and nikki. we have more than enough characters on this show, thank you very much, without adding in two more, and especially in such an unconvincing way (so far). ugh.

The Chapati Kid said...

Hehehe! Then we shall simply have to reserve our judgements until two weeks from today! You're right about Nikki running to Kate, I forgot about that one... And Sawyer called Paolo Zorro, which makes me think that he knows him from before. Yup, I think we need this flashback. But I hope Paolo takes his shirt off in it. That's all I really want.

Anonymous said...

I got the following translation from another cite, though I can not verify its accuracy.

Klugh: Mikhail! You know what to do.
Mikhail: We still have another way.
Klugh: We cannot risk. You know what to do.
Mikhail: We still have another way.
Klugh: We cannot risk. You know the conditions.
Mikhail: We have another way.
Klugh: They know us. We will not let them [unintelligible]. You know what to do. It is an order.
Mikhail: But we still have another way! (pause) I'm sorry! (shoots)

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the episode last night, Patchy makes a good addition to the cast. I think Sayid was telling the truth when he finally admitted he mutilated that woman, because he took pity on Patchy because that woman took pity on him and forgave him.

Locke does come across as being too naive for everything that has gone on so far. But then again he seems to go off and do his own thing without telling anyone.

Nikki you need to do something about Paolo, give the guy some Pepto Bismol or something! With all his bathroom habits he must stink something silly by now! LOL

So now they have a map to the Others homes, I wonder what that trap was they showed in the ABC previews? I think the CTV previews suck, they never show anything exciting! And they gave away too much about the "two characters with a secret relationship"...we all know what that is by now, they should just keep quiet and surprise us! Too much info on those promos if you ask me!

The Chapati Kid said...

Found this on the TWoP site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin

So Eyepatch is Mikhail Bakunin -- a Russian anarchist. Wouldn't it be cool if they had Marshall McLuhan next? Or Jean Beaudrillard? Or Noam Chomsky? At least it would be more relevant.

Anonymous said...

As far as I can tell, it wasn't a pingpong ball. It was a training ball for golf. Apparently some wicked player had the world's longest drive off the tee and the ball landed on the Island. That's the way I see it anyway. You are all Lost freaks... I know my people when I see 'em.

Nikki Stafford said...

Brian: Thanks for the Russian translation! Someone emailed it to me off-list as well, so thanks to everyone for helping!

Roland: Agreed about Paulo and using something against him in the bathroom. Hmm... I suggest a urinal puck that explodes when liquid touches it. ;)

Chapatikid: I went and looked up Mikhail Bakunin's name this afternoon, too. Damn, these writers are clever (and causing me SO much more homework!!!)

5cents: A golf training ball! I didn't realize that's what it was. My thinking is that Paulo found it in the golf clubs, and set it up on the beach and swung over and over, but missed it every time until it just got buried in the sand.

Sheesh, you'd think I didn't like Paulo or something!!