Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Lost, Ep 22: Through the Looking Glass

Wow.

Attention Tim Kring: Now THAT is how you pull off a season finale.

We went into this week’s episode with Charlie stuck in an underwater hatch; Desmond unconscious on a boat; some of the Others on their way over to the beach to take away the women; Ben shouting orders from his little campsite in the jungle; Locke lying in a pile of bodies with a gunshot wound in his stomach; Sayid, Bernard, and Jin on the beach as the three shooters; and the rest of the Losties (plus Juliet) heading to the radio tower with Rousseau.

This episode didn’t really give us any new answers (I know… shocker), but then again, maybe it did. The strange thing is, yes, there’s a huge surprise ending, yet when the very first flashback occurred, I immediately thought, “Wait… is this a flash-forward?” I had peeked at the episode at 6pm and watched the first five minutes, and then said to my husband that it was a really weird flashback, and we haven’t seen Jack looking like that before, so I wonder if instead, it’s a depiction of the future. But then as the episode went on, and references were made to Jack’s father again, I thought no, it couldn’t be.

And then it was.

If you think about it, here are the major flashbacks we’ve seen:
-Charlie had issues with his brother, with heroin, and with being in a band. That flashback has been pretty much carried out, and there’s very little left to discover. He refers to himself as a flash-in-the-pan now, he’s off the heroin, and the memories that remain of his brother are good ones now.
-Locke’s major issue that dogged him in ALL of his flashbacks was his father, and the resentment and anger that left him with. Cooper’s dead now, so what more is there to mine from the flashbacks?
-Sawyer’s past was entirely caught up in killing Sawyer. He’s done that.
-Kate’s past is about what she did, which we now know, how her mother reacted, and this season she finally realized that maybe she really didn’t act out of selflessness, and she’s stopped running.
-Claire’s background was all about her becoming a mother, and this season we discovered the difficult relationship she had with her own mother, but she seems to have it all together now, and she’s a good mother herself.
-Sun and Jin’s past was all about his ties to her father, her possible affair with Jae Lee, her pregnancy, and what secrets they kept. Now we know she DID have an affair with Jae Lee, she did NOT get pregnant by him, she knew exactly what Jin was up to, and she kept a lot of secrets from him.
-Hurley’s past was all about his incarceration in a mental hospital, his obsession with the lottery numbers being a curse, and his difficult relationship with his father. We’ve seen all of it play out and we know exactly why he stepped onto that plane.
-Sayid’s past is about his life as a torturer, and while there are still many details missing – who his father was and why his father’s life dogs his; what happened to Nadia; what he did in Basra – we know how it affected him and why he’s attempted to stop. Of all of the flashbacks, Sayid’s feels like the least played-out, and I still have many questions about it.
-Desmond has always run away from relationships, but after being stuck on the island for 3 years he realizes he really can commit to Penny, and wants to.
-Jack had a difficult relationship with his father, he “fixed” Sarah, got married to her, divorced from her, fell off the deep end, went to Thailand, came back, finally revealed his father for what he was, his father basically drank himself to death, and Jack went to retrieve the body. We’ve seen most of his backstory and what’s far more intriguing about him is what’s going on in his head now, not back then.

So where does that leave us? We don’t really need to see these people in junior kindergarten, or find out what OTHER issues they have. Sayid is the only one with outstanding issues that I’d like to see, but otherwise it seems we’ve seen pretty much everything we’re going to see. I believe tonight’s flash-forward is a sign of things to come. Imagine: the idea of having 48 more episodes that show what’s going to happen in the FUTURE not only plays into that whole idea of time travel and jumping through time that has been a major theme of the series, but we also see what will happen to these people later, rather than the traditional television show that ends and we can only speculate and imagine what happened to our favourite characters afterward. (Will Veronica end up at the FBI? Will Buffy ever find true happiness and peace? Will Spike and Angel die in that battle?) Instead, Lost will show us what will happen to them in the far-off future, and now we get the enjoyment of watching the present catch up to the future, rather than how the past has affected the present. It’s BRILLIANT.

Of course, I think we could still have flashbacks, but those would involve the Others, who seem to live in a different time zone, not aging and stuff… We still need to know a helluva lot more about Ben, I’m dying for a Rousseau flashback, and I’m sure we have some other people who will be introduced.

The key is in the title: Through the Looking Glass. In the Lewis Carroll book, when Alice steps through the looking-glass, she enters a world where everything is backwards, the opposite of the way it should be. So it stands to reason that things will be the opposite now, moving forward instead of looking back.

I’ve often wondered throughout the series why certain characters even want to get off the island. Kate’s on the run from the law. Sawyer has absolutely no ties, except maybe a daughter somewhere. Jack’s mother likely blames him for what happened to his father, he’s lost his wife, his dad is dead, and his job is hanging in the balance. Locke hates his parents, would probably lose his ability to walk again, and was miserable. Rose had cancer. Sun and Jin would have to be on the run from Paik. Hurley could still be cursed. Sayid believes Nadia is dead, but she’s not, so he could go either way.

Who would benefit from rescue? Charlie was a heroin addict who had alienated everyone, but there’s likely a chance he could make a go of things now that he’s off the stuff. Claire would have a MUCH easier time of raising Aaron with more baby things around. Desmond could be reunited with Penny (and they just have to deal with Widmore). Maybe Hurley’s broken the curse after all.

One thing’s for certain: Being rescued certainly wasn’t the answer some of them were looking for. Jack turned into his father after the rescue, bumbling around the hospital, insisting on doing surgery when he’s actually incapable of doing it, being humiliated by the new chief of staff…

Deaths:
Tom: one of my favourite Others.
Ryan: one of my least-favourite Others, so, yay.
8 other Others
Gretta: the girl in the underground Hatch. Ah, we barely knew ye. So much for all that speculation about her being Annie.
Mikhail: By a speargun. OOH! Oh wait, no, by a grenade… er… did he die? Can he NOT die?

Charlie. :::sniff::: I cried. They killed him off the way he should have been – he was a hero, he made a self-sacrifice, and he was wonderful. THIS was the Charlie I knew and loved in season 1. Why do they always make me love them before they kill them? I’m seriously sad about this.

Highlights:
-Charlie telling the girls underwater that he came in his invisible submarine.
-Rose: “If you say ‘live together, die alone’, Jack, I’m going to punch you in the face.”
-Charlie singing “You All Everybody” in the falsetto to throw off the Looking-Glass girls
-The discussion between Juliet and Sawyer. “We’re building a runway… for the aliens.”
Sawyer: So, you screwin’ Jack yet?Juliet: No, are you?
HA!
-Hurley. I was so sad when Sawyer refused to let him come with them, because just like last week, he blamed it on Hurley’s weight. And then Hurley comes flying out of the jungle in the VW. WOOHOO!! He’s a hero!! Turns out that Hurley ep that we thought was standalone has actually come back a few times.
-Jack listening to “Scentless Apprentice” at a loud volume in his car. Brought back memories of how I used to drive to university. I totally need to listen to that CD again.
-Charlie convincing Bonnie: “You have the opportunity to make Ben very angry. Why would you not take that?”
-Rousseau and Alex being reunited. ::::sob:::: Their first act together: tying Ben to a tree. Was there ever a lovelier mother/daughter reunion?
-Sayid breaking the guy’s neck. Yeeowch! No wonder CTV had such a stern disclaimer on this episode.
-Hurley’s transmission: “Attention Others! Come in Others!” hahahaha. “Dude, I saved ‘em all.”

Did You Notice:
-the trekking music in this ep was used in season 1, second episode, when Charlie, Sawyer, Sayid, Kate, etc. walked to high ground to find a signal for their radio, and it was used again at the beginning of season 2 when the Tailies were trekking across the island over to the Losties’ beach.
-Ben keeps a journal. Someone needs to get their hands on THAT.
-Guess Jin WASN’T the ideal third shooter. That said, it’s a little unbelievable that with the dynamite being as unstable as it is, that a gunshot even close to the dynamite wouldn’t have set it off.
-Sarah was pregnant when she came to see Jack (Julie Bowen was pregnant when they filmed it; she’s since had her child)
-FINALLY they show that Cooper’s death has had an effect on Sawyer. I was getting a little worried that he seemed to just brush it off.
-When Desmond hides in the locker, he looks like he’s in a confessional
-Mikhail says he thought the Looking-Glass women were on assignment in Canada. HA! They always refer to Canada when talking about anything evil. I love it. :)
-Malcolm David Kelley’s voice is changing, even though he’s still supposed to be 12. D’oh… the island keeps Richard young, and ages Walt more quickly. :) By the time the series ends, the actor will be 19.
-Rousseau says she won’t go back with them, like she knows better and unlike Jack and the rest of them, has actually considered the true implications of what returning to the real world would be.
-Ben says Naomi is “one of the bad guys,” which echoes what he said in the season 2 finale, “We’re the good guys, Jack.”
-Ben predicted how Jack’s life would turn out off the island, when he told him he had nothing to get back to
-Jin, Sayid, and Bernard were the ones widely speculated to be killed off in the finale, so it’s like the writers were totally screwing with us.
-Ben’s tied to a tree in much the same way Cooper was tied to the pillar.
-Locke still can’t kill someone, even when pushed to the limit
-in the final flashback, Jack had several maps all over the floor and on the wall, like he’s been trying to find the island again to go back

Questions:
-Whose death did Jack read about in the paper? He was seriously upset about it in the car. I thought maybe Locke, but they had a hate/hate relationship. Sawyer? It had to be someone who would have lived in L.A. and no one would attend the funeral, so that still points to Locke or Sawyer. Or maybe someone likeable like Hurley or Claire, who came back, fell apart like Jack did, and committed suicide, alienating all their friends. (If whoever it was died in a bad way, it would upset Jack because he would feel responsible.) Juliet, maybe? At the funeral home, the guy says, “Friend or family?” and Jack says, “Neither.” So it could be Locke. Or Sawyer. Maybe Sawyer, since it appears Locke will refuse to leave the island.
-Why did Sarah bother coming to see Jack in the hospital?? She just seems to stand there, then refuses to give him a ride home, saying it was “inappropriate” (he’s your ex-husband, and needs a ride, don’t you care about him even as a human being?)
-Korean Translation question: What does Jin say in Korean when Ryan cocks the gun at him?
-What did Ben mean when he told Richard he could take the people to the Temple? What Temple?
-when Kate said she could be pregnant, and Sawyer said, “Let’s hope you’re not,” did he mean it to sound prickish, or does he know the pregnant women die and doesn’t want her to?
-Did anyone else think Des and Charlie’s boat was WAY further off-shore than it really was?
-How far into the future do you think Jack’s flash-forward was?
-Had Juliet and Jack been gettin’ it on before she kissed him in front of Kate?
-Is Ben a chronic liar, or is everything figured out ahead of time? He lies to absolutely everyone, and while it seems like he does it often out of desperation, things always seem to work for him in the end. He’s clearly working alone at this point. Mikhail and Tom both thought the big hatch explosion knocked out their communications, and now Mikhail finds out Ben’s been jamming it behind his back.
-Was Walt really on the island, or did Walt somehow astrally project himself to Locke the same way he did last season to Shannon?
-Bonnie says the keypad was programmed by a musician. Who? Is Brian Wilson on the island?
-Jack tells Hamilton to get his father down here right now and find out if he’s drunker than him. Does that mean his father’s really alive? Or was he simply being metaphorical, and reminding him that he’s not as bad as his father?
-How did Penny happen to be transmitting at exactly the moment the channel was opened? Has she been transmitting constantly?
-Didn’t anyone think it took Charlie a REALLY long time to shut off that switch, since he went away over 24 hours before the switch was actually shut off?
-Who is Naomi? What will happen? Will they really get rescued here, or somewhere in the near future?
-Does Ben really know that Naomi’s not on the up-and-up, or is he just saying that hoping they’ll believe him, not realizing he’s actually right?
-What did Locke mean when he said, “You’re not supposed to do this?”
-in the final flashback, Kate says “he” will be wondering where she is. Who? Sawyer? Or is she with someone else? Did she go back to her husband? How is she not in prison? She’s certainly well off with the fancy car and such.

I’m sure I’m missing a lot, but it’s late, and I need to post this. I’ve watched the episode twice, after saying I wouldn’t. It was just too good to watch only once.

So now… we wait until February. Ugh. But WOW what an ender. I’m happy. Super happy. What did you think?

56 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can call someone a hero because they have superpowers.

Or you can show someone is a hero because they do heroic things. Hurley, Sayid and Charlie are heroes.

I love my show soooooo much.

Even if my eyes hurt from crying. CHARLIE!!!

Unknown said...

The obituary notice in Jack's hand before he went into the funeral home read "LOU ANGELEO." Who is that?

Anonymous said...

So where will the "now" time line be when we come back in January? Will we be in the "future" and flash back to the island? Or still on the island and flash forward to the future?

January is sooo far away ...

The Chapati Kid said...

Oh Charlie... sniffle. Even though my ceiling fell down as I was watching Lost, I let it. Oh Charlie... weep. I can't BELIEVE it. Even though we all predicted it. I mourn. I shall wear white tomorrow in my sorrow. You All Everybody, Charlie. You All Everybody. I wanted to smack Bonnie for you. I loved the fact that the writers repeatedly made Desmond foretell Charlie's death, and that we've been expecting it all this time, and yet, when it happened, it was sad, painful... and surprising. I really was hoping he would get away. Why couldn't he just have dove back into the pool with Desmond and gotten the hell out of there? But these diegetical hypothetical questions are pointless.

Unfortunately, due to ceiling collapse, I totally missed the part where Kate comes in to meet Jack. She looked very pretty. Jack was a sad tool, and I was sorry to see that he was unchanged after all that. But I suppose it has something to do with post-traumatic stress as well. I wonder who it was who died. When he asked Friend or Family, I thought Jack said "Either" and now I realize "Neither" makes more sense. I wonder whose body that was. Oo. Maybe Ben's.

I guess this means that they've totally mapped out Seasons 4 and 5, if they can, with such certainty, give us a flash forward. Which means we're in for a real treat over the next two years. I am 100% committed.

Who else felt the bloodlust when Jack gave Ben the facethumping of his life? I was like, YEAH, YEAH!

And Sawyer's execution of Tom? That was harsh. I was half expecting Sawyer to die, since he's lost all hope, but he didn't. But whoa. Harsh. And what did he say? "That's for taking the kid off the boat"? Is that was he said to Tom? When did Tom take Karl off the boat?

I LOVED Saiyid's head crack. That man is a killer.

And Locke. Oh, so glad to see Locke alive. Locke and Jacob totally have a thing going on.

And Rousseau - Alex. I loved that the first words out of her mouth to Alex after meeting her are "Let's tie him up." Brilliant writing.

And Naomi-Penny. Hm. Could that boat be dangerous? Perhaps Naomi's from the REAL Dharma Initiative. Maybe it still exists, and they couldn't find the island again after all contact was cut off and signals were jammed. But that still doesn't explain the Des photo in her pocket.

Finally -- the flash forward. I too, was confused for a while, and wondered if this was a flash forward. But then, like Nikki, I thought, okay, maybe not, and then IT WAS!!!

Surprise, surprise, surprise. And Hurley saves the day.

I heart Lost.
Rest in Peace Charlie.

Ann said...

Best show ever! I'm tramatized. I was up off the couch through out most of the show that I finally just stood up for the rest of the show. I cried like a baby for Charlie. ;-( I cheered and jumped for Hurley. I've got to watch it again. The end took me by surprise. I never once thought flash forward. Can't wait to read more comments and thoughts from more people.

Jeff Schiller said...

I think the show will pick up in 2008 and show what happened to the characters after they were rescued in 2004. Eventually most of them will make it back to the island. That would be brave and interesting...

I think Walt's appearance to Locke was another smoke monster manifestation, not the actual Walt.

Sawyer killed Tom for taking the kid off the raft. He was referring to Walt back in Season 1 finale (Tom was the guy in the fake beard that took Walt).

Anonymous said...

As to Charlie, the reason he shut the door was to save Desmond because he thought Desmond would leave given the opportunity to speak with Penny.

The DHARMA Initiative (the island reasearch program) is no more, but the Honzo Foundation, which funded DHARMA, is still around. Naomi could be working for them. Or maybe she's really working for the aliens.

The whole flash-forward twist at the end just blew my mind.

Anonymous said...

Amazing episode. Best of the series. Favorite of the series. Jack's my favorite character so I had no problems with this episode at all.

Long live the LOST.


I'll post more tomorrow. It's late.

Love the blog, Nikki.

Unknown said...

Charlie may have escaped out of that round window behind him!!!!!

Nikki Stafford said...

Colleen: Perfect post.

John: Someone else has posted this further down, but there's now a screen cap up of the obit, and what you saw was LOS ANGELES written at the top. The person who died appears to be J--- entham. (Jeremy Bentham? Another 18th century thinker?)

Chapatikid: Whoa, are you serious about your ceiling? How much do I love the image of part of someone's ceiling falling down while watching and they can't even tear their eyes from the screen. ;) I hope your house is OK!

I agree about how they can map out the future now because they know how long they've got. And there's actually a season 4, 5, and 6, but because it's a total of 48 episodes, it's more like 2 seasons drawn out over 3.

When Sawyer killed Tom I gasped in shock, and my husband cheered. He said he loved seeing the dark Sawyer back. But I'm kind of scared about what the murder of Cooper will do to Sawyer now.

I think when he said to Tom, "That's for taking the kid off the boat" he was talking about Walt, because Tom did that back in season 1.

Ann: I felt the same way!

Jeff: Great speculation... it would be great to move it ahead to a specific time.

David: Good to see you again! It's been a long time. :) I'll post some of the screen caps later today.

Jeani: I was thinking the same thing, but I think in the end Charlie thought he needed to die, and this was his moment, because he had to fulfill Desmond's flash prophecy. Otherwise he could have just closed the door to the room and tried locking it from the outside so he wouldn't have even been in the room and both he and Des would have been safe. Charlie saved himself so Claire and everyone else could be rescued.

:*( RIP Charlie.

Anonymous said...

Uhm... for all the common sadness about Charlie, please flash back to the 20-odd previous episodes that made this such a welcome event. I caught myself feeling bad for Charlie, then realized I don't think I could have handled 48 more episodes with him.

With the helicopter coming, I'm sure the "Temple" will end up having some sort of weaponry. Rockets or something -- and just as the triumphant moment where all the Losties are smiling and hugging and cheering, and just when Jack smugly looks at Ben signifying victory, there will be a huge explosion and all hope will be lost. There's got to be a reason they were all sent to the temple.

What a great episode, though. And I think the question we have to ask is what you brought up about Jack's dad. Maybe he is still alive. After all, dead men don't sign scripts... I certainly got the impression that Jack's dad was alive...

And if anything would drive you to drink and powerful pain killers, that would do it.

Nikki Stafford said...

Jay: Great comments all. I agree that Charlie was insufferable in season 2, but season 3 has been better for him, even if he occasionally seemed a bit of a dolt. He certainly wasn't the, "You knew she was going to give that baby up for adoption, RIGHT?" loser that he was in season 2.

The Temple is definitely going to play into things somehow, and maybe that's why Ben could say with such certainty that there would be no rescue: he won't allow it.

As for Christian, I've believed for some time that he's alive. Could he be Jacob? Is he the guy orchestrating EVERYTHING and Jack's found out he was the key pawn? Or could Jack have been speaking metaphorically, as in "go see my dad UPSTAIRS" meaning heaven? I don't believe for a second Christian actually wrote the script for the meds, and that Jack used his script pad and forged it -- that's why he told the pharmacist not to call him. But why would Christian still have a script pad? THAT is the real question, as you say. Did Jack keep a couple as souvenirs when he died, or is he alive? I agree with you: I think he is.

Anonymous said...

Hey Nikki, couldn't sleep last night was so excited after watching that episode. I hope that this posting breaks a record for number of posts!

Flash forward...brilliant twist...and we all now wonder when and where the last 48 episodes will take place, mostly in the present on the island or in the future. I read on the ABC board some snarky comment that Lost has turned into The Nine (now flashing backwards to find out what happened), but I totally disagree. The problem with The Nine is that we didn't care about the welfare of the characters and here we do.

I agree this finale was miles above Heroes. Tim Kring was bragging about what an epic movie his finale would be. Well Lost was the epic, they obviously spent a lot of money and effort making this come to life.

I felt so bad for Charlie at the end. He redeemed himself, which as we all know is the kiss of death. You know a show is great when a character you hate at first becomes one you love or one you sympathize/empathize with. Did Bonnie have to be so nasty with hitting Charlie so much?

I checked out that site with the newspaper clipping and still cannot figure out who died. To me, other than the flash forward, this will be the plot point most talked about...it would make most sense to be Ben, but there are still a lot of characters to be introduced in the future. And I bet that future Kate is with Sawyer.

I believe in the time portal theories now...or else there are two separate existences, one where they all crash and die, and the other where they crash on the island. And somehow the ending will deal with how to challenge and change one's destiny...too deep for me! LOL

YAY to Ben's pounding at the hands of Jack!!! WOOHOO!

One question now for me is: If most of the Other's have been killed (except Ben), where is the new conflict going to arise with our castaways?

And why can they not kill off Mikhail? First an electric shock then an arrow? Geez does he have Claire's power of regeneration?? Ooops sorry wrong show...

The next 9 months are gonna kill me! I think they should have done two seasons of 24 shows. They could have done 12 and 12 "miniseasons" and kept them relatively close together October to December and February to April and spared us such a long wait...sigh...

Does anyone know when season 3 is out on DVD? I hope the finale did well in the ratings...

Anonymous said...

I wanted to remark on how Mikhail's eye scabbed over. Did that happen after he came to the island, due to the island's healing properties? If so, that might explain the glass eye.

But then what was it doing with the cut footage from the Swan station.

If Mikhail can't die, could he be Razinski? (Yes, I'm still pounding that horse). Then he could have shot himself in the head as Kelvin said. If so, was he an Other spy or a DHARMA turncoat? Or maybe he's something else altogether. He claimed to just be following orders last night, but what if...they weren't Ben's orders he was following.

Hmmmmmm.

Also, what does it say about me that I was more upset that Tom died than Charlie?

Anonymous said...

I'm not a die hard lost fan like most of you guys on here, so maybe my opinion should be disregarded (my brother in law refered me to this site).

First, there were some good parts, like the others finally getting killed. I don't know how far you have to push a group of people before you stop giving them chances to come back and hurt you again. I like that Sawyer killed Tom. It's about time.

Second, I liked last season a lot. This season didn't seem as good. I miss the numbers mystery, the polar bears and knowing more about the monster and the other mysteries. This year seemed more like a soap opera to me because of the focus on relationships.

Lastly, while we did get some answers, the "flash foward" made me have more questions and left me disappointed. I don't care for Jack, but I don't want his life to be misery just because he did what we'd all do, try to get rescued.

I don't know if this was a strong enough episode to keep non-diehard fans coming back, especially after a year off.

It would've been nice if they could've set up some more of the mysteries from last season in order to capture the interest of those of us to don't like the relationship stuff.

Nikki Stafford said...

Roland: Did you notice that when Jack beat Ben senseless, he had cuts all over his hands, yet Bonnie was beating Charlie constantly and there wasn't a single mark on her? Are these people robots?? Man. I agree, she was WAY harsh.

Re: Time portals vs. two possibilities. Excellent point, and I think what the show is leading up to is the whole exploration of the "man of science, man of faith" thing. Are we fated to do things, or can we change it? Is there a Creator who is pulling the strings, or is science the only thing ruling us and we make the decisions? Those are the issues. I wonder if the flash-forwards will show different possibilities. We've just seen Jack, all broken and awful, what about another flashback halfway through season 5 that shows Jack coming back and being completely together? If he can change things on the island, he can shape his own future. Now THAT would be exciting!

No word on DVD street date yet, but historically, it's around September 5-6. It'll be interesting to see if the fact the show isn't coming back until 2008 will drive DVD sales up, because now people have a lot more time to catch up before the new season starts.

Brian: Thanks for bringing up the eye; I forgot to say something about that but was wondering the same thing. If it was scabbed over, how could he have any use for the glass eye that's in the Arrow station?

As for how it got there, maybe he had it earlier, something happened and it's scabbed over and he can't use it. OR maybe he's pissed off so many people someone just hid it on him. hahahaha

I really think you're on to something with the idea of Mikhail = Radzinsky.

Michelle Rowen said...

This is one of those episodes where I'm glad I've been loyal! I'm incredibly confused, but in a good way! LOL

My prediction... For some reason I can see Charlie as the "musician" that programmed that code into the computer during some sort of a time travel knowing what the future holds...perhaps knowing that the Others aren't bad after all.

I thought Charlie's death could have been avoided. I was much more upset last week!

Go Hurley!

Nikki Stafford said...

Michelle: Great idea! Or maybe Charlie IS Brian Wilson... actually, it's more possible that he's Lennon in another life.

Or Noel Gallagher. ;)

Nikki Stafford said...

Roger Dodger: No opinion should be disregarded on here, because it's an opinion. :) I'm glad you posted, knowing that many people might disagree with you. It's interesting that you say you liked season 2 a lot more, because I was going to post a question on the blog later today asking people what they liked more?

What I would suggest (if you want to, of course) is watching the entire season back to back. It was disjointed because of that long 3-month break that just broke it up too much, I think. But try watching it all together, the way you might have done season 2, and you'll see a much more cohesive season.

Season 3 was definitely a break from earlier seasons, I agree. Only one polar bear, numbers were hidden in the stories but not talked about blatantly, etc. I agree with you that I hope they don't drop those things.

But at this point, I'm not willing to take Jack's future as written in stone. I really believe that what we'll find out is that all of the characters have the opportunities to change their futures, and maybe Jack's won't be so bleak after all. The guy can be a total dick sometimes, but he's also often driven to it by circumstance. No one deserves to end up the way he might.

Except maybe Nikki and Paulo.

Anonymous said...

I didn't dislike last nights episode, but I didn't love it.

While some things were answered, I felt like there were bigger questions raised. If You weight the things that were answered versus the new questions I am left scratching my head saying "throw the dog a bone." I thought there could've been a few more answers.

Although I agree with Roger, it is about time that the Losties adopt a "take no prisoner" attitude and start treating the others as the sworn enemy, at least until they prove otherwise.

I was disappointed in the way that that the writers portrayed Locke. If Naomi isn't a bad guy, the Locke killed her for nothing.

My biggest hope is that Jack's life isn't set in stone. After living through what they all lived through, the guy deserves some luck after they leave. I agree that he did what anyone of us would do which is try to get off the island and that doesn't warrant a life of sadness.

My biggest disappointment was that we didn't learn more about any of the special powers and strange mysteries from the first two seasons.

I hope they don't give up on the numbers, they seemed to be everywhere in seasons one and two.

Nikki Stafford said...

Pedro: Good points all. It's funny... I just watched that episode for entertainment and character development, and wasn't really looking for answers. I figure after 70 episodes, we should stop waiting for answers on every episode and just sit back and enjoy. Answers will come slowly, but the action will keep us involved. :) At least, that's how I watch it.

I actually thought Locke's final act was more in keeping with the old Locke we know and love, with a bit of the new Locke thrown in. He doesn't kill randomly; in fact, he DOESN'T KILL. That's his thing. He couldn't kill Cooper, he couldn't kill the secret agent in the woods in that flashback, he couldn't kill Jack in this one. But Walt appeared to him, probably as a vision of the island, and the moment Walt said to him, "Get up, you have work to do," Locke's face broke out into the first smile I've seen all season. He realized he was home again, that maybe he's been right all along, and the island really does want to help him the way he thought it would in season 1. So he listened to what Walt/Smokey/the island told him to do, and he did it. No questions asked. Just like he let Boone fall from that plane and he put other lives in jeopardy throughout the early season. He truly believes he's going to find the answers to the Big Questions on this island, and he's determined to do that.

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about the obituary (as they obviously wanted me too - sneaky producers). If it were Locke, why would it be in LA? I think the last place he'd want to settle would be someplace smoggy. Besides, I doubt either he or Ben would leave the island voluntarily.

I'm wondering if it could be Sawyer? Maybe the 'he' Kate was referring to was Nathan Filion? (Could be wishful thinking by me on Kate's part).

Or someone we haven't met yet. There's still 3 seasons to introduce new people.

Did the person have a pre-paid funeral? Otherwise, who would arrange for one (including embalming) without showing up? Those things are pricey.

Jack seems to have turned into his father. That had to be his worst fear.

Poor Tom. Now we'll never know if his passion for Ben was requited :)

I don't think we're necessarily done with flashbacks, or can assume there will even be more flashforwards. Maybe they don't get off the island *this time*. The writers do so love to mess with our minds.

I think the temple has something to do with the big foot. There's been a civilization on the island before. Or aliens. I like aliens.

Anonymous said...

Colleen/Redeem: LOL about the Tom comment...I think was Jack that Tom had the thing for, remember how Jack and Tom were grinning from ear to ear when they were playing touch football ;) And they never explored the "You're not my type, Kate" comment with a flashback. We could have had a Tom flashback in a gay dance club! What a shame! LOL

Tim said...

In the flashforward, either Jack is delusional (quite possible) or his father is actually alive. He tells the doctor to get his father down there and see who's drunker.

Anonymous said...

I may be the only one who didn't like the finale at all! Charlie's death was totally superficial and gratuitous. I rewatched the first episode, where Jack and Juliette shut a door on the ocean, yet Charlie and Desmond couldn't have done the same? Then Jin, Sayid, and Bernard all make it out? The whole thing was a bit silly to me.

Anyway, I loved hearing Jack listening to the Nirvana track, Scentless Apprentice. I'm a huge Nirvana fan, and know that that track was written by Kurt Cobain based on the book 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' (actually it's recently been made into a film as well.) I wonder if the writers were conscious of this when they selected the track? Anyway, the book is a great read, and with some literary analysis may somehow be tied to Lost. Nikki, I thought you may be interested in researching this for the next edition of Finding Lost.

Anonymous said...

I may be the only one who didn't like the finale at all! Charlie's death was totally superficial and gratuitous. I rewatched the first episode, where Jack and Juliette shut a door on the ocean, yet Charlie and Desmond couldn't have done the same? Then Jin, Sayid, and Bernard all make it out? The whole thing was a bit silly to me.

Anyway, I loved hearing Jack listening to the Nirvana track, Scentless Apprentice. I'm a huge Nirvana fan, and know that that track was written by Kurt Cobain based on the book 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' (actually it's recently been made into a film as well.) I wonder if the writers were conscious of this when they selected the track? Anyway, the book is a great read, and with some literary analysis may somehow be tied to Lost. Nikki, I thought you may be interested in researching this for the next edition of Finding Lost.

Nikki Stafford said...

Anonymous: I remember reading at the time that Kurt had written the song about Perfume, and I went out and got the book and read it (super creepy!). I definitely recommend it.

I'm sure there's absolutely something there, as you say. The writers never choose ANYTHING by chance, though they could have just chosen the song because of how angry it is, and for the sheer awesome factor. ;)

The Chapati Kid said...

Locke doesn't kill? He killed Naomi!

Anonymous said...

If the unborn children are to survive, it would seem logical that they need to be rescued in the near (next few months) future right?

Nikki Stafford said...

Chapatikid: I revised my blog post statement in an earlier comment above, where I said that he's still unable to kill when it's him making the decision, but he killed Naomi because the island told him to, and he's in the thrall of the island right now.

Nikki Stafford said...

Denton: True. (And rescue is necessary for the moms to survive, too.) Sun has about 3 months, and Kate has 5 before they're in danger territory. The first 3 seasons of the show have covered 3 months, so we have approx. that long again to go, though I assume rescue will come earlier than that, since the first season covered off as much time as the next 2 seasons combined.

Anonymous said...

Not to mention Rose.

Hey, it's a miracle island, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

I also meant to add that Nikki Stafford is way hot!

Anonymous said...

denton are we talkin' flashback hot or flash foward hot? ;)

Anonymous said...

I wonder if there are any good screencaps showing:

* the front page of the LA newspaper, with the publication date

* a close-up of the license plate on Kate's car (when she meets Jack near the airport). One can easily read the numbers/letters on the plate but not the tiny decal showing the year. What year was her car?


David Buckna

Nikki Stafford said...

I was just interviewed by the NY Post! I was totally eloquent and quotable. (Read: gushy and babbly.)

David: The newspaper was the April 5, 2007 issue of the LA Times (whee! My birthday! They TOTALLY love me on Lost).

So far I haven't seen the car pop up anywhere, but that's a good point.

Colleen: Considering women in the Old Testament of the Bible were having chidren in their hundreds, I'm sure Rose is totally a viable candidate. ;)

Denton: Um... thank you? I think Old Smokey's gotten to you. ;) But welcome to the board, my new favorite poster!

Matthew D said...

As soon as Jack pulled the cell phone out my 13 yr old son yelled “This is the future” because he thought the phone was the new KRZR which wasn’t available before the crash. Don’t know for sure, but we watched it all very differently, thinking it was a flash forward the whole time.

I also totally new that Hurly was going to save the day. I couldn’t think how it would happen that wouldn’t be unrealistic (come on, it’s Hurly), but it was perfect and again, connected pieces that we all thought irrelevant earlier.

I really thought the code to the jamming would have had to do with Hurly’s numbers. Kind of disappointed in the music thing but it fit Charley. How he drowned was a total surprise. Again, I thought a self-destruct would have been corny. They are brilliant. I kept yelling, swim out the hole.

I read all 37 posts (so far) and no one seems to think that maybe Jack, Kate (some more) had to make a choice about a rescue that was a moral catch 22 (like letting Tom shoot the three guys). I think Jack’s drinking/drug use is all about a demon haunting him about the rescue. I don’t think they all get rescued. I definitely think some are left behind and probably in horrible conditions.

At one time Ben said, “We’re not the bad guys”. As much as I loved Jack beating him, something really makes me believe his story. There’s something that needs to be protected and Ben did what he had to do to protect it(him/them etc.) The cheerful voice on the radio really scares me. I think Lost will turn down a dark road over the next seasons.

I’m not assuming yet that the “flash forward” is past the end of the show. It could easily be to the middle of the remaining eps with more to come after them.

Where are the children? Did I miss something? I don’t remember seeing the children in the dharma camp, the tent camp, in the forest camp? Are some of the Others still somewhere else?

Did I say I sense a darkness coming? Very scary…very cool!

Karmela said...

Jack saying that he loves Kate. What's that about???

Jason Halm said...

Hey Nikki!

In my opinion, this is how you deliver a season finale. Heroes - take note.

Lots to talk about here. First of all, who here thinks that the "flash-forward" will actually happen? Don't all speak up at once. One thing is for certain, Desmond has taught us that the future isn't written in stone. Sure! You can't cheat death (unless it's playing Texas Hold 'em - then I always advocate cheating against Death). Charlie was going to die - and that much is 100% true, but his death had a use. It had a purpose. I don't think that any of the Losties' futures are written in stone. We've already seen Charlie avoid death a half dozen times - with the help of Desmond, so who's to say that things other than how one dies can't be changed? I believe that consequent seasons will investigate the changing of Jack's dark future.

Wait - Mikhail = Radzinsky? Who said that earlier? ;)

Anyone else think there was either a wink to the views going on by selecting "Good Vibrations" prior to a grenade going off outside the hatch? It was either that or symbolism that the station was honestly good vibrations. Would anyone have had a problem with "All You Need Is Love" as the tune programmed into the keypad?

So, let's say that the good guys are really "The Others." Does that mean that Ben isn't a good guy. No one that has come to the island is good for the island (except maybe John)?

The other idea I had concerning how the show could go from here would be reliving the first three seasons with subtle differences (or not so subtle) reshaping what the Losties and the Others do in their own camps and to one another. I think that abductions and deception and killing will subside - and they'll be given second chances to do things the right way - All you need is love... There was far too much senseless killing in the last two seasons, and I have a feeling that it will be a theme we look at again... changing the lives of everyone on the plane. Perhaps Eko lives this time. Maybe Hurley gets a girlfriend instead of Charlie.

The one thing that didn't seem to be addressed last night that does need to be addressed rather soon is the supposed tie that everyone has to everyone. I have a feeling that they're not tied together for any secret government experiments or anything like that. I think what we've been witnessing is something more omniscient - with goodness acting here. I think that the reason we've been shown the ties that one another have one another is because they were brought together for a second chance - perhaps by a higher being - God. I didn't think the show was going that direction until last night, but they have consistently shown that those who trust science too much always have things end badly for them, and those who compromise their morals for faith have things turn out badly for them. Locke is the only one who has blindly acted on faith. Even Ben needed to ask for science to heal his tumor, right?

All you need is love...

Anonymous said...

OMG. that was an amazing episode!
after Hurley ran the others over with the van, i ran around my house screaming "WE WON THE WAR, THE OTHERS ARE DEAD!" over and over. i know its crazy, but WE WON!!! even thought Tom is dead. M.C. Gainey was an amazing actor, and a sad loss. BUT WE WON! yay. and my John Locke is still alive!!! i love that guy. Why didn't john locke just shoot Naomi's phone? that would be the logical thing to do.
I don't want them to get off the island, cause rather that one story, they will all have there own seperate lives now, and it wont be the same. so i am dissapointed. But whatever happens, im sure that it wont let me down.

The Chapati Kid said...

So do you think the next three seasons will be in the "future/present" and flash back to what happened on the island?

Nikki Stafford said...

Chapatikid: Hmm... that's a really interesting question. I never thought of the future being the present and the island becoming the flashback! I think I see it more as the island continuing to be the present, and the future being the flash-forwards. What we're seeing in the present (i.e. island) being what is actually happening, and the future flash-forwards being hypotheticals of what COULD happen should the Losties decide to do something a certain way. I think that would be the most intriguing way for me.

But now you've got me thinking of it your way! :) I'll have to think on that some more.

Elizabeth: Personally, I don't think rescue is imminent. It will happen at some point in the future, but probably not in the near future. :)

Jason: If Nathan Petrelli had programmed the Looking-Glass hatch, then the keypad absolutely would have played All You Need Is Love ("wah wah wawawahh..")

Question for everyone: One thing that sort of baffled me last night was how Charlie was able to look at the numbers on the keypad and link them to keys on a piano. I played piano for 15 years and wouldn't have been able to do that. All he had as his start key was 5, because he knew that was the first number Bonnie said, so do you think he knew what note 5 was, and just figured out the rest from there? But in that case, say 5 is a G, how did he know 4 was an F and not F#? A little confused.

MatthewD: Excellent point about their catch-22, and I have a feeling, as you say, that Jack has a far more dangerous catch-22 coming up that will force him to make a very uncomfortable decision.

I wonder if they will be rescued piecemeal? Perhaps Des saw Claire and the baby getting on the helicopter because at first, they will be the ONLY 2 rescued and everyone has to vote on who should be allowed to go? And then it would just continue from there, with people getting voted off the island, so to speak (only in this case, that's a GOOD thing).

Anonymous said...

it took me a full 24 hours to collect my thoughts on this one. i think that was the best two hours of TV i've watched since, well, lost's pilot! (and hell yeah, are the heroes showrunners watching? because THIS was a season finale.)

it made me laugh ("attention, others! come in, others!"). it made me cry (rousseau and alex's reunion). it made me cheer (rousseau cuffing ben whilst he was tied to the tree). it made my jaw drop (the last scene!!!!!!). it made me anxious (when we heard sayid, jin and bernard being shot -- i was convinced they were deaths 2, 3 and 4 ... the only thing i knew about the finale was that there were to be 4 deaths!). it made me think (how on earth is the future going to unfold? what happens next? can jack's future be changed? is it an alternate universe situation?). it broke my heart (CHARLIE!!!!). it was a 120 minute rollercoaster that left me wanting more -- i don't know how i'm going to wait until february!

i, for one, didn't cotton on that it was a flash-forward (but i'm slow that way). i did notice jack's mobile phone -- only because i have the exact same one -- and i sort of chuckled to myself that the prop department had messed up the continuity, as the phone didn't exist pre-island ... guess not! i thought this "flashback" happened somewhere in between jack's wife leaving him and him going off to thailand; it was showing us that he hit rock bottom and he went away to find peace and sort himself out. that's how i explained away that christian was still alive (according to jack). i hadn't quite figured out who died, either -- thought maybe it was his mother? -- so i was absolutely blown away by the last few minutes. i had NO IDEA it was a flash forward until that very moment, so, well done, damon & carlton!

i loved the way you summed up all the flashbacks and backstories of the major characters. personally, i am satisfied with sayid's story and don't need any more answers, but the one burning question i still have from all of the flashbacks is, what the hell was libby doing in the mental hospital with hurley? that's the one thing i want closure on (well, that and who did desmond kill to go to prison? actually, i could use one more desmond flashback), and then i'm good to go with starting the flash fowards for the rest of the series (an idea which i LOVE -- what a brilliant way to freshen the whole show). because you're right -- most other shows would have them rescued and wrap it all up with an "and they all lived happily ever after" and you would just imagine what kinds of off-island lives they were leading in your head. this way, we'll KNOW. well, at least we'll know a version of it ... like you, i am loving the idea that the future is unwritten and yes, we've seen one dark possibility for jack, but who's to say there isn't another option for him, where things wouldn't turn out so badly? it's just so intriguing.

like thechapatikid, i have begun to think that the "future" scenes will become the present and the island scenes will become the new flashbacks, and as the episodes go on, we'll bridge the gap between the distant future and what happened next after jack made that phone call to be rescued.

i desperately want a rousseau flashback, too. she is my favourite character, and i want so much to know her backstory. i want so much to know what happened *after* she and alex tied up ben (what a perfect first thing for her to say to her daughter!). now that we've had the reunion with alex, it seems they're going to bring her character more into the forefront (they can't just drop that!) -- at least, i hope so.

i wouldn't at all be surprised if several of the characters stayed on the island, too, despite the idea of rescue. rose (and by default, bernard), for sure ... locke ... ben ... maybe even hurley. (i wonder why kate wasn't a fugitive in her flashforward life?) as you said, the only ones i could see 100 per cent benefitting from leaving would be clare -- especially now that charlie is dead ... *sniff* -- and sun, i guess, if staying on the island will kill her.

speaking of the island and possibly killing people, i want to know if that was apparition walt vs real walt, and if the latter (which i sort of am leaning towards, as he wasn't wet and speaking in tongues), then where is michael? what happened in their great escape?

as for deaths, i think you forgot one (or maybe i'm wrong and she didn't actually die?): what about bonnie, the other looking-glass other? i know charlie shot her and tied her up and she gave him the password, but i could have sworn she actually died after that ... didn't she? or maybe i'm remembering it wrong.

mikhail is the clare-the-cheerleader of lost (someone really needs to write a lost/heroes crossover fic ...) -- he's indestructible. at first, when he came back after the electrocution by fence, i sort of rolled my eyes, but now, i'm almost intrigued: as you say, can he NOT die? how is it that he keeps surviving these things? (is he really a Hero, and just accidntally got on the wrong show??)

i desperately hoped charlie would stay alive, but after reading the interviews with eonline ... nope. and yet, much as i'm heartbroken, i'm also okay with it, as his story came full circle and he died a noble death. we got closure (poor, poor clare, though ... i hope she somehow manages to get the piece of paper with his five greatest life moments).

i was under the impression that sawyer didn't want hurley coming not because of his weight, but because he was trying to protect him, in his own sawyerly way. it's the same as when charlie told him he couldn't come on the boat to the looking glass hatch ... the weight was an excuse because charlie didn't want him to get hurt. still, poor hurley, though -- not a nice thing to hear.

sayid's neck-snapping with his feet was just too, too cool. i was honestly surprised to see him survive the finale -- he was the one character i was convinced was a goner, because of naveen andrews's negativity and comments in the press throughout the year. (maybe he figures with dominic monaghan gone, he'll have more screentime now?)

the naomi thing is freaking me out. who WAS she? guess we'll never know now.

my speculation on whom the futureflash death is is that it's either ben or a new character, someone who could help him get back on the island. i didn't get the sense that jack was crying out of grief for the person who died (especially when kate refused to go to the funeral, as did everyone else, apparently -- this was not a well-liked person), but because whomever that person was, he represented a way back to the island for jack, so he was crying out of frustration/despair that it would never happen now. i got the impression kate was with sawyer from the last scene, so i wasn't thinking it was him. i also got the impression his "let's hope you're not" comment to kate about being pregnant had to do primarily with her safety. he knows from ben/juliet's tape what they do to pregnant women.

speaking of pregnancies, like you, i thought sarah was behaving very badly at the hospital with her ridiculous "inappropriate" comment. nice ...

i've heard on other boards that naomi must be evil because penny didn't know who she was. but if penny chartered a boat/chopper to search for des, would she have to know every single crew member aboard? couldn't it be that naomi was one of several people onboard and penny only talks to whomever is in charge? the other idea i had was that naomi was working for daddy widmore (she got the des/penny pic from him) and wants to "rescue" des and des alone because of his visions; daddy widmore or the hanso foundation or dharma or SOMEONE wants to exploit that. or she even got the des/penny picture from penny, and is working under the guise of helping her, but was actually a plant from daddy widmore.

all in all, 11 out of 10 (seriously!) for this one ... i just cannot believe how long we have to wait until season 4! i'm counting the days already!

Anonymous said...

Giving Jack a ride might have been inappropriate if Sarah's married but the baby's Jack's.

In other words, there's so much we don't know.

Anonymous said...

I have been living in limbo: my cable went out 3 hours before the finale and has yet to be restored!! Thankfully, we had a friend tape the ep. for us, but I didn't get to watch it until 24 hrs later! Last night was a very long night indeed...

I think it was one of the best eps so far. It does leave us with alot of questions, but I feel like we have reached the crest of the hill and will work our way down the other side in the next 48 eps.

I am wondering how Penny appeared on the video screen of the Looking Glass. Is she spending her entire life in front of a camera waiting for just such an opportunity? I know fate is a big factor on the island, but come on! ;)

We were so wrong about Annie. Ah well.

I think the person in the obit could be a new character; someone we will meet in the next season?

Chapati Kid: I too was clapping and cheering when Ben got his beating! Woo Hoo! I feel cruel, but it can't be helped.

I may be in the minority, but I agree with Roger Dodger about Tom's death. It allows the writers to bring Sawyer's character back to the dark side.

Only nine short months to go....

Anonymous said...

I think that Charlie knew the keys on the keypad because he is the one that created the code in an alternate time/reality.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that the Jack "flashback" was really flash forward for a while - but two things made me sense that is was somehow "different" from a typical flashback:

(1) They used the creepy and emotional (in a good way) "island" music during the flash-forward, the music that is usually used only on the island. The typical flashbacks, I think, never use the sound/music that is used during island happenings.

(2) There were no "Whoosh!" sounds used when going from the flash-forward scenes, back to island time.

Jim

Anonymous said...

Upon 2nd watch, did you notice:

* The Dharma symbol on the side of the underwater hatch had a white rabbit in its center, not the swan. This is visible when Desmond swims underwater toward it. It's part of the Alice in Wonderland/Looking Glass link.

* The actor playing Ben was the one struck when Jack jumped him before the face punching. Usually actors have stunt doubles doing this. On slo-mo, it looked exactly like Ben, not some stunt double.

* Charlie makes what appears to be a Protestant sign of the cross as he dies. Is anyone here Anglican or Church of England? He pats his chest instead of touching his right shoulder to make the final part of the cross. Did anyone else notice this?

Methinks Charlie died unnecessarily...he didn't have to die but somehow appeared like he wanted to...almost as if that made him a hero and perhaps redeemed him somehow (there's a big theme in literature -- and from a Christian perspective -- of being redeemed through suffering). Oh, well./glenn

Anonymous said...

Why does everyone misquote Ben as saying "We're the good guys, JACK"???

It was MICHAEL who said, quite rightly, "Who ARE you people?"

Ben, wearing his self-righteous leadership facade, replied...

"We're the good guys, Micheal."

...as if to say "Isn't it obvious that all of us Others are swell folks, what with all the lying, murdering, extortion, kidnapping, and keeping to our commitments? It makes perfect sense to me..." illustrating just how crazy Mr. Linus is.

Also, Jack was gagged at the time. And he had his hair dyed red for his role as Red Dawson.

So, yeah, Fake Henry, aka Ben, was talking to Michael, not Jack.

Nikki Stafford said...

Manix: Oops, my bad. You're right, it was Michael he said it to. As my regular readers know, I often have little errors in my blog because I have to watch the episode twice and write the blog while watching it a second time so I can post before 11. I watched 4 hours of Lost on Wednesday night and blogged a much longer entry than normal, so I hope you can forgive me this one. :) But you're right.

Nikki Stafford said...

Anonymous Glenn: Yes, the Looking-Glass hatch icon is a rabbit with a watch, which is from Alice in Wonderland. The interesting thing is, the rabbit doesn't appear in Through the Looking Glass. But the two books are connected nonetheless.

Anonymous Jim: Good points! I didn't notice the lack of a whoosh, so thanks for picking up on that! :)

Mikey Mike: I think that's probably the best explanation for it; or maybe Charlie's a complete musical prodigy on a number pad. ;)

Tanyam: Sorry to hear about your power problem! You had the same reactions as my husband. He was going, "YEAH!!" when Jack was beating Ben senseless, and laughed out loud and cheered when Sawyer took out Tom. It's great to have dark Sawyer back... for us, not him, of course. He'll be a very dark person again.

Colleen: Good point, I didn't consider that possibility.

Michelle Rowen said...

I watched the finale again last night. I was struck by how oddly worded Ben's "If you make that call, every single LIVING person on this island will be killed."

Why does he use that phrasing? Can he just say every person?

Nikki Stafford said...

Michelle: Wow, good point! I wonder if the suggestion is that the Others aren't living? Or maybe he's talking about someone else... either way, good catch! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm intrigued about Danielle and Ben's relationship. When Ben was captured, Danielle said, "He lies." For someone with a history on the island, she doesn't say much. Maybe she could explain "what" it was that "ate all of them" in her radio distress signal? (Maybe I'm off on the message, but it's never been explained.)

But back to "he lies." I am curious as to why her relationship w/Ben hasn't been explored more or why the Losties haven't questioned her about it. I'm starting to think she's still sore about Ben telling her, "Trust me, honey, you won't get pregnant." HAW HAW!

Back when Boone's sister was alive ("Maggie?" I forget her name!), there was a backstory for her, too. She was in France, and it seemed like the radio message and a French song she knew were tied together. That was never explored -- and probably won't be! Sad, oh, sad.

I don't know why ABC doesn't air Lost in September. The long waits don't heighten the enjoyment of the show, they prolong it cruelly!

Great site, Nikki! Thanks for all of the posts and links. I cannot wait for your book!/glenn

The Chapati Kid said...

Was Rousseau on the island when Ben and his cohorts killed all the Dharma people? Hence the gassing of everyone with her? Except she was away from it? Was she Dharma once, but managed to escape?

Nikki Stafford said...

Chapatikid: That's definitely something that I've already speculated in my episode guide... if Alex is 16, and Ben is about 40, according to Jack, then he's 24 when the Purge happens, and that would make sense. (Though... his father certainly aged a LOT in the 10 years they were on the island, don't you think? He's gone from like 35 to 70.) If she were on the island and the gassing happened, there's a chance being pregnant could have saved her, but then it usually would kill the baby (I remember this ep of ER where a pregnant woman wakes up and her husband and children are dead, and then she is rushed to the hospital and it turned out it was carbon monoxide poisoning and the fetus had absorbed it so she was unaffected) and Rousseau saw them getting sick and killed them to put them out of their misery. Then Ben as the new leader discovered her and took the baby and she got away. Or something like that. Man... with every episode that goes by I'm more excited to see the Rousseau flashback!