Thursday, May 08, 2008



Lost: 4.11 “Cabin Fever”

Previously on Lost:
Last week’s story-driven episode caused a bunch of questions and sparked discussions and disagreements on the boards, mainly for a few things. The timing of the baseball game was one of them. Some are insisting it was the August 2006 series, as I suggested in my column, but a screencap shows that there’s a reference to that game as being a year earlier, so this would put the series at August 2007. Which means… that date we’ve all been clinging to that was on the top of the obituary that Jack was looking at in “Through the Looking Glass” – April 5, 2007 – was just a date that happened to be on the paper the props department used in the scene. Damn you, props department! That breakdown clearly happens after the flashforward of “Something Nice Back Home,” so it must be in 2008 or 2009. However, by suggesting the “Something Nice Back Home” stuff was 2007, it makes the casting of Aaron more plausible. As I’d said last week, that kid looks like he’s almost 3, and that would make him almost 3, so it works for me on that level.

Someone raised a point in the comments later in the week when the discussion had died down, and I wanted to raise it here: We’re all assuming that Hurley is referring to Aaron when he reads, “You’re not supposed to raise him” on the piece of paper. Hurley actually says, “Does he mean Aaron?” and Aaron is a focal point of the episode, so everything is pointing to him. But isn’t that usually what the Lost writers do when they’re trying to fool us? Could it mean something else? What if it meant, you’re not supposed to raise Christian from the dead? Hmm… (the poster also pointed out that Jack appears to be laid out like a corpse at the beginning of the episode, wrapped in a white “shroud” like he’s in a coffin.

Someone wondered if the name of the Santa Rosa Health Centre could be any reference to Rose on the island.

Another poster suggested that maybe Jack had a right to be worried and wanting to stay awake during the surgery, since Juliet, despite everything, is still one of the Others, and Bernard and Rose kinda want to stay on that island, so could there have been an ulterior motive at work that we didn’t see?

My favourite observation: When Sawyer and Miles and Claire were walking in the jungle at the beginning, Sawyer called him “Donger,” as in Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles. HA! That is officially my new favourite Sawyer nickname.

But now, on to this week…

“Destiny, John, is a fickle bitch.”

Have you ever played with one of those really irritating toys where you have a series of squares, each with part of a picture on it, and you have to slide the pieces around inside a frame, with only one free square to move them all into? There’s that moment where you think, “The person who invented this game should be strung up,” and then suddenly, a piece clicks into place, and you can actually see the end coming. If you can just line up the puzzle pieces, you will have the solution. This episode had that “click” feeling, where I thought, “Okay, we’re finally being given a puzzle piece to add back in that puzzle we’ve been working on for a few years, and it just might help us fill out that top corner that’s just been sitting there stagnant for a year.”

Just when you thought we were done with flashbacks of the survivors, we get another one. And whoa, was it a doozy. For the most part, it told us what we already knew about Locke – he was in a foster home, his mother was a tool, he was a loser, he loved backgammon, and he had given up on ever walking again. But throw in a little Richard Alpert, Matthew Abaddon, and a Walkabout, and you have a whole series of “ga-WHA??” moments.

Oh, and have I mentioned that I love this show? Because I LOOOOOVE this show. I can’t believe how good this season is.

“He Was Always a Special Boy…”
So what to make of John’s flashback? The never-aging Richard shows up at the nursery to see preemie John, then keeps track of him until he’s an older child. He arrives at the house claiming to be a recruiting agent for a special school, and lays out on the table a baseball mitt, a book that appears to be a Bible but is called the Book of Laws, a vial of sand, a compass, a comic called Mystery Tales, and an old knife. He tells John to show him which things belong to him. John chooses the sand and the compass, both which seem to prophesy his future on the island. I thought the last choice was pretty much up in the air – it could be the knife, because that’s what John shows up with when he arrives on the island. The comic book is called Mystery Tales, and there’s a horrified man on the cover with “Hidden Land!” written above him, staring at a weird city, so that would also fit with the future, and the Book of Laws could very well be a Locke thing. You can tell by Alpert’s face that he wanted John to choose the Book of Laws. When Alpert attempts to get him again, with his Mittelos Bioscience pamphlet that lured in Juliet, Locke uses his now-legendary phrase, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” and there goes that option. Finally, Abaddon shows up and convinces Locke to look into a Walkabout, saying the next time he sees him, Locke will owe him one.

Widmore mentioned in “The Shape of Things to Come” that the island is his, and one wonders if he’s been there right from the beginning (could he be Magnus Hanso?), which means, like Richard, he hasn’t aged. Where does Abaddon come in, then? He’s working with the same motives as Alpert in this episode – getting Locke to go to the island. Abaddon also rounded up the freighter people to go to the island, and seemed to be working under the orders of Widmore. So far, John has taken out one of Abaddon’s people (Naomi) and he’s harbouring Ben, the guy Widmore rounded up the people to nab. Is it possible Abaddon was not working with Widmore, but against him? Widmore asked him to round up the people, and he did so, but with an ulterior motive? Hmm…

John Locke’s Progress:
I knew the moment the guy in Jacob’s cabin started speaking that it was Christian. He simply says he’s “Christian,” no last name required. (Now I’ll have to re-read Pilgrim’s Progress… I thought it was rather painful the first time.) So this brings us back to all those questions from a couple of weeks ago… is he dead, is he immortal, is he a ghost, etc. But more interestingly, what do we make of Claire? She seemed SO unlike herself, not worrying about Aaron, making faces we’ve never seen, calmly saying, “I’m with him” like he’s not the scoundrel who abandoned her for most of her childhood. Is she dead, too? He and Claire share a “look,” as if Locke asked exactly the right question. So… his mission is to MOVE the island? Didn’t see that coming. I’m assuming this is why Widmore can no longer find the island.

Highlights:
• This was definitely Hurley’s week. My first laugh out loud was when Hurley, Locke, and Ben were arguing about the whereabouts of the cabin, and Ben says he was just following Hurley. Hurley: “Oh, this is just awesome.”
• Locke saying the Dharma Initiative spent all day making the ranch dressing that Hurley likes. HA!
• Hurley: “Guys? Cabin.”
• Hurley: “Yeah, I’m cool with you going in alone, too.”
• Hurley and Ben sharing the chocolate bar. I was in stitches… for me, the funniest moment of the season.
• Ben’s impatient “Well?!” when Locke calmly says that Jacob told them what to do, but doesn’t elaborate.

Biggest “GASP!” Moments:
• Richard Alpert standing outside the nursery!!! (I shouted, “YES!” when they showed him.)
• The doctor being alive on the boat! This goes back to the whole Faraday experiment on the island, where the payload took a lot longer to arrive. Then, we saw a seemingly 5-minute helicopter ride take forever and a day to get back to the freighter. In this episode, the corpse of the doctor washes up on the shore of the beach BEFORE he is actually killed. Whoa. That’s a guy in dire need of a constant. So, I’m assuming we’re to believe the doctor was just killed, the body floated to the time-warp wormhole and whoosh, he was sent back in time to the shore. Do you agree?
• John’s childhood drawing of a guy being eaten by the smoke monster.
• Abaddon telling John to go on the Walkabout. I was so excited by this reference back to episode 1.4, I was giddy.
• Claire and Christian just hanging out in the cabin.

Hurley’s Numbers:
Emily says she’s 5 months pregnant, almost six… so that could very well mean that John was born at 23 weeks.

Did You Notice?:
• The opening of this episode, in another time, in a place we don’t recognize, with some music being started, was reminiscent of the openings of seasons 2 and 3. The lyrics of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” seem to explain the series itself, and how each episode is getting us nearer to the end: “Everyday, is a-gettin’ closer/ Goin’ faster than a roller coaster.”
• Emily was hit by a car running from her mother, just as Locke was bumped by a car running after Emily many years later.
• The island really IS saving Michael’s ass (even if it’s not preventing him from feeling some SERIOUS pain). It jammed the freakin’ gun.
• We get a close-up of Locke’s eye, but it happens after the flashback, not before it. It’s right before the Horace Groundhog Day-type dream sequence.
• At the end of the dream sequence, Horace says, “Godspeed.” His surname is Goodspeed.
• The casting people actually put a real newborn baby in that incubator. On most other shows, they’d stick a 17-pound six-month-old in there and call it a newborn.
• Behind Richard, there appears to be a poster with the word CHOICE on it.
• Ben tells Hurley he should have known better than to shoot Locke and leave him for dead, as if he knows the island won’t let John die.
• When John steps out of the locker he’s been locked in, there’s a Geronimo Jackson poster on the inside of the door.
• John’s teacher (or guidance counsellor) tells him he’s destined to be a scientist, yet John has spent his time on the island arguing for faith over science.
• I was a little disappointed that Desmond didn’t accompany Sayid back to the island… it seemed like Sayid’s the sole superhero and Desmond is just sitting back and saying, “Dude, I made it off that island and I AIN’T going back.” But on further thought, it shows what a hopeless romantic he is. He’s just missed Penny for so long, he’s not going to screw it up now.
• “You’ll understand soon enough that there are consequences to being chosen.” I thought Ben was really interesting in this episode. He tends to react to what’s going on around him rather than act, but once and for all he seems to have accepted that he’s no longer Jacob’s man on the island, and that John is the real apostle. I mentioned in my season 3 Lost book that I thought this season would have Ben finally conceding to that – the look on his face when Locke shows up to knife Naomi in the back seemed to suggest right there that he was looking into the face of the man who had taken his place. He says in this episode that losing Alex was his destiny (again showing an affinity to Locke), even though when it happened, he certainly didn’t act like that was destined. But he really seemed different this episode, stepping back to let Locke take the spotlight instead. Is it because he’s really accepted Locke as the go-to guy, or does he suspect something dangerous is about to happen and he’d rather Locke be standing front and centre? Or, has Alex’s death just taken the fight out of him momentarily? Michael Emerson was his usual brilliant self in this episode, and when he watches longingly as John walks up to the cabin, I actually felt sorry for the guy.
• The name of the rehab centre where Locke is recuperating is “The Delerue Rehabilitation Centre.” The only “Delerue” I could find of any note was a French film composer, and his only link with where Locke would be is that he died in Glendale, California. I’m sure there’s a more important link.
• When Abaddon puts Locke at the top of the stairs, we get a reverse scene from the season 3 episode “Further Instructions.” In that episode, I suggested that the scene looked like Jacob’s ladder from the bible, with Locke lying at the bottom of a set of stairs. In this case, Locke is at the top of the stairs, not the bottom. If the suggestion is that same image, that puts Locke in the position of God, interestingly enough.
• When Frank’s package dropped on the island, it crushed Claire’s tent (you can see Aaron’s crib beside it). Ominous?
• Is it possible the plane was brought down because Locke was on it? Is he the key to everything?

So Many Questions...
• Wait… Emily was six months pregnant? Okay, I’ll accept that Sun isn’t showing the tiniest bit of pregnancy because of all the people who emailed me last season to boast how they were 4 months pregnant and not showing. But 6 months and not showing, while you’re that tiny? I don’t buy it for an instant. Not even with those generous poodle skirts.
• So, did Horace really build the cabin for some afternoon delights? Seems like a strange place to become possessed by Jacob and the strong island spirits.
• Here’s where I need the closed captioning… did anyone catch what Hurley said when Locke tried to wake him up? I’m sure it was funny… it sounded like “Not on Mars,” but it could have been “Apollo Bars” for all I can make out.
• The nurse tells Emily that John has bounced back from everything that’s hit him, and no matter what, he beats it and keeps on ticking. Could the island forces have been keeping him safe right from the beginning, the way they’re helping Michael right now?
• Did Emily’s mother know Richard Alpert? She certainly sputters like she knows who he is.
• What is the Book of Laws? Is it an ancient bible of the Others? There was a Book of Laws in the Plymouth Colony in 1636, so perhaps this is something that new colonies establish for themselves. (Unless Alpert was holding the actual Plymouth Colony book… wouldn’t surprise me, somehow.)
• When Omar heads into the ship to meet Keamy in the armoury, as per Gault’s instructions, his satellite phone begins beeping. This seems like more than just a random happening. Does it have anything to do with the phone that Frank later throws onto the beach, but the time warp is giving Omar a heads up of something?
• What is the connection between Abaddon and the Others? He seems to be working with Alpert.
• What was Frank’s intention with the sat phone package? I think Jack might have been wrong… they’re not supposed to follow them, but to stay the hell away from them. That phone gives them the whereabouts of Keamy’s people at all times.
• Does Ben really believe that the island wants him to die and wants to save Locke, or does he just want to avoid going into the cabin? He survived his spinal surgery okay, all things considered, and I’m thinking if the island wants to get rid of you, it’ll get rid of you.

Next week: The Oceanic Six become… the Oceanic Six.

Just a note that I’m in transit tomorrow, and probably not home until 4, so I’ll leave the discussion to you guys. (I might be able to sneak on here in the morning, but the connection is s…l…o…w.)


UPDATE #1: I got back home today around 5, finally away from my dad’s dial-up, only to try to log on to the Internet and my modem is not working (the DSL line is not coming into the house). So now... I’m back on dial-up! Argh... I think the Dharma Initiative is effing with my ability to post. But anyway...

As countless people have posted, Hurley says, “Mallomars” when Locke tries to wake him up. A lot of people are wondering if Richard Alpert is actually Locke’s father. Someone else posted saying it’s interesting that Emily is the name of John’s mom and Ben’s mom. The interesting thing is, until Emily said, “Please call the baby John!” I actually thought it was a Ben flashback! I thought we were being treated to an alternative birth that would suggest Ben’s original flashback was a lie, that it was what he wanted us to think his past was, and this was the real one. So it’s interesting that others are making that connection now. Someone else (or maybe it was the same person) thought maybe it’s the same Emily, but since they’ve used different actresses to portray her, I would think it is two different ones. But you never know....

I was watching the first scene again, and someone mentioned that the doctor that delivers the baby sort of looks like Christian. I noticed the doctor wheeling her down the hall sort of looks like the guidance counsellor who talks to John later. Could it be the same guy?

I think one of the best posts so far is wondering if maybe this isn’t a flashback, but Richard Alpert time-travelling to change the course of events. I really like that idea, how about you?

UPDATE #2: Click here for some more Cabin Fever thoughts.

87 comments:

Anonymous said...

- "When Omar heads into the ship to meet Keamy in the armoury, as per Gault’s instructions, his satellite phone begins beeping. This seems like more than just a random happening."

Omar actually later tells the doctor that the morse code he had received when his phone beeped was the people on the island saying that the doctor had shown up dead on the beach.

- The other moment I liked that involved Hurley was when he asked Ben if that was where he had shot John and left him for dead. I just loved when he took that tiny step back when Ben said he was standing in the exact spot.

- I LLLOOOVVVEEE this show!!!!!!

Daniel Larsh said...

I don't think my stomach turned more in any episode than in this one! GOD, this just keeps getting better and better. I watch LOST with my grandma, who is losing her hearing and just can't follow it, so I have to explain everything to her. Now, here I am on the couch going WOAH, OMG, HOLY CRAP, and she's like.. What?? Who is that?? Can you go put the kettle on for me??? lol. This season is definitely my favorite so far. John's mission is to MOVE the island? I don't even know how to react to that. I am really curious though at that package from the heli. Will they follow the chopper? Can't wait for next weeks episode! Thanks for these amazing blogs Nikki! :)

Anonymous said...

At the start of the episode, Emily's mother says her boyfriend is nearly twice her age. then when she see Richard at the nursery she stares at him a while before saying she doesn't know him. Could Richard be Locke's real father?

I'm guessing Frank drops off Keamy and group, then moves the chopper elsewhere for Jack and the rest to find him, taking the 6 away and leaving Keamy on the island. Just a guess.

Eric said...

If Locke is taking over as the representative of the Island, does that mean that events that happen after the rescue are ordered by Locke? I guess my main question is whether Locke is directing Ben to get Sayid to kill various people ... how long will Locke remain in control? Ben tells him that in the past, at the time of the gassing, the Others had other leaders. I wonder how long Locke will last as leader, and what that means about his role in sending Ben off to do various dirty work ...

Ann said...

Loved this episode! I can't wait for next week. I re-round my tape and watched the preview 3 times!!

I also like the part with Harley and Ben sharing the candy bar. Funny Stuff. Like they have nothing better to do then eat!

I'm so glad they showed Claire. I was wondering the whole episode where she was.

So many questions for how the 6 get off the island. Looks like they are spread out all over the place. I guess only 6 will fit in the raft?

I'm glad to have your blog to read cause I don't always catch everything that you point out later.

Thanks for such a great site!

Brian Douglas said...

Clair really freaked me out this episode. She must be dead, or undead, or whatever.

My favorite part was when Locke woke up and Ben said "I used to have dreams." He put so much emotion behind a seemingly throw-away line.

Speaking of Ben, did you notice how adamant Ben was that he wasn't behind the purge before hinting that he wasn't always the Other's leader. Then who was? Richard's the only Other we know was around before the purge, but that doesn't necessarily make him the leader.

I was hoping for a take from Omar after the Doc got his throat slashed.


Nikki: So, did Horace really build the cabin for some afternoon delights? Seems like a strange place to become possessed by Jacob and the strong island spirits.

Is Horace Jacob? I don't think so.

Nikki: Here’s where I need the closed captioning… did anyone catch what Hurley said when Locke tried to wake him up? I’m sure it was funny… it sounded like “Not on Mars,” but it could have been “Apollo Bars” for all I can make out.

I thought he said something like "Not now, Mom"

Nikki: The nurse tells Emily that John has bounced back from everything that’s hit him, and no matter what, he beats it and keeps on ticking. Could the island forces have been keeping him safe right from the beginning, the way they’re helping Michael right now?

That's probably why he survived an eight-story fall.

Nikki: What is the connection between Abaddon and the Others? He seems to be working with Alpert.

He could be working at complete opposite ends as Richards--both sides trying to recruit Locke since he is the key.

Nikki: What was Frank’s intention with the sat phone package? I think Jack might have been wrong… they’re not supposed to follow them, but to stay the hell away from them. That phone gives them the whereabouts of Keamy’s people at all times.

Or maybe he wanted them to help stop Keamy.

Nikki: Does Ben really believe that the island wants him to die and wants to save Locke, or does he just want to avoid going into the cabin? He survived his spinal surgery okay, all things considered, and I’m thinking if the island wants to get rid of you, it’ll get rid of you.

I think the spinal tumor was a sign of Ben losing favor. He let Locke go in the cabin because he recognized his time as island prophet was over.

Brian Douglas said...

Re: Eric

I think future Ben wasn't working for Locke and pursuing his own vendetta against Widmore.

Robbie said...

I'm pretty sure one of the 5 books of moses is translates to the book of laws

Anonymous said...

WHAT AN EPISODE!
If Claire is really dead, then I will cry. I am madly in love with Claire lol. Claire is to me what Desmond is to you, Nikki ;)

I agree there, Brian Douglas: I think both Richard and Abaddon are trying to get Locke to the island, but for their own reasons. Widmore saw that Ben failed through Richard to secure Locke, so he sent Abaddon to grab Locke on the rebound. If Richard wanted Locke to join Mittelos, he was probably gonna bring him to the island via a sub (Juliet style). However, Abaddon was planning on getting Locke on a plane...knowing that his boss Charles Widmore was well-prepared to stage a fake plane crash.

I don't know what the dilly-o with Christian is, but if I don't see Jacob soon, I'll be very upset!

Anonymous said...

Hurley says "Mallamars!"

Unknown said...

Nice shot of the Mystery Tales cover here

Anonymous said...

Hi!
Ok, I'm not very good at piecing these theories together. When I looked up BOOK OF LAWS, I also found the reference to the 1636 Plymouth Book of Laws. But I also found, and it's probably absolutely nothing important, http://www.drachenwald.sca.org/Law/. It's something about a Society for Creative Anachronisms.

Anachronism:
1. something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, esp. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.
2. an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one: To assign Michelangelo to the 14th century is an anachronism.

Again, probably nothing, but I think it was the whole anachronism thing that piqued my curiosity ("the state or condition of being chronologically out of place"). Just thought I'd throw it out there!

Anonymous said...

yes, Hurley said “mallomars”. wikipedia says:

According to the box, Mallomars are made in Canada by Kraft Foods. In Canada, these are known as "Dream Puffs"

now i don't think that hurley aand ben were sharing a mallomar. but close! any chance these three have special dreaming powers?

Anonymous said...

Lieutenant Daniels (er...I mean, Abbadon) is also the guy who went to see Hurley in the institution in 4.1 right? Asking "Are they alive?". Seemed like he was a Widmore guy then. Also, when Keamy got the "Seconday Protocols" out of the safe was there a Dharma symbol on the front of it? I thought I saw one.

Anonymous said...

I agree with everyone, Hurley said Malamars!

Wow, amazing episode, I think the strike actually improved the pacing of this show, every scene now seems more crucial and contributory to the storyline than before.

Favorite moments:
- Destiny, John, is a fickle bitch! I agree with you Nikki!
- Alpert, Abbadon and Christian, like pieces in a puzzle
- the look on the Losties faces of hope, and every time they have that look, something screws them over!
- Sayid going into his James Bond mode again
- Ben, Hurley and Locke: The Three Stooges :)
- The scene when the Doc was alive on the boat, it was like WTF??? Then stupid me had the lightbulb turned on in my head LOL

Questions:
- Claire, why are you acting like a spaz??? She must be dead, she is acting bizarre...you're right no concern over Aaron at all.
- related to this, can Smokey take the form of multiple dead people at once? Can Smokey hold babies?
- Wanna bet it was Richard Alpert driving that car that ran over Emily so she could deliver Locke sooner? Maybe he also drove that bus that ran over Juliet's ex? Hey at least they didn't make Bonnevilles back then! LOL
- can someone enlighten me about the previews? It happens every week, we get part of the sucky CTV previews, it cuts off and flips over to the last 5 seconds of the ABC one, so you end up not seeing either one....GRRRRRRR!!!!

Nikki, I'm headed to the land of the Lost next week....taking my mom on a Hawaiian cruise! I gather they have stopped filming? I noticed some movie tour but it didn't mention the set of Lost so I didn't bother signing up. So I'll miss next week but it'll be replayed before the finale and I'll be back. Of course I'll probably stream next weeks episode as soon as I get back!

humanebean said...

Quickstart: First post for me, Nikki, though I've been reading your work for a while. Your blog on Wizard Universe first (their loss!) led me to your books (took them with me on a trip to Shanghai -great for a 14 hour flight) and now I look forward to your blog with my morning coffee. Your posts, and the passion of your commenters, makes for a fascinating read. Thanks!

Last night's episode was a blast! Truly, the show gets better and better. Some things I found interesting:
1) Locke's grandmother's comment as Emily runs from the house to her rendezvous with the car (but not a Bonneville, eh?), "He's twice your age!". We've assumed that Cooper was indeed Locke's father ... but he isn't THAT much older than Emily, is he?
2) Richard being upset and angry when young Locke chose the knife instead of The Book of Laws. "Which of these things already belong to you, John?" This question has interesting ramifications for the timelines of the show as we have seen them thus far.
3) Ben seems to have gone from impassioned anger at the death of Alex to subdued follower. Just moments earlier he was summoning Smokey and ordering the others around. Yes, "the rules have changed" but what is the Master Schemer up to NOW?
4) Keamy seems to have blown his top pretty quickly. (one little smoke monster, jeez!) So much for the hardened mercenary. Why the quick switch to the "secondary protocol"? Suddenly, you have to question who he is really working for - why would Widmore want to "torch the island"?
5) Why was the doc fussing with the bags next to the helicopter? I couldn't escape the feeling that he was just hanging around, waiting to have his throat slashed. Odd. And, btw, that's some SERIOUS weaponry Keamy and the boys are packin'.
6) Jack seems to be healing nicely for an appendectomy patient - at least one who was opened up by a non-surgeon using basic tools a few hours ago. And, he's mighty hungry. Hmmm.
7) Desmond knows where he's supposed to be. Yes, he says that "Penny is coming for" him. Too, he needs to be on that boat with Michael for whatever happens next.
8) Why does Christian indicate that it's "best" if Locke doesn't say anything about Claire's presence in the cabin? And, for a man who says there isn't much time, why does he have to wait for Locke to "ask the right question"? And then, pause dramatically before answering? Another test?
9) Frank is the MAN. His role in all this is verrry interesting. Recruited by Abbadon, sailing on Widmore's boat ... now rescuing Michael, standing up to Keamy, managing to drop the sat phone RIGHT onto the beach (nice shot) to give them a way to track ... him? The helicopter? Keamy and the baddies?
10) MOVE the island? Move THE ISLAND?? Wow. Why do I feel this will have to do with The Temple (Station)?

The next seven days will be an eternity. This show (and it's ever-growing multimedia fandom) is a game-changer for television. Just as cable series like The Sopranos, Deadwood (best ... show ... EVER), Dexter, Rome, etc., changed the way we think about TV and the expectations we have for where the experience can take us.

Last note: I just picked up Season 3 on Blu-ray. I know many folks don't have the technology to view the show this way but .... trust me - if you haven't seen the island in blu-ray ... you haven't SEEN THE ISLAND. Unbelievable!

K J Gillenwater said...

I think Claire is dead...died in the explosion. Just like some postulated last week. Who knows about ghost milk, Nik? But the way she left and how she appeared in the cabin...it is the only thing that makes sense to me right now.

I wonder if Ben was the replacement for Locke. Ben was a kid when he came to the island. Perhaps he and his dad were 'recruited' around the same time Locke failed his little test in the foster home? Ben & Locke are connected somehow...from the past and now on the island.

If we go back to last season's finale again, it would make even more sense now that Ben was the one in the coffin. If Locke is Ben's replacement, Ben is no longer needed by the island. He ends up like Michael perhaps? Desperate to get back to the island but can no longer get there?

Ben seemed like a bigger player in this whole thing, but if Locke is the new island caretaker, where does that leave Ben? And how does that fit into the future we know about with him and Sayid traveling the world killing people?

I'm looking forward to next week. For the person who didn't see the previews, the Oceanic Six are going to be rescued. They show them in a boat or something...and a man says to them that they will be called 'the Oceanic Six.'

Nikki Stafford said...

Michele: Thanks for the clarification on the sat phone! Leave it to me to miss the obvious. ;)

Daniel: Your post made me laugh out loud. I'm at my parents' house right now, and my dad and stepmom watch Lost, but they're only in season 3, so every time she'd walk into the room I would pause it. Eventually she settled in with a book, but at the end, she happened to look up from the book when Locke said, 'We have to move the island" and she looked at me and said, "WHAT?!" hahahahaha

scrvet: Good point! Another thing I should have jotted down as I was watching, because when they showed the back of a man's head, I thought it was a younger Cooper, too, until they showed Richard, and then I was so excited to see Richard I never followed through on my initial thought, that it could have been the father. I would bet you are absolutely right on this one. How else would he know about John and feel so connected to him?

Eric: Interesting theory on Locke directing Ben!! Imagine how the tables could turn now that Locke is the one receiving the instructions, and not Ben.

DanM said...

Here are a few thoughts that may be relevant.

Damon Lindelof and another key writer for the show, Brian K Vaughan are both involved in comic book writing. There was a clear inference in EP 11 to the X-Men and Professor X's school for gifted youngsters. Are we dealing with mutants or mutations of some sort on this show?

Brian K Vaughan wrote a superb volume of comics called the Runaways which was about gifted children who battle and defeat their evil super-powered parents from taking over the world. http://www.amazon.com/Runaways-Vol-1-Pride-Joy/dp/0785113797/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210337378&sr=1-4

Vaughan also writes a comic called Ex Machina: There was an episode called Deus Ex Machina:
http://www.amazon.com/Ex-Machina-Vol-First-Hundred/dp/1401206123/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in

I'm thinking Claire was killed when her cabin was blown up and has joined Christian on another plane of existence.

KeepingAwake said...

Does anyone else think that moving the Island is going to finally bring us to the Orchid station?

KeepingAwake said...

Oh, and nikki--shouldn't you make note of the fact that the secondary protocol had a Dharma Logo on it? Anyone able to make out which one it was?

Heather said...

I thought Hurley said "Mallomars" when he was waking up.

Nikki Stafford said...

Brian: Agreed on Ben's throwaway line. Emerson gave such a brilliant but understated performance this week. I also liked the look on his face when John started telling Hurley about the pit of bodies. You're right, I don't think Horace is Jacob. But there's a connection somehow, since Horace is the one who befriended Ben and is now appearing to Locke. Did Horace lose faith in Ben?

Shane: Thanks for the translation! Mallomars, ha! That's great... (And yes, as someone else pointed out, they're Dream puffs here... it's basically a marshmallow on a graham cracker covered in a thin coating of chocolate.)

Elizabeth: Thanks for that! If there were ever a show full of anachronisms, this is it.

Anonymous: Yes, Cedric (har) did go to Hurley in the first episode to ask if they were still alive. At the time I thought he meant the Others, but now it could mean the freighter folk, the other survivors, etc.

Roland: OOH!!! I'm SO jealous. Email me off-list and I have some Lost-related ideas for going there, if you have the time to do that. :)

Nikki Stafford said...

humanebean: Welcome to the blog, and I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I loved your insightful comments, please come and post every week!

You know, I wondered the same thing about Locke's father, and if this is an indication that Cooper isn't him. If we take Emily to be, maybe 16 when she becomes pregnant, then the guy who's the dad could be 30 and the mom would call him twice her age. So it's still plausible that Cooper is 14 years older than Emily. But I'm intrigued by the idea that Richard is actually his father. I've ALWAYS questioned Cooper's paternity, and wondered if he somehow just found a match in Locke and then let on to him that he was his daddy to get the kidney.

As for Jack's appendectomy healing so fast, I'm sure they'll chalk that one up to the healing powers of the island (Naomi recovered from a branch in her gut the way others would a head cold).

Brian Douglas said...

Re: Secondary Protocol

The DHARMA logo we glimpsed might be to a schematic or something and not necessarily mean that Keamy's getting his orders from DHARMA. Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

Hurley said "mallomars".

Anonymous said...

Oh, and the five books of Moses are referred to collectively as "The Law".

Wawa said...

I was pretty sure Hurley said mallomars too.

Is there the possibility that these "flashbacks" were actually Richard traveling back in time to check John out? Or he's his father is an interesting twist too!!

I loved the candy sharing scene. So random yet one of those moments that would come up when you are waiting for someone. Even if you are waiting with Benjamin Linus!

Brian Douglas said...

Some thoughts and theories:

That was actually Christian we saw last night, not just an apparition. He wasn't wearing the same outfit he always had on when Jack sees him (which are projections). He, like Clair, now exist in a state between life and death.

But why them, and not any of the others on the island? Because they are both Shepards, they are special. Jacab is Christian's father (or grandfather, or great-grandfather, etc). This gives them special undead status. Yemi, on the other hand, was the Smoke Monster. This is why Eko is "not his brother," yet Jack and Clair are still Christian's son and daughter.

As to Jacob and his cabin, I think that the cabin we saw last night was indeed the actual physical cabin (built there by Horace). The other instances we've seen the cabin have been projetions. Ben trapped the projection using his circle of salt/ash so he could find it when he needed to (he never new the real location of the cabin). Locke disturbed the circle freeing Jacob in TMBTC (or between scenes somewhere).

As to Horace, I think he was an Other spy in the DHARMA camp. That's why he brought Ben to the island. However, he was against the Purge (perhaps because his wife Olivia wasn't an Other and would be killed with the rest of the DHARMA crew), and thus the Others killed him as well.

Richard's test was to see if Locke was the reincarnation of Jacob. The knife was wrong because the knife never belonged to Jacob, but will belong to knife (maybe not that knife exactly). Locke has often embraced the "hunter" rather than the "farmer," which is what Richard was looking for in Locke. He just wasn't counting on Locke's stuborn will.

Ann said...

Not sure if anyone else has addressed this but here's my theory about the Oceanic 6 and how they are rescued:

I think the Oceanic 6 will be rescued from the raft which Sayid is using by someone other then the people on the boat where Desmond and Michael are. Maybe Penny? They will only be able to fit 6 people in the raft because they will be doing it under fire from Keamy's gang and when they leave the island they will loose their way to the big boat and come upon someone else. The Captain told Sayid to follow the bearings. Maybe they are in a different time warp when they are rescued? Maybe they are rescued another Whitmore boat?

We know who the 6 are. Here is why I think they are each in the raft:

Sayid - because he is suppposed to know the way to the boat.

Jack - because he is sick with his appendix. I think that is the only way he'd get in the boat ahead of someone else.

Sun - because she is pregnant

Aaron - to get him away from the gunfire and so he'll survive with out his mother. If Claire is gone there is no way to feed a baby. Do you think he is still considered a newborn?

Kate - to take care of Aaron since Claire is not with Sawyer when he gets back to the beach. The preview shows him say to someone who ask "where is Claire" and Sawyer responds "we lost her."

Harley - not sure why on this one

I do think Claire is dead. Sad but she looked happy.

Couple of notes on the doctor and Frank the pilot.

The doctor has been in CSI (Vegas) for several seasons. He plays the lab boss, Conrad Ecklie, a thorn in Grissom's side.

Frank - is in one of my favorite movies - Silverado - He plays Tyree a great bad guy. He was very good looking back in 1985!

The part with Horace chopping the tree down reminded me of James Kirk in the Star Trek movie Generations about the Nexus. When Picard comes upon Kirk for the first time when they are both in the Nexus, Kirk is chopping a tree down in the same way as Horace and then repeats it.

Anonymous said...
Also, when Keamy got the "Seconday Protocols" out of the safe was there a Dharma symbol on the front of it? I thought I saw one.

Yes, there was some type of Dharma symbol on the folder. I wonder under what circumstances the Captain and Keamy were told to open the safe together? I thought it was funny when the Captain said "We are to open this together" and Keamy said "You're in the room".

Since Keamy ends up shooting the Captain later it is a wonder he didn't kill him to get the key/


As always a great episode. I love the show.

Anonymous said...

I understand the idea of Alpert being Locke's father, but wasn't the whole idea of Cooper's scam to get Locke's kidney because he needed a kidney with the least chance of transplant rejection issues and the best way to avoid that is having your own blood donate one? Or did Cooper select Locke because chances where high that he would fall for the scam since he was helping his 'father'..

thought the episode was somewhat missing an edge but I enjoyed it as a set-up for the finale

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else think it was weird that both Ben and Locke were chosen by the island and they were both born way too early and at both of there births someone from the island was there? Richard for Locke and Horace for Ben. Maybe Richard and Horace were actually on the same team at one point or they were competing to try to find "the chosen one."

Anonymous said...

Maybe I am missing something, but I thought it odd the 'writers' sort of glossed over a detail. Sayid leaves on a dinky boat to head back to the island. If my recollection serves me right, the boat is 80km away. Unless the 'heading' somehow provides a shortcut, but characters on the show have often wondered why it takes so long for the chopper to get back. Anyway, seems a long distance for the tiny vessel to go to the island and back (several times mind you) to pick up survivors. Did they producers/writers think we wouldn't notice?

poppedculture said...

I thought Hurly said "I'm on it," which is exactly the kind of sleepy "ya, I'm up" response that I'd give while not moving. But mallomars is good too. Mmm, mallomars.

DanM said...

Didn't you think Abbadon was going to push Locke's wheelchair down the stairs?

Keamy apparently knows how to keep smokey at bay. The gadget on his arm looked like an IPOD to me. Maybe some kind of sonic monster repelling device.

Abbadon is so creepy looking. Kind of alien like creepy.

DanM said...

christemple, both Locke's and Ben's mother's are named Emily, and have the same initials: EL.

Anonymous said...

I just watched the scene with Keamy and the Captain on super slo-mo, and the Dharma symbol on the cover of the Second Protocol folder is is the swirl, which I believe is associated with The Orchid station. If what Keamy says is true, and that Ben is headed there, maybe that's how he escapes the island and ends up in Tunisia with an injured arm in the flash forward from a couple of weeks ago. He time-travels to the future to get away from the past. Ow, my head hurts again.

poggy said...

This episode was awesome... but I was kind of expecting it after the previous one being quite "meh". Anyway, a thing I noticed - the dream scene with G(o)odspeed, where Locke sees his actions repeating like in a loop, is a likely reference to The invention of Morel, the book Sawyer was reading during Eggtown. It's a novel I'd recommend to every Lost fan, and the connection is, precisely...

SPOILER
<
<
<
<
<
...that in the book a fugitive escapes to a desert island where he finds some abandoned buildings inhabited by mysterious people; he can see them but apparently they can't or don't want to see him. They just keep on doing the same things and repeating the same words over again in a one week long loop. Eventually, we find out that the islanders are just physical images of the past, recorded and played over and over again by a "time machine" built by the scientist Morel - something he claimed would have, in a way, made them immortal. Sounds familiar?
>
>
>
>
>

END SPOILER

Other random thoughts:

- am I the only one who thought that Widmore could have been the man twice Emily's age? Of course this would rule out the "Widmore is Magnus Hanso" theory, and after all I like the theory about Richard better. But still, Widmore is the first option that came to my mind.

Danm: good catch on the "Xavier's school for gifted youngsters" reference, my brother and I noticed that too, lol! "Look, Professor X before he lost his hair and eyelashes!"

Another comicbook reference that has been there all the time but is somehow refreshed by the "Mystery tales" issue on this ep... Watchmen, of course, but I already said that :-)

KeepingAwake said...

@ poggy!

Wow, maybe Locke's Dad is Widmore? Very interesting thought!


Re: the scene with Hurley, Ben and the chocolate bar:

I didn't see it as comical. I took it as a communication that Hurley has now accepted Ben as one of them--the good guys, the Losties.

Am I the only one? Maybe. LOL

KeepingAwake said...

christemple and danm:

Yes, I think that we were meant to pick up on the many parallels between Ben's mom and Locke's mom, and their early circumstances, right down to Richard Alpert seeking them out.

Both have Moms named Emily, both babies born prematurely, both approximately the same age, both raised in foster care or in care of people who didn't care for them as their own, both have early encounters with Richard and show early signs of a 'sixth sense'. Makes you wonder what sort of test to be the Dalai Lama Ben received from Richard, doesn't it?

Just as Sawyer and Jack are flip sides of the same coin, so are Locke and Ben...

Anonymous said...

I've just finished reading the posts and the main thing that struck me was that danm said that both Locke's and Ben's mothers were named Emily. Anyone think that it could be the same Emily, that Ben and Locke are half brothers?

Also nobodymentioned that Christian looked like crap. He looked pale and thin to my eyes, perhaps that is what you look like in limbo between life and death, and Claire looked like she was Mona Lisa, with that small grin and pale and still.

KeepingAwake said...

@dansmot:

No, not the same Emily. I think the show has made very clear that they were not the same mother, but that there are parallels between the two of them.

DanM said...

keepingawake: Is there some skepticism established that Anthony Cooper isn't Locke's father? If he isn't, my bet is that it's Christian Shephard. The island's Adam? Maybe Locke saw Daddy and baby sister in the love shack?

Another X-men reference is Magnus Hanso. Magnus is the real first name of X-Men arch enemy Magneto. Arch enemy of the Losties - Charles Widmore AKA Magnus Hanso.

The similarities between Locke and Ben are pointing at them both being the "chosen one". Most speculation is that Locke is going to succeed Ben as the Leader and protector of the Island. What if that is backwards and Ben succeeds Locke who is in some kind of course correction time loop thing.

I have been closely studying the screen cap of the first appearance of Jacob. It didn't take a lot of imagination to see Locke's profile with a wig or head dress of some sort.

Look at the forehead and tell me that isn't Locke? But then again, I remember Darlton saying last season that Jacob was someone we hadn't been introduced to YET.

TheycallmeVic said...

"So, I’m assuming we’re to believe the doctor was just killed, the body floated to the time-warp wormhole and whoosh, he was sent back in time to the shore. Do you agree?"

Yes I do, but it doesn't fully explain it. Because somehow the cut on his face also went back in time, as it was freshly stitched again.

I have no idea what's going on there. I can understand his body time traveling to a day earlier, but the cut on his face time traveled even further back??

Ol' Daddy Sizzlegut said...

I had captioning on, since my kid can be a light sleeper; it was definitely "Mallomars".

And if, as has been stated here, Mallomars are the US version of Dream Puffs, then that's definitely not what Hurley shared with Ben. That was some kind of bar-shaped food item, and Dream Puffs are more like a half-sphere.

"Delerue" is French, and means "of the road" (De le rue). The article should be "la" and not "le", because "rue" is feminine. "De la rue" has two meanings I know of, one is a company having to do with paper money and banking (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_La_Rue), and the other is Pierre De La Rue, a renaissance composer. You can read his biography here. His most famous work is arguably Missa l'homme arme, which, and somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, mean "Mass for the Armed Man". John Locke? Knife? I don't know, it's a big stretch.

Anyway, those are my additions to the discussion. I thought 'Cabin Fever' was one of the best episodes yet!

Anonymous said...

What did Claire and Christian mean when they said that Aaron was where he was supposed to be? That he was supposed to be away from Claire? That he was supposed to be on the island in general? That he was supposed to be with Sawyer? If Claire is not supposed to raise him, and jack is not supposed to raise him, who is?

Anonymous said...

Did anyone notice that Locke said Claire when he saw her in the cabin exactly like he did in the Season 1 episode "Special" when Claire reappears after being kidnapped by the others?

Anonymous said...

reading this was like watching the movie 23. ugh

humanebean said...

Nikki: Your point about Cooper being age 30 to Emily's 16 is a possibility ... but now Locke is easily 40 or above and that would make Cooper 70+. He doesn't seem that old to me.

Also, I would normally chalk up Jack's sudden improvement to the island's healing properties ... but it seems curious that we were invited to speculate (by Rose) that the island was allowing Jack to get sick, perhaps because he was working against the island's interests. So, now that he's had the surgery, he's back in the island's good graces? How did that happen?

One other thing stood out to me: when teenage Locke is pulled from his locker, the blood dripping from his nose mirrors the earlier scene with Horace (during the dream sequence) and, of course, the side effects of the "consciousness shift" we've seen with Minkowski and Desmond. Perhaps just a coincidence ... or is it?

Six days and counting ...

Crank said...

Jeez, it's been less than twenty hors since the show aired and there's already SO many posts, I know very few people are gonna read this. I've made similar posts elsewhere before, but no one ever listens or responds. :'(
At the end of the 'Did You Notice?' section, it's stated "Is it possible the plane was brought down because Locke was on it? Is he the key to everything?" and I say No! It's ALL about Hurley, the numbers and the interconnections between everyone.
I think the episode 'Dave' may actually hit it the closest to 'reality'. However, I'm not going to get into too much detail on that. But have you noticed that Hurley just kinda always happens to be there at the end of the season (at the opening of the hatch; on the dock; driving the DHARMA bus on the beach to save the day-and now he just happens to need to be there to find Jacob's cabin??).
Just because the numbers and the interconnections between everyone have been downplayed this year and last, don't think they're not coming back, big time.
Look at the end of this scene http://youtube.com/watch?v=CL5Ocmp0F4g
for the smoke monster off the island right at the end of the scene when Abandon leaves the room. Also, in the episode 'Numbers', I can't find it online, but when Hurley's mom's house is burning down, Smokey is looming over the house. I've never really seen anybody else post about that, but there it is-off the island (Darlton had once said long ago that Smokey has been present even when it's not completely evident. Numbers was always my favorite episode.

Anonymous said...

Was the doctor delivering young John not a look alike for the good Dr. Christian Shepard?
I ran it back even in slow motion and it surely looks like him but with dark hair.
What is their age difference? Or does it even matter. I am all comfused...
I also had a head ache after last nights show. Which I loved, not the head ache..

Charyll said...

Wondering why Christian was wearing boots instead of his white tennis shoes.

Karole said...

Ok did anyone else notice that Frank wrapped up the sat phone in some kind of yellow cloth but when Jack pulled it out of the bag it wasn't wrapped in anything. Was that a prop error? or is that not the same bag that we saw Frank with?

Also another thing no one has mentioned do you remember when they brought Cooper to the island and wanted Locke to kill him. Cooper said to Locke, (I don't remember the exact words) but something along the lines "Don't you know where you are John"? as though Cooper knew where he was. Was there really another reason why they wanted Cooper dead?

And even though John was a young boy, wouldn't you think that Richard would at least look familiar to him? Seeing how Richard never ages. He looks exactually the same as he did when John was a little boy.

Anonymous said...

Mark- interesting about it all being about Hurley.

Personally, I think this has a lot more to do with aaron than we realize.

Unknown said...

Does anyone else think that reincarnation may be a factor here? Locke has memories that haven't happened yet, such as the smoke monster picture he drew... did anyone else think that it looked like Locke's own first encounter with Smokey on the island early in the series?

Secondly, how do we know that Ben and Locke really don't have the same mother? I keep wondering if maybe Johns mother ran away after the heartbreak of losing John, met Ben's father and got married... a fresh start? I was also contemplating whether or not it could have been Locke's grandmother posing as Emily, his mother. Emily was only 15 when she had Locke so the age gap is actually pretty small. She seemed more like the type to do something terrible for money and Emily seemed genuinely in love and broken hearted at losing John and I got the distinct impression her mother forced her to give the baby up. They also both had curly red hair if I remember correctly.

Anonymous said...

Ben's adopted daughter? He kidnapped her! She wasn't adopted, she was stolen.

Anonymous said...

Knowing what Keamy and his gang were heading to the island to do, wouldn't the right thing for Frank to do would be crashing the chopper? He had to know he was as good as dead anyway.

Anonymous said...

Clair was taken to the future and shown Aaron as an adult, and that he turned out fine. That's why she's sitting so serene in the cabin. That's why "Aaron's where he's supposed to be." I don't think the writers will actually turn these characters into "ghosts". Must be time travel. It explains the bus running someone over, car hitting the girl, and so many things.

There's definitely a time machine on the island, and it's giving off swirls of time (hence the wormholes), so I imagine it's either somewhat broke, or the inventors never had it working right. Smokie the serpent is from the future as well, and can be controlled by a shock collar. LOL.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure that someone has pointed this out by now, so forgive me.

The Book of Law is a book by Aleister Crowley, from the early 1900s. So it would make sense that it would look aged and worn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Law

Just thought I'd pop that in there. Love your blog and column - read it every week!

KeepingAwake said...

Reading your updates:

Yes, I think Richard probably has the ability to travel in either time or space, perhaps both.

But he doesn't appear to be attempting to influence events in this episode, but simply to read them. He doesn't try to influence John although he clearly wants to monitor him.

I really think that the writers have made a tremendous effort to make us see the parallels between John and Ben, so I'm puzzled regarding why your notes don't reflect it. Short of naming them both John, I can't see how much more obvious they could make the parallels:

-Both have mothers named Emily
-Both born prematurely
-Both are visited early by 'friends of the Island'
-Both are monitored by Richard Alpert from early on in their childhoods
-Both have difficult social circumstances
-Both kill their fathers
-Both suffer, and subsequently recover from spinal injuries
-They are approximately the same age
-They both can see things that they shouldn't be able to see

It almost seems as though they are brothers of sorts?

Cain and Abel, perhaps? If so, that harkens back nicely to Adam & Eve (the corpses in the caves).

KeepingAwake said...

@ henry:

you may just LOVE this theory! http://lost-life-travel.blogspot.com/

KeepingAwake said...

@danm: sorry I didn't respond earlier!

I don't know if we have reason to believe that Cooper was not John's father or not. Whether he is or isn't, it was important to John's journey that he BELIEVES Cooper is his father.

Knowing Copper is a con man, it leaves some wiggle room as to whether he is indeed Locke's bio-dad.

But if he ISN'T, then he has to be hooked into the island somehow in order to have known that Locke would be a match for him as an organ donor.

I'm not ready to dismiss that Cooper is Locke's father, but I'm intrigued by some of the ideas being thrown around.

Anonymous said...

When Desmond tells Sayid he doesn't want to go with him on the inflatable boat back to the island, I wondered if he was just scared he would get the sickness he got traveling from the island on the helicopter. But did finding his constant cure him of that? I just don't know.

Also, I just suspected that he slipped back into his less courageous character and just doesn't want to be on the island and all its troubles, ever again.

But now, with most of the bad dudes gone off the freighter, he and Michael can possibly fix the freighter engines, and go get help, or radio for help, or something. I think we may see that happen next week as how some other ship is able to rescue the Oceanic 6.

Anonymous said...

At first I thought that Ben and Locke's mothers were different Emily's. After all, we had seen both of them and knew Ben's mother was dead before the sighting of Locke's mother.

But then I realized that Cooper could very easily have paid that woman to say she was Locke's bio mom. He was desperate to get Locke's kidney and was very adept at scamming people.

And the kidney is the reason why Cooper must be the real bio father of Locke. You don't just "know" a total stranger is a perfect match to donate an organ. He would have to get a direct blood relative.

So I think it's very possible that Ben and Locke are half brothers. Emily could easily have gone on to marry and have Ben.

As for the ages of Cooper vs Locke, I think we're getting hung up on the ages the actors appear to be. It has always seemed very silly to me that they chose Tighe to play Locke's father. Tighe is 64 yrs old while Terry O'Quinn is 56. So if we are to use our imaginations to see that Cooper is Locke's father then we need to keep an open mind about all the ages.

And then on a completely different topic: I was questioning why Horace had the nosebleed like the time travelers when it was pointed out to me that the Dharma people got nosebleeds before they died in the purge.

Reverend Ken said...

Re: similarities between Ben's and John's births and upbringing: Anybody else thinking Boys From Brazil?

Anonymous said...

About Abaddon, am I the only one who thinks he is future/grown up Walt?

Also, the candy bar scene between Hurley and Ben was really to drive home the adage "Don't kick a man when he's down". This is completely in line with the writers arc of redemption and goodness.


thomas

alyssag81 said...

Anyone notice the "PAINt LOCKEr" on the ship just before Sayid gets on the Zodiac? It was interesting that after this scene we next hear from Ben that destiny is a "fickle bitch"...John has already had quite a painful life, maybe the pain dosen't end on the island.

Anonymous said...

I wondered about Swoozie Kurtz being his mom, especially when I saw that she wasn't such a bad kid. I don't blame her for not wanting to hold a baby she didn't think she'd keep.

Her mom was a piece of work though, wasn't she?

Anybody else expect Horace to crawl into the cabin through the drainpipe? No? Just me then.

Locke is the Dalai Lama. Who knew?

Anonymous said...

I started out reading all the posts but gasp, there are a lot of them. So I do apologize if I am repeating.
Abbadon said he worked for Oceanic Airlines when he talked to Hurley. We thought he worked for Widmore because he chose the four to go with Naomi - and everyone says it is Widmore they work for.
If you watch this again when Locke is getting into the wheelchair from the bars - Abbadon sounds EXACTLY like Walt. Taller Walt! He could be time traveling himself and what he says seems to fit. Addadon is the first to believe that Locke chose the knife correctly! I can see Walt wanting to "Get Even" and help those on the island. That's why he chose the four. I am not sure who chose Naomi.

Elizabeth, great book you found and it does fit. I never thought the book was The Book of the Law that is being bandied about. When teenage Locke asked his teacher or Principal how the school even knew about him he replied they must have seen his exhibit at the science fair. So Locke should have become, "The Man of Science" and not the Man of Faith.

Why Horace's cabin for Jacob to settle in? It is what it is - a rustic cabin, just what Jacob likes.

There are parallels to births of Locke as all have said but Richard got angry when Locke chose the knife but he was gentle with Ben in the jungle as he questioned him.

I don't think the kidney would have been a match if Cooper had not been Locke's Dad. As to Cooper's age - Mom's exaggerate. Her daughter was a young teen; he could have been 10 years older. And it's funny but Cooper never looked old enough to be Locke's father.

Claire is not dead, she has a bandaid on her forehead. She is hurt though and she is exactly where she should be and so is Aaron. Had Claire gone on, that bag falling on her tent could have hurt both of them!

Unknown said...

Hurly said "Mallow Mars" A type of candy bar. hehe

Unknown said...

When Omar heads into the ship to meet Keamy in the armoury, as per Gault’s instructions, his satellite phone begins beeping. This seems like more than just a random happening. Does it have anything to do with the phone that Frank later throws onto the beach, but the time warp is giving Omar a heads up of something?


He was receiving the Morse code that daniel sent from the previous episode

JackSaw said...

And another weird thing about Doctor Ray: When Keamy slit his throat he had the small scar on his face but when he washed ashore he had a badly stitched face...so his dead body morphed into an earlier version of itself,(pre-death) while floating thru the wormwhole on the way to the beach....my brain cannot compute!...it's a past,present, future jumble??....Thoughts? I really, really LOVE LOST!
And.....Claire is NOT dead....definitely weird but not a ghost...

Anonymous said...

Mark: Hey, I followed your YouTube link to watch the Abaddon scene, but I didn't notice the smoke monster anywhere. Was it just sound, or could you actually see it in some way?
Oh, and the candy Hurley and Ben shared: I'm pretty sure it was an Apollo Bar.

Brian Douglas said...

JackSaw: I'm willing to write off Dr. Ray's growing scar as a production error. Or maybe just drifting through the ocean opened up some.

Anonymous said...

Alpert, Goodspeed, Shephard, Abaddon. Put these mysterious characters in a Locke-centric episode and what you'll have is one of the best hour on TV ever.

What's more, I share the same birthday with Locke, which is 30th of May, two weeks from now, just one day after the Season 4 finale on the 29th. Is it a coincidence?

Anonymous said...

I believe the Mystery Tales comic cover holds the secret to the season finale..."move the island!"
How will it be done?
Will it be done?
Will it SEEM to be done?
The actual comic's story gives the clue!

Anonymous said...

Now that Sayid is leaving on the boat, I wonder if they ever really believed the "Don't trust the Captain" note they got a few episodes ago.

Can they 'move the island' or just alter the magnetic field around the island to disrupt the GPS devices that are leading them there?

Crank said...

Sorry-Ya-I guess I didn't go into too much detail, but at the VERY end, as he walks out the door, there is just a very subtle visual of black smoke (almost looks like a shadow, but not quite. I originally saw it online where someone had slowed it down. Can't find that any more. Watch it fullscreen as he walks out the door at the end. And definitely watch when Hurley's mom's house burns in 'Numbers'. Not so subtle, I think. http://youtube.com/watch?v=CL5Ocmp0F4g

Brian Douglas said...

While reading another Blog (I'm sorry Nikki, but my love for Lost is too great to give to only one woman's blog), some posters made the following observations:

-Abbaddon refers to John as Mr. Locke, which is the same thing Walt called him.

-The DHARMA logo on the secondary proticol was that of the Orchid Station.

-Eko refers to the "Book of Laws" in the story he tells John before presenting him with the missing piece from the Swan filmstrip.

Brandon Kotowski/ job: fan of LOST said...

Although I've always been a big John Locke supporter, I'm sure this episode really renewed a lot of people's love for the character.

- I enjoy how similar Ben's and John's backgrounds are. They were both born prematurely, both their mothers are named Emily, they were both visited by Richard at a young age.

- In the flashback, Locke chose the vial of sand and a compass, noting the future events on the island. The comic had a "hidden land" on the cover, also noting the comic, and the knife is obvious. I believe Locke was wrong in choosing the knife because he is not a true hunter. In last season's episode "Further Instructions", Locke said that the people at his marijuana-growing society were split into farmers and hunters, and he told the cop that he was a hunter, though it was obvious that he was a farmer. I think that is why Richard told him the knife was not for him.

- Christian is definitely dead, but perhaps the island has a type of ESP thing going on. Perhaps that is why so many "illusions" appear to the survivors. I think Claire is still alive, but just "entranced" by the island/Jacob.

- If Locke drew the smoke monster at a young age, can he somewhat see into the future? Or was Ben right with calling destiny a fickle b****?

- Is Abbadon working for a third faction in all of this? He recruited Naomi's central team, but doesn't seem to be working with Widmore, unless Widmore knew about Locke's "talents". I believe it is safe to say that Abbadon is definitely not working with the Others.

- Is Frank telling Jack's camp to follow the helicopter in order to save Locke & company?


That's all I've got. Next week is the first part of the season finale, then it's a week off, then it's the two-hour finale with the last two parts.

Thanks,
Brandon Kotowski

Anonymous said...

Hurley said "mallomars" which is a candy bar (when Locke wakes him up)

Anonymous said...

i believe that the piece of equipment on keemy's arm is a heart rate moniter. If he dies then some major explosions will happen.

Anonymous said...

Doc Jensen seemed to think that this particular "Book of Laws" was the sort of "occult bible" (technically, the law of a religion called "thelema") written by Alistair Crowley in 1904. Having read a little about it, though, your guess is as good as mine as to what it means in the show.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone think that, possibly, Richard Alpert never visited Locke initially when he was child, and that his visit to childhood Locke was done via time travel from the Island? This is to say that Alpert, after meeting Locke on the Island, travelled back in time to watch Locke's development over the years, possibly to determine whether Locke was pre-destined to have this connection with the Island from birth. Maybe Alpert doesn't age because he's always traveling around timelines from one specific point in time. He just changes his hairstyle to fit in wherever (whenever) he goes.

Brian Douglas said...

Cris: I don't. Assuming that Richard is time traveling and not just really old but well preserved (remember Ben's comment to him about remembering birthdays in "The Man Behind The Curtain"), if there wasn't a Richard the visited Locke, then that would imply a parallel timeline were doesn't meet Locke and Richard doesn't go back in time to monitor him. And if that were the case, that would a whole separate timeline from the one we're watching.

Unknown said...

This article shows a baby that was born at six months.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/02/17/preemie.surgery/index.html

Seriously, how does a baby born at "Almost" six months come out crying and able to just be wrapped in a blanket. I am so irked that they thought they could pass that one off on us.

Nikki Stafford said...

V: Yeah, I agree. I've complained so much about the use of babies on this and other shows (Aaron was the size of a 6-month-old at birth, for example, even though now, surprisingly, he actually looks more like a 3-month-old, like they got it right after all... hey, maybe he's like Mork's son on Mork and Mindy and he's moving BACKWARDS... ahem) so I just let that one go.

There's an amazing (and amazingly sad) movie done by the BBC that I saw at the Toronto Film Festival in 2003, and it was called "This Little Life." It's the true story of a baby that was born at 23 weeks, and the long struggle the mother had to try to make it thrive and live over the following weeks. They created an animatronic baby to use in the movie, because a baby born at that age is shorter than a Bic pen (as one doctor says in the film, holding up the pen). Try to find that one to see how one movie managed to actually capture a tiny, fragile person correctly.