Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Lost: 5.04 “The Little Prince”

Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

Doo da doo... so this week’s episode was pretty good, and seemed to have more story and exposition to lead us to the next episode rather than being all, “Oh my god, what does that mean??” or “AH! Did you SEE that?!” I figured we wouldn’t have a lot to talk about, other than trying to decide who had hired the lawyer to get Kate’s DNA or why Sun was packing heat or OH MY GOD IT’S ROUSSEAU!!!!!!!! Oh my god, oh my god, this is so awesome, now we’ll get her flashback only the survivors will actually be part of it and AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S JIN!!!!!!!!!

I was SCREAMING on the couch, and didn’t stop screaming from the first reveal when suddenly there was the second.

I KNEW IT!!! All those doubters out there who have been mocking me all summer and telling me that I really need to get over it and that Jin is dead, HA!! HA, I say!! (You know, I’m really, really not the sort of person who rubs people’s noses in their wrongness and my rightness but this is different... I was SO in the minority on this one.) But I shall stop my gloating there. Having Jin back is payment enough. How many times did I say, “Seriously, though, wouldn’t it be awesome if Sun turns into some coldblooded murderer, hating the remaining Oceanic 5 for being responsible for Jin’s death and then suddenly she returns to the island and... oops??” YAY!! The writers are thinking of me for once.

Which means all my other predictions shall come true. Desmond will leave Penny – for me – and then Sawyer will get off the island... and come to me. And Hurley will move in as my roommate and be my best friend, and... no? They won’t give me these things? Oh... balls.

Le Petit Prince
Le Petit Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, is one of my all-time favourite books. And not to sound completely pretentious, but I first took it in French class, and have yet to find an English translation that does the French justice (though I heard one came out about 5 or 6 years ago that’s supposed to be quite good). Basically, a pilot crashes into the desert and finds a curly-headed little boy who has left his planet, which has three volcanoes that he cleans out every day, and one haughty rose that he loves completely. He’s travelled off the planet to learn more about the world, but now can’t find his way back. So he sits and talks to the pilot about what he’s learned about people on Earth, and has come to realize they’re overly concerned about appearances, they are narrow-minded, and they take for granted what’s truly important. He finds a garden full of roses and becomes upset because he thought his rose was the only one in the world, but then he meets the fox (le renard) and the fox explains that the prince must tame him by allowing him to come a little closer every day. When they finally do get close, he tells the fox about the roses, and the fox says he’s wrong, that the rose really IS special because there may be millions of roses in the universe, but this one rose is the only one that means anything to the little prince. He tells the prince that the only way to truly see is with your heart, not your eyes (the quote I used at the top is from the renard). The prince realizes the only way to get back to his planet is to die, and he talks a snake into biting him, and dies. The pilot doesn’t believe he’s died, and he puts in a plea at the very end of the book, begging anyone to let him know if they ever find him (I can never finish this book without crying).

I’m sure there are many parallels to Lost, and I’ll figure them out when writing my book, but the one that immediately comes to mind is that just as the little prince is bitten by a snake and killed to return to his home planet, Locke is killed to return to the island.

Sun’s Dossier
I’m sure screencaps of the surveillance page that Sun reads will be all over the Internet before this blog entry is even up, but it’s very curious. I’m not sure if it’s meant to be accurate or the props department just once again threw a bunch of crap into a piece of paper and assumed no one would look closely (yeah, whatever...) Here’s what I saw:

Followed the subject for seven days from... Except for one trip to the mailbox, suspect never... again that day. When subject had not passed a visible... minutes. Subject answered the telephone and replied that Lee... shower and would return my call in fifteen minutes. I called... number I keep for such occasions but no message was left.

The last light was extinguished at 11:35 pm

Wednesday morning

Except for three trips to the mailbox, subject never left 183 Pinecrest Drive. When subject had not passed a visible window for thirty minutes, subject answered the telephone and replied that Lee Chin was dead. A victim of suicide.

The last light was extinguished at 12:18 am.

Wednesday afternoon

Except for seven trips to the mailbox, subject never left 183 Pinecrest Drive. When subject had not passed a visible window for thirty minutes, subject answered the telephone, claimed I was Melissa #***ing with her and demanded to know when I mailed her the prints.


The document goes on to talk about setting up a camping chair... pacing the front yard, going to the mailbox again, a Volkswagen Beetle showing up at 1:05pm.

What is strange is that a lot of it seems to be the same material cut and pasted over and over. And why does the investigator's log for Wednesday MORNING end with a lights out at 12:18am?? That doesn't make any sense.

The next page talks about interviewing a clerk at the store, following the car through the streets past an animal clinic, etc.

Quicker than a ray of light...
For anyone who needs a memory jog, the group flashes at one point back to Day 41. Boone is injured at the Beechcraft, and Locke carries him back to the caves to Jack, and then slinks off again into the jungle. Jack desperately tries to save Boone, to no avail. Locke goes back to the hatch and bangs on it with his fists, furious that his faith has let him down and Boone’s now dead because of it (he doesn’t know yet that Boone is dead for sure, but knows it is inevitable). Meanwhile, Claire and Kate are in another part of the jungle where Claire gives birth and about three minutes later is dancing a jig out of the jungle (*cough*). Maybe this was some sort of course correction... Aaron was born on the island, so the island got rid of Boone? Either way, it’s an absolutely pivotal moment on the island, and important that they all flash to it, albeit momentarily.

Highlights:
• I say it again: do NOT mess with Sayid!
• Sawyer: “THANK YOU, LORD!!” [flash to monsoon season] “I TAKE THAT BACK!”
• ROUSSEAU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• JIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The look on Kate’s face when Ben shows up at the marina.

Biggest “GASP!” Moments:
• ROUSSEAU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• JIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurley’s Numbers:
Sayid was unconscious for 42 hours; 42 Panorama Crescent; Long Beach Marina, Slip 23

Did You Notice?:
• You could tell Kate was holding a doll in the opening scene while talking to Jack. Aaron’s head is the size of a watermelon, yet the doll's head is the size of an orange. I'm hungry.
• “I have ALWAYS been with you,” Kate says to Jack. "Except when I was having sex with Sawyer,” I added for her.
• There’s something seriously wrong with Sun... who takes a look at chocolates that look THAT GOOD and immediately lifts them up to get what’s underneath?! I would have been distracted by the candy for at least five minutes before thinking to check the rest of the box.
• So the nosebleeds happen in this order: Charlotte, Miles, Juliet. If they’re supposed to happen to people more quickly the longer they’ve been on the island, and Juliet’s been on there for 3 years (and notice hers happens after about the same number of flashes as Desmond’s did in The Constant, and he’s also been on the island for 3 years), then it stands to reason Miles was there slightly longer than Juliet, since his happens right before hers, and Charlotte much, much longer, since she starts bleeding about 4 jumps before the rest of them. Could this be a suggestion that the baby we saw in the first episode was Miles? Could Miles have been Dr. Chang’s son? When did Charlotte come to the island? Could the reason Miles doesn't remember be because he was far too young?
• I was wondering how Jack could have been treating Sayid when he was persona non grata at that hospital (remember, his breakdown with the oxycontin happens only a couple of days before these scenes). Now we know.
• That orange jumpsuit just wasn’t doing much justice to our dear Hurley. Too bad they didn’t have it in black.
• Was Kate’s main problem with Jack his mangy beard?? The last time she saw him she was squealing away from the airport in her car, then returned to scream at him about what an insanoid he is, and now, about two days later, he crosses the street over to her and she’s smiling and commenting about how smooth his face is.
• “Ajira Airways” was part of the brief Lost ARG that happened before season 5. You can see the website at www.ajiraairways.com.
• I figured that Claire’s mom had been the person who hired the attorney all along, so I was very disappointed when I was right. And then pleasantly surprised when I was wrong. Was anyone else watching that scene going, “Jack... SHUT UP!” Thank God he did... but I wonder if what he DID say might help Mrs. Littleton piece something together? If you remember from Claire’s Goth chick flashback, when she was pregnant she was visiting her mother in the hospital. Her mom was in a coma, and Claire was telling her everything. Is there any possibility some of what Claire said to her stayed in her subconscious and it’ll come up again? Or is that the real end of the storyline and we don’t have to speculate about her. Notice Jack said that Mrs. Littleton didn’t know that Aaron existed, but she comments to Kate in the season 4 finale that she has a beautiful baby. Also, you’d think she’d have followed the media VERY closely following the discovery of the Oceanic 6, and would OBVIOUSLY know who Aaron is. He’s only one of 6 people she’d have had to remember from the press conference. Wouldn’t someone whose daughter was killed on that flight have cut out every clipping imaginable? She tracked down Jack at his father’s funeral, so she was clearly keeping dibs on them.
• Is it a coincidence that Ben’s lawyer is the same guy currently suing Oceanic?
• As soon as Locke turned over the canister I KNEW it was going to be Rousseau’s crew (the big BA-BUM! at the end was a little anticlimactic, when I’m sure EVERY viewer figured that one out). The canister said “Besixdouze” which is a direct reference to The Little Prince: in the book the narrator relates a story about a man who had discovered a new asteroid called B 612. He first relates his finding to a scientific conference in 1909 while dressed in Turkish garb. No one listens to him. He returns in 1920 to relate the exact same story, but is dressed in English clothing, and everyone applauds him loudly.
• When Rousseau and her crew are on the boat, they keep referring to Montand by name. Montand was the guy Rousseau mentions in the season 1 finale when they’re heading to the Black Rock, and she tells them Montand lost his arm.
• Rousseau’s husband Robert was seriously hot.

So Many Questions...
• How much do I love that Miles puts his water in a flask? Does he have an alcohol problem we haven’t seen yet?
• Can a law firm really just demand a blood sample from a person simply because a client demands it? I’m a believer in all things Lost, but I’m not sure I’m buying this storyline. I can’t just demand the blood sample of someone and their kid because I think they might be lying about the maternity of the child. There would have to be some strong evidence to do such a thing, and I don’t think the client could hide themselves. I’m just not believing this one, unless there’s a lawyer out there who can tell me differently.
• So who was the guy who came into Sayid’s hospital room and attacked him? Was he sent by Widmore? Ben? Does Ben think this is the only reason he can keep Sayid still long enough to get him back to the island?
• Where was Vincent when they got to the camp? (Anyone else wonder if he was eaten??)
• Whose boat does the group take? Why are they hostile to them (other than the fact they just stole their boat?) The camp looks long abandoned, but the boat looks old. Maybe it was Bernard and Rose... what if it was themselves?
• What was Montand’s problem? He seemed really angry all the time. I’m sort of happy knowing he’s going to lose a limb.
• Why was Ben trying to take Aaron? Was it all a plan to bring them to that point so he could lure Kate back to the island or was he really trying to take him?

Next week:


UPDATE: My DocArzt column just went up here.

67 comments:

Benny said...

SOOOOO GOOOD!!! I already knew about Rousseau from the cast lists, but I didn't realize we were going to see them come on the island with FREAKIN' JIN!!!

Miles might very well be the baby from the premiere, and Charlotte could have been born from previous inhabitants (hostiles or mixed)!

Why did Sayid's attacker have Kate's address? Next victim or something else.

I don't think it is a coincidence that Ben's lawyer is also taking cases against the crash! (on a Carole side note, she's not casted for future episodes, but we never know).

Now here's my theory on Jin: he was propelled by the explosion and drifted right into the island's radius, all the while unconscious on that plank (lucky for him) and suffered through the time jumps. Now he had to drift fast since the chopper was going from the boat to the island but didn't get caught in the island's sphere. Maybe they were in the air and that has a different effect than in the water?
Now the question is: how will it change the French crew's history on the island?

I think that Kate really cares about Aaron and she knows Jack wants to do the right thing here and help, which is why she lets him. But I agree it's quite puzzling the quick change in attitude.

The law firm has the approval of a judge, so something is going on here.

Requires another viewing, tomorrow. In the meantime here's my big nitpick or OOPS:
Locke saw the light when he returned to the Hatch at the end of “Deux Ex Machina”, at night. The next day jack tried to save Boone’s life, by the end of the day, Aaron was born, at night ("Do No Harm").
I re-watched both on fast motion and it's right. Boone did not die the same night as the column of light, like Locke claimed tonight.

Anonymous said...

hurley's numbers are being broadcast over rousseau's crew's walkie. turn your teevee up :)

Benny said...

That's right. I remember noticing them. That was the original broadcast before Danielle changed it.

Blam said...

A quick round-up of my favorite lines and some thoughts:

Jin!

Sayid is the man (again), with his secret ninja spy moves.

"I can fix this, Kate. I can fix it."

Oh, Jack...

"That was my lawyer."

Can this man deliver a line or what?

"Time travel's a bitch."

And speaking of dogs: Where or when is Vincent?

"Finally! Anyone for some Dharma beer?"

I never realized how incongruous "Dharma beer" sounded before. Maybe I'll pop one open to enjoy with my Taoburger.

When Sawyer cursed the empty beer cans and the gang wondered who took the Zodiac raft, I got a laugh contemplating whether a flash would come along and send them just far enough back to be the ones who drank the beer and took the Zodiac raft.

"Anybody speak French?"

Ooh, Nikki's gonna be happy. That was my first thought. My next thought was how meta-appropriate Locke's question was, because the following scene was all in French, most of it beyond my high-school French to follow.

Danielle is so young.

So is it me, or is Miles a slim, more subdued, Asian version of Vince Vaughan? (Okay, that's a lot of qualifiers.)

Now to actually read Nikki's post...

Anonymous said...

Young Danielle doesn't look anything like old Danielle, but I don't care because I agree with Nikki and her husband is HOT!

JIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, this has made my whole day. Just before I watched that episode of Lost I was feeling fed up and drained and now I have a big grin on my face and feel totally revitalised. I am a sad person and need to get a life. Lol.

It makes up for Sawyer for being so moony over Kate which is getting on my nerves in a big way. She really doesn't deserve him.

Blam said...

Nikki: "And not to sound completely pretentious ..."

You spell "favorite" the British way, Nikki. So too LATE. 8^)

Nikki: "“I have ALWAYS been with you,” Kate says to Jack. "Except when I was having sex with Sawyer,” I added for her."

I'd have laughed out loud, but people are sleeping in the next room. I thought that line was really precious, but whenever I veer towards Jack/Kate 'shipper territory, I remember her getting it on with Sawyer -- and how the two of them are more alike.

Nikki: "[W]ho takes a look at chocolates that look THAT GOOD and immediately lifts them up to get what’s underneath?"

Maybe the ammo is in the chocolates!

Nikki: "Could this be a suggestion that the baby we saw in the first episode was Miles?"

As he doesn't know that he's ever been on the island before, to quote The Magic 8-Ball, "As I see it, yes."

Nikki: "She tracked down Jack at his father’s funeral, so she was clearly keeping dibs on them."

Mrs. Littleton was probably attending the funeral because Christian was her daughter's father too.

Nikki: "Can a law firm really just demand a blood sample from a person simply because a client demands it?"

I'm not a lawyer, but I'll give this a shot. When they have a SUBPOENA, yes, which Norton said they did, but not just because they're lawyers, no. And I know it's not exactly the whole "right to face your accuser" thing you get with a trial, but it does seem to me that, even if Kate wouldn't have an absolute right to know who the client was, the veil of secrecy would be at least an exception to standard practice that a judge would have to grant upon petitioning by the client's lawyers.

Nikki: "Whose boat does the group take? ... [W]hat if it was themselves?"

The other boat wouldn't be themselves, because since they haven't been on that other boat YET they would have to deliberately shoot at themselves after they've already been shot at -- future-they would know that it was past-they on that boat.

And the only reasons why they'd shoot at themselves deliberately would be if they were trying to change the past, which so far they seem to believe is undesirable if not impossible, or conversely if future-they found themselves in this situation and realized that they HAD to shoot at past-they to preserve the course of history, secure in knowing that none of past-they would be hurt.

So now you have me explaining your hunch into possibility after all. 8^) The other boat could still be familiar characters, of course, just a different batch of them. And we don't know if anyone on the chase boat was hit by Juliet's return fire, which would be quite the kink if it was themselves in the future.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Sawyer and Kate use a boat like that to escape the Hydra island in Season 3?

Blam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Blam said...

I forgot this one (and now there's more...):

Nikki: "Why was Ben trying to take Aaron? Was it all a plan to bring them to that point so he could lure Kate back to the island or was he really trying to take him?"

Since we know that Ben is a con man and manipulator, that he believes in the island, and that he has a history of taking people's children, I'd say yes to both.

Benny: "[H]ow will [Jin's presence among them] change the French crew's history on the island?"

It might not. We don't yet know, with Desmond as a possible exception, whether history can be altered -- indeed, Faraday and Ms. Hawking aver that it can't. From what people here have said, the producers have stated that Lost doesn't traffic in branching alternate timelines, and so far none of our island crew's adventures into the past have altered the events of past episodes; if anything, they may have helped bring them about. So Jin might always have come ashore with Rousseau's crew, although even with Older Rousseau's sometimes tentative state of mind it would be strange if she doesn't recognize Jin should they hang out in the past for any substantial length of time.

Ali Bags: "Young Danielle doesn't look anything like old Danielle ..."

I wondered how they were either going to youthify Mira Furlan or, once I came across the listing for a Young Danielle on IMDB looking up something else, how they'd find someone who resembled her, and you're right, they did neither. Maybe you'd need someone other than me to play me 17 years ago, but while I've gained weight and my beard's gone white, my features haven't changed that much since I was 21, and if all you'd ever seen was current me then for the purposes of this hypothetical show you could assume I was heavy back at 21 too. And that brings me back to my point about YD looking so young: Mira Furlan was 50 when her episodes were shot, and Young Danielle looked about 20; you'd need YD to be 27 and Older Rousseau to be 44 for Alex to be 16, and even meeting towards the middle like that both are just past unlikely for me.

The character name of Young Danielle Rousseau has been replaced in the IMDB cast info with Young Frenchwoman, by the way, eliminating the spoiler that I found inadvertently last week. (I just went there to find an age for YD Melissa Farman, unsuccessfully, and while I could poke around the web further I feel like a stalker doing so.)

Anonymous said...

Sawyer: Who came in these? Other Others?

He's not as daft as he makes out is he? Lol!

Anonymous said...

Well, for some reason, I enjoyed this episode more than last weeks. I don't really know why. Actually, that's a lie. BRIAN K. VAUGHN! He was co-writer of this week's episode, and trust me, folks, the man is a GOD.

Nik, as soon as my girlfriend saw the gun under the chocolates, she said "Bugger the gun, I'd be eating those chocs first!" Also, your theory about Miles being the Chiang's baby sounds great to me. I never even considered it when Dan said 'Are you sure?'

I have to say that I'm loving Sawyer this season, also. LOVED his 'I take it back!' line. Gold, Jerry. Gold.

@ Blam: It's not the British way, it's the RIGHT way. Long live the Commonwealth! :)

PS. YAY JIN!

Anonymous said...

It appears that the files that Sun receives and the file MSCL-Dad hands Ben about Hurley had the same file jackets. Now I know legal files are usually similar but were these exactly the same. If so did Ben send the file and gun to Sun, knowing he could lure her to the pier for departure?

Anonymous said...

My personal favorite moment of last night's show was when the ones left behind on the Island (notice I capitalized that because I figure at this point, it's a proper noun and Ben is heeeere, holding a gun to my head)came upon the camp from I assume the future and they discover the landed boats. The question was posed, "Whose boats are these?" and not even missing a beat, Sawyer looks at Juliet and goes "Other others?".

Classic Sawyer.

And of course, I totally flew out of my chair when the Frenchies turned over the guy in the ocean and I witnessed the return of JIN!!! Boo-yah!

Something's up with Sun, by the way....and how cool (or sinister?) is it that EVEN NOW....OFF the Island, Ben is STILL pulling everyone's strings??

And WHEN am I gonna get to see the origins of Ol' Smokey???

Just wonderin'.

Nikki, as always, great post. When I was watching last night, as a matter of fact, I found myself wondering what little tidbits you'd be a-blogging about. HAHA!

Oh look! Here's comes another white fl---


BLOOP!

(I never get tired of that...oh look, now my nose is bleeding.)

Balls.

:)

Anonymous said...

Nikki spells it favourite because she's Canadian. Therefore, it's the right way. :)

You can't have Desmond unless I get Sayid.

I thought Jack might be the one trying to get custody because he wanted Kate back on the Island. He has some legal claim - Ben doesn't. Still, not surprised it was Ben, for the same motivation.

Jin! I'm so happy. I wonder if he's picked up some illness while at sea, and that's what kills the French crew? That it was always part of the time line?

First the Heroes guys, now Hurley. I guess orange jumpsuits are the 'in' thing.

Anonymous said...

To me, this was my favorite episode so far this season. As much as I love the freighter folk, this episode with the Oceanic 6 and their interaction with each other is the core of this show.

Fave moments:

- In Michael's season 1 finale voice: JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNN!
- When Jack is trying to explain Aaron, Mrs. Littleton goes "Who's Aaron?" Oops...I wonder how Jack got out of that one?
- How the writers Scooby Doo'd me by throwing me off who was after Kate...D'OH!
- Sun getting all Alias B*tch on Ben...looking at the previews she is going to find out Jin is alive, I kind of wish she wouldn't find out until she got to the island, but I guess that's the only way Ben could get her to go back
- Rousseau finding Jin, that was a stroke of genius, I would have never imagined this combination

(Stupid) questions from me:
- Is it just me or is the interaction between Sawyer and Juliet kind of forced (almost like they HAD to pair them up because Jack and Kate are not island players)
- I must have missed something, but ever since Sayid told Hurley to stay away from Ben, it got me wondering, how did Sayid go from working for him to hating him again, I MUST have missed something there
- does Ben control EVERYTHING? We know he is capable of a lot to get the O6 back to the island like the lawyer and Kate, could he be the one who killed Nadia so that Sayid would be pissed off enough to work for him?
- with all the man candy that Nikki has to deal with every week with Desmond and Sawyer, can she really handle having Rousseau's young hunk husband further detract her from her reporting duties or is she going to be overwhelmed and have serious migraines and develop nose bleeds? *wink*

Rebecca T. said...

This episode was much better than last week's. I loved it! Back to the Losties and it had a better flow. Finally starting to answer a few questions. A few.

Nikki: “I have ALWAYS been with you,” Kate says to Jack. "Except when I was having sex with Sawyer,” I added for her.

And when you moved to the caves and when I took Claire back to the hatch where she was kidnapped and when....

Nikki: There’s something seriously wrong with Sun... who takes a look at chocolates that look THAT GOOD and immediately lifts them up to get what’s underneath?!

As soon as Sun got the package delivered my sister said, "It's a gun!" We both got a good laugh when she opens the chocolate and, guess what? A gun!

Nikki: So the nosebleeds happen in this order: Charlotte, Miles, Juliet...Could this be a suggestion that the baby we saw in the first episode was Miles?

When Daniel asks if Miles was ever there before and Miles says no Daniels asks, "Are you sure?" I think this is most definitely a hint that Miles was there before.

Okay, I have a theory about all of this. Obviously, just a theory.

Charlotte and Miles were both born on the island, but Miles left before Charlotte which is why Charlotte knows she was there before and Miles doesn't.

Charlotte, Miles and Juliet are the first to experience these symptoms because they are Others that are not Others anymore. So they are loose in time like the Losties, but still more strongly connected to the Island like the Others.
They're experiencing temporal whiplash because they are tethered to the island, but not firmly attached like they should be.
Also, perhaps the Island is punishing them for leaving :)

I know that doesn't explain why Mynkowski (sp?) was getting the same symptoms, unless he had some connection to the island as well.

My head hurts. :)

Okay, at the end when Jack tells Kate, "It's okay, he's with me." speaking about Ben...I'm thinking, funny Jack, real funny - nothing's okay and he is NOT with you.

Ironic that Jin finally learns some English, but he's picked up by the French and so still can't communicate.

I loved the young Rousseau. I thought they did a really good job with the actress. There are a lot of changes, but think about how much Rousseau has been through between this landing and when Sayid first encounters her. All of that would have a physical toll, too.

And I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Jin is alive! My sister and I both screamed and laughed and screamed again! Yeah!

Lost blows my mind in such a good way!

Benny said...

Blam: I know we don't know yet. And the answer could very well be "in no way", but I just had to put it out there, since it either is a disturbance or the proper course.

Kimberley: I think the files are similar because ABC/prop made only the one version. She got to the pier not because of the information in the file but because Kate called her.

Roland: Sayid's role reversal, you didn't miss it, it hasn't been show yet/ever.


Who was in the boat: consider this, if it was themselves shooting, this means that they have to jump back to the exact same spot in time just behind themselves. So that would make it a double of time travelers in the same period, which I don't think is possible given the mechanics of the show. The flash would end up making both of them disappear. I'm trying to have a simpler explanation of it.

Anonymous said...

Benny -

The end of Deux Ex Machina and the end of the following episode Do No Harm happen around the same time.

In Deus Ex Machina, Locke brings the injured Boone back to the caves around the late morning/afternoon. Then it jumps to that night with Locke at the Hatch. The following episode, Do No Harm, picks up right when Locke left Boone at the caves. Then it follows the rest of the days events with the other characters leading to Claire giving birth to Aaron with Kate's help. So it seems like the Left Behinders seeing these events does make sense within Season 1 continuity.

As for Claire's mother not knowing Aaron from the Oceanic Six, I guess it's possible she doesn't pay attention to the news, or maybe they never disclosed Aaron's name to the public.

And I agree that the people on the boat that were shooting at the Left Behinders are the Oceanic 6. The Left Behinders must have traveled 3 years into the future.

Glad Jin isn't dead. I thought they would reveal he was and possibly reveal what happens to someone when they die on the island, thus explaining all the ghosts that keep popping up. Maybe next week's episode will reveal what happened to him after the freighter blew up. Most likely he floated to within the vicinity of the island to time travel. Curious to see how Ben's going to prove that Jin's alive to Sun.

Nikki Stafford said...

Oh, my dear Blam: Spelling "favourite" with a u isn't pretentious; I'm Canadian, and that's how we spell it. You know, the RIGHT way. Just like honour, colour, humour, judgement, and travelling with two l's. How odd that Americans see correctness as pretension! (heeheee...)

Awesome comments all around, guys.

Benny: I'll have to go back to the order of events and check, because when I first saw the shaft of light I thought no, that's wrong, that came after, but the more I thought about it the more I thought, no, it was right. Because Boone dies at night, the shaft of light happens at night, and Aaron is born at night. By the daytime, Claire is walking out of the jungle with Aaron, Jack's told everyone Boone is dead, and Locke shows up to say his death was the sacrifice the island needed. So I think it was actually correct. We never see the things in the same screen (and I certainly never realized they were so close together before) but I think the continuity cops really did their homework this time. :)

Benny said...

Nikki, edgeshat, I think that's right. Since the caves are dark, I always assumed that Locke brought Boone to Jack at night and had immediately returned to the hatch.

I figured the following episode was the continuity that Jack spends the entire following day trying to save Boone while Locke is pondering/philosophing/etc. by the hatch until the next morning (24= hours). I know the light/death/birth all happened at night but I just put them in separate nights:

light -> one full day -> death/birth


@edge: that's what I figured about the ones shooting too. They might have come on Ajira and were able to crash or travel somehow to the island.


Here's my only quirk about Jin getting caught in the radius. If he was floating towards the island, how could it do it faster than the chopper. We know it had left the boat and was on its way back to the island. Yet they didn't get caught in the radius!

Austin Gorton said...

Can a law firm really just demand a blood sample from a person simply because a client demands it? I’m a believer in all things Lost, but I’m not sure I’m buying this storyline.

Ah, but is Kate buying it? Because really, that's all that matters. Whether what the lawyer is threatening is truly legal or not is irrelevant if it's merely being used as a scare tactic against Kate, similar to what Sun mentioned in "The Lie."

As to the subject of nosebleeds, if we recall what Daniel theorized last season, Desmond's exposure to a large dosage of EM energy accounted for his getting Time Travel Sickness. Since he was at ground zero of the hatch explosion he was bathed in the stuff, along with whatever he picked up slowly and naturally during his time on the island.

If we assume that ALL people on the island for any large amount of time get hit with a small amount of that residual energy, than the longer one is on the island, the more they absorb, so the sooner they'll be affected by the time travel.

Which is my long-winded way of agreeing with Nikki...Charlotte has spent the most time on the island, followed by Miles and Juliet (whose exposure to the EM energy seems to be about the same) and then, presumably, the Losties and Daniel.

Of course, the sticky wicket is Locke, who, while not at ground zero of the hatch explosion was more or less at ground one, and should probably be showing the symptoms quicker than anyone as a result.

PS "favourite" might be correct, but here in America, we're more efficient: we don't have time to go dropping needless vowels all over the place :)

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Sayid turned against Ben because he found out those people he's been killing had nothing to do with Nadia's death.

Benny said...

Remember that, despite being at ground zero, it took a few time traveling trips for Desmond to get nosebleeds. On top of that, only his mind was skipping, which put him in not only different times but also different places (Scotland/England v. the Island).

The ones left behind are physically jumping through time but they remain in the same spot, which would possibly be less demanding on the mind since the visual aids are identical and the body follows the mind.

This is my long-winded way of explaining why Locke hasn't suffered anything yet. He was almost as close as Desmond, but he is going through a different experience than Desmond as well, one that is less demanding on the mind.

Anonymous said...

So Ben was behind the lawyers threatening to take Aaron from Kate - it makes sense, this way Kate will think the only way to keep Aaron is to go back to the island with Ben and the rest. Which is what Ben wants.

But as soon as Kate accuses Ben of this he admits it. Which would probably make her NOT want to go with Ben all the more.

???????????????????????

Also, no you definitely need more than that to force a person into giving up a blood sample. Any first year law student could file an injuction and block this. But of course, it's LOST so Kate never challenges this - just accepts it as gospel.

Nikki Stafford said...

Re: Locke and nosebleeds. I wonder if this is a hint that he's actually native to the island? He could be immune to the nosebleeding because he's always been there. Desmond stopped the nosebleeds by finding his constant, and maybe the island is Locke's constant? That's why when he was off the island, he was completely lost and his life turned upside-down, and why when he returned he's been unnaturally attached to it?

Nikki Stafford said...

Teebore: "favourite" might be correct, but here in America, we're more efficient: we don't have time to go dropping needless vowels all over the place :)

Sigh... you got me there. But... maybe it's my Commonwealth upbringing, but "favourite" just LOOKS so much nicer. :)

But yes, when I'm not a writer, and I'm an editor, and I have to edit our fiction to have Canadian spelling, and our pop culture titles to have American spelling. Try switching between the two... not fun. ;)

Anonymous said...

These are GREAT comments that follow an insightful dissection of a wonderful episode! We were on the edge of our seats throughout the entire hour (well, except for the numerous commercials, of course). Loved Sayid's move in the hospital to not get hit by the darts; loved Hurley's cheerfulness at getting away from Ben (have to agree that orange is NOT his color!); knew we'd see the young Rousseau when Locke asked if anyone spoke French; yelled out loud when we saw it was Jin. Can't wait until next week's episode!

Anonymous said...

Maybe Locke's not experiencing any nosebleeds because the Island doesn't want to hurt or kill him. It seems like the Island wants Locke to leave so he can bring back the Six.

Either that or Locke will have one in a future episode.

However I do think that Miles/and or Charlotte were on the Island previously and don't remember. Quite possibly Miles could be the son of Dr. Pierre Chang.

Has anyone found a translation to the French that was spoken in the episode? Kinda annoying the show didn't translate it themselves.

Benny said...

I can probably translate it later today. But if someone finds it somewhere or does it first: less work for me!

Nikki Stafford said...

The French that I heard seemed to be mostly background chatter, with them all arguing in the boat (Montand was as argumentative in French as he was in English), and then they see Jin and Rousseau wanted to pull him in but Montand or someone was saying no, leave him there. That's what it sounded like to me, but I really wasn't paying very close attention.

So yes, Benny or anyone out there who is French, if you could translate I'll put it up on the blog! ;)

Deb said...

Haven't had the chance to read all of the other posts yet so my sentiments may mirror others.....I too am happy that I stood by conviction that Jin is alive. Even more happy, like Nikki, that I was right all along. Yea Jin!!! I think he will be shocked though at the person that Sun has become.

Nikki Stafford said...

And just because I'm in the mood to gloat today about how I need to be some sort of prophet because my predictions COME TRUE... I also predicted last night that we wouldn't have much to talk about with this episode after the initial, "WOO, JIN!! Awesome, yeah... hm. That's great. Yeah. *cough*"

My DocArzt column just went up here:

http://www.docarzt.com/lost/lost-news/what-nikki-noticed-504-the-little-prince/

Anonymous said...

Roland - - does Ben control EVERYTHING? We know he is capable of a lot to get the O6 back to the island like the lawyer and Kate, could he be the one who killed Nadia so that Sayid would be pissed off enough to work for him?

I don't think Ben was involved with the Nadia murder - as when he arrived into the future after turning the FDW, he saw Sayid on the television burying her.

Now, if you really want to blow your mind; was the man who Ben claimed killed Nadia really the killer or did Ben just totally set Sayid up by having those pictures of the man doctored to convince him?

Anonymous said...

I HATED the Little Prince... Probably because I was forced to read it in my French Language & Literature course.
My wife, good French Canadian that she is, loves it and says I should give it another chance.
OK, you and my wife win (you always were persuasive!) I will start to read that book -- in its original French -- to my daughter tonight.
That said, if I hate it and I've wasted more time, I'm going to blame you (and the producers of Lost).
By the way, while it was nice to see Claire back in the show, when do we get to the flashbacks with dark-haired Claire? She was smokin'!

Anonymous said...

Oh, and the French? It was really tough to decipher while playing. My wife and I rewound it a few times and there was a lot of overtalking, "Hurry up's" "He's still breathing..." That kind of stuff. Nothing earth shattering.

Nikki Stafford said...

Frank: I believe Ben made up the story about Omar. I believe Nadia was killed either by happenstance or maybe by Widmore (?) and Ben luckily walked into that one, and he made up the story about Omar to get Sayid on side.

Nikki Stafford said...

Oh Menard, you bad little Frenchman, you. ;) Seriously, I really enjoyed it. But I also had a French high school teacher who insisted on reading it aloud and then would cry every time she got to the end. It was infamous in the school... kids would say, "Oh, take so-and-so's class because she'll CRY during Le Petit Prince!" I thought it was really sad, actually, and felt really bad for her when she broke down.

But I do love it. And if you don't, then I will accept the full weight of your wrath. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks Frank and Nikki, again, you guys are so awesome at remembering details. Yes I remember the scene now when he saw the funeral on TV. It was in Tunisia, right?

With all this time jumping, which to me is awesome to try to figure out when they are, I wonder if the most appropriate ending is going back to before the Losties got onto the plane and fade to black...or would that be too cliche and cheesy? (Of course Journey would be playing in the background LOL)

humanebean said...

Nikki, We've always thought that you were a prophetess when it comes to LOST!
Last night's episode felt oddly like a shift of gears for this season. For a moment there (aside from the obvious plot complications) I felt as though I was watching an episode from Season 2 or so. But these kind of episodes that seem to give us less to puzzle over immediately often give way (upon later reflection) to deeper identifications with the characters. Perhaps what the show runners intended at this stage?

Hopefully, I can explain better what I mean. And so it goes ... some things that jumped out at me:
1) The opening scene with Jack & Kate aboard the Searcher seems to show us the very moment when each set out on their post-island identities for this season. Kate, who has always run rather than work things out, starts planning to settle down and raise Aaron. Jack is focused on building the Big Lie that will completely unravel him later. Kate's maternal instinct strongly pushes her to save what she can after so much has been lost. Jack is the stern father who wants to manipulate the O6 to lie according to his dictates, and thus forces them apart. This resonates later when we see Jack trying to bring them all together again, still manipulating and wondering why he can't get the others to trust him.

2) Juliet, pumping Daniel for information on the timeshift sickness. Does anyone ever ask for more details from others while revealing less herself than Juliet?

3) It was frustrating to watch Kate talk with the lawyer in his offices. She immediately buys what he's selling and looks flabbergasted when he mentions a custody exchange. What? You never even considered that this might be the outcome? For someone who has evaded the law and hidden her identity in the past, Kate folds like a cheap house of cards here.

4) It's more than the sight of a clean-shaven Jack that gets to Kate outside the lawyers' offices. Rather than the demanding, self-absorbed and pathetic Jack she has been dealing with for so long at this point, she sees him looking reasonably together, focused and solicitous of HER welfare. The payoff for this comes outside the motel, when Jack says of Aaron, "after all, he's my family too". This emotional roller-coaster crashes when they arrive at the marina later and she feels betrayed AGAIN.

5) Which reminds me: why would anyone EVER try to convince someone to trust them with the reason that "Ben is here to help us". WHAAAAAAAT? With 'frenemies' like that ....

6) You gotta admit, Ben is an Evil Genius League of his own. Carole Littleton is solicited to sue Oceanic, Ben's man collects a tidy fee in the settlement and as a bonus she is used to flush the O6 out and back towards the Island. Bravo! Oh, and "He's my lawyer" is neck and neck with "Oh, nothing ... nice to meetcha" for my favorite line of the season so far.

7) Unless I missed it, Dan Norton tells Ben that the charges will likely be dropped against Hurley since the dead man outside was killed before he escaped. Took THAT long for Sayid to get inside and spring him, did it? Oh, and that little business about the dead man in the parking lot outside the safe house and his partner inside impaled on a dishwasher? You know, the one where Hurley was photographed with a gun in his hand and (what looks like blood) on his shirt? Those charges won't stick either? Oh, wait - this is the same Police Dept. whose incompetence helped get O.J. acquitted. My bad - carry on, Mr. Norton.

8) Those boats on the beach do remind me of the one Kate, Sawyer and Karl used to escape the Hydra Island. The camp looks relatively recently deserted, too. But who chases them in the other boat? My money is on a group of Others, perhaps fresh from the Temple Station, who have learned what happened to their friends and are now gunning for our Lostaways again. They were gaining FAST before that last flash.

9) Which reminds me ... Locke, Sawyer and the rest reach the beach ... and no-one thinks to check on how Charlotte has survived this most recent timeshift? Methinks that would be priority one. I'm not sure that time spent on the island is the determining factor for who gets the nosebleeds and when. Daniel also said in the past that the effects could be "random" and variable, albeit influenced by electromagnetic energy and/or radiation. I'm looking to see a pattern establish itself as relating to the time period they've jumped to determining who gets the nosebleeds.

10) I've been waiting to see Rousseau's backstory more than any as-yet-unrevealed-character-history so far. Rock on! And, congratulations Nikki, for accurately forecasting Jin's survival. Yea, we bow low before your prognosticating prowess! Got anything on this week's lottery? Really? THOSE numbers?? Shhhh ... don't tell anybody else...

Benny said...

I agree that the boat is the starting point for the O6. I would go as far as say every O6 based episode will start there and something will revolve around the topic/main character.

As for the dead guy in the parking lot, he wasn't killed by the gun, and neither was the dishwashed guy. Studying the scene should reveal that some tranquilizer darts were fired and that there is another suspect in those two killings.

In the case of a Roussseasu 'flashback', I know everyone was waiting for it but after claiming such, Damon & Carleton changed their perspective, suggesting her backstory may be seen in another character's flashback. Well, close enough!

I'm starting the translation, I should have it soon for you Nikki!

Anonymous said...

Can a law firm really just demand a blood sample from a person simply because a client demands it? I’m a believer in all things Lost, but I’m not sure I’m buying this storyline.

I'm a California attorney, and no, there was nothing in that scenario remotely related to the morass that is the practice of law. Effective for storytelling, but not remotely realistic. The legal action would have been required to be filed against Kate, since she is in custody of Aaron. Kate, of course, would have been served as the respondent/defendant in the lawsuit. Then the petitioner/plaintiff would have to serve Kate with notice that they want her and Aaron's blood. Kate would have had lots of time to file motions, request extensions, seek experts, etc., to oppose the request. Then, assuming Kate lost the motion, a mutually agreed-upon date would be scheduled for the blood to be drawn. And it would be done at a lab, instead of by an attorney sticking a needle in her at her house (must have been a special class he took in law school - Law and Drawing Blood. Or How to Suck Your Opponent Dry - Literally). It would be a long, drawn out court battle with lots of notice and fighting, and is a good example of why I no longer practice law.

Anonymous said...

On a totally different note....did anyone else notice that the speech audio in the broadcast was slightly muffled? My wife and I had to crank the volume to understand what they were saying....then the commercials would kill us. No other show before or since has this problem. I'm hoping it was a one time fluke.

The Question Mark said...

I'll make ya a deal, Nikki- you get Desmond if I get Penelope ;)

You guys may disagree, but I have a feeling sun's target is NOT the eminent Mr. Linus, but she's actually after Jack.
Think about it for a sec: in all the surveillance pics of ben, Jack was right there next to him. The audience just assumes ben is her target.
also, Ben killed Keamy, which caused the freighter to go ker-plooey and "kill" Jin, but Sun doesn't know that.
what Sun DOES know is that kate was on her way to bring Jin to the chopper when Jack stopped her and told her there was "no time".
Looks to me like Sun wants Jack's head on a stake for that, and while she has no love for Ben, either, she's got Shephard in her sights...

Also, Smokey & Jacob...i miss you both.

Anonymous said...

Ya gotta love the fans on Nikki's blog. She asks a California law question, and a California law attorney answers it.

Are we sure that Jacob isn't Nikki?

Benny said...

@?
But she does say to Charles (yeah, we're on a first name basis) that they both want Benjamin Linus dead. Maybe she's on to Jack too, and I agree with you that there's enough out there for her to be. But you certainly can't deny her own admittance to wanting Ben as well. She could be going for the double shot.
On the plus side, having Jack and Ben together costs less on the private investigator!

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, there are over 40 comments, so I'm not sure if this was picked up yet...
But did anyone see the name on the side of the van Ben was driving?
It said "Canton-Rainier."
Remember when Jeremy “Locke” Bentham was in the funereal home called Hoffs-Drawler? And that turned out to be an anagram for “Flash Forward”?
Well, Canton-Rainier comes out to reincarnation, doesn't it?
Could that possibly MEAN something?!

Benny said...

Nice pick up!

Steve said...

Nikki, I remember reading some of your posts during last season and how you said you could tell that Michael was going to return because his name "Harold Perrineau" appeared during the opening credits. So going with your theory I noticed that all the episodes this season listed "Daniel Dae Kim" in the credits so I just assumed that he wasn't dead. I also assuming that Clair will not be in the show this season because her name is not in the opening credits.

Do you think that all the odd things that we saw in the first couple of seasons is in fact things that our time traveling castaways are causing? I think someone posted earlier about the whispers in the jungle could be them shifting from time to another. I was wondering if smoke seen in the distance at the end of season one in which Danielle claims thats the others and they're coming and we find out it's like Rose and Bernard sending out a signal for rescue or something. What about Adam & Eve? Maybe its Sawyer and Juliet?or Faraday & Charlotte? Kate & Jack?

About last night's part about Kate & Aaron I figured Ben would have alot of trouble convincing Kate to return to the island. Jack hinted to Ben earlier that she would be difficult. I figure if he could legally take Aaron away that Kate would ultimately follow him back to the island. I do think Ben used Clair's mom as a decoy(I don't think that is the last we see of her). It's funny how Clair's mom comes out of a coma almost similiar to Juliet's sister who fully recovers from cancer. Both occasions seem to benefit Ben in getting what he wants or needs.

Robbie said...

Random theory I have: If Rousseau and friends randomly meet up with Sawyer and friends, and all their noses are bleeding, she might go super paranoid and think its a sickness?

Benny said...

Steve, Daniel Dae Kim's name appearing in the credits does not mean he's alive, just that he has a part this season. Dominic Monaghan's name appears in the main credits of any episode he's on, yet he's confirmed dead.
Claire not being listed suggests that she won't have a significant role this season, as confirmed by the execs. But she will be back big time next season.

Regarding the smoke in the end of season 1, it was explained when Charlie and Sayid get to it. Danielle started it in the hopes of exchanging Aaron for Alex.
Adam and Eve are most likely someone we already know (from the execs comments) and could very well be Des&Penny or more likely Rose&Bernard. But there are other suggestions out there and nothing is confirmed until it airs.

Susan Duerden (Carole Littleton) is scheduled to appear later this season, contradicting one of my earlier posts.

Nikki Stafford said...

DeborahB: Thank you for your post!! Would you be able to email me off-list? It's nikki_stafford@yahoo.com. :) This was exactly the info I was looking for. I knew it looked fishy.

Anonymous said...

I found Kate's attitude towards Jack in TLP to be refreshing. It's subtle, but you can tell she's no longer hanging off his every word and jumping to follow his orders.

On the contrary, he is having to struggle just to get her to talk to him in the first place.

She only starts listening when he goes along with the Aaron angle, and even then her mind is on her mission and not Jack.

And she, not Jack figured out within seconds of seeing Ben that it was he who was after Aaron. Sharp little lady!

I'm liking this version of Kate, hopefully the writers won't revert back to old "follower" Kate. It's about time she grew a backbone.

Anonymous said...

@ Seabiscuit

I totally agree and also noticed how Kate realised it was Ben behind the blood sample threat straight away. I actually chuckled to myself beacuse Jack had just been really really patronising with her about how all this was SO hard to understand and SO hard to explain. Lol! It's Jack who hasn't a clue what's going on. He has this permanently bemused look on his face, even now he's off the drugs.

Anonymous said...

Nikki,
I don't know when you write your blog about Lost episodes but I am on the Left Coast and I read them first thing each Thurs morning. They are the best!!! I have lunch that day w/ my good friend and we discuss the episode and we have a copy of your blog to spur on the conversation. Please keep up the great analysis and the funny humor!!! I love it!

Blam said...

Jay: "[W]hen do we get to the flashbacks with dark-haired Claire? She was smokin'!"

No argument here... My galpal and I were both particularly taken by her, whether Goth or blonde. The show is significantly diminished for us by her not being around. We really miss hearing "Chah-lee."

Roland: "Is it just me or is the interaction between Sawyer and Juliet kind of forced (almost like they HAD to pair them up because Jack and Kate are not island players)"

It's not just you.

Nikki: "I also had a French high school teacher who insisted on reading [The Little Prince] aloud and then would cry every time she got to the end."

You're lucky that you got to enjoy it -- and it's sweet that your teacher was so perennially touched. My French 5 teacher hammered home the obvious allegories and refused to let us interpret others in our own way. She had a habit of repeating important points in English, even though the students weren't allowed to speak it, so whenever I think of that class I hear "L'enfer, c'est les autres!" and "Ze flower ees a WOMAN!" -- obviously, we read Huis Clos (No Exit) that year too, and that line now strikes me as a potentially apt slogan for Lost, depending on whether or not the Others really do end up being "the good guys". (I also cringe at the rap that a friend and I performed as Les Beastie Garçons, but that's a whole 'nother story.)

Ali Bags: "It's Jack who hasn't a clue what's going on."

Is Jack the only one of them who hasn't ultimately grown in some way after leaving the island? My first post on the episode quoted Jack saying, ""I can fix this, Kate. I can fix it." To continue the French theme: La plus ca change, la plus c'est la même chose (The more things change, the more they stay the same) -- which could be yet another aphorism that applies to, or is turned on its head by, this show.

Benny: "Adam and Eve are most likely someone we already know ..."

Paging Temperance Brennan!

As far as Locke not having a nosebleed... Wasn't there general agreement, with notable exceptions, that time spent on the island was Factor #1? Yes, Daniel asked Desmond if he'd been near electromagnetism or radiation last season, and that might indeed have facilitated his nosebleed, just like it might yet facilitate Locke's. But Locke wasn't as near the hatch lode as Desmond, who was on top of it, and hasn't (unless the fact is yet to be revealed) been on the island nearly as long as Desmond was. So while electromagnetism and radiation may be factors that will bring on symptoms sooner, skipping around in time while you still have ethereal hooks tethering you to the unskipping island is still the greatest determinant of when the sickness will be upon you, with the intensity of such based on your time spent there. Or something!

Anonymous said...

Why does everyone assume that Ben HIRED Norton? Since what he is doing isn't remotely in sync with what the law would allow, it's not to much of a stretch to think that this is just another part of Ben's master plan.

My guess is that Norton is another of Ben's people off the island, like the woman in the butcher shop. And this is all just a ploy to rattle Kate out of her comfort zone.

Benny said...

Jeff, it's not widely assumed that Ben hired Dan Norton. It's agreed that they work together, but whether Ben hired Dan, Dan is one of Ben's people, Dan is a lawyer working for/with Ben with knowledge of the whole scheme; no one knows the extent of their relationship beyond then working together for the moment.

The issue everyone has, which I'm sure you agree on, is that the method used to try and rattle Kate is actually inaccurate in real life, Kate would have more information and a chance to delay the procedures. So either it is to make the show more intriguing and the writers didn't care for proper procedures, or in fact Dan is not going through proper legal channels and they simply want to scare Kate, which so far works.

Brian Douglas said...

Nikki: There’s something seriously wrong with Sun... who takes a look at chocolates that look THAT GOOD and immediately lifts them up to get what’s underneath?! I would have been distracted by the candy for at least five minutes before thinking to check the rest of the box.

Maybe if she had some comfort food she wouldn't need to go around shooting people.

Z said...

Great Blog! The only thing I could think of when I saw the Ajira bottle, was that is how Jack and company got back to the island. I highly doubt that they are going to be introducing even MORE characters that have a serious role in the outcome of the show.

M9 EGO said...

Going back to what Blam mentioned about Rousseau recognising Jin when the met in 'the present' because she met him when she landed on the Island. Did she ever meet him in 'the present' ..with all the going's on is is possible the two never crossed path's ?

Nikki Stafford said...

M9: Excellent point, and something I've actually been wondering myself. When she led everyone across the island, Jin stayed behind. BUT... I think he would have seen her ahead of time. Rousseau talked to Sun at the camp, and he's usually standing nearby. When the late-20-something version said, "My name is Danielle Rousseau," the look on his face would suggest that he knew who she was... and that she's supposed to be a lot older.

Z: I LOVE that theory, and it makes perfect sense. They can't fly back on Oceanic if Widmore is behind that...

Anonymous said...

I'm assuming Jin will be jumping soon, since his timeline is the same as Daniel, Sawyer, Miles etc. It's possible that Rousseau didn't recognize him as someone she met briefly sixteen years before and possibly thought she'd dreamed after everything went shazbat for her crew.

Nikki Stafford said...

redeem: It could take a while before the next jump, however. Locke and Co. are in the same timeline as Jin, and are in the jungle. When Locke was turning over the canister with his foot on the beach, Rousseau and her group were still out in the water on the raft (the stuff on the beach had just swept up from the wreckage of her boat). So maybe they went into the jungle searching (or are hiding in the trees and watching) while Rousseau and everyone landed on the shore.

So they could be in this timeline for a few days, or a few minutes. I hope when they next jump, they jump just a couple of weeks ahead so we get most of the Rousseau backstory this way. Maybe we'll be surprised and the fate of Alex won't play out the way Rousseau said it would... maybe there was something more to the story that she was leaving out.

M9 EGO said...

Just had another thought about the Jin/Rousseau meeting and why she did not recognise him when the Oceanic 815 survivors met her. When they met after the crash Jin had not travelled back in time so they had never met....he has now travelled back in time so if the story played out again and we viewed the meeting after the crash she 'should' recognise him...does that make sense?!

Benny said...

M9: they did meet several times in the present, though not explicitly. In Exodus they meet when Rousseau gives her speech about the black smoke. In season three, when Jack and Rousseau demonstrate the explosion to kill the coming Others, Jin is there as well. But there is not presented face-to-face meeting.

Your comment regarding Jin and Danielle not having met prior is contradicting to Dan's theory. Since Jin and Danielle met in 2004 (like Desmond and Sawyer), they cannot meet in the past prior to the crash. So if you say that replaying the events of the crash she would now recognize him, it suggests that the past CAN be altered.

So far this is a question to which we do not have an answer.

RosieP said...

While reading some of these comments, I've noticed there seemed to be this attitude that anyone trying to take Aaron away from Kate is the enemy - including his grandmother, Carole Littleton. Why? Kate had no business raising Aaron. She is more or less a kidnapper. And her reason for keeping Aaron for nearly three years was her own selfishness.

Anonymous said...

I figured that Claire’s mom had been the person who hired the attorney all along, so I was very disappointed when I was right. And then pleasantly surprised when I was wrong. Was anyone else watching that scene going, “Jack... SHUT UP!” Thank God he did... but I wonder if what he DID say might help Mrs. Littleton piece something together?



Why would you say that? Why would you say "thank God he did" shut up before he could spill the beans about Aaron? Why would you want Kate to remain Aaron's guardian, when he was supposed to be with his grandmother in the first place?