Thursday, May 01, 2008

LOST: Season 4 Episode 10 - Something Nice Back Home

You know, I've gotten the feeling lately that people have given up on the Jack-centric episodes. Yes we can attribute 2 very weak flashback episodes and a total change in character for Jack in season 3 to this mentality. But come on! He is Dr. Jack Shephard! He is the man that gave the cheesiest inspirational speech in the history of television! And it's one speech I'm not afraid to push the button on my Jack Shephard action figure to get him to say over and over again "If we can't LIVE.....Together.........We're gonna die alone!" That's right Jack, you be that hero we always knew you could be! Well, if you want HERO Jack, then you're not going to want to see what the writers had in store for Mr. Shephard in this episode. But we must remember that there was this certain episode last season that focused on Jack and it just happened to be maybe the show's BRIGHTEST MOMENT. Yes, my friends the revelation of the FLASH FORWARD in the season 3 finale! We saw Jack in his worst state ever: Suicidal, Grizzly Fake Beard (but real on the show naturally!), Drunk, Drugged, possibly hallucinating. Once we found out that this was some moment in the future, we have questioned for a little over 11 months...what would drive Jack Shephard to this state? Sure, we got a clue to it when we saw the Hurley flash forward. But then we questioned it more because Jack was looking pretty normal in that episode. My friends: enter "SOMETHING NICE BACK HOME" where we bridge the gap! And that's just PART of the story folks! I mean, what episode isn't complete without an appendectomy on said hero? And deals being conducted in Korean? What would a LOST episode be without the mystery and intrigue and a few creepy supernatural events? Yes my friends, I guess what I'm saying is you're entitled to your opinion if you did NOT like this episode. Me? Well, I have one word for you and it's going to come as a big surprise....... W O W !!!!!!!!!!! It was awesome dudes. The suspense didn't waver at all with the Jack episode and we're closing in on the final hours of the season. Things seem to be leading to yet another fantastic season conclusion! Enough of me rambling on with my pseudo review....we need to dig into some pseudo analysis!


Team Sawyer's Expedition to the Beach


We last left Sawyer, Claire, Aaron and Miles leaving Locke, Ben and Hurley behind in order to return to the beach. In true LOST fashion, there wasn't a "sudden" arrival of Sawyer's crew to the beach. Nope, drama needs to occur on the journey and it has to take at least one episode! (contrary to my argument in Episode 2 of this season "Confirmed Dead" where off of the Lost Crew seemed to be traveling around the Island in new record speeds!). Just a couple things worth noting from this storyline (not to mention the crazy last scene of the episode!)

  • Alex mentioned it last week, but in case we didn't believe her we get official confirmation of Rousseau and Karl being dead. We get a little more insight to Miles's gift when he walks over the murder scene and senses a bit of what went down when they got shot. Naturally, once Sawyer asks how Miles knew they were there he happened to ask a 2nd question immediately after. So instead of Miles coming clean on being a Ghost Whisperer, we just find out a bit of what we already figured. Miles doesn't want to be associated with the murderous freighter sect. He did not sign up for that. Nope, he just wanted to come to the island and get revenge for Naomi's Death and wanted 3.2 Million dollars from Ben. He seems like a guy worth giving a machine gun!
  • Chopper Pilot Frank Lapidus shows up seconds ahead of the remains of Keamy's crew. He warns Sawyer crew to hide. Pretty intense stuff with Aaron making noises and crazy Keamy looking for blood. But Frank does his job well and they are swiftly heading to the chopper. Hmmmm they're LEAVING the island? Are they getting reinforcements?
  • Oh yes, remember last week when I was talking about things given away in the preview for the following week? This was one of them. We saw Keamy in the trailer so we knew the smoke monster didn't kill him. In fact, it looks like it spared 5 people (although one was in bad shape). How many people were at the barracks attacking Ben and crew anyway?
  • At first glance, it would appear that Miles has the hots for Claire. He can't stop staring at her or striking up flirtatious conversations with her. Big Brother Sawyer goes into full effect and places a 20 foot restraining order on Miles. Best line of the night "I'm the guy that's gonna put a boot in your face unless you say 'yeah I get ya!'"

There are a couple more scenes to discuss in this storyline but it would be more fitting to wait until the end of the blog





Operation Save Jack


Okay, plot #2 ruined by the previews for this episode. We end last week with Jack looking very sick to his stomach. And then the previews went ahead and let us know that it was his appendix that would been to be removed. Sure, it's not like the previews went ahead and revealed that the Island was the lost city of Atlantis or anything (I think that rumor has been debunked by the way!) or that the Smoke Monster is directly related to Smokey the Bear (Actually...I don't think anyone has ever considered this!)




....but at the same time, I think the ABC Marketing department could have gotten away without letting us know Keamy was still alive and kept Jack's "sickness" reveal until the actual airing of the episode. Do they think by including these 2 scenes that it drew more eyes to the TV? Ok, regardless, it has seemed for a majority of the 9 previous episodes this season there has been a struggle for a plotline for these beach dwellers to sink their teeth into. It's all been pretty much a waiting game. While Jack getting sick doesn't leave us with much drama since we know he will survive, the very essence of the sickness may have revealed something about this crazy non-Atlantis island in the process!


  • Enter ROSE who returns to Hawaii to film with on-screen husband Bernard (side note: The producers always state that they rarely utilize Bernard and Rose because they have to fly them out to Hawaii, so they wait until there is a juicy story for them. I think with the Post-Strike situation with them filming multiple episodes at one time, it allowed them to utilize Rose and Bernard for possibly the remaining episodes of the season! Which is helpful for Beach stories since the only other 815 survivors currently there are Jack, Kate Sun and Jin.)
  • Anyway - Rose notes her confusion on Jack getting sick. She was under the impression that the Island is a HEALING island. Yet, on the eve of the day they were supposed to get OFF of the island, Jack gets sick. (by the way, I don't know how Rose knows exactly what day they're supposed to get off of the island!) So now we've seen 2 situations where the Island healing powers don't come into play and surgery is required. Ben with the tumor on his spine and Jack with the appendix. We know that Ben has had some sort of falling out with Jacob and his whole big scene with Locke and being in communion with the island comes to mind. But Jack? Well Jack has always been a doubter of the mystical powers of the island. But why would he get sick? Was it because he led the expedition to get the crew off of the island? Do we really believe that the ISLAND has some sort of brain and can figure out what's going on in other people's brains? Or is Jacob making these decisions? And by the way...WHO is Jacob??? Possibly we'll find out more next week. A very interesting point Rose brings up, but something I don't think we'll be getting an answer to any time soon.
  • Juliet takes charge of the "save Jack" situation. She sends Jin, Sun, Daniel and Charlotte to the Medical station to get surgical supplies. No one trusts Daniel and Charlotte but Daniel continues to try and be helpful and notes Charlotte's bad attitude as a reason the survivors don't trust them. Hmmm...probably also because you told them you weren't going to rescue them in last week's episode! Anyway, they are merely scientists and just want to help!
  • We find out through a Sun and Jin conversation (not to mention Daniel's Chivalry of going first into the medical station) that Dan likes Charlotte. Something worth addressing in a minute or 2!
  • Daniel at the medical station "where do you think they get this power from?" Charlotte "Add that to the list" A question we've always asked since the reveal of the Swan hatch. Is this foreshadowing that we may find out this season? Perhaps the Orchid Station is responsible for powering the island as well?
  • Nice scene where Jin saw the ultrasound equipment that Juliet used to look at Sun's baby. And a reaffirmation that Jin will get Sun and baby off the island at any cost.
  • Back to the beach, Juliet is prepping for surgery. Jack wants to be awake during surgery to help walk her through it, even though she said that she's done several appendectomies during her residency. And Jack wants inexperienced Kate in the surgery holding a mirror so he can see. Jack seems to have more confidence with surgeries when Kate's around. Reference: Pilot episode when she stitched Jack up, Ben Surgery where Kate explaining said pilot episode scenario helped calm him down and save Ben during the surgery.
  • Okay fast forward to surgery. Pretty nasty stuff and tough guy Jack eventually couldn't handle it anymore. Juliet yells for Kate to leave. Bernard mentions to Jack that he should "dream of something nice back home (a la title of the episode)" and eventually knocks him out with chloroform. While I do think there was supposed to be a comparison drawn to Bernard's comment to Jack's flash forward, I do not think the flash forward was a dream sequence! The events that occurred in that flash were too important to the show for it to have been a dream! Even a LOST dream!
  • Surgery goes well and we see Kate coming in while Juliet is stitching Jack up with "standard black" stitches (similar to when Kate stitched Jack up in the pilot episode). Juliet comes out and tells Kate that Jack kissed him and that "it was nice." That got a good laugh out of me. But then she tells Kate that the kiss wasn't for her. It was for Jack trying to prove to himself that he wasn't in love with someone else. dum dum dummmmmm Wow Shocker! Jack loves Kate! Didn't he tell her that in the season 3 finale? By the way, Jack was awake for the whole conversation. Well, considering at this point in the episode we already see what is going on in FUTURE-JACK land, this seems to be just a setup for that. But Jaters can still get excited temporarily seeing that Juliet is basically out of the picture!
  • Oh right then there was that awesome scene with Jin speaking Korean to Charlotte and saying that he knows she understands him (as she smiled at the conversation Jin and Sun had earlier about Dan's feelings towards her). While she was in denial for awhile, Jin eventually made reference to breaking Dan's fingers one at a time. Charlotte asks (in Korean) what Jin wants. All he wants is for Sun (with child) to be on that Helicopter when it comes to take Daniel and Charlotte. Charlotte agrees. Well, looks like we have one of the Oceanic 6 all set up! (pending that's how they get off the island) So then the big question is DOES Jin die? It sounds like he already made a deal that would leave him on the island but allow Sun to get off. I think there may be some hope for him yet!
Flash Forward
  • We kick things off with Jack in his birthday suit, probably to many female viewers' delight. Once I spotted the Millennium Falcon toy from Star Wars, I kinda figured Jack was at Kate's house and helping take care of Aaron. Indeed! Jack and Kate are living together and a happy couple in the future!
  • Based on the newspaper referring to the Yankess sweeping the Red Sox, our Sledgeweb sources have confirmed that this flash forward is taking place in August of 2006 (may have been 2007 as another sweep occurred then too per Doc Jensen) As far as timeline goes, this flash forward takes place PRIOR to Bearded Crazy Jack, but AFTER Kate's trial and after his visit to Hurley at the mental institution.
  • By the way, there are pictures from Sledgeweb that I did not see a point in sharing revolving around all of Jack's tattoos. Apparently people have noted some disappearing and reappearing on different arms. We all know Matthew Fox has tattoos, so I don't think the producers are trying to share with us anything new here! Probably just some crazy airbrush mistakes or camera tricks (with mirrors? I dunno). Also, some caller on a local radio show noted that when we see Jack in the buff, we see no scar near where his appendix would be. Yet there was still a blatant scene showing more of Jack than we really need to see. I'm still going to say that there's nothing to look into there.
  • Jack reads a bedtime story to Aaron. It's Alice in Wonderland, a book referenced a couple other times on LOST (who can forget THE LOOKING GLASS station?). We find out that Jack did have GOOD memories of his father as Christian used to read him this story as well. Jack states that he was good at telling stories. Hmmm I wonder if any were about some mystical island?
  • Jack's presence is requested at Hurley's mental institution. Apparently he has gotten worse and refuses to believe anything is real. He tells Jack that the Oceanic 6 are all dead. He tells Jack that he hangs out with Charlie a lot. Tries to convince Jack that his situation with Kate and Aaron is too perfect, like HEAVEN. Hurley said that Charlie told him that Jack would be visiting this day.
    (I still refuse to entertain any "They're all Dead" or "they're in purgatory" theories!! I don't think Hurley is crazy, but I think he really can't explain why he's being haunted by Ghost Charlie! And yes, we can't explain it either yet!)
  • Charlie provided Hurley with a message "you're not supposed to raise him Jack" Okay, too coincidental not to be actually happening, right? This hearkens back to Season 1's episode "RAISED BY ANOTHER" where Claire visits the possible fraudulent psychic Malkin. Malkin tells Claire that no one else can raise her child. This definitely is being set up as a big plot point. But the question still remains, was Malkin a part of this setup, actually foresaw something, or really was just making up something to scare Claire? I think we can rule out the latter scenario. Afterall, he also told her that she NEEDED to be on flight 815.
  • Hurley tells Jack that someone is coming to visit him too. Naturally, we already know Christian has appeared to Jack on the island, so we probably figured it would be him. The question was just WHEN? Jack thought he had spotted Christian earlier in the episode (and probably had) but daddy didn't stop to chat just then.
  • Jack returns home late that night and asks Kate if she was serious when she told him that he's a natural at raising Aaron. Jack seemed a little shell-shocked by the Hurley visit. When Kate confirms that Jack is fit to be a father, he then pulls out a ring and proposes to Kate! Woaaa..... This is kinda crazy, since we already knew that at some point in the future they were apart. So we kinda figured that even though she agreed and everything was happy for 5 minutes, that something would be changing by the end of the episode. We needed to see Jack on the path to destruction! (alas, he already was)
  • Jack is back at work and hears the Smoke alarm go off. Okay, I know I can't be the only one who thought this but we knew Jack was getting a visit soon and the SMOKE alarm goes off? Come on, that's not a coincidence! There's a SMOKE MONSTER on the Island that we have seen take human form before? Remember Yemi? Now, how the smoke monster would appear OFF the island remains to be seen. But with Christina Shephard making an appearance immediately following Jack removing the battery from the smoke alarm? I don't see it as a coincidence. AND NO! I refuse to entertain the idea that Christian Shephard is still alive! I know at least ONE reader out there is probably still considering this! Producers have confirmed time and time again that he is definitely dead! When you die on the show, you are dead but this doesn't mean you are removed from the LOST CAST payroll.
  • So this is the first time that Ghost Christian SPEAKS to Jack. But he only gets a "JACK" out before being interrupted by random doctor! (Erica was it? I think it probably doesn't matter!)
  • The big thing to note here is that Jack thinks he's going crazy and asks the doctor for a prescription for some stress reducing medication (began with a P but no way I could figure it out! If anyone wants to post the comment with the prescription, I'll revise. ) This would seem to be the beginning of Jack's addiction to prescription meds. He'll eventually up the ante to Oxycotton, but for now we just have that P-word drug!
  • REVISED - Thanks Anonymous poster! "clonazepam--an antianxiety med"
  • When Jack returns to Casa Heaven Kate is on the phone having some shady discussion including the words "Jack doesn't usually get home until after 8" which Jack happens to overhear. This causes Jack to start questioning things and to start to doubt Kate. He chugs down is new prescription meds with a beer (thus beginning the drinking as well).
  • Next Scene, Kate returns home (before 8pm I would assume) and Jack is there with a few empty liquor bottles and a drink in hand.
    Jack: WHERE WERE YOU??????
    Kate: TRUST ME JACK!
    Jack: WHERE WERE YOU??????
    Kate: Doing something for Sawyer!!!! (man, Kate broke pretty easily)
  • Okay, so Sawyer asked Kate to do something for him, my guess is that it was prior to the Oceanic 6 leaving the island. So apparently everyone is in the know with who is leaving the island and who isn't. (we still don't know what happens to everyone else though!) What do we think Sawyer asked her to do? Well, my first thought would be for Kate to check in on his daughter Clementine. Perhaps Sawyer taking care of Aaron (whoops not there yet) for the time being gets him thinking about his own kid. And perhaps while he's handing Aaron over to Kate, this is a discussion they have.
  • Regardless, Drunk and Crazy Jack comes out and starts explaining his obvious jealousy over Sawyer. "I SAVED YOU!!!" "HE DECIDED NOT TO COME!!!" (hmmmm there were decisions on whether to go or stay???) Kate pleaded with Jack that she is with him and not to do this......and of course then came the big one from Jack "YOU'RE NOT EVEN RELATED TO AARON!!!!" (paraphrased). So there you go, Jack should be finding out before he leaves the island that Aaron is his half-nephew. Perhaps GHOST DADDY is going to tell Clarie soon (I know I know! we're not there yet!)
  • We can only assume that Jack's falling into drugs/alcohol/sawyer hating distrust that Jack and Kate's engagement breaks off shortly after this and Jack goes into a tailspin.
  • We can also assume that Jack probably will get another visit from Daddy which may lead to him yelling in the hospital in the season 3 finale for someone to "get my father down here and if I'm drunker than he is....."
  • Can we assume that Kate is still referring to AARON in that final flash forward scene from season 3 when she said "he's going to wonder where I am?" For now, I'll say yes.
  • Can we make any new assumptions on why Kate wouldn't go to so and so's funeral? I mean, I guess it COULD be Hurley. But it sounds like she would've wanted to go to the institution to see him. I think I'm done with the coffin watch, we'll find out soon enough!
End Scene
Okay, so I had to cut off our Sawyer expedition storyline for dramatic effect! Obviously there was a big setup that will be explored in coming episodes!

  • First, Claire wakes up in the middle of the night and sees Christian Shephard holding baby Aaron and playing with him. Woaaaaaaaa Claire exclaims "DAD?" Looks like Christian is checking in on both of his children.
  • But here's the kicker. When Sawyer wakes up, Miles fills him in on what went down. He saw Claire go off with some old man who she called "DAD" and they took Aaron with them. He would have followed but he had a restraining order (ba dum CHING!!!!) So Miles saw Christian too. I know he talks to dead people and all, but this is just more confirmation that it's not in people's heads. Kinda like that patient saw Charlie in Hurley's flash forward.
  • Then, Sawyer and Miles hear a baby crying....and there is Aaron all by himself by a tree. Sawyer screams looking for Claire.....but no response....he screams again "CLAAAAAIRRRRRE!!!!!!!!!"

BOOM LOST!!!!

Well there you have it. The producers and Emile de Ravin (Claire) all have said there was definitely an interesting story twist for Claire to cap off this season. Well interesting indeed! My curiosity is peaked! I think this confirms also that Claire does not have to DIE to be separated from the Oceanic 6 when they leave the island. She may just be occupied elsewhere by GHOST DAD (anyone else thinking of that bad Bill Cosby movie right now?) . And judging by us already having seen Christian Shephard in the Jacob rocking chair in the Jacob Shack and with next week's episode being entitled "CABIN FEVER" and Locke, Hurley and Ben enroute to the cabin, I think we might see some immediate payoffs to this Claire storyline. But time will tell! Finally, we may be getting to see exactly how involved Daddy Shephard is with the Island activities.

Well, I enjoyed this episode as I do most of them. I know some people weren't looking forward to the Jack-centric story. But I'm interested to hear all of your thoughts! Any crazy theories out there? Did I miss anything? The floor is yours LOSTIES! COMMENT AWAY and I will see you next week as we all get a case of "CABIN FEVER" in our final NON-FINALE based episode of season 4. NAMASTE!

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you didn't write more on the phone call Kate had...Who was she talking to when Jack caught her on the phone? I know she was doing something for Sawyer, but could she have been talking to Sawyer?? That would mean phone communication from the island to real world or Sawyer is off the island somewhere? Otherwise, there is a messenger...who could that be?

Chris Stedman said...

First the important stuff. Mike congrats on the future Mrs. Take the girl to Hawaii for the honeymoon. She can lay on the beach and you can visit the Lost set, everybody wins. lol

Good episode, better than I thought it would be. It was more of a set up for the last few episodes.

Your question on Jack’s sickness. As we see on next weeks preview even if you’re physically dead you can still show up on the island. May be Jack’s destiny is to die on the island and this was Jacob’s/island (?) way of making it happen.

Random thoughts

I figured Kate was visiting Clementine as well.

RIP Danielle, although just like every other dead person on the island we probably haven’t seen the last of her.

What did Christian do or say to make Claire leave Aaron in the jungle?

I liked the Juliet Kate scene; looks like Juliet will step aside.

Jack really has trust issues. He thought his Dad was the other man with Sara and he gets a short visit from Dad this episode and immediately accuses Kate of sneaking around.

Mike V. said...

timeline update per Doc Jensen:

"On the timing of Jack's flash-forward The headline of Jack's newspaper read, ''Yankees bludgeon Red Sox in series sweep.'' The Yankees swept a series with the Red Sox late in the 2006 season (a historic five-game wipeout) and the 2007 season (a traditional three-game set). If you pause the picture (on a high-def DVR), you can make out the score 5-0, which is how the 2007 series ended. So I'm going to call it: Jack's flash-forward took place in late summer of 2007. "

So it may have been later than 2006.

Anonymous...I just wanted to leave somethings open ended for people like you to bring up! lol I don't really think she was talking to Sawyer though. I just assumed it was a conversation held BEFORE she left the island. She may have been talking to what's her face...Cassidy? Whoever Clementine's mother is. And Kate had met her before...so it would be a good way to connect it all together. I just figured it had something to do with all of that.

Stedman, thanks for the congrats! I tried the Hawaii route! If I had earned that 22250 fo the Blog yesterday I may have been able to afford it! Alas, we may have to look into something else! lol

Definitely agree on the Jack TRUST issues. And interesting with Jack's destiny to die on the island. Well if he dies it better be as a TRAGIC HERO! He is DR. JACK SHEPHARD DAMN IT! lol

Anonymous said...

He's already suggested Hawaii...I saw right through it! ;-)

And I LOVED Ghost Dad!!! Lol

Anonymous said...

Did Miles just hear or did he hear and see Christian? Was Miles able to do this because of ability to hear and maybe see dead people. Or was Christian really there? Can Miles distinguish between the two? I am too stupid for this show.

Chris Stedman said...

Ahhh so Shanna’s the little women. At least she’s a Lost fan. Although the ghost dad comment makes me a little concerned. Lol

If Jack dies I don’t think anyone will accept anything other than dieing as a hero. Possibly sacrificing himself for the rest of the losties.

Mike V. said...

Anonymous #2 - I made reference to Miles having a connection with the supernatural and he mentioned he SAW Christian (I think)....but I'm not sure if it was that connection that made him see Christian...because the guy in the nuthouse also saw Charlie when he was visiting Hurley in the future. And sure...he was crazy. But I thought this was going to show that these are not hallucinations in people's heads...they are actually there...but WHY and HOW are they there is the question. hmmmmm

I have the same concerns on GHOST DAD lol I was not aware of this prior to popping the question!

Anonymous said...

I said LOVED, past tense! It's probably been 20 years since I saw it! I know for sure there are crappy movies that Mike likes and I'm aure you're the same Stedman! Lol

Mike V. said...

3 Amigos is NOT a crappy movie! Its comedy still reigns supreme in 2008! LOL

Chris Stedman said...

Mike, you better find out what else you aren’t aware of. Shanna, should Mike leave the toilet seat up or down? When you move in will you keep your furniture or Mike’s or should he just garage sale everything he owns right now? lol

I thought Docs column this week was good. His analysis of Jack was right on. And his take on Jin was interesting too. Could Jin take the path that Michael took in order to make sure the impending doom of Sun doesn’t come about?

Anonymous said...

Oh, it's worse than that, we want all new stuff!! Lol

And there are more crappy movies besides the Three Amigos!!! Lol

AreUPokey said...

As for Jack sacrificing himself, I think we're going to see a lot of sacrifice before Lost is over. Maybe Jack for Kate (or everybody), Jin for Sun and the baby, and the big one....Penny for Desmond. Yep, not Desmond for Penny, but Penny for Desmond.

After last week's reveal that Ben is now on a mission to kill Penelope Widmore I went back and watched the Catch-22 episode where Desmond is at the monastery. That episode keeps referencing the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. If you aren't familiar with this story it's simply this, Abraham, after waiting for many years for a son and finally getting it, is asked by God to kill that son. It's all a test of course, and as soon as Abraham shows his willingness to obey God at any cost, then Isaac is spared.

So onto Lost...the head monk, after Desmond noted that Moriah Vineyards was an interesting name for the monks to have chosen for their wine since Mt. Moriah is the place where Abraham was supposed to kill Isaac, says, "Don't underestimate the value of sacrifice." Then later on the island Desmond tells Charlie that he (Desmond) was being tested just like Abraham and was supposed to be willing to let Charlie die, but he couldn't do it, and thus failed the test.

So now I am convinced that at some point towards the end of the show, Desmond is going to have a vision of Penelope's death, and he's going to have to let it happen. Somehow her death will bring about a greater result for the 815ers? The whole World? Who knows, but it will obviously have to be something huge. Desmond will have this vision early on and then be forced to struggle with whether or not he can bring himself to do nothing and let it all happen.

And the whole struggle will be even greater if Penny gets to the island, or Desmond gets back home, and they are able to spend some time together. In this case it would again fit with the Catch-22 Abraham theme. Desmond has been longing for a reunion with Penny for a long time, but shortly after this dream is realized he will forced to let her go again.

But all hope is not lost for Penny. Remember, in the biblical story Isaac doesn't die. Abraham had to show he was fully willingly to do the deed, but the deed isn't done in the end.

Chris Stedman said...

lol, that is worse.

areupokey

I really like where you're going there. Whether Desmond knows it or not Ben (I can't remember, have they ever met?) is enemy number one and sacrifices will have to be made. I’m still hope for a happy ending for them though.

Mike V. said...

ooh when I was talking about Alice in Wonderland references earlier...I forgot to connect the dots with the Season 1 episode entitled "WHITE RABBIT" While I DID accidentally reference the episode with bringing back the "Live Together Die alone" speech for an encore...i forgot to mention Jack was chasing GHOST DAD around back then...when Locke mentioned he was "following the white rabbit" I just thought it was interesting now that we know that Jack's Dad loved to read "Alice in Wonderland" to Jack when he was a kid and Jack was chasing around the "White Rabbit" on the Island in season 1.

In some twisted way...you could say we've come full circle! lol Now if only we could get some more answers around Christian Shephard's ghostly island (and no off-island) persona!

Anonymous said...

Is it possible that Charlotte works for Sun's dad somehow?

Mike V. said...

love the bringing back of the Abraham sacrifice story btw. That could come to play in the end.

But I too am rooting for a Desmond/Penny happy ending. And of course, I'm sure if Jack sacrifices himself for Kate...it would be fore Kate AND Sawyer...ugh lol In a typical show Kate would end up with Jack...but LOST is far from typical! (here i go rooting for Character stories again! silly me!)

Mike V. said...

Is it possible that Charlotte works for Sun's dad somehow?

Anything's possible! I'm not giving up on the possibility of Mr. Paik having a greater hand in what's going on with the Island activities.

But Charlotte being connected is interesting, considering she speaks Korean. Didn't even occur to me to think about that until you brought it up!

Good one!

Anonymous said...

Mike,

I heard the drug was for clonazepam--an antianxiety med.

Well done, I always enjoy your blogs!

Chris Stedman said...

Question for everyone.

We know the writers are admitted Star Wars fans, we even saw the Millennium Falcon last night. We know the dead people tend to show up everywhere. How ticked would everyone be if the series ending of Lost mirrored Return of the Jedi? Picture all the people who died lined up smiling and waving to all those who survived while furry creature from the soon to be discovered fuzz ball hatch dance around them. lol

Mike V. said...

Thanks for the drug name anonymous and the blog props! I appreciate the positive feedback! (still waiting for some negative feedback! i mean someone has to despise this blog right? lol)

Stedman,

As long as YOUNG ANAKIN doesn't end up in that collage....I'm cool with it! Crazy George Lucas always changing his damn movies! lol

Mike V. said...

and i really think the island should just end up being the Forrest Moon of Endor and at the end we find out a bunch of Ewoks have been controlling the Smoke Monster. I mean..who WOULDN'T love that? lol

Anonymous said...

Does anyone else think Aaron looks like a 2 yr old and not a 4yr old???

Anonymous said...

Well, he was born in late 2004, so if it's summer 2007 he's not even 3 yet, right?

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone.

This is my first post on this blog (on which I stumbled upon accidentally while trying to find who was playing Erica (Erika?), and trying to figure out if she had already been in one of the flashbacks or flashforwards untill I realised that she was part of the cast of Jericho ... RIP).

Anyway, I know that it's a little too soon to figure out how the flashforward are connected and what is the timeline they follow, but I must admit that I'm kind of LOST !

First of all, I believe that we now know who the Oceanic 6 are :
Jin, Sun, Hurley, Said, Jack, Kate (I'm not too sure about Jin though ... or would Aaron be the 6th? since he was one of the passengers after all). But let's not forget about the other islanders that made it out : Ben and Desmond.

I also believe that the flash forwards of this episode took place before Kate met with Jack after the funerals (I don't think we're going to know so as it was being stated somewhere, at least not during season 4).

I am not versed into religion, but something tells me that Christian Shepard was not a name randomly selected. Jacob (as he is seen in the cabin) + Christian + Shepard seems too much of a coincidence to me to call it a link to god : Jacob's ladder (vision Jacob has while going to Harran --Aaron). Amazing how LOST can make you look everywhere and take every clue in consideration. But this may be a little far fetched and I can not see how it could really be relevant to the story (maybe some of you can).

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the clarification of Aaron's age. I thought I read somewhere that he was 4. He has the chubby arms of a 2 yr old. Love Lost, Love this Blog xoxo

Chris Stedman said...

Anonymous, the Oceanic 6 are Sun, Hurley, Sayid, Jack, Kate and Aaron. Jin is still on the island hopefully alive. Ben is off but we don't know about Desmond.

Your right about the episode order. The order so far is Eggtown, Ji Yeon, The Beginning of the End, The Shape of Things to Come, Something Nice Back Home, The Economist, Through the Looking Glass. Some could be interchangeable because of non recurring characters but I think it’s solid.

David said...

Yeah it was Clonazepam, the drug Hurley used to be on...even asked Sawyer for some from the stash at one point in Season 2(DAVE) before Hulk-ing out on him.

Congrats to both of you on the impending wedding! Have you set a date yet? Should the WB crew expect invites? Or the LOST crew for that matter? :P

I really enjoyed this episode, loved how Christian was seen by Claire as well, great twist!! - I haven't seen any previews for the next episode but do you think we see Claire at the Cabin?

Chris Stedman said...

I thought of an interesting full circle theme surrounding Claire and Aaron. In Raised by another the physic (if he is one) sent Claire on flight 815 to give the baby to a couple in “Los Angeles.” Now we see that Kate and Jack were taking care of Aaron in the future in “Los Angeles.” Coincidence?

Mike V. said...

ahhh very interesting. Didn't even think about that. I guess it really would depend on if he is an actual psychic or not lol I still refuse to believe that Claire is potentially a goner before this season. We talk about Michael being in the coffin being too obvious. I would think assuming that Claire and Jin are dead because they not part of the Oceanic 6 would be a MORE obvious way to go! lol

But who knows???


David - Thanks for the congrats! Invite lists have not been finalized yet...but we will welcome gifts from ANYONE! lol

Mike V. said...

I still refuse to believe that Claire is potentially a goner before this season

that was supposed to be "before THE END OF this season" oops!

Chris Stedman said...

That is unless you agree with the theory I keep hearing that Claire never survived the house being blown up and she’s just a ghost like Christian walking around. Miles was very interested in her, like he knew something was up throughout the entire episode.

Mike V. said...

yeah...i've read that too. the pieces all seem to fit, but I'm not sure if i like it! lol

It would definitely support the "BIZARRE PLOT TWIST" with CLAIRE that we've been reading about.

It would also suck if it was an accurate theory because any shock value from discovering it in the episode would be lost!

But definitely interesting how the pieces all fit for that!

Mike V. said...

and also maybe why she said "CHARLIE" when Sawyer woke her up???? Maybe she saw him?

Chris Stedman said...

This last episode was a good start in showing how Jack became Grizzly Jack and I was just wondering what else the writers can do to him to continue his slide to what we saw in Through the looking glass. Best thing I can up with is after the fight, Jack moves out and Kate gets back together with Kevin Callis, the cop she married way back in “I do.” Would be a great way to bring back Nathan Fillion and would even work with the line Kate said in TTLG “he’ll wonder where I am” she wasn’t taking about Aaron but Kevin. Jack can’t handle losing Kate to the stable Kevin and goes deeper into depression.

Mike V. said...

Yeah all good points.

I'm thinking they may map out the Season 6 finale very similarly like they did with Season 1's 3 hour finale. Remember how we had flashback events of all the survivors immediately preceding Flight 815? What if we had Flash Forwards of the Oceanic 6 to fill in the events that lead to Jack and Kate's conversation and then we start from that point OFF the island in Season 5. On the Island....well we have to reserve our thoughts until we see what happens to that crew!

I think that would be an interesting idea. But who knows...they could go all crazy with Really Really old flashbacks to the Black Rock and then the Rousseau crew and fill in some island history as well lol

Just speculation!

Anonymous said...

all i know is kate was looking fine!

Anonymous said...

Speaking of really, really old flashbacks, I have a theory having to do with Richard being ageless. I think he was aboard the Black Rock when it first crashed on the island back in 1845, and he is the only survivor.

Jacob also came from the ship, but can he be called 'alive?'

Anyway, if Richard comes back and has a flashback to what went on when the ship crashed, it would do a lot for exposition.

Also, has anyone noticed the connections to Thailand?

1. The Black Rock sailed from Britain on a trading mission to Siam. (Thailand)
2. Jack goes to Pukhet and get his tattoos there.
3. Widmore dug up the bodies for the fake 815 crash from a mass grave in Thailand.

Maybe all the mysteries of the Island relate to some kind of ancient Thai sorcery, or something like that.
Then again, because the Black Rock was also carrying slaves from Mozambique, it could also be African sorcery.

I know it'd be a cop-out to have magic as the root of all the mystery, but you never know.

Any thoughts?

Chris Stedman said...

Very funny new mother’s day Podcast. Nothing really spoilery, here are some highlights.

Both Lindelof and Carlton’s moms are named Sue and think Kate should be with Sawyer.

Sue C. thinks Jack teleported without chest hair and Sue L. thinks Jack’s chest hair is Locke’s toupee. lol

A challenge is made between the two Sues for Sawyer’s affection and Damon pretends to be Sawyer and asks each mom why he should pick her. Lol

Mom questions
Sue L. asks who’s in the casket. Answer: promises it will be answered in a few weeks.
Sue C. asks is Locke the next chosen disciple for the island. Answer: That question will be very strongly addressed in tonight’s episode.

Fan questions
Will we see Richard again? Yes.
Has Witmore been to the island? It is implied that he has been to the island.
Does Aaron only have four toes? No.
Will we learn who is making the DARMA food drops? Next season will deal with more DARMA mythology possibly including the drops.
Is there still hope for Jacket? Still possible.
Was that Steve that got shot? No, it was Doug.
Are Claire and Jack going to find out their related? Didn’t answer but we will see her again soon.

.

Miles Balzard said...

Argh, Christian Shephard will NOT die! Damn him!

LOL, at least the show is making him a MUCH more interesting character than just a "dashing drunk," as I referred to him in the past. I can see how Christian, as the father of a Shephard who was born in his image (both being men of healing and all), could join his only son as one of the central figures that leads everyone to the promised land.

This was more of a set-up episode than a big-reveal episode, so I'll leave it at that. I can feel the build up in my bones and will save my commenting energy for after one of those true WOW episodes Lost has become known for!

Mike V. said...

Very very interesting how you phrased your Christian Shephard paragraph. Made me think of something else from the series that I don't want to comment on too much yet (and might forget by the time you know what I'm talking about!). I just see some pretty big mirroring that I didn't see before.

Krista said...

I admit it, I'm a huge sucker for Jack & Kate stories. This episode was great. I loved all of the happy domestic future scenes, but I knew well enough not to get too attached to them. Clearly bad bearded Jack makes an appearance after this flash forward. Still, it was nice to see him happy, making coffee, and reading bed time stories to Aaron.

As for the beach story, obviously we knew Jack would survive, but the events leading up to, during and post surgery were very telling. It always frustrates me (in real life too, not just fiction) when doctors act as if they're totally fine when they know they aren't. If anyone else had been hiding appendicitis on the island, Jack would have been furious. But here he's all "Oh Kate, it's just an upset stomach". Yeah right. Good thing Juliet is there to talk some sense into him.

I'm fascinated by Jack's obsession with control. He just can't let go of it. I was not surprised that he wasn't able to follow through with his crazy plan of talking Juliet through the surgery. This reminded me of when Kate had to put sleeping pills in his juice just to get him to sleep. That's why I find it so interesting that he left the island with only 5 others. His whole thing is that he's going to get EVERYONE off the island. This further explains his downward spiral toward the inevitable 'we have to go baaack!'.

This all leads me to his exchange with Kate at the end of the episode. Very interesting tid bits there. Obviously, the love triangle is still in effect even with Sawyer back on the time warp island. When Jack says to Kate that he saved her and that Sawyer made a choice to stay behind...that raised a lot of questions for me. There was time to make a choice whether to stay or go? There was time for Kate and Sawyer to have a parting conversation and for him to make her promise to do something for him when she gets back? If everyone could choose whether to stay or go, why did only 6 (really 5, b/c the baby couldn't choose) go?

It's been fun trying to figure out how the heck they get off the island. Such a good mystery.

Loved the appearance of Christian Shephard. Gosh, that name is just too heavy handed for him not to be a God-figure or Christ-figure. Can't wait to see Jack find out Claire's his sister. Oh yea, and where's Claire?? That final scene was so great. I especially loved Protective Big Brother Sawyer. So awesome. He's become really caring (in his own way) in the past few episodes. With Claire, Aaron and Hurley. Loved when he told Locke that if he harms a hair on Hurley's curly head that he'd kill him. Ha! I love this knew emotional Sawyer. :)

Mike V. said...

@Krista

I'm with you. I think I made it clear I was a big fan of Mr. Shephard in the recaps. lol But yeah, I didn't mind the Jack/Kate stuff either.

Pretty crazy that Jack got sick when they're about to get off the island isn't it?? On the island with healing properties?? How's that for karma?

Good points on controlling Jack. And it's very telling for where his story may eventually go. Interesting to read that in hindsight. :-)

Lots of good questions on Sawyer and what it implies. No comment!

lol...I'm thinking of something in a distant episode of the show in regards to your comment on the name Christian Shephard....but obviously I can't say anything! But yes, it definitely is a heavy handed name!

Sawyer definitely had a great arc on this show too. All of the characters that you once saw as potential villains, but the more you learned the more you were invested...that was something LOST did great! But yes, Sawyer defending peeps, that was awesome!

Leta said...

Not much to comment here, you and Krista said it all. I'm not a big fan of Jack, but it seems there might still be some hope for Kate/Sawyer! I'll hold onto that for now :)

Sawyer getting all protective of Claire was just so, so sweet. It reminded me of the previous season, when Hurley said that in Jack's absence it fell upon Sawyer to be their leader. What with Jack heading off the island soon, something like that might be required of him again!

Very interesting stuff with Christian Shephard. I didn't notice the implications of his name until quite late in the show, when he started to appear more and more. I can't wait to find out what's that about.

Mike V. said...

Sorry Leta, I fell behind and saw you just watched the finale. I'll catch up on your comments and respond there!

MRC said...

Still here--I'm reading all your posts and the comments, too! Didn't read the massive comment thread from Season 3 finale yet, and haven't wanted to comment for fear of posting a spoiler until now. However, I'm just one ep ahead now, and think I can comment on this post :)

I, too, immediately thought of Clementine when Kate said she was doing something for Sawyer (didn't catch Jack say Sawyer chose to stay behind). I wonder if Kate & Sawyer actually had a conversation about her and Kate remembered meeting Cassidy, or if Cassidy looked Kate up after she got back. Did she ever know Sawyer's real name? I guess she must have since he was in prison and she visited him to tell him about Clementine. At the time, I remember thinking that was a con job by her, but after her meeting with Kate I figured it wasn't.

I, too, love how protective Sawyer has become. I don't buy the "Claire's dead" theory, because if she was, Sawyer (or Miles) would carrying Aaron across the jungle and there would be no need for Sawyer to tell Miles to stay away from her.

I noticed the smile on Charlottes's face just before she went into the hatch, and thought she understood them, but didn't really put together she could speak Korean. I thought, though, she had a satisfied smirk after she agreed to take Sun, like it was what she wanted all along.

Also, after Ben met Widmore in his hotel suite (was that a flash forward or time travel?) I thought maybe Widmore WAS the captain or first mate of the Black Rock and why he bought the journal and he's been time travelling this whole time. Them being each other's constant is an interesting theory.

I've watched the next episode and am about to read the blog. Hopefully will watch the season finale tonight.

Doug B. said...

OK, I've just got to say that my biggest disappointment with this episode was the sight of Meany and company still alive?!? How did that happen? The last time we saw them, the smoke monster had come in like a freight train and a tornado combined and was ripping them a collective new one. Granted, the one guy looked pretty bad off, but I kind of assumed they were all extremely dead. OK, another mystery to deal with.

Yes, I assume they were telling us something by having a SMOKE alarm go off just prior to the appearance of Christian Shephard. I'm assuming there is some strong connection between Jacob and the Smoke Monster. Maybe they are one and the same. I'm also far enough into the series to start wondering how many of the huge number of questions and mysteries they ever really will resolve. I'm beginning to doubt it will all be neatly explained and wrapped up with a bow at the end. I'm sure we'll know a lot more, but I remember hearing that people were really puzzled by the final episode, so I'm preparing for some ambiguity.

Anonymous said...

I find it really interesting too, that Jack is one of the six. I mean, why would he leave everyone else behind? It makes sense to get Sun and Aaron off, but Jack?? Kate and Sayid should definitely have stayed back as well, and one can argue about Hurley.
I've tried to imagine Rose's response to Jack leaving the island, and I can't really see it happening. So, for me, that is the explanation I'm waiting for the most. (About the six)
I believe Sawyer will hand over Aaron to either Kate or Hurley soon, and the three of them will leave with Sun as well. I'm still dying to see how Jack and Sayid will come on, especially considering that Juliet and Desmond won't be going.

I am left confused by the Juliet/Kate conversation, because you all seem to say that Juliet stands back, but she said that the kiss was supposed to prove to himself that he didn't love anyone else, and judging on Kate's face, it seemed like Juliet was the beloved. And it would make sense for Jack to oppress a feeling to make a decision.
But Jack's own face expression seemed to point more to your explanation.

Last thing; why are you so sure that Christian Shephard is dead? I believe he is alive.
Perhaps the producers have confirmed that everybody stays dead, but nobody ever saw him die. It would be a good cover-up if he drank himself to death, leaving everyone to believe that he was a fool and not a genius.
Christian could be alive, as Jacob, and has been showing up since season 1.

I am looking forward to Ben, Locke and Hurley again soon. It's nice that Ben found the cabin, but then searched without luck. Locke found the cabin, then searched without luck. Hurley found the cabin, and is now searching.
I believe without luck, but Claire will eventually find it, perhaps for them, and they get a tiny chit-chat with Jacob himself. Of course, Hurley has to have some reason to board the helicopter without Claire, so maybe he ends up leaving the party before getting to the cabin. He could be scared as well, thus standing back.

- Stefan

Mike V. said...

Hi Stefan! I love that this show still generates such enthusiasm and theorizing! I don't want to spoil your fun so I'll try not to give too many hints of what's to come. (I'm pretty good at remembering what point in the show you're in and try not to spoil)

I think it was fun trying to theorize why some got off the island and why some didn't. There's no way to fully predict how it goes down. But it's CRAZY! (ugh was that too spoilerish?? :))

Honestly I don't really remember the Juliet/Kate conversation. Was that during the operation? Ooh things are starting to get fuzzy. Might be time for another rewatch. But just keep watching! The rollercoaster ride of LOVE DRAMA is just getting started!

I seem to recall theorizing a lot about Christian Shephard being alive or dead. And I don't remember being really really sure either way until some time after this episode. But, I don't remember what I wrote about in the recap! Exactly on no one saw him die. That was what I stuck to. I had crazy theories about something going down in Australia and that we just hadn't seen it yet. Interesting theory on Christian = Jacob! That's all I'll say. (but something tells me if you wrote this on the 17th you've seen more episodes now)

All great theories about Jacob/Claire/Cabin. Where were you 10 years ago? We could've used your insight! :)

For some reason I haven't been getting emails about comments lately. I used to be right on top of responding to all of them. So, I'll try to check back soon! Enjoy your binge!

Simon Sandiford said...

Someone touched on this earlier in the comments but the spiritualist or whatever that saw Claire in Australia said she must get on that flight to hand him over to parents in Los Angeles... He didn't mention the drama in between until the baby reaches new parents in LA Jack and Kate. But it was like that was the only way the baby would be safe. As we don't know for sure Sawyer ends up dead, maybe Kate and Sawyer will end up together after Kate goes back to rescue him and thhe live with Aaron and Clementine happy ever after?

Mike V. said...

All interesting theories. I always assumed the psychic (who is an admitted fraud) somehow knew the flight was doomed or was tipped off about the flight in order to get Claire on it. Unfortunately, that plot thread isn’t revisited so we can only theorize based on additional information provided throughout the show. :)

LostIn2022 said...

Since I'm watching this on DVD, I don't get the "next week on Lost..." previews. So I had no idea that Jack was going to have an appendix problem. When Juliet told him she didn't believe him that it was food poisoning and proceeded to examine him, I really thought that we were going to find out Jack was pregnant. Bahahahha.

Remember in the episode where Juliet is recruited to work on the island, and the guy recruiting her (can't remember his name) mentions that one of her experiments involved a pregnant male rat? I really thought that was going to foreshadow a big twist for Jack in this scene. I even started to wonder if maybe Aaron we saw in the future flashes wasn't Claire's baby but Jack's baby. LOL.

Mike V. said...

Lol on jack being pregnant! Wow never thought about my old comments on the next on stuff being a little spoilery on a binge watch. Sorry about that!

That’s a crazy theory but not the craziest I heard when this show was airing. We all went off the wall a few times which was part of the fun. Lol I believe Richard was the one that recruited Juliet. You may more may not see more of him. :)

The Rush Blog said...

I think Michael had to die. He fulfilled his obligations and redeemed himself for killing Ana Lucia and Libby.


If Michael had to die for his crimes, shouldn't one say the same about the other characters who had committed murder or tried to commit a murder? Like Sawyer or Kate?

The Rush Blog said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike V. said...

Hi and thanks for visiting and the comment! To be fair my comment was in 2008 so my opinions may have changed. :) I think my point was his story was done. Sawyer and Kate still had more to do at this point in the story. Now revisiting after seeing the end of the story I may have different opinions but I try to keep these comments spoiler free of the future!

Are you a first time watcher?