Thursday, May 29, 2008

LOST: Season 4 Episode 13/14 - There's No Place Like Home (Parts 2 & 3)

Good Morning LOSTIES!!! (or perhaps afternoon by the time I get done writing this thing!) Well, TEAM LOST certainly didn't let us down with their 3 hour epic finale! Each year, the LOST Finale has become an event in itself. And especially after last year's mind blowingly awesome twist, the LOST crew has some big shoes to fill. Well, I guess one way to fill those shoes is to start dishing out answers like there is no tomorrow! And of course, to give us some scenes that we really didn't expect to see until season 6. Just like all of the other finales, the show kept me on the edge of my seat, furiously taking notes (10 pages??? I must be insane!) and hoping my favorites don't die! And the funny thing is, I'm probably going to be too lazy to even reference my notes (just like every week). Well, no sense in delaying folks, we have a lot of ground to cover. I'm sure you all know what needs to be bestowed upon "There's No Place Like Home (parts 2 & 3)." So let's just get to it!



HOLY FROZEN DONKEY WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(yeah, sometimes I crack up even myself (sometimes only myself!!))



The Appetizer:

Extra Q&A's from Part 1

Well, I tried to make sure everyone rewatched Part 1 of the finale that ABC re-aired. There was an extended version of the Press Conference that aired. While the added Q&A's don't really change much, it was still some interesting stuff! Here's a summary of the additional questions:


  • Question: 9 people made it to the Island (in the fake story), what happened to the other 3?

    Answer: Jack referred to some actual events as part of the cover story. Boone, dying of internal injuries. Libby, didn't make it. Charlie Pace, drowned.
  • Question: (to Sayid) Do you have any plans to return to Iraq?

    Answer: There is nothing for me in Iraq.
  • Question: What are your plans Jack?

    Answer: Jack explains how his Dad (ol' Christian Shephard) died in Australia, begins to speak about the body (almost like he wanted to mention how it wasn't in the coffin on the Island). Finally, he says he'd like to put him to rest.
  • The weird part of adding the question about the 3 that made it to the island with the Oceanic 6 is that it kinda ruined the question to Sun about if Jin had made it off the Island. But whatever, it was still fun to hear more questions!
Main Course

Once again since everyone is moving around so much, we need to break the story down into LOCATIONS, FLASHES and Significant Events. So here we go!

The Orchid

When we last left the scene, Ben had turned himself in to Keamy and crew and had given directions to Locke on how to get into the Orchid. We join Locke trying to find his way into the Orchid while Jack and Sawyer find Hurley.



  • Sawyer was full of nicknames tonight but calling Jack "Sundance" was a good time!
  • While finding Hurley while he was peeing was an awkward moment, it didn't get much more awkward than when Hurley and Jack were reunited. As we learn in Hurley's flash forward (from the season premiere), he apologizes to Jack for going with Locke. But on the Island, Hurley had said some mean stuff to Jack right before leaving with Locke. But, all is fine after a couple "Good to see you's!"
  • Hurley and Sawyer sharing the 15 year old Saltines was a great time too!
  • Jack has no choice but to go talk to Locke because the chopper is currently being occupied by Team Keamy and Ben. As always the meeting of the minds is pretty intense. Jack brings up how Locke killed Naomi, Locke brings up how Jack tried to kill him. Locke asks to let by gones by by gones and asks Jack to change his mind about leaving. He explains to Jack how the knowledge of the Island is going to eat him alive if he leaves. He goes on about how Jack refuses to believe what he has seen on the Island. Jack refuses to believe in miracles. And thus, the struggle between Science and Fate continues. Locke then informs Jack that he will need to LIE about what happened in order to protect those that do not leave. And then throws in the ol' "if you lie to them as well as you lie to yourself, they'll believe you." Pretty crazy stuff. So this conversation seems to end up as Jack's motivation to convince everyone that they'll need to lie about the crash and the Island. And would seem to be the other 4's motivation to be angry with Jack. And we see more of this in our Flash Forwards tonight!
  • Guess what? Ben is back! How did that happen? Well, we'll get to that in the next section (obviously, it's going to be tough to stick to any continuity in this recap!) And now we have the meeting of the 3 minds (Ben, Locke and Jack). Loved Locke and Ben's banter about finding the Anthuriums. Locke explains how he tried to tell Jack what was going on. But then Ben says goodbye to Jack and to be on the boat within the hour.
  • Jack, while seeming a bit interested to go down that Elevator with Locke and Ben, knew that his mission was to save everyone on the Island, and he, Sawyer and Hurley head to the chopper (knowing that the area should be safe now).
  • And with that, we join Ben and Locke in the Elevator that goes very very very deep into the Island. After what seems to be an eternity, eventually the elevator comes to a stop and we enter another mysterious DHARMA Station.
  • I loved it when they showed the Vault and Locke asked if it was the "Magic Box" that Ben had discussed in season 3. Naturally, it is not! Ben explains that the purpose of the station is pretty much like all of the other stations - silly experiments.
  • But instead of entertaining all of Locke's questions, Ben gives him the DHARMA Orientation Video for station 6 of 6. (Hmmm did we see them all now? I thought there were more than 6. Swan, Pearl, Flame, Medical, Hydra, Looking Glass, Arrow, Orchid. Well, maybe the Looking Glass wasn't an officially known station.
  • As we should all know by now, there was the Viral Video campaign launched at last year's Comic-Con to tease season 4 with our first look of the Orchid Station. In this video, we saw the OUTTAKES of the Orientation Video. Now, we see the ACTUAL video. As we've already learned...the Orchid is NOT Botanical research facility! That was just the cover! No no, Dr. Edgar Hallowax (his 3rd alias that he goes by) explains that all our suspicions are correct and that the Orchid was experimenting in moving things through space AND time. woaaaaa we got an answer! Doc Wax explains to us that they built the VAULT near a pocket of negatively charged matter and shows off the Bunny with the #15 on it. He explains that the Bunny would be transported to the future (which we saw the bunny appear out of nowhere in the outtakes video). Doc warns to not put metallic objects in the Vault. (and of course, this is exactly what we see Ben doing). So did the DHARMA crew KNOW what was behind and even further under the VAULT? Did they know what they stumbled upon here? Well, we don't know...but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
  • But, the following exchange was priceless. Locke "Is he talking about what I think he's talking about?" Ben "Time traveling bunnies? Yes!" Naturally, I'm paraphrasing!
  • Then the Elevator starts moving..dum dum dummmmmm thusly prompting Ben to ask for his weapon back.
  • It's Keamy kids! Once again, we'll explain what happened to him in the next section. But he is injured and limping onward into the station trying to call out Ben. Say what you want about your distaste for Keamy but he was a great character to love to hate! (oops did I say was?)
  • Keamy explains how he is wired to blow up the freighter should his pulse stop pulsing (yeah, still not sure how I didn't pick up on this in my immediate brain dump into the blog 2 weeks ago!)
  • his triggers Locke to come out of hiding and to say that he has no beef with Keamy, nor do the people on that freighter. But before they could talk any reason Ben creepily comes out of hiding with a knife yelling "you killed my daughter!!!!" and repeatedly stabbing and slicing at ol' Keamy. NOOOOO!!!!!
  • Locke "All of those Innocent people on the boat are going to die!" Ben: "SO????" woa....I forgot how fun it was to also HATE Ben! This is one bitter bitter man. The Island has screwed him over, and while he's still trying to be a team player, he's also out for revenge! He mentions to Locke how it isn't his problem and how he reacted irrationally but sarcastically assuring that Locke will be able to make better judgement calls in his place. Yep, the passing of the torch is all but complete.
  • Before Keamy lets out his final breath he mentions to Ben that wherever he goes, Widmore will find him.
  • Farewell Keamy - The light goes from green to Red - Stay Tuned for the rest!


The Chopper

Since there haven't been many flashbacks this season, I decided we should create our own in this Blog (yep, just an excuse for my lazy writing technique!) So let's rewind and see how things around the chopper went!

  • We start off here with Keamy escorting Ben to the Chopper asking questions about why is Ben so important. Apparently, Widmore paid a large sum of money to capture Ben and bring him off the Island. Hmmmm Widmore didn't seem too anxious to capture Ben when they met off-island in 2005!
  • Before we get too many details here though, Kate runs out of the jungle (last seen captured by Richard and THE OTHERS). The Others set up a trap to rescue Ben. FINALLY!!! We saw some crazy Others doing some crazy OTHERS Attacks eliminating the rest of Keamy's crew. Attacks that we saw Ethan capable of in season 1. Stealthy Moves like we saw when the Others kidnapped the children from the Tail-Section. And of course, lots of gunfire around the Chopper (more on that in a second!) Yeah, there are still a bunch of people on that Island to be led. And this, apparently was their final task for Benjamen Linus.
  • The scene culminates with an awesome fight between Sayid and Keamy..both of them getting in some nice attacks, but finished with Richard (a la Ben's Boyfriend, courtesy of Keamy!) shooting that crazy guy a few times in the back. We'll find out later (and we already discussed that Keamy survived to make it to the Orchid) that his armor was tough enough to get him past any mere bullets. The dude needed to be attacked from the neck up!
  • Richard explains to Ben that the deal was Kate and Sayid help rescue Ben in exchange for allowing them to leave the island. At this Ben says "you're free to go" Kate says "that's it?" and Ben says "That's it." Well then! Hmm maybe Ben already knew that they'd have to return. But once again, it wasn't really his call anymore! And he was one bitter bitter man!
  • Ben flees the scene to the Orchid (and the Others leave as well)...leaving Sayid, Hurley and Frank with the chopper.
  • A little later Hurley, Sawyer and Jack meet up with the crew and they prepare to leave that crazy Island. Jack promises that once they reach the freighter, they'll come back to look for Claire.
  • If Sundance was a great nickname for Jack, you had to love Sawyer's nickname for Frank - Kenny Rogers!! That was fantastic. And anyone that has been listening to Philly's own Preston and Steve and their LOST Radio Recaps will assume that this was a NOD to their loyal fanbase! (Because Kenny Rogers is behind the whole mystery of the Island! duh!)
  • As the chopper headed to the freighter, there were a couple issues. They couldn't find the freighter because it was on the move, and one of the bullets hit the fuel tank on the chopper...making them lose fuel a little more quickly. You had to feel for Hurley when they dumped all of the weight that they could but Frank said he'd feel better if they were a few hundred lbs lighter!
  • But naturally, Sawyer wanted to be a hero. Sawyer MADE HIS CHOICE TO STAY. I dunno Jack! I think he thought that they were still going to get rescued! Anyway, he whispers something in Kate's ear (which would be the promise we later see Kate trying to fulfill...and we must still assume it's about Clementine). Next thing we know he gives her a big smooch (something to remember "through time!" no pun intended!), reminds her of Nike's old promotion "Just Do It Freckles!" and jumps off of the chopper into the Ocean. Well, I guess we had already seen Sawyer jump off the chopper in the previews, but we had really feared for the worst with it! Looks like he will live to see another day. But the future doesn't look too bright for them Island dwellers! We're getting ahead of ourselves!
  • So, we have 4 of the Oceanic 6 together with Frank now. But they still can't find that crazy freighter. They do eventually find it in the nick of time. But there's ol' Desmond waving them away! They seem to make out him saying something about a "BOMB!" Oh no!! Frank is landing that Chopper no matter what! They can't make it anywhere else. To Be Continued ...

Beach Dwellers

Daniel is still trying to get everyone to the Freighter. And also trying to convince Charlotte to leave the Island. Not much in this little section, but still enough worth noting! Here's what went down.

  • Miles eating the peanuts and Rose yelling at him...Priceless. "Can I eat these nuts?" "I'm Keeping my eye on you shortie!"
  • Juliet promises to make sure everyone leaves the Island before she does.
  • Charlotte and Miles have an interesting discussion about leaving the Island. Miles states he's staying but makes a comment to Charlotte as if she had been there before. How does Miles know this? It doesn't even seem like Charlotte knows this. Doesn't seem like it has anything to do with his supernatural abilities. Oh well, guess we need to tune into Season 5!
  • Daniel discusses with Charlotte how if she doesn't leave the Island there may never be the ability to leave the Island. Clearly, Daniel knows what the Orchid is capable of.
  • Anyway, Charlotte decides to stay and mentions something about not knowing where she was born. I thought Ben said she was born in England and named her parents. Anyway, there were rumors that Charlotte might be Annie, but I don't agree with that. Afterall, she's British! But there are now rumors that Charlotte might be Annie's daughter and Ben was the father and shipped Annie off to not die due to childbirthing issues on the island. Interesting one! But then the question remains what about the Sarah/Annie connection I made with Juliet supposedly looking like BOTH of them? (based on Ben and Harper's respective comments). Granted we don't know for sure who Harper was referring to! Okay, enough theorizing, plenty more recapping to go!
  • We last see Dan on the raft with some more survivors heading towards the freighter. The big question is where they were when that Island.....um....wait we're not there yet!


Freighter

Okay, we last saw the freighter moving towards the Island, Sun and Aaron on the deck, while Michael/Desmond/Jin were starting at 500 lbs of C4, enough to blow up an aircraft carrier (or a little tiny Widmore-sponsored freighter!) Here is what went down!

  • Desmond recalls his military background in explosives. Pretty much his recollection. If you do this - BOOM, do that? BOOM But what about this? Jin can you tell me what happens? "BOOM!!!" awesome!
  • Dez couldn't figure out how to cut the signal to Keamy's transmitter thingy. But they keep starting at it.
  • Michael goes up on Deck and talks to Sun with just enough time for her to tell him "I'm Pregnant!" I half expected her to assure Michael the baby wasn't his or something! (you know...because those Missing Pieces Mobi-sodes suggested there was some romantic tension between the two when Sun and Jin were on the outs in the season 1 days). But Michael had some liquid nitrogen and a bomb transmitter to freeze!
  • Michael's plan was to freeze the transmitter so if the light went red, it would delay the explosion about 5 minutes. Giving them some time to get away from there.
  • Sure enough, after Desmond gives up trying to figure out the bomb, the light goes Red. (Keamy is deaders) they only have a little left in the nitro-tank. Jin still stares at the C4 outline thinking he can stop it. But Michael, with the knowledge of Jin's pending parenthood, tells Jin to go. You are about to be a father Jin. "Thank you Michael" Thus, Michael's redemption tale ends. (ummm wait...Michael's a Father too! What on earth???) Jin makes for the exit to the deck.
  • Meanwhile up on the deck, the chopper has landed and like a NASCAR Pit Stop, they begin to repair the chopper and refuel and get right back off the Island. I'm pretty sure I saw Duct Tape involved! Anyway, Desmond, Sun and Aaron get on the chopper and join the other 5 (Sayid, Kate, Jack, Hurley, Frank). Kate and Sun try to get them to wait as Jin is still below. But there's no time. Then we see Jin running out on the deck as the chopper is lifting off. They can't go back for him.
  • Back below, Michael runs out of nitrogen and then of all people Christian Shephard appears out of nowhere. "WHO ARE YOU???" to which Christian responds: "You can go now, Michael"
  • BOOM!!!!!!!
  • Conspiracy Theorists begin your discussions! Did Michael and Jin die? I think Michael had to die. He fulfilled his obligations and redeemed himself for killing Ana Lucia and Libby. Even got a Thank You out of Jin. But what about a reunion with Walt? Is that not going to happen? Did Michael die close enough to the Island premises to be part of its ghostly lore? You would think so because Christian was there. But there's Ghosts appearing all over the crazy world now! Does it have something to do with your Body being on the Island? (more on that at the end of the blog!)

    And what about Jin? If you look closely at the before shot of the freighter, there is NO ONE on the deck, did Jin jump off the ship? And if he did? where did he go? There's no way he's on the Island right? We gotta think he is dead. But ugh...what a way to go out! I'm going to hold onto some hope that he survived. But I just don't know!
  • The Chopper begins its trek BACK to the Island...but will the Island be waiting for their arrival?


The Frozen Donkey Wheel

We join Ben and Locke back in the Orchid to resume our tale.

  • Ben resumes activating the Orchid VAULT with all the Metal Gizmos and Whozeewhatsits in it. When this happens, the VAULT malfunctions.
  • Ben says he needs to get changed (and immediately I think - ohhhh yeah just like I predicted he's gonna put that Parka on and be transported to Tunisia in 2005! And some of you out there doubted me!!!) Sure enough, Ben suits up with Edgar Hallowax's Parka. I'm thinking if Ol' Edgar had a Parka, then he must've known what was behind and under the VAULT!
  • Ben informs Locke that HE is going to move the Island, not Locke. Why? Because there are consequences to whoever moves the Island. Once you move the Island you can never return. Hmmmmm Wasn't there supposed to be consequences to summoning the Smoke Monster too? Is this all tied together? Do we care?
  • Ben also tells Locke that he is sorry for making his life completely miserable. My first thought on this was that he meant after Locke arrived at the Island. But, I read that some are thinking Ben have been involved in many of the bad things that happened to Locke PRE-ISLAND. Could this mean Anthony Cooper was in cahoots with Ben somehow? And that Locke's paralysis was a result of Ben's meddlings? Would Ben have sent Richard to look for Locke? OR.....was Ben so obsessed with his Leadership of the Island, that he knew there were rumblings of John Locke - THE REAL CHOSEN ONE, that he tried to sabotage any chance of Locke getting to the Island to take his place? It would seem there is more to tell there. Once again, there's a large comments section ready and willing for some theories!
  • Ben tells Locke that the OTHERS and all of the answers are all awaiting Locke's command and leadership. Locke, as always, is unsure what to do and what to tell them. And Ben said something to the effect that he'd think of something as he always does.
  • We see Locke unite with Richard and the OTHERS. Richard happily states "Welcome Home John." Ahhhhh interesting stuff for season 5! (I think???)
  • Let's rejoin Ben in the Orchid as he rips away the back wall of the VAULT to uncover a tunnel that goes to a ladder that goes down to a floor of Ice that once smashed goes to a frozen ladder that takes Ben into a frozen cavern. Full of hieroglyphics just like the ones that were on the Swan Hatch's infamous clock. It would seem that this cavern dates back to the ancient times that could be tied to the 4 toed statue as well as the sacrificial altar that Locke's father was tied to. But more importantly, next to the Lantern that Ben lights, is a giant FROZEN WHEEL. One that looks something like a DONKEY WHEEL! A FROZEN DONKEY WHEEL KIDS!!! (if you recall, Team Darlton told us that the secret scene this year would be referred to as the FROZEN DONKEY WHEEL. While this was not the most secret scene of the episode, you can sure see where they got it from!) By the way, Ben also cut his arm on the way into the cavern further proving that he immediately is sent to Tunisia October 2005 after this event. (he had the arm cut then)
  • While I'm thinking about it....considering where Ben ends up after this little task. And considering there were/are Polar Bears on the Island and considering a Polar Bear ended up in the Tunisian Desert in an ancient past, do we think that they used to have the Polar Bears move the wheel to move the Island so that no people would have to be excommunicated from the Island? I dunno....crazy idea....but maybe???
  • And still I'm confused, it seems that Ben has been to Tunisia before (traveling to and from the Island on crazy tasks), was he lying to Locke that he wouldn't be able to return to the Island?
  • And one more question -Just a small issue, if the imminent threat of the freighter folk was gone - Why were they still going to move the Island? I guess we knew Widmore would never stop looking for the Island, so Ben seemed pretty determined to do this.
  • Anyway...I'm delaying - Ben looks to the skies and says to Jacob "I hope you're happy" (still a little bitter)...be begins to turn the wheel.
  • Above on the Island, Sawyer swims ashore and joins Juliet with a bottle of Rum. While he's ready to celebrate that they're leaving the Island, Juliet's face says it all....they both see the remnants of the freighter in the distance and assume everyone they knew that left is dead.
  • The sky begins to beam a light very similar to that of when Desmond blew the hatch. I couldn't tell if it was a violet shade though as it just seemed like a bright white light. I am sure we're meant to tie the two events together. But does this mean that the Island moved when Desmond blew the Hatch? We know HE moved through time...but that's about it!
  • The chopper continues to head towards the island and the bright light beams from the center of the Island outward and then we see a whirlpool like hole in the water where the Island once stood. It is GONE!!!!!
  • Where did it go? When did it go? Well we won't find out until next season (maybe???) but what we do know is our future Oceanic 6 were stranded in the air with no fuel!

The Aftermath

  • The chopper is going down, Jack suggests looking for Alcatraz 2.0 (the Hydra Island), but that is gone also!!! woaaa
  • Sayid throws the life raft out of the chopper and inflates. The chopper goes down and flips and twirls....but every one of them survive. Frank, Desmond, Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Sun and little baby Aaron. (hmmm....kinda like maybe they can't DIE? the first hint? Kate suggests it's a miracle that Aaron survived it).
  • They all get in the raft and let everything set in that went down. Sun, clearly upset that she has lost her husband (i forgot to focus on her crazy screaming when the Freighter blew up...woaaa).
  • Hurley says that Locke moved the Island. Jack refused to believe even though he saw it with his own eyes.
  • Then...the BOAT comes! And before it gets too close, Jack begins to explain how they're going to have to lie to protect everyone still on the Island. He explains about the staged plane crash at the bottom of the Ocean. There are people out there that want the world to know they're dead. What would happen if they knew they were alive? What would happen to the people on the Island? I'm not even sure I bought the story considering they don't even know where or when the Island is anymore!
  • The boat gets closer and a guy leans over the edge and I thought "woaaaa it's the guy from the season 2 finale in the arctic!!!! It's PENNY's boat!!!!" Sure enough there was Miss Widmore herself and wow....I just did not expect to see this reunion until season 6! I wanted to weep like a little girl, but I had to keep it together as I jotted my notes down (that yes...I'm not even using!) Dez and Penny reunited at last, and all because of the Phone call ol' Dezzie made!
  • Once all aboard there is the introductions and then Jack is ready to discuss the LYING PLAN.
  • We see them a week later in ragged clothes and with the raft that we saw in the RESCUE PHOTO. Desmond assures Jack that he will not be going with them (how could he? he wasn't an Oceanic Passenger!) and as long as he has Penny he'll be fine. We get a nice "See you in another life brother" from Jack. Something tells me with Ben after Penny's head in the future, we haven't seen the last of ol' Desmond. The big question is will he need to return to the ISL---- whoops we're still not there yet!!!
  • Hurley is still confused to why they have to lie, but at this point it seems Sayid is in agreement with Jack that they need to do this to protect their Friends. (wait...so are the only potential 815ers on the Island - Locke, Sawyer, Rose, Bernard and Claire? We know Miles, Charlotte and Juliet are there too. And they've killed so many of the other 48 survivors now I don't even know how many are left!)
  • We have the emotional scene of them arriving at Membatta (just like the LIE they told in the press conference in part 1) and while they know they are about to lie you could still sense a little happiness that they are free from the Island (so they thought). Maybe all but Sun. And thus...Present Day has caught up with Future Day (except for what has happened on the Island after the "moving!").

    So let's proceed with the Flash forwards!


Flash Forwards

I feel like I've been typing forever! But there's still much to discuss! At least you have 9 months to read all of this! We begin our Flash Forwards where Jack and Kate's Airport discussion left off last season. We've been discussing the Coffin for 1 year and 1 week and we finally have gotten our answer. But they kept us guessing the whole episode long! We are reminded of Kate's "Why would I go to the funeral?" and Jack being upset over the whole death. We see Jack say "We have to go baaaaaack!" and Kate driving off and then the episode begins...

Jack and Kate

  • Kate slams on the breaks and gets out of the car apparently SHOCKED at what Jack was saying. After all that the 6 of them were put through to get OFF of the Island and all of the lying that Jack made them do. He was now listening to ol' JEREMY BENTHAM. Someone that clearly Kate is not a fan of, and apparently Jack wasn't either. Anyone remember the newspaper obituary clipping from the season 3 finale? It did state a Jeremy Bentham on there. The man in the coffin was using an alias. Pretty much Kate is disgusted with Jack and says HOW DARE YOU!!?! Obviously, now knowing who is in the coffin has made this scene less important to discuss! But we'll discuss after the reveal!

Hurley

  • Super Older Walt comes to visit Hurley (man that kid got old!). He must've come clean to his grandmother to what has been going on.
  • Walt asks Hurley why no one came to see him? Why everyone was lying. Hurley apologized but said that the were lying to protect everyone. Walt said "people like my dad?" And Hurley says yes. Clearly he's lying because we have to think Sun filled him in that Michael was on the boat that blew up!
  • Apparently, Jeremy Bentham came to visit Walt too.
  • One has to think that Walt may be re-joining the cast next year as the crew will try to get back! But we shall see. My question is.....Walt didn't even look THIS old when he appeared to Locke last season. Will they be able to explain that?

Hurley and Sayid

  • Sayid comes to Hurley's institution and kills a man parked outside apparently that was stalking Hurley for the past week?
  • Sayid, with much longer hair, comes in and says that Bentham is dead and he needs Hurley to come with him to a safe place. He also promises they are not going BACK. He also says that many dead people have been coming to visit him.
  • We find out that Bentham apparently committed suicide. But there is doubt that this is actually what happened. hmmmm
  • Question - is Sayid still working for Ben at this point? Will that help Jack's cause in season 5? (we're getting there!) All of these flashes seem to be set up for season 5.
  • Oh right, and Hurley had been playing chess with Mr. Eko and just handed him a checkmate. woaaaaa this is some bizarre stuff! I love it!

Sun

  • We see Sun in London stalking Charles Widmore. Years have passed because she is talking to her daughter on the phone (she must be 2 or 3 years old).
  • Apparently Widmore and Mr. Paik are old business associates. (Island related? who knows!) But is Charles Widmore the OTHER MAN Sun holds responsible for Jin's death? Well, here it looks like Sun is looking to HELP Widmore. And while Widmore pretended not to know who Sun REALLY was, she gave him her card and said to contact her when she changes her mind. Hmmm...maybe she holds BEN responsible for Jin's death? Could be problematic with Jack's pending mission!
  • Revision: Forgot to mention Sun also implied that the Oceanic 6 aren't the only ones that got off the Island. Is she referring to Desmond? Considering Dez is with Penny...that could be the case. Frank? eh maybe.... Ben? Well does Sun know Ben is off of the Island at this point? hmmmmm

Kate

  • Kate has a dream where she picks up her phone and hears the following audio in reverse: "The Island Needs you, you have to go Back before it's too late."
  • Of course then in the dream, she hears a noise, grabs her gun and goes to check on Aaron and yells "GET AWAY FROM MY SON!" and Claire is there watching Aaron. woaaaaa creepy!!! She contradicts the phone message and says "DO NOT BRING HIM BACK TO THE ISLAND!!!! DON'T YOU DARE!!!"
  • Kate wakes up and goes to Aaron and keeps saying "I'm sorry!" I'm sorry for taking you from the Island? from your Mother? hmmmm Will Kate be easily persuaded?

Jack

  • It would seem Jack leaves the airport scene with Kate and heads right back to FLASH FORWARD Funeral Parlor (you know the Anagram Hoffs Drawler or something like that) and breaks the door open.
  • The ultimate payoff...we are going to see the man in the coffin! Good ol' Jeremy Bentham!
  • Just as I think "Well, I guess it's Ben because I heard he was going to be in the big secret scene!" Ben walks in to join Jack. woaaaa Then I kinda figured out by process of elimination who it had to be! (the most obvious choice at the end of season 3!)
  • Ben knew that Jack had been trying to get back to the Island through Plane Crashes (dark, Jack, very dark!)
  • Jack explains to Ben that Bentham had come to visit him and then Kate and explained to him how things became very very bad on the Island after they left. Locke explained how they all needed to go back. Hmmm I wonder if this is the visit that Charlie told Hurley about? And NOT Christian Shephard?
  • Anyway, Ben explains to Jack that the Island won't let him go back to the Island alone. They ALL need to go back. Jack explains his current relationships with Sun (still blames him.... for Jin's Death?? hmm maybe HE's the other guy?), Kate (won't even talk to him), Sayid (don't know where he is), Hurley (is crazy). Ben suggested that maybe he could help and that he had a few ideas on how to get back. But will BEN be able to go back too?
  • And do Desmond and Walt need to go back as well?
  • We do know at least ONE other person needs to go back and that's ol' Dead in the coffin Jeremy Bentham. Who is none other than.....pan camera..........slowly.....slowly..... JOHN LOCKE!!!!!!!!

BOOM LOST!!!!!!


Dessert

Analysis, Thoughts, Next Steps...
Woaaaaaaa. Even though I knew it was coming by that point, it was still crazy to see Locke in that coffin and Ben saying that he needs to go back. Kinda like Christian Shephard being in the coffin but somewhat alive on the Island? I also read that maybe having Shephard in the coffin was one of the reasons the plane crashed on the island, similar to having Locke with them would allow them to get back as well. Hmmm Is Shephard a former Chosen one? I had the same question about Charles Widmore (since he went on that whole "the island is mine always was" rant.) Wooaaa so many questions...but here are the big ones that I'm thinking about:


  • How will next year's format work? Real-Time has caught up with Future Time. Now we have a story to tell OFF the Island and On the Island. Will there be flashbacks still? I would think so...we need to find out how Locke got off the island and his apparent suicide (forgot to mention that) happened. Still gotta learn about the Black Rock and Rousseau's Expedition. What Desmond did to lose his Honor in the military. Lots of stuff there. But will there be episodes that flash back and forth to what happened on the Island while the Oceanic 6 were gone and then their plan to get back? We were confused about how this season would pan out, so I'm sure they have it all figured out already!
  • When Locke gets off the Island, is he paralyzed again? Or will he be cured now kinda like people couldn't die off the Island. But why did LOCKE die off of the Island? Did Locke Move the Island again? But if he did, why is Ben saying he can go back? Maybe if you move the Island, you can't go back until you're dead? woaaaaa Did Locke leave the Island specifically to bring back Jack and crew? Is that why all of these Ghosts are visiting them? Did Locke send them through Jacob or something?
  • What happened to Daniel and Raft crew? Alcatraz 2.0 went with the Island, so maybe he moved with it too? Maybe they picked up Jin??? (woaaaa I just thought of that!)
  • And of course...where and when did the Island go to?
  • And much much more!!!!

Well I've been writing frantically for quite some time now kids. And I'm sure you're all impatiently waiting for the blog. So I'm going to hand it over for discussion pretty soon. Just a few more things to take care of. Like last summer, any time I get news, I'll probably post a new blog with information. So please keep checking in! Bookmark this site for next season as well! Mark your calendars for January 09 to start checking back in!

Oh right, and the commercial that aired before the final scene? Go to the following website and get ready for the next OFF-SHOW LOST Experience that looks scheduled to kick off at this year's Comic-Con: http://www.octagonglobalrecruiting.com/

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings today and all season folks. I've enjoyed all of your comments and theories all season (when people weren't fighting naturally!!) Keep it up because we have 9 months to keep ourselves busy with more and more theories....but no more theories on WHO IS IN THE COFFIN! and if TIME TRAVEL is possible! We have confirmd both of these! And yes, it is definitely not PURGATORY!

If you don't tune in for the random news all summer, then I will see you next year when we kick off Season 5! NAMASTE!

94 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great write-up of a great episode Mike! Hey, I was just thinking...assuming it's true that bad things happened while Locke was in charge on the island, and Locke obviously ends up dead, do you think Ben apologized to Locke for making his life miserable "in the future"?

Anonymous said...

Does anyone think that the Orchid orientation being in video format (as opposed to on film like in the other stations)is significant?

Also, based on the revelation that the lie actually came from Jack and crew, does anyone still think Oceanic has any knowledge or involvement in what really happened? I am still curious to find out what role, if any, that Paik Industries and Oceanic have in relation to the Island.

Chris Stedman said...

I think next season bearded Jack’s time will be the present with flashbacks to the island to see what went wrong after they left. This will also allow taller Walt to have a larger role by having the present time years past 2004 to explain his growth.

Ben is brilliant! He scarifies himself to move the island and in the future even though he’s out of the islands favor he still has the O6 wrapped around his finger to presumably get himself back to the island to.

The Claire scene was weird. She doesn’t want Aaron going back but the phone call instructs them to go back. Who’s right? They’ve done this in the past as well. Example, Walt telling Locke not to open the hatch but Locke thinking it’s his destiny. Walt whispering to Shannon (backwards) don’t push the button. The button's bad and Ms. Hawking telling Desmond the only important think he will do in his lifetime is push the button. More evidence of two opposing forces wanting different things for the island?

Mike V. said...

Thanks horseman! That's a very good question about maybe Ben forecasting the future for Locke. Good stuff!

Jenn - I think the Pearl Video was a VHS as well...I'm not sure of the significance other than maybe the videos were shot later than the predecessors (i.e. Swan Station)

Good questions with Oceanic and Pail Industries....I'm interested to know as well! And I'd still like to know who Abaddon is working for! Widmore? It didn't seem Naomi and crew were really part of Keamy's mission. But who knows???

I also forgot to mention in the blog....Sayid clearly saw the Island disappear right? Then why would he so easily buy Ben's story of how he got off of the Island as taking the Sailboat to Fiji and hopping a flight from there? Maybe Ben was saying that he left right when the Oceanic 6 left as well? Even though it was 10 months later that they met up? crazy.... And if Ben WAS involved with Nadia's death (still questionable)...does that mean that there are still more off-island tales to tell PRE-Coffin reveal? Could they be told AS Flashbacks now? lol man this show is nuts!

Anonymous said...

I found it interesting that the Others needed Sayid's and Kate's help in rescuing Ben. Also, remember when Ben was being held in the hatch when he said that his friends wouldn't be coming for him?

Can Richard and the Others (the stealthy ones at least) not directly interfere in certain matters like rescuing Ben? Are they more like the gate-keepers of the island and not the protectors or determiners of who the chosen ones are?

Also, since Sayid knows that Desmond is with Penny, I still think that the Economist is Widmore. I don't see why Sayid would go against his friend (Desmond) to help Ben exact his revenge.

Also, Mike, you forgot to mention Sayid's comment to Hurley about Locke's death being made to LOOK LIKE a suicide. Who is behind that (Widmore)?

I think that Miles is more of a person who senses things instead of a ghost whisperer, hence him not wanting to leave the island to get on the freightor, knowing about Charlotte, etc.

-Addict

Anonymous said...

Mike,

Assuming that Sayid believes that Ben moved the island, then the rest of Ben's story about taking a sail boat, etc would still be plausible (after the island is moved to its new location).

-Addict

Mike V. said...

Stedman, I thought the same with the opposing forces...but opposing forces within one dream? crazy stuff lol

As for Present Day being bearded Jack and flashing back to the Island...I was thinking something like that too...but our current flashbacks and flashforwards have always focused around a character that is in both times.... So if it's a Jack Flashforward-when we return to the island, we're focused on Jack....and Aaron Flash Forward - focuses back on Aaron (that happened last night btw..)....so this would cause a continuity issue with the 1st 4 seasons. But, they changed things up this season, so no telling that they won't do it again!

Mike V. said...

thanks Addict, I clarified my comment on the "APPARENT" suicide of Jeremy Bentham now lol

Well, according to Hurley (which is all Sayid has to go by), he says that LOCKE moved the Island. He hadn't talked to Ben about the Island moving. You would think he would have asked a bigger question like "what happened to the Island"...lol But that wouldn't work with the way they have to keep things from us until it's revealed! Whatever the case, I'm sure it's easily explainable in the bizarre world of LOST lol

I agree that there is probably an encounter with Sayid, Desmond, and Ben in the future. Should be interesting!

Interesting stuff with Miles too...we just had never seen anything that would indicate that before last night. It's people like him and the other crew that suggest we'll still have flashbacks next season. Of course...i wonder if we'll have flash forwards from present day Locke to future off-island locke? hmmmm crazy crazy show!

Mike V. said...

So much for part of the Poll i posted....it's already inaccurate! lol We got confirmation on Michael:

Harold Perrineau Interview

Anonymous said...

Jeremy Bentham was among other things an 18th century ECONOMIST who was influenced by 17th century philosopher John Locke. Is it possible that Ben was trying to kill Locke?

Anonymous said...

Regarding the opposing forces in Kate's dream. The statement 'the island needs you, go back before it's too late' was backwards. So could that mean the message was supposed to be opposite - don't go back ??

I found it chilling that Michael heard the whispers right before Christian appeared to him - and that is what makes me think that Michael is now dead.

Anonymous said...

Hmm ! I had actually wondered if Michael was gonna still be around somehow due to the conversation between Walt and Hurley. Hurley did not correct Walt when he included his dad in the group back on the island that had to be protected.

Well - one less thing to ponder over the next 8 months.

Mike V. said...

yeah it seemed to me that Hurley didn't want to be the one to break the news to Walt that Michael blew up. I can sympathize with Harold's bitterness towards Michael's return this season. Like I said in the last episode's comments section...I think the Strike really screwed up his storyline. Right when his character returned, they went into hiatus...and then had to rush through the freighter storylines to get to that grand finale. I, too, think that a Walt/Michael reunion would've been a better end for them. But I think this could still be in the cards with a Walt return to the island and maybe a GHOSTLY reunion lol

That all being said, I think ol' Harry went too far with the RACE stuff in that interview!

Anonymous said...

Just read an interview on Dark UFO with Harold Perrineau (Michael) he is definitely dead and not very happy about it!

Anonymous said...

Agree that the race stuff was dumb. Loved the idea of 'Ghost Dad' reunion. LOL

Interesting catch you had Mike on why is Sayid buying into Ben's story of a sailboat from the island ! Historically we have always had to believe that these characters talk more to eachother so then Jack must surely have told them all that Ben and Locke went into Orchid together. So when Hurley states that Locke moved the island the natural assumption would be that Ben was there as well.

Anonymous said...

Not liking the big idea floating around that Charlotte is Annie, or even Annie and Ben's daughter. Ben has been off island many times, I think if he had a 'real' daughter out there he would not have been so quick to sorta take Alex as his kid. BUT - interesting how they never did put Ben and Charlotte together at any time this season. Only Miles and the mercenaries actually caught up with Ben. so, hmmmmm !

Chris Stedman said...

MJ

Ben was with Locke's group that found Charlotte and he even shot her, so yes they've seen each other.

They didn't seem to know each other other than Ben telling all her personal info to everyone.

Unknown said...

I thought I remembered him telling Charlotte all of her personal info...but I've only seen each episode once so I thought maybe I dreamed that! Lol

I loved the episode last night. (Which concluded an all week marathon of Lost viewing! ;-)) There are so many crazy questions to be answered over the next two seasons. Should be very interesting!

Anonymous said...

Frak! Thanks cdstedman - I totally forgot that ! DUH!

Then again, not liking any of the thoughts that Charlotte is somehow related/tied to Ben.

Mike V. said...

yeah...i was going to post that as well...Ben rambled off Charlotte's stats in the "Confirmed Dead" episode. (Season 4 episode 2). I don't think I like the theory either...lol But i guess there's always a chance that Ben could have a daughter that he doesn't know about (granted...he seems to know everything! lol)

Shanna, you wouldn't be complaining about that all week LOST marathon, would you? I seem to recall it being your idea! And you knew once you said it, I wasn't going to reject the idea! lol

Also forgot to mention in the blog the potential budding romance for Sawyer and Juliet...both of them thinking that their "LOVES" are dead may find comfort in each other's arms!

Anonymous said...

Did Ben tell Jack that 'bad things happened after you left the island'? I can't remember who said that to whom ?

Liked the return of cold-hearted Ben when his reaction to innocents dying on the boat was 'so!' Very dark of him. Also his tersness with Locke the whole time in the Orchid. Laughed out loud when John asked if this was the magic box. Nice of the writers to do a shout-out to the 'magic box'.

Mike V. said...

correction on my earlier comment about not seeing Miles "sense" anything else besides dead people before his comment to Charlotte. We also saw him tell Michael that his name was not "Kevin Johnson"....so he just has some sorta weird vibe around him! My bad!

Anonymous said...

Jack told Ben that "Jeremy Bentham" said many bad things happened on thge island and it was his fault for leaving. Or something like that! Lol

Anonymous said...

Ahh - thanks Shanna !

Curious to me is Ben's statement to Locke that he has to move the island and that he can 'never' return. Yet, while talking to Jack it sure seemed like he was gonna go back with them. It will be very interesting to see where they go with that in the next season or two.

Chris Stedman said...

One thing we didn't see last night was now that the chopper is destroyed unless another one comes to the island how can Desmonds vision of Claire getting on a chopper come true? I hope they revisit this, it whould be a major waste for Charlie to have died and never have the vision come true.

Anonymous said...

cdstedman,

My theory on the whole chopper not having Claire on board goes back to the producers comments about Desmond not always remembering his visions correctly (they gave the example of the soccer game). So, I am guessing that he saw a woman holding Aaron on the helicopter and just assumed it was Claire instead of Kate.

-Addict

Anonymous said...

You brought up how big Walt is and how Jin was talking to her daughter and not knowing how long it had been and how old she is. Kate Clearly says to Jack when she backs up her car and talks to him that she has tried for the last "3 years" to forget the last day on the island.

Anonymous said...

sorry Sun was talking to her daughter

Anonymous said...

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

Thought this was interesting....


And Claire better be getting on some plane in the future because that is the whole reason why Charlie died...and it just seems pointless to even make him die and Dez having is visions if she doesnt get off....but then again I would be Okay with her being dead and them being together as ghost...

Anonymous said...

I too noticed Ben's tone in talking to Jack that implied he was also going back to the island.

Interesting on how Locke could possibly be the Economist, but I don't think that Locke would be traveling to Germany, but maybe the island told him too, lol.

I still think the Economist is Widmore, but am starting to wonder if Ben can't kill Widmore himself and therefore manipulated Sayid (by killing his wife) into helping him. I could be wrong though because Sun seemed to easily track down Widmore.

On the other hand, if the Flight 815 only crashed because of Christian Shepard's corpse being on board (like the idea), maybe Ben knew that by killing Locke and returning his body, that he would have a way to get back to the island. What I am trying to say is that maybe Ben has no way of finding the island since he moved it, but knows that the island will bring Locke's body back and as long as Ben is with it, he can get back to the island as well. Could this be why Widmore wanted Ben alive off island only to have him killed as his ticket back to the island? So who killed Locke, Widmore or Ben?

Maybe Hurley knows more than the other O6'ers since he has seen multiple ghosts. I thought when Jack visited him that he wanted to go back, but in talking to Sayid last night, he didn't want to go back. What has made him change his mind?

Also, no thoughts or comments about Richard and the stealthy Others not be able to directly intervene in the rescue of Ben? I still don't understand why Kate and Sayid had to be involved.

-Addict

Mike V. said...

Well, I actually was commenting about how big the ACTOR got (Malcom David Kelley)...I wasn't really referring to if it was 2, 3 or 4 years gone by.

And if Kate said that 3 years have gone by, then assuming that Ji Yeon was 2 or 3 years old is probably pretty accurate! lol

But thanks for pointing that out, I think I missed Kate saying that.

Anonymous said...

Mike,

How about this for a poll?

Who killed Locke?

Widmore
Ben/Sayid
Suicide

-Addict

Anonymous said...

Mike,

Did you notice that Claire had an American accent when she was talking to Kate? It really seemed strange.

G.M.F.B. said...

First timer... Desmond said something specifically about "as long as I have Penny I should be alright." Ben said he was going to kill Widmore's daughter. May we have some crazy time travelling by Desmond again?

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else record the two alternative endings to this season's finale (aired during "Good Morning America")? I guess the producers were very concerned about leaks about the last 30 seconds.

In the alternative endings, Sawyer and Desmond were in the coffin.

-Addict

Anonymous said...

Sorry if this has already been thrown out there long ago, but I think Aaron and Jack are the key. Everything that is being done is to get Jack and Aaron back on the island. Christian is obviously very tied up in the island, his daughter Claire is as well, so it stands to reason so is his son Jack and of course his grandson Aaron. Locke is dead so the next chosen one needs to step up and take care fo the island, Jack and then Aaron.

And as someone else wrote it makes perfect sense that Ben did whatever he could to keep John Locke from getting to the island behind the scenes(i.e kidney, broken back, etc.) somehow he had a hand in all of it so that Locke could not take his place, but ultimately the island got its way

Anonymous said...

ok I have a comment that is based on an older episode, so here it goes. If pushing the button every 108 minutes was so important to keep the island in a time loop then why oh why didn't they treat it that important?

Anonymous said...

Did we ever find out who was on the plane with the oceanic six that the woman nods to on her way from the cockpit?

Mike V. said...

hmmm..interesting on The Others needing Kate and Sayid's help. I just saw it as a twisty plot device even though we kinda already assumed the OTHERS and 815ers would be on the same side for the Battle against Keamy. But you never know if there's something more there.

let's see what else? Didn't notice an American Accent on Claire. I did watch it again, but there just wasn't enough of her talking for me to make a determination lol But I'm not sure where they would go with that if it WAS supposed to be an American accent lol

I'll ponder the poll, addict! lol

gmfb, thanks for reading/commenting! it would be sad if we didn't have more time traveling Desmond...but i'm not sure if it would be linked to Ben going after Penny or not. But you reminded me about something else...what about Dan noting in his book that Desmond will be HIS Constant? Might that come into play with Dez off of the island now? Perhaps! But yeah, I think we can expect to see a confrontation between Ben/Dez/Penny and maybe even Sayid.

I heard about the "false" endings filmed for the coffin to prevent any leaks like last year's major plot leak. But I didn't see them on GMA.

Alexis, I'm confused at your question. I don't think it ever was confirmed on the show that the Island was in a time loop. The time loop was/is just some Superfan's theory. The point of the hatch was to cover up an incident that those crazy DHARMA Scientists caused messing with the electro-magnetic energy of the Island. The result of their experiment caused a build up of electro-magnetic energy so strong that in order to release the charge without any catastrophe (supposedly, end of the world circumstances)...the button had to be pushed every 108 minutes. Once Desmond got the courage (had no choice) to "blow the dam" and turn the fail-safe key....whatever mess the DHARMA Initiative made, was destroyed. Of course, a bigger question would be, can we tie the event of the PURPLE SKY at the end of season 2, with the the event of moving the island at the end season 4?

last anonymous poster - no we did not find out who else was on the plane with the oceanic 6. This could be a situation where the producers didn't really intend for us to question it, but since everyone is speculating, they might try to make up an answer lol but considering we saw the staged Oceanic 6 rescue at the end of the episode, and it was just the 6 of them...I'm thinking it probably isn't important who that person on the plane was.

But you just never know with this crazy show!

Whew...sorry for rambling but I didn't have a chance to respond most of the weekend! Keep posting and theorizing everyone!
(btw...All-Time Record Hit Count last week of over 3000 hits, shattering Through the Looking Glass Week by 500! Good Job everyone!)

David said...

Here are the alternative endings for anyone who wants them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWWMYFAycmQ&feature=related


I really want to know about the whispers...I don't know if this has been picked up on before but whenever someone is about to appear (ie Walt to Shannon, Harper to Juilet, Christian to Michael) we hear whispers...could they be something to do with moving certain people around the island? I've pondered this for some time but never thought to post it because of how ridiculous it seems, even to me! Teleportation?

Mike V. said...

Thanks David! Good stuff...

btw, while we're youtubing...i double checked the audio on the TiVo for authentictiy this looks pretty accurate for what Sawyer tells Kate...if so..our Clementine suspicions are correct. This will be nice to see Kate and Cassidy meet up after knowing they had a Sawyer connection


Sawyer Whisper

"I have a daughter in Alabama....You need to find her....tell her I'm sorry"

Brian Erzen said...

I love your blog and the way you break down the shows each week. Who knows, maybe will see something from Lost within the next 9 months. I'll still look forward to any new information!

Anonymous said...

Not that this has anything to do with any thing but I was stuck watching Wild Hogs this weekend and who to my surprise did I see ? Both Keamy and Mr. Friendly were in the movie, even had a big scene together. LOL

Anonymous said...

I didn't feel that the stealthy others HAD to use Kate and Sayid, but I just took it as the better plan. Keamy expects to have 815ers running around (and knows their names I believe) so to have Kate go into camp doesn't raise as much suspicion as an other going in. And since she was a 'familiar' Keamy just had her kneel with Ben and that allowed Kate to give him the 'somethings happening' warning.

Mike V. said...

Thanks again Brian for the props on the blog! Always appreciated! Hey, for all of you frequent visitors, you should all subscribe to the blog feed or email feed (if you haven't already)...that way if I do decide to post something in the "off-season"...you'll be notified!

MJ - nice on the Friendly/Keamy siting. I actually saw Keamy in 3:10 to Yuma recently....always funny to recognize these people after they're on LOST lol Also, good point about the Others using Kate/Sayid. I'm going to accept that as what happened! It's less of a headache than trying to figure out anything else! lol

Anonymous said...

mj/Mike,

I agree that it is less complicated if it was a better plan to use Sayid and Kate, but what bothers me is that after Richard shoots Keamy, the rest of the others come out of the bushes all around the path that Kate and Ben ran past and the embankment that Sayid and Keamy fell down. It would not have been as dramatic, but wouldn't it have been easier to kill Keamy as he was running down the path in the same way that the Others killed the rest of Keamy's men?

Everyone,

I can't believe people aren't more interested in how/why Locke died (i.e., did he kill himself or did someone else kill him).

-Addict

Mike V. said...

i guess there could be some crazy explanation for it all...but for now...i'm just going with "excuse to make a dramatic TV fight between Sayid and Keamy" lol

As for Locke - Sayid says in the future "they say it was suicide" right? So yeah...it's implied that at least HE thinks someone else did it. And with all of the people watching them in the future it could be possible. Who killed him? well we just have no idea right now! I guess it could be Ben, bitter ben for losing the island. What if Ben is Widmore's successor of the island just like Locke is Ben's successor? Widmore wants to go back but "he can't" because he moved the island. But still...there are some rules in place for what you can and can't do....Ben knows he can't kill Widmore...why? still don't know. I dunno...all interesting season 5 stuff to explore!

Here's something though that i just thought of and totally didn't think about before. how about when Jack pulled the trigger on locke and the gun didn't go off? Do we now think that this is the same reason that michael couldn't shoot himself? Locke was destined to be Jacob's new golden boy...and he "had work to do"...do we think that's why the gun malfunctioned? And why didn't the gun malfunction when Ben shot him? Because it went through his lack of kidney and wouldn't kill him? Crazy crazy crazy!

So what would all of this imply? What did Locke fulfill between jack trying to shoot him and him ending up in the coffin to allow him to die? (another person that could be the mysterious killer - perhaps Abaddon???)

I'm on a rant...so why not continue? Does anyone think that because Ben summoned the smoke monster to do his bidding....that the consequence of his actions was to relinquish the LEADERSHIP OF THE OTHERS to Locke and leave the island?

Chris Stedman said...

Here’s my take on Locke’s death. The island will not let you die until your mission is done i.e. Michael. So is Locke’s mission done, no. he’s been on a journey from the beginning to reach his destiny and his “death” is just a new stage in that journey. The island let him die because that’s what he was supposed to do. Now for what ever reason the O6 plus Locke (and Ben will tag along) have to get back to the island. How will that help Locke’s condition, well remember the last time Jack got in a plane with a corpse, he didn’t stay dead long.

Anonymous said...

cdstedman,

The producers have said that once your dead, your dead. So Locke's ghost might visit, but we will only see him alive if it is pre-coffin time (which discussing anything else but "Lost" would be obvious, lol).

-Addict

Mike V. said...

yeah that's kinda what i figured too stedman on bringing Locke BACK to the island.

which kinda makes me think more about our old theories of Christian Shephard having been on the island BEFORE...and maybe he is on a similar "journey" that locke is? Could he also have been a former leader of the Others?

maybe! maybe not!

Mike V. said...

i dunno addict...as we've seen with Christian Shephard...he's been holding babies...petting dogs (mobisode)...luring Claire (still not sure if she's dead or alive) into Jacob's shack.....and he was brought to the island in a coffin.

I'm thinking Locke may have a role to play when he comes back to the island. what that role is? well we have no idea.

But yes...once you're dead you're dead...I will agree with this lol What "DEAD" means on LOST Island? Well, we're not quite certain yet!

But they sure are setting things up nicely for the ZOMBIE SEASON 7! lol (all podcast fans will know what i'm talking about)

Chris Stedman said...

“he didn’t stay dead long”

That was the wrong way to say it. He’s dead but what does that mean on the island? Lol. If someone killed Locke we can go back to Star Wars “If you strike me down I’ll become more powerful than you can possibly imagine” His new journey as an island “ghost” will be interesting to see where it goes.

Anonymous said...

If we accept that Widmore was in control of the island before Ben (after all Widmore said something like it was my island long before it was your island in talking to Ben), then maybe Ben can't kill Widmore because the island is able to move through space and time. Therefore, if Ben kills Widmore, the events that led up to Ben being in control of the island may not have happened. Similar to why you can't go back in time to kill your grandfather.

But what if Widmore or Ben can kill Locke in the present, as a way to get back to the island, without disrupting the events that led up to their individual reigns? Similar to traveling to the future and killing your grandchild (i.e., it wouldn't affect your existence in the past).

I think that this would be an interesting way to expound on the time traveling elements already introduced in the show and a simple explanation why Ben can't kill Widmore, but why Widmore wanted Ben brought to him alive (so he can kill him? and use his body to get back to the island?).

Also, maybe Jack's gun didn't work because Locke needed to die off island in order to bring Jack and/or Aaron back to the island. Maybe in trying to kill Locke, Jack wasn't ready yet to fulfill his destiny in the same way that Locke wasn't ready as a boy when he chose the knife.

-Addict

Anonymous said...

cdstedman,

Now we are in agreement.


Mike,

I don't think anything Christian Shepard has done is too out of the ordinary for "ghosts" on "Lost" except for holding Aaron, but my thought on this is:

1. It was a dream by Claire.
2. Has something to do with Aaron being special . . .

-Addict

David said...

Mike, Sawyer said Albuquerque, not Alabama - he was born in Alabama but Cassidy and Clemintine lives in Alburquerque. If you listen to the video closely he does say Alburquerque.

Mike V. said...

both plausible theories Addict. But what about Yemi and him setting fire to Eko's tent? that wasn't a dream. But we (I) had also assumed by the end of that episode that the smoke monster had manifested itself into Yemi since it came to kill Eko right after their interaction. And of course...with the smoke alarm beeping and Christian Shephard's appearance following shortly after, this could still be the case lol How that traveled off the island though? beats me!

Where was I going with this? I dunno..lol You have to assume that the mobisode is canon too btw...they producers had stated this. Surely, we can't think that we were hanging out in Vincent's dreams also when Christian pet him right? Since they say the mobisodes do not NEED to be viewed in order to enjoy the show, I thought that the baby holding was another way of showing this ghostly interaction. So the dog petting, the baby holding, and Yemi setting fire to tent all make it seem like there's more going on with these crazy Island ghosts.

And for a couple of them...there are instances of SMOKE nearby! lol

David -thanks for the correction. I was just stating what the youtube video stated. But yeah, I do remember Cassidy saying Alburquerque now that you mention it.

Anonymous said...

You may be right about Ben knowing he had "gone to far" and had to give up leadership of the island when he let his emotions take over and released the smoke monster. After that he really seemed to accept his fate - that John was his replacement and he (Ben) would have to leave the island. He certainly looked anguished when he was turning the frozen donkey wheel. I still can't imagine why/how Locke died, but I do believe that it must be the catalyst that sends the Oceanic 6 back to the island (dragging along a body bag!).

One more thing - about Aaron... I don't believe he is supposed to go back to the island with the adults, so that's why Claire appeared to Kate in the dream. Kate will have to go back, but Aaron technically wasn't a passenger on the plane when it crashed. Even though they are being called the Oceanic 6, the press was told that 8 people survived the plane crash then Boone, Libby and Charlie died. Aaron wasn't born yet, and I'm hoping that Claire is still alive and when Jack & crew go back to the island it will be to rescue the ones they left behind, and Claire and Aaron will be reunited off-island.

Maybe they'll figure out a way to time travel back before the crash, destroy the island's powers, and Oceanic 815 will arrive at the airport like nothing happened, and they'll go on about their lives with no memories of being LOST!!!

(Gotta get Christian back in that coffin!)

Anonymous said...

This is one of the best Lost blogs I've read! Great job.

Anonymous said...

Hi
I was wondering with the the people on/off the isalnd not being to be killed if they still have work to do on the island. have guns been the only way people have cheated death like locke and michael becasue if you can't die if you have work to do on the island and the dharma iniatiative were all wiped out by the purge does that mean all the people in the dharma initiave didn't serve anymore purpose on the island so they could be killed.

the reason i brought up the gas was they never really explained who was trying to release the gas when the freighters first came to the island. i know they said ben was the one repsonisble for trying to release it, did we ever find out the true story?

I like how someone mentioned vincent. i just want to know who's feeding that dog, the dog just shows up about every 5 epsidoes randomly then he's gone.

Chris Stedman said...

Mark

In one of the pod casts they confirmed that the car crash that distracted Jack from suicide was the island. Way back in season 1 Sayid questioned why so many survived the crash with only scrapes and Kate mentioned in the final that it was a miracle that everyone survived the chopper crash. The island has been very busy saving lives lol. But once you have served the islands purpose like Michael did it is through with you.

I think Dan and Charlotte released the gas but changed it so it wasn’t lethal. They didn’t want Ben to use it against them when the freighter people started coming to the island.

Mike V. said...

I think vincent is on his own island journey lol And Christian Shephard and Taller Ghost Walt are probably splitting the duties of feeding him LOL

I concur with what stedman said. Jack's suicide attempt, everyone surviving the plane crash, surviving the chopper crash, etc...
The Island is controlling fates. I gotta think there will be more to this explanation when all is said and done than just "THE ISLAND WON'T LET YOU DIE." But until we have more information to go by, it's really all we can say!

Interesting with all of DHARMA people dying and their job being "complete." There might be more to that whole story with the whole "ordering of the purge" Did it come from Jacob? We've only seen bits and pieces from Ben's flashback to how it went down. Considering DHARMA will be explored more in season 5, something tells me we'll get more.

But how about Boone dying? Remember when Locke said to Jack "Boone was a sacrifice the Island demanded?" Kinda has a whole new meaning now doesn't it, now that we know the Island is "controlling fates"?

Crazy stuff...

Chris Stedman said...

As far as DHARMA goes I don’t think they died because of their job being “complete,” I think they just got killed. I don’t think they had a job to do they were just there on the island, may by they were on the verge of discovering the islands big secret and that’s when the island decided it was time for them to go. But DHARMA were intruders as far as the hostiles/others were concerned and were trying to get rid of them, perhaps Ben finally being ready to lead the others was the catalyst for purging them.

Anonymous said...

If you look at the Jeremy Bentham Wikipedia page someone posted (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham) it also lists David Hume (in addition to John Locke) as someone he was interested by. Desmond's full name is Desmond David Hume.

Anonymous said...

sorry..."influenced" by

Anonymous said...

OMG I have had no internet for months - I have sooo missed your blog!

I cried when Sawyer jumped from the helicopter....

OMG this season has been great.

Oh and Mike, I believe you and Shanna are engaged? Is that right? If so CONGRATS dude!!!

Leigh xx

Anonymous said...

OMG I have had no internet for months - I have sooo missed your blog!

I cried when Sawyer jumped from the helicopter....

OMG this season has been great.

Oh and Mike, I believe you and Shanna are engaged? Is that right? If so CONGRATS dude!!!

Leigh xx

Anonymous said...

Allow me to chime in with a few thoughts/theories of mine. As far as the Popular Mechanics article is concerned, here's my favorite part:

"To make physics sense of the movement of the island in Lost, I assume that the island is actually connected to the South Pacific by a wormhole-like warp in space-time. (It doesn't have to be a simple worm hole; it could be a warren of parallel and intersecting tubes.) Then, to move the island, all you have to do is move the wormhole connection, not the island itself. That's what I think Ben did. He changed the nature of the space-time connection between the island and the rest of the world.

So the island didn't disappear. It didn't even move. Imagine that you are visiting a small town that you used to visit when you were young. You drive for miles, and never come to it. But it turns out the town has not moved. Rather, the highway now goes around it. That's what Ben did—he changed the highway.

If this is right, it explains the role of Daniel Faraday, the physicist. From the references on his blackboard, and his experiments with space-time, it's clear he understands advanced relativity and quantum mechanics. He insists on traveling to and from the island on a precise trajectory of 305 degrees—perhaps to stay in the center of the wormhole, which is sort of like the eye of the needle. Stay within the eye, and you're okay—but any deviation wreaks havoc on your space-time (especially for a complex wormhole), thus accounting for Desmond's strange excursions in space and time."

Much has since been said of the Donkey wheel and here's my thoughts on that (as of now...LOL):

So my idea is this... the Donkey Wheel is a "valve" of sorts. It is composed of some material, native to the island, which is capable of blocking the flow of exotic matter. (like lead blocking gamma rays) It is spring loaded, and is in a "normally open" state. That is, it allows the negative engery which is responsible for keeping the mouth of the wormhole open to flow. This exotic matter has a temperature of absolute zero, and a negative mass which is more powerful than any vacuum. If anyone were to be exposed to it, they would freeze virtually instantly, and succumb to explosive decompression as if (worse actually) they were suddently ejected into the depths of outer space.

Since it is not literally "in" or "on" the Island, the effects are diluted somewhat. The chamber in which the valved is installed is frozen, but survivable. When Ben pushed the Donkey wheel, he turned the valve, closing it. This pinched the wormhole shut and severed it, similar to separateing a large soap bubble into two.

The effects on "Earth" would be minimal. The Island would simply disappear.

However, the effects on the Island should be drastic. Since the small universe has no light source of its own, instead relying on the engery from its "parent universe" to light and heat it, it would instantly become pitch black. The temperature would quickly drop. Trees would die, and oxygen would become depleted within weeks or months.

When the valve is shut, The area immediately around the valve is subjected to its own minor temporary stable wormhole. The effect of this is depositing anyone close to it at the other mouth. This is how Ben ends up in the Sahara.

Fortunately, the wheel, once released, returns to is original position. The engery flow resumes, and the wormhole is re-initiated. The other mouth looks for a place to connect... no unlike a magnet searching for an opposite pole. Once this opposite mouth latches on, the re-connection is permanent (until the valve is closed again).

The rapid restoration may prevent any Islanders from actually observing much more than a lightshift. (Although I would LOVE to see the Island go pitch black and everyone start to freeze!)

The most advantageous aspect of all this to life on the Island is that opposite mouth does not have time to go wandering around looking for places to attach. This prevents attachments in deep space, on other planets, or on different branes (different universes). It finds an engery source in its most proximate location and time, and attaches. It would be like hanging a magnet from a very long string over a football field of magnets. If you are at the 50 yard line, the chance of it reaching for a magnet at the goal posts are slim to none. Yet the random nature of the entire scenario is such as to pose significant danger.

The Vault was created using the same material as the valve is contructed of. When the vault is activated, the chamber taps into the exotic matter source and a very small wormhole is established to the space/time continiuum WITHIN the vault. The two mouths are conntected to different points in time. An object in the vault "time travels" when the vault is activated by travelling through this small wormhole.

Steve

Anonymous said...

now that the island has moved do you think that they will still be getting the dharma food drops? if the food drops stop this could make life more difficult for the losties as well since we see they are pretty reliant on that food. i dont think we ever saw if it was actually a plane or helicopter dropping it off we just saw the flashing beacon as it descended, but i think we would assume it has to be coming from someone off the island becasue they are not prodcuing food on the island at least not that we have seen.

Mike V. said...

Good question on the food drops...i had heard on one of the producer's podcasts that season 5 will have more meaty DHARMA information and that food drops could be a part of that.

What if the DHARMA FOOD is appearing on the island similar to how Ben (and the polar bear supposedly) got "OFF" of the island? some kind of teleportation. And of course, we could throw the Black Rock into there for good measure too with it mysteriously being in the middle of the island with no water around it.

Of course...we also know the Flame Station had a command on the computer to execute the "Food Drop"...so i wonder exactly what/who that communicated with if executed.

I do like the idea of food running out on the island leading to problems. of course, the more i think about it, there are other forms of food on the island too...think season 1 with the boar and mangos lol And with John Locke still hanging out on the island, that might not be too much of an issue.

it is fun pondering about what BAD things started happening on the island though. I'll have to think about that some more!

(also thanks Steve once again for a well thought out theory....very cool stuff!)

Anonymous said...

Nice stuff Steve and others. Good to see so many people that love this show as much as I do.

This is my first time here so please be kind with me. LOL

The Lost season 4 finale, to me, was a bit like the preparation for a game of chess. All the pieces were placed on the board, the rules were agreed upon, but the opening gambit has yet to begin. There weren't nearly as many answers as you may think there were (unless you wanted to know more about time traveling bunnies). LOL Yes, we found out who's in the coffin, but think for a second about how season 3 and season 4 ended.

Season 3 left us with Jack needing to go back to the Island. Season 4 ended with…Jack needing to go back to the Island, with everyone else. While the story on the Island may have progressed, the story off the Island is still where we left it, just with some missing pieces filled in. The chess pieces were already on the board, season 4 just spent 14 episodes fidgeting with them, making sure every piece was perfectly in the center of the square.

I ask you to think about all the set-ups in the finale. Sun met with Charles Widmore, though it was just to set up the real meeting. Charlotte suddenly became interesting when Miles (in a scene proving Ken Leung was tragically underused as comic relief this season) let it slip that she is more connected to the Island than we first thought. Locke was installed as the new leader of the Others, Daniel and many 815ers were seemingly left on the Zodiac halfway between the sunken freighter and the vanished Island, Sawyer and Juliet were getting drunk, Sawyer pulled a Lost in Translation ending with Kate, and Jin was lost at sea after an explosion on a boat…just like at the end of the first season.

Where season 5 will begin, I have no idea. Will we follow the Oceanic 6 off the Island and the adventures of Locke and Sawyer on the Island? What would be the point of spending an entire season showing us the bad things Locke apparently described to Jack when we already know the outcome? Sadly, I suspect this is what we're in store for, and that in one year's time, the big final reveal in the season 5 finale will be the Oceanic 6 (and the corpse of John Locke) returning to the Island.

I’ve often said there’s nothing more useless than a Philosophy major (which is why I only have a minor). But when it comes to Lost, viewers who know their philosophers have a distinct advantage. In the opening scene of the finale, we learned that the man in the coffin was Jeremy Bentham. Though it took me about 15 minutes to make the connection, the Philosophy majors most likely identified that name immediately as belonging to the famous utilitarian philosopher.

The historic Jeremy Bentham was a proponent of the greater good, someone who believed the ends justified the means. Combine this love for ignoring individual liberties in favor of the bigger picture with the knowledge that the character was named directly after a famous philosopher and you quickly realize that if you only majored in Philosophy in college, you would have known long before that final scene that John Locke was in the coffin.

Sometimes the Lost writers and producers do something so clever that it makes me laugh, even if it’s not funny. Such was the case with the scene in the finale when Sayid murdered the man lurking outside Hurley’s asylum. Sayid asked the man what time it was, and his response was, “Eight fift…” He didn’t get to finish because of the bullet in his head, but we got it, and it was pretty clever.

Upon arriving at the real Orchid Station, John Locke takes one look at the Vault and asks if it’s the “magic box.” This is a nice and rather funny callback to Ben’s statement in the third season that the Island has a magic box that can produce whatever you want. Ben’s flat denial that the Vault is the magic box sort of implied (to me at least) that the magic box is actually real, in some way, shape or form. I know that the creators have stated the box is a metaphor, but I suspect there’s still more to the metaphor than just what we’ve seen.

While I wasn’t a huge fan of the episode, I do appreciate that the Lost writers don’t entirely look down on their audience. As soon as Ben said he was putting on a jacket because he was going some place cold, every diehard Lost fan immediately knew he was putting on the Edgar Halliwax parka he was wearing when he landed in the Sahara Desert in “The Shape of Things to Come.” Cutting his arm on the way down the stairs was a nice touch.

The show didn’t need to put in a flashback (or flash forward) to that episode to remind viewers what was happening, they respected us enough to figure it out. Also, this might have larger implications regarding the location of the island. We saw it vanish (or “move”), but to where? To answer that, let’s look at Ben’s time travel. The actions on the island take place around the end of December 2004. Then Ben pushed the donkey wheel, let out the glowing yellow light and caused what I will assume was something like a Casimir Effect. That jumped him to the Sahara Desert, where he learned the date was October 25, 2005. Ben time traveled nearly 10 months, so maybe the island did as well, which might help to explain why it vanished.

In Kate’s freaky dream sequence, she received a garbled phone call. Well, not garbled so much as a clear cut message. When played backwards, the message says, “The Island needs you. You have to go back before it’s too late.” This would seem to contradict what creepy dream Claire said about not wanting Aaron to go back. Given everything we’ve seen of Kate on the Island, the biggest question is why she’s important. She never really had any big connection to the Island, so it’s unclear what role she plays or what “too late” means.

Though the episode sadly didn’t feature an appearance by Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje (though it’s possible that was him playing Giant Walt), Mr. Eko was invoked, as Hurley decided to play a little chess with the deceased priest/drug kingpin. The mere fact that Mr. Eko was referenced isn’t particularly noteworthy, but it might be if you look at the entirety of season 4.
In the first episode of the season, Hurley ran into Ana Lucia’s partner after he was arrested.In the mid-season cliffhanger “Meet Kevin Johnson,” Michael had several run-ins with an imaginary Libby. Now the season ends with an Eko shout out. So not only did we get references to all three series regular Tailies, but they were referenced in the order of their deaths. Is this a coincidence, or something bigger? Does it possibly mean that next season we’ll hear about Nikki and Paulo or Boone and Shannon?

Ok Mike V and assorted company...it's time for you to take my thoughts/theories apart. I know Season 4 was absolutely critical in order for us to know more of the future of this great show, but was Season 4 the best we've seen? I think not!

For all the hubbub it created, the interesting interaction between the pivotal role players and for its setup of science v fate; right v wrong; black v white; physics v reality, etc., I propose that Season 1 is still the highlight of any of the four seasons...thus far.

I can only hope that the Lost writers and producers end this amazing show with the finality and integrity it deserves and doesn't morph into some idiotic soap-opera ending that will leave us grasping at straws and throwing our newly paid for
plasma screens out of our 43rd story windows. LOL

Sincerly,
Boxman

Chris Stedman said...

Welcome Boxman, since you asked us to take your thought apart let me be the first lol.
I agree with you that season one is the best but I think you’re short changing season 4. To use your chess analogy, S4 wasn’t the preparation of the game, the flashbacks in S1 were and the games been going on since than. At the end of the S3 final, player one said “in 14 moves I’m going to move here” and player 2 said “in 13 moves I’ll be here.” So S4 played out and each player predicted their moves correctly by the final. We knew some of their move before hand but the story, and it was a good one, still progressed. What I’m looking forward to is how S5 is played. What happens when Sun switches from white to black? What if a new player starts putting red pieces on the board (Abaddon, Mrs Hawking) and starts knocking players off. It’s going to be a long wait.
I’m no fan of Kate (besides her hotness) but they seen to be setting things up for her to do something important so we’ll see.

Anonymous said...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/30/doomsdaycollider.ap/index.html

Interesting article that the producers may or may not use in their research.

-Addict

Anonymous said...

ok so i have some gossip. LOST star Nestor Carbonell who plays one of the others on the show is going to be on MiTRL this Thursday at 4pm and again at 9 and from what I hear he lets something slip about the new season but we have to watch to see what exactly that is....he also talks about his role in the upcoming Dark Knight movie...definitely have to check this out.

Mike V. said...

Ask Ausiello Returns!

"Question: I'm dying to have some juicy Lost tidbits. I'll take anything I can get. — Brittany

Ausiello: Damn straight you will! Team Darlton is doing their annual “radio silence” thing, so Lost scoop is at a premium these days. Luckily, I managed to unearth this little morsel: John Terry (Christian) and Alan Dale (Widmore) are in talks to return next season on a recurring basis. Big frakkin’ whoop, right? Well, here’s where it gets interesting: In the fine print of both their contracts, it states that Lost has the right to pick up series regular options on both actors for the show’s sixth and final season. For insight into what this could possibly portend for Lost’s endgame, please join me in welcoming the man, the myth the legend, guru of all things Lost, Mr. Doc Jensen! “The prospect of expansive roles for Jack's maybe-dead dad and Penelope's dastardly deep-pocketed pop suggests a theory about the Island's true significance. Here is a seemingly-magical place where the lame can walk anew, the impotent can once more shoot bullets, and anyone can crank on ancient donkey wheels and leap through time. In other words, the Island provides the means for death-spooked mortals to cheat the grim reaper. I'm betting that's why Old Man Widmore is so desperate to find it. As for Ghost Dad, the Island allows him to stick around in his inexplicable spectral state and might even be facilitating a full-blown bodily resurrection; either scenario represents a violation of the natural order of things. In the end, Jack will no doubt have to convince his father — and possibly his maybe-dead half-sister Claire, too — that they need to move on. Regardless, keeping Terry around portends an emotional climax to Jack's father issue arc.” Really? You got all of that from my one little casting item? Cool.
"

Miles Balzard said...

As you said, Mike, BOOM LOST!!!

So Jack's idea to lie about what happened to the media was actually Locke's idea? That might be one of the few times Jack has ever followed Locke's advice! At least the way Jack explained it to the rest of the Oceanic 6 was a lot more detailed than Locke's vague insistence, "to protect the people who stay on the island."

The scenes with Ben and Locke in the Orchid were great. We begin to piece together that time travel has been on the agenda for a long, long time, then the instruction video cements the notion. But why did the video tape stop and go in reverse at that critical point? Did they ever explain that within this episode?

Ben had several good lines, the best of which was definitely "Time traveling bunnies? Yes." But once again, he demonstrates how little he cares about anything or anyone that doesn't contribute to his immediate objective and kills Keamy, thereby dooming the freighter. Boom Lost indeed.

As little as I cared for Michael, at least I'm glad the dude is out of his misery (or so we're led to believe). Christian! AAURGH!!

At least now I can believe that Jin is still alive. It did seem like the deck of the freighter was empty five seconds before it blew, and if Jin made a deep dive off the bow, he could have avoided getting blown to bits. I can't say the same for Michael. He was right there with the C4.

Locke is the new leader: Well yeah, of course, if Ben ever left the island or died, I knew Locke had to be the new leader of the Others. The only other option was Richard, and he seems to serve a different purpose than being in a leadership role.

The island disappears: Last week I said it would happen with barely a ripple. There was a little more than a ripple, but not much. I'm still hanging on to my state of consciousness theory, even though the island will obviously reappear somewhere on Earth, and probably in a different time (a different year? different decade? different century?), which will make things even more freaky.

It was awesome seeing Penny reunite with Desmond. Man do I want a happy ending for those two! But man do I think this show is going to be stingy when it comes to handing out happy endings. If you could give me a guarantee, I'd settle for a happy Oceanic 3 after the series finale! (Plus Penny and Desmond of course, who weren't part of the 6 anyway.) And Hurley has to be one of the three.

Claire was super creepy when she appeared next to Aaron's bed. This girl sure has changed since meeting daddy. And Locke was the mystery corpse in the coffin! I didn't hear his name come up a lot in the commentary, so I guess Lost did a good job with the big reveal. I just let the sweet surprise hit me like a ton of donkey wheels.

It will be very interesting to see how season 5 is conveyed. I imagine flashbacks, flash forwards, flash diagonals, flash ups, downs and sideways. There's just SO much going on, but I'm cool with that as long as Mike is here to straighten it all out for me!

Man, I thought I wrote long comments. I can't hold a candle to some of these other people! Mike, did blogger allow longer comments in the past (remember when I had to break up a too-long comment into two different posts)? Or did you set a character limit on the blog at a later date? I'm good with the limit; it lets me know when I've prattled on for too long!

Mike V. said...

Miles, I have nothing to do with the limits! I'd type up my comments in emails and then copy and paste in whatever fits in one post. We all were writing novels back then! lol (who am I kidding? I still do it!)

Lots of great theories, and yes I saw what you wrote about the disappearing island. I don't want to say much as you'll be there soon enough!

Interesting predictions of who should survive at the end!

As for Claire showing up at Kate's bed...that was a dream, so not really sure what you can interpret of "ACTUAL CLAIRE" from it! lol But, keep your thoughts in mind if you ever do see Claire again! :-)

Season 5 format...I just can't say. But you won't see it coming. All I'll say is, I find season 5 the most rewatchable. It's very entertaining and very well done! Enjoy!

Leta said...

Wow, what and ending to this great season (and to think I didn't like it at first)! I was laughing, I was crying, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Great blog as always, Mike, it really helped me keep some sense of everything that's happened.

The premise this time was something new: we knew where some of the characters were going to end up after this episode, but it was interesting watching HOW they end up there. I was trying to keep tabs on O6 all the time, wondering when the hell they were going to get in one place together. Because of that, it was possible to guess some things happening in advance (like Sawyer jumping from the chopper - he had no place there with the rest of O6ers!), but it was still fun.

I've got to say, I didn't expect that freighter to actually blow up until the last minute. I was sure Jin was a goner, but after reading the blog I now see that's not so certain! Either way, it was a very emotional scene. It was impossible not to tear up when Sun was screaming like that.

BTW, love this new proactive post-island Sun. I've got a feeling she's gonna become a real pain in the a** for some people.

DESMOND AND PENNY!!! Oh my God, wasn't that one great scene? I could't take my eyes off them, there's some real chemistry between these actors. And with Ben being after Penny in the future, there's bound to be more drama in store for us with the 3 of them. I can't wait.

Ben was amazing in this. All the way from heartlessly dooming people on the freighter to death to sacrificing himself for the island. I don't know whether he really cannot return, but he looked so devastated pushing that donkey wheel I couldn't help but feel for him. I think at that time at least he really thought he was leaving the island for good.

We finally got some confirmation that this is not Charlotte's first time on the island. This is great. My one disappointment this season was how little Dan and Charlotte were utilized. Miles gets on my nerves and Frank seems pretty straightforward, but these two are actually interesting. And they were mostly just hanging on the beach avoiding giving any answers. Dan at least got some time-travel adventure, while Charlotte did absolutely nothing worth mention. I really hope they get some real action next season. Oh, and what happens to Dan and five or so nobodies who were en route to the freighter when the island disappeared??? Were they near it enough to be able to go back?

Never in a million years I'd have imagined the island-moving mechanism turn out to be an actual donkey wheel. That was awesome.

I want to comment on every little thing of this, but I'd better stop. I'll be forced to take a break from Lost now for a week or (shudder) even too, but I'll be watching like crazy when I come back!

Mike V. said...

Leta - Glad you liked the finale and found the recap helpful! I agree with all the sentiments you're expressing about the episode which I probably already covered at length in the recap and comments! lol

Absolutely agree with the Desmond/Penny and Ben commentary. All amazing performances! Sun too....the scream was horrifying!

Good questions and comments on the island newbies (Dan, Charlotte, Miles and Frank)! I don't want to say anything about your thoughts but there certainly is more coming. I will say that your impressions of Miles are very similar to what people though of him in season 4... Just keep in mind how easy it was to hate Jin back in the day...even Sawyer! That's all I'll say for now. No comments on what happened to Dan and crew!
A FROZEN Donkey Wheel! I think I probably covered this in the recaps..but that was their tease for the finale. Every season they came up with some crazy term for a crazy moment in the finale. Last season's flash forward reveal was called "the rattlesnake in the mailbox" lol....this one was quite literal but we didn't know that until we saw it! hysterical.

Go into season 5 with an open mind. It's crazy, but it's totally awesome and enjoyable. I love rewatching that season in particular. Looking forward to hearing your comments!

Rob UK said...

Just reached end of season 4 and watched the finale on the edge of my seat all in one go...

WOW indeed, and thanks for all the recaps and thoughts Mike V.

So many comments it's hard to read them all, I am just rolling with whatever happens now, no time to guess what's going on, it will be revealed soon enough.

On with Season 5 then!!!

tarantino88 said...

Just to check in man, watched season finale two days ago, it was awesome, brilliant etc... to be fair I haven't rated this season very much up until the last three episodes or so, but that's how it works, finale must be good otherwise no one would come back for more next year... still, in my book season 4 was weaker than season 3 and so far seasons 1 and 3 are much better than 2 and 4. I see you think highly of season 5, let's see how that pans out. As far as overall LOST mythology goes, I'm pretty happy with how things are going, and at this moment in time I'm pretty sure I'm gonna like how show ends, but, let's wait and see. That's it from me for now, Happy New Year, cheers :)

Mike V. said...

Hello Tarantino! Happy new year to you too! I would agree with that assessment. I think seasons 1, 3 and 5 are my overall favorites. But there are gems in 2,4 and 6 too. The constant in season 4 is easily the best episode of the series and season 2 is when the show became an obsession so it must get credit for that. But on researches season 2 certainly drags the most. That whole tailies plot went on forever!

5 is just a crazy ride and really fun to rewatch. Enjoy the crazy! :)

Hunter said...

WOW WOW WOW!!! What a finale. Might be my favorite thus far of the series. So many things happened it's hard to wrap my mind around all of it. First and foremost, I want to say can we give an Oscar, or Emmy, or something to the actress who plays Sun? Her emotion when she saw the freighter blow up was incredible. I've never seen a character react to a death on a television show with such raw emotion. It was so sad to watch. Jin was one of my favorite characters along with Sun so I was heartbroken to see him get left behind as the freighter blew. I've said all along that there are five characters that I desperately want to make it to the end of this show alive: Juliet, Kate, Sun, Jin, and Sawyer. I fear that one of those, Jin, may have just met his fate. I don't think he was able to make it off the boat. I want to think positive, but my fear is that he met his demise. (I really hope I'm wrong).

Also, while I'm thinking about it, could Sun be beginning to turn into something of an antagonist? I could see her becoming a big problem for the Oceanic 6 in getting back to the island. Interesting potential twist if that were to become true.

I'm not even going to try to comment on the island moving, time travel, etc. as doing so would just make my head hurt. Just enjoying how believable and effective the writers are making it all seem!

Totally wasn't expecting to see Locke in that coffin. Not really sure what to think about that. Does this mean that Locke is dead now? I really have no clue what to think about it.

Couldn't help but get a "flashback" (pun intended) to the old Ben when Locke told him he just killed everyone on the freighter and he simply replied, "So..." Man he plays a phenomenal villain. At this point I can't help but cheer for him throughout the show. I really felt for him as he was turning that wheel. You can tell how much he loves and cares for the island and the thought of not getting to return to it really took a toll on him.

Before I wrap up, just wanted to comment and say that I saw that you watched Fringe back when it was on tv. Great show!!! I finished that about a month before I started Lost and I absolutely loved that show. It was a real treat to see the actor who played Colonel Broyles in Fringe show up as a character in Lost (the mysterious black man who visited Hurley, Locke, Naomi, etc.) who we still don't know much about! JJ Abrams had a masterpiece with that show as well!

What a great season. Full of more supernatural events than ever I think and very entertaining at that, writer's strike and all! I get amazed more and more every episode with how amazing this show is. Must have been really awesome to get to experience it live on tv. Although I do not envy you guys having to wait NINE MONTHS before the next season. I don't know how you guys did that! I can't hardly wait an hour! You guys were troopers. Can't wait to see the direction this show goes in season 5. You've spoken pretty highly of it, Mike, so my expectations have been placed super high!

Mike V. said...

Hello again Hunter! Yeah the season 4 finale was pretty fantastic. Lots of cliffhangers to sort out in the beginning/most of season 5. Enjoy the ride! I don't want to spoil anything by giving any clues.

I did want to clarify something on JJ Abrams. He certainly was involved in the creation of Fringe and LOST, but only really with the Pilot episodes and maybe some broad discussions. Alias was the last TV show he actually ran. He went into movies after that leaving Damon Lindelof (Co-creator with Abrams) and Carlton Cuse at the helm of LOST. But his fingerprints are all over both shows with his mystery box style/approach to television/movies.

Definitely loved Fringe! LOST is probably my all time biggest obsession but Fringe was a nice successor. Once you're through these recaps feel free to join us on the other blog. I'm regularly recapping The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. But we also have weekly and summer posts to discuss any TV anyone is watching.

Enjoy season 5! I certainly hyped it up a lot. It's a confusing ride but it's really fun. And when you finish it, you're going to want to watch it again! lol Keeo commenting if you like and I'll respond along the way.

Superj561 said...

Hey Mike! I started watching Lost last June-ish, on and off. My mom watched the show when I was younger as it was coming out, but I am more of a video game person and had never really been into any TV shows. That is until my cousin introduced me to The Walking Dead between seasons 3 and 4. After falling in love with that, I realized that I would probably like Lost a lot as well.

I was devastated when I got through season 3 of Lost thinking "Awesome! I'm only halfway through the show!" only to find out that seasons 4, 5, and 6 are significantly shorter than the first 3. Because of that, and generally the craziness of how time was played with in season 4, I decided to re-watch season 4 before going onto 5 after taking quite a break from the show (while both Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead were airing this year). During my second watch of episode 7 I had a question that I searched up and found your blog! I had been looking for something like this on Reddit and other places but I couldn't find anything that didn't probably include future spoilers as well.

Since episode 7 I've read each blog and most of the comments, it's nice to slow down between each episode and find out what other people were thinking at the time (reading all of the Coffin Watch theories from throughout the season was fun since I had already watched and knew who it was haha), and I plan to continue doing so with the rest of the series to make up for the lack of anticipated show time with the shorter seasons lol (I've already taken note of you saying that some people commented about the next episode when that episode's thread was not up yet, especially with the finales, so I'll watch out for that). I don't think I'll add many more comments though, maybe when big episodes occur and at least the season 5 and 6 finales I assume.

Also, after watching episode 10 or so I noticed your Walking Dead blogs, so I'll be sure to check in on those with the second half of season 6 and on and add to the comments section. It's disappointing to see the much lower number of commenters for The Walking Dead, but that's probably because of things like Reddit where a ton of people go for the episode discussions.

And what's the best option to pick as far as picking an account? Or can I create one somewhere other than in the comment "Choose an Identity" thing?

Anyway, thanks for the awesome blog even over 7 years later haha!

Mike V. said...

HI Super J! Welcome and thanks for checking out the blog! As I'm sure you've seen, I still get notified of comments on all recaps so I'm still checking in and responding when people discover it! Great to see new generations finding LOST all of these years later. And good to see the show is standing the test of time. (not that it's been THAT long yet :)) I'm a video game guy myself, but having 2 kids these days makes it tough to play a lot. We just picked up Disney Infinity for Christmas, which my son loves so at least I get a little bit of a fix with that! lol

Not sure if you know the "behind the scenes" story of the 3 shorter seasons, but it was actually a good thing. The show seemed to be losing its way in the middle of season 3 and it was a bit of a dance between the showrunners and the network with deciding an end date for the show. The showrunners knew they couldn't keep this show going forever because the mysteries would get too out of hand. They needed to start working towards a resolution. They tried for 2 full seasons and negotiated to 3 seasons that would make up the same number of episodes. They aired from January to May making it a bit of event television. (not unprecedented these days with shows premiering for shorter seasons in the winter/spring now) This was a landmark deal at the time as no one had ever decided to end one of the highest rated shows on television in its 3rd season. But it also gave confidence to the viewers that this unraveling mystery was headed towards some kind of conclusion.

Then other intangibles happened like the writer's strike in season 4 which shorted season 4 a bit, but extended season 5 and 6 because of it. They kept the same # of episodes and even actually asked for a little more time for the series finale (which was like 2.5 hours with commercials).

I don't remember there being too many comments spoiling future episodes besides the series finale...but then I posted a discussion post for people to vent while I wrote that finale recap. But, maybe there's a couple here and there. It's been awhile so I'm sure my younger self remembers better!!

Yeah, the TV Addicts Blog never got as huge a following as LOST did, but I didn't expect it to. LOST was quite a phenomenon on TV and off with internet discussions. We have a small community of people that read the recaps and discuss shows on the other blog. I do TWD and Game of Thrones (much smaller recaps, no pictures....no time!!) and then have a weekly discussion post for people to discuss whatever. I never really considered Reddit as one of the reasons why no one looks for blogs anymore, but that makes a lot of sense. I do check reddit on occasion myself. But we'd be happy to have more input on the TWD discussions so come on over!!

As for accounts, if you have a google account you can just log in with that. That's what I use as this blog is hosted by blogger (owned by Google). I'm sure there's other things you can do. You could always just use Name/URL and add your name without an account. Some people just use Anonymous and sign their name at the bottom. Lots of options!

Feel free to comment on the LOST posts and I'll get to them while I can too. Enjoy the rest of the show! It only gets crazier!

Jason B. said...

I can understand the shorter seasons being a good thing. Watching it live and watching it later are totally different things haha. I did notice from the Lost episodes wiki that the (live) views started going down during and after season 3 a bit. Viewers knowing that the end game was coming in season 6 probably kept some of them watching. But since I'm watching it on Netflix and knew the whole time that it was 6 seasons, I didn't mind any of the story in between as I really love character development. It's also unfortunate that once I "catch up" the show will be over haha. But I'm cool with the length now anyway, especially since I would like to finish it before The Walking Dead starts back up but I don't want to rush it. With reading this blog between episodes now I'll have to see if I can even finish by then haha.

And yeah, I saw you mention the writers' strike of season 4 quite a few times. It turned out to be an awesome season anyway though in my opinion. Who knows what could've played out differently though, had that not happened.

Maybe Reddit doesn't have anything to do with less blog readers haha, it's just the first thing I thought of. But it could make sense. Although some opinions are held so high on there to where you can't really get your opinions in, so it will be nice to come to a much less populated space as well haha.

Actually now I do think that the only reference to spoilers you made was for the series finale. I know the very, very general idea of how the show ends, but a lot of things that have happened along the way have thrown me for a loop as far as how it fits with the ending. Therefore I know that the ending isn't as straight-forward as I thought before I started watching the show, and I'm really excited to see the full picture of how it ends. I'll comment more on that though when the time comes in the show.

Lesley said...

We were ill so rattled through the whole of season 4 in two days. My head was spinning by the end of it so had to take 3 days off to catch up with your blog. With all the comments it takes as long to read it as it does to watch it. I admire your dedication and wonder how you found the time to go to work after each episode.
When it first aired in the UK the programme had moved from main TV to pay TV which I don't have so my son and I had to trawl the internet risking getting viruses from dodgy websites to get our weekly fix. Sometimes the picture was poor and even had Japanese sub titles! We were so glad when the DVD came out.

Katie S. said...

This may sound weird, but some of the logistical details in this episode(s) troubled me. Like, how far did Sawyer have to swim to get back to the island? And what was baby Aaron eating all that time he was away from his mom (who had been breast feeding him.) Not sure why that’s nagging at me, but there you go!

Mike V. said...

Lol the real questions that lost never answered! Best not to get too wrapped up with that. That’s kind of like asking why Hurley didn’t lose weight. People actually asked that so they had to write a couple lines into the show and even his secret dharma stash in s2. Lol. They even take liberties eventually with moving around the island more quickly. This also happens In latter seasons of game of thrones. But yeah. I’m sure Sun had some magical feeding strategy just like she had an herbal remedy for everything on the show! Lol You just gotta roll with it but these are observations I never really thought about! Nice catches.

Simon Sandiford said...

5am and not been able to get to sleep due to head full of lost. Think I'll have to have a week or so break before starting season 5!

LostIn2022 said...

Wow - so once Ben appeared in the funeral room place with Jack, I was 70% sure we were going to see Locke when Jack opened it up. For most of the season I was assuming it was going to be the mysterious guy that had visited Hurley in the institution, and was the orderly when Locke was getting physical therapy.

But when Sayid visited Hurley and Hurley made the comment about don't call him Bentham you know his name is... I narrowed it down to Michael, Ben, or Locke.

Well anyway, once we got the big reveal with the coffin, I realized this means that NO ONE showed up to John Locke's funeral. :'( This is just one of the saddest things.

John Locke had my upmost respect for the first two or three seasons. He seemed like one of the actual good guys on the show. Once he had Sawyer kill his dad, and then killed Naomi, I felt like he wasn't the hero I had assumed him to be. So I don't really know what the heck is going to happen with his character development in the last two seasons.

But just think about John - all we've seen of his life in the flashbacks (he has my favorite flashbacks of all). He had this awful life, was rejected over and over, felt like a complete loser with nothing going for him. The island truly changed him - not just that minor part about giving him the ability to walk again :p He became this confident leader. Not everyone looked up to him or trusted the wisdom he was dishing out -- but that didn't seem to matter for the most part - he was confident in himself.

In that empty flash forward funeral home, it seem his life ended in the same way it might have if he had just kept moving with his life as it was before he ever go on Oceanic 815. That just breaks my heart. Awful.

I hope we get some redemption for Locke and he is a good guy in the end, and somehow has people who love and respect him.

Not directly tied to this episode - but I've been remembering - back in Locke's first (i think...) flashback, the one where he is working at his cubicle at the box company, there's something that happens that I don't think has been addressed in any episodes and I had completely forgotten. He's sitting at his cubicle doing boring work, then he gets a phone call. You only hear his side of the call, and it sounds like he's giving some kind of important secret orders. As if he is some kind of spy or undercover military person directing a secret operation and he's just working in this cubicle as a cover. When his supervisor walks by he hangs up quickly.

When I saw the episode with that flashback, I was kind of like Boone when John tells him he worked on accounts at a box company. I didn't believe it. Because we get this impression that John is some Rambo, spiritual wise man, hunter, tracker, Bear Grylls all rolled into one. So it seems natural that if he's in this boring job it must be because he's actually doing something very important and dangerous.

Well as we learn more about John's past we realize oh he was just this guy with a boring depressing life and a boring job. But what the heck was that phone call about?? Now I'm going to find that episode to rewatch and find out if I'm just forgetting the answer or if it is a mystery still...

That's enough watching, reading, and writing about Lost for one night!

Mike V. said...

That’s some great insight!!! You could’ve recapped this show better than me. :) If you love Locke’s journey then you have some great stuff coming your way in season 5. I love season 5 and it’s one of the best to rewatch (but I rarely limit a rewatch to just one season. If I did hands down it’s season 5). Just a great story from start to finish. I’m jealous you’re just going to enjoy it for the first time!

Anyway enough teasing…yes you’re referring to Season 1 Walkabout where Randy catches him on the phone. I think he was just speaking military speak to his lunch buddy about rendezvousing for lunch where they played RISK or some kind of military strategy game. He had dreams of a different life but he did, as you said, lead a pretty miserable existence prior to the island. The place where, in his words, MIRACLES happen. John is a great character and he still has some runway left so enjoy!

Thanks for the comment, it actually has be going back and maybe wanting to rewatch the show again. It was so good. There’s been great shows since but I rarely hit that high I got watching LOST!

Lostin2022 said...

So, after watching the first 4 seasons in less than 4 weeks, life got a bit in the way of LOST. I tried watching the first 3 episodes of season 5 while multitasking on things I had to do, but I just couldn't give the episodes my full attention that way. So I took a break, caught up on stuff, and now I'm jumping back in to Season 5. I'm excited!! :) Now, to respond to your last comment...
=============================

Aw, you flatter me :D

Glad to hear that there is more Locke storyline to look forward to!

Ohh, you are so right about the Walkabout episode. I searched out that clip on Youtube and it was just Locke talking to the other guy who was playing the board game with him. I totally didn't catch that when I was watching the episode, though!

Oh, that would make me happy if you were inspired to do another rewatch! Let me know if you decide(d) to go back to the island!

Mike V. said...

Hello again! No lost rewatch yet but I’ve rewatched so many times I know it all by heart lol. I’ll definitely do it again eventually. Right now I’m rewatching game of thrones whilst watching the new show. But if I run out of stuff I’ll return to the island sooner than later! Enjoy season 5!