Quad Blogs

What an hour of LOST, folks. Goodness gracious, this felt like the penultimate episode of the series but we still have four left. We had the Sideways stories connecting and some serious plot movement on the Island. That was fantastic. I need a cigarette. AND I DON’T EVEN SMOKE! No singular character was focused on. It mixed in every lovable character from the six seasons of this magnificent show. I hope that this is how the remaining four episodes play out. I think it will. Did MIB just meet the new Jackob? EH? See what I did there?

Speaking of Jack, this episode did have a main focus: Jack and Locke. They are the most iconic characters on the show. Their relationship personifies the Man of Science vs. Man of Faith battle that has dominated the series since the first season. But, of course, this wasn’t Jack and John Locke because Locke’s been dead for a bit of time now. Jack finally got to meet The Smokness/His Smokeness/Smokey/NotLocke/The Man in Black. The writers aren’t playing around anymore. The teaser featured their conversation. THE TEASER. They had a heavy mythological conversation. Just how could Smokey take the form of John Locke? That is what Jack wondered. NotLocke downloaded a bit of information for him. John Locke had to be dead (which seems a given considering the rampant speculation since NotYemi reared his ugly head in “The Cost of Living). NotLocke scolded Locke again, telling Jack that Locke was a sucker who thought they were really there for a reason. Jack wondered whether or not NotLocke took the form of his father, Christian, in “White Rabbit.” NotLocke says he did. Jack wondered why. NotLocke explained that Jack needed to find water. He added that he’s always tried to help them. He didn’t want them trapped and he told Jack that he had been trapped by the Island even before he arrived to the Island. One could argue with NotLocke. The show wants the audience to debate that: fate vs. free will. What constitutes destiny? I believe we’re going to get more of that as we progress.

Their conversation ended when NotLocke brought Claire, who had been following them, out of the darkness. She just wanted to see her brother again. It was a moment four seasons in the making. I loved Jack’s first words to her: “I’m so sorry.” I digress though. Jack had a decision to make in an episode entitled “The Last Recruit.” Of course, Jack is the last one. Like Locke attempted for five seasons, even in death, NotLocke wanted to do: make a believer out of Jack. Of course, Jack’s been a believer since Locke’s death, since that meeting with Hurley in Santa Rose, since he had a vision of his father late at night in the hospital. Jack’s not going to buy it. He followed Sawyer’s plan to keep his promise to Sun. He wanted to get everyone off the Island but he doesn’t want to leave the Island. Not again. We all know what happened to him. A miserable, suicide beard man. Pill-popping and drinking alcohol. He didn’t come back just to leave again. He told Sawyer, during another heart-warming chat, that if NotLocke wants them all to leave then they should probably stay. Sawyer told Jack to get the hell off of his boat. Sawyer had no interest as Jack told his Lockeisms. Jack admitted he felt a piece of himself missing once he left the Island. He looked at Kate for possibly the last time. He apologized to Sawyer for getting Juliet killed and he jumped into the ocean. On the shores of goody Island, he found the waiting NotLocke. Of course, seconds after he arrived, Widmore’s crew had NotLocke’s position locked in. More explosions. This is rivaling John Locke’s great Island Explosion Tour of Aught Four, folks. Jack went FLYING. The familiar post-explosions sounds were heard. NotLocke rushed to get Jack. He carried him on his back to safety. “You’re with me now,” NotLocke told Jack.

Meanwhile, Sawyer successfully eluded NotLocke for the time being with Desmond’s ol boat that Libby gave him. Jack brought Sun, Frank and Hurley with him as planned. Sawyer explained to Jack that Claire and Sayid weren’t invited. Sayid’s a zombie and Claire’s nuts is how Sawyer summed it up. Jack went along with it. It was a bit cruel. Moments before Jack fled, he had a little talk with his sister about the trust she’s put into NotLocke. Claire put it simply: he was there for her when everybody else had left her. What she didn’t know is that the Island started throwing characters back in time. Of course, Jack immediately abandoned her again. She didn’t take kindly to that. She approached the boat with a gun, ready to shoot. She yelled that NotLocke would be mad. Poor Claire. She doesn’t want to be alone. Kate came through in the clutch. She finally told Claire why she came back to the Island. She apologized for raising Aaron. She told her she would not leave without her. It was enough to make a grown man dusty in the eyes, folks. She got on the boat but not before warning them that NotLocke will be mad if he finds the boat. HE’S A PILLAR OF BLACK SMOKE! OF COURSE HE’LL BE MAD! Sawyer’s Widmore-Submarine plan didn’t go as planned. We got one heck of a Jin/Sun reunion. I didn’t expect it. I yelled out loud and I command absolute silence during LOST. But we were left with the group of six on their knees. I assume Widmore, that bastard, wants them killed. Zoe told Sawyer that the deal was off. Someone name ONE thing that Widmore’s done to make him likable. ONE.

Also, NotLocke assigned Sayid another assignment: kill Desmond. You see, Zoe showed up to show off the power of her crew. NotLocke didn’t really care and wasn’t scared. After all, he IS black smoke. Widmore wanted Desmond back. NotLocke acted ignorant. Later is when he told Sayid what to do. Sayid arrived at the well and pointed the gun down. Desmond began talking to Sayid, his old buddy. They once traveled with one another to the freighter, had each other’s back. Desmond wanted to know what Smokey promised Sayid. Sayid told him about the return of the love of his life. Desmond wanted to know how Smokey could pull that off. Sayid explained that he died and was brought back by Smokey. Desmond then went for the heart. He asked Sayid what would he tell his love about what he did to get her back. Such sadness conveyed in this scene. Shades of what Michael did to get Walt back. It was brilliant. We didn’t see Sayid kill Desmond. The next thing we saw was Sayid tell NotLocke that he killed him. Hope for Sayid? I think I write those words every week.

In the SIDEWAYS, the threads began to merge. Sun and Locke were taken to the hospital. Sawyer had a chat with Kate about their little meaning. Sawyer made a big fuss about fate bringing them together. Kate assumed Sawyer didn’t want anyone finding out he had been to Australia. She’s very good. Claire ran into Desmond as she was arriving for her adoption appointment. Desmond told her he could help her with the legal stuff of adoption. Claire obliged though she seemed a bit freaked. They were both going to floor 15. There, she met Desmond’s lawyer friend Ilana. Yes, the very same Ilana who got Arzted last week. Ilana seemed to be waiting for her because she had Christian’s will. Later on, Claire and Jack met. Claire told him that she was his half-sister. Jack had a tough time dealing with that bit of news. He received a phone call from the hospital. He was needed for emergency surgergy. Also, Sayid got arrested for murdering Keamy and his friends. HOW’S THAT for a succinct recap of the Sideways? Listen, you can go to Lostpedia for a thorough detail recap of the Sideways. I do have more to say about the Sideways.

A fascinating bit happened very early when Sun and Locke were side by side. She said “no…no…no…it’s him.” HMMMMM. In the ambulence, Ben tried helping the paramedics as much as he could with the little info he had. Locke told them to contact Helen, his fiancee. “I was going to marry her,” he said. The way Terry O’Quinn delivered the Helen line was enought to make a grown man dusty in the eyes as he recalled the lousy life of John Locke. The man who believed when no one else believed and was rejected for his belief. The man whose own father conned him, who was left alone by Helen when he couldn’t and so on and so on. John Locke was so awesome. I digress. Jack arrived for surgery and noticed the man he was about to do surgery on was none other than John Locke, the man he had a nice chat with in the airport. Of course, I had a flashback of the season three spinal surgery storyline with Benjamin Linus. Do I think we’re going to see part II of that? Not really. But it sure was a familiar scene. About Sun’s line, maybe she was having memories like we’ve seen the characters having. She was bleeding, traumatized from being shot. I think John Locke is absolutely the original John Locke. In the Sideways that is. Sun’s lines are matter of the worlds slowly, slowly becoming…one…maybe…or bleeding into eachother. How they reconcile will be amazing I’m sure when we finally learn how they reconcile.

Time for some other thoughts:

–Of course I’m going to begin this by complimenting Emilie de Ravin’s beauty. She looked gorgeous in the Sideways. Absolutely gorgeous. I really enjoyed her reunion with Hurley. I especially enjoyed Hurley’s reaction. I felt quite bad for Claire. No one wanted her. People were afraid of her. She just wanted to be with her friends again. She even told Jack that she never had much family and was glad that he was back. All she needs is a little love. I thought Emilie was wonderful in this episode.

–Best scene of the night goes to Desmond and Sayid. Henry Ian Cusick is a hell of an actor. Great writing, great performances. That scene ranks among some of LOST’s best.

–Sayid, Sayid, Sayid. It’s been a rough season for him. I keep writing that there’s hope for Sayid’s redemption. Is there? If Hurley believes people can be brought back from the dark side, there is hope. He’s not giving up on Claire. I don’t think he’d give up on Sayid either.

–I feel a bit bad for getting angry at Richard, Ben and Miles for going off on their own. I now LIKE their plan. Hopefully, we catch up with them in two weeks.

–Who would’ve thought when watching seasons 1-4 that Claire would one day be a real threatening presence? I didn’t think she was going to shoot Kate but it wouldn’t have surprised me. That’s good writing and good acting.

–As I wrote earlier, this episode felt like the penultimate episode of the series. The final four are going to be astounding.

–Speaking of that, I can’t believe there’s only four episodes left. This season has flown by. I’m really going to miss this show.

–The Jin/Sun reunion was well worth the wait. Yes, I applauded when it occured. I thought I even saw Sawyer choke up.

–I must mention: there’s only 3 audio LOST podcasts left. The Official LOST podcast has been a favorite of mine ever since it debuted in late 2005. Damon and Carlton are awesome in every podcast. Yep. There’s only 3 podcasts left. I’ll probably give a recap and thoughts on the final podcast.

–Paul Zbyszewski and Graham Roland wrote this episode. It’s probably their last LOST episode. Tremendous job by them. Graham Roland, a new writer this season, has some potential. I’m looking forward to what he writes after this. Same for Mr. Zvbyszewski. Stephen Semel directed this one.

–I enjoyed this one a whole lot. I had so much fun watching it. The pay off is truly beginning. Every actor and actress was wonderful. The entire crew was fantastic as always. There was so much going on in this episode. I’m so excited to watch the final four episodes of the series.

–No LOST next week so I’ll be back in two weeks. Enjoy the re-run of “Ab Aeterno” next week.

–And yes, this is being posted a mere 2.5 hours after “The Last Recruit” aired!

TO THE RANKINGS!

Good times with the rankings. There’s some movement in both. STEVE moved Jack to 2 and MIB to 3. Kate was demoted in STEVE’s. Frank made it into the top ten. Sayid fell out of the top ten. As for my rankings, Claire remains on the cusp of the top 5. Will she make it? My top 5 remained the same. I moved Kate up because of how awesome she was with Claire. Sawyer got demoted for his plan backfiring and kicking Jack off the boat. Check ‘em out for yourselves:

AFTER EPISODE 13

RANKED: 4/20/2010

CHRIS

1. Desmond

2. Jack

3. Hurley

4. Jin

5. Ben

6. Claire

7. Kate

8. Locke

9. Sawyer

10. Miles

11. Sayid

12. Frank

13. Sun

14. Richard

15. Jacob

16. Man in Black

17. Widmore

STEVE

1. Desmond

2. Jack

3. Man in Black

4. Richard

5. Ben

6. Miles

7. Kate

8. Jin

9. Frank

10. Sawyer

11. Sayid

12. Jacob

13. Claire

14. Locke

15. Jacob

16. Hurley

17. Widmore

Dear lord I love this show.

I think Desmond is coming to the Island. Why? It’s a gut feeling. I’m writing this nine minutes after “Lighthouse” ended so I have not yet gone back to look at the first building seen in the mirror but it reminded me of Desmond. As Faraday has told us and Desmond, Desmond is special. It HAS to be Desmond. I’m feeling it. I AM FEELING IT.

As for the mother of Jack’s child? I have no guesses. But I’ll get there. I’ll also have many, many words to offer about good ol’ Claire. All in good time. Let’s start with Hurley and Jack.

Hurley said it best: an old school Island adventure. WE EVEN SAW THE CAVES AGAIN! I was thrilled. I missed the caves so much once season two dropped them from the mix. But I digress. I’ll return to the caves in a bit. Anywho, after a game of Temple tic-tac-toe with Miles, Hurley was off to find the kitchen when he came across Jacob, who was kneeling by the spring. Interestingly enough, Jacob was running the water through his hands. Jacob had a task for Hurley. The task: go to the lighthouse because someone is coming to the Island. But this wasn’t about the lighting up the lighthouse at all. It was about Jack. Hurley told Jacob that Jack wouldn’t agree to go so Jacob gave Hurley some helpful words to get Jack to go: you have what it takes.

Jack told his son, David, how he’s been carrying those words with him all of his life. And he has. That’s why he was so determined to bury his father in “White Rabbit.” But Jack has burying his feelings for his father all of his life. David really is his father’s son. But I shall get into the Sideways in a bit.

Back to Island Jack, after he lost his shit when he saw his childhood house in the looking glass, he sat on a cliff and stared out at the ocean. Jacob arrived and told Hurley that some people need to stare out at the ocean in order to know what they need to do and Jacob needed Jack to know how important he is because Jack has to do something very important. Jack told Hurley, on their way to the lighthouse, that he came to the Island because he was broken in Los Angeles and he hoped the Island would fix him. Jack referred to the hope of being fixed as stupid. He wanted to detonate Jughead because he wanted to erase the past, start anew, be reborn. He had destroyed his engagement with Kate. He was popping pills, drinking excessively, and he wanted to die. “Through The Looking Glass” opens with Jack on an airplane, hoping it will crash (as he tells Kate later) and then he was going to jump before a car crash saved his life. This dude was a shattered shell of himself. You want symbolism? How is Jack literally shattering his past with a hard object? And he’s also dealing with the fallout of Jughead. Juliet’s dead. Sawyer is off on his own. Things are as they’ve always been (but not really–SIDEWAYS). But he’s not like how he was in 2007 off-the-Island. He’s in more control than, possibly, ever. He lost it but then he was sitting quietly, thinking. He did what Jack usually does which is react but then he contemplated afterwards. Perhaps he did learn a little thing or two from Sawyer in “LaFleur.”

As for that important thing he’s going to do but doesn’t know yet? I think it begins with saving his sister. Oh my does she need some saving. But I’ll get to her in a little bit.

As for Sideways narrative, I think we’re seeing how Jack can work through his father issues. He told his son how he never wants to be how Christian was to him. But he was doing his best Andy Brown impression. He barely interacted with his son. His son seemed to hate him. But he managed to repair some of the damage by Sideways end. He just wants to be part of David’s life which I thought was very nice.

As for the other stuff in the Sideways narrative, we had another bathroom scene. In this, Jack looked at himself in the mirror and noticed the scar from having his appendix removed. Recall “Something Nice Back Home” in which he had his appendix removed and the flash-forward. Yes, the very flash-forward that spells the end of he and Kate. It’s the second time Jack has noticed something as he looked at himself in the mirror. He even asked his mother about getting his appendix removed (age 7). But Jack still perceives something to be off. As he sorted through Christian’s files with his mother, he denied a drink from his mother. And then his mother asked him about Claire Littleton. He’s gotta save his sister.

Speaking of Claire, she is no longer the sweet peanut butter craving girl, eh? She’s a character I adore because of how Emilie’s portrayed her, and how she’s been written, throughout the first four seasons. The sweetness is sort of there (am I reaching? she was pretty nice to Jin if you ignore the fact he was TERRIFIED of her) but she’s massively mentally unbalanced, hates the Others as much as Rousseau did, refers to NotLocke as her FRIEND, has quite the crib set up because of missing Aaron but I still love the character and I badly want her to be rescued/saved.

What seems to have happened the last three years for Claire is a lot of manipulation. I don’t have much to write about that yet. She was taken by the Others, put through what Sayid was put through, and then escaped. She was once seen hanging out in the Cabin (i assume before her time with the Others) and she thinks the Others have Aaron when, in fact, he was left in a tree. Kate did what needed to be done. DON’T KILL HER, CLAIRE! And she’s set up tons of traps in the jungle and stuff. I covered this in “What Kate Does.” I knew she wouldn’t hurt Jin. Did I fear for his safety? A bit, especially when he got involved in the Aaron business. But she took care of him. She apologized for the trap, cleaned out the wound, and stitched him up. She still loves Jin. Why wouldn’t she, you know? He was there when she gave birth, helped her catch migratory birds, hung out with her and stuff. It’s JIN!

My ol’ soft, fragile heart broke for Claire when Jin told her about Aaron and Kate and Claire realized her son was three years old. Oh, Claire. She had no mercy for Justin. She put axe into his gut. Jin later told Kate that The Others had her baby. Claire said she would kill Kate for taking Aaron. Jin is trying to save lives but he’s in a bad, bad situation because NotLocke showed up. Claire’s friend. They are on their way to The Temple to cause some chaos which is why Jacob got Hurley and Jack out of dodge. What about Miles and Sayid though?

I think it’s time for the other thoughts:

–Great scene when Jack listened to his son’s answering machine and heard himself calling, hoping to talk to his son after the death of his father. Matthew Fox played that scene so well.

–This episode had so many callbacks to past episodes. “White Rabbit,” “House of the Rising Sun,” “Something Nice Back Home,” “Confidence Man,” “Solitary,” “Numbers,” “Orientation.” The episode was penned by none other than Darlton. They know us fans so well. Allow me to breakdown said callbacks.

–We had Jack tell Hurley how he found the caves: “chasing the ghost of my dead father.” Jack told Hurley had smashed the coffin because his father wasn’t in it. And there was the caves. Oh, how I loved the caves. I know I wrote this already but it bears repeating. They were so awesome. Season one really is a fantastic season. “White Rabbit” also introduced the issues Jack had with his father which were a key theme in tonight’s episode.

–The skeletons returned! Hurley voiced the fans when he thought that maybe the skeletons are one of them. Rose and Bernard? I may be reaching here but Jin was in a bit of helpless situation in “House of the Rising Sun.” I might be jumping the gun too because season six has been following season one so I imagine Jin/Sun’s episode is next week.

–I mentioned the “Something Nice Back Home” stuff already.

–Hurley came across Shannon’s inhaler. In “Confidence Man,” Sawyer gets tortured because people suspect he has them and won’t give them up. Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowtiz mentioned that a scene was cut from ‘Expose’ in which Paulo throws the inhalers into the jungle which explains why Hurley found it where he did. Sun saves the day for Shannon in “Confidence Man.”

–Jin wakes up much like Sayid does in “Solitary” and he looks around much like Sayid does.

–”Numbers” has the great Locke-builds-a-crib-for-Claire’s baby story. NotLocke shows up in Claire’s shelter at episode’s end.

–108, the numbers, etc reminds me of “Orientation.”

–Love the lighthouse and the idea of the lighthouse.

–Hurley was fantastic this episode. He had some great lines like the one about ink on his forehead, Obi-Wan. The scene with Dogen was great. Dogen was none too pleased.

–Speaking of Dogen, the scene between he and Jack in Sideways narrative seemed pretty important. His words carried a whole lot of significance.

–Loved how Mr. Friendly was once a candidate to replace Jacob. I hope we see Tom once last time. What a character.

–I’m still not sure about this whole infection stuff. I still don’t think a darkness has consumed Claire. We know what happens when Aaron’s taken from her. In “Exodus,” she’s a bit like current Claire when Aaron’s taken from her. She became completely detached. So, yeah, I don’t think there’s an infection. She’s just changed. Oh my how she has changed.

–Miles and Sayid! Don’t leave them there at the Temple! COME ON! I wonder, on a scale from 1-10, how uncomfortable Sayid is in The Temple. He hates Other. He just died and then was put through annoying tests. Everyone thinks a darkness will consume him. The Others want him to die for good. At least he’s got Miles there.

–Kate was so nice this episode, hoping Jack and Hurley find what they’re looking for. I love her desire to find Kate. Hopefully Claire’s not insane enough to do something stupid. She’ll need to listen to Kate carefully because Kate will tell her: ‘look you wandered off into the jungle, no one knew where you were, THE ISLAND DISAPPEARED WHEN WE WERE ON OUR WAY BACK TO LOOK FOR YOU, someone had to raise Aaron, Jack YOUR BROTHER helped me and took care of him as well, he is now with YOUR MOTHER who is OUT OF THE COMA AND ALIVE, and they are waiting for you.”

–I’m enjoying the openness of the characters. They are telling each other stuff. Jack told Kate that Dogen informed him that something happened to Claire. Jack told Sayid that the Others wanted Jack to kill him. Hurley and Jack discussed why they came back to the Island. Jack told Hurley how he found the caves. I loved it. How dare The Sports Gal fall asleep during this!

–I have a feeling The Temple stuff might be wrapping up in the next few weeks or so. If LOST has taught me anything, it’s that there’s a first half and then a second half (of the season). Jacob doesn’t seem too interested in preserving The Temple. I don’t think whoever is coming is coming to save The Temple. Stay tuned.

–Emilie de Ravin was a pearl in the episode. She sold this new Claire very well. I was a bit nervous and on guard like Jin. A bit of an aside, how underrated is Jin? What a character. Daniel Dae Kim is the man. I thought Matthew Fox knocked it out of the park.

–I think Jorge Garcia and Mark Pellegrino work great together. More Hurley and Jacob!

–Darlton and Jack Bender, the Tim Lincecum/Roy Halladay of the show, pitched a complete game YET AGAIN.

–Last, but not least, I can’t forget about Alice In Wonderland showing up (was that an annotated version?). In “Something Nice Back Home,” Jack was reading it to Aaron (a favorite scene of mine). Alice in Wonderland popped up all over this episode. The Looking Glass, Sideways, etc. Here’s what he reads to him:

”Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle!”

I think it’s great to think about in the context of season six and I’m thinking Darlton want us to think about it with that context. My mind immediately goes to the Sideways, the scenes with Jack looking in the mirror, wondering if he, too, has been changed in the night (and he has). The final two sentences are so significant to LOST right now. That’s the most important question I want answered in this final season: who, in fact, are these characters. It’s going to be amazing, people.

The Official LOST Rankings will be posted a little later. I’ll tell you now that Jacob has been ADDED to the Rankings! It’s very exciting. Until then, have a happy Wednesday.