Episode 5.05 — "This Place is Death"

Greetings!

Now that was my kind of episode—quick pace and heavy on the mythos. This season is shaping up to be one of the best in my opinion. I really like how we are learning about the history of the Island through the eyes of our LOSTies. It isn’t just that we are seeing some random flashback; the survivors of 815 are actually present and interactive during these crucial moments. And we are still having some new questions raised, but I believe most of these will be answered this season.

In the words of the all-knowing Eloise Hawking, “Let’s get started…”

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1) Jin and the French Crew — So it seems that Danielle was telling the truth for the most part about her early time on the Island. The crew heard a transmission spouting out the numbers; they crashed on the Island; Danielle/Smoke Monster (“It”) killed them all. These first few minutes of the episode, however, did raise some interesting questions as well.


One of the most pressing, for me at least, is what on earth is a seven-month pregnant woman doing on an intense scientific mission like this? And what is a French crew doing in the South Pacific in the first place? I’m thinking there is some sort of connection between this hip 80s group and one or more of our big players in the game.

I don’t think they were floating around that area for no reason. They were looking for something. Could they be some rogue group that not many people know about, much like the two women in the Looking Glass station at the end of Season 3? Could they be associated with another group we are not familiar with? Hanso?

Ooo, and we got a pretty good look at the Temple and the Smoke Monster in this sequence (more on that later). But is it just me, or was there something strange about Danielle and her crew after this moment? From what we saw, it almost did not look like the same consciousness-traveling sickness we’ve seen in Des, Minkowski and Charlotte. In fact, Danielle believed that the sickness was contracted by the Others.



Danielle mentioned something about how the Monster changed them, but I’m not sure we saw enough to make a good guess at this point. All I know is that Danielle looked a little strange herself. That might have something to do with the fact that in a short time on the Island she saw a Smoke Monster drag her friends through the jungle and rip one of their arms off, not to mention an Asian man who speaks English and disappears rather often.

And didn’t Jin look a little…Other-ish? It’s likely that Danielle thought he was an Other, considering she called him a carrier of the sickness. I think it is very possible that our beloved LOSTies are in fact “Others” throughout various points of the Island’s history (aka people who know a lot more about the Island than those they come in contact with). But did Jin save Danielle from getting the sickness when he prevented her from going in after the Monster? Was all this supposed to happen?

Now there has been some discussion about the Danielle and Jin encounters. Most of it relates to Season 1 when the plane first crashed. Wouldn’t Danielle have remembered the man that disappeared in front of her twice? Some people have a problem with this, while others simply say that Rousseau probably wouldn’t have remembered Jin after 16 years on the Island (especially if he hasn’t aged) or that even if she did remember him, she probably wouldn’t have said anything to anyone. Considering the LOSTies were already calling her crazy, she might not have wanted to add to that reputation. Whatever the case, I don’t think it matters much in the full scope of things.

2) The Temple/Smoke Monster — We finally got to see the Temple! And exactly where the Monster resides and what it is protecting. Does this ancient Egyptian-looking structure belong to the Others or do they simply inhabit it? Either way I think it is some sort of safe house for the Others to keep them stable while the Island is going haywire.



I think most of us realize that Smokey predates Dharma, but for some reason, I never thought of it as being ancient. I always thought the Monster had some sort of future feel, but I can be wrong and most of the time I am! But why did it only attack Montand, and why did it basically leave them alone after it tore off his arm? How it is protecting the Temple? Just by scaring people off, or does it really give them some sort of sickness?

What were your impressions of the Temple and the most recent encounter with Smokey?

3) The Well — Was this the first way to the frozen donkey wheel? How old is this well? How did Charlotte know about it? Was it around when Charlotte was on the Island as a little girl, before Dharma built the Orchid?



One thing we have learned from all this time-jumping stuff is that whatever item a Lefty is holding during a flash…it comes with them. That’s why there is a rope in the middle of the ground after the flash when Locke is being lowered into the well. Now is it possible that somewhere in the future (future as related to this point in time when the well isn’t built) someone finds that rope and ends up building the well to find where it leads, or to cover up the fact that the wheel is at the end of the line? Could Sawyer have been responsible? Think of the rope as the compass Locke gives to Richard that sets some very important events in motion. More and more things are starting to look…"loopy."

4) Time Loop — This season has given a lot of fuel to the time loop theorists. From the very first scene when we see Chang’s record skipping over and over, to when Richard tells Locke, "What goes around comes around," we’ve seen a lot of subtle evidence to point in the direction of possible time loopage going on.



Lots of characters seem to know what is going to happen or when something is or is not supposed to happen. Does this mean that some recognize they are in a loop? Ben or Widmore, for example? Or maybe something happened in this iteration to break the loop (Des turning the failsafe key? O6 leaving the Island? Keamy killing Alex?) and now the 815ers have to find a way to bring everything back to the way it was.

5) Christian (Shephard bloodline) — Ah, it was nice to have creepy, undead Christian back, wasn’t it? While he has always been creepy on-Island, there are some interesting things to note in this scene between him and Locke. Number one, Aaron’s granddaddy is not wearing those ghostly white sneakers. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I recall Darlton saying recently that the white shoes question would be answered this season. Also, Christian is still Christian. He knows he has a son and he knows he is off the Island. I just wish he had time to tell Locke who his son was. I think that would have thrown Locke for a…loop.

And why couldn’t Christian help Locke up? Is it because he physically couldn’t (ghostly Christian), or because this is something Locke has to do all on his own? Any ideas?

We now have three generations of Shephards connected to the Island: Christian, Jack/Claire and Aaron. There is something special about the Shephard bloodline with relation to the Island, which is also the case for the Widmores (who also have three generations connected to the Island (Chuckie, Pen and little Charlie)). I am not clear on the significance of this yet, but with the way things are moving this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get some answers soon.

6) The Incident — Here’s the latest theory that I’m on board with: The Incident, which is first referred to by Dr. Candle in the Swan orientation film is, in a few words, when the 70s Dharma-inhabited Island jumps forward to 2008 and the O6 arrive. But let me back up a second. This theory states that the reason the O6 need to return to the Island is because the O6 are the Island’s constants. In other words, what happened to Charlotte is now happening to the Island and it needs to have its constants for some stability. If not, it will have the equivalent of an Island brain hemorrhage.



So what I think will happen is the Island will continue its flashes and eventually wind up during the 70s when Dharma is in their heyday. (This may even be when Daniel infiltrates Dharma and gets a closer look at the wheel.) Dharma will cause some sort of disaster when they continue to attempt to reach the donkey wheel. Maybe they will drill into it, or something else, but basically what will happen is the Island will jump forward 30+ years, creating the “event window” calculated by Hawking.

This will give the O6 an opportunity to return to the Island in their present time but they will be arriving on a Dharma-controlled Island. Then the Island will return some point in the past where the O6 and Lefties have to remedy some situation to prevent disaster in the future. You see, for the O6 to be constants, they have to be present in the Island’s history and be instrumental in Island events.

*takes a deep breath*

Did that make any sense??

7) Favorite Scenes (feel free to add your own):
-Smokey ripping off Montand’s arm
-James yelling “C’moooon” between two quick flashes
-Charlotte telling Locke about the well
-Charlotte telling Faraday he was the creepy dude who told her never to return
-Every scene with Mrs. Hawking



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Well that’s all for now, folks. I think what is most important right now is just sitting back and enjoying the ride, holding on to a bit of trust that the writers and producers will bring everything together soon. It’s difficult putting all the pieces together now, but I think in the near future we’ll have a pretty good idea of what is going on.

So until next time…

Namaste…and good luck.

SFO