Episode 5.06 — "316"

Greetings!

So I don’t think there has been a more controversial episode this season as far as fan responses go. For some, it was the apex of this first chunk of episodes and for others it was the last straw. I tend to side with the former, even though “316” did feel a bit rushed. Nonetheless the story is charging forward with a momentum we have not yet seen on LOST. And I am excited to see where we are headed next.

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1) Opening Scene — There were countless shout outs to Season 1 in this episode (Hurley and his comic book, Jack being questioned about a coffin he’s traveling with, the attempt to recreate 815, plus many more), but the opening scene was…chilling. I had a typical case of the LOST “Wait, what?!” syndrome when we saw an eerily similar view of the pilot episode in which Jack’s eye opens and he is laying supine in the calm yet creepy swaying bamboo forest. And, just like in Season 1, we see him immediately rushing to the aid of others. However, there was something different about Jack this time. He seemed more…comfortable accepting the circumstances of these strange events, probably because he has done this before. Hmmm…more than once? More than twice??

This also forces us to look at the series premiere again. Did something similar happen to Jack during flight 815? Either way, I am very interested to see what Jack as a “man of faith” will add to the story this season and next.



2) The Lamp Post — Who knew that the basement of a Catholic Church in L.A. would be the site of yet another Dharma station? And one of the most important at that! Many have pointed out the allusion to Christian writer C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia with a lamppost as a gateway to another world, which I find very fitting.

Then we have a supposedly informative speech from Danny’s mama (although she didn’t seem to have much reaction when Des mentioned her son), but in true LOST fashion we were left with puzzled faces and wild theories.

So who in fact built this pendulum? Apparently it was a “very clever fellow” who was responsible and since we didn’t get a name to go along with this comment, I’m assuming it’s someone we know. I’ve heard everyone from Daniel (who must have traveled back in time at some point) to Alvar Hanso (remember him waaay back from Season 2?) as candidates for the engineer behind this amazing device; I just hope we learn more soon!



The mention of unique pockets of electromagnetic energy positioned throughout the globe brought to mind Isaac of Uluru, who you may remember from the Rose/Bernard-centric episode, “S.O.S.” in Season 2. Bernard and Rose traveled to Australia to speak with the “healer” to learn if there was a cure for Rose. In case you forgot, I have included a brief excerpt of their conversation below (thanks to those at The Fuselage for bringing all of this to the forefront once again).

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ISAAC: There are certain places with great energy, spots on the Earth like the one we're above now. Perhaps this energy is geological, magnetic. Or perhaps it's something else. And when possible I harness this energy and give it to others. May I?
[Isaac puts his hands near Rose's face and closes his eyes. He suddenly opens his eyes, looking disturbed.]
ROSE: What? What, what is it?
ISAAC: I'm sorry. I can't do anything for you, Rose.
ROSE: I didn't expect you to. [Rose goes to a window and looks out at Bernard talking to a young girl on crutches.]
ISAAC: It's not that you can't be healed. Like I said, there's different energies. This is not the right place for you.
ROSE: Where is the right place?
ISAAC: I wish I knew. I'll return your husband's donation.
ROSE: Don't. I'm going to tell him you fixed me. I'm going to tell him you fixed me.

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What exactly did Isaac see? Did he know the Island was the place for Rose? If so, why didn’t he say anything? In hindsight, this exchange may be a lot more telling that many of us originally thought. But, as I mentioned, we wouldn’t have a LOST episode if we didn’t walk away scratching our heads and asking ourselves (often aloud) “WTF?!”

3) Bloodied Ben — The most prominent theory about bloodied Ben and what preceded his casual payphone call (c’mon we’ve all seen beaten, bruised guys chatting on public payphones, right?) is that he had just finished killing Penny (or attempted to at least). We know he made a vow to (his old friend?) Big Bad Widmore that he would rub out Penny since Keamy, aka Death Incarnate, took Alex’s life last season. And he was in a marina, a fitting place for parking a boat much like the one Des and Pen are living on. One thing is for sure: to get Des involved with the Island again, there must be conflict with Penny and/or little Charlie.

I see this panning out in one of a few ways, or maybe some combination of the following. One possibility is that Ben actually succeeded in killing Penny and Desmond either roughed him up before or after the deed was done. Another possibility is that he attempted to kill Pen but failed, either because Des got in the way or because Widmore sent his goons to follow the couple after Des visited him earlier this season. Ben could have also been two seconds away from killing Penny and then he sees little Charlie and finds a soft spot in his heart to let her live.

But, of course, it could have nothing at all to do with Penny. Maybe Ben was doing a good deed. Maybe he was protecting Aaron, or keeping Widdie’s goons away from the Humes, or fighting to protect Locke’s body? Oh…wait…it’s Ben. Nevermind.

4) Time Loops (again) — This topic seems to be popping up more and more this season and “316” gave time loopers even more to think about. Many have speculated that the series would end with a scene like we saw at the beginning (and the end) of this episode. The idea that our LOSTies are stuck in a time loop of sorts and LOST would end showing us they either fixed the rip in the time/space continuum, or busted out of the loop to create an all new present (…or past…or future…) seems to be very popular. I agree that there have been hints in this direction and I’ll continue to mention the clues as they are brought to light.



5) Course Correction — It seems that one of the most difficult scenes for LOST fans to grasp in this episode was the way in which the O6 (minus Aaron) returned to the Island. “What, they just flashed out of the plane, never to be seen again by the crew of 316? What is this, the Rapture?”

I think this sequence of events is very telling. I believe that our LOSTies were meant to have “flashed” down to the Island during the original 815 flight. In fact, I think that’s precisely what happened. What wasn’t supposed to happen is Desmond (the wild card) bringing down the entire plane, forcing it to crash on the Island producing survivors who were not supposed to be there. Do you think it’s a coincidence that they were all (or most anyway) killed off? They were never meant to be there in the first place. It’s course correction, baby, yeeeah.

There is still debate about whether or not flight 316 landed or crashed or just kept on flying. Many believe Lapidus was able to land in the plane on Hydra Island’s runway (remember what Sawyer and Kate were helping to build during Season 3?). Others say there will be plane wreckage discovered soon, and still others believe the plane hit some turbulence and a few of the passengers simply disappeared into thin air.

One thing I do want to say is that I don’t think the conflict is over with the O5 returning to the Island. I remember Darlton saying that all of them would return to the Island this season but not without a few complications. This could mean several things but I like to think that, while Jack, Kate and Hurley landed in Dharma time, the rest of the crew is on the Island elsewhere in time. This would postpone the Jin/Sun reunion, creating more conflict for our LOSTies and probably giving us more mythological action along the way. What do you think?

6) Favorite Scenes (feel free to add your own):
-Hearing Lapidus announce himself as the pilot of flight 316
-Frank’s line, “We’re not going to Guam are we?”
-Hurley putting on his blindfold and telling the dude next to him to fasten his seat belt
-The previews for this week’s episode (AHHHHH!!!! Can’t wait!)



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If any of you are squirming in your chair and/or having a difficult time suspending your disbelief, I again encourage you to sit back and enjoy the ride and not worry too much about the plausibility of every single moment of the show. Things are getting more and more fantastical and, at this point at least, it is useless to attempt to put all of the pieces together.

We will get there soon, but in the meantime, I’m gonna crack open one of those Dharma beers, grab a fish biscuit and enjoy the show.

Until next time…

Namaste…and good luck.

SFO