Season 6 Premiere — "LA X"

Greetings!

It is with great enthusiasm (and a hint of sadness) that I begin this blogging journey through the final season of our beloved prime time soap opera. It is hard to believe that it was nearly six years ago when many of us took our first trip to the Island, no? We have seen many come and many go, but if you are still here, reading this, I commend you on making it this far. There does seem to be a growing light at the end of the tunnel. Though I’m sure after that premiere of epic proportions some of you are wondering why exactly you are still trying to figure out what the frick is going on! Hopefully by discussing some major points of confusion and ambiguity, we will be able to rise above the cloud of unknowing and reach a level of understanding that will make it all worthwhile. So…here we go!

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1) “Flash-sideways” — Well of course we should have expected an opening “WTF” scene. I mean, this is LOST, people. Though for a moment during the hiatus, I was certain we would again be introduced to a new character and view an old scene from a different perspective. Instead we had familiar faces in a new place. A new universe. A new reality. A “flash-sideways.”



There was much discussion at the end of last season about the two directions in which the show could possibly head during its final season. One side agreed with the “whatever happened, happened” theory initially proposed by Faraday: that in fact the LOSTies, in trying to prevent their plane from crashing, actually caused the Swan to be built, eventually bringing them to the Island. Others were convinced there would be a “reset,” as Faraday eventually came to believe, and that our LOSTies could change their fate and would land safely in LAX, existing in a reality without their experience on the Island. Well, folks…it looks like we’re getting both.

In my last post from October (…geez, has it really been that long?) I presented a theory in which the Incident actually caused both things to happen. That is, it spawned a new reality, the reset reality, while still causing things to pan out the way we’ve seen so far. It looks like that is coming to life, though I’m still not sure what exactly this means or what the implications are regarding the end game.

For now, I’m sticking with the original theory that there will be some sort of merge of these realities. It wouldn’t make sense to watch this alternate reality without it having some direct impact on what we have seen over the last five years. Some say the Alties (<---the name I’m using right now to describe the “Alternate Universe LOSTies”) will have to die so the other versions of themselves can live on the Island, or vice versa. At this point, I’m convinced that the Alties are important to the universe we have come to know and love, and that they will somehow cross over to complete some crucial task or wage the final war. I mean, for all we know, there is only one real Locke alive…and he is in the Alt.



Now I really don’t know if “alternate universe” is the correct phrase here. It just makes sense to me that way right now. It could very well be that what we have been watching in previous seasons is actually the Alt, and that fate was always meant to steer the LOSTies AWAY from the Island. Somehow that was broken and we were allowed to view this rare, “alternate” interaction with the Island and its entities.

2) Flight 815x — Which similarities and/or differences did you notice during our first venture in the Alt universe via Flight 815x? Did you notice the Jack/Rose role reversal? Of course you couldn’t have missed Desmond, right?

I loved Jack’s face when we first saw him in this episode. He looked much like Desmond did last season after waking up from a dream about the Island in which Faraday told him to go see Eloise Hawking. Like all of a sudden Jack had this sense that something was…different. A new ‘memory,’ perhaps? The fact that the on-Island LOSTies do not have any hint of an alt (‘cept Juliet, who I’ll discuss in a minute) makes me think even more that these Alties are destined to join the other universe instead of the other way around. They will spend some time uncovering their “lost” memories and realize what they have to do. (My only hesitation about this theory is the possibility of having another “We have to go back!!” sequence. I hope if there is a merge, it happens in another uniquely LOST way.)



I also loved the Jack/Rose interactions. If I remember correctly, on the original 815 flight, Jack was the one comforting Rose during the unpleasant turbulence. This time it was Rose who showed the calming bedside manner. And the “Looks like we made it…”/”We sure did,” exchange was perfect. Rose knows. Jack is beginning to know. And Locke has to know as well. Didn’t his description of the walkabout sound a lot like his experience on the Island?

There were a couple of things that confused me about this flight, though. The first was Desmond’s presence. The fact that he was there just long enough to jog Jack’s memory then disappeared as if he was…passing through the dimensions? We all know that Des has been dubbed “special” on several occasions and I think we may have gotten another glimpse of that. But can he control his ability to traverse different realities without consequence? If not, why the frick was he on that plane? Anyone??



The other point of ambiguity for me regarding this Flight 815 was Charlie’s comment, “I was supposed to die.” Did that have any other significance? We have seen “dead-but-here” Charlie (through Hurley’s eyes) so it makes me wonder how aware Charlie is of this situation. What do you think?

Oh, and there was one point when Jack and Desmond looked like mirror images of each other. Des had his hand to his chin and Jack made the same gesture with the opposite hand when he was trying to figure out who Des was. I don’t know if this is significant in any way, but it just caught my eye. *shrugs*

3) What’s your name?? — So it has been confirmed that fLocke (fake Locke) is indeed the MiB (Man in Black) from last season’s finale. And it was also confirmed that the MiB and the Smoke Monster are one and the same, or at least very closely related. The scene in which an armed Bram & Co. came into the foot and a calm, super creepy fLocke’s like, "Oh, don't worry about me. Your Jacob bodyguard services are not needed anymore bro, 'cause Jacob done burned up in that fire right there…you are free to go”…Yeah, that was awesome.



Terry O’Quinn is simply amazing on this show. I have gone through several phases of liking and disliking his character…but to see him play the ominous and mysterious MiB in one scene and then tap into the weak, paralyzed pre-Island Locke was incredible. They have already set the bar high for O’Quinn this season.

Some Q’s about the MiB:
*Where is his home? The Temple Others pretty much freaked out when they found out Jacob was dead and immediately protected themselves with ash. So…is the Temple the MiB’s home? Why does he want to go back there? Was anyone else creeped out when fLocke delivered that line then stared at Ben all alien-like?
*Did MiB really know what Jacob meant when he said "They’re coming," right before he died? He seems to be convinced that he defeated Jacob, no? Or maybe he is in denial that the Alties are coming?
*When are we gonna learn his friggin’ name??



4) "It worked!" — Overall, I thought these scenes were a decent way to say goodbye to "Suliet." Though I swear if I have to watch that clip of Juliet pathetically bashing the bomb with a rock once more, I might go berserk. Anyway, Sawyer’s definitely out to get Jack, setting up a great conflict between those who remain on the Island. I can totally see Sawyer going dark side this season. fLocke and Sawyer would be a pretty formidable opponent for those who stand in their way.



But the most interesting thing about Juliet's death was her state of mind right before she died. She said something to Sawyer about getting coffee and going dutch. Then she apparently told Miles "It worked," which immediately made me think of the Alt. Could it be that Juliet, in her final moments, had a glimpse of the Alt and saw that everything was okay? Maybe she and Sawyer meet again elsewhere in reality?

5) Umm, underwater Island? — Dude…wtf? Apparently this was in the Alt, so something happened there that put the Island out of commission. Hmm, maybe this reality is more important than I think? I’m guessing this will be explained much later in the season, but I would hope we get a peek into this mystery soon. So then, it seems the bomb did not go off in the LOSTies reality, but possibly in the Alt, thus "sinking" the Island?



6) The Temple and the other Others — I don’t know what to think about the Temple Others. They seem creepy, but also wise and almost…ancient? Are these the same Others? For some reason, I cannot see Ben leading those people. He did know of the Temple, though (that’s where he sent Alex and Danielle, but they were killed/captured along the way) and Richard obviously knows of it too.



So, who are the real good guys on the show? For some reason, I had a feeling that the Temple folk would be holy mystic types, or peaceful warriors of some kind. Instead they seem ritualistic and violent. I’m confused!

And what was up with drowning Sayid? I thought for sure they were drowning him knowing he was going to come back. Maybe it had something to do with the murky water and the fact that the guy's hand didn't heal when he dipped it in the pool? Could this have something to do with Jacob's death or whatever is possessing Sayid?

7) What/who is Sayid now? — That last scene was pretty creepy. There is some talk that Sayid might be Jacob reincarnated, but I’m not yet convinced that is the case. It seems like a logical answer, seeing as how Jacob told Hurley to bring the body to the Temple, and Jacob had just died. But…something felt weird, I don’t know. *shrugs* I’m almost positive Sayid had a different voice tone/accent when he asked, "What happened?" at the end of the episode. But of course, I could be totally wrong. I have to watch it again! I can’t wait to see where this is going!



8) Favorite lines/scenes —
*Underwater Island flyby!!! WTF?!?! (Did you see the Dharma logo on the shark?)
*"I’m sorry you had to see me like that." –fLocke to Ben after whoopin’ Bram & Co. as the Monster
*Rose and Bernard…gotta love 'em.
*"I'm very disappointed…in all of you!" -fLocke to everyone on the beach
*The Boone/Locke 815x encounter. Looks like they get along in every reality!
*Claire!!!!
*"Excuse me, I carried that case across the ocean and like, through time? I wanna know what that paper says." -Hurley to the dude who doesn't like the "taste" of English
*Ben’s face when he sees Locke’s corpse. Actually, Ben’s face was pretty satisfying throughout the whole ep. It was great to see him freaked out and confused…like the rest of us.



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During the hiatus, the producers had been saying Season 6 would feel a lot like Season 1. Even though we are off to a pretty wild and unprecedented start, I do think they are already doing a good job of recapturing that nostalgic emotion. It really felt like a new show to me.

What did you think? Please leave your thoughts, comments and questions! It really helps to hear some other ideas!

Until next time…

Namaste…and good luck.

SFO