Episodes 5.03 and 5.04 — "Jughead" and "The Little Prince"

Alright, so LOST is quickly picking up the pace and I will try to do the same. Unfortunately, I missed a recap for last week but I do hope to address some points from the two most recent episodes, “Jughead,” and “The Little Prince.” Chances are I’ll miss something big so please let me know and I will address it if time permits.

Well…off we go into the wild green jungle…

-----

1) Richard and Locke — “Jughead” really put the relationship between Mr. Guyliner and ol’ Johnny boy into new light for me. Prior to this episode, I had a feeling that Alpert was the one jumping through time keeping things on track, but now I feel he is traveling linearly down the stream of time. It’s possible that he has been visited by other time travelers throughout the last 50 years, keeping him updated on the shape of things to come. Was this “chance” meeting with Locke the first one?



Richard has spent many years following and checking on Locke because of this on-Island encounter in 1954. It appears we now know why Richard went to visit Locke soon after he was born…because future Locke told him to do so. We also know why Richard became upset when Locke chose the knife during his Dali Lama-esque test when he was a child. Locke was supposed to choose the compass…the one item that belongs to him. What else has Alpert done under the influence of time traveler visits? Has anyone else we know paid him a visit?

2) Widmore — Widmore…a young Widmore…on the Island?! That was probably the biggest “WTF” moment for me so far this season. Not that it’s surprising that Widmore was ever on the Island. I think we all saw that coming. Last year I was even talking about Widmore being the last to turn the frozen donkey wheel before Ben came into power. But nonetheless, when Richard shoved the gun out of his hands, referring to him as Widmore, my jaw dropped. It made so much sense. Everything is falling into place.

So, now we must ask what has happened with Widmore between then and when we see him off Island. Was he being groomed as the next leader? It certainly looked like he was the only one giving Richie a little lip. What happened to him to make him leave and “lose” the Island? Was there a transfer of power between Widmore and Ben similar to that of the power shift between Ben and Locke?

Oh, and for some reason I find it fitting to mention Ellie here as well. You know, that young, very-comfortable-with-a-gun Other? There are a LOT of folks who believe that Ellie is none other than Eloise Hawking aka Mrs. Hawking aka Daniel’s mommy. Remember that scene in “Jughead,” when Daniel notes how familiar she looks? I’m totally on board with this theory and I think there is a very good chance it will play out like this. What do you think?

3) The Sickness — So, the nosebleed is back. And spreading like craaaazy. According to Daniel, the length of exposure to the Island plays a role in this…sickness. But how long does it last? Do any other symptoms come to the surface? At this point it looks like a very mild and less intense form of what we saw Desmond suffer with last year in “The Constant.”

I think most of us have theorized that Charlotte had been to the Island before, and maybe even that she was born on the Island as a Dharma baby. But now we have Miles showing similar symptoms. Does this mean he has previously been to the Island? Or that he was born on the Island? I had a buddy send me a message the other day talking about a theory that has been growing on me since that Pierre Chang video was released at Comic Con last year. The theory claims that the baby we saw in the opening scene of Season 5 was our mysterious, ghost-whispering freightie, Miles. I’m not sure yet if this is the case, but I could definitely buy it…



4) 2004 Flash — This series of scenes in “The Little Prince” really set up a major theme for this season and the rest of the series. I think we are going to get an up-close-and-personal Island history lesson through the eyes of our time-traveling LOSTies. And it seems that our beloved LOSTaways are more connected to the Island’s history than I originally thought.

Seeing Sawyer watch Kate help Claire deliver Aaron was pretty intense. But of course he couldn’t say anything to Kate because he never did. I so wonder though if there have been other encounters between LOSTies from earlier seasons that did include a future time-traveling 815er with a 2004 version of a character. Locke did seem awfully aware of what was going on back then…



And I really like the theory that the whispers we heard so often in early seasons were actually the Lefties (815ers left behind), or other time travelers, talking to each other as they were whisked through the bowels of time. I think a lot of early mysteries will be coming to the surface again, although I wouldn’t be surprised if answers are given indirectly. We’ll have to come to a lot on our own, which honestly, I prefer.

Something else to note is that the Island flashes we have been seeing might seem random but I believe they are far from it. Wherever the Lefties have flashed, it has been a somewhat significant point in the Island’s history. And it seems that as soon as someone completes some sort of task, the Island feels its time to move on (think Daniel talking to Des, Daniel telling Ellie what to do with the bomb, Locke giving Richard the compass, etc.).

5) Ben and the O6 — After hearing confirmation than Ben was in fact leading the charge against Kate in the custody battle for Aaron, it certainly makes sense that he has been orchestrating everything to bring the O6 back together. The attacks on Sayid, the lawyer, everything, all seem like Ben’s handywork in hindsight. It’s kind of funny because whenever the O6 were asked who was following/chasing/attacking them, they had no answer. “It’s all in the mind,” I once heard a Beatle say.

And, really, are the O6 better off now that they are back home? Sayid has killed more than a few since his return; Hurley’s been in both the mental institution and the slammer; Jack has become a drug addict; Sun’s getting ready to kill; and Kate, while it seems she had the most normal life, was occasionally visited by Aaron’s real mom in dreamland. By the way, where is Claire? Does anyone on the Island care? I don’t think any of the Lefties have mentioned her, right?

6) Rousseau — Cooooooool! Young Rousseau and company discovering Jin! (C’mon, you didn’t really think he was gone, did ya?) I am very excited to see the French crew and I hope their backstory will take the lead in more than one episode this season. Does anyone remember what year it was when they crashed? Danielle’s distress call had been looping for 16 years, which would bring us back to 1988. But do we know how long the team was there before they were murdered?



-----

I must say that I’m having a bit of trouble going from an eight-month hiatus to dissecting crazy amounts of clues every week. I’m so glad LOST is back, but everything’s happening so fast and it’s a little overwhelming! We’re already on episode five! I don’t know what I’m gonna do when LOST….nevermind, I’m not going there now…

Oh, almost forgot, the van that Ben and Sayid were traveling in? You know, the "Canton Rainier" van? There's an anagram in that name, but I won't tell you here since it can be a fun surprise.

Anyway, I hope you all are well and I look forward to hearing you thoughts on the season so far.

Until next time…

Namaste…and good luck.

SFO

LOST Season 5 Premiere - Episodes 5.01 & 5.02

Greetings!

Well well well, it has been a long eight months, but we have finally returned to the Island! There has been a lot of talk about questions finally being answered this year, and after the premiere, that statement might seem hilariously untrue. However, I do believe the pieces are falling into place and we continued to receive some major clues as to what it is really happening on our beloved little getaway.

The show is often described by the producers, also known as Darlton, as a mosaic in which we see random pieces put into place that don’t make sense without the context of the entire work. The season 5 premiere event placed a lot of pieces at once and I think portions of the puzzle are becoming very clear while others remain hidden in the hands of the powers that be. I have mentioned a few of them below and, as always, welcome your thoughts and suggestions as discussion often brings new key points to light.

-----

1) Opening Scene — LOST definitely kept the tradition of beginning the new season with a puzzling opening scene. This one was a little different though because not only did we play the guessing game for the first few minutes as to who was being featured, but we also had a strange encounter between two seemingly unrelated characters, Pierre Chang (aka Marvin Candle, Mark Wickmund, Edgar Halliwax) and everyone’s favorite physicist, Daniel Faraday. (Not to mention this season’s awesome opening song, “Shotgun Willie.”)

I believe, as with most LOST scenes, that there is more here than meets the eye. I have heard some theories trying to explain away the paradox of Daniel being alive and working with Dharma while he exists elsewhere on the Island at the same time. I do not think this is the case. I believe that scene took place AFTER most of what we saw in the premiere. In other words, I think the Island will eventually stabilize (after the Oceanic 6 return) and Daniel will infiltrate the Dharma Initiative, giving him the chance to explore what is going on with their operations at that time.

Another interesting thing to note in this scene is that Chang and his (assumed) wife just recently had a baby. This means the fertility problems that Ben and Juliet were dealing with happened after this point in time. What caused the fertility problems? Was it the Incident? The purge? Do we know who that baby was??

(We also learned in this scene that the “frozen donkey wheel” predates Dharma. But Chang seemed to know a lot about what was going on. He also was aware of the “Rules.” There are some MAJOR questions associated with this revelation. Please see the “Major Questions” section for more on that.)

2) The Island’s Constants — After reading and discussing theories regarding the O6, I found that the question of WHY they need to go back pops up a lot. There are lots of guesses regarding this, but I like the theory stating that the O6 need to return to stabilize the Island. So, basically, the Island has been dislodged or is now unstuck in time, a la Desmond in “The Constant” last season, and needs its constants to stay...sane?

For the Island to function properly and complete its mission, the constants need to be present. If any of you followed The Lost Experience earlier in the series, you might remember the Valenzetti Equation, which predicted the exact number of years and months until “humanity extinguished itself” and featured the famous sequence “4.8.15.16.23.42” as the numerical values to the core environmental and human factors of the equation. Now, there is a theory claiming that each of the O6 represent a value of the equation, although I don’t know exactly how that works. If I learn more, I’ll certainly share.

And I’m not clear if it is just the Island that is unstuck or if some of the people on it are as well, but it’s probably some combination of the two. We know the Island is unstuck because the O6 saw it disappear. So it definitely moved. However, some people on the Island are stable, like Richard and Ethan, meaning not everyone is jumping with it.

One thing is for sure though—there are plenty of people who believe it is necessary that the O6 return. Something BIG is going to happen…

3) Kate, Sun and Widmore — I don’t know about you folks, but after that scene last season with Sun telling her dad off, I became just a little scared of her. I think the direction of her character this season will be a darker one (at least on the surface) and I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up compromising the safety of the O6 to get what she wants—Ben.

Is it possible that Sun sent the lawyers to Kate to provoke her, knowing it would force her to run and she would eventually catch up with the others, bringing Ben out into the open? Is she really working for Widmore? Or is she a double agent working for Ben and trying to get an inside view at the workings of Mr. Penny’s Dad? Sun seems to be, at this point, the most mysterious of the O6, and I hope we learn more about her soon.

Something else to note is the confirmation of the Widmore/Oceanic Airline connection. Seems like Oceanic employees were on the lookout for Sun’s name and Widmore was right there ready to respond. Do you think we’ll get any confirmation of Widmore being behind the staged crash? There was a lot of skepticism about that at first but as things align, it seems more reasonable. Your thoughts?

4) Locke and the Island — Oh, Locke. Mr. Clean. Colonel Kurtz. I don’t know why it didn’t fall into place for me before but there is a much deeper connection between Locke, the Island and the reclusive Jacob. When Richard told Locke that he had to die to save everyone, it all made sense. Richard and the Others need Locke’s body. Ben and Jack need Locke’s body. Because the Island and Jacob need Locke’s body.

Is it possible that Ben was keeping Jacob prisoner? Is that why It asked Locke for help? I think Ben realizes that he was following his own will and not the Island’s. Didn’t Richard even tell Locke that Ben was wasting their time with experiments? Locke, however, does not yet understand his role and just how important he is to the Island.

If it is possible that Locke can be fused with the Island’s spirit, does that mean other corpses are available to It? Have Christian Shepherd and Yemi been reanimated with the Spirit? Guess Darlton wasn’t kidding when they talked about a final zombie season in those early podcasts!

I’m still not convinced that the Island is benevolent. Yes, it has many attractive and unique properties, but most sinister things can present themselves as beautiful, or even miraculous.

Seeing Yemi’s plane crash through John’s perspective was something I liked about this episode. He did not have anyone there (like Daniel) to explain what was happening. The Island was his guide. And I loved the Locke/Ethan encounter! I wonder what Ethan thought was going on.



5) Desmond — Desmond is pretty much the coolest character on tv. (Second only to Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm.) I’m so glad he still has a meaningful purpose with the story, although I was confident we would have him until the end of the series. I am very interested to see him meet Faraday’s mother (who many say could be none other than the creepy-"end of the world"-hood-wearing Mrs. Hawking). I wonder what Daniel looked up in his notebook right before he started banging on the hatch back door…

—Major Questions—

*What is the island?
Since we know the Island isn’t reeeeally an Island, then what is it and how did it get here (or there)? Does it naturally occur in this world, or was it manufactured by some group from the past (or the future)? I saw the Island referred to as a Timeship on a message board recently and that term sat well with me.

*What is the donkey wheel and who put it there?
This is one of the biggest questions of the show in my opinion. Is it Richard, the Others and Jacob who created this device? Or is it some other faction we have yet to see?

*What are the Rules?
We have heard them referenced several times throughout the series. I understand these rules are set to prevent paradox happening with the time travel, but what are they? We heard Daniel tell Sawyer that he cannot meet Desmond, because they haven’t yet met. Ben told Widmore that he changed the rules. Who wrote these rules? How else can you change them?

-----

I didn’t address a lot of Hurley’s episode, simply because it wasn’t as heavy on the mythology. I thought it was a great episode with scenes that will go down as some of the best of the season (the Michelle Rodriguez/Ana Lucia cameo, Hurley’s confession/summary of what really happened, the Hot Pocket chucking scene), but since I’m most interested in the mythology, naturally that’s what I’ll be asking questions about.

I encourage you to share any ideas you may have about topics I mentioned and also those I might have missed. I really like the fast-paced, multiple-storyline style of these early episodes and I hope season 5 continues in that direction. However, that means I need your help to keep up!

Until next time, fellow LOSToholics….

Namaste…and good luck.

SFO

LOST Season 4

Greetings!

Long time, no see, friends. For those of you who don’t know, I’m getting married this Saturday (to the most wonderful woman ever), so you must forgive me for my lack of time to write a weekly LOST blog. There’s no way I can include everything I have observed during this AWESOME season, but there are certainly some MAJOR developments that deserve attention. Shall we?

---

Let me first say that I feel this has been best season since the first, and it again shows something unique about our beloved primetime soap opera (yeah, I said it). Every season, LOST changes…and Season 4 was no exception. From the first scene with Hurley’s high-speed chase, to the freighter blowing up and sinking, we have been on a non-stop action ride through the past, present and future. After last season’s finale, I had no idea how Season 4 would continue the plot or how they could top it. But…they did. In a big way…

1) The Mobile Island — For all those of you who thought I was crazy for subscribing to the “Island can move” theory about this time last year: HA! I never imagined it would be in such a large capacity, but we’ve all known from the beginning that something was different about this Island. Like, maybe it isn’t really an “island.” I’m not exactly sure what that means at this point, but a normal island cannot just disappear like that. And if it was really an island in the traditional sense (like the top of an underwater mountain poking above the surface), traveling deep into its core would reveal warmer temperatures, not freezing ones. So something tells me the Island is some sort of manufactured, experimental piece of…something (time travel related? “other worldly”? a magnet for pieces of time throughout history?)…that became an entity of its own.


And if you cannot come back to the Island after moving it, as Ben claims, we can assume that he has never moved the Island. But it sure looked like he knew exactly what he was doing when he blew the wall out, climbed down (Jacob’s?) ladder and turned the frozen donkey wheel. (I don’t think he learned all of that from watching the orientation video we were so privileged to see.) Is it possible that he had seen the process performed before? Maybe, just maaaaybe, he saw Widmore move the Island?? There is much of the Ben/Widmore connection we have not seen and this will definitely come into play in Season 5. However, Ben is a veeerrrry sneaky man and it wouldn’t surprise me if he had previously moved the Island and found a way back, like he probably will (again) before the series ends.

2) Locke — Wow. Locke. Dead. How many of us were expecting that?? This definitely felt like last season’s finale, when we were left with no idea how Season 4 could begin, or how it would continue. The whole question of how he got back, how long he was back, how often he spoke with the Oceanic 6 and how he died are just some of the new plotlines to be introduced. (Not to mention the whole Jeremy Bentham alias thing.) Did Locke move the Island again when “bad things” started happening after the Oceanic 6 escaped? Is that how he left the Island? And I’m wondering what exactly is going to happen when Ben, Jack and company bring him back. It seems they are building him up to be a Christ-like figure; one who will die, resurrect and serve as “savior” again.

But to me the motives of the Island are peculiar. I’m not sure exactly what it wants or what it needs besides its own survival. Is it possible that the “spirit” of the Island is a malevolent one, seeking out the destruction of anything that threatens it?? Maybe it wants the destruction of the “world,” instead of saving the world, so it can exist without any interference. Looked what it produced in Ben. I mean, I know many of us have come to like and maybe even care a little bit about him, but let’s face it, he is a slimy, deceitful trickster. We were reminded of this in the finale when Locke told him he was going to blow up the freighter and kill everyone on it, and he simply said, “So…”

I REALLY hope Locke turns out to be the one who stands up to the Island. I think that’s what Richard and his people are searching for. They need someone to take control of its wild spirit and harness the power it contains. Right now, the Island is calling all of the shots, and it has/had Ben doing an incredible job of fulfilling all its desires. Maybe that’s why Richard was upset when Locke chose the knife. Maybe the Island cannot be conquered with physical force.



3) Sun/Widmore — A lot of things were set up in this episode, but one of the most important scenes was the Sun/Widmore encounter. I think we might see Sun’s character take a very dark turn if she becomes involved with Mr. Widmore, and this would not be totally inconsistent with her character. She can subtly manipulate people with her innocent face and soft demeanor, and man, if you cross her, you’re pretty much done. I admit I like to see her take control, especially when her father is involved, and I think this will be a wonderfully refreshing direction for that character.

4) This is not the same ol’ LOST, folks — I think most people feel that if they’ve put this much time into the show, they might as well see how it ends. That’s why there’s a lot of talk about the show “going too far,” or it not being “the same as Season 1.” But I think that’s where the beauty of the show lies. It’s introduced on the surface as a survival tale with some “supernatural” elements. But, just as with all of the characters on the show, we learn that there is much more than meets the eye and that things are way more complicated than we originally thought. Who thought in Season 1 that we would eventually see characters in horrible condition off the Island in the future, or the Island basically disappearing into thin air?

If you become nostalgic thinking of Jack finding fresh water or Locke hunting a boar, I’m sorry, but we won’t be seeing much of that any more. We have reached the level where we finally start seeing the bigger picture of what is really going on. The survivors of Oceanic 815 were just a device to lead us into a secret battle going on for one of the greatest treasures known to man. Who is involved, how they are involved, why they are involved will begin to take center stage as our LOSTies become more and more intertwined with these happenings. Trust me, you’ll want to stick around…



---

We have a long wait until a new episode of LOST, but Darlton has promised us a few appearances along the way. Comic-Con is always a hotspot for LOST fans because they know some juicy info will be revealed. I think a few podcasts will pop up between now and the Season 5 premiere as well, so we’ll have…something. But it will be painful, I know. Hang in there!

I hope this has helped at least a tiny bit with stepping back, taking a deep breath and trying to look at the show in a new light. There are a lot of details I’m very interested in that I didn’t get to (mainly the freighties: Charlotte’s connection, Miles’ abilities, what knowledge Daniel has, etc.), but I know the strike this year pushed a few plotlines to next season. However, I’m sure we will be satisfied when LOST returns and the action continues!

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I take a new direction in my life with my beloved Jacqui. The next time you read an SFO LOST blog, I’ll be a married man! =)

Until then…

Namaste…and good luck.

SFO