Episode 5.08 — "LaFleur"

Greetings!

So I missed the original airing of the episode because I’m attending a medical conference in D.C. with my wife. I sit now in the lobby of our hotel, looking out from the Maryland side of the Potomac onto our wonderful capitol city. But no matter where I am, I am grateful for the opportunity to write about the show that has become an integral part of many of our lives. “LaFleur” again reminded me why I love this show. There was great chemistry between characters, new reveals and, of course, a few “WTF” moments.

I hope you enjoy my caffeine-fueled rant…

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1) Mr. Jim LaFleur, Head of Security — Darlton told us at the beginning of the season that Sawyer fans would be very pleased with his role this season, but even if you are not a Sawyer fan, you had to enjoy his interactions with everyone in this episode, Lefties, Dharmites and ageless wonders alike.

Sawyer has finally come into his role as leader and it was refreshing to see him take control in this episode. It seems like it has been a while since James has flexed his con muscle, and I liked watching him in his element. I mean, he has come a long way since he was stealing meds from the wreckage back in Season 1, but he still has his “edge”; he is just channeling that towards keeping everyone safe now, even those he does not know.



He also seemed very comfortable after living with the Dharma Initiative for three years. The scene with the two Dharmites showing their fear of waking “LaFleur” in the middle of the night was golden. Of course any scene with Sawyer wouldn’t be complete without his trademark, “Son of a bitch…” (I’m very curious to know how many times he has uttered this frustrated phrase throughout the series. Any guesses?)

It makes sense now why we haven’t seen too much of the Dharma Initiative up until now. It looks as if our LOSTies have a major role to play in the history of the Island, so we couldn’t exactly see Sawyer running around New Otherton during Ben’s childhood flashback. Although a brief cameo would have had our heads spinning back then.

I’m not one who is too into the romantic relationships on the show, but the chemistry between Josh Holloway and Elizabeth Mitchell in “LaFleur” was refreshing. Much better than any Jack/Kate moments of late. Of course we should have known that as soon as James forces himself to believe he is over Ms. Runaway, she shows up and challenges everything he just said. Our love triangle has just become a quadrangle.

And how about that discussion between Alpert and LaFleur? I agree with masses that this was the best scene of the episode. Who ever thought one of our clueless LOSTies would one day put ol’ guyliner in his place? (By the way, Nestor Carbonel, who plays Richard, does NOT wear makeup. He just has really, really dark eyelashes.) Many think Richard looks Egyptian and that may be precisely why he was chosen to play this role…

2) The Four-Toed Statue — FINALLY!!! We got a glimpse (albeit brief) of the infamous four-toed statue. There are two major theories as to who this mysterious character is…well, besides the “out there” theories stating it is Jack or Locke. Both point in the direction of ancient Egypt. Are we finally getting a clue as to how old the Island is? Or at least how long it has been on Earth?



There are a few distinct characteristics of this statue: pointed ears, four toes and that strange crown on the head.

The first theory names Anubis as the inspiration for the statue. Anubis is the “jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology.” This certainly seems to fit with many of the unfolding themes of the show. The purpose of Anubis was to protect the dead and lead them into the afterlife. Are any of the known characters serving as our own Anubis?

Another defining characteristic of Anubis is the ankh symbol of eternal life; you know, the symbol that Amy took from around Paul’s neck after he was murdered by the Others.



The other theory, which I first read on the Long Live Locke blog (an AWESOME blog, which I recommend that everyone read: http://longlivelocke.blogspot.com/), names Taweret as the identity of the statue. Taweret is the Egyptian goddess of fertility, another major theme that has taken shotgun in our car ride to the Island. Ms. Long Love Locke gives some great points as to why this may be a better choice than Anubis and so I’ll leave it up to you to check that out.



Either way, I think this statue is meant to confirm our suspicions that LOST Island has been around for a loooong time. I’m not sure if we’ll get much more specifically about the statue. I think it was just an introduction to the deeper history of the Island. Although I wouldn’t mind learning exactly how this grand statue was reduced to a foot.

3) “His brain is already fried…” — Man, ol’ Danny Boy was a wreck in the episode. What was he mumbling when they found him? Something about how he won’t tell her, he won’t tell her not to come back? Well, my bet is that Daniel is going to do just that. He is going to try very hard to “break the rules” by not telling young Charlotte that she will die if she leaves and comes back, but seeing how emotional he got when he saw the alleged young “Ginger,” he won’t be able to control himself and will end up being that creepy dude Charlotte described.

One point that has been brought up numerous times regarding this episode is the seemingly false information Ben spewed last season when rambled off Charlotte’s history Vince Vaughn style. According to Ben’s info, Charlotte was born in 1979, but we saw her in 1974 and she was clearly older than a zygote. I believe he also said she was born in England, so we can assume that whatever intel he received was not accurate. This is all assuming of course that whoever Daniel saw was actually Charlotte…



I read a theory that Charlotte’s body disappeared during the last flash because she could not exist in two places at once. Since she existed as a little girl on the Island in 1974, her 2004 body could not be there as well. However, we did see the Lefties flash to 2004, when Locke, Sawyer and Juliet were on the Island and that did not have any significant consequence that we know of. Maybe they cannot come in contact with their dead selves? Hmm, any thoughts?

4) Horace Goodspeed, “our fearless leader” — We got a much more intimate look at this previously periphery character. We knew he was part of the Dharma Initiative but he also has some connection with the Island and Jacob, since we saw him building Jacob’s cabin in Locke’s dream last season. He also is on speaking terms with Mr. Alpert, even though their relationship might not be the closest.

What I am very interested in is the truce they mentioned. Was this similar to the attempted agreement between 815ers and the Others when bearded Zeke told Locke, Jack and Sawyer not to cross “this (invisible) line?” Is that why Paul and Amy were attacked by the Others…because they broke the truce? Or does it have to do with something completely different?



I’m also curious to see if Horace and Amy’s son is of any significance. Whenever a name is purposely not given to us, it makes me think it’s important. But that could just be the writers driving us crazy as they like to do. I have a hard time believing that the son of a major character like Horace is meaningless though. I can’t wait to see more LOSTie-Dharmite interactions!

5) Um, why do the O6 need to return? — Okay, so Locke turned the frozen donkey wheel and everything is just peachy on the Island. No flashes, no headaches, no bloody noses. Soooo, why exactly do the O6 need to come back? Seems like life is relatively good on the Island these days.



I think, as I have mentioned before, that the O6 and Lefties’ purpose has yet to be fulfilled. They have a major role to play in upcoming events on the Island and so the Island/universe/fate made a significant course-correction in bringing the missing pieces back to the Island. The rest of this season will be about exactly that. What did the LOSTies do in the past? Were they responsible for the Purge? The Incident? Will things turn out differently this time around??

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Unfortunately we have a break next week, but I can’t complain too much because it could be a lot worse. Remember the awful scheduling of Season 3?? Thank God we won’t have that anymore. I’d much rather have an eight-month break and a relatively solid run-through than the new-episode-new episode-two-weeks-off-new-episode-rerun-three-weeks-off-new-episode fiasco we saw before.

As I mentioned last week, I think “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” was our final setup episode and we are finally getting to the meat of this season. I’m excited to see all of our characters in the 70s during the Dharma heyday, and believe we’re about to see some mind-blowing developments in the overall story.

So hang on, I think it’s about to REALLY wild…

Until next time…

Namaste…and good luck.

SFO

Episode 5.07 — "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

Greetings!

So we continue the “setup” episodes of Season 5. There were a few amazing stand-alone scenes in “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham,” but honestly, I was a little disappointed with some of Locke’s off-Island encounters. Now that everyone is back on the Island, however, I think we’ll finally be getting to the meat of the season, and the story as a whole. I don’t know about you, but I am definitely looking forward to this war Widmore mentioned…

Shall we?

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1) Bentham’s Visits — I can’t be the only one who was disappointed with Locke’s…er…Bentham’s visits. After all we have seen in the aftermath of his encounters with the O6, I expected a little more conversation than, “You have to go back.” Yeah, we knew that already! Why didn’t Locke tell them about the nosebleeds, the time travel, the other dangers on the Island that the Lefties were facing? I assume we didn’t see ALL of EVERY conversation he had with the O6, but they could have showed us more than that. It just felt like they were tying up loose ends because they HAD to, not because it was the right time or the right way to do so.



And I don’t know about you, but I haven't met many people more selfish than some of the O6. Let’s look at this for a second. Why is Jack going back to the Island? Is it really because he wants to help those people? Or is it because his life sucks, he’s suicidal, and addicted to drugs and alcohol, not to mention Kate doesn’t want anything to do with him?

And what about Kate? She spends three years raising this young boy whom she claims to love dearly, but leaves him (seemingly) at drop of a hat once everyone confronts her. I reeeeeally hope there is much more than meets the eye here. Why does she choose to return? Does she still have feelings for Sawyer? Of course she does, because she wouldn’t have that much to add to the story if she wasn’t constantly torn between two men. However, I’ll concede that we still do not know what happened with Aaron, but at this point Kate is one of the most problematic characters on the show…for me at least. She flip-flops all over the place depending on what needs to drive the story at the moment.

Sun didn’t even think twice about leaving Ji Yeon behind. A quick call to Grandma and she’s off to the Island, unsure if she will ever return.

As far as Sayid goes, we simply do not know enough about his situation right now. It looks like he’s coming against his will, but hopefully we’ll find out soon.

Then there is Hurley, who seems to be the ONLY one who actually cares about the fate of those on the Island. Hurley’s the man.



The Locke/Walt scene left a little to be desired as well. I thought there would be more to that encounter but alas, Walt’s story will have to wait until…who knows…hopefully sometime before the series ends.

I know it seems like I’m doing a bit of bashing, but this episode overall just felt contrived and obligatory. Especially after such an awesome start to the season, and after an amazing episode last week, I had high expectations and it was somewhat anticlimactic for me. However, there were some great scenes (Locke’s death, for example) and I have faith that BIG things are coming. I guess we just needed a setup episode to get things rolling for the second part of the season.

So what do you think? Am I way off?

2) Ben/Widmore/The War — Well…who do YOU trust? Ben or Widmore? Or neither? Why do I get the feeling that we can't believe either of ‘em? I like what Sayid said earlier this season about how Ben is on his own side. I think Widmore is very similar to Ben in that regard. At this point, I can only see Widmore and Ben wanting the Island for their own purposes. But I would like to be proven wrong.

Widmore seemed almost too willing and able to give Locke what he wanted, and I think this was all done under the guise of assistance when really he needs Locke on his side for the approaching war. We also got some interesting spoken backstory from Widmore, assuming of course he was telling the truth. What did he say again? That he led the Others for three decades before he was tricked into leaving the Island by Ben? Interesting… This means he would still be on the Island with the LOSTies if they are indeed in the Dharma days. (And also opens the possibility that Penny was born on the Island…)

Then there is Ben. Just when you think this guy might have a shred of decency in that twisted mind of his, he goes and strangles Locke. Geez…how can everyone continue to fall for this guy’s lies?? I think Ben is much like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. He is a necessary part of the journey, but he’ll put a knife into your back as soon as things don’t go his way. We need Ben, but often at a hefty cost. I wonder what consequences he will face when he comes to on Hydra Island. I hope Locke has the gall to give him an earful. One thing is for sure: Ben will not find many friendly faces on the Island this go ‘round.

But it is interesting that both Widmore AND Ben want Locke back on the Island. Are Widmore and Ben preparing for a war against a third party we have yet to see, only they are going about it in their own way? Or are they fighting against each other with each trying to get Locke, a wildcard, on their side to gain advantage? The only thing we know for sure is that a war is coming...

3) Locke’s Death — This scene was one of the most powerful in LOST history. Too bad it was put into the context of this messy episode. Nevertheless, Michael Emerson (Ben) and Terry O’Quinn (Locke) nailed this scene, man. It was chilling, powerful, moving. When Locke broke down and called himself a failure…whew, that was intense. The lighting and framing of this sequence was brilliant as well, and even though I half-jokingly mentioned to my wife that Ben was going to kill him, I was completely shocked when he actually did.



There are many theories about Ben’s motivation here. Some say that Ben might still be holding onto the hope of gaining control of the Island, so his murder of Locke could have been one last desperate attempt of preventing Locke from assuming the leadership position in which the Island obviously wants him. Then of course that begs the question: why didn’t Ben just let Locke kill himself? Is it possible that if Locke had killed himself, he would have shown that he had lost all faith in the Island and would not have been able to resurrect upon returning? I’m not sure because the way Ben said, “I’ll really miss you, John,” made me think he was unaware of what Locke and the Island were capable of. But c’mon, it’s Ben; he knows all!

Or, another theory, which I think is equally possible, is that Locke's affiliation with Widmore was confirmed to Ben when he mentioned Hawking's name, and that just set him off. Ben wants Locke all to himself so he can continue manipulating him upon arrival on the Island. Oh man, this is a tangled mess…

What’s your theory??

4) Hawking the Timecop — Who is this chick? I mean, yeah we know she is Danny’s mama, but there is something not quite right about her. I think everyone's relationship to Hawking is something yet to be revealed. She seems to be some sort of Guardian of Time, or Timecop, and she aids those who will assist with the course correction of time, no matter who they are. I think she is helping Ben because he is escorting the necessary pawns back to the Island. I think she would have helped Widmore just the same if he was leading them back. She is kind of like a free agent, working only for time.

Her relationship to Widmore is something that I hope is explored this season. I kind of like the theory that Hawking and Widdie were once involved, possibly producing such great minds as Penny and Faraday…on the Island. Pretty wild, eh?

5) Flight 316 — So 316 DID end up on the Island! Or nearby at least. But we all should have known if there was anyone who could land that plane, it was our man Lapidus. I wonder if we’ll get to meet any of the other Flight 316 passengers besides the two new people, or if they’ll just die in a fiery shower of arrows. I prefer the latter.



Remember the runway that Kate and Sawyer were helping to build while they were prisoners back in Season 3? Was this being prepared with the knowledge that another plane was going to be arriving? Or was it just a precaution since it seems like planes and the Island have a thing for each other?

And still no sign of Sayid or Sun. Although we did hear an off-hand comment about the pilot and a female taking one of the boats… Could it be Sun and Lapidus looking for Jin? And I wonder what time they are in. Did ALL of 316 land in Dharma days or did the rest of the plane land in present time? Your thoughts?

6) Favorite scenes (feel free to add your own):
-Hurley asking the nurse if he was talking to a guy in a wheelchair
-Locke telling Jack that his dad says hello
-Seeing copies of Daniel’s notes in the Hydra station (maybe the most underappreciated and obscure scene of the episode)



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I read that the original schedule for this season had “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” airing BEFORE “316” but they changed it at the last minute. Honestly, I would have preferred the original airing of these two episodes because “316” was definitely the climax of this first part of Season 5. But I don’t think they wanted us to see Locke alive yet and they didn’t want us watching “316” with the knowledge that Ben killed Locke. I could be wrong but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Until next time, fellow LOSTaholics…

Namaste…and good luck.

SFO

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