Lost: Catch 22

This episode reminds me of the reason why I love this show so much: the characters. Sometimes I get so caught up in trying to figure out all the mysteries and connections that I forget how much I love all of the flashbacks. If we get to the end of the series and not all the loose ends are wrapped up (and I don’t think they will be), Lost will still be one of the best TV shows in my book simply because of the characters.

Desmond is becoming one of my favorite characters and I love every glimpse we get into his background. Desmond struggles with the concept of meaning in his life and his search for purpose has isolated him from his friends and loves ones. I love the way Desmond continues to save Charlie’s life even though he thinks its a pointless endeavor. His dilemma of to save Charlie or not to save Charlie was intriguing. Is it possible that Desmond’s purpose is to save Charlie’s life? I hope this storyline is explored more in the future.

I loved the campfire scene were Jin was telling a ghost story in Korean and he still scared Hurley. Things between Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are still confusing and it seems that maybe Kate is using Sawyer to get to Jack.

I did some research on this episode and picked up on some things I didn’t notice when I watched it.

1. The head monk (Campbell) has a picture on his desk of him and Ms. Hawking. You will remember her as the woman from the antique shop in Desmond’s previous episode. She seemed to know everything about Desmond.

2. The Catch 22 book that was found with the Sat phone was written in Portuguese. The 2 men from the very end of the season finale last year (that apparently work for Penny) were speaking Portuguese.

3. The picture of Desmond and Penny found in the book was in fact the same photo Desmond has. That is obvious. But….if you will remember back to when that photo was taken there was only one copy made!…..Hmmmmm….

4. Here’s a crazy theory that I found……If Desmond did in fact time travel in his previous episode, is it possible he told Penelope everything he could about the island while he was with her? Is she now searching for him based on that information? Crazy!!!!!!

This article goes into a lot more detail about all this stuff. Very interesting reading….

Well, as always I can’t wait for more. Who is this stranger that fell from the sky? She obviously knows Desmond. Maybe she works for Penelope..

“Hope I’m not interrupting. You two arguing over who’s your favorite Other?”
-Sawyer

 

Lost: One of Us

Wow! Another great episode tonight. This was the kind of episode I love because quite a few things were revealed or explained. Here’s some of my observations in no particular order of relevance:

1. I love having another Juliet flashback so soon. Her character continues to intrigue me and she is such a great addition to the show. I couldn’t help but chuckle when Hurley asked her where she was when they were captured on the docks. “It was my day off..” Touche’ writers…

2. Now we understand what happened to Claire in Season 1, and we have a clearer picture as to what Ethan and the Others were doing. The fact that no women had been able to give birth on the island before Claire’s arrival is an interesting development that I didn’t see coming at all. Add that to Ben’s insistence that no cancer had been found in any of the Others (until it was discovered in himself of course) makes me wonder if these Others are a part of a “Utopian” group who have fled society and all of its “problems”. Is this one large medical/social experiment gone wrong?

3. For awhile now I have assumed that the Others knew of the Survivors before their plane crashed. After Ben sees the plane crash he orders Mikhail (eye-patch dude) to obtain all of the passenger information. It seems that the plane crash was just as much a surprise to the Others as it was to the Survivors. (This also sheds some more light on just how much power and ability the Others have. They must have some serious connections to get detailed passenger information that quickly).

4. Just when Juliet has fooled us all (including Jack) we find out that she is working as a double agent….or is she? Is she fooling the Survivors or is she fooling Ben? If she really wants off the island (the flashbacks seem to support this) maybe she has decided it’s time to double-cross ole Ben. I sure hope that’s the case, but I won’t be surprised either way. Ben says he will see her in a week, so I guess we will find out soon.

5. Here’s a wacky “out there” thought…..When Ben and Mikhail show Juliet the live video feed of her sister and her nephew, Ben then tells Richard (who is apparently filming) to get back to the island “as soon as he can.” He seems to say it like it wouldn’t be that hard for Richard to get there. Like maybe the island was close…..I know I’m stretching for something here…but there seems to be a lot of evidence that points to the fact that this might not be an island…at least not an island like we think. Obviously no one knows where they are because there has been no rescue attempts. If this is true…if this isn’t really an island…what is it? Some sort of parallel universe or alternate reality? Please don’t tell me this is like the Matrix….I will be sorely disappointed…..yeah I know….crazy theory. But isn’t it fun?

Well I’m hooked again and pumped for next week. 5 more episodes to the big finale. Can’t wait..

“O look! It’s 3 men and a baby………I counted Hugo twice.”
-Sawyer

 

Lost Talk: "I Do"

Being the last episode until February, I knew that this episode would be a bit of a cliffhanger, and boy was it ever. First things first though.

This episode’s flashbacks were all about Kate. Kate (aka known as “Monica” in the flashbacks) meets a cop and falls in love and gets married, all the while hoping this will help hide her from the marshall who is hunting her down. As she tries to settle into her everyday fantasy housewife role, she begins to feel more and more guilt about pretending to be someone she isn’t. After a failed pregnancy test, she decides to drug her husband and leave him. After all, she doesn’t want to hurt the guy.

Meanwhile on the island (the small one), Kate and Sawyer declare their love for each other. Meanwhile Jack escapes from his cell and gets a look at Kate and Sawyer on one of the monitors. You can just see Jack’s heart breaking, and he turns around to find Ben watching him. Jack agrees to perform Ben’s surgery if Ben lets him off the island and Ben agrees.

The operating room scene was riveting as Jack gains control of the situation by putting Ben’s life on the line. He demands the release of Kate in exchange for Ben’s life. Kate doesn’t want to leave Jack or Sawyer and the episode ends with her thinking over the decision in her head.

A few thoughts: One of the Others (Pickett I think) says to another, “Shepherd wasn’t on Jacob’s list anyway.” Is Jacob the real leader? Is he the eye-patch dude? Kate looks like she is emotionally torn between Sawyer and Jack. Has she really made her choice? Will she run? Tune in in February to find out…

 

Lost Talk: The Cost of Living

As several new characters have begun to emerge on the show, it seems that it was only a matter of time before someone had to go. Unfortunately that was Eko. I loved Eko and I hated to see him get the boot. He was one of the most interesting characters on the show and I had great visions of grandeur that showed him and Locke working side by side for seasons to come as they duke it out with the island.

The flashbacks were of course all about Eko. We followed him after his brother (Yemi) was shot and taken away on Eko’s drug plane. Eko is then mistaken for a real priest and he subsequently does his best to find redemption as a man of the cloth. That doesn’t end too well for him, and he finds himself in a situation where again violence seems like his only alternative. As he leaves his church he is confronted and told that he will have to pay for his sins and that he owes his brother one church. Now we know why he tried to build a church on the beach.

Throughout the episode Eko encounters ghosts or visions from his past, mostly in the form of his brother Yemi. When he confronts Yemi’s ghost towards the end, Eko confesses to Yemi that he has nothing to confess. Eko beleived that he had simply done the best he could with the life given to him. Surprise!….Yemi isn’t Yemi! Eko chases after fake Yemi and then gets attacked by the mysterious smoke monster. Sadly, Eko loses the fight. Eko’s last words to Locke are that “You are all next…”

Meanwhile Jack and Juliet seem to become a bit closer as Jack figures out that the X-Rays he saw are Ben’s. Juliet secretly sends Jack a message basically asking Jack to kill Ben in surgery, because “some are ready for a change.” In one very interesting scene, Ben tells Jack that he wants Jack to want to help him. Ben asks Jack if he believes in God, and tells Jack that he believes God sent Jack to him. Does this mean the Others had nothing to do with the plane crash?

Time for random observations and more questions. Who is the eye-patch dude the other survivors see on the video screen in the Pearl Station? It looks like newbies Nikki and Paulo are slowly being pushed into the main character spotlight. Did anybody else chuckle when Nikki said Paulo is always complaining they they are being left out? Will the mystery of the smoke monster ever be solved? How about why Eko and Yemi both crashed on the same island? Why are so many chracters seeing ghosts on the island?

Next week is the last episode for a few months, and don’t be surprised to see a few startling revelations and a possible cliffhanger. The previews seem to indicate that Kate chooses Sawyer, and that could make things real interesting for Jack. Will we finally see Walt and Michael before the break? Can’t wait……..

 

Lost Talk: "Every Man For Himself"

Last night’s episode was all about Sawyer and introduced two new surprises. First of all there are 2 islands! The Others are on one (smaller island) and the rest of the survivors are on the other. I guess they have been hinting at this in subtle ways (a submarine, the boat dock where Kate, Jack, and Sawyer were taken away, mention of a ferry in one of the old Dharma tapes) but I sure didn’t see it coming. The other revelation was that maybe part of the reason they have captured Jack is so he can operate on someone. Who’s X-Ray did Jack see?

Sawyer is one of my favorite characters and last night we were treated with some good ole’ Sawyer flashbacks. Apparently Sawyer has a daughter (or does he?). Is it possible the mother of his child was conning him into leaving money for his daughter that doesn’t exist? Hmmmmm. We follow Sawyer as a prisoner and we get to see him orchestrate yet another con, this time on a fellow inmate. But this time he is buying his freedom. What I love about Sawyer is that he is so conflicted. He is a bad guy that wants to be good, but doesn’t want to admit it. If there was ever any doubt about how he feels about Kate, it was all washed away by the look on his face when Kate said she only proclaimed her love for him to save his life. I used to believe Kate and Jack just made sense, but this Kate/Sawyer thing is growing on me.

The title, “Every Man For Himself” was an obvious reference to Sawyer’s life philosophy. We see in all of Sawyer’s flashbacks that the one thing he is not is a relationship oriented guy. He is a loner in every sense of the word. I thought it was a powerful moment when Kate refused to leave him behind. To me one of the great overall themes of this show is that these survivors may be lost, but they are truly finding personal redemption on the island.

The only number reference I remember was the “8″ painted on the rabbit. Speaking of that rabbit, what a wild scene! Watching Ben shake the rabbit cage uncontrollably was without a doubt one of the strangest Lost scenes to date. Add to that chest piercing needles and exploding pacemakers….it’s enough to make you squirm.

Meanwhile, Jack is playing with the emotions of Juliet by bringing up the obvious authority struggle between her and Ben. Do you think that will come into play later? I am fascinated with the whole Ben and Juliet storyline and I can’t wait to see what is revealed in coming episodes. At first I thought they were a former couple dealing with a big breakup, but I’ve been reading rumors elsewhere on the Internet that they could be siblings….even twins! Crazy….

Life on Survivor Beach seems to be moving along as normal, if you call clairvoyant Scottish men building lightning rods normal. Where are the writers going with this new Psychic Desmond twist? Fascinating….

The next 2 episodes promise to be big, especially since Lost will be taking a hiatus until after the new year sometime. What will happen? Next week’s promo promises that everything will change. So may possibilities…….

 

Lost Talk: "Further Instructions"

Honestly, I don’t have much to say this week. Why? Because that episode told us nothing!!!!!!!! I usually love John Locke flashback episodes, but I really didn’t like this one. We know that John, Desmond, and Eko survived the hatch implosion. We of course don’t know how, and does anybody really think we will ever find out? We learned that John Locke went through a stage where he lived on a Hippy Farm that also fronted as a weed farm. OK…………. The drug/dream sequence with Boone was interesting, but rather pointless it seemed. And we are shown once again that John is a hunter and that there are polar bears on the island. I thought the explanation about the polar bears was interesting…..Oh wait…There wasn’t one!!!!!!!!! I guess I’m getting a little tired of the non-explanations, but oh well. To me the only interesting development (besides the fact that Hurley has apparently gained weight), was the fact that Desmond is now some sort of a psychic. Yeah, we see that the polar bear ate Dharma people, and the officers badge number in Locke’s flashback was 84023. Yeah, it was interesting that Locke woke up on the jungle floor just like Jack in the pilot episode in season 1. Yeah, it was weird that Eko’s stick fell from the sky and hit Locke in the head. A lot of interesting stuff that goes nowhere. All in all I was disappointed and bored with this episode. For the first time ever, I was ready for a Lost episode to end. Maybe I missed some earth-shattering revelation. Maybe I just don’t get it. Thoughts?

 

Lost Talk: "The Glass Ballerina"

Oh yes. It’s that time of the week you’ve all been waiting for. It’s time to talk Lost. Last night’s episode entitled, “The Glass Ballerina”, opened with a flashback scene from Sun’s life. Apparently, Sun was a mischievous little girl who liked to blame things on her maid. For instance, the breaking of the aforementioned Glass Ballerina. Now we know why in later years her father is so angry. He must have really loved that Ballerina.

We find out through the flashbacks that Sun did cheat on Jin, which makes me wonder if Jin is really the father of her baby. I sure hope so. What I love about their story is that they have stayed together even though they had to overcome a lot of problems and difficulties. I hope they will be able to work through this new problem. Surely Sun will tell him what happened?

In one of the flashbacks, Jin goes to “take care” of a problem for his boss (Sun’s dad). What he doesn’t know is that the guy he is sent to kill is the same guy that Sun had been having an affair with. Jin is tired of this “job” and decides to show the guy some mercy and let him live. Apparently, this all takes place in Room 1516. Hmmm…..Shortly after, this man takes a dive off the building and lands on Jin’s car as Jin is getting ready to drive away. When he lands we notice he is carrying the necklace he gave to Sun. Did he really jump or did someone push him? Did Sun push him off or inadvertently cause his suicide? If she did, will she blame it on the maid? So many questions….

Meanwhile on the island, there are a few interesting developments. First, I must note that we still have no clue about the other survivors, namely Desmond, Locke, Eko, and Charlie. Looks like we’ll find out more on that next week. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are still being held prisoner. Sawyer and Kate get to leave their cells and go do some manual labor for the Others. Why is Jack being kept separate from Kate and Sawyer? Alex (Danielle Rousseau’s daughter) approaches Kate and asks if she has seen the guy (Carl) who helped Sawyer try to escape. She informs Kate that the dress she is wearing is hers. Then she disappears. Who knows where that storyline is going? Very interesting….Sawyer kisses Kate while they are working under guard, and we find out later he was just trying to test the strength of the Others. Yeah right.

Sayid, Jin, and Sun try to lure the Others to them by their signal fire, and they succeed. Sort of. Sun shoots Colleen (a new Others character), right after Colleen tells Sun that the Others are the good guys. If that’s true, are there bad guys on the island and who are they? The Others end up with Desmond’s boat. Question: If the Others know everything about the survivors, how did they not know about Desmond’s boat? Maybe a plot hole? I doubt it. It will be explained by Season 8 I’m sure. The most revealing scene occurred in the end when Ben showed Jack the Boston Red Sox World Series highlights on a TV. This proved to Jack that home was still there, and Ben promised he would take him there. The catch: Jack has to cooperate with Ben. Good luck Ben.

Why is Ben watching everything the prisoners are doing in his video control room? Do they have information he needs? Like Ben, have all of the Others lived on the island their whole lives?Are these Others really “good guys”? When we finally get back to the other side of the island, will we even remember the rest of the survivors? How many cast members can they possibly add, before people start getting killed off the show again? My head is spinning….. Any thoughts?

 

Lost Talk: "A Tale of Two Cities"

My favorite TV Show is Lost. Last night was the Season 3 premiere and I wasn’t disappointed. WARNING: If you don’t watch Lost then you will be totally confused and bored with this blog entry. Shame on you if you don’t watch it. It is simply the best TV Show ever. Really, it’s that good. If you do watch and haven’t seen last night’s episode, stop reading and go watch it. (Sorry to my Scottish friends). Enough of that. Let’s talk Lost.

The show kicked off with a bang, literally, and it was one of those crazy, weird moments that you love and hate at the same time. Apparently, these “Others” have their own little modernized village somewhere on this island. We are so used to seeing them in their jungle-people outfits, that it was strange to see them with normal clothes doing normal people things. Their weird, normal village life is interrupted by the crashing of Oceanic Flight 815. That’s when we figure out that these normal looking folks are actually the “Others”. Henry Gale (the leader?) appears and sends off Ethan and Goodwin to infiltrate the 2 groups. That Henry Gale is one creepy dude.

We are introduced to another new Others character named Juliet (I believe that brings the entire cast count up to about 600 people). Juliet is a great addition to the show, and I can’t wait to see how she fits into the story. Unlike the rest of the Others, she seems like she might be a “good guy”, but then again, maybe it’s all an act. I loved the scenes between her and Jack, and she seemed to genuinely care about him. Who knows?

This episode is all about Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. They are being held as prisoners by the Others, and we still don’t have a clue why. They are being kept in big cages and an aquarium…… Is this an old zoo or something? We saw more Jack flashbacks, and this was possibly the most revealing look into his character that we have seen. Jack is apparently responsible for his failed marriage (maybe I’m wrong about that) and for his Dad going back to the bottle. Ouch…The flashbacks are my favorite part of the show,and a brilliant move on the producers’ part. Each flashback gives us more and more insight into what makes each character tick, and we find ourselves really caring about them as a result.

Each episode usually has a “tug at your heart strings” moment, and last night was no exception. Juliet tells Jack that the file she has contains his whole life, and she will tell him anything he wants to know. Through his sobs Jack asks if his ex-wife is happy. Juliet says that she is, but who knows whether or not she is lying. Poor Jack. Man, talk about issues.

At the end we really are left with just more questions. What is happening on the other side of the island? Are Locke, Echo, and Desmond alive? Is Henry Gale’s name really Ben? What did Henry Gale/Ben mean when he told Kate the next 2 weeks would be unpleasant? What’s the relationship between Henry Gale/Ben and Juliet? What really happened in last season’s finale? Has Hurley lost any weight? (an on-going question in my mind)

I can’t wait for next week! Feel free to comment if you have any insights or theories about the show. Later……..