Here’s another story: In my junior year of college I took (yet another) Shakespeare course and had to read Hamlet (again). One night I was on the phone with a friend, and to extricate myself from the conversation I said that I had to finish reading the play. “Michelle,” my friend said, quite seriously, “you know they all die in the end.” This became a running joke with us.

It is largely because of this that I found the end of LOST not only satisfying, but extremely funny.

I didn’t say this here, but I was nervous going into the finale. I’ve invested a lot of time and money into LOST. While I wouldn’t say I’m a total LOSTCon-attending Lostie, this show drew me in from the beginning, provided me with a regular dose of consistently good acting, good drama, and nearly always gave me something to chew on. I was there from the beginning. And I was so nervous that the finale would ultimately disappoint me and do so on a spectacular level.

Instead, I got about 100 minutes of pure AWESOME and about 10 minutes of “wait a minute, WHAT? THIS is where they’re going with this? I don’t know if I like this. Oh, c’mon, REALLY?” It did seem as though those last 10 minutes were going to undo everything. Then the show ended, we talked amongst ourselves for a little bit, then went to our respective homes. I slept. This morning, I can state without hesitation that I unequivocally loved this final episode.

I’m not going into the whole “character vs. mythology” business and how depending on what mattered to you most, you either loved or hated the finale. It’s pretty clear, I think, where I’ve stood from the beginning of this season in terms of what answers I wanted and what I would find a satisfying conclusion. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that I am largely satisfied.

And I’ve been stalling here because I don’t know where to begin. But I might as well start at the end.

1. The sideways world is explained as some sort of purgatory, but the good kind of purgatory. Because in this holding pattern (see what I did there) everyone basically gets the sort of life they wanted to have, more or less. This has been mentioned before – Locke has Helen, Hurley is successful and lucky, Jack has a better grip on his Mr. Fixit issues, etc. But it’s more than that, I realize now — the sideways world/purgatory is where these characters have the chance to work through all their unresolved issues. So Locke’s relationship with his father has a different spin on it. Jack has a chance to work through his unresolved daddy issues via his son. Sawyer’s investigating the man responsible for his parents’ deaths is on the up-and-up (mostly). Desmond’s relationship with Widmore is stable and functional. And so on.

The idea that the sideways world was a place for everyone to gather before heading off to heaven together was a little too religious for me, but I have to give the show credit on two counts — one, I don’t think they actually USE the word heaven. It’s simply “moving on” to some sort of afterlife. “Where are we going?” “Let’s find out.” So I think my unease with the religiosity of the situation is in part what I am imposing on the narrative. I mean, this is all taking place in a church so of course religion is present, but in rewatching this final scene I’m less convinced that we’re dealing with specific religious principles. More like general theology. Not something out of left field for this show. (Also, rewatching this? I am BAWLING.)

Check that, three counts: the sideways world-as-purgatory brings together a couple central LOST concepts: that what happened, happened — the island stuff was all real; and more importantly, these were the people that mattered most to Jack in the most important part of his life. In other words: if we can’t live together, we’re going to die alone. It’s as if in the moment that Jack first utters that, waaaaay back at the beginning of Season 1, they all resolve that they will not die (or move on) alone. They will be together in the end. So, you know, goddammit, LOST, you got me. You got me good.

Slightly harder to wrap my head around, but I think I get it now: the idea that not all of these characters died at the same time. That some of them die much later in the future than Jack, but this pre-afterlife party doesn’t adhere to linear time constructs (which makes sense, since the entire SHOW didn’t hold to linear time constructs). There is no NOW. I liked that we get the first hint of that with Hurley and Ben, as they refer to events that happened after Jack saved the island. I also liked that some of these characters weren’t ready to go with everyone else. Desmond says that Ana Lucia isn’t ready, he tells Eloise that Daniel will not be going with them . . . hang on. Why does Desmond get to decide? Isn’t this Jack’s show, at the end?

2. Juliet finally, finally, finally shows up, and not only does she get the best reunion scene in the finale, but in explaining to Sawyer how to get his Apollo bar, she gives us the procedure for fixing the island: unplug it, and then plug it back in. And there it is. The island is a giant vending machine. No, really — I loved that. Unplug/replug it and duct tape — these are the two things that can solve ANY problem, and we got both of them in this episode. I think that’s BRILLIANT.

3. Not as crazy about the LITERAL CORK at the center of the island, but I’ll go with it anyway. I did like that once the island was unplugged, all bets were off and the rules no longer applied (I don’t think the rules really existed for real, anyway — they were made up and arbitrary — but I do appreciate the loyalty with which both Jacob and the Man in Black adhered to them), both Jack and Smokey were mortal and could be harmed/killed.

I also liked the way that after Jacob’s death, Richard began to age — Miles plucks out a gray hair. And the return of his mortality brought new stakes for Richard. Now he wants to live. It was one of the small but big moments that LOST has always done very well.

4. I loved the way the characters who hadn’t been enlightened (for lack of a better term) as to what the sideways world really was found their way to the truth. That for Jin and Sun it was seeing their baby on the ultrasound monitor. For Kate it was helping Claire give birth to Aaron — the boy that meant so much to both of them. It wasn’t always the true love angle — it was moments of extreme emotion and/or issues that were unresolved in the original timeline (thanks for that, Rose) — Jin never gets to see Ji Yeon, Hurley never gets his relationship with Libby.

5. The Rose and Bernard scene worked for me on so many levels. Obviously the first is that we got to check in with Rose and Bernard. And THEY were the ones who got Desmond out of the well, after a brilliant Lassie turn from Vincent. Good boy, Vincent! That was immensely satisfying. And I loved that they also have rules for existing on the island, but recognize when it’s necessary to break them.

6. And OK, so I was wrong about Frank being dead (and glad to be wrong about that), but I would like to point out that I called Hurley as the next Jacob way back at the beginning of this season:

The one thing I did not like about this episode ["The Lighthouse" -- episode 4] was the shoddy writing given to Hurley. He’s always been the audience stand-in, and the pop culture nerd with the Star Wars references and whatnot, but last night it seemed that all Hurley really did was string along a bunch of Hurleyisms, and that’s not fair, especially when it seems as though Hurley is poised to be the next Island Guy.

And last week, when Jack volunteered for the job, I was really OK with that — though again I would like to point out that I didn’t quite buy Hurley’s “whew” moment, either.

I also said a little something about how this season has given us a Hurley who finally comes into his own. I wouldn’t have minded if Jack had stayed in his role as Island Protector, but I have been hoping all season that it would be Hurley. I tried to explain why last night and all I could come up with was that he was always the guy who cared about people, who always wanted to see the good in people, who believed in people because they were good. He believed in Charlie, he believed in Jack, he manipulates Sawyer into doing good because he knows Sawyer has it in him. And finally, he believes in Ben. BEN! Of all people. Hurley’s the most lovable character in the show not just because he’s the underdog, but because really, truly, he represents the best part of us. And this makes him really the only candidate for Jacob’s job.

7. So that moment made me cry a little bit. As did the Juliet-Sawyer reunion. And Jin and Sun in the hospital. And Claire and Charlie reconnecting. And Ben and Locke’s final conversation in which Ben apologizes for real and Locke forgives him.

And yes, there were a few moments during the finale that I didn’t much care for but I’ll be damned if I can remember any of them now. Well, OK, there’s this: remember when Widmore said he’d loaded up the Ajira plane with enough C4 to blow the whole island to hell or whatever? But Locke only took one bar of it? It drove me crazy that Richard, Miles and Frank didn’t check the rest of the plane.

But I absolutely LOVED all the meta touches and callbacks, from Kate snarking on the name “Christian Shephard” to Jack and Smokey looking over the edge of the waterfall at the center of the island just as Jack and Locke peered into the hatch, Sawyer checking on Kate’s gunshot wound as Kate once took care of Sawyer’s — loved all of it.

Bottom line: The finale made me want to start the series all over again, and I cannot think of a better endorsement.

I realize there’s a LOT that I’ve left out here, and I would love it if you (all everybody) would start up a conversation in the comments. I have a feeling we could talk about this show for a long time.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – What They Died For
2. Thoughts on Lost – “Dr. Linus”
3. Thoughts on Lost – Everybody Loves Hugo

So.

Things in the Sideways World are set to converge at David Shephard’s concert, part of the grand opening ceremonies for the new paleontology wing at Pierre Chang’s museum, funded by and named after Hurley.

I did not see that particular scenario coming.

Interesting, though, that this gathering almost mirrors the benefit thrown by the Widmores — we haven’t seen Daniel or Eloise since that episode, and just as Widmore snuffs it here, it’s like that particular narrative layer has folded up. (Maybe.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. It felt as though the story was truly and finally settling in for a sit around the campfire to tell us everything we need to know. (Not necessarily WANT to know. But need.)

It was an excellent blend of quiet scenes, weighted with the full force of previous seasons, and explosive violent scenes. I loved the scene between Jack and Locke in the Sideways world, as I have tended to love all of their scenes together. Loved that Locke echoed his own words from Season 1: What if all this is happening for a reason? And loved that Jack replied with another Lostian echo: Don’t mistake coincidence for fate.

Loved Ben’s scenes with Alex and Danielle, particularly that they happen after Desmond forcibly shows Ben the world that should be, so that Ben must have gotten flashes of Alex as his daughter on the island as he watched her study. And that knowing look that passes between Ben and Danielle — I’m chalking that up to “I remember you” and not any sort of romantic moment. Because the latter is a little too much for me to handle right now.

(Sidenote: I think I’m going to institute coq au vin night.)

And Ben tells Locke that Desmond was there to help Locke “let go.” It didn’t occur to me before that letting go is something both Lockes would benefit from — Sideways Locke needs to let go of his guilt and martyrdom so that he can have the chance to walk again; Smokey Locke needs to let it all go — his rage, his vengeance, his plan to kill everyone, his plan to destroy the island. Seriously. Dude. Just let it go.

Which makes me wonder whether Ben’s apparent 180 (or 360, as it were) is his plan to get Smokey to let go. Because I’m 97% sure that Ben is playing Smokey, either for self-preservation (which is completely in keeping with his character) and/or to save the island (ditto). He needs Smokey to believe that he’s on his side, so he gives up Widmore (I have to believe that revenge was always at the forefront of Ben’s mind as well, especially after Miles and Richard bring up Alex). And in using Smokey to kill Widmore, Ben appears to, possibly, once again have the upper hand as he has always had with Locke, up until the point at which Smokey/Locke convinced him to kill Jacob.

Which is not to say that Ben wasn’t absolutely, completely CHILL-MAKING in these scenes. Sinister Ben, I have missed you. But please don’t be evil.

Can’t say I’m sorry to see Widmore go, either. Much better to have the fate of the island rest in the hands of the characters we really got to know over the last six seasons.

But oh, Richard. The minute he said “I’m going to go talk to him” I knew it would go wrong because one of the things we know for sure is that you do NOT let Smokey talk to you if you want to stop him. But I wasn’t prepared for Smokey to hurl Richard so violently into a tree. Can Smokey kill Richard as he couldn’t kill Jacob? I don’t see anyone coming back from that, immortal or not. And if Richard’s indeed dead, he got an even rawer deal than Ilana and all the people on the sub. (Although it might have been better that way, as I don’t think I could take another drawn-out death scene.)

And Jack stepped up to become the next Jacob. OK, first of all, the scene around the fire made me recant what I said last week, that perhaps the whole of “Across the Sea” could have been reduced to a couple of flashbacks within another episode. Had that been done, I don’t think Jacob’s words to Kate, Sawyer, Jack, and Hurley would have been as impressive or powerful. Second, I am fully on board with Jack’s choice. He made that choice from an understanding that it was his destiny — this is why he was brought to the island; this is why he was brought to the lighthouse. These are the answers he’s wanted. He made his choice as Season 6 Jack, not as Season 1 Jack, who would’ve stepped up out of a compulsion to have to be the one in charge, in control, at all times. Both Season 1 and Season 6 Jack are still powered by their need to fix things, but their motivations for wanting to do so are different.

What I didn’t buy so much was Hurley’s “At least it wasn’t me.” I may be saying so out of a slight sense of my own disappointment, but I caught in Jorge Garcia’s delivery more than a touch of regret that he didn’t step up before Jack did.

Other things:

Jack’s neck started bleeding — something he first noticed on the flight back from Sydney, still as mysterious as ever. A literal bleeding in of the original timeline into the sideways timeline?

We get teased with the prospect of finally seeing who David’s mom is. Any guesses?

Who let Desmond out of the well?

I liked the breakout scene, featuring Ana Lucia as a shady bribe-taking cop.

Strange men keep giving Kate dresses.

Speaking of Kate, what did you think about Jacob’s explanation for why her name was crossed out?

Finally, as we look toward the finale (!!), what do you most want to see happen? What’s left unanswered for you?

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – “Dr. Linus”
2. Thoughts on Lost – “The Substitute”
3. Thoughts on Lost – Recon

The Mother says as much to Jacob and He Who Has Yet to Be Smokey: You came from me, I came from my mother, she came from hers, and so on and so on. Every question I answer will lead to another question. [Audience: Gee, ya think?]

But . . . she’s NOT their biological mother. She’s LYING to them. From the beginning, she’s lying to them. How do we know that anything she says to them is the truth? She could be making all of it up. And really — we don’t know how she came to the island and we don’t know how long she’s been there, but isn’t it possible that these were stories she told herself to make sense of her life, stuck on this place without any chance of getting off? I mean, wouldn’t you? If you knew you were going to be there for the rest of your life, wouldn’t you make up a story to make your fate seem a little less helpless, a little more noble, a little more Grand? I’m not helpless, I am protecting the world!

I may be alone in this, but I love that the Man in Black has no name. That he is, ultimately, Unknowable. And since the Mother is also unnamed, I’m starting to wonder whether the Man in Black is actually the Mother’s true successor. What if the Mother was, in fact, the First Smoke Monster? And she was playing the brothers against each other from the very beginning, immediately after they were born? She wanted Boy Smokey to find the game. SHE took Claudia’s form and led him to the truth. And — the Man in Black kills her before she has a chance to say anything to him (this has been mentioned before — Dogen tells Sayid he has to strike Fake Locke before he has the chance to speak, or the opportunity is lost). And maybe, in setting Jacob up as the island’s protector, she’s ensured that this game between light and dark will continue for an extremely long time. Centuries, even. Also: at one point she tells the boys the same exact thing that the Man in Black says to Jacob in the finale of Season 5: “They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.”

It was clear, wasn’t it, that what we watched unfold last night took place a long, long time ago? Way before the statue. (See, now I wanna know who built the statue, and whether it was to Jacob’s own specifications. Is Tawaret supposed to be some homage to his two mothers?) Claudia and The Mother speak to each other in Latin, at least I think it’s Latin. It makes sense that it would be Latin, since we know that’s the language of the Others — Jacob’s people.

And speaking of the Others, here’s another theory: Smokey brought the DHARMA Initiative to the island. I don’t know how, but it was established that he’s attracted to the people who know things, who can manipulate the island’s special properties, and help him get off the island. Help him rebuild the donkey wheel. And then it would make sense that Jacob’s people would want the DHARMA folks annihilated, just as that first group of villagers was.

What I don’t get: So — the Man in Black is actually dead. I do like the implication now that that scene at the beginning of the Season 5 finale was a conversation between Jacob and a ghost. But I don’t understand why he’s still trying to get off the island. What’s the point? Just to prove that he can? How is it possible that Jacob can leave, after the Mother told him he couldn’t, not ever?

What I did not like — what I actually hate with a passion, now that I’ve had some time to think about it — was the WHOLLY UNNECESSARY flash to Jack and Kate and Locke in the caves, discovering “Adam and Eve.” C’mon. I know it was a long time ago, but still. Did you think we would not recognize the caves? The game pieces? That we would not remember that Lindelof and Cuse promised we’d find out who those people were? And the cuts back and forth from “House of the Rising Sun” looked sloppy (one minute Jack’s shirtless, the next his shirt is on, because the cuts were made from different moments in the original episode) and completely detracted from the emotional moment wherein Jacob says goodbye to his family, and you can still see on his face, “Mom always did like you best.” If I’d been in charge of this, I might’ve agreed to a fade from that scene to those from “House of the Rising Sun,” just in case people out there weren’t seeing the connection, but the back and forth did not work for me at all. Still — when Jack and Kate find the corpses in the cave, Jack says that the decomp is what you’d expect after 20-30 years, and now we know that he’s missing a few zeros at the end of those numbers.

I am sure that this episode will be polarizing. I bet a lot of you just HATED it, just as a lot of you totally dug it. I totally dug it, even though I think it was flawed. I liked that it keeps the question of morality and good/evil afloat, because this is something the show has always done. I liked that it showed us who Jacob and the Man in Black were as people, before they became these . . . well, deities. I liked that it implied certain answers to long-standing questions. I loved the explanation for how the Man in Black became the Smoke Monster (really, out of all the questions, that one’s pretty key). I LOVED Allison Janney and thought she did a wonderful job as the prototype for all the crazy moms that followed (and honestly, when a show has Allison Janney on it, how bad can it be?).

But I’m not entirely sure that all this backstory needed a separate episode, though I will admit that I am impressed by how bold a move that was, and ultimately there might be a good reason for taking this sharp left turn with only three and a half hours of storytelling left. In its execution, however, this episode leaves a lot to be desired. In moving from character drama to myth, much of the dialogue became clunky and heavy, and all the people on Twitter that made references to the Star Wars prequels aren’t half wrong. It’s especially hard to avoid them when the light at the center of the island is referred to as “The Force.” I mean, REALLY?

There’s a lot that I haven’t mentioned, but I’m at 1200 words here and it’s time to move on to the rest of my day. So what did you think, and what questions do you have?

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – Ab Aeterno
2. Thoughts on Lost – “Dr. Linus”
3. Thoughts on Lost – Recon

Me? Not so much.

It upset me, for sure (my refrain last night was “THAT WAS NOT OK”), but just as I wasn’t terribly moved by Sun and Jin’s reunion a couple weeks ago, their deaths didn’t have much of an emotional impact on me. I couldn’t really figure out why until Alan Sepinwall offered a succinct reason: “the show lost sight of the two as individual characters.” (Read the rest of his review here. After I read it last night I had half a mind to simply link to it for this post.) I’ll add this: after they were brought back together, the show didn’t have anything else for them to do. Ji Yeon, as with so many TV babies, is a complete afterthought (the second-most popular reaction to this scene, after “noooooooooo!”, is “What about your daughter?”). I had a feeling in the last episode that one or both of them were doomed. And the show could not sustain just ONE of them dying. That would’ve been worse. So while I don’t think killing of Sun and Jin was fair, I do recognize it as a sort of necessary thing. And while I don’t think it was the most amazing piece of storytelling that Lost’s ever done, Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim were both incredible.

There were other things that got to me more, including but not limited to:

Hurley breaking down on the beach. That was more gutting for me than watching Sun and Jin die. (Conversely, Jack crying at the ocean? Seemed gratuitous and strange.)

The brief glimpse of Jin in the hospital in the Sideways world, just after he dies in the real world.

Sayid’s exertion of free will. That was a noble death. Or second death. All the zombie-like behavior he’d been displaying paid off in that brief moment when Sayid was himself again.

Sideways Jack and Locke’s scene at the end of the episode, when Jack quotes Faraday (“what happened, happened”) and Locke (“I wish you had believed me”) and talks about how it’s OK to let go even though he hasn’t quite figured out how yet. I could watch that scene over and over. It’s just beautifully acted.

And other things that I thought were awesome:

Sideways Cooper’s fate was more satisfying to watch than Real Cooper dying. Even though Sideways Cooper was apparently a helluva guy. I love the spin that the Sideways world gives that fraught relationship, making Locke responsible for his father’s condition rather than the other way around.

The bomb countdown SPEEDING UP after Sawyer removes the wires. For all the times that countdowns stop at 2 seconds to go, to have a bomb programmed to fast-track detonation is something I’ve never seen before, and I laughed out loud.

The return of Action Jack. As with Sayid’s zombie existence, I’d gotten so used to Jack’s passivity, which appears to be in full swing even at the beginning of this episode, that when he pushed Locke into the water I punched the air and whooped. It’s possible, though I feel strange saying so, that I am fully on board with the return of Jack as the show’s hero.

(Huh. I just remembered my dream last night involved getting chased by zombies in some sort of mountain village and barricading myself and others inside a school. I’m going to blame Buffy, Lost, and my addiction to Plants vs. Zombies for this.)

Yay, Bernard!

And seriously, for all my meh-ing about Sun and Jin dying, the submarine scenes were truly Lost at its best. They recalled Charlie’s death, they reminded us that the water is always ominous on this show, and they were excellently dramatic and intense.

I am a little pissed off that Frank seems to be dead, though.

And I only have one question/potential problem: a few episodes ago (“Everybody Loves Hugo,” to be precise) Richard and Ben and Miles trooped off to blow up the plane. Clearly they didn’t accomplish that goal. So what the hell happened to them and where the hell are they?

UPDATE: OK, I can’t believe I went and posted this thing without mentioning the biggest part of this whole episode, namely that now we know for sure that a) Smokey always intended to kill all the candidates and b) that he can’t actually do this himself. I think I neglected to include it earlier because it’s something that we all pretty much already knew, right? Or at least suspected? I’ve been working with that theory from the beginning, so. Yeah. Still. That’s pretty huge. And it looks like next week is going to be more about Jacob and the Man in Black, perhaps giving us more from MiB’s perspective. Can’t wait.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – The Package
2. Thoughts on Lost – “Sundown”
3. Thoughts on Lost – What They Died For

Island timeline

* I knew this would be a decent episode from the opening scene between Jack and Smokey, in which Jack asks an indirect question (“Who else have you looked like?”) and Smokey says, essentially, “You wanna rephrase that into something a bit less circuitous?” So Jack asks, “Have you looked like my dad” and Smokey says, “Yep.” And he did it so that Jack would find water, so that they could leave the island — even though at the time moving to the cave felt like everyone was giving up on the idea of rescue and settling in. I’m still hung up on the moment just before the freighter blows up and Christian Shephard appears to Michael and says “You can go now.” If Smokey can’t leave the island, then how’d he get to the freighter, well out of island range? How’d he appear in LA? Smokey could be lying (shocker) but that then leaves the question of how Ghost-Christian exists — what did he do on the island that makes it not possible for him to move on? (The theory that Christian has been to the island before has been floating around for a while, I think.)

* Then Smokey tells Jack that he can’t leave without everybody and Jack fails to ask why. Maybe because he suspects that it’s BS, or that leaving the island would be bad? He tells Sawyer as much on the boat. Not sure how I feel about that confrontation.

* Hurley’s “You can always bring people back from the dark side” was this episode’s obligatory Star Wars reference, but I’ll give it a pass because I think we’re all hoping that it’s true.

* I liked this exchange better:

Claire: What’s going on?
Hurley: People trying to kill us again.

* Zoe shows up (ugh) and threatens Smokey if he doesn’t return Desmond. Two things:

1) Like grenades or whatever are going to stop Smokey? They should know better. Though perhaps what they’re threatening him with is killing the people he’s with, which, if he’s telling the truth about needing everyone to get off the island, then he would want to protect them until at least then.

2) Why doesn’t he respond with “Yeah, well, you took something of ours” — meaning Jin?

* Another blip of logic: Smokey tells Sawyer to get the boat, Sawyer asks why they all don’t go for it together, Smokey answers that a bigger group moves slower. Like two people make a difference. That was dumb.

* Speaking of Jin, so he and Sun are finally back together. And even though they’d been separated for-freaking-ever, I didn’t think that this reunion packed the same emotional wallop as the one from Season 2 — even though it pops Sun’s voice back and her first word is “Jin.” (I mean, that did get to me, as anivilicious as it was. I am a sap. You know this). But they both knew that the other was alive, whereas back in S2 Sun wasn’t sure if Jin had gone down with the raft. Also, the S2 reunion was just after they’d reestablished their love for each other, so the emotional stakes were super high. Plus you had Rose and Bernard reuniting right next to them. Alls I know is, I got more teared up by Ben comforting Locke in the ambulance.

* The confrontation between Sayid and Desmond was also anti-climactic. Sayid hesitates, like all supervillains hesitate when they’re pointing a gun or death ray at a potential victim, because instead of doing the job they’d rather talk about their feelings. Even though Sayid’s a zombie and no longer has feelings. (“The woman I love”? Oh, Sayid. Like you know what that is anymore.) Desmond’s question to Sayid, though, “What will you tell her you did,” made me think of Michael’s guilt over what he did to get off the island. And I think it’s pretty clear that Sayid did not kill Desmond. Does this mean he’s been swayed from the dark side? Did he leave Des down the well or did he help him out of it?

Sideways timeline

I think things are coming together nicely.

* Sun’s gunshot wound allows her to see the other timeline, so she recognizes Locke — but considering how freaked out she is by this, I’m guessing she sees him as Smokey? Either that or she’s weirded out by the bizarre coincidence.

* And speaking of Locke: If we assume that his accident caused him to see the real timeline, then do we interpret his giving Helen’s name as more than providing his emergency contact person? If he saw the real timeline then he would know that he and Helen don’t make it — which gives Locke a motive for keeping the sideways timeline intact. Interesting that we don’t see his flashes, so we still don’t know whether he sees himself as Smokey or if he sees nothing because he’s dead in the real timeline. Or if he sees both of these things — that he died, and that Smokey took over his body.

* Ford and Straum’s takedown of Sayid was pretty awesome. It’s surprising to me how little I care for this character now. Not sure if it’s because he’s a zombie on the island or if it’s because of the writing or the acting. I’m thinking it’s not so much about the acting because Naveen Andrews has always been good. He can’t help it if he gets crap lines and then his one direction note is “be devoid of emotion.”

* What also surprises me? How much I like Jack this season. Leaving aside that he’s about to operate on Locke specifically, he’s about to operate on someone with a several spinal injury and an obliterated dural sac (callback to the very first episode!), and he’s all, “I got this.”

* And we knew he’d be the one to operate on Locke, but I liked that it actually happened. People are congregating at the hospital. Plot! Moving forward! (I wonder if something will Go Wrong and Locke will die on the operating table? Course correction?)

* Ilana is the lawyer in charge of Christian Shephard’s will. Though it did feel a little like the writers said, “What cast member can we just plug into this role?” I did like how this led to Jack and Claire meeting properly. Did Desmond know? Is he hoping that this will create the jolt for Claire?

* About Claire: in “What Kate Does,” Claire’s named the baby Aaron and, while she’s not ready for him to be born, I was left with the sense that she would try to keep him. But now she’s approaching an adoption service. Make up your mind, Claire.

* On the island, though, I got the sense that she was also getting pulled back from the dark side by going with Sawyer and Kate, even though she knows that Smokey is gonna be pissed. But, you know, Kate makes a big show of disarming Claire before she gets on the boat, yet when they arrive on the other island Claire’s got her shotgun again. I guess safety in armed numbers? But still.

* Which brings me to the end of the episode, which felt less like a cliffhanger and more like a placeholder. We’ve got Sawyer’s group held at gunpoint by Widmore’s group and Zoe (ugh) telling Sawyer that there is no more deal. Even though they were all then instructed to get on their knees, supposedly to prepare for execution, my only reaction to this is “Whatever.” I would bet money that I’d have a different reaction had it been Widmore himself giving the orders. Alan Dale’s simply a much better actor. MUCH BETTER.

* And finally, Smokey’s “you’re with me now” felt like neither the truth nor a threat.

So, yeah. Decent episode, but nothing happened that really blew my mind.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – “Sundown”
2. Thoughts on Lost – What Kate Does
3. Thoughts on Lost – “Lighthouse”

Well.

I didn’t take many notes as the show aired — compared to last week’s “Happily Ever After,” this was a relatively uncomplicated, straightforward episode in which characters move, the plot moves, and no new mysteries or questions crop up. In that, it was highly satisfying. There were still a few things I could’ve done without — the explanation for the whispers is one of them — but I’ll get to that in a sec.

Hurley has been the most lovable character throughout Lost’s run for a number of reasons. He’s the kid who always gets picked on, the kid who never gets chosen for big adventure, the kid who gets beaten down time after time but still believes that people should be treated with respect. Plus, he’s a sci fi nerd. He is The Underdog, and everybody loves The Underdog. It is profoundly satisfying to watch Sideways Hurley because he’s living the Underdog Makes Good narrative. He’s preternaturally lucky and supremely successful, and he’s also still essentially Hurley, believing that everyone deserves compassion and respect. Hurley the Humanitarian. Look what happens when a boatload of money falls into the right hands.

There’s a theory floating around the Lostverse that describes the Sideways Universe as a world in which all of the characters get what they most wanted in the Real Universe, though it comes at a price. I’m having a hard time applying it to Hurley. Actually, I’m having a hard time applying it to most of the characters, based on what we’ve seen of their Sideways existences. It’s easy with Locke — he gets Helen, though he’s still in a wheelchair. (Possibly he gets Helen AND his father’s acceptance.) Desmond gets Widmore’s approval, but not Penny. Sun and Jin get to be together, but Sun gets shot (endangering their unborn child). Sayid gets to be with the woman he loves, but not really. No idea how this theory applies to Kate, Claire, Sawyer, and Jack, and with Hurley . . . all I can think is that the lottery money isn’t cursed, but then it never was. He was never in a mental institution in the Sideways world, so maybe his most urgent desire was to not be paranoid and delusional. Anyway. This is mostly a sidenote that got out of hand. Back to the episode.

Libby! About damn time. Hurley placing a fresh flower on Libby’s grave tugged at my heartstrings; seeing her again after all these years was immensely satisfying. Libby’s ability to remember the Real Universe, and Hurley’s flashes of it during their first kiss (again with the heartstring tugging), means that there’s at least two more ways to break through the Sideways Universe, aside from having a near-death experience. Granted, Libby’s mental state and her ability to see the Real Universe is kind of a chicken-egg situation, and I’m not sure which came first. However, she was in Santa Rosa in the Real World as well, and I can’t help but think back to Season 2′s “Dave,” which ends on that shot of Libby in the Santa Rosa rec room, staring intently and rather madly at Hurley.

Do you think Libby knows what’s going on here? That’s my question. I like the idea that she does. It’s reminds me of the way all the Glory-fied crazy people in Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Season 4 know what Dawn really is.

It was equally satisfying, as it has been all season, to watch Island Hurley come into his own. He’s had the occasional Moment before, but he’s carrying himself now with such quiet purpose and strength that he’s almost a different person from even the Hurley in “The Lighthouse.” And yet, he’s still essentially Hurley. He can’t keep the truth about not seeing Jacob from Jack. And that conversation, where Jack says that he’s pretty much OK now with following someone else, that was a nice moment. In my notes, I have it as “Jack learns an Important Lesson. Finally!”

I wasn’t expecting to see Michael again, but I did like how he appeared just after Hurley chides Libby for being the one dead person he hasn’t talked to, as though the island is taking the piss. “We’re not going to give you Libby, but here’s her killer. Psych!”

What I didn’t like? The explanation for the whispers. The idea that the Island is purgatory for souls who can’t move on is so unsatisfying for reasons I can’t fully articulate but should be obvious enough that I don’t need to. And maybe that’s not really what it is, purgatory. Maybe “moving on” means something other than “to Heaven.” What I’m hung up on is why Michael’s even there. I thought he’d fulfilled his duty to the island or whatever at the end of Season 4, on the freighter. Just before all that C4 blows up, Christian Shepherd appears to him and says, “You can go now.” Was it another “Psych! Just kidding. We’re going to need you to do this one other thing, but then I promise you can go” situation? Man, the Island is an asshole.

But I did like the knockout rolled-out ending. All of our original castaways, save Jin, are together. Finally! The look between Jack and Smokey was deliciously drawn out and intense. I wonder whether Jack will point out to everyone else there that Sayid is not really Sayid anymore. I don’t think that Kate or Sawyer have cottoned to this yet. (Speaking of Sawyer, I’m a little disgruntled that he hasn’t been doing much of anything other than confronting Smokey with things that Smokey has done. “So you went for a walk, huh?” Enough of that.)

That Smokey was going to toss Desmond down the well was telegraphed from the minute we saw the well, but did Desmond know that was going to happen? I’m thinking he did, because I’m still working with the idea that the latest EMP he experienced gave him the ability to see the entire picture of what was and what needs to be. Because he’s still so very ZEN about all the crap going on.

And if I’m not mistaken that’s the donkey wheel well, right? Although Smokey did mention that there were other wells all over the island and so maybe he tossed Des down a different one. That this happened in tandem with Sideways Des RUNNING OVER LOCKE was nothing short of super fantastic. Locke’s face, as he’s lying on the ground watching the Real Universe flash before his eyes, looked very much like his face after he was pushed out of the window, so that’s interesting even though I’m not sure what it signifies, if anything.

Other observations:

• So long, Ilana. I think you deserved something a little more dignified than going the way of the Arzt, and I hope we still get the backstory on how you became a Jacob disciple (Jacobite? Ha), though I guess that’s not likely, what with 5 episodes left.
• Small moment, but one I loved: Ben following Richard.
• Also loved Ben confronting Des, on the suspicion that Des is a pedophile stalking his next victim. LOVED that Des says he has a child named Charlie — subtle indication that he’s fully conscious of both his existences.
• Finally, the mysterious island boy! We’re agreed that he’s the same boy that Smokey saw earlier in the season, the one who warns, “You can’t kill them,” only older, right? Are we still agreed on the premise that this is Jacob? So now we’ve seen kid Jacob and pre-teen Jacob, yes?

Jacob’s a phoenix.

I’m only half-joking.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – What They Died For
2. Thoughts on Lost – “Lighthouse”
3. Thoughts on Lost – “The Substitute”

This episode was like “Flashes Before Your Eyes” and “The Constant” swirled together in a delicious Desmond cone. My notes are all exclamation points. “Minkowski!” “Driveshaft!” “Daniel alive! Musician!” “NOT PENNY’S BOAT!” “MILTON!”

Now that I think about it, this entire episode was really little more than a string of callbacks and references to previous episodes, back to back to back. And it was FANTASTIC.

Minkowski: not a mathematician, but a driver for Widmore, kinda skeezy, but thankfully questioning Desmond on his request for the 815 flight manifest. Good on Minkowski, for actually asking a pertinent question! Good on Desmond, for answering it! Except he doesn’t really, but still. Also, does Des say “I need to show THEM something,” or “show HIM something”? Where him = Widmore, but them = everyone on that flight? I would assume that the manifest would somehow prove that the Sideways world isn’t real, but how? (Maybe them = the Widmores?)

We also saw the return of animal testing (boo!) with the white rabbit named Angstrom. (Ha! I really got a kick out of that.)

Widmore has a large painting of the scales of justice in his office, recalling the scales in the cave.

That Widmore and Desmond are all buddy-buddy parallels the way everyone’s father seems to be pretty decent in the Sideways world. My throat caught a little when Widmore brought out the bottle of MacCutcheon (best fake scotch ever! Every time I see it referenced my mind goes to Kramer’s Hennigan’s commercial).

Widmore and Eloise Hawking are married. Daniel is a musician. And I have to wonder whether Eloise deliberately steered him into music, the same way she had deliberately steered him into physics. It was pretty clear that Eloise knows exactly what’s going on — telling Desmond he’s “not ready” to meet Penny.

I am probably one of about five people who was happy to hear “You All Everybody” again. Sorry, but that song has always cracked me up. And Driveshaft being still together explains Liam’s presence at the jail however many episodes ago.

Desmond sees his own reflection a couple times, in the arrivals board at LAX and in the door to the jail just before Charlie walks out of it.

I know I’m a big ol’ sap, but I was surely not the only one who got chills when Charlie does his “Not Penny’s boat” gesture in the sinking car. CHILLS. Coming as it did after all the layers of Desmond and Charlie’s relationship were referenced — Desmond is charged with babysitting Charlie, the two of them talk about love and choice — to have the pivotal drowning scene from the end of Season 3 repeated was powerful.

Desmond experiences more flashes before his eyes, all about Penny, as he goes into the MRI chamber. At that moment I thought that everyone was going to converge on the hospital and Doctor Who would show up and sonic screwdriver the MRI machine into something hugely powerful and that’s how everything gets OK.

Oh, Eloise’s LOOK when she meets Desmond. Fantastic. And then she echoes Faraday in saying “What happened, happened.” Also fantastic. She knows. She knows! (How?) (Nah, don’t care. She’s always known.)

Penny’s last name is Milton. OF COURSE. You could ask how this last name came about, why it’s Milton and not Widmore, and I’d answer that I never understood why Daniel’s last name was Faraday, unless it was to shield him from knowing that Widmore was his father. So my guess is that Sideways Penny doesn’t know that Widmore is her father, and this was done to prevent Desmond from meeting her before it was time. Daniel knows because his two worlds are bleeding into each other.

Oh my stars was it nice to see Jeremy Davies again. Damn, I missed him. And his description of seeing Charlotte in the museum and just knowing that he already loved her — so sweet! And HELLO now the look Jack gave Kate in the first episode makes sense.

I’m also not one to roll my eyes at the idea that love is going to be The Answer to Everything at the end in some sort of Harry Potter way. I don’t think this is where they’re going with this, but capital-L Love has ALWAYS been a major part/theme of this show: Desmond/Penny, Jin/Sun, Charlie/Claire, Rose/Bernard! — let’s also include Daniel/Charlotte now and Jack/Kate and Sawyer/Juliet (please?).

(Sidenote: how come it’s just the guys who have these love at first sight flashes?)

My take is that seeing Charlotte was a trigger for Daniel’s real-time consciousness to seep into his Sideways consciousness (true love’ll do that sometimes, make you dream in quantum mechanics and stuff), so he drew this graph and equation without really understanding them. I caught the words “real space” and “imaginary time.” The Sideways world isn’t real. I mean, duh, but I’m glad we got confirmation on that, and I think it’s more than “it’s not real.” Another theory floating around was that this was how things would turn out if Jacob hadn’t touched any of the candidates, but that’s no longer valid. Jughead wasn’t a giant reset button, it was something else altogether. This world simply isn’t meant to be. It’s imaginary.

And again, Daniel and his mother are approaching things in different ways — Eloise seems to be adhering to a very rigid set of circumstances that must happen in a certain order (whatever happened to course correction?), while Daniel — perhaps banking on the variables once again — is all “Penny? That’s my sister! Yeah, she’s running a tour de stade. Go find her.”

I loved that Des finds Penny at the same stadium he and Jack met. I loved that he asks her for coffee and my breath caught because I was waiting for her to answer as Juliet mumbles at the beginning of the season. Which wouldn’t have made sense, but I was still waiting for it. (P.S. My new theory is that Juliet’s “I’d love to go for coffee” is not said to Sawyer, but to Ben.)

(Why was Penny at the stadium and why did she then suggest to meet for coffee in an hour when she’s supposed to be at this charity thing?)

And finally, the minute Desmond shakes Penny’s hand, his consciousness jumps back to the island, and we’re right back in “The Constant” territory, and . . . Desmond is different. He’s calmer. He’s TOO calm. He tells Widmore he gets it, he’s ready to start. And then with equal equanimity, he follows Zombie Sayid after watching Sayid snap a guy’s neck. My guess: Desmond now sees the whole picture. He’s fully aware of both real and imaginary timelines, what has happened in both, and more importantly what WILL happen in both. So he knows that he needs to go with Sayid, knows that Sayid is not really Sayid and more importantly that Sayid will lead him to Smokey. And why does Desmond need to find Smokey? I think there are two possibilities:

1. Desmond’s the new Jacob. No, we haven’t seen his name on the list of candidates, but. Widmore spoke of a sacrifice he was going to ask Desmond to make, once their experiment was over. I think that sacrifice could very well be “You’re never going to see your wife and son again. You have to stay on this island and protect it.”

2. Or, possibly, that Smokey is actually Faraday (this is a theory I’ve seen batted around a few times — check out Jeff Jensen’s posts on Lost, because he’s written about it, but I don’t remember for which episode. The one where Smokey tells Kate that he had a crazy mom). I’m not entirely sure I understand it, or fully buy it, but it’s intriguing, so let’s go with that as a premise) and, because Desmond is Faraday’s Constant, Desmond is the one person who can pull Faraday out of this mess, which will then somehow put everything back to rights.

Or, of course, neither one of these could be true. Or they both could be true. It’s probably something completely different and more simple. But clearly Desmond is the key to saving the island, saving the world. So the Desmond/Jacob theory I think holds some weight, despite evidence to the contrary.

I didn’t see previews for next week, but Lostpedia lists the episode title as “Everybody Loves Hugo,” which is a reference to another favorite episode of mine, “Everybody Hates Hugo,” which has my favorite Lost opening of all time.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – The Package
2. Thoughts on Lost – What They Died For
3. Thoughts on Lost – The Last Recruit

Am I right?

Mostly meh, anyway. I don’t think it’s wrong to expect Lost to follow up one kickass episode with another, because they’ve done it many times before, but this was so far from kickass that now that I’m sitting down to write this I find myself mostly disappointed in it. But anyway. Some good things did happen, and some fun callback stuff happened, but some pretty ridiculous stuff also happened, so. Onward.

Let me get this straight: In the Sideways world, Sun and Jin are secret lovers but not married. Mr. Paik learns of this tryst and sends his daughter and her lover as bodyguard to LA for Keamy to kill Jin. That seems extravagant, even for Paik. I call contrivance.

I did like that Keamy and Mikhail were working together — the two guys who just! won’t! die! (And Keamy STILL didn’t die! Hilarious.) It took me a couple scenes to figure out why Mikhail looked different — he didn’t have his eye patch. And then Jin shot him in the eye at the end. Ha!

Also liked that Sayid gave Jin the means to free himself, but didn’t cut him free himself. Kinda Jacob-like, to only give someone the means to free oneself. Even though Island Sayid is an Apocalypse Now soul-dead zombie.

Knew Sideways Sun was going to get shot, and it stands to reason that she would be pregnant — that would’ve been the something she wanted to tell Jin at the hotel. Nice for the Sideways plot to end there on such a cliffhanger — will Sun survive? Will the fetus? Might JULIET make an appearance?

On the island — I don’t know how I feel about the whole aphasia thing. I think it’s mildly ridiculous but I don’t really mind it so much. I like the symmetry inherent in the way it’s Jin who speaks fluent English now, and Sun who can’t. I like that Sun’s speech was taken away so that the full force of her objections to Richard’s plan to blow up the plane couldn’t be understood. And of course, Island Sun loses her ability to speak English as we learn for sure that Sideways Sun never learned English at all. So that’s a nice connection. Even if the whole thing felt like something better suited to daytime soaps.

I thought Jack’s talk with Sun was well done as well, tomato metaphor notwithstanding (that was more than a little ridiculous. “No one told this tomato that it was supposed to die.” All I needed was a reappearance of the moth from S1). Jack seemed very Jacob-like. On a more shallow note, I like how shaggy Matthew Fox’s hair is right now.

So Widmore’s people took Jin because Jin had mapped out the terrain for the DI in 1977 and they need him to help them find other pockets of unusual energy. Because . . . they can’t read the maps themselves? They’re maps! Whatever. I don’t like Zoe (or maybe it’s the actress — either way, I don’t like her at all) so I don’t have a problem with the idea that she’s a freakin’ geophysicist but she can’t read a map.

And the electromagnetic pockets — this is what’s going to keep Smokey on the island, channeling that energy into something larger than the pylons? To use as a weapon or means of moving the island? How moving the island keeps a cork in things I don’t know. Is Widmore looking for something specific? Maybe he’s looking for something off those maps, which would then render my disdain for Zoe’s lack of map-reading skills moot. Still don’t like her.

But then Jin sees pictures of his daughter for the first time and if you hadn’t prepared for this like Jenn had then you don’t know Lost, my friends. That was very, very sweet. Also nice to see Bpo Bpo again.

Oh, and of course, DESMOND. So Desmond is “the package” (I’ll say!), which means I was right! Sort of! when I guessed it would be Desmond that Jacob was referring to in “The Lighthouse.” Because he is special, the rules don’t apply to him, etc. so it stands to reason that he would be instrumental in stopping Smokey/aligning these timelines. And man, the look between Desmond and Sayid was like an episode in itself.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – “Sundown”
2. Thoughts on Lost – The Last Recruit
3. Thoughts on Lost – Everybody Loves Hugo

When God gave [Man] reason, he gave him freedom to choose, for reason is but choosing . . . Wherefore did he create passions within us, pleasures round about us, but that these rightly tempered are the very ingredients of virtue? They are not skilful considerers of human things who imagine to remove sin by removing the matter of sin . . .

Suppose we could expel sin by this means [i.e., censorship]; look how much we thus expel of virtue: for the matter of them both is the same; remove that, and ye remove them both alike. This justifies the high providence of God, who, though he command us temperance, justice, continence, yet pours out before us, even to a profuseness, all desirable things, and gives us minds that can wander beyond all limit and satiety. Why should we then affect a rigor contrary to the manner of God and of nature, by abridging or scanting those means which books freely permitted are, both to the trial of virtue and the exercise of truth?

I was of two minds watching this episode: one, it was exactly the sort of answer-driven, mythology-heavy episode we’ve been expecting and patiently (or not) waiting for; two, it didn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know or strongly suspect. On one hand, Nestor Carbonell was wonderful and heartbreaking to watch — the brief scenes between Richard and Isabella were more than sufficient to make me believe in their eternal love, like on a Desmond + Penny level. On the other hand, the pacing of the script was a little uneven and while Richard’s backstory was interesting, we didn’t need so much time spent on it. The Black Rock scenes went on for far too long.

I do think we were treated to some depth, however, and I don’t see anything wrong with confirmations and clarifications. I think when we say “WE WANT ANSWERS” we mean “WE WANT SHOCKING REVEALS” and that’s not necessarily what this show does when it delves into the backstories of the characters.

We find out that Ilana was tasked with protecting the six candidates — which I think had already been discussed or hinted at before. I have more questions about that, and I’m curious to know whether the concept of candidates for replacing Jacob didn’t occur to him until the events of this episode transpired — that is, once he knew that the Man in Black had found a way to kill him, thereby creating the need for someone new to keep the cork in in the bottle.

We find out that Richard came from Tenerife in the Canary Islands and, like so many of the other people on the island, is responsible (however accidentally) for taking another person’s life. And, like so many of the other people on the island, feels responsible for the death of a loved one. We find out that, as we’d pretty much known already, Richard came to the island as a slave on the Black Rock — but a convict slave, which is an interesting touch.

If Jacob and the Man in Black are playing this game of how corruptible humans are, then why does the Man in Black kill so many of the castaways on the ship? Wouldn’t he want to keep them around to see if he can bring them to his side and prove his point? Unless one of the rules they have is that they can only play with the people Jacob decides to bring, and this time it was just Richard.

I was not expecting the Man in Black to show up first and release Richard from the chains, but of course it makes perfect sense — and it was a nice callback to Fake Locke’s words to Richard after Jacob’s death: “Good to see you out of those chains” woudl be the one thing Fake Locke could say to Richard that would tell Richard who he was really dealing with. The one defense I can see of the drawn-out scenes of Richard in chains is that by the time the Main in Black finally shows up, Richard is completely broken and at his most vulnerable, ready to agree to anything just to be freed. He’s the perfect candidate for corruption.

And we get a reiteration of the Man in Black’s desire to escape, which can only be done once Jacob is dead (soooooo why hasn’t he left yet? Does he need to get rid of all the candidates as well?). The Man in Black tells Richard exactly what Dogen tells Sayid back in “Sundown” — that he has to strike first; if “the devil” speaks first then it is already too late. (I believe, but am not sure and do not have the time to check right now, that it was the same knife as well.)

I was not expecting Jacob to be so forceful and hardcore in defending himself against Richard’s murder attempt. Might this be the first time that an attempt had been made on his life, and he wasn’t expecting it, whereas he could see it coming with Ben (even though he didn’t think Ben would actually go through with it) because perhaps there had been many more attempts in the interim?

We know now that Richard is like a priest of Jacob, an intermediary, whose purpose is to guide people into choosing the right path. And he is immortal because he asked to be. That was a nice touch, his asking for immortality not because he wanted whatever power comes with it, but because he didn’t want to go to hell. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought that Richard was going to die at the end, when Isabella tells him that he has suffered enough. What I also found interesting was the way Richard’s backstory throws the other episodes he’s figured in this season into relief, particularly his waffling between these two sides. He tells Sawyer not to trust a thing Fake Locke says, that Fake Locke wants to kill everyone, but at the same time he is tetherless and once again vulnerable and wanting to latch on to the only other entity he’s known since he arrived on the island.

Jacob explains to Richard what, again, we pretty much knew already from last season’s finale — that Jacob and the Man in Black hold different ideas about people and are playing a metaphysical game with everyone who comes to the island (and even though we knew, I still liked Jacob saying it explicitly — the same way I already knew that Claire is Jack’s sister and Cooper was the Sawyer from Sawyer’s childhood but still liked that moment of revelation in the show, liked watching the characters process the information). The Man in Black believes that people are easily corruptible because it’s in their very natures, while Jacob . . . well, Jacob doesn’t necessarily disagree that it is in people’s nature to sin, but he clearly believes that people will generally choose good over evil. This again recalls Areopagitica: “I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary . . . That virtue therefore which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evil, and knows not the utmost that vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is but a blank virtue.” And that’s why Jacob doesn’t intervene in people’s choices once they get to the island — they need to have full knowledge of what they’re about to choose, in order to make their choices. The Man in Black will tempt them with promises of being with their loved ones again (which, if they believe in any sort of an afterlife, will happen, only they’ll be really dead) or with other primal desires, while Jacob stands back and trusts that they know in their heart of hearts what is right.

And maybe, ultimately, that is his only plan: to guide people towards the good. Over and over again. To keep the cork in the wine bottle. And so the Richard from a couple episodes ago, the Richard who wanted to put an end to his immortality because he didn’t think he had any of the answers and now believed that his whole life was meaningless, that Richard is kind of like us Losties, railing against the show for not giving us small complicated details when the big picture is really pretty simple and clear.

However.

Jacob is the one who brings them to the island pretty much against their will. I’m having a hard time with that right now.

I also think we only got half the story last night, because I’m still curious about Alvar Hanso and DHARMA and the island’s physics-defying properties. We got the faith story last night — now it’s time for the science story.

My favorite moments of this episode:

– Richard’s crazed “Bitch, PLEASE” giggle when Ilana asks him what they’re supposed to do next.

– Hurley’s translation of “magnificent” to “awesome.”

– The Man in Black smashing the wine bottle. It was a little heavy-handed to be sure, but it did call back to the “loophole” he and Jacob mention at the end of last season. The cork doesn’t matter if the whole bottle breaks.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – Across the Sea
2. Thoughts on Lost – “Dr. Linus”
3. Thoughts on Lost – “The Substitute”

So ummmm . . . whatcha all doing?

Oh, right. Sorry. I was distracted by shirtless Sawyer. What? Like you weren’t.

Today is one of those rare days in which I have lots of stuff to do, so I can’t give this episode its full due — but I think that’s fine, since I thought it was a sort of tepid episode. Plenty to like about it, but . . .

Stuff I wasn’t crazy about

* Liam looking for Charlie — though it was great to see Liam, this felt like backsliding into the COINCIDENCE? OR NOT business the flash-sideways scenes were doing at the beginning. Though if this means that Charlie’s going to be back soon, then I’m OK.

* Sawyer — sorry, Ford — hooking up with Charlotte was also too much, though perhaps the intent of this part of the plot was to create as strong a jarring feeling in the audience is possible. In audience time, Sawyer is still flooded with grief, and to watch him jump into bed with not one but two women is . . . painful, right? Felt wrong. Sexy, but wrong.

* Also, I’m pretty sure that Charlotte was ransacking Sawyer/Ford’s drawer looking for anything but a t-shirt. It’s possible that she’d been tasked by Miles to hunt around for information, but I think that’s too much of a stretch. Though maybe. Regardless, I wish they’d followed up on that.

* The island stuff felt like it didn’t move at all. It did, with Sawyer going to the Hydra Island and finding Widmore’s people (this time around Widmore hired a pole dancer and Chip from Kate & Allie) and playing both sides of this fight that had BETTER BE EPIC. But mostly this felt like set-up, which is fine, but man, the next 8 episodes had better all feel like finales.

* The scene between Sawyer and Widmore fell flat. The final scene was Sawyer tells Kate that they’re going to just let everyone else duke it out while they make their escape also didn’t feel like the sort of ka-blammo ending that Lost usually gives us. “We’re gonna take the sub.” Ooooh. Like you know how to pilot a sub any better than you know how to pilot a plane.

Stuff I dug

* I’m not the first and I won’t be the last to say that I would watch the Sawyer and Miles cop show in a heartbeat. Sawyer is a COP. I love it. And his explanation to Charlotte makes the most sense both in terms of Sawyer’s past (which happened exactly as it did in the original timeline) and in terms of the bigger picture: Sawyer had a CHOICE between turning criminal or turning into a cop.

* Of course, his plan for revenge against Anthony Cooper blurs the morality line, which again fits in with the bigger thematic picture.

* But what interests me the most about this sideways turn of events is that it’s the first one that parallels the island in 1977. The previous eight episodes have all called back to events that either happened on the island in 2004 or, in the case of the Oceanic 6, off-island in 2007. 1977 Sawyer and Sideways Sawyer are both called Jim, they both work as figures of authority in peace-keeping situations, “LaFleur” is their codeword.

* What does it mean? I’m not sure what it means in terms of these two worlds eventually reconciling, but I think in this case what we saw of Sawyer in “Recon” is who he really is, or who he was always supposed to be — it wasn’t until he time-skipped to 1977 and became Jim LaFleur and assumed a position of authority, respected by his employees and those he protects in the DI, calmly reading a book during a crisis, that Sawyer really came into his own.

* Still — “LaFleur” is a totally random codeword. How’d they come up with it?

* I loved it when the woman at the beginning called him “Dimples.”

Other stuff

* Well, of course it would be Kate on the run at the end. That was a good way to balance out the actual ending, because I immediately wanted some follow-up. Josh Holloway’s delivery on “Son of a bitch” was one of the highlights of the episode.

* And it makes sense that Miles and Charlotte would know each other through Miles’ father — who apparently ALSO left the island. Starting to wonder whether the bomb even went off in the Sideways World, or if the DI simply ran out of funding or something. (Or maybe it wasn’t the bomb, but the “incident,” but those people would’ve been on the island then as well.)

* The Kate and Claire stuff was pretty intense. Kate’s totally out of her depth right now and much as I dislike the character I was feeling sympathetic toward her. Claire tries to stab her and Sayid just watches? Ouch. The conversation she has with Smokey was interesting, too — Smokey talks about his crazy mother, but did he mean his crazy mother or Locke’s crazy mother?

* Can Widmore actually be ON the island? I’m wondering if the conditions of his exile mean that even if he finds a way back (which he has, twice now) he can’t actually physically set foot on it.

Finally, next week’s episode looks like it’s going to center on Richard, which I wasn’t expecting given last week’s episode. I feel sort of sated on the whole Richard issue, so while I’m looking forward to this I think it would’ve been better if next week’s episode had already happened, because I fear it’s going to feel like an afterthought. Especially since Richard told Jack he didn’t have any answers! And now ABC is touting the Richard episode as one with a whole bunch of answers? Granted, that’s a network problem rather than a writing problem, but still. I am skeptical.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – What They Died For
2. Thoughts on Lost – “The Substitute”
3. Thoughts on Lost – The Package