Whee hoo! Sorry for the delay, but I didn’t want to post this until all the blog transfer stuff got sorted. Don’t get too attached to the way it looks — I just wanted something other than the default generic blog theme. And with that, here’s this week’s episode nutshellified:

Well. That was some fucked up shit. G’night everybody!

(Kidding. Obvs.)

Dork observation: This season’s episodes have been repeating Season 1 in terms of who each episode centers around, they’ve both gone from Jack to Kate to Locke to Jack. Tuesday’s episode should have focused on Sun, then, but instead it focused on Sayid. And yet! S1E5 was called “House of the RISING Sun,” while S6E5 is called “SunDOWN.” Neato!

“Sundown” had the first Sideways world installment that didn’t feel as though it forced connections between people (yes, I noted the passing glance between Sayid and Jack, but at least Jack wasn’t the attending physician on his brother’s case). Keamy was the last person I would’ve expected to see back, but it made absolute random sense that he’d be the shark who’d loaned Sayid’s brother money. And that it was Jin locked up in the meat locker also made total sense — Keamy was the one who was going to get the watch from Mr. Paik. I think he’s wearing it, too. (I didn’t get to watch the previews for next week — does it look like it will focus on Sun? That would be nice, because what the hell happened to her when Jin was taken away?)

I was weirded out not that Nadia was married (the minute I saw the flowers in Sayid’s hand I knew that’s what would happen) but that she married Sayid’s brother, even though Sayid still loves her. The whole “I don’t deserve you” business was so Victorian romance literature, too, and I’m not sure I liked it. Also, remember that Sayid’s brother is the one their father berated and belittled for not killing a chicken. Then Sayid had stepped up and killed the chicken for his brother, so it stands to reason that his brother would turn to Sayid for help of the killing kind again.

I don’t think it much matters at this point, but was Sayid’s trip really to translate contracts for an oil company? Or is that a cover for what he was doing in the original timeline — which was to help the CIA capture his former friend-turned-terrorist. It was Nadia that the CIA dangled in front of Sayid as bait for helping them. But in this timeline he’s clearly been in contact with her already, so maybe the terrorist aspect doesn’t exist in the sideways world. (Doesn’t explain why he carries her photo around with him, unless it’s to always remind him that he’s not worthy. Sideways Sayid = Sydney Carton.)

Also, if you’re going to introduce a boomerang in Act One, you’re going to have to have it break a vase in Act Three.

On the island . . . DAMN. Two main things:

1. How many times in the last five seasons has Sayid either directly stated or implied that he was already dead? Something dark has been growing inside of him for a long time, I’d say from the time he tortured Sawyer.

2. Why is it that Sayid always has to prove himself through violence?

The initial fight between Sayid and Dogen was pretty fierce, but I was taken out of the moment when Dogen sees the baseball fall off the table. Like it’s his Rosebud or something. And when Sayid asks Dogen point blank why Dogen didn’t kill him then, Dogen responds indirectly with the story of how/why he’s on the island. I didn’t much care for that. And besides, I thought Dogen didn’t kill Sayid then because he’s not able to kill candidates any more than Smokey.

Do you think that Dogen knew Sayid wouldn’t be able to kill Smokey, or was Sayid not able to do it because Smokey managed to speak first? Was Dogen hoping that Smokey would kill Sayid instead? Because that makes no sense, as Dogen must know that Smokey’s not able to kill the candidates (or is that something that I made up?), and it’s an awfully big risk for Dogen to send out a man who will be easily corrupted because his scale tipped the wrong way. And when Sayid actually kills Dogen and Lennon (shades of Michael killing Ana Lucia and then Libby), in the miracle pool of healing where he had actually died as well, it was like Sayid had found a new source of strength. And he was so scary looking. The look he gives Ben? shudder.

And now because Dogen is dead, Smokey can enter the temple (I’m not sure why he can’t before, why Dogen’s breath somehow makes the ash work as protection). We see Smokey wreak the same sort of disaster that he did at Jacob’s place, only on a larger scale. Alana and Frank and Sun and Ben showed up out of nowhere (I missed you guys!) and I really thought that Sayid was going to kill Ben. Again. (“Why! Won’t! You! Die!”)

But everyone got out of the temple — we don’t see Ben actually leave though, which makes me wonder in a fuzzy sort of way — and Kate goes with Claire and Sayid and is TOTALLY PERPLEXED/creeped out when she sees Not-Locke. It would appear as though Smokey is perplexed as well, but I don’t think he’s going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Definitely curious to see what’s going to happen there.

“Catch a Falling Star” was never creepier.

So in terms of advancing the plot, this was a good episode. At least we got to see Frank and Sun et al, even if for a short time. Is Jin still at Claire’s camp? And where is Sawyer?

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Criticisms I’ve heard about this season so far: That we’re not getting any answers, that the answers we are getting are empty and meaningless, that the show works better when all the characters are together.

I say the first is wrong, the second is a matter of opinion, and the third I wholeheartedly agree with. I don’t think it’s going to be possible for me to say this season is good or bad until it’s over. Individual episodes so far have been decent, “The Substitute” was excellent, this week’s was better than “What Kate Does” but not as good as the premiere or “The Substitute.” In terms of story I think it’s fine. Did it answer anything? Not concretely. Am I bothered by this? No. I don’t think any of us should be watching this show with a checklist — I mean, I have a checklist, but if I’m watching each episode WAITING for something I think they should address, then I’m not paying attention to what they’re actually DOING.

There. I’m done with the whole “they’re not answering anything” bit, at least for a few weeks. But I definitely agree that the show works better when the group is together — if not physically, then at least within the parameters of a single episode. I miss Ben and Sun and Frank already, even though we saw them last week. I am eager for more of Ilana and her mission. I can’t wait for the timelines to reconcile.

Other things I want: Richard’s story, Desmond’s return (not necessarily to the island), the explanation for what/how/why Christian is.

OK. This episode.

You know, for a Jack ep I quite liked it, and I think that’s because it follows the course laid out last season, where Jack is not really in charge of anything. Here he’s following Hurley through the jungle (just as Sawyer follows Smokey) without knowing why, and when he tries to assert himself in bringing Kate along with them, both Kate and Hurley say no — not part of either’s agenda.

And I liked Sideways Jack as well — also not all that in control, but dealing with it. Doesn’t remember having his appendix out. In the original timeline, it was Juliet who took it out (Season 4, “Something Nice Back Home”). In the sideways timeline it apparently happened when Jack was a kid. his inability to recall this major event, in addition to Claire being named in Christian’s will — which I think would’ve been the first time Sideways Jack hears her name — points to the two timelines drawing closer together.

Sideways Jack has a son named David (who’s the mother? Don’t care. Could be Sarah, could be some random woman we don’t know, hell, it could be Juliet. David’s mom doesn’t seem all that important to the story at this point, so I’m not going to worry about it) who has just as tangled a relationship to Jack as Jack had to his dad, and as Walt had with Michael. Because really — they only see each other once a month? Horrible custody settlement, but maybe that’s because, you know, Jack didn’t have his shit together during the divorce proceedings (his mother’s “good for you” after he refuses a drink was telling). And the other parallel between Jack/Michael and David/Walt was, of course, Dogen telling Jack that David has a gift. It also hearkens back to what a number of people have told Locke over the course of his life.

Connections: David’s reading Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, which Jack had read to Aaron; the sign at David’s audition for the Williams Conservatory said “Welcome all Candidates.” (Ha.)

Dogen: he and Jack have a nice moment at the Temple, echoed in the Sideways world, but it brings up the question of why/how Dogen is off island. Additionally, something I didn’t think of at the time but someone else raised via Twitter, how is Ben off the island in the Sideways world? Two possibilities that I can think of: 1) again, these anomalies (they should’ve gone down with the island — provided, of course, that the island DID blow up and what we saw at the bottom of the ocean was real and not another fake) point to the two timelines drawing closer to reconciliation; 2) if we follow the trajectory of the original timeline, then if the plane never crashes then Ben never gets shot and never gets taken to the Temple . . . and now I’m in Back to the Future mode where it’s better just not to think about this too much.

I’ll get to Hurley/the lighthouse in a second. Want to talk about Claire first. Claire makes me really uncomfortable now, as she’s supposed to, but still — that fake baby? CREEPY. Her face when she tells Jin that Smokey is her friend? So creepy. She doesn’t seem to recognize that Aaron would be three years old now, which is interesting. She also has rewritten history it seems, implying that her friends just left her on the island, when what did happen is that she left Aaron to follow Christian into the jungle — AND she told Locke later that it would be better if he didn’t tell anyone that he saw her. That she distinguishes between “my father” and “my friend” is intriguing and confusing. That she axed the Other was predictable, but I did like how it showed Jin that this is not the Claire he knew, and so he lies to her in order to bring her to people he thinks will be able to help her. Of course Smokey’s along for the ride now, and this is the bad thing that Jacob tells Hurley is coming.

OK. The one thing I did not like about this episode 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. (Jackie raised a good point last night about the numbers: that their assignation to the other Losties explains why Hurley is drawn to them. As far as I’m concerned, this is the only explanation for the numbers that I need.)

Though I did like his line at the cave, asking whether THEY are Adam and Eve. It reminded me of very early in Season 1, when he’s convinced that the monster is a dinosaur. Both of these explanations are things the television audience had thought as well, and I think the Adam and Eve line is just an acknowledgement of that.

And the Lighthouse. I am sure Jeff Jensen is going to have something to say about Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, which if memory serves has a lot to do with simply watching people, but it’s been a very long time since I last read the book (I should reread. It’s damn good). At the lighthouse we get the List again, and I saw more names this time: Dawson, Linus, Rousseau, and Austen, listed at 51, and not crossed off. This screencap, when clicked to embiggen, shows Radzinsky crossed off at 106 and I think Faraday crossed off at 101. (OK, I just like looking for the names.) And at 108, the degree to which Jacob told Hurley the lighthouse should be set, is someone named Wallace, but the name is crossed off. (My first thought: “Marcellus?”)

Lighthouse vs. cave: light vs. dark. Got it.

I’m not sure Jacob knew that Jack was going to smash the mirrors. And I’m also not sure that anyone is coming to the island now, or was ever going to, because the two points of the trip were 1) to get Hurley and Jack away from the temple, and 2) to get Jack to see why he’s important, and give him something to think about as he stares into the ocean. Jacob’s shrug that whoever it is will find another way to the island indicates that he’s not worried, and he might not be worried because he just made it all up in order for Hurley and Jack’s trip to have some sort of meaning for them.

But if someone is coming to the island, then my money’s on Desmond. Wishful thinking perhaps, but if 108 is still a significant number even if the name attached to it on the compass (?) isn’t, then he’s the one most closely associated with it, having pushed that button every 108 seconds for three years.

What were your thoughts?

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I’m going to jump in first with a couple observations that have little to do with what happens in this episode, to give the people reading this on Google Reader or Bloglines (is that still around?) or whatever the chance to click away (click away! click away now!) if they don’t want to find out what happened on Lost last night.

First: This episode’s title is an obvious callback to the Season 2 episode called “What Kate Did,” in which we find out that all the fuss over her is because she caused a house to explode with her biological father in it.

Second: It occurred to me while watching the previouslies that we’re dealing with a Locke Trinity of sorts — the dead Locke, the Locke in the alternate 2004, and the Locke who isn’t really Locke. There’s no real correlation to the Holy Trinity, and I don’t think this means anything — just something I realized. Lotta Lockes out there right now.

OK.

My initial reaction to this episode is not a positive one. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it, and until I started writing this I didn’t much care for most of it. (Now I’m at a place of peace with it. It’s fine.) Entirely possible that it’s because it’s a Kate-centric episode and I find Kate exasperatingly annoying and selfish, but I was also thoroughly confused by all the Temple stuff, and confused in a bad way (unlike other Lost episodes which have left me thoroughly confused in a fun way, like most of Season 5).

So let’s tackle that first. Dogan determines that Sayid is “infected” (and btw am I the only one who looked at the torturey contraption he was using and immediately thought, “NOT TO FIFTY!”), that he has been “claimed,” and that there is a “darkness growing within him,” and if it reaches his heart then the person they know as Sayid will be gone. And THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO CLAIRE. That makes sense, I guess. Because I knew Claire died in that house explosion (First, no way could anyone survive that. Second, remember how Miles was so intent on watching her before she disappears). And it was pretty cool to see Claire return at the end of the episode as a sort of Nouveau Rousseau (heh). Couple questions:

1. This is The Sickness, right?

2. Did this also happen to Jack’s father? Or does it only happen to people who die on the island? Because I keep going back to Christian and Claire in Jacob’s cabin. Considering that they were guiding Locke on his path to leave and return to the island, I would imagine that they were manifestations of Smokey. But I’m still not clear on whether Smokey can possess actual bodies or if he can only assume their form. (And if he can possess them, then why not use Locke’s body? Because Locke didn’t die on the island? But then where was Christian’s body? Brain ow.) I feel sure that The Sickness is connected to Smokey, but I’m not sure how yet.

I’m not concerned with how Dogan knows that Claire is Jack’s sister — these people know everything.

So Dogan makes a poison pill for Sayid, because there’s no cure for the sickness other than death (my guess). I’ve been thinking for some time now that Sayid has to die this season, and Sawyer sums up via sarcasm precisely why at the beginning of the episode: “‘Course he’s fine. He’s an Iraqi torturer who shoots kids. He definitely deserves another go around.” Sayid’s killed so many people, not even in the service of the army, that there’s no way the island is going to support his being there. He has to answer for what he did.

One more thing: Sayid didn’t seem to have forgotten anything that happened to him prior to getting “saved.” Maybe that’s how they knew he was infected, by setting up a scenario — torture — that would’ve been instantly familiar to the old Sayid. And he responded exactly as he would have: I don’t know anything, I’ll answer any questions you have. It wasn’t that the hot poker or the electric shocks were testing anything. Good god, those Others are hardcore.

On to the Bizarro-2004 World:

Hey look, it’s Ethan! Good old Ethan . . . Goodspeed? Oh, right! Ethan is Horace’s son. And he’s off island in this 2004 because he and his mother were evacuated before the bomb went off. He’s not an Other because he didn’t have to choose between DHARMA and the Others before the purge (I assume in the original timeline that Ethan either lied when he said his last name was Rom or that he adopted this name post-purge to perhaps distance himself from what happened to his father. OR it’s a continuity error, but a pretty obvious one, so I don’t think it’s that). This I liked. I also liked how Ethan and Claire’s interaction bears traces of their Island interaction: “I don’t want to stick you with needles if I don’t have to.” Awesome.

But OK, KATE. First, how could she NOT NOTICE that Claire is HUGELY PREGNANT? And really, she was awful in the first half of this episode. I realize that it was her own fear of getting caught that made her so vicious, but it was really hard to watch. But then I have to say that going back to Claire after realizing that she’d just mugged and abandoned a pregnant woman is consistent with the Kate we’ve gotten to know over the last five seasons. BUT: Is it consistent with the Kate that would’ve existed had the plane never crashed? Or did Kate go back to Claire because there’s a little part of Island Kate still there in her? (You all noted that moment when Kate and Jack see each other at the airport and there’s that “do I know you?” look in Kate’s eyes, which could be again some sort of Island thing or it could be that she’s remembering bumping into him outside the airplane lavatory. Which leads me to ask, how many times has Occam’s Razor NOT worked for this show?)

(Kate going back for Claire also reminds me of the way Ben was unable to kill Danielle or Penny after seeing they were both mothers. )

And Kate and Claire together in the hospital nicely paralleled Season 1, when Kate helps Claire deliver Aaron. Also, the moment Aaron’s heartbeat disappears from the monitor calls back to the plan crash aftermath when Claire can no longer feel the baby kicking. And in both timelines, the name Aaron just comes to Claire. As I said last week, I sort of like these eye winks but they’re also sort of a little too Richard Bachian for me. Still, in terms of the Main Island Dichotomy, some things maybe are fated.

Other random thoughts:

1. Josh Holloway was spectacular.

2. The mechanic who helped Kate out of her handcuffs: was that psycho vampire Kralik from BtVS? Looked like him.

3. Arzt was so annoying.

4. “Are you a zombie?” “No. I am not a zombie.” — Naveen Andrews’ delivery of that line was the best moment of the episode.

5. Actually, my most pressing question right now is why so many of the Others are such assholes.

What did I miss?

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