Lost

Well, well, well. Everything's starting to come together. Tonight we saw the emergence of a new leader, a look at just how evil Smokey is, a better clue as to what the island is, the return of an old friend, and the power of Love. (Cue Huey Lewis and the News).

This episode opens with Jack and Hurley's group on their beach arguing about what to do. Ilana and Richard are determined to blow up the Ajira airplane so the Smoke Monster can't use it to leave. Ilana picks up up the bag of dynamite, packs a few things in the bag and promptly explodes. Goodbye Ilana, we hardly knew ye. Despite this Richard is still determined to blow up the plane and leads the team back to the Black Rock for more dynamite. On the way there Ben makes the observation that Ilana is dead because "the Island was finished with her" and wonders what will happen when the Island is finished with them. Good question. I think by now it's obvious that somebody is controlling things. In fact it's so blatant that if we get to the end of this thing and someone tries to explain all this as an experiment in Free Will I will throw something at my TV. The "Free Will" choices that these characters are making are obviously being guided by a higher power. (Of course I'm a Calvinist so I'm comfortable with the idea that man's Free Will and God's Decisive Will are compatible, but I wonder if that's where this is going.)

On the way to Black Rock, the team loses Hurley. Just let that sink in for a minute. They look around and Hurley's not there. There's not another character on this show that this turn of events would be more ridiculous for. Not only do they lose him but apparently he beat them to Black Rock with enough time to blow up all the dynamite there. Can you see Hurley taking off in a dead run towards Black Rock and NOBODY NOTICING? Can you see Hurley running? I sure can't but what do I know.

With all the dynamite gone this team has to make a new decision. Richard wants to continue to try to blow up the plane, Hurley wants to go to Locke. Unable to reach a consensus, Richard, Linus and Miles head toward the plane and Hurley leads Jack, Sun, and The Lawnmower Man towards Flocke. Along the way they hear the whispers that we hear right before disaster strikes but this time Hurley says that he knows what they are. He steps into the clearing and Lo and Behold, it's Michael back from the dead. Hurley tells us that those whispers are the ones who "can't move on". Apparently if you did enough bad things you are trapped on the Island after you die. So if the Island isn't Hell or Purgatory it at the very least has some connection to one of those places. I can't wait until that is explained.

Michael tells Hurley where Flocke is and Hurley leads his group out of the forest to Flocke's camp. Two things. #1 All 6 of the candidates are together just like Flocke said they would be. (Assuming that Sun is a candidate and not Jin) #2 Hurley is leading the way. Wouldn't it be something if the main over-arching plot of this entire show is Hurley's transformation from bumbling lovable loser to noble bold Leader of Men. Never bet against the fat ones.

Back at Flocke's camp, while all this is going on and before the other group arrives, Sayid delivers Desmond to Flocke and Flocke and Desmond go for a little walk. Locke takes Desmond to a well (like the one Locke fell into and turned the Donkey Wheel) and delivers a little history lesson about why people dug the well in order to see why it made compass needles go crazy. Then Flocke asks Desmond why he's not scared. After all, they are in the middle of a jungle alone, and no one knows where he is. Desmond answers "What is the point of being afraid?" and Flocke promptly throws him down to the bottom of the well. Poor Desmond, finally freed from his bunker only to end of at the bottom of a well.

Meanwhile, back in Flash-Sideways land, Hurley gets to meet the love of his life, Libby. Unfortunately she's crazy. Like Insane Asylum crazy. But when she sees Hurley she starts to remember her time on the Island and when she kisses Hurley, he remembers also. Which comes back to a theme in these Flash-Sideways, namely that Love is some kind of bridge between the two time periods. A strong enough bond will allow you to "pierce the veil" between the two worlds. I'm pretty sure that if I think about it to long my head will hurt but I look forward to that being revealed.

However, all of this was not the most entertaining moment of the night. That occurred when Flash-Sideways Desmond purposely runs over Locke while he's in a wheelchair. That is cold-blooded! I wondered if he remembered Flocke pushing him into the well?

What did you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

Lost

I knew going in to tonight's episode that there was a better than average chance that it was going to be a bit of a let-down. Not only was it coming right after the episode on Richard's backstory, (which was awesome) it featured Sun and Jin, the two characters I care about the least. Well I was right, it was boring and except for two small moments, very skippable.

In the sideways story we find out that Sun and Jin aren't married but are in love. Sun performs a little strip tease for Jin and we get a good look at what I can only assume are stunt boobs. The bad news is that sun's daddy found out about the affair and isn't happy. Remember that 25 large that Jin was bringing to the states that was confiscated at customs? Turns out that was for Martin Keamy and in return for the money he was to kill Jin. So Jin was given the responsibility of transporting his own blood money from Korea to the states by Sun's dad. Sucks to be you Jin.

Well the money is gone so Jin is taped up in a restaurant pantry while Sun tries to come up with the money. This of course is where we saw Jin at the end of Sayid's episode a few weeks ago. Sayid gives Jin a knife and leaves and Jin frees himself just as Sun and the mercenary tasked with taking her to the bank arrive. Jin and him get into a fight, shots are fired and Jin kills him but not before Sun is shot in the belly. As Jin takes her to get help she drops the bomb on Jin, "I'm pregnant". I'm sure daddy will be thrilled.

Back in the Island timeline, Widmore's people sedate all the people in Locke's camp and abduct Jin while Locke is away trying to gut Sun to come back with him. Once Jin wakes up he gets to talk to Widmore and he gives us the first of our small reveals in this episode. Widmore tells Jin that if Locke leaves the island then all of the people on the island and all of their loved ones "would simply cease to be." It didn't sound to me like Locke would kill them but that Locke could do something retroactively to the timestream so they wouldn't ever have existed. Maybe he has the power to wipe out all life on Earth. Who knows?

Back on the other island, when Locke finds out about Jin's kidnapping he grabs Sayid and heads off to rescue him but when he lands on the beach, Sayid is gone and Locke can't go past the pylons that Widmore's crew set up. Once Widmore actually arrives on the beach Locke threatens him with war. I certainly hope so because after this episode I'm ready for stuff to blow up. Once night falls we see the missing Sayid swimming silently towards the docked submarine and we get our second reveal of the night. The crew is getting a "package" off the sub and we see that it's a heavily sedated Desmond! That doubles his screen time for this season to about 15 seconds total. I can't imagine what Widmore needs with Desmond but I sure am looking forward to finding out.

Lost

Finally some answers! Kind of.

Tonight's episode was all about the enigmatic Richard Alpert, who he was and why in the world he doesn't appear to age. We finally got some of the answers we've been waiting for and were rewarded with pretty good story to boot.

The first thing we see is when Jacob greeted Ilana in her hospital bed and she is told to protect Jacob's six candidates. Jacob tells her that Richard (Ricardis?) will know what to. However, when Ilana actually asks Richard what to do he drops a bombshell on our intrepid Losties. He says that they are all dead and the island is actually Hell! And to make matters worse, he has no idea what to do next and thinks that he has been misled his entire life by Jacob. Not what you want to hear from the guy who is supposed to have all the answers!

Flashback to Richard's past and we learn that he is from Tenerife on the Canary Islands in 1867. (My first thought was "Oh great, another timeline to keep straight.") He is a married man with dreams of taking his wife to the New World and starting a family with her but she has fallen ill. In his desperation to save her, he rides to the doctor and begs for medicine to save her, but the doctor wants more money than he has. When Richard tries to get him to accept his prized possession, his wife's cross necklace, he tells him that it's junk and tells him to go. In a panic, Richard wrestles the medicine from the doctor's hand and in the tussle the doctor falls, hits his head on the table and dies. Richard races back home to find his wife already dead and Richard is arrested for murder.

While in jail, the priest comes and tells him to make confession for his sin before he is hanged but when Richard confesses the priest says he cannot absolve him because he must do penance and he doesn't have enough time. (On a pastoral note, that Theology is wrong. Christ forgives any man (or woman) who repents and puts his trust in Him to save him. Leave a comment if you have any questions.) However, when the priest finds out that Richard speaks English he sells Richard into slavery and Richard is chained aboard the slave ship, The Black Rock. The Black Rock is caught in a storm, smashes against the statue on the beach and is hurtled inland. (Answering such burning questions as "Where did the Black Rock come from?" and "How did the statue get smashed?" Left unanswered: "Is it plausible that a wave could throw a ship hard enough to smash a statue and fling it miles inland?" and "Where are the other pieces of the statue?")

As the crew of the ship comes to and assesses their situation they realize that they need to kill the slaves in the hold before the slaves try to kill them so the captain goes down and runs each of them through with his sword but before he gets to Richard we hear a familiar sound. Sure enough the smoke monster comes and kills all the crew but leaves Richard alive. (Not sure why. I don't think Richard was a candidate or under Jacob's protection because he didn't touch Richard until later in the episode. Maybe he recognized a kindred spirit because the smoke monster sees himself as Jacob's slave. Or maybe he just knew he could manipulate Richard into doing what he wanted.) That night Richard sees his dead wife Isabella who tells him that they are in Hell and the devil is coming for them. Before she can free Richard the black smoke comes back, Richard tells her to go but the black smoke gets her. Later the Man in Black comes to Richard and tells him that he will free him if he agrees to do whatever he tells him. Of course Richard agrees because let's face it, anything's better than starving to death while chained to the side of a ship. After the Man in Black frees him (with a set of keys he got off the officers body. Why didn't he just make the chains fall off like he did for Ben in the Dr' Linus episode?) they go make camp and eat some roasted boar.

After they eat, Man in Black gives Richard the same knife that Dogan gave Sayid and tells him to go to the beach and kill the man living there near the (now destroyed) statue (MiB tells him it's the devil) but not to let him talk, if he talks it's too late. So Richard heads down there but before he gets the chance to do any damage, Jacob beats him up and takes the knife. When Richard tells Jacob what MiB said and that he thinks he is dead and in hell, Jacob takes him to the ocean and forcibly dunks (baptizes?) him until he realizes that he is not actually dead. Thus Richard is recruited to Jacob's side and has the meaning of the island explained to him. Apparently evil (MiB) is like wine in a bottle and the island is like a cork that keeps the evil from escaping. Well that's clear. Still doesn't explain why Fake Locke doesn't just turn into black smoke and leave the island now that Jacob's dead.

Jacob says that he brings people to the island in order to prove that people are good while the MiB believes that people are already corrupted and sin because it's in their nature. (At this point I should probably be worried because I agree with MiB. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5 We are born sinners.) Jacob then offers Richard a job. Since he doesn't want to interfere directly with the people he brings to the island, Richard will be his representative and let Jacob's will be known to the people. (Much like Christ was the exact representation of the Father and only did what he saw His Father do and said what His Father wanted Him to say.) In return, Richard wants his wife back but Jacob can't do that. (Because that's beyond the scope of his abilities? Because the black smoke got her earlier? Because he doesn't want to? Who knows) Then Richard asks for his sins to be absolved but Jacob can't do that either. So Richard asks to never have to die. This Richard can do. (That's a pretty specific power set.)

So Richard goes back to MiB, hands him a white stone (a gift from Jacob) and MiB tells him that if he ever wants to switch sides he always has a place by MiB's side. Then MiB gives him his wife's cross necklace back telling him he found it on the ship and leaves. Richard then buries the necklace presumably because he never got to bury his wife. Flash Forward to the present and Richard is digging up that necklace and shouts "I changed my mind! I was wrong! Does the offer still stand?". Thankfully before he can make the switch, Hurley shows up with his "I see dead people" power and lets Richard have a final conversation with his dead wife. Richard puts the necklace on and Hurley tells him the last thing his wife said which was that he has to stop the MiB from leaving the island and if he doesn't they will all go to Hell.

Pan over to Fake Locke watching the scene and we flashback to MiB just after his conversation with Richard. Jacob visits him and asks him why he tried to kill him and MiB says he just wants to leave and asks Jacob to let him go. Jacob says Fuggedaboudit as long as I'm alive and gives him a bottle of wine that MiB promptly smashes. Jacob says "I'll see you around" and MiB replies "Sooner than you think" which is what he told Richard a few episodes ago when he lowered him from the tree. Not sure what the significance to that is.

I love episodes like this that really answers some questions but leaves us wanting more. Richard has long been one of the most mysterious figures on the island and we know now a big chunk of his back story. With only 7 episodes left until the finale I'm not sure how they are going to fit the rest of the answers we need but I can't wait to find out. For the record, if this series ends anything like how Sopranos ended I would not want to be in the shoes of anybody connected with this show!

Lost

Sawyer's a cop? Yabuhwuh? It didn't appear he was any longer a con man in his flash sideways but I sure didn't expect cop. It certainly makes when he saw Kate's handcuffs in the elevator at the airport much more curious. I guess he didn't turn her in because he didn't want anyone to know where he was. And am I the only one that thought of Spider-man when Kate smashed his car? He didn't stop her when he had the chance so his car got smashed? Could have been worse, Kate could have killed his Uncle Ben.

This whole flash-sideways thing is so odd, I can't wait until it's explained. I thought at first that each character's life changed from the point Jacob initially touched them, Jack is touched when he's older so his life is pretty much the same just with a son but Sawyer's is radically different because Jacob touched him at a much earlier age. However, I don't think I can make that theory work because of Hurley, his life is very different but Jacob doesn't come to him until after they Oceanic six are already rescued. So, quite frankly I don't know what the heck is going on.

Probably the most interesting part of tonight's episode was fake Locke's conversation with Kate on the beach. He reveals that he had a mother who was crazy like Claire. To be honest I had never even considered that the smoke monster started off human. How did he change into something that can go back and forth between a human body and a black cloud? Who was his mother? The first one I thought of was Rousseau but I don't think the time frames work out, not the time means anything on this show. He could be Aaron for all we know.

Also we see that Charles Widmore has made it to the island and preparing defenses against the smoke monster in the form of pylons like the ones the Others used to keep him out. Sawyer is captured and makes a deal with Widmore to deliver fake Locke to him then goes back and tells Locke what happened. This felt like a test of trust for Sawyer that Locke was giving him and Sawyer passed, although Sawyer makes it clear that he's on his own side and will do what's in his own best interest.

As good as this episode was I think the thing that got me most excited was the previews for next week's episode. We finally get to learn about the mysterious Richard and his back story. That should be a good one!

What did you think of tonight's episode? Leave a comment.