Knowing Me, Knowing You

Sometimes something just doesn't seen right or feel right or seem to be complete as far as the story of LOST is concerned. More often than not these occurrences are easily spotted. Like Sayid telling Hurley to not believe a word Ben tells him. There is obviously more story there to be told and we will get it when we get it. Other times there are things that we never notice and when the brick hits us over the head we sit there and think "Oh, duh! It was right there the entire time.", these are usually the things that take several seasons to all play out. Locke's father being the original Sawyer and Jack and Claire being related are just two of the things that have slowly been resolved through the course of four plus seasons. Another example is, of course, Danielle's story (who may or may not be this new Elle chick we saw in the "Jughead" episode. Danielle = Elle? Could be, but I am putting the cart before the horse.) In the season premier we had an event that made me start thinking and well, I got a hair up my ass over it and apparently I am not the only one. I have to give a shout out to Erika on this one. So what exactly am I talking about?





Let's go back to the meeting of Ethan and Locke in the season premier. Something very interesting happened here, or didn't happen here. But it did set up something to go back and check on.





When Ethan sees Locke climbing up to get to the drug plane, Ethan doesn't know who Locke is and he shoots him. As Locke is lying on the ground he tells Ethan that Ben has made him the new leader. Ethan doesn't believe him and is about to shoot him again when the new flash takes Locke out of the picture. Now here's where the past comes into play when we think about the future as well as the present: shouldn't Ethan have recognized Locke when he infiltrated the camp of the survivors of flight 815? Or at the very least wouldn't Ethan have went right back to Ben and told him about the nutty bald guy he just saw in the jungle telling him that Ben had made him the others new leader?

The exact year or date doesn't mean that much here so don't let that be a sticking point. As long as we can agree that this meeting between Ethan and Locke happened before the crash of flight 815 we are on the same page. So let's say this meeting happened sometime around '99 - '01. Now time travel is tricky, that goes without saying, so most of this all turns on who is writing the story and how they decide to play it out. So to Ethan he met Locke for the first time in 2001, as far as Locke is concerned that meeting didn't happen until they were on the beach after the crash so it wouldn't change the fact that Locke recognized Ethan or would it? Because it would change the fact that Ethan had already met Locke and recognized him or it should. Or it's possible that when Locke meets Ethan again in October 2004 after Ethan has passed himself off as an 815er, perhaps they DID actually recognize each other, but kept it hidden from the rest of the survivors. In episodes nine and ten of Season One, Locke and Ethan spent a heck of a lot of time hanging out by themselves, supposedly hunting. It's conceivable that they each remembered their initial encounter and were able to talk privately about it before Ethan made off with Claire. If Locke eventually comes to understand "the rules," he would know that he'd have to let everything run its course and couldn't intervene in either Claire's abduction or Ethan's death.

What about the possibility of Ethan reporting his Locke sighting to either Ben or Richard, wouldn't that have screwed something up? There's two possible scenarios to explain this away:

1) Richard intercepted Ethan before he could say anything to Ben. Richard tells Ethan that he cannot under any circumstances let Ben know about the bald guy in the jungle that disappeared into thin air. Ethan agrees, Ben never finds out, and the meeting of Ben and Locke unfolds as we witnessed it in the last half of Season Two. Or...

2) Ethan does tell Ben, but that's OK, because Ben has also time jumped before (perhaps as a result of him coming back to the island with the O6) and therefore already knows that he'll eventually meet and then be replaced by Locke.

Perhaps Locke was able to "remember" his meeting with Ethan at the drug plane even though their first meeting technically hadn't happened until October 2004 (when they meet after the 815 crash) because he didn't start jumping back in time until December 2004 (after Ben moves the FDW). Is it possible that Locke's mind was suppressing his memories from the time jumps and filing them as having taken place in the year it was on the island, not the year it was to Locke's body.

Locke is not the only character this has happened to either. Who are the only characters left from Season One that remain on the island in Season Five and are now drifting through time? Locke, Sawyer and Rose. There are reasons to believe that all three of these crash survivors had buried memories of their time jumping experiences from the moment they landed on the island. Yes, Bernard and Juliet were also on the island during that time frame, but we didn't get introduced to them episode wise until much later in Seasons Two and Three, respectively. But we're leaving them out of this analysis because it's confusing enough as it is!

As the saying goes, ladies first.

Rose

In the pilot episode, when the Losties first heard Smokey in the jungle and saw trees swaying and crashing in the distance, Rose said, "That sound that it made, I keep thinking that there was something really familiar about it." You may also recall that Rose was absolutely adamant that her husband was alive elsewhere on the island. At the time we all attributed this to Rose's strong faith, but what if she actually knew about both the monster and the fact that Bernard would eventually be found because these memories were in her mind from the time jumping?

Sawyer

Some of you probably remember an offhanded comment Sawyer made in "White Rabbit" (episode five of the first season). Kate tackled him because she thought he was hoarding the groups water. He replied, "It's about time; I made this birthday wish four years ago." Somewhere after the first time I heard that line and the 20Th(?) through countless times of re watching it, at first I didn't give it much thought. Now, I believe that line was there to mean something and it was put there on purpose. Why? To prove the existence of either time travel or a time loop for the characters from the very beginning. But here's the thing: Neither Rose nor Sawyer are conscious of these buried memories or aware of the fact that they may have gone through certain events on the island more than once. Obviously Sawyer and Rose would have acted much differently throughout Seasons One - Four if they were actually aware of what transpired during their time jumps.

But I can't be as certain about-

Locke!

Locke's the easiest one to explain. How many times has he known when it would stop or start raining? How many times has he told people what they were or were not "supposed" to do? Locke has shown multiple signs of having been on the island before, so to speak. While he has always figured that he has been following some strong gut instinct, what may have actually been happening is that because he is more connected to the island than Rose or Sawyer, his time jump memories are more accessible to him. And yes, if you've inferred through all of this that I think the Lostaways are going to repeat the crash, or at least that those three characters will live through it again because of their time shifting, then you are right that's what I believe and what a lot of other theorists out there believe as well.

If you need one last bit of evidence that these "memories" could be affecting the characters' thoughts and actions before the events technically transpired, look no further than our first flashback of

Daniel Faraday.

Surely you remember him sitting at home in his robe, sobbing at the footage of the Flight 815 wreckage on TV. A woman in his kitchen asks him why he's so upset, and he replies, "I don't know." But now WE know. Even though Faraday's body wouldn't start time jumping for a few more months, Daniel's mind had already been to the island and Jacob knows where else in the past, all in the name of his time travel research and DHARMA investigation. His suppressed memories were making him weep. Therefore I think we have good reason to believe that Locke, Rose and Sawyer were in similar situations once they landed on the Island.

OK now go do something else before your head explodes.

Enlightened, my ass!

Because You Lied Part 2

The Lie

Sun is the only character who refrains from speaking at all during the initial debate over The Lie. She agrees to the lie by nodding silently. The quietest person in the room will often prove to be the most dangerous. In the Season Four finale, which depicts the immediate chronological aftermath of this scene, Sun also keeps her thoughts to herself. Her companions do not suspect a thing from harmless Mrs. Kwon, but the cold blood of Paik still flows in her veins. Sun, it would seem, agreed to participate in The Lie, as part of her own desire to deceive and betray her partners. Sun’s knowledge of their lie gives her leverage, which she can use at any time to influence the other members of the O6. She has no quarrel with Sayid or Hurley, of course, and her attention focuses squarely on Jack and Kate. During her pre-island life, Sun successfully concealed a double life. Within her marriage, she maintained the veneer of a faithful wife for Jin’s benefit, while she was unfaithful outside of it. Sun now utilizes those same skills in the present time for a different purpose. The outward image of calmness conceals that same screaming, anguished expression from the helicopter, just below the surface.

And Stay Away from the Cops...

Hurley gradually has transformed into a more prominent character as the series has progressed. For the second straight season, an episode focuses on Hurley before any other character. Hugo serves as both the moral and emotional center for the opening scene that formulates The Lie. The other members of the O6 fail to convince him that The Lie will help protect the people left behind on the island, but he eventually agrees for a different reason. Jack asks: "You think any one's gonna believe that, believe any of it? They're gonna think you're crazy." When Sayid refuses to join him, Hurley submits under the burden of popular vote. Hugo has no hidden agendas here, other than his two most powerful driving forces, his conscience and his loyalty to his friends. Even though none of those friends reciprocate the same loyalty, he still agrees to go along with them. He judges that the emotional weight of lying would eat him from within, but the feeling of being all alone in the world would be even more damaging.

The theme of Hurley's insanity has evolved through each season. The episodes Dave and The Beginning of the End both suggested that immense survivor guilt caused his mind to break away from reality. The Lie adds a slightly different perspective on the source of his madness, which emphasizes his loneliness. Two scenes with David and Carmen Reyes highlight how the lie itself created a gaping chasm between Hurley and his parents. By nature, Hurley is incapable of deceiving his loved ones successfully, as both of them see right through him. The way his friends forced him to lie created a rift between them as well. Hurley found himself without a single person in the world, with whom he could act like himself and be perfectly honest. As a solution, he imagined himself new friends, the ghosts of people who died on the island. It is no mistake that Ana-Lucia visits him at a moment when he feels alone, unable to talk to Sayid. In a remarkably sad way, Charlie, Mr. Eko, and Ana-Lucia became his only true friends left. Given the choice between insanity and loneliness, Hurley chooses insanity.

How funny was it to watch Ana Lucia telling Hurley not to get arrested? One of Hurley's main character flaws is his self-doubt. He needs to establish a believe in himself. The apparent ghosts of Charlie, Eko, and Ana Lucia might be trying to guide him in the right direction, but he doubts them because of who he is, and where he's been; a wacky island and a mental institution. When he finally opens up to his mother, he spills everything out in one big rambling blur of seemingly impossible events. Yet his mother believes him. She admits she doesn't fully understand, but she's close enough to Hugo to know that he's telling the truth. This helps Hurley get over the lie. Unfortunately for the master plan, this further influences his decision to disobey Ben, defy Ana Lucia, and be arrested by the cops anyway.

The Blame Game

Kate, on the run again, considered seeking refuge with Jack for a few seconds. Then she remembered his nasty beard and jumpiness and thought better of that plan. Luckily, Sun calls just as Kate is contemplating her next move. They decide to reunite in LA, and what a reunion it was. Can somebody say awkward? So many things were weird with Sun during this rendezvous. First, she shows Kate a baby picture of Ji Yeon, even though her daughter should be nearly three years old by this point in time. Then she seems to be going down the path of blaming Kate for Jin's death. Sun goes on to insinuate that Kate needs to "take care of" the lawyers who are snooping around, ending with "Wouldn't you do anything you had to in order to keep Aaron?" The whole exchange had a very threatening, ominous vibe. Which made it even funnier when Sun completely switched gears at the end of the scene and asked, "So, how's Jack?" and the look on Kate’s face, a picture says a thousand words.

No Country for Old Ben

Sometime during his jaunts to the real world, Ben took in a movie or two. He hides his mystery bag in the air vent, No Country for Old Men-style, either to keep it from enemies or to keep it from Jack. When telling Jack to go home for a few hours, he reminds him: "If there's anything in this life you want, pack it in there because you're never coming back". Does this mean once Jack goes back to the island he's staying there forever? Not necessarily. We've heard references to 'another life' so many times, it's hard to brush over Ben's interesting use of the phrase 'this life'. I'm more inclined to think that once they've gone back, the timeline they're currently in might completely cease to exist (which would be extremely convenient for Hurley the serial-killer). If Jack ever gets off the island again after that, it'll be in an entirely different life. Let me remind you we're traveling through time now so not many things should sound kooky at this point. Also notice how Ben changed the subject when Jack asked, "He is dead, isn't he?"

It is also worth asking just how many contacts Ben still maintains in the outside world, if there even is an outside world (hmmm... did I just say that?). Not only was Jill sitting there waiting for Ben, she knew exactly what he had in the van and why he had it. I also thought it was pretty cool to see Ben defend Jack when Jill made snide remarks toward his addiction to pills. Although everyone has always been a pawn in Ben's giant chess game, he realizes they've been through a lot of crap together. Maybe he's got a heart after all.

Thank God for Flaming Arrows

The flaming arrows were a welcome relief from the irritating dialogue and lame attempt at some sort of comedy. And once again the writers spent the lives of another batch of red shirts while the cool kids all got away. Presumably these are more others toting the standard issue WWII rifles we've seen in seasons past. They've got zero tolerance for outsiders and Ethan's patience for explanation. Locke showing up to save Sawyer and Juliet was sweet, and his knife throwing skills are still as solid as ever. That they would've chopped Juliet's arm off wasn't even a question. But the fact that they didn't recognize Juliet indicated they must have jumped to a time period before she arrived on the island.

Ms. Hawkings, a Pendulum, and Some Very Serious High-Level Mathematics

Using a Foucault pendulum, a ton of hard-core equations and a handy-dandy computer program (run on an old school Apple, just like the one in the Swan hatch), Hawking was clearly trying to determine how the O6 could return to the Island, where they'd have to make their attempt, and how long they had to do so. We know the answer to the last part: seventy hours. When Hawking meets Ben in the church and tells him this bit of news, he flips out, unsure of whether or not he'll be able to round up the O6 in that time considering what Hurley had just pulled. "God help us all". It appears that disrupting the historic course of the island has sent things spinning toward an impending, disastrous end. As Hawkings tells Ben in the big revealing scene: "Seventy hours is what you've got". If we assume this season ends with the O6 returning to the island, then the entire story arc of our season will fit into less than three days. Three off-island days, that is. Who knows how much time that translates to in Sawyer/Juliet/Locke hours. But if Jack's group fails to get back in time, Hawkings "Every single one of us will be dead" prophecy seems like it will be fulfilled. Doesn't this finally put Ben on the good guy team? If not what does?

The Last Two Seasons

This opener paves the way for what should be the coolest two seasons ever. The story has evolved so that Eko, Charlie, Libby, Shannon, Boone ... or even Joanna the drowned girl that Jack couldn’t save, can show up at any time. I look forward to these fun moments, like when Ana Lucia bent down to peer into Hurley's car. I look forward to LOST finally unraveling many of its best and oldest mysteries.

Time travel is a hard pill for most viewers to swallow, which is why the writers and producers could only hint at it for the first few seasons. In S4 we only saw mental evidence of it, and only this season do we finally see full-blown physical time traveling of the people, places, and things on the island. Well I think it's an awesome angle, and the way they slow-played us with it was even better still. It was truly the best way to do it. With the time travel cat finally out of the bag, the larger pieces of the LOST puzzle can start falling into place, and more importantly, staying there. As the show rolled on and the weirdness kept coming, a time anomaly became one of the only ways to explain the circulatory and repetitiveness of the story arc. It certainly doesn't explain all of the shows mysteries, not by a long shot, but it definitely lays the groundwork for the final two seasons.

You Want One Too Ginger?

Because You Lied Part 1

I’m back from vacation and yes, I did watch the season premier in my resort hotel while in Disney World, so over a week late, here are my thoughts on the premier event.





'Because You Left'' skipped back and forth along the island's timeline, leaving the castaways (and us) to puzzle out their time/space whereabouts. It was made possible by all the bandwagon fans that have fallen off over the years the ones LOST doesn't have to worry about alienating anymore. ''Because You Left.'' How ironic. The premiere did what all LOST premieres aspire to do: activate a wide swath of story in deft, dynamic fashion and remind us just who these characters are. Jack the reluctant hero. Kate the lonely fugitive. Hurley the cursed clown. Shirtless Sawyer, the abandonment-forged rogue, distraught over departed and dead friends, best expressed the episode's tenor of heartbreak and disorientation. He also best embodied its nervous subtext. The producers have joked that leaving Sawyer half naked for the whole episode was meant to pleasure those for whom the genre stuff might be displeasing. Yet he also stands for a show that took the risk of exposing a big part of itself to the audience a part that it has often had to keep hidden for fear of being rejected. I will try as much as possible to keep this all in order as it happened in the episode and I will save parts from “The Lie” for a separate post. Like I said, I’m going to try.

Marvin Candle - Not Exactly a Morning Person

Chang is all bitter about getting out of bed when his alarm blared at 8:15 (dun dun DUN!) AM. He puts on a little Willie Nelson ("Shotgun Willie" from 1973) and in a not-so-subtle shout-out to the speech Daniel Faraday would make a few scenes later, the record starts skipping. Our opening scene this season is a mirror of Desmond's morning routine from S2. But while Desmond was a morning person, Candle is clearly not off to a good start. Dharma's making him shave with those miserable Shick disposable razors, and he's bitching fiercely at everyone he sees. We then see a baby who we can only assume is the same baby that was crying off-screen in the video that aired at Comic-Con this past summer (which you really need to stop everything and watch if you haven't yet, because it's very much related to what's going on so far this season). In that video, Chang indicated that the infant was a boy, which made a lot of people jump to the conclusion that it must be none other than our favorite ghost buster, Miles. The theories contend that once Miles grew up, he blamed Ben for killing Daddy Chang in the purge and is now out for revenge. But how did Miles himself escape the island and the purge? Apparently Chang is without his wedding ring in later videos so perhaps his wife divorced him and took their son with her; assuming it was possible to leave the island. If this theory about Miles is true, it would certainly give a whole different twist to the words he shouted at Ben in "Eggtown": "Do not treat me like I'm one of them... like I don't know who you are ... and what you can do!" I thought that Miles and Ben had some sort of history during that scene, the one that concluded with Miles demanding the $3.2 million to forget he saw Ben.

Anyway, back to Marvin Candle who has important work to do, yet he's annoyingly tasked with creating another bullshit Dharma orientation tape. He couldn't care less about 'gathering intelligence on the island's hostile indigenous population', or about the wanna-be Sawyer cameraman, whose haircut and facial hair offer us visual duplicity, right from the start. Candle is summoned to the place where he knows the real work is being done. You'd think he might want to oversee this site more closely: sweaty guys with giant drills are one centimeter away from puncturing an unlimited energy source. After explaining how close they all came to instant oblivion, Candle's only too happy to bring the ignorant foreman up to date on the intricacies of time travel. He does this out of frustration, but mostly he does it because it allows him to not-so-subtly deliver to us the big rule of the upcoming season: Nothing from the past can be changed. The 'wow' moment in the opener is the appearance of Daniel, who we realize is back in the 70's and dressed in a Dharma jumpsuit. The question isn't how he got there, the question is why. Faraday obviously plans to do something, and he's infiltrated Dharma to learn the status of the frozen donkey wheel.

It Happened Because You Left, Jack

Back at the funeral parlor, Ben gives Jack the final guilt-ridden push to get going. Unlike Marvin Candle, Jack has the Gillette Mach 3. He quickly ditches the sub-commander beard as Ben goes over the plan to retrieve Hurley, Sun, Sayid and Kate. Aaron's name is conspicuously absent from this list. Now I know many of us don't like Jack, but, I find his jittery ruin relevant and his redemption yearning poignant. Bemoaning his god-awful life, Jack moaned: ''How did this happen?'' Ben snapped: ''It happened because you left.'' Two interpretations. (1) Sarcasm. Ben's basically saying: You know, if you stayed on the Island, things would be different. (2) Something more cosmic. Ben's matter-of-fact declaration combined with Richard Alpert telling John Locke that to save the island, he had to bring the Oceanic 6 back poses the question: What really caused the island to vanish? Was it the frozen donkey wheel or was it actually the Oceanic 6? Could it be that the very act of leaving so disrupted the predestined flow of history that it knocked the island offline? And can you explain to me what I just said? More ambiguous line readings open to multiple interpretations: Ben asked Jack if Locke had spelled out exactly what had gone down on the Island after they left. Jack: Nope. Ben: ''Well, I guess we'll never know.'' Do you think the Machiavellian maestro is truly that clueless or do you think he knows stuff and it serves his interest to make Jack think he doesn't? Think this through. The premiere gave us the answer to Ben's probing inquiry: After Jack and company bailed, the remaining castaways started ricocheting through time. The opening sequence, in fact, revealed that at least Faraday is destined to make a stop in the mid-seventies Dharma Initiative past perhaps right about the time Ben and his widowed father arrived on the island. If this is where/when the season is going and if the rest of the time traveling castaways will be joining Faraday in the Dharma heyday the implication is clear: Ben has probably known the castaways or known about them since he was a kid! Now, although he's left before, Ben was always able to go back to the island. This marks the first time in his life where the island has gone on without him, and that alone makes Ben himself a little bit lost.

See You in Another Life

Locke gets zapped through time alone, squinting up at the sky in the now quintessential rain-soaked LOST scene. Notice how the rest of the cast members meet together on a sunny beach: it's only Locke that gets reborn through the use of the rain metaphor. John Locke is slowly evolving into his destined role as leader of the Others. The island, or Jacob, has chosen him for this task. To begin this metamorphosis, Locke is made to shed his previous life and start anew and as he skips through the island's different time points, I have a hunch he's going to inherently start to know things in the creepily omniscient way of Benjamin Linus.

Sawyer - Kicking Ass, Shirt or No Shirt

As much as Faraday has grown on me, his reluctance to explain things has always chewed my ass. Thank God for Sawyer, who after four full seasons is finally done following people blindly through the jungle simply because someone says 'there's no time to explain'. Sawyer literally slaps the answers out of Daniel. It's as if the slap suddenly marks a mystery-resolving turning point: answers come pouring forth - GOOD answers - and for once it's wholly satisfying. The island has moved through time, and their camp is not built yet or as Daniel puts it, perhaps they themselves have moved through time. There are arguments for both sides.

If it were the island moving through time and the terrain physically changing, wouldn't the inhabitants have changed with it? Wouldn't our characters have gotten older or younger just as the trees grew taller or shorter? Somehow the 815'ers and freighter four are skipping through time in their current physical bodies (and clothing). This is completely unlike Desmond's mental trip through time last season, where his mind could only jump into places his body happened to be in that era. This season's characters can skip forward and backward, their position on the island fixed, interacting with the places and people of whatever time period they happen to be thrust into. Of course, the possibility also exists that they're time-tripping within their own minds, much like Minkowski, and physically they're all lying comatose on the beach in the island's current timeline but that's a can of worms I choose not to open just now.

Yet if it's the island that's moving beneath them, our main characters are somehow keeping their memories. It seems that the other (and Other) inhabitants of the island are not. If you watch, I don't think the other inhabitants can even see the flash of light coming. Richard sees it when Locke is initially zapped (maybe because it was the originating timeline), but doesn't even squint when John quantum-leaps the second time. Ethan makes no notice of it as it goes off behind him just as he's about to shoot Locke. But the clincher comes when Richard later tells John "You'll be moving on soon", meaning that it's Locke that's moving and Richard is staying put. So as Faraday says, they've been 'dislodged' from time. To me, this makes our stranded islanders ten times more interesting than the Oceanic six. Suddenly we can be shown anything and everything that's happened on the island: it's like the ultimate unlimited flashback, we've waited the whole show for. Any mystery answered at any time. We see the Beech craft crash, we see Ethan again, Ana Lucia shows up, Libby says hi - the writers can use this as a vehicle to show us every single thing we've always wondered about, from how the Black Rock got on the island to the origins of the four-toed statue. As long as our characters keep skipping we're treated to front row seats for all of the important events, landmarks, and happenings in the island's entire history. The Enchantment Under the Sea dance has officially started.

Widmore - Playing Sun or Getting Played?

En route to L.A., Sun is pulled out of the airport queue and tossed into a security holding room. This time, Widmore has waylaid her. Since he's been searching for the island for 20 years, a detail dropped by Miles, he wanted to accept Sun’s offer. Sun's confrontation with Widmore didn't tell us much, but when she revealed her motive of wanting Ben dead I thought it completely disingenuous. Sun doesn't care about Ben. Sure, Ben has been a bad man, but was he responsible for Jin's death? No. That was Keamy whose bomb blew up the freighter, which belonged to Widmore, who wanted everyone on the Island dead. It should be Chuck's blue blood that Sun should want spilled. Maybe she's playing double agent, pretending to be a Ben Hater but really a Ben Friend tasked with spying on their mutual enemy. She's trying to use Widmore to get back to the island, and to do that she needs to convince him they've got common interests. Widmore seems way too smart to be played like that. Still, if he knows the same things Ben knows about getting back there, he knows that Sun will be needed. As the two of them play this game, I'm guessing Sun wants to know what happened to Jin and/or believes Jin to still be alive. Compared to what's happening to Sawyer's crew, this storyline is about as interesting as Paolo discovering the toilet still worked.

Loading Your Dishwasher Knife Side Up? Pure Bad Ass

I suppose we'll never get tired of watching Sayid kicking the crap out of people. It seems his picnic-on-the-beach days are officially over. Sayid has abandoned romance and elevated himself to James Bond-like levels of super human bad ass ability: killing at will, avoiding fried foods, and generously tipping his chicken waitress. Sayid effectively tells Hurley that Ben Linus is evil, going as far as to make sure that Hurley never listens to him again (whatever happened between Ben and Sayid will be saved for a flashback in a forthcoming episode I suspect). This immediately struck me as a mistake and we later see that it'll throw serious kinks in Ben's plan to get the O6 back to the island. Sayid's rage toward Ben is driven by the death of Nadia, and by the vile things Ben had him do. Just as we the viewers are trusting in Ben's master plan to reunite everyone, it appears that Sayid's mistrust in him is going to make getting everyone back to the island a season-long process.

The safe house was not so safe. ''You know, maybe if you ate more comfort food you wouldn't have to go around shooting people,'' Hurley told Sayid, whose unrepentant attitude after killing out of sheer paranoia was truly disconcerting. Sayid is motivated by a danger-detecting Spider sense that's been on mega-tingle since the dubious death of Jeremy Bentham, a.k.a. 'He Who Shall Not Be Openly Referred To As John Locke'. Hurley delivers one of the episodes best lines with "I got to get me a cool code name." Sayid got the best of his shadowy enemies; he tossed one off the balcony and impaled another on some dirty cutlery but not before getting shot with a tranquilizer dart. Hurley was caught on phone-cam with the bad guy's gun in his hand and incriminating blood-red ketchup on his shirt: Oops. ''I never should have left the island!'' he cried, carting his snoozing bodyguard to the car. On the run, nowhere to go, madness encroaching, no grease bomb to comfort him. The Curse, renewed. Important here is that Sayid's would-be assailants have been tasked with bringing him back alive (unfortunately for them). Assuming they work for Widmore, he realizes that Sayid (and Hurley) are an integral part of once again finding the island. Possessing them would also bring Ben out of the woodwork.

Run Kate, Run!

Yeah, we know the drill. The safety and security of Kate and Aaron’s fraudulent post-island lives officially implode with the arrival of lawyers employed by a mystery client demanding genetic proof that Claire's kid was Kate's son. Busted! Kate and Aaron are the last of the O6 still secure in the lair of the real world, so triggering Kate's flight instinct was the surest way to jolt her into leaving that comfort zone. The possibility of her losing Aaron would be the one thing that would get Kate to consider going back to the island too which is why I'm pretty sure Ben sent those men to her house (or maybe Sun?). There is no paternity lawsuit. Ben's a sneaky bastard! The camera focus on the framed picture of Jack reminded us that Kate's heart is in flux. But after last year's smooch and whisper with Sawyer in the chopper, one of the most genuinely romantic moments in a show that has often struggled to generate credible love story drama, I can't imagine her really winding up with Jack.

The Island's Always Had a Bad Case of the Time Hiccups

I think the island has been held relatively in place, and time, for most of the show, but has been showing increasing signs of 'skipping' for some time now. Most likely this began after the electromagnet was destroyed. Even before Ben turned the wheel we've seen deliberate and sometimes instant changes in the fabric of LOST; i.e. the picture frames in Miles' flashback, the food rearranging itself in Ben's fridge, the clocks that skip ahead hours in mere minutes. Most dramatic of all was the lantern in Jacob's cabin shattering and then re-forming itself as time rewound itself in that particular scene. These things are now somewhat explained through Daniel's skipping record player analogy, and for the most part can be put to rest. Questions remain however, as to why things would change in what is supposed to be a character's off-island flashback.

John Locke and the Quest Destiny

When we last left, Ben had anointed The Man of Faith, the new leader of the Others. But his inauguration was rudely interrupted by time warp fluctuations. Locke and the Left Be hinders first landed on the day the drug plane arrived; the one that brought Mr. Eko's brother and all those smack-stuffed Virgin Mary idols. (According to Lostpedia.org, this event occurred in the late 1990s.) Then, after getting shot in the leg by Tom Cruise's Cousin (better known as Ethan the Other, and yes, William Mapother is Tom Cruise‘s cousin) with what appeared to be an old, WWII-era gun, Locke zipped forward in time to a point in island history after Boone's death; we know this, because the drug plane was no longer in the trees and the hatch was cratered. (It's possible that Locke had traveled to a point wayyy in the future of our story: when he was met by Richard Alpert, the ageless Other knew the O6 had successfully made it back to civilization and that bringing them back would save the island.) Alpert tended to Locke's gunshot wound and gave him an old compass; the same compass that Alpert used in his testing of young Locke in ''Cabin Fever.'' Then, before he swooshed away; this time backward in time to the early 2000s and the Desmond era of the hatch; Alpert told Locke that to become the savior that the island needs him to be he must die! Loved the buzz-kill irony and the deadpan humor: LOCKE: ''What is that?'' ALPERT: ''It's a compass.'' LOCKE: ''What does it do?'' ALPERT: ''It points north, John.''. The Jesus/sacrificial lamb/resurrection foreshadowing is irresistible. For now, let us note that like many of the other characters, Locke looped back to his LOST beginnings, a maimed man crashed to earth who has an encounter with island magic that puts him on a hero's journey and requires a major leap of faith. It is happening again. Maybe here, in the island's past, Locke will find the resolution and fulfillment he couldn't get in the island's present.

Faraday stated that the main "rule" of time-shifting is that it's impossible to change the past. If something didn't happen the first time around, it can never happen then we see Locke encounter Ethan at the site of the newly crashed drug plane. How could that meeting have transpired? Wouldn't Ethan have freaked out when he sees Locke again at the survivors camp after the crash in 2004?

What Comes Around Goes Around

Great line! Richard's character keeps getting better and better, and his meeting with Locke solidifies the fact that characters themselves are skipping through the island's timeline. As it turns out, items can travel with them too since the bullet Ethan fired into Locke's leg is still there when Richard finds him in the future. Despite repeated admonishments from Daniel and Ms. Hawking, this is the first nagging indication (this season anyway) that time can in fact be changed. If everything that happens is destined to happen anyway, why would Richard be running hell-bent through the jungle to give Locke important information between time skips? It can be argued of course, that that's how it 'happened' the first time so it's just happening all over again. Still, everything points to the fact that the O6 were definitely not supposed to leave. This very statement seems to infer that there was an original scenario (the desired scenario?) where they actually did NOT leave. Only by bringing them back can the island's current situation be 'fixed', but perhaps there's another way. Maybe changing the fact that they left at all can accomplish the same thing? In the end Locke asks how he's going to convince Jack, Kate and the others to come back at all. His track record isn't exactly good with them at this point. Richard responds by telling him that he'll have to die to accomplish this, which is something we already know. Why he has to die, or how that happens, are questions for the end of the season.

Daniel Faraday and the Broken Record

We now know why LOST decided to put a guy on the island with time travel expertise. Mr. Explain-It-All likened the castaways' quantum leaping to a skipping record, and the image I got was a dislodged record needle bouncing across vinyl, trying to find a new groove to settle into. That certainly fits the episode we saw, wherein the island and/or the castaways moved erratically through history. LOST gave us another example of a skipping record that was a little different: Dr. Pierre Chang's stuck-in-a-rut ''Shotgun Willie'' album. Over and over, we heard the refrain: ''You can't make a record.'' If this, too, was a time-travel analogy, it more accurately describes a different form than the one modeled by the episode's narrative. ''Shotgun Willie'' better exemplified the whole time loop thing, where one experiences the same events over again, à la Bill Murray in Groundhog Day or Desmond in ''Flashes Before Your Eyes.'' I wonder if this is where LOST is headed once the skipping stops and a groove is found: a twisty time loop tale, in which we witness the castaways in the past helping to generate the island history that sets the stage for their future drama. Faraday's presence in the Dharma Initiative '70s suggests as much. Or maybe we'll see the castaways brought back to the point when Oceanic 815 crashed and experience anew their whole saga.

You'd Best Explain Why You You've Been Banging on my Door, Brotha!

A bunch of stuff happens here. First, Charlotte's nosebleed. This is an ominous indication that all this time skipping might have bad repercussions later on. Maybe Charlotte's in need of a constant, but that doesn't make much sense because it seems that Faraday could easily fill that role. Her headaches and memory loss later in the 2nd episode are in indication that things are 'getting worse' which are Daniel's exact words from last season during the card flipping scene. Next, Daniel leaves his pack behind. This doesn't seem intentional, but it's important because it allows him an excuse to see Desmond alone. The fact that Sawyer didn't meet Desmond at the door can be attributed to Daniel's statement of "If it didn't happen, it can't happen" but it can also be chalked up to Desmond needing about 20 minutes to put his protective suit on. At this point, Faraday tosses aside all previous assertions that time cannot be changed and suddenly tells Desmond that he's special. He alone is uniquely qualified to change time, and for some reason the rules don't apply to him. I've theorized in past seasons that this is true, and that it happened the moment Desmond turned the failsafe key. Being at the epicenter of that event launched Desmond on his first trip to what seemed to be an alternate timeline (not a past or future timeline) in “Flashes Before Your Eyes“. In that episode he was completely certain of the outcome of a soccer game, yet the game ended differently than he remembered it. This was the first indication that things could be changed. Even as Ms. Hawking showed up to convince Desmond that they could not, he went on to keep Charlie from dying. Course correction might've killed him in the end, but not before Charlie (who was suspiciously the only person who could've done so) turned off the jamming device. This led to the freighter finding the island, and the O6 being able to leave. It can be argued that Desmond caused all of this to happen, through his knowledge of future events. He can, and already has, changed the rules. Desmond is identified as the magic person who can 'make his own kind of music'.

So, can the past be changed or can‘t it? Faraday says “No.”, and then attempts to do just that. Apparently, “Fate” has rules and lots of them, and not all of them are spelled out, so many questions we may have about time travel on LOST remain unanswered, for now. For example: Can the castaways interact with their past selves? (Maybe this explains the whispers: they belong to time traveling castaways observing their past selves, but forbidden by Fate from being seen or interfering.) But we were told and shown there are exceptions to the rules, given to those who are ''uniquely and miraculously special'' and Desmond is one of those people. And because he is, Faraday was able to send Future Off-Island Desmond an SOS via Past On-Island Desmond. I initially thought ''Hey! Shouldn't Island Desmond remember Daniel Faraday?'' After all, in ''The Constant,'' we saw Pre-Island Desmond visit Pre-Island Daniel at Oxford. But that was an example of mental projection time travel, not physical time travel, and I'm guessing LOST adheres to the controversial perspective that memory resides not in the physical structure of the brain, but in the electrical currents of consciousness. Anyway, Faraday told island Desmond to find his mother and suddenly, 'Hiding Out From Charles Widmore on Penny's Boat In The Present' Desmond woke up recalling this island event. That Desmond had no previous recollection of this encounter, and you would think he would. All of this leads to this conclusion: the past CAN be changed, but probably not in any way that creates catastrophic paradox. Time is like a street; you can move forward or in reverse, but you can't create a new street. Sawyer wants to take advantage of their flashes to warn Jack and the others away from the boat, but "If we try to do anything different, we will fail, every time. Whatever happened, happened." When Faraday tells Sawyer they can't stop the flashes and Sawyer asks "Then who can?", the shot cuts to a fallen, hapless Locke, and our narrative has come into play again; maybe Locke can stop the flashes. But we should be careful of believing every suggestion; after the O6 is found by Penny and they decide they have to lie, Hurley resists, and proclaims to Sayid that someday Sayid will need Hurley's help, and he won't get it. Of course Hurley goes well out of his way to help Sayid. The beer Frank brought up is called Jekyll Island Red Ale; it's a fake beer named after an island off the coast of Georgia, but it also recalls Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson's famous tale of science and dissociate identity, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hurley wants to be a Hyde, but his Jekyll always wins, quite the opposite of Stevenson's Jekyll.

Oh, and how much do you wanna bet that Daniel Faraday's Oxford mom is that lovely lady from Desmond's previous time travel jaunt, the one and only Ms. Hawking?

Did you notice that both of Pierre Chang's arms were fine and functioning?

When you saw all the Dharma people milling outside in everyday garb, and then saw the Dharma folks on the film set wearing Dharma jumpsuit, and then saw Chang pout like a petulant actor, did you find yourself wondering: How much of The Dharma Initiative was legit and how much of it was total theater?

The last issue I want to bring up about Faraday is that, judging from the opening scene of the episode, it looks like he's either been time-jumping without the rest of the group, or has been able to break away from them for extended periods of time in order to sneak around with the DHARMA crew.

Well that wraps up "Because You Left" I will be back with comments on "The Lie" soon.

I have to give credit to Vozzek69, Luhks, Erika, J.Wood, Doc Jensen, Dark UFO, and the ODI for portions of this post.

Destination: Disney

Going on vacation. Will be in Disney for the big premier. Will begin some hard and heavy posts about our favorite show when I return. Enjoy the first three episodes in the meantime: "Because You Left", "The Lie", and "Jughead" (which is rumored to be the best episode of the show since The Constant). Will back in 9 days.

Downtown

Seeing as how we are now just days away from the season 5 premier of LOST, I thought this would be a good time to gather all of my info and collect it all in one place, or at least attempt to.

First up we have some comments from TPTB that they made on Freep.com:

How would executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof describe the opening scenes of the season premiere of LOST?

Another new DHARMA symbol

"Compelling", says Cuse.

"Groovy", says Lindelof.

Sounds intriguing, but then again, that's what makes LOST special. "What we don't want to do in season five is basically stand around sort of shifting from one foot to another waiting for the last season of the show," says Cuse. "Like it or not, we decided to take some chances this year and be bold in our storytelling and we're willing to accept the consequences of that."

As the story picks up again, Jack and Ben are trying to reunite the Oceanic 6 and return them to the island, with Locke's body in tow, in a quest to save the remaining castaways. But it's going to be tricky convincing everyone to cooperate. Since Ben moved the island at the end of last season, they'll have to figure out where - and when - it went. Expect a lot of interesting things to happen sooner rather than later. But LOST is a character-driven journey, too, so there's plenty of focus on the romantic quadrangle of Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet. Speaking of sardonic hunk Sawyer, will he get the screen time he deserves? "We really feel it's the year of Sawyer," says Lindelof. "He's really stepping up in a major way."

I, for one, love hearing that!

Sawyer and Juliette meet some new friends

I have several episode titles I will try to list the info that I have accordingly, keep in mind most of this information is spotty:

5/1 “Because You Left” - The first part of the season premiere is multi-centric as the remaining island survivors start to feel the effects of the aftermath of moving the island. The episode seems to pick up right where we left off last season: Ben and Jack at the funeral home, Sayid and Hurley on their way to the safe house, and the left behinds trying to figure out what happened and what to do next.

5/2 “The Lie” - Rumored to be Hurley-centric. Hurley and Sayid are on the run from the cops after stumbling into trouble at the safe house; the island survivors come under attack by unknown forces; and an old friend offers some shocking advice to Kate in order to ensure that "the lie" remain a secret. Quite possible the “old friend” mentioned is none other than the ghost of Ana Lucia as she is credited with a guest starring role for this episode. Cheech Marin is also credited therefore leading to the thought of it being a Hurley episode. Neil Frogurt is also listed as a character in the episode and inside sources say he is killed in the season premier.

5/3 “Jughead” - Desmond looks for a woman who might be the key to helping Faraday stop the islands unpredictable movements through time while Locke finds out who has been attacking the survivors. Scenery crews were spotted "building" Simon’s Butcher Shop and later taking it down leading to the belief that the episode somehow involves Charlie’s father. This episode is rumored to not be anyone centric as it will be told fairly linear and will feature Ben chasing after Penny and Desmond. Penny is pregnant and Ben is trying to kill her until he notices she is pregnant and changes his mind. But does he change his mind too late? Penny and Desmond have a baby. On an interesting side note; here is the Wikipedia entry when you type in “Jughead” in the search box:

“It is often incorrectly stated that the Mk-17 was the first US hydrogen bomb stockpiled. This is not correct. Five examples of the EC14 "Alarm Clock" prepared for possible use starting in February 1954. There were also 5 examples of the EC16 "Jughead" cryogenic bomb, a direct development of the "Mike" device produced, starting in January 1954, before the EC17/24 bombs. The EC14s with drogue chutes became Mk-14 bombs and were the first in the hydrogen bomb in the stockpile starting in October 1954. The EC16s were never in the stockpile and were the first EC weapons eliminated. There was only 1 B-36 converted under Project Bar Room to carry the Jughead.”

Production Call Sheet from episode 5/4 "The Little Prince" contains some spoilers

5/4 “The Little Prince” - Possible Desmond-centric as it is rumored to be about a marooned sailor. What other marooned sailor do you know? Daniel Dae Kim is listed as a main cast member for the first time in season 5.

5/5 “This Place Is Death” - Not much is known about this episode although there is a rumored meeting between Ben, Jack, Sun, and Desmond. Ben, Sun, and Jack were in the Cantor Rainer carpet cleaners van I posted pics of a few weeks ago. Ben is seen pulling something out of his “man purse” and handing it to Sun. Whatever it is, the item appears to be very small and could be Jin’s wedding ring. Possiblly Ben gives it to Sun as proof that her husband is alive. Weather he is or not is still up in the air but reports point to him being alive, somehow. Desmond is seen wearing a wedding ring and Sun is carrying a gun.

5/6 “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” - Gotta be a Locke episode, wouldn’t you say? Scenes being filmed between Hurley and Locke were witnessed at Santa Rosa hospital. Locke is back in the wheelchair and a cast was clearly visable on his right leg. Abbadon may have been sitting in a car in the parking lot while the two talked. Later, Locke and Abbadon (who seem to be working together) are spotted in a cemetery (the same cemetery they filmed Anthony Coopers’ fake funeral) visiting a grave and as they get back into their car gunshots are heard and it appeared that Abbadon was hit. Who is gunning for Abbadon? Ben? Sayid? Locke is also seen speaking to Walt on the street, I posted a pic of this meeting before. Locke is also in a car accident but it is reported that this is not how he ends up back in a wheelchair nor is it how he dies.

5/7 “316” - This episode is rumored to see the return of Ms. Hawkings (the woman from the antique store when Desmond was time jumping after the hatch imploded back in season 3.) It is also rumored that Jack’s grandfather is shown in this episode, for whatever reason is still unknown. Some reports say that Daniel Dae Kim filmed scenes with the actress playing a young Rousseau. Are we finally getting the Danielle back story and is Jin really alive? Abbadon was spotted filming scenes with Widmore in the hospital. Where the episode gets it’s title may be from the fact that the O6 were seen filming scenes at LAX airport and 316 may be their flight number.

Set photo not sure which episode but possibly episode 5 "This Place Is Death"

5/8 “LeFleur” - Since we have seen photos of Sawyer wearing a DHARMA jumpsuit with a name similar to the name in the title of the episode this is rumored to be a Sawyer-centric episode. Horace Goodspeed makes a return this episode and we meet Radzinky as well. Do we finally get to see how Radzinsky became a spot on the ceiling in the Swan station? The submarine was also spotted back on the island.

5/9 “Namaste” - A while ago I posted pics of several of our Losties in DHARMA jumpsuits. This could be the episode they were filming. Otherwise, not much is known about this episode other than those photos which may or may not be from this episode.

5/10 - “He’s Our You” - Rumored to be Sayid-centric. Ben and Sayid were spotted filming scenes in what is supposed to be a Russian town. Several young Arabic speaking parts were cast. Possibly seeing Sayid as a child.

5/11 - “Whatever Happened Happened” - Rumored to be Kate-centric. A very young Ben (the same actor who played him before is back for another episode but would that contradict this being a Kate episode?) It is rumored that one main character shoots another main character in this episode. Whoever is shot is wounded pretty seriously. No word on who these characters are.

That’s all I have on the episodes but here is some more info I have about the new season.

This may be the bomb from the "Jughead" episode or it's the drill mentioned to be in the first episode "Because You Left"

Here is some info from Us Weekly Magazine, dated January 19, 2009:

Lowdown

Bad things occurred after Jack, Kate, and the other Oceanic Six fled the island. Now Jack's on a mission to bring them back. "It's not a season-long quest, but there are complications," co exec producer Damon Lindelof tells Us. So what did happen to the castaways-including Sawyer-when the island disappeared in the finale? A time warp. And it's perilous. "They're the opposite of safe," says Lindelof.

Sex on the beach

"It's not all bleakness," co exec producer Carlton Cuse tells Us. "We have romance!" Yes, the quadrangle of Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet continues. "Kate and Jack are picking up their pieces, but she still pines for Sawyer," says Lindelof, adding, "but Sawyer can only wait for so long."

Here's something for you LOST song buffs, I have reports from the Tailsection website that one of the new songs from this coming season is “Shotgun Willie” by Willie Nelson. No word on when or where the song is played or who listens to it. Much like all uses of music, the song is very effective and quite eerie. There is also some very significant symbolism when it’s played that viewers will only fully appreciate on multiple viewings. Here’s some lyrics:

Shotgun Willie sits around in his underwear

Bitin' a bullet, pullin' out all of his hair

Shotgun Willie has got all of his family there

You can't make a record if you ain't got nothin' to say

You can't make a record if you ain't got nothin' to say

You can't play music if you don't know nothin' to play

Well, John T. (Fours) was workin' with the Klu Klux Klan

The six foot five John T was a hell of a man

Made a lot of money sellin' sheets on the family plan

Sorry this picture is so small but it is of Sun and Ben while filming episode 5 "This Place Is Death"

As most of you know, Charlotte is seen with a nosebleed in promos and in some angles it even seems like she is passed out. Ausiello from EW was asked about a major character death and he said that he does not know of any, but that a "female cast-member isn't long for this world." He confirms that this character recently signed on to do a Hollywood movie and that means it probably does not look to good for this character. Of course he is talking about Charlotte, but I have no idea if he is saying she might die.

Kristin from E! Online has some snippets of her own posted about the new season including that Ajira Airways (a new airlines a la Oceanic) has launched a new website and has a special feature for passengers wanting to book a flight. For only $87, Destination: Destiny allows the airline to choose "an unknown fateful destination of your destiny." Remind you of that runway the Others were building? Could the Island be one of the landing sites?

Kristin goes on to report that Ben Linus is many things, but he is not a drug-addiction enabler, and with Ben's "help" Jack seems to be getting off the junk. Oh, and Ben seems to imply that if Jack goes back to the island he'll never be able to return to the real world.

You know how Sawyer is always getting smacked in the face? Well, Sawyer finally gets to do a little bitch-slapping of his own in the premiere, and it's pretty hilarious. (Another inside source tells me that it is Daniel that Sawyer gets slap happy with!)

Locke in a car accident in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

An unnamed source over at Dark UFO gives us this snippet:

At the end of episode 2 (The Lie) Hurley is confronted by Ben in the kitchen. Ben tries to persuade Hugo to come with him back to the island. Hugo thinks about it for a while and then remembers that Sayid told him he should not trust Benjamin (Sayid and Ben do not seem to be on very good terms as the season begins) so he throws a sandwich at Ben and runs out to a police car that is watching the house. Hurley surrenders to the police and confesses that he has killed someone. Ben later meets with Ms. Hawkings who is scribbling crazy stuff on a chalk board (as I have posted a pic of previously).

And yet another unaccredited source has this to say over at Dark UFO:

In the first episode we get to see an x-ray image of the frozen donkey wheel that was discovered when DHARMA workmen were drilling in caves near its power source. The workman who drilled too near to the power source started to have a bloody nose and his drill was totally melted. We also get to see Daniel Faraday as one of the workmen on the site who bumps into Marvin Candle as Candle is explaining that they need the power source to manipulate time.

Well, that’s enough for now, I leave you with this:

TPTB take a moment to contemplate what they have created