Lightning Cant Strike Twice In The Same Place Or can it? We are back on board flight 316. More specifically the cockpit of flight 316. They start to go through the turbulence and turn off the auto pilot. The flash takes Kate, Hurley, Jack, and Sayid off of the plane. It also jumps the plane a few hours into the future as it is suddenly a bright and sunny day. And they have no power. There is the runway, I was right, end of story! When the co-pilot tries to make a mayday call we can clearly hear the numbers being broadcast. Why? Shouldn’t they have stopped since the survivors made it to the radio tower and turned them off? It’s 2007 because we are told the next scene was “
30 years earlier”. Possibly the timeline has already been changed and this is the outcome of what the changes have brought about. So at some point in all of the time loopiness, the runway was either not there or it was even shorter and the plane didn’t make it? TPTB have confirmed that Jacob told Ben the Others needed to build the runway. Brace for impact apparently doesn’t include bracing for a huge palm tree branch that's going to go through your chest, but it should. When Frank asks where Jack and the rest went Ben says they are gone but he doesn’t know where.
30 Years Earlier
The reunion is a little sweet but not overly so. Hurley missed the nicknames, Sawyer missed Hurley, oh will you two get a room! Sawyer calls Jack “
Doc” and he calls Kate “
Freckles” all is right with the … wait, he didn’t call her “
Freckles” did he? And she called him James. Right where they left off. Sawyer seems genuinely upset to hear that Locke is dead. Loved Hurley’s “
Oh,…what?” response to hearing the explanation of the jumpsuits and the time traveling. “
We came back and so did you.” gives a deeper and different feel to Jacks lament of two season ago “
We have to go back!”. Kate is a bit taken aback by the “
hostiles” comment Sawyer makes and Hurley is really impressed with Jin’s ability to speak English. Jin, meanwhile, freaks when he learns that Sun was on the plane and takes off.
The Brotherhood of The Traveling Sweatshirt So Sawyer’s sweatshirt that is big on him fits Hurley? Ok, just go with it. Juliette mentions the sub and the group of new recruits coming as a way of getting them mixed in with the DI. Things are a little strained in the La Fleur household almost immediately. Radzinsky is in the Flame station working on the Swan model. Jin asks about a plane that in Jin’s time didn’t exist. Sun is on the Hydra island in 2007. A little side note here, Hurley’s real life girlfriend can be seen in this scene wearing purple going through a suitcase and then later standing next to Sun. Lapidus mentions that he doesn’t know where they are because the island isn’t on any chart he has. Tricky island. Caesar is the most observant survivor ever as he has already seen another island, and buildings, and animal cages, and oh shut up! Sun watches Ben slink off into the jungle and follows him. Ben, still knowing the island very well, ends up following Sun. He tells Sun that he is going back to “
our” island and invites her to go with him.
Snips and Snail and Puppy Dog Tails
That’s what little boys are made of and apparently a little evil, trickery, and kidnapper thrown in there. Especially if your name is Ethan which Amy tells Juliette is the name Horace and her have given their baby. Why is Ethan's last name Rom and not Goodspeed then? Apparently the Others will change it later. Juliette takes the sub manifest from Amy who gets to have the day off. Sawyer is now the leader of the survivors and Jack seems to allow it, even if it is just for now. Sawyer quickly goes over the plan as he gives them their new clothes. Jin goes looking for the hostile that is in the perimeter and after he sees that it is Sayid is happy to see him. Jin has to make a quick 360 when Radzinsky shows up. Sayid is confused and is like “
What?”. Back in the mystery machine, Sawyer tells Hurley that Faraday has theories about what they can and can’t do. Jack asks if Faraday is here and Sawyer says “
Not any more.”. So is Daniel crazy and that is what Sawyer means or has Daniel gone the way of so many before him and is dead and we will find out the rest of the story later? All I know is Jack and Kate look pretty damn hot in their new 70’s duds. “
Ride, captain ride upon your mystery ship/Be amazed at the friends you have here on your trip.” directly points to Sawyer being the new leader of the survivors as they pull up to the barracks. Sawyer “
leis” Kate and tells them that Juliette has put their names on a list. Notice that these are the same four that were on the original list Ben made for Michael way back in season 2. Miles is surprised to see all of the “
new recruits”. Jin radios in and tells Sawyer about the “
14J”.
Life’s A Beach And so is Sun, who ends up whacking Ben in the head with an oar, but not until they get to the outriggers. Frank tells Sun why she shouldn’t trust Ben. “
How’d that work out for everyone?”, Ben asks him. Now we know why Ben is still with the rest of the 316 survivors. It still doesn’t explain why the 316 survivors are on a different beach when they were shown in TLADOJB episode than they were in this episode. Anyway, moving on. Jack is a “workman” at the shed? Amy mentioned to Juliette that two of the new recruits backed out which gave Juliette the chance she needed to put Jack and Hurley on the list. So who gave Jack the workman job? Sawyer? Juliette? I’m pretty sure that it was just a process of elimination. Hurley looks like a chef so that one was easy. Juliette gave Kate the motor pool assignment as a way to keep her eye on her. Juliette knows the history between Kate and Sawyer so she’s just protecting her interests. Jack ends up getting workman as that is all that’s left to get. I still couldn’t help but picture Sawyer seeing “
workman” on the list and penciling in Jack’s name with a sly smile. Kate is left alone again sort of like she was when the Oceanic 6 landed and watch how nervous she gets when she’s not on the list or the sub manifest. Juliette enters and saves Kate’s ass because Amy tells her two recruits backed out so she wasn't able to add Kate to the list. Back at the Flame, Sayid meets La Fleur and is once again all
“WTF?”. Sawyer coaches Sayid to give the right answers as it is his turn to interrogate Sayid. Sawyer decides to take Sayid to the barracks while Radzinsky protests. Yeah, he needs to go. Soon! But why was Radzinsky so concerned about anyone seeing the Swan model and plans?
A Moonlight Cruise
Frank and Sun arrive on the main island. Smokey is there to greet them and leaves them alone. The whispers were there too. Christian shows up and tells Frank and Sun to follow him. The recruitment intake building is shiny and new in the 70’s scenes and is destroyed in the present day scenes. Christian shows Sun a picture of the DI taken in 1977. In the picture Sun sees Jin. As Christian hands her the picture, the door blows open and it was either smoke coming into the building or dust blowing around. Either way it was some pretty creepy atmosphere. One other thing that was creepy and I bet you didn’t catch it was right after Christian says “I’m sorry but you have a bit of a journey ahead of you.” look over Sun’s left shoulder. Go back and look if you can I will wait. OK, did you see the blond haired woman behind her? Could it be Claire? Charlotte? Another “Other”? My guess is it’s a production assistant that somehow made it into the final print by accident. Don’t read too much into it, yet. Also from the pictures on the wall we can see that until at least 1978 new recruits were coming to the island. Why do the barracks still have the DI signs hanging up? Unless this isn’t 2007 and “30 years earlier” is misleading. We hear more of Geronimo Jackson’s Dharma Lady song that we heard in episode 316. Yes this is the first time a song has been written and recorded specifically for the show.
Follow The Leader Sawyer tries to get the message to Sayid that they are on the same side but I’m not sure if Sayid is getting it just yet. Jack is looking for James La Fleur, Phil tells Jack where he lives but to not call him James, he hates being called that. Unless it’s Kate calling him that. Jack goes knocking and finds Juliette. Their reunion scene was the sweetest of all of the reunions. Even more so than Sawyer and Hurley, but close. Sawyer now has “
people”. Jack questions Sawyer about what to do next. Sawyer and Jack seem to renew their “
frenemies” relationship. Sawyer is now the leader, whose actions are questioned by Jack. Sawyer makes it clear to Jack that he will be calling the shots. He tells Jack that all he needs to do is wait to be told what to do. I am saying right now that I did not like this scene. Nor did I understand it. Sawyer seemed a little too harsh a lot too quick to me. When Sawyer sees Kate I could almost hear “I wanna come over” by Melissa Ethridge playing in the backround.
Look Into The Mirror
Sayid is now in captivity, and is visited by a free Ben. Does Ben remember meeting Sayid, like Charlotte remembered meeting Faraday? Sayid claims to be a Hostile, but is not; Ben claimed not to be one, but was. On another note Kate and Juliet are again in competition for the same man, but now Juliet has the upper hand in the relationship and Kate is looking in from the outside.
A few observations and other stuff:
Screen cap of the woman standing behind Sun. Is it Claire? Someone else? Or nobody?
Pierre Chang in the orientation video Jack and Kate are watching. Why does he have a Swan logo on his jacket? Is the Swan built yet or isn't it? The fact that Radzinsky is working on the geodesic dome and has the plans for the station would hint that it has not been built yet. Or is the dome something that was later added?
The geodesic dome and the plans for the Swan hatch.