Lost Reviews and News

Wrote this before Mac posted, just to let you know!

All in all, Michael still seemed annoying to me, though I was really hoping this wouldn't be the case.

What didn't help was starting the show with the previous clips that I love to make fun of, such as - "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALT!"

What kind of an idiot would tell his 10 year old son that he killed two people to free him? What a major douche-bag! Father of the year indeed!

Michael's mom not letting him see Walt was really really weak. Could they not come up with a better excuse? It just seemed so contrived.

Nice to see Libby, but sadly no new info on her :(

We all sensed Tom was gay - but how the heck did he get to New York so fast? Magic Box?

And the powers of the island grow stronger and weirder. I wonder what Tom did to cheese off the island - it let him die!

I guess Lapidus flew the chopper to the island and dropped off the hired beefcake goons, and they are the ones that shot Karl/Rousseau?

Ciao Karl - we never really knew ya, but someone had to go - the promotions promised death. Rousseau's a tough lady - she'll still be kicking. And Alex - did she look hot in this episode or was it just me? Je t'aime!!!

So.... Mr. Paik's expensive and no doubt rare inscribed watch has been sold. Will this lead to anything?

I dunno - this episode seemed like a let down, but I imagine this was due to my dislike of the Michael/Kevin character. I just can't buy into him. Re-watching S2 really reminded me of how annoying he was - maybe if I hadn't watched it, my opinion would be different? It will be interesting to see what others think.

The one obvious thing that did make me smile was the reference to "The Shining".
I think it is pretty clear now that the producers do in fact read this blog, and that they are capable of time traveling a-la Des"mind" mode. How else can you explain the axe reference? What are the odds huh?

I think watching S1-S4 within a two week span helped me develop Miles-like psychic abilities!

Speaking of which - it was cool/creepy that he picked up on the Kevin name lie!

And now - the denial stage. No more for a month.

Maybe I'll enjoy it a little more when I watch it a 2nd time?

Sigh.

First POst Woohoo!

What was your pleasure tonight, Mac - Tylenol, Advil or just plain aspirin?

WAAALLLLTTT!!!!!!

In a window, really far away. But looking like a 10-year old again.

I have to say, I was a little bored with Michael’s suicidal tendencies, until Kung Fu Zeke showed up. Now, let the debate begin: Was Tom real or an apparition?

Lostpedia research yields the following timeline:
Day 67 ~ Michael and Walt leave the island
Day 67 to 74 ~ Tom is accounted for every day with last appearance in “Stranger in a Strange Land”
Day 75 to 79 ~ Tom does not appear in episodes
Day 80 ~ Tom returns in “Par Avion”
Day 80 to 93 ~ Tom is accounted for every day
Day 87 ~ Naomi’s helicopter crashes
Day 93 ~ Tom is killed by Sawyer

That would indicate that Tom could only be off the island from within 8-12 days of Michael and Walt leaving. So Michael and Walt return to civilization, become estranged, and Michael attempts suicide several times, including a recovery from the car crash, within 8-12 days? No way. (I can’t even believe the entire off-island story happened within 20 days. The freighter had to be there by Day 87.)

And ghostly apparitions don’t normally have boyfriends named Arturo or a killer right hook, so…

OMG … Tom is Rabbit 15!!!

IGNBB = I’m gonna need a bigger brain (and a lot more time to wrap it around that concept)

The ship to shore (or freighter to closet) call between Michael and Ben was AWESOME! I need to watch that about ten more times. Ben plays Michael like Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello. Mesmerizing! And then Ben ends the conversation by granting Michael absolution of his sins! Death must look pretty good to ole Kevin at this point.

But Rousseau is not dead. No, no, no! I refuse to believe it. Unless she returns in a future episode to reveal her backstory. In that case, I guess she can be dead.

That scene was also very well done. As Rousseau walked away from Alex and Karl, I thought for sure she was a goner. And then Karl gets tagged and I laugh (because of the expression on his face, and because my first thought was, “He’s not even wearing a red shirt.”) But I really didn’t see the second kill-shot coming.

My candidates for the rifleman: Lapidus, Charlotte, Mikhail or Cindy’s Scarf. But whoever it was, I think Ben gave the order. Karl was getting a little “handsy” and Rousseau was taking away from his daddy-daughter time.

Random thoughts:

So, Miles is not only a ghost-whisperer, but also a telepath. Or at least he can discern when someone is lying. Cool! Wonder what he’s gleaned from our Losties? I’m guessing he only gets static when he tries to “read” Bug-Eyes!

If Michael bought into the idea that he could not kill himself because the island didn’t want him to die, why would he think that he could set off that bomb? Or did he believe that by working for Ben, he was doing what the island wanted. Irrelevant, I know, but other than the Libby apparition, that scene was kind of pointless, as we knew Michael would have to survive. And what was the deal with the “Not Yet” fortune cookie message? Just Ben messing with Michael?

That spooky freighter rocks! But I hope we see more of Libby than just random ghost sightings.

Captain Gault goes down a few notches on the hotness meter. Psychopaths are not attractive.

Minkowski only started time-jumping after he left the freighter on a raft? Was Regina and/or Dan with him?

Gault didn’t seem too surprised at Sayid’s outing of Michael.

The most heart-wrenching scene for me was Tom’s expression of horror when he said to Michael, “You told him. You confessed your crime to a 10-year old to make yourself feel better.” (paraphrasing) Now that’s a tragedy.

Wow, did Alex ever grow up during the last couple episodes!

I didn't read Mac's review yet because I'm typing this at like 10:30 PM... So once again... Sorry if I contradict or repeat anything he says. I just need to "let it out".

So um.... OMG.

That episode was CRAZYYYYYYYYY.

They did ANSWER more questions than they ASKED. Guess it's okay to have high expectations sometimes.

A lot of us called the whole "Michael getting off island, Ben recruiting him" thing.

But still... OMG.

So I'm not sure Miles can ONLY talk to dead people... It sort of seems like he can read peoples minds as well. But then again, he'd probably know that his name was Michael Dawson and he was on board Oceanic 815.

Anyway... Ben's a flipping GENIUS.

So after ALL THAT THEY HAVE BEEN THROUGH, all that "bonding", and all that SACRIFICE, Walt ditches his dad because he killed Libby and Ana-Lucia.

No one liked them anyway. But I guess the losties didn't know that Libby was a psychopath.

... well, we don't know that either, but I think we can only assume that at the least.

JoePike -- Apparently Aaron is one of the six. Want a cookie?

So... "the island won't let them" commit suicide? What's up with that?!

I was like, "TOM!" right when he told Michael to stop, before they showed him. Then the first thing that came into my mind was "Mr. Friendly throws like a girl". Haha.

Sayid was mean. Then again, after everything Michael did to them... Anyone would do that.

REGARDLESS -- Michael was still there to SAVE them. -- The captain didn't look that surprized.

So Michael IS Ben's man on the boat... evidently.

There was something else REALLY BIG that happened... but I can't remember. RATS!

This wasn't the thing... but people seem to have different opinions of who the "good guys" are. -- My vote's for Ben.

What really "touched" me was when Ben said, "Innocent people don't deserve to die Michael" or something like that.

May have been a hamburger filled with BS, but I believe Benjamin Linus does have a "soft side".

So Karl and Rosseau are dead? Karl was cute!!! But Rosseau was creepy and annoying. Alex is SHELFISH. -- Jump in the ocean fool.

Okay... Now I will read everything. Or I'll wait till tomorrow.

SPRING BREAK!

Some predicted the Tom backstory (Kate - You’re not my type) Tom Friendly is Gay Friendly… mystery solved.

LOST is all about redemption… yada, yada. Guess what... Michael stepped up to the plate this week and hit the redemption ball out of the park.

Fake Waaaallllttt in grandmas’ upstairs window looked… well… fake!

About Michaels’ suicide crash, in his leprechaun green Impala (I didn’t figure Michael as an “Up With People” music fan)… did anyone notice the Widmore Freighter chugging along in the background?

Michael FB news: He tossed a Motorola mk203i into the drink in Fiji before sailing, so... he must have FB'd back to 1993 "the Year of the Slug" (sarcasm).

Full moon tonight. Fool Sun last episode. Many answers solved - many more raised.

As for “what happened to the second helicopter?”… my guess is that it was on an errand (not the same errand as last week)… PERHAPS Naomi and her initial “strike team” had just launched on their mission. We saw her earlier in the voyage, but we did not see her after the “one helo” scene. Things were going on with the freighter folks, and we never saw the freighter tots, other than Frank. Did we see Frank on deck when we only saw one helo? That means someone else flew the 1st

helo mission - which we assume - because only Naomi survived the 1st mission (barely).

Guess we won’t get the Rousseau FB after all (or Karl). Bet the target practice on the boat had the same shooters that dropped Danielle and Karl. HMMMMM? Karl

and Danielle were the two that stood between Ben and Alex. How much do you want to bet that Ben is behind their deaths? You know… to get closer to Alex. (rut-roh scooby). WHY did Ben pick that moment, just then, to talk to them alone AND send them off (alone) with a ’special’ map… just for them? It could have been a

map solely to drive them in to his ambush. Temple - Shmemple! I bet that map’s not worth the Dharma toilet paper it was printed on. Alex was most likely Ben’s target, not Widmores’ target.

Footnote: How cool did Ben look in his Hugh Hefner jammies talking on his ham-radio to Michael? I expected Miss December to stroll out and perch on his lap, then give him a peck on the cheek. Also "well if I told everybody, it wouldn't be a sanctuary."

FAMOUS (LOST) last words- Karl "What if your dad's playing us?"

@2. Posted by: Jenny Talia

Or so you thought....

@mac: "Let us all bow our heads and scratch at head lice as we honor the memory of Crazy Danielle Rousseau (and Karl)."

My head lice are now wearing black armbands.

Were the empty graves supposedly in Thailand or Taiwan? I don't know why, I thought I heard Taiwan. But maybe there's some connection to Jack's pointless adventure in Thailand (and his tattoos).

I have to go back through Tom's island timeline. I really like the idea that he could be in more than one place at a time (Rabbit 15).

GRAAM - and in record time tonight!

Have you thought about when you'll post when the show returns to 10pm? Or are you just looking forward to a six-week hiatus?

Anyway, thanks as always, and have a nice holiday!

"Live large in a pricey penthouse and get jiggy with Arturo, an escort from the Others After Dark agency ("serving discrete islanders and New York governors since 1977")."

Too funny!

Mac, dude, do NOT get how you think these flash events transpired in 1988 "it's possible all this occurs in 1988." ????

@JoePike: Boy, you are one lucky son-of-a-gun! You came this close to eating Claire's wig. But I will concede that the teaser after the show, "Now we know who the Oceanic Six are" with Aaron's face prominently displayed was intended to put the debate to rest.

Now I'm going to have to find someone else to eat Claire's wig. Who wants to make a bet that Rousseau is not really dead?

Damn ... I feel really stupid ... is there some joke about 1988 that I'm missing? It's driving me crazy!

When Tom said the island won't let you die until you've finished your business (or whatever it intends for its victims) made me think immediately of Jack's plight at the end of season 3.

When the crash occurred just as he was about to off himself, it seemed like he was 'saved yet again'. Which would explain why he's so insistent to return at the end with Kate.

This episode was rather anticlimatic to me since the producers promised it would leave us with a great cliff hanger. Meh.

I wonder if the sniper is one of their own. And I bet Ben knew they would die if they headed into the Temple area without his prior consent (as in the ones guarding it didn't know anyone else is coming). He's so evil but so very fascinating.

Hey! I'm among the earliest posters!

Haven't read tonight's Key Points yet, but just wanted to say I love your work Mac.

And the show just keeps getting more and more intriguing. I hope the final explanation ties up even half of the lose ends they've woven. Remember when the smoke monster and the numbers seemed like the most important mysteries in the world?

Great blog, great community of smart Lost fans and thoughtful posters.

Well, this episode filled in some gaps . . . . let’s see . . first, Tom is gay . . . I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, except it is hard to believe . . . afterall, he doesn’t REALLY dress THAT well!

According to the previews, Aaron IS a member of le six.

Wow, the whole Michael story in one fell swoop! A little contrived, but at least we didn’t have to drudge thru six weeks of episodes to get to the ship . . .

Shocker ending! So, do you suppose that all those gunmen on the ship are now actually on the island, compliments of helicopter-boy, and killing everything in sight? I hate to see CFW get the ax. I was really hoping for a back story on her sometime . . .

Obviously, Widmore is THE BAD GUY here. At least when he dug up all those people in Thailand (or wherever) he was neat about it. There didn’t appear to be any unseemly mounds of grave dirt or broken old coffins for that matter lying around after the fact. Let’s give him points for meticulous detailing and neatness.

On the other hand, he may be so dastardly, that Ben actually does come off as a GOOD GUY in the end . . . Remember:

And in the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take.

Whatever.

And, at last, the “Temple” and folks there are mentioned. (Of course, since CANE was canceled, our resident forever-living Richard can finally return to the “lost fold” . . ) That is, if anybody can survive the “war” that’s coming . . . Looks like nasty times are ahead . . .

We do know that, regardless of what Locke saw, TALL WALT is not on the island. In fact, he is with his grandmother, and by the silhouette in the window, has returned to his short pudgy pre-flight size . . . . I only wish I had that dimension-correctional ability!

Well, in spite of all this, there is good news for all the LOST PEOPLE this weekend.

There's a great story on tap Sunday morning!!!

Have a good one.

@ealgumby: No inside joke about 1988 (that I'm aware of) but I do think mac was just making light of the confusing nature of the timelines on the show this season.

my only question is "who was in the cofin" Jack went to the funerial of someone he and Kate knew?(in his flash forward)...was it Sayid? was it some one from the Oceanic 6??

@Silhouette #13: "This episode was rather anticlimatic to me since the producers promised it would leave us with a great cliff hanger."

Last week was the promised "great reveal" which was Jin's death (or supposed death).

The producers originally wanted to save the "Meet Kevin Johnson" episode for after the break, as it supposedly starts off a new chapter, but the powers-that-be at the network decided to air it now.

"Now we know who the Oceanic Six are with Aaron's face prominently displayed was intended to put the debate to rest."
---------------
No we don't. All we know is who the country rubes are in this blog. Commercial promo does not equal Aired saga/show. That is the biggest three card monty tease in the business... the voiceover says one thing and the screen shows another... dope t' dope t' doh. Must be the same story, shucks Jethro. The creators have not confirmed the 6th sixer.

@Clementine/16

Phew ... thought I was going to have to point out that Michael had a 2005+ stereo in his car! ;)

@DocH #19: "country rubes" may be a little harsh, but if you're willing to eat Claire's wig when you're wrong, I'll forgive you ;)

One thing that I found interesting is that apparently (judging by the map that Ben gives to Alex) the Temple is another Dharma hatch or station. I had thought it was going to be the ruins of some structure built by the original islanders.

@bcre8ve/22

What I found interesting, is that it is apparently up in the hills/mountains, and hence immune to any gas attack.

Sayid should like Michael...Sayid loved Shannon,he had affection for her...Anna lucia killed Shannon...Michael killed Anna Lucia....i rest my case...

Well, this epi sure gives the name "Mr Friendly" a while new meaning. Anagram for "TOM" = OTM as in Other Team Member (as in plays for)

I am hoping that Rousseau is not truly dead but only mostly dead. I was looking forward to her FB. It may be that she is dead but will appear in someone else's FB - or FF playing someone's nurse. [8^)

Oh yeah... one more thing:

Did anyone else that Regina was played last week by that Kiwi (not Aussie!) stunt girl/actress that Tarantino tried to make a star in his Deathproof, half of the Grindhouse double feature? Since she is a pretty big name, and brings great stunt kills to the table, I cant believe she's really gone down into the inky depths with heavy chains wrapped around her. In other words, I predict she'll be back kicking someone's ass in an amped-up fight scene, or doing some other amazing stunts.

Thanks, mac—great review as always!

Well, it was nice to get something fairly straightforward (Michael's flashback), even though as Clementine pointed out (#4), it's not possible w/the timeline of Tom's "availability." At first I thought it was Ghost-Tom like when Hurley saw Ghost-Charlie, but I never heard of ghosts patronizing escort services (& mac, my nomination for best line of this review is "serving discreet [sorry, I just had to fix the spelling] islanders and New York governors since 1977").

If I remember correctly, Michael's mom tells him that he was gone for two months, which is pretty consistent w/Michael & Walt's departure from the island on Day 67. That seems to imply that they found rescue pretty fast. Who rescued them & why didn't Michael tell the rescuers that they were from Flight 815? And if Michael didn't tell the rescuers they were from Flight 815, how did he explain who he & Waaaaaalllllllltttttttt were & how they had ended up on a small boat in the South Pacific?

It sure seems to me that Ben deliberately sent Alex, Karl, & Danielle into an ambush to separate Alex from her new "family." One of Ben's mottos is obviously "the end justifies the means."

Does Locke not know about Ben's secret wardrobe room w/all the passports & money? I thought that Sayid left the door open when he went running to Kate.

@bcre8ve #22: "One thing that I found interesting is that apparently ... the Temple is another Dharma hatch or station."

If it has a cool Scarf logo, we'll know the producers read this blog for sure! And you can live off the royalities ;)

Actress who played Regina: Zoe Bell, who rocks in Deathproof.

Still mad about the whole Aaron thing. I have a feeling JoePike is going to rub it in my face.

Maybe I'll go to sleep now and read everything tomorrow.

Boo. =[

Is it safe to say that I still don't think that Aaron is one of the six?

...Probably not.

GRAA, Mac! You had some really funny quips tonight.

I don't think the freighties shot Karl and Danielle. They were practicing with automatics in Michael's flashback; these shots seemed to come from silenced sniper rifles. I'm not saying it couldn't be the freighties, but they made a significant change in their weaponry if that's the case.

@shikotee/1: Alex was smokin' hot in this episode. It wasn't just you.

@bcre8ve/25
"It may be that she is dead but will appear in someone else's FB - or FF playing someone's nurse. [8^)"

"If Mr. McMurphy doesn't want to take his medication orally, I'm sure we can arrange that he can have it some other way. But I don't think you'd like it,
Mr. McMurphy.

You'd like it, wouldn't you, Hard-on?"

DarkUFO has the translation of the inscription on the back of Jin's watch already. Nothing exciting, but thought I would share:

Congratulations
mutual cooperation
business development
Mr. Paik

@James/31
@shikotee/1

Alex was at the top of my hot list couple eps ago, when everyone was cryin' Shannon/Claire ... back off you dogs ...

When they revealed that Widmore (or maybe it was really Ben) had pulled 300+ bodies from Thailand, I thought maybe it was related to the 2004 Tsunami, but then the dates wouldn't exactly match. Then again, island time is not the same as everywhere else...

I thought that the "cliffhanger" or shocker the producers had promised was that Michael was the one in the coffin, at the funeral Jack attended in last season's finale, and this being a Michael episode, it seemed all too certain for me.

Then again, that might still be Michael's coffin, since it seems no one bothered to visit him at his funeral, not even Walt.

Sayid has a plan. He never does anything without thinking it through, so something that will benefit him and the other folks will come out of him "outing" Michael.

So with the information that the island wouldn't let Michael kill himself does this mean that when Jack tried to kill himself by jumping off the bridge in his future flash, the island causes the accident that prevents him?

I also thought it was interesting how Ben said he doesn't kill innocent people and then we see him send Rosseau and Karl off to their deaths. He is such a creep.

Hey all,
There was something really strange and disjointed about this epi for me.

I think the motivation for Michael getting on the freighter was weak but he doesn't have much of a life anyway. Yes, he is a very tortured soul. I do think the actor is great and it was good to see him again....I think the fact the the island won't let you kill yourself was more interesting.

I hate Ben I think he is screwing with everybody. I do think he had Rousseau and Karl killed.

I don't know, I think something is really wrong I don't trust Ben or Charles Whitmore.

I for one LOVE BEN!. I was thinking during the episode about the time that Henry Gail was only signed on for a few episodes and look at him now. Lately has been getting more air time than our Party of 5 star.
I am going to miss Rousseau, I really thought, after their first encounter, that she and Sayid were gonna get it on!

but wow, is Future Sayid not the BIGGEST hypocrite ever! Unless outting him was a plan, and will not put KJ in any harm whatsoever.

Has anyone had heard any theories about Libby being an other, and the travel to and from the Island (pre crash) made her crazy like Menkowski and Des, hence seeing her in the mental hospital with Hurley back a few seasons ago??

too much to think about.

@Rob/37
@nettie/38

It's not "the island" that keeps them from killing themselves, but "the timeline" ... although this is an important clue.

The producers/writers said they would not invoke the "paradox" issue of time travel, and the only "recognized" scientific theory that supports this is the Novikov Principle ... that you can go back in time, and not alter the "end result," as long as there is some sort of "course corection" along the way to ensure you end up in the same place, if things go a bit askew.

That's why Charlie had to die (and so on). This implies that not only Michael (as we saw today) but Jack (from the before) are "supposed" to stay alive ... at least until something happens where they need to be involved.

I find the Jack correlation more interesting, since pretty much everyone expects Michael to get offed soon ... what is it that Jack "needs" to do, before the timeline will even "let" him die?

GRAA Mac!

Did anyone notice that when the announcer mentioned the O6 they actually flashed on 7 characters... starting with Locke?

I watched it a few times and I couldn't see why they had flashed Locke's face other than because he is part of the 6.

I don't buy the logic that Aaron wasn't considered part of the O6 because he was not yet born. The press would not make that distinction. So, the only way I can justify the 7 faces flashed is that Aaron is not known to the general public and therefore not technically part of the O6.

I'm probably way off with this idea.. but could somebody please re-watch the preview for next week and tell my why Locke was shown?...

@rob2/41

Damn, rob, next thing ya know, they'll have colored folk on the show too!

Oh wait, what the hell is goin' on here!

And before ya strike back, purely hetero here, okay?

I know, I know, not very silly, but DH had to be put in its place ... under the rock her crawled out from under (and no, "her" was not a mistake).

Long time reader, first time poster. Mac, love the site and the recaps. Look forward to these just as much as the show! Now, I have never read my theory that I will outline here.. that tonight's show seems to back up, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been posted. So if this is old news, just say "old news" and be done with it. But everyone I have talked to, had never thought about this all before.. Here is goes.

The island is full of immortal pirates. I know it sounds crazy, but just follow it. Way back when, the pirate ship sailed to the island and for whatever reason got stuck there at the Black Rock, where the ship still sits, all nice and full of dynamite. The pirates on this ship soon learned an amazing lesson: while on the island, they were essentially immortal. They could be killed if someone else killed them, but they couldn't die of natural causes. And so they chronicled this amazing find in their ships log, that at some point in time was taken off the island and lost in Madagascar.

From there, the ships log found its way to someone in the Hanso family, who read it and discovered there was an amazing island out there that allowed its inhabitants to live forever. They decided this island must be explored and studied so they began the Hanso Foundation and the Dharma Initiative to study it. Using the companies wealth and the ships logs, they found the island and set up camp, built hatches and funky bank tube sending machine thingies and worked to study the island.

The problem was those dang natives... the island's original inhabitants who constantly battled them for control. Who were these original inhabitants? The pirates from the ship that originally landed there.. still living on the island all this time since they cannot die and wanting to protect their special island from these crazy hippies.

So that's where little boy Ben comes in.. he gets frustrated with how the Dharma folks are running things and his Father's care less attitude, and after seeing a vision of his mother, runs into the jungle to find her. Instead, he finds Richard Halpert.. Eye liner guy. And why in the world does he wear eye liner? BECAUSE HE'S A BLOODY PIRATE! They do that you know.. And why is it that Halpert looks the same when Ben is a kid as he does now? Because he doesn't age. He's immortal while living on the island and hasn't died all these years. Ben decides to join with the natives, eventually gasses the Dharma folks and the original island natives (the black rock pirates) are once again in control. That is until that Plane crash lands onto the island.

This whole "the island causes people to live forever, unless killed by another" seemed to be confirmed tonight when Mr. Friendly told Michael that he couldn't kill himself. In the alley, Michael asked Mr. Friendly to do it, and he wouldn't.. of course, because then he WOULD have died and Mr. Friedly didn't want that to happen. But earlier in the Episode, Michael did say he was on the ship to die, making me believe that he knows that they only way he can go is to tick someone off enough to kill him.

Back to the history lesson.. Eventually Hanso, for whatever reason, looses the ship logs and they end up being Auctioned off, only to be purchased by Whidmore. Whidmore reads the logs and the stories of the undead pirates and realizes this could be an amazing find and puts all his resources into finding this island. Heck, he even organizes a "race around the world" to get all the more sailers in the ocean who could happen to stumble upon it, as his daughters ex boyfriend happened to.

There are lots of other dots that this all connects with.. except for one big mystery that seems to be one everyones mind... The "others" that Ben has joined obviously know about the fact that the island keeps you alive. So why then does ben get a tumor? That is unheard of. So what.. does the island want Ben gone for mismanaging things?

Bottom line.. this isn't about a bunch of scientists on an island. This is show is essentially Pirates of the Carribbean... a bunch of undead Pirates protecting their treasure. So my question.. How many of the Others are original pirates... Was Mr. Friedly one? Seeing his knack for debauchery as seen tonight.. maybe he was one...

GRAA Mac.

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet...now we know it is not Walt banging on the pipes so who or what is it? Seems like they made the banging too noticable for it to be nothing.

Was it just me, or did anyone else expect the note in the bomb to say "BOOM" like in the old Roadrunner cartoons?

Can't agree that Aaron is one of the 6, but I don't necessarily think Locke is either. Terry O'Quinn is one of the most recognizable faces on the show and I've noticed that they tend to show him in a lot of promos to grab the viewer's attention

@mac

>Turns out, the bomb is a dud/test/message from Ben (it's a high-tech version of a Looney Tunes gun, complete with a snarky "Not Yet" paper message).

First thought. "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!" MTM

Second thought: What'cha wanna bet, though, that that bomb can still blow up whenever Benjamion Linus wants it to?

o-----------------

What is it with the other LIST obsession?

o-----------------

Ur, ah, who shoots skeet with automatic weapons?

o-----------------

@mac

>we see a brief freighter scene where Naomi argues with Frank about who will be the first to fly to the island (Naomi wins and she soon crashes in "Catch-22").

Admittedly we never get a sweeping look at the rear of the freighter, but try as I might, I could never see but one helo on the boat. Was the "crash" a fake?

o-----------------
@1 shikotee (honorary Meg this week):

>Nice to see Libby, but sadly no new info on her :(

If nothing else this episode goes to show that, on "Lost", death is no impediment to steady work for an actor.

o-----------------

@4 Clementine:

Nice work on the timeline. Just doesn't seem enough time was available, does it?

o-----------------

@5. JT:

>Wow, did Alex ever grow up during the last couple episodes!

Definitely hott.

o-----------------

@7 DocH

>Bet the target practice on the boat had the same shooters that dropped Danielle and Karl.

Kinda hard to silence automatic weapons though. And what's with Danielle - hiding on the side of the tree the shots are coming FROM, and running in that direction. (Instread of crawling off though the abundant long grass all around?)

o-----------------

@9 Clementine:

>Were the empty graves supposedly in Thailand or Taiwan?

I heard Thailand. But who would confuse Thai (or Taiwanese) bodies with mostly-anglo passengers.

o-----------------

@12 ealgumby:

>Damn ... I feel really stupid ... is there some joke about 1988 that I'm missing? It's driving me crazy!

I think the only joke is the apparent maliability of time in the "Lost" universe.

o-----------------

#13 Silhouette:

>When Tom said the island won't let you die until you've finished your business...

That's at least the third reference to someone having 'business' or 'work' to attend to.

Taller ghost Walt to Locke in the pit.

'Christian Shepard' to Vincent (about Jack) in the last mobisode.

Now 'possibly Tom' to Michael in New York.

o-----------------

@27 Alaïs_Longthought:

>(& mac, my nomination for best line of this review is "serving discreet [sorry, I just had to fix the spelling] islanders and New York governors since 1977").

Maybe mac meant 'islanders that come in quantifiable units'.

o-----------------

@37 Rob:

>So with the information that the island wouldn't let Michael kill himself does this mean that when Jack tried to kill himself by jumping off the bridge in his future flash, the island causes the accident that prevents him?

Exactly what I was wondering. And maybe Jack's anguish is because he can't kill himself.

>I also thought it was interesting how Ben said he doesn't kill innocent people and then we see him send Rosseau and Karl off to their deaths.

But then Ben didn't kill them, did he?

o-----------------

@mac I found #41 pretty offensive and wouldn't mind at all if you deleted it.

o-----------------

The Island's influence on Michael's real-world actions, the ghost of Libby (and that of Charlie earlier in S4), Tom's mysterious off-Island appearance, all remind me of one of my early theories about Lost: that the Island, either by accident or design, occupies a region of space with stronger laws of information (c.f. Bertrand Russell's Philosophy of Logical Atomism).

To this end, I'm reposting something I submitted to this blog on November 7th, 2006, as part of the Lost Experience discussion. I'm now seeing it's real world influences as further indications of a 'magnet' for people linked to the
Island.

***Posted November 7th 2006***

In his book Schild's Ladder, Greg Egan describes a group of scientists (far in the future), who accidentally create a 'vacuum' in space, the physical rules of which are stronger than those of a normal vacuum. In essence they created a new set of physical laws in this region. In the novel the region (because of the stronger rules) expands, threatening to engulf the universe.

My theory is that the Lost Island is located in a region where certain laws of nature are different from those in the real world, and the the Island Rules are stronger.

Let me use an analogy. Imagine a large container of water with some sort of turbulance generator moving the water round randomly. Now, imagine that there are many black specks floating around in the water - most of them black pepper say, and a small amount of iron filings. All the black specks move about pretty randomly.

Now, imagine that you suspend in the water a powerful magnet. This attracts the iron filings. Importantly, if you zoom in on a small enough group of pepper and filings, the motion will still look random, even though an overview will show the non-randomness of the iron filings' movements.

Bringing this back to the Island, I see the water as the world, the magnet as the Island, and the pepper and filing as people. But what, then, is the equivalent of the magnetic effect?

Who is drawn to the Island? It seems to be either people who already have some connection to it - because of someone they know (e.g. Desmond and Penny Widmore, Eko and his brother); because of something they've encountered (e.g. Hurley and the numbers); because of something they can do (e.g. Jack and Ben's tumor) - or else people who are apparently unconnected.

I believe that the Island has a force of attraction based on information. A similar force seems to exist in the real world, but on a very weak scale - we call it society. I think that on the Island this force is exponentially strengthened, to the point where everyday happenings on the Island would seem like conspiracy in the real world.
And, because of the strength of these rules, I think they can act on the outside world, drawing linked people and things to the Island. An important point is to note that on a small scale, for example in one person's life, the effects of the Island could be discounted as chance. It is only when a plane full of such people crashes that the chance of chance becomes unreasonably small.

Wouldn't such a force appeal to people trying to alter the fundamental factors in human society? Would we live in the same way if a natural law connected ALL the dots for us?

Who knows?

Is Ben really Alex's father? I thought it odd that Rousseaou would not have told her by now. We definitely need a Rousseaou FB or at least another Ben 1.

I wonder if that was Mr. Hawkins that sold Michael the gun that didn't fire? He sure seemed peculiar.

I am not sure that the Temple is even a real location. It doesn't sound like Ben is saying "the Temple", merely "temple". It might be a term they use for hiding, maybe underground or in the hills. Do we know for sure how many islands there are?

What did we learn this episode? Basically that Michael’s off-island time did little to erase his status as the most self-deprecatingly woebegone, unattractively self-servingly self-centered, character for which it’s difficult to garner sympathy. Ho hum.

All together a most frustrating episode.

Most ironic bit of dialog: Miles postulating that Ben seems to always get what he wants since a week ago he was incarcerated by Locke and now he’s living large in the compound. Considering that a week ago Miles had a grenade in his mouth and today he’s having some face time in the Bennsylvania condo as well, I’d say Miles gets what he wants too. Projection much Miles?

We met Ghost-Libby this week, but we also have Mr. Friendly, aka Tom. Now, is he Ghost-Tom (complete with a phantasmagorical lover?) or is he Real-Tom, island-hopping (and possibly time-shifting?) before Sawyer elevates him to true Ghost-status? If Ben can use his magic box to conjure up Locke’s kidney-stealing daddy on the island, why can’t he send Ghost-Libby and Ghost-Tom to NYC to torment, coerce, and/or guilt Mikey into signing on as his “Man on the Boat?” Which begs the question, could Ben be behind Hurley’s Ghost-Charlie apparitions too? And how sadistic is Ben to give Michael a “get off the island free card” only to drag him back a month later?

Speaking of Michael, instead of pinning a suicide note to his shirt, he ought to have “Kick Me” tattooed to his forehead. Really now, how easy is it to mess with Michael’s mind? Everyone’s been doing it since season one (including Vincent) . . . allowing him to perfect that wide-eyed, dead-pan, Gilligan-esque, put-upon “What did I do to deserve THIS sh*t?” woe-is-me look (which incidentally goes quite well with a drawn out WAAAAAAAALT moan). Is the man capable of any other facial expression at all?

And, why has Sawyer been relegated to the role of best-supporting-scruffy-cast-member-with-an-occasional-line-of-sarcastic-dialog? If anyone should be able to play the warring factions (boat people, Ben-followers, Locke v Doc allies) against the middle (and each other) for personal gain and success it should be our favorite long con master. Is it me, or are the writers getting lazy? There’s a perfect opportunity to weave a tangled web of intrigue between Sayid and Desmond on the freighter, Faraday, Miles and Charlotte off the freighter, the castaways hoping to be rescued in Doc’s camp, the renegade island ex-pat wannabes in Locke’s camp, and Ben and his Temple followers whatever they might be up to. And using Sawyer as spider and chief web weaver between all these players not only makes PEFECT dramatic sense, but it would give our favorite bad boy some valuable plot time. It’s mighty painful to see him languishing in storyline hell this season. “Nobody puts Sawyer-baby in a corner!”

Finally, for all you “wow, when did Alex get so hot?” fans out there, I just couldn’t get past how much Alex and Karl looked like siblings during this episode. Freaky.

"Rest in Peace, Crazy Danielle Rousseau. You spoke French and stole babies and blew crap up with the best of them..."

Mac, I'm a Funeral Director, and I think you would make one hell of an obituary writer...

More later. My head hurts...again.

Two observations -
One, I believe that Ben's professed inability to kill the innocent was truthful, and will greatly factor into his actions - both past and present. But that also opens the proverbial can of worms. For starters. it lacks a clear definition of who is "innocent" - does it include only murderers? liars? people on Jacobs List? Secondly, isn't engineering the circumstances of another's death akin to murder? I'm thinking Goodwin here.. Or (point one) does his adultery revoke his innocent status?

The other interesting thing Ben said was about the temple - "It's not for them"
I first thought it was some sort of supernatural or Island or even Alien type thing - but then I remembered that several of the kidnapped Lostaways were also trekking to the temple.. So is "it's not for them" a reference to the fact that the 815ers in the room at the time were not on Jacobs list?

I also got a chill when Ben said to Alex "They know who I am" and when he looked her in the eye and told her that the freighter people were in fact MORE dangerous than him.

@24 - tiny...I thought the same thing about Sayid. I am a bit perplexed as to why Sayid kicked it in to overdrive to reveal Michael's true identity to the captain. First, Sayid strikes me as a more calculating person who would give a lot of thought to a plan such as this. It didn't seem to me that he did so here. What is the benefit (at this moment) to reveal KJ as MD? and 2. I figured that Sayid would be able to use Michael's story to his advantage at some point in the future, not right away. It just seemed out of character (pun intended) for Sayid to act so rashly here....

@25 - becre8ve - Do you mean
"mostly dead" as in The Princess Bride? Maybe if Rousseau believes in "twue wove" she can just eat a giant chocolate covered magic pill and spring back to life :)

@ 35 - drivera - I thought about Michael in the coffin too. If the island won't let him die because he has more work to do, perhaps by the time we see Jack's f-forward, Michael's work is done and therefore he would be able to die. Since Jack *might* be in the same predicament, his attending the wake might reveal to him that his day will come at some point too. The NY to LA connection from the obituary Jack was carrying seems to fit with Micheal's story as revealed last night too...

@39 - philzoop - I was thinking about FHG last night too and reminiscing about how he first appeared on the show and how he is now such a major player (I hope Micheal Emmerson at least gets nominated for an emmy this year...he is AMAZING). Then it dawned on me that there is truth to at least one thing that Ben has said in the past...There was lots of speculation at the end of S2 as to whether or not Ben's compass directions to Michael (bearing of 325) were a hoax or would really get him home...seems like they did indeed work. Wouldn't that mean that the rest of the survivors, or anyone else who wanted to leave - ie Juliet - could just follow the same directions? They have at least two boats to do so now, right?

I am also perplexed by the PT (possible Tom) sighting a la NY. I don't think he is a ghost or vision though. I do think he is real and quite possibly like Rabbit 15...could a ghost rent a penthouse suite at the Hotel Earl? That ghost would have to fool a number of people to do so just to lure Michael up there.

As for the timeline of Michael's FIB (flash-in-between), I think it's important to note that there were Christmas decorations a plenty in this episode (in the background of the hospital...at Michael's mother's house), providing a clue as to what time of year it is at least. It doesn't necessarily have to be Christmas Eve or Day to have decorations up, right? But, how does this play into the timeline??? Would it be appropriate 12-15 days after Michael's departure from the island to have these decorations up? Can anyone clear this up for me? One of the most confusing things to me about this show is the timeline...

Why would Widmore not want the world to find the island? I think those documents and pictures Tom showed Michael were fake. Ben seems like the only one with the "no one can find this island" agenda. It makes more sense that Michael would have to kill the freighter's crew so that the island remained undetected for Ben, not for Widmore.

One last thing I am perplexed by is why people like #21 have to spew their stupidity into this blog. I am with Cecil Rose on this one...

Most boring episode this season. I dozed off.

If the timeline suggested here is right, then is 2 weeks enough time to get rescued, sail back to the US,Screw things up with your kid, decide to kill yourself, and sail back to the island in the mid pacific?

How does the little webisode of (I assumed) Walt in a locked room and Ben and Juliette looking at the dead birds he was conjuring to smash him out fit in? Was that BEFORE Ben let him and his dad off the island?

And how come they get to leave? Ben doesn't let anywon leave. Is it because Ben wanted to put him on the ship?

I don't like watching this show week to week, or maybe it's because there are too many stories now. I want to know what's going on on the beach, where are the scientists? where is Jack and Kate? Is all,this going on in the space of a day or so? I wnat to put the next CD in and see what happens.

Oh, I fogot. I really liked Rosseau's character and want to find out why she never said Ben's not the father. IS Ben the father? Why does he keep saying that??????

Did everyone here recognize Libby? Or ar you assuming it is her? I did not think it looked like her buit who else could it be?

Hey Mac - Great recap to a great ep.

I loved finding out what happened to Michael and Walt after they escaped the island. At least we know that Ben's coordinates allowed them to leave the island and arrive back to the "real" world in the present. According to Michael's mom they arrived back in NY 2 months after their flight disappeared and she can't even call them by their real names.

I felt bad for Michael, the poor schlub was only trying to compensate or being an absentee father who lost his parental rights - and every decision he's made since getting Walt back has been disastrous. Poor guy - your right - he get's the tortured soul of the year award.

I think crazy Danielle is alive - the producers have hinted that at some point late in season 5 or early in season 6 we would see her flashback. . . let's just hope they weren't pulling our puds.

See you on April 28th . . . don't know if I can wait that long ;-(

I think this episode explains how or why Sayid was later recruited to work for Ben, same tactics.

Sayid is responsible for blewing Michael's cover, therefore responsible for the freighter making its way into the island, starting the war, etc and leaving all (except 6) survivors stranded there.

Later on, Ben capitalizes on Sayid's guilt and gets him to work for him ... or as he put it: "for his friends".

Nice write-up Mac.

I'm sure I speak for many of us when I say that we really appreciate what you do. And how quickly you do it. Kudos.

That said, I'd really like to think the only reason they brought Michael back was to get Walt back into the storyline. Bug-eyed Michael reminds me of Ben's second cousin on his mother's side, but without the acting chops.

And as for Tom, guess Kate really isn't your type. Who's to say that all that hyperbole about Widmore doing this and Widmore doing that isn't just a bunch of hooey, and that Ben didn't create all that paperwork. Jeez...it's just a bunch of documents that a 16 year old high school student could make in Print Shop class...

And was it just me, or when Karl held up his water bottle with the leaks, did anyone else think of Steve Martin in The Jerk, "Somebody's shooting these cans!"

I cannot believe after 16+ years surviving on the island, that Danielle would not have been smarter than that when people were shooting at her. Did she get stupid after she found her daughter?

I agree that Ben sent them to an ambush, and I think that Alex even guessed, why else would she think that she would be safe by telling the shooters she was Ben's daughter? If it were the freighters shooting, they would either kill her anyway or take her hostage.

Didn't care for the whole Michael story. Thought it was boring. I did think the captain already knew about Michael. Maybe he works for Ben, too. That would explain why he wouldn't care that Regina jumped off the ship.

Can't wait to see how many posts we hit this week!

@Clementine 33 - Thanks for the translation of Michael's watch.

@Mac
Thanks for pointing out the bomb/dud/Looney Tunes connection. Nothing makes me happier than a cartoon reference.

@Cecil Rose 45
First thought. "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!"

Maybe Acme is a subsidiary of Dharma Industries

@Mac
"Sayid...hauls Michael into Capt. Gault's quarters and spills the beans."
Too funny. Lima beans live on!

While we're on the subject of food:

Choco hats, get yer choco hats here. I have to eat one now. JoePike, can I buy your unused one off of you?

@Kathy, Clementine, Shikotee and anyone else for the Shining references last week: Well done! I take off my choco hat to you (if I had one, that is).

And now I believe we have to be 99.7% sure that Turnip-head and the rest of the O6 are as confirmed as we can ever expect them to get.

Unless..

Whew, what an episode! First of all, thanks Mac for another great review!

1. First of all, killing off someone (or even two people) in the last 30 seconds of the show does not make a good cliffhanger. In the last mid-season hiatus, they ended with Jack screaming at Kate and James to run for their lives. Now THAT is a cliffhanger. Not random character deaths.

2. The idea that Tom was gay never really crossed my mind... although I probably should've guessed it earlier, with his "You're not my type" comment to Kate way back when. Anyway, why am I talking about a useless fact like this when the episode was mostly about...

3. MICHAEL! Grrrrr... I don't like him. I really don't. When he was standing on the sidewalk staring up at his CGI son in the window, I half expected him to scream, "WAAAAALLLT!" again. And the fact that the island wouldn't let him do away with himself was kind of strange, but cool.

4. It was nice to see Libby again, it really was. Whether she really was a shrink or not, she was a likeable character and she and Hurley were sooo cute together. I wanted to see Ana, though. She was a cooler character, despite the fact that she only had two facial expressions (scowling and not scowling).

5. That bomb with the 'NOT YET' thing was like something from Saturday morning cartoons. It was weird. I found it interesting that Michael really would've blown up everyone on the ship, though. Just like when Jack tried to shoot Locke but the gun wasn't loaded.

6. Another random thing... after the group meeting with Team John, I don't recall who Miles was talking to out there in the dark, but someone said something and Miles started laughing. It was the very first time we ever saw him smile, and it didn't even look like him. It was scary.

7. When Karl died, I refrained from going, "YES!" I never liked him. He always had a dorky haircut and never seemed to have much sense. But then, when Rousseau got shot, it was sort of depressing. I mean, we knew her from the beginning of Season One. I never expected her to die. I thought she could take care of herself. I guess she's no match for Ben's evil gunmen.

That's it for now. Ciao!

I have to admit I went to this site before going through my email at work this morning!

So Ben doesn't kill innocent people, so he wouldn't have killed Annie in the purge, what about the other kids in the classroom? Did he send Alex, Rousseau and Karl out there? I guess he doesn't consider them innocent.

I thought for SURE smokey was coming to Alex at the end. The bushes moved exactly the same as before when he appeared and the high panoramic camera angle was EXACTLY the same.

Ben told Alex the "bad people" would use her as a pawn, so she is playing into that plan to save herself.

Tom is very Ben like off the island, and I don't like him like that. I miss Mr. Friendly who couldn't stand the sight of blood.

Jack is in the same state of mind in his FF that Michael was after getting beack to the real world. I agree Michael is in the coffin (too many references to NY to not be important) under an assumed name (mom couldn't call him by his real name) Jack realizes Michael's work is done and Jack won't be free until he gets his work done.

This blog is going to have an "incident" over the next month there will be so many posts!

Two things:

GRAAA, mac!

Alex is a hottie, hottie hot-hot mchotterson who is also HOT.

And we now return to our regularly scheduled blog comments discussion...

Best Line of the Review ...

'Rest in Peace, Crazy Danielle Rousseau. You spoke French and stole babies and blew crap up with the best of them.'
I chuckled soda through my nose right at the spoke French and stole babies ...

GRAA, Mac. don't know if I'll miss Lost or this more for the next month.'

Ben was watching Karl and Alex being affectionate. Affection => sex => pregnancy => dead Alex. He sent them into an ambush with the Others, and removed two threats at once. No boyfriend, no mother, who does Alex have left besides the Others and her "not as dangerous as the Freighters" Dad.

Having said that, I hope that Rousseau is not dead. I want her to hop up on one leg and yell, "It's only a flesh wound! I've had worse!"

And if I've learned anything from this show, I'm probably totally off course. I'm looking forward to everyone's analysis to get through the next few weeks - and yes, I will be watching the enhanced episodes in between.

P.S. Did anyone else have a hard time choosing between Michael's suicide attempts and the last two minutes of the Duke/Belmont game? I had two tv's running in the same room. Sad but true.

One thing that has been bothering me since last night's ep, how did Michael get to New York in that tiny boat? Was he picked up somewhere?

I missed when the "enhanced" episode is planned, can someone let me know. Will we get and enhanced episode of last week at some point?

Mac... you had me HOWLING this morning...."get jiggy with Arturo, an escort from the Others After Dark agency ("serving discreet islanders and New York governors since 1977")" just the best line!!!

I expected the note pinned to Michael's shirt to read, "Please look after this bear. Thank you."

Re: Ben on killing innocents: Where are all the Tailies who were kidnapped? Are they all still alive, or were they killed? What about Ethan trying to kill Jack & Charlie? That was under Ben's orders. Ordering a murder is the same as committing one. Ben's eyes are turning brown, as usual, and I can't believe some of you are falling for it.

Don't usually post, but I cannot believe Sayid acted so quickly in outing Michael to the boat captain. Could this be a reason why Sayid would later work for Ben? Sayid's actions=Dead Losties=Sayid working for Ben because of regret/repentance?

@ Alaïs_Longthought (#27)

who's to say that the 'rescue party' wasn't part of ben's group? that's why no one knew where he came from......if they had been watching michael all this time, i can't believe that MOST of his interactions have been ben related....

Good episode, felt a little rushed to me, but they packed a lot of stuff in there. For what its worth, and to toot my own horn, I had the first half hour pegged from the get go, from Michael's FB and not being able to die, to Tom being gay. I rule. Second half hour... not so much... was thrown off by the Alex/Rousseau/Karl thing. And yes, Alex was hot.

After reading the comments:

@#22, Becre8ve-- The Temple might still be some kind of ruins, and not necesarily a 1981-technology Dharma station. Or Dharma could have built up around some ruins. Maybe Dharma worshipped the ruin-makers, and built their most valuable installation around the ancients' holiest site?? I cant wait to see what the Temple actually is...

@43 -- The Black Rock IS the ship that crashed, not where it crashed. Interesting theory though.

@45 Cecil Rose -- Good point about the bomb, and Ben still potentially being able to blow it up. He seemed surprised/pleased that Michael actually hit "execute." Surprised in a good way...?

@61 Kate -- Interesting point about Jack trying to kill Locke. Now, it seems the plot is thicker than just being out of bullets. Clearly, the island doesnt seem willing to let Locke die.... yet.

@ Mac -- I agree, I also half-expected the Captain to turn around and say "I know" after Sayid the Pimp spilled the beans on Michael/Kevin. The Captain is interesting, he seems to know a fair amount about the island and what it does to people. His whole tantrum about people not leaving the freighter was kinda cool...

So who really crashed the plane?? Ben has all the "evidence" that points to Widmore, but didnt Capt. Gault imply that it was Ben who crashed it? So who's teling the truth??

And I agree, Rousseau aint dead. Just like Naomi aint dead. And Christian Sheppard. And Charlie. Libby too. And Elvis...

That's what I got.

xo
chopkins

@45/Cecil Rose "Admittedly we never get a sweeping look at the rear of the freighter, but try as I might, I could never see but one helo on the boat. Was the "crash" a fake?"

If I remember correctly, when Naomi arrived at the island, we heard the helicopter, saw a light, and heard a splash. But we never actually saw a helicopter go into the water.(?)

Is it possible that Lapidus piloted Naomi's helo and returned safely? he certainly demonstrated his skills with the second island approach. Maybe the splash was cargo being jettisoned just as they did with the second island trip when things got tough.

I will have to go back and watch Naomi's arrival again - more closely this time. I just find it interesting that Naomi referred to a pilot that was never found. The freighter is pretty small for two aircraft.

Then again, maybe none of it matters to the story anyway.

Nice Work mac. Enjoy the hiatus.

I guess we all now know why Tom calls himself Mr. Friendly (or maybe just Arturo is privy to that information?).

Biggest question: who is the diabolical mastermind - Ben or Chuck Widmore? Both? Does anyone think it is clear as to which person planted the 815 wreckage?

I am anxious to read everyone's thoughts and am anxious to re-watch the episode to ferret out the fine details. @elgumby - I immediately thought of you when they showed the stereo in the funky green Impala. 2005 model? Did he get back to NYC and immediately call the local shop to pimp his ride?

good morning to all,

i thought this episode was really good and answered questions. my three cents:

*ben's claim that he doesnt kill innocent people. i beg to differ but clearly ben believes he is justified even though he may not be directly involved in the killing other people do for him or for the island. there is nothing good about this man, nothing! i personally dont see him as "the" good guy or "a" good guy, i'm sorry i just dont. he is pure evil. cold, calculating and genius evil, the devil himself better watch out for benjamin linus. :) ultimately the the survivors will have to choose sides and it will be a matter of the lesser of two evils.

* i think ben has more than one man on the boat and yes i did expect the captain to say he knew about michael.

*speaking of michael, aka kevin, i really dont see him being capable of compiling an entire list of info and intel of everyone thats on the freighter. he doesnt come off as the "lets have a drink and get to know each other" type. or maybe its just me.

* post #56@phg, i think you may be on to something regarding sayid and why he ended up working for ben. we'll see what happens. :)

just my three cents. gotta go do some work.

peace & love to all!

Sorry - wanated to agree with all who observed that Alex is certainly hot, particularly in last night's episode. Perhaps a little young for this 33.2 year old though... ;)

@ Vikki/51

ha, ha, ha... princess bride reference! classic!

@chopkins

Hey, I like your name:
"chop" - short, to the point, with a nice sound to it (kinda a serious, martial artie sound) - and then, right when you think its done - kinda like a two-for, you throw in "kins." "Kins" is a fun sound.

Serious + fun = Chop kins

:^0 "Chop" :^)

:^) "kins" :^0

:^0 "Chopkins" :^0

Just an observation...

Hey mac, just a question here.

When you delete a post - like a double post or a #41-ish above, is it possible to leave the post and simply replace the text with something like, "This bugger's been sacked" or something? That way it won't mess up the number references further down stream.

Just a thought...

Love the blog

Just to clarify -- the 1988 thing was an off-hand reference that nothing to do with anything (unless the backstory actually occurred in 1988 ... in which case I totally knew it!)

And thanks for the discreet vs. discrete catch!

If the captain knew Michael was the "mole" (more on that below) wouldn't he suspect him of being the one to sabotage the engines? When he was beating those people up, he said they needed to "fix the entry" so that must broken along with the boat not having any engines.

Did anyone else have a brief flash of the word "The Mole" right before the show would come on after commercials (ABC feed in Northern VA here). It looked like a TV show called The Mole and it was a commercial that is snuck in there. Anyone in my area have DVR?

@ bcre8ve: Yeah, that's possible. I was in a rush this morning so I opted to kill the whole comment, but in the future I can delete the message and add a snarky editor's note (because you know how much I love the snark!)

@78 becre8ve...

Thanks?

xo
pork chopkins
karate chopkins
judo chop! kins

Live large in a pricey penthouse and get jiggy with Arturo, an escort from the Others After Dark agency ("serving discreet islanders and New York governors since 1977").

lmaooooooooooooooooo

Mac, u are a dude!!!!!!!!

@82. Posted by: ma

Mac, is that you, or does your Mom help out?

@48/desertrat "Is it me, or are the writers getting lazy?"

I don't know, what does your yard look like? Personally I fall in with the "you're not lazy" crowd.

As far as the writers go... I think that we are getting the other side of the "Lost is too slow and doesn't answer enough questions" complaints from the previous three seasons.

Since the network agreed to ending the show and the writers know they have 48 epis in which to wrap it all up, the pace has quickened. The writer's strike certainly won't help in the next 5 epis.

I, for one miss the character development and slower pace but do enjoy getting some answers. I want to know the answer to all of Lost's mysteries and I want to know now. I think that once I know and go back to re-watch the DVDs, I will be sorry that there weren't more "filler" epis where we would have gotten to know more about the island, Dharma and the characters both old and new.

82/ma "because you know how much I love the snark!"

And since you don't live in the water, can I assume you are a Land Snark? [:^)

Land snark, Candygram, Mongo merely pawn in game of life...wow...talk about steam of consciousness...

Um...I meant "stream", not steam.

@7/DocH
About Michaels’ suicide crash, in his leprechaun green Impala...

Was not an Impala, or even a Chevy. For what it's worth, a Chrysler product.

I'm such a moon.

Does anyone think it's weird that Michael, when he met Naomi in Fiji, asked her if her accent was from Manchester? I don't think he's ever been to England, so how would he be able to decipher her accent so easily? As we all know, little things like this always mean something on the show.

Ok, this is a total shot in the dark, but what with all the "He did it" "No, HE did it" finger-pointing between Benry and Widmore, it occurred to me that perhaps a third party may have been involved in the Oceanic plane plant. Who else on this show has those kinds of resources, and furthermore has been referenced (indirectly) the last two episodes in a row? Mr. Paik, Sun's dad.

Probably *completely* wrong, but I figured I'd throw it out there just in case!

Four thoughts:
Sayid. The idea of our beloved assassin being a whistleblower/tattletale (dragging Michael by the arm to the principal’s office) didn’t sit well with me. I agree that the writers needed to set the stage for Sayid to work for Ben. First Ben loses his MOTB, then there will be an invasion that Ben cannot prevent, then some 815’ers will die at the hands of the boaties and Sayid will have an ‘oh no’ moment (realizing the boaties really are bad a** meanies), much worse than Ben. His regret and guilt will make him an easy recruiting target for Ben. ‘You want to help your friends don’t you?’

Ambush of Danielle, Alex and Karl. I agree the temple group, not the boaties, fired the shots. Hiding in the foliage and shooting with silencers is not the style of the machinegun toting boat boys. But Ben setting up the ambush makes me want to take back my statement that the boaties are worse than Ben. Bad is bad. Danielle was an interesting character - I will miss her. She survived all those years alone by living in fear. She got careless about her own safety once she connected with her daughter and started thinking about Alex’ safety.

Small window version of tall ghost Walt. Why is Walt not known as one of the six? This was probably the purpose of Michael’s wimpy back-story (he stupidly, stupidly, stupidly told Walt about the killings) and Granny’s narration as to why Walt won’t talk about what happened. How else to explain why the kid will not tell anyone on the outside about his island misadventure. Not sure what incentive is keeping Granny quiet though.

Michael’s demise? The captain hates traitors so we expect him to off Michael. Will the island mojo only prevent a suicide or will it also prevent a homicide? Either way, maybe the mojo only works away from the island. If the island protected Tom while he was away, it didn’t save him from Sawyer’s bullet. But then again, maybe the captain is the real MOTB and Michael was just Ben's back up plan. Makes my head hurt.

That’s all for this morning.

83/chopkins "Thanks?"

It was meant sincerely - I really do like it. Like so many monikers here, it caught my attention. I just decided to say something about it.

@35/drivera & 51/Vikki "I thought about Michael in the coffin too"

***** SPOILER? *****
The article that (Wolfman) Jack cut out before his high dive attempt was thwarted seemed (according to HD pics) to say that the coffin dweller had apparently committed suicide.

-- The note reads: --

"The body of John Lantham of New York was found shortly after 4 a.m. in the 4300 block of Grand Avenue.

Ted Worden, a doorman at the Tower Lofts complex, heard loud noises coming from the victim's loft. Concerned for the tenants' safety, he entered the loft and found the body hanging from a beam in the living room.

According to Jaime Ortiz, a police spokesman, the incident was deemed a suicide after medical tests. Lantham (sic) is survived by one teenaged son.

Memorial services will be held at the Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Home tomorrow evening."

-- End Note --

Could it be that Michael/Kevin/John/Lantham Johnson/Dawson finally fulfils his island mission and is allowed to find his "peace?"

***** END SPOILER *****

Great review as always 03-20

did anybody notice the 03-20-1980 date
on Jin's headstone. Well Last nights episode aired 03-20

@92 & 93--

Interesting points!

92- I too sensed some kind of connection btwn Michael.Naomi. Does Michael get it on with hot badass?? Man I hope so. If one guy in this world needs to get some, its him.

93- VERY interesting thought. I bet Paik is closely tied to the Hanso's... and not just bcs theyre both asian.

When Micheal went up to his mother's house, I was hoping it was going to be the lady that Mal had whispered/swindled. [:^(

Here, all along we thought Spitzer was Client #9. Turns out it was Tom.

Dear Ben: That whole fake bomb business was hare-brained.

Dear Michael: "Sorry" doesn't put lima beans on the table.

Dear Island: Please let Michael kill himself. We don't like him, we really don't.

Dear Michael Dawson: You are up a creek.

Dear Michael on the Freighter: "I'm here to die." Do you hear our cheers. They are rising, rising...

@Rudy 81 – Yeah, I think those were sneaky ads for the Mole series.

BTW - Who was keeping track of how many times the Losties bumped uglies?

Be sure to put Tom/Zeke/Mr. Friendly down for (at least) one.

Wonder if Arturo was related to Paolo?

And what are the chances of the old dude next to Michael in the hospital having anything to do with anything?

I haven't read the blog yet, so sorry if these points have been addressed, but had to get my ideas in before the bad headaches start:

I believe that Ben's REAL contact on the boat is Capt. Gault - not Michael. Michael is only a pawn (for killing/blowing up the ship). The captain was not surprised at the revelation that Michael was a spy. And the captain, I believe, ordered Lapidis and the other guy to take the chopper to the island (on Ben;s orders) to retrieve Alex.

Ben directed Danielle, Alex, and karl to travel by a certain route - and that route was known by the captain because he and Ben had planned it all ahead of time. It wasn't Lapidis who shot Karl/Danielle, it was the other guy.

I haven't figured out yet what happens to Alex or her yet-to-be-dead mother (no, Daniell is not dead - yet).

Which brings to mind another question: Were Karl and Danielle shot with a gun/silencer or arrows? Several other blogs state that they were shot with arrows, but I didn't see any arrows.

Do the Michael in Manhattan/Indian Ocean tidal wave coincide enough to allow the for the 324 bodies to have been freshly planted victims of the tidal wave?

Anyone else?

I knew tom was gay in season 2 first episode when tom told kate to change clothes infront of him. when she said she didnt want to change infront of him he said "dont worry kate your not my type"

There have been rumors that actual writers associated to the show read this blog. And why not, it's quality and interesting every week, thanks to Mac's efforts.

So, to those writers then: don't kill Rousseau!! What are you thinking! She has been 16 years now on this island, and then get's sniped out? So pointless, other than to stage the scene with Alex. Let the Island Mojo(tm) rescue her!

Please?

As for the episode itself... longest. flashback. ever. Still, there were some interesting points, which I won't reiterate, since I see most of them already above me. I do think they are reading here though, why else the specific "Wallllllllt!!!" in the clips establishing Micheal?

I think they are saying "Hi" to us, in a way that still fits the show without any problems. How cool is that, if so?

Guys, come on, let's pick up the pace or we'll never get to 1,000 comments!

Honestly, it's Friday and I don't feel like working... even if it is deadline day. Entertain me!!

Oh, and @ becre8ve, #98 -- glad you like the name. And I thought for a brief sec that Gramma Walt WAS Miles' ghost-whispering "client." In hindsight I dont thin kit was. But Would that make sense, timeline-wise? And does that mean Walt killed himself in there and was selling smack to get over Michael's treachery? Anyone? Bueller???

xo
chopkins

@59: thanks for noticing the "Shining" reference; it's nice to be noticed, even if I don't have a cute moniker like "chopkins" or a slightly naughty one like "Jenny Talia".

@81: I noticed "The Mole" flashes as well; I think the flashes were put there by the "Lost" writers. I am pretty sure "The Mole" is a now-defunct CBS series.

@ 65: I love the "Spamalot"/Monty Python reference! (It's only a flesh wound!) I've had the song "I am not yet dead" playing through my mind most of the morning as I read the posts that hope Rousseau is not really dead--yet. I think she's all the way dead. Naomi, however, I'm not sure about.

I would say that I think Sayid definitely has something up his sleeve, except he's wearing a tank top.

Lastly, I agree that the writers have missed a prime opportunity to have Sawyer spinning a web. He was a great con man, and now he's been relegated to the occasional smartaleck comment and/or eye roll. GIVE SAWYER SOMETHING TO DO!

Guess I'll spend my Friday mornings re-reading all the Lost blogs in sequence. Or maybe I should actually put in some time working.

GRAA Mac, loved the "Michael is stunned to see the man who kidnapped Walt standing in front of him ... in New York City ... wearing a stylish overcoat and sporting a fresh splash of Grecian." quote, though I do believe it was more Brillcream than Grecian (he still had all the grey...)

A few first thoughts:

@4 Clementine: I don't see aproblem with the time line, sure it's quick, but it gives Michael a couple of weeks to get back to NY, get depressed, try to off himself, get better and then meet Tom. I meen everything he did was for his son and now he doesn't want to be with him, seems reasonable that he'd crash and burn pretty quick As for Tom, he only needs to be off the island a few days for his "intervention" with Michael and some good times with Arturo.

@43 Steve: Really like the pirate aspect as per linking it to Tom, his behaviour sure is "piratesque" off-island (indulging in the better things life has to offer...)

@the car: I think it was a 76-77ish Dodge Aspen with vinyle top.

All in all great epi, alot of info and alot of questions (as usual). I noticed that of late the writers are giving us alot of good/bad references. What I mean is they're giving us info that could lead either way:

-Ben or Widmore staged the trench 815
-Ben good or bad (and they keep hammering this one)
-Were Rousseau and Karl not innocent if Ben had them offed (oh yeah Ben planned or forsaw this in the same way he did Goodwin)

-I know this is a little out there, but part of me believes Rousseau is actually Ben's Annie from the good old Dharma days. I"ve been wondering this for a while and since she never confronted Ben when he's said to Alex "your my daughter" with a "no she's not or something like that", it seems to confirm Ben's the dad.

Knowing this, who would Ben be with under the sheets: Annie. Maybe they had some fun off-island but she gave birth on island and had some "side-effects" for some reason and just lost it and headed for the hills.

Finally, is it just me or did the word "lost" come up a gazillion times in this epi.

That's all for now, be back soon.

@90/JT

Michael's car is a 1976 Plymouth Volare. See the pics at http://tinyurl.com/3228n9 But the radio is very modern; that's the clue that made me realize this was a post-island scene and not a FB to when he was a starving artist ... because earlier in that scene, when he started crossing the street, I expected him to get run over. Again. Well, for the first time, but from a new camera angle.

Mac, thanks again for a killer review. You hit all the major points, with wit and style as usual. Makes my Friday mornings!

"JoePike -- Apparently Aaron is one of the six. Want a cookie?"
"Still mad about the whole Aaron thing. I have a feeling JoePike is going to rub it in my face."
-ilovebenjaminlinusxx

Yes please, choco-chip of course.
Don't worry ILBLxoxo, I won't rub it in your face. There was always a 50/50 chance...but vindication does feel pretty good!

"@JoePike: Boy, you are one lucky son-of-a-gun! You came this close to eating Claire's wig...Now I'm going to have to find someone else to eat Claire's wig. Who wants to make a bet that Rousseau is not really dead?"
→ Clementine

I glad I won't have to eat Claire's wig...but I'll gladly try it on anytime! (No, my nickname is not Arturo...)
I'm with ya though- I don't think Crazy Dannie is dead. She's been on the island so long she'll have super healing powers. Plus it's such a waste...we were supposed to see major backstory for her. I guess it's still possible we will somehow. So no bets this time for me!

"Choco hats, get yer choco hats here. I have to eat one now. JoePike, can I buy your unused one off of you?"
→ Scooby-Dude

Dude, they're all yours. A little melted, but still yummy. I'll trade you them for some Scooby-snacks.

Glad they finally cleared up the mystery of whether Ben or Widmore planted the fake Oceanic 815. (Um, yes, read that with mega-sarcasm...)

I'm having trouble coming up with things to discuss after this episode. I liked it overall, but nothing seems to be peaking my interest. So here's the only thing that I could think of that is a theory of mine after last night's episode:

Any chance that Libby = Annie?

Couple examples:
-Ben finds out that someone on the mainland has won the lottery by using 'the numbers'. Sends Libby to mental institution to keep tabs on Hurley to make sure he doesn't figure out the actual relevance of said numbers.

-Ben finds out Michael accidentally kills her and comes up with massive scheme...allowing Michael to get off the island thinking everything is ok....lures him back due to guilt....allows him to rescue the Oceanic 6 for redemption...yada, yada, yada Michael ends up in a pine box...end game, Ben gets his revenge.

-Hurley falls in love with Libby...so Ben takes a 'liking' to the Blimp Pimp with a Limp...and makes him the point man regarding keeping the secret when Oceanic 6 get off the island. Doesn't it seem that Hurley is leading the off island activities?

Cool! Or not.......

Ben, Alex, Crazy Danielle, etc. all know that Ben isn't really her father. They all know that Alex is his ADOPTED/STOLEN daughter. The fact that Dannie didn't call him on it again this time when he referred to himself as Alex's father was because it just wasn't necessary. He's been know as her father her whole life...of course he would still refer to himself as 'your father'.

And adopted or not, Ben still loves her as his own (having raised her from infancy), so she could definitely be used as a pawn to get to Ben...and he knows it.

I thought the camera lingered a bit too long on Alex's belly when they were doting over (one of the 6!) Aaron...like they wanted to show that it was a bit rounder than normal! So could she be preggers? Maybe. And I think Ben is worried about it. She also had her hand above her belly right before she turned toward Ben like pregnant women often do. Am I crazy?

→ 33. Clementine: Korean inscription:

Thanks, Clementine. Someone please jog my memory—I thought Michael gave the watch back to Jin after their fight? Did that not happen, or did Jin give the watch to Michael at some point?

→ 35. drivera: Michael in the coffin:

Agreed. Initially I thought for sure that the scenes of Michael driving his Cadillac (I'm almost positive I saw the Cadillac script on the car, near one of the rear seat windows) were a FF leading to Jack's FF.

→ 43. Steve: Re immortal pirates & 46. Danny: Island rule:

Wow. Interesting ideas there!

→ 48. desertrat: Alex's & Karl's similarities:

I always thought that Karl looked like Bobby Brady.

→ 51. Vikki: Timeline & Christmas decorations:

These days it seems like Christmas decorations go up during the Thanksgiving holiday, so it's entirely possible that it's early December & Michael's seeing Santas everywhere. Random thought: Couldn't you just see Tom in a Santa suit?

→ 56. phg: & 70. Michelle: Re Sayid's guilt & how Ben blackmails him:

Agreed.

→ 69. hurling: Note on Michael's shirt & Ben's claim of not killing innocent people:

LOL on the Paddington bear reference! And yes, Ben's about as pure as New York City snow three days after it falls. I'm not a psychologist, but isn't one of the marks of a socio-/psychopath the ability to divorce oneself from a sense of responsibility for one's actions? He may not have done actual killings himself, but his hands are just as bloody as Lady MacBeth's.

→ 80. mac: Discreet vs. discrete:

No problem. Kronan the Grammarian is always ready to help! But I loved Cecil Rose's (#45) interpretation that islands come in quantifiable units. ; )

→ 88, 89, & 91. Randy: St(r)eam of consciousness & moon:

Steam of consciousness is what happens when one's stream of consciousness hits the boiling point due to the heat generated by thinking about LOST & comments here, thus leading to blogal warming.

I was reminded of a character (Tom Cullen) from Stephen King's The Stand, who says "M-o-o-n spells ______ (fill in the blank)" for everything.

→ 92. ChristinaLVT: Naomi's Mancunian accent:

I thought Michael recognized it because of spending time w/Charlie, another Mancunian.

Finally, re the island "letting" people die & "healing" people: Sure sounds like the Others, at least, regard the island as a sentient being. Is Smokey a manifestation of the island's "consciousness"?

110/Posted by: Red...Neck...Man "Libby = Annie"

Cool. If we're going down that path, how 'bout Penny = Annie?

a) Penny & Juliet look remarkably similar

b) What better reason for Widmore to hate Ben?

My random thoughts and q's.

Loved Miles' line about Ben eating pound cake.

After Sayid outed Micahel,I thought it would have been cool if the Captain had said: "Uh, we kinda like knew that forever ago."

Sayid definitely has a plan. He's former RG, after all.

Is there a Bloomingdale's on the Island? Alex's makeup was just waaaay too perfect.

Biggest mystery yet: how did Michael and Walt get to NY?

Michael doesn't have such a distinct NY accent that Naomi would recognize it. And why would he recognize her Manchester accent?

Oh,no. They killed Rousseau. Those bastards! (She needs some serious botox, BTW.)

How long does it take to find a pressure valve in the supply room? Long enough for Michael to tell his whole story to Sayid and Des, I guess.

Why is the water running in Micahel's apt? Was Widmore lurking?

ANTP? Did Baby Walt look like a Simpson relative in the photo?

What was the DD on the wall below the TV in Michael's apt?

I totally wished Michael would die. Instead he ends up being a crash test dummy.

Can anyone here explain Michael's vital signs in the hospital? Or decipher his passport?

I was so hoping that Michael would be looking for a panda in the pawn shop.

Any significance to the game show on the TV? Perhaps to establish a time line?

Ha! I was drinking champagne when Michael hit Tom with a champagne bottle.

Miles knew that Kevin Johnson was not Michael's real name. Maybe it's because it was Michael's house where he did his ghost-busting.

I, too, thought the NOT YET note should have read: BOOM! (Or Bong!)

And I'm in agreement that there is still nothing definitive about who the Six are (JoePike...don't eat your hat yet).

-43 Steve. So you're suggesting they are zombies??? Hmmmm.

The Oceanic Six are: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Aaron or Walt????

Hey.... Aren't their 8 episodes left? We've seen 8.... 16 total? I'm confused....

@ bcre8ve: And if we go down that road....then how 'bout:

Walt's grandma = Rose

a) both women who think Michael is a tool

b) what the hell am I doing?

I still haven't read the other posts yet... so bear with me.

I think the MAJOR theme here is "you can't change the future -- the universe has a way of course correcting itself"

This is shown in "The Constant" as well as this episode "Meet Kevin Johnson". I have a feeling we'll see a lot more of it as well.

So the fact that Charles Widmore supposedly dug up 324 dead bodies from graves doesn't necessarily mean that they were "fresh". Considering the way they looked under water, it would only seem that they should have been "fresh".

Maybe the others got orders from Ben to kill Rosseau and Karl so Ben can keep Alex all to himself. Rosseau came in the way, Karl came in the way, a