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March 31, 2005

Key Points from "Deus Ex Machina"

Season 1, Episode 19
Episode Air Date: 03/30/05

Point 1
Locke I love me some Locke backstory!

We had a whole bunch of revelations this week -- both island-based and back-story based -- and most of them revolved around our mysterious island sage, John Locke.

Let's hit the backstory first. The big news is that Jack isn't the only castaway with daddy issues. In fact, Locke's relationship with his father pretty much puts Jack's daddy-doesn't-love-me nonsense to shame.

Now, we already knew two things about Locke's family dynamic:

  1. He was an orphan raised in foster homes.

  2. He offhandedly told Walt that his father wasn't "cool."
We learn in this episode that point 2 was a massive understatement.

The backstory picks up years ago. Locke is working as a clerk in some sort of Wal-Mart/KMart type store (it should have been an S-Mart -- "Shop smart, shop S-Mart"). One day a red-haired older woman starts staring at Locke in a creepy way. Later, Locke spots the same woman giving him the hairy eyeball in the parking lot, so he chases her down. And that's when Locke comes face to face with his mom for the very first time.

So the two get together for a cup off coffee and Locke's mom proceeds to tell her son that he doesn't actually have a father. He was, according to her, an immaculate conception.

Ahhh, that explains it. Locke is the second coming, right? No, that's not what it explains. It explains that Locke's mother is out of her friggin' mind.

Nonetheless, the "Immaculate" episode gets Locke's familial juices running, so he hires a private investigator to get the low-down on his mother, and, if possible, his father. The investigator comes through with the goods: Locke's mother is schizophrenic (no, really?) and has been in and out of institutions her entire life. His father, well, that's a different story. Locke's daddy is a man of means and, judging by all accounts, he does not exhibit any outward signs of insanity.

Choosing the path of least resistance, Locke opts to pursue a relationship with his non-crazy parent. He tracks down his dad -- he goes by the name Anthony Cooper -- at his high-end home and the two immediately hit it off. Cooper is one of these explorer/hunter types. He's also a pathological bachelor. He tells Locke he tried to be a family man "a couple of times," but the family way didn't sit with him. Nonetheless, he's super enthused to finally meet his boy -- so enthused he immediately invites Locke on a hunting expedition the next weekend.

Weeks go by and Locke and his father form a bond while blowing birds out of the sky (nothing says love like avian murder!). And then things get complicated. Locke arrives early for a hunting expedition and finds Cooper hooked up to a dialysis machine. It seems that Locke has stumbled upon something he wasn't meant to see. Remember, I said seems. Cooper tells Locke his kidneys are failing him, and while he's on the donor list, his advanced age doesn't make him a prime candidate. You see where this is going, right?

Yes! It's going right to the operating room. Locke, as you probably guessed, offers up his kidney and Cooper accepts. The father and son share a pre-operation moment: in side-by-side beds, both wearing hospital gowns, Locke and his father join hands in solidarity.

Alas, this is the high point of Locke's relationship with his father. Following the operation, Locke wakes to find the bed next to him empty. A nurse tells him that Mr. Cooper left earlier that day and he left no message (or note, or card, or flowers) for the son who gave him a kidney. The nurse leaves as Locke's face crinkles into a "noooooo, he wouldn't do that, would he?" expression. Suddenly, Locke's nut-job mother appears at the doorway of his hospital room. Now, at this point in Locke's existence his family history was sad, but it wasn't heartwrenching. Well, not anymore. Locke's mother unloads a grade-a Greek tragedy on her son. The entire thing -- Mommy tracking down Locke in the Wal-Mart, Locke finding his father, Locke's father conveniently "revealing" his kidney condition -- was one giant scam. Mother Locke says Cooper set the whole thing up, and here's the real kicker: The diabolical plan was developed so Locke would be the one to offer the kidney. Cooper never asked.

Whoa.

Locke stumbles out of his hospital bed and drives to Cooper's gated home. The guard refuses to let him enter. Locke half-heartedly tries to reason with the guard, but there's absolutely no way he's getting into that house. So Locke crams himself -- sorry, he crams his bleeding self -- back into his compact car and drives off. He stops the car on a nearby road as the gravity of the situation lands squarely on the top of his head. He cries and screams in frustration, and that's where the backstory ends.

Point 2
Locke

Boone
Back on the island, we see that Locke and Boone have finally put a little work into their open-the-mysterious-hatch scheme. In fact, the pair have basically excavated the entire container. It's HUGE. Fully uncovered, it bears an uncanny resemblance to a gigantic breadmaker.

But there's a problem: They still haven't cracked the damn thing open. Locke's latest plan is to smash the breadmaker's little window (the window is roughly a foot wide and maybe six inches high and it appears to be the only window on the whole contraption). And how is he going to smash something that appears to be impenetrable? By building a trebuchet, of course! Yes, Locke and Boone have built a giant medieval weapon. Locke put all his genius to work on the device -- he calculated the angles, estimated the force, and now the moment of revelation is upon us ... soon the breadmaker will be ... nothing. It'll be absolutely nothing because the trebuchet doesn't even make a dent in the thing. In fact, the trebuchet lands its blow and then cracks and collapses to the ground. Locke throws himself on top of the breadmaker and pounds the metal door in frustration. He really believed that this was the moment.

Unfortunately, things are about to get even worse for Locke. When he's done pounding on the breadmaker, he realizes his leg has been pierced by a large, pointy splinter from the trebuchet. But here's the problem: he didn't feel it. Nor does he feel anything when he yanks the splinter from his calf. For a guy who just recently overcame paralysis, lack of feeling in the extremities is cause for concern. Later, Locke pokes and prods his legs with needles and twigs. He even takes a hot stick and crams it into his foot, but there's no feeling at all.

Uh. Oh.

That night Locke has a prescient dream full of Important Symbols. The symbols are:

  1. He sees a small plane sputter and crash onto the island. This is a different plane than Oceanic 815.

  2. He sees his red-haired mother point to the sky (presumably, she's pointing at the plane, but who knows what this "immaculate receiver" is up to).

  3. He sees Boone standing on top of the breadmaker, covered in blood.

  4. He seems himself sitting in a wheelchair.

  5. He hears Boone say: "Theresa falls up the stairs. Theresa falls down the stairs."
With all these images swirling around his head, Locke wakes with a purpose. To him, this menagerie of symbols is a Message from the Island. And we all know that anytime the Island leaves a message on your voice mail, you best be calling back. Locke rounds up Boone, but Boone is initially reluctant to run off on a wild journey. He changes his mind when Locke asks "Who's Theresa?" Boone doesn't immediately answer, but it's clear that Theresa isn't a random name from Boone's past.

And so Boone and Locke set off into the woods to pursue Locke's hunch. The hunch soon uncovers a decomposing corpse that's outfitted with a wad of Nigerian money, a cool pen knife thing, rosary beads, and a bad-ass pistol. Boone suggest the body's previous inhabitant may have been a priest, but Locke considers the evidence -- wad of cash, pen knife, gun -- and rejects Boone's notion (nice try, wedding boy!).

This body, while intriguing, does not hold Locke's answers, so the two continue on. However, the next leg of Boone and Locke's journey becomes infinitely harder because the deeper the two travel, the less stable Locke's legs become. Soon, Boone has to support Locke and eventually the two are overcome by fatigue and are forced to take a break. And this break turns out to be Very Important Indeed because Boone tells Locke that "Theresa" was/is his dead childhood nanny. When Boone was six years old he constantly called for Theresa from his bedroom, thereby forcing her to walk up and down a huge flight of stairs. One day she took a bad step and broke her neck. Locke responds to this story by cackling, which Boone finds odd because dead nannies aren't really funny (unless it involves "The Nanny," of course). But then Boone realizes Locke is staring -- and laughing -- at something behind him. Boone turns, looks up and he sees ... a small airplane nestled in high, dense foliage. Let that sink in. Boone and Locke found the airplane from Locke's dream.

Continuity Note: This newly discovered airplane looks a little like Kate's toy airplane. Coincidence? I think not.

Locke's degenerating physical condition prevents him from investigating, so it's up to Boone to solve the Case of the Symbolic Airplane. Boone shimmies up some vines and steps into the precariously perched plane. The plane is intact, but the fuselage is littered with debris. Boone sifts through maps and wreckage, looking for some sort of Major Clue. This Major Clue, Locke believes, is the reason he had his dream and, more importantly, it's the reason he and Boone joined forces and it's the reason why Locke's paralysis is coming back. But Boone doesn't find anything. Well, that's not entirely true. He doesn't find the Major Clue. He does, however, stumble across an enormous stash of heroin (all of it hidden inside plaster Virgin Mary statues). This drug discovery single handedly creates a Giant Future Plot Development because a plane full of heroin and a recovering junkie (Charlie) are destined to cross paths at some point.

But let's get back to the business at hand. As Boone shuffles around, the plane begins to slowly slide out of its tree perch. Boone moves to the cockpit and, in a desperation move, switches on the radio just for the hell of it. The radio unexpectedly crackles to life! Boone calls out a mayday for Oceanic Flight 815 and, after a few seconds, a garbled voice responds in English. The exact conversation goes like this:

Boone: Hello, hello. Is there anybody out there? Mayday, mayday.

Man on Radio: Is someone there?

Boone: Hello! Hello! Can you hear me?

Man on Radio: Repeat your transmission please.

Boone: Hello! We're survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Please copy.

Man on Radio: There were no survivors of Oceanic Flight 815.

Boone: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Editor's Note: That "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" bit is poetic license. It didn't actually happen, but its inclusion in this review represents the sound Boone makes when the plane falls out of the tree. This is relevant because the plane actually fell.

That's right. The plane fell. Boone was in it. Boone got messed up real bad. But he's not dead. At least not yet.

Following the plane's crash, Locke somehow finds the strength to pull Boone from the wreckage, hoist him across his shoulders, and rush back through the underbrush. Paralysis my ass.

Later that day, Locke stumbles into the cave camp and deposits the badly injured Boone with Jack. Locke claims Boone fell off a cliff while they were hunting. Technically, this is only sort of a lie since Boone did, in fact, fall of a cliff. Locke just forgot to mention that whole airplane thing.

With Boone bleeding from a variety of deep puncture wounds, Jack springs into doctor mode, demanding towels and water. He also demands to know exactly what happened to Boone, but his question falls on deaf ears because Locke has scampered out of camp.

And where did he scamper to? To the breadmaker, of course! In the closing moments, Locke pounds on the breadmaker, screaming: "I've done everything you wanted me to do! So why did you do this to me?!"

Suddenly, the breadmaker's little window fills with light as something -- or perhaps, someone -- inside the device responds to Locke's painful plea.

But then the scene fades to black ... and that's it. That's all we get. The stupid hatch finally wakes up just as the episode ends.

Point 3
Sawyer

Jack

Kate
Sawyer is suffering from migraines, but he's too stubborn/stupid to talk to the only person on the island who can ease his pain (that would be Jack, the guy with the medical degree). Eventually, Kate hauls Sawyer off to see Jack and the good doctor runs Sawyer through a battery of sensory tests. These intricate tests involve a ball point pen and a series of probing questions.

And this is when the funniest moment in the entire series comes to fruition.

Jack gets a concerned medical look and asks Sawyer if he's ever had a blood transfusion (no); has he ever taken pills for malaria (no); has he ever had sex with a prostitute (pause ... yes); has he ever contracted a sexually transmitted disease (pause ... pause ... no answer, so Jack assumes yes); and finally, when was the last outbreak ...

Sawyer tells Jack to go to hell and storms off. Kate -- who is sitting nearby and heard the whole exchange -- looks at Jack.

And Jack announces: "He needs glasses."

POINT JACK! Actually, make that two points because I'm still laughing.

Point 4
Michael

Jin
The Odd Couple continues to build Escape Raft 2.0
Point 5
Sun Now that her language secret has been revealed, Sun is conversing in English with her fellow castaways. She's also taken to quoting Chris Rock routines. Well, no she hasn't, but she should.

Point 6
Island Jack's slow beard growth has finally been explained. Early in this episode he's seen shaving. However, the blade appears to be dull because Jack is sporting that Sonny Crockett look. Next week: pastel shirts and white loafers!

That's it for now. Be sure to drop by our "Lost" Forum for stimulating conversation and conjecture.

Next Episode:
"Do No Harm" -- Claire finally pops that baby out. Meanwhile, Locke goes missing and Jack tends to the critically wounded Boone. Airs: Wednesday, April 6, 8 p.m., ABC.


Review by Mac Slocum. All photos and episode descriptions © ABC Inc.


Posted by Mac at 9:48 AM

March 17, 2005

New Lost Episode Coming March 30

The next new episode of "Lost" will air on Wednesday, March 30 at 8 p.m. Here's the official teaser:

Title: "Deus Ex Machina"

Description: "Boone becomes concerned when Locke suffers physical problems while they try to find a way into the mysterious hatch. Meanwhile, Jack is reluctant to help when Sawyer starts to experience excruciating headaches, and Michael and Jin struggle to communicate while working together on the raft."

Paging Dr. Jack. Dr. Jack please come to the mysterious hatch so you can put your spinal expertise to work on Mr. Locke. Thank you. -- Mac

Posted by Mac at 11:36 AM

March 8, 2005

Lost Producer Hints at Future Developments

The most recent edition of Entertainment Weekly (March 11, 2005 -- the one with the Oscar winners on the cover) features a short interview with "Lost" executive producer Damon Lindelof. And for once an interview actually reveals something...

Lindelof says the castaway connectivity we've seen in recent episodes (Hurley in Jin's flashback; Sawyer in Boone's flashback) will continue as the season chugs toward its finale. Moreover, Locke's recent comment about his "not cool" father will be mined in a future flashback (this season? next season? who knows?) and Sawyer's appearance in Boone's backstory will be addressed this season.

Lindelof offers a couple more notable tidbits:

  1. The recent scene where Jin tries to understand the castaways did not suggest Jin knows English. "Actually ... that wasn't Korean. That was gibberish," says Lindelof.

  2. According to Lindelof, the season finale won't be a half-assed affair: "The machinations for the season finale have been in place for a very, very long time."
Fans of Naveen Andrews (Sayid) should also turn to page 73 of the same "Entertainment Weekly" issue. Andrews is the subject of a nice little one-page profile. -- Mac Slocum

Posted by Mac at 10:49 AM

March 3, 2005

Lost Season 1 DVD Coming Sept. 6

TV Shows on DVD says the first season of "Lost" will arrive in stores Sept 6. The six-disc set will retail for $59.99.

According to Home Media Retailing, the "Lost" set will feature five hours of bonus material. Goodies include:

-- Mac Slocum

Posted by Mac at 1:13 PM

Key Points from "Numbers"

Season 1, Episode 18
Episode Air Date: 03/02/05

Point 1
Hurley 4  8  15  16  23  42

Remember these numbers. They're going to have short-term and long-term importance because they're woven into Hurley's story, crazy Danielle Rousseau's story and perhaps even the island's story.

What do they mean? Where did they come from? Why are we suddenly asked to remember a seemingly random series of digits?

I have not friggin' clue. But the story surrounding these numbers sure was fun. So here's what happened:

Remember way back at the beginning of the season when we first met Hurley? He was a wisecracking, dude-spouting side character that seemed to exist solely for comedic relief and golf tournaments. He was a bit player at best; a non-entity that could be offed at any moment with limited repercussions. Well, not anymore.

Hurley's arrival on the island may have been in destiny's cards (well, in destiny's numbers, but we'll get to that), and his backstory shows how all the intricate threads came together. His flashback sequence begins a few years back. He's a rotund fast-food employee living in his mother's house, wasting his youth while expanding his girth. One Saturday night, while camped in front of his mother's television, he tunes into the lottery results as he clutches a lotto ticket.

4 ... 8 ... 15 ... 16 ... 23 ... and the bonus ball ... 42!

In an instant, Hurley rockets through 15 tax brackets. He didn't just win the lottery, he won a record jackpot: millions and millions and millions of dollars. Hurley and his family are set for life. Or so it would seem ...

The next day the media catch wind of Hurley's good fortune and arrive at his doorstep for a comment from the lucky winner. Hurley rattles off his intentions -- take care of his family, buy his mom a house and, in particular, give his hard-working grandfather some well-earned time off. His exact words: "The first thing I'm going to do with the money is finally give him the rest that he's earned." It's a lovely family moment ... and it lasts for exactly 30 seconds. As Hurley drones on, his grandfather (who's standing nearby), clutches his left arm and gets that "crap, this can't be good" look. Grampy staggers and falls to the ground, stricken dead by a heart attack that delivers more rest than Hurley could ever offer.

In the ensuing weeks, a heavy black cloud settles over Hurley, his family, and anyone in his orbit. For example: The priest overseeing his grandfather's funeral is struck by lightning at the funeral; Hurley's sister-in-law leaves his brother for another woman; Hurley surprises his mother with a new house only to have his mother snap her ankle during the unveiling; and then the house catches on fire; and then Hurley is mistaken for a drug dealer and arrested by the police.

And those last three things all happen in a three-minute span.

Eventually, this string of bad luck leads Hurley to conclude that his lottery win has brought a curse upon his curly-haired head. Even worse, he soon learns that his series of unfortunate events is expanding beyond his direct contacts. His accountant tells him that a fire at a sneaker factory he owns (he was unaware of his ownership) recently claimed eight lives. Nonetheless, the accountant tells Hurley that all of this tragedy does have a significant upside: insurance and lawsuits will double his net worth. And then Hurley is struck by an epiphany: it's not the money that's cursed, it's the numbers. Hurley blurts out his revelation (how he arrives at this conclusion is a little murky) and his accountant immediately launches into a "Curses? There's no such thing!" retort ... but the accountant's message is watered down by the sudden appearance of a screaming man dropping by the accountant's high-rise office window. So, what was that about a curse?

Sidenote & Important Character Connection: A couple of things are revealed during this discussion between Hurley and his accountant:

  1. Hurley's real name is Hugo Reyes.

  2. Hurley owns a significant stake in a box company in Tustin, Calif. And it just so happens that Locke used to work at a box company in Tustin, Calif..
Back to the backstory ... struck by his numbers epiphany, Hurley jumps into action. He has two desires: A desire to uncover the truth behind the numbers and a desire to find someone, anyone, who doesn't think his curse conclusion is completely insane.

Hurley's number quest takes him a psychiatric hospital in search of a patient named Leonard. He and Leonard have a history together -- a history that isn't completely spelled out, but one that suggests Hurley may have once been a psych patient himself. It turns out that Leonard is really quite insane. He spends his days mumbling and playing Connect Four (by himself) ... but if you listen carefully you'll hear that Lenny's mumble is actually a string of numbers: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. Hurley's first contact with these numbers was via Leonard's mumble and when Hurley tells Lenny that he may have kinda sorta played those numbers in the lottery, Leonard flies off the handle. "You shouldn't have done that!" Lenny screams. "You've opened the box! You've gotta get away from those numbers!" Unfortunately, screaming in a psych ward tends to draw the attention of muscle-bound guards, so Lenny is hauled off before Hurley can get definitive answers. But just before Lenny is taken away, he tells Hurley that the numbers were first heard by a man named Sam Toomey in Kalgoorlie, Australia.

And so Hurley travels to a remote town in Australia to visit the mysterious Sam Toomey. Alas, Sam Toomey is both mysterious and dead, but his widow is more than happy to discuss her husband's checkered history with the cursed numbers. Mrs. Toomey reveals that Sam and Lenny encountered the numbers while serving in the U.S. Navy. Sam was monitoring low-wave radio transmissions over the Pacific Ocean when one night 16 years ago a voice crackled through the static. The voice repeated the numbers over and over. Days later, Sam and his wife visited a local fair where they encountered a man with a giant jar of beans (stick with me here). For decades the man had offered $50,000 to anyone who could guess the number of beans to within 10. Sam offered up the curse numbers and the total was correct -- exactly correct down to the very last bean. Sam and his wife claimed the money, but on their drive home the number curse reared its nasty little head. A car accident claimed Mrs. Toomey's leg, yet Sam escaped unscathed. Over the next few years Sam became convinced that every accident and misfortune that happened to anyone he knew was tied to the number curse. Ultimately, Sam's only escape came when he crammed a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger (in his Australian wife's words: "and pulled da triggah"). This isn't really what Hurley wants to hear but that's all he's gonna get because his backstory ends at this point.

Nitpicky Math Sidenote: I'm horrible at math, so maybe someone can straighten this out for me. If Sam used the curse numbers to guess the correct number of beans, as best I can tell the final tally would be 4,815,162,342. Uh, does that seem a little high to anyone? FOUR BILLION BEANS? That jar would need to be the size of Rhode Island, right? Likewise, if Sam added the digits, the total would either be 108 (4 + 8 + 15 + 16 + 23 + 42) or 36 (4 + 8 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 6 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 2) -- both of which I'd deem guessable. Is there something I'm missing here?

Point 2
Hurley

Jack

Sayid

Charlie
The Case of the Number Curse goes way beyond Hurley's backstory. It's also integral to this week's island developments.

Early in the episode, Michael tells Jack and Hurley that his new and improved raft (yes, he's rebuilding after last week's boat bonfire) will need some sort of radio signal device to summon help on the high seas. But there's a problem -- radios require power and the castaways aren't exactly swimming in spare Duracells. But then Hurley remembers Sayid mentioning a stash of batteries hidden away at crazy Danielle Rousseau's secret lair.

And so Hurley and Jack rush off to ask Sayid all sorts of questions about Rousseau, but Sayid doesn't have much to offer. He claims he doesn't know how to find her since he was disoriented when he escaped. Moreover, he appears to be a little squeamish about a second Rousseau encounter, which makes sense when you consider the torture he endured during his first visit. As Sayid adamantly -- and angrily -- declares that a return is out of the question, he shoves the maps and notes he stole from Rousseau into Hurley's hands. And that's when Hurley notices a piece of paper with six numbers repeated again and again. I'll give 50 grand and 4 billion beans to the first person who can correctly guess those six numbers.

The six numbers dig a big pointy splinter deep into Hurley's brain, prompting him to wake Sayid in the middle of the night with a barrage of questions about Rousseau. Again, Sayid has no answers. The next day, Hurley gathers up bottles of water and prepares to set out in search of the crazy French lady. Charlie sees Hurley's frantic preparation and asks Hurley where he's going. Hurley claims he's going on a walk and when Charlie volunteers to accompany him, Hurley says he needs alone time.

Hours later, Sayid charges into the cave camp to confront Jack about some missing Rousseau documents. Jack pleads ignorance (rightfully so) and Sayid realizes that Hurley stole the documents the night before. Sayid and Jack ask Charlie if he's seen Hurley and Charlie notes that the big fella tromped off into the woods hours ago "acting like a loon I might add." Sayid and Jack are overcome by an Impending Adventure/Rescue Mission as they conclude that Hurley has scampered off for an ill-advised Rousseau Redezvous.

So Sayid, Jack and Charlie set out to find Hurley before he becomes Rousseau's plaything. And the trio stumbles upon Hurley just as he's about to do something very, very stupid. Hurley found the same power line Sayid uncovered earlier in the season (it's a heavy line that runs from the ocean floor to Rousseau's subterranean jungle hideout). Hurley followed the line inland and stepped on a hidden weight trigger -- and this is exactly where Sayid, Jack and Charlie come into the scene. A big heavy guy is standing on a hair trigger. Not good. Looking up, Sayid sees that the trigger is attached to a big bundle of pointy sticks that's poised to impale the unlucky soul who sets off the trap. Hurley surveys the scene and says he's spry enough to avoid the weapon. Before the rescuers can protest, Hurley leaps forward as the sticks swing clear of his outstretched body. He's right -- he's surpringly spry for a big guy.

He's also got what appears to be a death wish. The foursome heads deeper into the woods to find Rousseau's hideaway, but their path ends at a rickety bridge spanning a deep cavern. Without hesitation, Hurley creaks his way across the dilapidated boards. He successfully traverses the obstacle, much to the surprise of Sayid, Jack and Charlie. And that's when Charlie has a Sir Robin moment ("That's easy!") and sets off across the Bridge of Death. What Charlie fails to realize is that Hurley's heft compromised the bridge's already shaky structural integrity. Fortunately, Charlie is close enough to the other side to dive to safety as the bridge crackles to pieces on cue (really, we all knew it was going to break, right?). So now Charlie and Hurley are on one side of the divide and Jack and Sayid are on the other.

We've seen this type of character division before. Back in "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues," Jack and Kate searched for the then-abducted Claire and Charlie on one path while Boone and Locke took another. That situation opened the door to the Locke-Boone teacher-student dynamic and it gave Jack and Kate ample time to take off their shirts and engage in useless psuedo flirting. Fortunately, this episode's character division is slightly more interesting. Sayid and Jack head back into the woods to look for a way around the canyon, but as they move into the brush Jack trips a wire. A huge explosion and fireball erupt nearby. Jack and Sayid survive the blast, but they soon see that Rousseau intentionally booby trapped her lair in anticipation of Sayid's return.

On the Hurley-Charlie side of the canyon, Charlie continues to make colloquial references to Hurley's sanity ("bloody nutter" is my personal favorite). Hurley takes great offense to this and comes to the verge of revealing his number curse to Charlie, but just as the words are set to tumble from his mouth, bullets rip through nearby foliage. Charlie and Hurley run blindly into the woods, hoping to dodge shots from their unseen attacker.

Hurley and Charlie get separated and Hurley trips into a clearing ... and that's when he's met by the business end of crazy Danielle Rousseau's hunting rifle. Sporting a wild-eyed glare and a fetching jungle ensemble, Rousseau isn't particularly interested in making friends with Hurley. But when Hurley whips out Rousseau's notes, her homicidal fury is replaced by curiosity. Hurley asks her what the six numbers mean. Rousseau says she doesn't know. And this is when Hurley snaps. With a gun still pointed at his chest, Hurley says he's been going along for the ride up until this point, but now he's getting pretty pissed off at the current state of affairs and all he wants -- all he demands -- are some "freakin' answers." Apparently, a threat of violence is the key to Rousseau's heart because her glare softens and she decides to reveal her own Number Curse Encounter. It goes like this: 16 years ago Rousseau's science expedition picked up a radio transmission aboard their boat. The voice in the transmission repeated the numbers over and over, so the team changed course to investigate. A storm shipwrecked the crew on the island (she previously recounted this part of her story to Sayid) and weeks later her fellow castaways finally found the source of the number transmission -- a radio tower located "up by the black rock." For some reason Hurley neglects to ask "and where the hell is the black rock?", so we still don't know much about that friggin' thing. Anyway, a "sickness" eventually ravaged Rousseau's crew and when the last castaway had died, Rousseau returned to the radio tower and changed the transmission to her now infamous 16-year-old distress signal.

Hurley prods her for more information, desperate to understand why they seem to be cursed by these numbers. Rousseau seems prepared to launch into the "you've got to be kidding" response, but then she considers the evidence. The curse numbers brought her to the island and the events on the island have been pretty damn sucky -- maybe they are cursed. She tells Hurley he's probably right. Oddly enough, this is exactly what Hurley needs to hear. A weight is lifted from Hurley's shoulders and he hugs Rousseau in thanks.

Now, it's a nice moment and I'm sure we're all very happy for Hurley, but there's a wee problem here. If Hurley is tying his sanity to the island's resident loon, he could be in for a mighty big fall. Then again, maybe we're the ones who are crazy ... allright, enough of that.

At the moment all is right in Hurley's world, but all is not right with Sayid, Jack and Charlie. Charlie finds Sayid and Jack as they sift through the rubble of Rousseau's exploded headquarters. She had abandoned her secret fort following Sayid's escape, so there's little usable material. Sayid, however, discovers the photograph of his Iraqi love that he left behind during his previous escape attempt. He pockets the picture before Jack sees it, which is good because you know Jack would squeal to Shannon the second they get back to camp. Anyway, the bottom line for Sayid, Jack and Charlie is that they still haven't found a battery and now they appear to have lost Hurley as well. But both of these problems are soon solved. Hurley strides into the clearing and shows off a shiny new battery courtesy of Crazy Danielle Rousseau's Gun Shack and Battery Emporium. Hurley hands the battery to Jack and dryly looks at Sayid: "She says 'hey'."

Later that night, Charlie sits fireside with Hurley (every episode needs at least one Intimate Fireside Moment). Charlie returns to the revelation Hurley was about to make in the jungle, but Hurley is mum about the number curse thing. Nonetheless, he tells Charlie that the plane crash might have been his fault, citing a history of really, really bad luck. Charlie doesn't buy this bloody nutter conclusion (sorry, had to use that phrase again). Before Hurley can protest (and reveal more), Charlie spills his own deep, dark secret. He tells Hurley that just before the plane crashed he was holed up in the bathroom snorting heroine. "I suppose that was your fault as well," Charlie says. Hurley has no response, so Charlie fishes for more, asking Hurley to reciprocate with his own Big Secret. Hurley pauses and says "Back home I'm worth $156 million." Unconvinced and offended at Hurley's "joke" response, Charlie storms off in disgust. Hurley is dumbfounded. What's a guy got to do to convince the people he's got mad bling back home?

And with that the Hurley extravaganza concludes.

Point 3
Locke

Claire
Locke finds Claire sitting on the beach, staring aimlessly at the horizon. The child growing inside her appears to be in its 33rd month of gestation and Claire's energy has clearly been sapped by both her pregnancy and the Ethan ordeal. Sensing Claire's unspoken desire to contribute, Locke asks Claire if she'll help him with a small building project.

The duo work together throughout the rest of the episode constructing an unknown device. At first it looks like some sort of animal trap or container, but as the day progresses (and as their discussion turns more significant), the object takes form. In the final moments -- just as Claire has revealed that today is her birthday -- Locke turns the object over to reveal a brand new cradle for her soon-to-be child. "Happy birthday, Claire," Locke says with a smile. Locke = Smoothie.

Point 4
Michael

Jin
Michael and Jin are briefly seen collaborating on the raft construction. Their language barrier appears to be breaking down, as Michael is able to roughly translate some of Jin's instructions. More importantly, the two can now argue without Michael hauling off with a right hook. In later seasons, the two will share an apartment and form an unusual (and comical) bond despite their differences in culture and cleanliness.
Point 5
Island If you thought I was done with the number stuff you were wrong. In the closing moments of this episode the camera zooms in on the mysterious hatch Locke and Boone discovered seven episodes ago ("All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"). For weeks it's seemed as though the hatch had been forgotten by the writing team, but the oversight may have been intentional because this episode's very last shot shows a series of small numbers cut into the hatch's metal exterior: 4 8 15 16 23 42. Hmm, I wonder if this mysterious hatch and its mysterious numbers will somehow figure into a mysterious end-of-season cliffhanger?

That's it for now. Be sure to drop by our "Lost" Forum for stimulating conversation and conjecture.

Next Episode:
"All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues" (repeat) -- Charlie and Claire go missing, so a search party sets out to find them. In other developments, Jack's Daddy problems flare up again and Locke and Boone uncover yet another "island mystery." Airs: Wednesday, March 9, 8 p.m., ABC.


Review by Mac Slocum. All photos and episode descriptions © ABC Inc.


Posted by Mac at 10:40 AM