2.17 - Lockdown

Title’s significance: The Swan goes into lockdown mode in this episode; it’s also a pun because the incident pins Locke to the ground – “Locke-down.”

Recap: In Locke’s flashbacks, he attends the funeral of his father, only to learn that his father faked his own death; when his father asked him for help in retrieving some money he stole, Locke complies, but Helen finds out and refuses to marry him. Back at the hatch, Henry says he was just joking about the ambush but continues to try to play Locke against Jack; the searchers find a grave right under the smiley-face balloon. When Locke hears strange noises coming from the speakers in The Swan, he begins to investigate, and The Swan suddenly goes into lockdown. Locke enlists Henry’s help, at the price of promising his safety; they pry the blast door up, but it falls and crushes Locke’s leg. Meanwhile, Jack’s playing cards with Sawyer, with the medicine cache as the wager, and he wins. Pinned, Locke sends Henry to the computer to push the button; black lights come on and reveal an intricate map painted on the blast door, but when they go out, Locke sees that Henry didn’t flee, though he claims he did nothing to end the lockdown beyond enter the numbers. In the jungle, Jack and Kate find a Dharma supply drop just as the searchers return; they’ve found Henry Gale’s balloon, but they also found the real Henry Gale’s grave. So who is this guy?

Thoughts: Damon & Carlton, Locke & Henry. Do I need to say anything else at this point?

Favorite moment: It’s got to be when the blast door map is revealed. Only possible competition is the moment when Sayid reveals who the real Henry Gale is.

Characters introduced (in order):

• No new characters introduced, except the two men that are looking for Anthony Cooper

What we learned:

• Locke owned a home inspection business called “Welcome Home,” where he met Nadia and inspected her house.
• Anthony Cooper stole $700,000 and had to fake his own death.
• Jack learned to play cards in Thailand.
• A map painted on the blast door shows a slew of hatches all around an octagonal shape.
• Locke asked Helen to marry him, but she refused.
• “Henry Gale” isn’t really Henry Gale.

Questions:

• What caused The Swan to go into lockdown?
• What was Jack doing in Thailand?
• Who painted the blast door map?
• What does the blast door map show?
• So who is this guy calling himself Henry Gale?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Jack tells Locke, “What’s done IS done.” Could this be a reference to the Jughead bomb not having worked?
• This episode sets up Locke and Henry as foils for each other; they could very well have been brothers in another life. There’s a long-running connection between the two of them, right down to the fact that their mothers have the same first name. What’s going to be the end result of this connection?
• I get the feeling there are all kinds of things hidden on the blast door map. For that reason, I’m linking to Lostpedia’s hi-res image of the blast door map.

2.16 - The Whole Truth

Title’s significance: Jack advises Sun to tell Jin “the whole truth” about her surprise pregnancy.

Recap: Jin and Sun’s flashbacks let us know that the couple was trying to have a baby in an attempt to fix both their relationship and the domineering control Mr. Paik wielded. While Sun was learning English from Jae Lee, she learned that Jin was infertile (though her doctor lied about it at first) and that Jae Lee was still interested in her. On the island, Jin worries about Sun being attacked again, while Locke asks Ana Lucia to interrogate Henry. Sun falls mysteriously ill, and Locke tells Jack that Henry isn’t motivated enough to tell them the truth; they agree that Ana Lucia should give it a shot, and she asks Henry to draw a map to his balloon. Sun seeks a pregnancy test from Sawyer, while Ana Lucia leads Sayid and Charlie to follow Henry’s map. Sun’s pregnancy test comes up positive, but she doesn’t want to tell Jin. Ana Lucia apologizes to Sayid for killing Shannon, but he says he understands and blames The Others. The searchers find where the balloon should be, but the field is empty; meanwhile, Jin helps Bernard fish for oysters (and pearls) and replants Sun’s garden, at which point Sun tells him she’s pregnant – “it’s a miracle.” Over breakfast, Henry tells Jack and Locke about the map to his balloon, while saying that if he were one of The Others the map would certainly lead to a trap. “You guys got any milk?”

Thoughts: The problem with this episode is that there are two plotlines competing for attention, and both of them are compelling. Of course, my natural inclination is to find the Henry Gale one more interesting (with acting like this, how could one not?), but the Sun/Jin plotline is handled well, and there’s just a smidgeon of mystery left at the end to keep the reader piqued. Episodes like this one start to get LOST back on track and get us ready for a whopper of a season finale.

Favorite moment: Sawyer decrying Judy Blume’s “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” as “Predictable. Not nearly enough sex.” That, or Henry’s oscillation between threatening an ambush and jovially asking for milk

Characters introduced (in order):

• No new characters introduced.

What we learned:

• Sun learned English from Jae Lee.
• Kate’s taken a pregnancy test.
• Jae Lee was at least interested in having an affair with Sun.
• Jin is infertile.

Questions:

• Did Sun and Jae Lee have an affair?
• Who’s the father – Jin or Jae Lee?
• Did the island cure Jin’s infertility like it cured Locke’s paralysis?
• Does Henry's map lead to an ambush?
• Is there milk in The Swan?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• There’s something just too prescient about Jin’s “A baby will change everything.”
• Henry tells Ana Lucia, “It doesn’t matter what I do. I’m dead already.” Is this a clue that the island is purgatory/hell?
• Ben reads the following passage from “The Brothers Karamazov: - “Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those whom they have slain,” later asking what the difference is. Something like this just feels super important, especially with respect to Locke’s trajectory over the rest of the series.

2.15 - Maternity Leave

Title’s significance: The mystery behind Claire’s “maternity leave” is finally answered (but in true LOST fashion, the questions it raises are far more interesting).

Recap: In a new twist on flashbacks, this episode’s set explain Claire’s abduction from Season One: as a doctor, Ethan treated Claire’s pregnancy in a full medical facility – The Staff – replete with a decked-out nursery. When Aaron falls ill, Claire begins to worry it’s the same illness that Rousseau worried about. She enlists Libby’s help in remembering her missing two weeks, while Locke asks Jack what the “long-term plan” is for Henry Gale. Meanwhile, Eko is out cutting trees and goes to The Swan to borrow a saw, noticing that someone else might be living down there. Kate and Claire go after Rousseau, who helps them find The Staff again. Claire then remembers that Alex – Rousseau’s daughter and one of The Others – rescued her from being killed by The Others. Curiously, Eko seeks confession from Henry. When Aaron’s fever breaks, all seems well, and Claire tells her baby that they’re “supposed to be together... to take care of each other.” Henry asks Locke if he’s “the genius or the guy who feels like he’s always living in the shadow of the genius,” but Locke dodges the question, especially when Henry tries to play Locke against Jack.

Thoughts: Even though it wasn’t written by wunderkinds Damon & Carlton, “Maternity Leave” was still pretty good, answering a question that I had almost forgotten about at this point in the rewatch. In typical LOST fashion, though, we get twelve questions for every one answer this episode delivers, and an eleventh-hour conversation between Locke and Henry lets us know that there is a larger game of “us vs. them” being played here (while also reminding us that Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson are the top dogs of the cast).

Favorite moment: The strange confession of Mr. Eko and the curious literary analysis undertaken by Henry and Locke.

Characters introduced (in order):

• ALEX, Rousseau’s daughter, living among The Others

What we learned:

• Claire’s memory loss might have been a psychological self-defense mechanism.
• Ethan is some kind of doctor.
• There’s a full-service medical facility on the island – a Dharma station called The Staff.
• Ethan was supposed to make a list of the survivors.
• Mr. Friendly’s beard is fake.
• Ethan claims The Others are “good people.”
• The Others were definitely interested in Claire’s baby.
• The whole “grizzly Others” thing is just an elaborate act.
• Alex, Rousseau’s daughter, is one of The Others and helped Claire escape.
• Claire scratched Rousseau when the latter was trying to keep her from calling out to The Others.
• Rousseau knocked out Claire while rescuing her - a possible source of her amnesia.

Questions:

• Why is Eko cutting down the trees that he marked as trees that he “liked”?
• What was The Staff’s original function?
• Where did all the things in Claire’s nursery come from, and why couldn’t Ethan explain them?
• Why did Claire become so instantly trusting of Ethan?
• Are The Others members of The Dharma Initiative?
• Why were The Others interested in Claire’s baby?
• Why do The Others pretend to be all grizzly?
• Why doesn’t Alex share the agenda of The Others?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Pregnancy. ’Nuff said.
• Again, we get shades of this whole Claire/Aaron thing and the implication that there’s something larger orchestrating their destinies – Jacob, or something larger?

2.14 - One of Them

Title’s significance: While Sayid is referred to as “one of them” (i.e., the torturers), suspicion mounts about whether Henry Gale is “one of them” (i.e., The Others).

Recap: In flashbacks, we discover that Sayid learned torturing at the hands of the Americans in Desert Storm, working as a translator under a soldier named Joe Inman. On the island, Sayid finds that Rousseau has trapped Henry Gale, who claims his balloon crashed on the island. Meanwhile, Sawyer finds himself challenged by a noisy tree frog and enlists Hurley’s help in catching the little bugger, but he learns that he’s the new least popular person on the island. While Jack treats Henry, Sayid and Locke debate whether or not the man is an Other; Sayid decides torture is the best route, but Henry sticks to his story even when threatened with violence. When he finds the frog, Sawyer squishes it in his hand. Jack is miffed that Locke’s keeping Henry prisoner and frightened that Sayid might torture him, but Sayid and Henry find common ground over losing the woman they love on the island. When the alarm goes off in The Swan, Locke opens the safe and enters the numbers, just as the counter shifts to 0:00 – and a set of black and red hieroglyphics. Sayid claims that Henry is one of The Others, because he doesn’t feel guilty for torturing him.

Thoughts: I shouldn’t even have to say it at this point, but this episode broke a losing streak on LOST, and – no surprise – it was written by Damon & Carlton, in addition to featuring Michael Emerson, who is by far the best thing to happen to the show since Damon and Carlton. This episode moves at lightning speed, introducing a fascinating new mystery, blending in an interesting subplot and compelling backstory, to boot. Take note, LOST writers: this is how it’s done.

Favorite moment: I’d like to say it’s the moments where Sawyer is hounded by an exceptionally vocal frog, but I’ve got to hand it to Michael Emerson’s debut in this episode, which immediately establishes the ambiguity surrounding his character for the rest of the series.

Characters introduced (in order):

• TARIQ, Sayid’s commanding officer
• HENRY GALE, a wealthy balloonist from Minnesota who crashed on the island with his wife
• JOE INMAN, top brass soldier who taught Sayid to torture

What we learned:

• Sayid met Sam Austen in Operation Desert Storm.
• The Americans pushed Sayid to torture.
• The survivors have locked Henry Gale in The Swan’s gun closet amid suspicion that he might be an Other.
• Henry’s balloon has a big yellow smile face on top.
• When the 108-minute timer runs out, black and red hieroglyphics appear on the timer.
• Sayid made a promise to Joe Inman that he would never torture again.

Questions:

• Is Henry Gale legit?
• Why is Rousseau so convinced that Henry Gale is one of The Others?
• Was Henry’s wife killed by the same illness that Rousseau says killed her team?
• What’s the significance of the hieroglyphics?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• The introduction of Henry Gale in this episode effectively sets in motion the whole rest of the show, and what his endgame is – and how he came to be captured – still remains to be seen.
• The hieroglyphics on the countdown timer suggest an Egyptian connection, something that’s been hinted throughout the series, up to the statue under which “the one who will save us all” lies.

2.13 - The Long Con

Title’s significance: Sawyer engages in a long con (“getting someone to ask you to do something like it’s their idea”) both on and off the island. (In the coming episodes, “Henry Gale” is the focus of a long con, to boot.)

Recap: In Sawyer’s flashbacks, we see another con of his, albeit one that didn’t work – because he fell in love with Cassidy, the would-be victim who figured it all out ahead of him; Sawyer was one step ahead, though, and ended up conning her anyway. Locke changes the combination of the gun closet, but Jack gets the combination and moves the medicine into the closet. Hurley gives Bernard’s walkie-talkie to Sayid, who’s not interested in being cheered up. When a sudden rainstorm hits, Sun is attacked in her garden; the camp panics, but Sawyer says that something’s fishy about this alleged “Others” attack, suggesting Ana Lucia might be conning them to help build the army. Kate grows suspicious of Ana Lucia and directs Sawyer to warn Locke, which he does “to piss off Jack.” Locke asks Sawyer’s help in moving the guns, but Sawyer stays behind while Locke relocates. Sayid patches up the walkie and intercepts a radio transmission – from 1944. Sawyer reveals that it was all part of a long con to get the guns from the leaders of the camp, with Charlie as his Sun-attacking, Locke-shadowing accomplice.

Thoughts: This was close to being another pretty bad episode, saved by Josh Holloway, who’s abundantly entertaining and believable as Sawyer, especially in this episode. Unfortunately, the writers decided to boil all the characters down to petty shells of themselves; Sawyer and Charlie are only interested in vengeance, an unpleasant and unconvincing character turn that is both distasteful and inconsistent with what follows. If “a tiger don’t change his stripes,” as Sawyer claims, why do the characters on this show? I hate to say it, but Jeph Loeb joining the crew for Season Two might not have been the best idea.

Favorite moment: Sawyer to Charlie: “You even made Locke take a swing atcha. Hell, that’s like getting Gandhi to beat his kids.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• CASSIDY, Sawyer’s love interest and simultaneously the focus of his latest long con
• GORDY, a con partner of Sawyer’s who worries that the con artist is going soft

What we learned:

• Sawyer took on an apprentice – Cassidy – while conning before coming to Australia.
• Locke is checking the books in The Swan for video frames.
• Sawyer cons everyone into giving him the guns.
• Sayid intercepts a transmission from 1944.
• Sawyer claims he’s “not a good person.”

Questions:

• What does Sawyer owe Gordy?
• Why are transmissions coming in from 1944?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Locke’s seen with Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Please tell me this isn’t a clue that the whole thing is a last-second dream aboard the crashing plane.
• Sayid intercepts a transmission playing a Glenn Miller track, “Moonlight Serenade,” from 1944. Miller’s airplane disappeared during World War II; is this a clue that his plane crashed on the island?

2.12 - Fire + Water

Title’s significance: I disliked this episode so much that I don’t even care what the title means. Lostpedia says it has something to do with Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” so there.

Recap: Merry Christmas, Charlie – you’re getting flashbacks about trying to save your brother Liam from drugs, getting a piano for Christmas, and appearing in a diaper commercial. Charlie has dreams about Aaron in moments of peril (usually involving drowning), and sparks fly between Hurley and Libby as Sawyer goads him on. Locke confronts Charlie about using heroin again, and after consulting Eko Charlie decides that Aaron must be baptized. Addled, Charlie sets a fire to con Claire into thinking that Aaron is in danger. We learn that Charlie is growing jealous of Locke’s burgeoning role as a foster father for Aaron, which Locke counters with a few punches. Despite Charlie being humiliated in front of the camp, in the end Eko baptizes Aaron – and Claire, for good measure.

Thoughts: Wow, talk about an epic detour. I honestly had trouble paying attention during this episode because there wasn’t an interesting plotline in the whole thing: the drugs issue was handled sloppily, Charlie’s backstory shares nothing new and is inconsistent with respect to Charlie’s history of drug use, Locke’s violence is completely out of character, and the baptism thing hasn’t even been so much as mentioned since Season Two. It’s as though the writers wanted a Charlie-centric episode but didn’t quite know what to do with one. When the only redeeming scene in an episode is Hurley and Libby getting their flirt on and not a cryptic dream sequence that could have had so much going for it, you know you’re in trouble. Unless you’re a diehard Charlie fan, this is one of the worst episodes of Season Two. When the heck does Michael Emerson show up?

Favorite moment: After Hurley asks Sawyer about Libby, Sawyer responds, “Whoa, you got a little love connection brewin’ over there, Jabba?” That, or the downright hysterical “You All Every-Butties” commercial. What’s absolutely priceless, though, is Ana Lucia’s abrupt “You hittin’ that?” to Jack about Kate (“You’re hot, she’s hot...”).

Characters introduced (in order):

• MEGAN, Charlie’s mum and also the name of his niece
• KAREN, Liam’s wife

What we learned:

• There’s a love connection between Hurley and Libby.
• Charlie says he hasn’t been using.

Questions:

• Are the washer and dryer in The Swan really newer than everything else down there?
• Does Hurley know Libby from somewhere?
• If Hurley got on the plane late and Libby was sitting in the back of the plane, how did he manage to step on her toe?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Why is it so important that Aaron be baptized?

2.11 - The Hunting Party

Title’s significance: Jack organizes a hunting party to find Michael.

Recap: Jack’s flashbacks explore a semi-relationship with a patient’s daughter, the professional and personal burden of his reputation as a “miracle doctor,” and his wife leaving him after having an affair with someone. On island, Michael busts out of The Swan to go look for Walt, leaving Locke and Jack in the gun closet, but Kate and Sawyer show up in time to free them. Jack forms a hunting party with Locke and Sawyer to find Michael; they track him, but they hear mysterious gunshots and run across a band of scruffy Others, including the “Mr. Friendly” who abducted Walt; Mr. Friendly claims Michael will never find the Others and revoices thoughts about Walt being special. He warns the survivors about the dangers of being curious and says it’s “our island,” but when Jack calls his bluff, Mr. Friendly demonstrates that there are numerous Others and that they’ve abducted Kate; Jack exchanges his guns for Kate’s safety. Hurley clues Charlie in that he has a thing for Libby, while Charlie voices his interest in Claire. Upon returning to camp, Jack asks Ana Lucia about training an army.

Thoughts: This episode is essentially Season Two in a nutshell: interesting things are on the verge of happening, but the writers pull back on the reins and don’t advance too far into uncharted territory. Consequently, this episode is interesting but ultimately frustrating since it doesn’t do anything beyond putting new spins on old questions, particularly about The Others.

Favorite moment: I’d like to say it’s Charlie’s line about Michael – “Yeah, he’s run after Walt again” – but the fireside chat with Mr. Friendly takes the cake for this episode.

Characters introduced (in order):

• ANGELO & GABRIELA BUSONI, a father and daughter looking for a miracle surgery from Jack

What we learned:

• Sarah is a teacher.
• Michael has scampered off after Walt – again.
• Locke knows that “Sawyer” is a fake name.
• Hurley has a fancy for Libby.
• There are a whole heck of a lot of Others on the island.
• One of The Others is named Alex.
• Sarah was cheating on Jack.

Questions:

• Who was Sarah’s lover?
• Why is Locke so interested in Sawyer’s name?
• Who’s Geronimo Jackson?
• How do The Others know the names of all the 815ers? Was it simply Ethan reporting back?
• Is the Alex with The Others the same Alex that Rousseau’s looking for?
• Where’s Michael gotten to?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• As of Season Five, we’ve got the survivors, the Tailies, the Others, Richard’s Others, Dharma, the Hostiles, the army, Jacob, Jacob’s nemesis, and apparently the Egyptians, too. Whose island is it, anyway?

2.10 - The 23rd Psalm

Title’s significance: Probably the most famous of the Psalms, the 23rd is the one that goes “The Lord is my shepherd...” Eko recites it at his brother’s funeral.

Recap: Eko gets his own flashbacks, in which we learn about his troubled time in Africa as a boy, how he fell in with druglords/warlords, and how his brother Yemi found faith to save his brother; the yellow plane and the drugs inside were meant for Eko’s gang, but it crashed on the island with Eko’s brother aboard. On the island, Eko demands that Charlie take him to the drug plane where he found the Virgin Mary statue; Charlie tells Claire he’s not using, but she doesn’t believe him. While learning to shoot, Michael tells Locke he’s planning to go after Walt. Kate gives Sawyer a haircut, and Michael volunteers to take her shift at The Swan. While hiking to the plane, Charlie and Eko encounter the smoke monster, but Eko stares down the monster without fear until it retreats. At the plane, Eko holds an impromptu funeral for his brother and burns the plane, but when Claire tells Charlie she doesn’t want him around, we learn that Charlie has salvaged at least five Virgin Mary statues.

Thoughts: Yep, no wonder this was a good episode; Damon and Carlton wrote this one. These two are definitely the best writers LOST has, and it’s because of their ability to make an episode that’s about a small conflict (here, Eko’s mysterious past) and end up trickling in so many little nuggets of larger importance that the whole episode is an experience beyond just a standard hour of television. Where a lot of Season Two feels like wheels spinning in the mud, Damon and Carlton somehow find a way to make their episodes drive forward at warp speed.

Favorite moment: It’s gotta be the thirty seconds between Eko and the smoke monster. Even though almost nothing happens on the surface level of the scene, there’s so much room for interpretation that the scene just sizzles.

Characters introduced (in order):

• YEMI, Eko’s brother

What we learned:

• Eko’s giant stick has Bible verses inscribed on it.
• Locke likes silent movies.
• Eko was once a gangster in Africa.
• The Nigerian drug plane belonged to Eko’s brother, who died aboard the plane to save Eko.
• Eko began to serve as a priest after his brother left.

Questions:

• Does Eko have a soul?
• Is that really Walt on the other end of the computer?
• Why didn’t the smoke monster attack Eko?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• This is not the first episode in which Claire says she doesn’t know why she named her baby Aaron. Is there ultimately a significance to the name that maybe even Claire doesn’t understand?
• The smoke monster’s choosiness in who it attacks and who it doesn’t is going to be of the utmost importance when the truth about the smoke monster is finally revealed; this can ONLY come in the sixth season, and I sure hope it has something to do with Jacob’s nemesis.

2.09 - What Kate Did

Title’s significance: The episode title out and out tells us that we’re finally going to learn what crime Kate committed.

Recap: Flashbacks reveal that Kate killed her birth father, who her mother had later married but was abusing both Kate and her mom. On island, a near-delirious Sawyer tells Jack that he loves Kate, while Kate sees a mysterious black horse in the jungle. The survivors hold a funeral for Shannon next to Boone’s grave; Eko and Libby attend, but Ana Lucia refuses to go. Barely conscious, Sawyer attacks Kate, blaming her for killing him; Kate books, but Locke arrives just in time to plug in the numbers. Jack confronts Kate out in the jungle, and the two make out before Kate tells Sayid that she thinks she’s seeing ghosts. Locke shows Eko and Michael the Swan’s orientation video, and Eko reveals that in The Arrow he found film edited from the video, which reveals that the computer must not be used for communication, which could indeed lead to another incident. Kate apologizes to Wayne through Sawyer, who wakes up and believes they’ve been rescued. Back at the Swan, Michael receives a message on the computer: “Dad?”

Thoughts: With this episode, I finally figured out what the problem with the second season is. It’s the weakest season of LOST, by far, and it’s because the storyline is being dragged out. There’s a fine line between mystery and frustration, and this season of LOST is more the latter. Though “What Kate Did” offers a few interesting tidbits, there’s just not enough to sustain a whole episode without characters sitting in the jungle for minutes at a time and crying (seriously, I wish I’d been counting how many times Jack cries). Thank goodness later seasons compress the storytelling into episodes that are more bang than bore.

Favorite moment: Because she’s saying what we’re all thinking, I loved Kate telling Jack somewhat sarcastically that she’s sorry she’s “not as perfect” as he is. I also loved when Eko says he’s going to tell a story but must “start at the beginning”; when he begins with a story from the Old Testament, Locke says, “Boy, when you say beginning, you mean ‘beginning.’” That, or Sawyer’s “You mean the big-ass horse standin’ in the middle of the jungle? Then, yeah [I see that]... you know that horse, Freckles?”

Characters introduced (in order):

• WAYNE, Kate’s birth father
• SAM AUSTEN, Kate’s “father” and her mother’s first husband

What we learned:

• Kate killed her birth father because she hated that she was related to him.
• Kate’s mother worked in a diner.
• Kate’s mom turned her in to the marshal.
• There are blast doors in The Swan.
• Kate saw the black horse when she was in custody AND on the island.
• Kate’s mother never told her that Wayne was her real father, since Sam Austen was in Korea.
• Sawyer reminds Kate of Wayne – Freudian, anyone?
• The missing scene from the Swan video was stashed in The Arrow and threatens another “incident” if the computer is misused.

Questions:

• Where did the mysterious black horse come from?
• What’s going to happen when the alarm ticks all the way down to 0:00?
• What are the blast doors for?
• Are the ghosts that Kate is seeing connected to the “ghost” of Walt that Sayid saw?
• Are the odd things around Kate – Sawyer as Wayne, the black horse – ghosts, guilt, the smoke monster, or something else?
• What was Sayid doing on the television in Sam Austen’s office?
• Who edited the Swan video? Why?
• How could communication with the outside world lead to another incident?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Nothing of mythological significance here.

2.08 - Collision

Title’s significance: The 815ers on the beach finally collide with the Tailies.

Recap: In Ana Lucia’s flashbacks, we learn that she was a cop in therapy after being shot in the line of duty and losing her pregnancy; she rejoined the force but clearly wasn’t ready, tracking down the man who shot her and killing him in a parking garage. On island, Ana Lucia panics and fumbles for control of her group after killing Shannon, but Eko takes Sawyer to the beach camp. Kate challenges Jack to a golf match on Hurley’s course, but the game is cut short when Eko arrives and they have to take Sawyer down to The Swan for medical treatment. Eko tells Locke that Shannon is dead, and the Jack/Kate/Sawyer love triangle is rekindled. Ana Lucia loses control over the Tailies when all of them leave her alone with Sayid, to whom she admits she feels alone. Jack sets out for Ana Lucia, but Eko stops him; Ana Lucia cuts Sayid loose, but Sayid refuses to kill her. The Tailies make it to the beach camp, and Rose and Bernard are finally reunited, as are Jin and Sun.

Thoughts: After Damon and Carlton showed us how it’s done in “The Other 48 Days,” this episode is a flop. The writers of this one had a good idea, but it seems they didn’t know how to make that idea into a whole episode, so they packed it with a lot of filler. Yes, the two camps finally meet, but doing this quicker would have been far more interesting; Ana Lucia’s character is also a bit inconsistent here, since her newfound state of being troubled doesn’t quite line up with the way we’ve seen her act in previous episodes. I can remember thinking it would have been really cool if Bernard wasn’t really Bernard (maybe an Other instead?), but in retrospect I’m glad that Rose got her happy ending with her husband.

Favorite moment: Kate showing that she’s obviously a better golfer than Jack. I also wish I’d been keeping track of how many times Jack has cried, since he breaks down just because Eko mentions Ana Lucia’s name.

Characters introduced (in order):

• DANNY (mentioned), a former lover of Ana Lucia
• TERESA CORTEZ, Ana Lucia’s mom and police captain
• MIKE WALTON, Ana Lucia’s partner
• JASON MCCORMACK, the man who shot Ana Lucia

What we learned:

• Ana Lucia was a cop off-island, in therapy.
• Ana Lucia was pregnant but lost the baby after being shot.
• Ana Lucia got revenge by killing Jason.

Questions:

• Who’s the father of Ana Lucia’s baby? OK, Danny, but who’s Danny?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Nothing of mythological significance here.

2.07 - The Other 48 Days

Title’s significance: This episode takes a look at what the Tailies were doing during the first 48 days on the island.

Recap: When the Tailies crash-land on the island, their experience eerily mirrors that of the survivors on the other side of the island; Ana Lucia becomes the leader of the pack, and on the first night The Others abduct some of the Tailies but are killed by Eko. Later, The Others abduct children Zach and Emma, and Ana Lucia finds a list on one of the dead Others. She begins to suspect that The Others might have infiltrated the Tailies; Libby suggests Nathan might be to blame, so Ana Lucia digs a hole and tosses Nathan in to get him to talk, but he doesn’t. When Goodwin kills Nathan, he reveals himself as the infiltrating Other. The Tailies find a DHARMA station – The Arrow – and take up shelter there; Ana Lucia deduces that Goodwin is The Other and kills him while Bernard makes contact with Boone over a radio discovered in The Arrow, but Ana Lucia stops him because she believes it’s The Others trying to lure them out. When Jin washes ashore, the Tailies debate whether he is a threat; they capture Michael and Sawyer, and Ana Lucia plans the “fake prisoner” episode. On Day 48, Ana Lucia hears the whispers and follows them, killing Shannon when she believes her to be an Other.

Thoughts: This might be one of the best episodes of the second season, and my personal favorite Michael Emerson (who I believe saved Season Two entirely) doesn’t even appear in it, so that’s saying something. I keep saying how much I like this episode, but one thing I’m not quite sure how to feel about the fact that the Tailies are essentially the same characters as the survivors on the other side of the island; Ana Lucia is a female Jack-Sawyer hybrid, Eko is a black Locke, Libby is more difficult to place but seems to be Kate for the Tailies, Goodwin essentially IS Ethan, and Bernard might as well be Rose (others include Cindy=Pilot and Nathan=Sawyer). If it’s intentional, it’s clever; if it’s unintentional, it’s unimaginative. Since Damon and Carlton wrote this one, I hope it’s the former.

Favorite moment: It’s tough to pick; I just really liked this episode overall, but I’d have to give props to the scene where we finally learn that it was Bernard on the other end of Boone’s radio call.

Characters introduced (in order):

• ZACH, formerly known as Teddy Bear Boy
• EMMA, Zach’s sister
• GOODWIN, the equivalent of Ethan for the Tailies
• NATHAN, a suspicious survivor

What we learned:

• Libby broke her leg skiing in Vermont.
• Libby spent a year in medical school.
• Eko killed two Others.
• The Others have access to a list of the names of those on Oceanic 815.
• Nathan was sightseeing after a company retreat in Australia.
• The Arrow has a QUARANTINE sign, too.
• Bernard was the voice on the radio talking to Boone.
• Only “good people” are on the list.

Questions:

• How do The Others know the names of those on the plane?
• Who decides who a good person is to put their names on a list?
• What is the function of The Arrow station?
• Who claimed that the island was under quarantine, and why?
• Who does the glass eye belong to?
• Where did the U.S. Army knife come from?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Nothing of far-reaching mythological significance here, though I do have to wonder if the whispers led Shannon and Ana Lucia to each other on purpose.

2.06 - Abandoned

Title’s significance: Shannon feels abandoned in both her flashbacks and on the island.

Recap: Shannon gets her own flashbacks, which detail her time as a ballet instructor, the death of her father, a stepmother who hated her and stole her inheritance, and her struggle to be believed in. On the island, Sayid builds a love shack for him and Shannon, but she sees another vision of Walt while the Rafties and Tailies discover that they’re lost. Sayid reassures Shannon, but she takes Vincent off to find Walt. While tending to Aaron, Locke learns that Charlie has relapsed when Claire slips that Charlie has a Virgin Mary statue, and Charlie starts feeling jealous about Locke’s relationship with Claire. When the Rafties/Tailies cut through the jungle, Ana Lucia reveals that the Others have abducted at least 12 Tailies; Charlie denies that he’s no longer a recovering addict, and when Sawyer’s gunshot wound takes a turn for the worse while trekking in the jungle, Michael refuses to leave him behind. Shannon follows another vision of Walt, which leads her directly into the path of the Tailies; believing her to be one of The Others, Ana Lucia shoots Shannon.

Thoughts: I think one of the main reasons Shannon was killed is because the writers didn’t know what to do with her after Boone died. She could have been an interesting character, but I think the writers didn’t want to push her in the direction of being the island’s manipulative bitch. Instead, they tried – and failed – to make her a sympathetic character by putting her in an unconvincing relationship with Sayid and by giving her a floppy cardboard backstory. Consequently, the scenes with Shannon are among the least interesting this series has offered, and the only saving grace is the appearance of Walt. The Tailies’ plotline is very interesting, though, and should have been the main focus of the episode.

Favorite moment: The eerily foreboding flashback in which Boone tells Shannon, “Death sucks, doesn’t it?”

Characters introduced (in order):

• SABRINA CARLYLE, Shannon’s stepmother (“the Martha Stewart of matrimony”)

What we learned:

• Libby is a clinical psychologist.
• Locke knows a lot about babies.
• There seems to be some tension between tough leader Ana Lucia and the caring Mr. Eko.
• The Others periodically abducted Tailies.
• The Others are familiar enough with the island to move through it undetected.
• Shannon’s stepmother cut her loose after her father’s death.
• Cindy is abducted by The Others.
• Ana Lucia killed Shannon.

Questions:

• How does Locke know so much about babies?
• Is Sawyer gonna be okay?
• Why is Shannon seeing visions of Walt?
• What’s Sayid going to do to Ana Lucia?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• As of Season Five, I still don’t think it’s clear why The Others are abducting people; the baby thing becomes clearer, but the regular people thing is still confusing. I hope we get a full explanation, but it doesn’t seem like a chief concern at the moment.
• I really hope we find out more about the visions of Walt, though I’d be happy with just a “Walt is special” or “the island was messing with Shannon” explanation.

2.05 - ...And Found

Title’s significance: Get it? “Lost And Found.” Locke tells Sun that, to find what is lost, one must stop looking – a philosophy of serendipity applied to both Sun and Jin’s initial meeting and to Sun’s quest for her missing wedding ring.

Recap: Continuing this season’s pattern of broken engagements, flashbacks tell us that Sun was initially interested in Jae Lee, but the engagement broke off when Jae admitted he was engaged to an American woman. Sun then met Jin (a doorman at a hotel) by chance – bumping into him in the street. Sun discovers that her wedding ring is gone, while the Tailies tell the Rafties that they’re going to the beach camp. While gathering supplies, Libby confesses that the Tailies have encountered the Others, and Michael takes off in search of Walt; Eko and Jin go after him and bond but are forced to hide when a nomadic band of Lost Boys-esque Others trek past them. Michael knows they’re following him, and he confronts Jin, but Eko arrives and counsels Michael into rejoining the Tailies. Sun finds her wedding ring buried with the message bottle from the raft.

Thoughts: “...And Found” felt a lot like one of those “getting from A to B” episodes that LOST doesn’t do so well. The wheels are spinning here; nothing really happens, the flashback doesn’t give us anything particularly revelatory, and the ring plotline isn’t very compelling (especially if you were paying attention to the last episode’s ending, where it’s clear what happens to Sun’s ring). Let’s face it – Damon and Carlton have written better. Just about the only thing I did like in this otherwise boring episode was the touch of destiny surrounding Sun and Jin’s meeting.

Favorite moment: Hurley asking which Korea Sun is from – “the good Korea or the bad Korea” – while waiting for Vincent to crap out Sun’s wedding ring since Hurley’s dog “once crapped out a buck-thirty-five in nickels.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• MRS. PAIK, Sun’s mother
• TAI SOO, Jin’s roommate and a fortuneteller of sorts
• JAE LEE, a Korean hotelier set up with Sun
• GOODWIN (deceased), a member of The Others, known to The Tailies

What we learned:

• True love looks orange.
• There are only five Tailies left – Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko, Libby, Cindy, and Bernard.
• Jack lost his wedding ring once and had a replica made because he couldn’t find it. (I’ll bet he cried when it happened, too.)
• The Tailies have encountered The Others.
• Sun named her puppy “Bpo Bpo,” which means “a kiss.”
• The Others are apparently dirty nomadic people, and at least one of them is a child.

Questions:

• What’s got the Tailies so on edge?
• Who is Jae Lee’s American woman?
• The Others have children?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• “True love looks orange.” Does it?
• It's possible that we'll learn who Jae Lee's American woman was (Libby?), but I wouldn't put money on it.

2.04 - Everybody Hates Hugo

Title’s significance: Aside from referencing TV shows “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Everybody Hates Chris,” Hurley fears being hated by everyone once they learn he’s in charge of the food.

Recap: Flashbacks tell us that Hurley was afraid of changing his life after the lotto win. Eventually, though, he quit his job at Mr. Cluck’s. After a wacky dream that promises that “Everything is going to change,” Hurley’s assigned to inventorying and apportioning the supplies in The Swan while the raft survivors across the island look for an escape from their prison before Ana Lucia releases them – all except for Sawyer. Hurley tries to keep The Swan’s computer secret from the beach camp but brings Rose down to help ration. Claire discovers the bottle filled with messages from the raft, and Charlie shadows Locke for answers about the hatch. The Tailies introduce the Rafties around at their hatch-like hideout The Arrow, and Sayid wonders why The Swan has a cement foundation like Chernobyl. Hurley tries to dynamite the food supply, but Rose stops him and they eventually set up a big party with the supplies. Claire and Shannon tell Sun about the message bottle, and she decides to bury it; her wedding ring falls off in the process.

Thoughts: Despite what this episode’s title claims, everybody loves Hurley. This episode drives forward the central issues of Season Two – The Swan and The Tailies – but it does so on a character-driven basis that puts almost minimal emphasis on mythology and more on examining what makes these characters tick. This it does effectively, without feeling like wasting the audience’s time (something that middle stretch of episodes from Season One didn’t handle quite so deftly). Of course, I’m just a sucker for Jorge Garcia.

Favorite moment: Korean-speaking Hurley’s gluttonous dream about The Swan’s stockroom and an English-speaking Jin imploring him to “Have a cluckety-cluck-cluck day, Hugo.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• JOHNNY, Hurley’s buddy from work
• STARLA, headphone hawker and Hurley’s romantic interest
• LIBBY, another tail-section survivor
• BERNARD, Rose’s husband and one of the Tailies

What we learned:

• The message bottle washed up on shore, but Sun buried it.
• The hatch is being kept a secret from the rest of the survivors.
• Randy, Locke’s box factory boss, originally worked at Mr. Cluck’s as Hurley’s boss.
• Nobody, including Hurley, actually knows the words to “You All Everybody.”
• Hurley had a crush on headphone vendor Starla.
• 23 Tailies survived the crash, but only a handful are still alive.
• Cindy is with the Tailies.
• Bernard, Rose’s husband, really did survive the plane crash.

Questions:

• Why is there so much ranch dressing in The Swan?
• The supplies in The Swan can’t have been down there since the ’70s. How is the stockroom getting replenished?
• What happened to the rest of the Tailies?
• Whatever happened with Hurley and Starla?
• How did Rose know that Bernard is fine?
• When will Rose and Bernard reunite?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Nothing of far-reaching mythological importance in this episode.

2.03 - Orientation

Title’s significance: Locke and Jack discover the orientation video in The Hatch.

Recap: In flashbacks, we learn that Locke was in anger management, where he met romantic interest Helen. Locke was shadowing his father, even after Helen told him to stop. Helen helped Locke learn that you need help to move on. On the island, The so-called Others drag the raft survivors into the jungle and throw them into a hole with fellow 815er Ana Lucia, who reveals that the tail section survived. But the “Others” are actually the Tailies, and Ana Lucia has been trying to gather information all along. In the hatch, Desmond flips out when the computer gets shot, since he claims it’s saving the world; an old orientation video says that the computer in the hatch prevents an “incident” as part of a larger DHARMA Initiative science experiment. Jack abandons the video, but Locke watches it again; the computer’s busted, and Desmond takes off while Jack abandons Locke in the hatch. Jack returns with the code as Sayid fixes the computer, to Hurley’s dismay; Jack enters the code, apparently a man who believes in destiny even though he doesn’t know it. Locke says he’ll take the first shift to enter the numbers.

Thoughts: Locke’s reaction to the orientation video – “We’re gonna need to watch that again” – pretty much sums up the philosophy behind this rewatch project, and I’m glad it came up in this episode, which introduces a whole mess of mythology to the show while delivering a solid third-in-a-row episode. The flashbacks continue to track Locke from being weak and walked over to being the strong and faithful hero he is on the island.

Favorite moment: For entertainment value, it’s Locke telling off the entire anger management group for “feeling too much.” But for the most awesome moment, it’s the orientation video.

Characters introduced (in order):

• HELEN, Locke’s love interest
• MARVIN CANDLE, a scientist in the DHARMA orientation video
• MR. EKO, one of the Tailies

What we learned:

• Anthony Cooper has conned people before.
• There’s a side entrance to the hatch.
• Three years ago, Desmond’s boat crashed on the island during the boat race around the world.
• A man named Kelvin was in the hatch before Desmond.
• Pushing the buttons on the computer is supposed to save the world.
• The hatch is Station 3 – The Hatch.
• The DHARMA Initiative was created in 1970 as a large-scale communal science compound.
• The Swan was designed to experiment with electromagnetism, but an “incident” requires the button to be pushed every 108 minutes.
• The tail section survived the crash.
• Desmond “doesn’t get out much.”

Questions:

• If Cooper has conned people before, is he the original Sawyer?
• Why would we all die if the computer’s broken?
• How did Kelvin die?
• How many Others are there?
• What will the other five DHARMA orientation videos show?
• What information is in the orientation video’s missing footage?
• What happened in the “incident”?
• Is Jack right in suggesting that the computer is just a mind game?
• Who’s the woman in the photograph with Desmond?
• Where is Desmond running off to?
• Why the numbers – why do those get entered into the computer?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• This episode continues to build the DHARMA Initiative into something that we know is of great importance. As of Season Five, we still don’t have a clear vision of who they were and what they were doing on the island.
• I think the orientation video is so important that I’m attaching it to this post. Namaste.

2.02 - Adrift

Title’s significance: Michael and Sawyer are, quite literally, adrift after the raft’s destruction.

Recap: Flashbacks cover Michael’s uphill attempt to gain custody of Walt, culminating in his letting Walt go. After the raft’s explosion, Sawyer and Michael latch onto some driftwood while Jin drifts away, but there are sharks in the water. Michael and Sawyer feud over who’s to blame for Walt’s disappearance; Sawyer theorizes that the boat that took Walt came from the island. Michael kills a shark while Sawyer retrieves one of the raft pontoons, which they use to sail ashore; back on the island, they find Jin and several armed folks to whom Jin refers as “Others.” At the hatch, Desmond asks Locke if he’s “him”; Locke says he is but doesn’t know the answer to Desmond’s security question. He tells Desmond that Kate is dangerous and gains his trust while tying up Kate and stuffing her in the closet; Kate cuts herself loose and finds out the closet is a fully-loaded supply room while Locke tells Desmond about the plane crash. Locke learns that Desmond must type the numbers into the computer every 108 minutes, as Jack enters the hatch (as we saw last episode). At the camp, Claire finds Charlie’s Virgin Mary statue, and he gets defensive about it.

Thoughts: This episode was a good follow-up to “Man of Science, Man of Faith,” but it allowed itself to slow down a bit more and prolong the mysteries surrounding the coming season. While the episode is paced more leisurely, the momentum is still high, especially with the episode ending, which reveals, for the first time, Others (or so we think).

Favorite moment: Sawyer’s “Well, I’ll just stop bleedin’ then!” and his Jack Bauer-like method of removing a bullet from his own shoulder – with his bare hands.

Characters introduced (in order):

• FINNEY, Michael’s not-so-hotshot lawyer (was Barry Zuckercorn busy?)

What we learned:

• Something called DHARMA was involved in the construction of the hatch.
• Charlie always tries to be funny when he doesn’t want to answer a question.
• The boat that abducted Walt had to have come from the island.
• There’s a full supply room in the hatch.
• Desmond must type the numbers into the computer every 108 minutes.
• According to Susan, Walt likes bears.

Questions:

• What is DHARMA?
• Who did Desmond think Locke was?
• What did one snowman say to the other snowman?
• Why is Desmond so interested in the timetable of the plane crash?
• Why would The Others want Walt?
• Why would Desmond think that the world doesn’t exist anymore?
• Does Desmond ever leave the hatch?
• Why does Desmond have to type in the numbers?
• Are those really The Others?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• This episode establishes what’s going to be the backbone for the rest of this show by introducing The DHARMA Initiative into the story. Right now, it’s just an octagonal logo, but DHARMA eventually dominates the fifth season. What role will The DHARMA Initiative play in Season Six, and will we ever find out just what they were doing on the island?

2.01 - Man of Science, Man of Faith

Title’s significance: Since this is a Jack-centric episode, I think it’s fair to theorize that the episode title is asking which he is – a man of science or a man of faith – while also suggesting that they’re one and the same.

Recap: Flashbacks depict the surgeries in which Jack met and fixed his future wife and also met a mysterious Scottish man named Desmond. There’s a whole little bomb shelter thing going on in the hatch, and Jack, Kate, Locke, and Hurley debate whether to go into the hatch. At base camp, Vincent’s gone missing again, and Shannon chases after him in the jungle only to encounter the whispers and a wet apparition of Walt. After deciding not to enter the hatch because it won’t work, Jack returns to camp and delivers the bad news while telling the survivors everything’s going to be all right. When an impatient Locke decides to enter the hatch, Kate tags along and goes in first; whatever is down there pulls her in and shoots out a bright light. Meanwhile, Jack heads for the hatch and climbs in when he sees Kate and Locke are gone; inside, he finds a network of pipes, a strange mural, an intricate computer system, and Locke with a gun pointed at his head. To Jack’s surprise, the man in the hatch is Desmond.

Thoughts: In retrospect, it’s amazing how very little happens in this episode, yet writer Damon Lindelof keeps the episode moving with a near-perfect balance of mystery and revelation, following the events after the hatch breach in almost real-time; the episode limits itself to one night on the island, and the tension is high. While Jack’s flashbacks are a little irksome, self-indulgent, and dripping with tears, the final flashback scene – in which he realizes that Sarah can move her toes – is laden with emotion and even a little heartstring-tugging. This might be one of the best season premieres (and perhaps episodes) of the series.

Favorite moment: The “Make Your Own Kind of Music” montage, in which we slowly learn that they’re telling us exactly what’s in the hatch, stands out as maybe one of the best episode openers on the show.

Characters introduced (in order):

• DESMOND, the man living in the hatch
• KEVIN, Sarah’s first fiancé

What we learned:

• Jack “fixed” his wife Sarah after she was in a car crash with Boone’s father.
• Charlie says Rousseau set the fire herself.
• Hurley’s bad luck also includes a meteorite hitting the “chicken joint” where he worked.
• Jack’s bedside manner “sucks,” and even his father says he needs to dole out more hope.
• Sarah was already engaged when she met Jack, but her fiancé broke it off.
• At one point, Desmond was training for a race around the world.
• There’s a strong magnetic force in the hatch, as well as a computer system.
• There’s a man in the hatch, and it’s Desmond.

Questions:

• What was Desmond inoculating himself with?
• Why is “QUARANTINE” stamped on the hatch door?
• What did Shannon see in the jungle – Walt or something else?
• What is the purpose of the hatch and all the elaborate accoutrements within?
• What’s the significance of the mural in the hatch?
• What’s the source of the magnetism in the hatch?
• What does the computer in the hatch do?
• How did Desmond get into the hatch?
• How long has Desmond been in the hatch?
• Why is Desmond in the hatch?
• Did Desmond win the race around the world?
• What the heck happened with the raft?!

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Vincent’s disappearances/reappearances always come at odd moments.
• The magnetic force, we know, is directly connected to the hatch and the electromagnetic “incident” from both the 1970s and the crash of Oceanic 815 – what’s the ultimate importance of the (electro)magnetism, and where did it come from?

Season One Roundup

After rewatching all of Season One of LOST over the course of less than two weeks, I’ve come to a few conclusions. The first of these is that this rewatch was a fabulous idea. It’s not that I had forgotten very much of the first season; in fact, the only thing I didn’t remember was who knocked out Sayid during the first week on the island (apparently, everyone else I know vividly remembered Locke being the guilty party). No, what I found most enlightening about the rewatch was being able to look back on the first season with a keen sense of what was coming.

Of course, as Sherlock Holmes tells Watson, theories before data can be dangerous. I’ll confess that I’ve developed a few theories about how the final season’s going to play out, and rewatching the first season let me see that some of my theories might not be as crackpot as I thought. The idea that the people who have come to the island are chosen stands out; initially, I thought that it was just the writers being clever by showing us how many of the characters were connected in the backstory, but we now know they’ve been chosen by Jacob to come here. To what end? I’m not ready to theorize there just yet, but I’m sure it has something to do with the conflict between Jacob and his heretofore unnamed nemesis (who I’ve taken to calling Un-Locke).

Locke’s story really stands out for me on this rewatch (of course, this has a lot to do with my theory that he’s going to be of extreme importance in the final season). One of the most significant finds this first season came for me when Charlie remarks, rather curiously, “If there’s one person on this island I would put my absolute faith in to save us all, it’d be John Locke.” The writers spent so much time trying to get us to distrust Locke that first season – if anyone would have turned into a villain, it could easily have been him – that I think a lot of us missed the constant reminders that Locke is being tested for something. Maybe we dismissed it as Locke being crazy, but the events of subsequent season (and the fifth season in particular) make it quite clear that Locke is for one reason or another special, chosen by the island. Right now, though, I think it’s dangerous to assume that Jacob and “the island” want the same thing; I’d surmise that whenever Locke talks about “the island,” he’s actually talking about the nemesis, who’s testing Locke to see if he’s going to be able to be manipulated/used in the killing of Jacob.

For me, then, when the whole series is said and done, I think it’s going to be Locke’s story, not Jack’s. It might even be a larger story of science vs. faith and how quickly the line between the two can be blurred (I’m thinking particularly of Daniel’s “Jughead plan” and how this scientifically calculated theory requires an enormous leap of faith), but if anyone embodies this conflict, it’d be John Locke. On a sidenote – I think the reason I identify so much with Locke at this point is that he’s the only one on the island (as of Season One) who believes that all this is for a purpose; he’s the ideal fan for the show, then, because there are naysayers who claim the show has no heading, and then there are those like myself who believe that everything on the show thus far has been building to a larger purpose.

The other big thing we have to wonder about is the issue of on-island pregnancy. It’s been theorized about, and it’s a pivotal mystery to the show, but we don’t have any concrete answers. For sheer timeline purposes alone, I’m guessing that it has something to do with the detonation of Jughead at “The Incident,” but that’s just a guess. I’m much more interested in the issue of the black smoke monster, which we’re told in this first season is a security system for the island. The Top Pop Stop has theorized that the black smoke monster is actually Jacob’s nemesis, which makes a lot of perfect sense and which I’ll analyze more thoroughly once the monster does more than just flit around the jungle and kill things.

By the time this rewatch is over, I’ll have (hopefully) a comprehensive and full understanding of where the show has been, which will better enable me to ruminate and make connections – which I’ll probably end up posting here. Of course, I’ll be blogging while the show proper is airing come February, but for now, let’s just get through the rewatch.

As far as my favorite moment overall this season, there were so many very funny moments, but I’m still going to have to say that Charlie’s “It’d be John Locke” comment takes the cake for my favorite LOST moment of Season One. I know this is technically cheating, since it didn’t make the list in the actual episode in which it occurred, but come on. That moment rocked – and besides, this is my world, my rules on this blog.

And now for our Questions roundup. Over the course of this first season, I asked 127 questions, 41 of which can be answered from the material provided by the first season. Of the 81 remaining, after Season Five I can say that 50 of those can be answered while 31 seem unclear even after consulting Lostpedia. For the purposes of this roundup, though, 81 are still left unanswered (or at least partially so) and so will be carried over to the Season Two roundup. For the ease of the reader, here are all 127 questions asked during Season One, with answers where available; unanswered questions will remain in their own separate list until they are resolved. (NOTE: those of you keeping score at home will notice that five questions are missing from this list; these were just me being a smartass during the rewatch, so they go in their own SEPARATE list.)

Asked and Answered:

• How does Kate know the man sitting next to her? – He’s the marshal who arrested her.
• What the heck are these strange noises on the island, and how are they related to the falling trees? What killed the pilot? – The black smoke monster is tossing trees and killing people.
• Why does Locke sit by himself thinking all the time? – He’s got a lot on his mind, least of all being his restored ability to walk.
• What’s Charlie hiding? – He’s a heroin addict.
• What’s the deal with Jin and Sun? Is he really just a controlling jerk, or is there something more going on? – It’s not this simple. Jin started to lose himself after working for Sun’s father, but when he didn’t like what he was becoming, he tried to turn himself around and is now overcompensating.
• What’s on Sawyer’s letter? And why is he such a stinker? – Someone conned Sawyer’s parents out of a lot of money, and the letter is Sawyer telling this con artist that he wants to kill him.
• Where did Vincent scamper off to? – The jungle. Same place he always goes.
• As facile as the question is now, is Locke good or bad? – Good.
• What secret does Locke tell Walt? – Locke can walk now.
• Claire’s baby – boy or girl? – Boy = Aaron.
• Why was Kate in handcuffs on the plane? – She was arrested by a U.S. marshal.
• What favor was Kate going to ask the marshal? – She wanted to make sure that the man who turned her in got his reward money.
• What happened with the Frenchwoman? Who’s “all dead,” and what killed them? – Rousseau was part of a science expedition, all of whom died after a mysterious illness.
• There’s a wheelchair lying about. Who does it belong to? – Locke.
• What was Locke’s miracle? – He can walk now.
• Why is Jack so resistant to the idea of a funeral service? – Jack was coming back from Sydney to bury his father.
• Who’s the woman in Sayid’s photograph? – Nadia, the love of his life.
• Who’s the apparition that Jack sees, and why does it trouble him so much? – It’s his seemingly dead father Christian.
• Sayid suspects that Sun understands English. Does she? – Yep.
• What happened to Christian that pushed him over the edge to Australia? How is this Jack’s fault / why does he feel guilty about it? – Jack told a medical review board that his father was operating under the influence of alcohol, which ended up getting Christian fired.
• What’s the deal with Sun’s father? – He’s some kind of Mafia figure in Korea.
• What happened to Charlie’s band, Driveshaft? – After falling into drugs, Charlie’s brother Liam left the band and went straight.
• Who attacked Sayid? – Locke.
• What will Sayid find while mapping the island? – The Frenchwoman Rousseau and “the whispers.”
• What does Rousseau think Sayid is? – One of “The Others.”
• What is The Black Rock? – It’s a slave ship that ran aground.
• If there are no monsters on the island, what killed the pilot? – Rousseau’s nuts. It’s a monster.
• Why does Claire take such offense at Charlie calling her “crazy”? – She’s starting to have feelings for him, and she is the only one who knows she’s not crazy.
• Why won’t Hurley reveal why he doesn’t use his real name? – He’s a big time lotto winner.
• I think it’s open to interpretation: was alcohol a factor in Christian’s surgical mishap? – Yes, he admits to Sawyer that it was.
• How can Hurley pay off his extreme backgammon debts to Walt, like he promises he can? – Big time lotto winner.
• The big question, though: what is buried in the jungle? – It’s a hatch of some kind, leading underground to God knows what.
• Why is the toy airplane so important to Kate? – It belonged to Tom Brennan, a childhood sweetheart who died while Kate was escaping.
• Who did the toy airplane belong to? Why did Kate kill him – the man she claims to have loved? – It belonged to Tom Brennan, a childhood sweetheart who died while Kate was escaping. She’s only indirectly responsible for his death.
• What was Hurley doing on Korean television? – Big time lotto winner.
• What’s the story behind Locke’s relationship with his father? – Locke’s father preyed upon Locke’s need for a father in order to get a kidney transplant from his son.
• Is Boone gonna make it? – Nope.
• What’s going to go down between Jack and Locke? – A conflict between science and faith.
• What’s going to happen when Sayid gets to the hatch? – Sayid cautions against opening the hatch.
• It’s come up before, but I don’t think I’ve asked it yet: How do you open a hatch with no handle? – Dynamite.
• How did Kate’s airplane get into the safety deposit box? – The marshal put it there.

Still Unanswered:

• Why hasn’t anyone come to rescue them?
• Why doesn’t technology work on the island?
• How the heck did a polar bear get on this island? (Hint: it’s not “Bear Village,” as Sawyer says.)
• “Where are we?”
• It bears repeating – if she’s a fugitive, what did Kate do? Jack implies it was murder, but we don’t know for sure...
• Michael promises to find Vincent “as soon as it stops raining.” Immediately, it stops raining. Is this situational humor, or is there something special about Walt?
• Did the people in the tail section survive?
• Why did the thing in the jungle let Locke live, and why does he lie about it?
• How did Locke become paralyzed?
• Where’s Christian’s body?
• Is the Christian on-island a ghost, a resurrected Christian, or something else entirely?
• What does Locke mean when he says that he’s “looked into the eye of this island, and it’s beautiful”?
• What’s the deal with Jack and his tattoos?
• Who was the original Sawyer?
• What happened in Sayid’s past to make him promise never to torture again?
• What’s the cable for?
• Where is Alex?
• What happened to Nadia?
• Are there other people on the island? – Ethan, yes, but we don’t know about anyone else...
• What is the source of the mysterious whispers?
• What does Claire’s dream/nightmare mean?
• Why can’t anyone else raise Claire’s baby?
• Did the psychic know that Flight 815 was going to crash?
• Who’s Ethan with, if he wasn’t on the plane?
• Why did Ethan kidnap Claire?
• Who’s Ethan working for/with?
• Who else is on the island...?
• Who are “The Others”?
• Who are the “they” Charlie talks about?
• Walt keeps rolling what he needs in backgammon and says he’s the luckiest person his step-dad knows – is there something supernatural at play?
• Why are the tides rising so quickly?
• Were the bank robberies the reason Kate was wanted? If so, why was she considered extremely dangerous? – We know they’re not, since the marshal said he was chasing Kate before the bank robbery, but we still don’t know why she was wanted.
• Why has the monster been quiet the last few weeks?
• Why is Sayid’s compass funky?
• Where does Rousseau’s map lead? – The Black Rock, but it could point to other places.
• There’s a polar bear in Walt’s comic book. There’s more than one polar bear on the island. Coincidence?
• Why is Michael “holding on” – for Walt or for himself?
• Did Walt somehow cause the Bronze Kahuku to crash into the window?
• Is Claire’s black rock the same as Rousseau’s black rock?
• Where has Claire been all this time?
• How did Claire make her way back to the survivors?
• Where’s she been?
• Why doesn’t Claire remember anything?
• What sort of ramifications will there be from killing Ethan?
• What was the Tampa Job that Sawyer and Hibbs worked?
• What’s the story behind Kate’s short marriage?
• If Frank Duckett wasn’t the real Sawyer, who was?
• Did Sawyer ever get revenge on Hibbs for using him?
• What’s the significance of The Numbers?
• Why does “using” The Numbers lead to problems?
• If Hurley is coming back to the mental institution, why was he there in the first place?
• Where did Sam Toomey learn The Numbers?
• Are The Numbers cursed?
• Who’s been broadcasting The Numbers from the island?
• Why are The Numbers stamped on the side of The Hatch?
• Why did the island take away Locke’s ability to walk?
• Who were the Nigerians who crashed on the island?
• Who did Boone reach on the plane’s radio system? Why did they claim to be the survivors of Flight 815?
• What’s down in the hatch that a light could just come on?
• How did Jack and Sarah’s marriage turn out?
• Why did Locke lie about what happened, only to have a change of heart?
• I think this one is between the lines, especially in light of the fifth season’s events: Did Shannon miss, or did the island save Locke?
• How does Walt know about the hatch?
• Why did Kate’s own mother call the police on her?
• Why is it so important for Sawyer to be on the raft? He claims it’s because there’s nothing on the island, but there has to be something deeper, right?
• Was it Walt’s thoughts on the hatch that spurred his change of heart vis-à-vis leaving the island?
• What is the pillar of black smoke? – It’s smoke from a pyre, but we don’t know who lit it.
• Jack tells Ana Lucia he’s not married “any more.” Why?
• Who was on the phone with Ana Lucia?
• Why did Montand lose his arm?
• What infected Rousseau’s team?
• What makes Rousseau claim the monster is a security system?
• How did The Black Rock get all the way inland?
• Michael said it best: “How the hell does a place this big never get discovered?”
• What does Sun have to be punished for?
• Will Charlie relapse? (He has the statue, but we don’t know if he intends to use it.)
• What’s inside the hatch – Twinkies or hope?
• Why isn’t Locke afraid of the smoke monster?
• Where did the smoke monster try to take Locke?
• Who lit the pyre for the pillar of smoke?
• Who took Walt?

Me Being a Smartass:

• Why do the writers want us to think that Locke is a bad dude? (Spoiler warning: he’s not. Un-Locke, however...)
• Are the four above questions (about “Others” and who Ethan works with) variations on the same question?
• Does “La Mer” have any significance beyond Rousseau being crazy? (Spoilers: No, it doesn’t.)
• What did Boone want Jack to tell Shannon? (The world may never know.)
• Is Sawyer ever going to learn the difference between Steve and Scott?

1.24 - Exodus, Part II

Title’s significance: While last episode focused on the raft’s exodus from the island (see last episode), this episode delves into the exodus from the beach camp.

Recap: Flashbacks continue to explore where the survivors where just before boarding Flight 815: Jin found out he was being followed by one of Mr. Paik’s employees, Charlie was clinging to his last fix, Michael still tried to bond with Walt, Hurley overslept and just barely made his flight, while Locke felt inadequate being helped onto the plane. As the beach campers prepare to move to the caves, the A-Team encounter The Black Rock and begin to move the dynamite, but Arzt blows himself up. On the raft, Michael and Sawyer bond over Bob Marley songs while sending out a radar signal, and Claire has a memory of scratching Rousseau’s arm before Rousseau abducts her baby to trade with The Others. Claire names her baby Aaron as Charlie and Sayid go to rescue him. When Walt finally makes nice with Michael, the rudder breaks and Sawyer dives in after it; Michael finds the gun Jack gave Sawyer and gets suspicious. Charlie finds the Nigerian plane and is tempted by the heroin stash, and he takes one of the Virgin Mary statues. The dynamite teams encounter the monster, which is revealed to be a cloud of black smoke, but Locke seems unafraid of it until it tries to drag him into a big hole in the ground. The raft picks up a signal as Charlie and Sayid reclaim Aaron from Rousseau. Before the dynamite blows, Hurley sees the numbers stamped on the hatch and freaks out, but Locke lights the fuse and blows the lid off the hatch. The signal the raft picked up turns out to be a fishing boat filled with strange people (Others?) who abduct Walt and destroy the raft. The episode ends as Jack and Locke stare down the hatch, which seems to go underground many hundred feet.

Thoughts: Probably one of the best episodes of the season. Damon & Carlton knock it out of the park and set everything up for a riproaring Season Two. It’ll be difficult for LOST to recapture the momentum of this episode (indeed, they don’t for a great long time), but I have faith (like Locke) that all this is for a purpose.

Favorite moment: Arzt as the self-conscious background character who says that the characters who don’t get screen time “are people, too” – and then blows up; “You got some... Arnst on you.” I also loved Locke comparing the dynamite removal to the game Operation – and then making the BZZT noise to freak out Jack. Hurley’s flashback about getting on the plane was priceless, but for sheer mythological significance, the opening of the hatch was A#1.

Characters introduced (in order):

• “MR. FRIENDLY,” an Other whose name we’ll later learn is TOM

What we learned:

• Arzt posits a tsunami brought The Black Rock inland, but Arzt is an idiot.
• The Black Rock was a slave ship.
• Arzt has been married at least three times.
• Jin was being followed by one of Mr. Paik’s goons.
• Michael didn’t know how to take care of Walt and asked for his mother’s help.
• Rousseau is planning to trade Claire’s baby for Alex.
• Claire’s baby is named Aaron.
• The monster is actually a cloud of black smoke.
• Hurley’s bad luck was, in this case, working to prevent him from boarding Flight 815.
• Jack doesn’t believe in destiny, but Locke claims he does.
• Walt’s been abducted.
• The hatch goes far, far underground.
• Walt’s comic book was actually Hurley’s.

Questions:

• How did The Black Rock get all the way inland?
• Michael said it best: “How the hell does a place this big never get discovered?”
• Is Sawyer ever going to learn the difference between Steve and Scott?
• What does Sun have to be punished for?
• Will Charlie relapse? (He has the statue, but we don’t know if he intends to use it.)
• What’s inside the hatch – Twinkies or hope?
• Why isn’t Locke afraid of the smoke monster?
• Where did the smoke monster try to take Locke?
• Who lit the pyre for the pillar of smoke?
• Who took Walt?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• “Who do you think is punishing us?” Shannon asks.
• Locke exhibits a curious relationship with the black smoke monster, one that could come especially in handy if The Top Pop Stop’s theory is true that Un-Locke/Jacob’s Nemesis IS the black smoke monster.
• Who will take the day – men of science or men of faith? Is it possible to be both?
• Locke and Jack start out on opposite sides of the science/faith question. When the dust settles, where will everyone be?

1.23 - Exodus, Part I

Title’s significance: Exodus is, of course, the second book of the Bible, depicting the flight from Egypt toward, eventually, the promised land. The raft represents the survivors’ best chance of reaching “the promised land.”

Recap: Flashbacks give us a pre-crash picture of the Michael/Walt dynamic (“You’re not my father!”), Jack’s airport bar meeting with Ana Lucia, Sawyer being deported from Australia, the marshal’s handling Kate onto the plane, Boone and Shannon bickering in the airport, and Jin and Sun having a bite in the airport café. On island, Rousseau comes to camp to warn the survivors that “The Others” are coming, so the timetable gets pushed up on the raft, but their progress is halted when a pillar of black smoke flies up, just like Rousseau said it would. To break open the hatch, Rousseau recommends dynamite, which can be found at the “black rock,” and Arzt claims he knows how to handle it. Sawyer tells Jack he met his father in Sydney. The dynamite expedition encounters the monster, which Rousseau claims is a security system. Walt gives Vincent to Shannon. When the survivors make it to The Black Rock, it turns out that it’s a ship. Sun and Jin patch things up before the raft sets sail, as the black smoke continues to plume.

Thoughts: Can we please have Damon and Carlton write all the episodes of the final season? Everything they write is just awesome, and “Exodus, Part I” was no exception – healthy balance of characterization, interesting flashbacks, driving the mythology forward and setting up for the next episode. This is also the first episode where I really noticed that the music on this show fits right in. I can’t help, though, a certain feeling of unease at the sailing of the raft, since I know how much their optimism is about to be crushed, just in the next episode alone.

Favorite moment: Hurley again: “I think Leslie’s a bitchin’ name.” But I think Walt giving Vincent to Shannon might be the most touching moment.

Characters introduced (in order):

• ANA LUCIA, flirted with Jack before boarding Flight 815

What we learned:

• When Rousseau landed, there were six members of her team.
• Rousseau’s baby was born two months into her stay on the island but was abducted a week after being born.
• Sawyer headbutted the Australian Minister of Agriculture and was deported from Sydney for that reason.
• Sawyer’s real name is James Ford.
• The marshal put Kate’s plane in the safety deposit box.
• Arzt’s first name is Leslie.
• Rousseau claims the monster is a security system to protect the island.
• In Sydney, Shannon reported Sayid to airport security.
• The Black Rock is actually a ship that wrecked on the island.

Questions:

• What is the pillar of black smoke?
• Jack tells Ana Lucia he’s not married “any more.” Why?
• Who was on the phone with Ana Lucia?
• Why did Montand lose his arm?
• What infected Rousseau’s team?
• What makes Rousseau claim the monster is a security system?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• It’s come up before, but this finale’s flashbacks clue us in that there’s some kind of destiny surrounding the survivors, that they were destined to collide with each other. We can assume it has something to do with Jacob’s choosing them, but we have to get more information next season, right?
• Jin suggests the island is a place of punishment where people are brought to suffer. Is it?
• We’ve long suspected some Egyptian connection to the island, between the appearance of hieroglyphics and the four-toed statue. Is the title “Exodus” – referring to the original flight from Egypt – a clue?

1.22 - Born to Run

Title’s significance: This episode is all about Kate running, whether it’s running from the law in her flashbacks or trying to run away by using the raft. She always wants to run away, get it?

Recap: Flashbacks center around Kate and her attempts to see her hospitalized mother. Kate reconnects with Tom, a former sweetheart who ends up dying while Kate escapes the police. Arzt lets the survivors know they missed their window in launching the raft, but Michael won’t say die as Kate demands Sawyer’s spot on the raft. When Michael takes ill, Jack suspects his drinking water has been poisoned and accuses Kate, while Michael blames Sawyer. Locke and Sayid show the hatch to Jack, who berates them for keeping secrets. Walt, meanwhile, cryptically tells Locke not to open the hatch. Though Kate denies poisoning Michael, she knows she has earned the distrust of the rest of the survivors; Jack deduces that Sun accidentally poisoned Michael while trying to keep Jin from leaving, and he tells her to say goodbye, but he doesn’t know it was all Kate’s idea. Walt admits to Michael that he burned the first raft but says he’s had a change of heart about leaving.

Thoughts: LOST has a reputation for bang-up finales. Unfortunately, the penultimate episode of each season also has a reputation, albeit one of “putting all the pieces in place.” “Born to Run” is a “just okay” episode with a moderately compelling mystery (Michael’s poisoning) but a lot of stalling for the big two-hour finale. I can put up with episodes like this, though, since the show always delivers in the finale.

Favorite moment: Hurley spills the beans to Locke about Kate’s fugitive past: “How am I supposed to keep straight who knows what around here?” I’ll hand it to you, Stay Puft, it’s confusing to me, too.

Characters introduced (in order):

• ARZT, a fellow survivor who acts smarter than he really is
• DIANE JANSSEN, Kate’s mother
• TOM, an old friend of Kate’s

What we learned:

• At one point, Kate was dyeing her hair blonde.
• It’s monsoon season on the island.
• The airplane was in a time capsule that Kate and Tom buried and once belonged to Tom.
• Kate’s mom is dying of cancer.
• Tom was the man Kate loved and “killed.”
• Michael was accidentally poisoned by Sun.

Questions:

• It’s come up before, but I don’t think I’ve asked it yet: How do you open a hatch with no handle?
• How does Walt know about the hatch?
• Why did Kate’s own mother call the police on her?
• How did Kate’s airplane get into the safety deposit box?
• Why is it so important for Sawyer to be on the raft? He claims it’s because there’s nothing on the island, but there has to be something deeper, right?
• Was it Walt’s thoughts on the hatch that spurred his change of heart vis-à-vis leaving the island?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• We get another suggestion that Walt is “special,” when Locke touches his arm (remember how important touching was when Jacob encountered the survivors). Is Walt going to come back for the final season?

1.21 - The Greater Good

Title’s significance: Sayid tells Essam that there is a “greater good” that needs to be served by making sacrifices and overcoming anxieties.

Recap: Flashbacks reveal that Sayid worked with the CIA to stop a terrorist cell while searching for Nadia; on orders, Sayid pushes Essam in order to drive him to martyrdom so the CIA can arrest him and tell Sayid where Nadia is. On island, Jack blames Locke’s lie for Boone’s death, and a bloody Locke returns to camp for the funeral and confesses the truth about Boone’s death. Inconsolable, Shannon asks Sayid to kill Locke; Kate drugs Jack to force him to get rest. Locke and Sayid go to the smugglers’ plane, where Locke admits he was the one who knocked Sayid out and where Sayid holds Locke at gunpoint for answers. When Sayid refuses to kill Locke, Shannon steals the key to the gun case and goes after Locke herself; fortunately, she’s a crap shot and only grazes his temple. Sayid demands Locke take him to the hatch.

Thoughts: I think this was a knockout “fallout” episode, taking the momentum of Boone’s death and pushing the characters on collision courses with each other. We finally got some answers, but there are plenty more questions to be asked. I’m also relieved that they finally revealed who knocked out Sayid, since it was the only plot point so far that I didn’t remember before beginning my rewatch.

Favorite moment: Hurley trying to calm Aaron by wailing James Brown’s “I Feel Good” and the eventual reveal that Sawyer’s voice is the only thing that calms Aaron.

Characters introduced (in order):

• AGENTS COLE & HEWITT, anti-terrorism agents
• ESSAM, Sayid’s former roommate and currently a terrorist
• YUSEF & HADDAD, other terrorists

What we learned:

• Sayid was in Australia infiltrating a terrorist cell.
• Locke admits he made a mistake in not telling the truth about Boone and the plane.
• Locke knocked out Sayid and destroyed his equipment to protect people from losing hope.
• Sayid was going to L.A. to find Nadia.

Questions:

• Why did Locke lie about what happened, only to have a change of heart?
• I think this one is between the lines, especially in light of the fifth season’s events: Did Shannon miss, or did the island save Locke?
• What’s going to happen when Sayid gets to the hatch?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Nothing of long-reaching significance in this episode.

1.20 - Do No Harm

Title’s significance: “Do no harm” is one of those things that doctors agree to do (or not do, as the case may be).

Recap: In flashbacks, we get to meet Jack’s wife Sarah and learn that Christian cured his anxieties. On island, Jack works stubbornly to save Boone. The timetable on the raft gets bumped up to less than a week, while Kate, Charlie, and Jin have to become impromptu midwives when Claire ends up having her baby – Aaron – in the jungle. Sayid treats Shannon to a surprise picnic on a deserted part of the beach. Jack learns that he can’t save everyone after all when Boone succumbs to his injuries; he storms off in search of Locke, blaming him for Boone’s death.

Thoughts: The Boone plotline was well handled, especially because it took him a whole episode to die but didn’t feel like it was being dragged out unnecessarily. The episode cleanly sets up the conflict for the rest of the season (and perhaps the series) – Jack vs. Locke, with the hatch at stake. (Maybe I’m just happy that Jack learned he isn’t Superman.) But the flashbacks don’t add much we don’t already know – Jack wants to save everyone, we get it. One thing I’m not happy with on this rewatch is how suddenly Sayid falls in love with Shannon; we know that Nadia’s his true love off-island, so it seems too pat for him just to forget and move on. Plus, Sayid looks really short compared to Shannon.

Favorite moment: “Hurley, I swear to God, if you faint—!” or Sawyer’s glib “She likes me” after Claire walks away. That, or the way that Jin holds Charlie back during the delivery, shaking his head.

Characters introduced (in order):

• SARAH, Jack’s wife and a former patient he saved

What we learned:

• Jack was married but felt anxious about it.
• Claire has a boy – Aaron.
• Jack can’t save everyone.
• First main character death – Boone.

Questions:

• How did Jack and Sarah’s marriage turn out?
• What’s going to go down between Jack and Locke?
• What did Boone want Jack to tell Shannon? (The world may never know.)

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• If the rumors are true that the Jughead plan worked and Oceanic 815 never crashed, the first place we’ll see that is in Boone never dying.