5.16 - The Incident

Title’s significance: Jack’s plan at The Swan may or may not be the “incident” we’ve heard so much about.

Recap: For the first time in LOST history, Jacob gets his own flashbacks, beginning with a meeting with his nemesis when The Black Rock came to the island; the Man in Black hates Jacob and wants to kill him but for some unspecified reason can’t. Off-island, Jacob visited a shoplifting Kate, Sawyer at his parents’ funeral, Sayid at the time of Nadia’s death, Ilana after a mysterious injury, Locke after his fall, Sun and Jin at their wedding, Jack after his “count to five” surgery, and Hurley before he boarded Ajira 316. Jacob seems to know ahead of time that these people will be where they are, and he makes a point of touching almost all of them.

In 1977, the submarine sails away from the island as Kate tries to talk Sawyer and Juliet into stopping Jack, who works with Sayid to remove the plutonium core from Jughead. Dr. Chang tries to stop Radzinsky from drilling at the Swan site, but Radzinsky won’t hear it. On the sub, Juliet sides with Kate and stages a takeover, and as Jack and Sayid move the plutonium core, Roger Linus recognizes them and shoots Sayid, initiating a firefight. But Jin, Miles, and Hurley arrive just in time to stage a getaway. Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate make it back to the island to find Rose and Bernard living in the jungle with Vincent. Wounded, Sayid modifies the bomb, but they’re stopped by Sawyer, who tries to talk Jack down, but the two get into a violent fight, stopped only when Juliet professes her faith in Jack. When Radzinsky learns that Sayid escaped with a bomb, he calls for backup, but Jack’s already at The Swan. Miles posits that Jack might actually cause The Incident, not avert it, but they go to save Jack from Phil and his gunmen. Jack’s group overtakes the Swan site, but the drill’s already hit the electromagnetic pocket, so Jack tosses the bomb in – and nothing happens. The electromagnetism starts tearing the site apart and sucking Juliet in. As debris rains down, we see Juliet still alive, and she strikes the plutonium core again and again – eight times before it detonates.

In 2007, Locke is leading The Others to Jacob. Richard asks how Locke came back to life, and Locke suggests that he wants to kill the other survivors of Ajira 316. Ilana and Bram bring Frank and a mysterious box to the main island, and Locke reveals that he wants Ben to kill Jacob. Bram and Ilana go to Jacob’s cabin, noticing that the ash around it has been disturbed; the cabin has been abandoned for some time, and Ilana burns it. Ben confesses to Locke that he staged the meeting with Jacob back in Season Three because he was embarrassed he’s never met Jacob; Sun finds Charlie’s DriveShaft ring at the beach camp. Richard’s group comes to the four-toed statue, where Richard reveals Jacob has been living, and Locke brings Ben inside for an audience. Bram and Ilana come to the statue, looking for “Ricardus” – Richard, who knows what lies in the shadow of the statue; Ilana opens the mystery box and out rolls… the corpse of John Locke. Inside, gloating that he’s “found his loophole,” UnLocke eggs Ben on to kill Jacob; Jacob offers Ben the choice not to kill him, but Ben feels betrayed and stabs Jacob. Before dying, Jacob mutters, “They’re coming,” which distresses UnLocke, who then kicks Jacob into the fire.

As Juliet detonates the bomb, the screen goes to white instead of black.

Thoughts: One of the best episodes of the season, written by Damon & Carlton and directed by Jack Bender (one of the most underrated contributors to LOST). The wonderful thing about this episode as a finale is that it has connections to scads of previous episodes but it puts the plot so far forward that I simply cannot wait for the next episode – it’s even more agonizing knowing that, for the first time in a long while, the next episode isn’t immediately at my fingertips. And for whatever reason, I was really emotionally invested in Sawyer and Juliet this time around; I want to see these two end up together.

Favorite moment: For Part 1, it’s almost certainly the opening scene between Jacob and his nemesis, but I loved Rose telling Kate, “It’s always something with you people.” For Part 2, it’s either when Ben tells Sun of the statue, “It was like that when I got here,” or Ben’s angry confession to Jacob.

Characters introduced (in order):

• JACOB, ageless man of mystery and apparent deity-figure of the island
• JACOB’S NEMESIS
• CAPTAIN BIRD, Dharma submarine captain

What we learned:

• The statue was still standing when The Black Rock came to the island.
• Jacob doesn’t age.
• Ben reveals that Jacob is “in charge of” the island.
• Jacob is responsible for Richard’s agelessness.
• Rose and Bernard have been living in the jungle all along.
• Bram says that his team are the good guys.
• Ilana is working for Jacob.
• Ben staged the meeting with Jacob.
• Sun has Charlie’s DriveShaft ring.
• Jacob speaks fluent Russian and Korean.
• Juliet’s parents divorced when she was young.
• Jacob posits that Hurley’s curse might actually be a gift.
• Hurley got the guitar and the information about Ajira 316 from Jacob.
• Dr. Chang hurts his arm at the Swan site.
• Phil is killed at the Swan site.
• Richard knows the answer to the riddle.
• Locke has been dead all along and his form manipulated by Jacob’s nemesis.

Questions:

• Why does Jacob’s nemesis want to kill him?
• How did Jacob and his nemesis come to the island?
• Why did Jacob visit the survivors of Oceanic 815 before the crash?
• What is significant about Jacob’s touch?
• How is it that Jacob manages to not age?
• What’s a “candidate,” and is Frank one of them?
• How was Ilana injured?
• How do Ilana and Jacob know each other?
• What does Jacob need from Ilana?
• If Jacob hasn’t been using his cabin, who has?
• What happened to the rest of the statue?
• Who built the statue?
• Who tore the statue down?
• Who’s coming?
• Is Jacob really dead? Can he even die?
• Did Jack & Co. prevent the incident – or cause it?
• What happens to those in 1977?
• What happens to those in 2007?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• This episode needs to be required viewing for anyone ready to watch the final season.
• This episode finally introduces Jacob to us, apparently a being of great power and perhaps even omniscience. Jacob is going to be a central figure in the final season.
• The introduction of Jacob also sparks questions about destiny, fate, and free will. Are the survivors really in charge of their lives?
• Jacob’s nemesis appears to be impersonating Locke, and I’ve long suspected that UnLocke is also the smoke monster. Don’t be surprised if this turns out to be the case.
• “Just because two people love each other doesn’t mean they’re supposed to be together.”
• If the Jughead plan works, are we going to see Richard Malkin again, now that he presumably wouldn’t have kept Claire and Aaron together?
• Did Jack & Co. prevent the incident – or cause it?

5.15 - Follow the Leader

Title’s significance: A lot of leadership roles change hands in this episode – Dharma leader, Others leader, Hostiles leader, survivors leader.

Recap: After Daniel is shot, Widmore takes Jack and Kate hostage, and Eloise realizes that Faraday really was her son. Jack tells Kate he plans to complete Daniel’s plan, and Eloise agrees to bring them to Jughead. Radzinsky and Phil rough up Juliet to get Sawyer to rat on Kate, which he does; Hurley bolts from the camp, but Dr. Chang follows him to Miles and Jin, revealing that he’s willing to help by evacuating the island. Chang warns that there’s a “cataclysmic” incident coming, and Sawyer agrees to spill the beans in exchange for a seat on the submarine. As Eloise is about to kill Kate for trying to run, Sayid saunters out of the jungle and agrees to join Jack’s plan, but Kate still refuses to help; Jack, Richard, Eloise, and Sayid swim to Jughead, buried in an underwater cavern. Kate makes it to the sub, which departs the island with Sawyer and Juliet aboard, too. In 2007, Richard builds a model ship when Locke and Ben return to camp with Sun in tow, but Richard reveals that the survivors in 1977 are all dead. Locke promises Sun he’ll find the rest of their people, but first he brings Richard and Ben out into the jungle. Locke reveals that he wants to meet with Jacob; while there, Locke directs Richard to help a wounded man in the jungle – himself, when the island was time-skipping. Upon returning, Locke addresses his people, saying he thinks they deserve to meet Jacob, but Locke reveals that his master plan is actually to kill Jacob.

Thoughts: When I first heard this was a Richard-centric episode, I thought, “Oh, boy! I can hardly wait – answers on the most enigmatic man on the island!” But no, Richard’s just the “constant” that holds the two timelines together. Fortunately, the episode does hang together, even though there are two vastly different plotlines, each heading toward its own inexorable ending. One thing to watch out for is how ‘involved’ Locke is all of a sudden. Hmm…

Favorite moment: Hurley tries to disprove that he’s from the future by telling Dr. Chang that “There’s no such thing” as the Korean War. Either that, Sawyer’s get-rich off-island scheme, or the revelation of the truth of Locke’s encounter with Richard.

Characters introduced (in order):

• MITCH, Dharma security fellow

What we learned:

• Ben calls Richard “a kind of advisor.”
• Eloise was pregnant with Daniel when she killed Daniel.
• Richard helped Locke back in “Because You Left” at Future Locke’s insistence.
• The compass is caught in a time loop.

Questions:

• Are the survivors in 1977 dead? If so, how?
• Has Ben ever seen Jacob?
• What’s the function of The Tunnels?
• Why does Locke want Jacob dead?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Richard notices that there’s something different about Locke, and we all know what that means…
• Richard tells Sun that the survivors are all dead in 1977. Was this the effect of the Jughead plan, is he lying, or has time not reset yet?

5.14 - The Variable

Title’s significance: Daniel believes he’s discovered the “Variable” that can rewrite history.

Recap: Flashbacks give Daniel some depth, exploring his mother’s obsession with destiny. Not particularly fond of Daniel’s girlfriend Theresa, Eloise pushes Daniel to do his research; after the discovery of Oceanic 815’s “wreckage,” Widmore visits Daniel, confesses to staging the crash, and hires Daniel to go to the island, promising it will heal him – Eloise encourages him to go. In 1977, Daniel’s submarine lands on the island, and he begins interrogating Jack about how he came back to the island, claiming that Eloise was wrong about coming back to the island. Sawyer brings Jack in on the captivity of Phil, and Daniel goes to The Orchid (where the season actually began, remember?) and asks Dr. Chang to evacuate the island before the Swan site releases electromagnetic energy; Daniel admits he’s from the future to validate his claims. Sawyer and his group caucus about leaving The Dharma Initiative, and Daniel wants to visit the Hostiles; Jack and Kate help him, but not before Daniel tells young Charlotte to leave the island. A gunfight ensues when Radzinsky tries to stop them, but they escape, and Daniel reveals that the energy trapped under The Swan could have the power to rewrite time so that Oceanic 815 never crashed – the only catch is that they have to detonate Jughead. Though Kate thinks this is insane, Jack’s comfortable with that, and Daniel goes into The Hostiles’ camp looking for Eloise; Richard Alpert meets him, Daniel asks about the hydrogen bomb, and Eloise shoots Daniel – learning only too late that he’s her son. In 2007, as Desmond is rushed to the hospital, Eloise visits Penny, apologizing that Desmond is enmeshed in some conflict larger than himself. Outside the hospital, Widmore and Eloise clash over the matter of sacrifice, and we learn that Daniel is Widmore’s son.

Thoughts: I kind of wish that Damon and Carlton had gotten to write the 100th episode of LOST, but as it is this episode is still pretty good. Daniel’s mysterious mission is well-handled, not revealed until it’s absolutely critical that we know what he’s up to. This episode lays ground for some very major developments, particularly ones that are going to be of the utmost importance in Season Six. The episode “Jughead” finally pays off, and the seeds are sown for the finale.

Favorite moment: After seeing Radzinsky stomp around with his gun, Hurley mutters, “That’s not good, right?”

Characters introduced (in order):

• No new characters introduced in this episode.

What we learned:

• Theresa was Daniel’s girlfriend.
• Widmore was funding Daniel’s research.
• Daniel’s work with electromagnetic radiation made him and Theresa fritzy.
• Widmore is Daniel’s father.
• Eloise knew that Daniel would die if he came to the island.

Questions:

• When did Eloise leave the island, and why?
• When did Daniel learn that his mother was a Hostile?
• Why would Eloise send Daniel to the island, knowing he would die?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Daniel reveals the details of what I’ve colloquially called “The Jughead Plan.” But will it work?
• What conceivable reason would Eloise have for sending Daniel to die? Is it just course-correction or is there something larger at stake like, oh, the fate of the world?

5.13 - Some Like It Hoth

Title’s significance: This episode title puns on the ice planet from “The Empire Strikes Back” as well as the cross-dressing comedy “Some Like It Hot,” in which the protagonists must disguise themselves in order to protect themselves.

Recap: In Miles’s flashbacks, we learn that his power is for real and kicked in when he was very young. When his mom was dying, Miles asked about his father, who abandoned them when Miles was young; Lara tells her son that his father is dead. A father hires Miles to find out if his son knew he loved him before Naomi tries to hire Miles. Later, Miles was stopped by Bram, who told him not to go to the island, but Miles wouldn’t listen; Miles later confessed to Mr. Gray that he had lied about his son. In 1977, Horace brings Miles into the “circle of trust” and tells him to bring something to Radzinsky; Radzinsky gives Miles a dead body and tells him to bring the body to Horace, who sends Miles to Dr. Chang. Kate returns to camp, but Roger notices that Ben is missing, which leads him to panic. Hurley carpools with Miles to The Orchid and discovers the body in the trunk, which Miles identifies as Alvarez who died when a filling in his mouth was blown through his brain. But Hurley promises to keep Miles’s secret as Roger becomes suspicious of Kate’s involvement in Ben’s disappearance; Dr. Chang gets upset about Hurley knowing the secret, but Hurley again promises to keep a secret before Miles reveals that Dr. Chang is his father. Roger asks Jack about Kate, but Jack advises him not to do anything rash since he’s completely soused. Hurley and Miles drive Dr. Chang to The Swan site, and Hurley encourages Miles to connect with his father. Meanwhile, Phil reveals to Sawyer that he knows that Sawyer and Kate took Ben, but Sawyer decks him to protect his secret. Later that night, Miles and Chang head for the submarine dock, where a new scientist is coming in – Daniel Faraday.

Thoughts: Miles is like a dark hybrid of Sawyer and Hurley, so this episode is pretty funny but it’s also very dark, too. There’s a lot of gloom and doom which makes it a little difficult to enjoy on rewatch, but there’s enough important information trickling through to make this a worthwhile endeavor.

Favorite moment: “Polar bear poop, got it.” That, or the revelation that Hurley is writing “The Empire Strikes Back” – “Let’s face it, dude. The Ewoks suck.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• LARA CHANG, Miles’s mother
• HOWARD GRAY, bereaved client of Miles
• FELIX, deceased delivery boy for Charles Widmore

What we learned:

• Miles’s power isn’t bogus.
• The Swan was built in Hostile territory.
• Miles’s ability requires a body to work most efficiently.
• Pierre Chang is Miles’s father.
• Miles was hired to speak to the dead bodies on the island in order to find Ben.
• $3.2 million was double what Widmore was offering.
  

Questions:

• Who killed Felix?
• Where’s Daniel been?
• Why is he returning to the island now?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Now that we know Miles’s ability is legitimate, I’m wondering which of our dead castaways he’ll be talking to this coming season.
• Miles says that a body leaves behind feelings and impressions – is this how Jacob’s nemesis was able to impersonate Locke?
• Bram isn’t working for Ben, and he’s not working for Widmore. Is he on Jacob’s team, and if so, is this team really going to win?

5.12 - Dead Is Dead

Title’s significance: Reversing his position with Locke, Ben tells Sun, “Dead is dead. You don’t get to come back from that.”

Recap: Ben gets flashbacks that first feature his recovery in the camp of The Others and his first meeting with Charles Widmore. Years later, Bad Haircut Ben (variant action figure) abducts Alex from Rousseau with young Ethan’s help; at Widmore’s orders, Ben was supposed to kill Rousseau and Alex but disobeyed. After The Purge, Ben exiles Widmore, and years later he attempts to make good on his promise to kill Penny before Desmond stops him. In 2007, Ben tells Locke that he knew he’d come back to life, but Locke’s not buying it. Ben confesses that he broke the rules by coming back and that he was going back to the main island to be judged by the smoke monster. Ben tries to play Caesar against Locke, admitting to Locke that killing him was an unfortunate necessity to bring everyone back. When Caesar tries to stop Ben and Locke from taking a boat, Ben blows him away with his own shotgun, and Locke suggests that Ben needs to be judged for killing his daughter. At the barracks, Ben finds Sun and Frank in his house, where he learns about who’s in 1977 and reveals that Locke’s not so dead. Frank returns to the Hydra island as Ben summons the monster, but only Locke comes stumbling out of the jungle and says it’s time to go to The Temple. At The Temple, Ben asks Locke to apologize to Desmond for him, and Bram and Ilana seize control of the 316ers’ camp. Ben falls through the floor in The Temple, into a chamber where the smoke monster emerges and judges him; the monster then takes the form of Alex and tells Ben not to hurt John Locke.

Thoughts: Ben’s been overdue for a set of flashbacks, and this set is just as good as the last one, answering so many more questions about Ben while setting up for the rest of the season. I’m surprised this episode wasn’t written by Damon & Carlton, though I’m sure they were looking over the shoulders of the episode’s actual writers. This episode is also noteworthy for confirming every one of my suspicions that the smoke monster is Jacob’s nemesis, but more on that in the Roundup.

Favorite moment: It’s a tie between Ben’s apparent murder of Desmond (seconds before he gets back up) or the judgment of Ben.

Characters introduced (in order):

• No new characters introduced in this episode.

What we learned:

• Bram and Ilana are in cahoots.
• Ben claims to have known that Locke would come back to life, but he tells Sun he was lying about that.
• Ben kills Caesar.
• Ben was ordered to kill Rousseau and Alex, but he refused.
• The secret chamber in Ben’s house leads to a cavern and a pool that Ben drains in order to summon the monster.
• Ben exiled Widmore for having a family off-island.
• The smoke monster seems to reside inside of The Temple.
• The smoke monster's function seems to be to judge people.

Questions:

• What’s in the crate that Bram and Ilana have?
• Why did Ben tell Rousseau to run from the whispers?
• Was Caesar just a giant red herring?
• Why can’t Locke remember how he got out of the coffin?
• How does Locke know where The Temple is?
• Who built The Temple?
• What lies in the shadow of the statue?
• What does the riddle mean?
• Who are Bram and Ilana really working for?
• What doe the hieroglyphics in The Temple mean?
• Why doesn’t the smoke monster want Locke harmed?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Was Caesar a red herring or not? He seemed very important, and with an old-timey name like Caesar he might have connections to Jacob, but this isn’t the first time that seemingly main characters have been whacked without warning (see “Exposé”).
• Big hint for the “Jacob’s nemesis is the smoke monster” theory – Ben summons the smoke monster to come out of the jungle, but only Locke emerges, and we already know that UnLocke is Jacob’s nemesis.
• The Temple hints at an Egyptian connection, also at some kind of connection between the smoke monster and the statue under which Jacob lives.
• Note also that Locke disappears when Ben goes to be judged; the monster takes the form of Alex, disappears, and then Locke shows up again, only after the monster tells Ben to obey Locke’s every word. Seems awful suspicious to me. To recap, UnLocke = Jacob’s nemesis = smoke monster.

5.11 - Whatever Happened, Happened

Title’s significance: This episode draws its title from Daniel’s repeated aphorism that time travel can’t change the past because “whatever happened, happened.”

Recap: Kate’s flashbacks reveal that Kate visited Cassidy and Clementine after returning to L.A., at Sawyer’s wish. After almost losing Aaron in a supermarket, Kate takes him to Carole Littleton before rejoining Jack. As the Dharma folks try to figure out who torched the Dharma van, Roger starts to get a little interested in Kate, but his affections are put on hold when Jin arrives with the wounded young Ben. Juliet struggles to save young Ben as Sawyer realizes that Roger’s keys were used to free Sayid; Jack refuses to save Ben, even at Kate’s insistence that she doesn’t like the way he’s changed. Roger deduces that Ben stole his keys, and Hurley stumps Miles by asking why Ben doesn’t remember being shot by Sayid. When Juliet hits a wall on Ben’s surgery, she mulls bringing him to The Others, and Kate volunteers; Sawyer joins her at the sonic fence, while Juliet tears Jack a new one about not helping Ben. Kate tells Sawyer about Clementine as The Hostiles arrive, and Richard Alpert agrees to help Ben, cautioning that Ben will “lose his innocence and... always be one of us.” Richard brings Ben into The Temple; in 2007, Ben awakes to find Locke sitting by his bedside.

Thoughts: Maybe not Damon & Carlton’s finest hour, but still a pretty good episode that fills in a lot of gaps about Kate’s time off-island. What’s tantalizing about this episode – and promising, since we know that these guys never do anything without getting around to explaining it – is the situation with Ben at The Temple. I have a sneaking feeling we haven’t seen the last of The Temple. Also, a really powerful performance from Evangeline Lilly in this episode.

Favorite moment: Hurley and Miles discuss time travel – “This is really confusing... Say that again?” That, or Cassidy muttering, “Well, Jack sounds like a piece of work.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• No new characters introduced in this episode.

What we learned:

• Sawyer told Kate to visit Cassidy.
• Kate is a universal donor.
• Cassidy and Claire’s mother know the truth about Oceanic 815.
• Widmore and Ellie are the leaders of The Others in 1977, but Richard doesn’t answer to them.

Questions:

• When Harper told Juliet that she looked “just like her,” did that have something to do with Juliet’s time trying to save Ben in 1977?
• How did The Temple heal Ben?
• What’s going to go down between Ben and the man he supposedly killed?
• Did Ben know that Locke would be revived?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Can the past be changed?
• Miles tells Hurley, “Any of us can die!”
• With so many people who know about the lie that the Oceanic 6 told, is this going to be a problem later?
• Kate leaves Aaron with Carole, except we’ve been told time and time again that Claire is the only person who can raise Aaron. Is Kate going to have to reunite Aaron with Claire, or does the prophecy of Richard Malkin no longer apply?

5.10 - He's Our You

Title’s significance: Sawyer compares Oldham to Sayid by saying, “He’s our you.”

Recap: In flashbacks, Sayid kills a chicken, kills the last name on Ben’s list, plays charity worker until Ben asks him to return to the island, and drinks MacCutcheon with Ilana before she apprehends him in Peter Avellino’s name. Young Ben promises to free Sayid, but Sayid won’t talk. Horace tells Sawyer that they’ll have to use Oldham, a crazy interrogator who lives out in the jungle, but Sawyer tries to stage a confession. Dharma Chef Hurley (variant action figure) brings Jack and Kate breakfast and reveals that Sawyer and Juliet are an item. Roger Linus and Sayid exchange barbs, and Sayid sees firsthand how awful Ben’s dad was. Sawyer can’t stall any longer, so Horace brings Sayid to Oldham, who drugs Sayid in pursuit of the truth. But Sayid’s story – that he was on two planes that crashed and that he’s been time-traveling – is too farfetched for the Dharma folk, who believe he’s fooled their drugs. Dharma votes to kill Sayid, who tells Sawyer he has a “purpose,” but young Ben stages a rescue to free Sayid. The escape is almost thwarted by Jin, but Sayid knocks him out and shoots young Ben right in the chest.

Thoughts: It’s been a while since we saw an old-school flashback, but the show’s evolved so far past the flashback era that it almost feels like a waste of time – except for the bits about Ilana, which we know ultimately to be a giant colossal red herring. The rest of the episode is pretty good, slightly mysterious, and ending on a terrific cliffhanger. One thing that bugs me, though, is that Oldham is this season’s Isabel – intriguing with hints of a larger importance, but ultimately fading away.

Favorite moment: I love William Sanderson, so it’s great seeing him as this crazy old bat living out in the middle of nowhere.

Characters introduced (in order):

• OLDHAM, psychedelic Dharma interrogator

What we learned:

• The names on Ben’s list were accomplices of Charles Widmore.
• Nobody likes Radzinsky.
• Ilana was apparently hired by the family of Peter Avellino to capture Sayid.

Questions:

• Why does Oldham live all the way out in the jungle?
• Why does The Dharma Institute need someone like Oldham?
• If whatever happened, happened, what ramifications will Sayid shooting Ben have?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Ilana clearly has a purpose for getting on Flight 316, and we can assume it has something to do with Jacob’s instructions to her in the finale flashback. Why does Jacob need Sayid on the island?

5.09 - Namaste

Title’s significance: “Namaste” is the salutation used in the Dharma videos and at Orientation. It means “I humble myself to you,” though a variant that may be appropriate for this show is “I acknowledge the universal spirit within you.”

Recap: In 1977, Sawyer’s jarred to see Kate back on the island, but he has a hard time explaining that the island time-traveled back to the Dharma days. After learning that Sun is on the island, he takes off for The Flame while Sawyer tries to come up with a story for Jack, Kate, and Hurley, and Juliet worries that Kate’s presence is going to change things. Radzinsky reports that there’s no plane. Sawyer slips the new arrivals into the submarine manifest, and Jin pursues a Hostile – it’s Sayid. At orientation, Jack meets Pierre Chang and gets assigned to janitorial duty, while Sawyer brings Sayid back to the barracks for imprisonment. Sawyer revels in the role reversal with Jack, and Sayid gets a meal brought to him... by a young Ben Linus.

The episode technically begins with a flashback to the crash of Ajira 316; Frank miraculously lands the plane on the Hydra island. In 2007, Frank tries to rally the 316ers, but Ben scampers off into the jungle as Caesar tries to take a leadership role. Frank and Sun stop Ben from leaving the Hydra island – by clubbing him with an oar – and take a longboat to the main island. When they dock, Frank and Sun find New Otherton in disrepair; inside one of the houses, Christian beckons them on and reveals that Jin and the others are in 1977 – “You have a bit of a journey ahead of you.”

Thoughts: “Namaste” was a little better than “LaFleur” because it focuses a lot on getting a problem resolved, but there are so many characters involved that it’s tough to get bored for very long (“LaFleur” spent too long with one set of characters without really building any suspense along the way). One thing I really love here – credit writers Paul Zbyszewski and Brian K. Vaughan for this – is almost every island role is reversed here: Sawyer is leading Jack, Kate is now second fiddle to Juliet, Jin speaks better English than everyone, Sayid is imprisoned with Ben visiting him, and Hurley... well, Hurley’s still the same ole “Kong” we know and love. Some things, I guess, never change, and thank Jacob for that.

Favorite moment: The scene with Christian, Sun, and Frank in the barracks has a great sense of atmosphere developed in a relatively short amount of time.

Characters introduced (in order):

• RADZINSKY, paranoid Dharma jerk
• BRAM, 316er

What we learned:

• Radzinsky was a member of The Dharma Initiative.
• Radzinsky designed The Swan.
• The Swan is one of the newest Dharma stations, being built at least after 1977.
• Horace and Amy name their son Ethan.

Questions:

• What is the function of the runway?
• Why wasn’t Sun transported back to 1977?
• It’s been three years – where’s Daniel?
• Who’s president in 1977?
• Why does Ben really want to get to the main island?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• No real mythological import is given to this episode.

5.08 - LaFleur

Title’s significance: The episode takes its title from Sawyer’s new pseudonym for himself, “LaFleur.”

Recap: The last time flash before Locke fixes the island takes Sawyer’s crew to a time when the four-toed statue was still standing. A final flash stops the island in time – in 1974. They find Daniel an emotional wreck, promising not to tell Charlotte what she said he told her. At the sound of gunfire, Sawyer’s group finds Others attacking a Dharma picnic, and they rescue a woman named Amy, who tells them that they’ve just violated “the truce.” Using earplugs, Amy tricks them into crossing through the sonic fence; Horace interrogates Sawyer, who weaves a story about a shipwrecked salvage vessel looking for The Black Rock. Daniel deduces that the island is no longer skipping in time but sees young Charlotte at the barracks; an alarm sounds, signaling a Hostile incursion, and it’s Richard Alpert strutting into the barracks. Sawyer tells Richard the truth about the dead Hostiles, revealing that he’s waiting for Locke to return. Having successfully avoided a situation with Richard, Sawyer buys two weeks on the island; Juliet wants to leave, but Sawyer convinces her to stay – with him.

In 1977, Phil and Jerry find that Horace is drunk out at the sonic fence with dynamite, so they go to wake up their security guy LaFleur – who’s actually Sawyer. Sawyer retrieves Horace and brings him back to his wife Amy, who’s pregnant. Though Juliet’s working in the motor pool, Sawyer asks her to help deliver Amy’s baby; Juliet’s reticent after her failures with pregnant women before, but Sawyer suggests that maybe the baby will still be safe. Juliet successfully delivers a son, and she and Sawyer retire to their home for dinner, professing their love for each other. Sawyer visits Horace, who’s hung-over but who’s also a father; thinking of Paul, Horace asks if three years is long enough to get over someone, and Sawyer instantly thinks of Kate. The next morning, Sawyer gets the call from Jin that the 815ers – Jack, Kate, and Hurley – are back.

Thoughts: Not as electrifying as the last two episodes, “LaFleur” was good in a setting-up kind of way with a lot of character-driven moments, but on rewatch it wasn’t as gripping as other episodes have been this season. This I blame primarily on the fact that, once you know that Sawyer and his crew join The Dharma Initiative, there’s really nothing rewarding or suspenseful in rewatching the episode.

Favorite moment: Sawyer-centric episodes always make it difficult to pick a favorite moment, but the character-driven confrontation between Sawyer and Richard takes at least one piece of cake.

Characters introduced (in order):

• JERRY, Dharma Initiative member
• ROSIE, sultry Dharma girl
• PHIL, snappy Dharma worker
• AMY, Horace’s pregnant wife
• PAUL, Amy’s first husband

What we learned:

• The four-toed statue was part of a much larger full statue, possibly of Egyptian origin.
• Locke did stop the island in time.
• Sawyer joins The Dharma Initiative as head of security.
• Charlotte’s body disappears with the last flash.
• Amy was married to Horace.
• The Dharma Initiative could have children on the island.
• The sonic fence doesn’t keep The Hostiles out.
• The Hostiles had a truce with The Dharma Initiative.
• Jack, Kate, and Hurley “crashed” in 1977, while the other 316ers seem to have “crashed” in the present.

Questions:

• What was the nature of the truce between The Hostiles and The Dharma Initiative?
• This will probably not get answered, but where does Amy fit in since we know that Horace and Olivia were married?
• When did the island stop letting women have children?
• Why doesn’t the sonic fence stop The Hostiles?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• I hope we get more details on the truce, but I’m sure that most of the Dharma plotline is over and done with by this point.

5.07 - The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

Title’s significance: Pretty self-explanatory on this one. This episode covers Locke’s time as Jeremy Bentham off-island.

Recap: Caesar and Ilana discuss their plane crash and the fact that a few people “disappeared” from the plane; what’s more, somehow Locke is alive again! Locke reveals that he was at one point dead, but he doesn’t know why he’s alive again. Locke flashes back to turning the wheel and being transported to Tunisia, the same spot Ben came to and which is now under video surveillance. After being rescued by some nomads, he meets Charles Widmore, who reveals he was once leader of The Others and that three years have passed since the Oceanic Six left. Widmore helps Locke track down the Oceanic 6 and sends Matthew Abaddon to help Locke. First they visit Sayid in the Dominican Republic, but he’s busy doing charity work and isn’t interested. Next, Locke visits Walt, who admits he’s been having dreams about Locke but who doesn’t know what happened to Michael; what Locke doesn’t know is that Ben is following him. Hurley initially believes Locke to be a ghost, but he stops listening when he sees Abaddon. Kate won’t sign on because she thinks Locke’s never loved anyone, and Locke learns that his love Helen died of a brain aneurysm. At the cemetery, Abaddon is shot, and Locke speeds away – into a car crash; he’s brought to Jack’s hospital, where Jack refuses to concede that Locke may be right about anything. Despondent, Locke attempts to hang himself, but he’s stopped when Ben arrives; Ben talks Locke down by telling him he’s not a failure, but he kills Locke when he gets the chance and makes it look like a suicide. Back on the island, Locke and Caesar talk about why some people disappeared on the flight, and Locke sees that Ben is one of the people from the plane; none too happy, Locke reveals that Ben killed him.

Thoughts: Back to back Damon & Carlton episodes? What have I done to deserve such a boon? This is another one of those great “answers” episodes in the tradition of “Meet Kevin Johnson” and “The Other 48 Days.” There is an abundance of answers in this episode, with hints of a larger storyline that you just know is going to get fleshed out in Season Six. This episode really gives Terry O’Quinn a chance to shine in what turns out to be his last performance as Locke (from here on out, he’s just Jacob’s nemesis pretending to be Locke), so stay tuned for more on how he’s still on the show.

Favorite moment: For pure shock factor, it’s Abaddon’s death, but I really treasure the scene between Locke and Ben in the hotel room, because (again) these two are the top actors on the show; Ben’s last line – “I’ll miss you, John. I really will.” – epitomizes what’s great about the character, because he just might be sincere.

Characters introduced (in order):

• No new characters introduced in this episode.

What we learned:

• Locke was transported off-island after turning the frozen wheel.
• Widmore remembers meeting Locke in 1954 – this makes him about 70 years old.
• Widmore was once the leader of The Others before Ben exiled him.
• Widmore set Locke up with the Jeremy Bentham identity.
• Abaddon “help(s) people get to where they need to be.”
• Helen died in 2006.
• Matthew Abaddon is killed by Ben Linus.
• Locke told Ben that Jin is alive; Ben also took Jin’s wedding ring.
• Locke didn’t commit suicide; Ben murdered him and made it look like a suicide.

Questions:

• How do Caesar and Ilana know each other?
• How did Locke come to be alive again?
• Is this really Locke?
• Where did Frank go, and who did he take with him?
• What went down between Widmore and Ben, and when?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Spoilers – it’s not really Locke. It’s Un-Locke, most likely Jacob’s nemesis and perhaps even the smoke monster. So why Locke’s form, and why the charade?
• Widmore speaks of a war coming to the island, but between whom, for what, and who will win?
• How much of what Widmore says can we trust, anyway?
• Jack says that Locke isn’t special, which of course runs contrary to all that I’ve been saying on this blog all along. Final word, Season Six?
• Who’s on the side of good – Widmore or Ben? Are either of them good?

5.06 - 316

Title’s significance: Ajira Flight 316 brings the survivors back to the island. (Tell me the allusion to John 3:16 isn’t intentional. Just try.)

Recap: The episode beings with Jack rescuing a drowning Hurley and finding Kate after waking up in a jungle somewhere. 46 hours ago, Mrs. Hawking takes Jack, Ben, Sun, and Desmond to The Lamp Post, a Dharma station which plots the location – both temporal and spatial – of the island. Desmond thinks this is poppycock, but Mrs. Hawking says the island’s not done with Desmond. When Desmond storms out, Mrs. Hawking reveals that Ajira Airways 316 will fly through the window and return them to the island, as long as they recreate the circumstances of the crash “as best as possible.” Mrs. Hawking delivers Locke’s suicide note to Jack and asks him to use Locke as a proxy for his father, encouraging a “leap of faith.” Jack visits his grandfather Ray, who gives him Christian’s shoes, which Jack then gives to Locke; Kate returns to Jack and asks to come back to the island, but Aaron’s not with her. A drenched and bloodied Ben calls Jack, asking him to pick up Locke’s body. At the airport, Jack learns that Sayid is in the custody of a marshal, and Hurley’s arrived with a guitar case; at the last second, Ben arrives on the plane, much to Hurley’s chagrin. What’s more, Frank Lapidus is the pilot of the aircraft, and he deduces that the plane won’t make it to Guam. Jack reads Locke’s suicide note – “I wish you had believed me” – as the plane hits turbulence; a white light flashes. Jack wakes up in the jungle – he’s back on the island, but no one remembers crashing. Suddenly a Dharma van rolls out of the jungle, and out steps Jin, wearing a Dharma jumpsuit.

Thoughts: Mrs. Hawking delivers a crucial monologue in this episode, one that probably would have flopped if Damon & Carlton hadn’t written it. This whole episode is yet another indication of why these two are the top writers on the show – because they know what they’re doing, and it shows, even if it’s only a little bit at a time. The fifth season really gets in gear with this episode, now that we’re back on that little ole island.

Favorite moment: Jack asks Mrs. Hawking if Ben’s telling the truth; she responds, completely deadpan, “Probably not.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• RAY, Jack’s grandfather
• CAESAR, Ajira 316 passenger
• ILANA, Sayid’s marshal

What we learned:

• The Lamp Post is a Dharma station used to find the island.
• The survivors were never rescued because no one could find the island.
• To return to the island, one needs to recreate the circumstances that brought them to the island.
• The Ajira flight that crashed on the island brought some of the Oceanic 6 with it – Flight 316.

Questions:

• How did Eloise come to man the Lamp Post?
• Why would Locke kill himself?
• What promise is Ben going to fulfill?
• Where’s Aaron?
• Why was Ben all drenched and bloody?
• Why is Sayid in custody?
• Whose guitar case did Hurley have?
• How did Hurley know that Ajira 316 was going to crash?
• What happens to the other people on Ajira 316?
• What’s going to happen when Ben returns to the island, since he’s not supposed to come back?
• Why didn’t Ilana seem concerned about the plane hitting turbulence?
• Where are Ben, Sayid, Sun, and Frank?
• Why is Jin wearing a Dharma suit and driving a Dharma van?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• What does Mrs. Hawking mean when she says that the island isn’t done with Desmond?
• Mrs. Hawking’s interaction with Jack and Ben’s monologue about St. Thomas raises the issue of faith. I think as viewers we need to have faith that all this will work out, but I’m wondering also what role faith is going to play in the lives of the survivors this final season.
• Notice that Jack’s switching over toward being a man of faith in this episode.

5.05 - This Place Is Death

Title’s significance: Charlotte tearfully tells Jin that Sun must never come back because “this place [the island] is death.”

Recap: Jin’s time with Rousseau corroborates most of the crazy Frenchwoman’s story as Jin tries to find his camp and the radio tower on the island. But the smoke monster crashes the party and attacks Montand; when his team tries to save him, his arm gets torn off, and he’s sucked into some ruins. All of Rousseau’s team follow Montand into the ruins, but Jin prevents her from following them. Time skips, more intensely than before, and Jin sees the pillar of smoke before finding Rousseau at her camp, pointing a gun at Robert, who she claims is ill like the rest of her team that she has already killed. Before she can shoot Jin, time skips again, and Jin is reunited with Sawyer; Locke tells Jin that Sun is safe and reiterates a need to get to The Orchid. But time skips again, and again, and Charlotte collapses as Sawyer experiences a nosebleed now. With the time-skipping careening out of control, Locke forges on ahead, but Daniel agrees to stay with Charlotte, who confesses before dying that she grew up on the island and that she met Daniel when she was young. At The Orchid, Locke finds a well, but before descending he has to promise Jin not to bring Sun and her baby back to the island; in the well, Locke fixes the frozen wheel and meets Christian, who directs him to Eloise Hawking before Locke disappears in a bright white light.

Just as Sun’s ready to kill Ben, she gets a call from her daughter, who misses her. Sun’s further deterred when Ben reveals that Jin isn’t dead. Ben promises that the same person who can take them back to the island has the proof that Jin is alive, but Sayid and Kate (with Aaron) bail on the return expedition. When Jack tells Sun that he’s willing to kill Ben himself, Ben gets teed off at how ungrateful they’re being for his attempts to bring them back to the island. Ben reveals that he visited Locke before he died and gives Sun Jin’s wedding ring as proof. Suddenly, Desmond arrives; he’s found Faraday’s mother, and not only is she the woman Ben’s been working with, she’s also Desmond’s temporal policeman, Daniel Faraday’s mother – Eloise Hawking.

Thoughts: The direction in this episode is stellar, but I think it suffers from an overreliance on the on-island shenanigans while shortchanging the Oceanic 6 plotline. I think the episode isn’t the best-written either, although my complaint is chiefly with the handling of the Rousseau plotline; it’s tantalizing, but it ultimately doesn’t deliver much beyond what we already knew about the situation. By the end of the episode, though, we’re in a good place.

Favorite moment: Christian’s line about Ben – “Since when did listening to him get you anywhere worth a damn?” – is priceless; in fact, that whole scene in the cave is delightful.

Characters introduced (in order):

• BRENNAN, LACOMBE, and NADINE, members of the science team

What we learned:

• Montand lost his arm while his team tried to save him from the monster.
• Robert tells Rousseau that the monster is a security system for the temple.
• The smoke monster retreats to a temple on the island.
• Charlotte grew up on the island, but she left at an early age and never spoke of it with her mother.
• Charlotte became an anthropologist to find the island again.
• Daniel will meet young Charlotte.
• The time flashes kill Charlotte.
• Locke, not Ben, had to move the island.
• Christian knows about the frozen wheel.
• Daniel's mother is Eloise Hawking, Ben's collaborator and Desmond's temporal policeman.

Questions:

• How does Ben know Jin’s still alive?
• Why did the monster single out Montand?
• What is the temple for?
• Did the smoke monster do something to Rousseau’s team, or is she nuts?
• Is Ben serving his own interests here, or is he really caring for the Oceanic 6?
• Who built the well?
• Under what circumstances will Daniel meet young Charlotte?
• How did Ben get Jin’s wedding ring – the one he gave to Locke?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Despite highlighting Rousseau and her science team, we really didn’t get any information on the so-called sickness that befalls her team. Double-You-Tee-Eff, mate?
• Geronimo Jackson comes up again. The writers know this is important, but who are they? (My personal theory: it’s a band that Charlie forges in a post-Jughead world.)
• Who built the well? And the wheel?
• Notice that Christian adamantly refuses to touch Locke. Is it because he’s really Jacob’s nemesis/the smoke monster? Or is it just an issue of Locke’s destiny?

5.04 - The Little Prince

Title’s significance: There’s no explicit reference to Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s novel of the same name, but it seems obvious the writers are trying to draw a parallel with Aaron.

Recap: A flashback explores the decision for Kate to claim Aaron as her own, but we’re back on the island as Sawyer accuses Daniel of knowing that something would befall Charlotte. Locke says the group needs to go back to The Orchid to stop the island from skipping – “even if it kills me.” Charlotte wakes up, but she doesn’t recognize Daniel at first. Locke realizes they’ve traveled back to the night the lights went on in the hatch, and Sawyer stumbles upon Kate helping Claire gives birth before another flash sends the island careening through time. The skippers find their camp again, but it’s been ransacked and there are longboats with Ajira Airways water bottles; the skippers take a longboat and sail away, making camp at night as Sawyer tells Juliet about his feelings and notices her nose is bleeding. Elsewhere, a French science team finds a floating survivor – Jin – and their young pregnant leader identifies herself as Danielle Rousseau.

Kate leaves Aaron with Sun and goes off to be mysterious; Sun receives a dossier on Ben as well as a gun hidden in a box of chocolates. Kate meets with Dan Norton to ascertain the identity of the person who hired him; Norton agrees to report the deal to his employer but promises the answer is going to be no. Meanwhile, Sayid wakes up and warns Jack that Ben is only on his own side, but Jack gets kicked out of the hospital – again. A man comes to attack Sayid, but Sayid dismantles him as Ben and Jack come back in, learning that someone’s after Kate, too. Kate follows Dan Norton, who meets his client – Carole Littleton, Claire’s mother. Jack tries to talk Carole out of it, but she insists she has no idea what he’s talking about; turns out she’s just picking up her settlement from Oceanic. Norton’s real client is actually Ben, who frees Hurley. Sans Hurley, Ben reunites Sayid, Jack, and Kate at a marina; Ben apologizes for screwing with Aaron, but Sun’s lurking out of sight with her gun at the ready.

Thoughts: The flashforward was a little limp here, but the time skipping stuff is really interesting, especially when we get hints of something in the island’s past that even our time skippers don’t know (like Miles’s time on the island). Let me back up a bit, though – the last moments of the flashforward at the marina were really impressive, with just the perfect tone/gravitas that this moment should have. And even on rewatch I got chills at the end when Rousseau identified herself.

Favorite moment: “Dude, it’s totally cool. I’m in L.A. County lock-up.” That, or Sawyer praising time travel as it gets the skippers out of a gunfight... and into a rainstorm.

Characters introduced (in order):

• MONTAND, the scientist we’ve heard so much about
• ROBERT, Alex’s father

What we learned:

• Charlotte’s illness is “like really bad jetlag” because her internal mental clock is off.
• Jack was suspended from the hospital because of his substance abuse.
• Daniel theorizes that nosebleeds happen in order of exposure time.
• Dan Norton is actually working for Ben.
• Jin’s not dead after all!

Questions:

• Has Miles been on the island before?
• Where’s Vincent?
• Where are Rose and Bernard?
• Who came in the longboats?
• How did an Ajira Airways water bottle find its way to the island?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• I didn’t realize it, but Locke’s rendezvous with destiny at the hatch coincides with Aaron’s birth, both of which the writers have confirmed occurred on an important date in the island’s history (all the time flashes mark important dates in the island’s history). What else did we miss in that episode?
• Locke’s destiny!

5.03 - Jughead

Title’s significance: “Jughead” is the name of the atomic bomb stashed on the island in the 1950s.

Recap: As the episode begins, we meet Desmond and Penny’s baby before jumping to the present, where Desmond is looking for Daniel’s mother in England. Desmond promises Penny that this is the last he’ll have to do with the island. At Oxford, Desmond can’t find any record of Daniel Faraday, but his research lab is still intact, albeit under quarantine. A custodian tells Desmond that Daniel was kicked out of Oxford for experimenting on a young girl, time-skipping Theresa Spencer. Desmond finds Theresa, who’s having flashes like Desmond and Minkowski had, and he learns that Widmore is paying Theresa’s medical bills. Desmond goes to Widmore, who gives Desmond an address for Daniel’s mother and who tells Desmond to “get out of this mess.” Desmond tries to lie to Penny about Daniel’s mother, but she catches on and volunteers to go to Los Angeles with him.

On the island, Daniel worries about Charlotte’s building symptoms before a landmine attack makes the time-skippers prisoners of the Army Others of 1954 (sounds like a Busby Berkeley musical). While Locke’s group mulls what to do with their Army Other prisoners, the captive time-skippers meet ageless Richard, who tells them there’s a nuclear bomb on the island; Daniel realizes the bomb is unstable and advises Richard to let him render the bomb inert. Daniel also reveals he’s in love with Charlotte. Jones escapes from Locke, Sawyer, and Juliet, but of course Locke tracks him back to camp as Richard allows Daniel to disarm the bomb. Daniel tells Ellie to bury the bomb, knowing that it won’t detonate since he comes from the future. Locke comes looking for Richard, who reveals that “Jones” is actually Charles Widmore. When the island jumps again, Charlotte collapses with a profusely bloody nose.

Thoughts: Season Five continues off to a positive start with an episode that enmeshes itself in heavy mythology. The time jumping thing has the potential to get old, but at least it’s done tastefully here and with a fair amount of respect toward using this device to deepen the show’s larger story and to give us a better portrait of what the island is like at different times in its history.

Favorite moment: Sawyer recaps last episode in three words: “Frogurt on fire.” Could be a new hit flavor at Coldstone.

Characters introduced (in order):

• EFREN SALONGA, village doctor
• CHARLIE HUME, Desmond and Penny’s baby
• ELLIE, militant Other
• THERESA SPENCER, victim of Daniel’s experiments

What we learned:

• Desmond and Penny have a child named Charlie.
• The Others know how to speak Latin.
• The landmines were planted by the U.S. Army.
• The Army Others killed four U.S. soldiers.
• Daniel experimented on a woman named Theresa.
• Daniel is in love with Charlotte.
• While testing H-bombs in the Pacific, the U.S. Army left one at the island.
• Juliet confirms that Richard is very, very old.
• Daniel’s mother lives in Los Angeles.
• Jones is really Charles Widmore.
• Richard’s test was to determine whether or not Locke truly is the leader of The Others.

Questions:

• What’s wrong with Charlotte?
• Why is Widmore caring for Theresa?
• How does Daniel know Ellie?
• What’s Widmore’s interest in Daniel?
• How does Widmore know Daniel’s mother?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• We meet the Army Others, which suggests to me that there’s a few groups of Others throughout history, and I’m not really sure what this current group of Others/Hostiles represents.
• I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: what is Locke’s destiny?

5.02 - The Lie

Title’s significance: This episode deals with the psychological ramifications of “the lie” that the Oceanic 6 told, particularly on Hurley.

Recap: After a brief flashback to the decision to lie about the island – Hurley wanted to tell the truth but was outvoted – we’re back on the skipping island. When night falls, Neil Frogurt is peeved that Bernard can’t start a fire, and Charlotte tells Daniel that she’s having headaches and spells of forgetfulness. The Others launch a flaming arrow attack, and the 815ers flee the beach; Sawyer and Juliet are then attacked by Others in army uniform. As The Others imperil Sawyer and Juliet, they’re saved by Locke (with knife-throwing accessory).

Hurley madcap-drives an unconscious Sayid around town before he’s pulled over... by a hallucination of Ana-Lucia, who tells him to pull it together and that he still has work to do. Kate gets a mysterious phone call from “a friend,” and Ben gets rid of Jack’s pills before he tells him to pack as if he’s not coming back. Hurley returns home with Sayid over his shoulder, looking for Papa Reyes’s help, while Kate visits her “friend” – Sun, who tells Kate that the lawyers must have something other than “the lie” on their agenda. Papa Reyes brings Sayid to Jack and tells Jack to stay away from Hurley. Jack alerts Ben, and Hurley spills the beans to his mom about the whole shebang. Jack revives Sayid, as Ben comes to Hurley and invites him to join his group; Hurley rebels, though, and turns himself in rather than join Ben. In a curious math/science lab that looks suspiciously like a Dharma station, someone’s calculating an “event window” - it's Mrs. Hawking, who's helping Ben get the Oceanic 6 back to the island.

Thoughts: Much less of a bang-up affair than the previous episode, “The Lie” is a much more subdued episode, digging in a little deeper rather than showing us just how wide the hole is that the survivors are in. Having said that, I think this episode was funny (as most Hurley-centric episodes are) and easy to follow, but there’s much more of a sense of mystery in this episode than in “Because You Left.”

Favorite moment: “Welcome back, Dr. Wizard.” “I think it’s Mister Wizard.” “Shut up.” That, or Hurley’s mom exclaiming, “Why is there a dead Pakistani on my couch?” Or even when Hurley admits that he “was never really clear on” what would happen if the button wasn’t pushed – in fact, that whole narrative Hurley gives his mum.

Characters introduced (in order):

• JILL, a butcher running a front for Ben
• JONES, British military Other

What we learned:

• Anything the islanders had with them is time-traveling, too.
• Mrs. Hawking is indeed real – and she’s working with Ben.

Questions:

• Why didn’t Ben answer Jack when he asked if Locke was dead?
• What’s Jill’s connection to the whole thing?
• Who do the lawyers represent?
• Who are the military Others?
• What’s Mrs. Hawking calculating?
• How does Mrs. Hawking know Ben?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• “Everything’s gonna make sense, I promise,” Hurley says. But I’m with his mom on this one – “It better!”

5.01 - Because You Left

Title’s significance: Ben says that all the bad things that have happened occurred “because you left.”

Recap: Curiously, this episode begins by introducing the man from the Dharma videos – his real name’s Pierre Chang, and he’s not happy that something’s going wrong at The Orchid. But somehow, Daniel’s in Dharma Days, too... This episode also begins splitting the plotline in two: on-island fritziness and off-island shenanigans. After Ben moves the island, Sawyer and Juliet notice the smoking freighter is gone, and Rose and Bernard reveal that campsite is gone, too. Daniel theorizes the island is time-traveling a la a skipping record, and the group notices that Locke is separated from them; he’s busy witnessing the crash of the Nigerian drug plane, but when he tries to help them he’s shot by Ethan before the island jumps. Daniel cautions that time travel can’t affect the past; “Whatever happened, happened.” Locke is found by Richard, who treats his gunshot wound, gives him a compass, and tells him he has to die to save the island. The island jumps again, and Sawyer tries to get into The Swan for supplies before being told by Dan that it didn’t happen and so it can’t happen; Charlotte gets a nosebleed, and Daniel makes contact with Desmond, telling him to find his mother.

Off-island, Jack feels hopeless about going back to the island, confiding to Ben that Locke fretted about everyone they left behind dying. Kate’s visited by Dan Norton, a skeezy lawyer who thinks Kate isn’t related to Aaron, so Kate skedaddles. As Sun tries to fly to Los Angeles, she’s detained by Widmore, who accuses her of not respecting him and asks what their common interests are; she reveals that they both want Ben dead. Sayid brings Hurley to a safehouse, advising Hurley to do the opposite of anything Ben says before roughing up some hooligans inside. Now married to Penny, Desmond wakes up with a new memory of Daniel

Thoughts: I’m not going to bother patting Damon and Carlton on the back, because you know that’s coming. What I am going to do is point out how fluidly the “skipping in time” element is explained and integrated. Note also that Locke isn’t told that he’s time-traveling; like so many other things in his life, he has to figure it out for himself.

Favorite moment: Richard isn’t fazed by Locke saying that Ethan shot him: “What comes around, goes around.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• PIERRE CHANG, the temperamental artist formerly known as “Marvin Candle”
• NEIL FROGURT, 815er we’ve heard so much about
• DAN NORTON, a lawyer after Kate and Aaron

What we learned:

• The Arrow was designed to research The Hostiles.
• The Dharma Initiative didn’t build the frozen wheel.
• Ben moved the island in time, not space.
• Sun and Widmore both want Ben dead.
• Sayid brings Hurley to one of Ben’s safehouses.
• Daniel says the past can’t be changed.
• Daniel was hired because he’s been researching The Dharma Initiative.
• The rules don’t apply to Desmond.

Questions:

• How did Daniel get back to the Dharma Days?
• If the island is time-traveling, why don’t The Others jump with it?
• Can the past be changed?
• When will Locke tell Richard about his gunshot wound?
• Why don’t the rules apply to Desmond?
• Who is Daniel’s mother?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• I think we haven’t seen the last of The Orchid. Though The Swan gets a lot of play with the Jughead plan, The Orchid can actually time travel. Is this how they’ll save Jacob?
• Daniel says that “whatever happened, happened.” But the entirety of the Jughead plan hinges upon Daniel being wrong. Is he?

Season Four Roundup

I may as well just come out and say that I think Season Four is my favorite season of LOST (at least, thus far on rewatch; I haven’t, obviously, gotten through Season Five just yet, and Season Six promises to blow us out of the water). A large part of this is due to the fact that the season doesn’t really waste any time – thank you, writers’ strike – and keeps moving forward no matter what. (That’s not exactly true; “Something Nice Back Home” isn’t the best episode, and notice it’s a Jack-cenrtic one.)

The central theme here was the tale of the Kahana freighter, who they were working for, and why they’d come to the island. In true LOST fashion, we know almost all of what we initially wanted to know about the freighter people, but their appearance on the show opens up a new dimension that some of us had only theorized – Widmore is a central player in the show’s mythology, and he’s got some kind of connection to the island that connects with a competition between himself and Ben. While we’ll get little glimmers of this battle in Season Five, I think the larger resolution of this conflict is yet to be seen.

This season also showed us how new characters need to be introduced. None of this Nikki and Paulo stuff; we need characters with mysterious backgrounds that, once revealed, still make them relevant and important elements on the show. Enter Daniel, Charlotte, Miles, and Frank – four extremely interesting and entertaining (Charlotte’s not a comedian, sure, but I can at least appreciate another redhead on television) characters who still haven’t quite met up their full potential, so I’ll be looking for at least Miles and Frank in Season Six (and perhaps Daniel, if the Jughead plan worked, which I think it did).

Season Four is pivotal in my “Locke is going to save everyone” theory since Locke finally stops running away from his destiny and accepts his newfound responsibility as the leader of The Others – “Welcome home,” Richard tells him, suggesting that this is where he’s meant to be. But there’s something extremely sorrowful in this moment, too, both because I have a feeling Locke’s being used by Jacob’s nemesis and because Ben’s farewell to Locke seems so tragically sincere that I truly believe Ben has come to regret the things he’s done to Locke. Oh, wait; Ben (SPOILERS) kills Locke next season. Forget that.

I’m also very curious – even more so after Season Four – about these apparitions on the island. Come to think of it, they almost always appear when a character “has work to do” (Jack, Locke, Michael) or is running headlong toward their destiny (young Ben, Eko, and perhaps Shannon). It seems by this point that the apparitions are manifestations of the black smoke monster, something that’s going to be reinforced when Ben comes to The Temple to be judged. To what end remains to be seen, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it all has to do with the plot to kill Jacob.

Holy guacamole. I think I just figured it out. Locke’s favorite game is Mouse Trap, remember? The object of that game is to get all the pieces in place so that, by the time you spring your trap, your opponent never sees it coming. What if Jacob and his nemesis have been playing a colossal game of Mouse Trap on the island, and everything we’ve seen so far has been the nemesis (sometimes as the smoke monster, which I maintain is his alternate form) getting his pieces into place in order to spring a trap on Jacob? More on that in the next roundup, when we actually meet Jacob and his nemesis.

And now for our Questions roundup: Of our 148 lingering questions, 30 have now been answered, leaving 118 still remaining (these 118 will continue to carry over to subsequent roundups until they are answered). In Season Four, I asked 93 questions, 40 of which were answered within the season; this leaves 53 questions for future seasons to answer. That brings our running total of lingering questions to 171. Unlike with previous seasons, I took my responsibility seriously and didn’t ask a single smartass question.

Asked and Answered – Lingering Questions:

• 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? – I’m closing the book on this one. Walt’s special.
• 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? – Closing the book on this, too.
• Are The Numbers cursed? – By this point, it certainly looks that way.
• How does Walt know about the hatch? – I’m closing most of the books on Walt in this roundup; Walt touched Locke and learned about the hatch. Presto.
• How does Locke know so much about babies? – It’s subtle, but Locke grew up in a foster home with a baby; it’s likely he learned there.
• Was Goodwin going to kill Ana Lucia? – Ben says that Goodwin truly believed Ana Lucia could change and be worthy of being on the list.
• Why did Pickett take Michael’s blood? – Pickett likely wanted to make sure that Michael was Walt’s father.
• Why won’t Michael be able to return to the island? – Ben was yanking his chain; Michael still has work to do.
• Are The Others really “the good guys”? – I think at this stage of the game, they’re the better guys, and Widmore’s really the bad guy.
• Why isn’t Kate Tom Friendly’s “type”? – Tom’s gay.
• Why is Karl being held captive? – Ben doesn’t want him getting Alex pregnant.
• Why stay on this island if The Others can leave all along? – The Others believe they’ve been chosen by Jacob.
• Who is Jacob? – He’s the real leader of The Others.
• Does Widmore have an island connection as the paintings in his office suggest? – He certainly does, since he’s pursuing the island, but we don’t know quite why.
• Why was Locke’s paralysis cured immediately, but Ben has been allowed to suffer? – Locke is chosen to be the new leader of The Others.
• Why can’t women give birth after conceiving on the island? – Their immune system turns on the fetus.
• How did the parachutist get the photograph of Desmond and Penny? – Widmore.
• Who is the parachutist working for? – Charles Widmore.
• How does the parachutist know Desmond’s name? – She’s working for Widmore.
• Is Sun going to be okay? – She gives birth off-island just fine.
• What’s the deal with the Flight 815 discovered by those not on the island? How can that be? – Charles Widmore faked the crash of Flight 815 because he knows they’re really on the island, which he wants for himself.
• Why is Ben so afraid of Jacob? – Jacob is apparently a very powerful man.
• How did a group of low-tech Hostiles purge the island? – Ben used The Tempest, a gassing Dharma station on the island.
• What is The Temple? – It’s a secure place used by The Others.
• Is Kate pregnant? – No.
• What forces are attacking the island? – Widmore.
• Who’s in the coffin? – John Locke.
• If it’s not Penny’s boat, whose is it? – Widmore.
• Who else makes it off the island? – The Oceanic 6 (Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sun, Sayid, and Aaron), Desmond, Frank, Ben, and Locke.
• In the flashforward, who’s going to wonder where Kate is? – Aaron.

Asked and Answered – Season Four:

• Who else is in the Oceanic 6? – Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sun, Sayid, and Aaron.
• Why did only six return? – That’s all the helicopter could accommodate.
• What makes Ben think the freighter people are trouble? – Ben knows what Charles Widmore is up to.
• Who does Matthew Abaddon really work for? – Widmore.
• Matthew Abaddon asks, “Are they still alive?” Who’s he looking for, and *are* they still alive? – It’s open to interpretation. He could be asking about his science team, or he could be looking for the rest of Flight 815.
• What’s Christian doing in Jacob’s cabin? – Christian speaks on Jacob’s behalf.
• Why do the freighter people have gas masks and guns if they’re on a rescue mission? – They’re actually not. They’re supposed to find Ben and kill everyone else.
• What is the primary objective of the freighter crew? – Find Benjamin Linus.
• Is Miles’s ability for real? – Certainly seems that way by season’s end.
• How did the Dharma bear make it to Tunisia? – One can infer that the bear turned the frozen wheel at one point, since it’s in the same place that Ben lands after doing so.
• Why was Charlotte so happy to see the Hydra logo? – Charlotte implies she was born on the island and has been trying to find her place of birth.
• Who planted all the bodies underwater in Oceanic wreckage? – Charles Widmore.
• Why would someone fake Oceanic wreckage? – Widmore wants to prevent anyone else from finding the island.
• Why can’t Minkowski come to the phone? – He’s having flashes just like Desmond.
• Does Ben really know about the monster or not? – He can summon the monster; he’s a liar.
• Who is Ben’s spy on the freighter? – Michael.
• What’s Locke’s interest in Miles? – Locke wants to know who the freighter people are working for.
• What’s the significance of the bracelet that Naomi and Elsa both have? – Damon & Carlton say none, so okay.
• Why would Sayid work for Ben? – Sayid is trying to avenge Nadia.
• Assuming he's not posing as one of the Oceanic 6, how did Ben get off the island? – By turning the frozen wheel, Ben was transported off-island into the future.
• Why is Locke holding Miles prisoner? – Locke’s motives are unclear, but he wants information out of Miles and is using him as a hostage of sorts.
• Who were the two that allegedly survived the crash but aren’t considered part of the Oceanic 6? – According to the extended version of “There’s No Place Like Home,” Charlie, Boone, and Libby all survived. Continuity error, I guess.
• What happened to the helicopter? – It got caught in space/time and didn’t quite land “on time.”
• How did Kate get a hold of Aaron, and why would Claire let him leave the island without her? – Claire left Aaron in the jungle to be with Christian, where Aaron was retrieved by Sawyer and brought to Kate.
• Why can’t the freighter communicate with Penelope? Who told them not to? – Widmore.
• Who sabotaged the radio equipment on the freighter? – Michael.
• Why does Widmore want to find the island? – Ben suggests there’s a profit motive in it for Widmore.
• What’s the source of the banging pipes noise? – It’s never revealed, and with the freighter blown up it’s unlikely we’ll ever find out. I’ll surmise that it was Michael destroying the radio room, though.
• Is Jin really dead? – Certainly looks that way.
• What the deuce is Michael doing on the freighter? – He’s Ben’s spy.
• Who shot Karl and Rousseau? – Keamy and his men.
• Why doesn’t Captain Gault seem upset that Michael sabotaged his equipment? – Oh, he’s peeved, all right. He locks Michael up when he finds out.
• How did Ben get all the way to the Sahara? – Turning the frozen wheel seems to transport one in space and time.
• What happened to Ben between December 2004 and October 2005? – This is curious. Apparently no time passed for Ben after turning the frozen wheel, but he was thrown forward in time.
• How can the doctor be fine if his body just washed up? – Because the island and the freighter aren’t on the same “time,” the doctor’s death happened at two different places in two different timelines.
• As of this flashforward, has Jack found out that he’s Aaron’s uncle? – Yes, he finds out at his father’s funeral.
• What is the secondary protocol? – Head to The Orchid, since that’s where Ben’s going.
• What’s the nature of the device strapped to Keamy? – It’s a dead man’s trigger.
• How can one move the island? – By turning the frozen wheel.
• Who’s Jeremy Bentham? – We can infer that Jeremy Bentham is an alias Locke adopted after somehow and for some reason leaving the island.

Still Unanswered:

• Why doesn’t technology work on the island?
• “Where are we?”
• Why did the thing in the jungle let Locke live, and why does he lie about it?
• 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 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?
• Why are the tides rising so quickly?
• Why has the monster been quiet the last few weeks?
• 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?
• What was the Tampa Job that Sawyer and Hibbs worked?
• 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?
• Who’s been broadcasting The Numbers from the island?
• Why did the island take away Locke’s ability to walk?
• 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?
• Was it Walt’s thoughts on the hatch that spurred his change of heart vis-à-vis leaving the island?
• 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?”
• Why isn’t Locke afraid of the smoke monster?
• Where did the smoke monster try to take Locke?
• What did Shannon see in the jungle – Walt or something else?
• What’s the significance of the mural in the hatch?
• Why would Desmond think that the world doesn’t exist anymore?
• What will the other five DHARMA orientation videos show? – One (The Pearl) shows that the stations are under surveillance. The Orchid demonstrates the time travel potential at that station.
• What happened in the “incident”?
• Why the numbers – why do those get entered into the computer?
• How did Rose know that Bernard is fine?
• Who is Jae Lee’s American woman?
• Why is Shannon seeing visions of Walt?
• 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?
• Where did the mysterious black horse come from?
• 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?
• How could communication with the outside world lead to another incident?
• Does Eko have a soul?
• Why didn’t the smoke monster attack Eko?
• What does Sawyer owe Gordy?
• Why are transmissions coming in from 1944?
• Why is Rousseau so convinced that Henry Gale is one of The Others?
• What’s the significance of the hieroglyphics?
• What was The Staff’s original function?
• Why do The Others pretend to be all grizzly?
• I think it’s also fair to ask whether Dave was Hurley’s imagination or “the island” just messing with him.
• Did “Henry” press the button?
• How does the island heal people?
• Is Richard Malkin genuinely a psychic or not?
• Who salted the question mark?
• Why did the orientation film presenter use a different name – Mark Wickmund instead of Marvin Candle? (Add Edgar Halliwax to this list.)
• Why did Locke have to come to the Pearl?
• Why did Ms. Klugh choose the four survivors that she did?
• Why was Desmond dishonorably discharged from the army?
• Why couldn’t Desmond leave the island?
• Why is Libby’s hair different in each flashback?
• Who was Libby married to? David, but David who?
• What’s the story behind the Hurley bird?
• What’s the deal with the four-toed statue?
• How did Inman get from Iraq to the island?
• Who is Radzinsky?
• Why would Radzinsky edit the video?
• Why did Radzinsky kill himself?
• Why did Kelvin leave the army?
• Why does Ben treat Kate so differently?
• Were Sarah and Christian having an affair?
• What’s The Others’ endgame?
• What’s the point of having Sawyer and Kate break rocks?
• Who are the Dharma skeletons in the bear cave?
• Why was the smoke monster following Eko?
• If that wasn’t Yemi, who was it?
• Why did the smoke monster kill Eko?
• Who’s on Jacob’s list, and how does it differ from Ms. Klugh’s list?
• Why isn’t Jack on Jacob’s list?
• Why is Ben claiming to be Alex’s father?
• Was there something supernatural at play when Juliet’s husband was hit by a bus?
• How does Mrs. Hawking know everything?
• Is Mrs. Hawking real?
• Is Achara’s gift metaphorical or supernatural?
• Why has Cindy joined The Others?
• How does Karl not know about The Brady Bunch?
• What’s the significance of Juliet’s mark?
• What do Jack’s tattoos “mean”?
• Where’d the dart in the jungle come from?
• What is the nature of the truce that Mikhail mentions?
• What did Ms. Klugh know that she didn’t want the survivors to know?
• Will the homing pigeon plan work?
• What is Richard Alpert’s role with The Others?
• Why did the smoke monster shoot Juliet with white light?
• What happened the other three times Juliet’s shoulder was dislocated?
• Why doesn’t Ben want anyone leaving the island?
• How can Jacob cure cancer?
• Why is Ben so hooked on Juliet?
• What happened with Sayid in Basra?
• Why is the room in The Staff hidden?
• What about the island increases sperm count?
• How did The Others know to be waiting for Locke?
• Why did The Black Rock come to the island?
• How did Ben see his mother in the jungle?
• What’s the significance of the white ash around Jacob’s cabin?
• Why is Richard so interested in Ben’s vision of a dead person?
• Was Jacob really in the cabin?
• What happened to Annie?
• What was The Looking Glass’s original function?
• What happened to Mikhail’s eye?
• What’s with the vision of Walt?
• Why weren’t Jack and Kate supposed to leave? That is, why do they have to go back?
• What happened to the island after they left?
• How can Jacob’s cabin move?
• What’s up with the visions of Charlie?
• Who is the woman with Daniel?
• Why was Daniel so upset about 815?
• If the freighter mission is to apprehend Ben, why do they need scientists and ghost whisperers?
• Who is R.G.?
• Why did the beacon have a lag time before landing on the island?
• Who is the economist?
• Why is it important that Frank stay on the exact same bearing to leave the island?
• Who is on Ben’s list?
• Why is Miles willing to lie about Ben?
• Why does Miles want $3.2 million on the nose?
• Why does the island only displace some people and not others?
• Who’s Eloise?
• How did Harper appear seemingly at will?
• Who does Juliet “look just like”?
• How does Widmore know about the island?
• How does Charlotte know about The Purge?
• Was it just a guilty dream, or did the island really manifest Libby to Michael?
• How did Nadia die?
• What’s this business about rules?
• Just how far back do Ben and Widmore go?
• Why was Jack allowed to fall ill?
• Why is Miles so interested in Claire?
• What actually powers the locations on the island?
• Who was Kate on the phone with?
• What promise did Kate make to Sawyer?
• Why would Claire so willingly abandon Aaron?
• How did Richard Alpert know when Locke was going to be born?
• What was Richard’s test supposed to prove about Locke?
• Which items “already” belonged to Locke?
• Who led The Others before Ben?
• What was Matthew Abaddon’s miracle?
• Will Locke and Abaddon ever meet up again?
• Was that really Claire in the cabin?
• Sun blames her father for Jin’s death, but she blames one other, unnamed person – who?
• How does Widmore know about The Orchid?
• When was Charlotte on the island before that she’d want to come back?
• Can The Orchid really time-travel bunnies, or was Ben just yanking our chain?
• What did Sawyer whisper to Kate?
• Where is Sayid taking Hurley?
• Is Jin really dead?
• What “common interests” do Widmore and Sun have?
• How does Ben know about the frozen wheel?
• Why can someone who moves the island not return?
• Where did the island go?
• Why the sudden reversal of position on Aaron being raised by someone other than Claire?
• Why didn’t Claire have her normal accent in Kate’s dream?
• We can assume that Desmond stays with Penny, but how does Frank fit into the story the Oceanic 6 sell?
• Will Jack and Frank ever see each other again?
• What bad things happened after the Oceanic 6 left the island?
• How did Locke get off the island?
• How did Locke die?

4.12 - There's No Place Like Home

Title’s significance: Wizard of Oz reference (not the first).

Recap: Upon finding the helicopter’s sat phone, Jack aims to lead a group to The Orchid, which terrifies Daniel. Sawyer (with baby Aaron) and Miles encounter Jack and Kate en route, and Sawyer rubs in a little “Locke was right all along” before Jack decides to take off alone; Sawyer will have none of it. Via mirror Morse code, Ben sends a message to The Others as Daniel begins to ferry survivors off the island. At The Orchid – the location from which the island can be moved – Ben realizes he’s arrived too late; Desmond gets the freighter engines running again, but there’s some RF interference preventing the boat from monitoring the reef. Jack and Sawyer rescue Frank, who cautions a bad moon rising. Sun and Jin meet Michael on the freighter, but their reunion is cut short when Desmond discovers gobs of C-4 in the engine room. Sayid and Kate find that they’re being followed by Richard Alpert, and Ben surrenders himself to Keamy’s mercenaries.

Jack catches up with Locke at The Orchid as Desmond, Jin, and Michael examine the C-4, which they learn is connected to a radio receiver. Keamy brings Ben to the helicopter, but his people are attacked by Kate, Sayid, and The Others as Richard Alpert shoots Keamy. Locke asks Jack to stay on the island, but when Jack refuses Locke tells him he’ll have to lie as Ben returns to The Orchid; Richard gives the 815ers the helicopter. Ben gives Locke the Orchid orientation video, which suggests the station is capable of time travel; the elevator reactivates, though, and not-quite-dead Keamy joins them down in the station. Despite knowing that Keamy’s attached to a dead man’s trigger, Ben stabs Keamy to death without a care for the fate of those on the freighter; Daniel and Charlotte exchange intimate words about leaving the island, and Charlotte decides to stay. A fuel leak on the helicopter forces Sawyer to jump out in order to save everyone else aboard.

Locke rushes to save Keamy, who promises that Widmore will find Ben no matter what; unintimidated, Ben promises to find Widmore first as Keamy dies. When the C-4 gets the signal of Keamy’s death, Michael sends Desmond and Jin to get everyone off the boat. After refueling, the helicopter departs the freighter with “The Oceanic 6” aboard; Christian visits Michael and tells him, “You can go now,” as the freighter explodes – with Jin still aboard. Sawyer washes ashore and finds Juliet mourning the loss of the freighter. After blowing a hole in the Orchid test chamber, Ben apologizes to Locke for “making your life so miserable” and descends down to a hidden chamber where he finds a frozen wheel. Locke returns to Richard and The Others, who welcome him “home” as Ben turns the frozen wheel, muttering “I hope you’re happy now, Jacob” and making the island disappear from sight; with no place to land now, Frank’s helicopter crashes into the ocean, and the Oceanic 6 (plus Desmond and Frank) make it to their life raft. Soon the raft is discovered, and Jack realizes that Locke was right – they have to lie about their experiences. The boat that rescues them is actually Penny’s boat – The Searcher – this time, and Desmond promises never to leave her; he introduces the Oceanic 6 to Penny, and they devise a plan to hide the truth about their experience. They take the life raft to Membata and await their actual rescue.

In the flashforwards, the Oceanic 6 land in Hawaii and agree to speak to reporters after being greeted by their loved ones. The Oceanic 6 sell a story to reporters about washing up on Membata in the Sumatran Islands, and Sayid is finally reunited with Nadia. Baby Bump Sun (variant action figure) buys out her father, blaming him for Jin’s death, and Hurley’s folks throw a surprise birthday party for him. At Christian’s funeral, Jack meets Claire’s mother, who comes clean about Claire’s parentage. We revisit the Season Three flashforward, in which we learn someone named Jeremy Bentham is trying to bring the Oceanic 6 back to the island. Walt comes to visit Hurley in the institution and asks why the Oceanic 6 are lying; shortly thereafter, Sayid kills a man outside Santa Rosa and busts Hurley out with the news that Jeremy Bentham is dead of a suicide. Sun visits Widmore and tells him that they have “common interests.” Later, Kate dreams of Claire, who tells her not to bring Aaron back to the island. Jack breaks into the funeral parlor, but Ben’s already there waiting for him; he tells Jack that he has a plan and that all of them have to return to the island, even the man in the coffin – John Locke.

Thoughts: Damon & Carlton return, and boy do they return. This was a three-hour tour de force, closing the stories of the freighter and the Oceanic 6 but opening up about eight billion new storylines. I really wish I could have watched it all in one sitting, but the thing was three hours long as it is. The thing I really loved about this episode is how the action never really seemed to let up and how the whole affair had a dire sense of urgency about it. While sealing a lot of storylines (I feel like I write this for every finale), there’s a whole new set of questions just waiting to be answered, but this is for sure one of LOST’s finest hours and may even make this season my favorite of all.

Favorite moment: For the first part, Hurley tears into the Dharma crackers as Ben remarks, “You know those are fifteen years old?” (That, or Hurley’s mom reminding him that “Jesus Christ is not a weapon.”) As for the second part, it’s Rose sassing Miles about the peanuts – “I’m gonna keep my eye on you, shorty.” Or Ben’s simple response when Locke informs him that he’s just doomed everyone on the freighter – “So?” Of course, the last second reveal that Locke is in the coffin pretty much knocks the episode out of the park.

Characters introduced (in order):

• KAREN DECKER, Oceanic representative

What we learned:

• Aaron is considered part of the Oceanic 6.
• The Orchid is a Dharma greenhouse doubling as an experiment site for space and time.
• The Oceanic 6 story involves washing up on Membata, claiming that Jin died on the plane, that Aaron is Kate’s son, and that there are no other survivors.
• Moving the island is “a measure of last resort.”
• Sun now owns Paik Industries.
• Ben knows how Widmore knows about the island, but he isn’t telling.
• Claire’s mom is out of her coma.
• Jack learned about Claire’s parentage at his – their – father’s funeral.
• Aaron is the person that is waiting for Kate.
• According to Miles, Charlotte was on the island before.
• The Orchid is built over a cache of negatively-charged exotic matter.
• The Orchid time-traveled bunnies.
• Keamy’s device monitors his heart-rate and is connected to the C-4 transmitter.
• Charlotte implies she was born on the island.
• Michael’s work is finished – he dies saving the people on the freighter.
• “Whoever moves the island can never come back.”
• Ben was transported to Tunisia after moving the frozen wheel.
• Penny rescues the Oceanic 6.
• John Locke is the man in the coffin.

Questions:

• Sun blames her father for Jin’s death, but she blames one other, unnamed person – who?
• How does Widmore know about The Orchid?
• Who’s Jeremy Bentham?
• When was Charlotte on the island before that she’d want to come back?
• Can The Orchid really time-travel bunnies, or was Ben just yanking our chain?
• What did Sawyer whisper to Kate?
• Where is Sayid taking Hurley?
• Is Jin really dead?
• What “common interests” do Widmore and Sun have?
• How does Ben know about the frozen wheel?
• Why can someone who moves the island not return?
• Where did the island go?
• Why the sudden reversal of position on Aaron being raised by someone other than Claire?
• Why didn’t Claire have her normal accent in Kate’s dream?
• We can assume that Desmond stays with Penny, but how does Frank fit into the story the Oceanic 6 sell?
• Will Jack and Frank ever see each other again?
• What bad things happened after the Oceanic 6 left the island?
• How did Locke get off the island?
• How did Locke die?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Jack hasn’t met Claire since he found out about their relationship. How’s that going to work?
• Christian appears in this episode to tell Michael that his work is done. Noting the fact that Christian wears two different outfits at different times, are there “different” Christians, and if so are they on opposing sides? What exactly IS Christian’s function – is he a mouthpiece for Jacob, the island, or someone else?
• By the end of the episode, Locke is calling the camp of The Others “home.” Special, chosen, or manipulated?