Reconnaissance: A French word meaning "recognition"; a military term meaning preliminary survey to gain or collect information
So here is my own reconnaissance of each character:
SAWYER
Without Oceanic Flight 815 going down the life Sawyer would have led was to be a cop with Miles as his partner. On one particular job the code word "LaFleur" seemed to pop into somebody's head and they used it. Of course, with Oceanic crashing, it seems to have been a good alias for Sawyer to use as he moved up to Head of Security for the Dharma Initiative along with partner, Miles. This scene was a good sign the writing was returning to its elevated levels.
Pre-crash Sawyer went to Australia to kill the man he thought was Cooper/Sawyer. In this second timeline he goes there to perform recon. His obsession is the same, but his life's work is vastly different. The key is to remember that at the core, Sawyer remains the same.
CHARLOTTE
Very strange role for her in this episode. When she went searching through his dresser drawer it was all wrong. Why was she curious? She had to realize that for one of the few times in this guy's life she got him to speak the truth...so why doubt him? No one said she had to throw herself at him.
That left me convinced it was her reconnaissance work - someone hired her. Was it Miles? I'm guessing so. And so after that, Charlotte was going to be done with him anyway. Yet, I didn't buy it. I know it says 2010 on my calendar but what friend asks another to sleep with a guy so you can find out more about my partner? And what friend says, "Sure, what's the harm?" Yeah, right.
KATE
I think Kate's life is in danger. John Black knows she hasn't sold her soul to him yet. And I think he realizes he isn't likely to get it - she's too independent.
If she could wish one person dead, it would be Jack. "Thanks so much for bringing us back here, buddy boy!" Even I hate Jack for doing it...so far.
CLAIRE
Can't really talk Kate without talking Claire. First, she is impressing me more and more as an actress. This role is challenging and she is doing a nice job with it. Her appearance really freaks me out. I almost believe Locke when he tells Kate she is crazy. But something tells me not to fall for her act.
Chills went down my spine when she held Kate's hand. Minutes later she is trying to kill her. Then after a chat with John, she's all hugs. She's either Sybil-like or John is using her to soften up Kate.
How exactly is Kate going to sleep at night?
SAYID
Again, fine acting job. He is done for - he is sick. But he has enough humanity left in him to respond to Kate's question of is he alright with a pleading, "No." But not enough humanity to do anything but sit on a log and watch Kate nearly die.
These characters are creeping me out!
ZOEY
Am I the only one who thought she looked like Tina Fey? It didn't take a rocket science to figure out she was lying. So why exactly did she drag the bodies to the pile? Knowing either side of her deceit it makes little sense to do that.
JOHN BLACK
A preacher told me once that the Devil can't help but lie. His followers have the same problem. Imagine being the Devil and you send out your troops for a little recon and when the report back you know they are lying? Would you always then expect the opposite of what you were told? It must a very confusing life when everyone around you is lying. This is where the Bible says, "a house divided against itself can not stand." Many wrongly assume this is a warning about division within a church, but it actually a verse of encouragement for we now know that eventually Satan's house will fall because it can't help but be divided by its very nature.
This is a perfect foundation for Season 6 - who can trust who?
I appreciated John's directness. I am the smoke monster. Ok then. For this reason alone, I believe Sawyer's life is in mortal danger.
**
There is another concern with the script. Smokey apparently can make it to the Hydra Island. He went there and killed the remaining passengers of Ajira Fligh 316. So why couldn't he do his own recon? Widmore's people may not have arrived yet, but now that they are there, go have a look. The only reason I can fathom is that John was testing Sawyer's loyalty - which he stated as much. Yet, the Devil has to know that his followers are bound to lies, so does he really know that Sawyer was lying? Wonderful paradox. But is it enough to explain why Smokey didn't just drift over there himself? Hmmm...
**
Have you noticed how Smokey can use John's memory of his past life? Smokey didn't have a crazy mother...John did. Smokey doesn't shout, "Don't tell me what I can't do", but John did. And yet we know it is still Smokey in that body because of his twisted psychological play on Claire. I wasn't as bothered by him manipulating Claire half as much as how he seemed to enjoy sharing his evil doings with Kate. "Sure, I gave her something to hate."
And this to John's ability to spin any event into his own style of rationalization and you've got yourself an Emmy! Can they share it with Ben? In the replay before this episode I watch the final 5 minutes. When they showed Jack noticing Ben with his shoulders drooped...well, what great body language.
JOHN'S FOLLOWERS
By choosing to leave the Temple they have converted. Yet, Cindy asks, "What happened to the others at the Temple?" The children are theoretically unable to make a choice. Why do I sense that Kate and Sawyer are not the only ones in this group still riding the fence? Or is it possible to changed sides and this is what Cindy is contemplating? If so, I fear her life is in danger.
Speaking of the kids, did you see the boy is still dragging that teddy bear around?
WIDMORE
I honestly can't figure this guy out. He is in fear of John Black evidenced by those nifty temporary sonar pillars. But is that who he really wants dead? Or is Widmore trying to prove his candidancy for Island Caretaker?
GRADE
B+
The show got back into the groove that left my head spinning during each commerical break. I was so confused I thought I saw Charlie, Juliet, and Penny in the commercials!
We got new questions, but they weren't as frustrating as before...more like new mysteries like what's behind the locked door?
The play on past flashbacks, current sideways flashes and island events is becoming an art form for the writers. There were no obvious "made up rules".
But the show misses the "A" because:
* Sawyer can't operate a submarine any easier than fly a jumbo jet
* Claire might really be insane and I just don't like that
* The followers of John should be commiting suicide one by one at this point after realizing what they did...except for a few who really are infected by now like Sayid
* I didn't like John's walks to the beach for a chat with everyone
The + was for the great lines in this show:
* Take me to your leader
* Yeah, I think you are that stupid (that's a reused line if you remember - Jack said it last time)
* Because of that I had growing pains
* Aaron has a crazy mother too
* The Little House on the Prairie tribute where Michael Langdon also is known for playing an angel on "Highway to Heaven"
All in all, it was a strong episode. It made my head spin like the good old days. The eye-rolling on my part was limited. And the acting was above average.
Enjoy,
KC
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
LT354: Catching Up on Things
THINGS I BET YOU DON’T KNOW…YET
Principal Reynold’s name was written on the ceiling in the cave.
The book Ben finds while rummaging through old tent’s is “The Chosen” and is about two boys in a story that combines science, religion and a father-son relationship.
Miles’ “listened” to the dead two times in the last episode. First, when holding the bag of Jacob’s ashes. The second, when listening to Nikki and Paulo talk about their diamonds because at the time of their burial Miles wasn’t on the island yet!
Widmore accepted John “The Devil” Black’s offer of anything he wanted and Widmore wants the island…bad. And on cue, here he is returning the exact same way he was sent off. Mark my words, when Widmore comes ashore he will share some secret handshake with John Black, wink, then turn around and finally kill Ben. Of course, Widmore could just be there to offer a ride off the island.
One side note about the submarine…the crewmember said something like, “There’s people out there.” Widmore quickly encouraged them to continue on. Why is that line important? Drats…there are still things we don’t know…yet.
IS IT MAGIC?
How did Miles dig up the diamonds without anyone noticing? Even if he did manage before Ben was shackled or after his escape, how did no one notice the graves were disturbed?
Think we will see Dogan alive again? If my magic meter is working properly (yeah, it looks like a Dustbuster!), then the stuff Jacob poured into the water at the beginning of the “Lighthouse” episode might save his, well, his neck.
RELIGION VERSUS SCIENCE
Way back when…I mean WAY back when, the producers promised us fringe science. Even the most liberal interpretation of those words will allow a lot of crazy things including reanimation. But when John Black points a finger and the shackles fall off Ben’s ankle, um…is that sort of like bending spoons? Is that even fringe science or hocus pocus?
But then any religious person will tell you that followers have Christ have it within them to move a mountain (or island?). Perhaps religion is merely unexplained science. If that becomes our new definition of “fringe science”, then anything goes with supernatural deities like Jacob and the Man in Black.
If we open our minds to these possibilities, then let me suggest that if the Man in Black can occupy John’s body, then Jacob may have the same ability. Further, one of the characters might have Jacob in him right now! I vote for Sayid who is merely getting close enough to John Black to extract his revenge for the Bible says, “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.”
Now this brings up a nasty little big of having Jacob within Sayid: that Sayid Jacob killed Dogan. Some might say that this is not behavior becoming a good deity. However, if the course of the universe is set and what has happened will happen, then Dogan’s death was inevitable and Jacob is merely keeping the sequence of events in place…while enduring himself to John Black.
ISLAND CARETAKER
We’ve moved from The List to The Candidates. Ilana explains that there are six candidates remaining and the job of the candidate will be to take over Jacob’s job of protecting the island.
By the way, did you hear that some country (I think Australia actually) hired a real-life caretaker of some island? True story. I regret not applying for the job.
Let’s review the previous caretaker’s duties:
Task 1: Pick an assistant
We know Jacob is on the island with the Man in Black when the Black Rock appears on the horizon. If Jacob is the caretaker, I’m not sure what job position is held by the Man in Black. Around this time, Jacob’s tasks include giving Richard immortality and he hires Richard as his “executive assistant”.
Benefits: Housing
The Caretaker is given a cabin fully stocked with painting supplies, jars of weird stuff (is that what is poured in the water pool?), and a table and chairs. Who could want more? If you do, then you also get a beach house in the base of an old statue.
Task 2: Recruit a replacement
Jacob must spend his time getting a candidate to replace him before he dies.
Benefits: Vacation
The Caretaker is given some vacation time off the island.
Now who wouldn’t want this job?
Speaking of candidates, Ilana mentions six people remain (out of 108 applicants). Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, a Kwon, and…well, I think she said Frank was a candidate at one time. I think Sayid is off the list in her mind since she knows what he did in the Temple. That leaves one more spot: Kate? Evidence indicated she is not. Ben? Please! How about Vincent? Hey, don’t forget the dog!
Before you scoff at the idea of Vincent being the chosen one, remember that Douglas Adams – he who said “42” was the answer to life, the universe and everything – told us that mice were actually running our planet.
So the partial list of candidates is reunited together and what a motley crew it is: Ben, Richard, Miles, Lapidus, Ilana, Hurley, Sun and Jack? Who saw this grouping in Season 1?
READER RESPONSES
Let’s get to the Inbox…
TALK ABOUT JULIET:
There is some banter about the alternative timeline was not established by the bomb going off (Michael writes). A few posters rebut this by pointing out that Juliet mumbled, “It worked”, and that seems to be a clear reference to the bomb.
KC’S THOUGHTS:
First, I’d like to point out that Juliet said those words while in Sawyer’s arms after it did NOT go off. Let’s face it, had the bomb gone off, Sawyer would have needed a pooper scooper to hold Juliet and not his two strong arms! How could she have thought “it worked” if Sawyer is sitting there right next to her?
I really do feel that the bomb did not go off, but that a flash of light transported the group to another spot along the timeline(s). It seems to be the only way all events we have witnessed could have transpired. Juliet’s reference wasn’t then to the bomb exploding but that she saved her buddies.
As for when the alternate reality begins (or is determined), I’m with Michael…there is still a point ahead in Jack’s life on the island that determines the sequence of events we see. It means they go these other route living with the deals they’ve made, but altered from what we have seen previously. It will mean Jack sacrifices his job as new Caretaker and that Jacob will be re-established as the Caretaker in 2004 like we found him. Only to do this all over again! Loop, dude, loop.
**
WELL-THOUGHT-OUT THEORY
Adrian writes about his theory. Well, he points us to a link to read about his theory. Check it out at; http://lost-looking-glass.blogspot.com/2010/03/seeing-red-and-ponderings-on-life.html
KC'S THOUGHTS: Post me some of the points if I fail to get over these anytime soon. Hey, I’m a busy guy! HA!
**
CORRECTIONS
I’m corrected that Dogan’s son didn’t die in the auto accident. Good catch, JC. Wait, JC? Those initials remind me of someone…
**
I HATE INTERRUPTIONS
Beany agrees that worthless interruptions to the regular schedule LOST time are bothersome. Worthless like those Cyclones who can’t win a game if their life depended on it. Or those Presidential news conferences. Priorities, people!
Oh, and nice to have a fellow Iowan reading TIDBITS. Go Hawkeyes!
**
DOUBTING THOMAS
An anonymous writer and Ben echoes my sentiments about the writers losing their consistency and setting us up for utter disappointment.
KC'S THOUGHTS: I think I posted something above if this was Season 2 or 3, I would have quit watching.
But then Thomas touched the wounds in Jesus’ hands and repented for every having doubted. I think St. Peter even denied Christ three times. So hey, even the disciples struggled, but faith carried them through. So hang in there…if you do, I will.
**
Hope you liked this post. If you did, say thanks by clicking on one of the ads on the right hand side when you finish reading LOST TIDBITS.
Enjoy,
KC
Principal Reynold’s name was written on the ceiling in the cave.
The book Ben finds while rummaging through old tent’s is “The Chosen” and is about two boys in a story that combines science, religion and a father-son relationship.
Miles’ “listened” to the dead two times in the last episode. First, when holding the bag of Jacob’s ashes. The second, when listening to Nikki and Paulo talk about their diamonds because at the time of their burial Miles wasn’t on the island yet!
Widmore accepted John “The Devil” Black’s offer of anything he wanted and Widmore wants the island…bad. And on cue, here he is returning the exact same way he was sent off. Mark my words, when Widmore comes ashore he will share some secret handshake with John Black, wink, then turn around and finally kill Ben. Of course, Widmore could just be there to offer a ride off the island.
One side note about the submarine…the crewmember said something like, “There’s people out there.” Widmore quickly encouraged them to continue on. Why is that line important? Drats…there are still things we don’t know…yet.
IS IT MAGIC?
How did Miles dig up the diamonds without anyone noticing? Even if he did manage before Ben was shackled or after his escape, how did no one notice the graves were disturbed?
Think we will see Dogan alive again? If my magic meter is working properly (yeah, it looks like a Dustbuster!), then the stuff Jacob poured into the water at the beginning of the “Lighthouse” episode might save his, well, his neck.
RELIGION VERSUS SCIENCE
Way back when…I mean WAY back when, the producers promised us fringe science. Even the most liberal interpretation of those words will allow a lot of crazy things including reanimation. But when John Black points a finger and the shackles fall off Ben’s ankle, um…is that sort of like bending spoons? Is that even fringe science or hocus pocus?
But then any religious person will tell you that followers have Christ have it within them to move a mountain (or island?). Perhaps religion is merely unexplained science. If that becomes our new definition of “fringe science”, then anything goes with supernatural deities like Jacob and the Man in Black.
If we open our minds to these possibilities, then let me suggest that if the Man in Black can occupy John’s body, then Jacob may have the same ability. Further, one of the characters might have Jacob in him right now! I vote for Sayid who is merely getting close enough to John Black to extract his revenge for the Bible says, “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.”
Now this brings up a nasty little big of having Jacob within Sayid: that Sayid Jacob killed Dogan. Some might say that this is not behavior becoming a good deity. However, if the course of the universe is set and what has happened will happen, then Dogan’s death was inevitable and Jacob is merely keeping the sequence of events in place…while enduring himself to John Black.
ISLAND CARETAKER
We’ve moved from The List to The Candidates. Ilana explains that there are six candidates remaining and the job of the candidate will be to take over Jacob’s job of protecting the island.
By the way, did you hear that some country (I think Australia actually) hired a real-life caretaker of some island? True story. I regret not applying for the job.
Let’s review the previous caretaker’s duties:
Task 1: Pick an assistant
We know Jacob is on the island with the Man in Black when the Black Rock appears on the horizon. If Jacob is the caretaker, I’m not sure what job position is held by the Man in Black. Around this time, Jacob’s tasks include giving Richard immortality and he hires Richard as his “executive assistant”.
Benefits: Housing
The Caretaker is given a cabin fully stocked with painting supplies, jars of weird stuff (is that what is poured in the water pool?), and a table and chairs. Who could want more? If you do, then you also get a beach house in the base of an old statue.
Task 2: Recruit a replacement
Jacob must spend his time getting a candidate to replace him before he dies.
Benefits: Vacation
The Caretaker is given some vacation time off the island.
Now who wouldn’t want this job?
Speaking of candidates, Ilana mentions six people remain (out of 108 applicants). Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, a Kwon, and…well, I think she said Frank was a candidate at one time. I think Sayid is off the list in her mind since she knows what he did in the Temple. That leaves one more spot: Kate? Evidence indicated she is not. Ben? Please! How about Vincent? Hey, don’t forget the dog!
Before you scoff at the idea of Vincent being the chosen one, remember that Douglas Adams – he who said “42” was the answer to life, the universe and everything – told us that mice were actually running our planet.
So the partial list of candidates is reunited together and what a motley crew it is: Ben, Richard, Miles, Lapidus, Ilana, Hurley, Sun and Jack? Who saw this grouping in Season 1?
READER RESPONSES
Let’s get to the Inbox…
TALK ABOUT JULIET:
There is some banter about the alternative timeline was not established by the bomb going off (Michael writes). A few posters rebut this by pointing out that Juliet mumbled, “It worked”, and that seems to be a clear reference to the bomb.
KC’S THOUGHTS:
First, I’d like to point out that Juliet said those words while in Sawyer’s arms after it did NOT go off. Let’s face it, had the bomb gone off, Sawyer would have needed a pooper scooper to hold Juliet and not his two strong arms! How could she have thought “it worked” if Sawyer is sitting there right next to her?
I really do feel that the bomb did not go off, but that a flash of light transported the group to another spot along the timeline(s). It seems to be the only way all events we have witnessed could have transpired. Juliet’s reference wasn’t then to the bomb exploding but that she saved her buddies.
As for when the alternate reality begins (or is determined), I’m with Michael…there is still a point ahead in Jack’s life on the island that determines the sequence of events we see. It means they go these other route living with the deals they’ve made, but altered from what we have seen previously. It will mean Jack sacrifices his job as new Caretaker and that Jacob will be re-established as the Caretaker in 2004 like we found him. Only to do this all over again! Loop, dude, loop.
**
WELL-THOUGHT-OUT THEORY
Adrian writes about his theory. Well, he points us to a link to read about his theory. Check it out at; http://lost-looking-glass.blogspot.com/2010/03/seeing-red-and-ponderings-on-life.html
KC'S THOUGHTS: Post me some of the points if I fail to get over these anytime soon. Hey, I’m a busy guy! HA!
**
CORRECTIONS
I’m corrected that Dogan’s son didn’t die in the auto accident. Good catch, JC. Wait, JC? Those initials remind me of someone…
**
I HATE INTERRUPTIONS
Beany agrees that worthless interruptions to the regular schedule LOST time are bothersome. Worthless like those Cyclones who can’t win a game if their life depended on it. Or those Presidential news conferences. Priorities, people!
Oh, and nice to have a fellow Iowan reading TIDBITS. Go Hawkeyes!
**
DOUBTING THOMAS
An anonymous writer and Ben echoes my sentiments about the writers losing their consistency and setting us up for utter disappointment.
KC'S THOUGHTS: I think I posted something above if this was Season 2 or 3, I would have quit watching.
But then Thomas touched the wounds in Jesus’ hands and repented for every having doubted. I think St. Peter even denied Christ three times. So hey, even the disciples struggled, but faith carried them through. So hang in there…if you do, I will.
**
Hope you liked this post. If you did, say thanks by clicking on one of the ads on the right hand side when you finish reading LOST TIDBITS.
Enjoy,
KC
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