LT359: First Impressions: The Package

I'M LOST

It is amazing that after ten episodes into the final season that I still don't have a single clue as to the end game. I keep waiting for one single "Ooooooh!" moment that will explain everything from the dreams to the polar bears to the purpose of life. But one moment can't probably explain all those things (unless we are shown this has all been a drug-induced dream of Hurley in the mental ward). So, one then expects to be given little tidbits of understanding as the layers are peeled back.

But once again, we have more layers added then removed.


WHY WIDMORE WANTS JIN

Uh...I have no clue really. Ok he knows that Sun and Jin are partners (married in one timeline and dating in other). So?

Is Widmore aware of the names on the cave ceiling and wants to gather them one by one in order to keep Locke Black from leaving? If so, when his sub scooted up to the island they saw more of the candidates on the beach and didn't bother getting them...which would have been much easier.


IT'S ALL ABOUT TIMING, RIGHT?

Without knowing specifically why Widmore wants just Jin, he does grab him. And he does so when Locke is away from his camp. How did he know that Locke was going to be away?

Maybe Charles planned to go to this island to grab Jin and the plan was wait it out until John left camp no matter how long that took. That sounds like a really poor plan. Someone was bound to step on a twig, make a noise, and expose their presence. Anyway, they got lucky, let's say. John leaves and Jin is grabbed.

But on the sub Charles complains to Zoey that the timing of grabbing Jin is all wrong - they should have waited until he was in the jungle on his own. Agreed. How much easier that would have been without ticking off Locke and Company. What if just one of John's groupies got away? This is what they call a plan???

I guess its hard to get good help these days.


MAN BEHIND THE IRON DOOR

During commercial breaks the wife and I guessed who it was. Aaron was my pick.

Desmond was an obvious choice. Walt seemed viable - the thought was that he is "special" and might be able to combat Smokey.

It was Dez. And Sayid knows. He has a long swim back, but no matter, he doesn't feel anything which Locke points out is good because of what was about to happen. I can only think he meant the long swim! (Boy, I hope I'm joking, but something tells me I'm not!)


THE PYLONS

I'm jumping around on this episode, but didn't you think that Sayid - the communications expert - was sneaking around and working to shut those things off? I was waiting for some humming noise to indicate the power was turned off and Locke would turn into a pillar of smoke and squeeze the snot out of one of Widmore's people. Maybe all of them including Charles.

I was let down. But at least we got a promise of the war is here and one very scary stare down by Locke.


MR. PATCHY

The show is cute on how they keep old story facts around - like Mr. Patchy being shot in the eye. Cute, but not relevant.

What it does serve to do is remind me on how messed up everyone's lives are even in this alternative timeline. Sun is have relations with Jin outside of marriage, Keamy finds out and rats him out (how he knew is another point), so Mr. Paik pays him for the information, to be delivered by daughter and her lover, who can't clear customs (Mr Paik can close bank accounts not in his name, but can't get them through customs?), so they have to detour to a bank with Mr. Patchy as escort, but not before Sayid is abducted only to kill Mr. Patchy, Keamy and Omar.

Eh? It is liking those tribute movies that are based on a 1970's TV show. All the catch-phrases and familar momentos are mentioned, but add little to the plot. By the way, has any TV show gone to movie been done properly? Ok, Star Trek in most cases.


GRADE: C

Do you get the feeling they had really one or two episodes of things to tell us this season, but decided to drag it out over 16 shows?

I dislike the tribute to Season X (like Sun saying she was pregnant after being shot).

I dislike the craziness of Sun being hit on the head...did you notice there was only one tree in that entire field and she looks away at that moment...and losing her ability to speak. What point did that provide or prove? Was it the irony that Sun and Jin arrived with her speaking English and now only Jin can speak it? Plus I hate when the script does things like, "It's usually only temporary." Then why bother with it? I must have missed the objective.

I like Claire being used like a pawn by Locke. He pushes the right buttons and we now have to keep an eye on her when she is around Kate.

This gets an average C because it is LOST...or it would have gotten even a lower grade. Mostly because we didn't get anything new. Richard obviously returned. Hurley had one cute line. Sawyer and Kate continue a relationship they can't have. Everyone wants Sayid in their foxhole. Widmore plays as many games as Ben and Locke. We get it. What we didn't get was anything new - no Revelation...and if this Biblical story is going to wrap up we must get to the Book of Revelation. Don't this writers read? :)


SAVING GRACE

Ok, here are a couple of points this show made me ponder that saved the day.

First, the Oceanic 6. Remember how we couldn't quite figure out who the 6 were? Did it include Desmond or was the sixth person Aaron? Neither we brought to the island like the other 5. I point this out, because it seems now that John Locke's loophole was that if he could return the Oceanic 6 to the island, he could use them to leave.

This makes me think that the Oceanic 6 have a Golden Ticket of some sort - to come and go. This also means no one else does! This also implies that Sun is the Kwon on the cave ceiling and not Jin!

More on this later in the week.

**

Second...the shoes. I got to this because Sawyer asks (finally) a good question, "Why don't you just turn to smoke and go over there?"

SIDENOTE: Why aren't people in Locke's group defecting each and every night? Come on, people! This guy is death! Of course, where would they go?

Ok, back to transportation: Smokey can't travel between islands as Smokey. That's interesting. So how did he kill the remaining passengers of Ajira 316? Do you recall him rowing over, killing, and returning for a day trip? Did he send someone over to do his dirty work? I don't know who it could have been.

So I get this image of John do a lot of paddling in the past few days. It could have been before Widmore arrived even. It reminded me of Locke rowing to the main island with Ben after the Ajria 316 crash. There, they met up with Sun and Frank. So why is Sun so afraid of Locke now? She seemed fine with him before. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but what made her doubt him?

Ok, I'm getting to my second thought: the shoes. When we paddled over with Ben he took of his shiny black Christian shoes. When he got to land, he put them back on. There is something about shoes that Smokey doesn't like - at least over water.

Then I recall the Others walked around the island barefoot.

And how Locke first crashed on the beach from Oceanic Flight 815 and he was shoeless. They were sitting nice and neat next to him, but off his feet.

Then remember that Sawyer has a habit of being barefoot at the wrong time. He has stepped on something maybe two or three times. That has always made my Oddity List because it was so out of normal.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this other than to proclaim, "The shoes are key!" Maybe if you slip those slippers off, Locke can't touch you. Better than even a ring of ash. I said, Maybe!


**

Give me some time to dwell on this and I'll follow-up with these two last observations. The teaser to next week included the word "Death" so I'm already looking forward to it. That's kind of sick, now isn't it? HA!

Enjoy,
KC

LT358: Easter...Islands

EASTER EGGS

That time is about here, but we are referring to the kind found in LOST. I have a site I use for these things and here is the visual:

The write-up for this photo reads, “While in prison, Richard’s Bible was open to a page with this chapter and verse. The page contains a story of Jesus encountering a man possessed by a demon and ordering the demon leave the man’s body without harming him.”

I disagree. The reason you read LOST TIDBITS is because we think differently! Ok, seriously, these guys see the top of the page reads “St Luke 4 37”. But the visual is clearly the upper-right verse, 4:24 which reads, “And he said, Verily I say until you, “No prophet is accepted in his own country.” I sense this was the real Easter egg since that is the quote Ben Linus made while prisoner in the Swan hatch. Doh!


COUNTERFEIT

The Bible warns that the Devil will not be as obvious as black and white. That would be too obvious. The key to misleading someone is to encapsulate your lie in some truth. Right now, I’m thinking “…a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down…” but that’s a whole other issue I’m dealing with!

We get a big dose of counterfeit this past episode. For example, the Man in Black touches Richard while in the bowels of the Black Rock and it appears to awaken Richard. Just like we saw Jacob touches John Locke after his fall. Technically this isn’t a counterfeit, but an exact duplication. The key is that it is hard to tell the two apart. This has lead to many theories about Jacob being the bad guy in reality.

Another example is the phrase used “it’s good to see you out of those chains”. John Black will say the same thing in a few centuries. Ok, it sort of is the same guy talking, but notice as well how it meant something different each time it was stated.

Here is a better example: the Man in Black instructs Richard to kill Jacob “before he can talk”. The only time that was said was when Jacob’s disciple, Dogan, was instructing Sayid.

Have I told you that both actors for Jacob and the Man in Black were in the TV show, “Supernatural”? Jacob plays the devil and MIB plays War – one of the apocalyptic horsemen.


BAPTISM

Jacob is teaching Richard a lesson about the value of life.

It reminded me a lot of the practice of baptism. The religious themes are loud and clear. Some denominations require baptism to reach Heaven while others view it as a symbolic gesture. Either way it represents the burial and resurrection of Christ. Now is a good time to remind you of the Biblical character with this reference: John the Baptist.


BLACK ROCK CRASHING

A few minor details to note:

The painting in the auction house is of the Black Rock during a storm.

Last week we see the Black Rock lifted high on a wave to explain how it got so far inland…and how the statue broke.

But in the season opener we have Jacob and Man in Black on the beach and they see a ship at sea. We assumed it was the Black Rock, but maybe not!

At the auction they said the last voyage was 1845, but last show it was 1867 when Richard was in prison. That was the year dynamite was invented so I think we have a correction being offered. Or it could have left Portsmouth, England in 1845 and take 22 years to get to the island? Maybe.


CANARY ISLANDS TRIVIA

Richard lived on the Canary Island of Tenerife. This island is known for its pyramids which some believe prove a connection between the Egyptians and the Mayans.

Canary Islands gets its name from Canaan – the land of the Israelites. It literally means “those who worship dogs”. Did someone say Vincent? Cerberus? And of course the Egyptians had gods in the form of dogs like Anubis.

The people of the Canary Islands claim to have seen a vanishing eighth island in their chain of islands. Did someone say “8”? A mysterious island that disappears? Hmmm….

These islands was also the location of a famous plane crash in 1977 – the year of the Incident on LOST.

**

Ok, that’s it for now. Oh wait, did anyone else think of the movie “Ghost” when watching Richard reunite with his wife? I was waiting for Isabella to jump into Hurley’s body and then Richard would have to kiss Hurley. Oh yuck!

Until next time…


Enjoy,
KC