Aquí os presento una agenda de acontecimientos para el próximo año, en el que todos los amantes de Lost esperamos que nos entusiasmen con el final de la serie.

17 de enero 2010. 41º cumpleaños de Naveen Andrews (Sayid)

2 de febrero 2010. Emisión capítulo 1 y 2, season 6. “La X” (Multicéntrico)

9 de febrero 2010. Emisión capítulo 3, season 6. “What Kate Does”/”Lo que hace Kate”

2 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 4, season 6. “The Sustitute”/”El sustituto” (Locke)

9 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 5, season 6. “Lighthouse”/”Faro” (Jack)

16 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 6, season 6. “Sundown”/”Puesta de sol” (Sun y Jin)

23 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 7, season 6. “Dr. Linus” (Ben)

27 de marzo 2010. 40º cumpleaños de Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet)

30 de marzo 2010. Emisión capítulo 8, season 6. “Recon”/”Nueva estafa” (Sawyer)

17 de abril 2010. 43º cumpleaños de Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond)

28 de abril 2010. 37º cumpleaños de Jorge García (Hugo)

7 de mayo 2010. 63º cumpleaños de Alan Dale (Widmore)

25 de mayo 2010. 5 años desde el final de la emisión de la primera temporada en la ABC

6 de junio 2010. 36º cumpleaños de Sonya Walger (Penny)

14 de julio 2010. 44º cumpleaños de Matthew Fox (Jack)

15 de julio 2010. 58º cumpleaños de Terry O’Quinn (Locke)

20 de julio 2010. 41º cumpleaños de Josh Holloway (Sawyer)

3 de agosto 2010. 31º cumpleaños de Evangeline Lilly (Kate)

4 de agosto 2010. 42º cumpleaños de Daniel Dae Kim (Jin)

7 de septiembre 2010. 56º cumpleaños de Michael Emerson (Ben)/ 55º cumpleaños de Mira Furlan (Rousseau)

22 de septiembre 2010. Se cumplen 6 años de la emisión del capítulo piloto en la ABC

8 de octubre 2010. 41º cumpleaños de Jeremy Davies (Faraday)

7 de noviembre 2010. 37º cumpleaños de Yunjin Kim(Sun)

1 de diciembre 2010. 42º cumpleaños de Néstor Carbonell (Richard)

8 de diciembre 2010. 33º cumpleaños de Dominic Monaghan (Charlie)

27 de diciembre 2010. 28º cumpleaños de Emilie de Ravin (Claire)

Aquí tenemos una promo de la próxima temporada:

Aquí os presento algo más sobre los ‘menos protagonistas’, con vídeos suyos en sus respectivos nombres.

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD: Padre de Jack. Viajaba muerto dentro de un ataúd en el Oceanic 815 y cuando el avión se estrelló en la isla su cadaver desapareció. Sin embargo, su fantasma ya ha hablado con varios protagonistas adquiriendo un papel cada vez mayor en la trama de la serie. También es padre de Claire, aunque de diferente mujer, y ella nunca lo conoció como tal.

CLAIRE LITTLETON: Hermanastra de Jack sin saberlo. Viajaba en el Oceanic embarazada de Aaron, al que dio a luz en la isla y forma, junto a Charlie, una de las parejas más entrañables de la serie, que se rompe con la muerte del último. Fue raptada por ‘Los Otros’ y perseguida por Rousseau. A día de hoy se desconoce su paradero, aunque sabemos que se encuentra con Christian y eso da seguridad.

CHARLIE PACE: Miembro de ‘Drive shafts’, una banda de rock en decadencia. Llega a la isla siendo un drogadicto y Locke le ayuda a dejar las drogas. Se enamora de Claire y forman una ‘familia’ con Aaron. Protagonista principal en las primeras temporadas que, junto a Hugo, son ‘la sonrisa’ del espectador. Muere por amor y amistad. Un ejemplo a seguir.

AARON LITTLETON: Hijo de Claire al que Charlie apadrina como un hijo. De los únicos que nació en la isla. Actualmente está en tierra firme pues Kate, que fue como una madre adoptiva para él durante un tiempo, lo dejó allí cuando volvió de la isla.

HUGO ‘HURLEY’ REYES: Mantiene el ‘buen rollo’ entre los supervivientes del Oceanic 815; es el personaje cómico de la serie. Ganó la lotería con unos ‘números malditos’ (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) que se repetirán a lo largo de las temporadas, lo que da un suspense bastante interesante. Estuvo internado en varias ocasiones en manicomios por tener visiones de gente que ha muerto y es perseguido por la policía por los secretos que guardaron al abandonar la isla. Actualmente se encuentra en la isla y, aunque durante poco tiempo, trabajó en la Iniciativa Dharma.

MICHAEL DAWSON: Superviviente del Oceanic que llega a la isla con su hijo Walt, al que apenas conoce por haber estado éste con su madre. Construye una balsa para sacar a Walt de la isla y Los Otros se lo roban. Para recuperarlo, se convierte en un traidor al asesinar a dos compañeros para salvar a Ben, líder de Los Otros. Regresa a su casa y, tras intentar suicidarse en varias ocasiones, vuelve a la isla “para morir” ayudando a los supervivientes en un barco que manda Charles Widmore.

WALT DAWSON: Hijo de Michael. Llega a la isla e intima mucho con Locke, algo que no gusta a su padre. Siempre inseparable de su perro Vincent, los flashbacks demuestran que tiene poderes antinaturales. Sabe que su padre asesinó a dos supervivientes y por eso deja de hablarle. En estos momentos se encuentra fuera de la isla, aunque en un capítulo se le aparece a Locke para darle fuerzas a continuar con su trabajo.

SAYID JARRAH: Torturador que trabajó en la milicia iraquí y llega a la isla siendo un experto con los aparatos electrónicos. Al salir de la isla acaba trabajando para Ben como sicario tras enterrar a la mujer de sus sueños por culpa de los enemigos de éste, los hombres de Charles Widmore. Otro que ha dado, está dando y dará mucho juego a la serie.

JIN SOO KWON: Pescador coreano, esposo de Sun y sicario del padre de ésta. En un principio no sabe hablar inglés lo que le da problemas con los supervivientes del 815 pero acaba aprendiendo a la perfección. Parece que muere en el barco que los va a salvar pero finalmente acaba viajando en el tiempo con Sawyer y los otros donde conoce a Rousseau de joven. Ahora está trabajando en la Iniciativa Dharma.

SUN HWA KWON: Mujer de Jin e hija de un empresario coreano multimillonario, que no acepta su relación hasta que Jin trabaja como sicario para él. Al principio es reprimida en la isla por su marido pero poco a poco las cosas se calman, aunque en los flashbacks veamos que lo ha engañado con otro hombre. Se queda embarazada en la isla pero da a luz en Corea, cuando es una de ‘Los Oceanic Six’ que habían salido. Está enfrentada con Ben por pensar que había matado a su marido y cuando éste le dice que no está muerto, ella vuelve a la isla.

DESMOND HUME: Llega a la isla antes que los supervivientes y se pasa tres años de su vida pulsando un botón para ‘salvar el mundo’. Es la pareja de Penny, hija de Widmore, quién cree que no se merece a su única descendiente aunque la relación entre ambos sea envidiable -sobre todo por esa preciosa conversación que tienen tras tres años sin verse-. Antes de que Charlie muera, tiene una compenetración especial con éste al salvarle la vida en varias ocasiones por visualizar el futuro. Otro que tiene mucho que dar a la serie.

PENNY WIDMORE: Hija de Charles, hermanastra de Faraday y pareja de Desmond, lo que la convierte también en un personaje importante. Enfrentada con su padre, busca a ‘Des’ alrededor del mundo durante tres años hasta hallarlo vivo y rescatarlo, junto a otros supervivientes, en un barco que iba en su búsqueda. Éste es el momento cuándo Penny y Desmond se conocen por primera vez.

DANIELLE ROUSSEAU: Superviviente francesa de otro naufragio anterior al Oceanic, el de ‘La Roca Negra’. Estuvo durante 16 años viviendo en la isla escapando de ‘Los Otros’, quienes le robaron a su hija Alex, y evitando cruzárselos en su camino. Deja un mensaje en la torre de radio que se repetirá todos esos años y por ello los supervivientes descubren su existencia. Intenta llevarse a Aaron de las manos de Claire. La conocimos de joven cuando su barco llegó a la isla. Los hombres de Widmore acaban asesinándola cuando intentaba proteger a su hija y al novio de ésta.

ALEX ¿LINUS? ROUSSEAU: Hija de Rousseau y robada por Ben, a quién ella conoce como padre. Un lío, vamos. Vivió toda su vida en la isla con ‘Los Otros’ hasta que conoce a su madre y a los supervivientes del Oceanic 815. La acaban matando en los ojos de su padrastro Ben, que la deja morir. Aquí lo vemos.

JULIET BURKE: Médica especializada en reproducción, es reclutada por Richard para conseguir hacer nacer a niños en la isla, que hasta ese momento es imposible por un error electromagnético que ya explicaré más adelante. Se convierte en una de ‘Los Otros’ durante tres años hasta que se escapa con los supervivientes por medio de Jack, con el que parece que va a iniciar una relación. Finalmente, y tras quedarse en la isla mientras Jack y los demás se van, se convierte en la pareja de Sawyer en 1977 cuando están con la Iniciativa Dharma y acaban viviendo juntos. Con la vuelta de Kate, peligra su relación.

RICHARD ALPERT: Interesante y muy importante personaje que conocemos en diferentes épocas y siempre está con el mismo aspecto físico, es decir, nunca envejece. Es uno ‘Los Otros’ y, aunque nunca ejerce como líder, siempre es un fiel consejero de todos ellos para comunicarse con Jacob y también para traer a gente que ellos necesitan a la isla, como Juliet. Le salva la vida a Ben y está en muchos momentos con John Locke.

DANIEL FARADAY: Físico y profesor que se lanzó a la isla en paracaídas (a los primeros que encontró fue a Jack y a Kate: de ahí la famosa frase entre los Losties de ‘Are you Jack’?) desde un helicóptero que venía del barco de Widmore. Era hijo de Eloise y de Charles Widmore, pero de éste sólo lo supimos al final, por lo que es hermanastro de Penny. Es uno de los protagonistas y es muy entrañable por su actitud distraída, sus buenas maneras y su interés científico por las misteriosas propiedades de la Isla. Se pasó toda su vida adulta estudiando el espacio-tiempo y su constante es Desmond porque se le apareció del futuro. Era muy cariñoso con su amiga Charlotte, de la que estaba enamorada y la vió morir en sus manos por los continuos flashes y viajes en el tiempo.Cuando acude armado al campamento de ‘Los Otros’ para buscar a su madre en 1977, ésta lo mata sin saber que era su hijo.

Y no me olvido de estos que están o han estado y que han tenido importancia, pero por unas razones u otras no los debo meter en este ‘Quién es quién’:

- Mr. Ecko
- Libby y Ana Lucía
- Rose y Bernard
- Boone y Shanon
- Nikki y Paulo
- Vincent
- Ethan, Tom, Goodwin y Mikhail
- Horace, Mr. Chang, Radzinsky
- Charlotte, Naomi, Lapidus, Minkowski, Keamy

Jeg føler meg litt obsessed… Og jeg elsker det!

Holder på å se alt som har kommet om igjen, er på sesong 2 nå… og er blitt meget glad i tall og lister.

Så her er en liste over mine kvinnelige favoritter i lost, med en  liten begrunnelse:

- Juliet Burke
Hun er alltid så rolig, hun vet hva hun gjør og var direkte nydelige i sesongavslutningen denne sesongen; “If I never meet you, then I’ll never have to loose you”

- Elisabeth, Libby
Siden jeg befinner meg i sesong 2 nå, er det helt klart at hun må være med. Det hun gjør for Hurley er fantastisk. Hun vet faktisk hva hun gjør (nesten) hele tiden og hun har en helt spesiell måte å snakke på, som er helt fantastisk.

- Rose Henderson
Hvem liker ikke Rose? Rose med den fantastiske holdningen sin. Rose som tar livet med ro og gir gode råd. Hennes kjærlighet for Bernard er bare nusselig. Nei, du, Rose er fantastisk.

- Claire Littleton
Hvorfor Claire er her er jeg litt usikker på. Det er ingenting så altfor spesielt med hun, og det er kanskje derfor jeg liker hun så godt. Hun et nydelig menneske, og ikke alltid så sikker på hva hun gjør. Hun er annerledes fra de andre. (Og hun gjør Charlie til et vidunderlig menneske uten å vite det selv)

- Penelope Widmore
Jeg har aldri helt forstått meg på Penny, men det jeg forstår er kjærlighetshistorien mellom hun og Desmond.

- Sun-Hwa Kwon
Sun er et fantastisk menneske. Jeg blir alltid like overrasket når det flommer engelske ord ut at kjeften hennes, og det er fantastisk. Jeg liker hvordan hun er villig til å gjøre det meste, men i de siste sesongene har hun blitt altfor selvsikker.

- Kate Austen
Kate er en bitch. For alle. Fra utsiden, men straks en blir tatt inn i hennes historier er hva hun gjør så altfor forståelig. Jeg liker hun egentlig ikke, men hun er nydelig. Og hun kan det å fasinere.

- Helen Norwood
Helen er …noe. Hun er tålmodig. Jeg liker ikke hun heller, egentlig. Men det er noe med hun som gjorde at hun måtte være på listen, om enn helt nederst.

Dine kvinnelige favoritter i lost?
Har jeg glemt noen viktige?

Hace mucho, mucho tiempo, en el mismo lugar en el que se han desarrollado la mayor de los acontecimientos,  un hombre calvo, con los ojos azules y una cicatriz le preguntaba a un muchacho, tras haberse estrellados ambos en un avión en medio de una isla ¿desierta?, si quería que le contara un secreto. Eran John Locke y Walt Lloyd. Ese hombre, que después descubriríamos que tras el accidente había recuperado la movilidad en la piernas le ofreció al chaval jugar a un juego, el backgammon: “Dos jugadores. Dos bandos. Uno es la luz, otro, la oscuridad”. Esto ocurría en la segunda parte del episodio Piloto de la serie, que se emitió originalmente el 29 de septiembre de 2004.

98 episodios más tarde, el juego cobra más sentido que nunca. Ahora todo parece cuadrar. La aparición del nuevo personaje, aunque la podemos considerar muy “tramposa” (un as en la manga a estas alturas de la serie va a necesitar de mucha justificación por parte de los guionistas), nos vislumbra que todo ha sido desde el principio una partida de backgammon entre Jacob y el “nuevo” personaje. Los buenos y los malos, sin que sepamos todavía quién es cada cual, poniendo sobre el tablero las más intricadas estrategias en busca de una victoria que lleva hacia un objetivo que todavía no nos han explicado.

Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Ben… Locke… Todos son fichas de las cuales parece haberse servido este personaje con el fin de derrotar a Jacob y cumplir su amenaza: “Algún día te mataré”, pronunciada siglos atrás.

Esto nos plantea una serie de cuestiones: ¿fue verdaderamente Jacob el que visitó a los protagonistas en momentos cruciales de su vida (Kate en sus inicios delictivos; Sawyer en el funeral de sus padres; Locke tras ser arrojado por su padre por la ventana; Jack al finalizar la crítica operación que contó a Kate en el episodio Piloto; Sayid tras morir Nadia atropellada; Sun y Jin el día de su boda; Hugo en su vuelta a la calle tras salir de la cárcel…) o fue este personaje misterioso, maestro del transformismo, el que los visitó a todos para poner sus fichas sobre el tablero?, ¿por qué tiene que ser Ben el que mate a Jacob y no lo hace él mismo?, ¿forma eso parte de las reglas del juego (no olvidemos que el líder de la isla siempre seguía las instrucciones de Jacob facilitadas por Richard)?, ¿podemos ser más rebuscados y señalar que en alguna ocasión fuera Jacob y en otras este personaje?, ¿hacia dónde conduce todo una vez muerto Jacob (o no)? La teoría es muy enrevesada, pero la nueva aparición comenta: “no sabes todo lo que he tenido que hacer para llegar hasta aquí”.

Siga como siga, parece claro que el montaje es complejo: detonada la bomba por Juliet, de 1977 en un principio nos tendremos que olvidar durante la sexta temporada (¿cómo aparecerán, entonces, Jack, Sawyer, Kate…?). Y en 2007, ¿qué es lo próximo? No parece que en la sexta temporada tengan mucho que resolver en la isla, y parece más lógico que veamos cómo se han ido concatenando los diversos sucesos hasta llegar a la situación actual: todo lo sucedido tras la detonación de la bomba, la historia del nuevo personaje, su “relación” con John Locke, la relación de los jugadores principales con otras fichas (como Widmore o Alpert), el significado del “ya están llegando” de Jacob (¿acaso no ha acabado ya la partida?)…

Lo peor es pensar que ahora tocan otros siete meses en suspenso… Hasta principios de 2010.

Jacob, al fondo, de blanco; el personaje desconocido y rival, en primera plana, en colores oscuros: ¿una partida de Backgammon?

Los capítulos que anteceden a las finales de Lost suelen cumplir una pauta muy concreta. Lleven el mismo nombre que el último episodio, o uno diferente, su función es la de plantear el camino de las dos últimas horas de la temporada, y en este caso “Follow the Leader”, 15 de la quinta, cumple con su cometido. Por un lado retorna a la estructura de centrarse en las dos tramas principales, dejando de lado los flashbacks, lo que obviamente hace que la trama avance. Cuando el peso del episodio no recae sobre un solo personaje, la labor de dejar planteado un desenlace es mucho más fácil. El capítulo en sí es bueno, sin más, no impacta tanto como “The Variable”, pero cumple.

En el presente, por fin de vuelta, tenemos de vuelta a Locke, Ben y Sun, aunque esta última casi esté de adorno. Es interesante ver ampliado el concepto de tiempo circular, al ir Locke, Ben y Richard al encuentro de Locke para reeditar la escena de la premiere en la que Richard le cura la pierna y le dice que tiene que morir. La verdad es que la explicación a porque Richard sabía lo que tenía que hacer es hasta cierto punto decepcionante, tanto más cuando la explicación de John es la manida “la isla me lo dijo”, que a estas alturas no resulta ni emocionante, ni intrigante, solo parece un recurso fácil para no explicar algo en profundidad. Otra de las escenas destacables de esta trama es la de Locke dando un discurso a Los Otros aparentando seguridad y diciendo que van a ir todos a ver a Jacob. A lo largo de la serie, se ha visto que cada vez que John Locke tiene un ataque de liderazgo, acaba quedando en evidencia antes o después. Y esta actitud se confirma en la última escena del episodio, un clásico, un grupo de gente caminando por la playa, tradición que comenzase en “Exodus”, y que Locke aprovecha para soltar la frase impactante a Ben de que quiere ver a Jacob para matarlo. No obstante, quizá lo más interesante de toda la parte del presente, es la actitud de Richard, que percibe que hay algo diferente en Locke, lo que abre bastantes posibilidades, y da además a Nestor Carbonell más minutos en pantalla.

En 1977 la acción se divide algo más. Por un lado Hurley, Miles y Jin consiguen prepararse para ir a la playa donde todo empezó, se cruzan con Pierre Chang y este consigue saber que son del futuro gracias al Hurley y el único segmento cómico del capítulo. Éste, a su vez, intenta evacuar la isla, pero se encuentra a Radzinsky dando una especie de golpe de estado a Horace, aunque consigue evacuar a niños y mujeres. Hablando de Radzinsky, la futura mancha en el techo de La Escotilla, se pasa la mitad del tiempo golpeando a Sawyer y gritando como un energúmeno para descubrir la localización de los hostiles. Aunque en esta parte destaca el monocejo Phil, que le suelta una hostia a Juliet, lo que hace esperar la muerte de este personaje sea tan placentero como fue esperar la de Keamy. Ante esta agresión, Sawyer canta a cambio de un billete en el submarino.

El resto del episodio transcurre desde donde lo dejó “The Variable”, Los Otros, concretamente Widmore, capturan a Jack y a Kate. La señora Hawkins, que asimila que acaba de matar a su hijo venido del futuro gracias a la ayuda de los cautivos. Esta accede junto con Richard a ir a por la bomba, puesto que Jack se ha empeñado en cumplir el plan de Faraday, recordando la actitud de éste a la que ha tenido en muchos momentos de la serie de querer arreglarlo todo. Por el camino se encuentran a Sayid, que sale de la nada y se carga a un par de tipos. ¿De dónde sale Sayid? Que más da, hay alguien que llega a tiempo a salvar la situación… finalmente se une a ellos como si nada y van a buscar la bomba, con la baja de Kate, que se cansa de la actitud de Jack y termina en el submarino. El episodio termina con Jack, Sayid, Richard y Hawkins en unas galerías subterráneas similares a las del templo después de hacer una sorprendente demostración de su capacidad de apnea, mirando la bomba de Hidrógeno.

En definitiva, “Follow the Leader”, es un episodio en en el que ocurren bastantes cosas y la trama avanza casi más que en los 5 episodios anteriores, que deja todo preparado para que las dos horas del último episodio se presenten mucho más interesantes que la de la temporada pasada, que fue bastante mediocre. Esta vez no hay casi nada claro, aunque las premisas que ha planteado este episodio, hacen esperar algo cuanto menos, sorprendente, impactante y emocionante.

Each of the last five years, the night of the season finale of “LOST” has brought me both excitement and disappointment.

Excitement, to see how the writers and producers of the show stretch the mythology of The Island and the characters that inhabit it.

Disappointment because, after the finale, it will be several months until the best show on television is back on.

The fifth season of “LOST” has been memorable, but needs to go out with a bang, I think. And based on the show’s title “The Incident,” one would think that viewers will witness an important and possibly violent event that affects The Dharma Initiative and The Island.

Before you read on, I don’t have a lot of spoilers or inside information about the season five finale. I’m a fan of the show, but I have no connections. I read some things here and there, but have stayed away from learning too much about this year’s finale. For full disclosure, here’s what I do know:

–an actor has been cast to play the role of “Jacob,” the much-discussed Island entity that The Others seem to answer to.

–a main character will supposedly die.

–viewers will see some of the main characters as children in flashbacks. I don’t know which ones, nor do I want to know.

–Juliet, Kate and Sawyer, last seen on a submarine headed off The Island, find their way back onto The Island for the finale.

–Rose and Bernard, absent for much of season five, return in some capacity. It’s not known if it’s on The Island or in a flashback (or flash forward, or flash sideways) of some kind.

Besides these tidbits, I go into the finale blind, and the predictions below will probably reflect that. If I get even one of these right, I’ll be surprised. Anyway, here goes:

1) Whatever happened, happens, because Destiny Calls

If you follow the show, you know what I mean. The tagline for the show’s season premiere was “Destiny Calls.” The Oceanic 6, exempting Turniphead Aaron, made their way back to The Island, using Eloise Hawking’s Window of Opportunity. Destiny Called, and she answered.

Everything that happened so far this season was meant to happen.

It is unknown what The Incident, actually is. It could be physical warfare between The Others and The Dharma Initiative. It could be Jack, Sayid, Eloise and Richard Alpert detonating Jughead. There’s no way of knowing. But whatever happened before will happen again. The event will not change, despite the best laid plans of Jack and Co., and whatever happens to everyone on The Island was meant to happen.

2) Desmond will return and set things right, by dying.

We’ve not seen the last of Desmond Hume, mark my words. He can see the future. He has time-jumped. He is (or was?) Daniel Faraday’s constant. In fact, Faraday believes Desmond is the exception to the rule that the future can not be changed. I believe Desmond will get back to The Island for the finale.

This season, viewers saw the early stages of The Hatch, as the Dharma Initiative was building it in 1977. It was Desmond who turned the emergency key that imploded The Hatch in season 2. It was Desmond being away from his post that caused Oceanic 815 to crash.

If Jack’s group is unsuccessful at changing the course of the future, Desmond could take it upon himself to change the course of history by sacrificing himself. If he’s not there to flee his post, Oceanic 815 may not crash, The Hatch may not implode, etc. Plus, it gives new weight to Desmond’s famous saying, “See you in another life, brothah.”

3) Jacob was a man, and is now a spirit. A spirit that will inhabit the body of John Locke.

It’s a little kooky, I know. But there has to be a reason why we’ve heard of Jacob for three seasons now, but have yet to see him.

I know the producers of the show have cast an actor to play the role of Jacob, but perhaps he will only appear in flashbacks. This would be a great curveball, preserving the mythology of Jacob as a spirit, while explaining why the role was cast.

Since returning to The Island, John Locke is a changed man. Benjamin Linus and Richard Alpert have both taken notice. Locke seems more in tune with The Island than ever. Perhaps Jacob the Holy Spirit is looking for a resurrected body to inhabit and resume a more physical role of leader of The Others? Locke fits the bill.

4) Once The Incident happens, memories will be wiped clean.

I envision a scenario where the final few minutes of season five shows us Jack waking up on The Island, unaware of where he is, or how he got there. He gets up, looks around, and finds that he is not alone. He sees several men and women around him, characters we as viewers are familiar with of course, but he doesn’t know who they are.

This would, of course, lead right into season six, where the Oceanic 815 survivors and The Others are now one in the same, in a time unknown to us or them, where the famous four-toed statue is in full view. Jack and all these familiar (to us) faces, become The Island’s natives.

Crazy scenario, I know. But, if there is a change in time, one would think it would affect memories, no?

Last one, I promise:

5) Characters who, to this point, have shown no ulterior motives, will have been on one side (or another) of the war between Ben Linus and Charles Widmore

I’m thinking of folks like Richard Alpert and Hurley specifically. Alpert has never tipped his hand. He is loyal to Jacob, that much we know. But he knows The Others. He knows Widmore. He knows Ben. Somewhere along the way, he had to have developed an alleigance of some kind.

Hurley wanted no part of going back to The Island, but seemed to be a willing participant when he boarded the Ajira flight to Guam and bought nearly 100 extra seats to keep innocents off the flight, knowing full well where the plane was really headed. Somone must have gotten Hurley to believe that going back was in his best interests somehow.

Perhaps it was someone from Widmore’s camp, since Hurley seemed dead set against having anything to do with Ben. Or, perhaps Hurley has been loyal to Ben for some time, and has conned his friends (and us viewers) all season long. Either way, Hurley’s there for a reason, and it’s not to re-write the script to “The Empire Strikes Back.” We’ll find out why.

That’s what I think could happen in the finale of “LOST.” Feel free to share your thoughts.

Another excellent, yet tragic episode.

From what we learned so far this season about the Lost rules of time travel, whatever happened happened. You can’t change the past. But in this episode, Faraday has a theory that they, the time travelers, are the variables in the equation, and in fact have free will to change their destiny. He knows that in a few hours a massive amount of energy will leave catastrophic effects on the island, resulting in the hatch and button being built to prevent it from happening again, which will eventually lead to Desmond not pressing the button which leads to the crash of Oceanic 815. Faraday gets the idea that if they detonate the Hydrogen bomb, it will prevent the energy from ever being released.

If this actually works, it will reverse everything that’s ever happened on Lost (minus the pre-flight flashbacks) and the show could potentially end with Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and the rest of Oceanic 815 landing peacefully in Los Angeles, and go their own ways without ever knowing each other. That ending would be a huge let down, almost as bad as if the whole entire show was just one crazy person’s dream. But since the producers obviously want us to believe this is how the show will end, it probably won’t end up this way at all.

Faraday seemed to return to the Island from Ann Arbor because he saw the photo of the new Dharma recruits. But I wonder if Faraday would have come otherwise, because wouldn’t the catastrophic release of energy have happened even if Jack, Kate and Hurley didn’t come back? I’m a little confused about that.

As far as Faraday’s motives goes, I think he’s trying to change destiny partly to save Charlotte. Faraday has always been a romantic, but all his romances have ended up in tragedy. He already lost his first love, Theresa Spencer, so really didn’t want to lose Charlotte.

Anyways, this episode also explores Daniel Faraday’s relationship with his mother Eloise Hawking and his father Charles Widmore, who Faraday doesn’t even know he is related to. Faraday’s parents both pushed him to become a scientist. Eloise through forcing him to only concentrate on his studies, and Widmore by financing his experiments.

After an experiment gone wrong causes Faraday so have severe memory issues, his parents individually both convince him to get a job on the freighter going to the Island, telling him it will fix his illness. But Eloise is a firm believer in Destiny, and drives Faraday to the island even though she knows that her younger self will ultimately kill him. I guess she realizes she can’t change destiny. This too is all a little confusing.

I feel bad for Faraday because his entire existence was controlled by his parents. He was basically a pawn to them, and his entire life was based on what they thought he was meant to do. His mother didn’t encourage him to play the piano or date women, because she needed him to come to the island, just so she could kill him, because she knew this was destiny.

But when Eloise visits Penny at the hospital after Desmond is shot, she tells her that it’s her son’s fault. Does this mean she wasn’t happy that Faraday changed the past by telling Desmond (his brother-in-law) to find his mother?

Also this episode is basically the end of Sawyer & posse living peacefully in Dharmaville. Sawyer decides to go back to the Beach. Faraday, Kate, and Jack go to the Hostiles.

Some other questions/comments:
– Where was young Daniel Faraday in 1978? His mother and father were on the Island, but was he?

– Eloise kinda sucks. Her character is a bit over the top too. But then again the whole Eloise/Widmore/Ben plot is still a little blurry. I hope it becomes clear soon.

– Kind of awesome how Faraday is so blunt, and just tells Candle/Dr. Chang that Miles is his son.

– The 4 freighter people that we’ve gotten too know all his serious ties to the Island. Miles and Charlotte were born there, Faraday’s parents used to rule there, and Lupidas was supposed to fly Oceanic 815. I still wonder if his character is going to play more of a significant role. I hope so.

– The code for the pylon fence is 141-717. Not sure if there’s any real significance. I’m sure if you play around with the code you can get the numbers, but don’t see anything really obvious.

– The shootout was pretty bad ass. When Jack shot the fuel tank it reminded me of a game of Area 51 or Time Crisis.

– Jeremy Davies did an amazing job playing Faraday, especially in this episode. I’m going to miss him!

Well. I think ‘hmmmmm’ about sums it up.
Spoilers follow if you haven’t seen it

As I expected, this episode definitely had that penultimate / finale lead up kinda mood going on. The finale music score even showed up towards the end.

It looks as though…. Well, I’m not entirely sure how to end that sentence. I don’t read spoilers; it’s much better when you don’t, and therefore I have no idea what is going to happen in next week’s (yes, next week’s [lostpedia was wrong! yay]) finale – “The Incident”.
It’s your standard 2 hour season finale and presumably Jack, Elouise, Richard and Sayid are gonna try and detonate the H-Bomb…
And Locke, for reasons I cannot comprehend at this moment, is off to see Jacob. So he can kill him.

Pretty odd, really. As for Juliet & Sawyer; well, it wouldn’t be Lost if there wasn’t some kind of love-triangle/quadrangle/shape going on. So, Kate gets thrown on the sub too.

Of course, those two hours next week will not be long enough…. And we’ll be left hanging; over a cliff, if you must, for many months until the last and final season of Lost comes on next year. Hmph.

So. Will the H-bomb be set off? And the whole storyline be reset to 2004 with them all still on the plane? Will they all die? I don’t think that’s too likely, even though Richard said he watched them all die…. Very difficult to say.

Anywho…. A mere few days until the finale, so until then I’ll leave you to your own predictions. I’ll certainly be writing a post about next week’s episode, that’s for sure.

/

Le feste di diciotto anni? Roba da scolarette ansiose di diventate veline. La festa per la puntata n. 100? Un evento da non mancare. E se il “Papi” di turno non è disponibile, tanto meglio. Vi scolerete da soli la bottiglia di spumante del supermercato e brinderete con i vostri amici virtuali e lontani. Nessun paparazzo, nessun fotomontaggio, nessuna spia e nessuna first lady inviperita. Solo voi, un’isola e il tempo da manipolare…

S05E14 – The Variable

S05E14 – The Variable

Los Angeles, 2007

Desmond, colpito dal malvagio Ben, viene trasportato in ospedale. Il sacchetto con gli ortaggi non lo ha protetto a dovere. Con lui, una disperata Penny e l’assonnato piccolo. A turbare la frenetica attesa giunge l’inaspettata visita della vetusta e mortificata Eloise. Se Desmond si trova sotto i ferri, dice è in un certo senso colpa sua. È stato Daniel, suo figlio, a condurre fratello Desmond verso il suo destino, per il momento amarissimo. Penny la guarda sconcertata, e forse anche allarmata. Probabilmente la vecchia è fuggita dal Santa Rosa.

Isola, 1977

Picchiatello-non-più-tanto-picchiatello Daniel Faraday, sbocciato come una rosa di maggio dal sottomarino, spiega al sempre più grigio che è tornato per un motivo, precisamente per una foto, quella che ritrae Jack, Kate e Hurley come nuove reclute Dharma. E ha bisogno di sapere come sono finiti nel 1977. Ecco perché si precipita a svegliare il buon dottore che lo accoglie in mutande e non riesce a decifrare tutte le seimila parole che lo scienziato riesce a farfugliare in un solo secondo. Quando riesce a dirgli che li ha mandati lì la cara mammina. Faraday lo fredda: mammina si sbagliava. Non dovevano tornare.

Flashback

Il piccolo Daniel fa esercizi al pianoforte ma Mamma Eloise è infastidita. Perché non passa più tempo a studiare la matematica? Lui non è come gli altri bambini, per lui le distrazioni e la socializzazione sono dettagli secondari. Infinitesimali. Il suo destino è un altro. Creare il tempo. Il piccolo Faraday non capisce. Lui vuole soltanto suonare il pianoforte.

Isola, 1977

Come una scheggia impazzita, il nuovamente consapevole Faraday si fa trasportare dal grigio Miles al cantiere Orchidea. Deve assolutamente parlare con il Dr. Chang, che redarguisce, come nella 5×01, i suoi Dharma-operai rei di avere fatto buchi a profusione, mettendo in pericolo tutti, causa forte concertazione di energia che prelude a viaggi nel tempo. I suddetti Dharma-operai se la ridono. Come si può credere ai viaggi nel tempo? Faraday, introdottosi nel cantiere, abbozza e segue l’uomo precedentemente conosciuto come Marvin Candle.

Raggiunto Chang in ascensore, Daniel si scatena: l’isola deve essere evacuate, perché accadrà lo stesso incidente, amplificato per mille, al cantiere Cigno tra sei ore. Il Dr. Chang non gli crede, e non gli crede neanche quando Faraday gli rivela che è un novello Martin McFly e che il suo autista è Chang Jr. Chang Jr, salva la situazione negando le parole di Daniel. E papà se ne va, rasserenato.

Flashback

Daniel Faraday è il laureato di Oxford più giovane della storia. Vorrebbe festeggiare, magari in posizione orizzontale, con la sua assistente Theresa, ma l’arrivo della cara mammina lo inibisce. Eloise ha già prenotato un tavolo e la riccia assistente non è invitata. I due pranzano. La madre parla dell’importanza del suo lavoro. Il figlio frigna perché voleva che la sua ragazza potesse mangiare con loro. Non è il momento, dice Eloise e gli dà il regalo: un’agenda su cui segnare i suoi progressi nella materia “viaggi nel tempo”. Il fresco scienziato ringrazia è comunica che tale Charles Widmore ha finanziato generosamente la sua ricerca. Eloise, per la prima volta, non emette suono.

Isola, 1977

A Dharmopoli, LaFleur ha indetto un meeting con i suoi vecchi compagni di avventura. Ora che tutti hanno scoperto la presenza del sanguinante Phil nell’armadio, urge una strategia. Jin non si vuole muovere in caso torni Sun. Hurley vuole stare comodo, Kate è troppo impegnata a fare il fino a Sawyer per trovare una soluzione degna di tale nome. Jack è di altro parere. Per compiere ognuno le loro missioni, non è nel 1977 che devono rimanere, ma tornare nel futuro. La discussione è interrotta dall’arrivo di Faraday, che chiede, farfugliando, chi lo può accompagnare al campo degli Ostili. Ha bisogni di parlare con Mammina Cara, l’unica persona in grado di riportarli al futuro. Incertezza.

Flashback

Un confuso e disorientate Daniel, assistito da ignota badante, piange senza sapere perché alla vista del relitto del volo Oceanic 815. I singhiozzi sono interrotti dall’inattesa visita di Charles Widmore. Daniel crede che sia lì per esprimere rammarico per I risultati delle ricerche, la cavia Theresa, infatti, è un vegetale, e che lui stesso è smemorato causa viaggi nel tempo. Mr. Miliardo lo rassicura. Se andrà sull’Isola, sarà guarito.

Isola, 1977

Nel salotto di casa LaFleur è in corso una spaccatura. A Sawyer non piacciono le teorie di Faraday, lui è felice della sua vita Dharma e non vuole che niente turbi il suo ménage. Jack sceglie Faraday, Kate continua a fare il filo a Sawyer. Il biondo condottiero torna a chiamarla con uno dei suoi vezzeggiativi per convincerla a seguirla, ma Juliet non ci sta. Rivela ad alta voce il codice della barriera sonora, e tutti capiscono la traduzione: Cara Kate, è meglio che ti levi di mezzo.

A Kate non resta che scegliere Ripiego-Jack. Faraday, prima di partire, ha un’altra missione. Si reca da Mini-Charlotte che mania quella cioccolata proibita prima di cena. Lui le dà istruzioni: deve lasciare l’isola e non farci più ritorno. Il nuovamente consapevole Daniel, ha cambiato teoria: si può intervenire sul passato per cambiare il futuro.

Kate e Jack fanno rifornimento di armi, ma la loro operazione è sabotata dall’incazzatissimo Radzinsky che sente puzza di bruciato. Ha ragione, perché per coprire il furto, dopo qualche sparo di avvertimento Dr. Jack fa saltare un bidone di benzina e si da alla fuga con la sua (ex) bella e lo scienziato (meno) matto. Destinazione: Ostilandia.

Il non pago Radzinsky, scampato a un’ustione di terzo grado, va a fare rapporto a Jim LaFleur, che con la sua triste consorte, sta preparando i bagagli tra un sospiro e un romantico incoraggiamento. Le urla provenienti dall’armadio agitano Radzinsky. O le tutone Dharma hanno preso vita o c’è qualcuno. Infatti, c’è Phil. Non resta che puntare una pistola contro i coniugi LaFleur.

Flashback

Faraday adulto, è di nuovo davanti a un pianoforte ed è di nuovo interrotto dalla visita di Eloise. Vuole che accetti la proposta di Widmore. Andare sull’isola gioverà a lui e alla sua memoria. Prima la recupera, prima potrà tornare ai suoi importanti esperimenti.

Isola, 1977

Jack, Kate e Faraday head vagano nella giungla alla ricerca di Ostilandia. Kate pensa che forse era meglio rimanere con Sawyer. Dr. Jack vuole delle risposte da Faraday. Che, finalmente, arrivano. Tra quattro ore gli operai del cantiere Cigno perforeranno una sacca di fortissima energia, energia che i saggi Dharma tapperanno con grandi colate di cemento, dando vita alla nota Botola e al rituale dei 108 minuti. Quando Il tasto non viene premuto l’energia esplode e si verificano eventi catastrofici. Se non li ferma adesso, Desmond dimenticherà di premere il tasto, il volo 815 precipiterà, Widmore manderà il suo team sull’isola e Charlotte morirà. La chiave non è nelle costanti, ma nelle variabili, gli uomini, che agiscono indipendentemente e sì, possono cambiare il corso degli eventi. Come? Usando la famosa bomba a idrogeno che gli Ostili avevano nascosto…

Los Angeles, 2007

All’ospedale, Eloise intuisce la confusione di Penny, ma non può aiutarla perché per la prima volta nella sua scientifica vita non sa cosa accadrà. Fratello Desmond si risveglia. Lo aveva promesso, non avrebbe mai più lasciato la sua signora da sola. Nel parcheggio Charles Widmore spiega a Eloise che per amore dell’Isola ha dovuto sacrificare sua figlia. La donna non è d’accordo. Lei cosa dovrebbe dire? Widmore si difende, in fondo Daniel è anche suo figlio (!!!). Ma tutto quello che ottiene è uno schiaffo.

Isola, 1977

Faraday fa irruzione nella piazza principale di Ostilandia, chiedendo un incontro ravvicinato con Eloise. Il sempreverde Richard tenta di farlo ragionare, ma lo scienziato è deciso. O gli dicono dov’è Eloise o Richard passerà all’altro mondo, grazie a una fedele pistola.

All’altro mondo, tuttavia, ci passa (sigh!) il povero Faraday, freddato dall’odiosissima giovane futura madre. Prima di chiudere gli occhi, lo scienziato gli rivela la sua futura e presente identità e capisce che Eloise sapeva tutto, proprio tutto…

LOST

Sin duda una de las mejores series de todos los tiempos que esta temporada no se a quedado atras y mas con el regreso de un John Locke muy estilo a la isla mientras Ben Linus otra perspectiva tiene … Al igual que los demas del Oceanic 6 quieren regresar a la isla para olvidarse de sus problemas.

Descarga Ya!

LOST 5X06 “316″

“The Variable”

April 29th, 2009

I will admit right now that I feel sort of like a low rent Daniel Faraday right now, my attempts to put myself on a different sleep schedule in a way not that different from Daniel’s attempt to realign himself with another time. This means that while I had planned on writing this review about five hours ago when I woke up from a short nap designed to prepare me for an eight-hour night shift this evening, instead I’m writing it after six hours of sleep and will have to skip Thursday night television in order to try to find some nap time.

I share this story not just because of my recent tweet about potentially mixing more personal anecdotes with blog posts, but also because it’s an example of providing some greater context to events, which is essentially the point of “The Variable.” The episode really only has two functions: it serves as an escalation of the “plot” (remember that thing?) that has been mostly dormant since our cast ended up in the 1970s, giving us a sense of how the end of the season is going to develop, and it serves as an answer to the question of what Daniel Faraday has been up to since we last saw him trapped in 1974 with everyone else and nobody is really talking about him.

Perhaps it’s the weird sleep schedule, or that I wasn’t feeling great when I watched the episode, but I was kind of disappointed by this, the show’s 100th episode, at least on the latter point. At times feeling like another drop in the “parental neglect” bucket for the show, the tragic journey of Daniel Faraday was strong in isolation and yet when applied to the rest of the episode and the rest of the series felt too inorganic. Yes, I empathize with Daniel, primarily thanks to Jeremy Davies’ strong performance, but at the end of the day it felt as if Faraday’s storyline was tied so closely to the island that his individuality, and its connection to our other characters, was lost in the plot.

I understand that this is the entire “point” of the episode, but I found it a little bit clumsy in its execution even if I feel they’re ramping things up at the right pace as we march towards the finale.

These episodes are always tough, because it was all about piecing together scenes and events that we’ve seen before and putting them together into parts of the larger puzzle. I say tough because, even when you do manage to answer all sorts of questions, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to actually piece together those answers into some sort of cohesive image, if that’s even what you’re trying to achieve. In this case, you have Daniel in the Orchid station from the season premiere, Daniel’s reaction to the plane crash from last season’s “Confirmed Dead,” the purpose of the eponymous hydrogen bomb in “Jughead,” and even Desmond’s fate from the shooting in “Dead is Dead.”

On this level, I feel as if the show was actually quite successful, as the actual events of those episode in the “present” were quite strong. I think it’s safe to call it the present, by the way: Faraday seems to be more certain about time travel now, and indicates that this is without question the present for our characters: any of them can die, their scars being new scars that won’t be there when they meet. This isn’t a new revelation, but coming from Faraday everything sounds more definitive. But looking entirely at the on-island narrative, what we saw here was all about putting the pieces in place for the rest of the season.

First and foremost, we have the revelation of why Faraday, if not everyone, has returned to this particular period. Faraday has realized that everything that has happened to all of these characters all goes back to one single event, the initial release of the electro-magnetic energy at the Swan station that results in the creation of the button, the 108 minute countdown, Desmond being remiss in pushing the button and Oceanic Flight 815 falling out of the sky. Faraday’s plan, not entirely clear in the episode, is to use Jughead (the hydrogen bomb) to counteract the impact of the electro-magnetism, wiping it away and leaving behind an island that won’t eventually have them on it.

It’s a good plan, but it is predicated on his theory (which he seems to have missed before because it was too simple, not because it was too obscure) that all of his talk of not being able to change destiny, to change the future, was forgetting about the all-important variable of human agency. Here is where, for me, the episode kind of hits a brick wall, at least as it relates to Faraday as a character. For me, the on-island episode needed more of the way Sawyer reacted to Faraday, which is as if he were crazy: there needed to be a skeptic in the room during these conversations, someone to call Faraday out on the fact that humanity was a pretty silly variable to forget, and that for all of his genius he seems to have been a little slow on the uptake.

I say this not because I don’t understand why Faraday had not pieced this together, but rather because the episode spent so much time showing us as viewers how his mother had planned out his life knowing that she would eventually shoot a grown Faraday in the back in 1977 that the tragedy of that moment seemed as if it was seeping into how the other castaways were treating him. For us, as viewers who have clearly fallen for Faraday as a character, his tragedy was quite effective: seeing him struggling with a life of forced singular purpose, dealing with a mother who feels as if she is unable to display any affection considering what Faraday is going to discover in 1977 and seeing the effects of Faraday’s initial time experiments render him without memory and without any sense of time or place, was hard for us as viewers considering how attached we have become.

But I felt the episode needed to do more in terms of emphasizing that the castaways shouldn’t feel the same way, or at the very least the episode shouldn’t have had the people who knew Faraday more (Sawyer and the 1974 gang) trust him less, considering that he is obviously the one who best describes time travel. We’re getting to the point in the season where individually focused episodes like this are problematic, because there’s rarely one character’s story that can encapsulate or speak to why all individuals make certain decisions. Faraday’s story may work in isolation, but in the episode itself there wasn’t enough time spent on why everyone else would follow along. Other than the rather vague notion that Jack is quietly but desperately searching for a reason for his return to the island (which Faraday stokes with his claim that Eloise was dead wrong) and that Sawyer is content to stay on the island and therefore not open to Daniel’s crazy theories, we don’t get a real reaction to Faraday, and part of it felt too simple.

And there’s the reason why I think throwing “The Variable” in with “The Constant,” as either a divergent path or as a brother episode, is more than a bit premature. It is not that it was unentertaining, but rather where the latter felt as if it was opening all sorts of doors, this one felt like it was actually just pointing the way. I tend to feel as if it was all almost too simple, that the question it left us with is the exact same question we’ve had all season as opposed to something fundamentally new. Daniel’s story didn’t really reveal anything, or introduce any new concepts, and while Davies was amazing as always there was something about his entire storyline that seemed as if it fit too nicely, that flashback and on-island life both happened to align for Faraday’s optimism to carry him to the point where it would all be wiped away by a single gunshot and an apparent death.

Yes, I too love the questions that this raises, but I guess I’m frustrated with the questions that it answers (if that makes any sense). I like where it puts us in terms of our “present” in 1974, as it leaves the castaways in a position where Jack and Kate know Daniel’s plan, where the Others (especially Ellie) are going to have to make a decision based on Daniel’s ravings and likely the input of the castaways, and where the Dharma Initiative views them as traitors but also have their own problems to deal with in terms of the construction of the Swan station. If the beginning of the season was about how time travel operates, the show has definitively shifted into a scenario where temporality is a constant and now we’re starting to see how it will effect these individuals.

And while the episode had some strong moments along the way, I guess that I wanted it all to be a bit less clean, for the rising action to feel a little less definitive and a bit more loose and unpredictable. It may have found its way to an exciting place, and it may have spoken to a lot of the season’s key questions, but in a sense the message it gave was that those questions were futile, and that the answers were always set in stone regardless. That’s a fine message for Faraday’s tragedy, which was decidedly effective, but I don’t know if I felt the same sense of effectiveness from its application to the rest of the season. I just needed to see more from the other castaways in this episode that wasn’t them lining up perfectly to fit into Daniel’s story.

Perhaps, though, this was inevitable: because Faraday was one of the Freighter characters, and the one most connected with the main narrative, this episode was likely fated to play out in a manner which felt manufactured in a sense. As he hasn’t been around as much as other characters, the connections this episode made were almost too broad. It felt like a checklist at the end of the day: there’s Faraday’s scene warning a young Charlotte, there’s Faraday bumping into Peter Chang, etc. Even the storyline with Eloise showing up at the hospital to visit with Penny as she waits for word on Desmond felt as if it was checking off “Show us that Desmond is okay” and “Confirm that Widmore is Faraday’s father.”

Any episode that takes this structure is taking a risk, because answers are not a surefire way to improve the quality of the show. Some of these elements were already presumed, so they have largely no effect, but when so many of them fall in a single episode like this it doesn’t feel organic, something about it just not feeling right. And while the effort to theme the episode in such a way as to make this fact become justified due to Daniel’s childhood narrative being entirely inorganic, his mother breeding him to die at her own hand in 1977, Faraday’s arc on the show is so isolated to the last few seasons that it didn’t work as well as I think they thought it did.

At the end of the day, I like what this episode accomplishes: any Lost fan in their right mind is excited about what is going to happen following Faraday’s apparent death, and about how these three groups of people are going to deal with the pending threat. And the questions that we’re left with are very interesting: was Faraday’s plan really going to fix anything, and is it even possible for the plan to go forward with him shot and with perhaps Jack and Kate in the lead position? Eloise admits to Penny that, for the first time, she doesn’t know what’s going to happen: is this to indicate that the Oceanic Six returning to the island was not something she had anticipated, her knowledge only going to the point of the Freighter? And why did she blame Faraday for Desmond being shot considering that Penny is quite right to blame Ben for, you know, shooting him?

I’m likely sleep deprived and delirious to expect otherwise, but I guess I just thought the episode cut too many corners and was too blatant in its plotting to feel as if these questions were created by the episode itself as opposed to simply dropped in by the writers. “The Variable” was actually quite a good episode, but for an episode that dealt with a favoured character and the concept of time travel something about it just didn’t add up for me.

Cultural Observations

• It is possible that one of my points of frustration may be as simple as the fact that Daniel’s story was kind of more boring than I had hoped. I had this image of a time-traveling Faraday running around trying to solve this problem, and part of me was hoping we would get that story tonight. The mundane nature of this three-year absence (at Dharma headquarters in Ann Arbor) is strange considering that Faraday’s departure has been treated like some hushed secret amongst those who stayed behind in 1974, and you’d think at some point when asked someone would just say “Oh yeah, he left for headquarters, we don’t know why.” Part of me wanted to see those missing years, and instead we got the message that those missing years didn’t matter since he’d always end up here anyways.
• From what I’ve read, the Desmond/Penny inclusion was made since they saw this episode as a counterpoint to “The Constant,” which I note above is not the best comparison for any episode, this one in particular. I kind of wish we had spent that time, while well-acted and emotionally effective and everything else Desmond/Penny sequences always are, on the island, as there is where my real interest lay.
• I will presume that Miles and Hurley will be lumped in with Sawyer/Juliet pretty soon, which won’t be that big of a reunion after this week’s scene where almost the entire cast was together discussing their plan. It was the one scene that made the episode feel like the show’s 100th, and was effectively memorable.
• I don’t read episode descriptions to avoid spoilers, but the big ol’ giant shot of Hurley’s guitar would seem to indicate to me that we’re going to be getting his story amidst “316″ soon enough, which is exciting. Considering its location in the season, it seems possible also that on top of this week’s connection to “The Constant” we may be getting Hurley’s equivalent to “Greatest Hits” considering who the guitar seems to symbolize.
• For a few perspectives a little bit more positive and that delve a bit further into some of the big questions, head to Sepinwall and Poniewozik.

Please click through to see this post on harrysaxon.com.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Now this is what an episode of Lost should be like. As much as I enjoyed the breather provided by Laurel & Hardy Miles & Hurley, tonight’s episode was the kind of fast-paced thrill ride that the best episodes of Lost always are. Let’s recap and analyze…

We begin in 2007, as Desmond is rushed into the hospital with Penny and Charlie by his side. Penny and Charlie are in the waiting area as Desmond is operated on, and Eloise Hawking walks up. She apologizes to Penny and says it’s her son’s fault that this happened. The look on Penny’s face was great as she said, “Your son is Benjamin Linus?” Eloise sets her straight and we cut to 1977 Dharmaville.

Daniel is getting off the submarine and we get our only true comedic moment of the night–Miles says, “Once you left for Ann Arbor, I figured you got rich and invented the DVD or something.” In addition to the big laugh he got from me, Miles confirmed my suspicion that Daniel had just been working for Dharma off-island all along. Daniel shows Miles the “Class of 77″ photo to explain why he’s back, then asks to see Jack. Once they get to Jack’s place, Jack tells Daniel that Eloise is the reason he came back. After Daniel guesses correctly that Eloise told Jack about his ‘destiny’, he promptly bursts Jack’s bubble and says his mother was wrong.

Flashback to Young Daniel playing piano.  Eloise explains to him that destiny is about using your gifts to their fullest, and apparently not about playing the piano. When Daniel says he can make time, she responds, “If only you could.”

Miles and Daniel head to The Orchid, so Jack goes to Sawyer who reveals a bound-and-gagged Security Phil in the kitchen cabinet. Not to digress too much, but for some reason I was really pleased to see him locked in the cabinet. I’m sure Patrick Fischler is a fine character actor, but I just can’t stand him in this role. Although, I guess that may be the point of the character–if so, it worked.

Daniel and Miles arrive at The Orchid, and they see Dr. Chang arrive shortly after them. We are then treated to the scene from the season premiere, only this time from Daniel’s point of view. After the part we saw on the premiere, Daniel actually approaches Chang and tells him he only has six hours to evacuate the island. Daniel’s “proof” isn’t very convincing though, since it consists of telling Chang “I’m from the future!” Chang is also unconvinced when Daniel tells him that Miles is actually his grown son. I thought Dr. Chang was going to buy it for a minute, but then Miles slams the door shut with a quick denial. Once Chang leaves, Daniel tells Miles he just had to make sure that Chang does what he is “supposed to do”.

Flashback to doctoral graduate Daniel, who is with Theresa (pre-brain melting) when Eloise appears. Eloise makes it obvious that she is not happy with Theresa and takes Daniel to lunch. After Daniel tells his mother about his $85.1 Million grant from Widmore, she pisses him off by telling him to stop wasting his time on Theresa. Eloise hands Daniel a gift, then leaves the restaurant. The gift is Daniel’s journal, complete with an inscription:

“Daniel,

No matter what, remember I will always love you.

Mother”

She also left Daniel with the check, which I think was pretty weak. I thought it was interesting that Eloise considered a relationship with Theresa to be as worthless as playing the piano. I think it’s interesting that Eloise doesn’t even entertain the possibility that these other pursuits could be an intricate part of nurturing Daniel’s genius. 

Back in ‘77, Sawyer is presenting the gang with two options: 1) Steal the sub and leave the island, or 2) Go into the jungle and ‘back to square one’. A knock at the door brings Miles and Faraday (or Twitchy if you prefer) into the conversation, and Daniel presents option 3) Let’s go talk to The Hostiles since my mom is one of them. His reason? Daniel says she can get them all back where they belong. My first thought on this was that our people are going back to 2007 where they ought to be.

Another flashback, this time it’s Daniel crying at the fake Oceanic 815 wreckage on the ocean floor. Widmore pays Daniel a visit and offers him a new opportunity. Daniel has some kind of mental disorder thanks to an experiment on himself, which he says he tried first before trying it on his research assistant Theresa. Apparently Daniel’s brain only got partially melted. Daniel tells Widmore that he doesn’t understand why the wreckage is making him so sad, so Widmore decides to cheer him up by admitting that he staged the entire thing. Widmore then tells Daniel that the island will heal his mind and memory. When Charles tells Daniel that he needs shouldn’t waste his talent, Daniel says that sounds like something his mother would say.  Charles says they’re old friends.

At Casa del Lafluer, Sawyer asks Daniel, “Your mother’s an Other?” Sawyer then proceeds to argue against Daniel’s plan, making it extremely clear to me that he really does like the life he has built with Juliet, and he does not like the idea of leaving Dharmaville. Juliet gives the sonic fence code away, so Jack, Kate, and Daniel decide to head for The Others. Sawyer tells the rest of the gang to get their stuff so they can head back to the beach, adding that once they’re done chasing The Others, Jack, Kate, and Daniel will know where to find them. As they head toward the motor pool, Daniel takes a quick side trip to talk to -no surprise here- Young Charlotte. Before they can get away clean, Radzinski shows up with his black jumpsuit gang.  A gunfight ensues, with both Daniel and Radzinski getting incidental wounds.

A final flashback to melty-brain Daniel as Eloise encourages him to take Widmore’s job offer, saying it’s ‘important’. Daniel just wants to know one thing, “If I go, will it make you proud of me?”

Back in ‘77 at the sonic fence, Daniel confirms what Miles told us a few episodes ago–they are currently in their own present time, which means any one of them could die. Back in the village, Radzinski shows up at Sawyer’s house, and just when we think Sawyer’s bullshit artistry will save them, Phil is discovered in the cabinet. Things don’t look good for Sawyer and Juliet, but I just can’t believe they won’t find a way out of this.

In the jungle, Daniel explains his new theory to Jack. In a few hours, Dharma drills into the energy at The Swan, causing what we will come to know as The Incident. That causes them to build the button, which Desmond will one day not press, bringing down Oceanic 815. While his previous theory focused mainly on the Constants, Daniel is now focused on the Variables, by which he means people. He now contends that their free will and reasoning mean that they can break the cycle–unfortunately his brilliant plan involves destroying the energy by detonating the hydrogen bomb we saw at the beginning of the season.

In 2007 with Penny, Eloise tells her that for the first time in a long time, she doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Cue a nurse to tell Penny that Desmond is out of surgery–he reminds Penny he promised never to leave her again. As Eloise leaves the hospital, Widmore approaches and explains he had to sacrifice his daughter, and Eloise quickly reminds him she had to sacrifice her son as well.  Charles then confirms what I had suspected since the 1954 skip on the island–he is Daniel’s father. This earns him a nice slap from Eloise.

Approaching The Others campsite in ‘77, Daniel tells Jack and Kate to wish him luck, then enters the camp alone with his gun drawn. He trains his sight on Richard Alpert and demands to speak to Eloise Hawking.  Richard tries to tell Daniel that she’s not there, but Daniel keeps waving the gun. The camera is tight on Daniel and Richard when a shot rings out. As the camera pulls out, we see that it’s Daniel who has been shot–by Ellie. as she stands over a dying Daniel, he says, “You knew. You always knew, but you sent me here anyway.” Daniel’s face goes blank. LOST.

The last scene was a total brain melting moment for me.  It’s not that I thought Daniel was invincible, I just enjoyed him so much that I wanted him to stick around. I really wasn’t prepared for him to die tonight, but at least they told his full story before killing him. I know that the Island sometimes brings people back, but I don’t think that’s going to happen with Daniel. He shared his full plan with Jack, so now it’s up to him to carry it out. At this point, I can’t wait for old lady Eloise and Charles Widmore to get their payback for sending their son to be killed by Young Ellie. It seemed clear by the look on Richard Alpert’s face that Daniel’s death was not necessary.

First of all, I’d like to apologize to all my loyal readers for not posting last week. I had written a post, but my computer crashed and I lost it all. I’ll try to be better at timely posts, because I do have lots to discuss!

We’ve all been waiting patiently for a Ben flashback this season. Finally “Dead is Dead” delves deep into Ben’s character and past. Benjamin Linus is one of the most intriguing and well acted characters on Lost. We were overdue for a Ben episode, and this truly was a great show that taught us a lot about Ben’s backstory and why he is the way he is.

We’re brought back to the roots of the Ben vs. Widmore war and are painted a more solid picture of Ben’s past with Alex, his “daughter” who he stole from Rousseau and later watched die in the hands of Widmore’s hired guns. We also see how Ben got beat up before he came to the plane. The show focuses on another central lost theme of lost: redemption and repentance. Ben basically says he does everything for the sake of the Island. Will the Island forgive Ben for his sins? It’s up to the smoke monster to decide!

This episode was also the first in a while that really focused on Locke since he’s been back from the Dead. Locke is now an-all knowing character who reigns supreme on the Island. I’m not really sure how Locke all of a sudden knows all the answers, it’s pretty freaky and a little over the top, but clearly Ben wishes he had half the connection to the Island that Locke does. We see a major role reversal now where Locke clearly has the edge over Ben on the Island.

We also start to learn that there may be more to Ilana and some of the Ajira 316 survivors that we may have thought.

Thoughts/questions/plot points:

–A younger Charlies Widmore comes out on horseback. Seems reminiscent of a Revolutionary War General — like he’s riding the horse because he’s superior to the rest of his people.

– When Ben first meets Widmore, Widmore seems like a mentor at first.

– Ilana is moving a crate. What’s in it? Ilana is definitely up to something. She’s clearly more than just a random person who happened to crash on the island. I sense a war between her people and Lockes people.

– Ben was sent by Widmore to kill Rousseau and her baby Alex. Instead, Ben has a heart and only steals the baby, which he later raises as his own. Ben says “everytime you hear whispers, run the other way.” We know way back from season one that we hear whispers when the others are nearby. But who is whispering? Is it them just trying to freak non-others out?

-Widmore says every decision is about protecting the Island. Ben asks if this is what Jacob wants. Jacob is like their God, and Ben invokes Jacob’s name to instill fear in the others and get what he wants.

–Ben says he killed Locke because had to be dead to get back to the Island. Once he gave him critical info, he didn’t have time to talk him back into hanging himself. Does anyone buy this? I think this was Ben’s opportunity (and probably last chance) to have an edge on Locke. On the Island, Locke is far superior and more powerful than Ben.

–And what was the critical info? To go to eloise? Whose side is she on anyways?

–Ben kills Cesar, I guess he isn’t a major character after all. It’s too late in the show to introduce more major characters.

–Ben totally speaks in one liners. “Home sweet home.” He’s like Morpheus from Matrix, another great character who speaks in one liners.

–Widmore was banished by Ben for “breaking the rules” by leaving the island and having a daughter with an outsider. But do they explain how Ben became the leader? Did he become the leader after the purge?

– Ben is clearly intimidated by Locke now. “The fact that Locke is walking around scares the living hell out of me.”

– It was a great scene when Desmond kicks the crap out of Ben. That was deserved!

– Ilana and some of the other Ajira survivors say they are in charge now. “What lies in the shadow of the Statue” is some sort of password they have, which seems like an obvious connection to the ancient foot ruins. Maybe they are actually time travelers from ancient times?

– When ben falls through below the temple, we see some hieroglyphics and drawings. It looked like a wolfman next to a dragon/snakey thing with a head. Could this represent the smoke monster? Any thoughts on what they mean? My guess is that dharma symbols were based off of the the drawings, but then again, did Dharma know anything about the temple?

– When Ben faces the smoke monster we see Ben’s past with Alex. Alex then appears and threatens him not hurt Locke and to follow his every order. This is a big turning point. I do not think Ben will try to mess with Locke again. As evil has he may be, he is a Jacob/smoke monster fearing individual who was truly affected by this.

–Ben’s whole encounter with the smoke monster similar to Eko’s. But why did the smoke monster kill Eko but let Ben live? Maybe because Ben’s role isn’t done yet? With Locke as the island’s new chosen one, Ben may still have a role to serve in fixing all that he’s messed up. Great episode!

Before I get started on this week’s post, sorry about not posting last week, but I did get a post up on last week’s episode a couple of days ago.  If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, check it out below. 

Now on to this week’s episode “Some Like it Hoth.”  We got a lot of background on Miles and his “sixth sense” this week.  Is it a coincidence that they recently announced M. Night Shyamalan will be directing the series finale?  I would say that we learned three important things about Miles tonight: 

1) He hears the final thoughts of dead people, but doesn’t actually converse with the dead.  He has apparently had this skill his entire life and has honed it over time.  Interesting that Hurley seems so comfortable with his ability to talk to dead people, and we all thought he was crazy. 

2) He will apparently do anything for money.  We saw him scam a lady out of cash previously, and now we see that he takes this job for Widmore strictly for a big pay day. $1.6 million to be exact.  The same amount he tried to extort from Ben previously.  I guess now we know where he got that figure from.

3) He was born on the island to Dr. Chang.  Wow, there’s an unexpected twist.  While having a discussion with his dying mom, I felt fairly certain that his roots would trace back to the island, but did his dad really have to be the only Asian guy on the island?  Hurley’s attempts at a father and son reunion in the van with Chang and Miles were great.  He has a certain calm and acceptance about him that reminds me a little of the new Locke.   

What lies in the shadow of the statue?  I think this question will be heard frequently over the next few weeks.  First by Ilana and her partner last week, and then by her partner (? name) to Miles in the van this week in a flashback.  The assumption by many was that Ilana and her “shadow” gang were sent by Widmore, but why would Widmore be paying Miles to go to the island and trying to keep him from going?  I still think that the big silver crate and Ilana and friends are Ben’s plot to bring war to the island.  I know that everyone thinks Ben is becoming a “good guy,” but I think he has one more heel turn before this season is over (Sorry for the pro wrestling reference, but “heel” equals bad guy).  I, for one, still think that Ben is the ultimate bad guy in this whole series.

As for Jack, Kate and the gang in Dharma-ville, we see Kate raise Roger’s suspicion, Jack and Juliet get more acquainted and Sawyer get busted by Phil.  I think that their days with Dharma are very numbered, but where will they go?  I don’t expect that the Hostiles will welcome them in, but who knows.  I guess Danielle and Sayid are hiding out there somewhere.  Like I said before, Ben will be coming home soon and they need to be out before he gets back.

Most importantly, we see Daniel Faraday return at the conclusion of the episode.  This is just a tease for the next new episode in a couple of weeks entitled “The Variable.”  If this is anywhere near as good as its counterpart episode “The Constant,” then I think we are in for a treat in two weeks.  It will be interesting to see how he managed to get off of the island and back, and I suspect he will shed some light on some of our (and Hurley’s) questions regarding time travel.

A couple of questions for this week:  We now know that Charlotte and Miles were born on the island, can we assume that Daniel and Naomi were as well?  Who is Ilana working for?  Will any well known characters know the answer to what lies in the shadow of the statue?

DarinIsLost is fortunately not dead, but was just on a much-needed vacation.  I wasn’t able to watch last week’s episode of Lost until Monday, but it was so good I couldn’t resist posting on it, even though I’m almost a week late.  I couldn’t even manage to watch it online with my laptop, but enough about me, let’s talk about Lost. 

This week’s episode focused on Ben and Locke primarily, and reduced the role of all the Losties in Dharma to a brief glimpse at the old photograph, which I was perfectly happy with.  All of their bickering and love stories seem much less significant than the characters we dealt with in this episode.  First off, Ben was the star of the show, and he seemed particularly honest and vulnerable in the episode.  However, the line he muttered, which is the title of the episode, “Dead is dead” when referring to Locke was itself a lie.  Well, if not an outright intentional lie, it was at the very least an un-truth (Locke is not dead), which leads me to doubt anything else he had to say in this episode.  Was he truthful with Sun?  Locke?  Alex?  We’ll have to wait and see.  I’m not sure how Ben can be such an evil mastermind, and yet such a sympathetic character as well.  He makes you just want to believe him.  You want him to be a good guy.

Then we have Locke.  He has survived death, and now walks around with a certain  calmness that is almost eery.  I guess he feels that he is living on borrowed time, so what does he have to lose.  He seems to be in tune with the island, and has taken a dominant role over Ben.  I think this will soon lead to his contacting the Others and assuming his leadership role.  This, of course, puts Ben in a peculiar situation.  As I mentioned last episode, the relationship between Ben and Locke is becoming very similar to the one between Charles and Ben.

This week also gave us a much better perspective on the Smoke Monster.  It had been speculated that the monster was a guardian of the island, but Ben seemed to explain it’s role as that of judge, jury and executioner.  Does that mean that the previous characters who were killed by Smokey had been judged negatively?  I guess you could think of it as Caesar (the emperor, not the guy who Ben shot in the chest) giving the gladiators the thumbs up/thumbs down.  If only everyone had known that all you had to do to escape was to run the other way when you heard the whispers.  It kept Danielle alive for several years.

Finally, let’s talk about Desmond.  We never see Ben kill Penny, but I think he did.  Why else would he need to apologize to Desmond?  What other motivation would Desmond have to come back to the island?  I think he will definitely be back.  Why do all evil geniuses shoot unimportant people without hesitation, but always offer a monologue prior to trying to kill their main target?  Desmond gave Ben a good beating after taking a shot to what appeared to be the shoulder, but obviously Ben is not dead.

So here’s a couple of questions for this episode, and I’ll be back soon for this week’s episode.  Is Penny really dead? (I think so) What’s in the big silver crate?  (Guns?  Gas masks?)  Who sent it?  (Ben?  Widmore?  I think Widmore, and I think this is the beginning of the “war” that everyone keeps referring to)

Mis queridos Losties, ¿que les pareció el capítulo de ayer? Muchas emociones fuertes, ¿no?.
Vimos “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”, el séptimo episodio de la 5ta Temporada de Lost, 93 de toda la serie y se centró en la salida de Locke de la isla, su lucha por convencer a los Ocenic 6 de regresar a la isla, y fuimos testigos de su muerte en manos de Ben.

Después de girar la rueda en la estación La Orquídea, Locke es transportado a Túnez al año 2007. Este desierto es conocido como la salida oficial de la isla, de ahí que Charlotte hayara los restos del oso polar junto a un símbolo de Dharma, y de que Ben haya llegado al mismo sitio cuando también mueve la isla.

Después de pasar el día entero tirado en el suelo a causa de su fractura de pierna, Locke es encontrado y transportado a un hospital cercano donde un médico le recoloca la pierna, lo que le produce un desmayo a causa del dolor. Cuando despierta, Charles Widmore esta sentado junto a él. Widmore le platica que se conocieron cuando él tenía 17 años y le pregunta a Locke cuando tiempo ha pasado para él desde la primera vez que se vieron. Locke responde 4 días, aunque para Widmore han sido 53 años.
Widmore le explica a John que él solía ser el líder de los Otros, y que fue exiliado de la isla por Ben, luego de que este lo engañara, a lo que Locke responde que Ben no lo exilió a él y que la razón de haberse ido de la isla es regresar con los que se fueron.

Al día siguiente, Widmore le comenta a Locke que lo ayudara a encontrar a los Oceanic 6, y le hace entrega de unos expedientes con la localización de cada uno, así como la ayuda de Matthew Abaddon para que lo auxilie. Entre las pertenecias que se le dan también esta un pasaporte con la nueva identidad de Locke : Jeremy Bentham.

John no llega a comprender del todo la ayuda de Widmore, pero la acepta, y él y Abaddon se marchan hacia el aeropuerto para volar a Santo Domingo, con el primer objetivo de encontrar a Sayid, pero cuando se encuentran, este se niega a volver a la isla, afirmando que vivió baja las mentiras de Ben durante los años anteriores, haciéndole creer que juntos protegían a los que se habían quedado en la isla. Aún así, Locke le pide que si cambia de parecer, lo busque bajo el nombre de Jeremy Bentham.

Durante el capítulo, vemos como Locke trata de convencer a Kate y a Hurley, pero ambos se niegan, así como su encuentro con la tumba de Helen, la mujer a la que Locke le pidió matrimonio años atrás y que falleció en su ausencia.

Una de las sorpresas es que Locke se encuentra con Walt en Nueva York, y aunque platican poco, Walt le dice que había estado soñando con él [curiosamente, el sueño que describe Walt es la escena donde Locke se haya con los sobrevivientes del vuelo de Ajira 316 en la playa], y le pregunta sobre Michael, su padre. Locke le dice que lo último que supo era que Michael estaba en un carguero. Cuando se despiden, a lo lejos se puede ver a Ben vigilándolos.

En una escena sorpresiva, Ben asesina a Abaddon cuando este y Locke están por irse del cementerio donde Helen esta enterrada. A causa del miedo, Locke conduce rápidamente el auto a pesar de tener una férula en la pierna y choca contras dos autos en una encrucijada.
Cuando despierta, Jack esta con él en la misma habitación del hospital y le pregunta que es lo que esta haciendo ahí. John le dice que ha regresado por él y los demás, y trata de convencerlo diciéndole que si no lo hacen, los que se quedaron, morirán. Cuando Jack se cansa de las afirmaciones de Locke, se retira de la habitación, pero este alcanza a decirle que su padre le manda saludos. Jack se consterna y añade que su padre esta muerto pero John afirma que para él, Christian estaba muy vivo y que fue él quien le dijo que moviera la isla. Jack le grita que su padre murió hace 3 años y que deje a todos en paz.

Más tarde, en la escena cumbre del episodio, vemos Locke en su habitación del Hotel Westerfield dode se hospeda bajo el peusdónimo de Jeremy Bentham.
Locke escribe su nota de suicidio, dirigiéndose a Jack: “Ojalá me hubieses creído”. Cansado de fracasar con todos sus compañeros en el intento de hacerlos regresar a la isla, John se dispone a suicidarse ahorcándose del techo de la habitación.
Cuando está a punto de hacerlo siente que alguien llama a la puerta y entra intempestivamente a la habitación. Se trata de Ben que al ver la escena intenta por todos los medios persuadir a Locke para que no se mate. Locke se encuentra confundido sin saber si hacer caso a las palabras de Widmore o a las de Ben cuando este le confirma que fue él quien mato a Abaddon, pero le dice que fue para protegerlo porque Widmore lo estaba usando para volver a la isla y tarde o temprano lo iba a matar. John duda pero sigue con la convicción de saltar y ahorcarse.

Ben lo convence de que él es el lider, es alguien importante y que debe vivir para liderar a los Otros. Locke le dice que no pudo convencer a ninguno pero Ben le dice que Jack ha comprado un boleto de avión para viajar a Sidney. John comienza a creerle y deja que Ben desate la soga y poco a poco va desistiendo de su idea de suicidarse.
Desconsolado, Locke comienza a llorar mientras Ben trata de animarlo diciéndole que todavía falta convencer a Sun. Locke le muestra el anillo que Jin le había dado, descubriendo ante Ben que Jin está vivo pero que le hizo prometer que nunca haría regresar a Sun a la isla. Ben acepta el trato ya que una promesa es una promesa y hay que cumplirla.
Después de esto, ambos conversan sobre lo que van a hacer despues, a lo que Locke le dice que deben visitar a una mujer llamada Eloise Hawking, quien es la indicada para saber como regresar a la isla. Ben se sorprende, afirma que la conoce y disimuladamente se coloca detrás de John y lo mata ahorcándole con la soga. Momentos después limpia de huellas toda la habitación y coloca el cuerpo sin vida de John casi en la misma posición como lo había encontrado, para hacer creer que se trató de un suicidio.

Ya en la isla, sorprendentemente Locke esta vivo [a causa de la isla] y con algunos de los sobrevivientes del vuelo 316 en la playa. Ahí entabla comunicación con la agente que iba escoltando a Sayid en el avión, su nombre es Ilana y con uno de los pasajeros Caesar; este último le dice que recuerda que hubo una luz deslumbrante y que “ciertos” pasajeros desaparecieron de sus lugares,  entre ellos la descripción de un hombre que concuerda con Hurley.
Conciente de ello, Locke le pregunta si tiene una lista de pasajeros, pero Caesar le dice que una noche anterior, el piloto y una mujer se la llevaron junto a una balsa que ya estaba en la playa.
Locke le pregunta si todo el mundo aparte de las personas desaparecidas han sido identificadas y Caesar le responde que sí menos los que resultaron heridos en el accidente. Locke se muestra extrañado, y Caesar lo lleva a una improvisada enfermería donde están los pasajeros heridos. John camina junto a ellos mirándolos de cerca para ver si alguno de los Ocenic 6 esta ahí… Parece no haber nadie, hasta que llega a una cama donde descansa un hombre, Locke lo mira sorprendido y Caesar le pregunta si lo conoce. John lo identifica, es Ben y se refiere a él como “el hombre que me mató”.

Uuufff! En fin, les dejo el link para que descarguen el capítulo  gratis y con subtitulos :

5×07 : “The Life & Death Of Jeremy Bentham”

Y el avance lo que será el octavo capítulo : Le Fleur :

Por otro lado, tenemos un ¡Lostie más!.
Josh Holloway y su esposa Yessica Kumala, se estrenaron como papas de una hermosa niña que nació el pasado 9 de Abril, en la misma isla donde se graba Lost : Oahu, Hawaii.
La exclusiva del nacimiento la tiene la revista People, quienes han declarado que Josh y su esposa llamaran Java Kumala Holloway a su nena.

La muerte es la muerte

Episodio centrado en Ben

Despues de que Richard acepta salvar a “Little ben”, es cuestionado por Widmore, pero Richard le dice que Jacob así lo quiso.

Widmore va a ver a “mini ben” y él le pide quedarse con ellos.

Flashbacks Ben

El va con Ethan a matar a Danielle Rousseau, pero la deja con vida y se lleva la bebé.

Cuando regresa con “los hostiles” discute con Widmore porque “tenía que matarlas”, Richard no dice nada, y entonces Ben cría a Alex como su hija, ya que nadie la quiere.

Unos años después, Widmore es desterrado y Ben lo va a ver cuando se va en el submarino.

En tiempo mas cercano, llama a Widmore para avisarle que esta por matar a su hija y que está delante de su bote. Desmond lo ve y le grita pero Ben se da vuelta y le dispara.

Luego apunta a Penny, y ella le pide por favor que no la mate, que ella con su padre “no se lleva”

y cuando aparece el pequeño Charlie, Ben desiste de matarla, como lo hizo antiguamente con danielle y Alex.

Pero Ben es atacado por atrás por Desmond.

Y no se la lleva nada barata.

Momento actual:

Ben le dice a Locke que va a buscar al “monstruo de humo” para ser juzgado por sus errores del pasado, y Locke se da cuenta de que se refiere a ser juzgado por la muerte de Alex, ya que Ben podría haberla salvado.

Cesar les dice que él toma las decisiones, y que no se van a llevar los botes. Ben le pega un tiro a Cesar.

Cuando llegan a las casas, se encuentran con Sun y Lapidus

Sun les habla de Christian y les muestra la foto de Dharma de 1977

Lapidus decide volver con el resto de los sobrevivientes, pero Ilana, que no sabemos si está loca o es una basura, le pide una contraseña, y como no se la contesta, ataca a Lapidus.

Ben entra a un túnel y habla con el mostruo, y le dice donde lo va a esperar.

Locke y Ben entran al “Templo” a buscarlo,

y Ben cae a un pozo.

Se ve que el templo es egipcio.

De esos agujeritos sale el humito.

Le muestra a Ben los momentos en que murió Alex, y vuelve a los agujeritos.

Siguiente escena, se le aparece Alex, lo ataca diciéndole que tiene que hacer todo lo que diga Locke, y desaparece.

Luego Locke, que había ido a buscar ayuda, vuelve con una soga para sacar a Ben del pozo.

El título del episodio? Se refiere a Locke que estuvo muerto, y Sun le pregunta a Ben si realmente lo estaba, y Ben le afirma que sí, y que por eso le tiene miedo, ya que nadie volvió de la muerte.

Wow…

Spoilers follow if you haven’t seen it.

That episode certainly had a lot more of things I have been wanting from Lost as of recently namely Locke, Desmond and a dose of awesomeness.

Well, I’m gonna start out with a mention of the episode title: Dead is Dead – As Ben said in this episode; it’s normally true with Lost, and real life for that matter :p….. so why is Locke different? Well, apart from his extraordinary relationship with the island, we don’t know. Personally, I don’t think it matters… Consider how much of a mind fuck it would be if he wasn’t actually alive though! On that note, is Christian Shephard alive??

Moving on…

So, it seems even Ben doesn’t know a great deal about smokey. Just how to summon it, and not really what it is or where it comes from…. Pretty strange, that.

I always assumed that Widmore left as a result of turning the time wheel, for some reason; but him just being sent away actually makes more sense.

As predicted, it was Desmond who beat up Ben by the harbour; though it certainly wasn’t predicted that he was shot right before. Miraculously, since the island wasn’t finished with him, he survived and saved the day. I hope we get to see more of him in the future. Perhaps with Faraday.

One has to wonder as to whether Ben will actually follow the wish of the smoke monster and listen to Locke in future. It would be rather weird if he did, but, it seems if he wants to carry on living, he’ll have to. It should hopefully lead to some interesting scenes in the future.

What lies in the shadow of the statue? – What was that all about? I wasn’t really expecting them to play a big part, that Caesar guy seemed more likely, but he got blown away in a rather awesome manner by Ben. So, what are those guys up to? What’s in the crate? Most importantly: will LaPedus be ok? I hope so.

Next week’s episode is called “Some Like it Hoth”… I have no idea what that could mean, but I’m looking forward to finding out. After that, I believe there is a week break where a recap show is on….

Anywhoo….. That was a gooood episode….. Till next week….

/

Finally an episode that not only fills in a lot of gaps and actually straight-up addresses some mysteries. This show answered all my Kate questions and explains time travel, while also touching on some main reoccurring themes of Lost: Family, destiny, and doing the right thing.

Through the Kate flashbacks, we learn what happened to Aaron and why Kate chose to go back to the dreaded Island. I’m glad we’re back to traditional flashbacks, they clear up a lot of confusion. We also saw a new Kate this week. She played a sympathetic hero who feels compassion for parents with children and knows what it’s like to lose a child. But because of her compassion, Kate is now responsible for turning Ben into the evil monster we all love to hate.

My favorite character of the episode though had to be Hurley because he addressed a lot of confusion about time travel. Hurley’s role was like that of a confused viewer. He asked lots of questions and even had his own theories! Hurley is a very realistic character, because he actually thinks like a regular person and isn’t just driven by hope and destiny (no offense to anyone in particular, Lost has incredible characters).   As cheesy as it was that the writers directly addressed our questions, I’m glad they did it. It gave me the impression that the producers felt for us, and understood that we all had lots of questions.

Finally Miles played an instrumental role explaining all he knew about time travel to Hurley. Again, it was obvious Miles was speaking right to the viewers, but it was nice to hear that the characters were also wondering what the hell was going on too.

The time travel aspect is one of my favorite parts of Lost, so instead of writing a recap we’ll focus on time travel today and I’ll touch on a couple plot points afterwards.

I absolutely loved Hurley’s Back to the Future reference. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time and by far the best time travel movie out there. It really set the bar for explaining time travel. According to BTTF, when you change the past you create a different future. It’s called the butterfly effect, and can also be seen in the eerie Ashton Kutcher movie of the same name.

But as we all know, Lost doesn’t play by BTTF rules. In Lost, you can’t change the past (unless you are special like Desmond!). According to Miles, Sayid always shoots Ben in 1977, only the first time they weren’t there to experience how it all turns out. When I think about this aspect too much my head feels like it’s about to explode, but do I understand the basic idea. As Miles explains, time is no longer in a straight line for the time travelers. The time travelers still have a past, present, and future, but their past happens to be 2007 and their present is 1977.  Anything that happens in the future for them will still be their future, no matter what year they are in  But according to Lost rules says Ben grows up, so therefore he can never die as a child.

Ben would have remembered that he was shot by Sayid, except when Sawyer and Kate have him to Richard Albert, it changed Ben and he won’t remember what happened.

Phew! So glad they explained this! Makes me miss Faraday even more.

It was also an interesting twist that the Losties saved Ben. Destiny and morals play a huge role in Lost (which is why I think it appears to so many demographics), so some of the Losties (Kate, Juliet, and Sawyer — not Jack) know that it’s their duty to save Ben. Not only is it their destiny, but young Ben is still innocent, and even Sawyer says you can’t let a kid die.

So why did Jack refuse to save Ben? Is it because Jack refuses to believe in destiny, or simply because he hates Ben that much, or because he doesn’t want to listen to Kate? Jack already saved Ben once at Kate’s request, so he doesn’t want to do it again. I actually respect Jack for sticking to his guns, I wouldn’t want to save Ben either.

Other major plot points/questions/observations:

• We learn what Sawyer said to Kate before he jumped. He asked her to take care of his daughter Clementine, who had with Cassidy (one of the women he conned – who Kate also had an encounter with).
  
• Sawyer: Did he jump from the chopper to save the Oceanic 6, or did he jump because he is a coward like Cassidy thinks?  
  
• Kate blabs the entire secret about the Island to Cassidy. I’m surprised how easily she reveals this – remind me not to ever trust Kate with a secret!  
  
• Horace seems to get even more suspicious of Jack and Kate. As I’ve already said, it’s only a matter of time before they catch on. 
  
• I understand that Juliet, Kate, and Sawyer are driven by destiny and morals to save Ben, but why are they so eager to help him? Seemed a little strange to me considering how much of a dick he turns out to be. Once Ben’s father Roger learned that Ben’s life was in danger, he softened a lot. What happened to the angry Roger that blames his wife’s death on Ben?

• The girl in the supermarket who Kate found with Aaron looked suspiciously like Claire! Probably just so we’d think it was Claire from behind.

• Kate gives Aaron back to Claire’s mother. And she say’s she’s going back to the Island to save Claire. Go Kate! I hope Claire is in the season. If she is, my guess is that it’s in the last thirty seconds of the finale.

• After Sawyer and Kate give Ben to Richard, he takes Ben to the temple! How exactly is Richard Albert going to save Ben and does this result in his loss of innocence? Something tells me it will involve either the smoke monster or Jacob.  Will young Ben immediately emerge next week as an evil boy?

• When Richard Albert takes Ben, another hostile warns him Charles might find out, and says that he should ask Ellie. I can’t wait until we run into 1977 Widmore! Is Ellie (Eloise Hawking) his Wife?

• At the end, Locke says to Ben, “welcome to the land of the living.” Badass! I can’t wait for next week! 
  
• Couple more random questions:
  • What ever happened to Bernard and Rose?
  • Remember when Locke’s Dad was brought back to the Island, what was up with that