LostSeason 5, Episode 1Because you leftLost is quite possibly the most aptly named television show I’ve ever seen. It could be taken literally – our Losties fell out of the sky and found themselves lost on an island. The island itself seems lost, unfindable… Or it could be metaphorical – it’s about a show full of lost souls, people struggling to find themselves and do the right thing. Or, it could mean the state of mind of it’s viewers after they’ve watched the show.
You’d think that after four seasons, we’d be more informed about the goings on than at the end of season one. You’d be wrong. Sometimes I think we knew more way back then... we had no idea that Lost would lead down us a path that would lead us to time travel. And yet, even as I right that, time travel just seems so… fitting. I don’t know why, but time travel fits right in there with the rest of the islands mysticism.
Anyway, enough of that. This episode was
so packed with action; it jumped from island to past to future to the US to a ship in the middle of the ocean… at times I felt disoriented and at a total loss. But what I do know is that this season
feels different already.
Our opening scenes present us with Dr Marvin Chang – he of the Dharma initiation videos – and his people finding the Frozen Donkey Wheel. Cut to a man in the background… it’s none other than our favourite physicist Daniel Faraday. We have no idea when this is, but it’s obviously in the past.
It’s now three years after the Oceanic Six have been “rescued” and their lives are not what they expected or wanted it to be. Jack has now been approached by Ben, and together they are going to not only try and get back to the island, but also get the other 5 to go along with them. Oh yes, there’s also Locke’s body. It’s got to go back with them as well.
Kate finds herself doing what she does best – running. Only this time, she’s running away with Aaron after a lawyer appears at a door demanding a DNA sample from her and Aaron to determine their relationship. Sayid has rescued Hurley from the mental hospital and takes him to a safe house. Unfortunately, it’s not that safe anymore and Sayid is attacked, but manages to kill both the assailants. Sun, meanwhile, meets Widmore and it seems that they both want Ben dead.
On the island, things are so much more confusing as the island, or the Losties are jumping between the past and the future. Locke manages to get himself shot by Ethan and then later, patched up by Richard. Richard tells Locke that he needs to die.
A very shirtless Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Charlotte and Daniel are involved in the other on-island story. Between jumping, Daniel insists that they take him somewhere man-made on the island. They head of for the hatch where Daniel is forced to explain certain things to Sawyer and co. Eventually, they head off to the beach again, while Daniel stays back, supposedly to recover his backpack. Instead, he manages to get Desmond’s attention (as this was a time pre-crash) and tells him to remember and that he needs to contact Daniel’s mother at Oxford.
Desmond and Penny are in their cosy little yacht, hiding, living. He awakes from a dream and tells Penny that they need to go back to England, to Oxford.
Did I ever mention that Lost can be very frustrating. Argh! Well, at least we have some definite answers now. We know that when Ben moved the island, it (or the Losties) moved in time. I tend to think that maybe the island moved to a specific point in time, but the Losties, for whatever reason, are stuck between the past and future.
Daniel makes it very clear that they
cannot change what has happened. But obviously, they can alter events as his ‘conversation’ with Desmond shows. How it is that Daniel got Desmond to open the hatch door? If he cannot change what happened, why did Desmond open the door? And Des obviously remembered… eventually. Desmond specifically tells Penny that he remembered. This is important for several reasons. It shows that despite Daniel’s insistence that they cannot change what happened, they can influence it.
This brings me to something that has been bubbling in my mind ever since Desmond tells Penny that he remembered. What if Desmond had been remembering things with regards to Charlie and his death?? I really don’t know if I am just clutching at straws here, especially since Daniel says that they cannot create new time streams; they have to stay in the same one. But Desmond doesn’t seem to be affected by that. He’s off the island. What if, somehow, he is remembering things that have happened??
It could be that Daniel wasn’t being entirely truthful (not that it would surprise us, right). It’s possible that they can change events. Of course, this could also just be a way to avoid paradoxes. It’s easier to change small things than erase 4 seasons of craziness.
The key points of the episode are as follows:
The Oceanic Six need to get back to the island. Jack and Ben are going to somehow convince the other 5 to go back.
• Who is demanding a DNA sample from Kate? Could it be Charles Widmore? And how would he know anyway? I tend to thing its Ben. It’s laughable that he doesn’t know where Kate is living. I think that the one way of ensuring that Kate goes back to the island is to threaten to take Aaron away.
• Is Charlies Widmore linked to Oceanic airlines? It could be so. He was summoned when Sun tried boarding one of their planes.
• Why was Sayid (who looked sooo good) tranquilized and not shot? Who ordered it? Widmore? Ben? And also, it appears that Sayid is no longer working for Ben and goes as far as telling Hurley that if he ever meets Ben again, he needs to do the exact opposite of what Ben says.
On the island, the key points are follows:
• Daniel says that either the island is moving in time, or they are. It doesn’t seem as if the Others are moving, judging by the appearance of Ethan and Richard. Richard even tells Locke that the next time they meet, he (Richard) will not recognize Locke and gives him a compass to help him. Obviously, at some stage during all their time jumping, Locke mentions this to Richard. Again demonstrating that while they may not be able to change events, they can certainly influence them.
• I’m putting this one under heading of island happenings… but what was Daniel doing wayyyy back at the Dharma institute?
• Also important is Chang’s baby. Anyone else thinking that it could be Charlotte? I’m quite sure that it was mentioned that she had been born on the island. And speaking of Charlotte, why is she experiencing nosebleeds and not the rest of our time travelers.
• Who is Daniel’s mother? And why is she important? I am thinking that she could be Orcale woman (from The Constant) and I can’t remember her name right now.
It’s just awesome to have Lost back. I have really, really missed the show and the insane confusion and theorizing it brings.
Questions answered this week
• The island has been moved in time.
New Questions this week
• Why are the Losties (or the island) jumping in time and why will the return of the Oceanic six make it stop?
• How is Locke going to get off the island? Is he going to turn the Frozen Donkey Wheel again?
• Why does Locke have to die? And how does he die?
• Who wants Sayid captured? And why.
• Who wants to know about Kate’s DNA?
• Who is Daniel’s mother and why is she important?
• How is it that Daniel is able to time travel back to the past? What isn’t he telling us?
Interesting Trivia (from
this site)
• Penelope and Desmond are both seen wearing wedding rings in the final scenes, suggesting that they are now married.
• The compass that Richard gives John is one of the items he shows 6 year old John in the episode "Cabin Fever".
• This is the third season premiere to open with the playing of a record, and introducing/developing characters and a location/theme central to that season. In Season 2, we see Desmond introduced and what is inside the hatch (ie. the Swan station). In Season 3, we see Juliet and are introduced to the Others' island community. In this opening episode we see Dr. Marvin Candle and the consequences of attempting to drill into the location of the frozen donkey wheel. The skipping record fits nicely with the theme of this episode.
Interesting Screen captures (from
this site)
The compass Richard hands to Locke
Ben and Jack all domestic
Chang's baby
This weeks gratuitous Sawyer pic :)