LostEpisode 506316So, the Oceanic six (less Aaron) get onto the plane and they hit the “bubble” and they get back onto the island? What? Just like that?! It seems very simple and convenient, doesn’t it? I don’t know; I’m not convinced. There has to be more to it. Or maybe, I am just so used to always looking for more that when something simple happens, it just doesn’t seem like enough.
Anyway, onto the recap.
I’m sure that many of us thought that we were seeing the opening scenes of the show – with Jack sprawled out on his back in the jungle. But it didn’t take long for that myth to be dispelled. Jack is back on the island. He hears cries for help and, in true Jack-style, rushes off to help. It’s Hurley, and he’s barely keeping afloat. Jack saves him and they find Kate. They’re back on the island.
Flashback to 46 hours previously. Jack, Sun, Ben and Desmond are at Eloise Hawking’s church. She takes them to underground Dharma facilities, and a hatch called the Lampost. She explains that the hatch was constructed over a pocket of electromagnetic energy connected to similar sites around the world.
She tells them that the island is constantly moving and that it would be difficult to pinpoint where the island was. They developed a means of pin-pointing when the island would be instead. She also explains that this is how Dharma first found the island. She then goes on to explain how they need to get back to the island and also gives Jack Locke’s suicide note.
Some time later (not quite sure how much), Jack is called to “collect” his errant grandfather. He takes a pair of his father’s shoes to give to Locke. Later, at his house, he finds Kate sleeping on his bed. She says that she’ll go back with him to the island. She also tells Jack that he’s never to ask where Aaron is, ever again. Jack gets a call from Ben the following morning. Ben is bloody and has clearly been beaten up.
Jack goes to collect Locke’s body and he exchanges Locke’s shoes for his father’s. At the airport, Jack is surprised to see Hurley. Hurley’s bought most of the planes tickets. Jack also sees Sayid being taken on board, handcuffed.
The board the plane, and Ben only just makes the flight. His arm is in a sling. Once the plane takes off, they learn that their pilot is Frank Lapidus (who was so clean and neat that I barely recognized him). Once he sees the others onboard, he realizes that they won’t be landing in Guam.
The plane hits the “bubble” and the next thing we know, Jack is lying in the jungle back on the island. He, Kate and Hurley are still standing in the lagoon when they hear music, and in comes someone driving a shiny new blue Dharma bus. It’s Jin.
Here are the key points from this episode:
• The Oceanic 6 (less Aaron) get back to the island. According to Hawkings, they need to recreate events as close as possible to the original flight – hence the request that they all be onboard. Locke acts as a proxy for Jack’s father; Hurley carries a guitar case on board the flight and Sayid is handcuffed and in custody as Kate was. Interesting.
I still believe that it’s far too convenient. Who convinced Hurley to return to the island? Was it Charlie? That would explain the guitar. Maybe it’s a tribute to our dearly departed hobbit. Ok, that could be a likely explanation, but how can we explain Sayid’s presence? Sayid was really, really insistent that he would not, under any circumstances, return to the island. But here he is, onboard the flight, looking like he knows exactly what he’s doing. And why is he a prisoner on a flight to Guam??
Too simple. Why does it make me so uneasy? Things in Lost are never that easy. And considering that Aaron isn’t returning with them, how does that affect things?? And besides, where’s the plane? Where are Sun, Sayid and Ben and Frank and the others on the plane??
When are the others??
• What has Ben done?? I’m positively terrified that Ben’s done something to Penny and, heaven forbid, Charlie. Ben says to Jack that he made a promise to an old friend after seeing Desmond. And he leaves not long after Desmond does; he could easily follow Des. AND he calls from a marina. Des and Penny have a boat anchored in a marina. Oh Ben. What have you done??!?
• Where is Aaron? I can’t quite figure out if Kate is angry, upset, scared… maybe all three. Actually, it’s probably all 3. I hope we find out what happened to Aaron and where he is at the moment. Wouldn’t it be nice if she gave him to Claire’s mother.
• Jin is now apparently working for the Dharma Initiative and it looks like it’s back in the 70’s. A possible explanation is that when Locke turned the donkey wheel, time stabilized and our Losties are stuck in the 70’s. It could be that they are still jumping. We have yet to see. I’m sure that Jin never, ever expected to see any of the 6 again. And here they are… standing in his lagoon. I can’t imagine what must be running through his mind.
Everyone knows I have Kate-hate, but I can’t wait for Sawyer to see her. I don’t know if he’ll be happy that she’s back though. Anyway, I think that Sawyer is going to end up with Juliet anyway; she’s so much better for him anyway.
• Locke’s suicide note to Jack simply said “I wish you had believed me”. Very clear and very blunt. Well, not to worry now Locke. Jack believes.
I guess we could go on and on and speculate on why Locke would kill himself, but I think it’s quite obvious that he thought that this was the only way… or, maybe he was ‘instructed’ that this was the only way.
• Desmond walking off even after Hawkings tells him that the island is not done with him. One part of me thinks that Desmond is going to move heaven and earth to get to Ben, because I honestly believe that Ben has either killed Penny, or tried to kill her. The island has a way of ensuring that it gets what it wants regardless of whom or what gets in the way. It has no qualms with killing off innocents.
That’s all I think of. This episode went a long way in explaining a few things, but I’m not happy with some of it. I guess I’ll just have to keep watching and I’m sure the issues will be resolved in the future. I hope so anyway.
What we learnt this week:• Hawkings’ device pinpoints when in time the island will be
• Dharma discovered the island when they built a hatch on a similar electromagnetic anomaly
• Jin is working at Dharma in the 70’s
• Locke committed suicide
• The five board an Ajira flight to Guam
New Questions• Who convinced Sayid and Hurley to board this flight?
• Where is Aaron? What has Kate done to him?
• Where are Sun, Sayid, Ben, Frank and the others (when they get back to the island)
• Where’s the plane?
Interesting Trivia (from this site)• On Mrs Hawkins desk there was a Virgin Mary Statue, the same kind that Charlie found drugs in.
• Ms. Hawking refers to the Lamp Post and the Island as "unique pocket(s) of electromagnetic energy. That energy connects to similar pockets all over the world." Isaac of Uluru also refers to these pockets, citing Uluru as one, when Rose and Bernard went to see him on episode "S.O.S.".
• Although obviously ironically, Ben tells Jack his mother taught him to read, even though his mother died giving birth to him.
• The photograph of the island is dated 23 September 1954, the same year that the United States military brought "Jughead" to the Island.
• The Incredulity of Saint Thomas: Ben looks at this painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610). This story of the bible is about Thomas doubting Jesus' Resurrection. "Doubting Thomas" is a phrase used to describe someone who is very sceptical about something.
• Ulysses: Ben is seen reading Ulysses by James Joyce on Flight 316 before he leaves his seat. The novel is a story about the journey through Dublin on a single day (June 16, 1904) by its main character, Leopold Bloom. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse told viewers to read this (very tough to read) book on one of the Dharma Special Access videos.
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The DHARMA Initiative station, the Lamp Post is a reference to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, the second book in the Narina series. In the book, a lamp post marks the passage between Narnia and the real world. In the episode, the Lamp Post serves a similar function with regard to the Island. In addition, the opening scene of the episode is a reference to the first chapter of Prince Caspian, the fourth book in the Narnia series. In the chapter, entitled The Island, the children in the book return to Narnia via a mysterious island with ancient ruins. The first thing they do is play in the water.
• The Bible: John 3:16 - John Locke on Flight 316 is bringing everyone back. This ties in to his suicide note that Jack should have believed in him.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
• The Langoliers: In the Stephen King novel, an airplane takes off from Los Angeles and while in midair in travels through a time warp, leaving only a handful of survivors while the rest of the people on board disappear. For the survivors to travel back through the warp (or window) to their own time, they must recreate several key conditions of their original pass through said
window.
Y: The Last Man: Hurley is seen reading a Spanish translation of the trade paperback Y: The Last Man Vol. 3: One Small Step. This comic book series is about the sole survivor of a deadly plague that wiped out every male on the planet Earth. It is written by Brian K. Vaughan who is also a writer on Lost.
Screencaps (from this site)
A very clean shaven Frank
Sayid in custody
The Saint Thomas painting
