LostEpisode 509NamasteWas anyone else happy to see our Oceanic 5 back on the island - running through trees, running away from stuff, getting scratched and stuff?? I don’t know if it’s just me, but them living in the city just didn’t appeal to me. I love seeing them all back on the island. To be honest, I never ever thought they’d ever leave the island, so the Season 3 finale and events thereafter really took me by surprise. So, I’m really chuffed that they’re all back on the island where they belong.
Anyway, onto the recap as usual.
The opening scenes take us to the last few moments on Flight 316, mostly from Frank’s point-of-view. They hit the barrier, and find themselves crash-landing on the island. Frank finds a runway and manages to land the plane – just.
He find Sun alive and everyone else (our Losties) are all missing. Later, Cesar points out that there are buildings about and he wants to check them out. Ben sneaks away and Sun follows him. Frank follows Sun. Ben realizes that Sun is following him and wants to know why. He offers to take her back to the main island where she may, or may not find Jin.
When they get to the beach, she whacks him over the head with an oar and she and Frank set off for the main island. On the main island, they go to Otherville which is now in a state of serious shambles. Christian Shepard apparently lives in one of the cabins and shows Sun a photo from 1977, saying to her that “you have a bit of a journey ahead of you”.
Meanwhile, back in 1977, there’s a happy reunion between Hurley and Sawyer. Three years and 3 decades doesn’t seem to have lessened the animosity between Sawyer and Jackass but they are civil enough to each other. Kate seems genuinely happy to see Sawyer. Sawyer explains about them being in 1977.
Jin learns that Sun has also returned and speeds off to look for her. Sawyer heads back to Dharmaville to get 70’s clothes for the others. He tells Juliet that they’re back, and she mentions that a sub is due in with new recruits that day.
Juliet, meanwhile, pays a visit to Amy who informs her that they are going to name the baby Ethan. She steals the sub manifest from Amy. Sawyer takes the Losties to be inducted and Jackass is now a Workman. It’s still unclear what Hurley and Kate’s jobs are. (*)
Jin goes to the Flame and insists that Radzinsky check with everyone if a plane had been spotted. Soon after they’ve received confirmation from the Looking Glass that there was no plane, an alarm goes off, indicating a Hostile in their environment.
Jin speeds off, and it turns out that it’s Sayid stumbling about. They have about 10 seconds to chat before Radzinsky catches up to Jin. Jin pretends that he doesn’t know Sayid and a bewildered Sayid is taken into custody.
At the Flame, Sawyer manages to get Sayid to go along with the idea of him (Sayid) being a hostile and he is taken to Dharmaville, where he is imprisoned. Some time later, a very young teen brings Sayid a sandwich. It’s Ben.
Meanwhile, Jackass decides to visit Sawyer and finds out that Juliet and Sawyer now live together. Jackass wants to know what the plan is. Sawyer tells him that he’s thinking of a way to save Sayid.
Key points from this episode:• We know what happened to Sayid and we know when he is. But poor Sayid; he seems totally and utterly bewildered. Not that I blame him as he missed the entire “We’re back in 1977” talk. I have no doubts at all that Sawyer will think of some way of saving Sayid’s life… but it’s going to be interesting to see how he does it.
But we have to question why Sayid landed somewhere so far away from the other 3.
• All the Losties (aside from Sayid) are now working for Dharma. The drawback of all this is that they have to pretend that they don’t know each other. We’ve already seen Hurley crack under the strain of not lying… let’s hope that this time he can cope with it. I think he will be able to. I think that the last time he cracked was simply because his of the weight of the guilt he carried. I think that now that he’s back on the island, he’ll be able to cope much better.
• Jack has taken quite a knock – he’s now a “Work Man”. And he’s already trying to get Sawyer to do more – visiting him at home and demanding to know what the plan of action is. Three years is just not enough to alleviate the tension between these two. Of the two, though, I’d say that Sawyer has the upper hand. And I’m not just saying that because I like Sawyer – I think that Sawyer has a lot more to loose than Jack.
• Kate’s and Juliet’s reunion was icy cold. Hah. I loved it. I’m sure that when Juliet heard that they were back the most prominent thing on her mind was Sawyer’s and Kate’s previous relationship and Sawyer’s feelings for Kate. In my personal opinion, Juliet can kick Kate’s ass any time she wants to, we’ve seen her do it before. I wonder if Kate knows if Sawyer and Juliet are together now.
• (*) Looking at a larger version of this picture, it seems that Hurley is now a chef and Kate is working at the motor pool. I was half hoping Hurley’s uniform said “Dude”.
• Radzinsky! Well! Mr Radzinsky, the man who blew his brains in the hatch!!
• We meet young Ben Linus again, who seems like a sweet little innocent. But already, he’s exhibiting signs of curiosity and interest in the Others. And how fitting was it that Ben meets Sayid when Sayid is a prisoner.
I wonder if Ben’s remarkable ability to always be one step ahead stems from the fact that he spent time with the Losties in Dharmaville. Is it possible that at some point, he learns of the Losties secret? Maybe Sayid befriends Ben and Sayid spills the beans??
I wonder what was going through Ben’s mind as he allowed himself to be captured by our Losties all the way back in the 2nd season.
• Sun and Frank stealing the out-rigger was quite interesting as well. So was Sun pretending that she didn’t see Smokey flittering about in the tree at the quay side. What was most interesting though, was their meeting Christian.
This is where my nosebleed starts. There’s so much unsaid and implied in this meeting. Why is Otherville in such a state? I’m sure that way back before the flashing started, it wasn’t all that bad. What happened to it in these three years?
Christian says that Sun has a journey ahead of her. Does he mean that she has to go back to the past? What journey? Where? How? It can’t be a journey off the island, so it stands to reason that it’s a journey in time.
Is Christian alive?? Sometimes I think that he is simply because Locke is. If Locke was a proxy for Christian (and I think having a proxy for Christian was vitally important – why else would it be necessary?) and if Locke is alive, then surely Christian must be alive as well.
• Amy and Horace have named their baby Ethan.
• Does anyone else think that Phil (the security guard) is going to be a problem? He didn’t seem happy that Jack goes to visit Sawyer.
I honestly wish that these episodes were longer. It just seems to fly by and always leaves me frustrated. Roll on, Monday!!
What we learnt this week• Sayid is back in 1977 with the other returnees.
• They pretend to be new recruits to blend into Dharma.
• Radzinsky is working on a model of the computer room.
• Sun remained in 2007.
• Ben sustained his inuries from Sun’s whack to his head rather than the plane crashing on the island.
• Sun is indeed the woman who run’s off with Frank and the outrigger.
New Questions this week• Why is Sun in 2007? Why didn’t she go back to 1977?
• How is Sawyer going to save Sayid?
• What does Christian mean when he says that Sun has a journey ahead of her.
• How does Ben evolve from that sweet, innocent young teen to the audacious and dangerous man that he is?
Interesting Trivia (from this site)• After Christian Shephard shows Sun the photo from 1977, an unknown individual appears to be present in the room behind her. It is unclear if the individual is just a production assistant caught in the shot, or an actual character, perhaps Claire or Charlotte - it seems to be impossible to tell. Earlier in this scene, the Processing Center's door swings open and fog is seen moving in the air; it is unknown if the fog is intended to be related to this figure and/or to the Monster, which is heard as Sun and Frank walk along the dock.
• Sawyer gives Hurley a University of Georgia Bulldogs sweatshirt. Josh Holloway briefly attended the University of Georgia.
• As the plane's co-pilot issues a Mayday call, he picks up a transmission of a voice reading The Numbers. The origin of this transmission remains to be explained, since we are told we are in 2007 and DHARMA's original radio message was replaced by Rousseau's distress signal in 1988 and that broadcast was then terminated in 2004 during the events of "Through the Looking Glass".
• Radzinsky is working on a model of one of Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes as part of a larger model of the Swan Station when Jin comes into the Flame Station.
Interesting Screencaps (from this site)
I'd be smiling like that too if I were hugging Sawyer
Poor bewildered Sayid being lead away
The new recruits of 77
Baby Ethan
Radzinsky's model