Thoughts on Lost - LeFleur

First of all, a little housekeeping from the last LOST blog...I was reminded (from some other recap...don't remember which one) after I wrote my blog that in "There's No Place Like Home" Jack told Ben that Locke came and visited him "about a month ago." So a month passed between the time Locke was in the accident and the time Ben killed him. This makes the timeline make a little more sense to me...gives Locke time to get more and more convinced that his efforts aren't going to work, and therefore more desperate, leaves open the possibility of more possible conversations between Locke and the O6 that we haven't seen yet, and (most importantly) gives Jack time to grow his fugly beard.

OK, on with this week's episode...

- Opens on the heartbreaking scene where we last saw our Strandaways (which seems like FOREVER ago), as Sawyer realizes the well is gone, Locke is down there somewhere, and he begins trying to claw through the earth to get him back. I remember the first time we saw this scene thinking how much Sawyer has changed since Season 1...remember the selfish loner that we first met, who tried with everything he had to make us think he didn't care about ANYBODY but himself? If this had happened back then, HE would have been the one making the sarcastic comment, not Miles (more on that in a minute). To me the theme of this episode is how much Sawyer has changed since he first came to the Island. In fact, he chooses to name himself "The Flower" (Le Fleur), and if you'll allow me to get WAY too artsy-fartsy for a minute, I'd say it's appropriate. Sawyer has blossomed from that arrogant, self-centered, greedy, opportunistic jerk we first met into this new man who actually cares about other people, in fact putting others ahead of himself at times (like when he jumped out of the helicopter), and most importantly a LEADER. Just look how everybody reacts when they need direction after the last flash...every last one of them looks to Sawyer.

And, of course, we can't leave this scene without talking about THIS:


We can assume, although we weren't told explicitly, that this is in fact the rest of the famous Four-Toed Statue that was just a foot when Jin, Sun, and Sayid sailed by it in the Season 2 finale. While this definitely was a "goosebump moment" for long time hardcore fans, I couldn't help but hope that this wasn't ALL we're going to get...I'm hoping that at some point we find out more: who built it and why, what does it represent, etc.

It is certainly reminiscent of various Egyptian gods and/or art, which would fit in with the various hieroglyphics we have seen represented: the countdown clock in the Swan, the markings on the Smokey Cave that Ben had in his house, the markings on the temple we saw earlier this season, etc. So is it that, or is it a depiction of someone we may recognize if we could see it from the front?

- Three years later, we discover that Herc has somehow made it to the Island, and discovered the same healing powers that Locke experienced, which is awesome. Hopefully, he found a way to get Street there, too.

(Those of you who watch Friday Night Lights may have found the above slightly humorous. For the rest, what is WRONG with you? Go out and rent Season 1 TODAY. You won't regret it).

- And of course, the girl is wearing a Geronimo Jackson shirt.

- For some reason, the image of Horace lighting up a stick of dynamite like a cigar and then tossing it into a tree just struck me as really funny...I already figured from his accent that he may be a Southern boy, and this clinched it: "Hey, man....watch this!! HAH!! I just blowed up that tree!! WHOOO!!!!!"

- OK, I didn't catch this until I read the transcript, but Sawyer refers to Miles as "Enos." That was either an interesting choice of fake name by Miles, or a pretty funny throwaway line from Sawyer. Get it? Enos? He's a deputy? Any other Dukes of Hazzard fans in the house?

- Amy: Where'd you find him?
Sawyer: Out by the Flame, blowin' up trees with dynamite. Wanna tell my why?

Heh.

- Good grief, Daniel was heartbreaking when they found him still sitting at the last place we saw Charlotte.

- "I'm not gonna tell her. I won't do it. No. I won't tell her." Of course, he knows better than that, which is what made this scene wrench my heart out...if it happened, it happened, and he knows it. He WILL tell little Charlotte not to come back to the Island, which means this whole cycle WILL happen, and Charlotte WILL come back here to die.

- Our little group of Strandaways is now beginning to resemble the original Losties in a way: Sawyer is the new leader (NewJack), Juliet his loyal sidekick (NewKate), Miles the sarcastic one who has some argument with everything the leader says (NewSawyer)...yet another cycle we see repeating.

- SAWYER: Hey, zip it. I'm heading back to the beach. If our stuff's there, great. If not, we build new stuff. You don't like the plan, good luck.

So I guess that was Sawyer's version of "Live Together, Die Alone."

- I really do like Sawyer and Juliet together. "You should thank me. It was a stupid idea." Hee.

- Yeah, Dan has totally checked out now. His response to Miles' question when they stumbled across the Worst Picnic Ever: "Doesn't matter what we do. Whatever happened, happened." I don't think they're going to get a lot of usefulness out of Dan for a while. Like Sawyer says...his brain is officially fried.

Quick aside: Seriously, why is he still wearing that tie?

- Would have been a good idea to have somebody escort Amy over to the control panel at the sonar fence, huh? Juliet, in particular, probably should have seen that coming.

- Juliet is a mechanic in 1977? That's...interesting. Wouldn't have guessed that. Of course, I also wouldn't have guessed that a lifelong criminal like Sawyer would be the chief law enforcement officer either, so what do I know?

- And if the mechanic thing was supposed to be some sort of cover up, I guess she blew it with: "I'm gonna need a number 12 scalpel, 14-gauge sutures--half-round if you've got them--and an epidural anesthetic. " Yes, I definitely copied that from the transcript.

- I'll bet Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) was glad for this little plot development...now that Jin has been on the Island for three years, he can speak fluent English. For those who don't know, he had to learn to speak Korean for this part...his natural language is English.

- Still searching the Island three years later for any sign of their friends...one grid at a time. And I'll bet they've gone through these grids at least once already.

- OK, about this baby that was born...I was trying to think of who it could be that might be of significance, and I couldn't really think of anybody who would fit the profile. I'm thinking this scene was here for two reasons: to confirm what Sawyer said earlier about whatever happened to keep babies from being born on the Island hasn't happened yet, and to give Juliet a nice moment, since all of the other times she's tried to help women and babies on the Island it hasn't worked. I remember that when she told Sun that her baby was conceived on the Island, how happy she was to be able to give good news to Sun, and that was the first time I really liked Juliet and identified with her character. She really does have a heart for this, which is what had to make those three years of failure and death so excruciating for her.

And the further we go with the whole pregnancy storyline, the more convinced I am that Ben has something to do with the later problems...maybe something to do with him and Annie, his childhood sweetheart?

- Another example of Sawyer's character development: He asks Horace, "Where are my people?" His people. When Sawyer first arrived on the Island, that particular group would have had an exclusive membership of exactly one.

Oh, and the fact that the rest of the group recognizes him as the leader now: "They said you're the boat captain." Awesome.

- And the time on the Island hasn't diminished Sawyer's conning skills at all...that was some pretty intense questioning he was facing, from a guy whose knowledge of the Island and its history Sawyer couldn't have been fully aware of. In other words, he had to be careful of what he did and did not say, which is always the hardest part of a big lie: how much detail to give in order to remain believable.

- Beautifully shot scene around the table with the remaining Strandaways. I felt like I was in a Tarantino film for a second.

- OK, the Charlotte timeline is confusing me: Ben said back in "Confirmed Dead" that Charlotte was born in England in 1979. However, at this point on the Island it's 1974 and Charlotte appears to be around 2-3 years old.

Ma-Huh?

A few possibilities:

1) Ben was lying. Always an obvious "duh," but then why didn't Charlotte bother to correct him?

2) Ben had bad information, and Charlotte knew it, which is why she didn't correct him. He did get her name right, but maybe the rest was some sort of cover story to cover up that Charlotte had been on the Island before?

3) Something has "happened" that has wonked up Charlotte's timeline.

4) The writers screwed up.

To me, the most likely scenarios are either the first or second ones. Regarding the first one, you know how it goes...when in doubt, always assume Ben is lying. The second one I only deem likely because Charlotte didn't correct what Ben was saying, which means that she either wanted Ben to believe what he was saying, or she wanted the other Losties to believe what Ben was saying. She knows that it's not the truth, as she has said since then that she was born and grew up on the Island.

I don't think the timeline thing is right, because that would seem to have too many paradoxical elements to it that the writers have said they want to avoid.

And, the writers know how obsessive their fanbase is about things like timelines, so I don't think they just FORGOT that they already told us that she was born in 1979 and now she's running around on the Island in 1974.

- Dude, they are really scared of Richard, aren't they? ONE guy walks into their camp, apparently armed with nothing but a torch, and they all run screaming into their homes. Makes me wonder if maybe the Others have Smokey on their side as well, especially considering Alpert's comment to Horace: "That fence may keep other things out, but not us."

- About Horace's command to the security guy....I had to look up what "heavy ordinance" meant, since that's what he told the guy to inform the folks at the Arrow to use. Basically, it means the "big guns." So, like I said a few weeks ago...the Dharma Initiative isn't just a bunch of peace-loving scientists. They are prepared for war, and have apparently fought it already since we now have a "Truce" established.

- The whole Sawyer-Alpert conversation was awesome. I'm not going to recap the whole thing here, but one thing I thought was interesting was Alpert's question to Sawyer: "If you're not a member of the Dharma Initiative, then what are you?" Not "WHO are you"....but "WHAT are you?" I know what my people are, and I know what the Dharma people are...so you must be someTHING else. Maybe it's totally insignificant, but I noticed it, so I wanted to point it out just in case it turns out to be something.

- Also not sure if the Egyptian symbol (the "ankh) that Amy took off of Paul's neck has any bearing on the other Egyptian symbolism we've seen...on one hand, I would say that it's too much of a coincidence, especially considering the statue we saw earlier, but on the other hand...I've seen a lot of those necklaces, especially on the kind of "hippie" type folks who might join up with the Dharma Initiative.

- Next three scenes (Sawyer/Juliet at the sub, Sawyer/Juliet in the kitchen, the conversation between Sawyer and Horace regarding the whole "is 3 years long enough to get over somebody" conundrum) are all there to establish one thing: Sawyer is trying to move on, and he is genuinely happy with Juliet and his new life. We know he's still looking for Locke and the rest of the group, but it seems that is something they are almost doing by rote now. He is settled and happy, and is truly a new man. Since this is LOST, that can not be allowed to continue, so....

Kate is back.

That was another goosebump scene, when they all got out of the van. I know the money shot was of Sawyer seeing Kate for the first time in three years, but I thought it was also a nice little moment between Sawyer and Jack...a little look of mutual respect, I thought. I certainly think Sawyer has a little better understanding of what Jack went through, now that he has felt the pressure of being the Leader and having all of your friends relying on you for the answers and direction as to what to do next.

Interesting to think about the contrast between the life the Strandaways have been living compared to the O6. Sawyer, Miles, Jin, and Juliet all seem pretty happy...we don't know what Daniel is up to, other than hanging out at the Orchid where we saw him in the season premiere. They are living their own version of a lie, of course, but it doesn't seem to be weighing on them the way the the O6 lie has affected those trying to live that one. Kind of makes you think the O6 shouldn't have left in the first place, huh?

Now the group shakes out like this, from what we've seen so far (I'm not counting promos for the next episode):

1977: Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Daniel, Miles, Jack, Kate, Hurley.

2007: Locke, Ben, Lapidus, and (probably) Sun. Maybe Sayid? Haven't seen him yet.

So....how are they all going to get back together? ARE they going to get back together?

And one more thing: according to the Lostpedia timeline, Ben and his dad Roger Workman came to the Island sometime in the 1970's...think our Strandaways may stumble across a young Ben Linus at some point?

Namaste.