LOST Challenge of the Week: “What Kate Does”

Hey everyone, can you believe it’s time for another episode tomorrow?  I’ve spent so much time re-watching and analyzing the first two hours of the season that it hardly seems like it’s already time for a new show.

So this week’s installment is called “What Kate Does”, and I’m immediately drawn to the alternate timeline.  Not sure why I think that title takes me there instead of on-island, but that’s what it does.  But since this is your challenge and not mine, I’ll let any of you that answer go wherever you want with it.  So here’s the challenge:

What is it that Kate does, where does she do it (main timeline or alternate timeline), and who does she do it with or to?

I bet you guys can have some real fun with that one.  Just remember that this is a family-safe blog!  And if you’re taking the time to post, feel free to give me your thoughts on what Smokie/MIB is up to, what’s happening with Sayid, and any over-arching alternate timeline theories you may have.  I’m looking forward to your responses!

See you in a couple of days with the recap!

LOST Recap: Season 6, Episode 1: “LA X”, Part 2

While Part 1 of the episode hit you over the head with smoke monster action and a new alternate timeline, Part 2 seemed to settle back in to normal LOST storytelling mode, and perhaps gave us a couple of key foreshadowing scenes.  Let’s get right to the recap!

“I ain’t followin’ nobody Kate”

One of the more subtle things that you may have missed over the course of this episode is Sawyer and his gradual shift in attitude.  He starts off in the wake of the Jughead detonation severely pissed about the reset not happening.  He’s ready to kill Jack over the set of circumstances, especially with Juliet dying as a result of his plan.  But as the episode progresses, he begins to process everything, and his demeanor shifts to complete disdain for everyone and everything associated with the island.  His look and tone in his last scene of the episode is one of someone that is completely done with this place.  He’s had enough, and I’m sure that if he has the opportunity, he’ll do whatever he can to get off the island.

Jack and company traverse the tunnels

On their way to deliver Sayid to the Temple, the gang must go under the wall and through the area that Ben and fake Locke did last season.  The most interesting part of this trip for me was the return of the whispers.  We hadn’t heard them in awhile, so it’s good to know that this particular mystery won’t be dropped by the writers.  But the odd thing is that they were heard right before the Others jumped the team and dragged them to the Temple.  It’s almost as if we’re led to believe that the whispers are a forewarning that the Others are about to appear.  This aligns with some of the appearances we’ve seen, but not all.  I’m hoping there’s more going on here than we might think based upon this specific scene.

“You’ve got two minutes.”

Alright, so even a fantastic show like LOST can have a hiccup or two, and the scene between Kate and the Marshall was just that for me.  I didn’t really buy that he didn’t know that she wasn’t actually using the facilities, and I also had a hard time with her attack on him, and her ability to overpower him despite being handcuffed.  But it is what it is, and the explanation she gave to buy herself some time certainly worked for me.  What was more fun was Sawyer’s banter with the TSA agents in the elevator, especially when he allowed Kate to get a step ahead by feigning chivalry.

“That’s what she wanted to tell you: ’It worked.’”

First off, let me say that I really enjoy the way they portray Miles’ ability to converse with the dead.  Everytime they use that plot device, it’s a chance for the show to turn a somber/suspenseful moment into a cheesy one.  But the way they edit the scenes and the sound, they manage to pull it off every time.  Of course, what’s most intriguing about the scene is trying to decipher what Juliet is trying to tell Sawyer by saying that it worked.  You’d have to think that it has to be related to the Jughead detonation, and that it achieved the desired result of a reset.  But how would she know that?  Or, more to the point, did her consciousness cross into an alternate timeline?  Perhaps the one we’ve been following throughout the premiere?  If you couple this scene with the one from the first hour where she was still alive, I think you’d have to believe that.  But it seems just a bit too obvious to me.  It’ll be interesting to see if it’s that straightforward, or if there’s more to it than what we know.

“Hey, excuse me!  I carried that case across the ocean and through time and like through time!  I wanna know what that paper says!”

It's an ankh!

The LOSTies get a little bit more than they bargained for when they reach the Temple, but thankfully, Hurley has his trump card ready to play.  And we finally find out what was in the guitar cased that Jacob gave to Hurley: an ankh that appears to have yet another list built into it.  It gets our gang through the test and into the Temple…but more than that, it paints an even larger picture for us regarding Jacob.  While it appears as though the Man in Black has jumped through all kinds of hoops and manipulations to get into Jacob’s abode and kill him, Jacob is no less meticulous in his strategy.  He envisioned this specific situation well before Hurley even agreed to get on Flight 316.  It’s clear that he’s enacting just as much forethought in all of his moves, and may even be ahead of the Man in Black in the grand scheme.

“No…English”

Jin and Sun, about to be detained by security

While Jin and Sun are clearly in a different situation than they were back on the island in Season 1, Jin is still no less of a jerk.  And, because of how radically different other scenes in the alternate timeline have been leading up to this point, we’re not 100% sure if Sun is telling the truth about whether she knows English, or if she’s lying about just how much she really understands.  It’ll be interesting to see if they can tie this situation into another, more meaningful part of the alternate thread.

“The water isn’t clear!  What happened?”

Interesting but straightforward sequence here as they submerge Sayid in an effort to revive him.  Although in the end it fails (at least as far as we know), it almost seems too simplistic to me.  Are the “risks” alluded to simply regarding whether or not Sayid will survive it?  I think there’s more than that, as you’d have to believe that this is the same process that Ben went through to get healed, and Richard was very clear that he’d never be the same afterwards.  What might be an even more interesting question is the possible answer to the question asked as they first entered the spring area.  The first thought is that the water isn’t clear because Jacob has been killed.  But is the answer that simple?  And what are the real implications if that’s the case?  Much to speculate on, but not a ton of answers at this point.

Kate escapes into a cab and finds…

Claire's about to go along for the ride with Kate

Claire!  Great to see her back finally, but somewhat disappointing to see her in the alternate timeline as opposed to the main timeline.  Maybe we’ll get to see her there as well eventually, but in the meantime, pairing her up with an on-the-run Kate certainly ups the ante in that thread.

Hurley spills the beans, and the Temple goes on alert

Interesting bit here, as the Others scramble to put out some fires, light others, and send a warning flare into the sky…presumably to tell the rest of the Others to high-tail it from whatever they’re doing back to the Temple, where they might be safe.  The Others even spread ash in certain areas, making it very clear that they know that it’s the Man in Black that’s on the loose, and he’s not one to be trifled with.

“‘I don’t understand.’  Isn’t that just the saddest thing you’ve ever heard?”

I gotta tell you, if I’m a Locke fan, at this point I’m severely pissed.  Not only have they killed my favorite character (twice, if you got convinced that Locke was Locke from last season only discover he never was revived), but now they’re twisting the knife in even deeper.  His body is being used by the guy who seems to be the main source of evil on the island, and that same evil is mocking and making light of Locke’s last thoughts.  It’s just such a disappointing turn from what had hoped for his character back in Season 1.  Not only has his chances for redemption been denied, but his whole desire for said redemption appear to be the cause of his undoing.  If only there were a glimmer of hope that fans could cling to regarding *some* sort of positive ending for Locke.

"I want to go home."

In any event, at the end of the scene, the Man in Black gives us an all-too-brief view into what the endgame of LOST is really going to be about: the Smoke Monster trying to go home.  Not sure about any of you, but 2 questions quickly came to mind after hearing that: 1. Where the heck is home?  It’s obviously not on the island.  Although it’s crazy to think about, could it be that the Smoke Monster is not indiginous to Earth, and wants to leave the planet?  (That might be too much, even for LOST.)  2. Why the heck can’t he leave now?  Why hasn’t he left already?  Someone or something is keeping him on the island, and killing Jacob seems to be only the first step to reverse this.  Obviously, there’s much, much more to learn about Smokie and his plans.

“If you ever wanna talk, I’m around”

Interesting comment from Hurley here, as he’s now thoroughly convinced that he can see spirits, and is ready to come into contact with Sayid’s.  But what’s even more interesting about the scene is Miles’ reaction to the comment.  He might just think Hurley’s crazy, but is it possible that Sayid was never dead?  More on that briefly.

“My condition is irreversible.”

Locke takes Jack's card, despite his condition being "irreversible"

Alright, so here’s where I admit that I was toying with you a bit earlier when I was talking about Locke.  All of the Locke fans must be bitter right now, but I’m convinced there’s going to be more to Locke (and I mean the real Locke) that what we’ve seen up to this point.  A couple of things to consider: Walt’s dream where he saw Locke in a suit on the beach with everyone trying to kill him, “Canton-Rainier” on the side of the van Locke’s body was being transported in (which unscrambled spells reincarnation), and two things in the last alternate reality from this episode alone.  First, Locke comforts Jack by saying that they didn’t lose Christian, they only lost his body.  Then, even more direct, but perhaps also more subtle, were two lines between Jack and Locke.  Locke: “My condition is irreversible.”  Jack: “Nothing is irreversible.”  If this conversation happened on the island instead of the alternate timeline, we all might be in a different frame of mind about Locke.  But don’t think for a minute that the writers didn’t very carefully select the words for those characters.  Don’t give up hope Locke fans, I’m convinced that there’s more to come.  

“Hello, Richard.  It’s good to see you out of those chains.”

Richard Alpert, only moments before discovering that the man he's facing is *not* John Locke...

While I’m sure many of you had guessed that Richard came to the island way back when on the Black Rock, this is the first bit of commentary that really seems to support that line of thought.  And of course, as soon as Richard comes to understand that the John Locke he sees in front of him is actually the Man in Black, he’s rendered unconscious, so he can’t reveal any further information.  But I bet we can all guess where Richard is being taken to…

Sayid comes back from the dead

Sayid's shocked to be back among the living

…or does he?  I think there are two major camps that formed at the end of this episode.  Those that think that Jacob is now going to use Sayid’s body as his new vessel, and those that  think that the drowning treatment worked, and that Sayid has been revived and healed from his bullet wound.  I think you can lump me in with the latter group, but I don’t think we’ll have too long to wait to find out the true answer.

Post-episode questions:

1. What the heck is this alternate timeline going to show us anyway?  And why should we want to see it?

2. Where the heck is the Smoke Monster from, and what does he need to do to go home?

3. What is John Locke’s ultimate fate?  Have we really seen the last of him?

4. What’s going on with Sayid?  Did he ever really die?

So that’s it for my LA X recap!  Thanks to all of you for coming by and reading…back again early next week with the Challenge of the week!

LOST Recap: Season 6, Episode 1: “LA X”, Part 1

Hey everyone, was that a fantastic way to start the season or what?  I really hope that all of you enjoyed it as much as I did!  Seriously, I don’t know what I’m going to do when this show is off the air.  There’s simply nothing on TV like it, and it’s depressing thinking about this season being the last.  Alright, well, enough about that for now.  Let’s get right to the recap!

“LA X”

One of the things that I think gets lost when you get into the show and analyzing what we just saw, is one of the big questions we had coming in to the episode.  What the heck does “LA X” mean?  I guess it could be as simple as us being shown that Oceanic 815 didn’t crash on the island, but rather landed at LAX.  But I’m still curious about that space between the LA and the X.  DDay noted in the Comments section of the LOST Challenge of the week that perhaps the “X” was the Roman numeral for ten, and that we’d see ten passengers from the original flight 815, similar to the Oceanic 6.  However, I counted more than 10: Jack, Rose, Bernard, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, Hurley, Locke, Jin, Sun, Sayid, Boone, Arzt, Frogurt.  Even if you only count “main” characters, you’ve got 11.  Anyway, I’d love to see if any of you have a way of looking at them that makes it an even 10, but I’m not seeing it.  Instead, I’m led to believe that the “X” is more related to a variable…maybe a variable (alternate) universe.  Maybe we’ll get more info as the season moves along, but that’s where I am with it right now.

Flash…sideways?

Jack back on Flight 815

So what do we call this new storytelling device?  I think I’m going to refer to it as “the alternate universe”, even though no measure of that is confirmed in any way at this point.  Regardless, what can we make of this “alternate” story right now?  I think there are two things you might be tempted to think, each of which are possible.  However, I would refrain from convincing yourself that it *must* be that way so soon.

First, I’m guessing your first inclination is that we must be seeing this thread because the bomb went off and reset things.  Or that perhaps the bomb never went off in this timeline, and that’s why the Incident never happened.  I would propose a potential third scenario: that this thread is completely unrelated to the Jughead detonation.  Perhaps we’re seeing what we’re seeing simply because the writers want to convey to us what would have happened if the LOSTies never crashed on the island.  The reasons why they got into this timeline are not important, but the end result is.  I’ll share more of this theory of mine in the coming weeks if it continues to be in play as we move through the season.  However, for now, think about what’s at stake back on the island in the other timeline.  Could this timeline give us some insight into what everyone’s “playing for”?  Again, I don’t want to invalidate reset theories, or thoughts about this being the timeline for the bomb *not* going off, but I think those two are more straightforward and don’t require a ton of explanation.  I’d like to think that there may be something more at play.

Regardless of the underlying reason, I’m really intrigued by the thread itself.  Sure, there are a lot of answers to be had in the “main” thread.  And the writers could easily fill up 18 hours of the show’s final season with wrapping things up in a much tighter bow.  But it wouldn’t realy be LOST if we got all of the answers one by one as the season played out.  I’m cool with a little diversion, and re-visiting old characters for one last good-bye before everything comes to an end.

Jack’s Bloody Neck

As far as the thread itself, events happening in it are certainly not exactly what we remember, and some weird things are going on.  First of all, Jack takes a trip to the restroom, and shows us a little blood stain on his neck.  I’ll be honest, I have no idea what to make of this.  Did he hurt himself when the plane jostled around in the turbulence?  Is he somehow connected with his alternate self back on the island?  Does he have some kind of condition in this timeline that we’re not supposed to know about yet?  I gues this is just one of those things that you file away and look for more clues in subsequent episodes.

Desmond on Flight 815

Desmond on Flight 815 with Jack

So…what’s Desmond doing on the plane?  He was never on the original Flight 815…he was pushing the button in the Swan Station.  Perhaps without the island to drag him in, he completed his race around the world as he had hoped.  Then maybe he stayed in Sydney for some time before deciding to fly to LA.  Or, perhaps he never ran the race in this timeline.  One thing I’m leaning towards is that Jack’s thought that he met him before is more related to his encounter with him during Sarah’s surgery (remember the flashback from early Season 2?) as opposed to any “main” timeline knowledge transferrence.  I could certainly be wrong though.

The island underwater

So…was that a cool sequence or what?  A quick dive from the plane into the ocean shows the island completely submerged, with the sonic fence fully built, the barracks mostly intact (swingset included), a Dharma shark (did you catch that?), and the lone leg of the four-toed statue.  After you get past the “fun” part of the scene and look at the evidence directly, I think you can determine a few things: Jacob and the Man in Black were still in their power struggle, Dharma still came to the island to study it and built the sonic fence to keep the smoke monster out, and that whatever caused the 4-toed statue to fall still happened.  You can also assume that the iland wasn’t submerged until at least 1977 or later.  The only true relevance I can take from this is that this is not so “alternate” a universe that the island as we know it never existed.  It’s just that our LOSTies were never a part of it.  As for the rest, perhaps we’ll get more insight into it as the thread progresses.

Back on the island

Alright, before I get into the storyline of what’s happening here, I’ve got 2 pieces of commentary to share.  First, by the time we got to the scene before Kate was seen blasted into the tree, I had seen Juliet’s bloody face way too many times.  That was hard enough to watch once, did I really need to see that over and over and over again?  The other thing I wanted to mention was the really cool sound effect used when Kate was trying to get her hearing back.  I love when they take the extra time to add something like that to a scene.  Pretty cool stuff!

Sawyer gets to kick the crap out of Jack…again

What started as a funny segue as Jack got knocked into the hatch implosion site unaware, turned into a sad, somber, and ultimately tense scene between Jack and Sawyer.  Definitely a completely believable scene as Sawyer holds Jack fully responsible for Juliet’s death.  Not surprisingly, Jack is devastated on multiple levels.  Not only does he truly take on the brunt of feeling responsible for Juliet’s death, but he now feels directionless.  His thought that everything in his life was leading up to this moment is suddenly and violently ripped away from him.  Not unlike John Locke in Season 2 when he stopped pressing the button, Jack feels rudderless in a sea of despair.

“Oy, have a clucky-cluck day, mate!”

Hurley and Sawyer discussing how to handle lottery winnings

Back on Oceanic 815, we’ve got more fun with old characters, or main characters in new situations.  We get to see Arzt again, pushing Hurley to vocalize the catch-phrase from his successful chicken franchise.  Apparently, Hurley’s managed to completely reverse his bad luck, with nothing but good things happening to him.  Sawyer’s alternate background is still mystery, but I’m sure we’ll find out about him soon enough.

Dharma vans in the future

One of my colleagues at work was asking how the Dharma vans happened to make it from 1977 to 2007 when the LOSTies jumped forward in time.  To me, the answer seems somewhat straightforward.  It’s the same way that the canoes skipped through time with the LOSTies early last season.  It seems as though if any of the LOSTies are touching an inanimate object, it moves through time with them.  That would also explain why the one van that Hurley was leaning against moved through time, whereas the one Sawyer and company drove to the Swan site did not.  At least, that explanation seems to fit as well as any.

Juliet is still alive?

After attending Comic-Con and hearing directly from the writers’ mouths that Juliet was dead, I was stunned to see that she was calling out from under the rubble.  No way she could be alive, right?  Part of me was hoping for the ultimate head-fake: that the writers had told us the truth through 5 full season just so that they could screw with us in Season 6.  Despite “knowing” that Juliet was dead, I was on the edge of my seat to see if she’d be a big part of Season 6 after all…

“I’ve got a gun!  And I know how to shoot it!”

You gotta love Hurley, you really do.  He’s about to run into Jacob, and he still cracks us up.  Maybe after Season 6 they can have a Hurley spin-off called “Have a Cluckety-Cluck-Cluck Day” or something…

Locke goes on the Walkabout…or does he?

Boone and Locke discuss the walkabout

As we get to see Boone again (and Frogurt…did you notice him sleeping through his cameo scene?) Locke relays how he went on his walkabout.  Boone seems to imply that Locke’s lying, and I’d be skeptical of the story as well, especially considering what we see at the end of the episode.  Not sure what to make of this.  Did Locke get to fulfill his dream in this timeline?  Is he still supremely bitter with his situation?  Considering he’s dead and his form is being usurped in the “main” timeline, I’m most fascinated with his story in the alternate thread.

“Jacob’s gone.  He’s gone.”

Ben can’t believe that he just killed Jacob, and now his body has seemingly vanished.  But that’s the least of his worries.  He’s still being commanded by The Man in Black posing as Locke, and he has much to answer to Richard about.  Of course, he can’t help but lie about Jacob’s well-being, so Richard shows him what he’s up against by giving him a first-hand look at Locke’s dead body.  Meanwhile, Sun and Lapidus discuss who might really be good and who might really be evil in the current situation.  It’s apparent that we’re clearly not the only ones who don’t know exactly what’s going on.

Jacob needs Sayid

Jacob appears to Hurley and tells him how to save Sayid

So while Jacob apparently didn’t make any attempt to stop his own murder, he comes back as an apparition to help Hurley get the info he needs to get Sayid to the Temple for healing.  Obviously, he saw his own death coming.  This leads me to believe that he almost wanted the Man in Black to kill him, as it sets his ultimate plan in motion.  But he also needs very specific people in play for this plan to work.  He’s pulled these people to the island for a very specific reason, and he needs them to play their part for the endgame to be tipped in his favor.  While we clearly have no idea what Jacob’s plan is, it’s also very clear that he does indeed have one.  And he’s desperate to see it come to fruition.

“If she dies, I’ll kill him.”

Sawyer’s dead-set on making Jack pay for his poor decision-making skills.  While we get some additional info in part 2 of the season opener, I wouldn’t put anything past Sawyer and what he can do in his current mindset.  Perhaps that’s just what Jacob was planning for…

Charlie’s still an addict

Charlie revived by Jack

While we’re hoping that everything works out better for our LOSTies in the alternate timeline than what they’re experiencing in the main timeline, we’re finding out that this is not necessarily the case.  Jin has reverted back to the uncaring jerk he was back in Season 1 of the series, and Charlie is still an addict, either trying to kil himself or trying to smuggle drugs off the airplane.  I guess it’s better than being dead, but things aren’t all roses in the alternate timeline.  At least we got to see Jack almost use the tracheotomy technique to revive Charlie, a reference to Boone’s crazy idea back in Season 1.

“You want to know what happened, Richard? Why don’t you go inside and find out.”

While Richard’s not sure that’s a great idea, the shadow of the statue people throw caution to the wind and escort Ben back in to see what went down.  Clearly not the smartest move, especially since they must have known what they were dealing with.  And sure enough, after shots are fired, the Man in Black takes his true form as the Smoke Monster, and attacks everyone in the room except Ben.  Ilana’s right-hand man seems to know exactly what’s up, and constructs an ash circle around himself, right there in Jacob’s abode.  It actually works for a split-second.  Too bad the circle is too small, and the monster has other objects at his disposal outside of the circle…which allow him to knock his target from the circle, and then deal with him directly.

The Smoke Monster delivers the beatdown

And with that, we have final confirmation that the Man in Black is indeed the Smoke Monster incarnate.  Most of you were on to this for quite some time, but there was some minor chance that the Man in Black was simply controlling the Smoke Monster to do his bidding.  If we trust what was said in this scene, that is no longer a viable explanation.  The questions for me now are two-fold.  First, what is it about an ash circle that keeps the Smoke Monster out?  And is it in any way related to how the sonic fence keeps it out as well?  Additionally, does knowing that the Man in Black is indeed the Smoke Monster give us any insight as to why he kills some folks but allows others to live?  Most of what we’ve thought up to this point is that people of “pure heart” have been spared, while others who are not true to themselves are not.  Locke, Eko initially, and Ben are two specific examples.  But what if it’s something a bit less honorable?  What if the Smoke Monster allows people to live because it recognizes a weakness that it can exploit?  I say this because it seems to be what was in common with Locke and Ben (Locke was ready to follow “the island” because he could walk; Eko was willing to do things to show repentance for his murders; Ben was ready to follow Locke to show remorse for allowing his daughter to be killed).  Perhaps the Smoke Monster allowed them all to live because he knew that he could manipulate these situations in the future.  And perhaps he killed Eko the second time around because he was no longer repentant…and thus he could not be manipulated by the Man in Black.  Just food for thought…I’m sure we’ll get more of an explanation as the season wears on…

Juliet’s still alive!

A bloody Juliet has a message for Sawyer

Well, kinda.  It’s almost too much to see her go again.  Not only because we have to see her die yet again ourselves, but that Sawyer has to lose her once again.  The interesting part of this scene, and the one that almost makes it bearable to see her die again, are her final words: “We should get coffee sometime.  We can go dutch.”  This definitely seems to be some major foreshadowing, especially when you couple it with what we find out she’s trying to tell Sawyer in part 2 of the premiere.  But I’ll get more into that detail in my next write-up.  One thing I will say, is that I’m pretty darn sure that we haven’t seen the last of Juliet just yet.

And the plane lands in LAX

Oceanic Flight 815 lands in LA

But not before we get one last mystery.  Desmond seems to have disappeared from the plane.  We’re clearly meant to notice that he’s not there…perhaps he has something to do with the missing cargo in part 2?  Regardless, the plane lands, and everyone’s back to their old lives.  Including Locke, who’s tragically still stuck in that wheelchair.  Is he fated to situations of desperation, irrespective of the timeline?

That’s all for now everyone!  I’ll be back tomorrow with my recap of Part 2.  And I’ll typically have my recaps up Wednesday night/Thursday morning…this week was a little out of the ordinary for me.  Thanks for coming by and reading despite the delay!