"Lost" Season 2 Episode 21 - ?

Alright....different kind of "WOW" this week. Seems like there are 2 kinds of Lost episodes that will come our way from week to week (or month to month depending on reruns!) There are the straight-forward suspenseful thriller kind of episodes. Then there are the episodes that CONFUSE THE BEJEEZUS out of us! Thus, we have the aptly named "?" episode. Now, obviously the episode was named this due to the oddly timed search for the "question mark hatch," which we will delve into in a bit. They also named the episode with the "?" due to the fact that the episode was originally supposed to be directed by Darren Arrenovsky (I'm not going to pretend I know how to spell it) who wrote and directed the film "PI" (now picture the symbol for PI, and then you'll kinda see where they were going with it!) Unfortunately, the acclaimed director was unable to take on the reigns due to last minute conflicts. But, I like to think that they also named the episode "?" because it raised a bunch more questions than it answered, in true Lost Fashion! Maybe we'll get some more answers this year. Maybe not. But what it did do was reinforce some of the mystical nature in Lost where there seems to be some things going on that can't be explained by UN-supernatural events! We, as viewers, know by now that everything WILL be able to be explained, as the producers have told us. But in the meantime, we're faced with some perplexing "?'s" coming out of the episode formerly named as Prince (well it really wasn't, but how can you have a symbol discussion without talking about Prince!?)

Ok, so here are the links to the ABC Recap and to view the episode online if you so choose:
http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing
http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/episodes/221.html

Here we go!

The Hatch Saga Continues

We return to see our heroes heading back to the hatch rather quickly to try and put a stop to any Shoot-Out that was going to happen! Too late guys! We see Michael trying to cover his tracks, we get a confirmation on Ana Lucia's expiration, but we find out that Libby is still alive! This allows us to put the attack on the others on hold for an episode while Jack tends to the wounded, adds some emotional weight to what's at stake, and allows Eko and Locke to go on an adventure. Here's what came out of the Hatch Story:

• We find out Sawyer's stash of Drugs and Guns has been in his tent all along. And of course Jack sending Kate along on this mission only brings Kate and Sawyer closer together again. Smart move Jack!
• Jack gets Libby High on Heroin for her final moments.
• Michael seems worried that Libby is going to rat him out for killing her!
• Our favorite Hatch prisoner is GONE by the way!
• Hurley delivers the most emotional line of the night with his apology for forgetting the blankets. Poor guy, finally found a girl and then his "BAD LUCK" takes her away from him. Hmmm....Was it those crazy lottery numbers again?
• Libby's final word "MICHAEL!" with a scared look on her face. And idiot Jack doesn't catch on. It would seem he will need Sayid's help next week in convincing him on what's going on.

Yeah, I'm stretching with that storyline. Not much really happened. We were in a holding pattern while the Eko and Locke story took center stage. So let's just move on!

Dreams

So these were some messed up dreams. So, we've seen several dreams now over the course of 2 seasons that have actually led people to do crazy things. And the content of these dreams are usually pretty factual. How is this happening? Well, some may argue that all of the survivors are already in a dream state and that someone is feeding them information from other lives. Don't know if I want to buy that theory just yet, but sometimes it's tough not to! How else are they having these dreams and hallucinations? I mean these dreams are very DETAILED! Before we get into Eko and Locke's Dream let's recap some old dreams

• Boone hallucinates and sees Shannon shot to death in season 1 (or mauled by a polar bear). She is shot to death in season 2.
• Locke Dreams of a Nigerian Drug Plane crashing into a Tree. And also hear's Boone saying "Jill falls up the stairs, Jill Falls down the stairs" (or something like that)...a very personal memory of Boone's.
• Charlie has some crazy dreams about baptizing Aaron. Well, that was just a weird episode, so let's skip it!
• Hurley has a dream with Jin Speaking english (well...if he does, he hides it well!) but where he's drinking from a Milk Carton with a picture of "WALT" and the text "MISSING" on it. Meanwhile, Hurley was not informed that the Raft had blown up yet or that Walt was indeed kidnapped by the Others.

Crazy stuff right? Well add on the crazy dreams that Eko and Locke had tonight, and you got one hell of a mystery brewing!

Eko's Dream

• Eko has a Vision of Ana Lucia who is telling him to have John lead him to the "question mark."
• Slowly but surely, we see Ana Lucia spitting up blood and looking very weak.
• A flash of images go by. I paused the TiVo and wrote them down (you can also go to lost.cubit.net Investigations and see all of the images)
  Plane Crash (tailies), smoke monster, body in water, Cross, the Others' feet, teddy bear, Locke, Nigerian Plane, Blind folded guy, Dharma Swan symbol, the Orientation guy (more on him in a bit) and brother Yemi
• Brother Yemi says that he's on the island and also says that John should lead him to question mark and to bring an Ax.

Locke's Dream

• Locke has a dream with Eko's Brother luring Eko up the vines of a cliff. I believe these are the same vines that Boone climbed to get into the plane. At the top of the cliff Yemi is sitting in a lawn chair and tells John to wake up (I think...I'm drawing blanks!) and then Eko falls to his death. John Wakes up.
• This dream leads John to be paranoid to a similar outcome for Eko that Boone met.

Eko's Flashback
So, in Ana Lucia fashion, we continue Eko's story in his 2nd flashback to see how he ended up on the Plane to our favorite getaway island! Eko's "mission" as a "priest" (which we confirm he is only pretending to be) somehow led him to be serving time in Australia, and he was in dire need to go to the United States. I don't know if we really find out WHY he wanted to go there. I think some blanks were left intentionally which lets us know his story is not finished just yet! (as Ana Lucia's was)

we interrupt this Blog to report that Preston and Steve JUST got J.J. Abrams to confirm something on the phone. The quote says this
"This is J.J. Abrams and LOST is NOT Purgatory!"

I know that our following of readers here are informed enough to know that this was dismissed ages ago. But it's always nice to hear straight from the Creators of the show!

Ok back to the blog!

So where were we? oh right, Australia. Eko is getting all of his ducks in a row to flee Australia and head to the states. But someone tries to delay this with a "MIRACLE." That's right, someone's daughter apparently drowns, dies and then comes back to life during an autopsy. We learn some interesting stuff here, and I have tons of pictures (as always you can click on them and zoom for a larger look!) Here we go:

• We get to hear the coroner's tape recording of the autopsy where the girl begins to scream at the end. Pretty freaky stuff, but nothing really confirms that she was ever dead. Unless we want to believe the coroner. The image below is of the medical report underneath the tape recorder. It seems to be a production error as it mentions Honolulu, Hawaii where the show is filmed. Nothing too exciting, just worth mentioning!
  
• Eko's Fake Passport contains the information that includes the infamous numbers:
  
  4 = April and 2004
  8 = August 23
  15 = April 15
  16 = April 16
  23 = August 23
• 
• Anyone recognize the father of the resurrected Daughter? It was none other than the crazy psychic that told Claire that she must raise her son and that she MUST take Flight 815 to Los Angeles. His name? Richard Malkin. What he tells Eko is that he's a fraud. He gathers intelligence on his clients and then exploits it to his advantage. So what is he telling us here? Is what he told Claire not right either? Is he doing the same thing with Eko? Does he know that Eko's Brother died and he wants to convince Eko that he is getting visited by his brother from the beyond? Did Malkin use his daughter in the process to succeed in this? In previous blogs I've touched on the fact that I thought Malkin was involved in recruiting people for the island (mainly Claire). He knew Flight 815 was going to end up on that Island where Claire would have to raise the baby. Some will argue that maybe Malkin was a fraud until he met Claire and actually felt something real. I don't buy it! I think he's playing them both! Naturally, I do because it plays into my whole "recruiting people for the island" theory. Hopefully we're going to find out if my recruitment theory is on the right path by the season finale! Tons of questions...no answers (yet)!
  
• But continuing with the concept that everything is plausible, we have Malkin's Daughter meet up with Eko in the airport where she tries to prove that she DID in fact have a near-death experience. She claims that she saw his brother and that he had the following message for Eko "You were a good priest." Something like this could lead Eko to actually BECOME a man of faith and believe that his brother IS speaking to him from the beyond when he gets to the island! Could lead the man to mourn people he kills, to build a church. I think Malkin told Eko the truth that he IS a fraud. He gathered intel on Eko, and used it against him to give him purpose when he arrived on the Island. May be a stretch, but it sounds plausible! Come on, people coming back to life? The producers already promised us NO ZOMBIES on LOST! Once people are dead, the only way they come back is in Flashbacks and Dreams!
• Also we see Libby in the flashback breaking up a potential fight. I didn't see much significance!

THE PEARL!
So, the major portion of this episode dealt with Eko and Locke finally getting to share an adventure together. As I said before, this was an oddly timed adventure considering the tragedy in the Swan Station. This is why Eko lured John (based on the dream) out of the Hatch to help track down the "others." At least this is what he claims until Locke starts questioning what is driving Eko deeper and deeper into the jungle. What we get to see in this story is how Locke has been losing faith ever since mindlessly pushing that button and having Henry meddle with his mind. It seems now that Eko is here to help restore John's faith. Long-story short, they do find the "?" Hatch from the Map but the fun was in getting there and what we found!

• Locke called Boone's Death a "Sacrifice the Island Demanded" almost realizing how ridiculous it sounded after he said it. Another sign of him losing faith in everything.
• Anyone get a sense of deja vu when Locke was watching Eko climb up the cliff? Yep...he laid on the ground quite like that (also with bad legs) and watched Boone go up there. This time however, Eko made it up top Okay. And how convenient is it that another hatch was waiting for them right where they found the Drug Plane....and right where Eko's brother was found? And of course, when Eko looked from the top of the cliff, he saw the salted earth formed, you guessed it! a QUESTION MARK!
  

We Saw Locke grow eager with anticipation as they discovered the new hatch, hoping to find the answers he was looking for. What did we find out? We found out that they were in Station 5 - The Pearl.

Here's what was inside:

• 9 TV Screens, an Air Shoot (chute?) like you see at a Bank Drive-through, a VCR, an Orientation Video Tape, some smoked cigarettes, empty notebooks, a computer and printer, 2 recliners and a video camera
• Of course, what seems to be a CIG and Ashes on first glance, may not be. But I have no idea what it is. lost.cubit.net felt the need to point it out though..so I will too!
• When Locke turned all of the TV's on, 1 gave static, many didn't even go on, and then one showed the Swan Station and Jack walking around. Before we even get into the orientation video, there is speculation that if these cameras have an actual video feed, maybe there will be a way to rewind and determine what actually happened in the Hatch during the shoot-out. crazy stuff!
• So the Orientation Video. Some things to note. The Korean Guy calls himself
  Dr. Mark Whitman, however on the Swan video he calls himself Dr. Marvin Candle. Sure looks like the same guy doesn't it? It is also noted that the video is from 1980. Not sure when the Swan video was from. But Preston pointed out that the Guy had one prosthetic hand in the Swan Video, and here he has 2 fully functioning hands. I don't recall that. I'll have to go back and watch ORIENTATION again! ugh
• Also in the video we are told that the mission for the residents of this hatch are to work in 8 hour shifts and observe everything happening in the other hatches. And note down any subtleties that they find odd and send the reports into the Air-Mail thing. We pretty much are led to believe that the residents pushing the button in the Swan Station are guinea pigs who are meant to believe what they are doing is important, but it really isn't (something Jack has been saying all along) and something Locke begins to believe. However, Echo, all faithed up due to visions of his brother believes this video only reinforces the importance of pushing the button. Locke has a nervous breakdown during this scene about his whole life is a joke. That guy has some serious issues. All very interesting stuff....but we still have questions on everything! The producers have told us that the story of the hatch will be completely told by the end of Season 2. Here's hoping!
• I think Korean Doctor guy also made a reference to a boat (or river?) that they should be taking after their job is completed? I didn't bother to watch again yet to make sure I heard exactly what he said. But I'll just jot it down here.
• As for the Camera in the PEARL hatch, is someone still watching them too? crazy stuff.
• Locke also sends his drawing of the map through the Air-Chute. What was the objective of this? To see if it worked? or to let someone know he's there?
• The other computer's function seems to be to print logs of when people have successfully pushed the button in the Swan Hatch. The numbers on the report show all similar numbers except the iteration of when they executed the resetting of the clock. This report SHOULD be able to tell us if Henry did in fact push that button or not. Also, is this the computer that "WALT" talked from? or is it somewhere else? I'm guessing there has to be some other station (maybe the one Michael discusses) that has a computer as well.
  

Scavenger Hunt
Okay new Hanso commercial! Well same one, but they added a website to this one.
www.sublymonal.com If you go to this website (paid for by sprite), you click on the screens one at a time. # of clicks go in the following progression 4-8-15-16-23-42 (I think...I don't think I clicked on any of them 42 times...but this is what I read)....you hear the Lost sound effect, and then it gives you a code "Heir Apparent" that you supposedly need to enter on http://www.thehansofoundation.org/ somewhere. I haven't really looked into it much. But there's some info! Also http://www.thelostexperience.com/ is tracking this scavenger hunt. If you're lazy like me, they'll find out all the answers for you!
Spoilers!
Ok, I am privy to some information about our final episodes. As always, I'll black them out and you can just highlight them if you want to read!

• Next week is a Michael Flashback where we will learn what happened to him on the island when he left the survivors. This should play into my theory that we'll see that scene with Jack screaming again from a different perspective!
• The finale will feature AT LEAST a Desmond Flashback, and supposedly Libby will be featured in it.
• The ultimate major cliffhanging part of the finale is still kept under wraps. The only people that know about it are the cast members that were involved for the filming. It has been referenced as (THE Challah). It is rumored to be a more satisfying ending than last year's cliffhanger with the Raft blowing up, Walt being kidnapped, and looking into the Hatch (named THE BAGEL!). This is in direct response to people's outcries from last year's finale being a disappointment (hell, I loved it!) They still say it will end on a cliffhanger, but apparently one more satisfying. Take from that what you will!

Okay, I think I wrote enough on this episode. Next week's episode looks like it'll be a bit more actioned packed and it should set up our Season finale pretty well. Just a side-note, these final 2 blogs may become a bit delayed due to my increased popularity at job #1. And because I'm learning that these write-ups are becoming increasingly more complicated and taking a lot more time to write! But be patient with me! I am just as anxious to write them as you are to read them! I will do my best to meet up with the demands! So, with that, I will say Have a good day and see you next week!