Lost: Season 3 Episode 11 - Enter 77

Well, what can I say? As promised, LOST delivered last night! And all I can say is my usual WOW! We learned more about the history of the island's former residents, still with enough ambiguous details to confuse us, yet keep us intrigued! I don't have an exciting speech to give this week as I usually do, so let's just get right to the episode recap!

For any additional lost fix that I can't provide for you, simply go to the official site: lost.abc.com (And that's the last time I'll bring it up! I'll just add to the links on the side of the page, if it isn't already there)

High Stakes Pong:

Well, it's not Beer Pong, which is arguably the most exciting version of any PONG! But our favorite castaways have discovered the Hatch's ping pong table mysteriously hanging out randomly placed in the jungle (not the first randomly placed item we've seen now). And decided to bring it to the beach. What ensues is some more Sawyer, Hurley and Jin comedy. Throw in some Sun and you get some fantastic nicknames added to Sawyer's arsenal! (btw...for any Claire lovers out there who have noticed she only has had maybe 5 lines in 11 episodes, no fear....I think her flashback is next week. And we'll touch more on that at the end of the blog). For now, the fun highlights from the PONG exchange:

• Sawyer has been on a fantastic roll with nicknames and 1-liners. Highlight being Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon for Jin and Sun. Grimace for Hurley and Zorro for Paulo equally fantastic! But I believe we all let out a loud laugh when, in the middle of Sawyer's Rant, he spat out at Nikki "Who the Hell are you???" We've all been saying it. We all are displeased with how they were simply inserted as survivors that have been there the whole time. But we're told by the producers that a flashback episode is coming up with Nikki and Paulo that will change our opinions on them forever and make them iconic figures in LOST lore. We'll see.
• So I guess we're supposed to be asking more about this supposed HATCH IMPLOSION. With the Hatch Imploded then why are things flying all over the place? We've seen Eko's stick fall from the sky, The hatch door flew all the way to the beach (season 2 finale), Sawyer stepped on a random dart (thanks for anonymous comment last week!), and now the ping pong table is just out in the jungle somewhere. Clearly, Hurley is scared to even discuss how all of this stuff happened and just assumes that it has something to do with the sky turning purple. Clearly, there is more to discover here with the HATCH and the PURPLE Sky.
• Sawyer did indeed lose the ping pong match to apparent PING PONG champion Hurley (who became a pro in the Institution) and now cannot use nicknames for a week. Good times! Thank God they added the "for a week" part or else LOST fans would've been jumping ship left and right!
• And finally, we must note that Sawyer is definitely struggling with his feelings for Kate. He is worried about her as she ventures to rescue Jack.

Sayid Flashback:

Arguably the least interesting part of tonight's episode. Not because it wasn't interesting to see the after effects of TORTURE (for both the torturer and the torturee) but because it added little to Sayid's interesting background. My theory on this is that while the producers still have much to tell on the ISLAND, they're running out of tales to tell about some of the original character's pasts. It seems like new character flashbacks like Juliet, Desmond, and probably eventually Ben, end up being the more intriguing flashbacks. Anyway, what Sayid's flashback DID do was tie in very well to tonight's storyline. Sayid being the prisoner in the flashback, Russian Eyepatch Baddie being the prisoner on the island. And a tale of FORGIVENESS in both stories symbolized by the CAT. So let's talk about the few interesting tidbits here:

• Well obviously the CAT. We see it both here and off the island. A cat that was tortured by kids who seems to flinch at any attempt to pet it. Symbolizing the torturee woman's inability to trust anyone but willingness to forgive. The cat being on the island joins the cast of other animals that have graced our survivors. The BLACK HORSE for Kate, the Boar for Sawyer, and we always like to jokingly throw in the WHITE RABBIT for Jack (episode title, but he saw visions of his Dad). Of course, Sawyer ironically DID come in contact with a White Rabbit this season on Alcatraz 2.0. Anyway, the cat on the island's name was Nadia and seems to be Russian Baddie's pet. And of course we know that Sayid's girl's name (whom he rescued from torture) is also Nadia. Not much to add here except that the CAT reminded Sayid to go easy on his captive for now. Why the cat was there, the horse was there, and all other crazy apparitions on the island, remains unresolved and probably will until the end of the show!
• This I find incredibly uninteresting, but apparently in Sayid's restaurant (yep he's under an alias in some non-Iraq country hiding as a cook) there are Dharma type symbols on the wall. Apparently these same symbols were on the HEALER Isaac's wall in Bernard and Rose's flashback last season. If you know what the terms DHARMA Wheel and DHARMAcakra mean, then more power to you! But that's what these are!
  

Operation Rescue Jack Continues

2nd episode without even seeing Jack. I guess we can assume these episodes were filmed in December when Matthew Fox was heavily promoting WE ARE MARSHALL. There were rumors that Jack was killed off and that's how he was able to be on the mainland showing up on every talk show known to man. Well, when you don't appear in 2 consecutive episodes, that frees up probably 2 or 3 weeks of your life!

Anyway...Sayid, Locke, Kate, and Rousseau are following a Northward Bearing of 305 (just like the stick said). When all hope is almost lost that they are headed in the right direction, they stumble upon another HATCH in the middle of the jungle. And the fun ensues from there! We meet Russian Eyepatch Guy, Sayid gets shot, Locke plays Chess and we get our fix on some DHARMA Goodness!

• Okay what's first? Well, maybe Noah's Ark ended up landing on LOST Island because we've seen all kinds of animals there now. Polar Bears, Horses (Black and Brown/White spotted), Cows (bell included), Cats, Boars, Rabbits, Tree Frogs, Did I miss any? Where on earth did they all come from? And why on earth do they need a COW? Wait a sec....didn't Juliet cook Jack a cheeseburger? Hmmmmmm
• Anyway after the initial conflict with Eyepatch guy, we learn his name to be
  Mikhail Bakunin and said he is the last living member of the DHARMA Initiative. We later learn that this is a lie. But that everything else he stated is the truth. I'm gonna guess that this was the producers'/writers' way of telling us that they didn't cheat us out of useful information. But still, it's foggy where the lies end and the truth starts. We can try to decipher anyway.
• Apparently the HOSTILES (which for now we have to assume are THE OTHERS) have been there longer than the DHARMA Initiative. Which seems to hold true since Ben said he's lived there all of his life. But Mikhail also says he's been there 11 years, meanwhile we know Rousseau has been on the island for 16 years, and she clearly wanted no part of this assault on the FLAME station. Could Rousseau's crew have been involved with the PURGE?
• I guess we need to talk about the FLAME and the PURGE since I'm mentioning them! Well, this station is the infamous FLAME station that we've known about ever since the LOCKDOWN episode where Locke saw our favorite blacklight map. This seems to be what may have been DHARMA HEADQUARTERS. As they explored the station, we saw lots and lots of C4 Explosives, another computer with a friendly chess game, a big satellite dish with mainland communication abilities, DHARMA SWAN Merlot, DHARMA Vodka, and lots and lots and lots of DHARMA Manuals including Food Drop Protocols (still being done currently on island as we saw in Lockdown episode) and an Operations Manual, ransacked by Sayid.
  
• We also got a peek at some Russian writing from Mikhail. And I'm sure there are lots of goodies in here. If anyone out there is fluent in Russian and wants to translate, please do and let us know! Otherwise, once I find out, I will post it.
• So the PURGE. Apparently prior to the Oceanic Survivors arriving there was a great PURGE where the DHARMA crew was offed by the HOSTILES. There must be more information that we will learn about this PURGE. And I gotta tell you, I'm super excited about seeing it! Will it be a Ben flashback? Or an entire episode of PRE-CRASH events? If this is the season that will unveil the OTHERS....then there's a good bet that we're going to find out before MAY ends!
• It's hard to decipher Mikhail's military history in the Soviet Army stationed in Kiev. He says after the Cold War ended he responded to a secret Advertisement "Would you Like to save the world?" Which kinda calls back to Kelvin (another military guy who had nothing to do after the Gulf War) who also says he was saving the world by pressing that button. Maybe Mikhail was giving us information on how DHARMA recruited their personnel. But the ties between The OTHERS and DHARMA remains unclear. Perhaps the military began using the island without knowledge of THE OTHERS, hence calling them HOSTILES. But in the end THE OTHERS won out. Which means our castaways could be in danger of a PURGE as well. Then again, THE OTHERS keep suggesting that they are not the enemy. So there is still some higher power at work here that we have yet to see. AND WHO IS JACOB!!!!?!?!?!?!?? arrrrghhhh! I LOVE THIS SHOW!
• We learn the Locke is quite the CHESS player who is able to beat a computer that was supposedly impossible to beat. Although Mikhail may have just been saying this to avoid any mishaps. But When Locke did beat it (did you see the joy he got in winning?) we got to see our DHARMA buddy Marvin Candle once again. And again he had the prosthetic hand (had it in the SWAN video but not the Pearl video). He gives the following instructions:
  For Mainland Communication enter 38 (unavailable since the sky turned purple, we learn)
  For Station Up-link enter 32 (huh?)
  For Sonar Access enter 56 (we finally learn about the cable going underwater was a Sonar/Beacon for the submarine that the Others supposedly have. And how they found Desmond's sailboat)
  If Hostile Takeover Press 77 (well, we know what happened there!)
  
• Confirmation of ties to the OTHERS for Mikhail was the presence of Miss Klugh who apparently ALSO speaks Russian. It IS possible that this is where WALT was for most of his time with the others, as there was a computer (perhaps station UPLINK is to communicate with other stations). Anyways....Miss Klugh and Mikhail and Sayid/Locke/Kate end up being in a Hostage exchange situation which leads to the death of Klugh. There was a lot of information exchanged in Russian. Again, any fluent Russian speaking people out there please translate!
• There was some good comedy with Locke accompanying the explosion of the FLAME station (hmmm guess that's why it's called the FLAME!). Apparently he entered 77 and he "accidentally" blew up the place. But remember when Locke said he had looked at every nook and cranny of the place? (not gonna try and spell those words correctly!) Sayid didn't believe him, but I believe he did. Locke is still trying to sabotage any chance of getting off the island. The island healed the man....and I'm gonna say he intentionally tried to blow up the Flame station. He must've seen the C4 and figured out it was wired to the computer for some reason. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that this isn't the only means of communication with the mainland. There still is another radio tower that Rousseau knows about....where the distress call is still running. Then again, maybe they DID cut off any chances of communication which means that the castaways AND the others are now stuck on the island. And we still need to learn more about this purple sky and what exactly it did on that crazy island! (I think I said that already!)
• Last thing we need to bring up is the MAP Sayid discovered in the Operations Manual. Seems to lead them straight to the "BARRACKS" which could be and probably is OTHERSVILLE. Sayid made a risky decision keeping Mikhail alive, but he probably will end up being useful if not to them....then to us getting more information!

I'm sure I missed tons of stuff. Feel free to add anything you've discovered. This is strongly encouraged! As mentioned previously, I said I would discuss Claire. We got another ABC promo where we're going to get find out about a "SHOCKING LINK" between 2 survivors. Well, if it's what we all think it is, then it won't be much of a shock. But I do like the potential of Jack and Claire being half-brothers/sisters. If you recall, we saw Jack's Dad(Christian) in Sydney with Ana Lucia talking to a woman that looked eerily like an older version of Claire. Christian is heard saying that he wants to see his daughter. My guess is that in a Claire flashback next week, we will see this woman again, and it will end up being Claire's mother. May seem obvious, which would lead us to think it's something else. But who else on the island do we know that is actually an Australian Native? Exactly!

Well, another fantastic episode of LOST in the books. Hope everyone enjoyed the episode and the blog. And I hope all of the naysayers are back on board realizing the awesomeness that can only be summed up as LOST.

Another exciting personal event. This episode marks possibly the last episode of LOST that I will have to watch in standard definition! Yes, I am joining the HDTV club! The saddest part of this exciting event is that my TiVo will not record in High Definition...so I'm going to have to start referring to my recording device as a DVR. OH THE HORROR!!!! Seriously, who needs 2 TiVos and a DVR in the house? The good news? If there's ever a night where I have to record 5 things at one time, party at my house!

Have a great day discussing LOST and I'll see you next week!