LOST: Season 4 Episode 5 - The Constant

WOW WOW WOW!!!!! Chalk this one up to another Desmond-centric Episode that I absolutely loved! That brothaaa is one awesome character! And to think we went a whole season without him to kick off the show! Of course, probably like "Flashes Before Your Eyes," just because I absolutely loved the episode (penned by the executive producers themselves Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse), doesn't mean this recap will make one lick of sense! I am thoroughly confused! I'm sure we'll find our way once we start digging into it though. Wish me luck because here we go!

"The Constant" follows Desmond and Sayid on their journey to the freighter. Their tourguide and pilot, Frank tries to heed Dan's advice to stick to the bearing they came in on. However when they pass through a storm cloud (or as Sayid branded a "Thunderhead"), Desmond goes all haywire. As opposed to "Flashes Before Your Eyes" last season where Desmond's PRESENT mind traveled back to the past where he was living with Penny; here we see Desmond's PAST consciousness experiencing and living out moments in the future (or PRESENT island time) then returning to the past at an exponentially quicker rate. Depending on where Dez's mind was at a particular moment, the other time period's Desmond would lose consciousness. Of course, it is important to know that Dez's PRESENT consciousness is nowhere to be found and his prior self must find his way back through "THE CONSTANT" in order to survive and send Dez BACK TO THE FUTURE!.....errrr bring his present mind back (doesn't sound as cool!)? Bottom line: That hatch really screwed this guy up!

The Chopper Trip

• Sayid asks Frank why he's flying directly into this "thunderhead." I would assume this is because he was scared to sway from his course that Dan provided. 40 Miles N @ 305" 7 K East. Hmmm....Miles AND Kilometers? That's interesting! I guess the drawing isn't to scale either as the 7 Kilometers East looks like a longer trip than the 40 miles! Also, is it important to note that Frank's Gauge was reading 31??? If you recall, the difference between the Island and the Rocket fired from the freighter was 31 minutes. If only they could've punched in November 5th, 1955 we might have been able to stop Old Biff from giving Young Biff that Sports Almanac!
  


• As Desmond sits and waits and hopes to find answers on the freighter, we head towards the "thunderhead" and then Dez takes a trip back to 1996 when he was in the Scottish Army. Or really, Dez's past consciousness somehow took a trip to the future where he was on a helicopter! Thus we begin our crazy time tripping affair!

Life on the Freighter

You know, I was starting to think we may actually never see this crazy freighter! I thought they would do a bunch of hyping up of it, but never actually show us scenes on the freighter. Well, I can happily say, my fears were set aside! We met some new and interesting characters on the ship and I can easily say we're probably more confused than Desmond who has no idea where and when he is at this point!

• The name of the freighter is KAHANA. I've got nothing. The Sledgeweb folks tried to break down the Hawaiian translation, but I didn't see the relevance! But there it is folks...isnt' she a beaut?
  


• WE meet 2 new characters, Keemee (excuse the spelling, I have no idea what he said. I tried for a pronunciation!) from Las Vegas, and Omar from Florida.
• Keemee and Omar don't seem too thrilled with Frank from bringing Sayid and Desmond back to the freighter. Further showing that our Island Freighter folk are nowhere near the brains of this operation.
• They also mention they left port in Fiji so they know they are the Pacific Ocean somewhere. Hmmmm....seems like this island is sticking in one place for the time being. Flight 815 Pilot said they were headed towards Fiji or something after they were off course I think. Getting there from Florida and Nigeria (and apparently, Madagascar!)still To be Determined!
• These two NEW Freighter guys seem to know what is happening to Desmond (kinda) and they take him to the sick bay and lock him in there. This causes some Scottish screaming and rants and the almighty line from CLERKS "I'm not supposed to be here!!!"
• In the sickbay, is none other than our Radio buddy George Minkowski strapped to a bed. He reveals that his mind is traveling through time as well. Except, he is fully aware in the present of what has happened. So he must be tripping BACKWARDS in time as opposed to Desmond tripping forward? Speaking of which...this must be tied to Desmond's Flashes of the Future right? But we never got the impression that he was experiencing them as much as seeing them. He never passed out, just went into a bit of a daze while he watched images of events that led to a moment in the future where Charlie would ultimately die. (Don't worry...we'll get more into Dez's travels in a section below. There is no clean way to break this stuff up!)
• Then Creepy Doctor, Ray, arrives to inject George with some stuff. Dez's flipping out ensues! We didn't learn much about this doctor yet, but something tells me we haven't seen the last of him! It would seem that no one believes what is happening to George. He mentions that it's going to happen to everyone "ONCE THEY GO TO THAT ISLAND" I guess there are plans for everyone to go there? Ray tries to check Desmond's eyes with a light and then Dez trips back to the past. Connection? Oh I have no idea!
• Meanwhile, Sayid exchanges his gun for Frank's phone to call Jack and tell him what's going on. To Be Continued iin the sections below! ...

Meanwhile on the Island

Jack and Juliet are still waiting for a call from the freighter. Dan starts getting into differences in time, which Charlotte is aware of and not very fond of Dan's straight-forwardness.

• Dan says that Sayid and Desmond may not have been gone as long as they THINK they've been gone. There are potential Side-Effects with the flight. Hmmm Jack also mentions they've been gone a day before the communication but to the Chopper people, it seems like an hour or so later right? But they can still communicate in real time. Makes me think again back to that 1930's broadcast of the Glenn Miller song on the radio. I'm also confused with Jack saying it's been 100 days and it actually only being 92/93 days. It is noted later in the episode that it's Christmas Eve in the Freighter. I can only assume that Jack rounded up because it would make no sense (based on the past few episodes) that more days are passing on the island than off of the island!
• Anyway, they get the call from Sayid and he says Desmond is acting strange. Jack puts the phone on speaker. On the other end of the line Frank helps Sayid get to Desmond (well isn't he a nice guy??)...then the magic happens!
• By the way, it is revealed that the SAT Phones can only talk to each other, so they can't call anyone else for help.
• Desmond and Dan begin their connection through time. We find out that the Dez we're hanging out with is 1996 Desmond. Dan, in 1996, is working at Oxford University in the Queen's College Physics Department. Dan gives Dezzy instructions to GO TO HIM (Marty/Doc Brown style) for help!
• Dan finds his journal to find information from 1996 that would help 96 Dan believe Desmond about '04 Dan. The directions? Device must be set to 2.342 and must be oscillating at 11Hz. If the numbers don't convince him say "I know about Elloise" We didn't get to speculate about Eloise too long, for she is revealed to us in Desmond's travels.
• Dan also mentions that the splits are unpredictable, sometimes lasting for years, sometimes for hours. Jack is confused asking if this has happened before. Hmmm....Is Dan a TIME-MIND traveler as well? Or was he referring to his "Eloise" experiments? Based on our cliffhanger, I with think it might be the former.
• Dan also asks Jack if Desmond had any lengthy periods of exposure to Radiation or Electro-magnetism. We, of course, know that Desmond did when the Hatch blew. Does Jack even know that Desmond turned that key and the whole thing blew? We never saw it on camera...but I guess we have to assume he was filled in. But he never learned of his Flashes of the future did he? I don't think so. Anyway, apparently Desmond was more succeptable to this "SIDE EFFECT" based on his Electro-magnetic event. Well kids, this may be the only explanation we get for what happened to Desmond after the hatch imploded. I'm still hoping for more! But it was still intriguing regardless!

All Roads (and Times) Lead to Penny

So here we are, the part of the blog I've been avoiding, but the part I want to discuss the most! Desmond's Travels through time. We follow Desmond's 1996 consciousness back and forth from 1996 (the military era) and 2004 (the freighter/island era). In both eras, Desmond has a goal in mind and has objectives in both time periods to accomplish in order to FIX himself. 1955 Doc Brown (errr...1996 Dan Faraday) helps Desmond find his way.

1996

• Well first, let me say I'm happy that we got to spend sometime with Desmond during his military days. I remember saying at the end of season 3 that we couldn't entirely be done with flashbacks because we needed more Desmond backstory for why he's eventually in military prison and dishonorably discharged from military services. Well, we didn't quite see that yet. Instead we see Desmond and his unit being punished for him spacing out a couple times during the day. But eventually, through conversations he realizes that the only thing familiar to him in the future was Penny. He saw the picture of Penny in his hands so they must still have some sort of tie.
• Desmond calls Penny and it is revealed, just as we speculated, that Desmond broke up with Penny and joined the military (just as we saw beginning to happen in season 3's "Flashes Before Your Eyes"). Penny wanted nothing to do with Desmond and hung up on him. Keep in mind.
• By this point, Dez has talked to Dan in the future and has his mission to head to Oxford. He finds Dan there, sporting some kind of pseudo Mullett (love it!!) and unloads the information he was instructed to. As an aside, Jeremy Davies is a great addition to the LOST cast. He pulls off this nerdy, intelligent, creepy Scientist guy perfectly! He felt he was being put on by his colleagues but at the same time seemed to be anticipating this moment by all his meddling with the space-time continuum. Haven't you ever sat around wondering...."if we've invented time travel in the future, couldn't there be people from the future here right now???" Okay...maybe that was just dorky, teenage me!
• Dan takes Dez to his lab where he performs experiments that the university "frowns upon." Dan starts setting his equipment to Desmond's specifications. He also puts on a radiation vest (looks like one of those things you wear at the dentist when getting an x-ray!) There is a mention of why isn't Dan protecting his HEAD from long-term effects of the radiation.....perhaps that's why he has gone completely nuts?
• Anyway, it turns out Eloise is a RAT that Dan has been experimenting on. After the his equipment is set, he takes some type of Lightning device and ZAP...strikes Elloise with it. Eloise's consciousness slips into the future, then comes back and runs through a maze that she wasn't to learn until an hour from then.
• Dum dum dummmmmmm Time Paradox #1! So was future Dan the one to tell past Dan how to make the mind travel through time? How could this happen without causing some major ripple in TIME? Are the producers willing to explain this? Probably not....but they definitely knew they were opening this door with the Time Travel element of the show! I'm sure smarter brains than I can poke more holes in or support what they did here! Feel free to comment to make ME smarter!
• Oh, in case you want to look at Dan's scribbles on the chalkboard, here it goes. Best thing I can get out of it is the reference to Steven Hawking who wrote "A Brief History of Time" which also has been referenced on the show. Plus you get to see that fantastic Mullet!
  
• Another potential paradox, but sounds like something they will explain on the show: Past Dan mentions that Future Dan referenced this particular meeting with Desmond. So does that mean Future Dan remembers the encounter? Desmond says "Actually no, maybe you just forgot?" Since the producers have mentioned we will only have one TIMELINE (no alternate time universes will be created by the time traveling...remember the BAD 1985 that Doc and Marty returned to in Back to the Future II?), how does this impact it? Does Dan eventually remember the encounter? Again, the cliffhanger at the end of the show seems to suggest he doesn't. Speaking of which. Does Present Day Desmond, remember his time travels? Based on his smile in the past at the end of the episode, it would seem he does! Crazy crazy crazy! My mind is tripping!!! (but I'm still in present day, don't worry!)
• Speaking of One Timeline, it is reinforced by Dan that "you cannot change the future" another reference to Course Correction that Mrs. Hawking (there's that name again!) referred to in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" hmmmm wait...maybe Mrs. Hawking was Mind Traveling too??? Hold the PHONE! Maybe the chalkboard is referring to Mrs. Hawking and NOT Steven Hawking! Is Dan related to Mrs. Hawking? woaaaaaaa And then...does Dan know Desmond's former Monk friend/boss? Ahhh crazy crazy crazy!
• Anyway, with the course correction comments, we are reinforcing PREDESTINATION on LOST. Anything that is changed in the past will ultimately be corrected to provide the same future. Remember Desmond trying to save Charlie? Yep, exactly.

2004

• Let's return to present day for a sec shall we? Keemee and Omar come in to interrupt Dez's conversation with Dan. Frank tries to explain to them what's going on. They are furious that Frank let Dez and Faraday talk "Faraday can't even help himself!" A reference is made to taking Frank to the Captain. Whom Sayid also wants to see. Hmmm something tells me this Captain is going to be a character we're going to need to know a little better. Do you think it might be someone we already know?
• George Minkowski gets wind of Desmond's name. He then provides us with some answers that we've been trying to piece together since that season 3 finale. He revealed he is the Communications Officer on the freighter. The freighter folk picked up Penny's various attempts to contact Desmond (which Charlie gets once the Rousseau's message is stopped at the radio tower). George was ordered never to pick up the call. But someone on the ship did their homework on Penelope Widmore. Just like they did their homework on the Flight 815 crew. Could this explain why Naomi was carrying a picture of Dez and Penny? It doesn't explain how they got that EXACT picture!
• George also talks about how he's been cursed with the Time travel bug. He and a fellow freighter, Brandon got bored out of their minds waiting for their next instructions and wanted to see the island. They took a boat from the freighter and started heading that way. But before they got there Brandon started acting strange. He ended up in a body bag. And George is heading that way too.

1996

• '96 Dan explains to Desmond, after Eloise died, that eventually the time shifts become exponentially shorter until you die. The only way to kill the shift is to find a constant. Something that is familiar to you in both eras. We already knew where this was going right? PENNY!!!
• Desmond leaves Oxford and heads to London to find Charles Widmore (ahhh finally! we're getting somewhere with Widmore!). We enter an Auction for paraphernalia from the BLACK ROCK!!! Woaaaa. In particular, the 1st Mate's Journal which contains information never revealed to the public. We get information that the Black Rock set sail March 22, 1845. The Journal was found in Madagascar 7 years later. Book has "Ledger" on the binding. (2/21/2019 - Edited thanks to comments!)  So Madagascar is in the Indian Ocean. Bali' is in the Indian Ocean. The expedition crew that found FAKE Flight 815 was in search of the Black Rock. But if they're in the Pacific Ocean...how did the Black Rock end up on the island? And why was the journal in Madagascar?
  
• Oh right, the former owner of the Journal? Tovard Hanso! A descendant of Alvar? Whomever it is...we finally have linked Charles Widmore to the Hanso Corporation which thus links to DHARMA! We will learn later this episode that Penny knows about the island through research. Through her father's research? Our speculations are TRUE! Widmore is involved! FREIGHTER level of Involvement?? Well...not quite sure about that yet.
• Charles and Dez have their meeting. Charles doesn't seem terribly disappointed to see Desmond. In fact he gives him Penny's address. He does make a few snide remarks that Penny has moved on and she will tell you herself. But he isn't at the point yet where he FORBIDS Desmond to see his daughter. (Season 2 finale - Our First Desmond flashback)

2004

• Desmond, back in 2004, realizes he must get in contact with Penny. Apparently, George tells usk, something happened on the freighter where the communications room was destroyed. Based on the Producer's comments of the strike abbrevited season, we might not find out WHY until season 5. Anyway, we all know Sayid can work magic with wires and electronics, so they head towards the door and realize it's open. George mentions that they "must have a friend on this boat" Hmmmm Walt? Michael? Frank? Frank was visiting the captain. So perhaps whoever Ben's contact is...is the one that opened the door?
• George eventually spaces out and it's too late for him...his time traveling causes his death. RIP George, we barely knew ya...even if we've heard of you since the end of season 3!
• They get to the control room and Sayid mentions he will have something up in running in a "few minutes." That's Sayid for you! Have I mentioned how patient and understanding Sayid was through this entire episode even though Desmond was acting completely nuts?
• As mentioned before, it is indicated that it is Christmas Eve. And apparently, the ENHANCED LOST episode that aired prior to "The Constant" indicated that 93 days have passed on the island. So Jack must've just estimated to 100 days. MERRY CHRISTMAS LOSTIES!!!
• Sayid mentions that he needs Desmond to remember a phone number to contact Penny. But he doesn't! CUE TIME TRAVEL!

1996

• Desmond heads to Penny's address 423 (the numbers yet again) Cheyne Walk. Just thought I'd point out that 4 and 23 are indeed 2 of our infamous numbers!
• Man what did we do prior to the Penny/Dezzy storyline? What did we have to look forward to? This is powerful stuff! Desmond explains to Penny how he knows it's over but he just needs her phone number so that he can call her in 8 years on December 24, 2004. As much as she tries to resist. She DOES give it to him. And Desmond keeps his promise not to contact Penny until that date. Even though we know Penny contacted him at the stadium where Desmond meets Jack.

1996/2004

• Desmond returns to 2004, nose bleeding and all, with a phone number. Sayid mentions the "perfect timing" which I couldn't help but laugh when he said it. That Iraqi dude just cracks me up!
• And then if you didn't cry during this scene (or almost cry) you're not human! Penny picks up the phone! Past Desmond leaves Penny's house realizing that everything is fixed. Present Desmond returns and realizes where he is and who Sayid is and tells Penny what's been going on. Penny tells Dez she knows about the island. She's been researching and looking for him for 3 years and when she talked to Charlie she knew she wasn't crazy. And that she won't give up her search. They express their love for each other. And then the battery dies. GREAT SCENE!
• Desmond finds his constant and now he's perfect. Does that mean his POST Hatch "SIDE EFFECTS" are now at an end? Sounds like it. For now at least.
• So, let's tie the PENNY events together shall we? Penny says she's been looking for Desmond for 3 years (which was our speculation after the season 2 finale when she said "with enough money and determination you can find anyone") .....she also says in the recent episode "i know about the island" so she must've done research on the electro-magnetic activity too, because that's what she was looking for. And then of course...once they detected this she had an idea of where she should be directing her lines of communication which at the end of season 3 we see reaches the eyes and ears of charlie. Yet, also apparently was reaching the freighter folk too. Enter Desmond/Penny's picture that Naomi had. So what on earth happened here? I think I'm repeating myself from up above, but I'm too lazy to check! Was Naomi really looking for Desmond? Was that her mission? Or was that her cover before she knew Flight 815 was there? But then again, she asked Abbaddon "What if there are survivors of flight 815?" So she must've known they crashed there. Yikes..

END SCENE

When all is said and done, we see Dan looking through his journal only to come to a page that said "If Anything Goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant" BOOM LOST! Well, he sure looked surprise to see that note didn't he? More Paradoxes???? Yikes! I'm not even going to try to analyze it. Because it sounds like we have more time traveling for Dan ahead of us. If you want to look at some pages of the journal, feel free!

Closing Questions
(instead of Coffin watch this week)

Someone shared with me a very excellenet observation. You know how we saw Desmond, George, and heard about Brandon going nuts and getting SICK from the eyes of everyone else? Well, what if this is what Rousseau was referring to when her people got sick and she killed them? Woaaa....George did mention that it would happen to everyone that went to the island. But why hasn't it impacted all of our 815ers? Does it have to do with traveling to the island by Boat? That's how Desmond got there, how Rousseau's people got there, AND how George/Brandon were getting there. Ahhhh interesting. DISCUSS!
Quick note: we're back to getting 8 episodes prior to the break, so we have 3 more to look forward to before the end of April! That's it folks. Sorry for the novel. I'm sure you were all wondering how on earth I was going to recap this episode. By doing exactly what I did. Pretty much re-writing the script! Lots of crazy Time Travel elements to this one. And I look forward to seeing what you guys came up with. CUE CDSTEDMAN's Copy/Paste NOW! lol See you next week everyone!
Disclaimer: Many thanks again to Sledgeweb (lost.cubit.net) for always having the ability to capture so many wonderful screen stills from the show! If I had the technology to do it myself, you bet I would! But since I don't, it's nice to know someone out there does!

LOST: Season 4 Episode 4 - Eggtown

WOW!!! Just thought I'd get that out of the way up front. This was one solid episode of LOST, wouldn't you all agree? A nice balance of plot movement, more mystery, but a little dash of information to change/confirm all of our theories just a bit. Knowing that there is a season 4 conclusion in our near future is also comforting as we continue trucking through the "FREIGHTER FOLK"/"FLASH FORWARD" ERA of LOST. In the last blog's comments, I posted a link to the most recent interview with Executive Producers Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse. I highly recommend the read. Some of what they said, as it usually does, may influence some of my comments in this blog. But I assure you, nothing they said will take away or spoil anything about the show...merely add to your viewing enjoyment and lessen your viewing frustration. Something to note: The producers confirmed that Wikipedia is a major source in naming their characters! That makes me feel a lot better of referencing a site where anyone can make up the info you find there! Also, might be worth noting that CANE (the CBS show and stealer of Nestor Campbell "Richard Alpert") has been cancelled! I apologize for anyone out there who was a huge fan, but come on....RICHARD might come back this season! Anyway, enough of my blabbing...I know why you're all here. Let's pack our bags and move into EGGTOWN!

Kate's Mission at the Barracks

When one googles the term "Eggtown" all you get is a bunch of hits on LOST episode 4! So, I am not sure if the LOST brains had any significance to this term besides the fact that TEAM Locke have domesticated themselves in OTHERSVILLE (The Barracks) and we open up with Locke cooking the last two eggs (is that because he slaughtered the chicken?). While Locke has created a "I'm not going to Kill anyone" dictatorship at the Barracks, it turns out Kate stayed behind for a specific reason. Here's what happened/what we learned last night:

• We open up with Locke cooking breakfast and bringing it to one of his prisoners, good ol' Ben. He relocated Ben to Ben's own basement (where Locke spent some time before becoming reacquainted with is father). Ben does his work to get into Locke's head one more time. "Here we are just like old times, except I'm locke in a different room and you're more LOST than ever" ahhhh. How true it is. Very reminiscent of season 2 when "HENRY" at the time tried to create tension between Locke and Jack as we see Locke leave and show his frustration with the fine china! Mr. Locke is always looking for the island to show him his next move. And without direction, he is very vulnerable.
• We have been introduced to a few more literary "masterpieces" that we should all add to our library (well, I never get into that level of obsessiveness!) Locke hands Ben "VALIS" by Phillip K. Dick. Wikipedia (thanks again Darlton for allowing me to freely reference this!) states that it's some science fiction novel dealing with Horselover Fat. Kate loves black horses???? Yeah, I'm not gonna look into this too much! We later see Sawyer finally having some new literature to read. He picked up "The Invention of Morel"). I stole this plot synopsis from Sledgeweb: "A fugitive hides on a deserted island somewhere in Polynesia. Tourists arrive, and his fear of being discovered becomes a mixed emotion when he falls in love with one of them. He wants to tell her his feelings, but an anomalous phenomenon keeps them apart." Well that sounds eerily way too familiar doesn't it?
  
• We pretty much see Kate trying to get information and closure on her Island quest this episode. We find out that Sawyer isn't the only (if any) reason that she stayed behind. Bottom line is she was trying to get information from Miles on what he knew about her. I guess she wanted to see what would be waiting for her if she were to be rescued.
• But her quest wasn't as simple as merely confronting Miles. First of all she had to find Miles, which Locke wasn't giving up so easily. Problem solved: Hurley is bringing Miles food, Kate tricks him. We're introduced to a creepy shack called "The Boathouse" I wonder if this is near where the SUB was? However Miles isn't ready to give up info. He wants 1 minute with Ben. yikes!
• Kate then recruits Sawyer into talking to/tricking Locke into bringing him down to the boathouse. But Kate as already taken Miles to see Ben. And boy what an exchange we saw. Miles is willing to stay quiet and tell everyone looking for Ben that he is already dead. But he wants 3.2 Million dollars. Followed by comments like "Don't treat me like I'm one of them. I know who you are!" Geez...I sure would like to know who Ben is! I thought he was just a tortured Kid with Daddy issues that grew up only to conspire and kill a bunch of people he lived with. But nooooo...he has to be some millionaire playboy with all different types of passports, assuming different aliases (no wonder he could pull off being HENRY so well) and lots of different foreign currency who knows how to remove bullets! Well, what on earth is going on here? The last thing Miles says to Ben is that he wants the cash in 1 week. Ben had requested to be removed from his current captive situation. And why does Miles want exactly 3.2 million dollars?
• Miles gave a brain dump of info to Kate. Told her she's a fugitive and her whole backstory. Suggested that she stayed on the island. He also mentioned that they knew EVERYONE's story from the manifest. Hmmm...how long has that freighter been there? Is it possible that Ben has been getting his information on our castaways on these people from his man on the freighter? I just assumed that Mikhail and the Flame station was his source, as well as his off-island investigators. Maybe not???
• Other things to note: very "non-subtle" scene with Claire, Kate and Aaron that was meant to foreshadow a future scene (and Future means a whole different thing in the LOST world!)
• Hurley Comedy: the wink to Sawyer when Kate visits. Not to mention him watching Xanadu! And Sawyer's new nickname for him "Montezuma" when his new roommate flushed the toilet.
• Kate's not pregnant but she got a reaction from Sawyer of huge relief. Sawyer gets all fired up and makes a comment that she'll come running back to him after she's done with Jack. And man did she lay one huge smackdown on Sawyer! Yep SKATERS, I think Sawyer and Kate are through for now, if not ever!
• Oh yeah...how about Locke pulling the pin out of grenade and sticking it in Miles's mouth? He introduced himself and said he's responsible for the well-being of this island. And he demands information from Miles about who he is and who the boat people are why they're so interested in Ben. But for awhile he's going to let Miles sit there with a grenade in his mouth, having to chew down to not explode. Wow John...I underestimated you! We'll see if that gets us any info!
• I guess we also need to note that when Sawyer did go talk to Locke, they played some Backgammon, Locke's favorite Island past-time. It's difficult to tell if Sawyer was helping Kate or really just playing both sides to lookout for himself. But Kate DID mention she didn't trust Sawyer.
• In the end though, Locke banishes Kate from his happy encampment. And while Sawyer tried to "UNBANISH" her, Kate had already made up her mind that she was going to the beach. And what we see in her flashes, she is willing to deal with her past in the future!

Communications Issues

Jack, Juliet, Dan and Charlotte return to the beach. Communication with the freighter has ceased causing a stir among the Jack followers. Drama ensues:

• We revisit Sun and Jin (oh they're on this show? Totally Forgot!). Jin's english is coming along quite nicely. He's looking for places to settle in America. But Sun decides she wants to raise HER baby in Korea. To which Jin asks..."you mean our baby?" Well we confirmed the baby is Jin's, so I'm not sure where they were going with this. Of course Jin still doesn't know that the child and Sun are in danger by staying on the island. (Which still leads me to believe that at LEAST Sun is one of the Oceanic 6, but who knows??)
• Jack is trying to get in touch with Sayid and Desmond on the freighter but the phone is not working. Juliet jokingly asks to try calling a different number. Apparently we may learn next week how exactly the satellite phone works and what it can and can't call.
• So Dan and Charlotte begin their Island investigation by playing with some cards. We see Dan guessing what 3 cards are in front of him. When Dan guesses 2 out of 3, Charlotte states that he's improving but Dan only gets more frustrated. Reminds me of Swan Orientation video and their whole interest into parapsychology. Which also brings a little bit of Walt to mind and his ability to see things in his mind and then make them happen. Dan's Guesses: Queen of Diamonds, 6 of Clubs, Red 10 of Hearts. Got the 1st 2, but the 3rd one was 3 of Spades. Why would he say RED 10 of hearts? Probably looking too much into it! Well readers...you're much smarter than me...analyze this scene!
• Charlotte reveals another number that should only be used in emergencies to which Juliet states this IS an emergency. They call up Regina who is confused and concerned that they are using the number. But the biggest concern that comes to mind is that the chopper never arrived to the freighter. Uh oh....Dan did warn them to stick to a bearing...and based on the previews for next week...it doesn't look like the island is going to allow that to be an easy task. Who knows WHERE or WHEN they are now??? If only Doc Brown was there to save them!

The Trial of Katherine Ann Austen

Well no sense in denying it anymore. Kate is officially one of the Oceanic 6. Of course, from the producer's interview, they never really meant for this to be a shocker. We were supposed to assume she was one of the 6. So, then the question is...if the promos say we would reveal another member of the 6 in this episode, should we be assuming the twist at the end has revealed another member? I have tons of questions on that little scene, but we have to build up to it first! Kate has been off the island for some time, but still hasn't been imprisoned for her crimes. I guess we can assume that the Court system is flawed and it's taking time to get her case to the stand. Here's what went down:

• During her POST-island life, Kate has become one of the world's most famous faces. She has become a Hero but she hasn't answered yet for her past crimes. Her lawyer tried to make a case for her character and not for the evidence of her past. Kate pleaded not guilty to her list of offences. She ends up having to serve time in jail until the court hearing.
• Kate is offered various types of settlements but all include jail time which she didn't want. And reveals that she has a son she needs to take care of. Throughout the episode we are meant to wonder what is going on with this son. Was she pregnant by Sawyer? or perhaps even Jack??? And of course that non-subtle scene with Claire led me to think other things as well.
• But we continue on with the charade of the trial. Kate's mother is the main witness against her due to the fact that Kate confessed her crime. But Kate's lawyer tries to sell her character to the judges. They bring in none other than Jack Shephard to the stand. And we are given another brain dump of information. Yes folks...the "STORY" that the Oceanic 6 are sticking to.
  
  Here's how it goes:
  September 22, 2004 Kate (Miss Austen) and I were both passengers on flight 815 which crash landed in the South Pacific. Jack learned eventually that Kate was a fugitive, but not from the air marshall who died in crash...Jack never spoke to him. Miss Austen told her. Jack never asked if she was guilty. He assumed there had been some kind of mistake. Only 8 survived the crash, landed in water. Jack was hurt pretty badly. If it weren't for Kate he would've never made it to the shore. She took care of all of them. She found water, found food, shelter. She tried to save the other 2 but they didn't make it.
  
  Kate stops Jack at this point, clearly pained by the lies Jack is telling.
  
  Prosecution begins:
  "Do you love the defendent?" Judge allows the question... Jack's response "No, not anymore" Jaters begin to cry :-(
• Wow...more questions now right?? Only 8 survived the crash? Who are the 6 (we know most of them), who are the 2 that they claim died (could one be Claire who gave birth to Aaron then died? oh right..we're not there yet. ) The public at large still believe the plane is in the bottom of the ocean...but off the coast of Bali. Isn't that more in the Indian Ocean than the Pacific Ocean? I'm sure this isn't meant to be looked into...but I thought I should raise it. So that is one big whopper of a story they're telling. And we still don't know why and WHO everyone involved is. Stay tuned!
• Oh yeah...guess what? Kate's Mom is still alive. Last we saw her (chronologically), she was in a hospital and not looking too good. She cried for help at the sight of Kate and they never saw each other since. Kate's Mom mentions that she's had 6 months to live for 4 years and something has kept her going. Yikes...how long has it's been? Kate's mom may have been sick for awhile before the crash. But the child we see at the end looks a bit older. Could they possibly have been off the island for YEARS before the trial? And then the question is..how much time is passing on the island as they are OFF of the island? Anyway, Kate's mom pretty much says she doesn't want to testify anymore as she's had a change of heart from the Oceanic 6 stories and she wants to see her Grandson. Kate refuses to let her see the grandson...but Mom still sticks to the story.
• The story that saves Kate from prison time: Kate saved 5 others people on an island. Nearly starving to death. Rescued her mother from an abusive husband.
• The Deal Kate accepts: Time Served, plus 10 years probation as long as she doesn't leave the state. She doesn't plan on leaving since she wants to raise her child.
• When Kate is secretly leaving the building. Jack runs into her noting that the lawyer owed him one (I'm guessing because he took the stand, but maybe more?). Kate mentions that Jack has told the STORY so many times she feels he's starting to believe it. Jack told Kate he didn't mean what he said on the stand about not loving her. JATERS begin to cheer! Kate, very excited by this, tries to convince Jack to come home with her to see the baby (whom we still are meant to think is Sawyer's at the time). Kate understands why Jack doesn't want to see the child, but refuses to "HAVE COFFEE" or "Get caught in a net" until Jack comes to terms with the situation. Jack is not ready...but Kate leaves an open invitation. (much different than eons later with Bearded Jack not being able to get ahold of Kate but finally does)
• We follow Kate to her house which she seems to have been residing at for some time. Her MAID welcomes her home and says she's been taking care of the child. We go upstairs into the child's bedroom....and we see a child of 3 or 4 years old? And his name is........AARON! dum dum dummmmmmmm BOOM LOST!
  
• Anyone else get flashbacks to season one when Claire was giving birth and Kate made the cheesy (at the time) comment "This is not just your baby..this is all of ours!" Wow...talk about foreshadowing! Anyway...I must tip my hat to some of our readers here who suggested that the "HE" Kate refers to in our season 3 finale might have been Baby Aaron when she said "he's going to wonder where I am." It sure looks like that's the case now. But now that we know it's a fact....what does this mean? What happened to Claire? Desmond sees Claire getting on a helicopter in a vision. Is that vision still going to come true? We find out this week that Desmond and Sayid aren't doing too well on their chopper journey. And of course...why doesn't Jack want to see Aaron? Does he know that Aaron is his nephew? (for the slow people out there, Jack and Claire are half-brother/sister but don't know it yet. Christian Shephard is their father) Did something happen to Claire that would make it painful for him to see Aaron? Or is it the situation that they're in that causes it? Remember when the psychic (whom we still don't know if he's the real deal or not) Malkin tells Claire that only SHE can raise the baby and if not the child could turn out to be EVIL? Great danger surrounds the raising of this child. Yikes.....How far into the future are we going to go and will Aaron return to save the island?? Is Aaron Jacob? (yeah just thought I'd throw something crazy like that in there!) More realistically, is Aaron a descendent of Jacob?? How do people believe Kate has a son? Do they think SHE gave birth or that she's adopting. Is claire one of the 8 that survived the crash (in the fake story) but didn't survive ON the island...but was able to give birth and Kate took on Aaron as if he was her own son? There's no way Kate could've gotten pregnant on the island and given birth unless they were there for a lot more time, right? I don't think they're going in that direction. YIKES. Lots and lots of questions. I don't even think I asked them all. Anyone else have some?

Crazy crazy fantasically good episode! And wow...does the preview for next week look awesome or what? Look closely at the last scene. It is a beardless Desmond talking to Dan! More crazy time traveling? A prior flashback connection? From what I hear next week's episode does mess with Time and was hard to write/produce....but they think they have a winner on their hands. Should be fun!

Coffin Watch

• I liked my Ben theories last week with the Aliases. I have nothing to add this week, as it's definitely not Aaron in the coffin. Still a chance for Michael or Walt. But the news I do have to share is that the producers confirmed that they know they owe us the answer to this prior to season 4's end!

Well, I didn't think I was going to get to this recap today. But I really don't know how I would've been able to let a great episode like this pass us by. Hope you all enjoyed my ramblings.

Please note that we have a new domain name for our favorite blog site. Much easier to remember. Pass it on and don't be bashful! http://www.lostaddictsblog.com/ The old URL will still work if you have it book marked. Also, please feel free to sign up for a Feed of the Blog or for an Email update (in the right hand column) when a blog is posted. We're getting sophisticated here at the LOST ADDICTS blog!

See you all next week!

Disclaimer: Many thanks again to Sledgeweb (lost.cubit.net) for always having the ability to capture so many wonderful screen stills from the show! If I had the technology to do it myself, you bet I would! But since I don't, it's nice to know someone out there does!

LOST: Season 4 Episode 3 - The Economist

Whew...Happy Post V-Day everyone! As I stated last week, I'm a little late getting started on this thing. But, I didn't watch the show until around midnight so I think everyone can understand I needed some sleep to provide proper analysis of one crazy episode of LOST! They are unloading new mysteries on us at record pace, but...as always, I was digging it! The one thing I need to adjust to is the quicker pace of the show with these abbreviated seasons (and a defined target end date). Our Islanders seem to be finding their way across the island to its various locales very efficiently, in comparison to prior seasons where it seemed to take everyone 3 episodes to get across the island (or multiple days on the island). Yet sure enough...last night's episode all seemed to happen in an afternoon! Granted, with some new "LOST TIME" elements developing in "The Economist" maybe we're supposed to be picking up on this! But I doubt it! Anyway, I'm willing to look past the time constraints for a good story! And, I know the LOST brains are heading somewhere great! After letting the impact of this episode set in overnight, I will go ahead and stamp this episode with my WOW approval rating (really, does this mean anything anymore? I give every episode a WOW!).

So basically this episode delved a little more into the mystery of the Freighter Folk's REAL objective on the island. Some Locke and Sayid play a chess game with their "hostages" and another member of the Oceanic 6 has been revealed (a correct prediction of mine!). Let's dive into the episode and see if we can sort out all of the craziness! Since the cast was moving around to all different locations, I'm going to break the storyline down into locations and the flash forward. Let's see how that works!

Jacob's House

Team Locke arrives at the circle of ash where Locke originally encountered Jacob's house. But guess what? The house ain't there! We know that Hurley saw it in a totally different location and it seemed to be hopping around. What is that all about? This Jacob guy is starting to drive me nuts! Here are a few things to note:

• New Sawyer nickname for Ben: Gizmo (Fantastic! Yoda was pretty good last week too)
• We see Hurley begins to show doubts of his decision to go with Locke. He is not a big fan of being involved in a hostage situation.
• Sawyer talking about torturing Ben to give up the name led to another great exchange (let's start with the big toe and send that piggy to market, then move onto the roast beef!)
• Locke gets scared when Jacob's house isn't there. He doesn't know what to do next. He is still being driven by any directions the island gives him. But he did come up with the hostage situation at the barracks all by himself. And everyone was willing to listen!

The Barracks

Sayid, Kate and Miles head to the barracks (in record time considering Ethan couldn't make it to the crash site from the barracks until nightfall and the chopper is only an hour from the crash site. oh well! on with the story!) to get Charlotte. Hurley plays his role in the trickery by saying he was left behind. Sawyer captures Kate, and Locke gets Sayid when Kate screams for help. Can't they all just get along???

• Sawyer states to Kate his intentions of staying on the island. And he questions what Kate wants to go back so badly for? In so many words, Sawyer says he wants to live a happy life on the island with Kate. awwwww just like on Little House? I was just glad Sawyer finally addressed the big question of why Kate wants to leave the island so much with her Jail-bound. Granted, we didn't hear Kate's response, but she definitely didn't go back to Jack afterwards. Apparently, the jail thing IS a big concern for Kate. I'm confused why she was willing to leave then! (and of course, why she eventually does!)
• Loved Hurley's one liner about Miles calling him Tubby "Oh great, the boat sent another Sawyer!"
• Sayid discovers a secret room in Ben's house. Looks like Ben has quite a Jason Bourne thing going on. Lots of passports, and various amounts of currency from all over the world. Ben has been doing some traveling, but why and of course...HOW??
  
• The passport suggest's Ben's Alias is Dean Moriarity. Here is a wikipedia reference on the name
  
  "Dean Moriarty is one of the protagonists in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. Dean grew up in Colorado with a hobo/bum for a father for whom he searches on many occasions. Dean's fanatic personality races from journey to journey and pulls other people along. His various fixations include drugs, women, intellectualism and finally, his father and family life. His marriage and divorce with Camille and Mary Lou and his last affair with Inez are a few examples of his romantic entanglements." Also said that the novel suggests that Moriarity is the great grandson of Sherlock Holmes's rival Professor Moriarity. Sounds like just another literary reference. But the FATHER fixation fits ben.
• Sayid and Ben, as Lockian prisoners, have an interesting discussion prior to Locke arriving. Seemed pretty inconsequential at the time. But may hold more weight after certain other scenes transpired! But loved Ben's "I owe Locke a dollar" line. They are executing their one-liners at great success!
• Like this one too: Ben has a contact on their boat. Sayid "who is it" Ben "it's a secret" hysterical!
• Anyway, Sayid and Locke continue their chess game and end up trading "prisoners." Should be fun to see crazy Miles interacting with Sawyer, Ben, Hurley, Locke and crew.

Helicopterland!

Jack is pretty much in a holding pattern for most of this episode, giving out orders and remaining behind to hang out with the Freigher guys. He sends Kate with Sayid saying Sawyer won't let anything happen to her. (The irony of Jack getting left behind and Kate enjoying it was a good time. And Jack had some good comebacks also. Ahhh gotta love Jack and Kate scenes. There weren't many of those in season 3!) Jack also disperses Juliet to go get Desmond (in 2 hours) because of the picture Naomi was carrying. What is their real objective? Well the freighter guys are sticking to their story that they didn't know.

• As for them trying to get Ben? Miles says he doesn't know who Ben is, he was told by the people that hired him to find him. Doesn't sound like Miles has any vendetta against Ben. But why was he so fired up about it then last episode?
• Loved when Sayid told Jack he'd like to avoid bloodshed when dealing with Locke referencing Psycho Jack's pulling of the trigger at Locke's head. "That is not good diplomacy!"
• I am a little confused at why it took them so long to ask them about Naomi's relationship to Penny. They all had to have known about the picture before unless Desmond only dished the firt to Charlie, Jin and Hurley. But we always assume eventually everyone gets brought into the loop. Especially when you're bringing a whole crew to a radio tower while keeping some behind to go drown or kill others. Surely, you would bring up how the people on the freighter are within 6 degrees of Desmond? Oh well, it's a TV show right???
• Jack (oops it was Desmond!! )did start questioning Frank and he said that Naomi was ranking officer, they didn't discuss things. I'm still thinking they all had their own mission on the island.
  
  (REVISED SINCE ORIGINAL POSTING) Actually Desmond questioned Frank and when Desmond said "i'm going to ask you one more time...tell me you never heard the name Penelope Widmore" Both Frank and Dan looked at each other with a concerned look....but made no comment. HMMMMMMM interesting!
• Dan conducts experiment with all his crazy gizmos. Before we get into the experiment. How about all of this Mankowski/Regina stuff going on? Frank said "if Mankowski answers...hang up" Dan wanted to talk to Regina. Last episode Miles wanted to talk to Mankowski and NOT Regina. What is going on over there???
• Anyway, Dan asks Regina to fire a payload towards his coordinates. They timed it....Regina kept noting the distance of when it was supposed to get there but it didn't until 31 minutes later. Anyone get a Back to the Future flashback here? You know when Doc sent Einstein (his dog) 1 minute into the future? This had to be an homage to that scene with the clocks side by side and the difference..but at the same time further expanding out understanding of the crazy time elements of this island.
  
• Dan later warns Frank to head out on the same exact bearing they came in on. Remember when Ben told Michael and Walt to take a specific bearing when they left the island? Based on the experiment, what if somehow both Michael AND Walt aged or went to the future or something? I dunno....so bizarre. Does Island transcend times? Does this tie into Desmond's visions of the future? Yikes...seems like we're finally getting somewhere with that. But not quite yet!
• When Sayid returns with just Charlotte (no Miles and Kate), Frank at first seemed concerned but then noted his disgust for Miles. These 4 people seem to all be there for their own purpose.
• Speaking of which, when heading back to the freighter, Charlotte and Dan decide to stay. They say they have work to do. We know Dan has already begun conducting his experiments on Time. We can only hope that he comes to some resolution with that! And we know Charlotte has a DHARMA/Polar Bear fixation, so we'll see if that heads somewhere!
• Sayid, Desmond, and Frank take Naomi's body and head back to freighter. My big question is...are we ever going to see this freighter??? With things moving so quickly on this show, I guess we may find out soon enough!
  

Flash Forward

• Sayid is one of the Oceanic 6! Can I get a pat on the back please? Thanks! We did not see him linked to Nadia yet as I suspected (since she was in LA in that last Locke flashback we saw), but I guess it's always a possibility in an another Flash Forward at an earlier date? We don't know exactly when this flashforward takes place in relation to the other ones. But it seems like Sayid has been on his current mission for quite some time.
• Sayid mentions he was a recipient of a large settlement from the Oceanic Mess. So this begs the question, did Hurley end up with a large amount of money too even though he didn't want it? Was Kate a benefactor of a large settlement with her past record allowing her to be motivated again to leave the island? Based on the preview for next week, doesn't look like Kate is in hiding! yikes! I'm getting ahead of myself.
• Sayid is taking orders from a mysterious man to kill people on a list. Well, we sure know who likes making lists don't we? Anyway we'll get to that in a bit. Who are these people on the list? The guy at the golf course (Mr. Averdale?? Couldn't make that one out) looked really nervous once Sayid revealed he was an Oceanic 6er. He also seemed to have a lot of money since they were on some private Golf Course. Are they working their way to a Charles Widmore perhaps???
• Sayid is seen wooing a woman in Berlin the rest of the episode, Elsa. Perhaps a shout-out to the German woman from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? (new teaser trailer is available for Indy 4 btw. Check yahoo!) Sayid is working to get to Elsa's boss (a supposed "Economist" working in emerging markets) but falls for her. Elsa turned out to be working Sayid from their "chance" meeting as well and gets a shot out on him. Sayid survives the shootout but kills Elsa. So was he really going for Elsa's boss or was Elsa the target? I'm thinking he failed his mission to get to her boss. Which again, I ask....Charles Widmore? Who knows? But Sayid's mysterious boss sure wants him dead!
• Elsa was wearing a bracelet that looked very similar to the one that Naomi's corpse was wearing, which had the following inscription "I will always be with you - R.G." So here's a question, were Elsa and Naomi working for the same man? Is Elsa actually wearing Naomi's bracelet? Do we know anyone with the initials R.G.?? It's a good thing lots of people read this thing now, so you can all post comments on your theories! I'm drawing a blank!:
  
• We see a wounded Sayid walk into some kind of Kennel/Vet/Animal testing establishment. It is revealed to us that none other than LIST LOVING Ben is the mastermind. woaaaa. Looks like Ben WILL be able to fix his current imprisonment on the island. So the question is, when did Ben learn how to remove bullets? Who are they working to kill? Is it for the benefit of the Oceanic 815ers as well as the island? Pretty crazy stuff!
• Ben discusses with Sayid not to let woman could his judgment. "These people don't deserve our sympathies" Are we still talking about the same people that are behind the Freighter operations? Elsa wanted to know who Sayid worked for. Are they still trying to get to Ben? What on earth is that Island and what on earth is Ben protecting on it????
• Ben also mentions that Sayid has let love of a woman cloud his judgement before. Sayid mentions that Ben used her to recruit him to killing for her. Who was he referring to? Obviously, something we haven't seen yet. Could it be Nadia? Maybe not, sounds like something that happened on the island (of course, Ben knows how to bring people ONTO the island...see Locke's Dad). Perhaps it's a woman on the freighter since that's where Sayid is going next? or maybe Charlotte? Someone else? Who knows? Turns out Sayid is quite the Iraqi Ladies' Man! Why would Ben turn Sayid into a killing machine, he mentions it's to protect his friends? But Ben sure does love protecting that crazy island. Ahhh the mysteries of LOST!
• Ben states to Sayid that he has another name for him. Sayid states now that he killed Elsa they know he's after them now. Ben creepily says "GOOOOOOD!" Boom....LOST!

Coffin Watch

I'm postponing this discussion until we get something to work with. I guess with Ben being off the island, he IS a possibility. But I still say that neighborhood doesn't suit him! Plus, we see him in Germany in this latest flash forward. But I'm gonna guess they're trekking the globe to hunt these people down. Oh and does Ben have a way to get back to the island? He seems to have traveled back and forth before. Does Jack know Ben is off of the island? Why wouldn't he be looking for him to get back instead of flying everwhere hoping for a crash? Of course, maybe upon hearing of his death....(and we know he goes by many aliases based on the passports...so maybe they found his US Passport that has him living in New York).....Jack realized that his best chance to get back to the island is now gone. Well look at that! We DID have something to talk about! Man I'm good!

Strike Update

Well, in case you guys haven't been following, or at least reading the comments in last week's blog. The Writer's Strike has ended and the LOST crew has a plan!!! Looks like they will continue to air the current string of episodes up until Episode 7 (instead of 8). They suggested that episode 7 is a more logical break point. 4 weeks later they will resume airing 6 episodes for a total of 13 Lost episodes (i'm guessing 2 of them will count as the 2 hour finale). The 3 remaining hours that were supposed to be filmed will not be "LOST" as they will be carried over between seasons 5 and 6. Additional news? Sounds like LOST will assume the 10:00pm EST Timeslot following Grey's Anatomy on Thursday nights. This is GREAT for LOST. Since Grey's is a Ratings Behemoth (well American Idol would be the Behemoth, Grey's would be merely a Giant). But as for people who like to watch Lost on its own night and analyze the hell out of it (like yours truly)....this is a nightmare! I'm sure I'll find a way to manage. I'll have to learn how because it sounds like this might be a permanent location for LOST for the remainder of the show's run! Also, the 13 episodes will cover the story that was meant to be told in 16. So we will still be left with a great cliffhanger at the season's end! Fantastic news! Just wanted to share!

That's it folks! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always. As stated before, I am out of town...so I probably won't be responding to many comments. But, I'm guessing the hit count will be lower today considering most people were out with their Valentine's last night and not watching LOST! The horror! See you next week as we reveal one more member of the Oceanic 6!

Disclaimer: Many thanks again to Sledgeweb (lost.cubit.net) for always having the ability to capture so many wonderful screen stills from the show! If I had the technology to do it myself, you bet I would! But since I don't, it's nice to know someone out there does!

LOST: Season 4 Episode 2 - Confirmed Dead

Welcome back Losties! Isn't it just a wonderful feeling to have LOST back in our lives? A great feeling with a hint of anxiety that in 6 more episodes, we're going to get a line like "I have a man on their boat" and then see LOST pop up on the screen and be told "That's it for season 4 folks!" Yikes....The good news is, we might see the strike ending "unofficially" this Saturday after the results of the negotiations are presented to the union. Meaning...writing can commence! How this affects LOST remains to be seen! But after "Confirmed Dead," I can start to see the producers' concerns about leaving the show up-in-the-air mid season. There will be many unhappy fans! But for a 7 day break? I can handle these types of cliffhangers. So what did I think of the episode? I enjoyed it. It's always tough to integrate new faces into the show. We welcomed Desmond, Ben and Juliet as they were integrated pretty seamlessly. Eko was a bada$$ and that was cool with us! Bernard won us over because it was so shocking that he was Rose's husband (and the guy was Mr. Dewitt on Growing Pains come on!) ANA LUCIA? Yikes, can't we just forget that ever happened without Big Mike calling her Gorgeous in season 4? Anyway...here we are introducing 4 more characters (well 5 if you include Abbaddon) very suddenly. But, I liked how they did it. Instead of giving each one their own episode for a backstory (which I fully anticipated), they put it all into ONE episode, giving each one a flashback scene! WELCOME TO THE NEW ABBREVIATED LOST SEASONS folks! No wasting time! That's not saying there won't be more time dedicated to these folks. No telling yet! And sure, there are some bizarre twists going on now and that may frustrate some fans. But for me? I'm with Jack...let's let this thing play out! It's tough for one lost episode to stand on its own. We need to see the whole picture! I'm giving Episode 2 - "Confirmed Dead" a WOW! seal of approval!



Now, on with the show!



Basically tonight, while learning about the FREIGHTER FOLK, Team Jack and Team Locke slowly run into these 4 new characters. Conflicts ensue, Ben continues his trend of getting beaten to a pulp, love triangles (or rectangles) evolve, and lots of blog poster speculations are confirmed! (we have some smart readers!) Let's dive in and see what we find!

THE FREIGHTER CREW FLASHBACKS

Well Kids, it has been confirmed (just like the title of this episode). Naomi wasn't a TOTAL liar. The world at large definitely thinks Oceanic Flight 815 and all of its passengers are at the bottom of the ocean floor in the Sunda Trench off the coast of Bali. Bodies were identified and a huge cover-up is underway. But who is behind the cover-up? It's starting to sound like Oceanic Airlines themselves are behind it! And of course, as we've been discussing since last season...why the cover-up? Apparently, SOMEONE out there didn't want SOMEONE else to be looking for anyone on this island or perhaps the island itself!




For anyone following the FIND815 online LOST game going on, you'll recognize the name of the ship that was involved in finding 815"Christiane I" I wasn't really following it all that closely. But last week the Oceanic ad during Eli Stone suggested that Flight 815 WAS found. And when you went to http://www.flyoceanicair.com/ they had a News Reel covering the finding of the flight.

The finding of FAKE Flight 815 was tied into our first flashback of the night. Let's MEET THE FREIGHTIES shall we?

Before we begin, it might be important to note that all 4 of these people seem obsessed with the news that Flight 815 was found. The significance of this is still a mystery. It may have just been a way to tie the 4 stories together since it was a current event at the time.

1.) Danny Faraday - Played by the French Translator guy from Saving Private Ryan

• Flashback took place in Essex Massachusetts
• We don't learn much of Danny except we do see him crying at the news of Flight 815 being found and he doesn't know why. This may be later explained by the fact that he's a "headcase." After watching this show for 4 years, something tells me there is more to it!

2.) Miles Strum - played by the guy from that episode of the Sopranos with Uncle Junior in the nursing home (in fact, that episode is the very reason he was cast for this role)

• Flashback takes place in Inglewood, California
• Listens to the news of Flight 815 on the radio. Can't tell if he's obsessed with it, or if it just happens to be on the radio.
• Okay, so we find out our buddy Miles is a Ghostbuster (maybe Ghost Whisperer?)? So, looking past the bizarre profession, is this confirming the actual existence of Ghosts in the LOST mythology? Is this hinting that season 4 will begin to uncover the truth around the visions our island folk have been having? (well if it's tied to the smoke monster....we sure didn't get the answer to THAT tonight! more on that later) Well, at this point...all we know is that Miles has a short temper and yep, he talks to ghosts! But I'm convinced, as with anything else in the Lost universe, nothing is as it initially seems. (well then again, Desmond DID see the future! but whatever! It's a crazy island! The DHARMA folks messed with the space time continuum!)
• I was more interested at the picture on the wall that the camera blatantly focused on for awhile. I thought I was going out of my mind when I thought to myself (isn't that Eko as a child??). Sure enough, our friends at Sledgeweb (whom I've never met or associated with!) seem to have seen the relation too. Perhaps Mrs. Gardner is one of those "Adopt an African Child for 10 cents a day" type of people? All we know is that Mrs. Gardner had a child who was murdered and the GHOST was haunting the house. Well, Eko never actually made his way TO America (he was working on it...but that whole flight 815 thing happened!). So I just have one question to the powers that be.....WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON????? Now granted, it might not be Eko. But come on....they used a look-a-like for a reason, didn't they?
  
• Let's see...what else? Well Miles had his own crazy ghost busting machine which seemed to draw out the ghost. But he did talk to GHOST BOY after he turned the machine off too. Just a bizarre little flashback. Not much else to say about it!
• Except we do get confirmation of SOMETHING else in that room when the "ghost" knocks something over near the big pay day that Miles was looking for. A bunch of cash....and some zip locked drugs.
• I would also throw out there that maybe this is all Henry Gale (the real Henry Gale) related, but he's from Minnesota. I have a feeling that we'll be getting some Henry Gale information eventually this season! I mean...why WAS there a balloon on this island with henry all buried under it? As confirmed with this episode, BEN has information....and I'm gonna guess as much as our survivors want to kill the guy, he's going to keep dishing it out whenever he needs to get out of a situation! (gotta love Michael Emerson!)
  

3.) Charlotte Staples Lewis - Or as I like the call her - "Kristen Bell's Replacement" (why did she take that stupid role on Heroes???)

• Flashback takes place in Medenine, Tunisia
• Is seen reading a news paper (in French? Tunisian? What language do Tunisians speak anyway? Looks French!) about the discovery of Flight 815. Also indicates that she still can't believe it and has been reading any paper in any language she can find.
  
• Well besides the fact that we find out Charlotte is LOST's very own Ross Gellar (aka Anthropologist), she discovers the remains of no...not a Dinosaur, but a Polar Bear in the middle of the desert. With none other than a DHARMA Hydra tag with it. Begin Mind Puzzling Now! So what was a Polar Bear doing in Tunisia? What was a Polar Bear doing on the island? It looked like it was dead for a pretty long time too didnt it? Is this to suggest that the DHARMA folks (as indicated before,Dharma folks messing with time!) sent a Polar Bear back in time several (and I mean lots and lots!) years? And if they did....how did they get it to Tunisia at the same time? The only thing I know is that Tunisia is not TOO far from Nigeria (another locale that is obviously Island related...how did that crazy small plane get to the island??). WHERE on earth is this island? everywhere??? (I am still thinking so!) And why is there an upside down city in the latest LOST logo??? (see bottom of Lost Blog). Surely this island is not underground! Maybe we'll find out from the freighters how they found the island. But I'm guessing not, since Future Jack has no idea how to get back!
  
• The other question, did Charlotte finding this Dharma emblem begin her obsession with finding the island? She looked pretty excited to find it, like she'd seen something like it before. Eh...who knows? I'm still with Jack...let's let it play out!
  

4.) Frank Lapidus - Also known as the guy we thought they cast as Jacob. Nope! He's Frank Lapidus...and the producers created this character with Jeff Fahey (the actor) in mind. They even pulled him out of retirement (building orphanages in Afghanistan) to get him to play this role. And well, I like him already!

• Flashback takes place in Eleuthera, Bahamas
• We see Frank playing with a toy plane that looks much like an oceanic plane. I didn't bother to get a screenshot of it, but the Sledgeweb crew claimed to have seen the DHARMA logo on it. I didn't.
• We see more news footage of flight 815 with a phone number: 888-548-0034 - Oceanic Airlines 815 Hotline - Give them a call! Sounds like there could be more info on the way.
• We see the pilot, (now named Seth Norris) or as you all probably know him as Matt from Heroes and also friend of JJ Abrams (starred in Alias). He has a fancy Mustache in his mugshot on the news.
  


• Frank calls up the hotline and gets past the initial screening by saying the guy in the video footage is NOT Seth Norris, a man never seen without his wedding ring. This was enough to get him to some higher authority who tried to convince Frank that it was Seth. This is what made me think Oceanic may be involved in the cover-up too. And then we have to ask how involved is Oceanic in general?
• The big zinger is that Frank was supposed to be flying 815 that day, not Seth! Oooh he's already the most interesting of our Freighter folks! So the big question is...does he feel guilt for not flying that day? Or, did he WANT to be flying that plane because he knew where it was going? Okay, I may have lied earlier....I want another flashback on this guy! And hell bring in Greg Grunberg again to play Seth! And make him wear that mustache!

5.) Naomi

Okay, I read some critic's early reviews of the episode and one in particular discussed a continuity error that would surely fire up Lost fans. I don't know if this one was it but it's the only one I can think of. We got a Naomi flashback even though Naomi is dead (I mean she's definitely dead right???) This would be the first time this has ever happened. Even when we thought Nikki and Paulo were dead and flashing back....we eventually found out that they were merely paralyzed. So, this was a bit interesting. Of course with Miles doing all of his Ghost talking around her...who knows if her PRESENCE was still around??? I'm not going to get overly critical about it! It's a TV show people!!

So, we get some dirt on Naomi. While she wasn't lying about Flight 815 being found and bodies being in the planes, she was lying about how much she knew. It seems that Matthew Abbaddon (the same gentleman that visited Future Hurley in the Nut House) gave Naomi her orders to bring these 4 crazy freighter folk to the island...they each are coming to serve their individual purpose and Naomi's job is to keep them alive and in order to complete the mission.

• Of the 4 profiles placed before Naomi, she notes that none of them have military training, field experience. This would make me think that Naomi DOES (or DID).
• Abbaddon refers to the mission as a High Risk Covert Op in "Unstable Territory" So, they are aware of this island. And they must know where it is. But how and why????
• And what exactly are these 4 people's purposes? Miles the Ghostbuster (investigate the paranormal activity on the island perhaps?), Charlotte the Anthropologist (is she interested in what has happened at the Hydra station over the years?), Danny the Headcase or Physicist (is he going to investigate the magnetism of the island), and Frank the Drunk (which Abbaddon notes is a good pilot. And really...what is his REAL purpose of being there with our knowledge that he was supposed to fly flight 815?).
• And what's up with their mission being to find Ben? That must only be step one. Who are these people really? Naomi crashes on the island with a picture of Desmond and Penny but now we find out they're after Ben? Was Naomi's mission different? And where did they get that picture? Was it photocopied from the picture in Penny's bedroom? Perhaps the Freighter crew is funded by Charles Widmore? But then what does HE know about Ben? So many questions!
• And of course Abbaddon tries to convince Naomi that there were no survivors of Flight 815 and don't ask questions. Naomi responded in a sarcastic way with "I know"....like she had knowledge of the cover-up. So is Abbaddon wondering if the Freighties are still alive when he talks to Hurley....or the Flight 815ers?? or Ben, Juliet, Desmond??? So many ways to go right now! I'm enjoying the ride!

Team Jack

We begin with Jack, Kate and Danny trying to find the rest of Danny's crew. Eventually, suspicions grow and we're joined by Sayid and Juliet. Here's what went down!

• It seems the chopper had some trouble (later there were claims that it was struck by lightning). It would seem anything that gets close to this island seems to malfunction! Naomi's helicopter, Desmond's Sailboat (goes in circles, he got shipwrecked there), the Black Rock, The nigerian drug plane, oh yeah Oceanic Flight 815 (even though the Hatch releasing the electro-magnetic surge caused it)
• Danny appears (as mentioned above) to be a nervous headcase. He can't stay focused on one thing at a time, and tries to be very nice to Jack and Kate (even though his first objective on the island was to load his gun and prepare for the worst). Jack noticing the gun starts to become concerned about their new guests.
• They stumble upon some gear from the Chopper. Okay, so why does this crew have Gas masks? And when we learn that rescue is not their primary objective and eventually learn BEN is. Why do they have gas masks??? Hmmm well some blog commenters are convinced that these people are descendants of Off-Island Dharma folk who want revenge on Ben for the PURGE. Well what's the best revenge than to give him a taste of his own medicine? Remember when he gassed the Dharma folk? This theory would kinda Tie in to Charlotte being pretty interested in seeing that DHARMA logo on the polar bear remains. Still seems like these people were randomly recruited. But there has to be a reason that ties them together! DHARMA may just be it! Let's keep watching!
• In a separate scene we see Juliet and Sayid begin to question their decision to trust the freighter folk. They decide to grab some guns and go after Jack and Kate. Biggest thing to note here is that Juliet believed Ben.
• So then the transponder for Miles comes up on the Sat Phone. And we meet that crazy guy! Confirming more Blog posters correct....Naomi's "Tell my sister I love her" WAS indeed code to signal distress. Very smart readers indeed!
• I liked the irony of Miles giving an example and saying it would be like Jack saying "Tell My Sister I love her" Of course, Jack does have a sister, he just doesn't know it yet!
• Miles takes control of the situation temporarily with his gun and requests to be taken to Naomi's body (mistakenly thinking Kate killed her). Kate does inform Miles of the truth. Which of course Miles is able to confirm by talking to Naomi's ghost! ummmmmmm what is going on????
• Jack is able to regain the situation by winking to Kate. No no...actually he took a page out of the OTHERS handbook and claimed that their crew had Miles and Danny surrounded. (ahh remember the days when we thought Tom was Zeke and he was the chief??) Anyways....the best part of this little transaction was Miles saying "How Stupid do you think I am", the calvary coming in (Sayid/Juliet) guns blazin...and Jack giving the best line he's had since "We have to go back!" "I dunno Miles, How stupid are you?" FANNNNTASTIC! HERO JACK is back!
• Love Rectangle grows a bit here with Juliet and Jack being all flirty and Kate feeling out of the loop. Of course Jack mentioning the wink got Kate to smile a bit. (and of course a little ways away....Sawyer and Ben had words about his decision to leave Kate...we'll discuss that in the TEAM LOCKE section!)
• Okay...so what about Danny noting that the light is strange on the island? Can anyone clear up what he said here? It sounded like he said it doesn't "scatter" quite right??? What on earth does THAT mean?
• When Sayid interrogates Danny (much to Miles's disgust)....Danny mentions he's a physicist. Miles also reacts sarcastically to being questioned about not being surprised to see Flight 815 survivors. So, apparently these guys were in the loop about the survivors. If Abbaddon was telling Naomi "THERE WERE NO SURVIVORS" you would think she was supposed to keep info from these 4 people. Did she tell them anyway? Or did they know something already? Or did just MILES know something? Or does Miles just not care?
• After Locke and crew find Charlotte, they send her transponder back with Vincent (poor Vincent! if only they knew he could talk to Dead Chief Surgeons!)
• We then meet Frank Lapidus whose satellite phone is busted. He shoots off a flare and is found by Jack and crew. He also saw a Cow (actually probably a bull)...must've been from the Flame station?
• Lapidus, in talking to Juliet figures out he wasn't on the plane. What was up with him memorizing the manifest? Was it because he is so distraught over not flying flight 815? Or was it because that was an assignment?
• In any case they called Juliet a native and eventually it is revealed that they want Benjamin Linus and Miles even shows a picture. The biggest thing to note of this picture is that it appears that Ben has traveled off of the island as well. This doesn't look like the island. So what was he doing in his off-island venture?
  
• Oh yeah...and Frank was able to land the Chopper!!! And Sayid...who must've downloaded helicopter knowledge into his head MATRIX style, informed everyone that the Helicopter will most certainly fly! Frank indicated to Miles that they would take Naomi's body on the "next run" Do they really intend to rescue everyone after they're done? Or is this all one big lie?
  

Team Locke

So Locke and his followers are heading to the Barracks. But midway through their journey Locke indicates they need to go to a cabin. They stumble upon a Freighter folk, conflict ensues! Here's what went down!

• Remember last week when I noted that it appeared Locke didn't see the rain storm coming? Well everything was back to normal this week as he predicted when it would end! I wonder if the island was reacting to its new visitors? It rained the morning after Naomi arrived too. I dunno..probably a stretch. But I'm still perplexed how Locke can figure out the rain patterns!
• When Locke says he wants to go to a cabin, Hurley mentions that he thought it was the other way to which Locke and Ben look very surprised. So now I'm a bit confused at what happened last week with seeing Locke's eye in the shack. Maybe Locke wasn't involved in that whole scene. But then...how did Locke DISAPPEAR from the Radio Tower? Argggh this show is nuts! The answers will come, I must keep telling myself this!
• Nickname alert - Sawyer calls Locke Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando's character in Apocalypse Now - a leader who has supposedly gone insane). Glad the nicknames are back!
• We get our first IN EPISODE confirmation that WALT was supposed to look older! Locke said he got his orders from a taller looking Walt. Eventually Sawyer calls him Taller Ghost Walt. So perhaps this goes along with the whole messing with time thing again? We know the producers told us they would be able to explain Walt aging. We'll just have to stay tuned on how this one evolves!
• Walt told him to stop Naomi from bringing other people to island. And Locke did what he was told.
• One more time, Blog Readers and the LOST community in general got Locke's survival from a gunshot pegged correctly as he was shot right through his missing kidney. Thanks Anthony Cooper!!!
• Locke claims to keep Ben alive because they need his information and he doesn't want to kill him in front of Alex.
• How about Karl growin a set and pulling a gun out on Mr. Linus? Loved Ben's response "Kaaaaaarl, If you're sleeping with my daughter I insist you call me Ben!"
• As noted above, Ben gets in Sawyer's head about Kate. Why did Sawyer go with this crew? He's probably absolutely right. Sawyer is a big man on campus on the island. If he went back to the real world, he would never be able to compete with a 1st Class Surgeon in Jack. And the beating of Ben continues!
• We find Charlotte on the island hanging upside down...landing in the water and generally excited to be there. Enter Locke and crew taking Charlotte captive. Charlotte seems genuinely surprised that the 815ers are alive. But we later learn that she's probably lying. Also when she said that it was amazing that Claire had her baby on the island, was she amazed because it's impossible or because she had a baby on an island? Not clear at this juncture!
• Here's something not worth noting but I will....it seemed that Claire got over Charlie pretty quickly. Just the night before Hurley and Claire were in mourning...and now they're just going about their "normal" island life. Ahhh such is life on Lost Island!
• So Ben, so fearful of these freighter folks was able to get himself a gun and shoot Charlotte several times in the chest. Charlotte was very prepared with a bulletproof vest. hmmmmm
• At this Locke was ready to put an end to Ben unless he started dishing out some answers. I couldn't help but laugh when he said "What is the Monster?" because I knew Ben wouldn't dish out the dirt. Of course, what he did say was "I don't know" and he truly may not. I think we'll be waiting awhile on this one!
• Naturally, Ben had already figured out his way to stay alive (as Sawyer indicated earlier). He had information on the Freighter Folk and named them all by name even getting into much detail with their current captive Charlotte Staples Lewis born July 2, 1979 in Essex England and naming her parents. (not sure if their names were worth mentioning).
• Ben noted that they were there for Ben but didn't indicate why. Just stated that they are a BIG BIG THREAT. But how did he know who they were? Because he's got a man on their boat...BOOOOOOOM LOST!
• Woaaa...okay, so who is the man? First person that popped in my head was Richard (because well, he's on CANE now and they need to find an excuse for him not to be on the show for a bit. But Ben told him to take the people to the temple last we saw him. So maybe not Richard). Is George Mincowski (i'm getting closer with the name each time) Ben's Man? He's the guy on the other end of most Sat Phone calls. Surely it's not Mikhail coming back to life for a 4th or 5th time right? The producers clearly said that he is finally dead! I guess in some weird twist it could be this Abbaddon character? Maybe it's someone we haven't met yet. But regardless....very intriguing and abrupt way to end an episode!

Coffin Watch

Well this may be a failed idea right off the bat. We didn't get any real additional clues to who might be in the coffin. I'm still set on Michael for now. Although all of the comments discussing Kate possibly not being an Oceanic 6er (because she's in hiding for being a fugitive) are definitely interesting....and brings a whole new meaning to "Why would I go to the funeral?" But as the promos indicate, we will learn another member of the Oceanic 6 next week! So, let's just stay tuned here!

Anyway, this episode was very informative and definitely a plot mover. We learned more about the freighter crew in a short timeframe, and got more dirt on Naomi and Abbaddon. But like I said...if the show continues at this pace and each episode ends in that fashion, I sure hope that strike is ending soon with positive Lost news! So, as you all know, next week's episode is on Valentine's Day. Because of the night change, this is 2 years in a row that this has occurred! I will be out of town next week and would just ask everyone to please be patient for the blog as it will probably be running a little later on Friday than usual! In the meantime, everyone post your theories to your little hearts' desires! Can we beat 40+ comments this week? I dunno, that was pretty impressive! See you next week, NAMASTE!

Disclaimer: Many thanks again to Sledgeweb (lost.cubit.net) for always having the ability to capture so many wonderful screen stills from the show! If I had the technology to do it myself, you bet I would! But since I don't, it's nice to know someone out there does!