LOST: Season 5 Episode 3 - Jughead

Hello fellow Losties! Well, I can't lie. That was one crazy episode. But even in the crazy time travel world of LOST, it all seemed to be making sense by the end. And you gotta love an episode of Season 5 LOST when we get to see a QUANTUM LEAP! (I know I know, me calling it that is getting old! I know we are supposed to call them "Flashes"). Lots of juicy tidbits dropped in this one and some nice plot movement. Plus, it was a Desmond-centric story. What's not to like?! Well, for one thing, it's hard to watch the Island story progress with only Sawyer and Locke on the Island from the original cast, unless you count Rose too. (come to think of it, they're the only 2 characters from the original cast featured in this episode). But, it's a necessity to tell the overall story. And we're told, the story does move quickly this season. So we'll just have to see when they are all reunited!

Even with all the confusion going on, I still enjoyed my hour in LOST-Land, and I give the episode a bonafide WOW! (but yeah, only one exclamation mark!)

Let's dive into the story. So the episode is called Jughead, and while he's the main sidekick in the Archie comics, and it's the name of an awful Gulf War movie where the only memorable thing is Jamie Fox saying "Hoo Rah!," we don't find out why the episode is called that until closer to the end of the episode. And it has nothing to do with a person! We continue Desmond's story in this episode after he received the memory and gets his mission to find Daniel Faraday's mother at Oxford (although we already have suspicions on who this might be! Even further confirmed tonight.) And I guess after 2 episodes now, we see how they're going to incorporate Flashbacks this season. Hurley got one flashback to the Oceanic 6's initial moments off the island. Now Desmond got one flashback to what he's been up to since he has left the island. I like this idea. And since they opened with the flashback, it doesn't get confusing with jumping from Present Day to Island Time the entire episode. Speaking of the Island Story, we pick up right where we left off after the flaming arrow attack at some point in the distant past. Here we go!

Desmond

We start off with a Desmond flashback from some point after he got off the Island and was with Penny. Still living on Jack's mantra "Don't let him find you Desmond." We learn that Penny gave birth to a child, and the name is withheld from us until closer to the end of the episode. In the present day, Desmond, Penny and Son are approaching the U.K. in search of Faraday's "Mum." (I had to throw in a little English twang for you!) Penny is worried about her father finding them. Desmond is determined to help his Island friends. He returns to Oxford and there is no record of Daniel Faraday ever working there. He breaks into Daniel's secret Physics lab (ahhh memories from "The Constant") and we get to reminisce on the big scene with Eloise the rat, Daniel with the mullett, and Desmond with the consciousness time travel disease! Some mysterious janitor dude came and basically knew what experimentations were going on in the room (even though he didn't believe Faraday could actually send "brains through time") and tipped off Dez on a human guinnea pig of Daniel's that he put in a vegetative state (Theresa). He follows the lead to Theresa's residence and finds out some interesting developments with Charles Widmore. The rest we'll save for the bullets!

Flashback

• Not much to dwell on here, except we know that Dez and Penny were hiding out in the Phillipines because we had a flash of the flag and the word Mabuhay which Wikipedia tells me is a common greeting in the Phillipines.
  
• As for the time of this event, it must've been soon after they left the Island (like 9 months) because that boy is getting big in the present day! Dez and Penny didn't waste any time!

Present Day

• As they were approaching the "Island" of the Great Britain. Desmond was telling his boy stories of a Special Island that he never thought he'd see again that had Mountains and Monsters, etc... I'm sure it was just meant to draw mini-comparisons. But you have to wonder if Dez is starting to get a little "homesick" about the Island too. He still seems pretty determined to never return to the Island though as he tells Penny.
• Penny doesn't seem to be on board with Desmond's desire to return to the area where Charles Widmore resides, but she loves that crazzy Scot too much to not let him follow his time traveling memories.
• The question was asked, that I wanted to know the answer to, of why Desmond suddenly got the memory 2 days ago. Naturally, Desmond said that he didn't know how it worked. But at least they addressed it, and maybe there will be more on this.
• After the wild goose chase at Oxford and Dez got the tip that Faraday did "bad stuff" to this Theresa, Desmond visited their house and met Abigail and Theresa Spencer. Abigail (the sister) is not a big fan of Daniel Faraday's who skipped town right after he put Theresa in this vegetative state.
  
• Abigail made some interesting comments like Theresa is "away right now." And that Theresa was talking to their father who had died 5 years before.
• Okay, so I'm guessing Daniel zapped Theresa with his violet time-travel taser (the one he zapped Eloise the rat with). So perhaps Theresa is consciousness time traveling as well (and everyone else thinks she's nuts). Here's the thing. Desmond was barely going to last a day when he started going back and forth through time. For Theresa it's been "AT LEAST" 3 years, but when did Daniel flee to the United States before he was recruited for the Freighter? Crazy. I guess this could also be attributed to the effects being different for each individual.
• The other thing is, now Theresa is talking to dead people and she's never even been to the Island. Hmmm Do we think the Ghosts on and off the Island are related to all of this Time nonsense? It's a stretch, but why would they have thrown that line in there?
• Oh yes, and we also learn that Charles Widmore has been funding Daniel's experiments and has been keeping Theresa alive. Does Widmore know how to sustain a person in this condition? Perhaps! But the main thing is, Desmond knows who he needs to confront next.
• Desmond storms into Widmore's office and refuses to answer any questions. To Dez's surprise though, all Charles cares about is keeping his daughter safe. (remember, he was visited by Ben last season, who is on a mission to kill Penny)
• Desmond wants the location of Faraday's mother. Eventually Widmore gives it to him (Los Angeles). Widmore warns Dez that this war over the Island has been going on for a long time and doesn't concern Dez and especially Penny. "Deliver your message and go!"
• Widmore also mentions that Faraday's mother will not be happy to see Desmond as she is a private person. Hmmm, well we speculated that Ms. Hawking could be Daniel's mother. And now that we know Widmore knows her and the fact that she is in Los Angeles, it sure is looking like it's going to be Ms. Hawking. Another thing that ties it together is that apparently in the re-airing of last week's 2nd episode "The Lie" with the clues coming up in pop up text, they provided Ms. Hawking's first name --> Yup, it's Eloise!!! (the same as the time traveling rat!) We will get to more on this in a bit.
• Here's the big concern though, Desmond is running right into a trap and bringing reluctant Penny along for the ride. Because we know who is working with Ms. Hawking, yes it's the very same Benjamen Linus that wants to KILL Penny. Dum dum dummmmmmm
• But, even though Desmond tried to forget about his quest, Penny saw right through it and told him that the 3 of them are headed to Los Angeles.
• The other big reveal? A touching moment when Desmond calls his child Charlie for the first time. awwwwwww That's right, the same Charlie who sacrificed his life to bring Desmond and Penny back together. That was nice.
  
• And I'm only going to write this theory here because I want it noted that I thought about it if the producers ever decide to do something this crazy and wacky (although I don't think they will!). What if this child holds more significance in the scheme of things. And since Desmond is all about the time travel. What if baby CHARLIE is none other than Charles Widmore, who ends up on the Island and grows up to be the so-called evil person that he is today? That is kind of sick and diluted. I would've said what if he is actually Charlie Pace, but we met Charlie's parents! I don't think they'd mess with the storyline that much, but there are lots of Charlie's to go around, so I thought I'd go all crazy theory on you for a second!
• Here's the other thing, IF Faraday's mother does indeed turn out to be Ms. Hawking, what is her relationship to Charles Widmore? If he is still in touch with her, does he know that Ben Linus is also in cahoots with her? Also, who would be Faraday's father? And was he raised in the U.S.? Because he doesn't have a British accent! More on Ms. Hawking when we get to the next topic.
• Update: Forgot to mention that Desmond FORGOT what year he had originally met Dan. Even though he knew before that it was an 8 year difference between 2004 and his current self at the time which was 1996. Is this similar to Charlotte forgetting her mother's maiden name?

Island

Alright, back to the crazy time trippy Island. We're still stuck in a time that seemed to be circa 1950's (which we'll confirm in this episode) based on the military uniforms our captives were wearing. When everyone ran from the flaming arrow attack, everyone was intended to rendevous at the creek or something. Only Dan, Charlotte, Miles and Redshirt show up. They run into a landmine/Rousseau-like trap and Redshirt 815er guy blows up. DUH!!! Saw that coming a mile away. (Really, how many survivors are left from that initial crash?? I wonder if they're keeping track) They are captured by a bunch of the Island's inhabitants for that time, mainly a British woman. Dan assimilates himself into the mindset of that time frame and offers his help to dismantle a "bomb" of the Island's latest visitors. Meanwhile, Sawyer, Juliet and Locke are questioning the 2 men they've captured. They turn out to be "THE OTHERS!" Drama ensues...


Team Faraday

• Before their capture, Charlotte's sickness symptoms seem to be getting worse. She tells Dan that she has double vision and is constantly dizzy. Dan is determined not to let anything happen to her. Hmmm does he know something we don't?
• After "The Others" capture Dan and crew we get some revealing information. Crazy Miles has some run-ins with "Fresh Graves" of 4 U.S. Soldiers, one of which died of Radiation poisoning. The interesting thing is Dan asks if any of them TOLD Miles what year it was. Hmmm, okay, time travel expert asking about Ghosts "talking" to Miles. Anyone else thinking of our new friend Theresa in England? And I guess we have to keep wondering why Miles can sense the dead everywhere. Was he indeed baby Chang that we saw in the season premiere? Time will tell.
• We get to the Other's Camp which is comprised of lots of Tents. I guess this is how they lived before they ransacked the DHARMA barracks. Of course, we've seen them living in tents before when they left the barracks upon John Locke's advice to get more in touch with the Island.
  
  
• Apparently, "The Others" think that Dan, Charlotte and Miles were with these U.S. Soldiers that were doing experimentation on the Island. That's right the U.S. was doing Hydrogen Bomb testing in the South-Pacific in the 50's. We find out that the soldiers left behind an unstable device capable of destroying the whole Island.
• Dan decides their best chance of survival is to play the part and hope that the next "FLASH" happens soon. Which apparently could happen in 5 minutes or 5000 years. (Yikes)
• Dan somehow earns the "OTHERS" trust by saying they were scientists with the U.S. Military and because he is in love with Charlotte and that he'd never hurt her. Yeah, because that would convince me to trust someone with dismantling an H-Bomb! I guess it's no matter because Charlotte at the line right up!
• So, I guess the Island is back in the South Pacific? We know that the Island has moved to at least 2 other locations at some point....off the coast of Nigeria, and somewhere in the Indian Ocean when the Black Rock suddenly was shipwrecked in the middle of the Island. How long they stayed in those locations? We're not quite sure. Oh well, I'm sure they'll touch on this eventually!
• Richard (have I mentioned him yet in this blog?) informs Dan that there was a battalion of 18 U.S. Soldiers. They tried to assimilate them into "The Others" but when they refused they were forced to kill them. Richard mentions he follows a chain of command. Hmmmm Jacob? Or their current leader at the time?
• Update: I totally messed this one up. The Battalion was setting up camp around them and THE OTHERS asked them to leave the Island. When they refused, THAT is when they were "forced to kill the US Soldiers"

Team Locke

• A little bit of discussion happens with Locke/Sawyer/Juliet about "WHEN" they are and have been and Locke almost telling them he got shot by Ethan. But in the good ol' tradition of LOST, Juliet cuts off the conversation to avoid showing all of the characters catch up"ON-SCREEN"
• We find out from Juliet that "The Others" speak Latin. Why? Well, it's "Others 101" of course!
• Juliet tries to reason with "Jones" and "Cunningham" (the name tags on their stolen U.S. Uniforms) in Latin. Even drops Richard's name to try and have a peaceful resolution. Cunningham agrees, and Jones snaps Cunningham's neck and runs off.
• Sawyer tells Locke to shoot, and Locke doesn't. Why? "He's one of my people." That crazy John Locke!
• Anyway, Locke uses his tracking skills to follow Jones to "The Other's" camp. (He's on a mission to find Richard after he got directions from "Richard of the future!")
• Locke asks Juliet how old Richard is. The response - "OLD" Well, that didn't give us many answers. Buuuut, how old is "ooooold?" Could Richard have been with the Black Rock crew? Or even have been there longer? 4-toed statue longer? And why on earth doesn't he age? I want answers!!!!
• Update: After 2nd watch, Juliet said that Richard has "always been here" Always is a lengthy period of time!
• Anyway, Sawyer puts a little bit of humor into the situation dismissing Locke's idea to go walking into the camp and decides to put his faith with "the real person that is going to save us" That's right, Daniel "The Geek" Faraday! He sees him being led away by gunpoint by the british woman.
• Sawyer and Juliet decide to follow them. Locke continues into the Camp.

Jughead

• Jones returns to the camp just as Dan and British Woman are leaving. He informs Richard of the situation. He calls the British Woman, Ellie. hmmmmmm
• As Dan and Ellie begin their walk to the bomb, Dan stares at Ellie and swears that she looks very familiar. Based on the conversation and how Dan spoke of her as if she was a past love, I thought it might be this Theresa girl. I can't take credit for the theory I'm about to share as it was on Sledgeweb's site. But since we know Ms. Hawking's name is Eloise, and now this girl's name is Ellie, and she looks FAMILIAR to Dan.....hmmmm could it be Ellie Hawking?!!! I mean, check out the pictures, and re-watch her mannerisms during the episode. And it would make sense since we know that Widmore and Ms. Hawking know each other AND that he is funding Daniel's "Time-Travel" research. I mean, this could be one of those chicken-egg things because Daniel will eventually tell Ellie that he is from 50 years in the future. Perhaps, this is what gets Ms. Hawking all into Time-Travel in the first place, thus getting Dan into it as well? woaaaaaa
  


• Eventually Dan and Ellie get to to the H-Bomb. And yes, it's called "JUGHEAD!" Apparently, there was a real "Jughead" experiment with Hydrogen Bomb testing. You can read all about it here.
  


• After inspection, Dan informs Ellie what "The Others" need to do with the bomb. Bury it and fill it with Concrete. Hmmmmm sound familiar? Yep, remember the Swan Hatch? (you know the one where Desmond pushed the button). Sayid inspected the hatch and noticed that there was an entire area surrounded by concrete. Perhaps, DHARMA built the station close by to the bomb? They mentioned an "incident" on the orientation video, could it have been tied to this? I figured that DHARMA would've surrounded the bomb with concrete after the Incident. But maybe it went down a little differently. And where does Electro-magnetism come into play? Ohhh...aaaandddd maybe this means that Desmond WAS exposed to Radiation AND Electro-magnetism when the hatch blew (sending him off on his time-travel adventures). I mean, it's way too coincidental not to be hatch related! I mean, think of the sign that said QUARANTINE on the hatch door too. Crazy!!
• Sawyer and Juliet show up to rescue Dan from Ellie who isn't buying into this whole time travel thing. Best line of the night: Ellie - "Are they from the future too?" Sawyer (to Dan) - "You told her????" Ahhh good stuff!

Locke/Richard

• So Locke enters the Others' Camp and tells Richard the magic words "Jacob sent me" Jones still wants to shoot. Richard then calls Jones by his real name......"WIDMORE!!!"
  
• Okay, I know it was pretty obvious, but you guys gotta hand it to me on that one. Once I heard the British accent last episode, I knew we were witnessing a young Charles Widmore! Now we know Charles was with "THE OTHERS!" He also has informed Ben that the Island was once HIS and it will be again. So this goes with my older theory that maybe Charles was the leader of the Others PRIOR to Ben. Although, it does not look like he's the leader just yet.
• Also, this helps with the Ms. Hawking theory as well. Ellie and Charles were on the Island at the same time and appeared to be the same age. That would mean they'd probably be about the same age in 2007 (yep 3 years after 2004). And that fits the bill for Charles and "Eloise Hawking" Ahhh good stuff!
• Anyway, it was great to see Locke's reaction to meeting Charles Widmore. Because it indeed is the first time they have met. Who knew it would be in 1954?
• Okay, so the big discussion between Locke and Richard occurs. The one that future Richard (how far in the future? we don't know) knew was going to happen. Locke gives Richard the Compass, tells Richard that Locke was appointed their leader.
• Richard explains that recruiting a leader is an extensive process that starts at childhood. Locke tells Richard the date he was born. May 30, 1956. NIIIIIICE! We saw Richard in John Locke's birth flashback last year! So Richard then finds out John was telling the truth!
• So remember the theories when we thought Richard was lookin for Locke and found Ben instead because their mothers both had the same name? Emily? I wonder if that can still be in play. But this definitely factors into the Others telling Locke that they've been waiting a "LONG" time for him. Except that it was Cindy (the Oceanic 815 flight attendant) that told him that! Hmmmm....who IS Cindy exactly??
• Anyway, Locke wanted to find out how to leave the Island and Richard refused to tell Locke because it was privledged information. I'm guessing he'll run into Richard at another point in time as well.
• It also is important to note that Richard did not seem to have knowledge on the concept of Island Time Travel at that point in time. For being such an OLD man, you'd think he would have if it happened before. Maybe it didn't?
• Another thing....where did the Compass come from? Richard gives the compass to Locke in the future, but Locke gives the compass to Richard in the past. So who had it first? And does this tie into the other Flashback with Richard and Boy Locke when he lays all of the stuff in front of him, including the compass? He asked "Which of these belonged to you"? Well, Locke did take the sand and the compass...but he also took the knife. We still don't know why Richard got so frustrated with the Knife!
• And of course, before Locke could get any information out of Richard....our Time Travelers FLASHED out of 1954 (they couldn't throw us a Back to the Future bone and make it 1955 could they??!)
  

The Flash

And thus we are whisked away to another time. All of our Time Travelers seemed to be close by to each other. (I guess Dan, Sawyer and crew weren't too far away?) So when are we now? Does the hatch exist at this point? It would be nice to see if they are indeed near where the hatch was built. Anyway, apparently, the flash didn't sit well with Charlotte because she got even worse, and the nosebleed is out of control. She collapses to the ground unconscious and our Time Leapers rush to her side.

BOOM LOST!!!

Well, pretty crazy end for the episode. Here's a question, do we all care enough about Charlotte at this point to be concerned about her well being as a Cliffhanger into the next episode? Or is it more that we want to know about the crazy Island Sickness? Maybe a little of both. So, lots of theories were able to be expanded from this episode (Widmore, Hawking, Hatch).

It looks like from the previews Sawyer says he sees Kate. So we might start to run into the 815ers after they crashed. Perhaps we'll get to revisit Boone, Charlie, Shannon, etc... at some point! Is Dan right about not being able to alter the future? Will we be putting it to the test? (from the Producers' comments, it sounds like that might be the direction we're heading)

One thought to leave you all with. Where on earth are Rose and Bernard? Even if the majority of the 815ers bit the dust, I'm sure we need to find out where they are! Granted, we know the 2 actors that play them are only recurring characters and not full-time. But come on! At least explain it. I have faith that they will.

So I guess that's it for this week. Lots of great comments and new readers last week. Keep it up! Let's get to discussing and I'll see you next week! NAMASTE!

Thanks again to lost.cubit.net (AKA Sledgeweb) for always providing fantastic screenshots on your site for me to "BORROW!" My blog wouldn't be nearly as exciting without them!

LOST: Season 5 Episode 1 - "Because You Left"/ Episode 2 - "The Lie"

Welcome back Losties! Is it me or did it seem like forever since the season 4 finale? The craziest thing is that the length of time between season 4 and 5 was a few weeks less than that between season 3 and 4! And you would think that me talking about TIME between seasons is pointless. But my friends, TIME takes on a whole new meaning in the world of LOST! As we have suspected and feared for quite some time now, LOST has headed into the dangerous world of Time Travel! I've always feared that this is where the masses were going to get confused and too frustrated with the show. We've been treated to some time-related episodes in the past couple of seasons through Desmond's stories ("Flashes Before Your Eyes" and "The Constant" which are 2 of the best episodes of the show!) as well as Ben ("The Shape of Things to Come"/ "There's No Place Like Home") but now everyone on the Island is dealing with the effects. I guess when you're dealing with a confusing show such as LOST already and you're heading very close to the END GAME, then all bets are off! The story needs to be told and there can be no more dancing around! So naturally, my head is already spinning and I have tons of questions. But, that's why we have a blog here folks! Everyone brace yourselves because we're in for quite a ride! As for the first 2 episodes of the season? WOW!!!! LOST is back!

The new format of the show is pretty much how we assumed it would work at the end of last season. Since we have characters in two different locations (and times), we keep going back and forth from each storyline. So, this is a shift from the character-based stories of the past where each character would get their own episodes to shine. But, I wouldn't necessarily rule out the character driven stories from this season just yet. Let's get into the episodes. I've recapped both episodes individually as best as I can below!

Episode 1 - Because You Left

The season 5 premiere, like the season 4 premiere, doesn't waste any time picking up right where we left off. (Credit this to the defined end date and shorter seasons where as in season 2 and 3 premiere's they milked this stuff into 3-6 episodes!) We find out what happened to everyone on the Island after the Oceanic 6 left and we continue following the Oceanic 6 in events following where we last saw them in the finale. But first things's first, it wouldn't be a season premiere without some trickery in the opening sequence!

Opening:
We open up on a clock turning from 8:14 to 8:15am. We follow a man around his home very similar to following Desmond around in season 2 and Juliet around in season 3. We see his wife and child. He plays a Vinyl Record that begins to skip (sorry kids I don't know the song, but that's what the comments section is for! Updated: Willie Nelson's "Shotgun Willie"!! ) And before we know it, it is revealed that the man is none other than our favorite DHARMA Orientation guy, Marvin Candle (or take your pick of every other name he goes by).

• First of all, who didn't catch on that it was him? I'm not complaining, I still loved it! We went way back in time for this one.
• FYI - Marvin's other names are Mark Wickmund and Edgar Halliwax all representing some kind of part of a candle. But at this year's Comic-Con there was a video with him revealing his real name was Pierre Chang. Also during that Comic-Con video, I read somewhere (I think ew.com) that we should listen to the camera man and we might be able to hear a familiar voice! (hmmmm I wonder if we'll be seeing the filming of this video this season with a certain someone we saw back in that time period!)
  
  
  
• Notice I said that we saw Chang's Baby. Does this mean the baby was born on the island? Remember that crazy storyline about women conceiving on the Island would meet their doom before childbirth? Perhaps this was a recent development. I believe we had discussed this before, but this seemed to confirm it. Unless Chang took his wife off of the Island for some time.
  
• We learn in the Orientation Film for The Arrow (AKA the station where the Tail Section made camp and where Sawyer, Jin and Michael were eventually taken to meet Bernard) that the purpose of the station is to develop defensive strategies and gather intelligence against the island's hostile environments. Smoke Monster anyone? The Natives/Others perhaps?
  
• The video filming is interrupted because there is an issue at the Orchid Station, which is still being constructed! How awesome was that?! Anyway, some mining dude, down in the "DEEP" (as Ben referred to it) Depths of where the REAL Orchid station would go, was telling Chang how they found some kind of ancient wheel (the frozen donkey wheel!). Apparently the drill melted when they got near it. If you recall in the season 4 finale, the Orchid Station blocked off the path to the Donkey Wheel with the video giving explicit instructions to NOT put Metal in the Space/Time chamber. Chang seemed determined to not mess with that wheel as they wanted to harness the energy of the island to maniuplate time. Nice joke from Mining guy about wanting to go back and kill Hitler. All to reinforce the point that there are Rules that can't be broken. So perhaps we know for sure now that the Rules that Ben/Widmore have referred to are TIME-related. Killing Alex was against the rules. Perhaps even the reason some people cannot die yet has to do with the rules of time. If the energy is released for any reason then Chang gave a line that we hear at the end of our 2 episode onslaught. "GOD HELP US" I can only assume that we were intended to make a connection between the two scenes (and we'll get to the other scene at the end of the blog!



• So during this whole scene between Chang and Mining Dude, they kept showing distinct holes in wall. Maybe I missed them explaining that behind those holes was the crazy Donkey Wheel. But I'm guessing they're of some significance.
• Ohhhh right, Daniel Faraday is hanging out back in time with mining gear on! We're not quite at the Islander's storyline yet, but I'm gonna guess he's on some kind of mission to get to that wheel to "FIX" something!
  

The Oceanic 6 and Ben

Jack and Ben
As stated before, events continue off-island right where they left off in the finale. Jack is still staring at Jeremy Bentham/Locke in the coffin. Ben is working on getting Locke into the van and Jack is sitting around feeling sorry for himself.

• Jack states that none of the other 5 are his friends anymore and wonders how this happened. This gives Ben the opportunity to state the episode name "It happened because you left Jack" Well....correct me if I'm wrong, but Ben was the one that LET them leave in the finale! Perhaps, he knew then that getting the 6 back on the Island was his ticket back onto the Island. He told Locke that you can never come back if you move the Island. I'm inclined to think that he may have told another classic fib.
• Their first man to recruit is Hurley because he's in the institution, they'll find out soon enough that may be more difficult than they first thought!
• The next scene shows Ben and Jack in a motel room (well that sounds worse than I intended it to!). You may have seen this scene as Teaser Clip #2 a few weeks back. Jack shaves off the beard (darn, I hope we get to see more of Awful Fake Bearded Jack!)
• The intended order of pick-up was meant to be Hurley, Sun, Sayid then Kate (and Aaron)
  Jack states that he changed his mind because Locke told him that Sawyer, Juliet and everyone else on the Island would die if he didn't come back.
• Oh and when Jack indicates that Locke didn't tell Jack what happened when the Island moved, what on earth does Ben mean by "Then I guess we'll never know"? If Ben's intention is to get back to the Island, don't you think someone would catch them up on what's been going on? (Assuming they arrive at the right time on the Island and all) You would think that is a throwaway line from Ben, but since their whole mission is to go back and save them, I'm not so sure I get it!
• The only other scene with Ben and Jack in episode 1 was with them seeing the news that Hurley fled the Mental Institution and is a suspect in the murder of the man parked outside (the one that Sayid killed). Oh boy!

Sayid and Hurley

We continue with Sayid and Hurley after they make their run from the Mental Institution to the safe-house. For some reason, Sayid did find time to get Hurley some food from the Rainbow Drive-In.

• Sayid mentions that he killed the man outside the Institution because he's not taking any chances after Bentham/Locke died.
• Loved Hurley's "I need a codename" line!
• Then we get to Teaser Clip #3 that was shown during the re-airing of season 4's finale last week. Sayid tells Hurley that he worked for Ben doing awful things and warned Hurley that if he ever ran into Ben to do exactly the opposite of what he tells him to do (FORESHADOWING!)
• Then the big fight sequence with Sayid throwing a man over the ledge of the 2nd floor motel/apt. balcony, then fighting the other guy in the room. It seemed Sayid had the dishwasher set-up for such an occassion with loads of sharp knives pointing upward. For even after Sayid got show with a tranquilizer, he was still able to take the guy and shove him down on the knives.
• Of course, Hurley gets seen holding a gun outside on the balcony in front of another dead body which raises his suspected Murder Tally to 3!
• And when you hear Hurley state that "we never should've left the Island" you get the false sense of hope that he will be an easy recruit for Jack and Ben.

Kate and Aaron

Teaser Clip #1 for season 5! The first 2 clips have been sitting on the Lost Addicts Blog homepage since December! But alas, I will sum up. Kate and Aaron are in their home. Aaron watching cartoons (any significance to the choo choo train? I'm not looking into it!). The doorbell rings.

• Why it's Dan Norton from Agnostini & Norton! They claim to be some crazy law firm who wants blood samples of Kate and Aaron to determine relation. They would not reveal who their client was. (any guesses? Ben and Widmore come to mind naturally. Maybe ol' Matthew Abbaddon who is moonlighting on FRINGE!)
• Bottom line, Kate finds a way to defer the blood samples and requests them to bring the sheriff with them. She gets her hidden stash of money, packs a bag and goes on the run with Aaron. I don't think we see Kate leave California in the first 2 episodes, but I wonder if this will come into play since part of her court settlement was to remain in the state for 10 years. I mean come on, they wouldn't have made that part of her settlement if it wasn't going to play a part!

Sun


We catch up with Sun at the airport booking an Oceanic Flight to Los Angeles. She's probably using that Gold Pass they got from the Oceanic Settlement. However, before she can get too far, she is brought into a room for anothe run-in with her new buddy.

• For all you numbers fans you can hear 8:15 over the PA in the first clip of Sun walking in the airport.
• Here's a shot of Sun's Passport for anyone to analyze. I got nothing!


• So the man who summoned Sun was none other than Charles Widmore who was a little peeved at Sun approaching him in broad daylight and in public. "I will be respected!"
• Sun reveals that their common interests are in killing Benjamen Linus! Looks like Sun did pinpoint the correct person to blame for Jin's "supposed" death. (Judging by our season finale poll, and Daniel Dae Kim's casting status this season (Season regular)...the man has to be alive! just has to!) I'm guessing that ol' Jeremy Bentham must have come to Sun and explained to her how the freighter blew up. Ben viciously stabbing and killing Martin Keamy even though he knew it would kill everyone on the freighter. Sun mentioned to her Dad that there are 2 people she blames for Jin's death. I assumed one of them was Sun's Dad, which it probably still is. But they led us to think something else in episode 2 for a second!
• Anyway, I'm guessing recruiting Sun won't be very easy considering Jack is working with Ben! And what if Jack is the other man Sun blames? I'm guessing not, based on what we find out in episode 2. But I have my own RULES to follow! We'll talk about that later in the blog!

Time Trippy Island happenings
(Starting at 3 Years ago)

Okay, I put this off as long as possible. Get ready to blow your mind! Once again, our Island tale resumes immediately when Ben moves the Island. When the crazy Island glow subsides, we see everyone looking exactly how they appeared a few seconds before, but their surroundings have changed (kinda). Sawyer notices that freighter smoke is gone. Locke is no longer with his fellow others but still in the same location of the island. Oh and the CAMP is gone!




Sawyer and Crew

• Sawyer goes ahead and catches Juliet up on why he left the chopper and they assume that anyone on it died in the freighter explosion. Sawyer clearly is torn up about Kate supposedly biting the dust but he does mention "all of his friends that ever meant anything" at some point in the 2 episodes. So he may even be upset about Jack as well. I'm guessing if Jin IS alive, he may get to tell them that the chopper left the freighter giving them some sense of hope. Or maybe Locke will break that news to them. I'm not so sure Jin would have been in the "RADIUS" of the moving Island.
• Speaking of Radius, we did see that Dan on the Zodiac Boat WAS within the Radius. And thank the Lord, Frogurt was on the boat!
• Before you cry Nikki/Paolo on the Lost writers/producers, Frogurt (Neil) actually has been a mentioned character since season 1 (oops Season 2 - Here's some history of Frogurt.) And while he never was shown in an actual episode of LOST before, he was featured in one of the MOBI-SODES prior to season 4. I mean, can you blame the producers for putting them in there? They took 7 of the characters we know and love off of the Island this season (and 8 if you count Locke's dead body!). I'm guessing we'll see more of Rose and Bernard on the island too because we need to see people on the Island we know or else what's the motivation to come back and save them??!
• So we eventually get a reunion of the 3 remaining Freighter folk, Sawyer, Juliet, Rose, Bernard, and the rest of the survivors represented by Frogurt. By the way, Sawyer never interacted with Daniel before so this led to some entertaining spats. Oh and yes ladies, Sawyer was shirtless for the entire 1st episode, and you can thank Daniel for that since he wouldn't give up his shirt. (okay...why on earth would Daniel take his shirt off and give to Sawyer? Wouldn't that just make HIM shirtless? Oh well...still funny.)
• Before we get to complex stuff...love the new nicknames from Sawyer -> Wiz Kid for Dan, Ginger for Charlotte.
• Okay, so the LOST Team isn't treading on this time travel stuff lightly. Dan will serve as our guide through these trials and they will beat into us how Time Travel works on LOST (even though they did beat this into us in various episodes before) There are some new wrinkles though. After Dan gets slapped by Sawyer after claiming he couldn't explain the situation to another Physicist let alone him, Daniel decides to try and explain.
• Daniel tells the crew to picture the Island as a record on a turntable, but picture it skipping (kinda like it did with Chang literally in the beginning of the episode). He said somehow when the Island was moved they may have become dislodged from time. woaaaaa huh? He then goes on to say that either the Island is moving or THEY themselves are actually moving through time. I guess we are to assume that they themselves are the ones moving. Is the Island moving too? or did it just move once? (we know it disappeared!) I'm just not sure how the people would move back and forth through time and STILL have to deal with SPACE as well. The environments on the Island are changing to how they were during the TIME that our time travelers were. The people that were on the Island at that time are there too. So I'm confused to how the Island could be moving WITH our time travelers since it had to be wherever it was at that time. Does that make sense? But at the same time, the Island DID disappear from the spot that it was in the season 4 finale, so it did move at least once! Where did it move? WHEN did it move? I'm sooooooo confused!
• Anyway, for some reason, it's only the Oceanic Survivors, Juliet and the Freighter 3 that are moving through time. Like I stated before, the people that were surrounding Locke stayed put. So this is bizarre in itself. I'm sure it has something to do with these people's destiny's and how they're not able to die yet until they accomplish something at some point in time. Perhaps it even will attribute to the various whispers we've heard in the jungle as the our Time Travelers are trying to avoid running in to themselves in the past!
• Okay, so Dan is using his trusty notebook and needs to figure out WHEN they are. He wants to find something Man-Made. So Juliet takes the crew to where the Swan Hatch used to be. Before they get to the hatch, I think they shift times to the future where the hatch is still non-existant. So they were on the Island at some point AFTER the Crash and the Hatch imposion. The Time Traveling crew is caught up to what Desmond was doing down there for 3 years before the Oceanic Crew took over.
• THEN the Island flashes again and the landscape changes (love when we catch Sawyer saying "Son of a....." while they are changing times!). The Hatch door is back (the one that Jack, Locke, Hurley and Kate blew open in season 1! (ahh memories!) So now they're at a time probably BEFORE the 815 crash.
• Sawyer immediately looks for the door to get some DHARMA supplies. This was a funny sub-plot as Sawyer didn't want to start over, making fires, hunting boar, etc...
• Daniel warns Sawyer of the reprecussions of running into Desmond who hasn't met Sawyer yet. Once again I'm confused. Didn't Desmond intentionally go to see Dan 8 years prior to them meeting, on Dan's request? Isn't the future supposed to course correct itself? So why would it matter if Sawyer ran into Desmond? I guess with Dan saying that the Island won't let Sawyer run into Desmon, that's supposed to be the explanation. Which would explain why Desmond in the yellow radiation jump suit didn't answer the door until they all left and Daniel tried alone.
• Daniel first consulted his notebook though...and I can only guess that he was looking at the page that said "If something goes wrong Desmond will be my Constant!"
• Quick sidenote - at some point Miles and Charlotte have a quick conversation to if Widmore is going to try and find them again. Miles notes that it took Widmore 20 years to find it the last time. I wonder if it had been 20 years since Charles Widmore has LEFT the island. And I wonder if that means we'll run into a younger Charles Widmore ON the Island during all this crazy time tripping. This also reminds me that this could be another way to get Rousseau's backstory since the Time Traveling crew may see it first hand!
• 2nd Sidenote - Charlotte is getting nosebleeds! Uh oh! Last nosebleed we saw was Desmond and Communications Guy on Freighter who died! (why am I forgetting his crazy name?) Dan looks concerned but comforts Charlotte into saying she's okay.
• Okay, so Daniel knocks on the hatch door and yellow suited Desmond answers. We get the classic "Are you him?" and a bunch of "brothaaaa"'s from Desmond. Meanwhile Daniel tells Desmond that he is the only one that can save them. He said that the "RULES" don't apply to Desmond (hmmmm). He gave his name and said to Go to Oxford and find my mother (I have a theory on who the Mom might be but stay tuned for the end of the recap)
• We'll get to the other end of this sequence after Locke's story!
  

Locke's Journey

• Okay so as I was saying earlier, when the Island initially moves, all of the Others that Locke is now in charge of disappear. I've lost track of how many times the Island or the Time Traveling crew moved, but Locke wandered around for awhile looking for some answers.
• So in the initial time after the island moved Locke witnessed the crash of the Nigerian Plane carrying Yemi and the Heroin! Woaaaaa
• We got an Answer to how did the Nigerian Plane ended up on the Island when the Island was in the south pacific? Because the Island moved to that location AND time for it to happen I'm guessing. Of course, I'm still confused at how only certain people are moving through time and if the island is moving locations at the same time, but I've already discussed that! But what if the Island moved once to off the coast of Nigeria, and then the Survivors + Other + Freighter 3 somehow got dislodged in time while the Island stayed put after the move? I know it makes no sense, but if Dan can't explain it to anyone, how am I supposed to?!
• Locke checks out the plane crash and it's back up at the top of the cliff over the Pearl Station, right where it used to be (anyone else think of Boone?)
• Locke began to climb up but then got shot down by none other than ETHAN! woaaaa Locke tries to explain that Ben put him in charge of the OTHERS and Ethan doesn't believe it for a second. And before it even matters, time changes again!
• This time we're at some point in the distant future (I'm guessing AFTER the Oceanic 6 have left). The plane was on the ground and Locke went inside of it. Richard comes to find Locke. Dress his wound and doesn't waste time explaining the following: At some point prior to that moment Locke is going to tell Richard that he's going to get shot and that Richard needs to come and fix him. Richard also informs Locke that he needs to leave the Island and bring back the people that left. It's the only way to SAVE the island. And to do this, he's going to have to DIE. Huh???? Are we getting into some Christian Motifs here? Well, that would make sense considering the last dead man in a coffin to come to the Island and walk around is "Christian Shepard!" (I think I made that sound terribly more ingenius than it really is!)
• Richard also gives Locke a Compass. It sure looks like the Compass that he showed Locke as a Boy when Locke took the knife. Now why would Richard give Locke a compass? Remember in season one when we found out the Compass didn't point North as they thought it would? I wonder if we need to keep that in mind going forward? Or if we already resolved that one with the large Magnetic presence on the island? Anyway, Richard said that the next time he runs into Locke he will not recognize him. Richard asked Locke to give him the compass when they next meet. Now what this has to do with the "Which of these BELONGED to you" scene when Locke was a boy? No idea.
• Time shifts again while Richard is talking and Locke is back in the past again with the Plane in the tree. (Anyone starting to get a Quantum Leap vibe here? Man I loved th show!

The Constant

So, as Dan is talking to Desmond on the Island, he begins to shift time and then we follow Desmond to the Off-Island future. He wakes up. Penny is there. He says he was on the Island. Apparently Desmond was suddenly infused with the memory of his conversation with Dan. (Does this mean that when Desmond talked to Dan in the past at Oxford he was suddenly infused with THAT memory?) And why would Desmond get the memory at THAT exact moment? They have been off the island for 3 years at that point? Oh well...it's a TV Show, I'm sure they have their ideas! I can't worry about it too much, because it was AWESOME! We find out that Desmond and Penny are living on a boat off the cost of somewhere nice. Must still be in hiding (remember Jack telling him "Don't let them (or him) find you" Anyway, Desmond tells Penny that he HAS to help his friends and that they're going to OXFORD!

BOOM LOST!

Great first episode, and it would've been enough to satisfy me for one week, but we still have another hour to go! (this one shouldn't be "AS" complicated to recap)

Episode 2 - The Lie

Oceanic 6/Ben

On Penny's Boat

We open up with what I guess can be considered a Flashback of the Oceanic 6 (before they officially became the Oceanic 6) discussing the plan on Penny's Boat "The Searcher."

• Basically this scene was to add more weight and explanation to the whole "LIE" that they kind of rushed into the season finale last year. Jack explains that while they are protecting the people left behind (from Widmore and goons who sent people there to kill them all) they also are protecting themselves from being seen as CRAZY. Who would believe in a land full of smoke monsters, others, word saving 1980 Computers, and disappearing Islands?
• Penny adds that there will be no way to call her father off the search.
• Frank makes an appearance! He says he'll go with the flow with whatever they decide.
• Everyone ends up being on board but Hurley is the last one they have to convince. Sayid does the convincing. Hurley tells him that he's going to remember this and someday when it's needed, he will not help Sayid. (Poor Hurley, he can never turn his back on a friend in need!)

Hurley (with knocked out Sayid)
Hurley is on the run and trying to figure out how to get Sayid conscious again (remember the tranquilizer?). He's driving them somewhere and gets pulled over by a cop (or so he thinks!)

• The cop is Ana Lucia! Yet another Ghost visiting Hurley. She gives instructions to Hurley on what to do. Get new clothes, get to someone you can trust. Oh and Libby says hi! Wait, so do these ghosts all gather somewhere to hang out? I'm guessing we won't get an answer to the visions until the final season. And I imagine it will be as bizarre an explanation as the Time Traveling Island and Inhabitants!
• Hurley pulls over at a convenience store, pops some shades on Sayid and heads into the store. Gets him an "I Heart Shiht-zu" T-shirt (yep can't spell it...but I always think of Dumb and Dumber when I think of that dog!). The cashier recognizes him and Hurley is on the TV as a 3 murder suspect. Not much here except suspense!
• Hurley takes Sayid to his parents' house and tries to get Cheech (errr Hurley's Dad) to help. The pressure of the lie begins to build on Hurley as he wants to confess.
• btw...Hurley's Dad is watching Expose' The favorite show within a show on LOST
• Hurley is too paranoid to take Sayid to a Hospital (See: Godfather) so he asks his father to take him to Jack. Stay tuned!
• Meanwhile Hurley stays behind with his mother and confesses the whole truth about the Oceanic Crash. Smoke Monsters, Others, Moving Island and all. And just when you think he'll be dismissed as truly crazy, Hurley's mother believes! Woaaaa...this happening to the same dude that whenever he said he had bad luck, everyone dismissed it!
• One more scene with Hurley, but we'll hold off for a sec!
  

Kate and Sun

Kate is in her car looking at a map and we see her looking into Beverly Hills or something. (I guess she wants to go see how Dixon is doing with Choir practice...man that reboot 90210 show is awful!) Anyway, she wants to call Jack but can't bring herself to do it (awwww). Instead she gets a call from an old friend. I was beginning to think it was Sawyer's Baby-Mama Cassidy, but nope...it was Sun, whom Kate goes to visit.

• Sun shows a picture of Ji Yeon and we find out that they must not have spoken since the Press Conference, as Kate didn't even know the baby's name.
• We get some pseudo flashbacks (aka clips from the finale) where we see Kate going after Jin, but then ending up back on the chopper. Right when we think Sun is going to name Kate as the 2nd person she blames for Jin's "Death" she says that they all probably would have died if she continued to go after Jin. She tells Kate she doesn't blame her. But then asks how Jack is! Now if you recall, Jack is the one that grabbed Kate and brought her back to the chopper. But again, I think Sun blames her father and Ben for Jin's "Death" And I wonder if when Sun encounters Ben and is ready to kill him, that Ben will have knowledge of Jin's whereabouts. He is always 10 steps ahead of everyone!
• ADDED -Whoops, forgot to mention that Kate told Sun about her issue with the people asking for the blood test. Sun stated that whoever it is does not want to expose the LIE. They want the baby! Hmmm....who could it be?

Jack

We begin with Jack and Ben packing up at the motel. Then they go their separate ways eventually.

• Ben tells Jack that he dumped his drugs. Loved that exchange "I was going to do the same thing" "Well I figured you were!" Great stuff!
• Ben tells Jack to go home and pack anything that you want from this world because you're never coming back to which Jack says "GOOD" Wow....Jack has really done a 180 since his quest to get everyone off of the island.
• Eventually we get to a point where Hurley's Dad brings Sayid to Jack. Cheech tells Jack to stay away from his son as Jack doesn't have Hugo's best interest's at heart. So Jack calls Ben and tells him about the situation!
• 1 Oceanic 6'er recruited - Jack revives Sayid and after some choking they are fine. Jack catches Sayid up to what happened with Hurley. Sayid asks if anyone else knows about the situation. Which I'm guessing leads to Jack totally catching Sayid up with the Benjamen Linus business. But this is the last we see from these 2 for this episode.

Ben

Ben is on a mission to put Locke's Corpse in storage until they're ready for it. He goes to a Butcher Shop and this is where we continue his story.

• Ben's Ticket at the butcher was 42. oooh numbers! Love me some numbers!
• We meet Jill the Butcher. She apparently knows Ben and knows who Locke is and what purpose he is to serve. Does she have any relation to the person at the end of the episode? Maybe. Anyway, she is going to watch Locke's corpse (I guess stick him in the meat locker?)
  
• There is also mentions of Gabriel and Jeffrey....hmmm who are they? Anyone we've met yet? But they're in on the plan too.
• The next we see Ben he pays Hurley a visit (after Jack's phone call). He explains to Hurley how they want to go back to the Island. He tries to convince him by telling Hurley that he'll never have to lie again. But Hurley remembers his friend's advice to do the opposite and he turns himself into the police admitting to the 3 murders. He does this with a smile on his face. And thus, Hurley becomes the most difficult person to get! (This show better not become PRISON BREAK!)

Island

We continue on the Island where we left off in the first episode with our Time Traveling crew settling into their new ways. They are back in the past with no camp. So we see them setting camp and trying to light fires (all to Sawyer's disgust!)

• We find out, as Sawyer puts on a shirt, that all of their belongings that they had with them are time traveling too. Huh???? This one I thought was kind of silly. But, hey whatever works. I'm not questioning the show at this point!
• Dan arrives back at the camp and says he needs to calculate where they are in time.
• There is more Frogurt to go around for everyone to enjoy!
• Charlotte's condition worsens as she gets continual headaches and is having trouble remembering things like her mother's maiden name. She suspects that Dan knows what is happening to her.
• At some point Miles went out to look for food and I think he brought a dead Boar back to feast on. He knew the boar was dead for 3 hours (probably more of his ultra-sensitivity to the Dead and Ghosts at work).
• Anyway, Neil/Frogurt starts flipping out and thankfully a flaming arrow strikes him in the heart. GOODBYE FROGURT! We hardly knew you or missed you!
• Of course, then a barrage of flaming arrows come their way. When exactly are they? It can't be too long ago, because I thought the plane was still on the cliff during the last LEAP (yep, I'm going with Quantum Leap terminology now). Anyway, there is a new threat on the island for them to deal with and we're not quite sure who they are yet!
• The last scene we see is Sawyer and Juliet in the jungle (I smell a new budding romance!) running into some military folk who are ask them what they're doing on THEIR Island. hmmmmm who are these people? My first guess would be whoever Charles Widmore was with back in his hey dey. But I'm still confused to WHEN they were if the Nigerian Plane was already on the island! (Commenters help!)
• Anyway just as we think all hope is lost for Sawyer and Juliet, Locke shows up with his knife and slaughters the two dudes. Ahhh and everyone is reunited again. UPDATE: After rewatching this, it looks like Locke didn't kill everyone. In particular, the man that was doing the talking was captured not killed. I'm even more convinced now that this guy is either Charles Widmore himself or that these military dudes are in some way related to Widmore.
• I think I've done enough time travel theorizing for one day and I'm sure we'll have plenty more to chew on in a 1 hour episode week!

Mrs. Hawking and Ben

Well, I guess we still have ONE more Time Travel subject. Back in the "PRESENT DAY" (or Oceanic 6 timeline), we see a cloaked woman typing on a computer, and watching a pendulum swing and mark some kind of crazy axis. She's writing formulas on a chalboard. We see a screen that says "EVENT WINDOW DETERMINED"

• And we find out it's none other than MRS. Hawking! (the woman from the Jewlery store who confronted Desmond in his "Flashes Before Your Eyes" episode, and also pictured with the Monk where Desmond studied to be a BROTHAAAAA!!!!
• So Mrs. Hawking DOES have a big role to play in this unwinding story. We always suspected she would!
• Anyway, this little techno/ancient area is in the basement of a Church where she has a discussion with ol' Benjamen Linus! She informs Ben that he has 70 hours to get them all back to the Island. Ben asks what if he can't get them ALL to go back at one time. Then she says the line that we opened up this 2 hours with "Then God Help Us All!"

BOOM LOST!!!!

Whew, I'm tired! That's a lot of writing for a short amount of time. Anyway, looks like even Ben has someone to report to. So who exactly IS Mrs. Hawking? She apparently can track the Island, and that computer looked eerily similar to the DHARMA computers. But is she the one responsible for bringing all people to the Island? Also, could she be Dan's mother that Desmond on his way to find? Only issue is, she's in Los Angeles, and Desmond is going to Oxford! I'm sure we won't get all of the answers quite yet. But this was one crazy scene and I'm dying for more!

But for now, I'm going to let that be it! I'm glad to be back blogging about the best show on TV, and I hope you're excited to keep reading and commenting! We're back folks! And what a way to come back. Blowing our minds into Yesterday (or Tomorrow!!) With that, I take my leave. See you next week and comment away! NAMASTE!

Thanks again to lost.cubit.net (AKA Sledgeweb) for always providing fantastic screenshots on your site for me to "BORROW!" My blog wouldn't be nearly as exciting without them!