LOST Season 5 Episode 14 - The Variable

Happy 100th Episode LOSTIES! I'm still trying to process what happened on ABC's LOST in this week's episode but we must give our hats off to the writers and producers for creating nearly 100 quality hours of TELEVISION (with about 21 hours left to see!). Sure, we had our Nikki and Paulo's, Jack's Tattoo's, Charlie dreaming of Aaron's baptism, Sawyer and Kate living in Polar Bear cages for 6 episodes but overall? Wow, what a ride it has been! As for hour #100? WOW again! Now, I wouldn't go as far as saying this episode is the 2nd coming of season 4's The Constant (which this episode was declared by the producers to be its companion episode), but whew it was a crazy time! My mind is still trying to put all the pieces in the right place to see what exactly went on at what time and figure out if everything that had to happen, HAPPENED already when it NEEDED to happen. Confused? You're not alone! But we're going to try and figure it out together folks!


By the way, anyone who conjured up the idea that Daniel and Penny may be siblings/step-siblings back in episode 3 of this season? KUDOS kids KUDOS! But we'll get there in a bit.


The synopsis! Daniel is back via the sub in 1977 with the SWAN STATION team and clearly on a mission. Throughout the episode, we get snippets from Daniel's past leading him to the point where he is in HIS present in 1977. Meanwhile, all hell is breaking loose in DHARMAVILLE with the help of Daniel causing a mess and Sawyer trying to cover up the tracks of the BEN-Napping! We get an update on Desmond's condition and lots to ponder about the Widmores and Hawkings! Let's dive in shall we?

The Faraday Flashbacks

A basic theme is set before us throughout Daniel's flashbacks. From early in life we see a genius boy being sent down a pre-destined path by his mother. Eloise seemed to know everything that would happen to him.

Daniel's Childhood

• We see child Daniel playing a complicated piece of classical music on the piano. We learn that he is a boy genius. He counted the beats of the metronome to 864. For anyone that cares, this is 108 (the sum of 4 8 15 16 23 42 and which also is the timer on the Swan Clock) * 8 (one of the numbers as well). I'm sure that was intentional but just a silly easter egg!
  
• Eloise seems determined to get Daniel to focus on science and mathematics and that he does not have "TIME" to focus on science and music.
• It is important to note that Eloise was crying before she broke this news to Daniel. Based on the rest of the episode's events, it would seem that she was almost reluctant to send Daniel down this path but that she knew she HAD to do it.

Graduation

• Years later we see Daniel graduating from Oxford and dating future vegetable (courtesy of Daniel's experiments) Theresa. Eloise is there again to cause problems for Daniel. She takes Daniel to lunch and declares that all of the women in Daniel's life will be terribly hurt. (Charlotte, Theresa). His work comes first.
• Daniel, not knowing that Eloise has already experienced Daniel's future, complains that she keeps pushing him down this path. He is the youngest doctor to ever graduate from Oxford and he also was awarded a 1.5 Million Pound research grant from none other than Charles Widmore. At hearing the latter part Eloise seemed to change her tune, leaves Daniel a gift and wishes him luck.
• The gift is none other than the JOURNAL that Daniel has had with him ever since. The journal that documents all of the details and blueprints to create the FLUX CAPACITOR! (just kidding...it's his Time Travel Journal!) Eloise wrote a note on the first page of the journal "No Matter what remember, I will always love you" 2 things stand out here to me. The word "REMEMBER" and the "I love you" part. Again Eloise seems reluctant to send him down this path but has no choice. And the REMEMBER, as we will begin to see, Daniel's experiments will lead to some memory loss.

Island Recruitment

• Remember that flashback scene of Daniel we got in season 4 "CONFIRMED DEAD" when he was watching video of the fake Oceanic 815 wreckage? Remember Daniel was crying uncontrollably and didn't know why? Well, that's where our next flashback scene takes place! And due to them splicing last year's scene with this year's, we see Daniel grow a whole bunch of hair in a matter of seconds!
• The folks at Sledgeweb found this easter egg during the scene. An issue of WIRED from August 2003 with the headline "THE IMPOSSIBLE GETS REAL" and mentionings of Super Powers and Time Travel. Again, I see no significance beyond the fact that when we're talking Daniel Faraday, we're talking time travel!
  
  
• Charles Widmore came to visit Daniel that very moment after he learned of the flight being found. Daniel and Charles had never met (supposedly) before this point. But we learn that Daniel has a condition that affects his memory. He cannot remember things from day to day. It seems that he may have zapped himself with that crazy purple time travel laser he zapped Eloise the hamster with in the Constant. He claims to have tested it on himself before he used it on Theresa (which put her in the vegetative state).
• Daniel can't seem to get his mind off of the crash. He is so sad that all of the people are dead. Charles ends up unveiling to Daniel that the passengers are not dead and that what is on the news is all part of an elaborate and expensive cover-up. And we finally certifiably learn that Charles Widmore was the one that planted the fake plane. Perhaps we should have confirmed it after Miles getting information from the dead guy, or should have believed it from the clip show narrator last week. But now we have it straight from Charles's mouth. Why did he tell Daniel? Because he'll never remember.
• Charles wants to recruit Daniel to go to the Island where the 815ers are. It's a special island with unique scientific properties and it will HEAL Daniel. (flashback to last season with Charlotte quizzing Daniel with flash cards).
• Later, supposedly that same day Eloise returns to visit Daniel saying she would have called but he would have forgotten by the time she got there. (yikes) Eloise tries to convince Daniel to take the job.
• We learn that Widmore's task for Daniel was to perform Space-Time calibrations and calculate bearings (the same bearings that we saw him telling Frank to stick to to travel back and forth from the island)
• Daniel agrees to go to the island because Eloise says it will make her proud.
• Speaking of memory loss, didn't Charlotte start losing her memory on the island during the flashes too? Something about her mother's maiden name I recall. Once again we see how the island HEALS some while it hurts others. (Jack getting sick, Charlotte and all of the other time jumpers and their nosebleeds, Ben and the tumor, etc...)

2007 - Off Island

These little snippets were kinda just placed into this episode even though they were not directly related to Daniel's story from his perspective. But they were still essential to his story. When we last left Desmond and Penny in Ben's flashback, Desmond had been shot by Ben yet he still had the strength to beat Ben to a bloody pulp and throw him into the water. Well, it looks like Desmond still had an injury that needed to be dealt with. Penny and 2-year old son Charlie brought Desmond to a hospital and he was taken in for surgery. While Penny and Charlie wait for word on Desmond they get a visit.

• It's Eloise Hawking. She informs Penny that it is her son Daniel Faraday's fault that Desmond was shot.
• Eloise apologized to Penny. Desmond became a casualty of something much bigger than him. (the same thing Charles Widmore told Desmond when Dez went to visit him earlier this season)
• Penny asks what to do now? Eloise states "for the first time in a long time I do not know what is next." And, unfortunately based on the narrative, we cannot discuss the implications of what this means until we get to the end of the blog! But I do have other questions. Like how did she know all of this stuff about Desmond? (you don't take the ring! The island is not done with you yet.)? Has she been traveling back and forth from the island since the 70's? Has she time traveled herself? Will she be getting her OWN flashback episode in season 6? Yikes, we'll speculate more after we finish the recap.
• Long story short with Desmond. He's OKAY! "AH promised I'll nevah leave ya againe!!" awwwwwwwww!!!
• Meanwhile Eloise leaves the hospital and Charles Widmore is there. He asked if Desmond is okay and is happy that he is. (hmmmm maybe he's not bad afterall?) Eloise tells Charles to go in and see his daughter. Charles states that his relationship with his daughter is one of the things he had to sacrifice. Eloise gets upset at this as she sent Daniel back to the Island knowing full well that.....(ah ah ah.....we're not there yet!) and Charles of course says...
• HE'S MY SON TOO ELOISE! Woaaaaa. Okay okay, so I think in all of our discussions back in the days of JUGHEAD (episode 3), this scenario came up. What if Charles and Eloise were a THING? We also speculated what if Penny and Daniel were twins separated at birth (a la Luke and Leia of Star Wars). Of course, why is Daniel's last name FARADAY? That doesn't sound like Hawking OR Widmore to me! And when Ben discussed Widmore having a relationship off Island was it with Eloise or some other mistress? Does Widmore have 2 children with 2 different mothers similar to Christian Shephard having Jack and Claire? Both scenarios are quite intriguing. And there seems to be a lot of story to tell there. I am starting to see why Alan Dale (Charles Widmore) had the option of becoming a series regular in season 6. And the same goes for John Terry (Christian Shephard). So again we must wonder what is going on here!? Is Eloise an island outcast as well? Then why did she help BEN get back to the Island? Or has Eloise been traveling back and forth to the island? She seemed to just appear out of nowhere back into Daniel's life during his flashbacks. All very intriguing kids!
• By the way, Eloise did not take too kindly to Charles calling Daniel his son too. She slapped him and got out of there. Reminded me of the whole Jack "YOU'RE NOT EVEN RELATED TO HIM!" speech he gave to Kate as they broke off their engagement.

1977 - On Island

We are all over the place on the Island in this episode. But the glue that holds it all together is Daniel's crazy mission when he returns to the Island. Once Dan arrives, he goes on a whirlwind mission to make sure certain events happen "just in case." Just in case what? Well, we have to read on to figure that out!

Daniel's Arrival

• When Dan arrives on the sub he explains to Miles that he is back because of Jack, Kate and Hurley being in the latest DHARMA recruitment picture. He needs to speak to Jack pronto.
• Miles gets in a good joke that he figured Dan went on to become rich inventing the DVD. Good times!
• You can hear in the background Dr. Chang giving the Black Clad Swan Station Crewmembers marching orders to begin immediate work on the station.
• Dan explains to Jack that he was at DHARMA headquarters doing research. We don't actually get to see Daniel working off-island during the 70's. But popular theories had him creating the Pendulum in the Lamp Post station that Eloise tells Jack, Sun, Desmond and Ben about. I'm still not sure this works since DHARMA needed to find the island BEFORE the 70s! But Eloise was very clear to point out that there was a very brilliant MAN that created it where others had failed before. Seems to fit the Dan mold. Maybe somehow we will get that story before the end of the show.
• Dan is persistent on asking Jack how they got back to the Island. Jack explains that they were on a plane that Dan's mother instructed them to get on. Daniel asked if she talked a lot about destiny, which she did. Daniel then breaks the bad news that she was wrong and that they don't belong there at all.
• Could this be Daniel carrying baggage from his experiences with his Mother talking about his destiny all of his life? As we will find out, he does have new theories on Time Travel and CHANGING events, but will these new theories actually pan out? From what we've seen so far in this episode, it doesn't look like it. But, who knows!?
• Daniel then requests Miles take him directly to the Orchid station. When they arrive, he consults his Journal and then Chang shows up in the van (exactly the same scene we saw in the season premiere but from Dan's perspective). Interesting to note that Daniel KNEW that Chang would show up to the Orchid at that exact time and it would appear he knew from the journal. What is THAT all about!?
• Dan takes the elevator down into the Orchid and reads his journal all along the way as if he needs it to determine his next course of action. We see the dead body being escorted out. Dan eavesdrops on the TIME MANIPULATION conversation that Chang has with one of the workers. He is told that he needs a hard hat (which we saw him wearing in the season premiere). Dan intentionally seems to bump into Chang while dropping off a canister. We finish the season premiere stuff with the worker guy blowing off the time travel comments. Dan runs back to talk to Chang and pretty much unloads a bunch of information as we predicted SOMEONE might do in the next few episodes.
• Dan requests the evacuation of every man, woman and child on the island. Explains that the dead body is a result of the electromagnetic activity that the drilling unleashed. He explains that it is contained at the Orchid but at the Swan Site in 6 hours the same thing is going to happen. Except that the energy there is about 30,000 times more powerful!! Yikes! (by the way, Daniel is referring to THE INCIDENT but we'll get to that)
• Chang thinks the information is absurd. Daniel explains that he is from the future. Chang believes him even less then thinking that Daniel is making fun of him after overhearing his conversation about manipulating time. Daniel tries to convince him by looking at the journal and the equations that won't be possible for another 20 years.
• Miles meanwhile catches wind that Daniel is spilling the beans. Dan then goes and explains that Miles is Chang's son. "Think about it, a Chinese man named Miles, the same name as your baby arrives with me from the future" Makes sense to me! Miles refuses to acknowledge that this is true. Which is enough for Chang at the moment. Something tells me Chang will begin to believe especially with the Comic-Con Video we mentioned in last week's post.
  
  
• So maybe everyone IS evacuated from the Island and some come back after the incident? We know not everyone dies in the Incident because there are still DHARMA crew around when the purge happens. And Ben, Ethan and Horace are at least around for that ("The Man Behind The Curtain" season 3 Ben flashback ep). We also know that Radzinsky survives the Incident because he'll go on to push the button for awhile. And, we'll discuss at end of blog but it is seeming like Daniel is NOT the voice behind the camera in the video. Perhaps it's Miles!
• Daniel says to Miles that he is just making sure his father does what he's supposed to do and that Miles will see. This could mean a bunch of things, get Baby Miles off of the Island. It could also mean that Chang needs to create that above video that perhaps Dan has seen somehow. Clearly he has knowledge about a 30 year difference in time there and if Miles was the voice on the video, then Dan may know that Miles will see first hand. Crazy stuff!

The Fellowship of the LOSTIES Meeting

Meanwhile, Dan's comments to Jack set him in motion to tell everyone else. He went to Sawyer, who has his own issues to deal with. (Remember they have Security man Phil tied up from last episode)

• Jack catches Sawyer up on the Daniel situation. And Juliet makes Sawyer get Jack "in-the-know" on the Phil situation.
• Gotta love Sawyer's "Love to trade theories with you on this Doc but I'm a little busy" line! Also, Sawyer has some great nicknames for Daniel a little later.
• The situation leads to a meeting of our LOSTIES: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Jin, Juliet and Sawyer. Sawyer explains that it looks like it is time to go. He is a little bitter at Jack and crew ruining their 3 year vacation in DHARMAVILLE, but he knows their time is up. The options? Take the Sub off of the island or start off at square 1 on the beach. Hurley and Jin immediately voted to stay on the island. Jin wants to find Sun. Hurley didn't want his trip back to be pointless.
• There's a knock on the door. It's Danny boy with Miles along for the ride. (Sawyer nicknames for Dan: Twitchy and H.G. Wells...CLASSIC!)
  
• Daniel tells everyone what he needs to do is of critical importance to everyone in the room and asks if anyone knows where to find the hostiles. He explains that one of them is his mother. (duh, we already figured that out 11 episodes ago dude! 1954 Ellie = Eloise Hawking) He explains that she is the only person on the island that can get them all back to where they belong.
• Dan explains that Sawyer met her in 1954. Hurley: "You guys were in 1954? Like Fonzie times?" Ahhhh love it!
• Sawyer is having a hard time converting from the "LAY LOW" approach. Jack says that they don't belong there in the 70's. He asks Kate if she knows where the Others are and if she would take Dan and him to them. He uses the ol' "Not asking what you did with Aaron" secret to his advantage. He knows Kate didn't come back to the island to be stuck in the 70's.
• Sawyer makes a big mistake by looking out for Kate and calling her FRECKLES when he asks her to come with them. Juliet glares at Sawyer and then blurts out the Sonic Fence code (141717). WHOOPS Sawyer! He tells Kate to take Daniel and that "it's over for us here anyway" She may as well have been talking about her and Sawyer too.
• Miles refuses to drive them as he throws the keys to Dan.
• Sawyer informs them all that when they realize they've made a mistake, they'll be at the beach. (ahhh perhaps we'll find Rose and Bernard in the next few episodes! We should at least see them in 2007 during the time jumps when the Ajira folk get to the camp)
• Kate and Jack embark on getting guns at the Motor Pool (ahhh Janitor Jack has the keys!). Meanwhile, Daniel gets sidetracked for a second.

Daniel and Charlotte

Daniels sees Charlotte on the swingset and has to go over and talk to her.

• Charlotte is eating Chocolate and blurts out "I'm not allowed to have chocolate before dinner" This links her dying words and her recollection of the conversation she had with Daniel when she was a child.
• He told her that Dr. Chang is going to ask a bunch of people to get on the submarine and leave the island. He instructs her to leave "in case what he does doesn't work." Daniel said he tried to avoid having this conversation. He didn't think he could change things, but now he thinks he can.
• This is crazy. The whole 2nd half of the season keeps teasing us with changing the future. And it seems like that is what the end game of the season will be about. I'm sure it's all leading to something big but is anyone else getting frustrated that it seems like a waste of time to keep showing us how whatever happened, happened? Yeah, it's cool to see that Daniel is convinced he can change the future and that leads him to tell Charlotte the very thing that he tried to avoid telling her. But that just went to show us that WHATEVER HAPPENED HAPPENED! Who am I kidding? I love it anyway! As I've said before, even if they can't change the events that are going to happen, we still get to see THEIR participation in the events and what happens to THEM.

Shootout at the Motor Pool!

Kate and Jack stock up on weapon supplies, and provide Dan with gun. They're not alone however. Whiney boy Radzinsky decided to show up!

• Radzinsky told Dan he is supposed to be at the SWAN site. Dan starts conjuring lies of where he has been. They see the gun and everyone gets into a staredown. Radzinsky and crew vs. Dan, Kate and Jack.
• Dan explains that Radzinsky has no idea what is happening and that they have to let them go. Radzinsky shoots Dan and grazes his neck. This starts an all-out shootout. Somehow Dan, Kate and Jack are able to make it to a jeep and get out of there.
• Oh I know how, Jack shot a fuel tank and blew up a DHARMA Van! Nice shooting Jack!!
• Radzinsky orders the alarm to be sounded.

Back to the Beach Crew

Sawyer and Juliet are packing supplies. Sawyer had instructed everyone else to do the same. Juliet is clearly upset with Sawyer.

• Sawyer told Juliet he should have listened to her when Jack and crew showed up. He asked if Juliet still had his back. She asked if he still has hers. Trouble in paradise folks!
• The alarm sounds. We see Hurley and Jin heading back to Sawyer's place. Hurley has the guitar case again (we still need to find out what Hurley has stashed in there and why!).
• Radznisky and crew barge into "LaFleur's" house and he explains what went down at the motor pool. He got shot by a physicist and the new recruits are helping. Long story short, Radzinsky hears Phil's muffled screaming from the closet and the guns turn on Sawyer and Juliet. To Be Continued next week!

We're off to see the Others!

Jack, Kate and Dan arrive in the Jeep to the Sonic Fence and begin their trek to The Others.

• Jack checks out the wound. We find out Jack missed out on the Hurley/Miles Time Travel 101 course. He thinks they are all invincible since they're in the past and whatever happened happened. Even though Miles already explained to us that it is THEIR present and any one of them can die. Dan explains that he didn't have a scar on his neck when he arrived, but now he would. I guess they are just trying to beat it into our heads so everyone understands it. And of course, with all of the foreshadowing, it would be a letdown if one of them DIDN'T die in the past right? Again, it keeps the stakes real and our interest peaked as we see our LOSTIES take place in events that already happened.
• As they get into the jungle, Jack asks for more information about his mother and what is going on. Why don't they belong there?
• Dan explains that in 4 hours the DHARMA folks at the swan site are going to drill into the ground and accidentally tap into a massive pocket of energy. The results will be catastrophic. To contain it they're going to have to cement the entire area like Chernobyl (sounding familiar yet?), they will build the Swan hatch over the containment. They are going to spent the next 20 years keeping the energy at bay by pressing a button. Eventually that torch will be passed to Desmond who will forget to push the button (while he's off killing Kelvin) causing flight 815 to crash which thereby causes Widmore's freighter to arrive carrying Dan. It's a sequence of events that is initiated in 4 hours.
• Dan explains that he thinks they can change that. He has been so busy worrying about CONSTANTS in time travel that he never thought about the VARIABLES. The variables are PEOPLE. THEY are the variables and they control their own destiny. They think, they make choices they have free will.
• Dan's plan? Negate the energy by blowing up a Hydrogen Bomb (good ol' Jughead!). Well that explains why he needs to talk to Eloise. In 1954, Daniel told ELLIE to bury the bomb and cover it with cement.
• Here's the thing, didn't Dan himself ask if Desmond had been exposed to Electro-magnetism OR Radiation? What if he was exposed to BOTH? causing his time travel swirl? What if detonating Jughead was PART of what caused the Incident? Yikes, this stuff is crazy!
• I mean come on, they're not going to succeed! They're not going to wipe out 5 seasons worth of LOST! Flight 815 always crashed, they can't change that. Can they?? I still am thinking that the INCIDENT is what will help our LOSTIES get back to where they belong. Of course, when the season ends, we may not know where ANY of them are depending on what kind of cliffhanger they leave us with! Based on some interviews Matthew Fox has been giving while promoting the 100th episode, he is really excited for the cliffhanger this season. We'll see!
• Daniel, Jack and Kate arrive to the Others' camp. Dan runs into the camp, shoots the ground before one of the others can get his gun. Dan says he wants to speak to Eloise. Richard is there and says that Eloise is not there right now. Dan seems to be confused at seeing Richard look exactly how he looked in 1954. Richard recognizes Dan but can't place it.
• Daniel asks Richard where the bomb is. Richard seems worried about getting shot doesn't he? Maybe he isn't a GHOST like person as some had been speculating. Or he's just playing along. Dan gives him until the count of 3 to tell him where the bomb is.
• And before he gets to 3, he gets shot in the back by dear old Mum!
  
  
• Richard yells at Eloise. Why did you do that? He wasn't going to shoot me! (how did he know?)
• Daniel looks at his mother in utter disbelief "You knew that this would happen and you sent me anyway!" And all of a sudden it all makes sense (kinda). Eloise crying when he sends Daniel on the path that will lead him to the Island where she herself will kill him in her past. Why she slapped Widmore when he said that it was his son too. And why Eloise said "for the first time in a long time I do not know what is next" It would seem that everything she has known about our LOSTIES has come from their links to Daniel. Daniel told Eloise that they were from the future in 1954. She begins her curiosity. She shoots her son in 1977 where he explains that he is her son. She helps send Jack and Kate back to the island who help Dan get to his final moment.
• And I do say final because it would most certainly seem that Daniel Faraday dies at the hands of his mother's gun. RIP Dan, you were a mad scientist that rivaled the likes of Doc Brown! (Update: DEATH confirmed by producers)
  

BOOM LOST!!!

Okay that officially ends the recap, but I still want to revisit some stuff with Eloise.

• It all makes sense in theory that Eloise has all of this knowledge from her past interactions with her son. But were there more interactions we haven't seen yet? I mentioned it above, but how does she know Desmond's future with not taking the ring and that the island isn't done with him? Did she know that Consciousness Time Traveling Desmond and Dan had discussions in 1996 which led her to do more research? Has Widmore been keeping tabs on Desmond all of his life to make sure he went to that Island as well causing him to sacrifice his relationship with his daughter? Eloise knows that Desmond will save the world by pushing that button. She knows about it years before it happens.
• Of course, we don't know what happens immediately after the moment she shoots Dan. Do Jack and Kate enter the Others' Camp? Do they explain what is about to go down and enlist their help? I guess there are other ways that Eloise can get all of this information than her getting it from her son. There are plenty of other future dwellers in 1977 that can spill the beans.
• It would seem that the motivation for the remainder of the season will be to carry out Daniel's plan. And I'm sure everyone won't be up for the ride! And on that note, who will run into Sayid first out in the jungle?

Regardless, there are 4 hours left in 1977, and 3 hours left of LOST this season. And we can't forget that we need to focus some time on our 2007 LOSTIES and Ajira folks. Will somehow the incident tie both Time Periods together for some crazy catastrophic event? Should be one crazy ride to the finale. Isn't it always?!


Well, there we go folks. Another crazy entry into the LOST Universe with "The Variable." Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always, see you next week and NAMASTE!




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Special thanks as always to Sledgeweb for providing awesome screen shots on their site.

LOST Season 5 Episode 13 - Some Like it Hoth

Dead People, Ice Planets and Polar Bears...OH MY! Put them all together and you can get an idea of what happened on ABC's LOST this week! Hello LOSTIES and welcome back! Any crazed science fiction fan out there knew that once our LOST Crew was placed in 1977, that SOME homage would have to be paid to Star Wars. Co-Creators J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof initially bonded over a Star Wars t-shirt that Damon was wearing on the day they met. (I'm not a freak, watch the extras on the season 1 DVD! Okay, maybe I'm a freak for knowing that.) Of course, what you may not have known was that the idea for LOST was spawned from that initial meeting of the minds. Until now, Sawyer has rambled off various Star Wars nicknames here and there throughout the seasons, even exact phrases from the movies. But 1977 was a magical year for Science Fiction as STAR WARS came into our lives forever (well some of your lives, I didn't come around until the year after!). So how better to salute the wonderful movie franchise than to uncover yet another CHARACTER with some crazy Daddy issues? (The debate on the prequels and how they may or may not have ruined the franchise should be put on the back burner for now! Hurley is just worried about getting rid of the EWOKS at this point! Original Trilogy Baggage)

That's right, Miles Straum finally takes center stage after the strike-shortened season 4 postponed our Freighter folk's backstories to this year. What we ended up with was a fun little adventure for Miles and Hurley, the ongoing collapse of Sawyer and crew's DHARMA cover, and more plot movement and setup for what is seeming to be the FINAL CONFLICT on LOST Island. What lies in the shadow of the statue anyway? Sounds like it might not just be an expression! Anyway, let's not waste any more time folks. Time to dive into another WOW-worthy episode of a WOW-TASTIC season of LOST!

Miles - The Flashback Story

So before we even saw this episode, we had speculated that Miles was the baby that we saw in the season premiere with Dr. Pierre Chang (Marvin Candle, Edgar Hallowax, Marc Wickmund, etc...). We also got a glimpse of Chang's wife in the season premiere, so anyone with a good memory (or that has watched the episodes a few times) probably would have made the connection in the opening scene of this episode that Miles is the son of Dr. Chang, and that he and his mother left the island when he was a little boy or maybe even an infant (hence him not remembering living there). We see Miles discover his supernatural abilities as a boy, and him question them as he grew up. As an adult, he exploited them to earn a living (which we saw in his initial flashback scene in season 4). We also learn how and why he was recruited for the freighter and some other interesting things along the way. Here are some highlights from the flashbacks.

• The clock in the beginning of the episode said 3:16. An obvious allusion to Ajira Flight 316 as well as the bible verse John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" But we discussed all of that fun stuff in the episode titled "316" anyway! Bottom line? The writers have new numbers to mess around with and they're not afraid to flaunt them in our face!


• Did that apartment complex look like the one from the Karate Kid or is it just me? (probably just me!)


• Little kid Miles had his first encounter with a dead person at the apartment. He "sensed" that the key to the dead man's room was under a white stone rabbit. (white rabbit anyone?)


• Kind creepy stuff when Miles said that the dead guy was still talking to him and that he can hear him. Also weird that present day Miles (located in the past) told Hurley he doesn't have conversations with the Dead, he feels them! But we'll get there later! As we have seen before, Miles was able to determine how the man died.


• Later in life, perhaps his late teens/early 20's, Miles returns home to visit his dying mother. Looked like cancer. He asked his mother why he is the way he is and why she never talked about his father. She said that his father is dead and that Chang kicked them out when Miles was a baby. Miles wanted to know where the body was so he could find out for himself. She alluded that it's on the island. Hmmm, so did Chang REALLY die when they said he died? It would seem that he made more films after the INCIDENT at the Swan Station which has not happened yet in 1977. I'm guessing we may see the events of baby Miles play out in the present day. And this is probably a good time to bring up that crazy video from Comic-Con last summer with Dr. Chang. It seems very possible that whatever THAT is about may be why he got his wife and son OFF of the island. Let's not forget that we here Daniel Faraday's voice in the video. And why does Chang bring up the "PURGE" with it being 30 years earlier? The purge doesn't happen until 1992! Anyway, I'd expect to see more of this before the end of the season.
  
  
  
  


• Years later, not long before the freighter trip, we see Miles as a professional "GHOSTBUSTER" or helping loved ones be at peace. He's a con-man. He tells them what they want to hear and gets their money. Of course, the 2 times we have seen him collect money, both times he eventually returns it. Miles mentions that he needs to see a body. When the father of slain son tells Miles the football star was cremated and spread over the football field, Miles mentions that may not work. What does this say about the time that Miles talked to the GHOST in the season 4 flashback when he was just in the boy's bedroom? There was no body there that we knew about.
  
• Anyway we get to see Naomi again. The girl from the freighter who first parachuted onto the island with Desmond's picture, told the LOSTIES that everyone thought they were dead, and ended up getting killed by Locke with a knife thrown into her back. Apparently Widmore (we can assume it's him I would think!) has been following Miles' work and thought he might be useful in extracting BEN from the island. There are lots of dead bodies on the island and they thought Miles could communicate with them to find him as Ben was involved with the DHARMA purge. I'm sure Widmore failed to mention that HE ordered the purge!
  
• Naomi takes Miles to a dead body for his audition. Miles finds out that the dead man was Felix and he was delivering papers, photos and pictures of empty graves and a purchase order for an old airplane to Charles Widmore. Hmmm, when I first watched the scene I just assumed this confirmed that Widmore DID set up the fake flight 815 on the bottom of the ocean. But now thinking about the episode from last season "Meet Kevin Johnson" when Michael talked to Tom aka Mr. Friendly "off-island," I remembered that Tom was in possession of papers, photos and pictures of empty graves and a purchase order for an old airplane. Hmmmmmm did Tom kill Felix and steal all of this documentation that he showed to Michael? Was Felix doing RECON work for Widmore or was he delivering receipts of what Widmore purchased? Yikes, maybe I'm overthinking this, but I don't think we proved either way who set up the fake flight. Correct me if I'm wrong!
  
• Naomi mentions that Widmore is offering $1.6 Million to Miles to help them extract "mass-murderer" Ben from the island. Anyone doing the math could have multiplied this by 2 and got $3.2 Million, a number that Miles asks Ben for in season 4 when he told Ben he knew who he was and that he could get that kind of money.
  
• At another point before his trip on the freighter, Miles was kidnapped in a VAN by none-other than a man we really just started to get to know last week. His name? BRAM. Where did we see him last? Holding a gun to Frank Lapidus on Hydra Island in 2007 and working with Ilana. He tries to get Miles to work on HIS side (i.e. not Widmore's side) and to not get on the boat. He asked Miles if he knew "what lies in the shadow of the statue" which he didn't naturally. Bram said that this meant he is not ready to go to the island. Bram promised answers to Miles if he went with him. Why he has a gift, who he is, etc... Bram also promised information on Miles' father. Miles continues a running theme for the episode that he stopped caring for his father and that he just wants money. DOUBLE what Widmore is offering. DUM DUM DUMMMMM
  
  
• There's your 3.2 million folks! So what can we conclude here? Well we can't say officially that Bram and Ben are on the same side, although it seems likely. We can probably confirm that Miles THINKS they are on the same side when he asks Ben for the $3.2 million.
  
• Anyway, Bram refuses to pay the money and says that Miles will never fill that hole inside of him, and that he's playing for the wrong team. Bram says he is on the team that is going to win. Okay, so is this the WAR that Widmore spoke of to John Locke? Is it truly a Ben vs. Widmore battle? Or are Bram and Ilana part of some new faction and threat to the island? Is this the small chess moves being made to set up the grand battle for the island in season 6? Will this Bram guy be a major player? If Ben is in cahoots with these people, does that mean that Ben has left the island and created a life for himself OFF of the island as well? Pictures, passports and foreign money in season 4 all point to the fact that he has. We also know that he was in Tunisia at some point in time before his 2005 stint too. Somehow Ben and Charles Widmore were able to make boatloads of money off of the island while living ON the island for a large portion of their lives. Very interesting indeed! Anyway I'm rambling here!
  
• As I mentioned earlier Miles returned to Football Dad to give back his money. It was more of Miles' father issues coming to play. The dad wanted to know if his son knew he loved him. Miles told the father that he lied earlier and it wasn't fair to the dead son. The father should have told him when he was alive. OUCH! Hopefully, Miles and Chang will have that bonding moment he so desperately needs!

1977

Things Falling Apart in DHARMAVILLE

So outside of Miles' story, we had a follow-up to what has been going on in DHARMAVILLE since Ben was taken by Sawyer and Kate to The Others. Sawyer and Kate have returned and try to cover up where they have been. Roger starts to get suspicious over some things Kate says and does. Jack tries to clean it up. And by the end of the episode Sawyer finds himself in a pickle with Phil! Here are the things worth noting from this storyline.

• While Sawyer and Kate are re-entering the sonic fence area of the barracks , Sawyer contacts Miles over the walkie talkie and asks him to get rid of the security tape of them coming back. (hmmmm why not dispose of the one of them leaving too? unless it's on the same tape) Miles was catching up on some old sporting news as you see Tommy Lasorda was just hired as the coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Insert your Grey's Sports Almanac theories now (Back to the Future II for you untrained out there! Marty buys an almanac from the future in hopes he can bet on games in the past and make some dough and all hell breaks loose!)
  


• Sawyer sends Kate to talk to Juliet and find out if anyone has been wondering what happened to Ben. Meanwhile, Sawyer leaves the premises again to look for Sayid.


• Kate finds Juliet at the infirmary and updates her on the situation. She thanks Juliet for sending Sawyer to help. And then Roger comes in to spoil the fun as he is looking for Ben. He flips out! Seriously, Juliet didn't come up with a better excuse in all the time that Kate and Sawyer were gone than "I'm sorry, I was gone for 10 minutes and when I came back he wasn't here"? Yikes. I don't blame Roger for flipping out! Roger says he's going to contact security. Juliet feels like the jig might be up!


• Next we see Roger drinking some DHARMA beer (his favorite pasttime) on the swingset. Kate tries to help the situation by calming him down. Kate keeps explaining that things are going to work out. She just has a feeling. Tells him not to give up hope as she opens up her own can of DHARMA beer. Roger starts getting suspicious of Kate, thinking she knows what happened to Ben. She seems to be getting OVER-interested in Ben.


• Jack tries to cover for Roger's janitor duties by cleaning up the DHARMA classroom. Roger knows that Jack was "recruited" at the same time as Kate and asks what he knows about her. He tells Jack about about his suspicions about Kate giving blood for Ben, telling him about her "feeling that Ben will be alright." Roger talks about reporting her to Horace. Jack, seemed to come a little out of his "I'm not going to do anything" mode by trying to steer Roger off of the path. Jack tells Roger that he's drunk and getting some crazy ideas, that he knows Kate and she wouldn't do anything to hurt Ben (at least not CHILD Ben!). This seems to calm Roger down for now.


• If you take a closer look at the chalk board that Jack is erasing you will see some Egyptian scribblings on the board. Looks like DHARMA is getting into the whole Egyptian symbolism too, eh? Pretty good timing with the creation of that SWAN Hatch and the CLOCK that counts down to the end of the world! (you know, the clock that when the timer hits zero, a bunch of Egyptian Hieroglyphics come up?) Not sure where to go with all of that, but it does make me think that there is something more to DHARMA's interest in the Egyptian ties of the island.
  


• Sawyer returns home that night to find that Jack is having some coffee with Juliet. Jack came to fill in Sawyer on the "Kate" situation from the day, that her heart was in the right place and that he tried to diffuse the situation. Sawyer gets a little flustered at the situation but then recognizes Jack's efforts to be a team player and thanks him.
  
• And of course, as Jack leaves the house and Sawyer walks outside to breath in some of that fresh DHARMA air, Phil arrives with some interesting news. He figured out who stole Ben. SAWYER himself! But he came to the Head of Security whom he's worked with for 3 years hoping there was a logical explanation for all of it. And the Sawyer does what we all have wanted to do, KNOCKS that punk out! Sawyer tells Juliet to get some rope. Ohhhh boy, this isn't going to be good. Mr. LaFleur's cover story has about run its course. Can't wait to find out what happens!

Miles and Hurley's Secret "Circle of Trust" Mission
With Sawyer being absent "looking for the escaped prisoner" Horace asks Miles to become part of the "Circle of Trust" and entrusts Miles with a SOLO mission to deliver a package to Radzinsky. Miles will then return with a package that needs to be delivered to Pierre Chang at the Orchid. Hurley gets mixed up in the adventure and comedy ensues! And of course, some juicy reveals occur along the way. Here is what went down:

• Horace asks Miles to take the package to grid 334 and bring back Radzinsky's package with no questions asked. Grid 334 is HOSTILE territory. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the clues together here! Radzinsky has been discussing plans for the Swan station since we first met him. We know they are trying to keep it a secret from the Hostiles. We also knew that the first hatch our LOSTIES discovered in 2004 was very far from all of the other DHARMA stations. But it is exciting nonetheless that we are witnessing the creation of the legendary SWAN station!
  
• It turns out what Miles brought to gun-toting whiny Radzinsky was a body bag to put a, you guessed it, dead body into (package #2 for Miles to return). It looked like we had a man shot in the head, but that was not the case! Miles talks to the dead guy and eventually we find out that the man's name was Alvarez and and that his fillings shot up from his tooth and blowing through his brain, killing him. Remember back in season 2 when Desmond told Jack every time he walked by the CONCRETE wall in the hatch that his fillings hurt? (I love how we all used to think that crazy Scotsman was telling us that his "feelings" hurt!) Electromagnetism folks!


• When Miles returns, Horace is on the phone with Pierre Chang. He mentions that if the death was caused by electromagnetism they need to know. Horace asks Miles to bring the body to Chang at the Orchid. Miles hesitated, most likely because he didn't want to interact with his father. (at this point in the episode it had not been officially revealed yet though)


• Meanwhile, Hurley started loading up Miles' van with sandwiches, complete with Hurley's garlic mayo, for the Orchid workers. He figured that he would go WITH Miles to the Orchid. Naturally, Miles couldn't figure out how to explain to Hurley that he needed to go by himself. So, Hurley and Miles team up for another comedic adventure! You gotta love Hurley's line about carpooling "It will help with global warming which hasn't happened yet. Maybe it will prevent it!" You really just gotta love Hurley. He had some classic lines in this episode which I will try to unveil to you as we go along!


• On the journey, Hurley is writing in a notebook and asks how to spell "Bounty Hunter." Anyone that recognized the episode title of HOTH had to make the immediate connection to The Empire Strikes Back, but we will hold off for the big reveal!
  
• Hurley smells something in the van and suspects Miles for some gas passing. Miles claims it's Hurley's garlic-mayo. But Hurley finds the dead body. "There's a body bag with a dead body in it!" Miles explains how the guy died. And the Hurley suspects that Miles can talk to dead people because "so can he."


• Miles is intrigued by Hurley's comment and asks him more about it. They have conversations? Hurley says yes, that he actually sees them and that he sometimes plays chess with them (Mr. Eko last season). Miles says that is not how his "POWER" works. He doesn't chat with ghosts, he feels them. When they die their brain stops functioning there is just who they were and what they knew before they died. This confuses me again with the flashback scene we saw with Miles last season where he talked to the boy, asked him some questions and then something fell over in the boy's bedroom as if he was actually there. I guess he may still have just sensed the boy's presence, but something isn't really tying up there! Again, gotta love Hurley's line "you're just jealous that my power is better than yours!"
  
• They arrive at the Orchid. Chang is not happy about Hurley being around for the trip. Hurley mentions he won't talk about the body. Chang threatens him with the worst job on the island, even worse than a cook. "I like being a cook!" (I'm telling you, classic lines all over the place!) That would be cleaning up the "turds" from the Polar Bears on Hydra Island. Ahhh, you gotta love the mentioning of Polar Bears in the same episode that has the Ice Planet "HOTH" in the title! Of course, this is the first time we officially confirmed that the BEARS in the cages on Hydra Island were indeed POLAR Bears. We had assumed with 99% certainty, but here's the 1% if anyone was still doubting! The same Polar Bears that learned how to work machines and feed themselves food. Maybe the same polar bears that were released onto the main island, found the caves (where one took Mr. Eko) and through the underground cave system, found their way to the colder dwellings. Perhaps even arriving to where the donkey wheel was and figured out how to turn THAT bad boy and end up in Tunisia! (Can't take credit for that one folks! Got that from a COMMENTER on the Gather site where I post the blog too! Brilliant idea though!)
  
• The body is brought inside the Orchid. Hmmmm, are they going to transport the body through TIME? Chang requests Miles to stay until he returns. Hurley starts calling Chang some bad names. Miles confirms that Pierre Chang is indeed his father.
  
• Hurley goes on a rant about Miles' dad being the dude from all of the "movies" (DHARMA Films). And he asks Miles why he changes his name for every video. Miles seems to know why because he said that he didn't want to talk about it. But how did he know it was his dad? He got in line behind his mother at the cafeteria. Nice! Hurley asks about the purge and shouldn't Miles say something? Miles says that he can't change anything so why bother? Hmmmm, maybe Miles DOES tell Chang about the Purge which makes him think the purge is imminent (see video above) even though it doesn't happen for years to come. Of course with Daniel talking on the video, it could be HIM that reveals this information.
  
• Chang tells Miles to take him to Radzinsky at the work site. He looks at Hurley and says if he utters one word "Polar Bear Poop, got it!" Miles asked what happened to the body, Chang simply responds "What body?" which makes me think they disposed of it indefinitely. Which makes me think they transported it to another place and time. But I dunno. Maybe I am overthinking again!
  
• The journey from Orchid to Swan was filled with classic Hurley moments as he tried to bond the long-lost Father and Son. Gotta love how he went from asking what he does at the Orchid (classified) to asking if he has told his wife or KIDS about it. Then asking what his 3 month old's name was. "Small world! That's your name too, right Miles?" Then the whole Jazz (Miles Davis) discussion was great where we find out that his wife likes jazz where he prefers country (proven by the Willie Nelson song playing in the season premiere). Hurley then tries to encourage them all to go out for a beer together sometime and get to know each other.
  
• They arrive at the work-site where we see a camoflauged gate that Chang opens. Miles drives them through to the site. Chang says he will get a ride back with Radzinsky. Hurley wonders what the place is until he sees the infamouse HATCH door and a worker inscribing the "Serial Number" 4-8-15-16-23-42 into it. Niiiiice. Hurley realizes what they are building "the hatch that crashed our plane."
  
  
• Okay, seriously? Miles didn't figure out from Juliet's speech about the hatch during their time flashing days that they were building the Swan hatch here? He knows how to find grid 334 but cannot figure out where the Swan Hatch was going to be? I find that to be a stretch, but whatever! Maybe not everyone can remember the island as well as Charles Widmore and John Locke!
  
• Hurley explains that an accident is going to happen at the hatch (THE INCIDENT!) where they will have to build a computer that you have to push so the world doesn't end. Would be kinda interesting to see how our LOSTIES may be involved in said incident and if it would result in them being moved back to the appropriate TIME ZONE. Afterall, we do know that Desmond traveled through time when he turned the key and made the sky purple!
  
• Hurley tries to force the issue of Miles bonding with his father. He won't be around in the future so you can get to know him now. He was totally down for that beer dude. When Hurley got to the point of Miles holding himself as a baby and changing his own diaper, Miles lost it. He doesn't want to get to know his father. He wasn't around when he was little. He is dead and gone, he never cared about him. Hurley says that he is NOT gone. He's alive in this time.
  
• And then we get to the moment we have been waiting for! Miles steals Hurley's journal and starts to read from it "Exterior Hoth: Little spy robot thingy zips through the atmosphere and crashes onto the snowy planet below. That's when Chewbacca shows up and blasts it away with his crossbow-laser. He shakes his FURY fist into the sky in triumph. Chewbacca: ROOOOWWWWWRRRRRLLLLL" Hurley - "It's furry. Furry fists. I need a spell check" CLASSIC!!! Hurley confesses that he is writing Empire Strikes Back. The original Star Wars just came out in 1977 and George will be looking for a sequel soon. He has seen Empire 200 times so he thought he would help George out and send him the script with a couple improvements! (if you talk to any Star Wars fan out there, there are definitely things that they would like to change out of George's Bible! George can't get any love from his fans these days.) This was just hysterical.
  
• Miles calls the idea the stupidest he has ever heard. And Hurley drives home the point that at least he's not scared to talk to his own dad. He later gets into the fact that his father left when he was 10 but was given a 2nd chance with him and they are the best of friends now. Miles said that Chang left him when he was a baby and that he never knew him. Then, Hurley compares the situation to Empire Strikes Back. We should be glad that Hugo probably never gets that script to George because he totally recalled the story wrong! He said that Luke found out Darth Vader was his father and instead of putting his light saber away and talking about it, he ended up getting his hand cut off. DUDE, Hurley, he got his hand cut off THEN found out Vader was his father! He goes on to say they worked it out eventually but at what cost? Then he complained about all of the problems with Return of the Jedi: Another Death Star was destroyed, Boba Fett was eaten by the Sarlacc and we got the Ewoks. "It all could have been avoided if they just communicated. Let's face it. Ewoks sucked dude." Best Hurley line ever! Of course, only being 5 when Return of the Jedi came out (and scared to death by Darth Vader), I loved those furry little Ewoks! But yeah, looking back at how live-action teddy bears took down the Empire? Kinda silly!
  
• Hurley then leaves Miles alone with his thoughts. Miles looks into Chang's house and sees him reading to baby Miles and realizing that Chang really DID love him. (note: this also further proves to the naysayers that our LOSTIES can exist in the same time as themselves. I tried to tell you!) Miles begins to cry, acknowledging that he has been holding on to this pain for quite some time. When Chang leaves the house on business he tells Miles that he needs him. It may as well have been Chang telling Miles that he has ALWAYS needed him in his life because he seemed to have an awakening of the opportunity Hurley spoke of all episode.
  
  
• Chang tells Miles that the sub is here from headquarters and that he needs Mile's help bringing them in. They are scientists from Ann Arbor (University of Michigan - where DHARMA founders The DeGroots reside)
  
• When Miles gets to the Sub, a familiar person steps out of it. It's Daniel Faraday! "Hey Miles, Long time no see!"
  
  

BOOM LOST

Woaaaaaaa. Daniel was OFF Island?! Working for DHARMA? What was he doing there? This will answer the ultimate question of if our time travelers leave the Island if they will be in the same time period. Crazy episode of LOST. You had to love all of the Star Wars stuff, but also the information revealed to us with BRAM trying to recruit Miles, Chang being Miles' father, seeing the Swan Hatch being built, watching the LOSTIES' cover story crumble, and having lots of Hurley dialogue! For the final 4 hours (3 weeks) of the season, I suspect it is going to get very intense, just like every other season.

Speculation on the Next New Episode of LOST
(Warning: Potentially Mild Spoilers ahead! Skip if you don't want to know the title of the episode and whose character-centric episode is next!)

• The next episode (in 2 weeks) is entitled "THE VARIABLE." I am guessing it is going to be Daniel's crazy flashback story. Will we find out why he was crying when he saw fake flight 815 at the bottom of the ocean? Will we find out more about his connection to Desmond and his revised thoughts on Time Travel?
• Something that interests me in the title is that last season we had a Time Travel episode called "THE CONSTANT." Anyone who paid attention to science experiments in school know that in every science experiment there needs to be a CONSTANT and a VARIABLE! Something tells me, we may be getting an additional twist to our Time Travel theories.
  

In Closing

That's pretty much all I have for the week. I tried to be less wordy for the episode and think I was successful until I got to the Hurley/Miles section! There is no new episode next week, just one of those crazy recap shows. So, please keep the discussion in the comments going strong for the next couple of weeks. There's always lots to discuss with this crazy show! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always. I will see you in 2 weeks! NAMASTE, and May the Force be with you!


This blog is also posted on Gather.com. Feel free to check it out and send some votes my way! You may also stumble upon additional discussions there!

Special thanks as always to Sledgeweb for providing awesome screen shots on their site.

LOST Season 5 Episode 12 - Dead is Dead

So, what lies in the shadow of the statue? Um I dunno, maybe the 5th toe? Wow, what a crazy episode of LOST! And on top of that, just flat out bizarre! I am sure once the entire show is complete and we look back on "Dead is Dead" everything will make sense. But right now? Ummmm woa.... Of course, the whole episode wasn't that nuts, it was really just those last few minutes. Well there was that and of course everyone's confusion on why Locke is alive again with no real explanation except "I knew it would happen!" But, alas, I nitpick! We got some information in this episode that we have been begging for for several episodes now. So let's not waste another minute pondering over where this falls on the all-time greatest episodes list (we all know "The Constant" is still high on that list!). Let's get into what happened on ABC's LOST this week.

We got another chapter in the saga of Ben. This put us in a unique situation where we could catch up with Ben's 2007 ventures as well as flash back to a point that took place not long after we last left Ben in 1977 (which is present day for some of our other Losties!). It all makes sense in the land of LOST these days! This episode is really a tale of redemption for Ben, much like Eko's in those dreaded first 6 episodes of season 3. Time to dive into the details!

Ben's Flashbacks

1977 - Ben's recovery

We open up tonight's episode with a man on horseback arriving to the Others' camp. I'll spare the suspense. It's Charles Widmore circa 1977! The man is furious with Richard.

• First of all, a HORSE? This is the first horse we've seen on the island since Kate's run-in with the black horse. Speaking of which, what happened to all of those stories where our characters were being haunted by ghosts via animals? Sawyer and the Boar, Kate and the Horse? Hurley and the Hurleybird? (just kidding on the last one)
• Anyway, Charles is mad that Richard brought young Ben into THEIR temple and that Richard should have let Ben die. Ben will later in life talk about how the wall around the temple was built to keep the NON-OTHERS out of it. So what is so special about this Temple? And why aren't they showing us it yet? I'm guessing that will be a season 6 reveal.
• Richard tells Charles he is just a boy and Jacob wanted it done. The Island chooses who the Island chooses. I wonder if this is where Jacob's List comes into play (referenced in season 3. The one Jack isn't on.). Of course, we don't even know if Jacob was ever communicating with Ben, so Ben may have made that list himself.
• Charles seems to accept this logic and goes in to see Ben. We find out for certain that Ben does not remember what happened. But we learn enough to tie events together in Ben's life. He remembers his father and that he wants to be one of the hostiles.
• Charles explains just because he lives with the DHARMA folk doesn't mean that he isn't one of them. This ties up the fact that Ben was still living with the DHARMA crew and working with his father right before the purge in 1992. The funny thing is, before tonight I never questioned the fact that Rousseau had Alex 16 years before 2004 and the Purge happened 12 years before 2004 and the fact that Alex was taken as a child and raised by Ben. I should have been questioning it, but it never really crossed my mind.
  
  Speaking of Alex...

Baby Issues
We see an older Ben and a young boy Ethan at Rousseau's camp. Ben was charged with killing Rousseau by Charles Widmore.

Here is what transpired:

• The heartless boy Ethan explains to Ben that he would do it for him. This reminds me of Sayid taking the fall for his older brother with killing the chicken and of course the tales of Eko and Yemi killing a man when told to.
• Ben shuts Ethan up and heads into Rousseau's tent. And unexpectedly baby Alex is there.
• Rousseau does some flipping out in French and accuses Ben of infecting her crew.
• Ben, apparently has a little bit of a heart and actually saves Rousseau. He tells her to never come look for her child and any time she hears whispers, run the other way.
• Hmmm....so where was the black smoke that Rousseau said she saw before they took Alex? Remember in season 1 when she told them there was black smoke and they took her baby? And then we saw the black smoke and they took Walt? (all they wanted was the boy) Unless, we're meant to think that Rousseau saw the black smoke MONSTER which infected her crew and then Ben came and took the baby. I dunno. That's a stretch, but I don't think they will really plan on closing up that loop much more!
• So Ben talks about the whispers. I guess he knows what that is all about? Will we ever find out? Or are we just going to be told that it's the "SOUND OF THE OTHERS" and to just deal with it?
• When Ben brings the baby back to Charles, the current leader of the Others is NOT a happy man. He gave orders for Ben to kill Rousseau, and then he said to kill the baby.
• Charles explains that everything he does is to protect the Island. Sounds familiar, Ben says that years later!
• Ben challenged Charles and asked if that is what Jacob would want. That it's just a child. This seems to be everyone's soft spot the past couple episodes. It's just a child! Ben challenges Charles even further by telling HIM to kill Alex. (technically, eventually he kinda does!) Thus, begins the downfall of Charles's reign on the Island.
• As I stated earlier, all of these events happened BEFORE the purge. Alex couldn't have been more than a few months old at that point which may put us around 1989ish. The purge was in 1992.

Widmore's Departure

• This is clearly AFTER the purge as The OTHERS have taken over the Barracks (DHARMAVILLE). Ben is pushing Alex on the swingset and Richard is there.
• We can probably assume with certainty right now that Charles Widmore ordered the purge as he was still on the island when it happened. Ben said last season that he didn't give the order. It's never safe to assume without seeing though, especially with Ben involved!
• We also find out that Charles DID lie to Locke about how he left the island. He said he was tricked into turning the donkey wheel. But we see him kicked off the Island by Ben via Submarine.
• We learn that Penny was born OFF of the Island. Widmore made regular visits off of the island and had a life there. He had a child, Penny, with an outsider. This apparently is breaking the rules. Yikes, what rules are we talking about NOW?
• Ben claims he will be a better leader than Charles because he will sacrifice anything necessary for the island. But the issue comes up around how he wouldn't kill Alex.
• And the debate continues, did the island want Alex dead or did Charles? Charles states if the Island wants her dead she'll be dead and the roles will be reversed and Ben will be banished just like Charles is now. We see all of this play out in season 4 when Ben leaves the Island after Alex is killed by Keamy. Charles says you can't fight inevitability. Does this play into the Whatever Happened Happened philosophy from a FUTURE perspective? Whatever is meant to happen WILL happen? Is this why Locke is alive on the Island? Because he is supposed to be alive? My mind is just boggled folks!
• In any case, Charles is one ticked off dude. And I would guess ticked off enough 12ish years later to send a freighter to recruit Ben Linus, and perhaps kill his "daughter" in the process! Of course, based on that picture Miles had of Ben last season, it would appear that Ben made regular trips off of the island as well. And what's up with the 3.2 Million dollars? Maybe we'll find out about that soon! Yikes, I'm just rambling on and on aren't I?

Off Island, the day of Ajira Flight 316


Ever since we saw Ben tell Jack he had a promise to keep to an old Friend and then saw him make that bloody phone call to Jack later, we've been wondering what on earth happened to Penny, Desmond and little Charlie. Well, I'm excited to say that the RIGHT thing happened! But the way they tied it all together was pretty awesome.

• Ben makes a call to Charles as he is walking on the dock towards Penny and Desmond's boat. He tells Charles he is going back to the Island. Charles says he has been trying for 20 years and it's impossible. Ben says he will succeed where Charles failed. (Why wouldn't Widmore just go on the freighter WITH his crew if he wanted to go back so badly? Would the Freighter have not found the Island?)
• Ben tells Charles he is going to kill Penny and that he is looking at "Our Mutual Friend" right now. Ahhh good times, Desmond and Penny named the boat after the one Charles Dickens book that Desmond never read. He has been saving it to be the last thing he reads before he dies.
• But even better, Desmond with a bag of groceries in hand sees Ben and asks what he's doing there then BAM....Ben shoots Desmond (well he shoots the bag of groceries)
• Ben goes towards Penny, introduces himself and apologizes for her getting caught up in this. Penny explains she has no ties to her father. And as Ben is getting into explaining how awful Charles Widmore is and is responsible for killing his daughter....little Charlie comes out to the rescue!!! As we have learned earlier Ben cannot bring himself to kill the mother of a child! It's just a child!
• Ben lowers his gun, unable to proceed and BAM BROTHAAAAA...DESMOND comes and beats the living daylights out of Ben then throws him into the water. YEAAAAH!!!! Many of us were hoping that's how it went down and sure enough, it did. But the twist of using Charlie and the fact that Ben actually wasn't going to go through with it, a nice little addition of redemption for Ben's character. Beautifully done LOST WRITERS! Whew, with all the craziness going on in this episode, it was totally worth it for that scene.
• So the big question...what now is motivating Desmond to return to the island? or perhaps their crazy boat they are on will end up shipwrecked on the island, similar to when Desmond arrived the first time? Time will tell. But surely all of that talk about the rules not applying to Desmond and him being uniquely and miraculously special in the season premiere wasn't just for kicks. Maybe he factors in in getting everyone back to the future! Who needs Doc Brown when you have a time traveling SCOTSMAN?!
  

2007

Hydra Island - Ben and Locke catch up
When we last left Ben and Locke last week, Ben was just waking up and Locke had a wonderful smirk on his face welcoming Ben back to the place where miracles happen. And we were all anxious to find out the rest of that conversation. Here's out it went down folks:

• First of all, Locke wakes Ben up. It didn't happen as suddenly as it was suggested in last week's episode that showed Ben waking up as soon as Richard too little Ben into the temple in 1977. I think they added that little line from John to confirm that the 2 events were completely separate.
• So after John's big line, Ben's bug eyes widened to new levels as he pronounced "I knew it!" This kind of falls in line with other things Ben said to Jack off of the island. The doubting Thomas story and Ben's reaction to Jack asking "he is dead, right?" Ben even gave a twist on the doubting Thomas story in saying that it's one thing to believe, but to see it is something else all together. (Thomas didn't believe until he saw Jesus risen from the dead)
• So instead of asking right away why Ben killed him, he asks why Ben was running away to the main island. Ben tells John he was going back to be judged. He "broke the rules" by returning to the island and now needed to be judged by "THE MONSTER." Ben claims The Others never had a name for it. We find out later, that this really isn't the reason Ben wanted to be judged. So then once again, what are these rules that he speaks of? Why was Ben able to come back and Charles wasn't? Is there even such a rule that the island won't let ex-leaders come back? And do these rules have anything to do with the rules of Time Travel that Faraday and Chang talk about? This Jacob guy is one crazy lawmaker!
• Later on we get the scene we were waiting for. Ben is in what we find out to be HIS office. (the same office that Caesar was looking around for supplies a few episodes back). Ben finds a picture of him and Alex and takes it "for sentimental reasons" he says.
• Locke, showing more confidence than ever, makes fun of Ben's office for a bit calling it "too corporate" but then wants to address the elephant in the room. Why on earth did Ben kill him?
• Here's the explanation from our most famous truth teller! It kinda makes sense I guess, in a demented weird sort of way. So it's hard not to believe him. Both Locke and Ben were aware that John had failed to convince the Oceanic 5 (no Aaron) to come back to the island and that the only way to really do it was for him to die. So then why did Ben talk him down from suicide? Locke had critical information that would have died with him and afterwards Ben didn't have time to talk Locke back into hanging himself (That got a good laugh out of me). It was in the best interest of the island. And "IT WORKED!" Everyone is back but they don't know where, Locke is alive. So it sounds like it had nothing to do with suicide vs. murder and trying to replicate whatever happened to Christian Shephard (although, I still think his death was more than a heart attack or a drunken bender).
• Locke humorously told Ben that he was just hoping for an apology. And that he is going to help Ben be judged. Locke does not completely trust Ben, with good reason. He tells Ben "if everything you have done was truly in the best interest of the island, then I'm sure the monster will understand." More to come on this!

"Sic Semper Tyrannis!" - Caesar's destiny
There were some interactions with some of the new island residents from flight 316. Here's what went down.

• We appear to see a distrusting Ben again who tells Caesar that the old man is crazy and that he doesn't remember him from the plane, doesn't even know him so couldn't possibly have "killed him." He suggests that Locke may be playing them and was already here on the island. During this conversation Ben finds out that Caesar has a gun and was planning to use it.
• When Locke and Ben later plan to take another outrigger to the main island, Caesar has some issues with this since he is "calling the shots" and he wants to know how Locke knows so much about the island. He reaches in his bag for his gun, Ben takes it out of his hiding place and takes Caesar down. RIP Caesar. So much for him playing a larger role on the show. I gotta say, not too disappointed by this one.
• So, keeping tabs on the outriggers, we know 2 of these things end up at the 815ers old camp. And there will be 2 at the dock near the barracks once Locke and Ben take one. And only one outrigger is at Hydra. Doesn't mean much now, but it plays into the end of the episode.
  

Main Island - Dharmaville aka Othersville

So Ben and Locke arrive at the dock that Sun and Frank parked their outrigger at. Locke puts his shoes back on as the 2 of them catch up on what happened between Sun, Frank and Ben before Locke "came back into the picture" so to speak. A quick recap, Sun knocked Ben out with an oar. And Ben explains that the injury to his arm was from something different (as we learned earlier in the blog, that was courtesy of the Scotsman brothaaaaa!!!)

• Ben explains to John that he finds sometimes friends are more dangerous than enemies. And that he killed Caesar because he had stolen the gun he was planning to use on Locke which set up the classic line "No sense in me dying twice right?"
• Ben and Locke head towards the Barracks to Ben's old house. It's the only place Ben knows where to summon the monster. Locke, seeming to have all the answers this time around on the island, informs Ben that he thinks Ben is lying about his reasoning for wanting to be judged. Ben doesn't care about RULES and leaving the island. He wants to be judged for essentially killing Alex (or letting her be killed to save himself). The look on Ben's face says it all. His old tricks don't seem to be working!
• Note, when they arrive to the Barracks the Processing Center sign is stil hanging off the roof of one of the buildings. So perhaps it wasn't a smoke monster illusion. We do see the windows are boarded up too though. Maybe no one ever went in that building? Kind of hard to believe that in all of the years The Others lived there that no one browsed in there and saw the DHARMA RECRUIT CLASS PHOTOS. Although, Ben seemed thoroughly surprised to see the picture later.
• Locke asks Ben if moving into the Others into the Barracks after the purge was Ben's idea. It doesn't seem like something the island would want. Ben tries to claim more knowledge about the island, but again Locke isn't buying it and just seems to have a better understanding than ever of what is going on. It is worth mentioning in season 3 that Locke explained that the use of technology seems against the Island's wishes and Ben told Locke then that he really didn't know what he was talking about.
• A creepy scene follows with a light on in Ben's old house and someone moving around in Alex's room. Locke tells Ben to check it out. When he goes into the house, we see an unfinished game of RISK still on the table. If you recall in "The Shape of Things to Come" Hurely, Sawyer and Locke were playing Risk right before the Red phone rang and Dharmaville went up in "smoke" (yep, dual meaning between the mercenaries blowing up some buildings and the Smoke Monster saving the day!) I think we see this table here to most certainly prove that no alternate timeline was created by our LOSTIES being in the DHARMA past.
  
• Ben also finds Sun and Frank in his house. They spare no time in going over the Sun vs. Ben battle. Frank shows Ben the DHARMA picture with Jack, Kate and Hurley in 1977. Ben claims not to know that they were in the DHARMA Initiative or really to know of the existence of the photo. But I'm skeptical. It seems like he is up to his lying ways again.
• Sun and Frank also inform Ben that they ran into a crazy old man named Christian who told them to wait here for John Locke but that they weren't holding their breath since the man is dead. This followed by them looking out the window and Locke politely waiving. Ahhh this crazy show.
• Sun and Frank are in disbelief. Locke explains there must be a good reason for him being alive but doesn't know why or how. Frank think they're all nuts. Leads for some good comedy of trusting a murderer, a dead guy and believing that everyone else is 30 years ago. He pretty much tells Sun he is out of this and planning to head back to the plane to try and radio for help.
• Locke convinces Sun that she will never find her husband if she leaves with Frank. Well, it is the whole reason she abandoned her 3 year old daughter, so she better go with Locke! Locke, again seeming to have a plan which he never had in his 1st Island life, said he has some ideas on how to find Jin. Where is this information coming from?
• Sidenote: Did Lapidus and Locke ever really meet last season? I don't think they did! He had heard the name from Hurley on the life raft when they explained that he moved the island and he knew the name from the manifest since he studied and memorized the whole thing. But I just thought it was interesting that they never met, and that he acted like he knew Locke in this scene. Such is life on a TV show I guess!
• Anyway, before Locke can go forth with his plans, he is forcing Ben to carry through with his mission to be judged.
• Ben opens up his secret door that we saw last season, and we get to follow Ben down into the cave this time around. There is a lantern (just like in the donkey wheel cave) and Ben crawls his way down to a nice puddle of muddy water. He pulls something in the water like a drain, and the water goes down. Ben tells "Smokey" that he'll be outside. So I wonder if there is significance to the WATER? Does that keep Smokey at bay? Is that why the thing never wanders around the beaches? Eh, just me doing some crazy speculating.
• Ben goes outside and sees Sun but no Locke. Locke told Sun he had something to do and Ben was confused on what it possibly could be. So are we Ben!
• Sun is confused to how Locke is alive and is convinced Jack lied. Ben tells Sun that Locke was indeed dead and now is alive. He says he had no idea it would happen even though he told Locke he KNEW it would happen. He has seen the island do miraculous things like heal the sick but never bring someone back from the dead. "DEAD IS DEAD. you don't get to come back from that, not even here" Locke being alive scares the living hell out of him.
• Well it sure seems like Ben feels that way, but why lie to Sun? To cover up that he is the one that killed Locke? So if Dead is Dead, I guess that is trying to confirm to us that everyone else that was dead on the island is truly dead, which includes visions we'll see later in the episode. What does this say about Christian Shephard? The producers have always said that Christian is certifiably dead. And I would say the fact that he shows up in various time periods would support that theory (visiting Locke at the Donkey Wheel). It's just tough delivering your messages via Ben, the lying machine! Especially when he tells a lie while explaining it!
• Locke returns and Smokey never shows up. He tells Ben that they will have to go TO the monster instead of trying to summon it. Ben argues that he doesn't know where it is. Locke bluntly says "I do." Okay, I give up. Where is Locke getting his information from? Is he in communion with the island now that he is risen from the dead? Where did he go when he went into the jungle. Did he go to the cabin? Ben wasn't gone for THAT long.

Main Island - Journey to the Temple

• Before departing to find ol' Smokey, Locke tries to assure Sun that he understands how weird this is with him being alive, but that he's the same John Locke he has always been.
• On the journey, Ben is clearly freaked out and asking Locke question after question. How does Locke know where he is going? How did he get this brain dump of information? Did he suddenly wake up one day and know all the answers to the universe?
• Locke is loving the role reversal and how Ben has to blindly follow Locke just Locke had to follow Ben in hopes he would find what he was looking for.
• Ben realizes where they are going, he tells them it's where they brought him as a boy. It's where the island healed him. The Temple. They arrive at the wall and we are told that the temple is a half mile past the wall which was built to keep the NON-OTHERS out. As I stated before, I'm guessing the temple itself will be a season 6 reveal. But for now, Locke has other plans in mind. They are going under the Temple into into the CAVE where we saw Smokey drag Montand sans arm and the rest of Rousseau's crew.
• Of course, perhaps the temple is the answer to reuniting the crew in the 1977 and 2007 and we just do not know that yet. I guess we'll see.
• Ben is a little freaked out about going into Smokey's residence and tells Sun if she ever leaves the island to tell Desmond he's sorry. (obviously we know what he's sorry for) Of course it makes me wonder if Sun is going to get separated from Locke and Ben after the 2 of them head into the cave. Sure, Ben thought he was marching off to his death and wouldn't get a chance to get his message across himself. But I dunno, just got that feeling. Also, does this mean that Sun and Jin after they are reunited may try to leave the island to be with their child? Time will tell.
• Locke and Ben head into the cave. To Be Continued!

Hydra Island - Frank Returns

• Well, I pointed out earlier that there was only 1 outrigger at Hydra Island. Well the 2nd one returned with Frank and he didn't run into friendly company when he returned.
• Ilana found a stash of guns (maybe in the Hydra closet where Jack grabbed a gun in season 3?) and has taken over the reigns of the motley 316 crew. When Frank goes to see Ilana she points the gun at him and asks the secret question "what did one snowman say to the other?" Just kidding! She said "What lies in the shadow of the statue?"
  
• Frank had no idea what the answer was and was tied up.
• Ilana tells another guy with a gun to get everyone else and tell them that it's time. I guess she asked EVERYONE the question to see if they were with her? Speaking of with her, who is SHE with? Who recruited her to get Sayid? Was it Ben? Widmore? An unkown party? Is she the leader of the new threat that will face our LOSTIES in this season and the next? Is this the introduction to the WAR that is coming to the Island where Locke needs to be there for the right side to win? (according to lying man Charles Widmore of course)
• Lots of questions, the one thing we probably can confirm is that the 2 outriggers on Hydra and the Ajira water bottle we see are the things that make their way to the 815ers old camp and the same people that chase after at shoot at Locke, Juliet, Sayid, Miles, Dan and Charlotte when they take 1 of the outriggers to the Orchid. Stay tuned for the rest of their story in a future episode.
  

Main Island - The Cave

• As Locke and Ben head further into the cave with their torches, Ben tells Locke he was right about why he wants to be judged. He let Alex die in order to not leave the island. And now he has to answer for that. He asks Locke to let him go on his way alone.
• As Ben walks on he falls through the floor into yet another room filled with ancient Egyptian lore. Heiroglyphics galore. Clearly, I'm not liscenced to translate this stuff for everyone, but feel free to give it a shot! There are more pictures on Sledgeweb's site linked here.
  
  
  


• Ben makes his way through the room to a wall with a very telling engraved picture on it. It appears to be the Egyptian God Anubis feeding our Smoke Monster a treat. This picture here is a mythological delight. First of all, there was much speculation that the 4 toed statue HAS to be the Egyptian God of the Underworld after we saw the shot of the statue's back. This picture goes a long way in supporting that theory. To help the theory along, there is also an Ankh which is carried by Anubis and also referenced in the same episode we saw the statue ("LaFleur"). There is also a Serpent hanging out with Anubis in the picture for all of you "the island is the Garden of Eden" theorists out there! And on the left side of the picture a WHEEL of some sort maybe? No clue. What does all this mean? You got me. But clearly again, we are being told that this island has strong ancient Egyptian origins or at least strong signs of the island's original inhabitants.
  
• As Ben stares in fear at the picture, his torch goes out and our pal Smokey comes out of the grates below it and encapsulates Ben.
  
  
  
• When we saw the smoke monster meet Eko for the first time, we saw images from Eko's past throughout the smoke. This time it is taken a step further as we see Ben re-experiencing some pretty bad moments in his life and with Alex including the moment where he lets her die. Ben is clearly torn up be seeing all of this and unlie Eko, seems to be very sorry for what he has done.
  
• The smoke eventually subsides and Ben's torch all of a sudden lights back up. What is THAT all about?
  
• But then like Eko was visited by Yemi, Ben is visited by Alex (all seeming to be the Smoke monster taking the form of these people). Ben apologizes to Alex and says that everything was his fault. She goes after him, pushes him against a wall and tells him that she knows he is planning to kill Locke AGAIN. If he so much as touches Locke, she will hunt him down and destroy him. She instructs him to follow his every word and do anything he asks Ben to do. Ben hesitates but then fearfully promises to do this.
• I guess if Smokey can take the form of Yemi and Alex and in both cases be able to interact and have physical contact with people, it's not a stretch to say that Christian Shephard is the same. But why is Christian appearing to more people than just Jack? Michael, Ben, Locke, Hurley, Sun, Frank and even Vincent (the mobisode) have seen Christian. Something tells me he is a bit different. But I still hesitate to say he is reincarnated like Locke.
• Anyway, back to Ben. Alex disappears into thin air. We hear Locke screaming down to Ben . He has some rope and sends it down to Ben. Locke asks what happened? Ben, looking like the fear of God, Jacob or Locke has been put into him responds "It Let me Live"

BOOM LOST!

Nothing really to say except....WHA????? Lots of headscratching to go around in this episode. So Smokey is judging people. Yeah, we kinda got that before with Eko. But is it judging everyone? Did it judge the 815 Pilot? Or did he just kill him because he wasn't supposed to be flying the plane? (Frank was) And another thing, when do we know when we can trust what Ben is saying? Only when we SEE what he is saying is true? (i.e. Ben telling Sun to trust him that Locke died. We saw Ben kill Locke) Or can we now believe Locke knows all and when he suspects Ben of lying, then we know it's a lie? And how does Locke know everything? Where was he for that first day or 2 when Ajira 316 crash landed on Hydra? Could that be helping to explain what is going on? Where did he go when he went into the jungle? Will Young Ben ever see the LOSTIES in 1977 again or will he remain with the Others until they are gone...helping to solidify him not remembering them? But what would that say about the 3 years that Sawyer, Juliet, Miles and Daniel were there? Oh yeah, where IS Daniel? While we're at it, why doesn't Richard age?

The funny thing is, I thought we were more in ANSWER mode these days on LOST. But there are still lots of questions to go around. It should be interesting to see how it is all resolved in. 22 more hours! Overall, the episode was a good time (I know, I always say it) but man was I confused! Please, join in on my confusion and post your thoughts of "Dead is Dead" and what is going on on LOST Island! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings (and I do ramble quite a bit with this show!) and I'll see you next week. NAMASTE!

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Special thanks as always to Sledgeweb for providing awesome screen shots on their site.