Lost Season 2 Finale - "Live Together, Die Alone"

For some strange reason, that falling Quarantine hatch cover really reminded me of 'The Truman Show'. (The falling light marked 'Sirius')
Then there is Michael having to sail away in a very specific angle (325 degrees) to be able to leave the island and that he wouldn't be able to ever find his way back again. Desmond said that he sailed straight west for 2 and a half weeks and just landed up back at the island. Very reminiscent of an enclosed globe.

At least we do now know that the outside world does still exist.

So, 'Henry Gale' seems to be the leader of the others. The mysterious 'Him' that was referred to in previous episodes with respect and more than a little fear. That would explain why he was so good at subtly manipulating Locke and Jack. Also why the others would be willing to give up Walt in order to get him back. That is, if they are actually planning on just letting Michael and Walt leave. The coordinates they gave him can just as easily lead to another facility.

Henry did mention that he was there to get Locke, but it could very well have been just another lie. But if Henry is as important as they would like us to believe, why would he go there alone? Or allow himself to get captured? Could this be connected to why the others had to bribe Michael to rescue him? Perhaps only certain members of the others are able to go to the beach. Because of the infection?

Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Why them? Is there anything that links them other than the obvious love triangle?
The only thing I can think of is the fact that they've all seem some kind of vision / hallucination. Jack saw his father, Kate and Sawyer both saw her black horse and Sawyer had the boar (not sure if it really qualifies, but he did see the horse). Actually Hurley also had a hallucination, he saw Dave.

Of course there were other characters who also had supernatural experiences, but I think they can be eliminated. With Charlie, Eko, Locke and even Claire, what they saw came in dreams. Also, I don't think the black smoke / security system or the voices qualifies, so that excludes Sayid too. The only others that had hallucinations we know about was Boone and Shannon, but they're both gone now.

The Others supposedly takes the 'good' people. But Sawyer and Kate really doesn't qualify in a traditional sense. People like Sun and Rose would be much likelier candidates. Eko was on their list at one stage, but they don't seem to want him anymore. The fact that he killed 2 of them could very well be the reason.

Henry once again claims that "We're the good guys", but it is still unclear what that exactly means. Again, this is a situation where we will have to wait until we see things from their point of view and learn what their motivations are.

What is wrong with Charlie? I suppose I could be concussion from the explosion, but why is he so unconcerned about Locke and Eko? He even told Claire that nothing had happened. His whole attitude is puzzling. Could it be the effects of the EMP?

I wonder what is happening to Sayid. He did manage to light a fire, so it is improbable that he is captured too, but the music in his last scene in the abandoned camp was pretty ominous.

The Widmore Company that Penny's father owns is the same company that made the pregnancy test that Sun used, the construction company Michael may have worked for. There was also a banner for it near the soundstage Charlie's commercial was being shot and they sponsored real Henry Gale's balloon.
Charles Widmore might have set up the race in order to trap Desmond on the island and thus keep him away from his daughter. It could also explain how Penelope knows to look for some sort of magnetic signal to find Desmond.

• We finally got a time and date for the crash: 922044:16. September 22, 2004, at 4:16 am.
  
  
• Libby was a blonde on the Island, a brunette in the hospital, and in Desmond's flashback, she was a redhead.
  
  
• Desmond's full name is Desmond David Hume. David Hume was also a philosopher.
  
  
• The Hurley-Bird is back.
  
  
• The hieroglyphics on the countdown indicator loosely translate to "death."
  
  
• Penelope's name could be a reference to Odysseus wife in the Iliad and the Odyssey. She faithfully waited 20 years for him to return after the Trojan War, despite constant pressure from other suitors
  
  
• We finally see the Pala Ferry mentioned in the Pearl Station training video.
  
  
• Sayid: "I don't know what is more disquieting: the fact that the rest of the statue is missing, or that it has four toes."

Lost 2/02 - "Adrift"

The fate of the raft survivors was one of the biggest cliffhangers last season, and the scenes between Michael and Sawyer is the highlight of the episode.

Michael is a bit of a weak character. He is mostly defined by his relationship to Walt, and now that Walt is missing, he is at a loss about what to do. His flashbacks fills in a few gaps, but they don't really bring any new information. The only intriguing part is that the polar bear once again appears in connection to Walt (his soft toy) .

Sawyer never ceases to surprise. Initially he was one of the most unlikeable characters there, but as the first season progressed, he turned into one of the most intriguing (Second only to Locke, who became incredibly creepy closert to the end) Here, he rescues Michael and give him mouth to mouth. He is the one that realises 'the others' were after Walt all along. He is also the only one worrying over Jin's whereabouts. Not really consistent with the uncaring-bad-guy image he likes to project.

For that matter, what did happen to Jin? At the end of last season, it appeared like he was diving after the injured Sawyer, but here he just disappeared. How did he arrive on the island so much sooner than the other 2? Why was he tied up, and who is the creepy looking people in the background?

I wasn't too fond of the rehashing of last week's scenes. We did get new info, but the pacing of the episode suffered a bit. I don't mind the change in perspective, but I don't think they really needed to reshow so much of the previous scenes. It just didn't feel neccesary.

A lot of Desmond’s comments were very interesting in light of Rousseau’s comments during the first season. He was rather shocked to discover that the rest of the world was still around, which again suggests that the injection in the previous episode was all about protecting himself from whatever infected the research ship's crew. It also makes sense that the “security system” was put in place to stop anyone from getting into the hatch and exposing those inside.

Desmond is actually a lot like fellow island exile Rousseau. He has been on this island for a long time (the numerous marks on the wall attest to that), and having to enter this code every 108 minutes has obviously affected his sleep patterns, which would totally warp his mindset. Add the isolation from being down in the hatch to that and we can see how Desmond changed from the way he was in Jack’s flashback. It makes you wonder what Rousseau was like before her crew was shipwrecked.

Jetsam & Flotsam:

• Sawyer: "What you gonna do? Splash me?"



• Loved Kate's expression when she tasted the chocolate.



• Sawyer referred to the island as home.



• The Numbers are a deactivation code, which resets the timer to 108, the sum of the Numbers.



• The logo that appears on all the food and Desmond's uniform also shows up on the fin of the shark. Another 'security system'?



• Apparently this ep was originally supposed to have Sawyer-based flashbacks.
  

Lost 2/01 - "Man of Science, Man of Faith"

So, after a very long wait, we're finally back on the island. I've tried my best to stay as spoiler-free as possible, and with the exception of knowing about the new cast members, I actually succeeded.

I liked it, even if it felt more like a normal episode than a season opener. It focuses on Jack, and in a certain sense, he becomes both the man of science and the man of faith of the title.

The hatch is open, but it's contents is unexpected. Who could have guessed that there is actually someone living there in 60/70's style splendour? Or that it would be a person that Jack knew 'in another life'? And how long has he been there? It couldn't have been that long (well not 30 years) if he met Jack when he was already a specialist. But that is only if you assume that their encounter was completely real, and not leaning a bit more to the Shannon/Walt meeting in this episode.

The quarantine warning reminds me of the supposed sickness that Danielle's crew contracted. Could that be what the massive injection was for, or is it just an immune booster?

In the flashbacks, we once again meet Sarah, Jack's (ex?) wife. Is there any connection between Sara's miraculous recovery and Locke's? Especially since Desmond was in the vicinity both times?

The man who died in the car crash was Adam Rutherford, aged 57. Could it possibly be Shannon's father? Sarah also mentioned she was en route to get some things for her wedding. Boone ran a business that provided wedding supplies, so it could add even more weight to the theory. After all, there seems to be very few coincidences on Lost.

Flotsam & Jetsam:

• Once again, the episode opens with an eye, this time belonging to Desmond.
  
  
• When the soaking wet Walt appears to Shannon, he appears to speak gibberish. Apparently if that scene is played backwards, he says: "[Don't] press the button...[the button is bad]". This definitely follows the storyline, since Jack was about to press the 'Execute' button at the end of the episode.
  
  
• The vial Desmond was shooting up had "CR 4-81516-23 42" on it.
  
  
• Hurley finally told Jack his long story about the numbers and the lottery, and all Jack heard was, "You were in a psych ward?"
  
  
• There was a powerful magnet in the bunker. Has to be important. Did it have anything to do with the plane crash? Or Rousseau's shipwreck for that matter?
  
  
• Hurley: "Life's not so bad, right? I mean, sure, the Others are coming to, like, eat us all, and every once in awhile someone blows up all over you, but we do get to sleep in every morning."
  

Tonight

I can't wait!

Prison Break, Weeds and Nip/Tuck Season 3 are all starting tonight, with Veronica Mars joining them tomorrow night.

And we only have to wait one more month for Lost and Alias to start again.

Yay for Mnet!

Lost Season 1 Finale

Once again, don't read if you don't want any spoilers, 'kay!


Well, that was some journey. And no destination in sight either! I thought they were going to give us some answers, but now, in true JJ Abrams style, we are left with even more questions.
It was shocking and intense and managed to keep the tension taut right up to the end. Yes, we didn't get all the answers we were looking for, but at least we know that there will soon be another season.

Arzt explosive demise was as unexpected as it was called for. He was being so excruciatingly patronising to the others. My sister insists that I knew he was going to die, since I told her he was probably a red shirt during the previous episode, (and then had to explain to her in detail what that meant) but that still didn't mean my tea didn't nearly end up in my lap when it happened!

Hurley: "You got some... Arzt... on you."

The monster sounds distinctly mechanical. That really gives some credence to it's security system role. It also appears to move mainly underground, and it was really trying hard to take Locke down with it. This makes the fact that the hatch leads down into a long tunnel even more sinister. Locke has been desperately trying to open it for some time now. He believes that 'hope' is inside it. But just like Pandora's box, the opening of the hatch could also release a whole range of suffering on the survivors. The presence of Hurley's numbers can attest to that.

Hurley's numbers. They were everywhere, especially in his flashback. I still wonder how many people actually used them to play the lotto after they were revealed the first time.

The most touching scene was definitely when Sawyer told Jack about meeting his father and the way Jack struggled so hard to control his emotions because of it. And this said, Sawyer's death wish had better not come true! He is turning out to be one on the most interesting characters on the island.

I liked the way the last few flashbacks started converging. They brought everything full circle, just ready to start again. But I wonder why Claire didn't get her own flashback too?

• It was a young blond girl that tossed the Molotov cocktail onto the raft. Could that be Alex?
• Charlie did take a statue full of heroin. I just hope he doesn't start using it.
• What exactly was Danielle's involvement in Claire's kidnapping? Was she trying to help or stop her?
• Jack is not married anymore. What happened?
• Hurley was reading the spanish comic with the polar bear in it on the plane.
• The Black Rock is a slave ship. How on earth did it get there?
• Who is the 'Others'? They have a boat, so they must be there voluntarily. And why would they want Walt?

I really don't want to wait so long to find out the answers!

Lost - Pilot (1 & 2)

(This started out as a comment on Casyn's post, but it just got way too long, so I transferred it here instead.)

The people at M-net were nice enough to screen the first 2 episodes back to back. It makes a big difference, and I would have been really frustrated to be left hanging in the middle of the pilot. Not that there isn't enough questions already after just 2 episodes.

They way they use non-linear storytelling is very effective. The viewer is thrust into the middle of this world without knowing anything about the any of the characters, just like them. Even the setting is alien - any normal reference framework doesn't exist here.
I am really glad that they decided to drop the subtitles for the Korean couple, Jin and Sun, in the second half. This puts the audience in the same shoes as the characters as they try to cross a very crucial barrier.

So everything is very strange and stressful already, just to have a 'Lord of the Flies'esque 'Beast' thrown into the mix too. At first it is possible that The Beast could be a manifestation, a sort of embodiment of the survivors' collective fear. But the fact that it brutally killed the pilot of the ill-fated plane and left it in the tree left two things quite clear - it is very real, and this series has much more supernatural elements in it than I ever expected.

Everything is shrouded in mystery, even the plot itself - slowly, through flashbacks exclusive to each characters' point of view, we find out how these people got to where they are, and, essentially, who they are.

Kate's flashback for example completely changes the way we regard her motivations and actions pre-flashback. It explains why she was so concerned about the man with the scrapnel in his gut and why it was she who succeeded in breaking up the fight between Sawyer and Sayid, attempting to keep the others focused and trying to get them to look beyond their petty differences. Because if Sayid is ostracized even though he has done nothing, what will happen when the others learn her secret?

Orange man(Locke) is extremely creepy - he obviously knows much more than he is letting on. There is the orange peel incident and then way he serenely sits in the rain while the rest of the survivors desperately scramble to find some cover - he even looks happy. When he finally does speak in the second half, it only deepens the mystery: "Two players. Two sides. One is light; one is dark. Walt - do you wanna know a secret?"
Eerily reminiscent of Carnivale.

It is interesting that the whole Polar Bear incident occurred right after Walt saw a picture of a polar bear in his Spanish language comic book. Like in Sphere where people's fears come to life.

I wonder if the 5 on Jack's tattoo has any relation to the story he told about conquering his fear?
One critique though, no airline that I know of will allow an 8 months pregnant woman to fly, especially not on an international flight.