Lost 5.06

[selenak]

The frustrating thing is that everything going on behind the scenes, which obviously we'll be filled in later, interested me more than what was going on with Jack - i.e. what happened with Hurley and Sayid to bring them on the plane, was the loose end Ben mentioned Penny, if so, what happened there, and did Kate hand over Aaron to Claire's mother (who is in town, after all, and Kate knows her hotel)? Being strictly limited to Jack's pov and watch him avoid Locke's letter for an episode instead was frustrating. In a legitimate set-up way - as I said, I'm certain we'll be filled in later - but still very frustrating. Though I'm disappointed Locke wrote just the one sentence, though if he had conveyed useful information I'd have been tempted even more to yell at Jack for not at least considering that possibility and open the damn letter right when he got it.

Bless Hurley. From the moment Eloise said that they'd have to take a plane I was wondering about the other passengers. Now we had already established in the s3 finale that Jack was so far gone he didn't care who else crashed with him, with all the flights he booked in the hope of crashing again, and of course Ben doesn't care, either, but the fact Sun or Kate made no attempt to warn anyone off is saying something chilling about them. Hurley buying the other seats to make sure no one else gets dragged to the island? *hugs Hurley with his intact humanity, big time*

Okay, at a guess: Sayid plus marshal being on the plane is due to Ben orchestrating this; he probably gave the police a tip. Hurley, on the other hand, probably had another visitation from Dead Charlie Walking (hence the guitar) and was told to return to the island because Claire is still there. Kate, as I said, reconsidered about Aaron, drove to Claire's mother and told her the truth. Ben I'm 90% sure followed Desmond because of Penny ("fulfill a promise I made to an old friend" was clearly Ben speak for his "you killed my daughter, I'll kill yours" conversation with Widmore) , and they'll probably tease us a while before revealing whether Penny is alive or dead; as mentioned in earlier reviews, due to Desmond's and Penny's status as the couple embodying hope on this show I'm completly certain of Penny's survival.

Something else they'll tease us a while with before revealing it: where Ben is. Because obviously, there is that big "I can't return to the island'" thing from the fourth season finale. I see two possibilities: Ben is wherever the rest of the plane is in the world around the island, crashed in the ocean or still flying, or Ben did make it on the island but not in the right time frame, and won't be in synch with the castaways, either.

That van Jin is driving looks relatively new, and his Dharma uniform doesn't look as if he stripped it off a mouldering corpse, either, so I'm thinking our heroes arrived briefly before the purge and will remain there for a while, because now that the O6 are back on the island, it won't constantly flip between time zones anymore (though it might still flip). This will allow them and the audience to witness what happens and will present them with that trustly old time paradox dilemma: if they reveal what young Ben and the hostiles are up to and save the Dharma Initiative, they'll have changed the timeline and created a future where their own lives on the island would not have happened the way it did, which in turn would ensure they wouldn't change the timeline, which in turn would mean the old situation would have happened, etc. If, on the other hand, they just witness the purge happening, well. Welcome to the club, fellows. You should talk to Donna and the Doctor.

Glad to see Frank Lapidus again. I rather liked him last season.

Lastly: I'm betting we'll see Locke flashbacks - his encounters on the mainland - before we find out whether Locke now shares Christian Shephard's status on the island.

Comments

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

In a legitimate set-up way - as I said, I'm certain we'll be filled in later - but still very frustrating.

This is one of those episodes that become a lot more annoying when you watch them live - on DVD, you could have moved right on, and this way there is mostly a feeling of "And that's all?" At least Jack's granddad was a tad more entertaining than Bai Ling. And I did like elements of the ep, especially all the Narnia references.

Bless Hurley indeed. I wish he had managed to buy off the business class members, too. Maybe the flash was an indication that only the O6 + assorted baggage characters crashed, while everyone else remained on the plane? I'm trying to remember The Last Battle, did the train crash which send the Pevensies back to Narnia kill anyone apart from them?

Ben I'm 90% sure followed Desmond because of Penny ("fulfill a promise I made to an old friend" was clearly Ben speak for his "you killed my daughter, I'll kill yours" conversation with Widmore) , and they'll probably tease us a while before revealing whether Penny is alive or dead; as mentioned in earlier reviews, due to Desmond's and Penny's status as the couple embodying hope on this show I'm completly certain of Penny's survival.

Oh, me too. I'd go a step further and predict that Ben was beaten up by Widmore's people. Since Widmore knew about the church and is/was an Other, I'm pretty sure he also knows what's under it. What better way of finding out whether there will be an opportunity to get back to the island soon than sending someone none of his adversaries (including that person himself) would suspect to be his spy to get that information? And like you said, he really could have used Penny as bait for Ben, probably to keep him from pondering more deeply just how Des knew how to find Eloise in the first place.

Speaking of Eloise, if she is Ellie, I am beginning to understand why Daniel was so exasperated with her. Ben's teacher analogy was very apt. In addition, the way she condescendingly mentioned how the DI called this station The Lamp Post just cracked me up.

Locke: rejoice, for if I'm not mistaken, the next episode is pretty much all him.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

No kidding. On dvd, one can skip all Jack, all the time episodes or at least can immediately go to the next one. Plus as you say, elements were good.

Maybe the flash was an indication that only the O6 + assorted baggage characters crashed, while everyone else remained on the plane?

Well, so far, we haven't seen any air plane leftovers. (Yes, Hurley had the guitar with him, but he was clutching it in the air plane.) On the other hand, the fact that Fank Lapidus is the pilot makes me wonder - would they have brought him back if he wasn't supposed to end up on the island again? (And without a pilot, that plane can't fly.) Then again, maybe flying that plane and NOT crashing it is Frank's chance to make up for his original trauma.

I can't remember whether the train crash in the Last Battle killed more than the Pevensies - it's been too long, and I only read it once for obvious reasons.

Speaking of allusions: the pimping of Brian K. Vaughan's Y cracked me up.

Oh, me too. I'd go a step further and predict that Ben was beaten up by Widmore's people.

That makes sense, because I really doubt it was by Desmond. Not that I doubt Desmond would fight like a tiger to save Penny, but I imagine Ben wouldn't do the gloating villain holds a speech thing and inform Des of his intentions first. Of course, if Ben was beaten up by Widmore's gang, chances are either the female marshall or the guy telling Jack "sorry for your friend" at the counter work for Widmore, too, and have been told to find the island for him.

Eloise's high-handed manner: yes, that amused me, too. She really did treat them all like students.

Locke: what? *rejoices mightily*

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

OT, but given the big deal about Jack giving Locke his father's shoes... when Locke regenerates, he'd better run around and say "Yes! These shoes fit perfectly!"

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking it's more likely that he wakes up with Christian waving a pair of trainers at him and saying "change, now! I've been waiting for these for FOUR years!"

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

Christian's just sore that River walks around barefoot and everyone still pays more attention to her.

[thesecondevil]

I'm quite curious as to how much time has passed for the Castaways who didn't leave the island, originally it seemed like only days would have passed for them compared to the years for the Oceanic Six because of all the time skipping. But considering Jin is in a very different place to where we last left him I'm wondering whether we've skipped over some island time to watch the adventures of Jack and co back on the island.

I originally thought that the flash suggested only Jack and the others appeared on the island but then I remembered that Sawyer discovered an Ajira Airways water bottle in 'The Little Prince' which might suggest that the plane itself ended up in a different time period to the Losties.

Good on Hurley though for continuing to think of other people.