General Reactions

[riothero]

It's the last season. There are only 9 episodes left. How many more will be spent watching one of the characters slowly digging his own grave? STOP WASTING MY TIME, LOST!

That said, I understand they've got to provide resolution for each individual character. I say he should have shot himself with that rifle. Do you think he has the energy now to revive his struggle with Widmore, maybe join his side?

Other thoughts?

[Stephen]

For the first time ever I scribbled down a few things while watching the episode:

When John thought that Ben should try to become principal, Ben's reaction reminded me when Marty suggested to young Goldie Wilson that he become mayor in Back to the Future.

Jacob was a bigger part of Ilana's life than her own father? DADDY ISSUES.

They sure do trek across this island fast these days.

Was that really the original actor who played Roger Workman? They did a great job on his makeup. He looked like a totally different person. (maybe he was, i'm really awful at telling actors apart).

I just wrote "Alex wtf"

This must be a really fancy high school. Principal went to Yale? PhD teacher? a NURSE? In the 2000s?

Jack, as a doctor, felt that Richard had a right to die. I read that Matthew Fox is moving to Oregon... The only US state that allows assisted suicide... hmmmmmm....

Locke is a Jedi?

[TheRadioTower]

Is it just me or does the actress who plays Alex looks really different in the flash-sideways? The way Roger was talking about Ben that 'this was not the life he wanted for him' really bugged me. Ben has a PhD, is working as a teacher which is a respectable job and pays way above the national average esp for those who have been teaching for a few years. His life is not that bad, infact most people would consider him pretty successful. Jack is quickly becoming my favorite character, the scene with the dynamite in the black rock was awesome.

My rankings so far

1. The Substitute
2. LA X
3. Lighthouse
4. Dr Linus
5. Sundown
6. What Kate Does

[whir]

It certainly wasn't non-stop action. But, maybe I was watching a different episode than riothero, but I actually thought we had as many answers in this episode than in previous few. Maybe I am just easily entertained. At least, it seamed to confirm a lot of stuff that people had been suspecting for awhile. So, it laid some issues to rest.The episode may have been a bit slow paced and some of the exposition was a bit sloppy but i still thought it was bringing us somewhere. We learned that people, (Miles, Hurley, Walt) are gifted because Jacob touched them. I think they answered Micheal's inability to kill himself (as well as Jack's attempt at jumping off that bridge). While these may not be ultimate answers to these questions it packages them together so that they are all answered at once when they reveal the who or what of Jacob. Although I'm not sure I like that 'Jacob did it' seems to be an answer to a lot of mysteries. It does seem a bit easy, but is disparity better? But, maybe that's a false choice. Alt-Ben was on the Island as a child. It also seems that the show is indicating that people who go with Jacob will have redemption in the other timeline (or whatever it is) and followers of Smokie will not. Richard Alpert did indeed arrive on the Black Rock, and I really think we are going to get that Richard Alpert episode very soon, I'm excited. Also, Widmore is coming. Now where is Desmond? The episode wasn't perfect, but I felt like I got my week's worth out of it. Oh yeah and it was directed by Mario Van Peebles.

[David3]

Was that really the original actor who played Roger Workman? They did a great job on his makeup. He looked like a totally different person. (maybe he was, i'm really awful at telling actors apart).

Yeah, that was the same actor. His name is Jon Gries. No matter what role he plays, I always think of Uncle Rico. I keep expecting Roger to throw a football over them mountains.

[Vince]

I thought the whole flash-sideways was a little weak (PLEASE, no more Arzt!), partly cuz I don't particularly like the actress who plays Alex and the 'plot' was hackey and uninteresting. However, the closure to the Ben/Alex relationship in both "realities" was actually quite poignant and powerful.

Intriguing that Roger still took Ben to The Island and DHARMA in the flash-sideways but they left before it sank...

The Nikki & Paolo shout-out was AWESOME :D !!!

We finally come back to The Black Rock. It seems just short of certain that is how Richard got to The Island. I thought the whole 'I hafta die' thing was stupid, though. Yes, they're definitely hinting heavy that his story is imminent.

Ben's plea/explanation to Ilana was Emmy bait, in a good way. Ilana accepting Ben on her team was a very satisfying twist.

The old school, slow-mo beach reunion montage was great! We haven't had one of those in a long time (Season 4, maybe?) and it felt just like Season 1 or 2 without feeling dated. Very nice.

I never thought I'd be so glad to see...Widmore! I thought they were going to short-change his participation in the final season. I'm glad they're bringing him back to play a role in the "final war."

So,
Team Jacob = Jack, Hurley, Ilana, Richard, Ben, Miles, Lapidus, & Sun
and
Team Bob-Smokey-Locke-hole = Sayid, Sawyer, Claire, Jin, Kate, Widmore, The Others

They still have to bring Desmond in. Aaron, too? It seems likely that Jin & Kate will bide their time then defect. It would be super-sweet if Sawyer is conning Locke. I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out!

[David3]

Alt-Ben was on the Island as a child.

Intriguing that Roger still took Ben to The Island and DHARMA in the flash-sideways but they left before it sank...

I took Roger's line differently. I took it as proof that the the flash sideways isn't an alternate dimension that has existed since the beginning of time, but rather a split that was caused by jughead.

[whir]

Alt-Ben was on the Island as a child.

Intriguing that Roger still took Ben to The Island and DHARMA in the flash-sideways but they left before it sank...

I took Roger's line differently. I took it as proof that the the flash sideways isn't an alternate dimension that has existed since the beginning of time, but rather a split that was caused by jughead.

By "Alt-Ben", I didn't mean to imply that Ben has been different from his inception. I wasn't very clear. Although, I am still open minded about the possibility that the split happened earlier (as in 1974 or the 50's) or that something completely different is going on.

[Justin]

I'm still confused about the timeline thing...more on the podcast.

[Claude]

I thought this ep was all over the place. I liked a lot of parts, but overall wasn't blown away.

The major thing this episode did was blow a hole (yes with a hydrogen bomb) into the primary theory of how the alt universe is related to the main universe.

As Justin said, more on the podcast....

Oh, and I was at a cafe a few weeks ago and saw Mario van Pebbles enter and have lunch at the next table. I would have said something if I was a "fan" of his. And if I knew he had anything to do with Lost I would have definietly talked to him!

[David3]

I just found a quote from Damon Lidelof given right after the season premier. It makes it clear what the writers want us to make of the flash-sideways. I don't really think it's a spoiler but I'll put it behind a spoiler tag just in case there's anyone who wants to wait for the show to spell it out.

Spoiler

"God bless the survivors of Oceanic 815, because they’re so self-centered, they thought the only effect [of detonating the bomb] was going to be that their plane never crashes.” But they don’t stop to think, “If we do this in 1977, what else is going to affected by this?” So that their entire lives can be changed radically. In fact, it would appear that they’ve sunken the Island."

"When our characters posited the “What if?” scenario, they neglected to think about what the other effects of potentially changing time might be and we’re (the writers) embracing those things."

[David3]

I just watched the episode again and Hurley asks Richard if he's time-traveling too because he looks exactly the same as he did in the 70s. The only problem...Hurley never saw Richard in the 70s.

Here's a few other minor questions and observations I had:

It sounded weird having Ben call Dogen by his name, but I guess he should know him. Dogen (and Jacob) really kept Ben and Richard in the dark. Dogen knows all about candidates, claimed people, and the smoke monster. I don't think Ben or Richard had any clue about any of this.

How did Jacob become a father figure to Illana? Did she come to the island as a kid?

Jack asks Richard where he's been and Richard says you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Where has he been?

In the flash-sideways, Roger really seems to care about Ben and really feels bad for him.

Who are Ben's network of people off island that he refers too? We seen and/or heard about a few of them. Who are they? Were they once on the island?

Does Locke really want Ben to lead the island, or does he just want to kill him, which is I assume why Locke is heading to the Hyrda island. To kill the Ajira passengers.

[420brownie]

Claude, I still think you're pretty much right on with what happened when the bomb detonated, but yeah, I have no idea on how the two universes are connected.

For some reason I'm thinking Widmore is going to be on the good side. He talked to Locke about a war coming and the bad side winning, he's been hanging with Hawking and he was leader of the others and wanted to be the leader again. Bram didn't want Miles working for him though. Whatever. Can't wait to see a Ben and Widmore confrontation.

And is Jin confirmed as being with Locke? I guess that's true- last we saw he was being held by Claire. I kind of see him the same as Kate- with Locke but not totally by their own choice.

For those interested, Michael Emerson is on this week's Geronimo Jack Beards podcast. I always find it interesting that the actors really don't have any more idea than us as to what's going on. Really good podcast.

[Perry]

The old school, slow-mo beach reunion montage was great! We haven't had one of those in a long time (Season 4, maybe?) and it felt just like Season 1 or 2 without feeling dated. Very nice.

I still can't get over that they always arrive from same side of the camp in every return scene. Surely they can set up the cameras pointing the opposite way. I think this is one of the biggest mysteries of Lost.

[Perry]

Also why the hell did Ben not at least wait for Ilana to turn her head before making a run for it. Thought that was stupid, even though things worked out nicely.

[Perry]

Intriguing that Roger still took Ben to The Island and DHARMA in the flash-sideways but they left before it sank...

:S What do you mean? Of course he took him. The Incident happened after they arrived on the island.

[Vince]

What I mean is I don't think we can take anything for granted. For Ben & Roger to leave The Island it would have had to have happened before The Incident (unless they survived a hydrogen bomb detonation and neglected to mention it). Therefore, changes in the flash-sideways exist pre-Incident. Therefore, we cannot definitively identify the extent of the changes.

[psalejo]

Stephen, It's not unusual for highly educated individuals to teach in schools in temperate locations, if they are near 50 or older it's fairly common.

I suspect this reincarnated created world, created in the "flash side ways" is just that, a reincarnated world that exist only because the stories known and the conclusion is determined in the viewers perspective as they know the story, now. But as always Lost hits us in the face with the story not from telling and exposition but through action and moments yet to be revealed. Connections are difficult to form, many of those connections have taken place over years, and in the Lost story line, moments are exposed as the true substance of characters is revealed.

My stretch is Ilana is Alex reincarnate: Jacob rescued her to give Ben a chance to redeem himself and Ben, for Jacob to further his goal, dark or light, it is Jacob's purpose. The stories for me are about how we live, how we chose, and when we make mistakes, how we can continue to live. A good fight along the way fuels the human soul and makes the struggle that humans embrace victorious. Everyone that has played a game, and winning is the desired outcome.

For all those that say Kate runs, I disagree, Kate ESCAPES, and these escapes have a purpose. Now that she is encamped with "the destructive smoke being" she'll prove her worth in this story.

My notes are: evil incarnate, Jacob lied, you ended up here anyway, my time is up (I have Lost, Sayid,) he's the only real father figure I have ever known, (things don't stay buried on this island) and shots of Ilana's eye and Alex's eye

[Vince]

Does it seem to anyone else that Ilana is Naomi 2.0 (ie. badass female character who's in the know). I definitely thought Naomi was shortchanged. It feels like this Ilana character is what they had in mind when they introduced Naomi. Was there a reason the Naomi actress didn't do more? It just seems it would have been simpler to have Naomi survive Locke's knife then turn out to be Jacob's bodyguard, undercover on the Freighter, then exhibit Locke's corpse. That way we'd have more time to get attached and invested in the character rather than swapping out for a new model after half a season. And it might have made more sense regarding why she recruited Miles & Charlotte (I think I would still credit Widmore with picking Dan). They could have fleshed out the Abaddon relationship. She could have received the picture of Des & Pen from Jacob when he visited her in the hospital. It just feels like it was a simpler, more effective writing strategy compromised by external forces. Just a thought...