The Lost Lowdown

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS EPISODE!!!!!!! It was satisfying mythologically, it was satisfying emotionally, it was so packed with stuff it almost felt like a 2 hour episode. I think one of the best mid-episode cliffhangers for LOST of all time is Dan's "I want you to find me"... when that happened I went absolutely apeshit and I knew this was my favorite episode of the season so far. The episode could have ended there and I would have been happy.
But there was still 35 minutes to go.
I'm constantly loving Dan more more, he's just the perfect character through which we can find out everything we've wanted to know about the island. I just love that Eloise is a hamster! ;) it's so typically nerdy ;).
A Desmond episode has never let me down, and I think this one is better then "Flashes Before Your Eyes". I love how his episodes are so intensely centered on him and they always give us those great emotional moments between him and his "constant" Penny, and yet they always give us so much answers and open so much intriguing questions. This episode kept me on the edge of my seat and never let me go.
A classic Lost episode.

Any differing opinions? What did you guys think?

i almost cried.

I did cry!!!

best episode of the season

I can't believe how much info we got. I really think Dan gets so much credit. It's like they are forced to give some real answers now that a scientist is in the mix.

And what a performance by Jeremy Davies.

The curse of Jen is gone!

I loved the episode, but was confused.... Did Desmond get his *whole* memory back?

Oh man I was so scared Desmond was going to die after he finished that conversation with Penny, glad he didn't.

How the f*#k does Dan know all this stuff? There's no way he has figured all this out since he's been on the island, especially since he knows all about the thing Minkowsky was going through even though that didn't start happening till after he left the freighter (seemingly). Though he clearly was doing something similar in his lab with Eloise. Bah i dunno.

Anyone else think that Desmond's line to Dan about covering your head during the experiment is blatantly implying that this experimentation has done something weird to his brain which is why he had that weird crying episode in his flashback and the playing cards thing?

I can see this podcast going on a while.

So am I the only person who thought the episode was terrible..? :/

Oh and I loved it when Daniel said "You can't change the future". I totally agree, you can't change it. Hope they don't change their tune and swap to the whole Terminator and Heroes idea of the future.

tanner wrote:So am I the only person who thought the episode was terrible..? :/

Probably thousands of others if you work with percentages, but I'm not one of them.

Perry wrote:Oh and I loved it when Daniel said "You can't change the future". I totally agree, you can't change it. Hope they don't change their tune and swap to the whole Terminator and Heroes idea of the future.

Yeah I liked that too. He said it with such certainty. I really wanted him to realize that the fact that in 2004 he doesn't remember Desmond coming to him in 1996 should mean there are parallel dimension at work. He didn't get that far, though.

Claude wrote:... I really wanted him to realize that the fact that in 2004 he doesn't remember Desmond coming to him in 1996 should mean there are parallel dimension at work...

You can put the fact that he doesn't remember Desmond coming to him (if he actually doesn't remember) down to his memory problems.

Perry wrote:

Claude wrote:... I really wanted him to realize that the fact that in 2004 he doesn't remember Desmond coming to him in 1996 should mean there are parallel dimension at work...

You can put the fact that he doesn't remember Desmond coming to him (if he actually doesn't remember) down to his memory problems.

Well, as far as what we've seen of his memory problems, I could only expect him to remember 2 out of 3 Desmond-coming-to-him-in-the-pasts.

I think Dan doesn't remember Des because he's losing his memory from the radiaiton, the evidence is in the script:

Dan: Alright, this future version of me, uh he REFERENCED THIS MEETING RIGHT? Obviously (I love how he answers his own questions), so... so I would REMEMBER YOU COMING TO OXFORD RIGHT? I WOULD REMEMBER THIS HERE RIGHT NOW.

Desmond: Actually...um, NO.

Dan: No?

Desmond: Maybe you just FORGOT?

Dan: Yeah, right, HOW WOULD THAT HAPPEN.

Then a few seconds later....

Desmond: (gestures to what Dan is wearing) What's that for?

Dan: RADIATION.

Deasmond: Do I get one?

Dan: You don't need one...for prolonged exposure, I DO THIS 20 TIMES A DAY.

Desmond: SO WHAT DO YOU PUT ON YOUR HEAD?

Dan: (looks typically uncomfortable and awkward)....YEEAAHHH......

I therefore conclude that the writers are trying to give us a pretty big hint that Dan forgot Desmond because of all the radiation stuff swimming in his head.

You-Know-Who wrote:I think Dan doesn't remember Des because he's losing his memory from the radiaiton, the evidence is in the script:

Dan: Alright, this future version of me, uh he REFERENCED THIS MEETING RIGHT? Obviously (I love how he answers his own questions), so... so I would REMEMBER YOU COMING TO OXFORD RIGHT? I WOULD REMEMBER THIS HERE RIGHT NOW.

Desmond: Actually...um, NO.

Dan: No?

Desmond: Maybe you just FORGOT?

Dan: Yeah, right, HOW WOULD THAT HAPPEN.

Then a few seconds later....

Desmond: (gestures to what Dan is wearing) What's that for?

Dan: RADIATION.

Deasmond: Do I get one?

Dan: You don't need one...for prolonged exposure, I DO THIS 20 TIMES A DAY.

Desmond: SO WHAT DO YOU PUT ON YOUR HEAD?

Dan: (looks typically uncomfortable and awkward)....YEEAAHHH......

I therefore conclude that the writers are trying to give us a pretty big hint that Dan forgot Desmond because of all the radiation stuff swimming in his head.

For that to be true that would mean that we are dealing with a past or future Dan. I would totally buy that Dan was affected by the barrier the way Des and Minkowski were. If only they showed evidence of real "experience" memory loss. Dan not remembering playing cards would ONLY be relevant if he learned them in a specified order in time, like markers. Say the first card 2 years ago. The second card 1 year ago. And the third card he has yet to remember (like his rat having yet to learn the maze). This would help to give them a general idea of what time a new Dan could be from. (Though I guess you could just ask him the date. :|) Then, to me, what he and Charlotte were doing could be accurately related to what they present happens to Des and Min. But if they are trying to tell us that Dan's short term memory is gone, then it doesn't jibe.

yeee-ah...
well, also Des has obviously changed something since the notebook now makes reference to him when before his trip through time, the first time Des experienced 1996, he did not go to Oxford and never met Dan...

I think it is very funny that in the scene when grunge Dan first meets army Des, Dan mutters something self-referential about time travel paradoxes when he still thinks it is a setup by his colleagues. I for one can't wait for the 9 hours podcast it is going to take the two of you to untangle said paradoxes, as I know how much you love/hate them. Enjoy!

also, it occurred to me in this episode that Desmond is as good at making him *one* face (of tortured, indignant confusion) as Juliette is at her trademark quarter pucker and cocked head.

i agree with you guys. davies is the best new addition to the show, with the exception of ben, and maybe desmond. still, i really like him. this episode was full of paradoxes and contradictions, but is also full of answers. i have full confidence that the paradoxes will be answered and explained, but even if they weren't, this might be my favorite episode this season. maybe in the top 5.

Silentbob wrote:this might be my favorite episode this season. maybe in the top 5.

Really, I thought only 5 episodes have aired so far. Unless you "GASP" Time traveling! ;-)

Jen wrote:...well, also Des has obviously changed something since the notebook now makes reference to him when before his trip through time, the first time Des experienced 1996, he did not go to Oxford and never met Dan...

The 1st time? In 1996 he would have always have gone to Oxford and met Dan.

The only strange this is that he experienced it the other way around. So the island time thingy must be affecting 1996-Desmond as well as 2004-Desmond, in order to trigger these flash forwards (they aren't flashbacks).

I think it's very strange that they used 2 different props for Dan's map that Frank was taking directions from.
(If you want to compare, 0:00:28 and 0:00:35)

I enjoyed this episode but my initial reaction was "ugh now its gonna be like Back to the Future?"

Then I went through a period of happiness because stuff happened.
Desmond and Penny. awww.

Then I went through a pissed-off period where I couldn't ignore all the 'devices' I guess we're meant to ignore which the folks who make this show know full-well that LOST fans never ignore anything.

Charles Widmore left the water running, I'm guessing, so we had an indication of how much time had passed when Desmond woke up. But it makes no sense and it'd been just as easy for them to make Desmond wash his face and then check out while the water was running. arrghh.

Still an enjoyable episode of TV but I'm glad to know that Claude & Justin agree with me on the simple fact that this show has gotten so complicated that I feel like some of this just can't possibly come together in the end.

I hope Damon and Carlton don't let me down.
I fear my faith that they are telling me a coherent story has been shaken by this episode.

I think the whole point of Widmore not turning the water off is to show how much of an asshole he is.
He would have left it on knowing that he would be forcing Desmond to have to turn it off for him.