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Lost from the beginning (NO SPOILERS)

"Theres No Place Like Home" is my favorite LOST finale and I'd rank it up there with other standout season finales like TNG's "The Best of BOth Worlds" and DS9's "Call to Arms"--An easy 4 star classic.

I loved so many things about it:

A lot of lingering questions--most raised this season were answered--who were the Oceanic Six(Kate, Jack, Hurley, Sayid, Aaron, Sun), Why did these Six survive, how far ahead were the furthest flash forwards(3 years), how were they going to move the island(The Orchid), who was in the coffin(John Locke), why was Abaddon visiting Hurley(to learn what occurred on the island since Widmore can't find it now and hadn't heard from Martin or the Kahana), how the polar bear wound up in Tunisia(was a guinea pig in the Orchid experiment).

I loved the idea of framing the 3 parter with the homecoming and all the right details were there that you would expect had this actually occurred in the real world--the media giving them a neat moniker like the Oceanic Six, a big media frenzy and them holding a press conference. The actual homecoming when everyone is reunited with their family members was a very nice scene and the music was just perfect--it also stands out as one of the few quiet scenes in the entire 3 hours everything else was just a whirlwind.

I loved just about everything about it-- I looked forward to seeing what was in the Orchid and how they actually would go about moving the island. Of all things I certainly didn't expect a wheel down in a frozen chamber deep within the island and when the idea of moving the island was first mentioned I assumed they'd somehow move it from one place to another but with the revelation of what the Orchid's purpose was it became clear they meant moving it through time(and another minor mystery was answered--where young Ben got his bunny). We saw how he moved the island but I had no ideawhat that dial/crank was or how it moved the island or where a man-made crank came from or why it was cold in the "heart" of the island. The wheel was just one of those really inventive ideas the show will be remembered for along with the smoke monster.

We all knew the island was going to move but to actually see it was one of my favorite moments in the two hours and the sight of the island disappearing can be safely added to the list of memorable visuals LOST gave us over the years. I also found the whole sequence before it to be exciting such as the chaos on the freighter with Des trying to diffuse the bomb and then the helicopter coming back.

The episode also effectively pulled together various pieces sprinkled over the course of the season in very interesting coherent ways and I can't say enough about how well crafted everything was in the way all the characters were disbanded, then reshuffled then separated again then brought back together and how all that tied in beautifiully with the Big Picture--the best world to describe it was organic. Widmore never heard from Martin because he is dead and the freighter exploded so he sent Abaddon to Hurley to get answers and find out what happened. Ben has not been back to the island since he left it at the same time as the Six did and the island disappeared.

Another thing LOST did well and is demonstrated here is the way they would add context around earlier scenes i.e. picking up in the first Part from the S3 finale scene with Future Jack and Kate or showing the lead up to how Ben ended up in Tunisia and why he was wearing an arctic Dharma jacket as we saw in "The Shape of Things to Come"--he wasn't in some sort of struggle and suffered a gunshot wound but what we were actually not aware of at the time was he had just completed turning the dial to move the island and his wound on his arm was from falling down a fragile ladder frozen solid that broke.

What else made this 3 parter really work were all the twists and turns and setbacks and toying with the audience as all this rapid set of events started unfolding.

Much like the S3 finale they did a really good job in the fast paced sequence of ever changing events--

The whittling down to the Six was another favorite element--

I liked how the show drops these big revelations where it is so broad and vague and then sit back and watch as the writers methodically unfold it bit-by-bit. Case in point with the Oceanix Six. I wondered who the six were then why only those six then "Cabin Fever" hinted that the first group off the island would be the Oceanic Six and before they could return for the others the island would be moved. Well that wasn't quite how it played out. They toyed with us a bit and turned expectations on their head with some twists and turns.

I figured Jin would wait behind while Sun was the first to go to the freighter but then he hops in there with her along with Dan and some faceless extras, Jack takes off with Kate, then Jack takes off with Sawyer, then Kate goes back with Sayid. Some are paired with individuals we know won't get off the island and going in the wrong direction from the beach and the raft.

Initially at the start of the season I just assumed that it was more organized how these six got off the island but now it seems more like random happenstance and that they might just be forced into it because of spiraling conditions around them.

Kate/Sayid are caught by Richard and the Others who were presumably the ones Ben signalled and probably are en route to the Orchid to help eliminate the commandos. Jack, Sawyer and Frank are headed to the Orchid to find Hurley and possibly John. So some of the Six are coming back together.

The helicopter is the converging point as it makes it off the island. They think they are going home finally. Huh oh the helicopter is losing fuel because in the middle of the firefight a stray bullet or two between the Others and the mercenaries struck the chopper(That was one of the nice things about it-- all the complications/setbacks within the story made sense and felt natural--of course a stray bullet might hit the chopper with all those bullets flying around). Then they make it to the freighter to only have enough time to tape the leaks and re-fuel before heading back to the island where they realize the best they can hope for is to have enough fuel and give up on getting home this time.

You just knew when Frank said they needed to lose a few hundred pounds the camera would focus on Hurley's face but Sawyer, continuing to be the nice guy much like in "The Shape of Things to Come", jumps out after whispering his request in Kate's ear referred to in "Something Nice Back Home". I also appreciated that the writers remembered the little details like having Jack mention the second island and considering it as a possible aternative site to land and letting us know it disappeared along with the main island clearing that up nicely. Another such detail was having Hurley asking Ben why he hadn't moved the island earlier before the mercenaries came and what good is moving the island with the mercenaries still on it. Another smart touch was for the beach residents to try to call on the satellite phone to Frank but equally smart for him to not have the call go through but to go to MONITOR mode so as to not alert Martin. Also the way they contrived it to where John had not yet gone down into the Orchid yet because he was having trouble locating the access button allowing for he and Jack to have a nice chit-chat could fit in this category too

By now the writers were getting closer but there was still Desmond and Frank to deal with. Then that boat appeared which at first struck me as a bit forced given how all this time this region hadn't had much in the way of traffic. It did effectively echo back to the encounter Sawyer/Walt/Jin/Michael had with the Others in "Exodus" so I wondered if there was something ominous about then when it was revealed it was Penny I let the writers off the hook since it was a nice juxtaposition to that and provided another really nice twist and surprise. It made sense that she would find him since she had been looking for him along with the call he made to her in "The Constant" helped. So I liked from there how you got to the Six--Desmond and Frank weren't on the passenger manifest so obviously they couldn't be a part of the survivors group. And of course, Desmond would want to remain with Penny. So that worked out nicely.

I wondered at the time if Desmond would be put aside like Michael was until it was time to get back to him as they develop the other story threads. Afterall I definitely saw him being possibly brought back into things given Ben's vendetta against Widmore and his vow to kill Penny. That could also bring Sayid and Desmond into odds which would be interesting given their recent bonding this season. Afterall, Ben doesn't like doing his dirty work and Sayid has been his agent in wiping out the various threats. Also as we saw in "The Constant", Desmond is Daniel's Constant and we didn't see that play out this season so that is out there as well. And speaking of Daniel, I wondered what he was going to do in the raft?

I also liked how the island disappearing explains one thing that had been bothering me-why the Six were willing to leave behind the other survivors and not try to go back for them-- the answer:they weren't willing and they couldn't go back for them because there was *nothing* to go back to it and they had no idea where to begin to look for them. This is the most interesting and satisfying situation they could have set up. All the Six could do is try to get on with their own lives. That had to have been very diffcult.

I also liked how it made for a chaotic bittersweet situation for everyone involved. They finally get off the island but there is no chance for good-byes or closure with those left behind. Jack left Juliet behind and all they had was an argument. The Oceanic survivors don't know that Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sun, Hurley survived. They'll assume they perished in the explosion. Kate doesn't know if Sawyer made it back to the island alright. Sun just witnessed the death of her husband in a fireball and that anguished expression on her face was devastating. Frank has to feel guilty in having to leave those people behind in order to try to safeguard the lives on the chopper. Juliet was so close to finally getting to return home to Rachel but once again it was stolen from her. The Six pretty much were thrown into this under not the most idealistic circumstances. They don't know what happened to Claire. Now all they have is a bunch of unanswered questions.

I found it interesting that something that started out as something hopeful--finding rescue--ended up being a depressing mess--their only way off the island destroyed, mercenaries running amuck on the island, loved ones presumably blown up etc.

And the audience were left with a bunch of things running through their minds like What bad things happened on the island since the Six had left? Some sort of conflict--All the way back in S1 Locke hinted to Boone of choosing sides and then in this final Ben relinquishes his role as the Others' leader to Locke.

Lots of nice character stuff--
This looked like this is it for Michael. At the time I was fine with that. He came back got his closure and served his role in the story admirably. I guess both the Lost writers and the island were through with him. I suspect the helicopter crash helped Jack coming up with the cover story. Martin sure didn't know Ben if he thought threatening the lives of the 815 survivors would hold any sway over him. Loved seeing Kate working with the Others to free Ben--I always love when circumstances force adversaries to forge temporary alliances--afterall not long ago Ben had held Kate prisoner and now here she is helping rescue Ben. And the Sayid/Martin smackdown was not only well choreographed but was just pure emotional satisfaction seeing Sayid kick his ass.

Loved ruthless Sun--I liked the take-charge Sun we saw. She isn't the same woman she was when she left. I liked the development that she used her Oceanic settlement to buy an interest in her father's company.

Jack DID learn that his sister was Claire and his nephew is Aaron. I was always curious how the writers would allow this to be learned by the players involved all the way back in "Par Avion". I thought maybe Juliet would tell Jack given the bloodwork or those files they acquired on all the survivors but I think this was actually the perfect way to facilitate this secret coming out into the open. Plus it was interesting Christian's grandson was at his memorial and Claire's mom got to see her grandson unbeknowst to her. We also learned Claire's mom came out of a coma. So Claire made the right decision back in "Par Avion" not to take her off life support--I wondered if that would ever be resolved.
I also thought how Sayid and Nadia were reunited was another clever way--i.e. her seeing his face splashed all over the news and her going to him. These kinds of attention to details are what made LOST so good. Loved Ben's "Fickle bitch" quip.

And while the cliffhanger was good it wasn't that big of an OMG moment but got the job done well enough but there was a lot of interesting set-up for next season--the implication Charlotte had been to the island before, Miles sticking around to, Dan off in a raft, Sun plotting with Widmore etc.
 
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Ok, started season five.

Because You Left:

We start with a flashback. There's a guy doing stuff. He's in the usual hidden face mode, for when they want to surprise us with who it is. This time it's that guy from the Dharma orientation tapes. He gets interrupted filming a video for a station we havn't seen yet: the arrow. He's brought to the orchid, where they've almost broken through to the wheel room. He tells them they are not to drill a single centimeter further. The foreman jokes a bit to one of his workers. The worker is Daniel. Oooooook.


It looks like the turning of the wheel has had an unexpected side effect: The island, or maybe just certain people on it, are jumping in time. The crew from the beach, at Daniel's request, head for the remains of the Swan. I guess to use it as a reference point for when they are. Locke, meanwhile, witnesses the crash of the beachcomber carrying the heroin. This time, he can walk while he's there. He climbs up the cliff, but is ironically shot down. I guess he's truly never meant to be there. The shooter is Ethan. Ethan is about to do Locke in for good when another time shift happens. There's another Other there, but it's Richard this time. He treats Locke's wound, and gives him a compass, telling Locke to give it to him the next time they meet. He also tells Locke that to stop what is happening, he needs to bring the Oceanic Six back to the island. To do this, he will have to die.

After this other flash occurs, the crew finds themselves with the Swan still intact. Everyone but Daniel heads back to the beach. Daniel himself stays behind to try the back entrance. Ah, so that's what he meant in his notebook. If anything happens, Desmond will be his constant. Well, I would certainly say something is happening. Daniel tells Desmond to find his mother at Oxford. Desmond wakes up in the present, realizing that this was more than just a dream.

Speaking of the present, crazy stuff is happening there, too. Jack finally shaves that damn beard (it just doesn't suit him.) Kate is visited by a lawyer demanding blood samples for a paternity test for Aaron. Someone out there knows the truth, and I bet I know who. I think it's Ben. He knows Kate is going to be the hardest person to recruit back, so he's taking some drastic measures. Also, if push comes to shove, Jack is blood. He could actually have a claim for Aaron if Ben wanted to use that.

Sun is flying to LA, and is detained by Whidmore. He asks her what the common interest she mentioned is. She replies: To kill Benjamin Linus. Well, something tells me this is going to put a bit of a hitch in Ben's plans. Hurley and Sayid are also having problems. The police suspect Hurley of killing the man outside the asylum. There are also men waiting for them inside Sayid's safehouse, which he is forced to kill. Hurley makes the mistake of picking up one of their guns. A picture is nabbed of him with ketchup stained clothes (mistaken for blood) and a gun in his hand near two dead bodies. Well, that doesn't help matters.
 
^ A big topic of humorous discussion in the original episode thread was how Sayid likes to place big knives pointy side up in his dishwasher. :)
 
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I thought it was a good idea when the first two episodes in S5 were originally aired as a two hour block because individually they are kinda of awkward because we were shifting from the exciting season finale to a new year. I also think that watching the first three hours back to back provides a more satisfying viewing experience because the you are just left with a whole bunch of stuff hanging with no context to make sense of it.

I honestly had no idea what to expect this year. Like last season's premiere I was happy to see the writers juggling all the characters and the threads from the finale right away and not dragging it out over the first few episodes.

I loved the idea of using time travel to explore the island's history. It made so much sense since the writers pay so much attention to detail--so tackling something as complicated as time travel within an even more complicated larger story was certainly ambitious. I also appreciated how they laid down their rules from the start of how it works to the audience in a very clear understandable way. The white light is associated with a time jump, the island apparently integrates into its past condition, according to Daniel one can't change the past and any attempt to do so would fail inevitably leading to the event you wanted to change which is similar to what the old lady told Des back in S3.

I also really thought the teaser was intriguing with us seeing the Orchid under construction and learning that the wheel even predates Dharma and Dan is down there too. Say what you will about LOST but they knew how to get their hooks into you with this teasers they did.
 
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Ok, started season five.
This time it's that guy from the Dharma orientation tapes. He gets interrupted filming a video for a station we havn't seen yet: the arrow.

In another example of Lost tying in obscure continuity, The Arrow is actually the station the tail section people were hiding in way back at the beginning of season two. It's not important, just a little thing where the writers explained what that particular station was for in the orientation scene (weapons).
 
Another two-fer. Maybe I should slow down? But how can I when the show is this awesome?

The Lie:

On the island:
The survivors are still shifting with little idea when they are. There's a really whiny guy that everyone calls Frogurt for some reason. He looks like he could be Steve Buschemi's brother. He whines a whole lot, and then he gets hit in the chest with a flaming arrow. I had to laugh quite a bit when that happened. Soon, flaming arrows start raining down on the camp, and it looks like just about everyone that isn't a series regular gets taken out. How many nameless survivors are there left? There can't be too many, considering they've been slaughtering them wholesale lately. I guess they have to cut down on the extras budget. Those that escape the medieval assault get caught by three guys in jumpsuits with guns, that I assumed at first were Dharma. The men are also slaughtered by an unseen figure. Though as soon as I saw one with a knife in his back, I knew who it was. Only one man on the island can throw a knife like that: Locke.

Off the island:
We start off in flashback, or is it the present, and the rest of the stuff is flashforward? Ah, hell. I've lost track. Anyways, the O6 are deciding to lie about their time on the island in order to protect it. Hurley is a holdout, and looks to Sayid for support, but doesn't get it. Hurley vows to Sayid that someday Sayid will need his help, and he won't get it.

Cut to Hurley giving Sayid help in the present(future?) Sayid is out, and Hurley is driving like a maniac. A cop spots him, and Hurley does one of the dumbest things he can do by pulling over. Good thing it's Ana Lucia. Wait....Ana Lucia? Ana Lucia's ghost, or something, scolds Hurley exactly for doing one of the stupidest things he could have done. Is Hurley actually seeing dead people, or is he cracking up? Surely the smoke monster's dead-person imitation doesn't reach off the island, does it? After parting ways with Ana Lucia, Hurley gets himself a new shirt, which humorously professes his love for Shih Tzus. Hurley takes Sayid to his parents house. There's another funny line where Hurley's mother asks why there's a dead Pakistani on her sofa.

Eventually, Sayid gets taken to Jack. Kate also goes to meet with Sun. The players are starting to come together. There's still another player to be introduced. It's that lady from the jewelry store in Desmond's first time jump. The one that told him that history cannot be changed. She tells Ben that he has 70 hours to get the O6 back together and ready to return to the island. The clock is now ticking.

Jughead:

On the island:

Half the survivors of the flaming arrow attack are trekking through the jungle, when some more redshirts trigger a trip wire and get blown to smithereens. Ok, now I'm farily certain there can't be many more of these people left. It's almost comical how many are getting killed off, now. At least there's no more confusion over whether it was Scott or Steve that died. They're probably both dead, now. Well, Daniel, Charlotte, and Miles get caught by some of the jumpsuited people. Meanwhile, in the exact opposite of the rest of the crew, Sawyer, Juliet, and Locke have captured some of the jumpsuited ones. Juliet realizes that they are in fact Others, when one of them speaks Latin. Why is Latin on the must-learn list for Otherhood? One of them kills the other and then flees into the jungle. Locke refuses to take the shot at the guy because in his time, he is the new leader of the Others and won't kill one of his own people.

At the Others camp, the three freighter people are mistaken for US Military, and asked if they are there to deal with the bomb. Um, yeah. There's an H-bomb on the island. That's not good. Daniel is taken to fix it. Meanwhile, Locke tracks the guy that he didn't shoot (after the guy humorously says there's no way an old guy could track him) and finds the camp. He waltzes in like he owns the place and demands to speak to Richard who STILL looks exactly the same. Locke tells Richard that Jacob sent him, and gives Richard the compass. Ah, so was that the purpose of the test? Is that Richard's interest in Locke in the flashback? He sought out Locke because Locke told him to, and Locke was supposed to pick the compass as the item that was already his. Oh, and the guy that they had tracked back to the camp? It's a young Charles Widmore. Ah hah! This explains....absolutely nothing. It only raises more questions. Well, maybe it does explain Widmore's interest in the island a bit, seeing as he's been there.

Back at the bomb, Daniel tells them that the only way to make the bomb safe is to place it inside concrete. He tells them that he knows it will be safe because he's from the future. Encasing something in concrete? Hmmmmm, the Swan? Soon enough, the flashes occur again. This time Charlotte (who I forgot to mention was having some health troubles every time there's a flash) collapses with a whole lot of blood gushing out of her nose.

In the flash-whatever, we see Desmon and Penny's baby being born. They name him Charlie. Presumably after Charlie Pace, and not after his evil grandfather. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaw.

Flash forward a few years later and Desmond has begun his quest to find Daniel's mother. Penny makes him promise he will never go back to the island, to which he asks why he would ever want to go back. He's totally going back. Oxford has no records of Daniel at all. Desmond sets out to find why. He finds out that Daniel had left Oxford in disgrace after experimenting on a human subject. Desmond tracks this woman down, to find her unstuck in time like Minkowski was on the boat. He's also told that Widmore is the one who is funding her medical care, and who funded Daniel's research. Hoooo boy. Desmond is forced to go to last place in Britain he probably ever wanted to go: Widmore's office. After a lot of shouting and question dodging, Widmore gives Desmond that address. Oh, look at that, it's in LA. The pieces are all moving in to place.
 
Another two-fer. Maybe I should slow down? But how can I when the show is this awesome?
When the episodes originally aired I was sorta torn about getting only one new episode a week--on the one hand a LOST episode contains as much information as 1.5 or 2 hours of other dramas so getting that extra week to rewatch it and absorb everything was helpful but at the same time I was counting the days until the next episode because I was excited to see what happened next.

I also think in hindsight that the first two episodes of S5 were uneven because stuff just sorta sat there not really sure what to make of it and "Jughead" gave it a much needed context that made certain things more interesting with the information "Jughead" provided. For instance, I wasn't particularly interested in who the arrow launchers were but with the revelation that they were an older generation of Others totally made me interested in a way I hadn't before then.

Same thing for Widmore being an Other--another revelation I had never once considered or made the connection which made the reveal so excellent. I was never interested in Widmore through the first three seasons. I became a bit more intrigued by him when he was revealed to be the person who sent the freighter but finally here I became a full fledged fan of his and very, very interested in him. I just saw him until now as a powerful and wealthy man who had somehow learned of the island and wanted to possess it for himself--but adding the extra layer that he had one time been a part of the Others changed everything.

"Jughead" is another 3.5 star episode in my opinion and communicated to me that instead of a season where all the good stuff was going to be saved for the last half the writers were going to give us as exciting of a first half as what one would expect from the climatic stretch of a season.

It is clear the writers have mastered this particular style of storytelling expertly. The show was well on its way to being the best example of complex arc based storytelling ever. The way the writers keep track of who knows who and what to the way the writers don't tip their hands to early and the way they time the reveals to where they will have the most impact. And I love how everything plausibly builds on everything else and the ease with which the characters' lives interconnect but not in a contrived manner--it is totally organic.

I like how it is all, even this early, started falling into place where you can start to see the broad outlines of the season. Clearly, Desmond will now head to LA where he'll locate her and realize she is the same person who he met in episode 3.8 which will lead to its own series of revelations, insights and interesting character reactions--afterall in "Flashes Before Your Eyes"-- she told it was Desmond's destiny to go to the island- I was definitely curious about that and couldn't wait for the two to inevitably cross paths . I knew it would also mean he'll inevitably cross paths with the Oceanic Six for the first time since they left Penny's boat in last year's finale.

Last week, I wondered why Ben hadn't killed Penny yet and then with this week's teaser it briefly had me thinking Desmond had gone for a doctor to treat a bullet wound she had suffered during an attempt on her life. I also wondered that the reason Sayid no longer works for Ben is because Ben had asked him to kill Penny and he refused to do so because of his relationship with Desmond. This also means that Penny, who had been safely tucked away, will be out in the open and an enticing target for Ben who has yet to fulfill his vow to kill her from last season's "The Shape of Things To Come".

We see in "Jughead" why Charles Widmore thinks Ben will have a hard time finding Penny--Desmond is hiding her from Charles and Charles is perfectly happy with that knowing it means Ben can't find them either. But poor Desmond doesn't realize she is possibly being placed in danger because of his quest to help the other survivors by getting a message to Dan's mom but I understand why he is doing it since Dan's message through time was the first contact they had had with the survivors since the island disappeared.

This episode made me think back to last season--Desmond remained on the Kahana promising to Sayid he'd never set foot on the island again and again tonight it was mentioned so I'm thinking that the only way he would willingly go back is if her life was threatened and Ben promised to spare Penny if he returned to the island--that is assuming Des is one of the folks that the island needs to come back. I mean this sort of tactic is not beyond Ben. Although it hasn't been brought up, it would seem not only the Six but Desmond and possibly Frank must return to the island.

I also liked how the writers engaged in a bit of clever misdirection with young Widmore wearing the uniform of a dead soldier that read the name "Junes".

Richard refers to a leader. Is he referring to Jacob? We learn Richard was aware of Jacob as early as 1954. When did Widmore first meet Ben? Did the Others heed Dan's advice and bury it? If so, where? Interesting that it was there on this island all this time unbeknowst to the survivors. It will most likely come into play but at the time I didn't know how or when.

Juliet reveals she knows more than the survivors about Richard. I briefly thought John could just ask Juliet about another way off the island but Ben wouldn't have ever shared that with her given the fact he knew she wanted to return to Rachel. John has decided to keep the fact that the Six survived from the other survivors. John is clearly taking "his people" thing a bit too seriously. We learn there were Others before Tom, Bea et al as far back as 1954. We also learn that the object that was already John's was the compass(since the older John was given it it was already his) and John's visit in the 1954 instigated Richard's interest and visit to young John as chronicled in "Cabin Fever"--this reminded me of the time loop in TNG's "Times Arrow". The US military conducted H bomb tests on the island, using it as a proving ground, and was aware of its existence as far back as 1954. How did they locate it when others seem to have difficulty doing so. Is Charlotte dead?

This episode really showed the writers had mapped stuff out otherwise they wouldn't have been able to pull so many different characters and elements from four seasons of the show and tie them in such clever ways.

It also let me understand why the writers a lot of the time in the early years introduced something and not do much more than that. At the time it was frustrating but here you knew if they had given any further information it would have spoiled what was to come.

The revelations are what really made the episode so rewarding and all the continuity flourishes like the nosebleeds which tied back into S4 territory and "The Constant".

Definitely still one of my favorite LOST episodes.
 
The Little Prince:

Off island first. Kate is worrying about Aaron and leaves him with Sun to go investigate who wants to take him. Sun gets a package that contains a gun. Please don't do something you're going to regret, Sun. Hurley is sitting in prison after giving himself up to the police. Sayid gets attacked at the hospital, and the attacker has Kate's address in his pocket. Jack contacts Kate, and the two of them meet. They follow the lawyer to meet his client, and it would appear to be Claire's mother. When Jack questions her, though, she doesn't seem to know what they're talking about. Turns out I guessed right. The client in Ben. The lawyer meets Ben and tells him that the charges against Hurley will be dropped in the morning. Everybody ends up meeting up by the docks. Everyone seems to be in place now. Showtime?

On the island, time keeps on slipping. They decide that since this all started at the Orchid, that may be where they have to go to finish it. One time jump lands them on a familiar and rather consequential night. There's a pillar of light in the sky. I enjoyed seeing that, revisiting one of my favorite moments in the series. Sawyer also stumbles upon Kate delivering Aaron. That's a rather emotional moment for him. They head back to the beach to pick up the zodiac, but it's disappeared. Instead, there's a canoe. Looks like the journey is going to take a little struggle. It's made even more of a struggle when a mysterious group starts shooting at them. They're saved by a time jump, to which Sawyer exclaims "Thank the Lord!" Then it starts pouring rain "I take that back!" :lol:

They make it back to shore, and Sawyer and Juliet have a heart to heart. That ends when Juliet's nose starts bleeding. They're running out of time. On this beach they've reached is what looks like fresh wreckage. There's french writing on it. Well hey, I think I know when they are. We see the survivors of this wreck out on the ocean. They're floating in their raft when they see a man floating on some debis. They pull him out of the water and it's Jin. Yay! :D Once on shore, the pregnant woman on the raft reveals herself to be Rousseau, as if we hadn't already guessed.
 
Some things I enjoyed about ep 5.4--

Sayid driving Ben to meet the lawyer and then Sayid asking Ben who was he then Ben telling Sayid "that's my lawyer" just the way Emerson delivered it was great. And I don't think anyone didn't expect with all of his endless off island resources that Ben would be able to pull the strings to get Hurley out of jail somehow and how the lawyer did was very smart on the writers part.

I liked the way the shifts continued to intensify acting as an urgent ticking clock--it immediately signalled to me that things weren't going to be dragged out because they couldn't--*something* was going to happen and soon even if we didn't know what exactly. Also interesting bit of information that the longer one is on the island that they are the first to experience the nosebleeds. And I was curious why did Jacob via Christian want the island moved if it resulted in these calamitous results?

As much as I loved LOST's fast pacing and expansive cast--the one drawback to it was the fact that a lot of times the emotional side of things got glossed over with a minor acknowledgment. For instance, the whole Kate/Aaron bonding. On another drama we would have gotten more scenes and a whole series of episodes that explored that where we could buy it not just intellectually but also emotionally. As it stands it was just a plot point amid a ton of other plot points where the writers expected you to fill in the blanks based on shows that did similar storylines in more depth. But I will say it was a bit of smart thinking on Kate's part to follow the lawyer to find out who might be pulling his strings.

I like the Juliet and Sawyer interaction although I could have done without the Kate discussion. The Aaron birth scene from S1 can be seen in a new light since now we know that Sawyer was offscreen watching them but we just didn't know it at the time--Neat. Too bad they didn't plant a seed back in S1 where Kate thought she heard something in the bushes and then we learn it was Future Sawyer all along.

After failing to find out from 1954 Richard how to leave the island, I thought it was a good idea to head to the Orchid as part of a two pronged approach to stop the time jumps although only Dan knew of his plan involving Desmond. I was curious though what time period they would find it in--I wondered if their trip to the Orchid somehow tied into the teaser from 5.1 with Dan in a Dharma hardhat.

And the Jin is alive was a good surprise since I totally forgot all about him. It was inspired to give us a Rousseau flashback that wasn't an actual flashback but facilitated via time travel. My first thought is poor Jin is going to think he struck his head in the explosion when he hears he is in 1988.

And as soon as I saw everyone gathering at the marina--hello Des and Penny are living on a sailboat--that this would be where everyone crossed paths and Ben sees Penny.

Love when Sun is ruthless--also that one shot on her face in a shadow was perfect the way it framed her eyes right before she exited her car to confront Ben. I wondered what Kate would think of Sun taking Aaron to a place where she intends on murdering a man in cold blood--I guess there is a little bit of Mr. Paik in Sun. It also crossed my mind that perhaps Ben used himself as bait to lure Sun to him in order to get her back to the island.
 
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And once again we see why it pays to not read the opening credits.
Yeah not only did I avoid looking at the credits, I didn't read TVGuide ep descriptions or watch trailers or read TVGuide interviews etc etc because they gave away too much.
 
It's been a little whole since my last one, so I'm back today with a vengeance. These next few might be a bit shorter, since I've been watching but not feeling motivated to write.

This Place is Death:

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future, but mostly the past. Jin witnesses the fate of the French castaways. They ran afoul of the smoke monster, and all came back a bit insane. Is the temple they found Smokey's home? He sees Danielle kill them all, and another flash happens before she can kill him as well. Jin is reunited with the rest of our island heroes. The flashes start coming faster and Charlotte seems to be at the end of the line. She collapses, and start babbling incoherently. She warns Jin not to let them bring Sun back, and says that "This place is death." Daniel stays behind to help her, while the rest press on to the Orchid.

Once at the Orchid, Juliet comments on how lucky they are to be in a time period where the station exists, causing a time flash to quickly take them away from it. :lol: The well is still there, though. Jin makes Locke promise not to bring Sun back, and gives Locke his wedding rings to prove to her that he is dead. Locke agrees, and begins climbing down the well. Just then, there's another flash, and Locke takes a very nasty fall. His leg is bone-through-the-skin broken. OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUCCCCCCHHHH! :scream:
He's fallen into the wheel cavern, it would seem, and he meets Christian down there. Christian is annoyed because Locke was the one that was supposed to turn the wheel, not Ben. It looks like Ben mucked things up when he moved the island, and he knocked the wheel off its hinge. D'oh! Locke fixes the wheel, and it transported off the island in a flash of light. Christian tells Locke to say hello to his son.

In the jungle, Charlotte dies. Eh. She was the least fleshed out of the freighter folks. She never really did anything but stand around, really. I don't feel much in regards to her death. Before she dies, she tells Daniel that a man told her she had to leave the island or she would die. She says she thinks that man was him.

The off island stuff is a bit less substantial, but still good. All of the 6 save Jack and Sun refuse to go with Ben. Sun stays after Ben tells her he can prove Jin is alive. In the car, on the way both Jack and Sun threaten to kill Ben if he's lying. Ben gets understandably pissed and pulls over, yelling at them both that he's only trying to help them. They reach the church, and Desmond arrives as well. Turns out this woman, Eloise, is Daniel's mother as well. She scolds Ben for only bringing two, but says it will have to do for now.

316:

What? A number used in the show that isn't one of "the numbers?" Inconceivable!

The episode starts with the Oceanic six back on the island. Let's see how they got there, now. Everyone is taken to a Dharma station that is off the island called the Lamp Post. Its purpose is to find the island. Desmond realizes that Jack is trying to return to the island and wants no part of it. He storms off. Eloise tells him that the island is not done with him, yet. I have a feeling Desmond is going to be returning to the island whether he wants to or not, eventually (if for no other reason then the fact that he's still a series regular.)

In order to get to the island, the six (plus Ben and Locke) need to board Ajira flight 316. It will pass over the island during one of the set windows. Before they all leave, Eloise takes Jack aside. She gives him a letter that she says contains Locke's suicide note. Damn. The thought of John Locke killing himself is just a heart breaking thing. This was a guy that was so very very sure of what he had to do. John Locke taking his own life just doesn't sit right with me. She also tells Jack that Locke will act as a proxy for Christian, and that he needs to give Locke something of Christian's. Everyone parts ways for the moment, and Ben says he has to keep a promise to an old friend. Uh oh.

Jack visits his grandfather, and leaves with a pair of Christian's shoes, which he plans to place on Locke. When he gets home, he finds Kate, who agrees to go back to the island with him as long as he never ever asks what she did with Aaron. Well that's a little unnerving. I'm hoping she went and explained the truth to Claire's mother, or something, and gave Aaron to her. The way she's acting makes it seem like she killed him, or something.

The next morning, Ben gives Jack a call and tells him that he's going to be late and that Jack needs to pick up the body. Ben is covered in blood. Looks like he got beat up again. What fine patriot delivered unto Ben another well deserved ass kicking? Jack goes to pick up the body. He replaces Locke's shoes with Christians. Amazing that they seem to fit reasonably well. He also places the letter in the coffin, saying that's he already heard everything Locke has to say. Showtime.

At the airport, Sayid and Hurley show up even though they wouldn't have had any way of knowing to take this flight. Sayid seems to have been arrested and is being escorted by someone. A little ironic. In the first episode he was throwing around accusations at Sawyer of being the prisoner. On this flight, he is one. Hurley also bought almost all of the seats on the plane in order to spare anyone else from being in the crash. He doesn't seem to have been fast enough, though. There are still plenty of people on the plane.

Before the plane takes off, one of the flight attendants hands Jack the letter, which was found in the coffin. Jack thinks it's following him. Ben suggests that he read it. It's pretty simple. It just says that Locke wished Jack had believed him. Those are words that will probably go on to haunt Jack, though. Oh, and the planes pilot is Frank. How is that for coincidence. In a funny moment, Jack asks to speak with him. Once Frank realizes everyone that is on the plane, he realizes "Wait a minute, we're not going to Guam, are we?" Sorry, Frank. No. The plane hits turbulence, there's a flash of light, and they're back on the island. Only Jack, Hurley, and Kate are there right now. Sun and Sayid's whereabouts remain to be seen. Before anyone can really get their bearings, a pretty pristine looking Dharma van drives up, and out pops a Dharma jumpsuited Jin. He looks about as dumbfounded as the rest of us.
 
Jack visits his grandfather, and leaves with a pair of Christian's shoes, which he plans to place on Locke. When he gets home, he finds Kate, who agrees to go back to the island with him as long as he never ever asks what she did with Aaron. Well that's a little unnerving. I'm hoping she went and explained the truth to Claire's mother, or something, and gave Aaron to her. The way she's acting makes it seem like she killed him, or something.

It's like she's deliberately speaking in the creepiest way possible just to mess with Jack. "Whatever you do, you can never ask me what I did with Aaron. Also, you can never ask me where I got those baby back ribs last night. Or what happened to my good kitchen knife." :shifty:
 
In the jungle, Charlotte dies. Eh. She was the least fleshed out of the freighter folks. She never really did anything but stand around, really. I don't feel much in regards to her death. Before she dies, she tells Daniel that a man told her she had to leave the island or she would die. She says she thinks that man was him.
I was never a huge fan of Charlotte's, but I did really enjoy her death scene and found it really well-acted. I almost wish she had been introduced earlier so I could have been given more of a chance to care about her. I did find that I liked her a lot more upon repeat viewings, though.

Oh, and the planes pilot is Frank. How is that for coincidence. In a funny moment, Jack asks to speak with him. Once Frank realizes everyone that is on the plane, he realizes "Wait a minute, we're not going to Guam, are we?" Sorry, Frank. No.
This is definitely one of my favorite scenes. I love Frank's reaction and how he just kinda goes with it. The Island isn't done with him yet either, it seems.
 
Jack visits his grandfather, and leaves with a pair of Christian's shoes, which he plans to place on Locke. When he gets home, he finds Kate, who agrees to go back to the island with him as long as he never ever asks what she did with Aaron. Well that's a little unnerving. I'm hoping she went and explained the truth to Claire's mother, or something, and gave Aaron to her. The way she's acting makes it seem like she killed him, or something.

It's like she's deliberately speaking in the creepiest way possible just to mess with Jack. "Whatever you do, you can never ask me what I did with Aaron. Also, you can never ask me where I got those baby back ribs last night. Or what happened to my good kitchen knife." :shifty:

I'm sure the Jack didn't care because he was obviously getting some sex that night.:lol:
 
"This Place is Death" is one of my favorite LOST episodes period.

What's not to love:

You get Rousseau's backstory onscreen weaving together various pieces. I also appreciated that it didn't occupy the entire hour like I thought it might. I loved seeing the smoke monster again. And I might as well mention it here but one thing I loved about all the time jumping was the way each era was filmed--it looked like those scenes were actually filmed the way a tv show would look in the 80s.

I never cared for Charlotte so in my eyes she helped the plot along by revealing the well access to the wheel and could expire on cue although she could be back--and while I could see what they were trying to do with the Dan/Charlotte romance I couldn't care an iota about it. I did like the idea that her mom tried to convince her that the island was some magical fantasy wonderland she dreamt up as a child rather than it being a real place--that just felt right. And why make a point of mentioning that she knew more about Ancient Carthage than Hannibal himself. This definitely felt like a seed for the future.

We also get the interesting factoid, thanks to another nice moment displaying Juliet's forcefulness where growing tired of Daniel's evasiveness she presses for answers, that the longer one has been on the island then they are the first to experience the effects of the jumps so Miles had been to the island before. This was where it clicked with events in 5.1--didn't see that coming.

I was curious what they would find once they reached the Orchid--what year would it be and what condition? Would it be the DHARMA 70s and tie in with the teaser involving Daniel from ep 5.1? Afterall he was most likely the only one to know what to do. Locke didn't go down with Ben and Ben never bothered telling him how you move the island. I also thought that they might find the Orchid intact but John would have trouble finding the access lever again like he did in the season 4 finale. I was also pleased to see that the writers were letting the Orchid still have an important and interesting role in driving the season along and that its introduction last season was just a teaser.

Add the appearance of Christian to the list of "didn't see that coming" moments the hour provided along with Jin being reunited so quickly with the other survivors. Each appearance of Christian had me curiouser and curioser about who or what he was and the cave sequence was pretty creepy. I thought the writers were pretty cheeky with the way they plotted Locke breaking his leg from the fall--would we find out if he could walk off the island? I also appreciated the writers having Locke ask Christian "why move the island if it results in this calamitous result" and Christian telling him you should never trust Ben--but if that were the case and Christian didn't want Ben moving the island you know it might have helped if he told John in Jacob's cabin how to move it.

At this point I figured the survivors would assume that John might not have survived the fall and their hopes are dimming. Although it crossed my mind depending on Miles' ability's range(since the well was rather deep) that he would know right away if John was dead. Where would they go from here?

And I'm one of those LOST fans that have an obsession with the wheel--so any chance we get to see it brought into the story I love. I especially loved the moment when Locke turned the wheel. And it took me a second to realize how John would know which of the Six was his son that Christian wanted John to say hello to--Hurley is Spanish, Sayid Iraqi and the rest are females so the only white guy was Jack.

I also loved the way the episode played with my expectations. At the end of the last episode with everyone gathered at the marina I just knew Desmond and possibly Penny would just walk straight into everyone coming off their docked sailboat but nope no Desmond and the group goes their own ways. So I was pleasantly surprised when amidst the Jack, Sun, Ben argument Des just pops up surprised to see them with Ben at the very church he was told he could find Dan's mom. And it drove me up the walls I had to wait a week to see what happens next because the way this episode ended was maddening-Eloise pops up in the church, lights a candle and tells everyone "Let's get started"--doing what?

If I hadn't seen that Jin was alive with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed Ben when he blurted it out to Sun at the marina. I also liked how the writers used the bit about Charlotte speaking Korean from last season as a way to catch Jin up on what is going on. We might know because we have seen scenes he hasn't plus it was an organic way to let new viewers in too.

"316" was a bit of a letdown coming on the heels of the last few episodes. The revelations and the puzzle pieces plus the cliffhanger at the end were its best moments unfortunately the bulk of the episode was taken up by a semi-boring Jack, Jack/Kate story. And while I was totally shocked and didn't see the Six returning to the island this soon, I didn't think the return was as momentous an event or as exciting or as well done as the Six's escape in the S4 finale. I actually thought it would be a moment built up to over the whole season.

My favorite part was the reveal of the Lamp Post, Eloise and Des' encounter. I probably replayed the Lamp Post scene 4 times when I first saw it taking in everything from the fact that I was surprised that they did answer how Dharma located the island to the military surveillance photo of the island from 1954 on the bulletin board--the same year as the US testing of Jughead. And I guess the Lamp Post had to have been the first DHARMA station constructed and off island as well.

I also thought the story Jack reveals about the tennis shoes on his father's body was really pitch perfect and those kinds of little things are what made LOST so good--it felt authentic and I could definitely see that happening yet you rarely get a scene like this anywhere else. I could have done without the spiritual mumbo jumbo of the need to recreate the events of the original flight to get back to the island--the spiritual aspect of the show I never cared for like this or the sweatlodge vision quest back in S3. But they did do a good job with the symmetry--Jack in a bar drinking before the flight, someone in handcuffs etc. I also got a kick out of seeing Frank back and as the pilot--I know that was the most logical place to go but I totally didn't think of it and came as another surprise. Plus it finally answered how the Aijera plane from the earlier episodes played into things and I was wondering how Hurley knew of what plane to be. Sun and Jack were there at the Lamp Post when Eloise told them of 316 and Kate went there with Jack, Sayid was brought there by the new female character. And what did change Kate's mom and where was Eloise.

Ben had another good moment when he lied to Jack about his mom reading to him--his mom died in childbirth-Ben he can't help himself.:guffaw:

And when I first saw Roy I had a feeling he might be an older Other the was part of the same group as Eloise and Widmore. I mean the show rarely introduces a new face without there being more to it--so I was curious about that. I was a little surprised knowing he wouldn't be coming back Jack didn't visit his mom one last time--maybe he did but I would have liked to see it occur onscreen since it would have been nice and I'm a big Veronica Hamel fan. The episode cemented me as an Eloise fan as well. I loved when Jack asked her if Ben was lying about knowing of the Lamp Post and gives that response with a smirk.

I loved the cliffhanger--a Dharma van--okay--but Jin in a DHARMA suit:eek: What has happened since the end of the previous episode.
 
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