Lost 5x05: "This Place is Death"

[Mr Light]

3.5/4 Yet another excellent episode!

The best sequence was seeing Rousseau's team get taken down by Cerebus. YEAH! Plus, now we FINALLY learned what the Sickness was. Cerebus grabbed her team and dragged them down to the Temple (which we finally get to see!!!) and then they became little acolytes of the Island, either that or just plain ole Others. Also, we learned that the purpose of Cerebus is to guard the Temple specifically. My initial theory? The Temple is the "brain" of the Island, the center of its intelligence. This is interesting since I previously thought the most important locations were the Swan and Orchid as two sources of exotic energy.

I really hope we get to see more Rousseau stuff. I want to see the Others taking Alex. Of course, since the black smoke column was in the sky when Jin watched her kill her husband, I guess they were going to be showing up at any mo then. Also still waiting on an explanation for how she knew Ben and caught him in "One of Them".

Charlotte was definitely my least favorite freighter character so I'm not sad to see her go. And her big huge secret was... she was a Dharma kid? That's it? Really? Disappointing. It was interesting that she didn't remember Faraday's childhood visit to her until the moment of her death. She confirms that Desmond isn't the only one who magically remembers time travel events at the moment of relative occurance, it's everyone. This is a nice little loophole for why characters don't already know the time travel hijinks about to happen!

The O6 plot just kinda there as always but it was thankfully brief. How convenient that Penny wasn't with Des when he bumped into Ben! I'm a little disappointed there wasn't any ending cliffhanger.

 

[Brent]

There really isn't much more to flesh out about her though, we know why and how she killed her people, what the smoke monster did, and that she had seen it.

The only thing really left to see is Ben taking her baby and calling it his own.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking of.

That reminds me... I couldn't help but laugh when whatshisface said "I'm hurt!" after he was dragged into the ground by the smoke monster.

That was an understatement. His arm was gone.

IMO he was dead at that point, and the smoke monster was using his voice to call for help to get the others down there.

 

[Trippy]

Above Average...just shy of excellent.

Charlotte dying just when she was getting interesting was a bit of a let down...her story must not be over.

I have a theory that Jacob is a non-corpereal being and re-animates the dead (Christian) as a spokesperson per se. The same thing will happen when the dead Locke comes back.

"Say hi to my son"

 

[Mr Light]

Oh yeah, and Locke goes down to the Donkey Wheel and meets Christian! I didn't know he was gonna be in the episode. I guess we know for sure he's intangible now. I gotta say the production values on the malfunctioning Donkey Wheel were a little silly looking. It was just "off-axis"? He just had to give it a nudge? Felt a little anti-climactic. Man, what is it with a) Locke getting leg injuries, and b) anyone getting into the Donkey Wheel Chamber getting an injury?

Interesting to see that the time flash energy was literally emanating from the Donkey Wheel. Though I guess that shouldn't be a huge surprise.

So, was anyone surprised that Hawking was Faraday's Mother?

I wonder who Charlotte's parents were. Horace Goodspeed and wife, perhaps? But they were American. Of course, Faraday's parents were Brits and he grew up American so go figure!

 

[Brent]

Above Average...just shy of excellent.

Charlotte dying just when she was getting interesting was a bit of a let down...her story must not be over.

I have a theory that Jacob is a non-corpereal being and re-animates the dead (Christian) as a spokesperson per se. The same thing will happen when the dead Locke comes back.

"Say hi to my son"

That's what I think as well, he can appear as the dead, but is in nature non-corporeal.

 

[DeafPoet]

I had to go with Excellent. Not only was this one one of the fastest hours of Lost but they also tied in some stuff from season 1. Continuity is a big plus. Seeing Lostzilla, the ruins, Christian - just too much good stuff.

I'm a little disappointed that Damon and Carlton broke their rule about Smokey. We know he likes to slam people around and drag people into the "Cerberus Vents." We didn't learn anything new about him. That's the rule.

I wasn't shocked or saddened by Charlotte's death. I really don't understand what the point of her character is or will be. Other than that, great stuff, and one of Lost's finest endings.

I wasn't shocked. But I was saddened. I'm one of the few that liked Charlotte last season. I don't know where her character is going either. But I think she's about as dead as John Locke circa 2007 is. She'll be back. Regularly. But her death scene was really well played. Jeremy Davies almost had me crying.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I'm surprised at how quickly Jin was able to rejoin the gang. I figured that they'd keep him in the past for several episodes, then have his return to the present be difficult.

 

[Mr Light]

Oh, that's a good idea. I thought it was weird when Montand is calling for them to go down. I bet that was Cerebus using his voice!

 

[Mr Light]

We did learn something new about Cerebus. Robert told Rousseau that Cerebus is a security system that specifically guards the Temple, giving it a brand new importance to the mythology.

 

[Agent Richard07]

IMO he was dead at that point, and the smoke monster was using his voice to call for help to get the others down there.

That's not a bad theory. I forgot about how the smoke monster could impersonate people. Maybe that's what happened to Christian. Maybe he was "absorbed" somehow. Who knows...

 

[DeafPoet]

We did learn something new about Cerebus. Robert told Rousseau that Cerebus is a security system that specifically guards the Temple, giving it a brand new importance to the mythology.

Was I out to lunch for that? I don't recall that conversation. I think I may have picked a bad time to go to the washroom.

We all knew that Smokey was a security system. Rousseau said that in "Solitary." But I stand corrected.

By the way, as I said in the commentary thread, Robert's death went down just like Rousseau said in Season 1's 7th or 8th episode. That's continuity!

 

[Mr Light]

Another new Cerebus thing: it possibly converts people into followers when it drags them underground. The "sickness" Rousseau killed her team for.

Reviewing the info on Rousseau, we also did not see her team discovering the Black Rock.

Anyone notice how the odd numbered eps this season are awesome, and the even numbered eps are just ok?

 

[Agent Richard07]

So, was anyone surprised that Hawking was Faraday's Mother?

Not since we cleared that up last week or the week before.

 

[DeafPoet]

Reviewing the info on Rousseau, we also did not see her team discovering the Black Rock.

I clearly missed some important Rousseau stuff. Was the Smokey bit in the Dark Territory near the Black Rock?

From "Exodus:"

Danielle: This is the Dark Territory; where Montand lost his arm.

 

[Mr Light]

Reviewing the Lostpedia page on Rousseau: After killing her teammates, she goes to the Radio Tower and changes the signal. Three days after that she gives birth. A week after that the black smoke column appeared and the Others took Alex.

If I recall tonight's ep correctly wasn't there a black column on the day she killed Robert? If so is this a continuity error, or Rousseau lying/misremembering her past?

Also, Rousseau claimed the Others infected her teammates with the sickness in S1. And we didn't see her hearing the Whispers for the first time, either.

 

[Mr Light]

Rousseau revealed it was a security system in the S1 finale, not "Solitary" Rousseau initially said the tower was in the Dark Territory with the Black Rock... but when we went to the radio tower in S3 finale it was nowhere near the Black Rock.

If she said Montand lost his arm in the DT (don't remember), that places the Temple in the Dark Territory. Interesting.

 

[Mr Light]

Referring to Lostpedia for The Temple: Ben said it's 1.5 days walk from the Barracks, and a map showed it to the northwest. This would not put it in Dark Territory. Of course sometimes they give directions that seem to indicate the Swan is on the north side and the Barracks are on the south side of the Island, inverting the blast door map. That always confused me.

Also interesting, Alpert and Others were there for sanctuary in S4. Ben sent Alex and Rousseau there for safety in S4, but the Losties weren't allowed in for some reason. Ben said it's "not for them".

Is this because Cerebus is in the Temple and would kill them if they went in there? Or because they would get the "sickness" and become brainwashed Cerebus acolytes like the Frenchies?

 

[The Habs Fan]

Well, I have to give this episode an Excellent. This season has been the best since season 2 IMO. Hopefully it can keep it up.

 

[DeafPoet]

Referring to Lostpedia for The Temple: Ben said it's 1.5 days walk from the Barracks, and a map showed it to the northwest. This would not put it in Dark Territory. Of course sometimes they give directions that seem to indicate the Swan is on the north side and the Barracks are on the south side of the Island, inverting the blast door map. That always confused me.

I wouldn't put much stock in where things are supposed to be. For instance, you can infer like three different locations for The Staff based on past episodes. I think that's why we've never been shown anything concrete.

And before you come after me with the Blast Door Map, that's not completely trustworthy either. First of all, it's not to scale at all. Second, who the hell knows how trustworthy Kelvin and Radzinsky are?

 

[Mr Light]

Yeah the location of stations on the blast door map are screwy. The Staff is close to the Swan; the Flame is very far away. Yet the Flame is between the Staff and the Swan on the map.

The Island geography is my pet project for the show. I would really love if they just released one official map of the Island and all the locations.