Lost 5x15: "Follow the Leader"

[Agent Richard07]

Welcome to the grading & discussion thread for Lost 5x15: "Follow the Leader".
[highlight]***SPOILERS AHEAD***[/highlight]



"Follow the Leader"

"Jack and Kate find themselves at odds over the direction to take to save their fellow island survivors, Locke further solidifies his stance as leader of the Others, and Sawyer and Juliet come under scrutiny from the Dharma Initiative." - Wikipedia

• "Follow the Leader" Promo
• "Follow the Leader" Video Podcast
• "Follow the Leader" Pictures
• More Links

 

[Agent Richard07]

Above Average. Lots of good stuff and a nice setup episode for the season finale. Also, I had the same reaction Ben did when Locke said he was going to kill Jacob.

 

[Danny99]

Above Average

It was definitely a set up episode for the finale, but probably had the best WTF moment of the season with the whole "Kill Jacob" bit.

 

[DarthPipes]

Excellent.

I don't know where this season is headed but it's been one hell of a ride. Good stuff from all the characters tonight. I am actually hoping for a happy ending for Sawyer and Juliet. I had the same reaction as they had to the appearance of Kate. Loved the time travel conversation between Hurley and Chang.

 

[Kira's Mom]

Above average. Looking forward to the finale! I hope I can be here for the commentary.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Tonight's episode was just . . . weird in my book. (0f course that describes about 90% of LOST to me.)

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ It was Trippy.

Another highlight was when Richard started having concerns about Locke. It looks like Ben will try to retake leadership of the Others, I just don't know what will become of that. If he succeeds, what will become of locke? If he fails, what will become of him?

 

[Trippy]

Above average...obvious set up for the finale, which should rock!

Locke, however, is starting to piss me off...I hope he knows what he's doing!

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ We don't even know what he's doing.

 

[DeafPoet]

Excellent.

Damon and Carlton said "The Variable" was the best episode of the season in their opinion, but it's still "LaFleur" for me. This is a very close second.

Not only was it steeped in mythology, it concerned characters we've known and loved since the beginning making it all the more powerful. Something not true of "The Variable".

Some random thoughts:

- Eloise isn't thinking clearly. This is likely to fuck everyone's shit up. We saw Fionnula Flannigan being tortured last week. We thought it was because she shot Dan. I think that was only half of the the story.

- Jack and Locke have officially reversed roles, which is awesome. Locke's not operating on faith anymore. He has facts, however incomprehensible to us they may be. Jack's just winging it because of wishful thinking. Which is what Locke, who claimed to be devout, used to do.

- Sawyer and Juliet remain the strongest part of this season. I wanted to fucking slap Phil when he hit Juliet; and Sawyer had a similar and pretty spine tingling reaction to that.

- Dr. Chang got wise to Miles and Hurley. I would have liked a longer scene with them observing Chang at the dock to provide more full closure to "Some Like It Hoth" but it was good that they didn't forget it. Miles was suitably impressed with Dad's heroic gesture.

- Kill Jacob? Not fucking likely. But it'll be fun to see him try. We're likely to learn some cool shit in the attempt.

- My prediction for the finale? Jack's going to succeed. That would be a mindfuck. But where would you go from there?! Well, we were asking the same thing at the end of last season. Damon and Carlton are experts at painting themselves into corners in finales. And they almost always come roaring out of the gate with some wicked stuff the following year.

 

[Mr Light]

3.75 to 4/4 Excellent episode! So much happening!

My only complaint is that I was hoping this episode would be more revelatory about Richard, since I was spoiled on the fact it was his episode... but it was more of an ensemble episode.

Too bad we didn't see what's going on with the Ajira camp. Remember the bit about the secret codeword from forever ago?

So Locke wants to kill Jacob! I did not see that coming! It makes sense in retrospect, since Locke thinks that Jacob has been keeping the Natives under his cruel thumb all these years. But how do you kill a poltergeist? Can't wait to find out!

Finally, finally, we get confirmation that yes the Others have extensive tunnels running throughout the entire Island. Boo yah! It's a little crazy that they had to swim though a super long water tunnel to get in, though. Surely there are more convenient entrances, like the one they used to put Jughead in there.

Interesting to see Radzinsky overthrowing Horace like that. I can't wait to see how this ends up with Rad stuck in the Swan all alone, the lone (loyal) survivor of the Dharma Initiative. Again it's a shame that Hanso and the DeGroots are nowhere to be seen.

Kate's last minute appearance on the sub was absolutely hilarious. Sawyer and Juliet have this big touching moment where they're gonna live happily ever after... then Kate is literally shoved between them! Ah, the look of horror on Juliet's face! I love it. Do the writers intentionally make Kate as annoying as possible???

Loved seeing Ben as Locke's loyal acolyte. Great stuff. I wonder about Richard's loyalties, though. Is he really going to help Locke to kill Jacob? Hasn't he faithfully served Jacob all these decades/centuries?

Also loved Hurley stuffing a sack full of Dharma tinned food before not-so-subtly slipping off into the jungle

Should be an excellent finale!

 

[Agent Richard07]

My only complaint is that I was hoping this episode would be more revelatory about Richard, since I was spoiled on the fact it was his episode... but it was more of an ensemble episode.

I think this is what started that rumor.

Kate's last minute appearance on the sub was absolutely hilarious. Sawyer and Juliet have this big touching moment where they're gonna live happily ever after... then Kate is literally shoved between them! Ah, the look of horror on Juliet's face! I love it.

I thought the same thing.

Also loved Hurley stuffing a sack full of Dharma tinned food before not-so-subtly slipping off into the jungle

Yeah, more comic relief from Hurley.

By the way, what was written on the box he put in his bag? It said "Vanilla Something..."

 

[Caligula]

Man, my head hurts from the BTTF-like temporal paradoxes. Two John Lockes in the same scene! Equally jarring was switching from '77 to '07 and seeing the eternally youthful Richard interacting with both groups, with the '07 Richard alluding to things that, from his perspective, have already come to pass... and yet still may not! Just the kind of thing that makes your head spin, but it's still damn fine television!

I was wondering how much longer it would be before Sayid showed up. Kate really sold that scene, 'cause she had me believing... if only for a split second... that she might've been shot through the back. That was a close one.

 

[Mr Light]

I think it was vanilla cookies or something like that.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Excellent

I love that Richard and Ben have all of a sudden switched from seeming to know everything about the island to knowing nothing (or just about as much as we do). Now it's Locke who seems to know all the answers. I can't wait until next week.

 

[sidious618]

I did not see that last line coming. And I honestly think Locke can do it as well.

 

[Mr Light]

Actually I didn't like the way Richard was so clueless in this episode. He's been there centuries but doesn't know things? There's never been a time jumping incident before our characters? Ever? Also... Locke gets messages from the Island but Ben never did? Hunh? What about dead mommy?

 

[IndyJones]

Just wanted to say that my poor vote was supposed to be an above average.

Sorry, polls is hard.

 

[DarthPipes]

It happens.

I have to say, I've enjoyed the little interaction we've seen from Miles and Dr. Chang. It's been a very good little storyline.

 

[sidious618]

I'm very surprised at the lack of posts tonight.