4.4 Eggtown

Locke makes a fresh egg and melon breakfast and brings it to Ben, but when  Ben refuses to share any information about the ship, Locke takes it away. Locke endures more classic Ben needling about how Locke doesn’t know what to do next, but it appears to have no effect. But when Locke gets a little way down the hall, he slams the tray into the wall. Inside, Ben’s mouth curls into a smile: mission accomplished yet again.

Claire and Kate are enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck. Claire goes to make a cup for Sawyer. Sawyer asks Kate to move in with him, but she refuses. She doesn’t share her secret agenda. Kate asks Sawyer to leave.

Jin and Sun discuss where they will live after they are rescued. Jin wants to live in the USA, explaining that this is why he learned English. However, Sun wants to return home to Korea. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of Jack, Juliet, Daniel, and Charlotte. Sun asks about Kate, and Jack tells her that she stayed with Locke.

Kate visits Locke and asks if she can speak to Miles. Locke asks her why; she says that is her business. Locke says no. There is a tense discussion about whether Locke is a dictator or not.

Kate sees Hurley carrying a tray of food. She tells him Locke asked her to bring it to Miles. But when she doesn’t know that Miles is being held at the boathouse, Hurley realizes he is being scammed. He still gives her the tray, but he makes her promise that she won’t spring Miles and won’t tell Locke that Hurley.

Kate asks Miles if his people know anything about her. Miles promises to answer that question if she will let him have 1 minute with you-know-who (Ben).

When Jack admits he is unable to get through the ship, Sun asks him if perhaps Locke is right – that the new people are going to try to hurt them. But Jack says that Locke has no idea what he is doing.

Kate asks Claire about Locke – how often he leaves his house, and whether he still has Ben in the basement. When Aaron cries, Claire asks Kate to pick him up, but Kate refuses, saying she isn’t good with babies.

Kate visits Sawyer and asks him to help her bust Ben out of his prison. Sawyer distracts Locke with a backgammon game, and fools Locke a little by telling him that Kate’s plan is to spring Ben and bring him to Miles. Locke and Sawyer go to the boathouse, but Miles is gone. Kate has brought Miles to Ben, instead. Miles uses his minute to tell Ben he will tell his employer Ben is dead, if Ben pays him 3.2 million dollars. Kate cuts short the conversation. As she and Miles are leaving, they meet Locke and Sawyer on the stairs. Locke orders Kate to go back to her house, taking possession of Miles at gunpoint.

Locke follows Kate back to her house and asks Claire to go away so he can talk to Kate alone. He asks her what Ben and Miles said to each other. Kate tells Locke about Miles extortion offer. Locke tells Kate that she is not welcome any more, and that he wants her gone by morning.

Kate visits Sawyer and tells him what happens. He takes her into his bed and promises to protect her. In the morning, she tells him she was not pregnant, and when she sees his gleeful reaction, she leaves. When Sawyer goads her about going back and forth between him and Jack, she slaps him hard – and still leaves.

Daniel is guessing at cards with Charlotte, when Jack interrupts, concerned about the whereabouts of Sayid and Desmond. He pesters Daniel and Charlotte for an alternative number. They admit there is an emergency number, and they dial it. A woman named Regina answers, but she says no helicopter has arrived.

Locke has chained Miles’ arms to the ceiling, apparently all night. He visits Miles in the morning, pulls a pin from a hand grenade, and shoves the grenade in Miles’ mouth.

 

The flash-forward:

Kate is in court, charged with a long list of offenses, with first degree murder being the most serious. Despite her well-known face as one of the Oceanic 6, she is remanded in custody, since her past history makes her a strong candidate to flee.

Kate’s lawyer asks her to enter a plea bargain, but she isn’t interested, nor is she willing to bring her son into court as a way of eliciting sympathy from the jury. But her lawyer does invite Jack to testify. Jack says that he crashed into the water and was saved by Kate. In fact, he says, she saved all 8 of the crash survivors: got food and water for them. He says they all would have died if it wasn’t for Kate. Kate interrupts him and says she doesn’t want to hear anymore –

Kate’s mother asks to speak to Kate, saying that she doesn’t want to testify anymore. But she wants to see Kate’s son. When Kate hears this, she tells her mom she is not welcome anywhere near her son, and asks her mother to go away.

The trial is halted when the star witness, Kate’s mom, refuses to testify. Kate strikes a deal that keeps her out of prison, but she is not allowed to leave the state.

As Kate leaves the courtroom via the back way, Jack intercepts her. Kate thanks Jack for telling the story, stating that it is a lie that Jack has repeated many times. Jack says he didn’t mean what he said in the courtroom – meaning that he does love her. Kate asks him to come over, but Jack wants to go for coffee. Kate says she knows why Jack doesn’t want to see the baby, but she cannot socialize with him until he is ready to deal with it. Jack says okay, and they part ways.

Kate returns home to her baby-sitter, who has just put the baby down for a nap. She wakes him, and calls him by name: Aaron!

Comments

I suppose Aaron has now been confirmed as one of the Oceanic 6.

Why is Kate saying that she is Aaron’s mother? Why – and how – did Kate get possession of Aaron? We probably won’t find out the answer to that question for some time.

I like the way Jack’s story of Kate, told in the courtroom, starts as a small lie, and becomes a bigger one.

Kate’s sick mother is wearing one of those oxygen tubes in her nose. Actors as patients are always wearing those tubes. I wish I had invested in the company that makes those tubes years ago!

When Miles is talking to Ben, just before he says, "It’s extortion…", his lips move. It could be a stutter, or he could be delivering a hidden message to Ben.

A poster called kkelley09, posting on YouTube, has this theory: 3.2 million dollars is a code. 3,200,000 matches the heading that Ben gave Michael to head for when he left the island. This can be extrapolated from the 3.2, combined with the 5 zeros. This indicates that the outsiders know where the island is located, and Ben has a week to act/deliver before the outsiders arrive.

Nits

The trial scene is goofy as only a TV trial scene can be. A defendant (Kate) objects, and the judge does not find her in contempt of court. The prosecuting attorney asks Jack if he is in love with Kate. Things like this don’t happen in real life.

Kate has suddenly developed a Canadian accent; she keeps saying ‘oat’ when she means ‘out’ (I think Evangeline Lilly must be slipping up, and the director isn’t noticing it).

Charlotte tells Jack there is another emergency number. She dials the number, then Jack says, "Put her on speaker." Regina answers the phone. How did Jack know that a woman was going to answer the phone? In the past, Mikowski or Regina answered the phone! And I don’t think Jack was calling the phone ‘her’.

Quotable Quotes

"I feel for you, John. I really do. You keep hitting dead ends. ... You couldn't find the cabin, you can't make contact with Jacob...you're so desperate to figure out what to do next, you're even asking me for help. So here we are, just like old times. Except I'm locked in a different room, and you're more lost than you ever were."
- Ben

Kate: I wanna talk to Miles. Where you keeping him?
Locke: Why do you need to talk to him?
Kate: Well, that's personal.
Locke: No.
Kate: And what gives you the right to decide whether or not -
Locke: You may think this is a democracy Kate, because of the way Jack ran things, but this is not a democracy.
Kate: Then I guess that makes it a dictatorship.
Locke: If I was a dictator, I would just shoot you and go about my day. Dinner's at 6:00 if you're hungry.

Kate: Are you taking that to Miles?
Hurley: Yeah.
Kate: Locke told me to do it.
Hurley: Good, that guy creeps me out.
Kate: He's still in the rec room, right?
Hurley: No, he's in the boat house......You just totally Scooby Doo-ed me, didn't you?

Miles: You bring him to me, and I will tell you everything I know about you.
Kate: Who?
Miles: Who do you think?

"Only 8 of us survived the crash, we landed in the water, I was hurt pretty badly, in fact - if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have made it to the shore. She took care of me, she took care of all of us."
- Jack

Ben: What makes you think I have access to that kind of money?
Miles: Do not treat me like I'm one of them! Like I don't know who you are and what you can do!

Sawyer: Beach? What, you're leaving? Because of this? That's that? You crawl up in my bed one second and the next you just...
Kate: Goodbye, James.
Sawyer: Don't make this about me, Kate. You didn't want a baby anymore than I did. You're just looking for some excuse to split, and now you've got one. But that's all right, Freckles, I ain't gonna hold it against you. I'm just gonna sit right here in my comfortable bed, because in about a week, you'll find some reason to get pissed at Jack, and bounce right back to me.

4.3 The Economist

Sayid meditates, then walks over to Naomi’s body and closes her eyes. He reads the inscription on her bracelet: "N, I’ll always be with you. R. G." Frank is ready to make a flight back to the ship, and he has room for three passengers. Sayid wants to go, to find out who these people really are. Sayid offers to get Charlotte back in exchange for a ticket on the chopper. Despite Miles’ complaining, Frank agrees. Miles invites himself along, and Sayid doesn’t object, although he still won’t give Miles his gun back. At Jack’s urging, Kate also goes, brandishing her gun.

Jack sends Juliet back to the beach to bring back Desmond.

Sawyer wants to get info from Ben by shooting off one toe at a time, but Locke says no, because then they would have to carry him. Locke leads his gang to what he believes is the location of Jacob’s cabin – but it is not there anymore. Ben says Locke is there to find out what to do next. Locke seems nervous but keeps control by saying they should keep moving toward the barracks. Hurley objects, suggesting that they let Charlotte go, rather than keeping her as a hostage. Locke says he is making the decisions now, and gets in Hurley’s face to ask if he has any objections to that.

Daniel sets up a testing device and asks that a payload be delivered from the ship. Some minutes later, the payload is delivered. Daniel compares numbers and seems worried.

Sayid’s gang reach the barracks and finds them seemingly deserted. While they are searching, they find Hurley, bound and gagged. Hurley says he had an altercation with Locke and was left behind. They continue their search in Ben’s house.

Juliet arrives back with a rifle-toting, happy-to-see-a-chopper Desmond.

Sayid finds a hidden room with many passports, at least one of them has Ben’s , they are ambushed by Sawyer, Locke, and Danielle. It seems Hurley was bait. Sawyer keeps Kate ‘prisoner’ in a room and tries to convince her that she should stay on the island with him and play house. Sayid convinces Locke to trade Charlotte for Miles.

Desmond questions Frank and Daniel about the picture of he and Penny that was found on Naomi, but neither one will say anything – they just trade portentous glances.

Sayid returns and tells Jack that Kate chose to stay behind. Sayid and Desmond board the chopper, with Sayid also asking that Naomi’s body be taken back. Charlotte and Daniel decide to stay behind.

As Frank is ready to fly, Daniel pulls him aside and cautions him to ensure that he come back in on the exact bearing that he flew in the first time. The chopper pulls away and heads over the ocean.

Sayid’s flash-forward:

Sayid is golfing in the Seychelles when he strikes up a conversation – and a bet – with another golfer. The other golfer wins the wager, but says Sayid does not need to pay when he finds out that Sayid is one of the ‘Oceanic 6’. This golfer’s instincts are right – Sayid shoots him, saying his name (Mr Angeline) as he does so. Apparently, the man was not a stranger to Sayid.

In Berlin, Sayid goes into a café and shares a table with an attractive young woman. Mutual attraction leads to small talk, a date, and, eventually, a relationship. But Sayid’s real purpose is to kill the woman’s employer. Unbeknownst to Sayid, the woman is aware of this, and is staying with Sayid to get information from him. A gun battle ensures; Sayid is shot but the woman is killed. Sayid visits a veterinarian’s office to get fixed up. The vet is none other than Ben, who is revealed to be Sayid’s boss. Ben has hired Sayid to assassinate a list of people who Ben says are threats to Sayid’s friends.

Comments

We now know 4 of the ‘Oceanic 6’: Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid.

Although I have glanced at reports that season 4 ratings are down, I personally am not seeing a decline in the quality of the episodes. The writing is still good, and I am amused by the introduction of new mysteries. The four new characters introduced, and their murky purpose, has served the story well. Granted, I still believe that season 1 was the strongest season, since I prefer the simpler ‘survival’ plot. There was more focus on personality and conflict. Now, there is a tendency to overplot.

Nits

It’s strange that Locke would give Charlotte to Sayid, knowing that this would enable Sayid to reach the ship. Since Locke has stated numerous times that he and his group do not want to be rescued, you would think he would want to inhibit Sayid from reaching the ship.

Why is Sayid able to trade Miles for Charlotte? At this point, Locke has already captured Sayid and Miles. Miles is no longer Sayid’s to hand over. If Locke wants Miles, all he has to do is keeping holding him prisoner.

Quotable Quotes

Sayid: Gun's a last resort, Kate.
Kate: You give Locke that same speech?

Kate: Kinda sucks, huh?
Jack: What's that?
Kate: Being told not to come along. Now you know what it feels like to be me.
Jack: Does that mean I should wait twenty minutes and go anyway?

Sawyer: What's in this cabin that's so important anyway?
Ben: John's looking for somebody to tell him what to do next.

Sawyer: You ready to give us the name, Gizmo?
Locke: He's not going to tell you who the spy is on their boat, James.
Sawyer: Yeah, why not?
Locke: Because that's the only thing keeping him alive.
Sawyer: Well here's an idea: why don't we take a gun, point it to his big toe and send that little piggy to the market. ... And if he still doesn't want to tell us, move on to the roast beef. Why don't we do that?
Locke: Because then we'd have to carry him.

Sayid: You're not the best candidate for this kind of mission.
Jack: What kind of mission is that?
Sayid: I'm going to make Locke give me Charlotte. And I'm going to do it without any bloodshed.
Jack: As opposed to the way I'd do it.
Sayid: Last time you encountered him; you put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. That's not good diplomacy.

Frank: What happened to Miles?
Sayid: I traded him.
Frank: Traded him?
Sayid: I promised you Charlotte. Here she is.
Frank: You cheated.
Sayid: Did I?
Frank: Yes, you did. Lucky for you, that guy's nothing but a pain in my ass.

Sayid: Naomi, were you close to her?
Miles: Nope. Met her on the boat.
Sayid: You don't seem particularly affected by her death.
Miles: Sure I'm affected. She was hot and I dug her accent.

Sawyer: Look around us, Freckles. We've got roofs over our heads, electricity, showers, beds -
Kate: How long, Sawyer? How long do you think we can play house?
Sawyer: Why don't we find out?

Frank: This guy Sayid, where's he from?
Jack: Iraq.
Frank: Iraq? So he's just gonna go and work everything out? What was he, a diplomat?
Jack: No... No, he was a torturer.

Miles: Where the hell did they go, Tubby?
Hurley: Oh - awesome, the ship sent us another Sawyer.

4.2 Confirmed Dead

The rescuers have arrived, but it’s never that easy on Lost. The first ‘rescuer’ to parachute in is Daniel. He meets Kate and Jack, and, after some hesitation, Jack admits he is Jack. It all looks rosy when Daniel is able to contact his boat using Naomi’s phone and confirm their position. Daniel’s descent to the island was not pleasant: in flashback, we learn that he was basically tossed out of the helicopter as a weight reduction exercise, to try to avoid a crash. Rescue is imminent now. But why is Daniel carrying a gun? Why are they really there? The answers will have to wait until Daniel hooks up with other members of his team. The second jumper, Miles, has landed on a rock ledge near the ocean and appears to be injured. But when Jack gets close, Miles jumps up, gun drawn, and demands to see Naomi’s body. Why? In flashback, we learn that Miles is a ghost whisperer. He has the talent to speak to ghosts. But we also see he is using that talent to hustle people (and ghosts) for money. He puts one haunting spirit at peace by finding and extracting a large wad of cash that the deceased had probably stolen. He could have given that money to the deceased’s mother…but he didn’t.

Ben is doing his usual crap-stirring, this time with Sawyer. After goading Sawyer about how he lost Kate to Jack, Sawyer suggests to Locke that they kill Ben now, before he causes more trouble. Locke says only Ben’s mouth is dangerous. Sawyer asks how Locke got a bullet hole, then. Locke shows how the bullet went straight through, and muses that it would have killed him if he still had a kidney on that side.

Miles is highly agitated. He is led to Naomi’s body and spends some quiet time with her, speaking in a low voice away from the others. When he finishes, he concedes that Kate was telling the truth – they didn’t kill her. Jack asks Miles to lower his gun but Miles has no intention to do that, even when Jack says that their friends have guns trained on his head. When the bullets start flying from the hidden Sayid and Juliet, Miles changes his mind, and gives up his piece.

The third member of the team, Charlotte, is hanging upside down from a tree, her parachute tangled in branches. She unhooks and dives into the pond below. When she surfaces, she meets Locke’s gang on the bank. Charlotte, we learn from a brief flashback, is an anthropologist. She is thrilled to find the survivors of Oceanic 815. But they are not so thrilled to find her. She wants to use her homing beacon to contact the freighter. But Locke says they do not want to be rescued.

Miles has tracked another member of their team, running from something, and coming straight for them. Vincent the Dog emerges from the bushes, wearing Charlotte’s homing beacon. Jack states that Locke must have Charlotte.

Jack’s mob finds the fourth member of the team, Frank (the helicopter pilot). Frank is an older, Hawaiian-shirt-wearing ex-hippie type who not only survived the crash, but also landed the ‘copter. Sayid’s investigation reveals that there is minor damage but that bird will fly. Frank’s flashback reveals a connection to Oceanic: while watching footage of the dead bodies found in the ocean trench, he knew that the body pictured that was supposed to be pilot Seth Norris was not him.

There is a standoff when Locke wants to continue toward the barracks, but Charlotte wants to go her own way. Suddenly, shots ring out. Ben has grabbed Karl’s gun and shot Charlotte twice in the chest. She survives, thanks to her bullet-proof vest. Sawyer goes nuts and wants to execute Ben there and then, but Locke says he will take care of the mess. But just as Locke is about to do something bad, Ben recites an encyclopedia’s worth of personal information about Charlotte and her team. It seems Ben has a spy on her boat. Ben’s valuable information grants him a temporary stay of execution.

Finally, we learn that Naomi was the team leader and the only one with experience in whatever their main objective is. Naomi was hired by the same man that visited Hurley in the mental institution in a flash-forward. Naomi does not seem convinced that the assembled team was suited for the mission, but she is confident she can pull it all together.

When Miles learns that Juliet was not on the plane, he gets even more agitated than normal, and demands to know where Ben is. He magnanimously reveals the true objective of their mission: to find and get Benjamin Linus.

Comments

As yet we don’t know why this team is there to get Ben.

If Frank is right, and the underwater corpse is not Seth Norris, then whose body is it? And are the other bodies genuine? How could they be genuine – everyone would know their loved ones were not genuine when they tried to identify the remains.

Nits

First Jack and then Sawyer have taken turns repeatedly pummeling Ben’s face, yet afterward, Ben has no broken jaw or teeth, no blurred vision, and no permanent brain damage. Aside from a lot of blood, he seems to have nothing wrong at all. In real life, he would probably be dead from infection from all those open wounds from which that blood is flowing.

Charlotte dives into a muddy pond, but the water in the underwater shot of her dive is clear and blue (almost as if it was filmed in a tank).

Quotable Quotes

Jack: Put the guns down.
Miles: Now why would I do that?
Jack: Because our friends are out in the jungle right holding a gun at your head and his head, so I'm gonna forget about the misunderstanding, just put the guns down!
Miles: Come on, how stupid do you think I -
(Shots ring out, and Juliet and Sayid emerge from the bushes with guns aimed at Miles and Daniel)
Jack: I don't know, Miles. How stupid are you?

Ben: Mind if I ask you a question, James?
Sawyer: Yeah I do.
Ben: Why'd you leave Kate behind?
Sawyer: Wasting your time, Yoda.
Ben: I know it's not pleasant but, let's face it, you really don't stand a chance now...
Sawyer: Chance of what?
Ben: James. Look at yourself. Yes, on this island you're brave, daring, handsome; you're someone, but if you left with them, back in the real world a low-life scam artist like you could never compete with a first class surgeon. I think Kate was really upset when you made your choice to come with us. Thank God she has Jack there to comfort -
(Sawyer attacks Ben)

Sawyer: Anyone want to tell me why we're keeping this guy alive?
Locke: We're keeping him alive because he's been on this island a lot longer than any of us. Because he has information we need and because apart from his mouth, he's completely harmless.
Sawyer: His mouth put that hole in your gut?

Sawyer: You mind telling us who you're getting your orders from, Colonel Kurtz?
Locke: I got 'em from Walt.
Sawyer: What the hell do you mean you saw Walt? In a dream?
Locke: No dream. It was Walt. Only...taller.
Sawyer: Taller? What, like a giant?

"The light... it's strange out here, isn't it, it's kind of like, it doesn't, it doesn't scatter quite right."
- Daniel

Sayid: You say you are not here on a rescue mission and the world at large believes us to be dead. But here we are alive and well and you don't seem remotely surprised to see us.
Miles: (sarcastically excited) Oh my God, you guys were on Oceanic flight 815! Wow! (pause) Is that better?

Miles: Where's the chopper?
Frank: I saw a cow.

Kate: Dan? Your name's Dan, right? Listen, Dan, I know that you don't want anyone to get hurt, right? So why don't you put the gun away.
Dan: Because Miles would kill me?

4.1 The Beginning of the End

The man on the boat says he needs to rejig the phone and asks to speak to Naomi. Jack lies and says that she has gone to get firewood.

Ben begs Danielle to take his daughter far away from this place, before everyone is killed. Danielle simply tells him to shut up, because Alex is not his daughter.

Jack and Kate suddenly notice that Naomi is missing. Ben says she crawled away. Kate find two trails – one is a blood trail and one isn’t. She suspects trickery, but Jack says Naomi was injured and wouldn’t have the strength for tricks. He says he will follow the blood trail, and asks Kate to lead the people back to the beach. They hug goodbye.

Jack and Danielle follow the blood trail, with Ben tied up and towed behind. When the trail suddenly ends, Danielle says they have been tricked. Jack reaches for the phone but it is gone. Ben says that Kate took it when she hugged him.

Kate finds Naomi, who attacks her and demands the phone. Kate begs her not to tell how she got hurt, saying that Locke is not one of them. Naomi takes the phone and tells the boat man that she hurt herself when she parachuted onto the island. She adjusts the phone, and the man says he has pinpointed her position. Then she dies.

The Looking Glass crew returns with the news that Charlie is dead. Hurley is most affected by this. The crew also brings Charlie’s message: "Not Penny’s Boat." This they take to mean that the people on the boat are evil. Sawyer wants to warn Jack using the walkie, but Sayid says they must not, because the evil boat people are probably monitoring their communication. Hurley ends this discussion by tossing the walkie in the ocean and starting out to get to Jack. Everyone else falls into step.

As it gets dark, Hurley falls behind and gets separated from the group. He ends up at Jacob’s hut. He hears whispering, looks inside, and sees a shadowy shape in the rocking chair, and another face popping up at the window. Scared, he runs, and is able to close his eyes and make the hut go away. When he opens his eyes, Locke is there. Locke gives him water and calms him down. Together, they go to find Jack and warn him about the boat.

Hurley and Locke reach Sayid and the crew. Sayid is angry at seeing Locke, but not as angry as Jack and his crew show up. Jack punches Locke, steals his gun, and pulls the trigger while pointing it at Locke’s head. The unloaded gun clicks harmlessly. Jack’s authority is undermined when Hurley reveals Charlie’s dieing message. Locke says he is heading for the abandoned barracks, stating that the security there is best. Everyone except for Jack and Kate go with him.

Hurley also volunteers to tell Claire about Charlie, in a very moving scene.

The rain starts falling (never a good omen). Jack and Kate reminisce about their initial trip across the island with Charlie to the cabin of the plane. They are interrupted by the sound of a helicopter. A solo man parachutes down, removes his helmet, and says, "Are you Jack?"

The flash-forward:

Jack watches Hurley crash his car. Hurley is arrested, yelling that he is one of the ‘Oceanic 6’. He is questioned by the cop who used to partner Ana Lucia. The cop asks Hurley if he knew her, but Hurley says he never heard of her. Hurley is seeing things and is sent to a mental institution, for which is he grateful – he feels safe there. In the institution, he is visited by a man who says he works for Oceanic Airlines, but Hurley doesn’t believe it. Later, he is visited by Charlie. Charlie says he is dead. Charlie also says, "They need you."

Jack visits Hurley and asks if he has told or he will tell. Hurley doesn’t answer. Hurley says they need to go back – that it needs them. Jack has cleaned up his act, although he is still drinking a little. He gets angry and says they can never go back. "Never say never, dude," says Hurley.

Comments

Cleverly, the creators are now using flash-forwards instead of flashbacks. Good – I was getting sick of those flashbacks.

The flash-forward in this episode takes place before the one shown in the previous episode. Previously, Jack had a beard and he had deteroriated to heavy drinking and drug use. In this episode, he is just a little unshaven, and is only adding a little bit of alcohol to his morning drink.

In the Future, Hurley apologizes to Jack for going with Locke. Yet we now know that Locke was never going to shoot Jack – the gun was not loaded. We also know that Jack was going to shoot and kill Locke – he fired the unloaded gun at his head. So who is good and who is evil? One thing is sure – Locke seems incapable of killing, but Jack could kill at any time.

Christian Shephard is seen in Jacob's cabin wearing a single white tennis shoe - the other shoe was seen hanging from a branch on the beach in the first episode of Lost.

Nits

During Hurley's car chase in the beginning of the episode, an ‘Aloha’ gas station sign is visible. Aloha gas stations are located in Hawaii – but Hurley is supposed to be living in California (Lost is filmed in Hawaii).

Quotable Quotes

Ben: Everyone who stays here is going to die. Now get Alex and get away right now. I don't care where you go. Just go. I will not have my daughter -
Danielle: (punches Ben in the face) She's not your daughter!

Hurley: I don't think we did the right thing, Jack. I think it wants us to come back.
Jack: Hurley.
Hurley: And it's going to do everything it can -
Jack: We're never going back!
Hugo: Never say never, dude.

3.22 Through the Looking Glass

Jack leads most of the survivors away, leaving Sayid and his two shooters. When 10 Others arrive, Sayid and Bernard hit their targets, causing This Weeks Obigatory Explosions, and killing 7 of the 10 invaders. But Jin misses the mark, and soon, the three shooters are captured.

Contacted on walkie-talkie, Ben demands information about where the rest of the Survivors have done. When no one speaks, Sayid is knocked about, and Ben says to kill Jin. Bernard caves, telling not only that the survivors are heading for the tower, but that they have a satellite phone. He also reveals that Karl is the one who warned them that the Others were coming.

Meanwhile, the survivors stopped to wait for the shooters, and hear only two explosions. Worried, some of them want to go back, but Jack is able to keep them moving for awhile.

Charlie is being beaten by the two rough women in the Looking Glass, but he isn’t saying much. They contact Ben. Ben seems very worried and tells Mikhail to go there and find out why Charlie is there. Mikhail is initially reluctant, wondering why Ben told them that the Looking Glass was flooded and inoperable. Ben says simply that he lied, and says he needs Mikhail to do this. Mikhail agrees.

The women again ask Charlie why he is there. He says he is there to shut the jamming signal. They ask how he will do it without the code. Charlie says he doesn’t need the code, because he is going to succeed. He seems so sure of himself that the women are looking a little bit uneasy.

Ben reveals his plan to head for the radio tower to convince the survivors not to use the phone. When Alex expresses an interest in going, Ben agrees, saying that he will take her to her new home. He also reveals tht the reason he tried to get rid of Karl was to stop her from getting pregnant (and dieing).

Desmond comes to after his knockout by Charlie, but doesn’t have much time to recover before the arriving Mikhail. Mikhail starts firing at him. Desmond dives and is able to make it up into the Looking Glass, and to hide before the women see him. Just as the more aggressive woman is about to torture Charlie with a spear gun and also accidentally find Desmond, Mikhail arrives soon after, saying that Desmond is in there somewhere. Charlie stirs up things by asking Mikhail why Ben had said that the station was flooded. He also reveals that Ben was jamming all transmissions. Ben rings and Mikhail confronts him about the jamming. Ben says that Jacob said to do it; it is all part of the plan to protect the island, which is currently under attack. Ben apologizes to Mikhail for not trusting him, and then asks him to kill Charlie and the women too.

Eventually goaded by Kate, Sawyer says he will go back. Jack says no, since with no guns, it would be a suicide mission. But Juliet says that she knows where there is a cache of guns. Juliet and Sawyer leave, and after some banter about who is screwing who, Juliet says there are no guns – she just said that because Jack would not have let them go. Hurley catches up, but Sawyer tells him to go back. As with Charlie, Sawyer uses Hurley’s weight to turn them away.

Locke awakens. His legs won’t move. He reaches for a nearby gun, and is ready to shoot himself. But Walt shows up at the edge of the hole and tells Locke to get up, because he has work to do. Locke’s face changes from despair to hope.

The group continues to head for the radio tower but stops when confronted by Ben and Alex. Ben asks to speak to Jack, saying that since Jack just killed 7 of his people, he owes him that. Jack and Ben walk a short distance away; Jack grabs Ben’s walkie just in case.

Ben says that Naomi is one of the bad guys, and if she is able to contact the outside world, everyone on the island will be killed. He urges Jack to give the phone to him. Having lost all his credibility, Jack doesn’t believe him, so Ben goes to plan B. He reveals that he is holding the three hostages, and says if Jack doesn’t turn over the phone in one minute, he will shoot them. Jack refuses, and three shots are fired. Enraged that his friends have been killed, Jack beats Ben for about the head until he is bloody.

Jack carries Ben back to the group and tells them to tie him up. Danielle takes this moment to walk up to and look longingly at Alex. From the ground, Ben reveals that Danielle is Alex’s mom. Danielle seizes the moment and gently suggests to Alex that they tie Ben up together in a true bonding moment, in more ways than one. Jack walks a short distance away and confides in Kate that their three friends are dead. He cautions her not to let anyone else know.

Sawyer and Juliet have reached the beach, but with no guns, they have no way to mount an attack. They hear a noise coming toward them – it sounds a little like the smoke monster. But it is Hurley, driving the van. He burts through the beach knowing out two of the guards. Sayid snaps the neck of one of the others with his legs. Tom surrenders to Sawyer, but Sawyer shoots him anyway; he says this is payback for taking Walt off the raft. Hurley uses the walkie to try to contac the Others, but gets Jack instead and tells him that everyone is okay. The survivors enjoy a brief moment of joy (especially Jack and Kate, who thought Sayid and the others were dead).

At the Looking Glass, Mikhail has made his choice. He shoots the two women, killing one and mortally wounding Bonnie. As he is about to shoot Charlie, Desmond jumps out and shoots Mikhail in the chest with a speargun. Charlie manages to convince Bonnie to tell him the code as a way of making Ben’s life miserable. Charlie does crack the code, and the jamming signal stops. Just as Charlie is leaving the control room, an incoming video message arrives. It is from Penny. When Charlie asks about her boat, she says she knows of no boat and knows no one named Naomi. At this moment, Mikhail appears at the outside porthole and detonates a hand grenade. Seeing what is about to happen, Charlie locks Desmond out of the control room, saving Desmond’s life but dooming his own. As the control room floods, Charlie has time to scroll a quick message on his hand: "Not Penny’s Boat." Desmond sees the message and touches his hand to Charlie’s against the glass before Charlie dies.

The main group reaches the radio tower. Naomi discovers that her phone is working. She is still being jammed by Danielle’s signal, so Danielle shuts it off.

Just as Naomi is about to make contact, she is struck by something and falls forward, blood pouring from her mouth. It is Locke, who has shown up just in time to throw an axe. He holds a gun on Jack and tries to get Jack to move away from the phone, but Jack refuses. When Ben tries to urge Locke to shoot Jack, Danielle nonchalantly knocks him out with a blow to the head. Locke backs down, while saying that this is not what Jack was supposed to do. Jack answers the call and tells the man on the other end that they are survivors of Flight 815. The man says he will get a fix on their position and be there soon.

Jack’s flashforward:

Jack’s full beard can’t hide his depression, nor can his parade of drinks dull it, as he heads back home on a flight to LA. When the stewardess cuts him off, he reads the paper instead – and finds out that someone is dead. Depressed beyond repair, he drives to a bridge and and gets ready to jump off. But a car accident turns him into a hero. Sarah comes to the hospital, but only because she is still listed as his emergency contact.

Jack tries to get involved in operating on the women who was seriously injured in the crash, but the surgeon on duty politely but firmly turns him away.

Jack goes to someone’s funeral (viewing) and is the only one to show up. He says he is neither friend nor family.

Jack is turned away at a pharmacist because his prescription has expired. He slams his fist down on the counter and stumbles out.

Jack goes back to the hospital to load up on prescription drugs after his own prescription ran out. The surgeon on duty confronts him, asking him gently what he was doing on that bridge at that hour, suspecting that he was trying to commit suicide. Jack has another shouting fit and stumbles out again.

In a squalid apartment, Jack calls someone on the phone and they agree to meet him out near the airport runway. It is Kate (and we now realize we are seeing the future). Jack says they must find a way to get back to the island – that they were never meant to leave. Kate says they were meant to leave, and that she must go back home because ‘he will be wondering’. Kate leaves, and Jack watches as a plane flies low overhead, taking off for destinations unknown.

Comments

Mikhail now has to decide whether to trust Ben once again (and kill three people) or perhaps team with the women to break away from Ben.

Charlie’s death scene was extremely moving. I will miss him as a character (and actor), despite his many faults.

The creators were very clever and sneaky to make us assume that the alternative glimpses we were seeing of Jack’s life had happened in the past, not the future, since all the other stories like that shown thus far were always from the past.

Whose funeral was Jack attending? From what little I could glean from freeze-framing the newspaper article, it is a man whose name starts with "Jo".

Who is Kate living with in the future?

It is now possible that the survivors will have to join forces with the Others to fight off this new threat, the supposed rescuers that will be contacted with Naomi’s phone.

Nits

In the opening scene, the radio tower group heads out with the ocean on their right. But in the next scene, the ocean is on their left! They have turned around!

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book to fire into the air (or the dirt) but not actually kill the person. But why does Ben radio ahead and tell Ryan to fire into the dirt three times if Ben’s voice is not heard? This is a silly strategy. It made sense for Ben to tell Jack that he would kill the hostages if the phone was not handed over. But by making believe he had killed all three of them, Ben lost any leverage he might have had to get the phone back! He would have been better off saying that he killed one of them, then threatening to kill another one in a minute if the phone was not handed over.

In his flash-forward, why is Jack speaking about his father as if he is still alive? Is this because the future the timeline the survivors returned to was different than the one they left?

Quotable Quotes

Richard: We're going to the radio tower?
Ben: Not we, Richard, me. You're going to take everyone to the temple as planned.
Richard: Now might not be the best time to go tromping off on your own.
Ben: Oh really and why not?
Richard: Because people are asking questions, Ben. About leaving home, about what happened to Locke, about Jacob. Not to mention the rapidly spreading rumor that everyone that went down to the beach is dead.
Ben: They're not all dead.

Tom: They're all dead. Diane, Ivan, all of em, dead. And Shephard and his people, they're all gone.
Ben: Gone, gone where?
Tom: I don't know. Did you hear me? They killed seven of our...
Ryan: Tom! Calm down and tell him the good news.
Ben: What good news?
Tom: We caught three of em. The one's who stayed behind to blow up the tents. Ben, they knew we were coming?
Ben: It was Juliet. She betrayed us.

Ben: Mikhail, you need to go down to The Looking Glass and find out what Charlie Pace is doing down there.
Mikhail: You told us The Looking Glass was inoperable, flooded.
Ben: I lied. Mikhail, I need you to go, now!
Mikhail: I can be there by dawn. But if Juliet told them about The Looking Glass, what else did she tell them?

Sawyer: So, you screwing Jack yet?
Juliet: No, are you?

"Here's a better question to ask Cyclops. Why did your little friend Ben tell you people that this entire station was flooded, when it isn't? Or, why these two have been jamming transmissions off the island."
- Charlie

Jack: You okay?
Kate: Yeah, I just, had a rock in my shoe.
Jack: He didn't mean it, you know.
Kate: What?
Jack: Sawyer. When he said that he didn't want you to go with him, he didn't mean it.
Kate:If he didn't mean it, why'd he say it?
Jack: I'm trying to protect you. That's why I asked you not to come back for me.
Kate: Hey. Why are you sticking up for Sawyer, he'd never do it for you.
Jack: Because I love you.

Ben: May I have my walkie back?
Jack: What?
Ben: There's something you need to hear. Please?
(Jack hands Ben the walkie-talkie)
Ben: Thank you. Tom are you there?
Tom: (over the walkie) Yeah, I'm here.
Ben: (To Jack) Your plan killed seven of my people. But the ones that you failed to kill are now holding you friends, Jin, Sayid, Bernard, at gun point.
Jack: And what's to stop me from snapping your neck?
Ben: Tom unless you hear my voice in one minute, shoot all three of them.
Tom: Got it.
Ben: (pulls out his watch) Bring me the phone Jack. (struggling is heard over the walkie) 40 seconds.
Jack: No, I'm getting them off the island. All of them!
Ben: Let me ask you something, Jack. Why do you want to leave the island? What is it that you so desperately want to get back to? You have no one, your fathers dead, your wife left you; moved on with another man. Can you just not wait to get back to the hospital? Get back to fixing things? (Jack moves forward) It's 20 seconds now, just get me the phone Jack.
Jack: No.
Ben: 10 seconds, bring me the phone.
Jack: No.
Ben: I'm not bluffing!
Jack: I won't -
Ben: 5…
Jack: Do it!
Ben: 4, 3…
Jack: No!
(3 gun shots are heard over the walkie)
Ben: I'm so sorry Jack.
(Jack attacks Ben and beats him, he then picks up the walkie-talkie)
Jack: Tom, are you there?
Tom: Yeah Jack, I hear you.
Jack: Im gonna lead my people up the radio tower and I'm gonna make a call. And I'm gonna get 'em all rescued, every one of them! And then I'm going to come and find you, and I'm gonna kill ya.

Tom: Okay. I give up.
(Sawyer shoots him in the chest)
Sawyer: That's for taking the kid off the raft.
Hurley: Dude, it was over. He surrendered.
Sawyer: I didn't believe him.

Ben: Jack! I know you think you're saving your people. But you need to stop this. It's a mistake.
Jack: The mistake was listening to you.
Ben: This'll be your last chance, Jack. I'm telling you, making that call is the beginning of the end.
Naomi: I've got it, I've got a signal!
Ben: Jack please, you don't know what you're doing!
Jack: I know exactly what I'm doing.

Ben: You have to understand, everything I did, I did for the Island.
Mikhail: The Island told you it was necessary for you to jam your own people?
Ben: Yes it did. You've always been a loyalist, Mikhail, now I'm asking you to trust me, to trust Jacob who told me to do this.
Mikhail: Why would Jacob ask you to lie to your own people?
Ben: Because this Island is under assault by forces stronger than anything its had to deal with in many many years. And we are meant to protect it, Mikhail, by any means necessary. The jamming was for everyone's security. We are in a serious situation here.

Locke: Please, put the phone down.
Jack: No, you're done keeping me on this island!
Locke: I will kill you if I have to.
Jack: Then do it, John.

Jack: Every Friday night I, I fly from LA to Tokyo or, Singapore, Sydney. And then I, I get off and I, have a drink, and then I fly home.
Kate: Why?
Jack: Because I wanted to crash, Kate. I don't care about anybody else on board. Every little bump we hit or turbulence, I mean I, I actually close my eyes and I pray that I can get back.

3.21 Greatest Hits

Desmond has had another one of his flashes. He sees Claire and Aaron, rescued, leaving the island on a helicopter. But one of the pieces of the puzzle that makes this possible is Charlie’s death. This time, Charlie must die or Claire and Aaron will not be rescued.

It is soon revealed how this will happen. Sayid has repaired Naomi’s radio, but the signal is being jammed. He believes it is being jammed by Danielle’s distress call. But Juliet reveals that it is jammed from an underwater Dharma station called The Looking Glass. Desmond death scene for Charlie involves a hatch, flipping a yellow lit switch, and then drowning. This must be the place, so when a volunteer is needed to disable the jamming signal, Charlie steps forward. However, Jack vetoes the idea.

Jack is more focused on retaking charge of the group and preparing the invasion of the Others. To demonstrate his plan, Jack brings the group out into an open area and summons Danielle, who ghosts out silently from the jungle, joins the connections on a car battery, and blows a few palm trees sky high. Jack’s plan: when the Others come to the marked tents, the tents will blow up and kill them.

Back at camp, everyone chips in to wire the tents so they can be detonated the following night. But Karl arrives in the outrigger to tell them that the plans have changed and the Others will be there tonight instead!

At the Others camp, we find out the reason why this happened: Ben returned from his outing with Locke and Jacob looking angry that things didn’t go as planned. He tells Richard that Jacob wants them to get the women today. Ben also changes the plans, telling his men to take all the women and sort them out later. And he says if any of the men get in the way, they should be killed. Alex overhears this and it is she who tells Karl (who is still a fugitive and is living in the woods) that he must go and warn the survivors, since Kate and Sawyer saved his life.

There will be no time for the survivors to wire the dynamite properly. Sayid comes up with the idea of shooting the dynamite from a distance. He assembles three shooters: Bernard, Jin, and himself.

Charlie prepares himself for leaving. He thinks about and writes down his ‘greatest hits’, the five most memorable moments of this life. He leaves his heirloom ring for Aaron. He kisses Claire goodbye, and hugs Hurley and tells him he loves him.

Desmond and Charlie take the outrigger and follow the cable near where Danielle was first encountered. When they reach the underwater station, Desmond offers to take Charlie’s place. Charlie seems to think this is a good idea, but then knocks Desmond out with a paddle and dives down. He barely makes it under and up into the submarine docking pool, where he collapses on the floor, yelling with joy at being alive. Suddenly, doors open and two women in military-type gear burst in, guns drawn, and aimed at him.

Comments

This is another top-notch episode. I also like the way the creators built us up to think that Charlie was going to die, only to save him (for a while, anyway).

We are back watching the great battle for leadership (before, it was Jack and Locke; now, it is Jack and Sayid).

The woman Charlie saves from the mugger is Sayid’s love interest, Nadia.

Charlie’s greatest hits:
#5 The first time I heard myself on the radio.
#4 Dad teaching me to swim at Butlin's.
#3 The Christmas Liam gave me the ring.
#2 Woman outside Covent Garden calls me a Hero.
#1 The night I met you (meaning Claire).

Nits

Because the creators need to have a big explosion in every episode, Jack has to drag everyone out away from camp and then show them a big explosion, rather than just telling them his plan. "And now, this explosion is for all of you who don’t know what something looks like when it blows up."

The ring that Charlie puts in Aaron’s crib is a choking hazard.

As Charlie runs toward Hurley to hug him goodbye, you can briefly see the legs and sandal-clad feet of a Lost crewmember on the left.

Quotable Quotes

Charlie: All right. Tell me.
Desmond: You sure you wanna know? It might be easier if you just...
Charlie: Yeah. I want to know.
Desmond: You're inside a hatch. There's, uh, a room full of equipment. There's a blinking yellow light above a switch. You flick the switch, light goes off, and, then, you drown.

Naomi: You're from Manchester then?
Charlie: I am. My band got it's start at the Night and Day bar on Oldham Street.
Naomi: What band?
Charlie: Oh, we're called Drive Shaft.
Naomi: Yeah. Yeah, I know you.
Charlie: We had a... moment in the sun.
Naomi: No, not that. The crash! You're the dead rock star. They made a big deal out of you when they found the plane. Huge memorial service, new album.
Charlie: There's a new album?
Naomi: Yeah. God, it was everywhere. The greatest hits thing. Hey, look on the bright side; you're not really dead, right?

Karl: They're, coming. My people.
Sawyer: Sorry you came all this way for nothing but we already know.
Karl: Then why are you still here?
Sawyer: Because when your people show up here tomorrow night, we're gonna be ready for 'em.
Karl: Tomorrow? No. No they're coming tonight. They're coming right now!

Ben: If you leave right now, how long will it take to you to reach their camp?
Ryan: Well, if I take my ten best, we could set up to hit 'em by nightfall.
Ben: Then you better get going.
Richard: No. No, Ben. Wait, moving at this schedule, Juliet may not be ready, what if she hasn't had time to identify -
Ben: Then we'll take all their women, and we'll sort out the ones we need later.
Ryan: And the men?
Ben: If any of them are stupid enough to get in your way, kill 'em.

"What are you more concerned about? Killing the Others or getting our people off this island? This afternoon you said you were our leader; it's time for you to act like one. Lead them to the radio tower Jack. And then take us all home."
- Sayid: (to Jack)

3.20 The Man Behind the Curtain

While Ben and Richard hunt for the misplaced recording device, Locke shows up, body bag over his shoulder, and gains the upper hand in his relationship with Ben. He demands to see Jacob, believing that there is no such person – that Ben has invented him as a way of having a scapegoat for all his kingly decisions. Mikhail bursts into camp, telling the story of the parachutist, and suggesting strongly that the Others head for the survivors camp. Ben and Locke had been heading to see Jacob, and when Mikhail wonders why Locke is now calling the shots, Locke attacks him and beats him about the head for a while. Soon, Locke and Ben are heading off to see Jacob.

They approach an old cabin in the middle of the night. Ben lights an oil lamp and warns Locke to douse his flashlight, as Jacob does not like technology. Inside the cabin, there is no one – just an empty unmoving rocking chair. But Ben begins to carry on a conversation with this invisible person. It’s all one-sided; there are no replies. Locke sees it as a show for his benefit, but when he turns to leave, another voice says something. When Locke turns back and turns on his flashlight, the room erupts in poltergeist-type activity, with doors slamming, windows breaking, oil lamps crashing to the floor, and Ben being thrown back against the wall when he asks Jacob to calm down. Locke goes outside, and Ben soon follows. Locke still believes it was a trick, so Ben asks if he can show him one more thing.

They stop at an open pit. Inside are numerous human skeletons. Ben explains that they are the bodies of the Dharma people, and how he was smart enough not to be in that pit. He chides Locke for not being as smart, and then shoots him. Locke falls backward into the put, shot in the chest.  Ben asks Locke what Jacob said, and Locke replies, "He said, ‘Help me’." Ben says he hopes Jacob does help him, and leaves him in the pit.

Back at camp:

Sawyer returns, pulls Sayid aside, and plays him the incriminating tape of Juliet. Sayid assembles the survivors and plays the tape for them. Jack and Juliet, who have been off somewhere, return, and Juliet tells Sawyer to turn over the tape and play it. It contains a message from Ben, outlining the plans of the Others to attack the camp and take all pregnant women (Juliet is supposed to mark the tents of the pregnant ones to make it easy. Juliet had already told Jack about this, and Jack had been formulating a plan. He now says he is ready to start catching up.

Ben’s mini backstory:

A young couple is hiking in the woods outside Portland, when the woman – 7 months pregnant – gives birth to Ben and dies in childbirth. The car that stops to help them is a man and a woman who work for Dharma. Later, Ben’s father and a teenage, withdrawn Ben arrive on the island. Ben’s dad has accepted the offer to work there, but is disgusted to find out he will be doing janitorial type jobs. He also isn’t happy that his life is often in danger because of attacks by the other inhabitants of the island, the ‘hostiles’. Depressed by the death of his wife, he blames his son for this, and drinks Dharma Initiative beer every night until he passes out. Ben sees his mother at his window and in the woods, and one day, goes outside the barricade to try to find her. Instead, he meets one of the hostiles (Richard Alpert). He asks Richard if he can go with him, and Richard says he must be patient.

Some time later, Ben, now a young man in his 20s, accompanies his dad on a road trip to Pearl Station, where he kills him with poison gas. He returns to the barracks and links up with Richard and the other hostiles, who have killed all of the Dharma people and taken over.

Comments

Just to confuse everyone more, now we have a ghost! But we also have the definitive explanation of why the Dharma Initiative is no longer on the island.

It’s great having Jack on board (assuming he is on board). I was worried that he had been brainwashed.

I assume that Locke will not die, but will simply summon his great healing powers and get well soon.

This is another excellent episode. The show is on a roll now, with plenty of conflict, mystery, and sub-plots.

Nits

When Jacob gets angry, the lit lantern falls off the table, shatters on the floor, and fire spreads across the floor. Moments later, Locke leaves the cabin, and Ben follows not long after. Ben carries the lantern and hangs it back up – it is bother unlit and intact! And the cabin does not burn to the ground! (Maybe Jacob fixed the lantern and put out the fire).

Quotable Quotes

Ben: Something you should know, John, before we go. Whether or not you think he's the Wizard of Oz, I can assure you that Jacob is very, very real. And we're gonna go see him, and he's not gonna like it. In fact I have a feeling he's going to be very angry. And that's why my hand was shaking because this is not a man you go and see. This is a man who summons you.
Locke: Well I guess there's a first time for everything.

(Locke and Ben are standing over a large open grave of bodies wearing Dharma suits)
Ben: This is where I came from, John. These are my people - the Dharma Initiative. They came here seeking harmony, but they couldn't coexist with the island's original inhabitants. When it became clear that one side had to go, one side had to be "purged", I did what I had to do. I was one of the people that was smart enough to make sure that I didn't end up in that ditch. Which makes me considerably smarter than you, John. (Ben pulls out a gun and shoots John in the stomach)

Ben: What did Jacob say to you?
Locke: (dying in the ditch) Why did you do this?
Ben: Because you heard him. Now, I need to know what he said.
Locke: "Help me."
Ben: John, I'm not going to ask you again. What did he say to you!?
Locke: He said, "Help me."
Ben: Well I certainly hope he helps you, John!

3.19 The Brig

Kate leaves Sawyer’s tent after another romantic interlude, saying that she has to sleep in her own tent to feel comfortable. Sawyer half-follows her, since he needs to do a pee. He notices Hurley and Jin, back from their ‘camping trip’, doing something to Desmond’s shelter and looking suspicious. Uninterested, he continues on his way. While standing in the dark jungle, he hears rustling noises and draws his gun. Locke emerges, saying he is looking for Sawyer. After awhile, Sawyer lowers his gun. Locke says he has infiltrated the Others and captured Ben, and he wants Sawyer to kill him. Sawyer says he is not a murderer, and Locke says he made a mistake. He begins to walk away, and Sawyer, intrigued reluctantly follows. Locke’s tiny hidden smile reveals that this was exactly what he wanted.

As they walk, Locke reveals that he knows about Sawyer’s previous murder from reading his file. Sawyer becomes agitated, whacking Locke’s head and then holding a knife at his throat and demanding to know why Locke wants him. Locke says he could not do it himself.

Locke leads Sawyer to the Black Rock, the landlocked pirate ship whose hold is filled with the skeletons of slaves. Locke says he has Ben tied up in the brig. Sawyer enters the brig; sure enough, there is a hooded man tied up in there, complaining in a muffled gagged voice. Locke closes and bars the door, trapping the complaining Sawyer as well. Sawyer removes the hood and sees he is locked in with Anthony Cooper, a man who is a stranger to him.

Danielle shows up at the Black Rock unexpectedly. She has come to get some dynamite. Locke is unperturbed, banking on the fact that Danielle will not get involved in this kind of situation. Sure enough, she ignores Sawyer’s cries from the brig, takes her dynamite, and leaves.

Sawyer talks to Cooper a little, and, over time, realizes most horribly that this is the man who, by conning his father, pushed his father over the edge and caused the murder/suicide of his parents. Cooper shows no remorse, and in fact seems to think the whole thing is meaningless. He has even more reason to feel that way, since he believes that he and everyone else on the ‘island’ are dead. In fact, his last memory is of being in a serious car crash and closing his eyes while on a stretcher. He is also aware that flight 815 was found with all bodies intact – and dead.

Sawyer tries to make Cooper read the letter, but Cooper gets halfway through and then rips it up. Enraged, Sawyer strangles him. Locke then opens the brig and quietly thanks Sawyer.

Sawyer heads back to camp, but not before Locke tells him that Juliet is a mole who is still working for Ben. He gives Sawyer the personal recording device with Juliet’s message to Ben to use as proof to the survivors that Juliet is bad. Locke also says that in three days, the Others will raid the camp and take the pregnant women – and they say no one will get hurt. Locke also says that he is not infiltrating the Others – he is on his own journey now. He slings a bagful of dead Cooper over his shoulder and heads out on that journey.

Back at camp:

Hurley and the campers are hiding the parachutist (Naomi) in Desmond’s tent while she heals. Charlie and Hurley want Jack to look at her wound, but Desmond doesn’t trust Jack, nor do the other campers. Instead, Hurley fetches Sayid. Naomi tells Sayid that the plane was found in a deep trench off of Bali, with all bodies dead and accounted for. Sayid is suspicious after questioning Naomi. This doesn’t exactly endure him to her, but she still gives him the broken phone to fix. While Sayid is working on the phone, Kate sees him and it. Sayid tells her where they got it, but warns her to keep it a secret. Kate doesn’t listen and goes to tell Jack, asking to talk to him in private. Juliet, who is sitting there, says she will go, but Jack insists that she can stay. So Kate tells both of them about the phone, Naomi, and, most importantly to her, the fact that no one trusts Jack anymore. Jack is very concerned about the phone, but unconcerned about whether anyone trusts him. Intriguingly, Juliet says they should tell Kate something that seems to be relevant to where they are and whether they will be rescued. Jack heads off toward Desmond’s tent and confrontation.

In mini-flashback:

We go back 8 days to learn about Locke’s time with the Others and Ben. Locke is a bit of a celebrity among the Others, since he is known as the Guy Who Is No Longer Paralyzed. Ben seems to believe that Locke is special; he says he is healing faster since Locke arrived. It seems to be true, too: Cooper bites Locke quite severely in their first meeting, and two days later, Locke is fully healed. Ben was pushing Locke hard to kill Cooper, even trying to get him to do it in front of virtually the whole camp. But Locke was unable to do it. Richard Alpert suggests getting someone else to do it, and gives Locke Sawyer’s file.

Comments

This is one of the better recent episodes, with plenty of gray areas, and the bombshell that the survivors may not have survived after all. This has been one of my theories for some time, but I’m not about to believe it just yet.

The structure of this episode helps to build the tension and queasiness. For example, I liked the scene amid the Others’ tent village, where Locke is happily helping Cindy pitch her tent. All around them, Others are peacefully setting up camp in an idyllic valley. Now pull back to reveal Locke’s father tied to a pole in the middle of all this!

If the bodies of the people on flight 815 have truly been found dead at the bottom of an ocean trench, then the only explanation that comes to mind is that the island is the afterlife (with Ben or Jacob as the pseudo devil?). However, the producers have apparently denied that this is the case. The producers are painting themselves into a corner where they will have some explaining to do, and have to be very creative to adequately explain everything. At this point, it is highly likely that whatever explanation they come up with (if they bother coming up with one at all) will be a disappointment to most fans. It is just too difficult to come up with something original, logical, and not trick-laden. More likely, it will involve an alternative universe and timeline, one that was punctured by the plane crash and is tied to the strange magnetic and healing properties of the island.

Quotable Quotes

Sawyer: You want me to walk you home?
Kate: It's five tents, I think I'll make it.
Sawyer: You sure? I gotta pee anyway.
Kate: That is so romantic.

"You're wasting your time, bug eye. Me and him have been through all this. All he wants is his daddy."
- Anthony Cooper to Ben

Sayid: Naomi, from where, exactly, did you take off?
Naomi: A ship, a freighter, about 80 nautical miles west of here. I'm part of a search and recovery team.
Sayid: You told my friends the wreckage of flight 815 was discovered; did you mean the partial wreckage?
Naomi: No, they found the entire plane off the coast of Bali in an ocean trench four miles deep. They sent down cameras in these little robots to survey the wreck. The bodies were all there.
Sayid: Well, obviously we're not dead.
Naomi: Obviously.

Cooper: (Reading the letter) "You don't know who I am, but I know who you are and I know what you done. You had sex with my mother, and then you stole my dad's money all away, so he got angry and he killed my mother, and then he killed himself-" Blah, blah, blah, blah. So, what? Is this supposed to be you? You wrote this letter? Hey, wait a second. Did you take my name because you were on some kind of revenge kick?
Sawyer: Keep reading!
Cooper: Easy, easy, don't get all worked up. Look, I ran that con two dozen times. If your mother was one of the-
Sawyer: Mary. Her name was Mary.
Cooper: Mary from Jasper, Alabama. Yeah, I remember her. She practically begged me to take her $38,000 and to rescue her from her sorry little life.
Sawyer: You finish the letter!

3.18 D.O.C.

The female parachutist is mumbling in various languages, most of which, like Chinese and Italian, are indecipherable to Desmond and the boys. But Hurley picks up on Spanish for "I’m tired", and they discover that she is badly injured: a branch is protruding from her side. Desmond really cannot help her, and matters complicate when Mikhail stumbles out of the jungle and almost tramples them. He quickly turns and keeps running, but Jin tracks him down and overpowers him. Mikhail doesn’t explain how he has risen from his obvious death at the electromagnetic killing barricade, but he does say the he was a Russian field medic who can save the woman’s life. In return, he asks that he be allowed to go free after he has succeeded. Mikhail knows what he is doing, and does save her life, and Desmond keeps his word and lets him go, despite the strong objections of Charlie, who wants to take Mikhail back as a prisoner. Jin notices that the woman’s high-tech phone is missing, catches Mikhail again, and gets the phone. Once again, Charlie pushes hard for captivity, but Desmond insists that Mikhail be let free.

Back at camp, Jack visits Sun and asks her some personal questions about her pregnancy. Jack says they are just routine questions as he tries to catch up on people he didn’t see when he was away. But Sun senses something is wrong, and confronts Kate, who admits that Juliet had done research on pregnant women. Now Sun confronts Juliet, who admits that all pregnant women have died. Later that night, Juliet visits Sun and tells her that she can help her, but that she must go with her alone – now – in the middle of the night. Together, they return to the medical station where Claire and Kate searched for the serum. There didn’t seem to be much there of any worth on the last visit, but Juliet knows of a hidden room where there is still working equipment – including a sonogram. Juliet says she needs to find out when the baby was conceived. If the baby was conceived on the island, she says Sun is going to die. If the baby was conceived before Sun reached the island, Sun is not at risk. The situation is complicated by Sun’s statement that she slept with someone else before she reached the island. So either Sun is pregnant from another man, or she is carrying Jin’s baby and is going to die. The latter is the case, although Juliet promises to do whatever she can to help her. After Sun leaves, Juliet leaves a taped message to Ben, telling him that she has gotten blood samples of Sun, and will get samples of the other women in due course. After she shuts the recorder, she adds, "I hate you."

The parachutist gains consciousness, and sees Hurley. When Hurley tells her that he is a survivor of flight 815, the woman expresses astonishment, stating that this is impossible. She says the flight 815 plane was found, and there were no survivors!

Sun’s flashback backstory:

Not long after Sun’s wedding, she is approached by an older woman who says that Jin’s mother was a prostitute, and that Jin does not know this. She says she will keep this secret if she is given 100 thousand dollars in 3 days. Sun visits Jin’s father and confirms that the story is true. Jin’s father also begs her to spare Jin the shame that this knowledge would bring. Now Sun visits her father and asks him for the money. She does not say exactly why she needs it, but does say it will spare someone she loves a great shame. Her father guesses that she means to spare Jin, and says that it is Jin’s debt. He will pay it off by no longer working as floor manager – now Jin will work directly for Sun’s father (doing his dirty work).

Sun pays the woman the money, but also confronts the woman, telling her she knows she is Jin’s mother, and threatening to kill her is she does not disappear.

Comments

D.O.C. stands for ‘Date Of Conception’.

So now we know that Juliet is being coerced into what she is doing, just as Michael was, just as mostly every Other is. Not that this will ensure that she won’t go ahead with it. In fact, it is more likely that she will go ahead with it.

After Mikhail finishes treating the parachutists’s wound, she says something in Portuguese. Mikhail translates it as, "Thank you." However, what she actually says is, "I am not alone."

Nits

"It’s 6am Saturday morning," in Juliet’s taped message to Ben – straight from the Department of Redundancy Department. (It often is 6am in the morning – I’ve noticed that too).

Quotable Quotes

Desmond: We need to bring Jack here.
Charlie: It's an eight hour walk! One way!
Desmond: Then I'll run.
Charlie: Are you out of your mind? It's not safe. It's gonna be dark soon. Who knows who's out in this jungle!? In case you have forgotten, there are people on this island trying to kill us!
Desmond: Nobody knows we're here!
Hurley: [fires off a flare] [pause] Oops.

Desmond: Who are you? (pause) I said, "Who are you?"
Charlie: He's the guy who shot Sayid. Kate told us he lived down in that station Locke blew up. He's an Other.
Hurley: I thought Locke killed that guy with the electro fence thingy.
Desmond: You've got five seconds to talk or I fire this gun, Brother.
Mikhail: That's a flare gun.
Desmond: And how do you think it will feel taking a flare to the chest at this range?
Mikhail: As your friend pointed out, I've already died once this week.

Jin: Phone!
Charlie: You stole this?
Mikhail: How could you respect me if I didn't try?

Sun: Why didn't you tell me you were Jin's mother?
Woman: I gave birth to him, but that does not make me his mother.
Sun: You know how powerful my family is. My husband believes that you are dead. Do not force me to make that a reality.

"Ben, it's 6am on Saturday morning. Kwon is pregnant. The fetus is healthy and was conceived on the island with her husband. He was sterile before they got here. I'm still working on getting samples from the other women; I should have Austen's soon. I'll report back when I know more. [turns off recorder] I hate you."
- Juliet (speaking into tape recorder)

Parachutist: Who are you?
Hurley: Hugo Reyes. I crashed here on Oceanic Flight 815--a bunch of us survived. Is that why you're here? Were you looking for us?
Parachutist: 815. Flight 815? The one from Sydney?
Hurley: Yeah!
Parachutist: No, that's not possible.
Hurley: Yeah, I know. It wasn't easy, but we found food, and a hatch, and more food -
Parachutist: No. No, Flight 815. They found the plane. There were no survivors. They were all dead.

3.17 Catch-22

Desmond has had another one of his flash-forwards. He sees Hurley lifting the cable near where Danielle was first contacted; Jin is there, too, and Penny shows up somehow. Perhaps most importantly, Charlie is killed when one of Danielle’s booby-traps shoots an arrow into his throat. Desmond is obsessed with assembling the crew he saw in the vision, and ensuring that nothing is changed – including making sure that Charlie is killed. Desmond believes that if he can keep things the same, Penny will suddenly be on the island.

Under the guise of a camping trip, Desmond gets all the guys to go. They reach the cable on the beach and camp there for the evening. In the dark of night, they hear a helicopter engine, then something – or someone – is dropped into the jungle, just before the helicopter crashes into the ocean.

In the morning, the guys head out toward where the thing was dropped. Desmond reaches the place where he saw Charlie die, but he changes his mind and saves Charlie’s life instead. They continue on, finding a parachutist hanging from a tree, wearing a full helmet, face and body fully covered. Desmond cuts the lines, pulls of the helmet – and it is not Penny – it is a dark-haired woman who says his name before passing out.

Camp life: Sawyer entices Jack to play a few games of table tennis, and finally finds something he can beat the Doc at. Kate sees Jack and Juliet having dinner together and talking quietly and up close; she promptly barges into Sawyer’s tent and jumps on him. Later, Sawyer figures out why she did what she did and confronts her about it.

Desmond’s flashback backstory:

After dating a girl for six years, Desmond got drunk and joined a community of monks, without even stopping to tell the girl he had changed his mind. He took a vow of silence for a time, then became a part of the community. As a nonice, he seemed well on the path to full monkhood. But after finally confronting the girl whom he stood up, he gets caught in the act of getting drunk on a couple of expensive bottle of monk-produced wine. Kicked out of the monkery, he meets Penny on his way out, and the attraction is mutual and immediate, even though she looks just a little like the Cat in the Hat (I’m serious – the corners of her mouth curl up just like his do).

Comments

Is anyone else getting just a little sick of these backstories? I mean, they’re not horrible or anything, but in some cases, they are also not revealing anything new or relevant or important about the character. Yes, Desmond is a coward; Desmond is scared. We already knew that. Well, here’s another example.

When Desmond turns in his robes, the monk has a photo on his desk. The photo is of the monk standing next to Ms Hawking (the jewelry store woman who knew all about time travel). By the way, the photo is a quick a dirty job, and obviously Photoshopped (of course, it is only really visible if you freeze-frame).

Nits

Why does Jin want to go camping? Isn’t ‘camping’ what they do every single day already?

Quotable Quotes

Desmond: It was, it was like a sorta jigsaw puzzle. Only, I didn’t have the picture on the box so, I don’t know how the pieces fit exactly, but one of the pieces, the first one, it was your pulling the cable out of the sand.
Hurley: So, what are the other pieces?
Desmond: If I tell you that, it'll change the picture on the box.

Kate: It's strange huh?
Jack: What's that?
Kate: Being back, not, looking for a way out of a cage. Not finding a reason to go running off into the jungle again; I almost don't know what to do with myself.
Jack: Well enjoy it. I'm sure something will go wrong soon enough.

"If we don't play every 108 minutes, the island is going to explode!"
- Sawyer (explaining the workings of the ping pong table to Jack)

"You need me to make you a mix tape?"
- Sawyer to Kate

Sawyer: Did you tell him?
Kate: Did I tell who what?
Sawyer: You know, did you tell the Doc ... about you and me?
Kate: No, but he knows. He saw us in one of their surveillance monitors.
Sawyer: I thought you said the camera was broken.
Kate: Well, they had another camera.
Sawyer: Perverts.

"Hope I'm not interrupting. You two arguing over who's your favorite Other?"
- Sawyer (to Jack and Juliet)

Charlie: Why didn't you tell us [about the parachutist]?
Desmond: Would you come if I had?
Charlie: Of course. Why wouldn't I?
Desmond: I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want anything to change.
Charlie: Fair enough. Look, if whatever your seeing leads to your girl getting us rescued, why would we want to change anything, right?
Desmond: Right.

Desmond: If the flashes don't happen exactly how I saw them, the picture changes. I was supposed to let you die, Charlie.
Charlie: What's that supposed to mean?
Desmond: It means it's bloody pointless! I keep saving your life and what good is it, then? It's just gonna keep happening again and again. Maybe that's the point, ya? Maybe, it's a test?
Charlie: Test?
Desmond: Like God testing Abraham. Except, that I failed because I changed what I saw.

3.16 One of Us

Sayid, Jack, Kate, and Juliet head back toward the beach. When they stop to camp for the night, Kate attempts to get some information from Jack about his week with the Others. Jack doesn’t say much – just that he took care of Ben so he could get off the island. Meanwhile, Sayid takes advantage of a moment alone with Juliet to ask her to explain who she is and why the Others are on the island. When she isn’t forthright, he threatens her gently but menacingly. Jack returns and says that Juliet will be left alone until she is ready to answer the questions, and that she comes under his (Jack’s) protection.

On the beach, Charlie is passing Claire’s sleeping shelter and hears Aaron crying. He soothes Aaron and find Claire still asleep – she didn’t even hear the crying. Claire doesn’t feel very well, so she goes back to sleep while Charlie takes care of the baby.

On the trip back, Juliet shares her trepidation about how long it will take her to be accepted by the survivors after all the things ‘her people’ did to them.

Claire is getting sicker and sicker; Jack and the others arrive back. No one is very happy to see Juliet, least of all Sawyer. Juliet sits alone on the beach. Hurley wanders over and gives Juliet a not so subtle warning about what happens to Other infiltrators who enter their camp. There is also a meeting to discuss Juliet, with Sawyer pushing hard for Sayid to pump her for information. Sayid says he does not torture anymore, but he also says he does not trust her. Jack says that the fact that he trusts her should be enough, but Sayid disagrees. The meeting is interrupted by Claire, who stumbles in looking white as a ghost, and promptly passes out, bleeding profusely from the nose. Jack has no idea why. Juliet tells him it is because of drugs that she gave Claire to help her to keep her baby – every other woman who conceived on the island lost their baby and died in the late stages of pregnancy. Juliet tells that Ethan was treating her, but when it was discovered that Ethan was not on the plane, Ethan took it upon himself to kidnap Claire. Juliet says she knows where a serum is that will save Claire. Jack tells her to go get the medicine. But Sawyer and Sayid are not so trusting. They follow her and try to corner her into telling all. But she pulls the history card, reeling off all the bad things they have done in their lives. They back down and let her go.

True to her word, Juliet injects Claire and Claire gets better.

Juliet’s flashback backstory:

Juliet and her sister arrive at the high security entrance to Mittelos airport. Juliet is offered a strong tranquilizer for the trip, both to soothe the journey and, you would think, to zonk her out so she has no memory of how she got to the secret location. She initially balks about taking the tranquilizer, but suddenly chug-a-lugs it.

She awakens inside the submarine, which has stopped moving. She crawls up what will be the first of many hatches, and sees the island – and shakes hands with Ben.

Juliet is in an operating room, disappointed that the woman on the table has just died. Also there are Goodwin and Ethan. Another pregnant woman has died on the island – every woman has. Juliet says she has failed, and asks Ben to go home because her sister is giving birth in three months. But Ben says he knows her sister has cancer again. Ben promises that if Juliet stays, Ben will cure her cancer.

Juliet discovers that Ben has cancer when she views an x-ray of his back, after he complained of back pain.

Ben takes her to Mikhail’s station and shows her live footage of her healthy sister and her healthy two year old son.

Ben and Juliet have a meeting. Ben goes over the plan – Juliet will appear to be dumped out of the Others. She will infiltrate the survivors. A pre-planted bug will be activated in Claire – Juliet will save her, gaining the trust of the people. Ben then hands Juliet a gas mask, and says that he will see her in a week.

Comments

The notion of the ‘infiltrator’ is one that has worked well in past episodes of Lost that featured Henry/Ben. Juliet as infiltrator also causes tension; it’s almost unfortunate that the creators decided to let us know so early that she is evil (or has ulterior motives). Unless of course, she will not follow through on those orders – or perhaps Jack is playing dumb and does not trust her.

In a previous episode, Mikhail claimed that the satellite communications stopped working after the plane crashed. However, in this episode, Ben visits Mikhail the day after the crash, and the satellite is still working.

So it appears that in one week, the Others are going to invade the camp, use gas to knock out everyone, and then…do something.

Nits

Why does Jack insist that Juliet needs time before she can answer the questions about herself and the Others? Why does she need time? Just answer the questions! The only reason she needs time is so she can hatch her evil plan.

When Ben hands Juliet a form that is supposed to be proof that her sister Rachel cancer has returned, it has information on it like, "Sex: Male; Height: 5’11"; Weight: 187. That doesn’t sound like a description of Rachel to me. Unless…that makes the fact that Juliet got this 5 foot 11 male pregnant even more impressive!

Quotable Quotes

Jack: They'll come around. Just give 'em some time.
Juliet: My people kept Sayid chained to a swing-set for three days, then I dragged Kate into the jungle, handcuffed myself to her, and lied about it. How much time do you think they need?
Jack: We'll be back to our beach in a couple hours. So, they'll probably be over it by then.

"I want to know what you people are doing on this island. Why you're terrorizing us, making lists, kidnapping children. I want to know everything. But the first thing I'd like to know is: Who are you?"
- Sayid (to Juliet)

Juliet: What happened to her?
Jin: (speaks in Korean)
Sun: He said, 'What do you care?'

Ben: Let's go over it again. Just to be sure.
Juliet: I drag Austen out in to the jungle, handcuff myself to her, then tell her I was gassed just like she was.
Ben: Then, if she catches you in the lie -
Juliet: I'll admit to it. Tell her it was the only way to earn her trust.
Ben: Good. What then?
Juliet: They'll take me back to the beach. I know you want me to go there, but after everything we've done to them they're going to be a problem.
Ben: We've activate the implant within Claire. She should be symptomatic within the next 48 hours. By the time you get to that camp, you'll have a nice, big crisis to solve.
Juliet: I'll need supplies.
Ben: Pryce is already on his way. He'll hide the case at Ethan's old drop point. Tell Jack that you can save her; he trusts you. Are you alright?
Juliet: I'm fine.
Ben: (Ben puts a gas mask on the table) See you in a week.

Jack: They're good people. They're willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. But, eventually, they're gonna need some answers.
Juliet: Why don't you? You keep talking about them. Why don't I ever have to explain myself to you?
Jack: You were there. You were standing right next to me when that submarine exploded. In that moment, I saw it in your eyes: you want to get off this island more than anything else in the world. That makes you one of us.

"Mikhail! It's Ben! We're approaching the house! Don't shoot us."
- Ben

Sayid: I don't trust her, Jack. If she's so innocent, why won't she answer my questions?
Jack: Give her some time. She's afraid.
Sayid: How much time?
Jack: Look, the fact that I trust her should be enough.
Sayid: It's not.

Hurley: I don't remember you from the dock, where you put bags on our heads, after you shocked us.
Juliet: I had the day off.

"The last one of you guys that came over here, Ethan, he kidnapped Claire and Charlie got upset. We buried him over there."
- Hurley to Juliet

3.15 Left Behind

Kate is still locked in the pool room at the Others’ complex. When she hears the door rattle, she hides behind it and swings a metal stick at Juliet when she enters. But the spry Juliet ducks, and flips Kate over like a pack of cards, temporarily damaging her back.

Locke visits Kate, only to tell her that he is going with the Others. He infers that he has been invited to do so, and says that they are not happy with what Kate did in her past.

Some time later, Kate watches as the Others gather outside and don gas masks. A smoking cannister is tossed into her room, and she passes out. She awakens on the jungle floor, handcuffed to Juliet. Juliet says she was also abandoned.

Kate drags the unwilling Juliet back toward the Village of the Others, ostensibly to rescue her friends. Juliet tells her not to go back for Jack, as she already broke his heart – he saw her romantic interlude with Sawyer. They tussle, and Kate accidentally dislocates Juliet’s shoulder. While apologizing, the smoke monster appears. Kate and Juliet hide in a thicket of thin trees (that looks exactly like the thicket that everyone has been hiding from the smoke monster in, even going back to season one). When the monster goes, the pair head for the village. The monster returns, and they run and fall in a big mud pile and get covered with mud. Then they have to run through a huge pit of jello – no, I was hoping that would happen but it didn’t. Instead, they reach the barrier of the Others area. Juliet brings Kate in and then turns it on, repelling the smoke monster. She also brandishes a hidden key to the handcuffs, which she now uses. She says she hid the key in the hopes that she wouldn’t get left behind again. She also admits being familiar with the smoke monster (although earlier, she acted like she had never seen it before) and that she knew it would be repelled by the barricade.

At the semi-deserted village, Juliet goes to get Sayid and suggests that Kate get Jack. Kate enters Jack’s apartment and finds items strewn everywhere, including Jack, who is still unconscious on the floor. Jack wakes up, and while still groggy, is subjected to another teary, screwed up face apology from Kate, this time for coming back to rescue him when he didn’t need to be rescued. Jack is able to walk, and together, Jack, Kate, Juliet, and Sayid head for ‘home’, with Jack overriding Sayid’s objection to Juliet coming with them.

Hurley tells Sawyer that he is about to be voted against and banished, forced to move half a mile down the beach. Sawyer appears unperturbed, and rejects Hurley’s suggestion that he make amends. But after trying his hand at cleaning a fish, Sawyer changes his mind. He seeks out Hurley and agrees to make nice. He compliments Claire’s baby, gives her a blanket, hunts boar with Desmond, and puts on a boar-b-cue complete with beer and fixins. But when Charlie mentions that there is no vote, Sawyer realizes he has been conned into being nice by Hurley. Hurley’s motivation is to make Sawyer take over the reigns as leader, in the absence of Jack, Locke, Sayid, and Kate.

Kate’s flashback backstory:

Kate’s car breaks down while she is fleeing the Marshall in Iowa. At a gas station, she bails a woman out who is trying to scam a customer. It’s Cassidy (who was scammed by Sawyer some time ago). They become friends. Cassidy agrees to help Kate get a meeting with her mother. Kate wants to find out why her mom turned her in. Kate walks up to her mom’s the house and is promptly arrested. But wait: it’s a trick- it’s actually Cassidy, dressed up to look like Kate – to suss out the place. Kate does get her meeting – in the toilet of the diner where her mother works. Kate’s mom says she loved the man who Kate burned alive, and it obvious that she still hates Kate for doing it. She threatens to turn Kate in if she ever sees her again.

Cassidy drops Kate off at the gas station, but not before revealing that she is carrying the baby of the man who scammed her.

Comments

Cassidy never actually mentions Sawyer’s name, but it is possible that one day, Sawyer might mention Cassidy’s name to Kate, and Kate might make the connection.

This is the second time that Hurley has scammed Sawyer. He also fooled Sawyer into thinking that Sawyer could beat him at table tennis.

Nits

While waitressing, Kate's mother uses the expression, ‘no worries’ when talking to Cassidy. This is an Australian expression that is not used much in America (at least the last time I checked).

Why can’t that smoke monster find people when they hide behind thickets of small trees? Last time I checked, smoke could go just about anywhere it wanted.

What’s with Sawyer? This guy is supposed to be a con artist, a charmer, and he doesn’t know how to at least pretend that he likes people? Wouldn’t he be doing that kind of thing all the time in his profession?

When the smoke monster is approaching the women in the rain, there is something red and rectangular shaped off to the left of the screen (just briefly). It’s probably someone wearing a red shirt.

When Sawyer talks to Claire, Aaron gets upset and starts crying. However, in a much earlier episode, it was the sound of Sawyer’s voice that made Aaron stop crying. This would have been a good story for Sawyer to tell to Claire if he wanted to impress her with small talk – but for some reason, he doesn’t remember this happening.

Quotable Quotes

Juliet: I hope you're not dragging me all the way back there for him.
Kate: Excuse me?
Juliet: I hope you're not going back for Jack. Because I was standing right there when he told you not to come back! And now that you've ruined his chance to get off the island –

"Welcome to the wonderful world of not knowing what the hell's going on."
- Kate to Juliet

3.14 Expose

One minute, Nikki is running through through the jungle in a panic, stopping suddenly to frantically dig a hole with her hands and bury something we cannot see. The next, we are watching a flashback of her where she is a pole dancer, removing her trenchcoat to reveal a star-studded bikini. Backstage, she is shot by a shadowy man wearing a fedora. Wait…it’s all a campy television show called Expose, and Nikki is the guest star who has been killed. She has more than a professional relationship with the senior citizen who is directing the show, as we find out when we see him and her enjoying a delicious meal at his expansive home, cooked up by his young, slim, Meditteranean chef Paolo. When Zukerman slumps suddenly into his food and dies, Nikki seems panicked, but she only concerned that his planned poisoning by she and Paolo remains the perfect crime. Together, they take a Matryoshka doll from his safe.

Through a series of clever mini-flashbacks, we learn about Nikki and Paolo’s exploits on the island. (In some cases, Nikki is, I believe, placed in footage where she did not exist earlier, such as during the initial crash). We see another perspective on Jack’s "live together, die alone" speech. We find out that Nikki tried to get Arnzt to help her find their missing bag – the bag with the treasure. We are surprised to see that Paolo knew about the ‘Pearl’ station long before anyone else, but told no one, because he hid his treasure there. Paolo says he hid that treasure because he feared that Nikki wouldn’t need him once she had it. But he tells her that too late; she has just unleashed a poisonous spider on him that bites and paralyzes him. What she didn’t count on was that this female spider immediately attracted tens of excited male spiders, one of which bites and paralyzes her. That’s why she buried the bag. She makes it to the beach and falls onto the sand, sparing Sawyer from another table tennis loss to Hurley. She mumbles something. Sawyer thinks she said, "Powerlines." Hurley says it was, "Paolo lies." That makes more sense, since Paolo is her boyfriend. Hurley pronounces her dead, while Sawyer notices the dirt under her fingernails and guesses that she had buried something.

Sawyer’s ‘perimeter sweep’ is actually a hunt for the buried treasure, and he finds it: a bag of diamonds.

We also overhear a conversation between Ben and Juliet in the Pearl Station, where they discuss Ben’s plan to capture Jack and coerce him into performing the required surgery.

Their search for clues leads them to the main suspect, Paolo, who is also dead. Sun believes that the Others killed the pair, and when Sawyer states that the Others are all the way on the other side of the island, Sun reminds him that she was abducted by the Others, leading to many telling looks between Sawyer and Charlie. Later, while Charlie and Sun are digging holes, Charlie decides to tell Sun that he was the one who abducted her, and that he was following Sawyer directive. Sun later confronts Sawyer on this, but says she will not tell Jin, otherwise they will have to dig another grave.

Sawyer, who tried to give the diamonds to Sun (she refused, saying they were worthless) now scatters them in the grave.

As Hurley and Sawyer are piling, Hurley realizes Nikki’s last word was actually, "Paralyzed." But it’s a little too late.

Comments

Using the backdrop of the campy television series Expose, this episode is also campy and silly. It is a straight camp horror entry that, except for small flashbacks to earlier events, has little to do with the Lost universe that we are currently concerned with. There are some clever self-referential jokes about death and the fate of guest stars.

The monster sound that occurs when the male spiders attach Nikki seems to indicate that they are somehow related to the ‘monster’ and the island’s automated defense system.

Nits

It’s ridiculous. If you’re paralyzed, you are still breathing, and your body is still warm – and it doesn’t go into rigor mortis. Wouldn’t one of these people have noticed that Nikki and Paolo were still breathing, warm, and flexible?

It is extraordinarily out of character for Charlie to tell Sun that he was the one who kidnapped her, and for Sawyer to give away the diamonds. And we get very little emotional ‘bang’ from Sun. I would have thought that she would have been absolutely devastated by this news.

Quotable Quotes

"I’m a  guest star, and we all know what happens to guest stars."
- Nikki

Hurley: Nikki’s dead.
Sawyer: Who the hell’s Nikki?

Juliet: That him, Shephard?
Ben: Yes.
Juliet: He's cute. Why are we doing this? Shephard will never agree to do the surgery.
Ben: No, I can convince him to do it.
Juliet: How?
Ben: Same way I get anybody to do anything; I find what he's emotionally invested in and I exploit it.
Juliet: So, what? We just grab all three of them? Ford and Austen too?
Ben: No, they need to come to us.
Juliet: And, how do we make that happen?
Ben: Michael, of course.

Shannon: (to Boone) If you quit flirting with random guys maybe we could actually get on the plane!
Nikki: (to Paulo) Promise me we'll never end up like them.

Sun: Charlie told me it was your idea to kidnap me.
Sawyer: You're gonna tell Jin?
Sun: No.
Sawyer: Why not?
Sun: Because then we have to dig another grave.