6.9 The Package

Summary and Spoilers

A video feed clues us in that someone is observing Unlocke’s beach-dwelling gang. Unlocke comes over and talks to Jin about how all the uncrossed names must leave the island with him. Unlocke is now motivated to find Sun, since he doesn’t know which is them is a candidate. It’s also fair to say that Unlocke is trying to ensure that none of the potential candidates can fulfill their role (which would be to keep him bottled up on the island). Unlocke leaves soon after, telling Sayid that he has an errand to run. Sayid seems uninterested but is still left in charge until Unlocke returns. Sayid says he doesn’t feel anything. Unlocke thinks maybe that is for the best, because of what is coming. Jin sees this as an opportunity to escape and find Sun, but before he can head out, everyone is knocked out by tranquilizer darts shot by Whidmore’s invading army. Specifically, they have come for and take Jin.

In Ilana’s camp, Ilana says they will wait for Hurley to bring Richard back, because Richard knows what to do. Ben expresses doubt that Richard will return. Sun is getting severely frustrated with inaction and a lack of Jin. She keeps busy by tending her garden. Jack visits her there and speaks to her about her frustration. Jack tells her about the lighthouse and the mirror – this is his big exciting story and he takes every opportunity to tell people about it. Maybe he should scratch it into a tree or broadcast it in a loop using Danielle’s transmitter. Sun doesn’t let him finish, however, since she does not care about candidates or magic mirrors.

Jack leaves and Sun continues gardening until she cuts herself. Smelling blood, Unlocke arrives and tells Sun that Jin is in his camp across the island. Sun does not believe him, since she saw him kill the people at the temple. Unlocke uses the ‘those people were confused’ defense to explain why killed them. Sun runs away with Unlocke in pursuit, and then stops running when she smashes into a tree.

Later, Ben finds Sun and helps her up, and finds out that Unlocke was the cause of her accident.

Back at his camp, Unlocke discovers that everyone is unconscious, except for Jin, who is missing (and also unconscious). Unlocke shakes Sayid until he says they were attacked by unknown assailants.

Meanwhile, Jin is being held in a large cell whose metal walls are peppered with many small speakers. When he flicks a switch, a movie begins and music is blasted – identifying that he is in the Dharma indoctrination/brainwashing room. Susan Saint James, the bespectacled woman who almost tricked Sawyer, wants information on the pockets of energy discovered by Dharma. Jin insists that he first must speak with Charles Whidmore.

Unlocke gives Sayid a gun and suggests a zip lock bag to keep it from getting wet when they take the outrigger to the other island. Afterward, Claire and Unlocke have a very interesting discussion about whose name is on the wall and whose isn’t. Unlocke says that neither Claire nor Kate’s name is on the wall (although I thought Kate’s name was – was it crossed out?) but that he needs Claire (he doesn’t explain why). He also says he needs Kate and he does explain why: she can help to get three candidates – people he does need – onto the plane. He basically says that once Kate has fulfilled this purpose, Claire can dispose of her (well, he doesn’t say that per se, but Claire knows what he means). As Unlocke gets ready to go, Sawyer asks him why, and Unlocke explains that he must get Jin back.

Jack determines that Sun’s head bump has caused her to lose her ability to speak English, although she can still understand it. There’s little time to ponder this, because Richard (and Hurley) arrive back in camp. Richard tells everyone to pack their bags. His plan is to go to Hydra Island and destroy the plane before Unlocke can escape. An angry Sun tells him in Korean that she is not interested in destroying their only escape method.

Unlocke arrives on Hydra Island and is greeted by gunfire as he paces outside of the barrier. Whidmore himself arrives at the beach, and there is a brief tacit discussion: Unlocke wants Jin back, and Whidmore says he has no idea what Unlocke is talking about. Unlocke threatens (or promises) war.

Whidmore is unhappy that Jin was kidnapped and the war has begun. He gives Jin a camera that he found. Belonging to Sun, it contains digital photos of their daughter. Jin breaks down while viewing them. Whidmore promises to reunite Jin with his wife and daughter but explains that everyone they know and love will simply cease to be if Unlocke leaves the island. Whidmore brings Jin to see someone he calls ‘The Package’.

Alone on the beach, Sun is visited by Jack. He tests a theory that Sun can write in English – and she can. Jack brings Sun a lone tomato that he found in her garden. Sun explains why she did not go with Unlocke, even after Unlocke said he had Jin. Jack asks Sun to come with them; in exchange, he promises to help her find Jin and to get them both on the plane.

While Sawyer and Kate worry about the future, Unlocke returns alone. He has left Sayid on Hydra to infiltrate the sub and find out what Whidmore is hiding. As Sayid stealthily hides in the water, he watches as a drugged Desmond is manhandled by a couple of Whidmore’s personnel.

Sun and Jin’s alternative universe:

At the airport, Jin has his previously hidden and now discovered 25 thousand dollars in cash confiscated by customs officials. He can get it back if he fills out the required forms. Sun was unaware of the money and is somewhat perplexed to find out that Jin was delivering it, no questions asked, for her father. What kind of scared puppet did she marry – or is Jin simply a realist and a survivalist? They register at the hotel under separate names and get separate rooms. Now I am really starting to question this guy’s judgment – I would have opted for the one room – I’m quite sure of that.

Jin visits Sun to tell her he is going down to the restaurant to try to deliver the watch. Sun invites him in, not wishing to have a discussion in the hallway.

Sun tells him not to worry about it, as it is late, and then performs a very slow, above the belt strip-tease, where she basically unbuttons one button of her top at a time and then asks Jin if she should button it again. He keeps answering no until she gets to the fifth button, which he insists she re-button, just because he has this strange fifth button fetish. Just joking.

After love-making during the commercial break, and re-donning of underwear (as only people on TV seem to do), Sun tells Jin of her plan to run away, using a hidden account. Jin says that this is forbidden. Further negotiations are interrupted when Martin Keemy shows up at the door, looking for his watch, his cash, and Jin, who is hiding and discovered in the bathroom. Later, Keemy, his offsider Omar, and a translator determine that Sun wants to replace the confiscated money with her own if they are just allowed to go to the bank. The translator takes Sun to the bank, while Jin will be taken to the restaurant. Jin asks that Keemy promise not to tell Mr. Paik about his relationship with Sun. Keemy says he will keep the secret as long as he gets the money.

There’s bad news at the bank. Sun’s account was closed by her father. It’s a way to guarantee that Jin is killed, you would think.

At the restaurant, Jin is being held captive. Omar is sent to get Sayid, while Keemy enjoys explaining his role as a hit man sent to kill Jin as punishment for his affair with Sun. We’ve seen this scene from the other side, so we know things are not going to end well for Keemy and friends. Jin hears gunshots and soon meets Sayid. Sayid spares him and leaves him with a knife so that he can free himself. The translator and Sun returns; Jin gets the drop on him, and eventually kills him, but during the gunfight, Sun is hit by a stray bullet. As Jin carries her to get help, she gives him the news that she is pregnant.

Lost Quotes

Miles: Unless Alpert’s covered in bacon grease, I don’t think Hurley can track anything.
Frank: Hey! Don’t talk about bacon.

"…I’m three people short of getting off this island, and Kate can help me get these people on that plane. But, once she does…whatever happens, happens."
- Unlocke to Claire

Ben: What? For the fourth time, I was gathering mangoes, and she was already unconscious when I found her. What won’t you believe me?
Ilana: Because you’re speaking.

"A wise man once said that war was coming to this island. I think it just got here."
- Unlocke to Whidmore

6.08 Ab Aeterno

Summary and Spoilers

I must admit that I know little about Richard. Part of that is because Lost hasn’t told me much, or if it has, I’ve missed the signs. And although he has been there since the Others were discovered, and he’s always been in a position of power, he’s never really done much, and certainly he’s never done any bad things – unless showing up year after year wearing eye makeup is a bad thing. One thing I did notice: this guy does not age. In scenes from 30 years ago, he looks exactly the same as he does now. I am just amazed by the technical wizards behind Lost – how did they accomplish such a feat? CGI? More than one actor? Who knows…J
Anyhow…for those of you who haven’t bothered to look this up on the internet, ‘Ab Aeterno’, the title of this episode, means ‘From the Beginning of Time’ in non-pig Latin. And soon you’ll probably be sick of your Lost friends telling you this definition ad nauseum.
And now, after that segue way, the episode begins:
Jacob visits Ilana in a hospital. She is wrapped in bandages, but her full lips are poking out and serve as identification. Jacob asks her to protect six people who are ‘candidates’. Back in real time, Ilana, Jack and the others discuss what they should now do. Ilana was supposed to bring the candidates to the temple and then ask someone called ‘Ricardus’ what to do next. But Richard has no idea what to do. What he does know is that Jack is dead and everyone else is dead, and this is not an island – it is hell. Obviously, Richard has not been reading  what Damon Lindelof has been saying – Lindelof said the island is not an afterlife hell. But if Ricardus says it is, maybe it is.
Anyway, Richard says he is going to stop following Jacob and follow someone who might know something. Of course this means Unlocke. Richard goes to the campfire and grabs a handy Hollywood brand Nev-R-Stop Burning Log, and heads off into the jungle, in the middle of the night. You know, in the real world, when you grab one log out of a fire, it will burn for no longer than maybe a minute or two before it becomes smoldering coals (great for warmth but useless for scampering through a jungle at night.
Richard’s backstory:
Richard is bearded and riding a horse on the Canary Islands, circa 1867, Hey, I wonder if this horse also will not age, and if it will wear horse eye makeup. He enters a small cottage and attends to a very sick woman, Close to death, Isabella vows that they will always be together. Ricardo rides off to get a doctor. Twelve grueling mud and rain-soaked seconds later, his ride is finished. The doctor has the medicine but obviously does not care about saving any lives or having his dinner interrupted. He agrees to give life-saving medicine but then laughs when Ricardo does not have the money required. A struggle ensues; Ricardo accidentally pushes the doctor into a sharp lethal table, killing him. Ricardo grabs the medicine and leaves. He returns home but is too late. He is arrested immediately at his home by the local police, which certainly makes you wonder how the doctor’s servant got the message to the police so quickly. Email? Cell phone?
In jail, Richard makes his last confession to the local priest, but this is one tough padre. His confession is refused, and he is doomed to spend eternity in hell, should you believe in such things, which he obviously does. On his way to the gallows, he is purchased as a slave and soon is chained deep within a ship. After a long, horrible journey lasting twelve more horrific seconds, the ship approaches land – a land guarded by the statue that graces the shore of the Lost Island. Shipwrecked on the island, the officer who purchased Ricardo begins slaughtering the chained slaves, claiming that since there are more slaves than officers, letting them free would cause a mutiny. As he is about to stab Ricardo, the Smoke Monster arrives and carries the evil officer away. After digesting the officers, the Smoke Monster returns and goes face to face with Ricardo – and spares him. Time passes as Ricardo slowly tries to work his way free from his chains, battling weakness from lack of food and water. He hallucinates that Isabella is there – or maybe it is not a hallucination – maybe he and Isabella are both dead as she says. If she is alive, it doesn’t last – she is taken by the Smoke Monster.
More time passes, and now even Richard is getting bored with how this is being dragged out. He is finally discovered by a man who gives him water. This man is the original Unlocke, the original man who was with Jacob on the island. This man says that Ricardo’s wife is with ‘him’, meaning the other guy, which doesn’t make sense, because this guy is the Smoke Monster, as far as I know. Smokey frees Ricardo, but only after he promises to help him. And the way he wants him to help is to kill the devil and escape from what he calls hell.
Smokey sends Ricardo to the base of the statue to kill the devil, and gives him an ornate silver-handled dagger to finish the job. It’s confusing all right. Even Ricardo is confused. He saw the smoke take Isabella, but this guy, who freely admits to being the smoke, says that the other guy took and has Isabella. One thing about Smokey – whether he was in this form or in Unlocke form, he’s not shy about admitting that he can turn into smoke. I suppose it is pretty cool and is something that you would like to brag about if you could do it.
Jacob convinces Ricardo that he is not the devil, that he doesn’t have his wife, and that he is not dead. Using the analogy of red wine trapped in a bottle, Jacob explains that Smokey is evil and must be contained on the island. Although, it must be said, Jacob seems to think it is more important to convince Smokey that people are not corruptible sinners – and to that end, he has lured countless people to the island, and now they are all dead. So if Smokey is evil, this guy is, perhaps, just slightly less evil.
Jacob offers Ricardo a job – to be the intermediary between himself and the people he brings to the island. In return, Ricardo asks for his wife back (no can do), or to be absolved of his sins (nope, nada) or for an unlimited supply of black eyeliner (no, he didn’t ask for that) or to live forever. He says it as a joke, but Jacob can do that – and he does.
Ricardo accepts the offer and delivers a stone to Smokey from Jacob, perhaps as a sign that Jacob has won this battle. Smokey tells him that if he ever changes his mind and wants to switch sides (and see Isabella again), he can come and see him. Smokey gives Ricardo Isabella’s crucifix, which Ricardo promptly buries.
Back in the present:
It’s daylight. Richard digs up the crucifix that he buried all those years ago, and shouts "I changed my mind" to the heavens. Seconds later, nothing happens. Then about twelve seconds later, after some louder, more effective yelling, Hurley appears. Hurley has been speaking to Isabella. She wants to know why Ricardo buried her cross. In a touching scene, she tells Ricardo that he is not to blame for her death. Hurley also tells Richard that Isabella said one more thing: that he must stop Unlocke from leaving the island, because if he doesn’t, they will all go to hell.
Somewhere, on a hill far away, Unlocke casts his gaze over the island and seems to be aware that this conversation has taken place.
Back to the past:
Jacob and Smokey sit together to discuss their battle. Smokey wants to leave. Jacob vows never to let him leave while he is alive. Smokey promises to kill Jacob. Jacob says someone else will take his place.

Comments

So…now even someone as confused as myself can see the basic battle lines being drawn. Unlocke is trying to get off the island. He has surrounded himself with some powerful allies, including Sayid and Sawyer. Richard is the one who must get it together and muster a group to stop Unlocke. And now that we know that Smokey’s plan was always to kill Jacob and escape, the concept of the candidates makes more sense. Someone is needed to replace Jacob, and soon.

Lost Quotes

Richard: You want to know a secret, Jack? Something I’ve known a long, long time? You’re dead.
Hurley: You mean that figuratively, right?
Richard: No, I mean literally. We’re all dead. Every single one of us. And this, this – all this. It’s not what you think it is. We’re not on an island. We never were. We’re in hell.
Richard: Are you the devil?
Jacob: No.
Richard: Then who are you?
Jacob: My name is Jacob. I’m the one who brought your ship to this island.
Richard: You brought it here? Why?
Jacob: Think of this wine as what you keep calling ‘hell’. There’s many other names for it, too: malevolence, evil, darkness. And here it is, swirling around in the bottle, unable to get out, because if it did, it would spread. The cork is this island, and it’s the only thing keeping the darkness where it belongs. That man who sent you to kill me believes that everyone is corruptible because it’s in their very nature to sin. I bring people here to prove him wrong. And when they get here, their past doesn’t matter.
Ricardo: Before you brought my ship, there were others?
Jacob. Yes. Many.
Ricardo: What happened to them?
Jacob: They’re all dead.
"She said you have to stop the man in black – you have to stop him from leaving the island. Because if you don’t – we all go to hell."
- Hurley, relaying Isabella’s message to Richard

6.07 Recon

Summary and Spoilers

Sawyer burns himself on the kettle, cursing quietly so as not to wake up the sleeping Jin. Sawyer has thoughtfully let Jin sleep in to recover from his bear trap and Claire ordeal. As part of his new, sensitive persona, Sawyer actually has a full 45 second conversation with Jin without calling him by a new nickname like Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, or Sleeping Asian Dude. Now it is time to get up and panic, for those crunching approaching footsteps could mean that Claire and Unlocke are back. Sawyer tells Jin that he is ‘with Locke’ so he can get off this godforsaken rock, but gives his word that they will not leave the island until they find and take Sun with them. The crunches are generated by Unlocke, and Kate, and Sayid, and Claire. Kate breathes a breathy ‘hi’ at Sawyer and he replies with a throaty ‘hi yourself’. Get a tent, guys. Sawyer asks Kate about the whereabouts of Jack, Hurley, and Miles. Miles cannot be accounted for. Kate asks Sawyer if he is now with Unlocke. Sawyer says he isn’t with anybody.

Claire packs up her most cherished items like her scary knife and even scarier skull baby Unlocke says the Black Smoke killed the people at the temple; in the same smoky breath he promises to protect these people. Later, after Unlocke specifies that everyone should make camp for a couple of days, Sawyer gets impatient and wants off the island and now. Unlocke pulls him aside and explains that Unlocke and Smoke Monster are one and the same, which is why you never seem them in the same photo together, arm in arm. Unlocke brings Sawyer to a tiny outrigger and sends him on a mission to sail to Hydra Island, infiltrate the group there that would mean to harm Unlocke, and bring back information. Sawyer agrees because he believes it will bring him closer to getting on that plane and escaping this godforsaken rock.

Kate asks the now catatonic Sayid if he believes Unlocke. Sayid says he does, but his eyes are lifeless and his opinion isn’t of much value. Still, his weird state is enough of a distraction for Kate that Claire is able to jump her and push a knife toward her throat. Sayid just watches like it is TV, but Unlocke arrives in time to throw Claire away and tell her that what she is doing is ‘unappropriate’. Maybe it’s ‘inappropriate’, too?

Unlocke apologizes to Kate for telling Claire that the Others had her baby. Kate asks about Sawyer, so Unlocke brings her to the beach to talk to her about her problems and his. He says his mother was crazy and he had growing pains that created problems that he is still trying to work through.

As Kate walks back to the camp, Claire blocks her path to apologize for her earlier actions and to embrace Kate in a big hug. Anyone who did NOT think that Claire was going to pull a knife and plunge it into Kate’s back, raise your hand.

On Hydra Island, Sawyer visits old sites and reminisces about Kate and Juliet and the zoo where he was kept prisoner. He finds a tiny article of Juliet’s clothing and a huge Ajira Airways passenger liner. Following a trail of debris and shoes, he finds the stinking remains of the passengers, dead and clothed, arranged like logs on a campfire. A live one runs by and he tackles her. Her name is Zoe and she says she is the only remaining survivor. Zoe says someone or something killed all the other survivors while she was out gathering wood. Sawyer offers to take her to the other island. But she’s not who she says, and with a whistle, her armed accomplices emerge, capture Sawyer, and bring him inside the docked submarine. There, Whidmore meets with Sawyer alone. Whidmore claims that he didn’t send a freighter to kill everyone on the island and that he didn’t kill all those people in the pile just up the shore. Sawyer disagrees, but still proposes to tell Unlocke that the coast is clear, and then to deliver Unlocke to Whidmore, so Whidmore can kill him. In return, Sawyer demands that his people are left unharmed and are granted safe passage off the island. Whidmore agrees and they shake hands.

Back on non-Hydra, Sawyer stays loyal to Unlocke and tells him the whole story of what happened, including Sawyer’s lie to Whidmore about leading Unlocke into an unsuspecting trap. Sawyer alerts Smokie to the fact that Whidmore is setting up Smoke-stopping pylons.

Sawyer returns to camp to spend time with the somber Kate. His real plan is to let Unlock and Whidmore fight it out while he and Kate steal the sub and get off the island.

Sawyer’s Alternative Universe

Sawyer has just finished satisfying another beautiful rapacious young woman. He feigns being late for an appointment, grabs his case, and wads of cash spill out. But his date is not so easily conned by this ‘pigeon drop’. She pulls a gun on Sawyer. But she is soon disappointed to learn that her husband is the target, Sawyer is an undercover cop, and Miles is his partner in the van, dashing in with gun drawn to disarm the woman.

Back at the donut shop, Sawyer is calling every Anthony Cooper for some secret reason that he doesn’t want to share with Miles, even when Miles senses it and prompts him.

Later that evening, Sawyer walks into a restaurant/bar to meet the blind date set up by Miles. It is Charlotte, looking resplendent in red curls and a sequined dress. They trade stories about why they chose their careers in archeology and cop-eology. Charlotte is aroused by Sawyer’s cop/criminal personality, and soon they are in bed together. But maybe Charlotte’s easy seduction is manipulative. After sex, she digs through his clothes drawers, supposedly looking for a t-shirt, but dwelling for a long time on the photo and story about Sawyer’s sad childhood where he lost his parents. Sawyer catches her and kicks her out.

The next day, Miles confronts Sawyer, but it’s not about the way he kicked Charlotte out. It’s about Miles discovery that Sawyer covered up his recent trip to Australia. Miles suspects a motive for that trip that warrants it being covered up, and of course we know that the trip was all about revenge to the man who conned his parents. Miles drops Sawyer as a partner.

Back at home, Sawyer heats a TV dinner and watches Little House on the Prairie. The calming words of Michael Landon soothe Sawyer, and filled with remorse and perhaps a touch of lust as well, he shows up at Charlotte’s door with a sunflower and a six-pack. But Charlotte sends him away and tells him he blew it.

Sawyer confronts Miles, invites him into his car, and finally tells all, or almost all – he gives Miles the grisly scrapbook and details the events of Sawyer’s childhood. Sawyer tells all – including his plan to find the right Anthony Cooper and then to kill him. Before Miles can completely convince him to drop this plan, a car crashes into them, and the driver flees on foot. Sawyer and Miles pursue and Sawyer catches and de-hoods the crim – it’s Kate.

Lost Quotes

Zoe: Do you all have guns? I mean – whoever killed those people back there – they might come back.
Sawyer: We got plenty of guns.

Sawyer: What happened back at the temple? How’d you know to rescue everybody from that Smoke Thing?
Unlocke: I didn’t rescue them. I’m the Smoke Thing.

Gunman: Down on your knees!
Sawyer: Alright, alright, you got me. Take me to your leader.

Unlocke: A long time ago, before I…looked…like this, I had a mother, just like everyone. She was a very disturbed woman. And as a result of that…I had some growing pains…problems that I’m still trying to work my way through. Problems that….could have been avoided, had things been different.
Kate: Why are you telling me this?
Unlocke: Because now Aaron…has a crazy mother too.

"Son of a bitch!"
- Sawyer, on catching and de-hooding the criminal Kate

Kate: Even if we could get on that plane, who’s gonna fly it?
Sawyer: We ain’t taking the plane, freckles. We’re takin’ the sub.

6.06 Dr. Linus

Summary and Spoilers

Ben avoids the Smoke Monster and rejoins Ilana’s torch-wielding crew as they rush through the jungle. He suggests that they return to the beach camp where the original survivors lived. Ilana agrees, and off they flee.

Ilana has had a suspicion – she’s always had this suspicion – that maybe Ben lied about how Jacob died – that Jacob was not killed by Unlocke’s smoke. Now Ilana has the means to find out the truth. She hands Miles a little bag of Jacob’s remaining ashes-to-ashes, and demands he tell her how Jacob died. Miles kneels, concentrates, and then does the apolitical thing: simply says that Ben killed Jacob. What does Ilana do? Well, on the one hand, we think she might smite down Ben. But on the other hand, we know we are probably not going to lose Ben Linus at this point in the season. So she doesn’t, although obviously she’s not happy to be marching with the murderer of someone she says was her father figure.

It’s daytime now, and Ilana’s gang has finished their walk on the beach. Ilana starts building shelters and tasks the others to get food. Ben is being ignored. Sun wants to go in search of Jin, but Ilana tells her she also wants to find Jin. There’s a little exposition here as Ilana explains that she is protecting the final six candidates to replace Jacob.

Jack is in a hurry to return to the temple. Hurley knows something bad is going down there, so he is trying to delay. Richard appears out of nowhere, points toward the direction of the temple, and disappears.

Ben decides to annoy someone else by confronting Frank with the irony that, even though he overslept and did not pilot Oceanic 815, he still ended up on the island. Ilana doesn’t like his irony either, so she points a gun at his neck. Her expert efficiency skills can’t be denied when she ankle chains Ben to a tree and tells him to start digging his own grave. Dutifully, Ben proceeds, until he is tired and has a Hollywood-style professionally-produced sweat stain on the back of his shirt. He isn’t actually rushing to finish, although nearby gunshots from Ilana may motivate him. He turns down Miles’ offer of food; who wants a last meal served on a banana leaf?

Actually, Richard did not completely disappear. Jack and Hurley follow him, but instead of leading them to the temple, Richard brings them to the Black Rock, the ancient sailing ship high on the mountain. Richard has come there to die, but not before telling them that they should not trust anything Jacob says. By the way, Richard also reveals that his phenomenon of non-botox-related non-ageing was a gift from Jacob. Richard wants to kill himself, but says he cannot. He asks Jack and Hurley to do it for him by lighting a long fuse that leads to a stick of dynamite. Hurley says no, but Jack not only agrees and lights it up, but then stays with Richard as the fuse burns down. You see, Jack, once the world’s greatest disbeliever of all things mystical and unexplainable, has made a great leap of faith and now believes that after what he has seen at the lighthouse that someone or something will not let him die here for no reason. And yes, the fuse burns out just before it reaches the stick.

Ben has almost completed his grave when he hears the sound of the Smoke Monster. Suddenly, Unlocke appears, explaining that he doesn’t want Ben to die. Rather, he sees Ben as the perfect leader for the island after Unlocke and his group leave. Unlocke is true to his name: he unlocks Ben’s ankle restraint and tells him there is a rifle leaning against a tree 200 meters into the jungle. Unlocke leaves, as does Ben, with Ilana in close pursuit. Ben gets the rifle and gets Ilana to drop hers, then explains to her, painfully, why he killed Jacob – because he let Alex die. Ilana hears Ben’s story and accepts him back into the group.

As afternoon lengthens, Jack, Hurley and Richard arrive at camp. There are hugs all around (except for Ben and Richard).

Intriguingly, this group on the beach is being viewed by a passing submarine, inside of which is Charles Widmore.

Ben’s Alternative Universe:

Ben is high-school teaching about Napoleon, and a different island called Elba. He’s an inspired teacher who obviously loves what he does, and that’s why he’s disappointed when his after school history club is usurped by his new assignment: to supervise detention all week. He also butts heads with another, fully cynical teacher: old Island member Arzt! Nearby, another teacher in the lounge encourages Ben to become the principal: it’s Unlocke! What’s going on? We’ve basically got the whole island crew in this teacher’s lounge now. We could have done the Lost show in this teacher’s lounge and saved lots of money on all those Hawaii location shots.

At home, Ben prepares an organic meal for his ailing, live-in dad. Ben grouches about his day while his dad breathes with the help of oxygen. Alex shows up at the door, young and radiant. She’s a member of that history club. Ben, the dedicated teacher, agrees to tutor her in the library early the following morning. Hey, everyone from the island is in different roles! This is just like that Deep Space Nine episode where everyone worked in a newspaper office! That next morning Ben patiently tutors Alex and calms her. He even consoles her when she tells him that she accidentally caught Principal Reynolds doing the nurse.

Ben asks Arzt to hack into the nurse’s email account, and in doing so, tells him why, thereby revealing Alex’s secret and in some way violating her trust. Using the email evidence of the affair, Ben confronts Principal Reynolds and tries to force his resignation. Reynolds counterpunches by threatening to ruin Alex’s chances to get into Yale, etc. Ben backs down and Alex gets her letter of recommendation and her slot back in the history club. The only loser is Arzt, who’ll never get his shaded parking space.

Comments

I like the way Matthew Fox crosses his eyes slightly when he is really angry about something. It makes Jack look like he is about to go absolutely psycho, maybe even leave the show.

Lost Quotes

Ilana: Where’s Jurrah?
Ben: I’m fine. Thank you.
Ilana: Where is he!
Ben: Considering that he just killed Dogen, I don’t think he’s gonna be joining us.
Sun: Who’s Dogen?
Miles: The guy is charge of the temple.
Ben: Sayid killed the interpreter too.
Ilana: Are you sure?
Ben: He was standing over their dead bodies holding a bloody dagger, so, yeah, I’m pretty sure.

Miles: Linus killed him.
Ben: What? That’s not true!
Ilana: Are you sure?
Ben: Well, he was standing over Jacob’s dead body with a bloody dagger, so, yeah, I’m pretty sure.
Ilana: Thank you. Jacob was the closest thing I ever had to a father.
Miles: [to Ben] Oh, oh!

Miles: Not exactly tearing it up on the digging front are you?
Ben: I’m not in a big hurry.

"Right up until the second the knife went through his heart, he was hoping he was wrong about you. I guess he wasn’t."
- Miles to Ben (regarding the murder of Jacob)

Richard: There’s something I need to do.
Jack: To do what?
Richard: Die.

Ilana: Where will you go?
Ben: To Locke.
Ilana: Why?
Ben: Because he’s the only one that’ll have me.
Ilana: I’ll have you.

6.05 Sundown

Summary and Spoilers

Sayid confronts the Other Leader, wanting answers – why the torture; why the poison? The ‘test’ proved that Sayid was more evil than good. A fight ensues: the broken dates, the endless waits, the conversation with the flying plates…the fight ends suddenly when the Leader’s prized baseball falls onto the floor. The Leader strongly suggests that Sayid leave, and he does begin to pack, but first Miles clarifies that the Others did not save Sayid’s life. We don’t know who did, but I’m beginning to suspect whoever did it has an ‘Un’ at the beginning of their name.

Claire agrees to raid the Temple as long as Unlocke keeps his promise to get her son back. She walks in and tells Leader that he (Unlocke) wants to meet with him outside the temple. The Leader refuses to leave, saying it would mean death. Claire is detained until the situation is resolved. The Leader asks for Shephard and Hurley to be brought to him, and is strongly disappointed to find out that they are missing and presumed escaped.

Now the Leader asks Sayid to stay. You can guess why: in this war against Unlocke, the Leader probably wants to utilize those specialized killing/torture skills that Sayid would normally like to keep dormant. Leader explains that Unlocke was trapped by Jacob but is now free to destroy everything: he is evil incarnate. Leader wants Sayid to kill Unlocke by stabbing him in the chest – but, importantly, the killing must take place before Unlocke speaks.

Sayid leaves the temple and crosses paths with Kate (but says nothing to her). Kate returns to the temple, and is excited to find out from Miles that Claire is there. Trouble brewing.

Sayid encounters Unlocke. Sayid stabs him (after Unlocke says ‘hello’) but it has little effect – it just elicits a quizzical and slightly hurt-feelings look from Unlocke. Unlocke explains that the Leader knew Sayid had no chance to kill him, and just hoped that Unlocke would kill Sayid. Unlocke offers Sayid anything that he desires in return for delivering a message. As a reward, Unlocke seems to be offering Sayid a second chance with Nadia.

Sayid delivers Unlocke’s message slash ultimatum: join Unlocke and leave the island, or stay at the temple and die. Most people choose to leave, but not Sayid, who brandishes that knife and tells Miles he has to return it.

Kate meets Claire and tells her that she is the one who took Aaron. Claire’s face changes from happiness to hatred, but she is down in the hole and Kate is way up above her, and besides, Unlocke is coming to kill everybody anyway.

Sayid confronts Leader about why he himself did not kill Sayid when he had the chance, rather than trying to get someone else to do it. The Leader explains that one Friday after work, his drunk driving led to his own son’s death. Leader made a pact with Jacob: his son was brought back to life, but Leader had to come to the island and never see his son again. Sayid punctuates Leader’s moving story by drowning him, and then drowning his hippie sidekick too. The reason: now Unlocke can enter the temple, and Sayid can be granted his wish. Immediately after Leader dies, the sound of the smoke monster can be heard. Soon, the smoke monster can be seen, too, as it starts dragging people into the jungle.

Kate and Miles separate. Kate tries to rescue Claire, but Claire suggests that Kate join her in the safety of the hole. This is even better advice than Kate’s "Run!", as the smoke monster passes overhead, leaving them unharmed. Miles is ‘rescued’ by Ilana, Lapidus, Ben, and Sun. Ben finds Sayid and tries to convince him to come with, but Sayid is just waiting to be captured.

Ilana finds a hidden door in the rock and takes Lapidus, Miles, and Sun to safety.

Kate, Claire, and Sayid walk dreamlike through destroyed, burning temple. Outside the temple, they gather around Unlocke with those who have joined him. Unlocke turns and begins to walk through the jungle, with his followers close behind.

Sayid’s alternate life:

Sayid finds Nadia, living in a lovely suburban house with two kids – and she is married to Sayid’s brother, Omar. How did this happen? Sayid got Nadia’s letters, but he chose not to answer. Nadia still loves him; he still loves her. And Omar is now past suspicion and into the angry glare stage.

Omar visits Sayid late at night to tell him that he is in debt to a loan shark – forever – and that he wants Sayid to ‘convince’ them to leave him alone. Omar says he knows what kind of a man Sayid is because of what happened in the war. When Omar is badly beaten, Sayid seemingly has his choice made for him – but Nadia steers him away from revenge.

On his way to pick up the kids, Sayid is picked up by two bodyguards and taken to a restaurant kitchen, where he meets Martin, the loan shark. There is a brief battle of words, with the shark trying to intimidate Sayid. This is a big mistake. Sayid kills the shark and his two sidekicks, then hears sounds and find a retro, no-English Jin tied up in the back of the kitchen.

Comments

I am completely confused now about who is good and who is evil. Sayid doesn’t seem to care, and both Jacob and Unlocke are manipulators, playing their games and using people like chess pieces.

Lost Quotes

Unlocke: [pulls Sayid’s knife from his own chest] Now why’d you go and do that?

Unlocke: Then shame on you for being talked into it [trying to kill me] so easily.
Sayid: And what is it you are trying to talk me into?

"I can’t be with you, because I don’t deserve you."
- Sayid to Nadia

Martin: Okay, fine, fine…take – it’s done. Your brother doesn’t owe me anything, the debt’s forgiven. Alright? Good? Okay? Just relax and…forget about it.
Sayid: I can’t. [shoots and kills him]

"Run! Run! Run!"
- Kate [to Miles], offering that tried and true Lost advice