Lost: "Sundown": Recap

Can he be redeemed?

Of all characters, Sayid is probably the most likeable quasi-villains any T.V. show has ever had; and yes, after tonight's viewing, I have to conclude that in his current "state(s)," Sayid's scale has tipped a little to far toward dark side. Ok lets get real, if his scale was a little off-balance at the beginning of the episode, by it's end there must have a big fat black rock weighing down on one side. From Republican Guard torturer-extraordinaire, to suave island-technology guru and lover to hot blond trust-fund asthmatics, to down and dirty assassin and kid-shooter - Sayid's whole journey has been tipping those scales all over the place. One moment his getting down and dirty with Shannon, the next his busting caps for hire on the back nine.

I still have my doubts though; Sayid's sudden shift seemed a little too arch-villainy for my liking. Then again, perhaps that is the point. As Dogen tells our doomed Lostie, once you hear "him" speak, it's already too late. Whatever Dogen and the other temple-dwellers feared was that thing that was lying dormant within Sayid - that thing that remained hidden next to his heart - has been activated by hearing the smooth-talking Smokey. It's sort of like having an Alien face-hugger implanting a chest-burster, but instead of flying chest particles you just turn evil  from the mere words of the entity that brought you back - the entity that implanted it there in the first place. Of course, that is also a common thread we have here with our suddenly evil cast of castaways: they were seemingly "dead."

1.  Sayid was drowned and clammy for 2 hours before shooting awake. 
2. Claire was a-sploded in New Otherton, only to turn up next to her spectral Daddy.
3.  Locke was killed by Ben, but Smokey has been taking his form out for a test drive. 

It begs the question: is Sayid really alive? Zombies!

The Sundown: Off Island

• Following the mold of the other alternate reality Losties' stories so far, this Sayid is a little smoother around the edges. He doesn't seem to have tortured past with Nadia (get it), he brings his niece and nephew sweet (dangerous) toys, and most importantly: he has his violence switch in check. 
• His brother wants him to rough up his loan-shark? No thanks, says this Sayid (even though it probably would work out better for him if his douche brother were out of his way). At several critical points in this new-reality story, Sayid is given the opportunity to do violence as a means to an end, and he refuses. It is not until he himself, as well as Nadia and the kids, are threatened that he takes action in there defense rather than cold blood. 
• Why did he push his bro to marry Nadia? Sayid self-righteously asserts that because of his sins, he does not deserve a life with her. Unlike in his former life where he tortured Nadia and tried to seek her for himself without fully taking a penance, this Sayid instead has spent his his years after the Republican Guard atoning for what he had done. Or has he? There was still a bit of ambiguity with his job, but perhaps for now we should take him at his word until proven otherwise that he is "translator."
• What if, by choosing to not be with Nadia, Sayid has ultimately saved her life in this new reality? He had a bad string of luck with the ladies he has loved (Shannon/Nadia), and it's almost as if karma has been blue-balling Sayid; maybe the horrors he committed were just too awful. Hell, those tortures and his lovers' deaths were even BEFORE he became an assassin and shot a kid. In this new reality, Sayid seems to have hit that fork in the road and chosen "pacifism unless really F'd with," over wanton violence and kid shooting. Hey, maybe the only way for him to be with Nadia was to not be with her. The sill love each other though, which might be all the counts. 
• The Keamy/Sayid death part deaux echoed an idea that I threw out there in the Locke episode a few weeks back when I wondered whether or not Rose and other peripheral characters would still have the same fate. Rose has terminal cancer in both realities, and Keamy dies by Sayid's hand in both realities; I wonder if Dr. Linus is going to push a cripple down the school steps?
• Hey, actual cross-castaway story progression! Jin ended up in Keamy's freezer. Guess he fell for "Keamy's Kash 4 Gold" scam. 

The Sundown: On Island

• Samurai vs. Assassin? Yes please! By far the best choreographed fight scene since Ben getting punched in the face (the twentieth time, of course), Sayid and Dogen busted out some sweet Matrix leg sweeps and gurney dives. Of course, just when I yell, "FINISH HIM," Dogen doesn't have the ball(s) to do it. Did remembering his son's death really make him beg off? Or was it the memory of Jacob's offer and the fact that Sayid still was a candidate?
•  Sayid is once again led to do dirty work again. First, he is seemingly tricked by Dogen to maybe getting slain on purpose by Darth Locke. I for one do not think this was the case (more Smokey misdirection), as Dogen should have known if Sayid had "darkness" about to take over, Smokey was probably not going to keep him as a prized recruit rather than kill. To me, it's more probably that it was a last ditch effort to try something that was ultimately futile, as Jacob's magical swords have no effect once he is dead and the water has turned a nice poo-shade.
• In terms of info on our favorite deities, the big news is that one side views smokey as the "evil incarnate" that will slay everyone on the island, while Smokey goes about offering seemingly impossible things for the sake of fealty, just like his nemesis Jacob did with Dogen. I was still sort of playing with the idea that like Republicans and Democracts, both sides were portraying the other as more extreme than they actually were: Jacob uses misdirection and is willing to kill a lot of people for a sake of a few to get what he wants, while Smokey just wants to kill EVERYTHING; after the wanton slaughter though, I am going to have to side with team Jacob. Does it make me a bad person that I loved the smokey storming the citadel scene so much though? I hope that one day the audience is treated with an actual transformation between the MIB's Smoke and Locke forms.
• RIP Dogen and Lennon. In what seemed almost as nefariously comical as Anakin's nonsensical turn to Darth Vader in Episode III, Sayid went suddenly off the deep end with his own force-choke and neck-filet. I wonder if there was more to the conversation after Smokey promised him that he could have anything (clearly there was, as Sayid returns to the temple with a message for the masses and a raging vendetta). For such a well-liked character, it seems a pretty sad and sudden turn. Sayid, like Sawyer, was awesome for his ability to see through people's B.S.; unlike Saywer (who hasn't died and suddenly risen) one wonders whether Sayid really had a chance when coming face to face with Smokey. With Jacob dead, there was only one other entity that we know of that could have the power to raise the dead; perhaps with his promise and his magically forked tongue (think about that, ladies), Smokey has awoken that which he had implanted within Sayid, and thus consolidated his power over him until the moment of Smokey (or his) demise (re-demise?). Quick, someone get Shanon's inhaler and spray him in the face!
• Claire = creepier? She was singing that song that Kate would sing to get Aaron to sleep. Other than that, girl needs some Selsun Blue. 
• Out of seemingly nowhere, Team Sun appeared and escaped (via secret passageway - thanks Jacob!) with our remaining temple crew in tow sans-Kate. Were they with Locke outside? Won't he know they are nearby and fleeing? Speaking of which, apparently Kate lucked out: Smokey can only go is straight lines and not down when he is raging (sort of like that game snake on old cell-phones).

I know Lost loves Star Wars, so this episode wreaked of "Empire Strikes Back." You would think that after Sayid made one deal with the devil (Ben), that he would know better. Right now, my money is on that ultimately, Sayid would have no real say in the matter: his soul had already been claimed. Hopefully, it can still be saved by Jack.

Until next week...

 

Have you seen my sleeves?

Lost: "The Incident"

What lies in the shadow of the statue?

Thanks to babelfish translations, Ricardo Alpert tells Illana, "He that will save us."

...

Long ago when I first saw the line of ash and then the cabin for the first time, I postulated that perhaps the island was an eternal prison for an evil being, or Jacob. The extreme version of this story would be the Lucifer one; the island was the place on Earth that the fallen angel Lucifer fell when he was cast out of Heaven.

In "The Incident," we got a new twist in the war between good and evil to control fate. It has long been established in Lost that there seemed to be two dueling sides vying for the island, and thus perhaps the world. Was it the Others vs. Dharma? Widmore vs. Ben?

Apparently this duel, this time loop has been in motion for much longer than any of us anticipated. Enjoying a fresh-fish taco, Jacob stares out into the Ocean and upon the incoming Black Rock and probably it's long expected cargo, Ricardo Alpert. And then he is joined by his opposite, the Man in Black.

You see, Jacob isn't the only powerful force on the island. As Locke once explained to Walt via backgammon, for every white piece - there is black. There is evil. The Man in Black (MIB lols) hates Jacob so much for his belief that humanity can be saved. All he sees out of men is their desire to control, destroy, and make war. Still, Jacob beckons more of his chosen few to the island.

For what? Well it seems that Jacob has been weaving a tapestry in the shadow of the statue; literally though, it seems the man in white has been carefully weaving certain events and people together. Jacob travels the world touching lost souls at their exact time of need, thus binding them to the island so that they may enact free will within the waves of time and change themselves, and maybe change the final outcome: humanity's destruction by their own hands.

The MIB despises humanity, for he knows how this every loop ends in men destroying themselves. More importantly, he despises Jacob for his faith that men can break the cycle of destruction through their choices, through the illusion of free will. How many times has Jacob done his little experiments with incorrigible men? The MIB is sick of it. Endless loops - endless times having to go down to the wheel and reset it all before everything is destroyed.

"It can end only once. Everything up to that point is progress."

Progress? An eternity of living multiple lifetimes, watching the same events unfold. All the while Jacob weaves his timeline tapestry, ferrying his chosen saved to the island, while the MIB is forced to feed on the damned. A thousand lifetimes, and all MIB wants to do now is end it:

"You know how much I want to kill you right now?"

Ah, but there is a catch. It seems these two opposing demi-gods cannot directly slay each other. Disgusted, MIB returns into the jungle - returns to his cabin. His hatred festers. He begins to actively plot, so much so that Jacob is forced to bind him behind a wall of white ash so that he cannot spread his influence and discord.

"I will find a loophole."

...

The big revelation in Season 5's finale was that Darth Locke (as I have come to call him) actually is way more Darthy then we thought. In fact, he isn't even John Locke at all. It seems the Man in Black finally found his loophole. I am sure we will eventually find out how the MIB broke free of his cabin bondage - how the ash turned black. The important part is that he is free. Ben is just some sort of apprentice-level manipulator compared to his new master, easily falling under Darth Locke's spell and becoming the loophole by finally killing Jacob.

Yet the MIB should have known. Things seemed a little off when Ben told him that his dead daughter appeared to him and made him promise to do exactly what Darth Locke said. He was surprised - could it really be that easy? The MIB didn't even have to convince Ben to kill Jacob.

"They are coming."

From his dying lips, he sputtered the last words to his nemesis. Checkmate. Everything finally ended for Jacob; yet the chosen - the destined - were about to be summoned via an atomic bomb.

Jack the Shepherd and his tribe are coming.

Jacob had planned for this all along. He had been there in all their lives, touching them, binding them to the island and weaving their fates together. They were his ultimate end game in case the MIB had ever found his loophole. Disgusted by this realization, Darth Locke scowls and kicks Jacob's body into the fire.

...

Some people I have talked to said they were pretty upset that we didn't get our answer on whether or not Jack changed the future.

I think that we did though. I believe Faraday was ultimately right before that whatever happened, happened. Like Miles said, the castaways probably are the ones that caused the incident in the first place, because they had to. Akin to what happened to Desmond after the hatch imploded, I think through Jacob's grace (and Juliette exerting her free will), the castaways will be transported back to the present so that Jack and Locke (well the MIB) can have their ultimate showdown.

You see, I think the swerve is that the real game-changing "incident" wasn't in 1977. I believe the real incident was when the MIB finally broke the cycle and killed Jacob. Everything after that point is going to be different. It's funny, because it seemed destined from season 1 that Jack and Locke would ultimately be the driving opposing forces in Lost's conclusion. Locke the man of destiny against Jack the man of science.

Yet the real Locke is gone. Dead is dead. It sort of sucks, because you felt like the new Locke was a BAMF, that he had finally realized his potential. The only caveat to him maybe being REALLY dead is that Jacob not only touched him, but brought him back to life; we'll see.

No the real people of destiny appears to have been Kate, Sawyer, Sun, Jin, Sayid, and Hurly with Jack probably assuming the leadership role of a lifetime.

Jacob's death has signaled the end of the eternal backgammon game with the MIB, as well as the end of the time loops. Lost can and will end only once. The tapestry is complete (can't wait to see the finished product) and Jacob's hand picked team will either exert free will and make the right choices that will save themselves and the world, or they fail before the MIB's hatred of humanity.

So how do you think it will end? Was Jack the destined one all along? Will Ben become Sith-apprentice to his new (or maybe destined) master? Is the real Locke truly gone forever? Is the monster and the MIB one and the same?

There is a war coming.

Lost: "Follow the Leader"

The penultimate setup to the season 5 finale was a veritable Rubik's cube of information: how do all these events line up in time? Or do they?

Perhaps the best way to break this episode down is by the "leader" characters and their motivations.

Jack
Jack has taken up Faraday's mantle as a man on the mission to change time forever. Unfortunately, Jack also has taken up the mantle as the resident crazy-person. Where Jack 4 season's ago was running around doing all he could to save dying castaways, Faith Jack of season 5 is hell bent on detonating a H-bomb. My how things have changed. Looks like my idea of the journal being more important (a variable) seemed to somewhat payoff as it is now Jack's new bible. Just follow the word of God (Farademeology), and you save the world.

The Doc's position is pretty much utilitarianism (established by John Stuart Mill, a follower of the school of John Locke) which states that morally, the best action to take is one that benefits the most people. Jack believes it is his "destiny" to detonate the bomb, because by doing so, he erases all the pain and suffering the castaways and those that have died because of the plane crashed have endured. Faith Jack doesn't seem to care about the bonds he has made with Kate and the rest of the Losties, as what is the right thing to do is to try and save all those people that have senselessly died. Sayid seemed to agreed, because lets face it, his life has been pretty crappy since the plane crash. Kate takes offense, as Jack pretty much pulls the ultimate boyfriend douchebaggery: come off as a crazy lunatic while admitting that his life would be better without the crash. Who knows if Jack will actually be able to go through with it. If you believe that what happened, happened - it is obvious he can't. It also seems incompatible to the show's designs to have a veritable "erase button" that negates all the progress these characters have made on the road to redemption. I feel a swerve coming on, as I still hold out some hope that Jack has something up his sleeve.

I mean blowing up an H-bomb? At the exact time the electromagnetic energy is released? If things go badly, then Jack potentially kills more people than he intends to save by changing time.

Crazy maybe paradox alert:
Also, if Jack stops the plane from crashing, then he stops himself from coming back in time and stopping the plane crashing. My head just asploded.

Locke
Jedi Locke made his return with a vengeance. Not only does this new version come with updated confidence, but he also has a built in island-receiver that allows him to pinpoint the exact time and location for when he'll see his limping time-twin pop out of nowhere. This event also answered the question whether or not the characters could exist multiply at two different places at the same time. Locke worked his leader mojo all episode, establishing himself as the all-knowing, all-seeing man with a plan. It was funny to watch Ben still try to play Locke, trying to butter him up. Locke's presence and unpredictability seemed to truly phase Ben and even Alpert. I think Locke's gambit to kill Jacob might be purely for show, or a way to make Ben and Alpert play whatever cards they holding close the vest.

Locke once said that he wouldn't change the past, because the summation of those experiences is what made him the man he is today; that being said, I found it a little hard to believe that he would then admit to Ben that he cared little if at all for Jin and the castaways stranded in the past. Again, I think Locke is playing Ben by doing the complete opposite of what Ben is expecting him to do. It's also curious that Locke is openly demanding empirical evidence of Jacob's existence when he was so ready to believe in him before.

My guess? Locke already knows that he is Jacob. Or rather, Locke already knows that he will become Jacob. Similar to the way he knew exactly where he would pop out of time before, I think Locke will literally become the false God that Ben and Alpert have been parading around and brainwashing people about. Give them a miracle they won't forget.

Alpert
Even though this episode was Alpert-centric, it was more a time jumping history of Alpert giving the, I think fake, "wtf" face. I still can't trust this guy has no idea what's going on/happening. It seems whatever game Alpert is playing was immediately threatened by Locke's behavior, so perhaps we'll shortly see just who or what exactly he is. His allegiances seem to change with the wind, and maybe the trick to figuring out what Alpert it wants it to try and piece together the reasons for him initiating the leader changes between Widmore (or Eloise?), Ben, and now Locke.

Also, how did Alpert and the others get Jughead down under the ground in those tunnel/ruins? Those tunnels seemed pretty darn ancient, which made me wonder weather or not those had been built with the foreknowledge of future events; that is, the ancients built the tunnels knowing that one day they would be used for Jughead.

Eloise
She didn't seemed to phased by her son's death. In fact, she seemed to be pretty gung-ho to lead Jack and crew down the tunnels. We also didn't get the last conversation between her and Widmore, but it seemed to me like she has him pretty whipped. I wonder weather or not she gave him some special Intel or instructions to do something while they were down in the tunnels. Also, great cleavage.

LaFleur
Got the snot kicked out of him. Seems obvious that he drew the wrong coordinates to where the others are in hopes of getting off before they figured it out. I think Kate's return to the sub will prompt him to try stop Jack to preserve his state of redemption and love for Juliette. My bet is Juliette does something crazy and jealous-like to ruin things. Kate, always blowing up homes, literally and figuratively. Also, way to leave Hurly, Miles, and Jin high and dry. Jerkface.

Nah, I am pretty sure he's got something cooking up his sleeve.

Other Things
Radinzki getting all hopped up on rage. He REALLY wants to tap into that electromagnetism. I wonder why?

Hurly's epic history fail.

Sun's eye-rolling, "Can Jacob tell us how to get to Jin?" moment. Jeebus.

Can't wait to find out what "The Incident" really means.

- Claymhor

Lost 4/1: "What Happened, Happened"

Cannot say I was overly blown away by this episode; Kate's stories never seem to phase me that much. I can't tell if it is that I have lost interest in her because her character is too transparent and her actions are too predictable, or because I am a raging, heartless sexist. Every girl I have talked to loved this episode, so it's hard to complain.

Interesting tidbits:

Jack: is a pussy. You know I want to believe that he is playing some cards close to the vest, that he may be planning or knowing more than we think he does, but his "wait for fate" approach is tedious. Maybe that's the point though; maybe Kate's series-aware reference to how she doesn't like the new Jack is a pointed effort to tell the audience that we aren't supposed to like him. Hopefully it pays off later down the road.

Sawyer: He openly in front of Kate pretty much told her that he does what he does to protect his and July's happiness on the island. You know...until she dies.

Kate: so she turned out to be the catalyst and fated shepherd of Ben to the others. I am sure old-Jack will take umbrage - and then the new one just won't care.

Alpert: We had a reference to "Ellie" (Eloise Hawking?) and Widmore by the Others and their questioning of Alpert's motives, to which Alpert himself replies that he does not answer to them. Did he omnisciently hold in his hands the new heir to the leadership, thus breaking his fealty to Widmore? Of course his last words to Sawyer and Kate had to be extremely vague, as to leave the audience with several different interpretations:

1. Ben's "loss of innocence" - does this go hand in hand with he'll always be one of us? What we will do to him to heal him will forever alter him physically, or attune him to the island? Does healing him also gift Ben with the knowledge of future events, making him a slave to uphold the timeline that creates him?
2. Loss of Ben's memory - Alpert also mentions that by going through the island healing ritual in the mythical "Temple", young Ben will lose the memory of the events. Does he lose the memory of ALL event predating his shooting, thus answering Hurly's time-boggling question of how Ben doesn't recognize Sayid in the future? His relationship with his father, and the way he kills him in cold-blood during the purge seems to suggest that he does retain old memories (and grudges). Perhaps future Ben will shed more light (and consequently more darkness) on what happened after Alpert took him down into the temple. This may have something to do with why Alpert specifically asked Sawyer for the body of of the slain Dharma initiative member in payment for the deaths of 2 others.