Sean's Random Thoughts - Lost Recap - The End

We’ve re-watched the Pilot episode, and the recap show, and we can’t put off the inevitable any longer. It’s a unique feeling to anticipate and dread the same event with such equality, but the time is upon us. We wanted all of our new episodes in a row, and they gave it to us. We wanted an end to horrible happenings like Nikki and Paulo, and they gave it to us. We wanted answers, and in the past season, they gave that to us as well. Now, as the curtain falls on what I can only assume (if you’re reading this), is a form of TV religion to you, we want closure. Would we get it?

114 episodes down, and one more to go. I’m sad to say these words…it’s time for “The End”

(For those of you that are unfamiliar with my recaps, please mouse over the pictures for captions underneath, and enjoy this picture of me in all of my Lost Geek-dom right before the Finale started tonight)

As we saw our final 'Previously on Lost' opening segment, we were reminded right away of Jacob's directions to Jack in 'What They Died For', telling Jack that the job of Island protector was his for "as long as you can." Many commenters last week speculated that this interesting choice of words foreshadowed a short reign for Jack, and that the finale would result in another change. I wasn't in this school of thought until I saw this segment to open the episode.

The episode itself opened with a fantastic scene transitioning between the Flash Sideways (FS) World, and the Island World, and also transitioning between characters, all the while interspersed with Christian Shephard's coffin making its way off of the Oceanic plane. We saw an opening shot of Jack in his office, then to his healing hands in the water on the Island; to Ben making coffee with his arm in a sling, then to him loading a pistol on the Island and looking at Flocke, which then cut to the real Locke in the hospital, saying goodbye to his wheelchair; from Sawyer the cop, to Sawyer on the Island tending to Kate's wound, and ending with Kate waiting in the car for Desmond. An absolutely beautiful scene, and all with no words spoken.

In the parking lot where random delivery guy is dropping off the coffin, Desmond appears out of nowhere to sign for it. The delivery guy, who was rocking a spectacular ponytail, asked Desmond, "Are you a priest or something?", and I loved how he answered with "Or something."
Then Desmond said something that was confusing at the time, but a hell of a lot clearer at the end, as he told Kate "No one can tell you why you're here, Kate. Certainly not me." So where the hell was 'here' supposed to be? At this point, only a few scant minutes into the episode, colour me confused.

On the Island, Jack had a conversation with the other members of the Final Four, explaining what Jacob told him about the heart of the Island and that, as he put it, "we need to protect it." No...it wasn't a team sport. It was pretty specific, this was your responsibility, not everyone else's. I didn't see Hurley or Kate or Sawyer drinking from the stream with Jacob last week.

Jack: "Jacob didn't say anything to me about Desmond."
Sawyer: "Doesn't sound like he said anything about anything."
Hurley: "That's kinda true, dude. He's worse than Yoda."

We returned from the first commercial break to find Hurley and Sayid at the Flightline Motel, which you die-hards will recognize as the same place that Anthony Cooper's con went down with John Locke, and where Helen found out that John had been meeting Cooper. Hurley had a great line in the Hummer on how Sayid didn't recognize the tranquilizer gun, which was interesting since he had two run-ins in the show with them in the past.

But the one thing that came out of this scene, which really set the emotional tone of the entire episode for me, was the pure unbridled emotion that we saw in Hurley's face the moment that he saw Charlie. And even though our little Drive Shaft Hobbit did his best to be antagonistic and confrontational, the joy that Hurley was exuding just couldn't be contained.
And the look on Sayid's face when Hurley dropped an unconscious Charlie in the back of the vehicle after sedating him...well, that was the first of many moments tonight that made me laugh out loud.

Back on the Island, Kate was asking Jack why he accepted the responsibility from Jacob. As he explained to her that the Island was all that he had left, and the only thing that he hadn't managed to ruin, I wondered if the Island stream cocktail from last week actually made Jack lose some of his self confidence when it appeared that he had actually gained a peace and solace that he hadn't had before. Kate echoed the words that Jack spoke to Locke in the FS World at the end of L.A. X, when she told him "nothing is irreversible."

As we cut to the well that didn't contain Desmond, and see Sawyer skulking around in the bushes, I had to point out that I found it a little inconsistent that our established 'near all-knowing' Flocke couldn't tell that Sawyer was spying on him from 15 feet away behind a single bush. I didn't think that Flocke, who knew who died and who didn't on the sub while he was standing on the dock in The Candidate, now was hoodwinked by what was, in essence, a situation straight out of a Spy vs. Spy cartoon. Although from a pure enjoyment standpoint, this scene got high marks for the swift elbow to Ben's face (and his ensuing groan), and the fact that Sawyer referred to Flocke as 'Smokey'.

But once Sawyer revealed to Flocke that they were no longer candidates (what is the deal with everyone just giving up info that puts them in danger in the last few episodes?), which implied that a new protector had been chosen to replace Jacob, didn't that make the rest of the Candidates expendable? It seemed like an obvious question to wonder why he didn't kill Sawyer on the spot, but now Sawyer, Kate, and Hurley were non-factors if Jack was the Protector.

Then Flocke addressed the situation that I brought up last week in my recap (albeit in the Comments section), if Flocke promised Ben the Island, and then declared he wanted to destroy it, then why would Ben help him? Flocke brushed it aside with a cavalier "I'm sorry if I forgot to mention the part about the Island being on the bottom of the Ocean."
What's that around the well? Dog tracks? Sounds like the return of our favourite Lost canine, which can only mean one thing...Rose and Bernard are back! Making their now annual once-a-year-Island-appearance in the Season Finale, the mystery of who helped Desmond out of the well was solved. (Many of you predicted this in the Comments section last week, and I didn't think it was going to be them. Wrong again.)

While they're not enjoying their morning coffee in Dharma Initiative Collector Mugs, or checking the fish traps (a nod to Jacob, perhaps?), they were living a simple life with no 'getting involved', and no 'drama'. Rose confirmed that they were travelling in time with no concept (or care) of how long it had been, or even what year it was. And Bernard was rocking a spectacular beard, wasn't he? Take that Mr. Friendly and your lame-ass glue on beard from Season 2...our resident dentist just blew you out of the water.
After breaking their rule to help Desmond, it all seemed fine and dandy as Des appeared ready to head on his way. But Flocke showed up with an ultimatum for Desmond...to come with him, or he would kill Rose and Bernard right in front of him, and 'make it hurt'. Even though Rose told him not to, we knew that Des would choose to go with Flocke when faced with that choice...you didn't really expect to see a violent end for Rose and Bernard in the Series Finale did you?

But here's the question I have. If Desmond understands what his purpose is on the Island, then why would he choose to save them? I understand the choice from a thematic and plot standpoint, but using logic...saving the world from a monster that will destroy it vs. saving 2 old folks who you shared a beach with for 2-3 weeks? Really? I understand that even if he said "Go ahead", he wasn't getting away from Flocke anyways, but the point is still pretty valid, I think.
On the outskirts of the Dharma barracks, Miles reported to Ben (via walkie) that he had found Richard alive. When we last saw Richard, he was being throat-chopped into the distance by the Smoke Monster, and when we last saw Miles, he was reportedly running through the jungle to get away from Flocke. Well then, why the hell did he come back to the Barracks, where he found Richard? I'm not even going to worry about, I'm just happy that Richard was still alive, as I steadfastly declared last week.

Back in the FS World, Sun is recovering from her gunshot wound almost as well as Kate was on the Island, and when Jin mentioned that a doctor was coming, I got a little giddy. And yes, I full-on fist-pumped when Juliet walked in the room, even though I was 100% expecting her to be in this episode. As I've mentioned in the past, isn't that part of the magic of this show, that they can put on screen exactly what you're expecting to see, and it still gives you that sort of reaction?
Cue the moment that gives Jin and Sun their 'awareness', as Juliet gives Sun an ultrasound, mirroring the same situation that happened on the Island in the Season 3 episode D.O.C. On a side note, for those of you that have become accustomed to my 'Mirror Image' examples in past recaps, I have decided to be extremely selective with the ones I choose for this episode, as we saw so many mirror moments triggering the 'Flashes.'

The scene with Sun and Jin becoming aware made it clear that everything comes back...happiness, pain, suffering, death. Because as we saw the happy moments between the two of them, we also saw the freighter explosion, and their deaths on the sub. As Juliet showed them the picture of the baby on the ultrasound, Jin said to Sun, "Did you see?", and I relished the double meaning of his question. And I did enjoy Juliet's face when they switched from Korean to English.

After fleeing the Flocke and Ben Well Party, Sawyer caught up with the gang again, and then found out that he was going to end up with them again, anyways.

Jack: "It doesn't matter if we find Desmond or he does, James. We're going to the same place."
Sawyer: "Then what?"
Jack: "Then it ends."

Which made me think back to the conversation between Jacob and MIB on the beach when we first met them, when Jacob declared that "it only ends once." And this was going to be that once. As they walked up the hill and the camera panned back, I noted this as Mirror Image #1: echoing the same shot (and similar situation) that we saw as the Losties travelled to the radio tower in the Season 3 Finale, Through The Looking Glass.

In the FS World, Locke is being prepped for surgery when Jack comes in and they have an interesting conversation about Jack's confidence in the fact that the surgery will work. When Locke questions his confidence, Jack responds with another great dual-meaning line, "Well, there's always the chance that I could kill you." Damn, I love these writers.

Newsflash! Richard has a grey hair! That's right, the Ultimate 5 O'Clock shadow apparently is now aging, presumably due to the death of Jacob. Looking back on the deal that Jacob made with him, it seems like a pretty raw deal if it's nullified when Jacob dies. He did say to Miles, "I realized I want to live", which I'm calling Mirror Image #2: echoing the line he spoke to Jacob in Ab Aeterno when Jacob was treating him as his own personal dunk tank volunteer.

Miles and Richard then took the outrigger from the dock, and as they teased the fact that a storm was coming, didn't you expect to finally see the other half of that outrigger scene in the rain that we saw last year? Sorry, too bad...just one final tease from Damon and Carlton. As they paddled through the debris from the sub, they also stumbled across a floating Lawnmower Man, aka Frank Lapidus, who I also insisted was not dead.
As they hauled him up into the outrigger, we got what I am referring to as Mirror Image #3: echoing when Bram and Ilana transported Frank from Hydra Island after the initial Ajira crash, as Frank laid in the canoe prone on his back in both instances. And as the three of them discussed their plan, why did no one think of just flying away instead of blowing up the plane before??

Flocke's group and Jack's group finally met up in an old-fashioned duel-type of atmosphere, with one faction cresting a hill and bracing for conflict. Just when I thought it was going to be one of those fantastic standoff scenes, Kate lost her freaking mind, grabbed Sawyer's gun, and started firing at Flocke. I was scared for her, because I had postulated in the past that Flocke responds once fired upon. (Remember how Richard yelled at everyone at the statue to not fire on him?)

Typical Kate, though, wasn't it? Impulsive, hot-headed, and 'think first, ask later'. Desmond and Ben hit the dirt as Kate fired away, and Flocke simply strolled past her, advising her to save her bullets. Then, Jack and Flocke came face-to-face in their inevitable (verbal) standoff, and after Flocke declared that Jack was "the obvious choice" (foreshadowing, and a knowing nod to the die-hards once again), we got this exchange:

Jack: "You think you're gonna destroy the Island."
Flocke: "I think?"
Jack: "But that's not what's gonna happen."
Flocke: "Well, what's gonna happen, Jack?
Jack: "I'm going to kill you."
Flocke: "How do you plan to do that?"
Jack: "That's a surprise."
Flocke: "OK, let's get on with it."
Wow, ramp up the awesome factor. That scene was fantastic.

I'm not going to take any real space on this, but in the FS World, what 98% of the Lostiverse was predicting came to fruition when Juliet was revealed to be both Jack's ex-wife and David's mother. I haven't been this shocked since Tiger Woods had a press conference admitting his extramarital affairs.

Back to the Island and what can only be described as the most awkward group walk ever. At the mouth of the bamboo field, Flocke, Jack, and Desmond carry on alone, but not before Hurley tells Jack, "I believe in you, dude." At the entrance to the Cave of Light, the light is noticeably fainter than when we saw it in Across The Sea. Just before entering the cave, Desmond enlightens Jack:
"This doesn't matter, you know? Him destroying the Island, you destroying him. It doesn't matter. You're going to lower me into that light, and I'm going to go somewhere else. A place where we can be with the ones that we love. And not ever have to think about this damn Island again. And you know the best part, Jack? You're in this place."

Jack responds with a curt: "There are no do-overs. What happened, happened. All of this matters." At this point, I was starting to believe him.
The awkwardness of the most unlikely tag team in Lost history continued as Flocke and Jack lowered Desmond down the waterfall. It was weird watching the teamwork of the two of them, and I started to note that this was a mirror image of when they went down to the hatch for the first time...but then Flocke made the comparison for me. Oh, what the hell, I'm still calling it Mirror Image #4. "Just like old times", Flocke said.

Jack took umbrage with that comment and snapped back, "You're not John Locke. You disrespect his memory by wearing his face, but you're nothing like him. Turns out he was right about most everything. I just wish I could have told him that while he was still alive."

Flocke insists he is right about Locke, and Jack says that they'll just have to see.

It's the ultimate pissing contest.

Ironically over a waterfall lit with yellow light. My apologies for the imagery.

Then the camera pans down the waterfall in a shot virtually identical to the final shot in the Season 1 finale, as Jack and Locke peered down the hatch. Mirror Image #5.

Once Desmond is at the bottom of the cave, he sees skeletons (?), and a pool with channels heading outward (to the Temple perhaps?). As he enters the pool to pull 'the cork', we see his unique resistance to electromagnetism as he fights off the effects. As the light goes out and the cave goes dark, the Island rumbles, and Flocke proudly proclaims his victory to Jack, "It looks like you were wrong."
But as Flocke leaves the cave, he is attacked from behind by Jack, and as we see Flocke realize that he is bleeding, Jack throws his words right back in his face, "Looks like you were wrong too." Clearly Jack's plan was to let Desmond extinguish the light since that would be the only way to physically kill Flocke. A good plan that seemed like it was destined to end right outside the cave until Flocke remembered a lesson taught by his mother when he was only minutes old...the time-honoured 'grab a rock and bash them in the head' plan of attack.

On Hydra Island, the Pilot, The Ghost Whisperer, and the (Formerly) Ageless Wonder found themselves face-to-face with an angry Claire. As they were communicating with Kate via the walkie, we got Mirror Image #6: Kate listened through the walkie as shots were fired into the sand on the beach, presumably killing her allies, just as Jack listened on the walkie as shots were fired on the beach in the same situation in Through The Looking Glass.

I'll wrap up the concert in a rapid-fire format: Juliet left David with Aunt Claire, who she just met (mother of the year), Charlotte was the hottest wake-up call service in history, Charlie actually wore eyeliner (unlike Richard), the gang sat at Table 23 (the numbers!), Desmond smirked as he asked Claire and Kate "Do you two know each other?", Eloise asked Desmond not to take Daniel, and Drive Shaft's music has the same effect on Claire as raw sea urchin.

The only major situation coming out of the concert was the birth of Aaron, mirroring the Island events, and bringing Charlie, Claire, and Kate all to full 'awareness' status. It was an emotional scene, and lots of kleenex was used in our house. The only thing that was missing, was Charlie calling Aaron 'Turniphead'.
But I have to step outside of the parameters of this recap for just a moment and say, as a red-blooded male who thinks Evangeline Lilly is one of the most beautiful women on the planet...how on earth did it take 115 episodes to get her in a little black dress? Ok, back to the episode...

...and to the ultimate confrontation. Jack and Flocke...on the cliff...in the rain. I expected Flocke to chuck that knife at Jack like Locke did into Naomi's back in Season 3. But no, it was a head-on collision, and a running punch from Jack that looked like something out of a Mission Impossible movie. The wall crumbled, Jack got stabbed, and just as we saw Flocke ready to plunge his knife into Jack's throat...Kate saved the day with a well timed shot, and the deliciously snide comment, "I saved you a bullet."

Then Jack gave us Mirror Image #7: as he kicked Flocke off the side of the cliff in the exact same manner that Flocke kicked Jacob into the fire in the foot of the statue. The Island Protector and his nemesis, only the roles are reversed. In a vicious drop, Flocke met his end on the rocks below, and the sound editing team deserves an Emmy for the disgusting crunch we heard as he landed.
A beautiful transition to the hospital in the FS World, and a nurse telling Jack 'Nice work Dr. Shephard", as Locke is being wheeled out of surgery. We get the explanation on the neck wound (as was suggested by many readers last week), and John Locke waking up early, wiggling his toes, and triggering his own flash.

Sawyer was in the hospital as well, and after being told by Jin and Sun--with knowing smiles--that they would "see him there", he ran into Juliet at the vending machine, and we got the expected 'We can go dutch' scene we've been expecting since L.A. X as they both had their respective flashes with each other. "It worked", she told him, echoing her words that we heard via Miles regarding the bomb. I give credit to Josh Holloway, who I've never been a fan of, for the pure emotion in this scene. Fantastic.
Back on the Island, Jack explained that he was going to have to go back and turn the light back on. I won't refer to this one as a mirror image, but it's the same situation that we saw with the Frozen Donkey Wheel. Just as Locke had to go correct it after Ben turned it, Jack has to go undo what Desmond did.

Kate pleads with him to leave it and let the Island destroy itself, but he insists he has to finish it. As he convinces her to leave on the plane and take Claire home to Aaron, she says to him "Tell me I'll see you again", and his silence speaks volumes. They exchange 'I love you's, and I was emotional. Call it cheesy, call me schmaltzy...I can take it...but I've been a Jater since day one, and I've always felt that Jack and Kate belonged together. So this final exchange between the two of them validated that it was the right thing all along, and I'm happy it ended that way.

But man, talk about an awkward boat ride with Sawyer right after that, huh?

Sawyer called Miles 'Enos' (again, like on the Dharma Security team), called Hurley 'Bigfoot', and in my personal favourite, called Frank 'Chesty'. Just squeezing in a few more nicknames before it ends, huh Darlton? Personally, I prefer Frank 'The Walkie Talkie Chucker' Lapidus...what the hell was that about?

FS Jack gets his own flash with Kate at the end of the concert, and Island Jack heads back with Hurley and Ben to go into the cave. I've long maintained that Hurley is the heart of this show, and has been for 6 years, but the scene in front of the cave as Jack explained to Hurley that it was him that needed to protect the Island...it was proof. The heart of the show at the heart of the Island, and his innocence refused to let him believe that he couldn't find a way to not let Jack die. Jack ended this by telling Hurley the same thing Hurley told him at the same spot, 'I believe in you."

The ceremony transferring power from Jack to Hurley (as was predicted by many of you last week. Damn you're good.) said a lot. It was the third ceremony we saw, and all 3 were slightly different. The one common thread was the drinking of liquid, and I would suggest that the key element in all 3 ceremonies was simply the pure belief that this ceremony did what they believed it did. Jack did no chanting as Jacob or his mother did, he just gave Hurley a drink of dirty stream water in an Oceanic water bottle. How fitting.

Down in the cave, before Jack completed his role, and played the ultimate game of Perfection by popping the cork back in the pool, he solidified his sacrifice by saving Desmond.
Jack: "Go home to your wife and son."
Desmond: "What about you, Jack?"
Jack: "I'll see you in another life, brother."

I still need to sum up the final 15 minutes, and make my closing thoughts, and it's ridiculously late as I'm writing this, so I'm going with some bullet points for the next few items:
- Hurley became Jacob (Jack), Ben became Richard, and the others left on the plane.
- I wish Kate and Sawyer would have looked at each other on the plane and said "Good thing we built that runway."
- Where is Desmond?
- The final scene outside the church with Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson made me realize that I'll likely never see them on screen together again. That is a travesty, those two were absolute magic together.

Now, let's talk about the last 15 minutes, and the big reveal, because this is what the major topic of conversation is going to be coming out of this episode. I'm not going to break it all down, just give you my initial thoughts on what it means.

I was plugging along in this episode, loving everything I saw, and then when Christian showed up and started explaining to Jack, I wasn't sure I was very happy with what I was hearing. I loved the way it was presented, but I wasn't sure how I felt about what it meant.

Upon further consideration, and another viewing, I'm very happy with the end. I'm of the mindset that the FS World was the 'afterlife' for our Losties, and as Christian explained, a world that they created to find each other. The Island was not purgatory, and what happened there, indeed happened. But the Flash-Sideways world wasn't real...and once they made the connections they needed to make, to form this afterlife community with each other, that was their own closure, and they just needed to wait for each other to be ready...to 'let go'.

Desmond was acting as the Shepherd of this group, leading his flock (neither pun is intended, honest) to come together in full awareness of what this all meant...full understanding. We were given hints, many of them in this episode:
- Desmond describing himself not as a priest, but "or something".
- Desmond telling Kate what 'here' was.
- Locke saying to Jack before surgery, "See you on the other side."
- Desmond speech to Jack at the mouth of the cave about it not mattering.
- Desmond asking Kate after her flash with Claire if she understands.
- Jin and Sun telling Sawyer "See you there."
- Locke telling Jack he doesn't have a son.
I'm sure a lot of people don't like the ending, but I do. Maybe I'm wrong in my analysis...I've been wrong before, but I think I am understanding what I saw, and I'm at peace. I loved the imagery of everyone in the church together.

And the final scene of Jack laying in the bamboo field and being joined by Vincent before seeing the Ajira plane fly overhead and closing his eye...beautiful. Just beautiful.
So that’s it.

It’s over.

“The End” in so many ways.

I’m not sure where to go from here. As I mentioned in the past, I came late to this party, and recapping this past season has been an unbelievable pleasure for me. What started out as a small project for me and a few friends has blossomed into something beyond my wildest expectations. A very special thank you must go out to DarkUFO for allowing me to be a part of this unbelievable community of fans and friends. And an even bigger thank you to him for the countless hours and tireless effort he has put into making this community the fantastic place that it is. Words aren’t enough, my friend, and I was thrilled when you announced that this site would continue on after the Finale. Your legacy deserves a very long shelf life. My words of praise with neither be the first nor the last.

As I mentioned in my Ode To Lost earlier this weekend, I’m considering recapping the show from the very first episode, with the new perspective of having seen the Finale. I’m not sure if I will, but I’m bouncing the idea around. I want a reason to keep writing…and to maybe keep this show alive a little longer. Call it selfish, but while I’m ready for the story to end, I don’t think I’m ready for a world without these characters just yet.

If I decide to recap the old episodes, they will be posted on my personal blog (http://sfurfaro.blogspot.com/), so I hope you’ll come along for the ride there. (And if DarkUFO wants them posted here as well, I’d be only too happy to have them here) Many of you have come to the site already, joined as Followers, and also added me on Facebook, and that has been very flattering. Feel free to add me or send me an email if you ever want to chat about Lost, or anything else.

And now, I’m afraid I can put it off no longer. I’m trying every way I can to NOT type that last sentence and say good-bye…but it’s time. It’s been a hell of a ride. And I’ll miss it.

So Thank-You. Good-Bye…and for one final time…Namaste.

I think I'm ready to let go.

Sean Furfaro.

Sean's Random Thoughts - Lost Recap - What They Died For

Here is Sean Furfaro's recap of tonight's episode.
"I want you to have the one thing that I was never given. A choice."
"What if none of us chooses it?"
"Then this ends very badly."

An interesting choice of words because one thing that Lost is definitely not doing is 'ending badly.' This episode packed a half-season's worth of fantastic moments into one hour, and it didn't feel rushed at all. That may be the most impressive thing of all. So much to to talk about...so let's find out "What They Died For."

Previously on Lost, we got reminded full-on of the emotional impact of the 3 deaths in "The Candidate" 2 weeks ago. I mentioned in my recap last week that I liked the decision of making us sit with those deaths for 2 full weeks before continuing the story, and with this 'Previously' segment, we were taken right back to that emotional meltdown of an episode.

This episode started off in the Flash Sideways (FS) World with Jack sporting a new cut on his neck, echoing back to one of the opening scenes in "L.A. X", as he examined the scratch on his neck in the airplane bathroom. He had a look on his face that he was perhaps suspicious of the 'coincidence', but nothing concrete.

As Jack sat down for breakfast with David over a bowl of Family Size Super Bran, David talked about his upcoming concert that night. We learned that his mom was also going to be there, making me think that we're finally going to find out who it is! Alas, it was just a tease. They were soon joined by Auntie Claire, who made no mention of going to the concert with her newfound family...but that was probably only due to the fact that Jack got a call from an 'Oceanic Airlines' (wink wink, nudge nudge), that might as well have said, "We found your Dad, brutha!" Yes...Desmond is back in the FS, playing his version of chess with our FS Losties.

On the Island, we saw the aftermath of Kate's gunshot wound as Jack sewed her up on the beach, giving us Mirror Image #1: Jack sews up Kate's wound on the beach, just as Kate sewed up Jack's wound in the Pilot episode. Right down to the placement of them on the beach, this scene was virtually the same, with the two roles mirrored. I expected Jack to give the 'Count to 5 when you're scared' speech again. (Get used to the Mirror Images, there's a lot of them in this one.)

But NOW we're going to talk about Ji-Yeon? I know it was just a way of acknowledging it since, as poignant as Sun and Jin's death scene was, they didn't really come across as Parents of the Year not mentioning their daughter. But then puffy-eyed Kate went from weepy to angry in a split second as she made it clear she wanted revenge for their deaths.

Kate: "We have to kill him, Jack."
Jack: "I know."

Back in the FS World, Desmond is sitting in his car watching John Locke, mirroring the exact same scene that we saw when Scotland's Worst Driver ran down our favourite wheelchair-bound substitute teacher. I didn't think for a second that we were going to see him run down Locke again, even after he started the car when John wheeled out into the road.

But in swooped Dr. Benjamin Linus to save the day, and seriously...how wrong does that sound? He even said "I won't let you hurt Mr. Locke again!" As he confronted Desmond, he got a swift punch in the face, which was pretty awesome. As I pointed out a while back that it had been a while since we saw Sayid snapping some sucker's neck, it's been even longer since we saw Ben get the snot beaten out of him.

As Desmond pounded on him on the ground, I was just about to chalk it up to another Mirror Image, but the show did it for me, as Ben flashed back to the dock after shooting Desmond and the fight they had (both of which ended with Ben's arm in a sling). Now Ben has joined the ranks of the 'aware'...or at least the 'near-aware'...as he flashed between the two realities.

I had wondered how long it was going to be before we saw the adventures of Ben, Richard, and Miles, and we were re-introduced to this trio on a sarcasm-filled walk back to the Dharma Barracks. As they arrived, Miles was apparently hearing/feeling something, and Ben, in his best 'teacher' voice (a nice touch coming right out of the FS scene) said, "Is there something you want to share with us Miles?"

We were then reminded that this was the spot that Alex was killed, and we learned that after Ben left, Richard buried her there. So obviously, Miles was hearing something from Alex, and I wish they would have expanded on that instead of just giving us a reminder of the daughter war between Widmore and Ben for a key scene later in the episode. It reminded me of how powerful a scene it was when Keamy killed Alex. (And for those of you that are Kevin Durand fans, make sure to see him as Little John in the new Robin Hood movie.)

Inside the house, and inside Ben's secret room (more answers!), we learned that the crazy drain contraption we saw last season in "Dead is Dead", was indeed how the Smoke Monster was summoned. Or as Ben put it, "“That’s where I was told that I could summon the monster. That’s before I realized that it was the one summoning me.” That was a great line, but not as good as the following exchange between Richard and Ben:

Ben: "Are we looking to cripple the plane or blow it to hell?"
Richard: "Blow it to hell."
Ben: "Then we'd better take it all."

Is this a redundant mission now, to blow up the plane, or is the plane still in the plan for Flocke?

After emerging from the secret room, they ran into Zoe in the kitchen (what was she doing, looking for a snack?), and I screamed "Kill her!" along with 98% of other Lost viewers.

She did not get shot, and we then saw the inevitable face-to-face meeting between Charles Widmore and Ben Linus. The last time we saw these two face-to-face, Ben was standing at the end of Charles' bed in "The Shape Of Things To Come." This has been a long time coming.

As Charles started asking questions, and Richard sang like a canary on their plans, did you see Ben's face? That was pretty entertaining. Then we got the story we had all been wondering about Widmore. Jacob had indeed visited him after the Freighter blew up, and summoned him to the Island. I'm sure that some of you were convinced at this point that if Jacob went to Widmore, and as he declared that he had seen "the error of my ways", then he must be good...as many commenters have suggested. I wasn't fooled for a second, and as I've said all along, remember that this is the man who ordered Ben to kill Alex when she was a baby...there's no way they would ever expect us to accept him as a 'good' character. Never.

Back to the FS World, where we see Ben and Locke together at the school. As Ben explains to Locke that he "saw something", he also tells him that Desmond told him he needed to help Locke "Let go", which is what Jack told him at the hospital. John calls the LAPD, which leads us to a transitional scene at the police station as we see Miles getting ready to go to a concert with his father. Presumably, this would be the same concert where David is performing. Is it father & son night at the recital hall? (Pierre & Miles, Jack & David, maybe Dogen and little Dogen?)

At the station, we see Desmond ask to see Sawyer (I'm not calling him Ford in the FS World), and then confess the hit-and-run on John Locke, and the beatdown on Dr. Linus. As he is taken to his holding cell, we see him walk in and flash that Desmond smile at someone in the cell.

It's the Black Tank Top of Death...Sayid, and as he looks downward on him, I'm calling this Mirror Image #2: Desmond looks down on Sayid with an opportunity to save him, just as Sayid looked down into the well at Desmond with an opportunity to save him a couple of episodes back. Oh yeah, Kate's in the next cell, too.

Walking through the jungle back on the Island (Kate recovered remarkably quickly from her gunshot wound, didn't she?), Sawyer realized the full effect of his actions on the sub.

Sawyer: "The bomb on the sub? You said he couldnt kill us."
Jack: "I've been wrong before."
Sawyer: "I killed them, didn't I?"
Jack: " No. He killed them."

As much as Sawyer constantly gives Jack hell for everything he does, the good doctor still bails him out in this conversation. He knows full well that he wasn't wrong, but he still tries to make Sawyer believe that it wasn't his fault. He knows the guilt of having death on your hands (Juliet, Michael), and he doesn't want it for Sawyer.

Out of nowhere, Hurley sees Young Jacob, who brazenly insists on the ashes that Hurley has in his pocket...the ashes that Ilana took from the foot of the statue where Jacob burned...the ashes of Jacob. When Hurley is reluctant to hand them over, Young Jacob snatches them away and runs...and Hurley gives chase. Did anyone think Hurley could catch him?

As Hurley came across Jacob among a bunch of red flowers, I felt a queasy feeling in my stomach. I neglected to mention the red flowers in last week's recap at the mouth of the cave when the Smoke Monster was 'born', and relay it back to the other instance of the red flowers in the show (Eko's meeting with Yemi), all of which had preceded the appearance of the Smoke Monster.

So after seeing them in this scene, I said out loud "No!", because I honestly thought I was about to see the death of Hurley. And with my mind being where it was at the time, I did not believe that Jacob was actually him...I was sure it was the MIB trying to set up the Losties to get all in one place again. Even the explanation of the burning of the ashes signifying the 'end of Jacob' made sense...

But I was wrong.

As we learned later, it was indeed Jacob, but why the red flowers? Was it just a fear-inducing moment for die-hard Losties like me? Did any of you think the same thing? And why did he appear as young Jacob to Hurley? As an unfamiliar face, instead of just as himself?

Flocke disembarks from the dock and sees Widmore's outrigger loaded with cases still. Remember that back in the barracks, Widmore instructed Zoe to get their stuff out of the outrigger and then sink it, signifying that he knows the end of the story plays out here, and he no longer needs the outrigger to travel between Islands.

Miles decides that he doesn't want to stick around and hide, or stick around and face Flocke, so he decided to just...run away? If Miles ends up dying as he's off hiding in the jungle, or we never hear from him again, I'm going to be pretty pissed. It's bad enough that we have to assume Frank is dead, but now Miles is gone? Why did we develop these characters just to have them go out with a whimper. At least Ilana blew up!

While Widmore and Zoe hide in the secret room, Richard and Ben decide to meet Flocke head on. As they head outside, I'm calling this Mirror Image #3: as Richard and Locke survey the scene of an empty Dharma Barracks, it mirrored when Ben returned after the Purge, and he and Richard slowly surveyed the same scene (minus all the dead bodies of course).

Tika-tika-tika...here comes the Smoke Monster. And there goes Richard. I'm not going to call this one a Mirror Image, but I have to point out that Flocke sure does enjoy nailing Richard right in the throat.

Then Ben sits on the front porch, and I am going to label this Mirror Image #4: as he emerged from the Barracks house and waited for Flocke/Locke to appear, it mirrored the same scene in "Dead is Dead", when he did the same with Sun, declaring "what's about to come out of that jungle is something I can't control."

Then we hear Seductive Flocke's sales pitch to Ben, which essentially was "Kill everyone for me, and you can have the Island." Ben then gives up Widmore in a flash, telling Flocke where he was inside. Remember that whole "Charles killed my daughter" thing? Payback's a bitch, and it's on it's way to the secret room.

OK, I'm just going to be honest and say that I didn't really groove off of Ben's new attachment to Danielle in an intended 'love interest' kind of way. Just too weird. I do, understand, however that we had to see this scene to remind us of Ben's fatherly instincts with Alex (in both worlds) to set up what we were about to see coming up.

What did we really learn, other than they were having Coq Au Vin for dinner, and that Ben looked like Napoleon? (Essay Topic: discuss Ben and Napoleon and the concept of "The Island" as an exile) Not much, but this whole section had some pretty good lines in it:

"Why would someone want to hurt you, you’re like the nicest guy ever."
"After everything you've done for my daughter, a ride is the least we can do."
"We insist. Even if we have to kidnap you."
"You're the closest thing to a father that she's ever had."

The last line made Ben cry, just as he did after the death of Alex on the Island. How many of you figured out that this was going to be the episode where Ben got his revenge? Hands up, please.

Cut to the FS World, where we see Ben and Flocke enter the house, and prominent in the camera shot is a picture of Alex as a young girl. As Flocke goes to enter the secret room, Ben declares "I want to see it." And when Flocke opened the door and flicked on the light, Charles and Widmore were standing there helplessly. They looked rather pathetic. And the smug "Sorry, Charles" from Ben couldn't have helped.

Then, all of my unhappiness over Zoe not being killed earlier in the episode was forgiven as Flocke unsheathed his dagger and slit Zoe's throat in one swift motion. This vicious death was, in my opinion, a nod to all the fans that hated her almost as much as Nikki and Paolo...and on their behalf, I say 'thank you.' Flocke explained to Charles, "You told her not to talk to me and that made her pointless." I actually laughed out loud at that line.

Then, the bribe came, as Flocke promised not to kill Penny if Charles would spill everything to him. And as Charles gave up every piece of information except for one, Flocke motioned him closer so that he could whisper it in his ear. In an incredibly tense approach, Charles began to whisper the final point in an effort to protect Penny, and then...BANG!
"He doesn't get to save his daughter."

Brutal. Vicious. Cold-Blooded Murder. And we all loved it, didn't we? Try to tell me again that Charles Widmore is good.

Ben is back.

The main piece of information that Charles gave up was Desmond's purpose, "because of his unique resistance to electro-magnetism." He then indicated that Desmond was there "as a measure of last resort", which was how the Fail Safe Key was referred to in the Hatch. You can see the recognition in Flocke's eyes when he hears it, as Locke would have known about it. So, while Desmond turned the Fail Safe Key in the Hatch, he now IS the Fail Safe Key.

In the FS World, Locke visited Jack again, and we saw a conversation with the two of them that made it clear that Locke was ready to now become the Man of Faith once again. As he sat there with Jack, Locke gave us Mirror Image #5: as Locke said to Jack, "Maybe this is happening for a reason", it mirrored Locke's legendary line from "Exodus: Part 1", when he said ""Each one of us was brought here for a reason." Coincidence vs. Fate once again.

The Final 4 (Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, and Kate), came to a clearing where they found Jacob, who they could now see...and the answers came flowing fast and furious in the coming scenes.

"Come and sit down and I'll tell you what they died for", Jacob told them, "I'll tell you why I chose them, and why I chose you. And then I'll tell you everything you need to know about protecting this Island because by the time that fire burns out, one of you is going to have to start doing it."

Jacob explained what happened with MIB, and how he was responsible for creating "The Smoke Monster". He went on to say that they were all chosen because they were flawed, and alone in the real world, and that they needed the Island as much as the Island needed them. He also explained that the crossed-out names on the wall were 'just a line of chalk in a cave", and that Kate was still an eligible candidate, but he had excluded her since she became a mother. Does this confirm that Jin was the Kwon on the wall? Sun was a mother, and even though Jin was technically a father, he was alone on the Island having never met Ji-Yeon.

He explained the Cave of Light, and how it had to be protected, and then we got what summed it up absolutely perfectly, which is why I chose it as the opening for this Recap:

"I want you to have the one thing that I was never given. A choice."
"What if none of us chooses it?"
"Then this ends very badly."

Then Jack made the choice we all knew he would, he confidently volunteered to be the Island protector, and Jacob took him to the water, chanted as his mother did 2000 years ago, and gave him directions to the Cave. Now he would be able to find it near the bamboo field where he originally landed on the Island. I thought it was pretty significant that we watched Jacob wash his hands, cleansing himself of the Island and his responsibility to protect it.

Last week, there was a lot of talk that "Across the Sea" should have been placed earlier in the season, but after seeing tonight's episode, it was clear that it needed to be third from last, and right before this episode. We needed to see the cave, the ceremony between Mother and Jacob ("now you're like me"), and the creation of the Smoke Monster to fully understand what happened tonight. It was perfectly placed.

Sawyer: "And I thought that guy had a God complex before" (OK, that was pretty funny.)

It's getting late, and I'm on the verge of rambling again, so I'll try to sum up the great Armored Car Escape (which was awesome!) as quickly as I can, in bullet points:
- I thought Kate and Sawyer talking through the jail cell 'cage' was going to trigger a 'Flash' to the Dharma bear cages.
- I loved Desmond's calm demeanor laying the plan out.
- I wish I wouldn't have seen Michelle Rodriguez's name in the opening credits, or the Ana Lucia reveal would have been pretty good, but I am happy that she wasn't revealed as David's mom, which would have been pretty disappointing.
- Hurley driving up in the Hummer looked like it was straight out of CSI Miami.
- "You didn't tell me Ana Lucia was going to be here." Hurley knows everything! This is great!

I will, however point out Mirror Image #6: when Desmond gave Kate the dress, it mirrored the scene on Hydra Island when Ben gave Kate the dress. And as Desmond declared "We...are going to a concert", it became apparent that this is the location (not John and Helen's wedding as so many people predicted) where everyone and everything will come together in the FS World.

Ben: "If you can turn yourself into smoke whenever you want, why do you bother walking?"
Flocke: "I like the feel of my feet on the ground. It reminds me that I was human."

As Locke and Ben look down into the well where Desmond was supposed to be, we see Mirror Image #7: an almost identical camera shot of the Season 1 finale when the Hatch door was blown open and they were looking inside. Interesting to think that in theory, Desmond was down below in each scenario.

Flocke didn't seem surprised that Sayid didn't kill Desmond, but what was with that rope? Who put it there to help him out? It wasn't Sayid...he told Jack that Desmond was still in the well. Was it someone else? Maybe Frank? What's your theory?

And the last thing we learn before the Finale Event on Sunday night, is that Flocke intends to use Desmond to destroy the Island. Damn...Sunday is going to be awesome.

Body Count: Zoe, Charles Widmore, presumably Jacob when the fire goes out, Richard?

I thought this was an incredible episode. Let's be honest, though, they could pretty much parade flying donkeys on the screen and I would probably rave about it, but this was a fantastic hour of what is turning out to be my favourite season of the show.

A quick note regarding last week’s recap for “Across The Sea”. One of the things about writing my Lost recap immediately after the show ends, is that I haven’t fully been able to wrap my head around what I just saw. Sure, I could wait until the next day, but I like to make my mark with immediate reactions. If that puts me off the mark sometimes…well, I’m ok with that. Last week for instance, once I read the Comments section, my eyes were opened a lot to some options I hadn’t really considered. Sometimes you guys are just one step ahead of me.

Again, thanks for reading, for commenting, and for those of you clicking through and exploring my blog (http://sfurfaro.blogspot.com/) as well. You can also add me on Facebook, where new blog posts get posted there as soon as they go up.

As far as the Season Finale is concerned, I will be writing a full recap, and it will be going up in the hours after the finale airs. I have committed to stay up and write it immediately after the episode, as I have done all season. I realize that this means a late night/early morning, but I will have it up soon after “The End.” And since Monday is a holiday…I can simply sleep all day.

I look forward to your Comments.

Sean's Random Thoughts - Lost Recap - Across The Sea

Here is Sean Furfaro's Recap of tonight's episode.I’ve mentioned in the past how I try my best to go in to each episode this season with as little information as possible. Other than the previous week’s preview and the title of the episode, I try to not have any advance intel. But after seeing the preview for “Across The Sea”, it was a lot more difficult than usual, and the thought of what appeared to be a final word on the Island’s mythology had me on a whole new level of giddiness and excitement.

After last week’s emotional roller-coaster of an episode, would finding out the history of Jacob and the Man in Black satiate viewers? I thought the timing of the episode was fantastic, sticking us back in time, and away from both the Island and Flash-Sideways World. We still have to taste the bitterness of losing Sayid and Sun and Jin for another week before we can continue on in that timeline.

As the episode started and we saw pieces of debris strewn about the ocean, I instinctively said out loud, "Frank?", because I was wondering what we were about to see. Obviously someone was about to surface from the water, but as the tension built and I started to realize that I was indeed not seeing part of a submarine, I figured we were in for something unexpected. And sure enough, an unknown female arose.
As she came out of the water, it became evident that she was very pregnant, and after finding fresh water, she looked up to find C.J. Cregg staring down at her. Well, obviously it wasn't President Bartlett's Press Secretary, but an unknown woman played by Allison Janney. I was thrilled to see her, as I've always been a huge fan of hers, long before The West Wing. (Remember Big Night?)

I was confused by the language she and Claudia were speaking, specifically because Janney's character spoke with no accent whatsoever. And as the two of them were speaking, they both just switched to English, which they both spoke perfectly. As she tended to Claudia's injured ankle, I was reminded of Claire tending to Jin's leg after the bear trap incident earlier this season.

We learned that both of them arrived "by accident", and as Claudia fired questions at her, she responded with what seemed to be another knowing nod to us Losties from the writers, "Every question I answer will simply lead to another question." Well, with only 2 episodes remaining, I sure as hell hope there aren't going to be any new questions!
And as Claudia prepared to give birth to Jacob and the MIB, and declared "It's coming"...who of you were reminded of the scene at the end of last year's finale, after Jacob was stabbed, when he said "They're coming." I definitely was. After baby Jacob was born, and it became clear that there was a second baby coming, we all knew that the MIB was about to be revealed as Jacob's twin, but instead of a big plume of black smoke coming out of Claudia's 'magic baby door' (Thank you Craig Ferguson for that term), we simply got just another baby.

As I craned my ear to hear the name that was given to the second baby, I received a slap in the face in the form of this episode's "Jacob had a thing for numbers", as Claudia declared that she had only picked out one name. As punishment, Jacob's mother (who I shall refer to for the rest of this post as JM, since I have nothing better) brained her with a rock and took the babies...but not before apologizing first. Pretty vicious.

As we come back from our first commercial break and I shield my eyes from the guest stars once again (which would turn to be irrelevant), we see a young MIB walking along the beach and finding the box that would turn out to be his lifelong game with Jacob. I was shocked at how much young MIB looked like Boone, and young Jacob looked like that kid in the forest. Wait...that's because he is the kid in the forest! One of the most obvious questions answered in the first 5 minutes.

JM was weaving back home in the caves, recalling the scene last year where we were introduced to Jacob weaving in the base of the statue. When she asked Jacob where her brother was (for the love of GOD just tell us his name!), he responded by saying that he was "staring out at the ocean", a line that he would use later to describe what Jack needed to do at the Lighthouse. As he tried to cover for his brother, JM used mother's guilt to coax it out of him, asking Jacob if he loved her before he sang like a canary.
As JM then went out to the beach to talk to the young MIB, we witnessed a very interesting conversation between the two of them:

JM: "Jacob doesn't know how to lie. He's not like you."
MIB: "Why? What am I like?"
JM: "You're...special."

Why is he so special? What is so different about him than Jacob? It seemed at this point in the episode that Jacob's relationship with his mother was antagonistic and steeped in guilt and responsibility, where MIB's relationship with his mother was based on love. Was this because, as Jacob declared later, she loved him more?

My theory is that whatever entity/being that their mother is...she was already aware of the characteristics of each, and she already knew that Jacob would be trustworthy and would follow her instructions due to a sense of family obligation, whereas MIB would not. Therefore she had to do a little extra with him, small things like leaving a box for him on the beach...

We also learned that MIB wanted to know what is "across the sea", to which his mother responded "There is nowhere else. There is only the Island." And as the young MIB continued to prod his mother the way that inquisitive youngsters do, he asked about death, and was told "that is something you will never have to worry about." I love that we're getting the backstory...that we're getting the proof of what we all suspected or assumed...but I want to know why. I don't think I'm going to get my answers.

Watching young Jacob chase a boar through the jungle is what I'm going to label this episode's Mirror Image #1: remembering back to that first time that John Locke chased a boar through the jungle in Season 1. I was confused at the sight of other people on the Island ("The Others"?), but not as confused as the boys were, who went back to their mother and started asking questions again.
"They're not like us. They don't belong here. We are here for a reason." they were told. And when the boys invariably asked what the reason was, after a long pause, she responded "It's not time yet."

What followed was a mild rant that echoed exactly what MIB said to Jacob on the beach last season, "They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt, and it always ends the same." Interesting to see that scene, and hear the words coming from their mother's mouth, knowing that it gets ingrained in their brains to be having the same conversation some 30+ years later.

I have to point out that while I get the good vs. evil/black vs. white thematic methods that have been used lately have been about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the head. Yes, I get that Jacob is good, and MIB is bad. I see that they use the relevant black and white stones in their game, and I have seen that as adults, they are dressed in light and dark clothing. But the hair colour, the clothing as children, and even the damn cloths that the babies were wrapped in...it was always Jacob = light and MIB = dark. We get it!
Mom decided to take a walk in the woods with the boys after the revelation of the other people on the Island...and by 'walk in the woods', I mean 'blindfold your kids and take them to a hole of light at the end of a stream.' As we saw our first shot of that opening, I let out a legitimate "What the F*ck!?" I mean, seriously...what the hell was that? Was the briefcase from Pulp Fiction in there? All that we got before the commercial was "this is the reason we're here."
I'm not going to go into the explanation of what JM said that the light was, because it was all seemingly filled with rainbows and unicorns. But we did learn that "if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere", which seemed pretty important. Look, I know that with the music and the explanation of everything, it all seemed very Ferngully or Narnia or some sort of sugary children's tale, but I bought it. I know some people were turned off by it and thought it was relatively cheesy (and perhaps it was), but I went with it.

I think the most relevant thing that came out of this scene was when the young MIB declared 'It's beautiful", which I'm going to call Mirror Image #2: mirroring John Locke's statement upon looking into what we only knew then as "the Smoke Monster". Now that we know what the Smoke Monster was borne out of, it makes complete sense. Plus, it laid the groundwork for the concept that MIB would seek out the light for the next 30 years.

I was confused as to why young MIB saw the vision of Claudia, but Jacob did not. The only answer that Claudia gave was that it was because she was dead. I didn't understand what that meant...was MIB the Hurley of the time...the only one who could see and communicate with the dead? Or was Claudia some sort of entity (like Yemi and Isabella) that was created by a creature that pre-dated the Smoke Monster we know, in an effort to mislead and manipulate? Whatever it was, I'm going to call it Mirror Image #3: recalling when Ben saw the apparition of his dead mother Emily on the Island. The camera work in that scene was very similar to when Emily appeared to Ben in "The Man Behind The Curtain."
And then when Claudia revealed to MIB that she was his mother...come on, how Star Wars was that? The revelation that who you thought was your parent is not your parent...I almost expected Claudia to cut off MIB's hand and for him to end up jumping down a well. (that almost happens later!)

When MIB tells Jacob about Claudia, and his plan to leave their mother, a fight ensues and we see Mirror Image #4: as Jacob attacks his brother and pounds him mercilessly, the same way that Jack did with Ben in the Season 3 Finale, "Through The Looking Glass." Again, the same interspersed shots of one person relentlessly beating on the other and a bloodied face. And in both situations, it was due to an angry individual who didn't believe what he was told by the other...which in both cases...was the truth.
So we see the family split that caused MIB to be separated from his family, and we learn that Jacob has agreed to stay, because he trusts his mother, and as a result, he will never be able to leave the Island. JM explains to Jacob that she "needed him to stay good", making me wonder again if all of her efforts to show as much love to the MIB were, as I suggested earlier, an attempt to sway him away from 'the dark side'.

Flash forward 30 years to see a grown Jacob watching a grown MIB, and joining up again for one of their black stone/white stone games in the woods. I found it interesting to see that they still kept contact with each other, and to see how bitter and disillusioned MIB had become after living with 'People' for that long, and that they were now just "a means to an end", which to him, meant going home to that unknown place 'Across The Sea.' Looks like Mom was right about them after all.
He showed Jacob--with one curving chuck of the magic dagger--there were strange things that they had discovered on the Island. He pleaded with Jacob to come with him, and you could see the true emotion in his eyes. As much as I believe that Flocke/MIB is pure evil, at this point...he still wanted his brother to join him.

Down in the well (dug by hand as we had already been told by Flocke), MIB reveals to his mother that after 30 years, he has finally found the source of the light that she showed them as children. And now he plans to create what we all have come to know as The Frozen Donkey Wheel.
He quotes back what she told him before...that he's 'special', and as she tries to say goodbye to him, we see the emotion he feels...entirely unlike the emotionless monster we've come to see him as in the current Island timeline. Then, she again apologizes (as she did to Claudia) before smashing his head against the wall. (I won't make the Desmond/Kelvin Inman comparison as a Mirror Image since one was inadvertent, and one was clearly intended, although definite similarities exist.)

I'm not sure what to make of the scene at the Light Tunnel with Jacob and his mother when she handed over the reigns of protection to him. What was the significance of the wine, other than the obvious biblical comparisons...right down to the wording of "take the cup and drink"? What did we learn in this scene, though: a) that the light is the source/heart of the Island, b) that going down there is a fate "much worse than dying", and c) that it was always supposed to be Jacob that was going to be the next protector.

However, the most important thing I think we get coming out of this scene is when Jacob was told by his mother "You don't really have a choice." I think that is the key moment that led to Jacob's methods...that there is always a choice.

I loved the scene after MIB woke up from the attack by his mother. After returning to camp, finding his game box, and then seeing the dead bodies slaughtered and strewn about (Mirror Image #5: Dharma barracks after the gas attack), we saw him go from sadness to anger to despair...all in one spinning cyclical camera shot with smoke rising behind him at all angles. Nice touch.

As JM sent Jacob away to get firewood, it was evident to me by her resigned sigh as she walked away, that she knew MIB would be back at the caves. And as we saw how he destroyed the weaving (as he did in the foot of the statue earlier this season), we also saw him murder his mother. As she died, she said something which, no matter how many times I watched it over again, I couldn't figure out. I was hoping it was his name, but alas, it was indiscernible.

She did, however, say that she wouldn't let MIB leave because she loved him...and then said 'Thank You' before she died. Does this mean that she didn't want MIB to be saddled with the burden she had? Again, as with last week, it's getting late and I'm starting to ramble and not make sense...even to myself.
I was impressed with the scene where MIB was sucked into the light, and we saw the birth of the Smoke Monster, but I know some people aren't going to like it. I did enjoy the imagery of the discarded body laying by the river...which Jacob picked up and carried back to the cave to rest with their mother in what would become known as the Adam and Eve skeletons.

What I didn't like was how we were pounded over the head with the Adam and Eve revelation, flashing back to the original scene with Jack and Kate and Locke. That was kind of insulting, to be honest, and I was pretty disappointed.

A couple great lines in the episode that don't deserve a breakdown, but I still want to mention:

- "I've made it so that you can never hurt each other."
- "One day you can make up your own game and everyone else will have to follow your rules."

A couple of questions for you:

- Do you think the MIB being 'special' is related to Desmond being 'special'?
- Did you feel sympathy for MIB? For Jacob? For JM?
- Why the hell isn't Titus Welliver on TV every week?

I loved how this episode followed the model of Ab Aeterno, and not the traditional Lost storytelling structure, in the sense that it followed one story sequentially instead of bouncing around between the present and the Flash Back/Forward/Sideways elements.

We’ve wanted answers for 6 years. We got a LOT of them tonight.

Were you satisfied?

I was. But I still felt like I needed more...

One final note before I wrap this up. The response I’ve been receiving since my recaps have been appearing on DarkUFO has been overwhelming, to say the least. I wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who stop to read, who comment, and who click on through to visit and explore my blog (http://sfurfaro.blogspot.com) as well.

I’m not used to getting this much feedback and commentary, but it’s been a real treat, so thank you once again. Some of you have also found me on Facebook, so feel free to add me on there as well. New blog posts get posted there as soon as they go up. I look forward to your comments this week.

Sean's Random Thoughts - LOST Recap - The Candidate

Here is Sean Furfaro's Recap of Tonight's Episode.

Breathe in...breathe out...breathe in...breathe out. No, I'm not singing Mat Kearney, and no, I'm not just making a predictable joke considering that the last third of this episode essentially took place underwater...I'm just catching my own breath. As I sit down to write this recap not even 10 minutes from the closing credits of "The Candidate", I'm still trying to make sense of it. I'll do my best...

As always, mouse over the pictures to see the captions below.

I used a hockey analogy in describing the pace of last week's episode. Well, if that was the end of a hockey game, then this was a drag race. Again, no "Previously on Lost" since we're going to need every minute in this hour, and we open with a shot of John Locke in the hospital in the FS World. Locke is greeted by Jack, and what ensues is an incredibly well-written scene, where every single word seemingly meant something in both realities. From Jack explaining to Locke that he may be a "candidate", to him declaring that he thinks he can "fix him", to Helen exclaiming "thank you for saving him."



Cut to Hydra Island in the Island World (now with Sayid as the official Hydra Island Greeter!), for a reversal of what we just saw. We cut from a scene where Jack has saved Locke, to a scene where (F)Locke has saved Jack. This scene's express purpose was to show that juxtaposition between the two, and to explain that Flocke, Sayid, and Jack are now on Hydra Island after traveling over in the outrigger.

Widmore's cronies marched our Losties to the cages that we all know only too well from Season 3, and despite some initial refusal from Sawyer (including calling Chip from Kate and Allie "doughboy") they ended up in the cage after Widmore threatened to kill Kate. Widmore rhymed off the names from "the list", which didn't include Kate, so he truthfully declared that he didn't care if she lived or died.

If you read my post from The Last Recruit, you'll remember that I introduced a concept of Mirror Imagery from previous episodes, and there were a number of them once again in this episode, so I'll start here with Mirror Image #1: Kate is threatened at gunpoint outside the cage in front of Sawyer, mirroring when Sawyer was threatened at gunpoint by Pickett outside the cage in front of Kate in the Season 3 episode "I Do." (alternate Mirror Image: Kate held at gunpoint by Juliet in front of Sawyer while they are building the runway in "The Glass Ballerina")

So it all comes full circle and now Kate and Sawyer are back in the land of the Fish Biscuit. But let's be honest, we weren't really expecting a hot and steamy Round 2 with them in that cage, were we? I mean, Sawyer is still presumably grieving Juliet (somehow), and there's no way they would put such a show on for all the others in there, right? The ones we should have been worries about were Jin and Sun after their reunion last week. Hey Widmore...If the cage is a rockin', don't come-a-knockin!

Back in the FS World, Jack pays a visit to Bernard's dental office snooping for info on John Locke. Bernard keeps his oath as a doctor (do dentist's still count?) and doesn't share confidential information, but still helps to steer Jack in the right direction, despite mentioning that he recalls Jack flirting with his wife on the plane. (What?!) Interesting that Jack told Bernard that he needed to fix John, while his Island persona seems to have released that need to fix everything.

Bernard seemed to have a "knowing" look in this scene(not the one in the picture above), and his tone of voice made me wonder if he was aware of both realities. When they realized the Oceanic 815 connection, Bernard said "Maybe you're on to something." And their last exchange seemed to mean more than it appeared on the surface alone:

Jack: "That was three years ago. You just remember that?"

Bernard: "Of course I do, Jack. (pause) Good luck, Doc. I hope you find what you're looking for."

Which is exactly what Kate told Jack in Episode 5 of this season, "The Lighthouse."

As we see Sayid and Jack on the beach on Hydra Island once again, we hear him tell Jack flat-out "Locke saved you." When Flocke joins them, Jack tells him that he's not sure he plans on joining him in his plan to leave the Island. Flocke says that he hopes Jack will change his mind, paralleling the FS World where Jack hopes that Locke will change his mind about the surgery. Flocke is unhappy about Jack's decision and launches into a tirade about how he could have killed Jack and everyone else...but didn't. I'm not sure that was the best way to build trust, it came across as pretty threatening.

In Cage-Land, Sawyer confirmed that Widmore was telling the truth about Kate not being on the list, and we saw a scene between Jin and Sun where they caught up on Ji-Yeon, pictures, and Jin's wedding band. I made a note watching that scene, that it seemed like a 'housekeeping' scene, just to neatly tie things up before the end. Boy, would that note come back to bite me in the ass...

Then the power cuts, we hear the tika-tika-tika that we all used to get exhilarated over, but now seem to respond to with significantly less excitement (am I wrong?), and the Smoke Monster is back in all of his delicious, Smokey form. Chip from Kate and Allie gets chucked into the cage, and lays there with the key dangling off his belt as Kate strains to reach it.

I had a problem with this scene, and it wasn't Frank's faux-heroic attempts to kick open the cage door. It's the fact that the last time Kate was in this cage, she climbed out of the cage through the top...but now's she reaching through the bars unable to get the key off of Chip's belt. Just as I'm yelling at my TV, Jack saves the day once again and unlocks the cage for them. As Kate asks what he's doing there, he responds with "I'm with him", echoing the end of last week's episode, but I didn't believe for a second that Jack was referring to anything other than proximity.

After the escape from the Cages, the Losties (with Flocke) make their way to the plane. Now, before I continue, I have to point out something that has been annoying me for the last couple of episodes. I'm not generally one to pick out continuity errors, but in the last couple of episodes, the day-night switching has just been lazy.

Last week's episode ends in the daytime with Widmore and Zoe taking the Losties hostage, but this week as they were walking to the Cages, it was night. Are we to believe that in the time it took Flocke, Jack, and Sayid to recover from the attack, and paddle over to Hydra Island, as it switched from day to night...that's how long it took Zoe and the Losties to walk from the beach to the Cages? Come on! And then after the nighttime escape from the cages, it's suddenly daytime on the way to the plane?

But back to the story, where in the FS World, Jack continued his creepy ways by tracking down Anthony Cooper. As he ran into Helen in the lobby and explained that he wanted to help, she told him to "leave this alone", but then his response to her was the good old Jack Shepherd we've always known:

Helen: "You saved John's life. Why can't that be enough?"

Jack: "Because it's not."

And as we saw Anthony Cooper for the first time , we didn't see the sleazeball con man we knew him to be...we saw a catatonic creature in a wheelchair (nice touch). It made me think of Ben and Roger in the FS World...and how both Ben and Locke had been cursed with horrible fathers previously, but now the situation was quite different for both of them.

At the Ajira plane, the two "guards" fired on Flocke, and were summarily dismissed. I have to think back to earlier this season, when Bram fired on Flocke and was killed, and then when Ilana cocked her gun when he came out of the statue, Richard instructed her NOT to shoot. Is this the theory I posed earlier, that he can act only when directly threatened? It still doesn't explain the Oceanic 815 pilot or the Temple dwellers, but it may be something...

I saw him take the watch from the dead guard, and then find the explosives in the plane, and I was disappointed that I knew what would be coming...

One question I have about when the Losties arrived at the Ajira plane, was how come we didn't get a scene of Sawyer and Kate looking at each other and saying, "So that's what we were building the damn runway for!" And I actually laughed out loud when Sayid diagnosed the dead guard..."He's got a broken neck." If anyone knows about snappin' necks, it's Sayid.

As they left the Ajira plane, Jack held firm to his insistence that he would not be leaving, and even though Flocke said "fair enough", I didn't buy it for a second. Claire then apologized to Flocke for deserting him earlier, and he gave her a forgiving pat on the back and told her he understood why she did it. He still seemed protective of her, and it made me think of something in terms of how they all refer to the entity I call Flocke or the Man in Black (MIB).

Have you notice that those that trust him, and are "with" him, refer to him as "Locke", or"him", or in Claire's case, even "my friend"...but those that don't trust him, refer to him as "it", or "that thing", or something similar. It's almost as if not trusting him gives them an inability to personalize how he/it is viewed.

In the FS World, Locke woke up in his hospital bed saying "Push the button", and "I wish you had believed me." In an effort to keep this recap to a reasonable length, I'll let you take that one in the Comments section, because I could write a whole post on that.

But out in the waiting area, Jack talked to Claire and we saw Mirror Image #3: where Jack purchased a candy bar in the hospital vending machine and offered in to Claire, mirroring what we saw in the Season 5 finale "The Incident", where Jacob did the same with Jack.

And as Claire explained to Jack that she too was on Oceanic 815, it seemed as if Jack was starting to realize that something was going on after finding out the same thing with Bernard, but we were sidetracked with Claire's gift from Christian, a music box that was playing "Catch a Falling Star." I was expecting that song to be a trigger for one or both of them, but it wasn't.

As the Losties prepared to storm the sub, I watched Sawyer barrel his way down on to the dock and onto the sub like he was a cast member in Stomp, and even though I have no experience inside a submarine, I have to wonder how on earth the crew inside didn't hear them coming. Just before Jack and Flocke headed down, I saw Flocke hand Jack his knapsack, and while I couldn't tell if he switched them or just made sure Jack had his, I knew what it meant. Why the hell did he take that watch?

On the way to the sub, Jack knocked Flocke into the water as Sawyer had instructed, leading all of us Lost junkies to scream thinking that the long-standing theory that Flocke was weakened by water was about to be confirmed. Um...not so much. Credit to Damon and Carlton for the knowing wink from Sawyer telling Jack to "get it in the water", but it appears it was just a stall tactic.

Then my beloved Kate got shot and my jaw dropped. No way! I was too shocked to immediately recognize that I was seeing Mirror Image #4: the shootout at the sub that saw Kate shot and hustled into the sub, mirroring The Incident, where we saw Sayid shot and hustled into the Dharma Van.

As the shootout continued furiously outside the sub, we saw Sawyer go back for Claire, but when he saw Flocke coming for the boat, he abandoned her yet again, locking them both out. Little did she know that this time, she was actually saved, as Flocke told her "You don't want to be on that sub."

The bomb scene on the sub was reminiscent of the scene between Jack and Richard in the Black Rock...it was all about trust. And as Jack explained that they just had to trust him, that they were all going to be ok if they just let the counter click down...I believed him, and I believed him 100%. Did you?

Jack was bang-on in his assessment that the goal by Flocke was for them to kill each other, which is what they would be doing by messing with the bomb. And just as Jack has become the Faithful, like Locke...Sawyer has now become the Non-Believer, like Jack once was.

As the bomb ticked down furiously, Sayid grabbed it and gave Jack a message about Desmond on the Island, and how Jack would need him. His last line before running off with the bomb was "It's going to be you, Jack", which I can only imagine refers to the title of the episode, 'The Candidate", and that Jack will be the one to replace Jacob.

Very few scenes in this show give me full on goosebumps anymore, but Sayid's slow-motion run through the submarine before blowing up was one of them. Just when I thought I didn't care what happened to him...wow.

The sequences on the sub all happened so fast that I can't really take them all in without a second or third viewing. Frank gets a door blown in his face (mirroring Jack on Hydra Island?), Jack screams "There is no Sayid!", Hurley tries to get Kate to safety, Jack leaves with Sawyer, but then it all came down to Jin and Sun.

Now I've been very vocal with the use of these two characters this season, and what I perceived as their uselessness, and that they were a love story that I just wasn't buying into. But as I watched the water rise to Jin's chin, and saw Jack leave them alone on the sub, and remember back to what I called the "housekeeping" scene in the cage...it became clear what I was watching.

And I lost it. If you would have told me I would be bawling my eyes out at Jin and Sun drowning, I would have scoffed at you, but that's the damn magic of this show. They remind you that just when you think you don't care anymore, you still do. I'll leave more accomplished recappers like Vozzek and Jeff Jensen to break down that scene, but if you weren't emotional in that closing shot of the hands separating with the flashing red light behind and the musical score playing, I would argue that you don't have a heart.

But as I shook off the emotion of that scene, and watched the show switch back to Locke in the FS World, I found myself wondering if perhaps Locke was responsible for Cooper's condition...and that's why he didn't want to talk about it. And in that closing FS scene between Jack and Locke, that appears to be what we are being led to believe, but I think it's something else...

Did you notice that when Locke saw Jin in the hospital hallway, he paused as if he recognized him? I'm now wondering if the Locke we are seeing in the FS World is indeed the Man in Black, and he too has traveled between the two realities. It would make sense that he would refuse the surgery, because he would NEED John Locke to not be able to walk, so that the Island would still give him his faith once he was there. Make sense? Probably not...it's getting late and I'm clearly starting to ramble.

Jack and Locke talked fathers, letting go, and "what happened, happened", and then in a final un-Locke-like laugh, John rolled away as Jack called after him "I wish you believed me." Mirror Image #5: this is the same message from John to Jack in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham."

The surviving Losties, Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, and a wounded Kate reconvene on the beach where Hurley breaks down, and Jack seemingly acknowledges that his faith is being tested.

Then we switch to Claire and Flocke, and somehow the MIB knows that the sub sunk, and not everyone is dead...and stomps off "to finish what I started."

Body Count: Sun, Jin, Sayid, Chip from Kate and Allie, a number of randoms, and possibly Frank. Quite a statement for one episode.

You can breathe now...

Until next week.