Meet Kevin Johnson

An unusually structured episode gave us one long flashback bookended by brief and somewhat maddening scenes on the island. We begin with Locke calling a Town Hall meeting and becoming Captain Obvious (“Um, we like knew that forever ago,” Hurley says, a hat tip to fans). And we end with Ben sending Alex to safety, but an ambush takes out her mother and boyfriend. In the middle, we see the lost months between Michael’s escape with Walt and his return on the freighter as Kevin Johnson. On the conspiracy side, Widmore is fingered as the man behind the fake wreckage. On the supernatural side, “The Island” is ascribed the intent and ability to keep Michael alive as he’s still got work to do, and Libby shows up in visions.

“Meet Kevin Johnson” didn’t offer much in the way of answers, but rather filled in a few blanks and confirmed a few things. Michael and Walt did make it home, though things obviously haven’t gone well since. Widmore is behind the fake wreckage (if Tom is to be believed), the bodies harvested from a Thailand graveyard. And Michael is compelled to return as much out of guilt over killing Ana Lucia and Libby as he is by his son’s estrangement. Mention of the rest of Ben’s followers at “The Temple” couldn’t have come at a more perfect time, the hiatus affording the chance to reconstruct Alpert’s group. Oh, and Tom was gay!

If the island kept Michael from killing himself, then Jack’s bridge rescue at the end of Season Three falls under a whole new light. Perhaps his work’s not over yet, either. And what of Hurley’s L.A. car chase? Perhaps his descent into madness stems in part from discovering some twisted form of invincibility? Maybe he finds he’s incredibly “lucky” insofar as he can’t get hurt or die… but to the point where it becomes a curse?

It was interesting to discover that Tom is another Mainland visitor, however infrequent, and obviously living in style when away on business. Seeing Tom traveling while Juliet was told they were trapped, Jen felt, implies that Juliet is as fooled by Ben by anyone else. Not that she’s innocent, or even trustworthy, but clearly not part of the inner circle.

Jen’s horrified to see Rousseau shot. We love Rousseau (the actress as much as the character), and although she has come and gone with almost maddening randomness, she’s always been a reminder of the deeper history of the island, a failsafe that we’d take comfort in, since we can fantasize that she just might someday give us some of the answers we most crave. We’re mourning Karl a bit less. Though Jen chuckled when he said, “I have a bad feeling about this.” (You have to be a “Star Wars” fan to appreciate it. Especially given how frequently Karl is compared to whiny Luke Skywalker.)

Who’s behind those bullets? My guess is Ben, since he sent them off in the first place and since Karl and Rosseau are the only two things standing between him and Alex. (Remember how possessive he is of Juliet.) On the other hand, we haven’t seen an ambush quite like that before, and with Frank’s chopper disappearing a little while ago, he may have been delivering some of the gun-happy thugs we met on the deck of the freighter.

Speaking of the freighter mission, it’s clear now that not everyone aboard is on board, so to speak. The automatic weapon skeet shoot further confirms the threat Ben sees in the freighter’s arrival. But Frank seems primarily motivated by finding Oceanic 815 survivors (and finding out what happened to his pilot friend). Indeed, as I mentioned before, I think everyone has a different story. Dan, Miles, Charlotte… like Michael, I think being on the boat is one means to several different ends. Miles’ line about 80 percent of the passengers lying about something was probably a conservative estimate.

Why did Sayid out Michael to the captain? So soon after being told, you know, don’t trust the captain? Is this the “thinking with your heart” mistake that Ben mentioned a while back? Torpedoing a plan out of anger over Michael’s betrayal? It seems like such a tactical mistake, the kind of mistake that we only wish were out of character for Sayid. But Jen’s warming up to the theory that Sayid is already working with Ben, starting at least from their conversation in the rec room. When Sayid seems surprised at Michael’s mention of Ben’s plan, he could just as easily be surprised in thinking, “You too?” He may have just needed confirmation from Michael himself (initially doubting Ben) before putting Phase Two into action.

We’re also baffled as to what Libby’s appearances mean. With Charlie, it seems as if he is a manifestation of Hurley’s guilt, nudging him toward doing the right thing. But Libby basically shocks Michael awake in the hospital, then warns him against setting off a bomb that doesn’t actually do anything. Jen thinks this actually adds credence to the theory that these visions are real and are being put there by someone else, perhaps Ben or — since it apparently has a plan — the island itself. Someone needed Michael to wake up, and to not follow through on the plan to kill everyone on the boat. (Recall that Ben was surprised that Michael pressed the button.) My question: Was Harper’s message to Juliet such a vision as well?

Or, on Libby, how about this? We see Michael wake up in the hospital twice. First, in an older hospital room, with older equipment. He sees Libby, who says he was in a car crash. He recognizes her and wakes up yelling. Then he’s in a modern room with a different nurse who also explains the car crash and the note for Walt. Remember, though, that Michael has had two significant car accidents in his lifetime. Was that first hospital room a dream, or was it his first recovery? Was Libby actually there? Could Michael’s recognition of her be the result of an “unstuck in time” moment? Why was his car (in 2004 New York) so old, anyway? We didn’t even see any other cars on the street.

Or maybe I’m just thinking too hard.

It was good to see Cynthia Wattros again, at least. And a coherent Fisher Stevens. No sign of Zoe Bell’s Regina, though. Which means we better get a real freighter flashback soon. Alas, it’ll be another month until we get our next new dose of “LOST.” Time to pull out those Stephen King novels.

Notes and Notions:

  • Lots of fun references. “The Shining,” by Stephen King (cabin fever, and Stephen King). “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut (“unstuck in time,” eerie pink light). “It’s Getting Better” by Mama Cass (“Make Your Own Kind of Music”). And Bob Dylan fans may recognize the Hotel Earle (“Subterranean Homesick Blues” cue card video, Charlie’s Dylan T-shirt).
  • Looks like Sawyer was the winner in this week’s “token scene” lottery. Not only does he get the most awkward chunk of exposition (explaining exactly which Michael is on the boat), but he trots over with a late dig at Locke’s leadership.
  • Locations: The “Port of Suva” was Kewalo Basin. You could even see the smokestack from the old incinerator (now the Children’s Discovery Center) in the background. Michael gets into his green Dodge Aspen on Merchant Street next to Pioneer Plaza, drives up Bethel Street, then ends up between Pier 18 and 19 where he crashes into a shipping container.
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86 Responses to Meet Kevin Johnson

  1. Nels says:

    Okay, after sleeping on the episode, I had another observation that caught my attention last night but which I think may have more significance than I had thought. Anybody else notice Alex holding her stomach during the conversation where Ben tells Alex to go to the temple? Anybody else get the impression that she may be pregnant (thanks to Karl) and that maybe Ben knows this?

    The gun fire which hits Karl and Danielle sounded more like a semi-automatic sniper rifle type fire than fully-automatic fire and seemed like it was definitely more targetted than just random spray of fire. Keany was shown with the fully automatic so I’m thinking it isn’t him firing. I’m thinking it might be the Temple people and firing specifically upon Ben’s orders or possibly an additional security system that protects the Temple. Okay, maybe I’ve been playing too much Half-Life. 🙂

  2. Oceanic 6 1/2: you have a point.

    When we see Michael on the ship in Fiji there is one helicopter. When Naomi travels to the Island, her chopper crashes.

    Then the other crew (the scientists) get to the Island they have a helicopter.

    So either Naomi’s crash was faked (and why???), there is another ship out there, or the writers had better sharpen their pencils.

  3. NuckinFuts says:

    The “100 Years War” lasted 116 years and becuase of years of peace it was only being fought for about 81 of those years. This is an instance where numbers can be rounded up and down by the media or historians. That being said and due to the fact that I am not willing to trust ABC promos becuase they are not tied to LOST production and are in business to make more money if there are “shockwaves” down the line I am willing to wait longer till I hear someone on the show say “Hey…that’s the O6 baby…Aaron” or until we see more. That is not what I wanted to talk about though…

    I think Ryan & Jen are right in that Libby was in the hospital the 1st time Michael got hit by the car and not the time he crashed himself last night. Based on the 2 different rooms and the 2 different patients next to him. I also thought it was neat how when Libby appears with blankets and startles him from sleep it was almost the same pose she is in when he shoots her in the future.

    I thought this was a good episode because we now know more about Walt as well. I was thinking he was probably on the island still…and that he was manifesting himself or something. It is clear that he is home….unless he has stowed himself away on the frieghter ( which would be impossible because we know how super tight the security on the frieghter has been..ha! ).

    I wanted to point out that conversation between the pilot and Michael. If I remember it is the pilot who claims to have been over that manifest 1000 times and knows everyone on that plane. I can’t remember if they had studied the faces of everyone, but based on how prepared everyone on the rescue team has been including knowing Ben’s face, Miles knowing who Kate was, etc. I think it is reasonable to think he probably knew who Michael was. I think if Widmore is powerful enough he may have known of the attempt by Ben to put a spy on the boat, but thought it was best to let it play out until he thought it would hinder his plans.

    I want to talk about what I consider to be one of the biggest mysteries going on. I think it has to do with “The Lists” and who are “Like Us” as I think Ben put it. I want to know more about Cindy & the kids and the people sent to the cages that were “there to observe”. For some reason this sticks out in my head as having some heavy significance and I believe it ties to the people on the lists and is a clue as to who we may see at “The Temple”.

    The Temple could have anything hidden there. Including a spare sub, plane, whatever. It’s obviously a place even some of the Others don’t know about or are not “ready” to know about, but Ben does.

    Thanks – Nuckinfuts – Atlanta, GA

  4. Rob from Aurora, IL says:

    $3.2 MILLION DOLLARS DOES NOT EQUAL 324 BODIES FROM BEN:

    I gotta blow the whistle on myself and say I was wrong in my guess…. Ben was not the supplier of the bodies to Widmore at a price of $3.2 million…Just a coincidence.

    Damn…..Oh well…..onward and upward.

  5. Lindsay says:

    Liked last night’s episode but I didn’t love it.

    It was great to have some questions answered about Micheal. When he and Walt escape they must have been picked up by some “others” and transported secretly to the USA that way…it’s the only thing that makes sense given security, passports, and stuff that some folks have mentioned above. Otherwise he would have gotten a ton of media attention, wouldn’t be using an alias, etc.

    Does anyone think it’s weird that we’ve heard the same “it’s Whidmore’s boat”, “Widmore is behind the whole thing” lines 4x from 4 different characters (Ben, The Captain, Tom, Helicopter Pilot)?
    It seems like
    1) that information should be more confidential and not told so casually to ‘just anyone’ (ie. The Captain to Sayid, Helicopter Pilot to Michael) and
    2) the writers are beating it to death
    which makes me think there may be more to the story. Maybe I’m thinking about it way too much but it’s a little fishy. I’m not convinced that the file Tom showed Michael is concrete proof that the plane at the bottom of the ocean was all Widmore’s idea. Ben fits in there somewhere.

    Also, I did find Tom’s ‘outing’ a little indulgent on the writer’s part and pretty pointless in the whole scheme of LOST. Just me 🙂

    And about Sayid turning Michael in so quickly? There’s got to be more to that. Sayid has made some rash decisions in the past but come on. I like the theory he’s already working for Ben – or Widmore…hehe.

    I wouldn’t be heartbroken to see Carl die but agree Rousseau has more to come on the show. She’s not dead. Could it be the smoke monster attacking?? Okay I know this is a long-long-longshot but the writers did say there was more smoke-monster to come and it would be able to do something new…anyone? Okay, nevermind.

    thekidflash: funny comment about Naomi’s jeans…I too noticed that plumber butt!

    Don’t want to wait a month but it’ll be a lot easier than the last break 🙂

  6. Lindsay says:

    Oh ya, and about Jin being dead or alive? Definitely dead. When Hurley met Sun in Korea he said something like (and I forget the exact wording) “Let’s go see him”. Surely those two would have the inside scoop. Hurley wouldn’t have said ‘him’ the way he did if the tomb was empty.

  7. lost in brooklyn says:

    Connie in Alaska: I always enjoy your comments. I also heard what sounded like whispers (or, say, heavy beathing) when Libby appeared to Michael on the ship. Hmmm.

    Well, I didn’t love this episode, partly because I am not a big fan of Michael’s character. I think the writers kind of drop the ball with him. Lost writers are great at giving us characters that could so easily fall into stereotypes (on a different show) and breaking them down into all of their complex parts. They don’t do this with Michael. All of his flashbacks have always felt a bit contrived. For the contradictions they want us to accept they need to spend a lot more time with this character, otherwise, it just doesn’t jibe.

    The “Manhattan” scenes were painful to watch for someone who lives here. It was clearly Hawaii with some makeup on. Seriously, there haven’t been alleys in Manhattan since the 80s, they have all been converted into luxury condos. And you just don’t ever see the sky (as we did with the scene where Michael gets into his car to crash it). Overall though, this is not a big deal.

    One question I haven’t seen asked: So, how is Walt with his Gramma in NYC and talking to Locke on the Island? Must be the whisper-transport?

    Anyone else think the captain is working for Ben?

    Anyone else still think Ben is pure Evil incarnate? What was this whole “I don’t kill innocents..” baloney. Um, there is a mass grave full of bodies that says otherwise…and only 2 weeks ago week we saw him glorying in the death of Goodwin, which he indriectly caused. Are we meant to believe all the people in that mass grave were not innocent…I sure hope not.

    I don’t think the Widmore/Linus face off is about good v. evil, I think they are both bad for different reasons.

  8. Bill says:

    Lindsay, OK, if Jin is dead and buried at the site Hurley and Sun visited — how did his body get there?

    Listed as DYING on the date Flight 815 went down, I have a basic problem with the logistics. How did they get a two-month old crash victim to Korea for burial? Could be his ashes there – NOT! Nah, he’s alive, either on the island or maybe in Korea.

    Those two toothbrushes in the bathroom are significant, too. That wasn’t an accident.

    Sun survived delivery, so does that substantiate she DIDN’T get pregnant on the island after all? Juliet said the pregnancy issue developed at conception, and that getting off the island wouldn’t alter it. I suspect Sun wanted to believe Jin was the father, but never really accepted it.

    I’m anxious to see how two helicopters / two pilots are explained. I guess Naomi could have been the pilot when she bailed out; but not likely.

    Until then… I’ll just keep an open mind.

  9. Bill says:

    Can’t help myself — just a quick response to lost in brooklyn.

    So far, Linus has demonstrated that he’s a stone cold murderer (gassing the Dharma staff, attempted murder on Locke; he’s a kidnapper (Kate, Jack, Sawyer, tailies; he’s a liar and a conniver (every time his mouth is open).

    Widmore is being portrayed as being a heavy, especially in his treatment to Desmond. I suspect he wants only to challenge Desmond to prove his worthiness — maybe greatness. Widmore arranged the sailboat as a secret benefactor and set Desmond on his course. He also handed over Penny’s new address very easily to Desmond (The Constant).

    In the end, I can envision Widmore and Desmond toasting shots poured from a bottle of MacCutcheon.

  10. Aitor says:

    Just for the record, I’ve just been listening to the official podcast, and they confirmed that the Oceanic Six are indeed Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Aaron and Sun.

  11. TimR says:

    Liked the episode on the whole, but I didn’t like the ending. Ok I liked it when Alex’s love interest died, in fact i had been wishing their relationship would end seconds before it did, but the way they made Danielle say her goodbyes right before she got shot down completely too the surprise out of it. I’ll take good exciting drama over closure any day (although I still want closure on all that stuff left over from Charlie, I admit).

  12. Connie in Alaska says:

    Michelle’s comments about Ben keeping his hands “clean” by not killing people got me to thinking about degrees of innocence on a continuum of “soul as black as night” to “pure as the driven snow”. It is possible that Ben is only fooling himself with his innocence and will get his comeuppance and judgement in the end when the Island is done with him. Karma, baby.

    Sometimes the person who “commits murder” through manipulation, plotting and deception of others (Ben) is more guilty than the person who kills in the heat of the moment (Michael) or to right a perceived wrong or rescue a loved one (again Michael, Kate, Sawyer, Ana Lucia).

  13. Connie in Alaska says:

    Whew! Just got through reading all the comments before me and had a few thoughts. (Ryan and Jen, my hat is off to you! You read all our “stuff” and podcast about it…amazing!)

    I also wondered about Naomi’s arrival on the Island and her helicopter. It could be that what Des, Charlie, Jin and Hurley saw that night was Frank breaking through the “time warp barrier”. It is curious, though. There was definitely only one helicopter on deck in Michael’s flashbacks.

    The whole Oceanic 6 controversy stems, I think, from people’s disappointment that one of the O6 slots was filled by a mere baby when others were more deserving and would be more interesting to hear about.

    Regina gradually went bonkers. What was her state of mind when she was communicating with the Freighties on the Island? Did the captain know they were all communicating with one another via sattelite phone? My guess is no.

    Lostpedia.com has a good timeline of events on a day by day basis.

    Lost in Brookly: T’anks!

  14. Mike says:

    Okay is it me not wanting to let go, but does anyone think Rousseau is not dead. Being so clever that she is, and realizing that she does not have the upper hand, I was thinking she took a dive and will wait until its safe to awake and save her daughter.

  15. Steve says:

    Nels Says:
    March 21st, 2008 at 6:53 am

    “Okay, after sleeping on the episode, I had another observation that caught my attention last night but which I think may have more significance than I had thought. Anybody else notice Alex holding her stomach during the conversation where Ben tells Alex to go to the temple? Anybody else get the impression that she may be pregnant (thanks to Karl) and that maybe Ben knows this?”

    I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING! Nice catch.

  16. Cat says:

    ok…the oceanic 6 discussion is over. Darlton’s podcast says that the ABC trailer identifies the oceanic 6. Aaron is one of them.

  17. Rob from Aurora, IL says:

    MORE BOOKS FOUND THAT WERE WRITTEN BY THE LOST ISLAND INHABITANTS!

    The Importance of Teambuilding – written by John Locke

    Why I don’t Like My Dad – written by Danielle

    Why I don’t Like the Feeling of This – written by Carl

    Why You Shouldn’t Stand-Up When People are Shooting at You, – written by Rosseau

    How I Can’t Get Son Back from My Mom Even Though I Killed, Lied and Cheated a Bunch of Other People – written by Michael

    How to Make Rash Decisions – written by Sayid

    How to Say Nothing When Rash Decisions are Being Made – written by Desmond

    Why I Have a Male Friend in my Penthouse, I Don’t Care to See Kate Undress, and I Throw a Football Like a Girl with Jack in Season 3 – written by Tom

    What I Have In Common with Professor Dumbledore – written by Tom

    Another Meaningless Day at the Beach – written by Kate and Jack

    How to Purchase an EXACT REPLICA Plane, Excavate and Dress 324 Dead Bodies, Transport the Plane & Bodies, and Plant Them at the Bottom of the Ocean Next to the Island Nobody Can See – written by Charles Widmore

  18. paintergirl1 says:

    I agree that some of the writing on this episode felt a little awkward. However, I completely forgive the writers. They are going to have to do some creative story telling and pacing to get past the challenges created by the writer’s strike. I think they are trying to get the story out the best they can.

    Go go gadget island! Save Rousseau!!

  19. Dave says:

    Couple of comments on the comments above.

    I think it was a very conscious decision to change the intubated pateint to a nonivasively ventilated patient in the hospital. Michael’s vital signs monitor at the bedside was also different.

    I’m wondering why Ben and Tom and Richard and some others (Ben’s man being beaten by Widmore) can leave the island, but others (Juliet and the pregnant women) can’t. Youd think that Ben not wanting “innocent” people to die would just let the women leave. The whole Others thing is very creepy and cult-like and I wish we could learn a little more about what motivates them to follow Ben. Fear? Manipulation?

    This was not the best crafted episode in my opinion, but it did (I think) answer a lot of questions. They might not be critical to the Lost mythology, but we learned how Michael got back, that Walt is back in NY, that they didn’t travel through time, that fortysomething black men don’t like Mama Cass ;)…

    Did anyone else have a little hatch flashback when the alarm horn sounded on the boat? DES, PRESS THE BUTTON!

    Michel’s mother — Walt’s grandmother — looked a little like the woman from the Miles flashback. But that seemed to be in LA, not NYC. I was also wondering if the obituary clipping from last year mentioned “Kevin Johnson,” but it was actually someonthing Lantham according to the old postings.

    I do like this weird notion that the island won’t let people die (except pregnat women). It’s a very “monkey’s paw” kind of thing, and perhaps that’s why Ben won’t let the people who want to leave get off the island.

  20. havasupi says:

    Finally watched the episode.

    Yeah, I have to agree that the two hospital rooms are Michael’s two accidents, and that Libby was his nurse.

    Another thing that I didn’t mention before is that I don’t think Michael left the “don’t trust the Captain” note. Possibly, I missed something, and that is why so many seem so sure he did. But, I think it was the helicopter pilot. When asked if he did, he answered with a question, “why would I do something like that?” that is not a “No.” and to answer a question with a question usually points to a lie.

    To answer all the defensive ones about Aaron being a 6. Sorry, about my little joke. “… then I’m an Oceanic 6” It was a silly joke and not meant to rile anyone. Of course Aaron could be a 6 in the Lost world. But if he is, and this is my opinion and why I think it is a sign of iffy writing: it is a cheat. The outside world would take Aaron as a 6, the TV audience knows that he isn’t, technically, and to merge the two is deceptive.

    I’m not so sure about Ben being a Good Guy. And I have trashed most of my theories about the the show. I have kept the spine of my theories in that it is a show about the precarious choice of Good vs Evil, and how do you tell the difference? If you only see one side, you see in black and white, once you ad dimensions and other p.o.v.s everything gets blurry.

    So, it seems that now there are two choices. Widmore and Linus. And there has always been the choice between Good vs. Evil conceit of the show. I know the writer’s dismissed the Purgatory theory. But what if, one is God and one is the Devil playing it out on Earth? That would line up all the supernatural, ghost, time travel, not being able to kill yourself until you finish your “job”.

    And speaking of Job, as in they guy in the Bible, Jack seems to be wearing his mantle. He was once a successful surgeon, loses wife and finally gets lost at sea. Job was the pawn of a bet between God and the Devil, If everything is away from Job and Job loses his faith the Devil wins, if Job loses everything and still keeps his faith God wins. Seeing Jack as what he became after rescue, loss of faith, Devil seems to have won — unless the push to go back to the Island is a sign of Jack regaining his faith.

    Who are Jack and Michael saying, “I’m sorry” to? They both seem to be looking up when they do it.

    I am not a bible thumper, I’m just interested in theology, all kinds.

    In no way am I saying the writers of Lost have gone Evangelical.

    But the show seems to have a connection with the gain/loss of Faith (all kinds of faith), in my mind.

    So, the whole Ben being a Good Guy? A good guy never has to say he is a good guy. For one thing. And Ben is a master manipulator. A bomb that doesn’t go off on the someone who set it to go off believing is job was to kill everyone on the freighter, that is one heck of a manipulation. I don’t care what Ben’s rationale of “innocents on board, and I don’t kill innocents” is. He’s a puppet master, he is pulling the strings. If one of those strings pulls a trigger, the puppet isn’t the only one to blame.

    The note on the bomb: “Not Yet.” The left side of the paper wasn’t unfurled all the way. I think there was more to that note.

    I wonder about who can leave the island too. If pregnant women die in their 3rd trimester, why weren’t they shuttling them off the island? To deliver their babies safely and return later? That makes me think that traveling off the island might not be the regular way to fly. I know Ben had a drawer full of passports, but maybe that was a manipulation too.

  21. havasupi says:

    And the game show?

    Was it just for the Kurt Vonnegut reference, or who is the host? The muted out his name, or the contestants?

    And what was the game show called?

  22. Reg in WA says:

    The guy in the coffin with the name that is not Kevin Johnson could very easily be Michael–remember, when talking to his mom, there was mention of fake names and not being able to tell anyone who they really were and that they had survived 815.

    “8 survived, 2 died” sounds very much like Jin and maybe Claire are listed as dead but had to be accounted for as survivors of the crash for some reason. Which could mean that they are seen or brought out by the outside world folks. In any case, I have a bad feeling about Claire.

  23. JRR says:

    In the credits for this episode, it lists Jill Kuramoto
    as the woman who plays the “Female Anchor.”
    I thought the female anchor was played by
    Zoe Bell. Comments?

  24. Connie in Alaska says:

    Dave-Yes about the alarm on the boat. I yelled at the TV, “Someone start pushing the buttons or you’re all gonna die!” Too funny!

    I don’t think the Island is averse to people dying in a general sort of way, but it does seem that the Island keeps the people alive that it needs for its own purposes. The Island has a plan and it’s laid out like a human Rube Goldberg contraption. It looks crazy and convoluted, but when it is put into motion it is a thing of beauty. Maybe Ben has seen the whole plan and knows how and who is needed to make it work.

    havasupi-I like your theory about Michael not passing the note and Frank being the note passer. There is now some question as to whether or not Captain Gault is also a mole for either Ben or someone else (because of his passive reaction to Sayid outing “Kevin”). Finding out who he is really allied with will make the meaning of the note clear and who may have sent it.

    Also like your Job analogy. At the end of the book of Job, after all of his suffering and hearing the bad advice from his friends, God comes down to Job and basically says, “Where were you when I was creating the world and all its wonders? Who is man to question the ways of God?” BUT because Job did not blame God for his suffering, God restored everything Job had lost and them some! Perhaps in the final episode of Lost, everything will be “course corrected” only better than it was before: Jack stays married, Clair stays with her boyfriend, Kate’s mother gets abuse counseling, Hurley gets Starla and they use the lottery money to open a free-range ranch for escapees of Mr. Cluck’s, Charlie’s band eclipses the Beatles…someone stop me before I hurt myself! ;O)

    JRR-If I am not mistaken, Zoe Bell played the part of Regina, the upside-down-book-reading-chain-wearing high diver.

  25. Bryan says:

    A couple things regarding earlier posts.

    I agree that Sayid revealing Michael to the ship captain is sloppy and defies Sayid’s intelligence. He would more than likely have held his cards until he needed to play them. Nothing is to be gained by him ratting out Michael. Besides, Sayid wasn’t exactly friends with Ana Lucia and Libby, so why is he so bent on getting back at Michael. This makes no sense and slaps in the face of the intelligence that the writers have given Sayid previously in handling situations like this.

    Also, we are all assuming that Jin did not get off the island with Sun. Maybe their date of rescue was the same date as the crash and there was some other incident that caused Jin’s death on that same day. This could be a major smokescreen by the writers.

  26. havasupi says:

    JRR, the Anchor women in the credits was the news lady on the TV in Michael’s room mentioning they found the sunken plane wreckage.

    Though, I think you were making a pun, on Regina’s literally becoming an anchor woman.

    Thanks Connie for the ending of the Job story. It was good to be reminded of that.

    I found it curious that there is no enhanced version of last week’s Lost.
    It’s also interesting that they had some pretty tight shots in that episode. That leads me to think they are hiding something or a lot of somethings, especially, since what’s behind the toy store clerk changes 3 or 4 times. I definitely don’t buy it as continuity mistakes, after seeing the 2 hospital rooms with Michael.

  27. Montana says:

    JRR — hilarious! I laughed out loud.

  28. Ben says:

    My 2c – Aaron was one of the O6.

    When the show was over, the announcer made a mention of how we know the O6 and they flashed Aaron’s face as one of the 6 flashes.

    I think they just blatantly told us for the sake of killing this argument.

  29. bubette says:

    A couple of thoughts:

    He said, she said …

    Ben says Widmore is responsible for the faked crash of Oceanic 815; Widmore says its Ben. And everyone’s taking sides. My opinion is that we’re being set up. A third possibility that I haven’t seen anyone raise is that it is neither Ben nor Widmore — someone that neither is aware of, so that both Ben and Widmore are honest, but misinformed, when they attribute the threat to the other. My thought is that the rest of this season will involve an escalation of tensions between the B and the W camps, only to find out in the season finale that there is an even more ominous threat, not to be revealed until next season. The economist anyone?

    Curiouser and curiouser …

    There is no way that Tom traveled to and from the island in that dinky submarine quick enough for his island timeline to make any sense. I’ve always thought there was more to the Looking Glass station than has been revealed thus far. Just as the looking glass was a portal between two worlds for Alice, I think the looking glass stations (yes, plural) are the portal that the Others use to travel so freely to and from the island.

    The logo and design plans that Sayid had do not match the station where Charlie met his demise. My bet is they DO match a companion station off the coast of Portland. I originally thought that perhaps Dharma had built some sort of teleportation mechanism but I now think that the looking glass stations somehow control or focus the same forces that are at play when people travel at one of the bearings (305, 320) that get people off the island using more conventional modes of transport.

    We know that bearings are important because of different time dilation affects that seem to be associated with each but I don’t think it is just a time effect. If you think in terms of a space-time continuum, then then different bearings could dislocate you in either time and/or space. Think of the polar bear remains in Tunisia. Anyway, maintaining the right bearing is tricky and the risk high if you are off.

    Back to the looking glass stations — my theory is that they provide a fixed and predictable worm-hole link between the mainland and the island and that in this particular case the dislocation is entirely spatial, with no or minimal time dilation.

  30. Matt says:

    Liked the show. They finally got around to Michael’s flashback since he left the island and enjoyed every minute of it.

    My feeling is that Widmore is more than just a little shady. I don’t see Ben having enough clout to go into country and be able to dig up 300 bodies without being spotted or reported to that country’s authorities. That type of clout could only belong to a select few in the entire world and Widmore seems to have the money and power to pull something like that off. The only reason Faraday “shut down” the poison gas station was to be able to control it. The station was layered with encryptions he had to bypass or break through after he initiated the countdown. He know has the power to release the gas anytime he wants or is ordered to. That had to be done in order to let the people from the boat explore the island and get what they were after. Then, everyone on the island will be doomed. Another possibility is that Widmore works for someone else, be it a secret private corporation or person. Either way I don’t see why Ben would even want to bring attention to an area anywhere near the island. Too big of a risk.

    After Sayid’s flash forward I’m wondering if his crash landing on the island was an accident after all. A doctor being on a plane that large isn’t a stretch but an ex-Iraqi interrogator that just happens to be in Australia crash lands on Ben’s island and he ends up working for him once he is off the island. I’m starting to think Sayid was a plant and the crash wasn’t so accidental.

  31. lost in brooklyn says:

    I forgot to mention this earlier, re Sayid outing Michael to the Captain…

    This does not seem like sloppy writing to me. Sayid is on that boat to get answers and we all know that Sayid is not one to sit around and wait for some one else to figure it out. Their situation is looking bleak on that boat (people are dropping off like flies), why would he wait? Sayid is one of the O6 (and he works for Ben) maybe this is the begining of his deal to get off the island.

    Perhaps even more likely, the Captain works for Ben too and Sayid is going to be the one with egg on his face in the next new episode.

  32. p j says:

    Okay episode. The shooter looks like Richard Halpert.

  33. Reg in WA says:

    If Tom can go off the island, apparantly at will, why not just move the pregnant women off the island to have the babies?

  34. Reg in WA says:

    If Tom can go off the island, apparently at will, why not just move the pregnant women off the island to have the babies?

  35. Connie in Alaska says:

    I think it is because control freak Ben can’t risk anyone leaving the Island and not coming back or leaking information. Or it could be that the “trip” would be too dangerous for the unborn babies and mothers to take. That is a very good question, Reg.

  36. LostMan says:

    Word?

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