Jen didn’t quite know what to make of this episode. She said it was weird, she said it was surreal, she said it seemed like a dream. To be sure, “316” took its time, compared to the breakneck pace of the last few episodes, and — except for the fantastic opening scene — stayed entirely off the island with the Oceanic 6. There was a definite eerie tone throughout. And I, for one, liked it. The wailing strings of Giacchino’s score throughout took me back to Season 1. It was a good feeling. And that fantastic opening scene? I was thrilled that the show went there. Back to Jack’s eye, back to Jack on his back on in the jungle, back to the incredible “LOST” pilot. But it also made us doubt our prediction of how the entire series will end. Much like the return of the Oceanic 6 to the real world, this twist came earlier than expected, and is making us redraw our mental map of “LOST.”
If I have to give up on a variation on the time-loop theory, though, the otherwise odd and sudden appearance of Roy makes me pay more attention to the fans who are convinced all of “LOST” is tangled up in the Shephard family tree. Christian, Jack, Claire, Aaron… I mean, Roy says that one day he’ll escape and never be found. Where do you suppose he might go? Jack’s grand-dad gave off just the right level of creepy. And Jen said the casting, as kin of John Terry, was spot-on.
Either way, no other episode so far has made it more clear that this is the penultimate season of “LOST.” From the montage of our friends boarding another plane, to Jack’s explanation of Christian Shephard’s tennis shoes, the connections to the show’s beginnings are foreshadowing its end. We still have no idea what it will be, but now we can feel that it’s there.
The prominence of shoes triggered Jen’s memories of other key shoe scenes. The white tennis shoe is, of course, the first thing Jack sees in the Pilot. Kate removes shoes from a dead body in Season 1, then takes her stepfather’s shoes off before blowing him up in Season 2. Locke removes his shoes before entering the Swan station for the first time. And Hurley’s visions of Dave also featured a shoe. (Here’s a much longer list.)
A theme of faith was hammered home tonight, and specifically of Jack finally making the leap. His astonishment at how Sayid and Hurley ended up on the airplane was a bit much, but his “conversation” with Locke’s body was great. If he could only see the “Man of Science” now. The religious references are back in the spotlight, with Ben’s invoking Thomas the Apostle (and the episode’s title brings to mind “John 3:16,” a pivotal verse in The New Testament).
I was more struck by the “Chronicles of Narnia” link with the name of “The Lamp Post” Dharma station. (A lamp post is a major landmark in the “Narnia” story.) In “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe,” a character is instructed to bring his brothers and sisters through the magical wardrobe. Why? To fulfill a prophecy in which the return of the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve will end a witch’s reign, and crown the character king. Sound familiar?
Of course, “316” is hardly subtle about planting new questions. Why did Kate change her mind, and what happened to Aaron? Why is Sayid in custody, and why would he be transported to Guam (or Honolulu)? Why did Hurley sign on? And what happened to Ben? There’s no question the promise and “loose ends” he had to attend to was the murder of Penny. We can only hope that his battered condition means it didn’t go very well. All of these things, I expect, will be revisited in flashbacks while things unfold back on the island. Which makes me wonder if the final acts of “LOST” will mirror the show’s first couple of seasons in structure.
Hurley was right to freak out about Ben being on the plane, though. I don’t think that’s part of the master plan. And given Ben’s adversarial relationship with Widmore, and Christian Shephard’s frustration with Ben’s actions last week, it would appear that Sayid was right when he said that the only side Ben is on is his own. I can’t wait to see what he’s up to.
And the closing scene, where Jin drives up in a shiny Dharma van wearing a Dharma uniform, was pretty great. It simultaneously tells us that the Oceanic 6 returned to the island in a much earlier time, and that Jin (and presumably the rest of the left-behinders) has been living in that time for a while. My secret hope? That the Dharma Initiative hired Jin and provided him intensive language courses in Latin… and English. Talk about a great way to save Daniel Dae Kim from spending the rest of the series speaking Korean.
Notes and Notions:
- Just how closely were they able to recreate the conditions of the original flight? On one hand, much attention was paid to the little detail of Christian’s shoes. On the other, the plane was practically empty. No step siblings, no rockstars (save for a guitar), no cops or African warlords, and no high school teachers. Oh, and no pregnant women, unless Kate’s mysterious visit to Jack was for more than a little comfort.
- Hurley’s decision to bring a guitar is yet another thoughtful homage to Charlie. Along with “Simon’s Butcher Shop,” it sure seems like the writers are going out of their way to make sure he’s not forgotten.
- I loved that Hurley bought out the rest of the flight. I also loved the cold way Ben says, “Who cares?” when Jack asks what will happen to anyone else on the plane.
- Looks like we have a few new characters, provided they survived whatever happened to Ajira Airlines Flight 316. May they be handled with a little more grace than Nikki and Paulo.
- The brand of milk Jack served Kate is Meadow Gold. It’s available in many states, including Hawaii… but not California.
- The way Kate was found on the rocks in the lagoon, Jen noted, seemed to directly mirror the way Jack found her on his bed.
- The new and improved Frank Lapidas (Jeff Fahey) made Jen swoon.
- Guaranteed the song that was playing in Jin’s Dharma van is a Geronimo Jackson track.
- Locations: St. Andrews Cathedral housed The Lamp Post. Simon’s Butcher Shop is a real butcher shop in Kalihi. Roy’s care home is the Arcadia apartments, a real senior living facility.
Please comment below, e-mail us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or call the LostLine at (808) 356-0127 by Friday, Feb. 20.
What an interesting array of comments posted here! I’m not sure which is better, the show or the fans. I wonder to what degree the storyline is shaped by fan comments, both to not overly upset, and to not meet expectation. In this regard, my hunch is that Penny is not dead. And, dare I say, not because Desmond protected her from Ben (not that Desmond wouldn’t). But because Ben is the most misunderstood character on the show. I suspect that his evil coldness is calculated, and that far from this, he isn’t, but uses this ruse, effectively. I also suspect that Ben is not acting for his own agenda, as much as they give us that impression. In the past, Ben answered to Jacob. He may have fallen out of favor with Jacob, but he has sacrificed himself for this force before (leaving the island by turning the FMW). He tells Locke that he can’t return. The question is: return to what? or when? Perhaps he can return to the island, but with certain limitations. Jacob seems to now act in the visage or personage of Christian Shepherd, but this too, to me, is a “seems.” I’d say Jacob is distinct from the animated but dead Christian, who can’t be just a visage because he does carry a lantern for Locke. So, we have a spiritual dimension and a physical dimension, and battles being waged in both. There’s something about Ben Linus that is different than all the other characters for he seems to operate in both of these worlds. If anything, I’d say have pity for Ben for he carries a huge Burden of some sort (well, well, beyond the death of the Dharmites and so many others). He is certainly on a mission, but I claim it is not for his own benefit, he is not evil.
My biggest disappointment with the episode was that after Ben tells Jack the story of Thomas, about his need to touch Jesus’s wound, and that they show the artwork with this, a finger in the side of Christ, that I so very much expected Jack to open the collar of Locke’s suit and touch the wound that would be there if he’d killed himself by hanging. But then… perhaps that’s not quite what happened…
Question: can anyone recall Locke writing anything in past episodes? Have we seen his handwriting? If so, does it match.
I had big problems with the emotional responses of the characters in the episode. They seem much to dis-interested in the baffling situations of their mutual co-incident convergences. Desmond arrives at the church and no one says hello????
As for religious metaphors… the show is suffused with allegory and metaphor. I’m sure the producers and writers have huge fun embedding irrelevant correlations, knowing that we will grab on to every little piece and find meaning.
Let the connections continue!
Oh, one last thought: Kate is not Aaron’s biological mother. Yet she is so very very bound to Aaron. I’m not suggesting a bound isn’t appropriate, but certainly she would do what is in Aaron’s best interest. I do suspect that somewhere in her past she may have been pregnant or is a mother, and Aaron has filled a hole in her psyche. As for her being pregnant “now” (whatver “now” is!) with jack’s child, as a proxy for there being a recapitulation of the original Oceanic 815, seems to make sense.
In the Seattle broadcast we lost sound when Jack was at the ticket counter in the airport and he spoke to the middle eastern guy. I actually thought it was part of the show and was hoping to see a discussion about it here today :). Looks like I just need to watch the online version to see what I missed.
I hope that Ben tried to kill Penny, but could not because “the island is not done with her” similar to how Michael could not kill himself and she did the damage to him.
Kate gives Aaron to whomever and willingly goes back to the island because she is already dead and knows it.
I’ll just say a couple of things my wife responded to. First, she thinks Frank Lepidus should grow his beard back, quickly! She also thinks Richard Alpert is from ancient Egypt. That’s from the eyeliner he wears, and Juliette says he’s “real” old. Hieroglyphics adorn the temple. Why not?
There’s also a reason Claire’s mother was in LA and has a connection to Ben’s lawyer. Coincidence? I think not.
Jesus’ side wound was made by a spear, Locke’s side wound was from kidney removal and a bullet hole. Foot care was an important ceremony of showing servitude and loyalty in Biblical days. Lots of shoe symbolism here.
Jack’s grandfather is a player. Remember when Jacob whispered to Locke in the cabin, “help me.” And Jack’s grandfather is always running away from the home — he’s screaming for “help”, too. Magic show, bunny rabbits, humm…
Thanks to Jen and Ryan for all their hard work on the podcast. I really look forward to it every week!!
OK. Here is something I have been pondering…its not fully thought out, but here it goes.
So Jack was told had to include something of his father’s with Locke in the coffin, so I started to think about all the ideas posted previously about Kate being pregnant… what if each person had to have with them, something of an original Lostie. Bear with me… Jack had Locke’s letter; Kate has Jack’s baby(?); Sun has Jin’s wedding ring; Hurley has a guitar case (perhaps given to him by Charlie in a visitation?); the middle-eastern man was Sayid’s commander and could have something of his..
I haven’t thought through this fully yet, but thought it may be enough of a nugget to chew on. Thoughts anyone??
Hi. First time writer, but long time listener, from Portugal and I must begin with congratulations for a great podcast.
I’m pretty sure that Jack’s grandfather is Jacob. If you look at the he’s room, the way the furniture is placed, the objects; the chair, the way that is seated and speaking to Jack. It looks just an updated/recent version of Jacob’s cabin.
Keep up the excellent work.
Regarding the proxy issue, I think there’s a bit more than meets the eye. I think Hurley doesn’t have just ANY guitar, but I bet it’s another guitar that Charlie owned. As for Claire, not just any pregnancy would do, someone had to be carrying Christian Shepherd’s grandson. And yes, it’s not possible for them to completely recreate the original conditions, but with some of them filling more than one role, it helps.
On the other hand, I wonder if the fact that Aaron wasn’t there (and perhaps Ji Yeon and Walt, too, even though they aren’t O6ers) created “unpredictable” results – I have a feeling (and this has been mentioned already) that they aren’t all in the same time OR they didn’t all make it back. It’s entirely possible Sun, Ben, Sayid, and friends are just over the hill, but there may be another reason we saw only Jack, Kate, and Hurley.
I meant to add “(or Ray Shepherd’s great-grandson)” after “…Christian Shepherd’s granson.”
I have to say I loved this episode. I thought we were going to drag this “70 hour window” throughout the entire season and here we are at episode 6 and we’re already back on the island. We’ve still got 10 to go! This is crazy.
I like the Biblical references here. Lost has always been good at including multiple religions and although it might seem heavily Christian (Narnia, Thomas the Apostle) Christianity has borrowed heavily from other religions so it all ties back. I think the Shepherd line is really the key to the entire thing and I know that everyone sees Locke as the Jesus figure with the sacrifice and reincarnation etc.; but I think of him more like the John the Baptist, setting things up so people will be ready for the coming. I also don’t think Jack is the Jesus. I think everyone is facilitating this coming of the Island’s savior.
Anyway all these Bible references get so tangled. My biggest excitement is the thought that Kate might be pregnant, thereby making her Claire’s proxy but also making her apart of this line of Shepherds (hmm also making Aaron the “brother” of her child, like Moses’ brother Aaron. Moses was also a “shepherd”)
And I liked how the writers subtly created these proxies. It wasn’t just Hurley standing in for himself. He was also standing in for Charlie (with the guitar). Or Sun looking at the wedding ring (like Rose) and the new Indian/Saudi guy (like Sayid) and Sayid being in handcuffs (like Kate) and the officer (like Ana-Lucia/the Marshall) and Ben being late for the plane (like Hurley). It was good writing and visually there was so much in this episode to pick up on. The parallels between how Kate looked in Jack’s bed and how he found her on the rocks in the lagoon. Ben’s face and tone when he called Jack was one of the few times I think we’ve seen true emotion from him. He was genuinely scared.
This episode was just engrossing for me. I was frustrated when Jack wouldn’t read the note. I was hoping it said, “Never trust Ben, run!” I think this episode brought up a lot of good new questions while answering some that were equally good. I know that Daniel Dae-Kim said that the stroy starts to slow down a bit more and I think we’ll start getting back to that emotional resonance people were hoping for now that everyone’s back on the Island. I think we’ll get flashbacks to why the O6 chose to come back as well as what happened to Jin et al while they were stuck in the Dharma Initiative and even trying to see them work together to get back to the present day and off the Island AGAIN.
IMO, it just keeps getting more interesting.
You have to love Ben’s twisted mind, saying that his mother taught him how to read when his mother died in child birth.
If Ben did go after Penny like he promised Widmore he’d do, looks like Penny put up a fight!
What I want to know is who is that man that is in first class with the main characters? This is the guy that gave Jack his condolences in line while they were checking in.
Did anyone recognize the sheriff with Sayid? I know I’ve seen her on another LOST ep but cannot seem to place her!
And I still wanna know why pregnant women on the island die!! I am still waiting for this answer!
JACK IS BACK!!!
LOVE the 1st scene — the last 3 years, back on the mainland, Jack just could not get it together and eventually turns into a worthless drunk… 5 minutes back on the island and he is diving off a cliff into a lagoon saving Hurley!
This ROCKS!!!
Absolutely adored the episode. There was something so gripping about it. Even Jack, who I normally find intensely dull (nice, but dull), was interesting!
I really and truly believe that Ben went to kill Penny (“I’m going to kill your daughter. Penny, is it?”) and I am almost positive Desmond tried to kill him in the process.
Also I just skimmed through the comments and didn’t see this mentioned: do we think Kate had to give up Aaron to Claire’s mum?
OR (here is my real theory):
Did Claire come to visit Kate and take Aaron (i.e. take him and kill him so he could be with her?).
In this respect, did CHARLIE go to Hurley to tell him about everything? This would explain the guitar case – maybe Charlie wanted it on the island ;).
Can’t WAIT to hear your thoughts!!!!!
Love,
Ben.
P.S. When are we going to hear more from Claire. I miss her. I know she is whiny and annoying, but rewatching Season 4 makes me want her here!
WALLLLLLLLLLLT!
sorry, I just want to see Walt on the island again.
Just something interesting about the note. Locke’s note said:
‘I wish you believed me.’
When Jack ends up on the island (when Jack finally does believe him), he only has a torn part saying:
‘I wish’
Which leaves the rest of the notes saying:
‘You believed me.’
Also, the note keeps finding it’s way to Jack, like a message beyond the grave from Locke.
Interesting posts Good thoughts
Here are a few scattered thoughts of my own
First I cannot believe that Desmond et al travelled on the boat all the way to LA to find Faraday’s mother as instructed and that upon meeting her would be content with such a slim explanation
Big disapointment there
I dont recall him going there merely to deliver a message
He must have been at least a bit intrigued by Daniel’s instructions
On Ben’s scars, why would he be just beaten up if he came to Penny with harmful (deadly) intentions ? Why not simply dispose and erase him for good ? Seems like the simple thing to do …
Second If the Losties find themselves in the Dharma time period where the Orchid was being dug from the ground, then there must have been a series of experiments conducted by Dharma scientists with the FDW which could triggger new flashes and eventually serve to throw the Losties back to their current time (since they knew what the wheel would be for)
This calls for other windows to open and other planes to «crash» over the island (some of these people ending up in the canoe pursuing our uncontrollably flashing gang)
Speaking of the Losties this seems to confirm our impression that Sawyier was filming Chang.
We know that Faraday was there too.
The rest of the Losties must also be there.
Third I dont believe that Saïd Sun and Ben wound up in a different time period Why would that be since it is the same window ?
However we must question Ben ending up during this period
Ben would surely end up meeting himself as a yonger (-30yrs) Ben
Could it be that the new replacement Ben (the younger Ben having gone into the Others camp) would wind up triggering the Dharma purge ?
In this case, could it be that some of the Losties wind up ito the mass Dharma grave ?
By the way
Jack is olding a torn part of the Locke’s message.
Was Ben trying to take it away when the flash happened and Ben will have the other piece of the message ?
Finally about Locke
It seems that pushing the wheel throws the turner into the Tunisian desert about 10 months ahead
In this case, Locke having turned the wheel in times preceding Dharma,
why would he wind up in 2007 in LA ?
Given his paralysis it is likely that he would need help to suicide himself…
“Creating the same circumstances of the crash” should mean a giant electromagnetic pulse triggered by not stopping the countdown…. NOT putting the same people with the same clothes…
That was the stupidest thing about this episode.
Also, I was looking forward to a deeper message from Locke, like “DON’T COME BACK.” or “I WAS WRONG”…. or “IT WAS BEN”… or “YOUR FATHER SAYS HI”.
Ok, let me get this straight- to get to the island you simply have to jump on a plane that will fly over a certain point at a certain time.
Also, you need to have certain people aboard the plane.
Without knowing if the 316 plane crashed or not… is it possible that the 815 plane could have crashed without Desmond?
Is it possible that Christian Sheppard got all those people together on that plane for that very reason to be transported back to the island?
Just a theory.
Mind boggling theory Phil
Like coming full circle ?
Meaning that the latest plane crash (316) would occur before the previous one (815) ?
and that it would be Christian Sheppard trying to recreate the conditions of 316 on 815 ?
hummmm
Tell me this cant be right …
@Mirepoix
My theory is 815 crashed before 316. Desmond might not have been the person to bring down 815, he simply opened a hole in the islands defenses to allow Penny’s people to find it.
However, Christian Sheppard was trying to get back to the island- or thats my theory. How he knew to get all those people on the same flight is beyond me.
Perhaps just repeating something that happened to him…
Hi Ryan and Jen,
I eagerly await the download of your podcast every Sunday evening but this is the first time I’ve posted my comments. I have to say, after a brilliant first few episodes of Season 5, “316” was incredibly disappointing to me. My husband and I rolled our eyes through most of it, especially during Mrs. Hawking’s explanation on how to return to the island and Ben’s drippingly heavy metaphorical blurb about Thomas the Apostle. I’m also curious if Jack’s rapid bounce-back from his painkiller addiction is due to his special island recovery power or if it is just a writers’ continuity issue. What a let down–I’m still a huge Lost fan but I really hope the next episode is better.
Thank you so much for all of your hard work–after listening to several Lost-related podcasts in the past, yours is my favorite by far!
@ TareX:
I believe that in some point of the series, it is mentioned that for time travelling you needed a great deal of electromagnetic energy, so if they go through these Windows (and travel through time) there is obvious some kind of electromagnetic energy that makes the plan crash
Just a thought!
Quick theory: Mrs Hawking said a man came up with the formula to find the Island. Horace Goodspeed was a mathemetician and could have been the DI member who cracked the “where is the Island GOING to be” code.
Here’s my crackpot theory. Sometime this season Richard Alpert will pay a visit to Ji Yeon. I think the writers pointing out Jin was sterile is important. What if the Island is getting sick of Widmore and Linus fighting over it that it helped Sun and Jin conceive an alternate leader for the Others? Ji Yeon was conveniently left behind so that Alpert could pay her a visit like Locke. She will not suffer the ill effects of returning to the Island because she was conceived through the will of the Island sort of like how Anakin Skywalker was conceived through the will of the Force. Or at least that was what Qui Gon’s believed. From what we’ve seen, the chosen ones have all been male so far — Aaron included, if he is what we think he is. Maybe the Island has had enough yang. Ji Yeon representing yin will bring balance to the Force.
Amazing stuff. (Just watched it on iTunes.) I went in deliberately lowering my expectations, thinking, “OK, they’ve given us some amazing mythology episodes. I can’t blame them if they go back to character sketching and slow things down a bit.” The first scene blew that idea away. Like many of us, I thought that we wouldn’t see this scene again until at least the season finale. So my first thought was, “Whoa, we’re back here already!” (My second being, “Hey! He’s at the Buddhist Temple grove! I’ve been there!”)
I’ve read elsewhere that Ajira means “Afterlife” in Arabic. Just to make things more perfect: according to Webster’s, “ajIrA” is Hindi for “island”. (As I’m sure someone else has already figured out.)
I kind of hope that this show doesn’t fall fully into the “belief is good, doubt is bad” trope. It’s been relatively mixed so far– Locke’s belief has been his guide and has also gotten innocents like Boone killed.
I wonder if the Island will ever have a name?
I think when Locke turned the wheel in This place is death It fixed the island in the time they were in hence jin in the Darma suit.
Connie, I like your theory on Horace. The other logical candidate is Dr. Marvin Candle. I’ve read elsewhere that Daniel Farrady may be the mathmatician. The equations look very similar to what he has in his journal. The only way of course that it could be him would be if he timetraveled to before the Darma Initiative.
I agree that the episode had a bit of “click your heels three times while chanting, ‘there’s no place like home'” feel to it, but I LOVED it. Even though it was more along the lines of pure fantasy like Narnia, 316 was terrific in that it gave us as much as it veiled.
I want to take a stab at what’s behind the curtain.
Sayid kicked the crap out of Ben. Hopefully Penny is OK.
The record analogy still applies, I think. Ben made the island jump the grooves, and now the needle is set in the grooves and the island is moving along just as before. It is clear that Jin and the gang have had three years to integrate with Dharma. Be really cool if Sawyer went all Danielle and lived on his own. Just don’t see him in a Dharma jumpsuit for some reason.
The paradox is ever so close. I have felt all along that the wreckage of flight 815 that was reported in Confirmed Dead is real. Course correction as it were.
The boy formerly known as Aaron has met his demise. Kate is definitely carrying a fertilized egg. She shall bear a child and name him, I don’t know, Aaron?
Hard not to see Jack as fitting both stories Ben related about Thomas.
What if the flash we see on the plane, right before the Losties jump to the island from the Ajira plane is Locke setting the donkey wheel back on its axis and leaving the island to get the O6 to come back? I am leaning toward a time rift. I think the O6 Losties are in the Dharma era and Frank lands (crash lands?) the plane in 2007 with the now 316 Losties [thats maybe how the Ajira water bottle looks brand new in 2007]. I am also thinking Locke might end up in 2007 [gut feeling].
@David who said “The middle-eastern guy on the plane was Tarik, Sayid’s commanding officer from season 2. Whats the dealio!?”
I said the same thing when I saw him and he said ‘i am sorry for your loss” because I had just rewatched season 2 “One of Them” but Tariq was played by Marc Casabani and in “316” “nabil” is played by P.D. Mani.
but my husband and I both said, “thats is the guy Sayid Tortured!” and then we said “wait a minute- no its not” but I noticed above someone above said it was Sayid’s voice coming out of him??? Is that true?? Can someone confirm that it was sayid who said that to Jack just prior to boarding flight 815?
I like how many of you are talking about the various similarities of 815 flight and 316 flight- there are quite a few- but to those who keep asking why isnt it exact “why not a step brother and sister?” etc…Eloise just said to try and make it as similar as possible…not exact.
Finally when someone above mentioned “Click your heels three times and say there is no place like home” I agree- this episode had that Ozlike feel to it- which harkens back to that same Sayid torturing Henry Gale (Ben Linus) and Tariq episode when we were all making Wizard of Oz connections…did I see a pair of RUBY SLIPPERS in this episode anyone? 🙂
More shoe references for Ryan….put these shoes on the dead guy on and “make a wish”…there’s no place like home…..or “I wish Jack had listened to me..”
I really enjoyed the change-up this week. Still a fantastic show and I love all the throw-backs to earlier eps. So many theories…and it’s great! Keep up the great work, people! (This is my favorite weekly after-LOST read.)
Should I be concerned that this episode gave me a nose bleed? 😉
IF the island is so hard to find, how did the others travel back and forth before, like when they first brought Juliet to the island, or when Michael met with one of them where he lives.
Right, Carol! And what about Rousseau’s team? Did they float in on that raft through the right coordinates?? How did they know any island was even there?
Hello! I’m new to the podcast but enjoyed last week’s episode quite a bit. There was some discussion in the “You All Everybody” segment that the timeline may return to shortly after the Oceanic 6 left the island, making the intervening three years “never happen.” This actually reminds me of the end of the movie “Jumanji,” and the more I think about it, the more I like the idea: after all, the three years experienced by the Oceanic 6 were not exactly happy ones. Nadia’s death, Hurley’s institutionalization, Kate and Jack’s rocky relationship and Jack’s descent into drugs and drinking, Sun’s grieving… and Aaron sure doesn’t seem like he’s had a happy childhood so far. It seems to me that having a chance to take those years back and start again might not be a bad thing after all…
Wow, some excellent theories. I think it’s obvious that Ben’s promise he had to keep was to kill Penny. I’m also of the hope that she and Desmond thwarted that plan.
I think the shoes thing is a metaphor for Locke rather than Jack. I think putting on Christian’s shoes, who is the proxy or messenger for Jacob, means he now fills the shoes of Christian and will be the messenger or proxy for Jacob.
I think Claire came to Kate and told her that she needed to come back to the island but to not bring Aaron with her and told her of the way to have a proxy for Aaron. She learned in this conversation that Sawyer would die without her going back and so she did it.
I also think that pregnant women did not start dying on the island until after the Dharma Initiative started doing their experiments on the island. We will find out how they screwed up pregnancies while Jin is working for them.
With the pendulum, how exactly did Dharma use it to get to the island with all those materials to build so many stations? If it’s only a chance encounter how to find the island, then how did they get so many building materials? Will this be explained or will this just be the magic of television?
I think this episode will make much more sense once we have seen The Life & Death of Jeremy Bentham. Dartlon said that these episodes were interchangeable and were connected so I’m holding my judgment of this episode until we see next week’s episode.
@Toby that also ties into the Chronicles of Narnia – decades in one place equal minutes in the other.
@ Steve, the Mideastern man is not Tarik, Sayid’s commanding officer in season 2 because he’s quite a famous French actor called Said Taghmaoui and it’s quite a big deal here in France that he got a part in season 5 of LOST. So I can tell you for sure that it’s the first time he appears on that show and apparently he’ll have quite a significant role…
http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Caesar -his name is Caesar, its not Tarik
I looked on IMDB.com and the mideastern man has never been on Lost before, he has no previous connection to Sayid on the show.
I am betting the woman with Sayid will end up be his new love interest.
Tim great point about getting all the Dharma equipment there, plus remember all the parachute drops of supplies?
I suspend reality when I watch the show, but they should at least be consistent. On one hand you can’t have all this traveling off and on the island via submarine, and then say the island is constantly moving and difficult to locate.
My biggest complaint will be if they don’t justify Charlie’s death by having Claire actually leaving in a helicopter someday with Aaron. Right now there is no reason he couldn’t have gotten out and shut the door before the room flooded. He did it because Desmond had his vision, and if the vision doesn’t come true, I’ll be mad.
Wow, 140 comments, is that a record or what? I guess people are re-energized. Not much constructive or new that I can add to all the excellent comments above. I am just glad that Jack laying on his back is probably not going to be the last scene of the series.
I was right in that Ben is going to be back on the island!
I do not think that this episode is as good as some of the more recent ones but it is not particularly bad. Boy, are they packing so much information in one episode, in S2 this would have been at least a couple episodes. It shows that the show is moving purposefully towards an end that the creators have in mind.
You guys are so busy with the family and so much other stuff that is going on, I really appreciate that you are taking the time to do the podcast. Lost would never be what it is without its fan podcasts and all of us chipping in. There are other great series out there but Lost has a highly involved audience, it makes for a richer overall experience and the lengths that the creators have gone to satisfy as and “play the game” is beyond anything else out there. You guys are an integral part of this whole experience.
All the best from Germany…
Ilias
I’m thinking that the plane actually didn’t crash. I think the Oceanic 6 were taken out of the plane by the flash, while the rest of the passengers were able to continue the flight. My fiancee says that Dharma gets new crops of people through plane crashes. It wasn’t a great episode, but it’s not the worst either.
I hate the fact that I never post for all of the brilliant episodes (This Place is Death has been my favorite this season) and then I’m willing to do it for one that I had an issue with. But in any case, I definitely feel like 316 was by far the worst of the season, and probably one of my least favorites of the series. It just felt really forced.
I was into the opening scene, but Mrs. Hawking’s scene felt drawn out and it didn’t seem like we learned anything that we didn’t pretty much know. There were no big reveals. The church scene was good but it felt heavy handed compared to their more subtle approaches in Season Two.
Also, what I like so much about Lost usually is that the writers know
how to tell a good narrative and raise questions that feel natural.
But in this episode, it felt like they cheated.
They skipped forward and jumped over stuff to try and raise questions
(ie: how did Hurley get out of jail? What happened to Ben’s face? Why
was Sayid arrested? Where’s Aaron?). And now that they’re back, it seems pointless to show any flashbacks to fill in these gaps.
(As far as Sayid, you can assume Ben showed up and provoked him so
Sayid would beat him up and therefore get arrested.)
But more importantly, where was Walt? He should be on the plane too if they were trying to replicate the original flight. How come nobody mentioned him?
In short, 316 felt like it was one of those things where the writers were tired of the “let’s get back” plotline so they just rushed through it to get it over with so we can get to the good stuff of the Dharma origins.
Now that I’m done with that, I do want to comment on one thing I thought of. This has been brought up but I do think that there is a holy trinity thing at work here with Jacob being God and Smokey being the Holy Spirit. It seems like Christian Shepherd then would be the Christ figure, but I actually think Locke will fill this role. Christian had to serve as a stand-in until Locke was ready. And I think last night’s episode really brought that out when they had Locke “step” in Christian’s shoes, as if he’s now ready to be the human embodiment of God/Jacob.
Also, I think this ties into the whole suicide thing. It could be said that Jesus “hung” himself on a cross because he knew he was going to die and still went through with it. I think there’s a parallel in Locke “hanging” himself, meaning it’s not technically a suicide because it was done to him, but with him knowingly going through with the death to “save” the others, it could be classified a suicide.
I feel we are being led astray. The reactions of Eloise Hawking didn’t strike me as “motherly,” even “motherly” in the sense that “Yes, I’m his mom, but I don’t need to listen to his nonsense because I know better than he does.” Nope. Not buying it. Sensing a huge red herring. It’s all just TOO simple that she’s his mom. Ben’s reaction to Desmond’s saying at the end of last ep that they were “looking for Faraday’s mother, too?” was the first thing that tipped me off. Now I just feel it in the gut. It’s the distraction the magician uses to divert your attention away from the real trick that’s coming.
I actually liked this episode. There were some “aha” moments and some fun “yes!” moments.
I definitely think Ray knows exactly what Jack is up to! I’m not sure what the connection is, but we’ll see him again for sure. It would be fun if Jack runs into a younger Ray on the island.
I will hate it if the O6 end up in different time periods on the island. I hope they’re all in the same time and I think that perhaps the shooter in the other rowboat is Desmond returning to the island in a blind rage to avenge Penny’s death.
I think people that are hating this type of episode have forgotten about how much Lost was based on faith , fate, magic, roles and abilities right along with the science. So recreating the event is a very magical and poetic thing. Magic is poetic not factual. Faith is in believing without seeing. Fate is your role in events no matter what you choose on your own.
Things that touch on fate and magic like : Kate’s knack for escape. Charlie the musician dives down to play a beachboys tune on a keypad. The Other’s can’t control Walt. Desmond winds up on the island and leads to their crash/escape. A paralyzed man walks and becomes the great hunter. Impotent Jin has a child. Frank the pilot shows up for the 316 flight. The numbers come up over and over. so much more.
and … not believing in something doesn’t make it go away.
@soko
I agree with you and if more care was put into trying to replicate the flight the exact same way, I think it would have come across as poetic. But there were so many missing pieces that it seems like they could’ve went back any old way and it would’ve still worked out.
I have no idea why people are hating on this episode!
This was fantastic!!
I can’t wait to see what happened the night before the crash (Ben, Hurley, Sayid & Kate!). Who convinced them to get onto the plane?
I apologize, I haven’t read all the comments above, but why is it that no one asked what happened to Ben when he arrived on the plane? I mean, wouldn’t that have been the logical thing to ask if you saw someone all bloodied and beat up? I guess there really isn’t anything “logical” about this show.. but it just seemed strange to me.
Russell-Your comments about Jesus “hanging” on the cross reminds me that Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, supposedly hanged himself after receiving his 30 pieces of silver from those who paid him to do the betraying.