Next: “Recon” (Episode 6-08)

“Locke tasks Sawyer with a mission.” We’ll blog our thoughts as soon as we can (Ryan just landed back in Honolulu and may not be fully conscious), but we want to know what you thought about tonight’s episode. Share your feedback, thoughts, theories and questions by posting a comment below, e-mailing us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or calling the LOSTLine at (815) 310-0808.

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235 Responses to Next: “Recon” (Episode 6-08)

  1. Russell from California says:

    Could UnLocke be Aaron?

    I heard the theory kicked around before, but as I watched the episode and listened to UnLocke explain to Kate how his mother was crazy, I couldn’t help but see the parallels.

    He said he had “growing pains” that would not have been there “had things been different.” Could that difference be no island or a sunken island? If Jacob never summoned the Losties, the plane never would have crashed as we see in the Sideways World. So he would have never been separated from his mother. And think about how he looked at Kate when she first emerged from the Temple in Sundown, and how he protected her in Recon. It stands to reason that he would recognize her and care for her since she was the one who raised him.

    On top of that, think all the way back to the first season when Claire visited the psychic and how terrified the psychic was about what he saw. That would really bring the story full circle if we find out the psychic was peering into the soul of the future MIB.

  2. Yann From France says:

    @Adam: Immortality, “scanning people”, “hearing the dead”, flying from everything, shaping the dead (and talking with them/through them), perfect lier/manipulator… It seems to me that all the “gift” they received are part of Jacob or MIB…
    @NuckinFuts: “Take me to you leader” while he speaks to a bunch of nerds… so geeky! The wheep conversation was quite fun. But to me obviously is the “you want to die alone?” LOL I keep saying that every week but I think it is the key to the all flashsideways/end show.
    @Rusty: love your theory and I throw a bone to it: In the “Sawyer” file… did anyone saw a Letter? If he never found a pen he never finished it! There you go!
    Just one thing: Was Widmore mocking US when he said “how little do you know”! Come on writers! Stop making fun of us already!

  3. tys says:

    John and Murad, great comments! I totally agree with your take on things!

    To Meredith in VA: I don’t think the writers are going to answer questions like why LaFleur was Sawyer’s choice of names @dharmaville, and other smaller questions. They’re only going to answer the big major ones so you might not be satisfied at the end if you want the answers to everything. But I’m sure there are a lot of fans like you out there.

  4. Maluhia says:

    It will be impossible for the writers to answer every lingering question before the end of the season. I’ll be satisfied as long as the big questions are answered.

    AND I can’t wait to rewatch the entire series from the beginning once we understand the bigger picture. Hopefully then we’ll be able to answer all the little questions on our own.

    @bluedog1121 – Miles’ name was still “Miles Straume” off-island. He had a name plate on his desk at the police station.

    @hanakoa – I like your theory about Richard’s lineage going back to Egypt.

    Ryan & Jen – you guys are awesome. Ua hana pa’a maika’i ‘olua!

  5. Coolpeace says:

    Hello everyone, I only read the first few comments so apologies is any redunances occur.

    @ Rich in Cleveland : completely agree with you about diminishing one episode by comparing it with another (in this case Dr. Linus versu Recon). At this stage of the game, the writers are telling us the story of this Island knowing that there is a deadline – whatever they are giving us – must be given and must have some significance even if we may not recognize that significance yet.

    Why Sawyer did not turn in Kate in the elevator : Because he was in Australia where he was not supposed to be and if he would have interferred he would have come to explain why he was at the airport. I think Mini had the same thinking on that point.

    Food for thought : MIB can’t leave the Island so long as there are people on it. So he gives them a choice, either get killed or asks them to follow him off the Island. This would explain why is goes to see Jacob on the beach because Jacob is bringing in the Black Rock… jacob keeps bringing new people to the Island which keeps MIB from leaving.

    Food for thought : I don’t believe the Sideways world is due to the bomb either blowing up or not – rather it is caused by the fact of Jacob’s death somehow. I am not sure I can explain it yet but for years and years Jacob was always on the Island (with MIB) and now he is no longer ‘alive’. I think this is significant.

  6. airwin says:

    Thinking back on Smokie’s conversation with Kate regarding his “crazy mother,” I’m wondering if “crazy” actually refers to the infection. If that’s the case, and Aaron has a crazy mother just like Smokie, maybe Aaron will have some of the same attributes that Smokie has?

    Or maybe Smokie’s crazy mother is some of the real John Locke’s personality starting to shine through?

  7. Mimi says:

    @KC Bob – Brilliant! I wish I had said that!

  8. hammer says:

    this very well could be a stupid question..but I’ll ask it anyway and plead stupidity…when Ben’s daughter was killed…he “summoned” smokey to kill them all of Widmore’s men…I’m a little confused on the relationship between Ben and smokey then and now. Or was more of an “understanding” back then?

  9. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    @Yann – love the Buddy Cop show idea Mentalist + Pushing Daisies!

    @ Rusty – I like your thoughts on the time line

    @Constance – Cooper as Ford’s real father – now that would be a twist!

    @Genevieve – Good assessment of Sawyer’s emotional State of mind when he visited the Cages set

    @Russell – I like your explanation of Claire’s Pyschic encounter

  10. Bonita in Atlanta says:

    oops misspelled psychic encounter above.

    I wanted to also mention I listened to The TV Critics podcast today and he had a fantastic idea about Sun not transporting with the other Losties to 1977 b/c she was not the Kwon who is the candidate – so more evidence that Jin is the Kwon Candidate and not Sun.

  11. Rusty says:

    @Yann Exactly. Absent Jacob’s visit at the funeral, young Sawyer would not have been given the pen, thus would not have written the letter, and thus would not have carried it around for years fueling his anger and need for revenge.

    Also, I forgot to include the timing of Sayid’s visit from Jacob, which was sometime in 2005, when Nadia was killed crossing a busy street.

  12. Nancy from NYC says:

    @hammer – I’ve been thinking the same thing about Ben and Smokey for weeks now! Someone explain please?

    Did anyone else notice some sort of neon carnival ride in the night sky behind Charlotte when Sawyer came to see her? Maybe Ryan knows where it was filmed. It almost looked like the London Eye.

    Sawyer told Charlotte that the tee shirt was in the top right drawer and she opened the left one. It looked like she was looking for something, but she could have been digging around for a tee shirt, since there wasn’t any in that drawer.

    Will Kate please tell Claire that her mother has Aaron already? Maybe she won’t try to kill you again. I didn’t trust that hug.

  13. Russell from California says:

    overall, i agree with a lot of people that this episode was just average, but @rich in cleveland you also bring up a good point that we can’t compare to last week’s near flawless episode dr. linus.

    i know the writers will come through in the end, and all these set-up episodes will payoff.

    as far the locked door, i hope that mystery doesn’t drag out too long. what’s in there? or who? could it be desmond?

  14. Russell from California says:

    one other thing i was thinking is how does MIB have access to memories? is it only after he does that scan thing? or does he only need to touch someone.

    i wonder this because he seems to know about kate’s past but i don’t remember if he touched her at all. but he knows things because smokey took the form of that horse.

    @chuck in indy i agree with you that widmore’s people were probably the ones in the outrigger last season. i still want to see it in action. i thought for sure that would be the “wow” moment in recon when sawyer got in one.

  15. hammer says:

    @Nancy from NYC: Thank you..was afraid i was the only one asking/wondering about that 😉

  16. lost in brooklyn says:

    I actually enjoyed this flash sideways (in general they have been kind of annoying and distracting). I thought it was much more interesting to see Sawyer/James as a detective and I really want a spin off show with Miles and Sawyer as detective partners (please, please).

    I have a major problem with the direction lost is taking in it’s final season. I don’t like the good vs. evil set up. This show has always been about blurring those line, showing that good people can do evil things (Sayid, Kate, Sawyer) and that good people with good intentions can totally screw things up. For everyone. (Think, Locke, Jack). And that no one is ever completely what they may seem. I’m hoping (and past Lost-logic dictates) that we are being setup for a major game changer.

    Random out there theory: The flash sideways losties will end up on the island, confronted with their stuck on the island dopplegangers and all craziness will ensue.

  17. docjkm says:

    @Coolpeace – Excellent! Flocke can’t leave island with someone still on it. Brilliant in its simplicity, and extreme lucidity. Wow, now I’m going to meditate on that for a while. There are incredible people leaving great droppings here.

    @Nuckingfuts – Team Dark. Yes, Flocke has proved a discomfitting figurehead, no? Evil Incarnate? Sheesh! But, trapped on the island for a long time, kept there by his nemesis who he cannot unseat or displace, I think his goodness has been tested beyond his endurance. [ Is he Erin? Well, after that scene with Kate, it has some very attractive attributes as a theory/explanation, but I will not hide my reluctance to envision the scenario that would make that possible. ] I will again invoke the contrariness of the writing talent. Our baddies (Widmore and Flocke) are not only in cahoots, and not pointing towards a shoot out, but are also not the bad guys. Note: does not mean they are the ‘good’ guys. I continue to postulate that the good guys are OUR Losties. I could give various permutations and interpretations, but I welcome to hear yours, y’all everybody.

    I have rewatched the ‘deal’ scene between Sawyer and Widmore, and besides marveling at the acting talent on display, I continue to find Widmore reserved, non-committal, and displaying amusement at Sawyer’s offer. I think he was figuring a way to use Sawyer to his own end, but NOT the way Sawyer was proferring himself.

    Sir Charles has always been portrayed in a bad (evil) light, with instances too numerous to mention. But, he told Des where to find Eloise, no? He made a personal appearance to meet Locke in Tunisia and had Abadon chauffeur him about, right? He has not waffled in his feelings towards Ben. And, when last we saw Desmond (besides his ghost-like appearance on alt-815) he was in the hospital, and down at the exit Eloise met Charles and revealed Des’s parentage, no? So, where do Des and Dad Widdy go from there??? IS Des on board the sub, behind a locked door?

    I digress. Sir Charles is worried the ‘wrong’ side will win. He has his own agenda after having his leadership stripped and being kicked off the island, and that may play large in his appreciation of the ‘wrong’ side. But I think his allegiances may have predated his expulsion, and may figure into that expulsion. That ‘relationship off the island’ always seemed a bit light, and more of a Linus technicality to get rid of him. Either way, I see Sir Charles as MIB ally. And no friend to Jacob. I don’t think lack of knowledge of the island’s whereabouts has kept him from returning. Jacob’s existence has. But with Jacob dead, here he is. But why? Is Jacob not dead enough? Is Jacob’s will being expressed beyond the grave, and has it found embodiment in Hurley, Jack, and possibly Richard (next week, cannot wait). Is that embodiment of will good, bad, or just another obstacle for control??? Stay tuned, and stay Darke.

  18. Like last week’s episode, I loved this one. The continuity between the Island story-telling and the flash-sideways story-telling is just one of the things that helps LOST earn my love two weeks in a row.

    Like someone above mentioned, the season is (in typical LOST fashion) gaining momentum. I don’t need answers every five seconds. I don’t need to anticipate every move that’s about to occur. I loved how I kept second-guessing Sawyer. Is he lying to Widmore? Is he lying to MIB? Both? Yes!

    The only part of the story that was not believable to me was that Miles and James are equal-partners in the flash-sideways. I have never seen Miles as a working equal to James and it rattled me a tad that they were presented that way. A very small wrinkle that in no way diminishes my satisfaction with the episode.

    Carry on!

  19. KC Bob says:

    @ Mimi -Thank you! 🙂

    To add a comment too on what initially appeared to be some gratuitous sex in the flash sideways with Sawyer… Obviously Sawyer is a character with an easy way with finding willing sexual partners, however, in the island scene, where he finds Kate’s dress, and is reminded of their tryst in the cage, I think we’re being shown that Kate was indeed special to him -an ally he could trust when he was trapped.

    With his grief over losing Juliet, he had lost sight of her importance, but regained that insight coming upon those cages, which is why after sending her away a few episodes back, this episode finds him hatching a plan which includes her escape as well as his own.

    In some ways, I see Kate and Sawyer as male and female versions of the same character -fugitives operating one step ahead of the law, and always at risk of their pasts being discovered. Where as Jack and Juliet have traditionally represented professionals who long to be grounded in safe domesticity, far away from the Island, Kate and Sawyer were born to run.

  20. Christine says:

    With Sawyer saying to Widmore, that he wants MIB dead…sounds too obvious for the show. There must be something else going on. Another tell tale sign was that Widmore didn’t have much to say about anything which was suspicous as well.

    And it doesn’t make sense why MIB would try and coax Ben to go over to the Hydra island considering it seems like Ben has been unknowingly possibly following his instructions for a very long time. It seems like he would want him on his side…and Widmore and Ben are feuding..why put him over there.

    It seems like both sides have an interest in Locke. Richard visited him in the hospital when he was born as a preemie…as well as when he was a kid and Richard is on Jacob’s side. But then Christian tells Locke to turn the wheel…then ends up getting killed by Ben after Widmore tells Locke he needs to go BACK to the island. It’s all too mind boggling. UGH!

  21. Jo from New York says:

    I loved this episode but I have to help but wonder how Sawyer’s plans to use the sub to escape the island would work. The only way I see him doing that is either to force the sub’s captain to take them or possibly Desmond would be able to command the sub. I think it might be Des that is locked in that room! How they would use the Ajira plane to escape didn’t seem to make sense, but then it’s Lost and you never know! I have to wonder now why Smokey killed the original pilot in the first episode. I always wondered about that. I don’t think that it was a coincidence. I think that changed a lot of the future and perhaps at the end we will find out Smokey knew this and eliminated him to get it back on track. Smokey knew Frank was supposed to be the pilot. Frank has to figure in to have major impact at some point. I enjoyed seeing Sawyer again and kudos to a great acting job all around. What a fantastic cast!! Aloha!

  22. Steven in Bathurst says:

    I’m trying to make sense of allegiances here but they seem contradictory. Ilana and her group are aligned to Jacob. This much seems clear, based on seeing Jacob visiting her, her visiting the cabin, the walking around with Locke’s body and the fact that MiB visited Ben behind her back. If Ilana and MiB were in cahoots, then a lot of work has gone into tricking the audience that they aren’t.

    We know Ilana’s group tried to stop Miles joining the freighter to the island, a freighter that we subsequently learn belongs to Widmore. The freighter’s mission is a pretty evil one: to kill everyone on the island and Ben and the Others are certainly against the freighter. This would suggest that the freighter is against Jacob and thus on MiB’s side. The problem here though is that Smokey killed the frieghter folk. That don’t make sense given that we now know that Smokey is MiB.

    Okay, say Smokey was confused. Say he hadn’t checked his email that day, missed the message from Widmore saying ‘don’t kill my soldiers’, killed the wrong people, checked his messages and went D’oh! That leaves open the possibility that Widmore and MiB are allies. Yet this week seemed to prove the opposite. Widmore appears to be against MiB. I do like the theory that the whole point of Recon was to test Sawyer’s loyalty (i.e. Widmore and MiB are in cahoots) but I think with Widmore’s group erecting sonic fences, that seems unlikely. Widmore wouldn’t need to erect a fence to convince Sawyer and I wouldn’t think the expense and effort could be justified unless the fences are truly needed. Unless, of course, they are in cahoots but Widmore isn’t totally trusting of MiB. In that situation though, you’d think they would make sure that Sawyer doesn’t see the fence, lest that information gets back to MiB.

    So, if Widmore is with Jacob, why did he send a freighter to kill everybody on the island? That doesn’t sound like something Jacob would want. Hmm, maybe that’s the point. He’s like a religious fanatic, committing violent acts in the service of his god. I just don’t know and I’m kinda sick of trying to theorise.

    Okay, so with Widmore on Jacob’s side, where does that leave Ben? He is most definitely against Widmore and has been for a long time. Perhaps their conflict is based on a misunderstanding about the island and about Jacob. For a while it appeared that Ben might have been following MiB while thinking he was following Jacob but as time runs out with this series, I’m not sure that will be the case (and, in fact, if true, it means that Ben had no reason to be upset with Jacob to the point of killing him. He hadn’t been doing Jacob’s work at all).

    I just can’t seem to work out a consistent framework for understanding allegiances. Maybe by series end it will make sense but I’ve got this uneasy feeling that the writers aren’t trying to make it make sense. And as I mentioned last week, this confused feeling I have with the show is making it a bit difficult to fully engage with the story. Still enjoying it but it doesn’t have the WOW factor that gripped me for five seasons.

  23. Laura in NY says:

    I know this has been discussed but I don’t remember what consensus says — Fake Locke can’t “leave the island”, but can he go to the other island? And if not, why are they bothering with the protective barriers?

  24. Coolpeace says:

    @ Hammer and Nancy : re Ben and his relationship with Smokey:

    I don’t think that Ben really knows much about Smokey. When he came to the Island as a child, the Dharma compound already had the Sonic fence in place. He probably knew that the fence kept Smokey out. When he took over the leadership or before that someone may have told him that here was a secret way to bring out the monster (or did he think it was a security system?) In any event, when Ben summoned it in Dead is Dead last season, here is what he said to Sun on the porch:

    BEN: You may want to go inside.

    SUN: Why?

    BEN: Because what’s about to come out of that jungle is something I can’t control.

    and of couse, Locke walks out of the jungle.

    For those who think that Widmore is with Flocke : When Smokey was summoned by Ben the first time to go after Keeme and company … Smokey only chased them away – he did not kill them, which at the time had really surprised me. Did Flocke spare them because he knew the freighter was spent by Widmore??

  25. Coolpeace says:

    @ Steven in Bathurst : Note that in fact Smokey did not kill Keamy and co. See above post. Would this simplify your allegiances framework?

    Honestly, I can argue for many theories … I don’t think we have the full picture yet or rather enough information to form a correct hypothesis.

  26. Steven in Bathurst says:

    @Coolpeace: I didn’t realise that Smokey didn’t kill the soldiers. My memory was telling me that he did. This fact lends support to the idea that Widmore and MiB are in cahoots and testing Sawyer was perhaps the point of this week’s episode (which itself is perhaps something that Sawyer had sussed out, which is why he told MiB everything). It still doesn’t really explain why Widmore was erecting sonic fences, although if that’s the only evidence that they are enemies, it’s actually fairly slight. If Smokey didn’t kill the freighter folk as you suggest, that points towards a Widmore/Smokey alliance quite strongly. That alliance would certainly explain the real reason that Widmore was expelled from the island. It would also explain why Widmore was helping Locke when Locke left the island. He was helping Locke get back.

  27. Coolpeace says:

    @ Steven in Bathurst : here is the description of the Smokey attack from episode “The Shape of Things to Come” from Lostpedia :

    “While the Barracks were under siege by Martin Keamy and his team of mercenaries after they killed Ben’s daughter Alex, Ben was able to call the Man in Black through a secret room in his house. The Man in Black appeared as a single, long, fast-moving black cloud that ran parallel to the ground. He proceeded to attack the mercenaries while Ben and Locke’s group escaped from his house. While only one of the mercenaries was seriously injured in the Man on Black’s attack, he caused a great deal of confusion and panic amongst his victims, who fired upon him in vain. Keamy grimly described the Monster as “a black pillar of smoke”. During the attack, he tore a tree’s roots out of the ground. The Monster appeared larger than previously seen in this form, forming a black cloud that swirled around all of the mercenaries. (“The Shape of Things to Come”) “

  28. Scot in Tucson says:

    I wonder which time line Widmore is coming from? I wonder if the thing/person locked up in the sub is one of the losties from timeline B.

  29. Tim R from UK says:

    Bad, bad episode…

    It was almost as if the script was composed entirely from lines of previous episodes. There were so many list cliches like “what are you doing here” and “why are you telling me this”.

    Also I hated the super-unsubtle locked sub door foreshadow. Who the hell finds a locked door so noteworthy? That’s not intriguing that’s just crap.

  30. Eric says:

    I just have a comment. First, I loved the episode, one of the best of the season.
    Movin’ on from that. A general observation. I love how the show has grown and shown the relationships between Sawyer, Miles, Jin etc. anyone who was in the dharma initiative for those three years together clearly has a strong relationship and trust. I enjoy that the show hasn’t just forgotten those relationships and moved on, the writers really show that these people have spent three years together, i.e. The many times this season when Miles stands by Sawyer or when Sawyer promises Jin he will get him off the island. The relationships seem so important that they continue in flash-side ways with Miles and Sawyer. Just a thought tell me what you guys think!!

  31. Eric says:

    Apologize for the crappy grammar and punctuation haha

  32. Annietoo says:

    I didn’t like this episode either, it felt too forced (Liam in the police station, Kate in the alleyway, Charlotte dates James via Miles) and seemingly random info thrown in unexpectedly – like Unlocke’s comments about his crazy mother to Kate, after the delicate composition of Dr. Linus it felt like the storytelling was clumsy.
    But one thing these sideways storylines have me wondering – are we being shown what happens in the lives of our characters IF JACOB DOESNT INTERFERE WITH THEM? Is it a set up so that we can decide later if we think he was good or bad?
    Lastly, I think that scene with Whidmore and James was the most interesting because Whidmore didn’t say who he wanted to kill. Surely it is Ben that he wants, but we were led to think he was after Unlocke. If Whidmore is not there for Ben (and therefore Jacob) then he is there to side with Unlocke?

  33. Steve from NYC says:

    @Bonita – I agree that the Sun not transported to 1977 theory is a good one. But the writers themselves said in a podcast or recap, I can’t remember where, so much meta out there, that because the conditions of the original 815 was not perfectly reproduced in 316, Sun didn’t get to 1977. So I’m still up in the air who Kwon refers to – I know there’s alot of people convinced it’s Jin and it looks like it’s him, but this is Lost, so I’m keeping my options open.

  34. Steve from NYC says:

    Why does everyone think Desmond is coming back to the island? He’s one of my favorite characters and “The Constant” is one of the best Lost episodes, but he is adamant on never setting foot on the island again, he’s got a good life with Penny. Is it just everyone loves the lug so much that they want to wish him back on the island? Yeah, Faraday said he’s special in that he can span timelines, but I think this want for Desmond is a little overblown. Of course, now that I’ve put this in writing, I might be eating crow in June, but I have not seen too many opposite opinions.

    More probable is that Desmond will come back in the flash sideways as we’ve seen him there already.

  35. Coolpeace says:

    Good morn’ everyone, well after a good night’s rest my brain flashed to something I saw during the 2 hour Flashforward return, and I tried to apply it to Lost:

    We have always being handed early on the duality of Man of Faith, man of Science and free will and destiny/fate. What if the concept that emerges is not one of either/or but rahter of AND.

    Meaning that it is not about either choosing free will or destiny/fate but having both free will and destiny/fate. The Sideverse is perhaps what happens when you combine both these concepts. You can make free choices and thereby nudging fate in a direction which may be slightly different than if you had abandoned yourself to pure fate.

    Clearly I am no philosopher 😉

  36. Camille in Slovenia says:

    @docjkm – “Eloise met Charles and revealed Des’s parentage, no? ”
    we still don’t know Des’s parentage. Widmore revealed that he was Daniel’s father (otherwise Des would be married/sleeping with his own sister, yick!) That said, I don’t think Widmore is out and out BAD, but he does strike me as incredibly selfish and single-minded, which makes him a danger to everyone around.

  37. Camille in Slovenia says:

    @Steve in NYC – The action is on the island and Ms. Hawking said the island wasn’t “finished with him yet”. She’s been on the money about everything else so I am inclined to believe her. The island (or whatever force we have been referring to as “the island”) seems to always get its man. I am 99% certain we will see Des back on those sandy shores.

  38. Coolpeace says:

    @ Camille in Slovenia : just to clarify Mrs. Hawking also said that for the first time she is no longer sure as to what will be happening. Though I tend to agree with you that we will see Des on island.

  39. Keith says:

    One positive about this episode was (for me) further confirmation that Fake Locke is lying to people to get them to follow him (and even if he is not lying, he’s exaggerating his feelings depending on who he’s talking to)
    He reminds me of the Joker, with his various stories of how he got his scars.
    Just shows what a good actor Terry O’Quinn (and also what a good actor the actual MIB character is) that people are still speculating over whether or not he’s good: this is a man that manipulated Locke into dying so he could imitate him, and has killed people on screen throughout all six series.

    I definitely think that Widmore is on Team Jaob, based on it being the MIB that made Locke think he had to die, and Widmore doing his best to prevent Locke from dying, to avoid “the wrong side winning”

    I just really hope the remaining episodes end up illustarting exactly what the MIB’s agenda has been throughout the earlier series, so we don’t have to retrofit the story to make it fit with his agenda

  40. Mark B says:

    So what’s in the locked room on the sub ?

    My money is on something that will freak out MiB…. or perhaps kill him or entrap him. If not that then Des.

    But was Widmore coming prepared for MiB (how would he know he has escaped ?) or is it something to “tame” Ben who was always his nemisis. What could tame Ben ? He let Alex die and is there anyone else ?

    Then again we heard MiB talk about his mother … surely not ???

    Oh and if they turn that plane around and fly off the island I’m going to laugh until it hurts. They would be inventing a new term for ‘jumping the shark’ …. as in that show has really ‘flown the LOST plane’.

    Oh and BTW I liked this episode. For one thing, Charlotte cleaned up very nicely. Liked the Sawyer:Miles cop team. Didn’t like Kate showing up at te end. On island may have been a bit slow but hardly a “What Kate Does”.

  41. Rich in Cleveland says:

    @Steven in Bathurst @ Coolpeace
    Excellent conversation. “I just can’t seem to work out a consistent framework for understanding allegiances.”

    I expressed the same confusion, but we have to realize that’s a product of the convoluted narrative structure. There are still “missing pieces” out there. You don’t become aware of Keyser Soze before that final, culminating moment.

  42. Russell in Raleigh says:

    I thought it was interesting when MIB started talking about having a crazy mother because Locke also had a crazy mother. At first I thought he was channeling the reminants of Locke’s consciousness like when he yelled out “Don’t tell me what I can’t do.”

  43. Russell in Raleigh says:

    I don’t think Widmore or Ben or Richard or anyone other than Jacob and MIB has a full grasp of what the island is or what is going on. I think one of the reasons the allegiances are so confused is that the Others have always attempted to follow Jacob but he remains distant and therefore they have often mistakenly done the will of MIB who is much more interactive.

    I like this parallel to those who often do evil thinking it is God’s will, and with the idea of a benevolent but detached God who allows free will to play out versus a caniving devil that constantly tempts and corrupts God’s would-be followers.

  44. Victor says:

    Sawyer isn’t a cop because he cares about the law, he’s a cop because he gets to lie, carry a gun, and carry a badge. He let Kate go. He treats his partner like $#!+. He searches for a con man by an alias the con man used 30 years ago (any idiot knows that isn’t going to work, what con man keeps his alias the same after 30 years?) by day and drinks crappy draft beer while watching Little House. While it looks like Sawyer was one of the “redeemed” (like Ben made the right choice), I think he is still the same old short fuse revenge obsessed thug.

  45. kathyk says:

    MIB is manipulative, and goes right for the kids, trying to comfort them and get them to trust him. makes him look like a good guy, right?

    What is the purpose of the flash sideways?? I feel like I am watching another TV show…and I’m not too in to it, to be honest.

    Someone shared a theory: that the characters and storylines are all images of one’s fragmented personality (like John Cusack in movie: Identity). I really hope not!!!

  46. greenberry says:

    I feel rudderless without a Ryan/Jen wrap-up write-up —- I miss seeing your written words!!!

    I am happy to see a further Sawyer/Kate connnection, whereever it ends up — there is always fireworks when those two are on screen together

    As far as how “deeply” Sawyer was into Juliet… how deeply was Sayid into Shannon?? If you can’t be with the one you love…..

  47. NuckinFuts says:

    @ Rich in Cleveland@Steven in Bathurst @ Coolpeace RE: Excellent conversation.

    It really is a great conversation…and just when I thought I was done with theory for a while. Well, here is something about Desmond:

    It seems to me that Desmond was the only persion we know of that may have been brought to the island by MIB. I think he is the true candidate for MIB. That’s why it’s important he come back…even by force. He was manipulated by Widmore, Hawking, Brother Campbell ( pictured w/ Hawking on his monk desk ), D. Faraday ( as a constant ), and maybe even Libby ( even though more likely a coincidece ).

    Interesting, but probably not important: What’s sort of neat is that Desmond has flashes that tell him people’s future and Smokey uses flashes to see their past’s.

    I think MIB, Widmore, Hawking, etc. all conspired to get Des to the island the first time and since he would not go back willingly he will be brought back by force. I think that as Hawking sacrificed her son to fate by sending him to the past to be shot knowingly it will prove that Charles Widmore will have to make a sacrafice of his daughter Penny’s either happiness or life perhaps even to make this so. “It’s a sacrifice that the island demands.” ( John Locke ) It’s MIB’s requirement that you prove “You have what it takes.” ( Christian Sheppard ). It’s why Ben who was unknowingly working for MIB and not Jacob would strap John’s father to a pillar and demand his son slit his throat. It’s why, upon failing to do that, he would proclaim “He’s not who we thought he was”. And why Richard would shortly thereafter, hoping to replace Ben and thinking that John may be special because of their history show him a way to have Sawyer do the deed for him.

    Gotta get back to work, but thought you all could run with that if it sounds plausable…

  48. NuckinFuts says:

    My previous post and the anticipation of next week got me to me to thinking about Richard…if it’s true that MIB forces the sacrifices from people on island in the name of Jacob, or the island, or whatever as a sign of their allegience or faith….then why would Richard, who obviously knows the real Jacob, be willing to help Ben with the purge if Jacob is ‘good’? What are the rules? Here is my theory: Jacob tasked Richard with being his spokesperson, his apostle, whatever. His reward is ever-lasting life and the chance to see or be a part of something magnificant. Richard duty is to guide people toward Jacob, but could not directly interfere in the way they decide to run things. He and his people choose their leader and must go by what they say. If a ‘leader’ decides that they want to murder people then he must be obediant to the ‘leader’. He has seen many leaders come and go, and they are waiting and looking for the true leader that will bring about peace. In the meantime, it’s always ends the same. They come, they destroy, they corrupt. MIB’s role is to prove that men & women will always, when enough pressure is applied, revert to killing, etc, etc. He’s now tired of his job and wants to leave…but he will need someone to take his place and that’s why he has perverted people into making sacrifice’s to the island…as a “Sign of commitment” as Ben once said, that they are willing to stay forever. As I said before, he thinks his person is Desmond Hume.

  49. Vinny from Liverpool, England says:

    Hi guys, Love listening to the podcast every week!!

    I thought it was a good episode although not as great as the previous 2. I’ve been reading through the comments on here and dont know if anyone has picked up on the book that was beneath ‘watership down’ on Sawyers bedside table in the flash sideways (appologies if its already been mentioned!!).

    The book is called ‘a wrinkle in time’ by Madeleine L’Engle, and a brief summary of the plot says its about a girl whos father disappears. He is a scientist who was researing a phenomenon called tesseract which is said to be folding the fabric of space and time. The girl is to a utopian planet (sounds a bit like the island) which is under attack from an evil being who appears as a “large dark cloud called the “black thing” which sounds an awful lot like smokey!!! Look it up… there seem to be a lot of clues there

    Its the little things like this which make Lost the program it is!!!

    ps one of the characters is called Charles “Wallace”

  50. Mirepoix in Mtl says:

    Wouldnt that be WFC hilarious if, this time, it was Jack who would come in and blow up the sub ?

    Is the sailboat Elizabeth still anchored somewhere?
    There could be a flurry of people locked in the sub: Desmond, Penny, Charlie, Faraday, Hawking, and (why not) Ji Yon and Aaron
    So are Jack and James starting a new generation of MIB vs Jacob ? or are new recruits already being considered for the following generation ?

    As you can read, I am better with questions than answers…
    Still, what a delight to read about comments from people all over the world (Slovenia really? thats great)

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