Not once, but twice in relatively quick succession, Unlocke observed tonight that there was a lot of catching up to do. He wasn’t kidding. “The Last Recruit” moved briskly, touched on a myriad of mysteries, and served up more explosions and twists. But the delicate balance of plot and character definitely felt askew, and along with all the forward velocity, there were moments that seemed to lose traction. At the end of last week’s episode, we felt the stage was set for the final sprint. Tonight’s tale had a lot of flash, but it still feels like we’re waiting for the big show. And with a week off before the next new episode, “The Last Recruit” definitely left us wanting more.
In the flash-sideways, the inevitable collision of our wayward survivors was aggressively accelerated. Sun makes her connection with the island world when she spots Locke on the next gurney. And Jack gets his hands on Locke’s dural sack without a consult. And by the close of our multi-faceted tour of Los Angeles, Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Sayid, Jin, Sun, Jack, Claire, Desmond, Locke, and Ben are clearly interconnected. But can they all be unified and even embark on a plan in the few hours ahead?
I did like Jack’s renewed connection with David, as well as the interplay between cop Sawyer and fugitive Kate, perhaps the strongest character moments in the episode. Seeing Ilana turn up as a lawyer the week after she was blown up on the island was fun, but It still doesn’t make up for her untimely end. Desmond’s actions are again curious, though. Why was he going to see a lawyer? At first we guessed it was just a ruse to point Claire toward Jack, drawn from post-flash omniscience. But he knew Ilana, and had an appointment. Perhaps she’s just corporation counsel for Widmore Industries?
On the island, our unified camp of survivors doesn’t last long, as Sawyer executes his plan and separates Unlocke from several of his precious candidates. It serves the Man in Black right for entrusting a key part of his plan to a con man. Of course, on “LOST,” it can’t be that simple, and after another long look at the ocean, Jack decides that his work’s not done, and jumps overboard. As soon as he returns to the island, Unlocke is there to claim him.
Is Jack “The Last Recruit”? He seems pretty set on confounding Unlocke, but he is also told twice that he’s already “with” him. Claire told Jack that his mistake was letting Unlocke speak. And after Unlocke rescues a dazed Jack from a huge explosion — reminiscent of Claire’s crossing over in New Otherton — he also tells Jack, “You’re with me, now.” I’m wondering if Unlocke is now back to square one… or if there’s a chance that Jack was really the only candidate he needed.
In terms of answers, Unlocke confirms to Jack that he had appeared as Christian Shephard soon after the crash. As with the explanation of the whispers last week, though, the answer seems to bring more questions. Was the Man In Black portraying Christian in Jacob’s cabin? (Probably.) Visiting Jack off the island? (Probably not?) Telling Locke to turn the donkey wheel? (Probably.) Talking to Sun and Frank about the DHARMA Initiative? (Probably not, since at the same time, the Man In Black was Unlocke with the Ajira crew, and supposedly “stuck” in that form.) And a few weeks ago, it seemed significant that Claire described her father and her “friend” as two separate entities. Did she just not know she was in the middle of a puppet show?
And while Unlocke’s darker nature seems even more pronounced now, I’m struck by what he told Jack: he appeared as his father to lead him to water. In retrospect, it does seem to be what the vision accomplished way back in Season 1. And Unlocke also brought water and food to Richard at the Black Rock. Of course, he wanted something from Richard, and still wants something from Jack. But I found the tiny shard of implied benevolence interesting.
Jack was trapped on the island before he even got there? Absolutely. All the Man in Black wanted to do was help them leave? I’m not sure. I think Jack is right to question why he wants them gone, and just how their continued presence is a threat.
While Sawyer was ready to write off Claire and Sayid, both seemed to get a glimmer of hope tonight. Claire’s homicidal urges toward Kate seemed to subside (again) as she was welcomed aboard the escape boat, and Sayid’s hesitation after returning to Locke suggests that talking to Desmond may have reawakened some humanity within him.
Sayid’s character is definitely an empty one now, with even Sawyer dismissing him as a zombie. We’re hoping for a tragic and sad end, or a heroic final turn, but this blank-faced moping around has got to stop. At least Hurley suggests that redemption is possible, invoking what seems to be a contractually obligated “Star Wars” reference. (A reference that pop-culture wise-ass Sawyer inexplicably doesn’t recognize.) Anakin Skywalker turned against his dark lord in a climactic battle, so perhaps Sayid will do the same.
And, yes, at long last, Sun and Jin were reunited. As we’d feared, the overextended separation and the episode’s rushed pace robbed the moment of much of its dramatic power. Actually, the portable sonic fence on the beach seemed to have been purposely situated between them as they ran toward each other, and we were half expecting there to be yet another cheesy contrivance to keep them apart one more week. Fortunately, they embraced and declared their love… but the writers let Lapitas channel David Caruso with a smirking one-liner that deflated whatever emotional power was left in the scene.
Why did Widmore call off the deal with Sawyer? Why does anyone on Team Widmore think missiles are an effective weapon against Unlocke? Where has the spirit of Jacob been all this time, and what is Unlocke’s ultimate plan? And how are we going to survive two weeks before getting our next shot at answers?
- The conversation between Unlocke and Jack was a powerful one. When Unlocke said John Locke was stupid, and a sucker, at first I felt it was just adding insult to injury when it came to one of the most interesting and promising characters on “LOST.” But then I started to think (or hope) that they were actually setting John Locke up to be vindicated somehow. I hope so.
- Off the island, we learn that Locke’s wheelchair actually saved his life. Jen said it reminded her of how losing his kidney saved his life when he was shot by Ben.
- Flash-sideways Kate emphatically insists she’s innocent. And if the flash-sideways are going to ultimately suggest happier lives for our survivors, it would make sense that she is. Notice that Sawyer offers Kate an apple in the police station. A reference to Eve and the Garden of Eden? Or is it just an apple?
- Sawyer’s observation that it’s “weird” how he and Kate ended up crossing each others paths reminded us of Jack remarking to Kate in “316” that it was “crazy” to see that they were all back together on an airplane.
- We loved how cool Unlocke was when the first warning missile struck in the jungle. The huge explosion behind his unflinching figure called to mind the moment he blew up the submarine in Season 3.
- Zoe’s conversation with Unlocke, in which Unlocke says he has no idea what she’s talking about, is a direct mirror of the conversation Unlocke has with Widmore over a similar situation in “The Package.”
- Miles says his last name is Straum. So even though he’s got a good relationship with his museum-managing dad, Dr. Chang, there’s still a kink or two in that family tree.
- Ilana’s last name is Verdanski. Couldn’t think of how that might be significant, if only in comparison to Radzinski and Minkowski.
- Hurley says, “People are trying to kill us again.” Just like old times.
- Sawyer gets of at least one notable nickname: Chesty. It was funny how he referred to Lapitas as a guy who looked like he stepped out of a Burt Reynold’s movie… but it was an unusually clunky line of dialogue where “the pilot” probably would have sufficed.
- Locations: The office building where Claire, Desmond, Jack, David, and Ilana came together was Pauahi Tower in downtown Honolulu. The hospital where Sun and Jin and Jack and Locke turned up was the Rehab Hospital of the Pacific (though I think the ambulance bay and emergency entrance was Kuakini Hospital). The house where Sayid was captured by Sawyer and Miles is on Waiohinu Drive in Kahala. The “old pier” where Jack and his group boarded the Elizabeth was Coconut Island in Kaneohe Bay.
How did you like “The Last Recruit”? Favorite moments? New theories? Please comment below and join the conversation. You can also call and leave a brief (ideally, one-minute long) message on the LOSTLine at (815) 310-0808, or email us at lost@hawaiiup.com.
@Steven in Bathurst – That was my conclusion after this week’s epsiode too, about the ending of Lost. And partly it is because – how could you recall another lifetime, unless you had ‘already’ lived it? (i.e. it happened in your past).
#starwars – At least Hugo didn’t call Anakin by his nickname, “Ani”.
#missiles – Locke’s no flinch on the first missile explosion reminds me of all those movie scenes where some macho guy doesn’t flinch under fire. Apocalypse Now, LOTR – Return of The King to name a couple.
#timelines – LOST is Second Life. So which is the second life? FSW or original timeline? I can understand one timeline ending up being the final reality. but if the characters can pick and choose, that won’t sit well with me. Either one or the other for all of them.
Oh and if you want to geek out on LOST, get thee to Wired magazine. There’s a photo of Darlton with a huge whiteboard in the back that’s worth looking at.
I think Desmond is the new Jacob, or Jacob’s loophole. Since he has been back on the island he has been calm and almost zen-like, just like Jacob. I think Desmond died when Ben shot him at the marina. I think he actually passed away at the hospital, and Charles Widmore took his corpse back to the island, just as Ben killed Locke in the hotel room and transported Locke’s corpse back to the island. Man in Black/Smokey takes Locke’s form, and I believe Jacob took Desmond’s form. My guess is the submarine or the Hydra station holds Desmond’s corspe, just as Ilana revealed John Locke’s corpse to the Losties.
After Jacob threw Desmond into the well, and Sayid was told to go kill Desmond, the first thing Desmond says to Sayid is “What did he promise you?” This is a perfect mirror to what Jacob said to Richard on the beach in Ab Aeterno after Richard made a deal with Smokey to kill Jacob. Jacob was able to save Richard from a deal with Smokey, and I wonder if Desmond will be able to save Sayid from the darkness that has claimed his heart.
In the non-island timeline Desmond has a list of passengers on the flight from Sidney, and he is coming into contact with each of them, just like Jacob and his list of candidates and his interaction with them at various times in the island timeline. And while he makes suggestions to them, for example Hurley going to see Libby, Claire going to see his lawyer, he ultimately leaves their choices to free-will. However, hitting Locke with his car leaves me completely dumbfounded. The only mirror image I see with Locke feeling trapped in a wheelchair in the non-island timeline is Smokey feeling trapped on the island in the island-timeline. If Jack’s surgery on Locke is successful, and Locke walks again, is this a mirror image that Smokey is freed in the island timeline?
Of course, this theory creates more questions:
Did Ben Linus and Charles Widmore know what they were doing in bringing the dead bodies back to the island? And if so, does this make Widmore team Jacob and Ben team Smokey? Is this why we see Ben at Locke’s side in the non-island timeline?
Did Mrs. Hawking know about this corpse loophole as well since she gave instructions as to how to get back to the island with Locke’s body in the island timeline? Is she team Smokey? Afterall, she told Desmond in the non-island timeline that he was not ready. Not ready for what? To allow Jacob’s spirit to awaken within? Did she make a deal with Smokey so that she could have her son back? And does a deal with Smokey mean living in the non-island timeline with what you’ve requested of him? If this is the case, does this mean that those who seem to have a better life in the non-island timeline, like Jack and Eloise, made a deal with Smokey, whereas those still struggling with the same issues did not?
I had a LOT of issues with this episode, in terms of both dialogue and story. Read all about it here:
http://cousinbrandon.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/lost-%e2%80%93-season-6-episodes-13-%e2%80%9cthe-last-recruit%e2%80%9d/
As always, thanks for reading. And of course, great job, Ryan and Jen.
I haven’t posted in a while, but still listen to you quite often. Just wanted to point out how I laughed out loud when Sawyer said that Lapidus looked like he stepped out of a Burt Reynolds movie.
Keep up the good work!
@Stephen, Steve and Annietoo, and Ryan and Jen,
re: the flashsideways or fsw’s. In the words of whoever was in the cabin with Locke “Help me”! The FSW’s have me a bit confused.
What is the real purpose to the end story with the fsw’s and how significant is it that there is a 3 year difference between the fsw and what is happening on the island?
First of several things might have caused the fsw.
1. Jughead 2. The FSW is a result of MIB getting off the island and it is a fulfillment of his promises to different people. 3. Something happens in the final battle that causes the island to sink and causes the FSW.
We assume that it is Jughead causing the FSW because of Daniel’s theory and Juliet’s last thought “it worked”. But it could be caused by something else.
How does the FSW help the people on the island now? Do things resolved in the FSW change the people on the island so they make different choices and change the final outcome? So far it does seem to be that way with Jack.
What happens when people in the FSW remember their other life? So far, nothing definititve. Hurley and Charlie have memories but it hasn’t flashed them into the island reality. They just know something is off in their present life.
Why does Desmond have to make everyone remember? Why is it important for them to know the difference? Does Desmond want them to take action in their FSW? What action does he want them to take? Did he just want Hurley to find Libby his true love? Does he want Locke to be cured by Jack? Claire and Jack to find each other, and give Claire the financial means to keep her child and raise Aaron herself?
Though it feels like the FSW and the Island action is taking place at the same time, there is actually a 3 year difference between them. Is that important or not?
@Ryan and Jen – what are your thoughts on these questions?
@Carol — I have wondered about the 3yr time difference too. You ask some great questions above. At this point, I think we can only guess & conjecture… I’d be curious to hear other people’s input. Gotta run –
Just as I was getting over the fear of the sonic tripods, realizing they were not on, and starting to get a little misty during Sun & Jin’s moment they start speaking English…then as I was getting over that…there’s Frank Lapidus.
I sorta thought that the scene could have been saved if as they kissed, Huey Lewis started singing “That’s the Power Of Love” like in Back To The Future…..
I was a bit disappointed by the Sun/Jin reunion this week. After building it up for so long, it was a little underwhelming, and Frank’s one liner only made it worse.
I’m also now thinking something unpleasant is in store for Sun and/or Jin. Had they waited another episode or two to reunite them, that could have been the end of their stories. But with the little time that is left, I fear the writers have one more twist in mind for those characters — and I doubt it will be a happy one.
@ Ben in PA – Any thoughts on how unLocke might have lost his power to go over water? We’ve seen him as black smoke this season (though not lately), so it doesn’t seem like taking Locke’s form for good had any effect…
has anyone thought about or discussed how Jacob and the “un-named” MIB might be similar to the characters of Jacob and Esau in the bible? Biblical Jacob was deceitful, but was rewarded for his “choice”. Esau got screwed out of an inheritance, but also ended up with a bad situation….did’nt he??
Anakin’s from the original trilogy
Jack jumps from the boat into the sea like Sawyer jumped from the Helicopter into the sea as people were leaving the island
@nuckinfuts – ha! Great comment.
I was worried about the sonic fence too. I guess they loved each other so much they didn’t care or notice the fence.
I see this episode as the calm before the storm, the last bit of happiness before all hell breaks loose, or in Jacob terms “the corkscrew takes off the cork” lol
@airwin – I think Locke can still turn into smokey at any time. re: the water. Water puts out smoke. Also if Smokey is made up of some kind of magnetic or electrical energy water wouldn’t mix with that either. Could be simple science involved in this.
One last comment before I go to work and get back to real life. (BTW after 3 months in the hospital my mom comes home tomorrow. :))
Ilana’s comment about MIB now being stuck in Locke’s body. I take that to mean he can’t pretend to be anybody else anymore but he can still turn into smokey.
This is important because that means any “dead person” we see on the island is a ghost or spirit. So if we see Christian on the island again it can’t be MIB. This might be relevant in the Jack storyline.
@Carol – I think he can as well — and I think we’ve got a few more awesome smoke monsters scenes in store before the series ends.
But if he can’t go over water, how did Christian appear to Michael on the freighter in season 4?
Thanks Carol from Boston –
@ John Fischer & EVERYBODY – –
You may have something there about the timeline in FSW…something felt off about the timeline with Sun & Locke meeting…well….converging.
In connection perhaps is this : As it has also been mentioned the scene where it’s dark and then all of the sudden it’s light when Jack returns. Perhaps these are not production errors.
The island is notorious for it’s crazy weather patterns. Not to mention the time divergence issues that have been proven by Faraday, floating corpses, and radio transmissions in the dark. And it seems in the past the characters have mentioned the days & nights seem, for lack of a better term, ‘off’.
If the island world is ‘bleeding’ into the FSW then perhaps time will start to change there too…perhaps this is the effect that is brought about if MIB is released….perhaps the chaos that may be caused is more like time folding in on itself if not contained by the island’s poperties, or two or three dimensions bleeding in on themselves and destroying everything. This could also lend itself somehow to the various ancient cultures that have seemed to merge on the island….perhaps relics from past ‘events’. Stop me….
Hi All
Michael from Ireland, Ive been reading everybodies theories on here for ages , so i just want to see if anyone can answer these
Ok Three things
First time poster , but ive been listening for years
If Sayid “cant feel anything” and he and Claire are infected by the same thing , why is Claire so Passionate about attacking kate , seems Emile De Ravin is playing this more as a crazy person than as an emotionless zombie
Who was Christian Shepard both on the freighter and in the hospital when jack saw him ? couldnt have been Flocke as he cant traverse water with a boat ? was it Jacob ? or will the Island be revealed to be a third entity ?
Is that where they will leave it with adam and eve ? are we to assume they were Rose and Bernard ?
and a 4th , what the hell am i going to listen to now on the 2hr bus journey into work on a monday morning ????
The Darlton whiteboard folks:
http://www.wired.com/magazine/wp-content/images/18-05/ff_lost_2000px_f.jpg
@You All Everybody – Just finished yet another rewatch of the first two episodes of Season 5 (after rewatching all Season 6 episodes 4 times, I needed something else to occcupy my time while exercising lol). At any rate, I shouldn’t have.
As much as I have tried to avoid forming ANY theories on where LOST will end up, I now have one and thought I would share it. If it ends up wrong, oh well, I’ll be just like thousands of others. But if it ends up correct, I can say “I Called it”, because I don’t believe I’ve seen this theory posted anywhere (although I could be dead wrong and just haven’t read them all).
So here goes………. I think Locke, in one form or another, will end up being the new Jacob, and Jack will end up being the new MIB trapped on the Island. Although I won’t even attempt to go into all the reasons and try to explain what has led me to this conclusion, I think that this “end” (which will actually start the cycle over again) has been shown to us in many ways.
There you have it, another crackpot theory. Comments anyone?
@steve — thanks for the link to that photo! I love how there’s Dharma beer and Dharma boxed wine on the desk… and of course there’s a convenient white glare right over the board where the upcoming episodes are written… 🙂
@KK – Ha ha, that’s Photoshop “glare”. You can make out the next episode’s character focus, but that’s kind of obvious.
LReene I love your theory…. but what’s gonna happen to the rest of the oceanic gang????
@April – LOL, My crystal ball clouded over before I could see that part 🙂
and vincents.bich… your theory and points are excellent too! I cannot wait to see what happens even though the end of this fantastic show will be a great loss to my tv viewing
LOL LReene, I think you should make something up, you definitely have a knack for it!
@ LReene ~ I like the Locke = Jacob thing; but not so much the Jack = MIB part ~~ definitely the show has been leading up to a showdown between those two for 5+ years ~~ Locke absolutely seems like a vessel for the island and what is needed spiritually for our Losties; Jack is clearly in need of healing and transformation: he has a major purpose… but I don’t want to see him GO DARK!!! There is a lot of meaty foreshadowing stuff in Season 5, not that that has ever stopped the LOST writers from ‘bait and switch’ ~ lol
@ Yann ~ there is NO LOL when it comes to Kate being killed!!!!!!! ~~ GO KATE
Hi,
Last week you noted that the book Hurley found among Ilana’s belongings in the Everybody Loves Hugo episode was “Notes from the Underground” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “considered by many to be the world’s first existentialist novel.” One thing that didn’t occur to me until this week’s episode was the tie-in to Desmond’s order number at Mr. Clucks: “42”.
As anyone who has ever read Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series will recognize, “42” is the answer given by that the planetary supercomputer, Deep Thought, built by the super-intelligent, pan-dimensional beings to answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.
I have the feeling that this is a clue that Lost is all about that same ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. Hopefully, Lost will be able reveal this ultimate question, rather than just give us the answer to an unknowable question.
Thanks for all of your hard work – it’s well appreciated!
@greenberry – I’m not 100% convinced that MIB is Dark. At this point he is being portrayed that way, but as I said in a previous post (maybe last week?), his view on the nature of man is more “God like” than Jacob’s.
You are absolutely correct on the “foreshadowing” in Season 5. But even though I had watched most episodes 3 and 4 times, I am looking at the “foreshadowing” in a whole different light now at the point we are at in Season 6. This is what has led me to my theory. There are just a ton of stuff said and done that to me, points to Locke=Jacob – Jack=MIB when it’s all said and done.
Oh, one other quick “notice”. Does anyone remember Sawyer stepping on a dart in an episode prior to when Widmore’s group attacked to capture Jin? It happened during one of the time flashes way back at the beginning of Season 5. Right after the Frogurt “FIRE!!!” scene when they were all heading for the creek. I thought THAT was rather interesting too.
@LReene ~ You’ve given me further motivation to closely comb through Season 5… good sleuthing!
So far MIB seems pretty DARK and untrustworthy , but I’m open…
I would love to hear anybodys reasoning/ philosophy/science behind the fact that while Desmond blew his clothes off by triggering the fail_safe Juilettes clothes remained on her gorgeous body after triggering Jughead. Anyone? Anyone at all?
Hi everybody!
Well, after having watched the last episode it is clear for the MIB the most important of the candidates is Jack but what for? I think @LReene’s theory of Jack will be the next MIB could be true becausemaybe to win the game, Smokey needs to convince someone to replace him and not Jacob. I don’t agree with the part Locke will be Jacob.
But I don’t believe un-Locke is the bad guy here. We don’t know what happened to him, maybe it has something to do with that creepy boy, but he only wants to leave the Island. Many characters said that if MIB leaves the Island all will be over but I don’t think they mean the world will be over or something like that, but they refer to the lives they know. That’s why I thought the alternative reality happens when the un-Locke leaves the Island. But hey, that’s not a bad reality for me if all the losties remember what happened.
Back again. Two things.
First, I am not a Star Wars aficionado, so I ask the following question at my peril. Is it possible Anakin is a character in releases that occurred while Sawyer was trapped in Dharmaville? He would have missed anything between 2004 and 2007.
Second, in Doc Jensen’s recap he references the Season 4 episode “Beginning of THE END” (my emphasis). Since everything is deliberate, and since “it only ends once”, I’m wondering if that epi has some clues/foreshadowing (more than usual). Will have to rewatch.
Hey, me again! Got to thinking about the temple pool and it’s implied ability to bring the dead to life. Anyone got the molecular structure of the chemical compound they used as an additive for that? I guess we could throw the catch-all blanket of ‘nano-technology’ on that one I suppose. Hey, this science is real. The only question is why are they keeping it from us. I just KNOW some of you are smart enough to reason this out. Please help us unenlightened ones. Light a candle, oh, show us the way.
Ah, one more thing. Quite simple. I just need to check my answer. What did you come up with for the odds of the same five people being involved in two separate airline accidents? Because my numbers are BEYOND REASON! Anyone? Anyone?
@Laura: The beginning of the end was about Ben’s daughter being killed, him calling the smoke monster to deal with Keamy’s group and finally him and Widmore talked about “the rules” one of the biggest mystery left (and I wonder if we will see those two together again)
@LReene and greenberry: How about we watch the same couple of episodes and talk about it next week? Which one would you pick?
When Claire was pointing the gun at Kate, I kept chanting “Kill Kate, kill Kate, kill Kate”
So they fudge on the science. A little. But, science is built on reason. More fudge. Mix in a little mythology. You know, just make up some kinda backstory. More fudging. Throw a lot of books around. A lot of books. Different takes on existence, reality, philosophy. I mean, let’s get it all out there. Muddy fudge. Religion. Symbolism. Eastern or Western. Ying-Yang. Yada, yada, yada. Wow! What could it all mean? Who ever could figure this out would be the King of Fudge!
@LReene- interesting theory and if it is correct, then you should shout it to the world. (or at least this board :))
@nuckinfuts – here is my interpretation of MIB and his “powers”. In the past, before he fully claimed MIB’s human form, I believe that he could become the spirit of dead people, even a corporal form for a short period of time. Perhaps being a spirit allowed him to travel over water etc. Now that he is either smokey or an human being, he can’t become a spirit anymore. He can only do what humans can do when he is locke. So he is either Locke or Smokey.
On the other hand he could simply be lying to trick Sawyer.
@Gene- perhaps the second accident only occured because those 5 people were on that flight (remember they had to be on that one) and the island “wanted” them back because the island wasn’t done with them. If we are talking logic, well throw all 6 seasons out the window right? lol As for the science, yup, over my head too. At least we can laugh about it right? The last science class I took was a gut in college, Geology, which we called “Rocks for Jocks” it was taught by an older Jesuit priest that pretty much passed you if you showed up. Like I said, science just isn’t my thing. If it wasn’t for some of the explanations on here I would be in big trouble.
@ Dale – Long Live “The Hitchhiker’s Guide” (the first book was the best of them). Let’s add some of the late Douglass Addams Dirk Gently Novels wherein one of the underlying principles was the “Fundamental Interconnectedness of all Things” – how LOST is that!
@Gene- maybe Desmond actually traveled in time and didn’t flash. Whereas Juliet flashed. In the book “Time Traveler’s Wife” when the main character went back and forth in time, he was nude.
I would like to think a nude Desmond was just a little gift for the woman in the audience. Plus Hurley finding a nude Desmond was just plain funny.
@ Gene e – it’s incredibly simple – female viewers!
@Yann From France – I’m up for that. Although I think since both “Because You Left” and “The Lie” (first 2 episodes of Season 5) originally aired together, and the 2nd is more or less a continuation of the 1st, we probably should rewatch and discuss both of them and not try to choose between them. Without commercials, only an hour and 20 minutes viewing time. 🙂
@Bonita- great minds think alike.
@Carol — …and then Desmond in Hurley’s t-shirt was even more funny! I love all the humor on and surrounding this show.
@LReene – I’m in! Does it help out your theory?
@KK – how many episodes was he in that tye dye shirt? Then when he finally finds clothes – perfect fit. I remember thinking in the first season that everyone was way too clean. Well that is no longer an issue. I feel sorry for these actors having to wear these same outfits for months. How boring. Poor Lapidus has looked like helll for years. Remember the grungy bandaid on his forhead? Lucky for him, he has such great eyes and he can pull it off.
@ Carol – best wishes to you and your MOM, love your posts.
I like your response to Gene re: the 5 on 2 separate crashes and agree I’d like to hear @Gene e’s more detailed reasons behind is theory – we do have two weeks until a new episode afterall.
@Carol from Boston – Well, I guess you will have to be the judge of that. Although I will say that it was after another rewatch of those 2 episodes this morning that the theory hit me.
@ Yann: I love that idea ~ LReene, you pick!
Just back from my daily walk (I work at home) and got to thinking about the topic of evil, which is timely and of course timeless…
Most would consider Hitler evil ~ Yet, while he was in power he was able to convince multitudes of Germans that Jews and others were evil in order to motivate mass murders ~ Does anyone on LOST fit this criteria? Or may in the future?
Today, I am inundated with alarmist literature on the evils of Obama (from a well-meaning Christian Zionist friend). My family in Israel don’t trust him either, but all my American relatives are Democrats and love him.
So, it brings to mind Jacob and MIB and Ben and Widmore… and HOW do we figure out WHO is evil, and WHAT do they have to do to convince us that they are, and WHEN do we figure it out.. and then the extra factor of WHY are they this way???
Most humans have good and bad character in their make-up (unless they are severely flawed) ~ In the end, are we supposed to not only see our Losties this way, but W/B & J/BL too? Is portraying evil and good too simplistic? It makes for good television! And it is probably easier for most to think someone is bad or good, rather than down the middle. Also, it makes for good television to see someone swtich or be redeemed.
I would love to see a more psychologically complex (mixes of good and bad in all) solution to the end of the show, with no clear-cut answers other than happy, positive lives being able to be lived.