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“While Locke devises a new strategy, Jack’s group searches for Desmond.” For this penultimate episode of “LOST,” we’re posting a “shortwave transmission,” a shorter, initial reactions podcast, rather than our usual blog entry. We skip the recap and get straight to our take, then share the first few calls to come in on the LOSTLine. Although we’re less than a week away from the end of this incredible series, we’d still love your feedback on “What They Died For.” Please comment below and join the conversation!
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It wasn’t Jacob that cast the spell and had jack drink. It was MIB. Now jack is “claimed” “infected” I remember him offering sajid water from a canteen just before he sent him to kill Dogen. (I think)
This is how he indoctronates his followers too. He wanted to destroy jacobs ashes for some reason. Might be more back at the statue though.
Of course it could be a really crazy plot, where things played out just the way they showed us…………Nah…………….couldn’t be.
MIB is playing the Looooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg Con on everyone.
THANKS Ryan and Jen for the best LOST Podcast!
My predictions for the end:
1) Richard Alpert is ALIVE and will play a part in MIB’s demise. Why? He is immortal and we did not see his body.
2) Widmore is ALIVE. Remember Ben or Widmore cannot kill each other. In fact, the fake shooting saved his life, since MIB was intent on killing him after he got the info he needed. (MIB did not bargin to save his life, only Penny’s.)
Ben’s shooting of Widmore was a ‘ruse’ to convince MIB that he is with him. Ben is plotting against MIB (hence the walkies he gave to Miles) and that dude can plot.
3) Sayid helped Desmond out of the well.
@Carol from Boston – WOW, what a cool idea about Claire having Aaron at the concert and being airlifted away by helicopter. And I’ll bet you are right on the money.
I never like to make a post here without first reading all the prior posts, but geeez, that is getting harder and harder. I did make up my mind on this episode though that I was going to add a comment, regardless of how many I needed to read first.
This episode was very special to our household because thanks to Ryan & Jen who pointed us in the direction to go each morning, my wife and I were able to watch much of it being filmed while in Hawaii this past March.
It was just so neat last night to watch Richard, Miles, and Ben walk along that fence line and stop at Alex’s grave. See Ben and UnLocke have their conversation on the porch. And see Smokey fly around New Otherton eventually pummeling Richard, and remember seeing the whole thing being filmed. WOW!!
Of all the trips we have made to the islands over the years, we have both commented that because of LOST, The Transmission, and Ryan & Jen, we had more fun THIS trip, than any other ever.
We also made many friends this year with other LOST fans and Transmission listeners, who I’m sure we will keep in touch with for many years to come.
Thanks Ryan & Jen for the great Podcast, the Transmission board, and for being such great hosts to your little LOST corner of the Island. We will be sure to look you up again and will keep in touch long after LOST has gone off the Air.
In the meantime, just can’t WAIT for Sunday night to get here!
Stay LOST everyone.
Just re-watched Ben’s execution of Widmore. All shots were fired into the trunk where a vest could protect him. No blood visible.
Ben was saving widmore’s life by shooting him, and stopping him from saying any more. Widmore will be back later.
My boyfriend (a casual watcher) thinks Jacks ex wife will be Kate. His reasoning is that Jacob used the words “you became a mother” to Kate and we dont know really what she’d been up to in her FS life. Oh and plus, he says “the kid looks like her.” Don’t judge, he’s an awesome BF. lol
@ Carol – I do like the helicopter vision idea. I’m sure it’s been out there before but this is a great place to remind us.
@ Doug; Love your Universal David Theory
A lot of comments to read, I promise I’ll give it a try tomorrow. I want to share some things with you all. Firstly, I liked the episode a lot and I think many people who didn’t like next week’s one have realised “Across the Sea” was a neccesary episode.
Some thoughts:
-Ben says that room in her cabine was to keep the smoke monster but was him who was being kept. So, that’s all? How did Smokey ended there? But, I thought some time ago that Ben was a puppet of the MIB and I think his sentence could explain that.
-I think Claire helped Desmond because where she was?
-If Ben and Widmore couldn’t harm each other, is Charles alive? I bet he is.
-Have we seen the end of Richard Alpert? I hope we haven’t.
-In the sideways if Jack fixes Locke, will Smokey end with everybody in the World? My theory of the underatre Island was that was not because of the Jughead but of the MIB leaving the Island.
-Could Ben be happilly ever after with both Danielle (great to see her again) and Alex? The scene at their place was ver romantic.
-The finale, we won’t have more episodes, hopefully will be great. If not, “Lost” has been a great experience to follow and I’ll be happy, but I won’t if Juliet and Sawyer dn’t have that coffee together.
@HeyKir Locke in the FS world (good one) says “he looks like you” to Jack. thats why Jack says “don’t tell him that” and they both laugh. and Kate in the FS world is the only one still dealing, unsuccesfully, with the same problems that she had in the Island timeline.
which is something i’ve been wondering about since watching it again. if, in the FS world, a candidate has potential for ‘happiness’, then where does that put them as a candidate? if one can have a complete life, instead of being alone, like Jacob says, then will they be allowed to finish up in the FS world?
too early in the day for my head to be spinning like this.
oh yeah, my roomie who is a comedian and NOT a Lostie, has a show sunday night. even they know not to expect any kind of turnout.
@Embie: Thanks for the NYer cartoon headsup. I’m sure even the Lost writers bow before the genius that is Roz Chast.
@ Jason B, Zoey as Jack’s EX! That would be weird twist but I do so hope you are wrong b/c, ew!
@ LReene ~ How are you feeling about your theory (re: Locke taking Jacob’s role and Jack taking over for MIB) after the last few episodes?
Several posters have noted that we can’t be sure about Jacob really being Jacob, and also now we know that MIB has some justified grievances…
I have no prediction about any of the above, only that our Losties will in some way be ‘reborn’ symbolically through water.
I thought Ben couldn’t kill widmore?
I was reading an excerpt from my tintin companion book by michael farr i believe and read the Flight 714 section.
Herge the creator of Tinitn Flight 714 said the following…on creating such an adventure of tintin…
“I wanted to change, to return to adventure with a capital A…yet without alltogether going back to it. I wanted to demystify adventure in a way through ‘baddies’ who are not as bad as that, and ‘goodies’ who are not so good…..” -herge
sounds like lost to me.
Another thing i read from the same book by michael farr about the same comic flight 714 was that herge was interested in airports….
“an airport is a center rich in human possibillities, a meeting point for various nationalities, the whole world is to be found scaled down at an airport! There anything can happen, tragedies, jokes, things exotic, adventure….etc. “-herge
I thought both of these qoutations sounded a lot like Lost. There are more comparisons to flight 714 and lost……
– the real pilot was sick in the comic…..
lapidis slept late and missed the flight
– in flight 714 there was also an island where the runway is much to short…
– there is a truth serum in the comic
lost had some needles with medicine or something…
-in the comic themes of “no one loves me” and who is the baddest.
-there are others mentioned in the comic
-theme of wanting to get off the island as much as you
-whispers told tintin where to go….
-the events are televised about the crash…..
-they both have a source of light mentioned
I just hope that the finale doesn’t have a ufo come and take the bad people off the island or just any ufo for that matter.
This concert did we learn what it was benifiting for? What hawking/widmore was celebrating? I forgot….
Anyway just wanted to share these qoutations and thought.
Great podcast and site and enjoy sunday….may 23…the 23rd psalm?
ok cant wait now will just enjoy the show.
@ Matt in Tx: Love the idea of an Flashsideways Jacob!
oy, wish I could edit!
My daughter is home from school now and it’s tough to concentrate, see y’all later
@aaron r
lol I have sympathy for your roommate…years ago, I used to manage a band whose “make it or break it” gig turned out to be scheduled on the same night as a Yankee World Series game. Needless to say it was only a “break it” gig. lol
@Greenberry writes: I have no prediction about any of the above, only that our Losties will in some way be ‘reborn’ symbolically through water.
That sounds so cool I wanted to repeat it.
Thanx Bonita ~ it was great hearing your voice (which reminded me of women I know) on the podcast!
Finally caught up on the comments….
What a great ride!
I’m curious about Miles reaction when he comes across Alex’s grave. The sound affects were totally different from previous readings by Miles. I wonder if it actually means something or …
@BrianD – I too was screaming at the TV when the EAS message came up about the tornado alert in Denver. Thanks goodness you can watch the episode at abc.com, I watched it just so I could get the lost 2 minutes back!
This episode was Lost as it’s finest, lots of great acting and writing with some really great ‘one liners’ thrown in.
After last week I was starting to get a little scared that at the end of the finale I would feel that Lost was the equivalent of a a TV ponzi scheme. Keep the viewers hooked by paying out small answers while never addressing a final payout of big answers. But I can’t ignore the many, many hours of excellent entertainment I’ve gotten from this series, both while watching and also while engaging in speculation.
I’ve really enjoyed the podcasts and reading all the great discussions here.
Stay lost, my friends.
@Nadia: Really good, that Herge quote about airports. I’m down with that, it’s unfortunate that security and profit problems have made flying such a drag the last couple decades. What a remarkable thing a major airport is. I’ve often wondered why the romance of train stations, martialing and freight yards, and train journeys hasn’t transferred to air travel (cf last year’s film Up in the Air), no more so than recently because a couple weeks ago I saw for the first time the amazing French train film La Bete Humaine.
Ryan and Jen, I have been a long time listener and missed your podcast during its hiatus. Listening to you discuss each episode has made me feel that I have someone to share Lost with and your insightful comments have often cleared up questions for me.
What a great episode “Why They Died” was! The writers have set us up perfectly for the finale which I can’t wait to see, but hate to see because it will be the end of Lost.
Good luck with Popspotting. I’ll be listening.
Sideways World Questions…
A friend and I are arguing. he says that the alternative sideways world was created by the bomb blast. I say that it only opened up the door, so to speak. In other words, I’m arguing this alternative timeline already existed and events were not CAUSED by the bomb exploding. He says that the bomb exploding CAUSED the alternative timeline to branch off approximately 30 years ago. The reason why I don’t buy his easier, more simple theory, is that it seems many events simply cannot be explained as “being different because of the bomb.†For example, Shannon was not on the plane ride home. This, to me, was a biggie. Jack getting married but this time having a kid…seems to have no relationship to the island being there or not–Jack still had the same daddy problems he had in both worlds. My point is that had the bomb “workedâ€, it would have simply restarted time for Jack and company on the plane. That’s when it would have changed for them. Only at that point, because that’s the only event that was affected. One could say, perhaps, that the fact that the island didn’t exist would change the timeline around everyone on board Oceanic 815. Thus, things in their past (up to the 1970s era explosion) would have also been affected. But here’s why that makes little sense to me…If the island didn’t exist, and the plane didn’t crash in order to bring them to the island, then why were they on the plane at all? So my point is it is an alternative timeline that existed with or without respect to Jughead.
Hi Ryan and Jen. I still haven’t listened to your podcast. Saving it for later tonight.
I know I’m echoing some of YAE’s earlier posts, but here are my thoughts anyway:
I think Zayid left the rope for Desmond. I think Zayid told Jack to help him out just so that Jack would focus on hooking up with Des.
I don’t think Jack will be protector for too long. I think they will find a way to kill MiB. In the FS Jack will “wake up” soon enough to do something in Locke’s surgery, that would weaken MiB on the island. If they kill MiB I think he will be killed on island, not in FS. But most of all I hope they find a way to free him without the FS ceasing to be.
Great to see Ben back! I was worried he was reduced to a side character. I like him best when he’s CRUEL and EVIL! (even if he might pull a long con on MiB).
I think Ben got teary in the FS because he felt Alex was his daughter. He had just had island memories from the beating by Desmond. I also think he took a shine to Danielle.
Jack can now see the light cave as he is the new Jacob. I think Jack and Co. will hook up with Des and take him there. What happens next is beyond me.
What a great episode this was! LOVED it!
@greenberry – I can honestly say “I really don’t know HOW I feel” 🙂
I guess I think it could still happen (which I’m perfectly ok with). But I’m now more leaning towards the fact that the ending will be something that NONE of us are expecting (which I would really like to see).
In any event, I’m along for the ride. It’s been a fantastic 6 years and I think the actual “thrill” part of the ride is just beginning.
A Question That Needs to be Answered..
Jacob told the candidate that they were chosen because they had “unhappy lives.” Jacob chose Kate and Sawyer when they were children. Were Kate and Sawyer predetermined and destined to have unhappy lives? Did they have a choice?
Second Question(s)
Where did the airplane food drops come from? Did they stop?
In the end, the show is about great entertainment – that’s the bottom line. Tonight’s ep was very entertaining despite some weaknesses.
First of all – Carol fr. Boston – those totally lost segments were hilarious. Funniest part when MIB said the reason he wants off the island is “because the food sucks on the island”.
Re Widmore: Terrible. I know they have to tie story lines up, but come on. This was one of the most mysterious nefarious manipulators of all time. Didn’t get into his motives, why he was back (other than delivering Des.) what he was planning, etc. etc… If Jacob needed an errand boy, he could have sent Richard to the mainland to bring Des back. Didn’t have to be Widmore. This character deserved better than the old “Benjamin Blast”. Need to get rid of someone in a hurry – Ok we’ll just use the Benjamin blast – quick, efficient, no explanation necessary. Don’t have to use any brain cells. It’s not even shocking anymore – it’s like oh well – there goes ben again blasting people away on the spur of the moment.
Ana Lucia – this escape was good until Hugo showed up w/ the $. Come on. This was written for a 12 year old mentality. How long would it take Internal Affairs to figure out what happened? I’d give IA 5 min to figure out Ana was on the take and let them go. What happened, Ana returns back to the Police Station and says they just got away. No witnesses on the docks in broad daylight. Ridiculous!!!
@ Tawl ~ Good questions… I think that Kate and Sawyer were already immersed in unhappy childhood circumstances when Jacob came along ~ He touched the other potential candidates when they were older, yes? Jin and Sun getting married (already lots of problems there), Jack having father struggles in the hospital, and Locke being thrown out of a window by his dad.
Anybody know when the complete series on BluRay is going to happen?
I am going to have to watch the whole thing with the perspective the finale will give us.
Richard is dead, people.
UnLocke told him that the next time he saw him it wouldn’t end well.
By the time Richard changed his mind, and decided to take UnLocke up on his original promise to join him, it was too late.
Loved that episode! Well the old Ben is back! When he said to Man In Black do you want a glass of lemonade I couldn’t believe it and laughed out loud! And he got his revenge on Widmore. I guess the rules didn’t apply anymore that he couldn’t kill him? Loved the flash sideways developments! Ben is so sweet there that it’s hard to believe. Very touching scene with Rousseau and her daugher and Ben – I just loved seeing her and how great she looked! I have to say though that I really am getting creeped out at the flash sideways Desmond. He knows everything that has gone on in both worlds and he reminds of MIB in a way the way he’s manipulating everyone – I hope he’s still a good guy brotha! There was kind of an evil look on his face a few times and I just thought – wow what the heck is going on with him? He’s very different. I’m still not sure I trust everything Jacob says even in that last scene with our Losties but it was touching how Jack stepped up to his destiny. Aloha and savor the finale!
Lost Cast says Goodbye, 🙁
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sySLy4Q8gXg&feature=player_embedded#
Great episode!! I’m so excited and sad that we have reached the end.
What was Miles going to say before Richard cut him off. He said, “I don’t think…” And he didn’t seem to be able to get the right frequency.
Ben! What happened?! And why did Widmore give over the walkies just because he asked him for them? That seemed like a lame reason. The rules? And why would Widmore trust Ben and corner himself in the closet? I’d be heading into the jungle as fast as I could with Miles. It seems to take Smokie/Flocke a little longer to find you out there, unless you happen to be bleeding, in which case he’s right there within seconds. Oh, and adios to Richard. Another Ilana moment.
How did Hurley know Anna Lucia already? What has happened in the interim? Did everything come flashing back? More than just the kiss?
I loved the exchange between Danielle and Ben. He seemed positively smitten! And the kidnapping line was great.
My favorite line – “It’s just a line of chalk on a wall, Kate. The job is yours if you want it.”
Is Ben planning on sending Desmond into the heart of the island to destroy it? And how would Desmond be the fail-safe? Is that in the process already in the flash sideways?
I am going to miss this show. Thanks, Ryan and Jen, for the wonderful podcast. LOST is much better shared! I only wish I had discovered you earlier!
@Tawl re: airplane drops – here is my theory, after the purge, Ben made up an imaginary illness to explain it so Dharma headquarters wouldn’t be suspicious and come to the island. Rather than say everyone was wiped out he kept up the facade of some dharma members using the others. He put up the Quarantine signs on the inside of the hatch to keep whoever was pushing the button inside because he still needed them. He gave them the oxygen and told them to use it outdoors so they couldn’t go further than a couple of hours walk and find otherville. Dharma, fearing the illness, kept dropping food for them rather than visiting the island. They knew when to drop the food due to the Lamp post station.
I think that I have posted it before but it makes sense to me that Ben would have to lie about killing everyone or he would be arrested.
I’m blown away by the number of people calling in to say they still hated Across the Sea.
Great episode. Only complaints are these:
1. Waaaaaay too many commercials. Did it feel like we got ripped off a good, I don’t know, ten minutes of Lost (which, with so little time left, feels like ages)?
2. Widmore. Blown up. Really? And the big Widmore reveal: not so revealing really. It left some key things unexplained- why bring a small army of people with him if his intention is just to bring Desmond (especially since he should know that MIB is unkillable)? And what exactly has he been working at all these years with his clandestine projects and ventures?. I wanted to hear a lot more about the whole “Widmore as prodigal son” thing too (Jacob forgave him the “error of his ways” hmmmm). I understand not every loose end will tie up neatly and that is fine, but Widmore is a key player in this story. More please.
3. Ben going back to bad. Meh. Didn’t love it. There are only so many times you can flip a person credibly and this was not one of those times.
4. Why start at 7 on Sunday?! Why? My daughter is not in bed until 8. Oh the humanity.
@ Carol ~ WAY to get me crying again!! ~ thanx for the touching clip
I had a few questions.
1 – Why did Jacob have to be a child to get the ashes from Hurley?
2 – Why did Jacob become a mature adult once the ashes were burning?
3 – Why did everyone see Jacob while the ashes were burning? Did he decide who can see him?
4 – Why do we only see Jacob in those 2 ages?
5 – Why was Kate next to Sayid in jail? Don’t they separate the sexes?
6 – how will anyone kill MIL? Isn’t he impervious to bullets?
7 – what is the reason MIL would kill anyone but Jack and Desmond since they are the new Jacob and the failsafe?
8 – Where is Desmond? How is he the failsafe? What did Widmore whisper to MIL before Ben shot him?
9 – What happened to Claire? Why isn’t she with MIL?
10 – What is the significance of the lesion on Jack’s neck?
These are just a few things I would like an answer to, but who knows. They may decide to keep us guessing.
Faith
@Reg in WA
It is still August ,24 2010. I’m probly doing a pre-order for the B-Ray set. Great prices. Rewatch city this summer!
@Greenberry- I know, the clip was very bittersweet. Did you watch the other videos? The totally lost ones, the first and last are funny but the ones in between are very informative.
Hopefully no one minds my posting links, I only do it when I see something really good.
@HeyKir thanks for the reply! i’ve been posting here for a little while and yours is the first reply i’ve seen. was afraid i was shouting in the dark lol
I’m a 42 year old man. Have been listening to the postcast since season two, and have always loved it. I’ve had the feeling it created for me an amazing community of online friends with whom I could discuss any theories. I’m really sad the show is coming to an end, and I know many of us will go back to their regular lives, and it will be hard to continue in touch. But it was a wonderful experience for me. I’ve never called, and I am thinking I may not call when it’s all over on Sunday because I’m very sentimental, and I know i will be sobbing and crying (the last few minutes of this podcast made me sob already). Mahalo Ryan and Jen for all you’ve given us. Mahalo to you all everybody for being here.
Namaste!
Just watch “What They Died For” again. Did anyone notice when the smoke monster got Richard it almost seemed that Ben was intimidated. The way he sit there in the chair by unlock made my think about “The Man behide the Curtian”. I re-watch the eposide and slowed it down. I think that it was Ben, older in other’s grab asking for help. Could what he is doing make him the next smoke monster?
@aaron r No worries! He’s numero dos! lol
@Fernando I feel very much the same way, about us all getting back to our lives, etc.
Maybe we should start a Facebook group for us Losties to keep in touch and communicate about life or other shows?? Thoughts anyone??
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxi maculpa!
You may accept my apologies for overtly preaching my take on the Lost experience. It will not be repeated.
May you all find what you are looking for. Mahalo.
Namaste.
And see you in another life, brutha.
Maybe Jack’s neck injury was from MIB attempting to kill him Evil Tina Fey style.
@ Bad_Wobot : Welcome to the Transmission… I have enjoyed hearing your take when you chime in to The Fringe Podcast. I just listen in and have never called in for Fringe … or here for that matter, Shy I guess.
Maybe after Lost, I’ll have more time to theorize about Fringe – which has become excellent this season.
But I digress, I agree with you that the cast did a great job during this episode. Kate had a great scene with Jack, Ben and Locke or UnLocke – when are they ever below their game. This show has been blessed by great storytelling and by a fantastic cast of actors that have only gotten better with every season.
I have not listened to the podcast – however, from everything I read, here and elsewhere, the vibe I am getting is one that brings to mind the end of high school where the students and the teachers say good bye, knowing that they will miss these friends and colleagues they spent the last 5 years with and that many will be going in different directions to persue other asperations and avenues… Saying thank you for enriching my experience and being there by my side along the journey.
Sniff, it will be much worse on Sunday. But I can’t wait for it to happen … as much as I dread it.
@HeyKir in NYC – you said:
Maybe we should start a Facebook group for us Losties to keep in touch and communicate about life or other shows?? Thoughts anyone??
I think it’s a fantastic idea. It would be a great way to stay in touch as we rewatch the series. I’m in!!!
just listened to the podcast and GREAT CALL JEN!! what DID happen on Desmond’s and Penny’s date? it looks like we all missed that one. d’oh!
everyone is so ready to write off Richard. Lost hasn’t been afraid to show us dead bodies. Richard just kind-of flew away. i’m not sure he’s gone.
and i missed that Miles is running around in the jungle with the c4 and a walkie-talkie.
I’m still not convinced that the final one will be Jack. just to get it out there, i’m keeping my eye on Kate and Ben. i know, it probably IS Jack, but things seem to bring them into the question.
and i fully expect some sort of redemption for Ben,even if he’s not the one. i’m not ruling out good things for Claire, either.
wall-to-wall great performances, great lines, great feelings. sounds like an episode of Lost to me.
busy, busy, busy.
@Faith
A few guesses
Young Jacob was actually MIB. Destroying the ashes so no one can talk to Jacob, like maybe Miles. I think sometimes Jacob is Jacob and sometimes he’s actually MIB.
Killing MIB is probably easy. Get him wet. Then stab him. When Jack dumped him in the water, he was very slow getting out and once on the dock he used a gun to kill Widmores snipers. He couldn’t change into smokey until he’d dried off.
Jack clearly gets his throat slit in the finale. Or it is a foreshadowing of the fact that what happens in one world eventually happens in the other to some degree. Though this might change if they kill MIB or sink the island.
Why kill everyone. Perhaps if you kill the protector the Job will fall to someone else, so you must kill everyone to stop the process, or maybe MIB becomes the protector if everyone else is dead.
The question bugging me right now….. How do Jacob and Richard come and go from the island so easily? They were doing it long before the Dharma sub arrived. It seems to be quite easy for them, like a doorway they use somewhere.