Each season, the penultimate episode is usually given the sad assignment of being the doormat for the season finale. And, like those that have come before, “Follow The Leader” had its share of trekking and shuffling and exposition, as the various chess pieces are moved into place for the final showdown. But as these “setup episodes” go, we really liked this one. Great character moments, solid conflicts, noticeably vibrant cinematography (about which we only periodically rave), and brisk pacing. We’re satisfied, and properly pumped up for next week.
True, we had not one, but two “recycled” moments last night. The first? They replayed the “Ellie Shoots Faraday” scene from Jack and Kate’s perspective. And to be honest, I briefly feared that the writers would pull a “magical moving bullet hole” trick, a la Ben. Instead, they went out of their way to show us that Faraday is truly dead… right down to the “hand over the eyes to close them” cliche that’s everywhere in movies and TV. But the second re-run moment was unexpected: Locke brings Ben and Richard to meet Flashing Locke at the drug plane. It was awesome to watch, but prompted the night’s biggest headache as we tried to plot out where and when Richard and Locke were, and when they knew what. Frankly, I wonder if they just wrote in the scene to solve the “infinite compass” question. Either way, though, it was fun to watch.
I loved Michael Emerson’s Ben this week, exasperated and snarky. His scenes with Locke were fun, yet significant, throwing the two “leaders” into sharp relief. I also liked the brief moments of chemistry between Ben and Alpert, both familiar and awkward. The scene where Hurley is outed as a time traveler was, of course, hilarious… especially since he’s stumped when asked who the president is in 1977. He asked that very question to Sawyer in “Namaste,” but Sawyer groused, “It’s not a damned game show.” But that same scene carried unexpected warmth, as well, when Miles admits to Dr. Chang that he’s his son… and Dr. Chang accepts it.
As far as chemistry goes, I was loving the interplay between Sawyer and Juliet. From the violent interrogation to their conversation on the dock (where Juliet says she’s still glad Sawyer talked her into staying, and he hatches a plan to get rich via Microsoft), it’s great how the show’s most out-of-the-blue coupling remains one of its most strong and mature.
Until, of course, Kate drops in, and is handcuffed next to Juliet, the two of them conveniently across from Sawyer. That moment was so cheap and forced, I actually thought I heard a cartoony needle-scratching-off-a-record sound effect in the back ground. And here I thought we’d at least make it out of Season 5 without returning to Season 1 romantic melodrama.
And I was just starting to warm up to Kate again, too. She’s assertive, skeptical, perceptive… a lot of the things she’s often not allowed to be for the sake of a twist. She’s the first (followed by Sayid) to point out that the last three years of their lives is not something to be discarded lightly. I liked her look of exasperation when Jack admits to being with Faraday, and her answer to Ellie when she asks whether Jack knows what he’s talking about: “He thinks he does.” She stands up to, and parts ways with, Jack, soon after delivering one of her best lines in recent memory: “Since when did shooting kids and blowing up hydrogen bombs become okay?” Evangeline Lilly’s acting was solid, not screechy, her glassy eyes tonight taking me back to Kate’s strong Season 1 moments. Alas, she then marches off… right back into a soap opera.
I’m certain that the fake-out, when Kate briefly thinks she’d been shot, is simultaneously a low- and high-point for those who aren’t a fan of her character.
And Locke. Something’s up with Locke. If Locke’s even Locke. Richard immediately notices something’s different about him, and I don’t think it’s because he has a “purpose” now. He’s confident and resolute, but he’s something else… and when he dismisses out of hand Sun’s hopes of reunification with Jin, I got a cold chill. And he wants to kill the allmighty Jacob, if he’s allmighty at all. Is doing so in service of a grand plan that Locke is executing? Perhaps. Or is it simply the folly of a man who thinks he’s ascended to a level higher than he has? There’s a dark side to the new-and-improved Locke. And while I said earlier that I didn’t think I could take one more rise-and-fall cycle for his long-tortured character, I feel as if another reckoning is coming for him.
Jen observed: Kate is turning into Jack, skeptical and assertive. Jack is turning into Locke, a blind believer. And Locke is turning into Ben, all-knowing but perhaps overconfident. My contribution? Sun is turning into Michael. Her one-dimensional “have you seen my husband” path of the last several episodes are becoming this season’s “Wa-a-a-a-a-alt!”
Finally, does Jack detonate Jughead? I’m still of the opinion that he doesn’t, or that whatever happens, it isn’t what you’d typically expect of a blast from a 40,000-pound hydrogen bomb. Indeed, tonight we learn that Jughead is actually parked right underneath Othersville. You know, the cozy cottages and grassy fields that still exist, intact, in 2007?
Notes and Notions:
- “LOST” has good hair days, and bad hair days. It also has good special effects days, and bad special effects days. I have to say, the dramatic departure of the Galaga falls into the latter category. It was pretty weak, which I guess has to be expected given a weekly show and budget. It would’ve been better for us just to assume its departure based on the activity inside… but I guess they had to show the submarine under way else we draw the conclusion that it doesn’t move at all.
- The casting for Younger Eloise is great. (As was the casting for Young Eloise in “Jughead.”) Alice Evans is absolutely believable as the precursor to stoic Mrs. Hawking. Her character’s struggle to process what Faraday said was great. And her motivations for helping Jack seem deliciously unclear. Does she really want to undo the death of a son she never knew? Or is the prospect of just blasting the Dharma Initiative to smithereens just too tempting?
- In 2007, Alpert makes brief mention of another group of Others/Hostiiles at The Temple. Meanwhile, we know on Alcatraz (a.k.a. Hydra Island), Ilana and friends are up to something as well. I think both of these largely unexplored parties will play a key part in the season finale.
- Sayid is back. He seemed to take the fact that Ben survived surprisingly well. I mean, he of anyone, now, should have a strong opinion as to whether what they’re doing (and what they’re about to do) is really changing anything at all.
- So, Jack is seizing his moment. But Jen wonders, as do I, when his epiphany took place. He seemed to more roll into his current mission than blast off from a specific spark of inspiration or realization. I was expecting considerably more fireworks to celebrate the instant he decided to act.
- Radzinkski is a vile man. And apparently can stage a coup just by telling Horace he’s in charge. At least we seem to know how his story ends, as a stain on the roof of his precious Swan. Given what Phil did to Juliet, I don’t suspect he’s long for this world, either.
What did you think? Please comment below, e-mail us at lost@hawaiiup.com, or leave a message on the LostLine at (808) 356-0127.
I think Hurley may be the only one capable of changing the course of things on the island. Hurley and his guitar case.
I fear that hugo will be next to die, not Juliet. Like Charlie, he will die in order for others to live.
I hope i’m wrong. I love Hurley.
For the 10th year in a row “Jacob” is the number one baby name chosen for boys…should we all be worried? With so many Jacobs running around, I hope Locke finds the right one.
Please refresh my memory… The hatch imploding – what really happened then? Might that have had anything to do with the hydrogen bomb?
@ Christy
Yes ma’am. Entire series. I’m allready on Season 4, and I still have 5 days or so left. I’ll take my time with that. lol, oh man.
I really need to go outside.
Knives, I have been watching all the seasons for the past couple of months off and on, and I have picked up a lot of things that I missed before. For example, watch Par Avion, Mikhael says he remembers Locke, but questions how he could have met him before, and when he is going to go futher he is cut off. I wonder if he was in the camp in the 50’s when Locke visited Richard.
There have also been several references to Jack’s watch (which was his grandfathers) and when he landed in 1977 the watch stopped working. Any Chance his grandfather could be Hanso? We don’t see him well in the Swan Video.
Also they can’t kill off Hurley, no way! I think that is the one character that people would really flip over if he died. Who knows he could be the last one standing.
I know Darlton said they won’t revisit the Dave character, but I always wondered if he was Libby’s husband, she said his name was David when she gave Desmond his boat.
When are we going to find out more about Richard fondly known as eyeliner man? he never ages and seems to be devoted to the reigning leader, Ben and now Locke. An advisor Ben says who’s been around for a long long long time. Is he really Jacob?” I guess we now wait for season 6 for any answers on Richard and Jacob.
I loved this episode too…but I am disappointed in a few things…I think…
I will try to remember that Ben showed Sawyer that the Others were good con-men…but what I am getting at is that I am sort of let-down that Ben, Richard, and the Others / Hostiles don’t seem to have a clue as to what is going on. That’s at least how it is being played. Is it just me, or did this make Richard and Ben seem very weak? I mean, if they don’t know what the heck is going on then who does?
I had pictured them more ‘in the know’ than they are portraying. My guess is that they are conning Locke. Locke has always been succeptable to a con. Any con. It doesn’t even have to be a half-decent con. My little list of John Locke cons ( feel free to add more )
The kidney
The Hippie Commune / Cop,
The button??
The “Stand there next to the window as I prove to you I broke up with that woooooooomaaaaaannn”
The Walkabout?
The “Don’t hang yourself till I get some information from you first”
And my favorite of all time and perhaps the least well-known: The “I’m just a phone sex operator, not your girlfriend” con.
I’m not here to make any enimies, and I surely would love to join the finale party if that were to happen, but I have never had the affinity that some people do for John Locke. He’s not my idea of a hero. He has stabbed people ( Naomi ) in the back. It was pointed out arleady that he set up A. Cooper. He has been more selfish than any character in the fact that no matter what he did what he thought was best for himself and the island. He has stopped every attempt for people to get off the island. Radio signals, submarines, etc. If you ask me, he is the most anti-free-will person I have seen on the island, and yet people love him. Locke has faith, but blind faith if you ask me. Blind faith can lead to trouble. Look what Jack is about to get into. I think now that Jack and John have needed each other to ‘balance out’ their views.
Aside from that: It’s amazing to me that a few years ago we marveled and disucssed and debated endlessly at how a cripple man could walk, and now we barely flinch or question the fact that a dead man walks and talks. The island has changed us all a little I suppose. That’s why we love it so much.
Here’s to the hope that R.A. and Ben are not quite as clueless as they are acting. I don’t think we’ve ever had a scene where R.A. is present when “Smokey” is around. Perhaps R.A. is the ‘advisor’ of sorts to Smokey because in fact he IS smokey in it’s chosen human form. Thus he never ages. Maybe there are more than 1 Smoke Monster. One Dark, One Light. Perhaps each can form into people who are dead, thus a specific count and proper handling of the bodies. Perhaps John, Christian, and some others are manifestations of this other creature and now the two are about to clash. A war between Gods. Or some sort of game….Hmmmm…..
Some of this here seems to be what Christy in Tx was saying around 10:01AM…good thoughts Christy…of course that’s coming from a guy who’s NuckinFuts.
Kate doesn’t give Jack any valid reasons for why not to detonate Jughead:
-Aaron would be born and adopted
-Sun and Jin would have a strained marrige, Jin still being brute and cold
-Kate herself would be hauled off to jail ( I was expecting her at least to pull “if its not for your sake, at least think of me”)
Its true that everyone would be alive, but everyone would still be the exact same way as when the left Sydney. Those who died on the island died as a testomony to their redemptions, and those still alive have changed for the better.
Also, i think that Jack, Kate and the other losties “deaths” (or so recalled by Richard) is due to the fact that, like Locke, they need to die and be resuected to be brought back to their own time.
thanks guys.
Only with a show like Lost can each subsequent episode get better.
Regarding Jack=Jacob, although that seems the most plausible, it would be in true Lost fashion if Jacob is something completely unexpected, even different than not existing.
It seemed to me that Richard and Ben displayed a disturbing familiarity with each other that hinted at a deeper hidden agenda on the march to see Jacob. When Locke delcared to Ben that he was going to kill Jacob, my initial interpretation of Ben’s reaction was as if Ben was reacting to his own death. I’m not suggesting that Jacob is Ben, that is simply preposterous, but rather that Jacob is a real entity and that if he can die, then the end result is probably worse than that of any Others/DI war or Jughead detonation or Incident. Although the man behind the curtain is a popular and plausible conjecture of Jacob, I don’t think the story line has shed any light on that possibility yet.
Regarding Rose and Bernard, what if the reason we don’t see them is that their time snap puts them back on course in the correct present/future and they are not time traveling because the Universe has corrected their course. In a previous post several episodes back, I suggested that maybe they were the Adam and Eve from when the Losties went to the caves in season 1. Although I still like that idea, I’m not so sure now with all that has happened this season.
Regarding Sawyer leaving the island, I don’t think he reverted back to his old selfish ways. Although he was glad to be getting away from the Island for good, he was afterall in handcuffs and forced onto the submarine.
@Knives
Can you just imagine our friend all dissheveled after his 100 hour marathon and maybe even in denim accosting loved ones and strangers with desperate pleas that “We have to go back!” Get some rest. We need everyone alert for the finale. I myself have to mix in some othe fare, though I’ll probably miss a Cavs playoff game on the 13th. It’s a sacrifice the island demands.
@ Carol
I believe the faux hesitation you picked up on from Mikhail was when he questioned the identity of Locke because “The John Locke I know was p……(aralyzed).” We hadn’t seen A. Cooper toss him from the window at that point. Mikhail was subtly trying to verify the miracle that instantly qualified Locke to be leader of the others.
I have to throw in a comment about the boar/pig Locke brought with him to camp. There have been a number of pig references that to me represent some kind of dehumanization taking place, much like another island adventure when the perpetually lost Odysseus and his men meet up with Circe the witch and she converts them by their weakness into animals, most notably swine. The scene in “Follow the Leader” was a direct comment on the scene in which Locke bore his dead father on his back to the others camp. It perhaps suggests that pre-island selves or mere non-other mortals who haven’t been reborn in the Temple are only beasts to a superior, but drained-of-innocence type of being. Juliet in particular has always troubled me. She went from this meek and mousey doormat to a ninja warrior, model of calm, spending every waking moment with the others devoted to science, language, literature, etc. She never quite got that cooking thing down though until recently though.
@ Evan
There are probably more good personal arguments in favor of not undoing the experiences and growth of the survivors of 815. But what if this chain of events was “never supposed to happen” and had catastrophic consequences for the world at large? Those are the kind of stakes I’m hoping to see.
I loved the Richard Alpert/Locke compass time loop moment there, very nifty concept! But the weird thing about it, aside from the infinite confusion of where/when the compass originated, is the fact that they seem to be revealing to us that Alpert really does not know as much as we thought he did! When Locke was visited by Alpert in-between flashes early in the season and he told Locke how to stop the flashes, it seemed like Richard knew a whole hell of a lot about the island, and understood the time-shifting business, although he didn’t seem to be experiencing it. But now we see that he’s actually pretty clueless, and Locke was just feeding him the information.
At this point it seems like Locke knows way more about the island than anyone else… The island told Locke where the smoke monster originates, but it didn’t even seem to tell Richard about this whole time traveling phenomenon or Locke dying and being brought back to life. He seemed genuinely surprised when he heard about all this.
My thoughts in brief (cos my brain is too muddled by it all)
*Jacob is linked to the incident. The juxtaposition between what is being told in the present and in the 70’s, would imply they are (dramatically) linked (similar to other reveals between past-present that we have had before)
*Jacob is someone we know from 77. Possibly Jack (though there has been chatter that its Jacks Grandfather cos of the biblical connotations of Jacob and Aaron… shrugs)
*Locke is wanting to release Jacob. Jacob is trapped in the cabin we presume.
*Juliet will die, got no particular reason, just sense it.
*We will discover the reason Miles can sense the history of dead people. Perhaps its caused by him touching his child-self, who knows.
*Whatever happened, happened. FULL STOP. nothing will be changed. We’re being re-led down the path of possibility, and the finale will zing us with the ultimate realization that everything WILL always be the same.
AND MY FAR-FETCHED THEORIES
*The incident transports the ’77 losties into 93. I sense the purge is the ultimate end of the series, and will require the current 77 losties to resolve the paradox of their existence, by destroying there current selves.
*Awesome time-loop possibilities ( I really wanna know how likely you think these are… ignoring anything revealed by the preview for the finale)
-Sawyer IS Sawyer (aka his father). Once leaving the island, he becomes a drunkard, and inadvertently becomes the man he despised, moreso than ever (did adult conman sawyer ever touch younger sawyer?)
-Desmonds baby Charlie is Drug-Addict Charlie. This would require baby charlie being taken away from present-day desmond, and placed into the family we know druggie charlie to have lived with. Perhaps he was adopted.
Thoughts?
Actually… scrap the sawyer is sawyer remark. I forgot about Anthony Cooper (the kidney conman)
Once again, well done, folks. And glad to see your thoughts about this episode’s upside as opposed to other penultimate episodes was the same as mine:
http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/710espn/blog?id=3937846&post=4149667
Aloha! Love the Transmission, firmly my favourite Lost podcast and definitely the most professional! plus all the location sightings make me want to flee London and fly to the Hawaiian Sun in a heartbeat.
Just a quick thought leading on from the tunnels in “Follow my leader” that can only be accessed by swimming underwater: was Richard Alpert wet through when he entered the Dharma camp in the episode “LaFleur”?
The only way that landing in LA would work would be if ALL the characters that have died could be there. It is clear that Eko and Libby won’t be back, even in Libbys case to fill in her back-story. I trust the writers not to go down that road and leave us with five years of “wasted” time. If they do I think LOST may have gone too far I just don’t see how they could write them out of that one and retain even some hold on the history that we have accumulated ……. so that makes it more likely then.
The H-bomb won’t go off. Not sure what will happen to stop it. Perhaps the bomb is too old and is unable to go off. I don’t know how H-bombs work but maybe all the hydrogen has leaked out so there is nothing left for the fusion reaction.
Ah, it seems that there are two distinct compasses:
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/9727/2bouussoleseu7.jpg
First, I love the podcast.
Second, about “Follow the leader”, what a great episode!!!. Michael Emerson and Josh Holloway were both so awesome in it.
The bad thing, I’ve got the feeling that the only reason to kill off Faraday was to give Jack something to do. And, I really hope that whatever happened happened and they won’t erase the past, I would hate it.
A question regarding ‘First Aid’ Locke – and I’ll have to check lostpedia or rewatch to verify – unless someone can beat me to it.
When Ethan shot Locke – that had to be before Ethan’s death in about 2004, did Locke flash into the future, when they found him at the beechcraft?
THanks in advance.
Hey
Old on a minute
How come the aiport security is recovering a letter in a coffin
But would miss out on a huge box full of guns or weapons
Come on !
To which Knives would answer
Its a TV series you dummy ! Its Lost
Anything can happen
Yeah right …
Mirepoix : maybe they checked them like Locke checked his knives…do they have permits for an arsenal??
Well first we cant say what is or is not in The Box.
for all we know its The Magic Box.
@ Rich
I hope so too, but i just think yet again, Kate’s way of trying to go about
handling something was weak.
i also think that Jack already knows all the reasons, but he is just too stubborn, it wouldnt really matter to him anyhow.
So given that we usually get some gamechanger at the end of a season what will it be this year ?
a. they all appear to die (just like Alpert said)
b. they land in LA fine in 2004 (oh please no)
c. they are thrown into the future (beyond 2009)
d. they are thrown into the distant past (Black Rock or Four Toe time)
e. something else
108 bucks on E. Something Else
xxxwest sayidxxx
i think that the fork in the outlet will be Jughead exploding!
$864 on “a”-They will appear to die…but the final 10 seconds or so will give us just enough hope to last us for next eight months. Would love to see Charlie Pace as the last character on the screen.
I put my money on e. something. This show challenges us by taking us somewhere we haven’t thought of, yet :).
I have a feeling we will have a hugo episode this week, they still haven’t revealed why he agreed to come back to the island and what is in the guitar case.
What could he possibly have in there that is so important?
How long do you think that the Oceanic 6 have back on the island? Is there any chance we’ll see Desmond out of the hospital and part of the plotline?
Rich in Cleveland – I think you are exactly right about Locke and Mikhael, I forgot that he knew everything about all the losties. Great observation.
I am looking forward to Wednesday. I just wish my husband was a fan, I have already told him he has to let me just have the family room to myself, I need quiet. Usually I have to listen to him typing on the computer, having loud snacks like chips, nothing too loud but somehow when I am trying to watch Lost all these sounds seem really loud.
I watch lost from 5:00 because of the clip show(a journey in time), but i usually watch it from 6:00 pm pacific time. so three hours from 5 = 8:00 and a repeat starts at 8- 11:00pm. That is six hours of non stop lost!!!!!!!
Some would say we need a life, lol. And we will, on thursday!
“for all we know its The Magic Box.”
I can’t listen to Kwik Trip (convience store here in the Midwest) commercials on the radio anymore. A woman describes how great KT is because she can get milk, bananas, a pizza for dinner, and then be home early! It’s her “magic box”!
My husband and I now add..”plus it transports my kids to a bizarro tropical island!”
@ AnnLouise
That’s pure gold! ^_^
Hi from across the pond!
Just want to say I love your podcast.
Great episode this week – cant wait for the final one.
Ive just watched the comic con video to see what everyones talking about – I think it sounds more like Miles’ voice behind the camera.
I think that when they heard all the voices around Jacobs hut that time it could be Locke, Ben, Richard & the others & the voices are filtering through the different times – Hope that makes sense!
Looking forward to hearing your next podcast
Vanessa
Not sure if I’m repeating someone elses point about Kate – and I must admit, her antics throughout the whole series are alternatively tiring, logicless and irritating – but her motivations are reasonably clear in this episode. She’s simply out for Kate. At a sociopathic level.
Does a bomb blowing up help Kate? Nope. Therefore, time to abandon Jack! Next step… is a bomb gonna blow up on the island? Maybe! So time to put major space between Kate and the Island in the space of a few hours. How to do that? Hitch a ride on the sub!
To me, the writers are in a corner with Kate; its impossible to make a character like her audience friendly if you are going to remain consistant to her motiviations, which seem to have not changed throughout the series – even Aaron times have been exposed by Cassidy as being Kate-centric.
If the bomb goes off, may that is what’s causing the infertility on the island?
Connie, cat, et al: I’d be totally up for a Lost reunion! Let’s do it! I’d already mentioned the possibility to my poor beleaguered BF a while back, and if there are a few other people on board, I may be able to force him into it! 🙂
Btw, if people have not seen this and want a fresh hit of Lost material, it’s worth looking at: It’s on the ABC Web site and is called “Missing Pieces: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/missingpieces/index?pn=index.
It is 13 very short segments that essentially add new material and clues to scenes that have already been aired. It’s a bit old now, but definitely worth seeing if you haven’t. You may see Vincent in a whole new light! 🙂 Let me know if anyone checks it out!
I favor E, something else. Someone on the podcast mentioned the white flash with the detonation of Jughead. I can totally envision that. Follow it with Jack waking up in a hospital bed with Christian there to treat him, leaving us to wonder where or when he is, if the plan was successful, or even if any of this ever happened. And thud.
In answer to my own ‘poll’ I prefer E also.
My bet is everyone gets back together in 2007. Either by FDW or perhaps by some method involving the Incident which must involve the Swans special EM properties and Jughead in some combination.
@Vanessa – On the Official Podcast, the producers say outright that it was Jeremy Davies’ (Farraday) voice on the ComicCon Video, but that it was promotional material, not canon. I think theories down this road can be safely abandoned.
@Tori
Thanks for the link. My only concern with those is that if the 2008 Comic-con video is non-canon what about everything else not in the show …. the ARGs, the previous Comic-con videos, the missing pieces etc and so on.
Hi, Mark B– Yeh, I hear ya! Gives us a chance to see a little more of the actors and to churn up a few new goofy theories, tho! 🙂
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