This season is starting to look like a Mobius strip--forward, backward, up, down, inside, outside. . .whew! This one documented how Sawyer and his crew ended up with the Dharma Initiative from 1974 to '77, and also showed a blossoming romance betwixt two unlikely characters. All in all, an enjoyable and laid-back episode, perhaps because it focused so much on James LeFleur. Or Sawyer. Or whatever his name is. Too bad we have to wait two weeks until the next episode!
Good episode; there were a lot of time jumps in this one but that's ok; I didn't really mind all the back and forth. It'll also be interesting to see if the normal course of events is changed or if everything, including the fate of the Dharma folks, plays out like it previously did. Faraday keeps saying that you can't change history and that what happened will happen again but quite honestly, that's how just about every other show dealing with time travel has done it. I expect something a bit more original from these guys.
Just one reservation: if Sawyer/LaFleur...
dumps Juliette for Kate
...I'm going to hunt him down, beat the crap out of him, and then...
take Juliette for myself.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
edited March 2009
Took me awhile to watch the episode, but oh boy, Reiko Aylesworth ( :x ) had a small part in the episode. Did anyone else find it funny the Sawyer choose the name Le Fleur? If my computer translator is correct, that means, The Flower ) ) Sometimes James "The Flower" Sawyer is just too much. Can't wait for the next episode.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
2 weeks to wait. GGrrr! X-( What's that about? This season has been excellent so far. Nice to see Sawyer developing into the leader of the group, although with Jack back on the island it remains to be seen if that will last. And I loved the scene between him and Alpert.
Another linear story in this time-travelling season. It was fun seeing Li'l Ben and Baby Ethan, and it seems that Christian has become the David Bowman of Lost--appearing at all times and in all places to guide people on the way. Not a whole lot to say other than--I enjoyed it!
So if Christian is Dave Bowman, does that make Ben HAL 9000? ) As a 2001 super-freak, I love your analogy HB; something tells me it could be far more accurate than you might at first think.
As HB said, not a whole lot to say about last night's episode. Some questions were answered, and others were almost immediately raised. The final scene between Jack and Sawyer didn't seem to end too happily; and here I thought those two were going to put aside their differences.
I'm also leery about what the writers are going to do with Kate. After 4 1/2 seasons of her vacillating back and forth between Jack and Sawyer, always trying to run away when things get serious or at the first sign of any trouble, I really hope they take her character somewhere interesting. Another love triangle would be so boring right now and I hope the writers have something better in mind.
Still, another entertaining episode that went by in a flash and held my attention from start to finish.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
I wonder if Jin & Sun will be re-united. Also, Reiko Aylesworth was in another show. Hopefully she'll get more screen time in future episodes.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
It's been a good season, and tonight's episode may have been the best of the lot. It was great to again see some flashbacks--or flash-forwards, or whatever they are now--showing us Sayid's childhood as a "natural born killer," filling us in on his stint as assassin in the employ of Ben, and especially telling us who was the babe with him on the plane (hint: she's not Sayid's main squeeze). But the stuff on the island was just icing on the cake: I loved William Sanderson as "Oldham" ("Who is that man?" Sayid asks; to which Sawyer responds, "He's our you"); and Sawyer's obvious discomfort watching the psychological torture of Sayid brought to mind his own torture at the hands of Sayid way back in Season 1. The Dharma Initiative is emerging as a group of small-minded paranoids; and that ending. . .
WOW!
How are the writers going to get out of this one? It can't possibly mean that history has been changed and that everything that is supposed to happen never did. . .or can it? I want to find the answer, but knowing this show, next week's episode won't deliver! Ah, well, I'll be there anyway!
Vox clamantis in deserto
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
I to wonder how they'll get out of this. Of course Ben could of been wearing some sort of protection under his shirt or something. Knowing Sayed is a killer Ben might of tricked Sayed into thinking Sayed killed him.
There's also adult Ben on the island right now from the plane crash (I think. Sometimes I get Lost on this show). Adult Ben might be like Richard Alpert, no matter where he is, he never ages. Going to have to wait until next week to maybe get some answers.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
The opening flashback with a young Sayid and his brother was very interesting. Were they telling us that he's a born killer? Or was he just trying to help his brother out of a tight spot? And most importantly, does he know that his father will one day run afoul of Iron Man and be killed for it? So many questions.
I also found the little scene with Jack, Kate and Hurley very interesting. Other than that one little lapse in Sawyer's house, this is a very different Jack than what we've seen before: relaxed, going with the flow, enjoying Hurley's waffles, not worrying all the time. He even seemed indifferent to Kate's angst over Sawyer and Juliet. I think he's finally starting to buy into the whole "fate" thing.
The ending was a shocker but then again, given the island's miraculous healing properties, I'm still not convinced we've seen the last of young Ben. I really thought given his own childhood experiences and seeing Ben roughed up by his father, Sayid would have had a change of heart about him and tried to turn him to a different path. It'll be interesting to see if he's changed the future in any significant way or if what happened will just happen again.
It seems that the group is really starting to splinter and with only six episodes left in the season it'll be interesting to see where things end up and what comes of characters that we haven't seen much of lately like Faraday and Desmond.
My first impulse was to yell, "Cheat!", but I calmed down. . .While I think it would have been fantastic to kill off Kid Ben and then present an alternate "future," I pretty well accepted Miles's argument that the fact Ben survives in the future means that he didn't die in the past. (Or something like that.) But if anything was a cheat, it was Richard saying that once he cures Ben he becomes one of the Others. Aw, c'mon!
Anyway, how was that for an opening to my commentary on this week's episode? My initial shock aside, I thought it was a pretty good episode, and I like that it filled in the blanks as to what happened to Aaron. . .and it's nice to know it wasn't anything freaky. The flash-forward also leaves open the possibility that Claire will come back--although seeing her with Christian makes me wonder if she can come back. My favorite bit in today's show, though, was Hurley and Miles's debate on time travel, which seemed to illustrate the silliness of any show or movie built on the premise of travelling back in time.
But if anything was a cheat, it was Richard saying that once he cures Ben he becomes one of the Others. Aw, c'mon!
Yeah, if it turns out that this is in fact the point where Ben turns into the evil manipulative monster we all love to hate, it will be a little bit disappointing as it will mean that the writers decided to follow that time honored (but also tired) tradition of stories where in trying to change the future, our heroes instead only cause things to happen as they always did. There's still a ways to go, but I do hope the writers can come up with something a little more original than that.
On the other hand, seeing Hurley and Miles argue about time travel paradoxes was absolutely hilarious and easily the highlight of the show.
Jack's passivity continues to intrigue and confound. Clearly, he's now got a little bit of Locke in him and his ready acceptance of fate and the island's more magical qualities is quite a turn. I also loved his reply to Kate's complaint that she didn't like the new Jack: "You didn't like the old Jack". Slam!!
Next week's episode looks to be a doozy; it'll be interesting to see how (or if) Ben comes out the other side of that show.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
What I find weird about the show is, Ben looks like the only person on the island right now that has two versions of himself. Kid Ben and Adult Ben. Is it possible that they could run into each other? If so, what could happen?
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
I was watching tonight's episode and, for some reason, the absurdity of it all just struck me: a resurrected man and the guy who killed him commandeering a boat to go to an island where the killer will be judged by a smog monster for causing the death of the girl he stole from a mad French woman and raised as his own. . . At times I can't believe I take this nonsense seriously, but, y'know, I do. So sue me.
Anyway, an enjoyable show, with none of the marooned gang in 1977 around, and with a lot about the background of Ben and Charles Widmore (nice to finally get that spelling confirmed). Somewhat explained are why Ben and Widmore are at each other's throats, how Alex ended up in Ben's care, and what happened to Ben's face before he boarded the plane. Locke also seems to be emerging as the UberLocke--the same man, he assures us, but more confident and filled with a mysterious knowledge of what the island really wants. Strange things are afoot with the bounty-hunting babe and those weapons; and did anyone catch the hieroglyphics in the temple? I'd swear that was Anubis paying homage to the smog monster.
I was watching tonight's episode and, for some reason, the absurdity of it all just struck me: a resurrected man and the guy who killed him commandeering a boat to go to an island where the killer will be judged by a smog monster for causing the death of the girl he stole from a mad French woman and raised as his own. . . At times I can't believe I take this nonsense seriously, but, y'know, I do. So sue me.
Anyway, an enjoyable show, with none of the marooned gang in 1977 around, and with a lot about the background of Ben and Charles Widmore (nice to finally get that spelling confirmed). Somewhat explained are why Ben and Widmore are at each other's throats, how Alex ended up in Ben's care, and what happened to Ben's face before he boarded the plane. Locke also seems to be emerging as the UberLocke--the same man, he assures us, but more confident and filled with a mysterious knowledge of what the island really wants. Strange things are afoot with the bounty-hunting babe and those weapons; and did anyone catch the hieroglyphics in the temple? I'd swear that was Anubis paying homage to the smog monster.
Silly as it is, I love this show. . .
I caught the Anubis reference as well. If I recall my Egyptian mythology correctly, Anubis was the god of the underworld, who looked over the souls of the dead. Defintely some connection with old Smokey as it also seems to fancy dead people.
I'm still not sure what's up with Locke and if he was really resurrected or not. I found it interesting that everytime we heard or saw the smoke monster (thru those clicking sounds and the rustling of the leaves), Locke was conveniently off camera (much like Christian right before he met up with Sun and Lapidus). At the very least, I'm pretty sure there's a connection there somewhere.
Once again, Michael Emerson steals the show, showing us that Ben isn't completely evil thru his actions with Rousseau, Alex and Penny; warped and twisted, yes, but probably still following some kind of whacked out moral compass. I had a notion that he might have gotten killed off last night; glad to see that didn't happen as he is arguably the most interesting character of the show.
While I wouldn't go so far as to call it silly, it is all strange and perplexing, but also damned entertaining. I'm going to go into serious withdrawal when the fifth season ends in a few weeks; especially as we'll have to wait until January 2010 for the sixth and final season.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
I'm confused about something. Are we watching two different times on the island? I thought when the second plane crashed, every one on the island was at the same time and same place. Young Ben and Old Ben were together on the island, but just in separate places. Now, i think we are watching two different times on the island. Did I miss something, somewhere?
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
I'm confused about something. Are we watching two different times on the island? I thought when the second plane crashed, every one on the island was at the same time and same place. Young Ben and Old Ben were together on the island, but just in separate places. Now, i think we are watching two different times on the island. Did I miss something, somewhere?
Yup, our characters are in two different timelines, although that fact was only hinted at until a couple of weeks ago: in the episode where Sun and Lapidus meet Christian in one of the houses on the main island, Christian shows Sun a Dharma group photo from 1977 and you can make out Jack, Kate and Hurley in the photo. I think that was the moment when we were definitively shown that they were in a different time period. Sun also showed the photo to Ben and Locke in the most recent episode.
When Ajira 316 was about to land on the island Jack, Kate, Sayid & Hurley somehow were transported back to 1977. Everybody else on the plane remained in the present. I'm only guessing here but I think those characters were returned to the past to make sure that history plays out as it was supposed to (ie: Ben joins up with the others and the Dharma folk get purged). Once history's course has been properly set, I have a feeling everybody will be reunited in one timeline for the sixth and final season.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
Thanks Tony.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
I just read that Matthew Perry (of Friends fame) is listed on IMDb as being in the two-hour season finale, and there's now talk that he'll be a regular next season. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Vox clamantis in deserto
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
I just read that Matthew Perry (of Friends fame) is listed on IMDb as being in the two-hour season finale, and there's now talk that he'll be a regular next season. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Just went to imdb myself. looks like the show is titled "The Incident" When you type in Matthew Perry into imdb it shows his name as George Hobbes it also says its uncredited.
Well, if--and I say IF--Perry is to be in Lost, it would be a step up. I recently saw a commercial for 17 Again, in which Perry plays a guy who turns into Zac Efron, and I couldn't help but find it sad: here's someone who was supposed to be a huge star, reduced to what amounts to a bit part in a movie with one of the most hackneyed premises around!
Tonight's episode was downright old fashioned, with the main story filled with flashbacks/flashforwards--these filling us in on the background of Miles. For the most part, enjoyable--I especially got a kick out of seeing young Miles with his face covered in piercings--but it wasn't too hard to figure out who his father would turn out to be. I mean, other than Sun's father, how many middle-aged Asian men have we seen on this show? Otherwise, the exchanges between Hurley and Miles are becoming real highlights of this season, and it looks as though the 1977 events are reaching crisis level. It'll be interesting to see what the rest of the season holds and what all this "shadow of the statue" stuff is about.
BTW, ABC's promo for next week kept talking about a "special" episode and indicated the really good stuff happens in two weeks. Is this "special" ep some kind of clip show we can all skip?
I think the special episode is to bring those folks who've had problems with all the time jumps up to speed. I'm kind of bummed that we'll have to wait two weeks for a new entry.
While entertaining, I found this one to be largely a filler episode where we don't really learn a lot that we didn't already know. Miles' encounter with those people in the van would suggest that they, and the survivors of Ajira 316 do not work for Widmore. So that begs the question: are they with the others (and thus Ben) or some other faction?
Faraday's return at the end of the episode would suggest that the time travel stuff will probably return in some capacity, as does the fact that the next episode is titled "The Variable", most likely a play on Desmond's time jumping episode from Season 3 called "The Constant". I have a feeling that our friends' time in Dharmaville will soon be coming to an end.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
Well if next weeks show is supposed to bring people up to speed who have been Lost, then I'll be watching. It's getting to a point i can't even write a review.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Asp9mmOver the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,504MI6 Agent
Boy, tonight's episode was a real mindf**k! I'm usually pretty good at following what's going on and linking it to prior events but that ending really threw me for a loop...
The way I saw that scene at the end, Mrs. Hawking and Widmore knowingly sent their own son to his death.
And did Faraday know he was going to die? Was he feeding Jack and Kate a load of bull? He didn't seem particularly surprised at being shot by his mother and seemed to be forcing that outcome to come to pass. Or does he hope that if Jack can see his plan to detonate Jughead through, it will alter the timeline, thus meaning that Faraday will be alive again?
Of course, if the bomb is detonated and the timeline is altered, then we'll have more of those annoying time paradoxes: Desmond won't be rescued because no one comes to the island. Ben most likely dies because Jack won't be there to remove his tumor. Locke remains a paraplegic, he and Sawyer never get revenge on Locke's father, etc., etc., etc.
I hope the producers haven't written themselves into a corner because things can easily fall apart when dealing with time travel stories.
Well, I thought the ending was the best thing in this otherwise so-so episode. . .it was both a shock and very poignant. No, I don't believe the person in question knew what was coming, but the female knew exactly what was coming! (How's that for hiding the spoiler for those who haven't seen the ep?)
Anyway, as you can tell, I wasn't exactly bowled over by this week's installment. It was OK and it was nice to get some of Faraday's backstory, but it looks like better things are in store for the near future, when maybe the characters will get back to the right timeline!
Oh. . .favorite line, this one from Hurley: "You were in 1954? Fonzie time?"
Vox clamantis in deserto
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
I was indisposed last night, but I just caught the latest episode online. Hmmm--Jack, Sawyer, and even Juliette getting pounded by interrogators: at times I thought I was watching 24! Anyway, this wasn't a great episode, but it as a fun one--I always enjoy seeing the other side of the situation in these time-travel episodes, and I think Stuart (or Stewart) is shaping up to be a pretty decent minor villain. I pretty much sat back and let it all unfold, knowing that it will all lead. . .somewhere. . .eventually. . .
Vox clamantis in deserto
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
This is just one big circle. Had the wheel never been turned, none of this would of happened. Before they crashed on the island, they never were on the island in the '70s. But since the wheel was turned it altered time. Now, they have to un-alter time by blowing up the hydrogen bomb before the magnetic field is unleashed. If they are successful in destroying the "energy field" how will this alter the already screwed up time line?
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Comments
Just one reservation: if Sawyer/LaFleur...
...I'm going to hunt him down, beat the crap out of him, and then...
As HB said, not a whole lot to say about last night's episode. Some questions were answered, and others were almost immediately raised. The final scene between Jack and Sawyer didn't seem to end too happily; and here I thought those two were going to put aside their differences.
I'm also leery about what the writers are going to do with Kate. After 4 1/2 seasons of her vacillating back and forth between Jack and Sawyer, always trying to run away when things get serious or at the first sign of any trouble, I really hope they take her character somewhere interesting. Another love triangle would be so boring right now and I hope the writers have something better in mind.
Still, another entertaining episode that went by in a flash and held my attention from start to finish.
WOW!
How are the writers going to get out of this one? It can't possibly mean that history has been changed and that everything that is supposed to happen never did. . .or can it? I want to find the answer, but knowing this show, next week's episode won't deliver! Ah, well, I'll be there anyway!
There's also adult Ben on the island right now from the plane crash (I think. Sometimes I get Lost on this show). Adult Ben might be like Richard Alpert, no matter where he is, he never ages. Going to have to wait until next week to maybe get some answers.
I also found the little scene with Jack, Kate and Hurley very interesting. Other than that one little lapse in Sawyer's house, this is a very different Jack than what we've seen before: relaxed, going with the flow, enjoying Hurley's waffles, not worrying all the time. He even seemed indifferent to Kate's angst over Sawyer and Juliet. I think he's finally starting to buy into the whole "fate" thing.
The ending was a shocker but then again, given the island's miraculous healing properties, I'm still not convinced we've seen the last of young Ben. I really thought given his own childhood experiences and seeing Ben roughed up by his father, Sayid would have had a change of heart about him and tried to turn him to a different path. It'll be interesting to see if he's changed the future in any significant way or if what happened will just happen again.
It seems that the group is really starting to splinter and with only six episodes left in the season it'll be interesting to see where things end up and what comes of characters that we haven't seen much of lately like Faraday and Desmond.
Anyway, how was that for an opening to my commentary on this week's episode? My initial shock aside, I thought it was a pretty good episode, and I like that it filled in the blanks as to what happened to Aaron. . .and it's nice to know it wasn't anything freaky. The flash-forward also leaves open the possibility that Claire will come back--although seeing her with Christian makes me wonder if she can come back. My favorite bit in today's show, though, was Hurley and Miles's debate on time travel, which seemed to illustrate the silliness of any show or movie built on the premise of travelling back in time.
Roll on next week!
Yeah, if it turns out that this is in fact the point where Ben turns into the evil manipulative monster we all love to hate, it will be a little bit disappointing as it will mean that the writers decided to follow that time honored (but also tired) tradition of stories where in trying to change the future, our heroes instead only cause things to happen as they always did. There's still a ways to go, but I do hope the writers can come up with something a little more original than that.
On the other hand, seeing Hurley and Miles argue about time travel paradoxes was absolutely hilarious and easily the highlight of the show.
Jack's passivity continues to intrigue and confound. Clearly, he's now got a little bit of Locke in him and his ready acceptance of fate and the island's more magical qualities is quite a turn. I also loved his reply to Kate's complaint that she didn't like the new Jack: "You didn't like the old Jack". Slam!!
Next week's episode looks to be a doozy; it'll be interesting to see how (or if) Ben comes out the other side of that show.
Anyway, an enjoyable show, with none of the marooned gang in 1977 around, and with a lot about the background of Ben and Charles Widmore (nice to finally get that spelling confirmed). Somewhat explained are why Ben and Widmore are at each other's throats, how Alex ended up in Ben's care, and what happened to Ben's face before he boarded the plane. Locke also seems to be emerging as the UberLocke--the same man, he assures us, but more confident and filled with a mysterious knowledge of what the island really wants. Strange things are afoot with the bounty-hunting babe and those weapons; and did anyone catch the hieroglyphics in the temple? I'd swear that was Anubis paying homage to the smog monster.
Silly as it is, I love this show. . .
I caught the Anubis reference as well. If I recall my Egyptian mythology correctly, Anubis was the god of the underworld, who looked over the souls of the dead. Defintely some connection with old Smokey as it also seems to fancy dead people.
I'm still not sure what's up with Locke and if he was really resurrected or not. I found it interesting that everytime we heard or saw the smoke monster (thru those clicking sounds and the rustling of the leaves), Locke was conveniently off camera (much like Christian right before he met up with Sun and Lapidus). At the very least, I'm pretty sure there's a connection there somewhere.
Once again, Michael Emerson steals the show, showing us that Ben isn't completely evil thru his actions with Rousseau, Alex and Penny; warped and twisted, yes, but probably still following some kind of whacked out moral compass. I had a notion that he might have gotten killed off last night; glad to see that didn't happen as he is arguably the most interesting character of the show.
While I wouldn't go so far as to call it silly, it is all strange and perplexing, but also damned entertaining. I'm going to go into serious withdrawal when the fifth season ends in a few weeks; especially as we'll have to wait until January 2010 for the sixth and final season.
Yup, our characters are in two different timelines, although that fact was only hinted at until a couple of weeks ago: in the episode where Sun and Lapidus meet Christian in one of the houses on the main island, Christian shows Sun a Dharma group photo from 1977 and you can make out Jack, Kate and Hurley in the photo. I think that was the moment when we were definitively shown that they were in a different time period. Sun also showed the photo to Ben and Locke in the most recent episode.
When Ajira 316 was about to land on the island Jack, Kate, Sayid & Hurley somehow were transported back to 1977. Everybody else on the plane remained in the present. I'm only guessing here but I think those characters were returned to the past to make sure that history plays out as it was supposed to (ie: Ben joins up with the others and the Dharma folk get purged). Once history's course has been properly set, I have a feeling everybody will be reunited in one timeline for the sixth and final season.
Just went to imdb myself. looks like the show is titled "The Incident" When you type in Matthew Perry into imdb it shows his name as George Hobbes it also says its uncredited.
I also discovered this:
http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/04/10/matthew-perry-to-appear-in-the-lost-season-finale-yeah-right/
We shall see in a few weeks.
BTW, ABC's promo for next week kept talking about a "special" episode and indicated the really good stuff happens in two weeks. Is this "special" ep some kind of clip show we can all skip?
While entertaining, I found this one to be largely a filler episode where we don't really learn a lot that we didn't already know. Miles' encounter with those people in the van would suggest that they, and the survivors of Ajira 316 do not work for Widmore. So that begs the question: are they with the others (and thus Ben) or some other faction?
Faraday's return at the end of the episode would suggest that the time travel stuff will probably return in some capacity, as does the fact that the next episode is titled "The Variable", most likely a play on Desmond's time jumping episode from Season 3 called "The Constant". I have a feeling that our friends' time in Dharmaville will soon be coming to an end.
I have a sickness :v
And did Faraday know he was going to die? Was he feeding Jack and Kate a load of bull? He didn't seem particularly surprised at being shot by his mother and seemed to be forcing that outcome to come to pass. Or does he hope that if Jack can see his plan to detonate Jughead through, it will alter the timeline, thus meaning that Faraday will be alive again?
Of course, if the bomb is detonated and the timeline is altered, then we'll have more of those annoying time paradoxes: Desmond won't be rescued because no one comes to the island. Ben most likely dies because Jack won't be there to remove his tumor. Locke remains a paraplegic, he and Sawyer never get revenge on Locke's father, etc., etc., etc.
I hope the producers haven't written themselves into a corner because things can easily fall apart when dealing with time travel stories.
Anyway, as you can tell, I wasn't exactly bowled over by this week's installment. It was OK and it was nice to get some of Faraday's backstory, but it looks like better things are in store for the near future, when maybe the characters will get back to the right timeline!
Oh. . .favorite line, this one from Hurley: "You were in 1954? Fonzie time?"
Have to with Sawyers line this week.
Faraday: "Hey James"
Sawyer: "Welcome to the meeting twitchy. Good to see you again. Pound cakes in the kitchen, help yourself to the punch."