LOST - 05/04/05

[whiteboyskim]

LOST returned tonight with more of a wrap-up episode than anything else, but once again they made the wise decision to focus on Sayeed. Whenever he takes center stage, everyone else brings their A-game and the back story was a great tragic arc. I liked knowing that Nadia was at least alive and well and that Sayeed was looking for her all this time.


Highlights:

- Charlie's nickname for Claire's baby
- Hurley's dance number
- The hint that something might be very wrong with Jack
- Kate's watching over of Jack - a sign she's actually caring for him
- Sawyer's parenting ability
- the game Sayeed's "friends" were playing
- Shannon mourning for Boone which was actually pretty sad (but in a good way)
- Sayeed and Locke's discussion in front of the plane
- "Hassam!"
- "Then change my flight to tomorrow!"
- A massive revelation from Locke answering one of the big questions from earlier in the season
- "John, no more lies."

The previews though... I saw the post at AICN that says LOST stands at a crossroads and I agree. If it goes one way, it goes the way of the great mystery shows of our time. If it goes the other, it crashes and burns under the weight of its own mythology much like The X-Files eventually did. From the looks of things, they're actually aware of that and planning on answering questions like what's in the hatch and so forth. The more mysteries they reveal, the more fun can be had. I'm dying to see the finale now.

[Daehawk]

A very good episode.

[gameoverman]

This episode was the best of the year in my opinion.

Sawyer DIDN'T show any parenting skills, that's what was so cool.  It would have been so cliche if the playboy conman was really great father material all along.  It was just a case of his voice being soothing to the baby.  He was reading specifications on a car as a lullaby.

I loved that this episode showed that you could have characters being honest and questions being answered, and the show wouldn't collapse because all the mystery is gone.  They should have been portioning out answers all season...but what's done is done.

Kate looked hot, I like that 'showing a bit of skin now and then' shirt she was wearing.

I liked the look Shannon gave Locke when he asked for forgiveness.  I like how Sun is subtly as important as Jack, she is sort of his PA or RN on the island.  I like how they show Jun starting to learn English, since him learning English and some of the others learning Korean is a no-brainer for people in their situation.

I'm still a bit miffed that the creatures aren't even on anyone's mind(witness Sayid and Locke's carefree walk to the plane and back), much less being shown.  Can't have everything I guess.  :wink:

[Lockdown]

Great episode!

One thing's for sure...  When God was handing out "baggage" - these people got in line about 4 times.  Geez these people have a past and a half!

LD

[Roguetad]

I don't know why I find this so funny, but everytime they show a scene that has a bunch of no-name island extras in it, I start laughing.  I saw an extra this episode that looked like the red Swingline staple guy from Office Space.  Look, it's the island extras!  Woot!  It's almost like the "extras" are their own entity at this point.  I loved it when Sawyer started yelling at the extras 2 episodes ago when he was getting headaches.  I would've lost it if he mumbled under his breath after his yelling outburts, "damn extras".  Keep it down extras, we're trying to do a show!

[Autistic Angel]

It's a good thing they established Jack's severe exhaustion and Shannon's extreme grief, because I wasn't really following the jump from "Locke lied" to "Locke's a murderer."  Actually, the belief that Locke was lying was based entirely on the realization that Boone's leg was crushed, and that could easily be explained if some rocks fell on top of Boone after his tumble over the cliff, so even the accusation of dishonesty seemed a little premature.

Shannon's reaction to Boone's death was handled very well, I think.  The way she tried to rope someone else into doing her dirty work, threw a tantrum when things didn't go her way, put on a big show about what a victim she was, and successfully made Boone's death all about herself in the process was *perfectly* in keeping with her character.  It's easier to write for cool-headed, stand-up, honorable characters like Jack than it is for spiteful, mean, selfish little trollops like Shannon, and they really pulled if off masterfully in this episode.  Maggie Grace's performance in this episode deserves special mention, not because it was some great new stretch, but because she was able to keep it all within the rather limiting boundaries of the character.

Is anyone else wondering exactly how Locke knew about the radio in the airplane?  He had to have been a hundred yards away from that thing when Boone made his transmission, and even with the windows of the cockpit smashed out, the sound of the whole plane shifting and groaning under the influence of Boone's weight would have made it damn hard to hear anything happening inside.

Finally, has anyone else pointed out the similarity between the beachcraft Locke and Boone found and the pewter airplane that Kate retrieved from the air marshall's case?  I can't imagine what that might mean, but I haven't any discussion of it yet.

-Autistic Angel

[gameoverman]

As far as the "Locke is a murderer" jump,  I see it this way:

Boone goes out with Locke, in perfect health.  Later, Locke carries him back into camp all bloody and near death. Locke then obviously lies about what happened, thereby compromising Boone's already limited treatment potential.  Then Locke leaves without explanation(he has somewhere he has to be on that island?), depriving Jack of any chance of asking him what could turn out to be important questions regarding Boone's condition, and removing any chance of Locke doing something useful(such as tracking down Shannon).

Jack already knows Locke has lied about many other things, based on Boone telling him about the hatch.

Sayid knows Locke cost them a possible opportunity to get rescued.  Locke's lame "whatever killed them might have endangered us" excuse was so stupid, it's not even worth considering for a moment.  Dude, that message was sixteen years old, does he really think what might have been menacing them 16 years ago is still active?  Or that ALL the survivors would have to trample to the jungle to the source, instead of just a couple of able bodied guys? So what's the big danger?

Since Locke has not provided food in so long, I'm surprised they tolerate them as much as they do.  I'm totally mystified as to where Sayid's "something tells me you will be important to us" feeling comes from.

[Arkon]

Sayid knows Locke cost them a possible opportunity to get rescued.  Locke's lame "whatever killed them might have endangered us" excuse was so stupid, it's not even worth considering for a moment.  Dude, that message was sixteen years old, does he really think what might have been menacing them 16 years ago is still active?  Or that ALL the survivors would have to trample to the jungle to the source, instead of just a couple of able bodied guys? So what's the big danger?

Since Locke has not provided food in so long, I'm surprised they tolerate them as much as they do.  I'm totally mystified as to where Sayid's "something tells me you will be important to us" feeling comes from.

Actually I think what locke was getting at was that the signal is a false hope.  For 16 years it has been transmitting and no one came.  Why get hopes up when it could be another 16 years with a different message.  Locke also is the only one who has seen the "heart" of the island, he knows much more about it than anyone else.  Locke's finding the plane is what leads Sayid to Locke as being important.  Not to mention the hatch which despite not knowing what it is, Locke has had a knack of finding things.

[gameoverman]

Actually I think what locke was getting at was that the signal is a false hope.  For 16 years it has been transmitting and no one came.  Why get hopes up when it could be another 16 years with a different message.  Locke also is the only one who has seen the "heart" of the island, he knows much more about it than anyone else.  Locke's finding the plane is what leads Sayid to Locke as being important.  Not to mention the hatch which despite not knowing what it is, Locke has had a knack of finding things.

Could be, I guess.

But keep this in mind, if he thought it was a 'false hope' that's entirely Locke's opinion, he has no right to deny anyone else the chance to investigate it if they so desire.  At that point, Locke had no more knowledge about the island than they did(as far as they knew), so his opinion on this carries no more weight than someone else's.   In fact, once basic necessities are met(food, shelter, etc), they have nothing else to do but investigate the island.  Where better to start than with the source of an actual radio broadcast?

I'd point out that at that point(Sayid triangulating the signal) they had no way of knowing what the results of that radio broadcast were.  That French woman might have been rescued, might still be on the island, might have left the island on her own(raft)...and in the event of any of these things, might have left a message behind for anyone else that ever shows up.  For example, say I'm cruising by this island in my yacht and I pick up her radio signal.  I would investigate, find her, even rescue her and take her back to civilization.  What I WON'T do is take the time to go trampling through the island for the sole purpose of shutting off that radio signal, not when there's polar bears roaming around for one thing.  So making that assumption that because the signal is still broadcasting that means she was never rescued isn't the only intrepretation...without investigating it. That's why he had no right to stop Sayid.

No one knows Locke 'saw' the heart of the island, therefore that can't be a reason Sayid thinks Locke is important to them.  Plus, if anyone is going to find a hatch and an airplane on that island, it would be the person or persons roaming around the island the most, the ones hunting like Locke and Boone for instance.  It should come as no surprise to Sayid that Locke found these things, so I don't see how that is the reason for Sayid's opinion of Locke's significance.

[LoneStarSpur]

Locke's still bs'ing. He has no desire at all to leave the island.

Sayid's not very convincing when he's being sympathetic.

"Don't open the hatch."

hehe...open the damn thing already!

-Randy

[archipelago]

I liked knowing that Nadia was at least alive and well and that Sayeed was looking for her all this time.

A great episode, but this I'm not too sure of. Unless Sayid was lying to the french woman (which is entirely possible, attempting create some kind of bond), he told her that Nadine was dead. I'd thought that perhaps the agents that pulled Sayid out of the line at the airport were there to tell him that Nadine was dead/had died. Sayid got on the plane for his own reasons any way or perhaps to attend HER funeral. Just a guess, but if she's still alive it seems pretty crummy that he would fall in with Shannon just a month after he learns that this idyllic woman was alive.