S5E7 - The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham

Ash Wednesday was yesterday, which marks the beginning of the 40 days of Lent, culminating on Easter Sunday. Rather than spending half of my recap offering a watered-down version of what that means, I’ll link you over to a more authoritative version for those of you not in the know: Lent (Wikipedia). Sufficed to say, it is in some ways about sacrifice and when coupled with the underlying Easter theme of new life and resurrection… well, you’ve got more religious symbolism than you can shake a stick at and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I overlooked such an obvious parallel between last night’s episode.

RESURRECTION
Locke’s alive! Confused, but alive. He’s special too, oh man is he special. Probably freakin’ tired of people telling him just how special he is.

ASHES
There was definitely a few ashes from the charred bits of the Ajira flight wreckage, though I must say, Frank the Pilot did a much better job of landing it all in one piece than the pilot of Oceanic 815. After last week’s episode, I wasn’t even sure that anyone except the O6 would be on the island, though I had a feeling that the man who we now know as Ceasar and Sayid’s marshal who we now know as Ilana would be around just because they had more than a good share of face time. Turns out the ENTIRE plane crash landed on the island! The twist…? The O6 apparently disappeared. Well, Jack, Kate, and Hurley, at least. The big question is, did Sayid or Sun disappear too? I think Ilana told John that the pilot and “some woman” took one of the boats. You would think Frank would most likely run off with Sun since they know more about what’s going on, but if that’s true, then the obvious question is why did they not “disappear” along with Jack, Kate, and Hurley? I won’t get too hung up on that just because it’s such an obvious question, I feel confident it will be answered (even though it may be a weak weirdo fantasy time-travel type of answer).

I liked the opening scene where Ceasar is rummaging through the presumed Dharma station they landed near. Does he know about the island and that is why he knew to arm himself with that shotgun he found? Or is he just trying to figure out wtf’s going on like any normal person would? And by “normal person,” I’m not including anyone from the original Oceanic flight 815, because Lord knows they next-to-never ask one single straight forward or obvious question. Or when they do, seem satisfied with vague crap answers.

ALMSGIVING
Widmore was doing more than his fair share of almsgiving in this episode. He seems ready to give every penny he can to the needy John Locke (aka Jeremy Bentham) in order to help him get back to the island and “protect it.” Big reveals… Widmore used to be the leader of the others! Ben ousted him! And apparently, there’s a war coming (also known as Season Six). Widmore hooks Locke up with the mouthy Abaddon as a driver who we’ve seen before. Apparently his job is to “get people where they need to go.” How’s that for a vague job description? Interesting, though, that he had a hand in John going on the walkabout, so I wonder if he had a hand in orchestrating anyone else being on that flight? Presumably one can calculate when/where a window to the island will open so all you have to do is make sure whoever you want stranded is on a specific flight. Remember the psychic in season one that told Claire she HAD to be on that flight? At first we thought it was because he wanted to make sure only she would raise Aaron since he was convinced she had to be the one. Well, in season 3 we found out via Mr. Eko’s flashback that the man was a fake so it’s not impossible that Abaddon approached him and paid or pressured him into convincing Claire to get on that flight. Anyway, the big question here: Do we believe/trust Widmore?

PENANCE
First up, Locke visits Sayid who is doing some humanitarian work in Santo Damingo. We still haven’t seen exactly why Sayid broke off with Ben and we may yet in future flashbacks, but it could just be that Sayid grew tired of simply killing people without good evidence as to why. Anyway, Sayid gives Locke a big fat “not interested” on his island invite. Can you blame him? Actually, can you blame any of them? Locke – 0/1.

Next up, he visits tall Walt who seems strangely casual for not having seen his father in three years. Was he going to invite Walt along then changed his mind or did he truly just want to check in on him? Is Walt supposed to go back too? Or Aaron or Desmond for that matter? Either way, the score is now: Locke – 0/2.

FASTING
Please don’t think me prejudiced when I say Hurley could benefit from a week or two of fasting. Seriously, that red robe—his permanent attire-of-choice while in the mental institution—not his most flattering outfit. It was pretty funny how he was okay with Locke being a hallucination then freaked out when he found out he was real. Hell no, he won’t go. Locke – 0/3.

PRAYER
As in, he didn’t have a prayer when it came to convincing Kate to tag along. She grills him about having never loved anyone which is why it was so easy for him to stay on the island. He says he did love someone, but was too angry and obsessed (with his father) for it to work out to which Kate replies in sad sarcasm, “Look how far you’ve come.” ZING! I’m surprised Locke didn’t drop dead right then after being cut by such an acute observation. Locke – 0/4.

Locke has Abaddon track down his old flame who passed away a few short years ago. At first, I thought maybe it was an elaborate hoax to convince him not to pursue her and potentially have a reason to not go back, but when Abaddon was shot, I began to think Widmore has been telling the truth the whole time. More on that later. Anyway, after wrecking in a mad dash to get away, Locke wakes up in a hospital with Jack by his side. Mention of Jack’s father gives him pause, though it melts into righteous anger. Locke – 0/5. (Though a little bit of conviction must have eeked through as we know Jack eventually changed his mind) Locke – 0.5/4.5.

SACRIFICE
Thinking he has completely failed, a dejected Locke is ready for the ultimate sacrifice, though it seemed more fueled by failure and depression rather than the idea that what he was doing might actually lead everyone back to the island. I think he was just done with it all. And who can blame him? In comes Ben at the last minute, spouting off yet again how special he is and how HE’S the one that’s been protecting everyone, and by this point you just don’t know who to trust. However, once Locke mistakenly gives up the name of Eloise Hawking, all go-team support flies out the window as Ben strangles him to death. Whoa. Didn’t see that coming. I’m assuming Ben also didn’t anticipate needing to bring his body along at that point nor did he dream it possible that Locke would be resurrected. Talk about an awkward reunion they’re about to have.

I think it’s safe to say at this point that the preverbal line in the sand has been drawn. Widmore / Ben. Well, that line’s been clearly drawn for a while now I guess, but it’s becoming more and more evident which side is the “good” side. I’m not ruling out there being some reasonable explanation why Ben has done what he’s done, but I’ve given up hope that he, himself, is acting out of unselfish motivations. It’s all about Ben getting what he wants and stopping at nothing to achieve it.

EASTER EGGS
I’m looking forward to discovering the hidden nuggets from the past of our new castaways. It seems for now, though, only Caesar and Ilana are the main ones (just like the main cast have always been a “stand-in” for the twenty or so other survivors that are roughing it out there somewhere.) Rose and Bernard must be confused as all get out without Daniel Faraday around to explain things.

S5E6 - 316

ON SECOND THOUGHT… DON’T SHOW ME THE MONEY
I want to start by saying I loved this episode, but it’s hard to say why. If you think about it, not that much happened. They all boarded a plane and woke up on the island. Done. Maybe it was what they DIDN’T show us that hooked me. First and foremost, the lack of time travel. Outside of a skosh there at the end, everything happened in real time. No skipping about. No bright flashes of light. No potential paradoxes. Just good old linear story-telling. Second, it was the missing details of everyone’s last day off the island that make you really wonder what happened to change their minds or force them on that flight. Anyway, on with the recap.

SHOUT OUT TO SEASON ONE
I really liked how the opening was a throw back to the pilot episode. Jack wakes up in the jungle in his suit, hears a commotion and runs blindly through the jungle. At first, I thought it was yet another classic LOST fake out where you think they’re on the island, but they’re not. But you know what happens when you make assumptions, right? Anyway, turns out Jack, Hurley, and Kate at least made it back. Cool beans.

THE LAMPPOST
46 hours earlier we are back at the church which turns out to be an off-island Dharma station used to track the island’s whereabouts… or shall I say whenabouts? Ha! Just a little time travel humor there. Eloise Hawking makes her spiel about how the lamppost works and how they need to recreate the crash as accurately as possible… yada yada yada. Best line of the night is when Ben claims he didn’t know the Lamppost existed and Jack asks Eloise if he’s telling the truth to which she replies, “Probably not.” I always chuckle when people slam Ben’s moral compass.

“THE ISLAND’S NOT DONE WITH YOU YET”
Talk about an ominous warning. Eloise tells Desmond his part in all this isn’t over, but he thinks otherwise. We’ll see about that, Dessy. And was it just me, or were you also waiting for him to get knocked out by that big pendulum?

DEARLY DEPARTED
Eloise has a one-on-one with Jack and drops two bombs. First up, she delivers Locke’s suicide note. This is our first clue into his death. Interesting. Second, she explains that part of the return is recreating the original crash as closely as possible, right down to the transportation of a dead body. Locke is essentially a substitute for Jack’s dead father and he must give Locke something of his dad’s. In a rare LOST moment, Jack asks the obvious question and says what the viewers are likely saying to their TV screens. “Why? That doesn’t make any sense.” But Eloise (likely speaking on behalf of the writers of the show) says, “It’s not about whether or not it makes sense, it’s whether or not you believe it will work.” TRANSLATION: “Hey, America, stop whining about how weird this show is getting and just enjoy the ride.”

JESUS AND PALS
Ben gives Jack a mini-sermon about Thomas the Apostle. Perhaps foreshadowing Locke’s resurrection in the upcoming episode? At any rate, Sun left with no explanation and Ben says he made a promise to an old friend and has some loose ends to tie up. Also, he seems pretty pissy about not being able to sit on his little pow-wow with Eloise. Sheesh… what a crybaby he’s become in the past two episodes.

GRANDPA SHEPHARD
Jack gets phoned that his grandpa has tried to escape from his retirement home. The man looks great for whatever age he’s supposed to be. Anyway, he conveniently has a pair of Christian’s shoes.

WTF?
Jack returns home only to find Kate in his bedroom. To me, the greatest mini-mystery they set up in this episode was Kate’s change of heart. What convinced Kate she needed to go back after being so adamant to the contrary? What happened to Aaron? It had to have been drastic for her to make Jack promise to never ask her about it. Wow.

NICE SHOES
Jack and Kate have a little “morning after” OJ. Kate notices his dad’s shoes and recommends a pair of hiking boots instead. Their conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Ben. He is at a pay phone at a marina and looking pretty bloody and distraught. Says he’s run into a little snag and needs Jack to pick up Locke’s body. Jack goes to the butcher shop where Locke is being held and switches out his shoes for his dad’s commenting the whole time how crazy it is. I couldn’t agree more. Here’s the part that I didn’t catch last night, but watching this section I missed really drove it home. Do we think that Ben’s “loose end” was to kill Penny? That certainly qualifies as a promise he made to an old friend, and by “promise” I mean “threat” and by “friend” I mean “mortal enemy.” I bet Desmond is the one that beat the crap out of him. Revenge is something that definitely would motivate Desmond to return to the island, though he swore he was done with it. Geez, Ben, that’s just… wrong! Hopefully that’s not what happened, but for now it fits the best.

ISLAND OR BUST
So, we finally see the airline that was mentioned a few episodes ago when Juliet saw the Ajira water bottle in that abandoned kayak. I’m still looking forward to that scene being replayed later on from the perspective of whoever was chasing and shooting at them. Anyway, Kate walks in as Jack is checking in Locke’s body. He runs into Sun, who says if there’s any possible way to see Jin again she has to try. About that time Sayid is escorted through security in handcuffs (a parallel to the original crash when Kate was the one in handcuffs.) Finally at the gate we see Hurley, who has bought up as many of the seats as he could in fear of what might happen to the other passengers. At the last minute, Ben rushes in, almost missing the flight (yet another shout out to the original Oceanic flight where Hurley was the one that nearly missed the plane).

“WE’RE NOT GOING TO GUAM, ARE WE?”
After the plane takes off, Jack goes to sit with Kate saying how crazy it is that they’re all “back together.” She makes the heavy comment, “Just because we’re on the same plane, doesn’t mean we’re ‘together.’” Ouch. The pilot makes an announcement and it is none other than Frank Lapidus, chopper pilot from the original freighter folks. Once he sees Jack and the others he makes the second best comment of the episode. No, Frank, you ain’t going to Guam.

“I WISH YOU HAD BELIEVED ME.”
Ben claims he didn’t know Locke committed suicide. I don’t think I’m alone when I say I don’t believe a single word out of Ben’s mouth these days. He let’s Jack read Locke’s suicide note in privacy. It’s both succinct and sad. Can’t wait for next week where it looks like we’ll get to see what really went down after he left the island.

DON’T COME A KNOCKIN’ IF THE PLANE’S A ROCKIN’
They hit some turbulence and pretty soon there’s that all-too-familiar flash of light and they wake up on the island. Or at least Jack, Kate, and Hurley for now. Surely Ben, Locke, and Sun made it back as well so we’ll see what’s up with them soon. For some reason, I had it in my mind that the O6 wouldn’t get back to the island until the end of this season. So, much to my surprise, they’re back with still half of the season left to play out. Also, I’m guessing Frank is probably along for the ride, not to mention the lady marshal accompanying Sayid plus that one guy that gave his condolences to Jack at the airport that they made a point to show over and over. Just like the freighter folks from last season, it’s always nice to introduce a few fresh faces and potential storylines. Not that we need more mysteries and backgrounds to dig through, but with only a season and a half left, it seems their introduction might be key to tying together some of the unresolved mysteries still out there.

WORKIN’ 9 TO 5
Jack, Kate, and Hurley find each other and guess who finds them…? Jin! Driving a beetle bus and sporting a Dharma jumpsuit no less. We know at some point that Daniel winds up in the Dharma timeline, helping build the orchid. Looks like Jin came along too and is working security detail. It will be funny if we later see Juliet working as a midwife and Sawyer scrubbing pots in the kitchen. Looks like the LOSTies left behind were stranded in the past for a bit and had to settle in for the long haul. I wonder how long they’ve been “waiting” for the O6 to get back? I wonder if they’ll have flashbacks to fill in the gaps between when Locke left and when the O6 returned. Interesting set up for the rest of the season.

Like I said before, the greatest part of this episode was the mini-mysteries behind everyone’s last day before returning to the island not to mention what Daniel, Jin, Sawyer, and Juliet have been up to. Things that obvious will surely be revealed and I’m beside myself with curiosity.

S5E5 - This Place Is Death

That's right kids, it's that time of the year again. So grab your spouse/partner/significant other/self and settle in for a very special edition of...

***LOST VALENTINES***

To: Robert
Card: Bright yellow card depicting a cartoon teddy bear.
Outside: "I've noticed something different about you lately. Have you been working out?" (pic of teddy bear flexing muscles) "Get a haircut?" (pic of teddy bear sporting a buzz cut) "Lose some weight?" (pic of skinny teddy bear) "Get possessed by an enigmatic creature comprised of some freakish semi-solid smoke-like substance?" (pic of teddy bear w/ horrified expression being dragged along the jungle floor)
Inside: "Either way... I'm going to shoot you." (pic of two teddy bears pointing rifles at one another)
From: Danielle

Wow. Well there goes the time sickness theory. I guess it makes sense that it was something else wrong with Rousseau's team because the time sickness seems to only cause forgetfulness on the light side, make your nose bleed on the medium side, and death on the heavy side. Apparently whatever effected her team "changed" them somehow. I'm assuming it made them "bad people," which is obviously the case if Robert was willing to kill his own wife and child at the end. And what's up with what he said? It's just a security system guarding the temple. Yeah, the First United Temple Of Make-You-Crazy.

Anyway, I'm happy we got to see this unanswered piece of Rousseau's background, though in typical LOST fashion it brings up more questions. I'm still mildly curious about how the others managed to kidnap baby Alex, but as far as I'm concerned Danielle Rousseau may now rest in peace.

To: The Island
Card: No card. Just the same message carved in trees, spelled out with rocks, and drawn on the beach, over and over...
Message: "I want to have your baby."
From: Locke

Here's my crazy theory. Remember way back when in season 1 when Locke actually saw the smoke monster for the first time? He told Jack he saw the "eye of the island and it was beautiful." Maybe that's brainwash talk for "The island told me to keep you here against your will and kill everyone else." Think about it, he was mildly crushing on the island before that encounter. And who could blame him, it healed his legs. But let's assess his behavior ever since then. In season 3, alone, he blew up the com station to allow outside communication, blew up the submarine that would have allowed Jack and Juliet to leave, and knifed Naomi in the back. And I have a feeling even though he's "friends" with his fellow LOSTies, he wouldn't be too hard pressed to kill any of them if they got in the way of whatever he believed to be his destiny.

What if that's what the "true" others are as well? People who've been exposed to the smoke monster or gone to this crazy temple? Remember that stewardess, Cindy, that randomly popped up on the prison island they took Jack, Kate, and Sawyer to at the beginning of season 3? She along with the kids were all going to watch Juliet's trial. She seemed to be sipping the Kool-Aid hard core... smoke-flavored Kool-Aid. It doesn't explain everything, I know, but it certainly would shed light on why some people (Richard, John, Ben) are so die-hard.

Okay, thanks for entertaining my whacked out ideas.

To: Daniel
Card: Black with white lettering.
Outside: "This place is death."
Inside: "Seriously."
From: Charlotte

Alright, so Charlotte was not my favorite character. Still, it was kind of sad to see her final moments. It was confirmed that Charlotte did, in fact, grow up on the island. Her mother was with the Dharma Initiative, but moved away. I wonder if along with creeping out little Charlotte, Future-Daniel also scares the crap out of Charlotte's mom which is why the woman decided to leave. We know that Daniel (will be) among the Dharma folks at some point in episodes-to-come since we saw him hanging out in the Orchid station of the past in this season's premiere. Her warning to Jin and the gang to not bring Sun back was creepy. As always, there are conflicting messages and you don't know who to believe. Ben/Richard/Christian say they all need to come back, Charlotte on her death bed says they shouldn't. I have the uneasy feeling that Charlotte is spot on.

To: Jack and Sun
Card: Homemade card made from colorful scraps of construction paper.
Outside: "I tried to think of the perfect gift for you this Valentine's..."
Inside: "And if you had ANY idea of how much effort I put into MAKING this $%#@! card you'd be ON YOUR KNEES kissing my feet."
From: Ben

Is it just me or was Ben being super pissy in the van? I guess if I blindly thought I was doing the right thing and going through who knows what to keep people safe, I'd be upset too if everyone wanted to kill me for it, but come on dude... chill. And I think he's way out of line to say how hard he's been working to keep all of their friend's safe. As if he even cares. He wants to get back to the island and just happens to need them in order to do it, is all.

To: Ben
Card: A simple rectangular card. About 3in x 7in. You know... the kind you typically get from your grandparents just before graduation and you're all like, "Sweet, they sent cash."
Outside: Pink with a red heart.
Inside: Hand written... "Sorry we can't be with you for Valentine's. Here's $20 for gas money or whatever. Best of luck."
From: Kate, Aaron, Sayid, and Hurley

So, Ben only has one-third of the Oceanic Six. The Oceanic Two. Just doesn't have the same ring to it, doest it? I wonder if Desmond is supposed to go as well. I never got the impression that he was supposed to go back too, but there he is with them all nonetheless. Ironically, Daniel asked Desmond to find his mom to help and that's what Ben's already doing. Seems like an elaborate plot device just to keep Desmond around. Whatever, though, I like ol' Dessy. It would just suck if he blips off to the island without Penny and little Charlie. I don't see that happening, though. At least not voluntarily.

To: Sun
Card: Plain white paper with crayon frowny face
Outside: "I miss you mommy."
Inside: Crudely drawn broken heart. "Please don't go."
From: Ji Yeon

Okay, so this is a sad Valentine, but seriously... it looks like Sun has all but packed her bags. Of course she still has a chance to back out of whatever they have to do to get back to the island in the next episode. I'm sure she wants to be reunited with Jin somethin' crazy, but geez lady, you've got a daughter to think about. I suppose she's under the naive impression that she can just waltz back to the island and pick up Jin on her way back to Korea. Yeah, right. Somehow I doubt getting back to the island will be as easy as running an errand, like the space-time equivalent of swinging by the grocery store for a jug of milk on your way home from work.

To: The Island
Card: Hastily folded piece of scrap paper handed to Christian Shepard seconds before moving the island yet again.
Outside: "Oh man, I'm so bad with these things. I'll just come out and say it. I'm leaving. I don't know for how long. It may sound cliche, but it's true when I tell you that it's not you... it's me. I truly want us to be together again. ALL of us. I'll be back as soon as I can. Dead or alive. I love you."
Inside: "P.S. I'm serious about wanting to have your baby. I'm so totally gaga for you. I would bear your children in a heartbeat if I were a woman, and it were possible to copulate with an inanimate land mass, and also if conceiving a child while on you wouldn't kill me by the third trimester."
From: Locke

So once again "the Island" speaks to Locke via Jack's dead father. It's funny how we're all so totally beyond this being strange. Anyway, Christian said the funniest thing of the episode and perhaps the truest thing since the very first season. "And since when has listening to Ben done you any good?" Bam! On a sidenote, I thought it was interesting he said he couldn't help Locke to the wheel. I guess that would make sense if he's for-real dead so is in fact a ghost. I'm not going there, though. It's difficult enough to swallow all the time travel stuff so I can't deal with ghosts. Not this season at least. Maybe next year I'll have to change the name of my blog from
http://timetravelsucks.blogspot.com/ to http://ihateghosts.blogspot.com/.

Apparently the Orchid's wheel had slipped off its axis, which may explain the time jumping. Locke just needed to give it a little nudge and voila, island moved and (presumably) time skipping halted. However, I have a bad feeling they're not out of the woods just yet. We don't know for sure where they are in time, but we do at least know they will be back in the Dharma's timeline at some point and eventually will make it back to their own (we assume), so the assumption is this temporal merry-go-round gone wrong has yet to be righted. Of course as we all know, the side effect of moving the island is leaving and never coming back. But then again that's only partially true. Apparently Mama Faraday (aka Elouise Hawking) is about to lay down some heavy physics mojo and get at least some of the gang back in the next episode or two. Will it be that easy? Somehow, I think not.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to either the next episode or the next next episode where I bet we'll see all of Locke's post-island interactions with the O6 plus Ben plus Walt.

Happy V-Day to everyone. Your card is in the mail.

S5E4 - The Little Prince

LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES…
You never know what you’re going to get. Like a coconut chew, or a pecan cluster, or a Beretta 9mm semi-automatic. I’m not sure where Sun ordered that, but one thing’s for sure, it ain’t your grandma’s Whitman's sampler. Sufficed to say, she’s about to have a big throw down with Ben in the next episode.

DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID
So Sun lends Kate a sharp looking lady suit and convinces her to have a sit down with the lawyer to see if she can have a face to face with his mystery client in exchange for a blood sample. The answser: No.

ORCHID BOUND
Locke tells Sawyer that the Orchid is where all of this started so the Orchid is where it will end. Not to mention he needs to get there so that he, too, can get off the island, convince the O6 to return, then die (for whatever reason). I wonder if Locke turning the Orchid wheel is what will finally put a stop to the time jumping since it’s what started it. Seems too easy. With everything else we learn in this episode concerning Ben, I wonder if Locke’s death is just an elaborate ruse to make it seem like people are out to hunt down the O6 when really it’s just Ben pulling people’s strings and trying to scare them into going back to the island. More support on this theory to come…

DON’T FORGET YOUR MEDS
Meanwhile some dude tries to tag Sayid with yet more horse tranquilizers, but fails miserably. In his pocket, the address of one Kate Austen. A worried Jack calls to meet with her. Okay, so knowing what we know about the lawyer’s “true” client, this is REALLY suspicious to me. Ben would do whatever he can to get the O6 back to the island, even if it means threatening them. The first set of folks that tracked Sayid and Hurley back to the “safe house” had tranquilizers too. Obviously, whoever sent them doesn’t want them dead. I’m sure Ben would be fine if he could just tranq everyone and haul their bodies back to the island on his own. Seems a little heavy-handed and obvious, but the only other person who could potentially be “after” them is Widmore and he seems more interested in getting Ben than them.

“REALLY BAD JET LAG”
That’s definitely going around this episode. We finally find out why the “time sickness” is only affecting Charlotte. The answer is, it’s not! It’s affecting everyone, depending on their length of exposure to the island. This piggy backs on what Charlotte said at the end of last season about looking for the place of her birth. She’s definitely spent some time here in the past. Later on we see Miles sporting a blood mustache of his own and Daniel asks him if he’s sure he’s never been on the island before. This lends heavy credence to the Miles-is-Marvin-Candles-baby theory. NEAT. I wonder if Dr. C ever got off the island at some point or if he’s buried along with his fellow Dharma buddies in that mass grave? Obviously his son made it off. Sure enough, third place for the Longest Exposure To The Island Award goes to Juliet, since her time as an “other” was at least a couple of years if I remember correctly. Next up, Sawyer and Locke, then only Daniel can save them all.

STALKER
So Jack meets Kate, they make a little small talk about his facial hair and then follow the lawyer to meet with his “client.” It turns out to be none other than Claire’s mother! That makes sense, right?

PSYCH!
No, not Claire’s mother. Apparently she’s there to collect her settlement from a lawsuit against Oceanic Airlines and has no clue that her grandson may still be alive.

AND THE CLIENT IS…
Ben. Of course. I’m giving myself $5 for an early prediction on that one. The thing is he seemed pretty straight forward when Kate finally called him out on that in the end. It’s certainly un-Ben-like to come clean so easily. I think he still has something up his sleeve. Also, apparently from his clandestine meeting with the lawyer in the parking lot, we are to believe that Hugo will be getting out of jail the next morning.

BOSOM BUDDIES?
Here’s my beef with all this. Sayid is adamant… ADAMANT… that Hurley not trust Ben and do the opposite of whatever he says. Obviously Sayid and Ben had a falling out between when we last saw him knocking folks off Ben’s list and the present day. Yet we are to believe that Ben claims to want to get Hurley safely out of jail and Sayid is just going to accept that and chauffer him around? Perhaps Sayid thinks the best way to protect Hurley is to watch Ben’s every move, but he seemed way too chummy for someone who distrusts the man as much as he claims. Surely we’ll see why Sayid hate’s him (again) soon.

“TIME TRAVEL IS A BITCH”
Too true… I couldn’t have said it better, myself, Sawyer. That was freakin’ hilarious. That and when they discovered the kayak washed up at their “old” campsite he said, “Who are these people? Other others?” I actually find that particular blip through time very interesting. We know that whenever they were, it was after the LOSTies set up camp, but it seems it was at some point “in the future” because no other boat washed ashore that we know of. So it was kind of an event that has yet to happen. Juliet said the logo on the water bottle left in the boat was from “Ajira Airlines.” Perhaps yet another plane crash that happens in the future? Was that who was chasing them in the other boat and shooting… survivors from another plane crash? Surely we’ll see who it was sometime down the line.

HEART TO HEART
Locke grills Sawyer on who he saw during their most recent time blip and he gets stonewalled. Later, when paddling the kayak, he admits to Juliet that he saw Kate. After dodging bullets and blipping away again, Juliet asks him why he didn’t speak to her and he says, “What’s done is done.” You can tell he’s heartbroken. All this is good therapy for the inevitable relationship he and Juliet will have. I can see it coming like a freight train.

THE KOREAN VERSION OF MICHAEL PHELPS
A life raft of Frenchies washes ashore, but just before they do they recover the body of none other than Jin Kwon, passed out on a rocky outcropping. Though I never bought in to his death, it was still a pleasant surprise to see him safe and sound-ish. One thing, though, just how far out did the effects of the island’s “move” reach? We know that the freighter disappeared because it was no longer there after the first flash of light. This means Jin had to have jumped clear and started swimming like a mad man in order to get close enough to be carried along. Whatever, though. He made it. Good enough for me.

DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
Ahhh... time travel. You offer great things, such as the possibility to learn more of Rousseau’s backstory, yet I inherently hate you for it because you have to throw Jin in the mix, making it obvious that Rousseau should have remembered him sixteen years “later” when she meets him after his crash landing on the island. The only way I can see them explaining that away is that she essentially goes crazy after having to kill her team members (something I’m morbidly curious to see) then never having human contact outside of her kidnapped baby for over a decade and a half. That surely does a number on your mind.

To be fair, sixteen years ago I was a sophomore in high school so I’m not sure I would recognize one person that I had a chance encounter with either. Then again, I didn’t shipwreck onto a tropical island and find a near-dead Korean that had washed ashore. I don’t feel like I’m going out on a limb when I say that would be a memorable moment for anyone.

If I remember her story right, Rousseau explained all of the other members of her team “got sick” and she had to kill them. I could be remembering the she-killed-them part wrong and perhaps they just died of the sickness on their own. It seems likely that “the sickness” is the time sickness going around, but the French people aren’t jumping around in time, at least not yet. Curious…

Anyway, I’m just happy that we potentially get to see what really happened with her and her crew. Outside of Jin being confirmed alive, it was the best news of the episode.