S5E8 - LaFleur

There seemed to be a lot of good news/bad news in this episode so I shall recap in kind.

Good News:
Congrats, Losties… NO MORE TIME TRAVEL! Woohoo!
Bad News:
You’re stuck in the 1970s. Here’s your complimentary Steely Dan cassette tape. Enjoy.

Even though I am happy to report that Locke’s efforts unstuck the analogous “record of time”, the result is not much better as it pertains to potential problems. The Losties are now stuck in the past, meaning they could set off a chain of events that unwittingly alter their own histories. But, Daniel puts an overly simple spin on it saying, “Whatever happened, happened” meaning there’s nothing they can do to create a paradox because “time won’t allow it.” I’m saving myself the headache and just swallowing that whole.

Good News:
It’s a lovely day for a picnic.
Bad News:
It’s also a lovely day to shoot you and your husband.

Seriously, what’s up with that? So much for whatever “truce” agreement the others (aka Richard’s people) and the Dharma Initiative had. It seems to me that Richard’s men are the one’s that broke the truce. They shot chica’s husband and looked ready to do her the same. How is it that Richard’s people need “justice” when their men were the ones in the wrong? And, how is that taking her husband’s dead body makes them even?

Good News:
You’re sonic fence is great for keeping out unwanted people and critters.
Bad News:
It doesn’t work on zombies.

I’m not too far from kidding when I ask… Is Richard and Friends all zombies? Is that why the fence “doesn’t work” on them? Is that why he’s permanently young? Is that why they think it’s cool to collect dead bodies… to grow their zombie numbers? I mean, it’s not like death is permanent on the island anyway (ie.. Christian and Locke). Also, if the fence doesn’t work on them, then why did Richard have to “convince” young Ben back in the day to deactivate the fence so his people could come in and kill everyone? Did they up the ampage and that’s what did it? Oh yeah, AND if Richard and Friends truly are the “natives” then are they the ones responsible for building that gigantic four-toed statue (first seen at the end of Season Two and last seen last night). Anyway… WEIRD.

Good News:
Horace the security guy let us stay for two weeks to find our people.
Bad News:
Horace the security guy let us stay for three years to find our people.

Talk about commitment. Needless to say, I’m curious about how two weeks turned into three years. I mean, I understand that the O6 – Aaron + Locke + Ben just hadn’t showed up yet so they kept at it, but you’d think eventually they’d say, “Well, we tried,” and move on. I feel like there’s a lot of new potential flashback material in these past 3 years. Off the top of my head is Daniel’s to-be warning to little Charlotte about the island. It happened according to Charlotte and in Daniel’s own words, “What happened, happened,” so he obviously will warn her and the mother despite his weak mumbling at the beginning of this episode to the contrary.

Good News:
You’re a daddy.
Bad News:
You missed it.

This is the verbatim good news/bad news that Sawyer gave Horace. Again, I hope we get to see peeks into how everyone’s “relationship” with the Dharma Initiative developed over the past three years. Apparently Sawyer (aka Jim LaFleur, which I found hilarious), Miles, and Jin (speaking fluent English these days) work security detail. Daniel (who wasn’t around much this episode) apparently works construction and perhaps with the science team according to the brief clip of him we saw in the Orchid Station at the beginning of the season. And Juliet becomes a… wait for it… mechanic (a surprisingly far cry from my midwife idea).

Speaking of which, apparently whatever happened (or in this case will happen) to cause the pregnancy issues, hasn’t happened yet. The obvious question, just what will happen to cause that issue? Here’s an idea… HOW ABOUT THAT NUCLEAR BOMB YOU NUMBSKULLS BURIED? Radiation poisoning, anyone? Unfortunately, I bet it will have something to do with time travel. Maybe Daniel will do something funky at the Orchid Station to catapult the Losties back to the “present” when the Ajira flight landed and it lays a permanent pregger-voodoo on everyone in the past. Kind of like a benign version of the time sickness, except deadly to embryos.

Good News:
Jin found Jack and Hurley!
Bad News:
He also found Kate.

I guess we’ll find out if 3 years really is long enough to get over someone or not. Poor Juliet. She dug on Jack then backed off because she figured he liked Kate, then she off and develops a seemingly stable long-term relationship with Sawyer who—oops!—also maybe still digs on Kate. I mean, Kate’s easy on the eyes, but come on… looks AND personality…? Juliet, hands down.

Good News:
Eloise is a wiz at math…
Bad News:
Give or take 30 years…

I’m guessing that in the prior episode when Ilana and Caesar referred to the passengers like Hurley “disappearing” it was because they went back in time while everyone else on Ajira landed in “the present.” Fine. But why didn’t that happen to Locke, Ben, Frank, and maybe Sun? Can the island “choose” where/when people go based on what it wants? Lame-O. Even a watered-down Faraday analogy would be better than that. I hope we get one. Oh wait, maybe this was the “unpredictable” factor that Eloise warned would happen if ALL of them didn’t return. Aaron didn’t come with, nor did Walt or Desmond if they’re included in the mix. Perhaps them not being on the plane made the return go a little wonky and some folks wound up in the past instead of the present. Whatever. Even though time travel has stopped, its suckiness lingers on.