Showing posts with label Lost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lost. Show all posts

Last Lost: Thoughts on the finale and a rundown on STILL Unanswered questions

As a guy going into if filled with dread, I admit I was often moved and greatly entertained by the last episode of "Lost" last night.

But, as self-predicted, I also was disappointed.

Jack's sacrifice, the showdown with Smokey, the thrilling escape from Hydra Island, the touching reunions (particularly the one between Sawyer and Juliet) and the open-to-multiple-interpretations ending: I was good with all of it.

But I still feel cheated. Not because the producers failed to answer every tiny question I had about the show's myriad tiny mysteries. But because they failed to even touch on the big ones. To end this series without even an attempt to explain:

The mysterious numbers. What do they mean? Where do they come from?
The significance of the island? Why is it's survival so crucial to humanity? After all, it seems most of what it did was bring people misery?

Is a cheat and give the impression that the writers just couldn't come up with good answers for these, or the many other lingering questions from the series.

So, while greatly entertaining over the years, I have to say I find "Lost" ultimately a let down.

A year or two back, I imagined I'd want to re-watch the entire series once it ended, so I could see how -- "The Usual Suspects"-style -- the puzzle all fits together. But I now realize that wouldn't work. There are still too many missing pieces.

Fun characters aside, these unique mysteries are what made "Lost" truly special. But, in the last season, the producers dropped any intention of addressing them in a satisfying way. In other words, they failed the story.

So, that's that. I doubt I'll re-watch any of it. But, just out of curiosity, I'll likely rent the final season bonus disk that promised to address unanswered questions. Not holding up too many hopes that will be satisfying either.

Here's my list of STILL unanswered questions -- big and small:



*  What is the history  of the Others? Where did they come from?  Why did they kill off the  Dharma Initiative?

* What's  up with Walt's powers? How did  the Others know  about them?

* How did Cindy  the stewardess and the two  children from the Oceanic flight come  to be among the Others?

* Why exactly did Jacob pick these particular folks as his candidates? He tells them because they are "flawed." Seriously, this is the best the show's producers can do? By that standard, any random human fits the bill! Six years and all we get is, "they're flawed." Criminy.

* Jack is now Jacob's successor and it's his job to protect the magic golden light at the center of the island. But why? What has this light ever done for anyone apart from turn them into smoke monsters. What's so danged good about the island. Everyone on the danged thing has been threatened, beat up and killed, it seems like. Sure, it has healing properties. But, to what purpose? Locke was made able to walk again so he could get killed by an evil entity that wants to destroy the self-same healing island. This makes NO SENSE people. And if the point is that it's not supposed to make sense, that's not coming through clear either. It's all random and tossed together.

* Why was Ben selected the leader of the Others? And why, ostensibly in the name of Jacob, do such horrible things to people? Did Jacob intend this? Why did the Others go along with it? Why did Richard go along with it?

* Why did Jacob exclude Kate from being a candidate because she's a mother? Wasn't Sun a mother also? Wasn't Jin a dad? Aren't Jack and Sawyer also dads? Is Jacob a sexist pig?

*  What was Ben's breakfast on the beach with  Kate in season 3 all  about? We didn't see any of their discussion. [I'm still a bit  baffled by this scene. We've not been given any insight into what was  discussed. Was Ben merely trying to persuade Jack to operate on Ben's  spine? Or was there something more going on.]

*  Why does the smoke monster kill some people and not others?

* Why did the smoke  monster kill Eko, in particular? What did the monster see/sense  in him?

* Why did the magic light turn the man in black into a smoke monster? If the light is such a good thing, why did it create an entity that goes around killing essentially innocent people?

* Why did the Others initially disguise  themselves as shipwrecked  pirate types complete with fake beards? [What  was the point? To make the crash survivors think that the Others were  merely fellow castaways, not an organized faction on the island with a  secret history? What?]

* What's up  with the sickness  that killed off Danielle's team? [Were they killed by Smokey or  turned evil by him? Or both?]

* Is  the Dharma  Initiative still active at all?

* Who  was behind  the air drop of Dharma  supplies  that has benefited the Oceanic survivors? [There was  a drop after the Oceanic survivors arrived, wasn't there? Or was this  an old drop that Hurley discovered? I may be misremembering.]

*  Why do  women on the island die instead of giving birth?

*  Why did the Others steal children?

*  What's behind the apparent healing properties of the island?

* What's responsible for the visions   of animals and dead people the crash surivors sometimes see on the   island?

* What's the deal with Libby, killed in   season 2, who evidently gave Desmond the sailboat that landed him on  the  island and who once was in a mental ward with Hurley? [Despite  Libby's recent appearance this season, these questions were not  answered.]

*  What's up with the giant statue?  Who built it? What is its significance?

* Is there   any explanation for why the man in the Dharma Initiative videos is at   different times identified as Dr. Marvin Candle, Dr. Mark Wickmund,  Dr. Pierre Change and   other names and why the CIA agent who identifies himself as Joe Inman   to Sayid tells Desmond that his name is Kelvin Inman?

*   Why did the psychic in Australia encourage Claire to take the  doomed  flight?

* Who is the man Sarah left Jack for? Why is she so   reluctant to reveal his identity? Is he somehow associated with the   Dharma Initiative and/or the Others?

* What's up with that polar bear in Tunisia? Was Charlotte   part of Dharma when she found it, or was she snooping into what Dharma   is all about? [Pretty much answered, I guess. We know Charlotte was  investigating her Dharma past? The polar bear likely transported from  the island ala Ben and Locke.]

* Who is Penelope's  mother?

*  Why did Alpert want the body of Amy's  husband? [Was it merely as proof of retribution to the Others?  Or did they do something creepy with it?]

*  Who  created the ancient temple  on  the island?

* How did the Others save young Ben after he was shot? [They put him  in the dark pool, most likely. But we weren't shown that this is the  case.]

*  What is Ilana's history with  Jacob? Why was  her face bandaged?

* Is Locke really dead? Will he return?

Additional  unanswered questions from Lostpedia:

  • Why did  Desmond tell Charlie he saw a vision of Claire and Aaron getting  on a  helicopter that could only come true if he died?
  • Why did Claire abandon Aaron?
  • What caused the bad luck surrounding Hurley?
  • What does Juliet's mark mean?


Questions from last week's episode

These aren't so much questions as writing that is bad and just doesn't make any sense:
  • Smokey gets Ben to do his bidding by promising Ben that, once everybody is dead and gone, Ben will have control of the island. But at episode's end, Smokey tell Ben that he's going to destroy the island. And Ben seems ok with that. WTH?!!!
  • In a previous episode, Ben confronts Charles Widmore. Widmore asks "Have you come to kill me" and Ben says "You know I can't do that." Yet, in the penultimate episode, Ben kills Widmore. So, it's suddenly ok now?
  • Likewise, Smokey and Jacob's crazy mother says that neither can harm one another. Yet Jacob beats the snot out of Smokey and throws him into the magic light. I'm unclear on the definition of not hurting here.

Lost: You've gotta be kidding me

According to Entertainment Weekly:

["Lost"] producers plan to address a selection of baffling bits of unfinished business on the season 6 DVD, which goes on sale in August. An ABC insider says the set will include “new content that addresses some of the unanswered questions in an entertaining way,” though disputed reports that there could be as much as 20 minutes worth of mystery-resolution material.

Will this be the Special "We Are Crappy Storytellers" DVD Edition on Blu-Ray?

C'mon! This season has been exceedingly poor and disappointing and now the producers so much as admit that they didn't even try to answer any of the show's lingering questions in the finale?

See my previous post for a list of still unresolved questions from the series.

Here's the thing: Yes, "Lost" has been pretty danged entertaining through its run. But the strung-out mysteries are what made it so interesting. To wind things up without resolving these mysteries or by attempting to answer them in lame, expository dialogue ("Oh, I know what those whispers in the jungle are!," "I picked you because you're flawed") is a cheat.

I remember the producers promising they weren't making this story up as they went along, that they had a definitive ending, that all the questions would be resolved, that this wouldn't be another "X-Files" or "Twin Peaks."

They let us down.

STILL unanswered questions on Lost, or "why this show sucks"

Lost is nearly done and the show's scripts read more and more like a thrown-together term paper written the night before it was due by a drunken college student. I mean, come on! Mysteries that have been strung out since season 1 are still unanswered. And when they are addressed, the "answers" are tossed off and lame.

At this point, I think there's little hope of a dramatically satisfying conclusion to the end of this series. This season has been horrendously bad.

Yet, I've watched thus far and will certainly be watching the conclusion this Sunday, hoping that it's not too bad.

That said, here are questions that STILL haven't been answered. I'm sure there are a ton more that haven't occurred to me:

*  What is the history  of the Others? Where did they come from?  Why did they kill off the  Dharma Initiative?

* What's  up with Walt's powers? How did  the Others know  about them?

* How did Cindy  the stewardess and the two  children from the Oceanic flight come  to be among the Others?

* Why exactly did Jacob pick these particular folks as his candidates? He tells them because they are "flawed." Seriously, this is the best the show's producers can do? By that standard, any random human fits the bill! Six years and all we get is, "they're flawed." Criminy.

* Jack is now Jacob's successor and it's his job to protect the magic golden light at the center of the island. But why? What has this light ever done for anyone apart from turn them into smoke monsters. What's so danged good about the island. Everyone on the danged thing has been threatened, beat up and killed, it seems like. Sure, it has healing properties. But, to what purpose? Locke was made able to walk again so he could get killed by an evil entity that wants to destroy the self-same healing island. This makes NO SENSE people. And if the point is that it's not supposed to make sense, that's not coming through clear either. It's all random and tossed together.

* Why was Ben selected the leader of the Others? And why, ostensibly in the name of Jacob, do such horrible things to people? Did Jacob intend this? Why did the Others go along with it? Why did Richard go along with it?

* Why did Jacob exclude Kate from being a candidate because she's a mother? Wasn't Sun a mother also? Wasn't Jin a dad? Aren't Jack and Sawyer also dads? Is Jacob a sexist pig?

*  What was Ben's breakfast on the beach with  Kate in season 3 all  about? We didn't see any of their discussion. [I'm still a bit  baffled by this scene. We've not been given any insight into what was  discussed. Was Ben merely trying to persuade Jack to operate on Ben's  spine? Or was there something more going on.]

*  Why does the smoke monster kill some people and not others?

* Why did the smoke  monster kill Eko, in particular? What did the monster see/sense  in him?

* Why did the magic light turn the man in black into a smoke monster? If the light is such a good thing, why did it create an entity that goes around killing essentially innocent people?

* Why did the Others initially disguise  themselves as shipwrecked  pirate types complete with fake beards? [What  was the point? To make the crash survivors think that the Others were  merely fellow castaways, not an organized faction on the island with a  secret history? What?]

* What's up  with the sickness  that killed off Danielle's team? [Were they killed by Smokey or  turned evil by him? Or both?]

* Is  the Dharma  Initiative still active at all?

* Who  was behind  the air drop of Dharma  supplies  that has benefited the Oceanic survivors? [There was  a drop after the Oceanic survivors arrived, wasn't there? Or was this  an old drop that Hurley discovered? I may be misremembering.]

*  Why do  women on the island die instead of giving birth?

*  Why did the Others steal children?

*  What's behind the apparent healing properties of the island?

* What's responsible for the visions   of animals and dead people the crash surivors sometimes see on the   island?

* What's the deal with Libby, killed in   season 2, who evidently gave Desmond the sailboat that landed him on  the  island and who once was in a mental ward with Hurley? [Despite  Libby's recent appearance this season, these questions were not  answered.]

*  What's up with the giant statue?  Who built it? What is its significance?

* Is there   any explanation for why the man in the Dharma Initiative videos is at   different times identified as Dr. Marvin Candle, Dr. Mark Wickmund,  Dr. Pierre Change and   other names and why the CIA agent who identifies himself as Joe Inman   to Sayid tells Desmond that his name is Kelvin Inman?

*   Why did the psychic in Australia encourage Claire to take the  doomed  flight?

* Who is the man Sarah left Jack for? Why is she so   reluctant to reveal his identity? Is he somehow associated with the   Dharma Initiative and/or the Others?

* What's up with that polar bear in Tunisia? Was Charlotte   part of Dharma when she found it, or was she snooping into what Dharma   is all about? [Pretty much answered, I guess. We know Charlotte was  investigating her Dharma past? The polar bear likely transported from  the island ala Ben and Locke.]

* Who is Penelope's  mother?

*  Why did Alpert want the body of Amy's  husband? [Was it merely as proof of retribution to the Others?  Or did they do something creepy with it?]

*  Who  created the ancient temple  on  the island?

* How did the Others save young Ben after he was shot? [They put him  in the dark pool, most likely. But we weren't shown that this is the  case.]

*  What is Ilana's history with  Jacob? Why was  her face bandaged?

* Is Locke really dead? Will he return?

Additional  unanswered questions from Lostpedia:

  • Why did  Desmond tell Charlie he saw a vision of Claire and Aaron getting  on a  helicopter that could only come true if he died?
  • Why did Claire abandon Aaron?
  • What caused the bad luck surrounding Hurley?
  • What does Juliet's mark mean?


Questions from last week's episode

These aren't so much questions as writing that is bad and just doesn't make any sense:
  • Smokey gets Ben to do his bidding by promising Ben that, once everybody is dead and gone, Ben will have control of the island. But at episode's end, Smokey tell Ben that he's going to destroy the island. And Ben seems ok with that. WTH?!!!
  • In a previous episode, Ben confronts Charles Widmore. Widmore asks "Have you come to kill me" and Ben says "You know I can't do that." Yet, in the penultimate episode, Ben kills Widmore. So, it's suddenly ok now?
  • Likewise, Smokey and Jacob's crazy mother says that neither can harm one another. Yet Jacob beats the snot out of Smokey and throws him into the magic light. I'm unclear on the definition of not hurting here.

Check out the Lost Complete Season 5 Dharma Initiation Kit

This cool special edition of the season 5 DVD set, now available for pre-order from Amazon:

The pack includes DVD/Blu-ray disc holders that look like floppy disks, pamphlets, stickers, recruitment material, maps and an authentic VHS of the Dharma Orientation Video. The set is contained in a box that will be distressed in order to have the feel that it is over thirty years old.

Included in the set are all 17 episodes of season five, never-before-seen bonus materials like cast interviews, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes features, and Blu-ray only exclusives.


Looks like it also include a CD featuring the Geronimo Jackson "Dharma Girl" song.





Creators dish on Lost season 6 at ComiCon

From San Diego, Lost producers and cast hint about the upcoming season. Spoilers may apply so watch at your own risk:









More on Lost at the Lost Season 6 blog.

Lost season 5 debuts tonight!

At 9 p.m. ET, to be exact. But tune in an hour early for a last-season recap program called "Lost: Destiny Calls." And if you need more reminding of just what the heck is going on, visit our spin-off Lost Season 5 blog.

That's also the place to go tomorrow for a overview/observations post about whatever the heck happens on the show tonight!

In fact, it's the place to go most days if you're a "Lost" fan, as we've been posting lots of pics and details about the new season there and will continue doing so until the season winds up!

Remember:
Lost Season 5
Debut Tonight!
JANUARY 21
(9:00-11:00 p.m., ET)
on ABC.

New Lost season 5 blog

It's getting near premiere time for "Lost" and, as readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of the show.

However, I figure not all of you are. That's why I've decided that, for the upcoming season, I'm gonna post all my "Lost"-related stuff at a separate site:

Lost Season 5

So, if you like "Lost," check it out. I've already posted lots of photos and info on the upcoming season and will post my observations, theories about all this season's episodes.

No fear, though, I'll still be posting daily on various and sundry pop cultural topics right here at Pop Culture Safari as well.

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First "Lost" sesion 5 promo!

Hey, lookie here! "Lost" finally returns in January and here's our first peek at what we'll see:

Join the Lost Book Club

From ABC:

Do you need a "Lost" fix? Beginning today, ABC.com is launching the "Lost Book Club" which will give fans new insight on books that have been either seen or referenced throughout the dynamic four seasons of "Lost." The book list will be added to regularly on ABC.com, with a list also available for audio download on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com).

Also available on ABC.com will be a message board to discuss the titles, a synopsis of each book, along with when and how it was referenced in the show, and an introduction by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse. Book examples include Sawyer reading Watership Down, Juliet's book club reading Carrie and an orientation film hidden behind The Turn of the Screw.

Lost clues: Season 4 finale "There's No Place Like Home" pts. 2 and 3

Episode summary:

We flash back/forward (who knows at this point) to the last scenes of season 3, when Jack and Kate meet at the L.A. airport.

Jack, who's on the verge of a mental breakdown, insists they need to go back to the island. He mentions Jeremy Bentham, the unseen man in the coffin, who told them they needed to return. Kate gets angry. There's no way she's going back.

Back in island time: The Others, along with Kate and Sayid, ambush the mercenaries as they bring Ben to the helicopter. Ben escapes and Keamy is evidently killed by Richard Alpert.

Meanwhile, Jack and Sawyer encounter Hurley and Locke at the Orchid Station. Locke tells Jack he should stay on the island, but if he leaves he mustn't reveal anything that happened. The island must be kept secret.

Ben then shows up and he and Locke descend in an elevator deep beneath the station in order to "move" the island.

Jack, Sawyer and Hurley go back to the helicopter where they meet up with Sayid, Kate and Frank, the pilot, who loads them up and flies off toward the freighter.

Back on the beach, Daniel continues ferrying people to the freighter. He stresses to Miles and Charlotte that they need to get off the island quickly. He seems to realize what Ben and Locke are up to and what the Orchid Station is all about. Miles says he's staying and, privately, he hints to Charlotte that he knows she has a history with the island. It's her home. Daniel doesn't hear this, but later Charlotte tells him she also will stay behind.

Back in the air, the helicopter is losing fuel. The gas tank was pierced during the gun battle between the mercenaries and the Others. Those on board throw stuff out so they can make it the freighter, but the load is still too heavy. Sawyer whispers something to Kate--something he wants her to do is she's rescued (most likely involving his daughter Clementine and Clementine's mother Cassie). Then he jumps out in the ocean. Later we see him turn up on the beach--he's ok.

Beneath the Orchid Station, Ben puts on an orientation video for a confused Locke as he tosses metal chairs and other objects into a mysterious chamber. The video seems to explain Dharma experiments with time and space and cautions against putting anything metal in the chamber. Locke becomes concerned, but then the video messes up and the elevator from up above arrives with someone else in it. It's Keamy, whose body armor apparently saved him from Alpert's bullets.

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Keamy tells Ben there's a monitor on his arm. It's connected to the explosives on the boat. If Keamy's heart stops, the bomb goes off. Enraged over Keamy's taunts about killing Alex, Ben flips out and stabs Keamy in the throat. Ben tries to keep Keamy alive, but it doesn't work. The monitor switches on the explosives.

On the freighter, Desmond, Michael and Jin struggle to find a way to disable the explosives, nothing seems to be working. Shortly before things are set to blow, the helicopter arrives. In a few chaotic moments, Desmond and Sun, with baby Aaron, are loaded onto the chopper but Jin doesn't make it on board before the helicopter departs.

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Back in the room with the explosives, Christian Shepherd appears before Michael and tells him "you can go now." And the boat blows up.

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Ben then tells Locke to go back up the elevator to join the Others. Ben will do the work of moving the island. He says that anyone who moves the island must leave it and can never return. Locke is the leader of the Others now.

Locke departs and Ben, wearing a parka because he's going "someplace cold," goes through the weird chamber into a tunnel and down a ladder into a frozen cavern with an ancient-looking wheel in it. He struggles to turn the wheel and everything outside goes strange--weird sounds and light, the island is moving.

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At the same time, those in the helicopter are heading toward the island. There's no place else for them to go. But as they approach, the island vanishes and the chopper loses control. The passengers inflate a life raft and put on life jackets. The chopper plunges violently beneath the waves, but everyone manages to get on board the raft.

Meanwhile, Daniel and his raft-load of people are out on the water. We don't know if they disappear along with the island or not.

Later, the helicopter passengers encounter a boat. It's Penny and her people and they are taken aboard. A story is concocted to cover up what really happened after the Oceanic crash and Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sayid, Hurley and Sun are put on board a primitive raft to make it look like they are the only survivors. This explains why there is an "Oceanic 6" and how they came to be rescued. Desmond's re-arrival to the outside world is evidently kept secret.

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Back in civilization, in various scenes, we learn that Jeremy Bentham has visited Walt, Jack, Kate, Sayid and Hurley, but we still don't know who he is. However, it's evident that events are conspiring to reunite the crash survivors.

Sayid is shown killing a man stationed in a car outside the mental health facility housing Hurley. He goes inside and persuades Hurley to come with him to a "safe" place. Meanwhile, a drunken, messed-up Jack goes back to the funeral home late at night. He breaks in and walks up to the mystery coffin. A voice behind him says "Hello Jack." It's Ben, who knows that Bentham has visited the Oceanic 6 and was trying to persuade them to return to the island.

Jack says Bentham told him "bad things" had happened on the island after their departure. Ben insists they all need to go back, including Bentham, who is dead. At that moment, we finally see who is in the coffin. It's Locke!

Questions/clues/observations:

* The man in the Orientation video identifies himself as Halliwax, but it's the same guy (or appears to be the same guy) who has identified himself as Dr. Marvin Candle and Dr. Mark Wickmund in other orientation videos/films.

* The parka Ben is wearing says "Halliwax" on it and it's the same garb he's shown wearing when he arrives, teleported or however, in the middle of the Tunisian desert.

* There's a 10-month time lag between the time Ben spins the wheel and when he turns up in the desert--so obviously there's something wacky going on in terms of space and time in relation to the island and its "relocation."

* During the episode, ABC aired an ad from "Octagon Recruiting," which plugged a recruitment drive July 24-27 in San Diego. Those interested were directed to this site, where you can register your interest by providing your e-mail address. Here's a screen shot of what you'll see:

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July 24-27, incidentally, are the dates for Comic-Con 2008, the huge pop culture gathering that takes place in San Diego every summer. So, evidently, the "Lost" folks have plans for something big down there then.

* Did Daniel and the people in his raft vanish with the island? If not, where are they?

* Did Jin survive the freighter explosion? How about Michael?

* Claire's ghost (I guess), tells Kate not to bring Aaron back to the island. Why not?

* Played backwards, the voice Kate hears on the phone during her dream says "The Island needs you, you need to go back before its to late."

* What "bad things" happened on the island? How can the Oceanic 6 help by going back?

* How will they get back to the island?

* Is Jack needed on the island to resolve matters between himself and his seemingly dead dad?

* Why did Locke adopt the identity of Jeremy Bentham and how did he manage to visit the Oceanic 6? Bentham, obviously, contains the word "Ben" in it. Was Locke making a reference to Ben when he chose this name?

* Jeremy Bentham is the name of a philosopher. According to Wikipedia:

He was a political radical, and a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law. He is best known for his advocacy of utilitarianism, for the concept of animal rights, and his opposition to the idea of natural rights, with his oft-quoted statement that the idea of such rights is "nonsense upon stilts." He also influenced the development of welfarism.

More creepily:

As requested in his will, [Bentham's] body was preserved and stored in a wooden cabinet, termed his "Auto-icon". Originally kept by his disciple Dr. Southwood Smith, it was acquired by University College London in 1850. The Auto-icon is kept on public display at the end of the South Cloisters in the main building of the College. For the 100th and 150th anniversaries of the college, the Auto-icon was brought to the meeting of the College Council, where he was listed as "present but not voting". Tradition holds that if the council's vote on any motion is tied, the auto-icon always breaks the tie by voting in favour of the motion.

The Auto-icon has always had a wax head, as Bentham's head was badly damaged in the preservation process. The real head was displayed in the same case for many years, but became the target of repeated student pranks including being stolen on more than one occasion. It is now locked away securely.


* How did Locke/Bentham die? Will he spring back to life if returned to the island?

* Did Alpert purposely not kill Keaney?

* Is this man, shown among the Others, the psychic who helped persuade Claire to take Flight 815?

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* The wheel and the ice chamber containing it seem ancient, much like the huge statue Sayid, Jin and Sun saw at the end of season 2. It seems like the island and its mysterious properties have a long, long history.

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* What is Charlotte's history? Is she an Other offspring? Were her parents involved in the Dharma Initiative?

* In London, Sun is shown confronting Widmore. Will she work with him to locate the island? Will this put her at odds with Ben, Jack and the rest?

* Two alternate endings for this episode were filmed. You can see them here.

Also see:

Lost Season 4 Episode Guide
The Best Lost Sites on the Web
Lost: What we STILL don't know

Lost clues: There's No Place Like Home pt. 1, ep. 12, season 4

Episode summary:

In flash forwards, we see how the Oceanic 6--Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sayid, Hurley and Sun were welcomed back into the outside world.

An elaborate back story has been concocted to explain their survival--and the absence of all others on the plane. Supposedly, the plane crashed in the ocean and these survivors ended up on an island and were eventually rescued.

We don't know who developed this story, but the Oceanic 6 are standing by it as the official account.

We see that Hurley continues to be haunted by the island and the mysterious numbers. Jack meets Claire's mother and learns the truth: He is Claire's half-brother. Sayid is reunited with Nadia. Kate poses as Aaron's real mother. And Sun, using the huge settlement all the survivors have received from the airline, buys a controlling share in her father's business, a fact that he's not happy about.

Back in island time, the mercenaries are back. They make their way to the Orchid station, where Ben, Locke and Hurley are headed to "move" the island. Ben gives himself up, but he has a plan to escape. Meanwhile, Locke sneaks into the station.

Using the locator device Frank dropped, Jack and Kate make their to the helicopter. On the way, they encounter Sawyer, Aaron and Miles. Sawyer explains that Claire has disappeared into the jungle. Kate takes Aaron back to the beach and Miles goes with her. Jack and Sawyer continue their search for the helicopter and encounter Frank, who has been handcuffed to a passenger seat of the vehicle. He tells them the mercenaries intend to kill everyone and take Ben.

Meanwhile, Sayid arrives back on the island in a raft. He and Kate rush off to follow Jack and Sawyer and Faraday starts shuttling people--six at a time--to the freighter.

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Jin, Sun and Aaron are on the first load and, once on board, reunite with Desmond and discover that Michael is back. They also learn that there's a huge supply of explosives triggered to destroy the ship.

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In the jungle, Sayid and Kate are captured by the Others before they can find Jack and Sawyer.

Questions/clues/observations

* Who rigged the explosives on the freighter? Widmore? The Others?

* How will Ben escape?

* How is it that the Oceanic 6 are rescued and nobody else? Who created the cover story?

* How exactly can/will Locke move the island? And how will this help anyone escape from the mercenaries?

* Is Paik Industries--Sun's father's business--involved somehow with Widmore? Does Sun realize this, and is this why she's become involved in it? Does she somehow hope to get to Widmore?

* Why can't/won't the Oceanic 6 reveal what's really happened? Would it endanger those who have been left behind? Do they fear that no one would believe them? (And why would anyone? It's the craziest-ass yarn ever).

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Also see:

Lost Season 4 Episode Guide
The Best Lost Sites on the Web
Lost: What we STILL don't know

Lost season-ender teaser!

Highlight the hidden text for info about the season 4 conclusion of "Lost."

AS THE FACE-OFF BETWEEN THE SURVIVORS AND FREIGHTER PEOPLE CONTINUES, THE OCEANIC SIX FIND THEMSELVES CLOSER TO RESCUE, ON THE TWO-HOUR SEASON FINALE OF "LOST," MAY 29 ON ABC
"There's No Place Like Home," Parts 2 & 3 - The face-off between the survivors and the freighter people continues, and the Oceanic Six find themselves closer to rescue, on the two-hour Season Finale of "Lost," THURSDAY, MAY 29 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Lost" stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet, Terry O'Quinn as Locke and Harold Perrineau as Michael.

Guest starring are Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, Ken Leung as Miles Straume, Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Lewis, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, L. Scott Caldwell as Rose, Malcolm David Kelley as Walt, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, John Terry as Christian Shephard, Sonya Walger as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Kevin Durand as Keamy, Francois Chau as Dr. Marvin Candle, Anthony Azizi as Omar, Alex Petrovitch as Henrik and Starletta DuPois as Michael's mom.

"There's No Place Like Home," Parts 2 & 3 were written by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof and directed by Jack Bender.

Also see:

Lost Season 4 Episode Guide
The Best Lost Sites on the Web
Lost: What we STILL don't know

Lost clues: Cabin Fever, ep. 11, season 4

Episode summary:

The mercenaries arrive back on the freighter, beaten and wounded by the smoke monster and unsuccessful in their mission to capture Ben.

Keamy, their leader, accuses Captain Gault of warning Ben that they were coming. Gault says he wasn't the one. And he leads Keamy below deck, where Michael--outed as Ben's spy--is locked in a room. Keamy wants to kill Michael but Gault stops him, saying that only Michael can fix the ship's engines, since he's the one who disabled them in the first place.

Keamy is determined to go back to the island. In the captain's quarters, he fishes out a folder from a safe. It's a map, provided by Widmore, that shows where Ben "is going" on the island. Keamy plans to go back and "torch" the island in order to drive Ben to that spot.

Gault, however, is very unhappy about this plan. He signed on to capture Ben, not kill people. He later confides in Sayid and Desmond and makes arrangements for them to go back to the island to warn the people there. Desmond elects to stay on the freighter. He's spent too much time on the island already and he's convinced that he'll be able to see Penelope soon if he stays on the ship. He wishes Sayid success and they part.

When Keamy orders Frank to start up the helicopter to fly the mercenaries back to the island, the pilot refuses. Keamy then slashes the doctor's throat and shoots Gault. Knowing that others will be killed unless he follows orders, Frank starts up the chopper.

Back in the jungle, Locke has a vision of Horace, the Dharma Initiative member who, years ago, recruited Ben's father to come to the island. Horace tells Locke "you need to find me" in order to locate Jacob.

Later, Locke brings Hurley and Ben to the mass Dharma grave. He finds Horace's body and fishes something out of the dead man's pocket. It's a map to Jacob's cabin.

In flashbacks, way back to the late 1950s, we see Locke's real mother give birth to him in the hospital after being struck by a car. Locke is premature and his mother is young and unmarried. As she and her own mother visit the baby in his incubator, there's a strange visitor lurking outside the room. It's Richard Alpert, looking the same age as we've seen him many years later on the island.

When Locke is a young boy, Richard visits again. He comes to Locke's foster home saying that he directs a school for special children and he thinks that Locke may be a candidate to go there. Alone with Locke, he places several items on a table. A vial of what looks like sand, a compass, a baseball mitt, a book titled "Book of Law," a comic book and a knife. Richard asks Locke to select the items that belong to him. Locke selects the sand and compass and Richard seems pleased. But when Locke selects the knife, he's disappointed. It seems Locke isn't who Richard was looking for.

We later see a teen-age Locke getting teased and bullied at school. A teacher calls him into his office. Locke is apparently gifted at science and has received an invitation from a Richard Alpert of Mittelos laboratories in Portland to attend a science camp. Locke wants nothing to do with it. Even though it's not really what's he's cut out for, he insists on trying to be a tough guy, into the outdoors and sports and cars. The teacher says Locke shouldn't fight being who is, and Locke says "Don't tell me what I can't do." Needless to say, he doesn't go to science camp.

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Years later, after his spine has been crushed, Locke is shown in physical rehabilitation. An orderly who wheels him out of the session is none other than Michael Abbadon, who encourages Locke to go on a walkabout, it will show him what he's truly capable of.

Back on the beach, Jack and the rest see the freighter chopper approach. Something drops out. It's a tracking device showing them where the helicopter is headed, as if somebody wants them to follow.

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Back in the jungle again, Locke enters Jacob's cabin alone. He encounters a man sitting in the dark. It's Christian Shepherd. Claire is in the cabin, too. Locke is confused as to what's going on, but Christian says the facts don't matter now--Locke needs to ask a more important question. So Locke asks "How do I save the island?"

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Outside, Ben asks Locke what he was told. Locke says, "He wants us to move the island."

Questions/clues/observations:

* What's up with the confusing, mixed-up timeline involving the doctor's death? Those on the beach discover his body but are told by the freighter crew over the sattelite phone that the doctor is on board and alive and well. We know the doctor is killed by Keamy, but Keamy is on the island searching for Ben at the same time he's supposedly killing the doctor on the ship, i.e. in two places at the same time.

* Ben tells Locke: "I used to have dreams." Why did he stop having such visions? Were they supplied by Jacob, who is now more interested in Locke?

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* Ben also indicates that it wasn't his idea to kill the Dharma Initiative members. Was it Jacob's?

* What's the secret to Richard's seemingly eternal youth?

* Richard notices a picture young Locke has drawn. It seems to show somebody being attacked by the smoke monster.

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* Locke is shown playing backgammon as a boy. It's a game he later taught Walt how to play on the island.

* Teenage Locke has a Geronimo Jackson poster in his school locker.

* Christian says he isn't Jacob, but can speak for him. Is Jacob somehow making use of Christian's body?

* What about Claire? Is she dead? Christian says Aaron isn't in the cabin. He shouldn't be, indicating that he and Claire are ghosts(?).

* Is Locke Jacob? Could be, given the twists in time involved here, that he becomes Jacob. Alpert knows there's something special about him. The items Alpert shows to Locke may belong to Jacob later in time. Or perhaps Locke is Jacob's reincarnation?

* How the heck is Locke going to move the island? Physically? Interdimensionally? In time?

* Keamy's gun failed when he tried to kill Michael, reinforcing the idea that Michael can't be killed and can't kill himself, although he tried several times. Jacob, or the island, or whatever, wants him alive.

* As mentioned earlier, when Juliet was recruited to work for the company, Mittelos is an anagram for "lost time."

* Who dropped the tracking device from the helicopter? Frank? Most likely. He wants to help the crash survivors.

Also see:

Lost Season 4 Episode Guide
The Best Lost Sites on the Web
Lost: What we STILL don't know

Lost clues: Something Nice Back Home

Episode summary:

In flash forward:
Jack is living with Kate and they are raising Aaron. Jack is back at work as a surgeon, Kate is a happy mom. Jack even asks Kate to marry him. Things seem to be going well.

But then Jack has a vision of his dead father. He shakes this off, but then, after a visit with Hurley in the mental hospital--during which Hurley tells Jack about his visit with Charlie (also dead)--Jack is freaked out.

Hurley has a message for Jack from Charlie. It says: "". And Charlie said that Jack also would be receiving a visit.

Hurley tells Jack he thinks all of the Oceanic 6 are dead. They didn't really make it off the island.

That night at the hospital, Jack again sees his father. He asks a fellow doctor for a prescription for some stress-relieving meds. Back at home, Jack is drinking and mixed up emotionally. He's angry at Kate who--it turns out--was doing some sort of favor for Sawyer. Jack says Sawyer chose to stay behind and Kate shouldn't be doing anything for him.

Back in island time:
Jack is ill. Turns out it's his appendix and Juliet says it needs to come out stat.

Juliet sends Jin, Sun, Daniel and Charlotte to the medical hatch to retrieve supplies. During the trip, Jin becomes suspicious at the attention that Charlotte is paying to him and Sun as they speak Korean. He discovers she knows the language and tells her--in Korean--that he will harm Daniel unless Charlotte ensures that Sun gets off the island. Charlotte agrees to this.

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Juliet performs the operation, which is evidently successful. However, Rose wonders aloud to Bernard why is Jack getting ill when so many people, including herself, have been healed by the island? Is the island somehow telling Jack it doesn't want him to leave?

In the jungle: Sawyer, Claire, Baby Aaron and Miles are on their way back to the beach. They discover the shallowly buried bodies of Danielle and Karl and, a little later, encounter Frank Lapidus, the helicopter pilot. Franks says they need to hide, or the freighter troops will find and kill them, so they do.

That night, sleeping around a campfire, Claire awakes to find Aaron missing. He's nearby, being cradled by Christian Shepherd, the ostensibly dead father of both her and Jack. In the morning, Sawyer wakes up and finds that both Claire and Aaron are gone. Miles says they wandered off into the jungle with someone Claire called "Dad." He didn't bother to stop them, as Sawyer had earlier warned Miles to keep away from Claire.

Sawyer follows their trail into the jungle and discovers Aaron, but there's no sign of Claire.

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Questions/clues/observations:


* Was Kate talking on the phone to Cassidy, the mother of Sawyer's daughter, Clementine? What did Kate promise Sawyer she'd do?

* Or was Kate really doing something for Ben? Could be he recruited her, like he did Sayid, to help him out against Widmore.

* Is the ghost of Christian Shepherd really visiting folks, or is it a manifestation of Jacob or the Island (or both)? Perhaps Jacob is inhabiting Shepherd's body.

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* Where the heck did Claire go? And why did she leave Aaron behind?

* Jack, when he's drunk and angry, tells Kate that Aaron isn't "even related" to her? Does he realize that he's Aaron's uncle?

* Miles' psychic powers go off and he hears weird sounds and whispers when he, Sawyer and Claire discover the bodies of Danielle and Karl. Are the whispers heard occasionally on the island those of the dead, i.e. the Dharma Initiative people Ben killed?

* Jack is reading "Alice in Wonderland" to Aaron.

"Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: `Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!' And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of the same age as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of them."

* There's a Dharma Initiative-looking object on Aaron's bed.

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* Daniel wonders where all the electrical power on the island comes from. Good question!

Also see:

Lost Season 4 Episode Guide
The Best Lost Sites on the Web
Lost: What we STILL don't know


Preview for next week's show:

Lost preview May 15 - season-ender pt. 1!

Highlight the hidden text for information about the May 15, part one of the season 4 conclusion!

And click here to see a teaser.

THE FACE-OFF BETWEEN THE SURVIVORS AND THE FREIGHTER PEOPLE BEGINS, ON ABC'S "LOST"
"There's No Place Like Home," Part 1 - The face-off between the survivors and the freighter people begins, on "Lost," THURSDAY, MAY 15 (10:02-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Lost" stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet, Terry O'Quinn as Locke and Harold Perrineau as Michael.

Guest starring are L. Scott Caldwell as Rose, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, Ken Leung as Miles Straume, Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Lewis, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Kevin Durand as Keamy, Anthony Azizi as Omar, Andrea Gabriel as Noor "Nadia" Abed Jaseem, Byron Chung as Mr. Paik, June Kyoko Lu as Mrs. Paik, Lillian Hurst as Carmen Reyes, Cheech Marin as David Reyes, Veronica Hamel as Margo Shephard, Michelle Forbes as Karen Decker, Susan Duerden as Carole Littleton and Noah Craft as Hendricks.

Also see:

Lost Season 4 Episode Guide
The Best Lost Sites on the Web
Lost: What we STILL don't know

Lost clues: The Shape of Things to Come ep. 9, season 4

Episode summary:

Mercenaries from the freighter have arrived on the island, killed Karl and Danielle and taken Alex prisoner. They use her as a hostage when they arrive at the Others' settlement, killing numerous people there and blowing up Claire's house.

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Locke, Hurley, Sawyer, Miles, Claire (who survived the blast) and her baby and holed up inside Ben's house.

The soldiers use Alex as a bargaining chip: They'll let her live if Ben turns himself over. Ben thinks they're bluffing and refuses to surrender, but Alex is killed. Ben is very distraught--he says the soldiers have "changed the rules" on him.

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Ben goes through the hidden door in his home, goes to yet another hidden door--this one ancient-looking and made of stone and emerges a few moments later all sooty looking. He tells the rest in the house they need to get out fast and head into the jungle. Everything starts to rumble, the smoke monster is coming in a big way and it's attacking the soldiers, allowing Ben and the rest to get to safety. Somehow, Ben's going through the stone door has activated the monster.

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Ben and Locke are set on going to Jacob's cabin and demand that Hurley come along, since he's seen the cabin most recently and may be able to help them bring them there. Sawyer thinks they're crazy and heads for the beach with Claire, baby and Miles.

Back on the beach: Jack is in pain, he tells Kate it's some sort of stomach problem and he's shown taking pills of some kind.

Suddenly, Bernard shouts out. A body has washed up on shore. It's the doctor from the freighter and his throat has been slashed. Daniel admits he knows the man. Jack wants to contact the ship, but the satellite phone isn't working. Daniel says it might be rigged to send morse code signals.

Later, the morse code system working, Daniel contacts the ship and hears back. He says those on board don't know anything about the doctor and that helicopters are on the way to rescue everyone. Bernard, who knows morse code, tells Jack and everyone else that Daniel is lying--no helicopters are coming.

In flash forward: Ben is shown regaining consciousness in Tunisia. We learn it's 2005, after the crash, and he seems to be looking for someone.

Later, he sees a TV news report showing Sayid--now famous as one of the Oceanic 6. Sayid's wife has been killed and her funeral is being prepared. Ben is later shown photographing the funeral and a man in the crowd. Sayid sees Ben and runs him down. Ben shows him an older photo of the same man he was photographing. He says this man was involved in the death of Sayid's wife, Nadia.

Ben later makes contact with the man and Sayid kills the man dead, telling Ben he has nothing else to live for now, he wants to work for Ben. Ben reluctantly agrees. But, then, as we see him walking away from Sayid, there's a smile on his face. Has he manipulated all this?

Also in flash forward: We see Ben turn up at Charles Widmore's apartment in the middle of the night. They know each other. Widmore asks if Ben has come to kill him, but Ben says "You know I can't do that."

Ben tells Widmore he will kill Penelope in revenge for what happened to Alex. Widmore says he wants the island, it belongs to him, but Ben says Widmore will never find it.

Questions/clues/observations:

* It the doctor dead on the island but alive on the freighter due to the time anomaly between the island and the rest of the world?

* How did Ben get to Tunisia? Teleportation? Quantum leap? Scotty beamed him down? He asks the hotel desk clerk in Tunisia what the date is, including the year, as if he had traveled through space and, possibly, time.

* Ben's arm is wounded when he arrives in the desert. What happened to him?

* Ben is wearing a Dharma coat with a new-to-us logo on it. Is it for the Orchid Station? The coat has the name "Halliwax" on it. This was one of Marvin Candle's names in the Dharma orientation films.

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* In an earlier flashback, Charlotte discovers a Dharma polar bear skeleton in the desert. Was this bear sent in an earlier teleportation experiment.

* When Ben checks into the hotel in Tunisia he says he hasn't been there for a long time. He identifies himself with a passport, telling the clerk his name is Dean Moriarty. This is the name of the Neal Cassady character in Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road"--a beatnik proto-hippie. Professor Moriarty, of course, is also the name of Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis.

* Is Ben's story to Sayid what really happened to Nadia? Or is Ben manipulating things? Did he kill Nadia?

* What does Ben mean when he says Widmore has changed the rules? Family members can't be killed in whatever conflict there is between them?

* Widmore says who knows who Ben is, what he is. What does this mean? What is Ben? We know Ben is a killer and a master manipulator. But we're still not sure, in the grand scheme of things, whether he's acting out of some sense of "good" or evil.

* Widmore tells Ben he's been keeping whiskey next to his bed ever since the nightmares started? What nightmares? What is causing them?

* There's a painting of the Black Rock ship in Widmore's bedroom.

* What is Widmore's claim to the island?

* What's the connection between Widmore and Ben? Why does Ben say he can't kill Widmore? Is this another "rule" to their game? How does Jacob figure in?

* What prevents Widmore from locating the island?

* Before the attack, Sawyer, Hurley and Locke are shown playing Risk. Hurley says "Australia is the key to everything." Australia is certainly important to the "Lost" story. And the Risk game seems to mirror what's going on between Ben and Widmore.

Also see:

Lost Season 4 Episode Guide
The Best Lost Sites on the Web
Lost: What we STILL don't know