Top 5 “Holy Crap!” Moments
5. Locke may or may not be dead, and even if he is he has to come back to life in order to save the island and those left on it!
4. Faraday’s was on the island in the 1970s!
3. Alpert revealing that Latin-speaking, arm-breaking, hot-headed young man to be none other than Charles Widmore!
2. The island is skipping around in time! Wait, huh?!
1. Jin is alive! And he knows a ton of English now!
Top 5 Things I Love About Season 5
5. The birth and the death. First, baby Charlie Hume. How cute is that kid? And the fact that Desmond named him after his island friend almost brought me to tears. Second, Charlotte dying. I’m sad to see her story (mainly the Tunisian polar bears) and its possible answers go, but she was whiny and annoying. Later, Ginger.
4. Ben blowing up at Jack in the car. Holy crap! Have we ever seen Ben lose his cool? Briefly when Alex died, I suppose, but never like that. I can’t help but wonder if he legitimately exploded or if it was yet another calculated move by the mastermind. As far as we know, Ben has yet to act without figuring out his next 20 actions and the next 10 of those around him. But it was still cool to watch.
3. The answers. Little clues about the island’s past and the Oceanic 6’s three years off the island are being revealed. And the show is giving big answers about characters like Widmore and Faraday. Viewers (not fans, just viewers) have always complained about questions being constantly raised but never answered. This season is starting to give substantial answers to long-standing questions, giving a tease for next-season’s wrap up (hopefully).
2. Sawyer’s new tenderness. First he opens up to Juliet about Kate. Now I’m a Kate & Jack girl all the way, but she and Sawyer have an untouchable chemistry and connection. He loves her like Jack never could (as evidenced by his jump from the helicopter) and that really shone through as he watched her during that flash in time and then related that experience to Juliet. He also hugged Jin in a way which illustrated that he had a serious bromance with “Mr. Miyagi.”
1. Hurley’s “I (heart) My Shih-Tzu” t-shirt. When my workload eases I’m going to make a replica of that shirt.
Top 5 Questions Answered
5. I don’t know if this counts as a true answer, but we do know a little bit more about the mysterious, eye-lined Richard Alpert. Ben’s flashback from S03E20, “The Man Behind the Curtain,” revealed that Alpert has been on the island since the 1970s, and looked the same then as he did in 2004. But this season’s episode 3, “Jughead,” told us He-Who-Does-Not-Age has been on the island since at least the 1954. Juliet supplemented that information saying “Richard’s always been here.” These new answers spur new questions, however; why was Alpert seemingly in charge of the Others in 1954 but letting Ben run things in the twenty-first century? Alpert tired of leading and attempting to set up a successor or was he simply running a puppet government?
4. Again, this isn’t a complete answer, but we did find out a little more about the Others. The island’s supposedly original inhabitants are required to learn Latin. And their tradition of speaking the ancient language has continued into the present, as both 1954 Widmore and 2005 Juliet were fluent speakers. Also, they don’t like the U.S. military and they don’t know how to disarm hydrogen bombs. It isn’t much to go on, but every little bit helps in piecing together the background for these barren island dwellers.
3. More information on the temple…kind of. We finally got a glimpse of the structure. And, if we are to believe Rosseau’s former husband, we found out that Smoke Monster exists to guard it. No clue as to why it has hieroglyphics on it, where the rest of it is, or its importance.
2. How Rosseau’s team died. She shot them. Convinced they had gotten sick from their time with Smokey, Rosseau killed each of her remaining friends, including her husband and Alex’s dad. She might have been right, however, since her husband did attempt to shoot her first. Now why would he want to do something like that?
1. How Locke got off the island. Technically this hasn’t been completely answered yet. He has turned the Frozen Donkey Wheel (still the best single object in television ever) but we have not seen where it sent him. Chances are, he’ll end up where that polar bear and Ben appeared, in Tunisia. But it’s Lost, so who knows?
Top 5 New Questions
5. How exactly does religion fit into this narrative? Episode 5 was soaked in Christian overtones and symbols. First the temple, then the reappearance of CHRISTIAN Shephard, and finally the conclusion of the episode at Hawking’s church. And of course, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. From Faraday giving up a chance to help fix the island to stay by Charlotte’s death bed, to Jin abandoning his own happiness to keep Sun safe, to Locke accepting his eventual death in order to save his friends and the island, the second half of the episode drove the point home that these characters were willing to give up things quite important to them for greater goods.
4. What’s the deal with Charlotte Staples Lewis? And are we ever going to find out now that she’s gone? A polar bear in Tunisia? Why is the island “death” as Charlotte claims it is? Sure she has died, and many have gone before her, but considering they are on a lost island tormented by an angry Smoke Monster, wide polar bears, feuding factions, and aggressive people from the past, I’d say that most of them are doing quite well. Perhaps she is referring to the seemingly forgotten baby problems on the island.
3. Can we trust Ben? Sayid tells us no. Based on what we know about him (that he is conniving and heartless), compounded by the fact he keeps demonstrating those qualities (harassing Kate), we know we shouldn’t. But I kind of really want to. And I HATE Ben (I was elated to finally see him lose his cool in the van with Jack and Sun. But I can’t help but think it was a calculated move; they all are with that one.). I just want everyone back together on one island. I trust the greater narrative that the extremely talented writers are building, but I want more Jack/Kate/ Sawyer sexual tension and I want to see Rose give Hurley some sound advice again.
2. What happened to Sun? The quiet, submissive, and, alright, adulterous woman has become vindictive, independent, kind of mean, and appears to be a borderline bad mother. I know she thought her husband was dead, but get on with it and take care of Ji Yeon. Unless of course something has hardened you in the past three years…but if so, what?
1. If we are to believe Ben, which we probably aren’t supposed to do, at least according to Christian Shephard, once you move the island via the Frozen Donkey Wheel you can not return. So how exactly can EVERYONE, including Ben and Locke, who have both moved said island, go back to save Juliet, Sawyer, and company?
Top 5 New Theories Floating Around
5. I learned a new word in class the other day: phantasmagoria. It is defined by Wiktionary as “1. A series of events involving rapid changes in light intensity and colour. 2.A dreamlike state where real and imagined elements are blurred together.” I immediately thought of Lost and the brightly lit time changing. It has been a constant fear in the hearts of Lost fans that Cuse and Lindelof will go Wizard of Oz on us and make the whole mess a dream in the end. I have faith they will not, but I won’t go so far as to say that the time skipping may be a combination of “real and imagined elements,” similar to Desmond’s ability to see the future. What he saw was not completely real, events did not always play out the way he envisioned them (imagined). But in the end, the result had to transpire (real). So perhaps what Juliet, Sawyer, Miles, Faraday, etc. are experiencing is not physical movement through time, but psychological movement through time. They are not interacting with the people from the past as much as they imagine themselves to be. They are moving around the island, making their way to the Orchid station, for example, but their minds are meeting former island inhabitants along the way. Those who appear dead, such as Frogurt, were not killed by people from the past but by other PRESENT causes on the island. Yeah, I don’t know if I buy it either.
4. So this one has been hinted at, but Ben is going to bring Locke back from the dead. Ben makes it seem like Locke is not 100% dead. This is backed up by the anagram on Ben’s truck. “Canton-Ranier” = REINCARNATION. We know how Lost loves its anagrams (S03E14, “Hoffs/Drawler” = flash forwards). I read another interesting theory from Doc J (Jeff Jensen, THE DUDE for Lost blogs. He’s been getting pretty deep into physics and philosophy in forming his theories and dissecting others’ recently, but if you’re seriously obsessed, check him out at ew.com) that claims that Charlie and Claire have warned Kate and Jack about bringing Locke back to life. In S04E10, Jack visits Hurley at the mental institution and Hurley tells him that he’s been chilling with dead Charlie recently. He passes along a message from Charlie to Jack: “You’re not supposed to raise him.” In S04E13, Kate walks into Aaron’s room to find Claire sitting by his bed. “’Don’t bring him back, Kate! Don’t you dare bring him back!” Claire tells Kate. Both instances lead us to believe they are referring to Aaron. In light of the Locke- reincarnation theory, however, Doc J suggests we consider the possibility they are talking about Locke – raising Locke from the dead, bringing Locke back from the other side, bringing Locke back to the island.
3. Ben’s childhood friend Annie is Charlotte all grown up. The immediate connection between the two is the red hair, followed by the roughly corresponding ages. This theory has been suggested since ginger Charlotte showed up on the island, but I didn’t even consider it until episode five, for the simple reason that her name is different. But the Lostpedia blog suggests that Charlotte’s mom changed her name when they left the island to further separate her from her birthplace. I can buy that. They also back up this theory by pointing out that little Annie offered Ben an Apollo chocolate bar way back when. Perhaps her mom found out about that and chastised her later, a moment she revisited in her final breath: “I’m not supposed to have chocolate before dinner.” It is an old theory gaining credence. But I’m not sure if we’ll ever know with Charlotte gone for good now.
2. Miles Straum is the little baby featured in this season’s first episode…aka Pierre Chang/Marvin Candle/Mark Wickmund/Edgar Halliwax’s son. This theory has been presented on various blogs online. Its sounds alright, and would explain Miles’ desire to join the team searching for the island, but I do not really sense any sort of attachment or recollection between Miles and the island. Certainly not in comparison to Charlotte’s wide-eyed enchantment with the island upon her arrival in season 4.
1. Ouroboros lady from Desmond’s flashback = Mrs. Eloise Hawking = Faraday’s mom = Ellie, the young lady holding a gun to Faraday’s head in a trip to mid-century in episode 3 of season 5. Think about it. Ellie could be short for Eloise. And the timing works out about right. Perhaps her pregnancy forced her to leave the island, and maybe her lover joined her? Plus Faraday was looking at her all weird and said, “You look familiar EXACT QUOTE.” Maybe because she gave birth to you. Related theory, that I’m not sure I buy yet: Ellie and fun-loving Charlie Widmore made some island love and created little Danny Faraday. Hence why Widmore was funding Faraday’s research for a decade.
What are you all loving or hating about Lost’s penultimate season thus far? Anyone else want a I (heart) My Shih-Tzu t-shirt?
