Lost Recap: "The Last Recruit"

The Last Recruit was a fast-paced transition episode that really seemed like the calm before the storm, even though it had quite a bit of action in its own right. Sadly, you really get the feeling that the show is coming to a close. All those years of buildup, and we'll know the outcome exactly one month from today. You might know this type of episode would air right before a two week hiatus for the show (more on that later).

The opening conversation between Jack and MIB was pretty awesome. You really get a great look at how Jack's character has totally made a 180. He is now the man of faith. He's the one who believes in destiny. He's the new John Locke.

The interesting dynamic here is that MIB doesn't seem to know this. We know that by taking on John Locke's body, he also took on his memories (remember him telling Ben what Locke was thinking before he died?). By taking on John Locke's memories, he definitely saw all the confrontations between Locke and Jack. He saw Jack as a man of science who would stop at nothing to get off the island. This time, the game has changed and MIB has no idea. Jack has come full circle and is now ready to accept his destiny. He's ready to thwart the infamous man in black.

I really enjoyed the multi-centricity of the flashsideways throughout this episode. It was pretty cool to see how our losties are all coming together once again. Some quick notes about the sideways:

• Sun definitely remembers "MIB-Locke" as she frantically says "It's him!" when being wheeled-in on the gurney.
• Sayid, Kate, Sawyer, and Miles are now all in the same location...but how is this going to tie into the losties at the hospital?
• During the surgery, Jack is definitely going to flash to his island memories. Will he then believe that the man laying before him is really the evil MIB? Will he choose to save him or let him die? Very interesting stuff here...
• I still have absolutely no idea how this flashsideways is going to converge with the on-island stuff. Don't forget, we still have to find out why the island is under water in the flashsideways. 

 After reading several different thoughts and impressions on the episode, I'm definitely under the impression that MIB wanted Sawyer to take his boat. He wanted him to round up Kate, Sun, Lapidus, Hurley, and Jack. That's why he conveniently left to go check on Sayid...to give them time to get away. What he didn't anticipate was Jack coming back. Good ole' Jack Shephard now wants to stay on the island until his destiny is fulfilled. Jack and Sawyer share a tense moment and Sawyer basically tells Jack to get off his boat. Jack apologizes for Juliet's death and then he obliges by going overboard.

We also see that some of the real Sayid may still be alive underneath the "zombie-Sayid" we've come to know over the past few weeks, or as Hurley so eloquently puts it, "You can come back from the dark side." No way he shot Desmond in that well, especially after the moving speech he delivered. Desmond has taken on a very Jacob like manner in both realities as we now see him talking his way out of a life or death situation. There's still hope for Sayid and even Claire it seems. MIB is slowly losing his recruits, one by one.

Widmore's team is really throwing me off here. He seems to know a lot about the MIB, but if that's the case, then why in the world is he trying to kill him by firing a missile? He should know it's not that simple. What I loved about this scene is that the MIB doesn't even flinch and shows no signs of fear. He is clearly impervious to all physical harm, which makes it even more interesting to see how they're going to destroy him in the long run. Just check out the screencap to the right. Jack is clearly the focus of the shot, but look off to his left. There's the MIB, stoic and unscathed.

I was also confused as to why Widmore decides to hold all the losties at gunpoint. Right when we were starting to think he was a good guy, he goes out and pulls something like that.

If you don't watch the promos for future episodes then stop reading here.................

All I have to say is, WOW. The Candidate looks as if it's going to be one amazing, intense episode. The promo was just haunting and eerie. It seems that MIB goes "Rambo" on Widmore's camp, taking them out the old fashioned way...with a gun. Although the promo didn't show it, I can almost guarantee that we'll see MIB's smoke form sometime this episode. I can't even remember the last time he changed into Smokey so it will be cool to (hopefully) see him again.

As for next week, the show is taking a week off, then the remaining episodes will air on May 4th, May 11th, and May 18th. The two-hour SERIES finale will air on Sunday, May 23. Since we have a week off, I'll probably do a re-watch for some of my favorite episodes from this season (Ab Aeterno for sure). I will try and do a blog post regarding my re-watch just to let you guys know what I noticed differently.

By the way, in case you haven't had a chance yet, check out my previous blog post here. I need everyone's help in coming up with a new name for the blog!