Lost Recap: "The Package"

Desmond is back...and not a moment too soon! I'm sure we all hoped that Desmond would live happily ever after (funny enough, that's the title of the next episode); however, it looks as if Charles Widmore has once again intruded upon Penny and Des' lives. Ever since Desmond started traveling through time, many of us have speculated that he would play an integral role in the end of the series. Now it appears that he will definitely have a role to play, but there will be plenty of time for Des next week.

Although "The Package" refers to Desmond, this episode focused on the relationship between Sun and Jin. In the flashsideways, we learn that Mr. Paik knows all about the relationship between his daughter and Jin. Not only does he know, but he's arranged for Martin Keamy to kill Jin. Lucky for Jin, the $25,000 was confiscated in customs and Keamy certainly won't kill Jin until he's paid in full.

What's interesting about this flashsideways is that we see how Jin is a completely different person. He is a much more likeable guy, similar to the Jin we've come to know, in contrast to the Jin we met at the very beginning of LOST. Once again, this seems to indicate that the flashsideways is a completely different world. It's not as if everything up until Flight 815 was the same as before, rather, their entire lives are different. In Jin's case, even his personality is totally different.

I'm still itching to know how these flashsideways are going to tie-in to the island storyline. In every episode, we see more and more examples of the timelines bleeding into one another. One particular example that stood out to me was how Sun hits her head on the island and Jin hits his head in the sideways. It seems so insignificant...but this is LOST. Nothing is insignificant.

As far as the on-island storyline, we have now learned that Widmore wants to keep MIB on the island, which I suppose puts him on Team Jacob for the time being. It wouldn't surprise me if by the end of the season we have a lot more gray than black and white as far as characters being wholly good or wholly evil...maybe even Jacob and MIB.

Whatever the case may be, Widmore seems to think that Desmond is the key to keeping MIB on the island. This raises a number of questions which I'm sure will be addressed during Desmond's episode.

To close, I'll leave you with a recent tantalizing little tweet from LOST's executive producer Damon Lindelof: "In one week, the conversation is going to change."

Lost Recap: "Ab Aeterno"

What an absolutely phenomenal episode.  For a long, long time, The Constant has been my single favorite episode of Lost. After last night's Ab Aeterno however, it's a very close competition.  For years we have waited and wondered about the mysterious Richard Alpert.  The producers gave us everything about him in this episode.  There's so much to talk about from this episode so I'm sure I will leave a lot of stuff out.  Feel free to comment if I don't mention something you found interesting.

This episode was absolutely PACKED with answers.  We found out where Richard came from, how he became a prisoner on the Black Rock, what happened to the Black Rock crew, how the statue broke, and oh...we found out WHAT THE ISLAND IS.   We learned that island is basically a cork to hell/evil.  For the most part, the island keeps the world a good place because it keeps the evil trapped inside.

As I said in the opening, I have a ton of thoughts so I'm just going to narrow things down to a few of them.

1. Why couldn't Jacob bring back Richard's wife Isabella?  Just a few episodes prior, Dogen told Sayid that Jacob had brought his son back to life, but that he (Dogen) could never see him again.  Seems to me that either one or both are lying (or perhaps I heard Dogen incorrectly).
2. It's interesting to note the biblical passage that Richard is reading while in the prison.  It appears to be a section of Luke that tells the story of Jesus' temptation in the desert where Satan tempts him through three different trials.  Interestingly enough, this entire episode is about Richard's temptation of going over to the side of the Man in Black.  In the end, Hurley and Isabella convince Richard that he can't allow the Man in Black to leave, or they will all go to hell.
3. I still can't be sure who is good and who is bad.  The writing is so superb that I constantly vacillate between Jacob and MIB being the good guy. 
4. Hurley has to be the most awesome character on Lost.  In terms of morality, he seems to be the best example of a wholly "good" person.  I'm sure there will be many deaths as the finale approaches...Hurley better not be one of them.

Before I get conclude, I have to comment on the superb acting in this episode.  Nestor Carbonell was absolutely amazing.  I found his emotion incredibly believable and I felt truly sorry for him in many scenes.  The scene near the end of the episode (where Hurley delivered a message from Richard's deceased wife) was one of the most touching and emotional scenes from the entire series.  It definitely rivals the Ben/Ilana scene from a few weeks back.

I cannot wait for next week.  In my opinion, this was the best episode of season 6 by far.  Here's to hoping they get even better from here.

Lost Recap: "Dr. Linus"

Spoilers below so please don't read unless you've seen LOST episode 6x07 entitled Dr. Linus.

Wow...what another fabulous episode.  Season 6 is really starting to pick up the pace. Ben Linus has always been the "Severus Snape" of LOST and he certainly didn't disappoint in this episode. We have now seen numerous facets of his character, but what we saw in Dr. Linus was Ben completely stripped down, broken, and battered. Both on and off island, we have a man who feels completely ignored and unimportant in the world. By the end, we see that Ben is certainly important and needed, and you better believe that he will have a part to play in how the show finally ends.

It was also nice to get some answers in this episode. I think it's pretty much a given now that Richard originally came to the island on the Black Rock, possibly as a slave. He also gave us a little information on Jacob's "gift" or curse as he calls it. I still hope we get a more concrete answer on why Richard doesn't age. Was he a special case that Jacob granted immortality to? Clearly the others Jacob has touched age normally as evidenced by the fact that he touched Kate and Sawyer when they were young children.

Jack's character has now come full circle. He is now a complete man of faith, believing that he is most definitely on the island for a purpose. The dynamite not going off seems to prove that as well. The scene between he and Richard was well done and intense. I thought it was the second best moment of the episode and topped only by...

Ben's confrontation with Ilana. He finally pours out his soul and tells the complete and whole truth. He explains to Ilana what drove him to kill Jacob, but says that he doesn't expect her to forgive him when he can't even forgive himself. He then says he will go with Locke and Ilana asks why. He replies with, "Because he's the only one who'll have me." Wow...talk about heart-wrenching. This line may have been the most emotional moment of the season thus far. I pictured Ilana walking away without speaking at all. Her reply, "I'll have you," sent chills down my spine and actually resulted in me shouting with joy. 

In both realities, Ben is making all the right choices. He chose to go back with Ilana instead of following MIB. He chose to help Alex instead of forcing the principal's hand by revealing his inappropriate conduct. Despite all the wrong he's done, it looks as if there may be some redemption left for Dr. Benjamin Linus. I sure hope so.

Widmore's eventual appearance was inevitable so it was good to see him finally return. If he's headed to the hydra station, then perhaps he is somehow working with MIB to help him off the island. It would be fitting for him to join their cause since his arch nemesis, Ben, appears to be firmly on Jacob's team.

I absolutely loved how this week's closing was a direct parallel to last week's ending. Last week, we saw Team Smokey exiting the temple. The colors in this scene were dark, the music foreboding. This week's ending showed us a reunion of sorts, as Jack, Hurley, and Richard meet up with Ilana, Ben, Sun, Lapidus, and Miles. This scene was accompanied by bright images of happiness with the lush forest and sparkling ocean in the background. I know there is still some debate, but there's no way that Jacob and his new group aren't the good guys. The teams have been picked. Now let's see the game.

Lost Recap: "Sundown"

Spoilers below so please don't read unless you've seen LOST episode 6x06 entitled "Sundown."

Wow.  Talk about an intense opening to the show.  The fight between Sayid and Dogen was unexpected and intense, as was most of the episode. Although it was clearly a transition episode lacking in answers, they did an excellent job of positioning the characters for some truly epic events in the coming weeks.


I have always enjoyed the Sayid-centric episodes and this one was no different.  Sayid is a torcherer and murderer yet we still love him as a character.  He definitely has a good and evil side as Dogen highlighted early in the episode.  As we find out later in the episode, apparently Dogen's scales were right in determining that Sayid leans toward the path of evil.  


Sayid being evil is something that's a little hard for me to accept. You have to hand it to him though...he did almost exactly as Dogen said.  MIB barely uttered the words "Hello Sayid" before he had thrust the dagger into his chest.  The fact that he spoke is an interesting topic for debate.  Dogen clearly said that Sayid must stab him before he speaks.  We are now left to ask, did he mean this literally or figuratively?  If he meant it literally, then we could have the key to defeating MIB.  I took it as more of a figurative comment, meaning that MIB can easily persuade so you can't even give him a chance to open his lips.  


MIB's reaction to Sayid stabbing him gives us an incredible insight into his character.  Although he can be a ruthless killer at times (which we see later), he is also cool under pressure, calculating...and smart.  He played to Sayid absolutely perfectly by convincing him that Dogen wanted him to die.  Then he offered him a chance to do something that blew Sayid's mind...bring back the one he loved the most. Can you really blame Sayid for his actions?


The flashsideways was pretty entertaining and it was shocking to see that Nadia had married Sayid's brother, Omar.  Again, we see the good end evil in Sayid throughout this flash sideways.  Running into Jin was random.  Did any of you spot Jack in the hospital where Sayid's brother was taken?  He doesn't speak to Sayid or Nadia, but he walks right past them along with another doctor.  Keamy was just as arrogant and annoying as ever, so I wasn't all that upset when evil Sayid took him out.  Is it just  me or are we seeing the same thing off-island that we are on-island?  Certain characters are becoming grouped together before one final showdown.

Seeing Dogen open up to Sayid was a very touching scene. We actually got a few answers here as Dogen told us his story of coming to the island.  The fate of his son was absolutely tragic and he shared that he inadvertently killed his son while driving drunk.  This explained Dogen's delicate care of the baseball.  Jacob appeared to Dogen and gave him the opportunity to bring his son back...but he could never see him again.  Seems like a fair bargain.  Dogen's son doesn't have to suffer because of his father's actions, yet Dogen must pay for his sins by living on the island and doing Jacob's work.  Dogen then asks Sayid if MIB offered him a similar bargain to which Sayid replies, "yes."

At this moment I thought, holy crap...they are both evil.  


I nearly fell out of my chair when Sayid slung him under the water to drown the life out of him.  The proposition of bringing back Nadia was too great for Sayid as he now appears to have fully embraced the role of MIB's hitman.  The ending was just absolutely insane.  MIB in smoke monster form rips into the temple and annihilates everyone inside, everyone except for our heroes: Ilana, Lapidus, Sun, Miles, and Ben.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them catch up with Hurley and Jack next week to form Team Jacob.  For Team MIB we now have Claire, Sawyer, Sayid, and apparently Kate as well.  Jin is still out in the forest nursing a wounded leg.


The final shots of the show were incredibly well done and the music was great. Sayid and Claire leave the temple with wicked glares as the eery rendition of Catch a Falling Star plays in the background. 


So after an action packed episode we are left with a myriad of new questions and countless other theories to debate.  Despite all that, I feel that we are very close to figuring it all out.  I don't know if it will be me or someone else on the countless message boards out there...but I now believe that someone could guess a lot of the ending.  I'm not sure why...but the positioning of all the pieces has a dark sense of foreboding and dread.

As I said earlier, at one point in this episode I started to think that both Jacob and MIB are evil.  Then I started to consider a theory that I've heard thrown around, but never given it much thought: maybe Jacob and MIB are the same guy (think Fight Club). That's why we still don't have a name for MIB.  Because he's Jacob.  From the very first episode of the show, we've heard about a game between light and dark.  Good and Evil.  Yin and Yang.  Dogen even highlights this in the episode's opening by saying every man has a scale.  Right now, Jacob's scale has been tipped to the dark side.  Something...or someone is going to tip it back in the favor of good.  And that will be the end of Lost.


I'm not even sure if I believe this theory yet, but man...I'm seriously starting to consider it.