LOST Episode 4.1 - Instant Thoughts

"The Beginning of the End"

Well after all the hype leading up to the new season of LOST, I'm not really sure where to weigh in on this one.

I found it thoroughly enjoyable to watch but not nearly as exciting as I expected. I guess I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Just a few thoughts...

- The Oceanic 6 - According to Hurley he is one of the Oceanic 6. We can only assume that 6 people do indeed leave the island. We have Jack, Kate, and Hurley for sure plus I'm sure Sun will be in the group because she's pregnant and Jin but who would be #6? None of the couples would leave their other half behind on the island so that takes out Rose, Bernard, Claire and Aaron. Now this is assuming that more than 6 survive the possible annihilation of the island.

- Naomi - Ok Naomi is really dead now which I found to be really bad story telling. Seriously a woman with a giant knife in her back, pulls out the knife, makes a fake trail, climbs a tree, attacks Kate and then runs out of energy? Yeah ok. But we did learn somethings, beyond being really full of life, she has a sister who sounded like she'd be along shortly.

- The Great Divide - Our survivers have been splintered into groups on many issues before, but I have a feeling that this will be the last time. Hurley seems to switch sides from Locke to Jack at some point in the future but I wondered while watching if, one group was almost wiped out or if they remain baricaded behind the sonic fence of the others.

Either way I expect the next 47 episodes before this show ends to tell two different stories, like opposite sides of a coin.

Ok I know there is more to discuss but it's late so please add your own thoughts and on Saturday I will post my full analysis.

Happy LOSTing

-Jason-

Season 4 Premier

For any who haven't heard yet Season 4 of LOST begins on January 31st. So look for my thoughts on them starting that night for instant thoughts.

Also incase you haven't heard there is a LOST game leading up to the start of Season 4. You can go to www.find815.com to get some story line that you wouldn't otherwise. ABC has put some good info on there so far. Enjoy and I look forward to your comments.

-Jason

LOST Season 3 Finale - Analysis

"Through The Looking Glass"

Ok well I am still reeling from this episode. The way I see it we have four real storylines going through out this whole two hour episode. We have

1.) The Underwater Station

2.) The Beach

3.) The Hikers and Radio Tower

4.) The Outside World

I'm going to break my analysis down by each of the catagories because that seems to be the only way to seperate the gigantic amount of info we recieved during this show.

The Underwater Station:

As we saw this section of the show circled around four people to start but then five when patchy joined in. Despite the small amount of screen time this group had, I had many questions filling my head about why things had to happen like they did.

Let's recap what happened.

-Charlie swims to the station and is instantly captured

-Charlie is interogated by Bonnie and Greta

-Charlie spills the beans about what they had planned with the hike and turning the jamming off.

-Ben admits to lying about the underwater station to Mikhail and sends him to clean up the mess

-Desmond wakes up to Patchy shooting at him and swims down to the station where he hides

-Patchy joins them in the station where he finds that Ben lied again he then goes on a rampage killing the girls. However Desmond shoots him with a harpoon first and frees charlie.

-Charlie turns off the station and dies

Ok so here are my thoughts about why things had to happen just like they did. Also I think I now realize why Charlie had to die and how Patchy lived through yet another attempt on his life.

All through this show there has been a question as to just how much of what has happened has been coincidence and how much has been fate. I'm starting to lean a little bit more to the fate side with how we see that no one but Charlie could ever have turned the station off and saved everyone. It was programmed by a musician and only a good musician could have known what the tones would be for each number based on where Bonnie told charlie to start. The irony that "Good Vibrations" was the song that ended it all for Charlie was pretty dark. He went in and tapped out the tune and much to his surprise the station didn't flood and kill him instantly. He was feeling pretty good about himself he had saved the day overcome his captors and not died like Desmond had seen and then BAM that switch starts flashing. I believe we could actually see him calculating whether or not to hit that button but his curiosity got the better of him.

The chance that Penny would be the one sending the transmission had to be sooooo small unless she somehow has discovered the frequency Dharma used when they were still in charge. Charlie at this point became a hero again, when Patchy blew up the window Charlie knew that unless he was able to lock the door that Desmond would go back in there regardless of the danger to speak to Penny. That door only locked from the inside and Charlie had been saved five times now by Desmond, he could have easily shut it from the outside and it would have stayed shut but Desmond would never have left if he could get back in.

It was very fitting that despite all Desmond could do fate did "course correct" and killed Charlie even though we had all grown to love his character. The thing still up in the air for me is whether or not Desmond will still have flashes since they started when he whacked his head and circled around Charlie, maybe they ended when Charlie hit him with the oar or when Charlie died.

Points to Ponder:

- Who is Naomi? Did Penny simply not know who she was because she hired a company to find Desmond, and she couldn't possibly know every employee of that company? Or was Naomi lying? I suppose it is possible that Penny's dad found out about Penny's search efforts and started his own to stop them from ever getting back together.

- How did Patchy survive? I think that somehow the dive vest he was wearing took most of the damage from the harpoon. However I am pretty sure he's dead since he was holding a grenade as it went off. I figured that some sort of Charlie/Patchy showdown was going to happen ever since they met him in the woods when helping save Naomi. I never expected it to happen like that.

- Patchy said that he thought Bonnie and Greta were on assignment in Canada. We know that Richard and Ethan have been to Miami, Florida and Portland, Oregon but what would they have been doing in Canada? Recruiting? Just how far reaching is The Others power?

The Beach:

The three shooters to me were a very big surprise when we found out who they were but now it makes sense. Sayid choose Bernard and Jin out of all the people who could shoot because they had family on the island and he wanted them to be motived enough to do the job so they could all survive and go back to their wives. However what I don't think he took into account was if under pressure could they do it.

Jin missed his mark and Bernard ran away, if Bernard had not been in the group and someone with a few less morals had been, like Sawyer, then that person would have stayed and helped shoot it out with the rest of the attackers. Instead though they got caught which ended up moving the show forward much faster than a successful battle would have.

Somewhere between them getting caught and tied up Ben and Ryan set up a plan to manipulate Jack by making him believe that he was responsible for the deaths of his friends. Ben never imagined that a rescue team would dare go back and try to save them, especially a rescue team without weapons.

Hurley's decision to go back was not because he wanted to be brave and it wasn't because he was tired of hiking, I think Hurley went back because he was worried about Charlie. I still suspect that he knows deep down that Charlie never planned on coming back but he couldn't give up hope. It is going to crush him when he sees Desmond come back alone.

Plus Hurley has always considered himself to be cursed because of the numbers well we have seen him face down death twice now and both times were in the Dharma Van. He seemed so happy because I believe that he has hope again that he isn't bad luck.

Points to Ponder:

- Now that we know the Island healed Rose's cancer and since Bernard did not die. Do you think they will leave the Island?

- Sawyer must trust Juliet now or he would never have gone with her. Also he did not trust Tom even though from what we have seen Tom helped Jack out quite a bit.

- Sayid killed that man with his legs. I imagine he broke his neck but I just never saw anyone move that fast. Wow.

The Hikers and Radio Tower:

The rest of the group had to hike what seemed to be quite a distance and I can't imagine it was easy carrying their luggage and stuff but I don't really think they went that far. The went up hills and were slow moving and stopped at night so I think at most they went like fifteen miles.

It was pretty interesting that Naomi decided to show only Jack how to use the phone. While it made sense to teach the leader of the group, from a story telling perspective it makes Jack feel like anything that happened after that phone call is his fault and responsibility.

The hike itself was pretty uneventful with not much to discuss but Ben and Alex had their own hike which was a little more interesting. Ben was bringing Alex to the Losties to give her away because she had betrayed him when all he wanted to do was protect her from getting pregnant and dying. He is such a master maipulator I think he even made Alex feel a little guilty. That was until he introduced her to her real mom.

I got such a good laugh out of Rousseau when the first thing she said to her daughter after sixteen years was "Will you help me tie him up?" and Alex did. I doubt Ben was going anywhere after the beating that Jack gave him but it couldn't hurt. So now that Jack got them to the radio tower and Charlie turned of the jamming and the beach squad survived we get to see Naomi call for them all to be rescued. Well that is until Locke shows up and tags her in the back with his knife. I'm pretty sure that every single main survivor has killed somebody now.

The show down between Locke and Jack was pretty weak, Jack stood up to Locke and he backed down. I think he just realized that he didn't have enough bullets to kill everyone or the desire to kill them either. Locke turned and walked away into the bushes I find it hard to believe that Locke went home with them but I bet you ben did.

The Outside World:

Now this was a very calculated part of the show to keep us off balance. It seemed that Jack used to be a lot more like his dad than we used to think, we see him as a suicidal drug addicted alcoholic who everyone pities, not the Hero and Leader we have come to know. First we see him on a plane drinking so much the flight attnedant cuts him off but she does give him a paper to read. He sees an article that makes him pull over to the side of a bridge later and get ready to jump off.

Just then a lady sees him on the ledge and gets in a car wreck because she was distracted, suddenly Jack has a purpose again he rescue's that woman and her son and commits to operating on them only to get shut down by the Chief of Surgery who assigns it to someone else and thus once again Jack loses himself in drugs and alcohol.

Through out the show he keeps calling someone who I thought was probably his ex-wife and I assumed she was getting married again and I thought I was right when we see her later at the hospital and she's pregnant with someone else's baby. BUT I was wrong. Jack was calling Kate and when he told her he had been flying alot because he wanted the plane to crash I was floored, they knew each other before the crash they didn't just cross paths they had secret meetings! It seemed that they were part of the much fabled scheme to bring a certain group of people to the Island but only for a second because we find out that none of these flashbacks are flashbacks, they have all been flashforwards through this whole episode.

Jack's phone call home got them off the island, Charlie turned off the jamming, they shut down Rousseau's message and called the ship and went home. As I mentioned in my instant thoughts that I believe this show is now going to shift dramatically to where we see our survivors after the rescue and the flashbacks will now be to the Island. I think I might be wrong now.

What if the storyline continues on the Island but the Flashes are shown so we can see what one of the possible outcomes is. We have been led to believe something is wrong with time on the Island but we have never seen it. So what if this is a possible timeline but not the one our survivors will choose. I'm not sure what the purpose to that would be though so I guess I'm stumped here.

Points to Ponder:

- Who was mentioned in the article that Jack saw? Why would he want to kill himself over whoever died? The casket that Jack saw was not small like a child's casket but it was smaller than something a man Jack's size would have needed. So who was it? Ben? Michael? Locke? Juliet?

- Here is the best translation of that article that I have been able to find.

"The body of John Lantham of New York was found shortly after 4 am in the 4300 block of Grand Avenue. Ted Worden, a doorman at the Tower Lofts complex, heard loud noises coming from the victim's loft.Concerned for tenants' safety, he entered the loft and found the body hanging from a beam in the living room. According to Jaime Ortiz, a police spokesman, the incident was deemed a suicide after medical tests. Latham (sic) is survived by one teenaged son. Memorial services will be held at the Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Home tomorrow evening."

If this is a real clue to the show then who is John Lantham? Did one of the people we know change his name? Is this a person we haven't met yet? Or is this just a prop to be defined later?

- OK so I had a very very odd idea. The flashforward showed us two of our Survivors and possibly a third was mentioned. Now get this if all of the three Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are the three mentioned then they all became their parents in a way.

Jack became a raging Alcoholic just like Christian Shepherd

Kate seemed to be afraid of whoever the mystery guy was, just like Kate's mom was in a destructive relationship with Kate's stepdad. Yet even after Kate "freed" her from her stepdad her mom still felt she didn't deserve any better.

Sawyer (if it was Sawyer) could have became just like his dad from what we saw. A overly jealous man who had a wife who was afraid of him and maybe just maybe he's become the sort of man who could kill his own wife. That may be why Kate had to meet Jack in secret because while on the island Sawyer and Jack had a mutual respect for each other maybe now that they don't have to live together Sawyer is tired of being in Jack's shadow.If this theory is true then I wonder what happened to all the rest of our survivors.

I'm not sure about Kate being afraid of whoever she was with now but it's a thought.

Everything Else:

I know there were a lot of other things in this show but I'm only going point out a few more thoughts that occured to me.

- The Doctor that Jack met was the Chief of Surgery. That is the same job that Christian Shepherd had in Jack's flashbacks. I believe Jack was just messed up which is why the Doctor looked at him funny when he said go get my dad. I seriously doubt that Jack's dad is alive.

- I also believe that Jack was so adament about not being called a hero because the last time he was a hero he got everyone rescued from the Island which now he clearly believes was the wrong decision. He doesn't feel like a Hero he feels he ruined all their lives.

- Jack had maps and world atlases all over his floor in his house. He is really invested in getting back to the Island. He even told Kate that he had been flying every week in hopes of the plane crashing again.

- I loved Rose saying that she was gonna punch Jack in the face if he said that live together die alone comment again.

- What is the Temple that Ben told Alpert to take The Others too?

- Walt appearing to Locke was a little bit wierd especially since he has been gone so long that the actor went through puberty. However if all the episodes from now on are in the future then that would make sense that Walt was older. Regardless of how or why Walt appeared to Locke somehow he gave Locke the power to walk again or at least the power to believe in himself again.

Ok guys I'm going to end it here since I need to get this posted and I'm already almost a whole day behind where I'd like to have been.

Please post your comments below. I appreciate your visits to my site and hope to see you in the future. I'll post my thoughts if I come up with any other good ones. Thanks.

-Jason

LOST Season 3 Finale - Instant Thoughts

Through the Looking Glass - Instant thoughts.
OH MY GOODNESS! Ok so we just got thrown for the biggest loop of our LOST lives. We find out that yes indeed Charlie turning off the machine did "save" everyone. Except Jack seems to disagree with that "saved" part now that he's had to return to normal life.

The entire show as we know it just changed directions, the title through the looking glass could never have been better named. In the story "Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There", Alice from Alice and Wonderland begins to wonder what lays beyond her bedroom mirror. She focuses on it so much she somehow either falls through her mirror or climbs through it into another world. This world is bizarre to say the least, there are books written completely backwords like you would have to hold them up to a mirror to read them. Everything is completely off the normal path.

The writers of this show just shoved us through the mirror into a world which to us seems backwards because now the flashbacks will be to the island and not life before.

Flashbacks?:

Every flashback that we have ever seen is now in question what has taken place before the crash and what has taken place after. They lead us to believe all through this episode that Jack was flashing back and I just couldn't figure out where they fit in his storyline. It HAD to be a flashback because he spoke about his dad, who we know is dead, but then it gets turned upside down and Jack has clearly gone crazy or has lost track of time. He referenced his father twice once when trying to get more pills he knew his dad wouldn't be able to verify his forged prescription because he's dead so he left the pharmacy and second he told the doctor to call down his dad and see who was more drunk. When he did that the doctor looked at him very concerned because as he told Jack when they first met he is the Chief of Surgery now not Jack's dad once again because he's dead.

Small Tidbits:

-Who died? It had to be someone either from the plane but who? Jack said at the funeral home he wasn't friend or family but it was someone both he and Kate know so it had to be someone from the island. Who do Jack and Kate both dislike enough to not consider him friend? Ben? Locke? Michael?

-When Jack was sprawled out on his floor at home he had maps of the pacific and of known Islands scattered around him on the floor he really wants to go back.

-Kate lives with someone who wouldn't be happy if he knew she was with Jack, my guess is it's Sawyer. I think Kate settled for him when they got back because she doesn't believe she deserves Jack and even though on the island Sawyer respected Jack enough to not kill him off the Island they have no need to work together and a girl to the mix and the hate will flow freely between them again.

-Jack did not like being called a hero for saving that mom and child because the last time he was a hero he got everyone off the island and instantly destroy the life path he feels he should have followed.

-Charlie shut the door to keep Desmond out so that he wouldn't die. He more than paid Desmond back for all the times he saved Charlie.

I'll post a full break down by Saturday like normal but this is going to take awhile to puzzle out all the meanings and where the show can go from here. Until then post your comments if you can think clearly haha.

-Jason

LOST - MAPS

Due to a request to see the Blast door map and to be able to understand where on the Island our LOSTies have been and what is left, I have gathered up some of the "Maps" of the island and Hatches we have seen during this show.

Blast Door Map:

Then to make it maybe a little more clear here is a copy of the Blast Door Map but with Translations.

Rousseau's Maps:

Sayid stole these maps of the Island from Rousseau after she had captured him way back in season one. The first two maps are from Rousseau the other one is one I found online over laying the Island on her second map with a rough location of the hatches based on the blast door map.
The Barracks Map:

Here are the two pictures of Penny in different shirts. It appears they took the first one before they actually cast the actress so it may just be an error when they took the photo again but we have seen more than once references to good and evil, black and white so I believe it means more.

For anything else you guys want to see again or any questions please post them here and I'll gather up all that I can. Enjoy.

-Jason

LOST Episode 3.21 - In Depth Analysis

"Greatest Hits"

Ok so all in all, while some great things happened, there wasn't to much really deep stuff that made me think for hours like last week. So as I often do I decided to break down the possible meanings of the title, I skipped my usual Google visit because I knew that I would end up with every Greatest Hits album from every 80's band ever on my screen. However I did give it some serious thought, here are a few options.

1.) A band puts out a "Greatest Hits" Album when they are washed up and want to get one last sale out of their old hits. This also allows their fans to get every decent song in one place.

2.) A "Greatest Hits" Album is produced by the music label when an Artist dies and they want to squeeze a few more pennies out of a fan base that will quickly drop off.

Obviously the second one is what happened to Charlie except as Naomi pointed out he's not dead so if he gets off the island then he'll have a nice royalty check waiting for him haha.

Anyway First off I'm thinking of breaking down Charlie list of greatest hits

The List - Breakdown

#5 "The First time I heard myself on the radio" - Ok so it was a little Cheesy that right as the DriveShaft crew was about to throw in the towel they heard themselves on the radio. However that flashback contained a little secret I'll bring up later.

#4 "Dad teaching me to swim at Butlins" - I honestly thought that Charlie's dad was going to let him sink under the water and just prove once again that every survivor has daddy issues but I can honestly say I was surprised that it turned out that Charlie's dad was a loving father.

#3 "The Christmas Liam gave me the ring" - The irony of Liam giving Charlie the ring was not lost on me and I'm sure you all were thinking about how Liam is the one who got his life together and settled down with a wife and a kid, while Charlie ran his life slowly into the ground. I wonder why Charlie didn't give him the ring back. However, it was so tender to know that Charlie left the ring with Aaron, I just hope Claire finds it.

#2 "Woman outside Covent Gardens calls me a Hero" - Ok so here is the little secret I mentioned earlier. Not only do we see Charlie save Sayid's childhood friend and love Nadia, but it looks like the guy mugging her is Charlie's band mate. What do you think, is it him?

#1 "The night I met you" - Now who didn't see that coming?

"The Ambush"

Ok so I have a confession I'm not entirely sure I trust Jack and Juliet. I hope they are telling the truth and are trying to save the Losties but that comment Jack made about how Juliet told him The Others plan and how he didn't tell anybody else was because he hadn't decided what to do about it yet. What made him think that he was the person best suited to the choice? Plus after he made his choice how did he finds Rousseau?

I loved the plan that they came up with and how they decided to adjust it to the early arrival of The Others Military. The three shooters they chose really shocked me though I have a feeling that someone is going to die next week. The problem is I don't know who I want to die out of the three if someone HAS to die.

Sayid - I doubt that he'll be the one to die since we haven't finished out his story line about Nadia but we do know that she is alive and well so I guess they could say it's been wrapped up for us even if not for him. Plus if Sayid were to die our LOSTies would have a very hard time since he's the only one who seems to ask the difficult questions

Jin - I would hate to see Jin die since he just found out about his baby being healthy. Could you imagine how much it would suck if he died and then Sun somehow didn't die during pregnancy. It would suck even more if they both kick it.

Bernard - While I really like Bernard's character and I loved his development back when he was trekking across the Island. It makes sense that since both him and Rose have been gone for most of the season they have become expendable.

I suppose there is always the option that someone will come to the rescue and die while saving them though I find that much less likely.

"The Looking Glass"

I'm glad they finally got around to showing us the underwater Dharma station. This newest hatch is called The Looking Glass, which is a Alice and Wonderland reference. For easier reference I'm going to call it the RABBIT station. This station as shown on the map has room for the sub to dock and load/unload. This is the big mystery of this episode, did Juliet tell the truth? Does she honestly believe the station is flooded or did she just sacrifice Charlie?

Back on the episode review I did about Juliet's arrival on the island I mentioned that maybe the Sub never leaves the island, that maybe it just travels back and forth to the underwater station which somehow has the power to send people home via some sort of teleport or something. If that is true than that means that the RABBIT is staffed by Ben's minions. If they do belong to Ben's group they might have been stuck down there cut off from all contact with The Others since Locke went on his Blow up everything that could get them off the Island tour.

The other option is that somehow the RABBIT is still staffed by the last remaining Dharmaites. This idea raises a few problems though that make it less likely. If they have been stuck down there since the purge where do they get their food? Maybe they have a minisub hidden somewhere to get up onto the island to get supplies.

Regardless of who is staffing the RABBIT they were sure on gaurd, I'm suprised they didn't just shoot Charlie when they saw him. I wonder if Desmond held back some info from Charlie and that's why he dives down to rescue him in the preview instead of assuming he drown.

"Desmond's Vision"

Ok so I don't think Desmond quite told Charlie the truth since obviously the RABBIT isn't flooded. I wonder if he meant to convey that Charlie drown trying to get back out of the station. The other option I see is that maybe the switch that Charlie flipped in Desmond's vision floods the RABBIT so that it shorts out and the jamming frequency stops. Which then causes Charlie to drown.

Some people have asked why they didn't just cut the Cable or blow it up to cut off power to the RABBIT. Well on closer examination of the map it shows that the Cable is actually an Anchor to keep the station tethered to the island.

"Odds and Ends"

- The symbolism that strcuk me with Ben handing the gun back to Alex showed that if Locke actually is dead that his blood is on her hands since she gave Locke the gun that Ben used to shoot him.

- Naomi sure seems to have healed quickly I guess Patchy was telling the truth about it only taking a day or two. She also seems to be getting integrated into the group very quickly.

- As I mentioned before in my instant thoughts I think Hurley is aware that Charlie was saying goodbye for good. I hope that I'm right and Charlie doesn't die afterall.

- Richard Alpert sure seemed upset that Ben was moving ahead of schedule to take the Losties. I believe that he is definitely on the let's get rid off Ben team. Along the same lines The Others were all very suprised that Locke did not come back with Ben.

- I thought for a few minutes there that the shoe floating up and away was going to be the last shot of the episode after we watched Charlie drown. I'm really glad he lived.

Alrighty friends. The comments section is open for your thoughts and ideas. Feel free to run wild. Next week is the Season Finale see you then.

-Jason

LOST Episode 3.21 - Instant Thoughts

"Greatest Hits" - Top five First thoughts

#5.) I'm pretty sure that Hurley knows that Charlie didn't plan on coming back. Charlie has always been open and honest with Hurley and this time he wasn't, I think Hurley could tell and that is why he went right back to help Claire. Hurley knows what it is like to lose someone he loved, he will be able to support Claire when Charlie doesn't come back right away.

#4.) I was very surprised that Jin turned out to be the third shooter. I can't believe Sun is letting him stay behind. If he dies in the attack and Sun dies during child birth that would make me very upset. At least we know Jin can handle himself.

#3) Jack finally realizes that he can't always be so self sacrificing. Two thumbs up to Sayid for making him finally act like a true leader and not just someone who is in charge.

#2.) The whole conversation between Desmond and Charlie in the boat about who should go got me thinking. What if Charlie does drown at some point and Desmond "rescues" his body and does CPR. Assuming Charlie woke back up would that end the curse? He would have died just like Desmond saw.

#1.) It made me so sad to see Charlie say goodbye to Aaron and pass on his ring. I hope Claire tells Aaron that Charlie was his dad and not that deadbeat who ditched her in Australia. I also believe that I know what Claire's whole purpose on this show is. The Psychic sent Claire on the plane and told her that she HAD to be the one to raise Aaron. If she hadn't gone and kept Aaron then Charlie would never have been emotionally invested enough in anybody to sacrifice himself for the good of the group.

I'll post a more in depth analysis in a couple days. In the meantime please post your own thoughts. Thanks.

-Jason