Follow along! The episode guide for “Two for the Road” is in Finding Lost, pp. 296-301.I will never forget the first time I watched this episode. The shock of Ana Lucia sitting next to Christian at the bar… the suspicion when he wanted to call her Sarah, of all things… and then: THAT ENDING. I was watching it alone, and when Michael shot Ana Lucia, I wasn’t her biggest fan at the time, and I screamed and started laughing uncontrollably, and then he shot Libby, and I… laughed harder. I still don’t know why I did that second part, because I don’t think I ever disliked Libby, but I think it was the shock of it all, and the only way I could think of handling it. Wow. Watching it again for the umpteenth time, what I think works so well with that ending is the silence. There’s a quiet talk with Ana Lucia, then he quietly says “I’m sorry,” shoots her… silence… “Michael?!” Turns, shoots her, silence… opens the door, Benry slowly stands up, he stares at him, braces himself and shoots himself in the arm (at the time, some people thought he’d committed suicide). And then we see the end title card, without that usual sound it makes. It’s silence, punctuated by gunshots…
Fun things I noticed:
• It always makes me laugh seeing the cop cars with Hurley’s numbers on top of them.
• Ana Lucia looks about as happy as any airport security person I’ve ever seen. Har. Doesn’t matter how nice people are in the airports I’ve been to, you hit security and the smiles DISAPPEAR.
• I think this is the only time we hear Patsy in a non-Kate scene.
• Check out the different Mrs. Littleton. I thought this one actually looked more like Kate. Maybe when she’s not screaming, she’s not a great actress. But her accent HAD to have been better than Duerden’s.
• There is an image in my head now of Sayid eating popcorn and totally being into Say Anything. It’s a bit disturbing.
• Sayid tells Hurley about the picnic spot where he took Shannon. He leaves out the bit about where they returned and Boone had been shot. Probably not the best place to take Libby??
• Sawyer + Ana Lucia = WRONG
• Christian calls AL “Kiddo,” like he refers to Jack.
• So Ana Lucia was connected to Christian, Jack, Sawyer (hitting the car door), and Claire before the crash. And Kate if you count Patsy Cline.
• How huge a moment is it that Jack admits Locke was right??? Wow. I’d totally forgotten that one. It’s like Juliet thanking Locke for saving them as he’s going down the well in S5.
• Libby: “This is our beach… there’s Jin.” Hahaha!!
• Oh, Hurley. WHY didn’t you remember the blankets?!
Things that have new meaning:
• I asked this at the time in my book, but it STILL doesn’t seem to make any sense: Why does Ben tell AL that she killed “two of US”? She’d killed Goodwin, and he was the only Other that Ben sent to the beach. Nathan was not an Other, nor was Shannon. Is he referring to Jason? Was he some sort of off-island Other? If so, he certainly didn’t come off as one of the good guys.
• Now that Christian has appeared to Locke with talk of Jacob, I wonder now if he was an early agent? Notice how he gets AL to Sydney, as if that’s his way of ensuring she’ll get on the plane home?
• In our ongoing, “Is Libby an Other?” lookout, notice how she once again steps in as the one to talk AL out of hurting Ben. Hm.
• Again, Ben says, “I’m dead anyway.” Significance?
• So, I’ve read an interview where Emerson says he was told to play this scene as if he doesn’t really know who the great man is, and he looked at the director and said, “Is it me?” and everyone kind of smirked, but wouldn’t answer. So now, 4 seasons later, he’s under the assumption that Ben was actually referring to himself, which he could very well be. Or… is he referring to Jacob? He hasn’t really talked to Jacob, as we now know, so would he have really honestly talked about Jacob with such reverence? Or is he just spinning his usual bull?
• How was Goodwin conveying messages about the people on his beach back to Ben and Co.? Was he using a recorder and leaving it somewhere like Juliet did in S3?
29 comments:
Nikki, you may not believe this, but I've never before noticed Hurley's numbers on the cop cars. And I've never read anyone's articles or comments that pointed this out. Is that goofy, or what? Anyway, this is why I need to own all of your episode guides!
I have a couple questions about Jack’s mom. Did she know about the existence of Claire, or was Christian clever enough about hiding his extramarital affairs? Also, exactly how did she know that Christian had gone off to Australia? I suppose that one could find out if he had used his American Express gold card to pay for his airfare. A drunk might make that mistake, so that it would be easy to track him. Of course, maybe Christian’s heart was hardened towards his wife, so that he didn’t care about her feelings at all anymore. We’ve never seen any sort of interaction between them, not so much as a phone call. “So long, I’m off to Australia with this hot chick I met in a bar, so I can look up my illegitimate daughter and drink myself to death. Don’t wait up.”
Come to think of it, we don’t know how Mrs. Shephard feels about her husband. Why did she send Jack to find him in Australia? (Australia is a big place. I hope she had a few leads about where Jack should start looking.) Did she want Christian brought home so she could help him get the alcohol rehab he needed, and love and cherish him for as long as they both shall live? Or was he simply an embarrassment to her, and she was looking forward to making his life a living hell?
“Fate’s calling.” That’s a curious expression, unless you’re also fond of saying, “That’s why the Red Sox will never win the Series.” And when Christian noticed the Cocktail Bar: “Look what fate has delivered up this time.” Clearly, “fate” is his favorite word. We get it.
@Nikki:
About the, "killed two of us" in regards to Ana Lucia, if I'm not mistaken, AL kills one of the Others with a rock during those first few days in "The Other 48 Days". It's one of the nights where they get raided and Eko kills a couple too and stops talking. I just remember there was a scramble in the dark and Ana starting bashing someone with a rock and then afterwards someone comes up and says something like "it's okay--he's dead" and they take a look at the body she just killed and are like "whhhaaa?". Unless I'm remembering that wrong?
Gah, I'm so behind in the rewatch!! I'll get back in soon! Promise! I've been keeping up with the reading of these posts I just don't have time to do full-length responses. My goal is to come back next week! Keep your fingers crossed!
I too was wondering about the “you killed two” bit. I thought Eko was the one who killed two during the raid, but I didn’t remember that any other “Others” were killed by the tailies.
I was also stunned about Christian’s reference to fate. That fate brings people together so they can help each other!! Maybe Christian is more important than I thought.
Oddly, I noticed in the ending scene how bloodshot Harold Perrineau’s eyes were. Did he just have a bad night, or was it an indication of how messed up Michael is?
The ending of this episode always leaves me in chills. The L O S T title at the end with no noise completes it.
I completely and TOTALLY agree with you on the Sawyer + Ana Lucia thing. Sawyer may not be perfect, but he is smart. He would have seen Ana's plan a mile away. And I want Sawyer to myself.
@ Katey- I remember that, that AL killed that Other with the rock the first night. That was most likely the other person that Benry was referring to.
The second other that AL killed was the one with the list of the 9 tailies and the Army knife.
I always found it weird that AL was referring to Benry as a murderer. The others may have been involved in some neck-breaking, but not Benry himself (he did however kill his father, but we don't know that until "TMBTC").
Rewatching this episode I noticed Jack saying to Locke that the Others were liars. Yet in the same episode we see Locke lying about how AL get her wound. A nice foreshadowing that Locke will soon be one of them :)
Nikki, I may be wrong, but I thought the woman Christian was talking to in Australia was Lindsey, Carole Littleton's sister. At this point (so close to the 815 flight), Carole should still be in a coma.
Notice how often Locke makes decisions that have bad consequences? I'm not saying it's his fault AL was killed, but if hadn't lied about it, maybe her death could have been prevented.
@Nikki, I'm with you - funniest scene - AL as the airport screener! Perfect impersonation of a 'wander'!
And it was hard for me also to believe that Sawyer would fall for AL's con to get the gun! But she could have done worse things to get what she wanted.
@Nikki: regarding Sawyer eating popcorn and totally digging Say Anything: that IS disturbing!
What an ending! Wow, this never gets old. I think this definitely still beats out "Walkabout" and "Through the Looking Glass, Part 2" for BEST ENDING EVA!
Something Ben said in an earlier episode caught my attention, so I thought I'd bring it up here. When someone says "God knows..." and he responds with, "God doesn't know! God can't see this Island any more than the rest of the world can"
Well...
I'm firmly set in a theory of mine that the story's ending will tie into (in some way) the story of Paradise Lost, regarding fallen angels and such (I have reason to believe that Un-Locke is actually Lucifer, but we'll get to that in the S5 rewatch). Anyway, Ben uses a lot of contempt in his line speakign about God, and if the Others & Jacob are truyl fallen angels, then I'm sure there'd be nothing BUT contempt for their former master.
Just something that piqued my curiosity, and fed some fuel to my theory.
I think maybe when Benry said "you killed two of them" he meant it not directly at her. He could be refering to Ethan
@Susan: I'm with you. I think the woman that Christian went to see in the middle of the night was Aunt Lindsey. It looked like her.
@The Question Mark: I've never heard of the "Paradise Lost" theory to explain the mysteries of Lost, but it's VERRRRY interesting. I'm intrigued.
Firstly, when did John Locke get the safe combonation. For the past few episodes, he wasn't privy to any combination, and now he opens the door? What gives?
Notice, Hurley is wearing a red shirt, and it's Libby that gets killed. So, is it like if you're wearing a red shirt, the guy next to you gets it? I'm dragging my shirt out of the laundry basket.
AL also calls Christian pathetic, the same word Charlie uses on Rousseau.
Why did Jack and Locke AND Kate believe Michael when he tells them the Others live in huts, there's maybe only two guns and half of those he saw were women, and most were old? Kate had told Jack that the net they were trapped in, LAST episode, was not "sophisticated" enough for the Others. Then she told him about the medical station. And so Jack just goes ahead and believes Michael!!!
And how does this work to free Ben. Suppose Sawyer hadn't given into AL and she didn't have the gun. What's Michael supposed to do? Knock her over the head with Locke's crutch? Ben, Ben, Ben, you form such sophisticated plans, even Sawyer would be impressed, and this is the best your side came up with? The writers were stretching here, and hoping most fans wouldn't pay too much close attention.
I hope all these connections are explained, it is absolutely brilliant writing and story telling, but hope we get to know why they 'are all connected'; perhaps they are in the game together? :s
Christian naming Ana, Sarah! WELL! We know why he likes that name, could he be the mystery man that Sarah runs off with, I know we have been toyed with, but I want an answer to that question (please Darlton) - considering they have made a little bit of a deal out of it!
Also, the Rain! It surely has meaning again, major things happen when it rains.
Sad as it sounds, and unfortunate for Harold, but looking forward to the end of Season 2, Michael has begun to annoy me more than Ana. Really annoying! I understand the protective parenting thing absolute, but it's not that, it's just how awkward he always is on the show! :)
Sawyer to Ana - "what you don't want my cell #", "we just cuddling now".
Absolute credit to Josh for carrying these lines and scenes out so humourously, but you gotta love the writers for also coming up with some absolute corker comic lines!
You crash on a mysterious island. Do you avoid the following?
a)Taking a loved one on a picnic
b) Finding a nice spot on beach
c) Look after Vincent
d) All of the above
Ben, Ben, Ben, you form such sophisticated plans, even Sawyer would be impressed, and this is the best your side came up with?
I dunno, I thought about that when re-watching this recently when Michael showed up, and I think the answer is just that the Others told Michael "free Ben" and make sure the people on this list go after him.
I think the exact details of the means to do so were left to Michael, and seeing Ana Lucia with the gun, wanting to kill Ben, he leaped at an opportunity.
If she didn't have the gun, he'd have just found another way sometime later to free Ben without implicating himself.
Also, count me amongst those who thought Michael might have killed himself at the end.
Though that might have just been wishful thinking at the time. :)
I'm pretty positive that Ben is talking about Jacob, there isn't really anyone else he could be referring to. I remember back then people thought he was talking about Tom Friendly, since at this point we knew nothing about Jacob (not even his name).
It's ironic in hindsight that Ben would be so afraid of someone he's never actually met, although I guess that's common with most belief systems.
What I find more interesting is that Ben paints Jacob out to be some terrifyingly powerful, vengeful leader, when in actuality that isn't the case at all. I find that duality similar to how God is portrayed in the Old Testament vs. the New Testament in the Bible. God in the Old Testament is fearsome, raining fire from the sky destroying cities and all of that, while in the New Testament we have Jesus who is all about love. Both of these apply to Jacob, how he can at once be a leader who orders to kill American soldiers on the island and be a mild-mannered optimist who heals people and gives kind words.
I always thought "two of us" meant that the Losties in general had killed two others, namely Goodwin and Ethan.
Okay, something just dawned on me. Was this episode shot/aired after both actresses whose characters were killed (Ana and Libby) got caught drunk driving? Did they decide to kill off their characters in order to fire them from the show?
And if the answer is "No, that all happened later," don't tell me, 'cause I really like how clever the title is if it did happen that way.
I'm pretty sure AL killed one of the Others the night the group of 9 were taken. She took the army knife and a list of names from a dead body.
As for the DUI, I read that Michelle Rodriguez only made a one-year commitment to the show; they always planned to kill her off. As for Cynthia Watros, AL was so widely disliked that the producers didn't think her death would make as much of an impact with fans, so they killed off Libby too.
Yes, Anna Lucia killed one of the Others the night of the raid as well as Goodwin and it was Claire's aunt that answered the door and not her mother who was still in a coma.
I don't know if the producers had decided at this point that they were going to hire ME to be the leader of the Others or not, but I think that Benry was referring to the leader of the Others and not to Jacob. I think he was trying to downplay his own significance and not give the losties the idea that holding on to him as a hostage would give them any advantage. (If the losties did know he was the leader or thought him important in some way, would they have attempted to exchange him for Walt or threatened the Others in some other way?)
Deb
@Studiorose
Maybe you're right! I know that Michelle/AL was sentenced to wear one of those ankle bracelets that monitor your blood-alcohol level 24-7. Maybe Darlton thought it would be too hard to write AL's new "accessory" into the show.
@ Nikki, every time I see this episode, the ending always gives me chills. I wasn't Michael's biggest fan, nor Ana Lucia's (I think I might have mentioned it on here before). I love this episode apart from the Sawyer and Ana Lucia thing.
Also, I have that same image of Sayid watching Say Anything and having a bowl of popcorn. It's a very disturbing image.
Well now we've got people with images of both Sayid and Sawyer watching Say Anything with a bowl of popcorn - unless one of those was a typo. Or perhaps they're watching it together? That's a disturbing image.
Anyway, I don't have any original thought here, but:
1. I agree it's been established that AL killed two "others" before this episode.
2. Like Susan, I also thought it was Claire's Aunt Lindsay and not her mother that Christian talks to. I'm not sure about what actresses played what parts, though, so perhaps I'm wrong?
3. I used to think Ben was talking about himself when discussing the great leader bit, but now I think he's referring to Jacob.
Finally, as AL and Sawyer get it on...
Me: Ew, how could AL do that with HIM.
My Wife: Ew, how could Sawyer do that with HER.
@JW: Hey, I got your "Lord of the Films" book the other day, and I'm enjoying it very much. As soon as I realized that you included info on how to find Easter eggs on the DVD's, I flipped through your book to find them all. Then I watched all the long-lost Easter eggs, which were a laugh riot! Imagine, I've had the DVD's for years, and never suspected that those bits were on there. I'd just like to state for the record that I HATE hidden Easter eggs in DVD sets. When I pay top dollar for my favorite movies and TV shows, I want to be able to see all the content. When I bought S6 of "24", I had read that one of the extras was the spoof that "The Simpsons" did. To this day, I haven't been able to find it. So THANK YOU for writing your book, and for all the juicy bits you crammed onto its pages! By the way, here's an overheard remark that someone heard in the theater during the March of the Ents: "Run, Forest, Run!" :)
For the record, Gabrielle Fitzpatrick plays the woman at the door in "Two for the Road" and plays Lindsey in "Par Avion."
If you look on Lostpedia on Michelle Rodriguez's article, as well as one called Traffic violations, it states that the producers confirm that AL and Libby were not killed off because of DUI arrests.
Even though I knew it was coming, I still jumped when he shot AL and Libby.
@Teebore - I agree, I think Michael improvised and this "opportunity" presented itself. He was so desperate that he didn't take the time to come up with another plan. He really didn't have to shoot them. He could have somehow got some alone time in the hatch and faked Ben attacking him. But when it comes to getting his son back, he doesn't do a lot of straight thinking.
Thanks, Marebabe! I know what you mean about hiding content. Hidden tracks on CDs also drive me crazy.
@Marebabe & Susan: For some reason I too always thought the woman Christian was arguing with was Claire's aunt. I'm glad I'm not delusional (or at least that we're all delusional together.) But where did we get the idea Claire was living with her aunt?
See, when it comes to Benry talking about the leader I think he was playing it up and talking about himself. Watching it this time I nearly choked to death, because I was eating lunch during that moment and laughed too hard when he says how brilliant and kind the "leader" is.
NO. MORE. PICNICS. EVER.
Random funny line, Kate saying, "I think he's waking up" about Michael. Oh really? What gave it away? The flailing limbs or the loud moaning?
I love Jin's little thumbs up to Hurley.
Re: The DUIs. To set the record straight, the writers have insisted that they had nothing to do with what happened at the end of the season, but the timing of the DUIs, followed by their characters' dismissals from the show, is what had people suspicious. The writers could be covering their butts, or they could be telling the truth. The reason it's entered Lost lore is because of what happened to Adewale shortly after -- he was caught driving without a license (hardly a major infraction) and suddenly HIS character was killed off, too. Clearly another unfortunate timing of the two, but when Daniel Dae Kim was found with a DUI, many fans thought for sure he'd been blown up on that freighter. I never lost the faith!! ;)
So it's become a bit of an onrunning joke in the Lostverse, that if you're caught with some sort of traffic offense off-camera, your character is doomed.
I always thought they went out and got drunk because they found out they were written off the show! LOL!!!
Anyway, here's the episode that turns it all around...how many things happened in this one that set the course for almost everything that's to come? Not looking forward to how sad Hurley is going to be. :( And wow, how did I miss the first time around how many times Libby looked sullen when Hurley mentions something about where he knows her from. You guys really have me hooked into the "Libby's an Other" theory! LOL
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