We Did It!!

And here we are, at the end of season 5, bracing ourselves for season 6, and we did it. We didn't give up, we trudged on: 29 weeks, 100 episodes, countless comments. And throughout that entire process I didn't check out a single other rewatch site. First, I didn't want to be swayed by what other people were saying, and secondly, the best group of people were right here. When I finished last night I finally was free to jump around and look at a few others, and I was interested to see that sites with much bigger traffic than this one had far fewer comments. People were generally reading what the main blogger had to say and that was it. In our case there was so much to discuss, and we had a lot of fun along the way doing it.

I want to thank all of you for keeping up with all of this, for reading my books along the way, for offering so much insight, and for not having one SINGLE war. Not one. For a show that could create such heated debate, we somehow managed to do this from beginning to end without ever devolving into a bunch of namecalling. (Well, except for the time that Batcabbage and Humanebean had that smackdown, but that was just entertaining!!) I'm so proud of all of us for making it to the end!!

5.16/17 The Incident

Follow along! The gargantuan episode guide for “Follow the Leader” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 225-255 (30 pages?! sheesh...) along with chapters on Jacob's statue, Flannery O'Connor's "Everything That Rises Must Converge," and a list of questions that still need to be answered in S6.

The end of the road. Until February 2nd. And what a finale it was…

Fun things I noticed:
• That opening scene is simply magnificent. I didn’t realize how many times I’d watched it until I found myself saying every word along with both of the characters. The more I see it, the more I’m starting to become convinced that the Man in Black is actually the good guy. But I wouldn’t bet on it. I wouldn’t bet on anything on Lost.
• Notice Jacob touches Kate’s freckles? Maybe Sawyer’s the reincarnation of Jacob!!
• A big question for season 6: What is Lapidus a candidate for? Will he play a much bigger role in the mythology?
• Jack Shephard = WORST. SHOT. EVER.
• No matter how many times I see this ep, I still find myself yelling at the TV, “Jack! Tell Sawyer that Sayid is BLEEDING OUT IN THE VAN!!!”
• Ben the manipulator is given the ultimate manipulation. What an amazing scene where he walks down that corridor in the statue toward Jacob’s sanctum.
• Radzinsky yelling, “Who’s this?!” when the Dharma van comes zooming around the corner always makes me laugh.
• So, I’m watching this and my 5-year-old comes down just as Juliet is holding onto Sawyer’s hand and is about to fall. She clearly wants to see what’s going on, and as she’s coming into the room (she’s SUPPOSED to be in bed, but here is the first of many excuses to stay up later). First she walks in as Juliet is talking to Sawyer in the jungle about why she’s siding with Jack.

My daughter: “Who’s that?”
Me: “That’s Juliet. She’s with Sawyer, but I think Sawyer is in love with another woman instead.”
“Then why is he with her?”
“Well, the other woman wasn’t there, and I think he really believes he loves her, and he’s with her, but he’s always sort of loved that other woman.”
“So why isn’t he with her?”
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” She disappears.
Comes back when Juliet is dangling for her life. “Why is she hanging like that?”
“I need you to go to bed, OK?”
“Who is holding her hand?”
“That’s Sawyer, he doesn’t want her to fall.”
“Why?”
“Because he loves her.”
“I thought you said he was in love with the other girl.”
“Well, yeah, but… well, he loves her, but he just loves the other girl differently. The other girl is also trying to stop her from falling.”
“But I thought you said he didn’t really love her?”
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

• We've discussed this before on another post, but what if when Jacob touches Locke and Locke opens his eyes, the Man in Black is actually inside him? Then Jacob's, "I'm sorry this happened to you" was actually addressed to MiB, and not Locke. That would mean Locke was dead from the get-go. Personally, I don't think that's the case, since it would mean the guy we've come to know and love/hate over the past 5 years was never actually the same guy as the one in the flashbacks, and I think that would be devastating to find out.
• I honestly think Ben’s speech is one of the most heartbreaking of the series. This man is a liar through and through, but I truly believe he’s being 100% sincere in this scene.
• “What ABOUT you?” I think these are three of the harshest words in the series. Ugh. Why does Jacob say that? That’s a big question for me going into S6.

And one last little thing. One of my readers, Jono, sent me this illustration he made as a possible opening for season 6, and I thought it was hilarious. :) (I'll post this over on the main blog, too.)



Wow. We’re done. I’ll post a S5 rundown soon but… wow. I can’t believe we did it!

And now… we head forth into Season 6!!

5.15 Follow the Leader

Follow along! The episode guide for “Follow the Leader” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 212-223.

What an epic episode. I wish I could turn a Frozen Donkey Wheel and go back in time to the first time I saw this episode, because I’d love to enjoy how amazing this was the first time around (and the same could be said for the finale that will follow). You’ve probably noticed that recently I’ve dropped the “Things that Have New Meaning” bit because that was only in light of the finale, and since we’re almost there, the things in the ep stand for themselves.

Fun things I noticed:
• I LOOOOOVE that look that Kate gives to Jack when they ask if they’re with Daniel and he says, “Yes.” She looks at him as if to say ohmygodyoudumbassiamgoingtokillyoudead.
• Notice in the diary she inscribes that she will always love him, “no matter what,” as if those three words refer to her eventually killing him.
• I would love a deleted scene where we finally see Richard Alpert’s sense of humour, where he looks at Sun and says, “I watched them all die”… music swells… boom boom boom… “HAHA! Sorry, I’m TOTALLY kidding. Nah, they were in the Dharma Initiative and they’re fine. Why do you ask?”
• I love Ben in this episode. He’s just SO PISSED OFF.
• That scene between Jack and Kate never gets old. What incredible acting from both of them. Curse you, Emmys!!
• F U PHIL. I love that when Phil hits Juliet even Radzinsky looks at Phil like, “Dude. Harsh.”
• Sawyer says, “You’re a dead man, Phil.” Check out Sawyer! He can see the future!
• Chang interrogating Hurley is comedy GOLD.

MILES: Dr. Chang? What are you doing here?
DR. CHANG: I could ask you the same question.
HURLEY: But we asked you first.
DR. CHANG: Your friend Faraday said that you were from the future. I need to know if he was telling the truth.
HURLEY: Dude, that's ridiculous.
DR. CHANG: What year were you born? What year?
HURLEY: Uh... 1931?
DR. CHANG: You're 46?
HURLEY: Yeah. Yes, I am.
DR. CHANG: So you fought in the Korean War?
HURLEY: [Pauses] There's... no such thing.
DR. CHANG: Who's the President of the United States?
HURLEY: All right, dude, we're from the future. Sorry.

• I think I’ve figured out Richard’s secret: he’s a vampire. Instead of burning up in the sun, or… sparkling… he’s just fine. The island has healed him of his sun sensitivity.
• I know we’ve talked about this on here before, but I LOVE the way Michael Emerson says things. “How did you know hhhhhhhwhen to be here?” “Hhhhhhhwhat?!”
• Sayid’s face when Kate says they saved Ben is bloody priceless. He says in the quietest voice possible, “And why would you do that” because inside he’s screaming, “I WILL KILL YOU!!!!”
• I’ve always enjoyed Sayid asking Jack why they trust Eloise after everything she’s proven to them, because… well, he’s kinda got a point.
• We talked a lot about that woman in the Others’ camp who looks like Juliet. I think it’s a red herring, and I believe it might actually be Elizabeth Mitchell, who’s been aged to look older, but it’s not actually Juliet. Just something to make us go nuts.

5.14 The Variable

Follow along! The episode guide for “The Variable” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 197-209, followed by a chapter about the Wired magazine issue that is on Daniel’s couch when Widmore comes to visit him.

The episode where one of my favourite characters dies. Sniffle. The episode where we discovered just how integral he was to everything going on, having been the spawn of Eloise and Charles, the once-royalty of the Others. The episode where Jack goes from living in the Land of Denial to actually having faith in something for the first time. What a whopper of an ep.

Fun things I noticed:
• What has happened just before Eloise comes out to tell Daniel about his destiny? It’s like she’s just gotten a phone call or something telling her to get back on track.
• “I can MAKE TIME.” Probably one of the most significant lines of the episode.
• I still think it’s kind of shoddy writing that Dan goes to Jack, delivers this crushing news and then just leaves. Why bother to go to him in the first place? Also, this ep is filled with inconsistencies direction-wise (the worst being the terrible synch between the old footage of Daniel watching TV and the new stuff. Or how about Dan wearing the black DI uniform on the way to the Swan that turns grey once he gets there? Who was the continuity person on this ep?!
• I still get the biggest kick out of how Eloise signed the journal, “Mother.” SUCH a loving mum.
• The fact that Jeremy Davies wasn’t nominated for an Emmy this year proves the Academy ISN’T PAYING ATTENTION.
• Widmore tells Daniel they’ve never met. If he’s telling the truth, does that mean Eloise left before Widmore could meet him? Or did Widmore leave before she gave birth?
• I know at the time I said Eloise Hawking was one cold-hearted bitch, but you really can see the pain in her eyes as she’s telling Daniel to fulfill his destiny. I have to believe she hoped he could somehow change his fate.
• Is there anyone reading this who knows Korean and knows what Jin says when Hurley says, “That’s not good.” I’m assuming it’s some sort of expletive?
• I find it a little strange that Radzinsky immediately suspects Sawyer of being the bad guy. LaFleur is head of security, and Phil is a lackey. If he’s tied up, why not assume he’s the bad guy and LaFleur was dealing with him? Maybe the fact the guy’s in the closet could have raises suspicions…

Wow... we only have one more week after this. I can't believe it's gone by so quickly!!

5.13 Some Like It Hoth

Follow along! The episode guide for “Some Like It Hoth” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 187-196, and includes a sidebar comparing Lost to Star Wars.

This was a fun, sort of standalone episode, and the one in the season I had to write up in England while I was on a trip, downloading it and watching it on a laptop only once. Thank goodness it wasn’t the week of “Dead Is Dead”!

Fun things I noticed:
• “I’m in the circle of tr—” “Get out!” Hahahaha!
• That dead Swan station guy looks like Russell Brand. I never noticed that before.
• I love that Miles somehow thought the phrase “bounty hunter” would be in Hurley’s memoir. LOL!
• Mr. Grey is the chauffeur that Sookie and Bill glamour at the beginning of S2 of True Blood.
• I have a confession to make: I love the word “douche.” It’s a GREAT insult. It’s just so satisfying. My husband thinks it’s uncouth (so I’m always sure to add the word “bag” to it when using it around him). But I still love it. I’m so happy Hurley and Miles use it in this episode.
• Chang looks like he’s going to laugh when Hurley says, “Polar bear poop, got it.”
• When Roger tells Jack that Kate reassured him, Jack looks down as if to say, “Oh, Kate… what am I gonna do with you?”
• I LOVE Hurley making small talk in the back of the van!
• “Ever had one of those days where you feel like the Dutch boy with his finger in the… Doc!” HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
• How much do I love Baby Miles’ Dharma onesie?!

Things that have new meaning:
• WHO are the Shadow Seekers? This is one of the biggest questions raised in season 5. Bram says, “If you can’t answer the question, you’re not ready for the island.” So how do THEY know the answer to the question, or how to get there, or about the island in the first place? Are they children of DI? Children of defected Others? Children of people who were ejected from the island? Are they immortal Others who were ejected from the island?

5.12 Dead Is Dead

Follow along! The episode guide for “Dead Is Dead” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 173-182, followed by an examination of the smoke monster on pp. 183-187.

Quick note: I’m just going to post this one tonight and I’ll post Some Like It Hoth and The Variable tomorrow night. When I try to think of the standout episode of season 5, this is usually the one that comes to mind (aside from that finale, of course). My favourite aspects of season 5 are the Ben/Locke/Widmore moments, and to have all three of them in one episode? JOY…

Fun things I noticed:
• Does anyone else think 40-year-old Chuck Widmore is hot? In a Bill Sykes kinda way? Ok, let me start again… did anyone else think Oliver Reed as Bill Sykes was kinda hot? Have I revealed way too much about myself here?
• I LOVE the scene where Ben lies to Caesar and we know he’s lying… it’s like watching a master at work.
• Ben tells Locke one thing, Sun another. Who do you think he’s lying to? And why?
• Ben’s hurt a LOT of people, so why, of all people, does he think of Desmond the moment before he thinks he’s going to die? I still wonder if someone took Charlie out of the waiting room when Penny went in to see Desmond in the hospital.

Things that have new meaning:
• BEST moment: “What’s about to come out of that jungle is something I can’t control.” Rustle, rustle… Locke emerges. I remember laughing and laughing at the time (Ben thinks Smokey is going to step out) but now, in light of the finale, it takes on a new, much darker tone. For what comes out of the jungle IS something he can’t control.
• Locke says, “I assure you, Sun, I’m the same man I’ve always been.” But he’s not… there’s definitely something significant in this line beyond its irony later. Is it possible there’s always been some connection between the Man in Black and Locke?
• In the only time we ever see Not-Locke get unhinged, he freaks out on Ben in the jungle asking him if he likes not knowing anything and always having to be led around by someone else. Then he says, “Now you know what it was like to be me.” Think of that line from the mouth of the Man in Black… he was clearly led around by Jacob, who seems to have controlled him in some way like a prisoner.
• I say this in my book, but notice how Locke, Alex, and Smokey are never in the same room together (this one’s for the Canadians: he’s like Polkaroo!!). Could this be an indicator that they’re all the same entity?
• Ben says, “It let me live.” Could living be the ultimate punishment? Is it possible Smokey actually showed Eko mercy by killing him?

5.11 Whatever Happened, Happened

Follow along! The episode guide for “Whatever Happened, Happened” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 160-169, and an explanation of the Miles/Hurley argument is on pp. 169-172 (featuring many regular Nik @ Niters as contributors!)

This episode contains one of the funniest moments of the season (the Miles/Hurley debate) and the single saddest moment in the series for me, when Kate leaves Aaron behind. GUTTED. I still can’t get over it, and I’ll be honest, when it came around this time I had a magazine on my lap and tried to distract myself with it so I wouldn’t have to watch again. THAT is how much that scene hurts me.

Fun things I noticed:
• I’m still not convinced that Hurley pwns Miles the way he thinks he does, and I think the writers purposely had him halt Miles on the very thing that he’s wrong about: I believe Ben DID know who Sayid was.
• Oh that goodbye scene… honestly, my son looks even MORE like Aaron, because his hair went from blond to platinum over the summer and he’s two-and-a-quarter now. He was only 18 months when it first aired. I can’t stand it!!

Things that have new meaning:
• Locke’s “Welcome back to the land of the living” MUST have greater significance than just a throwaway line. Do Ben and Locke have something in common? Is it possible Ben was killed in the Temple and resurrected somehow the way Locke was? Is he being controlled by another entity and when he wakes up with Locke sitting there, he’s somehow turned back into the original Ben? Wait… is it possible the Man in Black was in Ben and when he jumped to Locke, Ben became different? Hm. Argh, this is all too much for my head. Hurry up, Season 6!!!

5.10 He's Our You

Follow along! The episode guide for “He’s Our You” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 140-149, and a summary of Carlos Castaneda’s A Separate Reality (the book Ben passes to Sayid) is on pp. 149-160.

(Apologies to everyone -- especially Marebabe! -- for this posting late; my internet conked out and we couldn't get it back up until now.) This was the first episode where I started thinking, “Oh my GOD, what if the actions of the survivors actually CAUSE the very things that hurt them later? Could they have been the masters of their own downfalls?” What if Sayid turned Ben into the person he became? Will he remember? It’s one of the big questions I’m looking forward to in Season 6.

Fun things I noticed:
• DEFLATED GHOST CHICKEN!!!!
• Seriously, Ben, I canNOT take that fedora seriously. It’s like all that’s missing is a long mustache that he could twirl around his finger, and a foreign accent.
Jarrah… SAYID Jarrah: “Do you expect me to just go on with my life?”
Benfinger: “No, Mistah Jarrah… I expect you to die!!”
• How poor was Desmond? Mr. Widmore says one glass of McCutcheon is worth more than Des makes in a year, and Ilana says here it’s $120 a glass. Wow, Des. Geez, Widdy. Exaggerate much?
• I didn’t notice this before, but when Sayid refers to the Swan, Radzinsky says, “How does he know what we’re going to name it, when we haven’t even BUILT it yet?!” It seems to me Radzinsky has already referred to the station as the Swan, am I right? Or is it possible they named it that because Sayid SAID that’s what it’s called?
• I just have to say this again: Have you seen the episode of Buffy called “Fear, Itself”? In it everyone is terrified of Gachnar, the fear demon, and at the very end the floor breaks open, he rises up… and he’s six inches tall with a tiny chipmunk voice, screaming, “Fear me!” (One of my all-time fave moments in Buffy.) Well… that’s how Oldham seems to me. As Xander says in that ep, “Big overture… Little show!”
• “Even the new mom wants you dead.” HAHA!!

5.09 Namaste

Follow along! The episode guide for “Namaste” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 130-141.

Bear with me on this one… my 2-year-old found my notebook and scribbled in pink marker all over it. And then probably on himself somewhere. I’m sure I’ll find it in his armpit later tonight. I love this episode, which completes what was begun in “316” and brings the two separate storylines together. Isn’t it crazy to think that we’d been watching for a couple of months and Sawyer, Kate and Jack were never in the same scene together? Great to have them all back.

Fun things I noticed:
• I’m surprised Jin going on about a plane landing on the island didn’t immediately raise alarm bells for Radzinsky. Why doesn’t he question Jin about it later? WHY do you think a plane landed, for instance?
• Phil: “You’re not on the sub manifest!” Kate: “F*** you, Phil. Why don’t you go get impaled on a rebar?”
• Radzinsky: “He saw the model of the Swan!!! Because… I… um… led him here and walked him right by the table where I’d been building it.” God. Ambivalentman, I’ll add one more for you: F*** you, Radzinsky.
• I can’t believe I didn’t notice this the first time, but Phil tells the new recruits to enjoy the hamburgers and “the punch.” Hahahaha!!
• Who would you rather have in your corner if it all came down to a war: Jack or Sawyer? Can I pick a third option? SUN. That woman is crazy awesome.

Things that have new meaning:
• Ilana has a knowing look on her face when the plane turbulence begins.
• I always find that “Thirty Years Earlier” title card deceiving in light of the conversation Miles and Hurley have in “Whatever Happened, Happened.” Because it’s all a matter of perspective, and to the people involved in the very scene they show there, it’s not actually 30 years earlier, it’s a few minutes later. It’s only 30 years earlier if you’re looking at time in a linear fashion, which we aren’t. But I guess it’s the only way they could have really explained this.

5.08 LaFleur

Follow along! The episode guide for “LaFleur” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 120-130.

So, we’re REALLY close to the end and about to set a record for most Lost discussion without a single shipper war, and I’m praying it doesn’t break out on this one (please please please pretty please no shipper talk please?) “LaFleur” is one of those great episodes that is a lot of fun to watch, but I don’t feel like I have much to say about it after other than, “Wasn’t that scene great? And when he said this, wasn’t he awesome?” And no one needs to listen to me do that. “LaFleur” acts as the bridge that gets our island folks from Point A to Point B (or should I say Point M back to Point C via 15 points in between?) and it introduces us to the DI, to Sawyer’s relationship with Juliet (which, as I said at the time, will always be problematic for fans simply because it lasts all of 4 minutes for us, and 3 years for them, so we can never properly understand the seriousness of it), and to Sawyer’s enduring pining for Kate, which is pretty obvious by the end.

Fun things I noticed:
• Damn, I meant to point this out in the earlier episode so that you could listen at the beginning of this one and tell me what you think, but when Locke first yells, “Does anybody hear me?” does anyone else think he says, “me” the way Kermit the Frog would have said it? Honestly, I walked around saying that line like Kermit for weeks. Yes, I’m strange and off-putting.
• Jeremy Davies is seriously, seriously amazing. Honestly, is there a better cast on TV right now? (Let me answer that for you: NO.)
• Thanks to Ambivalentman, the first thing out of my mouth when the episode flipped to the DI was, “F*** you, Phil.” That's a drinking game I'd gladly do.
• Watching the “deleted scene” with Miles and Juliet (Buena Vista sent out a deleted scene to bloggers at the end of November that wasn’t really one at all), again I see there was barely anything new in it, and just a comment about a birthday party.