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.

5.07 The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

Follow along! The episode guide for “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 99-115.

You know, I was just thinking the other day that S4 had its standout episodes – “The Constant” and “The Shape of Things to Come” (and of course the finale) were real game-changers for the show. In a great season, these episodes stood out. But in S5, the entire season was outstanding, and I couldn’t really pull out any that particularly blew my socks off, probably because every episode did. Entertainment Weekly recently named this episode one of the best hours of television in 2009, and maybe if I had to choose one, this might be it. It’s filled with inconsistencies, many of which I point out in my book (Locke dies here but his body isn’t seen by Jack for another month, yet it didn’t decompose… I’m hoping that’ll be explained and it’s not actually an inconsistency; Hurley’s mental institution is CALLED Santa Rosa, but it’s not IN Santa Rosa; Locke never says the things to Jack that Jack will later tell Ben he said; Locke never insists on being called Jeremy Bentham, etc.) But even with all of these inconsistencies, the scene of Locke standing on that table with the cord around his neck gets to me every time, especially now on the heels of our rewatch. We’ve watched in just a few short months the entirety of a man’s life, and for him to stand there after everything he’s been through and say, “I’m a failure” breaks my heart every time. I think it’s a crime that Terry O’Quinn wasn’t nominated for the Emmy for this scene alone. He is so brilliant.


Fun things I noticed:
• Ilana tells Locke that Lapidus and Sun took off in the middle of the night… but they didn’t. We’ll later see them leave in broad daylight.
• Widmore is as awesome a liar as Ben is; he tells Locke that for three decades they protected the island “peacefully” and yet we know they slaughtered the soldiers in 1954, and their truce with the DI in the 70s wasn’t exactly “peaceful.”
• I love Kate, I really, really do, but GOD she’s so self-important and annoying in the scene with John Locke. It’s the only time in the entire series where I really don’t like her at all.
• The scene of John in the cemetery. At that moment, I thought to myself that more than anything, I want that to be a lie. I want Helen to be alive, I want the real John Locke to somehow resurrect, and I want them to be reunited.
• In my book I have photos I got from this guy who lived in the apartment building adjacent to the intersection where they staged the big car crash with Locke, and he sat in his window and took pics of them doing the scene. Could you IMAGINE looking out your window and seeing that?
• OK, not just Terry O’Quinn deserves an Emmy for this episode, but Matthew Fox (again). His acting in the scene where he comes face-to-face with Locke once again is BRILLIANT. He’s clearly high, hanging on by a thread, on the verge of a nervous breakdown yet desperately trying to hold it together. What a scene.

Things that have new meaning:
• The writers have said the Oceanic 6 were off the island in January 2005, and were gone for 3 years. But when Sun and Lapidus and Ben landed on the island, they’re apparently in 2007, according to the same writers. Does that mean they actually time-travelled backwards, too (which would make sense, since we’ll later see they land in the day even though it’s nighttime in the sky) or was it just a rough estimate of 3 years, when in fact it was actually close to three years and was actually November 2007 or something when they decided to return?
• From this point on, we have to watch John Locke on the island as the Man in Black, which is such a strange thing to do.
• Take a look at the scene where Ben pleads with Locke to come down. Locke is holding his hands out to his sides, and Ben is on his knees in front of him. Locke is set up as a Christ figure, one who must die to save our sins....

5.06 316

Follow along! The episode guide for “316” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 68-79 (followed by my epic 20-page summary of Ulysses. Damn you, Ben… you couldn’t have brought along a People magazine to keep you occupied on the plane?)

I love this episode (I think I start out every summary of the S5 episodes with this line, but this season was simply STELLAR). The opening is brilliant, reminding us of the pilot. But on a rewatch, after having seen the finale of S5, it made me think: was this a hint that a do-over simply isn’t entirely possible? I mean, landing on the island a second time was a do-over of sorts, but even when they’re given a second chance, things play out the same. Jack will always be the hero, racing to rescue the others. There will always be that spark between Sawyer and Kate. These people have very entrenched personalities – screw a hydrogen bomb: I don’t think a nuclear holocaust would make things different the second time around.

Fun things I noticed:
• I know that in the flashback of “Dead Is Dead” I commented that Ben had Pee-wee Herman hair when he stole Alex, but I think he kind of has it already in the church. Is it just me or is his hair really creepy after the donkey-wheel turn? He needs to lighten it slightly. The island needs to give that guy a hairdo makeover.
• I’ve always liked the significance of the church being a front for the Dharma Initiative, as if it’s a subtle comment on God becoming simply a front for man’s relationships to each other and to the Earth, which is what the DI was connected to.
• I commented in the book that the army photo is 09/23/54, meaning it’s 50 years less a day before Oceanic crashed. I wonder what the significance is of September 22? I’m assuming the Army landed on the 22nd, and took that picture the next day, right before they were obliterated.
• That scene with Desmond STILL drives me nuts. Does anyone else think that while Des is talking, Eloise somehow has the ability to put the others in a trance or something? Notice no one says anything to him, and he tells them that A) Eloise is Daniel’s mother, B) she’s the one who sent Des to the island and it turned out to be nothing but a waste of time, C) the island is sending him signs, and D) they’re all nothing but game pieces being played by larger forces at work… in other words, pretty freakin’ significant stuff! And they all stare at him, slack-jawed (watch closely: there may actually be drool coming out of the corner of Jack’s mouth) and say nothing, and the moment he’s gone they all give a big, “ANYway…” and get back to business. Like… HUH?! Did you somehow miss the part of the crazy Scotsman explaining this is nothing but a cosmic joke?
• By Jack putting his father’s shoes on Locke, Locke in a way becomes his father, which is a crazy twist in the greater scheme of things, especially since we just rewatched four seasons of them despising one another.
• Notice how many times in the ep Jack tries to have a drink and is interrupted. The island apparently wants him sober this time around.
• Hurley’s reading Y: The Last Man, which is the best book I read this year (I also review that in Finding Lost Season 5, but it’s after the Bentham entry, simply because I couldn’t have it follow Ulysses or readers would wonder if I’d ever get back to the actual episode guide in the thing!)
• You know, watching this again, perhaps in light of the terrorist scare a few days ago, I wonder why Hurley didn’t raise alarm bells. Why exactly is this guy buying 78 seats? Does he know something the rest of us don’t? Could he have an inkling that the plane is going to go down and he doesn’t want too many people going with him? And how could he know that? Is he a large, curly-haired terrorist?
• Just watching the plane take flight gives me the heebie-jeebies. The Oceanic 5 are truly brave people. I would have been curled up in a fetal position.
• “How can you read?” “My mother taught me.” BEST. COMEBACK. EVER.
• Matthew Fox is SO fantastic as he reads Locke’s note. I think I said this in the book, but he really looks like Locke just punched him in the stomach.

Things that have new meaning:
• We were discussing in light of “This Place Is Death” the curiosity of the island reacting so violently to Rousseau’s team, and in this ep I was reminded of Caesar and how he’s going to die, too. Could the island have something against the French? (I don’t mean that as a joke, actually… I wonder if there’s some underlying symbolism of the French Revolution or something, especially with Locke and Rousseau hanging about.)
• Does Ben bring down the plane? He goes to the bathroom and doesn’t return? Remember that thing he pulled out of the vent in “Because You Left”? Could it have been something he used in the bathroom? Was it hidden in his sling?

5.05 This Place Is Death

Follow along! The episode guide for “This Place Is Death” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 56-65.

This episode has always felt like more than one to me. First, the Rousseau story. Then the story of the survivors trekking across the island to get to the Orchid and dealing with the time flashes along the way. And finally, Ben getting Sun and Jack over to the church. It always feels like it took a lot longer than 42 minutes, but they’ve just packed so many storylines into one episode that it feels very dense.

Fun things I noticed:
• Yunjin is SO good in that first scene on the cellphone. When Ji Yeon tells her she misses her, her voice catches and she’s barely holding it together. I bet every parent in the audience knew exactly how that felt. She’s so brilliant.
• At the end of that phone call, when she says, “Annyong,” does anyone else think of Arrested Development or is that just me?
• Montand says, “Next thing you know he’ll be talking about a submarine.” Oh how I wish Jin had said, “Don’t be silly. We blew up the submarine.” Hahaha!
• I know a lot of people thought the girl who plays Rousseau was a bad choice of actress for it, but I think she’s near-perfect. I totally believe she could grow up to look like Mira Furlan – gaunt because of lack of food, face drawn and lined because of the sun, eyes wilder because of losing her mind. I think this actress is great.
• Okay, okay, my bad: back in “Solitary” I was playing “Nitpick that nitpick” and said that she’s wearing a chocolate sweater, but in “This Place Is Death” it’s grey. And now we see that she had TWO sweaters, and the chocolate one is the one she had one when she killed Robert. That made it even more effective for me, though, remembering that she’d be wearing that same sweater when she met Sayid.
• You know, Charlotte says the Orchid is a way off the island, so it’s often made me wonder why they didn’t all push their way down that well and all try to turn the wheel. ;)
• Does Christian not help John because he’s ephemeral and can’t actually touch him (which would be strange, since he touched Aaron… but that could also be an indication that Aaron is different) or is it a spiritual reason, that he can’t help John because he has to do this himself?
• Ben pushed the wheel; John pulls it. I have no idea if that has any meaning. I’m just saying it.

Things that have new meaning:
• I think that is TOTALLY Hurley’s voice reciting the numbers when Montand is listening to the recording. Listen especially to the way he says “forty-two.”
• I said at the time that Juliet’s “thank you” to Locke is such a huge moment for him, since NO ONE ever thanks him (mostly because they think he’s bonkers) but now that we’ve rewatched the series, I think that even more.
• Charlotte’s final words are the first words she will ever say to Daniel. :::sniffle:::

5.04 The Little Prince

Follow along! The episode guide for “The Little Prince” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 37-48. (Followed by a chapter on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.)

Do you remember the excitement of the end of this episode the first time? Jin! Rousseau! GAAAHHH!! Ah, good times, good times.

Fun things I noticed:
• Kate tells Jack it’ll take longer than 2 nights to get used to sleeping in a regular bed, but she’d been sleeping in a regular bed in Dharmaville when she was living with Claire.
• Kate says to Jack, “I have always been with you.” At the time I remember joking about it (“Except when I was sleeping with Sawyer in a bear tent”) but it’s an interesting comment. Does she mean that every time she’s been with Sawyer she was actually with Jack in some way, either trying to make him jealous or thinking of him or trying to save him? (By the way, I’m asking these as neutral questions, not attempting to ship one way or the other.)
• So who do you think took the pictures of Ben and Jack and trying to shoot Sayid? Was it Widmore’s people? Does that mean Ben didn’t finish them off the way he said he had? Was it just Ben screwing with Sun to get her to the marina, too?
• I believe that the island is controlling the bloops, and that they showed the beam of light to Locke to show him his lowest moment, perhaps to spur him on to keep going, reminding him of how far he’s come.
• Oh, how I love Sawyer. “Who came in these? Other Others?” “I TAKE IT BAAAACK!!”
• Again I feel like the writers slightly sacrificed the story in the name of plot. Norton probably would have briefed Ben on the Kate issue (but he didn’t because that would have given away the surprise ending) and Mrs. Littleton would have had her settlement shipped to her in Australia, she wouldn’t have had to fly to LA to sign a few documents. That’s ridiculous. But in the name of storytelling, I’ll take it!

Things that have new meaning:
• Kate looks into Jack’s eyes and then tells him what’s up, just like in the finale when she looks into his eyes and then agrees to go along with the whole bomb-dropping thing. There’s something about the look in Jack’s eyes that she 100% trusts.

5.03 Jughead

Follow along! The episode guide for “Jughead” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 27-37. (Be sure to check out the sidebar on the REAL Jughead bomb.)

This episode with the crazy name is one of the most important ones in the series. SO much happens in this one: I think in the later guides in my book, I refer back to this episode more than any other in this season. It’s got Charlie’s birth; Locke meeting Alpert in 1954; Daniel meeting his own mother; our first sighting of Charles Widmore ON THE ISLAND; the rampant speculation among fans of where the bomb ended up. Wow, this was one jam-packed episode.

I’m finding with Season 5 that I don’t have much to say that I didn’t already say in my book, since I actually had all of the seasons under my belt and could talk about them pretty freely there. But I’ll try to come up with enough to say here, and then you guys can take the conversation further.

Oh, and before I go any further, one of my readers emailed me to tell me that in the ep guide for “Because You Left,” I refer to the famous scene with Jimmy Stewart in North by Northwest. Which, as he said, was of course with Cary Grant, not Stewart. I just saw that movie again a couple of years ago. I can’t believe I made that error, but in case anyone else saw it, I want to reassure you it will be changed if there’s ever another printing. I think when it comes to Lost, I just permanently have Vertigo on the brain.

Fun things I noticed:
• When those landmines blew up, it reminded me of the way Smokey uprooted trees.
• So, I’ve seen this episode many times now, which means by now I can probably get used to Ellie’s accent. NOPE. No. Just can’t do it. I still hate it. HATE IT. The way she delivers every single line through clenched teeth is so irritating beyond words.
• I still find it strange that Juliet talks to them in Latin when Widmore and the other guy are speaking English. It makes it seem like she doesn’t trust the other people with her.
• “Are they from the future, too?” “You told her?” HAHA!!
• This is one of the first times we see Widmore clean-shaven. From Shape of Things to Come to finale where Sun approached him on the street to even the premiere of S5 where he talked to her in the airport, he always has silver stubble all over his face. But here his face looks as smooth as little Charlie’s bum.
• “Put the gun down, Widmore” STILL sends chills down my spine! Probably because I remember the “GAAASP!!! WHAAAA?!” feeling I had the first time I heard it.

Things that have new meaning:
• Now that we’ve seen both 40-year-old Eloise and 70-year-old Eloise, young Ellie is even MORE ANNOYING.
• Check out the flirting between Sawyer and Juliet!

5.02 The Lie

Follow along! The episode guide for “The Lie” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 16-27.

What a fantastic episode. That epic scene between Hurley and his mother AND the flying Hot Pocket? Genius.

Fun things I noticed:
• I found this book on conspiracy theories in the summer, and in it there was an entry about the Jekyll Island conspiracy, where the richest men in America met on Jekyll Island in an attempt to convince the federal reserve to switch to paper money, crippling the economy but insuring their own wealth in the process (or something… I don’t remember it exactly). Apparently they were planning a lie they were going to spread through the rest of the world. The reason this meant something to me when I read it was because Lapidus brings everyone Jekyll Island Beers at the beginning of this episode, as they, too, are constructing a massive lie to tell the world. Damn, I wish I’d found this book before FLS5 went to print!!
• Maybe it’s because I watched the season finale of Dexter the night before, but did anyone else notice that Jill in the butcher shop was the CI that told Debra about Dexter’s mom?
• Oh Frogurt. Your death might have been even funnier than Arzt’s.
• “Why is there a dead Pakistani on my couch?” Still one of the funniest lines EVER.
• Honestly, that scene between Hurley and his Ma… Jorge Garcia deserves an Emmy for that one. I ♥ that scene SO much.
• Watching this ep on the heels of season 4 shows us that Jack is going through major withdrawal in these scenes. Notice how subtly Matthew Fox handles these scenes, being ever-so-jittery, sweaty, and off-balance. It’s the beginning of his best season performance of the series. I’m so angry that he wasn’t nominated for a Golden Globe. ARGH.
• Hot Pocket!!!! HAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!

Things that have new meaning:
• WHAT did Ben take out of that vent? We never actually see him remove that thing from the box again. Was it the gun that he used on the dock with Penny? Was it the S5 DVD limited edition box set?
• MAN Widmore was a complete spaz when he was younger. It’s so strange to see him like this after seeing the calm and collected 40-year-old or the terrorizing 70-year-old.

5.01 Because You Left

Follow along! The episode guide for “Because You Left” is in Finding Lost — Season 5, pp. 1-16.

And here we are in season 5 already… I can’t believe how quickly this has flown by. Was there a white light I somehow missed? Season 5 opened with time travelling Daniel, flashforwards of the Oceanic 6 and flashbacks to the people on the island. I can see why so many fans got REALLY confused this season. We, on the other hand, followed it perfectly. :)

Fun things I noticed:
• There’s a giraffe by Baby Miles’ bed, and I’m pretty sure there was a giraffe on the wall in the Dharma Claire nursery and a giraffe in Aaron’s room at Kate’s.
• I know I said this before, and I don’t mean to be cruel, but I think the construction worker is a better actor than Francois Chau. He really does seem to handle every scene through gritted teeth.
• On previous DVD sets, you can skip once through the “previously on” section, and hit skip one more time when the Lost credits roll (yes, I can’t even watch the 5 seconds that takes). But on this DVD, when I hit skip, it skipped over the previously on AND the opening segment with Chang, straight to the credits. When I hit skip again, it went past that entire track and into the next. I actually muttered to myself, “They changed the RULES!” exactly the way Ben did in “The Shape of Things to Come.” Then I giggled to myself at my extraordinary geekiness.
• Ben asks Jack what Locke told him when he saw him, but he asked him that same question at the funeral home in the S4 finale.
• Poor Sawyer seems to begin every season barefoot.
• I kept thinking that if Locke could make it to the top of the cliff and knock the Beechcraft down, then Boone wouldn’t have died. Miles would hate me.
• The hotel address where the safehouse is, is 1818. The plane that carried the Oceanic 6 had 1717 on it.
• Richard says to Locke “that’s all relative,” when referring to “when” they are. In S4, when Jack asks Daniel where the helicopter is, Dan says the same thing.

Things that have new meaning:
• You can already see how Juliet and Sawyer will end up together; I found myself watching their every move in this episode.
• It’s interesting to watch Alpert come upon Locke knowing what we know from later in the season. And I noticed that Alpert had a surprised look on his face, and yet a rushed, knowing one. I wonder what direction they gave Nestor Carbonell before he did that scene?
• Charlotte mentions she hasn’t had a nosebleed since she was little. Was that just a throwaway line or is there a reason she had nosebleeds when she was a child?