(S03E21) This episode was all about building suspense for the big season finale, and mission accomplished. Several big questions were answered, but not the one that fans were hoping for. If we weren't at the end of the season, I would complain about not getting an immediate update on Locke, but I can wait one more week. After Desmond's upsetting prediction, there had to be another Charlie-centric episode, and this one was surprising--to say the least.
The Flashback
Charlie's flashback was made up of his life's greatest hits--his favorite experiences and memories. His first great moment was hearing Driveshaft's "You All Everybody" playing on the radio for the first time. Charlie was close to quitting the band on the way to their gig in Clitheroe (I'm sure Clitheroe's residents loved the shout-out) when the band's luck finally improved.
Charlie's next favorite moment was learning to swim with his father. I hadn't thought about it before, but Charlie is one of the few characters who doesn't have a messed up relationship with his father. We've seen very little of Mr. Pace up to this point, actually. Was anyone else bothered by the fact that Charlie is suddenly a great swimmer, when he claimed that he couldn't swim in "White Rabbit" (the episode where Joanna drowned)? Was he lying to get out of risking his life? He wasn't much of a hero back in Season One. Things have certainly changed.
Charlie's third happiest moment was the Christmas that Liam gave him the "DS" ring, which was a family heirloom. It's interesting that Charlie and Liam used their great-grandfather's initials (Dexter Stratton) to inspire their band's name. I wonder what other names were in the running? I was absolutely heartbroken when I saw the ring in Aaron's crib later in the episode.
The fourth moment involved another famous Lost crossover. During a very familiar moment in Covent Garden (wasn't that scene nearly identical to the scene in "Flashes Before Your Eyes"?), Charlie saved Nadia, Sayid's former love, from a mugger. Finally, Charlie listed his first encounter with Claire as his last great moment in life, and ended up asking Desmond to give Claire his list.
The Jungle
No word this week on Locke's fate. When Ben returned to the Others' camp, he merely said that Locke had been in "an accident," and that Jacob wanted the kidnapping to go down 24 hours sooner. Was Ben trying to distract the Others with the kidnapping plot so they wouldn't go looking for Locke? He sounded desperate when he was changing the game plan; now the Others are going to kidnap every woman and kill every man who gets in their way.
After Karl's disappearance into the woods in "Stranger in a Strange Land," I wasn't sure if we would see him again during Season Three. He turned out to be far more important than I expected. As soon as Alex learned of the Others' new timetable, she sent Karl to warn the 815ers. I can't wait to see if Alex gets to meet Danielle by the end of the season. If that look that she exchanged with Ben is any indication, Alex is still having major doubts about her "father."
The Beach
Jack finally brought everyone (including the viewers) up to speed on his motives. I'm not sure how he managed it, but he contacted Danielle and persuaded her to help him take out the Others. Danielle's scene in "The Brig" finally makes sense! I would love to know how he got Danielle, who is normally all about self-preservation, to become a team player.
Jack's plan to blow up the Others when they reached the marked tents had one major flaw. The plan depended on knowing the Others' time of arrival, and Karl's news complicated things. Sayid and Jack improvised by assigning three people to shoot the dynamite at the right moment. Who knew that Bernard was such a good shot, or that he was still around? There haven't been enough Rose and Bernard scenes as far as I'm concerned.
The second element of the plan involved Naomi's satellite phone. Sayid believed that they could get the phone to transmit a signal by knocking out Danielle's distress call at the radio tower, and by sending someone to the Looking Glass station. Juliet told the 815ers that Ben was jamming all distress signals at a mysterious underwater DHARMA station. How many more stations are there? I'm waiting to see a DHARMA station located in the clouds; that would be the ultimate Star Wars reference, wouldn't it? They've already had Billy Dee Williams as a guest star.
Desmond's newest vision had Charlie sacrificing his life by going on the Looking Glass suicide mission. This time, Charlie's desire to be a hero for Claire and Aaron was greater than his desire to live. I was a bit choked up watching Charlie say his goodbyes to everyone, especially Hurley. For a minute, I really thought that Desmond was going to take Charlie's place, but Charlie wanted to confront his destiny head-on. Out on the ocean, he knocked Desmond unconscious and dove for the station's moon pool.
Apparently not all of the DHARMA stations are filled with strange men; some are occupied by gun-toting women. As soon as Charlie made it to the moon pool area, he was met by two armed ladies (they have to be Others, right?). I'm guessing that Ben's story about the flooding was another lie to keep the rest of the Others in the dark about the island. ABC's press release for the episode lists their names as Greta and Bonnie, and they should have a major influence on Charlie's fate. I was a little surprised that this episode didn't have the "payoff" of Charlie's death, but he hasn't pushed that yellow button yet. Death could still be in his future.
Final Comments/Questions:
- Did anyone else think of Ricky Gervais on Extras when Naomi said "You havin' a laugh?"
- Juliet's snarky comment after Karl outed her as a mole was hilarious.
- I could watch Sayid tackle Others all day long.
- Naomi seemed oddly relaxed during the episode. If you were hearing about the Others for the first time, wouldn't you be a little scared?
I'm giving this episode a 6 out of 7, only because it was more of a momentum-builder than a stand-alone episode. See you next week for the big season finale!
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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
5-17-2007 @ 2:34PM
Cheryl said...
The comments about Annie being one of the women in the underwater hatch is interesting but I remember Juliet telling Ben that she "couldn't save Annie or the other women" when she was trying to get him to send her home. I presumed that it was his Annie she was talking about.
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5-17-2007 @ 2:55PM
Squirtshirts said...
I'm hoping that the return of "You All Everybody" will finally lead to some sales of one of my favorite, and one of the more obscure, baby t-shirt designs on my online store Squirtshirts.com - "You All Everybaby" at http://www.cafepress.com/squirtshirts/2084779
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5-17-2007 @ 3:37PM
LC said...
I think the underwater station IS manned by the others. It is putting out a jamming signal. If they weren't in cahoots with Ben, they would shut it down and call for help I would think. Not to mention that Ben had a submarine at the time and would have had a team take out anyone the looking glass by tossing some gas grenades in the enclosed space or cut off their food and fresh water supply.
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5-17-2007 @ 5:28PM
Peter said...
Great episode. It's too bad the episode is given the label as the "set up" for the finale, because as a stand alone episode it was really strong. Might have even been the best lead in episode to a finale I've seen this year. Normally these types of show are boring but not this one. Karl's frantic race to meet the people on the beach got the show off to a fast start, and the build up as Charlie accepted his fate and swam to the under water hatch kept the show very interesting. And the fact that Charlie didn't die as expected but is now being held at gun point was a great twist to end the episode. I never thought for a second anyone would be down there. I give it 7/7. I never thought the "set up" to the finale would be so good.
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5-17-2007 @ 5:51PM
Mel said...
I am so glad to see that Charlie is still alive (although I think he's pretty likely to die next week). Even if he had died, I would've been saddened but still satisfied, because this served as a spectacular sendoff to my favorite character since day one. There's no loose ends left to tie up with him, and he was able to say his goodbyes and leave a lasting legacy. I've always wanted Charlie to have a happy life with Claire and Aaron, and it showed that he was completely devoted to them to the point of going on a suicide mission for his little family. His list was very touching, and I cried a lot last night. During his goodbyes to Claire, Aaron, and Hurley, listing his first meeting with Claire as the best moment in his life, and that shot of his shoe floating up to the surface. Back when the show first premiered, I was in eigth grade and my best friends and I all loved Lost and were obsessed with those shoes, so it made me very happy to see them featured so poingently, because that was something really iconic for Charlie's character at the beginning.
I want Charlie to live on and have his happy life with Claire and Aaron, but that episode was such a great potential send-off that I might not've minded a death as much.
(I also wondered about his "I don't swim" moment in White Rabbit. Ah well, it was the fifth episode. They were still ironing out character details, I prefer really extensive planning, but it's something I can forgive.)
And it was great to see Rose and Bernard!!
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5-17-2007 @ 6:31PM
ac said...
Anyone else have a feeling that Bernard is going to die next week?
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5-17-2007 @ 6:59PM
lcballoon said...
Just a thought... Desmond's visions started occuring after he was hit in the head in a bar. Maybe they will stop coming now that he has been hit in the head again.
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5-17-2007 @ 9:52PM
Craig said...
Would anyone speculate that while Walt disapeared during season 2 but was still listed as a series regular that they secretly filmed scenes to be shown at a later date? If they did any sort of planning, they knew that he would have aged too much by season 4, 5, or 6.
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5-17-2007 @ 10:02PM
spot said...
Charlie saved Nadia?
great reiew and ideas here http://bostonsportz.com/blog/2007/5/17/greatest-hits.html
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5-17-2007 @ 11:10PM
BobbyD said...
If the purpose of the Dharma Project's Looking Glass Station is to jam all transmissions leaving the island, why don't the 815er's just cut the cable (and power) to Looking Glass rather than swim down to press a yellow button inside Looking Glass?
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5-17-2007 @ 11:29PM
hot zizzy said...
This was a pretty good episode, but not too much happened besides setting up for what looks like an amazing finale. I give it a 3/5. Here's my full, much more in depth review:
http://www.arrogantics.com/2007/05/17/lost-season-3-episode-21-greatest-hits-review/
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5-17-2007 @ 11:32PM
hot zizzy said...
By the way, Evangeline Lilly is really hot:
http://www.arrogantics.com/2007/05/16/tv-tna-evangeline-lilly/
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5-18-2007 @ 1:40PM
Kris said...
Few things:
First off: People Jack is NOT going to die-a. they are putting him back in a leader role and he will be the one to face off w/Ben I bet but it will eventually be a drawl-Lock will probably come back and be the chosen one to defeat Ben b/c of his special connection to the island. B. Jack, as much as he can be super annoying is one of the main bolts of the show—it’s like a seatbelt w/out a shoulder strap—it just doesn’t look right.
2nd: if Juliet is telling the truth about the jamming signal how could the others be able to do that and not have power over the looking glass?
3rd-the theory last week the Ben is the only one who sees Richard was disproved b/c Ben’s main henchman looked straight at him.
4th- Seriously, all you men commenting on Kate’s ‘money shot’ –get some class-if you want soft porn that bad watch Dirt instead!
5th- I bet Lock will come back in the finale and save everyone since you can already see they all get captured.
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5-18-2007 @ 1:55PM
MissTex said...
Was it ever determined if Kelvin was Dharma or an Other? If he was Dharma, couldn't there be other Dharma members who survived at the other stations? Would it be possible that the people at the Looking Glass don't know about the jamming, or don't want to stop it because the only way to do that is the flip the switch that will apparently flood the station and kill them?
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5-18-2007 @ 3:52PM
David said...
Still love the show for its mystery, character and plot
development, but there are way too many things that make no sense. Rather than risk Charlie's life - Jack
called it a "suicide mission" - why don't they just cut
the damn cable? Or use a stick of dynamite to blow it apart? Since Danielle has known for some time now
that Alex is alive, why hasn't she attempted to contact
her? Why does Alex call Ben "Dad"? Why does it matter that the submarine is gone since Michael and Walt left
the island on a boat? Why did Ben have to kill off the Dharma members? And why did that make him the leader of the "others"? In any real world - and Lindelof and Cuse have said the characters are real, not dead and not in purgatory - how the hell can they provide an acceptable explanation for black smoke that can throw
people around the jungle and kill them - the island's healing power but inability to keep pregnant women healthy or even alive - the completely pointless episode and scene where two people are bitten by paralyzing spiders and then buried alive (funny no one else has been bitten by one of those spiders) - an invisible man who supposedly controls Ben but needs help - and now
an inhabited underwater station - and the ridiculous timeline. No possible way that all that has happened could have happened in just 90 days. Alternate universe or time/space continuum? I'll be watching, and am curious, but I'm not too hopeful anymore that any
final resolution will make sense, even within the context of the story.
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5-18-2007 @ 3:54PM
Akbar Fazil said...
To everyone saying "cut the cable"
How do we even know that the cable supplys power to the station? It could be any number of things and not a power cable.
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5-18-2007 @ 5:45PM
iver said...
well... just cut the cable anyway or find out where it goes - it maybe an anchoring/safety cable. and why didn´t we see Desmond´s vision? and it would be a plot twist if Hurley meant to signal someone with the flare gun...but we have too much back story on him to...ya, know, ah....DUDE!
ok, it was a good episode. The idea of Annie, the Russian guy and Niomi as old Dharma folks would be interesting. But why/how would Penny be in the Looking Glass? Maybe Sun would be, since her dad´s company has ties to Dharma and build some ships.... and possibly submarines?
Rose great delivery of "...hiding in the bushes"
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5-18-2007 @ 9:06PM
Silkymo said...
I just can't take all of this falling in love and having sex and they have been on the island what 90 days or so. Charlies flashbacks were nice dramatic moments but as far as the Lost story goes it did nothing for me. I liked this episode as a good setup for the finale. It gave you teasers but it didn't give you you any deaths or real answers just yet. I hope they give a pretty good solution as to how Locke can survive a gunshot wound for 24 hours without bleeding to death. I still don't trust Julliette. There has to be a way to get to the Looking Glass station without risking a dangerous swim. Would the submarine fit under there? I don't think Penny is one of the gunwomen, it looks nothing like her. Naomi is way too clam for someone who had her lung plunged, almost died twice and is in another life threathening situation. It would seem that her wanting to get rescued would be more on her mind than soe random talk with Charlie. Did anyone think that the mugging scene was kinda staged. I mean Charlie unarmed just chases the mugger off and Nadia has time to notice how many people walked by. How long was she in the alley fighting the mugger off anyway?
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5-21-2007 @ 12:28AM
Mac said...
Just one thing LOCKE is alive and well in next weeks episode, so says my TV GUIDE. LOCKE & JACK are supposed to have a face off.
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