(S05E04) "I have to make them come back... even if it kills me." - Locke
And so begins the quest of Jeremy Bentham. That's been one of the real treats this season - seeing the Oceanic Six in the present while having their plot juxtaposed against the real-time (well... as "real-time" as real-time can get when you're time traveling) plight of those still on the island three years ago. The fact that we only saw Locke lay the foundation for his plan involving the Orchid to get everyone back was still mesmerizing. I love knowing what happens to him but not knowing the circumstances of his "suicide" and how he ended up in that coffin at Hoffs Drawler. Despite the lack of any more development on Locke's plan beyond what we got, this episode was still phenomenal - mainly because two people we've all been missing finally showed up again.
Let's break down the happenings on the island first. Following Charlotte's collapse in last week's episode, I was hoping we'd get Dan to spill some of the answers that he clearly has. His knowledge is even more vital now that Juliet and Miles have also come down with nosebleeds.
If being neurologically affected by the the time flashes relates directly to exposure to the island as Dan says ("really bad jet-lag"), then this creates some interesting assumptions about Miles and Charlotte - mainly that they've both been on the island before for an extended period of time. Obviously, Juliet was. Now we know Charlotte is looking for where she was born and assuming it was on the island, that would account for her previous time there. Miles could be in the same boat and thus far, it would make sense if he turned out to be Pierre Chang's son, whom we saw in the premiere's opening sequence. Dan was in that sequence too and if we speculate that he's been on the island before as well, via one of his time traveling experiments at Oxford, then it's possible that he's Charlotte's father. It would certainly explain his love for her as well as the unyielding attention he gives her. Even Charlotte pointed out that he didn't need to keep babying her. That's what fathers do though. Could be a stretch, but I think it makes sense.
More island breakdown:
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I liked that they finally flashed to a point in time that they (and we) knew - during the season one episodes "Deus Ex Machina" and "Do No Harm." I thought it was interesting that Locke was concerned with avoiding the Swan hatch and Desmond's light. Obviously, John was there on the hatch when the light came on. So why is he so concerned with avoiding his past self?
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Sawyer seeing Kate help Claire give birth to Aaron was obviously a very telling scene to show again, especially considering everything else that happened in this episode. However, weren't Jin and Charlie also present for the birth? How come Sawyer didn't see them?
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And speaking of Jin, we finally found out that a.) he's alive, and b.) he's been within the island's radius making the time jumps right along with everyone else. Granted, he's been passed out on a plank... but he's there. While Locke found ship wreckage, which I immediately assumed was the Kahana, it turned out to be a much different and much older ship altogether - Rousseau's. The young (and pregnant) Danielle and her Frenchie companions (including her love, Robert) saved Jin. I'm giddy with anticipation to find out how her crew really died. We know she killed them, but I want more details other than they all had "the sickness."
OK, moving on to some Oceanic Six analysis. It came as no surprise that Ben is indeed Norton's client - I called that one weeks ago. However, I had really been hoping that I was wrong and using Carole Littleton as a red herring was hugely disappointing. I was really hoping for her to have some sinister motive. No dice though. It was all Ben and I'm assuming he was also behind the hitman sent to get Sayid in the hospital. Scaring people into doing his bidding by thinking it's their will has always been his strong suit.
Everyone's back together now, save for Hurley (who Norton seemed confident he could get released), and I would imagine that next week's episode will offer some info on how they have to return. I'm guessing Sun won't be into the idea though. It seems as though her motives are far less complicated than many have thought. She really does just want to kill Ben.
Parting thoughts...
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Sawyer had the best question of the episode when he asked Locke what he'd tell the Oceanic Six to make them come back. So far we only know he told them bad things happened. I'm guessing there's more to the story when we finally see him ring Jack or Kate's doorbell.
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How exactly did that bottle of Ajira Airways water get on that canoe? And where did the canoes come from? Why was the camp deserted? Could another plane have crashed on or near the island at whenever in time Locke and Co. jumped to? Whatever the answers, it seems as though there's another faction of people on the island now. Are they making the time jumps too? And why would they have taken the zodiac raft when they had the two canoes? They've got guns... we know that.
Here's the official release for next week's episode. Don't get a bloody nose reading it:
"This Place is Death" - Locke takes on the burden to stop the island's increasingly violent shifts through time. Meanwhile, Ben hits a roadblock in his attempt to reunite the Oceanic 6 and bring them back to the island, on "Lost," WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 (9:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on ABC.
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Let's talk about spoilers ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
2-05-2009 @ 8:12AM
SImpression said...
I get the feeling the flash with the Ajira bottle was in the future. I think the O6 use another plane (Ajira Airways) and crash back on the island and that is how they get back.
So, I guess that means there's a possibility that the group shooting at them was in fact the O6.
It's clearly a "set up" to be explained in a later episode, which they tend to like to do to show they aren't making things up as they go (think Ben in the Parka 5 or so episodes before we find out why).
Locke wanting to avoid himself reminded me of the Orchid Orientation film from Comic Con, where the two rabbits flashed in the same time or whatever, and Pierre was insistent that they didnt get anywhere near each other.
I don't like the idea of Daniel being Charlotte's dad. It's... off. Similarly, I don't like theories about Charlie Hume going back in time and becoming Charles Widmore either.
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2-05-2009 @ 12:22PM
CK said...
That is my thought exactly. I thought, too that the boats were the O6. I think it makes more sense than MORE people on the island. However, I have a feeling that it won't be clear until the end of this season or next season.
Ana Lucia told Hurley NOT to get arrested...he did. What now? There has to be more to it than Ben getting him out just like that or else why waste time showing Ana Lucia? Maybe Hurley is the roadblock mentioned in the preview for next week's episode...*cue nosebleed*
2-05-2009 @ 3:38PM
MacGuffin said...
Last night was the first night that I really could care less about this show.
This is coming from a huge Lost fan.
Too slow. Too dense. I'm getting tired of this.
I appreciate an intelligent show that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator, but this is ridiculous.
2-05-2009 @ 8:13AM
Franklin said...
My guess is that whenever a possible paradox will occur, the island jumps through time to prevent the paradox (or to lessen the effects of a paradox).
So when Sawyer spent too much time looking at past-Kate, the island jumped. If Locke had dared to try to talk to his past self at the hatch, the island would have jumped.
If my theory is right, then that means all of these time jumps we've seen so far have been happening to prevent a paradoxical encounter.
That means the people in the other canoe behind Locke, Sawyer, Juliet's, etc. canoe was probably their future selves trying to stop them -- for a reason we don't know why at this point, but will later this season.
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2-05-2009 @ 8:16AM
Eludium-Q36 said...
I like the way you're thinking on this, that time-surfing is a paradox-avoidance mechanism.
2-05-2009 @ 12:22PM
Jussup said...
Excellent theory... props to you!
2-05-2009 @ 1:18PM
puffin said...
Damn that's a very good theory. If it isn't what's happening, it should be, because that makes sense in every regard.
2-05-2009 @ 8:13AM
Kat said...
Ok, so I am not totally completely confused with the time jumps. I've explained it to myself in very basic terms (Back to the Future/Frequency), but I have some questions that I would like answered. In BTTF they had to be careful not to run into anyone from the past in order to not risk any future reprocussions, like pt2 where there was an alternate present time. They also had to be careful not to run into themselves in the past. Locke was sure to take a different path to the Orchid because he knew that "past Locke" was by the hatch, but he had no problem invading the others camps to talk to Alpert. Do the rules not apply to them because they are jumping around in time? If anyone has any ideas, let me know...
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2-05-2009 @ 8:14AM
Benjh said...
Since I'm French, just thought I'd post what those guys have been saying. The gist of it is:
"We're not getting anywhere, we shouldn't have followed these numbers"
Which is great information! They found those numbers even before crashing on the island, while still on the raft, and could simply hear them over the walky/talky.
Then:
"man in the water!/But we're all accounted for!"
Then later in the second part, on the beach, the tall blondish guy says: "We don't care who this guy is". Obviously not a good guy, could bring some tension.
Some of the accents, by the way, were french canadian, but that could only be because canadian actors are easier to hire.
Also as a reminder, "the little prince" was written by St Exupery who died when his postal plane crashed in the Mediterranean. His body was never recovered, however his plane was just a few years ago (meaning 50 years later).
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2-05-2009 @ 8:14AM
Brandon said...
I think the blond was from New Brunswick, and the rest were from Quebec.
2-05-2009 @ 8:14AM
MK said...
Thank you Benjh for the translation!
Your reference to St Exupery is great! Never knew that his plane was recovered 50 years later. Great catch with the title of the episode - never occurred to me to connect it to St Exupery "Little Prince" which is one of my favorite books. Thanks again!
2-05-2009 @ 8:15AM
bruce said...
If Ben is not allowed back on the Island (because he turned the thing that made the island disappear), how can Ben bring the Oceanic 6 back to the island?
I think Ben is doing what he's doing because it's the only way for HIM to get back to the island, which is where he wants to be (exhile doesn't suit Ben).
I'm sure Ben will tell Sun that Jin is alive and well back on the Island. She won't believe him but he'll convince her. Ben probably has some way of proving it to her.
I like the idea of Dan being Charlotte's father - I never thought of that, but it makes sense.
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2-05-2009 @ 10:30AM
Echy said...
In the previews for next week Ben is shown telling Sun that Jin is alive and that he can prove it.
2-05-2009 @ 10:30AM
bruce said...
Echy: Oh, I didn't catch the preview, my Tivo didn't record it. Thanks for confirming my guess (which wasn't that hard of a guess).
2-05-2009 @ 10:31AM
Grover said...
Dan being Charlotte's father doesn't make any sense at all. In 'Jughead', Daniel told Richard that he was in love with her. IN love. NOT, loved her... Better not be IN love with your daughter.
The enhanced episode of Jughead informed us that Penny and Desmond's Charlie was named after Charlie Pace. He's just another Charlie/Charles/Chuck... named out of respect for what Desmond's friend, Charlie Pace, did for an attempted rescue.
2-05-2009 @ 8:15AM
Toby O'B said...
Wow, this is why I read the online analyses and especially the comments for a show like this! It never occurred to me that they would be getting chased in the canoes by somebody they already knew! But now that I think about it, I did notice that the canoe fit six people easily and was at that time only thinking of "Oceanic 6/Island 6".
With this new idea you all set up, maybe the Oceanic 6 caused their Ajira flight to crash on some other island, they borrowed these canoes to get back to the Island, and now they're trying to stop Locke from whatever plan he's hatching. (Which is why they couldn't hit Sawyer in the back with a bullet; those were all just warning shots.)
Maybe..... Like many people say about this show, however it turns out, I'm in it for the ride!
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2-05-2009 @ 8:15AM
Toby O'B said...
I'm also hoping that somehow they remember about bringing Walt back as well. That's just not sitting right with me that only the Oceanic 6 are necessary to go back. Maybe so long as you left by the predestined corridor, like Michael and Walt did, then you're free to go. (I'm fairly certain the Island's going to "insist" on Frank and Desmond coming back as well.....)
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2-05-2009 @ 8:15AM
julie said...
These discussions every Thursday help me understand what happened the night before...
Since we're seeing more nosebleeds related to the timeshifting, I'm beginning to think the Rousseau did not literally "kill" her team members with normal weapons. Rather, I think she feels the guilt of their death by exposing them to the fatal effects of the island. It's what drove her mad.
Any thoughts or am I way off in the end zone here?
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2-05-2009 @ 8:16AM
Eludium-Q36 said...
"Little Prince" was a pretty great episode and the closing scene revealing a young Danielle Rousseau made my nose bleed a little. The only implausibility issue I had this time was that Dr Ariza was all over Jack outside of Sayid's room but when Jack took the phone call she seemed to let him off and of course the close combat noise made by Sayid and the dark guy brings no one to the room except for Jack and Ben. Please. But there near the end Sun seems to have bang-bang on her mind at Slip 23, wonder how that's gonna turn out -- but then again, Ben always talks himself out of an early demise.
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2-05-2009 @ 8:16AM
bruce said...
Franklin: Their future selves would not be shooting at their past selves. Those were some CLOSE shots, and none of them (nobody alive for that matter) is a good enough shot to be shooting such close shots as a warning but NOT to hit the person. Even when one is not bouncing up and down on waves in an unsteady canoe, the greatest shooter in the world wouldn't risk shooting their past self. One of the shots was so close it hit Sawyer's paddle.
Clever thinking, but clearly other people landed on the island and they were chasing the people who stole their sea canoe.
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