It’s bveen a LONG time since I’ve posted, but hey, don’t we all wish that we could just spend all day on the internet. Here is a fantastic video by mrlerone in which he has spliced together a chonological view of the crash. Awesome job! Many thanks to mermiz1 for sharing this with me. Enjoy!
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An Article from EW.com by Christine Fenno
The season 3 pattern continues: This episode, titled ‘’The Cost of Living,'’ answered a few questions (whose tumor?), raised a few questions (who’s the eye-patch guy?), and ignored many long-standing questions (how did Yemi and Eko crash on the same island?). When Juliet asked Jack to guess what she had brought him for lunch and he said, ‘’I'm not big on mysteries,'’ I wasn’t the only one who chuckled. We’ve digested a steady diet of them since the pilot aired.
The big mystery that this episode confirmed was whose tumor was on the X-ray: Ben’s. I don’t get how that jibes with the physical prowess Ben demonstrated in the previous episode, but I’m hoping the answer is coming soon. Once the cancer was out of the bag, Ben played the straightforward card and appealed to Jack’s mercy: ‘’I want you to want to save my life….All I ask is that you consider it.'’ And he added: ‘’Two days after I found out I had a fatal tumor on my spine, a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky.'’ If we take that line at face value (dare we?), it indicates that Ben and the Others played no role in the Oceanic crash, as some viewers have speculated.
On to the tantalizing mystery of Eye-Patch Man, who skulked into view on a Pearl station monitor. Is he an Other? Does the glass eye the Tailies found in the Arrow station (in season 2) belong to him? Nikki the newbie had the idea to fire up the additional monitors. Although she still hasn’t won me over (I kept wishing Sawyer would drop in and drawl, ‘’Pipe down, Daisy Duke'’) and Paulo’s pearl of wisdom about the Pearl’s john ('’The toilet still works'’) sounded random, the episode set them up to become more pivotal characters. Their couplehood definitely seems clearer now; my bet is they were on their honeymoon before 815 crashed.
Here’s a Pearl-related question I’ve had ever since the scene when we first peeked inside. (Cue it up, those of you who own season 2 on DVD.) Entering the Pearl station for the first time, Eko glanced at a ceiling panel that had been torn away to reveal a camera aimed into the hatch. Why was the Pearl, which was designed to monitor other stations, being monitored? (Is Ben’s voyeur studio inside Hydra the real spy hub?) There was visible debris — is that from when staffers abandoned the Pearl? Some theorize that the Others are a ‘’breakaway'’ group of Dharma folks — if so, did the breakaway begin when the observers realized they were the observed? Locke’s loss of faith inside the Pearl may have merely echoed theirs. Imagine two Dharma minions finding that camera and bailing from the project. (The Pearl T-shirt worn by a skeleton in the polar-bear cave means they might not have gotten far.)
Meanwhile, inside Hydra, Jack — after a field trip to Colleen’s funeral — learned that Juliet’s feminine wiles had been part of Ben’s plan to ‘’break'’ him. (I disagree with Ben that Juliet resembles Jack’s ex — Sarah is more physically angular and emotionally one-dimensional.) The episode’s best scene was when Juliet stood behind Jack’s glass wall and played a movie (To Kill a Mockingbird, she said) that was actually a videotape of silent messages for him. As she earnestly spoke of saving Ben’s life ('’He’s a great man'’), Jack glanced at Juliet on the tape, holding up ten handwritten placards instructing him to ignore her speech, informing him that Ben is a dangerous liar, and asking him to let Ben die on the operating table — and make it look like an accident. The most provocative of her cards read, ‘’Some of us want a change.'’ (I hadn’t seriously considered that Ben was a cult leader with disgruntled disciples, but I will now.) Stunned, Jack played along. Could it be the birth of an alliance that unites castaways and some of the Others for the greater good? It better not be a trick, if only because Jack is overdue for some momentum. Let’s get him out of that aquarium!
Time to don your mourning garb. (White pajamas are all the rage — comfy, if not practical.)
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to remember Mr. Eko, a Nigerian who spent his final days on earth marooned on a tropical island where he was fatally thrashed by a menacing, muscular entity made of black smoke. Eko was a passionate man. He will be remembered (okay, by me, anyway) for his perfect belly button and pretty eyelashes. His stature, and frequent silences, made him the most intimidating of Flight 815’s survivors. A formative milestone occurred when, as a young boy, he was kidnapped by gangsters who essentially baptized him into a life of crime (an event that spared his little brother, Yemi, that fate). On the island, Eko displayed a devout religious faith, but in the end, he was unrepentant for his so-called sins. Eko’s conscience haunted his final hours. Time and again, his primary survival tactic had been violence; he struggled to reconcile that with his (and others’) definition of goodness.
We already knew Eko was mistaken for a priest when soldiers tried stopping his small plane from taking off with smuggled heroin (and Yemi) on board. In new flashbacks, we learned that Eko continued acting on criminal urges — trying to sell the vaccines Yemi had procured and committing murder in Yemi’s church. Thanks to a preachy villager telling Eko, ‘’You owe Yemi one church,'’ we now understand why Eko tried building one on the island. I was moved when he knelt before the Yemi apparition and said, ‘’I did my best.'’ Whether we believe that or not, Eko believed it.
I’m ready for my own confession (it’s been over two decades since my last confession, yadda yadda): I have theories on just about everything on the island except the smoke monster. None of the explanations I’ve heard (psychic energy, a ‘’security'’ system) sit right with me. Locke hinted that the monster might be a devious shape shifter; he described ‘’a very bright light…beautiful'’ (to which Eko replied, ‘’That is not what I saw'’). Are certain castaways’ visions — Jack seeing his father, Hurley seeing Dave, Eko seeing Yemi — caused by a monster with shape-shifting and mind-reading powers? Are there good and bad monster twins (to fit my twin theme, introduced last week)? Any way you look at Smokey, the monster got Eko but good.
A final lament before I let Eko and his Jesus stick go: I’ll miss Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje — his acting was up there with Terry O’Quinn’s, Elizabeth Mitchell’s, and Michael Emerson’s. I guess he was the sacrifice the island demanded.
What do you think? Will Jack let Ben die on the operating table? Is Juliet trustworthy? Will the Pearl play a role in rescuing Kate, Sawyer, and Jack? And who’s the Eye-Patch Man?
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EW.com’s Christine Fenno on the second island reveal in “Every Man For Himself”.
And Con Man takes one on the chin….And another….And a kick to the gut…and he’s down again….Was that not the messiest, bloodiest Lost yet? I’m not what you’d call a fan of physical violence. But I loved-loved-loved this episode, down to the very last punch. Take that, Linus, yeah!
I’m sold on the adrenaline-rush direction the show has taken (giant needle to the sternum, anyone?), but I’d never stay this addicted if we all weren’t regularly marched up to the top of Cliffhanger Cliff where…what the…
There are TWO islands?
Well, fake me out and call me flabbergasted. Of course, the clues were there all along. Last season, the Pearl Station orientation film named a mysterious Pala Ferry. And sure enough, Kate, Sawyer, and Jack were taken to the ferry’s pier in order to be whisked off the island. Then, early in this episode, Ben told Juliet, ‘’The sub is back,'’ but I was too preoccupied with my new theory — that they’re siblings! — to see the jungle for the trees. I’d always pictured the Others tooling around the castaways’ ‘’beloved island,'’ as Ben called it, docking at secret coves, but clearly, more extensive commuting has been going on. How long till we see that submarine?
Expect Locke and his rescue team to do a double take if they ever learn that Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are imprisoned on another island. Unless large-scale invisible-cloaking technology is at work (never say never), the new island, about half a square mile in size by Ben’s estimate (Alcatraz times two), is remarkably well-hidden, tucked behind the larger island in a way that the Oceanic survivors have never seen it. This may explain why, two episodes ago, Ben urgently ordered Colleen to stop Sayid’s expedition — but recall Juliet’s casual comment, ‘’So they have a boat? Sailing in circles’ll keep them busy.'’ Did she want Hydra Island discovered? It may be she wants out of Othersville altogether.
Which island is home to Othersville? My replay of season 3’s premiere leaves it open to interpretation, depending on whether you think the aerial shot depicts one big island with the Oceanic crashes in the background or two different land masses. Perhaps Hydra Island was unoccupied until Ben mobilized his crew and incorporated Hydra’s cages and surveillance into his plan. Perhaps at the construction site where Kate and Sawyer worked, the Others weren’t playacting but actually breaking ground on some kind of Chunnel. Locke’s polar-bear cave might itself be the opening of an underwater tunnel; that’s one explanation for how bears would get from Dharma Zoo to Beloved Island. (Another: Polar bears swim.)
On to Ben’s dramatics. Which I adore. After rolling up his sleeves to beat Sawyer bloody in the bear cage, Ben strapped him down and sicced two Pulp Fiction fans on him (one wielding a super-scary needle), then rattled the cage of a cute bunny (branded with an 8). Next he told Sawyer they had implanted a pacemaker that would cause his heart to explode if his pulse quickened. (Wisely, Ben aborted the preposterously awesome ruse. The giveaways included Sawyer’s surviving a glimpse of topless Kate, a beat-down from Danny, and a taxing hike uphill. Moreover, once Jack was rushed out of his cell to operate on Colleen, we learned the Others had no surgeons among their flock. Certainly, amateurs don’t do cardiac implants.) Ben knew Sawyer was pining for Kate, and threatened her if Sawyer confided in her — effectively ending their cross-cage conspiring — all before unveiling that breathtaking vista at episode’s end. Will Sawyer give up hope? As I said, the man’s in love. The look on his face when Kate claimed that she only said she loved him so that Danny would stop hitting him was unforgettable. If the Others are trying to get those two to mate, they still have their work cut out for them.
Sawyer’s been locked up and in love before. We discovered, via terrific flashbacks, that he’s also a daddy. The baby’s name is Clementine Phillips, unless her mother, Cassidy, the con victim who pressed charges and sent him to prison, is working another con. When Sawyer earned a reward from the feds for helping them recover money another inmate had stolen, he sent it anonymously to a bank account for little Clem, either as a loving gesture for his child or to pay back Cassidy. I believe Sawyer the Cynical Smart-Ass is fundamentally an optimist and believes the daughter is real.
Jack is fundamentally a fighter, and he did to Juliet what Ben did to Locke last season. Not much fun, is it, Dr. Fertility, having a newcomer detect a power imbalance and question why you take orders from someone who should be your equal? Like Locke, Juliet was visibly stung. She couldn’t back up her claim that she and Ben make decisions together because Ben entered and commanded her to follow him. Next time Juliet brings pancakes during Jack’s cartoons, you know he’ll be pushing that button. (First, though, he wants to know whose spinal tumor he saw on an X-ray before he operated on doomed Colleen. Best guess: Ben’s. Evidence against: Ben’s cage-fighting skills.)
Ready for a wild speculation? Many suspect Ben and Juliet shared a romantic past. My hunch, mentioned above, is that they’re brother and sister. Twins, in fact! Offspring of the DeGroots, let’s say. I’m not as clairvoyant as Desmond, but I detect sibling rivalry. What if Ben grew up on the island and stayed but Juliet left to get her medical degree? Maybe he was closer to Mom and Dad, she tasted ‘’real world'’ freedom, mutual jealousy developed….The key to what brought her back to her brother’s turf could lie in the mystery of what happened to the whole Dharma Initiative. Perhaps Bad Twin, the goofy novel published last year, was — in its title alone — a major clue: The island has a twin, the plane broke in two, Dharma stations were staffed by pairs, two orientation films were narrated by look-alikes with different names (twin brothers?), and we’ve encountered two polar bears. Of Mice and Men, heavily referenced this episode, follows two men who share a brotherly relationship. (Ben and Danny must be Lost’s George and Lenny.) Heck, hoss, I predict Sun will have twins!
Let’s not forget Desmond the Prophet. His new benevolence is refreshing, and I like seeing the castaways discover his gift. Still need to know how he escaped the Hatch, but I have faith the answer’s coming.
What do you think? Can Locke lead a rescue to a whole new island? Is Juliet cracking up? Why do the Others need a fertility doctor? Will Sawyer be hurt by Kate? And will we see Ben’s bunny again?
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Every Man For Himself:
Desmond is a roof expert.
Charlie does a damn good Desmond impersination.
The Others use cartoons as a form of mind control.
Juliet claims that the Others make decisions together.
Picket and Coleen were married.
Sawyer was once in jail.
“Tote bag” duty is concidered a plum job in jail.
Sawyer weighs 180 give or take.
Sawyer is 32 err um 35 years old.
The Other’s coms are all down due to the Swan Hatch implosion.
Benry hates needles.
The Others have seen Pulp Fiction.
Paolo doesn’t use a Five Iron.
Paolo has needs to square his shoulders more.
The Others have at least 8 bunnies.
The Others have implanted a pace maker in Sawyer’s chest that will cause his heart to explode should his heart rate exceed 140 beats per minute.
Sawyers watch will beep if his heart rate comes within 15 beats of his active rate.
Cassidy (the woman he conned) pressed charges, and got Sawyer sent to jail.
Sawyer and Cassidy have a daughter named Clementine.
Cassidy and Clementine are living in Albacerque New Mexico
Jack, Kate and Sawyer are being held in different parts of the same facility.
Juliet brings in Jack to try and help save Coleen’s life.
The Other’s Crash Cart is broken.
Picket beats up Sawyer after Coleen dies.
Kate admits that she Loves Sawyer.
Kate’s climbing skills allows her to leave her cage, but chooses to stay because Sawyer won’t leave.
Picket’s real name is Danny.
Juliet is a fertility doctor.
Someone has a fatal tumor growing on their spine.
Jack figures out why he was kidnapped.
Desmond should be a Weather Man.
Hurley makes a mean fruit salad.
Desmond uses the golf club to make a lightning rod.
Sawyer buys his way out of jail by tricking an embezzler into revealing where he hid the 10 million dollars he stole.
Sawyer uses the reward money for finding the stolen cash to set up an account for his daughter Clementine.
Cassidy and Clementine’s last name is Phillips.
The pace maker in Sawyer’s chest is fake… or is it?
Jack Kate and Sawyer are being held captive on a neighboring island, NOT Lostie Island.
The island that Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are held captive on is roughly twice the size of Alcatraz island.
Benry has read Of Mice and Men.
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EW.com’s Christine Fenno on “Further Instructions”
They tease us a lot ’cause they got us on the spot!
Welcome back, Locke and Hurley and Eko. Also, of course, Desmond (nekkid!). And, for that matter, most of the Lost characters who didn’t end season 2 on a pier or a boat. In episode 3 of season 3, we got the barest beginnings of an explanation of what happened to Station 3, a.k.a. the Swan, after the turn of the fail-safe key. Now I’m anxious (as anxious as a mute being wheeled through an airport by a ghost!) to learn how Locke, Eko, and Desmond survived the detonation that turned the Hatch into a crater. Who can say if we’ll ever see the bottom of said crater, but I look forward to a flashback that shows the electromagnetic implosion itself. I just really need (a) closure on the question of how our boys physically got out and (b) more naked Desmond.
The episode, titled ‘’Further Instructions'’ (which refers to Eko’s suggestion that Locke attempt the rescue of Kate, Sawyer, and Jack), had false starts, but I enjoyed the trippy places the writers took us. Which is not to say I didn’t pull my hair out. Even with no sign of wily Benjamin Linus (if that is indeed his name!) — but perhaps befitting an episode with a marijuana-based backstory — I am getting more paranoid: Did the Jesus Stick fall on Locke, or was it thrown? Did the rain just suddenly end while Locke was driving, or can the mysterious hitchhiker change the weather? Did we simply never notice those two hotties among the Oceanic 815 extras before, or does the island make people sexier? Good thing I like having my mind messed with.
Locke definitely set out to mess with his mind. The episode opened on him in a jungle clearing, flat on his back, in a shot reminiscent of the opening of the pilot episode, when Jack first came to, moments after the plane crash. Right away we learned that Locke had inexplicably lost his voice but, happily, not his ability to walk. When Eko’s scripture stick dropped from the sky (with an Old Testament verse stating, ‘’Lift up your eyes and look north'’), Locke marched off to build…a sweat lodge?
In one of the false starts mentioned earlier, Locke roped Charlie into guarding his sweat lodge, which he built on Eko’s church site. While Terry O’Quinn played charades with gusto, the miming nevertheless came off as pretty silly, and Charlie’s bitchy act fell flat. (A timid truce between the two took hold by episode’s end, though the motivation for Charlie’s reversion to tagalong mode was hazy.)
The episode found its groove not long after Locke ate his poi and gazed into his campfire, sweating himself into a trance. Soon…Boone! Seeing Ian Somerhalder made me downright nostalgic for the simpler days of season 1. Boone’s steering Locke’s groovy-queasy vision, while asking him to guess which castaway needed his help, was the most Twilight Zone moment I can recall in the series to date. And I mean that in a good way — I love me some Rod Serling! That said, dreamland (or in this case, sweaty-trance-land) is not frequently visited on Lost, accustomed as we are to the flashback device. Frankly, I hope we don’t find ourselves there too often. As it is, we’ve got so many cryptic incidents to clear up in the ‘’real world,'’ on and off the island.
For example, the polar-bears-in-the-tropics mystery is now officially revived, although we sure didn’t get very far with it (at least not much past Tom’s previous reference to ‘’the bears'’). But encountering the polar bear deep inside a cave full of human skeletons, one wearing a Dharma-logo T-shirt, gave me the creepy-crawlies. At some point after the Hatch meltdown, poor Eko apparently got dragged there by the bear.
Meanwhile, Locke’s outdoorsy flashbacks were tricky for me to place, chronology-wise. Was there a clear indication that this farm phase in his life occurred post-Helen? Saying grace, he did refer to his anger problem as if it were fairly recent, and to ‘’family'’ with fresh bitterness. I thought featuring Twin Peaks alum Chris Mulkey as a wacky-tobacky farmer was brilliant. He and Virginia Morris, who played Jan, pulled the rug out from under Locke, causing him to panic at the prospect of losing his precarious, hard-won sense of belonging. While I’m not convinced that what we needed most was to see another occasion where someone Locke trusted turned out to be using him, the standoff in the woods with Eddie (who targeted Locke for being ‘’amenable for coercion'’) was the episode’s strongest moment. For numbers watchers who might have missed it: Eddie’s sheriff ID was 84023.
By the way, anyone who’s worried about the attractiveness of the remaining beach-bound Losties — what with Jack, Sawyer, and Kate doing time in Others State Prison — rest easy. New cast members Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro (as Nikki and Paulo) abruptly showed up, evidently to bring sexy back. Based on the matter-of-fact way Locke addressed them, I presume they’re legit and not Ethan-like spies. Theorize away about whether they’re a couple, or a couple-to-be!
I will credit this episode with shoring up one of my most deeply held Lost theories: Hurley can do no wrong. I just don’t see it happening. He can lend me his tie-dye shirt and ask why I didn’t implode ('’You’re not going to, like, turn into the Hulk, or something…?'’) anytime. He makes me smile. Desmond skipping stones in the sunset made me smile too — I hoped he might sing a tune from Godspell, looking all Jesus-as-happy-hippie in that moment. Also, it’s fun that he might be clairvoyant now. And that he runs around naked.
What did you think? Did Eko wake up and speak to Locke, or was it a hallucination? Did Locke shoot Eddie in the back after all? Is it any clearer what a polar bear is doing on the island? And who will lend Desmond some pants?
