"Jughead" (Season 5, Episode 3)

Have I mentioned that I love this show? I love it even more when one of my theories turns out to be true (more on that below). Plus, tonight's episode let me theorize about another character's identity (more on that below, too).

Best Line

• "Wanna stay here in Crazytown or help me rescue the geek?" Sawyer to Juliet.
  

Did You Notice?

• The opening scene where Penny gives birth takes place in the municipality of Mabuhay in the Philippines. "Mabuhay"is also a word used to exclaim long life.
  
• Desmond was shouting "Efren Salonga", the name of the doctor.
  
• I loved Desmond talking to his son about "the very special island" only to be referring to Great Britain. And his description of Scotland sounded familiar: "Mountains, glens, monsters, deep lochs" As in Locke?
• Is Charlotte's condition what Faraday experienced with Theresa Spencer? Is this way he is so concerned for her?
  
• New Theory Alert! The blond girl on the island is referred to by Richard as Ellie. In the rerun of last week's episode at 8 p.m. last night, the enhanced information noted that the white-haired woman in the final scene (who I believe is Faraday's mother) was "Eloise Hawking". Eloise was also the name of the rat Faraday sent through the maze in the episode "The Constant". Ellie could be a nickname for Eloise. In other words, Faraday was held at gunpoint by a younger version of his mother. He did say "You look so much like someone I use to know." If it was 1954 and Ellie was in her twenties and now it's 2007, fifty years later, then that would make her the right age to be Eloise Hawking.
• So U.S. soldiers had been to the island at some point in its past? Seems like a lot of people know about this hard-to-find island.
• The camp and its layout of tents was reminiscent of the village of New Otherton.
• Who were the people that the Oxford janitor said had been poking around Faraday's old lab?
  
• The name tag of the other soldier captured by Locke read "Cunningham".
• Did Locke not shoot "Jones" as he ran away because he realized he was one of his people or because of the ramifications of what killing Charles Widmore might have caused to future events?
• Abigail Spencer's vest indicated she worked at QuikMart, a convenience store in England (not to be confused with Kwik-E-Mart, which is a convenience store in Springfield).
  
• Theresa Spencer is apparently suffering the same debilitating time jumps that Minkowski did on the freighter.
• According to Juliet, Richard Alpert "has always been here" and as to how old he is? "Old."
• Does the "Jughead" bomb end up getting buried under the Swan hatch? Remember from Season 1 that something big was encased in a lot of concrete there.
• Widmore's office had a painting of a snarling polar bear.
  
• Allow me a moment while I pat myself on the back for correctly figuring out last week that "Jones" was actually a younger Charles Widmore. So if Ellie is Faraday's mother than they have know each other for 50 years, which would explain why the older Widmore knows she is in Los Angeles.
• Is Penny in jeopardy going to L.A. with Desmond since Ben is there and had sworn to her father that he would kill her in retaliation of Alex being shot by Keamy?
  
• It was a nice, subtle revelation that Desmond and Penny named their son Charlie after the man who sacrificed himself so they could one day be together.
• I loved the conversation between Locke and Richard as Locke desperately tried to convince an amused Richard of the truth to his seemingly outrageous statements.
• Locke telling Richard when and where he would be born explains why Richard was in the maternity ward when Locke was born. And Locke showing Richard the compass ties back to Richard visiting a young Locke in the foster home, hoping he would select the compass from a group of objects. They do chose their leaders at a very early age, according to Richard.
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Penny said that Desmond only remembered 2 days ago that he was supposed to find Faraday's mother.
• Ellie said there were 5 people waiting at the creek.
• Miles sensed 4 U.S. soldiers buried; 3 who were shot.
• Faraday guessed that it could be as soon as 5 minutes until the next flash.
• Abigail Spencer notes that her sister Theresa once thought she was 3 years old.
  
• The father of the Spencer sisters died 5 years ago.
• Locke told Sawyer he would give him a 10 minute head start.
• Widmore had been funding Faraday's research for 10 years.
• Widmore said he hadn't seen his daughter for 3 years.
  
• Locke told Richard he would be born in 2 years.
  

Previews - Next week's "The Little Prince" appears to have Ben trying to convince Kate to join him and Jack. Also, Locke seems to be witnessing the moment from his past when he couldn't break into the hatch and the shaft of light burst up into the night sky.

"Because You Left" & "The Lie" (Season 5, Episodes 1 & 2)

"When am I?" Locke's question to Richard Alpert was one I found myself asking repeatedly during last night's double-helping of time traveling goodness that was the Season 5 premiere. From the scenes of Candle/Wickmund/Halliwax/Chang's domestic bliss that opened the first hour (not unlike Season 2's premiere that featured Desmond's day in the life in the hatch) to the reappearance of dear(ly departed) friends - Ethan Rom, Ana Lucia - to the action-packed moments (Death by dishwasher! Hot Pocket attack! Beach barbecue with shish ka-Neil), Lost was back in a big way!

Best Lines

• "You know maybe if you ate more comfort food, you wouldn't have to go around shooting people." Hurley's advice to Sayid.
• "I need a cool code name." Hurley referencing Locke's use of the alias of Jeremy Bentham.
• Locke: "What is it?" Richard: "It's a compass." Locke: "What does it do?" Richard: "It points north, John."
• "Oh yeah, Libby says hi." Ana-Lucia bringing greetings from the afterlife to Hurley.
• "Why is there a dead Pakastani on my couch?" Hurley's mother discovering an unconscious Sayid in her house.
  

Did You Notice?

• The song on the record Dr. Chang plays is Willie Nelson's "Shotgun Willie". The album was released in 1973. The skipping record is a nice precursor to how Faraday will later explain the time shifting they're experiencing.
• Could the Chang's baby be Miles?
• Is it me or did the sonar picture of the frozen donkey wheel look like the Statue of Liberty? To quote Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes: "You maniacs! You blew it up!"
• The worker suffers a nosebleed as did Horace Goodspeed when he appeared to Locke and as does Charlotte.
• Chang's comment about exposing the power under the Orchid station, "God help us all", is the same comment made by Mrs. Hawking to Ben at the end of the second episode. I didn't catch this until I re-watched the episodes.
• Are we to presume that one of the time shifts will send Faraday back to Chang's time and that was why he was there?
• Locke is in a rain storm after the first time shift. Locke and rain seem to have an affinity on the island.
• The annoying character of Neil Frogurt was first shown in one of the on-line web episodes, in which he warned Hurley that if Hurley didn't make a move on Libby than he would.
• When Rose comes out of the jungle, she tells Bernard she was at "the church", presumably the one Eko and Charlie built.
• The men who come to Kate's house asking to do blood tests are from the law firm of Agostini & Norton. Lodovico Agostini was an Italian composer, singer, priest, and scholar of the late Renaissance. Agostini was fond of musical enigmas, puzzles, surprise and double-entendre and bizarre chromatic progressions. Dan Norton happens to be the name of a comic book artist whose credits include work on an upcoming feature film Science Ninja Team Gatachaman. Apparently it's based on an anime series about young heroes who battle bad robots and evil science conspiracies that seek to control and exploit the Earth's natural resources.
• Sawyer refers to Charlotte as "Ginger", a reference to Gilligan's Island's redhead.
• Since the characters are apparently moving through time, could they in fact be the source of the ghostly whispers heard throughout the past seasons?
• Mr. Eko's brother Yemi's plane filled with drug-stuffed Virgin Mary statues is believed to have crashed on the island in the 1990's. If you remember, this is the same plane where we first heard over the radio of the tail section survivors and where Boone met his doom when the plane fell out of the tree.
• What was originally bringing Sun to Los Angeles? Did she always plan on visiting with Kate or was her impromptu meeting with Charles Widmore the reason?
• Miles mentions that it took Widmore about 20 years to find the island the first time.
• Faraday's explanation of time being like a street and only being able to go forward or backward is similar to Mrs. Hawking's comment to Desmond in the jewelry store about life course-correcting itself when something changes.
• The compass Richard Alpert gives Locke is the same one Richard showed young Locke last season along with other items as a test, including the knife that Locke ultimately chose, resulting in Richard leaving him at his foster home.
• I loved that Sawyer remembered that the hatch has a back door - something Locke would have liked to have known in Season 1 when he spent every waking moment trying to get into the hatch.
  
• Is Charlotte's nosebleed, headaches, and memory loss the result of her having been on the island before? I still believe she may be Ben's childhood friend, Annie.
• Could Faraday's mother be the mysterious Mrs. Hawking from Desmond's jewelry shop and currently tracking global changes in the catacombs beneath a church? They both seem to have an interest in time travel.
• When Hurley buys the "I Heart Shih Tzus" t-shirt at the convenience store, Cheap Trick's song "Dream Police" is playing, specifically the lyric "They're Waiting for You".
• What is Ben's mysterious, wrapped package that he had hidden in the motel's heating duct?
• Hurley's dad is watching the TV show "Expose", which starred the infamous Nikki, who ended up being buried alive with Paulo on the island.
• Did you realize Ben took Locke's body to Jill the butcher so she could put him in the meat locker and keep him fresh? And who is Jill and Gabriel helping Ben back in civilization? Displaced Others?
• Could the British soldier with the name patch of Jones who attacks Sawyer and Juliet actually be a younger version of Charles Widmore when he had first found the island?
• When I first saw Mrs. Hawking doing her calculations, I thought she was in Oxford, England. But when she comes upstairs to the church and Ben is there, I have to believe this is somewhere in Los Angeles. Ben mentions that just that night, he lost Hugo. I find it hard to believe that he could have made it to England that fast. He was also wearing the same clothes as he had on at Hurley's house.
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Chang's alarm clock radio is set for 8:15.
• Chang is trying to film the orientation video for Station 2.
• The drilling at the Orchid station is at 3 meters from the margin when 6 drill bits melt and there are 5 holes drilled into the rock.
• The time frame between the Oceanic 6 leaving the island and their current time is 3 years.
• Juliet tells Faraday that there is a Dharma station 15 minutes from the beach.
• When Sun is at the airport, the PA announces Flight 23 to Paris is boarding at Gate 15.
• Hurley spent 2 years at the Santa Rosa Hospital before Sayid took him away.
• Sayid spent 2 years killing for Ben.
• Sawyer points out that Faraday had been gone for 2 hours since they left the hatch.
• According to Kate's phone, Jack's number is 323-555-0156.
• Ben tells Jack he will pick him up in 6 hours.
• Sayid killed 3 men (one at Santa Rosa and two at the safe house) although Hurley confesses to the murders.
• Ben's ticket at the butcher shop is 342.
• Charlotte brings back 2 fruits for her and Faraday.
• Miles points out that the boar has only been dead for 3 hours.
• The oxygen tank gauge at Jack's hospital include the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 15.
  

Previews - Next week's "Jughead" will feature Locke trying to determine who the military-like force is on the island while Desmond searches for Faraday's mother. A rerun of "The Lie" will air at 8 p.m. ET before this new episode premieres at 9 p.m. ET.

Coming Soon. . .

. . .My first blog entry for Season 5! Just have to re-watch both episodes and do my usual research, then I hope to have it posted by this evening. Stay tuned!

3 More Hours! 3 More Hours! 3 More Hours!

I can't believe eight months have passed since the finale and the new episodes start tonight. It's as if I've jumped ahead in time! See you back here on Thursday night!

The Countdown Clock is at 27 Hours to Go

If a little over a day is too long to wait, check out these four quick video clips from tomorrow's episodes at E!'s website:
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b79762_lost_get_four_sneak_peeks_of_tomorrows.html

Look for my thoughts on tomorrow's double-episode premiere on Thursday night. I'll need some time to compile my notes and re-watch the shows. Plus, I still have my day job!

51 Hours and Counting!

As I write this, there are mere days before the new episodes of Lost premiere. In honor of that, I have to post a quote from Saturday Night Live this past weekend. During Weekend Update, Seth Meyers referenced the rescue of the downed plane in the Hudson River by saying "The New York water taxi service did in 30 minutes what the writers of Lost haven't been able to do in five seasons." Classic!

Also, here is my first official theory of the new season. The writers have said that Mrs. Hawking, the older woman from the clock shop a couple of seasons ago, will play a big part in the overall story. Also, I have seen a quick scene in the upcoming episodes where it appears that Penny is in a hospital bed holding a newborn baby. If that baby turns out to be a girl, I predict that she will grow up to be Mrs. Hawking, the daughter of Penny and Desmond. Since time travel is playing a big part in this new season, who knows? Only time will tell.

10 Days to Go!

As I write this, there is only a week and a half before the new season premieres on Wednesday, January 21. This Wednesday, January 14, ABC is re-airing the three-hour Season 4 finale at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, for anyone who needs to be reminded where things were left eight months ago.

Less Than 4 Weeks and Counting

January 2009 is finally here and with it comes the fifth season premiere of "Lost". If you can't wait the little over three weeks until it airs, check out this article from TV Guide on the first two episodes. WARNING: There are what some may consider spoilers.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Review-Lost-Season-1001219.aspx

5 Weeks and Counting

With just over a month until the premiere, tvguide.com reports that actor Jorge Garcia (Hurley) says the return to the Island does not go successfully when they try to travel together and each person may need to use a separate route back. Also, check out the link below for a sneak peek of Jack and Ben discussing the return to the Island and why it's so important they go back.

http://vids.eonline.com/services/link/bcpid1396519019/

6 Weeks and Counting!

As I write this, there are only six weeks from tomorrow before "Lost" returns for its fifth and penultimate season. I remember when last season ended and I thought we have to wait eight months to find out what happens next?! And, now it's almost upon us. I'm anxious to find out how the Oceanic Six plan on getting back to the Island (remember Ben's cryptic words to Jack as they stood over Locke's body in the casket?). And where did the Island go? (Or did it stay still and everything and everyone else moved?) Season Four was released on DVD today so you can guess how I'm going to be spending my Christmas vacation.

As one of 147,000 close friends of show producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, I have been getting e-mails with sneak peaks of the new season. The latest is shown below: a glimpse of a new Dharma station logo. At first, I thought it was a light house, but I believe it's actually more of a lamppost. I was reminded of the lamppost where Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" written by C. S. Lewis (not to be confused with the Island's Charlotte S. Lewis).

Check Out This New Trailer with Subliminal Image

As I mourn the demise of "Pushing Daisies" and "Eli Stone" and anxiously await this Sunday's "24: Redemption" prequel movie, I count the days to the premiere of "Lost": just under nine weeks remain. While waiting, check out this article and watch the new video/trailer:

http://www.tvguide.com/News/New-Lost-Trailer-1000062.aspx

Does Oceanic Airlines have some new competition in Ajira Airlines whose logo appears briefly twice in this video? Or will this be how the Oceanic Six return to the Island? Destiny calls.

Mark Your Calendar!

It's official: ABC has confirmed that Season Five will premiere on Wednesday, January 21, 2009. At 8 p.m., there will be a recap of the first four seasons (in case you've forgotten what's happened so far!), then at 9 p.m., "Because You Left" will air followed by "The Lie" at 10 p.m. The series will then continue on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. The early episodes are titled as followed: "Jughead", "The Little Prince", "The Place is Death", and the intriguingly titled "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham".

Our First Look at Season 5!

I just got an early Christmas present. Check it out. The first promo for Season 5 of "Lost" including new footage. And yes, I did get goosebumps!

http://vids.eonline.com/services/link/bcpid1396519019/bctid1877535133

Four Months to Go; Two New Cast Members

Actress Zuleikha Robinson will play the role of Illeana, a European femme fatale who's both smart and incredibly dangerous.










Actor Saïd Taghmaoui will play the role of Caesar, a mystery man.

Two Months Down, Six to Go!

I know there are still some die-hard Lost and Founders out there checking my blog on a regular basis during the hiatus so as a reward for your loyalty, here's some Season Five scoop from show creators Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof at the San Diego Comic-Con (the big comic book/movie/TV convention which was held last weekend in California):

• Jin and Locke will be still be on the show in some form.
• We will see Richard Alpert bare-footed (but with how many toes?).
• Stories are going to be told in a new and exciting way. When the season starts, viewers are not going to know when or where they are.

And finally, my nephew David's friend Becky was nice enough to share the following photos from the Dharma Initiative Recruitment Booth and Lost panel discussion at Comic-Con:

"There's No Place Like Home" Part 2 (Season 4, Episode 13)

Will there ever be another series like "Lost"? A series that consistently entertains and surprises the viewer week after week. Where it's not-so-great episodes are better than most shows' best? A show that made me create a blog dedicated to it and for you fine readers to check out each and every week? I think not. We are really spoiled. At least we have two more years to look forward.

Before We Get to the Finale:

• If you didn't watch the rerun at 8 p.m. ET, then you didn't see the "extra footage". This occurred during the Oceanic Airlines press conference. Added in was Jack explaining that the three "survivors" who didn't make it back were Boone Carlyle, a woman named Libby, and Charlie Pace. Also a reporter asked Sayid if he was aware of what was happening in Iraq and if he was going back, to which he answered no. Also, Jack was asked about his plans and he said he wanted to have a service for his father.
• During the last commercial break of the last hour, did you catch the ad for Octagon Global Recruiting? This fake commercial offered anyone interested in "unpaid positions" to visit their website, http://www.octagonglobalrecruiting.com/ , which I of course did. It plays a video of the same ad then explains they are part of the Dharma Initiative (hence the octagon in the name - same shape as their logos). You can also submit your e-mail address (which I alsoe did) for a representative to contact you regarding an event in San Diego in late July. Coincidentally, this is also the location and date of Comic Con, one of the largest comic book/movie/TV conventions where the producers and cast of "Lost" have frequently been guests. No response yet, but I'll keep you posted.
• Finally, you may have seen where "Good Morning, America" was going to show alternate endings to last night's show. I DVRed it this morning and watched it tonight. Alternate ending #1 had Sawyer in the coffin. Alternate ending #2 had Desmond in the coffin. I'm happy they went with Locke.
  

Although not a jaw-dropping finale like last year, I feel this was a very satisfying close to another excellent season. Old questions were answered, new questions were raised (what else is new?). Exciting actions sequences balanced with emotional moments made for a full two hours. (What would they have cut out if ABC hadn't given them the extra hour?)

Best Line

• "If you mean time-traveling bunnies, then yes." Ben responding to Locke's questioning of what the Orchid Station experiments involved.
  

Did You Notice?

• I thought the "previously on 'Lost'" recap had the perfect scenes to set up the finale, especially last season's final scene continuing as this season's first scene.
• The man in the coffin has a name: Jeremy Bentham. Interestingly enough, this was a real person. He was an English philosopher and social reformer in the 1800's. Ahead of his time, he argued for equal rights for woman, separation of church and state, and the end of slavery. When he died, the real Bentham's will stipulated that his body be preserved and stored in a wooden cabinet, which he called his "auto-icon". This is not unlike Locke's Bentham whose body was stored in a wooden box, which we call a "coffin". Another interesting point is that the real John Locke was also a British philosopher, whose works later influenced other philosophers such as David Hume (Desmond Hume?) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Danielle Rousseau?).
  
• Was it foretelling that Sawyer referred to Jack as "Sundance" since later Sawyer would leap from the helicopter not unlike Butch and Sundance did off a cliff at the end of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"?
• Since the ghostly whispers occurred right before the Others attacked the mercenaries, are they the origin of them or some other, unrevealed island party?
• The fight between Keamy and Sayid was amazingly choreographed and brilliantly edited. You really believed these were two military men fighting for their lives.
• Walt (or Walt Chamberlain as I believe he should now be called) hardly even looks like the same kid from the island. Hurley summed it up nicely when he said "Getting big, dude."
• So Locke was the one who suggested the Oceanic Six should lie to protect the island. And sure enough, that's just what they did.
• I loved that Locke couldn't find the elevator because he didn't know what anthuriums looked like!
• The quick scene between Miles (a.k.a. Shorty) and Rose was priceless.
• I now believe stronger than ever that Charlotte is really Ben's childhood friend on the island, Annie. That she wanted to get back and was trying to find where she was born just confirms it for me.
• Locke's question to Ben about the "magic box" refers back to the episode where Ben had explained to Locke how he got Locke's father to the island.
• As pointed out in a previous blog entry, Edgar Halliwax is also Marvin Candle and Mark Wickmund, all presenters in the Dharma Initiative orientation films.
• The Casimir effect to which Halliwax refers is an actual term in physics. In simple terms, the Casimir effect can be understood by the idea that the presence of conducting metals and dielectrics alter the vacuum expectation value of the energy of the second quantized electromagnetic field. Yeah, right. Don't even get me started on negatively charged exotic matter.
  
• I think when "Lost" finally ends, a detective show featuring Sawyer and Frank Lapidus has potential.
• I really believe the writers missed a great opportunity for Hurley to say something comedic with the whole issue of the helicopter having too much weight on board. "I knew I shouldn't have eaten all those crackers."
• I have to believe Sawyer asked Kate to check on his daughter, Clementine, right before he jumped. The same request that would later lead Jack not to trust her.
• Sayid's mention of Bentham's supposed suicide confirms what could be gleaned from the newspaper obituary that Jack had in last season's finale. Close inspection of a still frame showed that it read Jeremy Bentham of New York hanged himself in his downtown Los Angeles loft.
• Does Sayid really not intend to take Hurley back to the island but instead to someplace safe? If he's still working for Ben, I would think not.
• So Hurley was playing chess with Mr. Eko? He's been visited by Charlie. I guess anything is possible.
• The whispers could be heard prior to the freighter's destruction.
• When Christian Shephard told Michael "you can go now", my initial thought was that he was going to transport him to safety. However, everyone I spoke with today felt he was telling Michael he was no longer needed and it was time for him to die. An interview with the actor at www.tvguide.com pretty much confirms this. He's done. Gone. Off the show. Much to the actor's surprise, in fact. Unless this is the producers' way of preventing another leak like when it was found out that Michael was returning this season. We'll see. I might just be right after all.
• The actress who plays Sun did a tremendous job of portraying the anguish and helplessness of losing Jin. Hard to believe this same character was not so long ago ready to flee to America to escape him. The island does have a miraculous effect on people.
• As for Jin, I guess it's still possible that he survived the explosion.
• I'm still not sure if I know who Sun holds responsible for Jin's apparent death. She blames her father and one other. I believed it could be Jack for leaving him behind, then I thought for sure it was Charles Widmore since it was his boat, but then I thought maybe Ben when Sun seemingly made overtures to Widmore to team up.
• So Charles Widmore and Sun's father, Mr. Paik, are old golfing buddies. Coincidence?
• My new monthly skeleton theory is that the Adam and Eve skeletons found in the cave in Season 1 are Sawyer and Juliet.
• It is obvious Ben was handing over the mantle of island caretaker to Locke, although begrudgingly so. I can't help but wonder if Ben was the Others' second choice from the start and it should have been Locke all along. If only he hadn't chosen the knife when Richard Alpert came to see him in his foster home.
  
• The ice cavern had hieroglyphics on the pillar where the lantern was similar to what was inside the secret room in Ben's closet.
• The show's producers always give a code name to the season finale. This year it was "Frozen Donkey Wheel". Who would have guessed that's exactly what it would have been?
• Ben's departure from the island sent him almost one year into the future as we saw in the earlier episode when he landed in the Tunisian desert with Halliwax's parka on, his torn sleeve and bleeding arm, and a puff of cold air breath as he landed.
• The purple sky and high-pitched sound were identical to Season 2's finale when Desmond was prevented from entering the numbers in the hatch. My co-worker Scott has a theory that the number entering was linked to the frozen donkey wheel and maintained the balance of the island's machinery.
• So what happened to Faraday and his raft of survivors when the island vanished? Were they carried along to wherever or whenever it went? Will we see him finally come ashore alone, gnawing on a leg bone? The others were all extras after all.
  
• Apparently, the island was looking out for baby Aaron when the helicopter crashed. Either that or his turnip head acts as a flotation device.
• The late night caller on Kate's phone when played backwards says "The island needs you . . . You have to go back before it's too late." Spooky, but if this was just a nightmare, then not so much. Same goes for creepy Claire and her dire warning not to take Aaron back.
• It was so wonderful to see Desmond and Penny reunited at last. It's not every girl that has her own tracking station. Probably got it for her birthday.
  
• I loved Jack using Desmond's signature line "I'll see you in another life, brother".
• Okay, this bothered me. During the Oceanic Six press conference, we saw an enlarged
• photo of the survivors bringing their raft ashore at the tiny fishing village with the locals helping them. Last night, we saw this event actually happen. Who took the picture?
• The song playing in Jack's truck as he approached the funeral home was "Gouge Away" by The Pixies. Unlike other musicians featured on the show, they have not died in a plane crash. Yet.
• Did Ben look younger and healthier to anyone else? Or was it just the fact that no one has been beating him up lately?
  
• We got the answer of who's in the coffin: Locke a.k.a. Jeremy Bentham. But now new questions arise: Why did Locke leave the island? According to what he told Jack, bad things happened after Jack left. Was it the survivors' unwillingness to return that led to his suicide? But I thought the island prevented suicides as it did with both Michael and Jack? Was it really suicide as Sayid questioned? If not, then who killed him?
  
• As soon as I saw Locke in the coffin, I immediately was reminded of Jack's dad. Does this mean if they get him back to the island, Locke will be up and about again? Alive and well?
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Kate said Jack called her for 2 days straight to convince her to go back to the island.
• Kate also said she spend the last 3 years trying to forgot the horrible things that happened on that last day.
• Desmond had 6 months of explosive ordnance disposal training in the army.
• Faraday told Charlotte and Miles that he was leaving in 10 minutes.
• The Orchid was Station 6 of 6 Dharma Initiative locations.
  
• The time traveling bunny had a 15 on it.
• The time was 8:15 when Sayid killed the man in the car.
• Sayid told Hurley that Jeremy Bentham had died 2 days ago.
• Lapidus estimated there was 4 to 5 minutes of fuel remaining in the helicopter.
• Michael said there was 5 minutes worth of liquid nitrogen left in the tank.
• Ben said Richard and the Others would be waiting for Locke 2 miles east of the Orchid.
  

And so, my fellow Lost and Founders, another season has come to a close. I wish I had my own frozen donkey wheel so I could move ahead 8 months for the premiere of the second-to-the-last season and see what these "few ideas" Ben has for getting them all back to the island and if "all of them" includes Walt Chamberlain and Desmond and Kenny Rogers, I mean Frank. Until then, Namaste.

Coming Soon . . .

. . . my last official blog entry for 2008! I am now reviewing my sources and re-watching the show and finalizing my thoughts on the finale, so be patient.

The Final(e) Countdown Has Begun

Just over two hours until the 3-hour extravaganza that is the "Lost" Season 4 finale! I'm counting the 8 p.m. rerun since it includes extra footage and hopefully will provide a perfect lead-in to the last two episodes for the year. I hear there will be deaths. And I'm expecting a final scene that's worthy of taking its place along side the mysterious opened hatch of Season 1, Penelope and the Portuguese-speaking radiomen of Season 2, and the series changing flash forward of Season 3. Check back tomorrow night as I blog my little heart out for the last official recap of 2008.

"There's No Place Like Home" Part 1 (Season 4, Episode 12)

I believe if you re-watch last night's show (which gets its title from the famous line in "The Wizard of Oz") in two weeks when it airs before the two-hour finale, you will see the foundation that was being laid down in this episode. Although not overwhelming in revelations or introducing a myriad of new questions, the stage is being set for the final confrontation between the freighter folk and the survivors, with the island's original Others thrown into the mix for good measure.

Best Line

• "Jesus Christ is not a weapon." Hurley's mom as her son brandished a golden statue of Jesus.
  

Did You Notice?

• Oceanic rep Karen Decker was played by Michelle Forbes, who sci-fi fans may know as Cain from "Battlestar Galactic" or Ensign Ro from "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
  
• Along with the reoccurring them of car accidents and a soundtrack with songs from dead singers, "Lost"has perfected the dialogue-free reunion scene with an appropriately moving instrumental score. Last night's reunion of the Oceanic Six with their respective families on the airport tarmac was one of the best, especially Sayid being embraced by Hurley's parents and Kate noticeably without anyone.
  
• Jack's mother was once again played by Veronica Hamel, who may be best known for her role on "Hill Street Blues". (For you youngins, this was the police show of its time, long before Law & Order even was around, let alone had its first spin-off.)
  
• Faraday's notebook pages featuring the Orchid logo also contained the phrases "TimeLike Factor" and "SpaceLike Factor".
• Faraday obviously knows something about the Second Protocol and of what the Orchid Station is capable.
• Sawyer refers to Ben's village as "New Otherton" which is the name given to it by the show's writers.
• Although the Indonesia island of Sumba is a real place, the supposed crash site of Membata is not. However, the word "membata-bata" in Indonesian means "ambivalent", kind of like the Oceanic Six's feelings about their supposed experiences after the crash.
  
• Who is responsible for the elaborate story the Oceanic Six are obviously telling under duress? Charles Widmore?
• Why does the cover story include two survivors of the crash who then didn't make it?
  
• What a bittersweet reunion of Sayid and Nadia, seeing them reunited at last but knowing she will be killed.
• Ben states that moving the island is "dangerous and unpredictable" as well as "a measure of last resort." If he's not going to move it in time, then I don't know this show as well as I think I do.
• I believe Ben was signaling Richard Alpert and the Others with the mirror.
• Didn't Charlotte actually seem sorry to see Faraday go off on the raft?
  
• I loved Sun in Alexis-Carrington-from-Dynasty mode as she informed her father that she had bought the controlling stock in his company.
• If Sun's dad is one of the two people responsible for Jin's death (presuming he is dead), then who is the other? Her? Widmore?
  
• Hurley had a takeout bag from Mr. Cluck's Chicken Snack, his former place of employment.
• Was the whispering heard as Hurley entered his parents' house really just those of the party guests or remnants of the island?
• The disc jockey at Hurley's birthday party had a Geronimo Jackson album by his turntable.
  
• The car Hurley's dad gives him is the one he drove in the police chase in this season's first episode.
• The car's key chain is a rabbit's foot not unlike the one the Coast Guard pilot is holding in the beginning of this episode.
• I loved the look Sun and Jin gave Michael upon first seeing him on the freighter.
  
• I wonder when Claire's mother came out of the coma she was in? If you remember in Claire's flashback when it was revealed that Christian was her father, her mother had been involved in a car accident and was hospitalized.
• I feel that the expression on Jack's face when he realized Claire was his half sister may have been one of the best acting moments on this series.
• Terrific irony that Claire's mother is unknowingly looking at her own grandson when she compliments Kate on Aaron.
• So does the hold full of C-4 explosive and the mysterious broadcast signal have anything to do with the device strapped to Keamy's arm?
• I loved Locke's reaction when Ben handed him his Sharper Image retractable cattle-prod thingy.
  
• Is there a legitimate reason that the actual Orchid Station is underground?
  
• I am still anxious to see how the group that are the Oceanic Six manages to be the ones who make it off the island since at this show's end, they were all scattered about.
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Over the satellite phone, we hear Lapidus say the chopper is 5 klicks from the site.
• Oceanic rep Karen Decker said that on day 108, the 6 survivors made to the island of Sumba.
  
• Aaron is said to be 5 weeks old at the press conference.
  
• The reporter wants confirmation from Kate that she was 6 months pregnant when she got on Flight 815.
  
• Ben points out to Hurley that the Dharma soda crackers are 15 years old.
• Mr. Paik is told by his associate that 5 different banks were used, presumably in Sun's takeover of the company.
  
• On Hurley's car, the speedometer read 481516 and the trip meter displayed 2342.
  
• The closest Hendricks will approach the island is 5 miles off the coast.
• Jack said he wrote his father's eulogy on a cocktail napkin 10 months ago.
• Claire's mother said Flight 815 was 6 hours in the air when it crashed.
  

Previews - No new show next week but then on May 29, this episode will rerun at 8 p.m. EST with the final two episodes airing at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. It all comes down to this!

"Cabin Fever" (Season 4, Episode 11)

John Locke is one of the most intriguing people on "Lost". From the first episode when he asked Walt "Do you want to know a secret?" (I can't wait to hear what that is!), this man of faith has always been my favorite character. No surprise than that last night's show which featured his flashbacks - way back! - was one of the most intriguing episodes.

Best Line

• "He wants us to move the island." Locke explaining to Ben and Hurley what has to be done. I kept waiting for the episode to reveal the weekly best line and, although there were some good ones (Locke's summation of the Dharma Initiative as the makers of ranch dressing to Hurley's dream-induced exclamation of "Mallomars!"), it wasn't until the final seconds that I got my line. "Lost" has always had great last lines right before that musical BUM! but this one was a doozy!
  

Did You Notice?

• The song Emily was listening to in her bedroom was "Everyday" by Buddy Holly. This song was released in 1957. Along with Patsy Cline and Glenn Miller, Holly is yet another musician whose songs have been used on the show and who died in a plane crash.
• Are we to believe that Emily's older boyfriend is con man Anthony Cooper (a.k.a. real Sawyer)?
• Emily being hit by a car can be added to the reoccurring theme of car accidents (Michael being hit, Locke almost being run over in a parking lot, Kate getting in a car accident while fleeing the hospital). However, the car that hit Emily was not the Mystery Car of Death involved in the other accidents. Perhaps its predecessor?
  
• Is it a coincidence that both Locke's mother and Ben's mother share the same first name? Also, Ben and Locke are the only two characters who have had flashbacks to immediately before they were born and then showing different stages of their childhood.
• Keamy not being able to kill Michael echoes Michael's own attempt to kill himself and the island preventing it. We saw this same situation earlier this season when Jack pulled the trigger on Locke and nothing happened.
• Another reoccurring theme was the close-up shot of Locke's eyeball.
• This is the fourth dream/vision that Locke has had on the island. His first involved Boone and finding the crashed small aircraft. Then, he dreamt he was Mr. Eko and found the Pearl Station. His third dream was in the sweat lodge when he saw all the survivors in an airport setting.
• Interesting that Jacob's cabin started off as a getaway for Horace and the missus.
• The repeating nature of Locke's dream is reminiscent of a time loop.
  
• Not surprising that Horace Goodspeed wishes Locke "Godspeed."
• Is it significant that Emily's mother wanted to smoke in the nursery? Did this have some long term effect on baby Locke and the smoke monster of the island?
• Island native Richard Alpert has been watching over Locke since his birth. Hmm.
• So Locke considers Hurley "special" since he could see Jacob's cabin.
  
• I like that when Locke says they're making a pit stop, the stop actually involves a pit!
• Young Locke was playing backgammon as we saw him do in Season One with Walt.
• Young Locke is told he is "special" as was Walt.
• Young Locke's drawing could definitely be construed as a child's version of the smoke monster.
• The objects Alpert shows young Locke included a baseball glove; the Book of Laws (which I felt had a biblical look to it); a vile of what appeared to be sand (from the island?); a compass, a comic book (Mystery Tales with the cover story "The Hidden Land" and an accompanying picture of a city in the clouds - Cloud City? A Star Wars reference?); and a knife. Alpert seems pleased when Locke chooses the vile of sand (he is one with the island?) and the compass (he has a sense of direction?) but not when Locke picks up the knife (he could be violent?).
  
• I believe Ben is referring to Richard Alpert when he tells Hurley it was the Others Leader's decision to kill the Dharma people.
• The mercenary who dies from wounds sustained by the smoke monster's attack is named Mayhew. The actor who played Chewbacca is Peter Mayhew. Another Star Wars reference?
• Is the sickness affecting the freighter crew the same condition that Rousseau's crew succumbed to?
• Charles Widmore would seem to be associated with the Dharma Initiative as his secondary protocol document bears the logo of the as-yet-unseen Orchid Station.
• Could the "Temple" be the one place Ben can go to escape the island being torched?
• I'm guessing Sayid is only able to get one zodiac boat-load of people (Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sun, and Aaron) off the island and to the freighter before the rest are stranded.
  
• On the inside of the door of teenage Locke's locker was a poster of the band Geronimo Jackson, first seen as an album in the Swan Station by Charlie and Hurley, then later on a t-shirt worn by undercover policeman Eddie at the commune in Locke's third season flashback.
• The summer science camp is sponsored by Mittelos, the same company that recruited Juliet. Mittelos is also an anagram of "lost time". If Locke had gone, would he then have been a man of science like Jack?
  
• Teenage Locke's statement "Don't tell me what I can't do!" is also what the wheelchair bound Locke said to the Australian walkabout travel agent in Season One.
• Lapidius found Michael's belief that Widmore re-created the crash of Oceanic 815 very amusing and bordering on conspiracy theory. What does he know that we don't?
  
• I'm wondering if the device strapped to Keamy's arm is some sort of time stabilization device so no matter where - or when - the island goes, he'll be with it. Almost like an electronic constant.
• Ben reveals that he was also once considered "special" and the "chosen one". It is obvious in this episode that Ben is reluctantly passing the mantel of authority over to Locke.
  
• Paralyzed Locke was at the Delerue Center for Rehabilitation. Georges Delerue was a renowned French film composer. He died of a heart attack and not in a plane crash.
  
• The second I heard the orderly's voice I knew it was Abaddon. What was the miracle that changed him? When he is telling Locke about his walkabout, there seems to be a guttural effect (not unlike demonic possession) to his voice when he says "Who I was." Then right before the elevator doors closed, I swear his eyes did something freaky. I re-watched the scene frame-by-frame on my DVR until I got too creeped out by his face. He just reminded me of the devil or an alien so much I couldn't watch it again.
• Now that the freighter doctor has had his throat cut and thrown overboard, does this mean the island does not exist 30 minutes in the past as Faraday's test proved, but maybe 23 hours and 30 minutes in the future?
• I wondered if it was symbolic that the satchel Lapidus threw out of the chopper landed on and collapsed what appeared to be Claire's shelter with Aaron's empty crib.
  
• Jack's dad did not have on his burial suit and trademark white sneakers that we've seen him in up until now. He appeared to have similar clothes to the island natives and a pair of work boots.
• Claire seemed very un-Claire-like to me. Could she be dead. My co-worker Geoff wondered if she wasn't killed when her house collapsed on her. Is it possible the island can only control dead bodies, ones with no will of there own, and is using her and Jack's dad to communicate with the survivors?
• In the humorous scene of Hurley and Ben waiting for Locke, I swore I heard ghostly whispering, including a "Yessss" when Hurley gave Ben a part of his (Apollo?) candy bar.
  
• As soon as Locke said they needed to move the island, my first thought was that they're going to move it in time, not geographically.
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Emily said she was almost 6 months pregnant in the opening flashback.
• The freighter captain pointed out that there are 2 keys to the safe.
  
• The captain told Sayid and Desmond that there was a pantry big enough for 2 men and to meet him in 10 minutes behind the container.
• Desmond said he has spend 3 years on the island.
  

Previews - Next week's "There's No Place Like Home" features the homecoming of what the media apparently dub the Oceanic Six. This show will also mark the return of Jack's mother, Hurley's dad, and Sun's father as I imagine they are reunited with their children. This is considered the first hour of the three-hour finale. Also, my co-worker Ben pointed out to me the news item that the final two 16-episode seasons in 2009 and 2010 have been expanded to 17 shows each, on account of this year's season being shortened by the writers strike. You can never have too much "Lost"!