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'Lost': About a boy
I have never really counted myself among the Charlie haters out there in Lost fandom. He's hardly my favorite character on the series, but I certainly wasn't cheering when Desmond revealed his premonitions to Charlie a while back.
And tonight's episode looked like it would be Charlie's big redemption -- his chance to die a noble death, help his fellow crash survivors get a leg up on the Others and just maybe pave the way to a rescue.
Yeah, of course that wasn't going to work.
Even when he's trying to do perhaps the finest thing he's ever done, Charlie can't catch a break. We discover that the Looking Glass station, where Juliet says the Others are jamming outgoing signals, is populated by at least two women with guns and deeply paranoid looks in their eyes. Even with what seemed like a pretty good plan, Jack, Sayid and the other survivors are still playing from behind.
Sidebar: Unless there's more than one buried cable on the island, I think we can assume the Looking Glass station is also the site of the sonar beacon that was supposedly fried when the hatch imploded. If so, how is it that the jamming signal is still working (if it is)? Or for that matter, Rousseau's radio beacon, which is apparently still strong enough to override the signal on Naomi's sat-phone?
Also, do we figure Juliet was telling the truth, or at least what she believed was true, when she said the station was abandoned? It could very well be that Ben kept the Looking Glass guards' existence a secret from her -- or it could be that Karl was more right than he knew in telling everyone Juliet was a spy.
I'm inclined to believe the former, if only because sending Charlie out to the station wasn't part of the original plan to "blow them to hell." That only came about after Karl arrived to tell them the invasion was happening sooner than anyone thought.
With the way the episode ended, there's really not much left to do but speculate on where it will take us in next week's finale. So I'll let you all do that after just a couple more things:
- Again, an unconventional flashback served the show quite well. More than just about any other time in the show's three seasons, this episode made it explicit that the flashbacks were Charlie's memories and not just extra pieces of thematically relevant information for the audience. Anyone else think of Nick Hornby as Charlie was writing down his all-time, desert island, top five life moments?
- Rose and Bernard! They're alive! And Bernard is a crack shot. That last fact cuts down my happiness at seeing them again; as Rose correctly observes, her husband being one of the shooters puts him pretty directly in harm's way.
- Nice callback to Desmond's life-flash to have Charlie busking in London before he stops the mugger for top memory No. 2.
- Also nice: the tender moment between Sun and Jin. Again, though, I'm worried for Jin, as he's apparently the third marksman in the shoot-the-dynamite plan.
Enough of the bullet points, though: What's your take on tonight's Lost? Who's dying next week? And where's it go from here?
With all the Lost haters out there, it's a shame they haven't been watching this season. Since coming back, the season has been top notch and as good as ever.
Tonight's episode was a great way to set up the finale. I'm loving how the Others don't totally trust Ben. Ageless Richard has a bigger role in all of this than I think anyone is expecting, and he could be really important next week.
I'm not convinced Jack is on the up and up. He's acting a little too sneaky to be totally trusted. I'm hoping next week will show what happened to Penny after last season's finale. Did she really send Naomi? Is she on the boat waiting for her? Can't wait to find out.
Aaron | May 16, 2007 9:11:30 PM | #Aaron, you are absolutely rite. Those lost haters made a big deal about nothing and now they are paying for it. Accept a few episodes, season three has turned out surprisingly good. The finale's of lost are always awesome, and the events leading upto next weeks 2 hour finale will be gr8. Kate has also mentioned on jimmy kimmel last week that there is a huge surprise in this years finale. She said when she learned about it first, she literally got chills. Jack is getting annoying, but its part of the plot so i m gonna suck it up and see where it goes.
Hemal | May 16, 2007 9:30:25 PM | #also, tonites epi on Charlie was very interesting. Good way to do a flashback. Sorta looked like that charlie knew about it b4 he sensed Desmond's erie feeling about the flashback. I might be mistaken, but he wrote down the fifth moment "his greatest hit" before Jack takes them to open land where he senses the feeling of something wrong from Des!
Hemal | May 16, 2007 9:36:19 PM | #Best episode in a long time. I really thought Charlie was going to die in this episode. It made me sad! :(
Siansonea | May 16, 2007 10:35:01 PM | #The only thing I'd be shocked at for next week was if Ageless Richard (as seems to be his name now) doesn't die. I say this only b/c Nestor Carbonell was cast in another show (Cane on CBS)that was picked up for 07/08.
Rishi | May 16, 2007 11:31:33 PM | #Did anyone else think "Sam and Frodo" when Hurley was asking to go with Charlie in the boat!!
michelle | May 16, 2007 11:47:27 PM | #and Richard cannot die..he's got the whole tuck everlasting thing going on...never aging and never will die.
michelle | May 16, 2007 11:49:05 PM | #First time I see Ben freaked out. The invisible man talking to Locke REALLY upsetted him. And it s not really funny to watch. Ben losing control of himself is even scarier than when he's in charge. Ben's decision to go ahead with his plan a whole day earlier is probably also due to the missing cassette recorder. I thought he left it for Locke to 'accidently' take it with him but i think i am wrong. He really lost the tape recorder.
I loved Juliet comment to Karl {nut thanks !) and i believe she s not a spy. I think this time she might actually want to help the losties but she wont have any trouble to move to the other camp if something goes wrong.
Now Charlie... Boy i loved to hate the guy and now i find myself hating myself for hating him. He is indeed a decent guy. It would have been a decent send off (or kill off) if he actually died. I am actually confused about his reaction before getting caught. The way i understood it was that he would reach a pocket of air or something like that, then time for the switch and finally his death. I thought the switch would somehow spell doom to the underwater station.
THe women on the station by the way. VERY amazon don't you think ? 2 theories : those were pregnant women that escaped and went thru abortion to avoid death. Either that or they are the last survivor of the Dharma initiative. Very amazon moment by the way.
I haven't felt so excited by a TV show since the Xfiles.
I was happy to see Rose and Bernard back.
| May 17, 2007 12:22:56 AM | #Does anyone else have a feeling that Desmond was lying and that Charlie was supposed to stay on the boat to die? Or was he possibly lying about Claire and the baby "getting on a helicopter" just to convince Charlie to go to his death?
Michael | May 17, 2007 4:27:33 AM | #i thought the women in the looking glass station were probably with naomi as she mentioned in russian to patchy, "i'm not alone" although he told everyone she said "thank you very much" i believe they are part of the resuce team - 3 bad-ass chicks, kinda like charlies angels!!
Simon | May 17, 2007 5:20:59 AM | #Did anyone else recognize the lady that Charlie saved from being mugged? It was none other than Sayid's lost love. The same woman he refused to torture and let escape back in season 1. I think all the episodes since January have been fantastic. Can't wait for the finale!
Papa Shango | May 17, 2007 5:24:46 AM | #No mention of Nadia?
I wonder if Mikhail will be the ultimate demise of Charlie. Mikhail's smirk to Charlie after Mikhail was let go after the Naomi rescue was pretty creepy and could be foreshawdowing. And now, there's the Nadia connection, although Mikhail's Nadia is admittedly only a cat.
Xannie | May 17, 2007 5:25:27 AM | #another great episode! This season has turned out to be better than the second! I really thought he was going to die and they did a great job with the flashbacks. It would have been as heart-wrenching of a death as Boone. I should have known that they wouldn't be that obvious and the Ben lied through his teeth about the station being messed up. If they do kill him, i hope that he goes out in a blaze of glory and if its Mikhail that does it, i hope Charlie stabs him in his good eye to kill him as a final FU moment. Des, Charlie and Hurley all make a good team and i hope they are not so quick to kill any of them. I'll be interested to see if Claire or Hurley have time to realize why Charlie was acting so weird and go rushing after him. Can't wait to see what happens next week!
Steve | May 17, 2007 5:47:33 AM | #Juliet may have known what she was doing, lying about the station's status.
The Other's are obviously excellent at compartmentalizing info. They will tell you some truth, and mix in a lie. She did it with Jack before, did it with Kate and the handcuffs, and may be doing it with Jack now. Earn trust earn trust earn trust until you can abuse that trust to maximum effect...
M | May 17, 2007 5:59:06 AM | #say what you will, but LOST is better than ever - and I am once again glued to my tv (DVR) every Wed night!
I adore Charlie and his interaction with Claire had me in tears - it seemed that real!
I about did a kartwheel when Rose and Bernard showed up. Wonderful actors; who were sorely not used this year. I hope the writers keep them around. They are part of the humour that the show needs!!
I bet the women in the undersea hatch are women who escaped being "experimented" on. Perhaps? Think about it. Or they were exiled there, because they couldn't give birth! An underwater tomb of women! So WonderWoman!!
Next week will be wonderful and I am soooooo choosing this over "Idol".
I love Sun and Jin!!!!!
Jason | May 17, 2007 6:15:56 AM | #I'm with Jason in thinking these Looking Glass station women escaped the experiment. They probably haven't seen a man in God knows how long and in their minds anyone coming there would be up to no good.
Also did anyone else notice the look on Naomi's face when it was mentioned about try to notify her rescue boat? It was only a quick shot - but enough to make me think that there is no rescue boat and that she may be playing them.
Linda | May 17, 2007 6:45:44 AM | #
Yes, anyone who gave up on LOST is missing the best show on TV right now. I LOVE THIS!!
If these women at the Looking Glass Station have escaped, why did they go there and how are they getting food?
YES!! Rose and Bernard are back! MORE of them please.
Ray | May 17, 2007 7:02:43 AM | #I said it before and will say it again. First, what a riveting show! Too many whiners about this show--let them go and see if they find anythng better than this show on TV these days. What an adventure.
And since no one really saw how Naomi arrived, how can we be sure that she did arrive by air and is not a plant from the Others?? Hmmmm???? Think about it. She could just be a plant who Ben put there because he doesn't trust JUliet either. Personally, I like Juliet and believe she is on the Survivor's sides and has reneged on Ben and the Others.
Geoffrey | May 17, 2007 7:05:52 AM | #The reason why Charlie was happy was because he was going down there with the assumption that the underwater station was flooded, like Juliet said. It wasn't.
SirMac | May 17, 2007 7:35:18 AM | #To invest the time to watch a TV Show ,then be disappointed by it after watching it and then critiquing the show in a public forum does not make one a Hater of the show. I have watched most of the Lost episodes and have become disappointed with the Lost writers this season.This episode, in particular, seemed symbolic of this season.Jack's big plan to destory the Others seem doomed from the time he revealed it to the rest of the Flight 815 castaways. Charlie 's faith in Desmond's premonition seem illplaced since Desmond didn't actually say that Claire was being rescued, just that he saw Claire being picked up by a helicopter ( operated by who knows?).Charlie's willingness to sacrifice himself is a noble gesture but it other shows his willingness to take Desmond's so-called premonitions at face value. Also, why is Desmond's premonitions only focused on Charlie? Since the promo for the big Lost Finale shows that Jack's plan doesn't go according to schedule and we once again see the military experienced Sayid captured by the enemy, I would have thought Desmond could have forseen if Jack's plan would have worked or that Charlie was going to knock him out for that matter if Desmond truly has precognitive powers. I am not a Lost Hater but I am a Hater of lousy writing of plotlines that go nowhere.
kevin | May 17, 2007 7:46:00 AM | #I think Kevin is kinduva quintessential hater. But I tell you what, if the Others once again turn the tables on them and capture everybody and Charlie still drowns, then I may have to join him. But that's all next week's episode's problem. This week was excellent, once again. Great season.
Cody | May 17, 2007 8:21:10 AM | #Good episode, my only nitpick was the way the group accepted Jack's plan and him as "the leader". Would have thought a couple of people would have been pissed off jack was keeping things from them.
Another Hatch?? The last episode will reveal that the entire island is one big hatch with dirt on the outside. Just a guess, but don't think the amazon women in the hatch will be part of Ben's team.
jb | May 17, 2007 8:30:41 AM | #M, that;s a great observation about the others earning trust and then using it to really get you. Unfortunately you didn't think it through in regards to Juliet. She isn't following Ben's plan to take the pregnant women she went against it so they would not be captured. Ben clearly thinks he's coming to get them. So Juliet obviously is being honest and trying to help since Ben clearly doesn't know this is going on.
Peter | May 17, 2007 9:02:52 AM | #Kevin then your post is pointless since Lost clearly has a story line that is going some where. It seems like you just want to whine and complain if the writers don't do things the way you envision them. And since that's the case, please, by all means get a job as a writer and show us how you would do it better. If you can't do that then sit back relax and enjoy yourself you've obviously lost your way and forgotten how to enjoy a television show.
PRHNYC | May 17, 2007 9:29:42 AM | #
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