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'Lost': Less than 'egg'static
OK, maybe it's just the sour taste in my mouth from earlier today, but I must confess that I found "Eggtown" the weakest episode in an otherwise stellar fourth season of Lost. That being said, the worst episode of Lost (I'm looking right at you, "Stranger in a Strange Land") is still better than the majority of television programming. I mean, "Eggtown" was still approximately 674 times better than the best One Tree Hill episode that's ever aired. Just wanted to give some context at the outset of this recap.
I'm notoriously bad for seeing the twist endings in Lost, even though just about 75% of the episodes end with one. You'd think after three plus seasons I'd be better at this, but alas, I'm horrible. And yet, I called tonight's ending pretty much as soon as Kate said she had a son to her lawyer in FutureLand. The show didn't exactly throw me off the scent in the very next scene, which featured her future adopted son, Aaron, chilling in New Otherton while Kate and Claire re-enacted scenes from M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.
That being said, while the twist was predictable, the implications are downright fascinating, and along with Jack's testimony on the stand, offered some of the strongest elements the show had to offer. Here's what we now know as the "official" storyline of the Oceanic 6: the plane crashed near a tropical island, yielding only eight initial survivors, two of which died before rescue attempt, with the latter six alive primarily due to Kate's heroism, and knowledge of a potential romantic link between Kate and Jack off-Island. Not a lot of information, but a whole host of possibilities. I want to know the identity of the other four: two are the remaining members of Oceanic 6, ostensibly, and two are those who are dead or at least presumed dead. (Feel free to offer your take on these four below in the comments.)
As for Claire's absence in FutureLand...well, plenty of possibilities there, indicated not only by Kate's raising Aaron but Jack's unwillingness to actually see Aaron in person. Here are a few possibilities, off the top of my head.
- Claire does make it off the Island, along with Aaron (as prophesied by Desmond), but dies in the "real" world, due to complications related to those who get pregnant on the Island.
- If one gives birth on the Island, one cannot leave the Island, lest they die. Claire has to remain, but wanted her child to know a normal life, and gives Aaron to Kate for safe keeping.
- Having successfully given birth on the Island, heretofore an unknown occurrence, she's been kidnapped by Team Abaddon as part of their research.
- Kate and Jack pull a Wesley Windham-Price circa Season 3 of Angel and kidnap Aaron before leaving the Island in some misguided attempt to save the child from a terrible fate.
In addition, I could have been mistaken, but I got the strong impression that 1) the world considers Aaron to be Kate's biological son, and 2) given the D.A.'s question, people also perceive Jack to be the father. In any case, the existence of Aaron in Kate's life clearly weighs heavily on Jack's mind. (Feel free to post your insights/theories in the comments below!) He literally cannot face this fact, given his stubborn refusal to see the child. To paraphrase Pink Floyd, all in all it's just another hair in his beard. Whatever the specific case may be, Jack's fractured relationship with Kate, spurred on by his inability to face Aaron, coupled with Hurley's criticism in "The Beginning of the End," leads inexorably towards the disheveled man seen in "Through the Looking Glass." (Speaking of which, I guess we can finally put to bed the "he" Kate mentions will be looking for her in that final scene, eh?)
Other than that...I mean, a Kate flashforward is about as good as a Kate flashback, which is to say it's not very good. Nothing against Evangeline Lilly, whom I like just fine as an actress, but good golly, give her something more to work with, writers. Since we've seen her post-trail visit Jack at the airport, we knew she wasn't going to jail, so the trail held little to offer except for Jack's testimony and the hope that Ben Linus would show up as the Jack Shapiro to Kate's O.J. Simpson.
She didn't fair too well on-Island, either, with her final canoodle with Sawyer easy on the eyes but torture on the ears. Sawyer's all but did the Macarena upon learning Kate wasn't pregnant, and as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), but it's not widespread knowledge that pregnancy=death on the Island. His relief upon learning she wasn't pregnant wasn't, "Thank God you don't have a death sentence!", it was, "Now we can play foosball in the rec room without needed a sitter!" Tonally, it was off for Sawyer, and reeked of convenient dramatic timing in order to split the two apart again. (And his "long con" on Locke so Kate could bring Miles to Ben? Please. Horrible. Methinks Locke was just drunk on Dharma boxed wine, and that's how he didn't see through Sawyer's ruse.)
As for Bloody Ben himself, he looks to be healing quite nicely, in the basement room in which he once imprisoned Anthony Cooper. Loved his little "ruh row" look when Miles busted into the room, and loved even more his "do you think you're Dr. Evil with your ridiculous ransom offer" look at Miles' $3.2 million extortion offer. The only thing missing in this scene was Kate stepping in at one point and saying, "OK, Miles, you know who you work for. And Ben knows who you work for. And you know that Ben knows who you work for. Moreover, Miles, you know what kind of man Ben is, and now Ben knows that you know what kind of man he is. Know who doesn't know any of this? ME? AND I HAVE A GUN! SO START SPILLING!" That would have made the scene perfect. Oh well. Can't win 'em all.
Looks like Miles won't be spilling anytime soon, however, in that he's now on an all-grenade diet devised by Island Protector John Locke. (It's like the South Beach Diet, only with more grenades. Let's call it the New Otherton Diet and see if it sticks.) Locke's actions reflect a general trend in the episode (and indeed, the season) of Team Locke slowly morphing into The Others. Shows just how much "The Others" is a matter of perspective, really. Not an original analysis, I'll grant you, but watching Team Locke exist in New Otherton is like watching...well, the Others live in New Otherton, quite frankly. Which is probably the point of the similarities. Can't wait to see Hurley in a book club next week.
Back on the Island, two things of importance happened: one obvious, the other not so obvious. The obvious? The helicopter's missing! I blame three men all refusing to ask for directions as the cause of that problem, and the only woman on board too dead to tell them to suck up their pride and pull over at the next gas station. But since it looks like the fate of the helicopter will be revealed next week, let's go to the second, and to me, FAR more interesting bit on the beach: that whole bit with Charlotte, Faraday, and three Dharma cards.
What we saw, I think, was far from the first attempt on behalf of Faraday to use ESP. The big question, naturally, is why Charlotte would be training Faraday in ESP at all? And how many attempts have previously been made? From the tone and content of the conversation, this is an ongoing test meant to strengthen aptitude in something related to the Island itself. Charlotte is almost sisterly to Faraday in these scenes, given a brief but clear sign of affection for our favorite off-kilter physicist, with Faraday glum about little he's achieved during their training. It's one of those gorgeous, mythologically rich scenes that will have a huge payoff down the line, yet serve now to merely tantalize the brain.
Perchance the training came from Naomi, as directed by Abaddon? Maybe each of the Boaties have individual talents suited for the rebooting of the Dharma Initiative, but have received training in order to learn/absorb the talents of the others? And did the deck of cards (replete with Dharma logos) come from the Lostaways or Faraday's Magic Box of Biohazardry? All things to think about in the weeks to come. In any case, it's a good thing Charlotte and Faraday are boning up on their paranormal skillz, since it looks like Miles might go the way of Arzt pretty soon.
All in all, some good mythological advancement snuck into a humdrum Kate-centric episode. I've seen worse Lost episodes, but when compared to the outrageously good three episodes that started this season, it didn't rock my world. But enough about what I thought. It's time for you to weight in.
What did you make of Aaron calling Kate "Mommy"? What clues did you derive from Jack's testimony? Who is constructing the "Oceanic 6 narrative," as it were? Leave your thoughts below! And be sure to check out more news, theories, and insight over at Zap2It's Guide to Lost.
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude.
I actually enjoyed this episode mostly because I did not see the ending coming at all. Even after we saw the Aaron I jumped to the conclusion that it was Sawyer's until she said his name. I definitely do not think Claire makes it off the island because I think it would be impossible for her to be okay with Kate raising the baby and you could see how guilty Jack felt about the baby.
A question I have is why the Oceanic 6 are saying 8 survived the crash, but 2 died. There is significance to that because why wouldn't they just lie even more and say only the 6 of them survived. So maybe they brought 2 bodies back with them or something...it just doesn't make sense. I am really hoping that Locke is one of the 6 just to see if he is back in a wheelchair or able to walk, and of course how they convinced him to leave the island and keep his mouth shut.
Another detail you did not mention was the DA. I got the distinct impression that she was somehow involved more than we knew. She looked very suspicious they entire trial and she really wanted Kate to go to jail (it seems she was one of the few). And why did she want Kate to be forced to stay in the state? Just a theory but she may later be linked to the Abaddon. Wouldn't it be neat if she was later killed by Sayid in a flash forward!
On a final note, I read your other post about the producers saying the 2 bracelets from last week's episode were "just" bracelets. That disappointed me because it seems they purposely showed both of them on both of the women. But I guess if they did mean something they would have said it. Thanks for the great posts...I love reading them!!
Jerry | Feb 21, 2008 8:39:56 PM | #I liked the episode.
Jate 4 Life
I do agree that the episode wasn't the best, in fact was pretty annoying. But I didn't see the Aaron thing coming, even though looking back on it it seems rather obvious.
I kind of assumed that Aaron is an Oceanic 6er, since the promos for this episode stated that another one would be revealed.
Corey | Feb 21, 2008 8:47:04 PM | #I too called that twist, Ryan and I was a little teed off as well. I mentioned on your previous post that Lostpedia misquoted Kate's mother about her six months to live speech. Kate's mom said that the doctors had been telling here that she had six months to live for the last four years. The website said "Diane's doctors told her that she only had six months to live, but she managed to survive for another four years, long enough to see Kate return from the island and stand trial for Wayne's murder..." It might be just me being an English major, but that to me means something totally different than what Diane said in the episode.
Can I go on the record again and say how much I freakin' hate John Locke?!?!!
Who does he think he is? He is acting just like Ben was acting when Ben found out that Locke could talk to Jacob. He is crazy and the whole I must know everything that was said between them thing really pissed me off, because it wasn't about "protecting the island" as much as it was that he didn't get the information first. He will kill anyone who gets in his way of being Leader of the Pack and someone needs to bring him down pronto.
I have a theory on Locke being used by the Island as he has been used all his life. He is just a gullible person who will follow any sort of false sense of comfort for him. I really despise his character now and I also feel that if Sawyer had not of asked for Locke's word in not hurting Kate, that Kate might would have ended up in that cabin with Miles.
Speaking of Miles, I believe that the proposition took place and that's how Ben is still out and about with his assassin, Sayid.
Mark O. Estes | Feb 21, 2008 8:52:07 PM | #I didn't think Daniel was attempting ESP. I think he suffers from short term memory loss, especially since we know the woman in Confirmed Dead was his caretaker. How old is Aaron now anyways? Kate referred to him as "the baby" to Jack, but he's obviously not, although he didn't look 4 yrs old either(if you go by Kates moms comment.As for the trial, why was she being tried in California? Didn't she kill Wayne in Iowa?
Shari | Feb 21, 2008 9:13:45 PM | #I had Kate's last line pegged pretty much from the moment she and Claire got all chummy in Otherville, but it was still a cool twist nonetheless. What I wonder though is if Aaron will be actually considered a part of the Oceanic Six, since he didn't "exist" when the plane vanished (let's not get into a discussion about whether a fetus is a person, please, as that's not my point; it is that Aaron as a name and as a known entity did not exist before the crash, so he wouldn't have been on the plane's manifest, as he hadn't been born yet). Depends on whether or not the people back home consider a baby to be worthy of being among the Six, I guess. I agree that the episode was a little weak, but at least they were sitting/standing still for most of it, rather than trekking through the jungle for the umpteenth time. The main problem I can see happening in Otherville is that with Ben in the tank and the hierarchy of his little group in shambles, they will eventually run out of food anyway, and the whole thing will start all over again. Maybe this is why the exodus from The Island occurs in the first place. As for next week's episode, I am so, so worried about the "why are you flying into the thunderstorm? (possible paraphrase)" comment in the previews. If I see a compass going schizo, then I'm going to start thinking Bermuda Triangle, and as I said in my post last week, I'll start looking for Leonard Nimoy in his "In Search Of..." garb. Oh, and as for Locke, I've known several men like him in real life, and they've all ended up pretty much the same way as Locke eventually will...alone and wondering why nobody listens to them. Sad, really.
Dark Disciple | Feb 21, 2008 9:20:21 PM | #Me too I called the twist at the end! Also Maybe Jack never wanted to see Aaron because he knew he was the UNCLE I think it falls on the lines that he is guilty over the fact Also maybe Clarie never got off? Maybe the other two people that are being claimed as dead are Sawyer (Who people think is the father of Aaron) and possibly Clarie (Who everyone knows Kate adopted) but that thery wouldnt make sense for her mother to want to see Aaron. Also Time has defently flown by Aaron is what 2 months on the Island he looks about 3 off Island.
Tyson | Feb 21, 2008 10:20:41 PM | #Also I am pretty sure Clarie should never listen to people with Physicic abillities Malcom are Desmond I still think Clarie gets off because of Desmonds perdiction.
Tyson | Feb 21, 2008 10:23:16 PM | #Ryan, I've said this before, and I'll say it again. You are a crazy person, and you should get help. Possibly in the form of trying to remember the identities of 3 playing cards after they have been turned over. That is all.
J | Feb 21, 2008 10:35:25 PM | #A pretty good episode. I'm more convinced then ever that Miles is the son of Marvin Candle...
PS "Frog" Santos | Feb 21, 2008 10:47:20 PM | #I hope Aaron isn't considered one of the Oceanic 6....
I enjoyed this ep as well and was completely thinking Kate would walk into the kids room to find a mini Sawyer. Only when the kid looked nothing like Saywer did things add up (so basically I'm going to tell everyone that I figured it out before it was revealed) :P
Mac | Feb 21, 2008 11:02:59 PM | #let's all hold our guns here for a bit.
the most logical thing is to assume that kate's aaron is claire's aaron as what we have all concluded here.
but, lost being lost, dont ever close the possibility that karron (aka kate's aaron) is really kate's baby just named aaron as an element to throw us all off.
i mean, karron could easily be sawyer's son and kate just names him aaron.
what is the island year? 2005? karron looks like about 3 years old so that would be 2008 in kate's flash forward. do we then say that this happened AFTER the season 3 finale flash forward?
gaaah. i am so confused
james | Feb 21, 2008 11:55:20 PM | #The whole run-around with Kate and Sawyer is getting pretty old. Kate is vulnerable, goes to Sawyer. They get intimate, Kate feels guilty, Sawyer acts like a jerk, Kate leaves but knows she's partially to blame for leading him on again. Wash, rinse, repeat. Yawn.
The Aaron connection was pretty easy to call, especially after Kate told Sawyer she wasn't pregnant. And (so far), she and Jack hadn't slept together, so process of elimination. I found the last scene at the taxi to be VERY enlightening, and I'm wondering just what it portends.
I see three possibilities:
1) Jack thinks its his, can't deal with it.
2) Jack thinks its Sawyer's, can't deal with it.
3) Jack finds out that Claire is his biological half-sister, making her death all the more tragic. Maybe he can't face Aaron because it reminds him of Claire, the sweet innocent girl that he couldn't save, who just happened to be related to him - oh, and a living reminder of his dad Christian (and we know how deep Jack's daddy issues run).
I have to say though, I'm a little dissapointed. Since we're led to believe in a Cold War between Team Linus and Team Abbadon, I was expecting Kate's freedom to come from one of these two sides, in exchange for her loyalty, much how Ben lured Sayid to his side.
Miles is a money-driven opportunist, that much has been made clear since his first appearance. It's intriguing that he is willing to go so far as to eliminate his own team members.
And finally, what is up with the card test? Why would two scientists be training themselves in abilities that are considered to be supernatural? It's that whole science vs. faith theme again. But consider this; why do the Freighters want Ben? Is he the target, or simply the means to an end?
If one of my early theories ends up being true, then the Freighters and the people they work for want Jacob, and they want him bad. This is why they sent a psychic like Miles, and this is why his cohorts are training themselves in ESP.
Anyway, can't wait to find out what's going on with the chopper.
Other Sean | Feb 22, 2008 12:01:59 AM | #I'm with Tyson in that sometime b/w now and when they leave the island Jack finds out that Claire is his sister - and of course that means he is Aaron's uncle. I think he is avoiding Aaron b/c he is a reminder of his own father and is just another reason for him to hate his father (i.e. his father's cheating on his mother resulting in a sister he never knew existed and as a result never got to know growing up - even as backwards as that last statement sounds considering my reasoning for Jack's avoidance of Aaron).
FTR, I too thought that the outcome of Kate's son being Aaron was very plain to see as well. Especially after someone on here speculated that Kate meeting him was her son in one of these blogs last week (not sure if it was an ep recap blog or one of the theory blogs).
Rishi | Feb 22, 2008 12:07:04 AM | #what made you think kate wasnt lying to sawyer about her pregnancy.
if she did lie, this wasnt the first time.
another theory that cements kaaron being claire-ron:
jack finds out about claire being her sister AFTER something bad happens to her (either gets left off on the island OR gets killed in the real world OR something)
jack being jack blames himself for this and would never ever want to see his nephew as he would only be reminded of poor little claire my long lost sister
james | Feb 22, 2008 12:08:30 AM | #lol. sorry tyson, i guess you already called my theory
james | Feb 22, 2008 12:09:55 AM | #Your thoughts regarding Claire
and her status in the future were quite ridiculous and illogical. "That being said", are you possibly a missing patient from Santa Rosa ?
i never said they were logical.
just dont drop it too soon and apologize if any of my points happens to be true
james | Feb 22, 2008 12:15:30 AM | #i guess i'm one of the few who was caught off guard by the twist. i mean i had a feeling earlier on that kate had a son...but not aaron. it's true that you can't jump to conclusions with lost. it could just be coincidence that kate's son's name is also aaron...but whatever.
john t. | Feb 22, 2008 12:33:21 AM | #Wasn't Claire warned in season 1 or 2 not to let anyone else raise her child?
Ken | Feb 22, 2008 3:59:05 AM | #I believe Jack's not wanting to see Aaron is much bigger then it being a reminder of his father. Maybe the baby is evil and Jack has been warned it is.
Jason | Feb 22, 2008 4:27:14 AM | #Aaron is definitely one of the Oceanic 6 because ABC was promoting the episode as "Another of the Oceanic 6 are revealed." Plus Aaron had to get off the island somehow, so my guess is he got off with everyone else and Kate said it was her baby and that Jack was the father.
Chris | Feb 22, 2008 5:01:42 AM | #I actually liked this episode more than "The Economist." "Eggtown" felt like old-school Lost, something which we haven't seen for ages.
However, the best part of the episode was the preview of "The Constant." I have never been sooooo excited to see an episode of Lost than I am for this one!
Ryan, you said "given the D.A.'s question, people also perceive Jack to be the father." I didn't get that impression at all. I felt the DA asked it to let the jury know of Jack's bias towards Kate. Of course, it backfired.
Xannie | Feb 22, 2008 5:11:20 AM | #I saw the Aaron thing coming too. Ken, I think you may be on to something there. Claire WAS warned not to let anyone else raise her baby. That may not apply if Claire is dead, thought I think she may still be alive on the island. I hope it's not Claire in that coffin!!!!!
Nah, that couldn't be. She had Jack as family (even if he didn't know) and I suspect the only reason Kate wouldn't attend her funeral would be so as not to blow her cover.
No, Claire never made it off the island,; that I'm sure of. Kate has even her mother believing that Aaron is her natural son so, nobody knows about Claire in the "real future world"
Aaron is not one of the Oceanic 6. He was not born when the plane crashed so his name would not have been on the flight manifest. If he IS considered a survivor, I will be disappointed. He sure did get big fast, though. I mean he was just a couple of months old in island time and now, he's 3 or 4???? Kate's mother has been dying for 4 years and yet, the Losties have only been on the island for 100 days????
OK, I have to admit to being a new believer in the time difference theories.
John Lock is acting like Gloum with his "Precious" ring. Ben acted like that too when he has the power. Maybe the power of Jacob is as damaging as the power of the ring in LOTR to a weak psyche.
So, Ben has money; lots of money!!!! I'm thinking Miles works for Hanso and Ben maybe works for Mittelwork. Richard and Ethan recruited Juliet for Mittelwork Bioscience as a fertility expert so, perhaps the two factions are working against each other. There are just as many powerful forces working off this island as there on residing on it.
I won't comment of the card game between Charlotte and Dan. All I can say is I look forward to getting more info on their mission and why they couldn't contact their ship for so long.
I have to totally disagree with you, Ryan. I really enjoyed the episode. I totally didn't see the Aaron thing coming even though looking back at all the little clues it looks more obvious. But either way that's what makes Lost so fun to watch. You never know what each episode is going to hold and each week (to me anyway) is just as entertaining as the last. And like you said even if a Lost episode isn't always up to par, its still better than 99% (or all) shows on TV today...and in that light it seems unfair to call any episode of Lost weak.
Anna | Feb 22, 2008 5:23:34 AM | #
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