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'Lost': Leftovers from 'Home'
I have a smattering of thoughts to get you into the work week on a Lost-centric tip. Think of it as part of your morning routine: shower, shave, blow dry your hair, make yourself some coffee, and read up on your favorite show. The best part of waking up is Zap2It in your cup, y'all.
Here are some things I didn't directly address in last week's recap but have been on my mind ever since. (In addition, if you missed the unveiling of Lost Butterworthed, make sure you read up on that as well.)
The Trifecta
This week's podcast touches on three topics of interest:
- Miles' function on the show
- How The Oceanic 6 might reunite before season's end in the "present"
- A Tale of Two Christians
Click here to listen/download.
The Odd Couple
Well, we all made it through a Jack-centric ep, people. I know it was touch and go there for a while, but there were no kites nor any Bai Ling, so luckily we escaped the heavy artillery. I actually bear Matthew Fox no ill will whatsoever; I think he works great in the role and consistently does good work. But it's problematic that the show often cannot figure out ways to make the nominal love story in the show (Jack and Kate) work on a consistent, meaningful basis.
It's one thing to have a love triangle/quadrangle on the Island that doesn't really raise anyone's interest. It's another to continue that conflicted configuration after the Oceanic 6 are discovered. Juliet seemed to yield Jack to Kate in this week's episode, which I fear means she's not long for this show, but clearly Future Kate has some Sawyer on the brain. I'm no Jack defender, but imagine if your fiancee's ex had your partner running errands they couldn't discuss? Med up, Jack. You've semi-earned it.
A Man Apart
Speaking of Sawyer, I can easily see a scenario in which Claire's disappearance functions as a reason for him and potentially others to stay on the Island while The Oceanic 6 get off the Island. His recent relationship with her could be setting the stage for a hunt of sort while the Oceanic 6 run "interference," for lack of a better word, in the real world.
It's equally likely that Sawyer dies protecting Kate as she escapes, but the alternative allows for a storyline that makes Sawyer an Island hero and, most importantly, incredibly undead. Which would make many a lady folk mightily happy. It also gives a focus and purpose to Those Left Behind, something I think desperately needed. We can't simply have a certain number of people stranded on an Island. We've had that for years now. The show needs to change the stakes not only for the Oceanic 6, but those remaining on the Island as well.
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What's been on your mind since "Something Nice Back Home" aired? Leave your thoughts, concerns, and unanswered questions below. If you'd like your questions answered in this week's "Letters from The Flame," email me, or drop a big ol' WAAAAAAAAAAAALT in front of your query below so I know it's "Letters"-specific.
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude.
i'm looking forward to the Miles discussion. specifically, i'd like to hear more about his interest in Claire/Aaron (there seems to be some debate regarding the object of his interest).
oh, FIRST COMMENT!! :-)
mri | May 4, 2008 5:38:24 PM | #mri: Good call, I can definitely address that tomorrow night!
Ryan | May 4, 2008 6:09:22 PM | #Just started listening to this week's podcast, Ryan, and there's one topic that stuck out to me.
- Charlotte's purpose
She is an anthropologist, and we've seen hints that there was a civilization on the Island that pre-dated Dharma and the Black Rock. I think her purpose is already there, the writers just have to get around to making it happen. She may very well be the one to unravel the mystery of Smokey and why that statue had four toes. Maybe she will also explain how Richard hasn't aged in 30 years.
Unfortunantly, due to the strike, they already said the four Boaties' stories won't be fully fleshed out until next season :(
Other Sean | May 4, 2008 8:09:39 PM | #As always, enjoyed the podcast.
Agree with Diana that Charlotte may be more under-utilized than Miles at this point. She more or less just follows Faraday around and makes a general ass of herself. Miles at least heard whispers, and seems to have taken an interesting turn with the disappearance of Claire.
As far as how the O6 get off the Island, I'm still unsure. The freighter seems useless, so I tend to think the escape will be done from the Island, thereby Sayid will return.
Was it just me or did anyone else expect Abaddon to show up during this episode to visit with Jack perhaps.
Ryan, I like your theory that Smokey is the physical manifestation of the whispers in some way. It seems to fit in, as Smokey seems to be an extension of the Island. Also, it remains to be seen whether or not the Island is absorbing the bodies of Danielle and Karl. Keamy and his men could have hastily covered up the bodies to avoid suspicion, but I prefer to think the Island did it.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Danielle story does not add up. Her pregnancy, the 'sickness', science expedition (Dharma?). Her backstory definitely is a big mystery.
I always wondered why Miles wasn't totally freaked out when he first went to the barracks with Sayid, what with all the people who were killed there.
As for the whispers, I think they are voices of the dead trying to warn the Losties that Smokey is coming or something bad is going to happen. Speaking of Smokey, for all it's speed and fury when Ben summoned it, it sure did a crappy job of disposing of the freighties. It didn't even get Keamy, who was the one who killed Alex.
Another thought occured to me. If Sawyer chose to stay as Jack said, doesn't that mean that Jack chose to leave knowing that others would be left behind? After all his promises to get them all rescued, you would think he would have been the last one on the helicopter, boat or whatever gets them off the island. Yet out of the 40 odd people left since the crash, only 6 make it, with himself being one of them. Then he has the nerve to throw the fact that he "saved" Kate in her face.
I just watched "Raised by Another" again for the first time in a long while. In the opening scene, Claire has a freaky dream where Locke, in a scary-guy tone says "He was your responsibility and you have him away. Everyone pays the price now..." Just after this he looks up, and we see one eye is completely black and another is completely white.
Now think of all that in the context of "Something Nice Back Home", of the two Christian Shepherds, etc. and see if that doesn't creep you the heck out.
Other Sean | May 4, 2008 11:13:37 PM | #Grr, meant "gave him away."
Damn spelling.
Other Sean | May 4, 2008 11:15:05 PM | #Regarding nothing, but I had to share:
I just watched the film "Executive Decision" on one of the cable channels. The basic plot is that several Middle Eastern terrorists hijack an American aircraft, with the intention of releasing a terrible gas of some kind along the eastern U.S. border. They're stopped.
The film is from 1995 or 1996 (I forget which).
The airline involved is Oceanic (I was never clear whether it was "Airlines" or "Airways" or some variation, but the "OA" logo was clear throughout the film.)
I've kinda changed my mind about the original Losties -- who'd be stupid enough to board an Oceanic flight after this?
Okay, I'm kidding. But still ....
dbkirby | May 5, 2008 3:08:07 AM | #I had heard that Miles' role on the show was diminished due to the writers strike and the compressed production schedule. That's just what my shoe-shine boy tells me after I slip him a fin. It was a little creepy as Miles was ogling over Claire and her spawn, but methinks he just wanted some Claire-Milk to go with his pancakes & (well you know the sticky topping I'm partial to). It does a body good!
Brian of the North | May 5, 2008 5:55:20 AM | #There's been some pretty interesting speculation on the boards about the fate of Claire.
Some are saying she's gone to Jacob's cabin, while others are saying that she's actually dead and has been dead since her house exploded and Christian is taking her 'to the light'. Interesting theory, but I think it's a little out there.
Jeff | May 5, 2008 6:35:56 AM | #I had some other stray thoughts about questions raised by last week's ep.
When Daniel insisted on going into the medical hatch first, was it because of his 'crush' on Charlotte and being chivalrous? or was it because his skills as a physicist made him better prepared to handle something they suspect might happen on the Island?
Hurley insists to Jack that they are dead .... It made me stop and think. Hurley is more "connected" to the Island than most. I started having flashes of The Matrix where the 06 are strapped in chairs living their happy little lives, but only in their minds.
The Matrix reference is only a for instance and not intended to be a theory.... My point is that I think there is more to what Hurley has to say and it isn't just that "he's crazy, Kate."
Can't.Wait.Til.Thursday!
djc | May 5, 2008 7:22:44 AM | #Although it looks like it won't happen until season 5, I can't wait to see the motivations and goals behind Daniel and Charlotte. They both seem to know full well what the DHARMA Initiative was about and I want to know how and why.
Jeff | May 5, 2008 7:32:42 AM | #At first I didn't think the freighters get the O6 off the island (still holding out hope for Penny). But, don't we know now that Ben didn't help them go back to the real world? When Sayid sees Ben in the future, he asks him how he got off the island. If Sayid didn't know how Ben could leave, someone else must have helped out.
A-Rob | May 5, 2008 8:08:54 AM | #I think we can say, from watching Jin's confrontation with Charlotte, that it's definately not Ben who gets the O6 off the island with the Orchid Station or other means of teleportation.
Some folks at other sites are speculating that Juliet was perhaps removing some kind of implant from Jack and that's why she was shaving two inches higher than where the actual appendix was. Claire had an implant as well that had to be removed. Only Claire and Jack and Aaron if you count his little fever) have gotten sick out of all the Losties who landed on the island. All are related....all got sick......two needed Juliet to operate......coincidence???
Juliet was pretty darn insistant that Kate leave and Bernard knock Jack out....just sayin....
Claire being dead crossed my mind too as I watched the first time through. Especially when she said she was seeing things. Miles has some idea about either Claire or Aaron or both. Miles wanted to hold the baby and I don't think that it was just to give Claire a hand.
Charlotte seemed to speak perfect Korean. I wouldn't doubt a connection to Paik. I really hope her story is important because she's gettin on my nerves. I applauded when Dan told her she had a bad attitude. Everyone knows they're lying so, why don't they just come clean and spill the whole reason for their mission?
I don't think Charlotte's Korean necessarily denotes a connectino to Paik. When she's first introduced, her interpreter asks her "How many different languages do you have to read that in before you believe its true?". I have a feeling she's pretty multilingual.
Jeff | May 5, 2008 8:43:28 AM | #Hey Ryan, just listened to the pod cast. Glad you and the Boob Tube Babe made it through the who's hotter than who debate.
You two had some interesting comments on Miles, I am interested in his character the most of the Freighties.
As a whole I didn't particularly care for the episode, but I'm not a big fan of the Kate/Jack storyline.
But it did raise something in my mind. The first flash forward where Jack was the only one to show up at the funeral, and then later he met up with Kate...was that before or after he and Kate lived together and then broke up because he's becoming a user in this latest episode and he was a user in the first flash forward too. And he's also convinced that they have to go back the same as Hurley is. So I'm thinking that the Jack/Kate flash forwards are not in a perfect sequence.
Colin, this past episode's flashforward happens before the flashforward in the season 3 finale.
Jeff | May 5, 2008 9:34:42 AM | #Thanks Jeff. So Jack is starting to crack up the same as Hurley. Hurley seemed all right when he went to visit Sun, so that was a flashforward to an earlier point in time too. I wonder if the other O6ers will crack too? Kate and Sun appear to be okay, and Sayid is busy seeking revenge and killing, and Aaron is too small to be affected in the same way. I wonder if they'll go back and attempt to rescue any of the Losties?
Colin | May 5, 2008 10:40:38 AM | #I think you can count on it, Colin :)
Jeff | May 5, 2008 11:20:06 AM | #JCK, IZ KTS CNSTNT!
Brian of the North | May 5, 2008 11:55:14 AM | #Ryan said, "It's equally likely that Sawyer dies protecting Kate as she escapes."
Jack made it pretty clear that Sawyer chose to stay on the island, which says to me that Sawyer dying to save Kate extremely unlikely. It's remotely possible that he is indeed dead, but the reason would be that he was sacrificed for the island's cause, not Kate's.
Adam | May 5, 2008 12:33:19 PM | #I like that you mentioned the whole Sawyer and Claire thing. Does anyone else find it strange how protective he has been towards her lately? Not just her and the baby, but her specifically. In this last episode, but also in the one prior when he was set on saving her from the house while all the redcoats died alongside. I just never remember the two having much of a relationship, and he is known for being a loner, uncaring, etc. and only seems to help in extreme circumstances, such as giving up his supplies to put Libby out of her misery. Im just a little confused by this...
The Tonester | May 5, 2008 12:35:47 PM | #So it turns out that the reason Rousseau got killed is because Mira Furlan asked to be written off the show.
Darn, makes you wonder if they were planning on keeping her around until the end of the series!
Jeff | May 5, 2008 1:33:26 PM | #So, after re-watching last week's ep, I'm thinking maybe Miles was somehow possessed by charlie, or heard some kind of whispher from charlie or someone else about claire or aaron.
I'm begining to believe more and more in the possibility that the O6 escape from the island wasn't really planned, but more of a risky, last minute situation, because that is the only way I'm seeing Jack leaving everyone behind, but it still doesn't explain why they don't talk to each other anymore and why they would bring aaron with them.
Waaaaaaalt
What was the deal with that smoke detector thing beeping when notChristian was in the room? You think it could be a clue? Or am I overthinking it?
sin laden | May 5, 2008 2:03:01 PM | #I just listened to the podcast and since you answered my last question I have another one
Waaaaaaaaaaalt
Who the hell is Mrs. Butterworth?! I've witnessed the birth of the btwhrt age here but, since I am not american I don't really understand it.
On a more Lost note, so much for New Otherton, eh? I'm assuming the barracks are now not only empty but destroyed right?
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