Well, this ep really divides people. As many people love it (me) as hate it (ignorant, unwashed heathens). It's the calm before Hurricane Michael sweeps up everything in its path throughout the remainder of the season. So strap in, Lost fans, as we focus on two of the more beloved secondary characters on the show, Rose and Bernard.

S.O.S.

4) In Short

"Reach out and touch faith!"

8) On the Island

Rose and Bernard are setting up a sort of supermarket on the beach, thanks to the content of the pallet drop. Bernard thinks Rose, like the others on the beach, have given up on being rescued.

Down in the hatch, Locke is trying to recreate the blast door map from memory, ignoring the warning tolls from the Swan's countdown mechanism. It's only thanks to Jack's intervention that Locke presses the button. Jack then asks Ana Lucia if Henry has said anything new. She replies that he hasn't spoken or eaten in two days.

Jack goes into the armory, with Ana Lucia watching from the doorway, and changes Henry's bandages. While redressing the wound, Jack announces a plan inspired by Henry: he's going to into the jungle and offer Henry in exchange for Walt. As Jack leaves, Henry mutters something under his breath: "They'll never give you Walt." (Strong words about a kid that freaks them the hell out.)

Bernard walks excitedly over to Hurley on the beach, telling him to gather everyone available and meet him down by the beach. He explains his plan, one inspired by the pallet drop. His big, huge, complicated, so-complex-DaVinci- himself-couldn't-have-fashioned this plan? Building a giant sign in the sand. I know, CRAZY. (I love me some Bernard, but oh man.) Rose seems skeptical of his plan, yet another reason why I love Rose.  Turns out she's the biggest proponent against this plan, which hurts Bernard deeply and only furthers his desire to follow through with it.

In the hatch, Ana Lucia isn't so sure the Others are people trading types. She wants to help Jack, but he subtly notes that she's better used keeping an eye on Locke. She suggests that he find someone to go with him, which sends Jack to the beach in search of Kate. Sawyer's a bit perplexed, and Kate has a look of "Wait, I don't have to insist I'm coming along too? Huge breakthrough!"

Bernard seeks a heavy lifter for his plan: Eko. But Eko is busy with Charlie constructing their mystery edifice, which Charlie finally reveals to be a church. Bernard is incensed that yet another person is establishing roots on the Island, and states that he preferred Mr. Beats You With His Jesus Stick Eko rather than the This Old Church version.

In the hatch, Locke wants to talk to Henry. Ana Lucia insists the armory door must stay closed, so he'll have to talk through the door. Locke repeatedly asks Henry if he entered the Numbers or not. Henry remains silent, but we see a creepy, gives-you-nightmares-for-weeks smile creep across his beaten, bloodied face.

On the beach, Bernard is dismayed that his beach project has already lost steam, with a good number of volunteers already gone. Undaunted, Bernard lays out his plan. It's not a very good plan, so I won't bore you with it here. But he doesn't help matters by giving himself the relatively easy task of tracing out the letters on the beach, rather than walking a half mile each way to bring black rocks onto the beach.

Bernard starts attacking Rose, blaming her for the fact that his fifteen-person crew has been reduced to four. Rose asks him why he always has to be doing something; he replies that if he wasn't this way she wouldn't be there in the first place. It's a slight, but only slight, variation on Jin's guilt complex over Sun's predicament.

In the jungle, Kate is super psyched that Jack picked her instead of Sawyer. Captain Tact casually replies that he first asked Sayid, and then only chose her because it's historically proven that the Others want nothing to do with her. Smooth, Jack. Really smooth. He salvages the awkwardness a touch by noting that they didn't want him, either.

After this lovely exchange, Kate notices something on the ground nearby. She realizes it's a doll, Jack realizes it's a trap, and soon, they are both suspended in the air by one of Rousseau's traps, all but vertically dry humping at this point. Kate manages to free the gun from Jack without getting pregnant in the process, and eventually shoots them free.

Back on the beach, Bernard is annoying that Jin moved his cheese. And by "moved his cheese" I mean "arranged the stones incorrectly." This admonishment solidifies Bernard as the Michael Scott of the Island, costing him his last employee.

Down on the beach, Locke is sitting by himself. Rose saddles up beside him, and the two have a chat. Their friendly chemistry makes me really mad the show never exploited this pair up until this point. Locke tells Rose he's done with the hatch; Rose just thinks he's down in the dumps, and will be back on his feet in no time. When Locke notes that "no time" means "four weeks" according to Jack, Rose cryptically notes, "But honey, we both know it's not gonna take that long." Locke sees her cryptic statement and raises it one enigmatic look.

Here comes the rain again, falling on Jack and Kate's head like a memory. Jack's curious why Kate referred to the earlier trap as too "unsophisticated" for the Others. Kate reveals the contents of the lockers in the Staff. Jack gets high and mighty on her until she reminds him that he held out about Henry. Yes, yes, you're both jerks, now get to the invisible line in the jungle. Oh, you're there already. Brilliant. Jack starts screaming for the Others to come out and play. He then calls out for the Warriors to come out and play. (OK, not really, but that would be hysterical.)

On the beach, Bernard staggers around, clearly exhausted from making the sign himself. Rose brings him some supper, but Bernard wants to keep working. Rose wants to apologize: she states that the Australian faith healer didn't cure her...but that doesn't mean she's not healed. As we watch the two of them in the Australian airport, she relates that she could tell, from the moment she crashed on the island, she knew that she had been healed. Bernard's at first incredulous, but eventually says, "If you can't leave, then neither can I. We will never leave, Rose." I'm such a sap. Who's got a Kleenex?

Once more into the hatch: Ana Lucia tells Locke she's pressed his button. "Not my button," he replies. He goes back into the dome, and once again tries to draw the map from memory. From his facial expression, it looks like he's more successful this time around.

Boy, Jack wasn't kidding about staying at the invisible line until the Others come. As they wait, Kate apologizes for kissing him back in "What Kate Did." Jack says she doesn't have to apologize. (As a guy who's gotten mixed messages before, let me correct the good doctor and insist that she does need to apologize.) Just as it looks as if they might smooch again, a twig breaks in the jungle. The two stand up, and who should appear, and promptly collapse, but Michael. Not WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALT. Just Michael.

15) Off the Island

It's winter, and Bernard is trying to help Rose dislodge her car from a snow bank. She wants to call AAA, but he offers his help. She eventually frees her car, at the expense of Bernard taking a huge face plant into the street. We learn after that this is the first time these two have met. They have an awkward goodbye, with each getting into their cars. But then Rose asks Bernard out for a cup of coffee. All together now: awwwww.

The pair sit in a restaurant adjacent to the Niagra Falls. Rose admires the view; Bernard merely admires Rose. He proposes to her as a trio of string players accompany his speech. But it all goes south when she tells him she's dying. She reveals that while she's been in remission for a while, now the cancer has returned something fierce, and she has a year left to live. Bernard doesn't care: he wants her to say yes. And sweet Jeebus, it's getting dusty in here.

Bernard and Rose are in the Australian Outback, driving to a remote location. We learn Bernard has essentially tricked Rose into seeing a man named Isaac of Uluru, a faith healer. Rose is dismayed by this trickery, lashing out at her husband. When she tells him she's made peace with her situation, Bernard tells his wife that he hasn't, and pleads with her one last time to see him. Bernard eventually convinces her to see the man she called a "kook."

Rose enters Isaac's offices, and sees the walls lined with abandoned crutches, discarded wheelchairs, and seemingly hundreds of thank you cards. Isaac enters, with Rose sarcastically asking if he's going to start chanting. Isaac then says something mighty curious:

There are certain places with great energy -- spots on the Earth like the one we're above now. Perhaps this energy is geological -- magnetic. Or perhaps it's something else. And when possible I harness this energy and give it to others.

Well, then. After saying this, he puts his hands to either side of Rose's cheeks. After a few moments, he quickly opens his eyes, looking a little shocked. He informs Rose that he cannot help her, at least not there. Turns out the Outback is "not the right place" to heal her. He offers to give Bernard's donation back, but Rose insists he keep it: she wants to lie to Bernard and tell him Isaac fixed her.

16) The Mythology

A lot of people have forgotten about Isaac, because they desperately want to forget about this episode. A lot of people really, really don't like it, and treat it as a waste of an hour. I guess they were dying for another flashback in which Charlie battled with drug addiction, or Locke unsuccessfully lobbied for Anthony Cooper's affection.

What I love about Isaac's role is that it allowed the show to drop an insane amount of mythology into what was nominally an adorable character study. The show definitely inhaled its collective breath before the introduction of the season's final narrative arc, but also dropped several clues about the nature of the Island that didn't really pay off until Season 4.

When Isaac talks about harnessing the mysterious energy and giving it to others, can't you imagine Alvar Hanso saying something similar at the outset of the Dharma Initiative? This "mystery" energy is more than likely related to the "exotic matter" discovered on the Island (thank you, Orchid orientation video). Obviously, it's not exactly the same, otherwise Rose would have been healed in Australia. But one cannot help but wonder what, if anything, is the connection between the Australian outback, a Pacific island, and the countless other places mentioned casually (if vaguely) by Isaac.

Since this show takes place on the Island, and not in the Australian outback, let's assume that the Island is a more vital location in terms of these unique places in the world. Moreover, given Hanso's interest in it, let's assume the Island is THE most important of these unique sites in the world. It's in fact SO VITAL that it needs to stay hidden from the world. Not simply because Donald Trump might want to build a golf course there, but because it's the epicenter of a vital part of existence itself.

These various unique hotspots dovetail nicely into a theory some of you have mentioned often in the comments section: the vile vortices theory. (I know at least reader Shaggysteve has mentioned this, sorry that I've forgotten the other names at this moment.) The theory is based on the real-life conspiracy theory that there is not one Bermuda Triangle but in fact a dozen, potentially interconnected. It's a theory that allows a slave ship, Nigerian beechcraft, scientific vessel, one-manned sailboat, and commercial airliner to all land in the same place.

Now, this isn't the only way to access the Island. (Apparently a bearing of 305 does the trick quite nicely.) But if you take vile vortices theory and combine it with Isaac's cryptic speech, it still renders the Island a magical place, but one innately tied to our own. This is an important distinction, as it increases the stakes of what happens on the show. It would be one thing if the on-Island activities were devoid of impact upon the real world, but we know all too well this isn't the case. And this was the episode that introduced this crucial idea into the world of the show.

23) The Moment

Bernard wanting to marry Rose despite her terminal cancer. That was like The Notebook plus A Walk to Remember times Field of Dreams.

42) In Retrospect

1. Bernard's pretty much an a-hole for no reason other than pushing along the plot. It comes completely out of nowhere, and is all the more jarring while watching these episodes back-to-back as rapidly as I have been.
2. Given what we know now about Ben, his Snidely Whiplash smile behind closed doors is creepy, but a little out-of-character. I just can't see Ben going home to his bungalow after a hard day of breaking his fellow Others' spirits, kicking back with a movie from Netflix, and grinning like this about his job well done. He'd sit emotionless, even if he was watching, say, The Notebook. Or A Walk to Remember. Or Field of Dreams.

108) In Summary

Everyone has that song that they love, but really can't justify. You're a touch ashamed for liking it so much. And if you think I'm going to admit mine here and now, well, keep holding your breath there, bucko. But this episode is the equivalent of that for me: I can't really justify liking it as much as I do, but I'm fairly defenseless against it. It just bypasses the majority of my critical thinking skills and hits me in the emotional solar plexus.

Nothing remotely revelatory happened in this episode, much like in "The Long Con." But just as "The Long Con" set the table for the arrival of Henry, "S.O.S." is the final moment of sweetness before Michael's reappearance sends everything straight to hell. And for that brief respite, I thank this episode.

Leave your thoughts about this episode below!

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude, then peruses Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group.

Comments

I know we all know it, but at no point in this piece did you actually write the words, "Rose knew Locke would heal quickly, since she knows he was in a wheelchair at the airport," especially since that scene was in this episode. Though you might want to revise.

Bob | Oct 1, 2008 7:46:43 PM | #

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Hmm, I've long believed in core elements of the Vortices theory, I just didn't know there was an actual theory laid out about it already. Pretty cool.

I didn't really think Ben's smile was out of character, but that is only because I view it through the lense of someone who's watched Lost through Season 1-4; I'm sure at the time it seemed off, and the new viewer might not get it. Basically, Ben is smiling because he *knows* that he's wormed his way into Locke's psyche, and that it will indirectly cause more discord for the Losties.

He doesn't know Locke is going to be his rival for Jacob's affections at this point in time, but he knows that Locke is the kind of guy that will drive himself crazy trying to figure out the intangible elements of the Island, while Jack is the type to stay grounded and focus on what he can see. Ben knows that by screwing with Locke's mind, he's going to drive him and Jack apart, not only weakening the Losties from a strategically, but also perhaps to drive Jack to a new group and a new way of thinking - say, the Others way. And since Ben wants Jack to want to save his life, he's giddy at the prospect that his plan just might work.

Other Sean | Oct 1, 2008 9:50:45 PM | #

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First I want to say I liked the episode and it was a good way to find out more about Bernard and Rose, who deserved a flashback. As Ryan mentioned, a good alternative episode for what was to come.
What irks me, and we probably will never know the answer, is that pallet drop of food. If nobody can find the island, how can whoever is responsible able to find the coordinates and drop off the load? Especially if the old donkey wheel has been turned in the past....but I digress from the main topic of this episode which to me is Faith........it just keeps rearing it's ugly head. Locke begins to lose his or has already in his purpose and the button. Rose off the island has lost hers in living, but has regained it by landing on the island. It's almost as if the Losties have been brought to island to find their faith again. Jack and Locke probably being the biggest or most imortant of the survivors to have to find their Faith. This goes along with also the fact that the survivors are lost on an island but maybe also lost spiritually in some way. Think back to Rose's words to Bernard in this episode also: "You are giving people false hope"....the same thing that Christian told Jack. Very conflicting ideas where they must find their faith but yet don't dish out false hope to anyone......kind of goes along with the opposite forces pulling each other on the island.

Jacoby | Oct 2, 2008 6:58:58 AM | #

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I don't think Isaac will have a recurring role, but he did introduce the concept of "special places on Earth". As for the pallet of food, I like the idea of Widmore Industries running the logistics through different businesses and having the pallet drop at a certain times, all without the people doing it having any idea of what or who it is for.

As for this episode: every series needs a transition episode between arcs - I believe that is what a lot of the Hurley episodes are for. These are episodes where the writers and/or producers can show their humorous or romantic side without interrupting the mythology too bad. Carlton and Damon obviously have a great sense of humor (you can tell from their podcasts), and these transition episodes give them a chance to do that (well, and some of the B-story plots like the tree frog).

Plus, everyone at the time wanted a Rose and Bernard flashback. They got it, we can move on.... And actually, I was surprised to find that they had only been married less than a month when they crashed on the island. It seemed like they had been married forever.

Okay, I am prepared... bring on Michael... I can handle it, I think!

The Man from Tennessee | Oct 2, 2008 7:50:47 AM | #

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I really like this episode too. Since I started watching the show live in the second season, this was one of the first episodes I got my wife to watch with me and she fell in love with the show. Bernard and Rose's relationship is easily the most realistic of all of them. I want more of them in Season Five or at least a spin-off sitcom after the show is all over.

Blue Sean | Oct 2, 2008 9:13:54 AM | #

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rewatching the episode i dont understand why you think Bernard is being a jerk? he wants everyone to stop being so complacent, he wants to get off to save rose and its making him a little crazy. plus, a lot of times it seems like the characters' neurosis comes from nowhere in their flashback eps because we havent seen much of them in the episodes leading up to it because their issues have been slowly brewing and boiling.

tonester | Oct 2, 2008 9:32:00 AM | #

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I understand where he's coming from, but it still comes out of left field. It's not as if he's been leading the charge to get off the Island all this time...it just sprung up, violently, out of nowhere, in order to provide a backbone for an hour of television.

If they had sprinkled in bits of, "OK, now that I have refound my wife, it's time to get back to reality" throughout the season, nothing about his demeanor in this ep would have bothered me in the slightest.

Ryan | Oct 2, 2008 10:33:48 AM | #

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Remembering Jack asking Kate to go along on his mission, I half-expected her to turn him down. Why? Kate's really one of those people who only wants to do something when they're told no. If Jack had picked up on this, he would have scored him some Kate much earlier...

"You can't have sex with me, Kate! Especially NOT in that tent over there...and NOT about 10 minutes..."

I know, I know. It's the way I'm wired.

Brian of the North | Oct 2, 2008 1:36:26 PM | #

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Hey, it works for Peter Bishop on Fringe! Why not? :)

Ryan | Oct 2, 2008 2:25:40 PM | #

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Something I noticed in this episode for the first time was the scene when Bernard was trying to organize people to help him, and he mentioned the "frozen yogurt guy, Neil".

Good to see the Frogurt get mentioned.

Jason | Oct 3, 2008 6:26:01 AM | #

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I also thought that Bernard actions seem to "come out of nowhere". Also, I don't think he would have been so mule-headed and may have helped with the picking of the stones. We don't see him as a selfish-think-only-of-me kind of guy, and yet thats the way that he acts in this episode. BUT, I was OK with it, and understand how all this may have been brewing. But I agree that his actions didn't appear to be in character.

Debra | Oct 4, 2008 5:25:48 AM | #

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Seems like many of the character's names have been chosen with an intentional connection (Hume, Locke, Christian, Jacob, etc.). Wonder if Isaac has any meaningful connection to Jacob...in the Bible, Jacob is Isaac's son.

LoLo | Oct 27, 2008 12:43:57 AM | #

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