On Lost: "Namaste"
After a week off from ABC's Lost, we dove right back into the story. The Oceanic Six are back on the Island, but they are the odd men (and women) out. Ever one for transitioning smoothly, Jack seems like a lost little boy when he finds himself in the shadow of LaFleur (Sawyer) while Kate is getting power-played by Juliet. Hurley is taking a back seat at the moment. At least Sun seems to have some stones. She totally played Ben and I loved it! Of course, she is in for a long journey of her own. Somehow she is going to have to either go 30 years into the past, make some kind of rip in the space-time continuum, sit and wait for Sawyer and crew to come back, or find a 60-year-old Jin. How do you think that is going to play out?
There are major rifts being built between our Losties and I don't know how they are going to mend them. I'd even say that they are more separated now that they are together than when they were miles and decades apart. To even further complicate things, Sayid is jailed as a Hostile/Other. I don't know what they are going to do to fix that situation. I see no way out of that one. Also, how appropriate is it that a young Ben confronts an incarcerated Sayid? It wonderfully calls back to one of the best season 2 episodes, "One of Them," where we learned how Sayid became a torturer and he tortured Ben (then going by the name Henry Gale).
This episode was not a barn-burner on the theory front. I think the only major theory to come from this episode (thus far) centers around Ben and Sun. Why were Ben and Sun not flashed back to 1977 Island time like Jack, Kate, Sayid, and Hurley were? Is it possible that they landed in the present day because they were actually already there in 1977? We saw an adolescent Ben, but could a young Sun be there as well? If so, then who are her parents? As far as we have known, the Paiks have been her parents and that still may be, but is it possible that it was Sun, not Miles as it is widely theorized, who was the screaming baby at the beginning of Season 5? Is she actually the daughter of Pierre Chang? I personally don't think so, but it would be one hell of a twist.
Speaking of twists, something is definitely brewing. When Frank was valiantly landing the plane (he's proven time and time again he's a damn good pilot), his doomed co-pilot was calling mayday and the only response he got was the transmission of 4-8-15-16-23-42. Here is the problem: Rousseau changed it to her distress call in 1988. Also back during "This Place Is Death," when Rousseau's crew picked up the numbers broadcast it sounded an awful lot like Hurley saying the numbers. It seems like something is going to sneak up on us and put our jaws on the floor. What do you guys think?
Easter Eggs:
• The Muppet Show: Anyone catch Kermit the Frog on TV in the Flame Hatch? It must be pretty sweet to get paid to listen to Geronimo Jackson, eat brownies, and watch The Muppet Show all day long. What do you need to score on your aptitude test to get that gig?
• Claire in the Cabin: If you look very closely in the background of the scene in the cabin between Christian, Lapidus, and Sun, you'll notice a blonde woman standing behind Sun in the upper right corner of the screen. It's right after Christian shows her the picture of the 1977 Dharma recruits and tells her she has a long journey ahead of her. Is that blonde woman Claire or was someone unintentionally standing in the shot while they were filming?
• Smokey in the Barracks?: We heard the Smoke Monster appear on the dock when Sun and Lapidus where walking towards the barracks, but he also seemingly makes an cameo when Lapidus and Sun meet Christian. Is he protecting Christian or he is protecting Lapidus and Sun? Or is Christian/Jacob a manifestation of the Smoke Monster
• The Whispers: The whispers were heard for the first time this season as Sun and Lapidus entered the Barracks. I've listened to the audio forward and backwards as well as normal and slowed down, but I can't make it out. Anyone figure out what they said this time?
• Chang's Swan Uniform: Pierre Chang wore a Swan Hatch logo on his jacket in the Dharma orientation video that was played for Jack, Kate, and the rest of the recruits. Yet we hear about plans to build the Swan Station from the "can't ever imagine how he'd go crazy" Radzinsky. Explanations?
That's all I've got for this week's episode. If you're looking for some extra Lost fix, tune into www.ustream.tv this weekend from 5pm on Saturday, March 21 to 6pm on Sunday, March 22. My podcasting co-host Jack and I will be hosting a 25-hour podcasting event to raise money to benefit Autism Speaks. It will be broadcast live thru streaming video from Raleigh, North Carolina. We'll have two separate "Lost" panels with several different "Lost" podcasters - one at 11:30pm and the other at 11:30am. Oh yeah, and Jorge Garcia will also be appearing on Sunday afternoon to answer fan questions.
If you have any questions or would like more information about attending, watching, the schedule, or making a donation, email LPDonate@gmail.com.
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So when do we get to read your thoughts about "He's Our You"? We're just 24 hours away from "Whatever Happened Happened" and I have yet to read your analysis of "He's Our You." How am I supposed to know what I think, if I haven't read what you think yet?
I think, since Larry is in 1977, his brother Darryl, and his other brother Darryl, must in 2007. Someone will be waking up next to Suzanne Pleshette soon.
Jay, hope the podcasting raised funds for the Autism Speaks benefit; you're a nice guy!!
My head went spinning this week, so many items to try to figure out. Maybe the island entity wants the returnees to work out their demons from their past, so they can truly become the leaders that the island thinks they are. They always had the potential but couldn't shake their anger, resentments, and character flaws. This time, on the island, they are meeting head on their issues and have to resolve them with each other, let the anger out and kind of iron out their differences, and get along finally.
And, Kate has to figure out who she is going to settle down with. Juliet and Jack seem to look pained when they were together, so that speaks for itself.
Last, I think the Island could not accept Sun in the 1977 setting, because she was carrying Jin's wedding ring, and he was not with her; recall when Mrs. Hawking informed them the flight back to the island had to have things and people the same way as the first crash (ie. Christian Shepard's shoes) to replace his body. And, Ben, well, he comes and goes so many times on and off the Island, that's a guess. But, I thought Ben had previously said he could never return once he turned the wheel.
I bet they'll all get connect again, we might see another island shift.
Okay, here's something I think may come into play in a big way - we know that Ben was responsible for 'the purge' killing everyone in the Dharma intiative, right? But he had some very close relationship with Horace, because he closed the eyes of his dead body and seemed to mourn him, not his own father, Roger. For the past several years we have seen Ethan as a "hostile" - one of Richard Alpert's team - he was in Miami with Juliette, he brought her to the island, etc. But this week we find out Ethan is the son of Horace - meaning he's a Dharma baby, not a hostile. So.... did little Ben save baby Ethan ?
I looked at the screencap for the Sun-Frank-Christian thing, and I think it's a stretch to say that little thing is a person, much less Claire.
I love "Namaste", it was one of the best episodes of the season. I do have one gripe though, I just can't stand Sun, never could either. Every time I see her character focused on, I want to turn the channel. One moment she's a timid puppy-eyed liar, another moment she's the Martha Stewart of the island. Later, she's miraculously becomes head of a corporate criminal empire and brokers deals with the man who's responsible for getting dozens of losties killed. Then she unrealistically reverts back to Miss puppy-eyes again when she hears Jin might still be alive, blah, blah, blah. This woman needs to pick a character. Either she's a deranged dragon lady, a confused spoiled little brat, or just a punk@ss b!tc+. I wouldn't mind her being either, but I wished her character was more consistent.
Totally agree! Sun has been near the top of my list of people I wish the writers would send running off a cliff since Season 1. Right behind Hurley.
You do know Sun's a woman, right? You know, that half of the human raced blessed with the power of creation and permanently mercurial because of it? I know plenty of women whose personality shifts are more drastic than is Sun's.
I quit watching this show--burned out on the constant ridiculousness. It used to be one of my favorite shows that I never missed. Two or three weeks ago, I quit TiVo'ing it. It's become completely stupid.
Yet your still reading about it? It's a fantasy. It's supposed to be ridiculous.
It just asks more from it's viewers than it used to. It would be ridiculous, if not for the painstaking attention to detail the producers have used to explain everything. I guess not everyone can handle the increased intellectual demands.
I hate to post this link, but this is called hte "Time Loop Theory" of lost, and it basically explains the entire show.
http://www.timelooptheory.com/the_timeline.html
Read it. Its not a spoiler, but its definetly the best theory i've seen about lost. Check it out.
thanks for posting the link. good theory!
What a great show. They STILL have not jumped the shark and with the complicated storyline - that's a feat. It's funny when I try to explain the show to someone who has never seen it - I usually stop at "A plane crashes on an island and strange things begin to happen.." Then I lend them Season One and send them off to become a junkie.
Risking cyber-mobs with pitchfork...
I disagree.
They should have wrapped it up in two seasons and moved on.
I would usually agree but don't see how they could wrap up anything anytime soon without a 'dream' episode or some sort of thing to get the writers off the hook. If they can wrap this up and cover all the bases - that will be impressive.
And you're still watching, right ?
The BBC does a pretty good job with wrapping up seasons in a couple of years -- they've done it time and time again to good effect. But even the Brits couldn't have wrapped up a mythology THIS dense, with THIS many characters in 26 , 39 or 52 episodes.
It may not be everyone's cup of tea (to totally belabor the Brit metaphor) but some of us like our drama so dense you need a blog to help u navigate.
I think the reason Sun and Lapidus didn't go back in time (and Ben) is because they didn't land on the main island.
I thought that too at first, but when the island first starting jumping through time we watched it along with Hydra completely vanish. So it seems like the two islands are in sync chronologically.
I understand that ben and lapidus wouldn't end up in 1977 since they weren't part of the O-6, but why not Sun?
btw, my new favorite line from the series is "And how did that work out for them?"
It's a good theory, but the title card specifically said "30 Years Earlier" and Sawyer (oops, LaFlueur) says it's 1977.
You aren't wrong about New Otherton, though. Remember, Locke blew up the dock along with the sub, yet here it is again. I think it's Daniel who is wrong, and our Losties being in the past actually is changing the present.
I'm a little worried about Sun and Lapidus. Folks who have direct conversations with Christian tend to lose their connection with this plane of existence.
I loved the little passive-aggressive move Julliette made on Kate by leaving her name off of the mainfest. I haven't liked her much before (meaning Juliette) but she's really growing on me this season.
1. Daniel wasn't "wrong"; he was lying, something he does consistently. He's the biggest liar ever introduced on the show. And with killer Ben, torturer Sayid, con man Sawyer and fugitive Kate in the mix, that's saying quite a lot.
2. Daniel showed what a liar he was when he tasked Des to find Mommy. As Des all of a sudden remembering a conversation that he hadn't remembered b4 shows how changing the future works in "Lost."
3. The dock's existance for Sun and Lapidus MIGHT mean Locke didn't blow it up....Or it might mean the pair traveled just 4 years into the past as oppsed to 30. Unless Christian told them what year they were in and I forgot?
Interesting that Chang was wearing a Swan logo, and it hasn't been built, as you point out Jay. My guess is 1) it's a continuity error, or 2) they began to make logo'd jumpsuits for the station ahead of the station...
It may be that the Dharma signs were still there when Sun and Lupidis found Christian because Sawyer and company have changed the past. Remember, they know that the Others killed all of the Dharma people and they will probably find a way to stop that. I did not notice the blond woman, but I am expecting to see Claire, because she was with Christian the last time we saw her. Since I like all of the original castaways, I am hoping they do not end up on opposite sides of the Others vs. the Dharma conflict.
Carsick, they left Ben on the little island, remember, Locke sees Ben in the hydra station infirmary from the Jeremy Bentham episode a few back. That episode took place chronologically after the events of this episode (well, 30 years after some of the events, but at least a day after Sun clocks Ben)
I liked the parallel between Ben waiting to "kill" Locke until after he had information he could use and Sun whacking Ben only after she had information she could use.
Is Ben in the boat they took to the island or did they leave him on the shore when they left?
Jay, Your theory that Ben and Sun couldn't travel back to 1977 is not a bad one, but Sawyer and Locke time traveled back to a point on the island when they both were present: Locke banging on the hatch, and Claire's delivery.
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