The puzzle pieces are coming together. While the introduction of time travel has sent some fans running for the hills, for other fans, time travel has left us on the edge of our seat, biting our fingers in delightful agony as the mystery of the show unfolds before us. Last night's episode that was somewhat ridiculously titled (until we found out why) "Jughead" gave us some major pieces to the "Lost" puzzle. There is a power play between some big titans. And although we knew that this was going on, we didn't have an explanation why. Now we know that Charles Widmore himself was on the island and it's a pretty sure bet that Ms. "Ellie" Hawking was on the island as well. We know that Richard Alpert has "always" been on the island. We know that Daniel Faraday is involved with the supposed enemies in more ways than one. Those that might be hating on the introduction of time travel are missing out on the fact that with the island jumping around we are getting first hand looks as to what happened and what's going to happen. Just like a really good book (i.e. the Harry Potter series) starts to unfold all of its secrets and mysteries and connect them to previous plot points, Lost is doing the same in its second to last season.
I don't know what it is, but I love Desmond-centric stories. I don't know if it's because I am a "Pesmond" (Penny and Desmond) shipper or if it's that maybe Desmond really is the answer to the island's problems. Is Desmond one of the top puzzle pieces that will help explain the big picture that is the story of Lost? Of course, Desmond's story in this episode wasn't the one that had us for each delicious second. The on island story was superb. Daniel Faraday has really stepped up into the leader role for the Losties. In large part, this was done by Jeremy Davies' great performance in the season thus far. Last year, Faraday was the geeky scientist. This year, he is going toe to toe with Richard Alpert and I'm loving every minute of it. You know who else is grown a spine? John Locke. In seasons past, if Richard Alpert had told him that he didn't know who he was, Locke would go find a hatch to pound, scream, and cry at. This time however, he collected himself and went right for the jugular and said, "Jacob sent me" (which by the way is the new password to get into any major dance club and or secret society). Locke is clearly driven in what he has to do, and is not doing it for himself. He is doing it for the island and the people he has been asked to protect and lead.
Questions for discussion:
Charles "Jones" Widmore: This episode featured a lot into Widmore's character. The reveal that "Jones" is actually a young Charles Widmore had jaws across the country on the floor. So now we know for certain that he was on the island and practically know why he wants to return. After all, it seems as though once you leave the island, you'll want to find it again. What was his role there and perhaps more importantly, why did he leave/get banished from the island? We could already see the tension between him and Alpert. Did Widmore break too many necks and get checked off the "good list"?
Ellie=Ms. Hawking?: The young blonde British woman on the 1954-island named Ellie screamed to be theorized as a young Ms. Hawking. Why else would Faraday make the comment, "You look familiar"? With the reveals of Widmore being on the Island in the past and that he presently knows Faraday's mother well enough to know her whereabouts, it seems that the writers are almost just leading us to this theory. And what about Ms. Hawking being in L.A. at the same time that Faraday's mystery mom is? Fans are buzzing that Ms. Hawking is actually Faraday's mom. Is Ellie a young Ms. Hawking?
Widmore/Faraday=Father/Son?: I'm really feeling that Faraday is Widmore's son with Ms. Hawking. He has been involved in Faraday's life and research for quite some time, and it begs to ask the "Are you my daddy?" question. And we all know how much the Lost writers love a good daddy-issue story.
Did Jughead give birth to the Swan Station?: Faraday exclaimed to Ellie that the Others need to bury the bomb and then cover with cement or lead. Remember way back in Season 2 when Sayid stated that the swan hatch had thick walls of concrete not seen since Chernobyl? While I am not certain that this is the cause or reason for the 108-minute countdown clock to hell, it seems like a good candidate.
In short, I loved this episode. It's one of my favorites so far. We are getting answers, which I'm also loving. We had some great Lost discussion going on here last week. Let's bring it again and put these pieces where they need to go.
If you crave even more Lost Talk check out my podcast, "The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack" or on iTunes.