Other Ben, meet Dr. Linus

Come on, she's only my daughter in another alternate reality

After a barrage of action-packed episodes, “Dr. Linus” was a much needed return to the character driven episodes that filled Seasons 1-3. Don’t get me wrong, I love a smoke-filled mass killing episode as much as the next guy, but LOST was a show built on character development ,so I was happy to see it return to its roots. This episode was written to perfection. It had a great character-centric arc, all while finding time to develop a non-centric character (Jack I’m looking at you). in addition, we got confirmations about Richard’s history, big answers about Jacob’s touching (that’s what she said) and a Nikki & Paolo throwback compliments of everyone’s favorite grave digger, Miles. If all that wasn’t enough, Alex looked so smokin that Flocke should have jumped timelines and asked HER to take his place instead of her surrogate dad.

I’ll get straight to the point, I loved that Ben was redeemed in both timelines. After complaining that Ben never displays human motives or emotions, he became a character this week. I think Mile’s insight into Jacob’s last thoughts cut Ben pretty deep and I really believed that Ben was both sorry for killing Jacob and grief-stricken over his daughter’s death. In the flash sideways we get a glimpse of what kind of person Ben could be if there was no island and no pool of resurrection (more on this later). Have I mentioned that everyone but Kate is happier in Timeline X?? Damn you Jacob!!

Lastly, I think it’s ironic that the episode hyped to be the demise of Benjamin Linus, turned out to be the episode that saved his character. As my watching-buddy noted, no one was going to be that heartbroken over a Ben Linus death at this point in the season because he was already character-assassinated by poor writing. Now, however, he is a redeemed character. Welcome back to the land of the living Dr. Linus, unfortunately for you, the LOST writers tend to kill characters after making them likable (see Charlie & Shannon).

Now the quick hits:

• THE GIFTS!! So Jacob can give someone a gift/power if he touches you. He gave Richard the power of agelessness and I’m assuming he gave Walt & Miles their abilities as well. Remember when Miles was thrown into a truck and Jacob’s body guards told him they could explain where his power comes from? They must have known he was J-touched
• Did Jacob give Locke the power to self-heal?? He shouldn’t have survived that fall. Did Jacob give Jack the power to heal people?? Clearly Sawyer got perfect-man-scruff power and Kate got a great rack for a woman so petite (mmm)
• I find it very interesting that Jacob was hoping that Ben didn’t kill him. Jacob knew about the plot but didn’t want to die. Hmmm. And yes we all noticed Ben was J-touched
• Smokey offered Ben his place as the island’s “defense system”. If Smokey was telling the truth then maybe my theory that says Smokey is trapped on the island by Jacob isn’t so bad. Hold that thought…
• We never found out how Ben got off the island dammit! What’s even more interesting is that it appears that Ben & his father left before the incident occurred. I don’t know the nuke going off could have changed things previous to the incident going off. My brain hurts thinking about the implications…
• During the re-showing of “Sundown” there was a pop-up that said Charles Widmore told Locke that “a war was coming to the island and if he (Locke) isn’t on the island, then the wrong side will win”. That made me think that Widmore was on the sub. Stupid pop-up foreshadowing/spoilers
• If Widmore has been working with Smokey, how have they communicated?? Maybe Widmore & Eloise have been working together to get the O6 (Jacob’s candidate’s) back on the island so they can replace Jacob
• Why did Smokey leave the Losties on the beach alive? Even if he has to spare the candidates, why not kill Miles and Jurassic Pork (Ilana, thanks Franny)?
• Move aside John Locke, Jack is the new Man of Faith. The dynamite scene was kinda bad-ass and the coolest thing Jack’s done since getting Sawyer to admit he banged lots of prostitutes in front of Kate

Finally, make sure your seat back and tray tables are in their full upright position because it’s PREDICTION TIME!!

I think that Smokey AND Jacob have to be replaced before Smokey can leave the island. That’s why I think Smokey can’t kill the candidates, he needs to keep the potential replacements alive! I think Smokey killed Jacob because Jacob was being too picky about his replacements. After waiting more than a thousand years for Jacob to take his sweet ass time, a pissed off and island-fever induced Smokey decided to kill Jacob to speed up the replacement process. Jacob said, “It only ends once, the rest is just progress.” I think he is talking about finding a replacement. Maybe Smokey thinks Jacob’s replacement criteria is too tough to fill because fighting get’s a candidate removed from the cave/lighthouse list. Clearly these two are in desperate need of Monster.com

And yes, I believe Jacob wants Jack to be his replacement while Sawyer is Smokey’s number one stunna (along with many women). Interestingly enough Sawyer has been on a island a long time and I think he’s more attached to it than he knows.

Thoughts??

Team Jacob or Team Smokey??

Dear LOST writers, thank you for one of the best non-season-premier/season-finale episodes of LOST ever, sincerely, Finally Lost.

WOW What an episode! So many things to question, so many things to debate. Once again I will dispense with the well thought out theories and go with raw emotional first-gut-instincts: Jacob is a huge jerk! While Smokey has been trapped on the island, Jacob has been allowed to prance around off-island giving people candy bars and NKOT lunch boxes resulting in the ruination of their lives! Don’t worry Jacob fans, I’ve got issues with Smokey too! I think the above picture is PERFECT for this debate. Thanks to my friend Maria for noting that the table is almost perfectly divided along Teams Jacob and Smokey. Richard and Ilana seem to be on the wrong side but there’s still time for them to swap. Damn those writers are good! But before before we talk discuss sides, let’s talk about last night’s episode, starting with the new DAD: Dogen.

For those of you who are OG on this blog, you’ll remember that I use to call Michael DAD for Dumb-Ass Dad. Now I happen to like Dogen and am in no way implying that he’s as annoying as Michael, but goddamn he was a DAD last night! Dear Dogen, if you thought Sayid was so bad, then why didn’t you kill him? Instead you let him live, give him a reason to have a gripe with you and then send him into your enemy’s camp so he can later turn against you. THEN when he returns from a mission you know he should have died from, you allow him back into the temple and let him kill you! Saaaayid whaaat?? Dogen, you were the only thing keeping Smokey out, why would you let yourself be killed so easily? Furthermore, I don’t understand why the story about your son made you spare Sayid’s life. Finally, what power did Jacob give you that kept Smokey out of the temple? Is it related to the ash? I don’t know if Smokey is now immune to ash or if Claire dug him a pathway before she rolled into the temple. Speaking of which…

Why did Smokey send Claire into the temple? Did she serve a purpose that I missed? And if The Others think Claire is so bad then why didn’t they kill her? Time for the bullet points:

• Did Smokey dangle the Timeline X carrot to get Sayid to join his side? It would be interesting if Smokey knows about Timeline X and if he could send Sayid there.
• Props to the writers for calling this episode Sundown. They played me for a fiddle with that episode name and a Sun-centric episode due up in the Season 1 order
• Why did Jacob tell Hurley to bring Sayid to the temple to save his life? What was on the note that Dogen read? Clearly Jacob knew that Smokey was going to kill Dogen and get into the temple because he told Hurley he wanted Hurley and Jack as far away from the temple as possible. If he foresaw that, then why did he save Sayid? Jacob might put Ben to shame with his manipulation skills…
• I FINALLY got one right! I’ve been on a Cleveland-like losing streak with my predictions for a while, but if you recall I predicted that Jacob’s death meant Smoke is free to leave the island. The second half of that prediction is that Jacob isn’t really “dead” but takes Smokey’s place as the island prisoner.
• Sayid is a badass in any reality. I was so happy to see Slingshot (Alex) killer, Kreamy, killed again! That guy sucks!
• Jin was the last person I expected to be trapped in the walk-in. It makes sense, but I wasn’t expecting it.
• It was great to see Ben so afraid of Sayid. Has Sayid’s heart been infected now?
• How much can change by setting off that damn nuke?? Which leads me to…

The case against Jacob

Add Sayid to the list of people who I believe would rather live in Timeline X. Hell he just let Smokey butcher all The Others in the temple for the promise of Nadia being alive again. If you’ve lost count at home that’s Jack, Locke, Hurley, Claire, Dogen, everyone on the plane and most of The Others. Kate has it worse and Sawyer, Sun, Jin, Desmond, Miles, Rose and White Bernard are to be determined. There is a strong case to be made that Jacob needlessly toys with these people’s lives for no reason what-so-ever. Why did he let Nadia get hit by that car? Why did he save Dogen’s son but only if Dogen promised to come to the island? Jacob is not making it easy to defend him. My friend Cav keeps saying that Jacob is like the devil because he is constantly telling you have a choice (free will) all the while he is manipulating you.

The case against Smokey

All that being said, I should warn you that I am a card carrying member of Team Jacob. It bothers me that Smokey is using Claire by lying to her about Aaron’s location. I’m surprised Smokey didn’t kill Jin & Kate to keep the truth from Claire. And while Jacob has killed and made things worse via his Jacob-whammy skills (manipulation), there is something to be said about how Smokey went in and slaughtered everyone at the temple and in Jacob’s house. Let’s also not forget he enjoyed picking off our Losties during Season 1. He has displayed a pessimism for people since the Black Rock arrived and he killed Mr. Eko! I think that’s a formula for baddie, however, It’s a shame he’s got all the cool people on his side (Sayid, Sawyer I’m looking at you!)

Finally I’ll leave you with my thoughts on next week’s episode, please stop reading if you don’t watch the previews for the following week! Clearly next week is going to be a Ben-centric episode (check) and I will go on record that I think he will die. The alarm clock has gone off and someone major needs to die…

Ben Linus is not allowed to speak at my funeral

I thought I’d start blogging my initial thoughts after each new episode.  Eloquent, in-depth theory laden blogs can wait until later in the week, I just want to get the discussion started…

This episode was FANTASTIC. It was exactly what the Doctor Jack Shepard wouldn’t have ordered (because he’s always wrong) after the subpar filler that was “What Kate Does”. We got answers, we got questions, we got numbers, we got a drunk Sawyer and we got a Benjamin Linus eulogy.

First the eulogy. I believe that Other Ben is really remorseful over killing Locke. I still think jealous was a weak motive but I really do buy Ben’s remorse. In typical Other Ben style, however, he just couldn’t help himself from lying to Booby-Fett (Ilana) about killing Jacob. I suppose I would have lied to her to. Side note, did anyone else crack up after Frank’s reaction to Ben’s eulogy?

Because this episode covered so much ground I’ll give you my thoughts bulletized:

• I do think the young boy was Jacob. I’m interested in seeing if people can date the boy’s age based on his clothing.
• Why can’t Smokey change forms anymore? What happened between him posing as Slingshot (Alex) and now that keeps him stuck as our favorite bald ex-cripple. I assume the answer is killing Jacob?? It’s interesting that all of the sudden Jacob is the one playing shapeshifter.
• Do we believe Smokey about what a candidate is? Has Jacob been trying to choose a successor all this time? That doesn’t seem to jive with the conversation he had when he brought the Black Rock to the island in the Season 5 series finale. Maybe proving Smokey wrong is finding a successor. Maybe that’s what only ends once!!
• Does the island really need protecting if no one can get to the damn thing without Jacob leading them there? Clearly Jacob didn’t do such a bangup protection job in Timeline X since the island is at the bottom of the ocean. That leads me to another though…
• How the hell did Ben Linus get off the island to become a school teacher?? If the nuke blew up in 77 and sunk the island how did Ben get off?? He was in the temple taking a healing bath. I was able to explain away Ethan on the mainland because I assumed he was put on the sub with the rest of the nonessential personnel, but I can’t explain Ben. Maybe the nuke isn’t what sunk the island, maybe it happened later and Ben happened to not be there.
• How many things have been changed by the 77 nuke going off?? Locke is still with Helen and has a relationship with his dad. Hurley is a happy millionaire? Sticks (Shannon) stayed in Australia, Rose works for Hurley, Kate kill the wrong man,  Desmond may or may not have been on the plane etc, etc.
• Don’t you love how Smokey threw the white rock away because of an “inside joke”
• There is no Kate and no Walt on Jacob’s chalk list. Clearly Walt has been completely written out, but Jacob visited Kate. Interesting…

Finally in case you missed it here is a recap of our Losties and their Jacob assigned numbers compliments of Sledgeweb’s Lost Stuff. I’m really anxious to hear people’s thoughts…

[UPDATED WITH MORE NAMES]

Oceanic
Alive
8 – Reyes
15 – Ford
16 – Jarrah
23 – Shepard
42 – Kwon (Jin or Sun? Both?)
313 – Littleton (Claire? Aaron?)

Dead
195 – Pace
4 – Locke

Others
10 – Mattingley
317 – Cunningham
117 – Linus (Roger? Emily? Ben?)
55 ? – Burke

Dharma
??? – Goodspeed (Horace? Olivia? Ethan?)
134 ? – Chang

French Team
? – Lacombe

Freighter
Lewis
Faraday
171 ? – Straume

US Army
233 – Jones

Undetermined
222 – O’Toole
291 – Domingo
346 – Grant

Partial
33 – XW?
20 – Rouf…
62 – …?
90 – Tr(oup?)
…? – …ersen
285 – Jen…
49 – …chan
30 – …la
195 – …?
?? – Reyno(lds?)
27? – …?
1? – Sullivan
…? – …zki

Finally Lost Finally Back

As some of you who know me in the real world know, I just went through a rough stretch of starting a new business while working my regular 40 hour a week job. Unfortunately this left me very little time to blog about our favorite islanders, however, rest assured Finally Lost will be back and will help you question all your answers from now until the end of the season.

Now I wasn’t completely unproductive during my hiatus, Finally Lost was recently chosen by Chris Kelly of Stream Of Consciousness as one of the top 23 Lost sites on the Blogosphere and was asked to participate in a weekly Q/A session. Every week Chris sends us 2 questions and posts our answers on his site. Please check out Stream Of Consciousness when you get a chance and see how Finally Lost is dong in comparison to the best bloggers out there. Chris has a lot of great stuff on his site including a Cafe-Press T-Shirt Contest to the person who writes the best Lost ending.

As to not leave you completely hanging, I am posting my answers to the first 2 weeks questions which I think will start some good debate. Already I’m being told the writers have hinted the alternate theory isn’t true but I plan on blogging soon to flesh out my theory.

WEEK 1

What is going on with the LAX scenes? Do you believe we are experiencing an alternate timeline, or is it something else entirely?
I know a common theory out there is that the X in LA X means we have a parallel universe on our hands (that’s multi-verse for all the fellow comic geeks out there). Since the “What happened happened” tenant of the show has been evicted from the show like it Walt going through puberty, I find myself clinging to another faithful tenant: Course Correction! Yes I believe LA SPACE X means we are in an alternate timeline and yes I believe we will course correct, the interesting question, however, is which timeline will win? Wouldn’t it be wild if the Losties got to choose which timeline became reality? Does Sawyer choose to be the pre-island conman with a hard-one for Kate or a post-island rebuilt man with a Juliet sized broken heart?? Time will tell, literally…

Smokey / NotLocke / ManInBlack says he wants to “go home”.  Where/what is “home”?
I’ve been convinced for sometime now that Jacob & Smokey are aliens/gods (it’s all the same to us agnostics) who have been exiled to earth on a broken down space ship, aka the island. The fact that the island has a wheel that can move it through time and space has always made me think spaceship. If Jacob and Smokey really are exiled then I think Jacob was totally the kid that convinced Smokey that one joint won’t kill ya, or whatever alien crime is punishable by an Earth exile these days, which is why Smokey wants to kill Jacob so badly. It is interesting that Jacob has no problem leaving the island but Smokey is land locked. In the end, I think E.T. want to go home and be reunited with Mrs. Smokey…

WEEK 2

Games have been mentioned continually thoughout the series – from Locke’s backgammon allegories, to Jacob’s talk of a “loophole”. This week, Sawyer described Sayid’s ressurection as him earning “another go around“. Do you believe the Lost characters are taking part in some kind of game/test, and if so, how can they possibly win/pass this scenario?
Absolutely! Locke and pre-puberty Walt set the tone for the entire series during their backgammon scenes. At first we thought the Losties were the pawns of The Others with Ben pulling all the strings, but as the wise Richard Alpert says, “Everyone has a boss”, and clearly Jacob and Smokey are the Tony Danza on this island. The writers keep telling us not to prejudge which of our mysterious “friends” are good/evil but I’d throw my hat in the ring with Jacob. Besides the fact that he pals around with my boy Hurley, Jacob has done a much better PR job simple by not randomly turning into black smoke and killing Losties (will we ever learn why Smokey did that??) Now just because we know who the players are doesn’t mean we understand the game, this IS Lost after all. Hell I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end of the series Jacob pulled out a dollar bill and handed it to Smokey “Trading Places” style and said, see I told you Kate would go for Sawyer!!!

On a lighter note, Kate just can’t stop following Sawyer around!! I know it is a question that a large part of the fandom love to ask (and an equally large number loathe to hear), so let’s get it out of the way – who will Kate finally “end up” with?
On the “Official Lost Video Podcast”, Evangeline Lilly (Kate) said she thought that Aaron is really the man in her life and her Jawyer relationship was almost moot. If you look at Aaron being the reason Kate’s returned to the island and Aaron being the crutch she leaned on to mend her Sawyer-induced broken heart, then I think it’s clear she’s right. I don’t any of us think it’s a coincidence in the flash-sideways that Kate ended up in that cab with Claire and helped her out with an Aaron problem. Aaron is the reason Kate stopped running and Aaron is the reason Kate doesn’t have room in her heart for Jack or Sawyer. In an Aaron-less world I think Kate would have picked Sawyer, like any sane woman that’s seen him without a shirt. Unfortunately for Kate, in timeline Prime (where the island is still above the ocean) Sawyer’s known 3 years of a life with a woman who didn’t constantly lie and who wasn’t bouncing between men like a employee at the Vegas Bunny Ranch. That unfortunately leaves her with a consolation prize of Jack “the crying man” and we all saw how those off-island romances work out…

Lost in five minutes

You might remember guest blogger David Terruso from the “Ben Avicolli is a Stupid Pathetic Moron” guest blog. His group Animosity Pierre has put together a short on 2 guys that need to bring their dates up to speed on Lost in the 5 minutes before the season 6 premier starts, all without jeopardizing their chances of getting laid. If you are a Lost fan you will truly love the video.

And sticking with the theme of getting laid, I thought it’s long overdue to do a list of my favorite girls on Lost. These gorgeous gals were rated on a completely arbitrary scale that factors in looks, personality, looks, coolness, looks, accomplishments, hottness, intelligence and of course looks. When I was thinking about all the girls in Lost I noticed that there is a remarkably small number of main characters that are actually women. Fortunately there are tons of women who are what you would call “secondary characters” that I could pillage in my quest to determine would I would like to most….pillage.

Before I list my favorite Lost Ladies I just want to say a few words about 2 losties that didn’t make the top 5 but deserved to be mentioned: Shannon (Sticks) & Nikki (Anna Nikki-ole). Empirically both these chippies are hott but since I’m factoring in personality into my rating, these characters fell out of the top 5. Sticks was too co-dependent, too annoying and she banged her half brother! The only bad thing I can say about her early demise is that we didn’t get to see her get killed with a flaming arrow like our pal Frogurt. Next we have Anna Nikk-iole who is also pretty smokin. I was told the audiences of Lost HATED this character with a passion because it felt like she was thrown in to spice up the looks on the show. No doubt she is hott and probably had the coolest death to date but I agree with the audience, too annoying. Not quiet Michael annoying but I’ll give her an Artz rating of annoyance.

So without further ado (because as my friend David Terruso would say, we hate ado) here are The Top 5 Hottest Ladies of Magic Island:

5) Naomi Dorrit (shout out to Lostapedia for helping me with the last names)

Naomi, we hardly knew you but you had a very hott exotic look with a british accent in tow, always a formula for success in my book. Plus you spoke about 15 different languages and you had that bad-ass-chick-vibe going for you since you were the leader of Charles Widmore’s island finding expedition. We miss you and we always wondered who gave you that damn bracelet.

4) Alex Rouseau

Ok call me a sucker for young chicks but I’m a sucker for young chicks. How cool is Alex? She rescues Prego (Claire), rocks a sling shot with precision, and is the first Other to stand up and defy Other Ben or as she calls him, Dad. Alex also had one of the harshest death scenes in the entire show. How many people thought she was actually going to be executed in that scene the way she was? Assuming that I could forward flash to the island in 2006 so she’d be 18, I’d totally do Alex.

3) Kate

Ok, I should probably have my head examined for not putting her at 1 just for that picture alone, but sometimes I can’t stand Kate. Why does she have to make EVERYTHING so complicated. She avoids telling a complete story like it was the black smokey thing. Why can’t she tell Jack that she is bff with Sawyer’s baby’s mama? Why doesn’t she tell Jack at first what happened to Aaron? Why does she pine for Sawyer when she is with Jack and pine for Jack when she is with Sawyer. Just pick one already!! If you’re smart it’s Sawyer. No wait…stay away from Sawyer, you’re no good for him. I digress. Kate has a good heart is a good person but keeps too many secrets for my liking. Here’s to hoping she redeems herself next season by rescuing Prego from fake Daddy-Jack!

2) Penny

I know that Penny isn’t the hottest chick on the show but there’s just something I really like about her. She’s maternal, she’s loyal and she’s got a great Scottish accent (sensing a pattern?) Penny makes the phone call! Do I have to say more? Did that phone call scene in The Constant give anyone else chills? She waited all those years for Desmond and then went looking for him. No she’s not ridiculously hott but she’s very pretty. I don’t know if anyone else was on edge wondering if Other Ben killed Penny but I was freaking out over it during the last half of season 5. In a show of mostly flawed romances, Penny represents something real and true. Which leads us to…

1) Juliet Burke

What isn’t there to say about Juliet?? She’s the coolest customer in the entire show. I don’t know if she has raised her voice once. So logical, so cold. She’s gone toe to toe with both Other Ben and a nuclear device. She was the one girl that could tame Sawyer. I think the scene where Sawyer asks Juliet if she has his back is one of the great scenes of season 5 (a season overloaded with great scenes). She’s an Other but she’s really a Lostie because as Jack notes she wants to get off the island. In addition to all that, Juliet’s got the goods. She’s hott! Maybe in a quiet freak way but no one’s going to turn down getting caught in a net with Juliet, least of all my boy Sawyer. I know I didn’t like her at first but I warmed up to the Ice Princess in a hurry.

So am I right about these fine ladies? I’m also looking for a girl to write a counter blog to rank the top 5 men of Magic Island, please contact me if you’re interested. Only 4 more days!

See ya in Los Angeles

All episodes complete! 42 agonizing days until the Lost Season 6 premier, and like you I am completely lost.

Now that was one hell of a finale. Lost fans what did you do on your summer vacation? “Um we argued back and forth if the timeline of the show was reset when Juliet blew up the nuke”. I have a very strong opinion on what happened (surprised?) but I’m hoping to hear all your theories since you can now comment without fear of spoiling me. But first the recap:

We see Jacob & an unknown “friend” (being called nemesis in some circles) enjoying a typical 1800s day by the fully erect statue by the beach. There is a boat on the horizon (presumable the Black Rock) and Nemesis asks Jacob why he brought the boat to the island when people always end up fighting and killing each other. Jacob says until the final end everything is progress. Nemesis remarks that  he will someday find a loophole and kill Jacob. Next we see flashbacks of almost every significant Lostie and how Jacob interacted with all of them at some point. Jacob payed for the lunchbox kid-Kate stole, lent Sawyer the pen he used to write the letter to Sawyer, prevented Sayid from being hit by the car that killed Nadia, brought Locke back to life after his father pushed him out that window, congratulated Jin & Sun at their wedding, picked up Hurley outside the police station and convinced him to get on AA Flight 316 and left him a guitar case, and finally visited Boobie-Fett in the hospital and asked her to do him a favor. Interestingly enough, Jacob was not in the flashback where Juliet found out her parents were getting a divorce. Back on the present day island Locke tells Richard to take all The Others to see Jacob and tells Other Ben he has to kill Jacob. Other Ben agrees because Dead SlingShot (Alex) told him to do everything Locke said and because he feels slighted that Jacob never met him in all his years as leader of the Others. We find out Jacob lives at the bottom of the four-toed statue (what lies in the shadow of the statue…the one that can save us…apparently Jacob) and Other Ben and Locke going in for a quality time visit. While Locke and Other Ben are in the statue it it is revealed that Boobie-Fett and her pals were carrying around  real-Locke’s body the whole time, making everyone wonder who is in the statue with Other Ben! Cut to inside the statue, Jacob congratulates fake-Locke on finding a loop hole thus revealing him to be Nemesis. Nemesis’ plan works and Other Ben kills Jacob and for just for giggles, Nemesis kicks Jacob’s body into the fire.

Back in 1977, Kate, SawFleur & Juliet break out of the sub and go back to stop Jack (they also run into Rose, White Bernard & Vincent who have been living happily ever after for the last 3 years). Juliet changes her mind several times but eventually decides the right thing to do is to help Jack reset the future by blowing up the atom bomb down the chamber of the unbuilt hatch. Sayid who was likely given a fatal gun wound from an earlier gun fight, sets the atom bomb to detonate on impact. Ghostbuster then wisely asks the question: “How do you know blowing up the nuke isn’t the incident??” No one has an answer for him and they decide to blow up the nuke anyway. There is a big gun fight but the Losties win and Jack throws the nuke down the hatch hole but nothing happens. Meanwhile the drill hits the pocket of energy and everything metal begins to be pulled towards the pocket of energy. Juliet gets tangled in a chain and in a heartbreaking moment Sawyer loses her hand and she is pulled down to the bottom of the hatch hole. Juliet wakes up badly injuried at the bottom of the hatch hole and sees the nuke is still intact. Using a rock next to her, she slams the nuke 8 times and it explodes and we get LOST WHITE-screened. End of season. AHHHHH!

I am sure time is reset. It has to be. There is no way the writers would tease us with the possibility of a reset and then not give it to us. Based on the name of the first episode in season 6 plus the fact that everyone and Aaron’s mom is on the season 6 promo cover (welcome back Boone, Sticks, Mr. Eko), I believe 815 is landing in LAX. The question is how do the events of the island converge with the new present? The past 5 seasons can’t all be for nothing, that would be horrible! The writers would have a revolution on their hands! We’d take to the streets, shoot fire arrows at the writers and send the black smoke monster at ABC! It’s possible the nuke was “the incident” all along and somehow that flashes forward all the Losties into the present where life is happy for everyone, but I just don’t see it. Obviously everything would change if 815 lands safely in LAX starting with the passengers not knowing each other. Here are a few other not so obvious changes in history:

• Jacob is alive. If 815 never crashes, Nemesis’ plan can never use Locke. I bet that’ll piss off Nemesis
• What will Desmond do with himself on the island? If the hatch is never built, how does Desmond occupy himself? Does he become an Other or is he killed by The Others? He also won’t meet Faraday in Oxford and who knows what the consequences for that are.
• Ethan is never born. Sawyer saves his mother in the future. Also who knows all the consequences that will occur from the Losties not traveling back in time!
• Other Ben might die from his back tumor. On one hand Jack won’t be on the island to save him (neither will Ethan), but on the other hand if the hatch doesn’t blow up then the electrocal systems on the island will be intact meaning Other Ben can leave the island on the sub Locke will never blow up to see a real doctor
• Desmond will never tell Penny to call him on christmas eve.
• The freighter may never find the island. I think the 815 crash gave Widmore a good guess on the island’ location and without the crash, he might not have been able to find it.

And there are the obvious consequences. The bad: Sawyer is still a conman, Rose, Locke & Faraday will continue to have their physical ailments, Prego (Claire) gives up her baby, Charlie remains an addict, Jin is still a bad person and Michael is alive. But there is some good: all the passengers will survive, Sayid will be reunited with Nadia and Indiana will live because they probably never find the island. Like Sawyer, I was voting for Jack NOT to blow the nuke. Tear.

Now my theory can totally be shot to hell because in someways it doesn’t make sense. IF the Losties never crash on the island then the nuke is probably never contained and it’s certainly never blown up near the hatch which means time can’t be reset!!! Ahh paradox!!! This is and endless loop and can’t be explained and is the best evidence that time will not reset. I wonder how the writers will respond. It’s also worth mentioning that just because the hatch doesn’t rip flight 815 in-half doesn’t mean the plane won’t have electrical problems and crash land on the island just like AA 316. In fact this is the most likely scenario.

With all the other topics going on, I’ve avoided Jacob & Nemesis. I doubt I am alone in thinking that Nemesis IS the black smoke and it can take on the appearance of any dead person on the island. Since it hates humans, black smoke seems to enjoy killing them after judging them (it judged Mr. Eko the same way it judged Other Ben). I also think Jacob & Nemesis are aliens who somehow got punished and are placed on the island which is serving as a prison. Nemesis blames Jacob for the imprisonment and that’s why he wants to kill him. Makes sense to me…

Finally, I need to talk about Juliet & Sawyer. I loved them as a couple and was heartbroken when she let go of Sawyer’s hand. You really felt Sawyer’s pain in that scene. Even before that scene I was pissed at Juliet for giving up on Sawyer just because he looked at Kate. Let it go!! Kate ain’t all that and you’re almost as hott and you’re way more together. Juliet, you disappointed me…

Next up on Finally Lost…I’ll recap season 5 and formally list my Season 6 predictions. I know many of you have been reluctant to comment on the blog for fear of dropping spoilers (thank you for this, and amazingly enough nothing was spoiled!) but I’d like to hear your thoughts and theories on the upcoming series. What’s going to happen??

Mom you killed me!

Completed: 5-12 Dead Is Dead, 5-13 Some Like it Hoth, 5-14 The Variable, 5-15 Follow the Leader. Only the Lost Season 5 finale left and I’ll be as Lost as the rest of you. Sadly we will have to wait 45 days until the Lost Season 6 premier.

Another 4 episode clip thanks to a northeastern snow storm. Apparently Daniel Faraday’s mother is as cold as the temperature outside because she sent her son to the island to die. The Variable is up there as one of my favorite episodes of the season with LaFleur with it’s great ending, multiple revelations and heartwarming scene with Charlotte. To the recap. We start out with some Other Ben history, where we seem him steal Slingshot (Alex) as a baby and exile one time Other Leader, Charles Widmore from the island. Cut to present day where Other Ben and Locke have made it to barracks and find Swoop (Frank) & Sun there. Sun shows the class of 77 Dharma photo to Other Ben and he actually looks shocked and clueless. Other Ben then calls the smoke monster but when he doesn’t answer, Locke & Other Ben go to its cave. Inside Other Ben is enveloped by the smoke and relives bad memories involving Slingshot. Slingshot then appears to him and tells him to stop trying to kill Locke and listen to whatever he says. Interesting note from that episode: when Swoop returns from camp he is tied up by Boobie Fett & some guy when he can’t answer “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” That same guy pulled Miles into their van and told him to work with them and they would tell him how he got his power and everything he wanted to know about his dad. During the Ghostbuster flashback we see his mother telling him that his father left them and never cared for them before he is recruited by Widmore. Then we get a Mr. Wizard’s Daniel Faraday) flashback. Faraday was told never to play the piano, was pushed to become a brilliant physicist and his experiments turned him and his girlfriend into a vegetable until Mr. Widmore recruits him for the expedition where the island heals him. In 77 Mr. Wizard tells Jack that they can in fact change the future by preventing the incident we’ve heard about with the buried thermonuclear bomb. Jack, Mr. Wizard and Kate go off to find Momma Wizard who it turns out is the Other that Faraday told to burry the bomb in the 50s and is now shacking up with Leader Widmore, Faraday’s father! After an argument with SawFleur and a gun fight with the initiative, the 3 find Peter Pan (Richard) and Mr. Wizard holds a gun to his head demanding to talk to Eloise Hawking. Eloise shows up and kills Faraday. With his dying breath he tells her she is his mother and she knew she was sending him to his death. Big Tear. Jack and Kate then convince her that they too are from the future and can fix her mistake by carrying out Faraday’s plan. They are joined by Richard and go to the tunnels to find the nuke. Before they get there, Kate bails because she doesn’t want to prevent the crash from happening but they are joined by Sayid who is happy to help. Cut to the Dharma initiaive and we see SawFleur & Juliet being tortured by Radzinski for info on Kate & The Others (boy-Ben still hasn’t been found). SawFleur agrees to draw a map to the camp in exchange for him and Juliet allowed access to the departing sub and are eventually joined by a captured Kate on the sub. Cut to Hurley, Miles & Jin who are trying to escape but are found by Dr. Chang. Chang wants to know if Faraday told him the truth about the incident and about Miles being his son. Once they confirm, Chang orders all nonessential personnel onto the sub and Miles sees his father cast off Younger Miles & his mother for their protection. Finally we see Locke, Richard & Other Ben reunited. First Locke tells Richard to fix the bullet wound that the second Locke that is white flashing around is suffering from. Once this is finished, Locke announces to all of The Others that Richard will be taking themto see Jacob but he only confides in Other Ben that he is going to kill Jacob. Lost-blackscreened.

One more episode and I will be as lost as you! I thought that after 5 seasons I would have so many more answers but I’ll take what I can get. First things first, how are SawFleur, Juliet & Kate going to get back on the island for the finale? It looks like they are well on their way home on that sub and we know the sub reaches shore because Miles & his mother make it there. If the rest of the Losties flash forward to the correct time, will they? And speaking of flashing forward, what the hell is Jack doing? It’s an interesting philosophical question. Would you completely change the last 3 years of your life including never meeting someone you love, to save 300 people you don’t really know? Kate wouldn’t but Jack and Sayid would. I understand why Sayid would because Nadia would be alive  but what difference does it make for Jack? He’s miserable either way. P.S. I hate Jack. I know Sawyer & Kate sure don’t want to change things because Kate beat Johnny law and Sawyer has become a great person and found a great love. Desmond might be pissed that he’s back stuck on the island and his child isn’t born. Dammit Jack, don’t you ever think? And speaking of Penny, we find out she & Desmond are OK (whew!) It’s very interesting that Other Ben wouldn’t kill her once her saw little Charlie. When Other Ben and Charles Widmore are on screen together you get the sense that Other Ben is so much more of a better person than Charles (killing little Alex, I’m looking at you) which is saying something since Other Ben is a mass murder and pathological liar.

And we have some new mysteries:

• We have the Widmore camp & the Other Ben camp. Where does the shadow of the statue camp fall in? I figured Boobie Fett was more than just a bounty hunter but who is this third side and what IS in the shadow of the statue? Speaking of the statue, it was really cool when we got to see the whole thing in the past, I wonder when it got knocked down. May be the 3rd team are the old skool Egyptian people that put all they hieroglyphics on the temple
• If dead is dead then Locke isn’t alive and is more like Christian Shepard. I assume Christian is Jacob and Jacob can take on any form he wants to and is somehow appointed island guarder. Maybe the black smoke monster is just one his best defense systems. Not sure what the whispers are but Other Ben is because he told Frenchy (Danielle) that if she wants to stay alive she should avoid them
• We never found out if Daniel changed the future! He said he was never going to talk to Charlotte but he did. However we never found out if he told her to not come back or else it would mean her death. If he doesn’t say it then we know he can change the future
• Sawyer telling Juliet that they will invest is Microsoft and bet on the 78 cowboys was genius. I’m sorry they have to leave their great life and now I’m rooting for them to live happily ever after. Sadly Juliet is a candidate to die in the finale because a few people have to. It’s time for Miles to die as well
• It was hilarious that Hurley was re-writing Empire Trikes Back and he got to see the numbers put on the hatch.

Next up on Finally Lost…Season 5 finale. I heard the last minute is a mind fuck. Will we finally learn who’s been pulling the strings? Maybe it’s Locke, or Mama Wizard. The safe money is on Other Ben…

We have to go back (Season 4 recap)

The Spoiler Free Season 5

As promised here are the poll results, my Season 4 prediction results, the list of my favorite season 4 episodes and of course my new Lost Season 5 predictions. All in all Lost Season 4 was another great season. People keep asking me which season is my favorite and I keep telling them it’s too difficult to differentiate between all the different seasons (too many at once). Gun to my head I would say Lost Season 3 is my favorite and the worst part of Lost Season 4 was that it was so short due to the strike. I am very aware that the episodes I have left are quickly running out and I have been trying to watch them at a slower pace because I don’t want them to end.

Now for the poll results: 50-50, we had a tie! Much like the Losties, half of you would have followed Locke into the woods to your eventual death (unless you think of yourself as Sawyer, Hurley or Prego) while the other half of you would be safe at the beach. The ironic thing is that Locke was right but he led his people right into danger, while Jack was wrong (*cough* as usual) but kept most of his people safe (except for those who were blown up on the freighter). I think this teaches us to follow the leader who is more concerned with your safety than the safety of a mysterious island that often demands sacrifices.

And now for the Season 4 results, I think I did pretty good:

The Jack Shepard school of predictions (WRONG):

• The 4th season will be all about the island. Why it’s so magical and how it got its properties. What the hell was I thinking?? I’m starting to believe we won’t ever learn this
• In the future flash Kate is returning home to someone we haven’t met yet. Some big bad rich guy type. Who else could have gotten her out of all her legal troubles,  Maybe Mr. Widmore?? Arg! Of course Jack’s plan got her out of trouble and she was going home to Aaron. Really missed the mark on that one

The John Locke school of predictions (CHECK):

• Locke is in the coffin. Nailed it! I lose some points for waffling all season and saying it might be Other Ben after all.
• Time travel is going to be huge. This was a better prediction when I made it in season 3, than when I reiterated right before season 4. There also seems to be more of a space/time thing going on so I don’t know if that affects the purity of this prediction.
• The survivors will leave the island at the cliff hanger of season 4. Other Ben isn’t lying, the bad guys are coming. I think both of these were pretty obvious but I’ll take credit none-the-less.

The Ben Linus school of grey predictions (Half credit):

• The big 5 (Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Locke & Sayid) will not die this season and I believe all 5 will make it to season 6 (I think the coffin future is avoidable). I also think that there is NO WAY Prego (Claire) or Hurley can die. The writers won’t kill the most beloved happy-go-lucky character and they won’t kill a single mom and leave devil baby (Aaron) an orphan. Wow this prediction came out interesting. The coffin future does not appear to be avoidable and I don’t know if Locke’s death counts as a Season 4 death or not. Thoughts? The writers did in fact have Claire abandon her baby but it remains to be seen if she’s dead. I was tempted to put this in wrong category but may be I’ll revisit this prediction at the next season recap.
• Jin dies. I didn’t take credit for this because I’m in denial and still hoping I’m wrong. I’m in danger of being optimistic to the point of foolishness at this juncture…

In a new feature I thought I’d list my top 3 favorite episodes of season 4:

1. Ji Leon. I don’t think this is a surprise to anyone. So well written, didn’t see the flashback and the flash forward coming and it prompted the great Jin debate.
2. The Constant. Again this shouldn’t be a shock because I like Desmond and Penny so much but I also really like how they dealt with time travel in this episode. This is the beginning of our understanding of how Lost will deal with time travel and so far, very cool
3. The Shape of Things to Come. Slingshot’s death and some real moments with Other Ben. As a rule Other Ben flashbacks are awesome.

Least favorite episode: Meet Kevin Johnson. 1) it was about my least favorite character and 2) for an episode that was supposed to cover the large topic of “What happened to Michael & Walt since season 2?” we got very few surprises and boring answers.

Last but not least my Lost Season 5 predictions:

• Lt. Daniels (Matt) kills/killed Locke.
• The physicist and the people on the boat somehow end up back on the island
• The Losties and the Others team up to become one big tribe, but then break up in a civil war (Others/Losties war is the bad thing that happened because Jack left)
• Ghostbuster (Miles) & Prego die this season
• Peter Pan (Richard) is as old as the island
• Aliens built the island (we might not learn this until season 6 though)
• Other Ben is trying to get the O6 back on the island so he can find Penny
• 3 years will not pass for the people on the island like it does for the O6. If we are dealing with time and space, then moving the island (space) means moving time.
• Jin is alive! (I had to..)

Well there they are, the fearless Lost Season 5 predictions.

Next up on Finally Lost, it’s time to stop predicting and time to start watching…

p.s. Shout out to my boy Johnny Cavs for lending me Season 5 and taking the time to put paper over all the pictures that might be spoilers. That’s hardcore. So far I haven’t been really spoiled yet…

The rules have changed

Completed: 4-8 Meet Kevin Johnson, 4-9 The Shape of Things to Come, 4-10 Something Nice Back Home. 21 episodes left, 52 days to go. As you know, I don’t know anything that is to come and like the survivors I am completely lost.

It looks like I jumped offsides a little early on taking credit for my Kate/Sawyer prediction but I bulls-eyed Mr. Charles Widmore’s role, here’s the recap: We get almost a full episode flashback of Dumb-Ass Dad’s (Michael) time away from the island and it’s nothing too surprising. After all the annoying screaming “WAAALT”, DAD(Dumb-Ass Dad) leaves Walt with grandma because he can’t get over the guilt of killing Ana Lucia & Libby (good, F him!) After telling Walt what he did to save him, DAD tries to kill himself via car and gun but Other Tom shows up to tell him the island won’t let him die because it ain’t done with him yet. DAD is convinced by Other Tom to save the Losties on the island by blowing up Charles Widmore’s boat but instead of blowing up the boat, DAD is Other Ben-Whammied into becoming Other Ben’s spy. Back on the island Other Ben gives Slingshot (Alex), Frenchy (Danielle) & Karl a map to the temple but Frenchy & Karl are killed en route while Slingshot is taken prisoner Slingshot is then used as bait to get Other Ben to give himself up but Other Ben tries to call the bluff. Sadly the bluff ain’t a bluff and Slingshot is killed right in front of Other Ben causing him to say, “The rules have changed” and unleash the black smoke monster on the boat brigade. Other Ben, Locke & Hurley then go off to see Jacob while Prego (Claire), Devil baby (Aaron), Ghostbuster (Miles) & Sawyer head to the beach. Prego sees her father, Daddy Jack and follows him into the woods and we are left hanging while Sawyer calling out for Prego while holding an abandoned Devil Baby. Flash forward to Other Ben alone in a desert, kicking 2 armed guard’s ass, whamming Sayid to work for him after he reveals Charles Widmore is behind his wife Nadia’s death (check) and then having a face to face with Mr. Widmore in which Other Ben reveals he is going to kill his daughter Penny as payback. Back on the beach, Jack’s appendix is about to burst and has Kate hold a mirror so he can backseat-operate until White Bernard decides enough is enough and knocks him out leaving the Ice Princess (Juliet) to finish her work in peace. Flash forward to Kate & Jack living happily together, raising Devil Baby until Jack visits Hurley and is informed Charlie is continuing his post-mordem visits and left a message for Jack: someone will be visiting you soon. Jack seeing a flash of his father combined with Kate trying to cover up a favor she is running for Sawyer makes Jack explode and yell, “He’s not even related to you!” Weird, Kate keep a secret??

Wow, season 4 is a bloodbath! I had a feeling Frenchy was going to be the next to go (although I was half hoping for a flashback) but I didn’t expect Karl & Slingshot to die as well. I almost had to put the DVD in the freezer after they killed Slingshot Other Ben’s moment with his dead daughter was the first time during the series in which I knew he was completely sincere and despite the death being his fault, I really felt for him. I’m going to miss Slingshot and not just because she was my favorite self-made nickname. Other Ben’s flash forward was AWESOME. The end scene between he and Widmore was fantastic because, finally, Other Ben has an equal. I was very distraught to hear that Other Ben’s new plan is to kill Penny since my rooting interest is a Desmond/Penny happy ending. I’m especially frustrated because Other Ben always seems to get what he wants. It’s also curious that Other Ben said he can’t kill Widmore. Is this in the same way that DAD couldn’t kill himself? Does the island prevent normal life death until it’s done with you? It sounds like Widmore was on the island before, but then why can’t he get back to it? And why did he say Other Ben would never find Penny when as of xmas eve she was in her house? Is she hiding or did she finally make it to the island? So many questions..

Now between Other Ben’s flash forward and Jack’s second flash forward it looks like we can piece everything that’s going to happen to the Oceanic 6 when they get off the island. Hopefully that means we will start to learn HOW they get off the island and why the rest of the Losties chose/had to stay. I also loved how protective Sawyer was of Hurley & Prego. Clearly he is ready to step in as the leader of the Losties and I think he will be better leader than Jack & Locke.

And finally, some quick hits:

• Clearly I am a stupid pathetic moron, because I COMPLETELY forgot that Prego and Jack were haflsies! Is there something special about Jack that he keeps seeing Daddy Jack or is there something special about Daddy Jack?
• I’m starting to think Other Ben is in the coffin because all of the O6 seem to live and Other Ben is the only person to get off the island
• Did all the Losties get a choice to leave or not? If there were only 6 spots it seems odd that Kate and Jack went. At least it makes sense why they made up the Kate story and told the rest of the world everyone else was dead. How on earth though, did they account for the extra bodies at the fake crash site though?
• Ha I knew Other Tom is gay. During the Ice Princess’ flashback about Goodwin, Tim told her that she wasn’t his type. I forgot to note it in the blog
• Indiana speaks Korean. There’s no way all 3 scientists and the pilot all live to see season 5
• Sayid should have known better than to talk to DAD, it obviously would have blown his cover. I guess it didn’t matter since he then told the captain that DAD was the spy. Why did he do that?
• I know I didn’t say much about DAD’s flashback but after you find out he got back to NYC and Walt hates him I didn’t find the episode particularly revealing. Obviously the best part was the “Not Yet” note attached to the bomb

Next up on Finally Lost…another Jacob encounter and I hope we get to find out how the O6 leave…

Oh my god it’s Oceanic Flight 815

Completed: 4-1 The Beginning of the End, 4-2 Confirmed Dead. 29 episodes left, 56 days to go. As you know, I don’t know anything that is to come, like the survivors I am completely lost.

Season 4 begins and I’m just as clueless as ever, was I really expecting anything else? Did I expect a flash forward? Yes. Would Hurley have been in my top 5 guesses of who got the first flash forward? No. Recap (this is going to be tough with the flash forwards): The survivors split into 2 camps: Camp Jack believes the folks from the boat are good and here to rescue the survivors, Camp Locke is taking orders from mid-puberty Walt and believes the folks from the boat are bad and should be killed. Hurley convinces half the survivors to go with Locke by telling them that Charlie’s last act was to warn them about the people on the boat…flash to future Hurley in mental hospital and we hear him telling a pre-bearded Jack that he regrets that decision and says we need to go back. Hurley was put in the mental home after seeing Charlie’s ghost in a convenience store and giving the cops an OJ-like car chase. Back in what I think is current time, we see an A-Team land on the island: a ghostbuster, an archeologist, a physicist and a pilot that was supposed to be flying Oceanic 815 the day it crashed. Everyone but the archeologist (who gets shot) ends up with Camp Jack and it is revealed that the team’s primary target is Other Ben. We find out the person who visited Hurley in the mental home (char name? I’m calling him Lt. Daniels from The Wire for now) put together this supposed covert team with Bi-Ling (Naomi) as the leader, all while assuring her that no one from 815 survived. The last thing we learn is that Other Ben has a man on the boat and he knows everything about the team.

Dude, I’m part of the Oceanic 6! I’m sorry Hurley did you say 6?? So for some reason 6 of the survivors got off the island, got famous, are miserable and are haunted by the island until they go back. I’m kind of sad that there appears to be no way to change the fact that characters I like are going to leave their friends behind on the island and no matter what happens, Jack will grow a hideous beard. OK, I’ll bite and take a guess at the 6: Jack, Kate, Hurley (man I’m good at this), Locke (because I think his body is in the coffin), Sun (otherwise she’ll die on the island), and a random person! I picture Sawyer staying behind for some reason, Prego (Claire) not going because she and devil baby would make 7, Sayid has to stay behind to protect the survivors and all the rest weren’t on the plane. I think I only missed Jin and I already predicted that he would die so it would be hypocritical to say he got saved. Interestingly enough, Hurley is now seeing dead people when he isn’t even on magic island, what’s that all about?

Who is Lt. Daniels and why does he want to extract Other Ben from the island? How did he and Naomi know that 815 crashed there? Why was Indiana (archeologist chick) digging up Dharma-tracking jewelry from polar bears? One thing is for sure, Lt. Daniels knows his stuff. If I were assembling a team to extract someone from magic island I would definitely want someone that could talk to ghosts, someone that knew something about physics and someone that could actually land a helicopter on that damn island. I think the most logical guess is that the A-Team is working for Mr. Widmore. Since I already identified Widmore as a bad guy in a season 2 blog, I’m pot committed. If he doesn’t show up in season 4 I think I’m going to have to finally abandon this prediction.

New poll is up…When the survivors divided would you have gone with Jack or Locke?

Next up on Finally Lost…Locke takes the crew to see Jacob and Other Ben gets knocked around again. This time from his own stolen daughter!

p.s. I love the title name, “The Beginning of the End”. It sets the tone for the entire season in a similar way that “A Man of Science a Man of Faith” did in season 2. Plus Other Ben said it which makes it way cooler.