Oh Smokey You Devil

Wine and Richard Alpert get better with age

 

Sometimes in life we must patiently a long time for a final book, a final episode, a sequel or even a dreaded prequel. Sometimes that wait becomes The Phantom Menace and sometimes it becomes Dark Knight. Congratulations to the writers of LOST, the lost awaited Richard Alpert flashback was more Man in Black than Jar jar Binks. 

Answers, answers, answers, answers. It’s hard to choose one, but if I had to select my favorite reveal from this episode,  how about the fact that the island is really a huge butt plug for evil. Didn’t see that one coming. So Smokey is evil incarnate and Jacob’s job is to keep him locked away (get it) from the rest of the world. I’ve been saying for weeks that Jacob is the “good guy” and after this episode I think it’s time to read the last will and testament to those who think Smokey is the “good guy”. Time of death, 9:55pm EST.  Yes Jacob manipulates, he doesn’t give much help and he sure don’t give straight answers, but while that would make him a good LOST writer, it does not make him evil. Smokey on the other hand, kills, he corrupts and he doesn’t believe people can be good. While Smokey wants to get off the island at all costs, Jacob exists to trap MIB for the greater good. I think it’s time we all accept the fact that white is good and black is evil and the debate is over. 

Even if you are still not buying that Jacob is “good” and Smokey is “evil”, I think you have to agree that Jacob is the god figure and smokey resembles devil. Jacob takes a hands off approach and wants people to decide right & wrong on their own. Jacob chooses an intermediary to delivery his message (Richard/Moses) instead of talking directly to the people. Jacob seems only concerned with his overall plan and tells people to trust him but not question him when his plan screws them over. Full disclosure for those readers who don’t know me off-island, I am an agnostic. Thus it’s not terribly surprising that I’ve been frustrated with Jacob all season since he’s constantly displayed the qualities of an absentee god. That being said, I sure don’t want Smokey to win. 

Again, I think it’s pretty obvious that Smokey displays a lot of the characteristics typically attributed to the devil. He delivers certainty and tells you exactly what to do (kill Jacob and you WILL get your wife back). While Jacob slightly manipulates, Smokey tells huge lies. Smokey tells Richard he is dead and in hell in order to manipulate him (unfortunately Richard is unaware that this theory has been debunked by the writers). He tells Richard that his wife is alive and being held by Jacob even though dead is dead. He fakes an Isabelle kidnapping via his Smokey-impersonation powers. And he even tells Richard he’ll always take his service if he changes his mind, which is classic a George Burns (Devil) move! Yes I ‘m annoyed with Jacob for not getting personally involved and helping the cause but that just makes him an absentee father, not the devil. 

One last thought, if the island is sunk in Timeline X, does that mean Smokey is uncorked and reeking havoc?? Maybe Jacob and Smokey are both dead and that’s why Timeline X is such a better place… 

Now the quick hits… 

• It’s been officially confirmed that Smokey killed Jacob to get off the island. Score one more for the “Grand Lost Theory” that I wrote before the Season 6 premier! “Jacob stole my body.” Interesting choice of words…
• On the other hand,  My “Jacob and Smokey are aliens” and “the island is a spaceship” theories are in some serious trouble and need a good dunking in Jacob’s resurrection pool
• I think the tenet of “Dead is Dead” is something we can hold our hats on. While Jacob’s powers seem supernatural, they are not limitless. He cannot being back Isabelle from the dead and he cannot guarantee Richard will not go to hell. This tells me he is not a god. It’s interesting that Smokey offered Richard the impossible carrot of bringing back Isabelle which even further’s the “Smokey is the devil” theory.
• How long did Richard survive without food and water when he was chained up in the Black Rock!?! It seemed like weeks!
• It seems like Smokey can download people’s memories to decide how corruptible you are. Seems like he made a decision that Richard was the most corruptible of the Black Rock survivors and thus let him live. This may be why he left Locke alive in Season 1, however it doesn’t explain why he tried to pull Locke underground during “Exodus”
• Is Isabelle the first confirmed Smokey-impersonation of a dead person whose body was not on the island? Not sure if I’ve said this before but if I were him, I’d appear as a naked Juliet and just look at myself all day
• Lostapedia is now saying that the writers have confirmed the ship in “The Incident” was the Black Rock. After Jacob and Smokey’s conversation on the beach, the storm abruptly occurred. I guess Jacob used the storm to bring the ship in? I wonder if he knew he was going to wreck his statue.

So we got a ton of back story and a bunch of answers, I think that means we are set for a completely answer-free character-centric episode. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by suggesting this will be a Sun/Jin centric episode, although we haven’t had a Hurley-centric episode yet. Here’s to hoping this will be the week when our favorite Koreans reunite, and by “reunite” I mean doooz it. Hey it’s probably been a while for poor Jin…

Bring on Richardus!

Mr. Dotted Line

Finally the very late recap of Recon! This season, the writers have really impressed me with the titles they’ve come up with. I haven’t seen such multi-layered titling since the last time I was in Excitement Video (Robin Head, The Screwman Show, I’m looking at you). So Smokey sends Sawyer on a recon mission and back in good ol’ Timeline X, a pen-less Sawyer has turned in his cowboy boots for a police star. Little does his partner Miles know, Mr. Ford is on a secret mission to find and kill Sawyer aka Anthony Cooper aka Locke’s kidney-stealing pappy. No matter if James is rockin facial scruff or a wire, he’s the same old con man. Recon.

I think I’ve kept my man crush on Sawyer as well hidden as a Plaxico Burress 9-millimeter so I know you are all thinking that I loved Recon. Believe it or not, Recon was not one of my favorite episodes of the season. The only thing that was on my mind after Recon was, “Ooooh my god, we are FINALLY getting a Richard Alpert-centric episode!” Sawyer banged Charlotte and used my the Indiana nickname I gave her…I’m sorry did they really just say Richard Alpert!! Dr. Chang is off the island…um how many minutes till next tuesday?!? Ironically after a Sawyer-centric episode, I was only left with Dick on my mind.

Because I was a slacker, aka worked too much in my other jobs, I didn’t get a chance to blog last week, however, I wanted to get my Alpert theories posted before they became disproven. I think the Richard episode will be more about the island than the Man in Eyeliner himself. More than any other character, save Smokey & Jacob, I believe Richard’s backstory is tied to the island itself. I really hope we learn why the island has magical healing properties or what the island actually is. I’m fully prepared for my island-is-a-spaceship theory to go down in smokey flames but I’m going to give it one last donkey-wheel turn before abandoning it. Richard HAS to know SOMETHING about Jacob and the island. Hell he dropped the jewel about a J-touch giving you powers a few weeks ago, so I’m expecting a magic island tell-all this week. The real question for Richard is why is he always a bridesmaid but never a bride? Why was he good enough to be the advisor to the leader of The Others but never good enough to be a candidate? And will we ever learn how the Black Rock ended up so far inland?

OK, I’d be really remiss if I didn’t write something about last week’s episode, so here are the quick hits:

• Mile’s hooked Sawyer & Charlotte up via his dad through the always hott science love connection. So, Dr. Chang got off the island too! I’ve finally given up on having this explained. I’m just going to patiently wait until the writers are ready to explain this to us (they’d better explain it to us)
• Did I find the Charlotte/Sawyer romp a bit indecent because of my feelings for Juliet? A little. The writers have really taken advantage of us in an ironically Sawyer-like fashion in the relationship department. Most of us want Sawyer and Juliet to end up somehow no matter how many times she shows up in the V previews (does that show ever actually air?)
• Last sex note, I gotta give Sawyer props for banging 2 chicks in the same week, one while undercover. Mr. Ford, I salute you for getting a job while on the job!
• In Timeline X, Mama Ford was still hanging with Mr. Cooper but somehow not having a pen is the difference between a career as a cop and criminal. Damn you Jacob!
• Add Miles & Dr. Chang to the list of shinny and happy people in Timeline X. Gun to my head I’ll even say Sawyer is happier. I’m really starting to hate this Jacob guy
• Miles displayed no dead person talking ability. Props to my theory that the J-touch gave him that power
• You know an episode is going to lack reveals where there is no “Previously On Lost” intro. I’m betting Richardus’ episode has one
• The Smokey/Kate talk was annoying because it gave us an answer to a question no one asked. I now, however, think that  Smokey & Jacob are brothers.
• I did NOT like the scene where Crazy Claire attacked Kate out of nowhere. There were plenty of other times when she could have post-prego-struck, why then? It was interesting that Smokey revealed his motived for lying to Claire about Aaron
• In the same scene Sayid looked creepy! I will be pissed at the writers if they’ve ruined one of my favorite characters

Only a couple of hours to tonight’s episode, I don’t have much more to say other than bring it on!

A matter of perspective

You're about to talk to yourself

Last week’s Q/A with Stream Of Consciousness was a very interesting question, hope you enjoy!

1) You are Miles. Sayid has burst into the Temple and asks you to choose – pick Jacob and stay within the Temple with the people that have kidnapped you, tortured you and mysteriously told you to stay put, on the promise of ‘safety’, or pick Smokey and go on a vague journey with a monster that has promised to kill everyone and anyone who disagrees with him. Should you stay or should you go? Who do you trust at this point?

Finally Lost:

Dude this sucks! I shoulda got on that sub when I had the chance. I could of made some stock moves and placed a few sports bets and I would have been the Chinese Moe Green. But NOOO, I’m stuck in this damn temple with some guy from the cast of Big Trouble in Little Chinatown and his hippie translator. La Fleur’s gone AWOL, Jin never came back and even Hurley left (although I’m kinda glad I don’t have to try and explain to numb-nuts why the nuclear explosion was really the incident all along and whatever happened, happened!) I don’t trust the Arab guy because he should be dead, so until I get some answers, or La Fleur returns, I’m not moving. Btw, would it really hurt any of these Hostile chicks to take a shower once in a while? After 3 years of no play in Dharmaville, digging up Naomi is looking like a viable option!

Ms Wendy @ It’s About Bunnies:

If I’m thinking like Miles, I’m going to stick with the Jacob people, especially with this Ilana chick. She’s pretty, tough, knows what’s going on… and I dig her accent. Plus, it seemed like there was a brief moment that Miles was” listening” to something, possibly coming from the floor, right before Ilana kicked in the door. He might have been getting some “answers” there and wants to stick close to people who have a history with the Temple.

2) You are Kate. You have found yourself far from home following three people you thought were your friends – one is a zombie monster, one is a lunatic and the other has recently caused the death of many and is trying to convince you to follow the zombie monster so that all your dreams can come true. All you want to do is grab the lunatic and make a run for it. What do you do? What CAN you do?

Finally Lost:

OK Kate, 5…4…3…2…1…Ok, let’s just keep our cool and get Claire alone. She’ll understand that I had to take Aaron because she left him in the jungle all alone. God Sawyer looked hott..ok Kate, focus! Maybe Claire didn’t remember leaving Aaron behind, stranger things have happened on this island, like the time I got trapped in a cage with Sawyer yum!…Come on Kate, pull it together! You just out that Smoke monster thing is impersonating Locke and Claire is bff with it. I have to convince her to leave with me so we can find Sawyer and maybe get stuck in a net with him..dammit Kate this is what you get for shacking up with a guy that cries all the time. I’ll just explain to Claire that I’ve had Aaron this whole time and he’s safe and sound off the island with her mother. Then I’ll convince her to leave the smoke monster and try and find a way off this island with me so I can reunite her with Aaron and so she can wash her hair.

Scott @ The Stuff Of Legend:

Ugh, I have to be Kate? Hmmm…this one will be tougher.

Well, at this point she’s pretty much sold out to the idea of reuniting Claire and her bay-bee. Where else is she going to go? She finally blew off Jack (funny that the one time she DOESN’T tag along with Jack, this is what happens), Sawyer basically told her to hit the bricks…unless she’s going to try and set up an unprecedented Love Pentagon by going after Miles, I guess she’s pretty much committed to sticking with Claire at this point.

And, just like with Miles, she doesn’t have all of the information that we do…she doesn’t know that Claire has become an axe-wielding, trap-setting, more homicidal version of Rousseau. Although, to be honest….shouldn’t the hair have given it away?

A15–you sunk my island!

Hey guys, I wanted to do a separate blog entry on each of last week’s Q/A questions from Steam of Consciousness, but I ran out time so you’re getting it in all one blog. One of last week’s questions really got me thinking about how the island ended up underwater while Ben was able to get off the island, and I wanted to post my theory before tonight’s episode, because based on the title, this question might be answered (Engelhardt keep your mouth shut!) Unfortunately the condensement means I won’t be able to post my favorite non-Finally Lost answer, but we’ll get back on track next week.

– What is Jack’s “mission”?
Jack’s mission is to go back-to-back episodes without shedding a tear. I think Jacob’s plan has been to get all the crying out of the way early on so Jack has no tears left. This plan is foolish because like the energy pocket he destroyed, Jack’s tears are practically limitless, and unfortunately there are no nukes left on the island to stop them.

On a serious note, I think Jacob wants Jack to kill someone Unfortunately it is probably Sawyer. FYI if Jack is responsible for the deaths of Sawyer and Juliet I am going to be in the market for a new flat screen TV because metal objects will be thrown into my screen like I forgot to type in the hatch code…

- In the ‘alt’ timeline, do you think Ben, Ethan and Dogen are just regular people, or are these some undercover Others?
In order to answer this question you must first answer whether you think the nuke sunk the island. Unfortunately I flip-flop on that issue worse than Juliet deciding whether to stop/help Jack detonate the nuke (tear). Today is a “nuke sunk the island” kinda day so I’m going to work with that.

In addition to sinking the island, I think the nuke fractured time and sent our Losties back to Timeline Prime’s present, while warping everyone left on the island to Tunisia. This could explain how Ben, Dogen & Ethan all got off the island. Assuming this crazy theory is true, then I think it’s safe to say that Ben and Dogen are retired Others, while Ethan is just a regular creepy man. Dogen strikes me as someone who was an Other before 1977 and as Richard said about Ben, “He will always be one of us now”, thus they become ex-Others. Ethan was obviously too young to be an Other but he’ll always be creepy.

——– PREDICTION TIME ——–

Yes Mr. Bookie, put me in for $15,428 on the nuclear explosion causing the island to sink and jettison all the 1977 non-Losties to Tunisia. While I concede that there are surely better answers, this is the theory I’m going with because it’s the only way I can explain both the nuke sinking the island and Ben getting off the island. Sure it’s possible that the island was sunk later but that seems like a copout doesn’t it?? The nuke almost HAS to be the cause of the island’s subterranean state, right?? Just like I believed that the writers would have cheated us if the nuke didn’t reset the timeline, I also believe it would be cheating us if some other event sunk the island. Thus I’m sticking with this theory for another 12 hours until it is proven wrong. Which brings us to some interesting questions/thoughts:

• If the island sinks what happens to Jacob & Smokey? Do they die? Deviating from my theory for just a second, I believe another way the island could have sunk sans the nuclear bomb, is Smokey leaving the island. That would fit really nicely with his promise to Sayid, AND maybe Smokey leaving the island kills Jacob for good!! Hmmm, another day, another topic…I digress…
• Why is Tunisia the exit point? Widmore & Ben both seem to know about it, so what gives? Maybe Tunisia is another one of those unique pockets of EM that Eloise was talking about
• Let’s assume for a moment that the island’s titanic grave kills Jacob. Then is Jacob’s death the catalyst for all the changes we’ve seen in Timeline X? This would be proof that Jacob has done more than just “a little” touching here and there (that’s what she said). Or the catalyst for the changes might be the absence of The Other’s not implementing Jacob’s off-island instructions. Remember when a bus “just happened” to run over Juliet’s ex-husband? Was this The Other’s doing, or Jacob’s doing?
• Finally, what was the hatch “failsafe” that Desmond set off in the season-finale of season 2? It sure seemed like a nuke didn’t it? It generated an EM Pulse around the island which is a movie/TV consequence of setting off a nuke (only certain types of nukes set off EMPs in real life). So why didn’t the failsafe nuke sink the island?

I think that’s enough to think about for one entry and I’m all but certain I’ll be disproven in a just few short hours, I just hope we get an answer tonight!

Finally, I’ve continued my re-watch of LOST and I’m a third of the way through season 2 and have noticed a few more items of interest:

• Kate’s New Kid’s on the Block Lunch Box that Jacob paid for became the time capsule that Kate & Tommy Brennan used! You know the one that contained the toy airplane and their tape recording?? Am I the last one to notice this or is this new to people?
• The writers made a mistake in season 5! When the Losties are bouncing around in time, Locke sees the light from the hatch and knows it’s the night that Boone was injured. Sawyer then sees Kate deliver Claire’s baby. In season 2, Claire has have the baby one day after the hatch-light incident. woooops
• Jin and Frenchy (Russo) don’t have a scene together but they are on the beach at the same time. This occurs when Frenchy warns Claire that The Others are coming for her baby, so it’s not a huge deal that she doesn’t notice Jin. I’m keeping an eye on the Jin/Frenchy situation though…

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…

Answers and Questions

So I decided to take full advantage of what Hulu has to offer and began re-watching all the episodes from Season 1 to see what I missed from my first marathon viewing back in December. 18 episodes later and I was really surprised that I understood everything going on in season 1. When I first watched season 1 I was completely confused, and even after I finished the first couple seasons, I was still lost. Five seasons clearly is the charm because now we’re in the know! That thing in the jungle? It’s really black smoke that is a person trying to kill this dude name Jacob. The Hatch?? Oh let me tell you all about the Dharma Initiative. Why did Ethan kidnap Claire and who are The Others?? Let me introduce you to smoking hott Juliet Burke who’s trying to solve the island’s fertility problems. Granted I still don’t know why Walt always wins at backgammon and why dead birds fly into his house, but when last seen he was certainly old enough to beat AC security, so I’m thinking I should just leave that question alone and take the kid with me to the AC craps table…

After my initial shock about how much has been answered, I was once again shocked by how little I missed from the first viewing. I thought I was going to have a Bruce Willis-Sixth-Sense moment where I was kept saying the LOST equivalent of, “Ahh his wife didn’t acknowledge him!” but no such moment came. I guess we as fans pick apart every detail during the first run so there isn’t much that is missed in the end. Despite my best Lostapedia readings, I was able to gleam a few interesting tidbits and thought I’d share what I missed the first time around:

• Locke’s 1-900 sex operator lady friend was also named Helen. Was this intentional by the writers or did they change the story later on? I’m guessing they changed their mind later on and were able to write around the 1-900 storyline
• In Claire’s first flashback, her baby’s father mentions that her mother has practically disowned her, however, her mother should have been in a coma at that point. Another writer post-re-write??
• When Sayid escaped Frenchy’s (Russo) lair he stole a gun from her and later tried to use it on her but it didn’t fire. Frenchy made a comment that her husband didn’t notice the trigger was broken either. It is cool we got to see that referenced scene in season 5
• I didn’t connect the dots the first time around when Hurley’s accountant told him that he had just gained 51% ownership of “some box making company”. It’s more consistent that Hurley owns that company in both timelines. I still don’t understand how Hurley found out about the numbers in Timeline X since they weren’t broadcasted until 1988. For that matter, who decided to START broadcast the numbers in 1988?? The Dharma Initiative would have been wiped out by then and I don’t see The Others doing that sort of thing. I also don’t understand why Hurley was on that flight since he only went to Australia to earn about the origins of the numbers. In Timeline X he seems much happier.
• Michael is SO much more annoying the second time around. I had to fast forward parts of his flashback because I couldn’t deal with it. I seriously had to watch his death scene in season 4 just to cleanse my pallet. Side note, Hurley owed Walt $83,000 in backgammon loses and you would have thought that he would have paid his debt off during his 3 years off the island. Thumbs down for the writers for missing such a great comedic opportunity. How great would the Locke/Walt scene in Season 5 have been if Walt said the only person he saw was Hurley because he was paying him his backgammon winnings? WAAAAAAAALT

I think my Season 1 partial re-watch just reinforced what we all know about LOST, all our questions will be answered with new questions. In honor of that I would like to finish this entry by listing the top 5 questions I need answered before ever traveling on a flight named Oceanic Flight 815 or AA316:

1. What are the true significance of the numbers?
2. What the hell are Jacob & The Man in Black?
3. What is the mission statement of The Others?
4. What is the island & why does it move through space and time?
5. Why couldn’t Charles Widmore get back to the island if Eloise Hawking had that nifty moving phallic needle determining windows of opportunities for the island?

I know I left out a few such as”Why are Walt & Miles Special” & “Why can’t women bring babies to term on the island anymore”, and YES we all want the Libby storyline tied up, but I can LIVE without those. I however, NEED the above 5 questions explained before LOST ends or I may never sleep well again…

Did I miss any??

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…

Final Season of Lost: Destiny Found

The whole gang is back!

With only 13 days till the season 6 premier of Lost I’ve returned! I know I’ve been gone so long that you thought I must have turned the ice wheel and joined the Dharma initiative under my assumed name of La Ben, but I assure you I was here in present day taking a relaxing holiday. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you will be happy to know I have come back and plan on blogging a couple times a week. including after each episode so we can all discuss all the latest events/theories. But before we get to the season premier (is it here yet??) I want to do some top 10 lists and go over my GLT…Grand Lost Theory.

In my previous blog I hinted at my thoughts but with a month to stew about everything I saw I had some time to come up with some new theories. Let’s start with some interesting facts we know:

• 5 of the O6 were transported back in time which means someone wanted them to go back. If all 6 went back or if the entire plane went back then maybe you could blame it on the island’s mysterious properties but the fact that only 5 of them got transported back suggests intelligent design. Interestingly enough Sun was the only one not transported back, I have a theory on why that I will share in a moment so hold onto that thought….
• Jacob knew what Nemesis was up to! Why do I think this? Because he gave Ilana (Booby-Fett) and her cult followers a mission: bring the dead body of Locke to my crib under the statue and show The Others. Jacob must have known about Nemesis’ plan all along. It seems like Nemesis has the gift of being able to impersonate dead people and Jacob must have known Nemesis was going to use Locke’s image to convince Other Ben to kill him.
• If the nuke goes off and prevents the hatch from being built preventing Oceanic Flight 815 from crashing on the island then Jacob is alive. Nemesis can’t use fake-Locke to convince Other Ben to kill Jacob if he never lands on the island. Crisis averted.

If 5 out of the O6 were pulled back in time on purpose AND Jacob knew of Nemesis’ plan, then I can only conclude these were both Jacob’s counter measures to prevent Nemesis from killing him. If Booby-Fett succeeds then fake-Locke is exposed and maybe Other Ben doesn’t kill Jacob. But if Booby-Fett fails then Jacob has the backup plan of the nuke going off and resetting time. The O5 were sent back in time for a reason, it MUST have been to set off that nuke! For once I agree with Jack, they were sent back for a reason!!

Wrap up: Nemesis was using his ability to be dead people to spook Hurley & convince Jack to go back to the island so he could get Other Ben back on the island to kill Jacob. Jacob uses Nemesis’ own plan against him by pulling back the O5 so they can detonate the nuke. Hell Jacob probably even got the nuke to land on the island back in the 50′s so he could set the stage. Jacob didn’t bring Sun back so Jin would have more motivation to set off the nuke: to get back to Sun. Unfortunately everyone but Sawyer, Kate & the Ghostbuster (Miles) had a motivation to reset time.

As I’ve stated in a previous blog entry I think that Jacob & Nemesis are aliens that are trapped on earth for all eternity as a punishment for some crime. I think Jacob convinced Nemesis to do whatever they did to get in trouble which is why he wants to kill Jacob. I also believe the island is their space ship which is why it moves through time & space and can only be found on one direct course. A space ship would also explain why a wheel conveniently exists that moves it around in time/space.

After all this you probably know my answer to the million dollar: Yes I think the nuke went off and yes I think time was reset and 815 lands safely in LAX. I have NO idea how the writers will deal with the events from the past 5 seasons, maybe the universe will course correct.

Comments?? Brilliant?? Stupid?? Are these common theories?? I haven’t visited any sites with theories so I don’t know what the common theories are…

Finally a new Poll is up so please vote….What do you think happened at the end of Season 5??

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??