LOST ("The Most Powerful Episode Yet")

(The first really "long" Lost Email I wrote - little did I know this was just the start...)

Did you see the previews for tonight where they claim tonight’s episode is "The Most Powerful Episode Yet"? It might just be a clever marketing ploy, but after last week’s episode, I think it might be true.

Tonight’s Episode Title: "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"

Tonight’s Character Spotlight: Jack (that’s right - a second episode!)

TV Guide Episode Preview: Survivors wonder why Charlie and the pregnant Claire have been abducted - and by whom - and a search party ventures into the treacherous jungle to try to find and rescue the missing duo. Meanwhile, inner-demons about his father resurface for Jack, and Boone and Locke discover another island mystery.

Deeper Meaning: That title is way to oddball to not have something deeper to it. Since the episode is about Jack, it means that he’s the "cowboy" and he has "daddy issues". What does Jack as a cowboy mean? That he was some sort of renegade doctor, who didn’t follow the rules? What about Jack’s daddy issues? Did Jack and his father have some sort of falling out? All I remember about Jack’s first episode was that his mother was like "You need to go bring your father home" - but did his dad run away to Australia because of something Jack did? No idea. But I think that the flashback / backstory is going to take a back seat this week, as there looks to be a LOT of action on the island going on.

Points to Ponder:
1. Remember last week’s episode title? "Raised by Another"? What if it’s "raised by an other" (aka - the "others" on the island?) Who is the creepy guy at the end? ETHAN ROM - First, it’s not a coincidence that Ethan spelled out his very odd last name for Hurley last week. They wanted us to know the spelling. Ethan Rom rearranged is "Other Man"…

2. Who is Ethan Rom? Someone who was originally on the island? One of the "others" or "voices" that CFL talked about meeting on the way back from Black Rock? What about this - We’re all going on faith from Hurley that Ethan wasn’t on the plane - what if Hurley was the one who wasn’t on the plane, but is trying to throw us off his track?

3. Is there a whole other civilization on the island that Ethan is a part of? Do they live at the "Black Rock"?

4. The three main people we don’t have backstories on are the Father and Son, Hurley, and the Brother and Sister. Per the Internet, the next episodes deal with (in order) - Kate (again - hooray!), the Brother and Sister, and the Father and Son. This further strengthens my opinion that something is up with Hurley and his reveal will be a BIG ONE.

5. The only thing working against my "Ethan is a Red Herring" theory is the scene in the previews for this week’s episode that has him standing on Jack’s chest saying, "If you keep following me, I’ll kill one of them". I can’t really argue with that.

6. Is Sayid back to normal? Is he going to be crazy like the French people? Is he becoming one of the "Others"?

7. Is Ethan the CFL’s "Alex"? - I think not (due to the age difference not really adding up), but it’s a possibility I suppose.

8. How did Ethan carry off both Charlie AND Claire? Were there "others" around to help? Did he just overpower Charlie and take Claire, and then Charlie chased after? Did he somehow "hypnotize them"? (see Locke point #11 below for a similar situation).

9. Do you think they’ll find Claire and Charlie this week? My money is on them finding a beat up Charlie, but no Claire - and then later Claire will have her baby, and be killed by the Others.

10. Is the baby the anti-Christ? During last week’s episode, when Claire asked her boyfriend how long it had been since she took the pregnancy test, he answered "6… 66 seconds" (666) and then said the color of the lines were "red, not pink". The psychic obviously knew that the plane was going down - did he put Claire on it to force her to raise the baby, or to just be sure that the baby would be eliminated? Did he cause the plane to go down? Is he connected to the "Others" who wanted that baby on the island for some reason?

And then here are thoughts relayed late last week that some of you may not have read:

11. I’m more convinced than ever that Locke has already become one of the "Others" or is possessed by something on the island. I went back and re-watched the Sayid episode from three weeks back, and there is a scene of Locke and Ethan "hunting at night". Locke was really not that good at hunting / walking around, etc. in the early part of his episode - remember? The first boar just knocked him down and took off. Then, he meets the "monster" and all the sudden he is Johnny Cool - a hunter, really wise, and calm about everything that is going on on the island. What if the "monster" took him over / converted him to being a hunter like Ethan? If so, this is how he has such an understanding about what is going on (and would explain all the sage like advice he has been giving) - this would also make him a "hunter" who is on the inside with the new group and could work to convert them over. Locke seemed super calm when Said came back and was talking about the others being on the island. Who’s willing to bet Locke is working to sabotage the rescue effort / help Ethan?

12. Or maybe Locke is somewhat "possessed". He is always shown with both white and black, good and evil (the backgammon game, his eyes in Claire’s dream). Maybe he is fighting the "Other" in him with his natural goodness?

13. Here are Lost themes so far, as written by my roommate:

Black v. White (good v. evil)
Do people have free will or is there predestination (Claire's child being evil if not raised by her)
Locke's name as a reference to the philosopher John Locke. (One of John Locke's main points was that man should not be held against his will). Just as he gave Charlie the drugs back after three times, he didn't help Jack out of the cave, etc.
Survivors v. Island (Man v. Nature, and the ability for man to overcome it surroundings against the power of nature over everything on earth.)
Man's understanding of a higher being (The "Monster", the "voices")
Mind over Matter (Locke being able to walk/the girl beating asthma without an inhahler/the guy with the hives)
Science/Evolution (The CFL and her role as a scientist and her creation/offspring "Alex" and its affect on the survivors)

That was a mouthful. Lucky thing I’ve been discussing and jotting down my thoughts every night since last week’s episode with anyone who will listen.

Obsessed. Me? No.

Lost Transcript

(The first non-official Lost Email - a reaction because I couldn't contain myself!)

Just to blow everyone's mind (I'm not even kidding), I rewatched last week's episode of Lost (the Sayid centered episode), and lo and behold - ETHAN IS IN IT. What's even more creepy is the scene he's in, and who he's in it with. Here's the transcript:

(Ethan and Locke emerge from the jungle at night, dropping two bags at the foot of Hurley)

Hurley: What are you guys doing out in the jungle at night?
Ethan: Best time to hunt.
Locke: Ethan here has some experience - spotted some tracks, looked like they might be rabbit or some other rodent
Hurley: Rodent - yum.
Ethan: I figured people are tired of eating boar meat.

Immediate thoughts: Locke is already in cahoots with Ethan. The monster converted Locke to be one of the "Others" when he came face to face with it. Remember, Locke was not an expert survival person at all until he encountered the monster. Now all of the sudden he's catching boars, spitting out sage advice, and totally at peace with the world? The monster changed him. I think he's on the side of evil now. Something is afoot.

Wow.

Lost (Finally Back!)

It’s been too long. And by too long I mean two weeks.

Tonight’s Episode Title: "Raised by Another"

Tonight’s Character Spotlight: Claire, the Pregnant Girl

Deeper Meaning: Not too sure this week - but I have one good guess. I think it has been established that Claire is a single mother, so the baby might be raised by "another" meaning that the father would not be around. But that’s no fun. It could be in reference to "Alex", Crazy French Lady’s child who may or may not be dead. If they’re not dead - they would be raised by someone or something else on the island… But how about this? From the previews, it looks like Claire is going crazy, thinking that someone is trying to harm her and get her baby (Crazy French Lady, anyone?). But they also show at one point she collapses - what if she dies during the birth of the child - then the baby would definitely be "raised by another". I think it’s only a matter of time before a main character dies on the island - why not her? She hasn’t really done too much as of yet, and it could set off an interesting Charlie angle with him being angry at Jack / the world for her dying and losing all hope on the island - going off by himself, etc. - that would be cool.

Points to Ponder:
1. Do you think Claire is really going crazy, or is someone actually trying to get her? I think the obvious answer is just that she is hallucinating - but I think in reality someone is actually after her.

2. Will Said return this week? At the end of his episode he was definitely hearing the voices that Crazy French Lady (CFL) said made all the others go crazy, leading to her killing of them. If he comes back, will he tell everyone about CFL? How can he not?

3. How long until we find out what the Black Rock is? (Other than an O.A.R. song, of course).

4. It was weird - when CFL was talking about what made everyone go crazy, she mentioned "we were on our way back from the Black Rock when we ran into THEM" or something along those lines. This makes me think that they ran into OTHER PEOPLE / THINGS on the island and their influence is what caused the insanity.

5. CFL also said "I had to kill them - what if someone would have come to rescue us?" Think about that for a second - it sounds like she was afraid of contaminating the rest of the world, which sounds like the people had some sort of virus or infection or something. Then think about this - last time they introduced that new character who had hives - the annoying guy who kept bothering Jack - what if he is the first one to get infected with whatever it is?

6. Alex. I have three thoughts about Alex.

a. CFL killed Alex. Everyone went "crazy", including Alex. She killed him/her and now is somewhat disturbed herself, having killed her own child.
b. Alex ran away. When Said first appeared, she asked him if he had seen Alex. That makes me think he/she is still alive.
c. Alex is not a he/she. CFL said "Alex was my child." But CFL is a scientist - a lot of times scientists refer to experiments as their "baby" or "child" because scientists are crazy people who spend all their time working and have no life outside of work (like a 5/3 employee). What if "Alex" is an acronym for Artificial Life Experiment X-Ray (I can’t think of any good X words)? What if the "monster" is Alex? CFL did say "there’s no such thing as monsters" - she wouldn’t think of Alex being a monster because it’s "her child".

7. How did CFL still have power in her living area? Weren’t they shipwrecked for 16 years? Didn’t everything in her place look waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay older than 16 years old? 16 years ago puts us at 1988. The stuff in her place looked like it was from the 1940’s.

8. What about how CFL said "You heard my transmission? They have it now." - Is this the same "they" that her group met coming back from the Black Rock that fateful day years ago?
So many questions. Holler back.

(Also, afterwards tonight is the Nick and Jessica Christmas Special, which should be entertaining and provide a quick fix to our Newlyweds addiction now that the show is not on the air.)

Brian