Thank God the Lost that we know and love is finally back. There's a lot to think about after this excellent episode.
Where to begin?
- The Others are not Dharma. In fact, they wiped out Dharma and took over their stations. It seems that the Others are more the direct decendents of the same folks who made the Four Toed Foot Statue... but this begs the question - if our theory about the Others not being able to make babies is true - how is this possible? Is this infertility a recent occurence due to centuries of inbreeding?
- Solid flashback. Even if it didn't contain some huge reveal about Sayid or the Island, it was intense, well-done, and fit with the theme of the episode. Very nice.
- Hello and Goodbye Ms. Klugh. It's kinda funny - the writers said that the actress who played Ms. Klugh had such a busy schedule that they weren't able to get her back for earlier episodes this season. They finally get her back... and immediately kill her. Now she can get back to whatever other projects she was working on.
- Speaking of which, although the Others seem to adhere to an eye for an eye mentality with crime, they are also willing to die to protect their secrets. We saw it on Alcatraz, and now we saw it with Ms. Klugh. What's this huge secret?
- John Locke once again hoses our Survivors. He's acting weird, spending all his time inside the Flame Station playing chess on a computer, and then indirectly leads to it blowing up... just like he led to the Swan Station blowing up. I'm telling you, John Locke wants to become an Other and stay on the Island forever.
Geek out with your wacky theories and proclaim your rekindled love for Lost below!
98 comments:
Great post! I confess, it's now become a routine that I can't go to bed on Wednesday nights until I see your instant reaction! I think that says something about how good your blog is, and probably something about how obsessive I am. :-)
I look forward to lots of analysis and discussion in the comments over the next week!
Until then -- my favorite line of the night? Sawyer's hat-tip to the fans, asking Nikki "Who the hell are you?"
Wow!
Finally a "Lost" we can give some love to! I've been one of the bashers, but it's because I am a big fan and hold them to high standards. This was a great show! Sure seems like they could have told more, but for now it satisfies. The way Hurley beat Sawyer at ping pong was hilarious! Here's hoping to lots more great episodes coming up!!
Perfect instant reaction! Kick ass indeed!!! I was very happy with tonight's episode. It actually surpassed my expectations..and they were pretty high.
The Others wiped out the Dharma Initiative. My first thought after hearing that was: Was Kelvin telling the truth? Was he really Dharma? If he was, how was he allowed to stay alive? The Others had to know that he was there. I don't think Kelvin was a part of the Dharma Initiative. I think he was sent there to kill Radzinsky.
What about the preview for next week? What's up with that "alarm" system that Kate, Locke, Sayid, Danielle and Patchy(I'm going to keep calling him that) found? I bet my milk money on that being right outside "othersville" aka the barracks.
I'm super excited about the rest of the season!!!
Wow! Great episode with tons of answers, and even more questions!
First off, did Danielle really not know Patchy? She seemed like she had seen him/or known him. Could she really be an Other?
Was the cat Smokey?
Why was Miss Klugh with Patchy? Why was she hiding? Did they know that they were coming?
Is Marvin Candle alive and a living breathing Other today? Could the "HOSTILES" be referring to the LOSTIES and not the OTHERS?
The Purge? Is this real? Are the Others and Dharma the same? The "Maternity Leave" episode comes to mind. The way the room was all "Dharmaish" and the injections for the baby? Was Ethan an Other, Dharma, or both?
What is the connection between characters? Does LIBBY show up in connection to Desmond, or someone else?
just like stef, i couldn't go to bed without reading your instant reaction, brian!
such an excellent episode! i was geeked throughout. sayid is so badass & locke is a dipshit.
can't wait to tear this ep apart tomorrow!
Great episode! Going to have to watch it tomorrow to catch some stuff I missed (stupid phone calls!!). Also...whats going to happen to the cat!? (I'm a cat person.. :P)
i agree it was unfortunate to see the flame go up in flames, but what really would we have gained by keeping it around? if anything shouldn't this make life harder for the "others"?
@zyptron
All of those books ans manuals might have given them some insight to the Dharma initiative.
Absolutely great episode...once again leave it 2 a Sayid flashback 2 get lost back on track...this episode simply proves why Sayid is the most bad-ass character on the show...
I think Locke did a good thing blowing up the flame. The station was obviously important to the Others, due to it being manned. Locke has a scorched earth mentality to fighing the others that I think is a good idea.
I would ave to agree that something is up with Locke. He's the only one to come in contact with Smokey and still live (I believe) and he's blown up two "hatches". He truly has no reason to WANT to leave the island. Jack was right, there is and will continue to be a 'Locke problem'. Only time will tell....unless the jacked up time on the island doesn't like to tell things like our normal time does. Stupid quantum physics.
Word for word, I agree with Stef!
I'll just be sitting here all night long waiting for your analysis Brian!
some questions..
- the cat: i felt like it was similar to the black horse for kate, in other words, a reincarnation of sayid's past. but why was it named nadia? is that a reference to someone?
- i thought ben was alex's father, because on "alcatraz" the others kept making that implication... right??? did i just imagine that, because CFL supposedly doesn't know any of the others...
- locke is an idiot (not a question, i know)
That preview told us a lot about the upcoming episode. I mean, right off--Patchy gets fried. By himself. And a big electric fence.
I'm going to go a bit further, though--something occurred to me.
When they found the electric fence, it certainly appeared to be the same group on their way back. Which means that Patchy never made it back to the rest of them--which means that it was one of those four who knew Patchy before. If it had been Locke, Sayid, or Kate, no doubt we would have found out this episode. There was no hint about that. And who was it that seemed so eager to kill him (which was just what he wanted)? True, it's thoroughly in keeping with her character, but something in her eyes told me she knew him before. I think the CFL is going to be revealed pretty soon.
Oh yeah, and who was it that used the term "Hostiles"? I'm pretty sure I heard it before.
All right! Here's to hoping they keep the momentum going. Thanks for the instant reaction Brian; looking forward to your indepth.
I'm not sure if Locke realized the Flame was wired to explode. But for where the story is going it probably doesn't matter; they weren't on raiding mission. I liked Danielle's reaction to avoid that initial conflict.
So I guess this also cofirms that Juliette wasn't a Dharmite Initiate either (not that it's a big surprise). But as Ben said "don't be fooled Jack, she IS one of us." This brings us back to "who are the Others?"
BTW anyone translate Russian? Just for detail curiosity. Obviously the jist was kill me, kill yourself.
"Hostiles" came from the Map Door and Kelvin.
I don't know about Locke, I don't think his intentions were bad. He tried to communicate with the mainland, then the beacon, then he saw Marvic Cancle say to type 77 if they had been invaded. It didn't say "to blow up the station". He did not have the knowledge of Sayid and Kate that the station was rigged for explosion, and even then having it rigged that way for 20 years..
He could have been setup.. I wouldn't have wanted to work in a place that I knew.. was so exposed for self destuct. Think about it.. a freeken short or spark could be your death.
Do note that the option for a pallette drop was still there.. also note that he still has plenty of supplies from Dharma.. let me suggest that maybe they ARE affiliated with Dharma.. if no Dharma people are alive... why are they still making drops on the island.. well as recently as weeks before. Perhaps they thought that they still had the swan. But it appears that if the others had control of the flame and the ability to schedule drops.. that perhaps Ben had 'scheduled' the drop for the swan prior to being captured? One big conspiracy theory eh? But I still don't get why Dharma is still dropping food if they lost the war. We didn't recieve the truth..
And let me add that we KNOW that everyone on the island is not a long time other.. we know Ben is.. but we have people of other races and cultures, and Juliette. Think about it.. is that Russian with that accent and Vodka a lifetime other? How about Klugh when the others are caucasion.. and speaking of which, what are Caucasions doing living for centuries on an island in the south pacific, with contact to the outside world and clearly speaking American English? No.. this doesn't add up.
Someone will translate that Russian in a matter of days... I'm just 'waiting'. The writers know this will happen.. unless it's gibberish like the lip reading... but I doubt it.
I"m not sure about the Kat being smokey.. Patchey had a name for it... I don't think the island would put him there knowing that Sayid would eventualy show up, but all signs do point to something strange.. maybe it just reminded him of the Cat.
And the hostiles were mentioned back with Desmond and what's his name in the hatch pre crash. However.. as I said above none of this make logical sense.
How could Dharma, a scientic group with virtually unlimited funds lost a war to a small group of hostiles? Oh, and there had to be a big conpiracy, when Patchy said "we had an agreement" or whatever he said.. why did he come out and pull the bullet from Sayid.. I had originally thought the deal might have been the one where the others said not to cross the line.. He seemed so genuine in his initial responses.. only to turn so quickly.. one hell of act.. don't you think?
Say what you will about Locke, he makes the show more interesting. Sure, we all kind of wish that he had called Kate and Sayid in there and they had sat around and pondered on what would have happened if they pressed 77, maybe tried to get Patchy to spill it...but Locke tends to just go with his gut and he ends up moving the plot along nicely. Besides, watching a bunch of people piddle around and have a pow wow makes for less interesting TV than exploding farmhouses.
fyi - Nadia means "hope" in Russian.
4kids4me
Nadia was also the name of Sayid's true love, who he was on his way to see in LA when the plane went down. Locke inspected the house she bought.
Two things occurred to me in the night:
1. Kelvin. As previous folks have brought up, there are now a lot more questions here. Was Kelvin the last Dharma operative? We know that he was killed sometime within the last 3 years (I don't remember the exact timeline.) Did the "purge" occur before that? Did Kelvin know he was all alone? Or was he also an Other plant?
2. Mittelos - If the Others are not Dharma, which I think was pretty definitively answered, then they have set up a scientific infrastructure all their own. Is it just from their taking over all of the Dharma stations and equipment? Did they continue the work of Dharma? Or are they pursuing their own scientific goals (infertility) all on their own? That's pretty impressive for a group of ragtag island people who seems to have not had any "civilization" until they took over Dharma's barracks. At least, as far as we know right now....
Huuuuge episode! A second wind for the writers for sure.
Brian I wonder if you might be feeling a bit like the Lost writers re your blog? With this veil of expectation hanging on even your Instant Reaction? You do realise we are hanging out even more for your Analysis eh! ;-) Sorry to notch it up even more!
Re. the ep: Sayid had a Dharma 'Operations Manual' in his hand! And then it all goes up in flames! - doh! Cue that almighty p**sed expression at John.
On a bit of an Etymological sidenote - I wonder if this episode means a major shift - will the Others become known as Hostiles among forums/blogs such as this? Is it a given that the Others as we know them are Hostiles according to Dharma? Or is it that our siding with Dharma is (and hence thinking they are the 'good guys') misplaced? Are the Others/Hostiles really the 'moral' good guys?
Re: Possible Spoilers...
Also as a general note, please don't post anything that might involve possible spoilers (here w.r.t. preview comments above). Some of us make it a point not to watch any previews (easy given Im in NZ and we are a series behind anyway, so online captures are the only way!). You on the 'mainland' i.e. US of A have a harder time avoiding them I'm sure.
I thought I had a pretty good idea what was going on until I read the comments thread.
I now realize that there are a ton of questions raised by this episode.
1) What are Locke's true motivations?
2) Can we trust CFL?
3) Does Kelvin's story still hold water?
etc.
stef said:
"Two things occurred to me in the night:
1. Kelvin. As previous folks have brought up, there are now a lot more questions here. Was Kelvin the last Dharma operative? We know that he was killed sometime within the last 3 years (I don't remember the exact timeline.) Did the "purge" occur before that? Did Kelvin know he was all alone? Or was he also an Other plant?"
Stef, Kelvin was killed by Desmond by accident on the day of the 815 crash. Remember, he ran back to the hatch and the system failure was going on....on sept. 24 2004. in Live Together, Die Alone Des told Locke that all that happened on the day of the crash.
and to craig:
I don't think commenting about the preview that aired during the end credits is posting a spoiler. Brian comments on ABC aired previews all the time. I would never post any spoilers that I come across on various websites. I'm sorry if it spoiled anything, but I'm pretty sure that almost everyone saw that preview last night.
I'm curious about the Others and the Dharma Initiative. We know that there was a "purge" and that the others got rid of all Dharma staff on the island. Someone brought up that there were still food drops and whatnot. What if the others are posing as Dharma to the outside world so that they still get all the outside support that Dharma receives? That would make a lot of sense.
I don't see why anyone would think the cat was Smokey since the island cat and Firecracker cat were not the same.
Brian: a tiny point of semantics.
"Begs the question" doesn't mean what most people think it does. It's a term from logic that means something like "assuming the conclusion in an argument."
A stupid pet peeve of mine. Sorry. Re-commence wild theorizing now...
But Dharma would know if these people were their own employees.. I would think anyway. I'm sure it will all be explained... but it just doesn't add up, and that indicates there is still a lot more to the story.
They had to blow up the station(the writers). Once they had their hands on all that communications equiment and row upon row of Dharma operation manuals... The station was right up Sayids alley! He could have rigged something up, and the manuals would open up far too much info. It's disapointing to us and Sayid... it's like the fire in the great library at alexandria with so much ancient knowlege lost...but from the story telling perspective... this had to happen.
I'm wondering why the heck Patchy et al would have left all that C4 in place, after they took over the station. Any thoughts?
Note:
Walt and Michael were told to follow heading 325...
Ekos stick said "look north" then "John 3:05"
Now Bible listings don't usually include a leading 0... so wouldn't he say John 3:5? And John 3:5 doesn't say "lift up your eyes and look north" it says "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.".
I wonder if the magnetic influence doesn't shift the magnetic reading for north by 55 degress... that would make the 325 heading of Walt/Michael an actuall 20 degree reading, or north/northeast... just an observation. I don't know HOW Eko could have this knowledge to write it, but apparently it's leading them north. I still don't see why this couldn't have been done previously.. using the sun and the stars, finding true north would not be dificult... but hey, that's LOST!
It is interesting and curious, how the Others, if not DHARMA, have the resources and sophistication, to pull off many things, including recruiting Juliette on the Island. It would seem likely, that at some point it will be revealed (as many other people have posted on this BLOG) that the Others were DHARMA and are now disenfranchised. How and why DHARMA continues to make food and supply drops, in perpetuity, is another curious matter indeed.
(written before reading Brian's post or any comments):
OK--I'm getting a little pissed now.
I knew damn well what "Enter 77" would do the moment Marv
mentioned it.
Hasn't Locke ever seen Star Trek?? Actually having the
explosives visible
was a rare "underestimate the audience" moment for Lost. So at
least
three things made no sense to me:
1. Why were the explosives so visible? If Dharma had wanted a
self-destruct option in case of "hostile incursion", wouldn't
they have
taken a little extra care & time to hide the explosives?
2. No wonder the hostiles did take over without the place
blowing up--if
you had to play and win a chess game to even get to the
self-destruct
sequence!!
3. Locke isn't that dumb. He should have known that "Enter 77"
was a
self-destruct command. I thought maybe he did it on
purpose--but he
looked surprised when the place blew up. (And will he end up
destroying
all the Dharma stations??)
I'd rather have seen more of the ping-pong match...
Brian L.
I'm surprised at how many people seem to believe Patchy's statements about the purge and the relationship between Dharma and the Others. It seems to me most likely that all of that was made up. Yet a bunch of the comments above proceed from the assumption that that much was true. I know Patchy said that the only lie he told was that he was never with Dharma, but once it became clear that he was hiding Ms. Klugh and willing to kill top protect secrets, why should we believe anything he said?
Russian translation (from Lostpedia):
Klugh: Mikhail. Mikhail! You know what to do.
Mikhail: We still have another way [out].
Klugh: We cannot risk. You know the conditions.
Mikhail: There is another way.
Klugh: They captured us. We will not give (or let, or betray) [unintelligible].
Klugh: You know what to do. It is an order.
Mikhail: We still have another way!
Klugh (in English): Just do it, Mikhail.
Mikhail: Forgive me. (shoots)
thank you Brian Leonard for you point number 2, I was just getting around to writing something about that.
A self destruct button that requires you to beat a chess game? Sounds kind of useless to me, except for attracting people like Locke.
With regards to the chess game, maybe the DHARMA-paid flame members were all chess geniuses (genii?) or maybe there was a pre-defined set of moves which would always win the game (but would be very hard to stumble across) and Locke just happens to be a better player than Mikhail - or Mikhail twigged what would happen (having seen the C4 already).
And he had to act the part out to begin with (including shooting Sayid - in the arm remember, non-lethal shot) to try and fool them to begin with - for whatever nefarious porpoises (heh, evil dolphins) the others have. We still don't know what their motives are, so we can't really judge whatever they do - although now we know they're not DHARMA does lend some weight to Ben getting captured to stop John pushing the button (and I guess he pushed it himself so that he wouldn't die when the hatch went berserk).
My "out there" prediction: Mrs. Klugh is still alive because she was wearing a bullet-proof vest. If I recall correctly, Patchy shot her directly in the chest. She then played dead and waited until everybody left. Is it possible that faking death was her method of escape?
I don't think this is very likely, but it's not impossible.
Yes, the Chess Game to get Manual Overide is pretty useless... The last dialog of the Dharma Initiative "Hurry! make a move! the hostiles are coming!".
"JUST GIVE ME SOME MORE TIME! I ONLY NEED ANOTHER 30 Minutes.. Dang.. lost again.
I also wonder why a bunch of... uhmm.. for Dharma Hippie Scientists would wage a war to purge the island of inhabitants?
Other Russian Translations.. of the papers in the Flame.
The Tail Section reports that the documents looked to be memoirs.. as if perhaps patchy was studying to assume the role of someone else.
This would explain why the drops were still coming, if he could pose as a Dhamra employee, the drops could keep coming.
It was suggested that Klugh was there to restablish communication after the puple sky(I don't know how they figured that out), but who are the Others communicating with to get off the island?
Could they be posing as Dharma employees, or perhaps Dharma/Hansu knows this and has accepted them as their employees... by moving into their houses.. etc.
Oh, and one last thing.. We know that the others speak Chinese and Russian now...
What else
Hmmm I'm so glad there are no repeats for the rest of the season.
In regards to the chess game, I thought it was interesting that Patchy said that the computer never lost, and that Locke then remarked something about a computer not being human, and cannot cheat, and then he looked at the camera with the blinking red light. Perhaps it wasn't a computer playing, and the person on the other side was controlling whether the game was won or lost, and thus controlling whether the person got to access the destruct command or the other commands.
Definately something is up with CFL. She was quick to not want to go into the Flame compound and then also was quick to want to kill Patchy. She seems to more something more.
As for the people on the island.. Patchy was there for 11 years, CFL for 16 years, Ben for his lifetime... My crazy theory is that the others/hostiles, HAVE been there for a very long time and they don't age or something, ie Ben could be 90, 150 or 200 yrs old... they can't reproduce, their little fountain of youth garden was invaded by Dharma, so they overtook them, and Mittelos is perhaps their outside contact with the scientific world to try to solve their reproduction issues.
Oh yes I know it's is convoluted, and not supportable.. but hey we are all just in this big bowl of theory soup, and I'm just one of the carrot pieces. Heh.
Re: the chess game.
Remember when Mikhail spoke to Locke about the game - "you can't win; it cheats" or words to that effect.
I wonder if this has any significance?
To those questioning the Dharma / Hostile relationship:
1. If Mikhail was telling the truth at this point, then it means he never discovered the hidden menu.
2. If he was lying, what was his objective? Clearly not to dissuade Locke - he didn't try very hard and could've easily told Locke not to touch it.
Possibly to encourage Locke to try and win, and then, as the Others have so much information on each survivor, he would know that Locke's curiosity would make him blow up the station.
The third alternative is that Locke wasn't playing a computer at all. As he said, computers can't cheat. That is a quintessentially human trait. So was he playing an other or a Dharma person? If so, was he "allowed" to win?
Just wanted to let you know that there are LOTS of us out here that read your blog RELIGIOUSLY and never leave any comments. I don't know how else to prepare for an episode or how else put what I've just seen together. Good "work man".
The Others do not take killing one of thier own lightly. I'm not sure that Klugh's request to be sacrificed is in line with the way the Others usually respond to these situations. Therefore, I think she is either not dead or not one of the natural Others. We know there are natural Others (Ben) and Others in training (Juliet). That would also explain her being black while the natural others we know of are white.
Also, CFL is sketchy and wants Patchy dead to conceal her identity.
Ditto!
Brian brings much to the Lost experience!
The only bad part of the episode is that we will be deprived from Sawyer's wit (nicknames) for a while!
Random thoughts here...
- We cannot trust anything Patchy said. 0%, 50% or 100% may be true. Only time will tell.
- I am glad the farm blew up. If it didn't, that would be one more thing we were pissed off about not being explored and discovered.
- Something is up with CFL. She is inconsistent with her handling of Ben and Patchy. I have come to the conlusion that she knows or knows of one of them.
- Locke may be a douche lately, but that was bad ass in the preview when he sacraficed patchy to test the alarm system.
- Why do they go to the barracks? Shouldn't they go back for more people and guns?
- Finally someone was smart (Sayid getting that map).
- Nothing special about the cat. He was just there to remind Sayid about his past. I don't think it is like the horse or boar.
- Why are there still food drops? True, he could pretend to be Dharma. But think about it. You run a company or research thing that is in a far off place. Wouldn't you realize that you are dealing with someone new? Eventually you would expect some kind of report or something, and that would clue you in. Maybe he really is Dharma. You never know.
- That was weird with Miss Cleo. I have 3 scenarios. 1. She has hot Texas Cheerleader special abilities. Least likely of my three, this is suppossed to be based on science. 2. She was wearing a bulletproof vest. That scene reminded me exactly of that scene in Heroes when Clare told him to shoot her. Communicating with the other people not knowing what was going on, just like talking in Russian. Maybe he knew she was wearing a bulletproof vest. I see this as plausible but not likely. 3. She died for a cause. The question is, what is the cause? She sacrificed herself for some greater good (or evil). Patchy wants to be killed for the same reason. Maybe they are rouge Others who know they are busted? Who knows. The Others wouldn't give up so easily. Why die when you know your buddies will come after you eventually. There is something else going on here, other than being a run of the mill Other.
That is it for now. Back to work.
I was so glad to hear Sayid asking Patchy important questions. I knew that he would be the one to get some solid answers. He is the interrogator after all.
One question:
Is the one eyed man aka Patchy from last night the same Patchy from The Cost Of Living??? When I first saw him last night, my initial thought was, "Is that the same guy?" They looked a little different to me....Maybe I'm wrong.
- Patchy is the terrorist from "Toy Soldiers". If you saw that movie its's kinda funny that the building was wired with explosives.
Still too cold: You said had been there 200 years.. what about the 4 toed foot statue... I think when they say a long time, they mean a LOOOOOOONG time.
Patrick: I didn't get the idea that Locke pushed Patchy into the field, I got the idea that Patchy killed himselves so that he could reveal sectrets, or be used in negotiations.
As for willingness to die.. these people are a Cult... they've been brainwashed to kill themselves. Remember how Ben was willing to die rather than reveal secrets?
I also wonder what happned to the whispers. Remember the imbedded whispers last year... when Sayid was interrogating Ben, there were Whispers hidden in the tracks... Seriously.. I never see Brian analyze these whispers.. but they've even been in episodes SINCE the hatch was destroyed...
http://www.longlostlist.net/listforum/major_arcana/whispers/Whispers_2.htm/whispers_one_of_them.htm
Whispers
http://www.longlostlist.net/listforum/major_arcana/whispers/WHISPERS.htm
Lets try one more time:
http://www.longlostlist.net/listforum/
major_arcana/whispers/WHISPERS.htm
Firstly, where the heck are the Russian translators around here? We need to find out exactly the diaglogue spoken between Ms. Kleugh and Patchy. It is interesting how quick they both were to die for whatever cause it may be.
Secondly, the Locke character development is fairly consistent with John Locke from the start. He is a screw-up in nature starting with his back story and bringing the narc to the pot-growing field.... He blew up the hatch by virtue of some reversed blind faith and other incidents. Now, in "Enter 77", we see him pre-occupied with a computer chess game when confronted with everything else, so far as clues, the farm house had to offer.
okay, could someone explain to me again why patchy yelled 'we had an agreement' out the window at sayid? wouldn't he recognize that sayid was not one of his own? the threat to stay away was directed at the losties from the others and didn't include dharma. so if patchy was posing as dharma, wouldn't that be a clue of his true identity? like he slipped at first, giving away he's an other, but then going into dharma character?
i don't think we've seen the entire scene/dialogue between patchy & john. occasionally on this show, they repeat scenes, but fill in more of the story... i think patchy told john things about who was behind the chess game and what would happen if he pressed certain numbers. there is a lot more that happened in between patchy sneaking up behind john with the knife and sayid & kate finding him hostage in the yard.
i don't think it's a mere coincedence that the cat's name is nadia. it may not be much, but i think there is definitely something significant about the cat having the identity of sayid's long lost love.
in the preview, i also think patchy sacrificed himself by running into that alarm system... i think it's a deadly electrical fence too. i don't think john pushed him.
cat having the same name as sayid's long lost love, that is...
We have the Russian translation, it's a few posts up...
I have somethign I think could do with being raised at this point - let's think about the power cables. They run from the Flame hatch to the barracks. Hence, the barracks, with the houses and back yards (also previously referred to as "Othersville") MUST be part of the DHARMA installation.
So, here comes the point... assuming the "hostiles" were on the island before DHARMA, then they had to be living somewhere - and since they've taken DHARMA out, they just decided "Hey, they have backyards! Let's move in!"
I'm not sure I buy that - which leaves 3 option i can think of:
1. Mikhail is lying.
2. Sloppy writing.
3. They had another reason to move into the DHARMA barracks, based on something we're not yet aware of/I've overlooked.
Anyone else have anything to add to/contradict what I've put down here?
Hey, "anonymous", I posted the Russian translation on here this morning. Scroll back...
hey Brian Leonard - you da man!!
Also, how great was it seeing Kate and Sayid kick ass even with Sayid with a fresh bullet wound in the fight scene?
Senor Feesh-
I'm still not convinced that we can believe the story Mikhail told about the war between Dharma and the hostiles. There may never have been two groups at all, so we don't know that one group moved into the barracks of the other. At this point I don't think we can believe anything he said.
Something that I thought of in the many, many long and dull moments of my job that concerns Locke. He seems to be doing everything he can do stay on the island, maybe even if he doesn't know it or intend for his actions to have to reprecussions they do. Maybe this all goes back to his encounter with Smokey. What if maybe Smokey somehow possessed him? I am not talking all out head spinning action, but maybe it just has an influence on him because it knows that it can, think of the little guy who is controlled by the painting in Ghostbusters 2. Out of all the survivors he seems the most likely due to his natural curiosity of the island. Just a thought that the island is kind of swaying his decision making process to either protect something, or to eventually convert him. He talks to the island in a sweat hut, has faith in the island, and is the one who seems to want to find out the most about it. It might also explain why he has changed to blindly follow everything around him as a sign, whether than evaluate and question it as the other survivors would.
about the "don't cross the line" thing........
If he was posing as Dharma, it makes sense that he said "I didn't cross the line." It makes it like he is in odds with the others/Hostiles as well, in the same boat as the Losties, that the Others gave him the same threat.
Very nice episode
CFL defenetly came up with a complete BS excuse for not going into the flame at first. The logical thing is that she is an other and she hoped that patchy could fool Sayid into the story.
I think Ben is Alex father for real and prolly CFL the real mother. Ben has already proved to be an excellent infiltrator and dedicated to the cause, why wouldnt CFL be the same. Also the comment that 'he will lie for a long time' just seems too out of place for the situation if she didn't knew him already.
Also I think it's pretty clear now the hatch imposion took out the radio communication and sonar in some sort of EMP discharge, also Patchy should be aware of the chessgame was a cover due to him first trying to discourage Locke into even playing it, also timley appears with the knife just as Locke is about to 'enter 77'.
/Sweden
I would like to know what Mrs. Klugh said to the one eyed Russian. Did she tell him to shoot Locke or HER???? hmmmmm LOVED THIS EPISODE!!!!
Brian Leonard said...
Russian translation (from Lostpedia):
Klugh: Mikhail. Mikhail! You know what to do.
Mikhail: We still have another way [out].
Klugh: We cannot risk. You know the conditions.
Mikhail: There is another way.
Klugh: They captured us. We will not give (or let, or betray) [unintelligible].
Klugh: You know what to do. It is an order.
Mikhail: We still have another way!
Klugh (in English): Just do it, Mikhail.
Mikhail: Forgive me. (shoots)
10:51 AM
THANK YOU BRIAN, Guess I should have read further before I posed the question. xoxo
Im going to bet that next week when they push patchey into the gate, none other than smokey (they islands ~security system~) gets him!
Sodfather, I like your theory. Whether or not it's true, it explains a lot about Locke and his actions. Let's not forget that perhaps Locke's #1 motivation for staying on the Island is that he can walk there; who knows whether he'd be able to continue to walk if he's off the island? Certainly he doesn't know himself, and the fact that he briefly lost power in his legs (when he was going against the island's wishes, perhaps?) would reinforce that.
Brian L.
Supposing that the computer has not been tampered with, we do know now that there are two groups--it’s a Dharma computer and it’s talking about incursion by Hostiles. But having to play chess to get to the self-destruct program—yeah, doesn’t make sense. So maybe the computer can’t be believed either.
When Locke kept playing with the computer, I knew that something bad was going to happen. I was yelling at my TV: “John, quit that!” I agree that he didn’t know about the C4 charges seen by Kate and Sayid, but still, you’d think he’d know better. And maybe it’s true that wittingly or unwittingly, his actions end up making it more likely that he stays on the island. It did seem that something was DRAWING him to the computer, he couldn’t keep his hands off it even when he was supposed to be watching Patchy. I saw him as being childish and naïve, like a kid who just has to fool with things. He reminded me of the Locke who lived at the drug-growing commune—he wanted to be cool, but he ended up leading the cops to the place. So while I’m upset that we lost the opportunity to learn from all those manuals about Dharma, it fits that one of Locke’s personality traits led him to destroy the place. I’m still not sure exactly how to say what that trait is, but it has something to do with being naïve and not knowing better than to do stupid stuff. He keeps getting taken in. He’ll have resolved his issues when he quits looking to others (or islands) for guidance and takes charge of his life—which he does SOMETIMES on the island.
I’m not convinced that CFL is an Other. I found her actions this episode to be pretty consistent with the character she’s been portrayed to be. She HAS survived by avoiding contact, so it made sense to me that she would remove herself. Maybe I’m not suspicious enough, but the distant look she had in her eyes at the time fit with her paranoia.
I’m still trying to figure out the central deception of the episode. If Patchy really is an Other—why did the Others want Sayid et al to believe that he is really Dharma? Did they somehow know that Sayid and Kate and Locke were on their way there, and so they planted Patchy there to intercept them? I think that Patchy thought at first he had them convinced, and that’s why he sewed up Sayid’s wound. Suppose he had convinced them—would he have let them leave? Or was that just a way to get them to drop their guard so that he could reassert control? Maybe Patchy figured he’d engage them in conversation and thus learn what they’re up to? That makes the most sense.
I think we should all continue to refer to Patchy as Patchy instead of Mikhail...everytime I've read Mikhail on the comments I've had to pause and figure out who they're talking about
KEEP IT PATCHY!!!
Is it possible that Mrs Klugh and Mikhail were not talking 'Russian' to each other?
What if it's the indigenous language of the Island?
Wouldn't that be cool!
-SJ
It was interesting how Sayid, purposefully told Mikiel (Patchy) that they managed to kill one of the Others. After he said it, he (and Kate) were analyzing Patchy's reaction....and, Patchy was smart enough to know, in that moment, that they knew he was lying, leading to the kick-ass fight scene!! Very well done, indeed.
I'm sure there is a code for the chess game that will override the chess game... Geeking out... it seems that getting that image on that pc would be quite a leap in technology. I also enjoyed the analog static over digital pixelation that would actually happen, unless this was coupled with some sore of video disk device. Audio would have been sufficient... but then wouldn't have seen mr. candle. Anyone notice if he had one arm?
Forgive me for that, but I'm sure that is another way to reach that than the chess game.
No, it's been translated.. as had the text... it's Russian.
Fellow anon! Those document had to be destroyed, or it would have either a- become too much of a focus of the show or b- they would have left them alone and frustrated us through lack of interest. No, they needed to get these guys to the others camp, and by blowing the place up, it keeps Sayid from staying back. I'm just concerned for the Horse and Cows... MOOOO!
"I'm still not convinced that we can believe the story Mikhail told about the war between Dharma and the hostiles. There may never have been two groups at all, so we don't know that one group moved into the barracks of the other. At this point I don't think we can believe anything he said."
I'm inclined to agree - the purge story just doesn't add up in my head right now, but then neither does them bein DHARMA in a strange way I can't quite work out. Awaiting more plot twists eagerly :P
Also, I'm very much in agreement about Locke being... I don't want to say controlled, I think it's too strong a word. Instead let's say manipluated by some outside force - point in evidence - the cop on the pot farm told him:
"The psych profile said you'd be most open to coercion."
For me that sold the idea right off that someone/thing on the island (quite probably smokey, or smokey's masters if it has any) have been deliberately feeding John certain ideas to make him act accordingly (read: digging up hatches, messing with computers.)
Oops, sorry I posted my comment without having had time to read the above. So it's really Russian. Oh well, I was hoping for an ancient island language.
Also, previous poster was right, the cats were not the same, I'm pretty sure.
And I'm in agreement with the majority here, Locke: annoying, frustrating impetous sabateur (subconciously maybe but still)
Sayid = awesome.
-SJ
It seems clear enough that Ben and the "Others" were DHARMA at one point and appear now to be long disenfranchised. Ethan clearly and DHARMA recruited Juliette in Miami...and Ethan became what appeared to be a loyal disciple of Ben's. Also, Ms. Klugh seemed to be a loyal Ben groupie too so that would connect the dots to the Others and Patchy, right? Would seem that somehow, he is aligned to them. The question is "how" and what was his purpose on the farm? What was he writting or marking up (in the margins) that Locke was reading?
btw, Brian -hopefully you can analyize and post a clear shot of the manuscript or whatever it was that Patchy wrote and Locke was reading.
Oh yeah... my faith is restored! I hope the rest of the season is as good as this little gem of a tidbit was!
And, as always, you ARE the master, Brian. Thanks for all the insight and hard work that allows me to just watch the show, and then sound like I know what I'm talking about when I spew back your brilliant reviews as if they are my own... hee hee! :)
Back in the groove...
If the "others" are so smart why would they leave explosives in the underground station below the house in which the patch man lived? For years? Never wondering why it was there or that it could go off at anytime. It has to have been there for years - the Dharma computer video instructing Locke to hit 77 is from the 70's. And, Locke is the only guy smart enough to win the chess game? This seemed like an "other" trap and Locke (normally smarter than this) fell right into it.
There are other sites that have posted and translated the Russian Documents. One suggested that the document and notes led them to believe that he may have been trying to assume the role of someone else.
I do agree with the person that the scene with Patchy and Klugh was very similar to Heroes with Claire/HRG/Matt. I half expected Klugh to heal.
The minute the patch guy called the cat Nadia you knew he was an "other" - they have inch thick files on all the plane crash victims. He was playing with Sayid's head.
"If the "others" are so smart why would they leave explosives in the underground station below the house in which the patch man lived? For years? Never wondering why it was there or that it could go off at anytime. It has to have been there for years - the Dharma computer video instructing Locke to hit 77 is from the 70's. And, Locke is the only guy smart enough to win the chess game? This seemed like an "other" trap and Locke (normally smarter than this) fell right into it. "
The explosives were there apparently to prevent any intruder from discovering whatever data, etc the farm house had. Why the detonation device was concealed as a chess game is odd but it was probably some sort of trap...especially when Patchy baited Locke by saying "nobody can beat the computer; it cheats". Any other thoughts here?
Brian said:
"although the Others seem to adhere to an eye for an eye mentality with crime"
I say:
Could this be what happened to patchy's eye?
It often seems that the best way to lie to people is to tell a lot of the truth and then twist it a little. I think this is probably what Patchy did. However that is just as confusing because what is the twist? and what is the truth?
Wow attack of the Anonomi!
As for the Mikhail/Ms.Klugh setup. I suspect it went something like this.
Klugh, arriving just moments before our rescue team (possibly checking up on the status of the communications repair) realized they weren't alone. Also realizing they were out gunned at the moment. Klugh initially wants to end the confrontation passivly and makes a quick drama and cover story for Mikhail to feed Locke, Sayid and Kate. Then hides out in the basement. A story that is similer to what our Survivors have been told, not to cross the "imaginary" line. Sayid of course doesn't fall for it (and I love Nadia the cat giving up Klugh's hiding spot) and provokes Mikhail into giving up the obvious ruse.
Klugh is dead IMHO. And I think Mikhail will sacrifice himself next show and not be pushed like some suggest.
The Purge, Hostiles, The Incident I assume are all connected. We know Procedures changed after this.
Possibly this is when the Flame was wired to guard against new incursions. Note, The Flame station (like fire on the gameshow Survivor) was extremely important. It acted as a "lighthouse" for incoming vessles, was also the link to the mainland, and was also the coordination point for food drops; Dharma or not, food is food. I think Mikhail knew about the self-destruct sequence and I think he was still just trying to play it cool with Locke. Weather or not the Chess game can really cheat or if someone like Candle is behind the game seems unlikely. But maybe as unlikely as Eko or the Island guiding Locke to destroy the station. Who knows?
Perhaps Smokey is a product of the Purge. Similer to Star Trek TNG, the tar pit creature in the episode where Tashi Yar was killed . (Yes, I'm such a geek).
I guess we found out why the place was called The Flame when it exploded...
I know that you are a busy man, Brian. I also know that you probably have to watch the episode a couple of times in order to probably analyze the episode....especially an episode like Enter Seven Seven. Because of these things, I know I have to be patient..
But MAN I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR ANALYSIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know you personally, Brian, so let me introduce myself. My name is Joe, and I am 25 years old and am from good 'ol Nashville, TN. I stumbled upon this fantastic blog last year when you posted that ever controversial pic of Henry Gale's smiley face balloon. I have been obsessed with your blog ever since!! I just wanted to tell you that you do an excellent job with the blog, and I am very, very appreciative of the effort that you put into it (as many others are, I am sure.)
I'm just curious: How old are you?
After my lengthy rant which I still feel is well deserved, I am very grateful for this week's episode.
The shark tank was not jumped...
Wow... this must have been a good episode, almost 100 comments in less than 2 days! Yay!
joe d. - To answer your questions, I usually only watch the episodes once, in real-time, without taking any notes or doing anything crazy - and then think about them for a bit. I'm usually busy on Thursday nights due to TV / drinking, and then comes the weekend which brings more partying and drinking - delaying my Analysis Posts to Saturday or Sunday.
To answer your question, I'm 25 and totally normal and average in every way. Sometimes I feel bad knowing that so many people are waiting for my analysis and I'm delaying it so that I can go out to the bars or just be a bum and watch TV - but what are you gonna do? I really wish I could get them out on Thursday mornings, but due to work and stuff - it's just not possible. I'm sorry.
At any rate, expect analysis up in the next 24 hours.
Question -- was the cat, @ Patchy's farm on the island, the same cat the women held in her lap in Sayid's flashback? What was ths significance of the name Nadia to Sayid? Can anyone read (presumably) Russian to translate the pages in Patchy's cabin?
Fellow Anon...
Cat: I don't know if they are the same cat... Nadia was the name of Sayid 'love'. The one that Locke did the home inspection for.
Russian: Has been translated, I'm sure brian will translate, but if you don't want to wait, you can find the translation elsewhere. Try Lostpedia.com.
Oh, I completely understand, dude. We are the same age and probably a lot alike. I guess the reason that I want to read it so bad is because I have a boring job that leaves me with ample time to surf the internet and still get all my work done. Take your time. In the Slater from Dazed in Confused accent: "It's quality not quantity!!"
Dazed AND Confused....excuse me
Does anyone have a screen caption of the memo in Russian? I can translate it.
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