Lost - "Catch - 22"

Episode Title: “Catch - 22”

Greetings to all. Drudo here filling in for Brian while he’s hopefully blissfully drunk somewhere in Europe. Thanks to all for the chance to do this. I’m not Brian, but I’ll give you my best… And so… on with the show…


Drudo’s Deeper Meaning Guess: I have to admit, after last week’s trailer for this episode, I was scared. It really left me grasping at straws. Mostly because the trailer wasn’t for this episode, it was for the next five. So, with little to go on from that, I turned to Brian’s method… Google!

My very first thought’s regarding the title were of the phrase “Catch – 22” in conversational dialogue. In my experience, catch – 22 essentially means “Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.” From this and the fact that we know this is a Desmond centric episode, I thought maybe Desmond would see one of his flashes and find that he couldn’t stop something from happening.

I haven’t totally given up on that line, but after watching the trailers released later in the week, we see that this round is slightly different. Desmond wants something to happen. The trailer leads us to believe that maybe this involves rescue or more importantly to Desmond, maybe Penny.

The last lead I followed was that I saw a flash of a book cover in the trailer with the title “Ardil – 22”. After a little research, I found that “Ardil - 22” is Portuguese for “Catch – 22”. This is exciting, because at the end of last season, we were introduced to Penny’s research team which was… you guessed it… Portuguese! Will we be seeing them again? Several rumors on the net suggest we’ll be introduced to a “Pivotal new character”. All we know is that it’s a female and a parachutist. Could this be a member of the research team? I guess we’ll find out soon.

The last point I want to make is from the book “Catch – 22”. I haven’t ever read the book. However, I took my responsibility seriously and read a summary and theme analysis on the book. I will tell you what. Brian puts a lot of work into this blog. I have a new respect for that. “Catch – 22” is a novel set during World War II in the summer of 1944. The main characters are all in the same squadron in the U.S. Air Force. While the story seems like a good one, I found only a few items that really screamed “LOST!” at me.

The first of the items that I found very lost like was the time-line of the book. It may have nothing to do with plot, but the story has a very similar pattern of jumping from present to flashbacks to present again to keep you guessing. It uses the device in the same way as Lost to reveal a key component in a character’s past at a moment when it will mean the most in the present.

The second and most important theme I found was toward the end of the book. The book’s main character: Captain John Yossarian is called into a conference with his superior’s. He’s offered a “deal”: He can return home if only he will speak well of the commanding officers and turn his back on the men of the squadron. Yossarian accepts. Can you say “Jack”? However, Yossarian reflects on all his friends who have died or disappeared during the year. He decides to renege on the agreement even though he is thus eligible for court-martial. He instead forms a plan to rescue the kid sister of a squadron buddy who died and flee to Sweden. This is a bit of a stretch on the guess work, but what if The Other’s come back and take baby Aaron. Claire and/or Charlie may die somehow. (This wouldn’t upset most lost fans.) Then, Jack, like Yossarian turn’s on the Others, rescue’s Aaron, and lead’s the survivor’s to safety. Okay, I’m pushing the line a bit, but it’s possible.

Okay, I’ve probably done most of my analysis here rather than in the Episode breakdown, but we’ll step through it anyway.

Episode Description: Desmond coaxes Charlie, Hurley and Jin on a trek across the jungle after experiencing one of his future-prophesizing “flashes” -- but is he purposely placing Charlie’s life in harm’s way? Meanwhile, Kate turns to an unwitting Sawyer after seeing Jack alone with Juliet. Guest starring are Sonia Walger as Penny Widmore, Jack Maxwell as Derek, Joanna Bool as Ruth, Andrew Connolly as Brother Campbell, Andrew Trask as older monk and Marsha Thomason as Naomi the parachutist.

Episode Breakdown: Okay, the big questions for me are as follows:

- What does Desmond see in the future that he wants to happen?” We can make educated guesses. It could be rescue. It could be Penny. Most likely it’s both. If it is rescue, one of several things would have to be true. Either they fail, or the pieces of Desmond’s “puzzle” are going to take some time. We’re in season 3 of a predicted 5 or 6 season show. I don’t believe they are going to be rescued this soon. Also, what other pieces of the puzzle are there? We see Hurley lifting the cable from the sand while looking up. Why is he looking up? Does he hear the helicopter? We may as well assume that it’s going to be infuriating. Desmond says he can’t tell Hurley what he’s trying to achieve or it won’t happen. So I’m sure the producers aren’t going to be telling us either.

- If we assume rescue is still at least a season or 2 away, then who’s in the helicopter that we see in the preview? Also, if there’s a helicopter, why isn’t there a rescue unless they are others or some other party not interested in helping the survivors. Maybe the helicopters belong to the Others and this confirms the rumor that the sub was just a prop to confuse those who come to the island.

- How in the world does Desmond end up looking like a monk? Is he a monk or is he pretending? Other than his romance with Penny and his boat race, we know very little about Desmond. Is the monastery in his life pre – Penny or is this maybe a layover during his boat race?

- Who is Naomi the parachutist? How is she pivotal? We can only assume she’s from the helicopter. Is she from Dharma? From Penny? One new character can only be “pivotal” as the producers claim if she has some knowledge or ability to share. What might she know and who’s side will she be on?

- Last, what is Jack thinking? Yeah, Kate made a mistake, but she is way hotter than Juliet and now he’s gone and made her turn back to Sawyer.

Okay, I think that’s all I’ve got. I’ve probably asked more question’s than made guesses like Brian does. It’s been fun taking a shot at this though. Let me know how I did.

- Drudo