Lost - "The Last Recruit"

Episode Title: “The Last Recruit”

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: One of the subtle storylines running through this season has been the concept of SmokeLocke “recruiting” people to his side. In fact, if it weren’t for the pop-up video version of the episodes that were aired during the first half of this season, the whole concept might have gone over my head as well. But at the end of “The Substitute”, where Sawyer agreed to go along with SmokeLocke’s plan to get off the Island, it noted that SmokeLocke had claimed his first “recruit”.

Over the course of the season, his numbers have steadily increased, forming the group of people we commonly refer to as “Team SmokeLocke” today. Some are with him voluntarily in hopes of gaining something from the endeavor (Sawyer), some might be “claimed by him” and have no other option (Sayid), some are there out of fear of the alternative (Cindy), and some are skeptics who don’t trust him, but are along for the ride as the best option available (Kate).

All told, here are the “recruits” that SmokeLocke has claimed thus far:

• Sawyer
• Jin
• Sayid
• Claire
• Kate
• Cindy
• Zach
• Emma
• Roughly 15 unnamed Others (who will almost certainly all die before the series finale, right? They’re basically fodder)

So who is the “last recruit”? At the end of “Everybody Loves Hugo”, we saw Hurley, Sun, Frank, and Jack enter SmokeLocke’s camp. Does this make them “recruits”? Or does SmokeLocke still need to talk to them and convince them to “follow him” in some way before they become official recruits? If so, then it seems likely that there will be one holdout for the majority of the episode who finally is “recruited” in the end – the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place before SmokeLocke can take his recruits over to Hydra Island and the next stage of his plan.

(Note: conveniently, this is also where Jin is – who is a “recruit” of SmokeLocke even though he was kidnapped by Widmore. So once there, finally, for the first time, all our characters will be back together – aside from Alpert, Ben, and Miles, who annoyingly went off on their own last week.)

The deeper meaning of the episode title is made a little more difficult this week since we don’t know the centricity of the episode – or if there is one at all. But since logic would tell you that things seems to be building towards a showdown between SmokeLocke and Jack (Jack-ob?), he’ll be the last holdout… the final piece to fall into place for SmokeLocke’s master plan… his last recruit.

Guest Stars: Andrea Gabriel as Noor “Nadia” Abed Jaseem, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Kimberley Joseph as Cindy, Dylan Minnette as David, Teresa Huang as surgeon, Skyler Stone as EMT #1, Todd Coolidge as EMT #2, Yvonne Midkiff as receptionist, Christopher Amitrano as Burditt, Kasim Saul as guard, Steve Boatright as Mike, Mickey Graue as Zack and Kiersten Havelock as Emma.

Guest Star Breakdown: If I had to guess a centricity for this week’s episode, it would be “The Hospital in the Flash Sideways”, as it seems as though that’s where all the action will be headed in that storyline. Last week ended with Locke being run over by Desmond, and we still have the dangling storyline of Sun being shot in the background. I would guess that this week features the continuation of all these storylines at the Hospital, which is why Nadia is a guest star (still tending to her husband there), along with a “surgeon” and a couple of EMTs.

The other guest stars pretty much fill out the ranks of the individuals left on the Island, regardless of what group they are in. On the one hand, we’ve got Zoe and Mike (members of Team Widmore with names). On the other, we’ve got Cindy, Zack, and Emma (members of Team SmokeLocke with names).

The only real intriguing guest star this week is the return of Jack’s Flash Sideways Son, David. Sure, it would make sense that he could be included in an episode that would feature his father working in the hospital – but could this be the episode that finally reveals his mother? Although none of the more popular candidates are listed as guest stars, could this be the week that features the return of Juliet, Ana-Lucia, or Mrs. Phil Dunphy? Or will David simply have a minor role waiting for his dad to get off work to take him to piano practice?

Here’s hoping the Lost writers are intentionally keeping us in the dark about the guest stars this week (and from here on out, for that matter!)

Episode Description: Alliances are forged and broken as the Locke and Jack camps merge.

Episode Breakdown: Not a lot to work with here. The episode description hints at some people flip-flopping as the debate which “side” to join in the big “battle for the Island”. What’s clear is that the two groups are finally together, and there will obviously be some “growing pains” as the two assimilate together. There’s also going to be a lot of distrust, questioning of motives, and debate about the “right decisions” to make. But really, I’m just hoping that this episode signals the end of SmokeLocke’s waiting. He’s finally got everyone he needs (besides Jin), let’s get this party started. Bring the battle to Widmore, start explaining the master plan, and let’s see how it all shakes down.

Wow – surprisingly short and sweet this week. I’m going to guess this is a trend down the stretch, as the show’s creators intentionally lock down (pun!) information to maximize the surprise and enjoyment of the final few episodes.

So I guess with that, it wraps things up for this week.

Happy Losting!

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