Lost - "What They Died For"

This is it.

Fight back the tears and keep yourself together – but this might be the very last Lost episode preview ever. I’m going to do my best to get a preview for the finale up, but it’s going to be a crazy week – I’m actually out of town Thursday through Sunday afternoon making the world a better place – stupid community service! - so it’s not guaranteed.

Also, part of me is thinking maybe it’s for the best. After all the angst and debate that followed last week’s episode, maybe it’s time for us to stop over-thinking and over-analyzing, sit back, relax, and just enjoy Lost for one last time. There’s going to be plenty of time to debate Lost once it’s over.

But enough about Sunday’s series finale. What about tomorrow night’s episode?

Episode Title: “What They Died For”

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: This is actually a great question. After a one week hiatus that took us back thousands of years in the history of the Island (and alienated a good chunk of the Lost fanbase in the process), one assumes that the “they” in question are Sun, Jin, and Sayid – three major characters that died two episodes ago. What did they die for?

With Sayid, there’s an easy answer. He died to protect the rest of his friends. He sacrificed himself. He got a little bit of redemption after a season of being a soulless killer.

With Jin, there’s a questionable answer. He died to spend his final moments by the side of his true love, Sun. He died so that she wouldn’t have to spend those final moments alone. It’s noble. It’s sweet. But in all honesty, he abandoned his daughter… and didn’t really have to die.

With Sun, there’s no good answer. She died because of SmokeLocke, but she didn’t die for him. Unlike Sayid and Jin, her death wasn’t due to any decision that she made – it was an accident. To say what she died for is like trying to explain why bad things happen to good people. They just do.

Actually, this episode title got me thinking – could this title refer to something bigger than simply the three deaths last week? What about all the characters who have died over the past six seasons – what did they die for? Were they simply pawns in a game between two bickering brothers? Or was it for a greater cause?

It’s easy to see how some of the deaths brought us to where we are today. Without Charlie dying, the Survivors wouldn’t have been able to contact the Freighter, get off the Island, come back to the Island, complete the Loophole, etc. Without Michael sacrificing himself on the Freighter, more of our Survivors (including three of the Final Four Candidates) might have died there. I can see and understand what they died for – the greater good.

But what about some of the other characters? Like all the innocent people that died in Oceanic 815 to get a few select people on the Island? Or characters like Libby and Ana Lucia who died as a result of the Others stealing Walt (the Others, who in theory, were following Jacob)? They were simply fodder in the bigger picture – unfortunate pawns in a game that was more important than their lives. The Island used them and discarded them (Ilana). What did they die for?

Long ago, I said that the only possible justification for all the carnage we’ve seen over the years is if the end game of Lost involves saving the world – I guess either Reality #1 or Reality #2 at this point, or both. For a story as epic as Lost, it really seems like the only ending that is powerful enough to stand up to it and make it all worthwhile. Not proving man is fundamentally good, not showing that people can find redemption, not finding the key to eternal life – it has to be saving the world, or else I chalk it up to “not worth the cost” in my book.

Here’s my best guess at the meaning behind the episode title – at some point this episode, Jack or Desmond is going to figure out what they need to do to stop SmokeLocke and save the world. It might involve some sacrifice, death, or carrying out a crazy-sounding mission. But their justification for soldiering on is that if they don’t do it, all those people over the years died for nothing. But if they are able to accomplish their mission, they’ll save the world – and then all those deaths will not have been in vain.

Guest Stars: Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia, Mira Furlan as Danielle Rousseau, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Tania Raymonde as Alex, Mark Pellegrino as Jacob, Dylan Minnette as David, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Kenton Duty as Teenage Boy, Wendy Pearson as Nurse Kondracki, Ashlee Kyker as Student, Ernesto Lopez as LAPD Cop.

Guest Star Breakdown: Up first, we have two characters making their “curtain call” as so many characters have done this season - Ana Lucia and CFL. It seems logical that they will appear in the Flash Sideways, as so many of the other dead characters have done this season. Although, let’s not forget that Ana Lucia also appeared as a ghost to Hurley at the start of Season Five – so there’s an outside chance she’ll play the role of “spiritual guide” to our Survivors through Hurley, much like Michael earlier this season. Since most of the family relationships in the Flash Sideways have been consistent with Reality #1 (Ben and his Father, Boone and Shannon, Locke and Helen), smart money is on CFL being Alex’s mother. The real question is – will she be crazy? Or will the moniker CFL no longer apply, forcing me to finally learn to spell “Rousseau”, something I have been putting off since the midway point of Season One on this Blog (December 1, 2004! http://lost-and-gone-forever.blogspot.com/2004/12/lost-finally-back.html)?

The other interesting thing is that this episode features both Jacob and Young Jacob (I guess this press release came out before last week’s episode, but I think it’s about time we start referring to Kenton Duty as “Young Jacob” instead of “Teenage Boy”, don’t you think?) Will we see him growing up in Ghost form? Will he appear as Young Jacob to some but adult Jacob to others to help keep his identity secret? Or will this episode feature both the need for Jacob to get into a really small place and purchase alcohol, requiring both identities to accomplish his goals?

Otherwise, the guest stars seem to be progressing the Flash Sideways storyline? David is back, once again teasing us that his mother will finally be revealed. Alex is back along with Nurse Kondracki (the woman who was having an affair with Principal Reynolds), so apparently we’ve got a little more Benjamin Linus story left – even though it seemed pretty well wrapped up the last time we saw him.

Finally, we’ve got Widmore and Zoe – who owe us an explanation of where they were during “The Candidate” while all their friends got slaughtered by SmokeLocke. Hiding like chickens? Or off furthering their goals, using the attack at Hydra Island as the perfect distraction to sneak back to the Main Island when SmokeLocke wasn’t looking?

Episode Description: While Locke devises a new strategy, Jack's group searches for Desmond.

Episode Breakdown: Hmmm – the first part of this description makes it sound like SmokeLocke is doing a little bit of improvising – that this wasn’t part of his “master plan” that he’s been working on all season (killing all the Candidates). If he’s devising a “new” strategy, it means that the old one doesn’t work (blowing them all up in the Submarine). It puts him in a tough spot – because now the remaining Candidates know he’s coming for them… and the only “weapon” he has left to indirectly kill them seems to be Claire – who might be able to take out Kate (for personal reasons), but not the rest of them. I’ve got no idea where SmokeLocke goes from here because there aren’t any other obvious solutions jumping out at me.

The second part of the description is what we’ve all been anticipating ever since Desmond returned – his reunion with Jack, where all sorts of enlightenment about the end game are revealed. Desmond finally explains what he knows and why he’s been so zen-like since Widmore’s electromagnetic test. At this point, everyone is assuming this end game involves Desmond entering the “heart” of the Island that was revealed last week and… doing something. Something that will probably involve Jack, might involve sinking the Island, but will definitely involve saving the world in some fashion.

…and with that, I think it wraps up the episode preview for this week. We’ve been through a lot together over the years – had our share of good times and bad, agreements and disagreements, terrible Blog posts and only semi-terrible ones - but the important thing is that the Blog has provided the entertainment needed to entertain bored people at work, keep lonely housewives with drinking problems sober for a few hours a week, and give overweight comic book reading nerds living in their parents’ basements the closest thing to real friends that they’ll ever have.

And in the end, aren't these things the most important things of all?

Until tomorrow night, and perhaps for the last time ever…

Happy Losting!

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