"?" Incoherent Ramblings

Well, this episode held true to its title.

Here’s the sheer irony: most of what I predicted ending up being pretty accurate… or so I thought. The location of the Hatch, the information inside exposing the experiments, Libby hanging on to life and then dying – all played out the way I saw it in my mind when I wrote my preview post.

But this was one of those episodes that the more you think about; the more you look at what happened, the more puzzling it becomes. There were things on the surface that seemed very simple, but when you look a little deeper, don’t add up – which is why I took me a little longer than usual to get my recap together. But, after a second viewing (this time with pen and paper to jot stuff down and draw maps – you laugh but it’s true), I’m ready to type away. You’ll see how many portions of the episode seem to contradict each other as I go… I anxiously await your comments to help set me straight.

First off, I thought this was a great episode. The storylines definitely advanced, we had another major character death, and the stage is set for what will surely be the final storylines of the season. Also, it was nice to see the flashbacks feel like they fit in with the story, unlike some other recent ones. So why was this episode so hard to write about? Because it touched on some things that are fundamental to the underlying point and purpose of the entire season (and possibly series). Understanding them is tough (note how much I have to type about each episode, week in and week out). But that’s also what made the episode so great. It was meaty.

So what happened? Here we go… Be prepared for incoherent gibberish ahead!

Visions. This is one part of the episode that really confused me initially. We’ve now had multiple visions from the different Survivors on the Island. Are the visions good? Are the visions bad? What causes the visions in the first place?

Let’s break down the visions that our Survivors have had thus far:

• Jack had visions of his Dad, which led him to the Caves and water, which was needed by the Survivors post-crash. Survey says: Good Vision
• Locke had visions of Bloody Boone and the Beechcraft crashing, which led him to Boone’s death. Survey says: Bad Vision
• Boone had visions of Shannon being eaten by the monster, which turned out to be pretty inconsequential. Survey says: Neutral Vision.
• Claire had visions of Locke telling her “You gave your baby away. Everybody pays now” and a Bloody Crib, which led her to be somewhat paranoid about her baby. Survey says: Neutral Vision.
• Shannon had visions of Walt, who may have been trying to warn her about the Hatch and the Button, but ended up getting her killed. Survey says: Bad Vision.
• Sayid seemed to have the same vision of Walt, but didn’t really take any action on it. Survey says: Neutral Vision.
• Charlie had the creepy religious vision telling him to protect Aaron, which led to him freaking out and getting outcast from the other Survivors and ruining his chances of hooking up with Claire. Survey says: Bad Vision.
• Hurley had visions of Dave from the Mental Institution, who tried to get Hurley to jump off a cliff and kill himself. Survey says: Bad Vision.
• Eko had visions telling him to get Locke to find the ? from Dead Ana-Lucia and Yemi, which led to Eko finding the ? Hatch, which gives him faith in pushing the button. Survey says: ?
• Locke has visions of Eko falling when he climbed vines, which led to him to the ? Hatch, where he learned the 108 Numbers were the part of one big experiment. Survey says: ?

If you look at that track record, it would seem that more visions have led to bad things than to good things – but look more closely.

It’s not fair to classify the visions as being good or bad based solely upon the outcome because there is still the human action involved, the free will to act upon these visions one way or the other. In the case of things like Locke seeing the Bloody Boone, he could have seen that as a warning that bad things were to come, but instead chalked them up to the Island demanding Boone’s sacrifice. Walt could have been trying to help Shannon and warn her about danger, even though his appearance unintentionally led to her getting shot. Hurley’s vision of Dave isn’t really attributable to the Island since he was having them prior to coming to the Island. Once you start looking at the visions from a purely objective point of view, they don’t seem so sinister anymore – even though they sometimes show disturbing visions.

So if this is the case, the visions in this episode would seemingly be a good thing. It’s a good thing that Locke and Eko found the ? Hatch. It’s a good thing that Eko is going to continue pushing the button, as Yemi told him in the vision. But if it’s all an experiment, as the Second Orientation Video claims, why?

More on that in a bit.

But what is causing all these visions? A good theory (that a lot of you have brought up) is that they are somehow tied to Smokey, who seems to be able to “read” the people he encounters on the Island (and then pass judgment on if they live or die).

The problem is, Smokey hasn’t come face to face with anyone else on the Island besides Eko and Locke (and the Pilot), so it doesn’t quite work.

Another good theory is that the kidnapped kids (like Walt) are being plugged into some machine that taps into their innate psychic ability, and the visions are all an attempt to lead the Survivors to where they are being kept, in an attempt to free them.

The problem is, although we’ve seen Walt having powers – these visions were happening long before he was kidnapped, and I find it hard to believe that every child (the Tail children, Alex, etc.) all have the power to do this.

A variation of that theory is tied to the Dharma Accelerated Remote Viewing Training Experiments, where it’s regular people who are “trained” to use these powers. That could explain how these visions were happening almost as soon as Flight 815 crashed.

The problem is, the very definition of “Remote Viewing” sounds like it’s about seeing things going on somewhere else or predicting it, rather than drawing out memories from people and projecting them upon them.

What about the easy answer? The visions are simply coming from the tortured souls of our Survivors. We’ve gone over time and time again how everyone on the Island has a very checkered past with a lot of demons and baggage – it’s only natural that one’s subconscious would continue to bring up these images until the person comes to terms with them and gains release.

The problem is, our people are sometimes seeing images of things that are in no way from their past (Locke seeing the Beechcraft and Yemi, Eko seeing the ?). As much as I hate to buy into the “collective subconscious” theory that Entertainment Weekly posed (way too “sci-fi”), it would go a long way to explaining these visions.

So you see my dilemma. I can think of all sorts of possible explanations for the visions, but none seem to fit quite right. I almost begin to wonder it the visions are just a technique the writers are using to advance storylines in a “mystical” sort of way, as if the Island itself is causing them.

Let’s move on for now.

Numbers. Regardless of what is causing the visions, the end product of them this episode is that Locke has given up on entering the 108 Numbers in the Hatch and Eko is now convinced they need to continue to enter them. So our question mark becomes, is this a good thing or a bad thing? It all goes back to the fundamental question of “What would happen if you didn’t enter the Numbers?”

Forget everything we learned this episode and think back to “Lockdown”. Locke is trapped under the Blast Doors and the 108 Timer is about to go off. HGI goes through the air duct and the timer resets. He tells Locke that he did nothing. There are only two choices here:

1. HGI is telling the truth. He did nothing.
2. HGI is lying. He entered the Numbers.

The problem is, if not entering the Numbers caused something catastrophic to happen (“the incident”), why would HGI lie to Locke about it, seeing as telling Locke this would cause him to stop entering them? If HGI’s purpose is to make another incident occur, he could have done it by not entering the Numbers during “Lockdown”. If HGI’s purpose was to get the Survivors to continue entering the Numbers, why would he tell the biggest believer of entering them (Locke) that entering them does nothing? Doesn’t make sense.

The only logical explanation is that entering the Numbers does nothing – it’s all part of the experiment. Not entering them causes no “incident”, and they just reset. But if this is the case, then the vision that Eko’s vision of Yemi is trying to mislead him… but not hurt him (remember, he specifically said “bring your axe”, without which Eko would have fallen while climbing the vines)… unless…

Visions (Revisited). Wait a minute – this means the visions must be caused by Dharma – someway, somehow. The purpose is still a little fuzzy, so maybe Dharma doesn’t quite have full control over whatever is going on (which would make sense given everything we seemingly know about them and their experiments in the Lost Experience). They’re not only giving the Survivors glimpses into the future (perhaps this is an unfortunate side effect they can’t control), but they’re also keeping them in line with the experiments that wish to carry out (pushing the button). Now the only question is… how? No explanation for this yet, per the reasons we went through above.

Anyone have any fresh suggestions?

Pearl. Here’s the other big question mark of the episode for me. According to the map on the Blast Door, there are SIX Hatches surrounding the big question mark is the mysterious middle of them all. Locke’s sketch seems to confirm the same. The question mark is not one of them.

Thus, it makes sense that there would be SIX Orientation videos, one for each Hatch, explaining the experiment that needs to be carried on inside. The Swan Orientation Video was labeled “Station 3 of 6”. The Pearl Orientation video was labeled “Station 5 of 6”. Excuse me? Back up.

If there is an Orientation Video, you are inside one of the Hatches, one of the places that experiments take place. Need proof? How about the fact that there is a camera inside the Pearl, to watch the people who are allegedly watching everyone else. It’s all part of another experiment.

Locke and Eko are not inside the ?. They’re inside “C4” on the Blast Door Map.



Remember that Eko was following a map that was basically scribbled out based on what Locke saw for under ten seconds. He mentioned that they crossed a wavy line. Check. Note the words “The Pearl” written just to the right of C4 on the map. This stays true to the style of the Map, where “The Swan”, “The Flame”, and “The Staff” are all written just outside the octagon where they are located in the exact same fashion. Think about the fact that when you’re done, you move to a ferry to take you back to the Barracks (more on that later). Wouldn’t that mean you would need to be near the beach, not in the middle of the Island? Seems more like C4 than the ?, doesn’t it?

When you think about it, tricking Eko and Locke to think they found the ? instead of just another Hatch was as simple as clearing a small circle of plant life and throwing down some salty dirt.

But why trick them? It makes Locke think he has found the key to it all, and give up his search for the real ?.

But how did they know Locke was looking for it in the first place? Given the cameras inside the Pearl, they’ve been watching (and hearing?) everything going on inside the Swan. I’m assuming the Rebel Dharmites are smart enough to have drawn their map on the back of the Blast Door (away from the camera), but I’m also willing to bet that some camera picked up a shot of Locke drawing his little map with a big ? in the middle. The cigarette but shown on the table inside the Pearl suggests that someone has been there recently – even though it looks like the place has been abandoned for years… just like the Staff Hatch and the beard – interesting…

(I’m so tempted to go back to the theory that there is some weird time-warp stuff going on, but I won’t rehash it again here. More important stuff to get to…)

So what’s the experiment?

Remember the Orientation Video told them to record everything that they saw. Remember that the Video says Karen Degroot said “Careful observation is the key to awareness”. Remember that camera sitting behind the two chairs that is observing them all along.

The experiment seems to be a test to see how close one can pay attention to what is going on. The Video mentions “8 hour shifts”. EIGHT hours, as opposed to the months that subjects spend in the Swan Hatch? Seems strange. I’m thinking the Pearl Hatch is used as a testing ground - a place to see how “worthy” the experiment subjects are, how well they do what Karen Degroot thought was such an important trait – carefully observing.

Perhaps a “passing grade” elevates you higher through the Hanso Organization (again, I’m picturing crazy Scientology levels), whereas a “failing grade” dooms you to mediocre Dharma tasks… like restocking the Swan Hatch. A system like this would go a long way in explaining the development of Rebel Dharmites… those who could never advance and got frustrated with the entire Dharma organization.

But here’s the other thing – in the video, the viewer is told to carefully monitor the STATION. Singular. Not “stations”, just “station”. We see that they are clearly monitoring the Swan Hatch:

Is that the only one?

If you think about it, we’ve seen the inside of The Staff (which seemed to be purely a medical facility with no discernable experiments going on inside) and the Tailers initially set up shop inside The Arrow (pretty desolate in there too). Is it possible that the only remaining experiment on the Island is inside the Swan Hatch? We’re getting closer…

Orientation Videos. The Swan Video was on an old film reel, while the Pearl Video was on a VHS tape. What’s up with that?

One could surmise that the Pearl Video is newer than the Swan Video – but both feature the same copyright date of 1980. The only reason I can think of presenting the videos in two different formats is to give the impression that the Swan Video is older than it really is. When you think about it, this ties in nicely with the hieroglyphics that displayed on the 108 Timer upon expiration – it all gives the allusion that this “activity” is an ancient one, one that has been going on for a very, very long time – one that is important enough to keep doing in the future.

But wait, there’s more. The Swan Orientation Video featured “Dr. Marvin Candle”. The Pearl Orientation Video featured a very similar looking “Dr. Mark Wickman.” The cute naming similarities (Mark and Marvin, Candle and Wick…man) hint that they’re similar, but not quite the same.

I immediately thought of the Season One Finale. Post-episode interviews revealed that the two men cloaked by darkness on the boat with Zeke were identical twins – a fact that the cast was surprised wasn’t shown in the televised finale, since it was supposed to have some meaning behind it.

Sounds like we’re venturing down the path of some cloning-type experiments going on in the Hanso Foundation as well…

One last thing – Wickman says “the test subjects believe what they are doing is of the utmost importance.” Note the word BELIEVE. If pushing button actually was important, I think he simply would have said “the test subjects are doing something of the utmost importance”, don’t you?

Printout. Back to the Pearl. Remember the “log” that Locke printed out (and Eko kept)? I’m sure we were all expecting to see our favorite numbers there – but instead were treated to these:

What gives? These aren’t displays of what was entered on the computer in the Swan Hatch, but rather when it was entered. By the looks of things, each entry is an increment of one hour and eight minutes. The weird thing is, if you do the math – 401,602,122 hours (as shown on the printout) is roughly 5,000 years. While having the experiment going on for 5,000 years would help explain the Hieroglyphics inside, it doesn’t quite mesh with the whole “computer needed to enter the numbers” or “mechanical countdown clock.”

Very odd. Again trying to give the impression this experiment has been going for centuries?

The other big question is – will Eko be able to read through the log and see failed entries occurring in the past? Or will they be able to determine if HGI entered the Numbers or not? Figuring out the timeline will be the key.

Psychic. More question marks here. The psychic in Eko’s flashback is the same psychic from Claire’s flashback, that warned her she must raise her baby. Since that was over a season and a half ago, let’s refresh our memories…

Claire and her friend go to see a psychic, thinking it will be fun. The psychic seems legitimate when he asks Claire about her pregnancy, which no one else knows about. However, he refuses to go on with the reading when he sees something blurry in her future. With a look of panic on his face, he asks Claire to leave.

Claire re-visits the psychic, offering him more money and requesting that he continue her reading – and that she’s going to give her baby up for adoption. But the psychic tells her that it's crucial she raise this child herself, warning her that great danger will befall her if she gives it up. Claire runs out. But the psychic is persistent and calls her on the phone. He offers her money and a plane ticket to Los Angeles to meet a couple with whom the baby will be safe.

You know the rest.

Compare that with the speech the psychic gave in this week’s episode, telling Eko “I’m a fraud, I gather intelligence and exploit miracle seekers. But there are no such things as miracles… at least not in this world.”

His actions with Claire seem to contradict this 100%. For one, if you’re exploiting people, wouldn’t you want to take their money? He refuses Claire’s, even when she offers more. If you’re just tricking people, would you frantically call them at night, begging them to listen to you as you give them money and a plane ticket? No.

So why did he tell this to Eko? Simple – to get Eko to drop his investigation. Painting himself as an anti-believer paints his wife’s actions to try and prove a religious miracle seem more of a personal marital squabble than a true religious matter.

His daughter clearly recognized Eko as soon as he approached, from her “Vision” with Yemi when she was “between places”, and was about to talk to him before The Psychic came out and rushed her into the house. Remember, her talk with Eko at the airport was being done “without her father knowing she was there.”

Were his intentions to get Eko on Flight 815? Or was that just an unfortunate coincidence? Either way, it’s clear The Psychic didn’t want his daughter to give her message to Eko… but why?

It’s very easy to assume The Psychic is a Dharma / Hanso Employee working off the Island, and his job is to specifically orchestrate getting certain individuals onto that Island – but very hard to logically come up with explanations of how or why.

Michael. I found it interesting that Michael seemed to express both sorrow for what he did and worry that he would get found out when he learned Libby was still alive. They’re definitely painting his character as a tortured one, who had to make some tough decisions – rather than a mindless robot sent on a mission from Dharma. I’m leaning towards Michael agreeing to a “free HGI and kill Ana-Lucia (since she killed two of us) and we’ll give you Walt” arrangement now much more than any sort of brainwashing / drugging of Michael. I think the shooting of Libby was an unfortunate consequence that he honestly feels sorry for.

Locke. Locke’s faith-scale ran the gamut the past few episodes. He went from a man who fully believed his greater purpose was entering the Numbers (and believing he was saving humanity by doing so) to thinking he had no purpose (when HGI told him entering the Numbers did nothing) to finding new purpose (the ? – note how he insisted that he get to enter the alleged ? Hatch first – as if he was “chosen” to find it), to realizing it was all a sham (not wanting to watch the Pearl Video again vs. saying “We’re going to need to watch that again” after the Swan Video).

He’s back to rock bottom now, as evidenced by his speech that his whole life he’s been a nobody. This makes his character extremely dangerous, in that he’s due to do something stupid and irrational (like preventing the much bigger and stronger Eko from entering the Numbers, for example?).

Eko. Eko’s rationale for continuing to enter the Numbers doesn’t make much sense, until you look back at his history. He was a drug-lord who repented for his ways, and took up his brother’s path in life of becoming a priest. However, he remained a skeptic when it came to faith – the very reason he was assigned to the “Miracle Resurrection” case. If Eko believed the case, anyone would. After meeting with The Psychic, Eko was convinced it was a hoax, and remained his skeptic self. Then he had the encounter with the Semi-Creepy Looking Girl:

The fact that she knew about Yemi, and told Eko he would see him soon (which he did, even though Yemi was dead) clearly gave Eko his faith back. He went from being a skeptic to being someone who blindly follows the visions he sees in his dreams.

So why continue to push the button? Well, I think it touches on his religious side. He says “It is work. We are being tested. You shouldn’t do it because you are told to do it, but because you believe in it.” Eko sees this as a test from God. God gave him his brother back on the other side of the world after two plane crashes (a miracle?), and in return, he is going to do his penance by pushing the button.

This is why Eko was building the church. Not because he felt the Island needed a place to get married and score some free wine, but because it was work that he could do as a way to pay back the Island (and God) for giving him his brother. Well, look for that building of the church to stop – Eko has new work to do.

"I believe the work being done in the hatch is more important than anything," he told Locke. "If you will not continue to push the button, I will."

His life on the Island now has meaning and purpose, even if it is just as a pawn in a 5,000 year old experiment…

Ending. I think the last thirty seconds of the episode were quite symbolic of what’s coming up in the next two episodes. The two major storylines, beautifully shot and edited together.

Michael, standing alone in the Hatch with the beeping of the 108 Timer going on.

Both will be resolved in the next two weeks.

Lost - "?"

Episode Title: ?

Brian's Deeper Meaning Guess: Originally this episode was to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, the trippy guy who made the film “π” (Pi) back in 1998. That film was about a mathematical prodigy who believed everything in nature could be understood through numbers. He thinks he has found the key to understanding the universe, but begins to have paranoid hallucinations the closer he gets.

Sound familiar? We’ve got mysterious numbers that seem to be everywhere (4-8-15-16-23-42). We’ve got an organization named “Dharma” which literally means “the sum of everything”. We’ve got characters having hallucinations all over the Island. Pretty much like “Lost: The Movie”, right?

Unfortunately, Darren dropped out of the episode since his pregnant wife (Oscar Winner Rachel Weiss) was about to have their baby. Lame excuse, I know.

So what does any of this have to do with the deeper meaning? Well, it’s clear the episode was titled “?” in honor of Darren’s film titled “π”, so that’s one side of it – a single character title.

But when you think about it, doesn’t “?” pretty much sum up this whole show so far? Think about how many questions we’ve had – from the smallest details (where is Claire getting all this eye makeup?!) to the largest fundamental questions about the purpose and direction of the show (why did the plane crash?) – each week the list seems to grow and grow.

Ever since we learned of this episode title, I (along with most of the Lost-watching community) assumed it was going to be about the “?” displayed at the center of the Blast Door Locke saw, and this still looks to be the case – with the previews showing Locke and Eko setting out on a journey to find this mystery center of the map.

Back when Darren was going to direct the episode, the rumor was this was going to be an “Island Flashback” episode – which sounded like the coolest thing ever (and hopefully Darren will come back in Season 3 to direct just such an episode), but now it’s looking like an Eko flashback episode. But even if that aspect of the episode changed, wouldn’t the fundamental purpose of the episode have to remain the same in order to have the season-long arc make sense?

That’s what I’m thinking.

Since an Island Flashback would theoretically give a lot of answers about the nature and origin of the Island, I think this episode would have to do something similar.

So here’s my thought – in a big dose of irony, the “?” is finally a place where some answers are revealed.

If I’m interpreting the Blast Door map correctly, the “?” Hatch is at the center of it all, and it’s what all the other Hatches have been trying to get to (seemingly unsuccessfully). There must be something good there! But what? Here are my top 3 guesses:

1. Documents explaining the experiments going on at each Hatch and what the purpose of each is. This would explain why the experiment subjects in each Hatch would want to get there, and why it would be so important for Dharma to keep them out of there – since it would in effect “ruin” the experiment.
2. Files full of information about all the individuals on the Island. (Remember? This was my prediction for what the Swan Hatch would hold at the end of Season 1). This would finally prove that they were all brought there for a purpose – that it wasn’t just chance, and would go a long way in explaining the connectivity in all the character flashbacks without fully explaining it.
3. Desmond… and with Desmond come answers. You have to assume there is a wealth of information inside Desmond that he hasn’t shared yet, if he’s spent so much time on the Island. Even if he truly has no idea about the master plan and is just a pawn in the Dharma Skinner Box experiment, he would be able to tell them how the Supply Drops worked in the past, if he’s ever seen the Blast Door Map, and if he was one of the ones attempting to get to the “?”

The only thing I’m worried about is that in algebraic chess notation, "?" denotes a bad move (don’t worry, I’m not the world’s biggest nerd – I just learned this today too. Also, it will be the only time in the history of mankind someone will ever write the phrase "I'm worried about the algebraic chess notation"). The previews showed Eko seemingly falling to his doom. Would the producers be so crazy to kill off three Tailers in two consecutive weeks? This is, after all, a “second flashback” for Eko – the kiss of death for Shannon and Ana-Lucia!

Nah – there was big talk earlier this year about how excited the producers were for Locke and Eko to finally meet due to the journey that lied ahead for the two of them. Although they’re going on a literal journey this episode, their symbolic faith journey seems to just be beginning.

My guess? This is a Locke vision of Eko dying – but unlike his earlier visions of dead Boone, he takes action to prevent it this time.

Let’s just hope this episode doesn’t leave us with a big “?” over our heads, a la cartoon characters. I want answers!

TV.com Description: Mr. Eko seeks Locke's help in finding a secret location he believes holds the key to the island's mysteries; Jack and the other survivors grapple with the horrific situation in the hatch.

TV.com Breakdown: Let’s tackle the easier part of the description first – Jack and Co. dealing with the situation in the Hatch.

I think we’re all in agreement that Ana-Lucia is gone, going, gone (Jack Johnson style). That’s pretty horrific in and of itself, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that Libby is also dead. I also think we’re all in agreement that even if Libby is somehow alive – she won’t be alive for long.

My problem is that if the writers go this route, it’s just like the Boone situation from last year – a character fatally injured at the hand of another Survivor, who will rat them out just before they slip away. But this would allow Michael to set his trap for the Survivors (forcing the confrontation with the Others) without allowing it to come to fruition (by Libby talking at the last minute) – which would potentially save all our Survivors from being captured.

The problem with having Libby be dead, as I mentioned last week, leaves her backstory a mystery – which seems pretty uncharacteristic for the writers who have thus far done everything with a purpose (again, unless she appears in another character’s flashbacks a la Jack’s Dad – who we surprisingly know a ton about even though he’s never had a flashback of his own).

Official Prediction: The Horrific Situation is the following:

- Dead Ana-Lucia
- Barely alive (not able to speak) Libby
- Shot Michael
- Gone HGI

That sounds horrific enough to me, don’t you think?

How will they deal with it? Jack will treat Michael and try to treat Libby (unsuccessfully). Ana-Lucia will be buried. They’ll toy around with the notion of searching for HGI, but give up to regroup a full on attack of the Others per Michael’s recommendation. It should make for good, emotional, sweeps-worthy TV.

But that won’t even be the good part of the episode. Back to the first sentence:

Locke seems to have found his new raison d’etre on the Island. It’s not entering in the Numbers, it’s finding the “?”, which he thinks holds the key to all his questions about the Island. How he inferred this from the brief look he got at the Blast Door Map? I’m not sure - but John Locke is all about taking leaps of faith and wanting to believe in the greater purpose of things, so it makes sense.

Enter Mr. Eko. He’s truly the one on the Island with the most faith in a traditional sense, so he provides a perfect foil to Locke. Both seem to think that there is something bigger happening (remember Eko’s “Do not confuse coincidence with fate” line when they first met?), but Locke is approaching it from a more “I want to be important” point of view, whereas Eko is approaching it as more of a skeptic / rational point of view.

Eko is going on this journey to try and provide hope to a group of people whose lives have been shaken by the Hatch tragedy. Locke is going to try and find purpose for his life. But where are they going? Back to the one place on the Island that the two have in common – the Beechcraft Plane.

That’s right, the “?” is buried beneath the Beechcraft Plane. Check the picture from this week’s preview:

Think about all the crazy happenings that have gone on in this area. First, Locke finds the Plane based on a crazy vision (sent telepathically from some experiment subject, as a cry for help?) He then loses his ability to walk (because he’s too far away from the magnetic mojo of the Swan Hatch?). Boone makes first contact with the Tailers, then dies due to Locke keeping the place secret (another sign of Locke’s betrayal – see my Locke Manifesto). The fact that the Plane is the same one from Eko’s past, containing his dead brother (no idea here).

The real question is, is the “?” here because of all the wacky stuff that has happened there, or has all the wacky stuff happened there because the “?” is there?

(Put another way, is the “?” Hatch kicking off crazy vibes that makes all this stuff happen there? Or did they put the “?” Hatch in that location because there were crazy vibes there it could use for experiments?)

The Lost Experience So Far:

Okay, for those of you who have lives out there and didn’t spend countless hours hunting for clues and deciphering parts of The Lost Experience here are your Cliff Notes:

Persephone is our protagonist, our link to the inside, seemingly a Rebel Dharmite who’s trying to take the place down from the inside. She’s clearly some sort of computer hack who gets information out to us through The Hanso Foundation website when she can.

Recently the game has started to question what happened to Alvar Hanso? Check it out:

I see two potential options:

1. Hostile takeover (literally) – where Hanso was murdered by his fellow Board of Directors because he was standing in the way of something.
2. On the Island – he’s been gone for a few years, and people are beginning to question where he is. Wouldn’t it be great if he was living the life on the Island all along?

In the meantime, it looks as though Dr. Thomas Vernon Mittelwerk (SVP, COO, CTO) is in charge – but will be unreachable for three weeks. That puts his return the night of the Lost Season Finale here in America. Coincidence?

Before that, Hugh MacIntyre (VP, Director) will be returning in two weeks (which is next Wednesday). Look for more information available at that time.

Lastly, there is hot-head Peter Thompson (Legal) who is taking action against Persephone on the website for her hacking, covering up employee reports of misconduct, and even attacking fictional writers! Check out the newest piece of the Alternate Reality Game. This ad ran in newspapers nationwide this week:

(Man, I really need to get reading "Bad Twin"!)

So what does it all mean? The Hanso Foundation was clearly doing some questionable experiments and some employees took moral or ethical exception to them. However, once they reported them to the appropriate authorities, they seem to retract their statements soon after and then disappear. I’m thinking the disappearance of Alvar Hanso is a similar situation.

Viewer Mailbag. I’ve been pretty bad at getting back to you guys in the Comments section (I’m such a bad host), so I figure I’ll take some time and answer some of the more pressing questions from my discussion of “Two For The Road”.

Maria Said: in the preview it looked like micheal was in the armory thing. is that just abc being misleading or did they figure out micheal did it and lock him in there?

My bet? As an Engineer, he’s in there trying to “figure out how HGI could have escaped”. Note that he isn’t chained down at all, as HGI was. Also note that HGI is not there, confirming that he indeed escaped.

Bridget Said: Also, "tom" was kate's childhood sweetheart and "sarah" was jack's ex wife. i guess they are pretty common names, but what do you think?

Good catch! Since Ana-Lucia had no previous knowledge about Jack’s “Sarah” and Jack’s Dad had no knowledge about Kate’s “Tom”, I’d chalk this up to lazy writers who couldn’t think of new names – or something else they threw in, attempting to make us over-analyze :)

Anonymous Said: what about Jack being unwraveled at the airport ticket counter? Any signifance to that given Jack's typically cool persona?

Dude, his dad just died – cut him some slack.

Cirrus Said: Hey, great entry! This is the Brian we remember! =)

Wait, is that your way of saying I’ve sucked lately? Like that time last year people started telling me how skinny I looked and I was like "Whoa whoa whoa - when was I fat?!"

Ben Said: My memory's a little shakey, but wasn't Eko also a "good one?" I mean, they tried to kidnap him. Did they try to kidnap Ana Lucia? I can't remember, but if not, then maybe "Henry Gale" did not fear attacking her because for whatever reason, she is not valuable to the Others.

Eko indeed was a “good one”. He took out the two “Others” who tried to take him away with a rock, killing them both. Perhaps this switched him over to the “not so good” side… They did not try to kidnap Ana-Lucia, she was awoken by the commotion of them going after other Tailers.

Ethan Said: Who is a "good person", I think we may be going down the wrong path by thinking of this in moralistic terms. Perhaps the "good ones" speak the binary language of moisture vaporators? I can see why the others would desire that skill, as well as speaking Bocce. I forget, did anyone speak Bocce before they were abducted?


Um – come again? Moisture Vaporators? Bocce? Does this mean anything to anyone out there? Am I missing some sort of hip slang that’s popular with the kids these days?

Sinking Deeper Said: Could Libby have something wrapped up in the blanket...through my shock during the episode, I don't remember?

Entirely possible. She told Hurley she was going to get the blankets (and he should go get the wine), but you never know what else she could have grabbed. But I’m sticking with my original thoughts. Shot, and dying (if not dead).

Cas Said: It's been a while and my memory is patchy... I only remember there being one "other" that Anna Lucia killed (Goodwin, right?). Who was the other one?

Remember “Nathan”? He was the one who seemed to be the Other initially, so Ana-Lucia dug a hole and threw him inside (the same hole Michael, Jin, and Sawyer ended up in) Goodwin helped him escape in the middle of the night only to kill him. If they were both on the same side, Nathan must have said too much or did something wrong.

Trixie Said: Also... I think I might have a crush on the Nerd God who is Brian... :)

Um – who’s a Nerd God? I’m cool in real life, I just pretend to be a nerd on the Blog so that people think I’m smarter than I really am. Sorry to break your heart Trixie, but I'm going to break Boy Band Rule #1 and confess that I have a smoking hot girlfriend who is much better than I deserve.

Lost in Chicago 2 Said: How do you know so much? is it possible you have an acquaintance with someone at ABC?

I guess I attribute my knowledge to watching a lot of TV as a kid. No connections at ABC (or any other network for that matter) – although now that I found out I have a reader who actually works on Lost, I’m one step closer.

Anonymous Said: Libby and Hurly were patients at a mental hospital. Is it possible that the hospital belonged to the Hanso Foundation?

Entirely possible – especially when you think that they had the only two people who knew the Numbers locked up in there (Lenny and Hurley). Perhaps it was their way of “containing” the sickness that the Numbers bring.

Amy Said: And, hey, where has that Puffy Black Cloud been these days anyway?

Amen to that. Just like it seemingly disappeared for most of the first season, the Smoke Monster has gone AWOL since Eko’s encounter with it earlier this year. If you remember last year, Smokey came back during the Season Finale – maybe we’ll be as lucky this year (or, how about this week, it’s another Eko episode, after all…)

Great1 Said: Eko was a drug dealer, and a thug. Definitely not a "good" guy. The smoke monster really i think is protecting something. One thing, if the others have this thing protecting them, how do they control the smoke monster?

Eko might have a sketchy past, but he’s clearly turned his life around. Without getting too philosophical or religious on you, I think there’s a good chance he redeemed himself prior to his encounter with Smokey. As for controlling him, perhaps that’s part of the point – they created this Monster, and now cannot control it (a little Frankenstein-esque). That might be why the Island (and their experiments) seem to be in shambles…




That’s all for this week! I’ve got to say, last week’s Lost was one I wasn’t really that pumped for – but ended up being one of the top two episodes of the year so far. On the other hand, I’ve had this episode circled on my calendar (not literally) for the past three weeks. I’m expecting big things – here’s hoping I don’t get let down!

Season Finale Time!

It's the most bittersweet time of the TV Year - season finale time.

In a way, it's very exciting. Networks pull out all the stops, give us things we've been hoping for all year, weddings, births, deaths, and cliffhangers that keep us on the edge of our seats.

In another way, it's sad. It's saying goodbye to our favorite shows for three or four long months (even longer for shows like 24) - or perhaps even forever (Alias).

At any rate, it's worth talking about. Although it will infuriate out those "I only watch and talk about Lost" readers out there (again, this is the "… and Gone Forever" portion of the Blog!), here is a breakdown of the 10 Season Finales I'll Be Watching, along with my predictions of each (ranked from least anticipated to most anticipated):

10. My Name is Earl: Thursday, May 11th.

TV.com Says: On the suggestion of Darnell, Earl decides to cross off number one from his list, "stole $10 from a guy at the Camden Market." But Earl soon discovers he owes the guy more than $10, and in fact he owes him all of his lotto winnings. Now penniless and desperately trying to continue with his list, Earl wonders when his karma is going kick in and turn his misfortunes around for the better.

Brian Says: I find it very hard to believe that the show would pretty much ditch its entire premise in its first season finale. While it would be intriguing to see how Earl would be able to continue with his list without the benefit of his lottery winnings (and give the viewer the positive message of “You don’t have to be rich to right your wrongs – everyone can do it!”), I’d anticipate by the end of the episode, karma steps up and somehow gets Earl has all the money he needs to continue on with his list.

9. Survivor: Sunday, May 14th

TV.com Says: Another thrilling season of Survivor draws to a close tonight with a spectacular three-hour finale. First, see the final episode, in which the remaining contestants visit Tribal Council for the very last time. Then, the winner of season 12 will be announced in a live-reveal broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. Finally, Jeff Probst will host a live reunion show in which the 16 castaways will meet for the first time since their Panama experience.

Brian Says: What the hell am I doing watching Survivor? Blame my roommate Currin. I was a die-hard fan back in the day (as evidenced by the framed and autographed picture of Elisabeth Filarski - now Hasselback - hanging in the Delta House (I swear that sounds much creepier than it really is)), but by the third season it was getting fairly predictable and I was getting bored by the whole "reality show" mania that was sweeping TV. (That, and it aired on Thursday nights, which was a prime drinking (Mom, read: “studying”) night in college.)

However, now that I've seen a good chunk of this season, I'm drawn in… mainly because of this guy, who is probably the most dominant Survivor player ever:



His head has been on the chopping block for the past six weeks, yet he just keeps winning the challenges and dominating everyone else on the Island.

Every Survivor I can remember seems to end with the person I'm rooting for losing. Here's hoping this will be the first to end that streak.

8. Amazing Race: Wednesday, May 17th

TV.com Says: And then there were three. The final three teams race to the finish line during a special two-hour finale.

Brian Says: Yeah, at this point I look like a mindless reality TV junkie - but I promise this is the last one on the list. (Although I do like me some Laguna Beach – but it’s not on right now). As I said before, I can't believe I'm watching Survivor - but I'll gladly fess up to liking the Amazing Race. You get to see exotic places and activities from around the world and watch the interactions of people with already established relationships (as opposed to the complete strangers thrown together motif of 99% of reality shows).

As with most reality shows, the real key is having interesting characters. I’m watching because of these crazy hippies:



They perform pretty well even though, in true hippie fashion, they seem laid back and more interested in being friendly to everyone than scheming to win the thing. But they are mighty entertaining to watch.

Since it truly ends up being a "race" at the end of many episodes, there really is the sensation of excitement and nervousness at the end of each week. The finale should be more of the same.


7. The Office: Thursday, May 11th

TV.com Says: In the season finale, Michael and the Dunder Mifflin crew hold a Casino Night for charity in their warehouse and take some big gambles.

Brian Says: We've been teased with the Jim and Pam relationship for the past two seasons, and it looks like it will finally come to a head in this finale. I mean, it has to, right? Pam’s scheduled to get married over the summer, Jim’s toying with the notion of moving offices (neither one is going to happen, if you ask me). I’m guessing the “big gambles” referenced aren’t referring to the poker table – but to relationships, as in Jim finally telling Pam how he feels and seeing what happens.


6. Scrubs: Tuesday, May 16th

TV.com Says: J.D. challenges a urologist's assessment on a consult for a patient who might need a risky surgical procedure, feeling that she's playing it safe professionally and personally, since he also starts to fall for her. Along the same lines, Elliot considers breaking up with her boyfriend/intern Keith for being too weak, especially when he's being picked on by Dr. Cox. Smitten, J.D. tries to plan a perfect date with Dr. Kim Briggs on their night off, but Elliot gets in the way. Meanwhile, Dr. Cox and Jordan celebrate a milestone in their young son's life. Later, baby fever sweeps the hospital as the staff tries to pick a name for Turk and Carla's expected baby, but no one could guess who at Sacred Heart has to sweat out a pregnancy next.

Brian Says: I've professed my love for Scrubs before - but I'll do it again. Hilarious. Quirky. Touching. Tearjerking. Throw out any adjective, and it seemingly can be used to describe this show (except for maybe "gelatinous"… no wait, there was that Jell-O Cup episode…). I have probably learned more life lessons from Scrubs than I did from all my teachers in life combined. If you don’t watch this show, I can’t be friends with you – it’s as simple as that.

After the past few weeks (featuring the single saddest TV show I’ve ever seen), it seems like things are finally back to normal with Dr. Cox back to his jerk-face self, and Scrubs heading down the traditional season finale route of “somebody’s pregnant”. I guess the only logical guess for this is Elliot, right? Breaking up with Keith only to find out she’s pregnant might be interesting – but so would a second baby for Dr. Cox and Jordan.

Scrubs hasn’t “officially” been renewed for next year at time of writing, but rumors are it will be back for one more year!



5. Grey's Anatomy: Monday, May 15th

TV.com Says: Izzie and George attend to Denny as the pressure increases to find him a new heart, Cristina suddenly finds herself in charge of an ER room, and Derek grapples with the realization that the life of a friend is in his hands. Richard goes into interrogation mode about a patient's condition, Callie confronts George about his feelings for her, and Meredith and Derek make a decision about Doc.

Brian Says: This show has skyrocketed since its post-Super Bowl timeslot. Remember when Desperate Housewives was ABC’s “big hit” on Sunday nights? Well, Grey’s has gotten significantly higher ratings than Housewives ever since the Super Bowl – so much, in fact, that it’s getting an unprecedented two night, THREE HOUR finale. Look for it to move to Mondays (if ABC is smart) or Thursdays (if ABC is stupid) next season to help launch other new shows.

Here’s hoping the finale finally resolves the Denny storyline (either kill him or save him, I can’t stand seeing him each week living in limbo!). Callie confronting George about his feelings for her should finally let us know if George is really over Meredith, or if he’s just lying to himself about it after the most-awkward sex scene in TV history with her. Undoubtedly, the show will bring much excitement, lives hanging in the balance, people hooking up, and co-workers telling me I remind them of George (again) the next day.


4. 24: Monday, May 22nd

TV.com Says: As the clock approaches the final hours of an extremely long and terrifying day underscored by a presidential assassination and the threat of nerve gas, Jack seeks to avenge the painful loss of innocent lives, as well as those of CTU beloveds Edgar Stiles, Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler and Lynn McGill. Meanwhile, shocking developments are uncovered, and the investigation takes an unexpected turn.

Brian Says: If you've never seen 24, and plan on watching some of the previous seasons, you might want to skip ahead here, since I'll reference past season finales of 24…)

You’ve been warned.

Let's see if I remember correctly. So far, in 24 season finales we've had the following:

Season One – Jack’s pregnant wife killed by a co-worker and former flame
Season Two – The President is poisoned
Season Three – Jack cuts off the arm of his partner, breaks down at the end
Season Four – Jack kills himself (temporarily)

If anybody knows how to do a season finale, it’s the good people at 24. So what’s it doing way down here at #4? Well, partly because of this, I’m expecting these insane-type things to occur. I know exactly what I’m going to get. The cheesy commercials are right – watching this show is a freakin’ adrenaline rush.

This season has probably been the strongest overall of any season thus far. I really have no idea how they’re going to resolve the plotlines short of Jack (or someone else) killing the President of the United States. On any other show, that would be an insane proposition. On 24, I’m expecting it.

I would also be on the lookout for Audrey to die, since she’s been cast in a new ABC show next fall. I’m hoping that Secretary of Defense Heller ends up surviving his accident, setting him up for being the President of the United States next season.

We’re also due, as the preview suggests, for Jack to go ballistic on some people to avenge the deaths of all of his friends earlier this season – on the mysterious corporate looking people who seem to be behind this all, perhaps? I would also love to see a setup for next season bringing back the “Country of China vs. Jack Bauer” storyline, or have Jack go to Germany to help Desmond from Lost in his investigation.



3. Prison Break: Monday, May 15th

TV.com Says: With the escape plan in progress, Michael, Lincoln and their fellow inmates must run for their lives to avoid capture, as they attempt to gain their freedom with Bellick hot on their trail. Meanwhile, Veronica races to Montana to find a very much alive Terrance Steadman, and the Vice President finds herself no longer part of The Company's plans.

Brian Says: The series title says it all. This is the moment we've been waiting for all season – actually breaking out of prison. Whereas 24 is pure excitement, Prison Break is pure nervousness – this show has kept me on the edge of my seat and made my heart beat like no other show on TV.

Having said that, I’m a bit disappointed that after the show started with an intricate, clever, sneaky plan of how to break out of prison, the last episode ended with Michael pretty much pulling a shank on the Warden to get out. Couldn’t he have done that about twenty episodes ago just as well as he could now? I think the show is a victim of foiling its own plots so many times, that in the end this was the only option left.

It’s pretty clear that not everyone is going to make it out on the break. Here are my guesses on who makes it out:

Michael – part of me thinks it would be a great idea to have everyone make it out except Michael, and then Lincoln would have to figure out a way to break him out (from the outside). But odds are, Micahel’s making it out alive and the story will shift to uncovering the conspiracy behind Lincoln being set up next season.

Lincoln – I read that Lincoln takes center stage on the show next season, so he’s pretty much the only one guaranteed to make it out.

C-Note – not looking good. His whole goal in escaping is just to see his wife, but that’s the very thing he can’t do, because it’s the first place the Feds would look. He’s an interesting character (the only one who was a “good guy” before Prison) and truly a victim of the system – which will make his death all the more tragic.

Westmoreland – no chance. He’s already injured (and probably slowly dying). But I would put money down that he’s actually DB Cooper, and gives Michael a treasure map or something before dying that leads to his fortunes. Hello, finances for next season.

Tweener – initially, I would have said “no way”, but I’m surprised on how much they’ve brought this character back into the fold recently, thinking they’re setting him up for storylines next year. If it were up to me, I’d kill him – but I have a creeping suspicion he’s sneaking through.

Sucre – absolutely. He provides a lot of the show’s humor, has a built a relationship and repertoire with Michael, and needs to exact some revenge on Hector for horning in on his woman.

Abruzzi – since he was already killed off the show once and then brought back, I don’t know how to take it. Does that mean that the writers have plans for him? Was he needed to help tie up the Fibonacci storyline? Or is it he back to do something as simple as take out T-bag? My vote: keep him alive, giving us a fantastic storyline for next season when Michael has to either give up the location of Fibonacci or take on the Italian Mob.

T-Bag – I think either T-Bag or Abruzzi makes it, not both. These guys hate each other. T-Bag makes the more logical choice to kill since he’s a fundamentally bad dude, and I don’t know how the show could have him on the outside molesting little kids and getting his revenge on his former girlfriend. Plus, he’s got the most inappropriate character name for a TV show since “Boner” on Growing Pains.




2. Lost: Wednesday, May 24th

TV.com Says: After discovering something odd just offshore, Jack and Sayid come up with a plan to confront “The Others” and hopefully get Walt back. Meanwhile, Eko and Locke come to blows as Locke makes a potentially cataclysmic decision regarding the “button” and the hatch, on the season finale of Lost.

Brian Says: Something tells me I'll be writing a whole lot about this show's season finale in the very near future, so I won't say much for now - only this: I think the show learned its lesson after the season one finale, where they opted to reveal less than they could have about the Island mysteries and everyone was furious. I’ve heard good things about the finale from those who have seen it, and fully expect the Lost world, and how we view it, to be turned upside down.

This is a Lost site! What’s Lost doing at number two? Well…


1. Alias: Monday, May 22nd

TV.com Says: Sloane takes Marshall and Rachel hostage in order to discover a crucial clue to Rambaldi’s ultimate endgame, as Sydney, Vaughn and APO race to stop him. Sydney and Jack must find a way to keep Sloane and Irina from putting their deadly plan into action.

Brian Says: Alias takes the top prize for the simple fact that it’s not a “Season Finale” but a “SERIES Finale”. I’ve told you before how I’ve been waiting five years for resolution of the Rambaldi storyline (longer than any storyline of any show I’ve ever watched), and now I’m mere weeks away. Very exciting stuff.

It looks like we’re racing to a very interesting finale. We’ve got the following storylines in play:

Good Sydney vs. Bad Sydney - how we got there doesn’t make much sense (couldn’t they have gotten Sydney’s blood in Season 1?), but it’s a fun storyline (even if it’s been done before in many action movies / video games). I’m hoping for the typical “lover must decide which one is which”, with Vaughn back into play.

Vaughn – is he good? Bad? Was Sydney in on his death all along? It seems like it, although that storyline has some gaping holes in it as well (wasn’t Syndey crying about his death when she was by herself?) Is he a Crazy Rambaldi Follower? An opposing force to the Rambaldi 12?

Sloane – he laid it all on the line last episode. He loves two things – Nadia and Rambaldi. With Nadia gone, he’s just got Rambaldi. After all these years, there’s no one else I’d want bringing Rambaldi’s ultimate endgame to fruition.

Irina – so is she on an opposing side of the Crazy Rambaldi 12? Is she racing them towards the Rambaldi endgame against them, or working with them to bring it about? Was she in on it all along? Is that why Vaughn never trusted her?

At the end of the day, I see this unfolding like a typical Alias episode of old. Sydney’s friends are captured and she has to save them. Sloane is bringing about some potential world-ending Rambaldi experiment and she has to stop him. Lots of action and suspense, and finally some answers instead of the typical cliffhanger ending.

Many questions – only four hours left to answer them all. But I can’t wait.

(PS – Alias writers, please give me a still-alive Rambaldi in the end. It’s how I’ve ended the story in my head and it really, really awesome.)

Mission: Impossible III

So I just got back from Mission: Impossible III and had to share a few quick thoughts:

Official Review: Great summer action movie with plenty of excitement. I liked it a lot. Mainly because it felt like a supercharged episode of Alias. You could definitely tell that JJ Abrams made this movie. Maybe I was looking for similarities to Alias / Lost more closely than the average viewer, but I noted a TON. The plot itself felt like a combination of parts of Alias Season 1 and 5. There were obvious similarities between characters in MI3 and characters on Alias (Marshall, Sloane), and a few scenes were shot nearly frame for frame with scenes from Lost and Alias.

But that's not a bad thing, since I love both Lost and Alias. Two last things I'd like to point out:

1. Greg Grunberg was in it (briefly) - continuing his streak of being in every project JJ Abrams has ever had.
2. The last credit of the movie, I kid you not, is a thank you to THE HANSO FOUNDATION.

Although you'll likely feel dirty giving your money to that whacked-out Scientologist Tom Cruise (rightfully so), I have to give this movie a glowing recommendation - especially for anyone who is a fan of Alias.

"Two For The Road" Analysis

Whoa. Best episode in a long time - and not just because they killed off two people (or did they?!) and had a "character turn" to evil - but you could just get this feeling the whole episode that things were finally moving along, that the plot was hurtling forward to what turned out to be a violent conclusion, rather than just "spinning wheels" like some episodes can sometimes seem.

The last five minutes in particular were amazing. Even for me, who was expecting Ana-Lucia to die, watching the last scene unfold had my brain working overtime. First, with Michael waking up, I came to the realization - "Oh my God, he's going to kill her and let HGI escape", then watching it happen, followed by the shocking Libby shooting, I was literally sitting with my jaw dropped. Great, great storytelling.

So what happened?

Michael. As we all guessed, he was not the same (Ben Folds style). He's either been brainwashed / hypnotized / drugged by the Others, or was simply given an ultimatum that he is carrying out: "Free HGI and lead the other Survivors into a trap, and we'll give you Walt back". (If it was as simple as "Kill Ana-Lucia and free HGI and you'll get Walt back", Michael wouldn't need to go on and on about how they need to attack the Others because they're so weak, blah blah blah. The Others clearly want to draw the Survivors to them… but why? I still stand by my statement that they're working towards a greater good. Intriguing...)

The good news is, we're due for a Michael flashback two weeks from now that should reveal the full extent of his experience with the Others (and give us our first true look at the Others and how they live!).

The real question is - now what? Regardless of his motives, Michael has gone to the point of no return - and I don't think there's any coming back from it. Sure he's always been obsessed with getting Walt back no matter what the cost, but it never went as far as actually KILLING someone. That's pretty serious, and I don’t think you'll get a "Oh, he was just doing it for Walt" get-out-of-jail-free card from everyone else about it. I suppose if they are able to determine and prove that he was under some sort of hypnotic trance when he busted up the Hatch, he could work his way back in the fold (and we'd have the interesting storyline of Michael dealing with his tortured soul after realizing what he did), but I really think this is the beginning of the end for Michael.

At this point, there are only two viable options I see for the Michael storyline:

Option 1: Become a full-fledged Other. Michael can't return to life with the Survivors. I doubt he could survive out in the Jungle very long by himself. Plus, I don't really see the Others giving Walt back to Michael, regardless of what acts Michael carries out for them. They have made it abundantly clear that Walt is the most important thing. More likey the bargain was "Free HGI and lead the Survivors into a trap, and we'll let you come live with us… with Walt." The only question then becomes - are they trustworthy? Or once Michael carries out his tasks, will they just kill him?

Option 2: Die. Probably the more likely option. Either our Survivors discover his treachery and take them out, the Others kill him (in the scenario from Option 1), or he merely gets himself killed doing something stupid in an attempt to get Walt (swimming after him as the Others take him away on a boat, running into the Smoke Monster, etc.) The Jungle is a dangerous place, and Michael could end up being an enemy of both our Survivors and the Others, making it even more dangerous.

Again, a lot of this depends on if he indeed "struck a deal" with the Others, and if so - if the Others are trustworthy or not.

Footnote – there seems to be some confusion as to what Michael actually did. His goal was to get HGI out of the Hatch. Killing Ana-Lucia and Libby (?) were unfortunate side effects of this plan (thus, Michael apologizing to Ana-Lucia before he shot her and looking sad when he accidentally shot Libby). He then shot himself (to make it look like HGI attacked him also – Jack Bauer style!) and let HGI go.



Ana-Lucia. Once again, if you have sex on a TV show, you die. Just like in real life. When will they learn? The good news is, much like Shannon, the writers gave her a fitting send off by letting the audience feel empathy for her before killing her. Seriously, who didn't feel sad for her when she's on the phone with her mom at the airport at the end? She had seemed to kick her dependence on alcohol, was about to get her life back in order and reuinte with her family, and then BAM. I really feel like her story was completed after her flashbacks last night, which is nice (unlike Libby…). The character truly came full circle. Tough female cop has tragedy that leads her to the dark side, becomes an alcoholic, goes to Australia with a strange older man, hits rock bottom, then picks herself up and turns her life around before being tragically killed on a mystery Island after a plane crash. It's a tale as old as time...

As for all the chatter about her being kicked off the show for being a boozehound (mostly from me), it turns out to not quite be true. Check out this interview with the show's creators that was posted right after last night's episode:

Was it always your intention to use Ana Lucia as a one-season character?

Damon Lindelof: A lot of this is going to sound like spin, so all we can give you is our word that this is exactly what happened. Around late February of last year, we started throwing our respective lines in the water to find the leader of the tail section, who we knew was going to be a Latina woman and who would be conceived as a romantic foil for Jack. We wanted her to be in her mid-thirties and be a detective from the LAPD. So we started putting out feelers unofficially because we wanted her to show up in the penultimate episode of last year. That way, when we started our plan for Season 2, it wouldn't feel like we had pulled her out of our asses. So, right around that time...
Carlton Cuse: I got a call from Michelle's agent saying, "Would you guys be interested in Michelle Rodriguez? But she's really only interested in being on the show for a year."
Damon: So we basically said, "A year is not necessarily ideal for us, but let's bring in Michelle and have the meeting." And she came in and met with Carlton and I and then, in the last 15 minutes, J.J. [Abrams] happened to be across the way doing some Alias stuff and he came over and sat down with her and we just hung out with her and chatted. It turned out that she worked in Hawaii on Blue Crush and knew a lot of people down there. But she made it very clear in that meeting that she's sort of a nomadic spirit and she did not want to commit to doing any more than [one season]. She wanted to do one kickass arc, as she described it, and we basically started to wrap our brains around her energy and say, "Yeah, we'll bring you on the show and then we'll kill you off at the end of the year." And she was totally cool with it and we were totally cool with it, and we parted ways and talked amongst ourselves. Obviously, the network and the studio normally don't want to get into a situation where they're not making multiyear deals, but we assured them that this was in fact the plan, and that even if Michelle was a rocking sensation on the show, we were going to stick to the plan. So they signed off on it and made the deal accordingly.

And then the DUI...

Carlton: Then she got this DUI and Damon and I looked at each other and we were like, "Oh, great. Everybody is going to think we're killing her off because she got a DUI." But there really wasn't anything we could do about that. I mean, the story was set. We had made plans. With Lost, we think it out well ahead of when we actually shoot it. We thought about altering our plan, but [this] was in fact what was best for the show. The fact that she got a DUI would come and go and what would live on would be the show, and our plan was still the best plan for the character. Ironically, we actually thought about changing it the other way around once [the DUI] happened, but it really was the best story. We wanted to tell the best story.
Damon: And obviously that decision was further mitigated by the fact that Libby is shot at the same time as Ana Lucia. Basically then we said, "Oh, s--t. Both Michelle and Cynthia were busted the same night for DUI and we've got this story point coming up where they essentially both get shot at the same time, so it's going to look like this is the Lost producers attempt to say, 'Don't drive drunk!'" But as Carlton says, all it created in us was [the thought that], "Maybe we shouldn't do the plan now, 'cause people are going to think this is a reaction to [the DUIs], as opposed to this [plan] existing prior to that event."
Carlton: As you'll see, everything that happens for the rest of the season all sort of falls from this event. And we're not doing ourselves or the fans of the show or the show itself any service by altering those plans because of Michelle's extracurricular activities.
Damon: Not to mention that we didn't even know if that option would be available to us. We were still functioning under the auspices of that meeting, which was Michelle saying, "I want to do a year and then move on."

Did you meet with Michelle to make sure everyone was still on the same page?

Damon: Michelle happened to be [in Los Angeles] and she came by to see us. We basically said to her, "So we’re going to stay on course." And at that point, Michelle was kinda like, "Hey, I'm living in Hawaii...." She might have been able to wrap her brain around [staying] a little bit longer on the show, but she did not say, "I want to stay on the show!" She was basically like, "Yeah. That's a good plan."
Carlton: And once we told her what was happening, she was incredibly supportive. She thought it was sort of a kickass way to go, and she got very on board with the idea of how she was going to be exiting the show.

Rumor has it she was a hard-ass on the set and everyone hated her. Care to set the record straight?

Damon: We're not in Hawaii on the set so all we can speak to is our working relationship with Michelle and what we have heard from the other actors and directors on the show, and we never heard anything remotely resembling that she was a hard-ass. You know, she's Michelle. She's got a very playful spirit. But she's totally professional and got along well with all the other actors. We get calls over the course of our career about difficult actors. We did not get those calls about Michelle.



Also, did anyone else notice that when Locke lies about stuff... people die? First there was Locke lying about Boone's "accident" that resulted in Jack treating him inappropriately (leading to his death), now Locke lies about how Ana-Lucia got injured and she ends up dead.

Basically, if you lie or have sex, people will die. Good life lessons.


Tom. Jack's Dad’s “code name”. Apparently he has an illegitimate daughter with this woman:



Our first assumption is to think of the only female Aussie on our Island (Claire), but even for a show that seems to have everyone’s lives intertwined this feels a bit “soap opera-y”. The only problem is, unless this daughter ends up being on the Island, or someone else (in addition to Ana-Lucia and Sawyer) also interacted with Jack’s Dad, we’ll never find out any more – which seems unlikely.

But the real question is - why did he need protection? He hit the sauce for a few days, then drove over to a lady’s house in the pouring rain to ask about his daughter. What was he afraid she was going to do? Attack him? Did he “hire” Ana-Lucia to protect him, or to protect her from him? The flashback, which it explains why Ana-Lucia was in Australia and neatly tied up her story, didn’t really make too much sense.

As much as I hate to say it, (because it feels like some sort of retread between Irina Derevko and Darth Vader) the more we see things like this the more inclined am I to feel like Christian Shepherd somehow has a hand in everything going on with the Island as well as everyone on the Island. I’m tempted to start wondering if he’s the “Great One” HGI was referring to, but that would be crazy thoughts for now. Keep it on the back burner.

Speaking of crazy…

Libby. Is she really dead? Based on the previews for next week (and the logical conclusion of her character arc), Ana-Lucia is definitely dead. But Libby? Not only did she never get a flashback of her own, but they teased us by showing her in the mental institution in one of Hurley’s. That seems a bit cruel and unusual. Could it be that she has simply been a red herring all along? Can blankets save you from bullets? Let’s weigh the pros and cons:

She’s Dead!

• She was shot multiple times
• She’s on an Island without good medical facilities (even with super-doc Jack)
• The episode was called “Two for the Road” (if only Ana-Lucia died, that's "One for the Road")
• She and Ana-Lucia both got DUIs on the same night (say, out drowning their sorrows after they found out they would both be getting killed off the show or after filming their final scenes?)
• She died right after getting some romance, just like Shannon and Ana-Lucia
• If she’s alive, Michael is busted
• Next week’s previews show Hurley crying (he hearted her!)

She’s Alive!

• She had blankets to cushion the blow of the bullets (umm… right...)
• She never got a backstory
• She appeared in Hurley’s backstory – even a worse tease that not having one of her own!
• Killing two Tailers and no Survivors seems unfair
• She could be “in a coma”, allowing Michael’s treachery to continue for a few episodes
• Next week’s previews show them saying “She’s dead” instead of “They’re dead”

It’s a tough call, but I’m leaning towards “She’s Dead” – making her an intentional red herring the show’s creators threw our way. I mean, how many of us were certain that she had to be an Other at some point? (Brian raises hand)

Even if Hurley suddenly remembers her from the Mental Institution, that wouldn’t explain who she was or how she got on the Island. He would just think “Wait, I saw her in the Hospital” – and it would go nowhere from there. The only way that would happen is if she appeared in someone else’s flashbacks (like Jack’s father this week). That could give us the explanation about her life in a bittersweet “too little too late” fashion, that makes us mourn her even more.


HGI. He’s free! Like I said, death or escape both achieve the same goals – get him (and his knowledge of the Island) away from our Survivors. It also very interestingly shifts the “Bad Guy” from HGI to Michael for the remainder of the season. Is this goodbye to HGI? Is he going to end up dead at the hands of the Others? Was his mission really to “bring Locke back?”

Initially, I thought that HGI was a Rebel Dharmite – but the more he talked, the more he sounded like a Card Carrying Dharmite, espousing the greatness of his leader, and fearing the repercussions from failing him on a mission. But what was his mission?

Although the logical one would be reconnaissance of the Survivors, with Michael now under their powers – he could easily give them any information they needed about his fellow Survivors. Why send HGI on a mission to potentially gather information you already have?

If his mission was to “cause a division among the Survivors”, he didn’t really accomplish that either. In fact, Locke and Jack seem closer than ever now (at least they did pre-Ana-Lucia death).

Is it possible he legitimately just got caught?

Or is it possible that indeed he was coming for Locke? Locke’s argument is a good one – he had the chance to kill him when he was under the Blast Door and didn’t. For that matter, he had chances to attack Jack, Eko, and Sayid at some point or another during his stay in the Hatch… and didn’t.

It’s possible that he thrust out at Ana-Lucia in rage since she did kill two Others… but so did Eko. But if Locke was a “good one”, wouldn’t they have come for him right away – like they did to the Tailers, instead of waiting over a month?

I don’t know. Ironically, with HGI gone, I have more questions about him and what his goals were than I had when he was in the Hatch. We’ll have to see how his story continues to unfold…


The Lost Experience. Okay, I kinda jumped into the explanation of the Hanso Commercial and website without much warning last night (mostly due to the numerous requests for information about it from other people), but let's back up for a minute.

ABC and the creators of Lost decided to launch an "ARG" (Alternate Reality Game) this summer around the show, to help entertain us during the summer season so that we're not forced to "go outside and enjoy nature" or "socialize with real people." Thank God!

These things were invented way back in the day, but have recently become popular thanks to the Internet. It's called "Alternate Reality" because all the information you see about it is presented as if it were reality. The Hanso website looks like a legitimate website for a real organization. It's often very hard to distinguish between true websites involved in the ARG and fan-created ones trying to trick you (that's why I'm here - I'll be sure to let you know).

The whole point of an ARG is to allow the obsessive compulsive fans to delve deeper into the mythology or background of a story without boring the average viewer with it. In this case, it looks like the Lost Experience will give us insight to the history of Hanso and its current state.
There are a few important points to keep in mind:

1. The televised program is still king. There won't be anything in the ARG that would prevent the average Lost viewer from understanding the storyline or what is going on. Don't be surprised if we spend all summer learning about past failed Dharma experiments that are never mentioned on the show itself – or referenced subtly in the background (such as the Bad Twin book).
2. Many will be concerned with discovering “secrets” in the websites, rather than trying to understand what they mean in the greater story. Already I’ve seen multiple people going crazy about finding hidden images or words – but very few people are actually stepping back and examining them, asking the “why” questions, which are really the key to why we should care.
3. Historically, these things have gotten so convoluted that even the most diehard fans struggle to keep up. I’ll try and keep you guys posted with the most relevant information as it becomes uncovered.
4. There will be discrepancies between the show and the game. Chances are, although the show’s creators might have given a general “theme” for the game, chances are many of the details are being created by a separate creative team. This leads to differences that eagle eyed fans might notice and read too much into – such as the date that the picture of Alfred Hanso was taken vs. the date of the Swan Hatch film, etc. Although the makers of Lost have taken great care to make sure every detail is okay, if there was anywhere that they would start to slip, it would be in this game.

So here’s the game so far:

The Lost Experience is running alongside the second season of Lost in the UK, and during the break between season 2 and 3 in the United States and Canada.

The UK was the first to receive clues for the game on Tuesday May 2, 2006 in the form of a commercial for the fictional Hanso Foundation during a commercial break in the premiere of the series' second season. The commercial was again repeated during the subsequent second and third episodes shown that evening.

The commercial gave viewers a telephone number (0800 66 66 40) which when called gave the information listed in the post below.

The same commercial aired during last night’s Lost in the United States, giving the phone number 1-877-HANSORG (which has been plagued with busy signals and circuit overload in poor planning by ABC). Thus far the first US clue seems to be identical to the UK clue. Australians received the same clue the following night during their episode of Lost. It’s truly a worldwide game, which is intriguing given that the United States is almost a full season ahead of the UK and Australia in terms of episodes.

The only “Official Website” in the ARG thus far is The Hanso Foundation, although other websites are sure to follow. At this point, only a few areas of the The Hanso Foundation appear accessible – but look for this to change as the summer approaches.

Should you care?

The game will undoubtedly provide a good deal of entertainment to uber-nerds like myself who love to crack the mysteries of Lost and understand the greater meaning behind it all. To the average viewer, they serve as a “neat” form of advertisement that makes Lost seem more and more real.

In the end, I’m pretty sure I’ll end up totally obsessed with this game. So rest assured there will be posts about it in the future as the story develops. Thus far, we’re looking at a tale of Genetic Engineering gone terribly wrong, power struggles among the Senior Management of Hanso, and the hints of a Rebel Dharmite by the name of Persiphone.

I’m intrigued.

Secrets of TheHansoFoundation.Org... so far

Did you catch the Hanso commercial during this week's episode of Lost? What was that all about?

Well... apparently ABC isn't that smart and setup a phone number that had exactly three free lines available. With all of American calling, it's been busy most of the night. I have yet to get through.

But... assuming the phone number 1-877-HANSORG gives the same message as the UK phone number that was given out earlier, here's what you're missing:

http://www.thetailsection.com/hanso.main.menu.mp3

After a general message, you are offered five options:

1. General
2. Alvar Hanso
3. Dr. Thomas Mittelwerk
4. Hugh McIntyre
5. Peter Thompson

Option 1 – General Audio: http://www.thetailsection.com/hanso.option.one.mp3

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH: Det er alt fra mig fra i aften. Og bliv her for om lidt for du nyheder efterfulgt af Klassiker Rock fra 60'erne och 70'erne inklusive en exklusiv afspilning af Geronimo Jackson første komplette album Magna Carta. Lige efter et par ord fra vores sponsor.

Translation: That's all for me tonight. And stay tuned for some news followed by Classic rock from the 60s and 70s including an exclusive recordning by Geronimo Jackson's first complete album Magna Carta. Right after some words from our sponsor.

PHONE RINGING - WOMAN’S VOICE: Welcome to Verizon’s voice messaging service.

WOMAN’S VOICE: The Hanso foundation is located at 544 Persand Klingbai DK 1604 Copen…

STATIC WOMAN’S VOICE: If you can hear me don’t listen to their lies. This is Persephone. I haven’t got much time, none us do. If you want to know the truth about the Hanso foundation, the real story is in the number. A lie...(?) always snaps under the breaking strain. Use this password on their site… BREAKING STRAIN! They’re coming!

Option 2 – Alvar Hanso Audio: http://www.thetailsection.com/hanso.option.two.mp3

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH: Hvis du bliver hængende lidt endnu kommer vi straks tilbage med side A fra Jeronimo Jackson's Magna Carta lige efter disse ord fra vores sponsor.

Translation: If you stay for a little while longer we'll be right back with side A from Jeronimo Jackson's Magna Carta right after these words from our sponsor.

AD BREAK FOR MONSTER.COM

PHONE RINGING - WOMAN’S VOICE: Welcome to Verison’s voice messaging service.

WOMAN’S VOICE: You’ve reached the Offices of Alvar Hanso President and CEO of Hanso Foundantion

STATCIC WOMAN’S VOICE (ECHOING): Where is Alvar Hanso? What have they done with him? Who is in charge here…

DIAL TONE AND THEN SCREATCHING SOUND WOMAN’S VOICE: Welcome to the Hanso Foundation

Option 3 – Dr. Thomas Mittelwerk Audio: http://www.thetailsection.com/hanso.option.three.mp3

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH: Du lyttede til side A af Jeronimo Jackson's klassiske album Magna Carta. Vi kommer straks tilbage med side B efter disse meddelelser.

Translation: You just heard side A of Jeronimo Jackson's classical album Magna Carta. We will be right back with side B after these messages.

PHONE RINGING WOMANS VOICE: Welcome to Verizon’s voice messaging service.

MALE VOICE: You’ve reached the office of Dr. Thomas Vernon Mittelwerk, Sr. VP, COO, and Chief Technologist of the Hanso Foundation. I will be unreachable for the next three weeks. However, for those employees of Paik-Heavey Industries (Paik, as in Sun's family?!), and Widmore Corp. (featured in the background of one of Charlie's flashbacks and on the pregnancy test Sawyer found on the Island) engaged in active projects, I will be continuously updating the confidential information line. Please refer to your project manual for hotline access instructions. Thank You and Namaste.

WATER DROP SOUND

Option 4 – Hugh McIntyre Audio: http://www.thetailsection.com/hanso.option.four.mp3

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH: Hvis de bliver hængende lidt endnu får du mere uforstyrret musik efter desse ord fra vores sponsor.

Translation: If you stay a little while longer you'll get some more uninterrupted music after these words from our sponsor.

PHONE RINGING - WOMANS VOICE: Welcome to Verizon’s voice messaging service

MAN’S VOICE: Hi this is Hugh Macintyre, VP of Communication and director of the Hanso Foundation, I will return to the office in two weeks. If you are calling about the inquiry into our Korean offshore project please hang up and contact our legal department. To hear more info about Joop, the world’s oldest orangutan, please refer to our web site at http://www.thehansofoundation.org . Thank you and Namaste.

STATIC MESSAGE 1: MALE VOICE NORTHERN EUROPEAN ACCENT: Hugh. Thomas. Just got the changes. Good work… we should go ahead and rename the Accelerated Remote Viewing Training Facilities as well. We should try to put a public face on all this. Call me.

MESSAGE 2: WOMAN’S VOICE, ENGLISH ACCENT: Hugh its Darla. I need to talk to you about Sri Lanka. This just isn’t right.

WOMAN'S VOICE: End of messages. Goodbye

Option 5 – Peter Thompson Audio: http://www.thetailsection.com/hanso.option.five.mp3

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH: ... nyheder og vejret efter desse meddelelser. Translation: ... news and the weather forecast after these messages.

AD BREAK FOR MONSTER.COM

WOMANS VOICE: Welcome to Verison’s voice messaging service

WOMANS VOICE, US ACCENT: "Hello. You have reached the office of Peter Thompson, VP General Council and Secretary of the Hanso foundation. Mr. Thompson is not available to take your calls. If this is regarding the inquiry into Korean offshore project we must regretfully decline to comment....."

THE PHONE IS SNATCHED AWAY ANGRY MAN, US ACCENT: "Give me the phone Ireen. Give me it. This is Peter Thompson. As chief legal officer, I would like to remind you that to make threats against me and my colleagues, or any representative of the Widmore Corp. or Paik-Heavy Industries then these acts are criminal. Make no mistake - we will locate and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law! That’s a promise. Namaste!"

Now What?

1. Go to http://www.thehansofoundation.org
2. Go to the "Newsletter (Sign Up)" page
3. Pick a User Name - whatever you want - and click "Next"
4. It will say "Hello (User Name) can you see this? in crazy text
5. Type: "Yes" and press Enter (you can't click "Next", which is scribbled out)
6. It will say "Okay, it's me Persephone. What's the password?"
7. Type: "Breaking Strain" and you'll see this:

Once you see this, you're "logged in" and can now get farther through other sections of the site... like Joop's Corner!

1. Go to the "Joop" page
2. Click on "Send Joop a Message"
3. Type in "Hello Joop"
4. Joop will go crazy and show you an underwater image
5. Keep clicking on the circles where your mouse turns to a pointer (as if it's a hyperlink)
6. Eventually, you'll see this:

After scrolling around for a while, you can click on the name at the bottom... which gives you this:

Again, after scrolling around and reading it you can click on the circled name at the bottom, resulting in:

Once you return to the main page, if you click on "Newsletter (Sign Up)" again, you'll see the following:

Also - do you see how the website is keeping track of the date and time? Me thinks there will be more "time released" clues as the summer approaches... Clever Lost marketing people! Now I'll be thinking of Lost all summer!

What does it all mean? I'll get to that later. For now, get exploring!

Lost - "Two For The Road"

Episode Title: “Two For The Road”

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: My first thought of seeing the title was thinking this was some play on the old saying “one for the money, two for the show” – but some quick Internet research (how did people ever find out deeper meanings before the Internet existed?) revealed that “Two For The Road” is actually the title of a 1967 Audrey Hepburn movie.

The movie was considered experimental for its time because the story is told in a non-linear fashion, with scenes from the present juxtaposed with scenes from the beginning of the story. This leaves the viewer to guess what has actually happened during the movie – and sometimes the truth is revealed in later scenes.

Hmmmm – sound familiar? Sounds an awful lot like our favorite “flashback reveal” TV show, Lost. I think we’re on to something here.

So what’s the deeper meaning? Well, the storyline of the movie goes something like this:

Joanna is in a touring girl's choir and Mark is a struggling architect, meeting on the road in Europe. The film shows (in flashback) their first meeting, memorable moments in their courtship and early wedded life, their travels through Europe, their broken vow never to have children, and their increasing tensions that led to both of them having extra-marital affairs.

So how does this relate to Lost?

Well, this is an Ana-Lucia episode (I know, I know – two episodes for her but only one for Eko / Bernard, and none for Libby? Outrage!), so she would seem to be the female who meets someone on the road – but who? Leave it to the crazy Canadians to ruin it with their commercial for this week’s episode!

Potential Spoiler here. Click at your own risk!

Note: this is your WARNING. Don’t click and then complain that I “ruined the episode for you.”

Don’t blame me, blame Canada!

http://www.lostlinks.net/videos/canada.wmv

For the sake of those who don’t click on it, I won’t go into any more detail about it. I ask that you do the same in the Comments section. We’ll chat about it post-episode…

But that would just be the literal meaning of the episode title… not the “deeper meaning.” I can’t help but shake the feeling that “Two for the Road” could also be referring to two people literally ending up on the road – on a pathway, on a journey on the Island.

Next week’s episode is the mysteriously titled “?”, which I assume refers to the creamy middle of the Island we saw on the Blast Door. I could see Locke set out on his journey for this place this episode… taking someone with him (I don’t know, say Mr. Eko?).

But lastly, when I hear “Two for the Road”, I have this creeping suspicion that it could be referring to something darker… like two people ending up in the road – as in underground – as in dead. The previews show a struggle between Ana-Lucia and HGI – how shocked would we all be if both ended up dead as a result?

It would accomplish two things:

1. Keep HGI and his motives secret, keeping our Survivors in the dark. He won’t be able to refute Michael’s claims, he won’t be able to be tortured, he won’t be able to spill any information on the Others. Lost writers seem to like this plot device of introducing a character and then getting rid of him before any information can be revealed (see: Goodwin, Ethan, and to some degree Desmond).
2. Reports claim Michelle Rodriguez is a distraction to the rest of the cast and somewhat of a bad seed on the Island (see: drunk driving, being in the movie BloodRayne) – killing her off would be a nice way to prevent her from distracting the cast (and also allow her to more easily serve her recently received jail time for drunk driving in California).

Plus, the audience might be expecting some deaths this season (logically, in the upcoming “War” promised on the commercials), so killing people off right now would come as a shock – serving as a nice change from the Boone and Shannon deaths we saw coming from a mile away.

Well, now I guess it would just be a surprise to anyone who doesn’t read the Blog…




TV Guide Description: Jack and Kate bring an exhausted Michael back to the camp, and with him, news about "The Others." Meanwhile, Ana Lucia attempts to get the prisoner to confess, and Hurley plans a surprise date for Libby.


TV Guide Breakdown: Jack and Kate bringing the newly found Mikey back to camp is the most intriguing part of the episode. I won’t rehash it too much here (check the “S.O.S.” Review for my full thoughts), but as I said last week, I’d put any amount of money on the fact that Michael has been brainwashed / drugged or is working for the Others at this point. He’s leading our Survivors into a trap.

Meanwhile, we have Ana-Lucia giving her best shot at getting HGI to talk. Ummm… excuse me? Didn’t she already do this? Remember the episode where she convinced him to draw a map to the balloon? What’s changed that makes her want to try and talk to him again now? It seems like a forced way to give Ana-Lucia something to do this episode… and possibly get her killed.

Lastly, we have Hurley planning a surprise date for Libby. Yes, it seems like a throwaway storyline for the episode – but there’s always the chance we’ll get some more hints of Libby’s past (since we’re not getting a Libby flashback this season). More than likely, it’ll just provide some comic / romantic relief from what should be an otherwise tense episode (just like the token 2 minutes of romance 24 likes to throw in each episode).

Wow – I’m actually really excited for this episode, but after breaking down the TV Guide description, it doesn’t sound too exciting does it? I hope this is because the writers are starting to clamp down on the release of information. We’ve only got three episodes left before the two hour season finale – it’s time to get this party started!

Ana-Lucia.

Remember her story? Yeah, me neither – we did see it way back in November. As a refresher, here’s her life, in a nutshell:

• Born into a police family
• Her mom is her boss at the police station
• Was in a relationship with “Danny” that didn’t work out
• Got shot on the job, which made her lose her unborn baby
• Person who shot her (Jason McCormick) was brought into police custody, but she refused to ID him
• Instead, followed him (to Australia?) and killed him herself, to get her sweet revenge

Much like Rose and Bernard, it just feels like we know her whole story, her motives, and what drives her. I don’t see the need for this second flashback, which makes me think even more that she’s going to die. The only thing that’s missing is for the audience to start liking her (or have her in a romantic relationship) before killing her so that her death has some resonance. You need to have someone who mourns her, who is affected by her death.

(But if you clicked on the Canadian preview above, it looks like we might get that this episode too…)

Lost Reset.

Okay, we’re about to start the whirlwind journey to the conclusion of this season of Lost. But with so many repeats and “recap episodes”, how can the average viewer keep track of what even happened this year? Well, if you’ve never seen Lost before, here is the entire season – in one paragraph.

The Hatch is blasted open and we meet Desmond – who introduces the concept of entering the Numbers every 108 minutes and then runs away. We are introduced to the Tailers, who have had a rougher time on the Island than our Survivors. Ana-Lucia accidentally shoots and kills Shannon. Michael runs off in the jungle like a crazy to find Walt. Henry Gale is captured by CFL, interrogated, and seems to be an evil Other. Kate remains hot as ever. Locke sees a mysterious map on a Blast Door in the Hatch. Michael returns.

How did it take us 22 episodes to get to this point? I kid…

But based on this setup, here are the storylines that I think NEED to be resolved this season:

Walt. The forgotten storyline of this season seems to be making a comeback with Michael’s re-emergence. Last season’s finale seemed to indicate the kidnapping of Walt would be the primary storyline of season two – but that hasn’t been the case. At this point, they need to wrap it up for the simple sake that we, as viewers both don’t remember and don’t care too much about it. To drag it out any farther would just make it carry less and less impact when it finally is revisited. The good news is that the producers promised a few months back that this story will be resolved before the story ends. How? I’m not sure – as I mentioned before, due to the pesky “growing up” of Malcolm David Kelly, showing him again would be weird, given that only a month has passed on the Island. I really can’t see the show killing Walt (although that would be the easy way out). They either need to go with a “Dharma Rapid Aging Experiment” or keep him hidden… but if they’re keeping him hidden, I don’t consider that “wrapping up the storyline.” You’ve got your work cut out, Lost writers.

Numbers. No, I’m not looking for an answer to what the Numbers mean. That’s a question I don’t think we’ll ever get answered. I’m looking for resolution to the Number Entering in the Hatch. We’ve been teased a few times with non-entry, but each time they’ve been entered just in time to keep the cycle going (or have they?). When we first learned about the Numbers, I thought for sure the season two finale would end with clock finally striking zero, fade to black, LOST - but at this point, since we’ve already seen the Egyptian Hieroglyphics and heard HGI’s claims that nothing would happen, it would be pretty anti-climatic. I think they need to wrap up the Numbers storyline before the finale and give us something new to ponder over the summer.

Desmond. Actually, I’ll take Henry Ian Cusick returning to either Lost or 24. On both shows, he stuck around for a few episodes, was very intriguing, had great chemistry with the cast, and then disappeared. On Lost, he went running off into the Jungle, thinking that the Numbers were going to expire and the world was going to end. Well, it’s a month later – shouldn’t he realize that the world didn’t end? Rather than living by yourself in the Jungle with a backpack full of supplies, shouldn’t he want to come back to the Hatch where there are supplies, other people to interact with, and Hot Kate? I know I would. Similar to Walt, the writers need to bring him back before the average viewer forgets about who he is. But how? Well, I think the key lies in the very fact that he hasn’t returned. He’s obviously somewhere else where he has enough supplies to survive, somewhere he thinks he’s safe from the “world ending” – like, say, another Hatch? Assuming that Locke and Eko make a journey to the mystery “?” in the next few episodes, it would neatly tie up the Desmond storyline in a logical way if they stumble upon him there. He seemed to be running through the Jungle with a purpose – a direction – as if he’s heading somewhere. Perhaps Desmond knows more about the Island than he let on, and is aware of the other Hatch locations – but was “tied down” by the Numbers, preventing him from ever going to them. Now that our Survivors are manning the Swan, he’s finally got his chance. There are rumblings (which some claim are intentional red herrings put out by Lost producers) that the Season Finale will be a Desmond flashback. Sounds fantastic to me.

(PS – as for 24, I’d like to see Desmond team up with Jack next season in Germany – where Jack is helping Desmond out on a mission, since he hosed him earlier this season.)

HGI. There are really two options for HGI – either he escapes, or he gets killed. He won’t be sticking around as a prisoner into next season (it almost feels like the storyline is dragging at this point, with Ana-Lucia questioning him… AGAIN). Since he’s pure evil (see picture from “S.O.S.” post below for confirmation), I don’t see him confessing his treachery and living happily among our Survivors. Which leaves us with only escape or death. Either would accomplish the goal of having him not reveal too many secrets about the Island to our Survivors, but based on my reasoning above, I’m anticipating HGI going the way of Goodwin and Ethan – Island Native / Other who dies after revealing only a few nuggets of information.

Airplane. Somewhere around the middle of this season (I think during a podcast), we were told that we would find out how or why the airplane crashed before the season was over. Based on everything we’ve seen so far this season, the only thing that would make sense to me is if somehow not entering the Numbers in the Hatch resulted in some magnetic energy being released, causing a pulse bomb of sorts that could theoretically knock an airplane out of the sky. Or does this mean that we’ll learn why our Survivors magically survived without a scratch while everyone else died? Something tells me that might be giving too much away – but I’d be happy with the simple knowledge of “what made the plane crash.”

Storylines I'd like to see explained, but aren’t holding my breath for:

Blast Door Map. With the upcoming “?” episode, I think we’ll get some answers about the information contained on the Blast Door, but I bet we don’t get a full disclosure of who made it and why. Since it revealed a mere three episodes ago, I would be okay with this story bleeding into Season Three (where they could potentially introduce the viewer to the Rebel Dharmite storyline). There’s also such a sheer amount of information on the map (references to Flame Hatch, Magnus Hanso, etc.) that I don’t think there is time to get to this season. But if they would at least find a way to keep the Blast Door down and the Black Light on (Michael should be able to figure this out… except he’s probably one of them now), they could begin analyzing this season.

Dress Up Others. Kate finally revealed to Jack that she found a fake beard and theatrical glue, but now the question is “why?” Will we finally learn that the Others have a very civilized society going on behind the scenes on the Island (perhaps at the mysterious “?”) or will we be left to wonder why they’re trying to make our Survivors think they are dirty pirates? Since answering this would seemingly “pull back the curtain” on the Wizard of Lost, I bet it’s something the writers keep in their back pocket for a while longer – although you can bet if Jack runs into Zeke again, it’ll be the first thing he mentions to him.

Healing Powers. So we’ve now got both Locke and Rose being healed by the Island – will we ever learn how or why? The logical explanation seems to be the magnetic properties surrounding the Swan Hatch – will we once again see Locke lose his ability to walk if he ventures away from it to find the “?”? (that looks weird when you write it). Or will the writers let this detail slide, leaving us to wonder about the magical properties of the Island?

Storylines we don’t stand a chance of getting, so don’t get your hopes up:

Smokey. What is it? Why is it? How is it? It’s the all-seeing, all-knowing, shape-shifting smoke monster on the Island that might hold the key to it all. Don’t look for this explanation until season six.

Hanso. Is he on the Island? Did his great-grandfather crash there on the Black Rock? What is the purpose to his madness? Again, look for a confrontation with Hasno himself to be the final scene of the series, if it happens at all. (Note: this is where the Alias connection comes in again. If JJ gives us Rambaldi in the Alias finale, I’d bet we get Hanso in the Lost finale. If not, it’s just a pipe dream).

Connections. Why do our Survivors and their family and friends keep appearing in one another’s flashbacks? Is there some underlying connection between all of them? Were they all specifically chosen to be on that Island? Or is it just a subtle way of teaching us that all humans are connected on this planet, even though we don’t realize it? Revelations about this might slowly be revealed over the next few seasons, but a full reveal – if all our Survivors were specifically chosen – would seem unlikely at this point.

Numbers. What do they mean? Are they just retired Yankees? Are they the key to some mathematical equation that the Dharma folks discovered? Sadly, much like the 47 on Alias, don’t look for this to ever be answered.


So there you have it. Plenty of Lost goodness to wrap your mind around this week. Remember to keep the Comments spoiler-free for the sake of our readers with will power!