Deconstructing: The Space-Time Continuum

Well we deconstructed the sickness, electromagnetism, Ajira... it was only a matter of time until we addressed the big one, I suppose. Of course, this topic focus comes from the monumental finish to the last episode - where Sayid decides to shoot young Ben, thereby opening up a can of worms about what you can and can't do in time travel.

Let's briefly outline the H.G. Wells-y classical view, which Daniel Faraday appeared to share at the start of Season 5 when time travel was going crazy. In this account, one cannot go back in time and "change things" as such things would have already happened in your present if they were changed in the past. Time is, thus, considered a river or invariant timeline where changing things would affect your own future and so consequently mean you wouldn't go back in time in the first place (make sense?). Using the typical Hitler analogy - you can't go back in time to stop Hitler before what he did during WWII. This is because, if you did, not only would history change but so would your own time - so you therefore wouldn't go back to kill Hitler as Hitler no longer existed. Let's put it another way: in the Red Dwarf scenario. You can't go back and tell yourself to not do something - as if your past self avoided it, then he/she wouldn't go back again and say it - and so you couldn't have the memory of being warned by your future self, as for it to work your past self would later have to act as the future self in the conversation. This view is all about the cycle - one can theoretically go back in time to observe changes, or even make changes - but such changes have to have already happened in the traveller's world. So, for instance, the Losties could have been in the DHARMA Initiative, but they cannot affect what we already know occurred, e.g. the Purge (many people argue "why didn't the Others see that photo of Hurley et al in the 1977 DHARMA group shot at the Barracks - but for the moment we'll attribute that to an oversight - or should we not?)

Apologies for poorly articulating the standard time-travel theory anyway, for the majority of you will probably get it better than I do. But now we face the point of issue - how can Sayid shoot and kill a young Ben?! It could simply be "he's still alive, and it's that shooting that makes him so bitter and crazy", but I'm going to take a risk and gloss over that, though it would obviously completely solve the issue and negate this post entirely (fun!).

How can this happen? Are the Losties now in an alternate world, and do they now have the power to control the future - seemingly without any rules at all. This can't be true, as what would be the point of Faraday's warnings or Pierre Chang's comments at the start of the season that "there are rules". Faraday already broke them with Desmond - creating a sudden memory in Desmond's mind. Are the rules just going to be flung out of the window? What will happen to Ben now? It seems like Sayid has caused everything to now hit the fan, and will we see immediate consequences next week?

One can, unfortunately, only speculate what will happen when the rules have seemingly been broken. Are there any other time travel theories out there that you guys know of? What do you think will happen to "present" Ben now that little Ben has snuffed it? Let us know! And physicists among you be kind about this post's explanation of time travel - apparently everyone's an expert/critic these days!

5x10 "He's Our You" Review

"He's Our You" is another incredible episode in Lost's fifth season. This episode starts with a classic Lost technique that hasn't been used in a while: Flashbacks. We flashback to the days of young Sayid, in Tikrit Iraq. Sayid's father is forcing his brother to kill a chicken, to prove that he is a man and no longer a child; Sayid intervenes and kills the chicken, so his father won't get mad at his brother. What I love about this scene is the allusion to Eko's story. As seen in "The 23rd Psalm", when Eko was a kid, he killed a man so that Yemi would not be killed. Furthermore, the flashbacks reveal why Sayid boared Flight 316 with Ilana. Ilana was hired by the family of Mr. Avellino, who was killed by Sayid in "The Economist" because of his connection to Widmore. I am glad to see more flashbacks - they have been absent from the storyline for quite some time now. I think it's always good to have a mix of flashbacks, flashforwards, and on-Island/off-Island events.

Back on the Island, we see young Ben bring Sayid a sandwich. We know that Ben is eager to learn more about the Hostiles after his encounter with Richard Alpert in the jungle (seen in "The Man Behind the Curtain"). Ben tells Sayid that he has been very patient - and that if heis patient, Ben can help him escape. Radzinsky and Horace come to question Sayid, but he gives them no answers.

When Ben returns to give Sayid a sandwich, he is met by his father Roger Work Man, who throws the sandwich to the ground and demands that Ben returns home. This scene gives us a better look at Ben's childhood, and the events that would eventually cause him to murder the DHARMA members, including his own father.

Horace suggests to LaFleur that they bring Sayid to Oldham (a mysterious interrogator who lives in the jungle). When they bring Sayid to this man, Sawyer tells him that "he's our you" (meaning that Oldham is the 'torturer' for the DHARMA Initiative). Oldham provides Sayid with a truth serum, and it works. Sayid almost tells them about "Sawyer", but is interrupted by the ever-annoying Stu, who is most interested in Sayid's knowledge of the Swan station. Sayid pours out everything he knows - crashing in Flight 316, in Flight 815, and his knowledge that the Purge will eventually kill them all.

Our annoyance of Radzinsky only worsens when the DHARMA members have a meeting to decide what to do with Sayid. The vote goes in favor of Radzinsky's proposition, and LaFleur is forced to go along with them. Sawyer goes to Sayid's cell, giving him a chance to hit him and run. Sayid refuses, claiming that he knows what his 'purpose' of being on the Island is.

Back at the Barracks, an arsonist sets fire to a DHARMA van, crashing it into one of the houses. We later see that young Ben uses this diversion to free Sayid from his cell. As Sayid and Ben run from the Barracks, they encounter Jin. Sayid knocks Jin out, and, in one of Lost's most shocking moments ever, shoots young Ben.

This episode ends with one of the most shocking cliffhangers in Lost history. Could young Ben really be dead? It would defy Faraday's theory of 'whatever happened, happened'. I personally see no reason to believe that Ben is actually dead. It would be difficult for a kid to survive a gunshot at that range, but I'm sure there could be ways for him to survive. Perhaps Jack will have to use his super-surgeon skills to rehabilitate young Ben; but would Jack really do surgery on Ben for the second time?

"He's Our You" has tremendous character development. At lunchtime, we see that Jack has no problem sinking into the background, as opposed to his previous on-Island life as leader of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. Hurley is fitting in just fine as a DHARMA chef. Kate seems to be having trouble accepting that Juliet is with Sawyer. I hope that they put an end to this love quadrangle soon; Jack should be with Kate, and Juliet should be with Sawyer. Kate has done too much flip-flopping, if you ask me.

Another highlight of this episode is seeing more insight into Ben's childhood. His abusive father gives Ben more motivation to lead the Purge, and eventually become the leader of the Hostiles. Ben has been desperate to escape from his life at Dharmaville, and his father has been no help to him. I usually don't feel sympathy for Ben, but I felt differently this episode. He finally thinks that he can escape from his life, and the one person he trusts, Sayid, shoots him. When I started thinking about this, it really is a complicated tale of character development: Sayid's interactions with old Ben in the future caused him to shoot young Ben in the past, which was really his future.

This episode also shows us that Sawyer loves his life as DHARMA Head of Security. He has really become loyal to DHARMA after living with them for three years. I'm glad that he at least gave Sayid the chance to escape, because I wasn't happy after he succombed to Radzinsky's proposition.

Another interesting point in this episode was when Radzinsky threatened to call Ann Arbor. We know that the DeGroots derive from here - will we finally get to see the mysterious Gerald and Karen, who so far have only appeared briefly in the Swan orientation and the Room 23 video? I sure hope so...

Overall this episode is a fantastic addition to Season 5, and possibly the best episode this season.

Continual error

I've come to have a rant/investigation about the continuity errors of Season 5. One of the main talking points so far this season on the wiki, the forums, and IRC is the seemingly increased number of continuity errors, and the importance of the events are that wrong. Of course, it's not really hard to work out why: Time travel, multiple storylines, and a lot of wrapping up to be done. But here's a close look at some of the interesting ones. (Of course, if you don't really care about this sort of thing, don't bother)

Episode: "Because You Left"
Error: On the zodiac raft, Steve Jenkins was wearing a backpack immediately before the Island moved in "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3", but when the sky turns normal again in this episode, his backpack is missing. Furthermore, a bearded background extra has been replaced by Neil "Frogurt", and another background extra sitting next to him has disappeared.
Reason: Most likely due to background casting change, so it's not that big of a deal. However, it would've made perfect sense if Frogurt was just on the beach instead of him randomly appearing on the Zodiac.

Episode: "The Little Prince"
Error: The light from the hatch the left-behinders see from afar looks more like the bright white light from the hatch after it had been blown open as seen in "Man of Science, Man of Faith", rather than the dim yellow light from the hatch window Locke was able to look straight into at the end of "Deus Ex Machina".
Reason: Gregg Nations at The Fuselage actually explained this. "Sometimes you tell production you want something to be a certain way, but what comes back in dailies isn't exactly what you'd hoped for." Source. In the end, it would've meant a whole reshoot, which means more costs and more time. I would be kinda annoyed if they spent a lot of their budget on getting the Hatch light exactly right.

Episode: "This Place is Death"
Error: Danielle gives the date of leaving Tahiti as November 15th 1988. In "Pilot, Part 2", Sayid says the message Danielle left had been playing for 16 years and 5 months as of the day following the crash of flight 815 (September 23rd 2004). Furthermore in "Through the Looking Glass" we also find out that Danielle had left the message at the radio tower 3 days before Alex was born which would have been 2 months after Danielle first arrived on the island. Therefore the message had been playing for approximately 15 years and 7 months.
Reason: Well, Sayid had a pretty complex calculation to do...

Episode: "316"
Error: Locke's head is resting on a different pillow and he is wearing a different necktie than in "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" in the coffin.
Reason: That's just lazy.

Episode: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"
Error:Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute is portrayed in earlier episodes as a place Jack can stop by after work to visit Hurley. However in this episode, the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute is identified as being in Santa Rosa, CA. which is over 400 miles from the hospital where Jack works in Santa Monica, CA. While the city of Santa Rosa, CA is mainly a large metropolitan area, there are numerous foothills and outlying undeveloped territory as the mental institute is shown to be set in the countryside.
Reason: Interesting, maybe they always meant for the institute to be there but just did a lack of research early on.

Episode: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"
Error: The content of Locke's conversations with the O6 and Walt seem to be very different to what they had previously described.
Reason: The pessimist would say laziness/lack of research, the optimist would say it was time constraints, and we didn't see everything. I think both.

Episode: "LaFleur"
Error: The little girl that Daniel presumes to be Charlotte exists in 1974, yet Ben previously mentioned that Charlotte was born in 1979.
Reason: An actress who interfered with the writing of the show. The March 19, 2009 podcast revealed that the original script for "Confirmed Dead" stated that Charlotte was born in 1970. Damon and Carlton said that Rebecca Mader, the actress who played Charlotte, changed the year (on her own) to 1979 to correspond to her own birth year. The error was not fixed in editing, though Damon and Carlton admit now that it should have been 1970 all along.

Episode: "Namaste"
Error(?): A mystery woman appears behind Sun in the processing center.
Reason: May not actually be an error. It was this mystery that inspired me to write this post. Personally, I think it's some really poor on-set and post-production work, and some random production assistant got caught in the frame. Others think it's deliberately someone we know Claire, Charlotte, even Libby. If it is an Easter Egg, it's a damn good one.

Here's another two of my favourite "possible errors" from seasons past.

Episode: "The Man From Tallahassee"
Error(?): Locke comes back wet when he "detonates" the sub.
Reason: Many fans have speculated, and still do, that Locke only blew up the jetty and is saving the submarine for some other time. Personally, I think he did blow it up otherwise we would surely know by now...but the theories continue.

Episode: "Confirmed Dead"
Error(?): In Miles' flashback, the picture frames in the home change in style after he comes down the stairs.
Reason: I really don't know, and would love some closure from Darlton. (Hint hint, Ama) If it was a Faraday/Desmond scene, I would immediately call deliberate, but it was Miles. He's pretty much a "redshirt with a twist", it's been one and a half seasons and he's had no real character development. Another weird point is that all the pictures and their positioning are the same, only the frames have changed. Weird, but that's Lost for ya.

Food for Thought: Stocking the Shelter

During the recent two-week Lost hiatus (spanning from “LaFleur” to “Namaste,”) I have often found my days without suspense or action. My Wednesday nights are generally spent sitting forlornly in front of the television, trying to patch the gap left by Lost with Lie to Me, which is a good show. But it’s no Lost.

Occasionally, though, I stumble upon something that captures my attention and imagination the way Lost does. Something that mixes drama and science-fiction so well that it is perhaps comparable to Lost. With the long, eight-month hiatus looming in the distance, it is the time to start stocking our hiatus-shelter with reading materials and DVDs to keep us all happily occupied. Here are five suggestions I have for keeping your life mysterious during the hiatus.

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guinn

A short 192 pages, this tiny novel doesn’t seem worth it at a first glance. But inside, it is a well-developed science fiction novel in the vein of Philip K. Dick’s works. The story of a man who can change reality through his dreams, this book captures many of the right versus wrong themes that you often see in Lost, and offers wonderfully morally grey characters that can’t help but remind you of Benjamin Linus.

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Already the Lostpedia Book Club’s January selection, Watchmen is a wonderful graphic novel about retired superheroes investigating the murder of an old comrade. While this brief synopsis may not imply much to do with Lost, it is a deep book with many allegorical concepts. If you look for them, there are plenty of Lost references. And, as with above, the characters are as complex and tortured as anyone on Lost. As an added bonus, the back of the book features an endorsement from Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, calling the book the “greatest piece of popular fiction ever produced.” Read the book, then see the movie.

Timeline by Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton has had an impact on the fanbase of Lost, even though his works have only been mentioned once on the show (in an offhand Jurassic Park quote by Nikki). But his real contribution was the book Prey, which in turn spawned the “nanobot cloud” theory that was very popular around the Lost community before it was eventually shot down by Damon Lindelof. I’m suggesting Crichton’s book Timeline, however, because it deals with time travel, which has become a staple of the show. A well-written masterpiece featuring similar paradoxes created by Lost, this is definitely a must read for any Lost (not to mention science fiction) fan.

Carnivale

This drama series ran for two seasons on HBO, and its cancellation is one of the greatest tragedies of modern storytelling. In the series, a travelling carnival working in the Dust Bowl meets a young man whom they deem is special, while many miles away, a preacher discovers that he has supernatural powers. Starring Lost’s own Clancy Brown (Kelvin Inman) as the preacher, and featuring direction by Lost producer Jack Bender, this show is a must-see for all science-fiction fans.

Fringe

If you haven’t been watching J.J. Abrams’ new show, it’s not too late to start. Unlike Lost, Fringe is a monster of the week-type show (think X-Files) that has an overarching story. Starring Lost’s own Lance Reddick (Matthew Abaddon), this series is a wonderful break from many of the procedural dramas that plague primetime television. It’s my backup plan after the end of Lost.

Those are just five of my suggestions for your hiatus protection shelter for 2009-2010. That, of course, doesn’t include the obviously referenced books of VALIS, Slaughterhouse-Five, and The Third Policeman (all of which are fantastic reads).

However, I’ve already read and seen all of the things I listed above, so now I’m turning to you, the reader, for requests. Do you have a book, TV show, or movie that you think the rest of us should watch before the long hiatus hits? Share it with me and everyone else in the comment section.

Thank you, Namaste, and good luck.

Episode Review - 5x09 "Namaste"

A brown stain on the ceiling became a living, breathing person. A hardened killer became an innocent baby. And a once-fearless leader was reduced to an insignificant workman. Such was the material that compiled last night’s episode “Namaste,” the ninth episode of the fifth season. And what wonderful material it was.

A two week break followed March 4^th’s “LaFleur,” and even this small hiatus was enough to have Lost fans chomping at the bit to see the first words spoken between Sawyer and Kate in three years. But when TV’s reigning island drama returned last night, it was instead Hurley who got the first word in, bear-hugging Sawyer and whooping with joy, followed by a polite greeting from Jack and the predictably warm response from Kate. It’s obvious that the sparks between them have faded from their time apart, and it seems like they both know it.

However surprisingly, this was not the show-stopping point of the episode, even though it was likely the most anticipated. While not revealing anything major, several small bits of mythology were created or wrapped up. The most notable mythological aspect of the show was the appearance of Radzinsky.

We had only heard of Radzinsky up until this point, with his suicide being mentioned by Kelvin Inman in the second season finale, “Live Together, Die Alone.” And though it took two-and-a-half years to get around to it, we finally get to see the owner of that brown splotch on the Swan’s ceiling. Played by small-time television player Eric Lange, Radzinsky was first seen arguing with Jin over using equipment in the Flame. To tell the truth, the character of Radzinsky wasn’t as exciting as the reveal was. The character seems like Frogurt 2.0, an annoying character that serves no purpose other than to be obstinate and troublesome. The only interesting moment with the character thus far has been the model of the Swan station, suggesting that Radzinsky also had a hand in the conception of the Swan, instead of just occupying it. It’s obvious that the character will return next week, and I sincerely hope that the character has more depth added to him.

Another wonderful reveal was the identity of Horace and Amy’s baby, who turned out to be none other than the vengeful Other Ethan, who terrorized the survivors throughout the show’s first season, and had been periodically reappearing as recently as this season’s opener, “Because You Left.” The moment is shocking for Juliet, who was recruited to the Island by Ethan. It’s interesting to see ends that you didn’t know were loose tied up. And, come to think of it, Ethan does look a little like Amy.

Jack’s assignment as a workman was both a comedic relief from the intensity of the episode, as well as a significant character development that signifies Jack’s further downfall. The once-powerful leader of the castaways, who made critical decisions which sometimes resulted in life and death, has now been reduced to nothing more than a janitor, a contemporary of the pitiful Roger Linus, and a non-important part of the DHARMA Initiative. If Sawyer chose the jobs for the survivors, he certainly chose this job to further humiliate Jack for all his persecution of Sawyer during the first four seasons. Well played, Mr. LaFleur, well played.

Naveen Andrews was wonderful in this episode as the extremely unlucky Sayid, who was separated from the other three survivors by chance, and was instead forced into an antagonistic position with DHARMA, even though he is innocent. However, one wonders how long that innocence will last, especially after his expression upon meeting a young Ben. I suspect that he’ll want some revenge for the ceaseless manipulation caused by the bug-eyed puppet master. And did anyone notice the irony in that last scene? When Sayid met Ben for the first time in “One of Them,” Ben was a prisoner of Rousseau. When Ben met Sayid for the first time in last-nights showstopper, Sayid was a prisoner of DHARMA. The writers are smart, guys.

And let’s not forget about our 316-ers, the new set of castaways who landed on the Hydra Island. The crash is recreated from Frank’s perspective, and shows the plane’s crash on the Island, including their discovery of the runway. This begs for the question: was the runway built for this purpose? Was it commissioned by Ben, who somehow could tell it would be needed in the future? Or is the runway simply a coincidence, meant for something besides Flight 316? Only time will tell.

Caesar was certainly not my favorite character in this episode – though of course, new characters who act as though they know more than older characters always annoy me. Frank, however, was wonderful in this episode – it’s just great to see him back on the island. I was sure that we wouldn’t see him again after season four, and I am certainly glad to be proven wrong. Jeff Fahey is a wonderful actor, even though I can’t look at him shaven without thinking of Jobe from The Lawnmower Man.

Christian Shephard’s appearance this episode was well-crafted; the slow, silhouetted reveal was perfect for the tensions in the scene, and his interactions with Sun in the eerily abandoned barracks were both mysterious and invigorating. “A bit of a journey ahead of you,” brings me that warm, tingling feeling that comes when I know a great storyline is ahead. Speaking of the abandoned Barracks, I wonder how they became so desolate. Is it a result of the monster’s rampage through them in “The Shape of Things to Come?” Or is it something else?

Overall, I liked the episode. The most common complaint I’ve heard was that was a filler/transition episode to get the characters where they need to be for future storylines. And that’s probably true. However, not every episode can be an action-packed, game-changing episode. The season has probably hit its midseason lull, but I don’t think that will last for more than this episode.

Mysteries have been created, and a few solved. What will next week’s episode, “He’s Our You” bring? Will we find out how Sun will be reunited with Jin? Will the introduction of Kate cause tension between Sawyer and Juliet? Will Jack clean his first bathroom? It’s impossible to tell (unless you’re a spoiler person – which I’m not), but I can tell you one thing. It’ll undoubtedly be the best piece of television next week.

Fan in ABC's Mailbox

In case you haven't heard, Darlton have put the Season 5 code-named finale scene is in the hands of any Lost fan.

All you have to do is go to http://blogs.abc.com/asklost/ and enter your choice!

LP is trying to have the winning name, with the "Invisibul Dinasaur Hed" [sic]. For the uninitiated, the name comes from the biggest running joke on the Lostpedia Forums. Many forumers create hilarious "DHs" (see right for a classic example by Paperknives) of each others' posts, with the thread that they all go originating with an out-there theory and moving on to more than 11 000 posts!. I strongly recommend if you have a spare day or two to read the whole thread for constant hilarity!

Of course, feel free to submit your own ideas, and let me know in the comments.

Food for Thought: Love the Questions

It’s my first time writing on the Lostpedia blog. At first, I was unsure of what to write. I flipped around ideas of doing a blog about Watchmen or The Lawnmower Man. However, when I simply quit thinking about it, the perfect blog came to my mind.

My grandfather died last Thursday, at the age of 70. He was afflicted with a lung condition that eventually caused his breathing to stop. It obviously caused my absence from the wiki for a few days surrounding this fateful event. Aside from being part of my family, however, my grandfather was also the reason that I began watching Lost.

He urged me to catch up and start watching Lost at the beginning of season three. I was reluctant to such a large commitment, but after a few nudges from him, I picked up the first season DVD. It was (of course) addictive, and I finished it in a week. Season two came afterward, and I finished it in another week. My grandfather and I would bounce theories off each other constantly, throughout seasons three and four. He was the only person in my family (besides me) who really enjoyed the science fiction element of Lost, and we had many hour-long conversations about just what the hell was going on to those survivors.

A few days after “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” aired, my grandfather was taken to the hospital and put into intensive care. The next Wednesday, he was almost unable to watch “LaFleur,” due to his drifting in and out of sleep. I never got to theorize with him about that episode, because he died the next day.

It certainly raised within me a scary question: what if we don’t make it to the end? Like the survivors on that island, there’s no guarantee that we’ll get to see the big reveal. But there’s something that my grandfather said to me a few weeks before he died. Things weren’t looking great for him even then, and he knew it. We were having one of our numerous discussions about Lost when he said one of the many profound things he’s been known to say.

“I’m probably not going to make it to the end of the show,” he said, somewhat sadly. ”And I might not get all the answers. But I haven’t worried about the answers for a while.” He paused, a grin spreading on his face. “I’ve learned to love the questions.”

He was right. Too many of us complain that there aren’t enough answers being given, and that there are too many questions popping up. But it is a mystery show, after all. We should all learn to love the questions.

The Lostpedia Interview: Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse!

Lostpedia has arranged an interview with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, co-creators, executive producers and head writers of Lost!

Please see this thread for more information and to submit your questions, or submit your questions on the talk page.

Season 5 Thus Far

Lost Season 5 is half-way through. Only nine more episodes to go until the fifth season comes to a close. This season has been filled with exciting elements of time travel, mystery, and mythology. In the last episode, "LaFleur", we dove into the Barracks with Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, and Miles to see the DHARMA Initiative in its heyday.

The Islanders have stopped jumping through time to various Island eras; we are now stuck in DHARMA time, for now at least. There will be no new episode this upcoming Wednesday, so I thought I'd take this time to recap and rehash Season 5 thus far. I have included a recap, and a list of amazing and unforgettable "LOST" moments from each episode so far:

Episode 1: "Because You Left"

Season 5 began with a mind-blowing opening scene. Pierre Chang (a.k.a. Marvin Candle, Mark Wickmund, Edgar Halliwax) is seen inside the Barracks, along with his presumed wife and child. We see him shooting the Arrow Orientation film, and he then goes to the Orchid. He happens to bump into one of the Islander's we've come to know well: freighter physicist Daniel Faraday. Back at the beach, the survivors see that their camp is missing, and Daniel says that "it hasn't been built yet." John Locke (who was with the Others in "There' No Place Like Home, Part 3")is standing alone in the forest. He sees the Beechcraft crash on the Island. While climbing up to the Beechcraft, he is shot by Ethan. Locke tries to explain what's happening, but Ethan prepares to kill him when a time flash prevents his death. Richard finds Locke, and heals his wound. He explains that Locke must leave the Island to save them, and that he will have to die. Daniel talks to Desmond at the Swan station, saying that he must find Daniel's mother. Desmond awakes off the Island, and sails to Oxford with Penny.

"LOST" Moments

• Pierre Chang shooting the Arrow film
• We discover the Arrow's true purpose: to create defensives against the Hostiles (much cooler than a storage and restocking facility!)
• Somebody knows that Aaron is not Kate's child, and threatens to bring the sheriff if she won't comply
• Locke sees the Beechcraft crash-land on the Island
• Ethan shoots his own leader (John Locke)...
• Hurley standing casually on the balcony overlooking passers-by, with a gun...:)
• Daniel talks to Desmond, saying that he is the only one who can save them (by finding his mother, Eloise Hawking)

Episode 2: "The Lie"

Episode 2 is a fantastic continuation of the premiere. The off-Island adventures of the Oceanic 6 continue, and a now-wanted-for-murder Hurley is hiding from the authorities. The survivors try to make a fire at camp, and Neil intervenes, claiming they're all going to die because they can't even make fire. Ironically, he is shot by a flaming arrow, and the survivors run to the creek. Off the Island, a mysterious woman is inside of a dark room. She goes upstairs to a church, and sees Benjamin Linus. She reveals herself as Eloise Hawking (the same lady who talked with Desmond in "Flashes Before Your Eyes"). She says that they only have 70 hours to get them to go back.

"LOST" Moments

• Hurley telling his mom 'the truth' about crashing on Flight 815
• Frogurt on fire - a classic reminder that redshirts should never intervene with camp problems.
• Ana Lucia Cortez tells Hurley, 'Libby says hi'.
• The classic Hot Pocket scene...
• Eloise Hawking - "Then God help us all..."

Episode 3: "Jughead"

Episode three begins with something that doesn't surprise me; two redshirts trip over bombs, and Daniel, Charlotte, and Miles are taken to the Hostiles camp. Faraday devises and plan, and makes Richard Alpert believe they were sent to render their hydrogen bomb inert, so they won't die. Jones (a.k.a. Charles Widmore) escapes from Sawyer, Locke, and Juliet, and runs to the camp. Ellie leads Daniel to the bomb, where he tells her that they must bury it. Back at the army camp, Locke encounters Richard, telling him that he was sent by Jacob. Locke tells Richard to find him on May 30th, 1956 (his birthdate). Off the Island, Desmond and Penny have their child, Desmond goes back to Oxford, and demands Widmore tell him where Faraday's mother is.

"LOST" Moments

• Daniel confesses his love for Charlotte
• Widmore was on the Island... and he's an Other
• Desmond and Penny's child was named after Charlie Pace...:)

Episode 4: "The Little Prince"

In this episode, Locke says that they need to go to the Orchid since it's their best chance to stop the time shifts. On their way to the camp, they see a light in the sky. Locke knows it's from the Hatch, which means we're in the Season 1 time period of "Deus Ex Machina" and "Do No Harm". This is confirmed when Sawyer sees Kate in the jungle, delivering Claire's baby Aaron. Off the Island, Sun plots to kill Ben, Hurley is avoiding Ben by going to jail, Sayid recovers from the horse tranquillizers, and Jack and Kate follow Dan Norton to find his client. They discover that Carole Littleton (the woman Norton went to see) was not his client afterall, and she didn't even know about Aaron. Ben tells Kate that he was the client, and that Aaron is not her son.

"LOST" Moments

• Sawyer witnesses Kate delivering Aaron in an emotional and unforgetable scene
• Ben is revealed to be the client
• We see an Ajira Airways water bottle, which was a shout-out to avid LOST fans worldwide.
• The science expedition (Rousseau, Montand, Rovert, etc.) crashes on the Island
• Jin is alive!!!

Episode 5: "This Place Is Death"

Finally, after four entire seasons of anticipation, we get to see the story of Danielle Rousseau and her doomed science expedition. The expedition is attacked by the Monster, and Montand loses his arm while being dragged into the Temple. Later on, Robert attempts to shoot Rousseau, but is missing the firing pin (reminiscent of Sayid and Danielle's meeting in "Solitary"). On their way to the Orchid, Charlotte dies of temporal displacement. Locke descends down the Orchid well, and is met by Christian Shephard, who says that he must move the Island. Off the Island, Ben takes Jack and Sun to Eloise Hawking, who is stationed at the Lamp Post. Ben gives Sun Jin's wedding ring as proof of his survival.

"LOST" Moments

• Montand loses his arm
• We see a Temple (possibly The Temple) in the Dark Territory
• Charlotte dies from temporal displacement
• Locke turns the frozen wheel

Episode 6: "316"

Episode 6 starts with a replica scene of "Pilot, Part 1". Jack awakes in the jungle, and runs to find Hurley and Kate, who are in the lagoon. Off the Island, Hawking explains the Lamp Post's purpose, and gives Jack Locke's suicide note. At Eloise's church, Ben tells Jack the Biblical story of Thomas the Apostle. Thomas wasn't convinced of Jesus' ressurection until he could feel his wounds. Ben tells Jack, "we're all convinced sooner or later", which is a symbolic representation of Jack's science vs. faith dilemma. Jack, Hurley, Kate, Sayid, and Sun eventually go to the airport to board Ajira Airway Flight 316. There are many proxies and parallels we see that relate to the boarding of Oceanic Flight 815, back in Season 1: Sayid is taken in under custody (just like Kate and Mars). Locke was in a coffin on the plane (just like Christian Shephard was). Hurley was reading a Spanish comic book (much like the Spanish Green Lantern comic from Flight 815).

"LOST" Moments

• Eloise and the Lamp Post Station
• Frank Lapidus is the pilot! - "We're not going to Guam, are we?"
• Jin in a DHARMA van, and wearing a DHARMA suit

Episode 7: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

This episode reveals the epic story of John Locke, and his off-Island mission to get the Oceanic 6 to return to the Island. In "Because You Left", Richard told Locke that he had to die in order to bring them back. Christian confirmed this by saying, "that's why they call it sacrifice." When Locke is off the Island, Charles Widmore assures him that he won't die, and that he wants to help John to bring them back. Widmore explains that a war is coming, and Locke must be on the Island for the right side to win. Matthew Abaddon takes Locke to find the Oceanic 6. Sayid and Kate both refuse to return, and Locke doesn't ask Walt because he's "been through enough." When Abaddon is shot by Ben, Locke gets into a car accident, and ends up at the hospital Jack works at. Jack tells Locke he's just a lonely old man who survived a plane crash, and that fate isn't real. Locke attempts to hang himself, but Ben intervenes, saying that he "still has work to do." When Locke mentions that Jin is still alive, and that he knows about Eloise Hawking, Ben strangles him to death.

"LOST" Moments

• Widmore was once the leader of the Others
• Abaddon was shot... by Ben!
• Ben murders Locke, right after preventing him from hanging himself
• Ben is with the injured Ajira survivors

Episode 8: "LaFleur"

Miles, Sawyer, Jin, and Juliet are near the Orchid well, right after one of the time shifts. We get to see something that all LOST fans have been anticipating since "Live Together, Die Alone": the four-toed statue. After Locke turns the wheel, the nosebleeds stop, and the Islanders gain their composure As they head back to the beach camp, they see two Hostiles about to kill a woman. Sawyer intervenes, killing the Hostiles. The woman insists that they bury the bodies, because of their truce. At the Barracks, Sawyer tells Horace Goodspeed that they crashed on the Island in a salvage vessel, and that his name is Jim LaFleur. Richard Alpert makes a casual appearance at the Barracks at nighttime, talking peacefully with DHARMA nemesis Goodspeed. Richard demans retribution for them breaking the truce. Sawyer explains that he shot the men, and he isn't a part of DHARMA. Sawyer says that he's waiting for John Locke (the man who entered their camp in 1954) to return. Three years later, we see that "James LaFleur" is head of security at the Barracks and Juliet is working at the Motor Pool. We also see that Sawyer and Juliet have a strong relationship with each other. Sawyer is radioed by Jin who says that he's found the survivors at the North Valley.

"LOST" Moments

• We finally see the four-toed staue...
• Richard visits the Barracks
• Sawyer is head of DHARMA security!
• Sawyer & Juliet together - they're a perfect couple...
• The survivors have a grand reunion, seeing each other after more than three years apart.

Season 5 has exceeded all of my expecations for LOST. The writers have perfectly blended elements of mythology with character development. Season 5 has been a season full of time travel, mysticism, religion, science, faith and mytholgogy - which are all key incredients to the recipe of LOST. Every episode of this season has been incredibly unique and intriguing. Now that we are in DHARMA times, we will be able to learn the many mysteries of pre-purge DHARMA, and their historic conflict with the Island's hostile and indigenous inhabitants. Hopefully we will see more of the Island's enigmatic DHARMA stations (the Flame, Tempest, Staff, Orchid, Swan, Pearl, Temple, Arrow, Hydra, Looking Glass) and also see more DHARMA characters (Radzinski, Chang, the DeGroots).

We are half-way through this season, and so far the episodes have been incredible. I have a good feeling the second half of this season will be no different.

Lostpedia Book Club: "Ulysses" Read Begins

Apologies that the announcement blog for this one is a few days late - it's been a very hectic week! Anyway, it is with pleasure that I can say that this month's Lostpedia Book Club read is "Ulysses" by James Joyce. After the book made an appearance in a recent episode of LOST, our timing could not be better!

To discuss this book with other readers, visit the forum discussion thread HERE. You can also vote for future reads HERE.

As for April, well with some mild trepidation, we've decided to go with "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller. Now don't infer that we don't like this book - it's awesome - it's just that it is hella long (no pun intended). Hopefully though, this won't stop the intrepid Lostpedian readers, and so let's see how people do with it next month. Get ready for April's read by buying the book (through Amazon US) or borrowing it from a US library (international crew: regional Amazons, etc etc).

Episode Review - 5x08 "LaFleur"

What can you tell from looking at the rear end of a statue? How is this episode different? What's up with people now getting pregnant and living? Why does there seem to be a DHARMA logo for everything these days? And since when was Horace the big DHARMA boss? All this and more, as we delve into 5x08.

No random writer this week - your usual simpleton heads it up with surprising ease. At first glance, this episode seemed very character centric as opposed to mythology (though of course a good Lost ep uses both well) - Sawyer moving on from Kate to Juliet, and the whole Horace jealousy theme a shape of things to come. But when actually reviewing now, one almost forgets just how much happened in this ep, and how it is actually quite special. Firstly, it's nice to see a Sawyer centric - it seems to have been a while since we've had one of those (someone said not since Season 3... that can't be right, can it?). But really, the whole notion of 'centric' seems to have gone down the well with this being one of the first clear episodes where there is no "main story, flash to certain event, main story" - the whole "present" of either being three years earlier or three years later was blurred with the opening - "three years earlier" taking place immediately after the episode 316, which one was tempted to call "present time". Now that we're three years later, it does kind of feel like time on the show has had its last nail in the coffin - and we're completely disorientated from now on. Will we get back to 2007 (assuming that is "normal time"... and have I now just contradicted myself by saying there is such a thing as "normal time" anymore)?

Let's start reviewing significant events with the point in time Sawyer and the gang initially went to... way back in time as Miles suggests. I'm guessing it's safe to assume that enormous statue will soon become just a four-toed one at some point in the future? Or is it another statue (I think it's kinda obvious it's not though)? But what do you think about it? Egyptiany? Very tall for a start - some kind of Collossus of Rhodes deal? Except Rhodes held up an arm, and this one seems to be wearing some kind of headgear, and also hands by the sides holding... snakes... weapons... the right hand item looks like the top of an ankh to me (which would fit with Paul's necklace)? And I dunno why... but the left hand item makes me think "gun". Whatever's there... it's at a time when there was the statue, but pre the well - which seemed odd as they commented how old the well was. So that would imply there was the statue time folk who used sandy stone, then another age who used dark stones to build a well, and then the military, and then DHARMA.... Sounds like the Island has just ALWAYS had people there. Let us know your theories.

Let's move to the DHARMA Initiative - which is great to see in full swing, and even funner to see that Sawyer has suddenly become the Island expert on DHARMA stations and what not. I didn't like how there was a sheriff logo, and then a maintenance logo - I preferred when the logos evoked mysterious and elusive meaning rather than "spanner means we fix cars". Wish they had a "Spanner" station though - that'd be quite amusing (doesn't really have the same ring as "I'm heading to the Orchid!"). One thing striking though was how Sawyer used his chance to talk to Richard, and how he sort of spread the legend of John Locke. When Richard et al constantly say how Locke is special, is it true or is it just manufactured by a series of events and testimonies? Does it matter either way though... let's just bask in the writers listening to us by mentioning Alpert's eye liner - very cool shout-out to the dieharder fans.

Finishing up, a big deal in this episode was how Amy managed to have her baby on the Island. It was good to see that the writers didn't just gloss over this for us to speculate, Juliet and Sawyer actually said what we were all thinking when they theorised that pregnancies might not be terminal yet. But why isn't it? Does it have anything to do with electromagnetism, radiation, maybe the sickness even? It could be anything, but it sounds like a single event triggers this phenomenon. It'll be interesting to see what changes on the Island.

Will we stay in the 70s permanently now, with flashes over to Locke and his band of new dour Losties (c'mon Caesar, glass half full dude)? Or will the arrival of Jack and co somehow lead to them jumping forward again? What's certain is that sparks are bound to fly... as the old love triangle with a stray Juliet now firmly becomes a love square. Will fists fly? Will Kate be fine with it and just get with Jack? Don't they have bigger issues to be worrying about right now!!!