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.