Hey There, Twitchy!

Hopefully no one will be too twitchy until tomorrow night, when I'll publish my thoughts on the latest episode. Sadly, a social event prevents me from posting adequately tonight.

Is Michael Emerson as Scary as Ben Linus?

Well, I haven't watched the episode they aired last night. I usually don't watch the compilations, even though I've had several people tell me that they often learn something from the compilation. I hope that if you did watch, you'll let me know. Leave a comment!

In the meantime, I wanted to share something with you. First, please understand, I don't keep up with celebrity gossip. I don't know anything more about what is going on in their world other than what's on the covers of the magazines at the grocery aisle. Some things I've heard about - Evangeline Lilly and Dominic Monaghan apparently dated. I was a little bemused by all the arrests going on there for a while (Is there really nothing else to do in Hawaii besides drink and drive? Really?). Oh, and Josh Holloway and his wife were not only robbed, hey also had a baby. I assume the two events were not related. That doesn't mean that I don't get excited about some news, though. Watching the 2005 Emmy Awards I was on the edge of my seat, as both Naveen Andrews and Terry O'Quinn were nominated (they lost to Wm Shatner, I'm sad to say). I was in Nirvana two years later when O'Quinn won the award (and cried again watching him cry). Michael Emerson has actually been nominated twice, and I hope he'll win one before it's over - he's truly deserving.

About Emerson - I've heard he's the nicest guy possible. I don't know if that's true, and I've cetainly no way to verify. And it really doesn't matter. But I thought I'd direct you to the Jimmy Fallon site, where you can view Fallon's interview with Emerson a couple of weeks ago. Then you tell me - is he as scary as Benjamin?

I'm sure there's a better way to do this but blimey if I know how!

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/clips/michael-emerson-part-1-41609/1087731/

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/clips/michael-emerson-part-2-41609/1087762/

Some Like it Hoth

…and your daddy don’t rock and roll

Is anyone surprised that yet another character has daddy-issues? Let me think. I’ll go alphabetical. Ben’s father is/was an alcoholic who blames his son for killing his wife. Hurley’s father only returned to the Reyes family after the lottery win. Jack ratted on his alcoholic father after a botched surgery led to a patient’s death. Sawyer heard his father shoot his mother and himself to death. Jin was embarrassed by his father’s lowly station in life. Locke’s father was a con man who conned his own son out of a kidney. And tried to kill him. Sayid’s father was a hard ass. Walt's father not only signed over his parental rights when Walt was younger, but he also confessed to Walt that he killed Ana Lucia and Libby. We don’t know enough about Daniel or Desmond to know about their fathers, but I’m betting there’s conflict enough for both.


We finally got the back story on Miles, and, oddly enough, not much was a surprise. Miles Straume started out life as Miles Chang, son of Lara and Pierre Chang, probably not born on the island (remember that Ethan’s birth was unexpected), though he spent part of his babyhood there. For reasons not yet clear to us, Lara and Miles left the Dharrma Initiative, moving to an apartment in Encino, California. It is there that Miles first manifests his ability to communicate with the dead. Later, Miles and his mother became estranged, only to reunite when Lara is on her deathbed. Even then, she can’t answer Miles’ anguished questions about his father and his “talent”.

Deciding that his mother was right, and that his father didn’t care about them, Miles turned downright mercenary. He used his skill to make money, as much as he could. Nor was he above lying. Naomi Dorrit called it right, he’d do anything if the price is right. And $1.6 million was clearly a right enough price for a dangerous trip to an island with a serial killer. He’d happily not go on the trip, if he’s paid $3.2 million. But I suspect Bram had it right too: all the money in the world isn’t going to fill that empty hole.

Just like the last time they shared the screen, the Hurley and Miles show was the best part. Hurley quickly figured out that Miles can communicate with the dead, a fact that did not upset Hurley, since he talks to the dead too. And happy, sane Hurley wanted to initiate a reunion (or, I guess, a union in this case) between estranged father and son. Miles is fatalistic about it. He knows his father will die in the purge, but he doesn’t believe anything can be done. Miles keeps his hard exterior to Hurley, but it becomes clear that he’s listening when we see him peeping into his family’s window. Pierre Chang is reading a book (about polar bears) to baby Miles. When he gets a phone call, he leaves, then tells the adult Miles he needs him. Miles is excited, but all Pierre needs is a ride.

I guess the episode was telling us that the empty hole was caused by the absence of his father in his life. In that respect, the episode was a little heavy-handed. But, in the way only Lost can do, it turned meaningful as Hurley explored Miles’ situation, and then tried to correct it. I heart Hurley.

Other thoughts…

Miles’ Surname

Miles was born to Lara and Pierre Chang, but goes by the name Straume. According to Lostpedia, Straume is Lara’s maiden name. I’m curious as to how Miles ended up with that as his surname. Maybe it’ll be explored. Maybe not.

Circle of Trust

Miles is now in the Circle of Trust, since “Jim” was out of touch. This involves driving into Hostile territory to deliver a package (body bag) to Radzinski, who will give Miles a package in return (a body in the body bag). No questions asked. Ever the rebel, Miles asks questions, getting no answers from anyone, except, of course, the dead guy. And what killed the dead guy? A tooth filling bursting through his brain. Dr. Chang needs the body, so off to the Orchid Miles must go. Dr. Chang, apparently, is unaware that there are circles, just like any pointy-headed scientist. Dr. Chang needs to consult with Radzinski. When Miles asks about the body, he responds, “What body?” What is going on in Hostile Territory? The building of the Swan. With the numbers. And something about the Swan makes tooth fillings burst out of people’s brains. Ouch.

I just had to wonder, Sawyer, what were you involved in?

Roger and Kate

Well, I guess the flirting is over. Thank goodness! Kate thought she could help Roger by offering him hope, but Roger was drunk, angry, and suspicious. Roger shared his concern with the new guy, Jack, who thinks that Roger isn’t going to say anything after Jack’s talk with him. Yeah, right Jack. Now Roger thinks you’re in it with Kate.

A Missing Child

Juliet tells Roger that Ben is missing, and the Dharma Initiative…does nothing. No posses running around trying to find the missing child. No…nothing. Just Phil (more on him later).

Naomi Dorrit and Felix

Naomi’s recruitment of Miles involved an audition. Miles did his mojo, and learned that Felix made a delivery to Widmore of papers, photos of empty graves, and an invoice for an old plane. Did you get excited? I did, but I still don’t think that this proves that Widmore planted that plane. Ben could have, and the documents could have been proof of such being delivered to Widmore. However, if that were the case, why kill the messenger?

$1.6 Million

This was the price Miles would earn upon helping Dorrit catch Ben. He doubled that price to either not get on the boat (to Bram) or tell everyone that Ben was dead (in Eggtown). Now we know where that number came from.

Bram

So, I honestly didn’t recognize Bram. If it weren’t for the blogs, I’d have never known that he was with Ilana when she demanded Frank answer, “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” I guess that Bram and Ilana know. I’m still curious. However, we can be certain that he’s not working for Widmore. Does that mean he’s working for Ben? Hawking? And what kind of name is Bram, anyway?

The Empire Strikes Back

Hurley, who’s seen this movie over 200 times, decides that he’ll help George Lucas and write the script for the next Star Wars movie for him, with a few improvements. Too bad Hurley couldn’t have written the scripts for the last three movies. But I digress. Hurley compares Miles to Luke Skywalker, pointing out that Luke’s refusal to talk with his own father led to the loss of an arm (or hand – whatever) and the introduction of the Ewoks. "And let’s face it. The Ewoks sucked, dude."

Hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs could be seen on the blackboard in the classroom that Jack and Roger cleaned. The internet people have translated some of them to be “Writings of the word of God” and “Egypt”. The Others speak Latin, and the Dharma Initiative (and apparently the original inhabitants of the island) use hieroglyphs. What is it about ancient languages and our island?

Mr. Gray

When Miles gave Mr. Gray his money back, I just assumed he was feeling guilty for swindling the guy. But that was too simple. Miles was feeling guilty for cheating the son.

Phil

I knew Phil would be trouble.

Daniel

So, he’s back. And he looks almost sane. I hope we’ll learn why he left (perhaps for scaring little red-headed girls?). We know he’ll be assigned to work on the Swan – remember the first scene of the season opener? When Pierre Chang tried to make a video, to be interrupted by a crisis around the donkey wheel? And he brushed by Daniel? This scene had to have occurred after the events of this episode, because it opened with Pierre taking care of baby Miles.

Next week is some kind of rehash episode. Maybe it will be good, I don’t know. We’ll see. Then, four more episodes. And the last one is called, The Incident. Woo hoo!

And I have no idea why the pictures are so small this week.

The Osirian Myth

Here it is, the night before another new episode of Lost, and a new entry. I have below a short introduction to the Osirian myth of ancient Egypt. While gathering this information, I learned that Egyptian myth wasn’t born fully formed like Athena out of Zeus’ head, but evolved over the centuries. This myth is certainly an example of that, as the belief in the After Life and resurrection spread through the land. Thus, Horus was the brother and also the son of Osiris, while Isis took on the traditional roles of other goddesses. For our purposes, Osiris was the first Egyptian to return to life after death, and he and his family took on active roles in the Other World, at turns welcoming and judging souls. I’ve included the earthier creation myth that I suspect is much older than Osiris and his family. Enjoy.

In the primordial Nun, before the world existed, there was a formless spirit, which bore inside it the sum of all existence. To keep his luster from extinction, he kept his eyes shut, and lay within the bud of a lotus. Finally, tired of its impersonality, the spirit rose by force of will from the abyss, and appeared in all its glittering splendor. It took the name Atum-Ra, and was the glorious sun-god. From him came all the gods and human beings. Without aid of a woman, he bore forth the twins Shu and Tefnut. Atum-Ra ruled over all as the first Pharaoh. Shu, the personification of Air, and Tefnut, the goddess of water, mated, and gave birth to Geb and Nut. Ra became angered when Geb and Nut married, and Shu forced himself between Nut, the sky goddess, and Geb, the earth god, elevating Nut high into the air, maintaining her with his upraised arms. Geb to this day misses his wife, and his lamentations can still be heard. Nut birthed Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder. Osiris was the first-born son, and the heavens gave rise to shouts of gladness followed by tears and lamentations, because of the misfortunes that awaited him.

Atum-Ra eventually tired of ruling the ungrateful masses, so he withdrew to the heavens, and Shu ruled in his stead. After Shu withdrew, grown equally tired by disease and by the revolt of the people, Geb ruled, to be followed in turn by Osiris.

Osiris was handsome, dark-skinned, and taller than all other men. When Geb retired to the heavens, Osiris took his sister, Isis, as his queen. His first acts were to abolish cannibalism and teach his subjects how to manufacture agricultural instruments. Under Osiris, his people learned how to turn grain into bread and grapes into wine. He built the first temples, and taught the people how to worship. He invented two kinds of flutes to accompany his hymns. He built towns and gave his people just laws.

After civilizing Egypt, Osiris decided to spread his rule throughout the world. He left Egypt to the care of Isis and set forth with his grand vizier, Thoth, and his lieutenants, Anubis and Upuaut. Osiris never raised his arms to another, and ruled by gentleness, whereby he subjected all the peoples of the world. He finally returned to Egypt, where Isis had ruled with wisdom.

Set, however, grew jealous of the power his brother wielded. He organized a plot against his brother, and when the peoples were celebrating the civilization of the world, Set and his conspirators killed Osiris. Isis, overwhelmed with grief over the assassination of her husband, found the body of Osiris, and hid it from Set. Set found the body, and to prevent Isis from using her sorcery, he tore the body into fourteen fragments, hiding the parts throughout the world. Set’s own wife, Nephthys, horrified by his violence, left her husband and joined her sister, Isis, along with Anubis, Thoth, and Horus to find the pieces of Osiris’s body. After all the precious fragments were located, Isis cunningly rejoined them together. She then performed, for the first time, the rites of embalmment which restored the murdered god to life. Once resurrected, Osiris was forevermore safe from the threat of death. He chose not to return to Earth to rule the peoples, but retired to the Other World, where he could welcome the souls of the just and reign over the dead.

Isis fled from the vengeance of Set and raised her posthumously-conceived son, Horus, in seclusion. He was extremely weak as a child, and she resorted to her sorceries many times throughout his youth to save him. Osiris retuned to Earth to teach his son the use of arms. When Horus grew to manhood, he waged war on Set. After innumerable years at war, the gods brought judgment between the two. Discounting Set’s claim that Horus was a bastard, the gods found for Horus, and condemned Set for stealing the patrimony of Horus. Horus thereafter ruled the earth, while his father ruled the Other World. When Horus decided to retire to the Other World, he chose his vizier, Thoth, to follow him to the throne.

Osiris and his family now rule the Other World. Osiris reigns over the dead in the After Life, and warmly welcomes them upon rival. Hathor, Osiris’s aunt, holds a long ladder that allows the deserving dead to climb to heaven. Anubis makes sure that the offerings brought by the deceased’s family reach him. Horus and Anubis escort the dead to be judged. Anubis, Thoth, and Horus then judge the soul of the dead, determining whether the dead deserves to remain in the Other World.

What’s With All the Egyptian Symbolism this Season?

Well, I don’t know. But I thought that I’d write a short rundown of what we’ve seen so far. Later, perhaps on Tuesday, I’ll publish a creation myth involving the Egyptian god, Osiris.


First – the hieroglyphs. We’ve seen the hieroglyphs a number of times, first on the countdown timer when the timer reached zero. Apparently the producers of Lost (called Darlton, to indicate the two main producers) translate those hieroglyphs to mean “underworld”. We’ve seen these same hieroglyphs on the Ajira Airways Boarding Pass (you can barely see them on the corners).

We next saw hieroglyphs on Ben’s secret door to the smoke monster. These apparently translate to something like summon and protection.

The hieroglyphs in the frozen donkey wheel room may translate, appropriately enough, to travel and time. Darlton also allege that the hieroglyph for "resurrection" is present.

Hieroglyphs are also seen on the copy of Daniel’s map that Caesar found in the Hydra Station in The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham. These hieroglyphs were apparently not on the map when we first saw it last season. Some with more time on their hands than I have speculate that the two sets indicate a direction of travel and “time of kings/ancients”.

But it is the Temple itself that is lousy with hieroglyphs. Jin noticed all kinds of hieroglyphs on the Temple walls in This Place is Death. Some of the hieroglyphs on the Temple wall include those that translate to “lifetime” or “period” or “space of time”, “time of kings/ancients”, and “resurrection”. Ben also noted many hieroglyphs on the walls of the underground chamber below the temple walls, but I’ve not yet found translations for those.

In my note on Dead is Dead, I included a picture that I’ve reproduced here. This was found in the underground chamber, and appears to be the smoke monster and the Egyptian god Anubis. Anubis was a jackal-faced god who helped create the funeral rites when he bound Osiris to preserve him from contact with air and other corruptions. He later acts as a guide in the Other World, leading the souls to the hall of judgment, where he weighs the soul of the dead. We may have seen Anubis at an earlier time – or at least his back. Many consider the four-toed statue to be of Anubis. The statue itself hold two ankhs.

Speaking of ankhs, we’ve certainly seen one this season. Amy’s first husband, Paul, wore an ankh, which Amy removed from his body before it was turned over to the Hostiles. Three years later, Horace found the ankh, and terrified that Amy still loved Paul, he went on an explosive bender. In Egyptian mythology, the ankh was carried by the god, Shu, and symbolized “eternal life.”

We’ve also seen a drawing of the Great Sphinx of Giza, which Hurley was drawing when John visited hin in The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham. The great sphinx was carved out of solid rock on the orders of King Khephren over 5,000 years ago. The personification of the rising sun, sphinxes were generally seen as temple guardians.

Finally, the next episode is titled Some Like it Hoth. A few theories about the title include the play on the title of the famous movie. Hoth itself was a frozen ice world in the Empire Strikes Back. But of note for this discussion is the Egyptian god Thoth. Perhaps the title would have been “Some Like it Thoth,” but for the play on words that Hoth created. Thoth was an ibis-headed god who served Osiris and his family as a vizier (what do viziers do, anyway?). He became a mediator between good and evil, making sure that neither had a decisive victory over the other.

I suspect that the producers have chosen Egyptian symbols because of the richness of the mythology that they represent, because of the everlasting battle between good and evil, and because of its focus on resurrection and the After Life. It has been beautifully played, with an ever young Richard Alpert who has seemingly defeated death, the battle between the forces of good and evil (though who is which is often quite difficult to tell), and John Locke’s recent resurrection. I look forward to even more Egyptian symbols.

Dead is Dead

Ben , Ben, Ben…As we watched the flow of Ben’s life as an Other, all I could think was how sad for him. He was saved by the island, clearly marked by Jacob’s favor, but somehow, he lost it, becoming the same kind of man he ejected from the island. But worse, the island is forcing him to follow his successor, the man Ben can’t kill.

It appears that the hardest part about being the leader of the Others is to keep the position. Oh, and to not be arrogant. Or manipulative.

Ben’s Journey

Charles Widmore was the leader when Ben was healed, and he protested when Richard healed him. But a simple four words – Jacob wanted it done – changed Widmore’s attitude. He was almost tender when he met Ben, telling Ben that the island saved his life. But 11 years later, when Ben took Alex from Danielle, Ben openly flouted Widmore’s authority. “You didn’t say she had a child. What was I supposed to do?” Widmore responds, “You might find this difficult to understand, every decision I’ve made has been about protecting this island.” Ben plainly isn’t buying this, demanding to know if Jacob wanted Alex killed, even telling Widmore to kill her.

Around 4 or 5 years later, Ben is pushing his stolen daughter on a swing, to be told by Richard that the submarine is leaving. It’s Widmore, leader no more, clearly angry at his ouster. Why was he deposed? Because he broke the rules, leaving the island too often and having a daughter with an outsider. And what makes Ben think he deserves to take what was Widmore’s? “Because I won’t be selfish. Because I’ll sacrifice anything to protect this island.”

But Ben wouldn’t sacrifice Alex. He argued that it was because Widmore wanted the child to die, not the island. Was that so? More on that later.

So that’s how Ben became Leader. Now, apparently, we’re watching the crown pass from Ben to John. And Ben’s not handling it well.

First, he wakes up to find John Locke, alive and kicking, calm, cool, and clearly in charge. He covers quickly, telling John that he “knew this would happen” and was only surprised because “It’s one thing to believe it, another to see it.” How sincere Ben looked. But later he told Sun that he was as surprised as she was to see John back among the living:

Sun, I had no idea this would happen. Dead is dead. You don’t get to come back from that. Not even here. So the fact that John Locke is walking on this island scares the living heck out of me.

Throughout John and Ben’s journey, John deliberately took Ben’s traditional role. In Ben’s office, John sat in Ben’s chair. John knew where to find the smoke monster. On the way to find said monster, Ben asked John lots of questions, and was obviously dissatisfied with John’s half-answers. Finally, noting that Ben didn’t like it, he added, “Now you know what it was like to be me.”

John, actually, you don’t know what it’s like to be Ben. Ben initially claimed he needed to be judged for breaking the rules by returning to the island, but John saw through that. Ben feels the need to atone for the death of his daughter. The smoke monster showed Ben the moments of his life with Alex, forcing him to relive her final moment. When the smoke then disappeared, Ben looked relieved, and then so happy to see Alex. Who, it turns out, was not Alex. No, the smoke monster can take on the appearance of people, and Alex threatened Ben:

Listen you bastard. I know you’re already planning to kill John again. But if you so much as touch him, I will hunt you down and destroy you. You will listen to every word John Locke says and you will follow every order. Do you understand?

A minute later, Ben tells John, “It let me live.” Ben’s face says he wished it hadn’t.

Some other thoughts:

Ben’s Mother Issues

Ben has issues with mothers. He seemed quite ready to kill Danielle until her child stirred. He hadn’t known the child existed. Seems a little odd to take the child, but it's better than killing the child, I guess. Then, in his confrontation with Penny, he actually lowered his gun after he saw young Charlie Hume. I don’t think Ben can allow another child to grow up without a mother, just like he did. Perhaps that’s why he’s so desperate to get women to carry their babies to term.

Ben’s Memory

Ben’s memory appears to have been altered. He could no longer remember how he was injured, and he seemed genuinely surprised when Sun showed him the picture of Jack, Kate, and Hurley in 1977 Dharma. However, he did remember that he didn’t want to return to this father, and he also remembered as an adult that he had been taken to the Temple to be healed (although it may be that he was told by the Others about the latter event).

Ben’s Hair

Wow. Ben had a lot of bad hair days.

Protecting the Island

Both Ben and Charles insist that their actions are to protect the island. What does the island need protection from?

John

John told Sun, “I assure you, Sun, I’m the same man I’ve always been.” Really John? The same? I don’t think so. We’ve just begun to see the new John. And where was he while Ben was summoning the smoke monster, anyway? And what was the deal with the shoes?

John radiated confidence in this episode. I’ve read other blogs that expressed their belief that John was arrogant. You know, the same way that Widmore and Ben are. Will John become like them, arrogant, manipulative, and selfish?

Caesar

Ben’s ability to manipulate remains intact, and Caesar fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. When Ben later turned around and shot Caesar in the chest, I was truly confused. What was the point of Ben’s manipulation of Caesar? The only goal I can think of was to take Caesar’s gun from him. Bye bye Caesar. We knew you even less than we knew Charlotte.

Ilana and the Guns

So, what is the answer to “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” Did Ilana and her men come to the island prepared to take over once they found their guns or did they become infected by the sickness? Maybe they’ve turned into Others.

Desmond and Penny

I’m so happy that Penny still lives. At least, I presume she still lives. And how strong is Desmond? Shot, I thought, near the heart. Perhaps it was just a flesh wound. Or perhaps it was more, but the island can’t let him die, since we know the island isn’t finished with him yet.

Danielle and Alex

The taking of Alex did not quite match what Danielle told the others in the Season 1 finale, Exodus. She claimed that the day she saw the pillar of smoke, her daughter was taken while she slept at night. We know that there was a pillar of smoke the day that Danielle killed her mates, and she was awakened when Ben was taking her child. Of course, Danielle was telling the survivors this 16 years after the fact, so they aren’t necessarily discrepancies. But now we know where she got one survival skill: “Every time you hear whispers, you run the other way.”

One question we didn’t get answered was whether the island wanted Danielle and Alex to die. If the island had changed her mates into Others, then it might have seen their murders as a punishable crime. Ben told Widmore that it was Charles who desired their deaths, not Jacob. Widmore’s reaction, “I hope you’re right, Ben. You cannot fight the inevitable.” Could the deaths of Alex and Danielle 16 years later have been course correction?

Ethan

Ethan was allowed by the Others to follow Ben, though Ben refused to let Ethan with his mission. Will we learn more about what turned Ethan into an Other? Was it just the worship of a young boy of an older one?

The Temple

Yes, I’m fascinated with the Temple. Hieroglyphs galore, memorials, underground chambers, all kinds of cool stuff. I’m going to keep an eye out for better pictures of that underground room, because I’m sure I missed some of the symbolism.

Sawyer

Absent from this episode. At least this time, I wasn’t at my mother’s house. If the only Lost we watched together were those with nary a glimpse of Sawyer, I think I would be permanently banned.

Is this a lengthy post or what? What did you think? What does the island need protection from? What is lying in the shadow of the statute? Jughead, perhaps?

The Temple

Here it is, another Lost-eve, and I’ve a few thoughts to share about the Temple. The Temple, of course, is where we saw Richard Alpert carry the unconscious young Ben Linus at the end of last week's episode. We don’t know a whole lot about the Temple, so I thought I’d compile what we know here, and then ask my questions.

We first heard of the Temple in Meet Kevin Johnson, when Ben gave Alex a map to the Temple, saying it might be the last safe place on the island. Oddly enough, the map has a Dharma logo on it. When Karl suggested that the survivors go with them to the Temple, Ben refused, saying, “It’s not for them.” We didn’t see the Temple until This Place is Death. Remember when Montand was dragged by the smoke monster/security system into the hole, losing his arm in the process? And remember that Robert, Lacombe, and Brennan followed Montand into the hole, after he called to them? Danielle would have gone into the well too, had Jin not been there to stop her. This occurred at the Temple – or its outer walls, at least. We saw the walls, covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs (there’s another line of thought –all the Egyptian symbols this season). Apparently there was an official podcast after This Place is Death, in which the producers reported that the walls we saw are just an outer perimeter. The Temple is inside these walls.

We know nothing else about the Temple. But after seeing what happened to Robert, Lacombe, and Brennan, and then after hearing what Richard told Kate and Sawyer about what would happen to Ben, it just elicited a slew of thoughts. In case you need reminding, Richard said:

If I take him, he’s not ever going to be the same again. He’ll forget this ever happened and his innocence will be gone. He will always be one of us. Do you still want me to take him?

Is it the Temple that turns people into “Others”? How does it alter them? Were the Frenchmen turned into “Others”? What about being an “Other” made them so deadly to Danielle? Who built the Temple – the “Others”? The Dharma Initiative? Who or what decides who goes to the Temple and who doesn’t? Why was it not for the survivors? Has Juliet been to the Temple? Has she been irrevocably changed?

Who are the “Others”, anyway?

I use quotation marks around the word “Others” because it appears that there are two kinds of Others. Ben and Richard are privy to the Temple, but Karl and Alex were not. And I don't know what the differences are.

I am thoroughly intrigued.

Whatever Happened, Happened

Kate Ain’t So Bad After All!



Am I the only person who liked this week’s episode? For me, this is the first Kate-centric episode where I didn’t want to kill her by episode’s end. Some thoughts:

• Sawyer’s request of Kate before he dropped into the ocean was no real surprise.
• Kate and Cassidy’s friendship didn’t seem like a big stretch to me. These two unconventional women and single moms have quite a bit in common.

But mostly, Kate giving Aaron to Carole Littleton (doesn’t she have a great first name? Too bad they misspelled it.) was the best part of her back story. This is just about the most adult, unselfish thing that Kate has ever done in her life. Cassidy helped Kate realize that Kate took Aaron because Kate needed him (though I’m not sure that I agree it was because Sawyer ran away from Kate). I also thought that her reason for returning to the island was a fairly good one, to get Clair back. Why? Because every child needs his mother.

In 1977, I found myself liking Kate more than I like Jack. Yes, Jack is still hot, but his refusal to treat Ben (again) was, in my opinion, reprehensible. However, some of my friends at work (Hi Amber! I would say hi to Kelly but she claims she doesn’t have time to read my blog. Humph.) think that everyone, especially Kate, expected Jack to fix everything, just like he did their first time on the island. But, in this situation, Jack was the only one that could fix it. Neither Juliet nor Kate is a surgeon, and I don’t think we want Sawyer operating on anyone. And Jack’s reason for not operating on Ben? The island just wants to fix things itself. Whatever that means. I was with Kate; I don’t like the new Jack, either. Jack spoke truly, though, when he noted, “You didn’t like the old me.” Well, there are actually three Jacks. She doesn’t like the new Jack or the drunk, jealous Jack. She likes the old, take charge Jack. And we’ve only seen glimpses of the old Jack recently.

I must say that seeing Roger Linus and Kate talking so familiarly made me squirm a little. Still, we saw a more symptathetic Roger, this time, as he acknowledged that he hasn’t been a great parent. We’ve never seen him actually worry about his son, and he seemed more human. Sadly, it may be too late.

The Comic Interludes

Unlike another friend at work (hi Brian!) who found the conversation between Hurley and Miles to be too long, I thought it was delightful! Both characters are fun to watch on their own, but together, they’ve got great chemistry. Hurley spoke for all of us as he questioned the whole time travel thing. I laughed out loud when Miles gave Hurley his gun and asked to be shot. But Hurley asked the million dollar question: why doesn’t Ben remember Sayid when they meet in 2004?

But I was confused by something Miles said in their conversation; how does Miles know about the wheel?

An Ending?

I also enjoyed the scene between Juliet and Jack more than others did. Juliet was justifiably angry (in my opinion) with Jack for refusing to honor his Hippocratic oath, which Miles and Hurley could tell by the expression on her face – they left awfully fast. Her disappointment in Jack was palpable. I felt confident that any feelings Juliet had for Jack are gone. Not everyone agrees with me on this one. Juliet certainly put Jack in his place: “We didn’t need saving. You came back for you!” And Jack isn’t sure what he’s supposed to be doing, now that he’s back on the island.

Do the Right Thing

I must say that I could not have been more proud of Sawyer than I was in this episode. Throughout the episode, his whole goal was to help young Ben, despite his knowledge of what Ben would grow up into. Actually, what Ben would become didn’t even seem to enter into his thoughts. When Juliet told Sawyer that Ben needs a surgeon, Sawyer quickly tried to convince Jack to operate. When Juliet told Sawyer where Kate was taking Ben, Sawyer joined her, saying, “Damn it, Freckles, I ain’t here to stop you. I’m here to help you.” Kate was, I’m sure, thrilled to have his assistance, but probably not so happy to hear that Sawyer was doing this for Juliet, because Juliet thinks it is wrong to allow a child to die. I so heart Sawyer.

The Choice

Juliet realized she couldn’t save Ben, and after Jack refused, knew that only the Others could. Kate, in full Action Girl mode, took off with Ben in one of the VW vans to save the day. Sawyer helped turn the sonic fence off, and carried Ben into the jungle to meet the Others (I assumed at this time that the island was keeping Ben alive through that trip!). After the Others accused Sawyer and Kate of violating the treaty, Sawyer demanded to see Richard. And Richard’s words were quite ominous:

If I take him, he’s not ever going to be the same again. He’ll forget this ever happened and his innocence will be gone. He will always be one of us. Do you still want me to take him?

As the episode ended, what really struck me was that Jack, Sawyer, and Kate all made choices that led to Ben being Ben. Jack had a hand in refusing to operate on Ben, Sawyer and Kate in agreeing to Richard’s terms. The only other parties were Sayid (of course) and Juliet. But Jack might have been able to save Ben by operating, and Sawyer and Kate might have saved Ben’s soul by refusing to submit him to the Others’ care. Remember all the way back to the second season? When Michael was given a list of Oceanic 816 survivors to bring to the Others? Those on the list were Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley. But Hurley wasn’t their goal – he was sent back. They kept Jack, Kate and Sawyer.

I’m a little disappointed that Ben won’t remember “this”. We don’t know what he will forget – how he was injured? His childhood? We aren’t sure. I guess I was hoping that if Ben does survive, his actions in the past would take on a whole new meaning. Perhaps they still will. Ben will have to have some memory of his life, and he did keep the doll that Annie gave him.

Ending Notes

I’m sure I’m not the only person who caught the Other’s warning to Richard that Ellie and Charles wouldn’t like Richard’s actions. Ellie must be that young woman that held Daniel at gunpoint in Jughead. A lot of people are speculating that she is also Eloise Hawking, Daniel’s mother. Charles Widmore, of course, must be the current leader of the Others. Regardless, Richard doesn’t answer to either. But he still hesitated slightly in taking Ben to the Temple.

And that final scene was fabulous. When Ben awoke, I initially thought he might be suddenly remembering that forgotten time from his childhood, similar to how Desmond remembered his encounter with Daniel in Jughead. Maybe he did. But I didn’t catch who was at his bedside. A quite healthy looking John Locke, “Hello, Ben. Welcome back to the land of the living.”

Now they are both in the land of the living, after brushes with death. And next week focuses on Ben’s redemption, apparently, as the previews show Ben declaring, “I came back to this island to be judged.” We’ll see.

Favorite line: Roger about Sawyer, after Sawyer asked Roger for his keys, “Bastard doesn’t ask any questions he doesn’t know the answer to.” Sawyer must be a trial attorney!

I have some thoughts on the Temple that I will write on later. In the meantime, I’m hoping to hear what y’all thought about this episode. Do you like Kate better? Or do you still feel for Jack?