Lost - The Final Season (Spoilers)

[Gaddabout]

The things that still sort of does bother me is that all the characters in the flash-sideways are in LA, even the ones who were never on the Oceanic flight to LA or were connected to LA at the time of the bombing. I have nothing against LA (except for the Lakers), but Dogen was from Osaka, Rousseau was French, I believe Bejamin Linus was from Oregon, etc. It wouldn't be impossible for them to all end up there--it is a megalopolis, after all--but I hope something in the main storyline explains it.

It just makes me shrug. To me it's all part of the metaphysical interconnectedness of the characters. I'm not sure it's something they need to explain because, for all intents and purposes, it can't be. The idea of interconnectedness is supposed to be a wonderful mystery, and one that's fun to ponder, not pick apart like a baked chicken.

 

[chickenhead]

We're in disagreement on that, which is fine. IMO the the most compelling part of the show has always been how they all got to the island: how it actually works. That's how the bulk of the suspense has been generated, but showing what actually happened in careful reveals. The characters still have to get to Los Angeles, metaphysically connected or not. There's a chance to the explanation for why the island got them all in the end (to paraphrase Ben's comment to Captain Frank) will essentially satisfy that. We'll see.

 

[Gaddabout]

We're in disagreement on that, which is fine. IMO the the most compelling part of the show has always been how they all got to the island: how it actually works. That's how the bulk of the suspense has been generated, but showing what actually happened in careful reveals. The characters still have to get to Los Angeles, metaphysically connected or not. There's a chance to the explanation for why the island got them all in the end (to paraphrase Ben's comment to Captain Frank) will essentially satisfy that. We'll see.

I'm fine to agree to disagree, but not before I take one more shot at persuading you.

If you really want to boil the show down to it's essential allure, it's how all these people are so different but are the same. That's what I got from the original flashbacks. Even as they trekked across the globe, they were somehow predestined to cross paths, in some cases more than once. To me, it's always been a question we were supposed to ponder, to give us something to think about, and trying to explain it would lessen the impact of the sentiment. IMO

But if you still don't agree, fine. Be that way.

 

[Pariah]

The things that still sort of does bother me is that all the characters in the flash-sideways are in LA, even the ones who were never on the Oceanic flight to LA or were connected to LA at the time of the bombing. I have nothing against LA (except for the Lakers), but Dogen was from Osaka, Rousseau was French, I believe Bejamin Linus was from Oregon, etc. It wouldn't be impossible for them to all end up there--it is a megalopolis, after all--but I hope something in the main storyline xplains it. .

I think that's the point. These people have a destiny together -- no matter which timeline they're in. They're connected.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think that's the point. These people have a destiny together -- no matter which timeline they're in. They're connected.

agreed... we've seen that almost EVERYONE who pops up in people's lives so far (save the mechanic in Kate's episode) is someone from the island and Ben basically said to the pilot "You've ended up here anyway"... seems like they will end up together WHEREVER/WHENEVER they are... the question is why?

Maybe in hindsight, I was too harsh on the first couple episodes this season which I though were awful. The last two were fantastic and it seems like both stories (the island/flash whatevers) are now moving forward with purpose and i'm fully back on board to find out what that will be.

Ben really is a fantastic character. Probably my favorite on the show.

 

[chickenhead]

I'm fine to agree to disagree, but not before I take one more shot at persuading you.

If you really want to boil the show down to it's essential allure, it's how all these people are so different but are the same. That's what I got from the original flashbacks. Even as they trekked across the globe, they were somehow predestined to cross paths, in some cases more than once. To me, it's always been a question we were supposed to ponder, to give us something to think about, and trying to explain it would lessen the impact of the sentiment. IMO

But if you still don't agree, fine. Be that way.

I agree...I just want to see how the sausages are made. Maybe it's time to start believing in metaphysical sausage, that springs fully formed like Athena from the head of Zeus.

 

[thirty-two]

Sorry but I can't think of one high schooler who would show up to their teacher's house at night asking about a club meeting. They just should have had her ask him after school or something. I also got weird vibes between Ben and Alex, weird weird vibes.

I thought this was a fantastic episode other than that. Loved Miles and his "Uh oh..." Also like the Jack/Richard showdown. Richard... UNF!

Terrific acting by Michael Emerson, too. I also like Terry OQuinn's subtle changes when he plays Flocke.

And LOL to Alt-Locke raising his hand saying he'd follow Ben. L O FREAKING L.

 

[CaptTurbo]

Is it me or is the girl who plays Alex looking HOT. She looks like she really hits the gym as far as tone. Fantasic body. God I hope she is over 18 or I will feel very dirty.

 

[Gaddabout]

Sorry but I can't think of one high schooler who would show up to their teacher's house at night asking about a club meeting. They just should have had her ask him after school or something. I also got weird vibes between Ben and Alex, weird weird vibes.

Another "how do we cram this storyline in here" moment. The staging was jarring. That whole scene at Ben's house could've been shorter and less bloated. I also was waiting for the creepy teacher moment, but glad they steered it back to Ben playing the role of father. It was critical to his redemption.

 

[thirty-two]

Josh Halloway is freaking HOT. HOT. HOT.

I laughed out loud when Flocke threw Claire off Kate. Such a light-weight!

My guess on who/what is locked on the sub? Desmond!

 

[Cheesebeef]

blegh... after two really great episodes, they lay a complete egg tonight. that sucked.

 

[CaptTurbo]

I actually fast forward on the flash sideways scenes now. Totally useless and a huge waste of time.

 

[Chaplin]

Definitely a filler episode. No drop-dead "WOW!" moments, although I was a little surprised at Sawyer being a cop in the alt-flash.

Solidly made episode, just not very memorable.

Next week's should be great.

 

[Russ Smith]

I guess what's confusing to me now is if fake Locke can get in the plane and fly off the island why does he need to bring other people with him? He doesn't have the pilot in his group so it's not that. Why does he have to play pied piper is he just building an "army" to fight Widmore's people because he assumes they'll have the anti smoke monster gates up and he won't be able to do it himself?

And who killed all the dead people in the pit? Widmore insists it wasn't him, if it was the smoke monster then he could have already had the plane?

It just seems like they are still trying to confuse the viewer is fake Locke really "evil incarnate" and Jacob was good or is it more shades of grey and fake Locke has some good in him?

 

[Chaplin]

Obviously, fake Locke getting off the island is a lot more complicated than just getting in a plane and taking off. Especially with all the boats, the sub, heck, even the donkey wheel underground were all means of leaving the island.

I'm convinced that the Smoke Monster killed all those people. The Tina Fey character was there to gauge just whose side Sawyer was on.

I think I gotta go with Kate on who is behind the locked door on the sub. Desmond. Although there is a small chance that it could be Walt (who is rumored to be coming back to the show at some point).

 

[green machine]

Definitely a filler episode. No drop-dead "WOW!" moments, although I was a little surprised at Sawyer being a cop in the alt-flash.

Solidly made episode, just not very memorable.

Next week's should be great.

I likened this episode to a "get me over fastball", where it's not a bad thing, it just isn't great.

A few interesting tidbits that were already touched on here, and with the cons that both Smokey and Sawyer are running it's hard to tell who really has the upper hand (if either of them do).

 

[Gaddabout]

A couple of thoughts:

- I think Lost requires episodes like this. The pay offs in character development have almost always been so rich when they spend some time setting characters up, and they needed to re-establish Sawyer as a player and not some disengaged sideman. This episode did that. I think Sawyer as the anti-hero has been a tougher sell since we've seen him redeemed more than once, but they've set him up again to fill that role. He ever referred to Kate as "Freckles." That was foreshadowing in my opinion: Sawyer's back.

- They've also made Flocke look more like a sympathetic character. I wish they had spent more time here on this. Maybe they will in the future. I don't think he's sympathetic enough. His best efforts are still clumsy, although I think we're made to believe his honesty -- or whatever that was -- with Sawyer and Kate wasn't totally self-serving. Perhaps he really isn't bent on annihilation and just wants to get off the island. If they keep driving that point home, it's easy to forget he just committed genocide in the temple.

- I didn't think the flash sideways was awful, it just didn't advance the character. All it did was reintroduce the old Sawyer, like, "Hey, remember that interesting guy from Season 1?" The reveal at the end was way too predictable. Also thought the cameo from Charlotte was pointless from start to finish. That was corn-fed filler.

- Next week's episode looks very promising. Finally, some answers about Alpert. I'm very anxious.

 

[nashman]

next week looks great!

 

[TBaslim]

Not my favorite episode, but stoked about next week. Lost seems to have a few of these 'positioning the pieces for the next big show' episodes each season.

FWIW, I find the alt-sideways portions fascinating, because of how they have twists on each of the primary characters with some redemption for each...and because we don't yet know what that universe is all about.

Is it the future for the characters? A possible alt-future? A parallel world? If it turns out to be some parallel world, it will be a waste of time.

That's why my personal theory is that it is some type of merged universe reboot that comes from sacrifices on the island at the end of the season. I think the sideways stuff is the epilogue for the characters.

That is a pretty common theory at this point, so it's probably wrong.

 

[Nasser22]

Not my favorite episode, but stoked about next week. Lost seems to have a few of these 'positioning the pieces for the next big show' episodes each season.

FWIW, I find the alt-sideways portions fascinating, because of how they have twists on each of the primary characters with some redemption for each...and because we don't yet know what that universe is all about.

Is it the future for the characters? A possible alt-future? A parallel world? If it turns out to be some parallel world, it will be a waste of time.

That's why my personal theory is that it is some type of merged universe reboot that comes from sacrifices on the island at the end of the season. I think the sideways stuff is the epilogue for the characters.

That is a pretty common theory at this point, so it's probably wrong.

That's the reason why I really enjoy the alt-sideways parts of the show. I look forward to it all equally. This show is interesting to me because of the characters so I love watching their lives unfold outside of the island; whether this was though flashback, flashforwards, or flashsideways...ha...I look forward to all of it.

Definitely can't wait to see next week's episode about Richard.

 

[chickenhead]

A couple of thoughts:
Also thought the cameo from Charlotte was pointless from start to finish. That was corn-fed filler.

I was a little confused by it because I thought she was actually looking for something beyond a t-shirt when she was rummaging through the drawer. Maybe just because we were intoduced to her in her previous incarnation as duplicitous (or rather, just not on the Losties' team). But then, I don't have a theory for why she would be looking for what she found, unless it has to do with Anthony Cooper/Locke's father's role in this new universe. I guess maybe I'll chalk it up to the overall awkwardness of this episode. Sawyer's too sharp to leave the room right after directing her to the drawer where he's keeping something hidden...

 

[Chaplin]

I was a little confused by it because I thought she was actually looking for something beyond a t-shirt when she was rummaging through the drawer. Maybe just because we were intoduced to her in her previous incarnation as duplicitous (or rather, just not on the Losties' team). But then, I don't have a theory for why she would be looking for what she found, unless it has to do with Anthony Cooper/Locke's father's role in this new universe. I guess maybe I'll chalk it up to the overall awkwardness of this episode. Sawyer's too sharp to leave the room right after directing her to the drawer where he's keeping something hidden...

I think this may be one of the rare occasions where you you are reading too much into something. Charlotte's presence in the episode served 2 purposes: 1) to show that all the people from the island are inter-connected, even when the island is not a factor, and 2) Sawyer's personality is extremely different in the flash-sideways because the Sawyer we all know wouldn't try going back and apologizing to her with a flower. But IMO, that's where the reasons end.

 

[chickenhead]

I'm convinced that the Smoke Monster killed all those people. The Tina Fey character was there to gauge just whose side Sawyer was on.

I was just reading a recap from last season's finales reminding me that at the statue, Flocke tells Richard that they must "take care of" the other Ajirah passengers, and when Richard inquires how, Flocke says "You know what I mean." Also, since Widmore's crew is putting up the sonar fence, it seems clear that they know or suspect the Smoke monster can be or is on Hydra island. [Side question: how? Does he travel across the water as the Smoke Monster? But to leave the island(s), he has to do so in a human form?].

I think the question of why he killed those who remained at the temple ("kill or be killed" is satisfactory at this point), and why he presumably killed the other Ajirah survivors--but not Ilana's party, who are specifically alligned with Jacob and have not joined Locke's party--are the central questions right now. We can guess that it's all part of the yet-unstated rules about Jacob and MiB's conflict.

Also, interesting that Widmore's crew is using the sonar fence Dharma developed and not the ash the Hostiles/Others used prior to the Purge. Dharma seems to have built the fence to keep out the Hostiles, and I wonder if it's ability to keep out the Smoke Monster was a happy coincidence, or if they developed that capability. Also, I'm wondering the Dharma Initiative, Hanso Foundation, or some other iteration will somehow reappear, whether in the main storyline or flash-sideways. Widmore may have staged the fake wreckage of 815 to keep the rest of the world away from the island, but clearly others know about it. Per Lostpedia Dharma funding may have been cut in 1987, but the stations remained operational and all personnel were not pulled. Also, per Lostpedia Dharma supplies were delivered as late as 2004. They are out there somewhere.

 

[thirty-two]

WOW.

 

[Cheesebeef]

yeah, that episode delivered on the goods.