This will go down as one of the best episodes of Lost ever. They promised something epic, Nestor Carbonell said it felt like a movie, and for us viewers it did as well.
The first revelation we gat was that in 1867 Richard was alive and well on the Canary Islands, and with that math we get him at the ages of 170 and 180 years old taking into affect that he was probably between the ages of 30 or 40 when he came to the Island.
One of the most interesting parts of this story is that it started off with Jacob and Illana talking off Island in her flashback that we saw before that is pre 2007, I was not expecting a continuation of this scene, they continue to talk about the candidates and what Illana needs to do next. How Richard knows what to do next I don’t know, because at this point in the story line he seems like the most lost person on the show.
We next get the revelation that Richard thinks they are in Hell. This is interesting as one of the first theory’s that was out there was that they losties were either in purgatory or in hell.
We then finally learn Richard’s back story, and it is one of the most tragic love stories we have ever seen on this show.
"I see the Devil" - Tarawet. - So a surge of water brought them into the middle of the Jungle - destroying the statue. But what about what we saw in the finale - it was daylight and they were headed toward the island then. There are many theories for this….same ship different day…however the first mate didn’t seem to have a clue as to what was happening. Then there is the perspective theory, what Jacob and MIB saw was different from what the people on the Black Rock saw. And did they really see the Black Rock, or was that a different ship entirely. I’m inclined to believe that what we saw during the finale was the Black Rock. And while it could certainly be a different trip, what makes the most sense to me is the perspective theory, as well, perhaps Richard’s side of the boat was facing away from the island when they first starting approaching it during the day light hours. Many scenarios could be possible.
As for the Surge of water, I’m not so sure that the Black Rock could topple the statue, after all it’s made of stone, the ship is made of wood, now the Titanic I could see it happening, but not the Black Rock. I can defiantly see that storm take the ship into the island; it was a pretty big storm surge.
Next we come to Smokey and his affinity for taking pictures of people…he kills everyone else and lets Richard live. I think it is because he sees Richard is the most desperate, the most malleable to his will, and that’s why he let him survive.
My co worker has a theory that Smokey was not taking pictures of Richard, but just staring him down. I still think he was taking pictures; we have seen the flashing before and seen the images come back to us, so I’m sticking with it.
One problem I do have with this episode is the fact that everyone died on the Black Rock and yet we see the 1st mates Journal off the Island. In fact the whole timeline of the Black Rock is messed up. It could very well be a continuity error but it’s a big one for the time line. And the Journal just confuses me; perhaps someone came to the island and took it off, but still why takes a journal off the island? What would be the purpose of it?
The other question comes in with what was Isabella the first time we saw her on the Island, a ghost? Smokey? Real or something else? The first time I saw it I thought she was a ghost. But now I believe she was Smokey, and MIB was just trying to deceive Richard and play games with him. Some may say…but wait; Isabella and Smokey were in the scene together. I say wrong, they are off screen. Remember the Ben and Alex encounter. The first thing he comes up against is Smokey who presents images to him of his past. Smokey very easily could have done the same sort of thing. Come to Richard as Isabella, play on his heart strings, then get out of eye sight, return to smoke form making noises, and have the sound of someone screaming coming out of him as well. Is this too far fetched? TV guide backs me up in their review:
(TV Guide Article: Richard is visited by his wife’s ghost (a manifestation of Smokey, who reclaims the spectre to Richard’s dismay) and visited by the Man in Black, who declares, “I want to be free, too.”) Some thing else that makes think that this theory is true is that it is exactly what Jacob says to Richard.
So what do you think of this theory?
Another interesting moment in the episode was when Richard and MIB first met on the Black Rock; he describes himself as a friend and touches Richard for a very long time, too long for my taste by someone so evil. He also makes a bargain with Richard in order for him to free him he has to do anything MIB and kill the devil….Jacob
MIB says Jacob Stole his body and soul and the knife is the only way to kill Jacob, however Ben killed Jacob, talked to him even, didn’t have that knife, and still killed him. So what gives what was different?
But what I am most intrigued about is what MIB said that Jacob stole MIB’s body and soul. What does that mean? Is it literal, figurative. There are so many ways I could go with this one, Jacob is now in MIB’s old body, or Jacob took MIB’s old body for something else, or this could be MIB’s original self. But then it could all be an allegory. At the end of the day I just have to realize that I have to wait to get more answers.
Jacob vs. Richard….clear winner Jacob. And it’s the first time we see any violence from him giving Richard a Baptism in the ocean that looks rather painful.
We then get what is the best metaphor for the island so far. The island is a cork keeping the darkness from spreading, like a cork keeps wine from coming out of the bottle. We have to keep the bad genie from coming out of his bottle. And Jacob brings people to the island to prove to MIB that they aren’t corruptible, but then doesn’t help them when MIB tries to kill them or influence them against Jacob. Hence why he then decides to hire Jacob as an intermediary between Jacob and the people he brings the island because as Jacob says “Its all meaningless if I have to step in,” sounds like god talk to me.
The next thing that hits me strongly is that MIB says almost the exact some things to Richard about Jacob as Dogan says to Jack about MIB. Does this mean anything? Or have these things been said to people for generations. And something that is passed down almost.
Something that was not brought up in the podcast was the location of MIB/Richard’s final meeting, the place where he buried the necklace and where he talked to Isabella through Hurley. There is a benches and sitting stones. Is it more ruins? A special place of MIB’s. Or am I seeing too much?
I Loved the Isabella/Hurley/Richard scene, it is very ghost whispery, for your information this is what Hurley says to Isabella in Act 2: this is not translated in the episode.
HURLEY: ¿Por qué? Qué no sé.Sí, te puedo ayudar, pero, yo no sé como encontrarlo. [English] Why? I don't know. Yes, I can help you, but... I don't know how to find him.
It all felt very Ghost Whispery. And was a great moment at the end. “If you don’t stop MIB we all go to Hell” with the last line of the show being from MIB sometime in 1867 “Sooner then you think,” breaking the bottle. My question: so sooner is 140 years….seems like a long time to me.
Over all this was one of the best episodes of Lost ever, even better then the constant. Nestor Carbonell deserves an Emmy. In fact can we just give the whole cast one?
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Lost: Episode 8: Recon
This was a good episode, right after the episode, I didn't think I liked it very much, it just rubbed me the wrong way, i liked parts but not the episode as a whole.
This episode was all about conning people and discovering the truth. For me everything that is said by MIB and Widmore needs to be taken with a grain of salt, we never know if they can be taken seriously, if what they say is the truth, a lie, or have a little bit of both.
If they are indeed the two who are going to war then i say go at it...I don't care, we have often said that we want to know whose side we are supposed to be on, and in this case, we are on no one's side.
For me, I am invested in the characters, and if those two can go at it and kill each other then all is good. However if any of our losties really get involved, then I will be worried. And that I believe is what Sawyer's goal is with this episode.
He con's both sides to get them at each other, making each side believe they are the upper hand, but Sawyer isn't on either of their sides, he is on his own side, and protecting his people.
Its interesting that i say his people. I say this because his character arc I now believe has been from the loner to the leader. Can we have two leaders in the group like Jack and Sawyer, I think yes. After all, we need someone to stay on the island and protect it and someone to leave, or at least thats what I believe. i don't know who will be who, Ive flip flopped the entire season as this theory has developed in my mind.
In the screen caps of the substitute it said that Sawyer joined the side of Locke, it also said the same thing about Kate being a recruit of anti Locke.
I now disagree about both.
Kate is not on Anti-Locke's side because she was just following along, she didn't know who anti locke was nor what he stood for. She is still following blindly at this point, but is very wary of anti Locke and doesn't trust him at all...as it was noted in the podcast...he refused his hand, she has not touched him at all.
Sawyer on the other hand, when i first saw the Substitute I agreed that he was a recruit of anti locke, but now, i believe he is not. He has just been using his skills of a con man and liar to stay out of the fray and to use people to his own and the losties advantage. He just want off this island, after all hes been there for 3 years....I think you would want off the island too after three years of no internet!! lol.
But seriously Sawyer may be back to his old self somewhat, but he has also integrated both his 1970's side and his old self into this new person, who is doing things that may be questionable, but for good reasons. He has changed a lot, it was though difficult to see the changes in this episode because it seemed like he had just reverted to his post crash self, that he had no character growth, but as I said, I now disagree with myself. All of the characters in this episode had some very interesting character growth.
Locke and his screwed up mother....seriously he holds on to this for thousands of years possibly...grow up already. ok ok, I believe he was lying when he told Kate about his mother, but he did use this story to explain the Claire situation to Kate, and now I think she is worried even more about Claire and about Aaron, I hope we see more of this, and i really hope we get some conclusion to this story line and see Aaron again and hope we find out how he is special....and PLEASE DO NOT HAVE HIM BE ANTI LOCKE...that would to me be horrible. mainly because it would be very predictable of a story line.
I do think however that Anti Locke and Jacob have to be gods or Demi Gods as some of you are suggesting.
As for Anthony Cooper here is what I believe is true in the x time line.
Anthony Cooper did Con James's Parents
He is John Lockes father.
Somewhere along the line, he changed, and is lying to John Locke about his past.
He may or may not have had a kidney transplant...could go either way.
he deffinitly did NOT push John Locke out of the window....after all would you still be nice to your parent if they threw you out of the window? I wouldn't.
So over all, a great solid episode, with lots of great dialouge, plenty of Sawyer half naked, and some interesting plot movement.
Not as good ad Dr. Linus though. That so far is our highest point in season, but this one is a really solid, good episode that was now i think really enjoyable.
This episode was all about conning people and discovering the truth. For me everything that is said by MIB and Widmore needs to be taken with a grain of salt, we never know if they can be taken seriously, if what they say is the truth, a lie, or have a little bit of both.
If they are indeed the two who are going to war then i say go at it...I don't care, we have often said that we want to know whose side we are supposed to be on, and in this case, we are on no one's side.
For me, I am invested in the characters, and if those two can go at it and kill each other then all is good. However if any of our losties really get involved, then I will be worried. And that I believe is what Sawyer's goal is with this episode.
He con's both sides to get them at each other, making each side believe they are the upper hand, but Sawyer isn't on either of their sides, he is on his own side, and protecting his people.
Its interesting that i say his people. I say this because his character arc I now believe has been from the loner to the leader. Can we have two leaders in the group like Jack and Sawyer, I think yes. After all, we need someone to stay on the island and protect it and someone to leave, or at least thats what I believe. i don't know who will be who, Ive flip flopped the entire season as this theory has developed in my mind.
In the screen caps of the substitute it said that Sawyer joined the side of Locke, it also said the same thing about Kate being a recruit of anti Locke.
I now disagree about both.
Kate is not on Anti-Locke's side because she was just following along, she didn't know who anti locke was nor what he stood for. She is still following blindly at this point, but is very wary of anti Locke and doesn't trust him at all...as it was noted in the podcast...he refused his hand, she has not touched him at all.
Sawyer on the other hand, when i first saw the Substitute I agreed that he was a recruit of anti locke, but now, i believe he is not. He has just been using his skills of a con man and liar to stay out of the fray and to use people to his own and the losties advantage. He just want off this island, after all hes been there for 3 years....I think you would want off the island too after three years of no internet!! lol.
But seriously Sawyer may be back to his old self somewhat, but he has also integrated both his 1970's side and his old self into this new person, who is doing things that may be questionable, but for good reasons. He has changed a lot, it was though difficult to see the changes in this episode because it seemed like he had just reverted to his post crash self, that he had no character growth, but as I said, I now disagree with myself. All of the characters in this episode had some very interesting character growth.
Locke and his screwed up mother....seriously he holds on to this for thousands of years possibly...grow up already. ok ok, I believe he was lying when he told Kate about his mother, but he did use this story to explain the Claire situation to Kate, and now I think she is worried even more about Claire and about Aaron, I hope we see more of this, and i really hope we get some conclusion to this story line and see Aaron again and hope we find out how he is special....and PLEASE DO NOT HAVE HIM BE ANTI LOCKE...that would to me be horrible. mainly because it would be very predictable of a story line.
I do think however that Anti Locke and Jacob have to be gods or Demi Gods as some of you are suggesting.
As for Anthony Cooper here is what I believe is true in the x time line.
Anthony Cooper did Con James's Parents
He is John Lockes father.
Somewhere along the line, he changed, and is lying to John Locke about his past.
He may or may not have had a kidney transplant...could go either way.
he deffinitly did NOT push John Locke out of the window....after all would you still be nice to your parent if they threw you out of the window? I wouldn't.
So over all, a great solid episode, with lots of great dialouge, plenty of Sawyer half naked, and some interesting plot movement.
Not as good ad Dr. Linus though. That so far is our highest point in season, but this one is a really solid, good episode that was now i think really enjoyable.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Ben is Awesome: Lost Episode 7: Dr. Linus
I LOVED this episode, it had everything anyone could want....except for Sawyer with no shirt on.
I Agree completly with Michael, this is the first time that I really cared about what happend in the alternate time line, but also I noticed that we didn't see Ben see a reflection of himself in any mirror or reflecting surface...unless I missed something. Also Ben did not have any dejavu moment through the episode that others on the island have. He didnt seem to have any connection with the real time line.
Perhaps this is because he wasnt a lostie, he was a boy when the island sunk, and when he left, though we are still unsure as to when this happend to him.
Was he shot in the first place to need to be healed? I dont know, the Roger/Ben conversation while very interesting didn't give us many hints as to when and how they left. After all the last we saw little Ben he was in the camp with the others after being healed.
Of course If the Bomb did work then the losties never made it to the island, and there was no need for them to come to the island in the first place, then no need for them to detonate the bomb...right...then wouldnt the island still be there? Unless by not detonating the bomb that sunk the island?
Whoever said time travels a bitch is right its giving me a headache thinking of all the time paradoxes, if anyone can explain it to me please do so, I will be bringing up this topic on the Podcast tomorrow.
Michael Emerson is brilliant in this episode, but also a very good performance of Jack and Richard in the Black Rock, seeing who would blink first, and whether the dynamite would go off or not.
Other cool moments...Miles and the Diamonds...hillarious. Hurley: Cheese Curds...hey he was hungry...Also Hurley asking Richard if he was a vampire, on his podcast Jorge Garcia revealed that this line was an ad lib that he did on set, and was surprised that it got into the episode. I loved it!
This episode was very much about Redemption of oneself in one time line but also across timelines. As well we are still focusing a lot on destiny, but also on belonging, Ben said that only Smoky would take him, Illana says she would take him.
One of the themes that I think has been over looked through out the series is the sense of belonging, it has been said that a person alone doesnt have much sense of identity, humans are social animals we want to feel like we belong some where. And the losties have had that dilema since the beginning.
We had the Cave people and the Beach People.
The People in the Barracks and the People on the Beach
and Now we have the People on the Beach and the people with Smoky.
The characters that have gone it alone in this series after a time go rather crazy: Case in point: Danielle, Desmond in season 2, and now Claire.
Time after time our characters have gravitated toward one another for companionship but also just to feel like they aren't alone in the world. And this episode was a prime example of it for Ben in the end. He now feels like he belongs somewhere, now that all his power has been taken away, he just has to figure out what his position is in that group...and that is something we will just have to wait and see...that and Sawyer with his shirt off again.
I Agree completly with Michael, this is the first time that I really cared about what happend in the alternate time line, but also I noticed that we didn't see Ben see a reflection of himself in any mirror or reflecting surface...unless I missed something. Also Ben did not have any dejavu moment through the episode that others on the island have. He didnt seem to have any connection with the real time line.
Perhaps this is because he wasnt a lostie, he was a boy when the island sunk, and when he left, though we are still unsure as to when this happend to him.
Was he shot in the first place to need to be healed? I dont know, the Roger/Ben conversation while very interesting didn't give us many hints as to when and how they left. After all the last we saw little Ben he was in the camp with the others after being healed.
Of course If the Bomb did work then the losties never made it to the island, and there was no need for them to come to the island in the first place, then no need for them to detonate the bomb...right...then wouldnt the island still be there? Unless by not detonating the bomb that sunk the island?
Whoever said time travels a bitch is right its giving me a headache thinking of all the time paradoxes, if anyone can explain it to me please do so, I will be bringing up this topic on the Podcast tomorrow.
Michael Emerson is brilliant in this episode, but also a very good performance of Jack and Richard in the Black Rock, seeing who would blink first, and whether the dynamite would go off or not.
Other cool moments...Miles and the Diamonds...hillarious. Hurley: Cheese Curds...hey he was hungry...Also Hurley asking Richard if he was a vampire, on his podcast Jorge Garcia revealed that this line was an ad lib that he did on set, and was surprised that it got into the episode. I loved it!
This episode was very much about Redemption of oneself in one time line but also across timelines. As well we are still focusing a lot on destiny, but also on belonging, Ben said that only Smoky would take him, Illana says she would take him.
One of the themes that I think has been over looked through out the series is the sense of belonging, it has been said that a person alone doesnt have much sense of identity, humans are social animals we want to feel like we belong some where. And the losties have had that dilema since the beginning.
We had the Cave people and the Beach People.
The People in the Barracks and the People on the Beach
and Now we have the People on the Beach and the people with Smoky.
The characters that have gone it alone in this series after a time go rather crazy: Case in point: Danielle, Desmond in season 2, and now Claire.
Time after time our characters have gravitated toward one another for companionship but also just to feel like they aren't alone in the world. And this episode was a prime example of it for Ben in the end. He now feels like he belongs somewhere, now that all his power has been taken away, he just has to figure out what his position is in that group...and that is something we will just have to wait and see...that and Sawyer with his shirt off again.
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