Saturday, March 20, 2010

Richard wants to die, Jack lights dynamite at Black Rock

On their trek across the island, Hurley quizzes Richard asking if he's time traveling, a cyborg or a vampire, to each of which Richard answers no. They then approach the Black Rock instead of the temple and Richard tells them that everyone at the temple was dead, but their friends were not there. He then tells Hurley not to believe anything Jacob told him.

Richard approaches the Black Rock, telling them that he's going inside to die. Once inside, Richard examines some empty chains and tells Jack that he hasn't been back to the Black Rock since he was first there, implying what many have thought, that he was a slave on the ship. He opens a crate of dynamite ignoring Hurley's emphatic warnings and tells them that he can't kill himself because Jacob touched him which was supposed to be a gift, but was really a curse. Richard slams a stick of dynamite down and nothing happens.

Richard says that he devoted his life to Jacob who told him he had a plan which he would one day reveal and that he would be a part of. Now that Jacob's dead, Richard says that his entire life had no purpose and that if someone else lights the fuse, then he can die. Jack lights the fuse but then sticks around for a chat.

Richard tells Jack that he should go or he's going to die, but Jack tells him that he thinks that won't happen. Jack tells him about what he and Hurley experienced at the lighthouse and that Jacob has been watching him since he was a small child. Jack says that if Jacob went to all the trouble to watch him and bring him to the island, that he's not going to let him die there. Jack closes his eyes as the spark approaches the dynamite and then it goes out at the last moment. Jack smiles and asks Richard if he wants to try another stick.

Richard now seems convinced to follow Jack and asks what they should do next. Jack says they'll go back to where they started, which is the beach camp.

So there are a few lofty answers here. We now know what Jacob's touch means and essentially that Richard was a slave on the Black Rock. The touch explains why Michael couldn't kill himself in season 4, but when did Jacob touch him?





Friday, March 19, 2010

Miles reveals Jacob hoped he was wrong about Ben, knows about Nikki & Paulo

At the beach camp graveyard, Miles comes to visit Ben who is digging very slowly and in small amounts. Miles offers him some food, but Ben offers him the $3.2 million he asked for in season 4. Ben says that he can get off of the island and has a large network of people who could get the money if he'll just free him. Miles says that he doesn't need the money because Nikki and Paulo are buried in the graveyard with $8 million worth of diamonds.

Ben then protests on a moral level, asking if he's going to stand by and let him be murdered for killing Jacob who didn't care if he was killed. Miles then reveals that Jacob did care. Miles says that up until the knife went through Jacob's heart, he hoped that he had ben wrong about Ben.

So it seems that Jacob expected Ben to kill him, but was holding onto a glimmer of hope that he wouldn't. Instead of trying to stop Ben, it seems that Jacob allowed him to make his own decision.





Alex studies with Ben at the library, reveals principal's secret

At the school library, Ben is quizzing alex on Lord Cornwallis and the East India Trading Company. Alex panics about the test and says that her mother has to work two jobs to pay their rent. This poses the question, how different was Danielle Rousseau's life if she was never on the island? Is Robert dead or alive?

Alex has aspirations of attending Yale and hopes that Principal Reynolds will write her a letter of recommendation since he attended the school. She inadvertently refers to him as a pervert, causing Ben to worry. Alex reveals that she hear the principal having sex with the school nurse during a visit to the nurse's office. Ben is repulsed and promises not to tell, but the wheels in his brain start spinning.





Thursday, March 18, 2010

Ilana makes Ben dig his own grave, tells Sun she could be a candidate

Back at the beach camp, Ilana is gathering bits of wreckage to later tether Ben to a tree. While doing that, she reveals to Sun that either she or Jin or both of them are candidates to take over Jacob's job and it is Ilana's job to protect them.

We then see Ben, going through Sawyer's old stash. He picks up a copy of Booty Babes magazine and the book Justice In Truth In Action by Benjamin Disraeli. There is also the book The Chosen by Chaim Potok in the stash too (a little nod to the candidates being chosen).

Ben pulls out an Oceanic water bottle and says to Frank that he remembers the plane crash like it was yesterday. Frank then reveals to Ben that he was supposed to fly the plane and the reason he didn't was because he overslept. Ben notes that the island got Frank in the end anyway.

Ilana then points her gun at Ben and forces him to the graveyard. She tethers him to a tree with the items she'd been gathering and tells him to dig his own grave.





Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Ben takes care of aging Roger Linus, Alex stops by

In the flash sideways, Ben is making frozen dinners for himself and his elderly and ailing father Roger Linus. Ben tells him about having to watch detention as he switches out Roger's oxygen tank. Ben wonders if he's more of a loser than the burnouts in detention.

Roger then says that maybe if they stayed on the island with the Dharma Initiative, then maybe Ben could have become something greater and had a better life. He say the ironic line, "Who knows what you would have become?" As we know, on the island, Ben ends up killing his father.

Then, the doorbell rings and we get another surprise. It's Alex at the door, wondering what happened to history club. Ben agrees to meet her before school instead of after so she can study for her AP test. This is the first time (I believe) that Alex has seemed happy to be around Ben.

But back to the big question. So if Ben and Roger still went to the island, when did they leave and what were the circumstances of the departure? And what does this say about the effects of the hydrogen bomb? In theory, Ben was still on the island with the others when Juliet detonated it, so the depth of the changes seem to dig deeper and deeper into the past.





Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Miles hears Jacob's last thoughts, reveals Ben killed him

As Ilana, Miles, Frank, Sun and Ben are making their way to the beach camp, Ilana questions Ben's honesty about whether the smoke monster really killed Jacob. She knows about Miles' ability and asks him tell her what happened to Jacob using the pouch of ashes she took from the four-toed statue.

Miles rats Ben out, revealing that Ben actually killed Jacob and was standing over him holding a bloody dagger. Ben tries to deny he did it and Ilana reveals to them that Jacob was the closest thing she ever had to a father. The group then continues towards the beach.

So what exactly is Ilana's relationship with Jacob? How did they meet and how long ago was that?





Dr. Linus teaches about Elba, Locke encourages him to take on Principal Reynolds

In the flash sideways, Ben, or Dr. Linus, is teaching his students about Elba in his class, calling in an island where everything changed. That certainly sounds familiar. He also says that Napoleon may has well have been dead without his power, which mirrors Ben's island story in this episode.

As class ends, Principal Donald Reynolds tells Ben that he'll have to cover detention after school all week even though Ben protests because he'll have to cancel his history club meeting. Reynolds makes him feel small and powerless.

In the teacher's lounge, Ben gets his thoroughly marked lunch of cucumber sushi out of the fridge and sits next to Leslie Arzt, who shockingly, is complaining about formaldehyde stains on his shirt and the school's lack of decent educational tools. As Ben chimes in, complaining about Reynolds not caring about teaching the kids, Locke, who is sitting at the next table, says that maybe Ben should be the principle. In another ironic bit of dialogue, Locke says that he would be interested in supporting Ben. This exchange clearly gets the wheels in Ben's head spinning.





Locke gathers Sayid, Claire & Kate from the ravaged temple

After the smoke monster wrecks the temple and kills the others who remained behind, Sayid, Claire and Kate make their way through the mess. Bodies are scattered through the courtyard and there are a few small fires. During the scene the slow motion scene, a creepy, symphonic version of "Catch a Falling Star" is playing, with Claire singing the haunting vocal over it.

Sayid and Claire both look pleased with themselves as they walk outside the temple to face Locke and a large group of defected others. Kate comes out and sees Locke and is stunned. Locke just cocks his head at her, then turns and leads his group away.

Jin and Sawyer are not currently with the group, so where are they hiding out at (it's possible that they're on Hydra island, since we later learn that's where Locke is heading)? Is Kate now a de-facto part of Locke's team now?





Monday, March 15, 2010

The smoke monster ravages the temple, Ilana helps some escape

It's sundown at the temple and the signature sounds of the smoke monster start to rumble the jungle outside the temple where two others with guns are standing guard. It uproots a tree and then makes it's way inside where everyone is in panic mode.

Smokey ravages the the temple, killing the others and causing damage. Kate and Miles make a break for it but split up. Kate goes to Claire and Miles heads deeper into the temple.

Miles holds up in a room until Ilana, Frank, Ben and Sun force their way in. Ben goes to find Sayid while the rest look for the secret exit.

Kate goes to Claire at the hole and begs her to come with her, but Claire says they'll be much safer there.  The smoke bursts into the room and flies over the hole as Kate hangs on to the ladder. It doesn't even bother them.

Ben finds Sayid by the spring, holding the bloody dagger he used to kill Lennon. He asks Sayid to come with him because there's still time and Sayid replies "Not for me" and flashes an evil smile. Ben, who is clearly creeped out, slow backs away and makes his way back towards Ilana and the rest.

Sun finds out from Miles that Jin was alive and recently left the temple. Ilana finds the same hieroglyphic that Hurley used to leave the temple and they escape seconds before the smoke monster barrels through the hall.





Sayid kills Dogen & Lennon clearing the way for Smokey

At the temple, many of the others are scrambling to gather their belongings to join Locke before sundown. Lennon tries to tell them that they're all safe as long as they stay at the temple, but even Cindy is not buying it.

Sayid goes inside to the spring, where Dogen is sitting on the steps holding the baseball. Sayid sits the dagger on the ground and Dogen says that Sayid let Locke talk to him (so, it would have actually worked if Locke hadn't spoken before being stabbed?).

Dogen tells Sayid that he was once a successful  business man in Osaka but after drinking to much at a celebration for a promotion, got into a wreck after picking his 12-year-old son up from baseball practice (that was likely his son we saw in the flash-sideways in "Lighthouse"). His son was badly hurt or possibly dead when Jacob approached him at the hospital and offered to heal his son, but in return, Dogen would have to come to the island and never see his son again (sounds a little like Juliet's story, minus the personal contact with Jacob).

Dogen then asks Sayid if he will stay or go and after Sayid seemingly sincerely says that he'll stay, he grabs Dogen and drowns him in the spring. Dogen releases the baseball in the water as he dies. Lennon then comes running in, berating Sayid for what he'd done. Lennon says that Dogen was the only thing keeping "him" (Locke) out. When Lennon is distracted by the warning sound of the smoke monster, Sayid slits his throat with the dagger and his body falls in the spring. Sayid has clearly gone dark.

So how exactly was Dogen the only thing keeping Locke out of the temple? Is he somehow responsible for the ash? If Locke's team really is the evil side, Sayid has very clearly joined it in a very dark way. He seems a bit like Michael in season 2. Sayid is willing to do anything, even murder, to get Nadia back.





Sayid kills Keamy, Omar & henchman, finds Jin in freezer

As Sayid is about to leave to pick Sam and Eva up from school, a black SUV approaches and out hops Omar, one of the mercenaries from the freighter. Omar, who is accompanied by another henchman, tells Sayid to get in the car and Sayid does once Omar makes a veiled threat towards the kids.

Sayid is taken to a restaurant kitchen, where none other than Martin Keamy is cooking up some eggs. Keamy offers Sayid some eggs, which Sayid turns down. Keamy reveals that he knows what happened to Sayid's brother Omer. Sayid asks Keamy if he was responsible, and while Keamy is being coy with his response, Sayid grabs Omar. The other henchman shoots and hits Omar and then Sayid shoots the henchman. After Keamy begs for his life and tells Sayid that Omer's debt is erased, Sayid shoots him in the chest.

Sayid then hears muffled banging and opens a walk-in freezer to find Jin bound and gagged in a chair. Sayid asks who he is and Jin says "No English."

So how exactly did Jin go from being questioned by customs at LAX to being in Keamy's freezer? It appears that Keamy was wearing the watch Jin was delivering, so is Jin's captivity Mr. Paik's doing? And where is Sun?





Sunday, March 14, 2010

Kate visit Claire in the hole, tells her about Aaron

Back at the temple, as Kate is trying to find Claire, she is stopped by Lennon who wants to know Sawyer and Jin are. He then takes her to "the hole" that Claire is in. Claire is singing the song "Catch a Falling Star," which was a big part of her and Aaron's childhood.

Kate tells Claire that she took Aaron off of the island and says that she came back to rescue Claire so she could be reunited with him. Claire looks extremely pissed, but then shares a creepy smile and says "I'm not the one that needs to be rescued, Kate." Lennon and two others pull Kate away before she can speak anymore.

Was Claire referring to the pending carnage of the smoke monster/Locke with her ominous question, her plans to kill Kate or something else altogether? Either way, it was quite creepy.