Saturday, May 15, 2010

Man (or boy) In Black finds Senet game on beach, convinces Jacob to play

As a young Man In Black walks along the beach, he discovers a game on the beach. The game is Senet is believed to be the oldest board game in the world, originating in ancient Egypt as far back as 3,100 B.C.

As he picks up the game, he looks out at the sea, or "Across the Sea." He goes and sits on a log and begins to set up the game with black and white stones. Young Jacob approaches him and asks what he has. MIB explains that it's a game that you play, and when Jacob asks how he knows how to play, MIB says "I just know."

MIB makes Jacob promise not to tell Mother about the game because he thinks she'll take it away. Jacob looks a the white piece and when MIB asks if he wants to play, Jacob says yes.

So this is certainly very similar to Locke's backgammon game in season 1. Senet is considered to be a precursor to backgammon. The game also gives us a general idea of when all of this is taking place. It would certainly seem to be sometime before the birth of Christ (B.C.), meaning that Jacob and MIB have been on the island for at least 2,000 years, if not quite a bit longer.

You'll also notice that one of the symbols on one of the squares is an ankh, the symbol we've seen a number of times, most notably this season when it was revealed that it was what was in the guitar case Hurley had been carrying.





Claudia gives birth to Jacob & the Man In Black, Mother kills her with a rock

At the caves, Mother sits with a mortar and pestle, grounding up something to help Claudia's wounds. Claudia is eating some food and asks where the rest of Mother's people are, and Mother says that it is just her. Claudia asks how she got to the island and other says the same way she did, by accident. Claudia starts to ask "How long have you..." and Mother interrupts her and says "Every question I answer will simply lead to another question."

Claudia says there were other people on her ship and Mother suddenly interrupts her and says if there are other people on the island, she will find them. Claudia then starts to wince in pain as the baby starts coming.

Some time passes and Mother is helping Claudia give birth to her baby. After struggling, the baby is born and Claudia says that his name is Jacob. Mother sits him on a blanket and looks at him happily. Then, Claudia starts struggling again and Mother looks concerned. She discovers that there is another baby that she is giving birth to. After the other baby is born, Claudia says she only picked one name, so the Man In Black still has no name.

Both babies are laying next to each other, Jacob wrapped in a white blanket and the Man In Black in a black blanket. Also, Jacob is calm and looking around, while the Man In Black in crying.

Claudia asks to see the babies, then Mother moves over her and says "I'm sorry." She then bludgeons Claudia to death with a rock. We hear the repeated blows as we look at the two babies.

So it seems that Fake Locke wasn't completely lying about when he told Kate that he had a crazy mother, and we see more of that later in the episode.





Friday, May 14, 2010

Claudia washes up on the island, Mother finds her at the stream

"Across the Sea" opens on some wooden wreckage floating in the Ocean. A woman named Claudia surfaces a grabs a floating piece of wreckage. She looks behind her and sees the island not too far away.

We next see her laying on the beach where she is awoken by the the water coming in. She stands up supporting her belly, and we can see that she is pregnant, and quite far along.

Next, we see her making her way to a stream in the jungle and goes to drink some water. She sees a reflection in the water and is startled. She looks up to see the nameless character referred to as Mother. In Latin, Mother offers to help her since she is hurt. Claudia is frightened, but then thanks. her.





Jack, Sawyer, Hurley & Kate make it to the beach & cry + Locke leaves to complete his plan

Jack makes it to the beach carrying Sawyer. After making it out of the water, he collapses on the beach. Sawyer coughs, indicating he is alive, but remains unconscious. Hurley walks up helping Kate who is still weak from the gunshot to the shoulder. Kate says that they couldn't find Jack as they embrace

They find out that Sawyer is breathing and then ask about Jin and Sun. Jack just shakes his head and Kate and Hurley begin to sob. Jack walks away to the beach of the ocean and looks up. He then hangs his head and begins to weep himself.

Meanwhile, Locke is back at the dock with Claire. He says "it sunk." Claire asks if he means the submarine and if they're all dead. Locke says that not all of them are dead, then grabs a gun and starts to walk away. When Claire asks where he's going, Locke says "To finish what I started."

So this is it. It seems like it's going to be Locke versus what remains of our group, but Ben, Richard and Miles are still around, as are Desmond, Charles Widmore, Zoe and what remains of Widmore's group and the others from the temple. How will this all play out? We don't have long until we find out.





Thursday, May 13, 2010

Locke reveals the accident to Jack, recognizes Jin + Jack triggers Locke's island memories

At St. Sebastian Hospital, Locke is being pushed down the hall in a wheelchair by an orderly. As Locke is telling him that his fiance Helen is picking him up, Jin walks down the hall with flowers. Locke is distracted as he looks at Jin as if he recognizes him. Locke then tells the orderly he can take it from there and continues on his own.

At that moment Jack walks up the hall to meet Locke. Jack says that he wants to say goodbye and they shake hands. Then Jack's demeanor changes as he tells Locke that he went to see Anthony Cooper with the hope of understanding why Locke didn't want the surgery.

Locke is clearly upset, but proceeds to tell Jack that he was in a plane crash. He had his private pilot's license for a week and begged Anthony to be his passenger on his first flight, even though he was afraid of flying. He says that they were barely off the ground and he doesn't remember what went wrong, but it was his fault that the man he loved more than anything would never walk or talk again.

Jack recalls the moment they met at LAX when Locke told Jack his father was gone. Jack tells Locke that his father is gone too. Locke objects, saying that he's not gone, but Jack tells him that he can punish himself as long as he wants, but it's never going to bring him back. Jack adds "What happened, happened, and, you can let it go." Certainly a familiar phrase coined by Daniel Faraday.

Locke asks what makes him think letting go is so easy and Jack says it's not and he has difficulty doing it too. He says that he was hoping that Locke could go first with a slight smile. Locke pauses then laughs and then tells Jack goodbye and starts down the hall.

Before Locke turns the corner, Jack says "I can help you, John. I wish you believed me." That's same statement was the sole line of Locke's suicide note and Locke said it earlier in the episode when he was asleep. Locke is stopped by the line and it clearly struck a nerve with him, but after a moment he leaves without saying anything else.

This was one of the deepest conversations between Jack and Locke we've seen. The question is, why does Locke clearly seem to recognize things from the original timeline, but chooses to ignore them? Or is he ignoring them? Has he had a flash like Desmond or Hurley and seen something that he didn't want to see?





Jin & Sun drown in the submarine as it slowly sinks

Jin and Sun are the last two people left in the submarine, other than Frank's body, wherever it ended up. Sun once again begs Jin to leave, but he insists that he can free her. Sun is crying and says that he can't save her. Jin tries again to free her from the metal pinning her in with no luck.

Sun begs Jin to leave again and he says "I won't leave you. I will never leave you again." He tells her than he love her and then they kiss one last time. Sun tells Jin that she loves him as the water rises even more.

We cut out and see the submarine with the hole in the side slowly falling away into the ocean. Back inside the submarine, the water has filled the room. We see Sun and Jin's hands holding each other under the water and then the slowly slip apart. We can see a small portion of Sun's body slumped over lifeless.

This was easily one of the most emotional deaths of the series. After three years of being apart, Sun and Jin are finally reunited only to die with each other a day later. Jin's deciding to stay with Sun is a loving and emotional decision, but on the flip side, it leaves their daughter Ji Yeon without parents. It's rather devastating.





Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Frank knocked out as water rushes in + Hurley, Kate, Sawyer & Jack escape

After Sayid explodes, everyone is thrown around in the submarine. Frank gets up off of the floor of the control room and moves towards the rest of the group. He stops at the hatch window which has started to leak water. He says "Ah, hell" then the hatch is thrust forward and he is knocked unconscious as the water rises. He is likely dead.

Jack sees Kate in the rising water and pulls her out. Sawyer grabs Hurley who is okay and Sun is pinned against a wall by a large metal box. As Sawyer goes to help Jin free Sun, Jack tells Hurley to get Kate out of there and he'll take care of everybody else. Hurley says that he has to help Sayid and Jack says "There is no Sayid!" Jack gives Hurley an oxygen tank and tells him to take Kate though the blast hole in the side of the submarine. He tells Hurley that he can do it.

As the sub sinks, Hurley and Kate make it to the blast hole as Jack goes to help Sawyer and Jin. They manage to move the large metal box, but then they realize that Sun is still trapped by some mangled metal beams.

As the sub shifts suddenly, Sawyer is knocked by some falling wreckage. Jin continues to struggle with the metal trapping Sun as Jack pulls Sawyer out of the water. Sun tells Jin to leave, but he says he's going to get her out. Jin tells Jack to get Sawyer out and refuses an oxygen tank that Jack offers him.

Jack shares parting, mournful looks with Sun and Jin, then makes his way out of the submarine with Sawyer.

Sun and Jin certainly deserve their own post, so you'll see that coming up next.





Sayid sacrifices himself, is killed by C-4 explosion

As the group examines the bomb which is still slowly ticking down, Jin calls Frank in the control room and tells him to have the captain surface the submarine. The captain has to reverse the submarine which is currently diving.

Jack tells the group that Locke put the explosives in the bag. Jin says that Locke wanted to come with them so why would he do that. Sawyer says that's why he shut Locke out. Jack tells them that Locke wanted to be shut out.

Sayid tells them that the watch has been jury-rigged to the explosives and the battery will set off the C-4. Frank tells Sawyer that it'll be at least five minutes before the submarine can surface. Sayid then says that if they disconnect two wires that are the leads from the watch, the bomb should be inert. He adds that they have to disconnect them simultaneously and then says "I'm not sure..." but is interrupted by Sawyer who steps forward.

Jack tells Sawyer to wait and not to pull the wires because they'll all be okay. Obviously, Sawyer objects strongly, saying that if he doesn't pull the wires, Locke will kill them. Jack says that Locke can't kill them and this is what Locke wanted. He says that Locke wanted to get them all in an enclosed space with no hope to get out. He says that Locke said he can't leave the island without them, but Jack thinks that Locke can't leave until they're all dead. Locke claimed he could kill them whenever he wanted, but Jack says what if he's not allowed to and he's trying to get them to kill each other.

Sawyer tells him to stay out of his way and Jack adds why would Locke put the timer on it and not just throw it in if he could kill them himself. Jack grabs Sawyer and asks him to trust him that nothing will happen. Sawyer says he doesn't and pulls the wires. The timer stops at 1:31 and everybody looks relieved. A moment later, the timer then starts again but is accelerated.

Sayid steps up and tells Jack that there is a well on the main island half a mile south of the camp they were just at. He says that Desmond is inside it and Locke wanted him dead, so Jack is going to need him. Jack asks why he's telling him this and Sayid then says "Because it's going to be you, Jack."

Sayid grabs the bomb and runs down the hallway. The bomb explodes, killing Sayid, who has sacrificed himself to give the others a chance to survive. It was quite a quick death for our original castaway from season one. I guess there's not time to left to stop and be emotional about a character who has essentially been a zombie most of the season.

We'll stop there and pick things up in the next post, but this part of the scene is heavy, with Jack once again seeming to figure out the rules of the game. So in theory, if Sawyer and the others wouldn't have interfered with the bomb, they would have lived, but since he got involved, he became the killer. So it seems that the candidates can kill each other, but Locke and possibly other people and forces cannot.





Jack finds the C-4 in the bag Locked swapped with his

As the submarine dives into the ocean, Jack is trying to treat Kate's bullet wound. Kate asks where Claire is and Jack tells her that she's still on the island. She objects, but is too weak. Hurley says that he can't find a first aid kit.

Jack asks Jin to hand him his bag that has a shirt he can use to apply pressure to the wound. As Jack is opening the bag, he says that he thinks the bullet went all the way through Kate. As he reaches his hand in the bag, he pulls out three blocks of C-4 (from the Ajira plane) attached to the digital watch that Locke took from the body of the Widmore's guy that he shot. The timer on the bomb is counting down from 3 minutes and 54 seconds. Jack says that they did exactly what Locke wanted.

This is an amazingly elaborate plan that Locke managed to pull off. He got everyone in one place with a bomb, just like Locke claimed Widmore was trying to do putting the explosives on the plane. This is the longest of cons that has played out over many years. The results are coming up.





Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Kate is shot, a gun battle ensues with Widmore's men, Claire is left behind with Locke

The moment after Jack pushes Locke into the water, Widmore's men who are hiding at the tree-line take their first shot which hits Kate in the shoulder. Jack, Sayid and Claire open fire on the numerous armed men hiding in trees and behind tall grass.

After Jack empties his gun, he grabs Kate and heads for the submarine hatch. Sayid helps lower her into the submarine as Claire keeps shooting at Widmore's guys. Locke emerges from the water, climbs onto the pier and angrily opens fire on Widmore's men.

After Sawyer finds out what happened, he goes to the top of the hatch and screams for Claire. Locke is at the other end of the pier and screams "James!" and starts running towards the submarine. Sawyer closes the hatch, leaving Locke and Claire on the pier.

Sawyer radios Frank and tells him to get the captain to dive. The captain flips the levers and the submarine starts moving.

Claire sees the sub leaving and screams as she runs towards it. Locke grabs her with a smirk on his face and says "You don't want to be on that sub."

So why did Widmore's men wait until Locke was pushed into the water to open fire? Also, why was Kate, a non-candidate, the only one shot? Widmore mentioned her earlier and knows she's not a candidate. It all seems to a bit too convenient. Is it possible that Widmore has been working on Locke's team this entire time and his appearance otherwise was all a con?





The group takes control of the submarine, Jack pushes Locke in the water

The group led by Sawyer, crouch down a short distance from the submarine. They see no one guarding the submarine, but Sawyer lays out their plan. He, Hurley, Frank, Jin and Sun will go first, followed 30 seconds later by the rest of them with Jack and Locke coming last.

The first group makes their way to the submarine and climb in with no problems. Sawyer and Frank make their way to a room on the submarine where a man sits and they detain him before he can pull his gun. They force the man to take them to the captain and once they're there, Frank knocks out the original guy. Sawyer tells the captain to get the submarine ready to go.

Outside, just after the second group heads for the submarine, Locke grabs Jack's bag that's behind him and hands Jack the one he was originally carrying.  As the two of them head towards the sub, Locke tries to convince Jack to leave, telling him that whoever told him to stay on the island didn't know what they were talking about. Jack says that John Locke told him to stay and then suddenly pushes Locke into the water. Claire looks stunned.

So we start to see the workings of Locke's real plan once he switches his and Jack's bag. The rest of this scene's screen captures and recap/analysis coming soon.





Claire shows Jack a music box she received in Christian's will

Jack sees Claire at the hospital while he's visiting Locke. She has come to talk to him and they go to a waiting area where Jack gets an Apollo candy bar from a vending machine.

Claire tells Jack that she never met Christian, which is different from the original timeline, and she opens a box containing a music box. She says that the lawyer, Ilana, said there would be more that was left to her in Christian's will, but he specifically wanted her to have her the music box.

Claire asks how Christian died, and Jack reveals that he was found in an alley outside a bar in Sydney and that he drank himself to death. Jack tells her that he flew to Sydney to get the body and they airline lost it, prompting Claire to tell him that she just flew in from Sydney. Jack asks when and when she says Wednesday, he asks "Oceanic 815?," which she obviously confirms. Jack is stunned once again.

Jack asks to look at the music box, and when he opens it, it plays "Catch a Falling Star," the same song from Claire's childhood and the one she wanted to be sung to Aaron, which Kate did off the island. There's a moment where they are both looking into a mirror built into the lid of the box, continuing the mirror trend from the flash sideways stories.

Jack then asks Claire to come stay with him since they are family. They both smile and seem quite happy about their worlds coming together.





Locke mentions 'the button' & the words from his suicide note in his sleep

Jack is standing over Locke, who is asleep in his hospital bed. Locke groans and Jack asks if he's awake. Without opening his eyes or seeming to wake up at all, Locke says "push the button." Then he says "I wish you had believed me," the words from the suicide note he wrote to Jack. Jack looks completely stunned by what Locke says.

So Locke is clearly remembering things from the original timeline, at least in his subconscious. The question is, how much has he already remembered up to now?





Locke tells the group they must take the submarine, not the plane

As Frank leads the group through the jungle towards the Ajira plane, Kate asks Jack if he's coming with them now. Jacks says that he's not meant to go, but he'll help them leave. Sawyer thanks him for coming back for them.

Suddenly, Sayid emerges from the jungle, causing everyone to point their guns at him. Jack tells him it's okay because Sayid cut the power so they could escape the cages. Sayid says that they should go because Locke is waiting for them.

Later, after Locke has gone inside the plane, the group arrives at the Arija plane themselves. They notice the body of Widmore's guy with the broken neck when Locke emerges from the plane and says that he killed the two men. He says that Widmore placed the two men there for show and he knew that he would kill them because if Widmore wanted to keep him off the plane, he wouldn't have moved the sonic fence.

He then says that Widmore wanted to get them all in one enclosed place so they would all be killed with the four bricks of C-4 that were wired to the plane's electronics. He pulls the C-4 from his bag and tells the group that there could be more on the plane, so they'll have to take the submarine.

Hurley objects since Richard said that Locke was not supposed to leave the island. Sawyer says that Richard's opinion doesn't count since he's not there, then he thanks Locke for saving them twice and says that he was wrong about him.

Locke says that the submarine will be heavily defended, so they'll need everyone to succeed. Jack still doesn't want to leave the island, but says that he'll help them. Claire then apologizes to Locke, who says he understands why she left with the group.

Sawyer then hangs back to talk to Jack and starts to scheme again. He asks Jack to keep Locke from getting on the submarine by getting him in the water. It seems that Sawyer believes what Locke said about not being able to cross water earlier this season.





Monday, May 10, 2010

Locke finds C-4 on the Ajira plane, kills two of Widmore's men

After killing Seamus and presumably the other guys guarding the cages, Locke makes his way to the Arija airplane. He encounters two of Widmore's men guarding the plane who shoot at him, but he just keeps walking, unfazed. He snaps the first one's neck and then shoots the other one. He takes a digital watch from the wrist of the second which he uses later in the episode.

Locke makes his way to the plane's door, which has a stairway built out of bamboo and rope, presumably built by Widmore's people. He climbs inside and enters the cabin of the plane. He finds a wire running down the overhead compartment and follows where it leads to find an object he finds interesting, but we don't see here. We later learn that it was at least four blocks of C-4, which he takes.





Sunday, May 9, 2010

Jack meets Anthony Cooper who is in a vegetative state

In the sideways, Jack is attempting to get permission to visit Anthony Cooper at retirement home type place. As the receptionist is asking what his interest in Mr. Cooper is, Helen Norwood walks by with a potted flower.

She asks what he is doing there and he says he want to ask Anthony Cooper about Locke's accident. Helen tells him to go and that Locke told her about the surgery and he doesn't want it. She adds "You saved John's life. Why can't that be enough?" Jack says "Because it's not."

Helen gives in and leads him into a community dining room where there are many senior citizens eating. She walks over to a table where a nurse is feeding a white haired man in a wheelchair. Helen rolls him over towards Jack and we see Anthony Cooper who is in a vegetative state, his eyes just staring off at nothing. Helen wipes some drool from his mouth and introduces Anthony and tells Jack that he is Locke's father. Jack looks surprised and disappointed.

Why is Jack so incredibly determined to fix Locke? Is this just old Jack needing to fix things or is there another motive?





The smoke monster kills Seamus, Jack lets the group out of Hydra cage

As Sawyer and Kate are inside the cages, Sawyer says that it feels like they're going in circles since they're back in there, but this time the gun was pointed at Kate's head.

Close by, Jin and Sun sit and Jin learns that his little girl Ji Yeon is with Sun's mother. He tells her that he saw pictures of her and she is beautiful. Sun then tells him that she has his wedding ring and then puts it back on his hand.

Suddenly, the power goes out killing the lights and the pylons. One guy from Widmore's group says that somebody killed the power and Seamus tells him to get a team to the generator. Then, the signature sounds of the smoke monster can be heard. Hurley says that now they're all going to die.

The smoke monster emerges from the jungle, and as it tends to be the case, Widmore's team attempts to shoot at it. It grabs Seamus and slams him against the cage which kills him. The monster quickly retreats back into the jungle, but can still be heard, presumably taking care of the other guys that were with Seamus.

Kate sees the keys on Seamus' belt and tries to grab them, but her arms are not quite long enough. Frank attempts to kick the cage door open with no luck.

As Kate is still reaching for the keys, suddenly a hand grabs them. We see Jack has come to let them out of the cage. Jack says I'm with him, nodding in the direction of the monster. Everyone then runs away.