already & not yet

I know I’m sounding like a broken record here, but the pace at which the reveals are coming this season is just astounding. I guess after 4+ seasons of questions and answers that simply yield more questions, it’s just surprising to reach this point in the narrative arc. It’s satisfying, at least to me.

That said, I thought this episode came off a little disjointed. A few of the elements just sort of sprung up out of nowhere (like Jack’s grandfather – where did that come from?) and I thought some of the dialogue was kind of wooden. But this was countered by some great moments and plenty of juicy info. Here is my bullet-list review of the episode:

• Given the recurring theme of resurrection, belief and doubt, did anybody else catch the not-so-subtle episode title (“316”) allusion to a famous Biblical passage about eternal life being granted to those who believe? John’s suicide note (“I wish you had believed me.”) seems to scream this loud and clear. Which I find to be uber-cool.
• While we’re at it: Ben went to Sunday school…who knew? This was one of my favorite scenes this season; it begins with Ben on bended knee (praying? conniving? asking forgiveness for what he’s about to go and do?) and ends with the great line, “We’re all convinced sooner or later, Jack.” In between, Ben sermonizes on the life of an infamous doubting disciple. Again, good stuff. Yay, Judeo-Christianity!
• Ben tells Jack, as he scurries out the back of the chapel, that he has to tie up a loose end. The promise he made to an “old friend”? Gotta be his pledge to Widmore to kill Penny. Did he follow through? I hope not, but if he did, maybe this is how Desmond ends up going back to the Island. Penny’s death at the hands of Ben might just be enough to force Des and Daddy Widmore to team up and work together to find the Island and bring an end to Ben’s life.
• Mrs. Hawkings tells us that the Island has always been moving (“That’s why you were never rescued,”). She also tells our castaways that in order to return to the Island, they have to replicate as closely as possible the circumstances that first brought them there. Thus, we see Sayid boarding the plane in the custody of a law enforcement official, Jack checks a dead coffin, Sun boards bearing a feeling of estrangement from her husband, etc. I have no idea why Hurley is carrying a guitar case or what happened to Aaron (and if he doesn’t go back with them, doesn’t that mess this whole thing up?), but this should be interesting to follow.
• I totally called the whole shoes thing. I’ve always wondered what the significance was of Christian wearing the tennis shoes in the first couple of episodes. And weren’t there a pair of shoes dangling from a tree in the jungle in the opening scene of the series? Not sure that’s very significant, but not we at least know why Christian had tennis shoes on.
• Personally, I loved the opening scene with Jack and the eyeball. Classic. And Jack instantly reverts back into hero mode, only this time, instead of pulling people out of burning wreckage, he goes all Greg Lougainis, diving in to save Hurley and Kate.
• A friend of mine has a theory that every time someone comes to the Island, they have to be carrying a dead person with them. Obviously this is true for the Oceanic 815 crew (Christian) and the Ajira 316 flight (Locke). The Black Rock could’ve had somebody dead on there, I guess. Wasn’t Eko’s brother already dead when his plane crashed? I think he was shot before the plane took off. OK, so if this theory is true, then here’s my thought: When Rousseau and her crew landed on the Island, as far as I know none of them were dead. But they did find Jin floating around in the water. Which could mean….that Jin WAS dead, but once he made it to the Island, he was recussitated / raised from the dead. I’m not sure I buy this theory completely (I don’t remember anybody “being dead” when the Freighter people arrived), but it’s an interesting thought. Hmmm…..

So much to discuss about last night’s episode, and I’m writing this on my lunch break, so let’s get right to it:

• I always love episodes with heavy doses of Sun & Jin and this episode was no exception. I just love the intricate and complex layers to their relationship. Off the Island, Sun is about to put a cap in Ben when she is told, after three years of assuming her husband was dead, that Jin is actually alive. On the Island, Jin hears Charlotte’s death bed comment (“Do not let her come back. This place is death!”) and resolves himself to do whatever it takes to keep his wife and daughter from returning. Jin gives Locke his wedding ring to prove to Sun that he’s dead; but the ring does just the opposite when Ben presents it to Sun as proof of Jin’s survival. Like I said, I just love their storyline. I just hope it’s wrapped up in a satisfying way in the end.
• Charlotte’s death wasn’t a huge surprise; I felt that all this time travel stuff had to eventually kill somebody. Honestly, she’s had a nosebleed for pretty much the whole season, so we could see this one coming. Big revelation, though: she was born on the Island and has knowledge of a conversation with Dan from her past. Did she just remember this or has she been covering this up for some time? And why would Dan tell younger Charlotte to “leave the Island and never come back” if you can’t change the past / future? What’s the point if the “universe” is going to course correct anyway? I’m guessing we’ll learn more about Charlotte’s mysterious parents as the season progresses. Complete guess here, but I’m guessing her father might be Brother Campbell, the monk who posed for a pic with Momma Farraday.
• I love the Smoke Monster. I really do. I have no idea what he / she / it could be (a security system?) and I doubt any final explanation will fully satisfy, but it’s just one of the coolest elements of the show. Did last night’s scene remind anybody else of the Sarlacc pit from Return of the Jedi? Au revoir, Montand.
• Rousseau has been messed up for a long time. I’m wondering what led her and her fellow crewmates to turn on each other. I’m curious to know about the “sickness” she described in Season 1. Now that the Island seems to be “locked” in place (pun intended), maybe we’ll never know.
• Speaking of Locke, my man of faith ventured down into the Island’s underbelly to fulfill his destiny. There he meets Christian who scolds him for not following his earlier instructions. Which leads me to wonder if Ben was ever supposed to turn the wheel in the first place. Much has been made of the fact that Jack, Kate, and the O6 were not “supposed” to leave the Island. But it seems that perhaps Ben falls into this same category. In an ironic twist, Locke is now the sacrifice the Island demands. (If you’ll remember, Locke made the same comment about Boone when he died.)
• Favorite moment of the night: Sawyer’s expression when he recognized Jin. I loved his “Well, whadd’ya say?”
• I want to see more of the Temple. If the Temple is where Smokey lives, could it be that the Others have always had the ability to summon him? Does the Temple also give Island-dwellers the ability to summon up the images we’ve seen in episodes past (like Eko’s brother, Kate’s horse, etc.).
• Question: If Locke successfully “unstuck” the Island and the crazy time-flashes are over, where or when will the Island finally “land”? And how will that complicate the efforts of the Oceanic 6 (or fewer) to return to the Island?

That’s it for my thoughts. Your reaction? Again, I think this season just gets better and better from here.

I know a lot of viewers are probably growing weary of all the time traveling going on this season. (Sunny’s comment during last night’s episode: “This is just weird.” This is true.) And there’s a part of me that’s less than enthused with how confusing things get when a show entertains time-travel possibilities. (See Heroes, Volumes 2 and 3.) But what I enjoy about this season thus far is that we finally seem to be at the point in the series where we’re getting more answers than questions. I think when it’s all said and done, we’ll realize what drew us to this show was the quest for these answers rather than the answers themselves. But enough waxing poetic…let’s get down to dissecting this week’s episode, entitled, “The Little Prince”.

Apparently the episode’s title is a reference to a book of the same name about an alien boy who crashes in the Sahara and meets a French pilot who becomes responsible for his welfare. Of course, LOST-philes are well aware of the producers’ infatuation with literary references, so this should come as no surprise. The episode centers around our little Island-born Aaron and someone’s quest to uncover the truth about his parentage. We’re led to believe Ben is the one behind this; perhaps this is what he meant when he told Jack he had some ideas on how to get Kate on board with going back to the Island. Meanwhile, Sayid continues to double as a human dartboard for the Tranquilizer Brigade while Sun gets her evil groove on. I worried that she might be up to no good by offering to “babysit” Aaron; now it seems she just wants vengeance for Jin’s death and she lays the blame squarely on Ben. Next week’s showdown between those two looks to be a good one!

As for the action on the Island, our castaways were transported back in time to Season 1 when Boone died, Aaron was born, and Locke’s hatch-banging led Desmond to light up the night sky. Probably the most significant moment here was Sawyer seeing Kate as she helped deliver Aaron. What happens if our Losties bump into themselves or one of their fellow castaways here? I have to be honest; this could be shark-jumping territory for me if we get to that point. I’m just saying.

But there were plenty of other significant pieces to last night’s Island action. It seems that the nosebleeds are directly related to the amount of time someone has spent on the Island. Hmm. And we’re also given further evidence to confirm what I believe to be true: that Miles is the son of the enigmatic Marvin Candle / Edgar Haliwax / Pierre Chang.

There were several times jumps in “The Little Prince”. The crew jumped from 1954 to 2004 at the end of “Jughead”; we know it’s 2004 because that’s when Claire gave birth to Aaron. The next jump is sometime after the departure of the Oceanic Six; that’s the only explanation for the deserted camp, the missing Zodiac, and the outrigger with the “Ajira Airlines” water bottle. (My favorite Sawyer line of the night, regarding the outriggers: “Who do these belong to? Other Others?” Classic.) If this flash in time is actually a flash-forward to some future time, this makes the identity of the crew who fired on Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Farraday, and Charlotte very intriguing.

Our final jump revealed my favorite moment of the night: Jin! Yes! (Young Rousseau! A more mildly exuberant yes!) It seems that Jin has been floating around in the water, hopping through time with the rest of our castaways. Now that he’s been discovered by Rosseau and her crew, we know the timeline is 1988, at least until the next flash.

By the way, where are Rose and Bernard? And why hasn’t anyone seemed to miss them?

And I loved the Hurley jumpsuit scene. He looked a little Kramden-esque, which made me smile.

This isn’t original, but the TV Guide guy noted that the words on the side of Ben’s van, “Rainier-Canton” form an anagram for “reincarnation”. Hmmmm….this should be interesting.