Pain is so Close to Pleasure

Lost

By EdHIll | Friday, February 17, 2006 | 5:42 pm | 69 Comments

Lost-02-15-06d.jpgI have to say, after a few lackluster episodes, Lost has regained itself in top form with this week’s episode. No more hour-long character studies about people coping with their inner demons. OK, so this episode was a storyline about someone coping with their inner demons, but this guy’s inner demon was about ripping people’s fingers out with a pair of pliers, and that’s much more interesting than watching Sawyer con some middle aged hausfrau or Charlie bitch and moan about his heroin addiction. But we also get more clues towards the island mystery, which is what the show has been lacking for a while. And most of all, they continue what I think is the most fascinating part of the new season: the growing rift between the Jack and Locke camps. Not since the “Bo and Luke Duke/Coy and Vance Duke” debate have I seen such tension. Ultimately, however, this show was all about Sayid. And we all know there are only two things that he does well (other than banging aging collagen-filled actresses, that is). Chew bubble gum and torture people. And this week, he was all out of bubble gum. I would like to first take a moment to formally petition the networks to please STOP greedily adding in three more minutes of commercials, forcing your shows to go from 9:00 to 10:03. For those of us blessed with TiVo’s, it totally screws up our recording schedules for the 10 o’clock hour, and we fast forward through the stupid commercials anyway.

But before we get to the recap let’s take a look at what’s brewing on the net.

For those of you like me who can’t stand the character of Ana Lucia, her one-note performance and her wooden clenched teeth acting style, you are not alone. You know who else can’t stand her? The producers of the show, who want to kill her off because she is such a pain in the ass to work with. The most shocking thing about this article? The picture of her actually makes her look cute.

Also interesting to note that the Hanso foundation website, the source of many tantalizing clues, is now gone, and instead forwards you to a new website, www.4815162342.com . Check it out here. It looks like all it is is the official Lost forums, but knowing this show there may be other hidden things to find.

There is a Lost Wikicity up here. Wiki is an internet term for a kind of online encyclopedia that lets anyone add information to it. Wikipedia is the main site, and shockingly has no entry for TVgasm. Someone better get on that.

TV Guide has the Lost world atlas here.

Well, enough of that, let’s get to the recap.

The show opens in a flashback. It’s Iraq and Sayid and a group of other Iraqi soldiers are frantically trying to destroy documents by burning them and using their shredder. Good to know a war torn Iraq (is there any other kind of Iraq?) still has room to buy paper shredders. They are soon interrupted by the Army who burst through the door and have everyone drop to the ground. USA! USA! For some strange reason two guys in the back are still shredding documents. When the army guy tells him that if he doesn’t stop he will fire, Sayid yells at them to stop. This lets the army guys know that he can speak English. They ask him where his commanding officer is. When Sayid says he left hours ago, he gets the business end of a rifle butt because as we all know, the Geneva conventions are quaint.

Later he is picked out of a lineup and brought to a sergeant who needs help with some translating. They also inform us that this is the first U.S.-Iraq war, and not the current one. Since the show is filmed in tropical Hawaii we are also treated to the first of many awkwardly low budget CGI shots of an Iraqi backdrop. Add in the fact that it was an overcast week of shooting in Hawaii and the whole thing doesn’t exactly scream desert. They need Sayid’s help in finding an Apache helicopter pilot who went down a few days ago. The only one that can help is Sayid’s former commanding officer, Tariq. The same one he just swore left town hours ago. You know, if you can’t trust an Iraqi prisoner of war to tell you the truth, who can you trust?

Back on the island in present day we see Sayid washing his face when Ana Lucia comes up to him asking where Jack is. Sayid asks why and Ana Lucia leads him into the jungle to show him that she has been tracking someone. At first glance it looks like it might be an Other. But if it was we’d never have seen them coming, so I’m gonna say it’s the French lady. Sayid tells Ana Lucia that he can handle it from here, and because of the whole “you shot the woman I love� thing between them, Ana Lucia agrees.

When Sayid confronts the person we see that it is in fact Danielle the crazy, and presumably smelly, French lady (ahh French jokes. Almost as easy as making fun of Belgians). When Sayid asks her what she is doing here, she says she is “looking for you.� She leads him further into the woods and Sayid says he doesn’t trust her, seeing as she’s insane and stole Claire’s baby. Danielle just says she has to show him something and in order to get him to go she hands him her rifle.

Lost-02-15-06f.jpgBack in the flashback Sayid is translating the between the Army captain and the Iraqi commander Tariq. He asks him to tell him where the pilot is. Tariq calls Sayid a disgrace and orders him to grab the man’s gun and kill them all. So that would be a “no.â€? The American officer doesn’t like that answer and warns Sayid that if he doesn’t help him someone else will take over, and that someone else will not be as nice as he is. Sayid tells him that he can’t help him, to which the American officer walks out in disgust.

Back on the beach Sawyer is awakened in the middle of the day because a frog is keeping him up. OK, not the most thought-out of storylines but we can’t really have 30 minutes of an Iraqi flashback now can we? You know how much money it takes to make Honolulu look like Iraq?

Sawyer goes wandering off into the woods and stumbles upon Hurley, who is eating a 10 pound vat of ranch dressing. Yep, that’s right, the fat guy who made such a stink about rationing the food is stealing it for himself so he can remain dangerously obese. If I were on that island I’d be pissed, because I love ranch dressing. Especially Dharma Initiative ranch dressing. It’s got quite the tangy bite. Sawyer then makes a deal with him. If he can help him find the tree frog, he won’t tell anyone about his delicious 10 pounds of ranch dressing. Goes great with everything from french fries to chicken wings. Hurley even says that the Dharma ranch dressing is safe at room temperature for up to seven years. That has to be the greatest breakthrough in modern science in 50 years. God bless the Hanso Foundation.

Lost-02-15-06b.jpgMeanwhile, Sayid finally is brought to what it isthat Danielle was talking about. At first I thought it would be a new hatch, but it turns out its just a guy caught up in a net. But it’s a guy we’ve never seen before. Danielle thinks it’s one of the Others and doesn’t want Sayid to cut him down. The man says his name is Henry Gale and he is from Minnesota. Sayid does in fact cut him down, and once the guy gets out of the net he makes a run for it. Bad idea, because then Danielle shoots him in the back with an arrow. She tells Sayid that she didn’t mean to kill him. If she did he would already be dead. He should take him back to her doctor, but remember that he will lie, she says. “For a long time, he will lie.â€? And it’s up to Sayid to get him to tell the truth.

Lost-02-15-06c.jpgBack in the flashback they bring Sayid to the new man in charge of the interrogation. The man is none other than the dreaded Immortal known as the Kurgan, who fought Connor McCloud to the death in Highlander. That movie rocks. He tells Sayid that he respects his loyalty but there is something he should know. His commanding officer Tariq was also in charge of gassing an entire city of men, woman and children. A city in which Sayid had relatives. He even shows him a videotape of the gassing, taped from Iraqi’s Funniest Home Videos. “You know what sarin gas does. No discrimination. The entire marketplace. Innocent women, children.� I have to say, living in such a racially charged society as we do, I’m glad there are some people and even a few deadly gases out there that don’t discriminate. Discrimination is bad.

The video leaves Sayid shaken and the nameless interrogator tells him that he respects loyalty, but not his unquestioning loyalty. Then Sayid asks him why he should believe him. The man tells him that they liberated his and Tariq’s personnel file. Which was really the whole point of the first Gulf War. Sure some people say it was because of oil, or because Saddam invaded Kuwait. But no, it was to liberate millions of personnel files forced to live under horrible conditions. They didn’t even organize them alphabetically for god’s sake.

“Tariq will never talk to you,� Sayid says. “That’s why you’re gonna have to make him talk to you.� The man responds, showing him a wooden toolbox, which I’m guessing isn’t full of Cadbury cream eggs. But if anyone ever needed info from me that’s all it would take. I’d sell out my family for one of them Cadbury cream eggs! Sorry, Cadbury said they’d pay me twenty bucks if I wrote that.

Lost-02-15-06g.jpgIn the hatch Sayid wakes up Locke, who is on number duty. He shows him the stranger with the arrow through his chest and tells him his story . “Minnesota, huh?� Locke says. “That’s the question isn’t it?� Sayid responds. He tells them that they will take the arrow out but he has to answer some questions first. Henry tells them that he and his wife crashed on the island while trying to cross the Pacific in a hot air balloon. Is there anyone that doesn’t get a chance to crash-land on this freaking island? Nigerian drug runners in a tiny 2 prop airplane, now a guy in a hot air balloon? Pretty soon it’ll be like Gilligan’s Island and astronauts will be showing up. I can’t wait to see Locke driving his bamboo car. He says that his wife died and they were living in a cave by the beach. Neither Locke nor Sayid believes them, but then Jack shows up, doing his full-on hero bit. Jack starts to treat the guy but Sayid warns him not to untie him.

On the great frog hunt Sawyer is throwing out some fat jokes at Hurley’s expense and calls him Babar, only he pronounces it “Bar-bar.â€? Hurley says that it’s “Bah-bar.â€? Actually, I always thought it was “Ba-bahr.â€? Anyways, Hurley then gets mad and lashes out at Sawyer. “Go ahead. Tell everyone the fat guy’s been hiding ranch dressing. The fat guy likes to eat. I’m Fat! Fat! Fat! Fat! You think I don’t know that? These people like me.â€? This actually pissed me off. It’s one thing for him to get defensive about someone making fat jokes, but if you were on a desert island and stealing food from everyone else because you selfishly want to stay fat, then I think you should really shut your mouth, and not just to keep food from going in.

Back in the hatch Jack is removing the arrow and dressing the hot air balloon guy’s wounds. In the corner Locke and Sayid are talking amongst themselves. Locke says the problem is there is no way they can know that he’s not telling the truth. “That’s not exactly true,� Sayid responds. He then tells Locke to change the combination on the armory, so that Jack doesn’t know it. Sayid’s gonna get his torture on, and he tells Locke that they both know that Jack will “have issues� with it. Jack is kind of a pussy. The fact that he shares his name with the greatest bad ass torture expert in the world, Jack Bauer, is just that much more of an insult.

Locke and Sayid both walk up to Jack and tell them that they think they should put him in the armory to be safe. “OK, for now.â€? Jack responds, acting as if he’s their elected leader who decides who does what. This is exactly the kind of attitude that made you lose the guns last week, buddy. Once they move the man in, Sayid closes the door and locks everyone out but him and his victim. Jack starts to bang on the door asking him what he’s doing. Sayid just answers coldly “What must be doneâ€? and then he ties his hair back which is the international torturer’s symbol for “it’s on.â€?

Back in the Iraq Flashback Sayid is also about to torture. Only this one is special because he’s losing his torture cherry on Tariq. Tariq thinks he’s bluffing at first and even orders him to tie a bag over himself and commit suicide. Then he spits in Sayid’s face. I’ll give the guy points for originality. That’s not exactly the way I would handle he situation. I’d probably start with a few jokes, then some flattery. You know, whatever I gotta do to keep him from cutting my nuts off.

Lost-02-15-06e.jpgThe next time we see Sayid he is walking out of the torture room and tells the nameless Army man that the pilot was executed and is buried in a field. He then hands him his box o’torture instruments and we see Sayid’s hands are covered in blood, which I’m assuming isn’t his.

Back in the hatch Jack is still acting like a little girl banging on the armory door. He asks Locke if he changed the lock (tee hee). Locke says that he did and Jack asks why. Locke responds by saying “You are raising an army. And why you didn’t ask me to help, well that’s your business. But there’s only one reason to raise an army Jack, and that’s because we are at war. And like it or not, whatever Sayid has to do behind that door, that’s a part of it too.�

In the hatch we see Sayid doing his work. He starts quizzing him on the details if his story. The man says he doesn’t understand why he’s asking these questions and why he doesn’t tell him what his name is. Then Sayid quietly tells him that he was a soldier, and he did things he never thought any man was capable of. “You asked me who I am. My name is Sayid Jarrah, and I am a torturer.â€? At this point the man’s ass puckers up so tight you could crack a walnut on it.

Back in the jungle Sawyer and Hurley finally catch the stupid frog they’ve been chasing. Sawyer starts petting it, and when Hurley suggests that he take the frog somewhere far away. Sawyer responds by crushing the frog in his hand. OK, kinda gross, but Sawyer is the resident bad boy, and that’s what bad boys do. They kill frogs. I’m really not sure what the point of this whole frog chasing storyline is, but at least now it’s over.

Outside the hatch Jack is acting like a whiny bitch. Locke tries to explain it but Jack just wants to take his marbles and go home. He goes over to the sink and asks where the pliers are. They are in the armory with Sayid.

Sayid continues to interrogate Henry. He asks him why he was flying in a balloon. Henry says it’s because he was rich and it was a dream of his. He asks about his wife’s death and what happened. He asks how deep in the ground he buried his wife, and Henry says he doesn’t remember. Sayid doesn’t believe him. He says that if you were burying the love of your life into the ground you would remember everything about it. And then he starts crying. Oooh, Sayid is working out some issues through torture. Hey, whatever works I guess. Henry makes the mistake of asking him if he lost someone, which sets Sayid off. He starts beating him mercilessly.

Outside the armory Jack is still acting like a little bitch and when he hears the screams he starts yelling at Locke to unlock the door. Locke refuses. Then we hear the beeping of the timer. Time is almost up and they have to enter the numbers. Jack then has an idea. He grabs onto Locke and says he won’t let him enter the numbers unless he opens the door. The beeping goes into the louder version meaning they have less than one minute to go. “You would risk everyone’s lives?â€? Locke pleads. “I don’t think anything’s going to happen when we get down to zero. You wanna see what’s gonna happen? Let’s just see what’s gonna happen.â€? Jack says. The beeping is getting louder and louder….

Locke finally relents and unlocks the door. Jack rushes in and grabs Sayid and drags him off of Henry. As Sayid looks in as the door is closing he sees Henry staring at him with a calm look in his eye and call me crazy, but from that moment on I am convinvced he is one of the Others. If he was just some rich guy on a balloon who just got tortured by an Iraqi torture expert, there’s no way he would be that calm.

Lost-02-15-06a.jpg
Oh yeah, he’s guilty all right

Lost-02-15-06h.jpgAs Locke rushes over to enter the code he has only a few seconds left and for a brief moment I got really pissed because I thought they would do one of those “he enters it at the last second thus saving us all� bits that would be a gip. But no. He doesn’t make it. The timer runs out just as he enters the last number but before he can hit enter. And what happens next is pretty cool. The timer counter starts spinning furiously. We hear giant turbine engines revving up all around them, then the counter turns from numbers to black and red tiles with hieroglyphics on them. Locke then quickly hits enter and the clock finally reverts back to the 108 minutes and everything goes back to normal. What happened? What was that noise? What did the hieroglyphics mean? Fret not dear reader, thousands of nerds everywhere are on the case. For a clearer image of the counter look here.

Jack meanwhile is castigating Sayid for torturing the complete stranger who just happened to land on the mystery island full of evil Others in a hot air balloon. Sayid says that he is lying. He is one of the Others. Jack doesn’t believe him and points out that Danielle thought the same of him when she tortured Sayid. “He is one of them. To Rousseau. We’re all others. I guess it’s all relative huh?â€? Locke says.

Which dovetails nicely with the final moments of Sayid’s flashback. They are leading him in a convoy out into the desert. The Army guy from the beginning asks if he has a wife and kids. Sayid shakes his head no and the man looks down at a picture of his kid in his hand. It’s a young Kate. So the army guy is Kate’s father.

As they grab him out of the truck the Kurgan shows up and tells him that it’s over, they are pulling out and not going to Baghdad, so he will most likely go back to work for Saddam. “Guess you’re lucky you have a skill set you can use.â€? When Sayid expresses disgust at this the man goes to untie him, and in Iraqi, tells him
“One of these days there will be something you need to know. And now…. You know how to get it.�

“I will never do that again.� Sayid says. The man doesn’t believe him, tosses him some cash and they leave.

Back on the beach Sayid is talking to Charlie. He says that there is a man in the hatch. “I beat him badly.�

Why are you telling me this, Sayid?� Charlie asks. Sayid tells him that he knows Henry is a liar because he felt no guilt when he beat him, but there is no way he can explain that to Locke and to Jack, because both of them have forgotten.

“Forgotten what?â€? Charlie asks.

“That you were strung up by your neck and left for dead. That Claire was taken and kept for days and god knows what was done to her. That these people, these Others, are merciless and can take any one of us whenever they choose. So tell me Charlie. Have you forgotten?� And then the episode ends.

So what did everyone else think? Anyone out there know how to read hieroglyphics?

About

69 Comments

  1. 1
    mountain_girl
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 6:25 pm

    God bless you, EdHill. Great recap!

    Henry was totally giving Sayid the ‘ha ha, f*cker, you didn’t break me’ look.

    I heard that part of the hieroglyphs reads “to kill.” Not much but definitely interesting.

    Can’t wait for the next episode and the Girls Night Out fun. Was it me or did it look like it was Danielle with Kate and Claire?

  2. 2
    zoobabe
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 7:05 pm

    I was kinda buzzed of happy hour beer when I watched this episode, so thanks EdHill for clarifying it for me (and you used “castigating” in a sentence). I really liked the Sayid storyline, and how he got choked up thinking about Shannon. The end point he made was true too- the Others did some really bad things to our survivors. Why be nice when you have an Iraqui torturer at your disposal?

  3. 3
    LeesahK
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 7:17 pm

    I read somewhere that the hieroglyphics mean “CAUSATIVE DIE, or roughly CAUSE TO DIE.”

  4. 4
    gillian
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 7:48 pm

    Bravo. Wonderful recap. I feel like I finally got to see an episode of the show I knew I really did like. It has been a while.

    I wondered if Sayid was talking about his Iraqi love from the first season’s flashbacks as well as Shannon when talking about burying someone you love. Kind of a double-whammy torture/healing session.

    Also I saw the look that hot air henry guy threw Sayid’s way at the end. Na-na-na-na-na. Guilty.

    The frog baffled me to. Maybe it was just to punctuate the fact that Sawyer is merciless. Dunno.

    I was going to look up the glyphs myself….but as you so accurately pointed out “Fret not dear reader, thousands of nerds everywhere are on the case.” Tee-hee…you are right.

    This episode and accompanying recap make me want to stand up and do a EdHill/Sayid cheer! Can’t wait until next week.

  5. 5
    ATCmurph
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 8:06 pm

    I found that look Henry gave to Sayid very chilling. Although he had an airtight, albeit strange, story, he must be an Other. Either that of he’s just really creepy.

    And I love that the timer ran out, and all of the speculation that’s sure to follow about the hieroglyphics. Fun stuff!!

  6. 6
    BigTeebo
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 8:42 pm

    Let’s face it, the timer counting down to zero and the funny pictures showing up was THE definition of a “Tvgasm”. We get foreplay of the preview from last week, Jack is fumbling around like a 15 year old on prom night, and we have a ‘gasm.

    I thought I heard things winding DOWN when the timer hit zero. Like when the USS Enterprise has a power failure you hear a tone go down in pitch. I thought Locke was gonna get locked in(get it?) the main room with some steel doors shutting or something(panic room mode).

    The frog killing was just assurance from the writers so we hate Sawyer more.

  7. 7
    ToddHzlqst
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 9:20 pm

    I kept on screaming at the TV, “Why not ask him why he doesn’t have 4 months worth of beard growth?”. Now, this doesn’t mean he’s an OTHER (look at their grooming already!), but it does mean he hasn’t been living in a cave for 4 months either.

    This was the second (at least) Sayid/Kate crossover. The first being when he appeared on the TV at the recruiting office where her Dad was working.

    I was disappointed in the anti-climax of the timer hitting zero and then Locke just hitting ENTER to make everything alright.

  8. 8
    CapoSTAT
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 9:30 pm

    People are saying that Henry is lying b/c Henry Gale was Dorothy’s uncle in W of Oz. Also his air-balloon idea is one refered to in that same story where Dorothy was supposed to return home in one.

    I also heard that the symbols say “Sawyer”, i didn’t try to confirm that one myself..

    BTW, i’m trying to look for one of the comments in previous recaps regarding the black smoke in Lost, and a novel that had a similar concept that had apparently influenced the writers of this show. Anyone know what that book was?

    thx

  9. 9
    EdHill
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 9:34 pm

    oh shit ToddHzlqst, I didn’t even think of that. I’ve gotten so used to the constant “4 o’clock shadow” that everyone sports that it didn’t even occur to me. Then again there are so many things about this show that if you think to hard will make your head explode. Like when the mysterious bearded guy told them that this was “our islandâ€?, why didn’t everyone o go “OK, you got it, just tell us how to get off this place and we’ll leave.”

  10. 10
    nancydrew77
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 10:55 pm

    EdHill, you’re recap was awesome! This episode was a lot tighter than most of the episodes but I think this show is still kinda weak. I can’t stand jack. I think he’s a pussy too. It seemed like there was a politcal message going on through the whole episode. Especially when he asked Charlie if he had forgotten. It was like they were asking the audience if they had forgotten 9/11. Also, I felt like there more to Sayid’s question. Was he trying to get Charlie to talk bout something specific?

  11. 11
    TWilliams
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 11:06 pm

    Uh . . . Henry Gale “crashed” in a hot-air balloon that would have contained all of his toiletries etc. so him being somewhat clean-shaven isn’t too far-fetched. It isn’t as if he fell out of his balloon onto the island while it blew away. I do believe that Mr. Gale is an Other, but his beard-growth isn’t reason to suspect him of being one.

    Does nobody else have any problems with the last few episodes? Don’t get me wrong because I think the show has started “going somewhere” again; but I think there might be too many writers on this show and the characters’ actions are no longer consistent. Jack is a pacifist with Mr. Gale but a warhawk after speaking to Zeke and his freaks. Locke had no problems with Sayid playing torturer but was against Jack’s army, the posse etc. He questions the purpose of an army but then says torture is a part of war. Locke was THE person who told Jack to become the leader (S1E4) but now continuously questions why Jack thinks he should have ANY type of authority — he is one of the only two characters to question and resent Jack’s assertion of authority. We are getting different characters from week-to-week which makes it harder to lend my belief.

    Two things EdHill: your link to all-things Ana-Lucia was okay; but your telling us that the producers want her off the show (while pure speculation) can also be considersed somewhat spoilerish. Please — no “reveals” in the recaps. Secondly, I know you are excited and overly eager when you write your review; but please . . . spellcheck or spend some more time on sentence structure.

    ex.)”Sayid Meanwhile finally is brought to what it is Danielle was talking about.”

    Ugh . . . I think Henry Gale had it easy.

    Thanks for loving the show, though.

    PS — Kate knows EVERYTHING . . . EVERYTHING. The secret lies with Kate.

  12. 12
    TWilliams
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 11:15 pm

    NancyDrew77, where did you get the “forget 9/11″ message from this show? Did you uncover some evidence that Iraq was responsible for 9/11?

    Please divulge if this is the case because I know of a certain president who would love to get his hands on that.

  13. 13
    Victoria
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 11:19 pm

    Okay, the Wizard Of Oz references totally made me think the Other was lying. He took his cover story out of that book, but why does he think he needs a cover a story? He must not be the best Other if he actually allowed himself to get caught, but dude sure can take a torturing-wow.
    Excellent episode-I just can’t believe we have to wait 2 weeks for a new episode. Isn’t this February sweeps-repeats during sweeps? Boy, everyone sure is afraid of going up against women’s figure skating.

  14. 14
    CapoSTAT
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 11:31 pm

    nancydrew77–

    I get what you’re saying, it also sounded odd to me the way Sayid asked Charlie if he had forgotten as if it was some historical event. I think the aim there was to remind the viewers of the nature of the Others–how dangerous they are. I think the audience in general has softened there feelings towards the Others, simply b/c they havent really done anything lately. On top of that, Henry plays the part of a very innocent man, one that you could easily believe.

  15. 15
    Victoria
    Posted February 17, 2006 at 11:37 pm

    ‘Have You Forgotten?’ is the name of a country song about 9/11-I’m not saying I think that has anything to do with it, but that is the name of the song.

  16. 16
    Lady J
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 12:02 am

    I was sure this recap would be titled “Over the Rainbow.” As soon as “Henry Gale” was mentioned I recognized that from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” The hot-air balloon sealed it.

    This bitch was not only lying, but he was sent in to get the numbers to count down the hieroglyph set. Whatever revved up, it effected the other bunkers on the island. They needed that to happen for some reason. Remember how Zeke mentioned Locke had been opening other people’s doors? That hatch is important to the Others. They don’t like that the castaways are making themselves at home, but as long as they keep things running in Desmond’s stead, it’s all good.

    “Henry Gale” is a lying bitch. And Sayid is going to get answers (and possibly start his own brigade.) Why didn’t Rousseau torture him? We know she can do it.

    I heard the glyphs mean “Death Approaches.”

    What is the theory for all these people’s lives being interwoven years in advance of them getting on that flight? There must be an actual named theory out there.

  17. 17
    Leah3t
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 1:08 am

    I think the frog has something to do with this sickness that Rousseau’s family got and Gale’s wife suppiosedly got. Frogs can be poision and I think sawyer just did himself no favor.

    Also, with the whole Oz this, people call Austrialia Oz too. Not sure what the tie in would be, but still.

  18. 18
    IHeartTV
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 4:17 am

    I thought there was a political message, too, but I didn’t pick up on 9/11. I thought it was Locke pointing out that torture is part of war.
    I thought Sayid and Danielle were being paranoid about Henry Gale, but you guys make some good points. Plus, he ran away from them as soon as that net fell. If I were a castaway, I wouldn’t run from the only humans I’d seen in 4 months. Although, when he mentioned his wife had gotten sick I was looking forward to more info on the illness that killed Danielle’s people and some of the tail-enders.

  19. 19
    jenny10girl
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 6:25 am

    Welcome back TVWilliams…I have missed your insight…Anyways, I totally missed the Wizard of Oz references…I always found that movie totally creepy…

  20. 20
    Pandora
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 7:44 am

    Nice recap. I agree that this was one of the better episodes, since I’m a bit sick of hearing about Charlie & his lame band, or Jack’s many martyr-syndrome induced issues, trying to save the world.

    Thanks for sharing the roots of the Henry Gale name, I would not have picked up on that… before my time, though I have seen the movie. That guy is definitely evil. That one look said it all, all he would have needed for the coup de grace would have been the single raised eyebrow, tented fingers and the “puahahahaha”.

    How could you not pick up on the 911 reference? The whole weepy subindustry that developed that uses “Never Forget” as their slogan, and this is a very topical news subject today… if we start to use torture in our war tactics, do we become as bad as one of “them” (ahem, “others”), or is it a necessary evil we can’t afford to forgo in this current environment of terror? Sure, the direct links behind 911 and Iraq just did not materialize as this administration would have liked. But I think she was not pointing out a tie to the subplot about Sayid’s involvement with Iraq & the first war, but rather the metaphorical idea of war and terrorism, and where to draw the line.

    Can’t wait til next week, though I am already thinking it will be muy corny, with them using the psychologist to “recover memories” for Claire (working in this field myself, it’s a very dubious subject at best). Couldn’t they find a better use for the psychologist? I’m sure her past has something interesting involving killing some innocent person by accident, etc…

  21. 21
    rexmanningdays
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 10:37 am

    did anyone else think that henry looked a lot like mike white?

    totally random, but it is undeniable.

  22. 22
    mikey
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 2:54 pm

    My impression about the question from Sayid to Charlie was that he knew what Charlie had done in abducting Sun last week and wanted him to own up to it (lest Charlie get the same treatment Henry “the Other”) just just been given.

    Anyone else on that line of thinking?

  23. 23
    mikey
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 2:56 pm

    Sorry to repost; I screwed up my parentheses in that last post…

    My impression about the question from Sayid to Charlie was that Sayid knew what Charlie had done in abducting Sun last week and wanted him to own up to it (lest Charlie get the same treatment Henry “the Other” had just been given).

    Anyone else on that line of thinking?

  24. 24
    Milkshake
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 8:48 pm

    Ed what’s the deal – saying the writers want to kill off Ana Lucia seems like a spoiler to me. It’s bad enough I had to stop reading the comments because people can’t keep their mouths shut but now I can’t read the recaps either? Do you realize how empty my life is and how much I depend on these recaps? Please be more careful in the future!

  25. 25
    IHeartTV
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 9:51 pm

    If it makes you feel better, Milkshake, J.J. Abrams apparently told a magazine that the rumors are false and Ana Lucia won’t be killed off anytime soon. Of course, you’re probably not reading this…

  26. 26
    jenny10girl
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 11:13 pm

    Ummm…Milkshake…that was in US Magazine like two weeks ago…Leave EdHill alone…

  27. 27
    TWilliams
    Posted February 18, 2006 at 11:52 pm

    Thanks Jenny — it makes me feel good that I could actually be “missed” on this board. Who knew!?! I am sorry I was gone for so long.

    Pandorra — I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but next week’s episode is a repeat. I groaned when I heard it too, but I thought the preview was odd because it didn’t say “next week on Lost.” Instead it said “coming on Lost” or something lame like that. Anytime they say that it isn’t a new show next week. ABC.com confirmed it and they are re-airing the two hour pilot episode. At least it isn’t a lame-ass Charlie episode (sorry for all of you junkie/hobbit-lovers out there).

    And Jenny (again), I do agree with Milkshake — I would say any “rumor” should still not be included in the recap because it is still more than some want to know or hear. It is only fair. But anyway, if this was leaked by a “producer” — I can only say bullcrap. What producer would leak a story like that? He’d have NO job so of course it is bogus. They might all hate her (and I wouldn’t say that I totally blame them) but I don’t think that that juicy of a story would have been leaked to the ENTIRE world.

    I guess I just took Sayid’s comments to Charlie as personal. He remembered that Charlie had been left to die and that the Others are NOT nice people. Charlie of all people should remember the nice guy who came to be known as Ethan Rom. I thought he was trying to get Charlie on his side.

    Some of the messages question torture. Good thoughts and points. I for one think doing an act like that likens us to other horrible people. Is it necessary or can’t we simply lock someone up for eternity with some bread and water? We are all different and have different answers to this; it is a sad thought.

    This has nothing to do with Lost, but everybody needs to vote for Stacy Keibler. Seriously, she is the goddess of dance. She has made my guilty-pleasure show something I am no longer embarrased about.

  28. 28
    skoobedart
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 9:58 am

    I didn’t know Kaysar was on Lost now!

  29. 29
    rubyslypperz
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 10:47 am

    Isn’t “Henry Gale” the guy from the movie “Saw”? He freaked my daughter out when she recognized him

  30. 30
    ToddHzlqst
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 12:24 pm

    I’m going to go out on a limb and say that HG is something other then an OTHER. I don’t think an OTHER would have gotten trapped like that without getting help from the OTHERS. Also, I still can’t get away from the clean-shaven look w/o longer hair for being “in a cave” for 4 months.

    The previews already show another hatch and underground facility and the tailies were living in a “shelter” as well. Who’s to say that there aren’t (many) other underground bunkers, perhaps with people other then the OTHERS.

  31. 31
    Pandora
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 12:27 pm

    If anyone wants to freak themselves out, go to the library and borrow “The Mysterious Island” by Jules Verne.

    Or google “Wizard of Oz Experiment”, and click on the Wikipedia entry.

  32. 32
    Victoria
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    Todd, I agree about an Other letting himself get caught. I think he is an Other, but why did he get caught. Of course, they aren’t superhuman-Ana and Eko have both killed Others, as did Charlie, assuming that is what Ethan actually was. But why did he get caught? On purpose?

  33. 33
    Suzque
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 3:35 pm

    Great episode, great recap (as always). My favorite was “The man responds, showing him a wooden toolbox, which I’m guessing isn’t full of Cadbury cream eggs.” I love Cads too!

    rubyslypperz (#29): I think the actor playing Henry Gale was also a bad guy on one of the zillion versions of Law & Order (prob. SVU). When I saw his face, I cringed in fear.

    I’ve decided not to think to hard about what things mean, I’m just enjoying the ride. I pay close attention and anxiously await the recap and comments because I always miss something. Thanks to all of you sharp-eyed TV fans. I raise a glass in your honor.

  34. 34
    TWilliams
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 4:01 pm

    I just have a question for everyone who doesn’t think Mr. Gale is an Other. Do you all simply believe that there is only one other/Other group on the island? I believe there are already two opposing factions on this island.

    Zeke looked kind of nervous when Jack told him he knew about his mole he had sent to camp. He looked somewhat relieved when Jack mentioned Ethan’s name because Jack was the one making the mistake. Zeke does NOT work with either Goodwin or Ethan. There has got to be another-Other group on this island.

    And my money is that Zeke’s informant is our very own Kate.

  35. 35
    Pandora
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 5:23 pm

    TWilliams, I don’t think there is more than one group of “Others”, no evidence so far of this. I don’t recall any funny look of anxiety coming from Zeke, but I have the episode Tivo’d & I’ll watch it again.

    The 2 groups fit nicely into the schematic of the movie, coming from the dharma wheel (which is a version of the daoist ba-gua). 2 opposing forces with different elements of ying & yang (which are also good and bad within each individual). This is the central idea behind the island’s experiment (and is also the root of other concepts Westerners may be more familiar with, such as feng shui & tai qi). The Others are not purely evil either, they are just an opposing force capable of good or bad, doing things for unknown motivations at this point.

  36. 36
    Leah3t
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 8:41 pm

    TWilliams- I completely agree that there are two kinds of others. The “deliverance” ones in burlap clothing seem to be very different than the Ethan/Goodman type- specifically Zeke’s crew is easy to kill, when Ethan beat the crap out of everybody till he was finally shot. I would stick GAle in the Ethan crew becuase he made it through torture with that look on his face at the end.

    Really like that kate theory…

  37. 37
    TWilliams
    Posted February 19, 2006 at 10:45 pm

    Pandora, there is no hard proof that there are two opposing sides on the island; but I am thinking there is a left-over group of DHARMA scientists and another faction of former US military.

    I am with Leah on this one. I think Zeke and his group are one side while Ethan and Goodwin are another. The “Others” make no noise and leave no trails and I am betting Zeke and his bomb-throwing posse are NOT Others. Weapons don’t seem to belong with the Others’ lifestyle. They’ve pretty much done everything with their bare hands (Scott/Steve was killed with bare hands) — why’d the twins pull a gun on Sawyer?

    Had Kate been on that raft at the end of season one, she’d have guaranteed Walt a safe transition while still keeping the Losties safe. The bomb and raft explosion would NOT have occured had Kate been there. That is why she wanted that spot on the raft so badly. I have suspected Kate since halfway through season one and now just about everything could point directly at her when I watch each new episode.

    The Zeke face-off was way too similar to Kate’s bank heist. Mars said she is not to be trusted . . . so my advice . . . DON’T trust her.

  38. 38
    gamera87
    Posted February 20, 2006 at 2:40 am

    “So the army guy is Kate’s father.” Um, yeah, we learned that just 5 episodes ago.

  39. 39
    ToddHzlqst
    Posted February 20, 2006 at 6:13 am

    Well, unless I’m missing something (which is VERY probable with this series!), there are already 3 groups of players…so why not more.

    1. The Plane crash group

    2. The OTHERS

    3. The French woman’s group (unless they’re an old part of the OTHERS).

    Also, there was the guy manning the clock, so why not others (not OTHERS) in other bunkers.

  40. 40
    bluebell
    Posted February 20, 2006 at 6:23 am

    I totally, TOTALLY think that Henry Gale guy is lying, and that he belongs to the Ethan/Goodwin camp, whoever they are. He was probably sent out to infiltrate the group to put in motion some new plan against the losties. Whether he was trapped by Rousseau or let himself be caught doesn’t matter. He’s in the hatch now.

    Also, I loved this episode! Torturer Sayid is so fun to watch. But, I was screaming at my tv during his interrogations. . . just ask the guy where the balloon is, for crying out loud!! Or where the wife is buried. I think that info would be pretty easy to verify. But of course, after the torture was done, because Uncle Henry is so guilty! And if you want to see Sayid in a different light, rent “Bride and Prejudice,” one of the Bollywood movies. I saw it this weekend and was shocked to see a happy-go-lucky Sayid singing and dancing in this Indian musical. It was strangely entertaining!

  41. 41
    Pandora
    Posted February 20, 2006 at 9:35 am

    TWilliams: Now, THAT is entirely plausible… the part about leftover scientists, I would not be surprised if Dr. Candle is going to play a part at some point in future episodes, and who knows, maybe even Alvar Hanso he didn’t get killed in the last “incident”? Next, the island will end up being like Gilligan’s Island, with the Harlem Globetrotters and astronauts making guest appearances, and Sayid driving around in a little bamboo cart… LOL! But in seriousness, you are right about unknown groups with unknown motivations. After all, there is Desmond still running around on the island somewhere, there’s no indication he is directly allied with the Others.

    Todd: You’re right about the French woman, since she is only out for #1 as far as we know and not allied with the others. I wouldn’t really call her a faction though, since as far as we know for sure, she is on her own (if she’s not lying).

    BTW, one of my ideas is going to be published on the Lost Blog (www.lostblog.net)… look for it in the next entry! It’s the one about the 64 kwae from the I Ching (the determinants of the Dharma wheel) being integral when binary code was invented (there’s a chart there I found in my research that shows an uncanny similarity between them).

  42. 42
    ceenee
    Posted February 20, 2006 at 3:35 pm

    #40: also, Naveen Andrews played the sexy sikh in The English Patient… def drool-worthy!

  43. 43
    TWilliams
    Posted February 20, 2006 at 9:20 pm

    Naveen Andrews played the Bingley character in Bride & Prejudice! I had forgotten that — I had seen that movie a while ago and was surprised at the time to see him in that movie. And yes, he is a member of the bomb squad in the English Patient. He is the man Hanna (Oscar winning Juliette Binoche) longs for . . .

    Nice work Pandora; I will have to check it out.

  44. 44
    set78
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 11:59 am

    Has anyone considered that Henry Gale was not looking at Sayid as a “ha-ha” (when Jack opened the door and removed Sayid), but instead at JACK, as maybe a “oh, so you’re the soft one?; the one who thinks he is the leader; the one to get to know”?
    It seems to me that Henry was captured on purpose, and that possibly Danielle injured him on purpose – to get into the hatch and somehow either gain info, or infiltrate himself entirely…

    Also, I think Sayid may know about Charlie hurting Sun. He knows that Charlie has it in him to do evil things, and that if/when he has a reason he will act on this side…

  45. 45
    Pandora
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 12:18 pm

    set: I think who or what he’s looking at with those weirded out eyes is entirely open to interpretation still. That’s a possibility (Jack)… but I believe he wasn’t looking at anyONE but actually at the countdown and the numbers. I’ll bet that guy was sent in there as a mole to get the combination of entry #’s, our familiar 4 8…..

  46. 46
    set78
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 12:23 pm

    Pandora: I thought there was a separate room with the computer (down the hall) and the countdown numbers are actually around the corner. Would it be possible to see the #’s from Henry’s position?

    I agree with you – I am putting more weight behind the mole theory…

  47. 47
    Leah3t
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 1:10 pm

    set78 and pandora-
    both are very interesting theories. esp that rousseau put him in the trap- that thing did look like one of her contraptions.

    i wonder what the significane is of so many ending up on the island through different measures, plane, windboat, hot air balloon (if that is even to be believed, which it is probably not)

  48. 48
    Pandora
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 1:34 pm

    set–quite possible! Anyone have the blueprints? Hehe. I’d have to pay closer attention to the layout of those rooms next time. Then again I do have it Tivo’d…

    Leah– interesting point, too. I personally think that this has something bizarre to do with the electromagnetism of something on the army (been a lot of references to this in past shows, likely something in the hatch) is disrupting navigation systems. Similar to many of the theories which try to explain the Bermuda Triangle.

  49. 49
    Pandora
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 1:36 pm

    Well, that was a bizarre typo of mine. I meant to write island instead of army, above. That was weird!

  50. 50
    Leah3t
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 2:29 pm

    Pandora- I forgot about all that magnetism and stuff from the concrete walls in the hatch. Though I wonder if it even goes back further than army stuff. remember that abandoned ship where the science teacher got blown up? that looked very old.

    This whole ‘how do things get to the island’ also makes me wonder about the polar bear. Don’t they say polar bears can track prey thousands of miles? though he may just be a figment of walt’s imagination. so many questions! ahh!

  51. 51
    TinkerbellAPixie
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 4:37 pm

    I have a friend at work who was furious that Locke was able to reset the numbers…but I thought (and was hoping someone on here might have an idea) that maybe whatever happens when the time runs out did happen and we just haven’t seen the repercussions yet.

  52. 52
    Ruthiblu
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 7:14 pm

    Why do the Losties seem so sure that the french lady is not an other? Why did she seek out Sayid to do her dirtywork? Obviously she could have handled the Oz guy on her own – unless he’s actually the WIZARD of oz. Maybe he’s the guy who maintains the connections between the hatches and homebase(where ever that is).

    As for Sawyer and Hurley, I definitely agree that handling that frog and then squishing it with bare hands was a bad idea. And why was Sawyer so sure that was the frog who was bothering him? Doesnt it stand to reason that there are millions of frogs of that very same species? Is he going to personally hunt down and squish them all?

    Could Dr. Marvin Candle be Sun’s father? Weren’t Jin and Sun put on that plane by her fathers orders? Sun’s father was obviously a very rich, powerful and dangerous person and Sun knew it. She was very disturbed when she found out Jin was going to work for him. Maybe the watch is actually a tracking device? Is sure seemed important to them…

    If Jin recognized her dad in the film she could have kept it to herself – obviously she has shown that she has the gift of quiet deception by her ability to not speak english after the crash during many difficult situations when communications would seem crucial.

  53. 53
    Pandora
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 7:46 pm

    Ruth, I don’t think the other stuff is so out in left field… but that idea on Dr. Candle is. We already saw Jin’s father, remember? He was a fisherman, and looked quite different. And Dr. Candle isn’t even played by a korean actor… being chinese myself, we can tell the difference, LOL. Sorry, but I think it’s another one of those things where if you are not of that race, a lot of people look alike. To you, it’d be like me mistaking Tom Cruise for Brad Pitt.

    Leah: there’s some really interesting ideas going around about electromagnetism online (I’ve written some of them too, hehe). On the polar bear, I think it was a part of Walt’s imagination. He has a very strong gift for turning his thoughts into energy or matter–remember scenes like him killing the bird in the flashback with his stepdad? Or making Sharon see him even after he was kidnapped. You may not have caught this, but he appears on a milk carton in Hurley’s dream… at a time Hurley doesn’t know he’s kidnapped yet, I believe this is because he projected this image into his mind; you can see it here:
    http://mercury.walagata.com/w/tap2/2×04.JPG

    The polar bear appeared right after he was reading a Marvel comic which had a polar bear (the whole comic is online page by page on some site, forgot the link now).

    There are definitely some cool ideas here. On the idea of how electromagnetism can be related to thought projection, Andreas, the owner of The Lost Blog, allowed me to post my whole theory which goes into it because he liked the ideas. You can see it at http://www.thelostblog.net if you’re curious, it’s pretty extensive I think.

  54. 54
    Pandora
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 7:52 pm

    Oops, that should be http://www.lostblog.net . The most recent Feb 22 entry (by Cecilia) is the one he allowed me to post.

  55. 55
    Pandora
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 7:56 pm

    Oh and Leah… one more thing, the typo I made with army is probably more benign than you thought, hehe. I work in the army (as a psychiatrist) and was called away from the desk briefly while posting that. I don’t think it was a LOST related Freudian slip. :)

  56. 56
    TWilliams
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 7:56 pm

    Pandora — did Walt make all of the island’s polar bears appear? What about the one Sawyer killed on the hunting trip? Let’s not forget there were polar bears in the Hanso Orientation film. Walt is a “special” child — he was described as such in season one along with Locke and Shannon (How dare we forget someone so soon after her death :( ).

    I have a different theory about Shannon’s death; she was killed because she knew there was more to the island. As soon as someone believed her, the island took her out. She was special and she was killed because of it.

    I am still working on Locke’s. He has changed a lot these past few episodes and the writing doesn’t seem to be consistent.

  57. 57
    Pandora
    Posted February 21, 2006 at 8:09 pm

    TW: Interesting! I really did not recall those bears on the orientation video at all. What were they doing? I was trying to recall the hunting trip. I thought that that was around the same episode as the one with Walt’s comic, so I lumped it together. Was it a separate incident altogether?

    On Shannon, you say “the Island”, do you mean it as just one massive force? Interesting idea, at any rate. Did you ever hear what Walt said played backwards? There are a few people doing this online. For those who don’t know, what sounds garbled played forward on the show… when played backwards sounds pretty clearly like “the button is bad, don’t press the button”

  58. 58
    Ruthiblu
    Posted February 22, 2006 at 8:18 am

    Not Jin’s Dad – Sun’s Dad. But your right, I don’t think he is Dr. Candle. I just remembered that Dr. Candle was in the US at the psych ward in Hurley’s flashback. But I definitely think its a possibility that Sun’s father is connected to the Hanso Foundation somehow and the watch is something important that we don’t know about yet. – just a theory.

  59. 59
    Pandora
    Posted February 22, 2006 at 8:49 am

    Sun’s dad being Dr. Candle is even worse, because he’s got a bigger role in the series… we’ve seen him in 3 or 4 episodes closeup and he looks eve more different from him.

    Dr Candle being the psych doc is another misunderstanding that’s been posted online in the past and been discredited. The two are played by very different actor, one is Cambodian while the other is Korean. Again, being asian myself, they looked no more similar than Dustin Hoffman and Robert Deniro. Honestly, after seen a few of these posts, I’m borderline offended… I mean, if someone were to say, hey, doesn’t Martin Lawrence look JUST like Denzel Washington, I think a lot of black people would feel the same.

    I don’t disagree with you on the idea that it’s possible there’s some sort of tie in with Sun’s family & the Hanso foundation… there’s a remote possibility there. Not because of the asian doc (Dr. Candle thing), but because both the DHARMA Initiative symbol and the korean flag are both based on the ba-gua, a Taoist symbol that goes back many centuries and is used in geomancy and philosophy.

  60. 60
    Ruthiblu
    Posted February 22, 2006 at 6:51 pm

    Pandora – I stand corrected. No offense intended.

  61. 61
    Pandora
    Posted February 23, 2006 at 9:55 am

    It’s ok Ruth, no biggie.

  62. 62
    BarryJV
    Posted February 23, 2006 at 12:26 pm

    TWilliams

    Naveen Andrews played the Bingley character in Bride & Prejudice!

    And yes, he is a member of the bomb squad in the English Patient. He is the man Hanna (Oscar winning Juliette Binoche) longs for . . .

    Nice work Pandora; I will have to check it out.

    If you’re a fan of his you’ll probably love “Buddha of Suburbia” in which he starred. I think the bisexual orgy[1] will probably be a popular scene with his fans.

    [1] Yes, really, you can do that sort of stuff on British TV.

  63. 63
    jrothman888
    Posted February 23, 2006 at 1:16 pm

    oh man i need help…please

    I missed last weeks episode
    (season 2 ep. 14)

    Can somone send me something ( a link or download) of it please.

  64. 64
    TWilliams
    Posted February 24, 2006 at 3:49 pm

    Pandora, the first encounter with the polar bears happens when Kate, Sayid, Shannon, Boone, Charlie and Sawyer climb the mountain to get a better signal and instead intercept the French woman’s looped message. It happened after the first few days on the island.

    Walt was “attacked” by the polar bear much later — after he became disappointed that his father wasn’t paying enough attention to him. That whole attack is VERY questionable. Also, this happened after Walt skimmed through Hurley’s comic book.

    The Hanso Orientation film only showed two polar bears fighting. The voice over said that the island and Hanso were involved in different areas of study and one of them was zoology (which is when the polar bears were shown).

    As for Shannon’s death — it is just a thought I have of her death. She was the only person who knew that Walt was in trouble. She KNEW this. But as long as only one person was “seeing things” everybody would think she was crazy. It was only after somebody else saw Walt and realized Shannon wasn’t nuts that she was killed. Sayid believing her was what did her in. She wasn’t a threat to the island as long as nobody valued what she said. She “saw” things (she was special too) and so became a threat to whatever is going on on this island.

  65. 65
    Pandora
    Posted February 25, 2006 at 6:19 am

    jrothman, ever download stuff off of itunes? You can get that episode for 1.99 legit that way, and it’s good quality video you can play on your video ipod if you have one.

    TW: Thank you for a reminder of the earlier polar bear encounter, and that of the orientation video. There’ve been so many episodes, sometimes you combine them in your head! (goes also to this idea that memory can be fluid and not to be trusted–should be interesting in next week’s Maternity Leave episode).

    Do you hang out on any forums (besides this one, if you call it that), TW? You have some really interesting ideas (I like the one about Shannon, too, might have seen this idea elsewhere too). I want to direct you to a really interesting research study we found about polar bears and their sleep habits (in this context, we were relating it to someone’s interesting theory that the 108 minutes is to not allow anyone to enter into good REM sleep):

    http://www.losttv-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15099

    (it is around post #19)

  66. 66
    Pandora
    Posted February 26, 2006 at 10:19 am

    TW, don’t know if you still read this forum. I just rewatched the pilot on Tivo. Saw some interesting things!

    First off, Walt *does* read the comic before the first bear attack. It’s just not as emphasized as the second encounter, where his father burns it. The first one, he just found the comic and his father comments on the fact that it is in Spanish, but appears just to want to look at the pictures.

    I continue to think there may be more to it than just mind conjuring (my original thought, too). I believe it has to do with polar bear circadian patterns, where they are able to adapt to arctic conditions where once a year it is all dark and once a year it is all light for longer than 24 hrs.

    My second realization is that on the pilot, the morning after they hear the “monster sounds” on the beach the previous night; Rose said “there’s something VERY familiar about those sounds it was making…” but doesn’t get to expand on that, because someone interrupts her to ask where she’s from (The Bronx). INTERESTING. Could this be the clue TPTB is pointing us to in the pilot?

  67. 67
    TWilliams
    Posted February 26, 2006 at 10:01 pm

    Interesting Pandora, I do remember Rose saying that. For a few minutes I suspected Rose (she did KNOW that Bernard was still alive) but came to the conclusion that there is too little build-up for it to center around her. There would be no shock and awe on my part if it were the case. I will be highly disappointed if that was the “clue” from the pilot.

    The “clue” I have taken from the pilot is Kate. She isn’t at the crash site and she didn’t help there either. That does NOT sound like the Kate we know since she is always helpful and involved. She very calmy encounters Jack in the jungle — she was nowhere near the beach just as Goodwin wasn’t on the beach. Kate WAS on the plane but she was meeting with Zeke and his military freaks while all of the activity was happening on the beach. It is sooooo Kate.

  68. 68
    Pandora
    Posted February 28, 2006 at 8:25 am

    TW, well, some of the audience isn’t as perceptive, I think, and sometimes you have to make it a little more “hit you over the head” obvious than others. :) I think the thing with Rose… we all thought she was weird at first, but that gradually turned into a love story, with her as kind of a saintly, benign character. I think that’s the idea, to lull you into a sense of security about her, and then later reveal something which sends you back to those original suspicions.

    On Kate as a “mole” suspect (or at least some suspect)… I’ve thought this also, and I know I’ve seen it online quite a bit because of the same things you pointed out. I agree, and I think part of it was also the issue that she was the last the put on the O2 mask due to her handcuff situation.

    Andreas let me post to the lost blog again, so I talk about those ideas in more detail (and 3 others) here:
    http://www.lostblog.net ; feel free to add, anyone.

  69. 69
    TWilliams
    Posted February 28, 2006 at 6:50 pm

    Pandora, I have a pretty big thread on Kate on a forum. I definitely suspect her . . . she is too shady and too questionable. There are too many things about her with which I am not comfortable.

    As for Rose, yes, I do see it; but I don’t think she is a prominent enough character to have that big of a reveal. Someone who is only in 6 or seven episodes a season wouldn’t really be “fair” in my opinion. We all know who she is; but I think a more casual viewer would have to be reminded who she is at times. Do you know what I mean? It wouldn’t be a shocking revelation to me if it were a lesser character — I would feel more cheated or duped. Although I do think her statement about the monster sounding familiar is very questionable and suspicious.

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Human Verification: In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.