The Variable, Initial Reaction

Happy 100th episode, LOST!


Questions:

• Did Eloise Hawking know that she would kill her son, Daniel?
• Why would that need to happen? What exactly is Eloise's plan? To prevent Oceanic Flight 815 from crashing or to make sure that it all happens the same way it originally did?
• Is Daniel Faraday really dead?
• Who is Penny's mother?
• What was Daniel Faraday doing in Ann Arbor?
• So, now we can change the future? What exactly are the rules?
• Can Radzinsky please kill himself already? If not, can someone do it for him?
• When will Marvin Candle lose his arm?
• How does Daniel know what's going to happen?
• Was Daniel crying when he saw the Oceanic plane on the bottom of the ocean because he somehow remembers the island and the survivors?
• How does Charles Widmore know that the real Oceanic Airlines plane crashed on the island?
• Why doesn't he tell Daniel that he's his father?
• How and when did Eloise get off the island?
• What happened to "Whatever happened, happened?"
• So, what exactly was the point of them all going back now?
• Why did Eloise push everyone to go to the island when she knew what would happen?
• Wouldn't she want to try to prevent it from happening so that Daniel wouldn't die?
• Why did she send Desmond on his path to the island?

Notes:

• So, Daniel Faraday gets shot by his own mother from the past, Eloise Hawking. Wow, really didn't see that one coming. How about putting that gun that you can't use down, Dan? That will probably make her not shoot you.
• Eloise Hawking is officially the worst mother on LOST.
• Penny, probably not a good idea to leave your kid, little Charlie, with someone you don't know at this point. After all, you are on the run from your evil father and an evil mastermind just shot your husband and then attempted to kill you in cold blood.
• I really thought that Ms. Hawking or Charles Widmore was going to kidnap Charlie.
• I'm guessing that Daniel isn't really dead, considering he still has to record the video to reconstitute the Dharma Initiative with Pierre Chang.
• We finally find out how Daniel lost his memory. Probably not a good idea to zap your brain.
• Now we know that Daniel Faraday and Penny are half brother and sister.
• I'm a little sick of hearing about destiny. And by the way, Ms. Hawking, that's not what destiny means at all.
• I really thought that the journal Dan's mother gives him was going to be full already.
• Daniel Faraday can make time. Yes, yes he can.
• The metronome was awesome.
• Miles, just admit that Pierre Chang is your damn daddy already.
• Juliet obviously gave them the code because Sawyer called Kate freckles and she felt threatened by Kate going with them. Lame.
• The code to the fence is 141717. Not very complicated there, Dharma.
• Now we officially know that Charles Widmore faked the plane crash. Finally. I'm sick of the speculation and guessing games. I just want to know if Widmore or Ben is the real evil one.
• Can't they just get actors that actually have English accents? The accents on this show are so terrible sometimes. Granted, it was a child, and little Charlotte was dead-on otherwise, so I'll let it slide this time.
• Daniel had the same gun that we later see Tom with.
• I guess Jack had time to pack band-aids.
• Now we know why The Swan was sealed the cement like Chernobyl, as Sayid stated.
• I think blowing up the island is a bad idea. I don't like it.
• I thought Ms. Hawking was going to tell Penny that Desmond had to go back to the island. I can't see what's in store for them next if they don't go back to the island.
• Though, so glad that Desmond, Penny and Charlie are okay.
• Charles Widmore said "He was my son too," about Daniel.
• At first, I thought that Richard Alpert got shot.
• I hope that Daniel isn't dead, but it would be kind of cheap if he's not. Who's going to explain time travel to me now?

I enjoyed this episode a lot, though it wasn't on the level of The Constant. I'm getting psyched for the end of this season. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Some Like it Hoth, Initial Reaction

Questions:

• Do Bram and Ilana work for the reconstituted Dharma Initiative?
• Why can Miles talk to the dead? Does it have something to do with being born on the island? Or with him going back in time?
• Where has Daniel Faraday been?
• Why does the hatch door need a serial number on it?
• What caused a filling to be shot through Alvarez's brain? Was the electromagnetic field somehow reversed, forcing it to be pulled out of him?
• Why did Miles' mom lie about her husband, Pierre Chang?
• Why did Miles and his mother leave the island? Did Chang make them leave?
• Since Hurley's "powers" are different than Miles' powers, is he really seeing and talking to dead people or are they really just the smoke monster?
• Kate, why didn't you just straight-up tell Roger you stole his damn kid?
• Speaking of Ben, when is he coming back and how are they going to explain it?
• Was Felix the guy that Widmore was beating up in the video that Ben showed to Locke
• What lies in the shadow of the statue? Come on!

Notes:

• Now we finally know why Miles asked Ben for $3.2 million.
• All of the exchanges between Miles and Hurley as of late have been brilliant.
• Miles had a punk phase. It all makes sense now.
• It's nice to see that Miles has a human side and a conscience, and this episode also explained a lot of why he is the way that he is.
• I love the title of this episode. It's a big step up from the past couple of titles.
• Daniel Faraday is back! Now where the hell was he?
• The apartment where Miles finds the dead body was #4.
• Hearing dead people constantly must be pretty annoying.
• The microwave clock reads 3:16.
• Your young mom getting in line behind you in the cafeteria must be freaky.
• Miles, you only had one job. Erase that damn tape!
• Also, Juliet and Kate, how about hatching yourselves up a better plan than just standing around and talking eachother up and not looking worried at all?
• We finally find out that it was Widmore who faked the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 and not Ben who did it, which was a cool find.
• I love how Jack has no purpose whatsoever now.
• Miles was disgusted that his father likes country music.
• I think Bram and Ilana are working for a new Dharma Initiative, which explains the question "What lies in the shadow of the statue?," which was much like "What did one snowman say to the other snowman?," a code to figure out if someone is one of them.

Even though not much happened in this episode, and was just kind of a fun one, I enjoyed it.

Dead is Dead, Initial Reaction

Awesome. Desmond, Penny and little Charlie aren't dead. By the time Ben told Sun, "Tell Desmond Hume I'm sorry," I was sure that at the very least, Penny was as good as dead. But, nope, they pulled the old switcheroo on us. What a relief, and hopefully they're all alive for good. I honestly think that it would be a huge mistake on the writers part to kill off one of the best character stories on the show. Not only that, but I think that it's imperative that Ben has a human side to him, that his one weakness is women and their children because of his own story. Moving on from that, I enjoyed this episode and really got into it for the first time in a few weeks.

Questions:

• If Charles Widmore didn't leave the island via frozen donkey wheel, then how did he know that the exit point was in the desert in Tunisia?
• Did Richard edge Widmore out in favor of trying to make Ben the new leader?
• What is the significance of what lies in the shadow of the statue? Is it some kind of code? Like what did one snowman say to the other snowman?
• Do Ilana and the other survivors of Ajira Flight 316 have the sickness?
• Does Ilana work for Charles Widmore or someone else?
• If Charles Widmore is the one in charge, then why does Richard Alpert speak to Jacob?
• Why did Jacob stop speaking to Richard and move on to Ben when he took over?
• How and why exactly does one take over as the leader?
• What is in that crate that Ilana and the survivors seem to be protecting?
• If Ben can summon the smoke monster, then can it come out by itself or does it have to be summoned? If so, has Ben been calling it every time it has attacked someone?
• So, the whispers are the others? Did the others control them?
• Why did Widmore want Ben to kill Rousseau?
• Why did Ethan get to join the others?
• How are Ben and Ethan with the hostiles before the purge?
• Why does Danielle Rousseau remember the story of Alex getting taken incorrectly? Why does she say that she's never seen other people on the island when she's clearly seen Jin and Ben? Is she just crazy or was she the one with the sickness?
• Did Ben really know that Locke would be resurrected when he came to the island?
• Why doesn't Ben remember that Hurley, Jack and Kate were in the Dharma Initiative in 1977? Why and how was his memory from that time erased?
• Why is the Processing Center sign still hanging in the barracks in present day?
• Does Ben know who Christian Shephard is? Was he on the island once?
• What are Locke's ideas to find Jin and the rest of them?
• So, basically you flush a toilet to summon the smoke monster? Why is Ben's house on top of it? When was it built there and why is it underneath a Dharma house?
• Who is Penelope Widmore's mother?
• Why can't Charles Widmore go back to the island but Ben can?
• Is John Locke really alive? Or is he undead like Christian Shephard?
• What is the significance of the hieroglyphics?
• Why did the smoke monster let Ben live?

Notes:

• Dead is dead, except it really isn't when you're John Locke.
• Ben has a weakness for mothers because his mother died, which is why he couldn't kill Danielle Rousseau after he realized she had a child and why he couldn't kill Penny when he discovered little Charlie on the boat.
• So, Charles Widmore as banished from the island for making regular trips off the island and mating with outsiders. Ben also made trips off the island, so he was possibly rejected by the island partly for that reason, but was too powerful to be banished.
• Ben seemed to be genuinely surprised that Locke was alive.
• It was nice to see Alex again, even if it was smokey.
• Speaking of Alex, she totally dominated Ben and scared the crap out of him.
• Desmond beat the crap out of Ben!
• Ben knows what the whispers are.
• Locke outwitting Ben is pretty fun and it's interesting that Locke finally knows more about what's happening on the island than Ben does. Who's the man now, dog?
• Also, Locke calling Ben out on being judged for Alex's death, questioning why Ben and the hostiles would move into the barracks because it doesn't seem like something the island would want, and that he didn't imagine Ben leading his people from behind a desk because it seemed a little too corporate.
• Desmond and Penny's boat was called Our Mutual Friend.
• Good bye, Caesar. It was nice not knowing anything about you.
• It was cool to see what Ben really did when he went into his secret room to summon the smoke monster and came out all dirty.
• So, Charles built Widmore Industries when he left the island, which is how he got so rich.
• If Locke is undead, that could possibly be why he knows so much about the island so suddenly, also appearing to people like Christian Shephard. Now, only to figure out what the hell is going on with Christian so it will all actually make sense.
• I loved how Ben says that he can't control what comes out of the jungle, and then John Locke appears.
• The Temple apparently has a wall around it, built by the island natives.
• Apparently Ben was planning to kill Locke again. Dude, maybe you should chill out on the killing for a while. Just listen to Alex and follow John Locke.

This episode was probably one of my favorites of this season.

Whatever Happened, Happened, Initial Reaction

Questions:

• Was present-day Ben unconscious in the infirmary not only because Sun knocked him out, but because he was shot as a young child by Sayid?
• Why won't young Ben remember anything that happened?
• Why will he always be one of the others now?
• How can the hostiles save Ben's life?
• Um, what are Sawyer and Kate going to tell the Dharma Initiative and Roger Linus about what happened to Ben?
• Was the woman in the grocery store trying to take Aaron?
• Did Ben remember Sayid when he was captured and tortured by him?
• Why did the Oceanic 6 have to go back to the island to save them if the time jumps had already stopped when Locke turned the frozen donkey wheel?
• Where are Charles and Ellie?
• If Charles is their leader, why doesn't he have any authority over Richard?
• Why was Jack supposed to come back to the island?
• Why is Jack such a douche?

Notes:

• Kate sang Catch A Falling Star to Aaron, the same song that Christian Shephard sang to Claire as a child and Claire told the couple that was supposed to adopt Aaron to sing to him.
• I thoroughly enjoy the exchange between Hurley and Miles about time travel, Back to the Future, and what exactly the rules are.
• It seems like we're going to be getting the Ben/Locke and Desmond/Penny stories back next week, so I'm happy about that. Now, just for more Sayid, to find out where Daniel Faraday is now, and to find out where in the hell Rose and Bernard have been for 3 years. Oh, and Vincent!
• Jack is definitely the new whipping boy. What a tool.
• The scene where Juliet walked in on Jack in the shower reminded me of when Locke was shaving when Jack got out of the shower and he checked out Jack's package. It would be have been better if Juliet checked him out and said "glad I never hit that."
• It was nice to find out that Kate is back on the island not for Sawyer, which would have been lame, but for Claire, which is good because it's annoying me that no one is asking about her or where the hell she's been for the past 3 years.
• Roger Linus seemed kind of... human in this episode.
• Patsy Cline was playing in Kate's car.
• So, now Cassidy knows about the island, and so does Carole Littleton, adding to the list of Carmen Reyes, who Hurley told, and Penny Widmore who also knows about the island.
• Okay, whatever happened, happened. So, Sayid always shot Ben, and Jack always refused to save him, forcing him to be brought to the hostiles.
• There's one character inconsistency that's bothering me about this episode. Kate showed no remorse for Jeremy Bentham/John Locke's death, but all of a sudden she cares if young Benjamin Linus dies? That just seems so out of character to me.
• Jack sounded a lot like Locke talking about the island in this episode.
• Also, Jack telling Kate that she didn't like the old him either was a good zing.
• I'm glad that Kate and Juliet are actually getting along somewhat.
• I really want a Richard Alpert flashback. That dude is so interesting.
• "Welcome to the land of the living." Priceless. Now, kick his ass, Locke!