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- THESE POSTS WILL ALL CONTAIN SPOILERS.
Like many folks, I’ve been waiting for several months to the premier of the final season, wondering where the show was going to go. Back at the end of Season 3, when the first Flashforward (FF) occurred, I postulated that perhaps the show would converge to the present for the final season. It made sense. Flashbacks (FB) leading up to a present point in time, Flashforwards showing where things would go and slowly making their way backwards to a present point in time, would eventually meet. That meeting, along with the Season 5 time travel mechanism, created an alternate reality, or a Flashsideways (FS). I didn’t suspect an alternate reality, I don’t think, but I like the idea.Recap
“LA X” begins with the FS, with Jack Shephard sitting on Oceanic 815, brooding over the death of his father or daydreaming. For the most part, all the other Losties are there, too, heading from Sydney to LA. The plane arrives with a few minor incidents: Charlie gets arrested after Jack saves his life from swallowing a bag full of heroin, Hurley talks about his good luck at winning the lottery and Sawyer eyes him as a target, John Locke sits in his wheel-chair and dreams of what could’ve been, and Kate is in handcuffs. By the end of the FS, Kate has escaped from the Marshal, Jack’s father’s coffin has vanished, and Jack and John Locke have formed the start of a relationship.
On the island things are a bit more chaotic. After the hydrogen bomb exploded the Losties time traveled back to the present. Sayid is bleeding to death and needs help. The ghost of Jacob appears and tells Hurley that the only way to help him is to take him to the Temple. At the Swan station site, Juliet is pinned under the rubble and crying for help. Eventually Sawyer makes his way to free her and she dies (heartbreakingly) in his arms. Miles gets the cryptic message from her: “It worked.” The Losties all make it to the Temple, where Sayid is put in the bubbling, healing waters. The Temple folk tell them that there are consequences and risks to the procedure, but they do it anyway. Sayid dies and everyone despairs, unsure what to do. They learn that Jacob is dead, at which point a flare is sent off and dust is sprinkled around the perimeter.
Back at the Statue, Jacob’s counterpart (whom I like to call Esau, or the Man in Black), sends Ben to get Richard Alpert. Ben is shown John Locke’s dead body and he realizes that he’s been duped into killing Jacob. Jacob’s protectors rush into the statue and attack Not-John Locke, who turns into the smoke monster and kills them all. Not-John Locke walks out onto the beach, confronts Richard, and knocks him unconscious. He tells everyone that he’s very disappointed in them all and says he’s going home.
Thoughts and Opinions
- I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Alternate reality is a staple in comic books, so I’m fine with the possibilities. I’m eager to see how the Losties pitiful lives off the island will play out. Likely they’ll lead to despair and hopelessness? But the question is which reality is the real reality?
- I’ve always liked John Locke. His faith was a staple to the show. Hearing Esau talk of how sad and confused he was, as Ben strangled him, was touching. But what could Locke’s special role be with the Island? Jacob traveled and touched him, so he has to have a purpose.
- The vast amount of Egyptian culture at the Temple (and on the rest of the Island) was pretty cool. Even the music playing sounded fitting.
- I’m guessing when Young Ben was shot (by Sayid) and taken to the Others and Richard said that they could heal him, but there’d be consequences, that he’d never be the same, that they submerged him in the healing waters? What were the consequences? And what happened to Sayid? Did you notice his voice at the end?
- I liked Charlie saying “I was supposed to die.” It was good to see him again.
- Ben is still one of my favorite characters. He obviously felt remorse for killing Jacob (or confusion at the least), wondering why the man didn’t fight back. Hopefully redemption comes for the wayward man.
- Esau being the smoke monster was a cool idea. It’s interesting to think back on the interactions from Smokie and everyone. It killed Eko, the French science team, and many others.
- The next episode is called “What Kate Does.”
Thanks for reading, everybody. Let’s hear what I forgot or what you liked/disliked.
