'Lost' Wednesdays: 'Very observant for a dead guy'

First of all, in today's "Lost" Wednesday, it's time to apologize for a couple of stupid errors I made last night. The first one I'd consider honest, and the second, well, I don't know what I was thinking. I misidentified actress Sheila Kelley as Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (who was also in the episode) in a late paragraph, mostly because the two both have dark hair and blue eyes, and I was really, really looking for O'Keefe to pop up on the Island somewhere. It was a stupid error, but one of those things that happens when you're watching a video that's not of the highest quality. The other error involved me misidentifying just how many hours of "Lost" have aired so far this year. Why did this happen? I guess I can't count. Anyway, they were both stupid errors I could have caught fairly easily, and I'm sorry to have made them. (Both paragraphs have been corrected in the write-up.)

But enough about me! "Recon" proved to be an episode that didn't create strong opinions one way or the other, outside of a few huge Sawyer fans. But I was really impressed with this bit in the write-up of The AV Club's Noel Murray, who, I think, has figured out a lot of what the flash-sideways are supposed to be. His theory is that season three's "Flashes Before Your Eyes" is the pivotal episode of the whole series.

Murray writes:

"Remember how Desmond returned to the world before he went to The Island, and how Mrs. Hawking told him he had to snap out of it and resume his responsibility? Two other relevant tidbits about 'Flashes Before Your Eyes:' Desmond throws the engagement ring he bought for Penny into the Thames, just as Sawyer throws the ring he bought for Juliet into the water. And when Desmond wakes back up on The Island, his head still hurts from being whacked with the cricket bat right before he flashed—much as Jack still bears wounds and scars from his Island life in the Alterna-world. Not only am I going to predict (tentatively, of course) that the 'flash-sideways' will resolve in much the same way they did for Desmond, with Hawking or someone similar shocking the Alterna-815ers back to 'reality,' but I also predict—as many of you already have—that this resolution has already occurred, and that the season-opening scene at the imploded hatch takes place after our gang has given up their other lives and jumped back. I could be way off here, but that’s my sense of things. After all, it can’t just be a coincidence that The Hatch was the site of two of these reality-splits. "

A reader writes to ask just when Michael and Walt will be returning to the show. And I'm happy to report that I don't know. At this point, I'm essentially unspoiled for what's to come, and while I assume Harold Perrineau will be back, I don't know that the series can work in Malcolm David Kelley, who is way too old to play the age he is in the "Lost" timeline. I hope the writers figure out a way to work him in, but I'm not sure that there will be a way to do so.

Nicolas Selby writes in to ask some intriguing questions. I'm not entirely sure I understand them, so I'll just put them out there and let you guys wrestle with them in comments.

Selby writes:

"Jack is a tool of Jacob, he was 'touched' by him, so he can't kill himself.  Michael also couldn't kill himself.  So was Michael a tool of Jacob?  

"If this is the case, Jacob didn't want the ship to come to the island.  So through his influence, he somehow got Ben to order Mr Smiley to get Michael to get on the boat and stop it from getting there.  Now those facts may not be connected, but that's part of the issue.  

"Christian Shephard shows up and says to Michael 'You can go now, Michael.'  Michael is allowed to blow up.  Christian is a tool of MIB/Flocke.  Does this mean Flocke has/had the ability to control when people could die?  Even if they're off the island?

"So if Smokey-controlled-Christian controlled Michael that means he didn't want to the boat to get on the island, which means he's not on the side of Charles Widmore.  Which means that if Widmore was against Ben, Ben was on Jacob's side after all?  But if that's true - and it makes some sense, seeing as Ben knew the temple people and they were all clearly with Jacob - why wouldn't Smokey allow Ben to just die?  Did he need Ben to kill Jacob the whole time?"

I ... really have no idea. Hopefully, the show will clear up some of these contradictions or at least give us a way to explain them away. (Or hopefully some of you can help Nicolas and I make sense out of this.) I do think we don't know enough yet to speak confidently on these matters.

On to comments!

Kyle has a different read of which relationship the Sawyer storyline is most interested in:

"The episode was reminding us of Sawyer's love for Juliet? Really? It seems that the big flower that is so symbolic of Sawyer and Juliet's relationship can be handed to any girl, even a one-night stand. The name Lafleur was used as a code for a con. I think the show was reminding us of Sawyer and Kate. The cages, them meeting in the alternate timeline, the dress, their love theme played while he was holding the dress. Well, I guess you're going to view it based on which relationship you prefer."

Honestly, my theory here hinges entirely on that scene where alterna-Sawyer is watching "Little House" and hearing about how when people die, they don't really disappear. The show has also invested so much in showing us just how destroyed Sawyer was by Juliet's death that I think it would feel abrupt if the series suddenly shifted to him pursuing Kate again. I read that scene where Sawyer holds Kate's dress as a scene where he's remembering something past but not necessarily feeling it reignited. There's more rue in his face than lust or love. (And the encounter in the flash-sideways is more about how often these two will be pursuing each other but never catching each other at the same level than anything else.) Could the show push Sawyer and Kate back together? Sure. But I just don't see it heading that direction with so little time left.

Brad asks if I'm kidding when I ask if it really matters if the flash-sideways pay off in some spectacular fashion. And while I don't imagine the show will let the flash-sideways go without some sort of explanation that tries to tie them into the wider mythology, I have to say that I'll be fine if they're just a story device designed to examine these characters in their purest states. I do realize, however, that this is a minority opinion.

Laura reminds us that Ana Lucia was in the LAPD, so it might have made sense for Sawyer to be working with her in some capacity. And, yeah, it was a little weird that she wasn't there. But, still, I wouldn't trade the Miles 'n' James show for anything, so I'm glad we got to see them working together.

Finally, Inthemix writes:

"Let's face the white elephant in the room: Seasons 2,3 & 4 were a complete waste of time. Everything we learned in those seasons could have been packaged into Season 5. I'm sure ABC saw lots of $$ after season 1 and the writers had to milk the cash cow for as long as they could. So it's natural for a lot of us fans to believe the 'flash sideways' are a waste of time because we've been down this path before.

"Having said that, I do buy into your theory that the sideways timeline will tie into the overall theme of the show and not just become another season about the tail section revisited.

"I like where you're going with the whole life w/o Jacob's influence, it's makes sense. However, I don't believe Jacob is dead and I don't believe the candidates are there to replace him. Let's not forget the Zeus-like child character who appeared to Locke monster this season and said 'you can't kill him' with much disdain after he manipulated Ben into killing Jacob. This seems to be the Demi-god who's really in charge and won't let Locke Monster change the rules. Maybe the Lighthouse wheel and its list of names is like a giant chessboard and whoever ends up with the most people under their influence wins the game. The remaining names are the last pieces up for grabs."

While I can appreciate the fans who felt burned by the three seasons Inthemix points out, I have to say that season three, while problematic, has maybe my favorite sustained stretch of episodes ever, with its last seven or eight hours, concluding in the fantastic "Through the Looking Glass," and I quite like almost all of season four, which is maybe the show's most tightly plotted season. (Indeed, it may be too tightly plotted, as there are points where the characters are just running from place to place because they have to.) I also seem to like season two more than Inthemix, though I'd agree it's the weakest season of the show.

That said, I'm intrigued by the theory that there are even higher powers than Jacob and Smokey at work here. It may be too late to introduce such a concept, but, yeah, it sure seems as though that little kid was working for someone other than our main players.

And with that, we're done for this week. Send me your links for the "Lost" weekend at my e-mail or Twitter.

--Todd VanDerWerff (follow me on Twitter at @tvoti)

Photo: Charlotte (Rebecca Mader) returned in Tuesday's episode of "Lost." Credit: ABC

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Comments

[kenny]

Wait a minute, hold the phone. So ABC wants its hit series to last a long time? More than 3 seasons? How did inthemix get so perceptive?

[Greg]

What's with all of the Season 2 bashing? Saying that 2, 3, and 4 don't matter is ridiculous. Season 2 introduced a lot of important characters including Ben and Desmond. Plus, there are some really good episodes (I like the "Long Con" and "?"), since TV is for entertainment after all.

The beginning of Season 3 is a low point of the show for me, but as everybody knows, it picks up towards the end. The great thing about Season 3 is that it reveals some of the geography of the island, and you get to see some of the Dharma facilities. Gotta love the Ben centric episode "The Man Behind The Curtain."

Season 4 is strong all around with the highlight for me being "The Constant." Quality. The island moves....

I think Season 5 is the weakest season, and I think the writers made some mistakes, and definitely opened the door for people to question what they had been doing previously. They ruined the powerful mysterious image they constructed for the Dharma Initiative, and made them a bunch of whiney hippie nerds...so lame.

This season is cool so far, but there are still a lot of questions, and not that many episodes. I'm a little worried they're gonna mess this thing up, but we'll see.

[JCC]

The main thing I've been wondering since Claire appeared was how? If she was ANYwhere on the island when the flashes started...she should've been transported in time like everyone else...did her "claiming"/abduction from Schlocke give her the ability to stay in her own timeline? If she did end up in the 70s while everyone else was in Otherton, there would be some overlap, esp. when they're trying to get the shot Ben-kid to the others' , what we know is the temple now?

[JCC]

And as far as Walt goes....he pretty much HAS to come back in my opinion...leaving the revelation about his special abilities out would only hurt this season one redux they're trying to pull off...and they could easily pen in the reason why he looks so much older, i.e. his powers age him faster than normal ppl...i mean...desmond's visions, hurley and miles death/ghost skills, one writer has to have a plan for this last ability...i'll even settle for, coincidence...just some sort of tie-in...they could also dish out a couple of grand to benjamin button him back to how he looked...

[Constance]

The creaters of Lost have said that they planned for 6 seasons since the beginning. They have also known the last scene for a long time. So far, they have earned my trust. Despite weak episodes and clumsy dialogue, Lost continues to be and will always be one of the most intriguing and thoughtful shows on television. Ever.

To add to that, I think that Kate was great in this episode. Though she is continuing to be a reactive character this season, her dispair when she is crying alone was very real. She just travelled back to the island, travelled back in time, became a mechanic, saved Ben, was shot at, watched total destruction of a temple and its people, and then almost killed by the one reason she came back in the first place: Claire. I think (hope) we're seeing Kate redemption, for her character and for the reason her character is still around.

[Laura]

JCC poses an interesting question as to whether or not Claire moved back and forth in time with the other Losties, which makes me think of a question that personally I would like answered - why did Sun not go back in time with the other Losties on the Ajira flight. I know this may not be the most important question of the show, but it still bugs me. I wonder if there is some similarity between Claire and Sun (since they were both pregnant on the island, maybe?) that would cause them not to time travel.

[watched17times]

Um... Kate said, "Very insightful, for a dead guy."

[joel]

Claire probably died a long ways back and was "infected," i.e. revived by the Island or Smokie or whatever does the infecting. I assumed this is why she didn't time jump. No longer human, no longer bound by the same rules as the Losties.

@Greg: I think there's a lot to criticize in season 2. They invested a large part of the season in the tail section survivors. Other than Bernard, none of them survived long past season 2 and Bernard isn't around much, so virtually all of those characters were essentially pointless (I liked Mr Echo and Libby, but they didn't contribute much to the series or the mythology). Everything you learned about the Others in season 2 was a massive deception, in other words pointless.

I'd agree that Ben and Desmond are important cast members and there were some decent season 2 episodes, but overall the plotting and narrative were very weak and season 2 has almost no bearing on the series. Most of the truly valuable Ben and Desmond character developments come AFTER season 2.

[George]

I thought the last Lost was so good I almost cried. I didn't expect it. I vote for Hurley being the next chosen, he's coming into his own, he's happiest on the Island and if he's alone he'll have company with all the dead whom he can converse with. Jack is surely walking in John's footsteps...as personal friends with a John Sr. and his son who goes by Jack, I'm surprised that the similar name hasn't gotten more attention. Nestor, you were awesome in that episode!

[Thibadeaux]

Claire died when the mercenaries blew up her house. This is why Miles kept looking at her strangely, enough that Sawyer gave him a restraining order.