LOST 6.16

Ok, here goes, my thoughts on "What They Died For".

What Desmond Did

1) Lied to Jack about the recovery of Christian’s coffin. It seems like there is going to be some kind of reunion at the History Museum concert. But Desmond’s phone call to Jack made me wonder if he was trying to get Jack to the airport. Why do you think Desmond made this call?

2) Beat Ben up, forcing him to have a glimpse of island life. Desmond also told Ben that he wasn’t trying to hurt Locke, he was trying to help him let go. Ben accepted this truth, because of his flash of Island Life. The moment of recognition changed everything for Ben.

3) Turned himself in to Detective Ford. He has a well-devised plan. Do you think anyone is helping him with this (besides Hurley)? Could Jacob be involved?

4) Made arrangements with Ana Lucia, the dirty cop, to free himself, Sayid and Kate. I did a little research into Ana Lucia, because the details of her story were sketchy to me. I’ll explain a little of her story here, in case you didn’t remember well either. She was an LA cop who was shot in the stomach while she was on the job. She survived, but was pregnant at the time, and the baby died. In her anger, she confronted her attacker and killed him by shooting him six times. She resigned from the force, took a job as airport security officer, met Christian at the airport and went with him to Australia as his personal security. We don't have any indication that she was on the plane in this Sideways story.

5) Was described by Widmore as the “measure of last resort”. Flocke told Ben that Widmore said Desmond was a “fail safe”. This, of course, reminds me of The Swan and the end of Season 2, when Locke and Desmond decided to no longer enter the numbers. All hell broke loose, and Desmond crawled under the Swan and turned the “fail-safe key”. If I had more time and mental energy, I would work out this analogy: Desmond is to Island, as key is to Swan.

6) Presumably escaped from the well. I’m wondering who gave him the rope. Sayid told Jack that Desmond was in the well. If Sayid had given Desmond the rope, I don’t think he would’ve then told Jack he was still in the well. Someone else must have helped him out, but who?

What Jack Did

1) Woke up with the mysterious cut. Is this the same cut that we saw in airplane bathroom? Maybe that cut never healed, and this particular morning it started bleeding again. Do we know how many days it’s been? There has to be some connection between Jack’s cut and something that happens on the island.

2) Promised his son, David, that he wouldn’t “get weird” when he saw David’s mom at the concert. Why would he get weird? We're assuming Juliet is David's mom, right?

3) Sewed up Kate’s bullet wound with some kind of needle and a thread that he got from a shirt or something. This scene was reminiscent of what happened in the pilot, when Kate sewed up Jack’s injured back. In that scene, Jack told Kate about the time that he panicked in the operating room, and his father told him to count to five.

4) Told Locke (in Jack’s Sideways world office) that he (Locke) was mistaking coincidence for fate. A conversation also reminiscent of other conversations they’ve had on the island.

5) Agreed to protect the island, with the wonderful statement, “This is why I’m here. This is what I’m supposed to do.” Jack is stepping back into his leadership position, sacrificing himself for the greater good, but this time he sounds very much like a true man of faith, and not just a man with a Savior complex.

6) Drank the water that had been blessed (possibly turned to wine?), and heard Jacob say, “Now you’re like me.” – the same words said TO Jacob by Mother last week.

7) Did that blinky eye thing that he does, and looked like something was changing inside of him.

What Ben Did

1) Kept a safe full of C4. Huh? I definitely expected him to open the safe and find the C4 gone (or at least some missing), because it had been stolen to use on the plane. Why is he hiding C4?

2) Explained that his secret room was, “where I was told I could summon the monster. That was before I realized it was the one summoning me.” The big question for me is: Who told him he could call up the monster from that room? The obvious answer would be Richard, but he was standing right there and didn’t seem to have any idea what Ben was talking about. Please comment if you have any ideas about this one. I’ve been thinking and thinking, but I can’t figure it out. It seems important! (BTW, we know he did call the monster to kill Keamy after Alex's death.)

3) Had the same bruise under his eye in both the Sideways and Island worlds. Hmm? Maybe it was nothing. Maybe Michael Emerson hurt himself and there wasn’t much they could do to change it. If not, though, could there be some significance to that kind of physical transfer from one world to the other? (Does Jack have a cut on the island?)

4) Had dinner in the Sideways world with Alex and her mother, Danielle. Was it just me, or was there a little love connection going on there? Too bad the series is ending, or we might be able to spend more time with the two of them.

5) Killed Widmore. Say what? I thought he couldn’t kill Widmore. Are the writer’s just forgetting all the “rules” that aren’t convenient, or did things change with, say, Jacob’s death? Why is Ben so eager to kill again? Maybe he thinks he can kill anyone now. He killed Widmore and Jacob, the two men by whom he has been the most hurt and angered. He’s on a roll! (BTW, speaking of rules. Why were Ben and Charles both able to return to the island, even though we originally thought they couldn’t?)

What Flocke/Locke Did

1) Arrived at the DHARMA camp in one of the outriggers. I’m STILL waiting to find out who was shooting whom in those boats when Sawyer and co. were jumping through time.

2) Asked Ben to “kill some people”, and then promised Ben that he could have the island all to himself once MIB was gone. I’m starting to think that MIB doesn’t really want to leave. He just wants to find the light. I think he’s also looking for his donkey wheel. I could definitely be wrong about the leaving thing.

3) Killed Richard. Or I guess we’re assuming he did. Now that Jacob is dead, it seems that Richard is no longer able to live forever.

4) In Sideways world (Locke) was deeply affected by Desmond’s words via Ben. When Desmond said that Locke should let go, Locke remembered that Jack had encouraged him to do the same thing. This, together with his island dreams (where he was surely walking), convinced him that he did want Jack to fix him. He told Jack, “Maybe you’re supposed to fix me.” It was good to see a glimpse of our Man of Faith!

What Miles Did

1) Provided us with some fabulous lines:
“I lived here 30 years before you did, otherwise known as last week.”
“I get wonky around dead stuff.”
“What’s that? I secreter room?” (referring to Ben’s “call the smoke monster” room.)

2) Invited Sideways Sawyer to the fateful concert at his father’s museum.

3) Insisted on leaving Ben’s house when Flocke was on his way. Why did he want to do something so different than what everyone else did? It occurred to me that maybe what he heard from Alex had something to do with his behavior. Maybe Alex told Miles that he needed to run from Flocke. (BTW, did you think it was weird that Ben didn’t seem to care what Miles was responding to when he got “wonky”, even after Richard said that it was Alex? I would’ve insisted that Miles tell me everything he heard. It didn’t even seem to register with Ben.)

What Charles Did

1) Continued to push Ben’s buttons with his superiority. “As usual, Benjamin, I’m three steps ahead of you…” “I’m not saying anymore in front of him.” etc. Bad move, Charles! Ben’s had enough of you, and you don’t get to save your daughter!

2) Said that Jacob visited him after the destruction of the freighter. Charles explained that Jacob had convinced him the error of his ways. What do you think he means? Are we supposed to know what these errors are? Could he have been tagged as protector, but used the ability to get off the island for bad things, like having kids, rather than to touch people and bring them to the island? We know he was on the island for a long time, but he also aged, so I’m just not sure.

What Jacob Did

1) Explained why he brought the Losties to the island. Jacob explained that they were all living flawed lives, and that he chose them as candidates because they were just like him. He said, “You were all alone. You were all looking for something that you couldn’t find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you.”

2) Told Kate that her line was crossed off the cave wall because she became a mother. Two thoughts: 1) Another reference to mother issues. 2) The cave is actually Jacob’s. He basically told us that he was the one crossing off the names on the cave wall.

3) Explained the job of protector, and the fact that he wanted a group, so that they would have a choice. It made me wonder about the numbers. Maybe that’s why there is a group of numbers. Maybe throughout time there have been other groups of numbers, correlating with other groups of possible candidates. Jacob has been searching for a protector for a long, long time. Maybe every hundred years or so, a group of numbers is put together and then used for all kinds of things: lock combinations, airport gates, winning lottery numbers, or other things that would be appropriate in the 1800’s, etc…

Other Thoughts

*We have definitely seen the theme of redemption in this series. I was really struck this episode by the interaction between Sawyer and Jack, and the possible changes in their relationship. Sawyer has been so angry with Jack for his mistakes that led to Juliet’s death. Now Sawyer is in a similar position. He made mistakes that led to the deaths of Jin, Sun and Sayid. A suffering Sawyer spoke with Jack and basically said, “I killed them didn’t I?” Jack responded by telling him that MIB had killed them. Redemption comes in many packages, and maybe by experiencing the cost of his own mistakes, Sawyer is able to forgive Jack for the consequences of his errors.

*When Sideways Hurley saw Ana Lucia, he spoke to her as if he knew her, and then remembered that they hadn’t met yet. It seemed to me that he was completely enlightened to his island life. I’ve debated in past notes whether Desmond knew everything about the island, or just remembered some things. I think Hurley’s short interchange with Ana Lucia tells us that some of them (Desmond included) remember everything.

*How do you think this will all come together? We know that many of the Sideways characters are planning to be at the museum concert. How will Desmond get them all there, and then what will he do once they are? It’s in the Sideways story that we saw the Island at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe if Desmond’s plan works, he can save the Island from drowning!

Only two more days, my friends. What a bittersweet feeling. I can hardly wait for the finale, but am so sad that it will all end. I have honestly been obsessed with LOST for six years. I’m going to be totally lost without it! (I couldn’t resist, and now you can tell me to get a life!).