So we finally know why Christian was wearing white tennis shoes when he appeared to Jack. I liked the way that this was handled – not in the mythology of the Island or the character of Christian, but in the emotional and characteristic issues of Jack. It felt like the right resolution to a question that originally freaked me out (the first time ghostChristian appeared it scared the bejesus out of me – largely due to the shoes) and beguiled me because I though that there had to be a reason for it. Now I know there was.
Doc Jensen at EW originally wrote about this yesterday, but I feel it’s worth noting again. I assume that Flight 316 was to make us think of John 3:16. (“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”) Incidentally, I think that “John 3:16” was carved into Eko’s Jesus stick.
Onto Benjamin Linus…I always find it interesting when he doesn’t know something. He seemed surprised about the Lamp Post and last week, he seemed surprised about Hawking being Faraday’s mom. Could he really just be a pawn too? Obviously, Widmore could not have known about the Lamp Post because then he wouldn’t have needed all the research he did on the Black Rock and the Kahana and stuff, so I think it’s definitely safe to say that he and Hawking are not on the same team. But it is (obviously) clear that he and Ben are not on the same team. But if Hawking is keeping information from Ben, I don’t think we can assume that she wants the same things that Ben wants. So are there three separate teams?
Despite Ben’s actions in the past, I still think he has the Island’s best interests in mind. I think he wants to protect the Island, and that his motivations share a commonality with Richard’s. What that means for Hawking, I do not know. Maybe her motivations are akin to Widmore’s but she wants the Island for herself and not for Widmore. Maybe that is why they were both banished – if she is in fact Ellie.
Back to Ben though…What was that errand that he had to go take care of? I originally thought it had to do with Aaron, but after the episode, I was horrified to realize that he probably went to kill Penny. As much as I love Ben Linus, if he succeeded, I don’t know if I can like him anymore. Penny and Des are the heart of the show for me and if the show doesn’t ultimately end with them together, I will be distraught.
However, maybe I am jumping to conclusions. Maybe Ben went after Sayid and Sayid bloodied him up and that’s why Sayid was arrested. Maybe someone doesn’t want Ben to go back to the Island and was trying to stop him. (Perhaps the people Ben thinks are helping him? I don’t trust Jill the butcher in the same was I don’t trust Ms. Hawking)
Also, does someone not want Aaron to go back? Was leaving him Kate’s decision? (Could Claire have appeared to her again?) Or was he taken from her?
Another mystery – though one not as long-standing – was solved last night: Locke’s reason for dying. It seems that he had to die to serve as (one of the many) talismans on Flight 316 to get everyone back to the Island. The question that pops into my mind is: does that mean that Christian was serving the same purpose for someone else aboard 815? And if so, was Christian aware of his role, or was everything fate/destiny? Which makes Locke’s note to Jack even more painful, because if Jack had believed him and if he had had more faith, this second flight never would have had to have happened – which is why I believe even more that to save the Island Jack and Locke have to work together.
In regard to those other talismans/recreations of history (it’s like the Island has to approve their re-entry): Standing in for 815Kate: Sayid, in cuffs, being held by law enforcement/Standing in for 815Jack: Jack, again bringing aboard a body/Standing in for 815Christian: Locke, wearing his shoes (metaphorically too, as Angela pointed out last night)/Standing in for 815Hurley: Ben, almost missing the flight/Standing in for 815Pilot: Frank, who was originally supposed to fly 815/Standing in for Charlie: Hurley, arriving with a guitar.
These ideas of symmetry and “all this has happened before and will happen again” reminded me of Battlestar Galactica (Also the information dump and all the exposition and explanation in the opening sequence was very much this past week’s Battlestar Galactica.)
So could the passengers of Flight 316 have arrived on the Island in different times? Jack, Kate and Hurley are obviously in the middle of 1970s Dharma occupation of the Island, but who knows where the rest are – maybe they are the people that Sawyer and company shot at two weeks ago – the one that left the boat with the Ajira water bottle in it. Or maybe they are all scattered through different times in the Island’s history. Or maybe they are all just scattered through the Island during the time of the DI and we haven’t found them yet.
Another thought (this is an offshoot one of my long-standing Lost theories – so it’s always on mind) Perhaps the runway that Sawyer and Kate helped build during the much-maligned season three opening pod of episodes was built so that Ben and company (everyone but Jack/Kate/Hurley) had somewhere to land when they came back – perhaps Ben was told by Jacob that this had to be built for a future event that would happen. Jack, Kate and Hurley were just unlucky enough to be zapped back in time while the other people on the plane landed safely in 2008 (or whatever year they are currently in).
All in all, this episode seemed like a set-up episode for the rest of the season, maybe the rest of the series. It was like a new pilot episode – especially with the identical Jack opening – though this time it was more like he was rejuvenated than distraught and disoriented in the actual pilot ep. Now that they are back on the Island, we will have flashbacks to how they got to where they are. And not just flashbacks for the people on 316, we’ll get flashbacks to how Jin and crew ostensibly became part of the Dharma Initiative, and how Faraday ends up in the Orchid station.
More random thoughts:
- Maybe Adam and Eve are really Jack and Kate – maybe they sacrifice themselves for the good of everyone else – perhaps paving a way for a Jin/Sun reunion. (I hope!)
- I’m guessing that ghostCharlie appeared to Hurley to tell him to show up for that flight with a guitar.
- Looking back, Frank as pilot seemed such an obvious move, but I did not see it coming until I heard his voice. (And I even noticed Jeff Fahey’s name in the credits!)
- Ajira 316 to Guam was referenced in the most recent alternate reality game.
- Loved that Hurley was reading Y: The Last Man at the airport. Brian K. Vaughan is a producer and writer on Lost.
- Could Desmond’s role be to bring Aaron to the Island? (Or maybe Penny’s dead body?)
- Based on the military picture in the Lamp Post, I guess that the Dharma Initiative started looking for the Island in the 50s, after the U.S. Military accidentally discovered it.
- I was amused that Hurley bought 78 seats on Flight 316. Good for him, saving all those lives.
Quotes of the night:
After Jack asks him about all the other people on the plane, Ben replies: “Who cares?”
As Jack is getting more fidgety and excited, he asks Ben: “How can you read?” Ben replies: “My mother taught me.” (An amusing interchange, but a lie, since Ben’s mother died in childbirth.)
But the line of the night is with out a doubt from Lapidus: “We’re not going to Guam, are we?”
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