Who’s playing who?

Another fantastic episode of Lost, featuring death, love and tons of confusion.

First, I’ll tackle the French people…

So I really missed Daniel Dae Kim and he really had a great bunch of scenes last night. It started in his opening scenes with the Frenchies, and continued throughout the episode.

I know we really didn’t see much of Rousseau and crew, but between old, crazy Rousseau’s stories that we heard in the past and when we saw, I think we have a pretty complete idea of her experience on the Island. It’s was very impressive that they managed to compress so much of her story into a few short, but dynamic scenes that make it really clear how Rousseau became the Rousseau that Sayid meets in season one.

Montand is (was) quite the ass. But the sequence with him being attacked by Smokey and then losing his arm was awesome! Really heart-pounding, crazy, gross, powerful. I still haven’t gotten the sound of his arm being ripped off out of my head.

I wonder how much time passed between Jin’s first two jumps – the arm was obviously decomposing, but still there – so maybe a few days?

Seems Robert really was “infected” – was he possessed by Smokey/the Island? No matter how crazy he thought Rousseau was, I don’t think anyone in their right mind would kill the woman carrying their child. But maybe because Rousseau never went into the Temple (thanks Jin!) that is why everyone else saw her as a threat?

So this is the Temple where Ben sent the Others and then tried to send Alex, Karl and Rousseau. Why is it a safe place for the Others? Does Smokey not view them as a threat for some reason? According to Robert, "It's not a monster; it's a security system guarding the temple." If he is possessed by Smokey, then I think we can pretty much accept this as fact. (Interesting, this is how Rousseau originally described Smokey in season one – those crafty writers…)

So, onto the regrettable death of the week…

I was honestly rather surprised they killed Charlotte. I know that they were warning us of this all season, and they really gave us a lot of information on her as she was dying, but for poor Faraday’s sake, I was hoping she would survive. And her last words (“I’m not supposed to have chocolate before dinner.”) I found rather haunting.

But regardless, her death did bring about many answers. I found her babbling to be rather interesting, and look forward to rewatching it later. I was intrigued by her knowledge of the well, amused by her Geronimo Jackson reference and look forward to inevitably seeing her as a child and playing out some of those repeated lines when they actually happen. I also really look forward to seeing Dan sending Charlotte off the Island. I wonder if his work in the Orchid (as seen in the opening scene of the premiere) is related to his desire to save Charlotte. I also wonder if his efforts are what ultimately cause “The Incident.” That would be a really interesting development.

Charlotte’s death scene was wonderfully played both by Jeremy Davies and Rebecca Mader. You could see the pain in his eyes and knowledge that you truly cannot change what is fated to happen.

Other highlights:
- Yunjin Kim on phone with Ji Yeon made me believe that she was a mother, but one just too obsessed with revenge. I guess I jumped the gun with my assumption that something happened to Ji Yeon, or I was just overanalyzing, as usual.
- The reunion between Jin and Sawyer was really nicely done. Josh Holloway continues his amazing work – his reaction shots are particularly impressive.
- When Jin got upset and started babbling in Korean, I love that Sawyer assumed that Jin was asking Miles to translate: “He speaks Korean – I’m from Encino.”
- I mentioned before how great Daniel Dae Kim was in this ep, but I think I should mention it again because of his wonderful speech to Locke about how he should tell Sun that he is dead. Just a really great character moment (another one of those!) and perfectly played by both parties.
- I hope Jin isn’t too upset with Locke if and when he and Sun return to the Island. He definitely kept his promise to Jin and did not say anything to Sun, so it will be entirely Ben’s fault if Sun comes back.
- The shot of Sawyer holding the rope stuck into the ground was fantastic.
- This episode featured two really viscerally painful moments. The first I mentioned already – Montand losing his arm. The second was seeing Locke’s broken leg at the bottom of the well. It still hurts just thinking about that.
- Speaking of Locke in the well, Terry O’Quinn was fantastic in that scene.
- I was surprised to see Desmond, but I am glad that he (seemingly) left Penny on the boat.
- I thought that the final seen with the Ms. Hawking reveal was a bit over-dramatic, since we all knew who it was going to be anyway.
- Loved seeing John Terry again, but where do his loyalties lie? (More on this in a sec.)
- Also loved Christian’s “Say hello to my son.”
- Favorite line of the night is Ben’s (of course). In response to Jack saying that Ben told Jack that Locke did not come to see Ben: "That's true, Jack. I went to see him." (Oh Ben Linus, master of semantics.)
- By the way, Ben really seems to be losing it.
- If Sun does go back to the Island, will she ever see Ji Yeon again?


So, my final discussion topic: Who’s playing who? And where do loyalties lie?

Mrs. Hawking: Ben obviously didn’t know that Hawking is Dan’ mom – it seems strange that she wouldn’t share this information with him. If she’s hiding this, could she be hiding more? For all his Machiavellian machinations, Ben does seem to have the Island’s best interest in mind. I think everything he has done has been for the good of the Island (As opposed to Widmore, who I think is pursuing the Island for more selfish reasons.) If Mrs. Hawking is Dan’s mother and Widmore financed Dan’s research, could Widmore and Hawking be allies? Could she be using Ben to get to her endgame? However, is she is the Ellie from the Island (and being that her first name was confirmed as Eloise last night – interesting also the name of Faraday’s time traveling mouse) she and Widmore did seem to have a confrontational relationship on the Island, so maybe they truly are enemies. Maybe the show is just purposely trying to confuse us.

Christian: The Christian we saw last night was Cabin Christian, who told Locke that he had to move the Island last season. Based on his discussions with Locke last night, it seems like he always needed Locke to turn the wheel. (An on/off switch like I said!) So does that mean that he always wanted Locke off the Island? Does he have the Island’s best interests in mind? Is Cabin Christian the same as Blue Suit Christian? If so, why the change of clothes? Blue Suit Christian has interacted with Jack and influenced his on-Island activities. Cabin Christian has taken Claire, appeared to Michael before he died and spoke to Locke in Jacob’s Cabin. (This is off the top of my head, so there may be more that I do not recall.) Taking Claire, in effect, leads to Aaron leaving the Island. Appearing to Michael could suggest that Cabin Christian wanted the 6 to leave the Island. But then, last night Christian tells Locke to go to Hawking to get the 6 to return, so I just don’t know. Unless, of course, Hawking does not want them to go back, and this is exactly what Widmore wants.

I guess I’ll just have to wait for the show to tell us, because this theorizing hurts.

One final question: Did Locke truly fix the time jumps?

Dan, at least, gets back to the time of the DI. We see that in the premiere. Is that where they will all be stuck at next week? If that is true and at some point and if the 6 return, will they arrive at an Island where their friends are already dead? Will they actually ever meet up with their friends again? I need to see Sun and Jin reunite. I need to.

I know eventually, there will be a subpar week. It happens every year at one time or another. The show has just really been popping out some great entertainment recently though and I can’t help but hope that it continues. We’re five eps in and haven’t had a clunker yet. I suppose they will eventually focus on Kate or Jack or Hurley too much for my liking and I’ll be disappointed, but right now, I could not be happier and more thrilled with Lost this season.