Saturday, June 7, 2008

Four for Four

It's been more than a week after "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" aired, but my head is still spinning. It was a freaking amazing roller coaster of an episode and I can't wait to re-watch it on CTV.ca.

Anyway, I've never written a recap for LOST episodes, except for "Through the Looking Glass" and "The Beginning of the End" - that is, if you count those posts as recaps. And I have no interest in becoming a regular recapper for LOST.

Back to the finale: I may not write regular recaps for LOST, but I still have favourite moments, especially in the finale. You know, the gasp-worthy, mind-bending, and/or head-spinning moments? Yeah.

So I present - drum roll, please - my four favourite moments in "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3". Yes, I said four (it's the Numbers, man!).

But, first, the honourable mentions:

Sawyer jumps out the chopper and swims back to shore, sans shirt.
These are actually separate scenes, but they are obviously related. I was very happy that Sawyer chose to jump out of the helicopter to reduce the cumulative weight. (Speaking of which, I didn't like Lapidus when he commented on Hurley's weight because that was just mean.) Sawyer is alive and exuding sexiness when he came out of the ocean without his shirt. This video confirms most fans' theory that the favour Kate did for him had something to do with Clementine Phillips, who is Sawyer's daughter with Cassidy, whom Kate met while she was on the run.

Hurley interacts with dead characters (Charlie & Eko, among others).
Not only does Hurley have regular chats with Charlie, but he also plays chess with Mr Eko! In the finale, our dear drug smuggler/fake priest/Island church builder (almost) is invisible to Sayid and to the audience. Will Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje come back for a quick pop or two? Or are we just going to see Hurley talk to an imaginary person, a la Dave? But I must wonder: why do the dead characters interact with Hurley? Is this going to be important next season?

Charlotte may have been born on the Island, and Miles knows about it!
While Daniel was taking a break from bringing the survivors to the ill-fated freighter, his girl Charlotte and sarcastic ghost buster Miles had a very interesting conversation. After hearing that Charlotte was going to leave on the raft, Miles wonders why she wanted to leave after all the time she spent "trying to get back" to the Island. Charlotte plays innocent, and then Miles remains mysterious about what he knows. Later on, Charlotte tells Daniel that she would stay on the Island and implies she may have been born on the Island. Is she grown-up Annie? Or is she someone else altogether? And how on earth does Miles know about it?

"Whoever moves the island can never come back."
In the Orchid, Ben officially hands his leadership over to John Locke. Then Ben goes self-sacrificial and goes down to the bowels of the Orchid to turn the "frozen donkey wheel". Off-Island, he employs Sayid to kill those he wants dead for whatever reason. In the last scene for Season 4, Ben tells Jack that the Island won't let him come alone and that all of the Oceanic 6 and the man in the coffin (even Walt?) have to come back together. He also tells Bearded Jack he can help him get the rest of the survivors together and probably to convince them that all of them need to go back. You'd have to wonder: why is Ben doing this? What are his intentions? Is he using the survivors so Ben himself can go back to the Island? How does he know that the Island wants all of them to go back anyway?

On to the four favourite moments...

4. Michael dies, and Jin may or may not have died, when the freighter explodes.
In "Meet Kevin Johnson" Michael tries to commit suicide a few times, but is unsuccessful. Then Tom meets with him and tells him that the Island won't let him die. Eventually, Michael tries to delay the detonation of the C-4 explosives. When the liquid nitrogen runs out, Michael suddenly hears the Whispers, and sees Dead/Undead Daddy Christian Shephard, who tells him, "You can go now, Michael." Then BOOM! Yes, it was kinda disappointing that Darlton brought Michael back just to kill him off. But his death was sacrificial, just like Charlie's. It was a heroic death and must be important for the last two seasons. Besides, he told Sayid he was on the freighter to die.

Jin, on the other hand, was left behind on the freighter's deck. We didn't really see what happened to him - he could have died or he could have jumped into the ocean just before the freighter exploded - but I'm truly hoping that he's alive, just like Sawyer. Actually, if he were alive, Sun would have more motivation to go back to the Island. For storytelling purposes, I think Jin should live. *Wink wink*

3. All off-island survivors (i.e. Oceanic 6, Jeremy Bentham, and possibly Walt) have to go back to the Island, wherever/whenever Ben moved it.
When Jack screamed, "We have to go back," back in the "rattlesnake in the mailbox scene" in Season 3, not all of us thought everyone who left the Island have to go back. I'm only assuming Walt has to go back as well, as this is one consequence of Michael's death and the Oceanic 6's lie. Anyway, how would the Six come together if Sayid took Hurley to a safer place, if Sun plans to ally herself with Charles Widmore, and if Jack and Kate & Aaron had a bit of a falling out? And how would Ben help Jack get everyone together? Lastly how are they going to bring Jeremy Bentham's body back to the Island without arousing suspicions, at least with the police, etc.?

2. Penny and Desmond reunite and share the most spectacular kiss in all of primetime television's 2007-2008 season-ending kisses.
The scene where Frank spotted The Searcher echoes the last scene (before the montage) of "Exodus, Part 2" back in Season 1. Only this scene has a different outcome from that of Season 1: the survivors, with Desmond and Frank Lapidus, are actually rescued by the boat owned by a very prominent and popular recurring character - Penelope Widmore. For those with keen eyes, you might have noticed one of the guys in the last scene in Season 2, the ones in the Arctic/Siberian/Antarctic listening post or tracking station. No, not the one who looks like Jack; it's Henrik. Then Penny and Desmond see each other. Understandably, they run towards each other, and then they kiss. They are finally reunited! (By the way, I was crying so hard during their reunion moment. Gah, I'm such a girl!)

But...! We know from "The Shape of Things to Come" that Ben pledged to kill Penny as revenge for Alex's murder. Now, Desmond and Sayid had become friends while they were on the Island and on the freighter. Sayid is Ben's hitman, and Desmond loves Penny so much that he'd probably kill whoever tries to hurt her. Is there going to be a showdown between Desmond and Sayid in Season 6, or even 5?

1. Jeremy Bentham is John Locke.
So, the very last scene for Season 4 reveals that the man the Oceanic 6, Ben, and Walt are calling Jeremy Bentham is actually the Man of Faith and the new leader of the Others - John Locke. Why he left the Island and began telling everyone, especially Jack, that they need to go back to the place they were so eager to leave is still unknown. He did tell Jack that horrible things happened after they left and it was Jack's fault for leaving. What horrible things happened exactly? Did anyone die? Was there really a sickness? Was there a faction in the Others' camp? Did the rest of the survivors and the Others merge, or did they become enemies? And how was it Jack's fault?

While I'm on the subject, this was slightly spoiled for me. No, I didn't go to DarkUFO's Spoilers section and I didn't read Lostfan108's synopsis of the finale. But in the Addicted to LOST application on Facebook, someone posted the spoilers on the app Wall, even if there's a note right under the text box that no one should post a spoiler on the Wall! I saw the first line ("JOHN LOCKE IS THE MAN IN THE COFFIN" or something like that), and immediately scrolled up. Then DocArzt posted a video that turned out to be a foiler (not his fault, though - he was punk'd!). I was, like, "No, Locke's not the man in the coffin." So I was still surprised in the reveal and it still blew my mind, just as Darlton intended.

Why is the last scene of Season 4 my most favourite moment? Because it raised a lot of questions for me (see above). These questions, in turn, will keep me from severe withdrawal from LOST. I'd be in the Lostpedia and The Fuselage forums, theorising about Seasons 5 and 6. The more fodder for theorising, the better.

So, yeah.

Season 4 has concluded, and the eight-month wait has also begun. See y'all in the forums and Lostpedia, and all the other fan sites/blogs.

Now, excuse me while I re-watch the finale.

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