Episode 1 & 2 - LA X

So, we've got one of the last 17 episodes of LOST under our belts and it was everything I expected and more! I knew we were going to have the split time line now referred to as the "Flash Sideways" and I knew they would still be asking more questions rather than giving us the answers we so crave. Looks like we'll have a new season mystery with the temple and our missing Others and one can only hope that all our answers will come at the end!

SUMMARY (its sorta long, sorry but it was 2 hours!)

ISLAND - Jack & the Gang

The gang realizes that the bomb didn't work and they're still on the island. Kate finds herself in a tree unable to hear and discovers Jack, Sawyer, and the rest of the gang down on the ground in present time post hatch explosion. They come to and Sawyer realizes Juliet is dead and takes it out on Jack swearing that it's his fault Juliet is dead. Soon after Kate hears a cry for help coming from inside the blown-up hatch hole and they work frantically to get Juliet out. Once Sawyer gets inside, we are treated to another scene of Juliet dying before she is able to tell Sawyer what she wants to. The others rush back to the aid of Sayid who is dying from a gunshot wound in the van and Jack surmises that he can't do anything for him. Hurley speaks up saying Jacob came to visit him and told him they could take him to the Temple to save him. Sawyer and Miles stay behind to bury Juliet and Miles' uses his ability to talk to the dead to tell Sawyer that the last thing Juliet wanted to tell Sawyer was that "it worked". The rest of the gang makes it to the Temple with Jin's guidance and they enter through the hole that goes underneath. Once below the temple gate they are taken hostage by the Others residing there. The apparent Temple leader comes out to address their sudden appearance and orders them to be killed. Hurley pleads at the last moment that Jacob sent them and he gives them the guitar case with the Egyptian symbol for life. The Kung-Fu man breaks it open to reveal a hidden list and once he confirms each lostie is on it they are welcomed into the temple. Hurley reveals that Jacob was dead when he came to him and panic mode sets in among the Others. They prepare for battle outside while Sayid is taken inside to the spring. They notice the color of the spring has changed and the Kung-Fu man cuts himself to see if the water will heal it. When it doesn't, the gang makes the decision for the Others to try and save Sayid by dipping him in the spring for the length of the hourglass. He shakes and struggles but ultimately the Others pronounce him dead. In a near identical Jack-saves-Charlie-after-Ethan-hangs-him-in-a-tree scene, Jack gives up trying to save him. According the the Others, they're all in a lot of trouble now that Sayid is dead but lo and behold, Sayid wakes up in the end!

ISLAND - Locke & the Gang

After Ben kills Jacob he begins to doubt that Locke is Locke they are interrupted by Ilana's gang and Flocke (Fake-Locke) escapes their attack. He returns as Smokey and kills them all. Bram tries to use the circle of ash as protection but he is derailed and killed. Ben is amazed and realizes that he may have made the wrong decision in killing Jacob since this guy was obviously not Locke. Flocke is actually the Man in Black and he lets Ben know that the last thing Locke was thinking before Ben killed him was that he still didn't understand why all of this happened. The stumble out of the foot to find Richard Alpert and Richard urges everyone not to shoot him. Flocke tells Richard that its good to see him out of his chains and beats him up.

Oceanic Flight 815

It seems as if their plan has worked and the losties are now back to being passengers on Oceanic 815. Jack makes small talk with Rose while Bernard is in the bathroom and while he gets nervous with the turbulence everything turns out fine. Boone chats it up with Locke, Hurley tells Doc Arzt and Sawyer about winning millions in the lottery, and Charlie gets high in the bathroom. Jack ends up aiding Charlie when he tries to swallow his drugs and he is arrested right after the plane lands at LAX. Kate tries to escape her bounty hunter Edward and successfully does with the help of Sawyer and Claire's cab. Jin is taken in by authorities since he failed to declare the over $10,000 in cash he was carrying and Jack comes across Locke when he's at the Oceanic Customer Service desk where they inform him they lost his father's coffin in transit. Jack offers Locke a free consultation with his spinal injury. It turns out that in this reality they were all still connected.

Wow so That was long. And I'm sure most of you skipped it as you should if you watched last night!

1. Well well, I was right with my prediction of two alternate time lines. It was the only way to make everyone happy - if the bomb hadn't gone off, then they would just be in the same place as before which would have been boring but if it did go off and they were successful then what would be the point for us watching all 5 seasons if nothing happened! Solution - alternate realities. Both situations happened and now we get to watch how they will both play out. I think ultimately one will be chosen and I choose the land where Jack and Kate fall in love.

2. Speaking of Jack and Kate in love, I hope we all noticed how she ran to Jack when she fell out of the tree and how she's always backing him up, and how they had a nice flirty glance at the end there. Yeah, I have to read this much into these things.

3. Thank you Lost for always knowing what I need. Another scene of Juliet dying! Woohoo! Now, I realize she is a good actress, brings an interesting element to the show, etc. so I do appreciate her but let me tell you why they brought her back. To let us know that the plan worked. That's it. Everyone quickly forgets how evil she was back when she was an Other! Good ridance!

4. So we've finally found out that Smokey is the Man in Black who is Fake Locke. So I think it is safe to assume that the Man in Black has been every other dead person who has appeared on the island, from Christian to Alex to Mr. Eko's brother Yumi and it seems like he has weaved this intricate plan to get possession of Locke's body and convince Ben to kill Jacob. Its apparent that neither can mess with free will but it seemed much more like manipulation rather than Ben using his free will but alas that is how he triumphed over Jacob. Ben even noticed that Jacob didn't even put up a fight and I think it has to be that Jacob knew this would happen some day. It even seems that post Jacob's death he still has a plan. Maybe he had cultivated a plan in case this happened and that explains why he went to visit the losties, to bring them to the island to end his conflict. Like he said in the beginning of the season 5 finale "It only ends once".

5. Destiny - so even if they incident never happened it seemed like the survivors were destined to cross paths. Jack still intervened to save an ungrateful Charlie and to suggest to Locke that "nothings irreversible" by offering to look at his spine. One of Jack's motives for resetting time was to avoid all the misery the island has brought them but like the theme through most of the series and to Ben's insistence, the island was supposed to be a gift to those people. So we'll see if in the reality where they never come to the island the losties are in fact happy or not. Boone never gets it on with Shannon since she stayed in Australia and they never repaired their relationship, Jin and Sun are still in a strained marriage, Rose still has cancer, Kate is still a fugitive on the run, and Jack still cries a lot. I think we'll continue to see them all be pulled together in unexplained circumstances and eventually they will all begin to have memories or a deja-vu like feeling for their life that should have happened on the island. These feelings will pull them all together to do whatever their destiny (Jacob?) tells them to do.

6. Desmond! So he was on the plane for an instant and never to be seen again. Was he having another time flash? I don't know, he seemed too calm. He somehow seems to make Jack remember something he shouldn't have, although we're led to believe that they met in LA right before Desmond took off for his boat tour ... but would he have if the island is underwater therefore there wouldn't be an island for him to crash on? Would he have even broken up with Penny therefore causing him to go on the boat tour? Would he have even met Penny if he hadn't been thrown out of the military for the weird flashes he was having? Who knows! I just think he'll stay a very important factor in the show and maybe pops up to help the losties remember their life that never was!

7. So what is up with the new Others at the temple? One looks straight out of a Kung-Fu movie which I'm guessing relates to Confucius and other ancient religious thought and the other looks like John Lennon and maybe resembles love and peace? I don't know but honestly LOST, did we really need more characters? How about bring me back some more Boone, hell he can turn into a vampire for all I care I just want more! Actually I think I like Vampire Boone more than regular Boone but I digress ... so these two seem to be Jacob's servants and fear what will happen if they don't carry out Jacob's command to save the all important Sayid. They fail, or do they??? ... Sayid opens his eyes and we're to assume he's alive. Unless he's Jacob re-incarnated (which I don't think so) or worse possessed by Smokey or just regular old back from the dead Sayid.

8. Richard Alpert - I love you. What an interesting character! I can't wait to find out more, like why the Man in Black remembers him from being in chains! When was he his prisoner, on the Black Rock? So has the Man in Black tried this plan before? Whatever the case may be, Richard looked pretty scared of this guy, so its safe to assume some sort of hellish power has been released and he fears for the island and Jacob. Here's to hoping with this revelation we get more background on my favorite eye-liner wearing guy!

9. Okay LOST, you make a ton of money, have access to the best special effects in the biz, and we have to sit through those silly graphics of the island submerged under water? For a hot second I thought we'd see the island hidden underwater in a big bubble but alas, just cheesetastic graphics with a little easter egg on the shark's tail. That has to mean that the bomb went off and sunk the island.

10. The Man in Black aka Flocke's desire is to return to his home. Woah! So the island is not his home? Is his home heaven? Or hell? Or some OTHER alternate reality? Why can't he get back? Maybe he and Richard were both prisoners on the Black Rock? Truth - i have no idea so we'll just have to wait and see where home is ...

Okay yay! I'm so happy the final season has started and we're about to get lots and lots of answers. Don't forget to add your own theories in the comments and any thoughts on what I have to say!

xo

B