Lessons in how to write a Lost episode review without massive spoiling and risking physical violence by your readership for merely glancing at your text.
Lesson one. Don’t bother.
And as such..for the first time, I will use the more tag.
At the end of season five, we have our intrepid cast getting pinned down by Dharma personnel as they attempt to set off a nuke down the energy shaft. Sadly, the device failed initially, but Juliet, after a wayward chain dragged her down the shaft, sets it off manually by hitting it with a rock. And so begins season six.
It turns out that the bomb actually did prevent the crash of flight 815, sorta. It seems that there are now two parallel realities going on. In the first reality we are introduced to, we have Jack back on flight 815, before the plane was sheared in half by the island. It plays out very similar to what we saw in season one, but then there are differences. For example, Desmond is on the plane now. Normally, he should be on the island rushing to hit the computer button, but instead he’s flying to LAX. The interesting part is Jack has this strange deja vu feeling with him, as if a residual part of what has happened still exists in his mind. The main plot revelation is that the island actually rests on the ocean floor, and appears to have for some time.
If it were so simple, the viewership would likely be disappointed, but of course the Lost writers have no intention of making anything simple. We are suddenly treated to a scene of Kate and everyone else scattered out in the jungle suffering from hearing loss due to an explosion. It seems that the explosion has sent them back to their normal time period, but lo and behold, Jack is there too. What does this mean?
Well obviously there are now two realities going on. One reality, we have what happens if flight 815 lands in LAX, and in the other, we have the reality as we have known these last 5 years. Everyone in “normal time” remembers everything that has happened, including the whole time travel incident.
Let us not forget though, the people on the beach near the destroyed statue of Taweret. As we remember from last season, Ben has killed Jacob under the influence of “Locke,” who is really Jacob’s nemesis. We also see that Jacob’s nemesis is also the smoke monster, and Ben realizes he’s been manipulated for years and years. The big revelation is that Ben is still a totally evil man and plainly without both morals or direction. It’s going to be interesting to see how Ben plays out the rest of the show. He is by far the biggest wildcard of everything, despite the fact we know he’s going to do whatever helps him be in control the most.
As for back in the jungle, we find out that the wall where the smoke monster comes out of is actually a wall that protects Jacob’s temple inside. I would imagine that the reason the smoke monster comes from the wall is that he cannot breach the wall and dwells there ready to strike. In the temple itself, we find out that this is the main base of “the others.” Also of note, they have a pool that heals people (though it is not working now that Jacob is dead) and that Cindy, Zach, and Emma have been alive and well all this time there. If you had forgotten, they were taken by the Others very early on in the series. It is likely the other children from the front section of the plane are also around there somewhere. After realizing that Jacob has died, the Others have to hastily prepare their defenses, likely for the coming of Jacob’s nemesis.
Meanwhile, we get treated to a lot of scenes of what happens once the “other” flight 815 lands. All of the old survivors are around, with the exception of Boone’s sister Shannon, who decided to stay in Australia. It seems the time change has affected more than the that single flight, but also many of the events that lead up to the people actually taking the flight. Hugo says he’s the “luckiest man alive” as if none of his lottery winning has been cursed, and Locke looses his knives.
One of the great things about the writing of the alternative reality is that all of the characters behave in a way that reflects how they were before they were on the island. Jinn is controlling and Sun is still attempting to flee from him, Kate is still trying to run, and Charlie is still hopelessly dependent on his heroin. Since we have no idea how this reality lies in relation to our normal reality (other than the fact it takes place in the relative past), it’s impossible to speculate what’s going to happen.
There are 14 more hours to go of this roller coaster ride, and I can’t wait for it to be done. Though we got one question answered (What is the smoke monster?), we ended up with dozens of new ones that all have to resolve by summer.
Interesting Observations
- The Nemesis cut off part of the rug in the shrine. What was it for?
- Man, Ben is a spiteful jerk isn’t he?
- Claire is in the taxi Kate carjacks.
- Saied is “back” but is he the same one as before? Is he different like the French scientists who were taken by the smoke monster?
- How does Juliet know about the other reality?
