By all rights, I shouldn’t have liked this episode of Lost at all. Not very much happened, and the things that did were already foregone conclusions. “Ab Aeterno” told us that, yes, Richard was going to return to the beach camp; “Sunset” told us that Jin was somehow going to end up in a walk-in freezer. Many of us already guessed that Desmond was the “package” in Widmore’s submarine, and “LA X” gave us some hints that Jin and Sun weren’t married in the Alterna-line.
And yet, despite all that, I had a lot of fun watching this episode. It just goes to show that snappy dialogue and amusing humor-jokes can make a relatively plotless TV episode feel like a well-spent hour.
So, questions. A lot of people on the Internet have been complaining: If Jacob is dead, why hasn’t the Man in Black left the Island yet? Well, this episode gave us one new reason and one reminder about why. First, as was suggested way back in season four, Smokey can’t fly over water — just like Dracula! And, second, according to Smokey, he can’t leave unless all of the Candidates leave the Island together, at the same time.
Question 1: Am I the only one who got the impression that, when Smokey said, “You all have to leave the Island at the same time,” he meant, “You all have to be in the same place so I can arrange your deaths”? Or am I being too cynical about the MiB’s motives?
Speaking of the Man in Black and his shifty sneakiness…
Question 2: When the Man in Black said that Kate’s name wasn’t on the wall of the cliff cave, was he telling the truth or not? If so, why is Kate’s name on Jacob’s Lighthouse list but not the cave list? And do you think she has a purpose to Locke besides being a really good piece of bait for Jack?
Oh, and also:
Question 3: Why is the Man in Black keeping Claire around, again? Is it just to freak Kate out, or does it have something to do with Jack and Christian? Or is the Man in Black really just a nice guy who keeps his promises to adorable Australian psychopaths?
In other news, last night we saw the return of Badass, Well-Written Sun. Oh, Badass, Well-Written Sun…. How I’ve missed thee! Remember when you were threatening Charles Widmore and arranging hostile takeovers of multinational corporations just to piss off your dad? Remember when you knocked out Ben Linus with an oar? Remember when you were doing something other than whining about your missing husband? Well, now I remember. And, let me tell you, Sun, that scene this week where you unbuttoned your cardigan? Managed to be sexy and ironic at the same time! Good show, Sun.
Question 4: But, uh, Sun, sweetie? What’s the deal with the aphasia? Was that really important to the plot at this point? Or were the writers just using you to fill out a too-short episode? Or was there, perhaps, a thematic reason for your inability to speak English all of a sudden?
BONUS FANGIRLING: Desmond! Keamy! Patchy, too — and he got shot in the eye! Jack’s finally acting like a real hero again! Ben seems to be acting like a truly nice guy! That scene where Jin saw pictures of Ji-Yeon for the first time was awesome! And so was Miles’s snark about Hurley and barbecue sauce argh, bacon grease, excuse me!
Question 5: What would you like to exclaim about this episode? Be sure to use as many exclamation points as possible.
See you next week.
Question 1: I think, MIB is untrustworthy. Like killing Dogen, let him in, killing all the candidates lets him off the island. But I bet, they need to die in a certain way for it to work.
Question 2: He needs her to get others come along clearly.
Question 3: I have no idea
Question 4: It probably parallels the alternate universe. Allot of people getting hit on the head this episode.
Question 5: Keamy is NOT dead. He’s a dick, that won’t did so easily this episode. Dude loosing his eye was a fun moment. Sun has a better body than Kate. The Package was NOT the kids, which I thought.
First of all, I totally agree with your sentiment regarding this episode as a whole – relatively non-essential to the plot, but surprisingly very entertaining. Overall, in fact, I may have enjoyed it as much as last week’s Richard episode, though that might be an “influence of expectations” issue more than anything else.
Moving right along…
1) I’ve sort of been worried for a while that MIB’s idea of “leaving the island” and “going home” might turn out to be death (his plans of using the plane to the contrary). With all of his associations with death (taking on the forms of dead people, talking about death, and, you know, causing it) I’ve been afraid here and there that his “freedom” might twist into something like the “sweet release of death” or something. And by “afraid” I mean only for the fate of our characters, as I in no way think this would be a bad twist, and might even work well under the right circumstances.
2) Re: the names on the wall vs. the names on the lighthouse… I think this might turn into one of those situations where Easter Eggs for the hardcore viewers take away from the plot rather than add to it. Sure, some production staff members sat around thinking of all the last names of every frakking character in the show ever to add to those lists, but I feel pretty strongly that only the ones they’ve openly discussed matter. Overanalyzing (or Overthinking, ‘natch) the list only causes headaches and complications – and can contradict the show itself. For example, “Littleton” actually _was_ on one of the lists (though to be fair this could have meant Aaron), despite Locke’s comment. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised when, if candidate #108 actually becomes important, it turns out not to be some random clown with the last name of “Wallace” (and not, ahem, “Hume”). As much as it pains me to say it, this might be turn out to be a rare instance of less attention to detail paying off more than, well, more.
Though I could be wrong. “Dead Mikhail’s still breathing!! Lame!” in season 3 turned into “Dead Mikhail blew up Chahlie?!” so the show has out-detailed me before.
3) Maybe because she, like Sayid, is a useful and very loyal pawn? But probably for family reasons, as you touched on – I bet she will a very useful tool in manipulating Jack, Kate, and maybe Christian (unless he, er, _is_ Christian, jury’s still out on that one).
4) Ugh, the aphasia. Let’s at least count our lucky stars it wasn’t amnesia – when she started speaking Korean, I literally yelled at my TV and then spent the entire commercial break following it discussing with my housemates ways in which we could somehow watch Lost and avoid any and all scenes with Sun (I’ll freely admit the term “Sunblock” was used more than once). Luckily, Sun got better and better throughout this episode – and ultimately I feel the aphasia was just another (semi-cheap?) nostalgia boost used to echo the first season – “look, they’re stuck on a beach, and there’s an Asian woman they can’t understand! this is _just_ like season 1!” *heart is warmed* *sigh*
5) Frank’s fantastic fervent defense of… bacon!!!!!! I LOL’d. Also, I enjoyed seeing the same events from different perspectives, which we haven’t done too much in the last few seasons (ever since plot took over, planted itself in the driver’s seat and dropped the pedal to the floor, really). It reminded of episodes like “The Other 48 Days”, though admittedly to a lesser degree.
Oh, and Desmond and Sayid’s watery moment!! Legendary. I prayed for an elaborate slightly-sexy-faced wink from Sayid, and for Desmond to make his classic WTF face, but alas, a golden opportunity missed.
Finally, though it risks the reemergence of all of the horrible, horrible jokes that began way back in season 1, Sun is hot!!!!!!! In all seriousness, I’m glad they are finally giving the other attractive actors and actresses a chance to shine this season (Charlotte, Jin and Sun come to mind). The writers usually reserve this for Kate, Sawyer, and basically any single-episode female in a Sawyer flashback.
Only popping in here re: question 2.
I specifically remember wondering, when we saw the names on the wall in the cave, why Kate’s wasn’t there.
Then my wife asked me what Kate’s real last name was, and I didn’t remember, so I shut up.
Good episode, great ending. You know what they say all’s well that ends well. If that episode ended with anything less than Desmond it would have been cheap. But the excitment that caused made it worthwhile. That being said, Sun ROCKS! I have always like Yunjin Kim and felt they under-utilized her talents. Jack is really taking charge again, and btw, who called richard was going to join w/ widmore? Huh? Whose the man? Okay im done patting myself on the back.
Q1- I kind of figured in order for him to leave the island he needed jacob and all the candidates dead. No more wardons of the island leaves him free to go. I thought it was funny when Sawyer spoke for the audience (I always love when Lost does that…usually its Hurley, but Sawyer delivered it perfectly) and asked “Why the hell dont you just turn into the smoke thing and fly over there?” Typical Flocke response- “Dont you think if I could do that, I would?”
Q2- I remember wondering the same thing: why isnt Kates name on the wall? Perhaps she is Jacobs ace in the hole, so to speak. A hidden candidate that Locke doesnt know about. If so, she could end up playing a major role in the finish, which I think would disappoint some. However, if Evangeline Lilly brings her A-game like she has been these last few episodes, it could turn out really great.
Q3- I think Claire is (for lack of a better word) Lockes bitch. Perhaps croney or toadie (A Christmas Story shoutout!) would be a better word. In other words, Sawyer is his con man, Sayyid is his assassin, and Claire is his servant. Notice how shes the only one he treats with no respect whatsoever. I kind of think he actually needs her to keep Kate trusting him and involved, and he needs Kate to lure poor Jackie boy back over. But I dont think it will work, I think Jack is finally transcending his previous life and becomming The New Jacob he is meant to be. Although it would be great to see Claire do something crazy and screw up Flockes plans unintentionally.
Q4- Was I the only one who got 80s sitcom flashbacks when the whole “I got hit on the head and now cant speak English” thing went down? I thought it was the corniest thing ever, until the Miles conversation put it in perspective- Miles {sarcastically} “So she got hit on the head, and cant speak English..” Lupidus- “…Said the man who talks to dead people.” We have seen crazier stuff, although I cant imagine what this has to do w/ the plot other than perhaps it makes her closer to her alt-self, and that may be important as the end draws near…
Bonus material- Being a heterosexual male, I geeked out for different reasons, but I will say when I saw Desmond I literally jumped up and celebrated like I had just scored a goal in the World Cup. Desmond is the man, and we WILL see him in another life, brotha.
Also, with all these LOST alum’s getting shows on ABC, where is Keamys show? Hes proven to be one of the most powerful actors the show has had. The guy has charisma and steals every scene he is in (With guys like Michael Emerson, Naveen Andrews and Terry O’Quinn thats no small feat).
I want to exclaim about something- WIDMORE!!!!! Hes actually a good guy!! Or, more closely, a bad guy on the good guys team. The part where Locke said “A wise man once said war is comming to the island….” before he even finished that sentence I got goosebumps.
Prediction- We are going to see Richards crew join Widmores crew (I had said this before) and there will literally be a huge battle w/ candidates on both sides. People are gonna die. Big people. Obviously, and I hate to say it, we will probably see Miles bite it. Lupidus survives, Hurley…im not sure. Sun will die- some people just arent meant to be together. Jin will probably make it, and go to his daughter. Sayyid and Claire- toast (i hate even writing that). Kate….lives. Jack is the new Jacob. Illayna- goner. Widmore- goner. Desmond…..hes a wild card. We could end up seeing pretty much everyone die, but somehow Desmond brings the two universes together (possibly by dieing himself) and so they really “live on”…which would be totally lame. Id rather the show end on a mixed note- some people have happy endings, some dont. But moving on- Zoey and that Jobber w/ the round head working for Widmore- please, theyre smoke-food. One thing I think would be funny would be for the people (I cant remember their names) from the temple, the girl who was on flight 815 and got kidnapped, became an other an then left the temple w/ locke, I would like to see them live, sort of like Wedge from Star Wars. A total non-essential character who lives the entire time. Theres something about that I like. Anyway, I rambled on enough.
My own question- you are Kate. What do you do now? Stay w/ Sawyer and the evil crew, or attempt an escape? Why?
I actually enjoyed the hell out of the episode. Why? Because it felt like we finally had an old-school LOST episode again (for both good and bad).
Two big questions to you all, before I go into discussion points:
First: each sideways character has had a moment where they catch themselves in a mirror (well, a reflective surface at the least) and realized something’s not quite right. With two exceptions: 1. Sayid, who didn’t see himself in Nadia’s door; and now 2. Jin, who didn’t notice his reflection in the freezer door. We all know what’s happened to Sayid… so does that mean Jin is doomed as well?
Second: is it possible that the Desmond we saw at the end of the episode — excuse me, DESMOND! YEAH!!! — is actually Sideways Des?
All right, as for mlawski:
#1 This one confuses me a bit — Smokey is ABSOLUTELY lying that he needs the Candidates on the plan… he really wants them all dead. But my question is, why do they have to be together? Can’t he get all Smokey on ’em and pick them off one by one? (I assume Harold is correct above — they have to die in a certain way for his condition(s) to be met.)
#2 I believe Kate’s name wasn’t on the wall like Smokey said… but I also think the cave names are his best guess as to who/what all the Candidate names are. The lighthouse is Jacob’s; that has the correct list. (NOTE that the names there are cleanly written; very ordered and precise; etc.) The cave is Smokey’s; that’s his approximation as to who Jacob is searching for so he can get to them first. (And contrast the way they are written: haphazardly, messily, etc.) So yes, I think she has a purpose… only Smokey doesn’t realize it yet.
#3 If anything, he’s keeping Claire around to get to Kate when the time is right. (But I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s simply there to do whatever he asks for… she’s certainly no threat to him, so I don’t think he really cares about her one way or the other.)
#4 I’m surprised I’m the only one who thought Jack didn’t diagnose Sun’s problem correctly — that it was SMOKEY that took away her means of communication with the others. It only serves his purpose, and you have to think that with all the supernatural abilities he and Jacob have… it’s not at all impossible for him to reach into his mind and take something he wants. (After all: he’s all about scanning people’s memories…) Doc Jensen, overthinking it in a way I hadn’t (and don’t quite agree with), think it’s just the writers analogizing the story of the Tower of Babel, and that later in the season her lack of english will screw tear the survivors apart at a critical moment. We’ll see.
BONUS: I agree that Miles was funny… though my favorite was, again, Sawyer. His “No, because that would be ridiculous!” comeback to Smokey (re: his being able to not fly over water) was hi-FREAKING-larious…
Oh, and #5:
– My big “continuity question of the week” was this:
If Desmond has been SO drugged to make the sub trip (will they ever explain that?)… why did Widmore feel the need to triple-dead bolt the sub door to keep him locked in? Desmond was so out of it he couldn’t stand on his feet, many hours later… yet Widmore thinks he’s James Bond or something.
– Why was Widmore desperate to “find the island” in past seasons… when he knew all along how to get the coordinates? He GAVE Desmond the address for Hawking and the Lamp Post station! Argh…
– And what is it about the electromagnetic pockets that Widmore needs? Is he perhaps looking for… a donkey wheel of the frozen variety? Does he want to destroy the island? Or is it something else?
Okay, wow.
I cheated on you, mlawski — I read another LOST recap just now. (Well, okay, in addition to the 4 or 5 I read last night, after the episode aired…)
The interesting thing? Conjecture on this writer’s part was that Sun losing her ability to speak english had nothing to do with her bumping her head, which I agree with… but also that Smokey had nothing to do with it either, which was originally my hypothesis.
Instead: it’s the Island world starting to merge with the Sideways world, as we know they’ll inevitably have to do over the rest of the series. First, Desmond has finally come back to the Island, and he’ll likely be the means in which the two universes are reconciled. So consider Sun losing her english to be Desmond’s “power” leaking out and starting to affect things on the Island. More obviously, remember what happens when characters see themselves in mirrors in the Sideways universe: their behavior changes. Only this time, after Sun caught herself in the hotel room mirror… Sun’s behavior changed in both the Sideways and Island worlds. Usually a character’s Island behavior wouldn’t change… not so now.
A really intriguing idea that I wish I had thought of. I’m not 100% convinced… but great food for thought!
1) Yes, I believe that rounding all the candidates up for slaughter is entirely the point. They’re the last obstacle. Like the kid in the jungle says, Smokey can’t kill them himself, but putting ’em all on a plane and then crashing it might do the trick.
Also, Widmore’s quote about all their loved ones “ceasing to exist” puts me even more in mind of the alien/ghost in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. “Going home” might be about death, but it also might be about travelling in time and causing the mother of all butterfly effects.
#2) Kate being Jacob’s ace in the hole (as well as Smokey’s but for different reasons) makes sense to me, and would be a relief in that it would give her character some point in surviving the past 2.5 seasons.
#3) To switch my bad guy heirarchy metaphors, Claire is the Trashcan Man to Locke’s Randall Flagg.
#4) In addition to the thematic and notalgia factors, there may be some important plot-related reason for the language barrier — I’m thinking a message which comes at a critical moment and either A) is not understood by the recipient, or B) *only* understood by Jin.
#5) Exclamation Points
Sawyer: “No, cause that would be ridiculous!”
And with this moment, both the character of James Ford and the show itself have peaked. It’s all downhill from here. ;)
I liked the way they played the Sayid/Desmond moment at the end. It wasn’t hard to guess that the Desmond reveal was coming, so instead of pretending it was a surprise, they went a little sideways (heh) with the moment rather than resorting to a bag-off-the-head or some other tired cliche. On a related note, Sayid is an intimidating enough presence normally, but seeing him as the soulless Maximillian to Locke’s Dr Reinhardt is scary enough to truly make you forget that Naveen Andrews is, like, 3 feet tall.
I feel like the “aphasia” is the sideways reality bleeding into regular reality. The only other sign we’ve seen of someone experiencing something from the sideways universe was Juliet in the premiere – when she was near death, fading in and out of consciousness… much like someone who suffered a sharp blow to the head, perhaps? I think this is where we’re heading and as such, I found it very intriguing, not irritating.
Oh and I should add – that theory only holds water if sideways Sun can’t speak English. Which I think was confirmed tonight, kind of: she and Jin aren’t married, so she would have no reason to hide her English skills (if she had any) from him. Sideways Sun legitimately can’t speak English, and now – briefly – neither can island Sun. This might be our first step down the long road of the universes merging.
@stabbim, though I guess it’s open for everyone:
You bring up under #1 above, Widmore saying everyone will “cease to exist” if Smokey gets off the island. But what he says is slightly more specific:
“Everyone we know and love would simply cease to exist”
To me, that sounds a little closer to “Everything you know and everyone you love — as you know them — will cease to exist.” Think about it: he doesn’t say “It will be the end of our civilization!” or “It will mean the end of the human race!” No — it’s specifically the people they “know and love.”
My new theory is this: by the Losties not crashing on the island and being able to travel back to 1954, somehow that enabled Smokey to “win.” He got off the island. And the sideways world we’ve been seeing all season long… is what would happen in a Smokey world. The Losties, as we know them, have ceased to exist — they’re still alive, but for the most part with different personalities and histories. Now, that looks great to our (flawed) Losties — they have everything they want, more or less. But what of the world itself? We don’t know much about the specifics.
Perhaps the Losties are “heroes” in the correct Island universe BECAUSE of their flaws. They’re inspired to greatness. Whereas the Sideways characters don’t have that. Things are fine. If they were to crash again on the island, they’d be useless. They wouldn’t be worthy of being Candidates.
@Kevin:
I can get behind the idea of the side-flashes being the post-MIB escape verse. I dig that concept much more than the persistent “epilogue” theory that some folks have been floating for weeks now.
However, there had better be one big, bad, ugly shoe to drop concerning the state of the world to make us believe that it’s an undesrieable alternative, because in my mind, the remaining candidates being less “heroic” because they’re untempered by Islandy hardships isn’t going to cut it. I’m not on Team Smokey per se, but I do agree with him on one thing: Jacob has watsed an awful lot of lives, and I have yet to see any compelling evidence that it was done with good reason.
Question 1 – I’m still not 100% convinced that Smoke-not-on-the-water wants them ‘Dead’. The main reason is that as far as we know, Locke hasn’t lied to the candidates/Ben. Heck, I think he only lied to Claire, but she is nuts.
Question 2 – Yes he was telling the truth because it wasn’t on the cave wall. Working theories on the Lighthouse – Jacob used it to look at candidates through time/space, to judge their worthiness and took his findings to the cave. When they were on the island, he no longer needed the lighthouse because they were there, so he just worked from the cave. Kind of like how a field researcher takes notes in a notebook (lighthouse) then types them on the computer (Cave) but when the researcher moves to the lab, everything is on the computer.
Question 3 – Kate really isn’t part of Smokey’s camp, just a tourist. Smokey uses Claire to keep her around (using the motherly guilt), but she is just a trapped tourist. Lockenstein convinces Kate to kill Claire, then she is part of Smokey’s camp because now she has no place to go. He’s already laid down the groundwork for this option.
Question 4 – Aphasia, I agree with Kevin, that Locke did something. He was chasing Sun, she hit her head then he is gone? Little too convient for me. I like the ‘bleed over’ idea but my money would be on Smoke.
Bonus – Glad to see everyone! Loved the Miles line (bacon), the Lapidus line (Sees Dead) and the Sawyer line (That would be weird).
Question 5 – Okay, something I noticed. Smokey has only been seen lying to Claire. Widmore has, as far as I can remember, not lied to any of the Losties. They are the ‘bad guys’. Ben is now part of the ‘good guys’ side and was point blank called out for being a liar and at least three people called Jacob a liar in this episode. I LOVE IT!
I’m not sure I have anything to contribute to the five questions that hasn’t been said by everyone else already, so I’ve got a bit of an underthink:
WHAT WAS SUN’S DAD THINKING? What kind of a way is that to kill someone? Hey, this dude is sleeping with my daughter, so I’m going to pay to fly him overseas, where I’ll have a killer paid $25,000 to kill the guy I just delivered into his arms.
What???
Also, an interesting theory that came to mind while watching this episode… The name “Shepherd” is written on the cave wall. What if that means Christian, and not Jack?
1) I don’t think he meant it in a “I’m gonna kill you” sort of way. I do think all of the Candidates being alive on the Island has something to do with his still being there.
2) I think she *is* a candidate, and MiB knows it. Maybe she *wasn’t* on the wall, but the list itself. I think Locke only cares about her as a tool to use against others, not just Jack, which leads to …
3)… I think he wants to keep Claire as a way of killing Kate. If Kate’s a Candidate, he can’t kill her himself- but Claire can. He *totally* left that conversation with Claire hanging, the implicit ending being, “Once I’m through with her, you can kill her.”
4) I thought it was parallelism back to when she was faking everybody out with regards to her English, but her ability to understand them is demonstrative of her new strength- she’s *not* totally helpless any more, as she has proven with the bad-ass stuff she has done. I don’t really think it’s important to the PLOT, but it’s a tool to emphasize how she has changed in order for the audience to really see her development as a person. Which leads to…
5) Character development as the reason for the story. Multiple people, myself included, are pretty sure that while not all questions in terms of events or semantics will be answered by the end, ones about characters will. BUT, I think I’m going to amend my own assertion of this and say ones about MAIN characters will get answered. This episode made my previous wonderings about Keamy even stronger. So in that alterna-timeline, he’s a mercenary AND loan shark? And I think Harold may be onto something, but it would feel even safer to assert Keamy isn’t dead if there were more episodes left- given the limited time remaining and how the alterna-timeline is just getting started, I have a feeling a lot of stuff about it will go unanswered, and having Keamy not die would draw it out longer (unless he was used as a tool for exposition in some sort of monologue…).
And my heart ached when Sayid was talking to Lockelganger. I mean, really… It just hurts to watch him like that. My solution? Watching him sing and dance in _Bride and Prejudice_.
And as everybody else has said, there were a few shining moments of dialogue. Banter, gotta love it.
@specialagentdalecooper, with regards to Juliet: ANDANDAND, Miles heard her say, “It worked.”
@Jon Eric: Sun’s dad is a mobster. Having him go to all that trouble to set up his own death is like having an enemy dig their own grave. I imagine his goal was to cause a moment of sheer and utter despair and suffering in Jin right before his execution- I’m sure Keamy was instructed to play it cool until the very end, at which point he was supposed to whip out the gun, do a little monologuing to explain, and then say bye-bye (and the talking would be through translation). But this also sort of gets into my questions about Keamy. Why would Sun’s dad hire him if he doesn’t speak Korean, unless he somehow knew Patchy would be around to translate?
And about Christian: He’s already acting kind of like one of the two “entities” in the Island… he could be a replacement for *either* at this point, as far as I’m concerned, but Jacob is the only one with a list of names, so yeah… You very well could be onto something major, there.
Re: Keamy, murdering Jin, and the “attention to detail” regarding the cut on Jin’s forehead…
I sort of assumed that Mr. Paik went to all the trouble of paying $25K to Keamy because he was a professional at disappearing people – probably in the sense of making something look like an accident or, possibly, framing someone else or some such scenario. That would explain the high fee _and_ the strict attention to detail, as Keamy would want conditions to be extraordinarily exact in order to fabricate his murder/accident scene. A blatant blow to the head sort of makes “accidental death by food poisoning” or something similar kind of hard to swallow.
Also, I figured the message was far more to _Sun_ than to Jin – a message to Jin seems rather superfluous, as its effect would be as short-lived as the man himself. Rather, Mr. Paik clearly knew about Sun’s plans to run away (he cleared her private account) and wanted to make damn sure she knew never to consider something so bold and outrageous as falling in love and having a life of her own, the bold hussy.
@ Jon Eric, Christopher, etc.:
The Jin/Keamy subplot was meant to be simple, nothing more. Remember, there were TWO things Jin was to deliver: the money AND the watch. Jin wasn’t sent ONLY to be killed; he was sent to deliver the watch, and then was to be killed once that happened (upon proof of Mr. Paik’s $25k payment). Ironically, what kept Jin alive was good ol’ U.S. Customs — if he hadn’t been delayed, he would have made it to the restaurant in time for his murder; and when they took his money, it kept him around long enough, since Keamy wasn’t going to do the job for free.
(I also think $25k to Mr. Paik was a pittance — good money for low-life Keamy, but nothing Paik would ever notice spending. And Jin wouldn’t need to be “disappeared” or anything — he’s a Korean national of no importance who they could just leave dead in an alley somewhere… another unsolved murder that no one besides Sun would ever care about.)
As for Ghost Christian: I still can’t figure out whether he’s a manifestation of Jacob, Smokey OR “The Island”… but would lean toward “all of the above” at various times. Remember: he showed up *on the freighter* in the S4 finale, telling Michael he was “done” — but Smokey can’t travel over water. (Plus, what would he care about going to tell that to Michael?) I do wonder if the writers have been very consistent all along with spirits, however — on a recent podcast, Darlton said that Kate’s horse, along with a few other manifestations on the island, were NOT Smokey taking their appearance. So I think we’re still getting more explanation down the road as to what all of those things are…
MAN IN BLACK: Well then, now you know why I want to kill you. And I will kill you, Jacob.
JACOB: Even if you do so, somebody else will take my place.
MAN IN BLACK: Then I’ll kill them too.
—–
Whether MIB is gathering everyone for the sake of convenience, or because he’s barred from killing them himself so he has to manipuate them into killing each other, or some combination thereof, wiping out all the candidates certainly seems to be on the agenda.
@Kevin: – My big “continuity question of the week” was this:
If Desmond has been SO drugged to make the sub trip (will they ever explain that?)… why did Widmore feel the need to triple-dead bolt the sub door to keep him locked in?
I think they basically explained it was to keep Sawyer out, not keep Desmond in.
Q1: I don’t think Smokey would hesitate, if given the chance to kill them… but I think the point is more to get them off of the island, b/c whichever of them *is* the replacement Jacob would prevent him from leaving, simply by existing. It doesn’t have to be an active resistance; just HAVING a Jacob keeps him there. He has to get them all off at once, because he doesn’t know which of them is the chosen one.
Q2: No one yet has pointed out that FLocke *didn’t* say Kate’s name wasn’t on the cave… he said it wasn’t ANY MORE. He was implying to Claire that Kate had been a candidate, but was eliminated. I think he was lying (esp because he told Claire that her name wasn’t there at ALL, when I think it had been but was crossed out.) I think he’s trying to convince Claire that Kate is “unworthy,” and I also believe that he doesn’t know she’s a candidate.
No clue re: Q3-5. Hunh.
3: Why is the Man in Black keeping Claire around, again?
Littleton was on the lighthouse. Killing candidates is against “the rules.”
Scattered brief comments:
“3: Why is the Man in Black keeping Claire around, again?”
My feeling is that it’s for the same reason he’s keeping Kate around – as bait and/or to try to get her to convince other candidates to leave with him. Jack is the key candidate and one of the hardest people to convince to do anything (as someone inhabiting Locke’s body and apparently mind would well know)… and Claire is his sister.
“If Desmond has been SO drugged to make the sub trip (will they ever explain that?)… why did Widmore feel the need to triple-dead bolt the sub door to keep him locked in?”
As already mentioned, keeping others out was important. But also, it was pointed out through dialogue at the end of this episode that the drug administrator was Zoe, who had no idea about proper dosage. Maybe the concern was “If he wakes up, we need to make sure he goes nowhere.”
“WHAT WAS SUN’S DAD THINKING? What kind of a way is that to kill someone? Hey, this dude is sleeping with my daughter, so I’m going to pay to fly him overseas, where I’ll have a killer paid $25,000 to kill the guy I just delivered into his arms.”
As already discussed, Jin was also delivering a watch (which I still say was going to alt-Widmore, not Keamy). Paik may have seen an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone there – and also he got to send a clear message to Sun, knowing once she was in the US she’d try to access that “secret” bank account. On top of that, having Jin killed by miscellaneous goons in the US gives him better distance from the crime (no chance of criminal prosecution in Korea, and even halfway-plausible deniability if it really pissed Sun off – he could say he didn’t order it, they shot Jin for other reasons).