Lost Season Four Recap #3

The Economist
written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz
directed by Jack Bender
This photo is misleading. Normally, Sayid must defer to Jack because, well, that's what the Jack-loving scripts usually call for. "The Economist," however, was a different story - where Sayid called the shots ... at least until the end. This was another solid episode in what has been a surprisingly really good season - though yet another woman did die at the hands of gunfire. You Lost writers have really got to work on that.

As for the episode, there were only two scenes that really held any great importance for me. In the opening scene, we see Sayid at an undetermined point in the future. He assassinates a man on a secluded golf course - a man who was visibly uncomfortable at Sayid's declaration - "I'm one of the Oceanic Six." The murder tells us one thing - in the future, Sayid's a bad dude. Maybe not a bad dude, but at the least, he's displaying moral ambiguities. In the final scene, it is revealed who is the man calling the shots for Sayid. None other than ... groan ... Ben. Okay, it was a little creepy to see Ben, and somewhat logical, but not all that shocking.

So, in the future, Sayid is performing hits for Ben - but he doesn't seem all that happy about it. "You want to help your friends, don't you?" Ben asks/commands him as he sews up a gunshot wound. This reminds me of my last recap, where I said the line between good and evil is not quite clear. This is not a revelation that Ben isn't bad, but there would appear to be a bigger bad in the picture. Something tells me Abaddon is that big bad or at least connected to it, and that Ben falls somewhere in between. As for Sayid's friends, he's probably protecting the same people Hurley was. But who exactly are we talking about here?

Earlier in the episode, Locke failed to lead his followers to the cabin. Has he lost his mojo? Hurley may be the only one who can lead them to the cabin - will everyone soon be following him?

Previous Recaps:
01 Confirmed Dead (Is Lost Ripping Off Twin Peaks)
02 The Beginning of the End

Lost Season 4 Recap #2: Is Lost Ripping Off Twin Peaks

Confirmed Dead
written by Drew Goddard and Brian K. Vaughan
directed by Stephen Williams
My girlfriend has accused Lost's producers of ripping off Battlestar Galactica with their "Oceanic 6" revelations. I'm inclined to agree, and now I am wondering if Lost is not biting from another one of our favorites - Twin Peaks. It strikes me as though Lost may be building to some kind of good vs. evil battle, centered around religious mythology, much in the same way Twin Peaks did.

In Twin Peaks' final hours, we have the makings of an epic battle existing across dimensions between the white lodge and the black lodge. ("Whilst they're actual locations in Twin Peaks, they also seem to represent human capacities, the dark and the good side in everyone." - from Twin Peaks Theories). Lost is setting up potentially a similar battle.

Jacob's cabin is the white lodge - or a sort of gateway to heaven. I think of "Jacob's Ladder," described in the Book of Genesis as the ladder to heaven. Abaddon (introduced in the season premiere, and seen here in flashbacks assembling a team to send to the island to track down Ben) is the keeper of the black lodge. Abaddon is a Hebrew terms meaning "destruction" and I've learned from Wikipedia, "In Biblical poetry (Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11), it comes to mean "place of destruction", or the realm of the dead, and is associated with Sheol. Abaddon is also one of the compartments of Gehenna.[1] By extension, it can mean an underworld abode of lost souls, or hell."

Don't get all excited again you purgatory theorists - the survivors of Oceanic 815 are alive and well. Much like the haunting woods of Twin Peaks, where red curtains drape and allow you to enter the black lodge, the island, or maybe just parts of it, exist somewhere between life and death. This would explain why the simple rules of life and death do not apply on the island, whether it comes to cancer or pregnancy. This would explain why Jack sees his dead father - and later Hurley sees him, too. I initially thought - after this episode - that Jack's dad was in fact Jacob. But let's assume for a moment that Jack's (and Clare's) dad is simply a bridge to Jacob. He does have connections to several of the survivors (Jack, Clare, Sawyer, Anna Lucia). Remember the Man From Another Place ("I am the arm") in Twin Peaks?

When it comes to Lost, nothing is quite so simple as good and evil, so expect a more complicate battle. But consider season four to be J.J. Abrams's Fire Walk with Me. He's already introduced a series of new characters, some of whom possess special gifts in order to show that what is happening is something greater than just the island. Daniel, Frank, Miles and Charlotte are quite possibly the equivalent of Chester Desmond, Phillip Jeffries, and Sam Stanley. Unlike Lynch, however, it appears as though Abrams will have the opportunity to see their stories through.

Lost Season Four Recap #1

I've been meaning to write about - what I call - the "sexist politics of Lost." I know my girlfriend would like to see that up here, and I will write it someday. But, being somewhat hypocritical I guess, I am simply going to write about last night's episode and how much I liked it.

The Beginning of the End
Who cares about the monster in the smoke, anyway? The island of Lost still holds many mysteries, but at this point, they just don't seem all that exciting. But what is exciting - the new mysteries of Los Angeles, or what happens once they leave the island. Watching last night's episode, I was surprisingly reminded of of why I liked this show so much to begin with. It's not that all is forgiven - the first half of season three still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Furthermore, I don't need to hear any John Locke speeches every again - and (even more than before) I really don't give a shit about Jack, Kate or Sawyer. That being said, the episode did a great deal to keep the momentum from last season's finale and - I hate to say it - I actually have some faith in where this is going. (Or it could just be that there is a writer's strike going on and it's questionable how much pleasure I'm going to derive from Gone Country).

Why Last Night's Episode Worked: For one, it was about Hurley, and Hurley's plots are the best. The mystery surrounding "the numbers" and Hurley's bad luck has always been the most interesting to me, and Hurley's plot points have allowed the writers to delve into more Twin Peaks/Angel territory, which is the kind of television I love the best. Second of all, the flashbacks were fucking tired ... so when they threw us for a loop and revealed a "flash forward" in the last moments of season three, it was thrilling. Thankfully, they are keeping this up, and using flash forwards to entice us with more mysteries - "the Oceanic Six?" "Where are they?" "I think it wants us to come back.(?)" While it does beg more questions, I can't help but get a little chill at the thought of them.

What Lies Beneath: As usual, their seem to be clues from last night's episode that require freeze-framing and a closer look. My brother informs me - and others seem to confirm it - that the man Hurley saw in Jacob's chair was ... Jack's father (that dude never goes away). Someone else was staring at Hurley in the mental institution besides the Ghost of Charlie. Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen says, "Season 4 Burning Question No. 1: If the Oceanic 6 are six survivors of Oceanic 815 who made it off the Island (and became famous for doing so), and we know that three of the six are Jack, Kate, and Hurley, then who are the other three?" Will Benham says, "Season 4 Burning Question No. 2: Will I succumb to message boards." No, probably not likely.