We continue with our round-table discussions of Lost. This week, we’re joined by Bridget McGovern, Theresa DeLucci and Melissa Frain. As always, spoilers abound, so stay away from this post if you haven’t watched the latest episode of Lost, “LaFleur.”
Theresa: Wow. Sawyer kept his shirt on.
Solid episode tonight. A bit of filler, but it was nice to see what Sawyer and co. have been up to. For the last three years, in case you missed all those title cards. I kinda wish there was a more graceful way to show the passage of time. But there really is no time for time transitions on Lost—too many plots to touch on.
Who did Amy give birth to? Could it be anyone important to the story? They would have to be younger than Charlotte though. I just think it’d be lame if the whole Amy story was only meant to culminate in Horus thinking three years isn’t enough for someone to forget about a lost love. I mean, it looked like Juliet wanted to give Sawyer a lot more than two weeks and it’s not much of a surprise that the two of them would hook up. Poor Juliet, stupid Kate’s always getting between her and her crushes. Because there was not even a flicker of doubt that Sawyer wasn’t still as in love with Kate as he was the day he jumped out of that helicopter.
Any appearance by Alpert is always a good, thought-provoking one. How indigenous are these Hostiles anyway? The big statue still weirds me out. It’s not something one would expect to see on a South Pacific island. And Faraday just breaks my heart almost as much as Desmond.
Bridget: Wow, it’s all coming together, isn’t it? This week we get to catch up with Sawyer’s gang back on the Island, beginning immediately after the final time shift and immediately before Locke moved the island. The big news? We finally got a glimpse of the giant, four-toed statue that once stood upon the beach… but only for a second (and yeah, it creeps me out, too). After Locke spins the wonder wheel, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Jin and a brain-fried Faraday find themselves stranded in 1974, during the heyday of the Dharma Inititative. Apparently, Locke’s actions have brought stasis to the Island; the time shifts have stopped; as Faraday says, “Whenever we are now, we’re here for good.” Meanwhile, Charlotte’s body has apparently “moved on,” and I guess we can assume that the little ginger-headed tot running adorably around the Dharma camp will be receiving some creepy, time-travelly warnings from Faraday in the very near future.
Our old friend Horace Goodspeed (a.k.a. The Man Responsible For Bringing Ben Linus To The Island. Nice Job.) is running things at the Dharma camp, and has established an uneasy truce with Richard Alpert and the so-called “hostiles.” It was nice to see Sawyer back to his old wheelin’ and dealin’ con man ways, scoring points with both Goodspeed and the much less gullible Richard (or, as he will henceforth be known, our “friend out there with the eyeliner on”…my favorite line of the episode, unsurprisingly). But as Theresa pointed out, he’s dialed the skeeze-factor way down in this episode. Not only was he fully-clothed at all times (!!!), but he’s actually managed to establish a stable, loving relationship with Juliet in the three years between Locke’s departure and the reappearance of Jack, Kate, and Hurley. Jim LaFleur seems so dependable… and so square. I’m not sure I like it, but now that Jack and Kate are back, I’m sure things will go back to being tortured and crazy and soap-operatic in no time.
So here are my questions: where is Ben? If he was born in the early Sixties and came to the island around the age of ten, shouldn’t he be there, skulking around in 1974? And if he’s not there yet, he should be showing up any minute. And also, more obviously, why can women deliver babies on the Island safely in 1974? What happens down the line to bring about the problems with Island childbirth? And yes, like Theresa, I want to know who Horace and Amy’s baby grows up to be (although I suppose it could be relatively unimportant. Is anything unimportant on Lost?).
There’s no episode next week; I won’t know what to do with myself next Wednesday…
Melissa: Agreed on the mystery (tragedy?) of Sawyer’s shirt this week—I was waiting and waiting for it to come off, then thought FOR SURE it was about to happen at the end…then he throws the sheets off and is wearing a tank top??? Huh? Sawyer has changed a lot in three years. I would say his stable relationship with Juliet pales in comparison to the fact that he wears his glasses 24/7 and remains fully clothed in public.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this episode. I about exploded twice in the first five minutes: first when we got that view of the statue, and then again when “Three Years Later” popped up onscreen for the first time. I guess logically I should have realized that was how all this was going to happen, but somehow I didn’t put together that Sawyer and co. would actually spend three years waiting for the Oceanic 6 to return. Three years is a pretty significant amount of time to be planted in a seemingly normal life like the one they have at the barracks. I thought Sawyer’s conversation near the end with Horace was incredibly well done and really drove that point home—I was strangely moved when he said that he could barely remember what Kate looked like anymore, and then when she stepped out of the car later…man. I’m a huge Josh Holloway fan, and this episode reminded me why.
Thrilled to see Richard! I was just wondering when he’d show up, and then he appeared. But what is he doing on the same side as the rapists? That is not right. I’ve always seen Alpert as a very classy sort of guy, even way back when he first appeared with the shaggy hair and the stained clothes. He seems somehow above these dirty Hostile types—I hope we don’t find out that he’s the real scumbag of the island. Of course, he DID orchestrate the whole thing where Ben killed the whole Dharma Initiative, so…you just never know on Lost. And speaking of Ben, as Bridget said…where IS he?
Last note…I love Reiko Aylesworth and was thrilled to see her on the show—though that was pretty damn tricky when she faked like she turned off the fence thing.
Theresa: Oh, if child-Ben shows up on the Island, it could bring up the great kill-Hitler-while-he’s-in-art-school debate. I like.
Bridget: Good point about Ben. But he’s so pathetic as a kid. Maybe Kate could just adopt him or something; she seems like she’s into that whole Angelina Jolie Earthmother bit right now, right? Maybe wee Ben just needs to have a caring nurturer around…
