(previous: “Dr. Linus”)
There’s no way to “review” or “analyze” or even “discuss” this show on an episode-by-episode basis — it’s more like you just have to react and try to guess what the hell is going on. So I’m not even gonna try to impose any sense or reason upon it: I’m just going to react. Maybe when it’s all said and done there will be something cohesive to say. Till then…
Perhaps needless to say, Lost doesn’t make much sense while you’re watching it. My ramblings will surely make even less sense if you haven’t seen the episode… and something may get spoiled for you that you don’t want spoiled. You have been warned.
So, here are the thoughts I jotted down, pretty much in order as they occurred to me as I watched:
Alt-Sawyer is a cop? That’s some alt! (Actually, I’d love to see Josh Holloway as a cop… maybe in a new show after Lost ends…) And of course his blind date is someone else from the island, and then he’s arresting alt-Kate. It’s almost like a joke, now, every time we see the alt universe in which the plane didn’t crash, guessing who someone whose back is turned or who enters the action wearing a hoodie is gonna turn out to be. Lost has crossed that fine line between clever and stupid.
I suppose we’re meant now to go running to figure out what hidden meanings Watership Down and Little House on the Prairie have to offer to the mysteries of Lost? Or is the fact that not-Sawyer wasn’t actually reading the bunny book meant to imply something else?
Crazy Claire is still crazy! And reminds fake-Locke/poor smoke monster/Jacob of his crazy mother! Oh, the humanity!
That plane on the beach suddenly made me think of one of the worst Doctor Who episodes ever: “Time-Flight,” in which the Master time-warps a Concorde from 1982 to the Cretaceous for nefarious reasons of his own. Could Widmore be the Master? I wonder…
(Watch full episodes at ABC’s official site for the show.)
(next: “Ab Aeterno”)
I agree with the overt reveals in the Alternate timeline getting silly, though as soon as I saw the hoodie I knew it was going to be Kate.
All in all this was a pretty boring episode with tons of setup. Hopefully next week focusing on Richard will actually give us a meaty episode.
Also am I the only one who just kept wondering if Sawyers partner (the name escapes me right now) in the Alt universe can still talk to dead people?
As far as the alternate timeline is concerned, I hardly think it’s stupid. Outlandish? Sure. But not stupid. There are, in my view, three ways to look at it: (A) It’s fan-service. This is the last season, so why not give the faithful something to “squee” over? (B) It could be an indicator that, regardless of what universe these people exist in, they will always be destined to come together. They are all significant and integral to one another’s stories. And “the universe has a way of course correcting,” as the show has stated before. And (C) there is an entirely sound explanation for all this that will be made apparent by the end of the season. The producers have said as much, basically. This isn’t just a fanciful “What if?” It has a purpose. We just have to sit back, relax, enjoy it for what it is, and wait.
Watership Down and Little House are Sawyer references. He’s previously been seen reading Watership on the island, and I believe he’s referenced Little House before, or something to that effect. Just little nods to the character’s past.
(And Miles is Sawyer’s partner.)
Yep, one way or the other, this group of people are fated to be together. Stephen King would call it “ka.”
Thank you Sharpless. I was going to attempt to write what you wrote down, but you already did it and was much more eloquent than I could have achieved.
And even if B and C are correct, this fan is totally fine with just the A reason. I must have woken up the neighbors when I found out (a) Sawyer’s a cop, (b) Miles is his partner, (c) his blind date is Charlotte, (d) Charlie’s brother was in the precinct, etc. Loving it all. Well, except Kate. But no show is perfect.
Also am I the only one who just kept wondering if Sawyers partner (the name escapes me right now) in the Alt universe can still talk to dead people?
THAT WOULD BE A HANDY TALENT FOR A COP!
I liked that Sawyer is a cop is alt world especially when he explained that it came to the point where he could have become a cop or a criminal, and also the fact that he still wants to kill Cooper – is that still Locke’s Dad?
I think this episode was meant to mirror Confidence Man episode 8 of the first season and I think he was reading Watership Down in that too (I read this on another forum) but I think most of the episodes have been mirroring season 1. I am getting a bit fed up that they leave us with cliffhangers in alt world (Jin in the freezer) and then don’t get back to them for ages. I think it is fate or ka that’s pulling them together which does give me super fan squee!
I heartily disagree. Lost is a smart show written by smart people disguised as pulp entertainment. That you are either unable or unwilling to see the layers that so many others do doesn’t mean they’re not there.
I’m curious: given the first five seasons, what is it that you expect from this show that you aren’t getting?