RichVR
1941
Locke asked Eko, what did you see. And Locke said that he saw a bright light. Eko said, he did not see that. But didn’t Locke see the black cloud earlier? A couple of times? What was Locke talking about?
Houngan
1943
I’m starting to agree with jafd, but I’m not quite there yet. It certainly hasn’t grabbed me like it did last season.
As far as Eko goes, I think fear is the thing that sets off the smoke. Locke and Eko have both faced it down during their mystical phases, but this time Eko seemed afraid of the smoke, so it whomped him.
This also pokes a hole in the nanobot theory, unless they’re being VERY free with an interpretation of what nanobots can do. More and more, Lost is slipping into the straight supernatural, and away from the “maybe, maybe not” mysteries.
H.
I thought it was a powerful episode. And we’ve got some better inclination as to what’s happening and some more clues.
We know a little bit more about the black smoke.
We know there’s another hatch just like the original, with a guy who’s not happy about being watched.
We know why Eko was obsessed with building a church.
We know The Others wouldn’t mind a revolt.
JeffL
1945
Well - we THINK we know the others wouldn’t mind a revolt.
Does it seem that once a character appears to work out and resolve whatever issues they left behind, they get killed? As in, that is the way the island works, some kind of perverted Fantasy Island?
DrDel
1946
Then I guess Walt is Tattoo?
I don’t think this is true; it’s our human tendency to see patterns where none exist. Most episodes contain backstories where a past element of a character’s life is worked out on the island. Sometimes the details are trivial, but there’s been some major resolution, such as the revitalization of Jin & Sun’s marriage, and Charlie’s abstention from drugs.
Once or twice a season, the backstory resolves with the character’s death. I think folks are homing in on those episodes to figure out the island’s mystery, while ignoring all the pattern-disconfirming episodes of character resolution without death.
But I also think the writers are making up some of this stuff as they go along, so your theory may end up correct. If true, I wish they would have killed Charlie after that awful piano episode last season.
To the other part of your post, I’m going with the idea the Juliet revolt against Ben is a trick of some sort.
Yeah, that was pretty much the case from our very first glimpse of the black smoke though. You should’ve been frustrated with the show far sooner :)
And as for movie time with Juliet, I think it’s good evidence of how treating the audience with so little respect has screwed over the show. We’re just jerked around at every turn. Everything our guys do turns out to be anticipated by Ben and his Others* and somehow fitting perfectly into their crazy, made-up-as-they-go-but-they-swear-it’s-not plan. So now we just can’t trust anything the show says. Even if Juliet’s telling the truth and really wants a revolt, I’m not going to actually believe it until, well, probably until the show is finally cancelled and I’m watching the finale on DVD. And if she’s lying again, then gosh, that’s some clever writing!
I also wanted to believe that maybe Jack really did screw up their plans a bit by finding out about the x-rays, that maybe something, no matter how trivial, was finally going in his favor, but I just can’t bring myself to hope for that at this point. There’s no tension or engagement when the audience is pretty sure every thing you’re showing them will be reversed in the next episode.
*I believe there’s only one group of Others, and Ben’s it. The ideas about there being a second group of creepier, barefoot-er others is giving the writers too much credit. Things have changed and they’ve had to make up more of the plot since back when we first saw creepy-feet run by silently dragging teddy bears. This is what happens when you make it up as you go along.
Lost is dumb.
Where’s the scene where Jack says, “Okay, I’ll operate on your spine if you tell me WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?” Left on the cutting room, floor?
Lost sucks. Fuck you, Lost.
Podunk
1950
Apparently the writers were forced into the Eko thing: according to USA Today Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who plays Eko, lost both of his parents last year and asked to be written out of the show so that he could return to his native London.
I got the feeling there was zero love lost between Ben and Juliet from the season premier. Also, remember, he was willing to let her die.
That’s going to make it even more embarassing when a season or so from now the writers try to tell us they were planning on killing all the tailies from the start. You heard it here first.
JeffL
1953
Yeah, the problem with constantly trying to surprise the audience is that you get into the “crying wolf” syndrome, where nobody believes you anymore and thus you can’t shock them. Does ANYONE believe that this group of Others, whose entire working mode has been manipulation and mind games, accidentally let Jack see such an important X-ray? And that the gal is really trusting Jack to help lead a revolt? Is there anyone in the audience who is going to be “OMG! I NEVER saw THAT coming!” surprised when Jack’s attempt to help the “rebel” others is a part of the Other’s master plan? yawn.
I get more and more of an Alias/Rimbaldi feel with Lost. They need to get back to a more solid and straightforward set of story lines and stop trying to out-clever the audience every week. The conflict and story stress imposed by the triangle of Jack and Sawyer and what’s her face is compelling enough without having to throw in fake heart surgeries and bear food Babel Fish puzzles. The struggle of a heroin addicted rock star and a stash of heroin on a wrecked plane, and how it impacts his relationships, is meaty. Stay focused on the relationships and the people and their conflicts and struggles, and use the sci-fi element only as a way to enhance those stories. I really liked Ecko - he was a good character. But the herky-jerky manner in which they’ve abandoned fleshing out relationships and character development resulted in the drama of Ecko’s death having much less impact than it should have. Hell, two of the three people who witnessed his death have never even been in a scene with him before.
Oh, while I’m in a complaining mood, did anyone see the Pearl camera pan over to creepy eyepatch guy and think to themselves “Yes! That’s what we needed, another mystery!”
Lost is dumb.
For a split second there, I thought Nick Fury was on the island.
I thought it was Number 2.
Podunk
1957
It’s not a mystery! It’s Christopher Plummer in Star Trek VI!
I was too busy trying to put my own eyeball into its socket. It popped out in incredulity when the female red (err…pink) shirt made a suggestion to try and reattach other site feeds to the Pearl…and it worked.
She made this suggestion to an IRAQI COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER who earlier scoured the bowels of the Pearl – discovering the electromagnetic gooey center – in an attempt to find some way to communicate with the outside world. We’re supposed to believe it just completely slipped Sayid’s mind to rewire video feeds on screens in plain sight.
The writers keep stating they have the major details mapped out, but the improvised subplots are pretty transparent. I predict the silent, barefooted Others show up at the end of season 3 – and Boone is their leader. Or is he?
I think that’s the first Sayid found the hatch. It was Locke and Eko who were there first.
You’re likely correct. I thought there was an episode last season where Sayid noticed some strong magnetism somewhere in the station and pointed it out to whoever he was with. I thought that was the hatch area.
I’m pretty sure Sayid saw the screens before, though. My impression was they were in the rec room area with the training video. If it was the first time he’d seen the screens, it wasn’t poor writing/characterization. If he’s been walking by them a bunch of times, its implausible to me that he wouldn’t have thought to see if the feeds worked, because of his training and characterization as the most technically-savvy of the survivors.
