UConn James

But seriously, back to the discussion.... In the video section of the pre-show write-up, Jensen and ... the other guy were talking about whether MIB/Smokey/Flocke is inhabiting Locke's body in the sideways flashes. And they also put the question out there whether Locke has always been inhabited, at least partly, by Smokey... or at least inhabited by him (again, at least partly) since the 815 crash. That's something I was keen on right after the S5 finale. It was just something about the way he said, "You have no idea what I've been through to be here." I just didn't get the sense that he was talking about the last couple of days of possessing Locke's body from the Ajira flight. This theory is kind of rough around the edges because of the whole "Can't be in two places at the same time" thing, but does this rule apply, for sure? It seems like these beings might be able to imbue certain of the Lostaways with some of their "powers" e.g. how Hurley can speak with the dead, how Miles can download a person's final thoughts similar to how the Monster took virtual pictures of people's memories. Do we know for certain that a certain something didn't co-habitate Locke's body from the time of that "Walkabout" scene?

True that! I can't for the life of me figure out how he can make so many tangential extra-textual references in such a short turnaround. You know, it was a little fun a couple of seasons ago. Now, speaking just for myself especially as we approach the home stretch, it's just not helpful or particularly amusing. I want the straight dope, not a straight dope. Ehhh.... Shannon was the one who needed one in S1. Charlie more or less kept Claire in line. Except for that time Locke had to lay down his fedora and conduct some business when he thought his sub-pimp was on the H. Flocke : Pimpin' Castaway Hoes Since Ab Aeterno.

Worlds. Three worlds. He's suggesting that there's the original timeline, the sideways world, and some world we perhaps haven't seen yet (or have only seen glimpses of).

Charlotte was told top right drawer for T-shirts, and iirc, she went top left. Wouldn't involve Miles with anything at this point. Archaeologists/Anthropologists are just naturally curious about people, and they dig. Or, at least, Charlotte does.

Quite possible that Flocke was purloining details of Locke's life with a "crazy [adoptive] mother" (e.g. believing that a dog was Locke's foster sister, Jeannie) and "growing pains." Pretty scarce and vague --- as ever --- material that we've been given. For the record, Flocke has not been truthful. He uses expedient truths and exaggerations/lies to get people to do what he wants done... in addition to saying that he doesn't have time for answering questions when anybody asks one that hits the heart of things, and with a side order of making a lot of promises that it's yet to be determined whether his ass can cash. He tells Claire that the Others have her baby, b/c Claire 'needs somewhere to direct her hate'??? This is not the sign of a beneficent being. He says he wants to leave the island... yet he needs to kill a lot of people (maybe everyone) first. I think Flocke killed the Ajira passengers. "That's terrible!" Locke says when Sawyer tells him the news. Methinks he doth protest too much. Unlike his namesake, (Jack in S1: "... And some people you just can't read at all.") Flocke has plenty of tells. And it now seems apparent that the Widmore group is who shot at time-flashing Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, etc. while they were paddling in the dugout. I was thinking that Zoe looks quite similar to Cassidy Phillips, the woman Sawyer conned and knocked up. Be careful making assumptions about the sideways world. We know very little other than that the island is under ~20 ft of water c. 2004, and that Ben and his father were there and left. ----- News that ABC and the LOST enterprise is going to be publishing a 400-page LOST bible/encyclopedia, due out in August, probably to coincide with the S6 DVD release. This may be the avenue where the food drops and some other things are explained. ----- Doc Jensen had an interesting idea in his pre-show Tuesday column (this week is his last entry of the pre- column). I simply find it hard to believe that the sideways flashes are where it's all heading... that these podunk lives are all that's waiting for characters that we've come to know and like. To anyone keeping track, the sideways flashes are not some destination where the Lostaways find redemption, have a higher purpose, fulfill happiness. To be quite blunt, their sideways lives have been pretty ****ty. Worse than being "stuck on Craphole Island." Where is the sense that Sawyer had in S4 that he was on the island for a purpose and that the world he'd been trying to get back to wasn't that great for him anyway? The Sawyer who just watched Kate deliver Aaron during the flashes, and not say anything. Did that blow up with Juliet? Irreparably? Now, he wants to get on the sub again. Accuses Jack of always having the same doomed plan of going back to the beach, and Sawyer's foil to that is boarding the sub.

IT'S CALLED "CONSEQUENCES"!!!! Most people who don't live in Oz have to deal with them. "Hey, I can steal from the government and, if I get caught, my sow and brood are still taken care of. Sweet deal!" If I build a house for someone, I don't get paid bonus money for every year it's standing. If the house falls down b/c of shoddy work, I can expect to be sued, rather than still collecting such a bonus. How about Chris Spielman returning his checks to ESPN while he was taking care of his wife during breast cancer? Foreign !@#$ing concept to these people. Instead, "I want more money for work I didn't do!"

Rebecca Mader was listed in the co-star credits, so I knew this last week. Just, I expected her to be on Widmore's sub. Interesting continuation with the mirror/reflection theme in the sideways flashes. This week, Sawyer doesn't flick at a scab he'd never seen before, doesn't feel guilty about stranding a pregnant chick in Watts or something, didn't breathe a loser-ly sigh. (Sayid's reflection in Nadia's door lacked any reaction worth noting, and I don't remember what Locke's was). Sawyer... err... James Ford... punched the mirror, mirror on the wall. But back to the main issue. The sideways flash focused on (we need to get used to this...) James' deviation from the original timeline from one side of the law to the other. Rather than being the grifter, he takes down the grifters. But, he's got this private sneaker of a case where he aims to get revenge, vigilante style. His parents still both died in the murder-suicide in the alternate story, and Anthony Cooper (despite being in a framed photo on Sideways Locke's desk) was still the con who initiated the deaths. He and Miles apprehend a fleeing Kate late in the episode. Again, was that a hint of recognition from Sawy James? Things seem to be converging toward the police station. Back to following the original timeline.... Sawyer is sent by Flocke to Hydra Island. Looked like there was some damage to the Ajira plane, but probably airworthy. After willingly walking into the Widmore group's ambush, James strikes a bargain with Charles to deliver Flocke so Widmore can kill him. Man's not stupid, folks. Hedging the bet, so to speak, seems pretty safe. If Flocke/Smokey wipes out Widmore, they go home. If Widmore is able to contain and kill the Flockeness Monster, they go home. What could possibly go wrong? And yet... on this island, any offer of help, any promise made has a caveat. You do get a promise, but you don't get the whole promise, and there's always blow-back and repercussions. Any deal to escape has always led back to the island. Sorry, James. Even with Jacob dead, running will do no good. Widmore's group was setting up a mini-version of the pylons. Which invites the question of alliances. Might Widmore now be affiliated with the remnants of DHARMA / Ann Arbor? If he wants to kill Flocke, and Ilana's group wants to do something not especially nice with Flocke, it would seem to fit in the whole "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" way of seeing the world. But, unfortunately, that was not to be. "Proceed as planned," said Widmore. Outside of this one common goal, Widmore's wider interests lay at odds with Ilana's/Ben's/Jack's. Something in the sub's cargo lockers merited some serious security.... Hmm. So, we see Claire grabbing Kate's hand like they're BFFs one second, then holding a knife at her throat the next. Flocke B word-slaps her and sets his B word right, like a good pimp does. "Crazy mother," sayeth Flocke? I think he's on to something. The glimpse of Smokey/MIB's mother, taken another way... it's as if the island needs someone in the crazy jungle-mother role. Would it be safe to assume that MIB's family lived on the island? I got the hint that Jacob and he were in the same family unit, as well. And something their mother did, or the way she left them, caused the conflict between them. Could the said craziness have something to do with the bloody "Mysterious Boy"? Probably. One thing's for certain. We are all waiting with bated breaths for next week's Richard-centric ep, titled "Ab Aeterno." Latin translation: "from the beginning of time." OK, I admit to a tiny bit of reading ahead. Couldn't help myself. In the preview: "All this... is not what you think it is." Jacob will apparently provide an explanation for what the island is. Whether this explanation will be vague to the utmost or surprisingly specific is anyone's guess. Uhhmmm, my money is on vague.

Hey, the guide listing is my job! . . jk I like to post the episode numbers just to keep track of where we are. I'm a little Aspergerian that way. "Dr. Linus" repeat | 6.07 "Recon" | 6.08 | The Locke-Ness Monster sends Sawyer on a mission.

A couple of bits from what I've read.... As stated by Cuse in a S3 DVD commentary and since, word is coming that the food drops will be explained, but they will not be explained on the show itself. I would guess that it'll be a thing similar to the podcasts, mobisodes, etc. In retrospect, I guess it's not very important to the larger themes. They've also said that the character of Annie (the girl who gave Ben the wooden doll in "The Man Behind the Curtain) will not be revisited. Really, she was someone who got ~ 1 minute of screen time, and whose appearance only served to help frame Ben's relation with women (i.e. His mother, Annie, then Juliet). To anyone disappointed by this, well, you can be disappointed, but it's just not necessary. Then, upon seeing a photo of Matthew Fox's wife.... Holy crap, I think can understand him wanting to get some strange. Not that I hold movie stars up as beacons of morality, but he should have used more discretion. Especially when there's kids in the picture.

Interesting article in the Hartford Courant today.... If Big Ten Calls, UConn Has Reason To Jump

Are you on "The Man From Tallahassee"? Not bad progress.... The Television Without Pity forums --- and that's a place for serious television discussion --- have "LOST" ranked as the #1 show of the decade. (That includes cable, etc.).

I'm cutting and pasting this from a theory/spoilers (no, there aren't any included here) site. Written by user, "The Graphite." Wow. With all I know, and from my quirky observances, this is an excellent metaphor.

If that's so, and the candidates can't be killed (very easily, at least), shouldn't there be some left from previous groups? What would be the odds of getting all 6 in this last batch of castways? Is Richard a candidate... or was he a candidate whose candidacy ended... or was he not a candidate at all? I'm not going to discount it entirely, but I do believe that Jacob is looking to pare it down to just one of them. And it seems like Jack is his favorite among the 6. I have also heard that several deaths are forthcoming.

Don't they have an obligation to the minority, just as well? Do gays and their families not pay taxes that support school functions? Shouldn't matter what the majority of a school board, parents or even a whole town want. It's about doing what's legally and morally right. This is a South that only a couple of years ago featured similar circumstances b/c of inter-racial couples attending proms. Should they all have just gone with similarly skin-toned partners and then danced with who they wanted to dance with, just to appease some bigoted school board members? No, that's wrong. Should it be allowed for the administration to pretend that homosexuals don't exist and that there's something dangerous/disgusting/taboo about them? No, that's wrong. Time to enter the 21st century.

This seems a distinct possibility... at this point. One thing tho --- there were numbers written next to the crossed-out names in the cave. Link. They were also written next to the names in the Lighthouse.

On the rare occasion when we do say the Pledge, I have always omitted saying the "under God" phrase. I may insert "...under Chuck Norris..." next time it comes up. I wish the phrase hadn't been forced in there. If people want to pray on their own initiative, fine, and I will defend to the death their right to do that. My problem is the codification. It raises my ire to hear people smugly say "Oh, it's just a generic word. Doesn't mean anything. Just play along with it...." It is patently a state endorsement of religion. The word "God" is religious by its very definition! Don't smirk and pretend that it isn't. To agree with The Dean, here, tho... Right now, there is much badder fish to fry.

Tantamount to a basic training technique. By regulation, the drill instructor can't rough up recruits. But he can do/order things to make all the other recruits hate/beat on someone he doesn't like. In my father's day, his DI had a big hole dug and filled with water, the target GI was ordered in, then the Sgt. announced that whoever let this guy out before he said would be taking his place. Dude nearly drowned. Leveraging peer hatred is a pretty ****ty thing to do to a teen-ager. They should be ashamed of themselves... but I'm sure in their own minds they rationalize that their personal version of Jesus would approve of hate and exclusion. I hope her classmates direct their ire to the people who really deserve it. And I hope if the administrators stick to it, that the kids --- including this girl --- get together and organize a prom on their own initiative.

Probably the best way to explain it is much like Tom Friendly explained to Michael... that the island/Jacob won't allow them to die until their purpose is completed. Whether on the island or not, or whether that purpose is on or off-island. After which time, they're on their own --- or, in Charlie's case, you get help from a future-flash Desmond. It's like the several times Others have killed each other e.g. Mikhail killed Ms. Klew(?) outside the Flame after she spoke to him in Latin, presumably telling him to shoot her. If it's her time, then she'd die, if it wasn't, the bullet would be a dud or something. It's an uncommon acceptance of death... an uncommon grace of knowing it's time to go and not being afraid anymore. The sideways flashes are what happened if 815 never crashed at all --- with some differences to the Left-Behinders who had been touched by Jacob in the original timeline (the train of thought being that each of their consciousnesses merged, perhaps similar to how Desmond smiled in 1996 in "The Constant" after the call to Penny in 2004 worked). But the effect of on-island life would be pretty profound, if the course happened as we expect it happened (and as Lindelof/Cuse have described it). There would've been no time-travel interfering with the Swan or Orchid constructions. No Daniel Faraday telling Dr. Chang about hitting the pocket of energy under the Swan. No Jughead detonation. Ben wasn't shot. Nothing. Time reset in the sideways world. The DI was on its own, and evidently, something went really wrong. Re: Doc Jensen's write-up this week, there was nary a mention of the possibility that Ben's whole demeanor in the sideways flash was different b/c he hadn't been dunked in the Temple pool. His "innocence," as Richard explained it, was still intact. Yes, in regard to the beach scene. Answered above by Scraps.

Egg salad. Eggs hard-boiled in the Martha Stewart method --- cover with water, bring to boil for three minutes, then remove from heat and let sit for 16 minutes. Drain and fill with cold water, add ice cubes and let melt. Drain. Peel. Mash with Miracle Whip (the only mayo I'll have), minced garlic & onion, parsley & a little oregano, black pepper and sea salt. A slice of American, Swiss or provolone. Lightly toasted pumpernickel. Otherwise, half the egg mixture falls out. Petite dill pickles at the side. Any other "Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy"s out there?

That's a tough one to guess at even with just two choices. Does he still have loyalty to Jacob? or is he seeking vengeance against Jacob for allowing him to be removed as the Others' leader? Kind of weird that it's taken Widmore 3 years to get to the island after the freighter was blown up. He had the basic idea of where the island was.... Whatever it is, he had a certain destination pre-set. Perhaps it's a beeline to the Ajira survivors.

Jacob lived in the statue foot for a while e.g. making the tapestry. But, I don't think it, or the cabin, was necessarily 'home' to him. It's also a little perplexing how Jacob was able to move b/w Island and the real world. Especially to touch Sayid and Hurley... when there wasn't any discernible means of doing so after Locke blew up the sub. I think it was in Doc Jensen's write-up re: the possibility of Sideways Locke being the MIB. Just as it seems that the '77 Left-Behinders' consciousnesses were transferred to their '77 selves (i.e. Young Jack collapsed ~ age 7 and had to have his appendix removed could be taken as a sign that the two selves merge in the Sideways world). There was the bump in the plane --- what was that? Not saying he's right --- in fact, I highly doubt it. I stand corrected re: Miles. However, his line included the word "jabronies" to describe Nikki and Paulo. I totally had to look that one up.

Doc Jensen's recap: "Lessons Learned" Also, a hearty congratulations to Michael Giacchino on his Oscar win for his music in "Up" (I haven't seen it). The musical score on LOST is a relatively underrated part of what makes the show great. "Life & Death" is so beautiful in full orchestration --- the final few moments of the S1 finale where it's played as they all board 815 was such a great scene b/c of it. Amazing when you think about it that relatively little various-artist track music is used on the show... especially since Hurley's CD-player batteries died out. It's all been stringed instruments. I think it was last year, a concert was held in Hawai'i for the music of LOST. And even though it wasn't anything they had to show up for, a number of the series' actors, behind-the-scenes people, etc. came out for it. As MG explained during the bonus material bit, he doesn't really have anything prepared when he goes into it... just watches the show and plays off of what's happening on the screen. Move over, John Williams, you've got company.

Toyota: Then, Kamikaze planes. Now, Kamikaze cars.

I would amend that a little. I know that essentially, it's on par with the show's discussion of it, but I like: Jack = Man of Fate.

Richard's connection with the Black Rock has been surmised for a long time, and was finally confirmed. Shades of Michael's character c. S4. Yet, Jacob didn't touch Michael (that we know of), so it doesn't seem like the touch has anything to do with not being able to die/kill oneself. The touch is something extra. Richard knows some things, but is every bit as clueless as to why he's on the island. Richard also seemed to believe that Jacob's appearance to Hurley wasn't Jacob. To lay some groundwork, we're likely going to see this come into play further wrt Juliet. Not for nothing that they showed the Young Juliet scene in last season's finale, which featured Jacob's touch to certain other characters. I don't think they used several minutes of airtime just to reveal that Juliet's parents were divorced. To wit: I think when it's Juliet's time to come back, we're going to see her running out the door, and Jacob as, say, a UPS delivery man or something.... ----- But this ep was about Ben.... or, rather, Doctor Linus. Again, we get a reflection of the sideways centricity in the microwave door. A man who in the sideways world, gases his father all the same, only here, with oxygen. This is the world where Ben wasn't brought to the Temple pool. He seems to really care for his father, and his father cares about him. There's still the vestiges of the same childhood abuse --- there just seemed to be some distance last night indicative of that, which even the best relationship afterward can't ever bridge --- but it's a case where it stopped cold turkey and was forgiven. They left the island. The central storyline was whether Ben would again chose to sacrifice Alex. She is not his daughter, has not spent time with him outside of their classroom / history club lives. Yet he still cares deeply for her well-being. Again, people who've had a close bond in the original timeline also have one in the sideways world. And, this time, shunning his personal ambitions, Ben chooses to get Alex into Yale. But just as much was an undercurrent of these ambitions. From Dr. Linus' mention of Elba and Napoleon, and MIB offering to leave Ben in control of the island when everyone leaves. Ben is ready to go with MIB in order to live.... But, Ilana "will have" him. Ben isn't interested in power if he has to make this unholy alliance.... But wait. This is Ben we're talking about. Per Lostpedia's "Dr. Linus" entry: In the original timeline, it was control over the island that really mattered to Ben. Alex was #2. What a look that was of Ben when Hurley, Jack and Richard came back to the beach for the reunion. Sun's reaction, the music, seemed almost pitch-same of one we've seen before. Ben is distanced from the rest, now a shrunken shill of a man, he looked like a drowned rat. The last kid picked for dodgeball, with an exasperated "I'll have you" that was given more for the sake of another number in a headcount. But, let's face it, Ilana. Ben could do a lot of damage sided with MIB. Good move, for now. Richard also was a little ostracized from the group. They really don't know what to make of him. I believe the Richard-centric ep is 6.09. Two things: - It appears that Danielle has made it to the LA area in the sideways world. She "works two jobs just to make rent." - Ilana said that Jacob "was the closest thing [she] had to a father. Hmm. Either she was on the island for a while, or Jacob developed a life off-island. I suspect the latter.... That when Ben took over (or perhaps before that), Jacob left the island and checked in with Richard via some other means. Richard would give Ben the "lists" and Ben never saw Jacob before he killed him. I don't know... but this could fit into my "Jacob was Adam Rutherford" theory. Miles actually dug up the diamonds. Then again, that's Miles for ya! Did he also learn Nikki and Paulo's last thoughts? e.g. that they were just paralyzed and were buried alive? The Widmore cliffhanger. Wow. Things change fast on this show.