Hey there cute chasers of clues, and I'm going to say it straight up from the top – my brain is absolutely fried after that episode. Despite the fact that we had our first linear episode in a long time, so much happened, so many clues were dropped, so much answered... Last week's bullet format worked so well, I'm going to do my impression of S Club 7 and bring it on back to you.• I think it took me a second and a half until I realized Jack was smiling as he lay on his back, I then literally jumped out of my seat to cheer! Kate, Jack and Hurley are back on the island! To be completely honest, the return of the Oceanic Six is something I didn't expect to see until the end of this season, especially in a different time period, so it has thrown me for a loop about what to expect next.
• I'm going to need a while to properly process everything Ms. Hawking said. What I took away from it is "Fly through the magic window back to Narnia, my pretties! Make sure you have all your trinkets so you can trick your way back in..." And that's why I don't write children's fiction.• Jin dressed in Dharma overalls and driving a Dharma van was simply awesome. Did you hear he was rocking out to some Geronimo Jackson, as in, the band we've heard referenced on the show a ton of times? You can hear the whole song, "Dharma Lady", here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4LRuOs87IE
• Has Lost ever made you happier than hearing captain Frank J. Lapidus conduct a safety announcement? Such an epic win moment. I miss the beard though; when he opened the cockpit door I thought Jack was about to be attacked by the Lawnmower Man.
• Well, I guess we're not allowed to ask where Aaron is either. Lame. Can we ask where Ji-Yeon is? How about Walt? Desmond? While we're at it, I'd like to know what happened to Johnny, Hurley's mate who stole his girlfriend, but that's probably just me. And isn't it time we got our seasonal fix of Randy, Hurley and Locke's former boss?
• Did anyone else find Ben's story about Doubting Thomas a little confusing in terms of working out who he was referring to? He could've been talking about Jack, but he could also have been referring to himself... The religious message didn't stop there, as the flight number is the same as the Bible verse about God sacrificing His son so that we may live, and that sounds like Locke.
• Ben's answer of "Who cares?" regarding the other survivors will probably be his best quote this season, up there with "So?" after killing Keamy. We should all be thankful we get to watch Michael Emerson's work as the man is a master of his craft.
• Did you get the vibe we'll be seeing a lot more of the dodgy looking guy in first-class, the one who apologized for Jack's loss in the queue? I'm calling it now – Widmore knew Ajira 316 was going down and put that guy on as his man on the ground.
• I think we'll be seeing the woman who had Sayid in cuffs too, but I'm going the other way with her. I reckon she works for Ben and isn't an agent but rather was charged with ensuring Sayid ended up on the flight.
• I don't think we'll be seeing Jack's granddad again, because he was simultaneously boring, annoying and, like, way too old to still be around when (if?) the survivors ever go home.
• I know I often rip pretty hard on Jack, but I have to give the man credit for having a little faith and not moping about this episode. His conversation with Locke's corpse showed the difficulty he was having putting his faith in someone, just as he had with Christian. This time, he manned up, put his Dad's shoes on Locke (creepy) and looked like a giddy schoolgirl leaving for band camp as all his bestest buds arrived at the airport. He did a terrible Hasselhoff impression diving to save Hurley, he turned down the booze not once but twice and, oh yeah, he acted completely oblivious to the fact that Kate booty-called him and tried to do the Walk of Shame. He's a changed man, and I hope for the better.
• Locke hung himself? Wow. Harsh. • The numbers struck back again this episode in a big way. The metal detectors read 1-15 and 15-42. Jack was seated in row 8, leaving gate 15 on Flight 316. Frank has worked for Ajira for 8 months. The date of the Army photo read 9/23/54.
• If you read comics, but haven't read Y: The Last Man, get thee to a comic store now. Hurley was reading a Spanish translation of the story of young escape-artist Yorick and his pet helper monkey Ampersand, the only two male survivors of a mysterious event that kills everything male on the planet. Heavy stuff, but one of the best comic series of the last ten years. It drew to an end last year, a heartbreaking yet logical conclusion that left fans satisfied, yet still sad the story was over. Why should you care? Brian K. Vaughn, author of Y: The Last Man, is one of the key writers for Lost, specifically Desmond episodes. See where I'm going with this?
Namaste
The Heroic Lost Ninja