I Am DB

FANTASTIC FOUR
Let me get right into it, and say that I’m immediately digging the new characters. Since the episode revealed that they have come to the island in search of Ben, the tip of the iceberg question is: why? Why do they want Ben, and why does Ben fear that every living person on the island will die when they arrive? Perhaps we’ll get more clarity on those questions this week (yeah right). In the meantime, let’s take a look at our team:

Daniel – He’s introduced crying at the TV announcement that Oceanic 815 has been discovered, but he can’t explain why he’s so emotional. Or so he says. Does he have a connection to someone on the plane, which he’s hiding from the woman he’s with? There didn’t seem to be anything disingenuous about his response, and yet…

And who is the woman? It’s probably nothing, but I feel like it’s not an accident that we never see her face.

Miles – Don’t really have much to say about him yet, other than that he’s kinda awesome and he seems the most anxious to find Ben. In fact, he just seems the most anxious in general. Maybe that’s what happens to people who spend too much time exercising (or exorcising) their sixth sense.

Charlotte – Her flashback is the most puzzling, seeing as she found the remains of a Dharma Initiative polar bear…in Tunisia. More than that, she seemed to be expecting the Dharma insignia. And more than that, she seemed quite excited about it. (Side note: this film geek couldn’t help see Charlotte’s intro as a bit of a Star Wars tribute. First she’s in Tunisia, where much of the saga was filmed; and then she’s hanging from a tree upside down, in exactly the same position Luke was stuck in when the Wampa captured him in The Empire Strikes Back). Moving on…

Frank – A former Oceanic pilot, who was almost at the controls of Flight 815. Why didn’t he wind up flying the plane? We know that he’s right about the pilot, of course. The pilot didn’t drown; he was killed by the black smoke. And I couldn’t tell for the life of me if the photo shown of the pilot was in fact a photo of Greg Grunberg, the actor who played him way back in the first episode. He doesn’t usually have a mustache, and the presence of that hairy lip in the photo was enough to make me uncertain. I suppose we can believe that the photo is accurate; otherwise Frank would have been complaining about the picture being wrong, rather than just the corpse missing a wedding ring. Anyway, Frank is established as the only one of the four with a known connection to the flight, the castaways, or the island. Does the fact that he escaped death that day foreshadow his demise this time around? (Jeff Fahey, the actor playing him, is credited as a guest star, while the other three are regulars. Hmm…)

By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, my allusion to the rescue team as the Fantastic Four is borrowed. The resident Lost expert for Entertainment Weekly does a recap on the website after each episode, and believe me, they’re waaaaay more detailed and obsessive than these write-ups. He can be a little annoying sometimes, but some of the theories and ideas he puts forth are pretty interesting, so he’s worth checking out. Here’s the link to this week’s, in which he explains the Fantastic Four connection, and also throws out an intriguing thought about Charlotte, which has to do with Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis.

Also, if you’re so inclined, check out this little feature from TV Guide introducing the four new cast members and offering a tease about what might be in store for them.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
We learn that the rescue team was assembled by our creepy friend Abbadon, who also recruited Naomi to lead them. Despite her hesitations about their qualifications, Abbadon insists that every member of the team was selected for a specific purpose. He tells her, “Everything relies on you getting them in, getting them out and preventing anyone from getting killed.” Well that plan is moot now, isn’t it? RIP Naomi. So…what is this whole operation about? Why do they want Ben? Was the photo they had of him taken on or off the island? Why have these particular people been chosen? Are they connected to the Dharma Initiative? Are they looking for possible survivors of the Dharma Initiative? Why does Naomi expect that they might find survivors of 815 on the island, since supposedly there are no survivors? That last question, and the fact that a seemingly dummy plane has been planted at the bottom of the ocean, makes it clear that there’s a group of people who know exactly where this island is; who know that the plane went down there; and who know that there are survivors. And once some of the survivors have returned home, Abbadon is still after something – hence his insidious visit to Hurley. So since Naomi’s mission failed to go as Abbadon planned, how will it end?

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
While Naomi’s boat may have nothing to do with Desmond’s girl Penny, she does have a boat out looking for him…doesn’t she? I take you back to the bewildering last scene of the season 2 finale. After we see Michael and Walt sail off, after we see bags pulled over the heads of Jack, Kate and Sawyer, and after Charlie emerges from the hatch acting strangely, we see a boat in what looks like arctic waters. A couple of guys are onboard playing chess and speaking Russian. One of their instruments alerts them to an “electromagnetic anomaly,” which we know to be the result of Desmond turning the failsafe key in the hatch. They start flipping through papers, they type things on their computer, and then they call Penny and say, “Miss Widmore, I think we found it.” The camera lingers on her astonished face and then…boom: L O S T.

Seeing as we had met Penny for the first time in that episode, it was a bold choice to leave her face as the last thing we’d see for the summer hiatus. So she’s trying to find Desmond, and there is a boat that she’s in contact with. She told Desmond at one point, “With enough money and determination, anyone can be found.” But what clue was she looking for out there in the arctic? How does she know to have people looking for odd electromagnetic behavior? And reader David E. raised the excellent question, what was she doing on the monitor that Charlie saw in the Looking Glass? After he flipped the switch to allow the flow of communication, there was an immediate incoming call, almost as if it had been waiting to get through and now was finally able to. Charlie took the call, and there was Penny. But how? Where did she think she was calling? What led her there?

THE SHINING
Let’s talk about Walt for a minute. We saw him appear, taller, above Locke and say, “You’ve got work to do.” Now we learn that Walt told him to take care of Naomi, and also to go back to Jacob’s cabin. So can we just back the fuck up here for a second? Walt has the Shining; this we know. His gifts were introduced in season 1, most notably when Locke touched his arm and the boy recoiled, warning, “Don’t open that thing!” “That thing” being the hatch…which Walt had never seen and had no knowledge of whatsoever. Later, he confessed to Michael that he burned the first raft because he didn’t want to leave the island. Michael told him that they didn’t have to leave…to which Walt ominously replied, “Yes we do.”

Soon after, Walt is kidnapped by the Others. Only after they’ve taken him do they discover his talents. When they have Michael prisoner as well, Miss Klugh tries to ask him about Walt’s gift. And when Michael delivers Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley to the Others, Ben tells him that they got more than they bargained for with Walt. What did they get? What did Walt tell them, and how did they get him to do so? Did he perhaps warn them that people might soon be coming to the island, spurring Ben to investigate just who might be coming and why, and maybe even leading him to arrange for a spy on the boat? If Walt knew of the people coming, he might know their motives, and therefore might have been able to warn Locke…though how he appeared on the island looking like puberty’s newest catch is a whole other mystery.

Is this all one big chain of events that was set in motion when Locke blew open the hatch, and Walt knew all along where it would go? And what does Walt know about Jacob? Why does Walt want Locke to return to the cabin? What is Locke supposed to do there?

NOTES OF INTEREST
While we’re on the subject of the cabin, Locke and Ben both seemed taken aback that Hurley mentioned the place. Though he tried to cover his tracks, did either of them believe him? We still don’t understand what Hurley saw in there…or what Locke saw, for that matter. Jacob, you tease…

And finally, let’s not forget that the other Others are still on the island somewhere. The group that was with Ben when he and Alex left for the radio tower and Tom and Co. left for the beach. Most of the Others that we’ve become familiar with are dead now, but there’s still Cindy the flight attendant, the two kids, and of course the mysterious Richard Alpert, owner of the world’s best rejuvenating skin cream. And whatever happened to The Sheriff? Remember her? She only appeared in one episode – season three’s Stranger in a Strange Land – overseeing Juliet’s trial and quizzing Jack about the meaning of his tattoos. She seemed like an important Other, so what ever happened to her? When and how will the remaining Others come into play?

FINAL THOUGHTS
Excellent episode with a lot of compelling moments. I would like to see a little more ongoing mourning for Charlie, whose death is still just hours fresh. Claire and Hurley, especially, need to continue reacting to that. Sawyer and Locke had some great moments in this episode, and it seems the show is keeping Sawyer in a dark place, which is good. One of the nice things about these first two episodes is that nearly everybody in the cast is getting some face time. Let’s keep that up…and give a little more to Sun, Jin and Desmond.

Tonight’s episode: The Economist

Alright fellow Losties:

Because I am mildly obsessed with the show and often feel the need to collect my thoughts in writing, I’ll be sharing my reaction to any episodes that leave me with something to say. It may take almost a week, but hey, obsession is a time commitment. It also may seem like a waste of time but this is the kind of crap I think about.

Read on if you’re interested, and be aware that spoilers abound…

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE
If you’re good with names, the list of cast members in the show’s opening credits can provide some interesting clues about what’s to come. Most of us know, for example – at least, I hope we know – that Matthew Fox is Jack, or Emile de Ravin is Claire. But perhaps less well-known are recurring names like Mira Furlan and L. Scott Caldwell, who play Rousseau and Rose, respectively. If you see the name Frederic Lane in the opening credits, you can expect an appearance by Edward Mars, the FBI agent who chased Kate all over the world…and then died from a crash-related head wound. Nestor Carbonell’s name means we’re going to see Richard Alpert, the mega-mysterious Other who seems not to have aged since Ben was a kid. And one of the most frequently seen guest star names is John Terry, who plays Jack’s father, Dr. Christian Shephard. You might have noticed Terry’s name appear in the season premiere credits, but did you see Jack’s father anywhere in the episode? I didn’t. Or so I thought. I checked out a few websites afterwards and all of them indicated that the briefly glimpsed man in the rocking chair, whom Hurley spied in the mystery cabin, was in fact the good Doctor Shephard Senior.

I’ve re-watched the scene a few times, and I couldn’t tell, even when I paused the image. The figure, though obscured in shadow, is apparently Jack’s dad…or at least, it’s John Terry (the picture below – clearly tweaked to make the figure more discernible – does appear to show Terry). More on this scene later.

Other things that interested me about the opening credits:

-Dominic Monaghan’s name was still listed among the regular cast, rather than as a guest star. I’ll be anxious to see if his name is still in there this week. If it is, does that mean that Charlie’s beyond-the-grave appearances are going to be a frequent occurrence? Perhaps to other castaways besides Hurley?

-You may have noticed that Harold Perrineau’s name was back in the credits, even though Michael will not be reappearing for a while yet. Also, three new names were listed among the main cast credits: Rebecca Mader, Ken Leung (neither of whom were seen in the premiere), and Jeremy Davies, who we met at the episode’s end when he parachuted onto the island.  There is also a fourth new regular, although I’m not sure why his name was missing; he’ll be played by B-movie legend Jeff Fahey. These new cast members comprise part of the alleged rescue team. (Another rescue team member was listed in the guest star credits: Fisher Stevens, who was heard but not seen as the voice on the other end of Naomi’s satellite phone).

-In other guest star news, Lance Reddick will be a recurring figure as that shady “Oceanic attorney” Matthew Abbadon, who visited Hurley in the institution. What’s up with that guy? He definitely scores an 8 on the Creepy Scale. From what I read online, “Abbadon” has some none-too-sunny connotations. Whatever that guy is up to, it can’t be good.

CABIN FEVER
Back to the cabin. Remember that really weird scene last year when Ben brought Locke to Jacob’s cabin? Well things just got really weirder. So there’s Hurley, walking through the jungle, not far behind Sawyer, Desmond, Sayid and Juliet, when all of a sudden he’s not anymore. They’re somehow far out of earshot, and Hurley comes upon Jacob’s cabin…in an entirely different location than it was when Ben took Locke there. Hurley goes to investigate, peeking through an open window. He sees a man sitting in a chair – played by John Terry, it seems – rocking back and forth. Suddenly, an eye pops up right in front of the hole Hurley is gazing through, scaring the big dude half to death. He retreats from the cabin, which disappears…and then resurfaces behind him.

File this under “WTF?!?!”

It’s worth noting here, since I was dwelling on the importance of credits, that John Terry was not listed in the credits for the episode last season when Ben took Locke to the cabin, so whoever briefly appeared as Jacob in that scene, it was someone else. But there is a bizarre connection between the two cabin sightings. When Ben and Locke were in the cabin and Jacob started to go crazy – shaking the joint, smashing glass, and tossing Ben against the wall – there was a quick cut to an extreme close-up of an eye. I thought that the eye was Locke’s, since the next shot was a wider view of his face, before he got up and ran out of the cabin. But now I think that the eye we saw in the Locke/Ben scene is the same eye that pops up in front of Hurley. I freeze-framed both of them, and they look the same. Don’t ask me how or why…it was something unique about the arch of the eyebrow, and a vague “crazy-guy” glint. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think they belong to the same person. And if I’m right…whose fucking eye is that?!?!? Is it Jacob’s? Is there someone else there, with Jacob?

THE OCEANIC SIX
People are assuming, based on what we know so far of post-island life, that Jack, Kate and Hurley make up half of the Oceanic Six. But do they? The Oceanic Six must be survivors who got off the island in a very public manner with lots of press. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that only six people got off, does it? Or that Kate and Jack are part of the Six? Okay, Jack probably is – there were references to his newfound fame – signing autographs and such. But Kate is still a fugitive, as far as we know. If she had any control over the situation – which she probably didn’t, but if – she would likely not have returned in a flash of publicity. On the other hand, in last season’s finale, Jack talks about the golden pass for unlimited free flights that Oceanic gave them, mentioning it as though Kate had one too. So okay, she probably is one of the Six, but I think there’s a shade of reasonable doubt.

So who else? Well, according to Desmond’s flashes last year, Claire and Aaron got off the island, so are they among the Six? What about Bernard and Rose? When the castaways split into two groups, Rose said that she wasn’t going anywhere with Locke (despite them sharing a connection we learned about back in season 2). But this raises another question: you would think that the people who went with Locke would be the ones not leaving the island with Naomi’s crew, but Hurley obviously leaves, so… how does that happen? In addition, I didn’t see Sun and Jin pick a side when the group split. Hurley, Claire, and Sawyer clearly went with Locke (as did non-Oceanic folk Rousseau, Ben, Alex and Carl), while Kate, Juliet, Rose, Bernard, Sayid and Desmond all visibly stayed with Jack. But what of the Korean lovebirds? And Desmond remaining with Jack is interesting, since he returned from the Looking Glass convinced that Charlie’s final warning was true and that Naomi’s people were not who they claimed to be. So why didn’t he go with Locke? And where exactly do the non-815 people fit into the rescue? Even if Juliet or Desmond leave the island, they wouldn’t be counted among the Oceanic Six, would they? These are questions that keep me up nights.

SECRETS & LIES
It would seem a conspiracy is afoot. Bearded-Jack told Kate when they met at the airport that he’s sick of lying. Institutionalized-Hurley thinks Future-But-Not-Yet-Bearded-Jack only comes to visit him to find out if he’s going to tell the truth about something. The truth about what?? What have the Oceanic Six lied about? Does their lie connect to the fact that Flight 815 was supposedly found already, with all of its passengers deceased and accounted for? Have they been bought off somehow? Offered something in exchange for playing along with a fiction? And if so, who’s writing the story of Flight 815 and the Oceanic Six?

KEEP IN MIND…
As a new season gets underway and the plot moves forward, here are some things introduced last season that the writers will hopefully not suddenly forget to follow-through on. These aren’t questions so much as character points.

-Charlie’s “Greatest Hits” note, which he told Desmond to give to Claire. Hopefully it didn’t drift away or smudge when Desmond swam to and from the Looking Glass. Let’s make sure she gets that, and also finds his ring that he left for her in the crib, yes?

-Speaking of which, now that Desmond will no longer be having flashes involving Charlie’s death, let’s not forget that imminent demises are not the only thing the flashes show him. Keep playing up his new “gift.”

-Alex has finally met her mother, Rousseau. So now what happens with them, and where does Ben fit in? (There’s a cool deleted scene on the season 3 DVD set in which Ben and Locke, en route to see Jacob, talk about Alex and Rousseau.)

-Tensions between Ben and Locke pretty much boiled over when Ben… you know…shot him. Taking a bullet to the gut at close range tends to cause a ripple even in the best of friendships, and this bond was tenuous to begin with. Now that the castaways are divided and Ben has gone with Locke, let’s not suddenly forget that those two have some unresolved issues, to say the least.

-In the season 3 finale, Kate pointed out that Sawyer hadn’t been the same since he returned with the recording of Juliet – that is, since he returned from killing Locke’s father, the real Sawyer who he’d been seeking for most of his life. Here’s hoping this detail isn’t dropped, and that the show explores the impact that this complicated resolution might continue to have on our friend James Ford.

-Love Quadrangles – Jack’s kissing Juliet but telling Kate he loves her. Kate’s sleeping with Sawyer but getting jealous of Jack and Juliet. Sawyer’s making his way through all the island ladies (remember his romp with Ana Lucia?) Where are we, Melrose Island? I predict that he will next seduce a grieving, vulnerable Claire. (No. Not really.) Wherever these relationships are going, they’ll only get trickier.

MINOR QUESTIONS
-Before Naomi died, she asked her pal on the other end of the phone to tell her sister that she loves her. Who is Naomi’s sister? C’mon people, this is Lost. There’s no way that was an innocent line…

-Jack accused Locke of blowing up every chance they’ve had of getting off the island. Locke countered that he’s never done anything that wasn’t in the best interest of the group. Okay, so let’s say he was justified when he chucked a knife into Naomi’s back, and really was acting in everyone’s best interests because Naomi and her people aren’t who they claim to be. Still, how does he justify blowing up the submarine? Or the communications barnhouse with the satellite dish? Or destroying the computer in the hatch, for that matter? Locke has made a lot of bad decisions lately – even he admitted he was wrong when he stopped pushing the button and smashed the computer. I’d like to see him follow through on his statement that he’s got a lot of explaining to do.

Also, when Jeremy Davies’ Bearded Rescue Guy parachutes onto the island at the end and removes his helmet, why were Jack and Kate looking at him like they were nervous, or surprised to see him? They were expecting someone, right? Maybe it was just played up as a big dramatic moment – Rescue Finally Arrives! – but the way they looked at  him seemed odd to me.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Great start to the season, with an excellent – dare I say heartbreaking – performance from Jorge Garcia. And I loved seeing Charlie again. By the time we were ¾ of the way through season 1, all I wanted was for Charlie and Claire to survive, get off the island, and go make little British-Australian babies. I took his death hard, so seeing him again provided a bit of consolation. Also, I would have liked to see one loaded glance between Juliet and Ben when everyone met up in the jungle – after all, she totally betrayed his ass – but that’s a small detail. Can’t wait to see where things go from here.