Lost Season 6

[Dubby]

Walt's dead?

[A Bit Better]

Walt's dead?

Remember when he appeared to Locke? I'm saying if thaat happened he must be dead. If our theory is correct.

[gemma]

Walt's dead?

Remember when he appeared to Locke? I'm saying if thaat happened he must be dead. If our theory is correct.

walt has never died

he appeared to locke because he's 'special'

u dont remember locke visiting him off the island?

[Fearless-Guy]

now im startin to think man in black and the monster are two different entities hmmmm we havent actually seen the physical trannsformation

and also i think the monster is the one that does apparitions of dead people like christian etc or even people who are still alive ie walt (i dont think hes dead why would we see him off island living with his grandmother etc)

[A Bit Better]

Dunno tbh. Maybe that was the island. I think Jacob, Esau (for want of a name) and the island can all be people but the island can be anyone while the other two can only be dead people. Pffft, I dunno. If I had the time I would literally rewatch all 5 seasons with the knowledge I have now and either develop theories or pick holes because tbh I'm not convinced that they've had this all planned out from the start.

[Shatterstar]

lol @ Flocke. They made him a bit more vulnerable in this episode, tripping & getting emotional @ that yout. Interesting that not all the main characters were on the ceiling in the cave, what's their purpose? Ie: Syed, Kate etc

That is a good theory though, so is the Flocke = Esau. The scales in the cave must have represented the balance of power, something Jacob & Esau always fought for but would never obtain until one killed the other.

Where's the usual episode run down that's copy & pasted on here? If anyone could post it I'd appreciate it.

as said before, the guy's house burned down so he hasn't been posting it

Flocke = Esau? dunno what that means but the scales signified the balance of good/evil, hence the white stone representing Jacob getting dashed and the scales tipping

Ok I missed that.

Esau is Jacobs/Israel brother in the Hebrew bible:

Rebekah was extremely uncomfortable during her double pregnancy and went to inquire of God why she was suffering. The Midrash says that whenever she would pass a house of Torah study, Jacob would struggle to come out; whenever she would pass a house of idolatry, Esau would agitate to come out.[5] She received the prophecy that twins were fighting in her womb and would continue to fight all their lives, and after they became two separate nations. The prophecy also said that the older would serve the younger; its statement "one people will be stronger than the other" has been taken to mean that the two nations would never gain power simultaneously: when one fell, the other would rise, and vice versa. Traditionally, Rebekah did not share the prophecy with her husband.

The boys displayed very different natures as they matured. "Esau became a hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents""

[Mr. Gayle]

baff.com

[gemma]

this is the recap for last weeks episode

FINALLY

THINGS I NOTICED - THE SUBSTITUTE

As many of you know, I recently lost my home to a fire. As far as life experiences go, I can honestly say I wouldn't recommend it.

Losing the tons of crap I'd accumulated over the course of my life really didn't hurt that much - it's the sense of displacement that sucks most. All the little things you take for granted each day are suddenly radically different, from where you have your morning coffee to where your head hits the pillow. In a single word, it's weird.

Luckily everyone got out unscathed, and that's all that ever really mattered. My family is adjusting well, and plans for the rebuild are moving 10x faster than they should be due to some very cool friends in some very influential places. I'm lucky. By summertime I should have a brand new home and a Tabula Rasa, and that's about the only corny LOST reference I'll be drawing to this whole ordeal.

At this point I'd like to thank every single one of you who has written, commented, or even called me to see how things are going. I've read some very thoughtful things written by some awesome people, and this has helped make things a lot easier. You guys are fantastic, and I can't express how deeply appreciative I am. The emails, posts, links from other sites, and people who've bought my book to show support have been absolutely amazing, and I feel very, very loved.

split=

The following recap may be a little short this week, but I wanted to get something out there. The Substitute was way too important an episode to just skip right over. Small disclaimer: I only got to watch the episode once, so don't ding me too hard if I missed stuff. Things I Noticed:

Join Us On The Ninth Green... Secret of the Pros

Ridicule, inadequacy, bastardization... the freefalling, kidney-swiping off-island world of John Locke has always been tough. His trusting nature and limitless gullibility has left room for cataclysmic failure in everything he's ever attempted to accomplish. In fact, life has left such a giant boot-print on Locke's ass that it was no big surprise to see his van platform's hydrolics fail in the episode's opening scene.

Once again, John pushes forward. Once again he fails. Yet as he falls to the grass and struggles like a turtle flipped onto its back, one big thing occurs before Helen comes out to help him: John's automatic sprinkler system just happens to kick on.

In LOST, everything happens for a reason. This was more than just a Happy Gilmore moment - more than a baptism reference or a slap in the balls by a sprinkler system trying to kick a man while he's down. Water, my friends, is important. Always has been... always will be.

For five whole seasons, we've seen people get wet at some VERY important times. We've seen John Locke call on the rain, and Walt seemingly call to stop it. Shannon's vision of a dripping-wet backward-speaking Walt ended up getting her killed in a torrential downpour, and Harper appeared (and disappeared) from out of nowhere to speak to Juliet during a similar storm. It rained when Charlie killed Ethan. It rained when Sawyer killed Frank Duckett. It rained when Desmond's boat ran aground on the island, and when Emily Locke was hit by a car. For a long, long time now, it's seemed that water has played an important role throughout LOST. And if you're asking me? I think it signifies - in very Matrix-like fashion - when something has for some reason been changed.

This is the point at which Helen walks out of the house, showing us that this time around things are markedly different. John Locke has a nice home and a loving, supportive fiance'. Although still proudly defiant of his condition, he's also realistic. His open-minded willingness to call Jack's number is tempered later on by his acceptance of his disability, and encouraged by Helen's acceptance of the fact that his condition isn't likely to change.

Even more important, LAX_John no longer has daddy issues. Unless he's forgiven an eight-story push, John's paralysis was caused in some other way. Maybe Anthony Cooper isn't a con man at all, which means that maybe James Ford's parents didn't bleed out all over the floor back when he eight years old. By this logic, "Sawyer" may not even exist in this timeline at all, and a whole host of other things are probably different.

The big thing to take away here, is that anything goes. Just because Claire's still pregnant and Kate's still a fugitive doesn't mean you can assume that the circumstances behind those constants will always be the same. This should unequivocally end the "If Widmore was killed when the island sank, then maybe Desmond never met Penny" arguments. Right now we can't assume anything happened or didn't happen - we can only watch as the story unfolds and accept things for the way they are now. That said, it's interesting to make a list of the universal unchangeables: Jack's father dying in Sydney, Rose having cancer, and here, John Locke struggling along with a broken back.

Answers and Respect... Courtesy of The Smoke Monster

Four episodes into the last season, we're finally starting to get answers to LOST's biggest questions. A few new mysteries shouldn't blind anyone to the fact that this new monster version of John Locke is all business and no bullshit, and we're getting big reveals as to his overall agenda.

For one, we find out that the dark man still needs help. When a terrified Richard asks what he wants, Flocke answers "What I've always wanted - For you to come with me". This is big: recruiting Richard has apparently been a long-term goal, which might make him an important piece of the puzzle. And although Jacob is seemingly dead, the dark man still hasn't accomplished all of the objectives needed for him to leave the island yet. To some degree, the game is still being played.

Richard's fear and dismay are genuine here, but so is his loyalty. Even when the dark man offers long-sought answers, Richard instantly refuses to go with him. This tells us two things:

First, Richard's loyalty to Jacob doesn't seem all that blind. Unlike Ben, I think Richard has seen and encountered Jacob. He probably even owes his immortality to him, which would make for some kickass future flashbacks. It seems a little more obvious to me that Richard hasn't been aimlessly pledging eternal allegiance to someone he's never met or seen before.

Second, Richard's distrust of the dark man runs deep. His brief moment of recognition before getting punched in the face seemed to infer a long history between these two characters, and it doesn't seem like a good one. Richard doesn't trust Flock as far as he can throw him, and probably never will. He recognizes him as an entity to be feared and avoided, right from the start.

The monster's assertion that he'd be seeing Richard "sooner than he thinks" was pretty ominous, but once again, free will plays a big role here. Flocke needs Richard to want to follow him - it's just the way things work. He can't force him, so he might not be able to kill him either. But unlike Sawyer (and us!), Richard isn't a playing piece that can be swayed or tempted by the promise of answers.

Can Someone Please Explain Illana's Deal To Me?

She's been around for quite a while now, and I'm still not sure of Illana's role. Sun's there as a S1 regular, and Lapidus is there to look wild and fly choppers. Illana however, has done nothing but burn down an empty cabin, slow down her expedition by carrying a 180lb body in a 200lb trunk, and most recently, mourn Bram's shitty plan.

Ben flat out lies to her, but no surprise there. It's still strange watching Ben play the helpless and confused role, and I'm hoping he pulls an ace from his sleeve soon. Old Ben kicked ass, but new Ben is getting to me. And don't even get me started on new new Ben...

This scene is necessary for two reasons only. First, it's somehow important that Illana saves Jacob's ash. If the smoke monster hated regular (volcanic?) ash, he's going to REALLY be unhappy with Illana's new version. The second main reason for this scene is so Illana can use the word "recruiting". Somehow, for some reason we don't yet know, the dark man needs to put an army together. This makes Widmore's words to Locke about an upcoming war seem much more prophetic.

Dead is Dead... Now Let's Do Some Shots

This was a very cool scene between Sawyer and fake Locke. Much like us, Sawyer is way past the point of being surprised by anything right now. Locke walking, talking, time-travelling... it's all the same to him. As Sawyer shoots whiskey and listens to tough music, it doesn't take him long to realize he's no longer looking at a living, breathing John Locke. Yet he pours him a drink anyway, because at this point, Sawyer could care less what happens to him next.

The place Sawyer chose to drown his sorrows is the only place he's ever really known happiness: the home he shared with Juliet. This makes makes Flocke's line about the place not really being Sawyer's house a lot more interesting and compelling. It stirs Sawyer up, and that's when the dark man offers him the one thing that just might get him to put some pants on: the finality of some hard answers.

Hurley - No Parking Spot, Even Though He's The Boss

The parking lot scene between Hurley and Locke was as funny as it was intriguing. Taking a closer look at some of the dialogue shared here, there's a lot to be said about Hurley's role - even in the off-island world of LAX.

First, Locke's wheelchair platform should've scraped the sh*t out of Hurley's Hummer. It didn't. And the reason it didn't, is because once again we're being shown that Hugo Reyes and everything he stands for is totally and completely untouchable.

"They were supposed to reserve a spot for me", Hurley tells Locke. "So... you know, I parked here". This one line pretty much sums up Hugo's existence on LOST. If you've followed past theories, there's a ton of evidence supporting the fact that Hurley was never supposed to be on the island in the first place, and therefore, is not a part of the game. He can park himself wherever he wants - Hurley will never be captured, shot, injured, tortured, beat up, drugged, or killed. Even his car is impervious to harm.

The fact that LAX_Hurley is the boss right now also mirrors the role he has (sort of) taken back on island as well. Miles words from a few episodes back: "Haven't you heard? Hugo's in charge now".

He's Gettin' Pretty Ripe!

Nice one, Frank.

The Mystery of The Disappearing Blonde Boy (Hmmm... Now Where Have We Seen That Before?)

Obviously, the little blonde boy running through the jungle is incredibly important. The fact that Sawyer can see him is even more so. Richard however, cannot... which makes it seem like only Jacob's chosen candidates have the special ability to see things that may or may not be there.

Quick tangent: let's go back to Kate and Sawyer's horse for a moment, during the middle of season two. Both of these characters were able to see the stallion, as unlikely as a horse standing in the middle of the jungle might be. I need to mention this now, because later on, the fact that Kate can see the horse is fairly important.

So who's the little blonde boy that pisses off Flocke so badly? My first instinct was that we were looking at young Jacob. Maybe not a real live Jacob, but the ghost of past Jacob come back to torment his nemesis for slaying him. The blood on his arms was an obvious representation of the blood the dark man now has on his hands, even though he used a loophole.

My immediate second thought: Aaron. So far, Aaron has played a very minor role in the show. For someone who seemed so monumentally important in the first season, and who was talked and dreamt about all the time, Aaron has slowly faded back into obscurity. If there was ever a time that Aaron's role should finally be fleshed out, that time is now.

A third and equally cool possibility brought up by Anil on the ODI Podcast this week: the boy is a referee or guardian come to remind Flocke of "the rules". The concept of outside forces or 'watchers' has been a common theme throughout the show, and it would make sense that someone or something is ultimately in charge of Jacob and the dark man's game. This would also lend new significance to Jacob's final words "They're coming". In this case, "they" might just be the people or beings responsible for setting up the gameboard itself, and making sure the rules are followed.

In any case, the short chase scene between Flocke and the blonde boy told us a great deal. As he trips over a convenient root, here we see the first real signs of weakness in the smoke monster's persona. In fact, for a brief instant his actions become almost suspiciously Locke-ish. As he fell, I was quickly reminded of John Locke trying to keep up with Boone in Deus Ex Machina. John lost the use of his legs in that episode, just as the dark man loses his footing in this very scene. Immediately afterward, he steals Locke's very own line, shouting "Don't tell me what I can't do!" - twice, no less.

This total loss of control is uncharacteristic of Jacob's enemy - at least from what we've seen of him so far. It's also another example of the real John Locke shining through, whether Flocke wants it or not. Ever since his heartfelt conversation with Sun last season, I've wondered whether or not the true Locke lay buried somewhere deep inside his doppelganger replacement. Temporarily at least, it seems that the smoke monster/dark man isn't always in complete command.

Equally open to interpretation are the boy's words to Flocke: "You know the rules. You can't kill him". The word 'him' could mean Jacob himself, the boy reminding the dark man of the fact that neither opponent is allowed to kill the other. That scenario isn't likely however, because it seems as if Jacob is definitely dead... something he himself confirmed while talking to Hurley in episode one.

"Him" could also mean Sawyer, or even Richard since he was nearby. I like the Sawyer idea because it would mean that the dark man can't touch any of Jacob's chosen candidates. Anyone Jacob touched in The Incident flashbacks would be safe from the smoke monster's physical touch... but not necessarily safe from being conned into recruitment. That would make Locke's turning of Sawyer a simple case of "If you can't beat em, join em".

Finally, the "him" that the boy refers to could also mean someone entirely different: a person or player that we haven't seen yet. No matter what, the dark man is recruiting an army for some specific yet unknown purpose. Killing Jacob was definitely a goal, but there's still work to be done.

Sorry, But I Still Think Rose Is in on the Whole Thing...

Go back to any season of LOST, and you'll always see Rose in an advisory role. Here she plays a recruitment officer, opposite the on-island recruitment that's going on with Jacob's dark-shirted nemesis.

Rose's boss is Hurley, and according to her, she has to do whatever Hugo tells her to do. "If he said that, I can make it happen for you", she tells Locke, lending more importance to Hurley's overall role both on and off the island.

Finding out that Rose still has cancer might seem important, but I'm not too sure of that. What is important though, is her acceptance. "I had a hard time getting through it", she explains to John, "But eventually... I got past the denial part".

Overcoming denial and getting past self-made obstacles is what LOST has traditionally been all about. It's also what set Rose and Bernard apart from everyone else in 70's Dharma. This is why they were able to eke out a living on the beach, gorging on unlimited canned goods in that pseudo-blueprint of Jacob's cabin. They suddenly stopped running, ditched the guns, and flipped off the island's every threat. By the time Sawyer, Kate, and Juliet had caught up with them during The Incident, Rose and Bernard had already removed themselves from the game, totally and completely, and placed themselves firmly on the other side.

I'm pretty sure the same thing applies in the LAX universe. Literally, Rose is trying to get Locke to accept his role as a cripple. Instead of trying to prove himself by flying halfway across the world with a case of razor-sharp knives, Rose is urging John to stop fighting his disability. Figuratively, Rose is trying to help John wake up and realize the same thing she and Bernard have already figured out: happiness is right there in front of him, if only he'll look. We are the causes of our own suffering, and only fools are enslaved by time and space.

Of Mice and Men

Ever the con man, Sawyer is one step ahead of the fake John Locke as he slyly puts him at gunpoint. The dark man however, isn't the slightest bit interested in playing Sawyer's game. He's already demonstrated a complete lack of fear, and he knows he's got James right where he wants him. Sawyer can pull the trigger and go back to drinking whiskey, or he can plod ahead and hope for some promised answers. With nothing much better to do, Sawyer sighs and puts away his gun.

Symbolically, I think we're seeing the end of pistolpalooza. In this last home stretch of LOST, none of our bigger answers will come at the business end of a rifle. So many times the 815 survivors have used weaponry in an attempt to figure out what's going on - from the smallest knife all the way up to the biggest nuclear warhead. Yet throughout five years of gunplay, no one was ever really able to obtain substantial answers this way. Maybe Sawyer even realizes this as he lowers his weapon.

"I've been trapped for so long, I don't even know what it's like to be free". These are the dark man's words, and spoken through John's lips they have the bitter ring of truth. The dark man has been trapped - both on the island and perhaps even within it. "But before I was trapped I was a man, James. Just like you."

This is a pretty big revelation, here. Perhaps Jacob and his enemy aren't demigods after all, but men who were brought to the island just like everyone else. These men however, are bound here and locked in some eternal struggle or game. Until they figure out how to end such a game (or get someone to take their place...), they can't leave. How they got started, and who started them? These now become the real questions.

Weirdest Damn Funeral I've Ever Been To!

I think Jeff Fahey may be writing his own lines. If so, I'm all for it.

Before the first shovelful of dirt hit poor John's face, I realized the significance of burying him. Like everyone on the island, this scene was here for a reason... and in the end, I think that reason will turn out to be extra important.

Burial has long been an issue within LOST. People have gone out of their way to bury people on the island, and sometimes with little or no reason. A while ago I called Keamy's men out on this very issue, because it didn't seem necessary for them to bury Danielle Rousseau and Karl. As their mercenary killing machine mowed down anyone and everyone on the way to New Otherton, it seemed oddly out of place that they'd stop to bury two of their victims instead of just kicking their corpses off the path and into the lush jungle undergrowth.

If burial is important, maybe it's because the smoke monster can only possess the above-ground dead. Christian Shepherd... Yemi... John Locke... these corpses crashed into the island and never received a proper burial, which might be why smokie was able to manifest itself in these forms. If this theory holds true, what would happen to this already morphed version of Flocke as John Locke's funeral progresses? Now that he's buried, will the dark man lose some sort of power or control over him?

"He can't (change) anymore. He's stuck this way". Seems like Illana knows a hell of a lot about exactly how the smoke monster works. Maybe she should've shared this information with Bram, who went up against Flocke with nothing more than a rifle and a bag of ash. Assuming the dark man is stuck in Locke's body for the rest of the series, I'm betting that some of his power may have been inadvertently and unknowingly lost at the burial of John Locke. There was more to this out-of-place scene than just a simple funeral.

Broken Record Reference Aside, History Teacher Ben Just Plain Sucks

Not a big fan of tea-drinking Ben. If Benjamin Linus the whiny professor turns out to be the antithesis of Benjamin Linus the king of liars, I'm hoping this storyline dead-ends as fast as possible. Maybe you guys are into it, but the whole thing seemed over-the-top corny to me.

Randall Flag, Robz888, and the Candidate Cave

First, a quick shoutout to Robz888 who put out a rock solid recap on DarkUFO this week. Rob, I appreciate the kind mention as well.

Flocke and Sawyer's arrival at Jacob's cave was a pretty historic moment in LOST lore. For as long as we can remember, we've always wondered how our heroes arrived on the island, and what specific purpose they were brought there for. Here, we took a giant step closer to learning those answers, and even the numbers were assigned a partial meaning.

The scales we see at the mouth of the cave are nearly balanced with black and white stones. The dark man grabs the white one and hurls it defiantly into the ocean... and just like that, we instantly know who's represented by black and who's represented by white. Good and evil however, are still in the eye of the beholder. It was also cool to notice that the black side of the scale was slightly lower than the white, as if that side were currently winning.

Jacob has a thing for numbers, and in season one, so did we all. The names on his wall include names we're familiar with - characters we've seen all throughout the show. Each name is assigned a number, but the numbers that are important to us - OUR numbers - are assigned to some of the most important and vital characters within LOST.

Shephard, Reyes, Jarrah, Kwon, Locke, Ford... with the exception of John Locke, all of these are characters who have made it to the end of our story. These are Jacob's candidates, and maybe even his champions. They're the people he went back and touched, either as children or adults, in order to mark his playing pieces in the future game to be played on the island.

"At some point in your life, James, probably when you were young and miserable and vulnerable, he came to you... he manipulated you, pulled your strings like you were a puppet."

Rob was 1000% right to draw a Randall Flag reference, because that's what's going on here. For those who haven't read The Stand by Stephen King, this is the way Randall Flag - also known as the dark man - spoke to his own potential recruits. Although thoroughly evil, Flagg presented his case strongly and logically, pointing out how he'd give his followers a choice rather than a predefined destiny. He also uses the same phrase Flocke used on Richard earlier this episode, describing how he'd never treat people in such a way that would keep them in the dark.

This is all stuff that James Ford wants to hear right now. The fact that Jacob brought him to the island is undeniable. There's no debating whether or not he had a choice in the matter, and leaving was never possible - not while Jacob still had an agenda in mind. All of these things culminated in what happened to Juliet, and in Sawyer's eyes this makes Jacob directly responsible. This is what puts Sawyer's interests directly in line with those of the dark man, and this is why he joins him with a "hell yes".

It gave me a shudder to think of how long that cave had been there... of how many times through LOST's loop it had taken Jacob to finally decide which characters were important to his ultimate goal. 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 - it turns out they're just numbers after all, with no mathematical significance whatsoever. These numbers just happened to be the ones assigned to the people Jacob deemed necessary to achieve victory - dead or not dead, one or more of these playing pieces will be used to put his opponent into checkmate.

Sort of.

There's one person Jacob went back and touched that's decidedly absent from the names on his cave wall: Austin. Rewatching The Incident, you'll see that Jacob touched all six of the characters represented by the numbers... plus Kate.

Whether Kate's name is up there and crossed out or whether she's absent from the wall altogether doesn't make a whole lot of difference. The cool thing is that in a way, Kate now becomes Jacob's secret weapon. She's the one person his enemy is not aware of: because the dark man doesn't think she's a candidate, he'll likely gloss right over her. As an apparent non-factor, Kate still retains whatever power or importance she received from Jacob's touch. And at the same time, the dark man is busy recruiting and chasing after those other five names that he deems important or dangerous.

Protect It From Nothing, James. It's Just a Damned Island.

Although a lot of what Flocke said this episode had the ring of truth, this is where I think Sawyer's being conned. To Jacob's enemy the island may be nothing more than a prison, but one thing we can all agree upon is that it's most definitely more than just an island.

Even more ominous are the dark man's words regarding Sawyer becoming Jacob's successor. "You can accept the job. Become the new Jacob, and protect the island." Seems to me like this would be a sh*t job to have, but it also seems like it could easily be Jacob's ultimate goal. Imagine if LOST's end game was resolved by one of our biggest heroes (::cough::: Jack ::cough: becoming the new Jacob, and one of our other heroes - possibly even John Locke himself - becoming the new dark-shirted nemesis. Imagine them sitting on the beach during LOST's final scene, hanging out, shooting the sh*t, arguing science vs. faith as they split a rack of wild boar...

Sorry this was so late. Happy LOST day!

-Vozz

[Mythy Collins]

f*ck last weeks i want yesterdays. whats the site you get this from?

[gemma]

yesterdays (the latest ) recap

i use the fansite darkufo.blogspot.com

it's really good, and they also have a massive archive of all of the mysteries on the show, and ones that have been answered

Lighthouse didn't have action. It didn't have gunplay, or chase scenes, or anything resembling an explosion. Aside from Claire putting an axe through Justin's chest cavity, it was devoid of violence or punishment. Yet this episode did have something else - something that at this point in the story most of us are willing to trade all of these past LOST staples for: great acting, season one nostalgia, and more big answers. Things I Noticed:

Chicks Dig Scars

LAX_Jack's storyline provided some big reveals, starting right off with another scene in which shirtless Jack checks himself out in a mirror. Once more, the catalyst of running water is included. Again the mirrors on LOST reflect back the truth: Jack sees his appendectomy scar and begins vaguely remembering how he got it... on island, of course. Even after asking his mother, Jack doesn't seem to remember a procedure that would certainly stick out in the mind of any nine-year old boy. And of course the reason Jack doesn't remember this event, is because the LAX_appendectomy never really happened.

split=

This makes the flash-sideways scenery nothing more than another trumped up extension of LOST's storytelling. Like the flashbacks of past seasons and the off-island world of the Oceanic Six, these are experiences that have been completely tampered with. Locke's alarm clock from last episode sounded exactly like the 1-minute warning horn of the Swan's countdown timer, just as Desmond's microwave sounded exactly like the 4-minute reminder beep. MacCutcheon's whiskey even makes another encore appearance, and this should be getting pretty routine by now.

Accepting on-island coincidence is easy to do - we've seen all kinds of magical things happen on LOST. But for the diehard skeptics, I invite you to explore the possibility that even the off-island stuff isn't real. There's a chapter in my book called "The Flashbacks Aren't Really Flashbacks", and there's a really good reason for that. Here in season six, it's looking more and more like the same thing goes for the flash-sideways of the alternate LAX timeline.

So who's manipulating all these experiences? It's hard to say. But if we're willing to accept that Jacob's been pushing and manipulating his candidates all of their lives, it's not that big a stretch to think that most of what we've seen so far - flashwise, anyway - has been altered, fabricated, or modified to fit each character's predetermined role on the show.

Imagine for a moment that Jack's not a doctor because he went to medical school, but because his flashbacks make him a doctor... that Sayid tortures people because his flashbacks make him a torturer. Sawyer the con man, Kate the fugitive, Charlie the drug addict... you could say all of these people are products of their environment, but if their environment is manipulated, then who are they really?

Black and White with No Red in Sight

There was an amazing number of black and white references this episode, and most of them were in LAX_Jack's world. All throughout his home we saw black and white, especially amongst the paintings, photos, frames, and wall hangings. Ditto for Jack's black and white office. And the icing on the cake? All those various shots of piano keys.

Figuring out Jack's color is tough right now. Like Sawyer, he's walked both sides of the fence. He's been a man of science and a man of faith, and he's also someone who walks "among us but is not one of us". I suppose all of these references could be pointing out that Jack's final role has yet to be determined, or that maybe he's being played by both sides of LOST's game.

See You On The Other Side... Of The Daddy Issues

Reflections were rampant during The Lighthouse, but there was no bigger reflection than getting to see that Jack had a son. David is a dark, brooding kid who has separated himself and his life from his father's own busy world. He's so much like Jack it's almost ridiculous... but more on that later on.

I thought the kid who played David did a tremendous job. It was a tough role, and he really pulled it off. Matthew Fox had some great scenes with him, and his acting was extremely believable. I don't usually comment on stuff like this, but everything this episode was very well done.

There were many interesting things about Jack's interaction with David. For one, it seemed the more out of touch he got with his son, the further removed David became. I'm not talking about mentally or emotionally removed either - I'm talking about the scene where Jack returns to find that David is utterly and completely gone.

Again, I was reminded of Aaron here. In the Oceanic Six storyline, Aaron pulled a similar disappearing act. The more Kate needed him, the firmer he became. But once she doubted herself or her ability to keep him, Aaron seemed to very quickly disappear. Jack has doubts like this all throughout this episode, even telling Hurley he'd make a "terrible father".

Another strong parallel between David and Aaron occurs as Jack picks up the book Alice in Wonderland. As Jack smiles in recognition, you have to wonder exactly what he's recalling. "I used to read this to you when you were little" could easily be him remembering reading the book to Aaron, as he and Kate played house together two seasons back. How many times has Jack read the book, and to how many of his young sons? Very good question.

I Appreciate Your Honesty... But Like WTF Is Going On?

Again, more water and more mirror-imagery. At the temple, Jack stares down into a distorted reflection marred by droplets from the rain, trying to figure out what comes next for him. As Dogen approaches the rain is suddenly gone, and the water behind them is glasslike and calm. Did the rain conveniently stop, or did it only exist in Jack's mind's eye? That's up for you guys to decide, but I'm putting it out there.

Dogen's conversation with Jack lacks the disdain or mystery of past discussions our heroes have had with the Others. There's no smug superiority (Mr. Friendly, Mikhail, etc...) and there's no rampant deception (Ben). Instead, two guys are casually talking shop while trying to figure things out. As per the rules, Dogen knows far more than he can ever say to Jack... but at least he's cool about it. As Jacob says later on, sometimes you can tell people to do something, and other times people need to stare at the ocean and work things out.

What Can You Say, The Guy Likes To Fish

I'm not sure if Jacob was fishing in the brown toilet-water of the temple spring, but it sure looked that way. Again he appears only to Hurley, this time providing something we don't often see during LOST: direct and pointed guidance. More and more, we're getting to understand that Hurley is special. He's not just special in that he can see and speak with the dead, he's special in that the 'dead' are somehow allowed to help him along directly.

"You can do what you want", Jacob tells Hugo, and this is important. Unlike most of LOST's characters, Hurley's path is not predetermined or set in stone. In many ways he's a variable - one that's able to do his own thing. I don't think this is solely because he's a candidate, either. I think it's more because, as Dave once said, Hurley is the one player who's "not even in the game".

Just Past The Mess Hall, Make a Right at Hieroglyph Hallway

As Dogen approaches Hugo while he searches for the secret passage, we notice another interesting aspect of the "rules". Without even realizing it, Hurley is able to Jedi mind-trick Dogen into doing exactly what he says. As he suggests "Why don't you go back to the courtyard", Dogen must reluctantly obey. I think this is because Hurley is a candidate. Just as Jack ordered those two guards to move aside during the season premiere, the direct command Hugo gives Dogen must somehow be followed. Candidates have that power, or so it would seem.

Sayid Needs a New Shirt - Or Five Minutes With a Sewing Kit

Nothing's more obvious than the bullet-hole in Sayid's tank top. If he really wants the temple-dwellers to stop staring at him, he shouldn't be flaunting this glaring reminder that he's just hours away from going zombie-sick on everyone within arm's length.

What's Kate Doing? Oh Yeah... She's Getting WATER

Jack and Hurley's encounter with Kate: totally strange. I wasn't really sure what was off about it until I went back and watched it a few times in a row.

I can understand Kate's agenda - after all, she did promise to find Claire. But the way she cheerily spoke to Jack and even laughed during their encounter seemed just plain 'off', especially considering what's been going on lately. Her final words were weird also: "Just go. Jack, I hope you find what you're looking for". That message wasn't very Kate-ish... it was more like something Rose might say. Dunno why it stuck out for me, but it struck me as somewhat out of character.

The Circle Is Almost Complete... You're a Great Surgeon and a Shitty Father

Jack shows up at his mother's house to help look for his father's will, but there are much deeper reasons for his arrival. Jack's here so his mom can school him in the ways of self-realization, making him an overall better father. He's here to show us that "Good for you" Jack doesn't have an alcohol problem in the ALT, and so we get a nice fat glimpse of the old Shephard residence, enabling us to better recognize it later on at the lighthouse.

We're seeing a very distinct pattern in the LAX timeline, and here it is in a nutshell: the circle can be broken. People can change. Mistakes don't need to be repeated, over and over again. Some examples so far:

* Kate Austin is a fugitive on the run, only looking out for herself. She glances into a garage mirror and... BANG! Kate heads back to bring pregnant Claire her stuff, help her through false labor, and befriend her during a major crisis... all at great risk to her personal safety. Cue Claire's credit cards and a makeover shopping spree.

* John Locke is the same angry and defiant cripple he's always been. Still struggling against his paralysis he calls Jack's number, looks into a mirror and... BANG! Locke suddenly hangs up the phone and embraces his condition. Helen loves and accepts him for who he is, there's a nice tearful hug, and everything is unicorns and rainbows.

* Jack Shephard is a workaholic surgeon neglecting a son he only sees once a month. He looks in the mirror and... well, you get the picture. With some help from his mother Jack realizes the error of his ways, eases up on young David, and opens his loving arms to his son. Time for ice cream and some hair-rumpling.

This is some exciting news, actually. It may be proof that Jacob is right. People don't always have to fight, corrupt, and destroy. By stopping to take a good look at what they've become, people can actually reverse bad behavior and start making positive changes to their lives. Maybe broken people can be fixed after all.

Maybe We Went Back To Dinosaur Times!

Jack and Hurley's journey to the lighthouse was a long string of amazing scenes. Even something as simple as finding Shannon's asthma inhaler sent me reeling back to a much simpler (never thought I'd say those words when describing LOST!) and more mystical time in the show's history. Hurley mentioning Shannon's name got me almost misty-eyed, and seeing them arrive back at the caves was extremely nostalgic.

"My father led me here", Jack says, finally understanding what we've known all along. Water, shelter... these things weren't provided by Jack, but rather by whatever entity or apparition happened to be controlling Christian Shephard back during White Rabbit. Nothing that's happened to the Flight 815 survivors has been by coincidence or chance, something John Locke explains to Jack very early on in the show. All along, it's been this way. All along, our characters have followed a path not really their own.

Upon seeing the Adam and Eve skeletons, you have to wonder if Jack was led there to find them in the first place. And did Christian bring them to the caves for another reason: the extreme amount of water located around there? Again, water has always been a catalyst for some very bizarre stuff.

As for Hugo and Jack, we didn't often get to see these two characters alone together, and they have a cool dynamic. Hurley's childlike openness seems to bring out a very honest side of Jack - one that we don't ever get to see. Around Sawyer, Kate, and everyone else, Jack is always very guarded. Here, we get a more personal glimpse into his character as he and Hugo discuss fatherhood, his failed relationship with Kate, and their past together on the island.

Hey, Check It Out - A Humongous Lighthouse!

Jack: "I don't understand... How is it we've never seen it before?"

Hurley: "Guess we weren't looking for it".

Here's a phrase you've heard me say before: "placed into being by requirement". Charlie's guitar, Locke's knives, Jack's sewing kit, Rose's husband, Yemi's crashed plane, the black rock's dynamite, a shitload of heroin, the Swan's washer/dryer, Christian's coffin, the food drop, Sun's pregnancy test, the marshal's Haliburton case, Anthony Cooper, Jacob's cabin, IM chats with Walt, batteries, radios, guns, canoes, explosives, medicine, a spinal surgeon, Aaron himself... and now, a giant stone lighthouse.

The end of LOST is near. Answers are bigger, and they're right in front of our eyes. The reason we never saw the lighthouse until now is because our characters never needed the lighthouse until now. So was it always there? Shoot me, but I say NO.

David Is Jack. (I Know, I'm Pretty Far Out There This Week)

In this new alternate timeline, we've learned that anything goes. By the same token, all throughout LOST we've learned that people are not always what they seem. Put these two things together, and you have my initial thoughts on David, Jack, and the all-important conversation we saw with Dogen.

As Jack approaches the site of his son's piano audition, he passes a sign for the Conservatory that reads "Welcome all candidates". This is because Jack is a candidate. David isn't just an equally gifted reflection of his father... he's an actual representation of Jack himself.

Listen to Dogen talk to Jack about his son David, and how it's unfair that he's under such a tremendous amount of pressure. "It's hard to watch, and not be able to help". This simple statement is one of the fundamental principals of LOST. It's almost as if Jacob is speaking through Dogen here, looking on helplessly but hopefully. Jack and the other candidates are like his children: he can only sit back and watch as they walk their paths in life, unable to do much of anything to help. He can only push or nudge them in the right direction, but he cannot directly interfere.

Dogen's final statement, "How long has he been playing?", is much more than an innocent throwaway line of dialogue. It's a direct reference to just how long LOST's game has gone on, and how many times Jack himself has been through the loop. Iteration after iteration, Jack has been playing damned near forever. Yet perhaps this time through, maybe he's come further than ever before. As the dark man told Sawyer last episode, "it would be a shame to turn back now after coming so far".

David is Jack's direct reflection. To say what's real or unreal is getting irrelevant at this late stage in the game. Suffice it to say that the Jack of this timeline - much like Kate and Locke - is finally learning. My guess is he's gaining the important knowledge needed to go back to the island, where he'll eventually win the war against Flocke and his recruits.

Claire, The Sickness, her Skeletal Baby, and a Very Big Axe

Alright, I'll come clean here and say I totally hate this storyline. I don't know where they're going with the sickness, or why it took until season six to start telling us about it. If the writers never talked about it again, I'd just as well assume the quarantine was designed to keep Desmond or Kelvin in the hatch, pressing the button. But here we have batshit crazy Claire, mocking up a skeletal baby and putting an axe into poor Justin's sternum... so I guess we should probably talk about it.

I would've preferred it if Claire were mute, memory-wiped, or caveman crazy. Instead, she remembers Jin. She remembers Aaron, and she knows her baby is missing. So why, by Tawaret's great nipples, is she keeping a Blair Witch version of Aaron? Either you recognize that your kid has been kidnapped OR you think your kid has a weak appetite and a possum-skull face... but you can't have it both ways. The skeleton thing seemed cheesy and unnecessary, and it turned me totally off.

I guess they're showing us how fully immersed Claire now is in Danielle Rousseau's role. She's hunting, trapping, and killing the Others, all while trying to find out where they're keeping Aaron. She's created a Rousseau-like headquarters, and has adapted some Rousseau-like qualities. Yet considering her agenda, you'd think Claire would be thrilled to see Jin right now. You'd think she'd ask where everyone else is, and how they could help her get her baby back.

But hey, didn't you hear? Claire is CRAYYYZEEEE now.

Important things to take away from this scene: at some point Claire has been captured by the Others, and she was branded. She was probably branded by Dogen, and he did it on her arm. Knowing how Sayid was branded in the same place he got shot, we're left to wonder if Claire herself was wounded in the shoulder. If so, maybe the sickness requires a wound before it can take someone down.

Claire's special friend is also revealed to be Flocke. This puts the dark man back at Jacob's cabin, manifesting himself as Christian Shephard a few seasons ago. Maybe he's responsible for the sickness, or maybe he just used it to his advantage in order to befriend Claire. I'm not sure which it is, but perhaps Sawyer wasn't the dark man's first recruit after all.

Jack's Getting 21 Years Bad Luck

As if there weren't enough reflections this episode, the lighthouse scene was almost a mirror image of the candidate cave. Here, Jack gets pretty much the same reveal that Sawyer did last episode. He finds out that Jacob is ultimately the architect of everyone's time on the island, and that each person is assigned one of the all-too-familiar magic numbers.

Hurley's reaction to all this is none too shocking. He seemed iffy and almost sheepish as Jack asked him when Jacob was going to show up. In short, I think Hurley knew. He knew Jacob wasn't coming, and that he'd most likely tricked Jack up into the lighthouse for some mirror-shattering carnage. Hurley felt bad, and it showed.

Seeing the names listed as degree marks on the lighthouse wheel put Jack in a very angry place, and rightfully so. Time after time, Jack has sought scientific answers when many people around him were demonstrating blind faith. Jack's struggle to champion free will culminated in the detonation of Jughead, and the crushing guilt laid upon him after Juliet's death. Yet now, after all his assertions that things could be changed, it seems as if everything Jack fought for was all for nothing. Someone else had set the deck, and they were responsible for these failures... not him. These were failures Jack had already taken, time and time again, upon his own heavy shoulders.

Jacob's ultimate blueprint for who should live and who should die is spread out before Jack, crossed-off names and everything. As he turns the wheel to number 23, Jack sees the horrible truth: someone else has been tampering with not only the on-island events, but with history itself. We see the church at Sawyer's parents funeral... ... the pagoda where Jin and Sun got married... and eventually, the house where Jack himself grew up. Going all the way back to Boone, here was evidence that every death or loss on the island was part of some other a**hole's master plan.

It was interesting to note Kate's name on the wheel, at number 51. Even more interesting, her name was not crossed out. This reinforces my opinion from last recap: that although she's not assigned one of the big six numbers, Kate is still a candidate. In fact, she's a secret candidate, because the dark man knows only about Locke, Reyes, Jarrah, Shephard, Ford, and Kwon.

So who's coming to the island? Who's number 108? The name on the wheel reads Wallace. Before I'd even seen the name, my money was on Desmond. Even afterward, I still like the idea that Desmond is on his way. He'll arrive by boat, just as he did the last time he came to the island, just as the Oceanic six had to return by way of an airplane.

The closing conversation between Jacob and Hurley re-emphasizes how significant Jack is to LOST's overall ending. As Dogen mentioned when speaking about David, Jack has a gift. Jacob sent him to the lighthouse, via Hurley, to understand how incredibly important he is. In Jacob's own words: "Jack is here to do something".

Right now, staring out to sea, Jack still doesn't realize his significance. Jacob can't even sit down to explain it to him. Jack needs to look out over the ocean for a while, before he finally realizes his goal. Yet while he might be spinning his wheels and aimlessly smashing things in the on-island world, LAX_Jack is making definite progress toward bettering himself. In the end, I'm betting that's going to be very, very important.

[Heero Yuy]

first time i've read these recaps before,dude goes in..He makes aloy of strong connections though, definately the one about Hurley being the variable in all of this. The whole subliminals he mentioned between jack and david where deep never even clocked it lol..

c/s about claire's creepy monkey skeleton baby.

[Mythy Collins]

thanks

[JWP]

Oh shet! Kate vs Claire! It's bound to happen except Claire has gone all Xena Warrior princess. Who's gonna win it?

All I know is if they're clashing I want at least a weeks notice before it happens to stock up on lube and extra thick kitchen rolls.

[Uncle Man]

hopefully road clare can shower kate down (no sexy)

in a gully like fern, britain type battle

/

lmao at the new locke popping his head in at the end there

looking like some sadistic circus master,wat a joker

/

tracking back,who told linus to kill locke in the first instance,someone recap that saga for me?

[Mr. Gayle]

"Thats not Locke, thats my friend"

[Drift]

claire is mad.

evil locke is probably hitting it.

[Guest Triple XXX]

why did Jin lie doe?

n how the f*ck did he learn so much english?

[Drift]

why did Jin lie doe?

n how the f*ck did he learn so much english?

remember jin went back in time to the 70s and spent all those years working with sawyer/lafleur so he learnt then.

[Guest Triple XXX]

swear they skipped back to the present time tho? like when he was speakin with Claire he said Kate had her for the past 3 years

im pretty sure im missing something

also if he had beeen there since the 70's how come he aint aged

[Drift]

when the island was skipping in time it flashed to the 70s.

locke stopped the wheel so they were stuck.

jin spend a few years with sawyer and those man.

jack, kate hurley and the rest came back and were transported to the 70s.

the incident with the bomb flashed them back to 2004,

[Skola]

reading this thread

doesnt make me want to watch lost

more of the same old sh*t

might not bother with it

just want to hear how it ends and try and understand it

[A Bit Better]

I really can't be arsed to read the recap but maaaan I wanna know what it says! Catch 22.

[Greens]

swear they skipped back to the present time tho? like when he was speakin with Claire he said Kate had her for the past 3 years

im pretty sure im missing something

also if he had beeen there since the 70's how come he aint aged

Yeh it skipped back to the present but Jin, Sawyer, Miles and them still spent 3 years in the 70s while the rest (Jack, Kate, Sun etc) were off the island for 3 years.

[Natty]

is a new ep out? ep 5 i think?

[Dubby]

since Wednesday man