Home Stretch

Dear Lost-fans,

this past Thursday, the final episode of Lost's 4th season aired, and it will probably be at least 6 months before I delve deeply into the topic again. So, I now present you with my final Lost blog of the season and as always,

SPOILER ALERT if you have not yet watched the entirety of the 4th season.

"So?"

Overall, it was a solid set of episodes, but, largely because of the unmatched excitement of last season's finale, I felt unfulfilled by the conclusions drawn out by the Lost folk.

Let's start with the thing that upset me most (and I will get to the things I appreciated as I move forward).

The lie...
Jack is utterly convinced, in part by Locke, in part by delusion, and in part by confusion, that lying is the right thing to do. But, as a viewer, I'm not that convinced. After, having extensive brainstorm sessions, I have concluded that it is feasible for Jack and the other five to believe that lying would protect those left on the island, but not the logical conclusion.

Why? Here are the facts
1) Charles Widmore knows about the Island's existence.
2) The Oceanic 6 do not know where the Island is.
3) No one who has the actual motivation of rescuing the Islanders knows about the existence of the Island.
4) Those potential rescuers have almost no chance of finding the Island and saving the Islanders.
5) Those potential rescuers would possibly have a slightly higher chance of finding the Islanders if they suspected they were alive and resumed searching.
6) Widmore is actively searching for the Island, and has some chance of finding the Island and potentially killing the Islanders.
7) With no rescuers searching for the Island and only additional Keamy's, doesn't that leave only two possibilities for the remaining Islanders? Eternal strandation or death by Keamy 2?

How is that helpful to Sawyer and Juliet and whoever else is still on the island (who wants to leave)?

My argument extends to the possibility that if the Oceanic 6 out a very evident conspiracy to deem the survivors dead, then they would put Widmore on the defensive against the authorities. And that would potentially diminish the power he had to send other Keamy's.

The counter-argument is 'who would believe' the extent of the story that might involve a magical island and a bloody corporate war? Further, the counter-argument extends to the fact that Abaddon (in the first episode of Season 4), who presumably knew of Oceanic survivors prior to his arrival on the island, approaches Hurley, (after Hurley's "rescue",) with uncertainty about the survival of any additional people or the island. That has presumably not stopped Widmore from looking for the Island, but it's possible, that he lost some of his fervor.
Furthermore, for whatever reason, Jack bought into it entirely, Kate bought into it and benefitted from the lie (in terms of freedom from prison), Hurley seemed to adamantly advocate the lie to Walt, Sayid did not seem to be too disturbed by it, and Sun, who might hate Jack's guts more than anyone else's in the world, consented to the lie. In the face of such universal agreement, who am I to question Jack's wisdom?

Bentham finally revealed.
The other thing that bothered me about the episode is the big revelation of the identity of Jeremy Bentham. Granted, the identity of the person in the coffin was a big reveal, but the release of the actual identity of Jeremy Bentham was not a big reveal. The use of the name was merely a strategic device employed to prevent the viewer from knowing Locke was off the island (and dead) until the end of the episode. That's fine, except I didn't care about who Jeremy Bentham was before the episode, and I still don't care who Jeremy Bentham is, so are we just going to drop the name? Speaking of name-dropping, since John Locke assumed the name of another famous philosopher, that would have to be a purposeful decision on Locke's part, wouldn't it? It was not just a writer's poetic license, but a writer's depiction of the character's intent. So, the only reason to use an alias for Locke other than to keep us in suspense for an hour is to demonstrate that Locke appreciates utilitarianism.

Weak destiny.
Locke's destiny with regard to the Island was as follows... Arrive at the Island to be healed for the following purposes... So that he can have faith in the Island... Begin understanding some of the island's secrets, mysteries, and histories... Allow Ben to move the Island in time(/space). Lead the surviving Islanders into or through some terrible tragedies (that he blames on Jack). Then, he leaves the Island to retrieve Jack and the Oceanic 6... Then die...??
That's a pretty weak fate, isn't it, for those of us who are expecting super-heroics or some sort of messianic leadership? Instead, it's like being 1 of the storm troopers in the empire thinking he has a destiny (or more aptly like 1 of the lame jedi in the earlier episodes.) Granted, Locke could still be alive on the Island and be the new Jacob, but in general, that's why I have problems with the person whose fate is special (and so I tend to agree with Jack. (Also see Eli Stone as an example of God intervening in human affairs to help 10 people at a time?) In a larger picture, we're all just ants, scurrying about with weights we shouldn't be able to carry. Even if there is a destiny for a guy like Locke and he's waited his whole life for it, it's bound to be a very human fate.

What did I like about this episode? Is it all complaints? No. It was a really good episode because it highlighted one of my favorite aspects of all of these characters, their badassery. Allow me to explain.

First, we have the most obvious badass of this particular episode, the guy who dies almost as often as Mikhael Bakunin (who may actually be dead from his grenade stunt killing Charlie?), Keamy. Let's start with the fact that he's a stone cold killer, who killed lots of Losties, and Ben's "daughter" with no compunction. But, in this episode, he went against a larger force, Alpert's hostiles (who demonstrated great stealth and aptitude to live up to Ana Lucia's fears). Then, instead of retreating, he continued to pursue Ben like The Terminator.

In the greatest hand to hand combat scene in Lost history, Keamy took a gigantic beating from Sayid, including being beaten with a log and stabbed with a knife, and yet emerged victorious from the fight. This monster was about to kill Sayid with a perverse smile on his face. But, Richard Alpert came and shot this machine several times until he no longer blinked. Guess what happened next? He wiped himself off and went after his target, following Ben to an isolated location. Then, he taunted his prey until he was caught off guard by Ben. With his final act of losing his pulse, he sunk his own entire battleship. That sounds a little like the Predator's self destruct button. Although, Keamy ultimately failed in his plight, he was an excellent hybrid of the most famous science fiction hunters of all time.

Sayid was the other performer in the fight and performed admirably. He demonstrated a lot of the skills he utilized in his ability to snap a man's neck with his hand's tied behind his back. He also picked the fight with Keamy, which almost got him killed and then in the flash forward killed another random guy in a car.

How about Kate's badassery as she charged into Keamy, who she knew to be a mass murderer, with only the hope that he would spare her before Alpert could save them all.

Then, there's Sawyer's reformed badassery. Sawyer was always the tough guy, but now, he's the same tough guy with the additional caveat that he sacrifices himself so that a helicopter could fly just a little bit longer. He blindly runs into into jungle-dangerous situations to save his friends.

We know about Jack's badassery, as he trailblazed through the forest with his recent surgery and probable infection. He managed to save Desmond and deliver him safely into Penny's arm. He brought eight people off the Island. And, of course, Jack, coldly stared down Locke in a battle of faith.

But, ultimately, in this season's finale, faith and Locke prevailed. First, of all, Locke (and Ben) were able to move the Island, then, Locke was able to convince Jack to lie "to protect" the Islanders. Then, Locke as Bentham, was able to convince Jack that the Oceanic 6 have to return to the Island. Sure, he ended up in a cardboard box, but just cause Locke and Keamy died in the episode doesn't mean that they were not badasses.

Speaking of dying, Michael finally got some redemption in going down with the ship playing his own kind of music. He had a nice moment with Jin and a nice moment with Sun about the magnitude of being a parent. Do anything and everything for the child, I suppose, except raise them.

Then, there was Jin, who now appears to be dead. He had several tough guy moments, including getting his wife and their child off the Island. Then, he got to stay with the boat too... maybe. So, I guess he's dead? Like Claire?

And finally, speaking of badasses, there is Sun, the new power broker. She stood up to Jack and then to her father. And she told her father that he is one of the two people he blames for what happened to her husband. Who is the other? Is it Jack, who wouldn't let the chopper go back for her husband, stranded on the doomed freighter. Is it Ben/Locke, who she might blame for the war and their part in Jin's death? Or is it Widmore, who she blames for sending mercenaries to kill them all? The end of the season demonstrated a nice transition for Sun from a person in fearful hiding to a person in command of her own life.

Desmond was not that tough this season; he was always a problem and was just a complete mess without Penny: leaving on his boat in Season 2, he had emotional problems (became a drunk), leaving the Island on the chopper early this season, he had mental problems (lost time), and then when he got on the raft, he had some physical problems (died). Now, he's going to try to spend the rest of his life running away from his girlfriend's daddy. Penny was admirably saving her man from her white horse of a ship from the balcony tower that her Romeo had to climb to be with her. These star-crossed lovers are finally together, which of course does not bode well for their health and well-being on this show.

Alpert continues to demonstrate his value and understated strength with a few shots at Keamy. Miles is becoming a valuable tool for us to understand the Island. His first revelation? Charlotte has been on the Island before. Was she Annie? She does look like Juliet, doesn't she? Faraday and his rafters were Lost between the Island and the freighter when the freighter blew up and the Island was moved. Obviously, the suspicion is that he was moved with the Island.

Or maybe, this place is not an Island, and it's just a giant whale that moved. It's got special properties, very unstable properties. The time travelling bunnies properties. Okay, well, at least, we finally heard in an official capacity (from a confusing and possibly untrue video) that Dharma was on the Island conducting experiments about the very unique properties of the Island.

I'll spare you the few things I garnered about the Ben-Widmore feud, except to say, I welcome the Paik's involvement in the corporate war. It does make me think there was some reason for the rich folks getting off the Island. On Gilligan's Island, who was saved? The Millionaire and his wife. I guess, that's life.

I also like how Lost has evolved or more aptly transitioned from Family Guy into How I Met Your Mother. In the first three seasons, the flashbacks were always "that reminds me of the time I..." or "I haven't seen anyone that desperate since..." Now, the flash forwards are more along the lines of "Listen kids... let me tell you about the time..." The reimagining woke the show up from a potential malaise and kept the flashes fresh.

So, I want to end my Lost blogging for the season by thanking all the people who make Lost for providing me fodder and the people who watch Lost for keeping Lost fodder-ful and my blog readers for accepting my crap over and over again.

Congratulations to the Lakers and the Celtics. Both teams won easy in part because of the injuries to Manu, Chauncey and to a lesser extent Rip Hamilton. But, I was wrong in both conference finals, so I'll take the heat. I'm rooting for the Celtics now. I've seen Ray Allen out-clutch Kobe and several other players quite a few times. Also, beyond the recent performances of Pierce, he also led the league in 4th quarter points a few years ago. This is a very capable Celtics team that has stars who could perform in the clutch. I'll spare my prediction because it does not bode well for who I am rooting for.

Otherwise, I'll be back soon with other material.
Thanks for listening,
ME PB