Spoilers

Here's my rules: If it's after the episode has been aired on TV, it's fair game for discussion. If not, I will quickly tell you if you're about to read anything spoiler-ish. For the most part, this latter part won't happen very often. That should clear anything up.

Quick Thought

What if the woman Frank walked away with was Libby? She needn't be alive and I think we're long overdue for a Libby sighting. This about this: it could be Kate, Juliet, or, presumably, Sun. It could be someone we don't know but I doubt it. It could be someone we do know but very little of (i.e. Beatrice (remember, we don't know exactly when 316 crashed. She could still be alive. Or, perhaps, Harper). It could be Eloise Hawking, but I doubt it. Wait, Wait, Wait, I have a way better theory!!! What if it was Claire! How awesome would that be???? I'm freaking out right now just thinking about it! Oh, also, to clarify, that Sawyer picture in my last post was a promotional for next week's episode, 'LaFleur.'

Harper (Above Right)

Libby (Aboe center)

Claire (Left)

Ps. If it's Claire, and Claire is dead, as theorized by countless others, then maybe we can also assume that Frank is, too?

Is the reason the Smoke Monster killed the pilot because it was supposed to kill Frank, but it just made a mistake and killed the wrong pilot?

'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham' Initial Reactions

Wow! What an ending! I don't think any of us expected Ben to kill Locke like that. It seems to me that he wouldn't have, had he not known about Eloise Hawking. When he knew where to find her and that he should find her, only then did he kill Locke and he genuinely seems to (well, as close as Ben can) regret doing it. Here's how I award the episode:

Biggest Shocker - The crabby 06. Jack was a jerk. I stopped liking Jack after season one. Now he is pushy, annoying, angry, overly-controlling, stupid, and stubborn. And this episode really reflected negatively on Kate. She is very cold-hearted. Why would she not care about them at all? Unless she didn't believe Locke? Is Aaron really worth letting Sawyer die? In the promo for next week, Sawyer asks 'Is three years long enough to get over somebody?' Clearly, Kate has just confirmed that.

Biggest Mystery - Where is Frank and who is he with? Lots of people are speculating Sun, but I have to wonder why Sun wasn't beamed out like Jack, Kate, and Hurley. She was meant to come back, so why wouldn't the island take her? This makes me think it was someone else. Maybe Harper?

Biggest Set-Up - It looks like we'll be seeing what's happening on the island in present time (three years or a couple days ahead depending on how you think about it) and what happened in the dharma days.

Most anticipated moment - Sawyer-centric episode next week!! (This doesn't really have anything to do with 'Life and Death' but oh, well)

By the way, I thought the episode started a little slow, but picked up speed at the very end. His life off the island wasn't very exciting. I'd give this a 90 out of 108.

Looking forward to next week!!!

Sneak Peeks for 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham'

Ok, three new videos are on youtube.com right now and practically begging to be checked out! One shows Locke getting picked up in what looks like the same area that Ben was and driven away in the back of a truck. From what I could tell, it looks as though that first clip and the next are related. Here's my theory: the reason Ben had to kill those guys was not because he was in any danger, but becase he didn't want Widmore to capture him. Widmore probably knows where they get transported and the next clip shows a dialogue between the two. The third is a conversation between Abaddon and Locke. Looks like an excellent episode. Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwCAfwEUEOw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7t7dm9l03A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERTnf-DW8CA

Enjoy!!

What to Expect Next

Ok, so let's take some time to discuss the promos. The next episode is titled 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham.' It looks to be fairly self-contained around Locke, but unlike Michael's equally centered story, Kate, Jack, the mysterious dark-haired woman, and Ben make an appearance. Also, the guest stars include big names like Walt, Christian Shepherd, Widmore, and Abaddon. To summarize the promo, it looks like we'll see Locke immediately after being transported away, in a hospital recovering, with Widmore somewhere, talking to Ben somewhere (but not actually seen in the promo), and preparing to hang himself. The big question: who is the myterious man watching him commit suicide? Is it Christian, Widmore, Ben? Jack looks angry at Locke but Kate looks, surprisingly, guilty. What did he tell them? All in all, it looks like this week's episode will be a winner.

Valenzetti's Return?

Eloise Hawking kept referring to a 'clever fellow' who discovered the location of the island. Well, one could theorize a hundred names, chief among them Daniel Faraday and the Hansos, who could've done it. However, I'm wondering about Enzo Valenzetti, the non-canon figure from the Lost Experience alternate-reality game. Valenzetti created an equation that would predict the end of mankind, and the coefficients are (you guessed it): 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. What the variables represent are unclear. In Valenzetti's info, it says he died in a plane crash. Well, what if Valenzetti simply found a plane that would fly through one of the "windows" Eloise Hawking was talking about? What if he didn't die at all, but was simply brought to the island? Could he be on the island now? Part of the dharma initiative? An Other? We'll see.

Our Own Loose Ends

There were some serious set-ups for future episode arcs in '316'. If you recall, the EW article mentioned LOST leveling out and returning to it's old formula of character-centric episodes. Once it does so, it looks like we have the subject matter of the upcoming episodes. For Kate, it's what she did with Aaron. For Sayid, it's why he's in custody. For Hurley, it's how did he get out of prison and what's making him come back? And for Ben, why was he bloody? Was he after Penny? Is Penny dead?

As for Kate, I say Kate's mom or Cassidy (Sawyer's baby mama) has custody. I'm favoring Cassidy, because it would confirm most of our thinking: Sawyer asked Kate to check in with Cassidy and his daughter for him.

As for Sayid, (from the promo) Locke seems to have had contact with that dark-haired woman. Maybe he made sure she would enforce the 06 going back? Or, as she looks hispanic, is she somehow related to Ana Lucia and has a law enforcement background? Is he seriously being escorted or is this a staged ploy? Did he commit a crime? Be framed for a crime? Have a crime he did for Ben discovered? Who knows?

As for Hurley, I think it's feasible to say he saw another dead person. Because he's dressed like Charlie, we may be treated with another Charlie-sighting soon. Or, what do you think about a Libby-sighting? Could this be an oppurtunity to fill in the holes in Libby's past? Once he was motivated by a ghost, he could easily post bail.

Finally, for Ben, I'm sticking with the idea that he went after Penny. As to whether he was successful, I am doubtful, but when he saw Desmond it looked like he also saw his oppurtunity.

Speaking of character-centric episodes, where are the Sawyer and Juliet episodes? I am dying for one of those (though, not one like 'The Other Woman' which was disatisfactory at best).

316 Summary

First off, this was a fantastic episode! I've overdosed on LOST! Ok, so the episode starts off with Eloise Hawking introducing us to the Lamp Post, a dharma station they used to locate the island. She explains some of the science behind it and basically tells them they can get back by going on the Ajira flight 316. Ajira, as you know, is the airline whose waterbottles were spotted by Juliet, Sawyer, and co. Eloise gives Jack a special job by handing him the suicide note of Jeremy Bantham, the alias of John Locke. Later, at a bar, Jack learns that his grandfather has made an attempted escape from his retirement home. Jack pays a visit and gets his fathers shoes which (because Eloise told him he needs a piece of his father to give to Locke to make him more of a proxy to his father's body--they need to recreate the same flight as the first time as best as possible) he chooses as his father's item. He ends up putting the shoes on Locke and returning the suicide note which is later returned to him on board the plane. Meanwhile, Ben is mysteriously injured after "tying up loose ends" and Kate has decided to come along after strangely ridding herself of Aaron. Sayid is being escorted onto the plane by a mysterious woman. Hurley, too, is miraculously out of prison and emulating Charlie. He buys the rest of the 78 seats in the front section of the plane. Besides the 06, only the woman escorting Sayid and another shady man sits with them. Onboard, Jack reads the note which says 'I wish you had believed' and we all discover that Frank is flying the plane. There is a flash and they are on the island; Jack as a model of the first scene of the series. Only he, Hurley, and Kate are together. The rest are somewhere else. Finally, a new Dharma van comes driving up and out pops Jin with a gun suited up in full Dharma uniform.

Post-Podcast Stuff

OK, I'm a big fan of the Jay and Jack podcast as well as The Transmission podcast. They're both great ways to connect and share with other fans. Then, of course, there's the Official Lost Podcast. Here's a couple big things/ideas we learned:

1. Hurley is the voice on the signal Rousseau's team picks up. He's the one repeating the numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42). This means, in essence, Hurley cursed himself and is the reason he was on the plane.

2. This next episode '316' and the next next one, 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham,' could've been in the opposite order. This means 'Life/Death' is probably a self-contained story, possibly similiar to Michael's episode last season.

Sneak Peeks

There are two new sneak peeks out there on youtube if you're interested. For all you go-getters, they normally surface the Monday before the episode and can be found by typing in Lost, the episode name, and sneak peek into the search box. The direct links are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT1bsQc-wHc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n42gtLIpOI

The next episode is called '316.' The summary from ABC is as follows:

The way back to the island is revealed to members of the Oceanic 6, but there’s trouble ahead when not all of them wish to return.

Post-Episode Stuff

Of course, there are tons of "easter-eggs" in This Place is Death. To check out some, look at: http://www.buddytv.com/slideshows/lost-easter-eggs-for-episode-55-this-place-is-death-52182.aspx.

One of my favorites suggest that Charlotte is Annie, because she mentioned not being able to have chocolate before dinner. Annie gave Ben chocolate in a Ben-centric episode of season three. However, this makes me think that Charlotte is Annie's daughter, rather than Annie herself.

For more theories, check out Jay and Jack's site: http://www.jayandjack.com/ or The Transmission's: http://www.hawaiiup.com/lost/. Both are very reliable.

Questions/Comments others seem to be spreading:

- How did Ben protect the O6
- Doesn't it have to be all the O6 going back? Will just some of them do?
- Maybe the island is skipping because the wheel if off its axis. Did Locke fix it when he turned it?
- Who are Charlotte's parents?

What To Expect Next . . .

Here's what is confusing: it seems unlikely that Locke would just give Ben Jin's ring. If he didn't, how did Ben get that ring? Well, either way, we can expect a scene showing a meeting between Ben and Locke, and, by extension, perhaps the other Oceanix 6 as well. Also, assuming the Charlotte was telling the truth, we'll also see Dan warning a young Charlotte not to come back to the island. This means we'll probably get to see some kind of exploration of Charlotte's past. From the spoilers out there right now, it doesn't look like we'll get a full-blown Charlotte-centric episode so we'll have to hope we get enough material to piece together Charlotte's unexplored past through multiple episodes.

If you won't watch the promos, don't read this: It looks as though we'll be getting a Jack-Kate (Jate) kiss, an explanation of the science Eloise Hawking has been working on, and the return of Sun, Jack, and Kate.

Sickness Theory

The smoke monster is the subject of much controversial debate. From the hieroglyphics on Ben's secret door to those on the temple ruins we saw last Wednesday, we can assume that Smokey resides near or in the Temple we've heard of but never seen. Some people also think that the black ring of ash around Jacob's cabin (seen in season three's The Man Behind the Curtain) is actually some form of Smokey.

Here's my theory:

Smokey is a collection of all of the souls of the people who've died on the island. When the armless french man yelled "Aidez-moi" or "Help me!" it wasn't actually him, but Smokey, masquerading as him. Those that went in after him came out with different souls. Smokey took their souls and replaced them with some it already had, souls set on protecting the island. That's the sickness. Of course, it doesn't happen to everyone, only to those the island views as a risk or doesn't want to outright kill much the same as Eko. Speaking of Eko, the french people could also be similiar to Yemi, but Yemi was an apparition, not a physical being. So Yemi (eko's brother, seen in season three) shows that the smoke monster can manifest itself and speak. Can the smoke monster, for lack of a better term, possess people as well? We'll see.

This Place is Death Summary

Ok, here we go: Sun confronts Ben about Jin's death. She's about to kill him when Ben says he has proof that Jin is alive. Meanwhile, Jin and the French people go marching through the jungle to find a radio tower. Smokey (the black smoke monster) attacks and rips off one of the men's arms. He drags the man below the ruins of some kind of temple and the other french people, minus Jin and Rousseau, go down. Time jumps, and Jin, terribly confused, makes his way to the beach where he witnesses Rousseau killing her team. She seems to think that her team is not the same people, though they have the same bodies. She seems to be right as her love, Robert, tries to kill her. Time jumps again and Jin finds our Losties. Charlotte is in terrible danger and collapses as the flashes come again and again with smaller intervals in between. Sawyer, Juliet, and Miles have nose bleeds. Charlotte tells Jin, "Don't let them bring her back. This place is death." Locke leads them, without Daniel and Charlotte, to the orchid, which, in a time flash, disappears. They find a well (which Charlotte told them to find) and Locke decides to go down into it. Jin makes Lock promise not to bring Sun back and to tell her he's dead. He gives Locke his ring as proof. Meanwhile, Charlotte tells Daniel she grew up on the island but her mother took her away and tried to tell her the island was just something she made up. She became an anthropologist to find this place. She also remembers that a man, now identified as Daniel, came to her and told her if she came back to the island, she would die. She does, moments later. Meanwhile, Locke finds himself with a broken leg at the bottom of the well, the same icy place where Ben moved the island last season. Christian Shepherd tells him, basically, the reason the island is in danger is because he was supposed to move the island, not Ben. He does, and we flash to off-island. By this time, the group has broken apart and Be, Sun, and Jack are driving towards a woman who can prove that Jin's alive. There, they meet Desmond, and Eloise Hawking, revealed as Dan's mom, tells them they need to "Get started."

EW Article: Good Read

I was surprised to find an Entertainment Weekly coverstory about Lost. EW.COM has tons of Lost info, so I encourage everyone to check out their Lost center. The actual article I saw was well-written and full of interesting tidbits. For instance, the article makes it sound as though not all of those who managed to get off the island will return. To quote Evangeline Lilly, who plays Kate, "Season 5 is about do they or don't they make it back to the island, and every character has their reasons. There's so much more than meets the eye." Also, to those of you who aren't fond of the time travel, it seems that Lost will resume it's normal character-centric foundation within a few more episodes (the next 3 to 4 are about returning to the island). And for those of you who really, really can't stand the time travel and heavy sci-fi aspects, Lindelof and Cruse promise a big pay-off if you make it through this stretch of episodes. The article is http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20257373,00.html. The purpose of this blog isn't to spoil, but I'll try to post some of this slighty spoilerific material from time to time.

Ready for Take-off?

Hey, world! If anyone actually chooses to read this blog, I'm thrilled. If it's just me rumbling, that's fine, too. The point of the matter is, I'm crazy about the TV show LOST and would love to create a center of communication to discuss the show. The show is currently entertaining us with its fifth season and has gone through four episodes. Starting with the next episode, I'm going to take time to muse about the show and theorize about the future. We only have this season and next year to revel in the show, so let's enjoy it while it lasts!