Lost: Recon

[JasonEvans]

Comments on tonight's episode go in this thread.

I cannot wait! Bet we get to see what Whidmore is up to in this one. In fact, he may be the person on the recon mission.

--Jason

[JasonEvans]

Oh yeah, wanted to mention something.

So, I have 2 sons, a 10 year old and a 13 year old. For obvious age reasons I never got them started on Lost a few years ago but they noticed my wife and I watching this past week and got really into the show (we were watching the previous week's enhanced episode, which helped them understand what was going on and featured the smoke monster wreaking havoc on the Temple).

Wednesday morning, the boys came to us and asked if they could start watching Lost. I own seasons 1-3 on DVD so I said, "sure." The kids were on spring break so they had some time.

In the 6 days since, they have gotten all the way through season 1 and halfway into season 2 (they are on "The Other 48 Days" right now). They come home from school and race through their homework so they can watch an episode or two at night. They are obsessed and talk about nothing but the numbers and the hatch and the monster. I figure they are no more than 2-3 weeks from catching up with us. WOW!

Question, does anyone have DVDs of seasons 4 and 5 I can borrow? I guess the kids can always stream it online if not. I am worried about what they are going to do about Season 6. ABC only streams the past 5 episodes and I have not been saving episodes from the beginning of the season. It may force the kids to wait a few months to see how it all turns out... which would be somewhat fitting if you ask me ;)

-Jason

[InSpades]

You can always buy individual episodes on iTunes (looks like $2.99 per episode). There's surely less "legal" places to watch them for free though :). Maybe not the best lesson to teach young kids though!

[JG Nothing]

Totally Lost video for March 16:
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/03/16/totally-lost-dr-linus-recon-teaser/

Doc Jensen on Lost: The Third World?
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20313460_20351909,00.html

[mbd1mbd1]

Jason, your kids can watch seasons 1-5 of Lost on Hulu (http://www.hulu.com/lost).

[Art Deco]

I don't know if you have a Netflix subscription, but if you do you can watch Seasons 1-5 with their live streaming. And there are several ways to get Netflix streaming to your TV: A Roku box (on which you can watch mlb.tv as well), XBOX360, Wii (soon), various blu-ray players.

I did the same thing with my 11 and 8-year-old sons, we watched the first five seasons together (I wanted to do a full re-watch myself anyway) last summer, and they became consumed by it. Now it's a big deal every Tuesday night (or Wednesday after school, if they need to be in bed earlier) for Season 6.

[Wander]

Bet we get to see what Whidmore is up to in this one. In fact, he may be the person on the recon mission.


My bet is that there's no "reconnaissance" involved here. Sayid's episode was still about him being unable to get away from a life of violence, Jack's about father issues, and Kate's about still being on the run. So, this episode will be about Sawyer tricking people again, or to put it another way... "reconning" them.

[Jarhead]

You can always buy individual episodes on iTunes (looks like $2.99 per episode). There's surely less "legal" places to watch them for free though :). Maybe not the best lesson to teach young kids though!

You can get the whole shooting match on Netflix, plus thousands of other DVDs of movies and TV shows. The cost is only $8.99 a month. We've already watched Hurt Locker and Up in the Air. They have all 5 seasons of Lost.

Tonight's show is still being digested by Mrs. Jarhead and I. Looking forward to some help as this thread fleshes out.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I really enjoyed tonight's episode. I loved FLocke's line when he said the black smoke in the temple was him. Why did no one question him "Huh? What? How? What you talking 'bout Willis?"

Next week - Richard's story. Maybe then we'll start to get some answers?

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

Maybe then we'll start to get some answers?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXoNE14U_zM

[JG Nothing]

I was surprised Widmore was not allied with Flocke. The idea of using the plane on Hydra Island to leave is stupid. Since when did Sawyer know how to steer/sail/drive a submarine? The Sawyer/Miles detective team was great. I doubt Faraday would be happy about Charlotte being so, uh, easy. I think we are finally going to get some real answers with Alpert's story.

[DUKIECB]

Liked the episode but it wasn't great. Pretty funny that Sawyer is a cop in the alternate timeline. I agree that thinking you could fly that plane off the island is stupid.

They really went out of their way to make you wonder what was in the locked room on the sub. Wonder what it could be?

Really looking forward to next weeks episode about Richard. Can we please get some answers!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXoNE14U_zM
Great link! Most appropriate :cool:

[JG Nothing]

Liked the episode but it wasn't great. Pretty funny that Sawyer is a cop in the alternate timeline. I agree that thinking you could fly that plane off the island is stupid.

They really went out of their way to make you wonder what was in the locked room on the sub. Wonder what it could be?

Really looking forward to next weeks episode about Richard. Can we please get some answers!

Locked room = Desmond.

[BlueDevilBaby]

Locked room = Desmond.

My initial thought was Faraday's body.

[DukeUsul]

I was surprised Widmore was not allied with Flocke. The idea of using the plane on Hydra Island to leave is stupid. Since when did Sawyer know how to steer/sail/drive a submarine? The Sawyer/Miles detective team was great. I doubt Faraday would be happy about Charlotte being so, uh, easy. I think we are finally going to get some real answers with Alpert's story.

Sawyer spent three years with Dharma. He very easily could have spent time on their sub and learned the basics.

[alteran]

I really enjoyed tonight's episode. I loved FLocke's line when he said the black smoke in the temple was him. Why did no one question him "Huh? What? How? What you talking 'bout Willis?"

Next week - Richard's story. Maybe then we'll start to get some answers?

I may misunderstand what you're saying, but Flocke only told SAWYER that he was the black smoke. His line to the group of folks was something like "the black smoke killed everyone in the temple," and left them to assume that there they are separate entities.

Granted, the Losties don't react much even when told point-blank, but I think they've all seen enough weirdness on the island not to have something like that freak them out.

I agree it was a good/fun episode.

Not sure I whether I'd deem flying an airliner as any more unlikely than a sub though. At least an airliner can theoretically be handled by one person in a pinch. A sub... not so much.

[alteran]

Locked room = Desmond.

Good call.

My initial thought was that it was so sort of "black smoke destroying device," but I like your idea better. And heck, maybe it's both.

[alteran]

Sawyer spent three years with Dharma. He very easily could have spent time on their sub and learned the basics.

Excellent point. I need to read these things all the way through before responding.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I may misunderstand what you're saying, but Flocke only told SAWYER that he was the black smoke. His line to the group of folks was something like "the black smoke killed everyone in the temple," and left them to assume that there they are separate entities.

Granted, the Losties don't react much even when told point-blank, but I think they've all seen enough weirdness on the island not to have something like that freak them out.

I agree it was a good/fun episode.

Not sure I whether I'd deem flying an airliner as any more unlikely than a sub though. At least an airliner can theoretically be handled by one person in a pinch. A sub... not so much.
You're right. I originally typed Sawyer but then thought no, he'd told everyone. My mistake. Mea culpa!

Desmond in the locked room makes sense. It's double locked to keep whoever is in there in there, rather than trying to keep those on the outside out (if it is a dead body).

[ncexnyc]

I guess it's just me, because I don't have a smoke monster in my circle of friends, but wouldn't you think the first words out of someone's mouth would be, "Who or what are you?" I also find it odd that someone doesn't think it's curious that a smoke monster needs a plane to get off the island.

Nice that the secret word was Lefluer.

Since Widmore knows about sonic pylon technology, I wonder if he is somehow connected with Dharma.

So here we are, back to the old question, "Who's good and who's bad?" Exactly which side of the equation is Widmore on? If he is in fact looking to get Flocke, does that mean he's alligned with Jacob? If he is teamed with Jacob, doesn't that change the way some have viewed Jacob as the benevolent entity, since Widmore's team killed numerous people in the past and now?

[InSpades]

Do you think there's anything more to the fact that Flocke and Aaron both have "crazy mothers"? There must be a reason Flocke told Kate about that...

Any chance Aaron is on the sub? I'd agree that Desmond seems the most likely person to be locked on the sub.

[Wander]

In order of likelihood, the locked room on the sub has to contain: Desmond, Aaron, Walt.

Nothing that either Locke or Widmore said indicated that they weren't on the same side. Seemed to be a lot of assuming by Sawyer going on there.

Sawyer's sideways story makes me more convinced than ever that the difference between the two timelines is Jacob/lack of Jacob, not the bomb going off in the incident.

Interesting conversation about the crazy mother for all those who think Aaron = Smoke Monster.

[johnb]

Locke knew there was a plane. OK. He might have seen it crash. But he then knew that it was filled with dangerous people who could hurt them and then seemed suprised as to the identity of the leader. If he can just pop over there as smoke, he must have already known the answers to his questions. The one thing he didn't know was Sawyer's reliability. Perhaps the real purpose of the mission was to assess our favorite con man for reliability, though it might also have been to see whether he could be killed. Simple recon seems an unlikely purpose (though I like the idea that Sawyer's recon was actually a re-con).

And what's up with Crazy Clare? She's now normal or just labile? And Sayid? Mr. Man of Action was willing to watch Kate get her throat slit? If I were Kate, I'd have smacked him with the rifle just after I'd taken a swing at Clare. It was nice to see Kate break down. About time. Most of these characters seem to take a lot more in stride than would most people...

[Lord Ash]

I am so completely bored by Lost right now. The writing is just painful... the episodes feel somewhat wandering, the story just feels loose... nothing gets developed, nothing gets expanded, nothing has any sort of satisfying in-episode conclusion... after watching "Rome" and "The Wire" recently, all of which had pretty extensive plot arcs, and seeing how every episode was still so tight, so interesting, so involved, and so careful... ugh, Lost is just boring the hell out of me right when it should be the most interesting it has ever been.

Oh, and I highly doubt the "alternate universe" will end up being a positive for the show... even if it has some AMAZING payoff, it still feels like a giant waste of time.

[johnb]

I think the thing that is bugging me most is that the characters don't maintain their character for more than the space between one commercial break. They're ragingly brave then avoidant. They're homicidal maniacs then crying and hugging. They're only out for themselves and then bonding. They're wise and then they're impulsively out of control. They follow an idiosyncratic and difficult leader for deacades if not centuries and then turn on him in the face of a single disappointment. They are bright and skeptical and then they trust the words of a being that turns to smoke and don't even ask him how he does it, or who he was, or who he's fighting, or what his plans are. They are acting less like people than avatars who are being controlled by screenwriters who are struggling to keep together an extraordinarily complicated yarn. And it bums me because if theyd stick with a character driven story, they wouldn't have to make it so complicated.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

Do you think there's anything more to the fact that Flocke and Aaron both have "crazy mothers"? There must be a reason Flocke told Kate about that...

That seemed a little Pycho-ish. That or Friday the 13th.

[JasonEvans]

New question-- how, why, who killed all the Ajira survivors?

New answers-- ummmmm. Hang on. Lemme think...

Well, Flock was once human and had a mother who was crazy and it messed him up... naaah, that is really a new question (who was FLocke's mother?) and it answers nothing.

Hmmm... oh wait, there was another new question -- who/what is locked on the sub? Oh, and one more -- who is Whidmore allied with, what are his plans?

Sigh...

--Jason "Richard's story has to have some answers... right?" Evans

There had to be some answers

[A-Tex Devil]

Here is my FLocke/Widmore/Ben/Others theory....

Ben and Widmore were at odds, but both followed Jacob. Somehow, either before or after leaving the island, Widmore learned that it would be Ben that would kill Jacob. This is why he sent the mercenaries to go after Ben and get him off the island no matter what the cost in collateral damage. Since, he has learned more about the importance of the candidates.

The others are a much bigger thing than just their island presence (as has become clear with Ilyana, Bram, etc.). Widmore (with help from Fionulla Flanagan's character (Ellie?)) populated the Ajira plane with candidates and Jacob followers to go back to the island. I am pretty certain FLocke killed everyone on Hydra island. I mean, he CAN fly around everywhere. That's what makes sense.

The main holes here are that it seemed Bram was anti-Widmore when he picked Miles up in the van last year. Also, why use strangers (the mercenaries) the first time, then use true believers now?

Anyway, the main point here is that I think Widmore knew that Ben would play a role in killing Jacob.

[Pacer]

I was thinking more that the Ben/Charles feud happened when both thought that they were performing Jacob's will, but somewhere along the way, Ben started getting his instructions from Flocke who had taken up residence in Jacob's cabin.

Ben thought he was following Jacob and his followers won out and banished Widmore who was instructing things at odds with Ben's instructions from Flocke.

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

this was my least favorite episode this season. Nothing really surprised me and it didn't seem like the story really progressed too much.

Thinking the mystique may finally be gone...

[alteran]

I was thinking more that the Ben/Charles feud happened when both thought that they were performing Jacob's will, but somewhere along the way, Ben started getting his instructions from Flocke who had taken up residence in Jacob's cabin.

Ben thought he was following Jacob and his followers won out and banished Widmore who was instructing things at odds with Ben's instructions from Flocke.

Awesome observation. If the writers aren't using this explanation, they should.

[alteran]

New question-- how, why, who killed all the Ajira survivors?

New answers-- ummmmm. Hang on. Lemme think...

Well, Flock was once human and had a mother who was crazy and it messed him up... naaah, that is really a new question (who was FLocke's mother?) and it answers nothing.

Hmmm... oh wait, there was another new question -- who/what is locked on the sub? Oh, and one more -- who is Whidmore allied with, what are his plans?

Sigh...

--Jason "Richard's story has to have some answers... right?" Evans

There had to be some answers

I agree, we're in for some frustrating episodes, because this year's arc is Flocke v Jacob + LAX (e.g. 2 new arcs), and they've got to do a lot (too much) exposition when what we want is resolution. Hopefully, the majority of that is gone now.

I'll join the "really getting fed up now" group if next week's Richard episode doesn't more or less fully explicate his background. After that teaser, doing anything less would just be mean.