"We're Not Going to Guam, Are We?" 5x06: 316

Okay, so how many times did you say "WTF???"? "No way!"? "Awesome!"? "What?!?!"? Was it as many times as I did? Did you say it as you went to sleep? Are you still saying it this morning?
Ladies and gentlemen - this is LOST. This feeling is exactly what you try to explain to your friends who don't watch and just don't get it. These are the thoughts that creep into your head in the middle of the day, when you're supposed to be paying attention to something (or, yes, someone) else. This is why you love it. Episodes like this one make you understand just how much you love this show, and just how excellent it truly is. And how there will never be another show like this ever again.
So yeah, I kinda liked this one.
How can they keep blowing us away every week? If Season 1 was the blueprint for the show, with excellent storytelling, character development, and mind-bending mysteries, this season has taken that blueprint and built a funhouse out of it. When you think things can't get more twisted, they flip you upside-down, catapult you into the stratosphere, spin you in circles...and THEN they twist you.

What I did this week is took notes on my brother's laptop (Hey, Drew!), while eating dinner no less, and I've copied my notes below. Well, I had to organize them a bit more and all that, but here are my initial reactions to "316." Consider it a half-recap, half-reaction.
(By the way, my reaction to the first scene with Jack, Kate, and Hurley back on the island is included below as I typed it - those aforementioned WTF's were real...)

What the f?!?!?!? Jack is in the jungle – Pilot episode.
"I wish" – ripped sheet of notebook paper in his pocket.
OMG – they are already back. Jack landed exactly the same way as the 815 crash. Hurley with guitar case in water. Kate on rocks – Jack wakes her up.

Okay, now to a more readable format!
We get the title card they have become fond of using this season: 46 hours earlier. We find out that Ms. Hawking's underground lair is actually the Lamppost Station - a Dharma station off-island! She tells Jack, Desmond, Ben, and Sun that "this is how they found the island," and she looks quite pleased when she says this.

Cut to commercial.

Ben is asked if he knew about the Lamppost, and he says that he didn’t. Jack, I think, asks Eloise if Ben is telling the truth. "Probably not." Eloise goes into detail about how the pendulum works, how they found the island, and says that "a man" figured out not to look for where the island is, but where it will be. I didn't write too much from this scene because I was trying to listen to every word. As she describes all of this, Jack looks around at the things on the walls: her ever-present chalk board with calculations, a bookcase with binders, a wall with change latitudes and longitudes, sort of like the board at the airport that tells you what flights are arriving and departing (which is what I thought it was at first), and a photograph of the island taken by the U.S. Army in 1954. More fuel for the "Ellie is Eloise" theory.
(Random note from my original writeup: This is AWESOME)
Eloise gives Jack a binder, which looked very fancy and official, but I couldn't make out what insignia was on the front. She tells him that it lists every flight that will come close to the island. She tells him that there is one, Ajira Airways Flight 316, that they must be on, and they need to recreate as closely as possible the circumstances that got them on Flight 815 – they need as many of the O6 as possible. Oh, and they only have 36 hours to do it. Jack asks, "What if we can’t get anyone else? What if we’re it?" Eloise says that then the results would be "unpredictable."
Desmond is listening to all of this, but eventually has enough. "Am I actually hearing this?" he says. He is not buying any of it. He says they are all just pawns in her people's game, and that he wasted four years of his life on the island because she told him he had to. He tells Jack to listen, brutha: whatever she tells you to do, ignore it. (Is that like, "whatever he says to do, do the opposite?") As he begins to walk out, Eloise tells him that the island isn't done with him yet, but he says that he is done with the island.
Eloise then turns to Jack and says something about the island having plans for him, too, and made it sound like he is the most important one of all.

Commercial break

Eloise takes Jack to a sort of office and gives him Locke’s suicide note, which is in an envelope with "Jack Shephard" printed on the front. Eloise says that this only concerns Jack and no one else. She tells him that Locke is "going to be a proxy." Jack asks who Locke needs to be a proxy for, and she says, "Who do you think? You need to recreate the conditions as closely as you can," and we realize that she's talking about...Christian Shephard, Jack's father! Since Christian was in a casket on the plane, John has to take his place on this flight. Eloise tells Jack that he has to get something belonging to his father and "give" it to John. Jack has a hard time believing all of this (and so would I), but Eloise says, "That’s why it’s called a leap of faith, Jack." (Is that like, "That's why they call it sacrifice, John?")
Jack walks up into the church above, and Ben is there in a prayerful position. Ben asks what Eloise told Jack, and he says, "Nothing important." Ben then tells Jack the story of Thomas the Apostle, who said of Jesus, "Let us also go so we might die with him," but after Jesus died and was resurrected, Thomas didn't believe it had really happened. He had to put his finger in Jesus's wounds to be convinced that Jesus had risen. This is the origin of the phrase "doubting Thomas." The religious imagery is thick and blatant here, with Jack in the role of Thomas. When Jack asked if Thomas believed after touching Jesus's wounds, Ben says, "Of course. We're all convinced sooner or later, Jack." Ben then leaves to meet someone. He says it's "just a loose end that needs tying up."

Jack is at a bar staring at a drink, but not drinking it. His cell phone rings, and he leaves to go to a retirement home, complete with magician and bunny. (I didn't see a number on the bunny, but I'll look again.) Jack finds a man named Ray, who apparently has repeatedly tried to escape. I had no idea who this man was until Jack calls him "granddad." As Jack helps his grandfather unpack his ready-for-escape suitcase, he finds a pair of shoes that must look familiar to him. He asks Ray if they are his, and Ray says no - they were Christian's. At this point, I thought this explained why Christian was wearing his famous white tennis shoes when seen on the island or in visions, that he somehow needed these shoes, or that he was supposed to be wearing them, but we hear more about those tennis shoes from Jack later.
Next, Jack is in his apartment (?), and he is looking for a bottle of something to drink, and I don't mean a 2-liter of Diet Coke. But before he can pour anything, he hears a noise - someone is in his place. He discovers Kate just laying on his bed, and she's looking really rough. She asks him if he is still going back, and when he says he is, she tells him that she is going with him. Then Jack asks, "What about Aaron?" and things get weird: "If you want me to go with you, you will never ask me about Aaron ever again, do you understand?" He says yes (!). And as I succinctly stated in my notes, they get it on.

Commercial break

It's morning, and Jack has poured some coffee and OJ for him and Kate. He moves his father's black shoes off the table, and Kate comments how they aren't exactly very good island wear. Jack explains that they were his father's, and how he put white tennis shoes on his father’s body when he died because he didn’t have nice shoes for him, and that he wasn’t worth a pair of nice shoes to Jack then. He then gets a phone call - it's Ben, who we see is, yet again, beaten up. (I guess he was due.) We wonder who this loose end was. Ben tells Jack that Jack needs to bring Locke's body to the airport himself and can pick it up at the butcher shop. Jack goes to the butcher shop, and Jill is there to let him in. She brings him to the casket and then leaves to get the van which she parked around the back. I thought she looked very suspicious here, but nothing seemed to come of that. I thought she also looked a lot like Ben here. When she leaves, Jack opens the casket and puts his father’s shoes on Locke's feet. He says, "Where ever you are, you must be laughing your ass off that I’m actually doing this. This is even crazier than you were." He then tucks Locke's suicide note, which he never opened, under Locke's suit, and says, "Rest in peace."

Commercial break

Jack is at the Ajira Airways counter. The man at the counter is asking him about "Jeremy Bentham's" body and why Jack is transporting it. Jack says, "Uh, it was his wishes." (Yeah, that's it - his wishes!) As the man is telling him that the airline has a policy of checking the body before letting it on the plane, Jack sees Kate walking through the crowd and smiles - she's in on the plan. As Jack leaves the ticket line, a man says "My condolences." Jack eyes him suspiciously, but says thank you. Then Sun shows up - she's coming, too, because there's some chance that Jin is alive. Then he sees Sayid walking with a woman and is shocked – and then notices that he is with a police escort. I guess he's been charged with the murders that Hurley originally was, and he's being extradited to...Guam? Beats me. And then Hurley comes running to the Ajira gate with a guitar (?). When the woman at the gate announces that there are 78 seats available for those waiting, Hurley jumps and says no - he bought those 78 seats. She asks him why he wants to keep the people waiting from getting to where they want to go, and Hurley looks at the families and kids sitting there and tells her, "It doesn't matter why."
It's interesting to note how each of them seems to be playing a part from the original Flight 815: Jack is, well, Jack, Sayid is Kate (he's in custody), Hurley is Charlie (the guitar)... That's all I can think of right now. Can you make any other connections like these?
Jack gets on the plane. He sees Sayid, who seems that he has to pretend not to recognize Jack because of his police escort. Sun is there, too, as is Kate and Hurley. We also notice that the guy who was in line behind Jack and offered his condolences is also seated on the plane. As they are about to prepare for takeoff, Ben comes running in – he has an arm in a sling and a swollen, beaten face. Hurley immediately jumps up and yells, "What’s he doing here? He can’t be here!" Jack calms him down and tells Hurley that Ben has to be there. Hurley sits back down, saying something like, "Okay, Jack, he has to be here" under his breath. One of the flight attendants hands Jack an envelope - security found John's suicide note in the casket, and since it has Jack's name on it, they give it back to him.
Jack asks Ben what is going to happen to the other people on the plane, and Ben says, “Who cares?” Ben, still dissing the "others." The plane takes off, and once the "Fasten Seatbelt" light turns off, Jack moves next to Kate. "Pretty crazy, huh?" he asks her. "Which part?" she replies. He says it's strange how Hurley, Sayid and they are all on same plane. How did they get on same plane, he wonders. Kate says, "They bought a ticket." Whatever happened with Aaron, she seems to be very affected by it. Jack says, "Don’t you think it means something?" but Kate says, "It means they bought a ticket, Jack." It seems that Jack is getting on board the faith train.
The pilot makes his opening announcement, and...it's Frank Lapidus! Jack asks a flight attendant to see Frank, and he comes out. "Hey, doc," he says. Jack asks what Frank is doing here, and Frank says, "Oh, I picked this flight up about 8 months ago..." and then he looks in the cabin. "...Is that Sayid? Hurley?" Something starts to click. "Wait a second...we’re not going to Guam, are we?"

Commercial break

It's nighttime, and Ben is reading Joyce's Ulysses. Jack asks Ben how he can read. And with the best line of the episode, Ben responds, "My mother taught me." He adds that it beats what Jack is doing, which is waiting for something to happen. Jack asks him what IS going to happen? Ben says, "Beats me – you’re the one who got to stay after school with Ms. Hawking." Then Jack asks him if he knew that Locke commmited suicide, and Ben says no. Jack then takes John's letter out and says, "it’s like it’s following me. Like Locke needs me to read it." Ben asks the obvious question: "Why don’t you? Are you afraid that he blames you? That it’s your fault he killed himself?" He then adds, "No Jack, it wasn’t your fault." Ben gets up, saying, "You could use some privacy."
Jack opens letter. It says, very simply:
Jack, I wish you had believed me. John
And with that, the turbulence begins. They all tense up. More turbulence. As Hurley says to the mystery man on the plane, "You might want to fasten your seatbelt." And then a flash happens!
Jack is on ground in the jungle, as we saw him at the beginning (of the episode, and of the series). He gets up and looks at the scrap of paper in his hand from Locke's suicide note, and all that remains is the part that says "I wish." He hears Hurley screaming for help in the distance, and runs toward his voice until he comes to a water pool below him, as he is standing at the top of a cliff, complete with a waterfall. He dives in to help Hurley, who is holding onto the guitar case for dear life. Jack then sees Kate lying on the rocks. He wakes her, and she asks what happened. Then they realize: where is the plane? This is it? It's just them? Does anyone remember crashing? Where are Sun and Sayid? Where is Ben? They decide to spread out and search jungle, but before they can, they hear a faint noise that grows louder. It's music. Then from out of the jungle above them, a blue Dharma van appears. A man with gun gets out and takes aim at them. We see the reaction of Kate, Hurley and Jack. I think it's Jack who says..."Jin?"
It's Jin? It's Jin!
Jin, in a Dharma jumpsuit!

LOST

I think that's all you're going to get out of me tonight. But there is so much to discuss. How's about you all leave some comments to get some discussion going! I'm very interested to hear what you all thought of this one, and if you noticed anything that I didn't.



For now, though, Namaste, and Good Luck,
Matt