"Issues With Reality" - 6x12: Everybody Loves Hugo (Recap)

Okay, before I charge right into the episode in bullet-point form (because I reeeeeally need to go to bed), I have an announcement to make. I'm finally making it official:

LOST Finale Party

Sunday, May 23

Time TBD

"The Apple Station" (Dharma Teacher Headquarters, Monroe, CT)

Details to follow, probably in an Evite.

Mark your calendar, and consider yourself invited!

On with the show...

I'm going to just summarize the episode, "things I noticed"-style, but will post theories and explanations this weekend or early next week, so please check back before Tuesday night to read that second post. I have a few ideas that I want to get into that I won't get into tonight.

• Pierre Chang introduced Hurley at his Man Of the Year Award ceremony, which apparently was at the same museum (the Golden State something-or-other?) that he and Charlotte work at. Hurley donated money, as he has done in many, many cases according the the introductory video, to open the Hugo Reyes Paleantology Museum.
• Did Hurley really mention a "Human Fund" benefit? Because that's awesome! I wonder if it's sponsored by Vandelay Industries.
• His blind date was supposed to be Rosalita. If anyone knows any reference to that name, let me know.
• When Hurley was at Libby's grave, it never occured to me that Libby never appeared to him after she was killed. Does this mean that she was allowed to move on from the Island, unlike Michael?
• After Hurley hears the whispers, Michael appears to him to tell him not to blow up the plane, or else people will die. He also notes the "people are listening to you now."
• The restaurant he ends up meeting Libby at is Spanish Johnny's. Anyone know if that's a real place?
• It was sooooo great to see Libby again! The interaction between her and Hurley had me smiling the whole time - it's that chance with a lost love that never comes around, except that they didn't even know it until the kiss. In this scene, Libby knows him from the Alt timeline, and describes it as being "soulmates." We know it better as being each others' "constants."
• So Ilana blows up. I honestly was talking to my TV, saying that she'd better be careful with the dynamite, and she went the way of Artz, in mid-sentence.
• The plan was to blow up the cockpit and instruments of the Ajira plane with four (a number!) sticks of dynamite from the Black Rock. Hurley is against it, and then is for it, for reasons we will see later. Ilana says that they need to listen to Richard because Jacob told Richard what to do, that she's been training her whole life to protect them (the candidates), and with the plane gone, "that thing" won't be able to leave the Island.
• Locke is carving a long, straight stick when Kate and Sawyer are harrassing him about why he isn't moving or doing anything. I expect to see that stick later in some way. He says he's waiting for all of the candidates to get together, because that's the only way they can leave the Island, since it's how they got there. Sounds familiar...
• Newest LOSTBlog fan Danielle reminded me today about the bag Hurley picked up. It seemed to come from Sawyer's stash on the beach, but I'm not sure. He picks it up, looks in it, and seems to have some understanding of what's in there. So what's in the bag? Nikki and Paolo's diamonds? But Miles has those. Jacob's ashes, maybe?
• Richard wants to get more dynamite from the Black Rock, and Hurley does a 180 and agrees that it's a good idea, but again, we find out why later.
• "Gimme a bucket. Family size." In Mr. Clucks, Desmond meets up with a depressed Hurley and tells him to go with his gut about wanting to find out what Libby was trying to tell him. We know that Desmond is now definitely a puppetmaster, trying to reveal the other timeline to those on Oceanic 815. Well, a select few, I assume.
• On the way to the Black Rock, Ben points out that if Ilana was handpicked to protect the candidates, what happens when the Island is done with all of them?
• As Richard is about to enter the Black Rock for more dynamite, Hurley blows it up. Richard is not pleased. Hurley says he's protecting them. (It hurt a little to see it destroyed - that's been such a big part of the mythology of the show since Season 1.)
• Miles and Hurley have a conversation about the people that come and "yell at" Hurley after they die. "Dead people are more reliable than alive people," Hurley says.
• There is an art print - or was it a photo? - of an island in the Santa Rosa doctor's office when Hurley tries to get his permission to see Libby again. A $100k donation to the rec room does the trick. The doctor says that she has "issues with reality."
• In the lounge/common area of Santa Rosa, there is a chalk drawing of an island on the chalkboard. There are also butterfly decorations that we've seen in Santa Rosa in past seasons on the walls.
• Libby got her memories of Hurley on the Island from seeing his commercial - "memories of my life, only...another life." She remembers the plane crash, "liking" Hurley (giggle giggle!), and that they both were in Santa Rosa, too. Hurley asks her if she wants to leave - "like, on a date?" - and they do.
• The mysterious boy, who is now a teenager and is wearing a dark brown vest, appears to the Monster - but Desmond also sees him. The Monster angrily tells Des to ignore him, and the boy smiles and runs off into the jungle.
• Richard, Ben and Miles leave the flaming Black Rock to get more dynamite from the Dharma barracks, with a warning to not get in their way. Everyone else decides to stay with Hurley, who lies about seeing Jacob, and about how Jacob told them that they need to talk to Locke. Richard calls his bluff by telling him to ask Jacob what the Island is, and that Jacob "never tells us what to do."
• Hurley asks Jack, "How do you break the ice with the Smoke Monster?" He admits that he lied about seeing Jacob; he just wanted everyone to listen to him. Jack tells him that "since Juliet died, all I wanted was to fix it, but I can't ever fix it. You have no idea how hard it is to sit back and listen to what other people tell me I should do. but I think maybe that's the point - maybe I'm supposed to let go." A VERY telling quote.
• Hurley has no idea where to go to talk to Locke, and it's whispers to the rescue! He goes into the jungle alone and sees Michael again, who points out where Locke's camp is. More interesting, though, is the reveal of what the whispers are. After six years of trying to figure it all out, Hurley and Michael explain:
• You're stuck on the Island, aren't you?
• Michael nods.
• And there are others out here like you? That's what the whispers are?
• Yeah. We're the ones that can't move on.
• Hurley asks Michael if there's anything he can do to help him. "Don't get yourself killed," he says. He also tells him to tell Libby that he's very sorry if he ever sees her.
• The beach scene was very sweet. It's the picnic they never got to have. Hurley brought six cheeses, because, you know, everybody likes cheese.  They begin talking about how being there feels "off" to Libby. They both talk about liking each other, and then they kiss. And then, of course, the memories of the other timeline come rushing to Hurley. Desmond has been watching them from his car, and when he sees this, he drives off. Probably to do something nice and positive, like frolic with baby kittens on top of a rainbow. Right?
• The Monster brings Desmond to the well, which, if it's the same well, leads to the frozen donkey wheel. They talk about how old the well is (very old), and the Monster explains how it had to be dug by hand ("God knows how long it took them..."), but they weren't looking for water; they were looking for what made their compass needles spin. "A long time ago, in places like the one we're standing at right now, made compass needles spin. And people holding the compasses needed to know why, so they dug." When Des asks if they found what they were looking for, the Monster says they didn't. He says that he's showing Desmond the well so he understands that Charles Widmore isn't looking for answers - he's only interested in power and he brought Des back so he could help Charles find what he's looking for. "After all, this isn't the only well," he adds. I'm not sure I get that reference, but that's something I want to get to in a later post.
• After the well conversation, the Monster notices that Des isn't afraid and asks him why. Des says, "What's the point in being afraid?" The Monster gives him a contemptuous look, then smiles...then throws Desmond down the well.
• The Monster returns to the camp, telling Sayid that they don't have to worry about Desmond anymore. Then Hurley shows up. "Um........hey," he says. He basically tries to establish a truce between them. He doesn't want anyone hurt. The Monster takes out a knife and gives it to Hurley, saying "you have my word." Then Miles, Lapidus, Sun, and finally Jack emerge from the jungle. Sun is looking for Jin. The Monster singles Jack out, saying hello to him and only him. He seemed very focused on Jack. We know there's a history between Jack and John, and though this isn't really John, it seems as though the Monster has access to John's memories, so probably knows about all of the conflicts they had. I'm wondering if he's going to try to manipulate Jack based on this knowledge.
• And in the most insane final scene in a long time, Des is in his car at Locke's and Ben's school. Ben notices this mysterious man parked for a long time and watching the kids and asks him why he's there. Des says he's looking for a school for Charlie, and then basically brushes Ben off. Then, he starts his car, punches the accelerator, and with a split-second smile, slams into Locke, who is in his wheelchair. Locke rolls over the hood, roof, and trunk of the car and lands on the pavement, convulsing but conscious. We see a close-up of his face. It seems to be the same camera shot as when he was pushed out the window by his father, and maybe even in Season 1's "Walkabout," which might have begun with an eye shot that pulled back to a shot close to the one at the end of tonight's episode.

So, like I said before, I'm saving the theories for the next few days, when I have some time to sit down, think, and explain everything.

Until then, 
Namaste & Good Luck,

~Matt 

Help!!!

Hey Losties,
Apologies, apologies. No, I haven't forgotten about you. You see, I'm presently trapped in report card hell. It's very much like being pushed down a well by a smoke monster that is posing as a dead acquaintance, in that it's painful, scary, physically and emotionally scarring (I figure I lose at least a month off my life to grade stress every marking period), and it's a loooong climb back out. So, no blog update tonight. It will have to be tomorrow night, since I'm making my first visit of the young baseball season to the Stadium (and VERY sadly seeing the little that remains of the original Stadium - I almost just don't want to see it, but I know I'll regret it if I don't) on Friday night. I did watch "Everybody Loves Hurley," and, well, I loved it. There's a lot to talk about!
So, check back sometime on Friday, there should be something far more interesting to read then.

Until then,
Namaste & Good Luck,

~Matt 

"Feel It" - 6x11: Happily Ever After

Okay, I'm doing this one cold, partly because I took no notes - I just sat back and enjoyed - and because, well, I need to watch it again to fully comprehend everything that happened in tonight's episode, "Happily Ever After." I think we are now as close as ever to knowing what the "flash sideways" are, but I'll be honest: I don't know what's going on. Still. But as I watched the UConn women win their 7th National Championship and their 78th-straight game, and the Yankees beat the Red Sox, I've had some (very happy) time to let it all sink in and to process this episode.

I haven't checked out any blogs yet, either, mostly because I just want to get the ideas I have out first before I delve into everyone else's. There's a pretty good chance someone has this all figured out on some message board somewhere, but I'll get to that (and tell you about it) later. All I'd like to do tonight is try to arrange the pieces we were given and see if I can put them together. Forgive me if it's too stream of consciousness, but I'll try my best to explain myself.

Here we go!

Desmond has been taken from the hospital in LA, after having been shot by Ben last season, by Charles Widmore, who has brought him to the Island. Charles knows that Desmond is special; he knows that he can resist exposure to large amounts of electromagnetic energy because of his experience turning the failsafe key in the Swan Station. He has a job for Des to do that apparently involves, well, large amounts of electromagnetic energy. Widmore's cronies, including Zoe, have set up some sort of device that produces this energy to test Desmond to make sure he can handle it. Widmore apologizes to him for taking him from Penny and little Charlie, but stresses how much Des is needed for something much bigger. Des fights against them as much as he can, but they eventually strap him in to a chair, lock him inside the chamber, and turn on the machine.

We next see Desmond in LAX in Alt. 2004, looking at an Oceanic flight board. He helps Claire pick up her luggage - and tells her that her baby is a boy, which is maybe why Claire calls out Aaron's name in "What Kate Does" (I have a hunch about this which I'll get into later) - and finds George Minkowski, his driver. In the original timeline, Minkowski was the guy on the freighter who was suffering from the same "time sickness" that Desmond was in Season 4; he talked about seeing a Ferris wheel. Minkowski drives him to Widmore's office, where we learn that Desmond is working for Widmore. He even lets him drink McCutcheon's now!

Desmond, who has no personal connections to anyone, a fact that is noted a few times in the episode, is tasked with ensuring that a rock star from DriveShaft, who was busted for OD'ing, makes it to his son's birthday party, or else "my wife will have my head," or something to that effect. His son is a musician, he says, and it's very important that the band performs for him. We know that the rock star is Charlie, and suspect that Widmore's son is Daniel Faraday - I mean, Daniel Widmore!

Des picks Charlie up from the hospital, but Charlie heads straight for a bar. When Des follows him in and sits down with him, Charlie tells Des that he can't be happy because he's never felt "conscious-altering" love before. (Interesting choice of words, especially as they're said to Desmond.) Charlie tells him that when he OD'ed on the flight, he experienced this love - a blonde. (Claire?) Desmond doesn't quite know what to make of this, but tells Charlie that he has two options: to stay at the bar and drink his career away, or come with him to play the DriveShaft show and stay in a five-star hotel, compliments of Widmore.

Desmond is driving (in Charlie's car? Wasn't Des being chauffered by Minkowski? I must have missed something.) to, we assume, the hotel to get cleaned up for the show. As they drive past the now-familiar marina, Charlie then gives Des two choices: he can show Des this love he's talking about, or Des can get out of the car. And before Des really answers, Charlie grabs the wheel, hits the gas, and the car goes flying into the water. The car sinks, and Des escapes, but he can't get Charlie's seatbelt loose. He comes up for air, then dives back down. He tries to open Charlie's door, but Charlie looks at him through the window, and puts his hand up to the glass, and we all recognize this as the same motion from the Season 3 finale when he dies. But the most interesting part is that Desmond remembers it, too.

As Desmond looks at Charlie's hand, he gets flashes of the "Not Penny's Boat" message, of Charlie's face as he drowns in the Looking Glass Station. He's confused at first, but goes back to getting Charlie out of the car and up to the surface for air.

We next see Desmond in the hospital. He's insisting that he sees Charlie, but they won't let him leave before they run the proper tests on him. They are testing his brain function and they put him into an MRI machine - you know, a magnetic resonance imaging machine? We know what's going to happen here. And of course, they give him a button to push, too! Once the machine starts running, he immediately gets a flurry of flashes of Penny, who he's never met before. He hits the panic button, and races out to find Charlie.

Charlie is escaping the hospital by running through the hallways in every direction. Desmond grabs him and corners him in a waiting area and asks him about the visions he's having. Charlie smiles and says, 'So you have them, too.' Des asks Charlie who Penny is, and he doesn't know, but as he walks away, Charlie tells Des that he should find out.

Desmond calls Charles to tell him that Charlie escaped and that the DriveShaft performance is off, and Charles is not pleased. He tells Desmond that he has to be the one to tell Mrs. Widmore the bad news. Minkowski drives Des to the party site at some sort of estate with a large party tent, and letting him know that Mrs. Widmore is not fun to deal with, wishes him luck. Desmond arrives and finds Mrs. Widmore, who we know as Eloise Hawking, but she isn't going by Hawking this time. (She's not the only one who has lost a mysterious surname...) She says something like, 'It's about time we met.' He respectfully tells her that Charlie Pace escaped and the concert is off. He braces for a rough reaction from her, but to his shock, she very calmly laughs it off as a mere inconvenience. At some point, we see the back of someone's head who is listening to this conversation, someone who has shoulder-length hair and...a bowler hat? As Desmond walks away, he hears two workers reading down the guest list, and they say the name Penny. He stops and asks them to see the list, but Eloise comes along and denies him the opportunity. He presses his luck by trying to convince her, and she clears out the entire tent to talk to him privately. She tells him that he needs to stop what he's doing, to stop looking for what he's looking for, because it's not his time. He has no idea what she's talking about, but gathers that she knows what he's going through. She certainly seems to.

Des gets into the limo, but the man who was listening to his conversation with Eloise knocks on the window and says that they need to talk. It's Daniel Faraday, and he's not going by Faraday; he introduces himself as Daniel Widmore. He tells Desmond that he saw a woman who he felt like he'd been in love with all of his life walk out of the museum - bright blue eyes, red hair (Do I need to spell it out for you? Charlotte!) - and that night (I think he says that night, at least), he had a dream. He then takes out his famous notebook and opens to a page we've seen before which seems to explain time jumps and alternate universes. As a musician, he doesn't know why he dreamt this, but when he showed it to a physicist friend, he told him what it was about. Daniel then explains that there could be an entire other life that they are meant to be living, that the life they are in right now is a mistake. And that it would take an enormous amount of energy - like, say, a nuclear explosion - to get them to the right life. Des visibly thinks he's nuts and asks him if he's going to set off a bomb; Dan says no, but that he's pretty sure that he already has. 

I forget why, but Daniel tells Desmond that Penny is his half-sister, and he knows just where he can find her. That night, Des has Minkowski drive him to a stadium - the same stadium from Season 1, where Desmond met Jack, who was running a tour de stade. Except now, it's Penny who is running the stairs! Des stops her and introduces himself, but when he shakes her hand, we flash to Desmond lying on the floor of the electromagnetic chamber on Hydra Island. Widmore and his people help him up, and he is no longer angry; in fact, he has a pretty dumb, dazed, but happy expression on his face. He tells Widmore that he's ready to help him.

At some point, we flash back to Desmond in the stadium with Penny. She's asking if he's okay, as he fainted when he shook her hand. He asks her out for coffee, and she accepts. He gets back into the limo. Minkowski asks if he found what he was looking for, and he happily says yes. Minkowski, who says this a few times in the episode, tells Desmond that if there's anything else he needs, to just ask him. Des says there is one more thing: he needs a flight manifest for Oceanic 815. Minkowski asks why, and Des says, "Because I have something to show them."

And maybe before that previous scene, we see Desmond, Zoe, and the other Widmore crew walking toward wherever they need Desmond to go, but suddenly they are attacked - by Sayid. He tells Zoe to run, and that Des needs to get away from these people because they are dangerous. Des, who seems to be very dazed after the exposure to the electromagnetic energy, says okay.

Cut to LOST.

So, what the hell is going on? Here's all I can offer so far at this late hour:

I think they are making it very clear that that two timelines are connected. It's not the only possibility, but it seems to be the one they are hinting ever more strongly at. I think the Daniel conversation is the key. I've had a request to try and explain multiple/alternate universes. At 12:23am, here's my best shot, which I'd like to embellish on at a later date.

Imagine two parallel streams of water shooting through the open air. They are flowing in the same direction at the same pace, and they continue on infinitely, but since they are parallel, they never cross over. They are both made of the same elements, they both contain little air bubbles, dirt particles, etc., but since they are two separate streams, they are not exactly alike. The air bubbles and dirt particles move inside them differently, but they still remain in the stream and continue to flow in the one direction. The water is like the path of life, or existence; the air bubbles and dirt are like people. Both streams have the same people, but the people might move differently in one stream versus the other. For example, in one stream, let's say Toniann decided to go to Montclair State University instead of the University of Connecticut for her higher education because it was closer to home. She's still Toniann, with the same parents and high school friends, she's still living her life, but she took one path in one stream, and a different path in another stream. So now, a year after her high school graduation, she has one set of friends at Montclair State in one stream, and a whole different set of friends at UConn. The way she moves in each stream is different - save for things like still visiting her parents, etc. - but she stays in that stream.

What seems to be happening in LOST, or at least what they want us to think, especially after tonight, is that the two streams are bleeding over. It's like someone came along and stuck their finger into one of the streams of water, and it started splashing into the other stream. Desmond is getting memories, maybe because of his time traveling consciousness experiences, of the other stream. He's remembering things that never happened to him, but only happened to him in the other stream, like seeing "Not Penny's Boat" on Charlie's hand, or all the memories of Penny, except he's never met her. For some reason, the electromagnetic energy is the cause of this, and Desmond seems particularly sensitive to it. The rules of "staying in your stream" don't apply to him. He can experience more than one version of his life. I think they showed us Minkowski again tonight to remind us of what happened to him in the original story - the crossing back and forth between streams eventually made his brain hemmorage. He, and just about everyone else, can't handle it, but Desmond can.

The interesting twist they seem to now be adding to this very sci-fi storytelling is that love is a catylist for this ability to detect the crossover of the two timelines. Charlie saw a vision of a woman and felt that "consciousness-altering" love, and now seems to want everyone to experience it. (Is that what he's up to?) Is this blonde - again, I'm assuming it's Claire - his constant? Once Des meets his constant, he goes from acting like a caged animal to being a docile, obedient helper to Widmore. Does this love help you see the bigger picture?

There's something here about a touch, much like Jacob's touch. Charlie's hands were shown numerous times. When Desmond shakes Penny's hand, he faints and it seems that it took him back to 2007. Is there a connection between what Jacob does and what we saw tonight?

Actually, how does everything we saw tonight fit with the Jacob vs. the Monster story? How does the science fit with the faith? I think I have an idea kicking around, but I don't think I can explain it yet...

Did Widmore know he was going to see these memories when he put him in the makeshift electromagnetic chamber? Was it not a test, but actually his plan all along? Did he need Des to see what he saw? Was he pushing him to Penny? Was this all an elaborate setup?

What is Eloise up to? Why doesn't she want Desmond to pursue Penny? Is it because they are not meant to be in this timeline and she's trying to manage all of these different timelines? We do know she is a course-corrector of sorts.

There is so much more to get into, but I am running out of steam. I definitely don't think I have any solutions here, or that I fit any of these pieces together, but I think at least looking at all the pieces can help.

If you have any ideas or find anything interesting elsewhere, please post it here! I'd like to post an update after I hear what other have to say, and definitely after I watch the episode again.

Until next time,

Good Luck & Namaste,

~ Matt

"Cease To Be" - 6x10: The Package

("Package"! Hee hee hee!)

Hey everyone! Obviously, I'm just getting around to posting about last week's episode, "The Package," right now as I wait excitedly for tonight's episode, which according to Damon Lindelof, will be a "conversation changer." I like the sound of that.

I always say that my posts will be short, and then I go on forever, but this one really will be. My first reaction was kind of "eh," but the more I've heard podcasters talk about it, the more I've wanted to rewatch it, but I just haven't had a moment to do so. So what follows is probably going to be incomplete, and will probably be in totally random order, but it's all I got right now.

Widmore says that if the Monster gets off the Island, it will end them all. That doesn't sound like it will simply kill them; it sounds more like 'the universe will cease to exist.' What do you think?

I really liked the Sun and Jin of this episode. Just the use of the motif (if I can call it that) of the button was well done. In Season 1, Jin kept her literally buttoned up because he was a possessive d***. In Alt. 2004, he's doing so to try to keep their romance a secret. I guess it didn't work, based on how things turned out, but it was great to see them have a healthy relationship (relatively speaking).

Not a fan of Sun's weird language amnesia. I'm sure it's a real thing and all, but it was so gimmicky. Why did it need to happen? I'm hoping it will be important down the line. It might be connected to my next point, which is...

Did Sun lose the ability to speak English because of the header she took into the tree, or was it something the Monster did to her? He was chasing after her when she pulled a "George of the Jungle" and ran into the tree, but the next thing we see (after a commercial, I think) is Sun lying on the ground alone as she comes to. Why didn't the Monster just pick her up and take her? Did he do something else to her?

Sun is shot in the gut in Alt. 2004 - and she's pregnant. Will Ji Yeon survive (if it is Ji Yeon)? Does this mean something as far as what the alternate timeline is all about? I heard a great point about this, though - wasn't Jin infertile in the original timeline? Is he all good in Alt. 2004, or is it not his baby? But I doubt that Jin isn't the father; based on their relationship, they seem pretty into each other, and I'd have a hard time believing that Sun was cheating on him. Another minor point: Sun was drinking champagne while she knew she was pregnant. Tsk, tsk!

Back on the Island, Jin sees Ji Yeon for the first time in his life, compliments of Widmore's digital camera. (Hey, how did he get a picture of Ji Yeon on his camera...?) Really touching scene, played well by Daniel Dae Kim. If that doesn't get Jin on Widmore's side, nothing will.

Mikail! So great to see Patchy again, and you knew that second eye that seemed so out of place was doomed. By the way, that shot (no pun intended) of Mikail with his bloody eye was VERY reminiscent of Frank in Donnie Darko, a movie with some really strong and interesting ties to LOST. (Time travel, plane parts falling from the sky, etc.)

Jim S., I think it's fair to say that Sun took a firm hold on the role of Cleavage Engineer for this episode. She put Kate to shame!

Zoe (which many, many people online are calling "Tina Fey") is a geophysicist. Hmmm...why would Widmore need a geophysicist on the Island? Because there's a volcano there? And he's going to sink the Island? She asks Jin (whose name is on the grid map of the Island from 1977, which was a cool touch - remember when he was mapping the Island grid box by grid box in his search for Sun?) where the pockets of electromagnetic energy are (I think), so I think there is definitely something that needs to be done to the Island to keep the Monster from leaving.

The Monster, in Locke's form, tells Widmore that a wise man once said that a war was coming, and now it looks like it's here. I. Can't. Wait.

We knew it was coming. We waited for it. When we saw the locked door in the sub in "Recon," we had a pretty good feeling...Desmond returns! Now, why? What is he needed for? How will his "special-ness" play into all of this?

A great ending, which seemingly leads into tonight's episode (I hope!).

Until later this evening,

Namaste & Good Luck, 

~ Matt

Not In Portland: A Very Special Episode of LOSTBlog

Hey Losties,

As I believe I mentioned in a previous post, I will be away from civilization this coming week, so I will not be able to watch the new episode of LOST on time, and therefore will not be posting about it on time, either. I am going to make every attempt to watch while I'm there, but where I'm going, communications are not always reliable; I will probably post sometime on Friday.


So, where am I going?

By the time you will likely read this, I will be depending on others for my survival. I will need to rely on those who have already settled this place for food and shelter. The journey there is long and potentially arduous (because I'll be on a bus full of sixth grade boys), and it's beneficial to simply sleep through the trip (orange juice optional, though there are usually bagels in the main office at school before we leave). People will be moving through the dense forest at night, where strange sounds will be heard. Groups and alliances will be formed. Our fates will be uncertain. And if we don't live together, we're going to die alone. (Not really.)

Sound familiar?

(Cue Charlie Pace:) "Guys...where are we?"

Colebrook, CT is the home of a YMCA camp where, once a year, Chalk Hill School sixth-graders and their chaperones attend "Nature's Classroom." It's four days and three nights of activities and classes where the students learn a little something about the outdoors.....and themselves. (You knew that was coming.) It's a fantastic experience for all of them; for many, it's their first time away from home, and it's certainly the first time that they do many of the activities, such as candle-making, shark dissecting, caring for llamas, edible plants in the forest, walking in the woods at night, and so many others. There is even an Underground Railroad simulation where, yes, the children become slaves (though aren't they already? ; )  ) which makes quite an impression on most students. Oh, and they get to sing "Daddy Shark," too, but that's another story. 
My role there is as a chaperone, which includes living in a cabin with 20 sixth-grade boys; monitoring various places around the camp, such as the zoo, Boulder Basin, and the giant slide; and for most of the time, hanging out with my fellow chaperones as we eat the food confiscated from students (they're not allowed to bring food with them, so we can always depend on them having some), sit by the fireplace, nap on the couches, and chill the eff out. How does any of this help them on the Connecticut Mastery Tests? It doesn't, which is why it's the greatest thing that happens in sixth grade.

But I don't tell you all of this just so you know where I, DharmaTeacher, am all week. You see, while I'll be playing the teacher role there, there is also an element of Dharma afoot at NC. It's very subtle, but I believe there is a conspiracy at work, and that NC is the reason why I'm obsessed with LOST, why the DI always felt a little familiar, and why being at NC feels like some sort of twisted psychological and spiritual experiment. 

Allow me to present to you the photographic evidence for Nature's Classroom as a Dharma Initiative outpost. Judge for yourself.

 

Here's the Nature's Classroom logo. Simple and symbolic. 

Sort of like...

...this!

 Notice the octagonal shape of the Dharma logo above. Now look at the shape of this wing of the Senior Lodge cabin below.

Coincidence?!

A map of the Island.

A map of NC. 

Whoah! Almost exactly the same!

This is a typical cabin at NC.

This is the NC Arts & Crafts building.

Look familiar?

Will there be no end to the conspiracy?!?!

 Here's a typical bathroom in the NC cabins. Notice the bar light.

You know who else has bar lights in their bathrooms?

The Dharma Initiative!

This is the NC dining hall. Pay attention to the pattern of the windows in the front of the building. And know that that small room that extends off the left side of the building in the photo above is a greenhouse. But remember that the main purpose of this building is not as a greenhouse....

 ...just like THIS building - The Orchid Station!

Here's the lake at NC. (Pay no attention to the ice and snow.)

Canoes. A small dock. Hmm, where have we seen all of THAT before?

That's RIGHT!

Conspiracy!

"Oh, but I bet they don't have picnic tables at NC and the Dharma barracks," I hear you smugly saying.

NOW what do you have to say for yourself? 

(How do you think we defend ourselves from the guinea hens that roam menacingly around the camp?)

You want lamp posts?

You got lamp posts.

This is hard, indisputable evidence, people! How can you deny the connection?!?!

DI? NC? 

Two letters!!!!!

I will leave you with this picture of the forests of Nature's Classroom, which of course are just like the jungles of the Island. (Doesn't it seem like "the light doesn't fall quite right" in this picture?) 

So if you hear of a fleet of coach buses disappearing from the face of Route 8 (8! It's one of the numbers!) this week, you'll know where to look. All I ask is that you find a multi-billionaire industrialist, convince him to finance an expedition to Colebrook, CT, and be sure to bring a sonic fence. And a guy that can read dead peoples' thoughts. 

Just don't bring Keamy, okay?


Enjoy this week's episode, and you'll hear from me at the end of the week.


Good Luck (and wish me luck) & Namaste,


~ Matt

Poor Richard's Almanac: 6x09 - Ab Aeterno

Talk about your wild mood swings.

After I feverishly scoured the internets for a downloadable copy of tonight's episode, "Ab Aeterno" (and if you don't know why I was doing so, then I guess you didn't read the post before this one...yikes...), and was still raging about not being able to watch it until after midnight, and on my computer at that, I not only found and downloaded it, I also found a site that streamed it - thank you zshare.net! - so I didn't even have to wait for the download!

So, was it worth all the sturm und drang that I foolishly endured?

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Yes, in all it's pixelated glory, yes.

After my ordeal in trying to simply watch it, after all the flying off the handle and the yelling and whatnot, 40 minutes later, I was transfixed; I had chills, and more chills, and more chills; my jaw literally - literally - was opened the entire episode; I was reminding myself to breathe; I was even in tears.

"Ab Aeterno" was an absolute masterpiece. I can safely add it to the list of the likes of "Walkabout" and "The Constant" - episodes that demonstrate how special this show is. How, when they do it right, as they often do, they really do it right. These are the episodes you have in mind when you try to convince someone to watch the show for the first time. Maybe it was because I watched straight through without commercials, though I doubt that's the reason, but this wasn't television; this was cinematic territory.

No, it had nothing to do with Benjamin Franklin (I know at least three of you that will get that reference - I couldn't resist), but we finally - FINALLY! - got Richard Alpert's story, and it was unlike any LOST episode we've ever seen. So, let me stick to my original plan and mention a few things off the top of my head:

Ab Aeterno - loosely translated, means "since the beginning of time."

I've never wanted to know exactly who these two men - or beings, or whatever - are more than at this moment. 

It's more and more like that Twilight Zone episode I mentioned in a past post (can't think of the title at the moment), with the devil trying to escape from being trapped by a group of holy men so that he can wreak havoc on the world again.

The Island is the cork that contains evil. LOVE it. And the Monster ignoring the cork and not-so-subtely just smashing the whole bottle? I think this means that a lot of people are in trouble...

The two scenes that had me tearing up: for some reason that I can't exactly explain, the first was when Jacob was talking to Richard as they sat on the log on the beach. It stuck me as one of the most beautiful moments on the show because of what Jacob was saying - as humans, we have to choose the right path ourselves. If there's someone there telling us what to do, what's the point? Not to get too religious or too personal, but this is so similar to my own view of just the simple idea of faith and having a belief in something larger than ourselves. It's not about someone controlling your life. There are so many false steps that people take because they feel that there is a higher power that can and does control their every move, and if they just say or do the right thing, this higher power will make what they want to have happen happen. And when it doesn't, people lose faith in this higher power, when in fact, all they've done is never had any faith in themselves. Jacob, I think, is saying something along these lines; I'm giving you an opportunity here to do something worthwhile - what are YOU going to do with it? This is where I part ways with fundamentalists of any stripe - they seem to discount the fact that this higher power (again, if you believe in this sort of thing) gave us the gift of reason, and this is the most powerful gift, besides life itself, that we were given, because it means we have the power of choice. Or I'm blaspheming. Either way. (Honestly, I hope I'm not offending anyone.)

The only flaw in all of this is that Jacob is the one bringing them to the Island in the first place, which is a method of control. He's forcing them into making this decision, so it's not of their own volition. And, as Richard points out, if he doesn't guide these people he's brought to the Island, then the Man In Black will. That's an excellent point. They almost seemed to be preparing us to discover that Jacob really is the devil early on in the episode, but I think that tide turned back to Jacob-as-the-good-guy again. (I say this all the time, but can you believe that this is a network television show we're talking about?)

The other scene that had me weepy was more obvious: Isabella returning to Richard, even if just for a moment, through Hurley. Jorge Garcia continues to impress - he played that scene with the perfect amount of gravity, humor, understanding, and sadness. Richard is a man who has lost everything, and everything that we saw tonight leading up to that moment gives us a full understanding of the depths he was in. Yes, he wanted Isabella back, but really, all he wanted was absolution. He believed he was in hell because he was never given that absolution. Interestingly, when Richard asked Jacob for that very thing, Jacob said he couldn't do that. I wonder if this is a clue about Jacob...

We now know how the statue was demolished - who had "the Black Rock was thrown into it" in the office pool?

I definitely need to do some rewatching to gather my thoughts, but this was my initial reaction to the episode. I intend to post a second entry about "Ab Aeterno" later in the week or over the weekend. I also intend to respond to comments people have left; you know, I finally get comments and then I don't reply to them - what an ingrate!

I also want to give you all a heads-up that I will be away at Nature's Classroom next week, and so I will be relying on someone to lend me their laptop for an hour to watch on Wednesday, which would be the earliest I could watch it online (unless I use zshare.net again!), and another hour (at least) to post if I can. These things may not transpire; we'll see. But I am planning on making a special post about Nature's Classroom that is LOST-related, so stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, I'm tuning out for the night. Can't wait to hear what you all thought!

Until next time,

Good Luck & Namaste,

~ Matt

Grrrrrrr......

UPDA TE:
Forget everything below.
Why?
Because my DVR didn't fucking record it. Pardon my French, but can you imagine how absolutely consumed with hatred I am right now?
Why was the red "record" light on when it apparently wasn't actually recording anything? I don't know.
Why did I bother to come home at 7:30 to make sure it was set to record the 8 o'clock replay and the new episode, and then go back to school to finish my sub plans? I don't know.
Why has it recorded both episodes at the same time every week for eight weeks until tonight? I don't know.
Why do I still insist on sticking with Charter for my cable? I don't know.
Will my remote work after I slammed it repeatedly on the floor? I don't know.
I can't wait until Charter shows up on Saturday so I can tell them what a piece of shite their DVRs are. The hi-def one I'm getting better not do this...

Off to download it from a website and watch it on my computer - if I can even concentrate on it.
So I don't know when I'm posting now. Stay tuned, I guess.

To quote Sawyer, "Son of a BITCH!"

~~~

No way. 

OMG! 

Can you believe when... 

I cried. 

That. Just. Happened.

I just don't know what to say.

What does that mean?!

These are things I WISH I could legitimately say right now, but...

Hello, my blog-following friends,

I'm afraid I had to be more "teacher" than "Dharma" tonight, and have yet to see the latest episode, which I know was supposed to be about Richard Alpert, but I don't even know what the title was - and that is on purpose, of course; spoiler-free!

I'm playing hooky from school tomorrow to take care of some things, and so I had to write up my sub plans. Needless to say, I got home around 9:30 tonight (but hey, I get summers off, right?), and so I've had to wait until the episode was over to be able to watch it. This also means that I have yet to eat dinner, which I am doing pronto. But I didn't want to leave any of you in the lurch, so I'd thought I'd post a quick explanation.

So, for those of you furiously texting me during the past hour-and-a-half (I'm looking at you, Toniann...), now you know why I've been ignoring you, for fear of being spoiled. I will text you back after I finally watch it tonight. And yes, I WILL be watching it tonight.

Posting tonight? Well, that's a little more dicey... I will likely post something later tonight, but what that something is, I have no idea; probably just some initial thoughts. I should also tell you that I've been struggling with an intermittent internet connection here at home, which is going to be looked at on Saturday, so even if I do make an attempt to post something, it may not actually appear.

So now that I'm through whining and making excuses, long story short:

• A brief-ish post tonight (or, at this point, this morning to you) 
• A longer one later (because I have a feeling I'm going to want to reeeeeally talk about this one!) on Wednesday.

Alright? Alright.

And now, something you might have been saying yourself at the end of tonight's episode - click here.

I shall return...