Lost Season 6 - RE: LA X

Too complicated.

xp "He wakes up lying on a wood floor with what looks like blood all over him. He looks around and sees a spilled can of red paint and a fallen ladder. Penny runs over to him and asks if he's okay. He realizes that they are in his old flat in the past. Delighted to be back with Penny, he kisses and embraces her." -lostpedia

lostpedia also has a helpful image of desmond lying on the floor splattered with red paint. From the context of the episode the use of red there seems more like a general foreshadowing of death/bad things, whereas Jack's cut seems to be alluding to something more specific.

or Desmond has 'infected' off island Jack.

oops wrong quotes there.

pretend those are italics

Too complicated.

As if that would ever stop them from something ridiculous!

not just complicated but really fucking stupid. i guess that wouldn't stop them either.

Since it's been established that MIB can imitate people who have died or are corpses on-island, it makes total sense. (Can the audience handle MIB possessing two people simultaneously though? That would be what would stop me as one of the writers, it's too confusing, like you say. But I've been wrong before.)

I really don't think it's the case. 1) Because it is silly and needlessly overcomplicated and 2)because they were setting up this specific Jacob angle since last season with the guitar case and Hurley's reason for coming. Though of course, lol at it being just an ankh with another list inside.

I am glad they're finally tackling 'the sickness' though, even though I can't see where it's going. It must be related to MIB and possession in some way ('claimed'). Yeah, the guitar case was a major disappointment! I feel for Hurley lugging that huge thing around when all they needed was a slip of paper.

I hope the sickness is tied somehow into the broken statue and the whole pregnancy/kidnapping angle, and that gets a good explanation and back story.

we can dream, huh? couldn't help but laugh at Locke/Smokey in the previews saying "I promise I'll tell you everything", yeah right.

rewatched "What Kate Does" after initially not wanting to, I was glad I did. Lots of cringeworthy stuff and minimal plot advamcement, but a lot of interesting character development that suggests very different directions for all of the main folks this season - Hurley as leader, Jack as doubter, Kate as something less than pathologically narcissistic, Sawyer as more or less honest and ethical dude, Sayid as um the claimed one. No idea where Sun/Jin is going (probably an episode will follow in the same sequence as S1).

scene where Aldo angrily confronted Kate was my favorite by far. the whole Lennon/Dogen thing seems intensely annoying to me right now but I am hoping Dogen's backstory makes up for it.

Kate as something less than pathologically narcissistic

where???

in the new scenes with Claire in 2004 and also there was something new/interesting about how she was relating to Sawyer in 2007, asking about Juliet.

2nd time around I also noticed the fetching black and white color scheme on the plush orca doll.

i mostly assumed she was asking about juliet so that she could figure out her chances w/ sawyer.... and that she was being nice to claire so that clare would b eless likely to turn her in.

*be less

yeah I could definitely see that, it just seemed like it was left open that she might actually have been thinking about other people for once.

I can't remember but did all the Lost dudes except Hurley do the exact opposite of the advice Jacob gave them?

well he just asked Sayid what time it was, no advice there.

oh come on, clearly asking the time is a wakeup call to evaluate yr life and realize it's ~time~ to go back

Apparently Kate can never be the only sexy available chick on the show. Boone's useless sister -> Ana Lucia -> Nikki -> Juliet -> Claire.

It seems like the main character of each episode is going to have their wishes come true in the new timeline. First ep: Jack wanted to have the plane crash never happen. 2nd ep: Kate wants to reunite Claire and Aaron.

hurley gets to eat that hot pocket instead of throwing it at the wall

Fake Locke is sexy, says my mum.

I might've been confused when watching, but it seemed like Ethan called Claire's baby Aaron without being told that's what its name was going to be. Did anyone else catch this or am I just making it up?

hurley gets to eat that hot pocket instead of throwing it at the wall

Genuine LOL here.

Claire called him Aaron first.

thanks

Sorry - that was terse b/c I was typing on the phone. When the heart beat stopped she started yelling something either about or to the baybeee and that's when she called him Aaron, and Dr. Ethan repeated the name to her after that.

I think sayid being claimed is definitely mib related. I don't think it's that complicated to suggest that's his way around the ash etc either. I mean it's not complicated is it?

I sort of instantly thought it was mib when sayid woke up. Not sure it'll be the same deal as Locke tho.

V curious about ben summoning smokey when the mercenaries were around. Did the others cut some deal with him at some point?

does smokey have some kind of deal with widmore?
i mean, that seems like a way to get shit done off-island...
maybe they made a deal since smokey couldn't leave but widmore had to?

yeah in the whole sides of the war thing you've got to imagine the ben/widmore feud splits down smokey/jacob lines too

But Smokey killed most of the soldiers Widmore sent to the island.

I think sayid being claimed is definitely mib related. I don't think it's that complicated to suggest that's his way around the ash etc either. I mean it's not complicated is it?

Seems reasonable. What I thought was too complicated was the idea that MIB appeared to Hurley as Jacob.

smokey/MIB appears as dead people throughout the show & jacob just died

yeah I mean I don't necessarily know what side smokey would be on...just saying it seems that "war" must be related somehow

question begs if jacob was 'people' to begin with though

x-post MIB appearing as Jacob isn't complicated in that I can't conceive of it, but it's narratively complicated in that the audience is going to lose track of who is who (more so than usual) and you'll have to have someone explaining how he could in the foot and appearing to Hurley at the same time. It would just be unnecessarily stupid.

But Smokey killed most of the soldiers Widmore sent to the island.
i was thinkin freighter people who got killed by smokey was him 'helping' - less worry about answering ?s to them if/when they left the island, etc. i know it's a stretch...

hurley gets to eat that hot pocket instead of throwing it at the wall

This inspired me to wade through the massive sprawl of the S5 thread & repost this timeless gem:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2n1c31c.gif

Bram and shadow of the statue people tell Miles before he gets on the freighter that he's joining the wrong side. So the people who turn out to be Jacob's people are opposed to widmore. The smoke monster destroys widmore's freighter crew, indicating that he is also opposed to widmore. The smoke monster did this at the behest of the others, who are acolytes of jacob.

But then it turns out that the smoke monster and jacob are opponents in this war. Also, it turns out that the others are aware of this, and are afraid of him.

Perhaps this isn't inconsistent and there is a reasonable explanation for this. More likely, I think they've been making up shit as they went along, at least to some extent, even as late as season five. I've come to accept this and don't think it's a big deal, just turning my mind off to the narrative inconsistencies (of which there are many more) and enjoying the ridiculous ott shit that this show throws at you in an entertaining way. My favorite thing about this show is how much I enjoy talking about it, and even the aspects that are criticisable only make it kind of more fun in that regard.

Also re: Jacob appearing to Hurley being a manifestation of MIB. I think that would be a mistake in terms of just the show degenerating into gratuitous swerves for the sake of gratuitous swerves, at the expense of good storytelling. Some twists and surprises along the way are entertaining, but when you start overdoing it, it just kind of cheapens the story. This would probably even be cheaper than the episode where Sun had her baby and they were showing Jin flashbacks which they were implying were contemporaneous. Worse because it would be more consequential.

what about when ben "activates" the smoke monster (or was that what you were talking about)? and referring to it as the temple's security system?

This would probably even be cheaper than the episode where Sun had her baby and they were showing Jin flashbacks which they were implying were contemporaneous. Worse because it would be more consequential.

― Mister Jim, Saturday, February 13, 2010 3:44 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that was an awesome episode

I still think the scene where Ben activates the Smoke monster indicates that he did not know that it was Jacob's enemy (he knew next to nothing about Jacob) and Smokey was exploiting Richard's keeping-of-stuff from Ben to turn him to its side--though the writers ended up taking a slightly different path.

This would probably even be cheaper than the episode where Sun had her baby and they were showing Jin flashbacks which they were implying were contemporaneous. Worse because it would be more consequential.

― Mister Jim, Saturday, February 13, 2010 3:44 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that was an awesome episode

If that was an awesome episode (can't remember what else happened), it wasn't cause of anything that happened in the scenes involving Jin and Sun. The Jin flashbacks are completely pointless, but to for the fact that they play with people's expectations. They really don't accomplish anything else but kill time. And even the Sun scenes are kind of boring, especially on rewatch. Sun having a baby isn't really that compelling, at least not to me.

Also, President Keyes, I guess I agree that it's not necessarily inconsistent if Smokey is trying to manipulate Ben by exploiting his ignorance, but it makes you wonder how Ben knew how to summon the smoke monster in the first place and why he thought it was the temple security system, which after the last episode seems completely crazy.

I think Jacob had Smokey under control somehow ("do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?"), hence Ben being able to summon it earlier. But now that Jacob bit it, Smokey is no longer controlled, so the Temple dudes are running scared.

if you can't stand bait and switch moves that deliberately play with your expectations, or emotionally manipulative stories that don't contribute much to the big picture, i don't know you lasted into season 4 to even see that episode.

If that was an awesome episode (can't remember what else happened), it wasn't cause of anything that happened in the scenes involving Jin and Sun.

I dunno, it did a nice job of contrasting between two periods of Sun and Jin being apart from each other: one because of his work, and the other because she thought he was dead. To me, that basic story contrast was really nice, but like every other character on the show, they've driven it into the ground.

Hopefully the next time Sun and Jin are reunited will be the last -- although we may be headed for Jin and Sun getting separated in the flash-sideways considering how cold they were to each other.

i had a thought that when richard told sun that jin 'died in the fire' maybe it was the explosion and not something else... so maybe they are gonna drag out the reuniting for a long time, esp since jin may end up back under temple lock and key.

if you can't stand bait and switch moves that deliberately play with your expectations, or emotionally manipulative stories that don't contribute much to the big picture, i don't know you lasted into season 4 to even see that episode.

No the thing is though that 4 seasons of flashbacks involving the originals is more than enough. There's a reason we haven't seen any flash-backs involving the original cast since season 3, except for those Jin ones. They bring nothing to the table. Nothing new about the character. Nothing new about the plot. Just, a little, "Hey, ya got me again Carlton. Good for you." moment. I mean, such little pay-off really. Also, once the series started moving with a purpose, this kind of stuff became harder to take.

I think Jacob had Smokey under control somehow ("do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?"), hence Ben being able to summon it earlier. But now that Jacob bit it, Smokey is no longer controlled, so the Temple dudes are running scared.

This is a good thought. I gotta think about it.

But then it turns out that the smoke monster and jacob are opponents in this war. Also, it turns out that the others are aware of this, and are afraid of him.

Thanks for summarizing something that's always bugged me, that every time you think Widmore's on Jacob's side, you're thrown by a piece of contradictory information. I'm hoping they give us some info on what Widmore actually knows about Jacob and MIB, since at this point I have to assume he knows more than Ben. The whole 'there's a war coming' foreshadowing makes no sense when you follow everyone's actions.

One thing that might save it, and I still think they might do this, is establish that at some point MIB was mistaken for Jacob or vice-versa (Ilana's 'Jacob hasn't been in the cabin for a long time'). Widmore could have been fooled into thinking that Jacob wanted Locke back on the island whereas MIB wanted him back but only as a corpse.