Episode "Live Together, Die Alone" Season Finale

Episode “ Live Together, Die Alone”
Air date: Wednesday, May 24th, 2006
Season Finale

Note: There were a lot of location changes in this two-hour episode so I’ve decided to use the locations as my re-cap breaks. I hope this helps make it more readable.

Rescued! Or at least that’s what you’d think with a boat looming in on the horizon. Not with our group though, they have other plans!

Episode re-cap

Beach:
Jack, Sawyer and Saiyd swim out to the boat only to find a drunken Desmond. Jack wants to know why he came back. Desmond tells him that after 2 ½ weeks of sailing he simply “was returned” to the island.

Flashback jail:
Desmond is released from military prison and dishonorably discharged from the Royal Scots. His girlfriend’s father is there to meet him and dissuades him from seeing his daughter. Ok, he pays him to run away, calling him a coward.

Beach:
Saiyd and Jack hatch a plan (pun intended) to scout the others using the boat. They are intent on leading a surprise attack. Saiyd needs someone to sail the boat and Desmond is not interested. Saiyd convinces Jin to help him and Sun refuses to stay behind this time.

Hatch:
Locke and Eko begin their struggle together. Locke tells Eko not to be a slave and Eko throws him out of the hatch.

Flashback:
In a coffee shop Libby gives her dead husbands boat to a perfect stranger (Desmond) to win a race around the world. We find out later that his girlfriend’s father sponsored the race. And that he is desperate to win.

Jungle:
The chosen five are going to meet the “Others.” In the jungle, a huge bird flies out and surprises them. Michael shoots at the bird but his gun has no bullets. He begins to see that they know he is leading them into a trap. Hurley is convinced the bird said his name?!?

Beach:
Charlie finds Locke crying and tells him of Desmond return. Desmond tells Claire that the vaccine is useless and that she is wasting her time. Locke finds Desmond and they talk about the Desmond’s three year stint in the Swan hatch. Locke tells Desmond about the orientation tape for the Pearl hatch and wants Desmond to help him stop Eko from entering the numbers into the computer.

Boat:
Meanwhile aboard the “Elizabeth” Sun is sick (and not from the sea) and Jin sees the strangest of sights. In perfect Saiyd manner he says, “I don’t know which is more disquieting, the large foot or that it only has four toes!” What a beautiful line!

Hatch:
Desmond and Locke force a shutdown in the hatch and Eko gets locked out. Now they must wait for the numbers to count down. Meanwhile, Eko convinces Charlie to help him and Charlie tells him about the dynamite.

Flashback hatch:
After a storm at sea Desmond is knocked unconscious. He is found on the beach by a man in a HAZMAT suit and is taken back to the hatch. We find out that this is Kelvin and he explains a great deal about the hatch. We are told that “Radzinsky” is the blast door artist and that he also edited the orientation film. Kelvin is simply maintaining the map.

Jungle:
Kate notices that the group is being followed and they shoot and kill one of the others. Jack forces Michael to tell what he knows and he admits to killing Ana-Lucia and Libby and releasing “Henry Gale.” Jack tells his group that he has a plan.

Hatch:
Eko prepares to try and blow up the blast door in the hatch while Charlie argues with him. In a strange gesture Eko removes Charlie’s belt and throws it against the electromagnet. The ensuing explosion deafens Charlie and injures Eko.

Flashback hatch:
The hatch alarm is counting down and Kelvin is gone. Desmond enters the numbers and learns more about the hatch. Kelvin tells him that there is a system termination key and he explains the entire electromagnetic charge and build-up.

Other’s camp:
On Sayid’s scouting mission he enters the other camp and find it deserted. The hatch they are guarding turns out to be an empty rock cave and he realizes that his friends are walking into a bigger trap then they thought.

Jungle:
Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and Michael come across the Dharma notebooks in a huge pile. The tube from the Pearl hatch leads nowhere. They hear the strange whispering coming from the jungle again and Sawyer is hit with a poisonous dart. Soon Kate and Jack are also hit with darts.
Flashback hatch/beach:
When Kelvin goes out of the hatch with a torn HAZMAT suit Desmond gets suspicious and follows him. Kelvin has secreted the boat in a hidden cove and has been repairing the boat. Kelvin and Desmond scuffle and Kelvin hits his head on the rocks. To all appearances he is dead. When Desmond returns back to the hatch metal objects are flying through the air towards the magnet.

Pala Ferry:
The “Others” have captured Jack and his group and they are tied up and gagged on the Pala Ferry wharf. Kate indicates that she knows Zeke’s beard is not real and he takes it off understanding that they know. His and Ms. Clue’s true names are revealed but worse yet “Henry Gale” is revealed as their leader.

Flashback:
After Kelvin’s death Desmond is despondent and finding a love letter from Penelope he breaks down. He then hears pounding, talking, etc. at the hatch door and shines his light up to reveal John Locke pounding on the hatch door. This cycle has been completed. The opening of the season was Locke looking down into the hatch with the light shining up.

Hatch:
Locke has let the numbers run out! But Desmond has plans to re-set the system. The electromagnetic disturbance has reached a fevered pitch. Appliances are being pulled toward the magnet, the pressure has crushed the numbers box on the wall and the hatch is vibrating and humming like never before. Locke tells Eko he was wrong and then an incredibly bright violet light and loud thrumming reverberating noise is everywhere and then is gone.

Pala Ferry:
“Henry Gale” gives Walt to Michael and gives him the boat as promised. He even tells him to sail at heading 325 degrees and he’d be rescued. Hurley is released and told to return and tell no one to come back for Jack, Kate or Sawyer. “Henry Gale” tells Hurley that his friends are going home with him.

Snow-covered mountain hatch?:
Iceland perhaps? Two men are seen in a scientific monitoring outpost. An alarm goes off and they check the system. The equipment has detected an electromagnetic anomaly. They pick up the yellow hot-phone to report… and Penelope Widmore answers!



Observations and thoughts on the season finale:

The boat
The “Elizabeth” was out of Newport Beach, California and was named after Libby. The boat belonged to her husband who had died. This tells me that Libby came from money. Perhaps, she even married into the Widmore clan?

Charles Dickens – “Our Mutual Friend”
This book has special meaning for Desmond and may explain a great deal. A recent review states:
“Our Mutual Friend” was the last novel Charles Dickens completed and is his darkest and most complex. The basic plot is vintage Dickens: an inheritance up for grabs, a murder, a rocky romance or two, plenty of skullduggery, and a host of unforgettable secondary characters. Sound like anything we’ve seen lately. It sounds like a review for “Bad Twin.” Hmm… curious!

New Characters
There were a few new characters revealed tonight:
Charles Widmore – Father of Penelope but not one of the Widmore clan from the “Bad Twin” book. Is this another branch of the family?
Penelope Widmore –Desmond’s girlfriend, and someone to watch.
Radzinsky – the original hatch sitter.

Full and Real Names
1. Desmond David Hume
2. Kelvin Joe Inman
3. Zeke aka Mr. Friendly is really named Tom
4. Ms. Klugh is really named Bea

Answers
1.Why push the button? There is an electromagnetic charge that builds up every 108 minutes. Putting the numbers into the computer causes the build up of energy to discharge. When Desmond allowed the numbers to run out when he followed Kelvin he caused a system failure, which actually caused the crashing of Oceanic Flight 815!
2. Kelvin is the same man who turned Saiyd into an agent in Iraq and is also Kate’s father (her picture was on his desk in that earlier episode).
3.We also see the “Pala Ferry” for the first time (not Apollo as I thought from the Pearl orientation film). Why have a ferry here at all? There must be some base close by for a ferry to be present at all. And where does it go to?
4. The others are the whisperers. Just before Jack, Kate and Sawyer are poison darted we hear the strange whispering we’ve heard in the jungle before. This means that the others are the whisperers, but why?
5. From the fact that the Dharma notebooks have piled up and went absolutely nowhere we can assume that the real experiment was taking place in the Pearl hatch and not in the Swan hatch as Locke believes.
6. Is Penelope looking for Desmond? Absolutely! She knows about the Electromagnetic anomalies from her father’s dealings with the Dharma Initiative (he is after all a Widmore). Why would she monitor EMA’s, if she didn’t have an idea what they were? She is definitely looking for Desmond and will probably play a large role in the seasons to come.

More Questions
1. Where are the others taking Jack, Kate and Sawyer?
2. What’s with the large four-toe foot statue? Made of concrete? We know that the Widmore Corp. has experimented with new types of concrete. But why a statue with only four toes?
3. Is Penelope looking for Desmond? Why is she tracking electromagnetic anomalies? (see above)
4. Why was Desmond in military prison?
5. Why does Desmond take up Widmore’s offer and run away?
6. Why did the blast door map have to be invisible? Did they have periodic inspections from the Dharma Initiative?
7. Is Kelvin dead? We see him with a smashed head and a lot of blood but do we know for certain that he is dead? I think they want us to think that he is dead.
8. What happened to Radzinsky? Now that Kelvin is presumably dead will we ever know? He seems to know more about the island and the project than anyone else. He drew the blast door map, edited the orientation film, taught Kelvin how to fake a shut-down and showed him how to restart the system. Seems like he held more answers than anyone we’ve encountered, so far. Hopefully, he’ll appear in the next season (perhaps in flashback?)

And an admission… The Hanso game and the program have turned my head to mush. There is so much to keep straight between the two and so much to keep up with that I know I have missed asking a great many pertinent questions. Please join in with your ideas, thoughts and observations. It was a great deal of fun. Please let me know if you would like to continue to be included in the newsletter for next season.

You can see all my re-cap posts at:
http://thealternativeisland.blogspot.com/

Episode “Three Minutes”

Episode “Three Minutes”
Air Date: Wednesday May 17th, 2006

Re-cap:

It’s obvious that Michael wants Walt back immediately and Jack is ready for war. Michael talks to Walt on the computer and is directed to an area north with “a HOLE in the beach”?

Preparations are made to bury Libby and Ana Lucia and plans are formulated to raid the others. Michael is vehemently intent on pulling all the strings. And he only wants a few select people to go along on this journey.

FLASHBACK (13 days ago): We slowly find out what happened to Michael when he was away from the Swan hatch. And it ain’t pretty. In a strange twist, Alex questions the captive, Michael, about Claire and the baby.

Charlie finds a briefcase full of vaccine in the pallet of food and brings it to Claire to use.

In a reversal of roles we see Mr. Eko entering the numbers into the computer and John Locke sitting on the beach contemplating his usefulness.

FLASHBACK (11 days ago): We get a glimpse of the other’s camp. Canvas tents, fishing nets and a strange shaped rock formation/building at the top of the hill, and a new hatch.

Michael has risked everything to save his son. Sayid suspects that “Michael has been compromised.” Jack and Sayid begin to set up a trap of their own.

FLASHBACK (3 days ago): Michael’s bizarre behavior is explained. Ms. Clue wants “our man” back (obviously “Henry Gale”) and Michael must release him and bring back Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley. She gives Michael “three minutes” with Walt who tells him some of what has happened to him, and then makes a desperate plea for release.

During the funeral the islanders discover a saving grace, of sorts and we have something new to talk about… it comes in the shape of a boat!

Observations and thoughts:

1. Why Michael did what he did.
We see that questions of morals and life and death spring up in Lost all the time but never more so than within the last few episodes and more specifically, with Michael’s behavior. To what extremes might we go to save our own children? What measures would you take to insure the safety of your own child? When Walt hugs his father and asks for his help we feel his pain and begin to understand how Michael allowed himself to be caught in his present situation.

2. Michael told the truth to Jack and Sawyer about the status of the other’s camp.
We see that everything Michael has said about the others is true. They live in a compound with tents and huts, they are dressed in rags and are dirty, we did not see a great many of them, there were only two guns visible (looks like an M-1 Gerand), and they are guarding their own hatch. Walt, however, dispels the well-planned deception when he tells Michael that “they are pretending.”

3. Drawing blood or drawing muscle juice?
Everyone knows that to draw blood you need to find a vein or artery. Why would they stick a needle randomly in Michael’s arm to draw blood? They’d get fluid (plasma, some blood, etc.) but that is certainly not an approved method for drawing blood. Did the show research group not do their homework? Or is it somehow important to the plot? I assume no phlebotomists were consulted prior to this scene. (Thanks D. for your observations.)

4. Ms. Clue. That’s like calling Jack Shepherd Dr. Spine. Who is she? Introduction of a new character at the end of a season certainly spells death by bullet in the next season to me. However, as far as new characters go, she is pretty cool! And I mean like a cucumber not like a pleasant surprise. Who is she? One of the Dharma scientists? That could explain why they are testing Walt. But why are they testing Walt?

5. The make me take tests! And “don’t make us take you to the room”. Hmm…. Sound a lot like the Dharma Initiative to anyone? Could the room be sensory deprivation or the reverse? And what kind of tests are they doing on Walt? The question that Ms. Clue asked Michael is I think, very important. “Have you ever seen Walt in a place he wasn’t supposed to be?” Oddly enough, Michael does not answer that question.

6. A new hatch?!? That’s two in two weeks. Obviously, we won’t be seeing the orientation film or the inside of this hatch until next season. But why do they need to guard it? Keeping something out? Or scarier yet, keeping something in?

7. Ms. Clue wants Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley. Why these people? It certainly dispels Jack’s theory that the others don’t want him or Kate.

8. The boat!
Could this be Desmond’s boat? I seem to recall that he came to the island in a boat. Could he be aboard? Interesting, that at the time they decide to raid the other side of the island a possible form of rescue should appear. Obviously, the boat is not big enough to save everyone. Will we see a repeat of season one where a select few make an attempt to leave the island and return to save everyone?

9. The vaccination kit
The briefcase containing the vaccines has a Dharma logo with the Swan on it, which makes sense to me. But was the vaccine necessary for the original hatch inhabitants or was it too also part of the experiment. Charlie brings this case to Claire, as he knows how much she wanted it. Is a reconciliation in order for next season? And why would Claire, or anyone for that matter, inject themselves with an unknown substance? I don’t think I’ll ever understand that.

10. The Hanso Foundation airs its third commercial.

"Paid for by Jeep (tm)" is seen in the opening sequence.

Commercial # 3 which aired on May 17th, 2006 during the episode "Three Minutes" is almost identical to the first and second commercials. It begins with Leonard Da Vinci’s self portrait, then Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man (my photo on my blog profile page, what a coincidence), a video of the Space Shuttle taking off, a DNA strand, Alvar Hanso himself (out of focus and in the distance), and then cuts to the above scene.

The commercial voice-over audio states: “Since the dawn of time man has been curious. Imagining all that is possible. The Hanso Foundation: Reaching out to a better tomorrow. Discover the experience for yourself. Visit http://www.letyourcompassbeyourguide.com/” The voice-over is that of Carleton Cuse recognized from the Official Lost podcast.

As part of the Lost Experience game you can visit the above mentioned website to play further into the game and receive more clues.

Pre-Air Observations Episode - "Three Minutes"

Pre-air observations from commercial:

Michael tells the truth!
After watching the latest Lost commercial (tonight May 14th, 2006 on ABC) during Grey's Anatomy we find that everything Michael has said about the others is true.
We see that they live in a compound with tents and huts.
The are dressed in rags and are dirty.
We did not see a great many of them.
There were only two guns visible (looked like M-1 Gerarnd's).
And they were guarding their own hatch.

Episode - "?"

Recap: Lost Episode “?”
Air Date: Wednesday: May 10th 2006

This episode probably should have been called “Mr. Eko sees dead people!”

In a dream (or perhaps not), a dead Ana-Lucia comes to Mr. Eko and tells him to help John Locke find the “question mark.” Then his brother, the priest, comes to him in another dream with the same advice. Mr. Eko’s life flashes before his eyes.

Ana-Lucia is dead and Libby clings to life. Michael frets the outcome.

What about Henry? It appears that he shot three people. He’s on the run and Jack wants retribution but that is left to Locke and Eko. Eko and Locke head off into the jungle to find “Henry Gale”.

FLASHBACK: Eko is attempting to make his way to America but is interrupted by his Monsignor to investigate a miracle. We find out that a drowned girl who was dead for two days comes back to life during the autopsy.

Kate tells Hurley about Libby and he races to the hatch to sit by Libby’s side.

Meanwhile, back in the jungle… (I always wanted to find a place to use that phrase) Locke and Eko share a dream in which Locke is Eko!?! This bizarre dream leads them to the discovery of a new hatch (Station 5 –The Pearl). Locke and Eko switch perspectives. Locke believes that he has been wasting his time with useless button pushing while Eko now believes it is the most important thing they can do! What gives?

Inside the Pearl hatch Eko and Locke see two lounge chairs facing nine T.V. screens. They also find and view the Orientation video for Station # 5 The Pearl. There are composition books and a pneumatic tube for sending the composition books filled with data back to the Dharma Initiative.

FLASHBACK: In the airport the girl who was drowned meets Eko. It seems she has a message for him. “Yemi says you were a good priest.” Yemi, Eko’s brother has been dead quite some time but the girl says she met him on the other side.

Back at the hatch Libby tries to tell Jack and Hurley about the shootings but with her dying breath she simply says, “Michael!”


Discussion and Observations

General Discussion and Observations:
1. The drowned girl’s father is none-other than the Psychic, Malkin, that Claire went to visit before flying to Los Angeles.
2. The “miracle” drowned/revived girl confronts Eko in the Airport and Libby comes up to them from behind and inquires if everything is all right.
3. Because Jack needed a painkiller for Libby and Sawyer had the Virgin Mary statues with the heroin in them we now know where Sawyer is hiding the guns. Do you think he’ll move them before Jack needs them?
4. And how angry is “Henry Gale” going to be at our bunch of survivors? Remember, he told Locke that his leader was a brilliant man but unforgiving! A portent of things to come?
5. We find out that Eko was a priest in Australia. Did he study at college or is it a ruse?
6. The “miracle” girl tells Eko's that his brother Yemi said that even though Eko was pretending he was still a good person.
7. Is stepping on a Virgin Mary bad luck? If so, Mr. Eko is in for his share!
8. I thought for sure that Libby’s death would happen in the season finale and that they would drag it out. This is another episode where we see the writers concentrating on moving the story forward.

The Pearl Hatch
Since I love the mythology of LOST (witness my LOST game blog) most of this week’s discussion is going to be about the new hatch [Station 5 – The Pearl] (and who isn’t discussing this now).

1. Is the Pearl hatch the Accelerated Remote Viewing Training Facility that Thomas Mittlewerk talks about in his voice mail message to Hugh McIntyre from the Lost Experience game? The Pearl looks exactly like the ARVTF sounds, a remote viewing station!
2. The log that Locke prints out is very interesting. It seems that the viewers/researchers/workers from the Pearl Hatch are also pushing buttons but it seems not at 108-minute increments. If you look closely at the number the accepted numbers are much closer together in time than one hour and forty-eight minutes. More to come on this when I can study the printed log better.
3. The nine T.V. screens seem to correspond to the all the stations. So, there are nine different locations to remote view and only six hatches (according to the blast door map.) Although, one could argue that the CV locations could be included, and probably are. Also, from the Orientation Videos/films we know that there are only six videos/films: “Dharma Initiative – Orientation – 5 of 6” which should mean only six hatches.
4. The narrator of the Orientation video introduces himself as Dr. Mark Wickman (Wickmund, Wickand) (5 of 6 Pearl) and both his hands work but in the earlier Orientation film (3 of 6 Swan) he introduces himself as Dr. Marvin Candell (Kandell, Candle) and has a bum hand, which later is verified by the writers as being prosthetic. What gives? This would suggest that the “original” Orientation film was actually produced after the video appearing in “?”. Regardless of what name he uses he is, without a doubt, the same person. Why two different names for the different orientations? Obviously, neither is his real name. Why the blatant anonymity? He also says that the Swan inhabitants will “struggle to complete their tasks” but the Swan film only gives them a single task.
5. Who are the de Groots? (University of Michigan scientists.) But what have they to do with the island and the Hanso Foundation? The original orientation film states that the Dharma Initiative was founded in 1970 by University of Michigan doctoral candidates Karen and Gerald de Groot and financed by the mysterious Hanso Foundation, apparently composed of a group of “scientists and free thinkers” from around the world who were brought together at a “large-scale communal research compound” on the island to conduct research in various disciplines, including meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, and electromagnetism. American psychologist and Walden Two author B.F. Skinner is cited as an influence on the de Groots’ work. (from Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dharma_Initiative)
6. Why was the circle near the Pearl Hatch marked with salted earth? And why be visible from the air?
7. The narrator also states that after the eight week time limit is up that the viewers can make their way to the “Apollo Ferry to return back to the barracks.” This can only mean one of two things: A. There is another island located close by where the workers go to relax and/or live, or B. The mainland is close enough to reach by ferryboat. Hmm…
8. The narrator states unequivocally that the Pearl Hatch is for viewing Psychological Experiments.
9. MJS brings up a good point. Are the viewings recorded? If so Locke and Eko could rewind the Swan hatch video and see what really happened when Ana-Lucia and Libby were shot. It seems from the previews for next week that Jack and Lock already know that Michael was somehow involved.
10. The narrator also states that when the composition books are filled they should be rolled up and inserted into the tube for transport back to the Dharma Initiative. Does this mean that they are relatively close to the Dharma and that they too are on the island? P.S. I want a Dharma composition book… they are so cool!
11. Eko and Locke find the Pearl Hatch. The notation on the blast door for “?”: “Designation Unknown? Purpose Unknown? Relation to D.I.H.G. Unknown. Nil Actum Reputa Si Quid Superest Agendum (“Consider nothing done if anything remains to be done.”) Note that it did not take an entire season to get inside and explore the newest hatch.
12. The first thing I thought of when I saw the T.V. screens in the Pearl hatch was the www.subLYMONal.com page (from the Lost ARG). Very similar to my eye!
13. Hopefully, someone has the sense to go over the papers that Eko took from the Pearl hatch. There may be important information there. However, no one seems to be studying the island in depth. Locke would be the most likely candidate but even he, it seem, is only interested in finding the next hatch.
14. It looks like no one has been in the Pearl hatch for a long time. There was dust on top of all the items on the table, the printer was mottled with what look like moss or mold and the paint was peeling off the walls. How long has it been abandoned?
15. Why the Pearl? Easy, one definition for pearl is: a shape that is spherical and small. Pretty much hits the nail on the head.

Mr. Eko’s Flashing Life Sequence
Thanks to the controls on our DVR we were able to slow down the sequence of flashes in Mr. Eko’s “life flashing before his eyes” scene. The images are as follows:
1. The tail section survivors on the beach right after the crash
2. A scene from the jungle with the smoke monster
3. Unidentified floating dead body (in purple striped shirt)
4. The Dharma Swan Hatch symbol
5. Yemi’s (Mr. Eko’s brother) cross lying on the ground
6. The feet of the children, taken by the others, as they walk by
7. The teddy bear carried by one of the children, taken by the others
8. A fire on the beach
9. Nine Virgin Mary statues
10. The burning smugglers plane
11. Mr. Eko’s brother Yemi, when he was living
12. The Dharma Arrow Hatch symbol
13. Eko’s hands holding a copy of the Holy Bible
14. Mr. Eko’s Jesus stick
15. Close up of Locke’s face (with a shocked expression)
16. Mr. Eko and the smoke with his brothers face as a small child superimposed on the surface of the smoke
17. Yemi’s decomposed body with the cross
18. Yemi’s decomposed skull
19. The smugglers plane taking off from Nigeria
20. Truck with soldiers coming to get Mr. Eko in Nigeria
21. A scene of Yemi yelling
22. The Orientation guy (Mark Wickman, Mark Candell?)
23. The Dharma Swan Hatch symbol


SPOILER ALERT***** SPOILER ALERT ***** SPOILER ALERT

Here is a list of the guest stars for the season finale of LOST. This list of guest appearances may be considered spoilers. Reading further may spoil things for you. I warned you……

Malcolm David Kelley as Walt
Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond
Sam Anderson as Bernard
M.C. Gainey as Mr. Friendly
Michael Emerson as Henry Gale
Clancy Brown as Kelvin Inman
Tania Raymonde as Alex
April Grace as Ms. Klugh
Alan Dale as Charles Widmore
Stephen Page as Master Sergeant
Michael Bowen as Pickett
Sonya Walger as Penelope
Len Cordova as man no. 1
Alex Petrovitch as man no. 2
Eyal Podell as young man
Cathy Foy as receptionist
(From the www.thetailsection.com)

Who is Charles Widmore?
So Clancy Brown is both Kelvin (of the Swan hatch) and Kate’s Dad?

Only two more episodes left! Those of you not following the game… should!
Season 2 DVD’s will not be available until October 6th, 2006

Episode - Two for the Road

Wow!!! Ok, not what I expected at all! And I think the wrong people got shot but we all knew it was coming and I still was surprised when Michael started shooting. “What just happened” was, I think, my initial reaction. Then it was “WHAT JUST #^$%*&%$# HAPPENED!!!!”

Recap:
"Two For The Road"
Air Date: Wednesday: May 3rd 2006

Michael is found in the jungle by Jack and Kate. He needs medical attention and they take him back.

Back at the hatch, “Henry Gale” attacks Ana Lucia. Locke saves her life at the last minute.

FLASHBACK, the man who shot Ana Lucia has been found dead. Ana’s mom knows the truth. Rather than face her Ana Lucia quits the police force. After a short time as a security guard at the airport Ana runs away to Australia with Jack’s dad, of all people.

Michael regains consciousness in the hatch and tells Jack and Kate that the others are weak, live in tents and eat dried fish. They also have a hatch, which they guard day and night. He also intends on taking his son back.

Ana Lucia wants a gun, presumably to shoot “Henry Gale”. And “tricks” one from Sawyer.

Back at the hatch Ana Lucia throws a knife to “Henry” and tells him to cut himself loose but when the moment of truth comes she cannot kill him.

Hurley attempts to court Libby with a picnic on the beach but forgets blankets. Libby volunteers to get them.

Ana tells Michael that she couldn’t kill “Henry”. Michael taking the gun says that he can and asks for the combination. After Ana gives it to him Michael shoots Ana in cold blood. Libby walks in and Michael panics shooting Libby in the stomach. He then opens the ammo room and shoots himself in the arm.

What the…..?????

Discussion and thoughts:

1. As far as the episode itself goes I again thought this one was a bit unsatisfying (except for the last two minutes). There was absolutely no mythology and no Science Fiction/Mystery. When are we going to see more smoke, or polar bears or buried hatches? Locke seems to be peripherally investigating the significance of the blast door map by looking at the blast door itself and by trying to draw the map from memory but it is not enough to satisfy my own curiosity. I have a feeling we won’t see more of this until the season finale.

2. Did anyone catch the Hanso Foundation commercial that aired in the middle of the episode? I have the end screen here:

The commercial begins with Leonard Da Vinci’s self portrait, then Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man (my photo on my blog profile page, what a coincidence), a video of the Space Shuttle taking off, a DNA strand, Alvor Hanso himself (out of focus and in the distance), and then cuts to the above scene.

The commercial voice-over audio states: “Since the dawn of time man has been curious. Imagining all that is possible. The Hanso Foundation: Reaching out to a better tomorrow. Discover the experience for yourself. Call 1-877-HANSORG” I tried calling the number many times last night but always with the same message “Call Failed: Network Busy”. And I also notice that the Hanso Foundation web site is back up and running at:
http://www.thehansofoundation.org/
with a strange alternate site at:
http://www.bigspaceship.com/archive/hanso/Hans

1-877-HANSORG (877-426-7674)
I did get into the system but had a bad connection at the time and will update this section later. However, I can tell you that once you dial the number you have a few options. You can learn more about the Hanso Foundation (press 1) or go into Alvor Hanso's voice mail (press 2). If you pick Hanso's voice mail you get a message from a woman asking where he is and a German language message that mentions Geronimo Jackson. I'll try to keep up with this as we go and update accordingly. This is the beginning of the summer LOST game.

3. Here begins the 800 or so questions concerning Michael and his time on the "other" side of the island. After the final scene of the show I had way too many questions to write them down. I've formulated most of them this morning in the shower and on the drive to work. Diane helped with a few of her own last night.

a) Was Michael a prisoner of the "Others" or did he just observe them as he told Kate and Jack? And what happened to the rifle he took with him?

b) If Michael was a prisoner was he brainwashed or coerced?

c) Why is "Henry Gale" so important?

d) If Henry's mission was to collect Locke like he said why did Michael shoot two people to spring him from the ammo room?

e) Why is "Henry Gale" so important? Is he the head guy everyone talks about?

f) When Michael first wakes up in the hatch he seems very groggy and is mumbling. Did the “Others” drug him? Or is his dissidence in response to some type of coercion by the “Others” concerning Walt?

g) The episode ends leaving many unanswered questions... I assume that "Henry Gale" has made good his escape. But has he?

h) On a less important note (or perhaps not) Sawyer was on the beach reading a manuscript called "Bad Twin" by Gary Tro....... The rest of the name was not readable. Any significance?

I found this book on Amazon.com at the following web site: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401302769/002-7039970-8122443?v=glance&n=283155 with the following review:
Amazon.com Exclusive: “Author Gary Troup delivered the manuscript for his hotly anticipated thriller, Bad Twin, just days before he boarded doomed Oceanic Flight 815. Watch the recently uncovered video clip of Gary Troup on Book Talk interviewed by Laird Granger talking about the controversy surrounding his mysteriously out-of-print first book, The Valenzetti Equation, and his new novel, Bad Twin”.

And the following from: http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Lost/Badtwin.htm
'Bad Twin' by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
‘Bad Twin’ is a private-eye procedural involving a wealthy heir's search for his nefarious brother, based on a supposed "found manuscript" by Gary Troup, one of the passengers killed in the crash of Oceanic flight 815; Troup apparently delivered the document to ABC’s sister company, Hyperion Books, just days before he boarded the ill-fated aircraft.
Hyperion has now commissioned a novel by a "well-known" mystery writer (whose identity is being a secret), which supposedly constitutes the book (ABC/Hyperion has previously hired best-selling mystery novelist Ridley Pearson to ghost-write ‘The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red’, a prequel companion-book to the Stephen King miniseries ‘Rose Red’).
Published by: Hyperion Books
Release Date: Spring 2006
Notes: *Featuring Jack, Kate, Locke, Charlie, Sayid, Sawyer, Shannon, Michael, Hurley, Jin, Sun and Claire

P.S. I ordered the book from Amazon.com today. I’ll let you know if it has any redeeming value or game clues. WHRIII

i) In the flashback Ana and Jack's dad go to a home in the suburbs and Jack's dad demands to see his daughter. This means Jack has a sister. With all the six-degrees-of-separation going on in this show I would venture to guess that Claire is Jack's sister. And there was a blue Jeep parked in the carport. I seem to recall Claire driving around in a blue Jeep. Anyone else remember that? Or am I mis-remembering? (And is that even a word?)

j) How did "Henry Gale" know that Ana-Lucia has killed someone? He calls her a killer when she confronts him so he knows, or has studied, her past.

k) What is Hurley going to do when he finds out that Libby has been shot? Is she dead? I, for one, don’t think so. We’ll see. One thing is for sure, it looks like I was wrong when I said Henry Gale was one of the ones to be killed before the end of the season. In a way, that is good news as he is a great character… one of those people you love to hate!

4. The numbers did not match at all in this episode. Michael states that there were only 22 people in the “Other’s” camp and that they had only 2 guns. The combination to the ammo room was 18R 1L 31R again not any of the numbers. And in the flashback with Ana and Jack’s dad a boat in the background had the following printed where the name should be “II IUVIUV” hmmm…

5. The Lost Experience has begun. Check out this website for more information….http://www.thelostexperience.com/