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.