Staying Lost After Lost - The 23rd Psalm

Mr. Eko is one of my very favorite characters.  And not only because I'm fond of his Jesus stick.  His past is traumatic, dark, passionate, deep.  It's a shame we only get him for a little over a season.  He would have been epic.  I understand though that the actor, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, needed to leave due to his parents' death.  It's one of those things that you run into with TV, like Walt.  Sometimes I wish Lost was a book.

I feel very resolved with this episode.  The mysteries don't bother me.  I know what the smoke monster is.  I know how and why the plane got there.  I also know that this storyline isn't going anywhere and that there won't be extreme reveals - some general connections, you know, as always.  But I kind of sat back and enjoyed this episode.  The storytelling in the episode was amazing.  It really was always about the characters.

After the show ended I heard a rumor that Eko was supposed to have the role that Sayid had in Season 6.  The Flocke assassin I guess?  And I did notice a couple of interesting things that kind of proves that true to me.  The way that MIB scans Eko, I think that MIB scanned Locke this same way in Walkabout.  To our knowledge we haven't seen anyone else have an encounter with MIB besides Locke and Eko.  I think that MIB may have been seeking these two out to carry out the rest of his plan to completion.  I also think it's kind of interesting that the drug dealer told Eko that he has no soul.  And I remember Sayid saying something about him having no soul after what happened to him in Season 6.  Just a cool idea to me and I kind of connected a few things with that theory and this episode.

This was a beautiful episode that gave us Eko's story.  And when you first watch you see a bunch of crazy things that happen on island.  It is a great episode!  But to me they ruin it a little bit with Michael and his IMing.  I guess at the present time when you are watching the IMing is kind of awesome but now I am just trying to figure it out.  I always thought that it was not Walt (Damon and Carlton apparently say otherwise).  It was the Others luring Michael into the jungle to do something - who knows?  But last night on the podcast Dara brought up something kind of interesting.. What if it was MIB doing something crazy in Michael's head?  Just like with any vision on a dead relative or crazy dream that one of the other Losties would have.  I always thought it was strange that Michael is IMing - Jack walks in the room and his IMs are gone without him pushing a button!  I just thought that was a very interesting take on it.

I think I have said it before, but one of the best things about Lost is that everyone can have a different take on things and it would make sense.  That's why I love talking with Lost fans and doing the podcast because I get to hear everything - the strange, the crazy, the religious, the funny, the angry, the happy.  As a big fan of Eko - I am kind of angry we didn't get to see everything they had planned for him.  But I do appreciate his story and what he brought to the island.

Staying Lost After Lost - What Kate Did

Everybody has daddy issues in this show.  And Kate isn't excluded.  This episode brings those issues to the forefront and we get to feel a little bit of sympathy for Kate in this episode.  And even though I am not a big fan of hers or Season 2, I did enjoy this episode - for a Kate-centric episode anyway.

First of all, the love triangle can go to hell.  If I want to see some girl unable to choose what guy she wants to be with I will watch Days of Our Lives.  I'm just not into it.  But something clicked for me as to why Kate NEEDS these two men.  Her mother always had Sam, a good upstanding guy - reminds me a lot of Jack.  And she always had Wayne, the trashy guy she couldn't seem to let go of - reminds me a lot of Sawyer.  That is quite the daddy issue.  But it's manifesting itself on the island to help her let go of it.  So I guess I understand the triangle.  But I still hate it.

Off island Kate was tolerable.  I thought what she did to Wayne was a little drastic and over the top.  But I don't think she was being entirely selfish for once.  I really think that she was trying to take care of her mother.  She wouldn't have taken out the insurance policy if she was totally selfish.  She would have just killed him.  I do think that she killed him for selfish reasons though.

On island Kate was even more selfish than ever!  She doesn't go to Shannon's funeral, she flees the Hatch with the button alarm blaring and Sawyer on the ground, she kisses Jack, the dialog she has with Sayid was all about her... I really think that her issue is more being a selfish person than it is running.  Running is just part of her being selfish.  She is getting away from what she did that was so selfish.  And then it just leads to more selfishness.

Since we don't see Kate anymore after she leaves the island, we don't get to see if she makes peace with her selfishness before she dies.  But I think that we get to see it in the flash-sideways with her episode "What Kate Does."  And what she does is not run.  And not act selfish.  She goes back for Claire and then takes her to the hospital, things like that.  Pre-island Kate would have never, she would have just kept on running.  So I think that it was cool that they used the flash-sideways to show us her progression.

I think Kate progresses well in this episode.  I think her admitting why she killed Wayne to Sawyer was a big step.  Yeah, everything she said was selfish, but she said it. And she felt really sorry too.

I think we were meant to not like Kate until we had her back story.  This is definitely the  case with me.  I loved her before, Season 1 made me dislike her.  She doesn't entirely have all my love now but I get her now.  And I bet she has it all back before the re-watch is over.

They also threw a ton of island mystery stuff at us too with Locke and Eko and the Orientation film, as well as Michael and the IM'ing.  And I admit that when I first watched this episode I was quite involved with that mystery, but this time I was really focused on Kate.  I feel like this show has done a complete 180 on me... just another reason why I love it so much!

Staying Lost After Lost - Collision

This episode was a very self-contained Season 2.  Not many answers or revelations in the storyline of this episode.  The only thing I noticed was the Locke/Eko set-up and the stupid love triangle set-up.  I kind of liked how they started those story lines though.  But I do I think a lot was revealed in Ana-Lucia.  Even though I hate her.

Ana-Lucia Cortez.  I am not a fan.  I understand who she was, why she was on the island and what she gave us an example to.  While watching this episode I really tried hard to watch it with Season 6 eyes.  And I do think that I got more out of it watching now that the show is over.  But I still don't like her.  She isn't as bothersome as Nicki and Paolo, but I will take Kate over her in a heartbeat.

She is a quick and simple glimpse into the show as a whole.  I can see why she was on the island.  She was flawed.  She was broken.  It is unclear if Jacob picked her or not, but she has all of the attributes that any of the other survivors.  She had things that she needed to let go of.  She had parent issues.  Very similar to the other ones.

To me, her issues have nothing to do with her unborn baby.  She overreacts to everything.  I mean, tying Sayid up after you just killed his girl?  Throwing Nate in that pit.  Not to mention killing everyone - Goodwin, Shannon, the guy who shot her when she was pregnant and on duty.  Maybe she is in panic mode and flips out?  She's scared, she knee jerk?  To me, this is her real problem.

I think she was getting over this on the island.  The island is an intense place where you meet these troubles in your life head on.  You have to face them and get over them.  She cries on Eko, she expresses remorse and opens up to Sayid.  I think she is progressing.  I think she does progress.  In her final moments, Michael asks her to kill Ben and she cannot.  And then Michael kills her.  She has made her progress, let go and it was time for her to move on.  This is the entire core of the show.

I am not exactly sure why Desmond said that she wasn't ready in the Flash Sideways.  But I like what my friend Matt said about her - the fact that she "wasn't ready" in the Flash Sideways should tell us that there is not much reason to love her.  I totally agree with this.  To me, she wasn't a well-loved character.  And we don't have to love her.  She was an example of dealing with issues, letting go and moving on.  Just like Shannon was.  We see this type of cycle go down with all of our characters.

I am definitely not a fan of Ana-Lucia.  But I do appreciate what they were doing with the character.  I don't think she was entirely pointless.  But she rubs me the wrong way and I will never like her.  Sorry.

Staying Lost After Lost - The Other 48 Days

This episode did not do it for me.  Not discounting it at all, but it was only good for what it was at the time.  I don't think it was awesome, adding more to the series like some episodes have.  But it did add a lot to Season 2 at this point in time.  And the way it was done was brilliant.  But it didn't add anything to my experience to the show as a whole.

There is always another group that comes along to mix it up with the main characters - this is the Tail Section, the Others, the Frighter, the Temple people.  They eventually (mostly) die off.  But from these groups we get Bernard, Libby, Juliet, Ben, Alpert, Faraday, Charlotte, Miles, etc.  Lost is a rare kind of show that can do something like that.  I think they did an awesome job bringing these groups in.  It worked.

The big mysteries of this episode have pretty much been solved.  We know who the Others are.  We know who sent Goodwin and why.  We know that Dharma had stations all over the island.  The only thing to me that was kind of a mystery is kind of why they had to take the people?  Why couldn't they say, "Hey - you guys crashed here, come with me," or something?  These people were advocates of Jacob.  Jacob loved choices.  Why aren't the tail section survivors given a choice?  I asked this on the podcast and again, my lovely co-host, Dara said it was all Ben Linus.  This makes sense.  Ben really can't do anything in a civilized way.  He has to go about things very sinisterly.  It's just who he is.

We don't really actually know where these taken people go and what happens to them really.  We see Cindy, Zack and Emma all the way into Season 6 and I'm assuming that more were taken that we were unfamiliar with.  But were they brainwashed in Room 23 or something and made to believe they were Others?  We know there were a lot of Others off island so maybe some that were taken were already Others.  Another thing we never fully got an answer to, but we can just assume they decide to live life as an Other at the Temple or Dharmaville or something.

Again - as far as the whole arc of the series goes, this episode just does not fill anything in for me.  But it is always good to watch these episodes for the nostalgia.  And also just to see how much they did really answer.

Staying Lost After Lost - Abandoned

I really never would have thought that a Shannon-centric episode would be so telling of the about the entire show and how it ends.  It shows us a little more clearly than it did with Boone about letting go of your past.  It sets up the idea of constants.  It is perfectly annoying with Wet Walt.  And it also gives us a little bit more to see about the tail section.  But I think I will save that for next time.

Shannon probably always had it in her to be caring and do well for herself.  But no one ever thought she could.  Maybe it was because she was young and pretty.  Or whatever it was, people around her made her this way.  Her father included.  And she believed it about herself almost.  I think her step-mother was jealous of her and wanted her to be incompetent for the rest of her life because she probably didn't like the relationship Shannon had with Boone.  Shannon needed to be believed in.  And Sayid did that for her.  He helped her let go of that feeling she had about herself.

We knew there was a connection between Shannon and Sayid since early Season 1 when he asks her to help him with the French translations.  But we don't know why and how big of an impact that is going to have on each other until Season 5, when Daniel Faraday explains to Desmond that he needs a constant.  They set this constant thing up so early.  And we don't even notice it.  We don't even think it's that big of a deal.  And most of us think that Shannon and Sayid are a weird couple.  And he loves Nadia anyway.  And to me it just seems that all of that was cleverly placed in there to throw us off.

And while I have Nadia brought up, let me bring up something that I noticed.  In Season 6's "Sundown", Sayid tells MIB that the only thing he ever wanted died in his arms and that he will never see it again.  He is really talking about Shannon here.  Not Nadia.  While he was with both of them when they died, he is really holding Shannon.  Whereas, with Nadia he kind of strokes her hand.  I mean that is probably very minor and doesn't mean much.  But I will take it since I am all for Shannon and Sayid!

I have tried for a long time to try and figure out what they were trying to do here with Wet Walt and honestly, I can't.  I have thought about some really strange ideas of what they may have been thinking but I just can't get anything to make real sense.  And maybe it's because they didn't have anything to make sense of it.  At this point they knew they weren't going to have him back on the show.  So why have him lead Shannon to her death?  Who knows, maybe they were really going to do something with it but Malcolm David Kelley grew more yet again!  And they had to drop it.  Whatever it was, the whole Walt situation really pisses me off.  And I do hope that later on sometime the creators might explain it.  But I am not holding my breath.

This was a really good episode.  It showed us a lot of answers before we knew they were answers.  And some creepiness in the background with the tail section, which again does not really bother me since I know kind of where that comes from.  A first watch recap of this episode would have been completely opposite of this one.  But now that we know everything we are going to know, I think it has completely changed the show.  And maybe for the better, you know.  I think I am actually starting to enjoy Season 2.

Staying Lost After Lost - ...And Found

This episode wasn't rich in clues at all.  But it did blatantly show us the con.  It was Jin/Sun-centric.  Sun loses her wedding ring.  Jin is on the other side of the island with the Tail section and Mr. Eko and they are looking for Michael.  Ana-Lucia is headed with Sawyer and the rest of the tail section to the main Losties camp.  A lot going on... but what really mattered?

This episode was really creepy when I first watched it.  Flipped out Ana-Lucia, dead Goodwin, the Others' feet.  It was so scary!  Who are the Others?  What did they do?  Where is Walt?  It was soooooo creepy!  But in true Lost fashion - back there in the flashback you have the amazing love story developing between Jin and Sun.  Just reminding me that Lost is not about those Other's feet.  It's a giant love story that conned us into being hooked with the creepiness.

I guess the biggest thing that stuck out to me this episode and I had it in my notes but my beautiful podcasting co-host, Dara, made it a little bit clearer to me.  Locke says to Sun, that he's basically "found" since coming to the island and it's because he stopped looking.  I have to say that I don't agree with him here.  He isn't found when he is talking to Sun here.  He isn't found at all.  Maybe in the flash sideways when he is walking into the church.  But he is always looking for something to make him not feel so worthless.  And possibly at this moment he was feeling found but it ends when he finds the Pearl station.  And he was feeling found probably when Widmore heals him up when he flashes to Tunisia but ends when Ben kills him.  That's the tragedy of him.

I really don't have much to say about this episode, really.  Lost was a love story.  And they threw us off completely with creepy stuff.  I couldn't see it then.  But I see it now.  There are many couples in this show, Jin and Sun are the first solid couple we get to see.  And while they may be slightly boring, they do show us what I think is one of the realist love stories ever.  And nothing else matters in this story but love, really.

Staying Lost After Lost - Everybody Hates Hugo

Hurley episodes are generally the lighter side of Lost.  But this episode was actually a little more emotional.  Everything is different and changing for Hurley in this episode.  On the island, he is put in charge of the food they found in the Dharma Station.  Off the island, he has won the lottery and no one knows until he is busted at the gas station.  We also get to see more of Eko - I mean the Tail Section.  And Kate takes a shower, because she is the only one who ever cleans herself!

In Hurley's dream, Jin says "Everything's going to change."  Change is something very apparent in this show.  And for the sake of this episode, I think I will bring back the "Lost Axiom."   So, this change is Lost Axiom #7.  Over the course of the show, the characters change, the island changes, the rules change, the game changes.  I think change is the progress that Jacob talks about.  And I understand change.  It happens in life.  Things changes.  It's scary as hell.  So I understand what Hurley is going through here.  He doesn't quite get over how it changed and he lost his friend off the island, but on the island is uses that experience and does things how he wants to with the food.

I don't know if they really knew that  Hurley would take over on the island at this point.  But I find in hilarious when he says things like "Jack put me in charge."  And I think that this episode does a great job of showing how awesome Hurley accepts his responsibility and, again, takes care of people.  When Hurley lets everyone have at the food and enjoy a little picnic, the Losties are happy.  They aren't thinking about the Others or the smoke monster or anything like that.  They are just having a nice moment.  I had to really hold back the tears right here at this picnic.

I am sorry but to me it seems like Rose always knew everything.  On island and flash sideways.  She just seems enlightened.  She doesn't care about what's going on with the A-team and the hatch, and what it is.  She just wants to be on the island, do her laundry and wait for her husband.  Because nothing else matters.  Her and Bernard are the same way in the flash sideways.  They just seem so all knowing all the time.  To me, anyway -  I could be completely wrong.

It seemed like there was a lot of juxtaposition in this episode.  All of the Hurley stuff, learning about the tail section, and then I was just chuckling so much at Jack and Sayid exploring the hatch.  They are the ones that caused it!  It just makes me laugh so much when they are in the hatch.

Now that Lost is over, I just really cry at it a lot more.  The picnic scene was so moving to me - I guess because there aren't that many happy moments in the show.  I just don't remember being so sad about it when I first watched it.  I was the same way about Boone's death.  I did not cry when it first happened but now that it's over I can't stop crying!  Not that I don't mind that Lost ended.  (I'm ok with it because it needed to.) But Lost just means a lot to me.  It makes me think.  It makes me happy.  It brought a lot of good friends to me and back to me.  So, I know that this sounds so sappy, but it's more that just a show to me.

Staying Lost After Lost - Orientation

This was a very enjoyable episode of Season 2 - and not JUST because Eko made an appearence. I think it loosely sets up what is to come. I think I am quite a fan of Locke-centric episodes. As much as the character confuses me and pisses me off - his story is good. It's tragic. This episode was written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and the episodes that he writes always seem to captivate me the most.

To me, this was Orientation to the game. Locke's faith. Jack's disbelief. The button could be seen as a foreshadow to the light cave end game. The button, this hatch tested Locke so hard.  Jack as a witness to what Locke went through. They both gained a little from each other in the hatch. And they both needed each other to go through these things to get where they needed to be.

I am not a fan of Helen bu tLocke's faith came straight from Helen. I never noticed how much faith he drew from her.    He is even regurgitating a lot of what she says.  And the reason he is so into the hatch and believing - I think is because he should have done what Helen said there in his flashback about his father.  And now he has the chance to believe, in this hatch. And he will. I still absolutely hate Helen for being so vile to Locke. But she did give him a lot to hold onto on the island. And Jack needed Locke to be so blindly adamant about things for him to get where he needed to be.

Locke's story aside, I really liked Jack's stuff in this episode. He was really freaking out. I think it was because of Desmond. And remembering Sarah. In addition to an impossible button that saves the world. Everything was just making him an irrational mess - like worse than normal. Like he could not take everything that was happening. He is so reluctant to push that button when Locke asks. But he does it. And I think that shows some more Man of Faith potential in Jack.

The Dharma Initiative was something that I used to think was so amazing. Especially after this Orientation film. I really thought that they were something major. But after Season 5, I just think they are a bunch of idiots! The only thing cool about this film now was the fact that Jack is watching it and learning all about the incident when he is the one that caused it. I don't know what the bomb did, but I think that the whole scenario was the incident. And it was cool to see that. I also think it was very cool that we actually did get to find out what the incident was.

Jin, Sawyer and Michael also had a little time in this episode where they were harassed by the tail section. This part of the episode just made me angry because it made me think of how many ideas they gave us about the Others that just were not true. But when it comes down to it though, it is not about the Others. It is about what these characters are going through. And I can totally see this now and it just makes this show that much better.

Staying Lost After Lost - Adrift

Season 2 lays some ground work down for how the show will go.   And I can see that now.   But at the same time it is all over the place.  I don't even know how to explain my frustration for this season.  A Michael-centric episode here.  Great.  Just icing on the Season 2 hate cake.  So I tried to watch with a clear mind.

I was not bothered with the Dharma snacks, or how long this crazy man had been in this 1980's hole.  I didn't feel all WTF when Desmond asked the snowman question.  But I remembered those feelings and I liked it.  This was a story about the characters.  Always has been.  And I can see it now.  Clearly.  So I sat back and I studied Michael.  As a character.

They didn't just say they were going to throw Michael away and make him a whisper-teller right here.  They knew that he wasn't ever going to let go of what he needed to and they knew he was going to be a pawn for MIB.  And from this episode I see what they were doing with him.  That's what it looks like to me anyway.

Michael's attitude in this episode on the raft is so telling for me.  Especially when it is contrasted with Sawyer's.  I see potential in Sawyer for change when he saves Michael and shows concern for Walt.  Michael has no potential.  Michael is hung up on Walt.  Michael cannot properly let go of Walt because he was never given a choice.  And he could never let go because of this.  So he was stuck on the island as a whisper.

Lost is about choices.  Or at least feeling like you have a choice.  Michael was never given anything like that with Walt.  Susan wanted Walt all to herself.  And manipulated Michael into giving him to her.  Michael could never choose.  Once Michael finally got Walt he was taken by the Others yet again.  Why was Walt taken?  Probably for the whole Jacob replacement thing... But maybe it was more of a test for Michael to let go of him.  And Michael could not.  He was so obsessed with Walt.  He killed people.  Michael's story is very tragic.  And I was able to see it a little more clearly now. (It was always about characters.)

Locke really creeped me out this episode with his interaction with Desmond and Kate in the Hatch.  His blind faith in things has always bothered me.  And it is ultra creepy here.  Clearly, he thinks he is the chosen one for something.  And he thinks this is it.  He is also being manipulative here with tying up Kate so that he can talk to Desmond about his "destiny."  I do not think he was doing anything for the good of them all, as he says.  He wanted Desmond alone to talk with him.  It's creepy and it will never be not creepy.  I think that Locke really needed to let go of that.  Not that I don't like Locke and his island love.. but his whole destiny obsession, yuck!

I think I will learn to love Season 2.  It has potential.  (like Sawyer! haha)  After watching this episode I can see that it will happen. The mystery is nostalgic but they knew what they were doing and I will be able to see the path.  The sharks and the Dharma snacks were just put there to throw us off.  I really think I will love it.  I am hoping, anyway.

Staying Lost After Lost - Man of Science, Man of Faith

This episode was good, all season openers are.  It wasn't as mind blowing as the first time.  But to me, there were a few things that completely clicked for me.  This was a Jack-centric episode.  They discover what's in the hatch.

Last season I was all about picking up on the little clues that I never saw before.  As well as trying to figure out Locke.  Well, I think that after season 1, I get with Locke now.  He was just a vulnerable guy who needed something to feel special.  I strongly believe that Jacob and MIB both were using him to serve their own purpose in their mouse trap game.  It was tragic.

So, anyway.. Why I brought that up is because for Season 2 I am going to try to figure out the Hatch and how it fits in the big picture for me.  To me, the Hatch was so annoying.  And as of right now I don't understand it.  Now, on to the episode...

Like I said, it was not mind blowing end game stuff here but there were some things.  I think they had the Season 1-2 break to figure some things out.  And the biggest thing was Jack's faith.  We don't see him struggle with it much in Season 1, but it is in our face this episode.  I think the title has everything to do with Jack and nothing to do with Locke.  Jack is a Man of Science when he gets on the island.  But I feel like during the flashback and his ability to see that miracles can happen with Sarah's surgery show that he has the potential to be a Man of Faith.  He's just not there yet.  This type of struggle is in all of us really.  We know where we need to be, we just need something serious, like unsuccessful hydrogen bomb detonation, to get us there.  It's a struggle.

Locke says the Hatch is their destiny.  I kind of believe this.  Only because of Desmond.  He is the one who goes into the light, pulls the cork and ends the game for MIB.  They absolutely needed to go into that hatch and get Desmond.  Boone absolutely needed to die for this.  As pieces of this puzzle that Jacob built everything they did was their destiny.  The first time I watched this, I thought Locke was so weird for saying that.  But now, since it's over - I totally believe it.

I still stand by everything I say about Walt, as the new Jacob, trying to get Shannon off the island by having her killed. He made that promise to her. He knows there is no other way off for her besides dying and flashing sideways. That's how I explain it to myself anyway.

In addition to "See you in another life, brotha" there was a really big clue into the sideways for me.  This was the "Make Your Own Kind of Music."  The lyrics of that song really make me feel like they mean the sideways.  To me, that sideways was them making their own music.  It was their cozy place where they were able to come to terms with themselves for themselves.  I love this story.

Staying Lost After Lost - Exodus

Exodus was a pretty action packed episode.  A lot went down to get things where they needed to be to start Season 2.  We meet the Hatch, we meet the Others, we meet the Smoke Monster, we get more acquainted with Danielle, we see the Black Rock (and who ever thought that we would get the answer to how that ship got in the middle of the jungle?!), Man of Science/Man of Faith starts.  And I think that this is my favorite flashback ever.  I loved seeing how most of them got to the plane - especially Hurley!

The thing I noticed the most in this episode is the way that some of them are starting to change.  Sawyer tells Jack the story about meeting Christian, Sun and Jin find their love, Shannon starts really caring for Sayid.  I really never noticed how much they are letting go of their former selfs.  Not everyone is there yet.  I don't really see this in Jack, Kate, Hurley, Charlie, Sayid... etc.  But it really is beautiful what they are doing with these characters.

I had a thought during this episode that made the whole Walt appearing to Shannon in Season 2 kind of work for me.  I am probably totally wrong and totally off on this but it makes me feel better about it.  So, in this episode when Walt gives Vincent to Shannon, she accepts taking Vincent if Walt gets everyone rescued (or something to that effect).  So, my idea is that maybe Walt with all his Jacob like powers knew that Shannon was never going to get off of the island and the only way to be rescued was to die and flash sideways.  So, he appeared in a Jacob-like fashion to her and got killed her.  I haven't rewatched Abandoned or anything.  But this idea that I had really makes me make sense of this weird scene with Walt.

Something in this episode that didn't make sense to me.  And still kind of don't know - Locke getting pulled underground the smoke?  I have heard some theories about MIB trying to claim Locke as he did with Sayid.  And I like that.  Whatever he was doing I feel it was out of a panic mode.  I feel like MIB knew of the loophole for a while and maybe he saw the Hatch as a threat to that plan in some way.

I also noticed that John Locke was back.  The Man of Faith that I was so excited to see in the pilot episode.  I feel like her was lost a little bit in the middle because the writers/producers didn't exactly know what they were going to do with him.  And I couldn't quite separate him from MIB because Season 6 had him a little tainted in my mind.  But his exchange with Jack about Man of Science/Man of Faith really showed me that Island-loving Locke is here.  And I just hope I can look at him without MIB glasses on this point forward.

Well, Season 1 is over now.  It has been an amazing journey.  I got so much out of this watching Season 1.  It was really nostalgic.  I just really enjoyed watching everything and making the connections that I made.  I want to thank LOSTblog.com for giving me an awesome home everyone that has read about my ideas and listened to me and my friends on the WTAL podcast.  I am really looking forward to Season 2.  Previous watches of the show I could not stand this season so I am interested if The End will change my opinion on this as it did with Kate.  Plus - Eko will be back.  I can't wait!

Staying Lost After Lost - Born to Run

Oh, I am not a fan of this episode.  I took about 7 notes total on this episode.  I normally take about 2-3 pages worth.  In this episode we get a little more character development in Kate.  Jack sees the hatch and Walt is kind of creepy.

Kate is selfish on and off of the island.  I don't really want to rehash every scene.  But the con she pulls to try and get on the raft - she uses Sun, gets Michael sick and tries to steal a dead woman's identity.  And off island - SHE wants to see her mom and this leads to Tom dying.  I was so incredibly mad at her this entire episode.  But I see her problem a bit clearer.

She runs because she is selfish.  Now, I understand that there may be some underlying issue here about where the running stems from - abuse (which I really think that she has the most messed up parent situation of all the Losties), or whatever, but that is something we will never get to see really on screen - it is all speculation.  Kate gets in a bad situation, she runs.  No matter what the consequences are.  That's selfish.  I think that Aaron and Claire helped her overcome this.  She had to put others before herself.  She had to learn to quit running and to just love Aaron enough to go back for his mother.  That is the most beautiful thing about Kate.  Sawyer calling her out on her fugitive status helps her get there.  She has nowhere to run on this island.  She just has to deal with it.

Sayid leads Jack to the hatch this episode, which leads to the Jack and Locke problem to escalate even further.  The whole episode Jack and Locke are going back and forth about discretion.  One doesn't listen to the other about anything.  But again, there challenge of one another is something that they both need.  They feed off of this until the end.  But to me it wasn;t as apparent as it is now.

Another thing that was just weird for me was Walt.  Now at this point Malcolm David Kelley is growing at rapid speeds and they know he is headed on that raft and never coming back.  So why did they have him feel Locke and get all freaked out?  I really have no answers but I like to think that Walt may have felt the hatch and all of that Season 2 drama that comes with it.  I really don't feel like he felt Locke/MIB connection.

This wasn't my favorite episode.  As season 1 comes to a close, I can honestly say I have no idea how I was such a big Kate fan.  I can really see how all for herself she really was.  Her back story disgusts me the most and maybe that's why she is the first one to get a "clean slate" given to her on the island.  But I am happy that she got over that problem through the island with the help of her friends.  Beautiful story.

Staying Lost After Lost -- The Greater Good

This week, everyone is dealing with Boone’s death. Jack and Shannon are taking it the hardest. Both of them are blaming Locke for what happened. We have a Sayid flashback. Jack and Locke’s tension is building, Shannon is letting go of Boone.

When I first sat down to watch this episode, it sort of struck me as odd that they would have a Sayid flashback during all of the Boone stuff that was happening. But at the end, I had if figured out for myself. Shannon. She was going through a lot this episode. She was one of the few who crashed with a family member and now he was gone. He was her brother. And even though she messed with his head a lot, she still loved him. I think Sayid saw a bit of his former roommate in her. She lost a loved one and wanted nothing more than to get revenge with Locke.

This was similar to the former roommate’s story. But unfortunately, Sayid didn’t get to save his roommate from making a big mistake. But he did get to save Shannon from making the big mistake of killing Locke. This helps Sayid kind of get a do over on this type of situation and I think it also assists Shannon in letting go of Boone. Instead of Shannon just killing Locke in an act of rage, she was able to come to some terms with his death before moving on from the island. Like Christian said in the church - “You needed them and they needed you.” This is a really good example of that to me.

The Jack and Locke dynamic really intensifies in this episode. According to Lostpedia, this episode was supposed to be titled “Sides” and I think that is really a very good name for it. This actually starts those two Jack and Locke sides. Foundations of Science vs. Faith have been given to us up to this point, but Boone’s death is a catalyst to Jack vs. Locke. I really do think that Boone’s death served the most purpose on the show. I mentioned some examples in previous posts. I feel like the episode title that they picked, “The Greater Good”, references Boone more than anyone else this episode. He was a sacrifice. He died for the greater good of all of the other Losties. Another example of “You needed them and they needed you.”

Like I have said before, Sayid episodes do nothing for me. They are too violent. I don’t enjoy them at all. This one wasn’t any different for me. Also, I feel it was quite stand alone in comparison to other episodes that fill a lot in for me. If anything, I will say that this episode just showed me how deep and strong the characters bonds are. They are all broken. And they all help each other become fixed. They really do need each other.

Staying Lost After Lost - Do No Harm

To me, this was the most emotional episode of the rewatch so far.  It is a Jack-centric episode.  The flashback showing us his extreme inability to let go.  On the island we have the fundamentals of the show.  They could have picked any other episode to have Claire give birth or have Boone die, but it is interesting that they showed all of it happen in the same episode.  I feel like the exemplifies the light cave: life, death and rebirth.  I seriously haven't cried so much during an episode since The End.

The Life: I have said before, none of these flashbacks are random.  Whether the characters are picking these memories to think about while they going through something on the island or what, they always mean something to they are going through on the island.  In Jack's flashback, he is getting married to Sarah.  Christian gives another one of his "awesome" parent speeches where he tells Jack he "can't let go."  And that really gives us this base to the story of why Jack isn't giving up.  But I don't think that is the entire reason this wedding situation was picked.

I think his marriage was picked because he wasn't really ever able to let go of Sarah.  The Others even knew!  Ben even mentioned that Juliet looked like his ex-wife.  He re-bounded with Achara.  It was more than just Christian's words here.  It was the physical manifestation of those words into Sarah and into Boone.

The Death: Boone was the first major character that we see die.  And it's so sad.  I am under the impression that on island, there are two ways to die.  The first one is completely letting go of what your came to the island with.  And the second is never letting go of it (a la Nikki and Paolo.) I don't think Boone let go of Shannon.  I think that is what made him a "sacrifice."  I think that while he was coming to terms with his death he decided to let go and move on.   Which is why we see him in the flash sideways, genuinely happy for Shannon and Sayid.  When he said "Tell Shannon..." I like to think it was going to pertain his moving on.

Something I found really interesting while Boone was dying.  He tells Jack that he can let go of him. I don't know if it is just coincidence or Boone was flashing sideways somehow here.  Just another one of those things that we will never understand.  Especially since we never got to see Boone wake up in the sideways.

The Rebirth: The most emotional part of the episode for me was Aaron's birth.  What Kate says about Aaron was really beautiful.  "You are not alone in this. We are all here for you. This baby is all of ours."  And it made me think a little bit.. Maybe Aaron is special.  Not in the "ZOMG Aaron is Jacob!!" way, but in the sense that they are all special to each other.  If it wasn't for Aaron, Kate would have never agreed to go back to the island.  The Ajira plan wouldn't have worked and who knows what would have happened.  They are all pieces in a puzzle.  Aaron is just as special and important as Jack is in my opinion.  (And by the way - I totally forgot that Jin was just hanging out at Aaron's birth.  Kind of creepy!)

Again, this episode wasn't too big on the island mystery.  We got a lot of character here.  (It is all about the characters!) But we did get a little nugget.  I said last week that Boone's death serves purpose and I feel like one of those many purposes were fueling the fire to the feud between Jack and Locke.  It was just more mouse trap.

Staying Lost After Lost - Deus Ex Machina

This is by far the best episode that I have rewatched yet.  In this single episode we get everything.  I feel like I understand Locke.  I understand the Hatch.  I understand why Boone was a sacrifice.  I understand MIB and Jacob's game.  Logistics of the television business out of the way, this completely set up the direction Lost was going and end of the story.  And without a hitch (or growing adolescent) - this plan worked out.  (This was also the very first episode that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse wrote together.)

Let's start the way the episode started:  the Mouse Trap game.

Locke:  "Well, you start with all these parts off the board. And then, one by one, you build the trap - shoe, bucket, tub - piece by piece it all comes together. And then you wait 'til your opponent lands here on the old cheese wheel. And then if you set it up just right, you spring the trap..."

This little dialogue Locke has with this kid while he's working at the toy store is perhaps some of the most explanatory dialogue that we will ever hear.  It explains this episode and it explains the entire show.  Let me just start with how it explains the episode:

Locke was led to the Hatch.  Yes, it was part of his destiny.  And it has nothing to do with MIB.  In my opinion, the Mouse Trap in the episode was built by Jacob.  Jacob manipulates just as much as MIB does and this episode he needs Locke to get to that Hatch and make sure Desmond turns that light on.  That is the only thing that needs to happen here.  Locke's attempts at opening the hatch need to fail.  He needs to start losing faith.  His legs need to stop working.  He needs the vision.  He needs Boone to go into the plane.  Boone needs to get hurt.  Locke needs to go to the Hatch at that exact moment and bang on that window so Desmond doesn't kill himself.

The title of this episode is Deus Ex Machina, which in Latin means God out of the machine.  To me, they are clearly referring to Desmond.  Desmond is the fail-safe for making sure the island doesn't self-implode when Locke fails to push the button and he is also the one who goes down to the light cave and ends everything with Jacob and MIB by pulling that cork.  He's important.  He's needed.  And Locke is the only one on that island that is going to be able to conned into the Mouse Trap.  I have said before that these flashbacks are never random.  Locke was being conned by his father in the flashback and he was being conned on the island.  In this episode and the entire series.

The entire series is a giant Mouse Trap to end the game.  Everything Jacob and MIB do to position the candidates where they need to go is a part of a giant, ancient mouse trap game.  Jacob's touching, MIB's interference, the Oceanic 6, the time travel, the Ajira flight.  It was all apart of the mouse trap that we finally get to see end.

So, what do I think about Locke now?  I still think he was quite influenced by MIB, especially early on.  But more importantly, I think he is just very easily influenced.  He wants to be accepted.  He wants to be whole.  And anyone can take advantage of that.  His parents who gave him up for adoption even knew that!  So, no matter what is influencing Locke at the time, he will take it as long as he's made to feel special.  So yeah, I get him now.  He is half sucker (like MIB said) and half believer (like Jack said).  We should all know by now that nothing is ever pure black and white on this show.

Staying Lost After Lost - Numbers

Hurley episodes are always great.  They are hilarious and also dark at the same time.  I don't know how Lost does it.  But Hurley is one of the amazing things about the show.  Up until now. Hugo "Hurley" Reyes has been comedic relief.  We don't know much about him.  This episode opens us up to him and what brings him to the island.  We also get out first glance at those pesky numbers.

I am going to go ahead and get this out of the way.  Locke is creepy in this episode.  How did he know it was Claire's birthday?  And why does he decide to make a cradle for her?  Locke is just getting more and more ambiguous as the episodes continue.  And this whole  scenario is just weird.   This episode is the beginning of Locke acting like Claire's creepy uncle.  And I don't know if MIB wanted Claire to start trusting Locke (for reasons I still haven't figured out) or if Locke was just being a nice guy.  I just don't get him.

This episode begins some heavy mythology with the numbers.  Before I was watching Lost, I heard them discussing the numbers on the radio.  They were taking calls from fans of the show asking them what they thought of the numbers.  Many people thought they were coordinates of where the island was.  And so when I first watched the show, I thought that could be what they were.  I thought transmission of the numbers and them being etched on the hatch was a way for them to almost keep track of where the island was.  I never, ever thought that the numbers were going to correlate to people.

It makes sense though.  In line with the show and the ARG they had explaining that the numbers are from an equation that predicts the end of humanity, it makes sense to me if MIB was really going to leave the island and destroy the world.  These numbers were the core values of this equation and if the numbers are attached to these people that are the last ones left to stop the world from MIB.  It kind of makes sense to me.  I don't know if they had all of that planned out but it is pretty cool to think about.

I think that Hurley using these numbers opened something up for them to all get to the island.  I tend to think that Hurley, as the leader of the island went back in time (before Jacob time even) and manipulated things to get these people, including himself, there.  And I think these numbers are part of this.  They aren't cursed, but they are the thing that Hurley is holding onto.  Like Sawyer and his letter and Kate and her toy airplane.

My favorite scene in this episode was the trek into the jungle by Hurley, Jack, Sayid and Charlie to go see Rousseau.  It was so old fashioned Lost.  This episode was so great in so many ways.  The way they portrayed Hurley in the dark and light.  It was just completely awesome.

Staying Lost After Lost - ...In Translation

We are Jin-centric this week, which means we are love-centric!  This episode has no mysterious island stuff.  It is all character driven.  Which I absolutely love!  We get to see the raft - how nostalgic!  Sun reveals her English skills.  And there was a ton of Shannon and Sayid!  I really enjoyed watching the episode again.

Just coming off of Sawyer and his epic character change, we have a Jin flashback.  I think that Jin is also one of my top character changes as well.  He was such an ass to Sun!  We see it big in the beginning of the episode and we see it in earlier episodes too.  And I think he is an ass because he hates what he has to do to have her.  He is filled with resentment from it.  And since she really has no idea what exactly her father is making him do, she becomes resentful as well.  It just all boils down to lack of communication.  I wanted to tell them to stop that because they don't have much time together.  This whole episode.  Jacob tries when he visits them at their wedding.  Their story is just really tragic.

This episode was a lot about Sun also.  She has to reveal that she can speak English, one of her biggest secrets ever, in order to save her husband.  That must have been hard for her.  But at the same time very liberating. Now she is able to interact with the other survivors.  And she was also able to tell Jin, in English, that she was going to leave him.  I took this as a way of her admitting that to him without him knowing it.  A way for her to get it out so that she could move on from that point.

Speaking of...there was a lot of moving on and new life references in this episode.  Boone tells Sayid that Shannon likes older men, gets what she wants from them and then " she moves on."  Locke tells Shannon that everyone gets a fresh start on this island.  On the first watch, I really never noticed how much this idea is put forth.  This is really the basis of the show.  I think that they use Shannon/Sayid as a good example of this.  Shannon starts letting go of this immature older man takes care of me idea.  Not to make Boone angry, but to honestly become a new and better person.  Sayid helps her with this.  That's why I love this relationship so much.  I know most people hate it.  But to me it is just beautiful.

I cannot figure out how Locke knew that Walt burned the raft.  And I can't figure out how Walt burned the raft.  The only answer I have that makes myself feel good about this stuff is what I read from Carrie.  Carrie was bookclub for the month of September at the WRLB Lost Bookclub down at lostblog.com.  I was the bookclub leader that month.  It is the story of a girl with telekinesis power (and the awesome ability to set things on fire using her mind - I wish I had this power).  I think Walt and Locke are special.  And that they have this power already.  The island makes is stronger.  This is how Locke knows what people are thinking.  This is how Walt burns the raft.  Reading these Lost books really enhances my rewatch of the show.

Like I say, some episodes don't have much mysterious content.  They are just nostalgic to watch and get a little bit extra out of now that everything is over.  I really enjoyed this one.

Staying Lost After Lost - Outlaws

Ok, this episode had way too much Kate and Sawyer bonding this episode for my taste.  Hopefully, I can make it through this recap without vomiting.  Anyway, enough about me.  This episode was about Sawyer.  We get to see a little bit of what shapes this man into the cold and callous guy we see on this island and track boar along the way.

I really feel like don't have a lot to say about this episode.  Earlier episodes are going to be like that unfortunately.  And this episode didn't give me much resolve either.  It kind of left me with more questions.  The whispers are mostly what confuses me.

I'm going to come right out and say my unpopular idea.  That boar was MIB.  We have seen the MIB be a boar and harass Richard.  I think that is what he is doing here with Sawyer.  Messing with him, harassing him, making him want to kill the boar and exemplify to Jacob that people have no progression.  Since Saywer did not shoot the boar it shows that he is changing.  Little by little we see Sawyer progress into a really good guy.

The whispers.  I checked over at Lostpedia (whisper transcripts) and found out what they were saying in this episode and it really creeped me out.  They are observing Sawyer and what he is doing.  We know what the whispers are now that everything is over.  But this episode really makes me question who the whispers are.  We hear the voice of the man Sawyer killed.  So is he on the island as a dead whisper?  Or was it just MIB egging him on?  Is Jacob and MIB's mother a whisper?  Or was that some type of pre-smoke monster manifestation?  Just a lot of questions that hit me with that answer of the whispers being the dead ones that can't move on.  And I don't know if I am going to be able to fully resolve this for myself because the answer is so odd.

Locke's story that he tells also really freaks me out.  How did he know what Sawyer was going through?  See, this is why I really think that Locke is some what influenced by the MIB.   Maybe MIB just inherently knows (after thousands of years of practice) what bothers the people who come to the island.  He knows how to make it always end the same.

There are some more dead parents in this episode.  Sawyer's parents obviously are dead thanks to Locke's father.  I am beginning to think that this is almost a requirement.  (I'd like to call this Lost Axiom #2 - since it seems as though I skipped over that number!)  Perhaps having at least one dead parent gives Jacob and MIB the leverage they need to get to to the island and do what they need to do.  I am not letting Jacob off the hook here.  I remember how he gave little James the pen to write that letter to real Sawyer.  I really think that our Sawyer would have been able to let go a little sooner had he not written that letter.

I feel like James Ford went through the biggest and most amazing change on this island.  He went from being the asshole that stole everything to a really loving man living in the 70's with Juliet.  Even in the final moments on the island he was teaming up and helping everyone.  I don't think Season 1 Sawyer would so easily do that.  He was just a kid when everything happened.  He really never could get past it.  I think killing Anthony Cooper helped him let go.  It's morbid, but he needed it so that he could let go of his Sawyer character that he created in himself.  When it was over, he was James Ford again.  There was no mention of Sawyer in the Sideways, he let go.  The way they presented his character and his change was just brilliant.

This episode wasn't all bad.  I did really like going through the episode and seeing Sawyer's story again now that we know how he was resolved.  Take the whisper mystery out of this episode and it is  just a story about a little boy that never got over his parents' deaths.  He doesn't seem so asshole-ish in the episode.  We see him being sociable with Kate.  He gives the gun back to Jack and almost has a moment with him about Christian.  The episode just shows us that he can be a good guy and he can show us that there is progress.

Like I said, this episode didn't really have much content as far as the end goes.  It didn't leave me feeling huge amounts of resolve.  It actually confused me further on the whispers.  It wasn't amazing.  And wasn't into the Kate and Sawyer bonding.  But I did enjoy the episode for the Sawyer story.

Staying Lost After Lost - Homecoming

Wow!  This was a great episode.  I totally don't remember it being as awesome as it was.  There was mystery, there was action and  there was character development. Really good episode all around.  It was a Charlie-centric episode that gave us a little bit of insight into why he does the things he does in this episode.  Claire is back with amnesia.  We see Ethan briefly, but it won't be the last of him for us.

The basic crazy mysteries that in the episode have been resolved.  We know where Claire was.  We know what they do to her.  We know who Ethan was.  We know where he came from.  And even though this episode was jammed with action stemming from those mysteries, I was able to sit back and watch this episode for the characters.  And no matter what mysteries they presented in the story, when you strip those out it becomes a story about people learning from their past.

These flashbacks are never random.  And Charlie's flashback is quite relevant to what is going on.  He wants whatever happened in that flash to be a lesson learned.  He wants to take care of Claire.  He wants to be respectable.  And even though what he did was shocking, I think he accomplished it.  Sure - killing Ethan was shocking.  But in everybody's eyes at that moment, he kind of protected them.

The Claire and Charlie moments were just amazing.  And again, minus the mystery fluff - I could really see their relationship growing.  His thing is taking care of/saving a woman.  Similar to Jack's fixing problem.  He does take care of Claire the whole time he is on the island.  When he leaves is when she goes missing and eventually turns into the Claire we see in Season 6.  If he would have lived, would she have stayed on the island and turned into that?  I don't think she would have.

His death was completely avoidable.  But I think that the moment he decided to sacrifice his own life for Claire's is when he was able to let go and move on.  It wasn't about Charlie saving someone because he wanted to.  He was doing that entirely for Claire and Aaron and not to satisfy his flaw.

Whether they knew they were going to have MIB be what we know it as or not, they knew that John Locke was going to be the bad guy.  And, for me, I like to color it as Locke has been influenced by MIB.  I don't know how.  I have no evidence for it.  And I could be wrong.  I will believe this until I find some evidence that proves me wrong.  He said something really interesting to Jack while they were planning what to do with Ethan:

"...What if he delivered his threat so that we would gather like sheep to the slaughter in a confined space where they can roll in and take us all in one fell swoop."

Hm, does that sound familiar?  I am pretty sure that "Smocke" tried to do that to the candidates in the sub.  Now, I know that they weren't planning that whole sub scene, but it was really interesting that they had Locke say these lines. Why not Jack or Sayid?  Just really interesting to me.

I want to spend a minute on Ethan.   He died this episode but we don't stop seeing him.  He is in every season but Season 4.  He is creepy and intriguing.  I have so many questions about him.  The one I answered for myself this week pertains to Claire.  Why was he so obsessed with Claire?  I don't really think he was telling the truth in the Missing Pieces mobisode when he said he lost a wife in childbirth (Others are liars).  I think it pertains more to himself being born on the island.  I think that he feels attachment to Claire and the baby because of this.  To me, that is where the obsession comes from.

This was a good episode because I wasn't confused while watching.  It was a character story when all of that madness was plucked away.  And I think they kind of show that to us when Charlie kills Ethan.  Charlie said he shot him because he knew they would never get answers from him.  And Lost is not about answers.  It's about the survivors.

Staying Lost After Lost - Special

I am going to preface this by saying that this episode really makes me mad that this story was on TV.  Had it been a book, they could present whatever story they wanted and wouldn't have to worry about Malcolm David Kelley growing. (And by the way, I would have been FINE with a 20 year old looking 13 year old on the island.  Stranger things have happened there!)  Since they totally sent Walt's story on a boat, it makes me feel that this episode was slightly pointless.  They were going to do something awesome with him and I'm sad we never got to see it.  Was the epilogue really the long-story-short of it?  I know we will never really know but, it is so much fun to theorize.  Even though it also makes me mad.  Haha.

This episode opens us with Michael looking for Walt, as usual.  Michael finds him.  He was with Locke, opening up his mind.  This to me is more important than throwing the knives.  We see Walt manipulate his environment several times before this.  A good example is Michael telling him that he will look for Vincent when the rain stops.  And then, the rain stops.  We also see it a little bit here in the flashback with Walt's mother and the bird.  Locke tells Walt to see it in "your mind's eye."  And when he does that the knife goes into the tree.  How does this happen and how does Locke know he is "different", as he says to Michael?

I have an idea about this.  So, it is my opinion, based on the epilogue, that Walt returns to the island and is groomed to be the new protector.  Thus, allowing Hurley to eventually move on.  I am talking maybe several hundred of years later.  Walt has these weird and unique powers because of his status as protector.  It was obvious Jacob had powers.   He can control the magic box (on and off the island) because he could always control the magic box.  He can appear places he shouldn't because he always could.  He can appear on the island as a child at different times, similar to Jacob.  Walt wasn't at the church because he has never died.  Maybe time and space doesn't affect Walt because of this.  I'm probably entirely wrong, but it makes me feel better about Walt and this story line with this in mind.

So, now that I have gotten my explanation of how Walt isn't entirely pointless to me, I want to get a few of the awesome things that did happen in this episode discussed.  It was a Walt/Michael-centric story but the central themes that are always there were there.  The messed up parent situations were there.  Letting go is always there.  There is a little bit more letting go in this episode.  Last week I should have called that Lost Axiom #6.  There is too much letting go in this show for it to go unnoticed.

Here we have Michael let go, unwillingly, of baby Walt to Walt's mother.  And then Michael lets go of Walt a little bit more after the polar bear incident.  But he never really can let go of Walt entirely.  Maybe that is what is keeping him on the island as a whisper and not really the Libby/Ana Lucia stuff.  Maybe Walt will go back to the island to help Michael with letting go.  And then we have Boone, graduate of Lockepaste University, now free of Shannon's manipulation.  The best part of letting go is being able to ignore that thing that gave you so much trouble and feel good about doing it.  I was really proud of Boone here.  Totally awesome moment.

I kind of want to get back to what Locke said - "using your mind's eye."  Walt says he saw the knife go into the tree "like it was real."  Strange things happen on this island based on people's memories.  This is true and real.  From Walt's knife throwing to Richard's Isabella appearing to Hurley.  And after watching this episode, now that the show is entirely over, I kind of want to focus a little bit on why this is going on.  The first few episodes I thought that it was just MIB playing tricks on them.  But maybe it isn't that at all, maybe it is the island giving them something "special", allowing them to experience things to let go and move on.  Almost like the island is a third force in this light v. dark game.  I don't know if my ideas on this are changing or not, I just need more evidence.

The more I get through these episodes, the more I am starting to feel disconnected to the end of the series.  Not that this is a bad thing, but I think that we are starting to head into their uncharted TV land territory.  The part that had no real plans.  I think that it will stick to the central themes of the story, but I think that most really apparent Season 6 reflections will kind of fade out at this point.  But that is ok.  This show was filled with a lot of mystery and now that it is over, I can't wait to see how much of it will connect.  I came into this with no theory to prove.  My ideas that I have about a certain thing may change as it goes on.  I'm watching it with new eyes now.  I just want Lost to make sense to me.