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Lost: Exodus, Part 3

Jack: "I don't believe in destiny."
Locke: "Yes, you do. You just don't know it yet."

When it comes right down to it, what is the ultimate when it comes to survival? Children. All this time, we were led to believe the Others wanted little Turnip-head, when what they really wanted was Walt. I didn't see that coming, even after Danielle told us, "The Others said they were coming for the boy."

What with Danielle being the Turnip-head-stealing culprit, I was starting to think that there really weren't any Others after all (yes, I forgot about Ethan), when boom, there they were: scuzzy, ragged, bearded, and looking like trouble. It was kind of like Deliverance. You could practically hear the banjos playing.

Why on earth would they want Walt? The most obvious possibilities make me shudder. But then, what about the woman with the long, blond hair behind the windshield? The only time we could really see her was when she was throwing the Molotov cocktail onto the Raft. Was that Danielle's daughter, Alex? If it was, then I'm even more confused about what the Others could possibly want with Walt.

Was Walt a replacement for Ethan?

We got more clashing of Jack and Locke, and Locke even spelled out exactly what the problem was: science vs. faith. Jack was almost petulant: "Everybody wants me to be a leader until I make a decision that they don't like." I think what he said to Kate about Locke being a problem was right on the money. But I also think the message we got in this episode was that Locke was in control, not Jack.

The Raft failed. Sawyer was shot, and he, Jin, and Michael were left fifteen miles out on a bunch of sticks. A failure of technology.

Locke's flashback was painful: no wheelchair, and the humiliation of having to be carried on board the plane, which emphasized Locke's misery and helplessness. (And how could he get to a bathroom during a fifteen hour flight?) The absence of the special airplane wheelchair also symbolized a failure of technology.


Hurley's The Graduate-like running for flight 815 flashback was the last, and the longest. We saw Hurley's numbers everywhere; Hurley paid $1,600 to use the old man's scooter, flight 815 took off from gate 23, and there were those soccer jerseys. And we also saw technology failing several more times:

— His alarm clock wasn't working and the electricity in his hotel room had shorted out.

— The car (which had the numbers 42, 23, 16, and 4 on the dash) died for no apparent reason.

— Arzt, in the long baggage check line, said, "You're taking the computer out, now?" to one of the airline people.

Interesting that it was technology, in the form of the magnet and the flashlight, that let Hurley see the numbers on the Hatch... but he was still unable to stop Locke from blowing it. Locke wasn't going to let anyone stop him after getting that far.

The Island wanted Locke to go underground. The Monster tried to take Locke down the hole. The Hatch also leads underground. Ergo, whatever entity is in charge of the Island must be down the Hatch, and it wants Locke. The Hatch seemed to go down forever (gateway to the Hellmouth?) and the ladder rungs were mostly broken off and missing. I don't think it's going to be easy to get down there, and almost impossible to get back out. Hey, I wouldn't go down there. But I bet Locke will in season two.


For me, the best scene in all three parts of "Exodus" was the final flashback where they all came together on the plane: Claire, Kate, the marshal, Sawyer, Locke and Jack, Charlie struggling with his guitar, Sayid and his new photo of Nadia, Jin and Sun with Paik's watch, Michael buckling Walt's seat belt, Shannon and Boone and her inhaler, Arzt, and finally Hurley, in his two seats, with his Walkman, reading a very familiar Spanish-language comic book. Note that there were only two interactions: Jack and Locke nodding politely to one another as strangers, and Hurley giving the thumbs up to Walt, who smiled back.

Character bits:

Claire didn't know what "Aaron" meant. According to my baby name book, it means "lofty or exalted." And of course, it's a biblical name: Aaron was the brother of Moses. Exodus? Moses?

Extremely interesting that the two main flashbacks we got in this final hour were Hurley and Locke. I could swear the bird screeched their names.

Jin gave Paik's watch to Michael. Very sweet, as well as symbolic. Everything on Lost is freaking symbolic.

Michael figured out that Sawyer is suicidal.

Charlie showed such courage and determination, enduring so much to retrieve Aaron for Claire. And then he succumbed to the heroin. How disappointing. Of course, we didn't seen him take it, but still.

Sayid and Shannon made up. I knew it would happen.

Interesting role reversal, with Locke "operating" on the Hatch, and Jack assisting.

Sawyer was eight when his father killed his mother and then himself. Did we know he was eight?

Sawyer called Michael "Han" and Jin "Chewie."

Have you noticed that Hurley is always last? It must mean something.

Bits and pieces:

— We finally got a good look at the Monster. If you look at it frame by frame, it was a small stream of black smoke that looked just like the smoke sent up by the Others, but horizontal. And then the Monster arrived, and it looked like the same black smoke, but a lot bigger. This time, we could definitely hear machinery. I remember Locke saying he'd looked into the eye of the Island. The Monster was shaped like a tornado, and a tornado has an eye.


— If you add the four Others to the 43 survivors, you get Rambaldi's favorite number, 47. We're back to 47 again.

— A working boat implied that the Others were there by choice.

— There were no tracks or footprints leading to the torch on the beach. Were they washed away by the tide?

— How come Hurley's seat number (20) wasn't one of his numbers?

— During the two hour Lost finale and the Alias finale, we must have seen a commercial for every single hot movie of the summer.

Quotes:

Michael: "You're either a hero, or you want to die."
Sawyer: "Well, I ain't no hero, Mike."

Sawyer: "Hey, Han, you and Chewie want to slow down a second?"

Locke: "Boone was a sacrifice that the Island demanded."

Jenna the flight attendant: "This is your lucky day."

Fun and exciting to watch, but parts two and three lacked the emotion and cohesion in part one. I was mildly disappointed that we got lots more questions and very few answers. But that's the nature of the show, after all, and I do love the show.

Three out of four polar bears,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

7 comments:

  1. I completely agree that parts two and three lacked the emotional kick that part one did. However, I was absolutely glued to my seat sometimes literally gasping or holding my breath during the final two. It was a wonderful mix of pure action adrenaline and character beats. I certainly did not see the whole Walt thing coming. The juxtaposition of his being taken with the flashbacks, being able to see how far Michael and he have come, broke my heart.

    For me, the best bit was the final flashback of them all getting on the plane at the end. I have flown hundreds of times, both for work and for pleasure. The shots of everyone pushing on, smiling politely, and then retreating into his or her own little world was perfect. I’m here to tell you, I will never board a plane again without looking at who’s around me!

    Kudos as well to the set designers. They did a very passable job of making Honolulu look like Sydney, Los Angeles, New York and even Iowa. Their airports are less real (Heathrow is not quite that dim nor is Sydney quite that bright), but who cares. We get the point.

    I said in my first comment that I struggled to see the characters as they were in this show. In fact, it took me about five shows to stop thinking of Jack as Charlie (Party of Five), but now I am completely invested in all of them. I love the large cast and the options it gives for duets and groups.

    The writers are to be commended for how tightly written this show is. I spend a lot of each show looking for the clues and wondering how something small will rear its head again. Speaking of writers, Billie, you’ve done it again. No surprise there. Your reviews are fantastic and I can’t tell you how much you have helped me pick things up that I missed.

    OK -- I get it now. This is a fantastic show and I understand why so many people on this site reference it so often. Thanks to all of you. I probably would never have given it a shot without you.

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  2. And thank you again for your terrific comments, ChrisB. I'm reliving the show as I read them.

    I wasn't posting my Lost reviews on the blog for the first few seasons, but we did have a large and very active discussion list, Lostreviews. http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/Lostreviews/ I wish there was a way to copy all of the wonderful comments posted there and bring them here. Ah, well.

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  3. I'm impressed by all the symbolism and numbers that you notice. I've never considered anything in the show to be symbolic, and the only time I notice those numbers is when they are all together, like on the hatch. You pay a lot more attention to detail than I do

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  4. I know this is 17 years late, but I found this fan-made docudrama about an online scavenger hunt story they made after Season 1: https://youtu.be/w9Tw12WskOk
    It gives some backstory for the Dharma Initiative, plus an explanation of Hurley's numbers. (There's no spoilers for future episodes.)

    By the way, I really appreciate all the Lost reviews on the site. I wasn't around to experience the cultural impact of this show, and I feel like reading through your reviews and speculation gave me a great idea of what it was like to watch the show when it came out.

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  5. Goldenguy880, thanks for the kind words and the link. OMG. Seventeen years.

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  6. Well, my son and I are already wrapping up season 2 and here I am just now writing my thoughts on the season 1 finale. Fair to say I probably won’t comment on too many episodes in S2 due to my procrastination!

    I will say this - 20 years on, this is still one of the best first seasons of television that we have ever had the pleasure of watching. In the sci-fi vein, its up there with The Expanse. In the drama/mystery category, it’s 2nd only to Severance, which I personally think is the best 1st season of a show I have ever watched. Really loved revisiting it again after all these years.

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  7. If we didn't see Charlie take the heroin, how do you know he actually did?

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