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Lost: Jughead

Sawyer: "Who taught you Latin?"
Juliet: "Others 101. Gotta learn Latin. Language of the enlightened."
Sawyer: "Enlightened, my ass."

So Charles Widmore is an Other. That loud click you just heard was another Lost puzzle piece snapping into place.

The name tags and the uniform suggested that Widmore was in the military in the 1950s, ended up on the Island somehow, joined the Others and became a believer, and then, for some reason, he left. Maybe he was exiled when they realized what a prick he was. And just like the Oceanic Six, he's been trying desperately to return. Or to control the place. Kill everyone on it. Whatever.

Widmore's status as an Other also explained his previously cryptic conversation with Ben, and why Ben threatened to kill Penny instead of Widmore himself. The Others don't kill each other without a tribunal, but they're very much into an eye for an eye – remember the burn on Juliet's back for Ben's surgical scar? Ben must have been certain that Widmore's man Keamy wouldn't kill Alex, and was shocked to his shoes when Keamy did it anyway. Widmore changed the rules. It all makes sense now.

I love Desmond episodes, and this one didn't disappoint. After two years of watching Desmond long for her, it was lovely to see how happiness, marriage and fatherhood has changed him for the better. And I especially enjoyed the second stand-off in Widmore's office. Desmond was in total control this time and held all the cards; no sneers, insults, or MacCutcheon from Widmore this time. Except that their lack of communication means Desmond doesn't know about Ben. And Desmond is about to take Penny with him to Los Angeles, where Faraday's mother is. And where Ben is. (I'm in Los Angeles, too. Clearly, it's the place to be.)



There was a lot of Faraday. He's more of a ladykiller than I expected; in fact, he's apparently leaving a trail of broken brains behind him. Was he involved with Theresa Spencer? Was that her in the photo? Or was she just a human test subject who ended up like Eloise the Rat? Why is she adrift in time instead of dead, like Minkowsky? Because she's the victim of Faraday's pink hairdryer instead of the Island, I suppose. Widmore funding Faraday and taking care of Theresa Spencer explains why Faraday was working for him, anyway.

The Island segments were one big mishmosh of time travel confusion. I even thought at first that we had two factions running around with bows and arrows. I'm glad they actually gave us a date (1954), because that grounded me a little. And I thought "Jughead" would turn out to be one of Sawyer's nicknames, but no. Where is Jughead the hydrogen bomb right now, in 2004? Encased in cement somewhere on the Island, leaking radiation? Does the radiation, in combination with the Island's time travel brain thing, cause pregnant women to die? Will the series end with Jughead exploding? They don't introduce an element like this one into the story for nothing, you know.

We learned another bizarre little factoid about the Island; the Others communicate secretly in Latin. That's so weird and obscure that I can't even begin to figure out what it means. So here's some wild-eyed speculation. Do the Others date back to ancient Rome? Did the Island start out in the Mediterranean or the Atlantic? (For all we know, it could be back there now.)

Was the Island the original Atlantis? And if it were, wouldn't that be cool?

Character bits:

It's Lost, the Next Generation. Walt, Aaron, Ji Yeon, and now Charlie Hume. When we heard Charlie's name, I actually teared up. I think we can be reasonably certain that Des and Penny didn't name their son after the man they've been running from for three years.

You could say Desmond cleans up real good. He looked fabulously handsome in clean clothes and shades, and that hair? I'm sorry, I'm a girl. Deal with it.

Desmond lied to Penny, and she knew immediately. Very cute. I just realized that Desmond carried that photo for years of Penny and himself at a waterfront, and they've just spent three years living on the water.

Ellie knew Faraday. He didn't know her, but he said she looked like someone he knew. Clearly, he doesn't know her yet. She reminded me a bit of Alex and her slingshot. I miss Alex.



Miles said in the season opener that it took Widmore twenty years to find the Island the first time. Widmore was a young man in 1954, though. So what did that mean?

Locke told Richard to go see him born in Tustin, California, May 30, 1956. And we know that was just what happened. But in "Further Instructions," Locke's gun registration listed his birth date as November 15, 1946.

Richard said that leadership on the island starts at a young age. I guess Locke is an exception.

This week in Sawyer nicknames: the Geek (Faraday) and Blondie (Ellie). And again, it just seems odd to me that Sawyer has never called Juliet a nickname. I even went through my old reviews and checked; he never has.

Bits and pieces:

— In 1954, The U.S. military came to the Island to "run tests." Richard had them all killed.

— Apparently, Jacob was around in 1954. Huh.

— Why was the repellent young Widmore wearing fatigues with the name "Jones" on them? Was he wearing someone else's jacket, or was his name Jones back then?

— Mabuhay, where Charlie Hume was born, is in the Philippines. When the doctor pulled out forceps, I thought Penny and/or the baby were toast. Fortunately, no.



— No flashbacks again, except to the birth of the Hume baby. No 'three years ago" cards, either. They're unnecessary, anyway.

— "Department of Physics. Claredon 142-08."

— We saw the painting of the polar bear and "namaste" before, in "Flashes Before Your Eyes."

Quotes:

Richard: "I assume you've come back for your bomb."

Locke: "How did you know Richard would be here?"
Juliet: "Richard's always been here."
Locke: "How old is he?"
Juliet: "Old."

Sawyer: (to Juliet) "What about you? Want to stay here in Crazytown or help me rescue the geek?" Now, see? Can't you hear a nickname right after that "What about you?"

Three out of four polar bears. What's your rating?

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

27 comments:

  1. I think it is implied by the episode that the Others stole the military clothing and guns from the the soldiers that were there before and died. Miles hears the dead bodies. So Widmore wearing Jones has nothing to do with his name, just the name of the man who it used to belong to.

    Also, Ellie's first comment to Farady was not directed specifically at him, but at the group, thinking they were the military who were there before. She thought they all "couldn't stay away." Thus I don't think she knew him previously.

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  2. I think all the pregnant women in the island died because *nobody* was supposed to be born in the island for some time (for some reason), so the universe "course corrected" it.

    I also believe that Ben thought Alex wasn't supposed to die, she would play a part in the future too, but Widmore found a way to change "fate" and killed her when he shouldn't have;

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  3. I agree with Patrick, In the next scenes, Elle didn't appear to know Faraday.

    About the 20 years, maybe it took Widmore that long to find the island again, after leaving/being expelled/moving the island/etc

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  4. It seems likely that the hatch from season 2 was built around the bomb. sayid says in ep 4 "The last time I heard of concrete being poured over everything in this way was Chernobyl."

    It might explain why they had to push the button aswell.

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  5. "It seems likely that the hatch from season 2 was built around the bomb. sayid says in ep 4 "The last time I heard of concrete being poured over everything in this way was Chernobyl."

    It might explain why they had to push the button aswell."

    Thats just what I was thinking as well as soon as Faraday said it was still buried. Does it fit with the arrival of the Dharma Initiative getting to the island?

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  6. Interesting ep, but being a Brit I have to say that my enjoyment was somewhat impaired by everyone's appalling English accents... I can suspend disbelief with regard to time-skipping islands, teleporting cabins and dead people strolling around, but show me a bad cockney and you're losing me...:) Granted they weren't quite as bad as the Irish accents in Heroes, but close. :)

    Anyway, current theory - Dan knows Ellie because, in the word of Ted Theodore Logan, "it's your mom, dude!"

    Ellie - Eloise - Mrs. Hawking?

    They look quite similar and the time-frame fits, along with explaining why she might be helping Ben. Admittedly, Ellie speaks like somebody superglued her teeth together while Mrs. Hawking doesn't, but hey... reverse motor-neurone disease or something? :)

    Anyway, this is my first post and I just want to say thanks to Billie. I've been reading your reviews for years now and have always enjoyed them; often I enjoy them as much as the actual episodes since you always pick up on stuff that my slow brain misses! So, yeah, thanks, and long may you continue. :)

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  7. The Hatch thing and the Chernobyl comment -- very good. I missed that. I always miss *something*, though. Lost is just too freaking complex! There was an article recently about a guy who works for the Lost producers, whose job it is to keep track of details like this, and I thought, someone is getting paid for something I already do? :)

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  8. i think desmond is juliets mom. and the baby charlie is the real charlie but younger in time. i think the bomb is the one that jumps into the past onto hiroshima. I think i am lost

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  9. I also think that Ellie is Eloise Hawking who is also Faraday's mother. I also think that Charles Widmore is Faraday's father. That is why Widmore was funding Daniel's research (well that and also so he could learn to manipulate time travel) and why he is taking care of Theresa Spencer, the victim of Faraday's consciousness teleporting experiments. I also think there is some deeper connection between Daniel and Charlotte but am not quite sure what it is. I originally thought that perhaps Charlotte was Ben's childhood playmate (also red haired) but that doesn't seem likely now. I also think there is much more to Sun than meets the eye. I never believed that Sun could have used her Oceanic payoff to take control of her fathers company - he appeared to be the head of one of those massive Korean conglomerates - worth multi-billions. Her airline settlement could not have possibly been enough. Does she have some hidden partner? She certainly no longer seems to be that sweet girl from the first 4 seasons.
    I was totally surprised when the commando guy turned out to be Widmore. Didn't see that coming at all.
    I think this was four polar bear episode, better than the first two episodes.

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  10. Anonymous said...I think desmond is juliets mom.

    Haha...yes, this makes absolute sense to me. I'm sure it's true ;-)

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  11. Who did Sawyer call Dr Quinn? Was it not Juliet? Also, do we know who Penny's mother is/ was? Ellie seemed to resemble Penny a bit.

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  12. Sawyer called Jack "Dr. Quinn" in the episode "Solitary." (No, I'm not that on top of it; I just did a key word search on my reviews.) I've been recording all of Sawyer's nicknames since I started reviewing the series, so I'm pretty sure I didn't miss one for Juliet.

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  13. I'm thinking that Widmore and Ellie end up getting pregnant. Maybe Ellie and Widmore leave the island together to have Penny.

    Oh yea, the 4 toed statue foot, ageless Richard's foot or Jacob's. This may also prove the there have been people on the island since Ancient Rome. A big statue wearing a sandal that has a very ancient Rome type of feel to it. I don't know, just a thought.

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  14. "Maybe he [Widmore] was exiled when they realized what a prick he was."

    One would have thought he would have fit in just swimmingly with the child-snatching, castaway kidnaping, murdering and torturing band of others, LOL.

    And I get really irate when Ben calls Alex his daughter. Ben kidnapped her. Rousseau wasn't dead and didn't just walk off into the night. He stole her baby. That makes him a baby-napping prick, not a dad.

    The show itself seems to mirror the time sickness people get. You go slowly from one time period to the next (in earlier seasons) until you finally aren't sure "when" you are (this season).

    One thing I'm really curious about--did Rousseau's crew fall victim to the time sickness, and if so, why did it not affect her?

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  15. rousseau wasnt dead - just insane :D

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  16. So about the foot statue thing. I'm guessing they haven't really went further with it because, of the 3 people that saw it, 2 are off the island and 1 is dead (even though I don't think Jin is dead).

    Rousseau might show up at some point during an island time skip but I really don't think we will see her again. She was never a big part of the story so why would she be now. Although, if the writers ever talk about the "sickness" that Rousseau's team got. We might see her.

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  17. Perhaps Widmore was involved with Rousseau's expedition which ended up on the island....and that is the 'first time' he found the island. Rousseau's group got time sickness because the island has to be moved then as well. If they landed on the island in 1988, then Widmore was kicked off the island around 1968, which would leave time for Penny to be born off island. Coincidentally, funding for Dharma was cut off in 1987, but yet still it manages to exist (on Keamy's mission orders, for example)...perhaps Widmore took over Dharma as a means of getting to the island. Either scenario would suggest that the island was moved between 1988 and 1992 (the purge) to keep Widmore away, and some yet-unnamed leader of the others (not Richard) had to leave, making way for Ben's ascention.

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  18. This was the MOST confusing episode I have watched so far. I was waiting to read Billie's explanation to try and figure this out. I am going to watch Jughead a few more times!

    Here is my comment: I understand why the Others and native island people are no longer there when the "time" changes but why do our Losties stay right where they are. Is it decades different or centuries? Is this why Richard never grows older? Like Locke in the past or future flips?

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  19. "being a Brit I have to say that my enjoyment was somewhat impaired by everyone's appalling English accents"

    How do you think I feel when they have non-Australians attempting Australian accents? They either come out sounding like New Zealand or South African! Oh well, I can look past it. I've gotten used to it watching American shows!

    Great ep, by the way!

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  20. Anonymous said...."Being a Brit I have to say that my enjoyment was somewhat impaired by everyone's appalling English accents... I can suspend disbelief with regard to time-skipping islands, teleporting cabins and dead people strolling around, but show me a bad cockney and you're losing me...:) Granted they weren't quite as bad as the Irish accents in Heroes, but close. :)

    Haha...I'm a Brit too and those Irish accents on Heroes were hilarious. Every week they'd bust them out and every week me and my buddy Steve would dissolve into gales of laughter. British accents have never been the strong point of any US show/film. As for English accents they're all either "I'm terrible sorry old chap, could I have a scone with my tea" or "Gor blimey guvnor, you stitched im up good an proper you did". Yeah, real nice....lol.

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  21. Let's not forget Sayid's appalling Arabic accent. Apparently, Jin's Korean sounds way off, as does his Korean accent when speaking English. Also, from Heroes, Mohinder's has a bad Indian accent.

    I've had to suspend belief for season one of both shows. I'm kinda glad I'm not alone now ;)

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  22. Can we presume that the hatch imploding was due to Jughead going off when Locke wouldn't push the button?

    Also, there has to be some connection between that event and Desmond's ability to see forward and back. He seems to have some unique ability the other O6 do not posess.

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  23. For some reason I have the glaring suspicion that the very blonde youth holding Faraday at gunpoint to defuse Jughead is Isabel (from 3x9; Stranger in a Strange Land)

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  24. Well, either that, or Ellie refers to Eloise... I think I like that one better. Sorry for the double post, by the way.

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  25. "Mabuhay" means welcome, greetings, or hello in Tagalog, one of the main languages of the Philippines. It was not the name of the place, but a welcome sign.

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  26. As you say, Billie. Click. I love the way the writers throw such a big piece of information so casually into a scene. I very nearly missed the connection.

    I must admit to being very confused right now about all the time travel. The Six and Desmond are three years ahead of the ones left on the Island? Which hardly matters as they are leaping around all over the place? And, although they're leaping, how much time has elapsed in their minds -- days?

    I haven't been overly thrilled with these first three episodes. That's probably because time travel for time travel's sake just doesn't do it for me. The story seems to have stalled a bit so that we can ooh and aah over the cool plot twists. Ooh! Aah! That's done now. Let's get back to the story...

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  27. why the others were wearing the army fatigues of the US solders they were enemies with is beyond my comprehension. made no sense to me. as per par with this show. did they not have clothes on the island? why does richard always look so fashionable? HE is quite a spiffy dresser.

    widmore is a total prick. he probably came out of the womb a prick.

    sorry about charlotte's unfortunate brain bleed. i was just starting to think she was decent.

    why are so many others British? i'm from texas. their accents fool me nicely.

    and this (among other physics reasons) is why time travel isn't a real thing. it would just confuse the hell out of humanity. we'd all develop brain bleeds from pure confusion and go extinct.

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