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Lost: LA X (Both Parts)

Ben: "You're the monster."
Locke: "Let's not resort to name calling."

Two timelines, no waiting. This episode was so wild and crazy that I was almost thankful for the commercials so that my brain could at least try to keep up. I said, almost.

Island Stuff

At first I thought Jack was dreaming. And then I thought of multiverses, a theory that has always felt like bull to me. But I finally decided that the Island stuff is real, because it's a continuation of the story we've been hooked on for the past five years. And the 815-never-crashed alternate timeline is... well, I haven't figured that out yet. In "The Incident," Jacob said, "It only ends once." This will all end. There will be a final battle, with our Losties versus the Nemesis, whom I think I should call the Man in Black now. Dan thinks that once the Island stuff is resolved, the timelines will converge and the Losties will get their lives back. Interesting theory.

The bomb going off clearly tossed the Losties back to 2007, since the debris was from the hatch explosion that Locke caused at the end of season two and Juliet was near the surface. The first thing Juliet said was, "It didn't work." After she died, Miles said that she said, "It worked." So which was it? Did Juliet change her mind in the afterlife? When Miles was "reading" the dead Juliet, we could hear Monster-related sounds, which just freaked me out a bit.

Dead is dead, but Sayid isn't dead. I thought it was touching that Sayid was convinced he was going to Hell, and resigned to it. What is he now? Will he turn evil, like I assume Ben did after his childhood encounter with the spring in the Temple? Or did Jacob take over Sayid's dead body, like the Man in Black took Locke's? Did the Man in Black choose Locke as his vessel because Locke was the first one Jacob touched that died?



Why did the Man in Black kill everyone under the Foot but Ben? Maybe he wants to use him again for something... or maybe Ben is protected because he was once healed by the spring? I wonder which side Ben will end up on? Wouldn't it be cool if Ben became one of the good guys?

"815 never crashed" Stuff

There was something about the 815 story that felt like the sympathetic magic they used to recreate the crash on flight 316. Like Charlie nearly dying, like he did on the Island, and Jack bringing him back again. Like the pen Jack asked for, which was what Boone did on the beach. (Kate lifted the pen to pick the lock on her handcuffs.) The marshal was bonked on the head again. I was particularly intrigued by the inexplicable disappearance of Christian's coffin and Locke's suitcase full of knives.



It was so much fun to see the cast back on the plane, but different; it was the gift that kept on giving. Bernard making it back to his seat. Doc Arzt asking Hurley how he got rich, and Sawyer trying to protect Hurley (or thinking about conning him). Boone and Locke connecting, just the way they did on the Island. Jack and Sawyer both attracted to Kate. And how about Jack and Locke connecting over their "lost luggage"? I can't believe I never put Jack (spinal surgeon) and Locke (paraplegic) together in my head before. Jack is going to heal Locke, isn't he? How logical.

What was with Desmond? It didn't feel like he was real. Of course, we all know Desmond wasn't on 815, but it wasn't just that. Hurley as the luckiest guy in the world was really interesting, too; it certainly implied that the numbers were indeed cursed. And why was there blood on Jack's neck?

The creepiest thing was that shot of the Island underwater. Is that going to be the end of the series, with the Man in Black defeated, the Island gone like Atlantis, and everyone going back to their lives?

Yes, I'm confused, but I'm used to being confused by Lost. It feels like we're going to find out what's going on, though, and it will all be resolved and it will even make sense. It just occurred to me that I've never even thought about how I want this series to end. It's weird that I don't know what I want. Other than to get the answers to absolutely freaking everything, of course.

Since we're supposed to get all the answers this season... voila! A new section!

What have we learned?

— The Man in Black, who is using a simulacrum of Locke's body, is also the Smoke Monster. And he seems to be invulnerable, if you go by the smushed bullet we saw.

— The gray ash stuff protects you from the Man in Black. Which explains why it surrounded the cabin, and why they were pouring it around the Temple.

— Ilana, Bram and friends were Jacob's bodyguards. Heck of a job, Brownie.

— Jacob's ghost wasn't like the Walking Dead; he was still Jacob. And only Hurley could see him. I thought that was interesting.

Who brings a book into a cave?

— On the plane, Rose was reading the Weekly Woodman. Weekly Woodman??? On the back cover was an obvious tribute to The X-Files: a flying saucer, "The Truth is out there," and an ad for Morley cigarettes. I hope that doesn't mean that the answers to everything are going to be a mish-mosh conglomeration made up after the fact. Maybe it was just subliminal reassurance that we'll eventually get the answers.

— Desmond was reading Salmon Rushdie. Didn't catch the title. If you know, please post a comment! Yes, I could go search for other reviews, but I never do that.

— The book that fell out of Montand's pack was a French translation of Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Trembling) It was originally published under the name "John the Silent," and wow, what a great Lost reference considering John is now dead. And it's a philosophical work centered around the sacrifice of Isaac as a test of faith in God. Jeez Louise. Lost is back.

Character bits:

Juliet's death in this episode didn't upset me as much as what I thought was her death in "The Incident." Maybe the "815-never-crashed" stuff made it feel unreal.

Juliet said she wanted to save Sawyer from the Island. She was wrong, though. The Island made Sawyer the good person she fell in love with.

In love triangle news (guess it's a triangle again with Juliet gone), Jack and Sawyer were both lying there unconscious, and Kate immediately went to Jack. Sawyer said he'd kill Jack, but later told Kate he wouldn't. I don't know... Sawyer kept his word twice about killing people, didn't he? (Cooper and Tom.)

The Man in Black said that Locke's final thought at the moment of his death was, "I don't understand," and that he was the only one of the Losties who knew how pathetic his life was. That's truly sad. I hope Locke gets another chance.

We heard Greg Grunberg's voice as Captain Norris, but didn't see him.

In the alt timeline, Shannon didn't leave Australia with Boone.

Charlie was arrested and left with his guitar case.



Did Sun plant the money in Jin's suitcase so that he would get arrested? And did Sun ever learn to speak English, or was she lying about it?

Cindy the flight attendant is apparently some kind of high priestess now.

We only caught a glimpse of Claire in the cab Kate hijacked at LAX, and only a head shot. Was she pregnant?

Who was the Temple leader, the guy who knew English but wouldn't speak it? What language was he speaking? And who was his buddy with the glasses (who was played by yet another Deadwood actor)? Names would be nice.

Bits and pieces:

— The Island scenes began with a close-up of Kate's right eye. Kate has never gotten an eye scene before. http://www.douxreviews.com/2001/01/lost-eye-scenes.html

— Jeremy Davies and Elizabeth Mitchell (*sob*) are out of the cast, and Nestor Carbonell, Emilie de Ravin, Jeff Fahey and Zuleikha Robinson are in. I assume Elizabeth Mitchell would have survived the blast and stayed in the cast if she hadn't gotten the lead in V, because the producers of this show are not fools.

— The Dharma van came along to 2007 with the Losties, possibly because they were touching it. And they managed to retain their clothes. (I'm fondly remembering Desmond wandering around naked after the Hatch explosion.)

— Great payoff for the guitar case. Loved the huge ankh and the message inside of it.

— The healing spring still worked on Sayid, but it apparently changed color when Jacob died.

— St. Sebastian Hospital is located at 8444 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, 90025. 310 area code, although I could swear it used to be 323.

— This week's Most Obvious Symbolism may have been Charlie choking on his drugs. There are other candidates, though.

— Red seems to be the fashion statement of choice at the Temple. Interesting that Hurley was already wearing red under his Dharma coveralls.



— There was no effort to recreate hairstyles from the pilot, and I'm certain some of the clothes were different. Why not, considering it was a different timeline.

Quotes:

Bernard: "Remind me to hold it next time, will you?" Seeing Bernard actually come back from the bathroom was a little thing, but such fun.

Sawyer: "What do you say, Doc? Got another great idea to save Sayid? Maybe there's another nuke laying around."

Boone (to Locke): "This thing goes down, I'm sticking with you."

Juliet: "We could get coffee some time. We could go Dutch." Okay, that's what I want in the final episode: Sawyer and Juliet meeting for the first time and going for coffee.

Juliet: "Kiss me."
Sawyer: "You got it, Blondie."
I think that was the only nickname in this episode.

Charlie: "I was supposed to die."
How incredibly creepy.

Sawyer: "What's a 341?"
TSA agent: "That's confidential, sir."
Sawyer: "Well, if it's confidential, how the hell am I supposed to know if I see one?"
That was fun, since Sawyer was very aware that he was standing in front of the 341.

Sawyer: "We got caught by the others again?"
Kate: "Yeah. Only this time they're protecting us."

Locke: "Hope you find that coffin."
Jack: "Hope you find your knives."

Locke: "Hello, Richard. It's good to see you out of those chains." Was Richard a slave on the Black Rock?

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it was awesome. Four out of four polar bears,

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

29 comments:

  1. the Rushdie book is "Haroun and the Sea of Stories". I was wondering the connection between Charlie not dying and the disappearance of Desmond....was there speculation of timeline issues with their child "Charlie"??
    I also loved Rose/Jack switching dialogue from the Pilot. Too much fun, my brain hurts!

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  2. When the flight 815 sequence began, I thought, "Damn! They actually did it! They reset the clock!" I thought it was incredibly gutsy, but I wasn't disappointed when I realized they were presenting two different scenarios. I'm excited to find out where they're going to take this, and I hope it makes some sense. (The show has been so consistently good, though, that I'm not going to demand total sense.)

    There were so many great moments, and I was faked out a couple of times. I figured it was a multiverse situation on the plane, and when Locke told Boone what he did on his walkabout, I thought that in this reality he might not be paralyzed. Then, when he stayed in his seat and got helped into the wheelchair, I felt so bad for him. Hearing about his confusion when Ben murdered him only made it worse, sadder. Locke did his best--yes, he made mistakes, but he was trying to do the right thing--please give him a happy ending.

    And what was with the Man in Black giving Richard a beat-down and carrying him off? Anyone else worried about Richard's immediate future? Does Nestor Carbonell have any outstanding speeding tickets?

    KAM

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  3. Juliet: "We could get coffee some time. We could go Dutch." Okay, that's what I want in the final episode: Sawyer and Juliet meeting for the first time and going for coffee.

    That would be awesome. I'm getting all verklempt thinking about it.

    I have to watch this episode again either tonight or tomorrow. I missed a more than couple things texting people and chatting with my friends and sisters about the episode.

    Locke: "Hello, Richard. It's good to see you out of those chains."

    When FLocke said that, I thought maybe Richard came to the island on the Black Rock.

    We've all assumed that the Black Rock was a slaver vessel, but maybe it was just a prison ship and Richard and the other older Others were prisoners.

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  4. Question I hope get answered:

    (1) I want to know exactly where the original Others are from.
    Are they indigenous to the island or did they just happen to arrive there a llooonnnnggggg time ago?

    (2) I want to what exactly Jacob and The Man-in-Black are.
    Are they fallen angels, an angel and a demon, God and Satan?

    (3) Why exactly Flight 815 was pulled to the island in the first place?
    I know we've been told it was due to the electromagnetic forces from beneath the Swan Station, but back in episode one, the pilot told Jack and Kate (I don't recall if Charlie was in the cockpit or not): "Six hours in, our radio went out. No-one could see us. We turned back to land in Fiji . By the time we hit turbulence, we ….we were a thousand miles off course. They're looking for us in the wrong place. that the flight was at least two hours off course." What made the plane veer off course?

    (4) How did both Charles Widmore and Eloise Hawking end up on the island and how did they manage to rise to lead the Others ?
    I like both characters in all three time periods they were shown. I want to know how Young Ellie and Young Charles got to the island in the first place. I also want to know why Ellie left.

    (5) What is Libby's Story?
    She was in the institution with Hurley and gave Des his ship. She is a character begging for an origin.

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  5. Excellent review, Billie! I needed to read someone else's take on these two episodes, just to confirm that I'm not losing my mind. Thankfully, we appear to be in the same boat; which means we're either both mad or both confused ;o)

    I loved the part where Sawyer saw Kate's cuffs in the lift (elevator) and yet still helped her escape. It just seemed like a completely mischievous thing to do. His smile said it all. He was totally chuffed with himself.

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  6. I haven’t got the foggiest idea what the frak is going on and I bloody love it. Great to have this show back, even if it is for the last time.

    But you’ve got me thinking, Billie. I’ve never really thought about how it might all end either. On a show as brilliantly unpredictable as Lost it’s not something you can easily picture.

    Although I do love they idea of Sawyer and Juliet having coffee together. What are the odds they bump into each other in this alternative timeline.

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  7. I don't usually watch Lost during the season, and I'm tempted not to again (too frustrating), but I HAD to tune in for the season premier. And I am sorta unable to wait for next week.

    Even reading your review, Billie, made my brain melt. I used to hate that about Lost, but now that we know we're getting answers, I love it. I can't comment on your review, though, because I'm still confused :-)

    You did miss my favorite line, though. When Jacob said, "I can't because I died an hour ago" and Hurley was like, "Sorry dude, that sucks." (paraphrasing) So classic Hurley.

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  8. While this wasn't my favorite episode of Lost it was still lost. I love your reviews, you always make the same obsevations that I do. I hope Richard's okay, I really want to know what "chains" smokie/locke was talking about.

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  9. Billie, To answer you query about the Temple Leader and his translator, Lostpedia has them listed as Dogen and Lennon.

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  10. Hi Billie,

    In your review you said the Island jumped them back to 2007, but wouldn't they be back in 2004, the year their plane crashed? Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the first two seasons of Lost covered about two months on the Island. (Remember the episode about Ana Lucia and the taillies in season 2 was called The Other 48 Days.) So if the Island flashed them back to right after John blew up the hatch, it would still be 2004 right? Or did I miss something in the episode that specifically said it was 2007?

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  11. Flight 316 crashed on the Island in 2007; the Oceanic Six were off the Island for three years. Jacob was killed by Ben in 2007. Jacob's ghost told Hurley he had died an hour ago, and to take Sayid to the Temple. So yes, I think the Island timeline for both sections of the cast has to be 2007. And the alternate timeline was, of course, September 22, 2004.

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  12. i think theres one other nick name on the premiere. sawyer called the airline steward either "amelia" or "eirhart."

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  13. I had a fabulous (and first!) comment that blogspot somehow ate. My attempts are re-creating it are somewhat lackluster, but I have to chime in with random disconnected thoughts:

    -"I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it was awesome." That is why an episode is never over until I've read Billie's review.

    -Maybe it's my recent forays into the Vampire Diaries, but I thought Ian Somerhalder really owned the screen, and seeing him and Locke re-connect was extremely touching.

    -Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! This episode really puts the "I'm dead, but I'm also here" comment to Hurley in the opener to Season 4 in a different light ,doesn't it?

    -I, too, hope that there is an alternate universe in which Juliet and Sawyer are having coffee. I also hope that alternate universe winds up being the real one.

    -I'd suspected/feared/hoped there would be an alternate timeline structure to this season, but I was picturing it as a bunch of ghastly jumpy cuts to our heroes phasing in and out of the consciousness of their present reality. (What a strange sentence.) Two separate story lines was a much better choice, and goes to show why Damon and Carlton are much better showrunners than I would ever be.

    -KAM, I also enjoyed watching the Man in Black beat Richard up, even though I like Richard much more than Fake Locke. But it was great to see an older actor be so forceful physically.

    -Did anyone else expect the cabdriver (at the end, shutting Kate and Claire to a destiny unknown) to be Ben or someone else interesting?

    -I watched this "live" (i.e., as it aired), and I was stunned by the number of commercials in the first hour. Is television always like that? Did anyone else notice it? And how did I live before my DVR? (Oh, right, I just didn't have TV.)

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  14. You know what I didn't like about the episode? It wasn't enough. After nearly 9 months, 2 hours was too little. I WANT MORE NOW!

    "Let's not resort to name calling" is among the funniest lines in the series so far. I love Fake Locke. He is creepy as hell, but he is direct and has a clear motivation: to go home. How can you not empathize with this yearning? Terry O'Quinn should win the Emmy again this year.

    Josie, I saw an interview with the producers in which thy state that there is no "real" universe. They're all real and parallel.

    About the parallel universe, I read in another review that Fear and Trembling tries to reconcile the existence of God with all the evil in the world by theorizing that we live in "the best of the possible universes". I think it resonates perfectly with the series, because as much as they suffered on the Island, they've become better people, mostly.

    Lapidus's promotion to main character was long overdue. Can't wait to have the back story on Richard.

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  15. Just a quick comment (since no one else seems to have mentioned it) - the language spoken by the other was Japanese. Given his apparent seniority and distaste for English, it made me wonder when/where he may be from if not an island native - makes me think of the Japanese soldiers who never surrendered after WW2, remaining on Pacific islands for decades.

    As for the episode/Lost's return, I can't wait to see more.

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  16. "I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it was awesome." Incredible how this sums the whole series up so far :D

    About the 2004 timeline, I actually got the opposite impression. From what we saw, I'm almost sure the ending message of the show will be that the characters (or most of them) are better off for having crashed on the island (Kate stopped running to take care of Aaron, Sawyer became a better person, etc), and I think it would be interesting if the people on the 'alt verse' noticed something was wrong and ended up re-resetting everything. In any case I don't think that ending the series with a reset to the 2004 reality is a good idea...

    (Yes, I read the Lindelof/Cuse interwiew and I know they said calling one 'alternate' gives the impression that only one is real, but I still haven't found a good adjective to differentiate the realities :p)

    About Desmond, he could be on the 815 in this reality. If the island is underwater, he would never have crashed there. Also, we don't know how much the bomb changed (and I think it changed a lot). Did Widmore survive? If so, was he expelled from the island? Was Penny born? Did she meet Desmond? Did Desmond meet Widmore? Preventing the incident has a lot more implications than just preventing a plane crash (Jack should really know better than explode a nuclear bomb just because he feels sad :p)

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  17. I agree with Cesar (who said "From what we saw, I'm almost sure the ending message of the show will be that the characters (or most of them) are better off for having crashed on the island...") and somewhere near the end of the series, someone like Jacob will say "I brought you here because we needed you and your lives were better off for having been here." And we will understand, having seen the alternate timeline.

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  18. A little pitch-in for me.

    Locke: "Hello, Richard. It's good to see you out of those chains."

    I think this didn't refer to the chains he might have held as a slave aboard the Black Rock (if he was indeed a slave). I am almost certain this is about Richard's contractual immortality running off now Jacob is dead, the 'chains' mentioned representing the metaphysical chains that bound him to the island never to age.

    In closing, I'm really glad Lost started up again. It's like a strong legal drug you can't get enough of. And thanks Billie, I always enjoy your reviews,

    Sulacu

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  19. Grate catch HellBlazerRaiser.

    The plain was off-course and lost communication before the crash - until now I just thought that it was an excuse for the beginning of the story. I really hope it wouldn't be ignored by the writers since it shows intention by some party. In my mind this means that the ending of the story would be Jacob leaving the island, and being replaced by one of the losties.

    Funny how this show becomes deeper after a "billie review".

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  20. As always with Lost i was entertained but thoroughly confused at the same time. The island underwater shot was fascinating but also creeped me out as underwater shots always do. I loved the alternate reality (whatever) flight. It was like a gift to the fans. I loved seeing Charlie again and Boone, and the various interactions between the cast but why no Shannon ? I also felt slightly underwhelmed by Juliet's death, although my heart went out to Sawyer. Not content with frequently beating him up the writers have apparently found new ways to hurt him. And Josh Holloway was fantastic.

    But i gotta say, the oscar goes to Terry O'Quinn who was Locke-like one minute and creepy and menacing the next.

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  21. I also think that Richard's chains could be only a metaphor of his immortality gift made possible by Jacob who is now dead (is he?)(and also a more interesting way MIB decided to tell Richard that Jacob is dead). I guess we'll find out this in Richard centric episode later on the show.
    I thought that the two timelines could be the consequence of the same event which is the detonation of the bomb that could either destroy the island and then we would have had the 2004 timeline with Oceanic 815 landing in LA, or be responsible for the incident that led to the construction of the hatch, the crash of Oc 815, later blowing the hatch and getting to the other timeline in 2007. Either way I like the idea of presenting us 2 timelines, because I always liked the character developing part of the show as much as i liked the science(fiction) and action part of the series

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  22. Hi Billie
    I've been lurking on your site for a while and decided to post a comment finally. Anyway, I'm pretty sure we didn't see anything about Sayid in the alternate reality so just thinking that maybe after his death he could maybe go between realities or as you and others have pointed out Jacob could be inhabiting his body.

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  23. Hi, Kajal! And thanks for posting, as well as for your long-time lurking. But the thing is, I do remember Sayid in the alternate reality. He helped Jack revive Charlie in front of the bathroom, and he was carrying around the photo of Nadia. I don't believe I mentioned that in my review, but the episode was so freaking dense that I left a ton of stuff out.

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  24. Hi folks,

    I had another thought that I wondered if anyone else picked up on - was it not strange that the TSA officer called Sun "Miss Paik" not "Mrs Kwon"? I can't remember that far back in the series to see if that was actually how she was referred to in the original timeline, or if it's merely a Korean quirk, but to me it indicated that Jin and Sun might not be married (and if they're not married, they may not even be a couple).

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  25. With regard to the role Sayid might now play: when they carried him out of the pool, his arms were flung wide - almost like he had been crucified ... so I was expecting him to be resurrected and voila! he was! If he is now inhabited by Jacob, what might that mean? That he (Jacob) is 'good' like God? Consider too that the real Locke stayed dead, and the man-in-black was walking around in a Locke-alike body but Sayid is apparently alive - whether he is himself or someone else remains to be seen! :-)

    Ah, the awesomeness of LOST!

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  26. "-- Jeremy Davies and Elizabeth Mitchell (*sob*) are out of the cast, and Nestor Carbonell, Emilie de Ravin, Jeff Fahey and Zuleikha Robinson are in. I assume Elizabeth Mitchell would have survived the blast and stayed in the cast if she hadn't gotten the lead in V, because the producers of this show are not fools."

    I was equally sad about the loss of Juliet. But I think the producers were fools, becuase I read in a Chicago Tribune interview with Elizabeth Mitchell in November that she cried when they told her they were killing her off, and she got the V part not too long after, so it eased her pain. (I almost cried when I read it because I lost all hope that she wasn't really dead.) My favorite quote from the interview was, “Any time characters fall in love and are happy on ‘Lost,’ that’s kind of the end for them.”
    Here's my source:http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/nov/10/entertainment/chi-tc-bonus-v-mitchell-1109-111nov10

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  27. My theory about the alternate reality:

    It's not an alternate reality, it's the future. As in -- the Losties are currently on the island, and the events that will happen this season will enable the jump back to the 815 flight with the island fully sunk. The producers are SHOWING us how it ends.

    Tell me that makes sense. I need to hear these words =)

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  28. Koi Nahin, I think this is a strong possibility. I'm not sure I like the implications, in that it would seem to mean that the castaways we have come to know and love are no more, but it makes sense. (In a crazy, Lost kind of way.)

    From what we've seen thus far, at least some of our 815-ers may be slightly better adjusted in alt-2004 or getting somewhat happier endings. So maybe this is the upshot of whatever island happenings we see play out this season. I guess if it means Sawyer and Juliet reuniting and having that coffee date is a possible happy ending then I can get on board with it. :)

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  29. This is the first episode I have really enjoyed in a long, long time. I loved the Sliding Doors aspect of the flight and watching all the people we have come to know so well interacting in new and interesting ways.

    I was very intrigued with the differences in the "old" characters and the "new." Sawyer, Kate, Locke were all reverted back to their original characters and we got to see what a positive effect the Island has had on them. Jack, on the other hand, seemed to be the most unchanged.

    I'm not sure how I want the series to end. I'd just be happy for more episodes like this!

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