Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for LOST through the current episode, “Jughead” originally broadcast January 28th, 2009.

One of the great debates in the LOST community is whether or not the whole show was planned from the beginning.  The producers claim that they knew exactly where they were going from the Pilot, and they’ve said they’ve left clues to the Endgame throughout the first season.  And whether you believe that or you think they’re making it all up, you have to agree with me on one point.

It sure is fun to see the puzzle come together.

Last week, I was unsure of how I felt about the time skips.  I said that I thought it had the potential to be cool, but I thought it would get tired old.  And while I still agree with the latter, I’m already convinced the former has come true.  The show took us to Charles Widmore’s youth, and they simply brushed by it.  Some shows would’ve relished this time period, but LOST seemed to be moving on to more important things.

The show seemed to react the same way Locke reacted.  “Oh wow, you’re Charles Widmore.  You’re a very bad man in the future, but here you are on the Island in the 1950s.  That’s interesting, but I’m going to go talk to Richard now.”

It’s still a mystery how Widmore came to the Island, why he feels he has a right to the Island, and how he came about all his money.  There’s even the question of where the Ben/Widmore rivalry began (and whether it was on or off the Island).  And I have enough confidence that I trust the writers to give me an answer to each of these questions, and I have enough patience to wait for the right time.

I want to begin this review with an interesting note.  This was an episode that spent the whole 2007 period focusing on Desmond, Penny, and Widmore, three characters introduced in season two.  The 2004 period focused on Faraday and his friends (season four), Richard (season three), and Juliet (season three).  The episode only features two main characters from season one (Locke and Sawyer) and only Locke plays any real part in the plot of the episode.

I think it demonstrates that the show has established some pretty strong characters since season one.

And I love that we are getting to see so many different versions of Richard.  Like I said last week, he’s quickly becoming my favorite character on the show, and I think that any chance we get to see him evolve through the years is a great one.  I loved the discussion between Locke and Juliet about how old Richard is.  In a lot of ways, I’m just as interested in Richard’s history as I am in the history of the Island.

In fact, I’m starting to wonder if Richard and the Island are one in the same.  More on that theory in future reviews, perhaps.

Let’s spend some time on the “center” of the episode, Desmond.  The episode begins with the birth of his son, Charlie.  And I think there’s a great deal of meaning behind Desmond’s son’s name.

Like I said last week, I believe that Desmond lied to Charlie Pace (our Charlie) about the “Looking Glass” flash.  Desmond saw Charlie die, and then he saw himself getting on a helicopter (and possibly even his re-connection with Penny).  Knowing that part 1 (Charlie dying) had to happen for part 2 (getting off the Island) to happen, Desmond told Charlie that it was Claire who he saw getting onto the helicopter.  Knowing that Charlie would happily die to save Claire, Desmond set all the events in motion.

It’s odd, however, that Desmond’s actions might have led to Claire’s death (something he couldn’t have possibly foreseen), but that’s something that might be dealt with in the future.

If Desmond did lie to Charlie, giving his son the same name would be Desmond’s way of thanking his friend for his sacrifice.  And you’d have to think the child’s name would have serious meaning (something like what I’m describing) since the other Charles the Humes know is Charles Widmore.

And considering Desmond and Penny have been hiding from Charles Widmore, you’d have to think they aren’t naming the baby after him.  And if Penny was going to allow her son to be given the same name as her father, Desmond is going to have to give her a damn good reason.

As for the plot of his part of the story (finding Daniel’s mother), I’m almost completely convinced that Daniel’s mother will end up being Ms. Hawking.  It was something I’d considered since last week, but I knew that Hawking was in Los Angeles (and, therefore, couldn’t be at Oxford).  When Widmore said she was in LA, it seems almost obvious because, on LOST, we always try to make those kinds of connections when a new character is referenced.

I did find the scene between Widmore and Desmond to be very interesting.  I loved Desmond’s confidence in the face of his father-in-law, hardly the way he’s acted in previous meetings between the two.  I also thought it was a bit of a risky move, particularly since they were trying to stay off the man’s radar (and easily could’ve put themselves back in his crosshairs).

I also thought it was a bit interesting that Widmore seemed more interested in Penny’s safety (and happiness) than anything.  He didn’t make any effort to find out where Penny was, and he didn’t seem to do any bargaining to get her back.  He might not want to tip his hand in some kind of plan to get her back, but he seemed to be leaving her in Desmond’s hands, knowing she’s happy with him and that he’d keep her safe.

The other interesting part of the Desmond story is the connection between Widmore and Faraday.  It seems Widmore funded all of Daniel’s research, which makes his appearance on the freighter make so much sense.  You have to wonder why Widmore was interested in Daniel’s studies on time travel (maybe an attempt to find the Island or get back somehow), or why he’d bother taking care of Theresa (the girl involved in the incident with Daniel).

You’d also have to think that Theresa is suffering from a similar problem Desmond faced in “The Constant” – but you have to wonder why Desmond didn’t give them any help on how to fix the problem.

Daniel, like Richard, is another character that I’m very interested in finding out more about.

Which leads me right into the rest of the episode.  Daniel has taken a leadership position in his group, and even Sawyer seems to think he’s important enough to save.  I could easily see Daniel becoming a “Jack-like” figure to the rest of the survivors because I don’t think Juliet or Sawyer is all that interested in the job.

But you’d have to wonder, with two more “unknown survivor” deaths, how many Oceanic 815 passengers are left?  Considering the number that died with Locke’s group in season four (all of them, I think), the number that died on the freighter when it exploded (all of those, likely), and depending on the number that died in the “fire arrow” attack…there might not be that many more left.  Instead of simply keeping the other survivors in the background, LOST has recently decided to just kill them to make the situation seem more dangerous.

But there were a finite number of survivors, and their numbers are dwindling very quickly.

Daniel admitting his love for Charlotte was a nice little scene.  Of all the “science team,” she’s my least favorite (but probably because we know almost nothing about her), but I think they make a cute couple.  There’s a chance, assuming she survives, they could become the show’s new Charlie/Claire since most of the romantic relationships on the show have fallen apart in one way or another.

I am glad, however, that her “illness” is quickly coming to a head.  I didn’t want the “you’re sick but I’m not going to tell you why” stuff couldn’t last very long, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s wrong with her.  And how Daniel knows so much about it (maybe there’s a connection to Theresa?)

I’d also like to know more about Miles, who exhibited his “talking to the dead” power again in the episode.  It might be time for another “freighter science team” flashback episode, writers.  We need to know more about these characters, and we need it quickly!

I thought the “hydrogen bomb” story was okay.  I still don’t completely buy Faraday’s theory that the past can’t be changed, and I thought the whole bomb story was just kinda glossed over.

Then there’s the Locke/Richard stuff.  I’ve already talked enough about Richard, so let’s focus on Locke.

I thought the scene where Locke doesn’t shoot Widmore was extremely important.  I think Locke knew he could track the Other back to his camp, but that’s not what he tells Sawyer and Juliet.  He says he didn’t want to kill one of “(his) people.”

It seems Locke completely identifies himself as the leader of the Others – which is interesting because he was only the leader for a matter of minutes, it seems.  But, in this season alone, he’s made several references to being the leader, and it seems to be an enormous badge of pride for him.

Isn’t it amazing that, just two seasons ago, Locke was a huge part in the fight against the Others, and now he’s in charge of them?  That he was a part of the expedition that ended up killing Ethan, helped in the capture of Ben, and led to the deaths of several Others in season 3 – and now he won’t shoot one because they’re “his people.”

And people say LOST doesn’t advance the story.

And I found Locke and Richard’s conversation to be pretty interesting, but I was surprised at how skeptical Richard seemed to be.  Of anyone on the Island, you’d think Richard would be the one most likely to believe in the Island’s magic.  Because of that, he isn’t able to help John, who will have to look for help in whatever timeline he’s in.

I did think it was cool, however, that it was John who sent Richard to give him the “leader test” that we saw in “Cabin Fever.”  It shows why Richard seemed so interested in Locke’s birth (why he was there) and why he seemed so disappointed when Locke failed the test (if, indeed, he did).  If that’s an example of “we knew that back when we wrote ‘Cabin Fever’” then count me as impressed.

And that’s it.  My verdict?  Another solid hour of LOST…moving the story ahead in both timelines and setting up some interesting connections in future episodes.  It seems like the writers are intent on keeping Desmond and the Oceanic Six storylines apart for now, but I’m sure they’ll intersect very soon (perhaps as soon as Desmond arrives in Los Angeles).

And I trust them with that thought, although I have to admit that it was odd to see an episode of LOST with no appearance (or even reference to) Jack or Kate.  I’m not sure that’s ever happened.

One last thing – I have a theory about the cause of the Ben/Widmore rift, but I’m not going to post it here.  If you want to read it, head over to the Observation Lounge.  Again, I don’t read spoilers, but it’s more speculation than I want to be in these reviews.

Plus, I think the OL could use as much traffic as possible.  So check that out, and I’ll be back in a week for the next one.