Lost: Greatest Hits

Well, despite the fact that I moved houses yesterday and we still haven’t unpacked the silverware, I’m here blogging Lost’s latest offering, Greatest Hits.

And if I’m on the computer, you might as well sit tight. Here’s the good stuff:

  • Alex with blood on her hands
  • It’s the tiny touches that make Lost great. Ben handing Alex the gun while Alex had some kind of literal blood on her hands was delicious. Thanks, Lost!

    Oh, and how cool was it that she gave the gun directly to Carl. Any takers in the Carl deadpool?

    Lastly, what reason would Alex have to doubt that Ben was her father? And why would Carl know anything about it?

    I’m really waiting for an Alex flashback and with her and Rousseau (and Ben) getting more screen time, I have to think that Season 4 might feature some great stories of the Others. Tom’s big gay backstory would be pretty interesting, I think.

  • The Driveshaft ring
  • Maybe I’m just a doubting Thomas, but I don’t buy Charlie’s brother’s story about the ring and I don’t like Charlie leaving it for Aaron. Too neat and tidy.

    I’m thinking, despite the internet rumors, that Charlie survives (or at least we find the ring story debunked).

    In another double-entendre moment I LOVED that one of Charlie’s “Greatest Hits” was getting a ring. Very Tolkein-esque.

    Additionally, I think the ring is cool. I may buy one.

  • Danielle Rousseau
  • What motivation, other than supposed retribution for her daughter’s kidnap, does Danielle Rousseau have for helping Jack?

    Why is he calling her Danielle? Why is he telling her he wants her gun but not her at the beach sabotage? Why in the hell is she listening?

    Inquiring minds and all.

    This entire storyline – the cooperation AND the explosives troubles me. What is it about newly-homicidal Jack that I don’t trust?

  • Choosing fate
  • My co-worker Bill had a theory about Charlie having to choose death in order for things to work out correctly, which I whole-heartedly endorsed. We’ll have to wait on the death part, but I loved Charlie facing things head-on.

    Is anyone suspicious of Desmond? Why did he wait to tell Charlie about Claire’s rescue/The Looking Glass? Was he thinking up an heroic story to tell Charlie?

    Also, anyone know who the “hero” woman on Charlie’s “Greatest Hits” list was? Have we seen her before?

  • The Looking Glass
  • The third really clever reference this episode and one of several Alice in Wonderland references in the series. I think that this Looking Glass station will be (obviously) quite important. Especially if you follow the Lewis Carrol thing to it’s logical conclusion and figure the station is some kind of portal or Stargate (ugh) back to the real world/real timeline.

  • The Radio Tower
  • I’m dying to know about this 16-year-old, looping audio signal and it’s supposed broadcast counterpart. It’s apparent that the Others knew about it and are – potentially – blocking it, but what if they aren’t?

    What if Rousseau is still an Other (or Other sympathizer)? What if the signal is really blocking The Looking Glass station’s efforts? Why is everyone so keen to trust Jack again, and why is he trusting Rousseau?

  • Jack and Sayid
  • I guess if we can’t have a real, working island government we’ll have to take Jack’s daddy/authority issues catching up with him versus Sayid’s equally torturous past.

    Me, I’d follow the dude who doesn’t have the authoritative bent and who has learned from his mistakes. Which is to say I think they’re screwed either way, but what do I know.

Anyhow, I’m sure there’s more I’ve missed or left out or glossed over or just plain don’t care about.

I’m snowed under in boxes, but leave a comment smarter than post and win some self esteem.

Until the season finale, I bid you adieu.

12 thoughts on “Lost: Greatest Hits

  1. Havent seen it anywhere else, but is the chick that Charlie saved in the alley the one who lets Sayid go in his flashback ep?

    Was Charlie (who is “facing” death) the one who inadvertently allowed Sayid to go? I need to go back and watch Season 2 again, but I am wondering if everyone is going to tie up nicely at the end having inadvertently saved someone else on the island, off the island (physically) and on the island (soul).

  2. Hunter Maxin says:

    This preoccupation with alternate earths and timelines distrub me, as it kind of moves against the evidence of the show. While Lost is clearly “SciFi” in the most literal of senses, and while many aspects of it are “difficult” to accept in a conventional sese (Desmond’s flashes, whatever Jacob is, the black oil, er, smoke), the show continually roots itself in a single world (even if it isn’t technically ours). They travel back and forth using very human devices (boats, planes, helicopters, a very old submarine) – sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident, but alway REAL.

    My point is this: There is a lot going on, and much of it is “fantastic,” but I feel we stray from looking at real truths and real answers when we indulge in red herrng ideas that have little to no foundation in this story. I’m all for stories about infitnite Earths (Gaiman’s 1602, the Elsewhere series, etc)…but not here.

    Maybe it’s just me, and I’m cool with that, but it seems a waste of resources, when…

  3. Cindy says:

    Yes, Charlie’s “hero woman” is Nadia, Sayid’s long lost love. She had also showed up in one of Locke’s flashbacks, I can’t remember which one, but he was selling her a house.

    I found much of this episodes events really weird in that I didn’t trust where pople’s motivations were coming from. i won’t rehash all of it because Seth has done a good job, shoot better job, than I could explaining it.
    A couple of things got me thinking – Carl – where was he born? Or was he brought to th island too like Ben. Who are his parents/why is a kid that young seemingly on his own there?

    Desmond – yeah there’s something fishy there. I didn’t buy his change of heart when they were on the boat. Actually that scene kindof reminded me of one in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Not sure what tipped me off, but I had a feeling someone was gonna be hit with an oar before it really happened.

    I found it really interesting in Charlie’s memory of saving Nadia (the hero woman) that it was the exact same scene as Desmond’s flash when he “first” met Charlie. After Mr. Widmore insulted Desmond when he asked for Penny’s hand. Remember? But no Desmond showed up before it started raining on Charlie playing Wonderwall. Hmmm……

    One last thing – I was happy to see Rose & Bernard again! Finally! Where have those two been hiding all season? Anyway, I hope they’re not just being set up to be killed off in the finale by the producers to tie off a loose end.

  4. Hunter Maxin says:

    Ben: Has it occurred to anyone that Ben would only have a limited insight into Dharma pre-purge? He was a boy, then a janitor, then a traitor.

    Looking back, would he have really known what the Swan was for? While his manipulation of Locke may have been real and on purpose, did he truly understand the consequences?

    If he did, would he have really left it in the hands of Desmond, then Locke, then Eko? Wouldn’t he have ensured someone was always watching at the Pearl.

    Taking that further…

    The Looking Glass: We cannot even assume that it’ inhabitants (all women, from the looks of it), are even Others (or rather NOT Dharma). Whatever happened that cut it off from the Others (Juliet didn’t really know, if you think about it), could have varying implications once we resume that story (hopefully next week). Depending on who they are (and therefore what Charlie MUST do to “save” Claire) changes many a possible direction AND outcome.

    Re: Desmond – I personally believe that Desmond knew he was gettinghit with that oar before it happened. Whether he truly saw Charlie dying or not remains to be seen (I guess “no”), but he definitely knew how to motivate Charlie to be in that place at that time. Who knows what he truly saw, but he spent time working on that image before crafting his words to Charlie, and whether his intentions are good or bad (I guess “good”), he said exactly as much as was needed when needed to put Charlie on that station.

    Rousseau: We need her backstory more than anyone elses at this point.

    There is more, but that’s enough for now.

  5. Hunter Maxin says:

    Cindy –

    RE: Wonderwall – I think this definitively calls into question whether Desmond was ever there the “second” time. Desmond’s Mother Time episode can be taken literally – that he relived his life – or as something else. I’ve always believed that it was the latter.

    Bottom line: We had an episode where a character on an island with a habit of revealing things to people via people from their pasts had his PURPOSE revealed to him via people from his past.

    Whether that means the island (or Jacob or whatever) simply gave him a very detailed dream or something else, I can’t say, but I fear we have grossly misinterpretted the meaning of that episode to mean that time itself has been altered.

  6. I think Alex has begun questioning whether Ben is her father because 1. she looks absolutely nothing like him and 2. with The Other’s preoccupation with pregnancy and birth and the fact that Ben claims to have always lived on the island (we know that to be false but she doesn’t) and the fact that no woman knocked up on the island has successfully given birth.

  7. Hunter Maxin says:

    Through the Looking Glass isn’t so muhc about time, as it is about Chess and Mirrors/Reversals.

    Remember, Alice (Charlie) was the pawn who was given an opportunity to be Queen.

  8. Hunter Maxin says:

    HELP: does anyone have access to the EXACT words Desmond said when telling Charlie what would happen?

    The brief speech ending in “you flip the switch, and then you drown.”

  9. Thanks for all the comments and especially the words of encouragement regarding moving. I need the support.

    @Hunter & Cindy: my wife and I also wondered about where Desmond was in Charlie’s “hero” “greatest hit” – if that double quotation makes any sense.

    @Hunter: I like the idea of an all-female Looking Glass station (re: Alice) and the fact that they all might be Dharma holdouts and NOT Others.

    Thanks again for all the great comments!

  10. Hunter Maxin says:

    Another thing I stumbled upon while reveiwing the last two episodes…

    At the mass grave, Ben tells Locke that he is “one of” the Dharma people who recognized a purge was necessary and did what as necessary…meaning there were other Traitors.

  11. reubenmathers says:

    Here’s my deal with Desmond. He was working in a Dharma station, wearing Dharma overalls, most likely aware of Dharma cameras looking at him. Why are we so quick to dismiss any connection to the Others? When the Flight 815 people made their home in the Hatch and Desmond took off, where did he go?
    I contend he is an Other. He may be as torn about it as Juliet is, but he’s still playing for the other team. So to speak.

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