Wednesday, November 25, 2009

3:17 Catch-22, 3:18 D.O.C., 3:19 The Brig, 3:20 The Man Behind the Curtain

3:17 Catch-22

-Finally, we learn why Desmond calls everyone "brother!"

-The father of the monastery explains that on Mount Moriah, Abraham was tested by God to see if he would sacrifice his son Isaac (who later became Jacob's father), and he says it was a test of faith and patience. By that definition, Desmond's experiences in the hatch could definitely be called an Abrahamic test. When Abraham takes Isaac to the mountain top he is all set to kill him on an altar but at the last minute a ram gets stuck in a bush nearby and God tells him to kill the ram instead. When Desmond takes Charlie to swim down to the Looking Glass, he tries to take his place at the last minute, but Charlie won't let him.

-Desmond's ex-fiancée is named Ruth. In the Bible Ruth is the daughter-in-law of Naomi. We'll see another Naomi soon!

-Does the Father know about the Island? The photo on his desk of Eloise Hawking (which is a horrible Photoshop job!) would suggest that maybe he does. And speaking of Ms. Hawking, she's someone else who sacrificed her son.

-I was having serious Flashforward déjà vu during this one. The way Desmond tries to make his flashes happen or tries to avoid them reminds me so much of that show.

-It strikes me as slightly ridiculous to go on a camping trip when they're ALREADY ALL CAMPING.

-During ghost story time around the campfire, Hurley tells a story about the Chupacabra, which was one of many fan theories about the smoke monster. The writers love to toy with us. No, it's not a dinosaur...no, they're not all dead...no, it's not all in Hurley's mind. And no, it's not the Chupacabra.

-It cracks me up that we can tell Jin's story is about the hook man, even though he's telling it in Korean.

-The most super awesome idea ever is one I read on Nikki Stafford's blog, in one of the comments. What if the man who touched Desmond and led him to become a monk was...Jacob? That just blew your mind, didn't it?

-The title Catch-22 refers to the novel by Joseph Heller, which I wrote several papers on in college (aren't you glad? :D ) It takes place during World War II, and is distinctive for using a non-chronological structure, and for using multiple characters' points of view. "Catch-22" is a rule imposed on the fighter pilots: if you are crazy, you can get out of flying dangerous missions - all you have to do is ask. But if you're sane enough to worry about you're safety, clearly you're not crazy. Therefore no one can get out of flying missions. The expression originated with the book, which I think is pretty cool. In this episode, the catch-22 is that Desmond needs Charlie to find the crashed parachutist (who he believes to be Penny), but if he brings Charlie along, Charlie will be killed and won't be able to help him find the parachutist.

-If I'm remembering correctly, we still don't know why Naomi had information about Desmond with her. Their "primary objective" was to capture Ben. Did Penny somehow get through to Naomi, asking her to find him? This is unlikely though, since when Charlie speaks to her she has no idea who Naomi is. So it must have been Widmore...but what motive would he have in finding Desmond?

Best lines:
SAWYER: Hope I'm not interrupting. You two arguing over who's your favorite Other?

3:18 D.O.C.


-Mikhail is still alive?! The dude has got to be immortal somehow.

-Jin lying that his father is dead seems a bit over the top to me. Is being from a lower class really that shameful still in Korea?

-When Sun goes into his father's office, they are talking about the Hanso Foundation.

-Seeing Sun humbly ask her father for money is SUCH a contrast to the scene where she informs him that she has bought out the company and he will now answer to her.

-Mikhail reports that Naomi said "Thank you for helping me," but what she really said was "I'm not alone" in Portugese.

-Sun is presented with a catch-22: either the baby is Jin's and she will die, and if she is to live, the baby can't be Jin's. Her reaction when she finds out the baby is Jin's is very sweet. I think any mom who has had an ultrasound can relate to that moment when you first see a picture of your baby, it's amazing.

-As usual the medical information Juliet gives Sun is horribly inaccurate, but that's pretty normal for a TV show, so I'll try not to hold it against her.

-I love Desmond's comment to Charlie that "by my count, you've killed more of them than they've killed of you." It's true. So who are the real bad guys?

-Naomi reveals that their plane has already been found, and everyone inside was dead. THUD. All kinds of alternate timeline theories and general mayhem immediately ensue!

3:19 The Brig


-It's hard for me to understand why Locke is unable to kill his father. He has no problem killing Mikhail (although his attempt failed) and later he kills Naomi without flinching. And he seems happy to have Sawyer do the dirty work for him. Maybe this has something to do with "the rules" we've heard so much about from Ben and Widmore.

-The scene where Sawyer kills Anthony Cooper is out of this world. Cooper is pure evil; when he reads Sawyer's letter and says "blah blah blah", then rips the letter in pieces - WOW. I think I would have strangled him too. Cooper says that they're in hell, a nod to another popular fan theory. "A little hot for heaven, isn't it?"

-Again, I wonder how Naomi knows the whole story about Desmond and Penny. Maybe Widmore told her to tell Desmond that Penny sent her in order to gain his trust?

3:20 The Man Behind the Curtain


Although I've been watching since season 1, this is the first LOST episode I ever blogged about. It's fun to look back and see what my initial impressions were and how much has changed since then.

A Ben-centric episode! There is so much history in this one, which is so refreshing compared to the rest of season 3 up to this point. Finally, some answers! "The man behind the curtain" is another reference to "The Wizard of Oz," where the Wizard was actually an illusion, controlled by a man behind a curtain pulling levers and pushing buttons. The question here is who is really secretly controlling things? Is it Ben, or someone else?

-It's official: Ben was not born on the Island, but outside of Portland (where Richard Alpert told Juliet she would be working for Mittleos Bioscience.)

-Ben's mother is named Emily. Emily is also Locke's mother's name.

-When little Ben first speaks to Richard Alpert (who looks very hippie-like) Richard is surprised to hear that Ben was able to see and talk to someone who died off the Island. Is this what told Richard that Ben would be their leader?

-The biggest question left unsolved is Annie. What happened to her? I hope we'll find out this season.

-Jacob's cabin is one of my favorite recurring themes of the entire show. As soon as those peeper frogs start peeping I get chills. Now that we know that Ben has never actually spoken with Jacob, who was in the cabin? And why did he ask Locke for help? I'm betting on the man in black.

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