Oh, LOST! (Season 4 Finale)

There is just so much I want to yell out at the beginning of this post. (LOCKE! WALT! JIN! CLAIRE! MICHAEL!) My emotions literally ran the gamut while watching last night’s episode. There was not one wasted scene and it never ever stopped.

At the end of the last season’s finale, they shocked us with the Lostie’s future and those darned flashFORWARDs. I remember feeling like I had been to a funeral. I was wrung out! And even though we’ve had an entire season between these two finales, I feel like what we actually got last night was the Part 2 of LAST season’s finale.

We’ll do this a little differently today…this is about the 3rd time I’ve written this post. I’m trying NOT to make it as long as War & Peace. And get all the good stuff in there at the same time. So, we’ll do the micro-machine man on the basics, then get to the meat and the ALL CAPS and !!!! in a minute, ok?

Part 2

flashFORWARD
Kate and druggie-bearded-Jack argue about the man in the obituary (the mysterious coffin man): JEREMY BENTHEM. Benthem has apparently visited them and told them to go back to the Island. Jack seems to agree with him. Kate says, “How dare you ask me to go back!”

Next Hurley is visited by a real live grown up Walt. Walt wonders why no one has visited him except…JEREMY BENTHEM. Hurley says it’s to protect everyone still on The Island.

The Island
Sawyer & Jack find the Orchid. Jack & Locke argue about miracles. Locke tells Jack if he gets off the Island, he’ll have to lie about everything that happened since the crash.

The Others use Kate & Sayid to free Ben. They get into a gun fight and all of Keamey’s men die. Sayid and Keamy fight like I’ve never seen. Sexy Eyes shoots Keamy in the back. Sexy Eyes had agreed that Kate & Sayid could be free if they helped release Ben. Ben agrees. Kate says, “That’s it?” Ben, “That’s it.” (oh, he’s creepy.)

Kate, Sayid, Sawyer, Jack, Hurley & Frank take off in the helicopter. The gas tank has apparently been shot and they are in danger of crashing. They need to lighten their load, so Sawyer kisses Kate and then decides to jump into the ocean to save the other five. *sigh*

After showing Locke a time travel Dharma-video starring Halliwax and a white bunny, Ben blows a hole in the side of the Orchid with a time machine. Keamy comes back to life and tries to capture Ben again. Keamy tries to lure Ben out of hiding by showing him the heart rate monitor he’s wearing. If his heart stops, the freighter will blow. Ben stabs Keamy to death. Locke is shocked and tries to save Keamy. Ben says, “So?” (stone. cold.)

Part 3

The Island
Keamy dies. The freighter folks see the red light on the bomb…right as the helicopter is about to land. Desmond tries to send them away. Frank makes them refill and load up. Desmond, Sun and Aaron hop on while Kate runs to get Jin. Jack brings Kate back. Jin runs on deck just as the helicopter takes off. Michael is with the bomb, then Chrsitian Shepherd appears.

BOOM.

The Helicopter 8 watch the freighter explode. Sun is screaming.

Meanwhile, Locke becomes the leaders of The Others. Ben descends BELOW the Orchid to an icy room with a giant frozen donkey wheel. He grumbles, then turns the wheel as flames shoot from behind it.

Suddenly, a blinding light. A freaky noise. And now…

NO ISLAND.

let me repeat myself…

NO ISLAND.

As in, the ISLAND IS GONE. VANISHED. MOVED.

The helicopter crashes into the ocean, H8 get into a life raft, with Desmond narrowly escaping drowning, thanks to Dr. Jack. Suddenly, they see a boat. They are rescued by PENNY and her Portuguese crew. Desmond & Penny kiss. (thank you, God!)

ONE WEEK LATER

Jack takes Locke’s advice and concocts a lie. Leaving Frank and the newly reunited love birds, they begin phase one of that lie. The new Oceanic Six get on a raft, and pretend to crash into an island where they are “rescued” by fishermen.

FlashFORWARD
Sayid visits Hurley after killing a spy outside the mental hospital. He takes Hurley to a “safe place” because JEREMEY BENTHEM is dead.

Sun is in London, talking to her daughter on the phone. She approaches Widmore and gives him her card and tells him to call because they’re “not the only ones who got off The Island”.

Kate is in bed and gets a phone call while hearing a strange noise in the house. She goes into Aaron’s room with gun raised. She sees Claire leaning over Aaron. Claire says, “Don’t bring him back!” When Kate realizes it’s just a dream, she leans over Aaron’s bed sobbing and saying, “I’m sorry.” (why?)

Druggie-bearded-Jack is at funeral home again to see JEREMY BENTHEM. He opens the casket and just then Ben (a very much alive Ben) appears behind him. He tells Jack that the ONLY way is if ALL of them go back to The Island. Jack begins to list why the rest of the Oceanic Six won’t come. Ben explains that he can help with that. And when he says ALL, he means ALL—“we’ll have to bring him” motioning to Jeremy Benthem. The camera swoops into the casket and we see…*gulp*…JOHN LOCKE. (noooooo!)

THE END

Now that you’ve got the basics, let’s get down to some REAL business…

Islanders
Sawyer
Be still my heart. When he saw Kate at the helicopter, he was doing his coy little smile, calling her “Freckles” and basically acting the cool-Sawyer. Then as they realize they’re not going to make it to the freighter, Sawyer sacrifices himself for Kate and the others. And yet before he jumps, we see his true self. The promise we heard about earlier in the season is made, he whispers in Kate’s ear and then plants a kiss on her that would make anyone swoon. When Sawyer starts swimming to shore, I said, “They did that so we could see him get out of the water without a shirt on.” And was I right? Oh yes, I was. He comes up to shore to see a bummed Juliet swigging on a Dharma bottle of rum. (Is this foreshadowing of a season 5 romance? Hmmm…)

Daniel
He knows. I don’t know what he knows, but he knows something. The brief scenes we had with him were mainly just ferrying the random Losties back and forth. But he tried to convince CS Lewis and Miles to go with him. He knew something bad was going down. And now presumably, he is wherever the Island has gone. Another time? Another place?

Miles & CS Lewis
This is probably the best mini-scene of the night. They both decide not to leave The Island with Daniel. Miles intimates that she wouldn’t want to leave because she’s been trying to get back here for so long. CS Lewis, “What do you mean?” Miles is brilliant when he says, “Yes…what do I mean?” (Ha!) She finally tells Daniel that she is staying because she’s always been searching for where she was born. An original Other, huh? Interesting. I’m actually kinda glad we’re going to get to see them next season.

Locke
Oh, Locke…I mean, Jeremy Benthem. JEREMY BENTHEM?! WHAT IN THE WORLD? What is he doing off the Island? Why is he dead? Why is everyone calling him Jeremy Benthem? Why did he try to convince the O6 to come back to The Island? WHY IS HE DEAD?! Who killed him? Was it really suicide?

The whole journey of Locke’s this episode was just odd. He was apparently the man in the know…even according to Ben. Then suddenly, Ben takes the reigns and moves The Island. He makes Locke the leader of The Others (is this what Sexy Eyes has always wanted?) And now he’s left The Island, only to come back and beg the 06 back and then die? What has happened on The Island? How out of control has it gotten? Who’s in charge now?

Locke is probably a bigger enigma than his sometimes friend-sometimes enemy…

Ben
Oh, Ben. I’m reminded of what Ben said in Part 1 of No Place Like Home. Locke was questioning him and he said, “How many times do I have to tell you? I ALWAYS have a plan.” So, even though he pretended stabbing Keamy in the throat to death with a dagger was out of character and pretended he was giving up his leadership to Locke, I think the man is orchestrating the whole thing.

Two things about Ben to contemplate:
1. He said the person who moves The Island can never go back. He acted like this was a sacrifice…like he’d been dethroned by Locke with Jacob’s approval. So, that’s why he descended to the frozen donkey wheel instead of Locke. Is this possible? Think about when Ben ended up in the desert with his parka on…he looked happy. Remember when he found out the date? He was smirking. Was it a different outcome than he expected? Was he expecting to go somewhere else? Or some-time else?

2. If Ben can’t get back to The Island, why is he trying to get the 06 back? I don’t get it. What is in it for him?

3. OK, one more. How weird did Ben look when he was talking to Jack? Like NO color whatsoever. *shudder *

Claire & Christian Shepherd
I’m going back to my original statement like last season…the smoke=Jacob=Christian Shepherd=the apparitions. And now =Claire. If you’re dead and The Island “needs” you, you’re a ghost of some kind. And Claire has been sent to visit Kate/Aaron, just as Charlie visits Hurley, just as Christian visits Jack. I have no idea what that means or why it’s necessary, it just is.

Michael
I think he’s dead. Remember how he couldn’t be killed because The Island needed him? Well, when Christian Shepherd showed up next to the bomb and told Michael, “You can go now.” I think he meant GO as in “You’re allowed to die now. I don’t need you anymore.” And the bomb certainly let Michael go.

Jin
Please oh, please, don’t be dead! I keep thinking back to Sun’s original flashFORWARD. I thought Jin was still alive on The Island. Now I’m not so sure. He’s either dead in the middle of the ocean, or maybe he survived and somehow made it close enough to The Island to be transported with it. I hope it’s the latter.

Oceanic 6…or so
Kate
She’s just flat to me. I mean, she took over Aaron pretty quickly, so that’s a step up from hard-nosed Kate. And an obvious jump to new-flash-forward Kate. Even though she was in every scene, I just don’t get much from her character wise.

Jack
He is SO extreme. As they are sitting on the life raft, contemplating where The Island may have disappeared to and wondering how they will be rescued (pre-Penny), Hurley says, “I can’t believe he did it.” Kate, “Who? What?” Hurley, “Locke moved The Island.” Jack says, “No he didn’t.” NO HE DIDN’T? Where was he? The Island is GONE. How can he stick to the no-miracles-no-supernatural-no-destiny-no-fate, after what he’s seen with his own two eyes? I don’t get him!

And what made him change once he got back? I’m kinda with Kate, “How could you believe him (Benthem/Locke) of all people?” What made Jack shift and not Kate? Surely not just visits from his dad?

I can definitely see why the rest of the Oceanic Six are disillusioned with Jack their mighty leader. It might be a tough sell next season to get them to follow Jack & Ben back to The Island.

Sun
She was superb last night. When they watch the freighter blow, Sun was absolutely a crazy wild woman. Then contrast that to her calm cool and collected self as she talks to Widmore. Intense. That conversation also revealed that Sun’s father did indeed have connections with Widmore. I doubt he knew too much, he seems too self-absorbed to get into Widmore’s supernatural Island stuff. However, I do think Sun is ready to turn on her 06. I think she’s tired of the lies and wants to get back at Jack for effectively killing Jin. What an interesting fight this could be next season: Jack & Ben versus Sun & Widmore.

Hurley
Also delivered one of the best lines of the night. When Sayid came to bring him to a “safe place” Hurley finishes his chess game and says, “You’re move, Mr. Ekko.” ACK!

My big Hurley question is still this: why did Hurley tell Jack in the first episode of this season that he was sorry he went with Locke? I wonder if you asked him now would he say the same thing. Do you think his thoughts have changed since seeing Locke/Benthem, Walt and Charlie?

Sayid
Is one bad dude. You know I’m all-girl, but that fight between Sayid & Keamy was stinkin’ awesome. That’s the Sayid of the future, too—a cold-blooded, do whatever it takes guy.

My big question about Sayid is this: how much does he know? He’s been in contact with Ben this whole time. When he told Hurley that Locke/Benthem was dead, he seemed as if he was holding back the excitement. And then Hurley asked if the safe place was The Island. Sayid brushed it off with a no. Why would Hurley think Sayid could bring him back to The Island just like that? Why would Sayid not be surprised by that question? And what do they need to be safe from?

Aaron
How is that child alive? He’s supposedly 5 weeks old (according to Kate at the press conference), but we know he’s got to be 3 or 4 months old (is my math right?) and yet he doesn’t eat! Who’s nursing that child? Where is the Dharma formula? And WHY does Claire want him back on The Island…or should I say, why does The Island want him back on The Island?

Walt
I know why Walt hasn’t been in any episodes—good grief, he’s huge! Did you notice they never showed him standing? It’s because he’s probably a giant! I still think Walt has a special connection to The Island. I’m wondering if he’ll be a part of the Oceanic 6’s plan to get back to The Island?

Desmond & Penny
*cue hallelujah chorus*
When they got Desmond on the life raft seemingly dead. I knew he wasn’t dead. I knew they wouldn’t end Penny & Desmond’s story with a drowning. But I had NO idea Penny was just over the next wave waiting for him. Her face. His face. Oh, it was so sweet when they realized they were finally together again. And I loved when the 06 was getting back into the life raft. Desmond was just so content. Finally. The poor guy lived in the hatch for 3 years. He needed a happy ending. I wonder if he’ll get one?

Did I get everyone? That was the most character intense episode ever. I’m just overwhelmed.

Q&A
Was I right? Was I right? I WAS RIGHT! In my very first recap of the first episode, I said, soon we’d be following two stories: one in the future of the O6 trying to get back to the Island and a second story of the Losties on the Island. And that’s exactly what’s going to happen. SOMEHOW, the king-of-the-island Jack and the golden-boy-of-the-island, Ben are going to convince the Oceanic Six (and maybe Walt and Frank & Desmond, too), that they have to go back.

The peripherals are a little changed—will it be to a different TIME that they return?

Will this future cease to exist (meaning Locke is alive, they never got off The Island, Claire and Aaron are together, etc.)?

Or will they re-do time BEFORE they arrived on The Island (ie. Our Losties are actually the Dharma folks, etc.)?

Or maybe it will be a la Back to the Future and future-losties will go back in time to save past-losties and make future-reality a better place?

Or did the Island really move? And it’s in the arctic (hence the polar bears)?

Oh, and an Island question…is the Island ancient? Or alien? What is up with the frozen donkey wheel? And being able to move the Island? Who came up with that? Why is it possible? There’s just too much in that one scene to even contemplate!

And my one random lingering question…what ever happened to Desmond’s vision of Claire & Aaron getting on a helicopter?

Conclusion & My Prediction
I’m sad that Lost is over, but I’m happy because that was one good episode. We’ve never had so much information at once. They actually connected some stuff for us! Thank you, LOST!

I’m guessing this next season will consist of the downfall of The Island (Locke has to come back for SOME reason) while Ben and his O6 try to get back to The Island. And I think our season finale next time will feel like a Part 4 of last night’s episode.

I just hope I can make it that long.

Whad’ya think, Losties? Could you even digest that much Lostie-goodness?!

(I’ll be mulling it over at ohamanda.com for quite some time, I’m sure!)