Lost 5.11: Whatever Happened, Happened

Oh, Losties! Did you miss me? Did you even notice I was gone? I missed last week’s Lost episode (my promised Sayid episode) because I was on a Disney Cruise. Let’s all pause for a moment and let that deliciousness sink in. Ahhhh.

Now, back to Lost. I honestly wasn’t in love with last week’s episode. It seemed…I don’t know, boring. This week had the same feel—in that it was retro-Lost complete with honest-to-goodness flashbacks. But I liked it. Even being Kate-centric, I liked it. When that black screen o’Lost came up at the end, I said, “Are you kidding me?!” Like I read on twitter last night, “Lost is the shortest hour on television.” (or something like that—but ain’t it the truth?)

OK, let’s get to it. Even though this was a Kate episode, it was very character heavy. But, let’s start with Kate’s flashback…

We see Kate in “the real world” driving up to a typical suburban home, she gets out of the car, grabs a really cute little Aaron (probably about 6-7 months old because he looks like my little 6 month old pirate!). So, the timing is post-Island, post-Oceanic-Six. She’s singing him a little song about “catch a falling star” which has apparently been Aaron’s song. Instead of entering the house, she rings the doorbell and who answers? Ah, Cassidy! Sawyer’s baby mama and one true love (besides Kate and Juliet, of course).

Cassidy immediately recognizes Kate because they pulled their own con on Kate’s mom years before The Island. Cassidy is excited to see her because she had recognized Kate on all the Oceanic 6 news coverage. Kate begins to tell her that Sawyer sent her. Cassidy immediately recognizes that Kate loved Sawyer (or whatever it is that Kate might feel…). As Kate tells Sawyer’s story, Cassidy is unimpressed. She believes Sawyer jumped to get away from Kate and commitment. She also recognizes that Aaron is not Kate’s. And this begins a new friendship between the two.

Next we see Kate fleeing the marina (and Ben with Sun’s gun to his head). Aaron decides he wants a milk, so they stop at a grocery store. As they are walking around, Kate loses Aaron for a second. She begins to freak out and finally finds him holding onto a Claire look-alike’s hand. (That was freeaaaaky.)

She immediately runs for Cassidy’s house where a sweet Clementine opens the door and says, “Hi Aunty Kate!”. Kate tells Cassidy that when Aaron disappeared in the store her first thought was, “Finally. I knew it was going to happen.” Cassidy (who is apparently all knowing & can see everyone’s thoughts and feelings) says, “You think he’s going to be taken from you because you took him.” (OUCH.) Cassidy then tells her that Kate needed Aaron—to fill up that broken heart. The heart broken by Sawyer, I guess?

Next we see Kate knocking on Carol Littleton’s hotel room door. Carol Littleton, as in CLAIRE’S MAMA! Kate tells her who Aaron is and that Claire is alive. (Is she?) Kate tells her that she’s told Aaron Carol is his grandma and that Kate’s going to the Island to find Claire. She leaves Aaron sleeping in a motel to wake up to his new Aussie grandma. How stinkin’ weird is that?

And that, folks, is why Kate came back to The Island. And remarkably, I like that answer. I don’t like that she left a 3 year old sitting in a hotel room to wake up to a Grandma he’s never met. But I think it’s believable that she’d finally feel like she was the one “playing house” with Aaron.

I did not mean for that to be so long...let’s jump back to 1977 and The Island-ers…

The mini synopsis:
Jin finds young Ben bleeding to death on the jungle floor. Jin brings him to Juliet. Juliet can’t save him. She asks Sawyer to get Jack. Jack refuses to help. Kate freaks. She gives blood to save Ben and meets his dad Roger while she’s there. Juliet realizes the only person that can help Ben is Richard Alpert (aka Sexy Eyes). Kate loads Ben up in a Dharma van and heads for the jungle. Sawyer catches up and helps her. They discuss themselves. The Others find them. Richard shows up. He takes Ben into The Temple.

Now, character by character:

Young Ben. I KNEW HE WASN’T DEAD. All the speculation last week was “What happens if Ben dies?!” But I knew we couldn’t get away from Ben that easily. Poor little guy was bleeding out and asking for help and apologizing to his dad for stealing the keys to break Sayid out. I almost felt sorry for the little Harry-Potter-Lookin’-Future-Evil-Mastermind-Other-Wannabe.

Jin. When Jin woke up from being kung-fu-ed by Sayid, he picked young Ben up and put him in the Dharma van. (My husband yelled, “DROWN HIM!” He’s a sensitive guy, I tell you.) But, as we will see in a minute, Jin and the other Dharma-Losties have a grasp on they whys and wherefores of time travel per their time travel guru Daniel Faraday. (Who is still TOO absent!)

Jack. What is his freakin’ problem? He has suddenly turned all John Locke on us by believing that The Island has him there for a reason. Only when Sawyer approaches him to do something only he can do, he refuses. Even after Kate tries to persuade him, he won’t. He just sits there. He obviously believes he’s saving the future by not saving Ben. Kate looks at him and says, “I like the old Jack better.” Hmph. Well, I don’t like either Jack.

Juliet. Poor Juliet. Ever since I read Heather J’s comment about Juliet being doomed because of her name (as in “Romeo and”), I get sad every time I see Juliet. Juliet just likes her life. She likes Sawyer. She likes saving babies. And now everything is unraveling. When Jack refuses to help, she runs into their house and verbally attacks him. (He, by the way, just got out of the shower and for some reason, this is not weird.) She says, “WE DID NOT NEED SAVING.” She accuses him of coming back to The Island for himself…not for anyone else. (I didn’t get this conversation. I’m not sure if she’s mad because Kate is back possibly ruining her life with Sawyer. Or if she’s upset because they are all back, ruining their life in “the real world”. What do you think?)

Kate. She is ridiculously excited to help Ben. I’m not sure if it’s her new status as “caring mom” or what. She tries to convince Jack, she gives blood, she talks to Roger Linus, she carts Ben off to The Others and she has no qualms about it. I felt a little like Roger thought she was flirting with him. (How weird would THAT be?)

Roger Linus. Poor guy. He confesses to Kate that he thought he was going to be the world’s greatest dad. You could see the fear and disappointment in his eyes as he watched Ben. Not disappointment in Ben, but in himself and their relationship. Maybe that’s why Kate wanted to help Ben so much—she connected to Roger on a parent-al level.

Sawyer. Once Kate carts Ben up, Sawyer catches up with her at the sonar-fence-thingie. Kate asks, “Why are you helping me?” He says that Juliet told him that it doesn’t matter who Ben MIGHT be, right now he’s just a kid. He says, “I’m doing this for her.” (SCORE! TWO POINTS FOR SULIET!) As they walk through the jungle, Kate brings up Clementine. Kate tells Sawyer that Clementine has his smile. Finally Sawyer says, “You and I would have never worked out, Kate.” She says, “You’re doing all right with Juliet.” (Did you totally hear a whiny kid in there?) He says, “I’ve done a lot of growing up the past three years.” I loved this from him. He recognized his selfish behavior, his (shall I say it?) lust and even his insecurities. Now he’s a much fuller man. In part (if not mostly) due to his relationship with Juliet. Their conversation is cut short because of…

The Others. They approach with guns raised and are dressed in their finest grungy native-y garb. (WHY?) Sawyer tells them they need to see Richard or otherwise Ben will die. After a few minutes of walking through the jungle, Sexy Eyes himself appears…

Richard Alpert. He is dressed in (per Doc Jensen) Banana Republic best. (WHY?) He says, “Hello James.” Then asks if the boy is Benjamin Linus. Sawyer is surprised. Kate interjects something (waaaah-waah-waaah) and Richard looks at her with disdain, “Who are you?” They ask if Richard will save Ben’s life. Richard’s response? (Wait…I’m about to transcribe it…)

“If I take him, he’s not ever gonna be the same again…he’ll forget this happened…his innocence will be gone…he will always be one of us.”

(HOLY COW.)

(HOLY STINKIN’ COW.)

Sawyer and Kate look at each other and for some unknown reason, they say, “OK, Sexy Eyes, take him away and turn him into our arch nemesis. M’kay. Bye.”

Random Other protests and tells Richard to check with Ellie and Charles. (Oh, ho!) Richard says, “I don’t answer to either of them.” REALLY?!

Richard takes Ben into the jungle and then enters The Temple. (UHM. Doesn’t Smokey LIVE THERE?!)

And suddenly, it’s present day. Like 2007.

Grown up Ben wakes up in the Hydra station with a very much alive John Locke looking over his bed. Locke says, “Welcome to the land of the living.” Ben is uncharacteristically SHOCKED.

THE END.

My most favorite scene I haven’t even mentioned yet:

Hurley & Miles. Sawyer puts Jack, Kate & Hurley under house arrest while Juliet is working on Ben. He doesn’t want them to do anything stupid. While they are sitting around, Hurley begins to examine his hand. He wonders if it is going to disappear a la Back to the Future. (HA! How many times have I a-la-ed Back to the Future?!) Miles then explains that they can’t change the future or the past. This is the way it’s always gone down…they just never experienced it for themselves until now. They have several awesome conversations about this…you’d think the writers just grabbed a couple of posts from the Lost messageboard and forums because I swear I’ve uttered every word Miles and Hurley spouted! Finally, Hurley asks why Ben didn’t remember Sayid killing him as a kid. Miles is stumped on this one. But now we know why…(see Richard’s comment above.)

(Seriously, did anyone transcribe their conversations? I’d love to re-read them! Please leave a link in the comments if you’ve seen it somewhere!)

Theories & Stuff To Talk About
1. Richard Alpert. My new favorite theory about him is from ew.com’s Doc Jensen. He suggests that Richard is like a sphinx. He “guards” The Island (or The Others) and if you best him, you become the leader. He will serve you until you get knocked from top spot…then he’ll serve whoever did the knocking. I LIKE THIS.

2. The Temple. What in the world is Richard going to do to Ben?! This answers so many questions about our Island Golden Boy. BUT. Now that Locke has been resurrected is he going to “know” more about The Island than Ben? Than Richard? Is he equal to Christian?

3. Rebirth. I’ve read a few things about everyone’s “new” lives: Sawyer is the new Jack, Jack is the new Locke, Locke is the new Christian (or maybe the new Ben), etc. What do you think? Have these three years changed our Losties so completely?

4. Jack. Ha! Ha! So, Jack thinks he was saving the world from Evil Grown Up Ben, when in fact, if Dr. Jack would have intervened, young Ben would have kept his innocence and the world will be a different place. Sorry Jack and Sayid. Revenge doesn’t work–not in the past, present or the future! Whatever happened, happened. Period.

Conclusion
Whew, I think I about covered it. I wanna hear what you have to say…

(i’m at ohamanda.com all week or twittering @Oohamanda)