Get LOST: LA X Part 2

Posted by Ben Piper on 02.09.2010

411's Dustin James and Rick Tym divulge and discuss Part 2 of the final season premiere of LOST! Get the details inside.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT PART 1 IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!

Hello everyone, and welcome to part 2 of the recap for the season premiere of LOST's final season; LA X. Here's Dustin James with the vital stuff that had to be covered…

What We Learned: Hour two begins by showing the Dharma van in which Sayid is still bleeding to death. Sawyer is seen preparing to bury Juliette, while the rest of the passengers are busy getting ready to take Sayid to the temple. Hurley goes to move the guitar case that Jacob gave him last season, and when Miles asks if they are going to sing "Koom bye ya" on the way to the temple, Hurley informs him that it's not a guitar in the case (hmm, interesting). Meanwhile, Kate really wants to help Sawyer bury Juliette, but he's not having it. Sawyer asks Miles to give him a hand much to Kate's dismay. The parties then split up with one group heading towards the temple while Sawyer and Miles head off to bury Juliette. Sawyer gives Jack one final mean glare before heading off.

Whoosh!

And we are now back at the airport where Kate is still being held by Edward Mars. A voice then comes over the intercom. "Oceanic passenger Jack Shephard please go to the nearest courtesy desk." Jack then heads to the courtesy desk where he is informed that the airline has lost his dad's coffin. Apparently it was never even on the plane. Jack is noticeably irritated seeing as the funeral is in two hours. The customer service agent then informs Jack that he's not sure when it's going to get to Los Angeles....because the airline has no idea where it's at (!!!).

Whoosh!

Cut to the island now as Jack, Jin, Kate, and Hurley finally arrive at the temple with Sayid's body. Hurley notices a hole in the ground in which the LOSTies attempt to carry Sayid through. Once in the hole you can't see much as it's very dark (looks a lot like the LOST video game cave scenes). There is a skeleton down there who is loaded with a few supplies. He has a book, matches, a torch, and oh yeah....one arm. Jin informs Hurley that the skeleton's arm was "ripped off by the black smoke." We head deeper into the cave where there is another hole (nothing is scarier than a hole in the ground within a hole in the ground!) The group appears to make it over the hole just fine.

Meanwhile, Kate has managed to get herself separated from the rest of the group. Jack then heads off to look for her but he hears something happening with Hurley and Jin (what is going on in this cave???). Jack is now lost in the cave frantically looking for the rest of his party....and he doesn't even notice a shadow moving behind him! It doesn't matter because he's seemingly knocked out and caught by what seems to be, The Others. "The Others" drag Jack out of the cave where he is reunited with the rest of the group. The group is then led to what appears to be.....THE TEMPLE (OMG!!!)!

Back at the airport with Kate and Officer Mars. Kate lets him know that she has to use the bathroom. Mars leads her into the bathroom where once in the stall she attempts to take off her handcuffs. Mars is getting very impatient and notices one of the springs on the ground and then informs Kate that she's done and must come out of the stall immediately. Kate (still in the cuffs) kicks the bathroom stall right into Mars' face, slams his head against the sink countertop which knocks him out. She then takes his gun, while looking for the handcuff keys in his jacket, some patrons come into use the bathroom. When they see the unconscious Mars on the bathroom floor Kate informs them that he came into the restroom and started attacking her. Kate frantically bolts for the door while the women inform airport security. Kate then heads for the elevator where it is currently occupied by none other than Sawyer.

Once in the elevator, Sawyer starts with the small talk. Kate is having none of it. Some airport security guards then board the elevator which of course, makes Kate very nervous. The airline guys get told by a voice over the intercom to hurry up and get to the baggage claim because they have a "341". Sawyer then asks what a "341" is, but according to the security guard it's "confidential". The elevator door opens and once the security guards go to exit, Sawyer steps in front of them and lets Kate go first. See, and people say chivalry is dead!

Whoosh!

Back on the island now where Sawyer and Miles are beginning to bury Juliette......

Miles: (noticeably worried) Hey, I think that'll do it boss....

Sawyer: Stop calling me boss, you ain't my deputy anymore.

Miles: You got it. Are you thirsty? I think I saw some beers in the van, a couple of guys hid em in the.....

Sawyer: What did she want to tell me?

Miles: Excuse me?

Sawyer: Juliette, she said she wanted to tell me something before she died. What was it Miles?

Miles: Is that why you wanted me to stay here with you?

Sawyer: You're the only one around that talks to dead people.

Miles: Jim....that's not how it works.

Sawyer: What did she want to tell me Miles?

Miles: It doesn't matter...

Sawyer: It does matter.....

Miles: It's not going to help.

Sawyer: (getting noticeably angry) Just ask her!

Miles: She's gone James!

(Sawyer then grabs Miles and throws him down on Juliette's grave)

Sawyer: I know she's gone, I know. But tell me.

Miles: OK, OK, alright.

(Miles then places his hands against the grave and appears to be talking to her)

Sawyer: (interested) What?

Miles: It worked!

Sawyer: What did she want to tell me?

Miles: That's what she wanted to tell you, it worked.

Sawyer: (noticeably disappointed) What worked?

Sawyer then heads off into the jungle leaving Miles by himself.

We are now back at the temple with Jack and friends. A mysterious Japanese man named "Dogen" comes walking out of the temple along with a hippie looking fellow named "Lennon". Cindy (the flight stewardess from Oceanic 815) is there as well and informs everyone that these are passengers from her flight. Dogen then says something in a foreign language. Apparently he told the rest of his crew to go ahead and "shoot" Jack and company. Before they can do that, Hurley informs them that "Jacob sent us". This stalls the sudden act of violence that's about to happen as Hurley once again informs them that "Jacob sent us and he said you would help our friend (Sayid)." Once they ask Hurley to prove it, Hurley points out the guitar case in which Jacob gave him last season. Dogen goes to open the case and it's none other than a wooden ankh (much like the one the statue of Taweret holds in each hand). Much to Hurley's dismay, Dogen breaks it over his knee and pulls out a note. While reading the note Dogen asks for their names. After naming off all their names, Dogen orders his guys to pick up Sayid's body and to "take him to the spring." Hurley is noticeably angry as he's been carrying the guitar case for literally decades and he demands to know what the paper says. Lennon then informs Hurley that the note says "that if Sayid dies, then everyone's in for a lot of trouble."

Back at the airport now we see Jin and Sun talking with airport security. While security is looking through Jin's belongings he's getting noticeably upset and irritated. He informs them that he's "in a hurry and has an appointment to get to." That doesn't matter to airport security as once they open one of his bags and find an obscene amount of money....they are interested in exactly what Jin is doing. Security informs him that "anything over $10,000 has to be declared." Sun even wants to know what Jin is doing with all this money but she doesn't have time to ask him as security is trying to detain him. One of the guards then asks Sun if she understands any english and if she does speak it, now would be a great time to speak up. Sun informs her that she has no understanding of the english language.

Whoosh!

We are back at the temple now where the mysterious group of "Others" is leading Sayid to "the spring." Upon arriving at the spring, Lennon notices that the water is not clear anymore and wants to know what happened. Dogen heads over to the spring where he proceeds to cut his hand and then places his bloody palm in the spring. Once he goes to pull his hand out he notices that it's still bleeding and seems disappointed. The "Others" then ask who did this to Sayid. Jack informs them that while he didn't shoot him, it's likely his fault. Lennon tells Jack that if they do this "there is a risk." Jack lets him know that they should "do what they have to do." The "Others" then proceed to strip Sayid of his coveralls and place him in the spring. They submerge Sayid into the spring while Dogen flips over an hour glass. Sayid's body then starts shaking uncontrollably as if he was drowning. Jack and friends get noticeably nervous and start yelling at the "Others" that they are drowning Sayid and they need to stop. Jack even gets a "friendly" judo chop from Dogen when he attempts to stop the process.

Meanwhile, the hour glass is still running. All of a sudden, Sayid's body becomes lifeless and once the hour glass runs out Dogen orders the group to lift Sayid out of the water. It doesn't appear to work though seeing as Lennon informs them that Sayid is indeed dead (Booooo!!!). Jack still attempts to play doctor however, and proceeds to give Sayid CPR. It doesn't appear to be working though as Kate has to go over and tell Jack that Sayid is "dead and he's not coming back."

Cut to the airport where Sayid is looking at a picture of a female when all of a sudden Arzt is standing next to him. We then see Kate still walking through the airport with Mars' jacket hiding her handcuffs. Kate notices an airport worker going into a "unauthorized room". She watches the worker punch in the "key code" and no doubt memorizes it in case she needs another place to hide. She notices a group of policemen huddling together and you guessed it, goes into the "unauthorized room". The room then leads her outside to a waiting taxi cab. However, the cab is already taken by none other than "Frogurt"! "Frogurt" lets Kate know there is a line for the cabs, but let's face it....Kate's in a hurry. Kate then gets in line (behind Hurley none the less). Kate looks to her left and sees Officer Mars talking to a group of police officers and noticeably gets very worried. Mars finally spots Kate and begins to chase her. Kate then hops into the first taxi cab she sees (being driven by none other than the "puppet man" from Heroes none the less) and proceeds to carjack the cab. However, it appears the cab already has a passenger....Claire! (OMG!!!!)

Whoosh!

And now back at the spring where Jack and others are mourning the death of Sayid. Cindy walks into the room accompanied by some kids who give the group something to drink. Some of the "Others" have returned and appear to be carrying an unconscious Sawyer who is still with Miles. Miles informs the group that they were "jumped in the jungle and that Sawyer was knocked out with a rock." Lennon asks Hurley to follow him. He's then lead into a room where the Dogen is trimming some plants. They apparently want to know exactly what Jacob told Hurley. Hurley informs them that Jacob told the group to go to the temple because "they would save Sayid." Apparently Sayid was beyond saving. Dogen then wants to know when Jacob's going to be arriving at the temple. Hurley then informs them that "Jacob is dead". Upon hearing that news, Dogen has a horrific look on his face.

Back with Jack and company when all of a sudden a bell starts ringing. Everyone starts scattering while Lennon orders them to "go to their posts and to prepare the ash." The group starts scattering ash all around the temple. They light off what appears to be a massive flare which of course, goes up and lights up the daytime sky like the fourth of July. Hurley notices that they are bolting the doors shut and mentions that it appears as though the group is staying at the temple. Lennon then informs Hurley that they aren't doing this to keep Hurley in, they are doing it to "keep him out"!

Finally we arrive to the statue of Taweret where "Locke" and Ben are still sitting around getting to know each other.....



Ben: Who are you?

"Locke": I'm not a "what" Ben, I'm a "who".

Ben: You're the "monster"?

"Locke": Let's not resort to name calling.

Ben: You used me. You couldn't kill him yourself, so you made me do it.

"Locke": I didn't make you do anything. You should know, he was very confused when you killed him.

Ben: I don't know if Jacob was ever confused.

"Locke": I'm not talking about Jacob. I'm talking about John Locke. Do you want to know what he was thinking when you choked the life out of him Benjamin? The thought that ran through his head was "I don't understand". Isn't that just the saddest thing you've ever heard? But it's fitting in a way. Because when John first came to the island, he was a very sad man. A victim. Shouting at the world for being told what he couldn't do....even though they were right. He was weak and pathetic and irreparably broken. But despite all that there was something admirable about him. He was the only one of them who didn't want to leave. The only one who realized how pitiful the life he left behind actually was.

Ben: What do you want?

"Locke": Well thats the great irony here Ben because I want the one thing that John Locke didn't. I want to go home!

Cut to the temple where we see Sayid still laying unconscious. Hurley is saying his goodbyes to Sayid and lets him know that if he ever wants to talk, he'll be there for him. Miles looks bewildered by the whole thing. Kate is busy nurturing Sawyer who is finally awake and wanting to know where the heck he's at. Kate informs Sawyer that they are at the temple and that they have been caught by the "Others" again, but this time she thinks the "Others" are protecting them. Sawyer still appears to be visibly upset with Jack, but has changed his mind in regards to killing him because Jack needs to "suffer on this rock like the rest of us."

Whoosh!

We shifts things back to the airport now where Jack is talking on his cell phone to his mother in regards to his dad's missing coffin. Jack hangs up the phone and a familiar voice is heard....

Locke: What did you lose?

Jack: Excuse me?

Locke: They lost one of my bags. What about you?

Jack: (shaking his head) You wouldn't believe me if I told you.

Locke: Try me.

Jack: They lost my father.

Locke: I'm sorry.

Jack: He died in Australia a couple days ago and I flew down to get him.

Locke: My condolences.

Jack: The coffin was supposed to go on the plane in Sydney but it didn't. He's somewhere in transit which is their way of saying they have no idea where he is.

Locke: Well, how could they?

Jack: They checked him in so they must have some idea-

Locke: No I'm not talking about the coffin. I mean how could they know where he is? They didn't lose your father, they just lost his body.

(Jack shakes his head)

Locke: Either way, your story beats the hell outta mine. All that was in my suitcase was a bunch of knives.

Jack: Some kind of salesman?

Locke: Yeah something like that. Well it was nice talkin to ya. I hope you find that coffin.

Jack: I hope you find your knives... Mind if I asked what happened to you? Uh, I'm sorry. I only ask because I'm a spinal surgeon. I didn't mean to-

Locke: Oh don't worry about it. Uh, surgery isn't gonna do anything to help me. My condition is irreversible.

Jack: Nothings irreversible... Uh, if you ever want a consult, just give me a call. It's on the house.

Locke: Well thanks... (reading the card) Jack Shephard. I'm John, John Locke.

Jack: Nice to meet you John.

Locke: Nice to meet you too.

Jack: Thanks.

Locke: You're welcome.

Whoosh!

We are now back on the island where we see the flare explode in the sky once again. Richard sees it and it immediately grabs his full attention. The group notices that Ben and "Locke" have finally left the statue of Taweret and they immediately draw their weapons on them. Richard looks very worried as "Locke" is walking towards him. Ilana is ready to fire, however Richard tells her to drop the weapon. "Locke" tells Richard that it's "good to see you out of those chains" (hmmm, interesting!). Richard looks very bewildered and says "YOU?". "Locke" proceeds to beat the ever loving crap out of Richard. He lets the group know that he's very disappointed in them. He proceeds to pick up the lifeless Richard and puts him over his shoulder. We then see him walk by the dead body of the real John Locke.

Back at the temple, we see Sayid's body laying on the floor. Lennon enters the room and informs Jack that they need to speak to him privately. Jack lets him know that if he's got something to say to him, then he needs to just say it. Lennon lets Jack know that if he doesn't come with them willingly, he will be "dragged out". Jack of course gets all pissed off and starts fighting with the "Others". The room comes to a standstill once Hurley notices that Sayid is awake and moving! Finally Sayid asks the question that everyone now wants to know the answer to...."What happened?"



LOST!

Easter Eggs: The fictional magazine that Rose was reading while conversing with Jack while on the plane was called The Weekly Woodsman. The same fictional magazine was also featured on a season four episode of Supernatural. On the back cover of said magazine was an image of a UFO with the words "The Truth Is Out There", which is an obvious X-Files reference…. The book Desmond was reading was a children's novel written by Salman Rushdie (Apologies for not providing the title, but I've got a deadline to meet) about the power of imagination and storytelling and features one character saying "what's the use of these stories if they are not true", an obvious reference to the flash-sideways storyline…. The Dharma shark returns!… While annoying Hurley, Arzt was holding a book about insects and dangerous creatures, a reference to his on-island non-Flash-sideways life he led on the island before he went boom… In the flash-sideways, Hurley is sitting in a different seat than he was in the original crash of 815. Originally he sat in row 20, but in this thread he sat in row 33, meaning that both him and Sawyer sat in the tailsection…. Boone also sat in a different place than the original flight, in the same row as Locke. Before he had Shannon with him, and they sat in first class… It was Frogurt sitting between Boone and Locke in the Flash-sideways 815…. On the cancelled TV show Reaper, part of it's mythology was that standing in a circle would protect you from the devil, making an argument that Smokey/Unlocke/ MIB is pleased to meet you, and he hopes you guessed his name (That, or it's just another intentional or unintentional shout out to another show that the producers may have liked) …. In the caves under the temple, Hurley found a book called Fear And Trembling by Kierkegaard about the Biblical Abraham's choice following the fact that he was ordered by God to kill his own son, and whether or not that act was one of good or evil…

And for the analysis, let's turn things over to Rick Tym!

Analysis: As I sit here typing away on the old laptop, it's Sunday night, Indy is driving for the first time in Super Bowl 44 (I dislike Roman numerals I do not understand), and there's a cold beer freshly opened on the end table next to me. So rather than lament the two finals and three "fun" projects/presentations due in less than two weeks for grad school, let's just continue to have some fun, okay?

Of course, that fun can only continue if we talk about Lost. While Ben and Dustin are busy with their extensive recaps of both hours of the season premiere, I will be talking about all the wild and wacky events that took place during "LA X Parts One and Two." As Ben and I have done in the past, things will be broken down into all things on and off-Island. But this time around I'll be taking both parts because, hey, it beats transcribing character convos. (Just kidding. Kind of.) I'm going to start with all things on-Island because quite frankly I find the alternate timeline/flash sideways storyline of Oceanic 815 landing in LA a bit more interesting, and I always save the best for last. (Honestly. To this day, I still eat my broccoli first so it's out of the way. But all things Lost are soooo much better than broccoli.) So hey-ho, let's go…

On-Island Musings

One of the biggest questions, obviously, is simple: did that bomb go off, or what? For me, the jury's still out. I mean, of course it looked like a bomb went off at the Hatch site when we met back up with our favorite jungle dwellers, but I can't really decide if that was because of Jughead's innards exploding or if, like Jin thought, it was actually one last flash of time travel to present day. Either way, in this reality Jack's little experiment never worked. The Incident never happened because if it did they would be off that damned rock. (Or did it? See, that's why I love this show, and the flash sideways mechanism of storytelling soon to be discussed.) As I was pondering that I got all excited because someone was whimpering from underneath all that metal and rubble…

…Juliet!!! And then, goddamit, they killed her again. Half of me was agonized to see Sawyer go through such emotional torture a second time, but the other half was wondering if the powers that be know that Josh got robbed at the Emmys so they decided to give him a better shot at a nom this year. I'll miss the Sawyer that I've started to really enjoy, and hope that he doesn't devolve too far backwards towards his original dickish con man character. (Note: I predict that he and Juliet will be reunited to globally shattering applause by the end of the series. Here's wishing upon a star, anyway.)

Other Island events that involved our "core group" of castaways included Hurley continuing to see dead people and having the best lines as he decided to play savior by following Ghost Jacob's command, getting directions from Jin to take an expiring Sayid to the Temple for some healing. Looks like we may have gotten an idea of what all that whispering was about on the Island. As the intrepid group navigated the underground tunnels outside the Temple proper, low voices abounded and all were captured and led to the presumed Temple leader, Yoko Ono Dogen and his side man, (not John) Lennon.

At this point I'd like to say that I officially know where on-Island Jack is coming from. You know, how he feels, equal parts depressed and pissed. Because if one more mother$@#er came up, blindsided me, and then marched me to my supposed doom, I'd be pretty sick of it too. Honestly, I know it was a logical progression to get to the Temple, but I'd be pissed if I got sucker punched for the umpteenth time by a member of the Others…

…anyway, we also got to see what happened to a certain stewardess when she informs Dogen that most of the prisoners were on the "first" plane. Is that meant to infer that Bram and Ilana's plane was the "second" one? I can only assume so, unless there's some other plane – you know, like Widmore's fake one?.

That gives me a nice segue way to talk about some of the things that happened in the shadow of the Four-Toed Statue for a minute before we return to the Temple. How awesome was it that Smokey rained violent retribution from down below and up on high? Please, no comments about bad CGI. Even if the special effects were less than stellar, Smokey figuring out a way to get around Bram's ash circle was stupendous. And how fitting that a man named for the creator of Dracula died via a wooden stake to the heart? We all know now that Flocke is that dude in the dark clothes – or the Man in Black for all you Dark Tower fans out there. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that," ranks as perhaps the greatest line spoken in the show's history. The exchange between Flocke and Ben was also one of the best convos that shall be transcribed in this column, but no matter how well my cohorts try to spin it there's just no way to describe the use of lighting in that scene. As Flocke sat forward and leaned back, sun light and shadows were used to great effect as he told a bewildered Ben that he wanted to go home after lamenting the sad state of the soul whose body he now resided in. Where is home? Is Flocke really a fallen angel? He's obviously been trapped on the Island for a long time, but where is he trying to go? The "real" world? Some other dimension yet to be revealed? Back to Heaven? Your thoughts in the comments section would be appreciated.

Other interesting developments at the Four-Toed Statue include Sun and Lapidus' conversation. For the record, I don't really think that the group in question is made up of the good guys either. Ben trying to weasel his way out of telling the truth was also a nice return to form. I wonder why Flocke was cutting a swatch from Jacob's bachelor pad rug almost as much as I wonder about the following two things: (1) What did Flocke mean when he told Ageless Richard Alpert that it was nice to see him "out of those chains (my answer: he used to be a shackled servant on the Black Rock) and (2) what did he mean when he told the entire group huddled outside Jacob's digs that he was disappointed in them (my answer: I have no idea)? No matter what one may think, it's clear that Flocke doesn't like Richard very much. I'm wondering what he will do with his unconscious body once they arrive at the Temple, which is where I presume the Man in Black (now wearing John Locke's skin) is headed.

And so shall we go back to the Temple to wrap up the on-Island happenings. It was nice to finally find out what was in the guitar case that Hurley carried to and fro on Jacob's behest. A big wooden ankh is cool but I'm willing to bet that the little slip of paper inside of it was even more intriguing. A list of all those that Jacob touched, perhaps? Once Jacob's name was invoked by Hurley, guns were lowered and Dogen and company took Sayid inside the Temple to be saved. Too bad their little fountain of youth (or Lazarus Pit for all you Batman fans out there) was murky instead of clear. Is that because Jacob was dead? And if the pool didn't heal Dogen's self-inflicted palm would, why the hell did they throw Sayid in there in the first place? More than meets the eye here, I think.

I say that because I need to touch on one more on-Island issue that you all think I missed, and that is our little ghost whispering buddy Miles. He told Sawyer that Juliet's departed essence said Jack's plan worked earlier in the episode when they were burying her. Did anyone notice the weird look on his face when Sayid, um, "died?" His look of puzzlement led me to believe that he didn't hear anything (i.e. no voices from beyond), which leads me to believe that our favorite Iraqi was inhabited by…something. I've been hearing a lot of chatter about Jacob taking over his body, but I'm still leaning towards Sayid coming back with no recollection of the past, much like a young Benjamin Linus.

As we left the Island at the end of the episode, Sayid asks, "What happened?" Couldn't have said it better myself, bud.

We're at halftime at the Super Bowl. The commercials have not been so great, and the best thing about The Who's performance is that admittedly swank stage and light show they've got going on right now. I don't think it a bad performance, actually, but I think whenever it's an open air stadium show it just doesn't sound as good on television. With all this unnecessary information in mind, let's move onto all issues off-Island related. Or as I like to call it…

…Oceanic 815, Remixed

First things first…Jack has prior knowledge of the real crash. He remembers. He was waiting for that plane to go down just like it did before. However, all of the different circumstances show that this new off-Island reality is a different – although not necessarily better – one. I dug all of the little touches that we saw as things progressed, such as Bernard returning to his seat and the awesome conversation between Locke (not Flocke but 100% John Locke) and Boone. (I'd actually like to see more of Boone, because for the first time ever he did not completely annoy.) Small things like Jack only getting one extra bottle of vodka because he wouldn't need it (no crash -> no injury -> no emergency stitching by Kate -> no need for an extra bottle of vodka to sterilize the proceedings) along with a small nick on the neck mirroring the injury I just referenced in an insanely long parenthetical statement were great to see. There were, of course, a few mind-blowers as well.

The first was the bad CGI at the beginning of the episode. The entire Island is underwater in this reality, Four-Toed Statue, Dharma Barracks and all. Stop to think about that for a second. Did everyone on the Island die? Did Jack's plan really create the Incident with homicidal results? Just something to chew on for all you existentialists out there. This group likes to think about themselves a lot – I mean, A LOT – and was only worried about getting what they wanted with not much thought of the repercussions for others.

***BREAKING NEWS: THIS JUST IN: The New Orleans Saints have the biggest cojones in Super Bowl history. They proved this by opening the second half with an onside kick that they successfully recovered. That, my friends, was no season premiere of Lost but it was still bleeping awesome.***

Back to our selfish friends. How does karma (not Dharma) handle this? What are the cosmic implications? Why is everyone in a VW commercial punching each other when they see any VW model on the street? I thought it was "punch Buggy" not "punch Passat?"

The second big "woah" came from the appearance of the Variable, Desmond. Why was he on the flight? Where did he disappear to? Did anyone notice that he had a wedding ring on? I think that with the Island being underwater there were a lot of things changed in his life, most likely having to do with the lack of a boat race. How trippy would it be if he was married to Libby rather than Penny? Maybe they still met but with no boat race to enter she nursed him back to mental health, even if she was not the most qualified to do so.

Another big on-plane detail was, of course, Charlie of Driveshaft. I assume he was swallowing a bag of heroin so he could take it through customs in his person rather than on it, but when he told Jack that he was supposed to die after the good doctor unblocked his airway, I think his statement spoke volumes. Nothing in this sideways reality is exactly "good."

Other things of note that I caught were Kate being back in custody but not for the murder of her step-daddy, Hurley being a lucky guy instead of being cursed by the numbers, Sun not speaking English and Claire (Claire!) being on ground in a taxi outside LAX. The jury is still out on whether or not Sawyer is a con man in this alternate reality (I think I saw his ears physically perk up when Hurley mentioned being a lottery winner) but I about bust a gut when he helped Freckles evade airport security. (Quick aside: when dying in his arms, Juliet spoke to Sawyer about coffee and going Dutch. That will have a payoff.) There were just so many rich touches, some amusing, some off-kilter. But nothing could match the Man of Faith and the Man of Science meeting at the Oceanic baggage claim offices.

Jack was obviously distraught that Oceanic lost his father's coffin. (Did the Island powers that be still need Christian's body for some reason, even while doing their best Atlantis impersonation? Time will tell.) John Locke was similarly frustrated but hey, he just lost a bag of knives (another telling development). Instead of being infuriated by Locke's comment about only losing a body, and not the person's essence (there's that word again, but I don't know how else to say it), Jack took this alternate view to heart. Of course, once he learned about Locke's spinal condition (and honestly, how many of you were rooting for him to stand up and walk off of that plane under his own power, proving that his walk-about story was the truth?) Jack had to be Jack and insist that nothing is irreversible. Once again, just a speculation, but how messed up would it be if Jack the Man of Science is actually the one who grants John Locke, Man of Faith, the ability to walk again? Will Locke ever use the card Jack gave him to call for a second opinion?

I think I've hit almost everything here, and if not I'm sure my colleagues will jump in and add some of their views. For my money, "LA X" was not the best season premiere in Lost history, but it's up there. The sideways reality stuff intrigues me much more than what's happening on the Island because common sense tells us that these timelines must converge by series' end, and I can't wait to see how the people now on the ground in LA react to all that's coming. Jack already has some inkling that things are not what they're supposed to be, as does Charlie. I'm willing to bet that the other people touched by Jacob along with those that weren't are not far behind. The creators of Lost have always, always said that it's about the characters more than the mechanisms that get them from point A to point Z-X-1, and I for one believe them fully (maybe for the first time) after watching this episode, the beginning of the end. I'd like to offer one guess before I shut the laptop to watch the last five minutes of the Super Bowl (The Saints just went up 22-17, two point conversion attempt coming up). I think everyone that landed in LAX instead of crashing on the Island may have to make the ultimate sacrifice to get to where they really belong. What that sacrifice may be, I leave up to you to ponder until we meet again next week.

While editing this for submission to the great Ben Piper, the Saints won the big game. Congrats to the French Quarter and all of its surrounding areas! Back to the guys in the booth! Namaste.

* * *

And that's it, we have no more.

Many thanks and appreciation to both Dustin and Rick on my end. I greatly look forward to working with them both as this final season progresses. Many thanks to all of you as well, for reading our stuff and hopefully commenting positively in the comments section.

And yes, I must echo Rick's sentiments. Congratulations to the Saints and the city of New Orleans. I can't think of another city more in need of an epic win than the Big Easy.

I hope you enjoyed this. We'll do it again next week, but it will hopefully be much more streamlined. We'll be covering the second episode of the final season of LOST; What Kate Does.

See you then.
Stay LOST!
-BP