A man of science begins to find his faith as the events that take most of the Oceanic Six (plus Ben) back to the island transpires. 411's Ben Piper and Rick Tym have all the details inside...
Namaste! And welcome back once again to the only 411 column solely devoted to what I truly feel is the very best show on TV today, LOST! As always, I am the man of science struggling to become a man of faith, Ben Piper!
Last week in the comments section, somebody asked if I had ever considered doing a podcast related to the show. I've been asked this before, and my answer stands now as it did then. No, I have not or plan to start doing podcasts. My reason for this is due to the fact that there are so many out there already, mine would just be another voice in a sea of people praising and analyzing the show ad finitum. In other words, do we really need another one, even if it is me doing it? Nah, sorry, I don't think so. Besides I spend enough of my free time putting this column together, so hopefully it's sufficient enough to read my words rather than listening to my voice. But thanks for inquiring, and for being a fan of the column and the work that Rick and I put into it that you'd think a podcast from me (or us) would be a cool thing.
On a completely unrelated note, the Oscars were this past weekend, and Rick and I each did very well for ourselves with regards to the 411 office pool. Just like last year, I fell one pick short and came in second overall by correctly predicting 17 of the 24 categories. (damn that stupid catchy Jai Ho song) Rick correctly predicted 14 of the 24 categories, which is nothing to sneeze at in it's own right. Ah well, there's always next year…
Okay, enough with the blathering. It's time to get down to the nitty gritty, and all the ins and outs of LOST season 5, episode 6; "316".
What We Learned: The episode opens upon a closed eye, that suddenly snaps open. The camera cuts to reveal we're looking at Jack, lying in the middle of what looks to be a jungle wilderness. He blinks his eyes several times, as if his mind is trying to adjust to something jarring. We get a shot of his point of view from where he's lying; a grove of tropical trees, the canopy of which sway back and forth lazily in the wind.
Which is basically the same set up that introduced us into the world of LOST in the first episode of season one. Only, this time, Jack isn't panicked by where he finds himself. He actually seems… relieved. Instead of sitting up instantly in panic, he just lies there for a moment and drinks it all in.
But then Jack does sit up and get to his feet, looking back and forth in wonder and drinking his surroundings in. He takes in a deep breath of the air and savors it. He then looks down at a scrap of paper that he's holding in his hand. Its handwritten words read "I wish". The rest of this message is seemingly Lost to us at this point in time. But this moment of recognition and familiarity is quickly broken by the cries of help from a familiar voice. It's Hurley. Jack quickly discards the note remnants and proceeds to walk with a purpose. As Hurley continues to cry out for help, Jack breaks into a full-speed run. At a certain point, he stops cold, and listens. Once he hears another yell, he changes directions and once again moves at full speed. The sound of the Hurley's voice is now closer as Jack crosses a creek bed and finds himself standing upon the upper surface of a very large waterfall. He looks down to the lagoon below and sees Hurley struggling alongside a guitar case to stay afloat in the lagoon. Without any ounce of hesitation, Jack grits his teeth and re-earns his hero card by thrusting himself over the precipice, diving in head first into the water far below. He surfaces and quickly swims his way over to the struggling Hugo. He grabs his friend around the neck from behind and assures him that everything's okay as he backstrokes them both to more shallow depths. Once they get there, he tells Hurley that they can both now stand. Once they do, they not only look at one another, but quickly take in their surroundings as well. It's all jungle. Hurley comments "it really happened". Jack turns and spots a prone body washed up on the rocks by the shore of the lagoon. It's Kate, and she's lying face down. Our hero quickly swims over to her as Hurley looks on and slowly wades his way to the same point. Jack gently rolls Kate onto her back, checks her body for any egregious injuries, and places his ear next to her mouth to check for breath. As Hugo reaches his side, Jack implores Kate to hear his voice, and her eyes suddenly flutter open. He breathes a sigh of relief as she registers his face and says his name. She instantly registers her current whereabouts and asks Jack "Are we…?" He quickly answers in the affirmative. She asks what happened, but Jack merely shakes his head.
"46 Hours Earlier"
We are quickly presented with some stuff we saw in the previous episode. Ben, Jack, Sun and Desmond enter a church and are greeted by Ms. Hawking. She then leads them all down a spiral staircase though a mood-lit hallway and into a fortified room. They all enter and Hawking turns on the lights. It's the pendulum room seen previously. They all take a good look around at the machinery, and the board with it's not so randomly flipping numbers denoting longitude and latitude, and a chalkboard full of equations.
Jack: What is this place?
Hawking: The Dharma Initiative called it The Lamp Post. This is how they found the island.
Jack: (To Ben) Did you know about this place?
Ben: No, no, I didn't.
Jack: (To Hawking) Is he telling the truth?
Hawking: Probably not.
Jack shoots Ben a disapproving look as Hawking takes a binder out of a cabinet. Jack crosses past her and looks at a large photograph of the island taken just off shore that is dated September 23rd, 1954.
Hawking: Here we go. Alright, I apologize if this is confusing, but let's pay attention, yes?
This snaps Jack out of his fascination with the picture and back into the classroom, as it were.
Hawking: The room that we're standing in was constructed years ago over a unique pocket of electromagnetic energy. That energy connects it to similar pockets all over the world. The people that built this room however were only interested in one.
Sun: The island.
Hawking: Yes, the island. They'd gathered proof that it existed. They knew that it was out there somewhere. But they just couldn't find it. Then a very clever fellow built this pendulum on the theoretical notion that they should stop looking for where the island was supposed to be, and start looking for where it was going to be.
Jack: What do you mean, where it was going to be?
Hawking: Well, this fellow presumed, and correctly as it turned out, that the island was always moving. Why do you think you were never rescued? While the movements of the island seem random, this man and his team created a series of equations. Which tell us with a high degree of probability where it is going to be at a certain point in time. Windows, as it were, that while open, provide a route back. Unfortunately, these windows don't stay open for very long. Yours closes in thirty six hours.
She hands Jack the binder she's holding of him to peruse.
Desmond: Wait, I'm sorry. Excuse me? Am I really hearing this? That's what this is about? You're all going back to the island, willingly?
Sun: Yes. Why are you here, Desmond?
Desmond sighs in frustration as Jacks ears perk up, as he wants to know the answer to that question as well.
Desmond: I came here to deliver a message. Daniel Faraday. Your son? Sent me here. He wanted me to tell you that he and all the people on the island need your hel
