When my nieces were younger, they used to play with K'Nex, a bunch of plastic rods and corner joints, which, like LEGO blocks, could be snapped together into intricate designs. I still remember the 4 foot tall motorized Ferris wheel made entirely of K'Nex that used to be at a local store. It was fun, complicated machine, much like the Lost world. Our main players are like those pieces now, snapping into place in the Great and Terrible Lindelof-Cuse Machine that is ten times more terrifying than a simple rotating amusement park ride.
I think I know what this show's final scene will be. It's a mirror of the first scene of the Season 5 finale. Two people are on a beach, a fire blazing between them. They gaze out to sea at some kind vehicle passing by -- an ocean liner, maybe, or a jet overhead. These two successors to Jacob and Smokey debate the same things, of free will and determinism, or if man is basically good or can be corrupted every time. One of these people, I now strongly believe, will be Jack. He has no connections now or a "constant" like the others seem to have found. He would be perfect to become one of the Island's guardians in their eternal debate. And it may not necessarily be in the place of Jacob.
At Camp Smokey, Jack asked for a private audience with the staff-carving beast. They go off into the jungle, where the Smoke Man drives his torch into the ground, as if to hold a mini Tribal Council. Jack is amazed how Smokey resembles Locke, and wants to know, why the creature particularly chose to look like John when he took human form.
"Because he was stupid enough to believe he had been brought here for a reason," the Smoke Man says. "Because he pursued that belief until it got him killed, and because you were kind enough to bring his body back here in a nice wooden box."
Smokey also reveals other Lost Questions. He can only appear as people who have died. On the day of the Oceanic crash, when Jack was looking for water and saw his father's ghost, that was actually MIB, and all Christian embodiments were him. He says all he ever wanted to do was help the Losties, because he needed all of them to leave the Island.
"John Locke was the only one of us who believed in this place," Jack says.
"John Locke was not a believer, Jack," Smokey says. "He was a sucker."
In Sideways L.A., Ben accompanies Locke in the ambulance going to the hospital. When the paramedic asks Ben if he knows who should be contacted on behalf of Locke, he doesn't know.
There had been online speculation by fans about why Desmond ran him down. Some like me thought it was to trigger John's Island memories, which I thought had not returned until he spoke up to the paramedic and Ben to contact Helen Norwood ... "I was supposed to marry her."
Supposed to. In the Island timeline, the kinder, gentler Peg Bundy had rejected Locke's marriage proposal because he could not stop his obsession with Anthony Cooper and his decision to participate in a con with his biological father. Helen eventually died of a brain aneurysm. In Sideways L.A., John and Helen were living together and were planning their wedding. They were going to marry, not supposed to get married. So maybe in that addled mind his Island memories have been downloaded?
Sun's Island memories also may have been further unlocked -- a process I thought started when her Island self hit that tree and lost her English -- because she just happened to be wheeled into the hospital at the same time as Locke. She looked at him, cringed in recognition and shouted to Jin, "It's him! It's him!" Granted, Sun had seen Locke on the Oceanic jet, but why now does he stand out so much to her?
Jack and Smokey discover that Feral Claire has been sneaking after them. When Smoke Man wants to know why she followed him, Claire says because Jack is her brother. Smokey leaves them alone because they "have a lot of catching up to do." Claire reminds Jack that like it or not, he's with Team Smokey now.
Des' hit and run may have affected Locke, but it did not seem to affect Smokey. After his torchlit coffee klatch with Jack, they return to camp, just as Jungle Liz Lemon marches into their midst with a walkie talkie, an ultimatum and the backing of superior firepower. Team Widmore fires near the camp with what is probably a mortar or howitzer round, which causes some people to flinch. Smokey is totally unfazed and stands like a rock.
Return "what is ours" by sundown, says Jungle Liz, or face the consequences. "And next time, we won't miss."
Smokey takes the walkie talkie from Jungle Liz, and after she leaves, he grinds it into little pieces beneath the staff he was shown carving in the last episode. "Well, here we go," is the biggest understatement of the night.
In Sideways L.A., Kate is handcuffed to a chair in James Ford's precinct station. He reads off her rap sheet -- arson, assaulting a federal officer, murder in the first degree. Kate vehemently denies the murder charge several times. There is also some flirting, an undeniable attraction, sparks, high sexual tension.
James wonders again about fate and coincidence, their meeting in the elevator at LAX. "A week later, boom! Of all the cars in L.A., you smash into mine," James says. "It's almost like someone wanted us to be together."
Kate also theorizes the reason James did not arrest her, even though he saw her handcuffs (which he denies ever seeing), was because he wanted no one to know that he went to Sydney and why he went there.
Miles calls James' attention to a security camera feed of Sayid leaving Keamy's restaurant. The report indicates Keamy and three of his goons were shot, and one Korean female with a GSW and a husband who can't speak English.
Claire goes to an office building for an appointment with an adoption agency, which (Lost Numbers Alert) is on the 15th floor. Desmond shows up, and you almost expect him to do something drastic to her. But instead he simply persuades Claire to come to his attorney's office, because she could help her with the legalese of any adoption contract she might sign.
Claire agrees to accompany him to the law firm, where Des' "excellent" (as he puts it) attorney is -- Ilana Verdansky! And she is very much in one piece here in Sideways L.A., one of the advantages of choosing law over bounty hunting. A nice safe practice in a big city law firm, instead of juggling unstable 140-year-old dynamite on a tropical isle.
More coincidence heaped on coincidence, as Ilana says her firm's been looking for Claire Littleton for some time now. Good job, Des!
At Camp Smokey, that Fearless Leader plots their move against Team Widmore. He's fuming over things happening sooner than expected, of accusations that he took something that belonged to him, so the solution is -- go to Hydra, defeat the opposing team, and get on that Ajira jet!
Smokey commands Sawyer go to to Desmond's sailboat, which is anchored further down the beach, and meet the rest of the team on the other side of the bluffs. They need to split up, the Smoke Man rationalizes, because a bigger group moves more slowly.
Sawyer in turn recruits Jack and tells him of his secret deal with Widmore. Kate is welcome, but not Sayid, because he's a Zombie, and not Claire, because she's crazy and "she gave up her ticket when she tried to kill Kate. I'm not going to let that happen again."
His plan is simple. Take the sailboat to an old dock on the Island. Get Sun, Hurley and Frank, the "pilot who looks like he stepped off the set of a Burt Reynolds movie," and go straight to Widmore. Get a place on the sub and get off the Island.
Smokey sends Sayid out to the well to kill Desmond, reminding him that he will get what the Zombie Man asked for if he carries out his orders.
Deep in the well, Des also petitions Sayid, as he points his handgun at the Scot with some hesitation, "If you've got to shoot me in cold blood, brother, I should at least be able to know."
Sayid says that if he obeys, Smokey will give him back the woman he loved. It is manipulative, a deceit built upon lost love and a promise that will not be kept. Just because Sayid was brought back, does not guarantee the return of Nadia. It was like Palpatine's whole scheme to recruit Anakin Skywater to the Sith. The future Imperial Emperor claimed that with proper training, Anakin could bring back Padme from the dead.
Desmond has one final question: if Smokey does bring Nadia back, what would he say to her? How would he explain her return?
Another example of Smokey's deviousness, of his ability to exploit the Losties' neediness, (and echoes Ben Linus' own machinations in previous seasons) is seen as Jack and Claire walk with Team Smokey through the jungle. Jack wants to know why she trusts the Smoke Man so much, and she claims he is the only one who did not abandon her.
Smokey is also unapologetic about his actions. For one who "always cared" about the castaways, he does not act like it. He asks Sun if she has seen Sayid, and she shakes her head. He asks why she is so silent, so she writes "You did this to me!" on her notepad.
"I'm sorry, I didn't do anything to you," he says casually and callously.
In Sideways L.A., Sayid runs to his beloved's house, frantically packing things. Nadia wants to know what he did. Sayid bluntly declares that he can never come back.
The doorbell rings, and Miles and James are on hand to do their best Starsky and Hutch. Miles interrogates Nadia, and at the same time Sayid tries to flee out the back way, but James uses a garden hose as a tripwire and brings Sayid down. Handcuffs are slapped on, and the shout of "You're under arrest!"
On the Island, Sayid finally wanders back, claiming he "just needed a moment" because he just shot an unarmed man. He tells Smokey he did kill Desmond, and suggests he go check if he wants. Smokey shakes his head. "Come on, we have a plane to catch." (Struck me as a funny and crazy line to say in the middle of a jungle, but then again Smokey seems to also lapse into
comedian mode. And Desmond really dead? Don't think so.)As the new Team Sawyer prepares to pick Hurley, Sun and Frank, Claire emerges from the jungle with his rifle. In the second best scene of the night, Kate carefully persuades Claire to set aside her rifle and come with them. She reminds him that the creature is not John Locke, that her goal to return to the Island was to reunite Claire with Aaron, and that she should never have been the one to raise him. "Let's go home," Kate says.
And Claire lowers her rifle, boards the boat, and gives the gun to Kate. Hers is the second understatement of the night: "When he (Smokey) finds out we're gone, he's gonna be mad."
In Sideways L.A., Jack and his teen son David show up at the same office building where Claire and Desmond met. Jack talks to David's yet unrevealed mother. He explains that the reading of Christian's will is not a happy experience but something that has to be done. David says he understands and feels sad for his dad and the loss of his own dad.
His attorney naturally is Ilana, who introduces him, the first time ever, to his half sister, Ms. Claire Littleton. Jack is perturbed by the introduction of this long lost sibling. His phone rings again, ad there's a surgical emergency. Can you guess who's going to be on Dr. Jack's operating table at St. Sebastian? Will reading canceled, and the good doctor and his son are off to the hospital.
Jack and another doctor look at an MRI scan from a patient who already is a paraplegic. The look on Jack's face when he sees the anesthetized Locke is priceless. He has got to be wondering about all those coincidences!
In the Island world, Jack keeps looking out to sea, which Sawyer quickly recognizes. Frank wants to know the game plan. Addressing Frank as "Jesse," (probably as in bearded Uncle Jesse from The Dukes of Hazzard), Sawyer restates his goal to "get cuddly" with Widmore and get a place on the submarine, even with guns or violence if needed.
(REVISION: Sawyer really called Frank "chesty," not "Jesse," according to other recappers, but Uncle Jesse would have been funnier. Chesty just wasn't one of the more clever nicknames Sawyer has handed out these last six seasons. And I think Frank's more of a Grizzly Adams than an Uncle Jesse. But neither of those is from a Burt Reynolds movie, so I'm really digressing.)
Sawyer goes to Jack, who's still contemplating the sea. He congratulates Jack on finally learning to take orders. Jack said he does not feel right about leaving the Island. In full Man of Faith mode, Jack says they were brought to the Island to do something. "If that thing wants us to leave, maybe it's afraid of what will happen if we stay." And again that line about how the Island isn't done with them.
Sawyer gets very pissed. Jack must go if he's not for the plan. "If you want to take a leap of faith, take it! Get off my damn boat!"
And Jack does, jumping, backpack and all, into the ocean. Kate discovers Jack is overboard and tries to steer the boat back to him. Sawyer grabs the helm and tells her that he is done going back.
In Sideways L.A., Sun wakes up in a bed at the hospital, where she sees an exhausted Jin. He informs her of wonderful news -- she, and the baby, are all fine. "It's over," Jin says, probably referring to conclusion of the dark days under Mr. Paik. "We're all going to be okay."
Jack staggers back onto the beach in Island World, where his welcoming party is the Smoke Man and his armed red shirts. "Nice day for a swim!" says the Smoke Man, offering Jack a hand. He confirms to the creature that Sawyer took the boat.
In Island World, Team Sawyer comes ashore on Hydra Island, only for Jungle Liz and Widmore goons to show up with plenty of guns. More rifle pointing, until Sun and Jin notice each other...
... And it's
reunited, and it feels so good, reunited, and it's understood. ... Much hugging, crying and kissing, and ...Sun says aloud, in English, "I love you." Speech back! Influence from her Sideways self upon this world? Or maybe just the power of love?
Jin says in the same language, "I love you too. ... We'll never be apart again. I promise you."
Frank's Captain Obvious comment of the night: "Looks like someone got their voice back."
But Jungle Liz Lemon can't leave a tender moment alone (I couldn't resist quoting some more song lyrics). She gets some orders over her walkie talkie, orders Team Sawyer to their knees and tells the goons to put their rifles to the new arrivals.
"We had a deal!" Sawyer cries out.
"The deal's off."
The end of Widmore's own long con?
Simultaneously Team Widmore sends a couple missile strikes back on the main Island, and true to Jungle Liz's word, they don't miss. Team Smokey's red shirts fly everywhere, and Jack is sent airborne too. Knocked to the ground, he hears echoing of voices. Are they the people on the beach, or is he hearing sounds from Sideways World?
Smokey scoops Jack up, throws him over his shoulder and starts back into the jungle. "It's going to be okay," he tells Jack. "You're with me now."
And fade to black.
Jack, the last recruit? Whose side will he eventually choose?
In Sideways World, Jack and John have the opposite position and opportunity to help each other. Jack holds the scalpel, and Smokey Locke holds the Jack. How will this affect the two time tracks?
We are stuck with this mini cliffhanger for two full weeks, with only a few publicity photos from ABC and a preview showing that Smokey did get onto Hydra Island, as we see him waste a member of Team Widmore standing guard by the Ajira jet. War is coming to this Island, and we're about to have front row seats for it. As they always say in TV Land, stay tuned!
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