LOST Recap and Discussion: 316

Whoa, what an episode!! If you haven't yet watched tonight's LOST, spoilers and speculation galore follow!!!

Here's the way I saw this episode....a bunch of new mysteries are opened up to keep us guessing. I decided to try a proper recap this week....so it's a bit longer than normal! We start off with Jack opening his eyes in the jungle again! Classic in many ways, he hears cries for help and rushes off to find...Hurley. After quickly assuring Hurley he will be okay, he frantically seeks Kate. Who is lying on a rock. One would think if she had fallen from the sky she would be dead, but no, she seems relatively intact. No bones jutting out of her skin like Locke suffered from last week. But wait! How did our beloved Losties find themselves LOST again on the island? Well, 46 hours earlier....

We find ourselves back with the ever creepy Mrs. Hawking who is also Daniel Faraday's mother, Desmond, Sun, Jack, and Ben. Mrs. Hawking has a secret! It's called the Dharma Initiative Lamp post! This is how to find the island. It has something to do with that big huge swinging pendulum, pockets of energy, and windows. Yeah, I didn't really get it either.

Suddenly, Desmond protests, "Hold up you crazy crack smoking people! Don't you remember how I spent 3 years pressing a button? Did you forget about that big black smoke thing that picks people up and throws them around? How about spending every single day on the island trying to get off it? And you want to go back????

Sun looks over at him and rolls her eyes, sighing impatiently. "Yes."

Desmond decides to hightail it out of there, and rightly he should...he needs to get his little family away from there and FAST.

Mrs. Hawking then announces they must take a flight replicating the circumstances of how they originally got to the island. Jack looks uncertain. "What if we can't get anyone else to come?" Well, the results will be unpredictable. "So that's it?" Jack asks. "Not for you!" says Mrs. Hawking.

Mrs. Hawking then throws Jack into waves of guilt and self-doubt when she shares Locke's suicide note with him. "Why would he do that?" Jack agonizes.

Well, it's simple. They need to bring a dead body back with them! And like a wedding Locke needs something borrowed to pull off the hoax...something from Jack's dad. Jack throws a fit as he is oft to do and heads out.

Jack meets up with Ben in the church again and asks Ben some questions thinking that Ben has had a major change in character and he'll get some answers. Ben is nothing if consistent and masterfully evasive. A classic LOST dialogue ensues about believing and doubts and then Ben ominously announces he needs to keep a promise to an old friend and heads out. Jack goes to drown his sorrows in a drink, but gets a call. He needs to go have a talk with his granddad. While there, he discovers a pair of shoes of his father and asks if he can take them.

Jack heads back to his place and frantically searches for a drink to cope with all the crazy turns his life has taken. He hears something and discovers Kate at his place looking a bit like she's lost everything. She announces she'll go back to the island with him on the condition that Jack never asks her what happened to Aaron. She then tries to drown her sorrows in some lovemaking with Jack.

It's the morning now, and Kate and Jack are all uncomfortable with each other, probably because Kate still looks like someone ripped her heart out. We learn the significance of the shoes going back to the island and Kate departs when Jack's phone rings. The phone call reveals a distraught Ben with blood/scratches/burns? all over his face. He's by the dock, folks, he's by the dock. AMY IS NOT HAPPY.

Anyway, Jack goes to pick up Locke's body since Ben can't make it, gives him his father's shoes and tries to bury the unread suicide note.

FINALLY! We are at the airport. A distracted Jack answers questions about transporting Locke's body. Jack looks relieved to see Kate. Sun is also there, winning worst mother of the year award for possibly orphaning her daughter. Sayid appears to have been arrested and is being escorted onto the flight (echoing Kate on 815 assume) Hurley is also there and bought up all the seats to save lives, I assume.

Soooo....we have all of the Oceanic 6 minus Aaron together again. And then a damaged Ben along, too. Hurley protests, Jack calms him down. Oh hey, those helpful security people found the suicide letter and decided to dig it out, and make sure he got it! They're so thoughtful, at least to the viewers who were all annoyed that Jack was actually NOT going to read it. Ben delivers a classic line about not caring about the other passengers...and WAIT! Our pilot is Lapidus! Jack insists on seeing Lapidus and when Lapidus sees the Oceanic 5 gathered he realizes....we're not going to Guam are we?

Ben reassures Jack that Locke's suicide was not his fault, and Jack finally reads the suicide note. Locke doesn't gush on and on in his final words on earth, but simply says, "I wish you had believed."

And ladies and gentlemen...we have ourselves a....I'm not exactly sure what. I'm not sure it was a crash. It resembled one of those time flashy things. I think it might have just snatched the important people off the plane...what do you think?

ANYWAY, we're back to the beginning of the episode. Jack immediately goes back to leader of the island mode.."let's spread out and look for the others." That would be all nice and good except....someone comes towards them with a gun in a Dharma van! And it's...JIN! cue....LOST


Analysis
I actually really liked this episode and it achieved something that hasn't happened in awhile. I felt for Jack. I actually really genuinely was interested in Jack and this journey for him. I enjoyed watching the gentle shift from pure doubt to the beginnings of belief. In that regard, this was one of the strongest character episodes we've had this season. Additionally, enough mysteries were woven into the story to keep us coming back for more.

Questions
What happened to Aaron?
Did Ben kill Penny? Desmond? Charlie? I'm really worried about that whole situation and I NEED to know.
How did both Sayid and Hurley end up at the airport?
Why is Jin dressed like a Dharma Initiative person? Is that the time period we're in?
Where are Sayid and Sun?
Will I ever like Sun again?

Favorite Line
Jack: How can you read?
Ben: My mother taught me.

Next Week
We find out about Locke. Looks pretty incredible. But was Ben kneeling to Locke in the preview??? Weird stuff.

Your Turn
What did you think? Sound off below.