Author: Jason Zingale (Page 87 of 154)

We knew it was coming. After all, not even the best season of “Lost” could deliver solid gold each and every week, and if we were going to be subjected to a lackluster episode, it might as well be a Kate-centric one. Seriously, though – am I the only one who finds Evangeline Lilly’s character absolutely dull in comparison to guys like Sayid, Locke and Desmond? Perhaps it’s that silly love triangle she has with Jack and Sawyer, or maybe it’s just that Kate hasn’t had an interesting backstory since season two. Whatever the case, Carlton Cuse and Co. certainly gave it their best shot this week with a last-minute reveal meant to dominate the watercooler talk tomorrow morning.

In her second flash-forward appearance of the season, tonight’s episode followed the ex-fugitive during her long-awaited trial. Charged for no less than six different criminal acts (including fraud, arson and murder), Kate’s fate seems to be sealed, despite her celebrity status as one of the Oceanic Six. When her lawyer suggests that Kate’s son (what?) be in attendance to help persuade the jury to show pity, Kate refuses. Instead, he calls Jack to the stand, who not only lies about the actual crash (i.e. only six survived), but also states that Kate was responsible for rescuing them all. It’s the one mystery that I’m actually curious to find out more about, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for an actual answer – probably at least until they’ve revealed the other two survivors.

As the trial progresses, Kate’s mother comes to visit, but when Kate refuses to make a deal that would prevent Mrs. Austen from testifying in exchange for allowing her to see her grandson, she doesn’t anyway. And with no key witness, Kate’s lawyer is open to make a deal that includes absolutely no jail time and only 10 years probation. Not bad, especially since that laundry list of crimes could probably include kidnapping as well. What’s that, you say? Well, allow me to enlighten you. You see, Kate’s son isn’t actually hers – it’s Aaron. As in Claire’s Aaron. As in, Claire’s probably going to die real soon. Oh well. One less pointless character to worry about, especially now that Charlie’s out of the picture.

Of course, while the writers’ room was probably covered in goosebumps as they wrote the night’s big twist ending, anyone could have seen it coming – especially since it was more or less telegraphed in the first ten minutes. While helping Claire hang-dry some laundry, Kate is asked to hold Aaron for a bit. She refuses, claiming that she wouldn’t know what to do, but from that moment on, I was certain it wasn’t Jack or Sawyer’s baby (like the dialogue later in the episode suggested), but rather Claire’s baby. It just made sense, in that messed up, “Lost” kind of way.

The other major subplot of the night involved Kate as well. After speaking with Miles about whether or not he knew about her past, Kate makes a deal with the paranormal smartass so that he may speak with Ben. Using Sawyer as a decoy, Kate manages to sneak Miles into Locke’s basement where Ben is hidden, but the discussion is nothing what you’d expect. Instead of barraging Ben with questions (like Locke has been doing for days), Miles simply makes a proposition: in trade for faking his death, Ben will have to pay him $3.2 million. It’s a pretty odd amount (and Ben even goes so far to ask why), but, again, I’m sure we’ll all find out in time. It’ll probably be sooner rather than later, however, since Locke (clearly pissed off that he’s being kept out of the loop) has just shoved a live grenade in Miles’ mouth. Good luck, dude.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Sayid-centric episodes almost always rock, and tonight was no different. Opening in the future with a cleaned-up Sayid playing golf, the former Iraqi soldier is clearly living the good life courtesy of a large settlement from the airline. Or so it seems. When an Italian gentleman approaches him with a friendly golf bet, Sayid reveals his true identity – much to the shock of the man, who looks genuinely spooked by his presence. It isn’t until Sayid calls the man by name and shoots him dead that things become a little clearer: he’s a bounty hunter.

Fast-forward a couple months and Sayid is tracking yet another target in Berlin. This time, it’s a woman named Elsa, and as they spend more time with one another, Sayid appears to be falling in love. Elsa admits to feeling the same way, but when Sayid tells her the truth about why he’s there (i.e. using her to get close to her employer), she shoots him in the chest. Apparently, this girl was playing him too, but how she managed to do that when Sayid approached her first is beyond me. Still, she seems to believe that she can get information from Sayid about his boss, and while she dials her employer to tell him the good news, Sayid is given just enough time to grab his gun and kill her first. Upon closer inspection, he discovers a silver bracelet on her wrist. The same bracelet, in fact, that Sayid has seen once before – on Naomi’s wrist, with the inscription “I’ll always be with you.” Now, that isn’t to say that they were lovers, but it definitely suggests some kind of Dharma tie-in between the two women, as well as the Italian man from before.

Meanwhile, back in the present, Sayid has just cut a deal with Frank. If he can rescue Charlotte from Locke, he’ll get a one-way helicopter ride to the freighter. Joining him on the hunt is Kate and Miles, but when they arrive at the barracks, they discover Hurley locked away in a closet. He claims that Locke and the rest of B Troop went scavenging around Ben’s house, but it’s quickly revealed that, well, Hurley was lying. Locke springs an ambush on the trio and captures them, but not before Sayid discovers a hidden passageway in Ben’s house containing passports and money in several different currencies. Is Ben some kind of international assassin, a la Jason Bourne? Probably not, but he must have some kind of hidden agenda with goodies like that lying around.

When Sayid explains to Locke about the deal he’s made with Frank (playing it off as a way to get on their boat and snoop around), Locke agrees to a trade: Miles for Charlotte. It’s a pretty smart move on Sayid’s part (even though Frank suggests he cheated), and it earns him a trip to the freighter, along with Desmond and Naomi.

Of course, there are a few other things I failed to go into detail with in this blog entry (namely Daniel’s experiments, which seem to indicate the island is as much of a scientific clusterfuck as we all assumed), but they pale in comparison to the big reveal of the night. Yes, Sayid is a bounty hunter. And yes, those people are probably somehow related to Dharma. But just who exactly is the brains behind the whole operation? Ben Linus.

The plot thickens…

Much like season two’s “The Other 48 Days,” tonight’s episode wasn’t exactly devoted to answering any of the ongoing mysteries, but it did introduce several new characters that will play a major role this season. First off, let me just say that Carlton Cuse and Co. has done an exceptional of casting this year. Fans of “The Wire” were no doubt excited to see Lance Reddick pop up in last week’s episode, but the addition of guys like Jeremy Davies, Ken Leung and Jeff Fahey will definitely force the series regulars to up their game. Oh yeah, and there’s a new female character as well (played by Rebecca Mader), but I can’t really speak on her acting ability since, well, I’ve never heard of her.

Before I get ahead of myself, though, it’s probably best to discuss these new characters – all introduced in their own flashback sequences:

– Daniel Faraday (Davies) is a physicist who, upon watching television footage of the underwater discovery of the Oceanic Flight 815 wreckage, breaks down and cries. We really don’t know why he’s upset (and it doesn’t look like he does, either), but I’m sure we’ll find out soon.

– Miles (Leung) is paranormal detective of some sort who tricks an old woman into believing that he can contact her dead son and assist him in crossing over. As it turns out, Miles really can contact the dead, but he uses his abilities for different reasons – namely in locating some (drug?) money hidden in the kid’s room.

– Charlotte (Mader) is the lone female of the group, but she’s got a far cooler back story than the first two. While interrupting an archeological dig in Tunisia, Charlotte comes across the fossilized remains of a polar bear and discovers – wait for it – a Dharma-branded collar beside its skeleton. Pretty neat stuff if you ask me, and it might finally lead to an answer about the three-toed statue that’s since been forgotten.

– While watching the very same news broadcast as Dan, the final member, Frank Lapidus (Fahey), notices that the reportedly dead pilot isn’t who they say it is. A call to the Oceanic hotline reveals that not only did Frank know Seth Gordon (Greg Grunberg, AKA the pilot who was eaten in the series premiere), but that he was originally supposed to pilot Flight 815 until he showed up drunk.

– The foursome was led by Naomi (the only “trained” member of the group), who in turn answered to Abaddon. As we see in the final flashback of the night, Naomi can’t help but wonder if there will be any survivors when they arrive, but Abaddon is more than certain that everyone is dead. As we already know, he couldn’t have been any more wrong, and for that, Naomi probably lost her life.

So, now that we’re all caught up, let’s jump back to the end of last week when Jack and Kate were introduced to Dan. As the first rescue team member on the island, it’s evident from the get-go that Dan isn’t a very confident dude. In fact, he’s downright scared to see Jack and Kate waiting for him, but he pulls it together and begins the hunt for the other three with the help of the SAT phone’s GPS tracker. On the way, the trio comes across a silver crate filled with nuclear protective gear, prompting Jack to answer the obvious question, “What the fuck is going on?” According to Dan, rescuing the survivors isn’t exactly their “primary objective,” but the dude seems nice enough, so Jack and Kate continue to follow him through the woods. That is, until they come across Miles, who’s a little more aggressive than Dan. Accusing Kate of Naomi’s murder, he demands to be taken to the site of her body so that he made figure out exactly what happened. Kate seems perplexed by the idea that he would just know, but I’m more perplexed by the idea that this guy is able to talk with the dead. I don’t know. It seems a little cheesy to me, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s Ken Leung.

When another GPS signal suddenly appears on the SAT screen, Jack and Co. go racing towards it, but when they discover Vincent the Dog with a tracker wrapped around his neck, Jack knows exactly what has happened: Locke’s taken Charlotte hostage. For the time being, though, it seems like the bald-headed leader of B Troop is perfectly content with keeping her alive. Unfortunately, Ben has other plans, and when he steals Carl’s gun and shoots Charlotte in the chest, it’s revealed that she’s clearly prepared for such an attack. Charlotte’s wearing a bulletproof vest, and after grilling Ben for information, Locke learns why she and her team have come to the island: they want Ben. For what, exactly, we still don’t know, but methinks it has something to do with his leading the island revolt a couple years back.

A Troop has just learned the same information, but that’s the least of their worries. They’ve just tracked down Frank, the pilot of the mission, and they now have a mostly functional helicopter at their disposal. So what happens now? Do Jack, Kate, Sayid and the three newbies make a run for it, or will their conscience lead them back into the jungle to warn their friends? Well, we pretty much know that escape isn’t going to happen any time, but it’s nice to know that they have a means of transportation to leave the island. The question now is: when?