If you thought the final season of "Lost" would tone down on the confusion, you're wrong. As a matter of fact, I think I have just about as many questions as ever. What's with the "parallel universe" where the plane crash didn't happen? There's a part of me that believes that the Oceanic 815 survivors somehow manage to reverse the past enough so the plane crash didn't happen, but that same part of me doesn't want that to happen.
Why? Because then we're pretty much looking at Bob Newhart waking up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette. What's the point of anything? The show itself would have more meaning if they find a way to incorporate the island into it somehow. (That may or may not be an unpopular opinion; we'll see as this season plays out.)
During these flashes (I don't really know whether to call them flashbacks or flashforwards), we do get to see a number of character moments. Jack ends up saving Charlie's life, who then gets arrested for possession of illegal drugs. Jin and Sun are obviously still having some serious marital issues, and Hurley proclaims he is the "luckiest man alive" (though it's hard to say if he is lying or not). John Locke is surprisingly pleasant, and Sawyer is unsurprisingly sarcastic. The most eye-popping moment came when Desmond showed up on the plane, since he was never even there the first time around.
After it landed, Kate ended up escaping from the air marshall and escaping in a taxicab. Of course, the same cab also had Claire on board. Meanwhile, Jack found out that his father's body was never put on the plane -- and he had a nice moment with Locke that ended up with him giving John a business card for a free surgical consult.
In between all of these moments, we of course had life back on the island (otherwise known as the time-traveling world where things are constantly shifting). Juliet obviously blew up Jughead at the end of last season, but many of the characters are still there. The good news? Juliet did survive...but only to end up dying a few minutes later.
Hurley, who was trying to take care of dying Sayid, quickly got some advice from Jacob (or as I will call him, the ghost of Jacob, who was almost a ghost to begin with): take Sayid to the temple, and they will know what to do.
After Sawyer's fury towards Jack for Juliet's death cooled down, the whole group made it over to the temple, which had a strange cast of characters befitting an "Indiana Jones" movie. They performed some bizarre ritual on Sayid's body, only to end up drowning him. The former torture artist was then declared "dead" after questioning where he will end up in the afterlife (powerful stuff).
I'm not actually sure what to think of the "temple" setting -- much of it seems pulled from another show, which isn't exactly what we've come to expect from "Lost." Maybe this will change, but these scenes were easily the least exciting of the episode. (Sayid, of course, was magically revived at the end, just when tensions were starting to rise between Jack and the "new" others.)
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The final main plotline this week had to do with "evil" Locke, who looks to be really just the reincarnation of the "man in black," and the now-reasonably helpless Ben. We watched Ben kill Jacob last season, and this time around "Locke" wanted to see Richard. Reluctant to go in alone, a whole chorus of the Others went inside to speak with John 2.0 -- only to be greeted by the Smoke Monster.
So there you have it: the Smoke Monster is a spiritual form of the Man in Black. It's one major mystery that we finally have an answer to, and it means that this force was constantly at odds with Jacob. Since Locke is still alive, though (at least in this form), the balance of the island is gone just like many of the Others are. I'm betting this is something that will need to change if life is ever to be normal for the survivors again.
That said, Locke as a villain is actually pretty scary, since no one really seems to know how to stop him.
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Overall, the return of "Lost" easily proved itself to be worth the wait. We still don't know about the alternate universe, or why the island is underwater in this universe, but we've come to expect a good deal of confusion from ABC's production.
What did you think of the premiere? Let me know your thoughts with a comment below. Just for laughs, here is a parody of last night's premiere that Jimmy Kimmel did on his show.
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Comments
Thanks for the excellent recap of the season premiere. Sadly, I'm more confused than ever now. RIP John Locke & Juliet. How did Juliet survive the explosion without having been blown to bits???
Can't wait for the rest of the season!
Cheers,
Samantha, Celebrity Fitness/Health Examiner :)
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