Jack becomes 'The Last Recruit' on LOST

The golden moment of this episode: the reunion of Sun & Jin.   Source: ABC

Hello fellow LOSTies!  Not going to do a full synopsis of this week’s LOST as if you’re reading this, chances are good that you’ve seen the episode and have probably read every synopsis out there. But still lots to talk about! Here’s what caught my attention in ‘The Last Recruit’:

So many great quotes and one-liners! Where to begin? Well, Claire’s feathers were again ruffled as the MIB stepped away from the we’re-all-together-again-campfire to chat with Jack.

Jack: “Why John Locke?”
MIB:  “Because he was stupid enough to believe that he’d been brought here for a reason. 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.”

Whoa. That’s cold. Honest, but cold. Jack asks, “Who else did you look like?” The MIB replies, “Jack, what do you really want to ask me?” No, no wait – rewind – that’s what *I* really want to ask you. Answer the question, dammit. Alas, we only get assurance that Smokey previously appeared as island-Christian on Day 3. Sigh. Really, Smokey? Are ya sure? Because that Christian was wearing the suit he was to be buried in with tennis shoes, and he never spoke (except in Missing Pieces like “So It Begins”). Island-Christian didn’t become cocky and start talking until we started seeing him in plaid shirts.  Could that have something to do with the quote we’ve mulled over a few times now, “If you let him speak, it will already be too late”?

"John Locke was not a believer, Jack. He was a sucker.” –MIB  (Ouch!)

Getting back to Claire, was is just me, or was there some questionable camera-work going on during this episode? I noticed a couple of over-the-shoulder shots that nearly obliterated the person we were supposed to be looking at. Was that the work of someone losing a bet and having to hire their nephew as a camera man … or was it intentional?

Over-the-shoulder shots of Kate & Claire; are their faces intentionally blocked?

Claire follows the MIB and Jack into the jungle. She says it’s because she now knows Jack is her brother. Okay, obviously Smokey told her that – but how did he know? John Locke had no memory of that fact, did he?  What did I miss? Maybe it was Jack’s file … you know, the mysterious and completely unexplained files on all of the Oceanic passengers that include not only whether they have a criminal record, but in-depth (and likely undocumented) personal details from their pasts? I really need that to be one of the questions that gets resolved before the finale. Okay, moving on. So Claire tries to make nice with her big bro. But the whole scene is – how shall I say – awkward!

''This would be 10 times more Luke-and-Leia cool if you weren't an emotionally needy nutjob/survivalist psycho. Please, don't stand so close to me. You're making me feel uncomfortable, and you smell like wet squirrel.''
–What Jack didn’t dare say to Claire
LOST recap: 'The Last Recruit' sets the stage for the show's final arc

Then it was one great quote after another:

“You decided the moment you let him talk to you, just like the rest of us.” –Claire to Jack

“Who the hell’s Anakin?” –Sawyer

“It’s so nice to have everyone back together again.” –MIB

Kate: “He’s different now.”
Jack: “We’re all different now.”

Zoe, thug by day/geophysicist by night and terrible actress all the time (that’s just my opinion; apologies to those who like her), comes to Locke’s camp to retrieve Desmond. She never says his name, though. In fact, the MIB doesn’t either. It’s like neither side wants anyone else to know that Des is back on the island. Zoe causes some explosions, but the MIB is not impressed. After she leaves, Claire comes up to Hurley and asks what she missed. Where exactly was Claire that she missed all the excitement?

“Well, here we go.” –MIB (translation: the war Widmore spoke of has begun)

The MIB sends Sayid to kill Desmond. Poor Des, at the bottom of a well far more shallow than it seemed when he was thrown in, is frustrated. He gives Sayid the other-side-of-the-coin talk, and actually seems to get through to him. Now don’t get me wrong … I’m all for saving Desmond’s skin and helping Sayid break the cycle of killer-for-hire … but please … is Sayid really that much of a pushover that he allows people to just talk him in and out of a hit? This is a man who knocks thugs off with a dishwasher! C’mon!

“This woman – when she asks what you did to be with her again – what will you tell her?” –Des

Smokey lies to his people with a straight face and such ease that it makes my stomach turn. Since no one is the wiser, however, they all agree to follow him to Hydra Island. Sawyer tells his team that they won’t be rendezvousing with Flocke, and Claire senses that she’s being left – again.

Hurley's camp flees the Man-in-Black on Desmond's boat.  Source: ABC 

Kate: “I promised I would bring her back.”
Sawyer: “That’s before she started drinking Locke’s kool aid.”

Claire catches up with Sawyer & company getting ready to board The Elizabeth.  She is, understandably, pissed. But Kate is able to talk her down and get her to join them as they try to escape. Claire warns that the MIB is gonna be mad, and Kate takes Claire’s gun.

In the sideways timeline, a clean-cut Des has found his next mark on the Oceanic flight manifest: Claire. He intercepts her as she is about to visit an adoption agency (since her last deal fell through in LA X) … and wouldn’t you know that it’s in the exact same building where Jack and his son David are attending the reading of Christian Shepherd’s Will.

Check out the backwards text on the attorney office doors: At Law spelled backwards is WALT. And just to keep all our characters in circulation, Desmond’s attorney turns out to be Ilana Verdansky (is this the first time we’ve heard her last name?). It seems that Ilana has been looking for Claire – because she’s in charge of Christian’s final wishes, so Jack & son are in her office as well. Knowing that his good deed is done, and that Claire (and unborn baby Aaron) are now in safe hands, Desmond willingly hands her off to Ilana. There’s an unforeseen interruption, though, as Jack is called to the hospital to save John Locke. The wheelchair he was in when Desmond’s car hit him saved his life. As Locke becomes the victim yet again and is wheeled into the emergency room, Sun is wheeled in right beside him with her gunshot wound to the belly. Very surprisingly, Sun recognizes Locke, panics, and tells Jin, “It’s him!” Another nod that the timelines are converging? In the ER, Jack recognizes Locke’s reflection; another mirror reference for the sideways timeline.

Sideways Des & Claire visit Ilana's office - and run into Jack.  Source:  ABC

On Hydra Island, Claire gets her gun back and Sun & Jin are finally reunited.  Can I hear an Amen? I was really hoping that we weren’t going to get short-changed and they either be separated or killed by those darn pylons. But they had their moment (albeit brief), and for that I’m grateful. Sun’s grasp of the English language miraculously returned, and Widmore bailed on his deal with Sawyer.

Back on the boat, Jack didn't “feel right” about leaving the island with the MIB in power. Being given an ultimatum by Sawyer, Jack apologizes for Juliet’s death and jumps ship (similar to the way Sawyer jumped from the helicopter in Season 4). Once again, he feels that he HAS TO GO BACK! Here’s the crazy part: Jack leaps into the water with his shoes and pack still on. He swims all the way back to shore with his pack still on. When Smokey meets him on the beach and the explosions start, Jack is flung into the air with his pack still on. And when the MIB picks him up, carries him to safety, and plops him down against a tree – you guessed it, Jack still has that freakin’ backpack. What’s in that thing that’s so important?

Swimming to shore, alone, would exhaust someone. To do so weighted down by shoes and a full backpack must have been close to incapacitating. And then to be blown across the beach by a rocket blast, Jack must really be fighting for breath at this point. I’m pretty sure his hearing was impaired by the blast as well. So I think it’s safe to say that island-Jack has suffered a severe trauma -- and is now frighteningly in the care of the MIB.

Jack is thrown across the beach by an explosion.  Source:  ABC

“You’re with me now.” –MIB to Jack

In the sideways timeline, Locke has suffered a severe trauma, and is in the care of surgeon Jack Shepherd. What are the chances? On LOST, pretty good.

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"There's no earthly way of knowing ..."

Your opinion counts: 

Last week’s promos were kinda misleading, don’t you think? There was a “Wondrous Boat Ride” (The Elizabeth), but it was hardly the psychedelic minefield I was expecting from the Willy Wonka tune. What was up with the split screen flashing between Smokey and Claire?

Did Sayid shoot?  Source:  ABC

And how about the scene where Sayid’s gun is fired into the well? I didn’t see that happen in ‘The Last Recruit,’ did you? How many of you think Sayid killed Desmond, and how many think he let him go?

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