Lost: Episode 6:16 What They Died For
After last weeks disappointment, has the show redeemed itself in this very important penultimate episode?..
In this ep we see the aftermath of the sub explosion, as well as finally catching back up with Ben, Richard and Miles. In the sideways verse Locke has a change of heart, and old Des is back to his teacher injuring ways again!
This ep is indeed a good un. The pacing is spot on leading up to the finale and a LOT of things happen, questions answered, destinies revealed. Basically all of the pieces are in place for the ultimate chess game..or backgammon if you like! It begins directly after the infamous "death sub" incident, with Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley still evidently in shock at the loss of their friends. Kate brings up Sun and Jin's daughter(glad someone did !). But revenge as well as survival fuels them now and they set off to investigate Sayid's last words to Jack and see if they can rescue Desmond. We then cut to Ben and co as they reach Dharma/Otherville in search of explosives to blow up the plane. They get em, but also run into Widmore and Zoe. Widmore says that the reason he came back was because Jacob "showed him the error of his ways". This of course is an easy plot device which doesn't allow room for too many follow up questions..theres a lot of that type of thing this week! Anyway, they see Un-Locke approach from the water and guess pretty rightly that he will be in a foul mood. Miles skidaddles through the jungle, and Ben hides Widmore and Zoe in his secret chamber thing. While doing so we get another niggling question answered. This was a secret route to where he believed he was summoning the monster, turns out it was "summoning him all along". AH AHH..don't even think about asking a question, they're on a role here! Richard feels he can attempt to reason with Un-Locke so he and Ben step outside. Smokey kills Richard(probably). Its horseshit. Lost keeps killing these "minor" charters in such ridiculous ways. Jin, Sun and Sayid to a lesser extent at least got meaningful send offs, their deaths were important. But after setting up Richard with an amazing backstory they literally sweep him offscreen when they figure they can't work him into the final proceedings. Same for Ilana and Frank. Anyway, he(and Frank) may not be dead but just because they didn't pay us the courtesy of showing their bodies, at this point I seriously doubt we will be seeing em again. So Ben reverts back to type(it would seem), leading Un-Locke right to Widmore and Zoe. Un-Locke slices Zoe's throat in a quite graphic scene and threatens to kill Widmore's daughter Penny if he doesn't tell him why he brought Desmond back to the island. Ben shoots him before he gets the chance saying, "He doesn't get to save his daughter." One thing they don't answer is why Ben can do this. Remember a couple of seasons back when Widmore asked Ben if he had "come her to kill me" and Ben said "You know I can't do that". Well, he can now. Ben seems to be flat out eeevil again as he even asks Un-Locke who else he needs him to kill. But he did give Miles a walkie talkie and something tells me this is all a ruse and he will be betraying Un-Locke by the end. Back with team Jacob, Sawyer is feeling guilty about his part in the sub deaths(as well you should ya wally!) and Hurley is visited by young ghost Jacob boy dude. This leads all of them to finally hold an audience with Jacob as his ashes burn away in a fire. Kate demand to know what Jin, Sun and Sayid(again, no Frank) died for so Jacob sits em down and tells them all about the magic cave and its need for a protector. They all have a choice apparently. They didn't have a choice when the prick manipulated them onto the island of course! We also learn why Kates name was crossed off..its because she became a mother(ah ahh!). Anyway, surprise surprise, Jack steps up and volunteers to become the new Jacob. He drinks from the waters around the cave and is now apparently immortal like Jacob..unless a little scrawny dude stabs him of course. We cut to Un-Locke and Ben investigating Desmond's Well(good name for a band that..no? ok) and Un-Locke saying he shall now use Des to destroy the island!
Back in sideways verse its all kicking off too. Des comes back to the school and when confronted by Ben, lays a beating on him, jogging his island persona/reality in the process. Its clear that Des is now operating with full knowledge of the other reality..he may actually be island Des for all intents and purposes, if both beings are in fact split consciousnesses. So Ben explains what happened to Locke, prompting him to pay Jack a visit and change his mind about the surgery. It seems that Locke will walk again. Could this somehow tie into Locke getting the use of his legs back when the plain first crashed on the island? Because somewhere , somehow another version of himself was healed? Sure the time frames are out..now. But remember, in the sideways verse its only been a few days since the plane landed safely. Meanwhile, Des calls Jack pretending to be Oceanic airlines saying the found his fathers coffin. He then turns himself in to Sawyer's police station so he can be close to Sayid and Kate and stage a frakking prison break! Its pretty awesome. He has Anna Lucia paid off and cut them loose, and Hurley(also seemingly now fully aware) collect em. It clear that he is manipulating them all somewhere, physically and mentally. But how will all of this play out? Well I think there will be no merging of worlds or characters in a literal sense. I think instead, all of the island folk are dead meat except Jack and Un-Locke who will continue the game. I think that the sideways verse is where the characters will continue on, perhaps with full recollection, perhaps not.
Anyway, we will all know how it end this time next week, but this ep was a fine teaser for that biggest of finales. A bit of plot handiness aside it was as finely acted and scripted as Lost has ever been. Be sure to drop by for a special Lost retrospective and finale review, until then...
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