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Thursday, April 1, 2010

Lost 6x10: The Package

The first episode of the second half of Lost's final season brings Sun, largely dormant since learning Jin was alive last season, roaring back to life. Spurning Smokey, yelling at Richard, stripteasing Jin in the flash sideways; Sun hasn't had this much to do since her intriguing but seemingly forgotten alliance with Widmore. Her bonk-on-the-head-induced inability to speak English runs the risk of becoming gimmicky, but in a season that's all about going back to the beginning and is littered with callbacks to the show's first episodes, it's interesting to note that, for the time being, there is once again one Kwon who can speak English and another who can't.


This was the first flash sideways that was as much about plot as character, as the principle concern seemed to be establishing the events that led up to, and immediately followed, Sideways Sayid's discover of Jin in Keamy's fridge. As a result, despite the flash sideways device, in general, continuing to suffer from a "who cares?" malaise while their true meaning remains unknown, this one felt a little more urgent. The various Sideways threads seem to be coming together, with Sawyer's sideways story likely continuing in another Kate episode and Sideways Locke connected to several characters. Might Jin and Sun, in need of medical help, end up in Jack's hospital (after all, everyone else seems to...). Or might an injured, pregnant Sun be pulled within the orbit of Sideways Juliet?

While certainly light on island mythology, especially following on the heels of "Ab Aeterno", this episode at least felt like the plot moved along significantly. Team Jacob has a plan of action: blow up the plane so FLocke and company can't leave. Widmore is clearly not an ally of FLocke, and is plotting something using the electromagnetic pockets of energy on the island (another hint that perhaps the evil wine is representative not of Smokey but of something more scientific?) and the titular package, the someone stashed in that locked room, everyone's favorite Scot. While a more heroic and dignified return to the island would have been nice, the long overdue re-introduction of Desmond into the narrative shouldn't elicit many complaints.

Stuff Worth Mentioning
Widmore's crew uses knockout darts similar to the Others' at the end of season two.

FLocke tells Claire that once everyone is together and on the plan, whatever happens, happens. Aside from suggesting that perhaps once FLocke's agenda is complete Claire is free to do whatever to Kate, it's also a variation of Daniel's time-travel mantra that whatever happened, happened.

Jin and Sun's rooms were on the 8th floor of the hotel. Ben told Ilana 4 times he didn't do anything to Sun.

Not Tina Fey said that Widmore should have put a mercenary in charge instead of a geophysicist...is this the show attempting to reconcile "hire Keamey with orders to raze the island in pursuit of Ben" Widmore with a potentially "he's been a good guy all along!" Widmore? Cuz it's going to take more than Widmore realizing that maybe putting a psychotic mercenary in charge of the freighter mission was a mistake for me to buy a "good guy all along" reveal.  

Heh. Mikhail. Nice to see him again. Jin shot him in the eye he covered with a patch on the island.


The watch Keamey was wearing in "Sundown" was the one Jin brought him from Paik. 

Also, when Mikhail brings Sun into the restaurant, you can see Jin lying amongst the bodies, playing possum.


Keamey just won't stay dead, in any reality, will he?

Sun should probably use that paper Jack gave her a bit more conservatively...

So how annoying was the "V" countdown clock in the bottom corner of the screen? 

Questions Answered
Are Sideways Jin and Sun married? No, but they are secretly involved.


Why did Jin have the money in addition to the watch? It was the second half of a payment from Mr. Paik to Keamey for killing Jin.

How did Jin end up in the fridge where Sayid found him? He was brought there by Keamey, with the intent of killing him.

Are Widmore and FLocke secretly allies? Apparently not.


What's in the locked room on the sub? Desmond.

Can Widmore step foot on the island? Yes. At least, Hydra Island, which is more or less the main island (it travels with it...). 

What was the deal with the Others' brainwashing room in season three? Apparently it was the remnant of a Dharma experiment dealing with subliminal messages that Ben merely appropriated in order to keep Doofy Karl from knocking up (and thus killing) his daughter.


Questions Asked
FLocke said he needs six people to leave the island with him: which ones? There are five candidates left (Jack, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley and a Kwon). FLocke needs Kate not because she's a candidate (she's been crossed off in the cave, but not the lighthouse dial), but because she can sway other candidates. So who's the sixth person? Does he mean Jin, because he won't get Sun without Jin? Or Frank, because he needs someone to pilot the plane? Or does Sayid's infection mean he's no longer a candidate, and FLocke needs the four remaining candidates plus TWO other people?

Why does FLocke think Sayid is better off not feeling anything? Is he manipulating Claire into taking out Kate once he's done with her? 

Why can't Smokey smoke himself across the water?

Widmore's words to FLocke (that he was a myth/bedtime story/scary noises) suggest that, at least when Widmore was an Other, the Others didn't interact much with Smokey. So why not? Why didn't Smokey wipe out all the Others? Do the same rules that protect Jacob from him somehow apply to Jacob's followers?

How is Widmore planning to use the pockets of electromagnetic energy? How does Desmond fit into his plan?


Widmore told Jin that if FLocke gets off the island, everything they know and live will cease to exist, which is more specific of a consequence than Jacob's "evil escapes into the world" comment in the last episode. Is FLocke some kind of anti-matter that, off the island, will have destructive consequences on regular matter?

How did Widmore get a hold of Desmond? Where's Penny and Charlie? How 'bout Eloise?  

Is Sideways Sun pregnant with Jin's baby? Or is he still firing blanks without the island's help?

Next Week: Happily Ever After
Hopefully a Desmond episode. But either way, I have a feeling that title is going to be ironic...

5 comments:

  1. While certainly light on island mythology, especially following on the heels of "Ab Aeterno", this episode at least felt like the plot moved along significantly
    I agree, I thought this was a smart move on their part. God, I love Lost.

    Are Sideways Jin and Sun married? No, but they are secretly involved.
    Yeah, I'll say - five buttons involved *wink wink*.

    That doesn't even make sense.

    I think that Sawyer was wearing a wire. This is why we can hear him and Kate. I wonder what tricky double-cross (or dare I say, triple cross?) he has planned.

    Is Sideways Sun pregnant with Jin's baby? Or is he still firing blanks without the island's help?
    Oh, Jin's packing, absolutely. Sun would have to be The Black Widow to make the sex with a guy and then tell him after she is pregnant by another man.

    Great write up, Mr.Man!

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  2. Widmore's crew uses knockout darts similar to the Others' at the end of season two.

    Maybe he learned how to make/use the darts during his own time on the island?

    (another hint that perhaps the evil wine is representative not of Smokey but of something more scientific?)

    Wine, in general, has a tendency to be evil, doesn't it? :P

    Cuz it's going to take more than Widmore realizing that maybe putting a psychotic mercenary in charge of the freighter mission was a mistake for me to buy a "good guy all along" reveal.

    I so agree! I know we've talked about this before—this is NOT an ending I'd be psyched to see at all. And if Darlton are planning to go for it, they're going to have to do A LOT more groundwork than that! But with only so many episodes left, it doesn't feel like they'll have time.

    the titular package, the someone stashed in that locked room, everyone's favorite Scot.

    Lost spin off, anyone?

    He sails 'round the world,
    He pushes buttons,
    He'll call you brutha,
    over a glass of MacCutcheons,
    He's everybody's favourite Scot!

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  3. DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND


    Does this count as spam? I hope so.

    I like when they speak Korean so that the flash sideways were cool but the konk on the head, no speak English no more...ugh. Although, Sun yelling at Richard in Korean was probably the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. hahaha! He looked so confused and slightly terrified.

    And I agree with Nikki that Jack is getting way hotter.

    I think it's probably good that Sayid doesn't feel anything is because Smokey's got some ideas in store for him. I was kind of freaked out and sad.

    Oh and did I mention...

    DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. finally got a chance to watch this now that Anne is back.

    When Widmore said "will cease to exist" it immediately made me think of the sideways verse and how they exist purely becases the bomb supposedly went off in the 70s.
    Which then led me to question if maybe the regular timeline is actually a sideways verse spawned because FLocked is kept on the island and once he's free that universe would cease to be. Kind of like how maybe if they went back in time (again) and prevented the bomb exploding then the sideways verse would cease to be.
    Maybe.
    You know this time travel stuff can be tricksy.
    Anyway i don't know if that holds any weight but it was what foremost occured to me.

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  5. @Joan: Thanks!

    Yeah, I'll say - five buttons involved *wink wink*.

    That doesn't even make sense.


    Haha!

    I think that Sawyer was wearing a wire.

    Interesting. That hadn't occurred to me. Hmm...

    Sun would have to be The Black Widow to make the sex with a guy and then tell him after she is pregnant by another man.

    That's a good point. My immediate thought was that it was Jin's, but then I remembered the whole Jae Lee/shooting blanks thing. But you're probably right. Plus, I keep trying to remind myself that this late in the game, the simplest answer is probably the correct one, just because Darlton's running out of time to dick us around.

    @Jenn Maybe he learned how to make/use the darts during his own time on the island?

    Probably. Like the Others speaking Latin. You learn certain things in Others 101. :)

    Wine, in general, has a tendency to be evil, doesn't it? :P

    Deliciously evil!

    And if Darlton are planning to go for it, they're going to have to do A LOT more groundwork than that! But with only so many episodes left, it doesn't feel like they'll have time.

    Agreed, across the board. I'm hoping they're going less for a "he's been a good guy all along!" and more for the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing, in which Widmore is good only in that he doesn't want existence to be destroyed by Smokey, so by default, he's on the same side of the conflict as Team Jacob, but he's still in it for himself and wants control of the island, post-Smokey defeat.

    I'd watch a Desmond spinoff.

    @Palindrome: I still wish Desmond's return had been a bit more heroic, but I'm not gonna complain...

    The whole "can't speak English" thing IS dangerously close to feeling contrived, but at least there's some thematic significance to it. Hopefully it won't last too long. Also, as someone else pointed out and I completely missed, it's another link to The Stand, in that Sun is now like Nick Andros, only able to communicate via writing.

    @Falen: Interesting idea about the flash sideways. I'm starting to seriously question that the bomb is the event which triggered that reality though. There's evidence to suggest the sideways timeline contains aberrations that predate '77. I'm thinking that the bomb's detonation was the incident that led to the button pushing just like always (whatever happened, happened) and something else created the sideways reality. But we shall see.

    Honestly, there are so many theories and good ideas floating around about the nature of the flash sideways I can't keep them all straight. It still seems like they haven't given us enough to truly figure them out.

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