Horace, the mathematician who turned up as a ghost last season, had an Arrow logo on his shirt, but that’s pretty much all we’ve got. And since the film is interrupted, we don’t get much more this week. Except that Dr. Marvin Candle’s real name is apparently “Dr. Chang”. I’ll stick with Candle, though. It’s much funnier.
LOST Revisited: Season 5, Premiere – “Because You Left” & “The Lie” (Jan 22)
The workmen are having a hard time completing their excavation. Based on the printout they show Dr. Candle, they’re not only building the Orchid Station, but the Magic Wheel of Island Moving was there before they even started. Note that the foreman mentions a carbon bit – remember the Orchid film where Dr. Candle said not to place metal objects in the chamber? Apparently, he knew what he was talking about.
Dr. Candle explains the possibility of time travel, and assures the foreman that there are “…Rules. Rules that can’t be broken.” That’s almost the exact same thing Benry said last season when his daughter was killed. Widmore broke the rules. This might be important in the near future. If we’re still clear on when the future is. Anyway, then Faraday shows up on the crew. This would be the late 70’s / early 80’s. Daniel’s had some problems with time and memory before, and it looks like that’s the tip of the iceberg.
Yeah, that’s right. Lost is back, sucker!
Back in 2008, Benry and Jack are still at the funeral home, getting ready to steal Locke’s body. Benry seems to think it’s going to be easy to gather up the Oceanic Six and get them back to the Island. This is one of those times when Benry is wrong. Also, I am still not doing well with this whole Locke thing. And is it just me, or does Benry seem like he’s actually curious about what happened after he moved the Island? I don’t think he knew what he was getting into. According to Jack, Locke told him that everybody on the Island would die if the Six didn’t return. Things must be pretty dire…
*** All images are courtesy of our friends at http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/ ***
OK, here’s where things really get crazy. Back on the Island, the camp is gone. The sky went white, there was a noise, and suddenly all their stuff is missing. Faraday suggests that they find “something manmade” (like the Hatch), and indicates that they’ve just moved through time. Also, they’ll probably move again. Get ready for your head to start hurting…
On the mainland, Kate is visited by one Mr. Norton, of Agostini & Norton. (Word of advice: If two people show up at your door and the talkative one will not even tell you the name of the silent one, they’re up to no good.) They’ve been hired to get blood samples from Kate and Aaron to prove parentage. Now, who would have hired them? My guess is either Widmore or Benry, and it’s either a way to back Kate into a corner or get their hands on Aaron the Miracle Baby. Either way, Kate doesn’t take it well. In my viewing group, the biggest surprise was that she actually had to pack. We sort of assumed that she always had a bag ready in case she had to flee.
Back on the Island, there’s a great conflict of Nerd vs. Jock, as Faraday steps up to lead the group. Sawyer doesn’t care for this, but honestly, quantum physics isn’t really his thing. Faraday explains that it’s like a skipping record (like Dr. Marvin Candle’s!), and that they’re lurching unpredictably through time. Cue Locke, separated from the group. Apparently, they jumped back in time to the moment that the Nigerian drug plane crashed. (Haven’t seen those Virgin Mary statues in a while…) As Locke climbs up to reach the plane, he is shot in the leg. Last time he tried to get to that same plane, he had a big hunk of metal stuck in his leg. (Which is why Boone climbed up there himself and ended up dying.) Once again, events on the Island tend to repeat themselves.
Who shot Locke? Well, it’s the one guy who they always use when they want to show you that something happened in the past – Ethan! Makes sense that he’d be there, since Benry generally sent Ethan to investigate any weirdness. Locke has a pretty good plan, citing a lot of names and facts to Ethan. However, Ethan’s more of a “shoot first” kind of guy, and the only thing that saves Locke is another time shift!
In 2008, well, you just know Widmore wasn’t going to let Sun walk all over him like she did last season. He puts her in her place, and then discuss their mutual interest in killing Benry. Sun’s a little scary now, guys.
Hey, it’s Hurley and Sayid! Hurley’s a bit of a fugitive now, which makes things complicated. Sayid tells Hurley to always do the opposite of what Benry says, which is going to complicate things later on. This leads us to a pretty awesome action scene at the safe house. I mean, Sayid, groggy from a tranquilizer dart, kills a guy with a dishwasher. Nice. But, you know, Hurley probably shouldn’t pose for pictures (while holding a gun!) at the crime scene.
On the Island, Faraday and the rest find the Hatch, and it’s all collapsed. This means that they’re sometime after the end of Season Two at this point. Faraday once again stresses that they can’t change the past. It’s not even that the consequences would be disastrous – it’s just not possible. If they try to warn somebody in the past, it just won’t work. Faraday seems to know a lot about this. Could the fact that he popped up 30 years ago have something to do with that? I’m thinking this is not Faraday’s first time travel experience. It was implied last season that he has problems with his memory, so maybe he experimented on himself after meeting Desmond. Anyway, Faraday thinks Locke is the only one who can fix it.
And there’s Locke, badly injured. Richard “Batmanuel” Alpert shows up and not only recognizes him, but knows exactly what’s going on. Since he hasn’t aged in 50 or so years, I trust him on anything time-related. I like his medical advice for Locke: “The Island will do the rest.” Also, he explains that the next time he sees Locke, he won’t remember him. Clearly, their next meeting will be in the past before they met chronologically for the first time. (Well, as adults anyway. Richard “Batmanuel” Alpert was present at Locke’s birth, after all.)
His instructions to Locke: “The only way to save the Island is to get them back. You’re going to have to die.” Yikes.
Now, here’s my question. During a time shift, is it possible for Locke to meet himself? If time shifted to the moment when Locke and Boone discovered the plane, what would happen? According to Faraday, I guess we know that it won’t happen because it didn’t happen, if that makes sense. Again, can’t change the past. If Locke met a past version of himself, he would remember it happening. Still, the idea of two simultaneous Lockes means that there could be one in the coffin while another is alive and well on the Island. Remember, that was the whole point of the experiments in the Orchid – making a rabbit co-exist with itself.
(Interesting note: Lost co-creator Carlton Cuse played with time travel in the same way in his earlier series, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. In it, Brisco met a future version of himself, and then in a later episode, had to travel into the past to ensure that the meeting happened the way that it happened.)
*** All images are courtesy of our friends at http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/ ***
