LOST
Season 4 Episode 11
“Cabin Fever”
Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff & Kyle Pennington
Directed by Paul Edwards
(WARNING: SPOILERS)


“But you’ll understand soon enough that there are consequences to being chosen, because destiny, John, is a fickle b!tch.”
-- Ben

Hoo-boy!
Okay, Locke flashback first.
Turns out that John was a premature baby, brought into the world at 6 months because Emily got hit by a car as she was on her way to see John’s evil conman da. (Ironically enough, this installment is this season’s Mother’s Day episode…)
Apparently though, John was meant to survive, as he survived infections and other assorted medical troubles to emerge from the incubator, only to have Emily chicken out, thus resulting in him being put up for adoption.
But who should be at the hospital but Richard! Looking as young as he does on the Island present!


Years later, Richard visits John at a foster home, and says he represents a school for very gifted children. Richard has John take a test, asking him to choose from a number of objects those that he’s already owned.
John picks a compass, a small container of what appears to be sand, and, much to Richard’s disapproval, a knife.
This was apparently the wrong choice, as Richard quickly leaves, taking the objects with him.

Years later again, and John’s in high school and being bullied and beaten up. He’s told (by someone who I assume is the principal) that he’s been invited to a science camp in Portland, run by Mittelos.
But John says he isn’t a scientist. He likes sports and hunting and other physical pursuits. He’s told that he shouldn’t resist who he’s meant to be. He’s told that he can’t be a prom king, that he can’t be a quarterback, that he can’t be a superhero.
John says (and I’m sure you know what’s coming), Don’t tell me what I can’t do.

Years later again, after getting pushed out of that hotel window by his evil conman da, and while he’s still clearly despondent as he struggles with his physical rehabilitation, he’s visited in hospital by sinister Mr. Abaddon, who’s apparently the one who gave John the idea to go on the walkabout.
Abaddon tells John, You’ll go on that walkabout like I did, and you’ll discover who you really are, and when we meet again, you’ll owe me one.


And, back on the Freighter…
Keamy finds out it was Michael who told Ben all about him, and Keamy tries to shoot Michael, but his gun jams… (Guess the Island still needs Michael.)
Keamy breaks out Widmore’s second protocol, which apparently goes, “torch the Island.”
Gault sees this is all spiraling out of control, so he gives Sayid the Zodiac, so Sayid can start ferrying people to the boat. Desmond though, says he’s not setting foot on the Island again, and that he’ll wait on the boat for Penny.
So Sayid Zodiacs his way back to the Island.
Meanwhile, Michael tells Frank that Keamy’s on his way back to the Island to kill everyone on it. So Frank refuses to fly them back, to which Keamy responds by slitting the poor doctor’s throat and throwing him overboard, where his corpse will presumably float through some temporal anomaly so it can be found on the beach two episodes ago. (I just love this show!)
Keamy then warns Frank he’s ready to kill someone else if Frank doesn’t fly the helicopter.
Gault arrives and holds Keamy at gunpoint, but is distracted by some device strapped to Keamy’s arm. Keamy then shoots the captain, convincing Frank he does need to fly the helicopter.
But Frank surreptitiously places a NaomiPhone into a bag, which he later drops onto the beach as the helicopter flies over. (I assume Frank did this without Keamy noticing.)

On the beach, Jack (who is up and about against Juliet’s express orders to stay put, lest his stitches open up) finds the NaomiPhone, and thinks they’re being asked to follow the helicopter’s path.


Over with the cabin hunters, Locke has a dream where he meets dead Horace Goodspeed (Doug Hutchison), who John sees building the cabin. Dream Horace tells John to find him, so he can find the cabin.
John then leads them to the mass grave where the Dharma corpses are, and finds a map of the cabin in the pocket of Horace’s overalls. They then trek to the cabin, and when they get there, both Ben and Hugo opt to let John enter the cabin by himself.
Inside, John sees Christian (who admits that he isn’t Jacob, but that he’s representing him), and Claire, who seems to be acting very strangely, casually claiming, I’m with him. (This is so not the Claire we know and love…)
John’s confused by Claire’s presence (as are we), but Christian says, The Boat People are almost here. Ask the question that really matters.
John asks, What do I have to do to save the Island?

Later, John exits the cabin, and when Ben asks if he was told what needed to be done, John says, He wants us to move the Island.


Ho-kay… move the Island…
Riiiight…
And what is up with Claire?! Did that exploding house back at the Barracks do something more to her than just knock her for a loop? Is she really (like her father) now one of those dead people other people still see? What about Des’ “Claire and Aaron get on a helicopter” vision?! Did Charlie sacrifice himself, not in vain exactly, but not for the person he thought he was doing it for? Graaarrr!!!

With all the neat stuff in this episode though, arguably the most tantalizing scene here is the test Richard gives Locke.
And the interesting parallel between Richard apparently sensing something special about Locke, in (perhaps subconsciously) the same way Locke sensed something special about Walt…
And next up, in what appears to be yet another temporal anomaly, the season’s two-part, three-hour ender…

COUNTDOWN: 37.

(Images courtesy of ABC, ew.com, and usatoday.com [Keamy].)

LOST
Season 4 Episode 8
“Meet Kevin Johnson”
Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff & Brian K. Vaughan
Directed by Stephen Williams
(WARNING: SPOILERS)

So aside from a few Island and Boat bits, this episode (as indicated by the title) is pretty much a protracted flashback precipitated by Sayid’s questioning of Michael, which relates to us (and Sayid and Des, of course), how Michael went from escaping the Island with Walt, to swabbing the freighter’s deck as Ben’s spy…

Apparently, after their escape, Michael was so burdened by his guilt over killing both Libby and Ana-Lucia, that he confessed to Walt what he’d done to purchase their freedom.
Justifiably horrified by what was done to get him back, Walt turns on Michael, and ends up living with Michael’s mother, not wanting to have anything to do with his murdering father.
Thus, Michael is despondent and suicidal, and tries to off himself by crashing his car, but he makes it out of the wreck alive. At the hospital, he has a nightmare where Libby, with some blankets, is the nurse checking up on him.
Michael tries to see Walt, but the kid won’t even come down from his room, looking down from his window at his murdering father.
So Michael hocks the watch that Jin gave him as a gift, and gets a gun and some bullets. He’s about to shoot himself in an alley when who should show up but Mr. Friendly! (And for just a moment, I think, Oh, wonderful. Michael’s seeing dead people too. Then it occurs to me that this flashback is probably occurring before MF is shot by Sawyer back on the Island.)
There’s some fisticuffs before MF reveals to Michael that he can’t die, that the Island won’t let him! MF then leaves Michael, telling him where he can be found (the penthouse of some hotel or other).

In his ratty apartment, Michael tries to shoot himself, but the gun just doesn’t want to fire, despite being fully loaded… (He also sees the news item about the “discovery” of Oceanic 815.)
So Michael heads to MF’s penthouse, where we see the confirmation that MF is indeed not straight, thus his declaration that Kate wasn’t “his type” way back at the start of Season 3.
We also discover the more vital information that—according to Ben—Da Widmore is responsible for the fake Oceanic 815 wreckage. This is so that people would stop looking for the plane, since Da W. wants to keep the whereabouts of the Island to himself.
Michael is also told that there’s a freighter that’s about to head for the Island, which, when it gets there, will be responsible for the deaths of everyone on the Island, including the other 815ers.
So the carrot dangling on the stick here is, this is Michael’s last chance to redeem himself; to save his fellow 815ers, by killing yet more people…

So Michael gets on board the freighter, meeting Minkowski, Naomi, and Miles (who tells Michael, I know “Kevin Johnson” isn’t your real name, but it’s okay, 80% of the people on this boat have secrets of their own). Michael also finds a crate for him, which contains what appears to be a bomb.
When Michael tries to activate it though, two things happen: one, Michael again sees Libby, who tells Michael not to do it; and two, when Michael does set it off, and the countdown reaches 0, a little Joker note springs out, which reads, NOT YET.
Later still, Michael gets a call from the mainland, from “Walt,” who turns out to be Ben, of course.
Ben instructs Michael to draw up a list of everyone on board, and then, after Ben calls him again, that he relay that list to Ben, then smash the comm equipment, then sabotage the engines (which of course we know he did).

Getting back to the freighter in this episode’s “present,” Michael’s story just serves to piss Sayid off. Accusingly (and ironically, since we’ve already seen his Crying Freeman flashforward), Sayid says, So you’re working for Ben.
And when Michael agrees, Sayid rats Michael out to Capt. Gault.

Back at the Barracks, Locke calls a town meeting, and explains to everyone exactly what Miles and the Boat people are here for: capture Benjamin Linus, then kill everyone else on the Island. (Miles doesn’t dispute this allegation, which thus makes me wonder, were Daniel and the others actually aware of this “kill everyone else” plan, ‘cause I honestly don’t see Daniel signing up for something like that. Or was Miles secretly privy to this bit because of his whole angry ghost whisperer thing?)

After the meeting, Ben sees Karl and Alex have a little PDA. He then speaks to Alex, giving her a map, telling her to go to “the Temple,” where the other Others are, apparently. Ben says, Go there, because if these people know you’re my daughter, they’ll use you to get to me.
Ben says, Go there, where you’ll be safe. He then adds, Your mother will protect you.
Alex asks, Are these people more dangerous than you?
And when Ben admits to that, Alex, Rousseau, and Karl, take the map and head for the Temple.
On the trek there though, first Karl, and then Rousseau, are shot by unseen snipers. Alex then surrenders, calling out, I’m Ben’s daughter!

Okay, first off, in the wake of the strike, the initial plan had been that the break would take place after episode 7 (“Ji Yeon”), and this episode—which had been completed pre-stirke—would kick off the batch of post-strike-produced episodes leading up to the season finale. If that plan had gone into effect, the cliffhanger would have been that kick-a$$ closer on “Ji Yeon,” which, honestly, feels like a more effective cliffhanger than this one.
But somewhere along the way, someone decided to show all the pre-strike episodes as a block, then take the six-week break, before airing the post-strike episodes, thus leaving us with this episode…
And yes, I am honest enough to cop to the possibility that I think “Ji Yeon” was a better episode than “Meet Kevin Johnson” because I’ve never really liked Michael’s character. At all. Since Day One.
If I could have Walt (kid with creepy, unnerving powers) without Michael (just a plain annoying yutz), that would be totally sweet. Unfortunately, right now we’re being given Michael without Walt. Sigh.

Somehow though, even if I put aside my dislike for Michael, I do still think “Ji Yeon” was a far better installment.
For one thing, there just seemed to be less artistry displayed in this one, with its straight-forward flashback. Within the context of the narrative, I can understand the reason for that choice—since Michael is apparently relating the story to Sayid and Des, it wouldn’t do to jump back and forth in time.
However, the “flashback-all-in-one-go” method seemed to make more sense in “Flashes Before Your Eyes.” Here, it just plays out as lazy and uninspired.

As for the cliffhanger we’re left with for the next six weeks though, I honestly can’t say for certain that those snipers were Boat People.
I mean, I wouldn’t put it past Ben to orchestrate this whole ambush so he could eliminate the other important people in Alex’s life, so he could again have his adoptive daughter all to himself. (And if it does turn out to be a legitimate ambush, I apologize in advance to Ben. Don’t blame me, dude, but trusting shifty li’l you is a pretty tall order.)
Oh, and I did say I missed Libby, but I sincerely hope we’ll see more of her than as just Michael’s guilt-inducing phantasm. The character deserves better than that…
Ah, and the whole “you can’t die, the Island won’t let you” bit…. Is that why Jack’s suicide attempt at the bridge was interrupted by a fortuitous accident?

COUNTDOWN: 40.

(Image courtesy of ABC and variety.com.)

LOST
Season 4 Episode 4
“Eggtown”
Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff & Greggory Nations
Directed by Stephen Williams
(WARNING: SPOILERS)

Back at the Barracks, Locke is still out of sorts, uncertain what his next move should be. He’s so desperate he actually tries to get Ben to tell him what needs to be done, something Ben crows about of course, observing Locke’s more lost now than he’s ever been.
Locke acts all cool but once he’s out of the room (but still within Ben’s hearing distance), he smashes some plates against the wall.
Ben.
Smiles.
(Why does Locke always do that? Act all cool and unruffled, then break some stuff when Ben can still hear? He did that back in the hatch too.)

Kate meanwhile, is actually living with Claire, while Sawyer is roomies with Hugo. Sawyer tries to woo Kate to stay with him, but she’s more interested in Miles.
Ahem.
To talk to Miles.
Kate tries to get Miles’ whereabouts out of Locke, but he keeps his lips sealed, and reminds Kate Jack isn’t in charge here and that this isn’t a democracy. (What did I say before? Locke can be just like Ben…)
So Kate finagles Miles’ location from an unsuspecting Hugo, and when she gets there, she asks Miles what he knows about her. Miles says he just wants one minute with someone, then he’ll tell her what she wants to know.
Kate asks, Who?
Miles says, You know who.

Kate then asks Sawyer for help to break Ben out so she can hook him up with Miles. (Ewww. That’s even more disturbing than Kate being interested in Miles.)
Oh, and Xanadu’s playing in the background…
Sawyer then shows up at Locke’s for a game of backgammon, during which time Locke seems to be fishing for what the popular vote is regarding his leadership. Sawyer says all the others are sheep, except maybe for Kate. Sawyer then tells Locke about Kate’s earlier request regarding Ben. Locke says, Whatever Miles has to say to Ben, I want to hear too.
So they head on off to the boathouse where Miles is being held, only to find him gone. (Cue Sawyer’s act of having been bamboozled by Kate…)

Kate brings the mountain to Mohammed, and can the angry young ghost whisperer get any sleazier? It turns out he wants $3.2 million from Ben, in exchange for Miles telling his employer that, Oh, you know what? We found Ben, but he was dead.
Miles wants the $3.2 mil in cash, in two days. Ben points out how that might be difficult given his current circumstances. So Miles gives him an extension: a week.
Idiot.
Kate then asks the idiot (oh, sorry, angry ghost whisperer) what he knows about her, and Miles tells her he knows about her fugitive status, as does the public at large, and that unless she wants to end up behind the bars just as soon as she’s rescued, she should probably just stay on the Island.
Locke then arrives and breaks up the party.

Locke visits Claire’s later on to have a chat with Kate, and asks her what Miles’ chat with Ben was all about. Kate tells him, then Locke promptly banishes her.
Kate goes to Sawyer’s, and tells him Locke’s decree, but Sawyer unbanishes Kate, and says he’ll take care of her. They start rasslin’ on the bed…
The next morning, Sawyer initiates some more rasslin’, but Kate’s having none of it (as she apparently had none of it last night as well). Sawyer thinks he gets it, and says, Oh, you’re still worried you’re pregnant.
Kate says, I’m not.
Sawyer’s relieved, though Kate just seems upset. Then she says she has to go. Sawyer says, You were just waiting for an excuse to leave, and now you’ve got it. Then he says, Fine. In a week, Jack’ll do something that’ll get you pissed off at him and you’ll come running back to me, to which Kate’s reply is a stinging slap.
Then she leaves.

Meanwhile, Locke, ticked off about the whole Kate-Miles-Ben thing (again, ewww), decides to leave a live grenade in Miles’ mouth…
Man, Locke is really flying off the rails…

Back at the beach, there’s a nice scene between Sun and Jin, with Jin looking a map of the U.S. over, picking places for them to live once they get off the Island, all of which meet with disapproval from Sun (“too hot,” “too many people,” etc.).
Sun asks, What’s wrong with Korea? (Uh, duhh, your shady criminal father lives there?)
Jin says, I learned English for you, so we can live in America.
Sun says, I want to raise my baby in Korea.
Jin says, Don’t you mean “our” baby?
But that conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Jack with Daniel and Charlotte.

Later on, Jack, concerned he hasn’t heard anything from Sayid, gets the Boat People to ‘fess up about the other emergencies-only number, which they ring up on their NaomiPhone, and which is answered by the still unseen Regina.
Daniel asks about the helicopter. Regina says, I thought the helicopter was with you…

Oh, and before we leave the Island this week, there’s one little scene that takes place in the Barracks, as Claire and Kate are hanging the laundry out to dry. Aaron starts to make a fuss, and Claire asks Kate, Can you pick him up and just rock him a little?
Kate looks really hesitant and says, I’m not very good with babies.
Claire says, Okay, and picks Aaron up herself. Then she says, You should try it some time…

And… onward flash-forward, ho!
Kate’s on trial for the gazillion and one crimes she’s wanted for, and when the prosecutor asks that she be held in custody for the duration of the trial, the judge agrees, and Kate’s cuffed and hauled off to jail.
Man, that was a surprisingly strong scene… You can see the whole “I can’t stand being tied down” vibe that just oozes off Evangeline Lilly.

Later on, Kate’s lawyer says, We’re in trouble, and your sick mother’s the prosecution’s star witness. He says, Let’s make this about character. Let’s bring him in.
Kate says, No. I’m not dragging my son into this. (Wait for it…)

In court, Kate’s lawyer brings in (without conferring with Kate first) Jack!
On the witness stand, Jack flat out lies: 8 people survived the crash; I almost died; Kate saved me; Kate saved us all…
Kate stands and says, Stop. This is my trial. What happened back there doesn’t matter.
Kate’s lawyer says, Fine. I got my answer.
And the prosecution pounces: Do you love Kate Austen, Dr. Shepard?
Gulp.
Jack: No. Not anymore.
Ho.
Lee.
Smoke.

Later on, Kate’s lawyer wheels Kate’s mum into a room so mother and daughter can talk.
Kate doesn’t want to, but she’s not really given a choice.
Momma Austen asks, Was what that doctor said true? That you saved all of them?
And she goes on to say, Things changed since the last time we saw each other (you know? That time I screamed bloody murder and called the fuzz on your a$$, baby girl?); things changed when I thought you were dead.
I didn’t want to testify against you.
Kate says, Then don’t.
Momma Austen says, Let me see my grandson.
Kate says, That’s what this is about? You wanted to make a deal?
Kate says, I don’t want you anywhere near him. Then, We’re done here.

At the following court date, the prosecution claims their star witness can’t testify due to medical reasons. Judge calls for a recess. Prosecutor Lady talks with Kate and her lawyer.
It turns out Momma Austen doesn’t want to testify against Kate anymore, and thus, their case is badly compromised now.
Plea bargaining ensues.
Kate will not take any prison time, so the deal is, Ten years probation, and Kate can’t leave the state. Kate says, Fine. I just want this over. I’m not going anywhere. I have a son. (Wait for it…)

Just as Kate is leaving the court house, Jack meets her.
Kate says, I’ve heard you tell that story so many times now, I’m starting to wonder if you believe it yourself.
Jack says, What I said up there? That wasn’t true.
Kate asks, You want to follow me? You want to see him?
Jack says, evasively, I actually have to get to the hospital, but can we meet for a coffee sometime?
Kate says, I understand why you don’t want to see him, but until you decide that you can, then there won’t be any meetings for coffee.
And Kate gets in her cab and leaves.

And she gets to her house…
And she greets someone who I assume is her housekeeper…
And she goes up to her son’s room…
And I’m thinking, What? Will he have Sawyer’s stubble and a conniving mind, or Jack’s bad hair and obsessive nature?
And Kate’s son turns out to be… Aaron…

I told you to wait for it…

So this episode slows down the Lost mythology a tad, as what we get is basically a story that puts the whole “shouldn’t Kate be rotting in jail after getting off the Island?” clamour conveniently to rest.
A little too neatly? Perhaps.
But they do smack you upside on the head with that cliffhanger.
So what happened to Claire? Did she get left back on the Island? Did she (gasp!) die?
But what about Des’ future-flash, of Claire and Aaron getting on a helicopter? Did Claire stupidly fall out of the helicopter? Or, distraught at Charlie’s death, plunge to a watery grave to join the ex-junkie rocker? (I kid, I kid…)

Seriously though, I am concerned about Claire’s welfare. I’d also like to think that Charlie’s sacrifice wasn’t for naught; after all, it was Des’ vision that was Charlie’s driving motivation to go diving to the Looking Glass.
And since the child Jack so obviously didn’t want to see is Aaron, that means he doesn’t want to be reminded of Claire. The important question at this point is, of course, does Jack already know that Aaron is his half-nephew?
After all, knowing about the biological connection could go either way: if Jack doesn’t know, then it’s simply because he’ll be reminded of Claire; and if he already knows, then Aaron will just remind him of his half-sister, making things even worse.
Then again, if Jack knew about the blood connection, he could get all obsessive-y as he sometimes does, which he clearly isn’t, as far as seeing Aaron.
Jack isn’t the easiest person to figure out…

All that, and we get a couple of scenes that feel like set-ups for subsequent episodes: the “what happened to the helicopter” scene is obviously an Island cliffhanger, and the Sun-Jin scene also feels like foreshadowing for some future episode.
Will we see Sun off the Island? Please, please, please let her be one of the Oceanic Six. Don’t let the bad sexist Island have its way with her and the baby…
And speaking of the Oceanic Six, we’re still looking at Jack, Hugo, Kate, and Sayid. (Ben and Aaron being part of the Six seems iffy to me at this point.)
So two more…
Can Sun be one of those two?
Please?

COUNTDOWN: 44.

Parting shot: Incidentally, the edition of Philip K. Dick’s Valis, which Locke brings to Ben along with his breakfast (of the last two eggs in town), is the exact same edition that I got to read from a friend’s library once…
I loved that book, and now have cause to hunt it down in the bargain bins, if only to read it again, to see if I missed something… (I may not like Locke a lot these days, but it does pay to listen to him once in a while…)

(Image courtesy of ABC and aol.com.)