The End... LOST: Week 16

No prologue. No side topic. This week's for REAL. THE END.

We'll keep this one brief. Maybe a longer one later on this week, but just some thoughts for now.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I don't have a whole lot to say about what happened in the finale, partly because a lot of it is confusing (and from some of the early reactions, there's a lot of WTF), but I'll say first and foremost that I still really enjoyed it.

Can I say the series makes a whole lot of sense on the whole? Probably not. And there are still lots of unanswered questions, i.e. Walt, but oh well. I think that was inevitable with all the stuff LOST had up in the air. What I wanted though was a reasonable enough explanation for the sideways, some good fitting endings for our characters, and some well executed stuff. And I liked it. I really did. And I was moved and hooked until the end. So, just some thoughts on what I liked, what I didn't like (not a lot, honestly), and what I think might have been the case.

First, I will say that the Sideways stuff still confuses me, but I'm sure stuff will come out about that and thoughts on that. I just don't quite understand how they decided to find each other there (based on what Christian said). I also wonder what that means with the island being underground, the other people in their lives (like David, Jack's son), how Jughead last year relates to that, and what that means for Faraday, Ben, etc. (is that some other actual life of theirs? but they're technically dead?).

But I'll say that I liked a lot of stuff. All the flashes to the people were cool. Juliet-Sawyer especially, along with Kate/Claire/Charlie, the lovely surprise of Shannon/Sayid/Boone and the cool thing about Shannon and Sayid being true loves or whatever that implies.... I did like that. After forgetting about it since Season 2, it was cool to see it come back to that.

The scene with Jack and his father was great, and I really liked that Christian ended the show with Jack on a really good note. An amicable relationship.

What did Desmond know? How did it all connect? I don't know. Whatever, I'll read and think more on it later.

The Island stuff was really cool. People had theorized that Jack's tenure would be short-lived, but boy was it meaningful. Hurley taking over was another popular theory, and I guess that makes the most sense. Hurley/Ben taking over the Island in a supposedly friendly relationship is good, and something I suspected. I figured it would end without an enemy, sorta like what Jacob foreshadowed in last year's finale. The disappointment of Desmond failing was scary, with the legit fear that MIB was gonna win there.

It was a little shocking to see MIB die so early, but it was done really well. I really thought Jack was gonna get killed by him there (at that point, I was still thinking that the Sideways people would come to the Island so Jack would come back), and Kate shooting him was baller.

Everyone having happy endings? Technically. Lots of people still died. Don't forget that the happy reunion at the end there was after all those people died, including the crappy deaths still of Sun, Jin, Boone, Shannon, Charlie, etc.

I thought Kate and Jack being together was fitting, along with Sawyer/Juliet in the end there. What happens to them all after they take off the Island? Who knows? Richard Alpert starts a dance club? Lapidus and Miles start a private airplane company? What happens with Sawyer and Kate? Hmm. The main cool thing? Claire getting to come back to Aaron. And that is a nice thing to have realized. Good job, Kate. You managed to accomplish that.

I thought it was really fascinating that they saved Jack for last to realize what was going on. And I loved the ending shot with Jack dying probably where he woke up, with Vincent by him, with the plane flying over, with him happy about succeeding, with his eye closing.

That's all I'm gonna write for now. I hope you all enjoyed it. If you didn't, I really do think that it's the type of ending that will be better with more time to think and to process. Or not. I'm gonna watch the Kimmel show. I might write something else later this week.

Random notes:

-The explanation for the neck mark on Jack? Very cool.

-Kate pointing out the ridiculousness of Christian Shephard's name was good stuff. And the other meta-type stuff, like how Jack's the obvious choice according to MIB.

-Oh man if they'd killed Rose/Bernard that woulda been so traumatizing.

-Jack-Locke fight = Neo - Agent Smith fight

-The flash-realizations were all pretty cool. Shannon-Sayid was a cool surprise. Boone... how did he know already? What did he flash on? Hmm. Maybe... ARZT?

The Wizards Win the Lottery... and LOST: Week 15

Oh snap. One final typical hour of LOST. And only 5 days until the last 2.5 hour finale and Sunday night extravaganza. How crazy it is to imagine. The show must come to an end.

First, before we get into the show, I wanted to make note of the most exciting moment of the year for my sports teams thus far (my sports teams aren't very good): the WIZARDS WINNING THE DRAFT LOTTERY. The Wizards have historic bad luck. Out of 13 times in the draft lottery, the team only moved up once, when they got Kwame Brown. Yeah. That didn't go well.

Last year, the team thought they might have a good shoot at Blake Griffin, a nice last piece to go along with Arenas/Butler/Jamison/Haywood. That didn't go well either. They thought they could trade the 5 pick for some key veterans. Also not so well. So today, with the Wizards being an afterthought after the demolition of this year's team and the albatross of Gilbert Arenas' contract, the focus was elsewhere. Would the Nets get Wall and woo LeBron? Would the T'Wolves get the #1 pick and have to decide whether or not to get a 3rd straight PG in the top 10 of a draft? Would the Jazz somehow get a top-3 pick and make the Knicks feel even dumber?

I gave myself false hope this year, as I did last year. Last year, I convinced myself that the Wizards would get the fortune of picking Griffin in order to complete its recipe for a playoff contender. This year, I hoped that the presence of Irene Pollin, the wife of the late Abe Pollin, would give us good result. Abe Pollin was the longtime Washington Bullets/Wizards owner, well-respected as a person but not so great as a maker of a good NBA team. Pollin, in all accounts, seems like a likable guy, someone who the players respected, who helped revitalize part of DC with the Wizards' arena. He chose to change the team's name from Bullets to Wizards after seeing too much violence in his time. When Gilbert did his stupid thing this year, it was Pollin's legacy he put to shame before trying to make amends.

The Pollins are selling their stake to the Capitals' owner, the popular and successful Ted Leonsis (see Leonsis' bucket list here: http://www.tedstake.com/2006/01/06/my-101-list-the-story/. He's a baller). This was to be one of Irene's last tasks as an owner. She wore her late husband's championship ring from when the Bullets won it all long ago in 1978. I mean... if you're gonna win a draft lottery, it has to be this year, right?

And so it was. The Wizards get first pick. Will they take consensus pick John Wall? Likely. Maybe they'll go with Evan Turner, the consensus #2 pick who isn't a PG, like Wall and Arenas. We'll see. All I know is... WE GOT THE #1 PICK YEAHHHHHHH.

Some random notes:

-The new Nets owner Prokhorov is really really tall. And hilarious. Welcome to the NBA.

-Danny Granger coiled over when they announced the Pacers' slot. Dude had such a low shot at winning it all. Get over yourself, boy!

-Aaron Brooks looks like a baller.

-David Kahn is a tool, and I'm glad the T'Wolves fell to #4 and lost a shot at Wall or Turner (sorry to any TWolves fans). He acts like he knows what he's talking about and jabbers on in front of the press, but he's a dope. I hope he gets fired next year.

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SPOILERS AHEAD for the penultimate LOST episode...

That's more like it, Mr. Wayne. This week's LOST episode did a good job with setting stuff up for the final episode. I still feel like there's so much to cover before the show ends, but I just have to remind myself that 2.5 hours of TV is a long time, and the LOST guys probably knew what they were doing. OK, I'll try to split this entry up into little sections to make it more organized.

I. Jacob and Jack

In the past I've said that I don't think there will be a Jacob or a MIB. I would change that now to say that there'll probably still be a Jacob (Jack) at the end but not a MIB, similar to what it was like when it was just Mother. And hopefully, I think Jacob hopes at least, there won't be conflict on the Island any longer. Or I dunno, maybe just not a MIB.

Jacob wanted Jack the whole time. He made that apparent at least since the Lighthouse episode. But the key here is that it had to be Jack's choice, and Jacob didn't legitimately manipulate Jack into going down this path wrongfully. Jack was always the one. He was the one who helped people when they all crashed. He was the one everyone turned to. He's the one who most wants to do what he can to help out. He wants to sacrifice for his friends. Sawyer made a snide comment about Jack's god-complex, but even he knew that it made sense, and he likely had a sense of gratitude that he didn't have to do it, just as Hurley and Kate did.

After Jacob's explanation for why Kate was scratched off, I guess that means Sun wasn't the Kwon on the ceiling. And I guess I was wrong about Locke being the one. Still, I hope that his sideways Locke gets to have some kind of key role in turning things around.

It was good to see Jacob explain why he picked them too. Sawyer showed resentment about being taken here, but Jacob pointed out how crappy their lives all were. Not that he didn't put them in another crappy situation though, but at least it probably has something to do with the fate of the world.

II. Ben

First, Ben in the sideways was interesting, but it hasn't yet reached a point where I get it quite yet, unlike the Locke/Jack and Desmond storylines that seem to be getting somewhere. Desmond's beatdown stirred something in Ben, but again, it wasn't the full-on Desmond/Hurley revelation quite yet. Otherwise, thus far, it was just interesting to see him talk nice with Rousseau (and amusing dialogue, like Rousseau saying "We insist, even if we have to kidnap you!").

Ben's turn to evil in the Island world was a jarring contrast. Not sure how I felt about this at first. I mean, when I think about it, it makes sense, and I think I'm fine with it. Initially I think I just wanted Ben to be good and for him to have made it to the good side in the end. At the same time, we got to see Sayid go good. If Ben goes bad... I mean, someone else has to go bad. Or doesn't have to, but it does make sense. And it makes sense that it is him, with his hatred for Widmore, his love of power and the Island, and his indifference to the survivors. I don't see Ben becoming a new MIB though, because I believe good will win out. I see him getting killed in the finale. That being said, I still have no clue how this plays into Ben in the sideways.

I had a feeling Richard would get owned, just because the series is so close to ending and because I felt like someone would die. If that's his death though, that kinda sucks for someone who was alive for so long. Would have expected more for him. Maybe Lapidus and he will tag-team MIB and nail him with a steel chair in the finale.

Wasn't expecting Widmore to die, but again, we're near the end. And that was a great scene between him, Locke, and Ben. (as for Zoe... well, no one cares about you, Zoe. And are they gonna show any of the other Widmore workers now that he and Zoe are gone and they're on Hydra Island?). It was good to see his love for Penny show before his death and for Ben's anger about his daughter's death blending into his desire for reveng. The touch back to Alex earlier in the episode was a good key for that as well. And I do believe that MIB wouldn't have killed Penny after what Widmore said (although who knows, maybe him getting off the Island really would kill everyone anyway). And where the hell was Miles? Just another room?

III. Sideways and Desmond

It was good to see some progress with Desmond in LA. Hurley and he working together was great, and it was funny to see Ana-Lucia and for Desmond to say she wasn't ready yet (was she on the plane? I say yes but irrevelant). It was strange that Desmond didn't say anything to them while in the prison, but oh well, Desmond's got a plan. And crazy to see him turn himself in. I figured he would try to awaken Sawyer/Miles first, but again, we'll see what he does with those two. Reminded me a little of the Joker in the prison in The Dark Knight, heh.

So Hurley and Sayid are headed somewhere now. Not sure where. To Jack? And Desmond/Kate will see Faraday/Penny and probably Miles (and Sawyer?). And something will happen. Hm. Somehow, this will touch back to the Island timeline. Actually, it's time for a new header.

IV. Things to Cover in the Finale

Jack vs. Locke. So are we gonna have a game of Red Rover to prevent MIB from getting to the light. Heh. I guess we'll see. And Desmond will be a key player somehow, and somehow he could be an asset to either team. I think it's important to note how MIB wants to destroy the Island, and the LAX timeline has the Island underground and uninhabitable (except by Aquaman and mermaids). I still have no guesses on what the LAX timeline will do to the Island timeline. But I'm super-psyched to be blown away by it.

Odds on Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Hurley all making it? Probably low. I'm guessing Kate and Sawyer go down. And... shot in the dark guess... they will declare their love for each other. And I would be shocked to see Hurley die.

Where's Island Claire? These questions and more on Sunday's episode. Get pumped, folks. Get pumped.

Random notes:

-"Previously on" scenes at the beginning. OK that's back.

-I bet Juliet is Jack's ex-wife. I just have a feeling about that. I do think they would show her at some point in the sideways, especially after her saying that "it worked", and that would be the most interesting way to do it. IAt first I was confused when Claire said morning because I was like is that the mom but of course it wasn't.

-Aw Kate don't make us cry again by talking about Ji Yeon. WHAT ABOUT LAPIDUS. HE'S ALIVE I KNOW HE'S ALIVE

-Widmore: As usual, Benjamin, i'm 3 steps ahead of you.

I guess they won't ever explicitly state the rules between Ben and Widmore, but I'm guessing it was just that their families wouldn't be affected, and Widmore's men broke that. Then, Ben didn't wanna kill Widmore without killing Penny, and he decided it was time for Widmore to die because he was so angry he was on the Island again and because he was about to get a truce from MIB.

-Is it just me, or does it seem strange to have a hot woman next to some male criminals? Doesn't anyone remember The Silence of the Lambs?

-I will say, it's an annoying plot contrivance when they have the survivors separated while walking in the forest. Like they would not pay attention to each other with a Smoke Monster around. Come on.

-The fan-made commercial that won was pretty good (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCwzyNMySrM), although this one might be better for hardcore LOST fans (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4VLi1A9cMI). I think the winner one is the more conventional choice though.

-Good exchange between Ben and Widmore:

Give me your walkie talkies.

Why?

Because I asked.

-Interesting placement of the picture of Alex in Ben's house after Ben and Locke reenter the home to kill Widmore.

-Locke and Jack in the parallel world. The theme is to let go for Locke.

-After Jacob told Jack about the field and the light and stuff, now I really wanna see a map of the Island!

-Weird voice at the end during the quick promo for the finale. Who was that, you think?

Ranking NBC's Thursday Night Sitcoms... and LOST: Week 14

Before we get into LOST, I have a little intro topic first for the first time in quite a while. That whole separate blog entry about some mysterious topic involving Akshay and Jas? I'm afraid that will have to wait for now. I simply don't have enough motivation to write it yet.

Instead, I wanted to personally rank the current 4 sitcoms in the NBC Thursday night lineup right now. The lineup's stronger from top-to-bottom than it's been in a while... at least, critically. Ratings-wise, it certainly doesn't touch the glory days of Friends and Seinfeld/Frasier. But then again, what on NBC does nowadays? The 2-hour block is really entertaining though. The main reason for this has been a strong additional hour from the two new comedies this year (relatively new. Parks and Rec had a brief 6-episode run last season), which have been very strong while the two NBC mainstays have actually been more on the downhill and, well, I'll explain more in the rankings. I hope this helps with anyone wondering what other stuff they might wanna check out or catch up on with the current TV season nearing its end.

1. Community

The timing of this topic is great for making my case, since if you checked out Community's last episode, it was at a very high point of its run thus far. Perhaps, some might say, its best episode this season, and I would say the best half-hour of comedy that's been on network TV this whole season. Yeah, you heard me. I said it. Community is a very pop culture-reference heavy show, but at the same time, it has the kind of characterization and heart that avoids it from falling into the realm of Family Guy pop-culture galore smörgåsbord. This past week's paintball episode highlighted that, with action movie references galore mixed in with funny decisions that were true to characters and plot movement with different character relations. It was great, entertaining stuff.

My following of Community is interesting because I watched the pilot episode, loved it, and came back to watch a few more episodes after that which I wasn't as crazy about. I decided to stop checking it out at that point, but I tried a few more later on in February, and I ended up getting back into it. The show had some rough patches at first, but it's really hit its stride since. Community does a very enjoyable job of portraying a community college lifestyle between a range of different characters. No, this isn't your Rice O-Week icebreakers among new freshmen. We got our old Chevy Chase coming back to school, our single mom looking for an education, our former high school QB star. One of the stranger casts out there come together for a hilarious mix of comedy. I love Abed, and Troy, and Annie (Alison Brie is just awesome) and yeah, all the characters are great. It's a joy to watch, and I love it.

2. Parks and Recreation

This show was another slow-starter. Heck, it had such a weak 1st season of 6 episodes that it could have been screwed over right then and there with its low ratings. Thankfully, the show hit its stride right when it got back to a second season, and it looks safe now from cancellation, I feel like, for a few seasons. Who knows? Maybe it'll keep paralleling The Office and get a following through DVDs and stuff.

While Parks and Rec obviously has comparisons to The Office, what makes it work is its differences. Yes, it comes from the same people who originally developed the US Office and ran the first few seasons, and yes, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) initially came off like a female Michael Scott. And heck, the show even had the same initial 6-episode first season spring run that The Office had. What makes P&R good though, and what really has made it work in this season, are things like the way Leslie Knope has changed and the way the P&R cast is different from The Office cast. It works in different ways, and it's also a breath of fresh air after being so used to The Office. Leslie Knope is not Michael Scott, and she is in fact far more competent. She's funny at times because of her exuberance or her goofiness, but other times, she's very much just a kooky but smart and well respected government worker.

Next, as the department works in a city capacity and deals with citizens and politicians, Park and Rec has much more ammo to mix it up with guest characters and plot lines, or at least, that's what it seems like to me. So far this season, they've brought in here and there random people in the town and touched on a variety of stories. I can see them keeping it fresh in the future with the potential options they have. I don't feel like trying to explain how funny the characters are, but they are also very funny. Especially Ron, April, and Andy.

3. 30 Rock

I only started watching 30 Rock consistently last year, and I've been picking up the pieces of the first 2 seasons slowly since. The first 2 seasons are fantastically funny, although it's tough for me to judge if I like them as much as I like these seasons of Community and Parks and Rec (same can be said for The Office). It's hard to judge, and I'm probably more biased toward the newer shows since I've been following them more closely.

30 Rock is funny, and it's always good for a laugh. But this season hasn't had as many strong episodes. Hopefully this isn't a sign of the show getting older and worse, and I hope it'll get better next year. For now though, it's not the same show that has been deserving of the Best Comedy Emmy in the last few years (and even though I watch and like it, I sure hope it isn't Glee like in the Golden Globes).

4. The Office

Oh, The Office. You and I have had a tougher relationship in recent years. Ever since it started getting flatter in Season 4, I've typically had more disappointment in it. This was especially so for me with the way the writers' strike threw off the end of Season 4 (it might have been bad before then too. I don't really remember) and with the Andy-Dwight-Angela love triangle that bordered on absurd to me (although I think others love that story). Then, the show was hilarious with its Michael Scott Paper Co. storyline (even that one had me dubious when Michael decided to quit before I got hooked in).

This season, however, has been more consistently frustrating for me. The stories have been weakening, I've gotten annoyed with Michael Scott and Dwight, and even Jim and Pam haven't been so great either. For example, have you noticed how sad the characters are on The Office? I mean, just from a romance standpoint, Jim, Pam, and Phyllis are married. Stanley isn't married (I think?) anymore, Michael desperately wants a family but is still alone for the most part (or in an affair), Oscar, Kevin, Toby, Meredith, Angela, heck, so many people in the office are just alone and sad. What a bummer. The only other stuff we got are Andy/Erin and the weird Ryan/Kelly thing. These aren't young late-20-year-olds or 30-year olds in NYC like Friends or something. I know the other NBC shows still have single people in them, but something about the absurdity and pathetic nature of the Scranton characters makes me more bummed out watching them.

Also, I believe that a lot of the show's decline has to do with folks like Greg Daniels and Michael Schur leaving the show to help run Parks and Rec. They are stronger minds who helped get The Office to where it was, and now their efforts are focused elsewhere. Plus, their desire to work on another show is an example of well, the acknowledgement that a show can run dry and be less appealing to put time into. So maybe The Office will keep going for a few more years (and depending on what happens with Steve Carell), not as good as it used to be but still bringing in the respectable ratings. I'll probably still watch... but it might get harder if things keep up this way.

Yup. That's how I would rank how much I look forward to each of these shows when they have new episodes. Feel free to disagree. Otherwise, I hope some of you will check out Community and Parks and Rec. They're good stuff.

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SPOILERS AHEAD

This episode was disappointing to me. I was not happy.

The Jacob/MIB storyline has been interesting to me this season, but I always wanted it to be rooted in connection to our main characters. You know, the ones we've been following this whole series. I'm also not a huge fan of episodes like Ab Aeterno, where the episode focuses a whole lot on one character like Alpert and barely touches on our main folks. Even though a lot of people liked the Alpert episode and it had some good parts in it for me, I still didn't really enjoy watching it at the time because of its slow first 40 minutes and it was only somewhat redeemed for me with the end.

This episode? With only a few hours left, right after the great episode last week, with NO show of our main characters at all? It was... not enjoyable. I will probably write less about this, so it probably works out that I talked so much about the NBC shows earlier on anyway.

At the end of the episode, I was baffled at how they could have covered and answered so little in one of the last hours of the series. I know that they aren't planning on answering everything and spelling everything out, but I would have liked to have learned more about why they can't age, where their mom came from, why the younger versions of themselves still run around the Island and how that applies to any rules of any kind, etc. etc. etc...

The first half hour was slow and poorly done for me. Child actors are always a mixed bag, and if you're gonna use two of them for such a critical part of your show... you're taking a risk. These two kids weren't so great. Then, even with the adult Jacob/MIB starring in the 2nd half... man, I just didn't really enjoy this episode much at all. I don't really know what else to say about that.

I'm disappointed, and maybe I'll be proven wrong about this episode with what happens in the next few episodes. But if this is how they handle a critical episode like this, I'm worried about how they're gonna wrap up all the loose ends left in the last 3.5 hours. Still, I'm going to stay optimistic because this might just be a bump in the road, and I care more about the main characters anyway, but man. Not a good episode to keep me confident in things.

I'll mainly just address the ending, which was admittedly captivating, even though still, seriously? Some random light? That no one else can find? What? So Mommie Dearest and MIB (and really? they can't give MIB a name?) are Adam and Eve. That was a big surprise and was pretty cool. How does this tie into what we've seen of MIB with his talk with Richard Alpert after the Black Rock and such? Was that before he and his mom died? Or did Smokey repossess his body and yet somehow leave the skeleton? I don't quite understand. I'm just gonna stop writing now. I'm just going to read Alan Sepinwall's recap later.

Just some notes:

-These episodes aren't starting with "Previously on" any more. Either you're in or you're out.

-At the beginning of this episode, I wrote "If this is an episode solely focused on Jacob/MIB, I will be unhappy." I was right.

-Original mom's name is Claudia. Any theories?

-Anyone else feel weird about the switch of languages at the beginning between the two women? Lost is weird with its language stuff sometimes.

-Seriously. WTF. Someone write positive stuff about this episode to make me feel better. I'm gonna go read recaps now to try to see the positive spin of things, cause Faheem wasn't feeling this one either. Youn out.

LOST: Week 13

I haven't written a side topic prologue recently. I plan on writing a separate note at some point, tagged with different people probably, about a bigger topic. Hint... Akshay and Jas are both somehow involved. I will write about the Thursday night NBC sitcoms at some point too. Maybe next week.

We are back for the final 4th quarter stretch of the 6th season of LOST. If we're counting each day that LOST is shown this season as a game (so that we have 16 games in an NFL season), before tonight, we had 4 games left for LOST to make its last impact. Every one of these final episodes is important and must count. After hearing hyperbole from Doc Jensen's article today, I expected a lot from this episode... I mean, I expect a lot from all the remaining episodes.

Doc Jensen also predicted that Ben would be the candidate, as this episode was titled "The Candidate". Before the episode began, I predicted that it would be Locke. Jensen says (see here: http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/05/04/lost-countdown-candidates/) that Ben is the one Jacob's actually been grooming, and he's been throwing MIB off with these other candidates and is also using this time to train and teach Ben. I wouldn't mind that, but I just felt like Locke as the candidate would work best in my eyes. Partly because I thought that would help lead to my hope that Locke will become a savior to the Island, not just some dope who got duped by MIB. Then again, I didn't even know who the candidate was going to be actually. What I mean by that is that I don't believe there will be a Jacob or MIB at the end of the show (I think I've mentioned this in previous posts. Maybe not) because all this progress will lead to an end to that, as Jacob suggested at the end of Season 5. Maybe the candidate is the one who will help defeat MIB. So ironically, Locke would stop... the other guy that looks exactly like him.

SPOILERS AHEAD about today's actual episode and not about theories

And... at the end of this episode I'm less clear about who "The Candidate" is referring to compared to how I felt about who "The Last Recruit" referred to. Locke was the "candidate" that Jack talked about for a surgery, and Sayid implied that Jack was the one, thus coining him as a potential reference as well. It's not really clear to me though. I would guess that Jack is the candidate, along with the last recruit, but that seems weird that he would be the reference for two straight weeks. Other thoughts? Either way, this episode was incredible regardless. Maybe the best episode of the season so far... I'll have to think more on that, since the Desmond-focused episode was great too. There's no doubt that some of the best episodes in most dramas have important deaths in them. Important deaths can only be used rarely, but when they are used, man oh man. This is no different. With the show nearing its end, characters will have to die and all endings will not be happy. But it will make for great story.

Jin and Sun's deaths might have been one of the most powerful emotional moments in the show's history, if not the. Off of the top of my head, it's up there with Charlie's death, Desmond/Penelope in The Constant, the freighter exploding at the end of Season 4 (and seemingly Jin), and Arzt's death (just kidding). Before the show even came back from break, I heard from two people that they were crying from it. I was close to tears too. It was really really sad, and I don't have to spell out why. I sometimes cry, sometimes just don't cry with scenes like that. I was also very sad when Hurley/Kate found out about it on the shore. Is it strange that Jin decided to stay even though he could conceivably go back and take care of his daughter? Maybe. But at the same time, all he knew for 3 years was to reunite with Sun. He told her he wouldn't leave her again. He didn't.

Sayid's death was important as well, although the episode had to move on. Because Sayid has gone to the dark side at one point this season and because he did already technically die, it wasn't as important to have such a dwelling focus on his death. This action along with his decision not to kill Desmond still puts this version of Sayid on the good side for me in the end. His sacrifice was ballsy and selfless, and it goes hand in hand with the Sayid I knew and adored as a character. There was the moment too where Hurley asks about getting Sayid on the sub, and Jack replies "There is no Sayid." And I thought that was a fitting statement to make note of his death.

*I don't actually know if Lapidus died or not. When I was writing this, I didn't even think about it and first submitted it without mentioning Lapidus. Then I was just reading Alan Sepinwall's review (http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/lost-the-candidate-watership-down) and he said Lapidus died. So if so, RIP Lapidus. If not, I guess we'll see.

Because the exact nature of the LAX timeline still isn't clear, and because all 3 of those characters (along with folks like Boone and Charlie) are still alive in that universe, it makes me wonder what might happen with that. Frankly, I don't really want them to somehow come back alive in a way that cheapens their Island deaths.

That might have been partly why I wasn't as emotionally devastated while watching that scene, since I was wondering "wait, are these deaths final or not?". Another reason why I might have been refraining from tears was because I was also pretty angry in the moment still towards Sawyer. For all the likes that there are about Sawyer, this certainly has not been a good stretch for him. From his failed desires to keep his Dharma life together to his decisions that have led to the deaths of these characters, he has been a character of frustration to watch. I still like him on the overall, just like I do like most of the characters (including Kate), but as I've touched on before, if you have been a greater Sawyer>Jack fan in the past, I imagine you might be better understanding by preference for Jack.

Jack's actions in this episode were again stellar. His revelation about the bomb not exploding if they didn't mess with it, akin to his dynamite scene with Richard (dynamite sticks, not like DY-NO-MITE awesome), was awesome. The scene where he argued with Sawyer about not touching the C4 was great. It's too bad that Kate getting shot forced him to get on the sub, but at the same time, I guess it was better that he was on the sub to do what he could to save everyone and to get Sayid's message.

Sayid's message was a little fast, and I wanna rewatch it, but from what I heard and from what Faheem corresponded with about it, he told Jack about Desmond in the well. Then Jack asked why he was telling him this, and Sayid said "cause it's gonna be you." There has been so much transformation with Jack this season. Let's not forget earlier in the episode when Jack/Locke are talking while walking toward the submarine (remember when Locke exploded another sub in Season 3 to the frustration of Jack and Juliet?) and Jack says "I'm not leaving the Island". I'm not gonna lie, I'm loving this rejuvenation of Jack. It's like the summer of George (Seinfeld reference)! I think I've touched on this before, but part of the reason I'm such a fan of Jack, despite his crappier periods, is because I always hoped for an upward turnaround like this. And I was right. I'm almost certain I've already written something like this in a recent post. Whatever. Suck it, Jack-haters! Just kidding, keep reading my blog!

So where do we go from here on the Island? I imagine Richard/Ben/Miles hook back up with our main characters next episode, Desmond is found, and Locke has at least one tricky ploy next week. And I imagine we'll learn more about Widmore's purposes. And... let's predict that one more character whose name is in the main cast credits dies next week.

And no, I haven't forgotten about the excellent LAX story with Jack and Locke (and Bernard!). First, I just wanted to make note of these exchanges that I liked:

Helen: You saved John's life. Why can't that be enough?

Jack: Because it's not.

Locke: What makes you think letting go is so easy?

Jack: It's not.

(This parallels, for me, the Season 2 dialogue where Locke asks why it's so hard for Jack to believe, Jack asks why it's so easy, and Locke says "It's never been easy." A Favorite Quote on my Facebook profile.)

There were a lot of great lines, especially in that final scene between Locke and Jack where Jack says that he wished Locke would believe him, a wonderful reference to Locke's suicide note to Jack in Season 5. The reveal of how Locke got paralyzed was really moving and made great sense of why he refused to get fixed. Their talk about how what happened happened, and how Jack wanted Locke to move on so that he could too... that was great. Jack's scene with Claire was cool too. Still, I'm waiting on people to figure stuff out, especially when the characters have certain reactions to things that make their brain tick. Come on, people! There are only 4 hours left! Let's do this timeline merger shindig! Desmond, run into someone again! I won't theorize more at the moment on the LAX stuff yet. I wrote a lot already.

Some extra notes:

-Ah cocky Dr. Shephard. Believing in fixing Locke with an impossible surgery. Being a stubborn doctor beast.

-When that random guy was douchy to Sawyer and hit him before going into the cage, I was like man, I hope that guy gets owned. And he did! Smoke monster'd! Ah TV. Letting us take joy in deaths.

-Minor plot hole that I don't really care about. If Bernard remembered Locke and Anthony Cooper enough 3 years later, how could he have not noticed Locke, who was behind him on the plane and who he must have seen at some point on the flight? Oh well.

-Sayid talking to Jack about the other people. Oh, yeah, they either got killed or scurried off. Typical LOST, bringing in randos, and then getting rid of them, whether it be with the freighter exploding or the flaming arrows or what have you. Time to focus on the main characters.

-Still strange that Jin and Sun were speaking in English. Just didn't make sense. At least they spoke some Korean near the end.

-Jack got a Rolo!

-At one point during the episode, I wrote "It's really nice to see the whole gang back together again. Even if someone's probably gonna die soon." Yeah... it ended up being 3 people. Sigh.

-Kate getting shot didn't even become a major deal (aside from making Jack get on the sub) after what happened with the 3 deaths. But it did seem to hint with their interactions again on the shore that Jack will win in the battle for Kate's heart.

-Finally, a point of exercise. Do you guys ever think of the alternative to what might happen in the plot, and think about how it couldn't happen the other way for the story to work out? It's really an irrelevant thing to think, and I usually brush it aside, but I feel like doing it with this episode. What if Jack had convinced Sawyer to stop? Then the bomb would have just not gone off, and they would be in the water, able to leave the Island if they wanted to. And that would simply not work for the sake of the story. So, it's not like that would have ever happened. Know what I'm sayin'? But yeah, just a pointless side tangent.