Related posts

• Video: Dominic Monaghan on Charlie’s Return (?) (7)
• VIDEO: Dominic Monaghan Talks LOST (2)
• Video - First Look at Dominic Monaghan on “Flash Forward” (7)

The 18-49 Demo Increase From DVR Viewing ranks which of the top broadcast shows [by Live+7 viewers] had the largest absolute adults 18-49 ratings increase in viewing by DVR in their adults 18-49 Live+7 audience numbers from viewers watching shows after the airdate on their digital video recorders (DVRs).

[Via TVbythenumbers]

Related posts

• Rating News: LOST Season 6 Premieres Up (2)
• Rating News: LOST Holds Up Against American Idol and Winter Olympics (2)
• LOST Season 6 Opener Delivers Big Increases in DVR Playback (0)

Emilie de Ravin talked about LOST with Parade.com’s Jeanne Wolf:

And don’t expect any revelations about the finale of Lost either.
“I still don’t know how it ends. I’ve got no clue. It’s as confusing as it’s always been. We’ve still got a few weeks left to shoot, so I’m constantly sort of surprised when I’m given a new script. I mean, it’s insane the things they come up with, but really in a great way. This time Claire is a different person, it’s basically a whole other Claire, so it’s been fun sort of figuring out her journey.”

The last season has felt like the first.
“Honestly, I think my favorite moments were at the beginning of the series when the original cast was working together and just sort of hanging out. This final season has been like the old days. It’s kind of nice getting back to that if you just forget that it’s ending which is kind of sad. But I’d much rather have it conclude while it’s still good and people are still interested as opposed to just sort of petering out. I will miss it though.”

She won’t miss the sun and waves.
“Hawaii is drop-dead gorgeous, but you kind of get sick of going to the beach every day. When I’m back in L.A., I don’t go nearly as much as I thought when I moved here from Australia. I was like, ‘L.A., it’s all about the beach.’ But unless you live in Santa Monica or Malibu, it’s quite a drive.”

Or the bugs.
“The sand flies, mosquitoes, that kind of thing are really bothersome in Hawaii. L.A.’s kind of bug-free. I think the bugs all die from the pollution. They all kind of migrate up north. It’s like, when do you see a fly in L.A.? But I love spiders. They kill all the bad things you don’t want around anyway. So I’m OK with them.”

Remembering her minimalist wardrobe as a castaway.
“It was kind of fun because we got to go through other people’s suitcases and take things that didn’t fit and cut them up. It was nice for a change not to be sort of thinking, ‘God, does that make my butt look big?’”

Read full interview @ Parade.com.

Related posts

• VIDEO: Emilie de Ravin Discusses Jungle Claire (0)
• New Sky1 Interview with Emilie de Ravin (7)
• New Official LOST Video Podcasts (1)

[Via TheFineBros]

Related posts

• “LOST: What Will Happen Next?” Episode 2×01 (1)
• THE JOHN LOCKE SONG (1)
• The John Locke Rap (12)

Description: This configuration is an Apple-II Plus system running an Apple-III monitor, with a Disk II floppy drive.  This same prop is used as both the Swan and Pearl Station computer (as evident by the Swan logo).  At the Pearl Station, the computer is connected to a dot matrix printer with the “System Failure” log printout that alerted Desmond to realize what caused Oceanic Flight 815 to crash.  At the Swan Station, the computer is used by Desmond to enter “The Numbers” every 108 minutes.  It is the destruction of the Swan Station computer that prevented “The Numbers” from being entered and which led Desmond to trigger the fail safe mechanism, causing the Swan Station to implode.  Of trivial interest is an 1980s film, entitled “The Self,” employed in some psychology classes today, which features an Apple-III computer monitor that is used to test the effect of positive personalities.  Incidentally, the numbers 4, 8, 16, and 23 appear frequently in these tests.  This could be the reason for the choice of the kind of computer.

[Via Profiles in History]

Related posts

• Photo Gallery: LOST Expo in Madrid (1)
• D23 Expo - LOST Booth Pictures (0)
• Comic-Con: LOST Auction Photos (4)

Evangeline Lilly , Daniel Dae Kim and Nestor Carbonell took time out of their busy shooting schedule to visit pediatric patients at the Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

[Via Celebuopia.net]

Related posts

• VIDEOS: Sunset On The Beach LOST Season 6 Premiere (0)
• PHOTOS: Sunset On The Beach LOST Season 6 Premiere (5)
• New Season 5 Group Promo Photo + BTS Photos (13)

Related posts

• LOST Episode 6.08 - Sneak Peek (0)
• LOST Episode 6.08 - Sneak Peek #2 (1)
• LOST Episode 6.08 - CTV Promo (0)

Related posts

• The LOST Initiative - “The Substitute” (2)
• The LOST Initiative - “Lighthouse” (5)
• The LOST Initiative - “Sundown” (1)

“True Blood” star Carrie Preston and husband Michael Emerson from ABC’s “Lost” invited us into their home — where they dished details about each other. Don’t miss it!

[Via TrueBloodnet.com]

Related posts

• VIDEO: Michael Emerson Talks Season 6 on TV Guide’s Hollywood 411 (2)
• Video - One on One with Michael Emerson (13)
• New Michael Emerson Video Interview (3)

“What was truly devastating to him was the loss of his power.  They allowed him to keep the title of Emperor, but without any power it was meaningless.”

Ben knew well the significance of his history lecture, for in another reality, he had been Emperor, only to be stripped of power and exiled off the Island.  Likewise, Richard knew the power of immortality, but it carried no value for him.  Death had more meaning.

For both men, power was an illusion, and they gave it up.  They surrendered:  To Ilana’s forgiveness, to Jack’s faith.

Ben’s exile is over now.  Richard’s life has just begun.  They discovered something more potent, more meaningful, more triumphant than power:  They discovered purpose.

Fathers and Sons

“The Chosen”, the book Ben discovered among the ruins of Sawyer’s tent on the beach, was a most appropriate choice as LOST’s book of the week, for several reasons.  “The Chosen” is the story of two boys growing up in mid-twentieth century Brooklyn, New York.  Like LOST, “The Chosen” is an engrossing story rich with meaning at several levels.  In a strange parallel with our favourite television programme, one of the boys sits down with his friend and says, “I wanted to kill you.”

Those who have read “The Chosen” will quickly identify one of the major motifs of LOST.  However, I believe it is not the recurring theme itself, but the way in which the theme is developed in “The Chosen” that has deepest relevance to this evening’s episode.

“The Chosen” seems to focus on the lives of two boys, but the novel really hinges on an entirely different issue.  The story is similar to W. P. Kinsella’s “Shoeless Joe”, which at first seems to concern Ray’s quest to bring peace to Shoeless Joe Jackson and renewed purpose to J. D. Salinger’s writing career.  In both novels, final resolution is achieved not by bringing closure to the early plot threads, but by reconciling father with son.

I believe “Dr. Linus” was similarly structured.  As with many installments of LOST over the years, tonight’s episode contained multiple references to father/child relationships.  “The Chosen” seemed to be about two boys growing beyond the limitations of their childhoods to carve out new pursuits and new careers, but was really about two boys making a perfect circle back to one boy’s father.  In the same way, much of LOST seems to be concerned with father/son reconciliation, but tonight’s episode tells us something more important is at issue.  We can be sure this is true because of a quiet conversation around a keg of gunpowder on which was placed a stick of dynamite with short burning fuse.

Good Day at Black Rock

The first of two major revelations tonight occurred on the Black Rock.  The event changed two lives, and probably altered the balance of power between the Smoke Monster’s group and Ilana’s pro-Jacob band.

Richard, admired for his eternal youth and unperturbed bearing, found life suddenly meaningless and unbearable.  Jacob’s death, the growing power of Jacob’s nemesis, and the destruction of the Temple convinced Richard that another day of tortured existence was intolerable.  “I devoted my life–longer than you can possibly imagine–in service of a man who told me that everything was happening for a reason, that he had a plan, a plan that I was a part of, and when the time was right that he’d share it with me–and now that man’s gone.  I just found out my entire life had no purpose.”

Then he and Jack had a short conversation, facing each other across a makeshift coffee table, a soon-to-explode stick of dynamite acting as unique centerpiece and focal point of the nineteenth century decor.

Jack has come a long way from convinced Man of Science to floundering and indecisive cork bobbing aimlessly on the currents of spacetime to his breathtaking confrontation on the Black Rock.  The Man of Science is gone.  Doubt no longer has any hold over this man.  Jack, facing what would have been certain death for anyone else, demonstrated the depth of his faith.  He has not yet moved mountains, but he has accomplished something that will have immense impact on the end game:  he saved Richard from annihilation.

Ageless Richard not only has renewed purpose, but he again has a leader to follow.  What secrets will he reveal to Jack?  How will Jack exploit this information?  One hundred and sixty years or more as consigliere to an angel (or whatever type of entity most appropriately expresses Jacob’s substance and form) must have made him privy to stories and events known to no one else in the world.  Having Richard on the team will expand their chances of short-term survival and improve their odds of final success.

But neither Richard’s salvation nor the revelation of Jack’s faith provided the essential lesson of this short scene.  The central element was not faith, salvation, or any other matter of the spirit.  We saw it in the focus of Jack’s piercing gaze, in the positioning of palms on thighs, in the tensed legs ready for advance, not retreat.

Jack is ready, eager to learn the task for which he has been chosen.  He recognises his importance as Candidate.  He probably doesn’t realise that among the Candidates he is special, chosen for a task no one else can perform.  But he is committed, energised, engaged, burning bright with new-found certainty and desire.

The importance of Jack’s unyielding conviction, an assurance that not even the prospect of death can perturb, is that it trumps every other concern he has ever had.  In particular, he has not reconciled with his father.  Many believe that he will, and a few commentators believe father/son reconciliation is a central focus of the series.  But Jack’s new vigour, his certainty and sense of  purpose, has no dependence on the outcome of any future interactions with Christian.

It seems likely that Jack’s focus will make him more amenable to reconciliation with Christian, with Kate, with Sarah, with everyone else he has alienated or refused or tried to “fix”.  But this means in the end that reconciliation flows from Jack’s new drive, and is not pre-requisite to it.  There is no Shoeless Joe for Jack.  No ancient professional ball player is going to whisper, “If you build it, he will come.”  Jack and Christian may at some point share a game of catch (or do whatever it is surgeons do for fun), but he need not come full circle, like Danny and Reuven in “The Chosen”.  The final curtain does not fall when Jack and Christian embrace as father and son, but when Jack’s assignment is complete.  The outcome of Jack’s task will determine the end of this story, and he’s taking us there, father’s blessing or not.

Captains and Kings
Potentates and Pretenders

Or emperors and principals.

Not Linus or Mr. Linus.  It’s Dr. Linus, thank you.  Ben Linus’ mastery of European history, long years in graduate school, genuine love of his discipline, intoxication with the stuff of history and the ability to instill that wonder in his students has earned him this:  a week of supervising delinquents in after-school detention.  Not only is he over-qualified to teach high school history, but he is tasked with an assignment that could as easily be performed by a teacher assistant.  The Ph.D. after his name earns him neither better pay nor higher esteem.  He has the honorific, but no authority.  As he said of Napoleon in exile, “They allowed him to keep the title of Emperor, but without any power it was meaningless.”

So sideways Ben sought the very centre of power in his high school.  Leslie Arzt was impressed.  No longer would Dr. Linus be subject to the whims of administrators “above his pay grade”.  He would have real power, not the undeserved backwater exile of a truly gifted educator.

Ben of the Island, the man who controlled the lives of scores of devoted followers, who had it within his power to summon demons and Smoke Monsters, could have taught the good Dr. Linus a thing or two about the real significance of power.  Ben began to understand the futility of appointed leadership late last season.  He was, for fifteen years or more, Leader of the Others.  He learned from bitter experience that the title was hollow.  He might as well have been an exiled emperor; even as Leader his real ability to effect meaningful improvement was kept in check by forces beyond his control.  Being Leader had no appeal to him.
What if you could have anything you wanted?  Anything in the entire world?  Perhaps Cerberus should have posed the question to Ben.  Instead, he assumed Ben spent days and nights yearning for the restoration of power.  “Follow me, Ben, and I’ll make you ruler of the Island when I leave.”  More likely, it seems to me, the MIB will devote his talents to the sinking of the Island, merging its fate with the sideways reality.  If the Smoke Monster wins the coming war, Ben will have no island to rule, and probably no life to live.

He should have posed the question.  Ben has been rudderless since long before the murderous night in the foot of the statue, since even before he moved the Island.  Alex’s murder changed everything for Ben Linus.  Lust for power neither animates his faculties nor determines his actions.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  Arrogant, sure of the unopposable power of temptation, the Smoke Monster reveals his own weakness and commits a major error.  Ben cannot be tempted in this way.

What if you could have anything you wanted?  Cerberus didn’t pose the question, but Ben did provide a response, in his confession to Ilana.  Ben does not seek leadership.  He does not seek diamonds or a better parking space.  He seeks to belong.  His motivation for following the Smoke Monster:  “He’s the only one who’ll have me.”  It’s a place Ben could belong.  If only Cerberus had known, or had the desire to find out, or possessed the humility of an open mind.

But humility was not among his strengths.  He offered only cold comfort and a moldy bag of Ol’ Roy for this beaten and broken follower.

Ilana heard his confession, heard the rare words of honest pain and sorrow from lips that had never before spoken from the heart.  And then she granted something not even the Smoke Monster could bestow:  True absolution.  “I’ll have you,” she said.  It was one of the most powerful scenes in the six years of LOST.

Faith of Our Fathers

The story of Benjamin Linus’ redemption does not end with absolution and acceptance.  Ben, too, will have a job to perform in the coming conflict, and he will need to skills requisite to the task.  We’ve known his strengths for some time, but tonight’s episode permanently fixed these in the plotline.

The sideways spacetime is all about potentials and instabilities and connections.  We know of sideways Jack’s strange connection to the Island:  the feeling of deja vu on Flight 815, the wound at his neck, the appendectomy scar he can’t seem to remember.  We know of sideways Kate’s strange discomfort in seeing the photograph of the stuffed animal she’d given to Aaron, now a gift to unborn Aaron from his mother, Claire.  The connections are obscured, chaotic, partially recognised.  Faraday’s Boulder–the splitting of spacetime into separate streams–is a destabilising entity.  The streams will converge at some point; Ben’s long-ago connection to the now submerged Island gives us fresh insight into the fragile and temporary nature of the separation.  These points of solid connection between the two realities will likely prove useful to enterprising travelers and seekers in future episodes.

Tonight we witnessed the explicit connection of Ben and Roger to their former island home.  Ben gassed his father again, this time with life-saving oxygen rather than the respiratory poison he administered at the purge.

Roger was a different man, choosing to join the Dharma Initiative on his own, and for the good of his son.  No longer hiding his love as he did on the Island, Roger was the firm foundation for Ben’s scholastic achievements.  Roger’s faith in his son’s abilities allowed him to blossom into a man passionate for bringing his love of learning to ready minds.

Ben began to show what we took to be his true colours:  conniving, scheming, always ready to manipulate people and situations to his advantage.  The opportunity to simultaneously ruin Principal Reynolds’ life and take ownership of the biggest office in the school must have had him salivating in anticipation.

But something happened.  We’ve seen it before, but it always seems a new occurrence, because it is so out of character for this manipulative mouse of a man.  “Kill it,” Charles Widmore said when he learned of Ben’s abduction of baby Alex.  “Get it out of here.”  Ben was horrified.  Did Eloise overrule Charles?  Did Richard talk Charles into accepting the infant into their midst?  Years later, Ben carried out a coup and had Charles exiled, officially for the sin of having fathered a child off-island.  But we know Ben well enough by now to discern the true reason for Charles’ exile.  Charles hated children.  Ben loved children.  Motherless Ben knew that children need to belong.  They need parents.  On Island and off, Ben has shown himself time and again heartless, cold, and cruel–except in any situation involving children.  “You’re the best, Dr. Linus.”  Alex meant it.  And it was true.  The high school kids loved him, because he had their interests foremost in his thoughts.  “Taking care of the kids.  That’s what’s important,” he told Arzt.

Ben has his priorities straight.  It was that clarity of purpose that made him realise the error of his attempted coup at Sideways High.  He had something better, more enduring than power.  He had the interests of his students in mind.  He had the ability to touch their lives in the most profound manner, sparking their interest in the world around them.  They had a place in his heart, and he found his way into their hearts.  He belonged.  He served.  He had purpose.

The Seven

“Six remain,” Ilana said.  But for several years, across a span of decades, seven Candidates walked the Island and affected events significant and small, temporary and enduring.  Thanks to Jack and Kate and company, the “Incident” tore asunder the reality of not only the Island, but of all spacetime.

There were seven:
04        Locke
08        Reyes
15        Ford
16        Jarrah
23        Shephard
42        Kwon
51        Austen

Only three of the numbers are odd (Ford, Shephard, Austen), and only one is prime (Shephard).  One is dead.  Has been for a long, long time.  His rotting corpse lies next to Boone’s.  Could even the miracle of resurrection apply in such a case?  Perhaps we will progress through three days over the course of these eighteen episodes, from the Last Supper of Maundy Thursday to the Empty Tomb of Sunday morning.  Doc Jensen’s idea appears to be sound, in keeping with the Christian theology of the Triduum, in keeping with his theory and mine that Locke will again walk the Island.

But I don’t see the necessity of a physical resurrection of the buried corpse.  Locke is alive and very well–in the sideways reality.  We see growing connections between the two realities.  Could sideways Ben, guardian of children, see Aaron safely through the unstable vortex separating his world from the Island he and his father once inhabited?  Could sideways Jack and Island Jack, working together, perhaps through Desmond as spacetime intermediary, transport (teleport?) Locke to the Island?  Richard’s been around a while.  He’s never observed a resurrection.  He’s been unwilling witnesses to the MIB’s macabre re-animation of long-dead corpses, but that is something entirely different from the Easter event.  Perhaps the coming resurrection will be more like an awakening of spirit, an end of exile, a discovery of the Candidates’ principal purpose.

Two realities rush forward with unrestrained velocity, accelerating toward a grand collision.  Upheavals of immense scale will unify some and tear others apart.  The powerless will confront the omnipotence of evil incarnate, but they will discover in their unity something more potent, more meaningful, more triumphant than power:  They will find their purpose, and their cause will prevail.

PM

Related posts

• Terms of Indenture: Culture and Corruption in LOST 6.06 by Pearson Moore (32)
• Risk: A Cultural Thesis for LOST 6.03 “What Kate Does” by Pearson Moore (40)
• Prime Candidate: Cultural Thoughts on LOST 6.04 “The Substitute” (51)

Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse prehash next week’s episode and answer fan questions.

Download from iTunes.

[Via ABC.com]

Related posts

• The Official LOST Audio & Video Podcast: February 4th, 2010 (1)
• The Official LOST Audio Podcast: February 22nd, 2010 (9)
• New Official LOST Video Podcast with Terry O’Quinn, Damon & Carlton (3)

Monaghan won’t say much about Charlie’s return, but he does say that if and when his character does come back to “Lost,” it will be for a “significant” reason.

Related posts

• Video: Dominic Monaghan on Charlie’s Return (?) (7)
• Dominic Monaghan: “I’d Love To Come Back to LOST” (1)
• Is a Full-On Flight 815 Reunion Headed Our Way? (1)

To determine which series generated the most advertising revenue in 2009, we turned to Kantar Media, formerly TNS Media Intelligence, which tracks ad spending. The firm surveyed all regularly scheduled prime-time shows, excluding sports franchises, for our third annual list of TV’s Top Moneymakers. For an apples-to-apples comparison of network programs of differing lengths, the series are ranked based on ad revenue per average 30 minutes.

To be sure, the revenue figures provided are estimates. The amount individual buyers actually forked over for their collection of 30-second spots varies, depending on everything from advertisers’ perceptions about a show’s value to their clout with the respective network. The broadcast networks’ continued viewership decline along with a recessionary marketplace factored into the decision-making process as well.

TV’s Biggest Moneymakers

1. ‘American Idol,’ Fox ($8.1 million in ad dollars per half hour)
2. ‘Two and a Half Men,’ CBS ($3.1 million)
3. ‘24,’ Fox ($3 million)
4. ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ABC ($2.8 million)
5. ‘V,’ ABC ($2.8 million)
6. ‘Desperate Housewives,’ ABC ($2.7 million)
7. ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ ABC ($2.56 million)

8. Lost

ABC
Revenue Per 30 Minutes: $2.53 million
For a cult-like series that requires intense focus and commitment, advertisers are willing to shell out. Collectively, buyers forked over more than $5 million per episode during the long-running and ever-popular series’ second to last season.

[Via Forbes.com / Fancast.com]

Related posts

• Season 5 Premiere Ratings (6)
• Rating News: LOST Season 6 Premieres Up (2)
• Rating News: LOST Holds Up Against American Idol and Winter Olympics (2)

Previously, on Lost: Ben has a freakout and kills Jacob, who later sends Jack and Hurley to the Lighthouse where Jack has a freakout of his own. Ol’ Smokey freaks out in the Temple, killing a whole bunch of Island extras, while Ben is eyewitness to the aftermath of Sayid’s freakout at the Temple Spring wherein the now-evil Iraqi leaves Dogen and Lennon bobbing around in the dirty water like oversized rubber duckies.

This week, on Lost: It’s all about power – both real and imagined – and the power of redemption. AlterniBen – Dr. Linus – gets a second chance in LA X, while his Island Prime counterpart learns the power of forgiveness. But before either of them can do so, they both have to learn the power of weakness and of fear.

Speaking of fear, we open this week with Ben tear-assing through the jungle of mystery like the devil is on his heels. And just maybe he is. Regardless, it’s not long before he stumbles onto Team Common Sense lead by Ilana, fills them in on Sayid’s sudden sense of stabbiness, and suggests they hightail it to the beach for tactical protection. They agree and Sun must recognize stump #238 or the mark on viney tree #42A which points the way to the beach. Either that, or she has one hell of an interior Asian compass.

In LA X, AlterniBen – Dr. Linus, the history teacher – schools his class on the finer points of being exiled to an island by relating to them Napoleon’s final days on Elba. Nicely done, writing team. Walter Peck, who has apparently retired from the EPA and no longer chooses to give Venkman a hard time down at Ghostbusters HQ, is now the principal. He continues to be a class-A dick and strips Dr. Linus of his history club and places him in charge of detention.

In the lunchroom, Dr. Linus complains about his boss to Leslie Arzt who laments the fact that his shirt is ruined by formaldehyde. Could be worse, dude, you could have a piece of you on your shirt. Ben laments that nobody will listen to his concerns until the substitute – ol’ John Locke himself – raises his hand and says he’s listening, and that if Ben has a problem with the guy in charge, maybe it’s time for a change. Oh, the irony is thick with this one.

Locke, you don’t have to raise your hand … you are way too cool for school.

To make a long but powerful flash-sideways short, Locke’s sentiments plant a seed in Ben that will soon sprout. In the meantime, we learn that Alex is in LA X, as well, and is one of Ben’s students. She needs some tutoring help and, since he cares about her well-being and wants her to succeed, he agrees. During the tutoring session, Alex confides in Ben that the principal has been doing the horizontal mambo with the school nurse on school grounds.

Ben and Alex study the East India Trading Company. Again, I love the detail on this show. Black Rock, anyone?

Enlisting the help of Dr. Arzt as master hacker, Ben accesses the principal’s personal email and finds the sort of correspondence that would make Tiger Woods blush. He uses the emails in a power play to push the principal out of office and to write Ben a letter of recommendation so that Ben could assume control of the school. Well, since Walter Peck doesn’t go down without a fight, he tells Ben that he’d better back off or poor, young Alex will never get that recommendation to Yale that she so desperately needs. In fact, if Ben doesn’t back off, he’ll destroy her reputation completely. It’s his choice now – either he chooses to satisfy his personal need for power, or Ben can save Alex.

In the end, Ben makes the decision that his counterpart on Island Prime has lamented since season four – namely, he puts Alex’s future ahead of his own and backs down, allowing the principal to remain in charge. Alex gets her recommendation, and Ben gets his redemption. Oh, and the history club, of course. And we all get a big round of warm fuzzies at seeing one of the greatest, creepiest, most conflicted pseudo-villains ever find some peace and a little corner of happiness in the Land of Maybe.

Back on Island Prime, in the jungle of mystery, Ilana is suspicious of Ben’s involvement in the death of Jacob and so asks Miles to work a little seance mojo and talk to Jacob’s ashes. Miles does. Ben did it. Ilana is not happy, since Jacob was the closest thing to a father she ever had. Uh oh, says Miles. And how, says we.

Team Common Sense soon arrives at the beach, and Ilana puts them all to work while she fidgets with some cable and clamps and coconut shells and whatnot. Sun asks her how long they have to stay there because she has to find Jin, and Ilana tells her that if she knew, she’d certainly be there trying to get him. You see, all she knows is that his last name is Kwon, but so is Sun’s, so Ilana doesn’t know if she’s supposed to protect one or both of them because they’re candidates. Sun’s understandably confused. Ilana explains to her that they’re up for Jacob’s job. Of course she can’t tell Sun exactly what that means because that would spoil all the fun (but we’ll take a closer look at it later, naturally).

“Zzzzz … cheese curds …” Actually, that does sound pretty good, big guy.

Out on the other side of the Island, Jack wants to go to the Temple, but Hurley’s stalling because he knows what Jacob told him. They stand there arguing for a bit about which way to go until Richard pops out of the brush like he’s got tracking beacons up all the candidates’ butts. Jack wants to know where the heck Richard came from, but Richard says not yet, kemosabe, and heads out toward the Temple. Hurley asks Jack if he trusts that guy and Jack gets his pompous smirk on and says that at least Richard isn’t stalling. Uh, Jack – did you miss the part where Richard stalled about telling you his secrets? It only happened, like, four seconds ago.

Ahh, Sawyer … ever the complex man.

On the beach, Ben digs through Sawyer’s old stash, finding a booty mag and an Oceanic water bottle. He waxes nostalgic about the good ol’ days when it was just him and his rag-tag band of capri-loving ex-hippies were playing hide and go seek with the Survivors. Lapidus mentions that he was supposed to be flying Oceanic 815, but that he overslept, and he wonders how different his life would have been had he flown that day. Ben asks him how different it really would have been – the Island got Lapidus in the end. Booyah, Captain.

This is about the time that Ilana puts a gun to Ben’s head, ties his leg to a tree with a long length of the cable she was futzing about with, and forces him to dig his own grave up on Boone’s Hill. Harsh.

“If you let me go, I’ll share the Emmy with you.”

Ben stalls for awhile, until Miles saunters over with some green beans. Ben doesn’t have much of an appetite since he’s going to be worm food pretty soon. He tries to bargain with Miles, mentioning the $3.2 million that Miles wanted to extort from Ben. Miles says he doesn’t much need that money anymore considering Nikki and Paulo are buried about ten feet away with $8 mil in diamonds. Ben remarks that Miles is going to stand by and watch him die when Ben killed a man that didn’t even care about dying. Sorry, bub, Miles says, but Jacob cared – right up until the second the knife went through his heart he was hoping he was wrong about Ben; I guess he wasn’t, remarks Miles. Aw crap, thinks Ben.

Out in the jungle of mystery, Hurley asks Richard if he’s a time-travelling, cybernetic vampire because he doesn’t seem to age, to which Richard clearly explains that it’s too complicated to explain. Basically, Jacob touched him – hopefully not inappropriately – and gave him the same gift Dick Clark had for so many years.

Pretty soon, Richard has taken them to the Black Rock because he lied and everyone at the Temple is dead. This gets Jack’s blood pressure a-pumping, as usual, because he’s worried about Kate and the others. Richard tells him that they weren’t among the dead. A light goes off inside Jack’s thick skull and he realizes that Hurley was stalling because he knew about all of it. Jacob might have mentioned it, says Hurley. Richard gets all wild-eyed and questioning and Hurley affirms that he’s communed with the dead. Then Richard pretty much calls Jacob a con artist and stomps off toward the Black Rock to die.

Other than the Hatch interior, this is probably still my favorite set piece of all time, especially since it’s a ship in the middle of the jungle.

Inside the old ship, Richard explores and reminisces, telling Jack that he’d been there before – but only once in the entire time he’d been on the Island. Richard regards some chains hanging from the walls of the ship – perhaps remembering his time as a slave? Pretty soon, Richard has found the dynamite that blew Arzt to kingdom come, and Hurley is none too happy. Jack wants some answers, so Richard starts spilling. Basically, Richard was touched by Jacob, which is supposed to be a gift, but is really a curse. It’s a curse because Richard can’t kill himself, even if he wanted to – and he really, really wants to now that the man who told Richard that his life would have purpose is gone. Richard then tells Jack that he could help him ride a stick of dynamite to the promised land, if only he’ll light the fuse for Richard. So, being a Man of Action, Jack lights it. And then sits down in front of Richard and waits while the fuse works its way toward the bitter end.

To cut to the chase, Jack tells Richard that neither of them are going to die because Jacob led him to a Lighthouse that had a big wheel with names on it and mirrors that could see places – places like Jack’s childhood home, which meant that Jacob had been watching him his whole life and Jacob wanted Jack to know that he knew about knowing all this time, and that pretty much means that Jacob went through a whole lotta trouble and Jack is worth a lot of time and effort and must be meant to do something. I’m not quite sure if Jack thought this through all the way, since Jacob could have been one helluva practical joker.

“Shhhh. Do you hear that sizzling sound? That’s the sound of crazy.”

So they don’t blow up, real shocker there. But the real shocker is that Jack just did something really pretty cool for the first time in a very, very long time, and I’m beginning to wonder how he gets around the jungle lugging those great big brass balls. Time to head back to where it all started, says Jack. And so they do.

Hey, speaking of the beach, Ben is still digging his own grave, and he’s done a pretty good job so far. Suddenly, the sound of angry crickets starts up and we know Ol’ Smokey is in town. MIB, in the form of Locke, appears behind Ben and asks him what he’s doing. Digging my own grave, says Ben rather bitterly. And it’s all MIB’s fault, too, since he talked Ben into killing Jacob and now Ben is gonna die. MIB tells Ben that he doesn’t want him to die and that he actually wants Ben to run things on the Island once MIB gets him and his peeps out of there. This gives Ben great glee, but he laments that he’s shackled and can’t get loose, so MIB points at his leg restraint and off it pops. Nice trick, David Copperfield.

“You know you wanna come … we have cooookiiees.”

MIB tells Ben that about 200 yards away is a gun leaning up against a tree and if Ben makes a run for it, he can get the drop on Ilana and smoke her. MIB tells Ben not to hesitate because Ilana won’t. Ben doesn’t waste any time tossing his bamboo shovel and darts off into the jungle of mystery with Ilana quick on his heels.

The chase is frantic, but quick, and Ben finds the gun, getting the drop on Ilana. He forces her to drop her gun, and the two adversaries have a staring contest, until Ilana asks Ben what he’s waiting for. Ben says that he wants to explain, that he knows how Ilana feels because he had to watch his daughter die in front of him because he chose the Island over her. All of this he did in the name of Jacob … and he didn’t even care. Ben stabbed him out of anger and confusion, fearing that he would lose the only thing that mattered to him – his power. The rub here is that what really only mattered to Ben was already gone – Alex. Ben doesn’t want forgiveness, because he can’t forgive himself; instead, he just wants to leave.

“I’d just like to take this moment to thank the Academy …” He sure has come a long way from this.

“Where will you go?” Ilana asks.

“To Locke,” says Ben, half-heartedly.

“Why?” asks Ilana.

Lip quivering, eyes wide with despair, Ben simply replies, “Because he’s the only one that’ll have me.”

Ilana pauses, tears welling up despite her rage. “I’ll have you.”

Then she bends over and picks up her rifle, along with the Emmy that Michael Emerson just won for this speech, and heads back toward the beach. Ben pauses for a moment – stunned, contemplating, redeemed – then stumbles after Ilana, following her toward redemption.

Back on the beach, Ben approaches everyone silently, still stunned at what has just happened. He walks slowly toward Sun who is repairing one of the old shelters. Ben sets the rifle down slowly and asks if she needs any help. She does, with the tarp. And so the two former adversaries work together, with Sun smiling just a little bit at the new man now on her side.

Cue the old-school, season one slow-motion music montage as Jack, Hurley and Richard appear from behind some bushes up the beach. Sun sees them, and turns with a smile, running towards Hurley with outstretched arms. They hug it out. Jack gets some action, too, and everyone stands around smiling, shaking hands, happy to be reunited. At the back of the pack stands Ben, and Jack regards him closely.

Island hottie in sight. Engage tractor beam.

Unbeknownst to Ben, another old adversary regards him closely, from just off shore. In classic Bond villain style, a lone periscope raises above the water, and a submarine lurks beneath the surface, holding what could very well be Jacob’s special guest – ol’ Chuck Widmore, himself.

Cue the THONK!

So we didn’t have Ol’ Smokey zooming around, chewing up Others and spitting them out this week, but we did have the pleasure of watching Michael Emerson chew the hell out of some scenery. Seriously, if this episode isn’t nominated for an Emmy, there’s just no justice. Every week, it’s a pleasure to watch him and Terry O’Quinn school everybody in how to bust ass in acting.

At any rate, this week’s episode was more of a character study and a deep dive into choices and redemption, which means there’s not a metric ton to analyze like a few of the episodes earlier this season. Still, we have a lot we can take a look at, so let’s get to it.

BUT FIRST, A PLUG

Since this week’s analysis may be a little skimpier than usual, feel free to beef up your weekly Lost fix by checking out Joel Murphy’s recent interview with François Chau – everyone’s favorite orientation film host, Pierre Chang. Did you all know that Chau was not only the voice of Quick Kick in the GI: Joe cartoon, but also played Shredder in TMNT 2? In other words, this guy is pure awesome.

WHAT’S UP WITH THIS JACOB FELLA?
Ben’s tale of redemption is the true heart of this episode, but most of our analysis can be gleaned from one source: Richard. His conversation with Hurley and Jack certainly sheds some light on a few things, and opens up new avenues of questioning. Let’s take a look at how five seconds of screen time can illuminate and throw into question everything we know up to this point.

Richard mentions to Hurley that whatever Jacob told him, he shouldn’t believe him. This throws into question every action that Jacob has executed up until this point, and further muddies his motives. Are we to believe now that Jacob might really be on the side of dark and MIB on the side of light? It’s always been clear that we’re not dealing in absolutes here, and instead have two men who simply think they’re in the right, when either could very easily be in the wrong.

That’s right, we’re going to take a peek inside the Cabin for a bit …

Another consideration for Richard’s comments are that Richard has never been privy to anything that Jacob really wanted from him, Ben or the Others. In fact, since Ben “communed” with Jacob at the Cabin, it may not have been Jacob coordinating things, after all. If the cabin was somehow designed to keep someone or something in with its circle of protective ash, rather than out, then it would make sense that MIB would be imprisoned in the cabin and had to take long-term actions in coordinating an escape. Looking back on some of the big moves, “Jacob” tells Locke – through Christian Shephard – that Locke has to move the Island, an action which has huge repercussions in how things will play out. However, Ben is the one to move the Island, which produces even more ripples. Eventually, Locke is convinced to turn the Great Wheel to stop the Island from time-hopping, is sent back to the mainland, and is finally killed by Ben so that MIB could take Locke’s form. There are a lot of moving parts to all those actions, but it starts to become rather clear that MIB may have been steering Ben and Locke all along, rather than Jacob. To go back to where we started, this could be one reason why Richard thinks that Jacob is a liar.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
So Richard can’t kill himself, but has he ever really tried? I’m sure since Richard was probably a slave aboard the Black Rock, Highlander was a bit after his time, but I’m just curious if he’s ever tried to cut his own head off and what would happen if he did. Would the sword break? Would he grow a new head? These are things that I think about.

On a more practical – at least in terms of Lost, so practicality is relative – note, we can think about what that means given what we’ve seen so far from Jacob’s “gift.” Richard says that since he was “touched” by Jacob, he can’t kill himself. We’ve seen several others touched by Jacob – namely our candidates – so we can assume that if they have received the gift, they can’t off themselves, either. As a result of Jacob’s gift, Richard also never seems to age. All of these facts lead us down a slippery slope – if those touched by Jacob can’t kill themselves and never age, then surely that must mean they’re akin to immortals and can’t die by normal means. Sayid’s situation, however, throws a monkey wrench into that reasoning because he was touched and he died. Dogen said so, and everyone witnessed it. Sayid was pining for the fjords for a good two hours before he was suddenly undead. Since we only know what Richard has told us – that those with the gift can’t kill themselves – we can’t automatically extend our reasoning toward a longer life span and being harder to kill than Steven Seagal simply because of what happened to Sayid.

Of course, Sayid’s zombification conjures up other questions. Was it the Spring that brought Sayid back, or was it the power behind Jacob’s gift? Does MIB have a similar gift he can bestow – such as the power to bring people back from the dead? If so, that means he could very easily have brought Christian Shephard back, and who we’ve been seeing wandering around the Island could very well by Christian and not a manifestation of Ol’ Smokey, himself. I don’t really believe that at this point, but that’s the beauty of speculation.

Speaking of Christian Shephard, there’s one Oceanic survivor that this all relates to that got his final marching orders from Jack’s dad – Michael. Somewhere along the line Michael received Jacob’s gift as well, since we see Michael try to kill himself several times in “Meet Kevin Johnson.” Every attempt failed. Michael was only able to finally let go and join the great white beyond when Christian appeared to him aboard the Kahana and said that Michael could “go now.” Was Michael’s mere presence in the hold the reason that the bomb could not explode? We can only speculate because when Michael’s purpose was fulfilled, Jacob seemed to reclaim his gift from him and the bomb finally went off.

Good googamooga that’s a lot of C-4.

And finally, on a semi-related note, if we think for a second back to a point I made about Christian Shephard earlier, if Jacob wasn’t in the cabin and MIB was, then who really told Michael that he could “go now?” Just something to think about.

THERE CAN BE ONLY SIX
Ilana said that there are only six candidates left – Assuming that the name Kwon only refers to either Sun or Jin and not both, there are really only five that were confirmed on the cave wall – Kwon, Jarrah, Ford, Reyes and Shephard. We can’t count Locke because he’s dead and Ilana knows that. So, as ambiguous as it is with the counting of the Kwons, we can assume that Kate could be the sixth candidate as we speculated when seeing her name on the Lighthouse wheel. However, there is another possibility – Ilana mentioned in last season that Lapidus could be a candidate, as well. So, who is the sixth candidate? Is it really going to matter in the end? What does everyone think?

THE RANDOM BITS

Hey, look, it’s Charles Widmore. Is our delightfully dark Brit the special visitor that Jacob mentioned to Hurley? If he wants Ben so badly, why does he tell his crew to just stay on target when Ben is ripe for the picking right there on the beach? Clearly, the capture of Ben from season four is no longer a priority, and may have been a preemptive strike to keep Ben from doing nasty things off-island. As I mentioned before, I believe that Chuck was wrongfully exiled form the Island because it stood in the way of either Jacob or MIB’s plans – whichever has the most nefarious machinations in the works. To take a closer look at why Widmore’s actions could be altruistic, check out He’s Not Heavy, He’s My Brother from my analysis of last week’s episode, “Sundown.”

It may be time to explore some more temporal shenanigans. In LA X, we see Ben is now taking care of Roger Linus and Roger laments that maybe he and Ben should have stayed on the Island. For the sake of our alternative timeline, we now know that Ben was, indeed, on the Island and was probably evacuated shortly before the Incident. The Island is now underwater, probably because of the events that occurred during the Incident. At this point, we can assume that the moment of the Incident is the prime branching point for these two realities and its outcome changes lives drastically. However, it’s much more complex than that, and will likely require us to take a look at how two separate and distinct Incidents took place, and how Sayid’s shooting of little Ben may have actually lead Roger to take Ben off the Island for good, thereby forever changing him, just as Richard said it would. I want to delve deeper into this, but it’s going to require some unfettered thought, and definitely a graphic, so we’ll probably revisit this in next week’s column.

Why the hell is Alex in America? This was a question that Joel Murphy really wanted to talk about, and I don’t have a solid reason, other than it makes literary sense. Of course, we can also revisit our idea of quantum entanglement and individuals’ strings being intimately entwined across multiple realities. If that holds true, then Ben and Alex would be inexorably drawn toward each other because of their connections across the multiverse. Make sense?

Speaking of Alex and alternate realities, apparently it’s totally cool to wear Confederate flags on your backpacks at a public school in LA X.

And, finally …

Looks like Miles made the big score. It’s refreshing to know that Nikki and Paulo served some kind of purpose on the Island.

And that about wraps it up for this week. There’s probably tons more I’m missing, but I’m sure most of you will make sure to point it out in comments. In the meantime, keep thinking those thoughts and if you have an epiphany, tell me something good.

Namaste.

Related posts

• When The Man Comes Around: “Sundown” Recap & Analysis by Chris Kirkman (8)
• The X Factor - LOST 6.01/6.02 Analysis by Chris Kirkman (18)
• The LOST Initiative - “Dr. Linus” (0)

Watch another video after the jump.

[Via DocArzt]

Related posts

• New Official LOST Video Podcast (3)
• New Official LOST Video Podcasts (1)
• The Official LOST Video Podcast - 02/19/2009 (7)

Via Popular Mechanics‘ Joe Pappalardo:

In the latest episode of Lost, “Dr. Linus,” Jack Sheppard puts fate to an empirical test when he and the ageless Richard Alpert sit across from each other, watching the fuse of a stick of dynamite sizzle between them. If the stick explodes, maybe Jack’s preordained island destiny doesn’t exist. The scene is fraught with tension, but how does it stack up to the reality of explosive engineering? One person who certainly thinks the episode is in error is Robert Hopler, an author and explosives expert who served as an advisor for Lost. “I did some consulting for the show in the early days, for the episode where they blew open the hatch, and they followed my ideas and it made sense,” he says. “I don’t think they asked anybody this time.”

Read the full article here.

Related posts

• The LOST Initiative - “Dr. Linus” (0)
• Redemption (18)
• LOST Episode 6.07 - Sneak Peeks (5)

[Via ABC.com]

Related posts

• Videos: Comic-Con ‘09 LOST Panel (22)
• Paley Fest: Cast & Writers Interviews (0)
• Lots of Videos of the LOST Panel at PaleyFest 2010 (4)

Related posts

• LOST Episode 6.08 - Sneak Peek (0)
• LOST Episode 6.08 - Sneak Peek #3 (1)
• Season 5 Sneak Peek Now On HQ! (6)

Spoiler Alert: this interview contains minor spoilers.

So there are limits to what Ben will do to get what he wants, at least in the Sideways?
Yes, Ben was presented with a parallel choice — a smaller one, but an echo of a bad choice he made in the island world — and he made a different call, a softer call that we’re happy about.

Was it nice to play Ben’s softer side?
I’ll tell you what was fun: When Ben tries to play his card with the principal but he hasn’t the confidence that his alter ego has. He trembles a little when he makes his big play because he knows he’s out of his depth. It was fun to find that shakiness because that’s a color they’ve never asked of me on the show before. It’s almost like I’m playing a different character this season.

Now that Widmore’s back, will Ben’s battle with him resume?
You’d think. [The producers] went to such pains to establish it. But there are three episodes still to film and that’s something that hasn’t been shot yet. I suppose it’s possible that the characters’ [conflict] can be resolved without facing off against one another, maybe through the agency of some third party.

Would that be disappointing?
I’m just a passenger on this ride. But I am anxious for answers that don’t seem to be coming in a rush. I think it’s partly my own personal misunderstanding of the narrative of the show and an over-expectation of climactic answering.

Some fans feel a similar frustration.
I think the answering is coming in a subtler way than many of us expected. But the writers’ agenda may not yet be clear to us.

When will you get the finale script?
Two days before we shoot it. If I get a complete one. You know with the finale of all finales, there are gonna be blank scenes in it that only the actors involved are privy to. I hope I’m on the show long enough that I’m in one of those secret scenes.

Wait — could Ben really not make it to the end?
There have been some casualties. Pretty soon, there’s only gonna be a few standing.

Head over to People.com to read the rest of the interview.

Related posts

• Video: Michael Emerson Talks LOST (4)
• VIDEO: Michael Emerson Talks Season 6 on TV Guide’s Hollywood 411 (2)
• Video - One on One with Michael Emerson (13)

This is my video recap of season 6 episode 7 of LOST, “Dr. Linus,” which aired March 9, 2010 on ABC. This episode focused on Ben Linus both on the island and off it in the flash sideways. I summarize the key events of the episode and include my live reactions to them as they happened on screen.

My favorite moments were meeting Ben’s favorite student in the flash sideways and the classic LOST slow motion beach ending.

So what the heck do YOU think is going on?!

Leave your theories in the comments and share your thoughts with me at http://twitter.com/adamrucker

Thanks for watching! Please rate and subscribe for more!

-Adam

Related posts

• Redemption (18)
• Michael Emerson Breaks Down “Dr. Linus” and Teases What’s in Store Before The End (5)
• LOST LA X Premiere Live Reaction/Recap Video (13)