Thanks to Rachel Sheehan from TV Guide for the heads up:

How do the producers of ABC’s Lost plan to make their grab for Emmys gold? TVGuide.com has the exclusive reveal of which six episodes they submitted for consideration in the Outstanding Drama series category.

As expected, both parts of the Season 5 finale, “The Incident,” made the cut. But which other four hours hope to be deemed Emmy-worthy?

Well, “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” made the short list, as did the similarly Locke-centric “Follow the Leader.”

Rounding out Lost‘s Emmy reel are “La Fleur” (in which Sawyer went from con man to big man on the Dharma campus) and “The Variable” (which revealed Faraday’s dangerous plan to “save” the future).

With Lost‘s list now revealed, one big mystery remains: Can the 2005 winner for Outstanding Drama Series beat the six other contenders in this year’s race — Big Love, Breaking Bad, Damages, Dexter, House and Mad Men?

[Via TV Guide]

Related posts:

1. LOST Gets 5 Emmy Nominations
2. Season 5 Revealed [Sky One]
3. Michael Emerson Calls Mum After Emmy Nomination

This week we want to know who do you think Amy’s baby is. In recent interviews, the actress who plays Amy ( Reiko Aylesworth) says that the boy she gives birth to is someone important.  We have already witnessed the birth of Ben, John, and Aaron.

So, let us know who you think the mystery baby is. Leave a comment with your guess and the reason why you think it is that person.

Related posts:

1. Mondays’ LOST Debate: The Statue
2. Mondays’ LOST Debate: “A War Is Coming”
3. SL-LOST Podcast – “LaFleur”

As you can see on the table above, we’ve compared your votes left on the Episode Threads‘ polls to IMDB and TV.com users’ ratings. Do you personally agree with the results? Sound off in comments!

Related posts:

1. Episode 5.05 “This Place Is Death” – Open Thread
2. “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” – Open Thread
3. Episode 5.05 “This Place Is Death” Promo #1

Source: tvbythenumbers.com

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Ratings for “LaFleur”
2. Nielsen Ratings for “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”
3. Nielsen Ratings for “316″

In this week’s podcast the SL-LOST Team discusses episode 5.08 “LaFleur”: the statue, Sawyer and Juliet’s relationship and who Amy’s baby might be are just a few of the topics we talk about! You can listen to the audio on the player below:

[audio:http://blip.tv/file/get/Campetin-Episode508LaFleur885.mp3]

We apologize for the bad audio quality, but please know that we try our best.

Click here to download this Podcast.

Subscribe on iTunes.

Related posts:

1. “LaFleur” Recap & Analysis by Chris Kirkman
2. SL-LOST Podcast – 5.05 “This Place Is Death”
3. Gitsie Girl’s Thoughts on Episode 5.08 “LaFleur”

Source: Sky.com/Lost

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1. The LOST Initiative – “LaFleur”
2. The LOST Initiative – “316″ – Midweek Edition
3. The LOST Initiative – “This Place Is Death” – Midweek Edition

Ok, there have been many theories as to which Egyptian god the statue is a representation of. So, for today’s debate, we want not only your theory, but the facts on which you base your theory.   When you comment be sure to include links to either images or the article of information explaining what the god you think the statue is representing (what the god’s job was). If the image of the god you believe the statue to be is already posted here you can just refer to that image, there is no need to post duplicate links to the same picture.

Have fun, we can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Related posts:

1. Mondays’ LOST Debate: “A War Is Coming”
2. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – HD Screencap of The Statue
3. The LOST Initiative – “LaFleur”

Digital Spy reports:

[...] Lost continued to do well for Sky1, drawing 809k (3.5%) during the 9pm hour. It beat ITV2′s screening of Supernatural, which grabbed 525k (2.2%), and Two Pints: Comic Relief Special, which averaged 688k (2.9%).

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Ratings for “LaFleur”
2. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – Sky1 Promo (HQ)
3. UK Ratings: LOST Beats “Being Human” Season Finale

Source: Sky.com/Lost

Related posts:

1. The LOST Initiative – “316″
2. The LOST Initiative – “316″ – Midweek Edition
3. The LOST Initiative – “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”

Click here for my initial thoughts.

1.  We know from past dialog that there is going to be an “incident” that changes things on the island (like fertility presumably).  I originally thought that Jughead was going to start to leak, but I’m now wondering if the Losties have to do some crazy donkey wheel turning event to propel themselves back into the present time.  My guess is that it’s before the big DI purge as by leaving that will give the Losties a whole new sense of guilt for not staying to help.  I’m also guessing that Daniel is going to have to convince them that they can’t change the past and therefore the Losties cannot interfere with the purge.  I can see this being especially hard for Sawyer as he is their head of security and from the looks of things he really cares about these people (like begging Juliet to help Amy deliver the baby).

2.  I think that the O6 had to come back because each has a specific role that they will play and they must be there for the course of events to happen.  Course correction.  Do we know what that is yet?  I don’t think so.  In an interview awhile back Darlton said we wouldn’t find out until late Season 5 into Season 6 why they had to come back.  In the meantime, I’ll sit back and enjoy watching Sawyer’s evolution (go home Kate!  He’s doing great!)

3.  It must have been very strange for whoever found the rope just sticking out of the ground.  Could this have possibly been what lead someone to dig the well, find the cavern and eventually to digging the Orchid Station?

4.  The giant statue is holding a giant Ankh.  Coincidence?  It’s the same symbol that was on Paul’s necklace.

5.  I’ll tell you why I think the turning of the donkey wheel caused the statue to crash.  After the flash Miles says that “that one was more like an earthquake.”  Unless anyone has a better explanation, I’m thinking that an earthquake would be a reasonable explanation for a statue going down.

6.   For any doubters, the spelling for this episode is “LaFleur.”  I’ve heard some chatter about this and maybe there are alternatives, but for us this is the correct spelling.

7.  I’m curious how they buried the bodies of the hostiles so quickly.  They don’t have shovels.  The logistics of it doesn’t make sense.

8.  I think Mr Friendly may have been trying to call a truce with the Losties back in Season Two where they meet up with Locke and company out in the woods.  Mr Friendly says that it’s their island and they allow them to stay there (I remember thinking at the time that they should just let them go home then…).  Part of the problem with that truce is that the Losties refused to stay put and were always traipsing around the island.

9. OK so the “Internest” says that the mothers always give birth on the mainland.  The possibilities are that there have been problems giving birth or that these peace loving hippies have enough common sense to get their people proper health care.  Either way, it’s a good thing for Amy that Juliet was there.

10.  I wonder if who the baby is even matters.  But, if it does then I think it would have to be one of the male characters in his 30’s.  That would be Jack, Sawyer, Ben or Desmond.  It’s not Ben because we were witness to his birth.  My guess would be either Jack or more likely Desmond since we know he is “special.”  Plus, we really know nothing about Desmond’s parents.

11.  I can also see why Richard would specifically recruit Juliet back to the island as she may be the last person who delivered a baby on the island.

12.  Look how cute Sawyer looks when he’s all happy and stuff.  Yes!  I like this version!

13.  OK, so Sawyer does say that they were looking for the Black Rock, not on it.  But has Horace really not heard of the boat?  He seems to know later on when he brings back the dynamite.

14.  How can the little girl Daniel sees be Charlotte?  They are in 1974 and it was said earlier on that she was born in 1979.  The only reason I can think of is that in her mother’s effort to cover their tracks and change her identity post-island was to also change her DOB so that no one would know that it was her.

15.  I’m thinking that Sawyer’s revelations to Richard about who he was and talking about Locke is what turns Richard around and has him send for Locke (remember the “science camp” that they tried to recruit “high school Locke” to go to?).  If Locke “failed” the test when he was a young boy Richard may have been doubting that Locke was special.  Then along comes Sawyer and restores his faith in Locke.

16. Looks like things have also changed for Juliet.  When we first met her she was burning muffins that she tried to make for the book club.  Now she’s making Sawyer a big meal.

17.  Didn’t Patchy say that he was one of the last remaining DI?  He even still wore the jumper.  We haven’t seen him yet.  Will be curious if they bring him into the story.

18.   I wonder where Jin called Sawyer from?  He only had a walkie and no cell phones.

19.  I’m thinking that Sawyer will have to say that Jack and co. are his long lost ship mates.   Hurley might be hard to explain as he kind of sticks out.  And where the heck are Rose and Bernard… and Vincent!

Gitsiegirl.com

Related posts:

1. 5.01 “Because You Left” Recap By Gitsie Girl
2. 5.02 “The Lie” Recap By Gitsie Girl
3. 5.03 “Jughead”: Initial And Afterthoughts By Gitsie Girl

Previously, on Lost: Sawyer slaps Daniel around like a little girl to make him talk about what’s going down with the island. Daniel equates it to a record on a turntable, skipping – except imagine that turntable is hurtling through spacetime, popping in and out of this dimension’s timestream and they’re all on the record, being slung around like ragdolls, and don’t even get him started on bunnies, and … Sawyer thinks about slapping him again. Sawyer and the gang are jumping about, getting nosebleeds and such, until, sadly, Charlotte has her last nosebleed. Locke suggests they go back to the Orchid so everyone can return, even Kate. “Don’t you want her to come back?” Locke asks Sawyer. Well, not particularly, says I. Locke drops down the well, is engulfed in the white light of another jump, and Sawyer is left holding a rope that goes to nowhere.

This week, on Lost: Oh, lordy. It was about this same time last year that we were treated with a full episode of Juliet’s lovely countenance. And you all know what that means …

So, yeah. This week, we find out that after Locke turns the Great Wheel and everything gets all white, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Daniel and Jin all settle into a final time, 1974. After some wacky Dharma-related hijinx, Sawyer and Jin end up working for Dharma as security officers and Juliet becomes a mechanic, until Sawyer pulls her away from her duties to deliver the baby of Dharma’s leader, Horace – the same guy that brought Ben to the island and appeared to Locke to tell him where to find the map to Jacob’s cabin. Got all that? Oh, and most importantly, during all this time, Sawyer and Juliet have fallen in love and are shacking up together.

Sigh. I’ll have what he’s having.

Everything is just peachy keen until Jin calls Sawyer one morning and they meet out near the bluff and Jack and Hurley jump out of Jin’s Dharma bus. Oh yeah, and Kate. That’s when Sawyer’s eyes kinda bugged out and I went “oh, crap” and braced myself for the heartache I just know is coming Juliet’s way.

You can cue the thonk!

I absolutely love episodes like this. Not only do we get three years’ worth of history in around 48 minutes, we feel as though we actually lived it with the characters. We see the evolution of a love affair between Juliet and Sawyer back in 1974, and by the time we get to 1977, it just makes sense. A wonderful job by the Lost team all the way around.

Surprisingly, I don’t have a complicated science-related problem to break down for everyone this week, but we do have some nifty new revelations to go over. But first, can I just say …

KATE AUSTEN MUST BE STOPPED
That’s right, I said it. Kate is back in town and ready to stir up some trouble, folks. She doesn’t have an island baby to worry about no mo’, and she stepped out of the temporal flux and right into the same love triangle she left behind three years ago. Except this time, it’s a love quadrangle, and things have the potential to get messy. No longer can she just cry on Jack’s shoulder one minute and be in bed with Sawyer the next. Oh, no, she’s got an Other woman to contend with – a woman, by the way, who doesn’t hesitate to shoot people. A woman that knows how to sneak around the jungle like a ninja and who can make your heart explode with an iron glare. This is a steel magnolia you’re about to be messing with, Miss Austen, and I personally hope she slaps the freckles off your cheeks.

I found this in an old hope chest that had a Dharma logo embossed on it. Had I been old enough at the time of the main event, and had I known about it, I would definitely have put money down on The Blonde Bomber.

STAND LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
So … within the first two minutes of the episode, we had a classic Lost mystery moment – we got to see the back of the giant statue. You know, the one that was, at one time, attached to the four-toed foot that Sayid and Co. saw way back in the finale for season two?

You know, this one!

Anyway, three seasons later, we finally got a brief glimpse of what was on the other end of that broken foot. As soon as I saw it, it was instantly familiar. Anyone who has ever seen any Egyptian sculptures – heck, anyone who’s ever seen Stargate, for crying out loud – would think it fairly familiar, as well. Thus, when the episode was over, I started doing a little research into Egyptian gods to find out who might be the Colossus of the Island.

Ever since we saw that foot back in season two, I just got this gut feeling that it might be a statue of Horus. Horus was the god of the sky, but he was also the protector of ancient Egypt. Horus is always depicted as having the body of a man, with the head of a hawk. One interesting thing to note about Horus is that, according to Egyptian legend, he lost an eye in a battle for Egypt with Seth, another Egyptian god. That same season, we got to see the interior of the Arrow station when the Tailies took some of the original survivors over. Inside, they found a box with a few items within, most notably a glass eye. Many Egyptian temples have been dedicated to Horus, and there’s a safe bet that almost all of you have seen the eye of Horus online or in a piece of jewelry or art, at one point.

The Eye of Horus.

In some ways, the god Horus has clicked on many other levels throughout the seasons, as well. Horace Goodspeed, who we see once again in this episode, shares a similar-sounding name as Horus. Paul, the man who was killed by the Others in this episode, wore an amulet around his neck. The amulet was an ankh, which symbolized life and immortality to the Egyptians. Only a select few gods were depicted carrying an ankh, and Horus is one of them.

One other Egyptian god that always fit for me, especially now after seeing the back of the statue, is Anubis – the god of the dead. Anubis always appears in Egyptian art and sculpture as a man with a jackal’s head. He is, possibly, the most recognizable figure in Egyptian legend. He, too, is usually depicted carrying an ankh.

Now, looking more closely at the statue, it’s hard to say that Horus or Anubis is depicted. The arms and body are fine for fitting with these two, as are the objects in the hands, which could be ankhs and staffs. What’s troublesome in matching up these two with the statue, however, is the head. The head of the statue has a small “bowl” at the top, and what appears to be backward-swept, small ears. Anubis is always depicted with tall, Jackal ears, and Horus doesn’t have ears, at all. Thus, I had to dig deeper.

Figure 1. shows a statue of Horus. The platform or “bowl” on top of the head matches that on the statue, but there are no ears.

Figure 2. shows a statue of Anubis. Tall, regal, carrying an ankh – these match the statue on the island. However, the tall ears are problematic. Anubis is never depicted with his ears low, so that knocks a hole in that theory.

Figure 3. shows the Egyptian god Tawaret. Tawaret has been depicted in many ways, but the most common is that of an antropomorphic mix of creatures – the head of a hippopotamus with the arms and legs of a lion, the back and tail of a crocodile, and the breasts and stomach of a woman. Now, obviously this statue doesn’t have the back and tail of a croc, but as you can see from the statue, the “bowl” and the ears match perfectly. Tawaret is also almost always depicted holding the structure that looks like a ribbon, which the Island statue seems to be doing, as well. Most importantly for all of this, though, is that Tawaret was the goddess of protecting women during pregnancy and childbirth.. Right there we have a significant tie to the Island – somewhere during its history, women who were impregnated there and chose to have their babies, died during childbirth. We know that the statue as it existed when Sawyer and Co. saw it no longer exists in modern times, and we also know that the birth problem has been a modern problem for the Others. Now, whether it has anything to do with the destruction of this statue is unknown and unlikely, but it does seem as though this ancient statue might be closely linked with current Island happenings.

WHAT’S WITH ALL THESE DHARMA LOGOS?
Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t seem to grasp the Dharma classification structure. I know that the story has rolled out with select Dharma station and logo reveals so as to not give away all the major plot points, but we now have more Dharma logos than we have verified stations.

Case in point, Sawyer and Jin’s “Deputy Star” Dharma logos, which you can see here:

Now, way back when (season two, in particular) the only Dharma logo we had seen up to that point was that for the Swan (with the exception of the brief logo on the tail of the Dharma shark, which I won’t get into right now) and, briefly, that for the Caduceus and the Arrow. We assumed that there were more stations, and we were correct in that assumption.

Now, as the seasons have progressed, more and more variation in Dharma logos have cropped up. There seems to be a generic Dharma logo – one with simply the word “Dharma” on a black background – as well as the new security star, to denote general-purpose workers on the island. Now, what bothers me is that Ben’s dad, Roger, wore a jumper with the Swan logo on it, despite the fact that he was just a worker.

Now, granted, he could have been assigned to the Swan as a general worker and this is his insignia. However, later on in “The Man Behind the Curtain,” Ben is seen in a Dharma jumper with no logo on the breast.

Even more intriguing about this “Deputy Star” is that Horace wears the logo of The Arrow – the station on the Island that is researching ways to keep the compound safe from the hostiles. However, it seems like most of the grunt workers for that station wear the “Deputy Star.” Perhaps the Arrow is like a military compound and those with “Deputy Stars” simply belong to a police force that helps protect within the general populace.

At any rate, I just found it intriguing that so many Dharma logos have popped up in the past couple of seasons and I thought I’d rant. Carry on.

TEMPORAL SHENANIGANS
It just wouldn’t be a complete post without at least some mention of time travel and the various problems that surround it. The fact that Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Daniel and Jin seem to be playing fast and loose with events in the past only make it that much more tempting to cover some action points. Let’s take a look at those:

1) First of all, it’s important to note that Daniel has stated the prevalent temporal theory amongst the powers-that-be in the Lost universe – predestination theory. Daniel states in the episode, mostly in response to the shooting of two “hostiles” by Sawyer and Juliet – that “whatever has happened has happened.” As we’ve discussed before in “Jughead” and a few other analyses, that’s considered part of the Novikov self-consistency principle. Basically, it means that since Sawyer and such have traveled from the future to the past, whatever they choose to do there has already been a full part of the natural progression within their own timeline. They cannot change any actions already taken because they are “locked” within that history of things. It remains to be seen, however, if this principle holds true with all of the survivors. Right now, it’s unfolding nicely, but we still have a lot of season left before we can lock things down, tight.

2) Dan keeps repeating that he won’t do that, obviously in relation to the revelation Charlotte gave him about Daniel talking to her when she was young. In this episode, Daniel spies a young, red-headed girl that might be Charlotte. Daniel has two choices – he either talks to her and tells her everything she remembered in the future, or he ignores her and tries to change the past. Daniel’s insistence earlier in the season, as well as with what we’ve seen of the self-consistency principle, generally points toward him telling her. However, if he doesn’t, then there’s a good chance that Dan, Sawyer and everyone else can manipulate the past in some frightening ways – frightening, at least, for those in the current timeline that will experience a “temporal rewrite.” Don’t worry, it’s painless. You won’t remember a thing.

3) The issue of Jacob is still out there, floating around. All we know is that Horace had the location and plans for Jacob’s cabin in his pocket when he died, and he appeared to Locke to let him know how to find it down in a pit filled with decaying bodies. The fact that Jacob hasn’t been more clearly identified up to this point only solidifies my suspicion that he is from another time – or, perhaps, he is someone who has become dislodged in time, much like how the Island has been skipping time. Jacob could turn out to be someone very close, or someone on the periphery. I’ll be interested to see how that all goes down.

4) Do all of you remember when Horace appeared to Locke last season and told Locke how he could find Jacob’s cabin? Horace appeared to John in a sort of “time loop” where he seemed to repeat the same actions over and over. As a result, this happened:

Is it mere coincidence that Horace appeared with a nose bleed, or does it signify some sort of temporal jumping or “phase state” like that of Christian Shephard, etc.? The one thing to bear in mind with this observation is that Horace’s last gasp during The Purge found him on a park bench with a major nosebleed from the nerve gas.

Does the gas have anything to do with the temporal flux disintegration of brain tissue? Or is it just a by-product of the gas on a normal scale? Is it all just a manner of Lost writers being fond of bleeding noses? We may never know.

I think that about wraps it up, for now. I’m sorry I don’t have more for all of you, but my eternal pining for Juliet has kept me up later than expected, and I’m starting to see double. I know I had more I wanted to discuss, but, for now, I’ll just make a note of anything between now and the next column. In the meantime, keep those thinking caps on, and if you have an epiphany, drop me a line and tell me something good.

Namaste.

- Chris Kirkman

Visit hobotrashcan.com to see Chris’ weekly LOST drink recipe!

Related posts:

1. “316″ Recap & Analysis By Chris Kirkman
2. “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” Recap & Analysis by Chris Kirkman
3. “The Little Prince” Recap & Theories By Chris Kirkman

I have to give props to the writers for continuing to surprise me even this late in the game. My first guess was that the name of this episode alluded to a new Dharma station. Then, when the Dharma dudes discovered Horace drunk and blowing up trees, I thought LaFleur was Smokey. (A little out of left field, I know, but you can never be sure about this show.) But Sawyer? That never occured to me.

So how did James and Jin end up working for the utopian usurpers? Let’s say they couldn’t have done it without Juliet. I’ve been impressed with her Other ninja-ness since she decked Kate while she was bringing her a sandwich back in season 3. “LaFleur” revealed her sharp shooter side. The Lefties probably would have never made it out of that field if not for Juliet. She took out two Others before Sawyer could even ready his rifle for cryin’ out loud. I, for one, would love to see a Ben’s Boot Camp episode.

The episode also raised a new batch of questions about Dharma. What happened to Olivia? Why was Amy able to deliver on the island? Who’s her baby? Where’s Ben? What kind of weird thing happens to dead bodies on the island? And there’s no way that was really Charlotte, right?

Sawyer and crew finally landed in 1974. After saving Amy from the Hostiles, they are taken back to the barracks. But not before being knocked out by the sonic fence, of course. Sawyer feeds Horace a spiel about being survivors of a shipwreck. He told him they were looking for the Black Rock. This was enough to temporarily sate Goodspeed, but not enough to buy them a long-term stay. Horace told him the sub was leaving tomorrow morning and that they would all be on it.

That night, while Sawyer was filling everyone else in on the situation, Daniel saw a little girl who he thought was Charlotte. Charlotte was born in 1979. This is 1974. There seems to be a slight discrepancy. I can’t imagine that TPTB could goof up something as rudimentary as that. So, was the little red headed girl a red herring or has something happened that caused her to be born some 10 years early? I need answers.

Richard came strolling into New Otherton that night to make all of Sawyer’s dreams come true. James took the opportunity to tell Alpert about his excellent adventure. Realizing that Sawyer was waiting for Locke’s second coming, too, he basically let the picnic bloodbath slide. He said he would need Paul’s body, though. After a little hesitation, Amy agreed. She said that he would want to keep them safe. So just what do the Others have planned for the “meat”, as Miles would say? Interment doesn’t seem to be standard Other operating procedure. Remember Colleen’s watery funeral pyre? Maybe buried bodies are fuel for Smokey’s fire.

Sawyer’s nighttime tete-a-tete bought them two more weeks on the island. He still had to use his southern charm to convince Juliet to stay. (Apparently the fact that it was the mid-70′s was a nonissue for her.) Then two weeks turned into three years. My bet is that’s the last we hear of it. Tempus fugit, you know.

And so, in 1977, while Sawyer and Miles are picking up a plastered Horace, Amy is having his baby. Juliet reticently delivered the child. A boy. And he’s healthy. Sawyer’s theory that whatever causes death by pregnancy hasn’t occured yet is interesting to me. It’s just as likely, I guess, that the not-so-happy couple conceived off of the island. They can come and go as they please. Or maybe pregnancy issues are a result of the incident. Maybe Dharma “unstuck” the island and it’s constant time fluctuations prevent the unborn from sticking to time themselves. It still leaves the question of who’s the baby. I’m not even going to guess about this one. Frankly, I can’t think of anyone who fits the timeframe, race, and who’s backstory doesn’t contradict what we learned in this episode. (Just for fun, I first thought of Boone and then Thomas, Claire’s baby daddy. Their both too young, though, and Thomas is apparently Widmore’s grandkid anyway.)

What about Ben? He certainly would have been on the island during the three years that Sawyer et al. stayed with Dharma. But there was no mention of him. Make of that what you will.

Olivia? News at 11, I guess.

Now, I would like to ask you, gentle reader, to explain to me just how the Lefties were able to integrate themselves with Dharma and not change the past. I get how it wouldn’t change the future – course correction and all – but Daniel told them they couldn’t do anything now that they didn’t do then. So, what’s up with this?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the quick glimpse we got of the statue. It seems certainly Egyptian to me. I’m not particularly interested in it myself. It’s only the second time we’ve seen it in five years. My guess is it’s not really crucial.

Finally, even though I’ve never watched Lost for it’s romantic angle, I like the Sawyer/Juliet pairing much more than I do the Jack/Kate one. Sawliet are happy and productive together. Let Jater make each other miserable. They’ll love it. And I am pretty interested to see how their sudden return effects Sawliet’s blissful tropic life.

Three out of five.

- Jeremiah

wearelost.wordpress.com

Related posts:

1. “316″ Recap by Jeremiah
2. “The Little Prince” Recap by Jeremiah
3. 5.03 “Jughead” Recap by Jeremiah

Source: The Monitor

Related posts:

1. Al Trautwig’s Thoughts on “316″
2. Al Trautwig’s Thoughts On “The Little Prince”
3. Al Trautwig’s Thoughts On “Jughead”

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Source: ABC.com

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2. The Official LOST Video Podcast – 02/19/2009
3. Official LOST Video Podcast – 01/28/2009

Below are the first reviews for “LaFleur” from around the web. It looks like most of the critics have enjoyed this episode as much as we have!

Over the next few days, we’ll be collecting and quoting additional reviews, as well as the recaps and analyses by Chris Kirkman, Jeremiah, Gitsie Girl and the SL-LOST Team. Oh, and there’s a “In Preparation for Season 5.5″ video coming soon, so stay tuned!

Click on the authors’ names to read the full articles.

1. Jeff Jensen (EW.com):

The timing of the episode couldn’t have better. As much as I dig trippy time travel puzzles and heady riffs on religion, reason, and existentialism, Lost‘s fifth season has very much lived inside its big old brain. ”LaFleur” — flower in French — felt as if the show decided to open up some windows and let some fresh spring air chase away the stuffiness. I laughed, I teared up (Juliet delivered a baby! She’s not the Passover angel, after all!), I got goosebumps. ”LaFleur” reminded me that Lost is at its best when the show is an emotionally-charged adventure story that keeps its geeky mysteries in the background — not invisible at all, but rather turned away from the drama lest they overwhelm us and the story. You know: Exactly like last night’s long-awaited return appearance by Four Toed Statue (Complete Edition), which loomed in the horizon, back turned to us and the castaways, standing like some Statue of Liberty scanning the horizon and beckoning lost, huddled masses to come to it shores…so Smokey can eat them. Decoding the visible details demands a Doc Jensen column of its own. But briefly: Looks Egyptian. Skirt, but no shirt — so despite the long hair, I’m thinking male. Those appear to be ankhs in the hands — symbolic of life in general and eternal life, specifically. And on the head, two pointy ears (Cat? Greyhound? Pig? Spock?) and a rectangular headpiece, like a crown or Jughead’s beanie. These clues could link to any number of Egyptian deities (Bast, Set, Anubis, and Horus will be popular guesses), though given how the Island’s wormhole exits into a different North Africa nation — Tunisia — I’m mulling Ba’al and Moloch, too. In that spirit, I would like to cover my ass and note that…we never actually saw that famous foot, did we? Was this really Four Toed Statue — or some monolithic companion? For now, let’s stick with the general vibe the Statue gives us: The Island appears to have once been home to an ancient civilization; and that Egyptian connotation reminds us that Egyptians were fixated on the afterlife and the possibility of resurrection. Both themes were detectable in ”LaFleur.”

[More reviews after the jump].

2. Alan Sepinwall:

“LaFleur” wasn’t a mind-blowing episode of “Lost,” nor one where we can spend a lot of time picking over it for clues about the larger mythology. But boy, was it fun.

Having shown us Dan in the ’70s in the season premiere, and having shown Jin driving the magic bus and wearing a Dharma jumpsuit at the end of “316,” the writers didn’t have much of a surprise left in showing that the rest of Sawyer’s motley band also wound up hanging with Horace Goodpseed and company. But that’s fine, because the the storytelling model of the last few seasons means that every now and then we need a filling-in-the-blanks episode, and this was one of the more entertaining ones they’ve ever done. Sometimes it’s nice to have an hour of “Lost” that’s relatively straightforward (even with the frequent Three Years Later/Earlier jumps), that doesn’t require an advanced degree from the Dr. Sam Beckett Fan Correspondence School for Quantum Theory to make sense of, that’s simply about the pleasure of watching a great character like James Ford doing his thing — and, for that matter, the pleasure of watching Juliet Burke do her thing right beside him.

3. Paul Levinson:

A fabulous, very satisfying all-island episode 5.8 of Lost tonight – one of the best Sawyer episodes, and, for that matter, one of the best Lost episodes of all time, also.

Speaking of which – time – Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Faraday, and Jin are back in the 1970s, and the island has stopped skipping, due to Locke’s turning of the wheel. We get a great immersion in prime Dharma time – before Ben and his father have arrived. Horace (who met Ben’s father and mother on the road in Oregon) is head of the Dharma island crew. He’s married to Amy (played by Reiko Aylesworth – Michelle Dressler on 24, and a pleasure to see again), who is having his baby boy.

But the real love story, and it’s a wonderful one, is between Sawyer and Juliet. She’s got Sawyer’s back, as he says, and he enables her to recover her confidence, culminating in her successful delivery of Horace and Amy’s baby.

4. Patrick Kevin Day (Los Angeles Times):

Just when “Lost’s” producers had sent us rushing out to pick up copies of the King James Bible with their allusions to Doubting Thomas and Christ-like iconography, now it appears we’re going to have to learn all about the ancient Egyptians’ beliefs in the afterlife as well.

It turns out Hurley’s watercolor of the Great Sphinx last week was apparently just a preview of what’s to come. In “LaFleur,” we finally got a glimpse of the rest of “Lost’s” famous four-toed statue, and although we only saw the back of it, it looks like it would be right at home in the Valley of the Kings.

But which Egyptian god is it? It could be Anubis, sure. But the ears look wrong. Maybe it’s Thoth? He passed judgment on the dead, among his other duties. The possibilities are endless, and we won’t know for sure until we see that face. Will it have an animal’s face — or the face of someone we know?

5. James Poniewozik (Time):

I’m guessing “LaFleur” will be a polarizing episode for Lost fans. It was chock-ful of the multiplying side characters, chronology that requires a slide rule, and dense history that make some people think Lost is a tease, an endless network of bottomless rabbit holes. Me, I can watch Dharma Initiative stuff until the second coming (of Locke, anyway), so I was in geek heaven with this one. The nerdiness, the cultiness, the microbuses—I love it all. Then again, I also liked the first part of season 3, and pretty much anything involving any hatch, ever, so take that with a grain of salt.

6. Ryan McGee (Zap2It.com):

Bloody brilliant, that’s the summary. By focusing exclusively on Those Left Behind, the show achieved a narrative focus that has been lacking this season. Even “Bentham,” with its Locke-centric storyline, didn’t feel as focused as this week’s outing. The Dharma Initiative is such an intrinsic part of the story of Lost, and yet so little is known. Putting our characters into the thick of things is a master stroke and justifies the somewhat wobbly road the show took to get there.

Now, that might sound like a harsh statement, but what this show’s attempting, narratively speaking, is damn near impossible and damn sure unprecedented. No one expected smooth sailing for the entire trip; the road through the first half of the season was always going to have the bumps that those flying Ajira 316 experienced. But man, it looks like the show might stick the landing after all, insane degree of difficulty be damned.

7. Maureen Ryan for the Chicago Tribune:

I was ambivalent about last week’s Locke-centric episode of “Lost.”

But I loved this week’s episode so much I think I want to marry it.

There were a couple flaws in “LeFleur”: It wasn’t seven hours long, and there was no Pierre Chang/Edgar Halliwax/Marvin Candle. In every other way, though — I loved it.

Last week was Christmas for Locke fans. This week was Christmas, Easter and Hanukkah all in one for us Dharma nerds. I’m super-tired right now, so forgive the lack of in-depth analysis or anything else that resembles coherent thought (I stayed up too late to watch the episode a second time).

8. Jonathan Toomey (TV Squad):

I think the best way to describe this episode was safe. Nothing crazy or out of place happened and you knew how it was going to end the second it began. Think of it this way – when we first started watching Lost, it was like dumping a giant puzzle onto the floor. At this point, the entire puzzle is assembled, and for the most part, we can almost see the big picture, save for a bunch of pieces that are still missing. “LaFleur” was one of those pieces.

9. Jace (Televisionaryblog.com):

I’ve long since given up trying to figure out who Kate will pick between Jack and Sawyer when given the chance and yet I couldn’t help but have my heart melted by this week’s episode of Lost (“LaFleur”), which featured a pairing between two characters that has been subtly building throughout Season Five.

Those of you who believed that this week’s episode would feature some sort of tearful reunion between Sawyer and Kate, returned to the island after three years apart, clearly don’t watch the series carefully enough: there was no way that Team Darlton was going to fulfill that tension without making the audience work for it. (We’ll have to wait two weeks for that.)

10. Drew McWeeny (HitFix.com):

I think it’s now safe to assume that anyone who thought Sawyer was going to be the subject of the four-toed giant statue was wrong.  The statue is waaaaaaaay back in time in the Island’s history.  And after just a glimpse of it, they’re launched forward in time again, and they land sometime in the early days of the Dharma Initiative’s struggle with the Others.  And this time, when they land, they land in a way that makes them feel like maybe John Locke pulled off what he was trying to pull off.  Maybe he put the needle back in the groove, because everyone’s headache goes away, and there are no more flashes.

Now that the writers aren’t bound to one structure that’s the same each time, they are free to play with time in all new ways, and this time, the episode revolves around jumps either “Three Years Later” or “Three Years Earlier,” each time as punctuation to whatever we’ve just seen.  And it really works.  It pays off that jump in chronology each time, and it sets up a sense of where the story’s going, but not how it’s going to get there.  The introduction of LaFleur is pretty wonderful.  Sawyer just took back ownership of a significant piece of the show’s mythology.  He’s not just a survivor.  He’s a guy who knows how to live along the way.  He’s just as driven by his feelings about the Island as Locke ever was.  He’s just not as vocal about his crazy.

11. Cultural Learnings:

It has been said that the last two episodes of Lost, “316″ and “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham,” were sort of a launching point for the rest of the show’s fifth season, the one bit of major story material (focusing entirely on off-island activities beyond the bookends of each episode) that felt like it needed to be blatantly exposed to switch gears. “Lafleur,” then, has a lot to live up to: it takes us back to the storyline we’ve abandoned for two episodes, and has created new expectations and new mysteries upon which it is going to rely in the future.

But to answer Jin’s question immediately (and get to Juliet’s later), “Lafleur” establishes that the moment the island stopped “skipping,” the show has gone back to a familiar tune, one less driven by the series’ structure and far more by the series’ characters. What we have in this episode is the closest Lost has come to its initial purpose all season, offering up a few really intriguing character arcs that have created two parallel but ultimately very different series of flashforwards in regards to how these characters got to this place. Faraday seems to indicate that the record is playing the wrong song when they end up stuck in 1974, but the establishment of the “when” doesn’t lead the show to a detailed investigation as to why.

12. Chris Carabott (IGN.com):

Last week’s “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” was the closing of a chapter for Lost. In that chapter we discovered how some of the survivors of flight 815 got off the island and how they eventually returned. We also learned about the island’s unusual time traveling properties and that there are those out there (Charles Widmore) willing to kill to return to this seemingly magical paradise. “LaFleur” is the start of what could very well end up being the show’s final chapter. Its setup feels a lot like a series premiere; jumping ahead in time a few years (relatively speaking) from the point we had last left Sawyer, Jin, Juliet, Miles and Dan. The narrative successfully establishes a new direction for the story from here on out and gives us an exciting, yet familiar, setting for the next few episodes.

Related posts:

1. Episode 5.06 “316″ – 16 Reviews
2. EW Reviews the Season 5 Premiere
3. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – ABC Promo #3

TVbythenumbers.com reports:

The Lost vs. Lie to Me duel that looked so interesting earlier in the season now is only much of a battle in terms of total viewers.  In the youth demos, Lost is now winning handily.  Lie to Me will drop some in the finals due to American Idol overrun, and it’s half hour drops are still fairly noteworthy.  It dropped from 11.14 million the first half with a 3.9/10 (rating/share) in adults 18-49 to 9.24 million in the second half hour with a 3.3/8.

Lost fares better with 1970s themed episode than the already canceled (but will air its final episodes) Life on Mars.   Not up against American Idol this week, Lost bounced back up from a 4.4 to a 4.8 rating in adults 18-49.  But a little bit of Lost overrun (I think, I wasn’t paying attention to times last night) helped the Life on Mars numbers below.  LOM opened with 6.28 million and a 2.5/7 in 18-49s, but dropped to 5.03 million and a 1.7/5 the last half hour.

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Ratings for “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”
2. Nielsen Ratings for “316″
3. Nielsen Ratings For “The Little Prince”

Click to enlarge.

Related posts:

1. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – ABC Promo #3
2. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – HD Promo
3. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – ABC Promo

The episode has aired in Canada, so let’s get the discussion started! What did you think of the episode? Sound off in comments!

Episode 5.08 “La Fleur”

Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff & Kyle Pennington.
Directed by Mark Goldman.

[polldaddy poll="1425544"]

Related posts:

1. Episode 5.06 “316″ – Open Thread
2. Episode 5.04 “The Little Prince” – Open Thread
3. Episode 5.03 “Jughead” – Open Thread

This blog has many readers from Canada, so we’re sure you guys are going to be happy to hear that tonight’s LOST episode will be airing at 7 PM instead of 9 PM on the A-Channel. The reason for the change is because of the premiere of the 12th Season of “America’s Next Top Model”, which will be airing from 8PM until 10PM.

This means we will be publishing the open thread post for “LaFleur” at 8 PM EST, so those of you in Canada can start discussing and theorizing about the episode as soon as you have finished watching it!

Related posts:

1. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – Canadian Promo
2. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – ABC Promo #2
3. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – HD Promo

Don’t forget to visit SL-LOST.com tonight to discuss this episode!

Related posts:

1. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – ABC Promo #2
2. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – HD Promo
3. Episode 5.08 “LaFleur” – ABC Promo