Let's get To it, shall we?
This is Jack's eye. This is Jack's eye opening. This is Jack's eye discovering that he has survived falling out of a plane, somewhere between 30,000 feet and this bamboo grove. Again.
Wonder why most of that is in italics? Because that's the same three sentences I used to open my recap of the pilot episode.
Sadly for him, Jack has no remarkably unbroken bottles of booze this time, just a fragment of paper with the words "I wish" written on it. Probably wishing for booze or some Oxy...
Instead of seeing Vincent, Jack hears Hurley shouting for help somewhere in the jungle. A quick, panicky run later and Jack sees the big man using a guitar case in his struggle to stay afloat in the lagoon where Kate and Sawyer once tried to get on each other's case.
Without hesitation, Jack dives over the waterfall into the lagoon and rescues Hurley. Once the big guy is safe, he looks around and sees Kate lying unconscious on the opposite bank. A few seconds later, her eyes flutter open and she asks if they're actually where she thinks they are.
"Yeah. We're back."
Shift to 46 hours earlier.
Mrs. Hawking leads the band of returnees into the basement of the church, which is outfitted an awful lot like the Swan station, concrete walls with power cables strung along them leading to a heavy metal door. Behind the door is the room with the computers and the Foucault's pendulum that we had seen her working with previously.
Jack asks Ben if he knew about this place, which Ben claims not to have.
"Is he telling the truth?"
"Probably not." Mrs. Hawking, in true academic fashion, seems to have little use for the niceties of polite conversation. Either that or she likes to piss off Ben.
Jack spies a U.S. Army top secret photograph from 1954 that shows a familiar looking vista. Mrs. Hawking pulls him back to the present so she can explain the situation.
She launches into an explanation of how the Dharma Initiative used this "Lamp Post" station to find the island, thanks to the clever calculation of an unnamed clever man and his team. Anyone want to bet that that clever man is Daniel Faraday? Yeah, no bet. Obvious answers folks.
(*Yet another Dharma reference sidenote: C.S. Lewis placed a lamp-post at the crossroads between good and evil in his Narnia tales. This might be why the station is so named, but then again, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and it might be called the Lamp Post because it lights the way to a destination.*)
Hawking explains that the pendulum and the equations from the Lamp Post station allow them to find where the island will be at certain points in time. Apparently, the island is constantly moving and only the Lamp Post (or pure, dumb luck) can find it. She has calculated that the group has about 36 hours in which they can get to the island and after that their window will have closed.
After this explanation, Desmond finally speaks up.
"I'm sorry. Excuse me? Am I really hearing this? That's what this is about? You're all going back to the island, willingly?"
"Yes. Why are you here, Desmond?" asks Sun.
"I came here to deliver a message. Daniel Faraday...your son, sent me here." Desmond strolls casually past the swinging pendulum as he delivers his message, and as was pointed out at the Purple Hatch by Charlotte, this seems to be symbolic of his special nature and his immunity from the rules of time and space that everyone else is subject to. "He wanted me to tell you that he and all the people on the island need your help. He said that only you could help him. He didn't say 'Jack', he didn't say 'Sun', he didn't say 'Ben', he said you."
"But I am helping, dear." Another conversation about the semantics of instructions. You'd think that if someone delivered a message via time travel, you'd pay closer attention to the actual words...
"Consider the message delivered."
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Desmond, but the island isn't done with you yet."
Desmond rounds on Jack and gives him some advice.
"This woman cost me four years of my life. Four years that I'll never get back, because you told me that I was supposed to go to that island. That it was my bloody purpose. You listen to me, brotha, and you listen carefully. These people, they're just using us. They're playing some kind of game and we're just the pieces. Whatever she tells you t'do, ignore it." Yeah, just like Hurley was supposed to do the opposite of what Ben said...'cuz we all know how well that worked out.
He turns to Mrs. Hawking and delivers his final message.
"You say the island's not done with me, well, I'm done with the island." He walks out through the swinging pendulum, as if it weren't there.
As Chooch pointed out during this week's radio show at TVGasm, no one seems at all dismayed that Desmond took three years to deliver a message about people needing help.
DesEx. When it absolutely, positively needs to be there some time in the next three years or so.
Undeterred, Mrs. Hawking points to the binder in Jack's hands that holds the key to finding the island again.
"Ajira Airways, Flight 316. If you have any hope of the island bringing you back, it must be that plane. You all need to be on it. It must be that flight. If you want to return, you need to recreate as best you can the circumstances that brought you there in the first place. That means as many of the same people as you are able to bring with you."
"And what if we can't get anyone else to come with us? What if we're it?"
"All I can tell you is the result would be...unpredictable."
"So that's it. We just get on that flight and we just hope that it works. That's all?"
"No, that's not all, Jack. At least not for you."
With that cryptic statement, Hawking leads Jack into her office where she hands him an envelope addressed to him. It's Locke's suicide note. Jack didn't know that John had killed himself and seems a little humbled by being singled out for a note from him. Hawking them explains that Locke's body will act as a sort of substitute for Jack's father's body as part of satisfying the conditions of the island bringing them back. In order to make this work, Jack must give John something that belonged to his father before they get on the plane.
Jack is understandably annoyed and somewhat confused by all this, but then he obviously hasn't read much fantasy literature.
(*Magic sidenote: Magic in fantasy literature often works in a similar fashion, with certain conditions being required and once fulfilled allowing for the effect to take place. I point readers to the work of Terry Goodkind for examples. In Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels, a spell works only if all the conditions are met, regardless of how they are met. If a spell must be cast under water (for instance), the wizard might immerse himself in a bathtub, but casting the spell standing in a cave behind a waterfall would work just as well, because the condition has been met and the caster is, technically, under water. If the conditions are not met, then the spell often fails with disastrous results.*)
As Daniel Faraday once said, "That's where we leave science behind."
"My Father is gone. My Father has been dead for three years. You want me to...and to give it Locke. He's in a coffin! This is ridiculous!"
"Oh, stop thinking how ridiculous it is and start asking yourself whether or not you believe it's going to work. That's why it's called a 'leap of faith', Jack."
Oh. My.
"Stop thinking how ridiculous it is." She really said that! Remember the episode with Nikki and Paulo when every second line seemed like the characters were talking directly to the audience and "breaking the fourth wall"? It's like Hawking was talking to us! Knock-Knock!
Also, in relation to the "start asking yourself whether or not you believe it's going to work. That's why it's called a 'leap of faith'." line, I personally protest that this show, once so slick and cool, is now reusing lines from Touched by an Angel.
To follow up the concept of doubt and Jack's need to start believing (Why is belief without evidence considered a virtue?), Ben tells him the tale of Doubting Thomas. Thomas was the apostle who famously doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ and demanded to feel his wounds, the act of which completely convinced him. Ben explains that although this doubt is what he was most remembered for, Thomas was also willing to die with Jesus when he was threatened with death in Judea. Obviously, Ben is suggesting that Jack's doubt and his willingness to return to the island is similar to Thomas doubting Jesus. What isn't clear is whether Ben thinks John, Jacob, Christian Sheppard or even Ben himself is playing the part of Jesus in this little parable.
"We're all convinced sooner or later, Jack." Sorry Ben, I'm not convinced.
Ben leaves to tie up a loose end with an old friend and Jack heads to a bar to take the edge off the old Oxy withdrawal.
His phone rings and he heads over to a nursing home where Granddad Sheppard has made his fourth escape attempt. As Jack helps Granddad unpack his emergency escape kit, he comes across some familiar looking shoes. They belonged to his father and somehow wound up in Granddad's bag. Jack senses the hand of fate. I sense lazy writing.
Suddenly, Jack, Man of Science, Scoffer at Faith, is seeing Signs and Portents in hastily packed luggage. I'm sorry, but I happen to be a skeptic of the first order and the serendipitous appearance of footwear wouldn't turn me into a believer unless it fell from the clear blue sky, and even then I'd be looking for an airliner overhead. Jack is officially disbarred from the Man of Science Club.
(*Actor side note: Ray, Jack's Granddad is played by character actor Raymond J. Barry. Barry has, among other things, appearances in X-Files to his credit. He's one of those actors that you immediately recognize, even though you likely can't place him in a particular role. Take a look at his IMDB profile and you'll probably agree with me that we haven't seen the last of Ray Sheppard. Television producers don't usually go to the trouble of hiring an accomplished character actor like Barry for a single episode.*)
When he gets home, Jack hears a noise in his apartment that doesn't belong. He tracks it down to the bedroom, where Kate is waiting for him. Now that Jack is starting to believe in providence and the supernatural, he must've been thinking that the Booty Fairy popped by while he was out.
Kate tells him that she'll go back to the island with him. He asks her what happened and where Aaron is, but instead of an explanation, she tells him that the condition of her going with him is that he never ask about Aaron again. Bizarrely, Jack agrees and lets the matter lie as Kate pulls him back down to the bed.
Yeah, that made sense. Aaron disappears and Jack takes Kate's "Never ask that again" ultimatum as the final word on the subject. Hopefully there will be a deeper explanation to this unfit parent story line, but it really, really felt like more of that lazy writing. Unable to reconcile Loving Mother Kate with Going Back to the Island in a Plane that is Destined To Crash Kate, it seems like the writers just put Aaron on the back-burner until they could find a way to tie the supposedly special kid into the larger story. Like Walt. Hopefully little Aaron won't grow into a six foot tall man before they get back to him.
In the morning, Jack gives Kate coffee and orange juice, desperately trying to bring some normalcy to their dysfunctional relationship. She spots the magic shoes on the table (who puts shoes on the dining room table!?!) and Jack explains that they were his Dad's, intended for him to be buried in, but of course they never were used. Naturally, he doesn't tell her that he intends to give the magic shoes to Locke's corpse so that the magic shoes can crash their plane through the window that Mrs. Hawking told him about...'cuz that's just too much crazy over coffee.
(*Sneaker sidenote: Nice of them to finally explain why suit and tie corpse was wearing white running shoes...*)
The phone rings and Kate excuses herself in the age old "I really shouldn't have slept with you and this coffee and o.j. routine is making me regret it even more now that I'm seeing you in daylight" fashion, while Jack answers the phone.
It's Beat Up Ben!
(*Toy Line sidenote: Let's face it, "Beat Up Ben" is the name for the action figure. Now comes with ARM BREAKING Action and Removable Sling!*)
Ben needs Jack to pick up Locke's body, since he himself has been...sidetracked.
Since he's calling from a marina, speculation is rampant that he was there to kill Penny. While I'm advocating the Obvious Answer in all things LOST these days, I'm hoping that ain't the case. Mainly because it might mess up my Little Charlie Hume becomes Big Charlie Widmore hypothesis.
Jack goes to the butcher shop and Ben's friend Jill shows him to where they've got Locke stashed. All I can say is that the human cadaver is WAY too close to the meat intended for human consumption to make me comfortable with shopping there.
Jack opens the coffin and puts the magic shoes on Locke's feet.
"Wherever you are John, you must be laughing your ass off. I'm actually doing this. Cuz this, this is even crazier than you were."
He then tucks the unread suicide note in with the corpse. "I've already heard everything you had to say, John. You wanted me to go back, I'm going back."
I'm no expert on magic shoes, but wouldn't just tossing them in the coffin have worked just as well?
At the airport, the ticket taker quizzes Jack about the corpse he's transporting and once satisfied with Jack's explanation he reminds him that they will have to open the casket and screen it for security purposes. Jack is distracted by Kate sliding into line behind him, but he gets the paperwork completed.
As he heads to the next stage of his journey, the man in line behind him offers Jack his condolences on the loss of his friend. Look for the man in line behind Jack to get a name soon...
Sun joins Jack in the security line and the two of them see Sayid being escorted onto the plane in handcuffs, led by a law enforcement officer with an above average hot quotient.
(*Another X-Files tie in sidenote: Zuleikha Robinson plays "Ilana" here, but she's probably best known as Yves Adele Harlow on the X-Files spin off The Lone Gunmen and the single crossover episode of the X-Files. Oh and for real trivia buffs, Yves Adele Harlow is an anagram for Lee Harvey Oswald, the lone gunman of JFK fame. Her character uses numerous anagrams of Oswald's full name during the 13 episode run of the show.*)
In the waiting area, Hurley is reading a Spanish translation of this:
(*Comic Sidenote: Y: The Last Man is a comic book series that starts with the death of all male mammals on the planet except for one. This last carrier of the Y chromosome is the hero of the piece. I must admit something of a comic book blindspot here, as this is a comic book I've never read but have heard good things about. I'll try to do a little supplementary reading and see if there's any relevance within.*)
Hurley hears the attendant announce that there are plenty of standby seats and he rushes up to the desk.
"I bought those seats. All 78 of 'em. I'm Hugo Reyes. They're not open, they're mine. Check and see."
Aw, he's such a soft touch. Keeping 78 innocent people from death and/or a brutish and short existence as a red shirt.
The gang board the plane and just as the door closes, Ben scoots through at the last second, busted arm, cheese grater face and all.
Hurley briefly freaks out, but Jack calms him down.
The flight attendant hands Jack the unread suicide note, found during the security sweep of Locke's coffin.
(*WTF sidenote: Having seen first hand the kind of care taken by cargo handlers at international airports, I have a really hard time imagining that anyone doing a security sweep of Locke's body would bother trying to redirect a sealed envelope from the coffin to the passenger on the plane.*)
As Jack settles in to his seat across the aisle from Ben, he asks the punching bag just what he thinks will happen to the rest of the people on the plane.
"Who cares?"
Yes, I realize that shows just how amoral Ben really is, but more than that, it felt like another Knock-Knock moment from the powers that be behind the show. In other words, "Stop nitpicking about things like how many red shirts are on the island or why Jack put the shoes on the corpse and just watch the show, trusting that we know what we're doing." Um...no.
The plane takes off and once at cruising altitude, Jack heads over to talk to Kate.
"It's pretty crazy, huh?"
"Which part?"
"Hurley, Sayid being on the same plane. How did they end up here?"
"They bought a ticket." Kate can now be in my Man of Science Club. Actually, Kate can be in all my clubs.
"You don't think it means something that somehow we're all back together."
"We're on the same plane Jack. That doesn't make us together." And neither does a lousy cup of coffee and half a glass of o.j. you weepy twit.
Just then, the pilot makes his in flight welcome to the passengers. It's Frank J. Lapidus! I know that guy!
So does Jack and he gets the flight attendant (also with an above average quotient of hot, by the way) to get the captain so Jack can talk to his old friend.
As they chat about how Frank comes to be the captain of the doomed flight, Lapidus notices Sayid, then Hurley, Kate and Sun in the passenger cabin.
"Wait a second. We're not going to Guam, are we?"
Later in the flight, Jack sees Ben reading Ulysses by James Joyce.
(*Last sidenote for the week, I promise: Ulysses is a novel that parallels the Homeric tale, The Odyssey. For those unfamiliar with it, The Odyssey takes place after the Trojan War, following Odysseus as he tries to find his way back to his island home of Ithaca and his wife. Ulysses is the Roman version of the Greek Odysseus. Joyce's novel isn't exactly the Odyssey set in modern times, but it does have an element of that to it. The main character in Ulysses is "Leopold Bloom" which sounds suspiciously like "Desmond Hume", while in the Odyssey, Odysseus is married to...wait for it...Penelope.*)
"How can you read?"
"My Mother taught me." It's smart-ass remarks like that that get me in trouble all the time and I suspect that is also the explanation for Ben's constantly getting beat up.
"I can read, Jack, because it beats what you're doing."
"What's that?"
"Waiting for something to happen."
Sure enough, like the pot that never boils, the "Oh Shit" moment doesn't happen until after Jack finds something else to do. In this case, reading Locke's suicide note.
Jack,
I wish you had believed me.
JL
Short and to the point. Not much of an epitaph, but Locke always was a man of few words.
Hurley leans over to the guy who was in line behind Jack.
"Dude. You might want to fasten your seatbelt." He then pulls down his sleep mask and waits for the inevitable.
Things get ugly as the flight attendant and various baggage fly freely around the cabin, slamming into bulkheads and making nasty noises. Then a bright light and we're right back where we started.
These are Jack's eyes. These are Jack's eyes opening. These are Jack's eyes discovering that he has survived falling out of a plane, somewhere between 30,000 feet and this bamboo grove. Again...er...again.
Hurley cries for help, Jack dives into the lagoon, Jack rescues Hurley, Jack spots Kate, Jack botches the first aid procedure by moving the unconscious person before figuring out how bad her injuries are, all as before.
They all seem to not recall actually crashing on the island, just the bright light and waking up where we saw them. No sign of Sun, Sayid or Ben either. If this follows true to form from the pilot episode, Lapidus should be putting on his monster repellent if he wants to make it out of the cockpit alive...
The trio hear music coming from the jungle and see a familiar looking blue minibus come trundling out of the trees. A man steps out, hoists a rifle to his shoulder and aims it at the three returnees. They can hardly believe their eyes.
It's Jin!
