Here we go again

Lots o’ non-eventful setup tonight, but well done nonetheless. Expect next week’s two-hour blowout finale to have a little more meat. I’ll undoubtedly have an exhaustive wrap-up after that, so I’ll get right to the bullet points this week.

Quick Hits

• Another station! Huzzah! I’m hoping we get eight more before the show’s over. “The Looking Glass” is an underwater station tethered to (and not powered by) the island by the long-questioned cable the castaways found in season one. It’s purpose, among others I assume, is to jam radio signals coming into or out of the island.

  

  

  I also have to assume the station can communicate with the outside world, as Ben was intent on keeping his minions away from it. (Juliet relates that Ben told her and the other Others there was an “accident” there that flooded the entirety of the station). Another incidence of Ben’s maintaining psychological control over his cult. It sure didn’t look abandoned or flooded upon Charlie’s arrival:

  

  (It may just be a matter of time before it is flooded, however, as Charlie might not have a choice if he wants to escape the two gun-wielding femmaninas and flip the switch. Flooding the place might be a sufficient diversion. It’d also bring to fruition Desmond’s vision of Charlie finally biting the big one.)

• I couldn’t mention a new station without giving our updated tally:
  • The Swan (imploded)
  • The Flame (exploded)
  • The Pearl (buried)
  • The Hydra (abandoned)
  • The Broom Closet (emptied)
  • The Staff (doctored)
  • The Arrow (dirtied)
  • The Looking Glass (hydrated)

  

• Driveshaft has a greatest hits album? Did they even release more than their one debut album? I guess the three remaining members of the band had to cash in on Charlie’s death somehow.
• We learn from Charlie’s brother that the “DS” on the family heirloom/ring refers to “Dexter Stratton,” the initials of which were the inspiration for their band’s name.

  

  I found nothing on Google about Mr. Stratton, so perhaps he’s someone we’ll meet in future (past) flashbacks.

• Was it really necessary for Danielle to blow up that tree? I know our castaways have a lot to learn about things, but I think they’re smart enough to know what dynamite is without needing a demonstration.

  

• Naomi’s a fellow Briton, as Charlie learns, hailing from Manchester (I believe). A Portuguese-speaking Brazilian living in England? Makes perfect sense. One tangential observation about foreigners in England concerns the woman Charlie rescued in the alley after his street performance. My first reaction to seeing her was, “is that Nadia?!” I’m not so sure after rewinding it a few times, but the initial resemblance was striking.

  
  Nadia

  
  Nadia?

  Nadia, for those who just had that go over their head, was Sayid’s long-lost love from Iraq, for whom Locke inspected a house in 2×17.

• Another entry for the Uncanny Resemblance Department: my first gut reaction to seeing the second woman with the rifle down in the Looking Glass was, “is that Sawyer’s jilted lover and mother of his daughter, Clementine?”

  
  Cassidy

  
  Cassidy?

• Nice to see Rose & Bernard after a very long absence, in their knot-tying extravaganza scene. Bernard’s apparently a good shot with a rifle as well. I wonder where he picked that skill up.
• It’s Day 90, according to Jack.
• I guess that rabbit from last week ran out of lives.

  

  Perish the thought. I suppose it could’ve been a chicken, right?

Other Stuff from Other Sites

• Speaking of rabbits, here’s the Looking Glass insignia:

  
  [Sledgweb]

  The show’s writers sure do love these rabbits, with repeated references to Watership Down, the #8 rabbit Ben uses, the episode titled “White Rabbit” in season one, and now the new station logo. “Through the looking glass,” by the way, is a reference to Alice in Wonderland, in which the White Rabbit (!) led Alice into Wonderland. The “looking glass” is a metaphor for the door between worlds–this station is undoubtedly the key to unlocking the door to back to the real world for our castaways.

FYI, there’s a special Lost summary/primer show airing tomorrow (Thursday) night on ABC around 9:30. It’s been a great ride thus far, get ready for the fireworks next Wednesday. The title of the episode is “Through the Looking Glass.” Hmm, I wonder what that could mean. Big, fundamental changes to the show’s premise, methinks, folks.