Quick Hits (cont’d.)
- We learn Sawyer was going to propose to Juliet. Great, file that away in the “Crap I Don’t Care About” folder along with the furtive looks exchanged between Kate and Jack, and Kate hiding from the police.
That said, Josh Holloway’s done a solid job raising his game over the last season’s worth of episodes, and I’m eager to see the character grow a bit more. Ultimately, I could find some poetry in Sawyer eventually killing Jack — perhaps when Jack finally learns he must sacrifice himself to save everyone (be it our castaways or humanity). Reaching?
- I detected quite a few new pieces of score in tonight’s episode (can’t be sure without watching the episode again sans note-taking). I wonder if composer Michael Giacchino is subtly putting together some new themes around the redemption theme that will develop through the rest of the season.
- Welcome back, Ethan Rom. Or “Dr. Goodspeed,” if you’re to believe him (the namesake of Horace Goodspeed of the Dharma Initiative, killed in The Purge). His assuredly-not-coincidental presence in the emergency room Kate brought Claire to is another event for the 2.0 Oddities file.
His presence, while amiable, is evidence of what, exactly? It could simply mean the timeline was affected in both directions after Juliet set off the H-bomb (before and after Oceanic 815) and Ethan never became part of Dharma/The Others (especially since the Island’s now underwater in the 2.0 timeline). Just another friendly doctor, maybe? If I can buy Sawyer 2.0’s not a con-man, I suppose I could buy that. …
- Dogen’s baseball. Significance? Evidence of the timeframe he was brought to the Island?
I can’t recall any other shipwrecks or plane crashes that might’ve brought him there off the top of my head that would allow me to develop any real theory here, so add this to the bursting-at-the-seams “Things to Remember for Later” file.
- The episode ends with Dogen’s reveal that Jack’s sister, Claire, is also infected, followed by a Rousseau-esque Claire stumbling out of the woods after having saved Jin from his Other escorts.
So, let’s say Claire was grievously wounded but not killed in the Dharmaville house explosion a season or two ago. When last we saw her on the Island, she disappeared in the middle of a night after Christian Shepherd (or at least someone or something that looks like him) led her away. If, as we’ve surmised many times, that Christian was Smokey/Man-in-Black, could it stand to reason he led her to the Spring to be infected? Don’t the Others have a lifeguard on duty around that thing? Budget cuts in this sagging economy, maybe.
- Alright, really, if you haven’t figured out the significance of that sonogram after multiple seasons of watching a show riddled with Easter eggs and subtle clues having honed your detective skills, I’ll give you a break. Look again at the date on the sonogram:
10-22-2004. October 22nd, 2004. The day Oceanic 815 2.0 arrived in Los Angeles. The original 815 crashed on the Island September 22nd, 2004. A month’s difference. What does it all mean? Well, honestly, it’s probably just another subtle hint that things are just a little “off” in this 2.0 timeline, rather than the ultimate clue to solving the mystery of these flash-sideways-es.
Great write up and thanks for the tips/hints/theories. I, however, didn’t care for the episode as a whole…one leaves their captors, one follows, they run into others on the way, or way back, they get “caught”, they get complacent. The only “change” was Sawyer, finally ignoring Kate…let’s hope for good. I did recognize the guy who pops the rivet out of Kate’s handcuffs, but can’t remember off hand who he is/was. I like the idea that Jack should separate himself from his peers if he is truly to “lead”. I agree. Not understanding the whole “sideways” flashes….being in two places at once…..but as you said last week, since we have embraced the whole time travel thing, I’ll try to focus on figuring it out. Could actions taken in each “sideways” time period affect both directions? ie if a character does something on the island, could that behavior affect the mainland behavior, and vice versa? since you noted the time periods appear to be a month out of sync? (In some ways, LOST is like an Agatha Christie mystery….anyone could be the murderer, the author just explains at the end who does it and when and why.) Hopefully the LOST writers won’t do the same type of “ending”, where all of these theories and possibilities are just red herrings. But, they have promised us an ending with integrity, so hoping for the best.
what about Ethan?