Episode Recap: "The Variable"

Can you believe this is the 100th episode of LOST?! Exciting stuff!

Here are the random thoughts I jotted down while watching this episode:

• Little Charlie is so cute! I do hope his daddy is alright. UPDATE: Yes, he IS ok!
  


• Mrs. Hawking was one mean mama. No piano for you little Daniel, and no girlfriend either.
  


• Faraday: "I'm ... from the future." Ha.
  


• Phil is in the kitchen cabinet. Now that's gotta hurt.
  


• Sawyer to Faraday: "Welcome to the meeting Twitchy."
  


• What happened to Faraday's memory? Is it b/c he experimented on himself so much? But if so, why did he move on to experimenting on Theresa? Did something go wrong AFTER the Theresa debacle?
  


• Ellie Other IS Eloise Hawking. We knew it all along, didn't we? UPDATE: I wish they would have kept the same actress from the 1950s Others - I liked her Ellie much better.
  


• Sawyer calling Faraday HG Wells = hilarious
  


• Radzinsky is NUTS. Why were he and his goons toting around guns in the first place? What were they up to?
  


• Mrs. Hawking looked very creepy when she told Daniel that going back to the island would make her proud. What's up with her? Does she know something bad will happen to him? UPDATE: Daniel IS the son of Ellie and Charles (another thing we highly suspected) and mom definitely knows something bad is going to happen to him back on the island. UPDATE UPDATE: Mom shot her son!!!! AAAAHHHH! How could she tell him to go back when she knew that was going to happen?!?!?!?!
  


• Desmond really is OK. *huge sigh of relief*

Very exciting episode in my opinion. What do you all think?

My burning questions for this week:

1. WHY did Mrs. Hawking send Daniel back knowing full well what would happen? What mother could DO that?!
   


2. I'm feeling hopeful that Des and Pen will have a happy ending after all ... do you agree/disagree?
   


3. What's the deal with Radzinsky? Is there something going on we don't know about?
   


4. Was Daniel right, people really are the variables? Or was he wrong, and they really can't change anything?

Link up to your review and/or share your thoughts in the comments. Go on, get going!

Suing Desmond?!

Yep, you read that right - someone is suing Henry Ian Cusick (aka Desmond) ... and you won't believe what the charge is.

Read all about it at this link, then come back and share your thoughts here. You may want to read some of the comments on that post as well (or maybe not, as they are rather "heated" ...).

Episode Recap: Oceanic 6 Retrospective ...

No, I'm not really going to recap Wednesday night's episode so don't worry. However, I WOULD like to know what you all thought of it. (Of course, if you did your own recap feel free to link to it in the comment section.)

1. Did you learn anything you didn't already know?
2. Did it help to see things in the order that they happened?
3. Was it helpful in any (other) way?
4. Was it a waste of an episode?
5. Why do you think the network did it?

Please post a comment with your answers to any/all of these. Curious minds want to know!

I'll get things started ...

1. Nope.
2. Actually, yes, quite, especially the first 1/2 of the episode.
   
3. Only as a reminder of what went on before ... but I could have done without that.
4. Um, yes ...
   
5. To make the season last one more week to keep the viewers around longer.

Cynical? Me?! No way.

What do YOU think?

Book Review: Evil Under the Sun

Evil Under the Sun is one of Agatha Christie's mystery novels that features the quirky Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. I've read several of Christie's novels, but never one with Poirot as the central character. I've seen lots of his adventures on PBS, where he is expertly played by David Suchet, and the novel was just as good. Poirot is such a great character! He is conceited and a little snooty and of course overly observant. He views the world completely differently than the other police detectives involved, so of course he can comprehend the convoluted crimes long before Scotland Yard and the local constables.

In this particular novel Poirot is on vacation at a fashionable seaside hotel called the Jolly Roger. He meets several other interesting guests and spends quite a bit of time visiting with all of them. The subject of all of their gossip is the beautiful stage actress Arlena Marshall and her penchant for collecting men....despite the fact that she is married to the handsome, quiet, and long suffering Capt. Marshall. The other guests watch aghast as Arlena seduces another younger vacationer right out from under the eyes of his newlywed wife. As the lovers spend more and more time together his mousy wife becomes increasingly distressed and withdrawn.

On the other hand Arlena's husband seems not to notice anything amiss at all and continues to live in his own little world, ignoring both his wife and his teen aged daughter Linda, who incidentally, hates her step mother and her philandering ways. As is sure to happen in a Christie novel, Arlena is found strangled to death on the beach one afternoon and her husband, her step daughter and her new male companion's little mousy wife are all suspects. Her new boyfriend has an airtight alibi or he would have been a suspect too.

I won't tell you what happens in case you want to read it (it is a very good book after all) but of course Poirot solves the murder and two other cold cases in the process. The least likely people are discovered to be in cahoots and behind it all. He also uncovers a drug ring and some secret witchcraft goings-on. Man, that guy is amazing. But what does all of this have to do with LOST?

One of the obvious connections is that the Jolly Roger hotel is on an island....an island that is cutoff from the mainland during high tide. Almost all of the action takes place on a beach and the only mode of transportation is row boat. But the bigger connection, and the reason I think this book was featured, is the love triangle.

Sawyer was reading Evil Under the Sun in the episode entitled "Expose". Remember that one? Yeah, that's the one where we see the back story of Nikki and Paolo. They conspire to rob and kill a rich guy and then start to mistrust each other when it comes to finding the money on the island. In the end they are bitten by Artz' poisonous spiders and are buried alive. This book totally parallels that story line. Those LOST writers get more and more brilliant all the time, don't they?

Season Finale Spoilers?

Michael Emerson, the ever-lovable Ben (NOT!), was interviewed on SciFiWire.com regarding the upcoming season finale. I haven't watched it yet because I really don't want to know ANYTHING that is coming up ... but maybe you do? Here's the link ... feel free to comment below and tell me if I should watch it or not!

Episode Recap: "Some Like It Hoth"

What an episode! This week I jotted notes as I was watching - here's what I was thinking as the show progressed:

• Miles WAS the baby we saw with the Dharma Doc a few episodes ago. Does he know who his father is?!


• "Circle of Trust" - HA! That is such a typical Island phrase, don't you think?


• I think Juliette could have come up with a better explanation for Ben's disappearance. What was she doing all the time that Sawyer and Kate were gone?!


• Aha! Miles DOES know who his father is.


• Hmm, I kinda like young punk Miles.


• I'd completely forgotten about the Miles/Naomi connection. I'm so used to thinking of him as part of our main group that I forgot he was a freighter-ite.


• Jack could have handled Roger's suspicions about Kate a bit better.


• Hurley in the van with Miles and Dharma Doc = hilarious.


• "Cause they're building our hatch." - Hurley


• Again with the "shadow of the statue" thing - who ARE these guys? Were they on the Ajira flight with Ilana? The guy talking to Miles looks very familiar ...


• Hurley is writing Star Wars!


• "Get some rope." - Sawyer


• Hurley comparing Miles to Luke Skywalker = classic.


• Who are the scientists on the boat going to be? I bet there's someone we recognize. And it's Faraday. Ha! That totally debunks my theory, but I remember thinking that he could have left the island too. (Didn't we discuss this at some point? I'm certain it was on one of your blogs....)

I'm not sure what to think about next week's episode. It reminds me of the Survivor episodes when they post a bunch of random clips just to give you a better idea of what is going on at camp. I usually skip those episodes. Do you think there will be anything new in next week's Lost, or do you think it will just be a chronological retelling of clips we've already seen?

So ... thoughts? Analysis? Theories? Favorite lines of the night? Link up to your post and let us in on your thoughts or post a comment and share right here.

Episode Recap: "Dead is Dead"

This episode certainly had lots of info in it! Here are my random thoughts for today:

• GO DESMOND! I was so concerned that Ben was going to kill Penny or Charlie and I was THRILLED with the beating Des gave him.


• I like the new John Locke ... he's sort of "zen" don't you think?


• Ben is such a liar! I know, I know, nothing new there. But MAN! He had a different story for every person he talked to. How does he not get confused?!


• Do we think Cesar is DEAD dead, or just "island" dead (meaning he comes back over and over again)?


• What did you think of the Ben/Rousseau episode? As a mom, I think I'd have attacked the guy who was taking my baby, but who knows ... all I can say is that my heart was breaking for her.


• Penny was born to a "non-islander" and apparently never lived on the island herself. Charles's "off-island" affair seems to have led to Ben's takeover as leader of The Others.


• Ben's Dharmaville house has a secret, hieroglyphic-covered passage. If the Dharma-ites built those houses, what were THEY doing with that passage? And who lived there before Ben?!


• It looks like everyone who speculated about the ancient Egyptian connection might be right. There were definitely hieroglyphics down there and lots of Egyptian-type imagery.


• So ... Smokey shows a person things from his/her past. That certainly jives with what we've seen so far (remember Mr. Eko?). But what did Smokey see in Ben that kept it from killing him?


• Is Alex really alive, or was she a manifestation of Smokey or "island magic"?


• Ilana appears to be the head of yet ANOTHER group of dangerous people ... who is she connected to? I don't think it is Ben ... Charles, maybe? Someone else?

I'm sure I've missed something - feel free to add more in the comments. Oh, and the previews for next week look great. I can't wait to see more about Dr. Whatever-His-Real-Name-Is and what he is REALLY doing on the island. And we get to learn more about Miles too - yeah!

What did you think about this episode? Comment or post a link to your recap/analysis below.

Faraday Theory

Amy's recap this week got me thinking about Faraday and now I've come up with a theory. I mentioned this in the comment section of a few blogs but I'm posting it here because I want your input.


Here's my theory:

We've discussed the idea that island Ellie is actually Faraday's mom, Mrs. Hawking. I'm pretty sure that is the case. (We've also discussed the possibility that she is young Charles Widmore's girlfriend/wife. I think this is likely as well.)

I think Faraday went a bit loopy after all the time travel stuff and seeing Charlotte as a child. He couldn't stop trying to find a way to fix things. So he defected to The Others to join his mother, who he knew would be there. Then he spent the next several years teaching her all she needs to know so that in the "future" she can send the O6 back to the island (like we saw her do earlier this season) and MAYBE even fix the timeline for everyone.

So ... crazy theory or logical LOST plot progression? You decide.

Episode Recap: "Whatever Happened, Happened"

So sorry for my absence last week ... but I'm here now!

Lots going on this week for sure. Here's what we've got:

• Kate and Juliette's motherly instincts kick in and they both try to save Ben's life. Stereotypical women or legitimate plot point? You decide.

• What is Roger going to do to Ben now that he knows about the stolen keys?


• Kate and Cassidy stayed close friends during the "past" three years.


• Clare's mom DOES have Aaron. I know some of you suspected it but I was doubtful - I thought Kate left him with Cassidy.


• Ben's going to forget about the shooting (hence the reason he doesn't recognize Sayid later ... which means Ben won't see Sayid again, right?) but is he going to forget about freeing Sayid? How much memory will be gone?


• Charles Widmore and Ellie are still with The Others. Is Ellie actually Mrs. Faraday? Is the situation with Ben what drives Charles from the island? (And speaking of Faraday, where the heck IS he?!)


• Richard took Ben to the temple! Hopefully we'll find out next time what he did there.

Some great lines:

• Sawyer about Juliette: "I'm doing this for her." Yea!


• Richard about Ben: "His innocence will be gone." What exactly does that mean?


• Locke to Ben: "Welcome back to the land of the living." Oooooh.

My favorite part? The conversation between Hurley and Miles about time travel. HA! That was GREAT! Is it just me, or is that the same conversation we've all been having with other LOST fans all season?!

I'm sure I'm missing some stuff so please, comment away. And be sure to post the link to YOUR recap/analysis in Mr. Linky below.*

*Dare I admit that I haven't had time to read all your posts from last week? But I WILL - I promise, I will.