Tag: Locke

Lost: One Last Time

Way back when I first started watching Lost, I was drawn to the show because of all the mysteries.  While the characters were somewhat interesting, I watched because I wanted to find out more about the Island.  As the seasons progressed, sure, I liked the characters, but I wanted to learn more about things like the DHARMA Initiative, the smoke monster and the frozen donkey wheel.

Well, tonight was Lost’s final episode.  And not all of my questions have been answered.  But the finale was so emotionally satisfying, especially for the show’s characters that I find myself not caring about the mysteries.

Funny how these things work.

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What About Waaaalt?

This is the second entry in a series titled “IWant Some Freakin’ Answers.”  From time to time, I’ll talk about some of the things we’ve seen over the past five seasons of Lost that I’d like answered.  I’m not going to deal with topics we know will get answered (like the smoke monster), but rather those things that no one but die-hard Lost fans would care about.  It’s very likely that not everything will be answered, and even possible that some may be passed off as continuity errors, but Lost wouldn’t have obsessive fans if people didn’t care about the little things, right?

Out of all the Lost cast members, life outside the show has been most unkind to Malcolm David Kelley, who played Walt Lloyd (a.k.a. WAAAALT! or “My boy”).  Originally playing a ten year old boy, Kelley started his growth spurt in the years following Season 1, as he was removed from the show’s main cast (in a surprisingly benign way) while making cameo appearances throughout the following season.

During Season 1, we got the impression that Walt was not quite normal.  Called “special” by several people, Walt was kidnapped by the Others after flashing some knife throwing and bird attracting skills.  In addition, Walt also hinted at having the abilities of precognition and astral projection–all leading up to the question behind this week’s I Want Some Freakin’ Answers — what is (or was) up with Walt?

Originally portrayed as Michael’s rebellious kid (or alternatively, the kid Michael was stuck with raising) after crashing on the island, Walt quickly became friends with Locke and Hurley.  Locke and Boone taught Walt how to throw a mean knife, and Hurley taught Walt all about gambling (although, Hurley lost a lot of money to Walt, so maybe Hugo was really teaching him how not to play backgammon).  “Special,” a flashback episode devoted to Walt and Michael established that Walt was raised by his mother and an unwilling stepfather who was spooked by some weird things that happened whenever Walt was around.

More weirdness happened later in the first season, during a discussion between Walt and Locke.  Locke reached out to touch Walt, who got implored Locke “Don’t open it, Mr. Locke. Don’t open that thing.”  Spooked by his encounter with Locke and a chilling vision of things to come, Walt willingly left the island with his father on the raft, only to be kidnapped by the Others.

Even though he was in the care of the Others, Walt appeared to Shannon twice, speaking backwards (much like another little man from another place), warning of doom shortly before Shannon’s death.  Walt (or more likely, the Others) communicated to Michael through the Swan’s computer, who was slowly losing his sanity.  The trick worked, sending Michael off the deep end and giving the Others their bargaining chip in Ben’s plan to get Jack to do the spinal surgery which would save Ben’s life.

In a Missing Piece produced between the third and fourth seasons, we learned that the Others were just as scared of Walt’s powers as his step father was.  We didn’t learn anything of the powers or what benefit they would serve to the Island, but we learned that he was one scary kid.

After being captured by the Others, Michael is asked several questions about Walt, including “has Walt ever been somewhere he wasn’t meant to be?”  Partially because he was an absent father for most of Walt’s life, Michael is unable to answer these questions, but is able to bargain for his and Walt’s freedom, as well as a safe way off the island.  In a brief meeting, Walt tells Michael the others aren’t who they seem to be and that he spends his time taking tests.

Finally, Michael turns in Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley (in addition to killing Ana Lucia and Libby) and at the end of Season Two, sets off for civilization.  Here, Walt and Michael’s paths diverge.  Michael agrees to help the Others by posing as a spy on Widmore’s ship.  On the other hand, Walt goes back to school (but not before appearing to a near-death Locke on the island and urging him to finish up his work), and meets Jeremy Bentham/John Locke and travels to visit Hurley.

Walt meets Jeremy Bentham.

It would be nice in the final season to find out what was going on with Walt.  Why did the Others want him?  How did they know that he was special?  Did he have other gifts than killing birds and appearing in places he wasn’t supposed to be?  What did the Others get out of him?  And why was he so fearful about the hatch.

There are a lot of loose ends in regard to Walt.  And because he’s appeared on the show sparingly since the end of Season One, I don’t have many guesses as to how and if he fits in in the overall scheme of things.  If they were to bring him back, at least Walt would reach Malcolm David Kelley’s real-life age, so if they were to bring him back, now would be an appropriate time.

And hopefully, we’d find out whether Walt got that $83,000 Hurley owed him.

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The Incident and The Accident

Dude 1: You’re still trying to prove me wrong, aren’t you?

Dude 2: You are wrong.

Dude 1: They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt.  It always ends the same.

Dude 2: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, it’s just progress.

And so began tonight’s episode of Lost, the final episode of Season 5, The Incident. If anyone has any idea what happened, I’d like to know.

I had to watch that opening scene of tonights episode more than once.  I felt like there were a lot of hints involved in the conversation between Jacob and the adversary.  Between that and all the flashbacks involving Jacob and characters we’ve known for a while, it almost felt like we were watching a different show.  And with the ambigious ending of tonight’s two-hour Lost extravaganza, we Lost fans are left wondering whether it will even be the same show that returns in February of 2010.  Not to mention we’re all stuck counting down the days for some answers.  I’m sure the creators of Lost wouldn’t have it any other way.

So Jacob’s been around a while. He lives under the statue (or as some might say, in the shadow of the statue).  He can leave the island at will and has healing powers.  Through various methods, he brings people to the island.  And he shares the island with the adversary who wants to kill him, but because of some nebulous agreement, can’t.  It’s hinted that the adversary doesn’t always appreciate Jacob’s bringing people to the island and has a low opinion of mere mortals.  But he’s more than happy to use them for his nefarious means.

Well, Jacob has brought these people to the island for a reason (the aforementioned progress).  How that fits in with the incident at the Swan site and all the other assorted happenings on the island is anyone’s guess.  One of the many things we’ll have to wait until next February for.

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Follow[ing] The Leader May Not Be The Best Idea

Since coming back from the dead, John Locke hasn’t been quite right, and all signs pointed to him going off the deep end on tonight’s episode of Lost, Follow The Leader.

First of all, there’s the very fact that he came back from the dead, which seemingly goes against the laws of nature (which may or may not apply on Lost Island).   Secondly, he’s had a higher-than-usual rapport with the island- knowing what to do and where to go, and as we saw tonight, knowing exactly when he was.

And finally, tonight, we heard of Locke’s plan, which made me think he’s lost it. Continue reading “Follow[ing] The Leader May Not Be The Best Idea” →

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Ben Linus Would Rather Be Dead [Is Dead]

I’m sitting here, 20 minutes after the ending of tonight’s episode of Lost, Dead Is Dead, wondering what to say.

As with any episode of Lost featuring Ben or Locke, it was a solid episode.  Throw in some exposition about Ben’s past along with hints at some longtime island mysteries, and you have an awesome episode.

I was on the edge of my seat all night, and before I knew it, this episode was over.  And I couldn’t really think of anything to say about it.  So I’ll start with this:

If, like Ben, at the end, we’re judged by the hairstyles we had earlier in our life, I’m in trouble.

And if you’ve ever seen the Superman curl that I had earlier in life, that’s big trouble.

But enough about me. Back to Lost…

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Driving Mister Bentham

Locke and AbbadonSo you’re on a path to sacrificing your life to get your friends back to a magical island.  You turn a magical frozen donkey wheel (the wrong way).  You’re about to find out the love of your life is dead while being driven around by a really creepy guy you had a spooky encounter with in the past.  Your leg is broken and you’re stranded in the middle of the Tunisian desert. Once night falls, you’re apprehended by a bunch of guys in a pickup truck and taken to what passes for a Tunisian hospital.  Once there, you’re attended to by the Tunisian version of House.  

Welcome back to civilization, John Locke Jeremy Bentham.

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[This Place is] Death on a Redheaded Perm

So Charlotte, Lost’s most annoying on-island (for Season 5) character is dead, and I’m supposed to care.

I don’t mean to sound callow, but ever since she showed up on the island (“Don’t you people want to be rescued?”), she annoyed me, and I’m just not sad to see she’s gone.  Or, as The Civee put it, “I’m glad Charlotte’s dead, because this plot is boring.”

I wouldn’t entirely put it that way–her last few minutes established that Faraday tried to break his “don’t do it, because you can’t change it anyway” rule, which should mean he gets into some interesting situations during his next jump.  Speaking of which, if he meets Charlotte back in the day, then shouldn’t he be, like, her Constant?

Perhaps the most interesting revelation in tonight’s episode comes from a different story thread: John Locke can’t follow orders.  When he meets Christian at the bottom of the well, Christian emphasizes the fact that Locke was supposed to move the island.  But Ben moved it instead, causing the whole mess the island has gotten itself into.  Well, a few seconds later, Christian tells Locke he has to push the frozen donkey wheel.  And what does Locke do? Well, permit me to illustrate:

In the above screen capture, we see Locke with the wheel.  The blue arrow represents the direction Locke would have had to go to push the wheel.  However, Locke moves in the direction of the yellow arrow, pulling the wheel.  

And this is the guy they expect to save the island?

A few other thoughts:

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