LOST: Time Immemorial

This week didn't present us with visions of the altneraverse. Instead, we saw how Richard Alpert came to the Island, and what a story it was. As was basically confirmed two weeks ago (and long predicted by one of my friends), Richard (or Ricardo as he was known back then) was on the Black Rock, a slave being brought to the New World. He was a peasant from the Canary Islands (so what part of the New World were they going to if they went from the East Atlantic to the South Pacific?) who accidentally killed a rich and uncaring doctor while trying to save his wife's life. Poor Ricardo didn't have the money to pay for expensive medicine from the doctor, and when the doctor tried to force Ricardo to leave, Ricardo grabbed onto him and threw him into a table. His wife died, and he was arrested. The prison priest refused to absolve him for murder but was fully willing to sell him to the Hanso family.

Upon reaching the Island, Titus, in the form of the smoke monster, killed the remaining members of the crew, leaving Ricardo chained up and alone. Eventually, Titus returned in the form of Ricardo's wife, explaining that they were both dead and in Hell. Finally, Titus appeared as himself (assuming Titus Welliver's body is his true form), and explained that Ricardo could get his wife back if he killed "the Devil": Jacob. After giving Ricardo the same warning that Dogen gave Sayid upon sending him to kill Titus (don't let him speak, or it will be too late), Ricardo set out to kill Jacob. However, Jacob used some amazing fighting skills (where were these when Ben attacked him?) to subdue Ricardo, and explained his view of the world. Jacob believes in letting people figure out right and wrong for themselves, because it would be pointless to tell people how to think. He also explains that the Island is a kind of cork, keeping malevolence at bay. Is Titus a special kind of malevolence? Because the world is not a nice or innocent place, even with Titus on the Island. Jacob made Ricardo his new lieutenant, gave him immortal life (which Ricardo asked for so that he would never have to die and go to Hell for murder), and gave Ricardo a white rock to give to Titus (many have said that it represents Jacob claiming another soul for his side; when Titus threw the white rock off the scale in "The Substitute," it was probably his way of claiming Sawyer for himself).

In 2007, Richard tried to return to the good graces of Titus, believing he was the only one who could get them out of Hell. But Hurley brought him a message from his wife (not the Titus incarnation, but her actual spirit), stating that failing to stop Titus would be what would send them all to Hell. The final scene of the show was another conversation between Jacob and Titus, ending with Titus smashing a bottle of wine. Jacob had earlier used the bottle as a metaphor, stating that the wine inside was malevolence that could not escape, and the Island was the cork. In his review of this episode for the AV Club, Noel Murray referred to this act as symbolic of Titus contemplating alternatives to merely escaping the Island. That, along with a friend's statement about Titus being present in the alternaverse, led me to this theory: Maybe Daniel died in Ann Arbor in 1977, and the the Daniel who told Jack about detonating the hydrogen bomb was really Titus. After all, he went against everything Daniel ever said; he said that they could change the future and he broke his promise to Charlotte to never tell her not to return. The purpose? He knew that setting off the nuke would destroy the Island, allowing him to escape. If the cork/bottle is destroyed, he will have free reign.

Up next: Hopefully a reunion...

LOST: The Other Side of the Law

With the end near for LOST, talk of spin-offs has been running fairly rampant. I came up with an intentionally absurd idea about Ben Linus going on missions every week that don't quite make sense, but fully allow Michael Emerson to be creepy. And Hurley is his sidekick. Why? Comic relief. Many people want a Locke/Ben spin-off (which apparently may happen... sort of). But with the episode "Recon," the creators presented us with a spin-off idea that has been embraced as THE spin-off of LOST: Sawyer and Miles: Officers of the Law. You see, in the alternaverse, Jimmy Ford and Miles Straume are detectives for the LAPD. AWESOME! The first alternaverse scene is a variation on a sequence that we have seen three times now, with Sawyer sexing up a hot woman, realizing he is late for a "meeting," and "accidentally" opening his brief case full of cash. The first time, the woman fell for it. The second time, the woman knew what was happening and asked to be his partner in crime. This time, the woman knew what was happening and threatened to kill him, stating that her husband was a con man. Which is why Sawyer was there. He was setting up a sting to capture the bastard. And when she didn't believe him, he said the magic word (LaFleur), and his partner Miles, as well as a group of other officers, busted in and took control of the situation.

Although Sawyer's alternalife is pretty sweet - he and Miles make a good team, he gets set up on a date with Charlotte, who works with Miles' dad (Dr. Cheng) at a museum - he still had to suffer the loss of his parents when Anthony "Sawyer" Cooper conned them out of their life savings. But in this world, he channeled his rage into a pursuit of justice rather than taking on the mantle of the man he was pursuing. But he isn't a saint; he still wants to find and kill Cooper, and he is close to tracking him down. The question is, what will it mean in the alternaverse? In the other universe, Locke was the one who brought Sawyer and Cooper together, knowing full well that Sawyer would kill Cooper. And that's how Locke wanted it. But in the alternaverse, Locke and his dad have a good relationship (as does Ben and his dad; too bad Jack and Kate still hate their fathers this time around).

Back on the Island, Titus is marshaling his troops after their attack on the Temple. Kate, Sawyer, and Jin clearly don't want to be associated with him any more than they have to. For Sawyer, Titus is a means to an end (getting off the Island, where he has been for 3 years). Kate was brought to him in order to keep living, while Jin is only there because of his hurt leg. Otherwise, he'd be off looking for Sun (assuming Titus didn't stop him). Sayid, on the other hand, seems to have lost all motivation and faith in anyone; when Claire attacked Kate for "stealing" Aaron, Sayid stood by and watched with a blank look on his face. Titus eventually sent Sawyer on a mission to Hydra Island to find any remaining Ajira 316 survivors. Instead, he meets Tina Fey... I mean Zoe, who is one of Widmore's sub crew members. She takes him to Widmore, and Sawyer promises to lure Titus over to the Island so Widmore can kill him, in exchange for passage off the Island. But when Sawyer gets back to Titus, he tells Titus of his bargain with Widmore. But then, Sawyer reveals to Kate that he is working his greatest con ever: He is pitting Widmore and Titus against each other so that, while they are preoccupied, he and the other 815 survivors can take Widmore's sub and finally get off the Island for good.

Up next: The next episode can't come fast enough...

LOST: Redemption

Wow I'm cutting it close to not getting this up before the following episode. "Dr. Linus" was a fairly strong episode that was slightly marred by an implausible plot element meant to aid in creating a thematic moment. I'm always up for learning more about Ben Linus, and this episode showed both his Machiavellian side and his true, scared self.

On the Island, Illana learned from Miles that Ben killed Jacob, so she chained his leg to a tree and forced him to dig his own grave. Rightfully fearing Illana and her rifle, Ben decided to dig, hoping that in the interim, he could appeal to Illana's humanity to spare him. But Titus showed up and offered him a place in his camp (I don't think they ever explained how Titus was able to undo the chain on Ben's leg, which I think we're just supposed to see as another of his powers). Ben decided to take him up on his offer by running to take a rifle that Titus provided. But instead of killing Illana, as Titus wanted, Ben tried to explain himself. He talked about killing Alex and how he hates himself for doing so, and that the only reason he's going to Titus is that he believes no one else would want him around. Illana says she will accept him, and he returns with her. But when Jack, Hurley, and Richard reunited with Sun, Miles, Lapidus, Ben, and Illana, Ben is left out of the happy reunion.

Before the reuniting, Richard explained a little bit more about his origin, and went back to the Black Rock, where he said he'd been before (most likely as a slave), so that he could use dynamite to finally end his life. He asked Jack and Hurley to light the fuse, because, due to Jacob's "gift" of life (though he calls it a curse), he can't end his own life. However, Jack talks him out of it by explaining that he has finally accepted that he is on the Island for a reason, and Jacob still has a purpose for Richard. Looks like Jacob was right about Jack needing to sit and think about things.

In the alternaverse, Ben has a doctorate in European history, but sadly goes through his life teaching high school history to people who could care less. The bright spots in his life are his ailing father and his history club, attended by his brightest students... including Alex Rousseau. Ben hates the principal, who has forgotten what it means to be a teacher, as well as the joy of teaching students who want to learn. When he discovers that the principal may be doing some things that could get him fired, he takes the opportunity to blackmail him for his job. Here's where the episode falters: Alex wants to go to Yale, but Yale will only accept a recommendation from an alum (bullshit), and the principal is the only alum she knows. The principal tells Ben that if he makes his move for the job, he will write Alex a poor letter. But all Ben had to do was tell him that he'd release the info if the principal failed to write a good letter. Ben had all the power right there. But the writers wanted Ben to have to "save" Alex after he failed to do so in Season 4. They sacrificed believability for a theme, and I think it hurt the episode (also, in another example of my well-documented fictional character sadism, I almost would have liked to have seen Ben make his move and the principal write a bad letter, to show that no matter what, Ben cannot save Alex, no matter how hard he tries).

Still, overall great episode. Especially because, at the end, we saw a submarine approach the Island, containing none other than Charles Widmore.

Up next: Time permitting...

LOST: Evil Incarnate

What is good? What is evil? Can there be evil without good or good without evil? "Sundown" concluded the first third of LOST's final season, and although the show continues to frustrate with its lack of answers (or rather, the frustration increases because there are 45 fewer minutes in which to wrap everything up), the episode presented an extremely interesting idea. Dogen tried to tell Sayid that Titus was the incarnation of Evil, which would likely make Jacob the incarnation of Good (although this was part of a plan to trick Sayid into trying to kill Titus, which Dogen hoped would end in Sayid's death, so he may not have been completely sincere). He also told Sayid that every human has a balance of good and evil, and that it is possible to discern if someone has too much evil in them. So my thought is, what if Jacob and Titus do not represent good and evil. What if Jacob stands for a black-and-white worldview, while Titus represents moral ambiguity? It is clear that Titus has done some bad things, but could it be possible that he does these things because he feels that he is serving a greater good? Or that he has his own sense of what is right and wrong? Still, he has killed a lot of people.

In the alternaverse, things were crazier than ever. Sayid's brother is married to Nadia! Keamy is a mobster/loan shark! Boomerangs break stuff! Anyway, I enjoyed the philosophical aspect of the episode, but am starting to get antsy about the speed with which things are being revealed.

Up next: ABC or HBO?...