Initial Thoughts: 6 X 01 LA X
Faraday said that they could not change fate. Charlie is supposed to die. Mrs Hawkins explained course correction. Their destiny called from the island. Their destiny will still have it’s way. Kate will keep running. Sawyer keeps conning. But Not-Locke put it best when he said to Ben that the survivors don’t even realize how pitiful their lives are back home. Guess we are seeing that. Will like to see how this destiny fixes itself.
I think we are dealing with two time lines running parallel to each other. Jack did change history but I think that the two time lines are going to intersect at some point. Thus proving Faraday’s theory that you cannot change your destiny.
1. You could see right away that the plane ride was different. The stewardess only handed Jack one bottle of vodka and in the original she handed him two. Boone was without Shannon. Claire must have changed her mind about adopting Aaron. Charlie didn’t run past Jack to the bathroom. The cops didn’t take Kate, they took Charlie. (and btw, YEAH CHARLIE!!!). But these things would not have been different because Jack / Juliet set the bomb off. And the island was underwater which Jack could not have changed with the bomb.
2. Desmond. Where are thou Desmond? What was that all about? But omg he looked good!
3. I need to screen cap but I swear that was a Dharma shark. Graphics were pretty bad though. And the foot was there so history wasn’t completely changed.
4. Kate’s eye opens. And she’s in a tree. Cool!
5. So at first I was pretty upset that they just didn’t leave Juliet where we last saw her. Then I remembered an interview with Elizabeth Mitchell where she stated she came back as Juliet because her role was pivotal to the season. She tells Miles that “it worked.” Of course no one will think to question him further on this but this is a huge clue to what is going on with the alter-universe of their lives that we are seeing. She also talks to Sawyer about going for coffee, dutch. Was she traveling to the other time line? Is she in some state like Faraday had Eloise (the rat)? Traveling back and forth in her mind?
6. So back on the plane Hurley tells Sawyer that “nothing bad” ever happens to him. Back with the original Hurley only bad things happened. He thought he was cursed!
7. Like Ben, I also want to know why Jacob didn’t fight back? Unless he knows that like the survivors back on the plane, you cannot change your destiny so he gives in to it. Plus, can he possibly take over Sayid’s body? Is that why he wanted Sayid at the temple so badly? Is Sayid now Jacob? Oooo, Locke versus Sayid? Show down!
8. I wasn’t sure if it was on purpose, but I remember in the Pilot Boone really wants to get a pen to help save Rose. When Jack is trying to save Charlie on the plane he asks for a pen. I found it amusing.
9. So with Rose back home is she now going to die of cancer?
10. Why did the Dharma van travel forward in time but nothing else tangible did?
11. Wow, Jack is really going to be screwed up in his head with all these people dying on his watch. We’ll have angry Sawyer, depressed Jack and not-Locke. What a trio!
12. Now we know why Locke was the only one old Smokey didn’t kill. He looked inside and what Smokey saw was what he wanted. He needed to keep Locke alive to take over his body.
13. Did you notice Not-Locke sitting in the old rocking chair? Just like the old rocking chair in the cabin.
14. So where did Desmond disappear to on the plane?
15. Sayid told us not to mistake coincidence for fate. It’s no coincidence that Christian Shepherd’s body isn’t on that plane.
16. Remember last season when Hurley told Sayid that he was going to have a time that he needed help and that he wouldn’t help him? Guess he changed his mind because twice Hurley literally saved his life.
17. And was Hurley hilarious tonight or what?
18. Kate heard the whispers in the temple. Then we see the Others in the temple. Not sure I know what the significance of the whispers in the jungle were if it’s just these people. I’m hoping there is more explanation to come.
19. I’m worried about Hurley running around in that red shirt. There was a problem in the past with people wearing red and then dying.
20. I like how they “baptized” Sayid in the temple. I think the Japanese guy knew exactly what they were doing in the water. He knew that Sayid wasn’t going to die. And we know from the past that bodies left out and not buried seem to be resurrected.
21. Another question – who is this Japanese dude? Will be interested to hear his story.
22. Locke broke the circle of ash around Jacob’s shack last season. Guess he must have let Not-Locke in at that moment. I will have to come back o the significance of the ash. Also, the guy in the temple was OK until he stepped out of the ash.
23. Claire either was on the plane or lives in LA. She was in the cab with Kate.
24. Jack also had a pivitol line to Locke, “nothing’s irreversable.” Interesting.
25. Why didn’t Richard want them to shoot Locke? Looks like Richard knows Not-Locke from way back. I’m thinking Black Rock history?
26. Is Terry O’Quinn the best actor ever? He really gets to exercise his acting chops this season! I love it!
27. Where is Vincent?
28. The bullet hit Non-Locke but seemed to bend (didn’t go straight through him). What exactly is this guy?
29. My hope is that this is the last of the Saywer and Kate love affair (with his grief over Juliet).
30. On a limb here – MAYBE the plane didn’t crash because the circumstances weren’t right. Last season they had to recreate the flight as close to the original in order to crash on the island again. If Jack’s dad’s body wasn’t on the plane then maybe they couldn’t crash?
I have to go back and watch again. Come back in a few days for more thoughts and screencaps! Welcome back, looks like we’ve hit the ground running.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:54 am
I’m quite disappointed that Juliet died. I wonder if she would appear later in the show again coz i think it would be very interesting to see her in the parallel world. How exactly did she know that “it worked”, maybe if you die on the island you will go back to the parallel world?
To be honest the premiere is a bit of a let-down.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:57 am
I loved this episode, one of my favorites!
I think Juliet was mind traveling like Faraday’s rat Eloise.
Fate is fate. If Juliet was going to die then she’ll also die in the parallel world.
I wanted more Charlie!
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:19 am
i dont really like this episode because it didnt answer any of the existing questions (except that the fake Locke is actually the smokey) , but instead it just brought up many more questions. Like how was desmond on the plane and how did he disappear? Why wasnt Michael,Walt,or Shannon on the plane? Why was Charlie trying to kill himself(he blamed jack for saving his life)? Who are the Others 2.0? What is the fake Locke’s plan after he killed Jacob and why was he disappointed in all of the people? What is the ash that smokey is so scared of? When was Ricard in chains?
The 2 simultaneous timelines are really confusing, i really hope that they are able to merge the two lines well in the middle of the season as they promised. This season is supposed to answer all the questions that they brought up during the past 5 years, i dont think it is a good idea to introduce so many new characters and new questions which just makes the show more and more confusing.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:28 am
I wanna see the E1 S6…Where I can find it???
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:31 am
TN; be ready to be disappointed. Darlton already said that not everything is going to be answered. For instance, the numbers and Jack’s tattoos will not be explained. Like life, they said, not everything gets answered. I think some of what you were asking was inferred last night. Like Boone said he went to save his sister and she didn’t want saved. I took that to mean that she didn’t go with Boone = not on the plane. I think we can guess Richard was a slave on the Black Rock. And there’s more.
Monica; try abc.com and hulu.com. If you are out of the US I posted a blog and people responded with some links; http://www.gitsiegirl.com/calling-all-downloaders.htm
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:25 pm
I’m guessing that Richard was in chains on the Black Rock. At least there were lots of chains on that ship.
I’m wondering about that ash that Smokey is so afraid of. If Smokey was created from a fire sometime in the past, lets say by buring a big tree or something it’d make smoke and leave behind ash. Or maybe a volcano. Could that be symbolic of the 2 time-lines? In one is Smokey and the other only ash? To Smokey, the ash represents death – so it scares him?
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:36 pm
good episode, but a lot to take in. i think we’ve finally laid Dharma to rest, figuratively and metaphorically. now we get Others 2.0, or the Templars as our mysterious strangers… it’s only on a show like Lost that a parallel timeline could make sense–perhaps less confusing than the time-flashes, but only a little…. the smokey/jacob dichotomy is really fleshing out, isnt it? why does smokey want to go home? and why does jacob want to stay? …so much for Jacob’s disciples, talk about a wild goose chase. so they brought the body back just so locke could be revealed as having been dead?…that was one of the bigger revelations, that all of locke 2.0’s actions last season were actually smokey’s, and that locke was never actually resurrected. glad they cleared that one up.
desmond’s disappearing from the plane was a classic red herring.it’s obviously significant, but we dont know why yet.
the pyramid wasnt egyptian. could be Mesopotamian or Aztec. Yet Jacob’s Ankh–which means “eternal life”–is a rather obvious clue that he’s probably inhabiting the body of Sayid 2.0.
sad to see Juliet go–again. i have a feeling we’ll see her again, maybe in a flashback or in the alt-timeline.
setting up the parallel timelines in Ep1 means that will be an overriding theme all season, and that the two will eventually be reconciled. the question is, if you die in one, do you die in the other? not necessarily, i suspect. “nothing is irreversible.”
overall, it’s amazing how Lost can take such preposterous, pretentious psuedo-religious/sci-fi/metaphysic dogma and make it actually seem plausible. some of the lines seemed intended to suspend disbelief, but they pulled them off (just barely).
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:40 pm
A very thought-provoking episode!
My friends and I discussed a few possibilities for the alternate “no-crash” timeline. If they’re doing what I happen to think they’re doing, I’m really excited about where they’re taking this season.
I think that, potentially, the events happening this season ON the island are leading up to a conclusion that will jumpstart the alternate “no-crash” timeline we’re witnessing simultaneously throughout the season. Meaning they’re basically packing two seasons worth of story into one. They also seem to be positioning the character in circumstances that will lead them to the fates that would have played out whether they originally crashed or not. The one that stands out most to me is Kate getting into Claire’s cab. If she’s meant to be Aaron’s mother, they’re setting up the path to that right out of the gate. I don’t know. It certainly presents a lot of exciting possibilities. Is Locke meant to be healed, but at the hands of Jack? Are Sun and Jin meant to be separated? It’s all very interesting stuff and I sincerely hope this is the road they’re taking. It makes me wonder, if I’m right, what would happen on the island this season that creates a reality where the island is under water.
Gah. Brain too full of thoughts to even attempt writing them down.
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:17 pm
When I was watching Locke in the alternate time-line, when the plane landed, I was half wondering if he’d stand up seeing how this time line isn’t quite the same as the old one.
It seems like Hurley was important to Jacob’s end game since he died and Hurley is the only one that can talk to the dead. Miles’ gift only allows him to know what a dead person was thinking before they died.
But I think that this season is going to be about the end game. Remember Jacob’s comment to the Man in Black on the beach, “It only ends once, all the rest is progress.” Jacob appears to be playing his gambit to bring about that end (whatever it is) even giving up his life to do so.
Which brings us to the question – is Sayid actually dead with Jacob inhabiting his body? Smokey doesn’t need Locke’s body to appear before everyone as Locke.
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I think Alex G just hit the nail on the head. AWESOME theory and great points so far.
I completely think Jacob is now in Sayid’s body, but let me play devil’s advocate here. WHAT IF, smokey entered Jacob’s body after his death and went to Hurley and told Hurley to bring Sayid to the Temple knowing Sayid would die and now Smokey is in Sayid’s body and inside the compound ???
Possible problems with this include :
Jacob’s body was burned, therefore can Smokey enter it? Can Smokey be in Locke’s body and Jacob’s body or is the timeline not possible? Can Smokey be in Locke’s body and Sayid’s body at the end of the episode, or impossible? Can smokey be in there with all the ash they are spreading?
Like I said, I think Jacob is now in Sayid’s body but I figured I would throw the alternate scenario out there.
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Hugo Hurley–I think another problem with that theory is that Smokey isn’t actually in Locke’s body. He just looks like him….
February 4th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Good point about Juliet asking about going for coffee. I wonder if she could see things coming to her as she died?
I’m not sure if I would like it if Sayid became Jacob.
Yes, Desmond looked very nice.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:33 am
Anne – I think you may be right. Kind of like how Charlotte saw events in the past when she was dying, but Juliet is seeing future alternate time-line events.
Sayid wasn’t really dead that long so he may have revived with his own brain functions. Maybe Jacob and Sayid will be sharing the same body.
Another point I thought of. Oceanic can’t find Christian’s body. They sounded really confused about it when they were telling Jack. Remember way back when Jack found his dad’s coffin and there was no body in it? I wonder if only an empty coffin arrived at LA X and that’s why they sound so confussed.
February 4th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
I know one question that will never be answered. Back in season 1 or 2, Sawyer bet Boone two bottles of sunscreen that Jack would make that putt on the little island golf course, and they never showed if he made it!
Guess we’ll never know…
February 6th, 2010 at 12:44 am
Is Vincent with Island Rose And Bernard?
Michale and Walt weren’t on the plane. (I don’t know how true the stories of the Michale actor having bad blood with his death are true or not…) But I’m certain the plane that did not crash is an alternate universe (take all the changes you mentioned), so if you will… Flash sideways!
So Charlotte and Juliete both made comments about Coffee before they died? I don’t recall. Were they jumping through into the alternate universe as they died?
As for Christians Body and the Coffin, that has to have significance with how Christian’s body was NOT in it when Jack found it in season one. And that mystery is still something I want to understand. Is his body just missing, or was he resurrected some how?
At this point, I like our crashed survivors more than our alternate survivors at this point. The island is what changed them (for better or worse). Many found redemption for the past in certain ways. Now without the crash… Sawyer will be a con man. Kate will run. Rose will probably die…
BUT. Jack is offering to help save Locke. Will non crash Locke walk again thanks to Jack? I’m not connecting the dots very well, but Island Locke was mysteriously healed and all that.So our the two universes connected?
I hope our islanders don’t have to die for the alternate universe to keep going.
I have to stop now because I’ve been ill and I’m tired. Good night
February 6th, 2010 at 2:01 am
I have hard too many names for “Fake Locke” – Flocke, Un-Locke, Not Locke, Alterna-Locke, MIB, Esau, etc.
Since Smokey has taken on the likeness of John Locke, I am hereby going with:
Locke-ness monster
February 6th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
SKID – that has to be the best ever name!!! LNM for short…lol!