Lost Redux: Who Causes the Incident?
Wed., May. 6, 2009 10:10 PM PDT
Lost, Nestor Carbonell, Terry O'Quinn ABC/MARIO PEREZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HlcN1G2GTA&feature=player_embedded
The countdown to the Incident (and the Lost season finale) has
begun, and it's not yet clear whether the Losties will prevent the
Incident, cause it or merely suffer through it as victims. But
which players in are position to do what? And what's the deal with
fancy new-fangled Locke? We've got your look back at what happened
in "Follow the Leader" along with a mess of all-new insight into
the finale from the real Lost leader, Mr. Damon Lindelof
himself...
Lost, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly ABC/MARIO PEREZ
WHAT WE LEARNED
Who's the Boss? What strange new Locke is this? Locke really has
changed. Does he truly have a purpose (as he claims) or is he just
a reanimated dead guy like Christian Shepherd, whose zombie ways
are unknowable to us at this moment? Whatever the cause, the
consequence is that Locke is no longer the waffling follower we
once knew. This new Locke has clearcut goals, acts with the utmost
confidence and plays with Ben and Richard Alpert like they were
Lego people. What is his goal? Per Locke himself, his mission is
twofold: (1) "If there's a way to save our people, I'll find it,"
and, (2) he's going to kill Jacob. Why? Among other motives,
apparently this new Locke comes equipped with a surplus of reason.
He's become a rational skeptic and he questions the unknowable god
that is Jacob. Who would have imagined that flaky ol' Locke could
change so much? For that matter, at some point in the last five
seasons, Kate turned into a voice of reason: "Since when did
shooting kids and blowing up hydrogen bombs become OK?" Jack, on
the other hand, is a newborn devotee of destiny and
predetermination. Quite the reversal!
THREE'S A CROWD: Kate, Sawyer and Juliet are officially the most
awkward threesome this show has ever created. Even when Kate's not
even in the room, Juliet and Sawyer are both deeply uncomfortable
with "Freckles." Radzinsky asking Sawyer about his "girlfriend"
while pointing out Kate on the monitor in the security hatch was as
distressing to Suliet as was Kate's actual presence on the
submarine in that last scene. Sawyer and Juliet are nothing if not
desperate to escape Kate, and yet fate seems unwilling to allow
them a clean getaway. And so the love polygon rages on...
SAYID! Do not shoot at Sayid's friend Kate! Sayid's latest
demonstration of deadly marksmanship is another highlight of the
always compelling platonic friendship between Kate and Sayid. Yay
Kayid.
LOVE MEANS YELLING? We should all mentally bookmark the look on
Miles' face when he saw his father sending him and his mother away
from the Island forever. According to Miles, he's realized that
"[Yelling at her] is the only way he can get her to leave." That
epiphany will come up again in the future, mark my words.
RETRO: Loved the shoutouts to season one in this episode, include
these highlights:
* Locke hunted wild boar, just like old
times!
* Authority figures beat down Sawyer, just like
old times!
* Someone melancholy and lost sat on the beach,
looking dejectedly out at the ocean, just like old times! (Ben took
this one for the team.)
THE OLD ONE: We learned three key facts about Richard Alpert in
this episode: He likes building model ships inside bottles; he's an
"advisor," and he's had that job for a very long time; and the idea
of Locke being the boss worries him greatly.
WHAT'S TO COME
Lost boss Damon Lindelof attended the excellent Juan-Manuel
Rocha-hosted Comics on Comics event at Meltdown on Sunset tonight.
He offered the assembled crowd several very interesting insights
about the future of Lost.
VOTE NO ON MIDI-CHLORIANS: Damon gave us a sense of what kind of
Lost questions will be answered, and which other mysteries won't
explicitly be explained by the end of the series: "There are
certain questions about the show that I'm very befuddled by like,
'What is the Island?' or 'What do the numbers mean?' We're going to
be explaining a little more about the numbers, maybe significantly
more about the numbers, but what do you mean by 'What do the
numbers mean?' What is a potential answer to that question? I feel
like you have to be very careful about entering into midi-chlorian
territory...I grew up on Star Wars, I've seen the Star Wars movies
hundreds of times, I can recite them chapter and verse, and never
once did anyone ever say to me or did it occur to me to say, 'What
is the Force, exactly? Can you explain that for me, better than
Alec Guinness does?' I understand, 'When are we going to find out
about Libby?' That's a very finite question. 'Who is Jacob?' OK,
yes, we've been talking to this guy named Jacob, so those questions
then should have answers, but 'What is the Island?' That starts to
get into 'What is the Force?' It is a place. I can't explain to you
why it moves through space-time, it just does. You have to accept
the fact that it does." Can you live with that?
SURVEY SAYS, ZZZT! WRONG ANSWER: Regarding the approaching final
season and possible fan reaction to the accompanying reveals, Damon
says, "There isn't a perfect way to end the show, but the end
inevitably approaches and so the show has to start answering more
and more questions. To me the greatest thing about Lost, just in
terms of writing it, was that [over the years] the show could ask a
question, and everyone [watching] could say 'Here's what I think
the answer to that is.' And next year we're basically going to
spend the entire season telling you you're wrong. 'Here's the
actual answer to that question.' And you're going to say, 'S--t, my
answer was actually much better.' " Have you been satisfied or
displeased with the answers we've gotten so far?
HOW IT ENDS: Just as an insight into Damon's mind (and thus a
pointer to possible plans for the Lost series ender), you might be
interested to know that the M*A*S*H finale is Damon's all-time
favorite series conclusion.
MORE SERIES FINALE CLUES: Damon says that when the show ends, "All
of the character resolutions will be very defined. There is going
to be no cut to black. The show for me and Carlton [Cuse] and J.J.
[Abrams] and all the people writing it—it's not about the Island.
The Island is where it takes place. It's about this group of people
who crashed on the Island on Sept. 22, 2004, and how they
influenced the history of the Island in some ways and had a very
significant and pivotal role to play there. You're going to see
that role play out, and their fates will all be resolved by the end
of the series—that's the story that we're telling. In terms of
every little bit of minutiae about the Island itself...there will
be questions [left unanswered] after the show [ends]."
LIBBY SAYS HI: Libby's story will not be wrapped up on the show.
Says Damon, "I have learned that if you kill someone off the show,
they are less likely to cooperate with you." Basically, Cynthia
Watros is busy until further notice and they can't explain Libby
without her, at least not in any way that shows her story rather
than annoyingly tells her story. What's the takeaway for us fans?
Next time you've got Damon cornered, don't waste your breath asking
about Libby. Instead, bust his chops about another very important
blonde: Claire! Where is that little minx, anyway?
THE SUM IS 108: This one goes out to all the Lostpedians out there.
Damon said, "Here's the story with numbers. The Hanso Foundation
that started the Dharma Initiative hired this guy Valenzetti to
basically work on this equation to determine what was the
probability of the world ending in the wake of the Cuban Missile
Crisis. Valenzetti basically deduced that it was 100 percent within
the next 27 years, so the Hanso Foundation started the Dharma
Initiative in an effort to try to change the variables in the
equation so that mankind wouldn't wipe it itself out." This
information, in more convoluted form, was leaked out via the online
games rather than explained on the show itself, says Damon,
because, "That would be the worst thing ever. We have to make the
show for the hardcore fans who care about the numbers, but we also
have to make it for my mom, who just wants Sawyer to take his shirt
off."
SO THERE: While discussing Wolverine and the role of canon in comic
adaptations, Damon said, "At the end of the day, you can do
anything you want [as a storyteller] so long as it's cool."
Certainly applies to Lost too, don't you think?
What did you think of "Follow the Leader"? What are your dreams for
the season and series finale?
by Jennifer Godwin
