Lostwatch: Charles in Charge

* Great recap. I totally missed the Nadia connection. I just thought it was a random girl, not relevant to the Lost back stories -- good catch.

* Yeah, I thought the Rousseau dynamite thing was a bit much...I mean, the island IS big, but wouldn't setting off such a massively loud blast tip off the Others?

* I like how they keep toying w/ the audience in relation to what side Juliet truly is on (i.e. Losties or the Others) At this point, there's a lot of ambiguity and I loved how the dude who raced over in the pontoon boat, immediately tried to rat her out as a spy. What's Juliet's end game?

* When Charlie whacked Desmond w/ the oar, for a brief moment I went A-HA he IS BAD!! But not to be...but I loved Shadegg's Bad Charlie theory.

I was a little disappointed with this episode as I expected "more". I realize it was building to the season finale. It looks like Chad's Charlie theory is probably dead.....one can never know with Lost....and besides, it was a damned cool theory. Tip of the hat.

I realize that the TV world isn't the same as the real world. It puzzled me, if the Looking Glass is tethered to the world by a cable....wouldn't cutting the cable be much easier than paddling out, swimming down, finding a button and pushing it. I always look for the simple solution, so sue me. Again, TV world/real world. Kind of like James' question of why Ben didn't do the obvious think of putting a second bullet in Locke's brain to make sure the job was done.

I missed the Nadia connection too.

Thank you, thank you. Part of the reason I love the show is being proven wrong on wild guesses as to where the plot is going. In my own little world, I will still continue to ponder the "what if" of Charlie being evil, and how that would have played out. (Maybe I should go into TV writing, huh? Then I'd get to see the ideas I think up turn into what really happens?)

- Loved that Nadia showed up in the flashback. Another great connection.
- The moment between Hurley and Charlie was really touching, as was Charlie leaving the ring for Aaron.
- I agree with you James - why blow up the tree? Hell, that might have tipped the Others off! Also, maybe I'm wrong, but weren't the Others on the same island as the Losties? Why then did Karl take the catamaran (which I though was on the other island) to the Losties? Did I miss something?
- I'm mad at ABC for giving away some things in the preview for next week's episode (specifically SPOILER ALERT: that Jack's plan doesn't seem to work). I mean, I figured it wouldn't work, but don't completely give it away.
- Why didn't we see Desmond's dream/vision? That's my big question from this episode...was Desmond telling Charlie he had to be the swimmer actually a means for SAVING Charlie's life? And did Desmond use Charlie's love of Claire and Aaron to manipulate him into doing it? Call this the "Something's Rotten in the State of Desmond" theory....not necessarily evil, but I have a feeling his vision regarding Charlie wasn't exactly what he told Charlie it was.
- Nice to see Bernard and Rose back on the island. Isn't that their first appearance all season?
- I'm starting to see a breakdown within the Losties between Sayid and Jack, brilliantly displayed by Sayid asking Jack whether his goal was to kill the Others or get off the island. Have the Losties become the Hostiles and the former Hostiles/current Others become the Dharma of the island? Is this the destiny/circle of life of the island?
- I have a feeling next week we're really going to see what this Jacob is all about.
- Any bets on Walt and Michael returning?

Continuing from Chaddogg above, here are some more questions that are lingering and I wonder if they will be addressed in the finale:

* Walt/Michael...I've wondered all season where they are?

* Locke. Is he dead (doubtful) and if not, what does it say about the Island's healing powers?

* Jacob: What is his deal, what's his relation with Smokey The Monster, etc. etc.

* Backstory on WHY the Darama guys were all slaughtered with an assist from Young Ben by the Other Others.

* Juliet: Her true motive(s).

* Kate...I assume she's preggers...if so, then how does she fit in to Ben's master plan?

* Charlie vs. the hot babes in the sub hatch. Who are they?

* Next week is a Jack ep, so I assume we're going to learn a crucial bit of info on Jack and just what he and Juliet have been up to.

* The Portugese rescue chick and what becomes of her rescue team that is only 80 miles off the coast?

* Hurley....he's been kind of quiet plot-wise the last few episodes. Since he is the single biggest connection to the numbers, I wonder what role he still has to play?

* Remember the last 5 minutes of last year's finale where we were introduced to Penny, and the Artic explorers? Will we have another WTF moment in the final scene, which will set up next year? I'm guessing....YES.

* Holy crap, I can't believe that after next week, we'll have to wait until January 2008 for new episodes!

For an episode that was designed just as set up for the finale, I thought it was a fitting, almost touching, send-off for Charlie. So fitting, in fact, that I now doubt whether or not he's due to die - the trailer did appear to have both Desmond and Mikhail in the Looking Glass (they were certainly somewhere underground). Does Desmond see Charlie's shoe floating on the surface (the camera focused on it way too long to not be suggestive), assumes he doesn't make it, and then goes in to finish the job? (Logistically, how would Desmond know whether Charlie succeeded or not anyway? He assumes it works because of his vision? And why would a shoe make him doubt said vision?) Does Desmond, in fact, make good on his decision to take Charlie's place, and after some 5-way tussle in the Looking Glass, succeeds in shutting off the jammer while the station floods, while Penny shows up on a monitor (she's in the cast list, how else would she make an appearance? The Flashback revisits Desmond's previous run-in with Jack?)?

And the trailer showed some Others getting, at best, severely injured by a tent exploding. But you also see Bernard, Sayid and Jin captured by Others, so they don't get all of them. And speaking of captures, you also see Ben bound, walking with the Lostie column.

And none of this seems to reach the "Rattlesnake in the Mailbox" level the showrunners keep mentioning. What is the terrible surprise - Jack's backstory reveals him as a Dharma/Hanso agent? Naomi's coverstory is all lies and the "rescue helicopters" Desmond forsees just drop them off on a Hanso carrier to be incarcerated? And where's the Jack/Locke showdown they promised us? Locke stumbles out of the jungle, tells the column they shouldn't get off the island, and half of them stay, and don't get rescued/captured?

I honestly have no clue what will happen next week. Should be interesting!

Love reading everyone's theories and comments. My favorite above is the TV vs. Real world...why didn't they just cut the wire? Seriously! Seems like it would have been much easier.

The only other thought I had that has not been mentioned is about when they showed the preview for next week's episode and they show the Losties running into the Others on the way to the radio tower. What, is there only one route from one side of the island to the other (obviously not)? Couldn't Jack have maybe anticipated that they might run into the Others (he knew the Others were on their way to their side of the island) so maybe they should take a more indirect route? Seems like a big island and that in the three months there Jack has learned his way around the island. I am not thinking conspiracy here, I am thinking that that is really stupid. Totally annoying...

P.S. But I still can't wait for next week's episode - I'm sure it will be good. And also can't believe we have to wait 6 months for the next season!

Anyone notice the line from Wonderwall Charlie was singing: "Because maybe /
You're gonna be the one who saves me?"

Also, Charlie singing in the rain was when Desmond confronted him during Des's flashback where he acquires his fortune telling ability. Only Des didn't show up this time? What's going on there?

Even though I don't believe Charlie is a super secret double agent man, he still might be. If the Looking Glass staff is separated from the main Others then they might not know Charlie's identity. If I recall the Chaddogg's theory correctly, even Charlie doesn't know his true identity.

And the Looking Glass is a great name for the station where a submarine docks. Just like in Alice in Wonderland, could this Looking Glass also be the portal between dimensions?

Wow, Jack as Dharma agent? THAT would be a crazy twist. Nice thinking, Tom Shaw.

As a warning to all of you out there who obsess about this show, a number of critics who have seen the finale have recommended that you avoid ALL spoilers/rumors about the upcoming twist (some of which are floating around the ether of the internet). Evidently, it's a twist you'll want to be surprised about and your enjoyment of the show will multiply exponentially if you don't know the twist in advance.

So, please, do not post any of those rumors here. Let's keep this to our own speculation.

Tom - Bernard, Jin, and Sayid were the ones left behind to shoot the dynamite and kill the Others. If they got captured, it means (probably) that the TNT didn't go off.

Jack flashbacks always give the goods (well, almost...evidentally a lot of people didn't like Bai Ling that much), so this huge finale is going to have something big in it....maybe "where" they are? The return of Walt, only he's aged 20 years or something weird?

I think the twist may still be the "traitor amongst us" idea - someone in the Losties who is tipping off the Others about what is going on, but it's not Jack or Juliet. I mean, the Others HAVE to have someone working for them on the inside, and perhaps someone who helped bring down the plane (although the consensus seems to be that the Hatch brought the plane down)....so who could it be? Or did Ben suspect the Losties knew of their plans because of the missing tape recorder, and knew his daughter would have Karl warn them, so he set them up YET AGAIN?

Continuing on the "traitor amongst us" theory....doesn't it seem odd that Rose & Bernard, who have not been in a single episode ALL SEASON LONG suddenly show up in last night's ep? Just weird. Maybe they have a deeper role to play?

My other theory involves Claire. What if she cut a deal w/ The Others when they initially abducted her back in Season 1? Basically, a "we'll let you & Aaron live, if you give up your pals when the time comes" kind of thing. Just a thought...

While Charlie was diving down to the Looking Glass station, was I the only one hoping for a surprise return appearance of the Dharma shark?

Regarding Charlie singing "Wonderwall" in both this and Desmond's flashback.
http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/2007/05/greatest-hits-and-flashes-before-your_17.html
My apology, don't know how to link URL's without posting the entire link. Credit goes to "The House Next Door" blog where the link was posted in the comments section.

Not sure where I read it, but someone pointed out on the diagram of the Looking Glass, that cable was not a power cable, but rather some sort of anchor cable. So cutting it would have done nothing...

Chad, find the trailer online somewhere - it shows a nighttime scene with an explosion and bodies flying - the captured Sayid/Jin/Bernard scene is in daylight. Immediately prior to that, it shows the armed Others invading the camp, but that arguably means nothing - as I said above, you see Ben, bound, walking with the Lostie column _before_ they show the scene of him meeting the column.

And, I reiterate, it is an open question on whether it was the Others, Hanso, or chance who crashed the plane on the island (Others want science experiments, Hanso want to disrupt the Others/plant their agent). First off, since the Others are not Dharma, where would they get funding for something on the order of a plane crash? Or, secondly the apparent coverup - but I should point out that we only have one source for that, Naomi, and she has every reason to fake that: so that the Losties think she is their only option to get off the island, and do what she wants - which is probably enable a Hanso force to come in and kill the Others.

I like Jack and Charlie but they're my too least favorite characters. Last night I found Charlie's scenes poignant; however, Jack was at his most annoying, arrogant self.

I think Charlie will die in the final season, that Desmond's vision is set a couple of years in the future.

Another unanswered question.....does Dharma not know what is going on? Remember when they came across the pallets of freshly air-dropped supplies long ago? Why would Dharma continue to drop supplies to dead members?

Some don't like Bai Ling? Must be a hormonal imbalance of some sort.

Chaddogg... thanks for the spolier warning. In fact, I'm so determined to not have the finale spoiled that I'm going into a self-imposed all-things-Lost media exile for the next six days.

But I'll be surprised if Jack, Sawyer and Charlie all survive to a 4th season. I think one of them is gone.

See y'all on the other side!

Kevin_ATL - February 2008 buddy. That's really the pits.

Didn't the lead girl with the gun in The Looking Glass look an awful lot like Penny? I even pulled out her scene from Catch-22 and they looked remarkably similar. I know the producers came out with names for these two atlantis-dwelling ladies (the names escape me) but it could still be her?

I love Sayid tackling Karl. Something about that snot-nosed kid ticks me off. His scenes with Alex are always so (intentionally?) melodramatic.

Ben seemed to be in quite a hurry to mobilize his troops. When Richard spoke to him, it was directly to Ben without much notice from the other Others so I stand by my theory that Richard isn't real.

I too was hoping to see the Dharma shark! Especially since the producers were joking around about it so much in the last podcast.

On the topic of real world/tv world - I would not know the exact right amount of force on an oar applied to the face needed to knock a man unconscious without knocking him out of a boat, I guess you learn things on the island. Oh, and Chaddog, as soon as Charlie picked up the oar I shouted 'Chaddog was right!' only to see I spoke too soon.

"as soon as Charlie picked up the oar I shouted 'Chaddog was right!' only to see I spoke too soon"

I did the same thing!

Wow, weird that people all around the country were shouting my name last night.

While I'm officially off of the "Charlie is evil" side of the theory, he still could be....all we saw was those two (or 3?) women run in with guns and point them at him - the first scene next week could be them dropping the guns and saying "Ah, it's you. Welcome back. What's your report on the Losties?"

(Of course that's not going to happen...but for fun, we can pretend.)

What I really want to know is - was that REALLY Desmond's vision? I don't think it was. We didn't see the vision, and Desmond has the belief that if he changes even anything minimally in his visions, they won't come true (confirmed by him "saving" Charlie and it not being Penny). So doesn't it "change" his vision that he tells Charlie what the whole vision is? And why would he volunteer to dive down there for Charlie if indeed Charlie's sacrifice was going to lead to rescue?

I honestly think Desmond's real vision had to do with Charlie dying in an Others related attack, or else being in a rescue helicopter that crashes after takeoff from the island after someone disarmed the blocking signal - thus to "save" Charlie Desmond had to get Charlie to dive down into the Looking Glass.

Another idea: Desmond's vision wasn't about Charlie this time, but about someone else dying - and getting Charlie to do the dive saved them. In other words, Desmond saw someone (Sayid, since it was his idea?) die in the swim down to the Looking Glass, and decided the best way to save Sayid's life was to ensure he didn't go on the trip. To ensure no one dies, Desmond decides to convince Charlie to go, because Desmond already knows he sees Charlie's "deaths" in advance, but might not have the power to foresee the deaths of other island inhabitants. That would explain why he got Charlie to go on the boat, but then was willing to take Charlie's place (i.e. he felt guilty and was fine risking his own life instead of Charlie's, even though he felt Charlie was "safe" due to the absence of a death vision).

Now that is a mind-twister....

During the empty months before next season, Chaddog should do the Lostwatch. Just submit one genius theory a week. Come on!

HAHAHA! I am truly honored.

What would be fun (and what I'm planning on doing) is going back and re-watching the whole series from Season 1 and 2 (on DVD) and then Season 3 (on DVD, when it comes out)....and THEN offering theories based on those long ago episodes.

That, or I could quit my day job and come up with a whole new TV series that will make me fabulously rich and allow me to date Kristen Bell. Your choice...

Chad,

It only counts if it is women shouting your name at night.

Also, you can join me writing the new "original" series I came up with the other day and posted in one of the threads. I'll repeat it for you here.

"A gay single parent who used to be a district attorney. His life partner was killed by someone he prosecuted and the killer made it look like natural causes. So the gay single parent quits the legal profession and goes back to school with a double major of medicine and law enforcement so he can prove how his life partner was killed and then bring the killer to justice. Of course our lead will need to be of mixed ethnic origin and aliens or ghosts will need to be introduced in the second season. I smell instant hit."

Isn't that as original as all the new original shows they put on?

I'm just returning to the show after missing season two and I'm now hooked again afer the last 5-6 episodes. Can anyone direct me to a flowchart of characters to help me organize who's who and how they're connected thus far. I know, probably impossible to do.
Thanks for all the comments - it helps me catchup....

dwp,

The best site for a flow-chart (and pretty much anything on Lost) is http://www.lostpedia.com , which James has frequently linked to. Lostpedia is frankly unbelievable, particularly if you're interested in all the possible theories, etc. about each character. If you're looking strictly for the random connections between characters, ABC's Lost site has a chart linking characters.

And I agree with you - the past 5-6 episodes (actually, almost everything since the ill-advised hiatus this season) have been pitch perfect. And now, with an end-date announced, I think the next 3 16-episode seasons will be thrilling....