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Lost: Eggtown Season 4, Episode 4
*** Spoilers Ahead * * *
Ok, there wasn't a darn thing wrong with this episode, but it was still a downer for me. Why? Because everything that was revealed, save some incidental trivia, I saw coming from the start.
I can do that with most movies and TV episodes, just turn to Lisa 10 minutes into it and say "You know Lex is really his long lost twin brother from Bulgaria, right?"
But with Lost that usually goes out the window. There's too many plot threads, too many characters, too many sleight of hand twists for me to see the road ahead.
Except tonight.
It's established that Kate has a son. There's incidental hints on the island that she's pregnant, but it has the aura of white noise to distract the viewer. In the flashforwards you hear about her son, you discuss her son, you see how important he is to Kate, BUT . .
But the show never a) never shows him during these scenes, setting up his 'reveal' to be a shock to the viewer. Ok, well, that could mean anything. Maybe he's a Ben look-a-like, maybe he's deformed because of the islands effect on pregnancy, who knows. But then b) they never, not once, refer to him by name.
To me that was the clincher. Why not name the kid? There were other possibilities, but in my head I saw it like the star over Bethlehem: the only Caucasian child we are aware of it Aaron; therefore the writers are trying their best to disguise his identity until the end of the episode.
And at that very momentI said "Dang, I wish I was blogging live about this. No one is going to believe me afterwards."
And lo and behold, it's Aaron.
So what did we learn tonight, other than that I'm a doggone psychic?
* First, we learn that Kate successfully, miraculously really, officially escapes her criminal past after the island. We can assume that the person she had to get back to in the season 3 finale was Aaron. We know that this particular flash-forward can take place no later than, say, 2010, judging by Aaron's age.
That last point is more meaningful than you'd think. Aaron is all of perhaps three months old in the 'current' Losties timeline. I don't think it took 5 years for the criminal justice system to try Kate's case. So where did the other 4 years or so go? Could it be their rescue really isn't at hand?
UPDATE: As you can tell from the picture I misjudged his age on first viewing. He's three, maybe four at most, so it could conceivably be 2008 in the timeline.
* Jack is still in love with Kate in future/present, and she appears more than willing to reciprocate, so we can tentatively presume Sawyer and Juliet are no longer players in the game.
* What is Jack's problem with Aaron? Does he feel guilt over an (as yet unrevealed) loss of Claire, does he resent Aaron for a costly decision his existence forced on Jack, or is Aaron truly an agent of doom, as the psychic appeared to forecast before the flight, and Jack is uneasy around him?
* We learn that in the 'official' version of the crash Kate is a hero, saving the group from starvation and danger. That means that everyone among the Six was willing to recite the lie, giving credit to the idea that the Six doesn't include anyone at odds with Kate (as John is at the moment).
* The story also mentions that eight folks survived the crash but that two later perished. What's the rationale for including two fatalities after the fact? Was some evidence left behind of two survivors (Michael and Walt?) that couldn't be explained away except by including their (temporary) survival in the tale?
* On the island Johnis still playing Colonel Kurtz and without outside direction from 'the island' he's falling apart. The whole slamming doors/throwing trays bit gets a bit old, dontcha think John? And the grenade in the mouth? Cukoo.
* As for Ben, well, he's still hard at work manipulating the world (wouldn't that tire a fella out after a few decades?) and if we are to believe Miles, he's wealthy, powerful, and at odds with someone of equal? wealth and power who wants him dead.
I like Ben tho', he's grown on me.
* In other news the Kate/Sawyer bed me/wed me saga continues.
Strong hints of a Kate pregnancy. As I stated earlier I dismissed them as white noise, and Kate herself says sot in the episode, but I don't quite believe her. I think her desire to escape the island at all costs, despite her status as a fugitive, is because she fears the islands well known affect on fetuses.
So in that plotline, she would eventually have to lose her own baby and be granted/take guardianship over Aaron as her own.
We'll see.
Trivia:
-Loved Hurley's "you just scooby-dooed me didn't' you?" line
-I noticed the episode began with a closeup of Locke's eye, a typical Lost beginning, but it was an awfully quick shot.
- The book Locke gave Ben was by Phillip K. Dick, but I didn't catch the title, I just recognized the cover style. Significance?
- I didn't notice the title or author of Sawyer's reading material. Again, significance?
As usual, a great way to spend an hour in the evening.
slapinions at 10:21:00 PM CST Blog about this entry |
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From the Non-AOL comment book:
Guestbook Entry:
Date: 2008-02-22 12:16:34
Name: Tami
Email:
Site Rating: 10
Comments:
I still think the year is 2004 for them on the island. So, it would be present
day 2008 for the flashforward. And the flashforward at the end of season 3 must
be a little later than the flashforwards we're seeing now since Jack hasn't gone
over the edge yet. Also the person in the coffin must have been someone Jack
really cared about. I'm guessing Juliet. -
From the non-AOL comment site:
Guestbook Entry:
Date: 2008-02-21 23:17:16
Name: mike
Email: mike@cimsmusic.com
Site Rating: 10
Comments:
The book Locke gave Ben was Ubik by Philip K. Dick.
Crazy - that book is about a group of people that are dead, but don't know they are dead.
2/22/08 1:13 PM
Thanks for the comment, and I hope you visit again!