Charlotte, we hardly knew ye. Yes, the leader of this week's death pool bit the dust, a victim of the time flashes. But let's go back to the beginning of an episode that was kind of a slog, except for a couple of scenes.
After washing up with Team Rousseau last week, Jin found himself reconnecting with an old friend: Smokey! The monster killed one of Rousseau's crew and dragged another down to its lair underneath a temple (is that the Temple, that mysterious Others location that we've heard references to a couple of times?). In one of the most awesome things I've ever seen, the monster RIPS OFF MONTAND'S ARM. Hell And Yes! That was some season one level scariness from our island's resident, man-eating puff of smoke. But since Montand was still alive, everyone went down into the cave. Everyone, that is, except Rousseau, who Jin stopped from going in because of her baby. What happened next? Jin flashed away before we could find out, but he and us got to see the aftermath, as Rousseau popped her (now ex-)husband in the face. But not before he tried to shoot her. I have to admit to being a little let down by these sequences, which seemed to be more about fleshing out things we already knew, rather than giving us any new info about that doomed French expedition.
So Jin flashed away and met up with Sawyer et al in a very nice scene. But things started getting a lot worse for everyone as the flashes happened with increasing intensity and frequency. And it was at this point in the story that Charlotte checked out, but as her mind began racing through time (seemingly like a more intense version of the Desmond/Minkowski effect) she told us her backstory. Charlotte grew up on the island because her parents were in the Dharma Initiative, but daddy went crazy so her mom and her left the island. Once back in England, her mom convinced her that the island was merely a childhood flight of fancy, sort of like the creation of the other C.S. Lewis. Oh, and while she was on the island, a scary man who may have been Daniel Faraday told her never to come back or she'd die. All of this sounded like it would have had the makings of a killer flashback episode and that was kind of my problem with it. Why not show us all this, instead of having Charlotte tell it to us. It was uncharacteristically sloppy writing from a show that normally is guilty of digging too much into its characters' backstories. Honestly, more than anything else, this was what bugged me about the episode. It was a giant missed opportunity.
So, minus Charlotte and her loving caretaker Faraday, the gang all set out to the Orchid. Jin, however, had some qualms with the plan for bringing everyone back. Mainly the fact that he doesn't want everyone to come back. He made Locke promise that he wouldn't find Sun and gave him his wedding ring as proof that Jin was dead. The Locke went down the well and into the Frozen Donkey Wheel for what was tonight's standout scene.
After a time flash caused Locke to take a perilous fall and hurt his leg, he found himself in the presence of none other than Christian Shepard. Christian explained that it was Locke who was supposed to turn the wheel, not Ben (when did listening to him ever get you anywhere worth a damn). But now the time has come to make it right. Locke hobbled over to the wheel which had been thrown off its axis. So...Ben broke the wheel? That's what's been wrong all this time? Or is there something more? Either way, Locke turns it and leaves the island, with one last fantastic exchange with Christian (who's your son). We probably won't be hearing about the life and death of Jeremy Bentham until a week from Wednesday, in the episode titled The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham, so for now we'll put that on the backburner.
Meanwhile, in LA, Sun prepared to shoot the crap out of Ben, but Ben managed to stall her by convincing her he could take her to proof that Jin was alive. Kate and Sayid wanted no part of this, so it was just the would-be murderer, her would-be victim, and a doctor with a God complex on the road together. It was mostly uneventful except for my other favorite scene of the episode: Ben's freakout. I like to believe that it wasn't simply calculation and, for a moment, Ben actually lost his cool. It certainly felt like we were watching a different Ben than what we normally see and I liked the implications of what he told Sun and Jack.
Once they got to their destination it turned out that Ben's proof was just Jin's ring, that he got from Locke. But he had to get them to the church to meet with Eloise Hawking. Who happens to be receiving another visitor: Desmond. Yes, Eloise Hawking is the mother of Daniel Faraday. She greets them and tells Ben that, even though its not everybody, it will "have to do."
So that's about it. I can't say I loved this episode. It had its moments, but on the whole it felt a little disjointed and a little rushed. That said, it looks like all the pieces are finally in place for the big return to the island. That is something that I cannot wait to see.
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The Theory-Down
5. So where do we leave the people on the island? I think, as sad as it is, the flashes may be over. On the up side, no one else will die. On the down side, the flashes were a great way to explore the island's past and I hope they come back soon. My guess, Locke's fixing the wheel caused one more flash and now the island is locked into one time. That time? The 1970s, when a group of crazy hippies came to the island with a utopian vision and tenuous grasp of somewhat dubious fringe science.
4. The sickness seems to have nothing to do with time travel and everything to do with the monster. Everyone who went down to visit him turned out dead, but it doesn't look like Rousseau was as crazy as we thought (all though she is still very, very crazy). I don't have much here, but I'm sure there's be more later.
3. We found out that Ben was never supposed to turn the wheel. This was interesting to me, because it felt like there was maybe something else going on in those scenes in the finale. What if (and this will shock you) Ben was lying and he knew he wasn't supposed to turn the wheel? Did he leave the island to get away from the carnage that was about to happen? To get his revenge on Widmore? Stick it to Jacob? Is this part of a larger plan?
2. So, who's going back to the island? We've been led to believe that everybody has to go back, but Eloise seemed to be willing to rock it with just Sun, Jack, Ben, Locke, and Desmond. I'm betting that at the very least Kate will join, but I think that the whole O6 is going to have to go or there needs to be some consequences. It would be just too gaping a hole to leave open. On the same note, as much as I love Desmond, I am willing to accept never seeing him again if it means he doesn't go back to the island. Come on, Desmond! You can't abandon Penny and Charlie! And is Ben going back? He said whoever moves the island can't, but Locke certainly seems like he's headed for a return trip. And I'm sure Ben's going to find a way to weasel his way there too.
1. Changing the future, week 5! This was a big week for not changing the future. First, it was Jin who stopped Rousseau from going into the monster's lair, ensuring that she and Alex would be the only one's not affected by the sickness. Then Charlotte described how she saw Faraday in the Dharma Initiative, which obviously hasn't happened yet. That last bit is important because it would seem to settle the argument over whether all these things in history that we've heard about happened with the Losties, or if this is all new stuff. In Charlotte's past, Faraday was on the island, while that event is still to come in Faraday's future. So it seems like we've seen and heard some pretty definitive evidence that the gang is participating in events whose results we've already seen and not trying to change them. But I wonder if we'll see any wrinkles in that notion in the future (or is that the past).
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