Ok. So this blog thing hit a bit of a bump along the road of Cardiff School of Journalism’s busy second term. It turns out its pretty hard to keep up with shows let alone write about them, but I have 5 weeks off now and then exams ahead of me, which means I should have the chance to set it right. And this is attempt no.1.
So let’s get down to it. This post will focus solely on LOST and how the new season has gone so far. I have been having weekly discussions with my associate Mr M.T. and we both agree that it has been a good season so far. Perhaps it is not moving at the same speed as last season, but when there are a lot of questions to answer, you can forgive the producers for slowing down and making sure the attention to detail is spot on.
So now we have had 10 episodes of the final season. And here is what has happened so far condensed into somewhat easy-to-understand sections.
So we left off in season 5 with Juliet hitting the nuclear bomb 8 times to detonate it in 1977. It was hoped this would counteract the electro-magnetic pocket of energy on the island, rendering it inert and therefore preventing flight 815 from crashing in 2004.
And it did. Sort of. Season 6 opened in similar style to season 1, with focus on the plane ride. But this time it didn’t crash! Wowza! And that wasnt the only difference. There was Boone, but no Shannon. Hurley was far more positive. There was no sign of Michael or Walt. And perhaps most importantly, Desmond was on the plane! Oh yeah, and the ISLAND WAS IN RUINS UNDERWATER!!!!
But while this was all being shown to us, we saw the 1977 Losties transported back into the island in the present day. Jacob had just been killed by Ben. And Juliet died tragically in Sawyer’s arms. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Hurley and Jin were all soon captured by the Others and taken to the mysterious Temple, under the leadership of the equally mysterious Dogen.
Meanwhile the Man in Black, impersonating John Locke, was revealed to be the Black Smoke Monster. Now his rival Jacob is dead, he is seeking to leave the island. But to do that he needs the 6 remaining candidates to replace Jacob to leave with him, or so he says. These are Hurley, Sawyer, Jack, Jin or Sun and Sayid. Interestingly enough they are all numbered on the candidate list. And they just so happen to correspond to some numbers we have seen throughout the series…
Terry O'Quinn is the Man in Black in John Locke's form.
So far the MIB has ‘recruited’ Sawyer, Jin and Sayid to his fold, along with several of the others, after attacking and killing the residents of the temple. Jack and Hurley escaped and are currently on the beach with Sun. They are joined by Jacob’s assistants Richard Alpert and Illana, and the enigmatic Benjamin Linus. The two sides have recently been extended to three, after Charles Widmore managed to return to the island, setting up a stronghold on the Hydra island. Not only has he kidnapped Jin, but he has also brought Desmond back to the island (!!!) in an effort to prevent the MIB from succeeding in his plan to leave the island.
The line between good and evil has never been more blurred, and which side is which is still impossible to tell. The MIB claims not to want to hurt anyone, but freely kills if he needs to. Jacob is still appearing from beyond the grave to the Clairvoyant Hurley, but is as hard to fathom as ever, and his frequent interferences in the Losties lives have led to much pain and suffering.
The Flash-sideways world as it is known as has shown a vastly different reality for our friends without the island. Jin and Sun arent married, Sawyer is a policeman rather than a criminal and Jack has a son.
Evangeline Lilly's Kate remains a fugitive in the Alternate timeline.
Some have criticised this season as not living up to expectations, but i will strive to support it. The flash-sideways universe is very interesting and has thrown up some wonderful twists such as Sawyer and Miles as cops, and the Jack episode was wonderful. How anyone can criticise this season after the Richard Alpert episode is beyond me as well. It was one of the best hours of television I have ever seen, combining a touching back story with some exciting reveals about the islands mythology, namely that the island serves as a cork to keep the MIB’s evil ‘bottled up’ so to speak.
Henry Ian Cusack plays the one-and-only Desmond
With a Desmond episode up next we can only expect better things, (you may have guessed I am a bit of a Desmond fan) and with only eight hours of Lost to go, the answers are coming thick and fast.
Now when I left off last time I had reached number five in my top 10 Lost scene countdown. Today I will give you four and three.
At number four we have a tragic moment from the Series 3 finale. Desmond had foreseen Charlie’s death for almost half the season but had always been able to intervene. He then saw Charlie drowning after pushing a mysterious underwater button that allowed a rescue boat to come to the island. And so this time Charlie had to die, sacrificing himself to save the others. A powerful and poignant scene, but not without a twist….
And at three in the countdown, possibly the most romantic and heart warming scene in Lost history. After Desmond finds his mind switching between 1996 and 2004, he is in need of a constant factor present in both timelines to anchor himself in the present. And who else would that constant be than his long lost love Penny, whom he hasn’t seen in 3 years. It is almost enough to bring a tear to your eye.
Well I hope you enjoyed the return of my blog. I will endeavor to get back on track with regular shows in midweek. Until then, adios.
Tags: ABC, Ben Linus, Boone, Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, Desmond, Evangeline Lilly, Jacob, John Locke, LOST, Michael Dawson, Richard Alpert, Sawyer, Shannon, Terry O'Quinn, The Man in Black, Walt
