The LOST Finale Blog

After a season with a slow painful arc in the fall & a false start in January (Jack's tattoos, the producers & writers of Lost finished strong and with a decisive bang this past Wednesday night. This will rank as one of the top shows, if not the top show, in the now 3 seasons of the show. The show has hit the halfway point in it's projected lifespan and it has really started to hit it's stride. But enough of my mindless drivel & opinions and let's get to the finale.

I actually said screw it and even though I had to be on the road early in the morning for the second day in row (I shouldn't complain about free golf now, should I ?), I stayed up to watch the finale live. I got to watch it again last night so I could see some of the tells that led to the final climatic scenes. So today we get a mix of what I thought, what we know and Mrs. Swampy's insights too. Trust me I needed a second pair of eyes for this one.
Previously on LOST – god I love to hear those words. There is a certain urgency to the way they are so matter of factly said. We know all this stuff so let's get to the real thing. We see a hand on a cocktail that looks to me like scotch at first but is most likely tequila as we see in the penultimate scene some 2 hours from now. It belongs to bearded drunken Jack – Osama Bin Jack ? Looks like him – and it looks like he is on an Oceanic flight. He's sitting up in first class and he has no one in the seat next to him. I find that hard to believe but that is the poetic license Hollywood is allowed. He wants more to drink and is told no. They are landing in 20 minutes. 20 minutes is a long time he says. Jack, I would have been happy if we had only had to sit through 20 minutes of the story of your tattoos, which is 20 minutes more than was needed for it too. He is given a newspaper instead. I don't have screen cap capability or TIVO so I am straining to catch the headline but it is not the headline that he is ultimately interested in after the short lot of turbulence. Turbulence ? Oceanic ? Spin off ? He tears out a small corner article. Could it be his ex-wife's wedding announcement ? It's a little small and I don't see a picture but we can't read it either. We next see Jack behind the wheel of a car and he is topping on a bridge. Where the hell is there a bridge in LA ? He calls a phone number and begins to leave a message but he hangs up midway through. I can't help but think at the time that he is calling his ex-wife, he really needs to let go of her. After a dusty moment of deep reflection, he climbs out of the car and onto the bridge railing. It's a bridge over the LA Viaduct system and believe it or not, no one is filming a video or movie down below, Mrs. Swampy is flipping out despite the fact that we know that Jack isn't going to jump. We hear tires squeal, lights shake and the sound of bad crash. Nice Jack. You parked on the side of the road and now someone has crashed into your car. A child screams for Mommy and Jack turns slowly toward them before moving to help. I want to stay with Jack's flashback here but it's important that we follow this time and go back to the island.

The beach is packing and the losataways are getting ready to go. Jack miles at Kate as he walks by. After her visual exchange with Jack, she looks across the camp to a packing Sawyer. Is that a look of concern or regret in her eyes as she looks at him. This is the sneak peek scene that those of us who couldn't wait saw online – yes I said I wouldn't but I did, shoot me. Jack & Sayid discuss the shooters – Bernard & Jin – excellent shots. Sayid tells Jack not to come back. That he is willing to give his life for the rescue of his friends. Jack gives him his word. Bernard is checking his rifle when Rose makes him say it again, "I am a dentist. Not Rambo." – you just have to know that Bernard was brought back to die because of the promised body count. Is Sun actually showing ? Jack rallies the troops and the lostaways head off down the beach. It's Moses leading his tribe across the sands and the writers agree with me as we see in a scene later on.

LOST

When we come back we are still with the Lostaways as they continue their way down the shoreline. Naomi checks in with Jack (calling him Moses, thank you very much) about the workings of the Sat Phone. This phone still bugs the crap out of me as I am pretty sure that a Sat phone of this nature was hardly available in late 2004 now early 2005 – have the lostaways passed Christmas Day yet ? Wouldn't someone have mentioned it somewhere ? Someone's watch has to be day/date. Nitpicking, I know. Whatever. Naomi doesn't trust Juliet because no one else in the camp trusts her either. The light on the phone is still flashing red but it will turn green when the rock star finishes his task.

So what has happened to Chollie since we last saw him getting covered by 2 paramilitary babes with guns down in the Looking Glass. And that is where we find his still only now he is tied to chair and getting the snot smacked out of him by the light haired one. I speculated last week that these women were Ben's secret escape babes but it appears that secret is only half right. Chollie lets them know that it was Juliet who told them about the hatch and that she is one of us. Still don't know about that one Chollie but it gets the desired effect and the decision is made to call Ben. They are Ben's secret – much back patting going on by myself on the couch. Chollie see the blinking yellow light and has his own mini-flashback to Desmond's prediction. They radio up to Ben in his tent and he is shocked to hear from them. He shocks even more people when he takes the radio outside and allows Richard & Mikhail to overhear his conversation. He has to admit to Mikhail that he lied (another chink in Ben's armor) as he sends him to the NOT FLOODED Looking Glass hatch. Ben then tries to raise the invading party at the beach but the radios are off. Tents are marked, The shooters are in place and the Others move in. The deception is found and Sayid & Bernard pull their triggers and blow the dynamite. Jin with his handgun misses 2 shots before he has to drill 2 of the others. Ryan finally catches him. Bernard makes a break for but is close lined by Tom. Rambo would have killed Tom so Bernard was right. Sayid is forced to drop his rifle and the shooters have all been caught. We move to the ridge and Rose is in Jack's face. There were supposed to be 3 explosions. Jack looks puzzled and worried as the lostaways press him. He begins to make a speech but Rose comes back with the line of the night "Jack if you say Live Together Die Alone to me, I am going to punch you in the face." Go Rose. Lay that smack on Jack. The tribe follows Jack.

It's back to Osama Bin Jack getting stitched up. Nice cut on his forehead. Jack's ex walks in – she is massively pregnant and Mrs. Swampy thinks she is ugly. I remind her that all pregnant women are beautiful in their own way. I believe that STUFF IT is a suitable family style substitute for her response to me. J She asks Jack if he has been drinking and he wants to know why she was down here. She's still his emergency contact and she wants to know why he was out at 2am. Hey wait a minute, when is this in the timeline that she is pregnant before the crash ? An early tell perhaps on the payoff ? She tells Jack it wouldn't be appropriate to give him a ride home. Good bye Jack.

Chollie is still being questioned by the hatch babes about why he is there. Chollie really has taken Desmond's prediction to heart and he is almost flaunting the fact that he is going to turn off the jamming equipment and die in order to save his friends. He is told that he is going to need a code but this only causes a ripple in his somewhat psychotic exterior. The hatch babes continue to be bamboozled by the apparently suicidal crazy rockstar who somehow evaded getting eaten by the dharma shark in his quest to enter the Looking Glass hatch.

Back on the beach Tom is talking to Ben and tells how they were obviously sold out by Juliet as they knew they were coming but none of the shooters is talking. Not until Ben orders them to shoot Jin and ten Bernard breaks down and spills everything, Juliet, Carl, the radio tower – everything. Rambo wouldn't have done that. Ben plans on intercepting the lostaways & Jack and he decides to take Alex with him after hearing about Carl selling the others. Richard tries to dissuade Ben from going alone or at all but he is told to take the rest of the group to the Temple. (Jewish temple ? That was Mrs. Swampy. Probably the temple of the 4 toed giant).

So where are Jack and his friends now ? Water break in the woods and we see Kate & Sawyer talking or should I say Kate talking TO sawyer. She senses that something is different about him since he came back from his trip with Locke and obviously he ain't told her. So that look was one of concern back on the beach. She tells him to start caring and to get his head in the game and she gives him grief for actually calling her Kate. So freckles it is from now on in all of their scenes together. Kate then says that Juliet may have been sent to check Sun but she was also sent to check her too. Sawyer gives a less than heartwarming answer to her. Cold actually. Bastard. Let's stay with the tribe as they continue out back on the trail to the tower. Sawyer suddenly pulls up and informs Jack tha he is going back to the beach. Jack tells him no but Sawyer lets Jack know that he is not asking for permission. Kate offers to join him but he tells her no. That he doesn't want her to go with him. There is genuine hurt in her eyes and you can again see that the feelings she has for Sawyer are deeper than she is willing to show or admit. Juliet offers to go because she knows where a hidden cache of guns are that they can go grab. Jack reluctantly agrees and she kisses him under Kate's watchful eye. The hurt in her eyes also as evident as the hidden feelings for Sawyer were. How did Kate ever work as a bank robber, escaped felon when her feelings & emotions are so readily there on what would be her sleeve if she wore anything but tank tops – and no, I'm not complaining about the tank tops at all. Kate – you are still # 1 on my cheat list. Along the way Sawyer asks Juliet why they had them breaking rocks. Juliet says it was for the Alien runway and Sawyer almost believes her. He has to believe her when she tells him there are no guns and that she pulled a Ben – she lied. And Juliet ? Kharma belongs on NBC at 8pm on Thursdays. Hurley shows up wanting to help. He's been rejected by Chollie & ignored by Jack. He wants to feel needed and part of the team. Sawyer dismisses him too and we see a long shot of Sawyer & Juliet headed one way and Hurley headed the other. Poor Hurley but you just have to know that we will somehow see him again later in the episode.

Let's go back to the water again because Desmond has come to on the boat and come to the realization that Chollie has knocked him out and has gone down to the hatch. Desmond realizes that he has to go down to the hatch too when Mikhail starts shooting at him from the beach. I come to the realization that this may be the first time in the show that Des has been hit on the head and not been transported to another place or time. I also am hoping & praying that the Dharma Shark does not make his reappearance now. Mrs. S tells me to quit it with the Dharma Shark already and she is probably right but I won't. While hatch babes argue behind the closed door this time, Des pops up in the moon pool and quickly hides in a locker when Chollie tells him to hurry. The hatch babes come out and beat on Chollie some more mainly because he is singing. Go Hatch Babes Go – beat him some for that offense. Mikhail surfaces soon after and is surprised to see the two women he thought had been sent to Canada on assignment which tells me that Ben at least made the appearance that more than just Richard & Ethan could leave the island. Mikhail wants to speak to Ben, still much distrust in his one eyed head, and Ben tells him that the island is under assault, that he needs Mikhail to help clean up his mess and he orders him to kill the hatch babes & Charlie. Mikhail comes back out of the communications hatch, asks a few questions and then shoots the brown haired hatch babe in the gut. She falls in the water. Blood in the water – calling the DHARMA SHARK – smack goes Mrs. S – he then shoots the blonde one that has been beating on Chollie but not fatally. As he lines up the killing shot, Desmond pops out the locker and drills him with the spear gun just above the heart. Quickly they talk to the hatch babe that is dying and they get her to give them the code to turn off the jamming device as her revenge for Ben giving the order to kill her. The code is the musical equivalent of Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. The programmer was a music fan, just not a Driveshaft fan.

But what about Jack's flashbacks ? We see him checking the chart of the woman he saved when he meets the new head of surgery – it's the head of security from LAS VEGAS – first Naomi & now him – who's next Jimmy can as Jacob > Nikki Cox as Razzle Dazzle's sister ? He is the new head of surgery and he tells Jack that Jack is hero (twice over) but he should go home and rest, have a drink, they have the surgery well in hand. We next see Jack jamming down the street of a less than desirable neighborhood listening to some seriously less than desirable music. He parks, checks his news clipping, makes a call, hangs up on VM, pops a pill and heads for the funeral parlor across the street almost getting hit by car in the process. No one is inside the room when he walks in and the manager tells him there was only a viewing. No one came. When asked if he was friend or family, Jack says neither. So the clipping he has was a funeral announcement but for who ? Mrs. S is fixated on the size of the coffin. She is claiming that it is too small. More on that later. We then see Jack trying to get more pills but the pharmacist says no despite a man in line telling her that Jack is a hero (twice over according to the new head of surgery) and give him what he wants. When he produces a script from his father, the pharmacist says she will need to call but he storms out instead, so much for the cheap sunglasses. We then see Jack stealing samples of Oxycodone from a case in the hospital. He is an absolute mess and Dr. Las Vegas catches him but not with the drugs. He questions him about what he was doing on the bridge since the woman he saved said she crashed when she saw a potential jumper on the bridge railing. He asks if he has been drinking and Jack challenges him to call down his father and if he is drunker than Christian than he an fire him. Dr. Las Vegas starts to say something but Jack leaves abruptly.

Where has Locke been all this time ? Last we saw he was left laying in the pit of dharma dead and that is where we find him again. He can't seem to move his legs and but he can reach far enough to reach a loaded gun. He checks the revolver and gets ready to pull the trigger but stops short when Walt suddenly appears at the edge of the pit. Time has not stood still for Walt. The boy has grown. He tells John to get up, that his legs do work and that he has a job to do. That was random. I expected smoky, not Walt. This will have to wait until February 2008. I don't know how we can all wait that long but we all waited for the Sopranos so we can wait for LOST.

Back to the wandering tribe, Jack tells Kate that Sawyer didn't mean it when he told her he didn't want her with him. He only said that to protect her just like he wanted to protect her when he told her not to come back for him. When asked why, Jack said "I love you." And Kate is even more confused about her emotions. As they crest the top of the next rise, there is Ben waiting for them. Jack is stunned and furious at the same time. Ben asks for 5 minutes of Jack's time after Kate confirms that there is no one else with them. Handy to have a Sheena jungle girl who can track people, isn't it ? Ben spins a tale about why Jack needs to give him the phone that Naomi has and how they can all just go home and live happily ever after. Jack doesn't buy and Ben threatens to kill Sayid, Bernard & Jin if he doesn't. We hear the 3 shots on the walkie talkie as time runs out and Jack beats ben to a bloody pulp. Mrs. S is furious that Sayid & Jin are dead. She won't be watching next year. Jack dumps his bloody beaten bosy at the feet of the tribe and goes off behind a bush to try and compose himself. Kate checks on him and he tells her that they just killed the ones on the beach. It's getting uglier. Back at Jack's tribe Danielle has slowly walked up to Ben & Alex and Ben introduces Alex to her mother. Danielle touches her face and then suggests some mother daughter bonding in tying up Ben like a dog.

Back to the Looking Glass, the bodies are laid out and Chollie tells Desmond to go get some scuba gear while he plays a tune on the security pad. Chollie hits all the right notes and the blinking yellow light goes off. As he starts to leave, the incoming transmission button starts to flash. He goes back and hits it. A broken picture starts to come in and we see Penny on the other side. Charlie tells her that they are the survivors of 815 but she knows nothing of that. She hears him mention Desmond though and Chollie starts to call for him. Penny has no idea who Naomi is and knows nothing about a ship. It's right then that Mikhail Myers of Halloween fame shows up outside the hatch in the porthole with a grenade in his hand. Where is the dharma shark and why can't anyone kill this guy ? Chollie realizes what he is about to do and he realizes what he must do to make Desmond's premonition come true. He closes and bolts the hatch as the pin is removed and the explosion plows the porthole. Water rushes in and Chollie won't open the door. I'm off the couch and on the floor, must be closer to the dust in the carpet. Chollie grabs his sharpie and writes on his hand – NOT PENNY'S BOAT and holds it up to Desmond as he drowns. A noble death but not a necessary one as Chollie certainly looks small enough to fit through the porthole. We never really saw Chollie dead so he could be back in Season 4. Not.

Back at the beach, Tom is telling Ryan that they couldn't follow orders and that they had to put 3 shots into the sand because Ben is unstable. We see the 3 of them still alive. Sawyer & Juliet are trying to figure out what to do when Hurley comes flying into the scene in his magic hippy bus and despite a hail of bullets, he runs over Ryan like the asian woman tried to run me down earlier this week. See my next random blog for that story. Sayid kills another other with his ankles and Juliet gets Tom's gun before Tom can. He rolls over and surrenders to Sawyer who drills him with a cold blooded shot to the stomach. That was for taking the kid off the boat – great line. Hurley asks why he shot him since he gave up and sawyer says he didn't believe him.

They march on to the tower but suddenly we hear Hurley telling the Others to stay away. Hurley confirms to Jack that they have recaptured the beach and that everyone is still alive. Much joy in the group, much distress in Ben's eyes. Naomi notices that the light on the phone has gone green but when they try to connect with the ship, they get Rousseau's distress call instead. They get to the tower and disable the message but have trouble getting s connection. You are in a concrete bunker you idiots, get outside. When they do get outside, the connection is made but just as it starts to ring Naomi starts to bleed out of her mouth. Locke has drilled her in the back with a knife and he has his gun trained on Jack. Jack is furious and wants to know why. Locke just says I can't let you do it. Jack goes for the phone and Locke shoots a warning shot but Jack still picks it up. The phone is answered and Jack starts to talk. Locke resigned hobbles away into the jungle. Jack tells the person on the other end who they are and asks if they can come get them. If Locke & Ben are right, this is a big mistake. Much joy in Mudville.

Back to Osama Bin Jack sitting on the floor of a messy shack slugging down tequila. He is surrounded by what look like charts on the floor around him. He makes another call only this time a voice answers and he says he is sorry to call but that he has to see them out at the airport. We next see Jack parking at the end of the runway at LAX and another car pulls up behind him. Out of the car comes a shadowy figure. It's Kate ? And she knows Jack ? WTF ? She says that she saw that he is still puling people from burning wreckage. Old habits. He asks her if she had seen the clipping and if she went to the funeral. She wants to know why she would go ? Jack says that he has been using their golden tickets they got to fly around every weekend hoping to crash. He needs to go back, he is tired of lying. She says she has to go before 'he" asks where she has been. Who ? Sawyer ? Is the dead bosy at the funeral home Ben ? She leaves to Jack yelling – we have to go back.

So this has all been a flash forward ? Mrs. S wondered just before this scene where it all fit in the timeline of the show and now we know. But there are so many questions to be asked and speculated upon before February 2008.

Edit on the train.I really shortchanged that last section because I was rushing to catch my train. Is this final scene a precursor to what we will be seeing over the next 3 seasons ? Will we be in the present and flashing back to the island ? I hope not because it didn't work for "The Nine" so why would it work here ? Is Kate with Sawyer ? She must not have gotten pregnant on the island. Where is Juliet ? Does her absence account for part of Jack's psychosis or is she still back on the island ? Who is on the boat if it isn't Penny ? Is Pen's dad part of the original Dharma and have they been trying to get back to the island to take out Ben and the hostiles ? Why show us Jacob 2 weeks ago and then have absolutely no payoff with him at all ? What is Walt's signifigance ? What is Locke's mission ? What about the rest of the others ? Can Richard save them from the path of destruction that Ben has put them all on ? How has the killing of the real Sawyer by our Sawyer changed him ? He has dead eyes now. Can he open up to Kate ? How is Claire going to react to Chollie's death ? Can Desmond save him or is Chollie really dead ? Is Sun safe now ? Is anyone safe now ? There are so many more questions that keep bouncing around my head but I can't for the life of me remember them all due to the distractions on the train.Now go read B.Quain's blog for everything I missed.
Quietly waiting for 2008……swampy abides……