Free Lost Stuff?!

Yes, that's right... One of the other bloggers on Nikki's sight is doing a giveaway to spike interest in her site. Her stuff is so cool, so I figured I'd post it here. Always like to boost up a fellow Lostie :0)

Here's the link if you want to check it out:

Shannon Hale Rocks!

The highlight of my trip to BEA was getting to meet Shannon Hale. My sister and I discovered her books a long time ago. Her books have a wonderful fairy tale feel without being retold tales. She was signing advance reader copies of the fourth book in her Books of Bayern series. The first three were so enjoyable and I cannot wait to get into the new one.

The best thing, though, was actually getting to meet her. We spent so much time at the Bloomsbury booth that the woman who was working at the booth and also at the signing recognized us and started teasing us about hanging around their booth for so long and praising Shannon Hale to ridiculous heights.

So Shannon was joking and laughing with the three of us and signed wonderfully personal messages for both me and for my sister.

She's the kind of person that I just wanted to sit down and have a cup of tea with and chat about books forever. It's so nice when someone whose work you have respected and enjoys ends up being so wonderful and personable.

If you haven't read anything by her and you are interested at all in good fantasy, please do yourself a favor and pick up The Goose Girl, or The Book of 1,000 Days, or (for you graphic novel lovers) Rapunzel's Revenge, which was absolutely fantastic!

B E YAY!

At the very last minute I was able to go the the BEA (Book Expo America) this Friday with two of my co-workers. It was so much fun. We got a ton of ARCs and giveaways. My shoulders are so ridiculously sore from lugging around multiple tote bags of books all day long. It was such a fun day getting to spend time together outside of the store.

Friday was their Young Adult focus day and we got to meet a bunch of authors to have books signed, including Melissa Marr (signing her newest book Fragile Eternity), Trenton Lee Stewart (signing a boxed set of his first two Mysterious Benedict Society books) and Shannon Hale (signing ARCs of her newest Books of Bayern Forest Born).

Also got to meet Debbie Macomber, L. S. Linnea and a number of other people that I didn't know, but whose books looked really interesting.

Our absolutely favorite booth was for Bloomsbury. All of the people there were so friendly and talkative and just loved books so much. We ended talking with one of them for like 15 minutes just reveling in our love for books, particularly young adult and independent reader books.

I came home with a whole suitcase of books and now I'm faced with my ever growing question of ... where on earth do I put all of these books? I'm running out of floor space (I ran out of shelf space a very long time ago.) It's great working in a bookstore, but it can be extremely hazardous when you are a bibliophile.

Star Trek: the New Frontier

I finally got a chance to go see Star Trek - and then I got to go see it again 2 days later! Crazy. My sister was mad that my parents and I went without her, so she and I went Sunday.

So funny - when we went on Friday, my parents and I were the ONLY ones in the theatre. It was sweet. We got to comment and laugh really loud. :)

I'm going to assume that if you're reading this, you've seen it, so expect SPOILERS AHEAD!

I loved it. I've seen all the other movies, I grew up watching reruns of the original show and Next Generation, watched quite a bit of DS9 and saw virtually every episode of Voyager, so I consider myself a bit of a Trekkie. I thought the movie was a great addition to the Star Trek universe.

The homages to the original stuff was a lot of fun and the movie definitely kept me entertained throughout.

The casting was done well. The absolute highlight for me was Bones. I thought he completely nailed it. I was sold on the character from the first sentence and I just about died when he said, "I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" Ah hahaha! Scottie was probably my second favorite. Chekov's hair was way too curly, so even though the accent was perfect, his hair distracted me.

When Kirk is sitting in the bar right after Pike tells him to enlist in Starfleet, Kirk picks up a little starship salt shaker and I all but shrieked, "I want those!" To which my Mom laughed and said maybe for Christmas. Yeah, I'm a dork :) Because that would be amazing!
(note to self: make sure before I accept any guy's proposal, that he is okay with starship salt and pepper shakers)

I thought that the romantic interest between Uhura and Spock was a little odd, but it also felt strangely okay. A lot of people seemed to be bothered by it, but it didn't do too much for me one way or the other. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't thrilled either.

I loved the scene when Kirk is swelling up all over the place and Bones keeps giving him shot after shot. So funny :)

It's been a while since I've watched Star Trek (other than some of the more recent movies) but I don't remember Romulans looking like that. It just struck me as strange, with the tattoos and everything.

Very Lostian ideas of time travel and alternate realities. I couldn't help thinking about them while watching it.

The ending seemed rather too easily wrapped up - I mean, Kirk goes from being a cadet to being a full-fledged captain? Way too quick (plus the extremely corny standing ovation - puh-lease). But then we realized that the whole next movie would have had to be about how he became captain, and that would just be ridiculous. This one was to set everything up so that they can take other movies in new directions, so it kind of had to end that way.

Yeah for Michael Giacchino's score! Loved the music and the second time around I started catching nuances of the original Star Trek score in different scenes. So cool.

My biggest nitpick actually had to do with the set, and no, it wasn't about how it looked newer and shinier. That didn't bother me. It was actually with the turbo lifts and how they didn't turn the little handles to move around. They had the old style communicators and phasers, but not those. Then I started rationalizing that this was actually before the voice activation, so it worked more like an elevator and that maybe in the next movie they'll have progressed to that. Haha. (What's sad is that the rationalization actually made me feel better. (though it's kind of weird that this was my biggest nitpick)

Also, had a question about the bug that they put into Pike. If they are the same kind of thing as in The Wrath of Khan, then why doesn't Pike seem to be affected by it when Kirk rescues him? It's like, you see the bug put in (and through the mouth, not the ear) and the next thing you see is Kirk rescuing him and he's mentally fine. Random thought came to me that maybe Pike is still under Captain Nero's suggestive influence via the bug and that will come into play as part of the next movie. Or maybe we're just supposed to think that it did its job, came out and Pike is fine.

So, there you have it, my scatter-brained review and thoughts on Star Trek.
Now I must boldly go where I have often gone before....

(sorry, couldn't help myself :P)

Free Will Vs. Destiny or Jacob Vs. MaybEsau

In some of my many musings about "The Incident", I came to the conclusion that we were looking at Jacob and MaybEsau the wrong way. I don’t think it will come down to a clear cut right vs. wrong, or an obvious hero vs. villain. The better parallel for me is the struggle between free will, or choice, and fate, or destiny.

From this view, I think it is clear that Jacob represents free will or choice, which would put his counterpart, whom I shall call MaybEsau (based on the name from Nikki Stafford’s blog), represents destiny.

Here are some of the facts that I believe support this theory:
Right at the beginning of "The Incident" Jacob and MaybEsau have a very intriguing conversation. I actually watched just this part over again to try to catch it all. Here's the transcript of their conversation. I think it's important enough to recap here:

MaybEsau: Morning.
Jacob: Morning.
M: Mind if I join you?
J: Please. Want some fish?
M: Thank you, I just ate.
J: I take it you're here because of the ship.
M: I am. How did they find the Island?
J: We'll have to ask them when they get here.
M: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong aren't you.
J: You are wrong.
M: Am I? They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.
J: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.
M: Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?
J: Yes.
M: One of these days, sooner or later, I'm going to find a loophole my friend.
J: Well when you do I'll be right here.
M: Always nice talking to you, Jacob
J: Nice talking to you, too.

There’s been a lot of discussion over what Jacob means when he says "It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress." I think what it means is that there is a definite end to the Island that will come at, well, the end. Each of the groups that come to the Island is in a way being tested. Are they the ones that can carry it out to the proper conclusion?
Jacob believes that each group can make their own choices. They can choose to destroy, kill and die or, eventually, a group will come that will make the right choices and bring everything to a conclusion.

MaybEsau believes that it’s always going to end the same way. None of the groups are capable of making the right choice. They are all destined to repeat the same types of mistakes as those who came before.

With each group Jacob is convinced that they can prove MaybEsau wrong, but MaybEsau doesn’t believe it will ever happen. The question is, will our Losties be the ones to get it right?
As Jacob comes into contact with the various people, he emphasizes many times that they have a choice.

Kate: Yes, Jacob pays for the lunch box, but he tells her not to steal anymore. She isn’t branded as a thief, the police aren’t involved. Kate has the opportunity to make the choice and turn her life in another direction.

Sawyer: Jacob gives him a pen. At first, I was thinking that he was helping Sawyer to write the letter that would eat him up. But on further consideration I think he was actually giving Sawyer a choice. Without the pen Sawyer would just continue to stew over the letter, writing and rewriting it in his head. With the pen he has a choice – he can finish the letter and hold onto the bitterness, or he can let it go and follow the advice of his relative (or whoever that man was at the funeral).

Jin and Sun: He tells them that their love is special and that they need to remember that. They have a choice. They can work through the difficulties that come, remembering how special their love is, or they can allow other things to come between them.

Hurley: Right before Jacob gets out of the car, he touches Hurley and says, "It’s your choice, Hurley. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to."

Ben: Jacob tells him that he has a choice. That he doesn’t have to listen to NotLocke.
Jacob even believes in giving his counterpart the freedom of choice. He doesn't deny that MaybEsau can find a loophole, doesn't protest, doesn't argue. Instead he simply says, "Well when you do I'll be right here." And that's where he is. MaybEsau made his choice, Jacob made his.

Unfortunately I can't think of many examples to prove that MaybEsau falls on the destiny side of things (mainly because we see so little of him as MaybEsau and it's hard to tell how much is Locke and how much isn't), but I think it is very important that he chooses Locke to inhabit. From season 1, Locke has been a huge supporter of the destiny idea. Whether he believes it is his destiny to crash on the Island, to push the button or to be the leader of the Others, he dives in with his whole heart. I don't think that it is any coincidence that MaybEsau chooses Locke as his host.

Add to that the fact that he disagrees with Jacob that things will ever change, and I believe it's a pretty strong case that MaybEsau represents the destiny side of the equation.

So which will win out? Destiny or free will? Or is the balance of the two what truly matters?
Unfortunately, we have to wait eight freakishly long months to even begin to discover the answer!

Lost Season 5 1/2 Episode 1 "Just the Beginning"

Feeling Lost without Lost?
Wondering what to do on Wednesday night and Thursday without new fodder for discussion?
Ready for a laugh?

Once again my sister, Aching Hope, has come up with a brilliant fake episode. Please enjoy!

5½.1 "Just the Beginning"

Opens with the Swan Station and Sawyer, etc are running away from the magnetic hole. There’s a white flashy light and lots of noise and confusion.

Fwoomp!

Back to the beach.

Locke and Ben come out of the statue. Richard and the others are standing around Dead-Locke.

Locke: (seeing Ilana, looking at Ben) I told you they were coming.

Ben: (looks and sees Dead-Locke, his eyes go all wide. He looks to Locke.) You lied to me.

Locke: So? You lied to me.

Richard: (cocks his gun and points it at Locke.) Who are you?

Ilana and her gang lift up their guns too and the Others do as well, thinking, hey, why not. That’s what we usually do.

Locke: (Raising his hands up peacefully, you slug) I told you who I am. My name is John Locke.

Ilana: Liar. (Points to dead Locke) This is the man you speak of. Jacob came to me and told me to help him, and I did. I found this man. And I found you. You weren’t on that plane. Were you?

Ben: Well, were you Locke?

Locke: (looking at Richard.) No. I wasn’t. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize me.

Richard: (Dawning realization! He is beginning to look really, really scared.)

Ben: But the Island told me to follow you. The Island said…

Locke: Did it? Did it really? Because as far as I know, the Island had nothing to do with it. First you saw black smoke, which I conveniently control. And then you saw Alex. Poor, dear Alex. You do realize she’s dead, don’t you? You didn’t really think she would come back from the grave just to tell you to follow a stupid little man named John Locke.

Ben: (starting to get that psycho look)

Richard: Ben. Where is Jacob?

Ben: (turning to Richard) I killed him, Richard.

Dun Dun Dun!

LOST

An older woman is getting out of bed when the alarm goes off. She turns on a record player. Retro music playing. Said older woman is doing regular morning things and we’re thinking, haven’t I seen this scene before with Chang, with Juliet, with Desmond? But then the door slams open and a younger woman comes in. The older woman looks up.

Older woman: Yes, Anna?

Younger woman: They’re here. Just like you said they would be.

Older woman: Are you sure?

Younger woman: Yes. I still have the photo you gave me.

Older woman: (sinks into the couch, we still haven’t seen her face.) What will happen to them?

Younger woman: (shrugging) I don’t know. But I think they’re going to kill one of them.

Older woman: Which one?

Younger woman: They say his name is Sawyer.

The camera swings around and you see that it’s an older Juliet.

Dun Dun Dun

Beach:

Richard: What do you mean you killed him?

Ben: I mean I killed him. What else could that mean, Richard?

Richard: You have no idea what you just did.

Ben: Well, no one took the time to explain it to me, did they? What was I supposed to do?

Locke: (All smug) You should have listened. You never were good at listening.

Ilana: Enough. We have no time for this.

Locke: Or what?

Ilana: The Island cannot tell you everything, no matter who you are. There was one more thing Jacob told me that you should know.

Locke: What?

Ilana: It isn’t over. Close your eyes.

Locke: What?

Ilana: Close your eyes.

There’s a bright flashy time-travel light. Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Miles, Jack, and Kate all fall from the sky and land on the beach.

Sayid: Uhhhg…

Hurley: Dudes, where are we?

Others: All cock their guns and point them at the others, I mean, the ones from the plane crash, I mean the original thems of the opposite of others. Oh good grief. The Losties. The ones that fell from the sky a few moments ago.

Bram: What are they doing here?

Ilana: they are meant to be here.

Frank: Oh boy.

Jack: What do you mean we’re supposed to be here?

Locke: Hello Jack.

Jack: (makes a confused face.) You’re dead?

Ilana: Yes.

Ben: And no.

Richard: It’s complicated.

Jack: (whhhhaaaat face)

Miles: Uh, there’s a dead body. (Points at the box.)

Hurley: Dude! That’s Locke. But you’re Locke. (Points at Locke.) But there’s two of you. But that’s not possible, because you’re dead.

Richard: As we said, it’s complicated. Unfortunately, Locke here, (points to Locke) isn’t exactly who he says he is.

Hurley: So, what is he?

Richard: (smiling) That, my friend, is a very good question.

Hurley: Um, I know this is kinda’ like, a bad time, considering we just time traveled and there’s a living dead guy and stuff, but, are you like, immortal or something?

Richard: Or something.

Hurley: Oh. That’s helpful.

Bram: What’s with the guitar? (Yes, Hurley somehow still has the guitar with him, although we’re still not sure why.) Can I play it?

Hurley: No. Some guy named Jacob gave it to me, and it’s kinda like, you know, special.

Richard: Some guy named Jacob gave it to you? You mean, THE Jacob?

Hurley: Is there more than one?

Miles: Uh, no, Hurley. There’s only one guy in the world named Jacob. (Rolls eyes.)

Hurley: Wait. Is Jacob here? Can I talk to him? I never thanked him for getting me out of prison.

Locke: I’m afraid that’s not possible, Hugo.

Hurley: What? Why?

Richard: Jacob’s dead.

Hurley: What? How? Who killed him?

Ben: I did. I killed Jacob. (Hurley is surprised.) Do you have a problem with that?

Hurley: Do you?

Ben: You really have no idea, do you?

Miles: Uh, do you? (thinking: you guys are all idiots.)

Locke: So what are you guys going to do now?

They all look at him.

Ben: What would you have us do?

Locke: (smiles) I guess you’ll just have to trust me.

The Others slowly put down their guns.

Richard: I don’t think you’re still our leader.

Locke: I think I am.

Ilana: And what would we call you?

Locke: Locke. That’s who I am now.

Ilana: What were you before?

Locke: (smiles but doesn’t answer.)

Hurley: What did people call you before you, like, replicated John Locke’s body?

Locke: Some people called me Pete. (Starts walking toward the jungle.)

Richard: (still has his gun pointed at Locke.) Where are you going?

Locke: I can’t tell you right now. But if anyone wants to join me, they can feel free to follow.

Richard: I can’t let you do that, Locke.

Locke: (turns around toward Richard) Then I guess you’ll have to kill me.

We hear a gunshot go off.

It wasn’t Locke who was shot. He’s fine. (Except for his true dead body, which is dead and lying on the beach.)

Richard drops to his knees. Sayid is standing behind him. They all stare at him like, what??? But he had to shoot someone this episode.

Kate: (running and kneeling next to Richard, because that’s what she does, she runs up to hurt people and wishes she could heal them.) Why did you do that?

Sayid: Does it matter anymore? (He goes and stands by Locke.) I don’t know who you are exactly, but it doesn’t really matter.

Locke: I know. (Pats Sayid on the shoulder.) Does anybody else want to join us? Ben?

Ben: (shakes his head.)

Locke: You know, Ben, you don’t really have a choice.

Kate: (looks from Locke to Ben while trying to stop Richard from bleeding.) What is he talking about?

Ben: (looking down at Kate.) I wish I could tell you, but I don’t know. (Looks at Locke.) I don’t know anything anymore.

Kate: What? You always know what’s going on. You’re Ben.

Ben: I won’t always be Ben, Kate. (He goes off with Locke.)

Miles: (To Hurley.) You gonna’ go with them?

Hurley: No way man, they’re all psycho killers.

Miles: Right.

Hurley: So, I guess you’re going to follow them?

Miles: Why? Because I can talk to dead people?

Hurley: I guess. I don’t know. I thought you just liked hanging around psycho crazy people.

Miles: (stares at Hurley.) Uh. No.

Hurley: But you’re going to follow them, right? Because it’s like, your destiny or something? I don’t know. I just thought you would.

Richard: Hurley’s right, you should follow them.

Miles: Why don’t you, eyeliner man?

Ilana: In case you didn’t notice, Richard’s been shot. I will go follow them, you may come with me if you like.

Miles: Sure. Why not. It’s not like I had anything better to do.
(He starts to leave, Ilana tells Bram to stay on the beach and follows him.)

Hurley: (To Jack) He’s going to be okay, right?

Jack: No, Hurley. He’s not.

Kate: What do you mean?

Jack: The shot went right into the lower intestines. He’s going to die in a matter of minutes. There’s nothing I can do.

Kate: What? But you have to do this. You have to fix him.

Jack: Well, Kate. I can’t fix everything.

Kate: But you’re Jack. That’s what you do.

Jack: Really, Kate? Because as much as I try to fix things I’m always breaking them.

Hurley: Whoa, break it up guys. I think Richard’s… I think he’s dying.

They all turn and watch Richard breathe one last time. Ahhhhh!

Meanwhile in the jungle:

Locke stops because he hears rustling behind him. Ilana and Miles come out of the jungle.

Locke: What are you doing here?

Miles: We decided to join you, what does it look like we’re doing?

Locke: You’re not going to like where we’re going.

Sayid: Where are we going?

Locke: Somewhere very special.

They start tramping in the woods.

Miles: (Grumbling) Everything is special.

Ben: (smiles.)

Beach:

Hurley: Is he dead?

Jack: Yes, Hurley. He’s dead.

Hurley: Whoa. I didn’t think he could die.

Sawyer: (finally standing up from where he was sitting this whole time.) Yes Hurley. Anyone of us could die. (Totally what Daniel said because everyone is always quoting each other.)

Hurley: I’m sorry about, you know. Juliet.

Sawyer: It wasn’t your fault, big guy.

Bram: What are we going to do now?

Sun and Jin finally realize that they’re together again. They hug and kiss. Awwwww….so cute.

Jack: I don’t know.

Someone off camera: I might.

They all turn.

It’s Jacob!!!!!! He’s not dead.

Hurley: But I thought you were dead, man.

Jacob: (smiling) No. Not yet. (Kneeling down and touching Richard and healing him. Yay!) Where’s Locke? And Ben?

Hurley: They went into the jungle all macho gung-ho. They’re crazy psycho killers.

Jacob: I know.

Hurley: So…. Is it like over? Do we just let them go and live our normal lives?

Jacob: No. It’s not over. The war has just begun.

Dun Dun Dun Dun!!!!!

Jacob, Esau, Ashes and a Phoenix

I started doing some research on ashes, particularly rings of ashes. I was trying to find out where a ring of ashes has been used. I've heard it said, and not only in relation to Lost, that a ring of ashes is supposed to be for protection - to keep something out - or in.

But as I did intense research (through google and wikipedia :P), the same thing kept popping up - the phoenix. Over on Nikki's blog, humanebean mentioned a phoenix in connection to Jacob, wondering if he would rise from the ashes the way a phoenix in mythology would. So I started looking into it.

I'm not saying this is conclusive or anything, but here's an interesting proposition... Jacob is a phoenix. If you look at his tapestry (which I looked up on lostpedia here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:5x16_Jacob%27s_tapestry.jpg

You'll see that across the top is a span of wings. People have been pointing out the sun rays and assuming that it is referring to Ra, but in almost every picture I could find, Ra is represented by a circle, not by wings.

Wings, however, are used in every picture of a phoenix, since the phoenix is a bird. Here's an example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phoenix_detail_from_Aberdeen_Bestiary.jpg

In that example you'll also notice that there is the image of the sun above, but this is because Ra and the phoenix were closely related. Here's an excerpt from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Phoenix_(mythology)

"Living a long life (the exact age can vary from five hundred to over a thousand years), the bird dies in a self-created fire, burning into a pile of ashes, from which a phoenix chick is born, representing a cyclical process of life from death. Because it is reborn from its own death, the phoenix also took on the characteristics of regeneration and immortality."

Sound like anyone we know? The fire was burning in the foot before MaybEsau arrived and someone pointed out that it may in fact be the same fire that was burning as the episode opened. If so, then the fire that Jacob burned in was a "self-created" fire.

Occasionally, the phoenix was depicted in a white robe, according to the site. Hmm.... Jacob, white robe...

Here's another quote from the newworldencyclopedia:
"The Bennu [phoenix] also became closely connected to the Egyptian calendar, and the Egyptians kept intricate time measuring devices in the Bennu Temple."

The temple on the Island seems to be connected in some way to Jacob, since Richard was taking Ben to Jacob. And Jacob also seems to be very connected to time and time keeping.

Perhaps his appearances to each of the Losties was at the correct time to move them in the direction that would bring them to the Island at the right time. That might explain why he appeared to each of them at different periods in their lives. Hurley and Sayid were already going to be on the plane, but Kate and Sawyer and Locked needed to be prodded in the right direction.

Think about it: If Kate hadn't gotten away with the lunch box then she may never have ended up on the run from the law so many, many years later. If she was never a fugitive then she never would have ended up in Australia and, therefore coming back under the custody of the marshall.

If Sawyer had thrown that letter away then he might have gotten over the bitterness eating at him and then he never would have been in Australia hunting down the man he thought was the original Sawyer.

If Locke hadn't been thrown out the window, he never would have been paralyzed. He wouldn't have become obsessed with the idea of "Don't tell me what I can't do", never would have become obsessed with the idea of going on a walkabout and never would have ended up in Australia.

Maybe we'll discover next season that Jacob appeared to other Losties earlier on, but the numbers already had Hurley travelling to Australia to try to break the curse. It isn't until he's one of the O6 that he needs the extra convincing to get him to come back to the Island.

Sayid would never have come back to the Island willingly, either. With Nadia dead, he turns to working for Ben, which brings him into contact with Ilana (who now seems to be working for Jacob) and he never would have been on 316 and back on the Island.

Jacob is a keeper of time and a director of getting people to the right place at the right time.

So, if Jacob is in fact a "phoenix", then what does that make MaybEsau? Does the phoenix have an enemy in mythology? In eastern mythologies, the phoenix-type creature is an enemy of snakes and serpents, including dragons. Interesting, because, if Jacob is in this sense "good" then MaybEsau would be, in this sense "bad" and the serpent in biblical symbolism is representative of satan, the deceiver, the liar, the evil.

According to http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/phoenix_the_symbol_of_rebirth/

in Chinese mythology, the dragon and the phoenix represent "the complete yin-yang mutual interdependence in the universe in terms of duality."

If that is the case, then I bring it back to my original statement earlier today that perhaps neither Jacob nor Esau are necessarily good or evil, they represent free will and destiny and for everything to work the way it's supposed to, there needs to be a balance of both.

By killing Jacob, I think MaybEsau has tilted the balance - he may think it's in his favor, but I'm not so sure. Perhaps Jacob is simply about to rise from the ashes.

Lost: The Incident

Oh. My. Werd.

Talk about going out with a bang. I said I would never write my own recap of Lost, because it's way more fun to go discuss it over at Nikki Stafford's blog, but here I go. Just way too much happened during this episode for me to write all my thoughts over there, so I'll write them all here and then reference this for commenting there.
I put it all in order as the episode progressed with general thoughts at the end.

• Who is the other man (the man in black :P) there with Jacob?
• I love how Sawyer can't even LOOK at Kate without Juliet being all, "Oh, you looked at her, you still love her, I'm insecure and all alone." But there's no problem with Juliet being so overly concerned immediately about Jack.
• How DID Daniel know EVERYTHING? And how does Sayid figure it all out so quickly? I didn't know he was a physicist. Anyone else would have gotten a headache just looking at that freakishly haphazard journal, but Sayid just flips to the right page and says, this is what we've got to do...
• What were the other 2 times that Richard visited Locke off the Island? We know his visit when Locke was a little boy. Was he there at Locke's birth? I don't remember.
• Why can't Fake-Locke kill Jacob? Is that part of the "rules"? Like the way Ben can't kill Widmore?
• I didn't realize that Sayid was THERE when Nadia died!!! AH! I so didn't want to see that scene. It was so sad.
• Was Eloise the leader? Or were Charles and Eloise co-leaders and when the bomb goes off someone has to turn the wheel to set things right and Charles refuses, so Eloise has to. That would explain their animosity and why Daniel never knew he had a father.
• NOT SAYID!!!!!!!!!!!
• Highlight: Hurley comes to save the day in the Dharma van again!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah Hurley!!!!!!!
• When Kate and Sawyer are arguing over where to go and Sawyer's like, do you have a compass, I'm thinking... the sun sets in the west......ummmm do you need a compass to see that?
• VINCENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• ROSE AND BERNARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and did mine eyes deceive me, or was that
• Jacob/Horace's cabin? And Bernard in a beard is only marginally better than the infamous Jeard. And I loved the calm and peaceful Rose music. Is that really it for them? Are they done like Walt? What a crummy ending to their story line. I mean, good, but crummy.
• Did anyone else wonder if Juliet is pregnant? And if that might be one of the reasons that she was so scared?
• The ash around Jacob's cabin is broken. Was that keeping him in? And if so, who was keeping him?
• Highlight: Locke, "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Ben, "I'm a pisces." Ahhahahahahahahaha
• (this was obviously before we found out Locke wasn't! Locke!) I loved how Locke pointed out the hatch door and how it was such a symbol for how Ben and Locke's relationship has completely flip flopped and now Locke is the one playing mind games on Ben and Ben is the one who's all confused and without a plan.
• CHARLIE'S RING!!!! Aaron might actually get it some day, now!!!!!
• Highlight: Locke, "Well, it's a wonderful foot, Richard." Ahhahahahahahah
• Well, who would have guessed that it was actually Christian that saved Jack from panicking and then Jack is a jerk and attacks his father rather than thanking him. It's no wonder his dad didn't want to help him anymore. Jack got on my very last nerve tonight.
• Wow! Sawyer could have changed his whole life (if you can actually change anything) But that would have changed Locke's whole life, too! Because, if he killed Cooper, then Cooper wouldn't have stolen Locke's kidney, Locke never would have met Helen and then lost her and Cooper never would have thrown Locke out the window.
• JACK! Is doing all of this because Kate dumped him! His life stinks so he's going to change EVERY FREAKIN' BODY else's life! Could he BE any more of a selfish jerk!?!?!
• THE question of the night seemed to be, "What about me?" People. Please.
• And now Juliet is the one acting all paradoxically. "I know you would stay with me forever, Jim, so I'm dumping you because you looked at Kate, even though I'm admitting that you would have stuck with me and that's why I want Jack to change the future becaus I can't handle my own paradox."
• And Chang loses his arm.....
• Jack, "nothing in my life has ever felt so right." Wait, didn't he say that about Sarah? Even if not, yeah, your feelings have led you well so far, Jack............
• Highlight: Hurley, matter-of-factly, "Oh, so you must be dead." Jacob, "I'm definitely not dead."
• Who was driving that cab?
• Highlight: Hurley to Jack, "Dude, what happened to your face?" HA!
• Jack to Sawyer, "See you in Los Angeles. Or not, since we won't know each other and I would never talk to you because I'm a fancy pants doctor with Daddy issues and too much alcohol while you are an angry redneck with slicked back hair and anger-management issues."
• Locke might as well have been saying, "Heel, Ben, heel. Good boy, Benny, you're such a good boy."
• Highlight: I LOVE MILES! "Maybe Jack is just going to cause The Incident so we should actually help him." And the look on everyone else's face like, oh, whoa and then Miles, "I'm glad you've thought this through."
• Did we really have to go to the "Live together, die alone" speech again? And Juliet? Really? I mean, she wasn't even there for the speech. Puh-lease.
• Jack running toward the swan station... "maybe if I hunch my back a little they won't see me, oh and by the way, I suddenly have perfect aim again, even though, back in Dharmaville I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!"
• Highlight: Miles screaming, "Dad!" and running to help Chang.
• Highlight: PHIL!!!! IMPALED!!!!!!!!!!! I admit it, my sister and I were screaming... DIE! DIE! DIE! YEEESSSSSS!!!!!! I know, we are sick.
• Okay, if Juliet had died from the fall, I would have felt oddly guilty, because I said I wouldn't mind if she died and then that scene was so absolutely heart-wrenching that I was sad. But then she blew up the bomb and, in some strange Lostian way, that assuaged my guilt. Weird.
• Highlight: Sun, "Do you have alcohol?" Richard, "I wish I did." CAN you get drunk, Richard? Just curious.
• Man, I wish I knew Latin! What did Richard say?
• LOCKE! was in the CRATE! Okay, totally never even imagined that one. So who/what is Locke and how is he impersonating him, because he obviously has all of his memories and does that mean that CHRISTIAN isn't actually CHRISTIAN?!?!?!?!?
• Ben's face when he confronts Jacob is so fantastic. He just looks like the broken little kid asking his father, why can't you just love me. I've tried to please you, but it's never enough. And then the knife. I freakin' LOVE Michael Emerson!
• Last season ended with us seeing Locke's body and this season ended with us seeing Locke's body. (well, not ended, ended, but ended, you know. :P)
• And did you notice! That the ending went white instead of black and that the promo for next season was all inverted too? Does that mean that the power has shifted with the death of Jacob? Did they change anything, something, nothing? Is next season about the war? If Jacob is dead will someone rise up to take his place?
• Which one of them is good, Jacob or the man in black? I think that is one of the main questions all the way through - who are the good guys? On the one hand I think we're led to like and side with Jacob, but on the other hand, when you think about what he said and how he acts, I started to wonder. Right at the very beginning, and I'll have to rewatch it to be sure, but it seems like Jacob enjoys watching people crash on the Island and then suffer until they die and the man in black (whom I shall name Pete in honor of my sister's idea) is trying to stop him. The comment about the "loophole" just seems really strange. But THEN with discovering that Pete is actually Locke...or Locke is actually Pete... or whatever, and the cold way that he just killed Jacob makes me wonder if he is good or not? and Ilana is with Jacob and revealing the truth about Locke....my head explode.
• In relation to all of that, my sister noted that if you look at it right, Jacob is going around cursing all of the Losties. He's the one who aids and abets Kate in her life of crime (can I just say how cute little Katie was!), he's the one who gives Sawyer the pen to write the letter that will be a constant reminder of his bitterness, he doesn't save Nadia. He saves Locke's life, but if he knew about it, he could have stopped Locke altogether. His comments to Sun and Jin sound very nice, but they end up doing the exact opposite of what he said.
• THERE IS WAAAAAYYYYY TOO LONG A WAIT TO NEXT SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Lost, I miss you already.

And for those of you who found yourself confused about Locke and Jacob and "Pete" here is something that will not help you in the slightest. It's kind of a wacky recap, trying to understand what happened, this is what your brain does after two hours of Lost late at night thing that my sister and I put together. Mainly she did it and I transcribed it. Imagine it being acted out by little nail polish bottles. Yeah, we're dorks.

So there’s two guys, Jacob and I’ll call the other one Pete, because we don’t know what his name is and there aren’t any Petes.
So Jacob and Pete are lying on the beach and Pete’s like I want to kill you and Jacob’s like haha and Pete’s like loophole. And Jacob’s like I’m going to watch some people on the ship and Pete’s like, they’re all going to die anyway. And Pete’s like, Jacob and Jacob’s like I’m not going to say your name.
So Pete goes tromping off into the jungle

FWOOMP

So then Jacob gets all excited and he’s like I’m going to go all around the world and I’m going to curse people and then I’m going to be like, Hurley it’s a blessing. That guy was supposed to jump off the building. And the guy was supposed to be killed by the meteor, That’s the way it was supposed to happen.
And Hurley’s like do you want a fruit roll-up and Jacob’s like, no I’m on a diet.
Hurley goes to the Island and etc.

So, but one of the people that Jacob decided to go visit was the fake Ana Lucia, because he knew that Ana Lucia was going to die, but he liked people with her skin tone. And then he healed her face *angelic singing* because I am what lies in the shadow of the statue. And then Ilana was like I will go find Bram because he reminds me of a muffin.
Then Jacob is like I’m gonna chill out over here in this cave under the statue of a foot because what’s better than a foot.

Meanwhile... Back or forwards in time, Pete has magical powers, so he shapeshifts into sa-moke-ee and he’s like "Looooocccckkkeeee I weeeeelllll becommmmmme yooooooou!"
And Locke is really dead! >:(

Brief flashback to when Jacob and Ilana were talking. Jacob’s like, by the way, there’s this dead guy and he’s bald and he’s on a plane and you need to capture a guy named Sayid and go on the plane with the dead bald guy and when you crash on an Island where Sayid will disappear you are going to take a big box that looks like it holds a nuclear weapon, but it doesn’t, it just has magical powers to keep people from decomposing and smelling really, really bad and put the dead bald guy in it and then go to a statue because you will magically know where it is because I have given you magical powers.
End of brief flashback

So then Sa-moke-ee takes the form of LOCKE! Dun dun dun!
And He’s like Richard take me here, Richard take me there, Ben be my dog
And Ben’s like, a-woof, tell me what to do master, because I am a walking zombie.
And Smokey-Locke’s like hahahahah I will laugh in your face.
And Richard is confused. You’re not following the rules!
And Smokey-Locke is like hahhah I don’t care about rules. I don’t speak rules *chuckle, chuckle*
Then Smokey-Locke goes into the FOOT!
And he’s like, come here puppy, come here puppy, you can do it Benny, oh you’re such a good boy.

They go into the foot and Jacob’s like look at the thing I made aren’t you proud of me?
And Smokey-Locke says, no I am not proud of you, but I’m not going to say that because Ben is here and he’s supposed to do my bidding and I can’t say anything because I don’t want him to know that I’m not Locke, I’m really Smokey-Locke who is really Pete, but nobody would know that but you.

So then Ben is all Oh so cute like a little kid and he’s like why do you hate me, why why why? I did everything that you asked me to do and I never asked why. I fetched your sticks and I got your slippers. What about me? Because apparently that’s the question of the day.

And Jacob, cold-hearted Jacob, says, *high-school girl voice* what about you? eww. And Ben goes psycho *stab, stab, stab, stab, stab*
And Pete, because being stabbed in the heart isn’t enough, pushes Jacob into the flames, flames, FLAMES!

Meanwhile on the beach, Richard is like what is going on? And Ilana comes up with her muffin and says you must see something Ricardos and Richard is like that hasn’t been my name in like a hundred years, get with the program.
And Ilana’s like open the box, my muffin.

So Bram opens the box and *DUN DUN DUN music* and you think is it this? Is it that? It could be anything! It could be anyone! And then they show you the face and you think, huh, I never thought about that one.

And then you realize it’s the real John Locke and he’s really dead. And you realize that’s why Locke has been acting so strange. And then you realize that he’s really dead and then you want to cry ;-; and then you feel like Richard because you’re really confused.
And Locke is still in the cave, but he’s not Locke he’s really Pete and we’re all still really confused.

The End.

Castle: A Death in the Family

First off, major SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! For Robert Picardo. I have absolutely loved him since he was the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager and anytime he shows up in one of the shows I watch I am uber excited, even if he is the villain, which he wasn't this time.

Anyway!

The song at the beginning of the episode was such a strange juxtaposition for the horror that was in that car. It was supremely creepy.

Speaking of music. I really like the music on this show. The theme music and the music used throughout. It is very unique and distinctive, something that is often hard to come by in this day of millions of these cop shows.

There were a lot of highlights for me on this episode. I loved (as always) the sideline story with his daughter. The speech Castle gave to Beckett was great too, and how absolutely confident his mother was that he had to tell Beckett the truth.
His serious face when he came into the hospital room was well acted. He was dreading it, but knew he had to.

The thing I'm most happy about is that they left it wide open, so I'm hoping that that means there is another season to come. Watching it later in the week stinks, but at least I've been able to keep up with it and this show will definitely be a DVD buy for me.

Oh, and a great shout out to a fantastic writer, Chelsea Cain, with Castle reading her book Sweetheart while waiting for Alexis to get home. I discovered Cain by chance when we got an ARC of Sweetheart at the bookstore where I work. IMO the first one, Heartsick, was better, but I am eagerly awaiting the release of the third one, which comes out later this year. I love when my worlds cross :)

Where Would They All Be Now?

With all the discussion on whether you can actually change the past or not, I keep coming back to thinking about where our Losties would be if their plane hadn't crashed. Yes, I realize there are a lot of people who died who would still be alive, but for this post, I'm going to go on this proposition: Let's say that by setting off the H-bomb, it does neutralize the energy, yet it also kills the people on the Island. Maybe not all of them, but a good chunk of them. Enough to cancel out the good of saving those who died in the plane crash. Lives are lives, right? Whether Dharminian, Hostiles or plane passengers.

So here are my thoughts as to where our Losties would be if their plane hadn't crashed. (Obviously this is all speculation, so feel free to disagree)

• Jack: His father is dead and his mother blames him. He may still have a practice for now, but it's only a matter of time before his guilt over his father's death and the death of his marriage catch up with him and he spirals into depression, addiction and a jeard. (I stole this term from the Ack Attack. Love it too much not to use it :) The only difference is now he has nothing to snap him out of it, no purpose, no anything.
• Jin and Sun: This could go one of two ways. 1. Both of them continue to be ruled by Paik. They can't have children and they live in misery, growing to hate each other more and more each day. 2. Sun works up her courage and leaves Jin. He now has no purpose. Sun lives semi-happily, but always wishing she could have back the Jin she loved before her father got his claws into him. Jin either leaves Paik a crushed man, or doesn't care any longer and turns into a ruthless follower of Paik.
• Sawyer: He's still out for revenge, still a bitter, angry con-man with no future and no hope. Cassidy hates him. He'll never be able to do much of anything for his daughter. Maybe he'll eventually find the original Sawyer, but probably not. Cooper's too smart for that.
• Kate: She's in custody and after all that's happened, she's going to prison for a very long time. No Aaron, no purpose, no hope. Just a life in jail for trying to protect her mother.
• Locke: He's still stuck in a wheelchair and stuck in a terrible life. Does he even have a job anymore? Was he just taking leave or did he quit in anticipation of what wonderful things would happen on the walkabout? Helen has left him, his father tried to kill him and he has no purpose. Nothing to keep him going. I think it's very possible that he would attempt suicide in short order.
• Sayid: He may never find Nadia. Yes, he's searching for her, but the press over the O6 is what brought them together. He might just end up wandering forever, trying to find his lost love.
• Boone and Shannon: Both still alive, but Shannon's life dream was taken away by her step-mother, Boone is on to her schemes. She's still a self-centered brat and Boone is still panting after her. Maybe not terrible, but not exactly good, either.
• Michael: He's the only one that might have a chance at a decent life. Without all the stress on the Island he and Walt might have been able to slowly get to know each other. If nothing else, he does love his son. It might have been enough.
• Claire: She would have given up Aaron and returned home. That's pretty much it. She'll probably be a little shy of relationships after Thomas left her and will regret having given up her child.
• Charlie: Sure, he died, but with the way he was headed, he probably would have OD'd or something anyway. Here he had a chance to develop good friendships, help Claire and Aaron and then die nobly to save everyone else.
• Hurley: I don't think he was convinced that he's not cursed. Of course, that's not the most terrible thing, but we also don't know how well he owuld have accepted his father's return in the long run. In the flash-forwards it seems that he's grown to trust his dad, but would that have happened without his being lost in the crash?
• Juliet: If the H-bomb is what was causing the infertility then she won't ever need to go to the Island. But will her sister still be healed of the cancer? We're led to believe that something or someone on the Island is what heals her. Juliet might have watched her sister die. Who knows where her life could have gone after that. It could go good or not.
• Libby would still be alive, but she never would have met Hurley. We don't know much about what her life was like, so I don't have much to speculate on.
• Ana Lucia: Her career is over and she doesn't really seem to have any purpose. She would still be alive, but aimlessly drifting.
• Desmond: He still ends up on the Island, but there's no need to push a button now, so what happens to him? Can he get off the Island? Does he get taken by the Others? Does he ever end up with Penny?

Okay, so they're still alive, but for most of them that life is really going to stink. Are they really any better off? Maybe a few of them, but for the great majority, no.

Do I think they'll be able to change the past? Honestly, no. I think the show is set up to much in the "whatever happened, happened" camp. I think whatever they do will end up causing the very things they're trying to avoid. The time travelers are the variables, but they can't change the past. They can only change things that directly involve themselves at that time, not things that involve past events. So they might be able not to all die, as Richard said they would, but they're not going to be able to stop the Incident. JMO, but there it is.

Castle: Little Girl Lost

I posted a little while ago that I've fallen in love with this show. Nothing has changed. Every episode makes me like it more.

The greatest twist this episode was discovering that Kate has actually been a Castle fan for years and years. The bantering between Kate and Castle is fantastic, but discovering this adds a whole new level to it.

Castle is obviously a tiny bit smitten with Kate and we get that feel of tension that she might like him a little more than she lets on. I applaud the writers for adding this bit of backstory. As enjoyable as it is, the friction between them could begin to get a little stale. By bringing this facet of Beckett's character into sight it adds a dimension that makes me want to go back and watch earlier episodes with this in mind.

Like when Kate goes to his book reading and signing. She's got to be loving the fact that she gets to hear him read his new book and, if she's like any other book lover I know, dying to get her hands on a copy, but she has to play it cool.

Add to that the fact that he's actually basing a new character on her...Up until now it's seemed like she is mainly putting up with him. Knowing that she is a HUGE Castle fan means that she is a better actress than Castle would ever suspect.

What interesting plotlines this opens up. I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Are You My Mother?

I've been kind of on a parental kick with Lost lately. It's been consuming quite a lot of my ruminations and I realized that there are very few Lost characters that we actually know for sure who their biological parents are. For some of them we've just never met them because they aren't important to the show, or because they are dead. For some of them we are told that ____ is someone's parent, but we don't know if that's really true. Some of them we know for sure and some of them we can be pretty sure about.

Now that I've confused you completely, here is my roll call of Lostie genealogy.

• Jack: We have no reason to believe that his mother and father that we have met on the show should not be his biological parents.
• Kate: Same here, but she was lied to for many years about who her biological father was, and even now we just have her mother's say-so, which hasn't always been the most reliable.
• Sawyer: His dad shot his mom when Sawyer was just a little kid. We have no reason to believe these aren't his biological parents, but this also means that he was raised in foster care or something and we know nothing about his adoptive or foster parents. Interesting.
• Locke: We know that his mother was named Emily. As far as I'm concerned, this is all we know for sure. We don't know that the crazy lady who came to see him was actually his mother and all we know about "Anthony Cooper" is that he and John are a match for a kidney and that "Anthony" is a lifelong con-artist. I referenced this in more detail in one of my earlier posts (Mama Emily). I seriously am not convinced that we know John's real parents yet.
• Ben: We know that his mother is Emily (again, see my earlier post about my further thoughts on this), but we don't know for sure that Roger is his father. We have no reason to doubt it, but we don't know for sure.
• Penny: I've been saying for a long time that I doubt Widmore as actually being her father. And we don't know who her mother is.
• Desmond: Do we ever meet his parents? Or have them referenced in any way? Not that I remember.
• Sun: Again, we have no reason to doubt that Paik is her father and that her mother is her mother. But we don't know for sure.
• Jin: His mother gave him up at birth and the man who raised him was probably not his biological father.
• Claire: I'm pretty sure that Claire's mother and father as presented on the show are actually her mother and father.
• Juliet: No mention of parents. We meet her sister, but I don't think there's ever a mention of their parents.
• Ethan: We know that Amy is his mother, but don't know for sure who his father is.
• Daniel: This last episode we are led to believe that he is the son of Eleanor Hawking and Charles Widmore. I'm not really buying it. Hawking puts a bit too much of an emphasis on Daniel being her job. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but something just doesn't sit right. As someone on Nikki's site suggested, maybe Daniel is her and Charles' son in the same way that Alex was Ben's daughter.
• Charlie Pace: We see his father in a dream and in a flashback and we see his mother in a dream. However, Charlie is older at this point and, while there is no reason to doubt that they are his biological parents, there is no reason to believe it, either.
• Sayid: His father was a wonderful man. (like so many other fathers on this show) (sorry for the biting sarcasm) But the one scene this season is the only scene we have of Sayid's parents. No reason for them not to be his parents, but we haven't really seen much.
• Hurley: I would like it if his parents were actually his parents and I don't know why they wouldn't be. He's the only one with a half-way decent family (though he has had his issues with his dad) and I think the show needs one of those. Of course, we don't know what his father did for all the years he was gone, so Hurley could end up having a half sibling that we haven't discovered yet.

Oh, I'm sure there are more, but my brain is shutting down, so I will update as I think of them later.

Mommy and Daddy Issues Take 2

All of the Losties' children are on the wonderfully messed up paths that their parents were on.

Aaron:

• His biological father abandons him before he's born.
• His biological mother, Claire, leaves him in the jungle.
• His almost adoptive father, Jack, spirals down into drug and alcohol abuse therefore being kicked out by Kate
• His adoptive mother, Kate, leaves him while he sleeps in the care of a stranger. Lovely.

Ji Yeon:

• Her biological father is suspect. Yes Juliet said it was Jin, but was it really?
• Jin is presumed dead.
• Sun leaves her to chase after her dead husband. At least Ji Yeon knew her grandmother before she was left with her.

Charlie:

• Actually has a few good years with good loving parents (except for the fact that he is raised with no connection to the outside world)
• Then a crazy man comes, shoots his father and tries to shoot his mother
• He and Penny follow Desmond to the hospital where Charlie's got to be confused and scared and then Penny leaves him with a complete stranger (albeit temporarily) and we still don't know the end of that one.

Lost really does love those parental issues, don't they :)

Random Lost Things

Have you ever wondered what John Locke would look like with a mustache? Wonder no longer.



My Dad picked up The Rocketeer and Terry O'Quinn was in it. He also got the best line of the movie:
"Congratulations, gentlemen. Thanks to the diligence of the FBI this particular vacuum cleaner will not fall into the wrong hands."



It cracked me up, so I thought I would share.

Also, today I walked outside in my slippers. I love them because they are made of hard plastic with soft wooly insides. They make me happy and my brother calls them "bullet proof". Well, I walked on the edge of a puddle and when I stepped into the garage they left a print.

My Dad said, "Hey, it looks like the Dharma symbol."


So, not only do I have bullet proof shoes, but apparently they were time traveled to me from the DI.