Lost: LA X (Parts 1 & 2)

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

The new and final season of Lost promised to answer many lingering questions, too many questions to list here, however the first episode probably left me with more questions. This confounding but brilliant series has thrown so many twists at us that at times it's hard to remember all the things we need to know this year. But they've sure gotten off to a typical start. Meaning: "What????"

I'm in Ottawa right now, on a 20 minute time limit for my usage (by the way, never stay at the Travel Lodge), so I'm mostly going to summarize the main points from the episode (entitled "LA X").

What we're faced with over the two-hour episode is what appears to be two realities. In one reality, we have our beloved survivors on that fateful plane from Australia on their way back to LAX... and it doesn't crash! But during the flight, we already see glimpses of how, perhaps, their experience on the island was positive for them. In particular, for Kate and Charlie.

In the other reality, they are catapulted back into the "present day" (which in the Lost world is now 2007), on the island, and believe they have failed. Juliet, however, contends that they succeeded with her dying breath. Weird.

So, again: "WHAT?" At least, that's how I felt after the first 10 minutes.

Now, the two realities go back and forth repeatedly throughout the two hours, but I'll just summarize both separately...

Reality 1 (LAX trip). What's most important here is:

  • The island is at the bottom of the ocean (maybe as a result of the bomb) as we are shown via some pretty cool CGI which passes over the Others' camp, the foot of the huge statue, etc.
  • Jack saves Charlie's life, but Charlie is none too pleased about it.
  • Kate is in custody but is aided in her escape by Sawyer.
  • Locke is paralyzed again and has a nice little chat with Boone.
  • The stewardess is important only because she is ALSO in the other reality, which I'll get to.
  • Jack's dad's casket goes missing, very mysteriously. They have no idea where the body is. Jack shares a nice little moment with Locke.
  • They all seem to connect in one way or another.

Reality 2:

  • Juliet dies and Sawyer is pissed at Jack, telling him that he screwed up and it didn't work (although Juliet, after death, tells Miles that it DID work).
  • Sayid also is in bad shape, but Jacob appears to Hurley and tells him to take Sayeed to the temple. Jacob is a ghost, and it becomes apparent that Hurley wasn't lying when he said he saw dead people.
  • "Locke" kills the whack of those dudes who came to the island that seemed like protectors (possibly protectors of Jacob).
  • We find out that Locke IS the smoke monster... and that he is possibly just a form the super bad guy took (the guy at the beginning of the last episode last year who says he wants to kill Jacob very badly). Locke knocks Richard out and starts carrying him somewhere.
  • Sayid is brought to the temple where they put him in some water that is supposed to save his life, but kills him (they appear to drown him in the water).
  • Now, the people at the temple are like Jacob-worshippers it seems. They almost kill Hurley, Jack, Sayid and Kate but for a mysterious note written within this eqyptian block of wood held in Hurley's guitar case... maybe it somehow has their names written on it??
  • When they find out -- these temple people -- that Jacob is dead, they go nuts and barricade the temple up. When Richard sees (before he gets knocked the F out) the flares they shoot in the air, he looks freaked too. This is JUST before "Locke" comes and takes him away. Presumably to the temple.
  • The stewardess from the plane in reality 1 is a member of the people at the temple.
  • The finish? Perhaps the only predictable thing: Sayid wakes up, alive.

So, I think that's all the main points. Now, I'm really at a loss here. So, there are two realities here that are obviously in opposition to each other. So, which one is real? Are they both? How? Is one a kind of purgatory, like people have thought all along? They both can't be real because the island is at the bottom of the ocean in the first reality. When the episode ended, I scratched my head and thought: "Cool" because it was. But then I got a headache. It seems like they have a LOT of work to do to resolve all the questions they promised they'd answer. I'm not convinced they will. One thing is certain, however: this season is going to be one heck of a ride. Let's see where it goes.

What are everybody's thoughts/suspicions/theories?

Tags: Lost, Matthew Fox, Josh Holloway, Terry O'Quinn, Evangeline Lilly, Jorge Garcia, Jacob, temple, smoke monster, mythology

Related Posts

David A. Robertson is an award-winning Indigenous author and public speaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Robertson is a member of the Norway House Cree Nation. He has published over 25 books across a variety of genres.

Original Comments Posted (6)

artxsoul says...

Well there is always the chance that the "other reality" is a flash forward of some sort and at the end of the series they find a way to reset things. But also we have the mystery of what exactly Jacob and the smoke monster are and that could tie in as well. Let's say that the bomb did create an alternate reality... could it be that now the group of Jack, Sawyer, Kate, etc. are now in a similar predicament to Jacob in that maybe these alternate versions of themselves are now trapped on the island or have to stay there forever in exchange for the rest of the passengers to get to go home?

Also... dead people have been appearing to people on the show for quite some time. We now see that the smoke monster can take on the form of someone who has died... could Jacob do so as well? And if he couldn't... all those times they've seen ghosts of people, has that been the smoke monster?

I think before we get any solid theories together we'll need a few more questions answered. There's waaaaay too much leeway for "what if's" still.

Feb 3, 2010 8:26pm

metal2000 says...

Cindy (the stewardess) has shown up a few times on the island post-crash, as she (and the 2 children whose names escape me) were kidnapped by the Others from the camp of the Tailies, and obviously "converted" at some point after that.

The temple has been mentioned several times in the past, but it's interesting to finally see the Others who live there. They seem to be a lot different than the Others who were travelling with Richard, Ben, and FakeLocke. I'm sure we'll find out a lot as time goes on.

I'm very curious about the relationship between the Others and the Smoke Monster. First, can ONLY the "Man in Black" (Jacob's nemesis from last season's finale) become him, or can Jacob too? If it's only the MiB, why did it appear that sometimes ol' Smokey was helping out the Others in the past (like when Ben called for it to come out and take care of the evil Freighties who had just killed his daughter)? Assuming the Others worship/follow Jacob, why would Jacob's enemy sometimes help them?

The "flash sideways" stuff going on (that's what Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the show's creators, have been referring to the "crash never happened" timeline as) is very intriguing. I like how things aren't exactly the same. Shannon didn't get on the flight, Michael and Walt aren't there, Desmond is somehow on the flight, Hurley actually feels LUCKY, Christian's coffin didn't make it on the plane, Locke MAY have actually gone on the walkabout -- even the fact that Jack was afraid of the turbulance and Rose wasn't. And of course, THE ISLAND IS UNDER WATER! There are changes in the timeline that I'm sure we'll learn more about. But it's interesting to see these characters interact and still be so intertwined even without the crash on the island.

I guess I was a little underwhelmed with the season opener not because it was "bad", but because for the first time in a LONG time with this series, I pretty much had everything pegged before it happened (due to my own assumptions, or taking on other people's theories). I was almost certain that MiB was the same as the Smoke Monster, and that he had taken the form of Locke. (It seems I may not turn out to be right on my second part of that theory, though, that Locke is too important to things and somehow isn't completely dead.) I was also almost certain that the season would follow 2 storylines: one as if the plan to reset time didn't work, and one where the crash never happened (though I didn't expect the changes). I like Lost for its "HOLY CRAP!" moments, and I guess personally I didn't get any in that first episode, though I'm sure I'll get a ton going forward.

Feb 3, 2010 10:38pm

sunshine says...

I'm just confused.... but hooked, of course. Maybe I can see things more clearly in the next episode???!!!

Feb 3, 2010 11:06pm

imandyl says...

i definatly think the "man in black" is the smoke monster. Does anyone else think that maybe Sayid is now Jacob??

Feb 4, 2010 1:52pm

metal2000 says...

It seems like Jacob took over Sayid. Maybe the Man in Black can appear AS someone who's dead, while Jacob can take over a dead body -- so while the Man in Black might have been Eko's brother, it's possible that Jacob has been Christian this whole time (since nobody ever found his body)?

Feb 4, 2010 11:47pm

bltcubs says...

Upon first watching it I thought Jacob took over Sayid untill later that night Cruse and Linsdorf were on Jimmy Kimmel and after listening to them I dont think that is what happen

Feb 9, 2010 2:44am

Comments Posted ()

SBM on Social Media

ShowbizMonkeys.com on Facebook ShowbizMonkeys.com on Twitter ShowbizMonkeys.com on Instagram ShowbizMonkeys.com on YouTube