Jug Head

I'm not going to go into a deep analogy of the hydrogen bomb. The only thing I know hydrogen bombs is that they go boom and cause a great deal of death and destruction. I'm not even going to try to relate it to the classic comic character from the Archie series. I read one or two issues when I was a teen, but that's about it. I just want to clarify something and either be wrong or right.

I think that Daniel's plan has merit and could, to a small degree, work. However, he has failed to take into account other variables. By variables, I mean other people's actions. Let's first deal with the plan, then I'll talk about what I think could happen.

The plan is to detonate the hydrogen bomb at or near the Swan construction site to negate the sudden and violent burst of electromagnetic energy that is released when the drilling begins.

Negate: (verb) to nullify or cause to be ineffective

Dan's plan is to render the electromagnetic energy burst ineffective.

Of course, now that Dan is dead, we have a slight, itsy-bitsy problem. Jack, Eloise, Richard, nor Sayid have a clue how to detonate the bomb, nor do they know when the drilling at the Swan site is supposed to start. This left me wondering.

Remember when Miles drove Dan to the Orchid? Daniel checked his watch, then consulted his journal. Written in the journal are key dates and times. I am assuming that Dan, indeed all of the survivors, have been experiencing the time loops over and over again, each time learning a little bit more information that will help them to stop the cycle. Daniel has written in his journal the time Radzinsky's drilling hits the pocket of energy, thus telling Jack when the bomb needs to be detonated.

What? Two explosions of out of this world energy? At the same time?

Yes. If positioned properly, and detonated at just the precise moment, both blasts can neutralize each other. Either that or the island is blown to smithereens and, blip, it's all over. But consider this. A synonym for neutralize is cancel. Each blast cancels the other, and we have a less destructive effect.

Now, let's get back to the variables I mentioned earlier. People. We have a scenario that seems to be overlooked. Remember that I posted earlier that Sawyer drew a map to the Hostiles in exchange for an exiting trip on the Galaga? This is where things change from other times the scenario was played out in the previous loops. What if Radzinsky decides to mount an attack on the Others, disguised as a rescue attempt to retrieve young Ben?

Radzinsky instructs his crew to start drilling, despite Chang's warning. Jack and the others detonate the bomb according to Daniel's instructions. But, with an other than expected result. Perhaps Chang tries to stop the drilling and loses his arm, which causes a delay, the bomb explodes and then the burst of energy is released. I just don't know at this point in the game and, as each minute passes that brings us closer to the finale, my mind is working over time.

But I know that, to me, Radzinsky appears confrontational, angry and aggressive. He has always appeared to me like this. I'm not even sure how he was ever deemed Dharma material if these are the only traits he displays. Dharma has guns, yes, but I think they were purely defensive. We have never seen Dharma be on the offensive, just the defensive. They want world peace. Which is why I have such a problem with Radzinsky's character.

It's not a perfect theory, and I haven't figured out all the minute details, but it could happen.

The Incident - What Is It?

As we all know the season finale is titled "The Incident".

The name itself leads us to believe something on a massive scale is about to happen, and many people are thinking that the incident involves the Hydrogen bomb, the Swan Station and something called Electromagnetism and it all coming together explosively. Indeed, many audience members are expecting such.

But, just a thought, what if the "Incident" doesn't really have anything to do with the H-bomb, the Swan or the infamous electromagnetic energy burst?

In Follow The Leader the last thing Sawyer trades to get himself and Juliet onto the sub is a map to the Hostiles. Radzinsky demanded it. Do you remember? I didn't even pay attention to that part of the scene until today, as I was thinking about what could be the incident.

Then I started putting two and two together and possibly have come up with eleventeen, but bear with me.

We know an "incident" occurred during of shortly after construction of the Swan.
Pierre Chang's right arm is unmoving and appears to have been amputated in the orientation video.

Ben and the Others apparently did not know about the existence of the Swan until after Locke and Jack had blown the hatch door (I am skeptical of this, but I'll explain later).
Despite the gassing purge of the island, Danielle survived, as did Radzinsky and Kelvin Inman.

Okay, so here's my blazingly brilliant thought.

What if the incident is Dharma attacked the Hostiles, a battle ensued and, in the end, neither side wins?

Just a thought.

The reason why I doubt that Ben and the Others didn't know about the Swan's existence is simple. There were enough people working on the project within Dharma, some of them actually wearing coveralls with the Swan insignia, that Ben would have noticed. Not only that, I believe Amy, Ethan's mother and Horace's wife, was a Hostile spy. I can think of no other way how Ethan would have been with Ben and the Hostiles in 1988 when Alex was taken. ClearwaterChica from the Lost Message Boards actually helped me to make the connection by pointing out the elderly Amelia. Amelia. Amy could be short for Amelia. Someone else on the boards also pointed out the pendant Amy's first husband wore around his neck, and how important it was to Amy. Which was the same symbol connected to the statue. Even if Ben himself didn't know about the Swan, I'm sure Amy, having Horace's confidence, would have known and told the Others.

"Uhm, hey, guys? Remember when I was living among the Dharma folks and having babies and sharing pillow talk with their leader? Well, he told me about a top secret station they were building in our territory.....And well, if you're gonna kill all these people, maybe you might want to take care of the ones in that station too. Just thought you'd like to know...."

Or something like that. The point is, the Others utilized every resource they could from Dharma and it stands to reason that they would make sure they had total control of the island by taking out whomever was in that station. Of course, they could have made a deal with Radzinsky to push the button and let him think he was saving the world. There is also the possibility that, with the duration of the term of service in the Swan, the station was sealed for that period of time automatically ( a kind of don't' open until Christmas idea) and, by the end of that time the Others had forgotten about it.

Or not. Soon we will see.

A super-hyped, getting really, really excited Arcticroses.

Can Jacob Be Killed?

The last thing we hear is John Locke telling Ben that he is going to kill Jacob.



Here's my thought on this.



Jacob, like Richard Alpert, is very very old. They may even have arrived onto the island at the same time. Possibly on the Black Rock, maybe even earlier.
I think Jacob is good and that he may have been the original leader of the Others, but Richard staged a coup and chose a "puppet" leader, ruling the Others via proxy as the Advisor.

The ash circle around Jacob's cabin is not to keep people OUT but to keep Jacob IN.

I have suspected this since the first time his name was mentioned and when Ben said only he or Richard have ever seen him. When Locke heard Jacob's cry for help Ben knew he had to act and shot John, leaving him to die in the Dharma Death Pit. But the island healed him because it needs John.

Richard and Ben have been perpetrating an elaborate hoax, ala King John, by locking away the true leader and ruling in his stead, following his own agenda but claiming it is decreed by the real king. Richard and Ben have realized that John Locke will be their downfall, which is why Ben keeps trying to kill him. Ben did not know that the island would revive John and imbue him with such confidence, purpose and knowledge.

I believe the only reason Ben boarded the Ajira 316 flight was to return to the island and resume his leadership of the Others. Seeing the new and improved John Locke is causing both Richard and Ben to fear. How is it that Richard was not aware of John's return to the island? And Ben admitted that the island never told him anything and came perilously close to admitting to never seeing Jacob.

John Locke in NOT going to kill Jacob but is going to kill the myth of Jacob. He is going to pull back the curtain and reveal the deceit and lies that Richard and Ben have been telling to everyone for so many years. They have been using Jacob's name as an instrument of fear to keep their people in line.

Follow The Leader (or are you still with me?)

Okay, so earlier I posted my recap of Follow The Leader. It was such a great episode that I felt, in order to do it justice, I needed two posts.

Follow The Leader was about taking charge. Radzinsky took control of Dharma. Eloise took control of her future son's fate. Jack took control of his own fate. Locke is taking steps to ensure his control of the Others.

I have a few questions.

1. Is Locke really supposed to be the leader of the Others, or, through a series of crazy time loops, did he set himself up as the leader? It's a sort of what came first, the chicken or the egg dilemma. For four seasons John has been told that he is special, that his destiny is not as a regional collections officer at some box company. In light of last night's episode where we see the scene of John and Richard at the Beechcraft from a different perspective and learn that John was watching the exchange between himself and Richard's. So, I wonder; would Richard have assisted John at the smuggler's plane if John hadn't taken him there. Would he have told John that he had to die? And did the island tell John to tell Richard to tell flashing John this in the first place?


2. Is Eloise already pregnant with Daniel in 1977? I've searched for Daniel's date of birth but can't seem to find anything stating the date he was born.
   
3. Is Richard as attuned to the needs and wants of the island as we've been lead to believe? Would the island not have told him about Ben's return, especially after judgement day beneath the temple? And didn't they hear the plane crash? I know it didn't break up in mid air, but didn't it make a great big noise hitting the trees? Richard didn't know that Ben was back and he didn't know where John had gone. Did they even bother to look for him after he flashed away?
   
4. Did anyone notice how freaked out Ben and Richard were by the new Locke? Its almost like they have been running the biggest scam on island, like selling candy to school children out of their back packs, and the new principal is about to catch them.
   
5. When is Sun going to realize the John has no intention of even attempting to reunite her with Jin? He keeps giving her platitudes, words that are meant to keep her calm but really don't promise anything. She needs to get ruthless again.
   
6. How does Jack know for certain that his reason is to detonate Jug Head and possibly stop the plane from crashing, thus reversing everything that has happened in the last three years? Yes, I see him making decisions and having faith that they are the right ones! He reminds me of someone standing in line at the convenience store buying everything on the counter just because it's there. They never really planned on buying the Tic Tacs in the special anniversary packaging. I understand why he wants to explode the bomb, I just don't see how it is going to work. Wouldn't the fates of EVERYONE on board that plane need to not be connected to the island? John Locke? Mr. Eko? Daniel? Charlotte? Doesn't he realize that some of the survivors don't want to erase the past?
   
7. What's with Sawyer and Juliet making a deal and leaving their friends behind? What happened to loyalty? What happened to looking after each other?
   
8. What's in Hurley's guitar case? Seriously, it's not a guitar. At least, it better not be. I have a feeling that it carries something that is going to help them return to 2007. Either that or it's the largest collection of Twinkies on the planet. I've never had one of those things and I hear that they'll survive a nuclear explosion and still be edible.
   
9. Where has Sayid been hiding out?
   
10. Did Hurley pack a can opener when he stole the food?

Here's what I'm thinking.

I think that, despite detonating the hydrogen bomb, the accident at the Swan site will still occur. Radzinsky is intent on drilling and even the threat of cataclysmic failure isn't about to stop him. Jack will not be able to stop the incident at the Swan station. I don't know anything about the explosive power of a hydrogen bomb but I'm pretty sure it's mighty destructive. I wonder if it will be strong enough to neutralize the energy that is released when Radzinky begins to drill into the ground. Somehow I doubt it. The universe will make sure it happens and no matter how frequently one goes back in time and changes what has been done leading up to the major event, it will still happen. The outcome will be the same with minor changes along the way.

Quotables!

Ben - His name is Richard Alpert. He's a kind of.....advisor. And he has had the job for a very very long time.

Ben - What John, don't you trust me here with my former people? Afraid I'll stage a coup?

John - I'm not afraid of anything you can do anymore, Ben.

Ben - Well, in that case, I'd love to come along!

Sawyer - Son of a bitch! *after Phil hits Juliet*

Radzinsky - Who the hell is Hugo Reyes?

Phil - He's the fat guy.

Ben - Your timing was impeccable, John. How did you know when to be here?

John - The island told me. Didn't it ever tell you things?

Ben - Uhm, no.

This week I have two favorite quotes.

Richard - Well, you seemed pretty convinced, especially when I said you were gonna die. I;m certainly glad that didn't have to happen.

John - Actually, Richard, it did. *stunned look from Richard*

And

Richard - I'm starting to think that John Locke is gonna be trouble.

Ben - Why do you think I tried to kill him?

I have few thoughts about Jacob. Who he is, where he came from and can he be killed, but that will need to wait until tomorrow. Until then...

Arcticroses

Follow The Leader (Or How Jack Got His Groove Back)

Well, that was interesting. Okay, it was awesome! It was widely rumoured that Follow The Leader was a Richard centric episode and I know a lot of people were eagerly anticipating learning about his backstory. I, too, am a bit disappointed that we didn't learn anything new about Richard. Or did we? I'll get back to that later. First, let's get to what went on, shall we? Follow The Leader didn't have any flashbacks or flashforwards, it just travelled along two parallel lines. One in 1977 and the other in 2007. This episode was about what it means to be in the position to lead and what happens when the masses disagree with you (paging Horace Goodpeed). Also, it's about what happens when one decides to take charge of one's own destiny, grab the proverbial bull by the horns, so to speak.

1977

We pick up where The Variable left off. Daniel has just been shot and killed by his mother, and I am ready to crucify Eloise at the stake for murdering her son. Kate and Jack are about to flee when Charles Widmore comes upon them and captures them, taking them into the Others' camp. We see Eloise flip through Daniel's journal and an odd look crosses her face. Sort of like recognition, maybe? She realizes that Jack and Kate are not Dharma and tells Charles to put them into her tent, where she tells Jack and Kate about her encounter in 1954 with a young man who told her he was from the future and then disappeared before her eyes. She adds that she just shot and killed that same man and that he told her he was her son. With her frame of mind opening wider and wider to understand what just happened, she was ready to believe Jack when he told her that they can undo what just happened. They just need to get to the hydrogen bomb. Oh, is that all? Just follow the simple instructions in the journal and voila, all will be undone! But, Eloise is willing. We don't know it yet, but I'm sure she is pregnant at that time. Eloise decides to take Jack and Kate to the hydrogen bomb. Ooops, one problem. They buried it underground, but Dharma sort of built their town right on top of it!

Jack has found his purpose, and boy oh boy it's a doozie! Kate doesn't understand why Jack would want to erase all that has happened over the past three years. She's convinced that what ever happened happened and nothing is going to change it. When she tries to leave Jack to find the others, Eric the Other aims his rifle at her and is about to shoot her when he himself is shot. Sayid pops up out of the bushes and aims his gun at Richard and Eloise, who readily surrender. As an aside, did anyone else notice that just before she put her hands up she dropped something into her bag? I wonder what it was.

Jack explains to Sayid what the plan for the bomb is, much to Kate's displeasure. She has everything to lose if Daniel's plan works and Oceanic 815 doesn't crash, but lands safely in LA instead. Remember, she was a fugitive on her way home to be prosecuted for a couple of murders. Sayid, on the other hand, has a whole new life to gain if Jack succeeds. He was on his way to LA where he knew his beloved Nadia lived. As a plus, neither Ben nor Charles would be a threat to Nadia's life in the future. Can you imagine how tempting it would be for Sayid if there were even an inkling of a chance that he could have a long life with Nadia.

Richard and Eloise lead them into a pond and through a long underwater tunnel to where they secured Jughead. Of course, no one really knew what to do from there and dear Eloise is going to have to learn to understand her son's journal really quick.

Meanwile, back in Dharma village of the damned Sawyer and Juliet are about to feel the deranged aggressiveness of Radzinsky, and pimple faced Phil (at least it looks like a pimple just beneath his right nostril) looks on in glee. He's gonna get payback, I'm sure. Horace tries to be the leader but ole Stu has staged a coupe of his own and taken charge. Peace loving Horace hasn't got the stomach for what happens next. When Sawyer refuses to talk, Phil takes it out on Juliet.

Of course, while Sawyer is on the receiving end of Stu's fist, Hurley is raiding the Dharma kitchen for food, then sneaks away. He is followed by Dr. Chang, who needs to know the truth. In one of the best scenes of the episode, certainly the funniest, Peirre quizzes Hurley. He was doing pretty good until he couldn't remember who the President of the US was in 1977. Miles and Pierre had a quick bonding moment and then they went their separate ways. Miles, Jin and hurley to the beach, Pierre to evacuate the island.

Dr. Chang rushes to find Horace, and stumbles upon the beat fest, demanding that the island be evacuated now. If they keep drilling at the Swan and even of cataclysmic proportions is going to happen. Radzinsky says it's the drilling will go as planned and tells Pierre that he is in charge now. Sawyer makes a deal. "Well tell you everything you want, just put us on the sub." Or something like that. But not before Radzinsky demands a map to the Hostiles, which Sawyer provides. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm thinking that map is the same as the one Daniel has in the future. Dharma is evacuating the island of all non-essential personnel. Miles, Jin and Hurley watch from the bushes and are surprised to see their friends being led to the sub. When Hurley asks what the plan is to rescue them, Miles tells him there isn't one. Besides, there are thirty guys with guns against two (Hurley doesn't have one).

Sawyer and Juliet board the Galaga. He tells her that they'll be okay. In the real world these guys have no authority. They'll buy Microsoft and bet on the Dallas Cowboys in 1978 and be rich. On the sub they affirm their love for each other. So sweet. Just as the sub is about to be closed a pompous and smug Phil arrives with Kate. She too, is being deported. He took great joy in telling them that she was caught coming into town!

When last we see the Galaga it is diving below the surface heading to parts unknown.

2007

In 2007, we see Richard with the ultimate hobby. Building ships in bottles takes diligence, excellent eyesight and more patience than I could ever muster, not to mention a steady hand. And didn't that ship look like a model of the Black Rock? It did to me. Anyway, he is told that He is back and Richard leaves his tent. He is met by John Locke, boar on his shoulders. John brought dinner, which is an effective way of winning people over.

Richard notices something is different about John and tells him so. John has a purpose, a new reason for being on the island. Something tells me that this new John's purpose may not be a good thing. But, hey, he brought dinner, right? John had brought Sun and Ben as well, and when Ben explains that Richard is an advisor, and has been one for ever and ever amen, Sun approaches him to ask about their 1977 friends. I have to say, I was not believing him when he said that he watched them all die. I called out, NOOOOOOOO and my dogs gave me that "you are disturbing me" look! John assured her that he would find a way to reunite her with Jin. If what Richard said was true, then it will only be in death that Sun sees Jin again.

Locke takes Richard and Ben on an errand. They must move quickly as there isn't much time. I honestly did not expect that that errand was to the Beechcraft where Richard took the bullet out of his leg. I should have seen it though. The signs were there. The Ajira water bottle on the beach, the flashing survivors being shot at. Out of the bushes stumbles flashing Locke and Richard attends to him, telling him that he must get the others to come back and that he'll have to die to do so.

While Richard is busy with flashing Locke, John and Ben have an interesting conversation that made me giggle. But I stopped giggling when John practically accused Ben of never seeing Jacob, and by the look on Ben's face, John's assumption is correct. There's something odd about that, but I can't seem to pin point exactly where my doubt originates. Anyway, we hear a POP and see Richard kneeling over nothing. Richard tells John that flashing John appeared to be convinced of what he had to do, then added that he was glad that John didn't have to die in the end. I loved the look on Richard's face when John told him that he did have to die.

Back at the beach camp John wonders if there are more Others and learns there are more at the Temple. He tells them that for far too long they have been blindly following orders from some unseen omnipotentate and that has to stop. If someone is giving orders, then John, for one, wants to know exactly who is giving them. His people agree and Richard and Ben acquiesce to take them to Jacob. Early in the morning the Others depart on their pilgrimage to find Jacob. Ben tries to distract him by telling him that Richard has some concerns about his leadership. When that doesn't work, he tries to remind him that he promised to reunite Sun with Jin, but to no avail. John doesn't care about reuniting his people. He's going to kill Jacob!

BOMBSHELL!

I'll post more tomorrow after I have watched the episode for the fourth time. We are having some rather severe weather right now that keeps knocking out power. I'm okay on the laptop, but my Internet connection is dicey right now.

Let me know what you think. As always,

I love excellent conversation.

Arcticroses.

What about Frank?

As I was cleaning up the debris from cutting down an apricot tree and four cedar bushes, my mind wandered, as it is apt to do, to LOST. Today, I guess, was Frank's day because I started wondering why Widmore had hired him to be on that freighter.

Way back at the beginning of Season 4 we see Frank in Eleuthera, Bahamas. He calls the 1-800 number to report that the pictures of Oceanic 815 on the ocean floor are fake. Who is he? He's was supposed to captain that flight. How does he know the pictures are fake? His best friend, Seth Norris, took his place and the picture, however decomposed goodness our man Frank sees, is NOT Seth! How do you know? 'Cause Seth married his high school sweetie pie and loves her to death, so he NEVER takes off his wedding ring. The pilot in the photo, he doesn't have a wedding ring. Frank had enough irrefutable proof that the plane on the bottom of the Sunda Trench could be fake.

Okay, so that's my rapid fast report on history. Let's get to now, shall we?

Frank was recruited, we are assuming, by Matthew Abaddon, as a helicopter pilot to shuttle the scientists to and from the island. I think it was because of his phone call to that 1-800 number that Widmore learned of Frank's existence. Widmore knew that if he didn't do something about Frank, the man was going to get sober, find mainland USA and start talking to some people who would be interested in a conspiracy theory. Like Seth's wife maybe? He's a loose end, an unexpected snag, so to speak that could cause a whole mess of trouble, despite being one heck of a helicopter pilot. What to do. What to do.

I'm not sure why Charles Widmore didn't just have him killed, or begin some sort of Ben-like campaign to discredit him. It probably would have been an easy task given Frank's propensity for the drink. But he didn't. He had Abaddon recruit him to the freighter, thus removing him from the general population and the possibility that he may talk to, oh I don't know, the FAA?

This makes sense to me. Maybe not to anyone else. But that's okay. I think, if we ever get a Frank flashback, I may be proven right. I don't have a clue what would have happened to Frank if the Kahana mercenaries had been successful in their mission. The thought that Keamy would probably kill everyone, including the Freighter Four, to "PURGE" the island of undesirables sends shivers down my spine. Personally, I think Keamy's orders were as such, but, as we know, he failed.

One thing that I have been wondering though, if the Island didn't want certain people to be there, why would it allow them to arrive on it's shores in the first place?

No, really. I can't seem to come up with a reasonable answer to this one. Wouldn't it just allow those it didn't want there to die?

Anyway, I have much yard work to do, so I'm sure my mind will be wandering yet again. I promise to concentrate when operating the lawn mower or any heavy duty lawn equipment though.

Something's Not Quite Right

Today I was waiting for the Young Author's Conference to end so that I could collect my daughter and come home. When I first arrived at the University Campus where they hold the event, a happy woman grabbed me into a "glad-to-see-you" hug, stepped back and said: "You're not you!" when she realized I wasn't who she thought I was. Oh well, now I can blame an evil twin for all those things that I'm accused of. After we negotiated past the awkwardness, we started talking and learned we are both huge fans of LOST. It's always great fun to debate the wheres and whys of LOST with someone and we both found we have some ideas that are the same and some that differ. For instance, she thinks Widmore is pure evil and that Illana and Bram are working for Ben. I disagreed. Anyway, just before the kids all returned to the lecture hall for the end of day ceremonies, she said something that kind of troubled me.

"Isn't is strange that Kate, Jack and Daniel were able to reach the Other's camp? They sort of sneaked up on them!"

Holy Shizzniks, Captain Fantapants! I wish I'd paid more attention to that. As soon as I arrived home I plugged in and watched the last fifteen minutes ..... again. Dumdadadum! She was right! For the first time in LOST history someone was able to sneak up on the Others.

I'm not sure what that means or if it even means anything. I just thought I should mention it.