Lost Marathon: Season 5, Episode 5 Review: This Place is Death
This Place Is Death
Original Airdate: February 11, 2009
Writer: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Director: Paul Edwards
Many fans (including myself) speculated that season five was going to be a season long quest to return to the island. However, that no longer is the case. The season’s plot has been moving faster than any to date and there is no way to draw that out for a full season. In fact, this is the first turning point in what is basically a four act season.
This episode continues the trend of having the centric character not have a traditional flashback/forward subplot, and even cuts out the establishing flashback the others have gotten, making it a unique episode. However, there are solid character moments, and a big reveal regarding a piece of the mythology.
One of the most important character pieces of the Oceanic Six saga has been Sun & Jin’s separation. Sun believed Jin was killed in the freighter explosion and devoted the following three years to exacting revenge on those she deemed responsible. Of course, learning of his survival changes her attitude to wanting to find him. While Jin wants to find her as well, Jin’s experiences with Rousseau and the flashes convince him that she shouldn’t return.
The first two acts are largely devoted to Rousseau’s back story. While it’s unfortunate that a Rousseau flashback can’t happen, the time travel device is the next best way to tell it and they probably won’t have a better time to do it. Also, it’s the key motivator behind Jin’s decisions as Locke’s plans to retrieve the Six come to be.
Here we meet the crew, who are largely nondescript aside from Rousseau, Robert and Montand. Montand is a bit arrogant and sexist, making him unsympathetic monster fodder. Rousseau and Robert come off as a couple deep in love, which if it had more development or a full episode’s progression would’ve made his betrayal and her subsequent killing him a more substantial moment despite us knowing the outcome.
Soon after they head out to find the radio tower they encounter The Monster, who kills Nadine and drags Montand, sans one arm, to what is likely The Temple. Since Ben called The Temple the one secure place on the island and The Monster has been described as a security system, it makes sense that this is what it protects. This appearance is huge in terms of The Monster’s story as well as Rousseau’s.
Considering the Monster can imitate the dead, it’s likely that it was the one calling for help in Montand’s voice as Montand’s tone felt flat. While he may be in such shock that he doesn’t acknowledge the pain, he still had his arm violently torn from his body. Anything other than screaming profanities and “My arm!” should be viewed skeptically. However, they don’t know that nor would have any way of knowing, so they buy it.
Just after Jin keeps Rousseau from entering the hole under The Temple, he jumps ahead two months in the middle of Rousseau’s purging of her crew. As she confronts Robert, she says that going down the hole changed them, suggesting The Monster is directly tied to the sickness, although none of the Losties that encountered it have experienced much that could be construed as sickness. The sickness isn’t shown explicitly on the show, which is obviously the bridge between the two flashes. Rousseau thought Jin may be sick and a “carrier” (ie Other), but that doesn’t explain why she wouldn’t have been infected in his proximity. However, she was already paranoid and probably insane. While there aren’t many answers here, the beginning of follow through is welcome for this long dormant element of the mythology.
There’s been a lot of debate over whether Rousseau recognized Jin in 2004. Those who are skeptical believe the conditions would make it near impossible for her to forget Jin. However, it was 16 years earlier and in between meetings her mental state deteriorated, not to mention the person she saw was the same age and as a part of a larger group. Also, they never had much screen time together. The big piece for critics is that at no point in Rousseau’s account did she mention finding a stranger who guided her crew through. Between those who believe she was traumatized enough to forget to those who believe it was too much to forget, this topic will be going for some time.
Jin doesn’t meet the other survivors until a new flash takes him away from Rousseau’s rifle. Some have theorized that Jin was flashing to a different time than the Island Six (briefly Seven, then Five in this episode). While that adds an interesting layer, it may be too much for a show that’s already asking a lot of its viewers. Another thing surprisingly not brought up is why Sawyer didn’t ask if this was “present” Jin or Jin from some other point on his timeline. Regardless, it was nice to see Sawyer and Jin reunited. Sawyer and Jin have a lot of history going back to the raft and with their people dead or off the island and unobtainable, any friendly face would be welcome.
The need to get to The Orchid grows as the flashes come faster to where there’s only seconds between some of them. Some have theorized this is also because they are getting closer to the wheel, which appears to be the source of the white light as it rushed up the well shaft when Locke came down. This is also a narrative device showing the island story reaching a climax. While it would’ve been nice to see more of the island’s “greatest hits”, they clearly didn’t want to spend a whole season on it.
Charlotte then becomes the latest casualty as her body has had enough time jumps. It’s a bit disappointing to see her go before she got a centric episode (still waiting for an answer to anything related to Libby). Thankfully, Charlotte offers some hints to her story before passing. She was a Dharma child as suspected and pursued anthropology to find them again (hence her smile when she found the Dharma polar bear in her only flashback). Someone had to go to elevate the threat of the time jumps, and she was the most expendable.
Before dying, Charlotte jumps throughout her life almost like Desmond did. While much of Charlotte’s disjointed sayings seem to be from various points in her life, at others she comes off as possessed, singling out Jin with the warning that he shouldn’t bring her back because of the eponymous declaration. Why just her and not demand that Locke not bring any of them back? Yes Locke would’ve done it regardless and Charlotte couldn’t physically stop him, but it’s odd.
They make Locke’s trip to the wheel as difficult as possible shifting to increasingly difficult routes to the wheel. During the last flash Locke breaks his legs, symbolizing his paralysis, and having to push the wheel forces him to leave the one place he’s felt he belonged to. This journey to set things right may be, if Christian is any indicator, a way of punishing Locke for not pushing the wheel first (besides everyone jumping all through time, most of them getting killed, and receiving excruciating headaches).
Between Charlotte’s demise and the memory of Rousseau killing Robert fresh in his mind, it makes sense that Jin would make Locke promise not to bring back Sun even if that meant not seeing her again. Of course the irony there is that the ring Jin wanted to use as proof of death was appropriated by Ben as proof of life to convince Sun to return. This comes right after Ben and Jack’s attempt to get everybody to go back fails miserably, leaving Sayid and Kate with Aaron heading out intending never to speak to them again. Despite the failure, getting Sun to come along based on a promise (from Ben no less) is a huge victory.
Like Jin, Sun is motivated by her lost love. Throughout her flash forwards and this season, Sun’s main drive has been revenge. It even seemed like she was putting Ji Yeon on the back burner. Learning he was alive shifted that attitude. However, I doubt Sun would be won over by Ben’s word alone. He had the ring, but why wouldn’t he just give it to her there since he had it on him? It seems more like the story needed them to be this way rather than a natural progression.
Again, Ben’s naivette that his actions couldn’t be construed as bad comes through again with the awkward conversation between Sun and Jack en route to Eloise. They speak as if Ben isn’t there and confronts them in the way a dad would short of saying “so help me I will turn this car around”. While it may be a little silly, it adds the question of what did Ben do to keep them safe. He claimed the people Sayid killed were a threat, but his offense implies that he took some direct action rather than using a conduit.
Then Desmond, on his mission, collides with Jack, Ben & Sun outside of Eloise’s church. Of course, no one is surprised that Eloise is Daniel’s mother. It is this season’s “Michael’s Ben’s inside man”. However, Desmond showing up at the same time is another piece of destiny, or at least Desmond proving to be an x-factor in the plans of Ben and Eloise. Ben apparently didn’t know this connection. Of course it’s more complicated when Desmond finds the woman he is supposed to consult is the same one who ruined 8 years of his life.
It’s confusing that Eloise would allow them to go forward with the return mission without everyone who left. They have emphasized that all needed to return within this tight deadline, but here she acts like a teacher cutting a kid a break on late homework. This may be because Eloise knows a thing or two about course correction, but it doesn’t work with the stakes established so far.
One final piece worth mentioning is that this episode had more graphic violence than usual. Between Charlotte’s bloody nose, Montand’s ripped off arm, Robert with the bullet hole in his head and Locke’s fracture breaking the skin, it was shocking for a network TV show. This seemed to happen more when they were at the 10 PM slot, but the increased gore is a likely product of the raised stakes as the show’s ending comes.
This episode is essentially the end of the introduction phase of the season. Locke’s left the island on the journey that’ll lead him to the coffin, the Island 5 are waiting for further instructions and the return to the island has begun. Now what was presumed would be a season long pursuit is to be wrapped up by half way through the season, which is symptomatic of the show moving more towards plot as this, the 91st of 120 episodes, is the beginning of the final quarter of the series.
This episode continues the trend of having the centric character not have a traditional flashback/forward subplot, and even cuts out the establishing flashback the others have gotten, making it a unique episode. However, there are solid character moments, and a big reveal regarding a piece of the mythology.
One of the most important character pieces of the Oceanic Six saga has been Sun & Jin’s separation. Sun believed Jin was killed in the freighter explosion and devoted the following three years to exacting revenge on those she deemed responsible. Of course, learning of his survival changes her attitude to wanting to find him. While Jin wants to find her as well, Jin’s experiences with Rousseau and the flashes convince him that she shouldn’t return.
The first two acts are largely devoted to Rousseau’s back story. While it’s unfortunate that a Rousseau flashback can’t happen, the time travel device is the next best way to tell it and they probably won’t have a better time to do it. Also, it’s the key motivator behind Jin’s decisions as Locke’s plans to retrieve the Six come to be.
Here we meet the crew, who are largely nondescript aside from Rousseau, Robert and Montand. Montand is a bit arrogant and sexist, making him unsympathetic monster fodder. Rousseau and Robert come off as a couple deep in love, which if it had more development or a full episode’s progression would’ve made his betrayal and her subsequent killing him a more substantial moment despite us knowing the outcome.
Soon after they head out to find the radio tower they encounter The Monster, who kills Nadine and drags Montand, sans one arm, to what is likely The Temple. Since Ben called The Temple the one secure place on the island and The Monster has been described as a security system, it makes sense that this is what it protects. This appearance is huge in terms of The Monster’s story as well as Rousseau’s.
Considering the Monster can imitate the dead, it’s likely that it was the one calling for help in Montand’s voice as Montand’s tone felt flat. While he may be in such shock that he doesn’t acknowledge the pain, he still had his arm violently torn from his body. Anything other than screaming profanities and “My arm!” should be viewed skeptically. However, they don’t know that nor would have any way of knowing, so they buy it.
Just after Jin keeps Rousseau from entering the hole under The Temple, he jumps ahead two months in the middle of Rousseau’s purging of her crew. As she confronts Robert, she says that going down the hole changed them, suggesting The Monster is directly tied to the sickness, although none of the Losties that encountered it have experienced much that could be construed as sickness. The sickness isn’t shown explicitly on the show, which is obviously the bridge between the two flashes. Rousseau thought Jin may be sick and a “carrier” (ie Other), but that doesn’t explain why she wouldn’t have been infected in his proximity. However, she was already paranoid and probably insane. While there aren’t many answers here, the beginning of follow through is welcome for this long dormant element of the mythology.
There’s been a lot of debate over whether Rousseau recognized Jin in 2004. Those who are skeptical believe the conditions would make it near impossible for her to forget Jin. However, it was 16 years earlier and in between meetings her mental state deteriorated, not to mention the person she saw was the same age and as a part of a larger group. Also, they never had much screen time together. The big piece for critics is that at no point in Rousseau’s account did she mention finding a stranger who guided her crew through. Between those who believe she was traumatized enough to forget to those who believe it was too much to forget, this topic will be going for some time.
Jin doesn’t meet the other survivors until a new flash takes him away from Rousseau’s rifle. Some have theorized that Jin was flashing to a different time than the Island Six (briefly Seven, then Five in this episode). While that adds an interesting layer, it may be too much for a show that’s already asking a lot of its viewers. Another thing surprisingly not brought up is why Sawyer didn’t ask if this was “present” Jin or Jin from some other point on his timeline. Regardless, it was nice to see Sawyer and Jin reunited. Sawyer and Jin have a lot of history going back to the raft and with their people dead or off the island and unobtainable, any friendly face would be welcome.
The need to get to The Orchid grows as the flashes come faster to where there’s only seconds between some of them. Some have theorized this is also because they are getting closer to the wheel, which appears to be the source of the white light as it rushed up the well shaft when Locke came down. This is also a narrative device showing the island story reaching a climax. While it would’ve been nice to see more of the island’s “greatest hits”, they clearly didn’t want to spend a whole season on it.
Charlotte then becomes the latest casualty as her body has had enough time jumps. It’s a bit disappointing to see her go before she got a centric episode (still waiting for an answer to anything related to Libby). Thankfully, Charlotte offers some hints to her story before passing. She was a Dharma child as suspected and pursued anthropology to find them again (hence her smile when she found the Dharma polar bear in her only flashback). Someone had to go to elevate the threat of the time jumps, and she was the most expendable.
Before dying, Charlotte jumps throughout her life almost like Desmond did. While much of Charlotte’s disjointed sayings seem to be from various points in her life, at others she comes off as possessed, singling out Jin with the warning that he shouldn’t bring her back because of the eponymous declaration. Why just her and not demand that Locke not bring any of them back? Yes Locke would’ve done it regardless and Charlotte couldn’t physically stop him, but it’s odd.
They make Locke’s trip to the wheel as difficult as possible shifting to increasingly difficult routes to the wheel. During the last flash Locke breaks his legs, symbolizing his paralysis, and having to push the wheel forces him to leave the one place he’s felt he belonged to. This journey to set things right may be, if Christian is any indicator, a way of punishing Locke for not pushing the wheel first (besides everyone jumping all through time, most of them getting killed, and receiving excruciating headaches).
Between Charlotte’s demise and the memory of Rousseau killing Robert fresh in his mind, it makes sense that Jin would make Locke promise not to bring back Sun even if that meant not seeing her again. Of course the irony there is that the ring Jin wanted to use as proof of death was appropriated by Ben as proof of life to convince Sun to return. This comes right after Ben and Jack’s attempt to get everybody to go back fails miserably, leaving Sayid and Kate with Aaron heading out intending never to speak to them again. Despite the failure, getting Sun to come along based on a promise (from Ben no less) is a huge victory.
Like Jin, Sun is motivated by her lost love. Throughout her flash forwards and this season, Sun’s main drive has been revenge. It even seemed like she was putting Ji Yeon on the back burner. Learning he was alive shifted that attitude. However, I doubt Sun would be won over by Ben’s word alone. He had the ring, but why wouldn’t he just give it to her there since he had it on him? It seems more like the story needed them to be this way rather than a natural progression.
Again, Ben’s naivette that his actions couldn’t be construed as bad comes through again with the awkward conversation between Sun and Jack en route to Eloise. They speak as if Ben isn’t there and confronts them in the way a dad would short of saying “so help me I will turn this car around”. While it may be a little silly, it adds the question of what did Ben do to keep them safe. He claimed the people Sayid killed were a threat, but his offense implies that he took some direct action rather than using a conduit.
Then Desmond, on his mission, collides with Jack, Ben & Sun outside of Eloise’s church. Of course, no one is surprised that Eloise is Daniel’s mother. It is this season’s “Michael’s Ben’s inside man”. However, Desmond showing up at the same time is another piece of destiny, or at least Desmond proving to be an x-factor in the plans of Ben and Eloise. Ben apparently didn’t know this connection. Of course it’s more complicated when Desmond finds the woman he is supposed to consult is the same one who ruined 8 years of his life.
It’s confusing that Eloise would allow them to go forward with the return mission without everyone who left. They have emphasized that all needed to return within this tight deadline, but here she acts like a teacher cutting a kid a break on late homework. This may be because Eloise knows a thing or two about course correction, but it doesn’t work with the stakes established so far.
One final piece worth mentioning is that this episode had more graphic violence than usual. Between Charlotte’s bloody nose, Montand’s ripped off arm, Robert with the bullet hole in his head and Locke’s fracture breaking the skin, it was shocking for a network TV show. This seemed to happen more when they were at the 10 PM slot, but the increased gore is a likely product of the raised stakes as the show’s ending comes.
This episode is essentially the end of the introduction phase of the season. Locke’s left the island on the journey that’ll lead him to the coffin, the Island 5 are waiting for further instructions and the return to the island has begun. Now what was presumed would be a season long pursuit is to be wrapped up by half way through the season, which is symptomatic of the show moving more towards plot as this, the 91st of 120 episodes, is the beginning of the final quarter of the series.
Overall Score: 8/10
posted by Matt @ 11:02 AM
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