Lost: Season 6, Episodes 1-2 Review: LA X

LA X
Original Airdate: February 2, 2010
Writer: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
Director: Jack Bender

Of course, one of the biggest discussions “The Incident” provoked during the hiatus was what season six would be like, since there was no hint at the end besides the inverted Lost title card and Lindelof & Cuse swapping names for the writing credit of the finale’s second hour. It all depended on whether Jack’s plan worked. Most fans did not want it to work because it would’ve negated the past five years, slapping the audience in the face for their allegiance. Here we get a definite answer to whether Jack’s plan worked: sort of. If the time travel plot wasn’t enough for people, this season drops alternative reality in their lap. We’re presented with two realities: the original timeline we’ve followed for 5 years and a new one, where the bomb sunk the island and Oceanic 815 lands in LAX. In an interview with EW, Damon Lindelof said “[T]he survivors of Oceanic 815…thought the only effect [of detonating the bomb] was going to be that their plane never crashes.” Clearly that is not the case as there are plenty of differences between the Jughead reality and the master reality.

It starts from a different interpretation of the scene in the pilot just before the plane breaks apart. Here Jack is nervous when the plane hits turbulence & Rose comforts him, which is the opposite of what happened. He also has some red mark on his upper chest. Hurley thinks he’s the luckiest guy on earth, but still won the lottery. Boone left Australia without Shannon, and didn’t fly first class. Several supporting characters who died are nowhere to be seen either. There are other details explained in videos shown at Comic Con, but they may be considered spoilers.

There may be a new passenger, or is he? Some have speculated whether Desmond actually was on the plane, as he appeared only briefly, sat next to Jack, but wasn’t around aside from the beginning. This may tie in to his abilities he gained when he set off the pocket of electromagnetism, making him the Keanu Reeves in The Matrix of Lost. Fans also saw he had a wedding ring on. Considering Widmore was on the island when Jughead went off, this could mean Desmond’s courtship with Penny was different, or perhaps he never met Penny at all. There may not have been a race around the world at all, which would mean Desmond & Jack didn’t meet at the stadium 3 years before 815 crashed, which may mean Jack remembers Desmond from another context, presumably the one from this reality.

There are a lot more changes, and while the concept of alternate timelines certainly offers interesting storytelling venues, in the premiere I had a sense of “that’s nice, but what does this mean to the storyline I’ve been following for 5 years?” And this is from the person who defended a lot of the season two & three episodes that were derided for being filler. Of course, a lot has changed since then. This is the final season, where long awaited answers are supposed to come. There aren’t many hours left and this sojourn into alternate realities doesn’t seem like a good use of their time. Second & third season they had all the time in the world, but as the season is the end, it makes me worried that things I wanted to see are going to take a backseat to this.

Also there is the question of stakes. As of the end of the episode, not even a hint is given towards how this reality affects the one we’re invested in. Does it matter if Kate gets away from the Marshal or gets ambushed by the police in a way that makes the end of Bonnie & Clyde look like nothing? Even if they had crazy Desmond go up to Jack and scream “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be!” it would’ve established some risk, but for now, it just feels like speculative fan fiction. Lindelof & Cuse don’t want this subplot to be referred to as an alternate reality and that it is relevant to the master timeline, but so far not many connections can be made so far.

Back to the main action, the 77 Losties arrive in 2007, an hour after Jacob’s death. It results in a heated confrontation between Jack & Sawyer, the latter of whom is furious over their belief that the plan failed and Juliet was lost for nothing. There is a brief glimmer of hope when she’s heard yelling for help atop the wreckage of the imploded Swan station, but the hope is short lived. The gut punch of losing Juliet threatens has made Sawyer a shell of a man, one who has perhaps lost all the progress he’s made in the course of the past two seasons.

Juliet’s death brought a lot of criticism. Her plunging down the shaft was tough enough, so why bring her back only to kill her, something we could’ve assumed? I’m not against Elizabeth Mitchell picking up one more paycheck before leaving, but this carry over just reeks of them doing this as a refresher for viewers who don’t obsess with the series for months at a time.

With Miles’ reading, it can be gathered that those who die become aware of the alternate timeline. Juliet’s over discussed remark about “going Dutch” could be her going back and forth from the realities much like Desmond & Charlotte jumped through time. This is another example of how even in the alternate reality, some things are destined to happen.

As Juliet dies, Hurley’s vision of Jacob causes him to step up in a big way in an attempt to save the still dying Sayid. It’s interesting to see how previous follower Hurley is becoming an important leader on the island, perhaps fulfilling his destiny to replace Jacob, perhaps to help overcome his demons. Whatever it is, it’s a great tip to the audience to see favorite Hurley take charge. It also confirms that Hurley’s visions of dead people aren’t in his head, as Jacob’s mission takes them to the Temple.

Elsewhere, the Smoke Monster is revealed to be a facet of Man in Locke, who can’t penetrate a line of ash, but knows a thing or two about loopholes (I’m ashamed I didn’t get the joke that the guy named Bram died from a piece of wood going through his heart). This could’ve been assumed from the Monster confronting Ben and telling him to do whatever the man he believed was Locke told him, since it was in his best interest. Regardless, the punchline “I’m sorry you had to see me like that” was priceless.

Part 2

The 77 (now 07) gang wind up at The Temple, which it turns out we only saw the outer wall protecting it to this point. It’s also inferable that Montand was killed by the Smoke Monster (and nobody bothered to clean it up in the interim 19 years) and took his form, which adds a lot to the story of what happened to Rousseau (perhaps driving her mad was all part of his plan?)

Here they encounter more new characters: Lennon, played by John Hawkes (man, do they love Deadwood or what) & Dogen, played by Hiroyuki Sanada. They confront the captured Losties and almost execute them, but Hurley’s guitar case finally comes into play. While a lot of discussion happened about the contents of this case, I never got to into it; as far as I cared it was just a MacGuffin. Here it turns out to be a weird magic trick Jacob performed, stuffing a list of names into a giant ankh that says if Sayid isn’t saved they are in serious trouble. OK.

They take Sayid to the spring, which looks like a hot tub. They worry that the spring isn’t clear, which presumably is because Jacob has died, but they carry on with their plan. Here drowning someone in the spring can save their life (a lot of this stuff I’m just accepting as weird for Lost’s sake, but hopefully there is some explanation for all of it). It doesn’t work, and Jack tries to revive Sayid like he did with Charlie in season one, down to Kate getting hysterical over it. Already this season is filled with a lot of mirrors to the first one, which makes sense as the series ends.

That doesn’t last when Sayid suddenly rises some time after being pronounced dead. What happened to Sayid and why he’s still alive are two very important questions, and perhaps Young Ben’s resuscitation in season five can illuminate it. Presumably this is what happened to Young Ben, and obviously he’s alive to tell the tale, but he didn’t rise from the dead, something Ben claimed nobody had seen before, even on this island. What does Sayid’s return mean?

After the failed resurrection, Hurley informs them that Jacob has died and to Dogen & Lennon, it’s clear it has hit the fan in the worst way. The Temple goes into lockdown, and sets up a flare presumably to warn the rest of The Others on the island. It’s seen by those at the stand off on the beach, but clearly it is too late.

Terry O’Quinn, who has always been fantastic, gets to show some range playing the heavy and is clearly having fun doing so. In the second half Man in Locke illuminates Ben on his motivation: the desire to return home. Like any villain, this is important to show he’s more than just evil because he is. Between all the ash lines he’s a prisoner. We don’t know what conditions that imprisonment is from or where he calls home, but it is a good start to Man in Locke’s character development.

In the midst of this is Ben, who is shell shocked and trying to figure out what he’s going to do as the man who broke the dam that was keeping the island safe. Of course, telling Richard he killed Jacob is off the table, especially after discovering the real Locke on the beach. This may be setting up Ben’s redemption arc, which has been brewing since last season.

The other reveal about Man in Locke is that Richard has encountered him in the past, and when Richard was in chains at that. Now some may claim this means Richard was a slave on the Black Rock, but I’m going to assume by Nestor Carbonell’s ethnicity that he was prisoner of that ship.

Overall, this season premiere was a mixed bag, but still good. The mixed bag comes from the flash sideways. I’m not going to get into what Jin & Sun possibly not being married, Sun not speaking English or Jack & Locke’s conversation at lost luggage claim mean because I don’t know what they mean in terms of the story we’ve followed all these years. Readers know I’m not one to skip details (for better or worse) and my reviews tend to be much longer, but it just doesn’t seem worth talking about because it doesn’t affect the main storyline. Regardless of flashbacks/forwards, they informed us of why the characters made the choices they made. These are just what ifs. I certainly hope they make them relevant, and latter episodes work them in much better, but this start wasn’t enough to sell me.

Overall Score: 8/10