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Note: This blog is counting down to the premiere of LOST's final season on Feb. 2 by spending the month leading up to it racing through every one of the previous 103 episodes. We're looking specifically at Christian/religious themes, other important or interesting concepts, literary references, and the theory that it's largely been about a game in which someone has won, and someone has... LOST. To follow us from the start, click here.

"You cannot change anything, you can't. Even if you tried, it wouldn't work."

This is what Daniel says when Sawyer and Juliet are just building up hope that if they happened to have flashed to December 2004 they could warn everyone not to summon the boat, or get on the chopper. It doesn't work that way, Faraday insists. And sure, we all know about time paradoxes. And yet... well, we'll just have to see who wins - kinda like Locke and Jack over whether miracles exist, and kinda like Ben and Widmore over who's gonna get who first. Speaking of Widmore, a minor character gives us one strange little line about him that might be something to ponder as we check out this disc...

"Everything here is due to Mr. Widmore, God bless him." -- Abigail Spencer. Hmmmm... everything?

LOST Season Five, Disc One: Rules That Can't be Broken

Episodes: 5.1 BECAUSE YOU LEFT; 5.2 THE LIE (Hurley-centric); 5.3 JUGHEAD (Desmond-centric)

Things That Stuck Out
(Note: for Season Five, it will be more useful to scrap section headers of on- and off-island, and instead try to discuss possibly-meaningful plot elements by the year in which it seems they occurred)

1954

Sawyer and Juliet notice they still have the Zodiac. She theorizes, "whatever we had with us when we move goes along for the ride." They did have it during the initial flash, but not during subsequent ones. So she appears to be right - even if they don't have it with them it continues to flash to different time periods, too.

Apparently, the single compass bearing that will allow one to leave the island is something that needs to be calculated, but to calculate it, one needs to first ascertain WHEN one is.

Miles uses his special ghost powers to locate food. That's handy. But how are they supposed to cut up the boar? Doesn't matter, because just then...

Flaming arrow attack! It takes out Frogurt, and every other redshirt (those it doesn't will get blown up at the creek when they step on tripwires laid by the U.S. army). Daniel, Charlotte, Miles, Juliet and Sawyer live. But what about Rose, Bernard, and Vincent?

Sawyer and Juliet are captured and threatened by an English-accented hot-tempered Other bearing the name "Jones" on his uniform. But Locke rescues them, and now Jones and his pal are prisoners.

Faraday knows what's going on with Charlotte's symptons of temporal displacement. As he talks to her, two remaining redshirts are taken out by a bomb, and Ellie's group of Others captures our science team, believing them to be U.S. Military who just couldn't stay away. And Eleanor "Ellie" Hawking holds a gun on the man who will one day be her son. Something tells me it won't be the last time.

Locke notices that the rifle he took off the Others looks new, and is U.S. Army issue, and from the 50s. The Others seem to have been mostly bow-and-arrow folk before the Army came to the island (remember the knife Goodwin and Ana-Lucia once discussed). Also, these Others speak Latin, which Juliet says is the language of being an Other (might this perhaps be related to the unitelligible whispers?), which she also calls "the language of the enlightened."

Miles' spidey-sense tingles, and tells him that they just passed the fresh grave of four U.S. soldiers. 3 were shot, and 1 died of radiation poisoning. Daniel would have preferred they'd told him what year it was.

They reach camp, where this group of Others seems to have taken up residence in army tents. And there's Ageless Richard! He - like the other Others - assumes the science trio are army, and that they've "come back for your bomb."

Faraday says flashes could occur anywhere between every 5 minutes - 5,000 years.

According to Richard, the Army came there to conduct tests, started a war with his people, and they've been defending themselves. Faraday does some smooth talking about being there to neutralize the bomb, how he noticed the radiation burns on the hands of one of the Others, and how he's not on a suicide mission to detonate it because he loves Charlotte.

Others always say please! Even when it's in Latin. Juliet asks their captives to please take them to their camp... and invokes the name of Richard Alpert. When Cunningham starts to accept, "Jones" breaks his neck and bolts for it. Locke won't shoot him because the Others are "my people." Oy vey. You already threw a knife into one of them, John. And it's 50 years before they become "your people." But as Jones is really Widmore, looks like ol' Charles is gonna owe Locke one at some point for not killing him.

We've heard "The Lie," but Richard wants Daniel to know "The Truth," which he says is this: a month ago, they found 18 army guys setting up that very camp. The Army men were given the opportunity to leave the island, but refused. So Richard was forced to kill them. And suddenly it seems like these Others, these Hostiles, have always hoped and meant no harm, but in the end must do what it necessary to protect the island, and therefore can not consider anything they do in that directive as "bad" or "wrong," something that probably even extends to kidnapping children (to whom they give a decent life), and pregnant women (who they must use to study their own reproductive woes). Are they really the good guys after all?

Who "forced" Richard to kill, Daniel wants to know? Someone to whom he answers, says Richard, just like Daniel answers to someone.

"Jones" Comes Back to Camp

• Calls the young lady "Ellie" (and we knew to be looking out for an Eleanor, via Faraday's rat)
• Tells Richard that Faraday is "one of them" (we've heard that phrase so many times now)
• Refers to Locke as "some sodding old man" (you will be someday too, pal)
• Gets offended when Richard suggests Locke might have been followed - "You think he can track me? You think he knows this island better than I do?" Yes, and perhaps just as. You and he will switch places soon

Locke: How did you know Richard would be here?
Juliet: Richard's always been here.
Locke: How old is he?
Juliet: Old.

"You look... so much like... someone I used to know." -- Daniel, to Ellie, as she walks him to Jughead (That's your MOM, dude!).

There is indeed a radiation leak in Jughead. Faraday then asks quite the question -- "do you people have any access to lead, or CONCRETE" (and our minds instantly go to the tons of concrete poured below the Swan, and how Sayid cited Chernobyl as the last time he saw that much concrete). They have to seal the leak and bury the bomb, says Dan. He needs her to TRUST him. How does he know this will work? "Because 50 years from now, this island is still here!"

Locke strolls into camp casually as can be calling for Richard. He gives his name and informs Richard, "Jacob sent me." Check out Locke thinking on his toes for once! Now we learn that "Jones" is really Charles.

Richard says it's "very priviledged information" regarding how to get off the island, so he's not going to share it with Locke. Locke says he's Richard's leader, and Richard gave him that compass, and that if Richard doesn't believe him, he should come to Tustin, CA in 2 years - 1956 - and see Locke born.

1977

Just like in Seasons 1, 2, and 3, someone we haven't met yet in real time wakes up. Only difference is, we don't get an eyeball close-up. Pierre Chang (aka Candle, Wickmund, Halliwax) hits the snooze button. His wife says it's his turn to get the baby (Miles!). Judging from what we know of Miles' approximate age in 2004, this should be somewhere around 1977.

After Chang wakes up, the next image we see of Season Five is the biggie - another record turntable, spinning. Chang plays some Willie Nelson.

I chuckled to myself when on the last disc, in the Aaron's bedroom sequence with Kate and Ghost Claire, a picture and the word "Giraffe" were visible on Aaron's quilt. But now, there is a full fledged 4-foot-tall stuffed giraffe in baby Miles' nursery. It's just a fun Easter Egg from the producers who, I hear tell, still love answering questions about the Monster with what Hurley once estimated it could be: "a [ticked]-off giraffe."

Chang walks straight into a studio in Dharmaville to do some taping for Orientation film No. 2. He doesn't need a script, and he's going by Marvin Candle (again, I question his need for aliases when he's such an obvious part of the community. Highly doubtful the staff in the hatches don't know him or haven't seen him). His cameraman looks A LOT like Sawyer, such that you do a double-take, go back, and freeze frame... but it's not. Does foreshadow Sawyer ending up in the Dharma 70s, though.

We know that the Orientation videos for the Pearl and Swan were made in 1980. But he is wearing a Swan labcoat as he records this one, and using his Swan alias of Candle. Still, as this is pre-1980, both his arms are just fine, and this video is for the Arrow, which has a military purpose. It's a bunker used to spy on and attack the Hostiles, who are "indigenous." I really don't have time or space to look deeply into colonialism as a theme, but rest assured, it's here. During taping, he is informed there's a problem at the Orchid (which is under construction).

While drilling beneath the Orchid, the crew goes through six carbon drill bits, the last of which melts, and the operated grabs his head as if his brain is fried. A sonar image shows a chamber 20 meters in. He hands it to Chang... who sees an image (on dot-matrix, tractor-feed computer paper!) of the donkey wheel.

Chang gives instructions that under no circumstances are they to blast through into the chamber. What's in there is "an almost limitless form of energy."

"What is Daniel Faraday doing in 1977?!" we wonder, as he passes Chang coming out of the Orchid, and looking straight into the camera when the foreman says, "Did you hear that? Time travel. How stupid does that guy think we are?"

The First Flash: GOING FROM LATE DEC. 2004 ==> 2001?

Ben moves the wheel, and then we get events from a new perspective:

Locke's alone in a rainstorm - Richard and the Others are gone

Daniel's group on the Zodiac are fine, and the island's still visible to them ("We must have been inside the radius, he says." This is also the first time we get to see Frogurt.

Sawyer, Juliet, Rose and Bernard are fine, but... the smoke from the freighter nor the helicopter are visible, and the camp has disappeared (apparently the only items that move with the people are ones they are in possession of. Everything else moves with it's own island time period)

Daniel says the things everyone perceives to be gone... aren't gone. He needs to be taken to a man-made landmark, a building. Juliet suggests the Swan. Daniel says that's perfect, and he's right, because we're going to find it not blown up, but just as it should be.

Faraday has no time to explain, but Sawyer smacks him and threatens "Ginger" with one if he doesn't. He present the spinning turntable and skipping record theory we've become so familiar with, and which has been a thematic part of our show's universe for so long you can't help be think it's always been the case, that time has always been looping on itself even before Ben dislodged the wheel.

Daniel doesn't know which is moving through time - the island or the people. But why didn't the Others move with Locke? And then, why did Juliet - who was an Other - stay with the group? Does it have anything to do with the Mark she received? As in, the Others are part of the island (one with it?), but Juliet was put out of their camp?

Locke hikes a hillside and is present for the day the Beechcraft crashed. It nearly takes his head off. He follows it to the cliff above the Pearl, where, climbing down, he's shot, in the leg (more leg injuries), by Ethan. Tries to convince Ethan Ben made him leader of the Others, but there i sno way 2002 Ethan is believing that, he can only assume Locke just came here in this plane. Is about to kill him when Locke sees the sky flash - but Ethan does not appear to. Evidently, it IS our people who are skipping into and out of different periods. People already in those periods don't notice an anomaly in the sky, the only notice that someone who was here a second ago is not now. The question is why 2004 Ethan doesn't remember this bald man John Locke when he infiltrates his camp and hunts with him.

2002?

Locke flashes out - it's a different time again, one where the Beechcraft is on the island, and still on the cliff. There is black smoke apparently coming from it... unless that's Smokey! Sure looks like him.

When Sawyer's group flashes here, the Swan's still intact, so James takes off for the back door. Faraday says no, because in '04, when Desmond came out, he didn't know Sawyer, so they can't meet now. Sounds good, except we've already seen this happen with Locke and Ethan. Faraday insist the door won't open because "if it didn't happen, it can't happen." Well, Sawyer POUNDING on the door never happened, but that's happening, so...

Charlotte gets a nosebleed - uh-oh. Curiously, she hasn't had them since she was little (which of course is when she lived on this island).

Faraday stays behind, reads his notebook, and decides to try Desmond's door again himself! Daniel isn't "him," but Desmond wonders if he might know the guy. He says that "the rules don't apply" to Desmond, he's uniquely and miraculously special. Ergo, he can help them! Go to Oxford where we met and look up my mother!

DECEMBER 2004

The O6 plus Frank, Desmond, and Penny debate whether or not to lie. Jack - surprisingly going by Locke's advice - thinks it's the only way. Hurley's preference to tell the truth would, he thinks, not protect their friends, or the island, and it would "sound crazy." Not so, Hurley says, if they ALL are saying the same thing. After all, good luck finding the island, which moved.

2007 - Island

Miles mentions it took Widmore like "20 years" to find the island the first time. Interesting clue. Why did he start looking for it when he did (around 1984 according to Miles' math). Is that when he found out about it? Or did he live there previously?

When they get to the Hatch, it's night, and another time flash has happened, one in which the Swan is blown up, so the date is sometime AFTER November 2004.

Daniel's two great areas of study have been space-time... and the Dharma Initiative. Does that not seem like a disconnect?

Miles asks what the Swan used to be. Juliet tells him that, yeah, "really," Desmond did push the button to save the world.

Locke gets a belt out of the rotting remains of the Beechcraft and ties a tourniquet. Just then, Richard appears with a torch (would you believe Locke once told him to be here at this exact time? Would you believe Fake Reanimated Locke is watching this from the bushes, having come back and with access to everything Locke knew and remembered?). Locke asks Richard where he went when the sky lit up (back in '04). Richard says he didn't go anywhere, Locke did.

Richard knows they don't have much time before Locke flashes out again. Tells him how to dress the wound (the island will do the rest - so it's still in the business of healing, we see), and gives him the compass so that next time they meet - which will be in the past, I think 1954 - he'll have some currency with Richard, who won't recognize him (this meeting will be in the year Locke is born, sending Richard to the hospital to see him).

Richard also tells John that the only way to solve all this is to get Jack, Kate and them back. I'm still not sure why, though, or what that will do, or how Richard knows this. As to how this will happen? "You're gonna have to die, John."

Has Locke become a sacrifice the island demanded?

2007 - Oceanic Six & Co.

Back where we left them in the funeral parlor, Ben and Jack are preparing to abscond with Dead Locke. Ben's all business, but he does have time to jab Jack with the Pole of Guilt: "It happened because you left, Jack." Well, maybe. Jack's problems did possibly happen because he left. But the island's and Locke's problems happened because YOU left, Ben. Then again, it does appear you were forced to. I think. Good news is, Jack ditches the beard. I take it as a sign that he's at least glad to have a higher purpose again, and something to do. Locke told him that he could help Sawyer, Juliet and everyone else if he goes back, but he did not tell Jack what happened to them after the island moved.

In Kate's house, where there's still a big framed picture of Jack and Aaron together, 3-year-old Aaron watches a cartoon with a speeding train and car. Kate thinks the train knows better than to go into the dark tunnel from whence there is no return. Odd. Lawyers from Agostini & Norton show up to ask Kate for blood samples to prove she's Aaron's mom. She gets rid of them, but she's freaked. Someone knows. Well, yeah, or someone is just scaring and manipulating. Enough to scare Kate into "going on vacation" and leaving with Aaron.

Sun's traveling from Seoul to LA, when her passport is flagged. It's because Widmore (he is indeed powerful) would like a word. She had no compunction about embarrassing or delaying him in public in London, so neither does he now, he says. He'd like to hear exactly what common interests they have. "To kill Benjamin Linus."

Hurley's on the run with Sayid. He wants a cool code name like Locke had with Bentham. Sayid goes commando on a couple of intruders in his apartment - but seriously - who washes lots of sharp knives in their dishwasher all blade-up together? I guess Sayid does! Unfortuately, Hugo gets another crime pinned on him (suddenly he's on a spree) when one of the attackers is thrown into the parking lot, and Hurley is left holding his gun. A guy with a cell phone camera takes a pic. Sayid has taken a tranq dart though, and Hurley has to get him out of there. He's panicking a bit, and driving too wildly - doing everything to draw attention to himself rather than avoid it. This is when he gets pulled over by Ghost Ana-Lucia...

She - whether she's really appearing to him or he's imagining it or she's one of his multiple personalities - gets him to calm down, to think, to stop drawing attention to himself, and think about who he can trust. Oh, and she tells him that Libby says hi. So, is she a ghost or in his mind? Hurley even says to Sayid as they pull away, "Well, you heard her" (there's hearing again). Sayid did not hear her, as he's still tranquilized. With Charlie, one of Hurley's fellow inmates saw him. With Eko, all we know is Hurley thought he was there, but Sayid saw only an empty chair (reminiscient of Jacob's cabin a bit). Only Hurley seemed to notice Ana.

Hurley (with Sayid) pulls out of the same gas station into which Kate pulls (with Aaron). Jack's number is on her phone, and she gets a call from Sun while there. If only Ben had known how and where to get them all together!

Ben pulls something out of an air vent in his hotel room, and then tells Jack he flushed all his pills. Guess Jack's quitting cold turkey. Ben tells him he'll never be coming back to this life, literally and figuratively.

Ben runs an errand to park Locke's casket at a butcher shop. He tells Jill that if she doesn't keep Locke "safe" (he uses this term with Jack, too, who is confused by it) and cool, none of the rest of this will matter. There are some things we need to note and discuss about this:

As we had previously had hinted, there are "Others" who work and assist in the real world. Jill appears to be one. Ben asks if two more had checked in. But the real issue I want to discuss here is Zombies. You heard me. Stick with me just for a moment. The producers have long joked about there being a "zombie season" of LOST at some point. And we all scoffed, and most fans have said that would be the last straw for them. But what if it's true? What if it's BEEN true from the beginning? I mean, what is a zombie other than a reanimated corpse? And is that not Christian Shepard? And does it not describe "Flocke" (Fake Locke), the reanimated Locke body who wakes up in Season Five but is probably not a resurrected John? We tend not to think of these characters as "zombies," probably because our concept of such usually involves brainless decaying bodies who rise from graves. Whatever causes reanimation on the island, though, would appear to DISLIKE decay, or doing any unearthing. It possesses bodies like Christian or John that are relatively unspoiled, and uses them to a purpose. We have also see this with Yemi, whose body disappeared from the Beechcraft as noted by Eko. The only difference with Yemi is his body HAD decayed (though it had never been buried). Does any of this have anything to do with Miles' powers, which only seem to work around the very-recently dead? (He even comments to Dan that they just passed a "fresh" grave on the island circa 1954). The point is, I think Ben has some knowledge here, and this may be the biggest reason at all, and why preserving Locke is being referred to as keeping him "safe." I'd also ask whether it might always be necessary to have a fresh corpse on board in order to reach the island, much the same as 815 had Christian and 316 had Locke. Did the Black Rock perhaps have any dead on board (the slaves in chains?)? Did Danielle's ship? Does the island demand or require this as a way in which to interact with the people who arrive? And might this even explain Richard Alpert once and for all? Is this why he doesn't age - because he's not technically "alive," though he's obviously unspoiled? I'm not saying it's an answer to the question of the story, but I do believe that "zombie theory" - though not the kind we're used to - is playing and has played a more crucial role in the story than we considered (I mean, why would we have done? Much like why would we have suspected an ancient frozen wheel deep below the island?).

Also noticeable in the butcher shop:

• Jill knows what Ben has in his van
• Says he'll be "safe" with her - there's that odd term again
• Jill says everything's on schedule - including Gabriel and Jeffrey having checked in (do we ever see them? What schedule? I am assuming Gabriel and Jeffrey might be the men who Ben sent to Kate's door to request a blood sample?)
• Jill mocks Jack, asking if Ben had to bribe him with pills
• They've ALL - the O6, Ben, Jill - "been through a lot."
• "So keep him safe Jill. Because if you don't... everything we're about to do won't matter at all."

Kate and Aaron Visit Black Hole Sun

• Sun says she has "some business to attend to" in LA (question: if she's here to kill Ben, and this plan was concocted with Widmore's help at the Seoul airport, then why was Sun already at the airport getting ready to fly to LA? If she was already headed there to kill Ben, what's the point of her meeting with Widmore?)
• Kate sees a photo of Ji Yeon (a baby picture. But she's not a baby anymore - does Sun not carry anything more recent?)
• Black Hole Sun discerns that the men who came to see Kate are not interested in exposing the lie. They would just do it if they were.
• Black Hole Sun also suggests to Kate that she should "take care of them" in order to keep Aaron.
• Black Hole Sun doesn't blame Kate, but she quite ominously segues to, "So... how's Jack?..." Kate seems disturbed. And at the time we're all worried that Jack is the mysterious (second person) that Sun blames for Jin's "death."

Hurley's dad is watching Expose (several seasons in now, it sounds like the Cobra has been dealt with, but the Scorpion has assumed his turf) when Hurley shows up with Sayid. Interesting in that Hurley is about to "expose" the lie to his mother.

While Hurley's dad takes Sayid to Jack to be helped, and asks Jack to henceforth stay away from Hurley because he doesn't believe Jack has Hugo's best interests at heart, Hurley sits down with his mother, and tells her the truth. It's worth writing down:

"See, we did crash. But it was on this crazy island. And we waited for rescue and there wasn't any rescue. And then there was a smoke monster and then there were other people on the island. We called them The Others, and they started attacking us. And we found some hatches and there was a button you had to push every 108 minutes or... well, I was never really clear on that. But the Others didn't have anything to do with the hatches - that was the Dharma Initiative. They're all dead, the Others killed them. And now they were trying to kill us. And then we teamed up with the Others, because some worse people were coming on a freighter. Desmond's girlfriend's father sent them to kill us. So we stole their helicopter, and we flew to their freighter, but it blew up. And we couldn't go back to the island, because it disappeared. So then we crashed into the ocean, and we floated there for a while until a boat came and picked us up. And by then there were six of us. That part was true. But the rest of the people, who were on the plane? They're still on that island... a lot of people died, Ma. And now this bad stuff is happening because, well, we shouldn't have lied."

One of the few times ever where Ben is unthreatening, truthful and sincere... but Hurley just can't buy it. He was warned by Sayid to do the opposite of what Ben said. Too bad for Ben. Had he shown up and told Hurley to go on the run, he'd have had him.

Biggest WHOA Scene of the Night -- In a basement under an LA church, the woman who told Desmond about determinism via universal course correction back in London is scrawling equations on a chalkboard while a Foucault pendulum swings and marks chalk lines on the floor. She checks a computer monitor that briefly shows a map of the earth, punches in some data, and gets a message, "Event Window Determined." This is unbelievably a Dharma station (we can assume the Others/Hostiles have claimed it as well). Mrs. Hawking (we still don't know her name or that she is Faraday's mother or that she is the Ellie we'll meet on the island in the next episode) tells Ben he has 70 hours to get everyone together. He didn't expect such a quick timeline, but that's apparently when the "event window" she has located will occur. So Ben better get busy getting the O6 together!

Desmond and Penny make for England - knowing the danger if Widmore finds them - but Des is determined to do what Faraday asked in 2002 as a sort of implanted memory.

Penny asks Desmond to promise he'll never go back to the island. "Why in God's name would I ever want to go back there?" he scoffs. Notice how that wasn't a promise...

Oxford has removed all records of Faraday having been employed, and Desmond doesn't know his mother has a different name. But he breaks into Faraday's old office - the one he once visited. Finds an old photo of Daniel with a woman we know to be Theresa (Theresas on this show meet with gruesome fates - like Boone's nanny). A custodian tells Desmond he's not the first to come poking around asking about Daniel's work, work involving sending rats' brains back in time.

Des meets Theresa Spencer, the girl from the photo. Her sister Abigail says he "must come in" after he invokes the name of Faraday. Theresa is in a vegetative state from full on temporal sickness... and Charles Widmore pays for her round-the-clock care! So were Charles and Ellie always using Daniel's research as a way to find the island? Des is informed Theresa can't "hear" them (hearing theme), but that sometimes she's away, and sometimes she wakes up and seems to be in the mindset of a little girl. Faraday left Theresa like this.

Desmond's next stop - charging right in to see Widmore. One of the pieces of artwork Charles has says "Namaste" on the frame. "Even before you put Faraday on your little boat and sent him to the island, you spent 10 years funding his research! So I figure you must know something." Charles coughs up Faraday's mom's address, but what's the only thing he wants to know? Whether Penny is "safe." That's become such an odd term all of a sudden. He doesn't think Faraday's mother is going to be pleased to see Desmond (oh? Even though she's seen him before? Or is that why? Because last they met, Hawking told Desmond he'd never do anything greater than push that button, which he no longer pushes). Widmore has one more piece of advice - after you deliver your message, "get out of this mess." Go back to where you were hiding. He genuinely sounds like he wants Penny to remain free and clear of what's about to go down.

• Appearances of the Numbers: 8:15 a.m. an alarm goes off as first image of the season; 15 minutes from the beach is a Dharma station, Juliet says; PA announces flight 23 for Paris boarding at Gate 15; every 108 minutes Desmond pushed the button to save the world, says Juliet; Ben pulls number 3-42 in the butcher shop; 4, 8, and 15 on the oxygen tank dial when Jack helps Sayid; 4 people Hurley admits to killing, even though that's not even the right number.
• Deaths: Frogurt, wearing a red shirt, by flaming arrow; several other redshirts via arrows; 2 more redshirts step on a tripwire; a 1954 Other who Locke throws a knife into to save Juliet and Sawyer; Cunningham, whose neck young Widmore snaps; Unknown - Rose / Bernard / Vincent?

Themes Established or Revisited

1. Skipping Records. Chang's Willie Nelson record skips over and over on the line, "You can't make a record if..."
   
2. Time. "That energy, once harnessed correctly, is going to allow us to manipulate time." -- Dr. Chang. The worker thinks they'll be able to go back and kill Hitler. No, dummy. This isn't "time travel." Does that seem like semantics to you? Well, that's fair enough, but it isn't.
   
   "Listen, we have no time." -- Faraday, to Juliet after the island moves.
   
   Daniel: Whatever Ben did at the Orchid station, I think it may have dislodged us.
   Miles: Dislodged us from what?
   Daniel: Time.
   
   "We're either in the past, or in the future." -- Daniel. Wow, thanks man! That helps.
   
   "Time is like a street. We can move forward, we can move in reverse. But we can not create a new street. If we try, we will fail. Whatever happened, happened." -- Daniel
   
   2007 Locke: It was Ethan who shot me.
   2007 Richard: Well, what comes around goes around.
   Here's the karma concept Bernard has brought up before, now tied in nicely to the time travel.
   
3. Lies. Ben is back to being a liar to advance his plans. Comes so naturally. Tells Jack the last time he saw Locke was on the island that day in the Orchid. Dude, Ben, you don't have to tell Jack you KILLED Locke, but can't you at least say you talked to him?
   
   The idea of juxtaposing the themes of sanity and lies also comes into play with THE lie. If the truth is too crazy to be believed - even if 8 people swear by it - does that necessarily mean lying is the next best choice? Is lying okay to protect people? If you really are protecting them, would it be crazy to tell the truth? Hurley's father will even set Crazy or Lying up as the only two possibile explanations for how Hugo is acting when he hides out from the cops with Sayid.
   
   "Charles Widmore hired a boatload of people to kill us. You think telling the truth, he's just gonna leave them alone?" -- Jack
   
   It's the lying that eventually makes Hurley think he's going crazy, and reinstitutionalizes him. "If you come with me," Ben says to him, sounding like one of the characters in one of his Steinbeck novels, "you won't ever have to lie again."
   
   Penny knows Desmond is lying to her when he says Faraday's mother died three years ago.
   
4. Choice / Free Will. Sayid doesn't "believe we have a better choice" than to spend the rest of their lives lying.
   
5. Good vs. Bad. We've seen this problem several times in determining who is and who is not a good person or a bad person. If there's one thing LOST likes to preach at us, it's to question why we love certain flawed sinners and deem them good, while we despise other flawed sinners and deem them bad. The implication, though, is that the final determining factor really IS our own intuition (not biblical, and I'm not saying it is). The show makes the point that Sayid, for example, is a "good person" (which Hurley's mother Carmen - who most would agree really IS a good person if there is such a thing - says Sayid is), even though he fought against the U.S. in wartime, tortured people, has killed people, and will kill more people mercilessly. So how can it be said he's good? Because we think he is - it just feels like he is. It's Sayid, man. He's more a victim of cruel tutors and circumstances and Ben's manipulations, right? All he really wants is his gal. So he's 'good,' right? And so we moralize. And the point this show makes is: we may disagree with moralizing, we may even believe in Original Sin and the need for repentance and the sacrifice of Christ, and believe that "there is no one good, no not one"... yet we STILL all engage in moralizing and judging and picking who we like and do not like.
   
6. Starting Over. We already covered this in terms of being "born again" / getting a fresh start or blank slate just after the crash. But now, with the camp gone, those who are left on the beach are forced to start all over again with what few fruits they can scrounge, no water, and no good way to start fire. For being stuck on an island, they were living in luxury before the flashes compared to what straits they're in now.
   
7. Trust. Ben admits he's not easy to trust. He implies that what makes trust easy is when people finally realize they all want the same thing. Interesting definition to ponder the repurcussions and the foundations of such a kind of trust. Is this system upon which all of humanity depends really only based on shared desires? There's probably some truth to that, maybe even to how it applies to people trusting God, which is why it is spoken of in terms of a loving relationship, where we give him faith, and he gives us hope, so THAT we can trust each other. Everyone wants attention, love, security ... Faraday says Ellie has to trust him ... Locke says Richard will have to trust him.

The Game

"Don't be absurd - there are rules! Rules that can't be broken." -- Chang. And the game and time themes share yet another link.

"Looks like we have a change of plan," says Ben to Jack after they see the news report that Hurley, having escaped, is being blamed for the dead guy parked in a car outside Santa Rosa. Ben always has a plan, though, so it's safe to assume he also has a Plan B. And changing strategies shouldn't be a problem for him.

Sayid doesn't care who the guy was that he killed. "He was armed, and he was watching you. That made him an enemy." Very interesting point of view. And said as calmly as if one were taking a piece from an opponent in a game. No biggie. He's in my way. But who are you, other than just another player?

Sayid: I spent the last two years working for Benjamin Linus.
Hurley: Wait, he's on our side now?
Mmmm... not quite. He's only been on his own side, but maybe also that of the island in some weird protective way. Sayid tells him to always do the opposite of what Ben says. Does this mean Ben is like someone's inner Costanza?

"No! You're playing one of your mind games!" -- Hurley, to Ben, before he runs to the cops.

When Desmond finds Dr. Efren Salonga, he and several other villagers are playing a gambling card game.

Black-and-white: the numbers on Chang's alarm clock; the burner dials on Chang's kitchen stove; Ana's police car that pulls Hurley over; when flashes occur, they go from night or day to the opposite; Hawking's blackboard;

Religious References

"God help us all." -- Chang stating the result if the energy is released. The quote has also been used previously by Mrs. Hawking, and will be used again. Does it merely indicate there are very large things at stake? That human extinction could occur? That it's a spiritual matter? All/none of the above?
"God help us all." -- Mrs. Hawking, to Ben, if he can't successfully get everyone back together.

"What did [Locke] say to make you such a believer?" -- Ben, to Jack.

Several crosses, crucifixes, and Jesus statuettes in Hurley's mom's house.

Mysteries or Questions Since Solved

• Were Rose and Bernard killed in the flaming arrow assault? They never met anyone at the stream, where Sawyer said to meet. Where they captured by the Others? Or are they off living in seclusion with Vincent in their own little corner of the island...? ;-)
• What's causing the time skips?

Mysteries or Questions Still Needing Answers

• Are Christian, "Flocke," and possibly Yemi zombies? 
• Why suddenly introduce Latin as the language of the Others? To finally let us in on them being "enlightened"?
• Why "God help us all" if they O6 plus Ben plus Locke don't all get back to the island? For that matter, why do folks like Hawking even let Benjamin Linus go along for this trip? Why is it essential that he be part of the group that returns? He wasn't on the plane the first time.

Add to the LOST Library:

• "Shotgun Willie," by Willie Nelson. Dr. Pierre Chang plays this as he wakes up.

Excellent Lines

Humorous

"You know, maybe if you ate more comfort food, you wouldn't have to go around shooting people." -- Hurley, to Sayid. Love the line, but it's also clear Hurley has never gotten over psychological reasons for eating.

Gas Station Clerk: Shih Tzus?
Hurley: I like shih tzus.
Gas Station Clerk: It looks like you 'heart' them.

"Why there is a dead Pakistani on my couch?!" -- Carmen Reyes. Doesn't seem like she recognizes Sayid, even though she met and kissed him at the O6 landing, and Sayid came to Hurley's surprise party.

It's not a line, but when Ben surprises Hurley as he's nuking a Hot Pocket, the resultant Hot Pocket toss and wall smear as Ben tries to keep a serious-but-sincere face are one of the show's all-time comic moments.

Juliet says she learned Latin as part of "Others 101."

"Hate to bust up the "I'm-an-Other, you're-an-Other" reunion, but Faraday? The guy who's actually gonna save us? Being death marched into the jungle right now." -- Sawyer

Ellie [to Faraday, as Sawyer and Juliet show up]: Are they from the future too?
Sawyer: You told her?

More Meaningful (and double-meaningful)

"Your camp isn't gone... it hasn't been built yet." -- Daniel Faraday. One of the first explanations that helps us really understand what's going on - how something just disappears.

"No, no, no, what do I do? [shakes unconscious Sayid] What am I supposed to do?!" -- Hurley, who sounds very Locke-ian here in how he sometimes can't figure out what to do next. Thankfully for Hurley when he slows down, either an alternate personality or a ghost/vision will give him some clarity.

"It was a while before I realized that I was just really LOST." -- Faraday. We're getting to this point too, with the time jumps.

"What kind of person do you think I am?" -- Kate. Yet ANOTHER instance of this line. Kate, you're fresh off a murder trial, we know what you're capable of. Besides, Sun means it as a compliment. You make decisions that need to be made, which is why she doesn't blame you for what happened to Jin. If you had gone back and gotten him like you promised, you'd probably all be dead because the chopper would have waited for you, and the bomb would have gone off before it got away.

Desmond tells Little Charlie they're headed to a very special island he left a long time ago, and never thought would see again. By which of course he means Britain.

"Why now? If he told you all this on the island, why didn't you remember it until two days ago?" -- Penny, to Desmond. Questions like this actually help us to sort out and understand the plot.

Locke: Your name is Widmore? Charles Widmore?
Young Charles: What's it to you.
Locke: [pauses, looks around, grins] Nothing. Nice to meet you.
Locke is eating up all off this weird island karma right now.

Characterization

Crazy Bearded Jack says his friends... are not his friends anymore.

Rather telling reactions to the plan to lie:

• Jack's geeked up about it, probably just because it's a plan and he's ready to execute it
• Kate could care less about lying, she backs Jack's play unquestioningly and immediately
• Sun's too bummed out over losing Jin to care. Sure, whatever
• Lapidus is so easy going and laid back he can roll either way
• Sayid is anti-lying, but the tactician in him sees no better road
• Hurley has moral (and even physical/psychological) reasons for objecting. As an honest person, he doesn't fear the truth, but he is outvoted
• Desmond and Penny are too lost in la-la land to give a rip how these yokels explain themselves to civilization. They have no plans to rejoin it

Is the Grinch's heart growing? When Jill mocks Jack, Ben says Jack should be cut some slack for having had it rough.

When Locke leaves Sawyer and Juliet to go down and talk to Richard, we get the first glimpse in her eyes that she's starting to look at James differently. Could this be a budding relationship?

Opening & Closing

5.1 Open - An older model flip-number alarm clock ticks from 8:14 to 8:15 a.m., and the alarm goes off.
5.2 Open - Two bottles of "Jekyl Island" beer (red ale, specifically) are fetched from a refrigerator. We soon find out this is on Penny's boat, and it's Lapidus making the beer run. If I were this group, I'd probably want to drink only non-island-named beverages, though.
5.3 Open - An Asian fishing village. Desmond runs through the crowd shouting for doctor "Efren Salonga!" because Penny's giving birth.

5.1 Close - Desmond wakes up in 2007 having had a memory/dream of the meeting with Faraday. Tells Penny they're pulling up anchor for Oxford (we leart that apparently telling someone something in their past can make them remember it in their future).
5.2 Close - "God help us all," says Mrs. Hawking to Ben, if he can't get all of the O6 to come back. Ben's face shows fear.
5.3 Close - Flash occurs, the Others' army camp is gone, Charlotte starts bleeding from her nose, collapses, Daniel tends to her.

Probably Unimportant, But I've Always Wondered...

Faraday gives us his "skipping record" theory and model BEFORE the island truly ever skips. For all he SHOULD know at this moment, the island just moved, which would be more like Ben putting the record on. There's no evidence yet that it's skipping. Especially since the only REASON it skips - as we find out when Locke fixes the problem later on - is that the wheel was dislodged. So seems like quite a leap to be worried at this point that time flashes are going to keep occurring.

Over and over and over, from the reason for The Lie to the burning desire Desmond has to find Mrs. Hawking so that he can do his part to "save" those left behind, this has never struck me as a legitimate motivation - "saving" all of those who were left. I mean, who is that, really? Faraday, Miles, Sawyer and Juliet? It's also Jin, but we don't know about him yet. Those five end up quite happy, productive, and healthy in the Dharma 70s. Charlotte could not be saved, and Locke - after solving the temporal displacement problem himself (no need for the O6 and Co. to do it) - left the island to get killed in the real world. Rose and Bernard are happy and don't want to be found. Richard and The Others take care of themselves, and aren't susceptible to the temporal displacement. So who really needs to be saved back there? What is the lie really for, ultimately? Isn't the story really about how the people who left never should have left, never should have lied, and should have trusted more?

What if time travel = the same as Desmond's flashes = the same as all the "flash" backs and forwards we've had? And it was always about that, about all time occuring at once, as if each character was living or re-living their flashback as they rememberd it on-island?