Lost: Thoughts on last two episodes

I’ve been out of town for a while, which is why I have not had a chance to post about the last two episodes of Lost. This week, I’m watching my son by myself while my wife is away at a retreat, so this will be shorter than some, as I have to go pick him up shortly.

Let me first say “I told you so” about Juliette. It was pretty clear there was more going on there than appearances might suggest. However, I do wonder about a couple of things. First off, why the heck is Juliette doing anything Ben says?  Now that they apparently have no way off the island, what trump card does he have left to play?  Perhaps this ties back in with the “Magic Box” which Locke has gone with them to see, in my opinion. I think we’ll get some resolution to this by the end of the season. It could be also that Juliette simply is playing both sides and really isn’t loyal to Ben. However given his understanding of people, you’d think he would realize that and not send her in among the survivors if htis was the case.

This brings me to another question: Are the Others really bad?  It’s easy to think so if you have empathy for the survivors, but I think there’s more gray area than good guys/bad guys. I think before the end of this season, we’ll have the tables somewhat turned, with a revelation or two that may suggest that some of the behavior identified to date by the others as bad (ie, kidnapping Claire and conducting tests on her and her baby in particular) might have had some more altruistic motive.

Regarding the Desmond episode from last week, I enjoyed it, though not as much as the Juliette epi. Seeing more about his background was interesting, though I would rather know more about Penelope and the Widmores than why he says “Brotha” all the time.

Oh, but did anyone else notice the picture sitting on the monk’s desk when Desmond wnet to turn his monk garb in?  If you play it back in slow motion, it appears that the gray-haired woman in the picture with the monk is the same one who refused to sell Desmond the ring at the jewelry store. This suggests to me that, like the Jewelry store lady, the monk in charge knows Desmond is supposed to leave the order. It’s not simply a matter of “higher calling,” but rather that he really KNOWS he’s not supposed to stay there.

As far as the skydiving lady in the Darth Vader suit, did anyone really think Penelope would airdrop herself in like that?  No, she’s the kind of person who hires people to do that kind of thing for her. I’m guessing that’s who the woman is: an employee of Penelope Widmore. Who else would possibly know how to find the island?  Who else would know Desmond’s name on sight? how else did the picture in the book get there if she wasn’t sent with it?  So this would suggest not only that Penelope is on Desmond’s trail. The greater implication is that the island actually CAN be located by the outisde world, which raises the prospect of rescue, independent of the Others.

That’s all I have time for today. I’ll look forward to others’ thoughts, so consider this a “to be continued…”