Lost – ‘The Glass Ballerina’ – 3.2
Two episodes down… only four more to go. While I like the fact that we have an uninterrupted run of 16 new episodes coming in early February 2007, now that we have had a little nibble, I’m not sure I can wait the three months for the main course to arrive. All good things come to those who wait – right?!?!?
This week’s episode reacquainted us with Jin, Sun and Sayid and their off shore vigil for Jack’s return. It was another strong hour – not as potent as ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ – but still offered enough meat and opened enough questions – and even dangled a few answers – to keep me satisfied.
On with my thoughts.
1. The weakest point to the episode was in the flashbacks. One of the recurring knocks against the flashbacks is that when they focus on the original characters they tend to tread ground already covered (give us ‘Other’ flashbacks, already!!!) The Jack flashbacks in ‘Cities‘ remedied that criticism by reflecting a different light on Jack’s psyche – and his troubled relationships – and were short and to the point. They did a fine job of illustrating the walls and obsessive desire within him – setting up the challenge that Juliet faced in breaking through and beating him down. For Sun, all we got was more of her Daddy issues and their effects on Jin. The flashbacks dragged a bit but they did offer one shocking scene – as Jin’s post-threat pit-stop ended in his car absorbing Jae’s crashing body. Did Jae jump out of shame or was he pushed? With Sun’s Daddy in the mix, the smart money is on the latter which can’t be good for Jin.
2. One other flashback note – I’m not sure we got conclusive evidence that Sun’s baby is Jae’s and not Jin’s. They tease with the bedroom scene but we have no idea how long ago that happened. I’m staking my claim on the island working miracles on Jin’s ‘lost’ boys.
3. I like the slight alteration to last season’s ‘trilogy-style’ premiere (where it took three episodes to bring us up to speed on the same hour of events shown from different perspectives). As we return to Sayid, Jin and Sun (adrift on Desmond’s sailboat), time has indeed passed and the group is growing worried that Jack, Sawyer and Kate have been captured. While we don’t get an exact temporal fix, I’d say it’s only been a day or two since Sayid nosed around that faux village – meaning poor Sawyer and Kate are merely at the start of their uncomfortable two week stint. The notion of time plays into the episode’s conclusion – which I’ll get to in a moment.
4. When I saw the trailers depicting a rescue effort, I thought we were going to lose focus on Jack, Kate and Sawyer and thus, The Others. So it was a pleasant surprise that we spent the hour criss-crossing the island – getting updates on Kate and Sawyer’s internment as well as a revealing peek into Jack’s aquarium.
5. We got some more hints into the nature of The Others’ inter-relationships. Ben’s quick quip that Juliet never made him soup – followed by Colleen’s arrival and a subsequent chill in the air – seems to indicate a fractured love triangle. My take: Juliet and Ben were an item, split, and Ben has since shacked up with Colleen. Colleen is instructed by Ben to locate Sayid and company and before she heads off, she goes to see the ‘chain gang’ boss Pickett who she greets as ‘Daddy’.
6. “We are not your enemy. But if you shoot me, that is exactly what we will become.” Colleen’s warning to Sun prior to getting capped is bound to have ripple effects – given the relationships hinted at in the episode. If I’m right, several of the more menacing Others are going to have a good reason to get their gun on.
7. So Sawyer kissed Kate. I thought it was a nice little poetic sequence – a little rage against the machine on Sawyer’s part – his own little Cool Hand Luke moment (although I’m not sure Paul Newman ever laid a smooch on George Kennedy. Strother Martin maybe – never would have worked out though, what with their failure to communicate and all.) Anyway, it also allowed him to gauge the defenses surrounding him. Last week Sawyer earned himself a fish biscuit, this week he tested the security system – it’s only a matter of time before the con man works his mojo.
8. I need to figure out how to work “You taste like Fish Biscuit” into casual conversation.
9. Of course, Ben’s watching every move on his surveillance network (that bank of retro monitors hit me with a major Matrix vibe). Is Ben the Architect?
10. I thought the closing scenes rewarded our patience with Jin’s flashbacks by dropping some choice bits of intel. First, Ben’s full name is Benjamin Linus. I Googled the name and didn’t get anything relevant but I’m sure some kindly Lostralian will get a hit on the importance of being Linus.
11. Ben drops the revelation that he has lived on the island his entire life. So was he born here or created here? How ‘bout this – what if the Dharma initiative was working on creating a perfect batch of humanity, a stable of genetically created ‘good guys’. In last season’s finale, Ben answered Michael’s inquiry into who they were with “We’re the good guys, Michael.” With that job complete – the Others are now drafting authentic ‘good people’ with whom to mate and change the face of humanity on the world. That might explain their obsession with weeding the good from the bad. Also – I noticed that there weren’t any children in The Others’ suburbia. I’m not sure what that means though.
12. I found the closing sequence, where Ben brings Jack up to speed on the events that have transpired in the real world, to be the most potent. Ben tells Jack that in the 69 days since their plane crashed, George W. Bush was re-elected, Christopher Reeve had passed away and The Boston Red Sox won the World Series.
13. That last part gave me goose-bumps and almost coaxed tears of joy. There was a famous bit late in the first season where we learned Christian Shepherd’s motto was “That’s why the Red Sox will never win the World Series” – as if to imply that some things are inevitable – destiny unavoidable – a defeatist view shared by his son. The line aired six months after the actual miracle happened and some people pointed out the anachronism in the line. I took it as smart, head’s up writing. In the time since Flight 815 had crashed, Jack would have no idea that they had indeed won – thus his character was resigned to his fate – while the audience was tipped an ironic wink that anything is possible. Jack’s reaction during the Red Sox revelation (as Henry cued up that final pitch and toss from Foulke to Mientkiewicz) was heart-breaking. In ten brief seconds, Jack goes from mocking doubt to true believer. Not only does he get a taste of the real world, he’s been shown that miracles can happen and his true beliefs are shaken. A good piece of acting on Matthew Fox’s part – and a truly spine-tingling moment. No matter how many times I see that call, I get chills and its inclusion here was genius.
14. Oh one last thing, Ben offers Jack the chance to go home if he cooperates with them. My theory – they want Jack to become one of them. I’ll go one further. At some point this season, I think we return to suburbia and the ‘Book Club’ and see Jack seated alongside his fellow ‘Others.’
As host, maybe he’ll offer up Faithful.
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This post has 2 comments (now closed):
Sean
Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:50 pm
One point that you didn’t touch on was the conversation Kate had with the young girl (was it Alex Rousseau? She didn’t look like I remembered her). Was it a setup or for real. I originally thought the kid in the other cage was a setup for Sawyer, but they beat the crap out of him pretty good, but then again, they are good with makeup. Anyway, they were both young, so what are the chances there is a counter culture within their group amongst the younger members? What was with the other people working the site with Sawyer and Kate? Were they forced labor too or just doing their part for the Collective?
1:: I can’t make up my mind. He was clutching the pearls while laid out on the windshield, so maybe he jumped. Would another hitman that Daddy sent have instructions to put the pearls in his hand?
2:: I’m with you and the “Lost Boys,” but Sun certainly seems to think it is Jae’s based on how she has been acting. Then again, it could just be her disbelief.
3:: I think they have been there for 3 or 4 days. Ben does reference being in an opposite place “last week” from Jack and based on the meals he’s had delivered, I’m guessing this is the 4th day.
4:: I got that vibe about Colleen too, especially when asking if she was interrupting, Juliet responded “would it matter?”
7-9:: The kiss made me forget the nice memories of Kate swinging that pick axe in that dress. Quite possibly better than her climbing thru the air vents last year. Anyway, we’ll see how far Sawyer gets. He likely doesn’t know Ben heard all of that and they are now likely to be even more careful with him.
11:: If Ben did grow up on the island, then what was his involvement in the Dharma project while a child or teenager? I forget the timeframe for the start of the project, but I’m guessing it was early 80’s. Assuming Ben is our age or a little older, maybe he was created there in a tube because that math doesn’t quite work out.
I also thought about the children being missing. They took the two tailie kids at least, not to mention Alex Rousseau, who you presume grew up there in some capacity. Makes you wonder if they ship the kids off-island and then bring them back when they are older, like Alex.
12-13:: It was a beautiful thing to use the Sox as a measure of proof. Jack would likely know that the Cards and Sox were doing well in the season before the trip, so it is convincing enough, let alone the production of a tape. It’s easier than reading information off papers in a folder.
14:: Makes you wonder what makes the time right. You’d think it would be some kind of large scale betrayal of the Oceanic survivors. Would Jack go along so that he could infiltrate them and overthrow from within, maybe with help from the kids)?
Ed
Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:18 pm
@Sean – Regarding the young girl, you are correct. That was Alex – same actress (Tania Raymonde). I think it was for real. She mentioned Carl and said he wasn’t supposed to be in the cage. She seemed genuinely worried that he was missing. Remember how Alex helped Claire escape. What if she (and Carl) were punished or exiled for that infraction – or maybe Carl is in love with Alex and took the heat for her – which is why he was captured. I think the other people at the site are just doing their part. They were seriously flattening the ground – making me think they may be building a road or runway!!!
11. The Ben growing up on the island thing is curious, to say the least. You give him too much credit – I think he’s easily in his lower 40’s (unless that beating Sayid administered shaved years off his life). The Dharma project started in the late 70’s/early 80’s. You may be on to something with the ‘tube’ plus something new popped up on Google in the last day. If you Google Ben Linus – you get brought to a strange website involving the Hanso foundation and adoptions. The symbol for it is the Yin/Yang symbol only with identical fetus’ making the symbol – which sort of hints at twins or cloning – meaning Ben may have been created on the island and maybe he’s not as old as we think.
14. That’s my though exactly. I think Jack would go along with The Others to overthrow from within – however I’m not sure why they need to be overthrown. They keep insisting they are the good guys. If anything, The Others seem to just be ‘recruiting’ people. They are happy to leave the Oceanic survivors alone (those they don’t want). Most of the trouble they’ve had from them has come from the survivors poking their noses where they don’t belong. Of course, The Others have strange ways of recuitment. Can you imagine if the Jehovahs worked like that – bang on your door, size you up as a good person, and then snatch ya’?