The Ed Zone

Lost – ‘Namaste’ – 5.9

Saturday March 21, 2009 | 14 comments (now closed)

Like those crafty numbers, strange forces are conspiring to prevent me from getting these weekly dispatches into your grubby little mitts. Two weeks ago, alongside episode 5.8 ‘LaFleur‘, my trusty screencap site decided to withhold the crucial giant statue shot.

And then this week, the island’s influence infected my DVR and chose, among the 60+ programs slated for recording during the week (99% of which belong to the Backyardigan variety), to tease me by starting a recording of Lost at 9:00 p.m. EST Wednesday night and ending it at 9:01 p.m. EST. A measly one-minute recording that I then spent the better half of 60 additional minutes pausing and rewinding to insure I wasn’t missing something. I checked and rechecked Lost on the Prioritization schedule and there it was, sitting pretty at Number 1. I also checked all other recordings scheduled that evening and they all kicked off without fail.

I blame Seacrest.

See, Wednesday night was the first night that Fox chose to migrate American Idol from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. aiming to knock Lost from its perch.

Here’s my conspiracy theory.

What if Fox has found a way to send a signal to homes that have both American Idol and Lost set to record and essentially cause the Lost recording to cancel out – thus insuring an all AI ratings victory. Now, we all know AI is a ratings juggernaut but they have slipped a bit this year. And Lost may not have the lofty numbers they enjoyed early in their run but among DVRs and downloads, they lead the league week after week. And Nielsen has begun capturing those numbers and providing a comprehensive total. If a % of homes had their recordings stop at 1 minute while AI kept on recording, it would give the appearance that those homes had tuned in and then switched the channel and watched AI.

Or my DVR could have just been a bitch that night. But c’mon,. this is a Lost recap so the clandestine dealings are so much more fun to posit. Anyway, Xbox Live came through and allowed me to watch Episode 5.9 -  ‘Namaste’ in all its HD glory. Better late than never, right.

With that said, on with the show. Let’s get Lost.

1.   A few week’s back, I discounted the crackpot Internet theory that the supposed runway we saw Kate and Sawyer forced into building while under Ben’s control in Season 3 had anything to do with Frank’s Captain Sullenberger impression. And not more then 30 seconds into this episode I am proven completely wrong. Why are you people even reading this site? I’ve got zero credibility now. Maybe I can find another show to cover. Is Small Wonder still on the air?

2.   Time line check. We’ve got official confirmation (thanks to the 30 years Earlier title card) that Sun, Frank and Ben (and Locke) are in 2007 and the rest of them are in 1977. Now, I’ve been right on the money with my time line coordinates all the way through so that aught to restore a little credibility.

3.   We’ll tacke the 2007 stuff first and then plunge headlong into 1977.

4.   We also got confirmation that the man Sun headed off island with was Frank. I assume that Ben will follow along once he wakes up (thereby accounting for the 2nd boat that we saw when Locke and company first flashed to that time period). Which begs the question – who was shooting at them? My guess – Caesar found some more armaments on the island after having scored that shotgun a few eps back. There’s something sinister about that dude.

5.   On the real island, Frank and Sun are welcomed by Smokey – or at least, Smokey retreated enough to allow them safe passage to the DHARMA compound. And waiting for them is Christian Shephard, who has apparently become the official spokesperson for the island. The thing is – we’ve seen Smokey’s little body snatcher act before (he was Yemi to Mr. Ecko) so I have a feeling that Smokey is just the Island’s Angry Eye and Christian is the island’s suave Billy Dee Williams – the smooth talker that just makes you feel comfortable. In other words, they are one in the same, there’s just a little Sybil going on here. 

6.   I thought the scene at the abandoned cabin was a nice, creepy little segment. Christian offers up the Class of ’77 shot and then proclaims “You have quite a journey ahead of you.” Now, I’m not so sure Christian is sending Sun back 30 years. In fact, I’m pretty damned sure that there are reasons why the group got split between the two time zones. This island works in mysterious ways. My guess is that one group was sent back to ’77 to get reunited with their brethren and either do something/fix something that went wrong on the timeline or simply because they need to be together to do the island’s bidding. Meanwhile Sun and Frank were kept in 2007 in order to perform some act that will pull them back to the present. So, my guess is that Sun’s long journey has less to do with a time warp and more to do with a trek on the island – likely to the temple – to pull them back to the future.

7.   The writers have been doing a good job of referencing the things were thinking about. For instance, the coming Purge, which Hurley wisely recalled is right around the corner. To which he pressed Sawyer, “Aren’t you going to warn them?” Sawyer’s response – “Faraday is fairly convinced there are things we can and cannot change.”

8.   Speaking of Faraday, Sawyer confirmed our suspicions last week. Faraday was with them but is not anymore. Dead? A Hostile? It’s going to be interesting to see this play out. As this episode was built around Sawyer scrambling to fold his old friends into his new lie/life, it makes me think that there are forces in control of DHARMA that are meant to be feared. Sawyer looks like he has an idyllic life but at the same time, he was fairly well panicked at the notion that Jack and co. need to adopt this lie or else. Is there a darker nature behind DHARMA?

9.   There were a number of little Easter Eggs sprinkled throughout this episode that built upon plot elements from the past. Most notably, the original hatch (The Swan) was seen in its planning stages – with The Flame technician Radzinsky working on the model and becoming exceedingly distressed that a Hostile may have seen it.

10.   Besides the Swan, there’s the presence of Radzinsky himself – one of the first Hatch inhabitants who manned the button before Desmond washed ashore. Radzinsky has never been seen but has been referenced twice. In Desmond’s initial flashback episode, where we saw Desmond arrive at the hatch, he inquired about a massive blood stain on the ceiling. His hatchmate Kelvin responded “That’s Radzinsky“. The dude had blown his head off after going mad down in the hatch.

11.   Also, in the episode Lockdown, the one where Locke gets pinned beneath the security doors and for a brief moment, spies a map of the island painted in black light paints on the ceiling, Locke discovers that Radzinsky painted that map. The map had coordinates of the other hatches on the island as well as the first references to ‘The Temple’ and an inscription ‘Cerberus – Security System?’. So, I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Radzinsky.

12.   It’s a bit poignant that Juliet assisted in Ethan’s birth. While Ethan was first shown to be a complete monster in his infiltration of the camp back in Season 1 – we’ve since seen the kinder, gentler side of him – and he has been a crucial figure and friend to Juliet in her flashbacks. So, it’s a bit bittersweet that she aided in his birth.

13.   So superdoc Jack’s aptitude test makes him perfect for the role of Janitor. Perfect!!!

14.   That scene with Jack and Sawyer near the end of the episode was very well done. We’ve seen Jack bash heads with Locke as the Man of Science v. Man of Faith. And here, he pulls the Man of Action bit on Sawyer and gets knocked down a peg. Sawyer is completely right. Reaction only gets you so far. In 100 days, Jack’s actions and reactions have led to a number of untimely deaths and combative situations. On the flip side, Sawyer’s ability to think through situations (the key to the con) has kept his crew alive and well for 3 full years in an alien environment. As he underscored, even Churchill read every night – all through the Blitz.

15.   And finally we get to Sayid’s encounter with Harry Potter who apprently left his Petronus spell at home, else he could have rid Sayid of those pesky bars. Young Ben was particularly interested in Sayid’s status as a Hostile. With the purge coming, my assumption is that this visit falls between Ben’s initial contact with Richard Alpert in the woods and the actual extinction event. I called it last episode and the events of this episode just add more meat. We’re being primed for a season ending Purge and extraction. 7 more eps left if you can believe it.

16.   Last thought – I think young Ben’s presence neatly explains why Ben didn’t jump back in time. The rules of time travel on this show won’t allow a future self to encounter a past self – or vice verse. Essentially, you can’t co-exist in the same time line. With young Ben scampering about, rocking out to Teenage Wasteland while planning Armageddon, you can’t have that Bug Eyed Bastard mucking things up.

That’s it for this week. I’ll be back next week, on time, for Episode 5.10 ‘He’s Our You’.