For all of us who have stuck by this show, this was an entirely satisfying Lost season finale.
It starts off with a flashback: Jack on a plane. Not THE plane, though, because he’s got a beard. Maybe he’s coming back from his sabbatical in Thailand, but it’s obvious Jack is not in good shape. He’s drinking heavily and looks like he hasn’t slept in a long time. As they are landing in Los Angeles, Jack notices a newspaper on the seat next to him and reads something that makes him upset. He tears the article out of the paper. Later, driving over a bridge in L.A., he stops the car, still clearly distressed, and tries to leave a voicemail message for someone, but can’t quite follow through with the call. He realizes he is on a bridge and decides to end it. Who is this Jack? He climbs on the edge and is about to jump—until he hears a car crash behind him. People are screaming, and Jack gives up his mission to help. He’s got to go fix things.
Later, he’s getting stitched up in the ER when his ex-wife Sarah shows up. It’s an awkward moment. Apparently, he was a hero on the bridge, but Jack takes little solace in that. Later, he visits the woman he saved in the crash. Standing there, looking at her chart, he downs a few pills from a prescription bottle. The woman has a spinal injury and he wants to do the surgery, but of course, he’s not her doctor and can’t do it. Then he’s driving around, blasting metal music. Holding what looks to be an obit he tore out of the newspaper, he finds the funeral parlor. There’s a coffin there, ready for a viewing, but the funeral parlor director said no one showed up. Does Jack want to see the person? No, but he takes a moment. Who died?
Back to Lost reality, Charlie is tied up to a chair, getting the crap beat out of him by the two women. How did you get down here, they demand? “In my invisible submarine, don’t you see it?,” Charlie quips. WHACK! How did you know about the hatch? Charlie tells them Juliet told him about the hatch. The women immediately decide it’s time to call Ben. He is more than perturbed Charlie is down there—and that Juliet seems to have betrayed him. He sends Eye Patch to go to the Looking Glass hatch. “I thought you said it was flooded,” Eye Patch says. “I lied,” Ben replies.
Later, Charlie explains he is there to switch off the jamming device, but they just laugh and tell him he can’t–unless he knows the code. It’s always something. Meanwhile, topside Desmond wakes up on the boat–and is immediately getting shot at by Eye Patch, who’s on the beach. Des dives down and swims to the hatch. He surfaces but Charlie quickly tells him to hide, the women are arguing in another room. Then Eye Patch shows up in scuba gear, looking for Des. Charlie distracts him by asking why Ben would say the hatch was flooded when it isn’t and why the signals are being jammed. Eye Patch didn’t know about the signal blockage. That would mean Ben was making it impossible for ANY of them to get off the island. Hmmm. Eye Patch is a little put out by this information. He calls Ben, who apologizes for withholding the information. It was all necessary for the sake of the island, and besides, Jacob told him to do it. How convenient. Then Ben orders Eye Patch to kill Charlie–as well as the two ladies, Greta and Bonnie–and to make sure the jamming mechanism continues to work.
Eye Patch walks back into the main compartment and questions the girls on why they would stay down here, keeping vigilance. “The minute I start questioning orders, this whole thing we are doing here falls apart,” Bonnie replies. She makes an excellent point. Eye Patch shoots Greta and then turns the gun on Bonnie, as she starts to run. He shoots her in the back, but just as he’s about to finish her off, Desmond comes out and shoots him with a dart gun. Before Bonnie dies, she gives Charlie and Des the code: It’s the beginning notes to the Beach Boys song “Good Vibrations,” programmed by a musician. Charlie really is destined to be in that hatch.
At the Losties camp, everyone treks off to the radio tower, while Sayid, Bernard and Jin stay behind. Then, later, Tom and few of the Others show up at the camp, just as planned. They don’t know it’s a trap because their walkie talkies are off (Ben does try to warn them). Gunmen are waiting in the brush nearby. The Others realize there is no one in the tents and get the first whiff of a trap. But Sayid hits his dynamite target and BOOM! A few of the Others go flying. Then Bernard hits his mark and BOOM! But Jin, he just can’t quite get it. The Others start shooting back and unfortunately, the guys get captured.
Farther away, the rest of the Losties see the explosions but realize there was only two, not three. “It didn’t work!,” Kate exclaims. Uh, yeah. Sun and Rose want to wait for their men to show up, but Jack doesn’t want them to split up. “If you say live together, die alone, I’m going to punch you in the mouth, Jack,” Rose says. But he persuades her they must trudge on.
Tom radios Ben, what do we do with the captives? Ben says to kill Jin to get them to talk. Big Ben has to give out killing orders left and right in this episode, doesn’t he? Guess that’s why they pay him the big bucks. But Bernard breaks down and talks right before Tom kills Jin. He tells them the rest are heading to the radio tower, that Juliet told them about the plan and that Carl had come to warn them they were coming early. Hearing this on his walkie talkie, Ben looks over at Alex. Yes, that’s right, she betrayed you, you bug-eyed freak. Later, Richard says the natives are restless, but Ben tells him to continue with the plan, to head to the temple. He is going to find Jack and the rest, alone, to try and talk him out of it. Not knowing she’s been exposed as a traitor, Alex asks to go with him. Ben agrees. “You want to see Carl again anyway, right?
Meanwhile, Sawyer decides to go back for Sayid, Jin and Bernard. Kate wants to go with him, but Sawyer shuts her down. He doesn’t want her to go. She doesn’t understand why Sawyer has gotten so cold, ever since he came back from his excursion with Locke. We know why, though, don’t we. Jack believes it’s a suicide mission without guns, but Juliet says she knows where there are some guns stashed away. She volunteers to go with Sawyer. First, she gives Jack a big old smooch. Later, Kate is a little bummed by being spurned by Sawyer, but Jack tells her he was just trying to protect her. “Why are you sticking up for Sawyer?” “Because I love you,” Jack replies. How sweet.
Walking back to the beach, Juliet confesses there are no guns. She’s just going back for karma. Hurley suddenly walks up, having followed them. He wants to help. But Sawyer tells him to go back, he’ll only slow them down and get them killed. Poor Hurley.
Ben and Alex are trekking through the jungle when it all comes to a head:
“Why did you let me come with you, Dad?”
“Because I’m taking you to your new family. You betrayed me.”
“Well, you put Carl in a cage and tried to brainwash him!”
“I didn’t want him to get you pregnant, maybe I overreacted.”
Fathers.
Finally, they meet up with Jack and the rest. “Jack, we need to talk,” Ben convinces Jack to speak with him for five minutes. Ben talks about the mass Dharma Initiative murders and warns Jack history is going to repeat itself. Ben says Naomi is one of the bad guys, that she is part of a group who have been trying to find the island. When they do, they will kill everyone. Jack doesn’t believe him, and frankly, neither do we. Why should we? He is such a manipulator. Of course, all Ben wants is Naomi’s phone so he can destroy it. But Jack won’t give it to him. OK, then Ben has to play hard. He radios Tom with orders to kill Sayid, Jin and Bernard if Tom doesn’t hear Ben’s voice in one minute. Jack won’t call his bluff, and Tom seems to carry out the orders as we hear three gunshots coming from the walkie talkie. Jack then beats Ben unconscious, grabs the walkie talkie and tells Tom he is going to get all his people rescued and then he’s going to come find him and kill him.
Jack throws a beat-up Ben in front of the group, with Alex right behind them. “Tie him up,” Jack orders. Rousseau walks up to Alex, and Ben casually says, “Alex, this is your mother.” Alex is dumbfounded, but it’s a touching moment, mother and daughter meeting for the first time. “Want to help me tie him up?,” Rousseau gently asks Alex. Jack then tells Kate what happened. Why didn’t Jack just kill Ben right then and there. Because Jack wants Ben to see them get off the island to know he has failed. And once everyone is safely way, Jack is going kill Ben, too. Jack’s got murder-revenge on the mind.
But guess what? Sayid, Jin and Bernard aren’t dead. Tom fired three shots, all right–directly into the sand. “Ben has lost it!,” Tom exclaims, but that doesn’t mean they are just going to let the captives go. Sawyer and Juliet are viewing the scene from the jungle, noticing how there are only three Others left. But they are not armed and there’s no way they can win. Suddenly, Hurley zooms by them in the VW wagon and runs over one of the Others. Go Hurley! Sayid is able to knock down another one and snaps his neck with his legs. He’s so badass. All’s that left is Tom. He surrenders, but Sawyer shoots him anyway. “That’s for taking the kid off the raft.”
And you didn’t think an entire season finale would go by without finding out what happened to Locke. He’s alive but in bad shape and still in the Dharma ditch. He notices a gun nearby and decides end it all. Then he hears someone tells him not to pull the trigger. He looks up and it’s Walt. A much older, adolescent Walt but Walt nonetheless. “Get up, John…you’ve got work to do.”
Back in the Looking Glass, Charlie goes in and plays the Beach Boys tune on the keyboard, and the yellow light turns off. A transmission immediately comes through. It’s Penny. Charlie tells her he’s a survivor from Flt. 815–and that Desmond is with him. She’s elated. Then Charlie asks if she’s on the boat. She doesn’t know what he is talking about. She is not on a boat and doesn’t know who Naomi is. Oh no, was Ben telling the truth? Charles yells for Desmond to come, but Des sees Eye Patch isn’t where he was lying. Of course, he’s not. That guy can’t die, apparently. Charlie looks out the porthole window and sees the cycloptic manic outside in scuba gear—holding a grenade. He pulls the pin. Charlie immediately closes the door to the communication room just as Desmond runs up. The grenade goes off and water starts pouring in. Charlie writes on his palm “Not Penny’s boat” and shows it to Desmond through the door window. Then he drowns. Goodbye, Charlie.
Jack and the rest make it to the radio tower. Hurley’s voice suddenly comes through Ben’s walkie talkie, warning all the Others there are new sheriffs in town. Jack answers, and Hurley explains they overtook the Others and that EVERYONE, including the three gunman, are all safe. Sun and Rose are more than relived. Claire grabs the radio and asks Hurley if Charlie had come back. “Not yet, but I’m sure he’ll be paddling up any moment.” Sad.
Naomi sees the phone has power and tries to make a call. Ben warns them again but is knocked out by Rousseau. The phone starts ringing and just as Naomi is about to answer, she falls down, with a knife stuck in her back. Locke is standing behind her, with a gun. Jack picks up the phone. “Don’t answer the phone, Jack…you aren’t suppose to.” The age-old Jack/Locke conflict rises up again: faith vs. reason. It looks like Locke is going to shoot Jack to stop him from answering, but he can’t do it. He lowers the gun and walks away. Jack answers the phone and it’s someone from Naomi’s boat, who can lock in on their signal right away.
Flashing back to the bearded Jack—or what we THINK is a flashback—in his disgustingly filthy apartment. He is just sitting there, his back against the wall and dials that same someone on his cell phone. “I need to see you, please meet me at the airport.” Later, Jack pulls up in his car, just as someone does the same. It’s Kate. Wait, Kate? What? So, it’s NOT a flashback but in actuality a flash FORWARD. All what we watch previously is what happened to Jack when he got off the island.
“Why did you call me, Jack?,” Kate asks. She doesn’t look so happy either. He shows her the obit (still don’t know who died) and wondered if she went to funeral. Of course she didn’t. Then he tells her he has been flying a lot, back and forth across the Pacific on the “golden ticket” the airline gave them. He admits each time he hopes the plane would crash—so he could get back there. He realizes now they never should have left. But she won’t hear any of it, she says they did the right thing. She pulls away, “He’ll be wondering where I am,” she says. “We have to go back, Kate.” She shakes her head, gets into her car and drives away.
See? THAT is a way to end a season, with so much potential! And some of you doubted the show. Tsk tsk.
