“Live Together, Die Alone”
In another trippy two-hour season finale, we had some of our probing questions answered. But thanks to some absorbing island cliffhangers, we’ve also been saddled with a whole slate of new ones.
The Boat
Here’s what we know: It’s Desmond’s, of course. Jack, Sayid and Sawyer swim out to the boat and find Desmond three sheets to the wind. Seems he’s been sailing circles around the island for two weeks, trying to get back to civilization. In a flashback, we see how Desmond got there in the first place. After being dishonorably discharged from the British army and losing the only woman he’ll ever love, Desmond enters that boat race around the world to prove he’s worthy enough to win her back. And here’s a tantalizing twist: Libby is the one who gives Desmond a boat. The two meet at a coffee shop, where Libby explains her husband has just died. She gives Desmond hubby’s boat, the “Elizabeth”–in the name of love. Then, of course, things go wrong and Desmond washes up on the island’s beach. He is taken to the hatch by none other than Kelvin–the same guy who ordered Sayid to torture his former commander. Ah, all those little connections. Desmond then spends the next three years with the guy, pushing the execute key (more on that below). But an altercation occurs and Desmond accidentally bashes his skull in. It’s just Desmond by himself–until the Losties take over.
Here’s what we still don’t know: In his drunken state, Desmond makes an interesting observation about the island: He called it a giant inescapable snow globe. Is this really The Truman Show? A giant man-made tank of some sort, being controlled by someone–or something–else? Doubtful, but it’s definitely food for thought–the idea these people are ants under a magnifying glass.
Sayid’s Plan
Here’s what we know: Sayid sees an opportunity to plan a sneak attack against the Others using Desmond’s boat. Knowing Michael is a traitor, he tells Jack he’ll sail over to the island on a recon mission before Jack and the others get there. Then Sayid will signal to meet them on the shore and they can go in together, guns a-blazin’. Sayid enlists Jin’s help to sail the boat, with Sun coming along for the ride. When they finally make it there, Sayid goes into the camp–but it’s deserted. Even the hatch is a prop. Hmmm…
Here’s what we still don’t know: The statue of a giant foot? Hello? Sailing along the coast, they see what looks to be part of a statue with only a foot left. As Sayid says, “I don’t know what’s more disturbing–that the rest of the statue is not there or that the foot has only four toes.” I love Sayid.
Pressing the Button
Here’s what we know: The lure of “pressing the button” has apparently drawn many men into the hatch to keep vigilance over the computer, punching in the numbers every 108 minutes so the world doesn’t come to an end. While Eko is positive it’s all still real, Locke is now convinced it’s all a big joke–and wants to prove his theory. So, he gets Desmond to help him trap Eko behind the blast doors and wait it out till the bitter end. Yet, once Locke tells Desmond about the Pearl hatch–the panel of TVs, the pneumatic tubes, the computer print-out–Desmond begins to piece things together. Could it be the Pearl hatch was the real psychological experiment and that everything is true? Apparently, the same day Kelvin is killed, Desmond let the time run out and saw how the electromagnetic force started tearing everything apart in the hatch. The computer’s yelling “System Failure, System Failure,” but Desmond is able to stop it at the last possible minute. Now, as Desmond looks at the print-out from the Pearl hatch, he asks Locke when their plane crashed: Sept. 22, 2004. On the print-out is the number 9222004 with “System Failure” repeated over and over on that same date. As the alarm goes off, Desmond now knows it IS true. He screams at Locke he was probably the one who inadvertently made the plane crash and that they have to push the button IMMEDIATELY. Locke still doesn’t believe it and to drive his point home, he picks up the computer and smashes it on the ground. Big mistake. Desmond has the only solution: a key to shut the whole thing off–a self-destruct button, as it were–which lies underneath the hatch. He goes down, inserts the key, and…
Here’s what we still don’t know: What exactly does happen? There’s a deafening noise and a blinding violet light and then–it stops. The hatch door with “Quarantine” written on it comes hurling out of the sky, down into the Losties camp, but other than that, everyone’s OK. The world didn’t end. Why didn’t Desmond tell Locke about his near mishap and what the effects were before it all happens again? Are Eko, Locke and Desmond still alive? Charlie was down there too, trying to help Eko, but he walks nonchalantly back to the camp, seemingly unharmed. Even he and Claire reconcile (they kiss). What the…?
Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and Michael
Here’s what we know: Jack knows Michael’s leading them into a trap but can’t tell the rest of them about his and Sayid’s plan, so they can continue to believe they are indeed on a “rescue” mission. Walking through the jungle, however, Kate realizes they are being tracked by two Others, and she and Sawyer start shooting at them. They get one of them but the other gets away. Jack snaps and forces Michael to come clean on what he’s done, including a surprise confession he killed Ana Lucia and Libby. It’s a very tense moment when Hurley realizes Michael killed the woman he loved. Hurley just wants to go back to the camp, but Jack tells him he can’t because the Others are already on to them.Then suddenly, after finding a mountain of cylinders filled with notebooks (from the Pearl’s air tubes–hence confirming the idea it was all just an experiment), the gang–sans Michael–start getting shot with darts, paralyzing them. They are then dragged, bounded and gagged, to a dock and forced to the ground. The artist formerly known as Henry Gale shows up on a motor boat. He tells Michael he has fulfilled his part of the bargain and can leave with Walt on the boat and find rescue. Then they untie Hurley and tell him he is free to go back to the Losties–but he must tell them they can never, ever come to this place. Jack, Kate and Sawyer, however, are going “home” with the Others.
Here’s what we still don’t know: There’s definitely more going on with Walt. I mean, the Others are not just going to let Walt go like that, especially after Henry said they’d never give the boy up. And what was that look Jack and Kate gave each other at the end, like they knew something else. Sawyer looked a bit confused. Next season, are we finally going to see how these people really live?
And finally, The Others (Or as Desmond calls them, the “Hostiles”)
Here’s what we know: There’s a) the fact they are faking being hillbillies living off dried fish, b) Zeke’s name is actually Tom, and c) Henry must be one of the more important Others, but not necessarily the leader.
Here’s what we still don’t know: Who the billy f*** these guys ARE? Henry says they are the “good guys,” but that seems unlikely. They could be Dharma rejects run amok or the real mad scientists controlling everything. But here at Hollywood.com, we’ve come up with another highly plausible theory: With all the electromagnetic forces abound, there could be a time travel element. Perhaps the Others are actually from the future, that they travel through a portal of some sorts. Or maybe still, the plane went through some worm hole, and they are ALL in the future (would explain the statue). It’s good, right?
And as a final and fascinating twist, we see that some Russian fellows in an Arctic-looking outpost are tracking something. There’s a red light, indicating an electromagnetic force has been detected. “Call!” one of them says. The guy picks up the phone and we cut to a bedside table. A hand reaches over and picks up the phone. “We found it,” the Russian says, as we see it’s Desmond’s one true love, Penny, who once told Desmond that no matter how hard her father kept them apart, with the right amount of money, she could always find him, wherever he is. Aha! A rescue could be in progress…
But now we have to wait another long and arduous summer to find out. Might give us some time to check out all the Hanso Foundation Web sites.
