Follow The Lead Blogger

LOSTaways-

Man, that was good. This is what it's all about, really. The episode before each season finale so far has always done an incredible set-up job, and this week's "Follow the Leader" was no exception. You know it's a pre-finale episode when there are large groups of people traveling together for some ridiculous purpose...in this case, to "kill Jacob." Last year we had various groups traversing around the island before it was "moved". Year before that, the 815 survivors were moving to Rousseau's radio tower and the Others were moving towards The Temple. I love it. I love it all.

This week's is gonna be a short re-cap, so enjoy it while it lasts. Please post more thoughts and questions and comments though below. I'm sure I'll leave some important stuff out, but I'm in a rush and this is a blog on a fake tv show named after an article of clothing of a character named after a 17th century philosopher-economist.

So Faraday is really dead it appears. We picked up this week where we left off last time, with a deadski Daniel laying amidst a gaggle of Others trying to figure out what the heck just happened when Eloise shot her son. Jack and Kate get picked up in the nearby jungle by Charles Widmore doing his best John Wayne impression. Alpert confirms that Widmore and Eloise are lovers (hopefully in the sacred bonds of matrimony), and that, like my Facebook relationship status, "it's complicated." So complicated that the two of them are arguing about what course of action the Others should take. Eloise seems to get her way and after hearing what Jack's plan is concerning Daniel's Jughead detonation plan, she agrees to help.

I will say here that I feel like Eloise has more tricks up her sleeve and isn't really going to be of as much help as Jack thinks she will be. Later in this episode, Sayid wisely (and Iraqily) points out that she could just be using Jack to rid the island of DHARMA. But for now, she offers to lead the way to Jughead through a very cool/creepy under-ground water tunnel.

Kate wants nothing to do with this plan, and even tries to convince Jack to abandon his "destiny" in favor of keeping the history the two of them have made together. This is more than Jack can currently handle, especially since on his watch many people died (i.e. Boone, Shannon, etc). The Man of Science has become a Man of Faith in many regards, but it still feels like Jack is doing all of this just as some alternative approach to dealing with his guilt and Savior-complex issues. Regardless, Kate bolts (with the help of the newly arrived Sayid) and says she will go and get their friends to help stop Jack's history re-writing plans.

The tunnels that are underneath Dharmaville were interesting to me. Why were they built? Why only access through the under-water cave? Why did they put the bomb where they did? Are these tunnels the paths that the Smoke Monster takes to travel around the island? It would seem to me that perhaps this accessibility to Dharmaville is what Alpert meant earlier this season when he told Horace that the sonic fence does not keep "us out."

How in the world will Jack get a hydrogen bomb to go off? Hopefully Faraday has that step-by-step procedure jotted down in his trusty notebook.

Back in Dharmaville above, our castaways have been discovered as impostors. Sawyer and Juliet are being interrogated by the insufferable Radzinsky and that twerp of a man, Phil. Both big dopes. Long story short, Sawyer and Juliet agree to divulge information on the whereabouts of the Others (and Baby Ben) in exchange for safe passage back to the "real world" on the submarine. It's hard to tell if Sawyer really just wants to get out of there with his lady-friend in one piece, or if he's got another plan already in place. For sure now with Kate being caught and thrown in the submarine for a love isosceles triangle, Sawyer will hear what Jack's plan is and be convinced (if he wasn't already) to go back and save the gang (and try and stop Crazy Jack).

Now to the good stuff...

Forward in time about 30 years, we get a taste of the Locke from season one with a boar-clad entrance to the Others encampment. Back in season one Locke had purpose (although he didn't quite yet know what it was) and exuded confidence. That was after going through a "re-birth" of sorts with the whole not being able to walk before crashing thing. There is something different about this new Locke now again ever since he was resurrected from the dead. I mean, different apart from being resurrected from the dead. Is this new Locke going to lose his faith and end up crying on top of a hatch door like the old one did in season one?

As he approaches, Richard is seen building one of those old ships in the glass bottle things. I've heard those take forever to make, and as we know, Richard seems to have no real trouble with having enough time. Locke says he has a new purpose, and needs Richard to help him. Sun finds out from Ben that Alpert is the island's "adviser", or in Godfather terms "consigliere". Alpert confirms for her that Jin and the rest had been on the island 30 years earlier and, sadly, he himself "watched them all die." Bummer.

The errand Locke has for them to run is the aiding of earlier-Locke after he was shot by Ethan in another island time-jump that we witnessed earlier this season. So then the question is "Why did new Locke tell old Locke (via Richard) that he was going to have to leave the island and die?" We presumed when we first saw Locke being told that he'd have to die by Richard that Richard had been sent by Jacob or the island or someone else. This would speak to some larger purpose in John's dying. But for now we have to assume that Locke has been shown other information that confirmed in his mind that he did in fact have to die and go through all that for things to work out. Who showed him that information? Not me.

Ben is either knows much less than we thought before, or is running a good con on Locke to pretend like he doesn't know what all is happening. I'm not sure where I fall on that, but I'd wager a guess for now that Ben still does know more than he's letting on.

Alpert also seems to know less than we imagined he would. Or maybe I should say he knows other things than Locke. John's surprised that Richard didn't know where Locke was the past three years. Locke's been shown more about the island, but obviously not enough to know what Richard's whole deal is.

Eventually the three of them head back, but not before Locke calls Ben out for not having ever seen Jacob before. Ben seems genuinely caught off guard by such a comment. How could this be true? Perhaps Ben really was the impostor Widmore called him out as. But has Widmore seen Jacob? Has Richard? Has anyone? So far we have some weird shadows and noises in a creepy cabin that moves, and a voice that called to Locke "Save me" in season three (in an episode called "The Man Behind the Curtain", no less).

When the three island amigos return to the Others camp, Locke gives a carpe diem-like speech in which he tells everyone that it's ridiculous they've all been "following a leader" who none of them have ever seen. He says he wants to go see Jacob and that everyone is welcome to join him. He disingenuously tells Sun that he's sure Jacob can help them find their friends in the past.

The fascinating thing is that Richard, after hearing all of this, confides in Ben that "John may be a problem in the future." Wow. Richard is all over the place. The man who used Locke to help get Ben out of power, after using Ben to help get Widmore out of power, is now not so sure Locke is the right man for power. What is going on here? Ben then tells John what Richard said, but Locke doesn't seem to care about much of anything any more...except for killing Jacob that is. Phwaaaaa? You gotta be kidding me with that ending line. "Kill Jacob"?

Consider my mind blown. There is a lot more to dig in to here, but I have a hunch that we're about to have a lot of big things answered in this season finale Wednesday so I will wait for my year-end review next week to dig deeper.


A Few final thoughts/theories:

-The Chicago Blackhawks will win their series vs. the Vancouver Canucks, but sadly will fall short of the Stanley Cup against the Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Finals next round.

-LOST's season finale will be really interesting.

-The scenes with Hurley, Jin, and Miles bumping in to Dr. Chang were great. I love how they're allowing Miles the chance to see that his dad did not hate him or his mother. Remember that Faraday, after telling Dr. Chang all his secrets last week at the Orchid station, was asked by Miles why he did in fact tell all of his secrets. Faraday answers: "So your dad will do what he is supposed to do." There's more to what Dr. Chang is going to do then we even now realize. Count on that.

-The title of this last episode is going to be The Incident.


Okay, that's all I got. Finals to study for. Thanks for reading. Please enjoy this week's finale, and tune in soon for the Season Five review before an un-Godly amount of time off before Season Six.

Namaste,
John Locke's Pants