8:05pm . . . ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

OK, confused, but that opening was AWESOME!

We've got two alternate realities going on here. The one in the plane isn't the same reality as before, because Des is on it, and Hurley is "the luckiest man in the world" - Plus, in the plane reality, the island is submerged.

Man, I hope Juliet is alive.

Maybe Jacob will heal Sayid.

Commercial's over . . . Back to the show.

In this series we've done flash backs. Then we did flash forward.

Now we're doing flash sidewayses.

OK, Locke can't walk. Liar . . .

Where's Shannon?

It worked, eh?

Yes, because Sawyer2 got to go to LAX.

This pyramid scene reminds me of Apocalypse Now.

Confused?

Can Jack fix this?

Doesn't look like it. CRUD.

So far this show's been an incredible bummer.

So far this show's been an incredible bummer.

Complete disagreement. It's exciting, intriguing, frustrating, mysterious. I love how they've managed to develop the plot while still deepening the mystery, which LOST writers have always done well.

OK, Sayid's alive! That's why Miles was acting funny.

Jared, I'm liking the Jack in this season, FYI. That was cool at the end.

So, everyone. Whadjathink?

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!

I liked the first hour better than the second, but it's all good.

The Locke=smoke monster stuff confirmed what most people were thinking. But Batmanuel should never have gone down without a fight.

The most interesting thing to me was what Bill calls the flash sidewayses. I wonder if the writers are going to show us two entirely different realities all season, likely showing how characters are redeemed in one reality and damned in another. Or whether at some point the two realities will collide or combine. Either way I think it will be interesting.

Not that it proves anything, or illuminates anything, but my one major Lost call this episode was the fact that when they go through the turbulence, Jack is holding onto his seat. In the original version, he was holding onto Rose's hand when she says, "You can let go now." Alright, I'm out.

I don't like Jack, still, but at this point it's more a matter of principle than anything else. I didn't like him from the first episode, and I swore I'd never like him.

I don't like that Ben and Richard are getting messed around by Darth Locke.

Good start.

All 2 hours I was wondering where Claire was. And Michael and Walt.

Juliet: I have something to tell you. It's important ...

... I have to die because I'm leaving LOST to go star in V.

When Darth Locke (hah) told Richard that it was nice to see him out of his chains, was he referring to Richard being (somehow) one of the slaves on the Black Rock?

Ah, I got ya. Thanks for showing me nothing's irreversible . . . including Andrew's irrational and silly disdain for Jack "The Man" Shephard.

Here's what I think is happening:

We have been shown the "alternate reality". There are some sci-fi theories out there that there are an infinite number of alternate universes. We are being shown two. Or if you go back to Doc Brown's illustration in Back to the Future on the chalkboard, an alternate reality has been created, except in this case the "original" continues...

So, the writers have totally weenied out in my opinion, and here's why:

1- They have now shown the viewers every possible outcome. By the time the show is over, we will have seen what would have happened to our beloved characters if:
a. They got stuck on the island and stayed there.
b. They get rescued and go home.
c. The crash never happened in the first place.

What a cop out. Now everybody can be happy. Or from their perspective, it allows them to pursue all three possiblilites. That just tells me they ran out of ideas. Showing us three different outcomes, just lengthens the show. (Like having three endings at the end of the movie "Clue").

2. Now they can just kill everyone on the island at the end of the series. They will have their cake and eat it too. Because at the end of the series everyone will die on the island, but wait, it's OK. The viewers don't have to be sad, because they are all still alive in alternate "they never crashed in the first place" reality.

Dude, this stuff reminds me of so many Star Trek: TNG time travel episodes it's ridiculous. You know, where time travel causes an alternate reality, but someone is somehow aware that things "aren't quite right". Blah, blah, blah.

I'm still hooked though. I'll be on board til the end.

One thing I liked: Smoke Monster Locke. Nice touch.

My theory: Looks like a centuries long feud between Jacob and Smokey is really the point of the whole show and all events. And every single other character is (including Ben and Widmore and Richard and all the Lostaways) have all just been pawns. It's Jacob vs. Esau. Brother vs. Brother.

((Sayid's death, burial and resurrection might mean that he's the new Jacob (Christ-figure).))

Actually, maybe he is still the old Jacob hiding in dead Sayid's body, just like the man in black is hiding in dead Locke's body.

It is quite clear that Jacob is Obi Wan Kenobi.

I'm still not going to automatically assume that Jacob is the good guy here, although it DEFINITELY appears that way. But I just can't help remembering that Ben has always "worked" for Jacob - even tho he killed him, and Jacob let him, but maybe somehow this makes Jacob stronger? - and Ben's always been the bad guy. This show has so many twists and turns that I can NEVER make up my mind about anything!!

How inti-climactic was it to have Juliet come alive, say a few words, and die again? They should've just let well enough alone and let Miles say her last words with his "gift" while they buried her. I cried the first time she said goodbye, the second time just drug it out. Because of this, Sayid's "death" barely stirred me, because I had a feeling he'd live again. The writers are really de-sensitizing me to killing off characters, so many come back. For example, don't we all expect the real Locke to resurrect at some point? It's no fun if death isn't taken seriously. I feel like a kid again, when playing Cowboys and Indians, and a kid would not stay dead. It ruins the seriousness of it.
Another downer: The Temple is stupid! It feels like a Disneyland ride, and the characters are dressed up to buckle your seat belt. Also, the side-kick with the granny glasses is a terrible actor. The talent of the LOST cast is sterling, and when a weenie slips in, it's glaring. He's bad, the head Asian is bad, and Alayna's gorilla that was just killed really stunk. Good riddance, said I. These sub-par people seem to demean our friend's as well. They're bad for morale. And the scene where they all stalked around "fortifying" the temple on learning of Jacob's death seemed strange; They were putting up boards to hold the walls up, acting all busy, picking fake flowers. This and the work at the bomb site moving boards around all seemed like a lot of filler.
OK, enough negativity: I loved the plane scenes, and getting to see Charlie and Boone again, even though the former was pretty screwed up. Jack seemed especially cheerful, too, didn't he?
And how funny was it when Jin hopped out of the van saying he'd found a flash-light? I love the conversations between those guys, Hurley, Jin, Charlie, Sawyer, Miles--they strike me as real.
No matter what, I'm in. I agree that the first half was the best. They brought up a bunch more questions, and even brought in more characters. Seems risky, when there's still so many unanswered...but what fun!

I might agree with this except that Locke-Smokey-Esau walked right past dead-Locke on the beach.

OK, OK - I meant clones of truly dead Locke and presumed dead Sayid. ;)

I like how when I watch this show I take it so seriously, but when talking about it, it sounds so preposterous.

A few thoughts/questions :

- The episode title was "LA X" - not "LAX". Notice the space? Its supposed to have some significance but not sure what it might be.

- Did Sayid really die? As someone said, Miles was acting funny when Sayid was supposed to be dead but that could just be misdirection.

- Is it possible the "under the sea" footage was not from 2004? Again, purposely misleading?

- I don't know how it might work, but I think there might be only one timeline/reality/etc. "Whatever happened, happened"

I like how when I watch this show I take it so seriously, but when talking about it, it sounds so preposterous.

Can't be preposterous. It's all possible. Don't you remember at the beginning the writers said it could all be explained with science. So that means it could happen, right? Right.

Quaid - lol!

OK, who besides me thinks that Plane Sawyer is TOTALLY going to con "Luckiest man alive" Hurley?

"I'm wondering what if any significance that Desmond's appearance and sudden disappearance on the plane has, since he's "special," the constant, etc. Is he on another flash trip?"

Shauna - this is the main reason that I think what we're seeing has to do more with the end of the series than an alternate reality. Desmond wasn't on the original 815.


BUT-
Help me remember. According to Faraday, what was the bomb supposed to accomplish, exactly? Was the goal just to prevent the one eletromagnetic event that brought 815 down or was it to blow up the island entirely?

If the island is at the bottom of the ocean, then that means Desmond isn't in the Hatch and he's free to move about the country. That would also mean that the continuation of what we're seeing on the island is a false reality.

When Juliet said (via Miles), "It worked," I think she was right.


As far as con Sawyer goes, are we sure he's a conman? If he is, I think he might try to con Hurley, but something won't work right.

I'm not big into major theorizing about Lost, but I heard a very compelling theory.

Maybe the time loop thing goes on always. So the Losties are living various permutations of their lives related to the island, over and over and over. The Plane and the Island are just two.

What's got me interested in this? The premier was on Groundhog Day. (I didn't snap to that until someone mentioned it).

My head hurts.

According to Faraday, what was the bomb supposed to accomplish, exactly? Was the goal just to prevent the one eletromagnetic event that brought 815 down or was it to blow up the island entirely?

I remember it as being to prevent the one electromagnetic event that brought 815 down.

Bill, RE the Groundhog Day airing, Jimmy Kimmel had the writers on his show and flat out asked him if certain things were planned or a coincidence. They joked that the Feb 2 airdate was "absolutely planned," but then laughed and said it was a coincidence. There's a partial transcript of their convo here, on the Jimmy Kimmel site on ABC.com.

They also said Desmond disappearing when Charlie appeared was a coincidence.

RE Smokey, does anyone else remember when Locke (the real Locke) stood his ground against the smoke monster in a previous season and the smoke was WHITE. Smokey backed off instead of attacking. Is it possible both Jacob and "Esau" turn into smoke monsters to protect the island? And maybe Esau goes a step further by transforming into other things and/or ppl who have died (like Locke, Christian, Alex)?

I'm pretty sure that LA X is a reference to the Earth X series of Marvel comics that is about an alternate universe, with alternate back stories of all of their superheroes and what not.

In other words, I think the implication is that this IS in fact an alternate timeline and not the actual end to the real timeline.

If you think about it, its possible that a nuclear weapon intensified by an extreme magnetic source would cause the island to pretty much collapse... hence, the island is at the bottom of the sea...

Yet, perhaps the magic/science/specialness of the island still exists... hence, Desmond.

Desmond would have been around the island when he got lost at sea during his trip around the world... maybe he is somehow in the possession of the island as it is underwater... which is why he showed up while they were passing over the island and then disappeared...

I noticed the hair thing, too, but I chalked it up to everyone being six years older.

As far as Smokey staring down Locke, my theory would be that when "Esau" looked into Locke, he didn't destroy him because he knew that he could be used to facilitate his strategy in arriving at his loophole. Just a thought . . .

I don't remember the thing turning White. What Season was that?

I'm sure Lost could really go off the rails, but it didn't in the opening ep.

After five season, I'm so invested in the series I don't think I have the capacity for a lot of disappointment. The premiere caught me totally off guard, which is what I expect from Lost, so I'm good.

I've long since left the ranks of the "More questions! No answers!" Lost critics. I'm enjoying the ride! When all the questions are finally answered, that will be nice, but also a bit of a let down. Because I like wondering and thinking about it.

On the other hand - yes, it was a depressing episode. Juliet dies. Sayid (we thought/still not sure because he might really be Jacob) dies. Half the show shows the cast as if the last five seasons didn't happen . . . it's unsettling.