"There's No Place Like Home" (Parts 2 & 3)

I loved “There’s No Place Like Home” (Parts 2-3). The Lost producers/writers have consistently delivered killer season finales each year and season 4 was no different. We’re nearing the end of the series, so lots of information was revealed and scenes that fans have been waiting 4 years to see where delivered. Here are my thoughts on what went down.

The Coffin

I’ll start things off with the most anticipated and talked about reveal Lost has seen. Ever since last year’s “Through the Looking Glass,” all Lost fans want to know is who is in the coffin. Speculation ranged from Ben to Michael to Locke to Walt to Christian Sheppard. At last, after teasing the reveal for a bit, we are shown that the deceased Jeremy Bentham is none other than John Locke.

With Ben and Jack’s conversation, the reveal wasn’t that big of a surprise, but to finally actually see the person in the coffin, it was a major payoff. For a minute though, I started thinking it might be Christian Sheppard. Loads of questions come out of this scene. Did Locke really commit suicide? How are they going to get back to the island (Ben said he has a few ideas)? How did Locke get off the island, did he have to move it again? What terrible things started happening once the Oceanic 6 left? What does this mean for the other survivors frieghties left behind (Sawyer, Rose, Bernard, Claire?, Juliette, Miles, Charlotte)?

We have to go back!

This year’s finale picks up right where last year’s one leaves off with Kate and Jack at the airport. Kate drives away from Jack, but screech, she comes back. She revealed that the now deceased Jeremy Bentham (aka John Locke) had been making the rounds. He came to see Jack and Kate only a few days ago trying to convince them to go back to the island. Later in the episode, we find out that Hurley and Sayid know of Bentham as well.

Locke was paying visits to all those off the island to try to convince them to go back. As Ben said in the funeral parlor scene, they all have to go back. This will be a tough sell for Kate the most. She most definitely doesn’t want to go back and especially not with Aaron. On a side note, it was great seeing crazy, strung out bearded Jack again.

The Future’s Not So Bright

Sticking with the Oceanic 6 flashforward scenes, we are introduced to 27-year-old Walt when he comes to see Hurley at the mental institute. Walt questions why none of the other survivors came to see him and also wants to know why they are lying. I’m not sure what Walt wants them to say. I wonder how many people he told about the Others, Room 23 and the special things he did on the island. I image its not too many.

We next see Sayid the assassin in action as he kills some random, or not, guy outside the mental institution. He comes to bring Hurley to a safe place. He lets Hurley know about Bentham’s suicide and stops him before he can say John Locke’s real name. Hurley asks if they’re going to the island, and Sayid tells him no. What safe place is he bringing Hurley to? Does Hurley know that Sayid works for Ben now? Hurley had one of the lines of the night as they leave the room. He was playing chess (seemingly by himself) and moves the queen, then says “Checkmate, Mr. Eko.” I know the actor who played Eko left the show bitterly, but it would be awesome to see him make a cameo appearance. I guess Charlie isn’t the only dead 815 passenger to pay Hugo a visit.

The next flash shows Sun paying a visit to Mr. Widmore in London. She questions him about the island and says they have common interests. We learn that Widmore knows Sun’s dad and knows him well. Does this confirm a connection between the two and the island? Sun has changed the most of all the Oceanic 6. Her character has done a complete 180 off the island. Is she meeting up with Widmore to help him or is she trying to set him up? We know that she blames two people for Jin’s “death” with one being her dad. Based on what we’ve seen so far, the other person could be Ben, Keamy, Widmore, Jack, or in true Lost fashion, someone else.

Kate’s flashforward scene is the most cryptic. In a dream, she is awakened by a strange telephone call (deciphered as “the island needs you, you have to go back before it’s too late”). She hears something and goes to check on Aaron, only to find Claire sitting at his bedside. Claire tells her not to bring Aaron back to the island. Kate then wakes up and checks on Aaron again and everything’s fine. So Jack sees his dad, Hurley sees Charlie and Mr. Eko and now Kate sees Claire off the island. Most of the visions are telling them to go back, but Claire tells Kate not to bring Aaron back. Is this why she’s so adamant about not going back?

Onto the island happenings:

Keamy’s Demise

I’ve seen a couple of references online comparing Keamy to Mikhail. Like “Patchy” Keamy proved hard to kill. He had an awesome fight with Sayid and then took a bullet in the back from Richard, who came back to his former leader Ben’s aid. But just like Mikhail, just when you forget about him, Keamy walks right back into the picture.

Lots of fans’ speculation was confirmed when Keamy revealed that if his heart stops, the freighter blows. Ben could care less about that and proceeded to stab Keamy in the neck. Locke was concerned and kept him alive as long as possible, but Ben’s response was classic, “So.”

I’ve seen people question why Locke didn’t hurry and put the monitor on himself, but I guess the second that he removed it from Keamy, the freighter would blow.

This is what we’ve waited four years for

Once Keamy and his men are taken out, Ben keeps Richard’s promise and allows Kate and Sayid to go to the chopper to leave the island, “That’s it?” Kate asked. “That’s it,” Ben said. Sure, that’s it. No strings attached. Right. Hurley, Sawyer and Jack meet up with them and Frank at the chopper then it’s off the island for them. Seeing them fly off the island (even though we’ve seen Sayid, Sun and Jin leave) was the culmination of four years of Lost. Our main characters, Jack, Kate Hurley and Sawyer had gotten off the island. But their joy was shot lived when they started losing fuel. Leading to…

Sawyer, the hero

Sawyer didn’t really want to leave the island, but he loves Kate and was leaving with her. When it came down to the chopper needing to lose some weight, Sawyer made his choice (as Jack said in “Something Nice Back Home”). He whispered something to Kate (her future errand), gave her a good bye kiss and took a leap out the chopper.

Sawyer continued his new heroic change and sacrificed for the others. He ends up on the beach with Juliette, who has been drinking Dharma issued Rum. There’s a potential future romance for these two. We’ve seen them together before in “Through the Looking Glass” when they trek back to the beach to take out the Others. Here the mood is subdued as they look out at the freighter, their once passage off the island.

The Freighter

And what exactly was happening on the freighter? Michael, Jin and Desmond were trying their best to figure out a way to take out Keamy’s bomb, but they could think of nothing. Michael came up with an idea to by them a bit of time by freezing the bomb’s battery, but in typical Lost fashion, they nitrogen take would soon run out. Once Keamy’s heart stopped beating, the green light on the bomb went from green to red, meaning that as soon as the battery warmed up, the freighter was a goner.

Desmond went up to the main deck to prepare everyone to leave. He started getting life vests together, but then spotted the helicopter. The chopper was out of fuel and had to land, despite Desmond’s warnings about the bomb. A quick Nascar like fuel up and the chopper had to take off again. Desmond hopped aboard and Kate went to get Jin, but there was no time. Jack made the decision not to leave without her, and made her get on the chopper along with Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Aaron (the rest of the Oceanic 6).

Meanwhile, Michael is running out of nitrogen. Just then we hear whispers and Christian Sheppard appears and tells Michael that he can go now. The island is finished with Michael and is letting him die. It’s weird that Christian Sheppard delivered this news to Michael. I know it was likely the island’s manifestation, but why not Libby, a character that Michael had a history with?

Just as the helicopter was taking off, Jin appeared on the deck, but it was too late to go back. Sun was excellent in this scene. The panic and fear she displayed made you really feel for her as she knew she’d never see Jin again…then KABOOM!

We are left to wonder, as Sun does, if Jin got off the boat. Did he dive in the water, knowing that the freighter was about to blow? I guess this is another mystery that will linger until next season. As for Michael, I’m surprised they killed him off already. With all the hype in bringing him back, they didn’t do much with him this year. It sort of feels like a let down.

The Orchid

After months of build-up, we finally enter the Orchid station, where experiments were done on traveling through space and time. Ben gives Locke the orientation video to keep him occupied while he tends to some work (like placing many metal objects in the vault, which the video says to never do). Locke watches the video, but suddenly it starts to rewind back to the beginning. Locke can’t stop the player. This was pretty weird, but they didn’t dwell on it.

Ben dons the Dharma Parka that we saw him wearing in “The Shape of Things to Come,” and tells Locke that whoever moves the island has to leave it forever. Ben feels that Locke is the new chosen one, so he feels like Jacob wants him to move the island. Locke is designated as the new leader of the Others. Ben apologized for all the stuff he’s put Locke through and they part ways.

Locke finds the Others waiting for him outside. This is what Locke has been preparing for, he’s finally where he thinks the island wants him to be. Richard tells Locke, welcome home. From what we know about Locke’s future, I wonder what went wrong once the island was moved. With only a few of the 815 survivors left on the island, it seems like the Others will have free run of the place. Now that Locke is the leader of the Others, will be get control over Smokey? Is this where the problems come? Does Smokey rebel now that Ben’s gone?

I also wonder where’s Harper, Goodwin’s wife? We saw her in “The Other Woman,” when she appeared to Juliette in the jungle and said Ben’s right where he wants to be. Where was she went Richard and the Others took Locke as their leader. Also, where’s Cindy (flight attendant) and the kids from 815. Are they all still back at the Temple? If so, how many others are left?

The Frozen Donkey Wheel

Ben blew a hole in the vault with all the metal he had placed in it. This opened the way to go deeper into the island’s core. After falling on the ladder and injuring his right arm (remember “The Shape of Things to Come”), he ends up in an ancient room with hieroglyphics on the walls and a huge frozen wheel in the center…the frozen donkey wheel we were told about. I love that they actually gave away part of the finale, but no one knew that they’d really done so.

Ben uses all of his strength to get the wheel going. He knows that this is the end of his time on the island. He tells Jacob, “I hope you’re happy now” and moves the island. I’m not sure if Ben knew what was going to happen to him, as in the beginning of “The Shape of Things to Come,” he looks pretty confused.

The island moving was awesome. The sky turned bright (just like when Desmond turned the failsafe). We see shots of Juliette and Sawyer, the Others and Daniel with the other survivors in the speedboat all shielding their eyes from the brightness. The helicopter is flying back to the island since they only have limited fuel, then Bloop! The island is gone.

A hole in the water is left where the island once was, but there are no remains of it. Not the second island, not Daniel in the speedboat, nothing. This was one of the best scenes we’ve seen on Lost. Everyone had been wonder how they would move the island and I loved seeing it gone. The fear on the faces of those in the chopper showed that they were stunned. So where did the island go? Did it physically travel to a new location? Did it just jump through time? Forward or back?

What happened to everyone?

Once the island disappears, we stay with the chopper. They crash when they run out of fuel, everyone survives, despite a scare with Desmond. So what happens to everyone else? Charlotte and Miles were on the beach with other survivors like Rose and Bernard. Sawyer and Juliette were on the beach and Locke was with the Others just outside the Orchid. Jin may or may not be floating in the water near the freighter.

Was everyone transported with the island? The only one that would likely not have been was Daniel. Will he make it his mission to get back to the island to find Charlotte, if he didn’t get transported too? While on the subject of Charlotte, wasn’t her conversation with Miles interesting? Out of the four new characters, her story is the one that they didn’t spend much time on this year. It will be interesting to see where it goes. It sure sounds like she was born on the island. She definitely has been there before, as many speculated when she first arrived there. What of the issue of no being able to be born on the island then, if she was? I don’t think she’ll turn out to be Ben’s childhood crush, Annie, but she may have been part of the Dharma Initiative with Ben.

Not Penny’s Boat

With a homage to Lost’s first season finale, a boat approaches the survivors raft. It’s not Zeke and the Others, but it’s actually Penny’s boat. We get an emotional reunion between Desmond and Penny, one that fans have been yearning for since Desmond’s story was fleshed out in Season 2. So this season, we’ve seen Sayid reunite with Nadia and Desmond with Penny. That’s two big series questions answered right there.

Before getting on Penny’s boat, we find out where the Oceanic 6’s story came from…it’s Jack’s story. Locke had told Jack that they’d have to lie to protect the island and everyone who was left. Jack realizes this is true now (despite refusing to believe that Locke really moved the island). Jack says to let him do the talking and he comes up with the whole plan. We move forward to a week later and we find out how the 6 arrived on Membata. Penny helped to set the whole thing up by lending them the raft and getting them close enough to wash ashore.

There are many questions and holes in the Oceanic 6’s story. Why’d they chose Boone, Libby and Charlie as the other three survivors who ended up dying (as seen in the extended press conference from Part 1). Instead of figuring that the general public would not believe the crazy story about the island and what really happened, they chose to lie to protect everyone else. But they saw the island disappear. How do they know there is anyone else? They must also fear for their own lives. They know someone staged the wreckage of their flight, so they know someone has high stakes on keeping the island a secret.

It was also great to see that Desmond and Frank survived. So where are they in the flashforward future? They are both laying low, no doubt, but what are they doing? Is Frank searching for the island now? Is Desmond hiding away with Penny? What does Penny's dad think of Desmond now that he's spend 3+ years on the island? This will be part of the storyline fleshed out in Season 5 and I cannot wait for it to start. Too bad we have to wait until January 2009...Yes, that's correct, 2009!

Next on Lost: Octagon Global Recruiting

*Photos from Lost-Media.com and losteastereggs.blogspot.com

Saints Mini Camp This Weekend

The Saints will hold their mandatory mini camp practices this weekend with Saturday morning's practice being open to the public. I will not be attending, but if you go, here's a few things to watch for during the practices:

1. Wide Reciever Battle: The Saints typically keep five WRs on the main roster (Last year, they kept six to hold onto the inactive Robert Meachem). With depth that includes Marques Colston, David Patten, Devery Henderson, Meachem, Lance Moore, Terrance Copper, Skyler Green and Adrian Arrington, there will be some tough cuts in training camp. It's likely that behind Colston, Patten and Meachem, the remaining two receivers will have be be able to play special teams. This gives the nod to Copper, who I think Coach Payton prefers to Moore. Rookie 7th rounder Arrington has been impressive thus far in camp, so be sure to watch him in these practices. Also keep an eye on Meachem, who's healthy for the first time since being drafted by the Saints.
   
2. Improvement in the Secondary: The Saints brought in Aaron Glenn, Randall "Blue" Gay and rookie Tracy Porter this offseason to improve the team's weakest link, the secondary. Glenn, Mike McKenzie and safety Josh Bullocks won't practice this weekend so look for others to get to run with the first unit. Jason David was horrible last year, so it will be interesting to see if he has improved after a year in the Saints system. Porter will get lots of playing time this year, as will fan favorite Usama Young. There will be some tough cuts here as well as Jason Craft, David, or Glenn may not make the roster.
3. Who's Going to Carry the Load at Running Back?: Reggie Bush showed last year that he wasn't capable of handling the bulk of the work at RB. He's better suited as a hybrid WR/RB, like his rookie year. Deuce McAllister is still recovering from offseason knee surgeries, so Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker will get extra work at RB. Both proved to be capable NFL runners last year and are vying for playing time, should Deuce not be able to come back. Fans would love to see Thomas get more carries. It will be interesting to see how Payton handles the RB situation.
4. The Sederick Ellis Hype Machine: Ellis was unblockable at the Senior Bowl practices. Then the Saints reported that he was dominant at Rookie Camp. So let's see what he can do against starting caliber guards and centers. Remember that the team won't be wearing pads, so it will be hard to gage the battles in the trenches, but Ellis will have the eyes of the Black and Gold Nation on him the minute he walks on the practice field. Fans will wonder if he was worth trading up for and if he'll be the savior for the defense? Mr. Benson will be wondering if he'll be worth the contract he'll have to fork over for him.
5. Disgruntled Players: Will Smith, Marques Colston and Jahri Evans are due for new contracts, as all are reaching the end of their rookie deals. Colston and Evans have most certainly outplayed their current deals. There's been the most rumbling from Smith, who hasn't attended OTAs yet, but he'll be in town for mini camp. All three should get new deals as they are among the best young players, not only on the team, but in the entire NFL.
   
6. Kicking Battle: Veteran Martin Gramatica will battle rookie Taylor Mehlhaff for the kicking job for the Saints. Mehlhaff has the stronger leg and was the first kicker taken in the draft. Gramatica was signed last season when Olindo Mare was injured, and he kicked a perfect 5/5 on field goals. He is a fiery kicker, but he's not the Pro Bowler that he once was. Mehlhaff will be given every opportunity to win the job.
   
7. The Man in the Middle: Starting center Jeff Faine took the cash and landed in Tampa Bay during the offseason. This leaves the job to Jonathan Goodwin with Matt Lehr backing him up. The Saints must feel confident in Goodwin because they didn't address this major need in the draft. Goodwin has been a productive backup since coming to New Orleans in 2006. He started a couple of games for the Black and Gold, and there was no real drop off from Faine.
8. Backup QB Job: The Saints backup QB job will come down to a pair of lefties, Mark Brunell and Tyler Palko. Brunell has the upper hand as a seasoned veteran, but he was demoted to 3rd sting in Washington last year. Palko has been in Payton's system for over a year now and should know the playbook a lot better than Brunell.
   

It should be a fun and interesting minicamp. We're a little less than two months away from training camp and soon after that, preseason games. The football season is right around the corner!

Doc Jensen's take on the Lost Finale

Internet Lost fans know that Jeff Jensen of EW.com does one of the best Lost columns each week. Here's his take on last night's finale. I'll have my view on it up sometime in the near future.

Lost Alternate Endings

One of the biggest mysteries on Lost has been who's in the coffin from "Through the Looking Glass." Well, we found out last night, but in order to keep it a secret, they filmed alternative endings to throw would be spoilers off the trail.

Here's two other endings that were filmed:

Rant Time

So I'm watching the awesome season finale of Lost last night. The first hour was great. We come back from a commercial and future Sayid lights up some dude and then, frozen screen. What's going on? The audio is still going, but the picture hasn't changed.

A little while later, Sun comes on the screen, but the picture immediately freezes again. Then Juliette appears and boom, frozen screen again. Finally after about 25 minutes, everything is back to normal and we're in the Orchid station. What did we miss? A lot.

Thank you Cox and WBRZ (local ABC affiliate) for giving me something to do today as I look for the lost 20 minutes of "There's No Place Like Home" on ABC.com.

Ready for the "Frozen Donkey Wheel?"

Each year, the producers/writers of Lost nickname the highlight twist in the season finale. Last year, Jack's flashforward was dubbed the "rattlesnake in the mailbox," since it was suck a freak out moment when the audience realized that they had been watching the future the hole time.

This year's twist comes in the form of the "frozen donkey wheel." It's tough to speculate what this moment will be in tonight's finale. We've already seen the Ocean 6 get off the island, but we haven't seen the events leading up to their departure. Will that be the frozen donkey wheel? What about Locke going into the Orchid Station to move the island? That definitely seems like a huge moment coming up. In any sense, I can't wait to see what the final two hours of Season 4 have in store for us.

There's lots of stuff on the Web today that is Lost related. I'll update these throughout the day as I come across more:

• The hardest Lost quiz ever
• Odds on who's in the coffin
  
• Four seasons of Lost in one pilot episode
• 15 Best Moments from Season 4
  
• A look at the Lost scripts
• TV Guide Interview with Ben (Micheal Emerson), Part 2
• Doc Jensen's Preview of "There's No Place Like Home" (Part 2)
  

NFL Draft Countdown Reviews the Saints Draft

NFL Draft Countdown, my favorite draft site on the Web, is going through team-by-team draft reviews right now. Today, the Saints draft review was posted. He gives the Saints an A-, and I agree with his assessment of the Saints selections.

Lost Flashforwards in 8:42

To get ready for tomorrow's season finale of Lost, here's one youtuber's awesome effort to put all the flashforwards in chronological order.

LSU at Washington in 2009

Many LSU fans were left scratching their heads when the 2008 football schedule was finally completed. Rumors were swirling around Baton Rouge about opening up against the high powered offense of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, but apparently Texas Tech didn't want to come to Baton Rouge in their first game.

Appalachian State was quickly tabbed to fill the void and with ESPN picking the game up for national TV, LSU couldn't refuse the former Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) power. ESPN will promote the game as National Champion versus National Champion.

The disappointment fans felt in not getting a BCS opponent in 2008 had to be turned into excitement as LSU announced their 2009 season opener, the PAC 10's Washington Huskies. LSU will open the 2009 season on Sept. 5 at Washington. The Huskies will make a return trip to Baton Rouge in 2012.

LSU fans looking for a unique road trip, can look no further than Seattle. How many times will South Louisianians have a reason to travel to the Northwestern most part of our country? Look for many Tiger fans to make the trek northward.

LSU has recently played PAC 10 teams such as Oregon State, Arizona and Arizona State. The Tigers have played home-and-home series with Virginia Tech recently and will play teams like Colorado and TCU in the near future.

With LSU getting back into scheduling the PAC 10, fans can only hope that a future date with USC (a rival in the polls but not on the field recently) is in the works. As for Washington, LSU has only played the Huskies one other time, winning 40-14 in 1983.

Is Ben's baton the key?

Could the Lost producers have planned this far ahead? The previous link takes to you a screen capture from the Pilot episode of Lost. The first scene of the entire show focuses on Jack opening his eye. Then the camera pans back and there's a small black object next to him. Speculation is that this object is Ben's baton (the same one he used to beat up the guys in the desert in "The Shape of Things to Come").

Speculation is also out there that Ben's baton is a key to the whole mystery on the show. Is is some sort of teleport? He passes the baton to Locke in "There's No Place Like Home," but he has it back in his future.

What do you think?

I think it would be awesome if this was planned out this far in advance, but I doubt that it was. The black object may resemble Ben's weapon, but I think it's just a coincidence.

FYI: The last two hours of "There's No Place Like Home" will air this on May 29. Prior to the new two hours, ABC will air Part 1 again...with bonus footage! The footage includes an extended press conference. Don't miss it.

There's No Place Like Home (Part 1)

Last week, viewers saw the first hour of the Season 4 finale with "There's No Place Like Home (Part 1)." Lost takes a break this week before the last two-hours of the season are revealed next week. So, with no Lost to keep you occupied tonight, here are my thoughts on the first part of the finale.

The Oceanic 6 Come Home
The off island flashforward focused on what happened immediately after the Oceanic 6 get off the island. We see them flying to Hawaii for their first press conference and to meet up with their families. Jack once again is the leader of the group as he answers for the rest about doing the press conference and tells the others that they all know the story and if there's a question they don't want to answer just keep your mouths shut. Jack says that the press will think they're in shock, to which Sun replies, we are in shock.

So what happened to them just before leaving the island? We have seen the build-up to their departure and the future results, but haven't seen all the details yet.

When we leave the group on the island, the Oceanic 6 are scattered all over the place. Sayid and Kate are captured by the Others, Jack is with Sawyer and they've met up with Frank at the chopper. Hurley is with Ben and Locke at The Orchid. Sun has Aaron on the freighter. So how does this group of 6 people get together and get off the island? I think this is the main question that the producers want us to ponder leading into the last two hours.

Stubborn Jack
On the island, Jack, despite just having his appendix out, decides that he and Kate must go out and find the chopper. They soon come across Miles, Sawyer and Aaron. Questions arise about Claire and it is revealed to Sawyer that Claire didn't go back to the beach. Sawyer updates them on what Keamy and his group did to them at New Otherton. Jack still believes he has to go find the chopper, since it's their only way off the island. He sends the rest back to the beach and Sawyer decides to go with him because Jack doesn't get to die alone.

Its funny that Jack and Sawyer have to team up again and it really shows how far Sawyer's character has come. In season 1, he would have happily let Jack go off in the jungle by himself, but now he feels obligated to help out. From him saving Claire, protecting Aaron and now going on Jack's mission, the past few weeks have really shown what kind of hero Sawyer is.

The Press Conference
Just after arriving in Hawaii, The Oceanic 6 are greeted by their families, everyone except Kate/Aaron and Sayid (who later meets up with Nadia) and they are ushered off to the press conference. The Oceanic representative gives the press the believed location of Flight 815 and gives the location of Membata as the island that the group survived on. On day 103 a typhoon washed up a fishing boat with supplies and a raft. One day 108 the group used the raft to get to Sumba. A photo is shown of them arriving at Sumba.

As we know, there's a major cover-up going on here, but who set it all up? Oceanic? Ben? Widmore? Someone else? To even include photo proof of them arriving at Sumba, shows how much this was planned out. The other question is why would Jack and company agree to this cover-up? What's their motive to going along with the story and not telling anyone else about the island or their friends and family members that were left behind? We're sure to get some interesting info on this very soon.

The press ask a few questions to the group. They ask Jack about how he survived the crash. Fun is poked at Hurley for his weight and having not lost much during his time on the island. He throws out a Dude and everyone laughs. Hurley reiterates that he doesn't want his lottery money. Kate is asked about giving birth on the island and her criminal history is brought up. Sun is asked if her husband was one of the other two people who survived the crash but died on the island, and Sun says that he didn't survive the crash. The question is thrown out about possible other survivors, to which Sayid says that no absolutely not.

You could tell that the questions were tough for the group to answer, but they had their stories straight. From the looks of everyone, it seems that Kate and Sun are having the hardest time when they first get off the island. So perhaps Jin really did die and Kate is also mourning the loss of Sawyer. Kate could also be more traumatized by the fact that she will now have to raise Aaron.

Daniel to the Rescue
Once Daniel finds out that Keamy and his group are headed for The Orchid, he starts to get worried. He knows about the secondary protocol and tells Charlotte that they have to get off the island. Sayid shows up in the speedboat and plans to start bringing people to the freighter. Once he learns that Jack and Kate went after the chopper, he knows he needs to do something. Daniel steps up and volunteers to taxi people to the freighter. Just then, Kate/Aaron and Miles show up back on the beach. Kate hands Aaron off to Sun and heads off with Sayid to help him track Jack and Sawyer.

The first group to leave includes Aaron, Sun and Jin, who is beaming because he is fulfilling his promise to get his wife and their baby off the island. The scene was great as we see yet some more of our Flight 815 survivors get off the island. Little do they know, they are heading right into the mouth of more danger.

Who's the Boss Now?
Sun shows up at her dad's company with some great news for him, she now owns a controlling interest in the company. Oceanic had given the six a large settlement and she used hers to buy a majority share in the company. Sun's dad hated Jin, and she partially blames him for his death. It is because of him that they were on Flight 815 in the first place. She said that two people are responsible for his death but doesn't give the details of the other person. So who is it? Widmore? Keamy? Ben? Michael? Daniel? Someone else? Who does Sun blame?

Further, does this cloud or clear up the discussion on whether Jin is dead or not? Is Sun still playing along with the ruse that he or was she just led to believe he's dead? From her demeanor on the flight to Hawaii at the beginning of the episode and this conversation with her dad, I'm starting to lean toward the Jin's dead camp.

The Numbers Return
After the show had gotten away from focusing on the numbers for the past couple of seasons, the producers give a nod to the fans and have the numbers show up on Hurley's odometer. Is this the start of Hurley losing it again? He is driving the car in the future ("The Beginning of the End") so his saying that he doesn't want the car didn't last to long. I wonder if his dad had to drive it around a bit to get off the numbers before he'd get back behind the wheel or if the odometer is stuck and Hurley has to stare at the numbers every time he gets in the car.

His parents had threw him a surprise party and just before Hurley stepped outside for the surprise reveal, we heard whispers. The whispers alluded to the ones heard on the island, but it was just his family waiting to surprise him outside. His parents picked an island theme for the party, which Sayid comments is an interesting choice of them. It was pretty funny that that's the theme they picked.

Jack, you have (or is it had?) a sister
Jack finally gets back to the states to give his dad a proper funeral. Despite seeing him walking around on the island (in a suit and white tennis shoes), Jack and his family and friends mourn the loss of Christian. Following the funeral, Jack finally hears the news about Claire. Claire's mom introduces herself to Jack and let's him know the reason why his dad was in Australia in the first place.

She then let's Jack in on another bit of information. Christian's daughter was also on Flight 815...her name was Claire. Jack is hit emotionally by this information, but he holds it together. Claire's mom must just think that he's hit emotionally by meeting a family member of someone who was on his flight. Claire's mom then passes Kate, who is holding Aaron. She comments to Kate that Aaron is a beautiful.

So we finally get an answer! Will Jack find out Claire is his sister? The answer is YES, but unfortunately, he didn't find out while he was still on the island with Claire. This also adds insight to Jack's future and why he has a hard time seeing Aaron.

One Small Problem with the Freighter
Daniel drops off the first group at the freighter and goes back to the island to pick up more people. Sun and Jin see Michael on the boat and they are surprised to see him, to say the least. Michael gives the story about how him and Walt got off the island. He said they followed Ben's barring and found an island with people. They sold the boat and got back to the states.

Michael has fixed the engines and it looks like the freighter will be able to head to the island...until they discover that there's some RF interference, and they can't read the navigation system to maneuver through the reef (This reminded me of one of the challenges in the Find815 game, where you had to navigate the boat through a reef).

Since the communication room is a wreck, they aren't sure what could be jamming the system. The small problem is soon discovered. The freighter is rigged with a ton of explosives. I guess we know what that device on Keamy's arm turned out to be. It has to be some sort of detonator for the freighter. Speculation is that it is tied to Keamy's heartbeat. If his heart stops (i.e. if he is killed), the freighter blows. This is not good news for the futures of Desmond, Jin, Michael or any of the other people who Daniel brings to the freighter.

We know Sun and Aaron turn out fine, but how does she get back with the rest of the Oceanic 6? Are she and Aaron brought back to the island before something bad happens on the freighter? Will all the freighter people be brought to the island when Daniel learns of the explosives? Desmond said that he'll never go back, so what does that mean for him? Since the island is on a different time line than the freighter, will pieces of "blown up" boat start washing ashore on the island even before Keamy is killed?

The Others are Back
Kate and Sayid are tracking Jack and Sawyer, but someone else finds them first. Ageless Richard and the rest of the surviving Others find them with guns drawn. Looks like two of our Oceanic 6 are now in the same position they were at the end of Season 2, as The Others' prisoners. So has this group been shacked up at the Temple this whole time?

The Orchid
My favorite part of the episode was Hurley, Ben and Locke's journey to The Orchid. Locke was told to move the island and to do so requires going to yet another Dharma station. Apparently, moving the island isn't a very easy task, as Ben tells Hurley.

Before getting to the station, Ben leads them to a box containing 15-year old crackers (which Hurley eats), a mirror and binoculars, among other things. Ben uses the mirror to communicate with one of his people to insure that its safe to travel to The Orchid. Who was he communicating with? Locke asks, and Ben's reply is who do you think? Locke then asks what did you tell them and Ben says none of your business. So Ben is back in charge or has he just always been?

Once they arrive at the station, they discover that Keamy's group is already there. Ben lets it be known that he wasn't entirely truthful about not knowing why Widmore wanted to find the island. With the little history that we've seen of Widmore and Ben's relationship, it's no surprise that Ben knows a lot more than he's letting on.

In order to allow Locke access to the station, Ben decides to turn himself in. He tells Locke just before turning himself in that he always has a plan. Ben gives Locke his baton weapon before leaving, so we know he meets up with Locke again as he has the weapon in the future. He walks right up to Keamy and says that he is Benjamin Linus and that's where we are left to ponder how this season will wrap up.


I can't wait for the finish of "There's No Place Like Home." We have an idea of where we're going, but we're not quite sure how we're getting there.

The Oceanic 6 are off the island, but how'd they get together and get chosen to depart? Who organized the departure? What's going to happen at The Orchid? How exactly does one go about moving an island? If Locke goes into The Orchid, what does Hurley do? What's to come of the freighter full of explosives? Is Claire really dead? How does Jack get off the island, but Sawyer does not? Why are the Others back and armed? Who has Ben been communicating with? Is Jin alive? Will Desmond meet up with Penny? Now that Ben is captured, what will Keamy do with him? Questions, questions, questions.

Next on Lost: There's No Place Like Home (Part 2)

*Photos from Lost-Media.com

Hornets Dream Season Comes to an End

The Hornets fell to the Spurs in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals, ending their season. What a season it has been for the Hornets! Basketball was revived in the Big Easy, Chris Paul put himself in the discussion for MVP, the Hornets set a team record for victories and won their first ever Southwest Division Title.

Unfortunately, losing in Game 7 at home leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The Hornets killed the Spurs in Games 1 & 2 and looked to be on their way to routing San Antonio. The only problem, the Hornets could not win on the road. Coming into Game 7, the home team had won every game of the series. The Spurs were the defending champs and took care of business against a tentative Hornets team.

Before this series, analysts questioned the Hornets experience. Were they ready for this stage? Apparently not. They failed on the road and ultimately didn't handle the Game 7 pressure very well.

But on the bright side, the future is more than bright for this club. The team will return mostly in tact next year with playoff experience. They'll likely add another piece or two to the squad and make a run at the playoff again next year.

As long as Chris Paul is in the Big Easy, the Hornets will be NBA title contenders.

Lost Season Finale Part 1...Tonight!

Season 4 of Lost is coming to an end, but don't fear, there are still two more nights of Lost for you to enjoy, tonight and May 29. The 3-hour season finale has been split into two parts, with hour one airing tonight and the other two hours coming in two weeks (the show takes a break next week for Grey's Anatomy to air their season ender).

So get pumped! You know that Lost season ending episodes always pay off. In Season 1, we were given the raft sailing off the island, Walt getting kidnapped by the Others and the hatch finally being opened. Season 2 left us with the fail safe key being turned, the hatch imploding and our main Losties being held captive by Ben and his group. Season 3 threw the biggest curve ball with the reveal of flashforwards (or as the producers called it, the rattlesnake in the mailbox). So what will Season 4 have for us? The producers have called this year's "twist" the frozen donkey wheel, whatever that means.

Doc Jensen at EW.com always provides great insight on upcoming episodes. Here's his preview of "There's No Place Like Home."

Iron Man Rocks

I was skeptical of seeing Hollywood's latest comic book movie effort in Iron Man, but I left the theater more than satisfied. Iron Man is definately worth the price of admission and will launch a new line of Marvel flicks, culminating in The Avengers in 2011.

I would like to commend Jon Favreau for his vision of Iron Man. He took a realistic approach in portraying Tony Stark similar to Christopher Nolan's vision for Batman. Iron Man stayed away from cheesy love triangles or a 1970s era dance sequences down the sidewalk and stuck with a good story.

I wasn't too familiar with the Iron Man comic before this movie, but after hearing about Marvel's future releases (Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor and The Avengers), I look forward to seeing this franchise's future. As long as they keep Jon Favreau involved in these future movies, the series will be a hit.

Cabin Fever

Throughout Lost, we've seen John Locke overcome odds and display "special" traits. In "Cabin Fever," we get to see his birth and the circumstances surrounding his early life.

Locke, the Chosen One
From the start of Locke's life, he's had to overcome odds. He was born prematurely when his 16 year old mother was hit by a car and rushed to the hospital. A few years later, we see him in high school getting picked on and locked in a locker. Lastly we see a flashback of him soon after being paralyzed doing some rehabilitation exercises. Throughout his life, the odds were stacked against him, but he always overcame them. From having numerous illnesses soon after birth and being the youngest premature baby to survive in that hospital, Locke's life started his days of letting people know not to tell him what he can't do.

Locke's mom, Emily, shares the same name as Ben's mother. Emily was 16 at the time of his birth and made the decision to give Locke up for adoption, having never held him. She was apparently seeing Locke's dad, Anthony Cooper, who was much older than her at the time.

Deja Vu
Locke, Hurley and Ben are searching for Jacob's cabin, but none of them seem to know where its located, especially since Ben was following Hurley, who wasn't even in the lead. They make camp for the night and Locke has another of his island visions. Man, this guy meets alot of people in his dreams. This time its Horace Goodspeed of the Dharma Initiative.

Horace is chopping down trees to build a cabin (Locke later guesses that he built Jacob's place). The scene is weird because Horace does the same thing over and over again. At first I thought it was a mistake that they had used the same shot of the tree falling, but Horace was just on a loop. He told Locke to find him and he'd find Jacob. Locke then knew that he had to go back to the Dharma Pit.

When Locke awoke, he had his plan. Ben knew what had happened and commented that he used to have dreams too. Why is Ben losing his connection to the island and why is Locke's connection gaining strength?

Haven't We Met Before?
Richard Alpert, the ageless other, shows up a couple of times in Locke's early life. First he's at the hospital when Locke's still in an incubator. Then he visits Locke at his home when he's a young child. Lastly, he or someone else from Mittlos Bioscience brings a brochure to Locke's school to try to get him to come to a science camp.

So why is Richard so interested in Locke? How did he know about him when he was just born? Is he traveling in time from a future island point to try to rectify some situation? Also, with their meeting when he was a boy, wouldn't Locke remember Richard? The test he gave him would have likely stuck in his memory. Richard also notices a drawing young Locke has done. It's of a pillar of smoke and a man laid out next to it. Is Locke having visions of Smokey or has his conscience traveled through time like Desmond?

Locke also meets up with one Matthew Abadon, who is working as an orderly but says he's not just an orderly, when he's in the hospital after being paralyzed. Abadon tells Locke not to give up, anything's possible. Locke says that he doesn't believe in miracles and Abadon says that he should, that one happened to him. He tells him that he needs to go on a walk about (As we saw in Locke's first flashback, this was the reason he went to Australia). This is before Locke became a man of faith. Abadon tell him that he went on his walk about thinking he was one thing and came back another. He leaves Locke by telling him that he'll listen to what he said and when they run into each other again, he'll owe him one.

So technically Abadon is responsible for getting Locke to the island. Is this what he meant by Locke owing him one? Does he have the ability to see the future or can he time travel as well? When will they meet again? I can't wait to see what Locke owes Abadon. I don't fell that this was just a throw away line. Abadon wants something from him, and he'll get it.

This is Only a Test
In Locke's flashback, Richard gives Locke a test by showing him some items (baseball glove, vile of sand, Book of Laws, a compass, Mystery Tales comic book, and a knife). Richard asks Locke to pick out which of these things belong to him already. Locke picks the sand, compass and lastly the knife. Apparently the knife was the wrong choice as Richard seemed to get angry and said that the knife didn't belong to him. He leaves and says that Locke isn't ready for their school. So was he not ready for the island then? Did Locke have to experience things and get his faith before he was chosen to come to the island.

The comic book was a story about a "Hidden Land." Is this book about the island? How does it fit into the overall mystery of the show? This whole test was difficult to evaluate. He didn't ask which items you like or want. He asked which ones already belong to you.

So Who's Decision was the Purge?
When Ben, Hurley and Locke go to the Dharma Initiative pit, Ben said that it wasn't him who killed all those people. Hurley asks if it was the Others and Ben says yes, but it wasn't his decision. He says that it was their leaders' decision and that he wasn't always the guy in charge. So who was the leader then? Richard? Who made the decision to purge the D.I. (as Horace calls it)? From what we've seen in Ben's flashback, he met Richard, but he couldn't join the Others for a while. Then the Others helped him gas the rest of the Dharma Initiative. There's definitely more to this flashback and hopefully we get the information soon.

Calling Commando
Keamy was nuts in this episode. He is officially the most hated person ever on the show, and not just because he killed Alex in front of Ben. He makes it back to the freighter and finds out that Michael ratted him out to Ben. His attempts to shoot Michael don't work as his gun is broken. Remember, the island won't let Michael die yet.

Keamy then shows who's really in charge on the boat and starts to implement the secondary protocol. No one is real sure what this mission is, but it involves Ben and the Orchid Station (as the binder had the Orchid logo on it). Keamy said that Ben would be going there. He also wants to know how many people are on the island and where they are located. Sayid doesn't reveal this info to him and makes a plan of his own to get back to the island. But he has to go alone because Desmond isn't going back to that place after being stuck there for 3 years.


Keamy loads up bombs and has what looks to be a detonating device strapped to his arm. He takes no prisoners as he kills the captain, who was trying to stop him. Keamy is bad news for our Losties, and he is the one that the island is trying to stop.

Bad News Doc
We see the freighter doctor alive and well in this episode, until one of Keamy's men fills him in on the Morse Code message he received about the doctor showing up on the island dead. A few moments later, and Keamy slashes his throat to get Frank to fly them back to the island. Well, there's one question answered...sort of. We now see how the doctor died, but we still don't know how his body washed on the shore a few days before.

Jack, AKA Wolverine
Jack had his appendix out just last episode, but now he's up walking around and disobeying Juliette's orders to stay in his tent. They hear Frank's chopper and as it passes overhead, Frank drops his bag to them containing his satellite phone. In all of Jack's wisdom, he decides that they must want them to follow the chopper. Umm...I don't think they want you to follow them Jack. Run the other way, brother.

Finally, The Cabin
We finally got to the scenes that everyone had been waiting for with Locke going in the cabin. Ben and Hurley stayed on the outside as Ben felt like his time was over, and Hurley simply didn't want to go inside. We got a heartfelt moment between the two when they split Hurley's Apollo bar.

Locke goes in looking for Jacob and gets Christian Sheppard and his daughter, Claire. Christian asks Locke if he knows why he's there. Locke says its because he was chosen to be and Christian says that's right. Christian offers no other answers and tells Locke that there's no time for all his questions. He also says not to let anyone else know that Claire was there. Christian, who says he can speak on Jacob's behalf, tells Locke to ask the important question. Locke asks, "How do I save the island?" Locke comes out of the cabin and tells Ben and Hurley what he was told to do, move the island.

First, the island moves?!? One does not simply walk into Mordor and one cannot simply move an island. How does one go about moving an island exactly? Did Christian give Locke this information? Is there a wheelhouse somewhere that you can steer it? Does it move physically or does it move through time? Many have speculated that the island moves, but now that we've gotten confirmation, I don't know where this will go now. And from the previews of next week's episode, it looks like Keamy's men still made it there.

Then there's the whole weirdness surrounding Claire. Is she dead? Possessed by island spirits? She's obviously not A.OK. She had a weird vibe going and seemed to be out of it. I don't think this is the real Claire that we've seen throughout Lost. Locke was mostly taken aback by the fact that Aaron wasn't with her. Christian said that the baby's where he's supposed to be and that's not here (the cabin). So the baby's supposed to be with Sawyer?

Man, this was one of the most blow-your-mind scenes on Lost so far. I'm clueless to where this is going but I am loving every minute of it.

Next on Lost: There's No Place Like Home (Part 1)

*Photos from Lost-Media.com and losteastereggs.blogspot.com