the tindog coffeehouse

Somewhat random thoughts and questions about last night’s zombie-filled episode of Lost:

• Whereas the past couple of episodes have been thought-provoking journeys down existential rabbit holes, last night mostly just left me scratching my head. For example…
• Why didn’t (or couldn’t) Dogen kill Sayid when he had the chance? Is it because he really can’t be killed? (He is undead after all.) Or because there are specific rules that have to be followed in order to kill him? (“An undead follower of Smokey can only be truly killed if he willingly takes poison from a trusted physician on the fourth Tuesday of the month, except for leap years or during a full moon, in which case all bets are off and you’re probably just going to end up being drowned in a bubbling pool of brown water.”)
• Or did Dogen not kill Sayid because it would nullify the agreement he signed with Jacob in exchange for his son’s resurrection? That seems to be what he was implying. (Man, Jacob puts a lot of fine print into these contracts!)
• And if Claire is really “infected”, why didn’t Dogen have her killed when he had the chance?
• And finally, why did Dogen really send Sayid out to impale Smokey? He obviously knew Smokey couldn’t be killed (again, I’m sure there are a whole bunch of rules involved), so there was definitely some other motive. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure what it was.
• If this isn’t the zombie season of Lost, then you coulda fooled me. Claire and Sayid sure looked like zombies as they followed Smokey out of the Temple. And when did this show turn into Invasion of the Body Snatchers anyway?
• Where the heck did all those other “recruits” come from? Were they people who fled the Temple and then got Smokey-fied on their way out, or have they always been around?
• Are any of them named Nikki and Paulo?
• Where is Sawyer? The last we saw of him was in the cave, where he supposedly agreed to go along with I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Locke, but he wasn’t with him last week or this week. Is he still trying to figure out how to get back up the rope ladders?
• Where’s Jin?
• Where’s Vincent? (Sorry. Obligatory.)
• Jack’s reaction when he gets back to the Temple: “Hey, you’ll never guess what we found on the other side of the– Hey, where did everybody go?”
• I’m still not sure about the whole sideways storyline. I’m sure it’s leading somewhere, but it mostly just seems like a distraction. Yes, we get it that all the characters are connected in the sideways world, but how does that relate to the island world?
• A couple of thoughts about the previews for next week, which seem to indicate that Ben dies. First, there is a huge unresolved aspect to the show: the ongoing chessmatch between Ben and Charles Widmore over control of the island. I’m gonna be really pissed if that is not properly addressed (and resolved!) within the larger context of the Jacob/Man In Black mythology. It doesn’t seem like that can happen if Ben dies next week.
• Second, Ben has devolved into this quirky, comical sidekick this season, and I don’t like it. Where’s the strong, lying, manipulative Benjamin Linus from previous seasons, the one who was always coercing people into doing his bidding? This is a character that needs to be broken emotionally, forced to admit and repent of his sins, and be redeemed in order to rise again, just as powerful as before but now on the good guys’ side. He can’t do that if he’s playing second-fiddle to Ilana and her band of merry misfits.

Previously:
Lost thoughts, Feb. 24
Lost thoughts, Feb. 17