The Lost Diary: Left Behind

Time for another edition of the "Lost" Diary.

I argued with quite a few friends over last week's episode. Most of them (and a lot of you) said that I was off, and that last week's show was actually really good. I had a hard time explaining my side until I read James Poniewozik, a blogger for Time.com. He wrote, "Last night's was a really cool episode of 'Lost.' That is a different thing, however, from a really good episode of 'Lost.'"

Sums it up perfectly. If someone can skip an episode of "Lost" and pick right up next week without having missed anything (because certainly no one will miss Nikki and Paulo), then that's not a good episode.

For all you "Lost" Diary newbies, here's how it goes. I gather with a group of friends watching "Lost," writing what happens on the show as it happens, and throwing in my two cents along the way. This week it's the usual crew -- Ari, Lauren and April -- except Matt is at the Lakers game, and my old college roommate Chris is in town. Let's roll:
Lost

10:00 -- It may have only lasted five seconds, but a chick fight is still a chick fight. Good times.

10:01 -- So the "Previously on 'Lost'" was about Sawyer, but we're getting a Kate flashback this week. That's kinda weird. Think Kate and Sawyer's ex will cross paths?

10:03 -- And there she is, running cons at a gas station. Kate and Cassidy are the new Thelma and Louise, just hotter.

10:05 -- Locke tells Kate he's leaving and that she is staying behind. Is it me or does Locke sound like he drank a giant glass of Others Kool-Aid?

10:09 -- Hurley tells Sawyer that they are planning to banish him unless he makes amends. Sawyer actually looks like his feelings are hurt.

10:10 -- Of all the frightening things I have seen on "Lost," watching the Others pack up all their stuff -- and put on GAS MASKS!!! -- has to be right up there. April thinks it's mustard gas, but Chris points out that since it's not World War I, it probably isn't mustard gas. Welcome to the party, Chris!

10:12 -- So let's do a little con man logic equation, shall we? Sawyer teaches Cassidy, who is apparently about to start teaching Kate. Thus, Sawyer taught Kate. Small world, ain't it?

10:14 -- Kate wakes up in the bushes ... handcuffed to Juliet. Interesting. And kinda hot.

10:18 -- "Ain't gonna get the Korean vote." -- Sawyer. Watching Sawyer fish is like watching Hurley run; you get the feeling that neither of them does it often.

10:20 -- Kate and Juliet together -- does have some level of suspense, but it's not like when Locke and Henry Gale get together.

10:22 -- "Welcome to the wonderful world of not knowing what the hell is going on." -- Kate. Hey, we've been there over two years, thank you very much.

10:24 -- Kate and Cassidy are kind of boring together. Thelma and Louise would kick their asses.

10:25 -- What percentage of guys watching "Lost" are debating who they'd rather sleep with, Kate or Juliet? I'll go with 80%.

10:26 -- Alright, I need everyone to be quiet right now. Kate and Juliet are about to have a cat fight, while handcuffed together, and in the pouring rain! This is what "Lost" would be like every week if it aired on Cinemax.
Lost

10:27 -- Damn it! Nothing ruins a catfight like an island monster growling.

10:30 -- So that was new. I don't think we've seen the island monster light up before. Juliet looks completely humbled.

10:32 -- Hurley is like the Ghost of Island Past, schooling Sawyer on all he's done wrong to people on the island. Too funny. The consensus in the room is that Hurley is making the whole exiled thing up.

10:34 -- "The reason Jack told you not to come back wasn't because he didn't want you to get hurt. It was because you broke his heart." Juliet to Kate. Ouch.

10:35 -- If Kate and Juliet ever do fight til the death, I'll be pulling for Juliet.

10:39 -- Note to the producers: More Desmond. If I ever met Henry Ian Cusack, the guy who plays him, I would have sign an autograph to me that read, "To Daniel, See ya in another life, brutha."

10:40 -- So Kate's reunion with her mom didn't go as planned. I think this scene is very telling. More on this later.
10:43 -- Kate and Juliet are having a pissing contest over who knows Jack better. Women. But that will have to wait, because the monster is back.
Lost

10:44 -- So Juliet had a key the whole time, which she waited to use until the moment she needed to activate the fence to repel the black smoke monster. If that isn't the most ridiculous sentence I ever wrote, I don't know what is. Oh, and now Kate and Juliet are covered in mud. Welcome to "Lost: Lesbian Overtones Edition."

10:50 -- Yup, Hurley made up the whole banishment thing to get Sawyer to be nice to everyone and groom him to be the de-facto leader of the camp. Well played.

10:52 -- Cue the sappy music and the cheesy montage.

10:53 -- But maybe this is a turning point for Sawyer. Doubtful, but maybe.

10:54 -- Kate is apologizing to Jack for screwing everything up. But she's really apologizing for making dirty, sweaty island love to Sawyer.

10:56 -- Kate and Cassidy have their teary goodbye and Kate almost learned about Sawyer.

10:58 -- So Jack wants to bring Juliet back to camp because "they left her behind too." Can she be trusted? And another thing -- why are they leaving? They got houses there, beds, a black smoke monster protecting fence. Shouldn't they bring everyone up there to live? Just asking.

After last week's "let's ignore everyone else on the island and just kill Nikki and Paulo" episode, it was good to get back to the characters we love. Juliet's little "woe is me, I got left behind" spiel feels like a big fat lie, but at the same time I can't figure out what the point of it would be. Maybe to get at Aaron? Or a pregnant Sun? I still think she's evil, but I think she might be a bit of a broken woman right now.

So going back to Kate's scene with her mom, I couldn't help but think about how everyone on the island is the way they are because of one thing. Locke has his dad, Eko had his brother, Jack has his ex, Hurley has the numbers, and so on. For Kate, it was her mom hanging her out to dry. The Kate we saw in this flashback wasn't quite the same fully-formed bad ass Kate we saw rob the bank back in season one. And the fact that she got that way indirectly because of Sawyer was a cool revelation.

All in all, I give this episode a B-. I was glad to get back to the main story and move the train along the tracks, so to speak. When I complain about an episode not "solving any mysteries," it doesn't mean I want every question answered right away. I just want to know we're at least moving forward and headed in the right direction.

Last week I asked you guys what makes an episode of "Lost" good to you. I am going to steal one user's comment and use it as my answer, since it was so perfect. They wrote: "1) Locke 2) Henry Gale 3) Solving a mystery or two before (or even while) opening up a new mystery 4) Plot twists that we don't see coming 5) See numbers 1 & 2."

So this week my question is this: Seeing Cassidy in Kate's flashback is just one of dozens of random connections we've seen between castaways. What was your favorite one? See you next week.

Comments

Jack and Claire are half siblings, even though I saw it coming. Every time they talk or stand by each other, I will be thinking, hey, you guys need to talk!

Posted by: mamalou | April 5, 2007 04:13 PM

I seem to remember a scene between Locke and Eko in which Eko told Locke he had seen the black smoke monster. Lock smiled and said something like "wasn't the light beautiful?" Eko said he saw no light and Locke was confused. So people were guessing that maybe the smoke monster was good for good people and bad for bad people (and for Eko, it was very bad). So since Juliet and Kate saw the "light," would that maybe mean that one - or both- of them was "good"?

And I have a few favorite random connections: Libby at Hurley's mental institution; Penny's father and Locke's father drink the same scotch (HAS to mean something, I just know it!); and Shannon's father dying on Jack's operating table

Posted by: Colleen | April 5, 2007 04:53 PM

After Kate and Juliet got wet, then landed in the mud, I turned to my (salivating) husband and said: what's next...jello?

I think my favorite connection would be Jack and Claire. I also really dug it when we found out that Sawyer spoke to Jack's dad in the bar.

Posted by: Michy | April 5, 2007 06:07 PM

My fave connection is Libby/Hurley, I'm dying to know more about that, but that probably means they will never show another thing that has to do with them! Don't believe the hype, Daniel, you were spot on last week, it SUCKED! If for no other reason than we don't give a rats ass about the newbies? They had Rose and her husband just disappear, why not Nikki & Paolo and use the hour for something more interesting? And yeah, Juliet if full of shit.

Posted by: gina | April 5, 2007 06:24 PM

Before I give you my favorite connection, I have a theory, I believe that Jack's ex-wife cheated on him with Juliet's husband,that is how they tie together, I think. My favorite connection is Libby and Hurley at the mental hospital.And I still want that one explained!!!

Posted by: LAURA | April 5, 2007 06:26 PM

To answer the question of the week:
I am still very interested to learn more about the whole Desmond using Libby's boat connection. And let's not forget, why the heck was Libby also at the hospital Hurley was at. Was she just pretending? Is she a doctor?

Regarding other stuff though:
Did anyone else notice the whole connection with Cassidy being pregnant and Sawyer holding Aaron at the end and just getting closer to the baby? And hey, maybe Kate will become pregnant now! Am I the first to think of that one? I think I might be :) !!! There is this whole baby-thing the Other's have got going on.

I think Juliette lies all the time, and was left on purpose and she probably asked to be left behind, so she could get with Jack. She thinks he's cute, remember? I mean, WHY did she have that knife in her pocket and placed in such an obvious spot for Kate to try to use?

Are we to really believe that the Other's don't know what the black smoke is? I mean I heard Juliette say "at least we know it doesn't like the fence" or something, insinuating they're still trying to learn about it. So then where did it come from? I'm starting to feel like the others vs. hostiles war really is true. What if the other's might actually have left though, and the Oceanic flight folks are meant to take over? I guess that wouldn't make sense though would it, since they don't know anything about Dharma and the Others do.
Let's not all forget that there is food dropped from a plane too, or that happened one time at least.

For the record, I do not believe Paolo and Nikki are dead. That would be too predicatble. I think they're gonna creep back, maybe on the last episode of this season.

AS IF that submarine Locke blew up was the ONLY means of transportation they have. Whatever to that one... You know they've got other ways to go and come back from there.

Posted by: cally K | April 5, 2007 06:35 PM

I thought the same thing about the Others's compound!!! FOOD, ELECTRICITY, SHELTER, PROTECTION FROM MONSTERS!!! uhhh...That beats tikis, tents and abandoned caves any day! Sometimes they dont think. One of them coulda figured that one out!

Kudos to Colleen (up top) for the remembering Locke's version of the monster. IT makes me so much more interested in it now!! Maybe the monster likes Kate cuz it was NOT flashing lights when it was rushing towards Juliet.

I like the connection btwn Hurley and Libby. Everyone has picked that one but i think it was bcuz NO ONE saw it coming and her death has kinda finalized it from ever coming out...or so they would have us believe.

Btw, Locke has Others material all over him. They shoulda recruited him prior to the crash. Perfect candidate. He woulda loved it!(...or maybe they did)

Posted by: slimting | April 5, 2007 07:10 PM

I laughed when I read your last comment..."And another thing -- why are they leaving? They got houses there, beds, a black smoke monster protecting fence. Shouldn't they bring everyone up there to live? Just asking." That is the EXACT same thing I said to my daughter last night. Something is strange with that..why go back to the beach????

I also think Juliette's act is fake; she was left behind for a reason...and apparently it has to do with the black monster that she knows nothing about, except it doesn't like the fence (yeah, right...she knows more, I know she does!!!).

I love all the little connections every one has, but I guess the one I like the best is when Sawyer met Jack's dad...and remember that time Sawyer figured it out and was just about to tell Jack but didn't...left me on the edge of my seat!

Posted by: smcbroom | April 5, 2007 07:26 PM

How come when the group went looking for Jack the could climb right over the fence but the smoke couldent drift over?? That bugged me.
The Libby Hurley connection is a great one but I think it is because the Hurley flashbacks are the best. Hurleys life sucked so bad all you can do is laugh at it.
I think my favorite connections all have to do with Jack and his dad they are connected with almost every person on the island.

Posted by: Laura | April 5, 2007 07:42 PM

My favorite connection would have to be Jack's dad with Sawyer, I think that we will see more connections with Jacks dad and other's on the island.

With Juliet being "left behind" I believe that she was left on purpose. Let us remember the only good thing to come out of last weeks Nikki/Paolo episode...Henry Gale said "I do what I do best, take my enemy's weakness and exploit it" And what is Jack's weakness right now? He trusts Juliet, so Henry Gale is expoiting that...

Posted by: Nate | April 5, 2007 08:26 PM

The one character connection that I never saw addressed is, Doesn't anyone remember that Libby was shown also in the looney bin with Hurley??? Or did I miss something?

Posted by: Keiko | April 5, 2007 09:01 PM

My favourite connection is when Jack met Desmond when they were running in the stadium. I think that was the first time we saw Desmond, and I remember getting the sense that he was going to be someone important. Plus there was the conneciton between Sayid and and the American army guy who then ended up in the hatch with Desmond. That was a real twist.

I agree with everyone else. Something's up with Juliet. And where is Locke's dad?! We can assume he left with the others and Locke. I hope we see more of them soon.

Posted by: Jane | April 6, 2007 02:33 AM

Sun is having Sawyer's baby.

Look at the way they keep looking at eachother, why else would she be the ONLY one still giving him weird looks- not angry-weird.

That's going to be one sexy...ugh i mean cute baby.

Posted by: Lisa | April 6, 2007 03:37 AM

Posted by: Lisa | April 6, 2007 03:38 AM

Surely the others checked Juliette's pockets before they Left her behind. That was the most contrived,ridiculous scence of the night. Hurley is fast becoming my favorite caracter,(although I still heart Sayid)--Hurley seems to be turning into some kinda wise, hippie sage.Kinda like a Jesus to Locke's wrathful God. That said, I'd like to explore the Hurley/Locke connection I seem to recall that Locke's mother was in the same mental institution as Hurley & Libby, and Locke worked for Hurley's box company. I wopnder if more connections between these two will be revealed.Someone should write a book, The Tao of Hurley.

Posted by: I_heart_Sayid | April 6, 2007 05:27 PM

My favorite connection is Jack's dad with Sawyer and Jack and Claire being siblings.

I also think that Juliet was left behind on purpose. Because if they really wanted to leave her like that, they would've checked to make sure that she didn't have the key or a pocket knife on her.

Posted by: Belle | April 6, 2007 05:33 PM

Posted by: I_heart_Sayid | April 6, 2007 05:36 PM

That was Hurley's box company that Locke worked for? when did that ever get told? Does anyone remember what building Hurley was in when the person flew past the window? I'm still curious if that was when Locke was pushed out.

Posted by: cally k | April 7, 2007 07:35 PM

Another thought. Remember when the others let Hurley go? HMMMMMM....

Posted by: I_heart_Sayid | April 9, 2007 07:03 PM

zovirax coupons

Posted by: nmujvgorng | March 13, 2008 07:49 AM

sexy naked man pic

Posted by: uhwemuxegx | March 13, 2008 08:52 PM

skinny young gay boys

Posted by: myyuvdtwbt | March 13, 2008 08:52 PM

Posted by: myyuvdtwbt | March 13, 2008 08:53 PM

how to take nude self pictures

Posted by: bvyjdzrled | March 13, 2008 11:59 PM