LOST Crossroads

I have to be honest when I say that I had modest expectations of the 5th episode LOST, '316.' I'm not bragging but I think I'm pretty good at determining the importance of the upcoming weeks episode by the little trailer they give at the end of the current weeks episode. You know what I'm talking about, when they say "Coming up on next week's Friday Night Lights, Riggins gets loaded and has to make a tough decision regarding Lyla." I'd say that my success rate of predicting the greatness of the upcoming LOST episode based on that 1 minute clip is roughly 97%, it's like my spider-sense. Except in my case, I can't predict when something is bad to happen to people around me, I can merely predict the LOST awesomeness that will take place in one weeks time. So at the end of episode 4 when they showed the '316' snippet, I harbored my enthusiasm as it was made apparent the show would be based on a simple series of events leading in the direction of the Oceanic 6 getting back to the island. This isn't to say that I was unexcited, LOST episodes are like pizza to me, none is bad, just some are better than others.

See, the beauty of LOST isn't in the basic events that take place from episode to episode or season to season. While the stuff that transpires (smoke monster, time travel, heavily armed mercenaries, etc.) on the show is great and generally mindblowing, it is also stuff that could probably be found on any given night on the SciFi channel. The greatness of the series lies in the characters and their history. LOST goes to lengths of defining it's character's identities that no other show has gone to, and that's what makes it truly unique and special. While we knew what kind of cereal Jerry Seinfeld liked and what kind of guys Elaine Bennis was into, Seinfeld never bothered to tell us the story of how Kramer blew up his mother's boyfriend or how Newman was once wheelchair bound and eventually conned by a man claiming to be his father. A lot of tv shows in the past have claimed to be 'character driven,' but in the end it has nothing to do with the actual characters, merely the actors portraying them. LOST is truly a character driven show, which is what made the flashbacks from the first 4 seasons so incredible. As we learned about these people in an impossible situation, we were able to see far past their ability to start a fire or catch a fish, and gain a level of understanding about each individual that isn't common beyond real life. As the series progresses towards it's finale in 2010, we can only hope it doesn't lose sight as to why so many people have a connection with it.

That being said, heres the one sentence summary of episode 5: through some miracle the Oceanic 6 + Ben manage to end up on the same plane that takes them back to the island. Really, that's the gist of it. There were a few noteworthy events that took place, here they are...
- Elouise Hawking tells Desmond that "The island isn't done with you yet." This is major forshadowing that will come more clear later in the episode.
- The scene in the church with Hawking and Jack was outstanding, as was the story of St. Thomas told by Ben to Jack. I can't pick out one or two lines to summarize it, but it was very powerful and prophetic in terms of showing Jack and Locke's importance. Ben tells Jack he has to go tie up 'a loose end.' Translation, someone is going to die.
- Kate came over to Jack's place and proceeded to jump his bones, presumably to get knocked up before heading back to the island so she wouldn't die. Now that it's inevitable she's going to lose baby Aaron, she has no real reason to stay in the real world.
- Ben calls Jack, bloody and out of breath from a boat dock, saying he took care of a promise to an old friend (from last season when he told Widmore he would kill his daughter Penny). It's pretty obvious he's killed Penny and probably little Charlie as well. This goes to what Hawking told Desmond, with his family dead and Ben on the island, Desmond has no real choice but to head back to the island and try to kill Ben.
- For his trip back to the island, Jack decides to wear a suit and tie. Odd choice, I would have gone with shorts, sandals, and some shades. Oh well, different strokes for different folks.
- Clearly something weird is going on because a complete stranger at the airport tells Jack sorry for the loss of his friend, and then the stewardess gives Jack the suicide note after he already tried to get rid of it.
- The pilot of the plane turns out to be Frank Lapidis, the helicopter pilot on the freighter from last year. That was kind of an interesting twist. As Jack and Frank talk, Frank notices virtually everyone on the plane is someone he met on the island, "Wait a second, we're not goin' to Guam are we?" he asks Jack. Well Frank...no you're not.