Just in time for the next episode, I've posted the past two Lost commentaries. Read them below. Again, sorry for the delay - lots of graduation stuff, followed by coming home to get my wisdom teeth out. I'm holding an icepack to my face right now, so, please, pity me. Pretty please.

(On the bright side I'm writing this from a brand-spanking new, shiny, way-cool laptop.)

By the way, I think I forgot to mention this when I posted it a while ago, but I completed my Tribeca coverage. The link to the whole thing (the final couple articles are first) is here.

I'm writing this recap directly after writing the one for "The Brig," which turned out to be comparable in length to War and Peace. So I'm going to try to make this slightly more brief by avoiding flowery prose and actually getting to the point for once.

The plot:

Finally, we get Ben Linus's flashbacks. While the previous episode felt like some ancient Southern Gothic revenge fable, this time we get the Saga of the '70s Hippies (with a little Supernatural Horror Movie thrown in there). Ben, who it turns out was not born on the island, went along with his alcoholic, in-need-of-work father. There, they joined the Dharma Initiative, and he met a cute girl, had visions of his dead mother, went to school, met a mysterious, possibly age-less Hostile, killed his father, double-crossed his people, and so on. You know. The usual stuff. There were no gigantic reveals, but the entire thing was pretty much an overload of important information.

Back in the present time, Locke and Ben go on a journey to meet the mysterious Jacob, aka Him, the big kahuna, the man who will answer every question we have. The motivation Ben had in simply doing whatever Locke said wasn't completely apparent until the end, but it worked. The other Others, fed up with Ben's leadership, seemed to welcome Locke into the crew, even as a potential leader - a point which was strengthened by the fact that Ben started out as an outsider, too.

The heart of the episode, of course, was the big reveal of Jacob, who turned out to be...an invisible man. Well, not quite invisible - I had to re-watch the scene once or twice, but when Jacob goes haywire after Locke shines the flashlight, he pushes Ben into a wall, the camera shakily pans back to the chair - and there's a man sitting there. We only see his silhouette, and in the interest of spoiling as little as possible, I'm not putting the screencap up here for everyone to examine. He did seem to look familiar, but I could be wrong.

However, disregarding his identity for a moment, the important thing was that Locke heard him. Locke was being uncommonly level-headed this episode, conscious of Ben's faltering popularity and assuming that Ben simply made up Jacob out of thin air. But then those two words: "help me." And when Ben found out Locke heard them, in an act of self-preservation, Ben shot him. Because if Locke has the power to hear Jacob, then what power does Ben have over the Others? Of course, it's probably important to point out that Ben didn't kill Locke - considering his connection with the island, combined with its mysterious healing properties, I wouldn't count the man of faith out just yet.

The subplot:

Although it felt maybe just a beat too rushed, there were plenty of developments back on the beach that firmly set the story up for the season finale. Sawyer returned to camp with the Locke-supplied tape proving Juliet was a mole and immediately sought out Sayid. Nice move - Sayid is the guy you can always count on to be strong and level-headed (i.e., I really hope he doesn't get killed off any time soon). However, as soon as everyone heard the tape, there was another twist - on Side B, Ben's full plan was revealed. (Nice how it was perfectly queued up.) The Others are coming - for real this time - to steal Sun and any other pregnant women, and Jack has been sitting on this info for a while because he "wasn't sure what to do about it." It's time for our castaways to form a plan, pronto - could we be looking at an all-out battle on our hands soon?

Ruminations & Theories:

-You remember the scene: Ben walks into the old creepy house, followed by Locke. Ben started talking to "Jacob" in the chair. Locke thinks he's crazy. And as I was watching, I suddenly thought I had it all figured out: JACOB IS THE BUNNY! BEN IS INSANE AND TAKING ORDERS FROM HIS PET BUNNY! The way the scene was framed, you couldn't see the seat of the chair, and I was fully expecting Ben's rabbit, clearly very dear to him in his flashbacks, to then be revealed to be sitting there. How cool would that have been? Alas, it was not to be.

-Here's a legitimate theory: Jin's true father is none other than Dr. Marvin Candle, spokesman on all of the Dharma Initiative's orientation videos. Why? A better question: why not? In Sun's last flashback, it was clearly established that there was a high possibility that the fisherman who raised Jin was not his real father. Why would they set that up if they weren't going to follow through? Knowing how the writers of Lost like to turn any coincidence into a secret character relationship, why not make the only Korean-looking Dharma dude the father of the only Korean guy currently on the island?

-Wow. So "Roger Workman," seen in Hurley's last episode, was actually Ben's dad. Nice little mini-mystery tie-in, solved. But man, that scene in which Ben killed him was disturbing. Any sympathy for him sort of flew out the window (although what the heck happened to that cute little girl?)

-In this episode we were told what's been hinted at before: the Dharma Initiative was just a group of hippies who wanted to save the world and do experiments, and the Others - the Hostiles - were present on the island long before them. That wraps up the Dharma mystery but leaves the origins of the Others wide open. But then again, on closer inspection, it would be dismissive to just call the Dharma folks idealist hippies, because they really were doing some heavy-duty stuff (case in point: the power of the late, great Swan hatch).

-In the same vein, did anyone else find it suspicious that in the flashback scene in which the schoolteacher went off to fight the Hostiles, you didn't actually see any fighting? Despite all the dead bodies at the end of the episode, couldn't it be possible that the Dharma Initiative was painstakingly creating some kind of theatrical myth about a group of "hostiles," a myth which later got out of hand when said hostiles actually appeared? Somebody could make a pretty elaborate theory out of that.

-You know how Richard (the dude who always looks like he's wearing too much eyeshadow) appeared in Ben's flashback looking, well, not much younger? I mean, yeah, its hard to age actors appropriately for scenes like that, but considering Ben looks, at the most generous estimate, about 40, that would mean Richard would have to be at least 50. I submit to you this theory: the true Others never age. They've been there possibly forever. That's how they're able to move so swiftly and silently through the woods and as a side power they're also able to whisper to each other really ominously so it echoes through the jungle. (Nice return of the jungle-whispering, by the way. I was afraid they'd forgotten about it.)

Well, it looks like this commentary turned out to be just about as long as the last one. Whoops. So what do you guys think? Locke: dead or alive? Jacob: cheesy or way-cool? Milkshakes: chocolate or vanilla? I know this: only one more episode to go, and then after that we get the two-hour season finale...

Season three has been a tumultuous time for Lost. I've stuck with the show the whole time, and hey, most people did. If you're reading this, I bet you did too. But I also bet you've heard plenty of griping and complaining about how the show wasn't what it used to be. And as much as hearing that drives me crazy, you know what? There are plenty of legitimate reasons. The messed up schedule and time slot change, for one. But creatively, too - in really quite a large gamble, the show has shortchanged some of its classic characters in favor of a bunch of untested new ones. Not only that, but we've had to deal with many episodes that focused on only two or three regulars and left the rest unseen.

And then there's the big one I always point out, the inherent structural problem in shows like this: as much as people say they want answers, they really don't. What drew people to Lost in the first place were the mysteries of the characters and the sense of wonder about the island. In other words, anything could happen. But when stuff actually starts to happen, the possibilities grow more narrow, and the sense of wonder is inherently diminished.

All this is a big lead-up to say that Lost is on the rebound. The breaking news story about the show's scheduled endpoint will do a lot to silence the relentless naysayers that say the writers don't know what they're doing. But more to the point, the episodes have been excellent for the past few weeks. We're past the occasionally-meandering mid-season stretch and can now vaguely see the finish line in the distance.

This episode, called "The Brig," was further proof that Lost has some of the best writers working on television. It oozed with high tension, crackling dialogue, and a heck of a cool mood. It's the kind of episode one senses the writers had planned for a long time, and relished the chance to finally write.

And you know what? There were no major revelations or colossal events relating to the island. The one big revelation was one that many fans have guessed for a while. It was a good, old-fashioned character-driven episode. But instead of character development, this was all about the payoff.

The long and the short of it: Locke's dad is the original Sawyer. The man responsible for the deaths of the parents of one James Ford. And Mr. Ford, locked with this man inside a 100+ degree room on a dynamite-laden ancient slave ship in the middle of a jungle, fulfilled his lifelong personal destiny and killed him. It felt like some kind of deep-south revenge legend. It felt almost mythical.

In other words, really cool.

Sorry for all the hyperbole, but I don't feel it's unwarranted. The plot was handled perfectly with an overload of cool moments. The nickname Sawyer? Actually derived from Tom Sawyer, adding to the southern-fried literary feel. (The conversation between the two Sawyers was also a case study in character sympathy: the writers made sure to make Locke's dad a complete jackass so we wouldn't be upset with Sawyer for killing him.) The almost humorous exchange between Locke and an errand-running Rousseau? Undoubtedly a plant for the season finale. And how cool was Locke's dad/Anthony Cooper/Tom Sawyer's own theory that he was in Hell? Sure, I think he's wrong, but it added to the mythic quality of the story, and just look at it from his point of view: he's in a massive car accident, blacks out in the ambulance, and the next thing he knows, he's tied up in an invasively hot environment where he meets his confirmed-dead son. Brilliant.

I'm being way too wordy tonight so I'm going to shift over to the subplot before I talk this thing to death. Here we have loads of island intrigue with generous helpings of secrets and subtle power struggles. Faith in Jack has been lost by an ever-growing number of original crash survivors, and smartly, Sayid is brought in to call the shots. We find out for with a reasonable amount of certainty that Naomi is not one of the others, and that potential rescue is waiting some 130 clicks away. (Did I get that right? Not like I know what a click is anyway.) Of course, then Kate ruins it: still playing the jealous needy chick, she goes and blabs to Jack in her steadfast refusal to assume he's been compromised in any way. As annoyed I was at her by this, it wasn't a problem of plausibility. They set up her motivation well. In a story as complex as Lost's, they're still able to achieve flawless cause-and-effect. It's something at which shows like the currently-trendier Heroes consistently falter.

So. My big personal question is, how does this episode effect Sawyer's fate? His character arc has been quite solidly wrapped up; does that mean the island will claim him as another victim soon? I certainly hope not. They could go plenty of good directions with him - newfound guilt and penance over being a murderer, combined with an emerging role as an island leader - and besides, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot, ratings-wise. Popularity shouldn't dictate the fate of major characters, but...well, yeah, it should.

The other burning questions: what did Jack mean when he asked Juliet "should we tell her?" Will Locke find his way back to the Others? (By the way, I have renewed faith in him - apparently the death of his father really did clear his mind, as he seemed level-headed about his developing integration among the Others. Plus, nice move giving Sawyer the Juliet-damning tape.) And what, exactly, is Rousseau planning on doing with that dynamite?

Yeah, my recap isn't up yet, again, sorry, it's been crazy, whine whine whine...

But here's something you'll find interesting.

Lost set a firm schedule for the remainder of the series. Don't worry, there's still a ways to go. Just read the article.

This was a busy weekend for TheCinemaSource as I have a lot of stuff that just went up that you should check out...

• More coverage in my continuing Tribeca article...
  

• ...a full review of the Rosario Dawson Tribeca flick Descent...

• ...a spotlight on the writer, director, and producer of the Tribeca flick Palo Alto...

• ...and a spotlight on James Franco for Spider-Man 3.

On that last one, in particular, I had to fashion the spotlight out of under five minutes of audio, which I think proves I'm a genius.

I was also supposed to review a flick called The Flying Scotsman but I haven't actually managed to watch the movie yet, so you might be seeing that coming up soon, too.

In case you haven't been keeping up (although I'm positive that all of you have been), I've posted two more updates onto our Tribeca coverage page since the last time I brought it to your attention. The new films I talk about include the comedic documentary Heckler, the zombies-in-Manhattan movie Mulberry Street, and the "everyone is connected life is beautiful and sad blah blah blah" movie The Air I Breathe. Again, you can check it all out here.

Some more stuff should be coming up this week. And next week I graduate from college. How weird is that?

Man, I really hate that face. That condescending-as-heck, fake-worried, I'm-better-than-you face that Juliet uses all the time. It's really annoying.

That is to say, feel free to keep using it, Elizabeth Mitchell. I enjoy hating Juliet way more than Ana-Lucia.

This episode focused on the women of the show, as Sun and Juliet marched down to that medical hatch where Claire was kept during her captivity. The title means "Date of Conception," and indeed, we find out when Sun's baby was conceived: only a few weeks ago, which means it definitely belongs to Jin. That's great and all, but Sun...you still cheated on him. Just reminding you.

It seems to me the writers always have a hard time knowing what to do with Sun. Her last flashback episode early in the season painted her as a woman with a long history of deceit and lies, but now we're back to the poor, remorseful woman who nonetheless has a surprising backbone. That flashback scene in which she essentially blackmailed her father into giving her money was actually kind of cool.

The subplot, to me, was more interesting than the main plot, but we'll get to that in a second -- the main plot still had some nice moments up its sleeve. The first came near the beginning of the episode, when Sun suggests to Kate that Jack had switched sides and was in league with the Others. Kate, of course, vehemently denied that this was possible, but I liked how they threw that possibility out there. My own theory? Neither of them are right. Or both of them are: Jack is a mole for the Others, but even he doesn't realize it -- he was thrown in the brainwashing room that was introduced in the first post-hiatus episode. Right now part of his brain is a sleeper cell that can be activated at any time to turn against the castaways. That's why the brainwashing room was introduced in the first place, and that's part of what happened for that stretch of episodes in which we didn't see any of Jack.

The other good moment was the final little teaser given to Juliet: she goes back in the medical hatch without Sun to leave Ben a voice recording: "I'm still working on getting samples from the other women, I should have Austen's soon, I'll report back when I know more." She turns the tape recorder off. "I hate you."

First, KATE MUST BE PREGNANT. There's NO WAY she's not. I've been harping on this ever since she and Sawyer first had sex. But also, the scene perfectly encapsulated Juliet's character: working unquestioningly for the Others, choosing them over the crash survivors completely, despite her hating hating them and having the same motives as the survivors. A walking conundrum. The cards will be shown soon...

Onto the subplot. It's getting late and I have to crank this out. First of all:

1. Jin, you're freaking awesome. Way to DROP-KICK THE CRAP OUT OF BAKUNIN. Look at that. Give it up for Jin, everybody. This show needs more karate.

2. What the heck is Bakunin still doing alive? You know what? I love it. He's a great character, and I have a hunch the only reason they resurrected him was because he turned out to be so cool. But still, I don't care. He's one crafty guy, and if he faked his own death at the Gates to Othersville, all the craftier of him. Just one thing: the gates clearly DO have an effect, given the sound they made, and the fact that the monster can't pass through them. So did he die, and just recovered thanks to the recovery powers of the island? And if so, doesn't that fly in the face of the head writers say they think it's cheating to bring someone back from the dead?

Eh, whatever. Good to have him back. Although I fear keeping him alive will indeed have dire consequences, given the amount of time they spent on Charlie telling Desmond that. You know what would be cool, though? If keeping him alive actually ends up ultimately saving one of their lives. Get ready for a big imaginary scenario: Juliet flips the switch in Jack's brain that makes him go secretly haywire. Charlie doesn't suspect anything until...oh no he's gonna shoot Charlie! But wait! Bakunin, in a fit of either conscience or coincidence, steps into the line of fire and dies instead! Which then gives Charlie enough time to wisen up to Jack's insanity! Charlie's fate is saved thanks unwittingly to Desmond sparing Bakunin's life! And since Desmond saved Charlie's life without even realizing it, through that twist of fate Charlie is no longer cursed to die and Desmond regains faith in having control over your own life! Genius, right? Man, I should write for this show. Sorry about all the exclamation points though.

Okay. Finally. Down to the last thing, the whopper of a teaser ending: Naomi the mystery woman wakes up and gives Hurley the news: "They found Flight 815. There were no survivors." Zoom in on Hurley as the music grinds to a halt: "What?" Blackout to title screen.

Now before everyone starts screaming, I WAS RIGHT, IT'S PURGATORY!!!!! Calm down. It's not purgatory. The only reason that's such a popular theory is because it's a one-line solution for pretty much everything that happens on the show. It's not going to be that simple. So if not, what's the story? Did the Others create a massive cover-up? Are all the castaways clones of their now-dead counterparts and placed on the island in a sadistic study of human behavior? Is Naomi a dirty liar?

It was a great twist - the kind that provokes the sense of wonder that the show has been lacking (thanks to its fundamental structure) since season one. Let's see where it takes us.