"LOST" Retrospect: "Oceanic Hypocrisy"

 

"LOST" RETROSPECT: "OCEANIC HYPOCRISY"

Recently, I did a rewatch of the "LOST" Season Four episode, (4.02) "Confirmed Dead". And I had enjoyed it as much as I did during previous viewings. However . . . there was something about Oceanic 815 survivors John Locke and James "Sawyer" Ford that had eluded me during those past viewings.

How can I put this? There seemed to be a great deal of hypocrisy emanating from both Locke and Sawyer in this episode. For example, while questioning Locke's sanity in "Confirmed Dead", Sawyer had pointed out the older man’s murder of Naomi Dorrit, an inhabitant from the newly arrived freighter Kahana, in the Season Three finale, (3.22-3.23) "Through the Looking Glass, Part II". Locke had killed Ms. Dorrit in an effort to prevent her from contacting her associated aboard the Kahana. He had considered them a danger to the island and its inhabitants.

Also, Sawyer had recently committed two murders during late Season Three - Anthony Cooper in (3.19) "The Brig" and Other member Tom Friendly in "Through the Looking Glass". It turned out that Cooper was Locke's father, whom the Others had captured to test Locke for the position of their leader. Unable to kill his father, Locke had discovered from one of the Others, Richard Alpert, that Cooper was also the man who had swindled Sawyer's parents from their money some twenty-eight years earlier. This act had led to Sawyer's father murdering his wife for adultery and committing suicide. Sawyer, who had been eight years-old at the time, spent nearly three decades needlessly vowing revenge. Thanks to the manipulations of both Richard and Locke, Sawyer committed the murder. As for Tom Friendly's murder, Sawyer had killed the man out of pure spite. In the Season Two episode, (2.11) "The Hunting Party", he claimed that Friendly had shot him, when he was aboard Michael Dawson's raft in the Season One finale, (1.23-1.25) "Exodus". In "Through the Looking Glass", he claimed that his murder of Friendly was in retaliation for the kidnapping of 10 year-old Walt Lloyd, Michael's son.

Despite Locke's efforts, Oceanic survivors' leader, Dr. Jack Shephard, managed to contact the Kahana occupants. This led the survivors to split into two groups - those who saw the Kahana as a means to their rescue and those who followed Locke, certain that Ms. Dorrit's associates meant to harm them. Locke led the doubters on a trek to the Others' abandoned compound, on the other side of the island. Sawyer was among them. I know what you are thinking. What does this recap of the late Season Three/early Season Four events have to do with hypocrisy? And why target John Locke and James Ford?

Among those who had decided to follow Locke to the Others' compound out of safety was their leader, Ben Linus. Both Locke and Sawyer already had a personal grudge against the man. Ben had tried to murder Locke in (3.20) "The Man Behind the Curtain" in an effort to prevent the latter from replacing him as the Others' leader. Ben had kept Sawyer, Jack and Kate Austen hostage as a means to receive a much needed operation in early Season Three. When Sawyer had interfered in a slightly hostile conversation between Ben and one of his former followers, the adolescent Karl, the former Others leader made insinuations that Kate (whom Sawyer was attracted to) preferred Jack over the con man. As it later turned out, he was right. In a fit of anger, Sawyer gave Ben a beat down and suggested to Locke they should "execute" - namely kill - Ben, because the latter was being a nuisance. Locke refused, claiming they needed Ben's assistance in dealing with the island's newcomers. But this was not the last of it.

Four of the Kahana's passengers finally arrived on the island via a helicopter and parachutes. One of them proved to be Dr. Charlotte Lewis, a cultural anthropologist. Ben feared that Charlotte might contact the freighter and confirm his exact location to her associates aboard the Kahana. He also feared what the freighter's arrival would mean for the island's other inhabitants. Driven by these fears, Ben tried to kill her by shooting her in the chest with a gun he had stolen from an unsuspecting Karl. At that moment, Locke decided to follow Sawyer's advice. He decided to punish Ben by killing the latter. Sawyer offered to do the job, but Locke decided he must be the one to "clean his own mess". Only Ben’s revelations of his knowledge of Charlotte’s background, the reason the freighter had arrived at the island and his spy aboard the Kahana had saved his life.

Watching all of this unfurl had made me shake my head with amazement every time I had viewed "Confirmed Dead". But it took this last rewatch for me to realize both Locke and Sawyer's hypocrisies. Locke had been willing to execute Ben for attempting to do to Charlotte what he had recently done to Naomi in "Through the Looking Glass" - namely kill someone from the Kahana for his self-preservation and the safety of the island's inhabitants. As for Sawyer . . . he had punched Ben for making insidious comments about Jack and Kate. And he also wanted Ben dead for the attempt on Charlotte’s life. This all reminded me of Sawyer's second reason for murdering Tom Friendly. The con man had claimed he did it for 10 year-old Walt Lloyd’s kidnapping in "Exodus". Yet, Sawyer had never went after Ben for the same reason. And by late Season Three and early Season Four, he knew that Ben was the Others' leader and the one who had ordered Walt's kidnapping. Yet, Sawyer had never went after Ben for that reason.

For years, I never understood why so many "LOST" fans had turned a blind eye to the crimes of most of the Oceanic survivors. Or made excuses for their crimes. I now realize one should consider personal bias toward certain characters as a major reason. But after my rewatch of "Confirmed Dead", I am surprised hardly anyone had noticed the Oceanic castaways' penchant for hypocrisy, including that from John Locke and James Ford in this episode.

"LOST" Retrospect: "Who Ordered the Dharma Initiative Purge?"

 

"LOST" RETROSPECTIVE: "WHO ORDERED THE DHARMA INITIATIVE PURGE?"

Eight years ago, I had written this article about a major incident on the ABC television series, "LOST". This incident happened to focus on the murders or "Purge" of the scientific research organization known as the Dharma Initiative. It happened on December 19, 1992; nearly twelve years before the series began and before the crash of Oceanic Airlines 815 flight.

In the Season Five episode, (5.10) "He's Our You", Oceanic Flight 815 survivor and later, time traveler Sayid Jarrah tried to murder young Ben Linus in 1977. In the following episode, another Oceanic time traveler, Dr. Jack Shephard, refused to treat the badly wounded Ben, who was near death. Eventually, two other time traveling castaways, James "Sawyer" Ford and Kate Austen, had taken Ben to the Others aka the Hostiles aka the Natives, a group of island inhabitants who served as its protectors on the behalf of the main protector Jacob, for treatment via Dr. Juliet Burke's instructions. Within a decade-and-a-half, Ben ended up ousting future billionaire Charles Widmore as leader of the Others.

Ever since the series had first aired, many fans had been uncertain of when Ben's tenure as the Others' leader had began - before or after the Purge. As I had stated earlier, the Purge occurred in December 1992, on the same day as Ben's birthday and during the same month as the Others' rejection of Widmore as their leader. Many fans and television critics had automatically assumed Ben had ordered the Purge. I have heard comments that compared Ben to Adolf Hitler. I have also heard comments that compared Ben’s younger self to a "young Hitler". Many people have claimed that it was Ben who had ordered the deaths of the Dharma Initiative members. However, I have my doubts.

During Seasons Three and Four, Ben had offered contradicting comments on whether or not he had ordered the Dharma Initiative Purge. In (3.23) "Through the Looking Glass", he had claimed responsibility of the Purge to Jack:

"Not so long ago, Jack. I made a decision that took the lives of over forty people in a single day"

Unfortunately, Ben had contradicted this claim in two other episodes. In the Season Three episode, (3.20) "The Man Behind the Curtain", he had said this to Oceanic survivor John Locke, while he displayed the remains of Dharma members at a mass grave:

"This is where I came from, John. These are my people. The Dharma Initiative. They came here seeking harmony, but they couldn't even co-exist with the Island's original inhabitants. And when it became clear that one side had to go, one side had to be purged, I did what I had to do. I was one of the people that was smart enough to make sure that I didn't end up in that ditch. Which makes me considerably smarter than you, John."

Ben never claimed responsibility for ordering the Purge to Locke. He had confessed to participating in the Purge. That same episode made it clear that his participation involved killing his abusive father, Dharma Initiative worker, Roger Linus. In fact, Ben also made the same thing clear in the Season Four episode, (4.11) "Cabin Fever", when he had the following conversation with another Oceanic castaway, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes:

HURLEY: So... This is where you shot Locke and left him for dead, huh?
BEN: Yes, Hugo, I was standing right where you are now when I pulled the trigger. Should have realized at the time that it was pointless, but... I really wasn't thinking clearly.
[Hurley steps back a little]
HURLEY: Is that why you killed all these people, too?
BEN: I didn't kill them.
HURLEY: Well, if the Others didn't wipe out the Dharma Initiative --
BEN: They did wipe them out, Hugo, but it wasn't my decision.
HURLEY: Then whose was it?
BEN: Their leader's.
HURLEY: But I thought you were their leader.
BEN: Not always.

Interesting. He had admitted to trying to kill Locke in "The Man Behind the Curtain". But he denied being the one who had ordered the Purge. Also, Ben had been truthful when he told Hurley that he had not always been the Others' leader. The series had featured three other leaders - the ageless Richard Alpert (who eventually became the future leaders' advisor), Eloise Hawking and Widmore. Although some fans remain convinced that Ben had ordered the Purge, there are a good number of fans who hold Widmore responsible.

Thanks to a flashback in the Season Five episode called (5.12) "Dead Is Dead" - viewers learned that Widmore had definitely been the leader of the Others back in 1988. And in another Season Four episode called (4.09) "The Shape of Things to Come", viewers learned in a flash forward scene set in London that Ben had taken the leadership of the Others away from Widmore:

WIDMORE: I know who you are, boy. What you are. I know that everything you have you took from me. So... Once again I ask you: Why are you here?
BEN: I'm here, Charles, to tell you that I'm going to kill your daughter. Penelope, is it? And once she's gone... once she's dead... then you'll understand how I feel. And you'll wish you hadn't changed the rules.
[Widmore shifts in his bed.]
WIDMORE: You'll never find her.
[Ben turns to leave.]
WIDMORE: That island's mine, Benjamin. It always was. It will be again.

I found it interesting that Widmore had regarded the island as "his". And there were other aspects of Widmore that I found interesting. The Season Five episode, (5.03) "Jughead", had revealed Widmore as a member of the Others, as far back as 1954 (when he was seventeen years-old). As one of the Others, Widmore (along with Richard and Hawking) had participated in a previous purge - that of U.S. Army personnel, who had brought a hydrogen bomb nicknamed "Jughead" with them to the island. On other occasions, Widmore had this inclination to kill anyone he deemed a threat to the island's secrecy. He killed a fellow Other to prevent the latter from leading Locke, Sawyer and Juliet to Richard's location in 1954. The 1988 flashback from "Dead Is Dead" revealed Ben's refusal to kill Danielle Rousseau and her baby, Alex. Instead, he claimed Alex as his child and threatened Danielle to stay away. This decision had angered Widmore, who had expected Ben to kill both. Why were Danielle and Alex's deaths that important to Widmore? Ironically, Widmore finally got his way regarding Danielle and Alex, thanks to Martin Keamy, the mercenary he had sent to the island to snatch Ben in Season Four.

So, when did Ben Linus replace Charles Widmore as leader of the Others? Before December 19, 1992? Or after? The photograph below from "The Man Behind the Curtain" hints that Ben had remained a worker for the DHARMA Initiative during that period, despite joining the Others sometime in the 1980s:



But had Ben assumed leadership of the Others by then? If not, does that mean Charles Widmore was still leading the Others in December 1992? Both the LOSTPEDIA and the WIKIPEDIA sites claimed that Richard Alpert had led the Others' purge against the Dharma Initiative in 1992. But neither site made it clear who had ordered the Purge. And "Dead Is Dead" never gave a clear date on Widmore's exile.

One would assume my choice for the man responsible for ordering the Purge would be Widmore. And you would be right. There seemed a good deal of evidence making him responsible. He had already participated in an earlier purge back in 1954. Ben had revealed time and again his willingness to use violence - even kill those he deemed a threat to himself or for emotional reasons. But the series had also revealed Widmore's willingness to do the same and especially kill in the name of protecting the island. And that included ordering Ben to kill an emotionally unstable Danielle Rousseau and her infant child. Widmore had also sent the murderous Martin Keamy to the island in late Season Three-Season Four to snatch Ben. He had claimed to Locke in (5.07) "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" that he had done so to give Locke the opportunity to become the Others' new leader. Yet, his words to Locke contradicted his words to Ben in London, when he had claimed the island as "his". This scene had occurred nearly a year or more after the events of Season Four.

There is also the matter of whether Keamy had another agenda - namely to kill any of the Oceanic survivors that remained. In "Cabin Fever" he had demanded Sayid reveal the number of other Oceanic survivors and their location. Fortunately, the latter had refused. In a confrontation with the freighter's Captain Gault, Keamy revealed his intentions to "torch" the island. Some claimed that this had been Keamy's angry reaction to his men being attacked by the Smoke Monster. Yet, in (4.08) "Meet Kevin Johnson", Ben had accused the freighter crew of plans to snatch him and kill the island's inhabitants. The only freighter personnel in the room - spiritualist Miles Straume - had remained unusually silent. In the following episode, (4.09) "The Shape of Things to Come", Miles claimed that Keamy and his men were around to serve as security guards for a captured Ben. But there was the revelation that Widmore had set up a false location for the missing Oceanic 815 plane - with a plane wreck and dead bodies included. This is merely an assumption of mine, but I believe Widmore had sent Keamy to not only snatch Ben, but to kill the remaining Oceanic survivors as well to maintain the narrative. I found a good deal of clues that led me to suspect Widmore had ordered the Dharma Purge.

After watching the series more than once, I find it increasingly difficult to hold Ben responsible for the Purge. His actions against the Oceanic castaways had featured spying, kidnapping, harassment, threats and manipulation. He rarely resorted to murder - aside from his attempt to kill Locke and his order to kill Sayid, Jin Kwon and Bernard Nader during the events in the Season Three finale, (3.23) "Through the Looking Glass, Part 2". If Ben had been truly capable of ordering the Purge, he would have wiped out the Oceanic survivors (or tried to) after getting Jack to remove the tumor from his spine. The man had proved incapable of following Widmore's orders to kill Danielle and Alex.

In the end, viewers know that Charles Widmore had been the leader of the Others in 1988-89, when he had ordered Ben Linus to kill Danielle Rosseau and her infant daughter. Viewers know that Ben had refused. Viewers also know that Richard Alpert had led a group of Others in the Purge against the U.S. Army in 1954. He also led the Others' purge against the Dharma Initiative on December 19, 1992. On that same date, Ben killed his father, Roger Linus, in a similar manner – by toxic gas. And viewers know that Ben had eventually replaced Widmore and exiled the latter off the island. Personally, I suspect Widmore had ordered the Purge against Dharma. But I suspect it was an order he had not issued lightly, given the number of years the Others had been in conflict with the Dharma Initiative and the dangerous nature of latter's experiments regarding the island's electromagnetic energy.

But I cannot say with any authority that Widmore had ordered the Dharma Initiative Purge. If we only knew exactly when Widmore had been exiled, perhaps this mystery of the Purge will finally be cleared.

James "Sawyer" Ford and the Art of Illusion

 

JAMES "SAWYER" FORD AND THE ART OF ILLUSION

In past articles about the ABC series, "LOST", I had complained about the willingness of some of the series' fans to make excuses or dismiss some of the more serious mistakes and crimes of the leading female character, Kate Austen. But it took me several years to realize that Kate was not the only popular character that fans tend to defend - undeservedly, I might add. One other character has been defended just as much, or perhaps even more than Kate. And I am referring to the series' resident con artist, James "Sawyer" Ford.

I suppose it made sense that Sawyer’s profession happened to be a con artist. Several years following the deaths of his parents, he proved to be quite adept at deceiving and swindling a good number of people for his benefit. After surviving the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, it did not take long for the series to display Sawyer’s talent for deceiving his fellow castaways, several other inhabitants on the mysterious island, and more importantly, himself.

As a child, James had endured a traumatic tragedy after another confidence man had swindled money from his family. That tragedy soon followed when his father murdered his mother (who had an affair with the con man) before committing suicide. These tragic events not only led James into eventually becoming a con man named Sawyer, himself; but also a very unpopular character with the fans – especially during Season One. He was a surly and sardonic man with a tendency to antagonize other characters, think only of himself and dump some of the silliest nicknames upon the other castaways. However, once the fans became aware of Sawyer’s childhood tragedy in episodes like (1.08) "Confidence Man" and (1.16) "Outlaws"; he became something of a fan favorite – especially in regard to his relationship with Kate. Fans soon began to appreciate Sawyer’s nicknames for others (why, I do not know), his sardonic sense of humor and Southern charm. When Sawyer began displaying signs of heroism in Season Four episodes like (4.09) "The Shape of Things to Come" and (4.12-4.14) "There’s No Place Like Home, Parts I and II", certain fans began to view him as the overall hero of the series . . . or perhaps someone who should be the series' hero.

One of the results from the Ford family tragedy was James' search for the real "Sawyer", the man who had swindled his parents. Young James had dumped the blame for his parents’ deaths completely on this con man’s shoulders. Not only did he write a letter to the man (which he kept on his person) at the age of eight, promising revenge for his family’s tragedy; he finally got the chance to exact his revenge. In the Season Three episode, (3.19) "The Brig", fellow castaway John Locke was ordered by Ben Linus of the Others to kill his father – another confidence man named Anthony Cooper – in order to prove himself a worthy member of their group. Unfortunately, Locke could not get himself to kill Cooper, despite the latter’s taunts. But when Locke learned more about his father’s past, he found someone who could do the job for him. Namely, one James "Sawyer" Ford.

I suppose no one should have been surprised that James would end up murdering Cooper. I certainly was not surprised. But I also felt a great deal of disappointment and contempt toward the con man. For 28 years – since the age of eight – James had solely blamed Anthony Cooper for his parents’ deaths. In other words, he used Anthony Cooper as a scapegoat for all of the hurt he had experienced during that troubling time. Yes, Cooper had been guilty of swindling the Ford family and having an affair with Mrs. Ford. But that was the extent of his guilt. As he matured into an adult, I wonder if James ever bothered to wonder about his parents' actions. Look at Mr. Ford. How did he expressed himself after realizing that he had been swindled by Cooper and cuckolded by Mrs. Ford? He murdered his wife in cold blood and then committed suicide; instead of reporting Cooper to the police and divorcing his wife. Sawyer could blame Anthony Cooper for swindling his family. But apparently, he seemed incapable of realizing that his mother was guilty of adultery with Cooper . . . and his father was guilty of murder. Even worse, James refused to admit that his father had reacted to his wife’s infidelity and Cooper’s deception with vindictiveness and cowardice.

When you think about it, one could say that Sawyer is almost a chip off the old block. His determination to solely blame Cooper for his parents' deaths not only led him to eventually murder the con man on the island, it also led him to commit another murder before he had boarded Oceanic Flight 815 in Sydney, Australia. Back in the United States, a fellow con man named Hibbs informed James that Cooper is living in Australia, under the alias of Frank Duckett. After catching up with the man in Sydney and shooting him, Duckett revealed that his name was not an alias and that he owned money to Hibbs. In other words, Hibbs had used James' desire for revenge to murder an innocent man. And in "The Brig", Locke used that same desire to manipulate the Alabama native into committing another murder. Many fans have claimed that James’ murder of Cooper allowed him some form of solace over his parents’ deaths. For me, his solace is false. The murder only allowed James to ignore the fact that his parents – especially his father – was even more guilty for leaving him in an orphan state. In fact, James’ desire for revenge allowed two men to make a chump out of him.

Around the end of Season One, James managed to win a seat aboard a raft constructed by another castaway – Michael Dawson. Along with Michael, the latter’s ten year-old son Walt Lloyd, and a fourth castaway, Jin-Soon Kwon; James sailed away from the island in (1.23-1.25) "Exodus: Parts 1 and 2". As everyone knows, the raft passengers failed to get very far after young Walt was kidnapped and James was shot by Tom Friendly and the Others. James, Michael and Jin washed up on the other side of the island; was briefly held as prisoners by surviving Tail Section passengers led by Ana-Lucia Cortez. The three men and the Tail Section survivors eventually reached the Fuselage passengers' camp. After James was nursed back to health, he noticed that a good number of belongings had been taken by the other castaways. But he did or said nothing . . . until the castaways' unofficial leader, Dr. Jack Shephard, violated his privacy by taking a bottle of aspirin from his tent in (2.13) "The Long Con". What happened? Sawyer decided to take control of the guns through a con job that involved Charlie Pace's assistance and scaring the hell out of Jin’s wife, Sun-Hwa. Not only was he pissed at Jack for entering his tent without permission, he was angry at the other castaways for going through his things after he left the island on Michael's raft:

"That's right, Jack. He's as stupid as you are. You were so busy worrying about each other you never even saw me coming, did you? How about you listen up because I'm only going to say this once. You took my stuff. While I was off trying to get us help -- get us rescued -- you found my stash and you took it, divvied it up -- my shaving cream, my batteries, even my beer."

One, Sawyer could have simply taken the pills back from Jack, through a fist fight, if he had to. But his anger at the other castaways bordered on the ridiculous . . . at least to me. Sawyer originally had no intention of returning to the island in the first place, when he left on that raft. Why on earth did he expect the other castaways to keep their hands off his belongings, when he had left them behind without any intention of using them again? Did he expect them to erect some kind of shrine in his memory? Not only could the entire con could have been avoided, it initiated a story line that went nowhere.

The events of "Exodus" led to another incident – Sawyer’s murder of Tom Friendly in the Season Three finale, (3.22-3.23) "Through the Looking Glass". Some fans had claimed that the death of Tom, one of the Others that followed Ben Linus’ lead, had been necessary measure to prevent Tom from becoming a possible threat. Others claimed that the castaways were in a "war" and Sawyer had every right to murder Tom in cold blood. I find the last argument a joke and a horrifying example of excuses human beings will use to condone violence. The argument that Sawyer had defended his fellow castaways from the threat of Tom did not resonate with me. As far as I am concerned, Sawyer was defending squat. A former member of the Others who had joined the castaways, Juliet Burke, had already prevented Tom from grabbing a gun. Then Tom surrendered. And what did Sawyer do? He shot Tom in cold blood, when the guy was defenseless. And Hurley protested his act of murder. Which did not strike as an act of defending friends to me. The murder seemed like an obvious act of revenge, sparked by Sawyer's own vindictive personality. He eventually admitted it seconds later:

SAWYER: That's for taking the kid off the raft.
HURLEY: Dude it was over, he surrendered.
SAWYER: I didn't believe him.

Bullshit!! I suspect that Sawyer believed that Tom’s surrender was genuine. He simply wanted revenge. And I am beginning to wonder if he only wanted revenge for Walt’s kidnapping. After all, the moment he, Jack, and John Locke had encountered Tom in (2.11) "The Hunting Party", the first words that came out of his mouth were:

"He's the son-of-a-bitch that shot me on the raft."

One, Sawyer did not even mention Walt. Two, Tom never shot Sawyer. In fact, he never ordered someone to shoot Sawyer. The latter got shot, because he was stupid enough to try something when Tom and the Others had guns trained on him, Michael and Jin. Tom did not even have to say a word. The same thing occurred in "The Hunting Party". Even worse, James was determined to use Tom as the scapegoat for Walt’s kidnapping. Yes, Tom did lead the kidnapping mission. However, by "Through the Looking Glass", both the fans and the series' characters had discovered that it was Ben who had who ordered Walt’s kidnapping. A "mobisode" (two- or three-minute clip) from 2007 titled "Room 23" revealed that long time island protector Jacob had ordered Ben to initiate Walt's kidnapping. And it was Ben who had decided when and how Walt would be returned to Michael. Tom was guilty of following orders. Actually, both he and Ben were guilty of this. Yet, when Sawyer had the chance to attack Ben for Walt's kidnapping, Sawyer did NOTHING. Instead, he attacked Ben for making innuendos about Kate's preference for Jack's company in the Season Four episode, (4.02) "Confirmed Dead". Did that mean Sawyer was afraid to force Ben to pay the price for Walt’s kidnapping? Or did he allow his mind to focus upon the delusion that Tom was solely to blame, because he needed a convenient scapegoat to feed his vindictive nature?

I am sure that many "LOST" fans are aware of the series' last tragedies that occurred in the Season Six episode, (6.14) "The Candidate". Due to a bomb planted on a submarine that the remaining castaways had planned to use to leave the island, Sayid Jarrah, along with Jin and Sun Kwon, had lost their lives. In (6.01) "LAX – Part I", thirteen episodes before this tragedy, James’ then lady love, Dr. Juliet Burke, had died after triggering Jughead – an atomic bomb that the U.S. Army had brought to the island in 1954. She had followed a plan originally initiated by Daniel Farrady and followed through by Jack after Farrady’s death, to use the bomb to change the timeline in the hopes that Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 would land in Los Angeles. The bomb did three things – it stopped DHARMA's destructive drilling into the island's electromagnetic source, conducted by Dr. Stuart Radzinsky; sent the time traveling castaways back to the early 21st century and the right year - 2007; and slowly killed Juliet via radiation poisoning. Following this tragedy, Sawyer resorted to his old game of creating convenient scapegoats by solely blaming Jack for her death. He had completely ignored the facts that Daniel had created the plan in the first place, Sayid had been just as enthusiastic as Daniel and Jack to carry out the plan, and Juliet had changed her mind and made the decision to trigger the bomb herself. Why? She had previously spotted an affectionate glance exchanged between Sawyer and Kate. Was Jack guilty of Juliet’s death? Initially, I thought so. But I did not believe Jack was solely guilty of Juliet’s death. Decisions made by Daniel and Juliet herself led to her death. However, I eventually realized that Radzinsky was responsible, thanks to his obsession with accessing the island's energy source. Even Sawyer had witnessed the near damage of Radzinsky's drilling and saw how it had caused Juliet to be dragged into the future Swan Station's pit. But Sawyer did not care. With both Daniel and Juliet dead, and Radzinsky being back in the past; he needed a scapegoat for his pain. The surviving Jack Shephard was his scapegoat.

For the next thirteen episodes, James harbored a deep and lingering anger and resentment toward Jack. It all came to a head in "The Candidate", aboard Charles Widmore's submarine, when the castaways discovered that the entity known as the Man in Black (MIB) had planted a bomb in one of their knapsacks. The majority of them aboard were potential candidates to replace another entity known as Jacob, who had ensured the MIB’s presence on the island. With Jacob and his candidates dead, the MIB would finally be able to escape. What happened after the discovery of the bomb? Jack realized that if they allowed the countdown to continue, nothing would happen. After all, the MIB – for some reason – could not directly kill any of Jacob’s candidates. But due to his lingering distrust and anger toward Jack, James refused to believe him and tried to deactivate the bomb. Instead, the bomb’s countdown accelerated.

Realizing that they were all about to be killed, Sayid grabbed the bomb and raced to the other side of the submarine to ensure they would not be in direct fire of the blast. Sayid was immediately killed. Frank was knocked out cold from the blast and no one could find him. He eventually ended in the water and survived by floating to the surface - unconscious. Sun found herself trapped by wreckage inside the submarine. But since James was knocked out cold, Jack had to help him escape from the submarine (Hurley had already assisted a wounded Kate into the water), while Jin tried to free her. Unable to do so, he decided to remain by his wife’s side, until their deaths. The episode ended with an unconscious James and the grieving Jack, Kate and Hurley on a beach.

Some fans had supported James' decision not to trust Jack, claiming Juliet’s death as a good reason for him not to do so. I can no longer accept that, since I now realize Jack was never responsible in the first place. But James and Jack had been enemies ever since the Oceanic 815's crash in September 2004. Although their enmity had begun with James' resentment of Jack's growing leadership over the Oceanic survivors, a great deal of their enmity had to do with their rivalry for the affections of one Kate Austen. And the two had a history of rarely trusting one another in the first place. And considering all that had occurred on the island, I believe that James could have tried to put aside his remaining feelings aboard the submarine and realize that Jack had been right about the Man in Black. He also could have opened his mind and realized that Jack was not responsible for Juliet’s death.

But due to James' habit of using someone as a scapegoat for his pain, he solely blamed Jack for Juliet's death. James was also a pragmatic man. Perhaps too pragmatic for his own good at times. He had never been in the habit of immediately giving anyone the benefit of the doubt. And it is possible that not only did he not trust Jack, but he was also wanted to flee the island and his memories of those three years with Juliet so badly that he was unwilling to listen to anyone. Perhaps Jack’s willingness to carry out Daniel Farrady’s plans regarding Jughead may have led to that moment when James pulled the wires from that bomb. But I believe that James’ own emotional demons, his desperation to flee the island and his inability to instinctively give others a chance may have sealed the Kwons and Sayid's fates.

Did James ever learned to let go of his feelings? Did he ever learn to at least give others a chance, if not immediately trust them? Did finally realize that he had acquired a great deal of blood on his hands over the past three years, due to his own demons and a tendency to form immediate scapegoats for the problems and pain he had experienced over the years? Did he ever learn to finally learn to let go of his delusions and face the reality of his situations . . . and himself?

I found myself recalling a conversation between James and Jack in the series' penultimate episode, (6.16) "What They Died For". Considering James spent a good deal of that episode beating himself up over what happened on the submarine, I like to think he had finally learn to let go of his illusions. And I hope he finally learned to confront the reality of himself either before or after he left the island for good.

Top Five Favorite "LOST" Season One (2004-2005) Episodes

 

Below is a list of my top five favorite episodes from Season One of "LOST" (2004-2010). The series was created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof; and produced by the latter and Carlton Cuse.

TOP FIVE FAVORITE "LOST" SEASON ONE (2004-2005) Episodes



1. (1.23-1.25) "Exodus" - This season finale served as a transition in the series' narrative, as an expedition sets out to find dynamite to open the hatch recently discovered by castaway John Locke. And the raft planned by Michael Dawson finally leaves the island with him, his son Walt, Jin Kwon and James "Sawyer" Ford, resulting in unexpected circumstances.





2. (1.17) ". . . In Translation" - This episode featured Jin Kwon's backstory in flashbacks and the further disintegration of his marriage, when he discovers that his wife Sun had learned English behind his back.





3. (1.04) "Walkabout" - While Locke and a few others set on a hunting expedition to find boar for the other castaways, his flashbacks reveal his reason for being in Australia.





4. (1.11) "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues" - Jack Shephard leads an expedition to find two castaways that had been kidnapped in the previous episode. The episode's flashbacks reveal the events that led to Jack being responsible for his father's dismissal from the hospital they worked at.





5. (1.19) "Deus Ex Machina" - In their search for a means to open a hatch they had found; Locke and Boone Carlyle find a Nigerian small plane. And their discovery leads to tragic circumstances. In the flashbacks, Locke meets his parents for the first time, who prove to be major disappointments.

"LOST" RETROSPECT (1.14) "Special"

 

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.14) "Special"

I just watched the Season One episode of "LOST" called (1.14) "Special". It reminded me of how the show runners had pretty much screwed over the Michael Dawson character.

Although I do not regard "Special" as one of the series' best episodes, let alone one of the best about Michael, watching it reminded me of the anger had I felt the show’s fans and their expectations and assumptions about him. One of the criticisms directed at Michael was his inability to be the perfect parent. Some critics actually claimed that Michael did not know how to be a parent. It occurred to me that it was a stupid comment to make. Worse, this comment was indicative of the fans' unrealistic expectations of Michael’s character.

Of course Michael had no idea on how to be a parent. He was new at it, thanks to his ex-girlfriend, Susan Lloyd. Not only did she break up with Michael following Walt’s birth. She also decided that Michael would not play a role in Walt’s life as his father. Even before her death, she had expected her husband and Walt’s stepfather, Brian Porter, to be the one to raise him. One of the more frustrating aspects of the "LOST" fandom toward Michael is that many had expected him to be this one-dimensional character. He either had to be another castaway, loyal to the series’ leading characters; the perfect parent, despite having very little experience prior to being stranded on the island; or turn to the "Great White Hunter" aka John Locke for lessons on parenthood.

And what the fuck was up with John Locke? Teaching Walt how to use a machete … without Michael's permission? What the hell was he thinking, allowing a child to handle a dangerous weapon? And then there was that piece of advice he gave Michael - to treat Walt more like an adult than a child. What the fuck? Walt was ten years old, not fucking twenty-four years old. One, parents tend regard their off springs as children even after they become adults. To a certain extent. And two, Walt was too young and too immature to be treated like an adult at the time.

What I found disturbing about this situation regarding the machete lesson is that when Michael had called Locke out for teaching Walt how to use a machete, the latter turned it on Michael and blamed him for not being the perfect father. This was bullshit. Teaching a ten-year-old boy how to handle a machete without the permission of the latter's father? Treating said ten-year-old child like an adult? If Michael was expected to become a better parent because he had followed Locke’s advice, then "Special" gave the wrong kind of lesson in parenthood. And if I must be brutally honest, so did screenwriter David Fury. In the end, Walt’s encounter with a polar bear pretty much justified Locke’s decision to teach him to use a machete. It seemed as if Fury and the series’ show runners - Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof - believed Locke knew more about raising a child than Michael.

John Locke was not Dr. Spock. He was a man who had the wrong idea on what it really took to become a parent, based on his own damaged relationships with his parents. As for Michael, he was never a perfect parent. But he was never terrible. And despite his flaws, a great deal of his actions were dictated by his desire to protect Walt from the island’s dangers. His lack of perfection was not surprising since a "perfect parent" does not exist. Never really existed in the first place.

Human beings are not perfect. If humans are not perfect, why expect someone - whether in real life or in fiction - to be the perfect parent? Or perhaps many "LOST" fans had harbored such high demands from Michael because he was a black man and not the lead of a television show. Perhaps he was not expected to be as ambiguous and complicated as he proved to be.

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.17) ". . . In Translation"

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.17) ". . . In Translation" Before I commence upon this article, I should reveal that the "LOST" Season One episode, (1.17) ". . . In Translation" is one of my all time favorites from the series. I will try to be as biased as possible regarding the episode, but do not expect me to succeed. To understand ". . . In Translation", one has to watch the previous episode, (1.06) "The House of the Rising Sun". The flashbacks in that episode revealed the backstory of the marriage between Jin-Soo Kwon and Sun-Hwa Kwon (née Paik) before they had ended up stranded on the island via Oceanic Flight 815. Told from Sun's point of view, the flashbacks revealed that Jin had to take a job working for Mr. Paik, Sun's father in order to win her hand in marriage. The couple became increasingly estranged, as Jin began spending more time doing his father-in-law's bidding than with his wife. One night, after they had been married for a period of time, Jin returned home covered in someone else's blood. Fearing that her husband might be a dangerous killer, Sun secretly plotted to leave Jin (hence the secret English lessons); but changed her mind while on route to Los Angeles, via Sydney. "The House of the Rising Sun" also revealed the growing animosity between Jin and fellow castaway Michael Dawson, when the former attacked the latter for wearing Sun's father's watch - something that Michael had discovered on the beach. ". . . In Translation" continued the revelation of the Kwon marriage, only from Jin's point-of-view. The flashbacks revealed the circumstances behind Jin asking Sun’s father her hand in marriage, the bargain he had made to work for the older man, Jin’s growing awareness of Sun’s frustration with his duties and more importantly the real circumstances surrounding the infamous blood on his hands that Sun had spotted. Sun saw a man who may have committed a brutal murder. What really happened is that Jin prevented a government official – who had refused to re-open one of Mr. Paik’s factories – from being murdered by one of his father-in-law’s henchmen by convincing the man to cooperate after a severe beating. Realizing that he was in danger of losing Sun, Jin decided to take his fisherman father’s advice to use a business trip to leave South Korea and stay in the U.S. for good. Only the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 intervened. Following the events of (1.14) “Special”, Michael Dawson decided to build a raft in order to get his ten year-old son away from the dangers of the island. The hostility between Michael and Jin finally came to a head when someone mysteriously set fire to the raft. Believing that Jin had set the fire, Michael attacked the former. Sun’s desperate cries for Michael to stop revealed her knowledge of English to Jin and the other castaways. The revelation not only led to a further rift between the South Korean couple, but also to the beginning of a friendship between Jin and Michael, as they proceeded to rebuild the raft. This episode was aptly named ". . . In Translation", a take on the title of Sofia Coppola's 2003 movie. If anything, it focused upon the main problem that surrounded the Kwon marriage - namely the bad communication that existed between the couple before and after the crash of Oceanic 815. For some time, Sun believed that Jin may have murdered on her father's behalf, due to the blood she had spotted on his hand. This would explain why she had continuously declared to people like Michael and fellow castaway Kate Austen about Jin's dangerous nature and how "he was capable of anything". And this would explain why she took the trouble to learn English and not tell Jin. However, Jin was also guilty of keeping secrets from Sun. He never told Sun the details behind the blood on his hands, believing that it was not her place to know. More importantly, he lied about his father, Mr. Kwon, telling both Sun and her father that the latter was dead. Which is ironic, considering he left Sun after learning that she spoke English. Even more ironic is the fact that Sun knows that his father is alive . . . but never bothered to reveal this to Jin. Some viewers translated that last shot of Sun revealing her bikini without Jin hovering about, as a sign of her "freedom". Whatever "bondage" that Sun found during her marriage, it had been created by bad communication between her and Jin. For me, Sun’s removal of her wrap struck me as a hollow and irrelevant gesture. Her "freedom" came at the cost of losing - at least for a while - the very man that she would always love more than anyone. On a minor level, a lack of communications also continued to exist between Michael and Walt. Most fans tend to blame Michael for this by accusing him of being a poor parent. There were moments when Michael became forgetful of Walt. And there were other times when Michael's jealousy of Walt's friendship with castaway John Locke got in the way. However, many of these fans failed to recall that Walt was just as responsible as Michael, due to his residual resentment toward the major changes in his life - losing his mother and gaining a long lost father. Because of this resentment, Walt had a bad habit of disobeying his father when he should have done the opposite. As far as these fans are concerned, Locke would have made a better parent than Michael. Personally, I disagree. Locke was adept at being a friend to Walt. Being a friend did not necessarily mean one is a good parent. The latter has to be an effective disciplinarian, as well. Unfortunately, being a disciplinarian does not jibe with the early 21st ideal of parenthood. A third story line centered on the triangle that existed between Shannon Rutherford, Sayid Jarrah and Shannon’s stepbrother, Boone Carlyle. But I barely paid attention. In a nutshell, Sayid declared his intentions to court Shannon to Boone. The latter decided to stir up trouble by hinting to Sayid that Shannon likes to use older men for her own benefit. Needless to say, Shannon set things to right and resumed her romance with Sayid after receiving sound advice from Locke. Screenwriters Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Leonard Dick really did a great job in continuing the revelations behind the Kwon marriage in this very emotional episode. The island incidents balanced very well against Jin's flashbacks regarding his marriage. And this episode really worked, due to the outstanding performances from Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim. Also Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson), Bryan Chung (Mr. Paik), and John Shin (Mr. Kwon) gave excellent support. Some of my favorite scenes in the episode included Jin's successful attempts to save the life of the South Korean government official, his marriage proposal to Mr. Paik and especially the poignant conversation he has with his father, Mr. Kwon, about his marriage. I also enjoyed the scenes that featured Michael's two attempts to bond with ten year-old Walt - the second being more successful. I also enjoyed Locke's revelation that Walt was responsible for burning the raft. But my favorite scene featured the moment when Jin discovered that Sun spoke English. Director Tucker Gates did an excellent job in conveying Jin's confusion with spinning camera work and muffled babble, as the the South Korean castaway tried to understand the English words that swirled around him. The only dark spot in this episode was Sawyer's attempt to form a lynch mob for Jin, after the raft caught on fire. It was an unpleasant reminder that Mr. Ford's penchant for resorting to violent retribution remained with him until the last season. A few years ago, I had created a LIST of my ten favorite episodes from "LOST". ". . . In Translation" ranked at number six on my list. After my recent viewing of the episode, that ranking still stands.

Fan Perception of Ana-Lucia Cortez

FAN PERCEPTION OF ANA-LUCIA CORTEZ

I have a confession to make. I did not watch the ABC series “LOST” from the beginning. In fact, I did not start watching the series until (2.02) “Adrift”, the second episode of Season Two. However, I could barely maintain interest in the show, until the Season Two episode, (2.04) “Everybody Hates Hugo”. 

To be honest, there was nothing particularly special about that episode. But there was one scene that really made me sit up and notice. This scene featured a moment in which Tail Section survivor Ana-Lucia Cortez punched James “Sawyer” Ford. I cheered when that happened, because … well, I found Sawyer rather annoying. Unbeknownst to me, Sawyer was already a fan favorite by this time and many fans were upset by Ana-Lucia’s act of violence. 

They were even further upset when she accidentally shot and killed fuselage survivor, Shannon Rutherford near the end of (2.06) “Abandoned”. It was an accident and Ana-Lucia thought she was defending herself from an attack by the Others, following the disappearance of fellow Tailie Cindy Chandler. Mind you, Season One (which I saw, thanks to the release of its DVD box set) featured Charlie Pace’s murder of a defenseless Ethan Rom, Jin Kwon and Michael Dawson’s beatings of each other, a fight between Sawyer and Sayid Jarrah, and Shannon’s attempted murder of John Locke for lying about the circumstances of her step-brother Boone Carlyle’s death. But it was Ana-Lucia’s accidental killing of Shannon that pissed them off - even to this day.

But it was the seventh episode from Season Two that sealed my fate as a regular viewer of “LOST”- namely (2.07) “The Other 48 Days”. This episode conveyed the experiences of Ana-Lucia and the other Tail Section passengers of Oceanic Flight 315 during their first 48 days on the island. To this day, “The Other 48 Days”remains my favorite “LOST” episode of all time. But I also noticed that the fan opinion of Ana-Lucia remained at an all time low. 

As the years passed, I never understood the fans’ low opinion of Ana-Lucia. She did not seem any better or worse than many of the other characters on the show. Honestly. During my years of watching the series, I was surprised to discover how unpleasant or annoying many of the regular characters could be, including the golden quartet - Dr. Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, Sawyer and Hugo “Hurley” Reyes. Even a borderline villain like Ben Linus proved to be more popular than Ana-Lucia. 

I found myself wondering if the series’ decision to make her a leader of the Tailies made her so unpopular. A Latina woman who did not live up to the fans’ ideal of the early 21st century white woman? At first I had dismissed the idea … until I read this article by Theresa Basile called “Lost Season 2: What if Ana-Lucia Was a White Guy?”. Here is the article. Is Ms. Basile right? Most fans would be inclined to dismiss her opinion. But after years of reading the fan reaction to Ana-Lucia, I am beginning to suspect that the author might be right.