TPG's LOST COMPASS: The Candidate

Let me put down my tissues, I'm still recovering from night's episode entitled "The Candidate." It was episode ripe with references to the past and full of deep character moments, and some kick ass action. There are only two episodes left before the two hour finale and once again, I'm a little perplexed on where this whole thing is going. So what do you say we strap our on backpacks (the one with the supplies, not the C4) and trek into into the jungle to find some truth in last night's shocking episode.


1. Sure, it's damn sad that all those great characters had to die, but let's just be honest, they aren't really dead. With the exception of Frank Lapidus, everyone who died on the submarine exists in the flash sideways, so it's not as depressing as say, Charlie Pace's death. As for Lapidus, I'm sure he's around in the flash sideways world. He's hanging out at Jimmy Buffet concert drinking coronas and burning joints, not randomly appearing at hospitals to face his greater destiny. In other words, don't worry about him, he's doing fine.

2. My biggest question of the episode is whether or not Jack and Locke had their island "flash" at the end of the episode in the hospital. Locke was saying "I wish you had believed me" in his sleep and when Jack repeated that line to him when he was leaving, he gave the good ol Doc one crazy look. My guess is that Jack has already had his flash sideways moment, we haven't seen it, perhaps even he's known his purpose for a long time, but for the paralyzed Locke, in that moment, he saw something. Things definitely aren't done between Jack and Locke in any timeline, these two, these men of science, these men of reason, these men of faith, are the core of the show. Great to see them sparring again.

3. CHEER UP: Hey it wasn't all sad. Did you guys check out that very groovy stair case leading onto the Ajira plan, somebody certainly had a lot of time. And how about that the fact that the wolfman's brotha Desmond is alive at the bottom of well. Any time Desmond is confirmed alive is good news for all. Also, how happy and calm is Jack in the flash sideways. He's a man complete.

4. MIND MELT: Just who is "The Candidate" that the title refers to. Sawyer, Hurley, and Jack were on the cave and lighthouse so it has to be one of those three. I'm going with Jack. Not only because he's the main character of the show, but also because of this simple tantalizing detail. Remember at the very start of the series, Jack is alone in the jungle, away from everybody else. He alone is the jungle the others on the beach. I believe that when this whole show ends, Jack somehow, will be right back on the jungle, alone, the candidate is now the leader, elected. He'll walk onto the beach and will see nothing. It only ends once.

5. DOUBLE MIND MELT WITH A SIDE OF REDEMPTION: Charles Widmore will end up being a deciding figure in the happy ending for all the characters. First introduced as a roadblock to Desmond and Penny's true love and even a full fledged villain season 4, he will be the one who knows how to connect the two timelines. He's known this for a long time (thanks to his son and continued research, remember this girl) perhaps even way back to the point where he didn't want his daughter to meet Desmond, because he knew at some point, he was going to have to microwave his ass to save the entire universe. "Sorry daughter, you know I love you, but I gotta toast your husband."

6. ACLU OBVSERVATION: With the exception of Walt, LOST has now killed off every minority character who's ever been on the show since season one. Sayid, got blown up, terrible way to go. Jin and Sun, drowned, not to great. Michael.....another explosive death. Eko....smacked down to the ground by smokie. Ana Lucia....iced by a bullet. Miss Klugh....another date with a bullet. Rose....living in the jungle somewhere, alive? That tall black dude from The Wire who may have been working for Jacob....more bullets, enough for a pepperoni pizza....with bullets (if you don't get that go here) Who am I missing?

7. LOST, for all it's mysteries and theories really knows how to pull on your heart strings huh? That story Locke told about flying with his Dad, the one thing he wanted so desperately in the other time line is real gut wrenching stuff. I'm going to miss having a TV show make me feel like this. Can't wait for next week, and in the meantime enjoy this LOST techno remix.

SMP's LOST Compass: Recon

Alright folks, here we are mid-week of TPG's vacation and guest blogging adventure. Today, I'm here to deliver my own version of the now legendary (and weekly) LOST Compass. I'm going to try my best to follow format but as a warning, I'm going to be more negative about the show than this blog has ever allowed. Let's get after it:

1. For me this season of LOST has been a pretty large disappointment and last night's ep was nothing new. I've grown tired of the writer's failed attempts to keep the viewers riveted. I remember how many times I rolled my eyes during the classic S05E06 "316" where The Lamp Post station is introduced and Eloise Hawking mills around science experiments and acts like she knows what she's talking about. Now I'd give anything for that kind of mystery, and this, friends is a very depressing statement.

2. What is with these new characters being introduced with 9 episodes left of one of the most enthralling character dramas television has ever had? Most of the time the show has been successful because of the interesting storylines and backstories of the core members of the original flight (Losties) and their entanglements on the island with The Others. It's clear now that while the writers claim to have "mapped out" everything from the start, they inadvertently or foolishly, used up all their best storylines by about halfway through season 3 or maybe 4. The result? Introducing characters in the final season of a show that begs to be wrapped up nicely. Let's cut the bull on this one: I'd trade 1,000,000 Dogen episodes for 10 seconds of screen time for Juliet again.

3. Where is Desmond?

4. Claire is out of control. We've seen her on a roller coaster ride of emotions before: "I love you Charlie..." [5 mins later] "I hate you Charlie!", but at least before we could blame it on the pregnancy. Now it seems she's gotten even crazier. Nice how Flocke/Smokey/Samuel (presumed to be the cause of her current paranoia) made a point of mentioning this to Kate as if it were some great reveal: "I had mommy issues, and now Aaron has a crazy mom too."

5. What a TERRIBLE final line of the episode. It seemed to sum up how I feel about the season and where the show is at right now in general. Kate asks, but how can we get off the island if we don't have someone to fly the plane? Sawyer responds, easy freckles, we take the nuclear sub instead. WHAT? Translation: But Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, how can we make sense of the complex, all-encompassing philosophical exercise that is LOST? Easy, viewers, we create an entirely different complex and all encompassing philosophical mindf*** to distract you from the fact that neither makes any sense. TITLE CARD. Don't be surprised when the final scene of the series is something that completely distracts you from all the hard work and thought process you've put into something that doesn't, and will never, add up.

6. Charles Widmore so easily led on by Sawyer? I DON'T THINK SO. When Flocke/Smokey/Samuel arrives on the Hydra, expect things to get violent with newly introduced characters from this season biting the dust left and right 24-style.

7. Where is DESMOND?

8. How will Jack and Hurley tie into all of this? Are they still off wandering around the island looking for impossibly large landmarks that were never evident at any other point during the series despite how large they are? Jack and Hurley are an odd combo. Jack doesn't have a sense of humor and Hurley's only purpose in life is to make light of a given situation. The sooner they get back to some sort of group dynamic, the less awkward the writing will have to be for them.

9. WHERE. IS. DESMOND????

10. The last point I want to make is about the scenes from the next LOST trailer. Even before this season began, I was made aware of the episode that is coming next week. Rumor spread about a Richard Alpert centric episode and I won't lie that the promise of receiving so many answers is intoxicating. We all agreed upon seeing the trailer: next week is a make or break for LOST. If a Richard Alpert centric episode isn't the headiest, most mind-numbing, geek-out, LOST fan-boy FREAKFEST of all time, there's no hope for the show. Many believe Alpert to be the key to numerous theories and explanations on and off the island... the question is, whether the writers decide to give us LOST-dogs a bone, or continue to spoil the gourmet feast that LOST once was by dicking us around yet again. I'll be praying every night to the egyptian Gods of Jacob's past that they decide to deliver on a promise they made years ago by introducing such a mysterious and AWESOME character like Alpert.

**** PLEASE NOTE ****

All opinions and aforementioned theories are spun from the mind of DJ Steve, co-author of the wildly successful, world-famous Lifting Fog Blog. Please do not send TPG any hate mail, at least none regarding LOST. Thank you!

TPG's LOST Compass: Dr. Linus

How ironic that the trailers for "Dr. Linus" talked about Ben's demise. Instead we were treated to rebirth of one on of the greatest (and most decorated) characters on the show. For me this episode was one of, if not, the best episode of the season so far. So let's cue up the principal's emails and see what we can find.

1. The biggest reveal of the evening was that the Dharma Initiative existed in the flash sideways time line. Roger Linus talks about how different things could have been if they stayed on the Island. Roger arrived in 1973 with an eight year old Ben Linus and in this "flash sideways" they didn't stay on groovy Island paradise. Did they leave after "The Incident" in 1977? What happened to make them leave? How does this relate to our favorite castaways? Yeah, this one is a real head spinner
2. In a clever twist or a sick joke, in the flash sideways Benjamin Linus was keeping his father alive with oxygen gas. Hardcore LOST fans will know that in the Island timline killed his Dad with poison gas.
3. One interesting twist here is the reveal that Jacob is the closest thing that Llana has ever had to a father. What exactly is the connection between the two of them? In the season 5 finale, Jacob appears to her when she is bedridden and they both already know each other. I believe there is a connection between Jacob, Richard, and Llana. Remember Llana and Richard both speak perfect Latin and know the answer to Jacob's questions (What Lies in the Shadow Of the Statue). Dare I say Llana and Richard are related?
4. When the episode opens Dr. Linus is dropping knowledge on his pupils. Good ol Benny complete with his highly academic sweater vest was explaining about the Island of Elba. A place where Napoleon faced his "greatest test," which was his loss of power. This concept relates to Ben, Widmore, Jack, Jacob, Man in Black, and the fate of Damon and Carlton after the show ends.
5. Ben's speech to Llana in the jungle about his grief about letting Alex die only enhanced the flash sideways story. For a character as layered at the legendary Benjamin Linus, seeing him make the right choice, even in a parallel universe to selflessly help Alex was incredibly rewarding.
6. While I'm glad that Widmore finally showed up, his arrival felt like a cheap coda to a brilliant episode. Widmore has spoken about a "war for the island" and considering that there are clearly two sides now, I believe Widmore has known this moment was coming, probably for a long time. I can't wait to see what side he takes. On one hand he encouraged Locke to return to the Island, which would mean he knew about a loophole and would be with team Smoke Monster. On the other hand he encouraged Locke to bring the Oceanic six back to the Island, which would put him on the latter.
6. The slow motion beach reunions get me every time, that's all.


***Next week I will be on the Island and will not be able to write The LOST Compass. My good friend and fellow candidate DJ Steve from the legendary Lifting Fog Blog will be taking over in my absence.

TPG's LOST Compass: The Substitute

Let's just establish a one thing right out of the gate here. I would be terrified if I had John Locke as a substitute teacher in any subject, not just anatomy. That being said here are couple of observations to wrap your minds around.

1. Kate's name was not chalked onto the ceiling of Jacob's little romantic bungalow. This is mind rattling because she met Jacob when she was a child.
2. My fellow castaways pointed out that talking about Jacob "touching" young Sawyer and young Kate sounds really shady.
3. Going back to Kate not having a number and not being on the ceiling. Could this mean that Kate is some form of wild card? Perhaps her free wheeling attitude allows her to be unclaimed, or is just that Jacob and The Man In Black are proper old gents and don't want to include females in their cosmic battle (note this would also explain why he doesn't know if he's Jin or Sun who Jacob got to).
4. While this probably means nothing in season 3, good ol patchy reveals a little information about "the list" check out this quote from lostpedia:

He said that it was impossible for her to understand because she was not on "the list". He then went on to detail specific reasons why they were not on the list, indicating that Kate was "flawed", Sayid was "frightened", Rousseau was "weak", and Locke was "angry"

At this point, Kate wasn't on the ceiling, if you believe Dogen, Sayid is claimed, Rousseau is dead, and well Locke, we know where he's at. So perhaps good ol Patchhhy boy was onto somethin.'
5. I like this idea of "candidates" and I while it will spawn a stream of t-shirt sales at Comic Con it is an interesting concept, and one that we have seen before. Let us not forget that before John Locke died, he was constantly being evaluated to see if he was capable as a potential leader.
6. If Sawyer is on team Locke, then Sawyer's opposite, Jack Sheppard is now most certainly on team Dogen. I believe that all that business last week with the pill and Sayid was mainly a test of the loyalty and leadership capabilities of Jack, a test mind you, that he passed with flying colors. So get ready for the final Jack and Sawyer showdown.
7. MIND MELT, here it comes: In the last episode Dogen spoke of "a sickness" something that was mentioned in previous seasons by Rousseau, Ethan, and the others. And now in this episode the concept of "the rules" rises again. The boy in jungle reminds Locke that he "knows the rules" which is similar to Ben and Widmore's conversation in the classic season 4 episode "The Shape of Things to Come." I'm very excited to see where this general theme takes us in later parts of the season.
8.  It was nice to Locke finally get some good loving, even if he shows his fiance his case full of knives on the day he gets fired (strange idea there Johnnn Boy), but it's getter harder for me to see the importance of the "flash sideways" timeline. The events on the Island are so damn interesting, and the ones in Los Angeles, not so much. We all know they are going to be connected, but I hope they fuse in a LEGO way, not some lame ass DUPLO way.

TPG's LOST Compass: What Kate Does

Welcome to my weekly attempt to provide some reason and direction regarding Lost. I'm not going to walk around in the jungle here, let's get right into it.

1. We know that many familiar faces are coming back to the show this season (see this poster for reference).
2. Last the night Annoying Asian Dude (aka the AAD) who refused to give the answers we desperately crave told us that Sayid who was once dead, was now corrupted (nice job by the writers having him take a whole episode to do this).
3. Ok here's where I detonate jughead on your faces, so hold on to your minds cause they are about to get blown to pieces.
4. The Man In Black has shown that he has the ability to take over people's body, like he currently has with Locke, did with Alex, Christian, Yemi, etc.
5. I think that Sayid's body has been taken over by the Man In Black force, of course this means I trust AAD. But more importantly, I think that everyone who has ever died on the Island (see point #1) will be coming back in the corrupted form. Yes this includes the new Rouseauifed Claire. This would explain how they have managed to get all the actors back in a way that logical, well at least in Lost logic.
6. So with all these zombies coming back (Damon & Carlton have joked about a zombie season) the only people left to terminate these evil Losties would be our heroic castaways. So basically, we're going to get some real deal conclusions here, uhhh, in the form of a gigantic battle where tons of people on both sides are dying. Some people will opt out of the battle mainly the emo-wuss Sawyer, who will some how reunite with Juliet and die in a cave with her, becoming Adam and Eve. By the way I hope Sawyer becomes Mel Gibson/Liam Neeson Takeified and starts kicking serious ass this season!
PAUSE FOR A POTENTIAL MIND MELT: Some people on the message boards think that Man In Black is actually the good guy and the others who are "bad" guys. This would be nuts but how do we really know which side is which. After all don't all the Losties really want is to go home. Sounds like Locke/MIB in the first episode of the season.
7. Yo, TPG, what's good, how will it end? Oh, no shit, I guess you want to know. I think it will end like this. Jack and Locke will be on a beach all there friends are dead by their hands. They will sit on the beach (this is taken from Jeff Jensen), realize that they can't ever leave and watch a plane crash on the Island. The cycle will begin again.

Notes: I mean I'm a honest guy, so I'm going to honest with you good folks. I don't know how this theory connects the alternate timeline. Then again I don't know how Kate could break free from the cops in a stolen taxi, find a friendly mechanic to cut off her chains, then take the taxi back to Claire, then go to a house, stand up for a stranger, then go to a hospital, then evade arrest either. By the way, last night's episode was not good.