Last week I asked the question, "Where are we going?" It only took an episode to get that answer. Last night's "eye opening" parallel to the "Pilot" episode gave us so much information. At the same time, we also got some solid new mysteries and new characters that seem to set up the rest of the series.
We started out with the green eye of Jack Shephard in the middle of the jungle. At first glance, one would guess that this is a flashback to the series' pilot. Many have theorized that this scene will also be the last scene in Lost. Upon closer look, we see that this is not in fact the aftermath of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, but in fact the crash (was it a crash?) of Ajira Airlines Flight 316 -- "316" being the title of last night's episode. The Bible verse John 3:16 is considered to be a summary of some of the most central doctrines of Christianity and is one of the most widely quoted verses in the world (yeah, I'm talking to you In 'N Out Burger!) The passage reads, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And in his note to Jack, that other John simply wrote, "I wish you had believed me."
We got quite a bit of information about the island from Eloise Hawking and the new Dharma station (the first one that's not actually located on the island). This new station is called the Lamppost, a reference to C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series. The Lamppost is a station that predicts where the island is going to be, giving us confirmation (if we didn't have any already) that the island is always moving, thus making the rescue of the 815-ers rather difficult.
But there were new mysteries that lead to new questions. Who got Kate, Hurley, and Sayid on board? Was it fate for them to be there anyway? Fate -- much like Frank Lapidus' stumble back into the island story? Was their arrival on Ajira 316 forced by Ben? What was this unfinished business that left Ben visibly injured? I really hope that he convinced the others to join the flight back and it wasn't an attempt to keep his promise of killing Penny Widmore. If that's the case, then I don't think I could ever forgive Ben. Nobody messes with Pesmond! Or did he have something to do with the mysterious disappearance of Aaron and the weird attitude of Kate?
John Locke was Christian Shephard's proxy. Hurley had an ovation guitar for his departed friend Charlie. Ben came in just as the flight was going to take off (like Hurley did on 815). Sun held her husband's ring for safe keeping in place for Rose. Kate seemed to be drugged out in place of Charlie. Sayid is now in custody a la Kate. Did he get busted for busting Ben's face?
Last night's episode concluded where we started off: the Oceanic 6's return to the island. Hurley, Jack and Kate seem to be together. We don't know about the rest, their locations or the time period they are in, and to close out the episode we had a double take of Jin dressed in 70s Dharma fatigues. This places the left behind Losties and at least Jack, Hurley and Kate stuck in Dharma time. How are they going to get back?
My question last week has been answered. I believe this episode gave us the foundation for the rest of the series. Enough new mystery and story for our Losties to get through. God, I love this show!
What do you guys think? Leave your questions, comments, and theories below about last night's episode.
If you crave even more Lost Talk check out my podcast, "The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack" or on iTunes.