Episode Recap … 1/18/2006
Sorry for the delay … took awhile to get this posted.
Overall a good episode. Nothing groundbreaking, at least on the surface. However, there were some interesting moments. Here are my thoughts in the order they appeared in the episode:
1. Jack’s dad is still working with Jack at the time of the flashback. He apparently hasn’t had his run in with the drunk surgery yet. We know that this flashback was at least 2 1/2 years after Shannon’s dad died in Jack’s OR.
2. Interesting dialog between Jack and Michael about the computer. Here we have Michael who believes he has communicated with his son through it. Presumably the computer provided instructions on where Walt was. Yet Michael’s dialog with Jack makes it look like the computer is evil. Here is the quote:
“No, but I’ll shoot your damn computer. That thing isn’t what you think it is anyway. You don’t understand, man. You don’t have any idea.”
Michael then leaves Locke and Jack in the gun locker knowing that there is a chance that nobody may return in time to reset the code. That’s a pretty big risk to take unless you are sure that the code is irrelevant.
3. My big question for this episode is the role that Locke played. I am not sure he was knocked out by Michael. Further, I don’t think he was tracking Michael. Remember back to the first couple of episodes in season 1 when Locke knocked out Sayid as Sayid was trying to locate the source of the distress call. Locke then covered up his actions until much later. It wouldn’t surprise me if Michael went to Locke and explained what he was planning on doing. Knocking out Locke was part of the plan to make it look real.
4. Combination to the gun lock was again mentioned. Right 3 times to 25, left 2 times to 29, right once to 40. Second time the combination is used in an episode.
5. Gabriella knew about Jack marrying the woman he fixed. The question is how would she know that? Has significant time passed between the marriage and the surgery in Jack’s flashback? That time factor is relevant as we attempt to figure out how long ago Shannon’s dad died.
6. Jack doesn’t have any tattoos in his flashback scene. That means the tattoos were put on after his separation from Sarah but before he crashed on the island.
7. Watching the Locke tracking sequence I’m hesitant to say that Locke actually followed Michael. Did Locke lead them somewhere else in order for Jack to meet one of the “Others”?
8. Locke’s quote about bringing back Michael was very interesting and again shows his hesitancy to find Michael. He tells Jack, “Who are we to tell anyone what they can and can’t do?” Was that Locke’s rationale for letting Michael go and for not tracking him in the first place?
9. Did Jack’s dad have an affair? Jack’s dad is lecturing Jack about getting too close to Gabriella when Jack says, “And you would know dad.”.
10. Sawyers legal name is James Ford. That is mentioned once in season 1 – forgot about it though.
11. 7 shots were fired – however, only 3 casings were found. Did the others shoot the remaining 4 shots? Were those even Michael’s casings? Locke says they are but were the shots fired to lead Locke to a specific location.
12. The guy from the “Others” (hereafter referred to as “The Guy”) knew Jack’s first name as well as Locke’s first and last name. He never mentions Sawyer’s name.
13. The Others have some sharp shooters. They managed to hit Sawyer but only graze him. Nice shootin’!
14. “The Guy” said that Michael won’t find the Others. Again, a clue that Locke wasn’t leading the group after Michael. Most likely, Michael didn’t fire those shots either. I doubt he was shooting into the air and since Michael won’t find the Others it stands to reason he didn’t just bump into them an hour or so ago. The shots were fired to lead the group to that specific location.
15. Geromino Jackson was the name of the artist that Hurley and Charlie were talking about. I need to research to find out if that is a real artist or made up.
16. “The Guy” said, “Walt’s fine. He’s a very special boy.” Similar to how Goodwin described the people that the “Others” took from the tail section.
17. “The Guy” also said, “This is not your island.” I would use similar terminology discussing a rat maze with the lab rat. This is not your maze – it’s mine. Just because you live in it – just because you find some cheese in it – does not make this maze yours. The island is the controlled environment where the scientists pull all of the strings.
18. “The Guy” also set out a dividing line telling Jack and Co. to stay on their side of the line and there won’t be any problems. Danielle in Season 1 was leading the group to the Black Rock. As she was walking she stops near a tree that has a piece of material hanging from it. She then calls the area they are going into the “Dark Territory”.
19. Why didn’t the “Others” keep Kate or for that matter – Jack, Locke, and Sawyer? Were they not on the list?
