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Thursday, January 19, 2006

the isle of zeke

Jack and Christian Shepherd are looking over some spinal x-rays from St. Francis Medical Center West, dated November 16, 2005 (wow, a mistake). An older Italian man named Angelo and his daughter, Gabriella, are waiting expectantly. Christian says there’s no way to repair Angelo surgically, and that it would take a miracle. Which is exactly why they’re here. News of Jack’s (or Desmond's?) 'lifting it up' has spread, apparently. They’re not here so the chief of surgery can operate, they want Jack, the miracle worker. He tells them his dad is right, there’s little to no chance surgery will be successful, but he’ll try. Of course Jack will, there’s a life to be saved.

Jack wakes up in the bunk bed, in a seemingly empty swan station. He comes across Locke unconscious in the gun closet, and is surprised by a rifle toting Michael. “Stay in there, Jack!”
He’s going to get Walt, it’s a father’s right. Jack asks if he’s gonna shoot him. No, but he’ll shoot his damn computer. “That thing is not what you think it is, anyway… you don’t understand man, you don’t have any idea…”
Mike seems to have gone completely crazy by this point –like Jack was with Desmond earlier. Jack offers to help, but Michael feels he has to do this alone. (or was he told he had to come alone?)
He closes the door, locking Jack and Locke in the armory.

L O S T

Locke comes to and Jack fills him in, then wants a boost. He’s thinking what we’re all thinking; climb out thru the shaft Kate fell from. Locke was thorough though, and bolted it shut when he changed the combination. He tells Jack he’d been teaching Michael how to shoot, and then it dawns on both of them that they’re locked in the armory while the computer continues its countdown. “Better hope Sawyer shows up to get his band-aid changed.” Subtle set up there.

Sawyer’s sleeping on the beach, or at least he is until Kate chucks a banana his way to wake him up. “There are nicer ways to wake a man up, Freckles.”
Kate’s there to conveniently remind Sawyer he needs his bandages changed. (hurry up, hurry up!) She helps him up and they share a little moment before heading to the station. It looks deserted when they get there, but they hear Jack yelling from the armory. Kate takes care of the beeping countdown, entering the numbers at 3:47ish, as Sawyer unlocks the armory with Locke’s help. “right two times to 25, left two times to 29, right once to 40.” Jack and Locke -Locke reluctantly- make ready to go find Michael, and Sawyer wants to come along, although Jack objects because he’s still on antibiotics... “Good thing I’m traveling with my doctor then.”

Flashback – Jack's running tests on the old man, and has been doing so for a month already. He tells Gabriella he’s just being thorough. We find out that neither of them believes in miracles, but the daughter thinks Jacks wife must, after all she was the one he saved. She’s thorough too. It’s 4:30 in the morning, and after a bit of sexual tension between the two of them, Jack decides it’s a good time to head home. He apologizes when he gets home, and Sarah says it’s okay, “That’s the price of being a miracle worker.” She says she just had a pregnancy scare, but the test was negative. Jack asks if she wants to talk about it, but Sarah just walks away.

Outside the station door Locke’s picked up a trail, and they start to head out. Kate wants to come, and Jack snaps at her, telling her she has to stay with the computer. (the key around his neck seems very prominent in this episode) Sawyer seems to like that Jack is mad at Kate, and now Kate is pissed at Jack. A while later in the jungle, Sawyer asks Jack what Kate did to him, telling him he was pretty harsh with her. Jack snaps at him, telling him to go back and check to see if her feelings were hurt, bringing up the “I love her” comment Sawyer made in his delirium. Sawyer doesn’t remember, but before he can quiz Jack about it, Locke cuts in. He can’t understand why Michael is making a beeline to the north, when they came with the tailies across the island from the east.

On the beach, Kate is telling Hurley about the hunting party. If Arzt (who i saw in my local Wendy's a few weeks ago) were alive, he’d warn her that telling the fat kid means everyone will find out. Jin watches from a distance as Sun puts a hat on him, wasn't it Claires? Kate walks away and Hurley ambles over, manages to spill the beans to Sun in record time, then heads off to the hatch. What? You mean Kate is heading after them on her own? I didn’t see that one coming! ahem. Jin feels the need to go help his friend Mike, but Sun guilts/orders him to stay with his wife.

He does. {insert cracking whip sound here}

Back in the jungle they’re still following Mike’s trail to the north. Jack wonders if Mike might be lost, but Locke assures him that they’re on the path of a man who knows where he’s going. Locke wants to know what Jack plans on doing when they catch up to Michael. “I’ll talk him into coming back.” Locke is sure Mike’s beyond reason at this point, however. Jack asks if he just wants to let him go and write him off. Locke responds by asking, “Who are we to tell anyone what they can or can’t do?”

Flashback to Jack’s office, where Gabriella is signing some final paperwork. Jack seems to have some doubts, but he’s still ready to go ahead with the surgery. She tells him that even if it isn’t successful, he’s giving them a chance, which is all they wanted. There’s another moment of sexual tension, which is interrupted by dear old dad. He can see what’s happening here, and warns Jack against it. Jack seems to accuse his dad of cheating in the past. Dad says that’s okay for some people, but not for Jack. He’s still trying to raise him to be the man he can never be. A special, perfect son.

Climbing 'Mount Vesuvius', Sawyer comes up with a new nickname for Locke. Mr. Clean.
“Why’d you pick that name?” Locke asks.
Sawyer thinks it should be obvious; all he’s missing is an earring and a mop.
“No, your name. Why’d you pick Sawyer?”
Locke tells him he knows he’s James Ford from the manifest. Locke’s interested in the name he's chosen for himself. Did he know the real Sawyer? Suddenly Vesuvius erupts with gunfire! Seven shots, to be exact. Jack goes running toward the shots, and they soon come across the area the shots were fired from. Locke is worried the others may return. He examines the casings and notes that Michael got off at least three of the seven shots. Jack can’t understand how the others could be here, aren’t they two days across the island? Sawyer points out that they stole Cindy less than a mile from camp. (how does he know this? Wasn’t he passed out? Who told him?) Jack asks if he came along to get revenge on the guy that shot him, and Sawyer asks what Jacks reason for being out there is, exactly?

Flashback, and Jack’s in a locker room, pounding the lockers in frustration. The old guy died of heart failure, 7½ hours into the surgery. Jack wants to go tell Gabriella, but Christian has already done this, and she’s left the hospital. He wants to keep temptation away from Jack. Christian sends him home, but Gabriella is in the parking lot waiting. She thanks him for trying and falls into his arms, then kisses him. Jack kisses back, then breaks away. (so is he upset because he feels Kate laid one on him out of gratitude for saving Sawyer, the man she really loves?)

It’s dark in the jungle, and Locke’s lost the trail. He wants to head back, and Jack accuses him of losing the trail on purpose. Locke’s had enough of him. “Yeah, that’s right Jack, I’ve been running through the jungle toward the sound of gunfire because I don’t care about Michael.”
Well hey, that’s not why Jack and Sawyer are doing it - but it would be Jin's reason as well, caring about a friend, were he there. Jack tells Locke that if they turn around now they’ll never see Michael again, and it will be on “…us. On you, and on me.”
“You’re exactly right Jack, but if I were you I’d listen to Mister Locke.”


It’s either Zach Galifianakis or the sonofabitch from the raft that shot Sawyer. (he was the one that fired the gun?) Sawyer raises his gun to shoot him, but Beardo uses the force to pull the gun from his hand. - well no, not really, but it was a Han Solo/Darth Vader moment.- A shot (was it a gunshot?) rings out from the trees and something hits/grazes sawyer. Beardo tells them to put the guns down and not to worry about Michael, cause he’s not gonna find them. He asks Locke (“John”) to build them a fire so they can have a palaver.

Speaking of palavers (sort of), down under the hatch Charlie and Hurley are flipping thru records, and they come across a band they’ve never heard of, “Geronimo Jackson”. Groovy album cover, with three hippie types and a strat in a field.

Charlie, an expert in all things musical, is shocked that he’s never heard of them. This really reminded me of ‘Nozz-a-la cola’ in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. The characters there are in a world that is similar to their own, but with subtle differences. Geronimo Jackson and the Apollo bars seem like the Lost versions of Nozz-a-la. Hurley hands Charlie a record to put on, Amnesia by the Pousette-Dart Band (“Fall on Me” is the song he plays). As Hurley’s flipping past 'Ooklah the Moc' he tells Charlie he thinks he might be able to score with Libby, what with the classic desert island scenario they’re in. “If I ever had a shot, this is it!”
Charlie’s not really paying attention. “Do you think Claire’s missed me yet?”
It’s only been a day. Sayid shuffles over, and complains about the depressing music. He hasn’t heard of Geronimo Jackson either. Hurley tells him Jack, Sawyer, and Locke… and oh yeah, Kate, went to find Michael.

Beardo claims he comes in peace. He tells them that Walt is fine, and that he’s a very special boy. He asks Jack how long they’ve been on the island. 50 days. (Sawyer healed up that quickly in two days? It seemed like a week had gone by or something. Guess not.) Beardo implies that the losties have made themselves quite the imposing guests on his island. -Is he talking about the island in general, or is he being specific and talking about the station? When he looks at Locke mentioning doors that shouldn’t have been opened, does he mean the hatch or the armory? Is this Kelvin?- He tells them someone a lot smarter than anyone there once said, “’Since the dawn of our species, man has been blessed with curiosity.’ You know the other one about curiosity, don’t ya? This is not your island, this is OUR island, and the only reason you’re living on it is ‘cause we let you live on it.”
Jack doesn’t believe him and calls his bluff, thinking there may only be one more Other around. He tells Beardo they wouldn’t have sent Ethan as a spy if they could have just overpowered them. Beardo concedes that it’s an interesting theory, then yells, “Light em up!”


At least a dozen torches light up in the trees surrounding the fire. There’s a quick shot of what looks to be at least two people holding torches, but it could be trickery. Beardo tells them to hand over the weapons and go home, before this crosses the line from a misunderstanding into “something else.” Jack refuses, and Beardo calls for Alex (Danielle’s daughter?!) to bring out a hooded Kate. We only see a glimpse of Alex’s arm. In the background over the shoulder of Beardo is a torch, and what looks like a skull next to it. Are they just scarecrows placed around the fire? They were led there by the gunshots; Beardo could have set it all up beforehand. There's no way to find out, not now that Kate is being held at gunpoint. (It looks like an old luger, why not one of the newer pistols from the station? That explains why they want the guns. But why didn’t they just take them from the armory earlier if they knew about it? Or is he not Desmond’s partner, and he only knows about the station because they’ve been remote viewing with Walt? And then luring Michael away alone for some reason…)
Jack has a decision to make. “Do you live with the fact that I shot this woman right in front of you, when you coulda saved her life by giving up and going home? Or are you gonna give me your guns, turn around, and walk away?”
Beardo gives him to a count of three, and at about 1½, Jack throws his gun down. Locke follows suit, as does Sawyer, but not before adding, “You and me ain't done, Zeke.” “Zeke” gathers up the guns and hands Kate over. The torches extinguish as he walks off. Kate looks hurt that Jack doesn’t seem to care if she’s alright.

On the beach the next morning, Jin and Sun let each other know they don’t like being told what to do. Sun stands up for herself, and Jin approves.

During the return trip, Kate apologizes to Jack for following them. She's sorry she made a mistake. He’s still not speaking to her and she’s had enough of it. “I’m sorry!”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” Sorry he fixed up sawyer?

Flashback to Jacks house. He comes home as Sarah is cleaning up dishes. He tells her the patient died. “I’m sorry.” “Yeah, me too.” (sound familiar?)
He tearfully confesses, and apologizes for his “mistake” – like Kate – he wants to work it out, but wifey tells him she’d already been planning on leaving him, and is seeing someone else (christian?). Ouch. We find out these memories are most likely coming back to Jack because of the current Jack-Kate-Ana-Sawyer dynamic. Except its reversed; Kate’s apologizing to him, but it’s too late; while she was with Sawyer Jack moved on, echoing Sarah moving on while Jack was with Gabriella. Sarah tells him he’ll always need something to fix, and walks out.

The hunting party returns to the beach and Jack walks off, ignoring Kate. (how can you ignore those eyes?!?!) Locke walks off as well, “Seeya, James.”
“James” tells Freckles not to feel bad; he woulda done the same in her shoes. This probably makes her feels worse. Nature, not nurture.
Uncle Johnny stops by to check on Claire and Aaron, not knowing that Charlie is watching from a distance. If he hasn’t been snorting that shit yet, he will be soon. Further down the beach, Vincent’s mooching a mango off of Ana as Jack walks up. She asks what they were doing, and he tells her what happened on Mount Vesuvius. “Not much you can do about that, then.” She says.
Or is there?
Jack tells her Sayid told him she’s a cop. “I was a cop.”

“Can I ask you something? How long would it take to train an army?”

L O S T
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copyright © 2006 scott mcnicol