“Because I love you.” Don’t get your hope up, Kate. That does not mean what you think it means. Coming from Jack, “I love you” means “I’m an obsessive control freak and will make your life a living hell!” And Charlie! Ugh! Poor little hobbit didn’t have time to take an extra step and close the door from the other side? At least he got the “Not Penny’s boat” message out before he drowned.
That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.
“Dude, I saved them all!” I was really glad to see Hurley get to be a hero, especially after Charlie and Sawyer had been so mean to him. “You’ll tip the boat!” “You’ll get us all killed!” I’m sure they were saying that to protect him, because everybody loves Hurley. Hurley, Sawyer, Sayid and Jin were like a little super hero team on the beach.
Don’t get me wrong, it was a good episode, but ABC did something I didn’t expect: they created a perfect place for me to get off of the Lost bus. I’m not particularly interested in the quest to get back to Craphole Island. I’m not interested in finding out how the Losties re-adjust to life without Others and smoke monsters and polar bears.
Jack just isn’t a compelling enough character to carry a show. He has a rocky relationship with his dad, works too much, obsesses over and stalks women, and is now addicted to painkillers, all of which spells “medical drama” rather than “awesome genre show with a monster”. Writing fake prescriptions, raiding the hospital pharmacy, it was like Jack was impersonating Dr. House, but without the wit, the sarcasm or the cane.
Maybe if it were another character who was the focus, like Hurley, I could do it, because everybody loves Hurley. In fact, ABC should change the name from “Lost” to “Everybody Loves Hurley” and focus on him and Sawyer adapting their Craphole Island experience for a television show and companion video game. And there would be a two-part road trip episode in there somewhere; I don’t know where, but Hurley and Sawyer on a cross-country road trip is comedy gold.
We’ll see what happens in 2008, but I really don’t feel like I need to know what happens next. This may be my stop. Better consult a map.
Related Stuff:
![Wii Play [No Remote]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AvSS4vuQL._SL160_.jpg "Wii Play [No Remote]")
Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
My wife and I were both troubled by Jack’s decision to become (and go beyond) his dad. Although I didn’t pick up that this was a flash-forward (my wife did) at first. I think what Lost really did in this episode is a reset, everything is back to square one really. While I like the fact that we know they are going to wrap this up in 48 episodes, I hate that they are going to stretch it out over 3 years.
I agree with you on Charlie getting out of the room, although it may be that the door could only be locked from the inside.
And the next time they “kill” Mikhail, they need to cut his head off to make sure he doesn’t come back. That dude can take a licking and keep on ticking.
At first, I felt much like you do. However, I think Jack’s leaving the island and becoming such a Vietnam vet is only one possible future. I think we were being shown what would happen if the Losties got off the island with Naomi’s boat. This is supported by Desmond’s time travelling. If we can be shown one alternate time line for his character, we can be shown more for others. I have a suspicion that the flash forward will not actually happen or at least not in that way. I’m more inclined to think that Season 4 will be about the Others and the Losties banding together to fight the new vicious Naomi sponsored band of miscreants. I think it will be incredibly interesting to watch the two groups of unlikely allies work against an outside force.
While I wasn’t super impressed by this finale, I do think that it has opened up a lot of interesting possibilities. If, indeed, the flash forward proves to be actual, there is still a lot of narrative currency left for the island story before they are rescued. If it’s not real and only one possibility, there are infinite paths the story could take. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.
It could be done well, its all in the execution. This is a perfect opportunity to get Walt back into the show. I can also see Locke becoming the new leader of the Others.
That Mikhail guy is like Rasputin. Creepy.
I think you’re right about Jack not being able to carry the show. During Seasons 1 and 2, it seemed like the writers wanted him to be complex, yet still ultimately an enduring and likable character. Somewhere along Season 3 they completely changed his character around, and now Jack’s acting… well… uncharacteristic.
It seems like for someone that loathes what their father had become, for him to fall for that same trap of alcohol and drug addiction… It’s just not the Jack we all came to know and effectively respect. Even his on-island games with the rest of the survivors aren’t Jack-like. He, at some point, decided that his relationship with Juliet was more important than ALL the other people he was surrounded by.
I’m definitely going to hang on for Season 4, but I’m hoping now that the writers understand that they’ve got 48 episodes total to sort it all out – I hope they decide to keep the characters in character!
Cheers!
Dave (SciFi-Guy.com)